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COMMEMORATIVE 

I) 

BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


OF   THE   COUNTIES  OF 


Brown,  Kewaunee  and  Door, 


WISCONSIN, 


CONTAINING 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES    OF    PROMINENT    AND    REPRESENTATIVE 
CITIZENS,  AND  OF  MANY  OF  THE  EARLY  SETTLED  FAMILIES. 


-ILLUSTRATED. 


C|iICAGO: 

J.  H.  DEERS  &  CO. 
1895, 


rmoH  THI  FMMR  OT  WtUON,  HUMFtUUri  «  CO.. 
rOVBTH  n-.,  LOOAKSrOKT,  tKD, 


Prekacb. 


THE  importance  of  placing  in  book  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  family  genealogy,  it  records  history,  much  of 
which  would  be  preserved  in  no  other  way. 

In  presenting  the  Commemorative  Biographical  Record  to  its  patrons,  the 
publishers  have  to  acknowledge,  with  gratitude,  the  encouragement  and  support  their 
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 
for  correction  and  revision.  The  volume,  which  is  one  of  generous  amplitude,  is 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  public  with  the  belief  that  it  will  be  found  a  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  library,  as  well  as  an  invaluable  contribution  to  the  historical  literature  of 
Northeastern  Wisconsin. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


ARTIN,  HON.  MOR- 
GAN LEWIS,  *was 
"one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  and  dis- 
tinguished among  the 
aand  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  generall)-  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  Morg.in  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,  17 16),  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 
17.  '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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPBICAL    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.  Martin,  while  yet  a  young 
man,  came  into  the  inheritance,  and  was 
considered  the  patron  of  northern  New 
York.  While  yet  a  lad  he  served  under 
his  father  in  17S8,  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  Slartin,  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,  1887 
— a  most  interesting  period  of  si.\ty 
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  un  the  "La  Grange,"  was 
Father  Fauvel,  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  da\s  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  182S  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  Winnebago  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  suliject  United  States  dis- 
trict attorney,  /;•<'  hm,  hence  the  latter's 
presence  with  the  judicial  party.  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  L\on  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    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


Fox-Wisconsin  route,  and  made  the  iirst 
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  1830,  and  was  the 
first  real  map  of  the  country  between 
Green  Bay  and  Galeua.  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  teni.      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,  whose  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   BIOORAPHICAL    liECOHD. 


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 
earl}-  history  of  the  city  of  Green  Bay,  as 
well  as  of  the  entire  Fox  Kiver  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 
earlv  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  ^fichigan  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,  1851,  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,  ^^'hile  the  affair  was  in 
this  condition,  I  made  a  proposition  to 
the  Legislature,  through  Gov.  Dewey,  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 
abilit}';  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  pa\'master.  In 
1866  he  was  appointed  Indian  agent, 
holding  the  position  until  1869,  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  ""''•  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  Alartin  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,  1887. 


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  si.x  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    BIOGBAPUICAL    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  W'isconsin, 
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,  (iermany,  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 dauehter  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   1880,  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    BIOGEAPUWAL    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  years  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 
community  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  sixty  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,  1S52.  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,  1S52, 
at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  twelve  j'ears  old  when  the 
family  came  to  the  United  States,  so  his 
education  had  already  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  country   prompted 


14 


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  followinj^  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  Perryville  (Ky.j, 
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,  1890, 
to  Miss  Mary  Mahn,  who  was  born  in 
Green  Ba}',  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  \'alentine  was  married  October  10, 
1 893,  to  Mary  Dennis,  who  was  born  in 
Belgium,  daughter  of  David  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,  Emma 
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  Veteran  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  Gazittc,  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  privileges  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- 


69 


yio  (/i-<^^/^y^-(y!'^oCy 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


•17 


tors  of  the  Green  Bay  (Wis.)  Gazette, 
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. 
Tapley,  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  out  to  George  E.  Hoskinson,  and 
the  new  firm  of  Hoskinson  &  Follett  then 
changed  the  name  of  the  paper  to  The 
State  Gazette,  commencing  a  daily  issue 
in  November,  1871,  and  in  1882  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  many  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUWAL    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 
AtivooUc  also  paid  a  beautiful  tribute  to 
the  memor)'  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,  highly 
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  kindl)'  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 
courteous,  and 
whom  she  had 
There  was  no  false 


of    pleasing;    was   always 

made   friends  of  all   with 

dealings  or  acquaintance. 

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 
country,  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 
e.xemplary  life,  sincerity  of  heart,  genuine 
charit}-  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  P., 
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  ^sculapius  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  1887  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  W'ignian  & 
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  1 886  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  Brown  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  &  Co.  (limited),  whole- 
sale and  retail  dealers  in  dry 
goods,  clothing,  carpets,  hats, 
caps,  notions,  etc.,  in  Green  Bay,  has 
been  a  prominent  resident  of  that  city 
since  1879,  <i"''  ^n  enterprising  merchant 
of  several  \ears  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  Zepp,  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 S67  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- 
lie,  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  &  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  prosperous  dry-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  1879,  the  style  of  the  firm  being 
Mueller  &  Spuhler,  and  in  that  year  they 
transferred  their  business  to  the  more 
thriving  town  of  Green  Bay,  here  remain- 
ing in  partnership  till  1 886,  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  e.\- 
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  1887,  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  1881-82 
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  the  Finance  commit- 
tee of  that  board  some  years.  Socially 
he  is  affiliated  with  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  at 
Green  Bay,  Washington  Lodge  No.  2 1 , 
Warren  Chapter  No.  8,  Council  No.  13, 
and  Palestine  Commandery  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  e.xertions,  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  count}', 
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  stud}'  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  1863  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  mixed-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  1883,  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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Although  known  to  be  a  stanch  Demo- 
crat, still  he  has  always  had  the  support 
of  all  parties,  regardless  of  political  l)ias, 
the  general  feeling  being  that  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  city  should  be  a  man  />ro 
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 
Gamewell  fire-alarm  telegraph  s\stem, 
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,  1S76,  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-Detmold),  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  1866.  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  six 
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  1872.  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  1S80  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  stated),  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  £>u-  Gartailaube,  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  reputa- 
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  ability,  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  1896.  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 


24 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   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  aiTairs  were 
wound  up.  and  Mr.  Kustermann  removed 
to  Helenville,  Jefferson  Co.,  ^^'is.,  where 
for  si.x  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 
18S4  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  KIMBALL.  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, 
Esse.x  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,  Vt. ,  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  only  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,  was  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,  1 808, 
in  the  town  of  Le  Ra\',  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 


.^■m: 


^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


business,  conducting  a  general  store  in 
Green  Bay  several  years,  whither  he 
came  May  22,  1849;  in  1854  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  River  Valley.  On  October  i, 
1S40,  Mr.  Kimball  married  Miss  Sarah 
Weston,  daughter  of  Rev.  Isaiah  Weston, 
who,  during  the  war  of  1 8 1  2,  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  haJf  a  century,  having  celebrated 
their  golden  wedding  October  i,  1890. 
She  died  in  Green  Ba}'  June  27,  1891, 
aged  nearly  ninet}'  years,  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Presb3'terian  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 
Ihe  people.  Mr.  Kimball  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  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  Bay,  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,  Wis.,  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  liverj'-stable 
business,  which  he  carried  on  successfully 
some  twenty-seven  years,  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,  July  i,  1885, 
he  had  commenced  the  study  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 


28 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


subject  entered  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, at  Ann  Arbor,  October  i,  1885;  but 
ill  health  prevented  him  from  completinj;; 
his  course,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  he 
had  to  return  home.  In  October,  i88g, 
he  entered  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
Philadelphia,  where,  after  two  years' 
attendance,  he  graduated  April  15,  1891, 
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  office, 
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  si.\ 
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  colonies,  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  worthy  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'*  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, Laj'ton  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)  e.xtant,  and 
the  name  inscribed  thereon  is  plainly 
"Lawton,"  so  that  the  change  of  the 
spelling  of  the  name  presumably  must 
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    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


29 


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,  1708, 
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  1731  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, 
1739.  1740  and  1 74 1,  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-pox,  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  Alassachu- 
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,  17S9, 
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,  18 17,  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  1787. 
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 
1830  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 


COMMEMVUATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


was  made,  and  on  returning;  to  the  hotel, 
behold!  a  younpson  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,  Pottsviile.  Penn.,  one  hun- 
dred miles  distant,  the  family  arriving 
October  4.  i  S30.  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  acti\c  part  in  business  mat- 
ters and  other  affairs  of  Pntts\ille,  becom- 
ing one  of  the  most  extensive  miners  and 
shippers  of  coal  at  that  place.  He  died 
there  July  21,  1858;  his  wife  passed  from 
earth  .\pril  19,  1 844.  while  on  a  visit  to 
New  York  City,  and  they  rest  side  by  side 
in  the  cemeterj'  at  Pottsviile.  Fourteen 
children  were  born  to  them  as  follows: 
John  W'illson,  born  ,\pril  22,  1810  (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  by  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,  181 3,  married 
May  10,  1832,  to  William  H.  Mann,  of 
Pottsviile,  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,  1817,  married  at 
Pottsviile,  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 
Pottsviile,  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 
biography  is  given  further  on;  Sarah  Havi- 
land,  born  May  i,  1823,  twice  married, 
first  time  October  5,  1847,  to  Alfred  Sab- 
baton  (who  died),  second  time  June  28, 
1 8 58,  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, 
1S48,  to  John  Ogilvie  Roorbach,  and  now 
lives  at  Mystic,  Conn. ;  William  Thorn- 
ton, born  December  6,  1828,  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  Anna  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  fine  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  Pottsviile,  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. 


3t 


entered  the  hi^h  school  of  the  place.  In 
this  educational  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 
1 840,  when  he  returned  to  Pottsville,  and 
soon  afterward,  in  compau}-  with  his 
brother  John,  and  assisted  by  his  father, 
purchased  the  Mammoth  Vein  Coal  Mine, 
on  Mill  creek,  at  the  foot  of  Broad  moun- 
tain, which  they  operated  until  1S49,  also 
conducting  in  connection  a  general  store. 
In  that  same  year  our  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  i,  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 
]\Iaria  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  shop  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  Fo.x  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  found   time   to 


prosecute  his  law  studies,  and  could  have 
been  admitted  to  the  bar,  had  he  not,  at 
the  request  of  Morgan  L.  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,  1853,  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  delay  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  L.  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  Pere    as  well  as  of  the 


32 


commemorath'e  biographical  record. 


water  power  of  the  De  Pare  dam  on  both 
sides  of  the  Fox  river  at  De  Pere.  Imme- 
diatel)'  after  receipt  of  tiie  cliarter  of  the 
Fox  and  Wisconsin  Improvement  Coin- 
pan)'  they  organized, executed  the  requisite 
bonds  to  the  State,  and  appointed  a  com- 
mittee consisting;  of  Morgan  L.  Martin, 
Dr.  Darlinj.;  and  Joseph  G.  Lawton,  to 
proceed  to  New  York  in  order  to  nep;otiate 
requisite  funds  for  the  companj-.  This 
the  committee  succeeded  in  doinj;,  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  tilled  until 
1857.  In  1858  he  sold  the  Erie  City 
Bank  to  C.  B.  Wright,  then  of  Philadof- 
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  I)e- 
Pere  with  a  ca]Mtal  of  $25,000,  appoint- 
ing G.  A.  Lawton,  president,  and  J.  O. 
Roorbach,  cashier.  On  August  4,  1858, 
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  militar}'  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    May,     1863,    he 


laid  out  and  platted  all  that  part  of  West 
De  Pere  lying  on  Private  Claim  28.  In 
the  same  year  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  i ,  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  may  be  here  noted  that  his 
work  here  during  the  two  years,  1863-64, 
increased  the  population  of  West  De- 
Pere  from  150  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  188 1  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. 
Bairdof  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  V.  (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 Virginia  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,  1881,  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  1843  he  joined 
the  F.  &  A.  M.  and  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 

Military  Record  of  Capt.  Joscpli  G. 
Law  ton. — 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 
fort}-  men,  and  soon  thereafter  received  a 
commission  as  first  lieutenant,  dated  Sep- 
tember 27,  1861;  later  was  commissioned 
captain,  and  by  October  21  recruited  his 
company  to  one  hundred  men.  On  No- 
vember 1 2  they  were  ordered  into  camp 
at  Camp  Wood,  Fond  du  Lac,  arrived 
there  on  the  15th,  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 
g;reen  fields  and  dry  land  instead  of  a 
countr}-  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  morning 
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  they  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BJOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


to  pieces."  [To  do  the  color-bearer  jus- 
tice, it  should  be  added  that  afterward, 
when  he  was  put  on  oath  b)'  pension  ex- 
aminers, he  swore  that  it  was  not  he  who 
gave  that  answer,  but  the  corporal.] 
Capt.  Lawton  ordered  them  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  jcjin  the  little  squad, 
which  took  him  some  150  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  off  into  the 
woods  to  the  left;"  and  while  the)'  were 
yet  talking  a  lieutenant  of  infantry  came 
up,  and  reported  to  the  cavalry  lieuten- 
ant that  the  enemy  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.  I-awton:  "There  is  \our  regi- 
ment marching  by."  Of  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  field  to  guard 
a  battery.  The  Captain  then  rejoined 
his  regiment,  which  was  marched  back  to 
place  of  bivouac,  formed  in  line  and  or- 
dered to  "rest"  for  the  night.  During 
the  Sth,  9th,  loth  and  nth  of  April, 
after  the  fight,  the  regiment  was  without 
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 
si.\teen-year-oId  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  of  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  "gun  all  right,"  but  he  could  not 
"return  ramrod."  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,  observing  a  wounded  soldier 
lying  on  the  ground  in  the  hospital  tent, 
stopped  to  talk  to  him.  He  found  the 
man  had  been  wounded  thirty-six  hours 
before,  and  to  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  gi\en  up  b\'  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  you  want  most  is  some- 
thing to  cat;  the  ball  has  not  passed 
through  your  body,  but  has  simply 
entered  here  in  your  breast,  broken  a  ril), 
glanced  off,  and  run  clear  around  under 
the  skin,  and  come  out  at  the  back." 
The  soldier  immediately  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  under  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  ofificer  of 
the  day,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


35 


use  of  his  horse,  and  he  had  to  remain  in 
the  saddle  ail  day  long,  from  early  morn- 
ing; until  night.  On  the  i  5th  Gov.  Harvey 
and  staff  arrived,  and  one  of  the  latter, 
Commissary-Gen.  E.  Wadsworth,  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  18th  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  leave 
of  absence  and  transportation  home  pend- 
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,   i>S63. 


HENRY    WATER.MOLEN,     clerk 
of    the    circuit    court    of    Brown 
county,  is    a  native    of    Belgium, 
born   October  28,   1836,  a  son  of 
Christopher  and  Mary  (Demuylder)  Water- 
molen.      The    family   immigrated   to    the" 
United   States  in  1856,  settling  in   Belle- 


vue  township.  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  \\'atermolen  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  Ene- 
lish  language,  he  attended  school  at 
Henry,  111.,  subsequently  (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  years,  after  which  he  moved 
to  De  Pere,  same  count}',  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  received  the  appointment  of  deputy 
sheriff,  an  incumbency  he  filled  four  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  elected 
sheriff,  serving  as  such  until  1S88,  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.  \\'atermolen  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 


36 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOQRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


years,  Louie  F. ,  in  infancy,  and  Octavie, 
at  the  age  of  four  years.  The  parents 
are  members  of  St.  Willebrord's  (Catho- 
lic) Church.  Mr.  W'atertnolen  in  politics 
is  an  ardent  Democrat,  and  in  addition  to 
the  public  offices  above  mentioned  he 
served  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees of  De  Pare;  as  clerk  of  Lawrence 
township;  assessor  for  De  Pere  eight 
years,  and  for  several  years  was  county 
poor  commissioner. 


JR.  MINAHAN,  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  (Shaughnessy)  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  count}',  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-years'  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  1 866  he  was  raised  to  the  priest- 
hood by  Prince  Cardinal  Chigi,  then  Papal 
nuncio  at  the  court  of  Napoleon  III.  In 
the  following  \ear  his  superiors,  instead 
of  complying  with  his  desires  to  de\ote 
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  country. 

In  1890  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,  Wis., 
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  year  1893  he  came  to  Green 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


37 


Bay  to  take  charge  of  the  thriving  parish 
of  St.  John. 

Besides  his  many  other  accompHsh- 
ments,  Father  Goepfert  has  attained  no 
httle  distinction  as  an  author,  having  writ- 
ten and  published,  during  his  sojourn  in 
Ireland,  a  work  of  much  celebrity,  en- 
titled "  Life  of  the  Venerable  Libermann, 
Founder  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;"  he  also  founded  and  edited  till 
his  departure  from  Ireland  the  popular 
monthly  magazine,  "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 
the  State  of  Maine,  born  in 
Franklin  county  in  1835,  ^  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. 
Lucy  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  1857 
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. 
V.  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.  \.  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  Jul)', 
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.  E.xamining  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  are  both 
deceased,  the  father  having  died  January 
10,  1887,  the  mother  July  17,  1884.  To 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brett  were  born  children  as 
follows:  Frank,  who  died  in  Green  Ba}' 
August  2,  1879,  at  the  age  of  nineteen; 
Fred  N.  (married),  attending  Rush  Medi- 


38 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


cal  College,  Chicago;  Anna  E.,  Jennie 
M.,  and  James  R.,  all  at  home.  The 
parents  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Ur.  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. 


XA\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  governnient  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  XIII  of  the  French  Republic, 
which  date  corresponds  with  the  12th  of 
November,  1 804.  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 
1  I,  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,  dietl  February  3,  1840;  Desire, 
born  August  23,  1839,  died  August  16, 
1855;  Mary  Eleonore  (now  Mrs.  Joseph 
Dhyne),  born  XtJvember  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  citj-.  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  highways  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  January,  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  )-ears).  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, 
Penn.,  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 
(«tr  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 
Masonry  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, 
largely  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  mother),  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 


4o 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


chairman  of  the  board.  For  five  years 
he  was  town  clerk  of  Red  River;  served 
as  a  justice  of  the  peace  five  years;  and 
for  two  years  was  school  superintendent 
for  Kewaunee  county,  ^^r.  Slartin  was  a 
resident  (jf  that  county  from  1859  to  1874, 
and  of  Green  Bay  from  1874  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  June  16,  1894. 
From  1885  till  1892  he  was  an  active 
member  of  the  board  of  education  in  the 
city  of  Green  Bay.  This  family  trace 
their  ancestry  to  the  year  1665,  and  orig- 
inally to  the  City  of  Paris,  France. 


WEBSTER  A.  BINGH,\M.  Pre- 
senting as  it  does  a  worthy  ex- 
ample to  the  rising  generation, 
the  life  of  this  gentleman,  which 
from  early  boyhood  has  been  one  of  as- 
siduous industry,  untiring  energy  and  un- 
questioned integrity,  is  well  deserving  of 
being  sketched,  however  briefly,  in  the 
pages  of  this  volume. 

Mr.  Bingham  was  born  March  25, 
1844,  in  Ogle  county.  111.,  a  son  of  Hol- 
land Weeks  and  Sarah  S.  (Goodrich) 
Bingham,  both  natives  of  Cornwall,  Vt., 
the  father  born  in  1804,  the  mother  in 
1 8 10.  They  were  married  in  the  East, 
in  1836;  moved,  in  1838,  to  a  farm  in 
Ogle  county.  111.,  and  from  there,  in  1849, 
to  Watertown,  Wis.,  one  daughter,  aged 
eight  years,  and  one  son  (our  subject), 
aged  five  years,  accompanying  them.  The 
latter  was  educated  at  the  Watertown 
(Wis.)  High  School,  and  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  conniienced  the  battle  of  life  by 
carrying  brick  at  twenty-five  cents  per 
day.  He  also  during  the  summer  vaca- 
tions worked  in  a  machine  shop;  a  part  of 
the  time,  up  to  the  age  of  seventeen,  ran 
a  stationary  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  decidedly  versatile  character.  But 
he  was  always  equal  to  the  occasion.  He 
was  possessed  of  vigorons  natural  abilities, 
and  although  his  opportunities  for  acquir- 


ing knowledge  were  but  few,  yet  he  ap- 
plied his  powers  of  observation  upon  the 
things  which  were  nearest  to  him,  and  the 
boy  became  father  to  the  man.  In  1861, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  enlisted  in  the 
First  Wis.  V.  C,  in  which  regiment  he 
experienced  three  years  of  constant  active 
service  in  the  Civil  war,  never  being  absent 
from  his  post  of  duty  during  any  engage- 
ment in  which  the"  First  "  participated. 
He  received  slight  promotions  in  the  non- 
commissioned line,  and  in  1864,  at  the 
age  of  twenty,  by  reason  of  expiration  of 
term  of  service,  was  mustered  out  as  regi- 
mental quartermaster-sergeant.  Return- 
ing to  Wisconsin,  he  entered  upon  a 
course  of  study  at  the  Spencerian  Business 
College,  Milwaukee,  and  when  his  course 
was  nearl\-  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  open  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  from  a  salary  of  five 
hundred  dollars  to  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars  per  annum,  and  becoming  very 
popular  with  the  trade.  In  the  fall  of 
1872  he  engaged  in  a  general  merchandise 
business  in  West  De  Pere,  Brown  Co., 
Wis.,  on  a  small  capital,  which  was  more 
than  doubled  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  and  permanent 
trade  was  established,  which  has  been  al- 
most phenomenally  successful  from  its 
commencement  to  the  present  time.  The 
business  has  been  conducted  on  the  best 
and  most  secure  business  priciples,  and 
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;  but 
an  opening  for  manufacturing  presenting 
itself  strongly,  he  became  one  of  the 
members  of  a  large  corporation  organized 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


41 


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  Los  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  home),  and 
gives  them  as  much  personal  attention  as 
is  needed. 

In  1869  Mr.  Bingham  was  married  in 
Milwaukee  to  Miss  Fannie  H.  Bird,  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 
been  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  thg 
best  years  before  him,  as  he  believes,  and 
he  deserves  to  lake  pride  in  a  substantial, 
though  modest,  business  record  which 
stands  without  a  blemish. 


M 


ARTIN  VAN  BEEK,  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 
worked  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  is), 
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,  aftter  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,  ^^  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  country 
once,  but  was  not  content  to  remain 
there.  From  being  a  poor  man  he  had, 
by  hard  work  and  honest  industry,  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  by  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. 


42 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUWAL    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  neifjhborhood. 

On   January  2,    1867,    Mr.  Van   Beek 
was  married  to  Miss  Catharine    Bomber, 
who   was   born   April    iiS.    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  marriage  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,    Hcnr}-.    John,    Josephine, 
Joseph,    Gertrude.     Elizabeth,     Samuel, 
AloN'sius    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     & 
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  employ  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-day  he 
has  one  of  the  best  farms  in  Preble  town- 
ship, the  result  of  years  of  hard  work  and 
systematic   management.      While   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  gi\es  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  \ears. 


E 


DWARD  DECKER  was  born 
Ma\'  2,  1827,  in  Casco,  Cumber- 
land Co.,  Maine,  son  of  David 
and  Eliza  (Dunhamj  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 
many  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  1865  at   the  age  of  sixty- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


45 


four  years.  His  wife,  Eliza  (Dunham), 
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 quaHties  of  head  and  heart,  she 
had  hosts  of  friends.  To  her  and  her 
husband  were  born  eight  children,  name- 
l}':  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  party  in 
^^^isconsin,  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  treaty 
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- 
anoved  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  ha\e  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  avert  blood- 


46 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOOBAPHWAL    RECORD. 


shed  and  the  dire  consequences  attending 
it.  He  realized  to  the  full  the  difficult 
task  before  him,  but  finally  was  persuaded 
to  accept  it.  His  record  as  county  officer, 
friend,  business  man  and  neifjhbor,  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  hostility.  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  obno.xious  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  ofTices  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  Adi-ocatc,  and  Anton   Klaus, 


a  merchant  and  lumberman.  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  presidenc\-,  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  many  deals,  and  has 
been  a  silent  partner  in  various  concerns. 

While  residing  in  Kewaunee  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  Bay,  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  1881  he  started 
a  private  bank  at  Ahnapee,  called  the 
Bank  of  Ahnapee.  of  which  he  is  president 
and  owns  the  entire  stock.  In  18SS,  in 
company  with  James  Keogh.  he  founded 
the  Bank  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  of  which  he  is 
also  president.  In  February,  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  fs  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, viz. :  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  integritj'  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  1S36  in  Holstein,  Germany, 
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  1S76,  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- 


4S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BlOOIiAPUICAL    RECORD. 


dent  of  the  Columbian  Baker\'  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,  dauf,'hter  of  Carl  Frederic 
and  Augusta  (Kunze)  Altmann,  all  natives 
of  Dresden,  Germanj-.  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  De  Perc,  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  vears. 

In  November,  i  849,  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  family,  he 
journeyed  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ;  and  thence 
via  the  lakes  to  Manitowoc;  thence  to 
Green  Bay,  in  January,  1850,  reaching 
Wrightstown,  Brown  county,  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- 


gion— a  cabin  of  logs  covered  with  bass- 
wood  boughs,  which  was  occupied  by  the 
Daj'  family  seven  or  eight  years  before  a 
more  substantial  and  pretentious  residence 
was  substituted.  The  sufferings  of  the 
famih'  from  sickness  at  that  early  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,  1882,  and  that  of  Mrs. 
Day  May  7,  1890,  and  their  remains  now 
lie  in  Greenleaf  cemetery. 

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  company  with  Reuben 
Thompson  in  making  shingles  by  hand; 
the  following  year  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   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


49 


hundred  dollars  with  a  team  of   oxen  he 
had  purchased  the  year  previous. 

On  July  3,  i860,  Mr.  Day  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Juliette  Chase,  who  was  born 
June  14,  1840,  in  the  town  of  Charleston, 
Kalamazoo  Co.,  Mich.  Her  parents, 
Henrj'  and  Persis  (Averill)  Chase,  were 
New  Englanders,  but  came  from  Canada 
to  Michigan,  and  later,  in  1856,  moved  to 
De  Pere  via  Green  Baj',  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  fast}-  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.  Daj-  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.  con\erted  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. 

Politicall}'  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  declined  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  1886  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  prosperity.  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 
famil}',  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  infancy;  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   BIOORAPHJCAL   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  1 2, 
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,  i860,  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  seventy-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  1848,  in  New 
York  City,  whence  when  an  infant  he  was 
brought  by  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,  occasionally 
buying  and  selling  real  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  theoflfice,  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  May  26,  1864,  when  not  quite 
si.vteen  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  1864.  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  any  land;  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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


efforts  to  acquire  a  comfortable  compe- 
tence, if  not  absolute  wealth. 

Mr.  Muller  was  born  in  Prussia,  Sep- 
tember 6,  1 83 1,  in  one  of  the  wine-grow- 
ing districts  that  luxuriate  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  e.xhausted.  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  axe,  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. 


52 


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  munber,  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 
Luxemburg,  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  connnenced  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  employed  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  anyone  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,  1863,  in  Ne- 
shoto; George,  born  March  18,  1866,  also 
in  Neshoto;  Catherine,  born  June  15. 
1875,  in  Kewaunee,  and  Elizabeth,  born 
August  21,  1877,  ^1^0  '"  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,  1 84 1,  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  which  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., 
wife  of  H.  R.  Hobart,  editor  of  the 
Rni/zi'ay  Ag^c,  of  Chicago,  111.,  and  Flor- 
ence L. ,  married  to  H.  W.  Hoyt,  princi- 
pal owner  of  the  Gates  Iron  Works,  of 
the  same  city. 

Hon.  S.  D.  Hastings  came  to  Brown 
county  in  August,  1867,  from  Madison, 
where  for  two  years  he  had  been 
in  the  practice  of  law;  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'lllege;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
New  York  in  1865,  and,  with  his  eighteen- 
years'  experience  at  the  bar,  was  fully 
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 
Marj'  C.  Kendall,  a  native  of  Milwaukee, 
and  a  daughter  of  the  late  J.  G.  Kendall, 
a  pioneer  of  Beloit.  Airs.  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  &  Vrooman,  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  Ba}',  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  1S30, 
in  the  emplo\-  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  Baj',  he  erected  a  Mission 
church  on  Mackinac  Island,    but   in  the 


54 


COMMEMORA  TIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


fall  of  that  year  he  returned  to  Cleve- 
land. 

Mr.  Hart  was  born  May  5,  1807,  in 
Griswold,  New  London  Co.,  Conn.,  a  son 
of  Judah  and  Abigail  (Belden)  Hart,  both 
also  natives  of  Connecticut,  in  which 
State  they  were  married.  In  1822  they 
moved  westward  to  Ohio,  first  locating  in 
Cleveland,  and  in  1824  settling  on  a  farm 
in  Brownhelin  township,  Lorain  county, 
same  State,  where  they  died  within  three 
days  of  each  other.  The  father  served  in 
the  war  of  1812. 

Edwin  Hart,  of  whom  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  regular 
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  fRoger)  Glass,  who 
were  married  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  Green 
Bay  in  1828;  the  father,  who  was  a  fur 
trader,  died  in  Green  Bay,  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  embarked  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  body,  especially  the  face,  was  com- 
paratively uninjured.  (3)  Mar\'  A.  is  the 
wife  of  Dr.  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)  Eliza  Jane  is  the  wife  of 
B.  J.  Brown,  of  Menominee,  Mich.  (6) 
Cyrus  S.  is  editor  of  the  Oconto  County 
Reporter.  (7)  Capt.  H.  \V.  is  in  partner- 
ship with  his  brother  C.  B.,  as  above 
mentioned.  (8)  Franklin  died  at  Oconto, 
Wis.,  in  1863.  Mr.  Hart  in  politics  was 
originally  a  Whig,  and  since  the  formation 
of  the  party  has  been  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 
Eliza  J.  (Glass)  Hart. 

At  the  age  of  six  years  he  moved  with 
his  parents  to  Oconto.  Wis. ,  where  he 
received  his  education.  In  early  life, 
when  a  mere  boy  of  fourteen  years,  he 
shipped  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  tug  boat  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- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


55 


building  the  "May  yueen,"  which  was 
burned  at  the  dock  in  Green  Bay  in  1877. 
In  the  spring  of  1878  they  launched  the 
steamer  "Welcome,"  and  some  time 
afterward  the  "  C.  W.  Moore,"  which  our 
subject  ran  between  Green  Bay  and 
Manistique  until  1888,  when  the  "  Fannie 
C.  Hart"  was  built,  which  he  has  since 
run  between  Green  Bay  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  now  owning  four  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  si.\  children 
were  born,  viz. :  Fannie  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  Green  Bay  Intelligencer. 
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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  the    Northwest   territory.      Soon   after 
he  severed  his  connection  with  the  Green 
Bay  Intelligencer  he  was   elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Second  Session  of  the  Third 
Territorial     House    of     Kepresentati\'es, 
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  ajjain  re-elected  in 
1843.      In    1 84 1    or    1842    Mr.  Ellis   was 
appointed,  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, Surveyor-general  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,  however,  at   Green   Ba}', 
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, 
tireil  out  even  his  hardy  French-Canadian 
assistants.      He    also    rendered    valuable 
service  in  this  county,  and  as  his  surveys 
were  remarkably  correct,  he  was  consid- 
ered  quite    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  1S38  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Hill  Creek,  one  and  a  half  miles 
east  of  Green  Hay,  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  could   turn   his  hand   to 
almost   every   kind  of  work — a  valuable 
accomplishment  indeed.     He  was  moder- 
ately successful  from  a  financial   point  of 
view,    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  several  years.  Among  the  prop- 
erties he  bought  there  was  a  flouring  mill, 
which  he  conducted  for  some  time.  He 
also  started  the  Wisconsin  Pinery,  a 
paper  Democratic  in  politics,  which  ex- 
isted until  within  a  short  time  of  this  writ- 
ing; he  was  editor  of  the  same  for  many 
years,  but  finally  sold  his  interest.  He 
was  a  very  enterprising,  puplic-spirited 
man,  and  at  one  time  served  as  mayor  of 
Stevens  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  Bay;  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 
welfare  of  the  community  always  at  heart, 
his  many  acts  of  charity  and  brotherly 
affection  toward  humanity  in  general  en-* 
deared  him  \.vi  every  one,  and  he  died  De- 
cember 23.  1885,  honored  and  respected 
by  all  who  knew  him,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-five  years.  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  young.  She  died  at  Green 
Bay,  March  18,  1847,  aged  forty-three 
j'ears,  the  mother  of  six  children,  of  whom 
Judge  E.  H.  Ellis  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.  Henry  S.  Baird,  a  well-known 
attorney  in  Green  Bay  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    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


57 


sjime  autumn  he  set  out,  on  horseback, 
to  look  up  a  suitable  location,  and  at  the 
age  of  t\vent}-one  years  "hung  out  his 
shingle"  at  Manitowoc  Rapids,  then  the 
count}'  seat  of  Manitowoc  count}'.  Here 
he  practiced  for  three  and  a  half  j'ears 
with  good  success,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1851  returned  to  Green  Ba}-,  where  he 
opened  an  office  and  met  with  good  suc- 
cess from  the  start.  For  many  years  he 
practiced  alone,  and  was  uniform!}'  suc- 
cessful. As  his  business  increased  he  en- 
tered into  co-partnerships  at  different 
times  with  the  well-known  attorne}'S,  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 
private  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  }'outh  of  our  nation.  Our 
subject  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  has  been  connected  with  the 
same  for  more  than  forty  }'ears.  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,  1S20, 
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  Si2A.es,  the  A/baiiv  Cultivntor, 


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 
States.  It  was  made  by  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  \\ay,  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   BIOQRAPmCAL    RECORD. 


their  home  for  the  balance  of  their  lives. 
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  afford  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  sixteen  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  rapidly  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,  dunng  nearly 
all  of  these  \ears,  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 
E.\position  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  Count}'  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- 
ciet}',  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  .thoroughly  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  Whig  in  his  boyhood,  and 
was  one  of  the  men  who  helped  to  or- 
ganize the  first  Republican  part}-  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    BIOGBAPUWAL    RECORD. 


59 


their    dealings  with 


their  lives,  and  in 
their  fellowmen,  the  spirit  of  Chris 
tianity,  by  whatever  name  the\'  were 
called.  He  was  extremely  fond  of  music, 
having  been  a  leader  in  church  choirs  in 
his  earl}'  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 
ahvajs  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 
among  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  Morristown,  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 


COMMEMORATIi'E   BIOORAPUICAL   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  cultivating  land. 

On  June  9,  1873,  he  married  Miss 
Clara  Taylor,  a  native  of  Susquehanna 
county,  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  six  children,  namely:  Clifford  I., 
born  April  15,  1875;  Elsie  M.,  May  2, 
1877;  Bessie  R.,  July  25,  1879;  Emrie 
B.,  September  22,  i88i;  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 
hves.  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  execution  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  possibilities  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  integrit)-,  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  Count}-  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  \\'illiam  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BWGRAPMIVAL   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,  laterin  Behnont  county, 
the  father  followed  ai^ricultural  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  running  in  their  \eins  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  country, 
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, 
afterward  known  as  the  Pennsylvania  Cen- 
tral railroad.  (At  that  time  G.  A.  Thomp- 
son was  civil  engineer  for  the  company, 
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  1836, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  he  was 
married  in  Coshocton  county,  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  they  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  yet  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  &  Ohio,  Central  Ohio  and  the 
Hempfield  railroad  (now  part  of  the  Bal- 
timore &  Ohio;  this  railroad  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 
of  ten  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  years 
sold  his  interests  and  removed  to  Ft. 
Howard,  where  he  became  largely  inter- 
ested in  lumbering,  sawmilling  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 
county,  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    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


The  land  he  rents  chiefly  to  negroes,  who 
raise  for  the  most  jxirt  cotton,  but  por- 
tions of  the  estate  are  covered  with  valu- 
able timber,  mostly  pine. 

During  the  Civil  war  Mr.  McCartney 
was  a])pointed  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.  I^urnsidc,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Union  troops  at  Cincinnati. 
When  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  county,  Ohio; 
Ellen,  deceased  wife  of  William  Huin- 
phreyville;  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  in 
business  at  Golden,  Colo.  The  mother 
of  these  died  February  17,  1845,  ^n^  '" 
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  Viola,  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  institutions, 
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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


6S 


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  always  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  Bay,  is  a  native  of  the 


town,  born   November  13,   1S39,  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 


COMMEMORATIVE    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  \\'arreii  Chapter 
No.  8,  Palestine  Conimandery,  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. 


H.   LE   ROY.      Among  the  promi- 


nent agriculturists  of  De  Pere  town- 


^1  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, 
Avas  born  August  12,  1S19,  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, 
Deerfield,  Mass.,  where  he  learned  the 
trade  of  cabinet  maker  under  Capt. 
Thayer,  and  some  time  later  removed  to 
Greenfield,  same  State,  where  he  was 
employed  in  the  cutlerj-  factory  of  John 
Russell  &  Co.  On  September  10.  1S40, 
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  Lilly  (Willcutj  King, 
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  faihng  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  fifty 
years,  and  the  golden  anniversary  of 
their  marriage  was  appropriately  cele- 
brated by  the  family.  When  they  came 
to  Brown  county  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  oH 
the  pigs.  A  portion  of  the  journey  to 
their  new  home  was  made  in  an  o.\-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  privations  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- 
ways 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  immediately  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  offices  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,  L  O. 
O.  P.,  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 1,  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  Ixjth  parents  died  in 
the  Keystone  State. 

Thomas  E.  Sharp  li\ed  on  the  home 
farm  until  si.xteen   or  se\enteen  year.^^  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 
six  miles  north  of  that  city.      His  mother 
and  the  rest   of   the    famih'   accompanied 
him  (his  father  having  died  when  subject 
was  but   an    infant),  but  the  mother  sub- 
sequently     returned      to     Penns\lvania. 
Thomas  E.  prcjgresscd  rapidly  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    furnitiue.       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 
I  84S-49,  the  cholera  year,  was  in  Louis- 
ville. Ky.      He  then  returned,  \ia  Indian- 
apolis,    to     Logansport,    and     started    a 
cabinet  shop,  remaining  about  six  months. 
In  i<S50,  about  the  month  of  May,  he  set 
out  west  with  a  horse  and  bugg}-,  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  cit}',  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 
final!}'  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  fCarpenterj  Stevvatt,  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  man}' 
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  W'est  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. 

Robert  D.  and  Sarah  Stewart  had  a 
familv  of  thirteen  children,  three  of  whom 
died  in  New  Jerse}'.  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;  Mar}',  de- 
ceased; Joseph  (deceased),   who   married 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Lora  Lessey;  Theodore  (deceased),  who 
married  Mary  J.  Hammond,  who  now 
lives  in  Chicago,  111. ;  Ellen,  who  married 
Fred  \V.  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  county,  N.  J.,  in  1739;  he  was 
a  farmer,  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  Dewees.  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  on  to 
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  comment.  With  a  heart 
filled  with  \o\e  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    BIOGRAPniCAL    RECORD. 


Sheeaii;  John  P.,  who  was  a  Union  sol- 
dier in  the  Civil  war,  and  died  at  home  of 
disease  contracted  in  the  service;  L}nian, 
who  married  Aimie  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 
1874  was  organized  out  of  the 
City  National  Bank,  and  he  has  been 
actively  identified  with  the  bank  since 
1865;  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  Wisconsin, 
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.  \\'hitnev, 
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  early  days  of  a  new  country),  for  we 
find  him  in  1S48  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)  \'alentine  S.  enlisted  in 
Kansas,  at  commencement  of  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  Eighth  Kansas 
Infantr}',  served  thrt^ughout  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 
\\'auwatosa,  Wis.  (7)  One  son,  unnamed, 
died  in  infancy. 

W.  J.  Fisk  received  his  elementary 
education  at  the  schools  of  Green  Bay, 
proving  an  apt  scholar  and  diligent 
student.  In  his  boyhood  he  evinced 
talent  as  a  draughtsman,  and  at  the  early 
age  of  fifteen  (in  1 848)  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.  Rettnning  to  Fort  Howard,  Mr. 
Fisk  here  connnenced  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  was 
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  'S.iv.  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 VERBERK.  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  Verberk, 
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  alreadj'  migrated,  and  from 
here,  in  1856,  part  of  the  family,  amongst 
them  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  came  to 
Green  Bay;  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  W^isconsin,  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  six  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    BIOOIiAPIITCAL    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 count)',  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  \isit  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  voj'age 
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  native  country  of 
about  tfiree  months. 

On  November  25,  he  started  on  his 
westward  journe\'  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  Dc  Pere 
Standard,  and  the  English  Echo  of  the 
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  first  resident  misionary  priest  at  Green  Bay  was 
Father  \"an  den  Broek,  and  Father  Verberk  is  the  only  Hoi- 
land  priest  in  Wisconsin  to  see  that  venerable  divine  in  life. 
This  happened  during  the  winter  of  1847-48.  when  leather  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  making  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  buiid  a  new  church  on  the  very  spot,  where  the  Pio- 
neer was  laid  to  rest! 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOQRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


73 


HON.    PATRICK    FINNERTY,    a 
leading  representative  citizen  and 
prosperous    farmer    of     Holland 
township,  Brown  county,  by  vir- 
tue of  his  popularity  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  (Keaton)  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 
(Caggin),  a  family  of  ten  children — seven 
sons  and  three  daughters.  In  the  spring 
of  1 848  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  Vermont,  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  (1848), 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  Bay;  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  vicinit}'  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. 


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, particularly  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 
c\i\es  ill  roil fi\  In  the  "Eureka  State" 
he  sojourned  some  ten  months,  visiting 
various  interesting  points,  and  in  passing 
through  Oregon  spent  some  time  in  Port- 
land, returning  to  his  \\'isconsin  home  at 
the  end  of  about  a  }'ear. 

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  tilled  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  v(jtes,  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,  Wis.,  to  Miss 
Ellen  Desmond,  a  nati\e  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. 


M 


ATTHIAS  REYNEX.  Like 
thousands  of  other  worthy  men 
w  hose  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  six  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,  Wis. ,  was  their  final  destination,  and 
they  proceeded  up  the  Hudson  river  by 
steamboat  to  Albany,  where  the)-  were 
delayed  a  month  by  the  severe  illness  of 
the  head  of  the  family,  ^^'hen  he  had  re- 
covered they  continued  their  journe\'  via 
the  Erie  canal,  and  Matthias  and  his 
brother  werepriviledged  characters  on  the 
trip,  being  allowed  to  ride  the  horses  which 
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  Baj',  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  Re3'nen  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 


COMMEMOllA  TIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


75 


occupied  bj"  the  family  upon  their  arrival 
in  this  region.  Their  children,  \\'ho  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 
Vandyke,  of  Freedom,  Outagamie  Co. , 
Wis.;  Martin,  of  South  Dakota;  and  the 
only  death  in  this  famil}'  has  been  that  of 
the  father.  The  children  ha\e  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  Albany,  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  Baj"  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  Gapt.  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,  young  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;  thij 
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   BIOORAPHICAL   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  propert}'  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  ser\ice;  Martin, 
Xony,  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  18S3,  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.  Rejnen  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  De  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  bj-  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  Baj'.  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


77 


make  a  new  home  in  the  then  compara- 
tive wilderness;  but  the  father  was 
doomed  never  to  reahze  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  Brown  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  1 861  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  family  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 


COMMKMORATIVK   BIOOHAPIIICAL    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  formeriy  been  buying 
their  goods  at  wholesale  on  this  market, 
as  possible;  but  with  their  limited  capital, 
together  with  the  panicky  condition  then 
existing,  theycouUl  readii_\'  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  very  rapidly,  so  that  in  1884 
they  discontinued  their  retail  department, 
and  have  ever  since  conducted  an  exclu- 
sively jobbing  business.  In  1891  their 
business  had  grown  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  found  it  absolutely  necessary  to  in- 
crease their  facilities,  and  they  then 
erected  their  pre.sent  four-story  (and  base- 
ment) building,  88  x  90  feet  in  dimensions 
(with  granite  front),  with  warehouses  in 
rear  extending  to  the  channel  of  the  Fox 
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  ver\-  little  leisure 
time,  and  to-da\',  even,  the\'  are  harder 
workers  than  any  of  their  numerous  em- 
ployees, and  their  success  in  life  is  largely 
attributed  to  the  close  personal  attention 
they  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 
Vine}ard,  Mass.,  where  W^illiam  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  lad)-  of  culture  and 
refinement.  She  is  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  takes 
c:n  acti\e  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  Ba}',  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  li\e  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  employed  at 
the  same  kind  of  labor.  In  1 862  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    crockery 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


house  of  W^heelock  &  Chapman,  at 
which  he  continued  until  his  enhst- 
ment,  in  1865,  in  Company  G,  Forty- 
first  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, 
and  that  was  at  Chatham,  111.,  through 
an  accident  while  cit  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  years,  doing  duty  during  the 
terms  of  Capt.  D.  M.  Whitney,  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  organization  of  that  institution; 
is  a  stockholder  in  the  Columbian  Bakery 
Companw  of  which  he  is  a  director  and 
vice-president;  also  stockholder  in  and 
treasurer  and  director  of  the  Green  Bay 
and  Fort  Howard  Water  Works  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' 
famil)-.  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 
j-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  jewelry   business, 


82 


OOMMEMORATirE   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- 
lialf  years  he  resigned  in  order  to  take 
active  interest  in  the  grocery  business  of 
Joannes  Brothers,  with  which  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  sympathies 
Mr.  Joannes  is  pronouncedly  independent. 
During  the  winter  of  1893-94  he  built  one 
of  the  finest  residences  to  be  seen  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,  111.,  re- 
moving still  later  to  Sauk  Center,  Minn., 
where  he  engaged  cxtensivelj'  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 
&  Ma3o;  later  was  with  Thomas,  La;;ear 
&  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  o{ 
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  nained  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 


ment  hold  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
pubhc,  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 
January  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  sufftcient  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,  borrt 
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  1819,  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 


COMMEMORAriVK    BIOURAPIIICAL    liECORD. 


more  fierce  and  warlike  held  all  Ihc  coun- 
try west  of  the  Mississippi.  This  did  not 
prevent  Mr.  W'hitnej-  from  making  many 
long  journeys  to  the  interior,  and  push- 
ing his  in\estigations  wherever  he  thought 
good  locations  for  trade  could  be  found. 
He  explored  the  Fo.\  river  to  its  source, 
and  the  Wisconsin  from  the  rapids  to  the 
^lississippi.  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  onlj-  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. 
Whitney  crossed  over,  drawing  the  sled 
and  load  with  him.  The  Indian  would 
not  follow,  whereupon  Mr.  Whitnej'  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  1824  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.  W'hitney  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  baj's,  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- 
portation business.  For  manj-  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  W^isconsin,  built  mills 
at  Plover  Portage,  and  for  more  than 
fifteen  }ears  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  ri\er.  and  probably  the 
first  on  any  tributary  of  the  Mississippi. 
During  the  same  period  he  also  built  a 
shot-tower  at  Helena,  on  the  \\'^isconsin 
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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


85- 


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  j'ears  ago: 

Indian  Agency. 
Green  Bay,  July  21,  '32. 
To  Daniel  Whitney: 

Dear  Sir. — With  the  anus  purchased  from 
Messrs.  Kircheval  &  Hamilton,  together  with 
your  own,  you  will  please  to  include  some  to  be 
had  from  Messrs.  Law,  Porlier  iSr  Grig^non,  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,  II.  S.  Indian  Agt. 

In  1831  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  Ba\',  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  1S30  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  I  838  until  cares  ended  with  him  on  earth 
he  never  ceased  to  watch  about  it,  and 
many  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  Whitnej',  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 
iTierchandise,  reaching  on  to  the  Wisconsin 
river,  where  he  had  built  the  first  sawmill  upon 
the  river  at  Point  Pass,  sotne  seventy  miles 
above  the  Portage,  one  on  the  Wisconsin  and 
one  on  the  Fox.  a  shot-tower  at  Helena,  and 
extending  his  business  on  to  the  Mississippi  to 
Galena  and  St.  Louis.  Three  years  before  he 
persisted  in  building  and  laj'ing  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  horseback,  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 throug-h  the  snow,  taking  the  ground  for 
our  body  with  our  saddles  for  pillows,  carrying 
provisions  and  blankets  with  us.  I  always 
found  him  a  cheerful  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  6,  1821,  he 
.started  in  a  canoe  with  two  men,  the  ice  run- 
ning  thick  in   the    river.     His   acquaintances 


86 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


tried  hard  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  jfreat  exertion  thej'  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  da3'  and  encamped.  The  next  day  started 
down  the  river  bank,  packing  their  food  and 
blankets  on  their  backs,  each  carrj-ing  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  gun  catch- 
ing on  the  ice  was  the  only  thing  that  saved 
him.  Tlie  weather  was  so  cold  some  of  the 
time  that  they  had  to  stop  and  build  fires  to 
warm  them.selves  to  keep  from  freezing. 
Thirty  miles  above  Prairie  du  Chien  they  got 
out  of  provisions,  but  seeing  a  smoke  they  made 
for  it  and  found  Augustin  Grignon  encamped, 
an  acquaintance  from  Green  Bay.  He  was  on 
a  trading  voyage  among  the  Indians  ;  he  sup- 
plied them  with  provisions.  In  this  way  they 
passed  through  Prairie  du  Chien  to  Fort  Win- 
nebago, and  from  thence  to  Green  Bay,  where 
they  arrived  in  twenty-one  days  from  Fort 
Snelling.  After  remaining  a  few  daj-s  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  on  horseback. 

During  the  last  iifteen  years  of  Mr. 
Whitney's  life  he  pursued  no  regular  busi- 
ness, but  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the 
care  of  an  immense  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,  luider  the  most  discourag- 
ing difificulties.  On  one  occasion  while 
returning  home  from  Grand  Kaukauna 
with  hor.se  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  above  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  with  help,  and  saved  the 
animal.  Whenever  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  afflicted,  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  by  his  will  left  his  large 
and  valuable  estate  entirely  under  the 
control  of  his  widow,  as  sole  executor. 
Calmly  he  awaited  the  approach  of  death, 
which  he  saw  slowly  but  surely  approach- 
ing for  many  weeks;  and  spoke  of  it  as 
unconcernedly  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  i,  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:  (Ij  Daniel  Henshaw,  born  in 
Shantytown,  June  7,  1827,  was  married 
March  10,  1863,  to  Miss  Rosena  Bader, 
and  settled  in  Stockbridge,  Wis.,  but  died 
in  Menasha  November  17,  1866;  they  had 
two  children:  Emmeline  Stillman,  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 
immediatel}'  follows  this.  (Ill)  William 
Beaumont,  born  in  Navarino  (now  Green 
Bay)  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. ; 
William  Beaumont  was  married  the  sec- 
ond time  at  Chicago,  November  23,  1888, 
to  Miss  Emma  Graham  Varian,  by  whom 
he  has  one  child,  Margaretta,  born  March 
13,  1892.  (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. 
(VI)  Harriet  Hayward,  born  October  18, 

1842,  is  still  living  on  the  old  homestead, 
in  the  house  she  was  born  in.  (VII) 
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  reply 
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  ma.xim,  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  county. 
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  man)- beneficent 
acts. 


88 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQllAPUICAL   RECORD. 


G 


REGORIE  DENIS.  Anions  the 
representative  self-made  men,  and 
well-known  capitalists  of  Brown 
county,  few  if  any  have  been  the 
architects  of  their  own  fortune  to  a  degree 
such  as  has  been  attained  by  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  is  here  recorded. 

Mr.  Denis  is  a  native  of  Belgium,  born 
February  8,  1841,  the  eldest  in  the  family 
of  Justice  and  Josephine  Denis,  also  Bel- 
gians by  birth.  The  father  in  his  native 
land  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  in  comfort- 
able circumstances,  but  lieing  desirous  of 
seeing  something  of  the  New  World,  and 
perhaps  bettering  himself  and  family,  re- 
solved to  emigrate  hither  to  prospect  for 
a  new  home  in  the  Far  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  b\'  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  Green  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  property 
a  desirable  one,  Mr.  Denis  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 
born  in  the  family,  a  daughter,  named 
Fanny,  who  is  now  living  in  Wausau, 
Wisconsin. 

But  we  must  now  return  to  our  sub- 
ject, Gregorie,  who  had  been  left  behind 
in  Belgium  in  the  care  of  friends.  He 
received  a  fairly  liberal  education  at  the 
parish  schools  of  his  native  place,  and 
being  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  lad  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  themselves.  As 
the  fiint  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  being  made  up,  he  con- 
cluded to  return  to  the  old  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  daj's 
he  sported  in  childish  glee,  and  trod  in 
boyish  pride,  was  a  bitter  one  indeed; 
and  as  he  surveyed  the  well-known  sur- 
roundings of  the  old  home,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
shaded  as  it  was  by  luxuriant  shrubbery 
and  fragrant  with  the  perfume  wafted 
from  a  million  beautiful  fiowers,  he  could 
scarce  restrain  the  tears  from  coming  to 
his  ej'es.  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  him  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  departure  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  Quebec,  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,  assisting  his  father 
in  clearing  up  the  farm,  and  familiarizing 
himself  with  all  the  trials  and  vicissitudes 
incident  to  pioneer  life.  The  country  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,  persevering  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  the}'  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  Bay 
township. 

In  1 86 1  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
united  in  marriage  at  Bay  Settlement 
with  Mrs.  Mary  Depereaux  {nrr  Gosya), 
widow  of  Joseph  Depereaux,  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  did  not  af- 
ford support  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 
$35.00,  with  which  sum  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  unacquainted  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.  Da}-,  and  the  goods  were  shipped  on 
to  the  unpretentious  store  in  Bay  Settle- 
ment. Business  continuing  to  increase, 
purchasers  from  a  distance  patronizing 
the  store,  which  was  beginning  to  enjoy 
a  wide  piopularity,  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  of  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  hotel, 
he  found  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- 


9° 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOIiAPHICAL   ME  CORD. 


turbed  him,  but  after  due  reflection  and 
revolving  all  the  /ros  and  co/is  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  pay  out  at  one  time,  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, 
business  continued  to  expand,  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  count}'. 
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- 
six  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,  *^"  Lake  Michi- 
gan, to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Casper  Schurger, 
while  they  were  i-ii  route  from  Germany 
to  Wisconsin.  To  this  marriage  there 
arc  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  excellent  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 


stron;L,'  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,  is  conducting 
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  famil}'  name  becomes  e.xtinct. 
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  }"ear  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  16,  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  Ba}'  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  e.xtent,  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 


.AIXOLM  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  e\er  hold  the 
warmest  affection,  but  it  is  evidence  that 
they  are  men  who  recognize  their  duty 
as  citizens  in  common  with  the  nati\'e- 
born  of  the  Republic,  and  do  not  hesitate 
to  perform  it. 


Malcolm  Sellers  was  born  October 
26,  1 8 1 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  interrupted  by  a 
summons  to  the  sick  bed  of  his  mother,  so 
he  settled  his  affairs  and  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  missionar\',  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  affairs,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1849  he  was  persuaded  by  the 
Whigs  in  his  locality  to  become  a  candi- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


93 


date  for  the  State  Assembly.  He  was 
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  charge  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 
MiKvauker.;  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  service  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  anxiety  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.  "He  has, "  says  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,  1 86 1,  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  loyalty, 
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  cond  ucts 


94 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGMAPHICAL    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  larj^ely  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  Scutiiicl  of  November  4, 
1 888,  speaks  for  itself: 

Fort  How.\kd,  Nov.  2. 
To  tlic  Editor  of  Tin  Sentinel: 

On  Wednesday  of  this  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: 

FOKT  Howard.  Oct.,  31.  188S. 
Dear  Sir: — Your  circular  reached  ine  this  morning,  and  in 
reply  would  say.  if  1  had  ten  thousand  votes  I  would  not  give 
you  one  under  your  present  nomination.  A  Scotchman  receiv- 
ing a  nomination  from  the  modern  Democratic  party,  which 
has  souglit  by  all  lueans  on  earth  and  in  hell  to  destroy  our 
Nation,  is  too  much  for  me.  As  a  true  Scot.  I  cannot  compre- 
hend what  you  are  after. 

Yours  truly,  M.  Sellers. 

The  children  of  Mr.  and  Jvfrs.  Sellers 
have  been  si.x  in  number,  but  of  these 
only  two  are  living:  Maggie  I.  and  Mal- 
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  physically  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,  1876.  Florence  Victoria  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  away  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  1 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 
.'\merican  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  perforin  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  famil)'  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,  i  854, 
at  Peel,  Wellington  county,  Canada.  His 
grandfather,  Robert  McGeehan,  a  native 
of  Scotland,  was  married  in  County  Down, 
Ireland,  to  Margaret  Morgan,  and  in  1818 
migrated  with  his  wife  and  family  to 
Guelph,  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    BIOGllAPUICAL   RECORD. 


95 


Driscoll,  who  was  born  in  Canada.  In  1 870 
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- 
lished 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  years.  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, 
1 894,  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,  i886;  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  nearl}'  forty  years 
ago,  when  the  now  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  (who,  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  Pottsville,  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   BIOORAPSICAL    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  alread\-  related  (he  was  mar- 
ried in  i88ij;  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  1S62,  and  in  1880 
served  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- 
sentati\e  t(j  the  State  Legislature,  taking 
his  seat  in  i860,  but  at  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  service  he  declined  renomina- 
tion.  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 

cotint\-  in  I  85  I. 


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.  They  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  Ba}'  Lodge  No.   19. 


w 


ILLIAM  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., 


f  5«»«^^, 


^^T'l^r^ 


T 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOEAPHICAL   RECORD. 


99 


in  what  was  then  called  Moyamensiiig, 
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  coining  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  accumnudated  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,  1844,  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  up  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 
eventually  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 by  his  brother  Henry,  he  set 
out  for  the  then  "  Far  West,"  arriving  at 
Muscatine,  Iowa,  April  i,  1858.  Times 
being  then  particularly  "hard,"  no  work 
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  w.ere  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,  they  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  thirty  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 
wood  he  had  cut,  his  a.\e  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  Henr}', 
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  V-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   BIOGRAPHICAL   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 
once  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  8,000  for  a  day's  work,  con- 
ducting the  yard  entirely  by  hand  for 
some  seven  years,  or  until  August,  18S0, 
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  )ear  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 sympathycan  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  1S73,  without  the  slightest  in- 
fringement of  his  word  or  infringement  of 
his  integrity,  fully  entitle  him  to. 


PHILIPP  KLAUS  (deceased).  Men 
there  have  been,  unversed  in 
classics  or  science,  without  art, 
without  eloquence,  who  jet  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  ii,  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  manj'  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  li\e  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  traveled  by  cars  to  Buffalo,  from 
which    city  they  came    by   the    steamer 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    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  Bay  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  1 85 5,  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  "  Ivlaus 
Hall, "  which  was  afterward  sold  to  the 
proprietors  of  the  Green  Bay  Advocate, 
and  he  then  erected  the  present  "Klaus 
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  ma}'  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.  Klaus  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  enjoj'ment  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. 


104 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


ELISHA  MORROW.  When  an 
e\ei-bu.sy  man,  from  the  fe\erish 
turmoil  of  politics,  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  respectively,  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  years.  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  ^^ 
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 part}'  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   BWGEAPUIVAL    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  six  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,  ^"d  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 
Baj'.  Our  subject  was  then  fourteen 
years  of  age,  and  had  been  fairly  edu- 
cated in  New  York,  to  which  privilege  he 
added  by  further  study  in  Green  Bay.  In 
1853  he  here  engaged  in  the  grocery  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 e.xperience  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  si.\  children,  as 
follows:  Mary,  wife  of  G.  W^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  si.xty-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  secretar}'  and  treasurer.  The  plant 
in  Green  Baj'  is  located  on  the  East  side, 
and,  including  the  branch  brewery  at 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  represents  a  capital 
of  two  hundred  and  twentj'-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  thirt3'-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  Wisconsin  \'alle3' 
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  pro\ed  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,  1865;  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 
everything  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 
Brewery,  receiving  a  diploma;  after  which 
he  was  for  a  time  in  Keeley  Bros.  Brew- 
ery, Chicago.  Moving  to  Dallas,  Te.\as, 
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  m}'  knowledge  was  gathered  from  Mrs. 
Mitchell,  mother  of  Mrs.  Theodore  Har- 
ris, and  from  others  who  had  occupied  it 
or  knew  o"f  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  1S44. 
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  properly,  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.  About  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  island," 
the  name  Hewitt  frequently  appearing  in 
old-time  annals. 

Grandfather    Samuel    Hewitt  held    a 


loS 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPmCAL   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- 
westrj'  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  Mellinochreg  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  years  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  \ears  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  Presbyterian  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 
gleaned  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


109 


devoted  all  of  himself,  and   is  splendidly 
equipped  for  successful  work." 

In  1866  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].,  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.  Thers  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  futurity  will  probably  develop. 
Mr.  Hudd  is  a  native  of  New  York 
State,  born  October  i,  1835,  in  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  1 830  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  Citizen,  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) 
University,  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  1863,  when 
Mr.  Jewett  retired,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  M. 
Wigman  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  Ba}',  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 


no 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  his  Congressional  work,  and  at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  Lth  Congress,  Mr.  Hiidd 
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  discontinued  in  October, 
1890. 

Mr.  Hudd  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  repeal  of  the  ' '  Granger 
Law,"  which  had  become  so  obnoxious  to 
the  State.  In  1877  he  was  again  sent 
by  his  constituents  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  by  the  death  of  Jos- 
eph Rankin.  In  this  Congress  he  served 
on  the  committee  on  Commerce,  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  committee  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  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, wherein  he  has  a  wide  clientage 
and  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the 
leading  criminal  lawyer  in  this  section  of 
Wisconsin.  In  municipal  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.  Hoar,  one  of  three  commissioners 
to  represent  the  State  of  Wisconsin  at 
the  Centennial  celebration  of  the  inaugur- 
ation of  George  Washington  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:  Richard  P.,  Sophia 
M.  (now  wife  of  William  Beatty,  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  F.  &  A.  M.,  Waverly  Lodge 
No.  51,  Appleton,  and  in  politics  he  is  a 
stanch  Democrat. 


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  earned  for  himself 
an  enviable  reputation  as  a  courteous, 
painstaking  official. 

He  is  a  native  of  this  State,  born,  in 
1847,  '"  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  }ears  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  1S55,  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- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Ill 


known  jeweler  in  New  York  Cit}',  where 
he  passed  his  entire  Hfe. 

Isabella  C.  Courtena},  mother  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Balti- 
more, Md.,  and  was  a  member  of  one 
of  the  early  leading  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 
lost  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  181 2.  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 1.  Mrs.  Isabella  C. 
Hinsdale  died  in  1892. 

William  C.  Hinsdale,  our  subject,  re- 
ceived his  education  in  Milwaukee,  and 
after  leaving  school  entered  the  employ 
of  Marshall  Ilsley,  as  bank  collection 
clerk,  and  after  four  j-ears,  or  in  1869, 
entered  the  service  of  the  American  Ex- 
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.  E.  Gardner,  who  about 
the  year  1854  came  to  Green  Ba}-,  where 
the  father  followed  his  business,  that  of 
contractor  and  builder;  he  died  about 
1880;  the  mother  is  yet  living  in  Green 
Ba}-.  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  Bay,  Wis.,  was 
born  in  Saxony,  Germany,  in 
1828,  a  son  of  Theodore  George  and 
Caroline  (Weygant)  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  1863  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  Allouez  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  to  this  union  have 
been  born  eight  children,  of  whom  the 
living  are:  Fannie,  wife  of  F.  L.  Erd- 
mann,  of  Green  Bay;  Virginia,  Theodore 
G.  and  Frederick  E.  The  mother  of  this 
family  was  called   from  earth    in    1887 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPmCAL   RECORD. 


since   when   Mr.    Kyber   has   remained   a 
widower. 

Mr.  Kjber  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  to  Wisconsin  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  to  Wisconsin,  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  was 
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- 
efficient  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  by  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  3ears 
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  be  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  recei\ed 
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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


"3 


Mich.,  and  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Marj' 
J.  (Arlow)  Fuller.  An  interesting  family 
of  si.\  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. 


N 


S.  KIMBALL,  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,  3-t  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  the}' 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 
1 890  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  (Campbell)  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  Bay.  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  Bay;  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  jears,  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 
fanning  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  1874, 
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, industr}'  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  bj'  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,  1 778,  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  Rhode  Island,  a  captain  in 
Col.  Topham's  regiment,  and  it  is  rec- 
orded that  he  "drew  regular  pa\-. "  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. 


n/-^  a. 


CT  C> 


7:^/5  QJ^a^j^ 


aOMMEMORATTVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


117 


an 

and 
theological 


W.  J.  Abrams,  after 
academic  education  at  Cambridge 
Troy,  N.  Y. ,  entered  the 
school  at  Williamstown,  Mass. ;  but, 
owing  to  impaired  health  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  noinmcs  dc 
phivie  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 
Bay,  Winona  &  St.  Paul.  Mr.  Abrams 
was  also  the  leading  promoter  of  the  Ke- 
waunee, Green  Bay  &  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  Revolutionarv  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 
sucfi  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 


iS 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGEAPHICAL   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  iiistory,  chronicled  in 
steel  and  in  words  that  endure  forever. 


THOMAS  ATKINSON,  a  respected 
and  well-known  citizen  of  Preble 
townsliip.  Brown  county,  is  a  na- 
tive  of  Ireland,    born    March    lo, 
1816,  in  County  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  l)()rn  in  1823,  dauj^hter  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 
young  w(jmanhood),  all  four  born  in 
Ireland;  and  Louis  (at  home),  Philip  (of 
Ironwood,  Mich.)  and  Thomas  H.  (who 
died  young),  these  three  born  in  America. 
In  January,  1848,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atkinson, 
with  their  family,  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  1849, 
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  six  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  i860, 
he  located  on  his  present  farm,  and  has 
here  since  continuously  resided,  having 
now  133.1  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  iiS27,  in  County  Limerick,  Ireland, 
daughter  of  Michael  Howard;  she  died 
January  22,  1877,  without  issue,  and  her 
remains  now  rest  in  Shantj'town  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 aixl  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  highly  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  i8<S5;  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    BIOOIiAPHICAL   RECORD. 


119 


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  1868  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  Lodsre,  F.  &  A.  M. 


WILLIAM  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  (Ellis)  Arm- 
strong, natives,  respectively,  of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  and  Londonderry,  Ireland,  the 
former  of  whom,  by  \ocation  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  da\s  the 
proprietor  was  heard  to  remark  chat  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  emplo}'ment;  so 
he  was  set  down  as  a  rogue  in  hiding,  an 
impression  which  did  not  last  long,  how- 
e\'er,  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  subsequently  rented  the 
same,  in  partnership  with  James  ^lorgan. 


120 


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  ne.xt 
purchased  a  ta.x-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  beiniJ  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  valley,  from 
which  he  produced  250  barrels  of  flour, 
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  fivp  dollars  per 
bushel,  all  spot  gold;  onions  sold  at 
twenty-five  cents  per  p^und,  rutabaeas 
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,thenceb3' 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, 
although  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    BIOORAPUWAL    RECORD. 


121 


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  Pare  village,  and  in  all  public  offices 
he  has  discharged  his  duties  with  credit  to 
himself  and  to  the  public.  In  rehgion  he 
is  a  birthright  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  in  1874  was  also  admitted, 
by  profession  of  faith,  as  a  member  ofthe 
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.:  Alexander, 
born  January  4,  1852,  married  to  Mary 
Hannah,  and  now  residing  in  Chicago, 
111.,  and  William  S.,  born  January  2, 
1863,  and  now  a  resident  of  Green  Ba\-, 
Wis.  William  Armstrong  is,  strictly 
speaking,  a  self-made  man,  having  in- 
herited nothing  from  his  father,  who  was 
reduced  from  most  excellent  circumstances 
by  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  1 1,  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.,  specially  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  hirn 
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  Dem.ocrat  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  county,  Wis.,  and  make  his  home 
with  his  brother-in-law,  \\'illiam  H. 
Bruce,  until  he  reached  his  majority,  and 
after  attending  school  one  year  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHWAL   RECORD. 


for  a  boat  to  Green  Bay.  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  jTjeneral  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,  X.  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  road-?  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 b\-  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  John  Coppcns,  <  f  Humboldt  town- 
ship; Olive  is  married  to  Henry  Rock- 
well, of  Preble  township;  I.^avina  married 
Charles  Sidel,  and  died  in  Wausau.Wis. , 
leaving  four  children;  Madison  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Preble  township;  Chauncy  N. 
died  whr;n  three  months  old;  \\'illiam  is 
li\inL,^  ;it  home;  Delight  is  tiie  wife  of 
Fred      Rockwell,     of     Preble     tovvnship; 


Porter  lives  at  home.  Politically  a  Demo- 
crat, Mr.  Aldrich  has  been  one  of  the 
stanch  supporters  of  the  party  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  years,  at  various 
times,  at  one  time  holding  the  office  when 
his  jurisdiction  extended  over  what  is  now 
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.  In  religious  connection 
Mrs.  Aldrich  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church. 


FRED.  P.  GROSS,  a  well-known 
citi;?en  of  Port  Howard,  Brown 
county,  was  born  in  1863,  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  young  man,  about  1852,  and  set- 
tling on  a  farm  in  the  woods.  F"or  some 
years  subsequent  to  1871  he  was  pro- 
prietor of  a  sawmill,  and  he  and  his  wife 
arc  now  residents  of  Morrison  township, 
Brown  county.  Their  children  are:  Car- 
oline, wife  of  Frank  Falk,  of  Seymour, 
Wis. ;  Louisa,  wife  of  Joseph  Leonard,  of 
Medford,  Wis. ;  August,  married  and  re- 
siding in  Morrison  tovvnship,  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  I3aniel 
Schunk,  of  Morrison  township;  Sophia, 
wife  of  William  Peters,  of  Bullion,  W^is. ; 
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,     1889,    when     he  located    at   Fort 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


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 
Turnverein. 


JOHN    COOK,   fashionable  merchant 
tailor,  and  proprietor  of   the   opera 
house  at  De  Pere,  Brown  county,  is 
a  native  of  that  city,  born  March  21, 
1856,    a    son     of    John     and     Catherine 
(Dwyer)  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  1848  he  came  to  De  Pere,  and  in  1849 
established  a  merchant-tailoring  establish- 
ment. In  1858  he  purchased  a  farm  of 
fifty-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  x  114 
feet,  and  has  a  seating  capacity  for  six 
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 
1 891  ;  in  religious  faith  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  In  the  fall  of  1 888 
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- 


124 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


iication  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  cnj^agement  as  clerk 
for  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway 
Company  at  Fort  Howard, remainingthere 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
embarked  in  mercantile  business  in  Green 
Bay.  At  the  close  of  si.\  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  in  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  j-ears,  when  (1889) 
he  was  a])pointed  to  his  present  position, 
to  which,  by  his  wide  experience  and  gen- 
eral qualifications,  he  is  admirably 
adapted. 


Fi:KDINAND  GOFFAKT,  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  dyer,  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,  and  then  for  two  years  went  to  a 
graded  school,  receiving  a  very  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,  Wis.,  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,  14  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  u]i  the  land,  which 
was  densely  covered  with  timber,  princi- 
pally beech  and  niRple.  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 
rj'e,  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  familv,  but  the 
'greater  part  of  the  responsibility  rested  on 
Ferdinand.  She  died  in  Rockland  town- 
ship. Brown  count)',  in  1 888,  and  was 
buried  in  De  Pere  cemetery. 

On  March  9,  1861.  Ferdinand  Goffart 
was  united  in  marriage  in  Fremont  coun- 
ty, Iowa,  \yith  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  Barkrnan,  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  1882,  and 
was  buried  in  De  Pere  cemetery.  On 
September  24,  1882,  Mr.  Goffart  was 
married  in  De  Pere,  for  his  second  wife, 
to  Pelagie  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  years.  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 party,  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  capacity.  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  farrii  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  city;   Frank,  a  farmer 


126 


COMMEMORATIVK    BIOGRAPHICAL    ItECOHD. 


in  Scott  township;  and  Henry,  a  sawyer 
or  setter  in  the  mills  at  Oconto.  Alex, 
received  his  education  in  Beigiuni,  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  (juarr}'.  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,  M^illie  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     HERBEK,    an    energetic 
young  farmer   of    Howard    town- 
ship. Brown  count}-,  was  born  in 
New  York,  Mav  6,   1S55,  a  son  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  ,'Fuchs)  Hcrber. 

John  Herberwas  born  in  Rothcrburg; 
Germany,  April  14,  18 16,  left  his  home 
at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  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 
j'ears  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  j'ears  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,  18S1,  married 
Miss  Karolinc  Breuninger,  a  native  of 
Green  Bay,  born  October  2,  1857,  and  a 
daughter  of  Karl  and  Sophia  (Huenger) 
Brueninger.  the  former  of  whom  was  born 
at  Shrotsburg.  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  No- 
vember 23,  181 8,  and  in  1S40  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  I'ebruary  17,  1800, 
in  Hermersberg  Castle,  and  her  death 
took  place  October  9.  1834,  at  the  place 
where  her  husband's  death  occurred. 
Karl  Breuninger.  as  Tuav  well  be  sup- 
posed, was  a  hi£rhly-cdncated  man,  and 
was  emploved  in  clerical  work.  His  wife, 
Sophia  Huenger.  was  born  in  Saxony, 
and  is  now  a  resident  of  Preble  township, 
Brown  county. 

To  the,  union  of  Peter  and  Karoline 
Herber  have   been    born    three  children. 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


^^^ 


viz.:  Henrj' J.,  October  4,  18.S2;  Peter 
K.,  Februar}-  15,  1884;  and  Karl  F. , 
October  4,  1886.  After  his  marriage 
Mr.  Herber  settled  down  on  the  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  way  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  the  elder  Mr. 
Herber,  on  first  settling,  was  obliged  to 
pawn  his  coat  in  order  to  obtain  an  axe 
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  I-iutherford  B.  Haves. 


JOHN  CONNELLY,  proprietor  of 
the  "  Pine  Grove  Hotel,"  and  a  suc- 
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  3'oung  man  Michael  Connell)' 
immigrated  to  Canada,  where  he  married 
Marv  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 
family  to  De  Pere,  Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  later 
moving  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  T40  acres,  and  there 
made  his  home  for  a  number  of  years, 
finally  returning  to  De  Pere  township, 
where  he  and  his  wife  are  now  passing 
their  declining  years.      Two  of  the  daugh- 


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  Connell}',  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  family  resided  there  off  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  employ  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.  Connelly,  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 


I2S 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPUIVAL    RECORD. 


house,  besides  the  cattle,  horses,  etc. 
Mrs.  Connelly  and  her  children  escaped 
from  the  boarding  house  with  nothing  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  itifantjohnnie, 
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  l^russels  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 
sixtj'  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 
si.xtecn  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  Grove  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.  Connelh-  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  John,  Edward  and 
Arthur,  at  home. 


FRANK  HEYRMAN.  Among  the 
earl\-  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  fgrand- 
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. 


paper  at  De  Pere;  and  Joseph,  now  de- 
ceased, who  was  a  civil  engineer  at  Green 
Baj'.  The  mother  of  these  died  on  the 
ocean,  while  the  family  were  en  route  for 
America,  and  was  buried  at  sea.  From 
the  port  of  landing  the  father  and  sons 
came  by  rail  to  Chicago,  III.,  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 
by  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  immediately  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,  18S9,  when  he  was  just  sixiy-two 
years  old,  and  his  remains  now  rest  m  the 
Finger  Church  cemetery.  He  was  a 
Catholic  in  religious  faith,  and  one  ot  the 
founders  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Mar- 
tyrs of  Gorcum,  in  Preble  town.-hip,  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,  mvari- 
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  Aldrirh,  a 
daughter  of  C.  N.  Aldrich,  of  Preble 
township.  At  the  same  t'lne  he  n  ceived 
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,  w  ho  came 
from  Belgium.  Three  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  viz  :  Louis,  John  and 
Kate,  who  represent  the  fourth  generation 
of  the  Hej'rman  family  who  have  lived 
on  the  farm.      Politically  Mr.  Heyrman  is 


I30 


COMMEMORATIVE    DIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


a  Democrat,  and  one  of  the  leadin)^  mem- 
bers of  the  party  in  liis  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  jounghe  is  a  res]iccted, 
worthy  representative  of  the  farming 
community  in  Preble  township,  and  is 
foremost  in  every  movement  of  interest 
or  benefit  to  his  section. 


NIEI.S  HANSEN,  contractor  and 
builder.  Fort  Howard.  This 
gentleman,  who  was  born  in  1840 
in  Denmark,  is  a  son  of  John  and 
X'alburg  (Holm)  Hansen,  and  one  of  a 
familv  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  1879,  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  Ba\',  L.  Gotfredson's  resi- 
dence in  the  same  city,  and  others.  Dur- 
ing the  busy  season  he  furnishes  employ- 
ment to  from  fifteen  to  twenty-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  propert)  has  been  accumulated 
through  untiring  industry  and  close  econ- 
omy, 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  experienced.  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  Peterson,  all  natives  of  Denmark, 
where  her  parents  remained.  The  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hansen  are  Bertha, 
John,  Lizzie  and  Alvin,  and  of  these, 
John,  who  is  now  eighteen  years  of  age, 
holds  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  McCart- 
ney National  Bank.  In  political  matters 
Mr.  Hansen  is  actively  interested,  voting 
with  the  Republican  party.  Socially  he 
is  a  member  of  (jreen  Bay  I^odge,  No.  19, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  also  of  Mistical  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  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 


P1:TKK  HOSKENS,  a  well-to-do 
agriculturist  of  De  Pere  township. 
Brown  count}-,  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 4.  1S38.  in  East  Flanders, 
Belgium,  son  of  Peter  J.  and  Catherine 
Hoskens,  farming  people  of  that  countr\\ 
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 


a  COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


131 


for  his  father  and  others,  perforininj4'  such 
labor  as  his  age  would  permit.  He  re- 
mained in  his  native  country  until  he 
reached  the  ajje  of  twenty-six,  when  he 
went  t(j  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  native  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,  Sunday, 
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  county,  where 
for  a  short  time  he  was  employed 
in  the  mills.  He  next  went  to  Stiles, 
Wis.,  and  remained  all  winter,  \\ork- 
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  privations 
which  must  be  endured  in  camp  life.  But 
this  occupation,  though  dangerous,  was 
very  popular,  as  in  those  earl}'  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  si.xty  acres. 
In  1 891  the  residence  on  the  place  was 
burned,  and  the  following  year  he  built 
the  present  comfortable  home  of  the 
family,  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  may  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 


132 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGHAPHICAL    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  Dc  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  ba.se  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.\  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." 


DA\ID  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  business;  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- 


%•. 


'm 


m 


4 


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COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


135 


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  citj'  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  hi3  methods  it  ma\'  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.  21,  F.  &  .A.  M.,  and  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  Lodge  No.   19. 

Mr.  Britton  was  first  married,  in  1853, 
to  Miss  Frances  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  in  Suamico  township.  Brown 

county.      Mrs.  Frances    Britton   died   the 
8 


year  of  her  marriage,  and  in  1855  Mr. 
Britton  wedded  Jerusha  Kelsey,  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,  principally 
engaged  in  farming.  From  there  he  went 
to  La  Fayette,  Ind  ,  where  he  worked  as 
day  laborer  for  about  a  year,  after  which 
he  migrated  to  Brown  county.  Wis.,   and 


136 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


entered  the  employ  of  the  Two  Rivers 
Company,  continuing  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  18, 
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    BE  CORD. 


137 


son,  Mich.;  George  W.,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  ten;  Martha,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  and  Eibertie,  now  on 
the  homestead  at  Canton,  Wayne  Co., 
Mich.  The  father  of  this  familj',  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,  appointed  by  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,  1861, 
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  (which  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  pav  their  obligations  when  the}'  found 
themselves  in  more  prosperous  circum- 
stances. For  years  he  ran  the  ferry 
across  Fox  river,  and  afterward  built  and 
operated  the  fir=t  bridsre  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; 


13^5 


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 
Wrightstown,  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  cjf  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 
W'rightstown.  In  politics  he  was  a  life- 
long Ueniocrat,  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- 
munity, 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 
lias  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  throuefh  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,  viz. : 
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  H.AESE,  prominent  as  a 
farmer    and    sawmill    owner    of 
Morrison  township,  Brown  county, 
was    born    January    10,    1843,    ''i 
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  }ear, 
went  to  work  in  the  woods  at  shingle 
making,  then  an  industry  pursued  alto- 
gether by  hand.  Early  in  the  spring  of 
I  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BWGBAPUWAL    RECORD. 


139 


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  Milwaukee,  whence,  after 
two  weeks'  drilHng,  he  was  returned 
home  on  account  of  being  too  young  for 
a  soldier  and  his  father  refusing  to  sign 
his  enlistment  papers.  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 
housekeeping  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^ol- 
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  (twin 
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,    probably  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  twenty-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. 


N 


lELS    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    RECORD. 


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  of  ten  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,  ami  while  i.n  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  countv.  After 
his  marriage  Mr.  Rasmussen  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,  I^ngland,  and  thence  to  Liverpool, 
where  they  took  pa'^sage  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  English 
language.  The  family  remained  in  Green 
Ba\-  while  Mr.  Rasmussen  went  to  Glen- 
more township,  where  a  brother  resided, 
and  during  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-workingyoung 
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- 
nity as  kind-hearted,  hospitable  people. 


FELIX  LUROUIN,  Fort  Howard. 
The  pioneer  settlers  in  the  Green 
Bay  region  had  many  difficulties 
to  encounter  in  the  earh'  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  developing 
into  excellent  citizens,  public-spirited  and 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPIIICAL    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  \to3',  daughter  of  Franz  and 
Johanna  (Kattersoll)  De  Vroy,  all  natives 
of  the  same  countr}-,  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  subsequently  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  1876  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  office-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  June  i  landing  at 
Green  Bay,  eighty  dollars  in  debt,  as  he 
had  borrowed  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
journey.      In  Green  Bay  he  secured  work 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


at  his  trade,  which  he  continued  to  follow 
until  1872.  In  the  meantime  he  had 
purchased  thirtj'  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.  Van  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  fine 
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. 


Z.\CHAKIE  GOFFART.  Among 
the  intelligent,  prosperous  agricul- 
turists and  self-made  citizens  of 
Dc  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. 

Zacharic  Goffart  received  all  his  edu- 
cation in  Belgium,  and  when,  about  four- 
teen   \'ears   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  la,nd  was  poor,  and 
they  soon  afterward  moved  to  De  Pore 
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,  1 861,  in  New  Denmark 
townshi]!.  Brown  county,  a  daughter 
of  Joseph  Becher,  who  was  a  native 
of  Germany.  To  this  marriage  were  born 
children  as  follows:  Emil}',  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  remo\ed 
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  surroundin'j  coun- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUWAL    RECORD. 


'43 


try  transformed  from  the  woods  to  fertile, 
well-kept  farms,  and  has  himself  taken  no 
small  part  in  the  development  of  his  sec- 
tion. He  has  been  a  hard-workinjj  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  Pare 
townships.  Though  Mr.  Goffart's  early 
educational  ad\antages  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  yet  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  1S71.  In  1S93  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  j'ears,  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  Sheboj-gan  as 
a  farm  hand  for  a  year  and  a  half,  thence 
moving  to  New  Denmark  township, 
Browncounty,  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    BIOORAPniCAL    RECORD. 


here  Mr.  Vanderkinter  purchased  another 
forty-acre  tract  of  wild  hind,  which  he  has 
also  cleared  and  improved,  the  farm  being 
well-equipped  with  outbuildinj^s,  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,  Henry 
and  \\'illiam.  The  mother  of  these 
passed  from  earth  March  i,  1885,  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, F"rederick  and  Henry.  Politically 
Mr.  Vanderkinter  is  a  Democrat,  but  not 
active  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,  Wis., 
in  the  days  when  it  was  practically  an  un- 
broken wilderness. 

Mr.  Streckenbach  reached  Green  Bay 
in  1 848,  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  difTer- 
ent  from  what  he  had  been  accustomed  to; 
but  he  bravely  plodded  ahead,  and  lived 
to  see  great  changes  accomplislied  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  Mrs. 
Alvin  Outland,  of  Green  Baj';  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  party.  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  manj-  natural  facili- 
ties for  commercial  advancement,  the 
changes  in  a  few  vears  will  necessarih-  be 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


H5 


many,  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  yacht  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.  The}'  were  married  in 
that  State,  and  there  Vincent  Conley  fol- 
lowed the  lumber  business  and  carpentry, 
until  I  866,  when  they  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  William,  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  yatch  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, 
1 894.  In  September,  1 894,  the  ' '  Mer- 
lin ''  was  sold  by  Commodore  H.  J.  Con- 
ley to  Commodore  J.  D.  Sarles,  of  Green 
Bas'.  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  1886,  at  the 
closing  of  the  season  of  the  Oconomowoc 
Yacht  Club,  on  the  waters  of  La  Belle, 
the  "Vivian"  captured  the  first  prize. 
Among  other  A  i  yachts  built  by  Mr.  Con- 


146 


COMMEMOllATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


ley  may  be  mentioned  the  fast  sailor  •'  Au 
Re\oir,  "  for  A.  J.  Chase,  of  Lake  Crystal, 
Minnesota;  schooner  yacht  "Oneida,  "for 
John  C.  F"ollett,  of  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  (she 
won  first  prize  in  her  class  in  the  Green  Bay 
rej^atta  held  July  27,  18941;  sloop  "Em- 
ma," for  Commodore  Greene,  which,  in 
her  maiden  race,  beat  the  "Empress" 
and  ' '  Vivian  "  on  Lake  Oconomowoc,  July 
4,  I  894,  also  on  Auf^ust  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  they  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. 
Conlej'  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 toj'achts  and  boats,  he  is  also  manu- 
facturer of  sails,  tents,  flags,  awnings, 
etc.  The  family  residence  is  at  No.  300 
South  Washington  street,  Green  Bay. 


FELIX  DKOOG.     This  substantial, 
well-to-do    citizen    of    De     Pere, 
Brown  coimty,  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  mone\-.  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  j'onng  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  o\er  a  year 
after  their  arrival  they  resided  with  Greg- 
orie  Bormans.  in  .'Mlouez  township,  and 
then  moved  to  De  Pcre,  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,  and,  after  some  years,  pur- 
chased twenty  acres  of  wild  land  in  De- 
Pere  township.  The  place  was  entirel}'  in 
the  woods,  not  a  stick  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 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


'47 


work  and  perseverance  has  accumulated  a 
comfortable  competence.  He  not  only 
cultivated  his  original  larin,  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.\  River  \'alle3',  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 everj'where  for  his  sterling  worth. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Droog  have  been  blessed 
with  children  as  follows:  Mar}',  Mrs. 
Frank  Calaway,  of  WestDePere:  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   "Charniy,"   has  been 
sailing   from   the    port    of    Green 
Bay  since  1864,  commencing  on 
the  steamboat  "George  L.  Dunlap,"  and 
receiving  his  commission  in  1868. 

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  da\s  arriving  at  New  York 
City.  Thence  they  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    160    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 
Januarj-  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  Frank  Garrett, 
of  Green  Baj';  Celestin  R. ,  residing  at 
East  De  Pere,  engaged  as  engineer  and  at 
farming;  Louis,  an  engineer,  who  died  in 
1891,  at  Appleton;  Alfonsine,  who  died 
while  en  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  famil}',  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, 
P"rank,  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  \\as  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- 


1 48 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


dren,  viz.:  Aj^nes  (deceased  in  1891)  was 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Coel,  a  clotliing  mer- 
chant; James  is  a  salesman  with  Joannes 
Bros. ;  and  Lucy,  and  Joseph,  also  clerk- 
ing with  Joannes  Bros.  The  Captain  in 
politics  is  a  Republican;  fraternally  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum;  in  relig- 
ious faith  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
St.  John's  Catholic  Church.  Their  fine 
residence  in  Green  Bay  is  located  at  No. 
325  Van  Buren  street,  and  is  centrally 
situated.  The  Captain  takes  a  lively  in- 
terest in  the  progress  of  the  city,  is  high- 
ly respected  both  on  the  lakes  and  on 
shore,  and  is  recognized  as  a  useful,  sub- 
stantial citizen. 


PETER   VANDERHEIDEN, 
farmer      of    Holland      township, 
Brown  county,  was  born  in  North 
Brabant,    Holland,   February  10, 
1849,    a  son   of   Derk  and  Antonet  (Van- 
Roy)  Vanderheiden. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a 
farmer,  and  was  twice  married,  first  to 
Petrone'la  Van  de  Nymelenberg,  who  bore 
him  seven  children,  and  died  November 
9,  1847.  The  father  then  married,  No- 
vember 30,  1848,  Antonet  Van  Roy,  who 
has  bore  him  six  children,  viz. :  Peter, 
our  subject;  George  B. ;  Mary,  deceased; 
John  and  Bardine  (twins),  and  Mary  (2). 
In  1850  the  parents  came  to  America, 
landing  in  New  York,  thence  coming 
directly  to  Wisconsin.  They  settled  in 
Holland  township,  where  the  father 
bought  160  acres  of  land  in  the  wild 
woods,  from  which  was  carved  out  the 
splendid  farm  where  our  subject  now  lives. 
It  would  be  superfluous  to  here  relate  the 
primitive  manner  in  which  the  farm  was 
reached  and  hewed  from  the  wilderness. 
The  courage  and  the  endurance  of  the  pio- 
neer have  been  depicted  a*  housand  times, 
and  the  experience  of  the  Vanderheiden 
family  was  that  of  all  others  in  like  cir- 
cumstances. Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
family  prospered,    but   that  it  was  for  a 


period  of  thirty  years  that  they  lived  in 
the  20  X  30  log  cabin  that  originally  occu- 
pied the  site  of  their  present  substantial 
stone  dwelling. 

Peter  \'anderheiden  was  faithful  in 
aiding  his  father  in  developing  the  home- 
stead, and  was  alwa)s  a  hard  worker  at 
home,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  months 
during  the  winters,  when  he  worked  for 
neighbors;  but  he  always  brought  his 
earnings  home,  adding  thus  to  the  family 
store.  The  father  died  here  February  1 1, 
1874,  aged  fifty-nine  years,  eleven  months 
and  eleven  days,  deeply  mourned  by 
friends  and  neighbors.  Our  subject  then 
took  possession  of  the  farm,  which  he  has 
successfully  managed  to  the  present  time; 
each  heir  became  the  owner  of  eighty 
acres.  In  1887  our  subject  married  Miss 
Louise,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary 
(Gilsing)  Pekel,  the  family  coming  to 
America  from  Germany  in  i860.  There 
were  nine  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pekel,  namely:  Lambert,  John,  William, 
Mary,  George,  Kate  (deceased  in  in- 
fancy), Louise,  Kate  (2),  and  Lena.  To 
our  subject  and  his  wife  have  come  four 
children,  viz. :  Theodore,  born  Decem- 
ber 7,  1S88;  John  and  Mary,  born  Jan- 
uary 14,  1891;  and  William,  born  Jan- 
uary 7,  1893.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vanderheiden 
are  devout  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church;  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
socially  he  is  one  of  the  most  respected 
citizens  of  the  township. 


JOSEPH  CRABB,  a  rising  young  agri- 
culturist of  De  Perc  township,  is  a 
native  of  the  town  of  De  Pare, 
Brown  county,  born  November  8, 
1 87 1,  son  of  Philip  and  Gertrude  Crabb, 
the  former  a  native  of  Belgium,  the  latter 
of  Holland.  She  was  his  second  wife, 
and  they  were  the  parents  of  six  children — 
three  sons  and  three  daughters — of  whom 
Joseph  is  the  eldest  son. 

Joseph  Crabb  received  a  liberal  com- 
mon-school education   in    the  schools  of 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


149 


De  Pere.  When  he  was  seven  years  old 
his  father  died,  and  his  mother  having  re- 
married, he  resided  at  home  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  eighteen,  at  which 
time  he  commenced  life  for  his  own  ac- 
count. Proceeding  to  Glenwood,  St. 
Croix  Co.,  Wis.,  he  remained  there  three 
years,  the  greater  part  of  the  time  work- 
ing in  a  mill,  excepting  for  a  few  months 
when  it  was  idle,  and  he  engaged  in  rail- 
roading. He  then  returned  to  De  Pere 
township,  Brown  county,  where  for  a 
short  time  he  made  his  home  with  his 
wife's  parents,  coming,  March  i,  1893,  to 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  On  No- 
vember 5,  1889,  Mr.  Crabb  was  married, 
in  De  Pere,  to  Miss  Nellie  Kersten,  who 
was  born  August  17,  1870,  in  De  Pere 
township,  daughter  of  John  Kersten,  a 
native  of  Germany.  To  this  union  have 
been  born  two  children,  Philip  and  Ger- 
trude A.  Though  Mr.  Crabb  is  but  a 
young  man,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  youngest 
fanner  in  the  township,  he  has  no  su- 
perior as  an  agriculturist  in  his  section. 
He  is  hard-working,  energetic  and  pro- 
gressive, and  with  his  natural  ability  and 
good  business  management  is  bound  to 
prosper.  In  his  political  affiliations  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  in  religious  connection  he  and  his 
wife  are  both  members  of  St.  Mary's 
Catholic  Church. 


JAMES  D.  McAllister,  a  weii- 
known  resident  of  Howard  township. 
Brown  county,  is  a   native   of  Wis- 
consin,   born    in   Manitowoc    county 
November  27,   1847,  son  of  Clement  and 
Minalta  (Holbrook)  McAllister. 

Clement  McAllister  was  born  and 
reared  on  a  farm  in  the  forests  of  New 
York  State,  and  came  to  Wisconsin  in 
1839,  settling  on  a  farm,  where  he  died 
when  about  fifty  years  of  age.  His  parents 
were  Francis  and  Nancy  (Elkins)  McAllis- 
ter, natives  of  Scotland,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  March  i,    1792,  and  died 


November  6,  1841,  in  Manitowoc  county, 
Wis. ;  the  latter  died  in  St.  Lawrence 
county,  N.  Y.  Mrs.  Minalta  McAllister 
was  born  November  18,  18 10,  in  St.  Law- 
rence county,  N.  Y.,  and  now  makes  her 
home  with  her  son,  James  D.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  David  and  Minerva  (Bartholo- 
mew) Holbrook,  the  former  of  whom,  a 
farmer,  was  born  in  1785  in  Lebanon, 
Conn.,  and  died  in  T833  in  St.  Lawrence 
county,  N.  Y.  His  parents  were  Peltia 
and  Mary  (Clark)  Holbrook.  Minerva 
Bartholomew,  daughter  of  Isaac  and 
Lydia  (Deming)  Bartholomev^',  of  Ver- 
mont, but  later  of  New  York,  was  born 
June  3,  1793,  and  died  in  1843,  the  mother 
of  twelve  children,  of  whom  Minalta  Mc- 
Allister was  the  eldest,  and  of  whom  seven 
are  yet  living. 

James  D.  McAllister  is  the  youngest 
child  in  a  family  of  six,  of  whom  but  one 
besides  himself,  a  sister,  is  living.  He  was 
reared  on  the  home  farm  until  fourteen 
years  of  age,  when  his  father  died,  and  he 
went  to  work  for  his  Uncle  Hiram,  with 
whom  he  remained  eight  or  nine  years. 
In  1876  he  first  came  to  Howard  town- 
ship. Brown  count}',  and  bought  eighty 
acres  of  partly  cultivated  land,  which  he 
at  once  commenced  to  improve  and  work. 
On  May  28,  1879,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Ella  Ames,  who  was  born  March  27,  1859, 
in  Erie  county,  Penn.,  daughter  of  Clark 
and  Mary  (Robbins)  Ames,  who  had  a 
family  of  five  children;  these  parents  were 
also  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  in  which 
State  the  mother  died  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-seven  years;  the  father,  Clark 
Ames,  and  his  children  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin about  the  year  1866,  and  still  reside 
in  Pittsfield  township. 

The  union  of  James  D.  and  Ella  Mc- 
Allister has  been  blessed  with  six  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Mabel  V.,  born  April 
3,  1 881;  William  L. ,  born  September  10, 
1882;  Susan  S.,  born  June  3,  1885;  Alvin 
L.,  born  March  8,  1888;  and  Clyde  C, 
born  May  18,  1890,  and  one  born  May 
17,  1894,  died  July  28,  1894.  Mr.  Mc- 
Allister, at  the  time  of  his   marriage,  set- 


•50 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPmCAL    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  community. 


SETH  WILLIAMS  CHAMPION, 
railroad  manager,  was  born  De- 
cember 25,  1844,  at  Princeton, 
Ky.,  son  of  Henry  W.  and  Sally 
(Wiggcnton)  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 
Eddyvillc,  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   valuable   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  1H12.  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  country  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  e.xerted  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- 


'^Icr^Kt 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


153 


ties  of  southeastern  Illinois,  where  he  be- 
came a  fanner.  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 
1 88 1,  one  week  after  the  decease  of  his 
wife.  In  early  life  he  was  a  printer,  and 
published  a  paper  both  in  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky,  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, 


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 
honest}',  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,  III.  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  "  Old-Whig"  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  existence.  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 


'54 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


no  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Cumber- 
land faith  in  Green  Bay,  he  affihates  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  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  1 893  he  came  to  America, 
and  after  a  very  rough  voyage  landed  in 
New  York  city,  thence  coming  directly 
to  his  charge  in  Eaton  township,  P)rown 
county,  Wisconsin. 


HENRY  NACHTWEY,  a  prosper- 
ous wide-awake  general  merchant 
of  De  Fere  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  3ears  old. 

Anton  Nachtwey  received  a  good  edu- 
cation   in   the  schools  of  his  native  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 
sixteen,  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.  Having  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  countr}' 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,  he  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  I,  he  was  married,  in 
Cooperstown,  to  Miss  Catherine  Flatten, 
who  was  born  July  8,  1835,  '"  Prussia, 
daughter  of  Anton  and  Margaret  Flatten, 
who  came  to  the  United  States  in  1842. 
They  were  seven  weeks  crossijig  the  ocean, 
and  made  the  entire  journey  from  their 
home  in  Germany  to  Green  Bay,  Wis., 
by  water,    making   the    lake   trip   (-)n  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


155 


"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  Gi^een  Bay,  and  then  moved  to  De- 
Pere  township.  Brown  county,  where  Mrs. 
Nachtwey  resided  until  her  marriage.  To 
Anton  and  Margaret  Nachtwey  have  been 
born  children  as  follows:  Joseph,  of 
Bellevue  township;  John,  of  New  Den- 
mark township;  Henry,  whose  name  opens 
this  sketch;  Anton,  of  Glenmore  town- 
ship; Frank,  of  Bellevue  township;  Mary, 
teacher  in  a  convent  in  Chicago;  Mark, 
Matilda,  and  Maggie  and  Lizzie  (twins). 
at  home;  thre^  children  that  died  young; 
and  Peter,  who  died  in  Green  Bay  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  from  lockjaw,  the  re- 
sult of  an  accident  in  a  sawmill. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Nachtwey  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  seventeen 
Indian  wigwams  in  Cooperstown,  the  oc- 
cupants of  which  were  all  engaged  in 
making  maple  sugar,  which  they  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  Trinity  Catholic  Church  at 
Pine  Grove,  and  in  his  political  affilia- 
tions Mr.  Nachtwey  generally  fa\'ors  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  vears  ago. 

Henry  Nachtwey  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools  of  his  time, 
and  was  thoroughly  trained  to  agriculture 
on  the  home  farm.  In  1 870  he  commenced 
to  work  in  a  shingle-mil],  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  costly  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  industry,  but  with  the 
clearing  up  of  the  countrj' has  been  gradu- 
ally decreasing.  On  November  12,  1889, 
Mr.  Nachtwej'  was  united  in  marriage,  in 
De  Pere,  with  Miss  Margaret  E.  Connel- 
ly, who  was  born  May  23,  1865,  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  daughter  of 
John  Connelly,  and  was  but  nine  weeks 
old  when  her  parents  came  to  Wisconsin, 
where  she  was  reared.  After  marriage  the 
young  couple  commenced  housekeeping 
in  Pine  Grove,  De  Pere  township,  where 
he  has  been  engaged  in  general  mercan- 
tile business  since  1882.  He  commenced 
alone,  but  later  received  his  brother, 
Joseph,  as  a  partner,  and  they  carried  on 
the  business  together  until  1891,  since 
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  exceedingly  popular 
with  his  fellowmen.  The  postoffice  at 
Pine  Grove  had  been  discontinued,  but  in 
1882  it  was  re-established,  and  Mr. 
Nachtwey  was  appointed  to  the  position 
of  postmaster,  in  which  he  now  serves. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nachtwey  are  both  mem- 
bers of  Holy  Trinity  Catholic  Church  at 
Pine  Grove.  They  have  had  one  child, 
Allen  A.,  who   was   born   June  22,   1892. 


WILLIAM  WORKMAN,  the  pop- 
ular druggist   of  De  Pere,  Wis., 
was  born  at  the  village  of  Prest- 
wick,  Ayrshire,    Scotland,   June 
22,   1S22,   a  son    of  John    and  Ann  (Prin- 


156 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   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- 
wick  for  some  years  after  the  death  of  her 
husband,  but  tinall}'  followed  her  son  Will- 
iam to  America,  and  ended  her  days  at 
his  home  in  De  Pere.  Both  parents  were 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

William  Workman  ser\ed  an  appren- 
ticeship of  five  and  a  half  years  at  the 
machinist's  trade  in  Deanston,  Perth- 
shire, Scotland,  and  then,  July  i,  1842, 
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  8,  1852,  he  started  for  Cali- 
fornia b\'  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,  Wis.,  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  \\'ellington 
Hitchcock,  and  added  the  manufacture  of 
sleighs,  cutters,  wagons,  etc.,  and  in  1878 
sold  his  interest  in  the  factor}'  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  superintendent.  This 
firm  also  fell  into  financial  difficulties 
through  the  failure  of  the  Union  Steel  & 
Iron  Company,  of  Chicago,  in  1884,  and 
by  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  West  De  Pere,  and 
this  he  conducted  until  August  18,  1890; 
in  1887  he  also  purchased  from  William 
Chapman  his  drug  store  in  East  De  Pere, 
and  to  this,  after  selling  out  in  W'est  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 only  three  months;  his  second  mar- 
riage occurred,  in  1850,  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  Lodge,  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  j'ears.  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  West 
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. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


157 


Mr.  Workman  has  always  commanded 
the  respect  of  the  communities  in  which 
he  has  lived,  and  been  recognized  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,  Winnie  (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  try  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  count}',  which  he  subsequently  in- 
creased to  400  acres.  Here  he  died,  in 
the  Catholic  faith,  April  6,  1886,  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    only   survive:      Honora,    a 


widow;  James,  our  subject;  Margaret, 
now  Mrs.  Patrick  McMann,  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.  While  thus  employed  he 
drove  the  horses  that  hoisted  the  first  lo- 
comotive that  e\'er  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  Kilkenu}-,  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  Hud.son  (or  North)  river. 
New  York,  and  in  1858,  while  on  a  visit 
to  Wisconsin,  met  and  married  Mr.  Tou- 
hey. For  five  years  after  his  marriage 
Mr.  Touhey  resided  with  his  father,  and 
then  located  on  i  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  Pcie  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  "Manitowoc 
House."  Aided  by  his  wife,  a  very  ac- 
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 


I5S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


"Transit  Hotel."  in  which  he  did  a  thriv- 
ing trade   for  seven  years,    when   he  was 
af,'ain  burned    out.      Mr.  Touhe}-,    some- 
what    di.scouraged,     then     went    to    Hot 
Springs,  Ark.,  to  be   treated   for  rheuma- 
tism,   from  which   he  had   been  suffering 
since  1879;   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  city  and  resume  his 
former  business.      Acordinglv.  on  the  ist 
of  September,   1890,  he  opened  the  "New 
Transit  Hotel,"  now  .so  well  known  along 
the  F"o.\  river. 

Mr.  Touhey  is  a  stanch  Democrat,  and 
was  once  elected  justice  ol  the  peace,  but 
declined  to  serve;  in  1863,  however,  he 
served  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  alder- 
men of  De  Pere.  He  is  a  member  of  St 
Francis  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. 


Emma,    Robert,  Ida,  and    Albert.      After 
a  residence  of  about  si.xteen  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    machiner\-  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- 
munity.     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. 


Chari.es  schroi£dp:r.    This 
popular  dealer  in   agricultural  im- 
plements of  Wrightstown,  Brown 
county,  was  born  June  6,    1844 
in    West    Pru.ssia,    son    of    Gottlieb    and 
Louise  fLuefgei  Schroeder. 

In  1863,  ill  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- 
thng  in  the  wilderness  near  the  Fo.\  River 
Valley,  where  he  engaged  in  farming.    On 
January    18.    1870,     Mr.    Schroeder    was 
here  married  to  Miss  Bertha  \\'irschke    a 
daughter  of   Gottlieb  Wir.schke,  who  was 
largely  engaged    in    the    manufacture    of 
linseed    oil.      To   this     union    have    been 
born  ten  children,  namelv:  Marv.  Charles, 
August,       Emilie,       Rudolph,  "  Wilhelm' 


CHRISTOPH  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    1866.      They   reared   a    family   of  six 
children,  as   follows:   Christoph,  the  sub- 
ject  of   this   sketch;    Fredericka,  wife  of 
Matthias     Fi.st,    of    Pittstield    township; 
Carolme,  wife   of  Jacob   Low,  of   Preble 
township;   Harry;  James;  and  Ernestine, 
I  wife  of  Frank  Lipman,of  Preble  township.' 
I  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   m    1856  erected  his  present  plea.sant 
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.  1 ,' 
the  old   Postoffice  building.  Turner  Halli 
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  matrimonv'  in  Germany,  in  1.S49, 
to    Miss    Dorothea    Montag.    and   to  this 
union  have  been  born  eight  children,  viz. : 


COMMEMORATTVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


159 


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 
alderman  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  communit\'. 


JOHN  BATEY,  of  De  Pere,  was  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  (Blair)  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  six  years  to  a  coal  com- 
pany (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  |anuar\-, 
1845,  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-Tyne. 
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,  tlien  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  exceedingh-  stormy  one;  the  boat 
was  wrecked,  his  household  goods  all 
lost,  and  he,  his  wife  and  child  barely 
escaped  with  their  lives.  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   by  Mrs.  Batey.      In 


i6o 


COMMEMORATIVK    BWGRAPniCAL    nECORD. 


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 
twenty-six  years. 


M 


H.  NOLAN,  chief  of  police  of 
Green  Bay,  was  born  in  1856, 
in  Sheboygan  coimty,  Wis. 
His  parents,  Thomas  and  Mary 
(McDonald)  Nolan,  natives  of  Ireland, 
about  the  year  1 84 1  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  yet  a  young  man  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  tire  de- 
partment, and  had  charge  of  engine 
house  No.  2  for  a  year;  was  then  tran.s- 
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  piilitics  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  ilescent, 
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  "  (or  '  •  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  October,  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   BIOORAPUICAL    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  worthy  undertaking 
calculated  to  promote  the  general  welfare. 


RJ.  BLACK,  stock  dealer.  Fort 
Howard.  This  gentleman  was 
born,  in  1843,  in  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  countrj-.  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  1874,  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,   1874,  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  natiN'e   country.      Four  of   their 


l62 


COMMEMOUATIVK    BIOGRAPmCAL    RECORD. 


chil(iren  emifjrated  to  Wisconsin:  Rasmus 
Madscn  and  I'rcderic  Matisen,  both  resi- 
dents of  l-'ort  Howard;  Mrs.  Black,  of  the 
same  place,  and  Signc,  wife  of  C.  J. 
Black,  who  died  at  Fort  Howard  in  1 886. 
There  were  two  brothers,  Nels,  who  died 
in  Australia,  and  Christian,  who  died  in 
the  South.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Black  are  the 
parents  of  si.\  children:  Charlotte,  wife 
of  Rev.  J.  F.  Younj:;,  pastor  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  at  Fort  Howard;  Marie, 
a  j^aaduate  of  the  Fort  Howard  schools 
in  1<S93,  and  now  attending  Normal  School 
at  Oshkosh;  Agnes,  Emma  and  Stella,  at 
school;  and  Edna.  In  political  matters 
Mr.  Black  is  a  Prohibitionist,  and  he  and 
his  wife  were  charter  members  of  the 
local  organization  of  the  I.  O.  G.  T. ; 
both  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Mr.  Black  also  holds  member- 
ship in  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  at  Green  Bay, 
and  the  Royal  .\rcanum  at  Fort  Howard. 
For  five  years  he  has  served  on  the  school 
board,  and  for  an  ecpial  period  was  alder- 
man from  the  Fifth  ward,  serving  also  two 
years  as  supervisor.  He  takes  commend- 
able interest  in  public  affairs,  and  is  in  every 
respect  an  upright,  worthy  citizen.  In 
1889,  in  order  to  enjoy  a  pleasure  trip 
and  see  more  of  the  country,  he  visited 
California. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Black  have  both  re- 
sided in  Fort  Howard  a  sufficient  period 
to  witness  remarkal)le  changes  in  the 
place,  and  have  kept  pace  with  its  devel- 
opment. All  the  region  round  about 
Green  Bay  has  undergone  almost  a  com- 
plete transformation  during  the  years  of 
their  residence,  and  the  end  is  not  \et. 


DM.  HARTEAU,  architect,  of 
Green  Bay,  was  born  at  Dc  Pere, 
Brown  count}',  Wis.,  in  1842,  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  iGorham) 
Harteau,  the  former  a  native  of  Canada, 
the  latter  of    Mackinac.  Michigan. 

Joseph     Harteau,    with  two    brothers. 


Mitchell  and  Lewis,  early  came  to  Green 
Ba)'  (Shantytown),  and  there  Joseph 
found  employment  on  the  river  under  a 
Mr.  Whitney,  and  was  there  married. 
Later  he  migrated  to  Scott  township  and 
engaged  in  farming,  and  still  later  moved 
to  Chase  township,  Oconto  Co.,  Wis., 
where  he  passed  from  earth  in  1889;  his 
wife  had  died  in  1888.  Mrs.  Harteau's 
father,  David  B.  Gorham,  was  a  native 
of  England,  and  was  a  shipbuilder.  On 
coming  to  America  he  settled  in  the  Ter- 
ritor)-  of  Michigan,  and  in  July,  1827, 
was  naturalized  in  the  county  of  Michili- 
mackinac,  but  shortly  afterward  moved  to 
Green  Bay,  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  De  Pere,  is  the  youngest 
brother,  afterward  married  Charles  Ga- 
beau,  a  native  of  Canada.  Joseph  and 
Mary  Harteau  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  as  follows:  D.  M.,  our  subject; 
Ivosella,  who  married  William  Pherson, 
and  died  at  Oshkosh;  Adeline,  wife  of 
Louis  Hardvvelk,  of  Menominee;  Charley, 
of  Chase  township,  Oconto  county ;  Joseph ; 
Augustus,  of  Chase  township;  Adel,  mar- 
ried to  John  Wilson,  and  Eliza  (Mrs. 
Longled),  of  Wisconsin. 

In  1864,  D.  M.  Harteau  enlisted  at 
Green  Bay,  in  Company  C,  Forty-seventh 
Wis.  V.  I.,  was  assigned  to  garrison  duty 
at  Tuliahoma,  Tenn.,  and  was  discharged 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  1865.  On  his  re- 
turn he  worked  at  his  trade,  that  of  mason, 
and  studied  architecture,  opening  an  office 
in  Green  Bay,  in  1874,  for  the  practice  of 
the  latter  science,  and  has  been  so  em- 
ployed ever  since.  He  was  married,  in 
1872  to  Miss  Camilla  Follett,  who  was 
born  in  AUouez  township.  Brown  county, 
a  datighter  of  Burley  and  Lizzie  Follett. 
The  father  was  a  stationer,  but  later  was 
in  the  boot  and  shoe  business,  and  died 
in  Green  Bay;  the  mother  passed  from 
earth  in  Marinette.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harteau  six  children  were  born,  of  whom 
oidv    one  survives,  Zola   Lillian;  the  de- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


16,^ 


ceased  are:   Lewis,  Sarah,  Charles,  David, 
and  Adda. 

In  pohtics  Mr.  Harteau  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
common  council  from  the  Third  ward;  he 
is  also  a  member  of  T.  O.  Howe  Post,  No. 
124,  G.  A.  R.,  and  of  the  French  Catholic 
Church;  Mrs.  Harteau  is  Presbyterian. 
The  family  are  quiet  and  retiring  in  their 
habits,  and  are  regarded  with  general  re- 
spect, while  Mr.  Harteau's  professional 
reputation  stands  on  a  firm  basis. 


JOSEPH     HENRIGILLES,     present 
district   clerk,    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 identified. 

Our  subject  was  born  Februar\-  9, 
1840,  in  Francorchamps,  Belgium,  son  of 
Hubert  Henrigilles,  who  was  a  well-to-do 
fanner  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;  Marj-,  who 
married  Nic.  Guirsh,  and  died  in  Kansas; 
and  Joseph,  whose  name  introduces  this 
memoir.  The  mother  of  these  died  in 
1846.  In  1858  Hubert  Henrigilles  sold 
his  property  in  Belgium,  and  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  took  passage  at  Antwerp  for  New 
York,  where  he  and  his  family  landed 
after  a  voyage  of  thirty-six  days.  From 
New  York  they  proceeded  westward  to 
Chicago,  111.,  and  here  remained  two 
months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  they 
came  to  Peshtigo,  Wis. ,  where  the  father 
and  son  entered  the  employ  of  Ogden,  the 
lumber  and  railroad  man.  They  worked 
in  sawmills,  and  also  at  vessel  loading 
until  i860,  when  they  removed  to  New 
Hamburg,  Scott  Co.,  Mo.,  and  here  the 
father  engaged  in  farming  and  other  pur- 
suits until  1 87 1,  when  he  returned  to 
"Wisconsin,  and   passed  the  remainder  of 


his  life  in  De  Pere  township.  Brown 
county,  at  the  home  of  his  son.  He  died 
in  1892,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in  politics  a 
Republican.  While  a  resident  of  Missouri 
he  enlisted  in  the  home  guards,  on  the 
Union  side. 

Joseph  Henrigilles  was  reared  to  agri- 
cultural life,  and  received  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  place, 
the  instruction  being  principall}'  in 
French,  but  he  also  received  a  fair  train- 
ing in  the  English  language.  When 
eighteen  years  of  age  he  came  with  his 
father  to  the  United  States,  and  his  first 
work  in  the  New  World  was  for  the  Ogden 
Com.pany,  near  Peshtigo,  Wis.,  as  pre- 
viousl}'  stated.  The  first  private  resi- 
dence in  Peshtigo  was  built  for  his  father, 
but  it  was  never  taken  off  the  contractor's 
hands.  Later  our  subject  engaged  in 
fishing,  and  in  1 860  he  went  to  New  Ham- 
burg, Scott  Co.,  Mo.,  and  there  joined 
Company  B,  Scott  Count}-  (Mo.)  Home 
Guards,  Volunteer  Battalion.  On  August, 
15,  1 86 1,  he  enlisted  in  Company  B,  First 
Missouri  Cavalry,  Hubbard's  Battalion,  at 
Jefferson  Barracks,  Mo.,  for  three  years, 
or  during  the  war.  In  1863  he  was  pro- 
moted to  corporal,  and  on  December  31, 
same  year  he  was  honorably  discharged  at 
Little  Rock,  Ark.  The  next  day,  January 
1 ,  1 864,  he  re-enlisted  in  the  same  company 
and  regiment,  and  served  to  the  close  of 
the  war,  receiving  his  final  discharge  Sep- 
tember I,  1865.  Mr.  Henrigilles  was 
taken  ill  in  St.  Louis  soon  after  his  enroll- 
ment, and  was  sent  to  the  hospital,  where 
he  suffered  much  for  want  of  proper  food. 
After  leaving  the  hospital  he  joined  his 
regiment  at  Tipton,  Mo.,  and  thence  went 
to  Springfield,  same  State,  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  Fremont,  subsequently 
returned  to  Tipton,  where  he  was  taken 
ill  with  fever,  and,  upon  his  recovery,  he 
rejoined  his  regiment  at  Springfield,  Mo., 
to  assist  in  driving  the  Rebels  from  the 
State.  The  latter  returning,  the  engage- 
ment at  Pea  Ridge  took  place.  At  Sugar 
Creek  a  friend  of  our  subject  was  wounded, 


164 


COMMEMOnATIVE    BIOURAPniCAL    RECORD. 


and  Mr.  Henrigilles  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 
Newtonia,  Mo.,  which  was  thirty-three 
miles  from  the  Union  and  five  miles  from 
the  Confederate  camp.  The  second  day 
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  1 
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  I 
across  Arkansas,  via  Elm  Springs,  Fay-  j 
etteville,  over  the  Ozark  mountains  to  | 
Van  Buren,  and  from  there  to  Fort  Smith,  I 
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  RoUa.  Mo.  He  was  again  on 
scouting  duty  for  a  while,  and  then  went 
to  Pilot  Knob  and  Jackson,  Mo.,  being 
with  his  connnand  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,  .\rk.,  .scouting,  and 
they  then  joined  the  Camden  expedition, 
bein?  assigned  to  the  command  of  Gen. 
Steele;  they  were  on  the  march  for  forty- 


two  days,  fifteen  days  without  drawing 
rations,  and  three  days  without  having 
anjthing  to  eat.  On  the  return  to  Little 
Rock,  our  subject  was  granted  a  veteran 
furlough.  He  afterward  was  detailed  to 
carry  mail  from  Camden,  .Ark.,  to  Wash- 
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,  January  8,  1862;  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.  ,Scptemberi6, 1862;  McGuire's  Ford, 
Ark.,  October  28,  1862;  Prairie  Grove, 
Ark. ,  December  7, 1 862 ;  Van  Buren,  Ark. , 
December  28,  1862;  Chalk  Bluff,  Mo., 
May  5.  1863;  Bajou  Metre,  Ark.,  August 
20,  1863;  Shallow  Ford,  Ark., August  25, 
1863;  Caddo  Gap,  Ark.,  November  7, 
1863;  Cedar  Glade,  Ark.,  November  10, 
1S63;  Arkadelphia,  Ark.,  March  3,  1864; 
Spoonville,  -Ark.,  March  5,  1864;  Little 
Mi.ssouri  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,  1864. 
Genera!  Steele's  division,  which  had  suf- 
fered heavily  in  incessant  skirmishing 
through  the  entire  march  to  make  con- 
nection with  Banks  from  Little  Kock,was 
attacked  on  the  Sabine  river,  in  Arkansas, 
by  the  consolidated  forces  of  Generals 
Kirby  Smith  and  Price — 5,000  Union 
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. 


l6: 


in  a  victory  for  the  Union  force,  which 
saved  Little  Rock  and  Arkansas  to  the 
United  States  Government.  The  army  of 
the  Frontier,  to  which  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  I-iebels  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  Loy.  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  undobtedly  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:  Mar}-  T.  (now  Mrs.  Joseph 
Martin,  of  Lawrence  township),  Mary  E. 
(now  Mrs.  Hubert  Duquaine,  of  De  Pere 
township),  Mary  L.  (now  Mrs.  Henry  Von 
\'onderen,  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  Mary  L. ; 
of  whom  Mary  H.,  Mary  L. ,  Mary  T., 
Mary  L. ,  and  Ann  J.  are  deceased. 


ALVIX  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  fSmith)  Hunter,  were  also 
natives  of  the  same  place,  the  former 
born  in  18 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  Dinwiddie  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  county, 
Wis. ,  and  bought  a  forty-acre  tract  of 
land,  but  he  followed  teaming  for  a  liveli- 


i66 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


hood  until  his  marriage,  which  took  place 
November  28,  1868,  to  Miss  Rose  Bru- 
nette, who  was  a  native  of  Green  Bay, 
born  in  1842.  Her  parents.  Prudent 
and  Mary  L.  fKeynold)  Brunette,  were 
natives  of  Canada,  who  came  in  1854  to 
the  United  States,  where  they  died  at  the 
respective  ajjes  of  eighty-eipht  and  seven- 
ty-nine, the  father  passing  away  first. 
They  were  born  in  1804  and  1805,  re- 
spectively, and  their  longevity  was  the 
result,  no  doubt,  of  the  steady  habits  that 
descended  to  their  children,  of  whom 
they  had  eleven,  four  of  them  still  living. 
To  Alvin  and  Rose  Hunter  were  born  nine- 
children,  as  follows:  Ida  E.,  married 
to  Ed.  J.  Coffin,  and  has  two  sons; 
Edward  A.,  married  to  Verna  Codington; 
Cnra  M.,  second  wife  of  N.  J.  Putnam, 
by  whom  she  has  two  daughters;  Lillian 
(i^rst  wife  of  N.  J.  Putnam),  who  died 
leaving  one  child;  George,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  four  months;  and  Willie  A., 
Walter  O.,  George  D.  and  Charles  L. , 
all  four  at  home. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage  Mr.  Hun- 
ter settled  on  his  purchase  of  forty  acres, 
which  he  cultivated  twenty  years  and 
then  went  east,  and  for  one  summer 
worked  on  his  father's  farm,  after  which 
he  returned  to  Wisconsin  and  bought  a 
new  farm  of  eighty  acres,  on  which  he 
still  lives.  In  his  political  preferences  Mr. 
Hunter  is  a  Republican,  having  cast  his 
first  Presidential  vote  for  U.  S.  Grant  in 
1 868,  since  when  he  has  been  active  in 
party  work,  and  has  held  several  offices; 
he  is  now  chairman  of  his  township. 
Socially  he  is  an  active  member  of  T.  O. 
Howe  Post,  No.  124,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Green 
Bay,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  regular  at- 
tendants of  Calvary  Church. 


CM.  WINTON,  general  farmer  and 
stock-raiser,  of  De  Pere  township, 
Brown  county,  is  one  of  the  best- 
known  and  most  highly  respected 
men  in  his  community.      He  was  born  July 


27,  1850,  in  Meadville,  Crawford  Co., 
Penn.,  son  of  Charles  Winton,  who  was 
a  native  of  Centreville,  same  county. 

The  Winton  family  are  descended  from 
English  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  Phoebe  Waid,  who 
was  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 
who  were  willing  to  undergo  the  numerous 
trials  and  inconveniences  which  were  the 
common  lot  of  the  pioneer.  He  first  lo- 
cated in  Rock  county,  where  he  spent  the 
winter  of  1854-5,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1855  removed  farther  north  to  Glenmore 
township,  at  that  time  one  of  the  wildest 
sections  of  Brown  county.  Some  timber 
had  been  cut  from  the  land,  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  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.  Winton  re- 
moved to  De  Pere  township,  where  his 
wife  died  in  1872.  He  now  makes  his 
home  in  Daggett,  Mich.  Thej-  had  a 
family  of  ten  children — five  sons  and  five 
daughters — all  of  whom  but  one,  Edgar, 
are  yet  living. 

Charles  Mead  Winton  was  but  four 
years  of  age  when  he  came  with  his  par- 
ents to  Wisconsin,  and  his  early  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.,  Penn.,  where  he  received 
thorough  instruction,  and  in  1879  he  re- 
turned to  Wisconsin. 

On    July  20,  1881,    Mr.  Winton  was 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    UECORD. 


167 


married  in  De  Pere,  to  Miss  Harriet  G. 
Phelps,  a  native  of  Janesville  Wis. , 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  and  Theresa  Phelps, 
natives  of  New  York  State,  who  came  to 
Wisconsin  in  an  early  day.  In  1879  Mr. 
Winton  bought  the  old  homestead,  and 
after  his  marriage  he  made  it  his  perma- 
nent home;  it  now  consists  of  eighty  acres 
of  fertile  land,  where  he  conducts  a  gen- 
eral farming  and  stock-raising  business. 
By  industry  and  perseverance  he  has 
greatly  improved  his  farm  and  home.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  adherent  of  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  part\',  and 
in  1891,  1893  and  1894  was  elected  town- 
ship assessor,  in  which  position  he  is 
proving  himself  an  able  officer.  Mrs. 
Winton  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
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  community. 


LEONARD  BONE,  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)  Bone,  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  part}'  mentioned  and  made 
his  way  to  Whitehall,  N.  Y. ,  when  not 
quite  seventeen.  A  few  weeks  later  he 
reached  Albany,  in  the  same  State,  where 
he  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  work 
with  a  stonecutter,  and,  although  a  novice, 
was  soon  able  to  earn  sixty-five  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  found  employ- 
ment at  stone-cutting  in  Joliet,  111.,  where 
he  worked  two  jears,  and  was  then  per- 
suaded by  William  Townsend  to  embark 
in  the  hotel  business  at  Chicago,  where, 
within  two  years,  he  lost  all  he  had  in- 
vested— seventeen  hundred  dollars — and 
was  obliged  to  borrow  fifty  dollars  to  en- 
able him  to  leave  that  city.  About  this 
time,  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  forF.  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 one  hundred  dollars  per  year.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bone  then  settled  on  a  farm  of 
eight}-  acres  near  De  Pere,  which  he  cul- 
tivated some  years,  and  then  went  into  the 
grocer}'  business  within  the  limits  of  the 
city,  where  he  erected  the  first  brick  block 
and  accumulated  a  competence  that  justi- 
fied his  retirement  fifteen  years  ago.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bone  are  members  of  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  happil}-  married  to  Michael  Tessier, 
and  with  him  living  in  Nebraska;  the}" 
have  also  reared  Leonard  Tessier  (son  of 
Michael  and  Kate),  a  graduate  of  the  De- 
Pere  High  School  and  of  the  Universit}' 
,of  Wisconsin,  and  who  is  now  superin- 
tendent of  the  Electric  Light  Works  at 


1 68 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


De  Pere;  in  addition  to  these  adopted 
children,  they  also  reared  a  nephew, 
Julian  Bone,  from  the  age  of  twelve  to 
twenty  j'ears.  What  more  need  be  said 
as  to  the  native  kindness  of  their  hearts? 


ANTHONY  GOEMANS  (deceased), 
who  during  his  lifetime  was  a 
much  respected  farmer  of  Rock- 
land township.  Brown  county, 
was  a  native  of  Holland,  born  September 
29,  1 82 1,  in  the  province  of  Limburg. 
He  was  a  son  of  John  Goemans,  a  well- 
to-do  fajmer,  who  had  six  children,  An- 
thony being  the  eldest  in  the  family. 

During  his  youth  Anthon}'  Goemans 
had  very  limited  educational  advantages, 
as  he  had  to  commence  work  very  early 
in  life,  and  was  reared  to  farming,  which 
he  always  followed.  In  1856,  hearing 
that  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 
February  28,  1867,  was  there  married  to 
Miss  Joanna  Bernards,  who  was  born  No- 
vember 5,  1839,  daughter  of  John  Ber- 
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  Glasgow,  took  passage  there  on 
a  vessel  bound  for  New  York,  at  which 
port  they  landed  after  a  voyage  of  twenty- 
four  days.  Their  destination  being  in 
Wisconsin,  they  proceeded  thither  by 
rail,  and  after  a  short  stay  in  Little 
Chute,  Outagamie  county,  came  to  De- 
Pere  township.  Brown  county,  where  Mr. 
Goemans  purchased  a  tract  of  eighty 
acres  in  Section  i  i.  The  land  had  not 
been  improved  in  any  way;  in  some 
places  it  was  covered  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),  Frank  S.,  Peter  J., 
Katie,  Christina  M.,  Herbert,  and  Nellie 
E.  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 
De  Pere  Cemeter)'.  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  chddren  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  1  20  acres  of  prime  land. 
The  farm  work  is  now  attended  to  by  the 
sons,  Peter  J.  and  Herbert,  who  have 
proven  themselves  full}'  competent,  and 
the  entire  family  are  respected  for  their 
industry  wherever  they  are  known.  In 
church  connection  they  are  all  members 
of  St.  Mary's  Catholic  Congregation, 
De  Pere. 


JOSEPH  HOEFFEL,  president  of 
the  Allouez  Mineral  Spring  Com- 
pany, of  Green  Bay,  was  born  March 
25,  1825,  in  thetown  of  Lichtenberg, 
Province  of  Lorraine,  France.  The  first 
of  the  family  of  whom  we  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  children — 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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BWGRAPEICAL   RECORD. 


[71 


weaver,  which  he  followed  in  Europe  for 
some  time.  In  his  military  service,  which 
ended  with  Waterloo,  he  was  in  the  arm)- 
of  Napoleon  the  Great,  doing  garrison 
duty  chiefly.  In  18 10  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Cecelia  Carabin,  who 
bore  him  ten  children,  of  whom  Louis 
died  at  Havre,  France,  in  the  fall  of  1828, 
while  the  family  were  c//  ;-tf«/tto America. 
In  the  United  States  they  made  their 
hom.e  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  choirs. 
His  wife  died  at  the  age  of  forty,  in  i  840, 
and  two  years  later  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Beyer,  who  passed  away,  in  1857,  aged 
sixty-five  years.  Both  wives  died  at  Nor- 
walk, where  he  himself  departed  this  life 
March  10,  1861,  aged  seventy-four  years. 
Joseph  Hoeffel,the  subject  properof  this 
sketch,  received  his  education  at  Norwalk, 
Ohio.  When  seventeen  years  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,  Waukesha 
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  Brookfield, 
Wis.,  June  13,  1850,  and  May  20,  1851, 
Mr.  Hoeffel  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,  Sylves- 
ter, Elizabeth,  Agnes,  Joseph  P.  and 
James  I. 

In  the  fall  of  1853,  at  the  first  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  Ba\-,  Wis. ,  arriving  June 
28,  1856.  The  same  j-ear  he  erected  a 
store  building  on  Washington  street,  and 
opened  a  general  store,  conducting  same 
until  1 87 1.  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  Sylvester,  after  assisting  him  in  the 
business  a  number  of  }ears,  purchased 
same  in  1886,  Mr.  Hoeffel  retiring,  owing 
to  poor  health. 

In  1 888,  an  accidental  discover}' de- 
cided Mr.  Hoeffel  to  again  enter  business 
life.  ^^'hile  overseeing  some  improve- 
ments on  his  Astor  Hill  property  at 
Green  Bay  he  drank  freel}'  of  the  waters 
of  a  spring  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The 
prompt  action  of  the  \\-ater  on  his  en- 
feebled s\'stem  and  the  remarkable  relief 
he  experienced  from  its  use  convinced 
him  of  its  great  medicinal  value.  He 
arranged  at  once  for  a  thorongh  and  ex- 
haustive analysis  of  the  water.  Samples 
were  for\\arded  to  Prof.  W.  W.  Daniells, 
the  distinguished  professor  of  chemistry 
and  pharmacy  in  the  W'isconsin  State 
University,  Madison,  and,  after  a  com- 
plete and  scientific  analysis  of  the  water, 
he  subsmitted  same: 

University  of  Wisconsin.        \ 

Chemic.'^l  Laboratories,     [• 

MAnisON,  Wi.*;.,  AiiR-ust  13,  1888.  ) 

Joseph  Hoeffel: 

Dear  Sir:  The  sample  of  spring  water  re- 
ceived from  -you  for  analysis  has  the  following- 
composition,  expressed  in  jfrains,  per  United 
States  standard  gallon  of  231  cubic  inches: 

Sodium  chloride 4.2SS2S 

Potassium  sulphate 0.12072 

Sodium  sulphate 3.4S826 

Calcium  sulphate 0.10788 

Sodium  phosphate trace. 

Bicarbonate  of  iron 0.06257 

Bicarbonate  of  lime 24.68662 

Bicarbonate  of  magnesia 27.53300 

Oxide  of  aluminum  (alumina).  .   0.17470 
Silica  and  insoluble  residue.  . .  .    1.97160 

Total  grains  per  U.  S.  gal.  .62.38060 
Temperature,  46  degrees  Fahrenheit. 


COMMEMORAriVK    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


This  is  an  unusually  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  niaffnesia, 
sodium  salts,  sulphuric  acid,  lime  and  chlorine. 
Of  these  I  have  made  duplicate  determinations, 
to  he  assured  of  their  accuracy. 

You  will  note  its  freedom  from  organic  mat- 
ter. Yours  trulv, 

W.  W.  DANIELLS, 
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 
countrj',  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  Marcjuette's 
Journal:  "Embarking  in  our  canoes, 
we  left  the  river  and  nation  of  the  Wild 
Oats  (Menominees),  and  soon  reached  the 
extremity  of  Baydes  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  Brooktield,  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  ^Iiss  Adelaide  Doolittle,  at 
Whitewater,  Wis. ;  he  is  now  located  in 
business  at  Chicago;  thev  have  one  son, 
Basil  D.,  born  October  2'6,  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,  1884;  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,  t  886;  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 86 1,  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  years'  ex- 
perience in  his  father's  store  in  Oconto, 
became  to  Green  Bay  in  April,  1889, 
where  he  andjames  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.,  Februar}'  3,  1890, 
and  they  have  one  son,  Joseph  Merrill, 
born  October  31,  1890.  (VII).  James  I. 
was  born   April    i,    1863,  at    Green  Bay, 


\\'is. ;  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. 


T 


HOMAS  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  1 846, 
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 


1/4 


COM.VEMORATIVE   BIOOIiAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


present 
leading;; 
He  has 


fertile,  well-cultivated  tract,  but  has 
added  thereto  until  he  now  has  a  fine 
farm  of  160  acres.  His  property  has 
been  feathered  by  years  of  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 
enviable  position  among  the 
farmers  of  Rockland  township. 
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  has  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. 

fn  November,  1865,  Mr.  Kyan  was 
married  to  Miss  Margaret  Lee,  a  native 
of  County  Galway,  freland,  daughter  of 
Michael  I^ee,  who  was  a  farmer  of  Rock- 
land township.  After  marriage  the  young 
couple  immediately  took  up  their  resi- 
dence on  the  farm,  where,  in  1886,  Mr. 
Ryan  erected  one  of  the  most  substantial 
rural  homes  in  the  vicinity.  This  union 
has  been  blessed  with  children  as  follows: 
Catherine,  Mrs.  H.  P.  Crist,  of  Wausau- 
kee,  Wis. ;  Agatha,  a  school-teacher  of 
De  Pare:  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, 
attending  the  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  opportimities,  of  which  they 
have  not  been  slow  to  take  advantage 
and  to  fully  appreciate,  and  the  entire 
family  are  among  the  highly  respected 
ones  of  the  vicinity.  In  religious  connec- 
tion they  arc  members  of  St.  Francis 
Church,  De  Pere.  During  the  Civil  war 
Mr.  Ryan  enlisted,  on  January  i,  1865, 
at  Green  Bay,  in  Company  I,  Fifty-first 
Regiment  Wis.,  V.  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  representative 
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  marked.  There  are  probably  no 
other  business  concerns  conducted  by 
large  corporations  in  which  ability  and 
attention  to  duty  are  more  promptly 
rewarded  by  promotion  than  in  our  great 
railway  systems,  where  precision,  effi- 
ciency, and  reliability  are  extremely  es- 
sential, and  in  these  respects  our  subject, 
though  thoroughly  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,  X.  V.,  both 
descendants  of  sturdy  New  England  stock. 
Watson  Goodell  received  a  good  common- 
school  education  in  the  schools  of  Albany, 
N.  Y. ,  and  later  in  life  became  an  expert 
accountant,  a  profession  he  followed  for 
several  years.  His  health  having  become 
impaired  in  the  comparatively'  confining 
work,  Mr.  Goodell,  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 
Luvilla  Stranahan,  who  survives  him,  and 
they  had  three  children:  C.  P.;  Carrie; 
and  Maria,  the  wife  of  J.  H.  Le  Grand,  a 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


175 


prominent  politician  and  at  present  county 
auditor  of  Buena  Vista  county,  Iowa,  with 
residence  in  Storm  Lake.  Mr.  Goodell 
passed  from  earth  in  June,  1890,  in  Port- 
age, Wis.,  and  his  widow  now  resides 
with  her  daughter  Maria,  in  Storm  Lake, 
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 
township.  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.  Goodell  went  to 
Pardeeville,  where  he  had  his  residence 
several  years. 

C.  F.  Goodell  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  railway 
office  at  Pardeeville,  Wis.,  on  what  was 
then  the  St.  Paul  road,  where,  under  A. 
E.  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.  Goodell  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  Fifield, 
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  compan}-,  who  owned  the  plat. 
From  Fifield  he  was  transferred  to 
Waldo,  Sheboygan  count}-,  where  he 
again  acted  as  agent,  and  here  m  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.  Goodell  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- 
}ond  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.  Goodell  have  four  children,  namely: 
Harold  F. ,  Charles  W. ,  Lula  and 
Alton  W. 


M 


RS.  MARGARET  AEBISCH- 
ER,  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 
fanned  there  until  1850,  when  thej-  re- 
moved to  Wisconsin,  and  they  still  live 
at  Chilton,  where  they  are  engaged  in  the 
same  vocation.  They  have  a  famih'  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  i  i  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPUICAL    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. 
Acbischer  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.  LANCE,  a  well- 
known  and  jiopular  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  I^ange  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  Ur.  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  18S6-87,  he  carried  on  a  drug 
store  on  his  own  account,  in  Brillion, 
Wis.  In  the  fall  of  1887  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  18S3  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  Alexander, 
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  harnessmaker,  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    BIOGEAPUICAL    RECORD. 


'77 


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.  I.,  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.  Lej'  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  oi  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 
usually  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  accomplisiied, 
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  young 
man,  not  able  to  jnirchase  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 


17S 


COJdMKMOnATlVK    BIOCUAPHICAI.    RECORD. 


timber  felled  by  a  white  man  in  Section 
3,  and  after  making  a  small  clearing  built 
the  lirst  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  for  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,  Rockland  township,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  da\s.  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 
150  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  advancement 
oi  his  section.  Politically  he  was  a  Dem- 
ocrat and  a  leader  in  the  party,  and  he 
served  faithfully  in  various  local  positions 
of  honor  and  trust,  being  township  as- 
sessor fifteen  \ears  and  justice  of  the  i)eace 
sixteen  years;  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  23,  1878,  a 
member  of  St.  Francis  Catholic  Church, 
De  Perc.  and  was  buried  in  De  Pere  cem- 
etery. After  his  settlement  here  Mr.  Ley 
offered  a  home/o  his  aged  parents,  and 
the\-  set  out  on  the  journey  from  Ger- 
man}-, but  the  mother  died  iii  route.  The 
father  arrived  safely  at  his  destination,  and 
passed  his  declining  years  in  comfort,  dy- 
ing at  the  home^  of  his  son  February  17, 
1872,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years. 

Joseph  I-ey,  Sr. ,  was  first  married  in 
1 85  I,  in  De  Pere,  to  Miss  Mary  Engles,  a 
native  of  Germany,  and  they  had  a  fam- 
ily, of  whom  tw(j  sons  grew  to  maturity: 
Michael,  who  is  a  resident  of  Lu.xem- 
bourg,  Kewaunee  county;  and  Joseph, 
mention  of  whom  is  made  farther  on. 
The  mother  of  these  was  called  from 
earth  in  185S,  and  buried  in  Shantytown 
cemetery.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Ley 
subsecjuently  wedded  Mrs.  Josephine  Det- 


rich,  who  was  born  in  Belgium,  and  came 
to  the  United  States  with  relatives.  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  infanc}-. 

Joseph  Ley,  whose  name  introduces 
these  lines,  was  reared  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  other  pioneer  children,  receiving 
his  literary  training  at  the  rude  schools  of 
the  time,  which  were  quite  different  from 
those  of  the  present  day.  His  knowledge 
of  farming  he  received  under  the  tuition 
of  his  father.  On  May  13,  1884,  he  was 
united  in  marriage,  at  Menasha,  Wis., 
with  Miss  Mary  Lemmel,  the  ceremony 
being  performed  by  Father  Andrew  Sen- 
bert.  She  was  born  April  11,  1858,  at 
Maple  Grove,  Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis., 
daughter  of  Agidius  Lemmel,  who  was  a 
native  of  Bavaria,  Germany,  from  which 
country  he  came  to  Wisconsin  in  an 
early  day.  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  Lej-;  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.  Wis.  After  mar- 
riage our  subject  resided  at  the  paternal 
homestead  until  1889,  when  became  to 
his  present  farm,  which  now  comprises 
I  30  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, 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


'79 


Mr.  Ley  has  been  elected  by  that  party 
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  familj-  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    i  869,  the  youngest 
in  the  family  of  six   sons  and  five   daugh- 
ters born  to  James  C.  Delaney. 

janies  C.  Delaney  was  born  Februar}' 
I,  1819,  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  quite  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.  Delaney'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  forty  or  fiftj'  acres. 


WJ.  CASEY,  who  for  the  past 
thirteen  years  has  been  favor- 
ably known  as  a  pains-taking  and 
careful  railroad  official,  is  a  native 
of  Ireland,  born  in  1856.  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  (O'Keefe)  Casey,  of  the  same 
nativity.  The  father  died  in  Ireland,  the 
widowed  mother,  about  the  year  1859, 
coming  with  her  little  family  of  one  (onr 
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 
Wisconsin  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 


I  So 


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  till  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  1892  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,  \\'ill- 
iam  and  George.  Our  subject  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Arcanum,  of  Pochequette 
Lodge,  No.  26,  Knights  of  P\thias,  and 
lieutenant  in  the  Uniform  Kank  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,  <i  ^o"  "f  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  vocation 
until  lie  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  2'si,  18G9,  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, 
Glenmore  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.  .\t  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  distant.  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  eight\'  acres  of  excellent 
land.  At  that  time  his  children  were  all 
too  \oung  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  integrity  of 
character  and  honesty  of  ]iurpose,  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. 


iSi 


towoc  county.  To  their  union  came 
children  as  follows,  their  names  and  dates 
of  birth  being:  Joseph,  November  i8, 
iS7i;John,  April  29,  1873;  Anton,  No- 
vember 2,  1875;  Louis,  February  23, 
1878;  Margaret,  April  12,  1881;  Annie, 
March  22,  1883;  Mary,  May  31,  1886; 
Frank,  January  4,  1891.  One  son,  Louis, 
died  x'oung. 


S\V.  H  A  Y  F  O  R  D,  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Wrightstown,  Brown 
county,  is  a  native  of  Potsdam,  N. 
v.,  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  stud\-  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  1864  Mr.  Hayford  en- 
listed in  Company  E,  Forty-second  Wis- 
consin 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  office, 
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.)  WccklyScntiml,  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  e.xample  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  isanati\eof  Ontario, Canada,  born 
August  20,  185  I,  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  fie  esteemed 
by  the  community.  He  and  his  wife  lived 
to  advanced  ages,  dying,  he  in  1892,  she 
in  1886. 

The    subject    of    this    sketch,    who  is 


I  82 


COMMEMOUATIVK    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


third  ill  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  einpl(j}ers,  that  he  was  made  fore- 
man of  a  gang,  in  which  position  he  re- 
mained till  1 876,  when  he  resigned,  hav- 
ing accepted  a  similar  appointment  from 
the   Southern    Minnesota   Railwa\'   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  years  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 Compan}',  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  &  Hathawa\-;  the  power 
house  for  the  Green  Bay  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  Belle- 
vue  townships,  in  Brown  county. 

On  October  9,  1875,  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  3'oung  girl  should  come  home  with 
some  relatives,  but  she  concluded  to  re- 
turn without  their  company  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.  x\nderson  are:  Mary  Jessie  (she  died 
when  two  months  old);  James  R. ,  Will- 
iam Iv. ,  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  Glen  more 
township,  Brown  county,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Germany,  born  October  15,  1S28, 
son  of  Joseph  Treml,  who  had  fi\e  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  an.xious  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  1,  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 
any  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  highly 
esteemed  by  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  Bay, 
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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


city  Mr.  Schiller  was  employed  by  Cran- 
dall  &  North,  wholesale  f^jrocers,  and  for 
four  years  did  faithful  service;  he  was  then 
employed  for  three  months  b\-  John  Daj- 
&  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 
1 882 ;  Louis,  died  in  1883;  Clarence,  resid- 
ing with  his  parents ;  and  Otto,  died  in  1 889. 


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  bo\'.  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  cemeter}-;  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    BIOORAPEICAL    RECORD. 


1S5 


Frugality  and  industrj'  and  attention  to 
business  were  the  elements  of  his  success, 
for  his  proper!}'  was  made  from  a  start  of 
nothing  else. 

Up  to  the  age  of  five  years  Frank 
Crabb  lived  on  a  farm  in  Rockland  town- 
ship, and  then  came  with  his  parents  to 
De  Pare,  where  he  received  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  1882,  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  Vanderhyden,  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- 
gomaj.  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. 


BARNARD    FINNEGAN,     a    self- 
made  prosperous  agriculturist  and 
extensive  land  owner  of    Holland 
township.  Brown  county,  is  a  na- 
tive of   the  land  of  Erin,  born  about  the 
year  1 827  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,  oursubject  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 


COMMEMOKATIVK   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


did  not  make  a  permanent  home  there  at 
first,  for  it  needed  mone}'  to  carry  on  the 
farm,  and  he  could  at  that  time  earn  more 
at  other  pursuits.  Hut  he  earnestly  set 
about  the  task  of  clearing  and  improving 
his  farm,  and  not  only  accomplished  this 
much,  hut  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  \oung 
men  in  the  township. 

On  February  ly,  1S61,  liarnard  Fin- 
negan  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Mary  Cavney,  who  was  born  March  7, 
1843,  in  County  Sligo,  Ireland,  only 
daughter  of  Roger  and  Julia  (McNulty) 
Cavney.  They  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1850,  and  for  several  years  resided  in 
New  York  City,  where  Mrs.  Cavney  died. 
In  1858  the  father  and  his  daughter  Mary 
came  to  Wisconsin,  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  uji  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  \'ears  and  nine 
months.  John  C,  born  Jul}'  10,  1867, 
received  an  education  at  the  common 
schools  of  the  home  neighbi)rhood,  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  party,  and  in  1893  was 
elected  township  clerk;  at  present  he  is  a 
notary  public;  he  married  Odell  Savageau 
November  7,  1S94,  and  lives  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  Comjian}',  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.  F'rank  died  when  two  years  and 
seven  months  old.  Mamie  E. .  born 
January  11,  1883,  is  living  at  home.  In 
religious  connection  the  famil)'  are  all 
members  of  St.  Francis  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  acti\e  in  party  affairs. 


M 


.\XUEL  BRUNETTE,  proprie- 
tor of  the  Duck  Creek  Stone 
(  Uiarry,  \"elp,  Brown  county,  is 
one  of  the  prominent  self-made 
men  of  northeastern  \\'isconsin,  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  foriner  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  li\ing. 
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  \isit  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  \ears  Dominick  Brunette 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


1S9 


engaged  in  fur  trading,  and  then  marired 
a  Miss  Grignori,  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  21, 
186";  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,  1 8 14,  and 
was  about  eleven  years  old  when  he  came 
to  America  with  his  sister  and  settled  in 
New  Brunswick.  There  he  at  once  shipped 
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   Pennsylvania,   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  county,  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 
fonrteen  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  vears,  followed  boat- 
ing,   and    hauling  lumber,   shingles,  etc., 


190 


COMMEMOaAriVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


by  frugality  and  attention  to  business 
managing  to  accumulate  some  cash  cap- 
ital. In  1873  he  bought  the  Duck  Creek 
Stone  Ouarry,  the  business  which  chietly 
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 
Ouarry  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  he  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  both  by  business  and  profes- 
sional men  for  advice,  and  few  men  are 
more  highly  respected  in  Brown  county. 
Of  such  men  the  State  of  Wisconsin  is 
justly  proud,  as  such  lives  are  a  living 
example  to  the  new  generation. 


WILLARD  E.  BURDEAU,  of 
Flintville,  Brown  county,  was 
born  December  i,  1859,  in 
Clinton  county,  N.  Y.  His 
grandparents,  Jacob  and  Fannie  Burdeau, 
were  born  near  Montreal,  Canada,  and 
came  to  t'.e  United  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. ,  finally  returning  to  Dover, 
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  S,  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  1866, 
when  he  brought  his  family  to  Brown 
county.  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 
lousiness  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    DIOGRAPmCAL    RECORD. 


191 


ing  money.  On  May  8,  1884,  he  married 
Miss  Sarah  A.  PhilHps,  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  \V.,  born 
February  21,  1888;  Leo  A.,  born  October 
5,  1891,  and  Flora,  born  March  16,  1893. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Burdeau  carried 
on  a  farm  until  1892,  when  he  bought  a 
general  store,  to  which,  in  1894,  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,  "^'^s  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  (Ouinn)  Phillips  were 
born  five  children,  and  the  family  came 
to  Wisconsin  about  the  year  1S56,  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  i860  settled  in  Suamico  township. 
Brown  county,  where  they  now  reside, 
beins;  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 executor  of  a  public  trust.  His  social 
standing  is  with  the  best  people  in  the 
community,  and  his  business  integrity  has 
ever  been  without  reproach. 


FRANZ  LI  EB  MANN,  a  typical 
self-made,  industrious  farmer,  and 
one  of  the  leading,  highly  respected 
citizens  of  Preble  township,  Brown 
county,  is  a  native  of  Schwarzburg-Rudol- 
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  185  i,  con- 
cluding he  could  better  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 


COMMEMORATIVE    DIOOEAPIIICAL    UECORD. 


Mr.  Hatchclder  in  the  potter}'  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.  But  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  finall}-,  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  coimection,  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,  1S65,  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 
sick  for  two  jears  as  a  result  of  exposure. 


Our  subject  has  follow-ed  farming  for 
thirty-ti\e  years,  and  from  a  start  of  forty 
dollars,  the  amount  he  had  when  he 
landed  in  Green  Bay,  he  has  accumulated 
a  very  comfortable  propert}',  the  result  of 
years  of  hard  work  and  economy.  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,  jear 
by  year  improving  his  circumstances,  till 
he  now  stands  among  the  most  successful 
farmers  of  his  section.  In  politics  he  has 
been  a  Republican  since  i  S60,  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. 
Sociallv  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.  ESMANN,  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  countrv.      In  1852  he  was  married 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


193 


in  Germany  to  Miss  Adelaide  Meise- 
gades,  and,  in  1861,  they  emigrated  to 
America,  landing'  in  New  York  City,  thence 
immediately  comin;;  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  1883. 
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.  Brown  count)-,  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- 
lar!}' 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    BI06BAPUICAL   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  Compan\',  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.  Gowey  was 
most  happily  married,  in  1876,  to  Miss 
Carrie  Lawton,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  G. 
Lawton,  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  \.  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. 


IVl 


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  \'er  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 
voyage  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  the\-  found  John 
awaiting  his  bride.  Martin  \'er  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. 
Marj^'s  cemetery,  at  De  Pere,  and  for  his 
second  wife  Mr.  Ver  Straten  married,  in 
18S5,  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. 


'95 


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  (an  occupation  he  had  been  ac- 
customed to  for  the  past  eight  \ears),  he 
unfortunateh'  got  his  arm  entangled  in  the 
pulley  through  which  the  belt  ran,  and  it 
was  terribly  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  sagacity  in  the 
management  of  the  farm.  The  entire 
family  are  held  in  the  highest  esteem  in 
the  communitj'  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  ex'cellent  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  'Vray)  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 
count} ,  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  MarxCabesen,  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,  1864,  and  is  a  son  of 
Victor  and  Mary  (Collart)  Moraux,  both 
natives  of  Belgium. 

Ferdinand  Morau.x,  father  of  \'ictor, 
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  \'an  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   BIOOBAPHICAL   RECORD. 


■97 


who  once  operated  a  stone  quarry  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; 
Mary,  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  everything  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  dignity  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  Bay  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  \  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  city  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. 


CARLMANTHEY,  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 
Coerlin,  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  1 869,  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   BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


Oshkosh,  thence  to  Fond  du  Lac,  where 
he  passed  four  years  and,  then,  in  the  fall 
•of    1880,    came    to    Green    Bay.      About 

1881  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  everj-  va- 
riety of  work  in  his  line,  being  himself  a 
first-class  workman,  in  the  busy  season 
employing  six  assistants.  Mr.  Manthey 
is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  of 
the  Turnverein,  of  which  latter  societ\- 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  notar\'  public,  at 
West  Ue  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  i  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  1 872  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  1 884;  in  i  885  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  j'ear  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  union,  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  Bav.  Miss 
Loftus  was   married  to  John  Hoks,  and 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


199 


became  the  mother  of  one  child,  Pater- 
nella  Hoks,  now  nine  years  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-six 
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    Societj', 
Green  Bay  Sharpshooters  Society,  and  G. 


200 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   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  alread)'  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  Xo.  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  ^^'isconsin,  and  died  at  Fort 
Howard,  Brown  county,  in  1S86;  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.  \\'.,  our  subject.  The  lat- 
ter was  reared,  educated  anti  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 
county,  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  a\erage, 
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  (Hintzj  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, 
W'allace  Rea  and  May  Ida.  Politically 
our  subject  is  a  Republican;  social!}'  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  Mar}-  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,  1876,  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  education.  The  father  purchased  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  1855.  On  June  24,  1864, 
Alexander  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  for  sixteen  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 
Ya;ller,  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  Ziindars,    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  native  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  young 
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    BIOGIiAPlIICAL    ItECORD. 


farm  Mr.  Ziindars  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 
re\enue  being  derived  from  the  sale  of 
timber;  and  his  success,  in  the  face  of 
all  difficulties,  shows  what  may  be  ac- 
complished 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- 
peciall}'      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  Ro.xbury, 
Mass.,  where  two  children — Elnora  (now 


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  westwanl  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, 


COMMEMOIIATIVE    BIOGIiAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


203 


and  they  now  lie  buried  in  Shantytown 
cemetery.  Tiiey  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  da3's  he  also  worked  at  lumber- 
ing, an  occupation  then  very  popular 
among  young  men.  But  with  the  excep- 
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  1 894 
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  infiuential.  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  1S24.  His  parents,  Johan 
and  Christina  (Hanson)  Schultz,  were 
also  natives  of  Denmark,  in  which  country 
the  former  died,  his  excellent  wife,  mother 
of  Peter,  came  to  Brown  county,  Wis., 
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 


304 


COMMEMORAriVK   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


a  lively  interest  in  political  affairs,  and 
was  for  one  year  a  member  of  the  town 
council.  Both  he  and  his  wife  belonf^j  to 
the  Lutheran  Church. 

Mr.  Schultz  was  married  in  1869,  at 
Fort  Howard,  to  Anna  Maria  Hanson, 
daughter  of  Hans  Jorgen  and  Hannah 
Marguerita  (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  Schwar^,  Kemnitz 
&  Voight,  and  at  contracting  and  building. 


SIMON  JONES  MURPHY,  JR. 
In  the  human  race  there  is  ever 
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  weha\'e 
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 
both  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  nati\e  of  the  State 
of  Maine,  born  March  27,  1851,  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  lived  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  maturit}',  as  follows:  Charles  E., 
Simon   J.    Jr.,    Albert    M.,    \\'illiam    H., 


UOMMEMOHATIVE    DIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


207 


Anna  D.,  and  Frank  E.  Of  these, 
Simon  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  Harvard  University,  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 
River  lumber  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  directoi's,  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,  i  886,  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  only.      In  April, 


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,  Mr.  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  Gr.  J.  W.  of  the  Grand 
Commandery  of  the  State;  he  is  exalted 
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.  Murphy  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 


JoS 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


restless  energ;y,  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  famil)'  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.  Murphy  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  youth  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  whom  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  temperament,  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  orforests,  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  sympathetic  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 
appear. 


ABEL  D.  NEWTON  (deceased) 
was,  in  his  lifetime,  a  conspicuous 
landmark  in  the  part  of  the  coun- 
try in  which  for  so  many  years  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  down  to  our  subject  being  as  follows: 
Moses,  Jonathan,  Nathan,  Paul,  Edward 
and  Abel  D.  Richard  Newton,  the  im- 
migrant, located  in  Sudbury,  Mass.,  and 
was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
that  town. 

Abel  D.  Newton,  the  subject  proper 
of  this  sketch,  was  reared  by  his  grand- 
father, Paul  Newton,  attending  the  public 
schools  of  his  early  day  to  the  age  of 
fifteen  years,  at  which  time  he  commenced 
a  six-years'  apprenticeship  to  the  trade  of 
blacksmith  at  Deerfield,  Mass.,  and,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  worked  at  his  trade 
in  Ashfield,  same  State  and  county.  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  region, 
continuing  cheerfully  and  faithfully  in  his 
arduous  duties  for  three  or  fouryears;  but, 
his  health  becoming  impaired,  he  had  to 
abandon  mission  work.  His  work  was  to- 
teach  the  Indian  boys  blacksmithing  and 
other  trades,  reading  and  the  customs  of 
civilized  life. 

On  April  29,  1834,  Mr.  Newton  was 
married,  in  Ashfield,  Mass.  fwhither  he 
had  returned    for  the   purpose),    to    Mi.ss 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


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 
American  Colonies  in    1630,    locating  in 
Duxbury,  Mass.,  and  whose  descendants 
by    generations    were:     Jacob,     Joseph, 
Joseph,  Dan,  and  Ziba.      After   marriage 
Mr.   and  Mrs.  Abel  D.    Newton  came  to 
Wisconsin,  he  having  entered  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,   1839,  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  185 1,  the  year 
of  his  coming  to  De  Pere,  where  he  built 
him  a  shop,  becoming  the  leading  black- 
smith of  the  locality.      For  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    artisan    being   widely   recognized. 
In   De  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  a  fine  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 
Church  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  furn  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- 


COMMEMORATIVK    BIUCHAPUICAL    RECORD. 


ber  of  the  Greenwood  Stove  Company, 
but  at  the  end  of  three  years,  his  health 
failing,  he  returned  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,  removetl  to  Jackson, 
Mich.,  and  here  entered  the  retail  grocery 
and  wholesale  spice  mills  of  Ford,  Dela- 
niater  &  Company,  tlicn  returned  to 
Massachusetts,  where,  from  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,  1888,  Miss 
Ermina  E.  Newton,  of  De  Pere,  Wis., 
since  when  he  has  lived  a  retired  life  on 
the  old  Newton  homestead.  In  genealogy 
he  takes  great  interest,  and  he  has  latelj' 
taken  up  a  partly  completed  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.  DAVIS,  a  thriving 
farmer  of  Pittsfield  township, 
Brown  county,  was  born  in  Par- 
ishville,  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N. 
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  Wrightstown ;  and 
William  Henry,  of  Cato,  Manitowoc  Co., 
Wis.  The  family  came  to  Wisconsin  in 
1846,  and  for  five  years  lived  in  Wal- 
worth county;  then  moved  to  Manitowoc 
county,  where  Darwin  Da\is bought  eighty 
acres  of  hard-timber  land,  from  which  he 
cleared  up  a  farm;  in  185S  he  sold  twenty 
acres,  and  in  1869  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  da\s,  and  was  buried  at  Cato, 
Manitowoc  Co.,  Wisconsin. 

On  August  II,  1862,  Daniel  H.  Davis 
enlisted  in  Company  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)  Branch,  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.,  Wis.  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 
years  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- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


21  I 


gaged  in  farming  ever  since   his    removal 
hither. 

In  politics  Mr.  Davis  is  a  Republican, 
and  has  been  school  clerk  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  citizents  of 
De  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  family,  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  an}'- 
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  Geurts  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 commenced  farming  on  the 
place  he  now  owns  and  resides  upon,  and 
which,  at  the  present  time,  comprises  114 
acres  of  excellent  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,  by  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 
office-seeker,  he  is  at  present  serving  as 
school  treasurer  in  his  district.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  St.  Mary's  Cath- 
olic Church  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.  Cody  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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


York,  finally  locating  at  New  Orleans, 
where  his  death  occurred.  Eleven  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cod),  of 
whom  eight  are  living  :  James  Henrj', 
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  countrj';  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  removed  to  Oswe- 
go county,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  continued  to 
reside  eighteen  years,  owning  a  sawmill 
and  1 30  acres  of  land.  He  came  to  Fort 
Howard  in  1865  and  settled  where  he 
now  resides,  engaging  in  sawmilling  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 
lumber  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,  1894,  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  1 700,  when  the 
grandfather  of  John  W.  sold  out  and 
moved  to  Easton,  Penn.,  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  1818  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  1819,  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,  Wis. — 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  ai  Point  Isabel  dur- 
ing  the    Mexican   war;  his    second   son, 


214 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL   RECORD. 


Charles  C.  P.,  a  graduate  of  Rutgers  Col- 
lege, and  an  attorney  \>y  profession,  was 
elected  to  the  Territorial  Senate  of  Wis- 
consin in  1 840,  and  was  shot  and  killed 
in  the  Senate  Chamber  in  i<S4i  by  James 
K.  \'inyard.  The  eldest  daughter,  Mary 
Arndt,  was  married  to  Capt.  J.  W. 
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.  \\allace  Arndt,  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, had  received  but  little  schooling,  but 
in  1S34  he  entered  the  academy  of  Rev. 
Dr.  John  Vandavers  at  Ea.ston,  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  jear  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  companion  and  faith- 
ful helpmeet  until  her  death  from  pneu- 
monia, April  13,  1 89 1.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Randall  Wilcox,  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Wisconsin  State 
Legislature.  Randall  Wilcox  was  born 
at  Lee,  Mass.,  was  of  English  descent, 
and  settled  in  Ue  Pere  in  1836.  He  here 
became  president  of  the  De  Pere  Hy- 
draulic Co.,  ha\ing  had  much  previous 
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  early  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  May  20,  1859, 
married  to  John  F.  Byers  August  2,  1882. 
John  Wallace  Arndt  has  been  actively 
identified  with  the  business  interests  and 
public  impro\einents  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  any  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  any  in  the  county  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 
carrte  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.  I.,  and  served  in  Ken- 
tucky until  June,  1863,  when  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  on  account  of  having 
contracted  typhoid  pneumonia,  by  which 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOBAPBICAL   RECORD. 


215 


he  was  invalided  for  two  years  after  his 
return  home.  When  sufficiently  recov- 
ered, he  attended  a  private  seminary  at 
Hebron,  111.,  for  six  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  office  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  Ur. 
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  extensi\'e  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  j-ears.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1870  he  was  appointed  United 
States  marshal  for  taking  census  statis- 
tics. He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. , 
of  the  Temple  of  H(inor,  and  of  the  I.  O. 
O.  F.  In  religion  he  is  a  devout  member 
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  consecutively, 
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  German  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  count}',  and,  some  time 
later,  Louis,  his  father  and  brother,  Frank, 
commenced  the  fishing  business  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. 
Aup;ust  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  pulmonary  ailments,  he  accepted  a 
lucrative  position  with  the  Blakely  Con- 
cert and  Oratorio  Companj-,  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  3'ears.  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. 


217 


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  money 
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 
their's,  of  whom  she  takes,  in  her  later 
days,  so  much  pride. 

In  this  country  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greiling 


2lS 


COMMEMOUATIVK    BIOdliAl'IIICAL    ItECOHD. 


have  had  the  followinj^  children  born  to 
them:  Charles  and  Herman,  contrac- 
tors, now  the  firm  of  (ireiliiif;  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  arc 
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  advocate  of  more  liberal  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;  arid  is  self- 
made  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term,  having, 
from  a  start  of  nothing,  accumulated  the 
comfortable  property  he  now  enjoys  and 
richl}'  deser\es.  At  present  he  is  enjoy- 
ing his  daily  papers. 


FRED  MATZKE,  an  upright,  ener- 
getic citi/en  and  farmer  of  De- 
Pere  township,  is  a  native  of  the 
village  of  Gross-Pogul,  Wohlau, 
Prussia,  born  March  2,  1S26,  son  of 
Anton  Mat;ike,  a  farmer  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, who  died  when  his  son  Fred 
was  six  years  of  age,  leaving  six  children, 
four  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Fred  Mat;;ke  received  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  place, 
attending  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age.  When  sixteen  years  old  he  hired 
out  as  a  farm  hand,  and  thereafter  worked 
as  a  farmer  and  sliepherd.  In  it^55  he 
married  Mary  Herda,  a  native  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Gleinau,  Wohlau,  Prussia,  and 
shortly  afterward  he  and  his  young  wife 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  sailing 
from  Bremen  to  Quebec,  where  they 
landed  after  a  voyage  of  seven  weeks. 
From  Quebec  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  Bay, 


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  1,  1864,  he  rented  a 
farm  of  eighty  acres  of  culti\atcdland  one 
mile  from  his  own  farm  in  Belle\ue  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. 
V.  I.,  and  was  sent  to  Nashville,  where, 
under  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas  (who  was 
his  commander  during  his  entire  service), 
he  participateil  in  his  first  active  engage- 
ment, a  three-days'  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,  WMs.  In  the 
meantime,  during  his  absence,  his  wife 
sold  all  the  personal  property  and  grain, 
and  moved  back  to  their  own  log  house  in 
Bellevue  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  Intlians  in  the  neighborhooci.  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  1 865  he  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  partly  improved  timber  land  in 
De  Pere  township,  going  into  debt  for 
same  to  the  extent  of  seven  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  here  he  has  e\er  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. ; 


COMMEMORAriVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Rosa,  Mrs.  Joseph  Raster,  of  De  Pere 
township;  Paul,  a  farmer,  of  Wrights- 
town,  \Vis. ;  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. 


T 


land. 


IMOTHY  RYAN  (deceased),  who 
was   known   during  his  lifetime  as 
an  industrious   farmer,    was  a  na- 
tive   of    County    Tipperary,    Ire- 
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  R\an,  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  township.  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,  1S74,  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 
fully  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 
by  her  children.  The  agricultural  work 
is  now  attended   to  by  the  son  Timothy, 


220 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPBICAL   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  hrni  name  of  Waterrnolen 
&  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,  viz.:  Joseph  P.,  William, 
Henry,  Mary,  Philip,  John  F. ,  and 
John  B. 

J.  F.  Waterrnolen  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  next 
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,  1 891,  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  18,  1893,  in  Green  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- 
rnolen 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.  Waterrnolen  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  law\er 
are  fully  recognized  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  1831,  in    Belgium,   a  son 
of  Frank  De  Jonghe,  who  was  a 
butcher  by   trade,    and   had    a   numerous 
family. 

Constant  was  but  three  j'ears  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  day  in 
order  to  give  the  crew  an  opportunity  of 
celebrating  the  "Fourth"  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  sixteen  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   BIOGBAPHICAL    RECORD. 


221 


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  Charles 
street.  Here  he  has  built  a  very  substan- 
tial brick  block,  two  and  a  half  stories 
high,  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  Romaine 
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,  for  her  age,  quite  awonder 
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  cur  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. 
Accordingly,  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.  From  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  c/i  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  about  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  August,  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.       Returnine:    to    Green    Bay, 


222 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Mr.  Georjifi  secured  einployinent  in  Fred 
Schellers'  Cedar  Crcuk  Gristmill,  in  Preble 
township,  but  in  October,  1864,  he  had  to 
leave,  having  been  drafted  into  Company 
E,  Seventeenth  Wis.  \'.  I.,  which  was 
mustered  in  at  Camp  Randall,  Madison, 
Wis.  From  there  the  regiment  was  sent 
to  Louisville,  thence  to  Kingston,  Chatta- 
nooga and  linally  to  Atlanta,  where  they 
experienced  their  first  battle.  They  then 
participated  in  Sherman's  inarch  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,  in  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  i  870  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.  iii,  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 county,  N.  Y.,  a  son  of  Hiram  J. 
and  Elsie  H.  (Adams)  Smith,  also  natives 
of  New  Ycrk.  Hiram  J.  Smith  was  born 
March  6,  1800,  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  emploj-ed  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  young  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 


fl 


"r^ 


M 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGBAPUWAL    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-six  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  for  the  American  Express  Company, 
and  has  always  manifested  marked  busi- 
ness ability,  industry  and  activity.  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 
integrit}'  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  employe,  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   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


occupied  by  his  son  Jacob.  He  died 
October  21,  1887,  af:;ed  about  sixty  years, 
esteemed  and  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him  as  a  brij^ht,  intelligent,  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  Fish,  who 
was  also  born  in  Irsch,  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,  1880.  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  1 894. 
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- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


227 


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!^; 
for  this  animal  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.  Mclvone  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) Geary,  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  (Catho- 
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, 
farmingpeople  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  copper  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 


COMMEMOHATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


vating  of  the  land,  for  almost  the  only 
tools  Xhey  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  j-ears  of 
hard  work,  and  encouraged  him  to  prese- 
vere  until  the  land  became  productive  and 
yielded  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  1 892  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  twelve  years  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,  1888,  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,  1865,  in  Glenmore 
township,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary 
(Connors)  Lawkjr.  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  i  20  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  F'itz- 
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  living  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  count}',  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  off  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. 


aration  of  a  home,  he  was  married,  on 
April  23,  1859,  to  Miss  Hannah  E., 
daughter  of  Cornehus  and  Ivfargaret 
(Leonard)  Keefe,  put  up  the  house  they 
at  present  occupy,  and  in  i860  moved 
into  the  new  home.  ft  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.  Rice  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.  I3ECK,  M.  D.  This  esteemed 
citizen  of  Green  13ay,  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. :  Valentine,  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  Fox,  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  the  State 
Medical  Society.  He  is  examining  sur- 
geon for  the  Northwestern  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company;  for  the  ^Etna,  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  cS:  St. 
Paul  Railroad  Company  for  over  ten 
years.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the 
K.  of  P.,  Pochequette  Lodge,  No.  26(0! 
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. 


ADAM  DOHN,  a  prosperous  agri- 
culturist, and  one  of  the  most 
highly  respected  citizens,  of  De- 
Pere  township.  Brown  county, 
was  born  February  4,  1835,  in  Bavaria, 
Germany,  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  days  after  landing 
in  New  York  City.  Mrs.  Dohn  made  her 
home  in  Waukesha  with  her  brother,  Philip 
Filer,  who  had  loaned  them  mone}-  to 
help  pay  the  e.xpenses  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  sixty  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,  18 58,  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 
culti\ating  his  own  land,  worked  at  farm- 
ing for  others  and  also  at  railroading.  In 
1 870  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 89 1,  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  county),  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 


COMMEMOBAl'lVia   BiOGRAPUWAL    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. 
Doha'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. 


FRANK  KOZLOWSKY,  a  worthy 
citizen  of  New  Denmark  town- 
ship, Brown  county,  where  he  has 
been  actively  engaged  in  farming 
for  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),  ahd  Philip,  now  a 
resident  of  Coopers.own,  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  I\ozlowsky 
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  count}',  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.  The  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   BWORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  {ground  for  planting  or  sowing  of  grain 
was  made  ready  with  a  grub  hoe.  Mr. 
Kozlowsky  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  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  ho  proceeded  to  Fond  du 
Lac,  and  then  was  sent  home.  Being 
drafted  a  second  time,  he  was  sent  to 
Green  Bay. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kozlowsky  have  been 
born  eight  children,  namely  :  Antone, 
Catherine,  Anna,  Mary,  Frank,  Joseph, 
Adolph  and  Ennna,  of  whom  Frank  has 
alwa\s  resided  on  the  farm;  the  others  re- 
mained at  home  up  to  the  time  of  their 
marriage.  Mr.  Ko/lowsk}'  is  now  retired 
from  active  farm  work,  he  and  his  wife 
living  with  their  son  Frank,  ^\•ho  now 
owns  the  farm  and  carries  on  the  agricul- 
tural work,  and  in  188S,  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  Kc)nop.  bringing  his  wife  at 
once  to  the  home  farm.  Their  union  has 
been  blessed  with  four  children,  namely  : 
Joseph,  Mary,  Emma  and  Annie. 


WILLIAM     LARSEN,    mayor    of 
F"ort   Howard,    and   one  of  the 
most    extensive    shipping    mer- 
chants   and    traders    of    north- 
eastern  Wisconsin,    was    born    May   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- 
cery  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  fanning  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  infancy;  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 
years  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,  having  charge 
of  the  store  and  books  for  the  firm. 
This  position  he  held  four  years,  when, 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  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  alow 
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^'^  &t^II7  £^-PVgr&ftms  &-^-- 


J  OiA<^^y\/J 


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  in 
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  themost  extensive  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  undoubtedh'  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  array 
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 


:236 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Mr.  Larsen,  regardless  of  politics,  re- 
ligion or  nationality,  his  talents  as  a  busi- 
ness man  having  won  for  him  the  un- 
grudged  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  native  land,  and  after  leaving  school 
commenced  work  in  a  brickyard,  continu- 
ing in  that  vocation  until  about  twent}' 
years  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  ofifices,  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 


ATTHIAS  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  1871,  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,^871,  arriving  in  Green 
Baj-  with  just  seventy  dollars  to  com- 
mence life  in  their  new  home.  They 
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. 


237 


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,  realising  good  returns  for  his 
labor;  subsequently  he  bought  forty  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  where  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,  highl}'  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.  In 
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  living;  and  Michael, 
who  died  in  infancv. 


GEORGE    HUISENFELDT,    one 
of   the  substantial  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  Dixon 
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  I2x  14  log  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  any 
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 


23S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


prepared  for  the  first  crop,  Mr.  Huisen- 
feldt  found  himself  without  money  to  bu\' 
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 
3'ears;  and  one  that  died  in  infancy. 
Stephen  Huisenfeldt  passed  from  earth 
November  9,  1S89,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years,  and  was  followed  to  the  grave 
by  his  wife  Februarj'  4,   1893. 

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  Alliers,  daughter  of  Gerard 
and  Johanna  Albers,  who  emigrated  from 
Germany  to  America  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, 1 893.  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 
integrity  and  uprightness. 


,AUL    BAUMGART.     who    ranks 


among     the      industrious,     rising 


P 

I  young  farmers  of  his  section,  is  a 

native  of  the  Fatherland,  born 
August  9,   1858,  in  I^reslau,  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  property,  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. 
They  then  came  west  over  the  I^altimore 
&  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. 


-39 


of  the  period  in  the  \icinity  of  his  new 
home.  He  was  reared  a  farmer  boy, 
thorouf;hly  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,  1861,  daughter  of  Henry 
Auntholtz,  who  came  to  Wisconsin  from 
Prussia  in  an  early  day.  The  3'oung  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  excellent  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  accidentl)-  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  McKane,  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 
straifjhtforward  business  men  and  upright 
citizens  of  Fort  Howard. 


BARTHOLOMEW     DOOLAN,     a 
thrifty  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  fe^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,  ''"^  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,  wohes,  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,  1S85;  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  the  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  itjterest  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    BIOGEAPHWAL    RECORD. 


241 


with  strong  muscles,  willing  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.  I-Ie  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.  Hcnv- 
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  sterhng  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 


COMMEMORATIVK    BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


the  father  was  a  dry-goods  merchant,  dying 
there  January  31,  1S91,  and  where  the 
mother  still  lives.  The  Doctor  was  edu- 
cated, classically,  at  the  Jesuit  collcfje  at 
Feldkirch,  in  the  Province  of  \'orarlbcrg, 
Austria;  the  college  of  Gaesdoiik,  in 
Khenish  Prussia;  and  the  Gymnasium  of 
Muenster,  in  Westphalia.  Coming  to 
America  in  1868,  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  Fredonia,  Ozaukee  Co.,  Wis., 
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  purpose  of  pursuing  his 
medical  studies,  as  above  narrated.  In 
politics  the  Doctor  is  a  Democrat,  and. 
while  a  resident  of  Ozaukee  county,  tilled 
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  1 89 1  he  was  appointed,  by 
Governor  Peck,  State  Superintendent  of 
Inspectors  of  Illuminating  Oils  for  Wis- 
consin, was  re-appointed  in  1892,  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,  Rhenish  I^russia, 
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 
MESSMEK  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-si.\  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 
greatly  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-grandmother  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.  Shf  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    BIOGRAPUIUAL    RECORD. 


245 


of  his  native  town,  and  tiien  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,  1871,  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  Bailej',  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- 
Iain  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.  Mary's  Orphan  Asylum 

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  fulh'  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  study  of  the  old  Roman  civil  law,  and 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L. 
(Doctor  of  Canon  Law),  at  the  CoUegio 
Apollinare.  In  September,  1890,  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  1 884.  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  of  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 
1883,  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 


246 


COMMEMORATIVE    lilOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


"American     Ecclesiastical     Review,"    of 
Philadelphia. 

Bishop  Messmer  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  brou<(ht  order 
out  of  the  manifold  accumulations  of  a 
great  literary  council  has  already  made 
him  fully  acquainted  with  work  in  the 
Diocese  of  Green  Baj'.  Here  his  influ- 
ence, always  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  cultivation  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 
f(jr  all,  with  plenty  to  spare;  and  on  April 
I ,  that  year,  they  took  passage  on  a  ves- 
sel bound  for  New  York,  the  father  having 
previously  sold  all  his  property,  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  countv,  Mr. 
Lamarre  purchased  some  land,  on  which 
the  family  resided  until  1 884,  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  cemeter)-. 

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.  Walter, 
and,  by  the  latter  part  of  1 894,  expect  to 
have  the  concern  in  full  operation.  The 
home  place,  now  comprising  1 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. 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


247 


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  shant}'  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  bj'  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, 
August  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  duty  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 


248 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


was  called  from  earth  May  17,  1894,  and 
is  buried  in  the  Lutheran  fjraveyard  at 
Glenmore. 

About  the  jear  1869  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  dweilinj,'  on  the  place,  at  once  set 
about  the  work  uf  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  Rockland 
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  industry  and 
integrity.  In  political  affiliation  he  is  a 
Republican,  but  not  active  in  party- 
affairs,  and  in  religious  connection  he  and 
his  family  are  members  of  the  Protestant 
Cluirch,  at  Francis  Creek,  in  Kossuth 
township,  Manitowoc  county. 


JOHN  MICHELSON,  of  Pittsfield 
township.  Brown  county,  was  born 
August  28,  1838,  in  Denmark,  and 
is  one  of  a  family  of  nine  children 
born  to  Michel  Peterson  and  his  wife, 
Carrie  Peterson.  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  j'ear, 
for  sixteen  dollars;  then  as  a  coachman 
four  years,  at  sixty-fi\e  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}-si.\ 
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 


Nelson,  one  of  a  family  of  eleven  children 
born  to  Nels  and  Keirsten  (Fredericks) 
Anderson.  Mrs.  Michelson  was  twenty- 
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  forty-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,  1871;  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  )ears  of  age,  and 
is  still  in  the  profession.  In  religious  con- 
nection the  family  are  Seventh-Da\'  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 count}'. 

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  onl)-  reached 
middle  age.  .  Charles  Bo3den  passed  his 
early  years  in  his  father's  mill,  later  made 
a  whaling  \oyage,  and    afterward  became 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


H9 


a  boatman  on  the  Erie  canal,  where  he 
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  Ma\',  1852,  via  the  lakes  to 
Detroit,  Mich.,  by  railroad  to  Chicago, 
111.,  and  thence  by  lake  to  Manitowoc 
county,  where  he  was  employed  for  some 
years  in  manufacturing  shingles  in  the 
old-fashioned  way.  He  died  in  Brown 
county  when  nearly  eight}-si.\  j'ears  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  nati\-e  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, 
18 18,  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.  Bojden  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 
Journal  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  \ear,  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  \ears,  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  fir.st  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:   Rasnms,  Niels,  Peter, 
Anna,  Christian,  Hans,  and  Lena. 

Niels  was  obliged  to  commence  assist- 
ing his  parents  at    an   early  age,    and  ac- 


250 


COMMKMOIIATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


cordingly  had  little  opportunity  to  obtain 
an  education.  He  was  employed  princi- 
pally by  the  fanners  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 
3'ears  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  years  ago  in  order  to  assist 
in  taking  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  home 
farm.  He  was  a  stanch  member  of  the 
Democratic  party  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  forty  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  horne.  He  has  speculated  largely 
here  in  real  estate,  and  for  twenty-five 
winters  ran  a  lumber  camp;  at  one  time 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


he   owned   460  acres,    and  now   has  220 
acres  of  good  land,  well  improved. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Uoran  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.  Doran  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  years.  He 
has  also  served  three  terms  as  justice  of 
the  peace,  and  no  citizen  in  Pittsfield 
township  is  more  highly  respected. 


received    a    good 


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 
family  consisted  of  seven  children,  name- 
ly: Henry  C,  Mary,  Peter  F. ,  Ferdinand, 
Anna,  Jacobine,  and  Jacob. 

Ferdinand  Witti 
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  da3's, 
immediately  continuing  his  journey  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  New  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  party,  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. 


252 


COJdMEMURATlVK    lUOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


REV.  CLEMENT  LAU.  pastor  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier  Cathedral  Con- 
gregation, Green  Ba\',  is  a  native 
of  Germany,  born  No\eiiiber  i8, 
1840,  in  the  Province  of  W'estphalia,  of 
which  locaHty  his  ancestry  were  all  resi- 
dents as  far  back  as  can  be  traced,  all 
bearing  an  honorahle  reputation,  their 
life  vocation,  for  the  most  part,  beinj,'  that 
of  farming. 

He  is  a  son  of  Bernard  H.  and  Anna 
Maria  (Ross)  Laii,  who,  shortly  alter  the 
birth  of  our  subject,  removed  to  the  city 
of  Kheine,  in  the  same  Pro\ince,  where 
he  attended  the  city  schools,  later  the 
gymnasium,  which  latter  institution  he 
entered  at  the  age  of  eleven  years.  Here 
he  studied  diligently  till  1S59,  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,  1S61,  entered  the 
university  in  the  same  cit)",  studying  there 
about  twelve  months.  In  the  following 
year  he  proceeded  to  Austria,  and  in  the 
Priest  Seminary  at  Linz  fUpjier  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  ser\ed  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,  he  came 
to  the  United  States,  and  on  the  i2thda}- 
of  the  same  month  was  received  by  Bishop 
Krautbauer  in  the  diocese  of  Green  Bay, 
Wis.  His  hrst  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.  Marj^'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  bj- 
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- 
fulK'  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  Si.sters  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  thousaml  dollars,  he 
built  the  priest's  residence,  which  was 
completed  in  October,  i  S90.  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 
count}',  was  born  June  26,  1826, 
in  the  \illage  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> 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOBAPHICAL    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  j'ear 
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  removal  to  this  farm  Mr. 
Goldsmith  was  married,  July  19,  1857, 
in  New  Denmark,  to  Miss  Mary  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  five  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  160  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.  Goldsmith  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   affluent    farmers   and   land- 
owners   of     Lawrence    township, 
Brown   county,    was   born  March 
I,     1839,    in    Uden,    Province    of    North 
Brabant,  Holland,  son  of  John  and  Maria 
Verboort. 

In  1848  the  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,  namely:  John,  now  a  resident  of 
Washington  county,  Ore. ;  William,  who 
became  a  priest,  and  died  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 
lived  in  Brown  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  Verboort's,  Ore., 
and  Albert,  whose  name  opens  this  sketch. 
From  Massachusetts  the  familj'   came   by 


'56 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPBICAL    RECORD. 


rail  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  n<jthing  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  F"o.\  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  113  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  cemetery  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  1863  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, in  Brown  county,  by  Rev.    Father 


Spierings,  with  Miss  Anna  Johnson,  who 
was  born  November  i  3,  i  826,  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  extensively,  he  having 
gone  over  sixty  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. 


^57 


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  ox-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  i6  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 


258 


COMMEMOIIATIVK    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.  W'irth  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Ger- 
many, April  25,  1823,  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  }ears, 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  Gynmasium  at  Muennerstadt,  study- 
ing at  that  institution  of  learning  six  years. 
For  a  year  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  youths  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  on  account  of  physical  de- 
ficiency he  was  rejected.  Turning  his  eyes, 
now,  in  the  direction  of  the  Western 
World,  with  all  its  grand  advantages  to 
the  man  "who  is  willing  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,  he  took  pas- 
sage at  Cuxhafen,  the  seaport  of  Ham- 
burg, on  the  good  ship  '  •  Perseverance  " 
(a  suggestive  title  for  the  young  emigrant), 
bound  for  Ouebec,  and  after  a  passage  of 
fifty-eight  da>s  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  "  Oregon  "  for  Milwaukee,  from 
which  latter  port  he  journeyed  to  Green 
Bay,  arriving  July  11,  1846.  Here  he 
unfortunately  was  siezed  with  typhoid 
fever,  but,  on  the  other  hand — ''For tuna 
favi't fortibus" — 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  mtjnth  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  1 849,  ofttimes,  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  Companj-  E,  Twenty- 
second  Wis.  V.  I.,  and  served  as  orderly 
sergeant  and  clerk  to  Col.  Chapman, 
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. 


559 


clusively  to  the  farm,  varied  occasionally 
by  some  small  job  at  carpentry  for  the 
first  two  years.  On  P'ebruary  2,  1S49, 
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  l^eing 
deceased)  emigrated  in  1 846  from  the 
Fatherland  to  the  United  States,  arriving 
in  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  September  8,  1846. 
After  marriage  Mr.  Wirth  continued  farm- 
ing in  Calumet  county  until  July,  1S49, 
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.  1  he  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  always  with  him  a  substan- 


tial world,  both  pure  and  good,  round 
which,  "with  tendrils  strong  as  flesh  and 
blood,    our    pastime    and    our    happiness 


will  grow. " 


JEREMIAH  BI-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  of  its  members  to 
come  to  this  country.  In  1 840  he  reached 
Glenmore,  Brov^'n  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 
fc-ther  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,  12x16  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  off 
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 
hardy  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 


COMMEMOUATIVE    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  eighth- 
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  1 S62  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  38,  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  .\ugust  14.  They  found 
wild  Indians,  a  wild  country,  and  they  also 
found  gold.  Mr.  Brennan  returned  to 
Wisconsin  in  i  867  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 


ART  IN  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    1 851  he  sailed   from    Rotter- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHICAL    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  W^yngaard  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, 
1821,  daughter  of  Levi  and  Derdamia  In- 
gersoll, New  England  people,  who  were 
early  pioneers  of  the  county,  having  come 
to  Cleveland  between  the  years  18 12  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    propert}'.      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  originallja 
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,  18 14,  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    BIOORAPUWAL    RECORD. 


coinineiiced  to  clear  awaj'  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  countrj";  but  the\'  perse- 
vered in  their  noble  work,  and,  after  years 
of  toil  found  themselves  in  possession  of  a 
tine  pnjperty  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  highl}-improved 
land,  and  ranked  among  the  most  success- 
ful men  in  his  locality.  In  1S51  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  \\'isconsin,  and  passed 
the  remainder  of  her  life  with  her  daugh- 
ter, dying  about  1.S61;  she  was  interred 
in  the  cemetery  in  New  Denmark  town- 
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  ]ennic.  The  children  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gotfredsen  were  eleven 
in  number,  as  follows:  Mary  (who  was 
the  first  white  girl  born  in  New  Denmark 


township),  Hilbert,  Minnie,  Sophia  (who 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-six),  Jennie, 
Frederica,  Augusta,  Lawrence,  Benjamin, 
Laurena  and  Edith,  most  of  whom  are 
living  in  Nebraska.  In  1865  Mr.  Gotfred- 
sen revisited  his  native  country,  spending 
a  short  time  there  among  his  relatives  and 


friends,     who 
welcome. 


^ave    him    a   very    hearty 


R\l\.  MICHAEL  JOHN  O'BRIEN 
is  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Church, 
Fort  Howard,   one   of  the  oldest 
congregations  in    the    Fox    Ri\er 
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  1 846,  were  married 
in  that  city  in  1848,  and  remo\ed  to  Wis- 
consin earl}-  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,  W'aupaca 
Co.,  Wis.;  Patrick  is  a  resident  of  South 
Milwaukee;  Rev.  M.  J.  is  the  lo\ed  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.  Harry 
Kearns,  of  Buffalo,  Wis. ;  George  resides 
in  South  Milwaukee. 

The  future  candidate  for  priestly  hon- 
ors was  a  farmer  in  his  youthful  days  in 
Milwaukee  and  Calumet  counties.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  first  class  to  grad- 
uate from  the  Chilton  high  school,  in 
June,   187S,  and,    for  three  years  follow- 


COMMEMORATIVE    DIOGRAPIIICAL    liECORD. 


263 


ing,  was  a  teacher  in  Calumet  county. 
He  then,  in  the  fall  of  1880,  entered  St. 
Francis  Seminary  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  next  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,   in   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  family  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  years, 
when  a  better  one  was  built.  The  farm 
was  graduall}'  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    BIOORAPIIWAL    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  farniiii<^  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.  Cleerenuins,  Jr.,  were  born 
children  as  follows:  Annie,  Thersa,  Odile, 
Minnie,  August,  and  Henry,  all  living,  and 
four  that  died  in  infancy.  The  mother  of 
these  passed  from  earth  September  14, 
1887,  and  was  buried  in  the  \Vec]uiock 
cemetery  in  Scott  township.  Mr.  Cleere- 
mans,  Jr.,  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  an 
ardent  supporter  of  the  principles  of  that 
piarty,  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 
begiiming  life  a  poor  man,  his  natural 
ability,  industrious  nature  and  persever- 
ance have  enabled  him  to  rise  to  his  pres- 
ent cn\ial)le  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  o.\-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,  jirodurtive  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,  1 88 1  ;  Charles  H.,  November  3,  1883; 
Fred  J.,  May  13,  1885  ;  Walter M.,  March 
6,  1888;  Irma  C. ,  July  10,  1889;  Cora 
A.  A.,  February  1,  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  si.\ 
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  May  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  the  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    BIOORAPUWAL   RECORD. 


and  his  larjje  propert}'  was  acquired  by 
hard  work.  f;(K)d  in;uia<;eiiient,  and  up- 
right dealing,'.  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  Ue  Perc  as  well,  and,  from  being 
a  poor  man  on  his  arrival  in  Brown 
county,  ho  rose,  b\'  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  si.xteen  years  old. 
He  connnenced  to  work  on  the  farm, 
where  he  labored  industriously  to  help  his 
father.  On  November  19,  1889,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Beauinier.  a  native 
of  Scott  township,  and  a  daughter  of  Au- 
gust Beauinier,  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 
1 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 
wifciarc  members  of  the  Catholic  church. 


H.    WIESE,  a  prosperous  young 


agriculturist  and   well-known  citi- 


F 

I  zenof  Lawrence  township,  Brown 

county,  was  born  September  6, 
1862,  in  Lippe-Detmold,  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many, son  of  William  and  Louisa  (Hage- 
meister)  Wiese. 

a  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  countrv. 


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- 
crick  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  lifty-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  they  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  vears,  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,    1891. 


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  Syracuse,  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,  Wash.).      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 
township,  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  home.      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.  Dvvyer  now  makes  his  home  with 
him,  retired  from  active  work.  He  is  a 
Democrat,  but  has  never  taken  much  inter- 
est in  pohtics,  having,  until  recently,  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  Mar\'  (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  thej'  remained  nearly  three  years, 
Mr.  Nelson  working  as  a  day  laborer.  In 
1 8  50  they  emigrated  to  \\'isconsin,  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  the}'  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  walk  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  only  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  necessary  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.  They  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  Henry  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  September  8,  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  150  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  sanctuar}- 
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  Kmith,  was  born 
October  lO,  1814,  ''^  Groiuienz,  in  west 
Prussia,  and  was  there  married  to  Cathe- 
rine Jaddaz,  daughter  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  the)'  moved 
to  De  Pere,  where  Mr.  Knuth  filled  various 
positions,  but  was  never  a  man  to  seek 
public  office.  In  1870  he  settled  in 
\\'rightstown,  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  I)e  Pere, 
and  at  the  little  log  schoolhouse  of 
Wrightstown.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  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  F"ieck,  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, 
"  Nrmo    mc  ivipunc  laces  sit,"    em- 
blazons  every    Scottish    battle-torn 
banner,  are  to   be   found  the  wide  world 
over,  occupying,  many  of  them,   exalted 


positions  in  every  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  wag  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  ^^'estern  World  in  Port- 
age county,  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, 


t^<^^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


273 


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  exclusive  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  city. 

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 
Montgomery. 

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  by  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  Gynmasium  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  year;  they 
had  immigrated  to  America  in  1 849.  After 
a  brief  practice  in  Toledo,  the  Doctor 
moved  to  Chilton,  Wis.,  in  1856;  thence 
went  to  Manitowoc,  and  in  1859  came  to 
Green  Bay,  where  he  has  ever  since  been 


374 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPITWAL    RECORD. 


in  active  practice.  He  has  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 marriajje  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  Feli.x  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,  1851,  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  country.  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  family  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,  partly  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  cemeter), 
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. 


I 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


■/:> 


but  he  has  acquired  a  practical  business 
training,  and  by  good  management  has 
made  a  success  of  his  chosen  vocation, 
now  owning  138  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  offlce,  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- 
pany 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,  totally  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Each  member  of  this  party  took   up  land 
for  his  own  account. 

During  the  first  year  Martin  \'an  Abel, 
being  \'oung  and  strong,  worked  for  some 
of  the  others  who  liad  families,  and  as 
there  were  no  roads  of  an)'  kind,  bound- 
aries, farms  or  fences,  he  found  plenty 
to  do  at  chopping  down  the  giants  of  the 
forest,  and  out  of  the  hewn  logs  building 
dwellings  of  a  more  substantial  nature. 
The  first  land  purchased  by  Mr.  \'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  shijlings  per  acre,  and  here  he  cut  the 
first  tree  that  ever  fell  to  axe  on  the 
place,  all  the  preliminary  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  valuable  timl^er.  .\bout 
I  862  our  subject  removed  to  Section  35, 
Holland  township,  where  for  one  year  he 
lived  on  rented  land,  then  in  Section  34 
he  bought  the  twelve  acres  whereon  is 
now  his  home. 

But  Mr.  V'an  Abel,  since  coming  to 
Holland  townshij),  has  been  more  inter- 
ested in  mercantile  pursuits  than  in  farm- 
ing. Shortl\-  after  his  arrival  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Holland,  in  partnership  with  his 
brother-in-law,  lohn  Wassenberg.  he 
opened  out  a  mercantile  business,  con- 
ducted by  them  two  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  our  subject  bought  out  his  part- 
ner and  afterward  carried  on  the  store  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  now  he  has  130  acres. 


In  October,  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 :  Born  in  Calumet  county — 
John,  now  a  farmer  of  Holland  township; 
born  in  the  \illage  of  Holland — Mary, 
now  the  wife  of  Theodore  Broercn,  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 
unknown  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  countr\',  and  succeeds  by  his  own 
brawny  muscle  and  indomitable  will 
power.  He  was  confronted  with  the 
stern  forest,  and  he  subdued  it  ;  he  en- 
countered innumerable  difficulties,  and  he 
overcame  them;  he  met  with  ruinous  ad- 
versity, but  Phcenix-like,  he  built  up  bet- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGEAPmCAL    RECORD. 


ter  and  higher.  He  and  his  amiable  wife 
had  a  large  family  to  rear,  and  they 
brought  them  up  nobly  in  the  backwoods, 
educating  them  as  well  as  if  they  had 
lived  in  the  finest  city,  and  taught  them 
to  t;now  and  to  live  up  to  the  knowledge 
that  they  are  worthy  children  of  worthy 
pioneer  parents,  respected  everywhere. 


F 


RANK  FROSCH,  the  postmaster 
of  Wayside,  Morrison  township. 
Brown  county,  and  a  prosperous 
merchant,  is  a  son  of  George 
Frosch  (a  rope-maker),  a  native  of  Baden, 
Germany,  born  April  23,  181 7,  son  of 
Alexander  Frosch,  a  merchant  and  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 count}',  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,  1 83 1,  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,  January  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  was  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  tliat  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 
workshop  on  his  place,  and  made  quite  a 
comfortable  living  for  his  famil}-.  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  Febru- 
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. 


27S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


His  education  \v;is  accjuired  at  the  district 
school,  and  was  sufficient  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  a  hardy  but  intelligent  farmer. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  went  to  De- 
Pere  and  engaged  in  business  with  Jacob 
Falck,  thus  increasing  his  store  of  knowl- 
edge. In  a  short  time,  however,  he  re- 
turned to  Wayside,  and  purchased  the 
general  store  of  Peter  Axen,  which  was 
then,  in  1876,  a  small  affair,  but  now, 
under  Mr.  Frosch'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  1892  he  took  into  partnership  his 
brother,  George,  the  firm  now  standing  as 
Frosch  Bros.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P'rank  Frosch 
are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Ch,urch,and 
are  highly  respected  in  the  social  circles 
of  Wayside  and  the  entire  township  of 
Morrison. 


ANDREW  HIBBERD,    a  resident 
of    Rockland    township.     Brown 
count}',  was  born  August  8,   1S46, 
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 — six  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  Dixon,  111. ;  and  Mary,  who 
died  in  1894  (she  was  first  married  to 
Oliver  D.  Colburn,  and  subsequently  to 
John  Pro\ost,  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  1S51  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- 
ne}ing  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 
amid  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    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


=  79 


De  Pere,  in  Company  F,  Fourteenth 
Wis.  V.  I.,  and  was  sent  with  his  com- 
mand to  Fond  du  Lac,  thence  to  St. 
Loui.s,  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  exposure;  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 
county,  was  born,  in  1S22,  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  1847 
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  voj'age  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  years  on  the  C,  C,  C.  &  I.  rail- 


28o 


COMMEMORATirE   BIOQRAPHWAL   RECORD. 


road,  which  was  then  in  course  of  con- 
structionj.  and  nuinafjed  to  save  a  httle. 
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  Hay,  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, 
Gleninore  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  iiis  land  until 
after  his  marriage. 

In  1837  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 
with    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.  Politicallj'  he  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, but  has  never  given .  any  of  his 
time  to  party  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  follows:  Mary 
(Mrs.  Edward  Keegan)  and  Ellen  (Mrs. 
Robert  Miersj,  both  of  Milwaukee;  Cor- 
nelius, of  Medford,  Wis. ;  Thomas  and 
Catherine,  at  home;  Daniel  M.,  a  machin- 
ist, of  Milwaukee;  Margaret  A.  and 
Tinioth}',  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  Compan\-  F,  Fiftieth  Regi- 
ment Wis.  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. 


w 


ILLIAM  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  overshare  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.  Accordingly,  leaving 
his  wife  and  young  son   in   England,  he 


:^ /f .  ^^-....^^ 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


2S1 


took  passage  in  December,  1852,  for  the 
United  States,  landing  after  a  six-weeks' 
voyage  at  New  York.  On  fiis  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  Bay,  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  boj'  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  wa\'-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.  Enderby  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. 


emploj'ing  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 
Louis\ille,  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  six  hundred  prisoners,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-two  canon,  and  about 
sixty  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  destroyed  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  Arm)'  of  the  Tennessee,  taking  part 
in  several  of  the  actions  preceding  the 
Atlanta  campaign,  under  Sherman.  At 
Huntsville,  Ala.,  Mr.  Enderby  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  commantl.  On  the  day 
before  Johnson's  surrender,  while  on 
picket  duty  at  Pocotaligo,  he  was  struck 
in  the  throat  by  a  spent  rifie  ball.  The 
hardships  endured  on  the  Meridian  march 
produced  varicose  veins  in  the  right  leg, 
while  the  march  to  Washington,  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  loyal  sol- 
dier our  subject  suffered  considerably. 

After  his  discharge  from  the  armj'  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;  W^illiam  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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


385 


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  nearly  every 
cent,  in  all  sending  home  $590  to  assist 
inicancelling  a  si.x-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 
sixteen  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of 
tanner  and  currier,  in  which  he  continued 
until  he  reached  his  majority.  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, 
subsequently  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,  1840,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Amanda  E.  Cady,  who 
was  a  native  of  Clinton  county,  N.  Y. , 
born  in  181  5,  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  next  removed 
to  Northfield  township,  also  in  Cook 
county,  and  lived  there  for  some  time  on 


286 


COMMEyWRATIVB   BIOGRAPHICAL   BE  CORD. 


rented  land,  later  following;'  farming;  sev- 
eral jears  in  McHenry  count}',  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 Januar}',  1893,  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  thouf;h.  over  eighty-seven  jears 
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  oi  the 
Whig  party  and  its  successor,  the  Repub- 
hcan  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. 
Sawyer  wedded,  for  his  second  spouse, 
Mrs.  Susan  E.  (Montgomery)  Pratt,  a 
widow,  who  was  born  in  Oswego  county, 
N.  Y. ,  daughter  of  Capt.  Archibald  Mont- 
gomery, of  the  British  na\y.  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  si.xteen 
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  si.\  weeks. 
They  were  then  sent  out  foraging,  and 
while  climbing  into  a  wagon,  our  subject 
had  his  right  foot  crushed,  for  a  few  days 
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- 


son fort  and  guarding  railway  bridges.  At 
this  time  our  subject  w'as  ordered  to 
Atlanta,  where  his  regiment  lay,  and  he 
was  under  fire  every  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  en  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  July  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-inonths'  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 Company  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. 


2S7 


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.  124,  G.  A.  R. ,  of  which  he  is 
chaplain 


JOHN  COENEN,  for  over   forty-iive 
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  yet  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  1 864,  and 
was  buried  in  Allouez  township;  his  wife 
survived  him  until  October  23,  1885, 
when  she  passed  away  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-si.x  years,  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, 


iS8 


COMMEMORATIVE    DlOGRAPniCAL   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  bojhood, 
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  faithfulh'  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,  Eline  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 
occupj'ing  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  ves.sel,  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   BWORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


289 


time,  when  he  engaged  at  himbering  in 
the  woods,  resuming  sawmilling  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  (Schmideknecht)  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  bj'  all  denom- 
inations for  his  piety  and  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


city,  and  in  1883  settled  in  Fort  Howard, 
where  he  formed  a  partnership  with  P.  \'. 
Cothell,  now  deceased,  and  since  1 887 
Mr.  Lomas  has  been  alone.  In  his  po- 
litical affinities  Mr.  Lomas  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  eight  years;  has  a  good 
practice,  and  has  accumulated  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 
Augustinean  College,  Belgium,  finishing 
his  studies  at  the  Seminary  of  St.  Francis, 
Milwaukee,  Wis..  He  was  ordained  a 
priest  at  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  June  10, 
1870,  bv  Bishop  Joseph  Melcher,  D.  D., 
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  De  Pere 
- — his  present  incumbency.  Under  his 
wise   administration   the  church   building 


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  1893  he 
erected  a  tine  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 
irood  for  his  beloved  Hock. 


CHARLES  R.  DENIS.  This  gen- 
tleman, for  so  nian\-  \ears  favor- 
ably known  on  and  about  the 
lakes,  especially  by  vessel  owners, 
is  a  Belgian  by  birth,  born  February  17, 
1849,  a  son  of  Leopold  and  Rosalie  (Noel) 
Denis,  of  the  same  country,  who  were  the 
parents  of  eleven  children — si.x  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  v\inter;  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  World,  bought  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  jears  was  assessor  of  his 
township.  They  were  the  parents  of  thir- 
teen children,   viz. :  Joseph,  a  steam  tug 


<:^k^</^^^?^^ 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    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  en  route  to  America;  Vic- 
tor, who  died  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ;  Leopold, 
an  engineer,  with  residence  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;  Charles  A.,  of  West 
De  Pere;  and  two,  whose  names  are  not 
given,  that  died  while  01  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,  James,  and 
Honorius. 

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  firing  on  the  ' '  George  L.  Dun- 
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,"  which 
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  com- 
petent 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  e.xperienced 
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  safety.  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   BIOGRAPUICAL   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  1 870 
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  Bay,  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  honesty  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  they  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, 
1 886,  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  year  he  went  to  Pensaukee,  Wis., 
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   BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


ing  to  the  lumber  refjions  in  the  winter. 
He  worked  in  Stiles,  Oconto  county,  one 
winter,  and  was  also  employed  by  a  man 
named  Kaymen,  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 
e.\clusi\ely  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.  The)'  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  January  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,  liorn  -April  8, 
1882;  Gertrude,  born  March  10,  1884; 
Ann  A.,  born  January  28,  1886;  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,   i8i8,  in  the 
village  of  Kondersheim,  Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany. 


His  father,  George  Falck,  a  tailor  by 
trade,  was  twice  married  in  Germany, 
and  b}'  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  1843 
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  1843, 
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  previously  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    BIOGRAPHICAL    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  religious  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  lad}'  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  wise  and 
prudent  father,  and  having  been  apt  and 
ready  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,  1S93,  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   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


kinds  of  repair  work,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  sold  out.  Mr.  Hansen  was  mar- 
ried in  Denmark  to  Miss  Mary  Yorgensen, 
a  native  of  the  same  locaht)',  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,  1S75,  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  years,  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,  ha\ing  the  office  in  the 
brick  storeroom  on  his  farm,  where,  since 
Julj',  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,  ^  SO"  of  Stephen 
and  Mary  (Howard)  Leonard,  natives  of 
England.  Stephen  Leonard  was  a  sea- 
captain,  plying  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. 

J.  H.  Leonard  was  reared  in  that  part 
of  Brooklyn  then  known  as  Williamsburg, 
and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  came  to  Wis- 
consin and  first  engaged  in  clerking  in 
Manitowoc.  In  1860-61  he  attended 
school  in  Madison,  W'is. ,  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    William.sburg, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


297 


Gainesville,  White  Oak  Swamp.  Malvern 
Hill,  Antietani,  Fredericksburg,  Chancel- 
lorsville,  Gettj'sburg,  Rappahannock  Sta- 
tion; through  Gen.  Grant's  campaign,  in- 
cluding Spottsylvania,  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,  Appleton),  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. ; 
Navarino  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  1S32, 
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. 


298 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


Camm  has  been  in  acti\c  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  studying 
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 
sterlintf  institution. 


CHESTER  G.  WILCOX,  post- 
master at  De  Fere,  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.  Wilco.x,  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  study  in  Bryant  &  Strat- 
ton's  Commercial  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  $  1 7  in  cash ;  thence  he  went  to 
Wheeler  Prairie,  Dane  Co.,  Wis.,  where 
he  found  employment  on  a  farm.  His 
next  p>ermanent  place  of  residence  was 
De  Pere,  where  his  uncle,  E.  I.  \\'ilcox, 
was  principal  of  the  high  school.  Here 
he  obtained  a  certificate  as  a  school- 
teacher, but  never  utilised  it,  as  he  found 
a  broader  and  more  remunerative  held  in 
the  harness  business  in  Green  Bay,  which 
he  followed  three  years,  when  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.  McDonald  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  1S85  to  1894  it  was  estimated  that 
his  transactions  in  this  line  exceeded  those 
of  any  other  dealer  in  Brown  count}',  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 
valuable  propert\'  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.  \\'ilcox  is  a  Democrat. 
In  1873  he  was  elected  alderman  of  De- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


?oi 


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  many  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 
"running  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  Company,  which  he 
originated.  He  helped  to  organize  the 
Artesian  Water  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  many  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 (Stuart)  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  are  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  an}'  Church. 

Levi  S.  Wilcox,  father  of  Chester  G. 
Wilcox,  was  born  December  3,  1818,  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.  Wilcox  was  reared  to  farming 


302 


COMMEMORATIVE   BWORAPUICAL   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  j'ear 
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  Lambie,  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.  Wilco.x,  April  22,  1869,  and  her  re- 
mains now  rest  beside  those  of  her  hus- 
band. She  was  the  mother  of  ten  chil- 
dren, of  whom  two  only  survive — Mrs. 
Wilco.x  and  Jcannette,  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  1881,  when  he 
came  to  Brown  county.  Wis. ,  and  for  a 
year  resided  in  De  Pere,  undisturbed  by 
business  cares.  About  1S83  he  purchased 
the  farm  in  Brown  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 above;  Jane  M.,  who  was  born  in 
Michigan,  and  is  now  the  widow  of  A.  S. 
Fifield,  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  Lilly,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  eight  months.  Mr.  Wilcox  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  in  religion  is 
Presbyterian. 


GODFREY  MILLER  (deceased), 
was  born  October  8,  1813,  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;  Anna  Rose- 
bery,  born  January  29,  1847,  was  mar- 
ried to  George  Woodward,  of  Kaukauna, 
in  June,  1870;  Sarah  Jane,  married  to 
Chester  G.  W^ilcox  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  summer  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  da}',  be  ground,  and  returned  the 
next.  In  1842  he  moved  into  his  house 
on  this  farm,  and  there  resided  the  re- 
mainder of   his  davs.      Under  the   direc- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    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  Republican. 
He  was  the  first  treasurer  of  Lawrence 
township,  which  he  had  helped  to  organ- 
ize, 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-six  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,  1S41,  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 
moved  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  toil  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"  of  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   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


several  choice  buildiiij,' lots,  as  well  as  some 
2,800  acres  of  timber  landelsewere;  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  (^iice 
Millington),  widow  of  G.  Stephen  Doug- 
las, an  Englishman  by  birth,  to  whom 
she  was  married  May  3,  1856,  and  who 
died,  during  the  Civil  war,  at  Antietam, 
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  Myrtle  A.  Huntington,  who 
was  but  seventeen  jears  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  yet  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 
effected    his    escape,    the     second    time 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPHICAL    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  Nevv 
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  February  25,  1782,  married  at 
the  age  of  seventeen,  and  died  February 
14,  1 871;  she  was  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Hannah  (Wright)  Roberts  (the  mother 
being  the  heroine  who  in  her  girlhood 
was  the  means  of  Peter  Millington'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,  1804,  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,  1784,  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    BIOORAPBICAL    RECORD. 


parents,  with  whom  they  lived  five  years, 
enjoying  every  comfort  and  attention,  the 
grandfather  especially,  who  was  a  devout 
Christian  man,  being  exceedinglj'  kind  to 
them.  But,  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  unselfish  interest  in  her 
welfare.  After  a  time  she  went  to  live 
with  a  married  uncle  (her  mother's  eldest 
brother)  in  Onondaga  Valley,  and  she 
then  went  to  district  school  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.  Douglas,  as  already  recorded. 

He  was  a  native  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  Brown  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  Flintville,  also  teaching  school, 
as  above  stated. 

When  Mrs.  Cook  came  to  this  part  of 
Wisconsin,  she  traveled  by  water  from 
Buffalo  to  Green  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  Flintville  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  has  made 
his  way  in  the  world  b}'  laudable  ambi- 
tion. In  his  political  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  party. 


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,  Mary,  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 


COMMEMORATIVE    BWQRAPHWAL    RECORD. 


307 


came  to  America,  sailing  from  Bremen  to 
New  York,  and  thence  journeying;  directly 
to  Alton,  111.,  where  he  remained  until 
July,  1893,  at  which  time  he  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  charge  in  New  Den- 
mark, Brown  county.  This  congregation 
has  been  organized  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  the  suc- 
cess of  the  party. 


ESEIUS  BEISSEL,  a  thoroughly 
representative  respected  old  set- 
tler of  New  Denmark  township. 
Brown  county,  is  a  native  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  born  August  27, 
1824,  in  North  Sunbury,  Northumberland 
county,  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  (Adams) 
Beissel,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  farmer 
by  occupation,  in  which  he  was  very  suc- 
cessful. There  were  ten  children  in  his 
family,  of  whom  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,  111. ;  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,  purchasing  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  (Chimmer) 
Kahren,  as  follows:  Margaret;  Jacob,  who 
was  drowned  in  the  East  river,  when  thirty- 
three  years  old;  Catherine  and  Joseph, 
who  died  in  infancy;  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  Co.,  111.,  where  he 
and  his  young  wife  commenced  their  mar- 
ried life;  but  sometime  later,  owingto  her 
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  purchased  si.xty  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,  1862;  Joseph,  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  died  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   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,  proving  a  most  reliable,  faithful 
official. 


J 


AMES  HOBBINS,  the  oldest  living 
settler  in  Rockland  township,  Brown 
county,  is  a  native  of  the  Emerald 
Isle,  born  in  i8i6,  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 
country  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  i  5, 


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  an\'  kind  were 
laid  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- 
cessful!)', 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  earl\-  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  progress 
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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


309 


Francis  Church  at  De  Pere,  of  which  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  1848.  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  Flossie, 
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  and  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  Quebec)  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  Frank  Pelicier,  and  died  in 
1878  ;  Maxime,  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, 
Mich. ;  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  of  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).  Seventeenth  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 
1 1,   1862,  he  was  commissioned  first  lieu- 


310 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


tenant,  and  August  3  i  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  Pocotaiigo, 
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  eye  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.  Beauprc  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 
185  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 
T840,  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 
Bay,  a  daughter  of  Theodore  Trudell,  of 


Canadian  birth,  coming,  in  1S45,  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  i  i , 
1892;  Lydia  Ann,  born  January  26,  1869, 
died  September  22,  1891,  wife  of  S.  W. 
Lieblien;  Rose  Delenia,  born  January  24, 
1871,  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,  1S79. 

Dr.  Beaupre,  in  his  political  associa- 
tions, was  a  Democrat  till  1886,  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  Kerry,  Ireland,  born 
in  1 8,24,  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. 


31' 


April  they  traveled  by  rail  to  Buffalo,  and 
one  week  later  emtarked  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  families — 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  affiliations  he  is  a 
Democrat,  and  has  served  as  roadmaster; 
but  he  has  given  little  attention  to  poli- 
tics, preferring  to  devote  his  time  e.xclu- 
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  city.  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


children:  William,  foreman  of  the  Mil- 
waukee &  Northern  shops;  Bernard; 
Lewis;  Felix;  Mary,  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  si.\  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  years  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,  ^^'is. ,  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  Perc,  who  made  many  tools  for  the 
pioneer  farmers),  the  work  of  clearing  was 
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 
miles  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.  Shaughnes.sy  have  had 
nine  children,  of  whom  three  sons  and 
two  daughters  died  young:  George,  born 
in  New  York,  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  1 843, 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-pox.  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.,  Mary  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. 


DR.  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  public 
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  Nfon- 
mouth,  N.  J.,  after  which  betook  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  field  of  la- 
bor, and,  after  a  year  of  thorough  and  sys- 
tematic study,  located  in  Milwaukee, 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  Milwaukee,  knd  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  MihVaukee. 

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 
otlier  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  15, 
1836,  in  Clinton  county,  N.  Y.,  of 
French  descent  on  the  paternal  side. 
His  parents,  Alexanderand  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 
seventj'-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, Brovvn  county,  laboring  in  the 
woods  by  the  month.  He  also  worked 
in  a  sawmill  in  the  same  township,  then 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


315 


for  a  jear  or  more  was  employed  in 
Oconto,  in  draying,  sawing,  and  as  wood- 
man, after  whiich  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  i,  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,  1 891,  to  Ed.  A.  Dunham,  a  farmer 
of  Minnesota.  Charles  C,  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    army.      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  Wilhelmina.      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  commence  life  in  the  Western  World. 
Journeying  by  rail  to  Green  Bay,  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 
by  his  square,  honest   methods  in  all   his 
dealings  with  his  fellow  men.      Politically 
he  is  a   Democrat,  and   has   held  various 


3i6 


COMMEMOIiATIVE    DIOGRAPniCAL    RECORD. 


local  offices  of  trust,  serviog  his  town- 
ship faithfiill}-  as  supervisor  and  school 
treasurer. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jensen  have  been 
born  twelve  children,  as  follows:  Gerhard 
H.,  James  C,  Nels  C,  Toiirwal  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  Ba\';  and  the  remaining 
fonr  live  at  home  with  their  parents. 


PETER  JOSEPH  BECKER,  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Green  Bay 
township.  Brown  county,  is  a 
German  by  birth,  born  November 
2  1,  1839,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia. 
He  is  a  son  of  Bartholomew  and  Maria 
Eva  (SchnciderjBecker,  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  Marj' — to  mourn  her  early 
death;  and  Eva,  wife  of  Dr.  Rhode,  of 
Green  Baj'. 

In  1843  Bartholomew  Becker  sold  his 
property  in  Germany  and  came  with  his 
family  to  America,  arriving  in  New  York 
after  a  voyage  of  fort\'-nine  dajs,  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- 
FORD,  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   BIOORAPHICAL   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  capacity  he  served  un- 
til 1888  a  period  of  fourteen  years, 
and  then  resigned  in  order  to  accept  the 

18 


position  of  trainmaster  for  the  Wisconsin 
Central  railroad.  In  1890  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,  ^  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 


320 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGEAPHICAL    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 
therein  i860.  After  his  mother's  death, 
our  subject  returned  to  Oconto,  and 
worked  in  sawmills,  etc. ,  about  two  years, 
when  he  came  to  Pittsfield  and  purchased 
fort}'  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  li\ed  alone 
for  about  a  year.  On  January  27,  1863, 
he  married  Miss  Mary  Jane  Tripp,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  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.\  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  five  years,  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 
ninct\'-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,  1S64;  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-Da\'  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  loyalty  to  his 
friends  and  country.  He  was  one  of  the 
few  remaining  pioneers,  and  will  be  missed 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends." 


REV.  WILLIAM  ROWBOTHAM, 
of  West  De  Pere,  Brown  county, 
is  a  native  of  the  city  of  Sheffield, 
England,  and  was  born  November 
10,  1 8 19,  a  son  of  Amos  and  Lucy 
(Hutchinson)  Rowbotham.  The  former 
was  a  cutler  by  trade,  and  when  the  son 
William  was  nine  months  old,  moved  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  years  as  a  jour- 
neyman; then,  for  two  years,  was  engaged 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    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  3'ears  he 
conducted  a  clothing  house,  and  then,  for 
nine  years — 1865  to  1874 — was  overseer 
of  the  Brown  County  Poor  House;  next 
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  Wile}',  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,  1889,  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 11,  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.whoisone  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.  (our  subject),  Anna,  Ellen  and 
Sarah.  Of  these  Mary  was  the  first  to 
come  to  America,  and  about  the  year 
1 849  was  followed  by  our  subject,  who 
landed  in  Quebec,  being  then  thirteen 
years  of  age. 

After  some  experience  as  a  coachman 


322 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


he  reached  Green  Baj-  in  1855,  and  for 
six  years  was  employed  at  lumbering  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 
untler  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 
Catholic  faith.  Mr.  Flatley  is  a  devout 
Catholic,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Order 
of  Catholic  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. For  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  count3%  daugh- 
ter of  Erasmus  Peterson,  who  came  to 
the  United  States  from  Denmark.  For 
a  short  time  the  young  couple  li\ed  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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


323 


who  was  born  in  Humboldt  township, 
Brown  county,  daughter  of  Frederick 
Schoen,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  an 
early  settler  of  Humboldt  township.  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,  Curacoa, 
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,  1890,  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   BIOGRAPHICAL    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  b}'  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, 
18 1 3,  daughter  of  Diedrich  and  Matie 
(Maiborn)  Bartels,  the  former  of  whom  ) 
was  a  saloonkeeper,  and  whose  family 
consisted  of  ti\e  children,  namely:  Jo- 
hanna, Matie,  Herman,  Henrietta  (who 
remained  at  home  until  her  marriage),  and 
Margaret.  Mr.  Buckmaim  carried  on  a 
saloon,  and  was  also  engaged  in  farming, 
on  rented  land,  continuing  thus  until 
1 860,  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  tilled  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  successfully  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  Kerry,  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    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


325 


money  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  Liverpool,  from 
which  port  he  set  sail  April  15,  and,  on 
May  15,  arrived  in  Boston,  where  he  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  quarantine  five  da3'S. 
A  few  days  later  his  brother  sent  him 
money  to  come  to  Chicopee,  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  cit\-  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 
influx  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),  nee  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  integrit}'  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   BIOGRAPUICAL   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  wa)'  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 


^irmA    ^^r^ti^ 


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,  («cV 
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  six  months 
before  he  reached  the  mines,  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  employed — 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    DIOGRAPUICAL    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,  the  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  six  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  earl}' 
dajs  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,  Februarj'  17,  i860,  a 
daughter  of  \^'illiam  Clancey,  who  came 
from  County  Limerick,  Ireland.  The 
}oung  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,  1 881;  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  an}'  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. 


331 


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  si.\  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  si.x  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  120 
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  communitv. 


IVI 


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  imme- 
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   RECORD. 


viz. :  Elizabeth,  Katie,  Mathew  (who 
married  Miss  Blundy),  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  county,  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  12  .\  12,  he  and  his  wife  took  up 
their  residence.  He  has  since  devoted 
his  attention  exclusively  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  1S51,  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 
Fox  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  industry  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- 
chael, a  resident  of  Ingalls,  Mich. ;  Hugh, 
a  sketch  of  whom  follows,  and  Thomas, 
of  Menomonee,  Wis.  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  yet 
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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


home  place  was  still  in  its  primitive  con- 
dition, there  was  plenty  of  work  at  home 
to  f)ccupy  his  time.  F"rom  the  time  of 
his  mother's  death,  up  to  the  age  of  thir- 
teen, he  was  reared  by  his  grandmother 
Finnegan,  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,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Catherine  (Keaton)  Finert}'.  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. 


PETER  CALLAHAN,  a  well- 
known  farmer  citizen  cf  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  ]iarents  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  1863,  he  enlisted  at 
Green  Bay,  in  Company  H,  Thirty-fifth 
Wis.  \'.  I.,  and  went  to  Camp  \\'ash- 
burn,  Milwaukee.  The  command  \Nas 
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    BIOGIIAPHICAL    RECORD. 


335 


ducts  a  saloon,  in  addition  to  carrying  on 
his  ac;;ricultural  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,    j 

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  were  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  o.xen  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,  a  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 
chanj^es  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  hne  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  1 893,  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.  DUAfME,  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  da\s.  He  then  came 
home  on  furlough,  and.  Green  Ba}'  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.,  received  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  jears,    follow- 


ef'.    ^.&^Uy^ 


f^^^'7'7^ZJ2,^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


339 


ing  fanning,  and  in  the  spring  of  1882 
purchased  the  tract  of  ninety  acres,  where 
he  now  hves,  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 
1 37^  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  Dciiiocra t),]o?,e^\\me  (a  dressmaker), 
William  (a  carpenter),  Emma  (a  teacher), 
and  Sophie  (also  engaged  in  teaching). 
In  his  political  preferences  Mr.  Duaime 
was  former!}'  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  1 871,  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. 


A 


land, 


NTON    VAN    DYKE,  a  respected 

well-to-do     farmer    of    Rockland 

township,     Brown     county,     was 

born  November  30,  1853,  in  Hol- 

son   of   John   Van  Dyke,  a    farmer. 


19 


The  latter  died  when  Anton  was  twelve 
years  old,  and,  his  mother  having  passed 
from  earth  si.\  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  1881,  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,  1882,  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  Pere. 


34° 


COMMEMORATIVE    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  baj's  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,  1 816,  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  may  be  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  propert)'.  The 
fourth  brick  house  in  Milwaukee  was 
erected  by  Mr.  McLean,  at  the  corner  of 
Fifth  and  Chestnut  streets.  On  May  25, 
1843,  in  the  then  insignificant  "Cream 
City,"  Mr.  McLean  was  united  in  mar- 
ried with  Catharine  Flood,  who  was  born 
May  9,  1822,  in  the  Parish  of  Killellen, 
Pickettstown,  County  Meath,  Ireland, 
daughter  of  Patrick  and  Bridget  (O'Keiley) 
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  3ears  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.  Twenty  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  of 
their  removal.  The  children  of  this 
couple  are:  Catharine,  now  Mrs.  Pat. 
McCool,  of  Chilton,  Wis. ;  Patrick,  a 
farmer  of  Allouez  township;  Jane,  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. ; 


COMMEMOUATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


341 


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  e.x- 
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,  fn  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    BIOGRAPHICAL   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  citj'  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.  Bailej'  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- 
t}',  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  Jul}-.  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  li\-ed  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  man}-  jears  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.  Bailej'  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 
Mila.n  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  Rutnmel,  of  Ashland, 
Wis. ;  Lizzie  is  the  wife  of  James  Mills, 
of  Ashland  ;     Alice    is    living    at    home  ; 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


343 


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,  1S65,  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  a  weary  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  live  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 


COMMEMORATH'E   BIOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


Machtel,  to  which  marriage  have  come 
five  children,  namely:  Minnie,  George, 
\J\zz\e,  Nettie,  and  Frank.  In  religious 
faith  the  family  are  all  Catholics. 


JOSEPH   BOEHM.      This  getleman, 
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  county,  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 


recei\ed  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- 
Hng  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,     1851,    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.  13aumgart  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. 


(Schenauer)  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  $1  1.75  in  his 
pocket,  and  thence  went  toNew  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  .\  18  log  cabin  which 
he  built  himself.  At  this  early  date  the 
Indians  had  not  all  left  the  countrj',  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  oxen.  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  count)'.  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, 
vi2. :  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  locality,  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    BIOGRAPHICAL   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 
si.\  weeks,  landed  at  New  York,  coming 
thence  without  delay  to  Brown  county, 
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  sixty  acres 
more,  now  having  a  fine  farm  of  140 
acres,  all  highh'  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  honesty  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   BIOORAPHICAL    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 
imtil  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  accidental!}'  heard 
of  a  sister  of  his  wife,  living  in  Ue  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  1 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    yet  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. 


M 


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,  ^o  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  si.xteen 
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  way 
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  &  North  Western 
railroad.  In  addition  to  the  American 
E.xpress  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  Bay  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° 


COMMEMOHA  TI 1  'A'    BIO  GRA  PHICA  L    llECORD. 


It  may  with  propriety  be  said  that 
Mr.  EngHsh  is  one  of  the  best  known  men 
in  northern  Wisconsin,  and  his  entire 
career  has  been  one  of  action  and  enter- 
prise. Coming  to  Marquette  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  realizes,  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  Amivilla  Hall,  a  daughter  of  Horace 
and  Lavina  (Porter)  Hall,  all  nati\es  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  mad^ 
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 
native  of  County  Carlow,  Ireland.  He 
was  born  in  182S.  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  common-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  Carlow,  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   BIOORAPMICAL   RECORD. 


35' 


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 
everbefore  them  and  cheered  them  through 
the  hardest  trials.  In  a  few  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.\  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,  by  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,  was  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  1 891  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  the  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- 
ser\-ing  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, 
1S62,  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  i  i ,  1 867,  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Marline  Jen- 
sen, daughter  of  Hans  and  Maren  (Ras- 
mussen)  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  Jul)'  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 
six  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  six  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  years 
thereafter,  the  young  couple  lived  in  a 
rented  house  near  Fontenoy,  Mr.  Mar- 
cussen working  for  D.  Benkle  in  the  sum- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPBICAL   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  the}'  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  Pittsf^eld  town- 
ship. Brown  count}',  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  movingback  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,  ;n  1861,  the  land  was  sold  for  a 
very  small  price,  and  the  family  moved  to 
Scott  township  and  rented  a  farm  for 
two  3'ears.  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  Ba}, 
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 
countr}'.  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,  'n  the  town  of 
Pittsfield,  where  he  had  charge  of  forty- 
five  men,  five  pairs  of  horses  and  seven 
A'oke  of  cattle;  the  next  spring  he  had 
charge  of  the  drive;  he  then  worked  two 
}-ears  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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


where  he  made  a  homestead,  on  which 
he  hved  until  1890,  when  he  went  to 
Marinette  county,  returninj^  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;  Frederick  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  W.  JOHANN, 
proprietor  of  an  extensive  sash, 
blind  and  door  factory  in  West 
De  Pere,  was  born  June  17,  1837, 
near  the  city  of  Homburg,  Ivhenish  l^a- 
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  its  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  country,  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  1 866. 

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  W'ashing- 
ton.  Wis.,  which  land  he  subsequently 
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  immediately  re-enlisted,  on 
this  occasion  entering  Company  F,  Thirt}'- 
fifth  Wis.  \.  I.,  and  from  the  organi- 
zation served  as  first  lieutenant — com- 
manding his  compan}'  until  1865,  \\'hen 
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, we  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  18S0,  when  he  bought 
an  interest  in  the  Hilgen  Sash  &  Door 
Manufacturing  Co.  At  Cedarburg  he  also 
served  as .  postmaster  from  1869  until 
1884,  acting  in  the  meanwhile  as  secre- 
tar\'   for   the   Hilgen   Companj'  until    the 


5  ^ 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


357 


latter  part  of  1883.  In  1884  he  moved  to 
De  Pere  and  bought  the  larger  part  of  E. 
W.  Person's  sash,  door  antl  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 si.x  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 


OSEPH     CORMIER,     one    of    the 

prosperous,    respected   agriculturists 


^  f     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 84 1,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Judah 
(Greenwood)  Lonzo,  who  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL   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  Railway  Company,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  running  scows  on  the  lakes  for 
ten  years;  his  father  conducted  the  Bru- 
nette quarry  for  ten  years.  Afr.  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  3ears. 
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  industrious 
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  17  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  \essels  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  hanil  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,  1855, 
our  subject  came  to  Dc  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  money  at  sawmilling, 
for  the  first  five  years  he  obtained  em- 
ployment with  Mr.  Ritchie  in  the  sawmills 
near  De  Pere,  and  being  industrious  and 
steady  was  able  to  save  considerable  from 
his  earnings. 

On  July  24,  1858,  Mr.  Norton  was 
married,  in  Green  Bay,  to  Miss  Bridget 
Forestal,  a  nati\'e  of  County  Kilkenny, 
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  voy- 
age across  the  .Atlantic  occupied  six  weeks 
and  three  daj's.  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   BIOGRAPHICAL   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, 
equals  in  that  line  in  Brown  county.  He 
is  now  the  owner  of  600  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  li\ed  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  Company  A,  Fifty-second  Wis. 
V.  I.,  and  was  sent  to  St.  Louis,  but  saw 
no  service,  as  he  was  taken  ill  with  small- 
po.x,  and  received  his  discharge. 


GEORGE  W.  SENSIBA,  a  retired 
business  man  and  farmer  of  Su- 
amico,  Brown  county,  was  born 
January  14,  1824,  in  Delaware 
county,  N.  Y.,  a  son  of  Alfred  Sensiba, 
who  was  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
(Taylor)  Sensiba.  Samuel  was  a  native 
of  Germany,  and  died  in  Utica,  N.  Y. , 
an  exile  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. When  a  boy  he  hired  out  as  a 
farm  hand,  but  sustained  a  permanent 
injury  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,  later  moving  to 
Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  same  business  a  while;  then,  in 
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  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  with  a 
stock   of  goods.       The   next    year   he  re- 


360 


COMMEMORATIVE   DIOGRAPniCAL    RECORD. 


turned  to  Chicago  and  enlisted,  in  1 846, 
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  Wiltsej",  farming 
people,  vvho  died  in  Michigan;  the}'  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  George  W.  Sensiba  have  been 
born  eleven  children,  of  whom  ten  are 
living,  viz. :  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  ;  William  ; 
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  \'ears  following  he 
handled  cedar  posts,  and  about  i860  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  1S70,  in  which  vear 
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  originally  an 
old-line  Whig,  casting  his  first  vote  for 
Gen.  Zachary  Taxlor.  He  has  been 
quite  active  in  local  politics,  and  is  now 
serving  as  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 
count}',    is  a  nati\e  of    same,    born 
January  30,  i860,  youngest  child  of  Chris- 
tian and  Theodora  (Hooken)  Craanen. 

Oar  subject  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  then  primiti\e  log  cabin  schools 
of  Scott  township,  and  subsequentl}'  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    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


361 


cessfully  manage  his  extensive  interests, 
to  which  he  gives  his  undivided  attention. 
In  reHgious  connection  he  and  his  wife 
are  menabers  of  the  CathoHc  Church  at 
Bay  Settlement,  and  in  pohtics  he  is  a 
Democrat,  but  gives  Httle  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 
18  X  26  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 


362 


COMMEMORAriVE    UIOGBAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


T.  W.  Schneider,  and  the  lessons  were 
■well  learned.  He  formed  a  partnership 
with  Mr.  Nuss,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Kurz  &  Nuss,  with  a  studio  on  Washing- 
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  1890,  he 
married  Miss  Augusta  Straubel,  daughter 
of  Ernest  Straubel,  an  early  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  I^epublican. 


REV.    P.    J.     CAUTEREELS,    the 
worthy  and    much-belo\'ed    pastor 
of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
in  Bay  Settlement,  Brown  count}', 
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  Hemi.xem, 
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 
county,  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  Ba\'  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  ^faster. 


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  18 16. 

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  Lumay.  The  Lumay  family  came  to 
the  United  States  about  the  same  year  in 
which  the  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  si.Kt}'- 
six  3'ears,  and  his  wife  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two.  The}'  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. Politically  he  is  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  has  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  familv  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  s,  1814,  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  (1S48).  His  destination  being  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  he  journeyed  from  New  York 
to  Albany  by  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 
h*  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    BIOORAPHICAL    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  abountling  with  wild  animals 
to  a  well-culti\  ated  productive  farm, 
which  he  and  his  children  now  enjoy,  the 
trials,  privations  and  hardships  of  those 
early  days  being  forever  past.  Mr.  I'in- 
deisen  was  actively  engaged  in  general 
farming  and  stock-raising  until  about 
1 880,  when  he  practically  retired  from 
the  work,  his  farm  now  being  conducted 
by  his  sons,  John,  Andrew  and  George, 
whtj  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  si.\  shillings  a  cord  (and 
boarding  himself),  and  during  that  time 
his  wife  remained  alone  in  their  cabin  in 
the  forest 

many    inconveniences    endured 
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 


but  a  single  illustration  cf  the 

those 


of  nine  years;  Edward,  deceased  at  the  age 
of  five;  and  ILmma,  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  extensive  and  profitable  hard- 
ware businesses  in  Green  Bay. 

John  G.  Findeisen  cast  his  ballot  for 
.Abraham  Lincoln  in  1864,  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  F.\LCK,    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  the\-  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  sixteen  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   BIOGRAPHICAL    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  building  owned  by  C.  G. 
Wilcox  in  the  business  part  of  the  city, 
which  building,  with  fort}--eight  feet  fron- 
tage, he  subsequently  purchased,  but  in 
April,  1888,  these  premises  were  de- 
stroyed 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 
Mary  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.  \\.,  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  l)est  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. 


IVI 


Erie 


ILO  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 
Februar}'  22,  1S66,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Loisa  Baker,  one  of  the  thir- 
teen children  born  to  William  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  county,  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_v  rail  to  Green  Bay, 
Wis.,  and  thence  directly  to  Pittsfield, 
where  for  si.x  years  Mr.  Ames  was  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  at  one  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   BIOORAPEICAL   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,  andasmernber  of  the  sideboard 
two  terms,  and  is  very  highly  respected 
.by  all  who  know  hini. 


WILLIAM  CONEN.  an  upright 
citizen  and  successful  farmer, 
of  Dc  Pare  township.  Brown 
county,  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 scho'^lsof  that  early  day,  ha  received 
all  his  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  fort\'  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 
bornAugust  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  count)',  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 part)'. 


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, 
along  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    BIOGMAPUICAL   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.  Thej'  have  had  five 
children,  namely:  Ralph  J.,  Maggie  V., 
Annie  V.,  Mary  E.  and  Philip  E. 


HERMANN  RAYMAKERS,  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  si.K  acres  of  land  (going  into  debt  for 
same),  the  cultivation  of  which  he  carried 
on  in  connection  with  his  trade.  On 
April  2  8,  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,  \[r.  Raymakers  con- 
cluded he  could  better  his  condition  by 
coming  to  the  United  States,  and  in  June, 
1868,  he  and  his  family  sailed  from  Liver- 
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- 
vchased  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  twentj-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  Henry,  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 
farhily  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.      Alwavs   a  reader,  he  obtained  an 


37° 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


idea  from  the  0/tio  Farmer  on  the  subject 
he  was  so  greatly  interested  in,  and  his 
plans  were  no  sooner  formed  than  he  pro- 
ceeded to  carr)'  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  reser\oir  for  the 
water  to  gather  in,  which  is  fed  b\' 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  excepitionally  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  I^epublican 
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  ecjuipment  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  twelve  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 

I  or  eight  years.  Mrs.  Catherine  Lancas- 
ter subsequently'  remarried,  and  came 
with  her  husband    to   the    United    States 

j  about    1841,    Henry    following  in    about 

j  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  W^isconsin,  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.  L 
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 


COMMEMORATrVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


months  when  he  was  in  hospital  on  ac- 
count of  a  wound  received  in  the  Shen- 
andoah Valley,  while  fifi;htin<^  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  Ba}-,  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,  Alanitowoc  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  the}'  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. 


HENRY  B  O  R  M  A  N,  one  of  the 
leading  agriculturists  of  De  Pere 
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  property  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  AUouez  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  Lace}'. 
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  both  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- 


.■>/- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPBICAL    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,  antl  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  De  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. 


w 


S.  WHITCOMB,  a  long-estab- 
lished contractor  and  builder  of 
Green  Bay,  was  born  in  Ann 
Arbor,  Washtenaw  Co.,  Mich., 
August  31,  1832,  a  son  of  Levi  and 
Roxalana  (Putnamj  Whitcomb,  the  former 
a  nati\e  of  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  of 
Connecticut.  The  father  was  accident- 
ally killed,  in  1869,  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; W.  S.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Lucretia,  wife  of  Christian  Johnson,  of 
Graham  county,  Kans.,  and  Levi,  who 
resides  in  McPherson  count}',  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  years  at 
coopering,  working  twentj'-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 


Vicksburg,  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, 
1861,  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 
community. 


J 


ACQUES  DUCAT,  an  energetic, 
hard-working  farmer  of  De  Pere 
township.  Brown  county,  where  he 
is  highly  respected    for    his  honest, 

worth. 


straightford  methods  and  sterlin 


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 
Bay,  Wis.  Here,  in  Green  Bay  town- 
ship. Brown  county,  the  father  purchased 
forty  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. 

Jacques  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  years  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,  111.;  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,  1 80 1,  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  thirty-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    DIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


blazed  trees.  After  looking  over  the 
land  around  Green  Bay,  Mr.  Dollard 
selected  a  tract  of  i6o  acres,  in  Section 
31,  De  Pere  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  famil}'  before  return- 
ing to  Canada  and  bringing  them  to  their 
new  home  in  the  initlst  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  during  the  first  3'ear  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  ^fr.  Dollard  ]:)assed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  dying  January  30, 
1888;  he  was  buried  in  De  Pere  cem- 
etery. 

In  his  political  afliliutions  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  abolished, 
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  satisfactoiy  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 
mo\'ement  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  connnunitw  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,  i8gi,  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  alwaj's  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  thej' 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- 
ti\'e  land,  in    comfortable    circumstances. 


XA. 


ciaS^^>^ 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


377 


About  1S55  he  sold  all  his  property,  and 
came  with  his  family  to  the  United 
States,  the  voyage  from  Antwerp  to  New 
York,  which  was  made  on  a  sailing  \essel, 
occupying  sixty  daj's.  On  his  arrival  in 
New  York,  Peter  Ouatsoe  exchanged  a 
considerable  amount  of  foreign  money, 
which  he  had,  for  x\merican  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.  Quatsoe 
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.  Quatsoe  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  engaged  in  lumbering  until  his 
■death,  which  occurred  in  1871.  He  was 
buried  in  Shantytown  cemetery.  Mrs. 
Quatsoe,  who  has  now  reached  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eight\'-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  property,  pav- 
ang  their  sisters  for  their  share.      Several 

21 


j'ears  previously  they  had  embarked  in 
the  threshing  business,  operating  the  first 
horse-power  threshing-machine  in  this 
section  of  the  county;  and  they  were  also 
extensively  engaged  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness, completing  several  very  large  con- 
tracts in  this  line  which  had  been  secured 
b\'  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  day.  At 
an  early  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  Louisa.  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  i  r  i  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- 
dustry, his  honesty  and  his  sterling  worth. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quatsoe  are  members  of 
St.  Francis  Catholic  Church  in  De  Pere; 
in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


378 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL   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)  Moran,  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.  Moran  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.  ADKIAENSSEN.  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  living:      F.    H.,  a  car- 


penter by  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  "\'ork 
and  Green  Bay.  He  speaks  five  lan- 
guages, a  fact  showing  that  his  oppcjr- 
tunities  for  learning  were  not  neglected. 
Upon  his  arrival  at  Green  Bay  in  1874  he 
found  employment  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  Vest) 
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,  Felix  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPUICAL    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  things 
continue  to  be  a  useful  citizen. 


ORIN  S.  IvITTELL.  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.  I\ittell,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  Massachusetts,  where  he 
learned  tanning  and  glove-making.  From 
here  he  removed  to  Binghamton,  N.  Y., 
where  he  followed  his  trades  until  1848  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,  now  the  wife  of  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 
count}-.  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  oi  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  originallj'  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.  When  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  between  Fox  River 
(111.)  and  Silver  Lake  (Wis.).  Returning 
to  Sheboygan  Falls,  he  commenced  driv- 
ing the  stage  running  from  that  town  to 
Fond  du  Lac  (a  distance  of  forty-two 
miles),  his  drive  being   to    Plymouth  (fif- 


38o 


COMMEMOIIATIVE    BIOUnAPIIICAI.    UECORD. 


teen  miles),  but  healso covered  the  whole 
distance  by  r'jlaj's.  He  was  engaged  in 
this  for  two  years,  and  next  obtained  em- 
ployment in  the  livery  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  Kounsville. 

On  April  13,  1.S5S,  Mr.  Kittell  was 
married,  in  St.  Nazianz,  Wis.,  to  Miss 
Catherine  Tracy,  who  was  born  Februar\- 
3,  1841,  in  Kings  county,  Ireland,  daugh- 
ter of  Patrick  and  Mary  (Malloy)  Tracy. 
They  came  to  the  United  States  in  1851, 
sailing  from  Liverpool  on  the  "  \\'illiam 
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  employed  in  saw- 
mills as  a  saw  filer,  and  in  various  other 
capacities,  for  several  years.  In  1864  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  Ba\-,  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  Pere  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  V.e  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,  who  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  ad\'ancement  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  city  and  county. 

He  was   born    in  Washington  county, 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


381 


N.  Y. ,  May  2.  1852,  one  of  the  family  of 
nine  children  of  Levi  and  Helner  Louise 
Snyder,  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  fifteen  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.  Sn3'der  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  religion,  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  Pere  township.  Brown  county, 
was  born  April  10,  1817,  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.  Eiscnman  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  work  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 
ne.xt  went  to  Illinois,  and  for  a  short 
time  worked  in  slaughter  houses  at  Chi- 
cago and  Peoria.  About  1847  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  Washington 
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  1849,  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 


38^ 


com.^kmohativp:  vioouai'hical  record. 


proceeded  b}'  way  of  the  Erie  canal 
to  Buffalo,  N.  v.,  from  there  by  the 
steamer  "  Michigan  "  to  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
and  thence  by  propeller  to  Green  Bay. 
They  located  in  Scott  township.  Brown 
count}-.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eiseninan  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.  Fur  thirteen  years  before  his  death 
he  was  postmaster  at  Pine  Grove,  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  si.xteen  years.  To  Mr.  and  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  A.,  of 
Bellevue;  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'^ 


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, 
Henr\'  E.  and  Fred  A. 


FRANK  C.  SMITH,  of  Green  Bay, 
was  born  in  Fort  Howard,  Brown 
Co.,  Wis. , in  1852,3  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  in  Fort 
Howard,  and  engaged  in  the  grocery, 
liquor  and  fur  trade.  In  1856  or  1857 
he  moved  to  Sugar  Creek,  Door  Co., 
Wis. ,  and  embarked  in  general  merchan- 
dising, which  he  continued  until  1867  or 
1868,  when  he  settled  in  Green  Bay,  and 
here  bought  what  is  now  the  "Adams 
Hou.se,"  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,  1877,  that  of 
his  widow  in  December,  1891.  Mrs. 
Josephine  (Forsyth)  Smith  first  came  to 
Brown  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.  V.  I., 
and  died  in  Memphis,  Tenn.  To  the 
second  marriage  were  born  Frank  C. , 
Nsllie,  wife  of  Louis  Bender,  of  the  Red 
Banks,  Wis.,  and  O.  W.  Smith,  purchas- 
ingagent  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


383 


to  Michagamme,  Mich.,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  Hquor  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  first  pantry- 
man on  the  "Dakota,"  plying  between 
Bismarck,  D.  T.  ,and  Fort  Benton,  Mont. 
Returning  to  Green  Bay  he  was  engaged 
by  Hon.  D.  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 
<ieath  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  county,  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  Brunnett,  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  retm-ning  to  the  parental 
roof,  where  he  remained  until  his  marriage. 
On  June  9,  1866,  he  wedded  Miss 
Emily  Champou.  who  was  born  in  Bay 
Settlement,  daughter  of  Philip  Champou, 
a  French  Canadian,  and  to  this  marriage 
were  born  eight  children,  viz. :  Napoleon 
H.,  Hubert,  Joseph,  Mary,  Emily,  differ, 
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  (living),  and  three  that 
died  voung.  After  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- 


3B4 


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  Ha}-. 
In  religious  faith  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Bay  Settlement  Catholic  Church. 


DMDKICK  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  and  hunting  from  the  time 
he  was  seventeen  jears  old  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-two,  when 
he  came  to  America.  Sailing  from 
Liverpool,  he  landed  at  Ouebec  and 
immediately  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.\  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 
(Olesonj  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,  Mary,  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  Companj'. 
Our  subject,  after  receiving  a  very 
good  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  city,  entered  the  emplo}'  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,  1887, 
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  company,  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. 


3S5 


Iowa,  August  26,  1892,  to  Miss  Emma  C. 
Vanderpool,  a  daughter  of  C.  A.  Vander- 
pool,  of  that  place.  In  poHtics  our  sub- 
ject is  a  stanch  Repubhcan,  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  1868,  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  Sej'mour,  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  the}'  moved  to 
Two  Rivers,  in  1880.  His  early  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. 
The\'  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 
they  had  preceded  her.  About  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  fertilit}',  and  successfully  con- 
ducted a  general  farming  business  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
December  15,  1892.  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. 


386 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


CHARLES  MEISTER  has  been 
superintendent  of  the  Park  at 
(ireen  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  (Morlagj  Meister,  who  came  to 
Green  Bay  in  1853,  the  father  being  now 
the  oldest  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  tifty-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 
al.so  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.  Amongthe 
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,    18 10, 
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,  181  5,  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   Pere),  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. 
They   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  si.x 
or  seven  weeks,  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  countj', 
for  about  a  3'ear  living  on  rented  property, 
at  the  end  of  which   time  they  removed 
to  Bav  Settlement,  Scott  township,  where 
Mr.  Corstens  purchased  six  acres  of  land, 
on  which  there  was  a  small  log  dwelling. 
In  this  house  the  family  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    Bay  Settlement 
cemeterv,  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,  ^if^  was  but  a  child  when  he  came 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGHAFUWAL    RECORD. 


38/ 


with     his    parents     to     Wisconsin.        He 


commenced    tr 


oing 


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 
marriei  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,  all  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. 

Jarobus  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 
County,  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 
}'ear  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  Wagner  & 
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,  i  26  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, 


38S 


COMMEMOUAriVE   BIOGRAPUICAL    liECORD. 


N.  Y.,  in  1871,  to  Matilda  Manviile,  a 
native  of  Quebec,  Canada,  and  this  uniun 
has  been  blessed  with  six  children,  viz.: 
Rosa,  Henry,  Lydia,  Eva,  Liz/ic  and 
Philemon.  Fraternall)'  Mr.  Hebert  is  a 
member  of  Washinfjtoii  Lodge,  \o.  21, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  and  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men; in  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  but 
is  by  no  means  an  office-seeker.  Having 
been  for  many  years  a  resident  of  Green 
Bay,  he  has,  of  course,  witnessed  its 
giant  strides  in  the  march  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  gracious  manners,  and  is  highly 
esteemed. 


WILLI.VM  KENNEDY,  chief  of 
the  Fire  Department  of  Green 
Bay,  was  born,  in  1862.  in 
Canada.  His  parents,  Henry 
and  Mary  fFitz  Gibbons)  Kennedy,  also 
natives  of  the  Dominion,  came,  in  1872, 
to  Wisconsin,  and  settled  on  a  farm  in 
Forestville  township,  Door  county,  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;  William,  our 
subject;  Henry,  deceased;  and  Michael. 
William  Kennedy  rendered  consider- 
able assistance  to  his  father  in  making 
the  Door  county  farm  habitable  and 
profitable,  and,  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  coimcil  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  hand  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, 
by  their  prompt  action  in  responding  to 
the  several  alarms,  and  the  successful 
way  in  which  fires  were  handled.  Al- 
though the  Department  has  responded  to 
thirty-se\en  alarms  of  fire,  the  total  loss 
paid  by  insurance  companies  aggregate 
only  $14,855.65;  a  fact  which  shows  the 
great  value  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  \\'illiam  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)  Hayes,  natives 
of  Canada.  The  two  children  born  to 
\\'il]iain  Kennedy  and  his  wife  are  named 
Gladdics  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 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPniCAL    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  twenty- 
three  days.  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  diligentl}'  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  120  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  follo\\'S  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,  nameh' 
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  family  are  members  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  at  De  Pere. 


H 


ANS  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° 


COAtMEMORATI\'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  X.  T. . 
who  died  in  infanc}'. 

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  \ears;  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  town.ship,  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  da\s. 

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.  \i  that  time  it 
was  all  in  the  woods,  an  Indian  trail  be- 
ing the  only  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  182S  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  j'ear  and  a  half  in  Boston, 
where  he  was  again  employed  in  a  tj'pe 
foundr\-,  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  jet  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.  1890,  and  was  buried  in  De  Pere 
cemetery.  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    BWORAPEICAL   RECORD. 


391 


party,  and  as  such  was  elected  chairman 
of  the  township  for  two  years,  discharg- 
ing the  duties  of  his  office  with  abiHty  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  ex-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  fTillbrook)  Brown,  of  the  State  of 
Maine,  where  the   father  had  been  a  fish- 
erman.     They  came  to  Wisconsin  about 
the  year  1855  and  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.    Hayden. 
His   thirty-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    Harvey    and   Harry 


392 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


(twins).  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  Church,  and 
in  pohtics  Mr.  Hayden  is  a  Republican, 
and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham 
Lincoln. 


PETER  KOLB,  postmaster  at  Kolb, 
and  one  of  the  well-known  citizens 
of  De  Pere  township.  Brown 
county,  is  a  native  of  the  village 
of  Bruttig,  Rhenish  Prussia,  born  June 
24,  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  vears 
old.  Having  received  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  voyasre  of 
two  months,  in  New  York  Citv,  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  Mav  10.  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  ladv 
who  soon  afterward  became  his  wife,  Miss 
Margaret  Adolff.  She  was  born  in  1831, 
in  Munster  Mayfeld,  Coblentz.  Germany, 
daughter  of  Rhinearous  Adolff,  who  came 
to  the  United  States  in  i8!;4  The  voune 
couple  were  married  March  31.  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,  1863,  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  2  1-  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  maj'  be  accomplished  b\' 
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  impriivement.  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, selecting;;  the  best  man,  re- 
gardless of  politics.  He  has  filled  various 
offices  in  his  township;  for  twelve  jears 
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 
1840,  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  invariabl)'  so  satisfactory 
that  he  could  always  find  employment 
with  the  same  c^^mpany  a  second  time. 
In  1865  he  enlisted  in  Company  F.  Fif- 
tieth Wis.  \'.  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  1893,  when  he  sold  it, 
and  now  makes  his  home  with  his  chil- 
dren.     To    Mr.    and    Mrs.    ^^'eber    were 


born  nine  children,  \'\/..:  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 
1 ,     1 860,    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  literary  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  Slaughtc"    -^f  Green  Bay,  are  yet  liv- 


396 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


ing.  The  latter  was  born  in  Culpeper 
county,  Va.,  where  he  received  his  pri- 
mary education,  and,  making  teaching  his 
profession,  taught  about  forty-three  years, 
during  which  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,  Mo.,  five  3'ears.  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. 
Chiolly  self-educated,  he  was  at  the  same 
time  well  educated,  and  was  a  typical  gen- 
tleman of  the  old  Southern  school  of  chiv- 
alry; he  now  resides  with  his  son  in  Green 
Ba\'.  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.  Avers,  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 
1884.  The  young  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  1888,  attend- 
ed the  Louisville  (Ky.)  Post  -  Graduate 
School.  That  spring  he  returned  to 
Whiteside,  where  he  continued  practice 
until  1892.  He  was  then  induced  to  come 
to  Green  Bay  in  order  to  enter  into  part- 
nership \\ith  Dr.  F.  L.  Louis,  which  part- 
nership continued  about  one  year.  He 
has  built  up  a  good  practice  and  enjoys 
the  confidence  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  Ruth  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. Politicalh'  he  is  identified  with  the 
Democratic  party. 


JAMES  SMITH,  a  prominent  citi/en 
of  De  Pere  township,  Brow  n  county, 
where,  in  partnership  with  his 
brother,  Alexander,  he  is  success- 
fully engaged  in  general  farming,  is  a 
native  of  Banffshire,  Scotland,  born  Ma}' 
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  familj-  to  leave  Scot- 
land was  the  son  George,  who  immi- 
grated to  the  United  States  in  1S72,  and 
coming  to  Wisconsin,  settled  in  Brown 
county,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  followed  farming,  renting 
land  in  different  parts  of  the  count}-, 
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  jears  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  served  a  three-years'  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  remained  one  year.. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


397 


In  June,  1881,  Mr.  Smith  decided  to 
come  to  the  United  States  to  care  for  his 
invahd  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-buying.  In  1887  he  purchased 
his  present  farm  of  seventy-six  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  born  July  29, 
1863,  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. 


WILLIAM  HOFFMAN.  While 
transmitting  to  posterity  the 
memory  of  such  men  as  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  it  will 
instill  in  the  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  commenced  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  German  troops, 
and  in  turn  fought  against  Napoleon. 
At  the  close  of  his  service,  Louis  Hoffman 


398 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


returned  to  his  home  in  Neustadt,  and 
became  a  prosperous  general  merchant, 
well  known  and  highly  respected.  By 
his  first  wife,  who  was  also  a  native  of 
Neustadt-on-theW'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  eighty-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,  184S,  after  a 
pleasant  voyage,  and  here  our  subject 
found  employment  as  clerk  in  a  general 
store,  where  he  remained  till  Januar}-, 
1852.  At  this  time  he  turned  his  eyes 
westward,  and,  determining  to  trj' 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  opened  a  gen- 
eral store.  In  1857  he  sold  out,  and, 
coming  north  to  Chicago,  111.,  embarked 
in  the  Hour  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  jear 
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,  1 86 1,  and  here  he  remained 
until  the  following  September,  when  he 
once  more  turned  his  steps  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Wisconsin. 

At  Jane.sville,  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  1 868,  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  every  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,  Wis. ;  Louis  Wolf  and  George 
P.    are    associated    with    their    father   in 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


599 


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  popularity  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  Compan\', 
"Guardian  No.  2."  Socially  he  is  a 
member  of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
and  K.  of  P.,  Green  Bay,  of  which  latter 
order  he  is  a  charter  member. 


M 


AJOR  LEVI  HOWLAND,  real 
estate  and  lumber  dealer.  Fort 
Howard,  and  member  of  the 
Vermillion  Range  Lumber  Com- 
pany of  Minnesota,  is  descended  from 
sturdy  New  England  ancestry.  He  is  one 
of  nine  children  born  to  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  (Davis)  Howland,  the  former 
of  whom  was  a  native  of  New  Bedford, 
Massachusetts. 

When  sixteen  years  of  age  Thomas 
Howland  came  with  his  parents,  John 
Howland  and  wife,  from  Massachusetts, 
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,  and  in  1831  removed  to  Cook 
county,  111.,  then  on  the  border  of  west- 
ern settlements.  In  1835  he  took  up  a 
farm  in  Kenosha  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,  Wis. ,  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  1S56, 
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,  whitherhe  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  3'ears, 
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   BIOGRAPBICAL    RECORD. 


January  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.j,  Franklin  (Tenn.j, 
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  &  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. 
Sociallj'  he  is  a  member  of  Washington 
Lodge,  No.  21,  F.  Sc  A.  M. ;  Warren 
Chapter,  No.  8,  R.  A.  M. ;  Palestine 
Commandery,  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  infiuence  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  1 8C7,  to  Edith  L.  Sykes,  a 
native  of  New  York,  and  daughter  of 
Byron  and  Antoinette  (Torrey)  Sykes, 
early  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  : 
Eben  \\'.,  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,  Henrj'  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  1S93;  Robert,  our  subject; 
Elspet,  now  Mrs.  William  Michie,  of 
West  Superior;  Walter,  of  Buffalo  county, 
Wis.;  Thomas,  of  West  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 
heactedasengineer  for  a  sawmill.  In  1852 
he  came  to  De  Pere  and  bought  out  a 
blacksmith  shop,  which  he  carried  on  for 


COMMEMORATIVE    BWORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


401 


several  years,  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  Ivirby,  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  ne.xt  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  having  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  which  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.  W^ith 
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,  (nista 
and  WilHaui,  of  whom  WilHani  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  Glenmorc,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.  \\.  the 
end  of  the  year  he  bought  Mr.  Snyder 
out.  .\t  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  si.\  children : 
Philip,  Christine,  Mark,  Libbie,  William 
and  Mary.  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  ^[.  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 
recogni;;ed  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  ob'scurity  to 
his  present  prosperit}-. 


E 


DWAKD  FLVXX  (deceased). 
This  gentleman,  who,  tluring  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    BTOGRAPHICAL    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  never  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  FLYNN  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  o\\ners 
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  1S82  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  twehe  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  remo\ing  to  Fort  Howard, 
after  clearing  forty  acres.  His  ^\•ife,  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. 
\\'illibrord's  Church,  at  Green  Bay,  Mr. 
Cleeremans  being  also  a  member  of    the 


|04 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Catholic  Knights  at  that  place,  and  of  the 
Catholic  Order  of  Foresters.  Green  Bay 
and  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 
personall)'  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,  \\as  born 
in  County  Kerr\-,  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  twenty  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 


one  by  one  rapidl}'  passing  awaj\  the  story 
of  their  lives  is  all  that  is  left  to  coming 
generations  of  the  trials  and  hardships 
which  they  endured.  Mr.  Sweene)-  con- 
tinued to  reside  on  the  farm  in  Glenmore 
township  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  August,  1892,  when  he  was  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  ninety  years.  His  wife 
preceded  him  to  the  grave  in  March, 
1882,  and  they  now  rest  side  by  side  in 
Glenmore  cemeter)'.  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  onl}'  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  lumber 
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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


405 


Nellie,  John,  Mary,  Catherine.  Julia, 
William,  Celia  and  Frances,  all  li\ing. 
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  every 
office  in  the  gift  of  the  township,  and  is 
now  serving  as  clerk,  to  which  office  he 
was  appointed  in  1890,  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  widely  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  young  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  excellent  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  Fort  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  old  ;  and 
Lewis. 

Otto  N.  Oldenburg  recei\ed  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. 


HENRY  A.  STRAUBEL,  retired 
citizen  of  Green  Bay,  was  well 
known  in  the  city  eighteen  years 
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 


COMMExVOUATIVE   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, 
biacksmithing,  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  18  50; 
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  fias  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 
business  life  March  i,  1894.  Between 
the  years  18  59  and  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  \\'est,  and  participated 
in  the  Missouri  and  Arkansas  campaigns, 
and  at  the  battle  of  Newtonia  our  subject 
was  taken  prisoner,  remainmg  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-storj',  seventy-room  brick  building, 
located  on  the  corner  of  Washington  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  Flaning- 
mill.  Electric  Light  Plant,  etc.,  and  since 
1 884  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  six 
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  deservedl}'  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  I  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 


COMMEMOnATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


407 


the  year  1S59.  They  \\ere  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  of  whom  the  following  is  a 
brief  record:  Mary  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, 
Tenn. ;  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  birth  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  business,  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, 
W'is. ,  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  Civil  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 
First  W'isconsin  Cavalry,  now  residing  in 
Gilman,  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; 
William,  now  a  resident  of  Gilman,  Iowa, 
who  served  two  years  in  the  First  Wis- 
consin Cavalry;  Elijah,  a  lumberman; 
and  Emma  H.,  wife  of  E.  A.  Williams,  a 
survej'or,  both  o''  Stevens  Point,  Wis. 
When  the  younge.:..  '  these  was  thirty- 
two  years  old,  all  tiio  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;  socially,  he  is  a  member  of 
T.  O.  Howe  Post,  No.  124,  G.  A.  R.  He 
and  Mrs.  Drake  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian  Church.      She  is  identified  with 


4o8 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


many  beneficent  works;  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Woman's  ReHef  Corps, 
was  president  durinj,' 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  F"atiier- 
land,  born  March  26,  1820,  in  the  village 
of  Arnswalde,  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.  Velse, 
who  resides  in  Germany.  The  parents 
were  only  in  moderate  circumstances,  and 
consequenth'  the  children  commenced  to 
earn  a  li\ing  early  in  life. 

When  our  subject  was  fifteen  years 
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  ne.xt  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  twentj'-five  dollars.  After 
completing  his  apprenticeship  he  worked 
as  journeyman  at  various  places  in  Ger- 
many until  NS43,  when  he  married  Miss 
Henrietta  Ctjldeme,  who  died  eight  years 
after,  leaving  five  children.  In  1854  Mr. 
Radoe  wedded  Miss  Augusta  Harder,  and 
the  following  year  the\'  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, landing  in  Ouebec  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  tw(j  months,  our  subject 
rented  the  shop  and  conducted  it  on  his  own 
account   two  vcars,  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  five  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. 
He  died  July  2,  1 894,  universally  respected 
in  Eaton  township,  where  he  was  recog- 
nized as  a  kind-hearted  neighbor  and  loyal 
citizen. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Radoe  had  a  famil\-  of 
nine  children,  their  names  and  dates  of 
birth  being  as  follows:  Maria  P.,  August 
31,  1855;  Albertina  A.,  December  28. 
1857;  William  D.,  January  19,  i860;  Carl 
R. ,  February  9,  1862;  Gustave  A.,  March 
6,  1864  (deceased  July  28,  1865);  Ann 
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  much  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  community 
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    BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


409 


Ellen  became  Mrs.  John  Moore,  of  Den- 
mark, Brown  Co.,  Wis.;  Kate  is  the  wife 
of  P.  Fagan,  of  Denmark;  Ann  died  in 
infancy,  and  Mary  keeps  house  for  her 
brother  John. 

In  1849  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.\-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 
ninety-two  years. 

John  Meehan,  being  the  eldest  in  the 
famil}',  commenced  to  work  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  to  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, served  three  years  in  the  army, 
from  1833  to  1837.  I"  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 


4IO 


COMMKMOliATJVK    BIOGRAl'IIICAL    UECOIID. 


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  \\'isconsin,  landing  at 
Milwankee,  whence  Mr.  Kunt;^  went  to 
Washington  (now  Ozaukee)  county,  and 
purchased  a  piece  of  new  land.  The 
county  had  not  yet  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 
lu)use  and  made  the  first  improvements, 
having  his  home  there  until  1884,  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  \ery  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  Knnt/;  died  in  1857,  in 
Ozaukee  county,  where  she  was  buried,  and 
Mr.  Kuntz  subsequently  married  in  that 
county  Miss  Elizabeth  Khigg,  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  Rank,  of  Chippewa  county. 
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. ; 
Sojihia,  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 
adlierent  of  the  principles  of  tiie   Demo- 


cratic party,  but  uses  his  own  judgment 
in  voting,  always  supporting  the  best 
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 
nati\'e  land,  spending  a  month  there,  and 
again  went  to  Europe  in  1884,  this  time 
remaining  four  months  in  France,  Hol- 
land and  Germany  ;  he  has  also  journeyed 
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  1S92,  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. — Editor. 


JOHN  B.  HEYRMAN,  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  popular  printing  firm  of 
Heyrman  &  Kuypers,  proprietors  of 
the  Brown  County  Democrat,  and 
the  /)(■  I'olksstcvi,  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  of  all  the  pioneers  who  came 
to  northern  Wisconsin,  conspicuous  not 
only  as  such,  but  as  one  of  the  best-known 
and  most  widely  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,  ha\ing.  after  a 


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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, 
they  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 
immediately  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 
kindl}^  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 

Tiave   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  Ba}'  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  Staftdani,  at  that 


4'4 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


time  the  only  Catholic  newspaper  in  the 
United  States  published  in  the  HolJiuui 
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 
S/aiidard  to  his  partner,  and  in  January, 
1890,  in  company  with  John  Anton  Kuy- 
pers,  purchased  the  Brown  County  Deni- 
ocrat  (established  m  1877),  a  weekly 
paper  printed  in  the  English  language, 
and  shortly  afterward  they  commenced 
the  publication  of  a  new  Holland  weekly, 
De  I'o/ksstiiii.  in  connection  with  which 
they  conduct  a  general  printing  estab- 
lishment, equipped  with  all  modern  im- 
provements and  facilities  to  be  found  in  a 
first-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  Ale.xander,  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  resigned  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 citizens  in  measures  that  tend  to  pro- 


mote 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 
1829,  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  Wisconsin, 
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  been  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  purchased  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  profitable  to  the  people.  For  twenty- 
five  years  he  has  assisted  in  the  local  civil 
government,  serving  in  various  count}'  and 
town  offices,  representing  his  town  on  the 
county  board  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  anrl  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,  viz. :  Frederick,  Austine, 
William,  Charles,  August,  Johanna,  and 
Henry,  all  living;  and  Mary  and  Anna, 
deceased.  Charles  Prust  served  a  three 
years'  apprenticeship  at  wagonmaking  in 
Germany,  receiving  for  his  last  year's  labor 
fifteen  dollars.      The  familv  then  came  to 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


41S 


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,   1890. 

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  Ludwig  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.  TAYLER,  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.  (Kennan)  Tayler,  the 
former  of  whom  came  from  England  to 
Neenah,  Wis.,  in  1S52,  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  Fort  Howard,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  has  been  city  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  Exchange  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 


4t6 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


progress  Mr.  Tayler's  advice  is  eap;erly 
soufjht  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 
Corbctt,  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  (jf  fifteen  years  he  went  to  Buffalo, 
N.  Y. ,  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 
jirospecting  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 
purchased  and  impro\ed  his  present  two- 


story  brick  veneered  building  in  1884, 
and,  from  the  small  beginning  made  in 
1 880,  has  grown  the  extensive  business 
which  he  now  enjoys.  Mr.  Corbett  is  at 
this  time  the  leading  merchant  of  Fort 
Howard,  carrying  a  complete  line  of 
groceries,  crockery  and  glassware,  flour 
and  feed,  giving  employment  to  six  clerks 
and  enjoying  an  extensive  custom  in 
northeastern  Wisconsin  and  northern 
Michigan.  The  wholesale  branch  of  this 
business  was  established  about  1890, 
and  his  large  tlouble  store  on  Main  street, 
80  X  60  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  respects  is  a  valuable  citizen. 


EPHRAIM  CROCKER,  ex-sheriff 
of  Brown  county.  Wis. ,  farmer 
and  liveryman,  was  born  July  16, 
1 8 19,  in  Colerain,  Mass.,  a  son  of 
William  Crocker,  who  was  a  native  of 
Washington  county,  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  years.  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 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


417 


Wisconsin,  all  engaged  in  mercantile  trade. 
Old-time  war  reminiscences  are  plen- 
tiful in  the  Crocker  family,  and,  among 
others,  it  is  related  that  Ephraim's  father 
was  on  Lake  Champlain,  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,  pretending  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  something  to  eat;  the  lady  told  him 
her  husband  was  a  Tory,  but  she  was  true 
blue,  and  concealed  him  under  the  floor 
in  the  cellar  until  an  opportunity  offered 
for  his  escape,  thus  saving  his  life. 

Ephraim  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  before  reaching  his  destination 
found  employment  in  a  hotel;  he  next 
drove  team  at  Zanesville,  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  three  years  he  worked  at 
shipbuilding  for  William  Webb;  then  went 


to  St.  Louis,  Alo. ,  and  worked  one  winter 
on  a  large  steamer;  then  reached  Chicago, 
where  he  worked  in  a  shipyard,  and  while 
there  helped  to  build  the  Hrst  boat  that 
passed  through  the  Illinois  canal. 

Mr.  Crocker  now  returned  to  Ohio, 
and  November  20,  1848,  was  married  ta 
Miss  Hannah  S.  Hewitt,  who  was  born  in 
New  York  State,  a  daughter  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, 
viz. :  Sarah  C. ,  who  is  the  wife  of  Rob- 
ert Henderson,  and  has  three  sons;  and 
Frank  G. ,  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  livery  stable 
which  he  has  conducted,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  two  years,  until  the  present  time, 
owning,  besides,  a  large  tract  of  valuable 
land  quite  near  the  city.  In  1873  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  populace  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  appear  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   BIOORAPIIWAL   RECORD. 


nated  the  evil-doers  from  the  refjion. 
Sheriff  Crocker  was  possessed  of  j^reat 
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  Republican  caucus  held  in 
Fort  Howard,  which  met  in  1856  in  the 
office  of  his  present  livery  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. 
iind  Mary  Ann  (Somers)  Peterson,  na- 
tives of  the  same  State,  in  which  the)' 
lived  and  died.  The  senior  Peterson  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  died  in  1885, 
his  wife  preceding  him  in  1866  to  the 
mysterious  beyond.  Their  four  children 
were  :  Edward,  who  resides  in  Green 
Bay,  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,  Vt.,  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  ramoval 
to  F"ort  Howard  in  1870.  He  had  mar- 
ried, the  previous  year,  Eunice    Kimball, 


daughter  of  Luke  Kimball,  .both  Ver- 
monters.  Death  parted  the  youthful 
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,  finally 
establishing  himself  in  the  livery  business. 
He  has  taken  pride  in  handling  fine  stock, 
getting  fancy  prices  when  making  sales. 
In  poHtics  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  always  served  as  marshal.  He 
has  witnessed  very  many  changes  since 
coming  to  Fort  Howard,  and  has  always 
been  interested,  as  a  true  American  citi- 
zen should  be,  in  all  that  would  enhance 
the  prosperity  of  his  home,  city  and  county. 


PH.  CARLIN,  one  of  the  prosper- 
ous business  men  of  Green  I^ay, 
Brown  county,  where  he  conducts 
a  flourishing  livery  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  si.\  daughters — eleven  of  whom  are 
yet  living.  In  1867  William  Carlin  came 
to  Green  Bay,  bringing  his  wife  and 
family,  which  then  consisted  of  seven 
children,  and  after  a  short  residence  here 
removed  to  Oconto,  Wis.,  living  in  that 
vicinity    the    remainder   of    his  life.      He 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   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  buried  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, and  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  Baj',  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  Bay,  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 
partv,  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  county,  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  farmers  of  the  neif^hborhood.  Here 
were  born  two  daufjhters,  Ellen  and 
Mary,  the  former  of  whom  is  married  to 
Robert  Wilson,  and  the  latter  to  William 
Patten,  a  farmer.  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  Bay  in 
September,  he  located  his  family  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  eight}'  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  famih'  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  by 
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  township — Mr.  Lawlor  built  a 
hewn  log  house  and,  later,  a  substantial 
brick  dwelling,  which  still  stands  and  is 
likely  to  stand  for  many  years  yet  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,  uS88,  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  Mrs. 
Lawlor  in  Wisconsin  were  named  John, 
Sarah,  Thomas  and  Maggie  (twins),  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  anything,  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  county 
who  have  made  more  friends.  They  are 
esteemed  by  all  who  know  them  for  their 
many  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- 
tensive lumberer  and  fiour-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  i  800,  and  by  vocation 
was  a  farmer.  His  son,  Nathan  B. 
Chase,  became  a  prosperous  lum.ber 
dealer  and  proprietor  of  t\\o  sawmills  at 
Port  Huron,  which  he  sold  out  in  1854, 
and  next  engaged  in  mercantile  trade  at 
Green  Bay,  Wis. ,  where,  through  the 
trickery  of  a  partner,  he  lost  over  forty 
thousand  dollars.  In  1856  he  re-engaged 
in  the  milling  business,  which  for  eight 
years  he  carried  on  at  Wrightstown,  and 
then  moved  his  mill  to  Oconto  county, 
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 
Ba\',  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  Ba}'  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  milHng  business  in 
Oconto  county,  in  which  he  continued 
seventeen  years,  during  which  time  he 
cut  from  sixty  milhon  to  seventy  milhon 
feet  of  lumber.  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 
Company,  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  highly-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,  i'l  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.),  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


■then  moved  to  Green  Bay,  and  about 
1882  settled  in  De  Pere,  where  he  has 
since  made  his  home. 

Mr.  Colburn  had  a  short   war  experi- 
ence.     In    March.    1865,    he  enhsted    at 
Green  Bay  in  a  Wisconsin  infantry  regi- 
ment,   his    avoirdupois    being    then    204 
pounds;  he  served  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.  Kosell,    of  Plainfield,   Wis. ;  John, 
of  Ingalls.  Mich. ;  Sophia,   at  home  with 
her  parents;  Frank,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  five  years;  Mary,  who  died  at    the   age 
of  two  and  one  half-years;   Virginia,    who 
also  died  young;  Ida.    now   Mrs.    Michael 
Lawlor,    of    De    Pere;   and    Xavier     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.  Joseph's  Catholic  Church 


CHARLES  L.  DAVIS,  farmer  and 
stock  raiser,  and  one  of   the   pro- 
gressive,   public-spirited    citizens 
of     Lawrence    township,    Brown 
county,    was  born   Julv   25,   1848,  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  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  1849  he  removed 
to  Lonan  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 
m  Lorian  county,  January   17,   1857,  and 
was  buried   in   Elyria,  same  county,  and 
Mr.  Davis  then  married  Miss  Susan  Oak- 
ley, who  died  in  Lorian  county  July,    1 1, 
1858.      In  1859  he  wedded,  in  Lock'port,' 
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    Wrightstown,     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    u,   1S78,   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  Wisconsin  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,  Ky. ;  and  received  an  hon- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


423 


orable  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  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  e.xclusively  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  May  24, 
1886,  died  May  7,  1887;  and  Charles  F., 
born  April  i,  i88q. 


JOHN  G.  GROSS,  chief    of   the  Fort 
Howard  Fire  Department  since  Janu- 
ary,    1S94,    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 au.xiliaries.  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  1S82  he  was  married,  in  Morrison 
township,  to  Miss  Bertha  Schultz,  who 
came  to  the  township  in  1 866  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    Brillion,  Wis. 


424 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   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 


RS.  OLIVE  I.  SHERWOOD, 
of  Howard  township,  Brown 
county,  was  born  April  2,  1S22, 
in  Oneida  county,  N.  Y. ,  and 
is  the  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,  having  migrated  hither  as 
early  as  1835.  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,  t88o,  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.  Gilbert,  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.  O.^ti.ev  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  Oatlej-,  Sr. ,  was 
also  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  died 
in  Onedia  county,  N.  Y. ,  at  the  age 
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  family  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  sixty-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- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


425 


dren — six  sons  and  five  daughters — of 
whom  one  son  and  one  daughter  are  yet 
hving.  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,  1851,  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 Mead,  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  1 20  acres  in  the  town  of  Suamico, 
Brown  county.  Wis. ,  and  erected  a  block 
or  hewed-log  house,  16  x  20  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. 


REV.    ELSEAR  de  WILT  is  a  na- 
tive of  Holland,  born  July  8,  1 827, 
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  thej'  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  bravery  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 
Van  Den  Broek,  born  at  Uden,  Holland, 
May  9,  1 804,  who  became  the  mother  of 


426 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPmCAL   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  organised  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  1869  he  moved  to  Little 
Chute,  and  here  resided  about  five  years; 
then  was  placed  at  Montcllo,  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 
Fox  River  \'alley;  the  interior  of  it  was 
recently  (1894)  finely  painted  and  decor- 
ated at  an  expense  of  about  six  hundred 
dollars. 


AUGUST    HOCHGREVE, 
("deceased),  was  born  October  it;, 
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  years 
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  familj-, 
and  which  has  become  one  of  the  princi- 
pal institutions  of  Brown  county.  After 
eight  or  nine  years,  the  firm  having 
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  brick 
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.  Hochgreve 
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'  voyage  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;  Augusta, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


V-1 


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  occurred 
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  ciindoii 
degree  from  this  institution  in  the  spring 
of  1S82. 

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  Societ}',  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  June  i,  1887,  to  Miss 
Alice  Belle  Winegard,  a  native  of  De- 
Pere  and  a  daughter  of  a  Union  soldier 
who  died  in  the  army  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,  1851,  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  (Stephens)  Gallagher,  and 
were  natives,  respectively,  of  Sligo  and 
Ballyshannon,  Ireland.  Michael  Galla- 
gher was  a  journalist,  and  some  of  his 
sons  followed  the  same  profession — one, 
especially,  Barclay  Gallagher,  having  been 
city  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune  un- 


428 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


der  Horace  Greeley,  and  being  connected 
with  the  Associated  Press  down  to  the 
present  time. 

Father  Gallagher  received  his  prepar- 
atory education  at  the  Jesuit  College, 
of  Fordham,  N.  Y.,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1870,  taking  a  collegiate 
course  at  that  institution,  and  afterward 
taking  a  theological  course  at  Mount  St. 
Mary's,  Eiiiniittsburg,  Md.  In  I1S75  he 
was  ordained  priest  at  St.  James'  Cathe- 
dral, Brookljn,  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 
Winncconne,  Wis.  In  June,  1893,  Father 
Gallagher  was  given  charge  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  Church  at  De  Fere — 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  e.xalted,  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  (Emons)  Kujpers,  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  common  school  of  his  native  village, 
and  then  took  a  regular  high-school  course 
at  Bo.xmeer,  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  famil)'^ 
his  parents  and  their  children  (two  broth- 
ers and  three  sisters — Theodore,  Arnold, 
Algonda,  Antonia  and  Bertha,  the  hitter 
now  dead) — 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  country, 
with  but  little  knowledge,  if  any,  of  its 
language,  laws  and  customs. 

On  the  first  day  of  Februar}',  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  by 
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  rapidl)'  had  he  mastered  the  de- 
tails of  the  profession  and  fathomed  its 
mysteries,  that,  during  the  last  two  years 
he  was  in  the  emplo\"  of  the  Standard 
Printing  Co.,  he  acted  in  the  capacity  of 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  De  Pere  Stand- 
ard, a  newspaper  published  by  them  in 
the  Holland  language.      In  January,  1890, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


431 


in  company  with  Jolm  B.  Heyrman,  lie 
purcliased  the  Brown  County  Democrat 
(established  in  1877),  a  weekly  paper 
printed  in  the  English  language,  and 
shortly  afterward  they  commenced  the 
publication  of  a  new  Holland  weekly, 
Dc  Volksstcui,  conducting,  in  connection, 
a  general  printing  establishment,  equipped 
with  all  modern  improxements  and  facili- 
ties for  turning  out  good  work.  The 
business  is  carried  on  under  the  firm 
name  of  Heyrman  &  Kuypers.  The 
Democrat  has  a  circulation  of  i ,  300,  the 
Volksstciii,  of  1,250,  and  both  are  influ- 
ential papers.  The  Democrat,  true  to  its 
name,  is  an  able  exponent  of  Democratic 
principles,  while  the  I'olksstcin  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,  and  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  summers,  he  knew  but  little  of 
the  English  language — merely  the  rudi- 
ments— and  never  attended  school  here; 
yet,  by  assiduous  and  most  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  Count}-  Wexford  in  December, 
1 8 16,  daughter  of  James  and  Catherine 
fBrown)  Sinnot,  and  two  children  were 
born  to  this  union  in  Ireland,  namely: 
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  Quebec  they  pro- 
ceeded westward,  coming  via  Buffalo  and 
Detroit  to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  they 
resided  for  about  a  twelvemonth,  during 
which  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  although  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  Pere  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 
(Dalton)  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  Washington,  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.  Francis 
Catholic  Church  at  De  Pere. 


FLORENTINE      FRISQUE.      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  manj'  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  Marre  had  also  four  children,  viz. : 
Rosalie,  Florentine  (our  subject),  Leo- 
cadie  and  Zelia.  They  are  all  living  ex- 
cept Zelia  (the  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  ^liss  Josephine 
Grossell,  daughter  of  Louis  Grossell,  a 
native  of  Belgium,  and  seven  children 
have  been  born  to  them,  viz. :  Zelie,  John, 
George,  William, Mary,  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  j-ear.  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    n£.tive    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  186S  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    DIOORAPIIICAL    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- 
ville.  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada,  born 
in  1 86 1,  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  examination  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  V>a.y.  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  Baj',  a 
miller  by  occupation. 

Albert  Weise.  our  subject,  received  a 
good  common-school  education  in  his 
native  country.      Before  reaching  the  age 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   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  City,  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  workingnien 
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  city, 
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  commence  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  pay  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  "  v^'orking  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 
very  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   BIOORAPmCAL    RECORD. 


number  of  men  workinj^  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.  F.  Jeffrey,  of 
Leadville,  Colo. ;  and  Amanda,  wife  of 
F.  H.  Straubel;  all  yet  li\ing  except  Doro- 
thea. The  mother  of  these  died  Decem- 
ber 3,  1887,  at  the  age  of  si.xty-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 

1846,  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  crockery  business,  after  one 
year  becoming  sole  proprietor  of  same, 
which  he  and  his  son,  Herman  F.  con- 
ducted for  many  years,  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  Pennsyhania,  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  Society,  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  liberall}'  toward  its  support. 
He  was  also  actively  interested  in  the  or- 
ganization, January  i,  1850,  of  the  Ger- 
man Benevolent  Socie*^y  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.  \\'^eise 
being  its  president  for  twenty  years  from 
its  incipiency.  In  his  political  prefer- 
ments he  has  alwajs  been   a  strong  pro- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL    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  Februarj-  17, 
1843,  a  son  of  Peter  Bernard  and 
Rachel  (Lawe)  Grignon. 

Peter  Grignon  was  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  early  day  to  Green  Bay, 
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,  by  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 12.  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  county,  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 
(Boyd)  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 
Quincy,  who  died  November  13,  1S93. 
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, 
F"ifeshire,  Scotland,  September 
10,   1 8 19. 

His  father,  William  Gow,  Sr.,  was  a 
native  of  the  city  of  Perth,  and  his  mother, 
Martha  (Brough)  Gow,  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Pittencrief,  Fifeshire.  William 
Gow,  Sr. ,  was  a  plasterer  by  trade,  and 
expired  in  the  city  of  Glasgow.  William 
Gow,  the  subject  proper  of  this  sketch, 
was  educated  in  the  parochial  schools  of 


438 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


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,  at  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  in\estment,  he 
relinquished  its  cultivation  at  the  end  of 
that  period  and  came  to  De  Pere,  Wis., 
arriving  the  Saturday  before  the  Fourth 
of  July,  1853.  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.  Kingsley.  On 
October  i,  1855,  Mr.  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-five  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, 1839.  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  (jf  the  govern- 
ment, which  he  aided  by  e\ery  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 
railway,    and    stationed    at    Fort 
Howard,  was  born  in  Green  Bay, 
I  \\'is.  (then  known  as  Astoria),  in  1845,  a 
I  son  of  John  Winslovv  and  Mary  B.  (Arndt) 
Cotton,  who  were  among  the    early  set- 
tlers of  Brown  county. 
1  John    Winslow   Cotton    was    born    in 

I  1800,  in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  of  old  Puritan 
I  stock.  He  was  graduated  from  the 
United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  N.  Y.,  July  4,  1823;  commissioned 
second  lieutenant  Third  Infantry,  July 
I,  1823,  commission  signed  by  James 
Monroe;  promoted  to  first  lieutenant 
same  regiment,  October  4,  1827,  signed 
by  J.  O.  Adams;  promoted  to  captain 
November  15,  1836,  signed  by  Andrew 
Jackson.  As  early  as  1S24  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. 

Mrs.  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 
came  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  1S61.  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  188S;  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  I\enosha, Wis.,in  September  1887, 
and  Charles  A.,  our  subject.  On  July  6, 
1 86 1,  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  6,  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  first,  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  \\'hich  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  Ivennedy, 
a  native  of  Ireland,  who  bore  him  four 
children,  to  wit. :  Elizabeth  S. ;  John 
Rossiter  and  James  K. ,  both  of  whom 
were  drowned  No\'ember  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  Bav. 


JAMES  KERR,  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Fort  Howard  Rcviczl',  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 


44° 


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  /lis  "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  The 
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.  "They  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.r\.d  full j'  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  gallejs 
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,  Mfjntrose,  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- 
layed, 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 
I\err,  was  also  one  of  the  party  which 
left  with  them  August  26,  1854.  He 
died  (at  Milwaukee)  April  23,  1886.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Harriet  Travers, 
daughter  of  an  early  partner  of  the  late 
John  Flankinton,  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  Cit}-;  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.  Cfiapman, 
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  anniversary  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  News  office  in  the  job 
department.  A  short  time  after  Mr.  Kerr 
had  taken  a  position  in  the  A^cws  office, 
he  was  offered  a  situation  in  Port  Wash- 
ington, Ozaukee  Co.,  Wis.,  to  take  charge 
of  the  0::aiikcc  Comity  Advertiser  office, 
which  he  accepted.  C.  F.  Huntsman, 
who  was  superintendent  of  the  Nczvs, 
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  Ncivs  office — 
which  was  very  flattering  to  Mr.  Kerr,  as 
well  as  evidence  of  Mr.  Huntsman's  ap- 
preciation of  his  services. 

Tlie  Ozaukee  County  Advertiser  was 
owned  by  R.  L.  Gove,  who  was  post- 
master,   and   Mr.    Kerr  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  Kerr  &  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. 
Kerr  again  held  a  position  in  the  Alil- 
tuaukee  Nezus  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  considerablj'.  It 
was  during  the  Buchanan  campaign.  Mil- 
waukee was  the  headquarters,  and  the 
election  tickets  were  printed  in  the  iVeit's 
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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


the  result  was  that  all  the  "foreign" 
tickets  were  consigned  to  the  flames  and 
the  presses  had  to  run  night  and  da)'  on 
'  Buck  and  Breck '  tickets  in  order  to 
get  them  out  in  time  for  election. "  "To 
this  circumstance,"'  continued  Mr.  Kerr, 
"I  owe  my  clcvatiun — in  the  AVrci  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  sisters  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,  tjf  Beloit,  Wis., 
and  Andrew  Kerr,  of  Duiuth,  Minnesota. 

On  Augu.st  9.  1S57,  George  Dickie 
Kerr,  a  son  of  James  Kerr,  died;  and  on 
December  25,  same  year,  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  .\llarclice  Kerr  and 
Elizabeth  Clark  Kerr,  returned  to  Scot- 
land and  their  native  home. 

In  the  same  year  Mr.  Kerr  left  the 
Nc'MS  office,  and  for  a  time  was  in  the 
Wisconsin  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 
Wisconsiti. 

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     journal   of    Commerce 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOBAPUICAL   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.  Bailey  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  1 874  the  proprietors  of  the  foiirnai 
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 
Ga::ette,  he  published  and  managed  the 
Fort  Howard  Rez'ie-io.  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,  1886, 
we  glean  the  following  facts: 

The  first  paper  published  was  the  Ej-a, 
on  20th  April,  1855;  the  second  number 
was  never  published;  the  Fort  Howard 
Times  was  the  next  paper,  but  the  office 


was  destroyed  by  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  i'l/tiw/Zi;'/- had  the  con- 
tract for  city  printing,  and  the  proprietor 
turned  over  the   contract  to  the   RcvieiK.'. 
The  Reviezu  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  P'ort  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  1878, 
when  the  name  was  also  changed  to   the 
Broivit  County  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    Broicii 
County    Democrat,    which     followed    the 
/;?//;-«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 
Reviezu  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  Rcviezv 
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  Revieiv  weekly,  and  enlarged  it  to 
a  six-column  folio. 


444 


COMMEMORATIVE   BI06RAPBICAL   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  AV- 
vieix.'  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  Brown  County," 
previously  mentioned,  in  speaking  of  the 
Review  and  its  proprietors,  says:  "Con- 
sidering the  sad  fate  of  so  many  attempts 
at  journalism  in  Fort  Howard,  and  the 
many  disadvantages  the  Review  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 — lie  being  the  last  of  the  family 
race  in  Scot/and — they  left  for  America, 
coming  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  \ear,  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  Jjtnniie  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  intelligent  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  prophecj-  of  a 
life  that  would  expand  to  greatness  and  useful- 
ness as  the  years  grew.  But  God  plucks  his 
choicest  flowers  first.  The  prophecy  may  not 
reach  its  fulfillment,  unless  the  influence  of  his 
life  and  aspirations  shall  inspire  his  compan- 
ions with  higher  aims  and  better  purposes.  Jim- 
mie  was  in  his  seventeenth  year.  He  had  been 
suffering  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,  William  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  favor- 
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 
Milirniikii  Journal  for  this  citj'.  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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


445 


with  him.  It  is  supposed  that  he  jumped  from 
the  train  when  opposite  the  fire  engine  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  remarkable  fortitude;  after  re- 
ceiving- them,  he  rose  and  walked  to  the  spot 
where  he  was  afterward  discovered  lying,  and 
where  it  is  evident  he  tripped  over  a  projecting- 
board  and  fell  to  the  ground,  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  particularly  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  years  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  Rc7'icii.'.  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    BIOORAPBICAL   RECORD. 


charge  of  the  editorial  department  of  a 
newspaper,  both  of  which  she  has  done  in 
her  father's  office.  Thej'  have  one  child, 
Mildred. 

William  Lowe,  the  youngest  son  of 
the  family,  I  have  alread\-  spoken  of  in 
detail.  , 

Mrs.  Kerr  is  a  model  wife  and  mother, 
and  possesses  an  exemplary  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  (Annj,  of  Dunedin,  New  Zealand. 
Mrs.  Lowe  and  Miss  Isabella  Dickie  were 
of  the  party  that  accompanied  Mr.  and 
Mrs.    Kerr    to    this    countr\'    in    August, 

1854. 

James  Kerr  is  in  his  sixty-fifth  }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  years  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  AUardice  Kerr,  of  Mil- 
waukee. 


Mr.  Kerr  has  resided  in  Fort  Howard 
since  the  first  day  of  his  arrival,  and  The 
Rcvicii'  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 
city,  and  enjoying  a  large  circulation,  it 
has  naturally  a  wide  influence.  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.  Ever}' 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  ph\sicians  of  Brown  county, 
not  so  much  by  the  length  of  time  he  has 
devoted  to  the  calling — for  he  is  as  yet  a 
young  man — as  by  the  eminent  success 
he  has  already  made  of  it. 

He  is  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  born 
August  26,  1858,  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  family  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 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGMAPHWAL    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  sixteen  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  (Abner),  died  at  the 
age  of  forty-nine  years,  the  mother  of 
five  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  count}-,  Wis.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  entered  the 
State  Normal  School  at  Oshkosh,  paying 
his  own  waj'  there,  and  also  through  the 
medical  course,  later  on.  After  a  two- 
years'  course  at  the  Normal,  he  entered 
the  office  of  Dr.  Louis  Grasnmck,  a  well- 
known  and  successful  physician  of  Men- 
asha,  who  subsequently  removed  to  Colo- 
rado. .At  an  early  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  of^ce  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,  Chicae:o,  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  member  of  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 
ma)'  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   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


This  gentleman 


CA.  NEWELL 
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  1S48.  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.,  Wis  ,  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  No^\ember 
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  1848 
came  to  Wisconsin,  settling  on  a  farm  in 
Fond  du  Lac  county,  where  the  mother 
died,  the  father  subsequently  remo\ing 
into  the  town  of  \\'aupaca,  where  he  died 
in  1888.  In  his  political  preferences  Mr. 
Newell  is  a  Republican,  a  zealous  sup- 
porter of  the  principles  of  the  part}'.  He 
and  his  amiable  life  partner  enjo\'  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  faithfully  represented  the 
German  Lutheran  Church,  we  must  men- 
tion Rev.  Popp,  who  was  born  August  5, 
1825,  in  Bayreuth,  Bavaria,  Germany. 

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-guard,  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  sixty-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);  andElenore,  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  Reinhardt,  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 
Quincy,  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,  III,  where  he 
served  two  years.  As  a  means  of  build- 
ing up  his  health  which,  by  reason  of  his 


450 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


many  years  hard  work  liad  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  Lutheran  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  si.\teen  years  of  aj,'e.  He  is  held  in 
high  esteem  bj"  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  being 
abundantly  felt  throughout  life.  Rev. 
Popp  was  married  in  Mistlegau,  Germany, 
June  16,  1849,  to  Miss  Emeline  Wilhcl- 
niina  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,  Godfrey  George  Ludwig,  Rosa- 
linda F.  J.  A.  and  Carl  Jacob  F.  A.  Of 
these, 

GonFRKV  G.  L.  Popr  was  born  May 
28,  186S,  in  Bethlehem,  111.,  was  edu- 
cated in  Kenosha  and  W'rightstown,  stud- 
ied pharmacy  at  Racine  and  Baraboo, 
Wis. ,  and  in  September,  1 890,  received  a 
license  from  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  He 
opened  a  drug  store  in  Wrightstown  in 
the  fall  of  1889,  and  has  continued  in 
same  ever  since  with  eminent  success. 
He  was  married  November  20,  1890,  to 
Miss  Emma  Rather,  a  native  of  W'rights- 
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. 


CAPTAIN  H.  W.  WEBSTER,  ply- 
ing on   the   lakes  between  Green 
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  1833  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  farmer  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- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


451 


neers  of  Green  Bay.  Of  Green  Bay  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,   1848,    in  the 
town   of    Rovalton,  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  thev  had  children  as  follows: 
John,  a  member  of  Company  I,  Third 
Wisconsin  Cavalr\-,  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  1849,  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, 
principall}-  the  purchasing  of  staves  for  a 
Buffalo  firm.  In  Lorain  county  was  born 
another  child,  Jane  C,  who  married 
Bruce  Lindsle}',  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  July  11, 
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  Wrightstown,  Brown  county, 
where    they   located.       Mr.    Davis    again 


engaged  in  the  stave  business,  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  physique,  and 
was  well-known  and  highly  respected  in 
his  community.  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,  Ky. ,  and  received  an  honorable 
discharge  at  Madison,  Wis.  When  he 
first  came  to  W'isconsin,  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  with  the  details  of  same  when 
j'et  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,  at  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 


COMyrEMOIiATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


school  teaching,  in  the  meantime  having 
her  residence  in  Lawrence.  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:  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.  BKICE.  The  Kingdom  of 
Belgium  has  given  to  the  United 
States  man}-  of  her  industrious, 
loyal  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  Wisconsin,  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.  K.  B.  Hayes.  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  Troy, 
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  Bay,  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    a.xe    and    hoe, 
rather)    for    the    counter,     engaging    as 
clerk  in  a  grocery  and  provision  store  in 
Green  Bay.      For  some  years   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  3'ears;    in   1879  he 
was    elected    police   justice,    ser\'ing   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 
citj'  clerk,  in  which  he  served  two  years, 
and  was  immediately  re-elected  to  his  old 
position   of  police  justice,  holding  same 


COMMEMORATIVE   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  EHzabeth  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-law'in  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  1871.  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  1S69;  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  Te.xas;  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  }'ear.  Returning  home,  he  re- 
sumed farming,  which  he  followed  until 
1880,  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  day, 
and  in  1846  to  Winnebago  county.  The 
father  was  a  farmer,  and  1867  removed 
to  Minnesota,  then  came  to  Bay  Settle- 
ment, Brown  county.  Wis.,  but  again 
went  to  Minnesota,  and  there  died  in 
1892;  the  mother  passed  away  in  Winne- 
bago county.  Wis.,  in  1874.  To  the  mar- 
riage of  H.  P.  Campbell  and  wife  have 
been  born  eight  children,  viz. :  Lucius 
T.,  of  Fort  Howard;  Maud,  living  in 
Green  Bay;  John,  of  Chicago;  Nora,  who 


454 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


died  in  infancy;  Samuel,  in  Chicago; 
Frank,  in  Green  Bay;  Charles,  died  at 
the  ape  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.  b.  Howe  Post  No.  1 24,  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  Baj' 
a  wholesale  liquor  concern.  In  1874  he 
and  his  brother,  L.  A.  K.  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  Mar}'  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.,  \'igilant  Lodge  No.  120,  Kewau- 
nee, Wiscon.-^in. 


M 


J.  McCORMICK,agent  at  Green 
Hay  for  the  Lackawanna  and  the 
Goodrich  Transportation  lines, 
is  a  natixe  of  Brown  coimt)', 
\\'is.,  born  in  1 854. 

His  parents,  John  and  Mar}-  (Earley) 
McCormick.  who  were  born  in  Ireland, 
came  in  1850  to  the  United  States,  hrst 
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  Ba\'.  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  1870,  when  he  came 
to  live  in  Green  Hay.  The  two  years  of 
1872  and  1873,  however,  he  passed  in 
Escanaba,  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   BIOORAPSICAL    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  Company. 

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. 


P.\TRicK  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  185 1,  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.  McCuUen,  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  18S7. 
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  1 880  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  countrj-,  settling  in 
Sandusky,  Ohio,  where  they  died.  To 
our  subject  and  wife  were  born  four  chil- 
dren, viz. :  George,  single,  in  the  cattle 
business  at  Folsom,  N.  Mcx. ;  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  standi  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  years  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  Ba)',  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  \olume. 

He  was  born  March  5,  1859,  in  Mount 
Morris,  Ogle  Co.,  111.,  a  son  of  Reuben 
and  Leah  (Brubakcr)  Wagner,  natives 
respecti\ely  of  ^^'ashington  county,  Md. , 
and  Huntington  county,  Penn.,  and  de- 
scendants of  the  earl}'  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  1886,  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   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


457 


his  services  being  sought  by  R.  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  Bank  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  $350,000  to  $500,000,  rep- 
resenting about  half  of  the  business  de- 
posits of  the  city.  A  dividend  of  six  per 
cent,  was  declared  in  1890,  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,  18S8,  Mr.  Wagner,  for  his 
second  wife,  was  married  in  Polo,  111.,  to 
Miss  Anna  Shumwaj',  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 
)'outh,  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  1872.  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  nativity.  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  AUie  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  Kepnblican. 
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  years  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  lit:ht  of  his  honorable  record. 


H.\.  W OTTER,  M.  D.  This 
gentleuian,  one  of  the  leading 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  north- 
ern \\'isconsin,  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  oilfices.  The  mother  is  now  a 
resident  of  Appleton,  Wis.  Their  family 
numbered  eight  children,  all  residents  of 
Appleton  e.xcept  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  wife  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 county,  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.  \\'otter  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Fountain  City,  W'is. ;  from 
there  moved  to  Oconto,  same  State,  thence 
in  1891  coming  to  Green  Bay,  where  he 
has  since  been  engaged  in  regular  practice, 
meeting  with  the  most  gratifying  success. 
In  1 884  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- 
ROOS.MALEN,  pastor  of  St.  Wil- 
librord'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  many  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  four  subject),  and 
Mary  fwife  of  Henry  Kitzlaar). 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


459 


Belgium 
Oil  finishing 


The  subject  proper  of  these  Hnes  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  j'ears  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 
speak  almost  exclusively 
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,  18S3,  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  by  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  P'ebruary  12,  1890,  he  was 
appointed,  by  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  Van  Roos- 
malen.  On  May  i,  1891,  the  first  brick 
was  laid,    and  the  church  was  completed 


December  12,  1893;  its  dimensions  are 
136x50  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  tiock. 


DR.   COLONEL  ORMAN   GAGE, 
who  is  successfully  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  dentistry  in  Green  Bay, 
is  one  of  the  natix'e  sons  of  Wis- 
consin, having  been  born  near  Fond  du 
Lac,  June  11,   1861. 

The  Gage  family  is  one  of  English 
origin.  The  Doctor's  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  famil}'  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  enrolHng  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,  1866.  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  subsequently  in  the 
Episcopal  Parish  School  of  Fond  du  Lac. 
His  first  independent  effort  in  life  was  in 
the  line  oi  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  Waupun,  Wis.,  in  the 
spring  of  i<S83,  and  soon  had  all  the  busi- 
ness that  he  could  well  attend  to,  for  his 
merit  and  abilit}' 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  i6th  of  June.  1886,  at  Oak- 
field,  Wis.,  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  P\th- 
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. 


PJ.  VAN  DEUREN,  engaged  as  a 
general  merchant  at  Green  Bay, 
\\'is. ,  was  born  in  the  Province  of 
Brabant,  Belgium,  in  1850,  a  son 
of  G.  J.  and  Mary  (Avant)  Van  Deuren, 
also  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  1869,  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 
3'ear  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   BIOORAPUWAL   RECORD. 


461 


Graff,  a  native  of  Belgium  (daughter  of 
Anton  DeGraff),  wtio  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,  vi^. :  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; 
fraternally  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  (Serron)  Engels. 

John  B.  Engels,  who  was  a  tailor, 
brought  his  family  to  America  in  1856, 
sailing  from  Antwerp,  and  after  a  voyage 
of  forty-six  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 
1882,  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 
1S67,  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.:  Jolin  H. ;  Henry;  W'iUiam, 
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  y^ars.  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  Society.  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  Baj'  &  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  probability  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 Miss  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  ofBce  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.  Seymour,  the  subject  proper 
of  these  lines,  was  about  seven  jears  of 
age  when  the  family  moved  to  New  Lon- 
don, and  he  here  received  his  education. 
In  May,  1S71,  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 
iS,  1887,  the  date  of  promotion,  as  al- 
ready related.  Mr.  Seymour  was  mar- 
ried at  La  Crosse.  Wis.,  to  Miss  Delia 
M.  Vincent,  a  nati\e  of  that  town,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Vincent,  an  early  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  \\'isconsin  Consistory;  is  also  a 
member  of  the  K.  of  P.,  No.  26,  Green 
Bay,  and  is  a  charter  member  of  the 
Lodge  at  La  Crosse. 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHIVAL    RECORD. 


463 


D  BRADLEY,  proprietor  of  the 
"Bradley  House,"  Green  Bay, 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn, 
N.  v.,  December  18,  1846,  a  son 
of  John  and  Mar\'  (McKelver)  Bradlej', 
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  Milwaukee,  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  1S73; 
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,  b}'  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  "Nevvhall  House"  in  Milwaukee, 
and  in  187 1  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 
lie  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 
1S82;   here  her  father  died  in    1886,  and 

26-.^ 


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  county, 
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  3'ear  181  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  Company  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- 
dren— 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, 
1861,  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  W.  Va.  V.    I.     At  the  front    he 


464 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


was  appointed  sergeant,  and  soon  after- 
ward— in  the  early  part  of  1 862 — was 
commissioned  second  lieutenant,  serving 
as  such  with  his  company  in  all  its  en- 
gagements till  May,  18C3.  He  was  then 
detailed  to  the  quartermaster's  depart- 
ment in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  serving  in  this 
department  until  the  close  of  the  war; 
was  never  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  j'ears  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  (Gillett)  Wyatt,  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.  0ne  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  churchwarden  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  highly  re- 
spected, and  none  fills  a  more  prominent 
position  within  its  social  circles. 


ABRAUNS,  insurance  agent,  civil 
engineer  for  Green  Bay,  and 
county  surveyor  for  Brown  county. 
Wis.,  was  born  in  the  Province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  August  4,  1842,  a 
son  of  Henry  and  Dora  (Hotop)  Brauns, 
both  af  whom  died  in  their  native  land, 
the  father  in  1881,  the  mother  in  1884. 
They    reared  a  family    of  four  children: 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


465 


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  Military  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  county 
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. 
1170;  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 
1 85 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.  Hisparents, 
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  famil)-  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  years  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 


466 


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  freigjht  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 
^^'estboro,  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  hofiored 
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  ^f.  and  Jessie,  are  receiv- 
ing the  best  educations  that  money  can 
provide.  Mr.  Duncan  has  manifested  ex- 
traordinarj- 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  j'ears 
resided  at  Peshtigo,  Marinette  county, 
where  he  built  lake  vessels;  thence  pro- 
ceeded to  Red  River,  and  there  erected  a 
sawmill,  which  in  1S65  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   BIOORAPBICAL   RECORD. 


467 


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  davs,  dying  in  1891 ;  his  wife  passed 
awa}'  in  1883,  while  residing  at  Sturgeon 
Bay.  They  were  the  parents  of  two 
children,  George  O.,  subject  of  sketch, 
and  Marshall,  in  Maryland.  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.  21,  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. 


CAPTAIN  CHARLES  A.  GRAVES, 
commander     of     the      propeller, 
"  Fountain  City,"  ph'ing  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  Ba}',  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  twenty  years,  and 
also  cit\-  attorney  for  si.x  or  seven  years. 
He  was  married  at  Green  Bay,  March  14, 
1 84 1,  to  Miss  Lucy  Ann  Lesse}',  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 


46S 


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  city,  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),  and  Henry,  who  was  also  a  trader, 
and  died  in  1S50.  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,  enjoys  to  the  full  the  esteem  and  con- 
fidence of  the  inhabitants  of  Green  Bay 
and  all  the  points  to  which  he  trades. 


Mary 
born 


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 
(Smith)    Basche,    who   were    both 
near  the  ancient  and   historic  city 
of  Frankfort,  Germany. 

Jacob  learned  the  trade  of  shoemak- 
ing  in  his  native  country,  remaining  there 
until  1 841,  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- 
thon}',  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  Baj'  for 
many  years,  surviving  until  June,  1894, 
when  she  was  called  to  her  last  resting- 
place. 

F.  W.  Basche  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  Green  Bay.  In  i  S64  he  enlisted 
at  Green  Bay  in  Company  C,  Forty- 
seventh  Wis.  \'.  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  Washington  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 
affability,  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,  having  earned  all  he  possesses  by 
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  necessarily  been 
a  witness  of  the  great  changes  that  have 
taken  place  in  his  native  city  during  the 
interval,  and  he  has  ever  taken  an  active 
and  ardent  part  in  every  change  that  has 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


469 


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. 


THE  LAU  FAMILY  have  ever  been 
counted  among  the  most  indus- 
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  iS,  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- 


470 


COMMEMORATIVh:    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


moil  schools  of  the  time,  but  their  enter-  i 
prise  and  business  sagacity  fully  make  up 
for  any  lack  of  educational  advantages. 
They  have  shown  themselves  capable  of 
conducting  their  affairs  in  a  systematic 
manner,  and  are  owners  of  200  acres  of 
land,  nearly  all  under  cultivation.  The 
farm  of  ninety  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- 
cally 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.  liaker, 
of  Beaver  Dam,  Wisconsin. 

In  the  economical  management  of  the 
household,  and  in  the  general  success  of 
the  family,  Mrs.  Lau  has  taken  an  im- 
portant part.  During  her  fort}"  years  of 
married  life  she  has  ever  been  read}-  and 
willing  to  do  anything  to  improve  their 
circumstances;  and,  though  now  nearh" 
si.xty  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  country, 
where  they  married.  Melchor,  who  was 
a  merchant  of  prominence  in  his  day,  died 
in  1828,  his  wife  in  1838;  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  twent\-one  years  old 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States  and 
to  Wisconsin.  He  first  located,  in  1849, 
in  Manitowoc  county,  where  he  carried 
on  a  harcfware  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,  T\\  en- 
ty-sixth  \Ms.  \'.  1.,  and  went  with  the 
compan}-  as  sutler,  his  commission  as  such 
dating  from  1861  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)  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  ^^'isconsin,  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  18S9;  and  Nora,  wife  of  Will- 
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  1 889  (elected  in  a  strongly  Democratic 
county);  member   of  the  council;  mem- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


471 


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 
3'ears  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.  I-ialb  has  conducted  the  busi- 
ness alone  with  eminent  success,  proving 
himself  in  all  his  undertakings  a  worthy 
son  of  a  worthy  father.  He  has  two 
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,  Green  Bay,  is  a  native 
of  Belgium,  and  was  born  November  25, 
1850. 

His  parents,  Guillaume  and  Victoria 
(Demaiffe)  Servotte,  were  also  natives  of 
Belgium,  where  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 
county,  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,  1887.  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  Ba}',  to 
Flora  Piraux,  a  native  of  Belgium  and 
daughter  of  Peter  and  Angeline  (Bradie) 
Piraux,  who  came  from  Belgium  to 
America  in  1856,  locating  in  Milwaukee, 
W'is.,  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  office- 


472 


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 
3'ear  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  Bay,  with  Miss  Mary 
Theresa  Lefebvre,  who  was  born  in  Brown 
county.  Wis. ,  January  21,1 867,  a  daughter 
of  John  B.  Lefebvre,  an  early  settler  of 
Green  Ba}-,  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  Royal  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  conies  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   BlOGBAPIllCAL   RECORD. 


473 


preceded  him  to  the  grave  in  iS88.  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  eldest  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. 
W.  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. 


474 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


WW.  NUSS,  a  photographic  art- 
ist of  much  merit  and  ability, 
having  his  studio  at  No.  215 
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  1869,  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,  \\'is.  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;  Elniina,  w'ife  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,  ^^"is. ;  James  Franklin,  of  Ana- 
conda, Mont. ;  Edwin  Michael,  of  Chilton, 
Wis. ;  Anderson  K. ,  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  gallerj' 
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  Koyal  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 
were  the  parents  of  eleven  children,  four 
of  whom  are  j'et  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,  1890,  when 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPmCAL    RECORD. 


475 


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)  I\eliher,  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  Bay. 


IVI 


y.  CLAREY,  an  engineer  of 
some  considerable  note  in  the 
employ  of  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  Railway 
Company,  was  born  at  Menasha,  W^inne- 
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,  Milw^aukee  &  St.  Paul 
railway,  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- 


476 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


kauna  and  settlinfj,  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  six  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  \ears  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  \\'illiam  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  \'ears  he  was  leader  of  Kim- 
ball's Silver  Cornet  Band  of  Green  Bay, 
comprising  eighteen  pieces,  and  also  for 
a  number  of  years  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. 


477 


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  tirni  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  Baj',  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  Desnoj'ers,  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.  Desnoj'ers,  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  cS:  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  1 890,  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  day 
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  }'ears  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  Bay,   and 


478 


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  j'ears. 
In  1874  he  came  to  his  present  home  in 
Green  Bay,    where  in  i>S83  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   Bay.    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. 
It  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,  1829, 
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  Dyckes  of  Green  Bay. 
Grandfather  Constante  Van  Dycke  was  a 
seafaring  man  for  many  years  as  captain 
of  his  own  ship,  and  was  remarkably 
handsome  and  attractive.  He  married 
MissCoUette  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  beaut}', 
as  proven  by  a  portrait  of  her  taken  in 
Paris,  France,  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  1868  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    May    11, 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHIOAL   RECORD. 


479 


1857,  Mr.  Van  Dycke  was  married  to 
Miss  Octavia  Cesar,  a  daughter  of  Lam- 
bert Cesar,  a  native  of  Belgium,  as  is  also 
Mrs.  Van  Dycke,  who  was  born  August 
4,  1840,  in  Bouvechen,  near  Louvain, 
Belgium.  Si.x  children  came  to  the  union 
of  Mr.  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. 

Julius  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 
cit}',  graduating  there  in  1887.  Becom- 
ing interested  in  pharmac)-,  he  studied 
the  science  t\\'o  j'ears  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  Iioard 
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  Ro\'al 
Arcanum. 


GEORGE   GROESSL,  foreman  of 
the  Van  Dycke  Brewery,    Green 
Bay,    was    born    November    22, 
185  I,  near  Furth,  Bavaria,  Ger- 
many, on  the  confines  of  Bohemia,  in  the 
Bohmer    Wald.       His    ancestry    for    the 

most     part     were     industrious,     plodding 
27— .\ 


farming  people  in  that  part  of  the  world, 
living  uneventful  lives. 

Ignatz  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-five  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  brewing  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- 
Dvcke,  widow    of    Louis  Van  Dycke,  at 


4^0 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


one  tiine  proprietor  of  the  brewery.  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  F"ort  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  finall}'  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  years. 

Our  subject  was  born  at  Oconto,  W^is., 
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  Company  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  W'oodmen  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  count\'. 


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  fortj-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  Erie)  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. 


48 1 


walk,  where  he  remained  until  he  was 
twenty-one  3'ears  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,  immediately  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  1S92,  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, 1S63),  and  finally  in  the  Wilder- 
ness campaign.  In  1S63  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  Bay.  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  Penn.sylvania,  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 
Commandery  No.  20,  Green  Bay. 


JOHN  L.  McABEE,  one  of  the  well- 
known  successful  agriculturists  of 
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 
1 8 18,  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  century,  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 


482 


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 
only  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  yet  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  only  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  F"ox  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  yielded  them 
a  comfortable  support. 

John  L.  McAbee  was  about  nineteen 
years  old  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
war,  and,  like  many  other  young  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.  I.,  proceeding 
with  the  command  to  \'icksburg,  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  conveyed  by 
transports  to  New  Orleans,  near  where 
tiiey  camped  for  three  weeks,  on  Uauphin 
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,  respective!}',  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 young  lady,  who  has  held  a  teach- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


4S3 


er's  certificate  since  her  fifteenth  year; 
Henry,  deceased  in  infancy;  Henry,  Hving 
at  home;  Mary,  deceased  in  infancy; 
Gertrude,  at  home;  Ellen,  deceased  in 
infancy,  and  Louis  and  Maggie,  at  home. 
Mr.  McAbee  has  ninety-two  acres  of  ex- 
cellent farm  land,  all  of  which  he  himself 
has  taken  from  its  primitive  st:ite.  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  efTorts.  By 
reading  and  observation  he  has  accjuired 
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  Wrightstown. 


M 


WEBER,  a  leading  well-known 
citizen  of  New  Denmark  town- 
ship. Brown  count}-,  is  a  native 
of  Germany,  born  September 
12,  1850,  in  Luxemburg,  son  of  Hubbard 
and  Mary  (Dewald)  Weber,  the  former  of 
whom  was  a  mason  by  trade.  They  had 
five  children,  namely:  William  (deceased), 
Anna  (deceased),  Nicholas,  Paulina  and 
our  subject. 

In  1853  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 

27-B 


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  1 20  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,  TiUie,  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  party,  taking  great 
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.  10 1, 
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 


484 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   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,  1840,  his  father 
having  provided  him  with  means  to  emi- 
grate, he  sailed  from  Cork  on  the  brig 
"  John  Wesle}-,"  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 yards.  But  as  he  never  received 
more  than  si.xty  cents  a  day,  and  had  to 
board  himself,  he  could  save  nothing, 
and  finally  concluded  to  come  westward 
to  Wisconsin,  where  cheap  homes  were 
then  offered  to  settlers.  In  February, 
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  family  migrated  westward,  going 
by  rail  to  Buffalo,  thence  by  water  to 
Sheboygan,  and  thence  to  Menomonce. 
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  j'ears, 
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- 
ship, he  was  trul}'  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  part}'.  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   BIOORAPEICAL   RECORD. 


485 


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  bj^  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  si.x  years.  Mary  and  Ellen,  who 
were  born  in  Boston,  are  now  deceased. 


M 


GAGNON,  Green  I^ay,  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    Mr.    Gagnon  has  lived 


486 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


alone.  Politically  he  is  a  Democrat;  in 
rclif^ious  connection  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Joseph  Gagntjn,  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  was  by  occupation  a  farmer,  and 
a  man  of  remarkable  physical  strength, 
never  knowing  what  sickness  was  until  a 
few  hours  before  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred when  he  reached  the  great  age  of 
one  hundred  and  one  years.  He  was 
married  when  eighteen  years  of  age,  and 
his  wife  lived  ncarl)'  as  long  a  life  as  he, 
lacking  but  two  or  three  weeks  of  being 
one  hundred  3'ears  old  when  she  died. 
They  had  a  family  of  sixteen  children. 

George  Gagnon,  their  son,  father  of 
our  subject,  was  born  in  France,  and 
when  but  a  boy  came  with  his  parents  to 
America,  the  family  residing  at  Wolf 
River,  Canada.  During  his  youth  he 
learned  the  miller's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed all  his  life.  In  1839  he  married 
Harriet  Hibbard,  who  was  a  native  of 
England  and  daughter  of  Enis  and  Elsie 
(Armstrong)  Hibbard,  at  that  time  living 
in  Louisville,  Canada,  where  Mr.  Hibbard 
was  engagetl  in  the  millwright  business, 
in  which  he  met  with  gratifj'ing  success, 
continuing  that  line  of  work  until  his 
death.  In  i  iS69  George  Gagnon  came 
with  his  family  to  Oconto,  Wis.,  where 
he  remained  until  1877,  thence  removing 
to  Marinette,  where  he  yet  resides,  having 
retired  from  business.  The  children  of 
this  worthy  couple  were  M.  (our  subject), 
George,  Edward,  Amelia,  Enis  (deceased 
at  the  age  of  twenty  years),  Elsie  and 
Alfred.  George  now  lives  with  his  father 
in  Marinette,  the  mother  having  died 
December  29,  1886,  at  that  place,  where 
her  remains  now  rest. 


WILHELM   PAMPERIN,  resident 
of     Howard    township.     Brown 
county,   was  born  November  4, 
1835, in  Mecklenburg,  Germany, 
a  son  of    Henry   and   Margaret    (Hallis) 
Pamperin,  who  both  died  in  Germany,  the 
mother  at  the  age  of  forty  and  the  father 


at  the  age  of  sixty.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  four  sons. 

Wilhelm  Pamperin  was  taught  the 
trades  of  tailor  and  shoemaker,  and  in 
1848  came  to  the  United  States  in  the 
sailing  vessel  '"Howard,"  landing  in  New 
York  after  a  passage  of  forty  days,  a  few 
days  later  starting  lor  the  West,  via  Buf- 
falo and  the  lakes,  and  arriving  at  Mil- 
waukee. For  five  months  he  was  em- 
ployed in  clearing  land  in  the  vicinity,  and 
then  went  to  Calumet,  where  he  worked 
as  a  shoemaker  six  months,  and  then,  in 
August,  1849,  located  in  Green  Bay, 
where  he  worked  at  shoemaking  until 
1851.  He  was  married,  June  6,  1850,  to 
Miss  Anna  Klasson,  who  was  born  August 
24,  1828,  in  Holland,  daughter  of  John 
and  Christine  Klasson,  the  former  of 
whom  came  to  the  United  States  in  1848 
in  the  sailing  vessel  ' '  Liebenough,"  being 
seven  weeks  on  the  voyage.  He  died  in 
Fort  Howard,  Wis.,  at  the  age  of  si.xt}- 
eight  years;  his  wife  had  died  in  Holland 
at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  He  had  been  an 
officer  in  the  great  Napoleon's  army,  and 
the  family  was  well  connected.  Anna 
was  the  only  daughter  in  his  fainil\-  of 
three  children. 

To  the  union  of  Wilhelm  and  Anna 
Pamperin  have  been  born  fourteen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  nine  are  still  living,  as 
follows:  Anna  C. ,  who  is  married,  and 
has  three  children;  William  C,  a  farmer 
of  Howard  township;  Louisa,  who  is  mar- 
ried, and  has  seven  children;  Josephine, 
who  is  married  and  has  two  children; 
Theodore  A. ,  who  is  married  and  has  two 
children;  Fred,  married;  Rosa,  a  school 
teacher;  Emily,  also  a  school  teacher, 
and  Sophia,  bookkeeper  for  her  brother 
at  Oconto;  they  have  all  been  highly  ed- 
ucated, either  at  Milwaukee  or  Green 
Bay,  or  in  the  best  schools  of  Oshkosh; 
some  of  the  sons  are  quite  prominent  as 
business  men  or  farmers. 

In  1 85 1  Wilhelm  Pamperin  left  Green 
Bay  and  opened  the  first  shoe  shop  in 
Fort  Howard,  carrying  it  on  with  great 
success  until    1857,  when  he  bought  his 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPniCAL    HE  CORD. 


487 


present  propert\-,  li\ing  for  a  number  of 
years  in  an  old  frame  house  and  later 
erecting  his  present  handsome  residence. 
During  the  inteivai,  however,  he  bought 
several  farms,  which  he  disposed  of  at  a 
profit,  and  has  been  quite  prosperous  in 
all  his  undertakings.  He  owes  much  of 
his  prosperity  to  his  amiable  helpmeet, 
for  together  they  have  earned  every  cent 
of  their  present  fortune,  on  which  they 
are  now  living  in  peaceful  retirement,  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  esteem  of  their 
neighbors.  In  politics  Mr.  Pamperin  has 
always  been  a  Democrat,  having  cast  his 
first  Presidential  vote  for  Franklin  Pierce, 
and  he  has  been  faithful  in  his  party  afiil- 
iations  ever  since.  The  family  ae  up- 
right in  all  their  transactions,  and  Mr. 
Pamperin  is  universally  regarded  as  a  use- 
ful and  valuable  citizen. 


M 


ATTHIAS  THORNTON  (de- 
ceased) was  a  son  of  Michael 
and  Mary  (Conway)  Thornton, 
natives  of  Ireland,  who  came 
to  America  in  1848,  and  for  seven  years 
resided  in  Canada,  thence  coming  to  the 
United  States  and  settling  in  Cato,  Mani- 
towoc Co,,  \\'is.  Here  they  purchased 
a  farm  in  the  wilderness,  which  they 
cleared  up,  having  gone  through  the 
same  tedious  process  in  Canada.  There 
were  five  children  in  the  family,  viz.: 
Thomas,  Matthias  (deceased),  Mary  (de- 
ceased), Sarah  (deceased)  and  John.  The 
parents  died  in  Cato,  and  Thomas  now 
lives  on  part  of  the  old  homestead; 
John  is  practicing  medicine  in  Lansing, 
Iowa. 

On  the  marriage  of  Matthias  Thornton 
to  Miss  Catherine  A.  Peppard,  May  9, 
1859,  his  father  gave  him  120  acres  of 
good  land,  containing  some  improve- 
ments. Matthias  lived  here  until  1882, 
when  the  entire  estate  was  sold  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  pio- 
neer life,  and  had  succeeded  in  bringing 
his  farm  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation 
when  he  met  his  untimely  death  while 
going  to  Church,  December  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  m  the 
Catholic  faith,  in  which  Church  he  had 
held  lay  offices  of  trust  and  honor.  In 
politics  he  was  a  Democrat,  and  while 
a  resident  of  Cato  held  several  public 
offices,  but  declined  public  service  after 
becoming  a  citizen  of  Brown  county. 
The  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mat- 
thias Thornton  were  thirteen  in  number, 
as  follows:  Mary  Ann,  born  February  27, 
i860;  Michael,  born  February  14,  1862; 
JohnH.,  born  January  i  i,  1864;  Thomas, 
born  February  19,  1866;  Catherine,  born 
May  16,  1868;  Walter,  born  June  5, 
1S70;  Matthias,  born  January  18,  1872; 
Celia,  born  January  24,  1874;  Alice, 
born  October  19,  1876;  Ellen,  born  Jan- 
uary 15,  1878;  William,  born  November 
10,  1880;  Francis,  born  July  21,  1882; 
and  Edward,  born  February  22,  1884. 
Of  the  above  Michael  died  November  12, 
1893,  and  left  a  widow  with  four  children 
— Sophia,    Frederick.  Daniel   and    Mary. 

Catherine  Anna  Peppard,  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  (Madigan)  Peppard,  was 
born  August  3,  1840,  in  County  Clare, 
Ireland.  There  were  eight  children  in 
this  family,  named  as  follows:  Cath- 
erine A.,  Patrick  H.,  Michael  (deceased), 
Mary,  John,  Bridget  (deceased),  Thomas 
and  Daniel  (the  last  named  also  deceased). 
Of  the  survivors,  Catherine  A.  will  be 
mentioned  farther  on;  Patrick  H.  is  a  car- 
penter in  Chicago.  111.,  and  has  a  family; 
John  is  a  farmer  of  Cato,  Manitowoc  coun- 
ty. Wis. ;  Thomas  is  a  miner  of  Deadwood, 
Dak.,  and  Mary  is  the  wife  of  John  O'Con- 
ner,  a  farmer. 

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- 


488 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ily  went  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  the 
father  was  employed  on  a  railwa\^  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,  T<S9i,  and  was  buried;  the  mother 
passed  from  earth  October  28,  1892, 
while  on  a  visit  to  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Thornton,  in  Pittsfield  township,  Hrown 
count)',  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. 


HII^AM  P.  HAYDEN,  one  of  the 
oldest  settlers  of  Pittsfield  town- 
ship, Brown  county,  was  born  in 
Fitzwilliam,  N.  H.,  August  i, 
1 8 18,  a  son  of  Ezra  and  Elizabeth  (Par- 
mity)  Hayden,  who  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  viz.:  Sally,  Caroline, 
Israel,  Otis,  Ruth,  Hiram  P.,  Eli/a  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  years  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,  nntil  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  only. 
He  worked  all  through  the  remainder  of 
the  winter  without  even  a  pair  of  mittens. 
At  last  he  obtained  an  order  from  \^'illiam 
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  also  W.  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  sta3'ed  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  unioii  three  children: 
Hiram  David,  born  March  4,  1859;  James, 


COMMEMORAtlVE   BlOGMAPSlCAL    UECORD. 


4S9 


who  died  in  infancy,  and  Charles,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  three  years.  David 
Page,  Jr.,  had  purchased  from  Mr.  Hay- 
den  sixty  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-si.\  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,     1 849,    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,  multiph'ing  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  who  was  married 
to  Martha  McCully,  whose  father,  Robert 
McCull}',  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  Palladiuiii. 

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  E7<ening  Wiseonsin,  retaining 
his  connection  therewith  until  August  i, 
1S94,  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  e.irly  history  of  this  journal  will 
be  found  in  the  sketch  o£  Mrs.  Rosamond  Follett,  at  Page  17. 


490 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


daily  papers  in  tiie  State.  He  has  re- 
modeled the  building,  doubled  the  cajxic- 
ity  of  the  plant,  placed  the  paper  on  the 
list  of  members  of  the  Associated  Press, 
and  now  receives  and  publishes  daily  (in- 
cludin-^  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  (Jti:;ith- 
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  enjojed  in  metropoli- 
tan cities,  such  as  Chicago  and  New  York. 
The  proprietor  in  his  prospectus  sa3s: 
' '  The  publisher  of  The  Gazette  is  per- 
suaded that  this  great  north  country  is 
entitled  to  have  and  will  support  a  li\e, 
clean,  nji-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  prompth' 
and  reliably.  "  The  Gazette  is  abl}-  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 to  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  imited  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.,  an(l  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  jet  something  in  store  for 
our  country  ami  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  WACHEN- 
REITER,  of  Pittsiield  town- 
ship. Brown  county,  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  ph\sician  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  university,  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  New  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 
years  later  he  was  burned  out.  He  then 
went  to  Daggett,  Mich.,  and  thence  came 
to  Pittsfield,  Wisconsin. 

Dr.  Wachenreiter  was  married   Sep- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


491 


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  bougflit  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. 


c 


ONSTANT  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  Daix,  who 
was  a  farmer,  died  in  1847,  leaving  a 
widow  with  nine  children — six  sons  and 
three  daughters — and  as  soon  as  they 
were  old  enough  the  children  were  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  Wisconsin,  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- 
portunity for  an  education.  In  1865  he 
came  with  the  rest  of  his  family  to  Wis- 
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, 

28 


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,  ahd  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. 


WING.  The  Wing  family  was 
founded  in  America  by  one  John 
Wing,  who  came  from  England 
and  settled  at  Sandwich,  Mass., 
in  the  year  1632.  The  family  is  one  of 
the  oldest  and  largest  which  trace  their 
lineage  to  early  Colonial  settlements,  and 
have  always  preserved  an  elaborate  gene- 
alogical record  which  from  time  to  time 
has  been  rewritten  and  enlarged  upon. 
The  family  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  no  less  than  thir- 
ty-two of  its  members  bearing  the  name 
of  Wing  serving  actively  in  the  field  in 
Massachusetts  regiments  alone,  while  two 
members  of  the  family  served  from  Con- 
necticut, two  from  New  York  and  others 


492 


COMMEMORATIVE    niOGRAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


from  Rhode  Island.  The  original  farm, 
located  at  Sandwich  by  old  John  Wing 
two  hundred  and  sixtj-throe  years  ago, 
is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family,  and 
it  is  said  that  over  five  hundred  <if  his 
descendants  are  buried  upon  it. 

The  Wing  family  has  furnished  sev- 
eral distinguished  names  to  the  history  of 
the  country,  among  whom  may  be  men- 
tioned Asa  S.  Wing,  the  friend  and  co- 
laborer  of  Gerret  Smith  in  the  cause  of 
freeing  the  slaves,  and  to  whose  memory 
the  friends  of  Freedom  erected  a  momi- 
ment  at  Mexico,  N.  Y.,  in  1854,  the  ded- 
ication address  being  delivered  by  Fred- 
erick Douglas.  Asa  S.  Wing  was  the 
uncle  of  the  late  I^ufus  I..  Wing,  of  Ke- 
waunee county.  Wis.  .\nother  distin- 
guished member  of  the  family  was  K. 
Rumsey  Wing,  who  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  years  was  made  a  foreign  minister  of 
the  United  States  to  Ecuador,  where  he 
died,  and  his  remains  were  brought  back 
to  his  native  land  by  a  government  war 
vessel  sent  there  for  that  purpose. 

The  ^^'ings  of  Kewaunee  county  are 
descended  directh'  from  one  Josejih  W  ing, 
who  settled  in  l3artmonth,  Mass.,  about 
the  year  1  720.  Among  his  children  was  one 
son  named  Jabez,  who  also  lived  at  Dart- 
mouth (now  I'^air  Haven),  and  reared  a 
large  family  of  children.  He  had  one  son 
named  John,  who  married  Margaret 
Buffam,  and  removed  from  Massachusetts 
to  White  Creek,  Washington  Co..  N.  Y., 
about  the  the  year  1770.  jnlin  \\'ing  had 
a  large  family  of  children,  among  whom 
was  William,  who  married  Esther  Follett, 
and  also  lived  at  White  Creek.  He  had 
one  son  named  James,  who  married  Mary 
Sweet,  and  about  1825  removed  to  Mar- 
shall, Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  later,  in  1848, 
to  Brcthertown,  Calumet  Co.,  Wis.,  thus 
founding  the  Wisconsin  branch  of  the 
family.  He  was  the  father  of  the  late 
Ixufus  L.  Wing,  of  Kewaunee,  and  the 
grandfather  of  Judge  Geo.  W.  \\'ing, 
now  residing  at  Kewaunee. 

Ri'Fis  I^.  Wing.  Perhaps  no  man 
was  more  widely  known    throughout    the 


peninsular  counties  from  the  year  of  i860 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death  than  the  late 
Rufus  L.  Wing,  of  Kewaunee.  Mr.  Wing 
played  a  ver\'  prominent  part  in  every 
movement  for  the  betterment  of  the  sec- 
tion in  which  he  lived,  and  his  memory  is 
still  held  in  great  esteem  by  the  people  of 
the  two  counties  of  Door  and  Kewaunee. 
He  came  of  hardy,  sterling  Quaker  an- 
cestry, not  given  much  to  show,  liut  im- 
bued with  the  hard  connnon  sense  of  New 
England  logic 

I'iufus  E.  \\'ing  was  born  at  Marshall, 
Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  August  20,  1832. 
His  early  life  was  spent  upon  a  farm,  and 
his  education  was  such  only  as  was  pro- 
vided by  the  public  schools  of  the  day. 
Ill  1848  he  came  with  his  parents  to  W'is- 
consin  and  located  at  Chilton,  Calumet 
county,  where  he  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade,  which  he  followed  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  September,  1855,  he  was  mar- 
ried at  Gravesville,  Wis.,  to  Miss  Mary 
E.,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Hon.  Geo.  W. 
Elliott,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Fond  du  Lac  county. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Wing  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  his  cousin, 
the  late  Gen.  H.  J.  Sweet,  at  Chilton, 
was  admitted  to  the  practice  of  law  at 
Chilton,  December  21,  i860,  and  imme- 
diately thereafter  took  up  his  residence  at 
Ahnapee,  where  he  had  been  preceded  by 
his  father-in-law,  Elliott,  in  1857.  Be- 
fore his  removal  to  Kewaunee  county  he 
had  served  a  term  as  ileputy  county 
clerk  of  Calumet  county.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1862  he  first  enlisted  in  the  Twen- 
ty-first Wis.  \'.  I.,  and  raised  part  of  a 
company  at  Ahnapee  for  that  regiment; 
but  before  the  regiment  went  to  the  front 
he  received  a  commission  to  raise  a  com- 
pany for  a  lake-shore  regiment  which  was 
recruiting  at  Sheboygan  under  Judge 
David  Taylor.  He  was  very^  active  in 
recruiting  soldiers  up  to  the  sunnner  of 
1 864,  when  he  finall\-  went  to  the  front 
as  first  sergeant  of  Company  I,  Forty- 
third  Wis.  \ .  I.  He  was  honorably  dis- 
charged with  his  regiment   in   July,   1865, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


493 


and  returned  to  his  home  in  Ahnapee, 
where  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. On  January  i,  i  S69,  he  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  county  clerk  of  Kewaunee 
county,  and  in  March  following  removed 
with  his  family  to  Kewaunee,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  up  to  his  death,  which 
occurred  March  i,  1889.  During  the 
period  of  his  life  at  Kewaunee  he  held 
many  offices  of  public  trust,  having  been 
county  clerk,  district  attorney  and  the 
first  president  of  the  vilhige  of  Kewaunee, 
when  it  was  organized.  He  was  a  prom- 
inent member  of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  I.  O. 
O.  F. ,  G.  A.  I\.  and  Temple  of  Honor, 
and  held  the  position  of  senior  vice-com- 
mander of  the  department  of  \\'isconsin 
up  to  within  five  days  of  his  decease.  In 
politics,  he  was  a  Republican,  a  vigorous 
advocate  of  the  cause  of  Temperance,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1883  was  nominated  for 
member  of  Congress  by  the  Prohibition- 
ists of  the  District.  He  died  at  Kewau- 
nee, March  i,  1889,  after  a  brief  illness 
of  three  days.  The  funeral  services  held 
over  his  remains  brought  together  from 
all  parts  of  the  peninsula  one  of  the 
largest  assemblages  of  people  ever  con- 
vened in  these  parts.  No  more  striking 
testimony  to  his  zeal,  honesty  of  purpose, 
and  worth  as  a  man  could  be  offered 
than  the  fact  that  on  the  day  of  his 
funeral,  although  he  was  known  far  and 
wide  as  an  advocate  of  the  cause  of  Tem- 
perance, every  saloon  in  the  city  of  Ke- 
waunee was  closed  in  honor  of  his  mem- 
ory. A  special  memorial  service  was 
held  by  the  bar  of  the  county  in  open 
court.  The  camp  of  Sons  of  \'eterans 
at  Kewaunee  is  named  the  I^.  L. 
Wing  Camp,  a  tribute  to  his  record  as  a 
patriotic  and  worthy  soldier  of  the  Re- 
public. His  widow  and  only  son.  Judge 
George  W.  Wing,  are  still  living  at  Ke- 
waunee. 

Georgk  W.  Wing  was  born  September 
I,  1856,  in  Chilton,  Calumet  Co.,  Wis., 
and  was  consequently  about  four  years 
old  when  the  family  moved  to  Ahnapee, 
at  the  common  schools  of  which  place  he 


received  a  liberal  education,  afterward,  in 
1 87 1,  commencing  a  full  literary  and 
classical  course  at  Lawrence  University, 
Appleton.  In  1873  he  returned  to 
Ahnapee,  and,  although  but  a  youth  of 
sixteen  summers,  he,  in  partnership,  with 
Charles  W.  Borgman,  founded  the  A/ina- 
/<iY  Riron/.  the  first  paper  published  in 
that  village,  which  they  conducted  about 
two  years  and  then  sold  to  W.  H.  Sey- 
mour. Mr.  ^^'ing  at  this  time  entered  his 
father's  law  office,  where  he  diligently  ap- 
plied all  his  energies  to  the  study  of 
"  Blackstone,"  "Coke  upon  Lyttleton,"- 
and  other  eciually  learned  legal  author- 
ities, and  was  duly  admitted  to  the  bar 
October  27,  1877,  a  few  weeks  after  at- 
taining his  majority.  He  at  once  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  chosen  pro- 
fession in  partnershij)  with  his  father  at 
Kewaunee,  and  has  pro\en  himself  in  all 
things  a  worthy  successor  to  a  worthy 
father.  His  clientele  is  now  one  of  the 
largest  in  Kewaunee  county,  and  repre- 
sents the  best  class  in  the  community. 
Fr)r  three  years,  from  July  i,  1881,  to 
July  I,  1884,  he  was  cashier  of  the  Ke- 
waunee Exchange  Bank,  at  the  same  time 
keeping  up  his  law  practice. 

On  June  20,  1883,  Mr.  Wing  was 
married  at  Kewaunee,  to  Miss  Belle  E. 
Dikeman,  daughter  of  C.  W.  Dikeman,  of 
West  Kewaunee,  now  of  Racine,  Wis., 
and  two  children  ha\e  come  to  them: 
George  D.,  born  January  8,  1887,  and 
GrSce  W.,  born  February  22.  1892.  In 
his  political  associations  Mr.  Wing  has 
always  been  a  stanch  Republican,  and  ii> 
1888  he  served  as  a  delegate  to  the 
National  Republican  Convention,  held  at 
Chicago.  On  December  \.[,  1885.  he 
was  appointed  county  judge,  an  incumb- 
ency he  filled  with  acknowledged  ability 
till  January  i,  1890.  From  June.  1891, 
till  |une,  1893.  he  served  as  colonel  of 
the  Division  of  ^^'isconsin  Sons  of  Vet- 
erans, and  in  all  public  enterprises  he  has 
shown  a  spirit  of  progressiveness  char- 
acteristic of  himself  and  worthy  of  the 
honored  name  he  bears. 


494 


COJ/MEMOBATirf;   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  This  gen- 
tleman is  a  well-known  and  promi- 
nent farmer  citizen  of  Jacksonport 
township,  Door  county,  and  none 
enjo3s to  a  greater  extent  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  the  community  at  large 
than  he,  in  whom  is  found  one  of  the 
best  examples  of  safe  conservative  enter- 
prise and  indomitable  perseverance. 

He  is  a  native  of  County  Longford, 
Ireland,  born  in  1841,  a  son  of  Michael 
and  Mary  Ann  Reynolds,  respectable 
farming  people  of  that  county,  who  were 
the  parents  of  nine  children — seven  sons 
and  two  daughters.  The  mother  died 
in  Ireland  in  1855,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1865,  six  weeks  after  our  subject's  immi- 
gration, the  father  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, settling  on  a  farm  in  Dane  county, 
where  he  died  in  1880.  After  leaving 
school  Thomas  Reynolds  worked  on  his 
father's  farm  till  he  was  twenty-four 
years  old,  at  which  time  (fall  of  1865)  he 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  sailing 
from  Queenstown,  Ireland,  in  company 
with  his  sister  Catherine,  on  the  steam- 
ship "  Scotland  "  (which  went  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ocean  two  months  later),  and 
after  a  voyage  of  ten  days  and  four  hours 
they  landed  at  New  York.  From  there, 
after  a  six-weeks'  visit  among  friends  and 
relatives  in  that  city  and  Brooklyn,  they 
proceeded  to  their  destination,  Wisconsin, 
and,  locating  in  Dane  county,  Thomas 
worked  on  a  rented  farm,  whither  his 
father  came  as  already  recorded.  Af  the 
end  of  a  year,  however,  our  subject 
moved  to  Jacksonport  township,  Door 
county,  where  his  brother  John  was  es- 
tablished in  an  extensive  lumber  and 
shipping  business,  in  partnership  with  a 
Mr.  Harris,  the  style  of  the  firm  being 
Reynolds  &  Harris  Co.  With  them  he 
worked  about  twelve  months,  after  which, 
for  four  or  five  years,  he  was  engaged  in 
getting  out  cedar  and  other  lumber,  for 
railroad,  telegraph  and  other  purposes. 
In  the  meanwhile,  about  two  years  after 
commencing  this  industrj',  he  purchased 
the    estate    of    Harris,  Reynolds   &  Co., 


who  had  failed,  and  continued  the  busi- 
ness, which  included  mercantile,  dock 
and  lumber  traffic,  until  1873,  when  the 
financial  panic  of  that  year,  and  the  ac- 
companying crash,  overwhelmed  him.  At 
the  time  of  his  failure  he  was  head  of  the 
firm  of  Reynolds  Bros.,  composed  of 
Thomas,  Henry  and  Michael,  and  half 
owner  of  the  business.  The  creditors  he 
satisfied  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  and  in 
an  honorable  manner.  Having  now  to 
commence  business  life  again,  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
Section  27,  from  which  the  timber  had 
been  cut,  but  no  improvements  made,  and 
this  he  set  to  work  to  clear  and  cultivate, 
struggling  along  with  his  customary 
energy  and  perseverance  until  he  once 
more  "got  on  top."  All  the  improve- 
ments (and  it  will  be  readily  seen  they 
were  not  a  few)  were  made  by  him,  and 
the  transformation  of  a  wild  and  to  many 
people  discouraging  scene  into  a  fertile 
farm  equipped  with  all  modern  conven- 
iences, buildings,  etc.,  is  due  to  his  indi- 
vidual care,  industry  and  sound  judg- 
ment. To  the  original  eighty  acres  he 
has  from  time  to  time  added  until  now  he 
is  the  owner  of  180  acres,  half  of  which 
has  been  cleared  and  improved  mainly 
under  his  personal  supervision,  and  it  will 
be  seen  that  his  natural  ability  and  deter- 
mination have  fully  asserted  themselves. 
In  April,  1872,  Mr.  Reynolds  was 
married  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  to  Miss  Jen- 
nie Foley,  daughter  of  John  Foley,  who 
came  frorn  Ireland  to  this  country  in  an 
early  day,  and  to  this  union  have  been 
born  children  as  follows:  Anna,  Mabel, 
John  and  Thomas,  all  school  teachers, 
Anna  in  Oshkosh  schools,  and  Mabel  in 
Sturgeon  Bay  high  school;  Paul,  attend- 
ing school,  and  Edith,  Sydney,  Lucille, 
Jennie  and  Helen,  all  at  home.  The  en- 
tire family  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church;  in  politics  Mr.  Reynolds  is  a 
stanch  Republican,  and  although  a  strictly 
anti-office-seeker  was  without  his  knowl- 
edge elected  to  the  position  of  chairman 
of    Jacksonport    township,    in   which    he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


495 


served  two  years  with  credit  to  himself 
and  satisfaction  of  his  constituents.  His 
family  are  remarkable  for  their  brightness 
and  intelligence,  and  are  all  enjoying  the 
benefits  of  a  first-class  education. 


THOMAS  H.  SMITH,  who  has  been 
a    resident    of    Wisconsin    some 
thirty  years,  and  whose  career  has 
been  a  most  honorable  one,   well 
worthy  of  emulation,   is  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, born  in  the  city  of  Norwich,  June 
21,   1842. 

His  grandfather,  Thomas  Smith,  was 
a  native  of  England,  whence,  when  a 
young  man,  he  came  to  this  country, 
making  a  settlement  in  Massachusetts, 
where  he  followed  his  trade,  that  of  dyer, 
for  many  years,  finally  coming  to  New 
York  State,  where  he  died.  He  was 
married  in  Massachusetts  to  Miss  Mary 
Bidwell,  a  native  of  same,  and  by  her  had 
three  sons — John,  Samuel  and  Thomas — 
and  one  daughter — Marietta — the  latter 
of  whom  died  young.  The  sons  all  learned 
their  father's  trade,  but  during  the  gold 
fever  of  1849  Samuel  and  Thomas  set 
out  for  the  new  El  Dorado,  in  search  of 
fortunes. 

John  Smith,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  181 7,  at  Utica,  N.  Y. ,  where 
he  was  reared  and  educated.  Moving  to 
Connecticut  he  continued  at  his  trade 
there  up  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1852.  His  wife,  Mary  B.  (Whitney), 
bore  him  three  children,  as  follows: 
Thomas  H.,  Caroline  (deceased  at  the 
age  of  three  years)  and  Marietta  (wife  of 
George  B.  Merrick,  of  Madison,  Wis.). 
The  mother  of  these  died  in  1856.      She 

was  a  daughter  of  George  and  ■ ■ 

(Brooks)  Whitney,  well-to-do  farming 
people,  who  had  three  children:  Nathan, 
Henry  and  Mary  B.  John  W.  Brooks  (son 
of  Henr}'),  who  was  a  civil  engineer,  built 
the  first  State  lock  on  the  Sault  Ste. 
Marie  canal,  and  took  a  grant  of  land  in 
payment  therefor.     Another  son,    John, 


was  superintendent  of  the  Chantucket 
Company,  manufacturers  of  cloth,  which 
is  still  in  existence. 

Thomas  H.  Smith,  whose  name  ap- 
pears at  the  opening  of  this  sketch,  was 
ten  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and 
fourteen  when  his  mother  was  called  from 
earth,  so  that  at  the  very  threshold  of  life 
he  was  left  an  orphan.  At  Norwich, 
Conn.,  he  received  the  advantages  of  a 
common-school  education,  no  more,  for 
the  lad  had  now  to  face  the  world  with 
no  father's  affection  and  no  mother's  love 
to  cheer  his  heart.  On  reaching  his 
seventeenth  year  he  was  bound  out  to  the 
trade  of  machinist  at  Norwich,  at  which 
he  continued  until  1864,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  time  he  served  in  the  Federal 
army,  which  was  in  1861,  he  having  en- 
listed, in  response  to  the  first  call  for 
troops,  in  the  Second  Connecticut  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  ninety-days'  service;  he 
participated  in  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
which  was  fought  July  21,  1861.  At  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment  he 
was  honorably  discharged  and  returned 
home.  In  1864  he  turned  his  face  toward 
the  setting  sun,  and  coming  to  Wisconsin 
made  his  first  halt  in  Green  Bay,  where, 
in  partnership  with  John  Leathern,  he 
embarked  in  the  lumber  business,  in  a 
limited  way  at  the  start,  their  first  saw- 
mill, which  was  erected  in  Brown  county, 
being  but  a  comparatively  small  affair. 
But  the  days  of  small  things  are  not  to  be 
despised,  and  from  this  modest  beginning 
the  members  of  the  firm  expanded  their 
business  till  they  owned  and  still  own 
large  mills  in  various  places,  besides  vast 
pine  lands  in  Wisconsin  and  Michigan, 
and  a  thirty-thousand-acre  tract  in  Louis- 
iana. In  1873,  to  their  already  fast- 
growing  interests,  they  added  water- 
transportation,  at  first  building  a  steam 
tug,  and  from  time  to  time  turning  out 
new  vessels  and  increasing  their  traffic 
until  now  they  have  a  fleet  of  twelve 
boats,  consisting  of  tugs  and  steam-barges, 
plying  between  Green  Bay,  Sturgeon  Bay 
and  Chicago,  and  one  wrecking  tug.      In 


496 


COMMEMOUATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL   liECORD. 


1890  the  firm  organized  a  wrecking  com- 
pany with  acapitalof  $100,000,  the  busi- 
ness being  known  as  the  Leathern  &  Smith 
Towing  (S:  Wrecking  Co.,  and  in  thespring 
of  1894  was  organized  the  Leathern  & 
Smith  Lumber  Co.,  their  interests  in  this 
connection  being  largely  in  pine  and  other 
lands,  as  already  spoken  of.  In  1886 
they  applied  for  and  received  a  charter 
from  the  United  States  Government  to 
construct  a  toll  bridge  across  the  bay  at 
Sturgeon  Bay.  In  1877  they  built  a  mill 
at  Sturgeon  Bay,  to  which  city  Mr.  Smith 
at  once  removed,  and  has  since  been  a 
prominent  resident  of  the  place. 

In  December,  1875,  Mr.  Smith  was 
married  to  Miss  Anna  Daley,  who  was 
born  at  Peterborough,  Ontario,  daughter 
of  John  and  Anna  Armstrong  Daley,  the 
former  a  native  of  Canada,  where  he  died, 
the  latter  of  the  North  of  Ireland,  coining 
to  Canada  when  eight  years  old.  They 
had  a  famil)'  of  five  children,  nainel}': 
Mary,  Margaret,  Ellen,  Anna  and  Denis. 
The  mother  is  now  living  with  her  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Smith.  To  our  subject  and  wife 
were  born  seven  children,  named,  re- 
spectively: Sidney  T. ,  Leathern  D., 
Maud,  Winnifred,  Marietta,  Theresa  and 
Leoline,  the  last  mentioned  dying  when 
eight  years  old.  In  his  political  jirefer- 
ences  Mr.  Smith  is  a  Republican,  and  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  city  council  of 
Sturgeon  Bay.  At  his  regular  trade,  that 
of  machinist,  he  is  an  expert,  and  has 
found  his  e.xperience  in  this  respect  of 
great  assistance  to  him  in  his  regular  bus- 
iness. He  has  also  always  been  largely 
interested  in  mercantile  pursuits,  having 
a  store  at  each  of  his  mills,  which  are  un- 
der his  personal  superintendence.  Mr. 
Smith  is  known  as  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful men  of  the  peninsula.  His  excel- 
lent and  far-seeing  judgment,  added  to 
many  years  of  practical  experience  in  con- 
nection with  extensive  financial  enter- 
prises, has  made  him  one  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  the  northern  part 
of  Wisconsin.  Being  the  architect  of  his 
own  success,  having  little  or  no  assistance 


at  the  beginning,  his  career  may  well  be 
emulated  by  the  young  men  of  the  pres- 
ent generation. 


JUDGE  FRANK  KWAPIL,  of  the 
county  court,  Kewaunee,  is  a  native 
of  Bohemia,  born  August  15,  1839, 
in  the  village  of  Zales,  son  of  Joseph 
Kwapil  and  Mary  (Fikejs),  his  wife.  Of 
the  four  children  in  this  family  the  Judge 
is  the  only  son  and  the  youngest  child; 
one  died  in  infancy;  Mrs.  \'.  Mashek,  of 
Kewaunee,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Lenoch,  of 
Marion,  Iowa,  are  his  sisters. 

Joseph  Kwapil,  who  was  a  miller  by 
trade,  came  to  Ameiica  with  his  family  in 
1855,  and  landing  at  Quebec,  Canada, 
from  there  traveled  by  water  to  Montreal, 
thence  by  rail  to  Windsor,  Ontario,  and 
from  there  b\-  the  steamer  "  Lady  Elgin" 
to  Milwaukee,  Wis.  From  that  point 
they  drove  to  Racine,  and  after  remain- 
ing there  one  year  moved  to  Darien, 
Walworth  Co.,  Wis.,  where  the  father 
died  in  1856;  the  mother  was  called  from 
earth  in  1887,  while  on  a  visit  to  her 
daughter  in  Iowa.  On  the  death  of  the 
father  the  responsibilities  of  the  family 
fell  upon  F'rank,  our  subject,  at  that 
time  only  a  seventeen-year-old  lad,  he 
being  the  only  son,  and  the  family  re- 
turned to  Racine.  Frank  here  con- 
tracted to  serve  an  apprenticeship  of 
three  years  with  Huggins  &  W'ashburn  at 
the  stone  cutter's  trade;  but  at  the  close 
of  two  3'ears  and  four  months  was  seized 
with  a  severe  illness  that  compelled  him 
to  relinquish  the  business.  He  then 
learned  the  cigar  maker's  trade,  and  es- 
tablished a  factor}-  of  his  own  in  Racine, 
which  he  successfully  managed  until  1 862, 
in  which  year  he  sold  out  and  enlisted  in 
Company  D,  Twenty-sixth  Wis.  V.  I., 
ser\ing  as  private  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Chancellorsville,  Va.,  May  3,  1863,  was 
sent  to  the. hospital  at  Washington,  I).  C, 
and  then,  being  unable  to  endure  field 
service,  was  transferred   to  Company    A, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


497 


Eighteenth  Regiment  \'eteran  Reserve 
Corps,  receiving  his  discharge  in  1865. 
He  then  came  to  Kewaunee  county,  and 
engaged  in  business  at  Alaska  under  the 
firm  name  of  Hitchcock,  Mashek  &  Kwapil, 
dealers  in  general  merchandise,  wood, 
railroad  ties,  tan  bark,  etc.,  so  continu- 
ing until  1876,  when  the  firm  dissolved 
and  Mr.  Kwapil  moved  to  Ahnapee,  and 
here  established  his  present  general  store. 

In  1892,  after  the  death  of  Judge  P. 
J.  Rooney,  Mr.  Kwapil  was  appointed  by 
Gov.  Peck  to  fill  the  unexpired  term,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1893  was  re-elected  by 
the  people  to  the  same  office  for  the  full 
term  of  four  years.  He  had  always  been 
active  as  a  Republican  until  the  nomina- 
tion of  Greeley,  when  he  became  a  Dem- 
ocrat, and  while  in  Alaska  continually 
held  some  office,  such  as  postmaster, 
chairman  of  his  town,  and  other  minor 
offices;  and  at  Ahnapee  he  was  mayor  and 
court  commissioner,  and  still  holds  his 
appointment  papers  to  the  last  office.  On 
July  7,  1868,  the  Judge  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Fannie  Jenista,  daugh- 
ter of  George  Jenista,  who  was  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Racine  county,  hav- 
ing taken  up  his  abode  there  when  Mrs. 
Kwapil  was  an  infant.  To  this  congenial 
union  have  been  born  five  children — four 
sons  and  one  daughter — named  respect- 
ively: Frank,  Milek,  Vojta,  Joseph  and 
Bozena.  Of  these,  Frank  and  Milek 
have  charge  of  the  business  at  Ahnapee, 
Vojta  is  a  druggist,  while  Joseph  is  still 
at  school.  In  his  fraternal  affiliations 
the  Judge  is  a  Mason  of  high  standing, 
being  Master  of  Key  Lodge  No.  1 74, 
and  a  member  of  Warren  Chapter  No. 
8,  Palestine  Commandery  No.  20,  and 
Wisconsin  Consistory,  thirty-second  de- 
gree. 

That  Judge  Kwapil  is  fully  qualified 
for  the  exalted  office  which  he  holds  may 
be  deduced  from  the  fact  that  when  he 
graduated  in  his  earl}'  days  from  the  Bo- 
hemian high  school  he  stood  second  in  a 
class  that  numbered  over  four  hundred, 
and  from  the  fact,  also,  that  besides  be- 


ing a  classical  scholar  he  speaks  fluently 
three  of  the  living  languages — German, 
Bohemian  and  English.  His  official  con- 
duct has  never  been  impugned,  and  his 
mercantile  career  has  never  been  tar- 
nished with  even  the  breath  of  suspicion. 
His  social  life  has  always  been  chaste, 
and  his  standing  before  his  fellow  men  is 
an  evidence  that  he  possesses  all  those 
sterling  qualities  that  constitute  the  born 
leader. 


JUDGE  FITZ  JAMES  HAMILTON. 
As  an  able  jurist,  clear-headed  law- 
yer, one  possessed  of  a  cool,  calm, 
judicial  mind,  to  which  is  added 
sterling  patriotism,  the  gentleman,  whose 
name  here  appears,  is  entitled  to  more 
than  a  passing  notice  within  the  pages 
of  this  volume. 

He  is  a  native  of  Genesee  county,  N. 
Y. ,  born  March  1 1,  1842,  in  the  town  of 
Oakfield,  at  the  common  schools  of  which 
place,  and  at  the  Gary  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute, also  in  Oakfield,  he  was  educated 
up  to  the  time  he  was  nineteen  years  old, 
when  he  commenced  school  teaching,  a 
vocation  he  followed  some  sixteen  years 
in  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Illinois,  finally  in 
Wisconsin.  From  1871  to  1878  he  was 
principal  of  the  schools  at  Sturgeon  Bay, 
having  come  to  the  then  village  in  May, 
1871.  While  teaching  he  formed  the 
resolution  of  studying  for  the  legal  pro- 
fession, and  during  his  spare  time  he  ap- 
plied himself  so  sedulously  that  in  Febru- 
ary, 1876,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
In  1879  he  was  appointed  county  judge  of 
Door  county  by  the  governor  of  the  State, 
William  E.  Smith,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  seven  years.  In  the  spring  of 
1 88 1  he  was  elected  to  this  office,  receiv- 
ing the  largest  majority  of  votes  of  any 
competitor.  A  Republican  in  politics,  he 
has  from  time  to  time  been  elected  to 
various  civic  offices  of  trust  and  honor, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  those  of 
president  of  Sturgeon  Bay  while  it  was 
yet  a  village;  city  attorney  and  city  clerk, 


498 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


several  times,  and  is  now  serving  in  both 
offices;  president  of  the  school  board,  as 
well  as  clerk  of  the  same.  In  Free- 
masonry he  has  taken  a  very  active  part, 
and  it  was  he  with  others  who  organized 
Henry  S.  Baird  Lodge  No.  211,  Sturgeon 
Ba}',  becoming  its  first  and  present  master; 
is  a  member  of  Warren  Chapter  and 
Palestine  Commandery,  at  Green  Bay. 
He  is  also  affiliated  with  the  I.  O.  O.  F., 
Peninsula  Lodge,  Sturgeon  Bay.  In  1869 
Judge  Hamilton  was  married  at  Sharon, 
Walworth  Co.,  Wis.,  to  Miss  Ellen  A. 
Raymond,  a  native  of  that  county,  born  in 
Spring  Prairie  township  in  1843,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Isaac  and  Aurelia  Raymond,  Ohio- 
ans  by  birth,  who  came  to  Walworth 
county,  Wis.,  in  an  early  day.  Five 
children  were  born  to  this  union,  to  wit: 
One  that  died  in  infancy;  Ami  Leroy,  de- 
ceased when  si.\  months  old;  and  Flor- 
ence, when  four  years  old;  and  Carrie 
Belle  and  Eva  Maud,  living. 

Joseph  Hamilton,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born,  in  1796,  in  Weathersfield, 
Vt.,  a  son  of  Thomas  Hamilton,  who, 
in  company  with  two  brothers,  came  from 
their  native  country,  the  North  of  Ire- 
land, to  America,  where  Thomas  fought  all 
through  the  Revolutionary  war.  Joseph, 
father  of  the  Judge,  was  by  trade  a  mill- 
wright, and  during  the  war  of  18 12  was  a 
soldier  from  Vermont.  In  his  native  town 
he  married  Miss  Miranda  Grout,  born  in 
the  same  town  in  1797,  daughter  of  Eiihu 
and  Judith  (Spafford)  Grout,  the  former 
of  whom  was  one  of  the  first  three  set- 
tlers of  Vermont.  Judith  Spafford  was  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  Spafford,  Sr. ,  and 
they  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  one 
John  Spafford,  who  came  to  America 
from  England  in  1638,  and  died  in  1678. 
The  Grouts  and  Spaffords  were  very 
prominent  families  in  the  settlement  of 
Vermont,  whence  in  later  years  they 
migrated  to  Massachusetts.  To  Joseph 
and  Miranda  (Grout)  Hamilton  were  born 
twelve  children,  namely:  Alonzo,  Lorinda, 
Adelaide,  Maria,  Caroline.  George,  Joseph 
N.,    Cyren    S.,    Fitz    James,    and    three 


that  died  in  infancy.  Of  these,  George 
and  Joseph  N.  served  in  the  Union  army 
during  the  Civil  war.  The  father  of  this 
family  moved  from  Vermont  to  New  York 
State  in  1836,  thence,  in  1848,  to  Wal- 
worth county,  Wisconsin,  but  in  1851  re- 
turned to  New  York,  from  there  moving 
to  Ohio,  and  thence  to  Allegan  county, 
Michigan,  where  he  died  in  1873,  as  also 
his  wife,  in  1874. 


SAMUEL  PERRY,  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  and  influential  citizens 
of  Kewaunee  county,  and  for  the 
past  forty  years  a  resident  of  the 
thriving  city  of  Ahnapee,  is  a  native  of 
Ireland,  born  April  12,  1835,  at  Rilbuy 
Abbey,  County  Tipperary,  where  for  many 
generations,  as  far  back  as  can  be  traced, 
the  family  have  resided. 

The  Perrys  belonged  to  the  better 
class  of  the  Irish  gentry,  and  the  old 
Perry  estate  is  yet  in  the  possession  of 
the  family,  two  brothers  and  one  sister 
of  our  subject  yet  residing  on  the  prop- 
erty. For  generations  the  family  have 
borne  a  spotless  reputation,  and  their 
honor  has  never  been  challenged,  their 
good  name  being  as  sacred  to  them  as 
their  lives.  They  held  many  high  posi- 
tions of  honor  and  trust  in  County  Tip- 
perary, which  they  invariably  filled  with 
credit  and  ability,  and  a  granduncle  of 
our  subject,  Samuel  Perry  of  Woodruff, 
was  high  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  al- 
though a  strict  man  in  his  official  duties 
was  beloved  by  rich  and  poor  alike — 
moreover  as  a  public  officer  he  gave  the 
utmost  satisfaction  to  both  the  local  au- 
thorities and  the  government-in-chief. 
Grandfather  Henr}^  Perry  was  an  estated 
man,  a  true  type  of  the  fine  old  Irish 
gentleman,  a  man  of  commanding  pres- 
ence, and  a  strict  Churchman  of  the 
Episcopal  denomination.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  eightj-five  years,  his  wife  when 
over  seventy  years  of  age.  They  had 
eight  children,  ail  of  whom  reached  ma- 


^-^^Z^.CX^'^     c/X 


y 


COMMEMOKATIVB   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


50  r 


turity,  of  whom,  two  sons — Richard  and 
Thomas — and  one  daughter — Mrs.  Mary 
Thompson — crossed  the  Atlantic  to  Can- 
ada. 

John  Perry,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
a  cavalry  officer  in  the  British  service,  a 
splendid  looking  cavalryman,  six  feet 
in  height,  and  broad  in  proportion,  a 
scion  of  the  house  of  Perry  who  knew 
how  to  uphold  the  dignity  and  honor 
of  the  family  name.  He  passed  his 
declining  years  at  the  old  homestead  in 
Ireland,  dying  there  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years.  He  managed  the  estate 
with  ability,  and  had  hosts  of  friends  all 
over  the  country,  where  he  and  his  wife 
were  held  in  high  esteem  by  even  the 
Catholic  portion  of  the  community,  who 
as  a  rule  were  not  inclined  to  be  friendly 
toward  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
element.  John  Perry  married  Miss  Susan 
Mintion,  daughter  of  Col.  Edward  Min- 
tion,  of  the  British  army,  whose  estates, 
Foyle  and  Fanner,  were  only  a  short 
distance  from  the  Perry  homestead. 
Capt.  William  Mintion,  son  of  Col.  Min- 
tion, fought  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo  in 
the  Thirteenth  Light  Dragoons.  The 
Mintions,  like  the  Perrys,  were  an  old  and 
honorable  family,  peers  in  all  respects  of 
the  Perrys,  and  as  high-minded  and  jeal- 
ous of  their  good  name.  Mrs.  Susan 
(Mintion)  Perry  died  at  the  age  of  seven- 
ty-five years,  leaving  behind  the  impress 
of  a  woman  of  strong  convictions  and 
beauty  of  mind  and  character.  She  was 
well-born,  and  a  true  mother — at  once 
the  foundation  and  keystone  of  all  home 
joys.  Small  tribute,  unfortunately,  has 
been  bestowed  upon  beautiful  woman- 
hood and  noble  motherhood,  in  the  an- 
nals of  our  histories;  but  the  subject  of 
this  biography,  who  has  made  much  of 
his  opportunites,  desires  here  to  acknowl- 
edge to  the  world,  and  to  posterity,  his 
mother's  good  influence  on  his  whole  life. 
Mr.  and  J  Irs.  John  Perry  were  the 
parents  of  eight  sons  and  two  daughters, 
namely:  Edward,  Henry,  Thomas,  Will- 
iam,   John,    Samuel,    Mathew,    Richard, 


Anna    (wife  of  Henry  Sutliff),  and   Eliza- 
beth;   of  these,    John,    Samuel,    Mathew, 
and  Richard  came  to  the  United  States, 
settling,  about  the  year  1856,  inAhnapee, 
Wis.,    where   they  have   since  remained, 
Samuel     traveling    extensively    in     New 
York,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Kentucky  prior 
to  coming  here.      He  joined  his  brothers 
in  Kewaunee,  and  they  at  first  worked  to- 
gether   in  getting  out    all   kinds   of   ties, 
posts,  poles  and  logs,  cutting  them  chief- 
ly  on  the  banks   of  the   Ahnapee  river, 
and  floating    them    down    to    its    mouth 
formed  them  into  rafts;    later  they  were 
put  on  scows  and  sent  to  Milwaukee  and 
Chicago    markets.       The    brothers    were 
prosperous,  even  in  this  business,  which 
called  for  much  exposure  and  hard  work, 
and  each  of  them  deserves  credit  for  his 
courage  and  will  power  in  overcoming  all 
obstacles.      They  possessed  stout   hearts 
as  well  as  strong  limbs,  and  no  task  ap- 
peared too  difficult  for  them  to  overcome. 
Two  of  the  brothers — Mathew  and  Rich- 
ard— are  now  living  in   Forestville,  Door 
Co.,  Wisconsin. 

Samuel  Perry,  whose  name  intro- 
duces this  sketch,  received  a  good  public- 
school  education  in  his  native  country, 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  came  to 
America,  settling  in  Ahnapee.  Here, 
about  the  year  1861,  he  opened  a  small 
store  wherein  he  soon  built  up  a  good 
trade,  and  by  perseverance,  energy,  hon- 
esty and  good  business  ability  amassed  an 
honorable  fortune.  Eventually  he  be- 
came the  heaviest  buyer,  at  that  time,  in 
the  lumber  trade,  dressing  the  rough  ma- 
terial and  shipping  it  mostly  to  Chicago 
and  Milwaukee.  From  time  to  time  he 
expanded  his  business  in  Ahnapee  until, 
to-day,  he  is  proprietor  of  the  largest  store 
in  the  county.  He  is  also  heavily  inter- 
ested in  real-estate  business  in  and  around 
Ahnapee,  where,  like  few  other  business 
men,  he  is  acquainted  with  the  value  of 
every  foot  of  ground;  is  also  interested  in 
both  the  factories  located  at  Ahnapee — 
the  Veneer  &  Seating  Factory  and  the 
Furniture  Factory — in  each  of  which   he 


502 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


is  a  stockholder,  and  president  of  the  first 
named,  his  son  Joiin  heinj,'  president  of 
the  other.  He  has  erected  many  hand- 
some buildings  in  Ahnapee,  and  in  every 
\va\-  has  given  his  influence  for  the  good 
of  the  town  and  advancement  of  its  in- 
terests. 

In  January.  1 860,  Samuel  Perry  was 
married  in  Forestville,  Door  Co.,  Wis., 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  McCormick,  a  lady  of 
Scotch  descent,  but  whose  immediate  an- 
cestry moved  to  County  Antrim,  Ireland, 
and  lived  and  died  near  the  "Giants' 
Causeway  "  in  that  county.  Joseph  Mc- 
Cormick, her  great-great-grandfather,  died 
there,  and  about  the  year  \jCiO  his  widow 
came  to  .America  with  her  family  of  chil- 
dren, settling  in  Chester  county,  Penn. 
Their  children  were  Henry,  Alexander, 
David,  Margaret,  Hannah  and  John; 
of  these,  Henry  died  March  10,  181 2,  at 
Painted  Post,  N.  Y.,  the  father  of  John, 
Abraham,  David,  Joseph,  Euphias,  Henry, 
Jacob  M.,  and  Hannah;  of  these,  Joseph 
had  five  children,  to-wit:  Guy,  John  H., 
Marcus,  Elizabeth  M.  and  Hiram;  of 
whom,  Marcus  had  two  children:  Eliza- 
beth (Mrs.  Samuel  Perry)  and  Mary  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  former  of  these  two,  by  her 
marriage  with  Mr.  Perry,  became  the 
mother  of  two  chiUhen;  John  (who  will 
be  more  fully  spoken  of  presently)  and 
Alice  (Mrs.  Birdsel),  of  Ahnapee.  In 
1874  Mr.  Perry,  our  subject,  married,  for 
his  second  wife.  Miss  Bertha  Klatt,  who 
has  borne  him  six  children,  viz. :  Lydia, 
Clara,  Jennie,  Minnie,  William  and  Maude. 
Mr.  Perry  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  at  Ahnapee,  and  is  a 
liberal  contributor  toward  its  support, 
while  his  wife  is  prominently  identified 
with  the  Lutheran  Church.  In  political 
preferences  he  has  for  the  most  part  been 
a  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  in  both  State  and  local 
issues,  and  he  had  the  honor  of  being 
elected  the  first  mayor  of  Ahnapee,  a 
position  he  held  for  years,  finally  posi- 
tively declining  to  serve  longer.  A  most 
successful  man  in  every    way,  he  to-day 


occupies  a  position  of  influence  and 
honor  in  the  community,  which  in 
itself  stands  as  a  monument  to  his 
character  for  all  future  generations.  A 
"  chip  of  the  old  block,"  he  has  borne  out 
all  the  family  tradition,  and  fulfilled  all 
the  requirements  of  a  useful  career.  In- 
deed, the  world  is  the  better  for  such  men 
as  Samuel  Perry  having  lived, whose  blame- 
less life  and  business  enterprise  and  activ- 
ity leave  valuable  lessons,  not  onlj'  to  their 
posterity,  but  to  any  and  every  youth  of 
a  new  and  progressive  generation.  In 
physical  appearance  Mr.  Perry  has  in- 
herited his  father's  stature  and  manly 
bearing,  which  make  him  a  conspicuous 
personage  in  an}'  gathering.  He  is  pos- 
sessed of  a  clear  eye  indicative  of  a  keen 
intelligence,  and  a  clean  conscience.  His 
kindness  of  heart  is  well  known  to  every 
inhabitant  of  his  town  and  count}-,  and 
his  entire  life  reflects  credit  on  the  hon- 
orable name  of  Perry. 

John  Perry,  eldest  son  of  Samuel 
Perry  by  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth  (McCor- 
mick), was  born  April  12,  1863,  at  For- 
estville, Door  Co. ,  Wis. ,  and  received  his 
education  at  the  schools  of  Ahnapee.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  commenced 
a  mercantile  career  in  his  father's  store, 
of  which  he  has  become,  practically,  the 
general  manager,  as  well  as  the  book- 
keeper. He  has  also  been  identified  with 
various  business  movements,  and  during 
one  year  was  secretary  for  the  Ahnapee 
Furniture  Co.,  of  which  he  is  a  stock- 
holder, and  at  the  present  time  president, 
having  been  elected  to  that  position  in 
July.  1893. 

In  April,  1884,  he  was  married,  in 
Ahnapee,  to  Miss  Frances  Estella  Ross, 
a  native  of  that  town,  daughter  of  Charles 
Ross,  for  many  years  a  resident  of  Ahna- 
pee, where  he  held  many  offices  of  trust; 
he  is  now  sheriff  of  Santa  Barbara  county, 
Cal.,  his  present  home;  he  is  a  veteran  of 
the  Civil  war,  losing  an  arm  in  the  service 
of  his  country.  Three  children  were  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Perry,  named  re- 
spectively, Lottie  E. ,  John  and  Howard. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


503 


r""^REDERICK  POSER  (deceased) 
1-^  was  a  native  of  Saxony,  German}', 
I  born  April   2,    1824,  and  was  the 

son  of  a  blacksmith.  His  mother 
passed  away  when  he  was  quite  young, 
and  he  was  but  fourteen  years  old  when 
his  father  died.  He  was  the  youngest  in 
a  family  of  five  children — two  sons  and 
three  daughters — and  after  his  father's 
death  learned  the  blacksmith  trade, 
worked  in  different  European  cities,  came 
to  America  in  1853,  worked  at  his  trade 
in  Milwaukee  until  1855,  and  in  May ville, 
Dodge  Co.,  Wis.,  until  1856,  and  then 
settled  on  a  farm  two  miles  west  of  Ke- 
waunee village.  Here  he  left  his  family 
and  worked  for  Dean,  Taylor  &  Borlin, 
at  Carlton,  Kewaunee  county,  until  1865, 
in  which  year  he  sold  his  farm  and  moved 
to  Kewaunee  city,  where  he  carried  on 
business  for  himself  until  1882,  when  his 
eldest  son,  John,  joined  him  as  partner 
and  they  carried  on  the  business  together 
until  1890.  Then  Charles,  another  son, 
bought  out  the  father's  interest,  and  the 
two  brothers  continued  the  trade  under  the 
firm  name  of  Poser  Bros.,  adding  wagon- 
making  to  blacksmithing.  In  politics 
Frederick  Poser  was  a  Democrat,  and  has 
served  as  alderman  and  in  a  few  minor 
offices.  He  died  July  4,  1891,  lamented 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends,  who  recog- 
nized in  him  an  upright  man,  a  useful  citi- 
zen, an  affectionate  husband  and  indul- 
gent parent,  and  a  warm  friend. 

The  marriage  of  Frederick  Poser  took 
place  in  Milwaukee,  April  24,  1854,  to 
Miss  Mary  Anna  Dishmaker,  daughter  of 
Anton  Dishmaker,  a  native  of  Bavaria, 
where  Mary  Anna  was  born  in  1835,  the 
family  coming  to  America  in  1853.  To 
this  union  were  born  eight  children,  of 
whom  Maggie  died  at  the  age  of  nine 
years;  John,  Anna,  Fred,  Mary,  Augusta, 
and  Charles  are  married;  Edward,  who  is 
still  single,  is  a  physician  in  Columbus, 
Wis.,  and  has  an  extensive  practice.  Of 
the  above,  John  and  Charles  have  a  large 
blacksmith  and  wagon-making  shop  in 
Kewaunee,  and  have  been   alluded  to  as 


partners  of  their  late  father;  Fred  is  a 
member  of  the  firmof  Bach,  Keiwig  &  Poser 
Co.,  general  merchants  and  owners  of  one 
of  the  finest  stores  in  Kewaunee;  Anna  is 
married  to  Mr.  J.  Scheuerell,  of  Milwau- 
kee; Mary  is  the  wife  of  John  M.  Borg- 
man,  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Ke- 
waunee, and  Augusta  is  now  the  wife  of 
Prof.  R.  J.  O.  Hanlan,  principal  of  the 
Thirteenth  Ward  School  in  the  city  of 
Milwaukee. 


VOYTA  MASHEK,  who  for  many 
years  has  been  a  leader  among 
and  thinker  for  his  countrymen, 
is  a  native  (?f  Bohemia,  born  April 
18.  1839,  in  Pohorovic,  where  for  a  period 
of  over  two  centuries  the  family  have  re- 
sided, and  in  the  same  homestead  have 
religiously  kept  up  their  old-time  tradi- 
tions and  customs.  This  estate,  at  first 
known  as  the  "  Safranek  "  estate,  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  Mashek  family 
either  before  or  during  the  Thirty  Years 
War,  conditional  that  they  should  keep  it 
in  good  repair,  pay  the  taxes,  etc.,  and 
after  a  time,  by  the  edict  of  the  Emperor, 
the  entire  estate  reverted  to  the  Masheks 
as  absolute  owners  thereof. 

Martin  Mashek,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  also  born  in  the  old 
homestead  just  referred  to,  and  became  a 
man  of  considerable  ability  and  literary 
inclinations,  well-read,  especially  in  his- 
tory. During  his  lifetime  he  composed 
many  songs  commemorative  of  past  and 
passing  events,  chiefly  of  a  religious  and 
patriotic  character — songs  that  to  this  day 
are  sung  in  the  sunny  land  of  the  Czechs. 
He  was  twice  married:  first  time  to  Miss 
Mary  Shema,  who  died  leaving  one  child, 
Mary,  now  living  in  Bohemia.  Martin 
Mashek  subsequently  married  Miss  Anna 
Bisek,  daughter  of  a  well-to-do  farmer  in 
Bohemia,  and  she  became  the  mother  of 
children  as  follows:  Mathias  (now  owner 
of  the  old  homestead  at  Pohorovic),  John, 
Joseph,  Wentzel,  Voyta,  Anna  and  Katha- 
rine, all  of  whom  subsequently  came   to 


504 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


America  except  Mathias,  Anna  and  John. 
The  last  named  was  head  teacher  and 
director  of  the  high  school  for  girls  in 
Smichow,  a  suburb  of  the  city  of  Prague; 
was  also  editor  of  educational  papers  and 
periodicals,  wrote  articles  on  Slavic  litera- 
ture, and  edited  a  monthly  containing  ex- 
tracts in  both  the  Slavic  and  Bohemian 
dialects.  In  addition  to  all  this  he  edited 
a  weekly  paper  for  children,  and  pub- 
lished books  for  schools  in  both  the  Ger- 
man and  Bohemian  languages,  as  well  as 
drawing  books.  He  died  in  1886,  highly 
esteemed  and  honored  by  the  people,  who 
erected  to  his  memory,  as  a  champion  of 
education  and  enlightenment,  a  handsome 
monument.  His  son  Charles  and  Jarosh 
were  brought  to  America,  and  are  now 
living  in  Kewaunee,  Wis.,  the  former 
being  a  business  partner  with  our  subject, 
the  latter  a  machinist.  The  father  of  this 
family  died  in  1847,  aged  sixty  years. 
Two  of  his  brothers,  Albert  and  Joseph, 
participated  in  the  Napoleonic  wars,  serv- 
ing as  officers  in  one  of  the  allied  armies 
that  fought  against  the  "  Corsican  ogre," 
and  marched  into  Paris  with  the  victorious 
troops  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo  in 
1815. 

Voyta  Mashek,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  sketch,  secured  a  thorough  education 
in  the  city  of  Prague,  Bohemia,  in  high 
school  (Realshnle),  and  at  the  Polytechnic 
School.  When  attending  school  he  was 
employed  on  two  local  papers  of  that  city 
as  writer  and  instructor.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-one  he  secured  an  engagement  as 
private  secretary  to  Prince  Malinowsky,  a 
Russian  nobleman,  accompanying  him  on 
his  travels  throughout  Europe  and  else- 
where. In  August,  1 86 1,  they  visited  the 
United  States,  landing  in  Boston,  whence 
they  proceeded  to  New  York,  the  object 
of  the  Prince  being  to  view  the  first  im- 
migrant settlements,  and  by  personal  ob- 
servation ascertain  for  himself  what  the 
United  States  Government  did  for  the  im- 
migrant, how  colonies  were  organized, 
etc.,  in  order  to  report  to  the  Russian 
government,  who  were  desirous  of  estab- 


lishing similar  colonies  on  the  Amoor  and 
Ousuri  rivers  in  Northeastern  Asia.  An- 
other object  of  the  Prince's  mission  was 
also  to  inquire  into  the  practicability  or 
advisability  of  getting  a  couple  of  hundred 
Bohemian  settlers  in  this  country — who 
had  already  some  experience  in  coloniza- 
tion— to  move  to  the  Russian  territory  in 
Asia  and  form  a  colony  there.  Accord- 
ingly meetings  were  organized  among  the 
Bohemians  in  Wisconsin  (Racine),  Mis- 
souri and  Iowa,  the  result  being  that  two 
delegates  were  appointed  to  proceed  to 
Russian  Asia,  make  enquiries,  take  ob- 
servations, and  report  their  experiences. 
These  delegates  traveled  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, thence  to  and  through  Siberia  and 
eastern  China,  returning  to  the  United 
States  by  the  way  they  had  gone.  In  the 
meantime  the  officers  of  the  central  Rus- 
sian government  had  changed,  the  main 
supporter  (Prof.  Hilferding)  of  the  scheme 
died,  and  the  ^\■hole  project  collapsed, 
Prince  Malinowsky  returning  to  his  own 
country,  while  Mr.  Mashek  remained  in 
Wisconsin,  making  his  home  for  a  time  in 
Racine.  Here  he  established  a  Bohemian 
newspaper  called  the  "  Slavic," which  is 
still  in  existence,  for  the  past  two  \ears 
edited  and  published  by  Lieut. -Gov. 
Charles  Jonas,  an  old  schoolmate  of  Mr. 
Mashek,  who  for  a  time  was  a  resident  of 
London,  England,  where  he  was  a  corre- 
spondent for  Bohemian  newspapers,  and 
Mr.  Mashek  brought  him  from  there  to 
Racine  to  take  charge  of  the  "Slavic." 
Our  subject  then  came,  in  1863,  to  Ke- 
waunee, where  for  one  year  he  kept 
hotel,  after  which  he  purchased  his  pres- 
ent general  store,  which  includes  dry 
goods,  groceries,  drugs,  etc.,  and  in 
course  of  time  bought  and  rebuilt  vessels 
for  lake  navigation  and  trade,  also  pur- 
chased timber  lands  and  built  sawmills  in 
Door  count}',  going  extensively  into  the 
lumber  business  in  Mackinac  (Mich.) 
county,  in  all  his  undertakings  prospering 
and  progressing.  In  1886  he  established 
the  Bank  of  Kewaunee,  of  which  he  was 
president  till  January  4,  1894,  when  he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGBAPHICAL   RECORD. 


505 


resigned  preparatory  to  taking  a  six- 
months'  trip  to  California.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1892,  accompanied  by  his  son, 
George  M.,  he  traveled  considerably  in 
Europe  and  northern  Africa,  visiting  the 
Desert  of  Sahara,  Sicily,  southern  and 
northern  Italy,  etc.,  an  account  of  his 
travels  being  given  by  him  to  Bohemian 
papers  in  both  Europe  and  America. 

On  October  13,  1863,  Voyta  Mashek 
and  Miss  Anna  Kwapil,  sister  of  Frank 
Kvvapil,  county  judge  of  Kewaunee  county, 
were  united  in  marriage,  and  to  them 
were  born  two  sons  and  one  daughter: 
Voyta  F.  and  George  M.,  both  graduates 
of  Cornell  University,  and  Anna,  attend- 
ing a  select  school  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  pre- 
paring herself  to  enter  the  Madison  State 
University.  Politically  our  subject  has 
been  a  promment  Democrat  for  many 
years,  wielding  a  wide-felt  influence,  and 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  Con- 
vention that  nominated  General  Hancock 
for  President.  He  was  the  first  mayor  of 
Kewaunee,  to  which  office  he  was  elected 
without  opposition,  and  has  been  a  busy, 
useful  and  exemplary  citizen,  one  who, 
while  engaged  in  the  never-ceasing  round 
of  cares  that  are  incident  to  the  carrying 
on  of  immense  extensive  businesses,  has 
always  found  time  in  which  to  serve  his 
fellow  citizens  in  public  matters. 


GEORGE  PINNEY  (deceased), who 
was  owner  of  one  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive nursuries  in  this  part  of 
Wisconsin,  and  who  had  been  a 
resident  for  some  thirt}'  years  or  more  of 
Sturgeon  Bay  township.  Door  county, 
was  in  his  lifetime  a  potent  example  of 
what  patient  purpose,  resolute  working, 
earnest  endeavor  and,  withal,  natural 
ability  of  a  high  order  can  accomplish. 

He  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  August 
23,  1834,  in  Mantua,  Portage  county,  a 
son  of  Silas  and  Olive  (Jewett)  Pinney,  of 
the  same  nativity,  who  were  the  parents 
of  nine  children — five  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters— all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,   our 


subject  being  the  eldest.  When  he  was 
three  years  old  the  family  moved  to 
Geauga  county,  same  State,  where  his 
father  and  uncles  built  what  was  known 
as  "Pinney's  Mills."  Here  in  early  boy- 
hood he  entered  the  common  schools, 
where  he  evinced  wonderful  precocious- 
ness,  particularly  in  mathematics,  in 
which  science  he  manifested  a  mental 
capability  far  in  advance  of  his  years,  and 
which  remained  to  him  all  his  life,  for 
there  never  was  any  straight  mathemati- 
cal problem  he  could  not  solve.  He 
finished  his  education  at  Hiram  College, 
Portage  county,  Ohio,  and  was  a  class- 
mate of  James  A.  Garfield,  and  also  of 
Miss  Lucretia  Randolph,  afterward  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Garfield.  His  parents  being 
poor,  Mr.  Pinney  had  to  push  his  educa- 
tion alone,  and  pay  his  own  board,  his 
college  expenses  being  defrayed  chiefly 
out  of  what  money  he  received  for  work 
done  about  the  institution  and  elsewhere. 
At  the  same  time  his  bright  intellectuality 
and  pronounced  ability  found  him  many 
friends  who  willingly  assisted  him  in  his 
efforts  to  secure  a  good  education.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  compiled  a  calendar 
which  attracted  much  attention  at  the 
time,  and  which  was  published  by  a 
firm  in  Hudson,  Ohio,  who  gave  him 
the  sum  of  forty  dollars  by  way  of  com- 
pensation. At  that  same  age  he  com- 
menced teaching  school,  a  profession  he 
followed  in  the  winter  months  with  ad- 
mirable success  for  twenty-two  terms  in 
Indiana,  Lorain,  Medina  and  Portage 
counties,  Ohio.  After  his  marriage  in 
1857  he  resided  in  Spencer,  Medina  Co., 
Ohio,  till  i860,  and  being  a  good  stump 
speaker  took  an  active  part  in  Lincoln's 
campaign  in  that  county,  later  removing 
to  Mantua,  Portage  county.  Prior  to 
this  Mr.  Pinney,  when  a  boy,  having  de- 
veloped considerable  mechanical  ability, 
and  having  a  taste  for  mechanics,  was  put 
to  work  in  a  rake  factory,  though  he  did 
not  continue  there  long;  but  years  after- 
ward, while  living  in  Mantua,  he,  in 
company    with    a    brother   (after   trying 


5o6 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


fanning  operations  which  proved  unsuc- 
cessful), opened  out  a  machine  shop 
there,  which  in  18G3  they  closed  up,  and 
our  subject  came  in  that  year  to  Wiscon- 
sin, where, in  \\'rif^htstown.  Brown  coimty, 
his  father  was  located,  and  in  Cireen  Bay 
lived  an  uncle  fhalf-brother  of  his  mother  1. 
The  first  work  he  was  engaged  in  was  to 
act  as  foreman  in  a  shinj^de  mill  in  Hum- 
boldt township,  l^rown  count}',  for  Whit- 
ney Bros.,  which  required  some  skill,  and 
although  it  was  the  first  thing  of  the  kind 
he  had  put  his  hand  to,  he  proved  thor- 
oughly equal  to  the  task.  An  accident, 
however,  which  happened  to  him  nearly 
proving  fatal,  he  returned  to  Green  Bay, 
where  on  recovery  he  applied  himself  to 
some  work  of  a  light  nature,  and  after 
about  one  year  he  came  to  Door  county, 
the  circumstances  that  brought  him  here 
being  as  follows:  While  a  resident  of 
Ohio  his  natural  ability  and  elocutionary 
powers  attracted  no  little  attention,  es- 
pecially in  Methodist  circles,  in  which 
Church  he  was  all  but  licensed  to  preach, 
and  his  fame  in  this  respect  was  soon 
conveyed  to  Wisconsin,  by  means  of  a  let- 
ter from  the  minister  in  Ohio  to  the  one 
in  Green  Bay,  which  authorized  or  en- 
titled the  family  to  membership  of  the 
Church  there.  Accordingly  Mr.  Pinney 
was  prevailed  upon  to  come  to  Door 
county,  which  he  accordingly  did,  jour- 
neying overland  from  I)e  Pere,  where  at 
the  time  he  was  engaged  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  flax  factory.  This  was  in  the 
fall  of  1864,  and  after  looking  about  him 
for  a  suitable  spot  whereon  to  settle,  he 
selected  Sturgeon  Bay,  then  returned  to 
Green  Bay  for  his  family,  consisting  of 
his  wife  and  three  children,  whom  he 
brought  to  their  new  home  by  sailing  ves- 
sel, the  trip  being  made  by  way  of  the 
Fox  river  and  Green  Ba\'.  The  first  time 
the  vessel,  which  was  a  small  one,  started 
with  them,  a  violent  gale  drove  her  back 
to  Green  Bay,  but  the  second  effort  was 
more  successful.  In  Portage  county. 
Wis.,  with  some  little  means  he  had 
saved    prior   to    closing    up  his   machine 


shop  in  Mantua,  Ohio,  he  bought  a  |)iece 
of  land  he  never  as  nmch  as  cast  his  eyes 
on,  and  after  coming  to  Door  county  he 
traded  it  to  Dr.  Taylor,  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  for  a  quantity  of  fruit  trees  which 
were  shipped  to  him.  These  he  sold  to 
different  parties  in  Door  county,  Joseph 
Zettel,  the  extensive  fruit-grower  of  Se- 
vastopol township,  purchasing  his  first 
trees  from  this  lot  sent  to  Mr.  Pinney. 
They  were  the  first  trees  sold  in  the 
county,  and  the  greater  part  of  them 
died,  certain  varieties  thriving.  I'rom 
that  day  forth  he  bought  consign- 
ments of  trees  into  the  county,  and  as 
he  was  from  early  youth  a  cripple 
from  rheumatism,  and  not  able  to  per- 
form arduous  labor,  that  line  of  busi- 
ness well  suited  him.  For  three  years 
after  coming  to  Door  county  he  followed 
the  life  of  a  pioneer  preacher,  enduring 
all  the  hardships  and  sufferings  incident 
to  pioneer  life,  for  which  he  received  but 
small  compensation,  and  having  a  family 
to  support  he  was  reluctantly  compelled 
to  resign  and  confine  himself  exclusively 
to  horticulture.  In  1875  he  purchased  in 
Section  11,  Sturgeon  Bay  township.  160 
acres  of  wild  land,  which  he  intended  to 
clear  and  convert  into  a  nursery,  known 
far  and  wide  as  the  "  Evergreen  Nursery," 
and  of  this  there  were  at  the  time  of  his 
death  one  hundred  acres  under  cultiva- 
tion, half  being  devoted  to  his  nursery, 
where  he  chiefly  reared  evergreens.  Prior 
to  this  he  had  purchased  land  at  various 
times  on  speculation,  but  found  none 
suited  to  the  purpose.  He  did  a  large 
business,  some  seasons  having  sold  as 
high  as  six  million  trees,  employed  many 
hands,  himself  superintending  the  entire 
industry,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  con- 
cern can  be  more  full}'  appreciated  when 
it  is  considered  that  he  found  a  market 
for  his  seeds,  plants,  etc.,  in  everj-  part 
of  the  civilized  globe.  His  beautiful  dis- 
play at  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Chicago, 
1893,  attracted  great  attention  from  not 
only  horticulturists,  botanists  and  nur- 
serymen, but  also  from  the  public  at  large. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


507 


On  June  16,  1857,  at  Wellington, 
Lorain  Co.,  Ohio,  Mr.  Finney  was  mar- 
ried to  Charity  C.  Steadnian,  who  was 
born  August  26,  1834,  in  Charleston, 
Portage  Co. ,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Rev.  E. 
P.  Steadnian.  To  this  union  have  been 
born  children  as  follows:  Olive,  who  was 
twice  married,  first  time  to  Henry  Young, 
of  Sturgeon  Bay  township,  after  whose 
death  she  wedded  Walter  Scott  ("they  are 
now  living  on  the  old  homestead);  Flora, 
at  home;  John  J.,  proprietor  of  the  Door 
County  Dcjiiocrat,  published  at  Sturgeon 
Bay;  Bessie,  now  Mrs.  George  Green- 
wood, at  home;  and  Silas  E,  on  the  home- 
stead. Of  these,  Olive,  Flora  and  John 
J.,  were  born  in  Ohio,  Bessie  and  Silas 
E.  in  Sturgeon  Ba}'.  Since  1875  the 
famii}'  have  lived  on  the  farm  bought  in 
Sturgeon  Bay  township.  In  his  political 
predilections  Mr.  Pinney  was  a  I^epubli- 
can  till  1872,  then  taking  part  in  the  Hor- 
ace Greeley  campaign,  from  which  time  he 
was  an  equally  zealous  Democrat.  For 
many  years  he  was  school  clerk  of  Stur- 
geon Bay,  giving  unqualified  satisfaction. 
In  1887  he  was  appointed,  by  President 
Cleveland,  postmaster  at  E\'ergreen,  Door 
county,  which  office  was  opened  on  account 
of  the  mass  of  correspondence  his  own 
business  produced  —  nineteen-twentieths 
of  the  gross  amount.  In  1873  he  founded 
the  Expositor  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  the  first 
Democratic  newspaper  issued  in  the 
county,  and  he  conducted  same  three  and 
one-half  years,  during  which  time  he  fear- 
lessl}-  upheld  the  principles  of  the  party, 
at  the  same  time  jealously  guarding  the 
interests  of  the  public  at  large,  independ- 
ent of  party.  He  was  the  prime  mover 
of  the  investigation  into  the  alleged  cor- 
ruption in  county  offices,  whereby  a  deficit 
was  said  to  have  been  unearthed — six 
thousand  dollars  in  one  office,  and  three 
thousand  dollars  in  another — for  the  ex- 
posure of  which  he  was  assaulted  and 
even  fired  upon.  He  was  a  pioneer 
preacher,  and  brought  about  the  erection 
of  the  first  Methodist  church  building  at 
Sturgeon  Bay. 


Mr.  Pinney  was  remarkably  success- 
ful in  his  business,  which  year  by  year  in- 
creased, and  no  one  in  the  county  was 
more  deserving  of  tlie  prosperity  he  en- 
joyed. He  died  at  the  homestead  No- 
vember 2,  1894,  of  cancer  in  the  stomach, 
only  a  few  weeks  prior  to  vvtiich  sad  event 
his  business  was  organized  into  a  joint- 
stock  compan\',  which  was  incorporated, 
and  went  into  effect  December  11,  1894. 
It  was  capitalized  at  one  hundred  thous- 
and dollars,  and  its  present  officers  are  as 
follows:  John  |.  Pinne}',  Pres.  ;  Silas  E. 
Pinney,  Supt. ;  Flora  C.  Pinney,  Sec.  and 
Treas.  The  stock  is  nearly  all  held  by 
the  family. 


DE  WAYNE  STEBBINS,  cashier 
of  the  Bank  of  Ahnapee,  Kewau- 
nee county,  is  a  native  of  New 
"York  State,  born  .\pril  5,  1835, 
in  the  city  of  Clinton,  of  Enghsh  and 
Scotch  ancestry. 

Great-grandfather  Stebbins,  who  was 
a  resident  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  his  son, 
William  Stebbins,  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  a  native  of  the  same  State, 
but  from  the  time  he  was  a  young  man, 
resided  in  Clinton,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y., 
near  Utica.  He  there  became  a  man  of 
consequence,  and  being  industrious  and 
frugal  soon  amassed  a  comfortable  com- 
petence, dying  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty  years,  honored  and  beloved  by  his 
neighbors  for  his  many  good  qualities  of 
head  and  heart,  anti  for  his  temperate 
life.  In  politics  he  was  a  life-long  Demo- 
crat. He  married  in  Massachusetts,  and 
had  a  large  family  of  children,  the  mother 
of  whom  also  reached  a  good  old  age. 

Amaziah  Stebbins,  son  of  William 
Stebbins,  and  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Pompey  Hill,  near  Clinton,  N.  Y. 
There  he  received  his  education,  and 
in  early  life  learned  the  trade  of  tanner 
and  currier,  an  occupation  he  followed 
some  years,  but  later  in  life  became  a 
contractor.      He  was  an  active,  energetic 


5oS 


COMMEMORATIVE   BTOGRAPRICAL   RECORD. 


man,  and  did  a  great  deal  of  heavy  work 
on  the  Chenango  canal,  which  runs  from 
Utica  to  Clinton.  Being  less  fortunate  in 
his  last  occupation,  he  came  west  in  June, 
1S34,  settling  in  Racine,  Wis.,  Novem- 
ber 21,  1835,  where  he  followed  various 
occupations,  kept  the  first  hotel  in  the 
place,  and  later  was  appointed  the  first 
lighthouse  keeper  by  the  United  States 
Government.  In  his  old  age  he  was  in- 
duced to  come  to  Ahnapee,  where  he  pass- 
ed the  rest  of  his  days  at  the  home  of 
his  son,  De  Wayne,  dying  at  the  age 
of  seventy-nine  years,  September  5,  1874, 
the  daj'  after  the  decease  of  his  wife, 
Amanda  (Anderson).  She  was  a  native 
of  Westfield,  Mass. ,  daughter  of  a  promi- 
nent and  prosperous  New  England  farmer; 
a  woman  of  strong  traits  of  character, 
a  great  reader  and  very  intelligent,  one  of 
the  most  patient  of  sufferers  during  the 
twelve  years  she  was  an  invalid;  and 
many  of  her  best  traits  of  character,  de- 
cision and  will-power  were  inherited  dy 
her  son  De  Wayne.  She  and  her  hus- 
band were  a  verj'  devoted,  loving  couple, 
each  respecting  the  qualitiesof  the  other, 
and  they  lived  a  blameless  life,  leaving  a 
spotless  name  and  record  to  posterity. 
They  died  within  twenty-two  hours  of 
each  other,  and  were  buried  together  at 
Racine,  Wis.,  where  they  had  lived  hap- 
pily for  thirty  years  surrounded  by  hosts 
of  friends.  Their  family  numbered  nine 
children,  named  as  follows:  Wealthy  A., 
Jane  M.,  John  A.,  Alexander  H.,  Emery 
E.,  Albert  C,  Elizabeth  E.,  William  and 
De  Wayne. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  re- 
ceived his  elementary  education  at  Racine, 
Wis.,  after  which  he  took  rather  more 
than  a  three-years'  course  at  the  Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  Md.,  which  institu- 
tion he  entered  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  through  the  influence  of  Senator 
Charles  Durkee,  of  Wisconsin.  On  his 
return  to  Wisconsin  in  1856,  he  settled 
in  Ahnapee,  where  at  first  he  found  em- 
ployment in  the  pier,  mercantile  and  for- 
warding  business,    chiefly    for  the    firm 


of  D.  Young.  Soon,  however,  he  became 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Boalt  &  Steb- 
bins,  in  the  conducting  of  a  forwarding 
business,  in  which  they  continued  some 
fifteen  years,  meeting  with  encouraging 
success. 

During  this  time  Mr.  Stebbins  enlist- 
ed, August  13,  1862,  at  Ahnapee,  Wis. ,  in 
Company  A,  Twenty-first  Wis.  V.  I.,Capt. 
C.  H.  Walker,  which  regiment  was  sent  to 
Louisville,  Ky.,  and  then,  on  account 
of  his  having  been  educated  at  the 
Naval  Academy,  Annapolis,  Mr.  Steb- 
bins was  given  a  commission  in  the  United 
States  navy  as  master's  mate.  He  was 
first  attached  to  the  United  States  steam- 
ship "  Corondolet,"  of  the  Mississippi 
squadron,  and  participated  in  all  the  fight- 
ing on  the  river  around  Island  No.  10, 
besides  in  many  other  engagements. 
Some  time  afterward  he  was  transferred 
to  the  United  States  steamer  "  Mound 
City,"  and  with  her  proceeded  to  Vicks- 
burg  where  she  joined  the  fleet  in  the 
siege  of  that  city,  having  previously  cap- 
tured Arkansas  Post,  after  which  latter 
engagement  he  was  promoted  to  ensign. 
On  the  night  of  April  17,  1863,  the 
"  Mound  City  "  ran  the  gauntlet  past  the 
batteries  at  Vicksburg,  and  proceeding 
down  the  river  engaged  the  Grand  Gulf, 
and  participated  in  several  attacks  on  that 
post.  After  running  the  batteries,  Mr. 
Stebbins  helped  to  transfer  Gen.  Grant's 
army  across  the  river.  Returning  once 
more  to  Vicksburg,  he  assisted  in  the 
siege  of  that  Confederate  stronghold  until 
it  surrendered,  and  then  participated  in 
the  Red  River  expedition  (1864)  under 
Gen.  Banks,  ascending  the  river  a  dis- 
tance of  450  miles,  a  trip  that  occupied 
four  months,  during  which  they  expe- 
rienced continual  fighting.  After  this 
expedition  Mr.  Stebbins  was  promoted  to 
master  and  transferred  to  the  United 
States  steamer  "  Kickapoo,"  a  double- 
turreted  monitor,  which  was  ordered  to 
Mound  City  and  New  Orleans,  after 
which  she  was  sent  to  join  Farragut's 
fleet  stationed    at    Mobile.     After   some 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


509 


service  there  Mr.  Stebbins  was  retrans- 
ferred,  this  time  to  the  "Portsmouth," 
stationed  at  New  Orleans.  On  July  4, 
1865,  he  was  transferred  to  the  United 
States  steamer  "Michigan,"  stationed  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  remained  till 
January  6,  1866,  when  he  received  an 
honorable  discharge  from  the  United 
States  service.  Returning  to  Ahnapee, 
he  again  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his 
old  calling — forwarding  and  shipping — 
and  so  remained  until  1881,  when  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  as  cashier  of  the 
Bank  of  Ahnapee,  which  he  has  since 
filled  with  great  ability.  In  this  capacity  he 
soon  became  well  known  for  his  careful, 
conscientious  and  safe  business  methods, 
qualities  that  have  brought  him  to  the 
notice  of  the  able  financiers  all  over  the 
State.  He  has  been  closely  identified 
with  all  enterprises  tending  to  promote 
the  prosperity  of  his  adopted  city,  where 
he  is  held  in  such  high  esteem  as  seldom 
falls  to  the  lot  of  man.  He  is  one  of  the 
promoters  of  and  a  stockholder  in  the 
Ahnapee  Veneer  &  Seating  Co.,  and  has 
been  its  treasurer  from  its  inception. 

On  September  5,  1862,  Mr.  Stebbins 
was  married  in  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  to  a 
daughter  of  Hon.  G.  W.  Elliott,  of  Ahna- 
pee, a  brief  sketch  of  whom  follows. 
Politically  our  subject  is  a  pronounced 
Republican,  and  in  1873  was  nominated 
by  that  party  and  elected  by  the  people 
to  the  office  of  assemblj'man;  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster,  at  Ahnapee,  and 
served  twelve  years  in  succession,  or  until 
a  change  of  administration  caused  a  change 
of  postmastership.  He  made  an  envia- 
ble record  as  a  public  officer,  discharging 
his  duties  with  great  fidelity  to  the  public. 
Socially  he  is  a  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  has  been 
master  of  the  Lodge  at  Ahnapee  twelve 
years;  also  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Legion 
and  the  G.  A.  R.,  and  has  been  com- 
mander of  the  Post  at  Ahnapee.  He  has 
an  honorable  war  record,  and  served  his 
country  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  In 
physical  appearance  Mr.  Stebbins  retains 
the  fine  soldierly  bearing  so  seldom  seen 

29 


by  men  of  his  age  in  the  United  States, 
and  which  attracts  attention  in  any  gath- 
ering. Though  naturall}-  one  of  the  most 
peaceful  of  men,  he  yet  impresses  all  by  a 
decided  presence  of  nerve  force  that  com- 
mands respect  everywhere.  Such  men 
are  rare  in  any  community,  and  their 
lives  are  lessons  of  usefulness  to  a  new 
and  thinking  generation.  In  November, 
1894,  he  was  elected  State  senator  as  a 
Republican  in  a  Democratic  District  by  a 
majority  of   1800. 


HON.    GEORGE   W.    ELLIOTT, 
one  of  the   prominent   and   hon- 
ored pioneers  of  Ahnapee  and  the 
State  of  Wisconsin,  is  a  native  of 
New  York  State,  born  February  13,  1804, 
in  Martinsburg,  Lewis  county. 

His  grandfather,  Joseph  Elliott,  who 
was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  born  of 
English  parentage,  became  a  Baptist 
preacher  of  no  little  renown.  He  died 
near  Utica,  N.  Y. ,  when  over  eighty  years 
of  age,  the  father  of  a  large  family  by  his 
wife  whom  he  married  in  Massachusetts. 
Of  his  sons,  Chester,  the  eldest,  was  born 
in  that  State,  whence  he  came  to  Lewis 
county,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  followed  farm- 
ing, and  was  highly  honored  and  esteem- 
ed; he  died  of  cholera,  in  1832,  at  the 
home  of  his  son  Joseph  in  Canada.  His 
wife,  Betsy,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Jesse 
Benjamin,  died  at  the  residence  of  her 
son  George  W. ,  in  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis., 
aged  sixty-five  years,  the  mother  of  nine 
children — four  sons  and  five  daughters — 
eight  of  whom  reached  maturity,  and  of 
the  four  sons  three  came  to  Fond  du  Lac, 
Wis.,  George  W.  being  one  of  them. 

The  subject  of  these  lines  in  early  life 
was  a  surveyor,  his  first  work  being  on  a 
public  road  running  from  Martinsburg,  his 
native  town,  in  a  direct  line  to  Albany, 
receiving  his  appointment  from  Anson 
Beach;  his  next  surveying  work  was  on 
the  old  "John  Brown  tract,"  in  New 
York  State.  In  1836  he  came  to  Wis- 
consin, and  engaged  in  the  dairy  business 


5>o 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPBICAL   RECORD. 


for  a  sh(jrt  time  in  Foiul  dii  Lac  (being 
induced  to  go  there  by  (iov.  Dot\'),  but 
he  soon  returned  to  his  old  business,  sur- 
veying. Even  in  1 836  he  surveyed  the 
ground  wheie  now  the  State  capitol 
stands,  which  he  did  at  the  solicitation  of 
Judge  Doty,  and  the  governor  of  Michi- 
gan, \vh(j  at  the  time  was  interested  in 
real  estate  at  Madison,  Wis.  Mr.  lilliott 
also  surveyed  much  timber  hind  for  vari- 
ous lumbermen,  including  Philetus  Saw- 
yer. In  ii^^SS  he  moved  to  .\hnapee, 
where  he  surveyed  some  lands  for  Judge 
Doty,  and  being  pleased  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  surroimdings  decided  to  re- 
main, and  make  the  place  his  future 
home. 

On  October  11,  iS,:;j.  Mr.  Mlliottwas 
married  in  New  York  State  to  Miss  Juli- 
ana Crofoot.  who  died  in  I'onti  du  Lac, 
Wisconsin,  the  mother  (jf  se\en  children, 
as  follows:  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Wing,  Mrs. 
De  Wavne  Stebbins,  David,  Charles, 
Park,  Irvin  and  Mrs.  Ella  McDonald.  On 
June  22,  1862,  our  subject  was  married 
at  Madison,  Wis.,  while  sor\ing  as  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature,  to  Miss 
Charlotte,  daughter  of  John  and  Char- 
lotte (Rowley)  Torrey,  and  born  in  Mar- 
cellus,  N.  Y.,  by  which  union  there  is  one 
child:  Carrie  Eva.  A  Democrat  in  poli- 
tics, Mr.  Elliott  has  tilled  many  positions 
of  honor  and  trust,  including  all  the  town 
offices;  for  fifty-seven  years  he  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  but  on  the  occasion 
of  the  last  election  he  positively  declined 
to  qualify.  He  is  one  of  the  most  hon- 
ored and  respected  men  in  the  county, 
and  all  public  offices  with  which  he  has 
been  entrusted  he  has  filled  with  tact  and 
ability. 

CHARLES  BRANDES.  bank  presi- 
dent and  financier,  of  Kewaunee, 
was    born    in    Kewaunee     village 
May    10,   1864,  and    is  the  eldest 
son  of  Charles   Brandes,  Sr. ,  a  sketch  of 
whom    will   be   found   in   another  part  of 
this  work. 


Mr.  Brandes  has  passed  his  entire  life 
within  the  limits  of  Kewaunee,  with  the  ex- 
ception, only,  of  two  years  spent  at  school 
in  Milwaukee — one  year  in  the  high  school 
and  one  year  at  a  business  college.  Here 
his  scholastic  course  terminated,  and  here 
he  had  his  first  business  experience, 
which  consisted  of  six  months'  service  in 
a  wholesale  drug  house  in  the  same  city. 
On  his  return  to  Kewaunee  he  engaged  as 
clerk  to  Mr.  Mashck,  in  the  Bank  of  Ke- 
waunee, and  since  then  he  has  filled  all 
the  official  positions,  seeming  to  possess 
a  natural  aptitude  for  finance.  At  the 
age  of  twenty  he  had  become  assistant 
cashier,  then  filled  all  the  duties  of  cash- 
ier, and  now,  before  reaching  his  thirtieth 
\ear,  stands  at  the  head  of  the  institution 
as  its  president.  But  the  interests  of  Mr. 
Brandes  are  not  altogether  confined  to 
banking:  He  is  the  secretary  and  man- 
ager of  the  Ivcwaunee  Milling  Co.,  which 
was  organized  some  four  years  ago,  and 
in  which  he  holds  considerable  stock.  He 
has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  aiding 
the  various  industrial  enterprises  of  Ke- 
waunee, whether  or  no  he  had  any  pe- 
cuniary interest  in  them,  and  has  shown 
his  public  spirit  and  liberal  it}'  on  all 
proper  occasions  whenever  questions 
touching  the  building  up  and  the  improve- 
ment of  the  rit\'  lia\c  been  brought  to 
the  front. 

Mr.  Brantles  was  most  propitiously 
united  in  marriage,  Octol)er  21,  1890, 
with  Miss  Kate  Hoadley,  of  Niles,  Mich., 
the  accomplished  daughter  of  Jerad  Hoad- 
ley, who  was  one  of  the  early  and  most 
prominent  business  men  of  Niles,  al- 
though for  the  past  twenty  years  he  has 
devoted  himself  to  farming.  In  politics 
Mr.  Brandes  has  always  voted  with  the 
Demcjcratic  party,  but  has  never  taken 
any  great  interest  in  office-holding  or 
office-seekers.  He  has  held  one  or  two 
minor  offices,  perhaps,  but  with  the  con- 
viction that  he  was  of  more  use  to  the 
office  than  the  office  was  to  him.  So- 
cially, he  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum;  in   religious  faith,  he  was  reared 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


5" 


under  the  influences  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  but  is  Hberal  in  his  views  in  that 
respect. 


GEORGE  SENFT,  Sr.,  who  has 
been  a  resident  of  Nasewaupee 
township,  Door  county,  for  near- 
ly forty  years,  was  born  in  Hesse, 
Germany,  February  22,  1823,  a  son  of 
Caspar  and  Margaret  (Gottleman)  Senft, 
natives  of  the  same  place.  The  father 
was  a  farmer  in  Germany,  and  died  there 
in  1874  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years; 
the  mother  died  at  the  same  age  in  1  876. 
They  had  a  famih'  of  thirteen  children, 
of  whom  four  are  now  living:  George, 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Caspar,  who  re- 
sides in  Germany;  I\atie,  wife  of  George 
Barwind,  of  Washington  Co.,  Wis.,  and 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Henrj-  Heinbel,  also  of 
Washington   Co.,  Wisconsin. 

Our  subject  recived  a  common-school 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Ger- 
many, and  remained  with  his  father  on 
the  farm  until  he  was  twenty-four  years 
old.  He  then  worked  for  others  as  a 
common  laborer  for  si.x  years,  hence  he 
was  thirt)-  \-ears  old  when,  in  1853,  he 
set  sail  for  the  United  States,  reaching 
New  York  after  a  voyage  of  forty-si.x 
days,  and  coming  west  at  once  to  Wash- 
ington Co. .  Wis. ,  he  here  hired  out  for 
seven  dollars  per  month.  During  the 
year  he  was  married  to  Miss  Philomena 
Heilmann,  who  was  born  in  Germany, 
daughter  of  Michael  and  Wilhelmina 
(Goettleman)  Heilmann,  who  came  to 
Washington  county  from  Germany  at  an 
early  daj',  both  dying  there,  the  mother 
at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1894.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Senft  have 
three  cliildren:  Ivatie,  wife  of  Jacob 
Senft,  a  farmer  in  Xasewaupee  township; 
George,  who  is  married  anci  lives  in  the 
same  township;  and  John,  who  also  re- 
sides in  Nasewaupee  township.  Mrs. 
Senft  died  in  1865,  and  the  following 
year  Mr.  Senft  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Knuth,     daughter    of    John     and     Anna 


Knuth,  who  were  early  pioneers  in  New 
Denmark  township.  Brown  county;  both 
parents  are  dead.  Nine  children  came  to 
Mr.  Senft  from  this  union,  only  two  of 
whom  survive:  Charley,  and  Willie,  the 
latter  married  and  making  his  home  in 
Iowa;  during  the  diphtheria  epidemic  in 
1878,  the  other  seven  children  by  this 
marriage  were  taken  away,  their  names 
being  as  follows:  .\ugust  (at  thirteen 
years  of  age),  Mary  (at  twelve  years  of 
age),  Amelia,  Freddie,  Lizzie,  Minnie, 
and  Henry. 

In  T855  Mr.  Senft  moved  from  Wash- 
ington county  to  Door  county,  making 
the  trip  with  an  ox  team,  and  located  on 
160  acres  which  he  bought  in  Nasewaupee 
township.  Later  he  sold  this  property 
and  purchased  120  acres  of  forest,  which 
he  now  has  all  cleared  and  under  cultiva- 
tion. When  it  came  into  his  possession 
not  a  tree  had  been  cut,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  make  a  road  through  to  where 
he  subsequently  built  a  log  house.  He 
has  witnessed  the  rapid  growth  of  this 
portion  of  the  countr_\',  and  has  experi- 
enced all  the  hardships  and  privations 
which  the  new  comers  in  those  early  days 
were  obliged  to  bear.  Thrift  and  industry 
combined  with  careful  management  pro- 
duce success  in  the  end,  although  few 
men  %\ould  be  willing  to  work  so  hard  in 
order  to  secure  the  same  results.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  arduous  labor,  Mr.  Senft 
has  had  many  other  burdens  to  bear, 
some  of  which  are  already  related  in  this 
sketch:  His  first  wife  died  in  1865;  he 
was  burned  out  in  1871,  losing  nearly  all 
of  his  household  furniture  and  clothing, 
and  the  following  year  seven  children 
died  of  diphtheria  within  a  few  weeks  of 
each  other.  He  is  now  (1895)  seventy- 
two  years  old,  and  despite  his  bitter  ex- 
periences, is  a  well-preserved  man.  He 
and  his  wife  are  honored  members  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  of  which  he  has  served  as 
trustee,  and  he  has  done  much  to  build 
up  the  society,  and  keep  up  the  interest 
of  the  Sunday-school,  of  which  he  is 
superintendent.     In  politics  he  is  a  stanch 


512 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Republican,  taking  much  interest  in  the 
elections.  For  many  years  he  held  the 
office  of  supervisor,  performing  the  duties 
of  the  office  in  an  impartial  and  satisfac- 
tory manner. 


HENRY  CHEEVER  SIBREE,  M. 
D.,  is  a  medical  practitioner  of 
considerable  prominence  in  Stur- 
geon Bay,  Door  county,  one  who, 
outside  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held 
for  his  scientific  attainments,  enjoys  the 
admiration  and  respect  of  all  for  his'kind- 
liness  of  disposition  and  amiability  of 
heart. 

The  Sibree  family,  of  which  the  sub- 
ject of  these  lines  is  a  descendant,  sprang 
from    the   Danes  who  in  early  dajs  in- 
vaded both  England  and  Scotland,  and  in 
the  latter  country  originated  the  Sibree 
family   under  consideration,   the   first  of 
whom  to  come  to  America  being  Charles 
Sibree,  grandfather  of  Dr.  H.  C.  Sibree. 
This   Charles   was   born    on    the   Clyde, 
about  three  miles  from  Dumbarton  Cas- 
tle, Scotland,  where  he  married.      Leav- 
ing his  family  behind,  to  follow  him  when 
he  was  settled,  he  emigrated  to  America, 
a  brother  at  the  same   time  locating  in 
England,  where  he  died  leaving  a  large 
estate.      Charles  was  by  vocation  a  block 
printer,  a  trade  he  followed  many  years, 
and,  when  far  advanced  in   life,    died   in 
Kossuth  township,  Manitowoc  Co. ,  Wis. , 
where  at  the  time  he  was  staying   with 
his  daughter,   Mrs.   Gilbert  W.    Burnett. 
His  wife  and  children   in   course   of  time 
had  rejoined  him,  and  the    mother  pre- 
ceded him  to  the  grave.      Of  their  family 
of  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  Henry, 
who  was  born  on  the  old  homestead  near 
Dumbarton,    in    Scotland,    was    a   block 
printer  and  dyer,  trades  he  followed  after 
coming  to  this  country,  first  in  Paterson, 
N.  J.,  later    in    New  York,  where    after- 
ward he  was  engaged  in  the  City  Express 
business.      From  there  he  came  to  Wis- 
consin, and  in  Kossuth  township,  Mani- 
towoc county,    was  engaged  in  farming 


four  years,   after  which    he    commenced 
the  study  of  law  in  Manitowoc  under  the 
preceptorship    of    J.    D.    Markham,     an 
able  law\er    of  that   place.       Being    ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  Mr.  Sibree  commenced 
the  practice  of  his    profession   in    Mani- 
towoc, which  he  continued  until  his  death 
m  1881.      In  addition  to  his  law  practice, 
which  was    an    excellent    one,  he    unfor- 
tunately embarked  in  wheat  speculations 
that  proved  disastrous,    he  losing  every- 
thmg.      In   political    associations  he  was 
first  a  Whig,  afterward  a  Republican,  and 
at  one  time  was  elected  district  attorney. 
He  was  a  lawyer  of  considerable  ability, 
and  was  highly  respected  both   as  an   at- 
torney and  as  a  private  citizen;  a  man  of 
deep  humanity  and  generous  impulses — 
generous  even  to  a  fault— he  surrounded 
himself  with  hosts  of  warm  and  sincere 
friends.       He  was   married   in   Paterson, 
N.  J.,  to  Miss  Maria  Vreeland,  who  was 
of   Holland  descent,  a  woman   of  strong 
character   and  loving  disposition,    whose 
home  was  her    kingdom.      The  children 
born  to  this  union  were  Henry  Cheever, 
Gertrude   (who    died    aged   twenty-five)i 
Sarah,   Lottie   C,  Anna  (wife  of  Henry 
Bush,  of  Fond  du  Lac),  and  three  daugh- 
ters that   died  in    infancy.      The    parents 
attended  the  services    of    the    Congrega- 
tional Church. 

Henry  C.  Sibree,   the  subject  proper 
of  this  sketch,  received  his  literary   edu- 
cation at  the  schools  of   Manitowoc,  and, 
having  decided  on  the  medical  profession 
for  his  life  work,  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.    Oakley,  at 
Manitowoc;  then  proceeded  to  Chicago, 
and,  taking  a  course  at  the  Chicago  Med- 
ical College,  graduated  from  there  March 
5,    1878.     The  Doctor  first  commenced 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Peshtigo, 
Wis. ,  whence  at  the  end  of  five  years  he 
came  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  has  since  re- 
mained in  the  enjoyment  of   a  first-class 
practice.      So  wide  spread  has  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  skillful  and  successful  physician 
and    surgeon   become   that  he   has  been 
offered  many  inducements  to  change  his 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


513 


location,  one  of  which  came  in  1883 
(while  he  was  residing  in  Peshtigo)  from 
Tacoma,  Wash.,  an  offer  being  made  to 
him  to  take  charge  of  a  railroad  corpora- 
tion hospital  there,  his  salary  to  be  $3000 
per  annum;  but  sickness  in  the  family 
prevented  him  from  accepting,  and  it  was 
then  that  he  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay.  The 
Doctor's  professional  career,  especially  in 
surgery,  has  been  signalized  by  almost 
phenomenal  success,  due  in  a  great  meas- 
ure to  his  unceasing  study  of  the  science 
and  prompt  adaptation  of  modern  im- 
provements in  both  branches,  his  pro- 
gressiveness  ever  keeping  up  with  the  en- 
lightenment of  the  age. 

On  November  27,  1878,  at  Dover, 
Ohio,  Dr.  Sibree  was  married  to  Miss 
Cora  A.  French,  daughter  of  A.  L.  and 
Anna  French,  and  three  children  were 
born  to  them:  two  daughters,  Gertrude 
and  Lucy,  and  one  son,  Harry,  the  latter 
of  whom  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
months.  Socially  the  Doctor  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  is  a  charter 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  Lodge  organ- 
ized at  Peshtigo.  Politically  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  while  a  resident  of  Marin- 
ette county  was  appointed  superintendent 
of  the  county  schools;  on  the  organization 
of  the  county  he  was  nominated  and 
elected  to  the  same  position,  without  any 
effort  on  his  part,  but  at  the  end  of  one 
year  resigned. 


PHILIP  JACOB  DEHOS, city  treas- 
urer of  the  city  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
and  notary  public  at  Sturgeon 
Bay,  Door  county,  first  saw  the 
light  August  1, 1 848, in  Flonheim, Province 
of  Rhein-Hessen,  Grand  Duchy  of  Hessen- 
Darmstadt,  where,  as  far  back  as  can  be 
traced,  were  born  his  ancestors  before 
him. 

Philip  Jacob  Dehos,  his  father,  was  a 
stone  cutter  by  trade,  which  he  followed 
all  his  life  in  the  Fatherland.  In  1845  he 
married  Miss  Philopena  Schaefer,  who 
bore  him  seven   children,  named  respect- 


ively: Elizabeth,  Philip  Jacob,  Mary, 
Philip,  Andrew  Martin,  Adam  and  John. 
The  father  died  in  Germany  January  28, 
1 86 1,  and  in  1864  the  widowed  mother 
came  to  the  United  States  with  her  chil- 
dren, landing  in  New  York  August  13, 
same  year.  From  that  point  they  pro- 
ceeded by  rail  westward,  their  destination 
being  Wisconsin,  but  at  Salamanca,  N. 
Y. ,  an  accident  happened  to  their  train 
which  delayed  them  four  days;  ultimately, 
however,  they  arrived  in  safety  in  Door 
county,  where  an  uncle  of  our  subject  was 
living.  On  their  settling  in  Nasewaupee 
township  they  bought  forty  acres  of  wild 
land,  which  they  succeeded  in  clearing 
and  converting  into  a  fertile  farm.  In 
1868  the  mother  married  Christopher 
Stephan,  by  whom  she  had  one  child, 
named  John,  and  she  is  again  a  widow. 

Philip  Jacob  Dehos,  of  whom  this 
sketch  more  particularly  relates,  was  six- 
teen years  old  when  he  accompanied  his 
mother  to  this  country,  and  consequently 
received  all  his  education  in  Germany. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaker,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  mother's  second  mar- 
riage commenced  business  for  his  own  ac- 
count in  Sturgeon  Bay,  continuing  in 
same  until  1871,  when  he  went  to  Kan- 
sas City  with  his  family  (he  having  mar- 
ried in  1869),  and  there  worked  at  his 
trade  as  a  journeyman  till  1873,  when  he 
opened  a  shop  of  his  own;  but  in  July  of 
the  same  year  he  returned  to  Sturgeon 
Bay,  in  the  ensuing  fall  opening  out  a 
well-equipped  boot  and  shoe  shop,  which 
he  conducted  some  twelve  years,  or  until 
1886. 

In  November,  1869,  Mr.  Dehos  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Anna  C.  M. 
Bottelson,  who  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Bergen,  Norway,  daughter  of  Arne  and 
Elizabeth  Bottelson,  the  latter  of  whom 
died  in  Norway  in  1861.  In  1864  the 
bereaved  father  came  to  the  United  States 
and  to  Wisconsin,  making  his  New-World 
home  in  Sturgeon  Bay;  he  is  a  shoemaker 
by  trade,  and  is  now  residing  with  Mr. 
and   Mrs.  Philip  Jacob  Dehos.      He  had 


514 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


three  children:  Anna  C.  M.  (Mrs.  Dehos), 
Oliif  and  Bernhard.  To  our  subject  and 
wife  were  born  ten  children,  as  follows: 
Eva  E.,  Agatha,  John,  Celia,  Mary  and 
Edith,  living,  and  Augusta,  Louisa,  Philip 
and  Celia,  who  died  in  childhood.  In 
his  political  predilections  Mr.  Dehos  is  an 
ardent  Republican,  and  has  been  honored 
by  election  to  various  offices  of  responsi- 
bility and  trust:  In  1S75  he  was  elected 
supervisor  of  the  town,  ser\ing  one  jear, 
and  when  Sturgeon  Bay  was  incorporated 
as  a  village  served  one  year  as  a  member 
of  the  village  board:  in  1 880  he  was  elected 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  which  office  he 
held  eight  years,  when  he  resigned;  was 
again  elected  justice  in  1893,  re-elected, 
and  is  still  serving  in  that  office;  in  1886 
he  was  elected  city  clerk  (Sturgeon  Bay 
having  become  acit\'),  serving  three  years; 
in  the  fall  of  1888  he  was  elected  register 
of  deeds,  which  incunibencj-  he  held  for 
six  years,  having  been  re-elected  in  1890, 
and  again  in  1893.  Socially  he  is  affili- 
ated with  the  Royal  Arcanum,  was  first 
regent  of  that  society  in  Sturgeon  Bay, 
and  its  secretary  three  years;  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Sons  of  Hermann  since 
1877,  and  was  the  first  secretary  of  Stur- 
geon Bay  Lodge,  No.  3,  which  office  he 
held  for  nine  years  in  succession.  Mr. 
Dehos  is  now  doing  a  general  real-estate 
business,  the  handling  of  city  lots  and 
county  real  estate  being  a  specialty. 


FRANK  J.  STANGEL,  sheriff  of 
Kewaunee  county,  was  born  in 
Manitowoc  county.  Wis.,  Janu- 
ary 8,  1866.  His  father,  John 
Stangel,  a  native  of  Bohemia,  a  merchant 
by  occupation,  was  born  in  1831,  and  in 
1853  married  Dorothea  Pelnar,  who  bore 
him  eight  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 
was  born  in  Bohemia.  The  father  of 
John  Stangel,  who  was  of  Bavarian  de- 
scent, and  also  a  merchant,  came  to 
America  in  1852,  settling  in  Manitowoc 
county,  Wis. ,  where  his  days  were  ended 


in  1869,  the  mother  dying  in  1872.  John 
Stangel,  on  coming  to  America,  re- 
linquished mercantile  pursuits,  and  in  1854 
settled  on  his  present  farm  in  Manitowoc 
county,  becoming  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  the  count}'. 

The  early  life  of  Frank  J.  Stangel  was 
passed  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born, 
and  where  he  was  inured  to  the  toil  that 
fills  up  the  farm-boy's  earlier  years,  work- 
ing industriously  in  the  summer  seasons. 
He  had  the  advantage  of  good  schooling, 
however,  during  the  winters,  attending 
the  district  educational  institution  until 
prepared  for  the  high  school  at  Mani- 
towoc, which  he  entered  in  1880.  At 
the  age  of  si.xteen  he  began  teaching,  in 
which  he  continued  until  1888,  but  in 
this  interval  he  further  improved  himself 
by  attending,  in  1886  and  1887,  the  Nor- 
mal Universit}'  at  \'alparaiso,  Ind.  The 
marriage  of  Mr.  Stangel  took  place  in 
September,  1889,  to  Miss  Josephine  Fichta, 
daughter  of  Matthias  Fichta.  and  the  re- 
sult of  this  happy  union  has  been  the 
birth  of  three  children,  of  whom  two  are 
living — Caroline  and  \'ictor — the  eldest, 
Benjamin,  having  died  in  October,  1891. 
Mr.  Stangel  is  a  thorough  Democrat,  and 
has  always  been  active  in  his  services 
toward  advancing  the  interests  of  his 
part}-.  In  18SS  Stangelvillc  postoffice 
was  established,  he  being  appointed  post- 
master, and  the  same  year,  in  company 
with  his  brother,  John  J.,  he  opened  a 
general  store  at  Stangelvillc,  but,  on  be- 
coming sheriff,  sold  his  interest  to  his 
brother.  In  1890  he  was  elected  chair- 
man of  the  Democratic  Senatorial  Com- 
mittee of  the  Fifteenth  Senatorial  District 
of  Wisconsin,  and  in  1891  and  1892  was 
chairman  of  the  town  board  of  the  town 
of  Franklin. 

In  August,  1893,  Mr.  Stangel  united 
with  J.  Bitzen  in  the  wholesale  liquor 
business  in  Kewaunee,  but,  owing  to  his 
duties  as  sheriff,  he  can  devote  but  little 
attention  to  it.  He  is  a  faithful  officer, 
well  deserving  the  approbation  of  his 
constituents,  which  is  freel}'  accorded  him, 


aOMMEMORATTVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


515 


and  his  scholarly  accomplishments  fully 
qualify  him  for  any  office  within  the  gift 
of  his  fellow  citizens. 


JOHN  FRANK  MULLEN,  M.  D., 
although  one  among  the  compara- 
tively young  men  in  professional  life, 
has  reached  an  eminence  for  scien- 
tific attainments  as  well  as  thorough 
scholarship  that  is  attained  by  few  even 
of  those  who  have  devoted  a  long  life  of 
patient  toil  in  the  work  of  their  profes- 
sion. 

The  Doctor  is  a  nati\e  of  New  York 
State,  born  July  2,  1848,  in  Lansingburg, 
Rensselaer  county,  of  good  old  Irish  stock, 
his  grandfather,  Brian  Mullen,  a  drover 
and  cattle  dealer  by  occupation,  having 
been  born  in  the  city  of  Sligo,  Province 
of  Connaught,  Ireland,  where  he  was 
also  engaged  in  farming,  and  where  he 
died.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Hannah  Mullaney,  after  her  husband's 
death  came  to  America  with  her  family 
of  six  children,  and  settled  in  Lansing- 
burg, N.  Y. ,  where  she  died  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  four  years.  Thomas 
Mullen,  father  of  our  subject,  on  account 
of  his  prominent  connection  with  the 
"Ribbonmen,"  a  revolutionary  element 
in  Ireland,  had  to  flee  to  America  along 
with  other  refugees.  Settling  in  Troy, 
N.  Y. ,  he  there  embarked  in  the  grain 
business,  chiefly  as  buyer,  and  having  re- 
ceived a  good  education  in  his  native  land 
soon  made  a  success  of  life  in  the  New 
World,  becoming  a  useful  and  progressive 
citizen.  He  had  married  Miss  Hannah 
Burke  (a  niece  of  Father  Tom  Burke,  the 
celebrated  temperance  orator,  for  whom 
she  at  one  time  kept  house  in  Ireland), 
and  to  this  marriage  were  born  children 
as  follows:  Anna,  James,  William,  Mich- 
ael, Thomas,  John  Frank,  Mary  and 
Minnie.  The  parents  both  died  in  Lan- 
singburg, the  father  when  ninety-four  and 
the  mother  when  fifty-two  years  old.  Of 
the  children,  Anna  went  to  California  in 
1S49  with  a  family  of  friends,  and  there 


married  William  McNeil,  a  wealthy 
Scotchman,  whose  home  in  this  country 
was  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  but  who  was 
drowned  on  the  Pacific  coast,  while  at 
route  from  San  Francisco  to  New  York 
on  the  steamer  "  Centra)  America,"  many 
others  also  being  lost,  the  vessel  having 
been  wrecked  (his  widow  then  returned  to 
her  old  home,  and  being  well  off  was  en- 
abled to  give  her  brothers  and  sisters  good 
educational  advantages);  James  and  Will- 
iam were  both  educated  for  the  bar,  grad- 
uating at  Williams  College,  and  the  latter 
is  now  an  attorney  in  New  York  City; 
Michael  graduated  from  the  Christian 
Brothers  University,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and 
is  also  practicing  in  New  York;  Thomas 
is  a  lawyer  in  California.  The  three  eld- 
est sons  served  to  the  close  of  the  Civil 
war  in  the  United  States  navy,  on  board 
the  frigate  "  Powhattan.  " 

John  F.  Mullen,  whose  name  mtro- 
duces  this  sketch,  was  born  July  2,  1848, 
in  Lansingburg,  N.  Y. ,  received  his  ele- 
mentar\'  education  at  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  place,  and  commenced  a 
course  at  the  Christian  Brothers  Univer- 
sity', Troy.  At  the  age  of  si.xteen,  how- 
ever, in  1864,  being  fired  with  the  spirit 
of  patriotism,  he  left  his  studies  to  take 
up  the  rifle  in  defense  of  the  Union,  en- 
listing in  Company  K,  Third  Battalion, 
Thirteenth  United  States  Infantry  (Sher- 
man's old  regiment),  which  was  attached 
to  the  Army  of  the  West,  Department  of 
the  Missouri,  under  Gen.  Hancock;  dur- 
ing the  last  two  years  of  his  service  he 
was  acting  hospital  steward.  From  the 
fall  of  1865  to  summer  of  1867  he  served 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kans.,  and  Fort 
Totten,  Dak.,  and  on  the  expiration  of 
his  term  of  service,  July  18,  1867,  was 
honorably  discharged  at  Fort  Stephenson, 
on  the  Upper  Missouri  river.  Mr.  Mul- 
len for  the  next  two  years  carried  the 
mail  between  Devil's  Lake  and  the  Mis- 
souri river,  in  Dakota;  afterward  from 
Fort  Stephenson  to  Fort  Rice,  and  from 
Fort  Stephenson  to  Fort  Beauford,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  learned   to  speak  five 


5i6 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGIiAPUICAL   liECOIiD. 


different  Indian  dialects.  On  one  of  his 
trips  he  met  with  Carleton,  the  poet,  and 
presented  him  with  many  Indian  reHcs, 
which  are  now  on  exhibition  in  some 
museum  in  Boston.  As  his  services  as 
U.  S.  mail  carrier  were  required  only 
about  twice  a  month,  he  employed  the  in- 
tervals with  others  in  escorting  trains, 
and  in  other  frontier  work.  In  1869  he 
served  all  through  the  Red  River  Rebel- 
lion in  British  America  as  a  patriot,  as- 
sisting in  the  capture  of  Fort  Garry,  and 
after  the  suppression  of  this  rising  in  the 
spring  of  1870,  he,  in  partnership  with 
George  Folsom,  went  into  the  hardware 
and  fur  business  with  headquarters  at 
Redwood  Falls,  Minn.,  which  was  con- 
tinued one  and  one  half  years,  and  then 
abandoned,  owing  to  hailstorms  and  grass- 
hoppers, which  had  destroyed  the  crops 
and  nearly  ruined  the  farmers  of  that  sec- 
tion. Mr.  Mullen  then,  in  1872,  returned 
to  Wisconsin,  locating  at  Appleton  (where 
his  relatives  now  reside),  and  took  up  an 
altogether  new  line — canvassing  for  books, 
chiefly  Mark  Twain's  works  and  the 
"American  Encyclopedia,"  in  which  it  is 
safe  to  say  he  met  with  eminent  success. 
In  the  meantime,  commencing  with  the 
year  1868,  he  had  been  studying  medicine 
as  opportunity  offered,  intending  to  make 
it  his  life  profession. 

On  February  14,  1873,  the  Doctor 
married  Miss  Mary  E.  Parker,  of  Steph- 
ensville,  Outagamie  Co.,  Wis.,  and  the 
young  couple  at  once  made  their  home  in 
Amherst,  Portage  county,  same  State, 
where  the  Doctor  practiced  medicine  till 
1876,  in  which  year  he  came  to  Sturgeon 
Bay,  where  he  continued  the  practice  till 
entering,  in  1877,  Keokuk  (Iowa)  College, 
where  he  graduated  in  1878.  He  then 
resumed  his  profession  in  Sturgeon  Bay, 
successfully  practicing  till  1883,  at  which 
time  he  was  appointed  assistant-surgeon 
in  the  Chamber  Street  Hospital,  New 
York,  it  being  the  accident  department  of 
the  New  York  Hospital.  The  summer  of 
1883  he  spent  there,  and  he  also  attended 
the   Polyclinic,    deriving   incalculable  ad- 


vantages from  his  experiences  and  studies 
in  both  these  institutions.  Returning  to 
Sturgeon  Bay,  he  resumed  his  practice, 
which  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  most 
extensive  and  lucrative  in  the  peninsula. 
To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Mullen  were  born  eight 
children,  four  of  whom  are  yet  living, 
named  respectively:  Alice  E.,  May  F., 
Patricia  A.  and  Bernard;  Willie  died  at 
the  age  of  seven,  and  Blanche,  John  and 
Thomas  when  infants.  The  entire  family 
are  active  members  of  St.  Joseph's  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  Sturgeon  Bay.  In 
politics  the  Doctor  is  a  leading  and  in- 
fluential Democrat;  has  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  county  committee  five  terms; 
as  member  of  the  Democratic  State  Cen- 
tral Committee  two  years,  including  the 
last  Cleveland  campaign,  and  as  an  altern- 
ate to  the  National  Convention  held  at  Chi- 
cago when  Grover  Cleveland  was  second 
time  nominated.  He  has  twice  served  as 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Sturgeon  Bay. 
Socially  he  is  chief  ranger  of  Columbus 
Court,  No.  341,  Catholic  Order  of  For- 
esters; is  president  of  the  Door  County 
Medical  Society,  and  for  four  years  United 
States  pension  examiner. 


JOHN  ELLIS  was  born  in  the  County 
of  Kent,  England,  February  19,  iSig, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  Ellis,  a  farmer 
by  occupation,  who  married   Sarah 
Adams,  by  whom  he  had  children,  as  fol- 
lows:  William,  Jane,  Robert,  John,  Amy, 
Elizabeth,  Jabez,  Sarah  and  Thomas. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  lad 
of  only  seven  summers,  when  with  the 
family  he  came  to  the  United  States. 
They  sailed  from  London,  and  after  a 
voyage  of  seven  weeks  and  three  days 
they  landed  on  American  soil.  Thence 
they  proceeded  to  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
where  the  father  worked  as  a  day  laborer 
for  $1.  50  per  day  until  a  year  had  passed, 
when  he  rented  a  farm,  continuing  its  cul- 
tivation four  years.  He  then  removed  to 
Saratoga,  N.    Y.,    where  he   again  oper- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


517 


ated  a  rented  farm,  and  at  the  end  of  five 
years  sought  a  home  in  Chautauqua  coun- 
ty, N.  Y.  There  he  purchased  land, 
making  it  his  place  of  residence  some  six 
years,  when  he  cast  his  lot  with  the  early 
settlers  of  Grant  county.  Wis. ,  and  en- 
gaged in  mining  four  years,  when  death 
ended  his  labors  in  1834. 

John  Ellis  accompanied  his  parents  on 
their  various  removals,  and  when  quite 
young  began  work,  for  the  limited  cir- 
cumstances of  the  family  forced  him  to 
provide  for  his  own  support.  On  May 
23,  1S42,  he  married  Miss  Louise  Rachel, 
daughter  of  William  and  Sophia  (Boor- 
man)  Carpenter,  people  of  English  de- 
scent. The  young  couple  remained  in 
Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y. ,  for  about  two 
years,  and  then  removed  with  his  father 
to  Grant  county.  Wis.,  where  our  subject 
also  embarked  in  mining;  but  that  enter- 
prise proving  unsuccessful,  he  after  seven 
years  returned  to  the  Empire  State.  Not 
having  money  enough  wherewith  to  pur- 
chase a  farm,  he  rented  land  and  there 
carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  t  866, 
which  year  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Clay 
Banks  township,  Door  county.  Here  he 
became  owner  of  a  wild  and  uncultivated 
tract  of  160  acres,  and  in  a  log  cabin,  14 
X  20  feet,  they  began  life  in  true  pioneer 
style,  which  home  about  three  years  later 
was  replaced  with  a  more  commodious 
frame  residence,  and  the  other  accessories 
and  conveniences  of  a  model  farm  were 
added.  After  twenty  years,  Mr.  Ellis 
sold  his  first  purchase  to  his  sons,  and 
became  the  owner  of  his  present  farm,  a 
tract  of  eighty  acres,  on  which  stands  a 
comfortable  brick  residence.  His  land  is 
operated  by  his  sons.  In  the  family  were 
ten  children:  Elizabeth,  Amy,  Norman, 
Adelaide,  Frank,  Fred,  Helen,  Mary, 
Ellsworth  G.  and  George.  The  parents 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and 
have  lived  consistent  lives,  which  have 
won  them  the  confidence  and  high  regard 
of  all  with  whom  they  have  been  brought 
in  contact.  Mr.  Ellis  votes  with  the  Re- 
publican party,    and  has  ever  been  a  pro- 


gressive and  public-spirited  citizen,  a  val- 
ued addition  to  any  community. 

On  September  22,  1861,  he  man- 
ifested his  loyalty  by  offering  his  services 
to  the  government  in  defense  of  the 
Union,  and  was  assigned  to  Company  E, 
Ninth  N.  Y.  V.  C.  The  regiment  was 
sent  to  Washington,  and  for  one  month 
participated  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown, 
after  which  Mr.  Ellis  spent  two  weeks  on 
an  ammunition  vessel,  returning  then  to 
his  company.  He  later  received  an  hon- 
orable discharge  on  account  of  sickness, 
and  his  case  was  pronounced  incurable; 
but  in  a  great  measure  he  regained  his 
health,  although  he  is  still  a  sufferer,  and 
in  consequence  receives  a  pension.  One 
of  the  faithful  "boys  in  blue,"  the  coun- 
try owes  to  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for 
valiant  service. 


RICHARD    ASH  (deceased)  was 
born  in  Devonshire,  England,  July 
22,  1 82 1,  and  was  a  son  of  Will- 
iam Ash,   a  gardener,  whose  em- 
ployer was  a  member  of  Parliament. 

In  his  native  land  our  subject  was 
reared  and  educated,  though  his  school 
privileges  were  somewhat  limited.  After 
he  had  reached  mature  years  he  was  mar- 
ried, February  7,  1848,  in  Devonshire, 
the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Mary 
Veal,  who  was  born  in  that  county  Janu- 
ary 23,  1828.  They  began  their  domes- 
tic life  in  England,  where  Mr.  Ash  fol- 
lowed farming  and  teaming  for  about  five 
years,  and  then,  in  1853,  emigrated  alone 
to  the  New  World.  Landing  in  Canada  in 
the  month  of  August,  he  located  about  a 
mile  and  three  quarters  from  St.  Thomas, 
Ontario,  where  he  operated  a  farm  on 
shares,  and  in  the  following  spring  was 
joined  by  his  wife  and  their  daughter, 
Mary  J.,  who  died  August  2,  1854.  Five 
children  had  been  born  to  them  in  Eng- 
land, but  three  died  ere  the  emigration  of 
the  father,  and  one  after  he  had  left  the 
old  home.  Mrs.  Ash  had  joined  her  hus- 
band at   St.  Thomas,  Canada,    and  they 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


remained  in  tliat  ]ilace  until  tiie  autumn 
of  1859,  when  they  came  to  ^^'isconsin. 
The  severe  winter  weather  caused  them  to 
pause  temporarily  near  Fond  du  Lac,  al- 
though their  destination  was  Door  county, 
they  being  in  search  of  some  of  the  land 
of  this  locality  of  which  they  had  heard 
from  fishermen  who  lived  near  them  in 
Canada,  and  who  spent  the  summer  sea- 
sons fishing  in  White  Fish  Bay,  Door 
county.  During  the  winter  of  1859-60, 
Mr.  Ash  chopped  wood  at  twenty-five 
•cents  per  cord,  and  in  the  spring  of  the 
latter  year  came  to  Door  county,  where 
he  purchased  from  the  government  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  7,  Sevastopol 
township.  It  was  all  new  land,  entirely 
unimpro\ed,  and  he  erected  thereon  the 
first  house  and  turned  the  first  furrow,  he 
and  his  family  living  with  a  neighbor  until 
a  cabin  was  built.  (lamc  of  all  kinds  was 
plenty,  including  deer,  while  wolves  were 
often  heard  howling  at  night,  and  only  a 
trail  led  from  Sturgeon  Bay  to  this  part 
of  the  county,  no  public  roads  having 
been  made.  Mr.  Ash  at  once  begaii  to 
clear  his  land,  and  also  had  to  work  else- 
where in  order  to  get  money  to  support 
his  family,  being  employed  by  Mr.  Clark 
of  Detroit,  Mich.,  who  conducted  fishing 
along  the  lake. 

On  August  16,  1862,  Mr.  Ash  en- 
listed in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  in  defense 
of  the  Union,  was  assigned  to  Compan}' 
F,  Thirty-secontl  Wis.  \'.  I.,  and  served 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  never 
wounded,  but  was  sick  for  some  time  in 
hospital  and  during  his  absence  the  wife 
and  children  passed  through  untold  hard- 
ships, Mrs.  Ash  supporting  her  family  by 
her  own  labor  for  one  year  and  two 
months.  In  the  fall  of  1865,  in  order  to 
give  their  children  better  school  privi- 
leges, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ash  removed  to  a 
farm  on  Section  4,  Sevastopol  township, 
he  securing  eighty  acres  of  land  under  the 
Homestead  Act.  This  was  also  an  un- 
developed tract;  but  under  his  able  man- 
agement it  did  not  continue  in  that 
condition    long,    being    transformed    into 


rich  and  fertile  fields.  Mr.  Ash's  health 
was  never  the  same  after  he  left  the  army, 
and  on  April  16,  1891,  he  departed  this 
life,  and  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  Bay  Side 
Cemetery.  He  attended  the  Methodist 
Church,  in  politics  was  a  stalwart  Repub- 
lican, and  served  both  as  justice  of  the 
peace  and  supervisor,  in  which  positions 
he  proved  a  capable  official,  although  he 
accepted  them  against  his  will. 

After  coming  to  the  New  World,  the 
following  children  came  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ash,  all  born  in  the  United  States,  save 
Charlotte  E. ,  whose  birth  occurred  in 
Canada:  Charlotte  E.,  now  the  wife  of 
William  Bassford,  of  Rapid  River,  Mich. ; 
Eliza  Ann,  who  died  at  the  age  of  nine 
years  and  eleven  months;  Richard,  a 
farmer,  living  near  White  Fish  bay; 
Mary  J.,  wife  of  Martin  Simons,  a  resi- 
dent of  Sevastopol  township;  Hannah, 
wife  of  John  Walker,  who  operates  the 
Ash  homestead;  and  William,  who  carried 
on  agricultural  pursuits  in  Sevastopol 
township.  After  her  husband's  death, 
Mrs.  Ash  conducted  the  farm  of  eighty 
acres  and  successfully  managed  her  busi- 
ness interests  until  1893,  when  she  leased 
her  land.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Wo- 
man's Relief  Corps;  an  earnest  worker  in 
its  ranks,  and  is  a  most  estimable  lady, 
one  who  has  won  many  warm  friends  in 
the  community. 


HON.  JOHN  FETZER.  of  Forest- 
ville.  Door  county,  is  not  only  a 
leading  and  influential  citizen  of 
the  county,  but  is  widely  and 
favorably  known  throughout  the  entire 
Slate  as  one  of  her  most  distinguished 
men,  and  is  now  serving  in  the  General 
Assembly  as  State  Senator  from  the 
First  District  of  Wisconsin.  The  com- 
mercial interests  of  the  community  in 
which  he  lives  find  in  him  a  worthy  rep- 
resentative, and  the  history  of  his  adopted 
county  would  be  incomplete  without  the 
record  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Fetzer  was  born  in  Hesse-Darm- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


519 


stadt,  Germany,  July  8,  1840,  and  is  a 
son  of  Peter  and  Margaret  fPitz)  Fetzer, 
natives  of  the  same  country,  who  in  1850 
took  passage  on  a  sailing  vessel  at  Ant- 
werp— the  "  Edwina  " — which  after  a 
voyage  of  twenty-one  days  dropped  an- 
chor in  the  harbor  of  New  York.  Our 
travelers  thence  proceeded  to  Albany,  N. 
Y. ,  from  there  by  rail  to  Buffalo,  and  by 
boat  from  that  lake  port  to  Manitowoc, 
Wis.,  where  they  arrived  in  June,  1850, 
just  one  month  after  landing  on  the 
shores  of  the  New  World.  They  located 
upon  a  farm,  and  the  father,  who  was  in 
well-to-do  circumstances,  brought  from 
Germany  four  men  and  one  woman.  He 
built  the  first  frame  residence  and  barn 
in  Manitowoc  county,  and  si.K  weeks  after 
reaching  his  destination  he  had  forty 
acres  of  his  land  cleared.  He  brought 
from  Milwaukee  on  two  different  occasions 
seventy-five  cows,  which  he  sold  to  the 
settlers,  who  paid  him  in  farm  labor,  and 
in  this  way  he  improved  his  land,  making 
of  it  a  valuable  farm.  On  the  ist  of  April, 
I  85  I,  he  had  an  opportunity  of  becoming 
an  American  citizen;  but  as  this  was  not 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  land 
he  declined  to  accept  the  ofTer,  and  on 
the  22d  of  September,  1856,  he  legally 
obtained  the  right  of  franchise,  and  from 
that  time  on  was  a  true  and  loyal  citizen 
of  the  United  States.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  Forestville,  Wis.,  in  1878,  while 
visiting  his  son  John,  and  his  wife  died 
on  the  old  homested  farm  in  1882.  Our 
subject  is  the  eldest  of  their  living  chil- 
dren; Frank,  the  second,  was  reared  in 
Manitowoc  county,  and  in  1863,  removed 
to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  now  re- 
sides; Jacob  remained  in  Manitowoc 
county  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  enlisted  in  Company  B,  First  Heavy 
Artillery,  for  three  years,  and  did  service 
in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  after  which 
he  acted  as  a  scout  for  four  years  in  the 
M'est,  and  then  went  to  Louisiana,  where 
his  death  occurred;  Anna  is  the  wife  of 
Conrad  Jackel,  proprietor  of  the  "Co- 
lumbian House,"  one  of  the  leading  hotels 


I 


of  Manitowoc,  Wis. ;  Emma  became  the 
wife  of  John  Stundt,  proprietor  of  the 
"Stundt  House,"  also  of  Manitowoc,  and 
died  in  1890  at  the  age  of  thirty  years. 

John  Fetzer  was  a  lad  of  nine  sum- 
mers when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
America.  He  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Manitowoc  county,  and 
for  one  year  attended  the  high  school 
in  Manitowoc,  after  which  he  worked 
upon  a  farm  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Civil  war.  In  June,  1861,  he  responded 
to  the  country's  call  for  300,000  volun- 
teers by  enlisting  in  the  Ninth  Wis.  V.  I., 
three-years'  service,  was  mustered  in  at 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  October  9,  and  with 
his  regiment,  which  was  assigned  to  the 
Western  army,  under  command  of  Gen. 
Sigel,  went  to  Missouri,  where  they  re- 
ceived their  arms  in  January,  1S62. 
They  then  proceeded  to  Leavenworth, 
I-vansas  City  and  Fort  Scott,  Kans;  thence 
on  the  Indian  e.xpedition,  returning  to 
Fort  Scott,  in  July,  1862.  They  met 
the  enemy  in  battle  at  Newtonia,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1862,  subsequently  took  part 
in  the  Price  campaign;  then  went  to  Ten- 
nessee and  Mississippi,  and,  later,  to 
Arkansas,  participating  in  the  battle  of 
Camden.  At  the  battle  of  Saline  Bot- 
tom, Mr.  Fetzer  was  wounded  by  a  gun 
shot  in  the  right  breast  and  arm,  and 
when  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  Manitowoc  county, 
being  honorably  discharged  in  Milwaukee 
in  December,  1864.  He  had  been  pro- 
moted on  the  battle  field  at  Sabine  Cross 
Roads  to  captain,  and  in  April,  1866,  re- 
ceived his  commission,  signed  by  Gov. 
Lucius  Fairchild,  and  given  for  meritori- 
ous conduct  on  the  field  of  battle. 

In  Manitowoc  county,  in  1866,  Mr. 
Fetzer  married  Miss  Anna  Fetzer,  who 
was  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt  as  were 
also  her  parents,  Frank  and  Eliza  (Fifer) 
Fetzer,  who  in  March,  1866,  became  res- 
idents of  Manitowoc  county.  Wis. ,  where 
they  spent  their  remaining  days,  the  father 
dying  in  1888,  the  mother  in  1893.  They 
reared  a  family  of  three  children,  namely: 


520 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Henry,  who  is  married  and  resides  in 
Sturfjeon  Bay,  where  he  is  serving  as 
cashier  in  a  bank;  Laura,  and  Anna.  In 
April,  1867,  Mr.  Fetzer  removed  with  his 
wife  to  Ahnapee,  Wis.,  where  he  estab- 
lished a  foundry  and  machine  shop,  but  in 
August  of  the  same  year  he  sold  out  and 
came  to  Forestville,  locating  on  the  farm 
which  has  since  been  his  home.  Here  he 
embarked  in  general  merchandising  and 
soon  built  up  a  ^ood  business.  He  also 
engaged  in  buying  posts  and  ties,  and  in 
1872  established  a  sawmill  which  proved 
a  very  profitable  investment.  The  busi- 
ness steadily  increased,  employment  was 
furnished  to  some  fifty  men,  and  the  daily 
output  rose  to  25,000  feet  of  lumber  and 
150,000  shingles.  He  carried  on  that 
business  until  1878,  and  is  now  interested 
in  the  lumber  business,  as  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  Young  &  Fetzer,  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  lumber  at  Jackson- 
port,  Egg  Harbor  and  Horse  Shoe  Bay, 
Wis.  In  T877  he  built  a  flouring-mill  on 
Wolf  river,  which  he  enlarged  in  1887, 
supplying  it  with  all  modern  machinery. 
The  main  building  is  28  .\  64,  35  feet  high; 
the  anne.x  is  26  x  26  feet,  16  feet  in 
height,  and  the  mill  has  a  capacity  of 
about  75  barrels  per  day.  The  flour  is 
made  bj'  the  roller  process,  and  being  of 
a  most  excellent  quality  finds  a  ready  sale 
on  the  market. 

In  his  political  views,  Mr.  Fetzer  is 
a  prominent  member  of  the  Democratic 
party.  With  exception  of  one  year  he 
served  as  chairman  of  the  town  board  of 
Forestville  township  twenty-seven  years; 
was  chairman  of  the  county  board  three 
years,  and  has  been  school  clerk  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  He  is  also  justice 
of  the  peace,  an  incumbency  he  has  filled 
twenty-seven  years,  and  in  1 880  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  Forestville,  which 
office  he  held  continuously  until  July, 
1889,  when  he  resigned;  in  July,  1894, 
however,  he  was  re-established  in  the 
office,  and  is  now  filling  the  position.  In 
1884  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  by 
a  vote  of  fifty-two  when   the  Republican 


majority  was  Soo,  and  in  1 890  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate  by  a  vote  of 
120,  a  fact  which  indicates  his  personal 
popularity,  and  the  confidence  which  was 
reposed  in  him  by  his  fellow  townsmen 
and  all  who  know  him. 

Socially  Mr.  Fetzer  is  a  member,  and 
for  ten  years  served  as  commander,  of 
William  A.  Nelson  Post,  No.  97,  G.  .\. 
R.,  Forestville,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
staff  of  National  Commander  Warner,  of 
Missouri.  He  belongs  to  Key  Lodge, 
No.  272,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Ahnapee. 
Wis. ;  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Her- 
mann, and  served  as  grand  president  of 
that  order  for  two  years.  He  is  a  director 
of  the  Ahnapee  &  W'estern  railroad;  sec- 
retary and  director  of  the  Frankfort  Land 
Company  of  Frankfort,  Tcnn.,  of  which 
G.  W.  Young,  of  Ahnapee,  is  president, 
Victor  Schlitz,  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  vice- 
president,  and  F.  S.  Anderson,  of  Chi- 
cago, treasurer.  Mr.  Fetzer  is  one  of  the 
representative  men  of  Door  county,  promi- 
nent in  all  public  affairs,  and  his  political 
career  and  private  life  are  alike  above  re- 
proach. He  has  been  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  upbuilding  of  his  locality,  and 
the  life  and  success  of  Forestville  is  due 
in  no  small  degree  to  his  efforts. 


CHARLES  H.  BRANDES  (de- 
ceased). Among  the  best  known 
citizens  of  Kewaunee  county  none, 
perhaps,  enjoyed  more  populari- 
ty, or  was  more  highly  esteemed  for  his 
kindness  of  heart  and  genuine  unselfish 
benevolence,  than  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Mr.  Brandes  was  born  December  19, 
1830,  in  Kleinhofen,  Hanover,  Prussia, 
near  the  Braunschweig  line,  a  son  of 
Herman  Brandes,  a  gardener  of  Klein- 
hofen. Our  subject  being  left  an  orphan 
at  the  early  age  of  ten  years,  he  was 
reared  at  the  home  of  an  uncle,  after- 
ward proceeding  to  Berlin,  Germany, 
whence,  in  1847,  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  he  came  to  the  United  States  along 


COJdMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


521 


with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carl  Lorenz,  with 
whom  he  was  intimately  acquainted. 
Landing  in  New  York,  the  little  party 
journeyed  to  Albany,  where  Mr.  Brandes 
learned  the  trade  of  engineer,  which  he 
subsequently  followed  for  some  years  on 
the  Hudson  river  and,  later,  on  the  great 
lakes,  passing  his  unemployed  time,  es- 
pecially winters,  at  the  home  of  the  Lor- 
enzes,  in  Albany,  In  1856  he  came  to 
Kewaunee,  Wis.,  and  built  the  "Steam- 
boat Hotel,"  now  known  as  the  "Erich- 
sen  Hotel,"  conducting  same  about  ten 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  sold 
out,  and,  engaging  in  the  brewing  busi- 
ness, carried  on  a  brewery  in  Kewaunee 
until  1880,  when,  on  account  of  impaired 
health,  he  sold  out  and  retired  to  his  farm 
of  forty  acres,  within  the  city  limits. 
Having  always  led  an  active  life,  how- 
ever, he  was  not  long  content  to  remain 
passive;  so  purchasing  the  "  Read  Hotel  " 
property  in  Kewaunee,  he  improved  it  at 
a  considerable  outlay,  making  it  a  first- 
class  hostelry,  and  conducted  same  up  to 
his  death,  which  occurred  May  16,  1893. 
He  was  an  honest,  upright  citizen,  ever  a 
friend  to  the  poor  and  needy,  and  those 
who  were  in  his  employ  always  felt  that 
he  had  their  interest  at  heart  as  well  as 
his  own,  and  he  was  recognized  by  all  as 
in  every  sense  a  man  whose  thoughts  and 
actions  were  for  others,  not  for  himself 
alone. 

In  October,  1858,  at  Kewaunee,  Mr. 
Brandes  was  married  to  Miss  Augusta 
Lorenz,  the  younger  of  the  two  daugh- 
ters born  to  his  old  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lorenz,  whose  elder  daughter,  Bertha, 
was  married  in  i860  to  George  Grimmer, 
the  capitalist,  of  Kewaunee.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Brandes  were  born  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Bertha,  now  Mrs.  Mc- 
Mahon;  Augusta,  now  Mrs.  Cowell ; 
Charles;  Edward;  and  Martha,  who  was 
summoned  from  earth  in  the  heydey  of 
her  girlhood,  but  nineteen  summers  hav- 
ing passed  lightly  over  her  head.  Mr. 
Brandes  was  an  active  member  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  P.,  and  assisted  in  the  organiza- 


tion of  the  lodge  at  Kewaunee.  Politically 
he  was  a  Democrat,  but  never  a  partisan, 
and  for  many  years  was  a  member  of 
the  city  council,  which  position  he  was 
holding  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His 
widow  is  still  a  resident  of  Kewaunee,  en- 
joying in  an  eminent  degree  the  highest 
esteem  and  respect  of  the  entire  com- 
munity, among  whom  she  has  lived  so 
many  years,  well-known  for  her  many 
virtues  and  acts  of  charity. 


EDWARD    BRANDES  (deceased), 
late    proprietor    of    the     "Read 
House,"   Kewaunee,  was  born  in 
that  city  Pebruary  12,   1866,    son 
of  Charles  Brandes,  Senior. 

In  1883,  in  the  month  of  June,  he 
graduated  from  the  city  high  school,  and 
the  excellent  education  there  acquired 
was  supplemented  by  a  course  in  the 
Spencerian  College  at  Milwaukee.  On 
his  return  to  Kewaunee  he  went  into  the 
drug  business,  in  which  he  prospered  for 
about  five  years,  taking,  during  this  per- 
iod, a  course  in  pharmacy  at  the  State 
University  at  Madison.  When  he  re- 
linquished the  drug  trade  it  was  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  his  father  in  his  hotel, 
a  very  popular  hostelry  of  Kewaunee,  in 
which  he  became  as  popular  as  the  house 
itself  was.  In  this  capacity  he  remained 
until  the  death  of  his  father,  in  May, 
1893,  when  the  entire  management  of  the 
house  fell  to  his  hands,  and  he  remained 
the  congenial,  affable  and  accommodating 
proprietor  up  to  the  time  of  his  decease, 
March  3,  1895.  Pleasant  and  obliging 
as  he  was  as  a  druggist,  he  excelled  as  a 
host.  No  comfort  for  his  guests  was 
overlooked,  and,  once  lodged  in  his  house, 
the  visitor  felt  himself  at  home,  and  his 
appetite  provoked  by  the  excellence  of 
the  viands.  In  fact.  Nature  made  him  a 
host.  Mr.  Brandes  found  time,  however, 
to  aid  in  the  industrial  progress  of  his 
native  city,  and  became  vice-president  of 
and  a  director  in  the  Kewaunee  Purni- 
ture  Co.      In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat, 


522 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


though  not  at  all  a  bitter  partisan,  and 
fraternally  he  was  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum. 

On  November  i8,  1890,  Mr.  Brandes 
was  married  to  Miss  Frances  Flentje,  a 
natixe  of  Manitowoc  count}-.  Wis.,  and 
a  daughter  of  one  of  its  earliest  settlers, 
and  she  still  resides  at  Kewaunee,  though 
she  does  not  conduct  the  hotel. 


M 


A  Y  N  AND    T  I  L  L  O  T  S  O  N 

P  A  R  K  E  R,  senior  member  of 
the  distinguished  law  firm  of 
Parker  &  Decker,  Ahnapee,  and 
the  genial  mayor  of  that  wide-awake  city, 
is  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  born  in  the 
village  of  Roxbury,  Cheshire  county, 
October  30,   1850. 

James  M.  L.  Parker,  father  of  our 
subject,  was  of  Massachusetts  birth,  in 
that  State  being  educated  and  taught  the 
trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner,  which  he 
followed  there  successfully,  later  in  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  married  in  the 
East  to  Miss  Polly  H.  Kidder,  by  whom 
he  had  five  children,  namely:  James  A. ; 
Amine  C,  living,  wife  of  George  Fowler, 
of  Forestville  fshe  taught  the  first  school 
in  Ahnapee,  and  her  marriage  was  the 
first  one  celebrated  in  that  then  village); 
Nancy;  Roselle,  and  Maynard  T..  our 
subject  being  the  only  member  of  the 
family  now  living,  except  his  sister 
Amine  C.  James  A.,  the  eldest,  was  lost 
in  a  whaling  expedition  to  the  Arctic  seas, 
the  vessel  on  which  he  set  out  never  hav- 
ing been  heard  of  since.  About  the  year 
1854,  James  M.  L.  Parker,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  children,  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, and  locating  in  Racine,  during  the 
following  winter  worked  as  machinist.  In 
the  spring  of  1855  he  moved  to  Wolf  River 
(now  in  the  city  of  Ahnapeej,  Kewau- 
nee county,  and  here  for  some  years  fol- 
lowed his  regular  trade,  that  of  carpenter 
and  builder,  among  other  works  of  im- 
jirovement  constructing  the  bridge  pier. 
Jn  1 86 1  he  removed  to  Forestville,  Door 
county,  where  he  became  interested  in  a 


sawmill,  forming  a  partnership  with  David 
Youngs,  an  old  settler,  in  this  industrw 
and  conducting  same  successfully  until 
1873,  in  which  year  Mr.  Parker  sold 
his  interest  in  the  mill,  and  retired 
into  private  life  in  Ahnapee.  He  died  in 
Forestville,  Wis.,  at  the  home  of  his 
daughter  Amine  C,  in  the  fall  of  1879  at 
the  age  of  sixty-seven  years,  esteemed 
and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him,  as 
an  honorable  and  trustworthy  man,  quiet 
and  unassuming,  yet  one  who  made  him- 
self felt  in  the  community,  and  did  much 
toward  the  upbuilding  of  the  city  of  his 
adoption.  He  was  one  of  the  first  harbor 
commissioners  of  Ahnapee,  to  which  body 
the  city  is  indebted  for  its  fine  harbor, 
the  si  in-  qtia  iioii  of  any  lake  port;  while 
a  resident  of  Forestville,  Door  count}-, 
he  served  as  town  clerk.  In  religious 
faith  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of 
the  Baptish  Church.  She  was  a  true 
type  oi  a  noble  New  England  woman, 
with  an  influence  for  good  over  all  she 
came  in  contact  with.  She  was  called  to 
her  long  home  in  1867  at  the  age  of  fift\- 
seven  years,  leaving  the  impress  of  her 
beautiful  character  on  her  sur\-iving  chil- 
dren, her  youngest  son,  Maynard,  espec- 
ially, having  in  a  marked  degree  inher- 
ited many  of  her  amiable  traits. 

The  subject  proper  of 'these  lines  was 
about  four  years  old  when  the  family 
came  from  New  Hamjishire  to  Wisconsin, 
and  his  boyhood  years  were  necessarily 
passed  at  Ahnapee  and  Forestville,  at  the 
public  schools  of  which  then  villages  he 
received  a  fairh-  liberal  literary  education, 
enjoying  also  the  advantage  of  being 
strongly  encouraged  in  his  efforts  at  school 
by  a  well-read,  thinking  father,  in  addition 
to  which  he  was  abl\-  assisted  in  his  stud- 
ies by  his  highlj'-educated  sister  Amine. 
To  her  he  was  indebted  in  a  great  meas- 
ure for  his  ability  to  enter  the  arena  of 
school  teaching,  which  he  did  at  an  early 
age,  teaching  some  thirteen  terms  in  all 
in  various  districts  in  Kewaunee  and  Door 
counties,  at  the  same  time  finding  an  op- 
portunity of  attending  Ripon  College  a 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


523- 


couple  of  terms.  While  engaged  at  his 
scholastic  duties  he  commenced  the  study 
of  law,  borrowing  some  books  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  from  time  to  time  receiving  wise 
counsel  from  his  friend  Judge  Rufus  L. 
Wing,  of  Kewaunee.  In  October,  1879, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  his  examina- 
tion being  held  by  Judge  McLean,  at  Ke- 
waunee, and  he  has  since  practiced  his 
chosen  profession. 

In  I  88 1  Mr.  Parker,  being  induced  to 
take  an  interest  in  the  Ahnapee  Record,  a 
Republican  weekly  newspaper  published 
in  that  city,  he  became  its  editor  and 
proprietor,  and  as  such  conducted  same 
until  1884,  when  he  sold  out  to  D.  W. 
Stebbins,  and  has  since  then  exclusively 
devoted  himself  to  his  law  practice,  in 
which  he  enjoys  a  lucrative  clientage.  In 
1890  the  present  firm  of  Parker  &  Decker 
was  established,  and  in  addition  to  their 
regular  law  business  they  are  solicitors 
for  the  Ahnapee  &  Western  Railway 
Compan}'.  Mr.  Parker  is  also  identified 
with  several  business  enterprises,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  Ahnapee 
Veneer  &  Seating  Co. ,  of  which  he  is  a 
stockholder  and  present  secretary;  is  also 
engaged  in  insurance  and  real-estate  busi- 
ness, his  many  and  diverse  interests  all 
reflecting  the  highest  credit  on  his  ad- 
ministrative ability,  acumen  and  sound 
judgment.  He  has  been  a  \ery  impor- 
tant factor  in  the  building  up  of  the 
thriving  and  bustling  little  city  where  he 
has  established  his  home,  and  has  held 
several  offices  of  trust  and  honor;  for 
many  years  he  was  clerk  of  Ahnapee 
while  it  was  a  village  and  city,  I'espec- 
tively;  was  also  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  has  been  chief  of  the  Ahnapee  Fire 
Department  ever  since  the  present  organ- 
ization was  effected,  in  which  he  materi- 
ally assisted,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
first  fire  company  of  the  place.  For  two 
terms  he  served  as  city  attorney;  also 
held  the  office  of  district  attorney  by  ap- 
pointment from  Gov.  Rusk,  and  he  is 
now  serving  his  seventh  term  as  mayor  of 
the  city  of  Ahnapee.      In  his  political  pref- 


erences he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  socially 
a  member  of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  K.  of  P. 

On  July  I,  1880,  Maynard  T.  Parker 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary 
A.  Overbeck,  daughter  of  Rev.  H.  Over- 
beck,  Sr. ,  of  Ahnapee,  an  honored  pio- 
neer minister  of  the  Gospel.  To  this 
union  have  been  born  three  children,  to 
wit;      Mabel  C. ,  Edgar  J.  and  lone  L. 

The  branch  of  the  Parker  family  to 
which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  belongs 
is  lineally  descended  from  Capt.  John 
Parker,  who  was  a  Minute  man  in  com- 
mand of  a  company  of  militia  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Lexington,  the  first  battle  of  the 
Revolutionary  war.  It  is  recorded  in  his- 
torv  that  in  his  company  a  cousin,  also 
named  Parker,  was  killed  in  this  battle, 
and  that  his  was  the  first  life  lost  and  first 
blood  shed  in  that  struggle. 


HENRY  B.  STEPHENSON,  one 
of  the  enterprising  and  progressive 
citizens  of  Door  county,  and  who 
is  also  numbered  among  her  hon- 
ored pioneer  settlers,  was  born  September 
28,  1830,  in  Hull,  England,  a  son  of 
Henry  and  Mary  Ann  (Sanderson)  Steph- 
enson. When  onl\'  four  years  of  age  he 
was  brought  to  America  by  his  parents, 
who  first  located  in  Canada,  subsequently 
removing  to  Ontario  county,  N.  Y. , 
where  our  subject  made  his  home  until 
1856.  In  the  meantime,  in  September, 
1852.  in  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. ,  he  married 
Jane  Orr,  who  was  born  in  Londonderry, 
Ireland,  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Jane 
(Mason)  Orr.  When  a  bright  maiden 
of  fifteen  she  crossed  the  Atlantic  alone, 
and  went  to  make  her  home  with  relatives 
in  Canandaigua,  N.  Y.,  where  she  met 
and  married  Mr.  Stephenson. 

At  the  time  our  subject  owned  a  small 
tract  of  land  in  the  Empire  State,  but 
worked  most  of  the  time  for  others.  In 
the  fall  of  1856,  with  his  family,  consist- 
ing of  his  wife  and  their  two  daughters, 
Mary  and  Ellen,  he  came  to  the  West,  lo- 
cating in  Wisconsin,  then  a    new    State 


524 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


offering  many  opportunities  to  a  man  of 
limited  means.  Histiiree  brothers,  John, 
Robert  and  Septimus,  were  located  in 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Door  county.  He  came 
by  steamer  from  Collingwood  to  Sheboy- 
gan, Wis.,  thence  by  stage  to  Fond  du 
Lac,  then  by  steamer  to  Menasha,  where 
he  hired  a  team  and  drove  to  Green  Bay, 
and  then  took  a  sailing  vessel  for  Sturgeon 
Bay,  this  circuitous  route  consuming 
nearly  two  weeks.  Mr.  Stephenson  ar- 
rived in  Sturgeon  Bay  with  no  capital 
save  a  strong  determination  to  succeed, 
and  he  at  once  secured  work  with  Robert 
Graham  in  getting  out  pine  lumber 
through  the  winter,  and  in  the  following 
spring  found  employment  in  a  sawmill. 
His  wife  during  that  winter  kept  a  board- 
ing house  for  the  lumbermen,  and  thus 
aided  in  the  support  of  the  family.  In  the 
fall  of  1857  Mr.  Stephenson  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Section  26,  Sevas- 
topol township — a  wild  tract,  upon  which 
not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  or  an  im- 
provement made,  but  with  characteristic 
energy  he  began  its  development,  and 
soon  transformed  it  into  rich  and  fertile 
fields.  He  erected  the  first  abode  on  the 
farm  occupied  by  a  white  man,  the  struc- 
ture, however,  being  little  more  than  a 
shanty.  He  worked  his  farm  as  he  could, 
but  during  much  of  the  time  in  tho.se 
early  da3s  he  was  abliged  to  be  away 
from  home  to  earn  money  to  provide  for 
the  maintenance  of  his  family.  In  1865 
the  first  house  was  replaced  by  a  more 
substantial  one  and  the  work  of  improve- 
ment and  development  was  carried  on,  so 
that  in  course  of  time  the  richly  cul- 
tivated farm  bore  little  resemblance  to 
the  timbered  tract  he  had  pre-empted. 
One-half  of  it  is  under  cultivation,  and 
the  buildings  upon  the  place  are  monu- 
ments to  his  own  thrift  and  enterprise. 
In  1 892  he  erected  a  new  residence,  doing 
most  all  of  the  work  himself,  and  the 
other  buildings  are  in  keeping  with  the 
pleasant  home.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steph- 
enson have  been  born  children  as  follows, 
Ellen,   who   became  the    wife    of    Frank 


Kimber,  and  died  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. ; 
Mary,  wife  of  Ole  Faulk,  who  died  in 
Sturgeon  Bay;  Lewis,  a  farmer  of  Sevas- 
topol township;  May,  wife  or  John  Daly, 
of  Menominee,  Mich. ;  Effie,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Herman  Landon,  and  died  at 
Thompson,  Mich. ;  and  Herbert  and  Dora, 
both  at  home. 

Mr.  Stephenson  supported  the  Re- 
publican party  until  1876,  since  which 
time  he  has  been  bound  b}'  no  party  ties, 
although  he  is  now  in  hearty  sympathy 
with  the  Populist  movement.  He  has 
served  as  chairman  of  the  town  board  of 
supervisors,  was  town  treasurer,  served 
for  twelve  years  as  town  clerk,  and  is 
now  school  clerk,  a  position  he  filled 
for  some  time,  and  then  resigned;  but  the 
people  again  called  him  to  that  office. 
He  is  now  serving  his  second  year  as 
treasurer  of  the  Mutual  Insurance  Com- 
pan}'  of  Sevastopol,  and  for  several  years 
has  acted  as  agent  for  that  company. 
He  has  a  wide  acquaintance  throughout 
the  town  and  county,  for  he  has  not  only 
held  the  offices  above  mentioned,  but  for 
twenty  years  was  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  for  ten  years  was  postmaster  in 
charge  of  Malakoff  postoffice,  which  was 
in  his  own  home.  He  and  his  wife  are 
highly  respected  people,  holding  an  envi- 
able position  in  social  circles,  and  in  the 
historj'  of  their  adopted  county  they  well 
deserve  mention. 


ON.  JOHN  WATTAWA.    In  look- 


ing  around  for    men  of  vigorous 


u 

I  I  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 


ui/^2l-c/dZ.4^^^n^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


527 


should  have  its  pubhc  record  is  pecuHarly 
proper,  because  a  knowledge  of  men 
whose  substantial  fame  rests  upon  their 
attainments,  character  and  success,  must 
necessarily  exert  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  1820.  They 
were  married  in  Bohemia  in  1837,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  about  the  year 
1855,  making  their  first  New-World  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  mother, 
who  passed  from  earth  in  1892,  leaving 
eight  children:  two  sons — John,  our  sub- 
ject, and  Charles  Wattawa,  an  attorney 
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  enviable  posi- 
tion. At  the  age  of  ten  j^ears  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     vears    old    he    was    elected 

30 


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- 
mencing the  practice  of  his  profession 
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.  Wattaw-a  has  grown  up 
with  the  city,  and  delights  and  prides  him- 
self in  her  growth  and  prosperit}'.  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 
1 894.  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- 


528 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPmCAL   RECORD. 


nmnding  presence,  he  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  men  in  his  part  of  tlie  State,  one 
for  whom,  being  yet  a  comparatively 
young  man,  the  future  holds  high  honors 
in  store.  His  career  in  Kewaunee  has 
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  I-Cewaunee  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 
svibject  has  been  an  earnest  worker,  and 
was  one  of  the  organizers  and  the  first 
president  of  the  Advancement  Association, 
the  Kewaunee  I""urniture  Company,  and 
Bohemian  Printing  Company.  In  Sep- 
teml)er,  1893,  l^^'  ^\'<i^  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.  26^,  Kewaunee,  and  of  the 
C.  S.  P.  s. 

On  January  S,  1887,  at  Manitowoc, 
Wis.,  Hon.  John  Wattawa  and  Miss 
Catherine  Walsh,  an  amiable,  talented 
and  highly  educated  lady,  were  united  in 
marriage.  She  was  lH)rn  April  24.  1861, 
at  Two  Rivers,  Manitowoc,  Co.,  Wis., 
daughter  of  Feli.v  and  IJridget  (Comer) 
\\'alsh,  nati\es  of  Ireland,  the  father 
born  in  County  .\rmagh,  the  mother  at 
Castlebar,  Count}-  Mayo;  they  were  mar- 
ried, in  1853,  at  Manitowoc  Kapids.Wis. , 
and  had  a  family  of  nine  children,  eight 
of  whom  were  educated  to  become  teach- 
ers— in  which  jirofession  Mrs.  Wattawa, 
as  an  educator  of  great  superiorit\',  held 
prominent  place  some  five  years — three  of 
the  sons  subse(iuentl\'  taking  uj)  law: 
Henry  C,  now  practicing  in  Kedfield,  S. 
Dak.;  Thomas  J.  in  Helena,  Mont.,  and 
John  in  Kewaunee.  I'-eli.x  Walsh  was  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Two  Rivers, hav- 
ing removed  thither  about  the  \ear  1845, 
then  but  a  bo)-,  becoming  a  prominent 
business  man  and  one  of  the  most  influ- 
ential and  highlv  honored  citizens  of  the 
place,  and  dying  there  in  1891.      He  was 


a  strong  advocate  of  the  public-school 
system,  and  did  nnich  toward  the  building 
up  of  Two  Rivers,  and  the  furthering  of 
all  enterprises  tending  to  the  advance- 
ment and  prosperity  of  the  community  at 
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, 
1 891;  Katherine  1*2.,  born  December  21, 
1892,  and  Esther,  born  December  29, 
I  894. 

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,  connnanding  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 
oli\e  branches.  True  to  his  family, faith- 
ful to  his  friends,  generous  to  his  oppo- 
nents, Hon.  John  Wattawa  justly  enjo\s 
the  distinction  of  being  esteemed  by  all 
alike  as  an  honorable,  upright  citizen. 


CHARLES  GRISWOLD  BOALT. 
Among  the  prominent  representa- 
tive citiziMis  of  Kewaunee  c(Hnity, 
who  by  their  activity  and  influence 
have  done  so  much  to  aiivance  the  inter- 
ests of  the  city  of  Ahnapee,  is  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  we  here  record.  He 
was  born  .\pril  19.  1835,  in  Korwalk, 
Ohio.      The  flrst  ancestors  of  the   family 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


529 


in  America  came  from  England  and  set- 
tled in  Norwalk,  Conn. ,  before  the  Revo- 
lutionary war. 

Grandfather  John  Boalt  was  born  in 
Norwalk,  Conn.,  where  he  was  a  farmer 
by  occupation.  In  1817  he  moved  to 
Huron  county,  Ohio,  where  with  other 
families  from  Norwalk,  Conn. ,  he  made  a 
settlement,  they  naming  the  town  Nor- 
walk in  honor  of  their  native  town  in 
Connecticut.  A  few  years  later  he  re- 
moved to  Sandusky,  Ohio,  where  he 
opened  a  hotel  and  made  a  permanent 
home,  dying  there.  His  wife  passed  away 
a  few  years  before  him.  They  had  twelve 
children,  most  of  whom  reached  maturity. 
Of  these,  Charles  I^eicester  Boalt  was  born 
in  1803  in  Norwalk,  Conn.,  and  removed 
with  his  parents  to  Norwalk,  Ohio,  where 
he  experienced  the  numerous  hardships 
and  inconveniences  of  pioneer  life,  among 
other  things  being  obliged  to  go  for  the 
family's  milling  to  Cleveland,  a  distance 
of  sixty  miles.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
perseverance,  and  of  studious  habits,  fol- 
lowed the  profession  of  a  teacher  for  a 
time,  and  eventually  studied  law  with 
Ebene^er  (later  Chief  Justice)  Lane,  of 
Ohio.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
Ohio,  and  practiced  law  a  number  of 
)'ears,  his  circuit  comprising  the  northern 
part  of  the  State,  and  he  was  connected 
with  man\-  cases  of  importance.  From 
1830  till  1845  he  was  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and 
then  busied  himself  in  settling  up  his  own 
real-estate  business  and  that  of  his  clients. 
In  1850  he  became  one  of  the  promoters 
of  the  Cleveland,  Toledo  &  Norwalk  rail- 
way, was  made  president,  and  was  the 
leading  spirit  in  the  l)uilding  of  the  road, 
negotiating  its  bonds  in  England  and  buy- 
ing the  iron  in  Wales.  An  opposition 
road  was  built  by  the  Sandusky  City  con- 
tingent, headed  by  Judge  Lane;  but  the 
two  roads  were  after\\ard  consolidated. 
When  the  road  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Wall  street  he  resigned.  Later  on  he 
was  president  of  the  Sandusky,  Mansfield 
&  Newark  railroad,  which   he    also    man- 


aged several  years.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  railroads  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  first  section  was  built  about  1832.  At 
first  the  cars  were  hauled  by  horses,  but 
later  on  the  company  procured  engines, 
one  of  which,  called  the  "Sandusky," 
was  among  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad 
exhibits  at  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position, Chicago,  1893;  the  first  car  on 
the  road  was  fashioned  after  the  Concord 
stages,  hung  on  thorough-braces.  The 
road  was  eventually  leased  to  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  railroad. 

Mr.  Boalt  died  August  10,  1870,  in 
Sandusky,  Ohio,  aged  sixty-eight  years, 
leaving  an  unsullied  reputation,  and  a 
record  in  the  ainials  of  railroad  historj' 
which  is  a  credit  to  his  name  and  an 
honor  to  his  posteritj-.  He  was  a  practi- 
cal business  man,  thoroughly  competent 
to  manipulate  large  business  concerns, 
and  was  very  successful  in  every  vvay. 
In  politics  he  was  originally  a  Whig,  later 
a  Republican;  he  was  very  active  during 
the  Civil  war  in  raising  troops,  and  had 
two  sons  in  the  army.  His  wife,  Eliza- 
beth Woodbridge  Griswold,  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Roger  Griswold,  governor  of  Con- 
necticut, whose  father,  Mathew  Griswold, 
was  governor  of  Connecticut  in  Colonial 
times.  Esquire  CTris\\'old  was  the  first 
of  the  Griswold  family  to  come  over  and 
settle  in  Connecticut,  and  he  was  the 
progenitor  of  the  family  in  America.  His 
ancestral  home  was  near  Oxford,  En- 
gland. Coming  to  America  about  the 
year  1630,  he  settled  at  Black  Hall, 
opposite  Saybrook,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Connecticut  river;  Black  Hall  was  so 
named  because  of  being  in  charge  of 
a  black  man;  it  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  Griswold  family.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Boalt 
was  educated  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  and 
in  New  York  City,  and  was  a  woman 
of  great  ability  and  high  literary  at- 
tainment. She  was  the  mother  of 
seven  children:  Cornelia  E. ,  Charles  G., 
John  Henry  (a  prominent  attorney  in  San 
Francisco),  Mrs.  Frances  Lane,  Moss, 
Frederick    Harper    (deceased),    and    Dr. 


530 


COMMEMORATIVE   BTOORAPEWAL    RECORD. 


William  Leicester  (now  of  Gratz,  Austria, 
a  student  of  medicine). 

Charles  Griswold  Boalt  received  his 
early  education  in  Farmington,  Conn., 
and  later  attended  Kenyon  College.  In 
1850,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  he  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central 
railroad,  as  civil  engineer,  on  preliminary 
survey  through  the  State,  being  stationed 
at  Champaign  City,  and  surveying  north 
and  south.  He  was  with  the  survey  for 
two  and  a  half  years,  and  drove  the  stakes 
that  started  the  first  grading.  For  about 
eighteen  months  he  was  engaged  as  civil 
engineer  on  the  Fremont  &  Indiana  rail- 
road, in  Ohio,  now  a  part  of  the  Lake 
Erie  &  Western  railroad,  and  was  also  an 
engineer  for  a  new  road  which  was  never 
built.  In  1854  he  came  to  Mayville, 
Dodge  Co. ,  Wis. ,  where  he  and  his  father 
bought  an  interest  in  an  iron  company,  of 
which  the  father  was  made  president,  and 
the  son  afterward  became  secretary,  fill- 
ing that  position  until  1859,  when  he 
came  to  Ahnapee,  Wis.  Having  a  large 
business  experience,  he  was  a  welcome 
addition  to  the  young  city,  of  which  he 
soon  became  one  of  the  leading  and  pros- 
perous business  men.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  general  merchants  in  the  town,  meet- 
ing with  success  from  the  beginning,  and 
he  continued  in  this  business  up  to  1868. 
In  1864  he  bought  one-half  of  the  town 
plat  and  other  real-estate  property  ad- 
jacent, and  also  an  undivided  half  of  the 
pier  extending  into  the  lake,  purchasing 
this  from  George  Steele  &  Co.,  of  Chi- 
cago, who  with  David  Young  had  built 
the  pier  and  laid  out  the  town.  Mr.  Boalt 
was  associated  with  Mr.  Young  in  the  for- 
warding business  until  1872,  in  which 
year  he  bought  his  partner's  interest,  and 
then  conducted  the  business  alone  until 
January  i,  1892,  when  he  sold  out  to 
Edward  Decker.  Mr.  Boalt  has  been 
identified  with  nearly  every  interest  for 
the  advancement  and  prosperity  of  Ahna- 
pee: He  was  instrumental  in  organiz- 
ing the  Veneer  &  Seating  Co.,  and  the 
Ahnapee   Furniture  Co.,  of  which  he  is 


now  secretary  and  financial  manager,  and 
under  his  able  management  it  has  become 
a  prosperous  institution,  which,  by  giving 
employment  to  many  hands,  brings  cheer 
and  comfort  to  many  homes. 

On  August  10,  1857,  at  Painesville, 
Ohio,  Mr.  Boalt  was  married  to  Miss 
Agnes  Gillet,  daughter  of  Isaac  Gillet, 
for  many  years  a  pioneer  and  prosperous 
merchant  of  Painesville.  The  union  was 
blessed  with  three  children,  two  of  whom 
are  now  living:  Elizabeth  G.,  and 
Charles  G.,  now  connected  with  the  Cal- 
umet Iron  &  Steel  Co.,  at  Irondale,  near 
Chicago.  Mrs.  Boalt  was  educated  in. 
the  young  ladies'  seminaries  at  Willough- 
by,  Ohio,  and  Pittsfield,  Mass.  Mr. 
Boalt  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  dur- 
ing the  war  of  the  Rebellion  performed 
much  valuable  work  for  the  North  by  en- 
couraging the  cause  of  the  Union  at 
home. 


GEORGE  BEYER.  That  a  review 
of  the  life  of  such  an  energetic 
and  enterprising  individual,  as  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  undoubtedly 
is,  should  have  prominent  place  in  the 
pages  of  a  work  of  this  kind  is  peculiarly 
proper;  because  a  knowledge  of  men, 
whose  substantial  record  rests  upon  their 
attainments,  character  and  success,  must 
at  all  times  exert  a  wholesome  influence 
on  the  rising  generation  of  the  American 
people,  and  can  not  fail  to  be  more  or 
less  interesting  to  those  of  maturer  years. 
Mr.  Beyer  is  a  native  of  Bavaria, 
Germany,  born  December  19,  1830,  a 
son  of  John  and  Margaret  Beyer,  who 
in  1846  came  to  this  country  with  their 
family  (consisting  of  one  son,  George,  and 
two  daughters)  settling  in  Washington 
county.  Wis.,  on  a  piece  of  nearly  all 
wild  land,  which  they  cleared  and  culti- 
vated. The  parents,  who  had  brought 
some  money  from  Europe  with  them, 
were  honest  and  industrious,  and  when 
they  were  called  from  earth  in  the  midst 
of  their  labors  on  this  farm  they  left  a 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


531 


goodly  name  as  an  heritage  to  their  chil- 
dren. The  mother  died  in  1863,  the 
father  in  1864.  As  will  be  seen,  our  sub- 
ject was  a  lad  of  sixteen  summers  when 
the  family  crossed  the  ocean  to  the  New 
World,  and  he  consequently  well  remem- 
bers the  voyage,  which  occupied  fifty- 
three  days,  and  the  subsequent  overland 
journey  to  Buffalo,  thence  by  boat  to 
Milwaukee,  and  from  there  by  wagon  to 
Washington  county.  All  his  education  had 
been  received  in  Germany,  so  the  first 
thing  he  applied  himself  to  in  this  coun- 
try was  the  felling  of  trees  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  otherwise  assisting  in  the  con- 
verting of  a  wilderness  into  fields  of  wav- 
ing grain.  In  1854  he  married  Miss  Mar- 
garet Flasch,  also  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  immigrated  to  the  United  States  in 
the  spring  of  1847,  making  her  first  New- 
World  home  in  Fond  du  Lac  county.  Wis. 
After  marriage  Mr.  Beyer  conducted  a 
farm  in  Germantown  township,  Washing- 
ton county,  nineteen  years,  at  the  same 
time  for  fourteen  years  operated  a  thresh- 
ing machine,  dealing  also  in  agricultural 
implements,  such  as  reapers  and  mowers, 
and  for  si.x  years  he  kept  a  store  in  the 
village  of  Richfield,  same  county. 

In  1879,  his  family  having  considera- 
bly increased,  and  being  desirous  of  mak- 
ing a  settlement  in  an  even  newer  coun- 
tr\^  than  what  he  found  in  Washington 
county,  he  came  to  Door  county,  arriving 
August  31,  that  year,  and  in  Section  34, 
Sevastopol  township,  took  up  a  tract  of 
nearly  all  wild  land,  whereon  there  was 
no  building  whatever  save  a  small  shanty 
so  leaky  that  the  first  night  the  family 
slept  in  it,  the  wind  came  through  the 
cracks  in  the  walls  strong  enough  to  blow 
out  the  light.  But  that  was  a  small  affair 
to  fearless  pioneers,  and  it  was  not  loijg 
before  all  such  inconveniences  were  reme- 
died, and  all  obstacles  toward  having  a 
comfortable  home  removed,  vast  im- 
provements of  all  kinds  being  made  on  the 
homestead.  In  1880  Mr.  Beyer  erected 
his  present  comfortable  and  substantial 
residence,    also    commodious    outhouses, 


and  he  has  still  400  acres  of  land  left  after 
disposing  of  120  acres. 

A  brief  record  of  the  children  born  to 
our  subject  and  wife  is  as  follows:     Mar- 
garet is   a  school  teacher   in   A'linncsota; 
George  K.  is  a  Roman   Catholic  priest  at 
La    Crosse,  Wis. ;  John   is    a    carpenter, 
and  lives  in  Sturgeon  Bay;   Lconhardt  has 
his  home  in  Fond  du  Lac  county;    Theo- 
dore and  Alois  are  at  home;   Otilia  P.  is  a 
school   teacher  in   Chicago;   George  is  at 
home;  Anton  J.    is  a  carpenter,  and  now 
works  in  a  machine  shop  in    Menominee, 
Mich. ;  Josephine  P.  is  a  school  teacher  in 
W^aterloo     county,      Ontario     (Canada)  ; 
Frank  G.  is  in    Menominee,  Mich. ;  Mar}' 
died  at  the  age  of  eight  years;  Kunigunda 
Mary  lives  at  home;  Adam  E.  is  a  student 
at  St.  Francis  Seminar)',  near  Milwaukee. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beyer  and  all  the  fainilj'  are 
members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  for  eight  years   he   was  secretary  of 
St.    Joseph's    congregation    at    Sturgeon 
Bay.       Politically   he   is  a  sound   Demo- 
crat, and  while  a  resident  of  Germantown 
township,  Washington  county,  he   served 
as  chairman  of    the  township  eight  con- 
secutive years,  and  as  justice  of  the  peace 
and  notary   public,  ten   years   each;   was 
postmaster    of    Richfield    postoffice    five 
years,  or  until  the  time  of  his  leaving  for 
Sevastopol  township,  when    he    resigned; 
of   the    latter   township  he  was  chairman 
eight  consecutive  years.      Although  when 
starting   in    life    for    himself  he    received 
some     assistance     from    his    father,    Mr. 
Beyer  is  deservedly   classified    among  the 
self-made  pioneer  citizens  of  our  country, 
who   by   virtue   of   their   occupations  are 
ever  in  the  van  of  civilization,  just  as  in  a 
regiment  of    foot   the    pioneer  company 
maches  in  advance  of  the  main  body.    As 
success  never  fails  to  attend  industry,  per- 
severance and  judicious  thrift,  so  success 
has  been  his   cheery   and   cheerful   com- 
panion through  the    many  years   of    ard- 
uous toil  which  ha\-e   brought  him  a  well- 
earned,  comfortable  competence.   In  point 
of  intelligence  and  keeping  abreast  of  the 
times,  he  is   above   the    average    farmer. 


532 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


and  the  superior  class  of  buildings  he  has 
placed  on  his  pnjperty  are  in  themselves 
witnesses  to  the  progressiveness,  industry 
and  skill  of  the  owner.  By  nature  he  is 
quiet  and  unobtrusive,  honorable  almost 
to  a  fault,  and  is  able  to  say  triumphantly 
that  in  all  his  forty-years'  experience  in 
various  lines  of  business  he  has  never  had 
a  lawsuit,  and  never  sought  one. 


WfLLI.\M  HELMHOLZ,  a  pros- 
perous farmer  and  well-known 
citizen  of  Claybanks  township. 
Door  county,  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  this  section  of  Wisconsin  since 
1.S55,  having  come  hither  from  his  native 
land,  Germany,  where  he  was  born  Au- 
gust 26,  1827,  in  the  Duchy  of  Braun- 
schweig. 

Fred  W.  Helmholz,  father  of  the  gen- 
tleman whose  name  opens  this  sketch, 
was  also  born  in  Germany,  receiving  his 
education  in  the  common  schools,  and 
when  a  boy  served  an  apprenticeship  at 
the  tailor's  trade,  which  he  followed  a 
short  time.  Afterward  engaging  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  he  continued  to  farm 
until  about  se\en  years  previous  to  his 
death,  when  he  retired.  He  married 
Hannah  Gerlock,  who  bore  him  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows;  Henry,  the  eldest,  be- 
came quite  a  prominent  man,  serving  the 
German  Government  as  a  soldier,  and 
later  as  secretary  of  a  railroad  until  sev- 
enty years  of  age;  he  died  December  7, 
1 893,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-five. 
Fred  is  engaged  in  mercantile  business  in 
Hanover,  Germany.  William  is  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  The  two  daughters 
died  in  infancy.  The  entire  family  were 
Lutherans  in  religious  sentiment.  Mr. 
Helmhol.^  died  in  1 870  at  the  age  of  seven- 
ty-five j-ears,  preceded  to  the  grave  by  his 
wife,  who  passed  away  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
two.  In  early  manhood  he  was  a  soldier 
in  the  German  army,  and  during  his  serv- 
ice participated  in  the  famous  battle  of 
Waterloo. 

William    Helmholz    obtained    a    good 


education    in    the    schools   of    his   native 
land,    attending    up    to    his    seventeenth 
year,  when  he  entered  the  army,  serving 
ten  years  and  six  months,   during  which 
time  he  was  promoted  from  the  ranks  to 
corporal    (1848J,    and   in  1832   to  orderlj- 
sergeant.      On    August    24,    1854,    at  his 
own  request,  he  was  honorably  discharged 
from  the  service,  and  on  September  4,  fol- 
lowing,  he  embarked   on  a    \essel   bound 
from  Hamburg  to  New  York,  arriving  at 
that  city   after  a  voyage   of   thirty-three 
days.      Coming  to  Two   Rivers,    Manito- 
woc   Co.,    Wis.,    he    remained    here    one 
year,  working  in  a  mill,  receiving  nothing 
but    his   board    for   his  services,    and    in 
1855    removed    to    Ahnapee,    where     he 
worked  in  the  woods  a  short  time.      The 
following  spring,  in  partnership  with  Ru- 
dolph    Klcinsmith,     he     purchased      120 
acres   of   land,    on    which   he   built    a   log 
cabin,    and   then  commenced   to   fell  the 
timber  and  clear  the  place  for  cultivation, 
engaging  in  farming  as  soon  as  the  land 
was  ready.      He   also  took   up    1 20  acres 
just  south  of   this,  but    lost    it    as  it  had 
been  previously  homesteaded.      After  re- 
maining  on    his  first   purchase  for   about 
two  years,  he  sold  his  interest  to  his  part- 
ner and  removed   to  the  town   of  Clay- 
banks,   where  he  worked   for  about  one 
year  in  the  mill,  later  making  posts  and 
working  in   the   woods    until    i860,  when 
he  purchased  and  settled  upon  an  eighty- 
acre  tract  of  land  in  Claybanks  township, 
which  forms    part   of  his    present    farm. 
Cioing  to  work  with  his  usual  industry,  he 
soon  saw  the  forest  give  way  to  well-cul- 
tivated fields,  and  also  bought  more  land, 
now  owning    170  acres,  the  greater  part 
of    which  is   cleared  and  well-improved. 
Mr.  Helmholz    is  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
this  section,  and  as  such  has  taken  an  ac- 
tive part  in   the  opening  up  and  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  especially  its  agri- 
cultural resources.      A  stanch   member  of 
the    Republican    party,    he    has   taken   a 
prominent     part    in     local    politics,     and 
has     been     honored     with     election     to 
several    positions  of    trust,    holding   the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


533 


treasurership  for  some  seven  years,  and 
serving  a  number  of  years  as  member  of 
the  school  board. 

Before  leaving  Germany  Mr.  Helm- 
ho!^  married  Matilda  Lohmann,  a  native 
of  that  country,  and  their  union  was 
blessed  wfth  eight  children,  as  follows: 
Otto,  of  Sturgeon  Bay;  Annie,  who  mar- 
ried Albert  Trust,  and  lives  in  the  town 
of  Pierce,  Kewaunee  county;  Matilda, 
living  in  Chicago;  Helen,  married,  resid- 
ing in  the  State  of  Washington;  William, 
Frank  and  Henry,  of  Chicago;  and  Gus- 
tav,  at  home.  The  mother  of  these  died 
in  Claybanks  February  i8,  1872,  at  the 
age  of  forty-five.  In  November,  1872, 
Mr.  Helmholz  married,  for  his  second 
wife,  Mrs.  Louisa  (Breitgam)  Guht,  a 
widow,  who  was  born  in  1840  in  East 
Prussia,  and  to  this  marriage  have  been 
born  five  children,  namely:  Louisa  (who 
is  married  to  Harry  Bradford,  and  lives  in 
Chicago),    Ida,    Emit,  Charles  and  John. 

On  August  26,  1 864,  Mr.  Helmholz 
enlisted,  for  one  year,  in  the  Union 
army,  and  served  eleven  months  in  Com- 
pany I,  Forty-third  Wis.  V.  I.,  under 
Capt.  Jackson,  receiving  an  honorable 
discharge  at  Nashville  June  27,  1865. 
He  now  receives  a  pension  for  his  serv- 
ices. He  is  a  member  of  Henry  Schuy- 
ler Post  No.  126,  G.  A.  R. ,  of  Sturgeon 
Bay,  and  in  religious  connection  is  a 
member  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 


GEORGE  BASSFORD.  This  gen- 
tleman, by  efficient  labor,  dili- 
gence and  ability,  coupled  with 
tireless  energy  and  assiduous  toil, 
has  well  earned  the  enviable  distinction 
of  being  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading 
agriculturists,  ablest  financiers  and  most 
thorough  business  men  uf  Sevastopol 
township,  Door  county. 

He  is  a  native  of  England,  born  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1828,  in  Nottinghamshire,  j-oung- 
est  in  the  family  of  six  children — two 
sons  and  four  daughters — born  to  Will- 
iam Bassford,  who  was  by  trade  a  stock- 


ing manufacturer.      Our  subject  received 
but     a    very    meager    education    at     the 
schools     of      his      native     place,     which 
he     was     enabled     to     attend     but     six 
months  in  all,  the  sum   total    of  his  boy- 
hood  training   in    that    line,  unless,   per- 
haps, we  except    such    instruction   as    he 
received    at    the    parish  church   Sunday- 
school — good  and   sound    and  of   lasting 
influence;     but    the    lad    possessed   great 
energy,  vitality    and    resolution,   and  was 
beyond  his  years  in  intelligence.      At   the 
age  of  fourteen  he  began  life    in   earnest, 
his  first  work  being  on  railroad  construc- 
tion, in  which  line  he   rapidly  obtained  a 
thorough  knowledge  and  insight,  so  much 
so  that  at  the  age  of   seventeen   years  he 
became  foreman  of  a  working   gang.      In 
this  line  he  continued  in  his  native  coun- 
try until  1852,  in  which  year,  accompan- 
ied by  his  wife  and  child,  he  emigrated  to 
the  United  States,  they  coming  as  second- 
class  passengers  on  a  sailing  vessel  bound 
from   Liverpool   to   New  York,    the    sum 
paid  for  their  passage  being  ^"3. 10  (about 
$17.00),   they  furnishing  their  own  pro- 
visions.     After   a    voyage  of    six    weeks 
they    landed    at    New    York,    where,    or, 
rather,  in  Brooklyn,  resided  Thomas  Cox, 
a  friend  of  Mr.  Bassford.    After  a  sojourn 
of    six   weeks   here,  occupied    in    looking 
about  him,  our  subject  took  a  run    up  to 
Albany,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  found  temporary 
employment  in  superintending  the   build- 
ing of   a  railway  turntable,  something  he 
already  had  some   experience   in.      From 
there  he  proceeded  to  Hamilton,  Canada, 
at  which  time    the    construction    of    the 
Great  Western   railway  was  in    progress, 
and  here  Mr.    Bassford  secured  employ- 
ment with   Case  &  Fairwell,  contractors, 
his    duties    being    to   lay    track    between 
Dundas  and   Copetown.      In    the    mean- 
time he  was  joined  by  his  wife  and  child, 
whom  he  had  left  behind  in   Brooklyn  at 
the  time  of  his  going  to   Albany.      From 
Case  &  Fairwell's  employ  he  entered  that 
of  Flowers  &  Jackson,  contractors  on  the 
Grand  Trunk  railway,  in  Canada,  also  in 
course  of  construction,  being  hired  by  a 


534 


COMMEMORA  TI VE   BIOGRA PHICA L    RECORD. 


construction  superintendent,  who  was 
afterward  removed,  our  subject  taking  his 
place.  For  this  firm  he  worked  three 
j'ears  and  three  months,  meetinj;  with 
considerable  success.  His  work  on  the 
Grand  Trunk,  under  Flowers  &  Jackson, 
lay  between  Berlin  and  Stratford,  on  the 
main  line,  and,  near  New  Hamburj^,  his 
predecessor  and  others  had  a  good  deal 
of  trouble  with  the  1 500  laborers  em- 
ployed, who  for  some  cause  or  another 
became  dissatisfied  and  threatening  in 
their  attitude.  Mr.  Bassford,  however, 
took  charge  of  the  section,  carrj'ing  the 
work  through  to  completion  without  any 
trouble,  and  this  closed  his  railroad  build- 
ing experiences. 

Coming  to  Wisconsin,  making  a  tem- 
porary home  in  the  then  village  of  Fond 
du  Lac,  and  leaving  his  wife  and  child 
there,  he  in  company  with  others  set  out 
on  a  prospecting  tour  through  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  State.  They  went  on  foot 
from  Green  Bay  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  the 
journey  through  the  woods  occupying 
three  days  and  three  nights,  and  in  Sevas- 
topol township  Mr.  Bassford  was  so  well 
pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  coun- 
try that  he  bought  a  tract  of  240  acres  of 
wild  woodland,  paying  cash  for  same. 
About  this  time  he  passed  the  nights  in 
the  woods,  sleeping  near  where  now  stands 
his  fine  residence.  Bringing  his  family  on 
from  Fond  du  Lac,  they  made  their  tem- 
porary home  near  the  shore  on  Sturgeon 
Bay  inlet,  and  bravely  he  set  to  work  to 
clear  a  spot  somewhere  in  his  new  pur- 
chase whereon  to  make  his  future  perma- 
nent home.  He  had  not  only  to  do  this, 
but  had  to  hew  out  a  road  to  the  nearest 
county  highway,  and  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore he  had  a  substantial  log  shanty  erect- 
ed, and  a  clearing  commenced.  Now  he 
has  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  Sevastopol 
township,  if  not  the  finest,  well-equipped 
with  all  modern  impro\ements,  the  old 
log  shanty  supplanted  by  a  palatial  resi- 
dence furnished  with  every  requisite  for 
comfort  and  contentment.  For  over 
thirtj'  years  he   was  extensively  engaged 


in  the  lumber  business,  at  one  time  own- 
ing thousands  of  acres  of  land,  now  re- 
duced by  sales  to  some  500  acres;  at  one 
time  he  was  two-thirds  owner  of  a  steam- 
boat ferry  at  Sturgeon  Bay;  and  at  pres- 
ent he  is  operating  a  cheese  factor}'. 

Mr.  Bassford  has  been  twice  married: 
first  time,  in  England,  in  September,  1849, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Seton,  a  native  of  Hunt- 
ingdonshire, and  to  this  union  were  born 
in  the  Mother  country,  one  child,  named 
William  (now  a  lumber  contractor  of 
Rapid  River,  Mich.),  and  in  this  country 
two  children:  John,  a  merchant  of  Stur- 
geon Bay;  and  Eliza,  wife  of  Charles 
Mann,  of  Baileys  Harbor,  Door  county. 
The  mother  of  these  died  December  8, 
1857,  and  in  1858  Mr.  Bassford  wedded, 
in  Door  county.  Miss  Elida  Joanna  Res- 
sing,  a  native  of  Prussia,  whence  after 
her  mother's  death  she  came  to  the  United 
States  with  her  father  when  she  was  thir- 
teen j'ears  old.  The  children  of  this  mar- 
riage were  as  follows:  George,  deceased 
at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years;  Henry, a 
merchant  in  Greeley,  Neb. ;  Charles,  at 
home;  Emma,  deceased  wife  of  John  Mc- 
Donald; Amelia,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years;  and  Augusta,  wife  of  By- 
ron Baker,  of  Rapid  River,  Mich.  In 
religious  faith  our  subject  and  wife  are 
Episcopalians,  and  he  was  foremost  in 
the  building  of  the  church  of  that  denom- 
ination in  Sturgeon  Bay  that  was  burned. 
Politically  he  is  a  leading  Republican  in 
the  county  and  township,  and  he  has 
served  in  numerous  offices  of  honor  and 
trust.  At  present  he  is  chairman  of  Se- 
vastopol township,  and,  in  fact,  has  filled 
every  public  position  excepting  that  of 
justice  of  the  peace;  for  six  years  he  was 
county  commissioner,  and  all  the  incum- 
bencies held  by  him  he  has  proven  him- 
self pre-eminently  well  qualified  to  fill. 
He  has  all  the  attributes  of  a  good  Eng- 
lishman and  a  good  American.  His  man- 
ner inspires  full  confidence  in  the  integri- 
ty of  his  heart;  and  an  acquaintance  at 
once  desires  to  become  a  friend.  When 
that   relation   is   e^ablished,  he   compre- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPEICAL   RECORD. 


535 


hends  its  duties  in  the  largest  extent,  and 
satisfies  its  demands  with  a  ready,  per- 
haps unnecessary,  generosity. 


SIMON  THIBAUDEAU.  The 
sturdy  French-Canadian  element 
which  has  peopled  numerous  lo- 
calities in  the  United  States,  either 
as  farmers,  merchants  or  mechanics,  has 
proved  the  loyalty  of  its  blood  through 
many  a  conflict  where  the  right  was 
assailed,  and  almost  without  exception 
has  arrayed  itself  on  the  side  which  readers 
of  its  history  might  be  led  to  expect.  Of 
such  class  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  an 
honored  and  respected  representative. 

Mr.  Thibaudeau  was  born  January  6, 
1830,  in  the  Three  Rivers  District,  Prov- 
ince of  Quebec,  Canada,  and  is  a  son  of 
Alexander  H.  and  Margaret  (Dupuri)  Thi- 
baudeau, and  grandson  of  Frank  Thibau- 
deau, all  French-Canadians  by  birth.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  H.  Thilbaudeau 
were  born  nine  children,  viz.:  Margaret, 
Mack,  Torsul,  Matilda,  Simon,  Louise, 
John  B.,  Adelle,  and  one  that  died  in  in- 
fancy. Of  these,  our  subject  received  but  a 
very  limited  education,  as  in  his  part  of  the 
country  where  his  boyhood  was  passed 
there  were  no  regular  schools;  the  farmers, 
or  "habitans,"  would  club  together,  rent 
a  room  in  some  commodious  house,  hire 
a  teacher,  and  in  such  a  way  joung 
Simon  received  about  eight  months'  tui- 
tion. The  family  being  numerous,  and 
the  homestead  farm  a  large  one  of  200 
acres,  he  was,  at  the  early  age  of  eleven 
years,  put  to  work  to  assist  in  its  cultiva- 
tion. His  father  dying  of  dropsy  in  1 85  i , 
our  subject  conducted  the  farm  for  about 
a  year  afterward,  and  then  commenced 
learning  the  trade  of  shoemaker,  serving 
a  regular  apprenticeship.  This  com- 
pleted, he  followed  the  trade  in  Canada, 
eleven  years,  or  until  1851,  when  he  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  sojourning 
for  a  time  in  Chicago.  111.,  whence  he 
came  to  Wisconsin,  and,  at  the  town  of 
Two  Rivers,  Manitowoc  county,  found  a 


livelihood  at  fishing;   but  at  the  end  of  a 
3'ear  moved   to   Kewaunee.      Here    for  a 
couple  of  years  he  continued  the  vocation 
of  St.   Peter,  and  then  for  the  next  two 
3'ears  worked  in   the   lumber  woods.      In 
1856    he    came     to     Kewaunee    county, 
where,  in  Luxemburg  township,  he  bought 
160  acres  of  land  covered  with  primeval 
forest   in  which  roamed  bears,    panthers 
and    wolves,    seeking    after    their    prey, 
while  game   of  all   kinds,  including  deer, 
turkeys,    partridge,    etc.,    was  numerous. 
Our  subject  had  many  an  encounter  with 
fierce   and  hungry  animals,  at  one  time 
being  chased  three  miles  by  five  ravenous 
wolves,  who  would  have  made  short  work 
of   him    had   they    succeeded   in   running 
him  down.      In  course  of  time  he  estab- 
lished a  lumber  camp  on  his  place,  erected 
a  log  building,  employment   being  given 
to  as  many  as  thirty  hands,  and   as  soon 
as  a  clearing  was  effected  he  set  to  work 
to  cultivate  the  soil,  planting  oats,  pota- 
toes and  corn,  all  the  tools  or  implements 
he  had  being  an  axe,  a  grub  hoe  and  an 
old  drag.       The  yield,  nevertheless,  from 
his  crops  was   good,  the    first    bushel    of 
wheat    he    sowed    producing    thirty-two 
bushels;    it    was   cut  with  a  cradle,  then 
threshed  with  a  flail  and  the  grain  carried 
to   the   nearest   mill,    which    was    at    De 
Pere,  the  journey,  which  was  made  with 
an  ox-team,  occupying  two  days,  the  road 
through  the  bush  to  the  township  line  be- 
ing   made    by    himself    and    assistants. 
Everything  prospered  and  flourished,  and 
to   such    an   extent   had   his  farm  grown 
that  he  had  to  keep  a  force  of  help  both 
summer  and  winter.       Of  course,  everj'- 
thing   was  high,  feed   for   stock   in    itself 
costing  no  little  by  the  end  of  a  year;  hay, 
alone,  being  as  high  as  forty  dollars  per 
ton.       From  time   to   time   he    added  to 
his  original  purchase  of  160  acres  till   he 
owned  320  acres,  200  of  which  are  cleared 
and  for  the   most  part  under  cultivation. 
On   September    13,    1857,    Mr.    Thi- 
baudeau   was     married    to    Miss    Adella 
Fontaine,     daughter    of     Raymond     and 
Elizabeth    (Van   Des    Ras)    Fontaine,    of 


536 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    liECORD. 


Robinson,  Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  who  had 
thirteen  children  born  to  them,  named 
respectively,  Aiif^ust,  Alphonse,  \'irginia, 
Hubert,  Victoire,  Cordelia,  Apauline, 
Leopold,  Theresa,  Benjamin,  Anthony, 
Adella  and  Delia.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Thibaudeau  have  been  born  fifteen  chil- 
dren, their  names  and  dates  of  birth  be- 
ing as  follows:  Raphael,  October  28, 
1858;  Simon,  December  31,  1859;  Alex- 
ander, November  6,  1861;  Mary,  October 
2,  1863;  Oswald,  August  9,  1865;  Joseph, 
March  21,  1867;  Cordelia,  October  30, 
1868;  Emil,  October  11, 
phile,  December  10,  1872 
tember  7,  1874;  Joseph, 
1876;  Ella,  December  24, 
and  Angeline  (twins).  May  5 
May 
ried. 


1S70;    Theo- 
Albina,  Sep- 
October    14, 
1878;  Albert 
1881 ;  Leo, 
I,  1884.      (^f  these,  three  are  mar- 
viz.  :     Raphael    to  Miss  Addie  Tru- 


dell  on  November  24,  1886;  Mary  to 
Richard  Schinnick  on  November  27,  1889; 
and  Oswald,  to  Miss  Anna  Pokorny  on 
June  25,  1891.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thibaudeau 
and  all  the  family  are  members  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  Politically  he 
is  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  has  served  his 
township  as  chairman,  two  years;  assessor, 
one  year;  and  as  treasurer  of  the  school 
board,  giving  eminent  satisfaction  to  all 
concerned. 


HENRY  MARTIN.  To  the  North 
of  Ireland  this  country  is  in- 
debted for  a  great  number  of  her 
most  solid,  stalwart,  industrious 
and  loyal  citi.zens,  many  of  them  being 
represented  in  the  agricultural  class,  of 
which  our  subject  is  a  worthy  and  promi- 
nent member. 

He  was  born  August  18,  1830,  in 
County  Down,  Ireland,  the  seventh  child 
and  fourth  son  in  the  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren of  Henry  and  Nancy  Martin,  the 
former  of  whom  was  a  laborer  by  voca- 
tion. He  was  reared  a  farmer  boy,  re- 
ceiving but  a  meager  education,  and  re- 
mained about  his  boyhood  home  until 
1851,  being  then    twenty-one   years   old. 


when  he  decided  to  come  to  the  United 
States,  here  to  try  his  fortune.  Having 
succeeded  in  saving  sufficient  money  out 
of  his  meager  wages,  some  thirty  dollars 
per  annum,  he  bade  farewell  to  his  rela- 
tives, friends  and  native  country,  crossed 
from  Belfast,  in  Ireland,  to  Troon,  a  sea- 
port town  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  and 
there  took  passage  on  the  sailing  vessel 
' '  Tay, "  of  Glasgow,  bound  for  New  York. 
This  was  in  May,  185 1,  and  after  a  voy- 
age of  nine  weeks  the  good  ship  arrived 
at  her  destination.  Philadelphia  being 
his  objective  point,  Mr.  Martin,  suppos- 
ing he  had  a  sister  living  there,  imme- 
diately proceeded  thither  to  be  doomed, 
however,  to  disappointment,  as  he  found 
on  arrival  that  she  had  removed  to  New 
York.  Retracing  his  steps,  he  again 
found  himself  in  New  York,  his  return 
journey  being  varied  with  some  work  he 
secured  cii  route  at  unloading  limestone. 
In  Long  Island  he  secured  employment 
with  a  Scotchman  named  David  McCrea, 
a  farmer,  and  from  there  after  a  time  he 
moved  to  Williamsburg,  same  State,  but 
finding  nothing  to  do  in  that  city  he 
migrated  to  northern  Michigan,  having 
an  acquaintance  living  in  the  town  of 
Cedar  River,  Menominee  comity.  Here  he 
at  once  found  work  in  sawmills,  in  which 
line  of  business  he  continued  from  March, 
1855,  till  July  5,  1857,  when  he  came  to 
Sturgeon  Bay,  and  in  Bradley's  "  Island 
Mills"  immediately  went  to  work.  Here 
for  two  years  he  remained,  industriously 
toiling  and  saving  money,  which  he  in- 
vested in  eighty  acres  of  totally  unim- 
proved land  in  Town  28,  Section  21, 
Range  26  (Sevastopol  township),  where 
he  at  once  commenced  to  effect  a  clear- 
ing and  build  a  log  cabin  which  in  after 
years  gave  place  to  his  present  commo- 
dious and  comfortable  brick  residence,  of 
which  kind  of  dwelling  there  are  only  two 
in  the  township.  He  has  now  one  of  the 
finest  and  best  cultivated  farms  in  this 
part  of  Door  county,  brought  to  its  pres- 
ent state  of  perfection  by  his  indomitable 
perseverance,  untiring  industr\' and  sound 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


537 


judgment.  In  addition  to  his  farming 
operations  he  was  considerably  interested, 
up  to  1862,  in  hnnbering,  getting  out  logs 
at  various  times. 

On  November  12,  1.S62,  Mr.  Martin 
was  united  in  marriage,  at  Sturgeon  Bay, 
with  Mrs.  Eliza  (Hutchinson)  Peters, 
widow  of  Martin  Peters,  and  a  native  of 
Niagara  county,  Ontario,  Canada,  and 
children  as  follows  were  born  to  them; 
Henry  L.,  at  home;  David  W.,  now  in 
Marinette,  Wis.;  Eliphalet,  at  home;  and 
Mary  A. ,  James  W.  and  Ann  J. ,  deceased, 
the  first  named  at  the  age  of  three 
months,  the  other  two  when  twenty  years 
old.  The  mother  of  these  died  iu  Sep- 
tember, 1884,  and  was  buried  in  the  Bay- 
side  Cemetery.  In  his  political  sympa- 
thies our  subject  is  a  Republican,  his  first 
Presidential  vote  being  cast  for  Lincoln 
in  1S60,  and  has  served  his  township  in 
various  offices  of  trust  and  honor:  Was 
the  first  treasurer,  and  is  filling  that  in- 
cumbency at  the  present  time;  is  also  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  1890  he  was 
census  taker.  In  Church  affiliations  he 
was  reared  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  but 
attends  different  churches. 


HERMANN  SCHMAH,  principal  of 
the  German  Lutheran  schools  at 
Stanton,  Neb.,  and  late  principal 
of  the  German  Lutheran  schools 
of  Kewaunee,  Wis. ,  was  born  in  Ger- 
many September  16,  1864.  The  father 
of  our  subject,  William  Schrnah,  died  in 
April,  1883.  The  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Henrietta  Lerfelt,  died  in 
October,  1881.  They  had  a  family  of 
ten  children,  of  whom  Hermann  is  the 
youngest,  and  of  whom  seven  are  still 
living — three  dying  when  quite  young. 
One  son  has  for  twenty  years  been  a 
merchant  in  South  Africa. 

(3ur  subject  attended  school  under  his 
father  until  nine  years  of  age,  and  then 
for  three  years  the  high  school  at  Berlin, 
which  was  followed  by  an  attendance  at 


the  Berlin  Gymnasium  until  he  reached 
his  seventeenth  year.  After  leaving 
school  Mr.  Schmah  worked  in  a  seed 
store  three  years,  when  he  joined  the  army 
in  which  he  served  one  year;  then  worked 
another  year  in  the  seed  store,  till  he 
came  to  America,  landing  in  New  York 
City.  Thence  he  proceeded  directly  to 
Pueblo,  Colo. ,  where  he  passed  a  year 
and  a  half.  In  January,  1892,  he  en- 
tered the  Northwestern  University  at 
Watertown,  Wis. ,  and  a  year  and  a  half 
were  devoted  to  study;  three  months 
were  then  spent  in  a  visit  to  his  brothers 
and  sisters  in  Germany,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  returned  to  America  and 
assumed  charge  of  the  German  Lutheran 
schools  of  Kewaunee.  The  professor  is 
a  faithful  member  of  the  German  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  in  politics  is  a  Demo- 
crat. Since  the  first  preparing  of  this 
sketch  he  has  received  a  call  to  Stanton, 
Neb.,  by  the  German  Lutheran  congre- 
gation of  that  place,  and  he  is  now  prin- 
cipal of  the  schools  of  that  denomination 
in  Stanton. 


CHARLES  REYNOLDS.  In 
transmitting  to  posterity  the 
memory  of  such  men  as  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  it  will  in- 
still into  the  minds  of  the  youth  of  our 
land  the  important  lessons  that  success  is 
the  sure  reward  of  tireless  energy  and 
honorable  dealing;  and  that,  compared  to 
a  good  education,  abundant  experience, 
coupled  with  habits  of  honest  industry 
and  judicious  thrift,  the  greatest  fortune 
would  be  but  a  poor  inheritance. 

Mr.  Reynolds  is  a  native  of  Ireland, 
born  November  15,  1839,  in  County 
Longford,  a  son  of  Michael  and  Mary 
Ann  Reynolds,  respectable  farming  peo- 
ple of  that  county,  who  were  the  parents 
of  nine  children — seven  sons  and  two 
daughters.  The  mother  died  in  Ireland 
in  1858,  and  in  the  fall  of  1865  the 
father  came  to  Wisconsin,  settling  on  a 
farm   in    Dane    countv   where  he  died  in 


538 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


1878.  After  leaving  school,  and  while 
yet  in  early  youth,  our  subject  com- 
menced gaining  an  insight  into  mercan- 
tile business  as  clerk  in  a  store  where  he 
remained  until  he  was  twenty- one  years 
of  age,  at  which  time  he  concluded  to 
emigrate  to  the  United  States.  Accord- 
ingly, in  the  spring  of  i860,  he  set  sail 
from  the  port  of  Galway,  Ireland,  on  the 
steamship  "Circassian  "  bound  for  New 
York,  which  city  was  reached  after  a  voy- 
age of  fourteen  days,  and  from  there  he 
journeyed  to  Wisconsin,  where,  in  the 
city  of  Madison,  his  brother  John  was  en- 
gaged in  commercial  pursuits,  and  with 
him  he  clerked  one  year.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1 86 1,  our  subject  enlisted  in  the 
Twelfth  Regiment  Wis.  V.  I.,  of  which 
he  was  elected  sergeant-major,  and  which 
was  sent  to  Milwaukee,  thence  to  the 
front  in  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Tennessee, 
successively,  afterward  accompanying 
Sherman  in  his  march  to  the  sea.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  Mr.  Reynolds  was  pres- 
ent at  the  Grand  Review  held  at  Wash- 
ington, was  mustered  out  at  Louisville, 
and  received  an  honorable  discharge  as 
captain  of  Company  A,  same  regiment, 
proud  in  the  consciousness  of  having 
served  through  the  entire  war  with  brav- 
ery and  loyalty  second  to  no  other  soldier 
in  the  army.  Returning  to  Madison, 
Wis.,  he  served  a  short  time  in  the 
School  Land  office,  and  then  moved  to 
Green  Bay,  where  he  conducted  a  mer- 
cantile business.  He  then  came  to  Door 
county,  and  in  Jacksonport  township,  at 
the  harbor  of  that  name,  commenced  a 
similar  business  at  the  stand  which  had 
formerly  been  occupied  by  the  Harris  & 
Reynolds  Co.  (this  Reynolds  being  our 
subject's  brother  John),  and  here  has 
since  been  successfully  engaged  in  that 
line,  to-day  rating  high  in  commercial  cir- 
cles. At  Jacksonport  he  is  proprietor  of 
a  dock,  where  he  receives  and  ships  rail- 
road ties  and  telegraph  poles,  paying  out 
for  these  alone  as  high  as  $25,000  an- 
nually, for  material,  and  he  is  also  largely 
interested  in  timber  lands,  owning  at  the 


present  time   from  two  thousand  to  three 
thousand  acres. 

On  April  9,  1870,  Mr.  Reynolds  was 
united  in  marriage,  at  Madison,  Wis., 
with  Miss  Mary  Mahan,  a  native  of  Ober- 
lin,  Ohio,  and  daughter  of  Pres.  .\sa 
Mahan,  an  eminent  divine  and  the  first 
president  of  Oberlin  College.  Of  the 
children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds 
four  died  in  infancy — Mary,  Charles, 
Dwight,  and  Ruth — and  the  eldest, 
Michael,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 
Politically  our  subject  is  a  Republican, 
and  under  Grant's  administration  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  at  Jacksonport, 
serving  twenty  years.  He  and  his  wife 
are  prominent  and  influential  members  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  He  is  a  thorough 
business  man  "from  the  crown  of  his 
head  to  the  sole  of  his  foot,"  enjoying  a 
large  and  lucrative  trade  which  is  much 
enhanced  by  his  wide  acquaintance  in 
marine  circles,  from  his  ownership  of  the 
pier  at  Jacksonport,  and  by  his  well- 
known  honorable  dealings. 


OLIVER    HARRISON    MARTIN, 
M.  D.,  one  of  the  most  successful 
physicians   in  this  portion   of  the 
State,  than  whom  no  one  is  more 
popular  or  more  widely  known  and  high- 
ly esteemed,  is  a   native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire,   born  at  Sandwich,  December  22, 

1834. 

Grandfather  Martin,  who  was  a  life- 
long agriculturist  of  the  same  locality  in 
New  Hampshire,  reared  a  family  of  five 
sons  and  one  daughter,  of  whom,  William, 
father  of  our  subject,  was  also  a  farmer 
in  that  State,  thence,  in  1836,  moving  to 
Lee  county.  111.,  where  he  died  in  1844. 
He  was  married  in  New  Hampshire  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  H.  Hill,  who  after  his 
death  married  again,  in  Illinois,  and 
moved  to  Pennsylvania,  where  she  passed 
away  at  an  advanced  age.  Oliver  Harri- 
son Martin,  the  son.  secured  his  primary 
education  at  the  common  .schools  of  Lee 
county.    111.,    afterward    attending    Erie, 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


539 


(Penn.)  Academy,  where  he  graduated, 
and  subsequently  studying  one  year  at 
Randolph  (N.  Y.)  Academy,  in  which  he 
also  taught  the  higher  English  branches 
and  mathematics,  at  the  same  time  pre- 
paring himself  for  college.  In  1854  he 
entered  Dartmouth  College,  where  as  fel- 
low students  he  had  young  men  who  in 
after  years  attained  high  repute  in  the 
various  professions.  After  two  years  at- 
tendance there  he  again  came  West,  and 
in  Lee  county.  111. ,  taught  public  school, 
a  portion  of  the  time  at  Prairieville,  until 
January  i,  1866,  the  date  of  his  coming 
to  Wisconsin,  his  first  home  in  the  Badger 
State  being  in  Manitowoc.  Here  he 
taught  the  city  schools  some  few  years, 
two  and  a  half  as  principal,  and  then  en- 
gaged in  the  drug  business  in  the  same 
place  two  and  one. half  years,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  he  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  under  the  preceptorship  of  Dr. 
J.  F.  Pritchard,  a  well-known  physician 
and  surgeon  at  Manitowoc.  In  1871-72 
he  entered  Rush  Medical  College,  Chi- 
cago, where  he  graduated  in  the  class  of 
1S74,  immediately  after  which,  March  2, 
same  3'ear,  he  came  to  Kewaunee  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
in  which  he  has  met  with  well-merited 
success,  having  built  up  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive clientele.  His  sympathetic  kindness 
in  the  sick-room  has  endeared  him  to 
hundreds  who  revere  him  for  his  human- 
ity as  highly  as  they  honor  him  for  his 
ability. 

Dr.  Martin  has  been  twice  married: 
first  time,  in  Ohio,  February  3,  1858,  to 
Miss  Kate  T.  Whipple,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Roswell  P.  and  Elizabeth  T.  (Thorn) 
Whipple,  of  Hinsdale,  Mass.,  the  result 
of  their  union  being  six  children,  their 
names  and  dates  of  birth  being  as  follows: 
Jessie  Grace,  December  27,  1858;  Ros- 
well Whipple,  June  23,  i860;  Gertrude 
Elizabeth,  April  12,  1862;  Harry  Alexan- 
der, September  19,  1864,  died  October 
24,  1865;  Oliver  Herbert,  February  23, 
1866,  and  Frank  Fellows,  December  4, 
1875.     The  mother  of  these  died  in  Wis- 


consin, December  4,  1885,  and  on  June 
I,  1887,  the  Doctor  married  Miss  Caro- 
line C.  Hubbell,  of  New  York.  Politic- 
ally he  has  been  identified  with  the  Re- 
publican party  since  casting  his  first  vote; 
socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F., 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  Royal  Arcanum. 
In  his  profession  he  is  not  only  progress- 
ive but  aggressive,  keeping  well  abreast 
of  the  times  and  thoroughly  posted  in  all 
the  modern  advancements  in  both  medi- 
cine and  surgery. 


REV.  ANDREW  A.  ANDRIDGE, 
pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  Sturgeon  Bay,  comes 
from  a  line  of  stewards  in  the 
Lord's  vineyard,  his  grandfather  and 
great-grandfather  before  him  having  both 
for  years  proclaimed  the  Gospel,  one  of 
them  suffering  the  death  of  a  martyr. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  Michigan, 
born  July  20,  1863,  in  Hillsdale  county, 
the  eldest  in  the  family  of  three  children 
of  Charles  W.  and  Harriet  (Booth)  And- 
ridge,  both  also  natives  of  that  locality. 
The  family  are  of  German  descent,  our 
subject's  great-grandfather  Andridge  hav- 
ing been  born  in  Germany,  whence  he 
was  sent  as  a  missionary  among  the 
North  American  Indians  in  Canada,  by 
whom  he  was  murdered,  in  18 12.  A 
short  time  afterward  his  wife  was  acci- 
dentally killed,  and  their  two  children — a 
boy  and  a  girl — were  thus  left  orphans. 
The  son,  John  J.  Andridge,  was  born  in 
Little  York  (now  Toronto),  Canada,  in 
1 800,  and  after  the  death  of  his  parents 
he  was  bound  out  to  a  family  living  near 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  never  again  seeing  his 
sister.  About  the  year  18 19  he  married, 
and  moving  to  Michigan  settled  on  a  farm 
near  the  present  city  of  Hillsdale,  being 
one  of  the  first  three  men  to  settle  in 
Hillsdale  county.  For  many  years  he  was 
a  Methodist  Episcopal  minister,  though 
he  retained  the  farm,  and  he  died  in  1887 
while  visiting  in  the  West;  his  wife  had 
preceded  him  to  the  grave  in  1868,  dying 


540 


COMMKMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Michigan.  The}'  had  a  family  <>{  ten 
children — five  sons  and  five  daiif,'hters — 
of  whom  Charles  \V.  and  three  daughters 
— Mrs.  Mary  Crawford,  wife  of  a  minis- 
ter; Mrs.  Martha  W'ood,  whose  husband 
is  in  the  milling  business;  and  Mrs.  Arties 
Snider,  living  on  a  farm — are  now  living. 

Charles  W.  Andridge,  father  of  our 
subject,  was  married  July  20,  1862,  to 
Harriet  Booth,  daughter  of  Silas  anil 
Amanda  Booth,  well-to-do  farming  peo- 
ple of  English  descent,  who  were  early 
settlers  of  Hillsdale  county,  Mich.,  and 
three  children — Schuyler,  Grace  and 
Andrew  A.— were  born  to  this  union. 
The  mother  died  in  iSS^in  Iowa,  whither 
the  family  had  removed  in  1874,  and 
where  the  father  is  yet  living,  engaged  in 
milling,  his  life  vocation.  In  1865,  the 
last  year  of  the  Civil  war.  he  enlisted  in  a 
Michigan  regiment,  but  did  not  reach  the 
scene  of  active  hostilities. 

Andrew  A.  Andridge  received  his  ele- 
mentary education  at  the  conunon  schools 
of  his  native  place,  finishing  his  literary 
studies  at  the  high  school  ui  Storm  Lake. 
Iowa,  where  he  graduated  in  1880.  He 
then  took  the  Iowa  law  course  under  the 
preceptorship  of  Hon.  G.  S.  Robinson, 
now  United  States  senator  from  Iowa, 
spending  about  two  \ears,  part  of  the 
time  teaching  school.  In  1882,  however, 
he  decided  on  changing  the  course  of  his 
life,  and,  resolving  to  become  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  entered  Chicago  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  from  which  institution  he 
graduated  in  the  class  of  1885.  He  was 
ordained  at  Storm  Lake.  Iowa,  May  12. 
1 88  5,  in  the  same  church  he  used  to  at- 
tend when  a  boy,  and  was  consequently 
well  known  by  all  the  members  of  the 
large  council.  His  first  pastorate  was  at 
Hawarden,  Iowa,  near  his  old  home,  and 
there  he  remained  two  years:  thence  re- 
moved to  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis.,  and 
from  there,  after  four  years  and  a  half, 
to  Sturgeon  Bay,  where  he  is  still  pastor, 
now  a  period  of  nearly  four  years,  he  hav- 
ing come  in  1S91.  Although  his  mani- 
fold Church  duties  claim  the  most  of  his 


time,  still  Mr.  Andricfge  has  been  enabled 
to  do  a  considerable  amotmt  of  literary 
work  which  has  gained  for  him  consider- 
popularity:  he  edited  the  history  of  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Prairie  du 
Chien,  the  oldest  Church  in  Wisconsin; 
for  some  years  was  correspondent  for  the 
American  Magazine,  published  in  New 
York;  corresponding  member  of  the  Wis- 
consin Historical  Society,  also  editor  of 
•■The  Pilot,"  a  paper  published  in  Stur- 
geon Bay  in  the  interests  of  the  Christian 
thought  in  \\'isconsin;  is  a  member  of  a 
society  organized  in  Philadelphia  for  the 
promotion  of  science,  and  has  written 
\ery  able  articles  for  their  magazine. 
Mr.  Andridge  has  also  lectured  in  all  the 
large  cities  from  Boston  to  Omaha.  He 
is  now  preparing  himself  for  the  degree  of 
Ph.  U..  which  honor  he  receives  from  the 
Illinois  L'niversity. 

Ur.  Andridge  was  married  in  1883.  at 
Storm  Lake.  Iowa,  to  Miss  Belle  C. 
Melius,  who  was  born  at  Independence, 
Iowa,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Bessie 
(Saunders)  Melius,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York,  respectively,  who 
about  the  year  1854  canie  to  Iowa,  where 
they  followed  agricultural  pursuits;  they 
are  the  parents  of  si.x  children  namely: 
Mrs.  Ella  Hamilton,  in  Lincoln,  N.  C. ; 
Mrs.  Carrie  Wood,  in  Hawarden,  Iowa; 
James,  in  .\kron,  Iowa. ;  Mrs.  Belle  .\nd- 
ridge,  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.;  Mrs.  Grace 
Woodside,  in  Hawarden,  Iowa;  and  Miss 
Inez,  in  Akron,  Iowa.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Melius 
are  yet  living  in  Akron,  Iowa.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  .\ndridge  have  been  born  si.x 
children,  named,  respectively:  Maud, 
Mabel.  Florence,  Fred,  Gladys  and  Ger- 
trude. In  national  politics  our  subject  is 
a  Republican,  in  State  piilitics  a  Prohi- 
bitionist. 


ROBERT  LAURIE.      Scotland,  the 
home   of    Wallace    and   Bruce,  of 
Scott  and    Burns,  and   of  Carlyle 
and    Chalmers,    has    sent    to  the 
Western  World   an    army  of  sturdy,  in- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHWAL   RECORD. 


54' 


dustrious  and  lo3'al  citizens,  wiio  in  their 
(juiet,  ploddinf^,  yet  resolute  way,  have 
done  much  toward  the  openinj,'  up  and 
development  of  new  Territories  and 
States.  The  placing  on  record  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Laurie  was  one  of  these  pro- 
gressive Scotch  pioneers  is  simply  a  duty 
due  to  the  memory  of  one  who  has  left  a 
lasting  impress  for  good  on  that  portion 
of  Door  county  which  for  so  many  years 
was  the  scene  of  his  honest  labors. 

Mr.  Laurie  was  born  in  August,  1825, 
in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  the 
youngest  in  the  familj- of  seven  children — 
all  sons — of  James  Laurie,  who  was  by 
occupation  a  tailor  and  merchant,  a  man 
of  limited  means  it  is  true,  but  descended 
from  a  line  of  Scotchmen  prominent  in 
Scottish  history.  Five  of  his  sons  lived 
to  manhood,  and  were  all  skilled  drafts- 
men, Robert  at  the  remarkably  early  age 
of  eleven  years  developing  considerable 
talent  in  that  direction.  At  his  native 
place  he  learned  ship  carpentry,  becoming 
a  skilled  mechanic,  and  followed  his  trade 
in  the  mother  country  up  to  the  time  of 
his  emigration  to  the  United  States. 

On  December  5,  1X49,  he  was  mar- 
ried in  Liverpool,  England  (at  which 
time  he  was  working  at  his  trade),  to  Miss 
Catherine  Monroe,  who  was  born  in  June, 
1832,  also  in  Glasgow,  where  she  and  her 
future  husband  were  playmates  in  child- 
hood's sunny  days.  Two  children  were  here 
born  to  them,  viz.  ;  James,  who  is  now  a 
farmer  of  Marshall  county,  Minn. ;  and 
Alexander  M.,  business  manager  of  the 
Laurie  Stone  Company.  In  April,  1852, 
accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren, and  also  his  aged  parents,  he  set  sail 
from  Galsgi3w  for  the  New  World  on  the 
good  ship  "Susan,"  bound  for  Canada,  and 
after  an  uneventful  voyage  of  five  weeks 
and  three  da\s  they  landed  at  Montreal, 
whence  they  at  once  proceeded  to  lUiffalo, 
N.  Y.,  where  our  subject  had  two  broth- 
ers living — James  and  Alexander.  By 
this  time  Mr.  Laurie's  funds  were  about 
exhausted,  the  expense  of  bringing  the 
party  of  six   such   a   distance   being  any- 


thing but  light;  so  at  Buffalo  he  at  once 
sought  and  secured  work  at  his  trade,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  he  owned  a  com- 
fortable home,  where  he  and  his  family 
lived  till  coming  to  Wisconsin.  One  of 
the  periodical  "hard-times"  epidemics 
befalling  the  country,  and  Mr.  Laurie 
having  a  strong  desire  to  settle  on  a  farm, 
he  gave  up  his  position  in  the  Buffalo 
ship\ards,  sold  his  property,  and  along 
with  his  brother  Alexander  sailed  up  the 
lakes  in  quest  of  some  desirable  spot, 
"where  there  was  no  fe\er  and  ague," 
whereon  to  settle;  and  although  they 
viewed  many  places  rii  route  they  found 
nothing  to  suit  them  till  they  touched  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Door  county  penin- 
sula, Wisconsin,  their  trip  having  taken 
them  into  four  lakes — Erie,  St.  Clair, 
Huron  and  Michigan.  Our  subject's  first 
purchase  was  a  claim  in  Sevastopol  town- 
ship, Door  county,  which  an  old  sea  cap- 
tain had  commenced  to  convert  into  a 
home,  but  died  before  his  cabin  was  fin- 
ished; Mr.  Laurie  then  purchased,  at  the 
land  office,  Green  Bay,  the  property  in 
Sevastopol  township  where  the  family 
have  since  resided.  This  was  in  July, 
1854,  and  after  making  some  improve- 
I  ments,  including  the  erection  of  a  log 
I  house,  he  returned  to  Buffalo  to  bring  out 
the  family,  which  he  found  increased  by 
one  more  "responsibility  "  in  the  infant 
person  of  Catherine,  now  Mrs.  William 
Snyder,  of  Sevastopol  township.  The 
journev  was  made  by  water  on  the  old 
steamship  "Michigan,"  bound  for  the 
town  of  Green  Bay,  but  when  they  en- 
tered the  bay  of  that  name  a  strong 
gale  sprung  up  which  compelled  the 
vessel  to  put  in  at  Sturgeon  Bay  in- 
let, a  fortunate  e\ent  for  the  fam- 
ily, as  they  were  landed  at  Gar- 
land's pier,  but  a  short  distance  from 
their  new  home.  Mr.  Laurie  found  work 
building  vessels  and  docks  in  the  vicinity 
until  the  following  season,  when  he  and 
his  brother  returned  to  Buffalo,  where 
they  built  themselves  a  very  small  vessel 
which  early  in  the    following  spring  they 


542 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPmCAL   RECORD. 


sailed  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  it  being  the  first 
craft  of  any  kind  to  matce  its  way  tinrough 
the  lakes.  The  Laurie  Brothers  (for 
the}'  had  in  the  meanwhile  formed  a  part- 
nership) successfully  continued  their  trade 
for  several  years,  constructing  several 
vessels  at  Sturgeon  Bay  and  elsewhere, 
including  the  "  Katie  Laurie  "  and  "  Belle 
Laurie,"  and  the  first  sail  boat  built  on 
the  peninsula,  named  "The  Peninsula, " 
which  vessel  plied  between  Green  Bay 
and  Sturgeon  Bay;  on  her  Mr.  Laurie 
conveyed  free,  during  the  Civil  war,  from 
Sturgeon  Bay  to  Green  Bay,  part  of  the 
Twelfth  Wis.  V.  I.  The  "Peninsula," 
which  was  a  fast  sailer,  was  subsequently 
sold  in  Chicago.  But  fate  had  decreed 
that  the  partnership  between  Robert  and 
Alexander  Laurie  should  be  dissolved, 
and  death  carried  off  one  of  the  brothers 
in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1862,  while  Ale.x.  Laurie  and  David 
Sawyer,  who  had  been  out  in  the  bay 
with  a  boat,  were  entering  Green  Bay 
harbor,  the  vessel  capsized  and  Alexan- 
der Laurie  and  the  man  Sawyer  were 
both  drowned,  after  which  our  subject 
continued  in  business  alone.  At  his  Door 
county  home  his  family  was  increased  by 
five  more  children,  as  follows:  John, 
now  captain  of  the  tug,  "J.  Everson"; 
Christina,  at  home;  Isabella,  now  Mrs. 
W.  A.  Drumb,  of  Sturgeon  Bay;  Eliza- 
beth, a  school  teacher,  and  residing  at 
home;  and  Robert,  who  died  in  infancy. 
The  parents  of  Mr.  Laurie  died  under 
his  roof  in  Sevastopol  township,  each  at 
the  extremely  advanced  age  of  ninety-five 
years.  Alexander  and  Catherine  (Brown) 
Monroe,  parents  of  Mrs.  Laurie,  came 
from  Scotland  to  this  country,  and  to  the 
home  of  their  daughter,  intending  to  pass 
the  rest  of  their  days  here;  but  not  liking 
the  country  returned  to  their  native  land, 
where  they  died,  the  father  in  Aberdeen, 
the  mother  in  Liverpool. 

Mr.  Monroe,  while  visiting  the  Laur- 
ies,  was  struck  with  the  appearance  of  a 
limestone  deposit  on  the  farm,  and  strong- 
ly urged  Mr.  Laurie  to  develop  it;  but  it 


was  some  years  before  he  followed  the 
advice.  For  a  long  time  the  stone  was 
burned  for  lime,  but,  later,  a  good  deal  of 
it  was  cut  into  building  material  and 
shipped  to  various  lake  towns,  where  it  has 
proved  exceedingly  well  adapted  for  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  intended.  The 
quarry  has  now  been  in  operation  some 
years,  and  the  product  finds  a  ready  mar- 
ket all  along  the  lakes.  On  November 
15,  1889,  after  an  industrious,  useful  lifei, 
Robert  Laurie  passed  away  in  Sturgeon 
Bay,  while  being  operated  on  for  rheu- 
matism, and  his  remains  were  deposited 
in  Baj'  Side  cemetery  by  the  side  of  his 
mother.  He  was  an  ardent  Republican 
in  his  political  preferences,  and  held  some 
civic  offices,  such  as  justice  of  the  peace 
and  treasurer  of  the  school  board;  in  re- 
ligious faith  he  was  a  consistent  adherent 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  is  also  his 
widow,  the  rest  of  the  family  being  Epis- 
copalians. Since  his  death  the  family 
have  continued  to  conduct  the  farm  and 
stone  quarry.  In  November,  1892,  Mrs. 
Laurie,  accompanied  by  her  daughters, 
Christina  and  Elizabeth,  took  a  trip  to 
the  "Old  Country,"  spending  the  winter 
in  Scotland,  and  visiting  various  scenes 
of  Mrs.  Laurie's  childhood  and  young 
womanhood.  "Pleasure  is  marked  by 
ileetness,  to  those  whoever  roam,  while 
grief  itself  has  sweetness  at  home,  sweet 
home." 


AUGUST  C.  VOSHARDT.  editor 
and  proprietor  of  the  Kewaunee 
/Enterprise.  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  infiuential    friends,  are  struggling 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPmCAL    RECORD. 


545 


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 — si.\ 
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  journeyed 
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  common  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  Manitoivoc  County 
Chronicle,  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  \'.  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- 

31 


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 
Januarys,  1885.  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, 
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. 


FRANK  WELLEVER,  chairman 
and  justice  of  the  peace  in  Egg 
Harbor  township.  Door  county,  is 
one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  this 
section.  He  was  born  June  28,  1856,  in 
Hornellsville,  N.  Y.,  son  of  Michael  and 
Mary  A.  (Amiden)  Wellever,  farming  peo- 
ple, the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  latter  of  Connecticut. 
Their  family  consisted  of  four  children, 
viz. :  Phoebe,  now  Mrs.  John  Doty,  of 
Egg  Harbor  township.  Door  county; 
Frank,  whose  name  opens  this  sketch; 
Nellie,  Mrs.  Ed.  Le  Roy,  of  Washington; 
and  Ida,  Mrs.  Joseph  Eichinger,  of  Little 
Sturgeon,  Wis.  The  father  of  this  fam- 
ily died  in  New  York  State,  where  the 
mother  subsequently  married  E.  C.  Tru- 
man, and  in  1870  the  entire  family  mi- 


h6 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


grated  westward  to  Wisconsin,  making 
their  first  location  in  Rock  county,  where 
they  Hved  for  two  and  a  half  jears.  They 
next  resided  in  Seymour,  Outagamie 
county,  where  they  remained  two  years, 
in  1875  removing  to  Door  county  and 
shortly  afterward  took  up  their  residence 
in  Egg  Harbor,  where  the  mother  of  our 
subject  died. 

Frank  \\'elle\er  received  all  his  edu- 
cation at  the  common  schools,  and  was 
reared  to  farming,  also  obtaining  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  stave  business,  in  which  his 
stepfather  was  engaged.  In  1 879  he  was 
married,  in  Egg  Harbor,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Le  Roy,  a  native  of  that  place,  and 
(laughter  of  William  Le  Ro\',  a  Canadian, 
and  this  union  has  been  blessed  with  six 
children,  namely:  Mary  L.,  Katie  E., 
Frank  L. ,  Georgina,  Cora  L.  and  Truman 
D.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Wellever  lo- 
cated in  Egg  Harbor,  and  later  at  Stur- 
geon Bay,  where  he  was  engaged  in  buy- 
ing fish  for  E.  S.  Minor.  In  1884  he  re- 
turned to  Egg  Harbor  township  and  rent- 
ed land  in  Section  34,  which  he  later,  in 
1 89 1,  purchased,  now  owning  a  comfort- 
able farm  of  108  acres.  Mr.  Wellever 
has  dealt  in  staves  and  engaged  in  lum- 
bering to  some  extent,  in  addition  to  his 
agricultural  work,  which  has,  however, 
received  the  principal  share  of  his  atten- 
tion. He  is  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his 
township  in  many  ways,  taking  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  and  advancement  of 
his  section,  and  has  been  prominentl}' 
identified  with  the  local  civil  government. 
having  served  for  the  past  fourteen  years 
as  justice  of  the  peace  with  eminent  sat- 
isfaction to  his  fellow  citizens,  and  he 
has  held  the  office  of  chairman  in  the 
township  for  eight  years,  showing  himself 
well  (|ualified  for  that  responsible  position. 


JOHN  KEOGH  is  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers    of    Door    county,    having 
here  made  his   home  since   1856,  at 
which   time   the   county   was  an   al- 
most   unbroken    wilderness,    inhabited  to 


some  extent  by  Indians,  and  just  opening 
up  to  the  white  race  whose  efforts  were 
soon  to  transform  it  into  one  of  the  lead- 
ing counties  of  this  commonwealth.  In 
all  the  work  of  development  and  improve- 
ment our  subject  has  borne  his  part,  and, 
among  the  founders  of  the  county  is  well 
deserving  of  mention. 

Mr.  Keogh  was  born  June  13,  1841, 
in  County  Dublin,  Ireland,  which  county 
was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  parents, 
James  and  Mary  (Moore)  Keogh.  In  the 
Emerald  Isle  the  father  was  overseer  of  a 
large  estate,  but  in  1852  he  gave  up  his 
position  in  order  to  try  his  fortune  in  the 
New  World,  took  passage  on  the  sailing 
vessel  "  Perseverance,"  which  left  the 
harbor  of  Dublin.  Ireland,  and  after 
thirteen  weeks  she  dropped  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  Quebec.  From  that  city  Mr. 
Keogh  proceeded  to  Toronto,  where  he 
worked  at  farm  labor  until  1855.  when  he 
came  to  \\'isconsin.  making  the  journey 
from  Buffalo  to  Chicago  on  the  "Lady 
Elgin."  On  the  same  boat  he  sailed  to 
Manitowoc  county,  \\'is. ,  where  he  re- 
mained until  coming  to  Door  county  in 
1855.  He  was  the  first  justice  of  the 
peace  of  Forestville  township,  elected  in 
1857;  served  as  township  superintendent 
of  schools,  and  was  actively  interested  in 
everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of 
the  community  and  its  upbuilding.  His 
death  occurred  in  1 890,  and  he  was 
mourned  by  man}'  friends.  His  first  wife 
died  in  1861,  after  which  he  wedded  Mrs. 
Matilda  Machia,  who  is  now  living  in 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.  In  the  Keogh  family 
were  four  sons — John,  of  this  sketch; 
Edward,  who  is  married  and  is  living  in 
Forest\ille  to\\nshi]i;  Luke,  a  farmer  of 
Forestville  township:  and  James,  a  banker 
of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wisconsin. 

Our  subject  spent  the  first  eleven 
years  of  his  life  in  the  land  of  his  birth, 
and  then  came  with  his  parents  to  Amer- 
ica. His  education  was  acquired  partly 
in  Ireland,  partly  ii-  Toronto,  Canada, 
and  in  1855  he  came  to  Door  county. 
Wis.,  where  he  aided  in  opening  up  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


547 


home  farm,  placing  the  entire  i6o  acres 
under  cultivation.  He  now  owns  one- 
half  of  the  old  homestead,  and  is  num- 
bered among  the  substantial  farmers  of 
the  community.  He  went  through  all 
the  experiences  and  trials  of  frontier  life 
and  went  to  market  in  Manitowoc  county 
by  boat,  for  there  were  no  roads  cut 
through  at  that  time.  In  1866,  in  For- 
estville  township,  he  wedded  Eliza 
Ahrens,  who  was  born  on  the  Emerald 
Isle,  as  were  her  parents,  William  and 
Mary  (Condlonj  Ahrens,  who  emigrated 
to  New  York  in  the  fall  of  1865.  Soon 
afterward  the  mother  came  to  Wisconsin, 
and  is  now  the  wife  of  Bartley  Dunlon, 
of  Nasewaupee  township.  Door  county. 
Mr.  and  ^Irs.  Keogh  now  have  five 
children,  namely:  Mary,  wife  of  William 
Mulvihill,  of  Nasewaupee  township; 
Lucy;  Alice,  who  is  engaged  in  teaching; 
William  and  Martha. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Keogh  is  a  Republican, 
and  has  been  honored  with  several  public 
offices,  the  duties  of  which  he  has  ever 
discharged  with  promptness  and  fidelity. 
He  was  elected  sheriff  of  Door  county  in 
1889,  for  a  term  of  two  years;  was  chair- 
man of  Forestville  township  from  1880 
till  1885;  was  several  times  assessor  of 
the  township,  and  has  also  served  as  town 
treasurer.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace 
many  years,  and  aided  in  organizing  the 
school  district  in  which  he  lives. 


JOSEPH  ZETTEL,  one  of  the  most 
successful  agriculturists  and  the 
largest  fruit  grower  in  Door  county, 
is  a  native  of  Switzerland,  born  at 
Gross  Dietwyl,  Canton  Luzerne,  Novem- 
ber 26,  1832,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
Josepha  (Rosly;  Zettel,  the  former  of 
whom  was  an  innkeeper,  a  judge  of  the 
Second  Court,  and  a  captain  in  the  reserve 
army;  the  grandfather  was  judge  of  the 
Second  Court  for  twenty  years. 

When  our  subject  was  seventeen  years 
old  his  mother  died,  and,  his  father  mar- 
rying again   soon    after,  home    to  the  lad 


became  different  to  what  it  had  been; 
consequently,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he 
resolved  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  New 
World,  where  there  was  ample  room  for 
aspiring  young  men  of  good  all-round  ed- 
ucation such  as  it  was  his  fortune  to  re- 
ceive. Making  known  his  resolution  to 
his  father,  the  latter  provided  him  with 
sufficient  means  to  take  him  to  the  United 
States,  and  on  March  27,  1853,  he  left 
his  native  town,  traveling  by  rail  to 
Antwerp,  Belgium,  where  he  took  pas- 
sage on  the  sailing  vessel  "Roger  Stew- 
art," bound  for  New  York,  which  port 
was  reached  after  a  passage  of  fifty-three 
days.  From  there  our  subject  proceeded 
to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  readily 
found  temporary  employment  on  a  farm; 
but  his  real  destination  being  the  citv  of 
New  Philadelphia,  in  the  same  State,  he 
set  out  for  that  point  by  way  of  the  canal. 
Discovering,  while  on  the  trip,  a  conspir- 
acy to  rob  and,  perhaps,  murder  him,  he 
determined  to  baffle  the  conspirators, 
which  he  did  by  first  throwing  his  trunk 
overboard  into  the  canal,  and  then  jump- 
ing after  it.  Swimming  ashore,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  fishing  his  trunk  onto  dry  land, 
and  shouldering  it  carried  it  into  the  adja- 
cent woods,  no  small  task,  considering 
his  burden  weighed  not  less  than  1 50 
pounds.  Here,  fortunately,  he  met  a 
fellow  countryman  who  secured  for 
him  work  with  a  farmer,  named  Clark 
Gates,  at  $8.00  per  month  and  his 
keep,  which  suited  him  well  at  the 
time,  for  he  was  young  and  strong, 
full  of  courage  and  alwas  happy.  At  the 
end  of  a  year  he  left  Mr.  Gates,  and  for 
a  time  worked  on  the  Cle\'eland  &  Pitts- 
burg railroad,  then  in  course  of  construc- 
tion, afterward  going  on  a  farm  again. 
About  this  time  he  was  taken  sick,  and 
for  two  months  la}'  a  stranger  among 
strangers,  and  but  for  having  some  money 
saved,  and  finding  kind  people  who  in- 
terested themselves  in  his  behalf,  he 
would  have  fared  badly.  On  his  recov- 
ery he  returned  to  his  old  friend,  Mr. 
Gates,  who  gave  him  a  job  chopping  lum- 


54^^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ber  for  building  purposes,  and  he  so  con- 
tinued two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  hired  with  a  Cleveland  firm  to 
come  to  Washington  Island,  Door  Co., 
Wis.  Accordingly  on  May  i,  1855,  he 
set  out  for  the  new  country,  and  during 
the  ensuing  summer  was  engaged  in  build- 
ing mills  and  limekilns  at  $16.00  per 
month.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he 
moved  to  Green  Bay  and,  later,  to 
Oconto,  during  the  winter  of  1855-56 
working  in  the  pine  woods  there  till  the 
spring  when  he  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay, 
thence  moving  to  Sevastopol  township. 
Here  he  was  the  owner  of  some  land  in 
Section  22  which  he  had  never  yei  seen, 
having  bought  it  from  map  or  plat  at 
Menasha,  and  he  at  once  commenced 
making  a  small  clearing  thereon.  Later, 
however,  he  sold  this  property,  and 
bought  of  A.  W.  Lawrence  his  present 
farm  in  Section  27,  prior  to  which,  in 
the  meantime,  he  worked  in  the  sawmills 
at  Sturgeon  Bay.  At  the  time  of  his 
coming  on  this  land,  only  a  small  clear- 
ing had  been  made,  on  which  stood  a 
rickety  shanty  used  for  making  sugar  in, 
and  this  was  the  first  home  of  the  family, 
for  by  this  time  Mr.  Zettel  had  married, 
an  event  that  will  be  presently  spoken  of. 
Everything  was  as  wild  as  nature  could 
make  it,  there  being  but  one  road, 
almost  impossible  to  get  through  with 
a  wagon,  more  like  a  "trail,"  that  led 
to  his  farm,  while  wild  animals,  in- 
cluding bears,  deer,  wolves,  etc.,  were 
still  numerous,  and  the  only  link  be- 
tween this  little  settlement  and  the 
outer  world  was  the  old  steamboat  ' '  Mich- 
igan," which  at  long  intervals  passed  the 
Sturgeon  Bay,  but  they  had  generally  to 
go  to  Green  Bay  for  the  necessaries  of  life. 
This  "  Old  Michigan"  was  the  same  ves- 
sel that  brought  Mr.  Zettel  from  Cleve- 
land to  Washington  Island.  As  time 
wore  on  the  farm  became  cleared,  and  in 
lieu  of  timber  and  underbrush,  were  seen 
fertile  fields  of  grain,  pasture  or  root 
crops,  and  in  place  of  the  old  shanty,  the 
present  comfortable  dwelling.    Mr.  Zettel 


now  owns  in  all  160  acres  of  well  culti- 
vated land,  and  100  acres  of  timber,  after 
giving  200  acres  to  his  sons.  It  did  not 
take  him  long  to  discover  that  the  soil 
was  well  adapted  for  fruit  culture,  and  in 
1862  he  commenced  to  plant  apple,  pear 
and  other  trees  which  flourished  under 
his  scientific  care  so  well  that  in  the  long 
period  of  twenty-five  years  he  had  not  a 
single  crop  failure,  and  in  1892  his  or- 
chard yielded  3000  bushels  of  apples  !  At 
the  World's  Fair,  held  in  Chicago,  1893, 
his  fruit  displa\-  attracted  great  attention, 
especially  his  apples,  one  of  which,  the 
"Wolf  River  Seedling,"  measured  four- 
teen inches  in  circumference  !  His  ex- 
hibit included  over  twenty  varieties  of 
apples  which  kept  their  flavor  and  size 
longer  than  those  of  any  other  exhibitor. 
His  orchard,  which  is  the  largest  in  the 
State,  comprises  fortj'-five  acres,  in  var- 
ious places,  besides  thirty-two  acres  on 
the  homestead  farm,  and  pears,  cherries, 
plums,  apricots,  besides  many  kinds  of 
small  fruit  are  produced  in  abundance. 

On  July  28,  1861,  Mr.  Zettel  was 
married  in  Nasewaupee  township.  Door 
county,  to  Miss  Christma  Lorch,  a  native 
of  Hessen-Darmstadt,  Germany,  born 
December  9,  1842,  daughter  of  Christof 
and  Margaretha  (Leonhardt)  Lorch,  the 
former  of  whom  died  in  the  Fatherland, 
the  latter  coming,  in  1855,  to  Wisconsin 
with  her  four  fatherless  children — two 
sons  and  two  daughters.  To  this  union 
were  born  eleven  children,  as  follows: 
Christina,  deceased  wife  of  James  Asnow; 
Philip,  Joseph  and  Alfred,  farmers  in 
Sevastapol  township;  and  Henrj',  Jacob, 
Julius,  Catherine,  Louise,  Mina  and  Lil- 
lie,  all  at  home  with  their  parents.  In 
his  political  preferences  Mr.  Zettel  is  a 
stanch  Democrat,  and  has  held  various 
township  offices,  such  as  treasurer,  five 
years;  chairman,  three  years;  supervisor, 
one  year;  and  treasurer  of  the  school 
board.  He  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
men  of  the  county,  his  success  being  in  a 
great  measure  due  to  his  faithful  life 
partner,  who  herself  is  a  thorough  busi- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


549 


ness  woman;  and  among  the  men  of  m.ark 
in  the  noble  army  of  pioneers  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  State,  there  is  no  name  more 
deserving  of  being  perpetuated  in  the 
pages  of  this  Biographical  Record  than 
that  of  Joseph  Zettel. 


HARLES  GRAF.      In  enumerat- 


ing the  successful  farmers  of  Nase- 


r 

\_  ^  waupee  township,  Door  county, 
the  list  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out prominent  mention  of  the  gentleman 
whose  name  is  here  recorded. 

He  was  born  in  Saxony,  Germany,  in 
1835,  and  is  a  son  of  Adolph  and  Amalia 
(Shroth)  Graf,  who  had  three  children, 
namely:  Matilda,  deceased  in  Ozaukee 
county,  Wis. ;  Herman,  who  served  in  the 
Twenty-seventh  Wisconsin  Regiment  dur- 
ing the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  died  in 
1867,  and  Charles.  The  mother  died  in 
1844,  and  two  years  later  the  father  mar- 
ried Miss  Hannah  Upleman,  by  whom  he 
had  two  daughters:  Theresa,  who  died  in 
Washington  county.  Wis. ,  and  Henrietta, 
married  and  living  in  Indiana.  In  1852  Mr. 
Graf  and  his  family  set  sail  from  Hamburg, 
Germany,  and  after  a  voyage  of  ninety- 
six  days  reached  New  York,  whence  they 
came  to  Wisconsin,  landing  in  Milwau- 
kee, from  there  journeying  to  Port  Wash- 
ington, Ozaukee  county,  where  Mr.  Graf 
took  up  a  claim  three  miles  from  town. 
Here  he  died  in  1888,  his  wife  in  1887. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  at- 
tended the  public  schools  in  Germany 
until  he  reached  his  sixteenth  year,  at 
which  time  he  accompanied  his  parents 
to  America,  where  he  remained  with  his 
father  for  some  time,  helping  in  the  clear- 
ing up  of  the  new  home.  In  i860  he 
bought  a  team,  and  commenced  farming 
for  his  own  account,  and  same  year  was 
married  to  Miss  Jacobina  Werthwein, 
who  was  born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany, 
a  daughter  of  Jacobina  Machtlle,  whose 
second  husband  was  Frederick  Werth- 
wein. They  came  to  Ozaukee  county  in 
1856,  and  in  the  city  of  Port  Washington 


made  their  home  till  1880,  when  they  re- 
moved to  Nasewaupee  township,  Door 
county,  where  the  father  died  in  1888, 
the  mother  in  1889.  After  marriage  Mr. 
Graf  took  his  3'oung  wife  to  his  home  in 
Port  Washington  where  they  lived  sev- 
eral years  highly  respected,  and  where  he 
held  several  offices  of  trust,  including 
church  offices;  he  was  supervisor  three 
years;  was  foreman  for  the  United  States 
harbor  contractor,  Mr.  Tunham,  and  also 
for  the  city  when  building  the  harbor  in 
Egremont  with  the  government  for  fifteen 
thousand  dollars;  was  supervisor  in  a 
lawsuit  against  the  railroad  compan\,and 
saved  the  city  some  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars; was  also  foreman  for  the  harbor 
contractor.  He  speculated  in  real  estate 
and  personal  property,  till  he  lost  all  his 
wealth,  but  not  his  health,  and  then  in 
the  spring  of  1879  came  to  Door  county, 
where  he  bought  160  acres  of  land  in 
Nasewaupee  township,  adjoining  the  farm 
of  his  father-in-law.  He  had  nine  dol- 
lars in  cash,  and  was  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars in  debt  when  he  came  to  the  place — 
but  he  was  not  discouraged.  He  built 
a  log  house  and  went  cheerfully  to  work 
to  clear  his  land,  and  cancel  his  indebt- 
edness. He  now  owns  280  acres  of  land, 
140  of  which  are  cleared  and  being  culti- 
vated; in  1884  he  built  a  one-and-one- 
half  story  frame  house  which  is  neat  and 
comfortable.  His  crops  became  so  large 
that  he  found  it  necessary,  in  1890,  to 
build  another  barn,  which  he  did,  the 
size  being  74x42  feet.  He  has  made  a 
great  success  of  stock  raising,  making  a 
specialty  of  Holstein  cattle;  his  horses, 
sheep  and  hogs  are  also  of  a  good  grade. 
Mr.  Graf  is  an  adherent  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  takes  an  active  interest  in 
elections,  and  has  served  as  supervisor  of 
the  township.  Sixteen  children  were 
born  to  him  and  his  wife,  of  whom  twelve 
are  still  living,  to  wit:  Charley;  Adolph, 
married,  and  living  in  West  Superior, 
Wis. ;  Leonard,  of  Minneapolis,  Minn. ; 
Mary,  wife  of  Henry  Blasser,  also  of  Min- 
neapo'is;   Louisa  Schneider,  of   Winona, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPniCAL    RECORD. 


Minn.;  Adelia;  Jacob;  Gusta;  Frank; 
George;  John,  and  Amelia.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Graf  are  working  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Church,  of  which  he  is  a 
deacon,  and  he  was  instrumental  in  se- 
curing an  edifice  for  that  society.  He  or- 
ganized the  school  district  in  which  he 
lives,  and  has  taken  an  active  part  in  all 
the  movements  tending  to  the  benefit  of 
the  communitv. 


AMES  McARDLE,  a  leading  citizen 


J    of  Baileys    Harbor   township.  Door 
county,  for  the  past  four  years  has 
served    as  a   member   of  the    town 
board  of  supervisors,  and  has  been  other- 
wise identified  with  public  interests. 

He  was  born  in  Count\'  Louth,  Ire- 
land, in  1826,  and  was  reared  to  man- 
hood in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads, 
giving  his  father  the  benefit  of  iiis  services 
during  his  minority.  In  1865  he  was 
married  to  Ann  Fegan,  a  year  later  came 
to  America,  and  during  the  first  five  years 
he  resided  at  Troy,  X.  Y.  In  1871  he 
brought  his  family  to  Baileys  Harbor 
where  he  purchased  forty  acres  of  cleared 
land,  and  built  thereon  a  frame  house 
which  still  stands  as  part  of  their  present 
residence.  He  has  untiringly  devoted 
himself  to  the  development  of  the  farm- 
ing interests  of  his  town,  and  is  now  the 
,  possessor  of  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the 
vicinity.  To  his  first  purchase  he  has 
added  others,  until  he  now  has  in  the 
neighborhood  of  350  acres  of  timber  and 
farm  land.  In  all  his  labors  he  has  been 
ably  assisted  by  his  wife,  who  is  a  most 
estimable  lady.  Their  marriage  has  been 
blessed  with  eight  children,  the  two  eldest 
of  whom  are  married;  the  others  are  as- 
sisting their  parents  on  the  farm. 

In  public  life  Mr.  McArdle  has  dis- 
charged his  duties  with  much  credit  to 
himself  andsatisfaction  to  his  constituents. 
It  was  a  fortunate  day  for  him  when  he 
determined  to  seek  a  home  in  the  New 
World,  for  here  he  has  not  only  pros- 
pered in    business,  but  has  also  secured  a 


pleasant  home  and  gained  many  warm 
friends,  for  his  life  has  been  a  straight- 
forward one,  deserving  of  the  esteem  of 
those  wha  know  him. 


JOHN  J.  PIXNEY,  owner  and  editor 
of  the  Door  County  Democrat, 
Sturgeon  Bay,  one  of  the  best  edited, 
newsiest  and  liveliest  newspapers  of 
northern  Wisconsin,  is  a  native  of  Ohio, 
born  March  19,  1862,  in  Mantua,  Port- 
age count)',  son  of  George  and  Charit)' 
C.  (Steadman)  Pinne\'. 

In  1863,  at  that  time  a  one-year-old 
boy,  our  subject  was  brought  by  his  par- 
ents from  the  East  to  Wisconsin.  He 
learned  the  printer's  trade  in  the  office  of 
the  Expositor,  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  at  that 
time  owmed  and  edited  by  his  father. 
From  "devil"  to  "jour"  he  found  rapid 
promotion,  and  he  continued  in  the  print- 
ing business  about  eleven  years,  or  until 
the  fall  of  1885,  when  his  father's  largely 
increasing  nursery  business  demanded  his 
assistance  at  home.  During  the  last  two 
years  of  his  incumbency  there  (which 
terminated  in  1892)  he  conducted  a  print- 
ing office  at  the  nursery,  where  all  the 
literature  of  his  father's  vast  business  was 
turned  out.  Since  December  11,  1894, 
he  has  been  president  of  "The  Ever- 
green Nursery  Co.,"  established  by  his 
father,  and  the  nurserj'  is  said  to  be  the 
most  important  one  in  the  United  States 
devoted  to  the  growth  of  shrubs  and 
evergreens. 

In  Januarj',  1893,  our  subject  bought 
a  complete  printing  plant,  and  estab- 
lished the  Door  County  Democrat,  the 
office  of  which  he  supplied,  complete, 
with  all  modern  appliances  used  in  print- 
ing offices,  including  cylinder  press  and  job 
press;  wire  stitching  machine  for  pamph- 
lets, etc. — everything,  in  fact,  pertaining 
to  the  equipment  of  a  well-appointed  office 
— the  whole  being  operated  by  steam- 
power.  The  Door  County  Democrat  is  an 
eight-page  quarto,  and  its  politics  are 
purely  and  prima  facie  Democratic,  true 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


551 


to  the  principles  of  the  partj-,  which  are 
upheld  with  jealous  care.  The  paper  has  a 
large  and  constantly  increasing  circula- 
tion, while  the  job-room  is  ever  busy  with 
work  for  both  home  and  outside  trade. 
In  a  word,  as  a  paying  investment,  it  is 
no  vain  boast  to  say  that  the  Door  County 
Democrat  is  not  excelled  by  any  journal 
published  on  the  peninsula.  Its  columns 
are  found  complete  in  both  local  and  gen- 
eral county  news,  besides  presenting  its 
readers  with  the  gist  of  the  outside  tele- 
graphic reports,  including  trans-Atlantic 
and  other  foreign  cablegrams;  while 
through  the  judicious  collection  of  in- 
structive and  edifying  matter,  its  columns 
are  replete  with  the  current  National  and 
State  affairs,  and  literary  and  domestic 
pabulum.  In  March,  1895,  Mr.  Pinney 
associated  himself  with  others,  formed 
the  J.  J.  Pinney  Printing  Company,  and 
bought  out  a  rival  newspaper  in  the  same 
city,  and  of  the  same  political  faith, 
thereby  giving  the  Door  County  Democrat 
a  clear  and  largely-increased  held. 

In  April,  1892,  at  Caldwell,  Wis., Mr. 
Pinney  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Martha  Kingston,  and  one  child,  George 
K. ,  has  come  to  brighten  their  home, 
born  March  7,   1894. 


ALBERT  G.  WARREN.  It  is  not 
often  the  privilege  of  the  biogra- 
pher to  have  the  writing  of  the 
life  history  of  one  who  is  more 
than  an  octogenarian  in  years,  and  who 
has  not  yet  entirely  released  his  hand 
from  labor,  as  in  the  case  of  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  here  appears.  Born  in 
New  London  count}'.  Conn.,  Jul}'  26, 
I  Si  2,  Mr.  Warren,  hale  and  hearty,  is 
now  in  his  eighty-third  year,  with  facul- 
ties unimpaired,  cheerful,  happy  and  con- 
tented. 

Lewis  Warren,  his  father — a  son  of 
Moses  Warren,  who  was  of  English  de- 
scent, by  vocation  a  manufacturer  of 
woolen  cloth — was  born  in  Canada,  where 
he  learned  the  trade  of  weaver.    In  1806, 


in  early  manhood,  he  was  desirous  of 
going  into  business  in  his  native  country, 
but  being  required,  before  doing  so,  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British 
Government,  he  declined,  and  conse- 
quently had  to  move  to  the  United  States, 
which  he  did,  settling  in  Connecticut, 
where  he  married  Miss  Sophronia  Adams, 
who  was  born  in  that  State,  in  1 79 1,  a 
daughter  of  Daniel  and  Alice  (Ainsworth) 
Adams,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  tanner 
by  trade,  and  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  He  traced  his  ancestry  to  Miles 
Standish,  who  came  over  in  the  "May- 
flower," and  was  a  captain  in  the  early 
militia.  Daniel  and  Alice  Adams  had 
four  children,  two  sons — Elihu  and  Guy 
Fitch — and  two  daughters — Sophronia 
and  Alice — both  the  sons  becoming  sea 
captains.  After  marriage  Lewis  Warren 
abandoned  cloth  weaving  and  embarked 
in  the  milling  business,  but  not  long  after- 
ward, in  1815,  was  drowned  while  repair- 
ing the  dam  of  his  mill  on  a  branch  of  the 
Genesee  river  in  New  York  State.  He 
was  a  well-educated  man,  and  a  close  as- 
sociate of  Gen.  W.  H.  Harrison.  After 
his  death  his  widow  and  her  three  young 
children — Guy  Lewis,  Albert  G. ,  and 
William  Harrison — returned  to  Connecti- 
cut from  where  they  had  been  living  in 
New  York  State,  the  entire  journey  of 
450  miles  being  made  in  a  wagon,  and 
for  a  time  lived  at  the  home  of  her  father. 
Long  afterward,  in  1855,  she  came  to 
Wisconsin,  in  order  to  make  her  home 
with  her  sons  Albert  G.  and  William  H., 
and  here  died  in  December,  1881,  aged 
ninety-one  years,  nine  months  and  nine 
days. 

Albert  G.  Warren,  whose  name  intro- 
duces this  sketch,  was  three  years  old 
when  his  father  died,  and  at  the  common 
schools  of  Connecticut  he  secured  all  the 
school  training  he  was  destined  to  re- 
ceive. At  the  age  of  ten  he  went  to  live 
with  a  farmer,  with  whom  he  remained 
two  years,  and  then  clerked  in  a  store  at 
Canterbury,  Windham  county,  and  at 
Sterling  Hill,  same  county  and  State,  till 


552 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


he  was  fifteen  years  old,  when,  having 
moved  to  Norwich,  he  learned  the  trade 
of  carriage  trimmer.  The  firm  he  was 
apprenticed  to  failing,  however,  at  the 
end  of  a  year,  young  Warren  took  up 
harness  making,  serving  an  apprenticeship 
of  four  years,  and  afterward  following 
same  several  years,  a  portion  of  the  time 
for  his  own  account,  at  Norwich;  but 
about  the  year  1844  he  abandoned  this, 
and  embarking  in  the  upholstery  and  dry- 
goods  business  continued  in  that  line  in 
the  same  town  until  1855.  In  that  same 
year,  accompanied  by  his  brother  William 
H  ,  he  came  west  to  Wisconsin,  on  a  pros- 
pective tour,  and  being  induced  to  come  to 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Door  county,  while  tarry- 
ing at  Fond  du  Lac,  they  made  the  jour- 
ney northward  and  from  Bay  Settlement 
on  the  ice,  arriving  at  their  destination 
April  3,  same  year,  their  families  follow- 
ing in  July  of  that  year.  Their  intention 
being  to  commence  farming  operations, 
they  took  up  400  acres  of  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  built  a  log 
house  30  X  40  feet,  cleared  a  farm,  and 
for  thirteen  years,  or  until  1868,  w-ere  act- 
ively engaged  in  agriculture.  For  the 
next  seven  years  our  subject  had  charge 
of  the  books  for  A.  W.  Lawrence  cS:  Co. , 
proprietors  af  a  general  store  in  Sturgeon 
Bay,  since  when  he  has  more  or  less  been 
dealing  in  real  estate,  and  devoting  his 
spare  time  to  working  on  an  abstract  of 
land  titles  to  real  estate  in  Door  county. 
In  July,  1836,  at  Norwich,  Conn., 
Mr.  Warren  was  married  to  Miss  Sophia 
Davenport,  who  was  born,  in  18 13,  in 
Connecticut,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Eleanor  (Green)  Davenport,  respectable 
farming  people,  who  had  a  family  of  chil- 
dren named,  respectively,  Jared,  Russell, 
William,  Charles,  Mary,  Sophia  and 
Francis,  of  whom  two  survive,  William 
and  Francis.  The  mother  of  these  died 
at  the  patriarchal  age  of  ninety-six  years 
six  months.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren  have 
two  daughters,  both  born  in  Norwich, 
Conn.,  namely:  Sophia,  now  Mrs.  E.  C. 
Daniels,  of    Pasadena,    Cal.,  and  Emily, 


a  resident  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  W'is.  In  relig- 
ious faith  our  subject  is  a  member  of  the 
M.  E.  Church.  In  his  political  predi- 
lections he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  but 
his  first  presidential  vote  was  cast  for 
Martin  V'anBuren  on  the  Free-soil  ticket. 
At  Sturgeon  Ba\-,  in  the  July,  1855,  elec- 
tion, he  was  elected  supervisor;  in  1856 
was  chairman  of  Sturgeon  Bay  town- 
ship, which  included  all  the  people  of 
Door  county  who  could  get  to  Sturgeon 
Bay  to  poll  their  votes.  In  1859  he 
was  appointed  county  clerk,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  two  years;  was  deputy 
treasurer  and  clerk,  many  years;  assessor 
several  times,  and  town  clerk  for  a  long 
period  of  time.  In  all  the  various  offices 
that  have  been  held  by  him  he  has  ever 
been  an  active  worker,  and  at  all  times 
has  done  his  duty  to  his  constituents  in  a 
manner  that  has  won  him  great  applause 
and  honor.  In  his  earlier  days  Mr.  War- 
ren taught  school  many  dreary  winters, 
and  it  is  remembered  that  he  had  charge 
of  the  first  district  school  in  Sturgeon 
Bay,  which  was  held  in  the  upper  part 
of  a  store.  In  1871  he  built  a  com- 
modious and  comfortable  residence  on 
Cedar  street,  and  resides  in  another  of 
his  houses,  also  on  Cedar  street,  where 
the  honored  old  pioneer  and  his  faith- 
ful helpmeet,  who  is  now  eighty-two 
years  old,  calmly  and  reverently  await 
the  summons  that  must  come  to  all, 
happy  in  the  consciousness  that  they  have 
the  fullest  esteem  and  regards  of  the 
entire  community  who  one  and  all  wish 
them  continued  health  and  fullness  of 
years. 


HERMAN  REINHART  PAUTZ, 
the  oldest  insurance  agent  in  the 
city  of  I\ewaunee,  is  a  native  of 
the  Province  of  Pommcrn,  Prus- 
sia, and  was  born  January  8,  1839.  His 
father,  Charles  Pautz,  was  born  in  i  S02, 
was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  was  a 
son  of  Martin  Pautz,  a  shepherd.  The 
mother  of  our  subject,  wh(  >  bore  the  maiden 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


553 


name  of  Frederica  Rohleder,  was  born  in 
1800,  and  was  married  in  1826.  Of  her 
eight  children,  two  only  are  living.  In 
1856  the  father  brought  his  family  to 
America  and  located  near  Watertowri, 
Jefferson  Co.  ,Wis. ,  but  died  three  months 
after  his  arrival.  The  mother  kept  the 
family  together  for  a  year,  when  her 
daughter  was  married,  and  with  her  Mrs. 
Pautz  made  her  home  until  her  death  in 
1863. 

Our  subject  had  learned  blacksmith- 
ing  in  the  old  country,  and  at  this  trade 
and  as  a  farm  hand  he  worked  for  others 
until  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age. 
He  then  rented  a  farm  near  Portland, 
Wis.,  for  three  years,  after  which  he 
bought  a  farm  at  Golden  Lake,  Wis. ,  but 
had  lived  there  one  year  only,  when  he 
lost  his  first  wife,  Minnie  (Marguard) 
Pautz,  a  native  of  Germany.  He  at  once 
sold  his  place,  and  in  1866  came  to  Ke- 
waunee county,  locating  on  a  farm,  three 
and  a  half  miles  northwest  of  Kewaunee 
city.  In  1884  he  sold  this  farm,  having 
previously  secured  fourteen  acres  where 
he  now  resides,  to  which  he  has  since 
added  five  acres.  All  this  tract  he  has 
laid  out  in  town  lots,  known  as  "  Pautz 
Plat."  About  1876  Mr.  Pautz  married 
Miss  Minnie  Born,  a  native  of  his  own 
province,  who,  at  the  age  of  nine  years, 
came  to  America  with  her  parents,  who 
settled  at  Watertown,  Wis.,  where  her 
father  died  a  month  later.  The  mother, 
marrying  Aug.  Brown,  and  keeping  the 
family  together,  is  now  a  resident  of  Ke- 
waunee. To  this  second  marriage  of  our 
subject  have  been  born  eight  children, 
four  of  whom  are  living,  viz. :  Emma, 
married  to  William  Hoeft,  of  Ixonia,  Jef- 
ferson Co.,  Wis.;  Emil,  now  nineteen 
years  old,  is  a  clerk  in  Duvall's  store; 
Louise  and  Alma  are  still  at  home. 

In  politics  Mr.  Pautz  is  a  strong  Re- 
publican, has  filled  a  number  of  minor 
offices,  and  has  several  times  been  nomi- 
nated for  county  positions,  but  his  party 
being  in  the  minority  he  has  of  course 
shared  its   fate.      He    has  always    taken 


much  interest  in  the  public  schools,  and 
when  on  the  farm  was  clerk  of  the  dis- 
trict. In  the  city  he  has  served  as 
assessor,  and  has  also  been  township 
assessor.  In  1890  he  was  appointed 
enumerator,  and  took  the  census  of  West 
Kewaunee.  For  the  past  twenty-two 
years  he  has  been  in  the  insurance  busi- 
ness, representing  some  of  the  best  com- 
panies in  the  country,  and  traveling 
through  Door  and  Kewaunee  counties  and 
part  of  Brown,  in  all  of  which  he  has 
made  many  friends.  He  is  a  stockholder 
in,  and  one  of  the  managers  of,  the  Ke- 
waunee Printing  Co.,  and  has  always 
taken  an  active  interest  in  everything 
tending  to  the  advancement  and  improve- 
ment of  the  city  and  county.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  German 
Lutheran  Church,  and  are  much  re- 
spected. 


HENRY  C.  KNUDSON,  who  for 
forty  years  has  been  a  resident  of 
Door  county,  a  pioneer  of  the 
truest  type,  and  a  thoroughly 
representative  self-made  man,  is  a  de- 
scendant of  those  sturdy,  bold  adventur- 
ers, the  hardy  Norsemen  of  olden  time 
whose  footprints  were  seen  on  the  sea- 
shore sands  of  this  continent — not  deep 
impressions,  perhaps,  but  certain  and  sig- 
nificant— many  years  before  Christopher 
Columbus  opened  his  wondering  eyes  to 
the  light  in  the  city  of  Genoa,  Italy. 

Mr.  Knudson,  was  born  February  iS, 
1823,  in  Norway,  a  son  of  Knute  Am- 
brosium  Knudson,  an  honorable  and  in- 
dustrious farming  man,  who  honestly 
labored  to  provide  for  his  large  family  of 
five  sons  and  five  daughters,  and  gi\e 
them  the  benefits  of  as  good  an  education 
as  could  be  had  at  the  schools  of  the  lo- 
cality. Our  subject  until  he  was  twenty- 
five  years  old  remained  on  his  father's 
farm,  occasionally  taking  a  run  out  to  sea 
in  the  capacity  of  sailor-boy,  and  then 
commenced  learning  the  trade  of  ship  car- 
penter, which   he  followed  several  jears. 


554 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  vessel  he  belonged  to  in  his  native 
land  plying  between  Norway,  England, 
Holland  and  France.  In  1853  he  came 
to  the  United  States  in  the  barge  •'  Chris- 
tiana," which  he  had  assisted  in  the  build- 
ing of,  in  Norway.  After  a  voyage  of  six 
weeks  he  landed  at  yuebec,  Canada, 
where  he  sojourned  for  a  short  time  and 
then  proceeded-to  Chicago,  111.,  in  which 
city  he  worked  at  his  trade  for  a  couple  of 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time,  in  1855, 
he  came  to  Door  county,  landing  in  Stur- 
geon Bay.  Here  he  bought  thirteen  acres 
of  timber  land,  all  his  limited  means 
would  at  that  time  permit  him  to  invest 
in,  cut  the  cedar  timber  from  it,  which  he 
sold,  built  a  log  house  and  commenced  a 
settlement  in  earnest.  On  October  29, 
1857,  he  was  married  in  Chicago,  111. 
(there  being  nc  minister  in  or  about  Stur- 
geon Bay  at  that  time),  to  Miss  Mary 
Hansen,  to  whom  he  had  been  engaged 
in  Norway,  where  she  was  born  October 
25,  1825,  coming  to  the  United  States  in 
1854,  where  up  to  the  time  of  her  mar- 
riage she  was  employed  as  a  domestic. 
To  his  newly-built  modest  log  house  he 
brought  his  young  bride,  and  for  some 
eighteen  months  they  lived  there  in  su- 
preme contentment;  but  a  farm  of  thirteen 
acres  was  too  small  for  an  ambitious  Nor- 
wegian, so,  selling  it,  he  pre-empted  forty 
acres  of  wild  land  in  Section  2,  Sturgeon 
Bay  township,  going  in  debt  for  same, 
and  this  is  the  property  he  now  owns  and 
lives  on.  At  the  time  of  his  coming  to  it 
there  was  no  clearing  of  any  kind,  the 
timber  was  very  heavy,  and  there  was  no 
road  nearer  than  the  township  line,  while 
his  "next-door  neighbor,"  James  Gilles- 
pie, was  a  mile  awaj-,  and  he  had  to  walk 
through  the  woods,  along  a  trail,  to  Stur- 
geon Bay,  four  miles  distant,  for  the  fam- 
ily provisions.  But  as  faint  heart  never 
won  a  fair  home  or  anything  else,  our 
hero  bravely  set  to  work  to  make  a  clear- 
ing, and  on  a  portion  of  it  erected  a  sub- 
stantial one-story  log  house,  14  x  18  feet 
in  size,  in  which  the  family  lived  till  1884, 
when  Mr.  Knudson  built  the  present  ele- 


gant and  commodious  brick  dwelling. 
From  time  to  time  he  has  added  to  his 
possessions  until  now  he  is  the  owner  of 
a  fine  property,  consisting  of  160  acres  of 
land,  fifty  of  which  he  has  cleared. 

On  August  15,  1862,  Mr.  Knudson, 
leaving  his  wife  and  four  children  to  care 
for  the  homestead,  enlisted  at  Sturgeon 
Bay  in  Company  F,  Thirty-second  Regi- 
ment. Wis.  V.  I.,  which  was  mustered  in 
at  Oshkosh,  from  there  ordered  to  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.,  where  for  some  time  it  did 
guard  duty;  it  was  the  first  regiment  to 
enter  Holly  Springs,  Miss.,  after  it  was 
burned  by  the  Confederates;  was  engaged 
in  many  skirmishes  through  Tennessee 
and  Kentuck}';  and  while  at  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Chick- 
amauga  in  order  to  participate  in  the 
memorable  battle  at  that  place;  but  the 
order  for  some  reason  was  countermanded. 
While  lying  at  Memphis  our  subject  was 
taken  sick,  and  for  two  months  was  con- 
fined to  hospital,  during  which  time  the 
regiment  was  placed  under  Sherman's 
command.  When  able  to  be  moved  he 
was  sent  to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  thence  to 
Jeffersonville,  Ind.,  where  he  was  received 
into  the  convalescent  hospital  and  his 
ultimate  recovery  effected,  which  was  in 
the  fall  of  1864,  when  he  at  once  rejoined 
his  regiment  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  which  city 
it  was  guarding.  The  "Thirty-second" 
was  now  attached  to  the  Seventeenth 
Army  Corps,  was  sent  to  Savannah,  con- 
tinuing to  the  close  of  the  campaign  in 
those  parts  which  ended  in  the  Grand 
Review  at  Washington,  where  Mr.  Knud- 
son received  an  honorable  discharge,  and 
returned  to  his  home  by  way  of  Mil- 
waukee. In  his  three-years'  service  he 
was  never  wounded,  and  at  no  time  was 
absent  from  his  regiment  except  during 
his  illness;  but  the  healthy,  robust  man 
he  was  when  he  set  out  for  the  wars  came 
home  emaciated  and  broken  in  health  and 
strength.  As  already  related,  he  had 
left  behind  him  his  wife  and  four  chil- 
dren, and  they  had  "  a  hard  row  to  hoe" 
in  his  absence,  as  may  be  well   imagined. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUWAL   RECORD. 


555 


having  no  neighbor  nearer  than  Mr.  Gil- 
lespie (if  we  except  the  wild  animals); 
but  Mrs.  Knudson  was  brave  as  she  was 
good,  and  she  kept  the  home  well  and 
secure,  caring  for  her  children  with  all 
the  devotedness  of  a  mother's  love,  while 
the  ravenous  wolves  were  continually 
hovering  about  in  the  neighborhood,  mak- 
ing both  day  and  night  hideous  with  their 
discordant  howls  and  savage  yells.  One 
time,  when  out  in  the  bush  hunting  her 
cows,  she  lost  her  way  for  two  nights  and 
a  day,  during  which  time  she  had  to  sub- 
sist on  wild  berries,  etc.  In  the  winter 
time,  there  being  no  feed  for  the  cows, 
she  chopped  down  trees  so  that  they  could 
get  at  the  moss  and  young  branches,  and 
this  they  subsisted  on.  The  children 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knudson  were  as 
follows:  Guned  M.,  deceased  wife  of 
Charles  Swenson;  Mary,  married  to  Au- 
gust Simpson,  of  Sturgeon  Bay  township; 
Henry  C.,  at  home;  Hans  M. ,  a  resident 
■of  Sturgeon  Bay;  and  a  daughter  that 
died  in  infanc}'.  The  entire  family  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  in 
his  political  views  our  subject  is  an  ardent 
Republican.  He  is  now  semi-retired  from 
acti\e  life,  the  son,  Henry  C,  attending 
to  the  work  on  the  farm  which  the  father 
has,  from  a  wilderness  in  which  roamed 
howling  wolves,  besides  deer  and  other 
game,  converted  into  a  peaceful,  prosper- 
ous, fertile  and  happy  home,  the  labor  of 
a  lifetime  of  ceaseless  toil  and  undying 
energy  in  which  he  has  been  nobly  assist- 
ed by  his  faithful,  patient  and  frugal  help- 
meet, and  family  of  children  from  the 
time  they  were  able  to  gather  up  the  chips 
as  they  fell  to  his  inexorable  axe. 


ADOLPH  M.  C.  JORNS  has  long 
been  a  resident  of  Door  county, 
and  is  numbered  among  its  hon- 
ored pioneers.  He  settled  here 
when  wild  game,  including  deer,  was 
found  in  the  forest,  and  when  the  greater 
part  of  the  land  was  still  in  its  primitive 
condition.      He  has  aided  in  its  develop- 


ment, and  has  ever  manifested  a  com- 
mendable interest  in  those  enterprises 
pertaining  to  the  growth  and  progress  of 
the  county. 

Mr.  Jorns  was  born  November  27, 
1833,  in  Holstein,  Germany,  and  is  a  son 
of  August  and  Elizabeth  (Moore)  Jorns, 
the  former  a  ship  carpenter  b}'  trade  and 
a  successful  and  wide-awake  businessman. 
In  the  family  were  seven  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Augusta,  widow  of  Henry  Bag- 
hum;  Louie,  who  was  drowned;  Maria, 
widow  of  Carl  Schwann;  Adolph;  August, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  Ferdi- 
nand, who  is  now  living  in  Egg  Harbor, 
Wis. ,  and  Caroline,  wife  of  Sovus  V. 
Scheeb. 

Our  subject  is  truly  a  self-made  man, 
and  whatever  success  he  has  achieved  in 
life  is  due  entirely  to  his  own  efforts.  He 
received  but  limited  educational  privileges, 
for  at  the  early  age  of  eight  years  he  be- 
gan working  in  a  woolen  factory  where  he 
was  employed  during  the  summer  time 
from  six  in  the  morning  until  ten  at  night, 
save  between  five  and  seven  in  the  eve- 
ning, at  which  time  he  attended  school. 
He  was  thus  employed  until  fourteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  was  apprenticed  to 
a  ship  carpenter,  Anse  Dryer,  with  whom 
he  served  a  term  of  five  3'ears,  after 
which  he  went  to  sea.  His  father  also 
followed  the  sea  until  sixty-eight  years  of 
age,  when  his  death  occurred  from  heart 
failure;  his  wife  departed  this  life  in  1854. 
Mr.  Jorns  was  a  sailor  until  thirty-five 
years  of  age,  and  during  that  time  spent 
five  years  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  also 
visited  various  other  ports,  in  which  way 
he  gained  the  wide  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence that  have  made  him  a  well-informed 
man.  About  1858  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Johanna  Ruchhaas,  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Johanna  (Hesse)  Ruchhaas, 
and  during  the  two  succeeding  years  was 
engaged  as  a  private  boatman.  In  1871, 
he  sailed  from  Hamburg  to  New  York, 
where  he  arrived  after  a  vo\age  of  ten 
days  and  twenty-two  hours,  made  his  way 
to  Chicago,  111. ,  whence    he  came   direct 


556 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


to  Baileys  Harbor.  In  connection  with 
his  brother  Ferdinand,  he  worked  in  the 
lumber  woods  and  in  loading  vessels  for 
a  year,  when,  with  the  capital  which  he 
had  acquired,  he  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  land  on  which  not  a  furrow  had  been 
turned  or  an  improvement  made.  Hav- 
ing built  a  log  cabin,  i6x  12  feet,  he  be- 
gan clearing  his  land,  and  had  fifty-five 
acres  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation 
when  he  sold  in  1892,  since  which  time 
he  has  lived  at  Baileys  Harbor.  While  on 
the  farm  he  suffered  many  misfortunes, 
endured  much  hardship,  and  is  now  in  a 
crippled  condition,  the  result  of  having 
both  legs  broken. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jorns  have  had  a  family 
of  nine  children,  namely:  Johnny  J.  and 
Ferdinand,  who  were  born  in  Germany; 
William;  Dora;  Louise,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  \ears;  Freda;  August; 
Johanna,  and  Charlie.  The  eldest  is  the 
only  one  married.  In  his  political  affiH- 
ations,  Mr.  Jorns  is  a  Republican,  takes 
a  deep  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party 
and  has  served  as  path  master,  where,  as 
in  all  the  relations  of  life,  he  was  found 
true  and  faithful  to  the  trust  reposed  in 
him. 


REV.  FATHER  JOSEPH  KIR- 
PAL,  pastor  of  the  Holy  Rosary 
Church,  Kewaunee,  was  born  in 
Hohcnstein,  Bohemia,  December 
30,  1844.  His  father,  also  named  Jos- 
eph, who  was  for  forty  years  financial  in- 
spector for  the  government,  is  now  a  pen- 
sioner, and  is  about  seventy  years  of  age. 
He  has  three  children:  Rev.  Joseph;  a 
son  who  is  a  captain  in  the  army;  and  a 
married  daughter. 

Rev.  Joseph  Kirpal  completed  his 
literary  education  at  the  gymnasium  in 
Prague  in  1863;  then  pursued  his  philo- 
sophical studies  at  the  Jesuit  College  of 
Pressburg  for  three  years,  from  which  in- 
stitution he  graduated,  and  finished  his 
studies  of  theology  at  the  University  of 
Innsbruck,  in   Tyrol.      Here  he  was   or- 


dained, then  acted  as  professor  of  the 
Latin  and  Bohemian  languages,  and  sub- 
sequently as  prefect  and  curator  in  sev- 
eral institutes  in  Austria  and  Hungary. 
In  1884  he  came  to  Carlton,  Kewaunee 
Co.,  Wis.,  as  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's 
Church,  and  in  1888  assumed  charge  of 
the  Holy  Rosary  Congregation  at  Ke- 
waunee; he  also  cares  for  the  Polish  St. 
Hedwig's  Congregation  in  W^est  Kewau- 
nee, and  St.  \Iary's  Congregation  in 
Piercetown. 

The  Holy  Rosary  Congregation  has  a 
history  extending  back  to  1856.  In  that 
year  Rev.  T.  Smedding  visited  Kewaunee 
as  the  first  Catholic  missionary,  and  held 
services  in  a  hut  made  of  boughs:  in 
1857  Father  Maly  succeeded,  and  after 
him,  for  three  years,  others  followed. 
In  i860  the  first  church  edifice  was  com- 
menced by  the  pious  John  Borgmann, 
but  it  was  not  finished  until  1863.  Rev. 
Ch.  Exel,  the  first  resident  priest,  came 
this  year,  but  remained  only  three  months. 
In  1866  Rev.  Sheenwick  commenced  the 
erection  of  the  school  building,  which  was 
completed  through  the  efforts  of  Rev. 
George  Brunner,  whose  pastorate  began 
in  1877;  he  also  built  the  new  church, 
an  elegant  brick  structure,  completed  in 
1884.  In  1887  Father  Brunner  was 
transferred  to  Francis  Creek,  Manitowoc 
county,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Pri- 
voznik,  who  caused  the  church  to  be  ar- 
tistically painted  by  Liebig  &  Loeffler.  of 
Milwaukee.  The  present  pastor,  as 
stated  above,  took  charge  in  1888,  and 
has  erected  a  fine  rectory,  purchased 
three  new  statues  from  Europe,  and  new 
pews  from  the  Ahnapee  F'urniture  Co., 
and  has  put  in  a  most  musical  chime  of 
bells,  the  heaviest  of  which  weighs  1 800 
pounds.  The  congregation  now  numbers 
about  120  families,  and  the  parochial 
school  is  attended  by  at  least  one  hun- 
dred children.  From  the  congregation 
have  been  organized  three  benevolent 
societies,  viz. :  The  Catholic  Knights, 
with  about  sixty  members;  St.  Joseph 
Society  with  fifty  members;  and  the  Cath- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


557 


olic    Bohemian     Knights,     with     twenty 
members. 

Father  Kirpal  is  greatly  venerated  by 
his  flock,  over  whom  he  has  been  indeed 
a  most  careful  and  tender  shepherd,  and 
his  piety,  learning,  meekness,  and  be- 
nignity, dignity  and  graciousness,  added 
to  his  energ)-,  and  devotion  to  duty,  have 
won  for  him  the  admiration  and  esteem 
of  the  entire  community,  irrespective  of 
sect  or  religious  denomination. 


N  ARNOLD  WAGENER,  one  of 
the  most  highly  honored  citizens 
of  Door  county,  embodies  in  his 
brief  career  of  scarcely  more  than 
a  half  century  a  life  of  stirring  activity 
and  strong  popular  esteem.  He  is  de- 
scended from  that  sterling  and  sturd\' 
German  stock  which  has  done  so  much 
for  the  world's  civilization  by  a  series  of 
perilous  and  laborious  migrations.  He 
was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Moselle 
river  in  the  village  of  Croev,  Prussia,  Jan- 
uary 4,  1844,  son  of  John  Nicholas  Wage- 
ner,  the  village  merchant,  who  in  1852 
immigrated  with  his  wife  and  seven  chil- 
dren— Catherine,  William,  Alice,  Nicholas 
Arnold,  August,  Peter  V.  and  Minnie — to 
America,  following  a  son  Thomas  who 
had  previously  immigrated.  The  ninth 
child  of  the  family,  Josephine,  was  born 
in  Wisconsin. 

The  passage  from  Antwerp  to  New 
York  was  made  in  the  sailing  vessel 
"  Richard  Allsop, "  in  twenty-three  days, 
arriving  at  the  latter  place  in  April,  1852. 
Three  weeks  later  the  family  took  the 
packet  boat  on  the  Erie  canal  for  Buffalo, 
and  thence  proceeded  to  Two  Rivers, 
Wis.,  by  steam  propeller.  With  the 
proceeds  from  the  sale  of  some  hogsheads 
of  wine,  which  the  father  had  brought 
with  him,  a  forty-acre  tract  of  land  was 
purchased  near  Two  Rivers,  on  which  the 
family  located.  The  father  had  previously, 
through  the  agency  of  a  nephew,  pur- 
chased 200  acres  of  land,  but  owing  to 
business  disagreements  with  his  nephew 


it  was  not  until  after  three  years'  litigation 
and  great  expense  that  he  came  into  pos- 
session of  this  property.  Mr.  Wagener, 
at  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety-two  years, 
still  lives  with  his  wife,  aged  eighty-four, 
on  this  valuable  tract  of  land  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Mishicot,  Wis.,  one  of  its  most  re- 
spected pioneer  citizens. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his 
boyhood  and  early  youth  on  his  father's 
farm,  but  when  in  the  spring  of  1861  the 
tocsin  of  civil  war  sounded  its  dread  alarm 
he  was  one  of  the  first  to  enlist.  En- 
rolled as  a  member  of  Company  A,  Fifth 
Wis.  V.  I. ,  he  served  throughout  the  war 
in  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  participating 
in  thirteen  memorable  battles,  enduring 
unscathed  the  leaden  hail  at  Gettys- 
burg, but  in  the  masterly  advance  through 
the  stubbornly  contested  battle  of  the 
Wilderness  he  received  a  musket  ball  in 
the  left  leg,  which  placed  him  in  the  hos- 
pital for  seventeen  days.  Mr.  Wagener 
was  also  engaged  in  many  skirmishes  with 
the  enemy,  and  in  one  of  them  was  struck 
in  the  left  hip  by  a  fragment  of  a  shell. 

Honorably    discharged   in   the  fall  of 

1864  after  more  than  a  three-years'  gal- 
lant service,  he  journeyed  in  the  spring  of 

1865  to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  with  his  brother 
William,  also  a  veteran  Union  soldier, 
expecting  to  become  sutler  of  a  Wiscon- 
sin regiment,  but,  the  war  closing,  they 
started  west.  After  a  brief  and  not  prof- 
itable experience  in  the  meat  market  busi- 
ness in  Iowa  Mr.  Wagener  hired  out  as  an 
"experienced"  mule  driver  in  a  govern- 
ment wagon  train,  bound  from  Nebraska 
City  to  Julesbury,  Neb.  The  "experi- 
ence" he  gained  later,  and  quickly  be- 
came an  expert.  At  Nebraska  City  he 
again  hired  out  as  a  mule  driver,  this 
time  to  private  traders  at  $55  per  month, 
bound  for  Denver,  Colo. ,  and  on  arriving 
there  with  the  train  a  partner  in  charge  of 
the  wagon  train,  contrary  to  instructions, 
concluded  to  go  farther  west.  Mr.  Wag- 
ener notified  the  house  by  telegraph,  and 
two  hundred  miles  out  the  train  was  over- 
taken by  one  of  the  principal  partners, 


5^S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  goods  equitably  divided,  and  Mr. 
Wagener  placed  in  charge  of  the  return- 
ing goods,  with  instructions  to  sell  out  on 
the  journey  back,  and  report  at  Nebraska 
City.  On  the  way  he  sold  some  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  worth  of 
goods,  drove  entirely  alone,  for  nearly  one 
thousand  miles,  partly  through  a  wild 
Indian  country,  and  reported  to  his  em- 
ployers in  good  shape,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained one  season,  working  in  their  store 
at  Nebraska  City.  In  the  following  fall 
he  and  his  brother  William  engaged  in 
trading  on  their  own  account,  hauling  a 
wagonload  of  apples  and  sweet  potatoes  to 
Laramie,  W'yo.,  and  other  soldier  or  mil- 
itary camps,  and  selling  them  at  a  profit  of 
$600,  some  of  their  large  "  Belle  flower" 
apples  selling  at  one  dollar  apiece.  Our 
subject's  next  enterprises  were  two  brew- 
eries, at  North  Platte  City  and  at  Bear 
River,  where  in  two  and  a  half  months 
he  and  his  partner,  Mr.  Hyrothe,  cleared 
$2,200.  This  was  sunk  in  a  had  brewing 
venture  at  the  Sweet  Water  mines,  which 
failed  and  depopulated  the  settlement. 
After  an  unsuccessful  mining  venture  Mr. 
Wagener  for  two  years  following  was  em- 
ployed to  manage  a  brewery  at  Fort 
Bridger,  Wyo.,  and  then  spent  a  winter 
hunting.  In  the  following  spring,  with 
two  companions,  he  made  the  return  trip 
on  horseback  from  a  point  one  hundred 
miles  north  of  Salt  Lake  City  to  Leaven- 
worth, Kans. ,  a  distance  of  1400  miles, 
starting  .^pril  24  and  arriving  July  2, 
1S72.  Two  days  later  Mr.  Wagener  ar- 
rived at  his  home  in  Wisconsin,  and  thus 
concluded  his  experience  with  western 
frontier  life. 

In  the  spring  oi  1873  he  accepted  a 
position  with  the  Platz  Brewing  Co.,  at 
Milwaukee,  where  he  remained  until  July, 
1874.  He  then  formed  a  partnership 
with  his  brother  William,  and  established 
a  brewery  at  Sturgeon  Ba\'.  The  same 
year  (1874)  his  brother,  William  Wag- 
ener, was  elected  sheriff  of  Door  county, 
and  the  management  of  the  partnership 
business    fell    exclusivelj-    upon    Arnold. 


Four  years  later  the  sheriff,  while  hunting, 
was  accidently  shot  with  his  own  gun  and 
subsequently  died  from  the  effects  of  the 
wound.  Then  began  Mr.  Wagencr's 
official  life.  He  was  appointed  under 
sheriff  in  1878.  Two  years  later  he  was 
elected  sheriff,  and  re-elected  in  1884  and 
1890.  As  sheriff  and  as  under  sheriff, 
Mr.  Wagener  has  served  his  county  four- 
teen years.  Other  official  honors  have 
crowded  upon  him.  For  six  \'ears  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Sturgeon  Bay  city  coun- 
cil, and  for  two  years  president  of  the 
council.  He  has  filled  the  offices  of  city 
treasurer,  chief  of  Fire  Department,  etc., 
and  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Stur- 
geon Bay  Ma\'  1,  1894,  a  position  which 
he  is  now  filling.  In  1892-93  he  was 
assistant  postmaster  of  the  Wisconsin 
State  Senate.  Mr.  Wagener  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Sons  of  Hermann,  and  of  Nel- 
son Post  No.  97,  G.  A.  K. 

He  was  married,  in  February,  1874, 
at  Mishicot,  Wis.,  to  Isabella  A.  Terens, 
and  their  family  consists  of  six  children: 
Hubert  A.,  Annie  I.  C,  Arnold,  William 
E.,  Walter  and  Lionel.  No  greater  mark 
of  popularity  coukl  well  be  adduced  than 
that  which  has  crowned  the  political  life 
of  Mr.  Wagener.  Although  Door  county 
is  considered  Republican  by  a  good  major- 
ity, Mr.  Wagener  has  thrice  been  elected 
sheriff  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  the 
last  time  his  Republican  competitor  paid 
him  the  great  compliment  of  withdrawing 
from  the  contest.  The  tide  of  popularity 
was  so  decidedly  fa\()rable  to  Mr.  Wag- 
ener that  opposition  was  hopeless.  Broad 
and  liberal  in  thought,  generous  and 
kindly  by  nature,  he  is  in  truth  richly  en- 
titled to  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  is 
generally  held  by  his  fellow  citizens. 

LOUIS    BRUEMMER,    cashier    of 
the   State   Bank  of   Kewaunee,    is 
a  native  of  Germany,  born  March 
14,  1841,  in  Jucrgensdorf,    Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin.      In    1853  he  came  to 
America  with  his  parents,  landing  in  New 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


559- 


York  December  4;  thence  proceeded  to 
Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

In  April,  1854,  he  came  to  Wisconsin, 
where,  until  the  coming  winter,  he 
worked  in  a  sawmill  at  Two  Rivers,  Mani- 
towoc county,  next  living  with  his  parents 
in  the  town  of  Mishicot,  following  farm- 
ing and  working  in  the  woods.  For  two 
winters  he  attended  the  district  school, 
also  studied  at  a  Milwaukee  academy 
two  months,  and  in  i860  was  employed  as 
a  teacher  in  the  district  school.  On 
August  28,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company 
G,  First  Wis.  \ .  I. ;  was  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Perryville,  October  8,  1862; 
was  promoted  from  the  ranks  to  sergeant, 
and  on  February  19,  1863,  was  dis- 
charged for  disability  on  account  of  his 
wound.  Returning  to  Mishicott,  he 
taught  school  four  years,  and  filled  the 
offices  of  town  clerk  and  justice  of  the 
peace  two  years,  being  elected  to  each  on 
the  Democratic  ticket.  In  1867  Mr. 
Bruemmer  moved  to  Ahnapee,  where  he 
followed  successively  the  brewery,  hotel, 
gristmill  and  sawmill  businesses.  He  was 
elected  chairman  of  the  town  of  Ahnapee 
for  1871-72;  was  chairman  of  the  county 
board  of  supervisors  of  Kewaunee  county 
in  1871-72,  and  was  elected  count}' clerk 
in  1872,  holding  the  last  named  incum- 
bency ten  consecutive  j'ears.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  responsible  offices  he  was 
elected  to  fill  that  of  member  of  Assembly 
for  the  first  biennial  session  of  1883.  In 
all  of  these  positions  Mr.  Bruemmer  has 
proven  to  be  a  man  of  parts  and  intelli- 
gence, keenly  alive  to  the  needs  of 
his  constituents  and  the  public  in  gen- 
eral. He  now  engaged  as  a  merchant 
at  Ahnapee,  but  soon  sold  out,  and  on  the 
first  day  of  July,  1S84,  entered  the  Ex- 
change Bank  (now  the  State  Bank  of  Ke- 
waunee) as  cashier,  a  position  he  still 
holds,  having  made  himself  most  popular 
by  his  obliging  disposition  and  willingness 
to  accommodate.  This  bank  has  a  capi- 
tal of  $30,000,  and  is  officered  as  follows: 
Edward  Decker,  president;  Louis  Bruem- 
mer,   cashier;    Edward     Decker,    Joseph 


Duval  and  George  Grimmer,'  directors. 
It  is  considered  to  be,  under  this  able 
management,  one  of  the  thriftiest  and 
soundest  moneyed  institutions  of  north- 
eastern Wisconsin,  considering  the  vol- 
ume of  trade  transacted,  and  it  is  need- 
less to  say  that  much  of  its  prosperity  is- 
due  to  the  tact  and  foresight  of  its  worthy 
cashier.  Mr.  Bruemmer  has  filled  sev- 
eral municipal  offices,  including  that  of 
alderman  from  his  ward,  also  supervisor, 
and  in  1891  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the 
city  of  Kewaunee. 

On  June  9,  1866,  Mr.  Bruemmer  was 
united  in  marriage  at  Two  Rivers,  to  Miss 
Amelia  Weilep,  of  that  lakeside  town, 
the  result  of  this  happy  alliance  being 
seven  sons  and  one  daughter,  named  as 
follows:  August  J.,  Otto  H.,  Emil  J.. 
Edwin  H.,  Christy  H.,  Arnold,  Leo  and 
Meta,  four  of  whom  are  residing  with 
their  parents.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Amelia 
Bruemmer,  who  was  named  John  G. 
Weilep,  was  a  Prussian  by  birth.  He 
was  a  ship  carpenter  by  trade,  and  came 
to  America  about  the  year  1850,  first 
locating  in  Washington  county.  Wis., 
Mrs.  Bruemmer's  birthplace,  but  in  a 
short  time  changing  his  residence  t'o  Two 
Rivers,  where  he  kept  a  hotel  until  1867. 
He  then  went  to  .Ahnapee,  conducting  a 
hotel  there  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  Februar\',  1891;  his  wife  passed 
away  in  1887. 

Having  thus  given  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  acti\'e  life  of  Louis  Bruemmer  in  the 
land  of  his  adoption,  it  is  proper  that 
something  should  be  said  of  his  parents. 
Christian  Bruemmer,  his  father,  was  born 
in  Germany,  May  2,  1792,  and  for  thirty- 
three  yeai"S  was  an  overseer  of  the  do- 
main of  Baron  von  Oertzen.  He  mar- 
ried Sophia  Schroeder,  daughter  of  John 
Schroeder,  the  deceased  predecessor  of 
Christian  Bruemmer  in  the  position  of 
trust  held  by  him.  To  this  marriage 
were  born  seven  sons  and  one  daughter, 
all  of  whom  came  to  America,  three  of 
the  seven  sons  being  the  first  to  venture 
across  the   Atlantic  in    1852,   the  father 


560 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPmCAL    RECORD. 


and  the  rest  of  the  famil)-  following  in 
1853.  They  settled  on  a  farm  in  Mishi- 
cot,  Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis.,  and  there  the 
mother  died  in  1876,  the  father  in  1S89. 
The  father  had  been  in  the  army  reserve 
in  Germany,  and  besides  being  a  farmer, 
was  a  practical  veterinary  surgeon,  his 
skill  being  frequently  called  into  requisi- 
tion at  his  new  home.  Of  his  seven  sons, 
three — Louis,  Fred  and  Julius — gallantly 
served  in  defense  of  the  Union,  two  in  the 
Twenty-seventh  Wis.  V.  I.  One  of  the 
sons  of  John  G.  Weilep,  Edward,  was 
consul,  under  Cleveland's  first  adminis- 
tration, to  Sonneberg,  Germany,  where 
he  naturally  felt  at  home  as  far  as  the 
language  was  concerned. 

Socially,  Louis  Bruemmer  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  Lodge  at  Ahnapee,  of 
the  Odd  Fellows,  Sons  of  Hermann  and 
the  G.  A.  R. ,  and  is  one  of  the  strong 
men  of  which  the  county  is  made  up. 


AUGUSTUS  W.  LAWRENCE.— 
"What  can  3'ou  raise  here.'"  in- 
quired a  certain  distinguished  Eng- 
lish agriculturist  of  a  citizen  of 
Maine,  as,  together,  they  were  traversing 
the  rocky,  iron-bound  coast  along  which 
the  northern  Atlantic  dashes  its  waves, 
summer  and  winter.  "  Your  soil  seems  so 
rocky  and  sterile  that  no  crops  could 
thrive  in  it.  What  can  3'ou  grow.'" 
"We  raise  men,"  was  the  proud  reply. 
Yes,  the  Sunrise  State  does  raise  men,  as 
history  proves,  and  one  of  the  best  of  her 
product  is  the  one  whose  history  we  pro- 
pose to  here  brieliy  sketch. 

Mr.  Lawrence  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Madison,  on  the  Kennebec  river,  Som- 
erset count}',  Maine,  October  12,  1830,  a 
son  of  Bennett  and  Hannah  (Carlton) 
Lawrence,  both  natives  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, of  English  and  Scotch  descent,  re- 
spectively. The  father  was  born  August 
16,  1786,  and  died  in  Garland,  Penobscot 
Co.,  Maine,  December  17,  1869,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three  years,  four  months 
and  one  day.      In  1805  he  married  Han- 


nah Carlton,  and  nine  children  were  born 
to  them:  Roland  (deceased  July  21, 
1814,  aged  five  years),  Louisa,  Roland, 
Rachel,  Ruth  K.,  Jonathan  C,  William, 
Mary  E.  and  Augustus  W.,  of  whom, 
Rachel,  Jonathan  C,  William  and  Augus- 
tus W.  survive.  Bennett  Lawrence,  father 
of  these,  was  by  trade  a  hatter,  but  he 
also  followed  agricultural  and  mercantile 
pursuits,  for  a  short  time  conducting  a 
store  in  the  city  of  Bangor,  Maine,  to 
which  State  he  moved  with  his  family  in 
1830,  just  before  the  birth  of  our  subject, 
settling  on  a  farm.  Mrs.  Hannah  (Carl- 
ton) Lawrence  had  four  brothers  and  one 
sister;  the  brothers  were  all  Revolution- 
ary soldiers,  and  three  were  killed  in  that 
struggle,  the  one  who  survived  having 
been  captured  b}'  a  party  of  Indians,  from 
whom  he  afterward  succeeded  in  making 
his  escape. 

Augustus  W.  Lawrence,  the  subject 
proper  of  these  lines,  was  favored  with 
but  limited  school  advantages,  as,  when 
he  was  seven  years  old,  his  father  had 
lost  all  his  property,  and  the  lad  soon  had 
to  commence  the  battle  of  life  in  real 
earnest.  He  early  evinced  a  strong  pen- 
chant for  reading,  and  his  taste  for  stand- 
ard literature  amply  made  amends  for  his 
lack  of  school  training.  Until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old  he  remained  at 
home,  assisting  on  the  farm  and  in  the 
woods,  his  parents  receiving  the  proceeds 
of  his  labor.  In  1851,  in  company  with 
his  brother  William  (who  had  previously 
paid  a  visit  to  this  region),  he  came  to 
^^'isconsin,  and  taking  up  his  abode  on 
Washington  Island  followed  fishing  three 
years,  or  until  September,  1853,  at  which 
time  he  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay.  Here  at 
first  he  worked  for  Robert  &  Perry  Graham, 
lumbermen,  and  assisted  in  the  erection 
of  the  second  sawmill  built  in  this  locality, 
obtaining  the  timber  for  that  purpose  from 
trees  that  stood  where  is  now  Main  street. 
Sturgeon  Bay,  and  this  sawmill  was  com- 
pleted in  July,  1855.  After  leaving  the 
employ  of  the  Grahams,  Mr.  Lawrence 
acted    in   the    capacity    of    foreman    for 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


563 


Others   until   1882,  in  which  j-ear  he  en- 
entered  the  service  of  the  Sturgeon  Bay 
Lumber  Company,  Charnley  Bros.,  pro- 
prietors, and  with  them  remained  till  they 
closed  up  their  business  in  1887.      But  we 
are  somewhat  anticipating.      In  i860  he 
hired  out  to  S.  D.  Clark,  of  Chicago,  but 
after  two  years  they  failed,  Mr.  Lawrence 
himself  losing  considerably    thereby,  and 
Charnley  Bros,  bought  up  the  claims  on 
the  estate,  our  subject  being  retained  as 
superintendent  to  look  after  their  inter- 
ests.   In  the  Sturgeon  Bay  Lumber  Com- 
pany, which    was    organized    as    a  stock 
concern   in  1878,  he   was  a   stockholder, 
and    was    appointed    secretary  of    same. 
He   was  also   engaged  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits,   commencing    in    a    small     waj'  in 
Sturgeon  Bay,  in  a  I2x  16  frame  building, 
and  although  he  has  from  time  to  time 
had  many  other  "irons  in  the  fire,"  to 
quote  a   time-honored   metaphor,  he  has 
tenaciously  clung  to  his  mercantile  inter- 
ests, and  from    this  small   beginning  has 
evolved  his  present  large  store  in  Sturgeon 
Bay,  where  is  conducted  one  of  the  largest 
general  mercantile  businesses  in  northern 
Wisconsin,  under  the  immediate  superin- 
tendence of  L.  M.  Washburn,  Mr.  Law- 
rence's son-in-law,  who  is  part  owner,  the 
style   of  the  firm  being  A.  W.  Lawrence 
&  Co.      The  building  occupied  by  the  firm 
is  a  large  double  store,   50  x  120  feet   in 
size,  and   there   is  a  branch  one  at    Bay 
View,  on  the  opposite  side  of   Sturgeon 
Bay.       Mr.    Lawrence    also   owns  a   fine 
farm  of    150  acres    inside  the  city  limits, 
which  property  at  one  time  was  a  three- 
hundred-acre  tract,  but  has  been  reduced 
from  time  to  time  by  sale  of  lots  to  its 
present  proportions.    He  has  always  taken 
an  active  interest  in  farming  and  dairying, 
erecting  a  cheese  factory,  and  in  live  stock 
he  has  been  no  less  interested,  especially 
in  fine-bred   horses;  but   in  the  winter  of 
1 893  he  met  with  a  grievous  and  heavy  mis- 
fortune, his  barn  being  totally  destroyed 
by  fire,  whereby  he  lost  eighteen  valuable 
horses,    including     stallions    and     brood 
mares,  for  both  draft  and  turf  purposes. 

32 


In  October,  1855,  Mr.  Lawrence  was 
married  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  to  Miss  Emily 
J.  Marshall,  who  was  born  in  Brown 
county,  Wis. ,  daughter  of  Van  Rensselaer 
and  Phcebe  Marshall,  the  former  of  whom 
was  a  Pennsylvania  Dutchman  of  the  old 
school,  the  latter  a  native  of  New  York; 
they  came  to  Brown  county,  Wis.,  in  an 
early  day.  To  this  union  have  been  born 
three  children,  to  wit:  Ruth  E.  (Mrs.  L. 
M.  Washburn;,  Ellen  E.  (Mrs.  Martin) 
and  Augustus  W.  In  politics  our  subject 
was  originally  a  stanch  Whig,  and  since 
the  organization  of  the  party  has  been  an 
equally  ardent  Republican.  Although 
frequently  urged  to  accept  office,  he  has 
invariably  declined,  excepting  in  the  city 
council,  of  which  he  has  been  a  member 
several  times,  and  at  this  present  writing 
is  president.  Though  not  a  member  of 
any  Church  he  gives  liberally  of  his  means 
to  all  denominations,  irrespective  of  creed, 
and  is  a  true  friend  to  the  poor.  He  is  a 
typical  self-made  man;  landing  on  Wash- 
ington Island  forty-four  years  ago,  liter- 
ally without  a  cent  in  his  pocket,  he  is  to- 
day moderately  well  off,  and  none  stands 
higher  in  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his 
fellow  men. 


LEROY    M.     WASHBURN.     The 
city  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Door  coun- 
ty,   is    indebted    to    the  State   of 
Maine  for  not  a  few  of  her  most 
enterprising  and   progressive  citizens,    in 
the  front  rank  of  whom  stands  prominent 
the  gentleman  here  named. 

Mr.  Washburn  was  born,  in  1847,  in 
Sebec,  Piscataquis  Co.,  Maine,  near  the 
city  of  Bangor,  a  grandson  of  Eliphalet 
Washburn,  a  native  of  the  same  State, 
born  in  New  Gloucester,  and  who  became 
an  early  settler  of  Piscataquis  county, 
taking  up  land  in  Foxcroft  township, 
where  he  built  the  first  frame  house  ever 
erected  in  that  locality,  and  there  he  died. 
He  married  a  Miss  Hubbard,  and  by  her 
had  ten  children— eight  sons  and  two 
daughters — as    follows:     Moses,  Stephen 


564 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


D. ,  Charles,  George  W.,  Adrian  J.,  An- 
drew J.,  Otis,  William,  Charlotte  and 
Mary  Ann. 

William  Washburn,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, first  saw  the  light  in  1812  in  Piscat- 
aquis county,  Maine,  was  there  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  educated  at  the 
common  schools  oi  his  early  day.  Besides 
farming,  he  taught  school  and  gave  sing- 
ing lessons  for  many  years,  and  all  his  life 
was  deeply  interestetl  in  educational  mat- 
ters. In  his  political  affiliations  he  was 
first  a  Whig,  afterward  a  Republican, 
and  up  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1878,  he  held  several  minor  township 
offices.  I^y  his  wife,  Lucia  A.  (Dunham), 
he  had  a  family  of  five  children,  named, 
respectively,  William  F.,  Newell  S., 
Leroy  M.,  Andrew  J.  and  Edison  W. 

Leroy  M.  Washburn  was  reared  on 
his  father's  farm  in  Fo.\croft  township, 
Piscataquis  Co.,  Maine,  and  received  a 
liberal  education  at  Fo.xcroft  Academy, 
which  he  attended  several  terms.  After 
leaving  school  he  taught  several  winters 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  home,  during  the 
summer  months  working  on  the  farm  and 
improving  his  time  in  many  ways,  till  the 
fall  of  1870,  when  in  company  with  John 
Lawrence,  he  set  out  for  the  growing 
West,  and  coming  to  Wisconsin  located 
at  once  in  the  then  village  of  Sturgeon 
Bay.  On  his  arrival  here  he  immediately 
went  to  work  in  A.  W.  Lawrence's  store, 
and  although  his  first  intention  was  to 
remain  in  the  West  a  couple  of  winters 
and  one  summer,  he  has  remained  here 
ever  since,  and  grown  up  with  the  city  of 
his  adoption.  In  fact,  before  leaving 
Maine,  he  had  bought  a  farm  there,  but, 
two  years  later,  having  concluded  to  re- 
main in  the  West,  he  sold  it,  and  with 
the  proceeds  purchased,  in  1876,  an  inter- 
est in  the  Lawrence  store  in  Sturgeon 
Bay,  since  when  he  has  led  an  active 
business  life,  full  of  tireless  energy  and 
unceasing  vigilance.  In  i  87  i  he  assumed 
the  management  of  the  mercantile  de- 
partment, and  to-day  he  is  sole  mana- 
ger  of     the  business     of    A.     W.     I^aw- 


rence  &  Cy.,  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  of 
their  branch  store  at  Bay  \'ievv,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  water. 

In  1875  Mr.  Washburn  married  Miss 
Ruth  E.  Lawrence,  daughter  of  A.  W. 
and  Emily  J.  (Marshall)  Lawrence,  of 
Sturgeon  Bay.  and  three  children  have 
been  born  to  them:  George  H.,  Emily 
J.  and  Harold  E.  The  family  attend  the 
services  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
and  in  his  political  preferences  Mr.  Wash- 
burn is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  served 
as  chairman  of  the  village  of  Sturgeon 
Bay  before  it  became  a  city,  and  in  1875- 
76  represented  this  District  in  the  State 
Assembly.  Socially  he  is  an  advanced 
member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  in  which 
Society  he  takes  an  active  interest.  In 
addition  to  his  connection  with  the  I^aw- 
rence  store,  Mr.  Washburn  has  several 
outside  interests,  including  a  large  plan- 
ing-mill  and  lumber  yard  at  Sturgeon 
Bay;  the  Merchants  Exchange  Bank  at 
Sturgeon  Bay,  organized  1884,  and  which 
does  an  extensive  banking  and  insurance 
business;  and  he  is  a  director  of  the 
recently  opened  Ahnapee  &  Western  rail- 
road. With  the  exception  of  occasional 
visits  so  his  old  home  in  Maine,  and  a 
trip  to  California  in  1894,  accompanied 
by  his  wife,  Mr.  Washburn  has  not  been 
much  abroad,  his  time  of  necessity  being 
too  closel}'  taken  up  with  his  business 
affairs.  He  has  great  faith  in  the  future 
of  Sturgeon  l^ay,  so  much  so  that  he  now 
owns  large  real-estate  interests  in  both 
city  and  country,  and  not  long  since  he 
built  an  elegant  residence  near  to  and 
facing  the  bay.  .\s  a  business  man,  his 
record  is  withoiit  a  stain,  and,  whether  in 
prosperity  or  adversity,  he  has  ever  been 
upright,  conscientious  and  honorable. 


FRANK  EVRARD   one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Door  county,  has  made 
his    home    in    this    locality    since 
1855-,    and    is    therefore    familiar 
with  its  history  of  progress  and  advance- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


565 


ment,  while  with  its  upbuilding  and  de- 
velopment he  has  been  prominently  iden- 
tified. 

Born  in  Belgium,  August  18,  1837,  he 
is  the  eldest  of  three  children  of  Elick 
and  Mary  (Malcord)  Evrard,  his  brothers 
being  John  B.  and  Adolphus.  By  occu- 
pation the  father  w-as  a  farmer,  and  in 
1855  he  severed  all  his  business  relations 
with  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  with  his 
family  sought  a  home  in  the  New  World. 
Coming  direct  to  Door  County,  Wis.,  he 
purchased  in  Union  township,  the  160 
acres  of  land  now  owned  by  his  sons, 
Frank  and  John.  Upon  this  place  he 
built  a  log  house,  12x16  feet,  roofing  it 
with  cedar  bark,  and  at  once  began  to 
clear  awaj'  the  timber,  working  steadily 
until  the  broad  sunlight  shone  down  upon 
many  acres  of  cultivated  soil.  After  liv- 
ing upon  the  farm  for  a  year,  he  bought 
an  ox-team,  and  the  work  of  development 
was  continued  by  the  father  and  his  sons, 
save  Frank  who  began  sailing  on  Green 
bay.  and  was  thus  employed  for  twelve 
years,  carrying  shingles  made  in  this  lo- 
cality to  market  in  the  city  of  Green  Bay. 

This  was  the  first  independent  effort 
in  the  life  of  our  subject,  and  the  venture 
was  quite  successful,  he  receiving  good 
wages  for  his  labors.  After  twelve  vears 
passed  in  that  way,  he  returned  to  his 
home,  married  Miss  Florentine  Patrise 
October  16,  1866,  and  brought  his  bride 
to  the  farm  on  which  he  has  since  resided. 
He  then  turned  his  attention  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  v\hich  he  has  followed  suc- 
cessfully for  a  number  of  years,  and  in 
1880  he  established  a  general  mercantile 
store  in  Namur,  where  he  is  doing  a  good 
business.  His  brother,  JohnB.,  married 
a  sister  of  Mrs.  Evrard,  and  together  the 
brothers  own  252  acres  of  land.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Frank  Evrard  six  children  have 
been  born:  Mary,  Emma,  Alex,  Esther, 
Frank  and  Poland.  The  family  are  all 
members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  their 
home  is  the  abode  of  hospitality,  and 
their  circle  of  friends  in  this  community 
is  a  very  large  one. 


On  obtaining  the  right  of  franchise, 
Mr.  Evrard  identified  himself  with  the  Re- 
publicans, and  continued  to  support  them 
for  some  time,  but  during  the  past  four 
years  has  affiliated  with  the  Democratic 
party.  His  father  was  the  first  chairman 
of  the  town  board  in  Union  township,  and 
has  filled  that  office  four  years,  while  at 
the  present  writing  he  is  serving  as  post- 
master at  Namur.  He  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin when  Door  county  was  in  its  primitive 
condition,  and  has  been  an  eyewitness  of 
the  greater  part  of  its  development;  has 
seen  the  introduction  of  railroads;  has 
watched  the  transfonnation  of  the  wild 
land  into  beautiful  homes  and  farms, 
and  has  witnessed  the  development  of 
thri\'ing  towns  and  cities. 


JOHN  WALSH,  attorney  at  law,  Ke- 
waunee, is  a   native  of  Two  Rivers, 
Wis.,  born  January  15,  1872,  a  son 
of  Felix  and  Bridget  (Comer)  Walsh, 
mention  of  whom  is  made  in  the  sketch  of 
Hon.   John   Wattawa    elsewhere    in   this 
volume. 

The  boyhood  of  our  subject  was  pass- 
ed on  a  farm  and  in  attending  the  pub- 
lic schools  at  Two  Rivers.  In  June, 
1S89,  he  graduated  at  the  high  school  of 
that  place,  and  immediately  thereafter 
went  to  Redfield,  S.  Dak. ,  where  he 
taught  school  two  winters,  in  the  sum- 
mer season  reading  law;  he  was  also  em- 
ployed in  the  law  office  of  his  brothers, 
Henry  C.  and  Thomas  J.  Walsh.  In  1891 
he  was  employed  as  agent  for  the  Ameri- 
can Express  Co. ,  at  the  same  place,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1892  he  was  stationed,  as 
their  agent,  at  Aberdeen,  S.  Dak.,  re- 
maining there  one  year,  or  till  the  fall  of 
1893,  when  he  became  a  student  in  the 
Law  Department  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin,  Madi.son.  In  1894  Mr.  Walsh 
resumed  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of 
his  brother-in-law,  Hon.  John  Wattawa, 
in  Kewaunee,  where  he  is  still  engaged, 
and    on    December    18,    that    year,    was 


566 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


admitted  to  the  bar  at  Milwaukee,  pass- 
infj  a  highly  creditable  examination  before 
the  State  board  of  examiners. 


JOSEPH  F.  STROH.  proprietor  of  a 
leading   general    store    in   Sturgeon 
Bay,  Door  county,  and   one  of  the 
city's  most  progressive  citizens,  is  a 
native  of  Ohio,  born  in  the  city  of  Cleve- 
land June  25,   1850. 

His  father,  Charles  Stroh,  a  German 
by  birth,  came  to  the  United  States  when 
a  young  man,  locating  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
where  he  married  Miss  Marv  Baumer, 
also  a  German,  who  bore  him  two  chil- 
dren: Mary  Ann  and  Joseph  F.  In  Cleve- 
land he  followed  merchandising,  and  in 
185 1  he  came  with  his  family  to  Wiscon- 
sin, settling  in  Fond  du  Lac,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  general  mercantile  busi- 
ness. He  carried  the  first  mail  between 
Fond  du  Lac  and  Milwaukee,  was  a 
Union  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
and  died  in  the  army.  His  widow  subse- 
quently married  George  Weis,  and  now 
lives  in  Washington  county.  Wis. ;  six 
children  were  the  result  of  this  union. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  came 
with  his  parents  to  Wisconsin  at  the  age 
of  two  years,  obtained  a  good  education 
in  the  winter  schools  of  Washington  coun- 
ty, the  rest  of  the  year  being  devoted  to 
working  on  his  father's  farm.  In  1869, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  came  to  Stur- 
geon Bay,  and  for  the  first  two  years 
worked  on  a  farm  in  Door  county,  send- 
ing his  earnings  to  his  parents;  then  con- 
ducted a  hotel  one  year,  after  which  he 
again  carried  on  farming  until  1882,  when 
he  commenced  the  business  of  contractor 
and  builder  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  which  he 
pursued  some  ten  years,  erecting  many 
school-houses  in  Door  and  other  counties 
in  Wisconsin,  besides  several  residences 
in  Sturgeon  Bay,  employing  from  ten  to 
fifteen  hands.  In  1891  he  erected  a  fine 
brick  business  block  for  himself,  where  he 
now  has  his  store,  the  balance  of  the  block 
being  fitted  up  and  occupied  as  the  well- 


known  "  Commercial  Hotel;"  also  built 
the  bridge  across  the  bay,  and  assisted  in 
the  erection  of  the  gristmill  and  elevator. 
His  real-estate  interests  have  been  exten- 
sive, chiefly  in  the  way  of  buying  lots  on 
which  he  would  build  dwellings,  and  then 
sell  on  time  to  people  of  limited  means. 
Mr.  Stroh  has  been  twice  married, 
first  time,  in  1871,  to  Miss  Mary  Hinker, 
by  whom  he  has  four  children:  Frank, 
Lizzie,  Cassie,  and  Mary.  The  mother 
of  these  died  in  1881,  and  in  1882  Mr. 
Stroh  married  Miss  Bertha  Gabert,  who 
was  born  in  Manitowoc,  Wis. ,  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Anna  Gabert,  of  Ahnapee, 
Kewaunee  county,  where  her  father  fol- 
lowed the  shoemaking 'business;  he  is  now 
deceased,  and  the  mother  is  still  a  resi- 
dent of  Ahnapee.  Bj^  this  marriage  there 
were  six  children:  Annabel,  Archie, 
Lucia  and  Verda,  living,  and  Joseph  and 
Eddie,  who  died  of  diphtheria  at  the  ages 
of  four  and  six  years  respectively.  The 
entire  familj-  attend  the  services  of  the 
M.  E.  Church.  Socially  our  subject  is  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum;  in  politics 
he  is  a  straight  Republican,  and  in  civic 
affairs  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  city 
council  three  years,  besides  holding  sev- 
eral minor  offices.  When  he  first  came 
to  this  county  he  bought  a  farm  in  Sevas- 
topol township,  but  sold  it  not  long  after- 
ward. In  1891  he  organized  a  company 
who  built  the  merchants'  dock  in  Stur- 
geon Bay,  and  in  innumerable  other  ways 
has  he  benefited  the  city  and  county  of 
his  adoption.  In  that  same  year  he  gave 
up  contracting  and  building,  and  em- 
barked in  his  present  general  merchan- 
dising business,  in  which  he  does  an  ex- 
cellent trade.  In  all  his  ventures  Mr. 
Stroh  has  been  eminentl)'  successful, 
having  in  but  a  few  years,  by  dint  of  sound 
judgment,  perseverance  and  untiring  en- 
ergy, accumulated  a  fine  property,  and 
he  stands  to-day  a  thoroughly  typical  self- 
made  man,  all  the  capital  he  possessed 
when  entering  the  arena  of  business  life 
being  positively  naught  save  a  willing 
pair  of  hands,  a  stout  heart   and  a  clear 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


567 


head.  Since  the  above  was  written  Mr. 
Stroh  has  taken  personal  charge  of  his 
own  hotel,  '•  The  Commercial,"  and  con- 
ducts it  in  connection  with  his  store, 
proving  an  admirable  and  courteous  land- 
lord. 


M 


ICHAEL  PEOT  is  an  honored 
pioneer  of  Kewaunee  county, 
one  who  has  borne  all  the  ex- 
periences of  life  on  the  frontier, 
and  is  familiar  with  the  history  of  this 
community  from  an  early  day,  while  with 
its  growth  and  upbuilding  he  has  been 
prominently  identified.  The  best  inter- 
ests of  the  community  have  ever  found  in 
him  a  friend,  and  he  is  a  loyal  and  valued 
citizen. 

A  native  of  Prussia,  Germany,  he  was 
born  July  8,  1836,  to  Nicholas  and  Cath- 
erine (Maas)  Peot,  whose  children  were 
Michael,  Catherine,  Angeline,  John, 
Nicholas  and  Peter;  several  others  died 
in  infancy.  The  father  was  a  coal  miner 
in  Germany,  and  in  that  land  made  his 
home  until  1847,  when  with  his  family 
he  sailed  for  America,  landing  in  New 
York  after  a  voyage  of  forty-nine  days. 
He  then  made  his  way  to  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  and  onto  Washington  county,  same 
State,  and  purchased  forty  acres  of  land 
on  which  not  a  furrow  had  been  turned 
or  an  improvement  made.  In  the  forest 
bears  and  deer  were  frequently  shot,  and 
the  wolves  ofttimes  made  night  hideous 
with  their  howling;  Indians  still  frequent- 
ly visited  the  settlements,  but  gave  the 
white  men  little  trouble.  Mr.  Peot  and 
his  sons  built  a  log  house,  18x24  feet, 
where  he  and  his  family  and  the  family  of 
George  Kersch  both  lived,  the  latter  own- 
ing the  forty-acre  tract  of  land  adjoining 
the  Peot  farm.  During  the  first  winter, 
in  a  severe  storm,  a  tree  was  blown  down, 
and  striking  the  house  caused  consider- 
able damage.  The  work  of  clearing  the 
land  was  accomplished  with  an  axe  and 
grub  hoe,  and  during  the  first  few  years 
much  of  the  work  was  carried  on  by  our 


subject  and  his  brothers,  for  the  father 
went  to  Milwaukee  and  cut  cordwood  to 
secure  the  money  needful  to  meet  the 
family  expenses.  They  suffered  severely 
during  the  first  winter,  and  often  the  food 
upon  their  table  would  be  frozen;  but  in 
the  spring  the  father  returned  home,  a 
crop  of  potatoes  and  corn  was  planted, 
and  in  course  of  time  the  farm  yielded 
sufficiently  to  supply  their  wants  which 
were  of  a  very  simple  nature.  Five  years 
passed  before  they  could  afford  to  pur- 
chase a  team,  and  it  will  thus  be  seen 
that  the  work  of  developing  the  farm 
was  a  very  arduous  task.  An  old  gentle- 
man, Mathias  Miller,  did  all  the  market- 
ing for  the  neighborhood,  hauling  pro- 
visions from  Milwaukee,  a  distance  of 
thirty-six  miles,  the  trip  sometimes  occu- 
pying six  days,  and  he  could  then  bring 
only  about  five  or  six  barrels  of  flour  with 
him,  owing  to  the  bad  condition  of  the 
roads.  Many  of  the  present  day  think 
that  times  are  hard,  little  reflecting  that 
fifty  years  ago  people  had  to  work  on 
farms  and  elsewhere  for  three  or  four 
shillings  per  day,  and  no  "eight-hour 
movement "  at  that,  but  in  continuous 
labor  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  The  first 
year  the  Peots  were  farming  in  this  re- 
gion they  carried  the  potato  seed  (about 
the  size  of  doves'  eggs)  in  their  pocket, 
and  from  four  bushels  they  planted  they 
digged  I  50  bushels  in  the  fall.  The  yoke 
of  cattle  which  they  brought  with  them 
strayed  away  in  the  woods,  and  were 
gone  four  weeks  before  they  were  discov- 
ered, on  their  road  home,  however. 

In  1857,  the  farm  in  Washington 
county  was  sold  for  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  the  Peot  family  came  to  what  is 
now  Luxemburg  township,  Kewaunee 
county,  where  the  father  bought  forty 
acres  of  land  for  one  hundred  dollars. 
He  became  owner  of  160  acres  on  Sec- 
tion 26,  and  again  had  to  go  through  the 
hardships  of  clearing  a  farm.  On  one 
occasion  he  lost  his  way,  and  wandered 
about  for  some  time,  but  at  length  saw 
some  cattle  which  he  followed,  and  they 


568 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


led  him  home  in  safety.  He  had  to  walk 
to  De  Pere,  twenty-five  miles  distant,  for 
his  provisions;  but  as  the  years  passed 
the  comforts  of  civilization  were  added 
and  Mr.  Peot  also  extended  his  farm  un- 
til it  comprised  500  acres. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained 
at  home  until  thirty  years  of  age,  and 
then  married  Miss  Gertrude,  daughter  of 
Peter  and  Gertrude  (Munyawe)  Schaut, 
farming  people  of  Humboldt  township, 
Kewaunee  county.  She  was  born  in 
Prussia,  German}',  May  13,  1847,  and 
had  a  brother,  John,  her  senior,  and  a 
sister,  Anna,  younger  than  herself.  The 
young  couple  began  their  domestic  life 
with  her  parents,  and  in  1869  they  came 
to  the  farm  which  they  now  occupy  in 
Lu.xemburg  township,  Mr.  Poet  receiving 
from  his  father  eighty  acres  of  land,  to 
which  he  has  added  until  he  now  has  140 
acres,  one-half  of  which  is  under  cultiva- 
tion. Their  home  has  been  blessed  with 
ten  children:  John  P.,  Annie,  Catherine, 
Michael  P.,  Joseph,  Mitchell,  Nicholas, 
Mary,  William  and  Gertrude.  The  par- 
ents and  children  hold  membership  with 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  in  the  social 
circles  in  which  they  move  occupy  an 
enviable  position.  Mr.  Peot  exercises  his 
right  of  franchise  in  support  of  the  Dem- 
ocracy, and  for  four  years  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  town  board  of  supervisors, 
proving  a  most  capable  and  efficient  offi- 
cer, and  fully  demonstrating  that  the  con- 
fidence reposed  in  him  was  not  mis- 
placed. 


GEORGE  \V.  MARSH,  for  over 
thirty  years  a  well-known  and  re- 
spected citizen  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Door  county,  and  prominent  in 
real-estate  and  lumber  interests,  now  liv- 
ing retired,  is  a  native  of  New  York  State, 
born  in  the  town  of  Warren,  Herkimer 
county,  September  30,  1813.  He  is  de- 
scended in  a  direct  line  from  an  English- 
man who  settled  in  Massachusetts  some 
time  during  the  sixteenth  century. 


\\'illiam  Marsh,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  at  Andover,  Mass.,  March  26, 
1776,  and  died  in  Ohio  in  March,  1843; 
was  married,  in  1798,  to  Mary  Hines, 
who  was  born  March  26,  1783,  and  died 
in  Jul}-,  1 86 1.  Thirteen  children  were 
born  to  this  union,  their  names,  dates  of 
birth,  etc.,  being  as  follows:  Anna,  No- 
vember 3,  1799;  Ruth,  November  30, 
1801;  Diana,  February  28,  1804:  Will- 
iam, Jr.,  February  9,  1806:  Benjamin 
D.,  April  24,  1808;  Matilda,  March  9, 
1 8 10,  who  died  in  infancy;  Patience, 
April  29,  181 1 ;  George  W.,  September 
30,  1S13;  Mary  Ann,  January  11,  1817; 
Lurana,  April  9,  1819;  Sylvia,  September 
26,  1 821;  John  P.,  January  31,  1824,  and 
Nathan,  August  13,  1826.  Of  this  family 
the  following  were  living  in  1895:  Diana, 
aged  ninety-one;  Benjamin,  eighty-six; 
George  W.,  eighty-one;  S}lvia,  seventy- 
four;  and  Nathan,  sixty-nine.  When  our 
subject  was  one  year  old  his  parents 
moved  from  Warren,  N.  Y. ,  to  Granville, 
\\'ashington  Co.,  same  State,  settling  on 
a  farm  two  miles  west  of  Bishop's  Corners, 
and  here  young  George  was  reared  and 
educated  up  to  the  age  of  eighteen,  at 
which  time  the  family  moved  to  Fowler 
township,  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y. ,  where 
he  commenced  an  apprenticeship  at  the 
trade  of  blacksmith.  Marrying  here  in 
1837,  he  then  commenced  on  his  own  ac- 
count a  blacksmith  business  at  Halesbor- 
ough,  in  Fowler  township,  St.  Lawrence 
Co.,  N.  Y. ,  on  the  Oswegatchie  river,  two 
miles  above  Go\erneur,  at  which  he  con- 
tinetl  until  the  spring  of  1 839,  when  he  sold 
out  and  removed  to  Bucyrus,  Crawford 
Co.,  Ohio.  Here,  unfortunately,  he  was 
prostrated  with  fever  and  ague,  which 
clung  to  him  tenaciously  for  three  months; 
but  in  the  meantime,  his  father  being  de- 
sirous of  trading  his  farm  in  Halesborough, 
N.  Y. ,  for  his  son's  property  in  Ohio, 
the  deal  was  effected,  and  the  father 
accordingly  came  to  Ohio,  where  he 
died  in  1843,  our  subject  returning  to  the 
old  farm  in  Halesborough.  In  1841  he 
moved    to  Go\erneur,    N.    Y.,    where  he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


569 


bought  a  water-power  privilege  on  which 
he  erected  a  building  30  x  40  feet,  three 
stories  in  height,  where  he  carried  on  a 
general  blacksmithing  and  carriage-mak- 
ing establishment,  which  latter  branch  of 
the  business  led  him  into  another  in- 
dustry, as  will  presently  be  related.  Being 
naturally  of  an  ingenious  and  inquiring  turn 
of  mind,  he  conceived,  while  building 
carriages,  etc.,  the  idea  that  it  was  possi- 
ble to  make  felloes  with  a  circle  saw,  a 
great  improvement  on  the  method  then  in 
vogue.  Setting  to  work,  he  made  his 
own  saw  plate,  forged  the  "  arbour," 
completed  the  saw,  set  it  up,  and  on  the 
first  trial  made  a  complete  felloe — and 
this  was  the  first  circle  saw  ever  made 
and  used  for  that  purpose  in  the  United 
States.  He  also  invented  a  machine  that 
turned  the  thill  from  tip  to  cross  bar,  the 
same  as  they  finish  them  now,  then 
steamed  and  bent  them  into  the  required 
shape,  for  carriages,  buggies,  etc.,  a  vast 
improvement  on  the  old  method  of  saw- 
ing them  out  of  the  lumber;  and  the  thills 
made  by  him  were  the  first  made  that 
way  in  this  country.  Neither  of  these 
ideas  or  inventions  were  ever  patented  by 
Mr.  Marsh,  and  had  he  done  so  there  is 
no  doubt  but  that  he  would  have  realized 
a  considerable  fortune.  When  he  started 
for  the   West   in    1853,  he  sent   300  pair 


of    these    thills    to    Buffalo,    intending  to 
bring  them  on  to  Wisconsin 


but  he  found 
a  favorable  opportunity  of  selling  them  to 
one  individual  at  the  railway  station  at 
Buffalo  at  his  own  price,  which  goes  to 
show  how  highly  they  were  already  ap- 
preciated in  the  market. 

Selling  out  his  business  in  Governeur, 
N.  Y.,  in  1853,  Mr.  Marsh  the  same  year 
established  himself  in  the  carriage-mak- 
ing business  at  Beaver  Dam,  Wis.,  and 
here  continued  manufacturing  felloes  with 
his  circle  saw,  the  first  of  the  kind  pro- 
duced in  Wisconsin,  and  he  soon  built 
up  a  large  trade.  At  Beaver  Dam  he 
exhibited  at  the  county  fair  a  two-horse 
wagon  of  his  own  make,  and  although  he 
had  to  compete  against  wagons  entered 


from  New  York  he  took  first  premium, 
and  sold  his  wagon  for  $120.  In  1857 
he  disposed  of  his  business  at  Beaver 
Dam,  and  went  on  a  farm,  where,  with 
the  exception  of  one  year  (1861),  he  re- 
mained until  the  fall  of  1864,  the  time  of 
his  coming  to  Sturgeon  Bay.  In  the 
spring  of  1865  he  bought  the  "Middle 
Mill,"  where  now  stands  a  planing-mill, 
but  following  fall  sold  it  to  Mr.  Ives,  who 
disposed  of  it  to  A.  W.  Lawrence,  by 
whom  it  was  converted  into  a  gristmill, 
but  later  was  burned  down.  After  selling 
his  mill  Mr.  Marsh  returned  to  Beaver 
Dam,  thence  moved  to  Cannon  City, 
near  Faribault,  Minn.,  bought  a  shop 
and  made  wagons  that  winter,  but  sold 
out  following  summer,  and  in  company 
with  his  son-in-law,  W.  H.  Stevens,  pro- 
ceeded to  Osakis,  in  the  same  State, 
where  the  latter  entered  a  homestead. 
Mr.  Marsh  made  a  breaking  plow,  and 
helped  to  break  up  the  fallow,  put  up  a 
house,  and  assisted  in  cutting  sufficient 
hay  to  winter  five  head  of  stock,  all  for 
Mr.  Stevens.  He  then  once  more  came 
to  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  bought  400  acres 
of  land  in  Door  county,  which  land  the 
county  held  in  the  town  of  Egg  Harbor, 
and  Mr.  Marsh  secured  the  land  by  pay- 
ing for  the  certificate  (it  was  located  on 
what  is  known  as  the  ' '  south  bluffs  of 
Horse-Shoe  bay");  then  entered  200 
acres  of  government  land  on  the  shore 
below  the  "  bluffs,"  erected  a  shanty,  and 
called  the  place  Podunk.  That  same 
winter  he  "banked"  five  hundred  thous- 
and feet  of  pine  logs,  and  to  use  his  own 
words  "spent  the  happiest  winter  of  his 
life;"  in  the  spring  sold  the  logs  to  Mr. 
Gardner  for  five  dollars  per  thousand  feet, 
and  the  land  to  William  Sellick  for  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  after 
which  he  located  four  hundred  acres  in 
the  south  end  of  Gardner  township, 
"the  finest  cluster  of  pine  in  these  parts." 
The  county  surveyed  a  road  through  the 
land  and  cut  it  out,  and  that  winter  Mr. 
Marsh  built  a  mill  in  the  woods  six  miles 
from   Little  Sturgeon  Bay  and  ten  miles 


57° 


COHMEMORATIVE   BWGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


from  Bay  \'ie\v,  and  made  shing;les.  In 
order  to  accommodate  the  traveling  pub- 
lic he  also  kept  a  hotel.  This  land  cost 
Mr.  Marsh  thirty  dollars  for  each  forty 
acres,  and  that  spring  he  sold  the  prop- 
erty for  twenty-four  hundred  dollars  to 
John  and  Thomas  Williamson.  In  1871 
this  tract  was  devastated  by  fire  and  a 
tornado,  forty-five  people  losing  their 
lives,  two  only  being  saved — Thomas 
Williamson  and  his  mother — and  the 
place  has  since  been  known  as  ' '  Tor- 
nado."  Mr.  Marsh's  next  purchase  was 
the  lot  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  whereon  he 
built  the  shinge  mill  which  he  conducted 
for  several  years,  and  which  is  now  oper- 
ated by  O.  Brown  &  Company. 

Mr.  Marsh  has  been  twice  married: 
first  time,  in  1837,  to  Miss  Mary  C.  Flint, 
a  native  of  Bomas  Creek,  Montgomery 
Co.,  N.  Y.  (si.x  miles  south  of  Ft.  Plain), 
who  died  at  Beaver  Dam,  Wis.,  in  No- 
vember, 1856,  aged  forty-three  years  and 
eleven  months,  leaving  five  children,  viz. : 
Josephine,  who  married  Michael  Walrod, 
of  Rice  county,  Minn,  (she  is  now  keep- 
ing house  for  her  father);  Mary  L. ,  wife 
of  W.  H.  Stevens,  of  Osakis,  Minn. ; 
George  A.,  married  to  Melissa  Bailor, 
and  now  living  near  Erwin,  S.  Dak. ; 
Helen  M.,  wife  of  Frank  A.  Ives,  of  Stur- 
geon Bay;  and  Cora  L. ,  married  to 
Charles  A.  Bailor  and  living  at  Spokane, 
Wash.  In  November,  1859,  Mr.  Marsh 
married  Miss  Catherine  N.  Hutchinson, 
who  died  September  26,  1894,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-four  years,  by  which  union 
there  were  no  children.  In  politics  Mr. 
Marsh  has  been  a  lifelong  Whig  and  Re- 
publican, and  although  averse  to  holding 
office  has  occasionally  served  in  minor 
positions  of  trust.  In  both  theory  and 
practice  he  has  always  been  a  strict  ad- 
vocate of  temperance,  and  to  this  in  a 
great  measure  may  be  attributed  his  won- 
derful energy  and  unimpaired  faculties. 

Thus  has  brief!)-  been  sketched  an 
authentic  account  of  the  life  of  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  W'isconsin  and  of  Door  coun- 
ty, who  has  been  an  active  and  vigorous 


factor  in  the  affairs  and  industries;  who, 
although  he  has  passed  beyond  the  allot- 
ted time  given  to  man,  being  an  octoge- 
narian, is  still  active,  living  in  the  enjoj-- 
ment  of  a  comfortable  and  well-earned 
competence,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  full- 
est esteem  and  regards  of  the  people 
among  whom  he  has  so  long  lived,  and 
calmly  and  reverently  awaiting  the  sum- 
mons that  must  come  to  all. 


FRANK  PAAPE,  who  has  been  iden- 
tified with  the  interests  of  Ahna- 
pee  township,  Kewaunee  county, 
for  almost  the  past  twenty  years, 
as  one  of  her  thrifty  farmer  citizens,  is 
a  native  of  Germany,  born  January  4, 
1832,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia.  He  is 
a  son  of  Gottlieb  and  Flora  (Hinz)  Paape, 
also  natives  of  Prussia,  the  former  of 
whom  was  a  miller  by  occupation.  Both 
are  now  deceased.  Frank,  our  subject, 
was  the  youngest  child  in  their  family  of 
five  children,  one  of  whom  is  deceased, 
the  others  being  Fred  and  Charles,  of 
Prussia;  Flora,  Mrs.  Charles  Hench,  of 
Milwaukee,  and  Frank. 

Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  country,  and 
when  fourteen  years  of  age  was  appren- 
ticed to  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  complet- 
ing his  trade  when  nineteen  years  of  age, 
and  following  it  until  his  emigration  to  the 
United  States,  in  1857.  Soon  after  his 
arrival  in  this  country  he  located  in  the 
city  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  he  fol- 
lowed his  trade  some  years,  and  then  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  pursuits  until  1875, 
when  he  sold  his  business  in  Milwaukee 
and  moved  to  the  town  of  Ahnapee, 
Kewaunee  countj'.  Purchasing  the  farm 
he  still  owns  and  occupies,  he  has  since 
been  engaged  in  general  agriculture,  and 
is  one  of  the  successful  farmers  of  his 
section.  Mr.  Paape's  marriage  to 
Katharine  Solterback  took  place  in  Mil- 
waukee May  I,  1S58;  she  is  the  mother 
of  sixteen  children,  seven  oi  whom  are 
deceased,    and     nine    living,    as    follows: 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


571 


Bertha,  Mrs.  Joseph  Roberts,  of  Birnam- 
wood,  Wis.;  Charles,  of  Sturgeon  Bay; 
William,  of  Sturgeon  Bay;  Henry,  of 
Washburn,  Wis. ;  Amelia,  Mrs.  Ed. 
Pepper,  of  Marinette,  Wis.;  Edward; 
George;  Ida,  and  Emma.  Mrs.  Paape  is 
the  daughter  of  George  and  Margaret 
Solterback,  natives  of  Schleswig-Holstein, 
where  she  was  also  born,  on  January  10, 
1840.  Politically  Mr.  Paape  is  independ- 
ent, always  supporting  the  best  candidate. 
The  family  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  of  Ahnapee. 

In  1864  Mr.  Paape  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany G,  Forty-fifth  Wis.  V.  I.,  for  one 
year  or  during  the  war,  and  served  some 
eleven  months,  receiving  an  honorable  dis- 
charge in  August,  1865;  he  was  disabled 
during  his  service.  He  is  a  member  of 
Joseph  Andreag  Post,  G.  A.  R. ,  of 
Ahnapee. 


IVl 


ATHIAS  MELCHIOR,  post- 
master at  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee 
county.  This  gentleman  was 
born  October  6,  1836,  in 
Schwemellingen,  Prussia,  Germany,  where 
the  old  family  of  Melchior  had  resided  for 
generations,  occupying  an  honorable  place 
among  the  citizens  of  their  native  town. 
Many  of  them  were  shoemakers  by  occu- 
pation, the  trade  being  handed  down 
from  father  to  son.  Grandfather  Bern- 
hard  Melchior  died  in  the  village  of 
Schwemellingen,  leaving  a  family  of  four 
children — two  sons  and  two  daughters: 
Michael  (father  of  our  subject),  Nicholous, 
Elizabeth  and  Anna  Mary. 

Michael  Melchior  learned  the  shoe- 
maker's trade  in  Germany,  and  was  a 
skillful  mechanic,  able  to  work  with  tools 
of  almost  any  description,  could  do  car- 
penter work,  clock  and  watch  repairing, 
etc. ,  and  was  also  a  musician  of  consider- 
ble  ability.  He  came  to  America,  set- 
tling in  the  then  new  town  of  Ahnapee, 
Wis.,  where,  being  a  progressive  man,  he 
became  a  useful  citizen,  made  many 
friends,  and  was  greatly  respected  by   all 


He  was  a  man  of  good 


who  knew  him 

habits,  and  a  devout  Christian.  He  died 
in  Ahnapee  January  7,  1891,  aged  nearly 
eighty-two  years,  followed  to  the  grave 
by  his  wife,  who  passed  away  in  Septem- 
ber, 1892,  aged  eighty-two  years.  She 
was  a  wide-awake  woman,  ambitious  for 
the  success  of  her  family,  of  whom  seven 
reached  maturity,  viz. :  Anna  Mary  Dier 
(now  deceased),  Jacob  (who  died  leaving 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  were  brought 
to  Ahnapee  by  our  subject),  Mathias  (our 
subject),  John  (who  died  in  the  American 
Civil  war  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run), 
Magdalena,  Catherina,  and  Michael. 

Mathias  Melchior  learned  his  trade 
thoroughly  in  Germany,  beginning  when 
twelve  years  old.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  came  to  the  United  States,  locat- 
ing first  in  Manitowoc,  Wis.,  where  he 
followed  his  trade  in  1859-60,  and  during 
the  year  1859  he  also  spent  seven  months 
in  Chicago,  working  at  his  trade.  In 
August,  i860,  he  came  to  Ahnapee,  and 
opening  a  shop  here  was  successfully  en- 
gaged at  his  trade  until  about  seven  years 
ago,  when  he  sold  out.  Mr.  Melchior 
has  made  some  good  investments  in  city 
and  farm  property,  and  since  his  retire- 
ment from  the  shoemaking  business  he 
has  devoted  all  his  time  to  his  property 
and  private  affairs.  In  1 862  he  was  mar- 
ried, in  Manitowoc,  to  Miss  Catharina 
Feuerstein,  who  was  born  February  7, 
1847,  daughter  of  George  Feuerstein,  a 
farmer  of  Manitowoc  county.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  George  Feuerstein  came  to  this 
country  in  1855,  first  locating  in  Manito- 
woc, Wis.,  in  1863  moving  to  Ahnapee 
where  they  settled,  he  here  conducting  a 
farm.  Mr.  Feuerstein  was  born  in  El- 
sass-Lothringen,  France,  and  served 
seven  years  in  the  French  army;  he  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  his  wife, 
Barbara,  passing  away  when  aged  eighty- 
two  years,  leaving  seven  children.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Feuerstein  were  earnest,  up- 
right and  conscientious  people,  good 
Catholics  in  religious  faith,  and  respected- 
]  by  all.      To   Mr.    and   Mrs.    Mathias  Mel- 


57- 


COMMKMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


chior  were  born  six  children,  as  follows: 
Catharina,  Eniina,  Lena,  Mary,  Mathias 
F.  and  Carl  J.,  of  whom  Emma  and 
Lena  are  clerks  in  the  postoffice,  assist- 
ing their  father,  who  received  his  appoint- 
ment in  October,  1893.  In  relij:jious  faith 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mclchior  arc  Catholics,  and 
have  taken  an  active  part  in  church  work; 
he  has  filled  many  offices  in  same,  among 
others  those  of  secretary  and  treasurer, 
and  has  been  instrumental  in  the  building 
up  the  Church,  giving  liberalh'  to  its  sup- 
port. He  served  as  town  treasurer,  and 
is  one  of  the  substantial  business  men  of 
Ahnapee,  where  he  is  universally  honored 
and  respected  for  his  integrity  and  up- 
right moral  character. 


FRANK  HRBEK,  one  of  the  wealthy 
citizens  of  Kewaunee,  is  a  native 
of  Bohemia,  born  July  28,  1823. 
His  father,  Joseph  Hrbek,  who 
was  a  shoemaker,  died  in  Bohemia  leav- 
ing a  widow  and  five  children,  Frank, 
who  was  then  nine  years  old,  being  the 
youngest.  The  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Apolonia  Slany,  died  in  1856, 
also  in  Bohemia. 

Frank  Hrbek  served  ten  years  and  six 
months  in  the  Bohemian  contingent  of 
the  Austrian  army,  and  fought  in  Italy 
and  Hungary,  also  serving  in  Vienna. 
He  came  to  America  in  1855  and  passed 
a  year  in  Milwaukee;  then,  in  1856, 
moved  to  Kewaunee  count}',  and  for 
eleven  years  followed  farming  with  flat- 
tering success.  He  then  sold  his  farm 
and  settled  down  in  Kewaunee  village, 
where  for  five  \cars  he  worked  in  a  shoe- 
shop  and  store,  later  embarking  in  the 
butcher  business,  which  he  followed  nine 
}-ears  with  uninterrupted  prosperity.  Dur- 
ing this  period  of  continuous  industry, 
however,  he  called  into  play  his  old  mil- 
itary experience  and  enlisted,  in  1864,  in 
defense  of  his  adopted  countrj-,  in  the 
Sixteenth  Wis.  V.  I.,  serving  with  that 
regiment  until  June  2,  1865,  when  he 
was  honorably  discharged  at  Washington, 


D.  C,  the  war  having  come  to  a  close. 
In  August,  1846,  Mr.  Hrbek  was  married 
in  Bohemia  to  Miss  Anna  Novak,  adaugh- 
ter  of  Joseph  Novak,  a  manufacturer  of 
muslin.  Two  children  were  the  fruit  of 
this  marriage,  viz. :  Antonia,  who  died  in 
infancy  in  Bohemia,  and  Mary,  who  came 
to  America,  was  here  married  to  John 
Wrabetz,  and  died  in  1883.  The  politics 
of  Mr.  Hrbek  are  those  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  under  its  auspices  he  has  held 
several  local  offices  of  trust,  among  them 
that  of  supervisor  three  terms,  that  of 
school  treasurer  two  terms,  and  is  at 
present  a  member  of  the  board  of  alder- 
men of  Kewaunee.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  G.  A    R. 

Mr.  Hrbek  has  always  manifested  a 
spirit  of  patriotism  toward  his  adopted 
country,  and  one  of  liberality  toward  his 
county  and  town,  mayhap  one  of  grati- 
tude for  the  success  he  has  met  with  in 
life  since  his  residence  here,  although 
this  has  been  owing  almost  entirely  to  his 
own  industrious  habits  and  native  shrewd- 
ness and  keen  foresight.  He  has  ne\er 
failed  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the 
needy,  nor  to  aid  any  project  intended 
for  the  building  up  of  the  city  of  Kewau- 
nee. His  time,  influence  and  purse  have 
willingly  been  at  the  service  of  his  fellow 
citizens  in  all  judicious  enterprises  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  public  welfare, 
and  the  public  have  not  forgotten  his 
prompt  action  in  every  emergency  that 
has  called  for  the  exercise  of  his  charity. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  the  early 
opportunities  of  Mr.  Hrbek  for  securing 
an  education  were  quite  limited,  and  that 
his  early  manhood  was  passed  in  "feats 
of  broil  and  battle,"  surprise  may  well  be 
excited  at  his  success  in  later  j'ears  in 
his  quiet  pursuit  of  the  toils  of  peace. 
But  he  possessed  the  virtue  of  persever- 
ance, which  helped  him  to  a  fair  knowl- 
edge of  the  branches  of  learning  usually 
taught  in  the  common  schools,  and  to 
this  virtue  was  added  a  power  of  observa- 
tion not  accorded  to  all  persons.  He  is 
emphatically   a  self-made  man,    and  his 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


573 


life  of  industry  and  wise  economy,  his 
fixed  purpose  in  all  his  undertakings,  and 
the  tenacity  with  which  he  clung  to  them, 
are  well  worthy  the  emulation  of  the 
young  men  of  the  country  who  find  them- 
selves handicapped  with  poverty,  but  who 
possess,  as  he  possessed,  an  energy  that 
knows  "  no  such  word  as  fail." 


FREDERICK  JOHANNES,  jewel- 
er, and  prominent  as  a  citizen  of 
Kewaunee,  was  born  in  Prussia, 
March  22,  1857.  His  father. 
Christian  Johannes,  was  born  in  1806, 
and  was  a  merchant.  He  married  Anna 
Marie  Horstman,  who  bore  him  three 
children — two  sons  and  one  daughter — 
Frederick  being  the  eldest. 

Frederick  attended  school  in  Prussia 
until  fifteen  years  old,  and  then  learned 
the  jeweler's  trade  and  music,  although 
he  never  worked  at  the  former  in  the  old 
country.  On  January  20,  1846,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Dorothy  Vashardt,  a  farmer's 
daughter,  and  in  September,  1845,  he 
volunteered  in  the  Prussian  army,  serving 
two  years,  in  1 848  re-enlisting,  and  serv- 
ing, during  the  latter  term,  nine  months 
in  Denmark  and  in  Hessen  four  months 
in  1854.  In  the  spring  of  1855  he  came 
to  America,  but  left  his  family  behind, 
fearing  that  he  might  again  have  to  go 
into  the  army.  He  first  located  in  Two 
Rivers,  Wis.,  but  after  remaining  there 
only  one  year  and  six  months  came  to 
Kewaunee,  and  in  the  summer  season 
worked  for  Slavson  &  Taylor,  in  the  first 
steam  sawmill  erected  here,  employing 
liimself  in  the  winter  at  his  trade,  chiefly 
repairing  watches.  In  the  fall  of  1859 
he  went  over  to  the  old  country,  and  in 
1 860  came  back  with  his  family.  For  a 
year  he  again  lived  at  Two  Rivers,  but 
finally  settled  in  Kewaunee,  filing  saws  in 
the  mills  in  summer  and  working  at  his 
trade  in  the  winter,  as  he  had  done  be- 
fore. When  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  he 
was  offered  a  commission  in  the  Union 
Volunteer  army,  but  he  declined,  as  Mrs. 


Johannes  refused  to  give  her  consent, 
arguing  that  he  had  already  done  suffi- 
cient duty  as  a  soldier. 

Mr.  Johannes  has  always  voted  with 
the  Democratic  party.  He  has  filled  the 
office  of  register  of  deeds  of  Kewaunee 
two  terms,  and  of  county  judge  four  years. 
He  was  elected  president  of  the  village, 
and  later  mayor  of  the  city;  he  is  the 
present  police  justice  of  the  city,  also  one 
of  the  oldest  county  justices,  and,  al- 
though he  has  several  times  declined  re- 
nominations,  the  people  still  insist  on 
electing  him.  Fraternall}'  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  I.  O.  O.  F., 
and  for  years  he  has  taken  a  great  inter- 
est in  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Johannes  have  had  born  to  them  six 
children,  all  daughters,  named  respect- 
ively: Sophy,  Caroline,  Wilhelmina, 
Marie,  Minna  and  Clementine,  all,  save 
one,  yet  living. 


JOHN  FRIEDERICH  IHLENFELD 
is  one  among  the  thrifty  German 
pioneers  who  have  become  well-to- 
do  business  men,  and  who  are  well 
worthy  of  representation  in  the  history  of 
Kewaunee  county.  He  comes  of  an  hon- 
orable famil}-  of  farming  people  who  took 
great  pride  in  their  good  name. 

Christian  Ihlenfeld,  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  was  a  steady,  hard-working  man 
who  reached  a  ripe  old  age,  and  was  hon- 
ored and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
His  son  Christian,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  reared  in  his  native  village  in  Prussia, 
and  was  also  noted  for  his  industr}-.  He 
there  married  Sophia  Kaiser,  and  in  1855. 
accompanied  by  his  family,  consisting  of 
wife  and  three  children,  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  America,  making  a  new  home 
in  Mishicot,  Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis.  The 
three  children  were  Christian,  John  and 
Friederica,  the  last  named  dying  at  Two 
Creeks,  Wis.,  while  Christian  yet  follows 
farming  in  Manitowoc  county. 

The  subject  proper  of  this  article  was 
born  February   29,   1840,  in    Gausendorf, 


574 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Kreis  Demmien,  Prussia,  Germany,  and 
with  his  parents  came  to  the  New  \\'orld, 
where  he  was  reared  upon  a  farm,  follow- 
ing that  occupation  until  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age.  On  January  31,  1862, 
in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany H,  Second  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  and 
was  under  the  command  of  Gen.  C.  C. 
Washburn  until  the  close  of  the  war.  On 
March  24,  1862,  the  regiment  reached 
St.  Louis,  where  the  troops  were  drilled 
for  a  few  weeks  (Mr.  Ihlenfeld  being  there 
made  corporal),  and  then  sent  on  an  ex- 
pedition through  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
fighting  bushwhackers  and  Gen.  Price, 
as  well  as  the  guerilla  chief,  Mor- 
gan. In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Ihlenfeld 
was  promoted  to  sergeant,  and  in  Helena, 
Ark.,  he  helped  to  build  fortifications, 
and  also  went  on  scouting  duty  into 
Mississippi.  He  next  went  to  Memphis, 
Tenn. ,  and  scouted  up  and  down  the 
river  after  bushwhackers,  when  with  his 
regiment  he  proceeded  to  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg.  His  company  was  again  en- 
gaged in  scouting  duty,  stationed  at 
Haynes,  Snyders  Bluff  and  along  the 
Yazoo  river  pass.  They  then  went  with 
Gen.  Herron  to  capture  Yazoo  City. 
Company  H  acted  as  Gen.  Washburn's 
body  guard,  and  twenty-one  men  with 
their  captain,  Julius  Myers,  were  taken  up 
the  river  in  the  direction  of  the  city  and 
piloted  around  toward  the  enemy's  pickets 
where  they  then  concealed  themselves. 
The  city  was  bombarded,  and  while  the 
battle  was  going  on  a  Confederate  trans- 
port came  down  the  river,  and  was  cap- 
tured by  this  company,  the  boat  being 
brought  ashore  while  the  crew  were  either 
killed  or  dispersed.  Company  H  next 
escorted  a  wagon  train  to  Benton,  Miss., 
and  then  returned  to  Yazoo  City  after 
having  captured  many  men  and  quantities 
of  ammunition.  Proceeding  again  to  Ben- 
ton, they  thence  moved  to  Kenton  and  to 
Jackson,  Miss.,  where  the  main  body  of 
cavalry  was  stationed,  after  which  they 
returned  to  Vicksburg.  Mr.  Ihlenfeld 
there  veteranized,  February  i,  1864,  and 


after  scouting  in  that  vicinity  for  some 
time  went  with  his  company  to  Oakland, 
where  thej'  took  part  in  an  engagement 
which  lasted  several  weeks,  Company  H, 
which  was  in  advance  of  the  main  army, 
opening  the  battle  which  was  a  very 
severe  one.  Our  subject  also  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  Cotton  Plant,  Memphis, 
Helena,  Yazoo  City,  Duvalls  Bluf?,  Jack- 
son, Oakland  and  Granada,  also  at  Egypt 
where  they  captured  1600  prisoners  and 
the  large  supply  train,  then  retreated  to 
Vicksburg,  hotly  pursued  by  the  Rebel 
cavalry. 

At  Helena,  Ark.,  Mr.  Ihlenfeld  suf- 
fered an  attack  of  )ellow  jaundice,  and 
when  he  had  partially  recovered  he  acted 
as  sergeant  of  the  guard  at  Gen.  \\'ash- 
burn's  headquarters.  He  was  summoned 
to  the  sick  bed  of  the  General,  and  telling 
of  his  cure  by  "blue  mass,"  the  General 
secured  some  of  the  same,  and  was  also 
cured.  About  December  20,  1864,  the 
command  removed  from  Memphis,  and 
while  going  up  a  high  bank  after  crossing 
a  creek,  Mr.  Ihlenfeld's  horse  fell,  crush- 
ing our  subject's  right  leg,  thereby  mak- 
ing him  a  partial  cripple  for  life.  For 
three  days  his  injuries  were  unattended, 
and  for  nearly  a  year  afterward  he  re- 
mained with  his  regiment,  receiving  an 
honorable  discharge  in  Austin,  Texas, 
November  i  5,  1865. 

Mr.  Ihlenfeld  at  once  returned  to  Mish- 
icot.  Wis.,  where  he  remained  a  year;  but 
being  unable  to  do  farm  work  he  sold  his 
property  and  came  to  Ahnapee,  where  he 
has  since  been  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
and  retail  flour  and  feed  business.  In  1866 
he  married  Mrs.  Wilhelmina  Weilep  Kunel, 
of  Two  Rivers,  Wis.,  whose  first  hus- 
band, Anton  Kunel,  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 
war,  was  captured  and  died  in  Anderson- 
ville  prison;  their  daughter,  Amelia,  is 
now  the  wife  of  Casper  Miller.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ihlenfeld  are  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren: Richard  (who  married  Bessie  \\'ein- 
ing,  and  is  assistant  principal  of  Ahnapee 
High  School),  Amelia,  Sophia,  Aln^a, 
Leona  and  John.   The  mother  is  a  mem- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


575 


ber  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr.  Ihlen- 
feld  is  an  honored  member  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  is  also  affiliated  with  Joseph 
Andregg  Post  No.  242,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which 
he  is  senior  vice-commander.  A  highly  re- 
spected man,  he  occupies  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  business  and  social  circles,  and  is  the 
same  loyal  citizen  that  followed  the  old  tiag 
on  southern  battle  fields. 


JOHN  HENQUINET  is  one  of  the 
extensive  land  owners  of  Gardner 
township,  Door  county,  also  propri- 
etor of  a  general  store  in  the  village 
of  Gardner,  and  is  the  efficient  postmas- 
ter at  that  place.  His  career  has  been  a 
successful  one,  and  the  well-directed 
efforts  and  straightforward  dealing  which 
have  brought  to  him  success  are  worthy 
of  emulation.  A  native  of  Belgium,  born 
April  16,  1830,  he  is  the  second  child  of 
John  B.  and  Catherine  (Chandoir)  Hen- 
quinet.  The  father  was  employed  in  a 
factory  where  was  manufactured  poison, 
which  caused  his  death  while  he  was  yet 
a  young  man.  The  children  of  the  family 
were:  Joseph,  John,  Louie,  Peter,  Desire, 
Antone  (deceased)  and  Antone. 

A  self-made  man,  our  subject  started 
out  to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world  at 
the  age  of  thirteen,  and  was  employed  at 
day  labor  for  some  time.  He  also  served 
for  three  years  in  the  army,  and  this  mil- 
itary training  in  several  ways  proved  a  val- 
uable experience.  In  1855  he  bade  adieu 
to  the  friends  and  scenes  of  his  youth, 
and  accompanied  by  his  brother  Peter, 
now  a  resident  of  California,  sailed  for  the 
New  World,  reaching  New  York  on  the 
14th  of  June.  He  then  came  west  to 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  he  was  employed 
in  a  brickyard  for  eight  months,  after 
which  he  removed  to  De  Pere,  and  se- 
cured employment  in  a  shingle  mill,  where 
his  services  were  retained  for  a  year.  On 
the  expiration  of  that  period  he  went  to 
Kewaunee  county,  and  with  his  brother 
purchased   160  acres  of  land,   where  he 


made  his  home  for  four  years,  coming 
then  to  Gardner  township,  Door  county, 
here  buying  a  tract  of  560  acres.  This 
was  about  the  year  1862,  and  they  re- 
tained possession  of  the  entire  amount 
until  the  fire  of  1871,  when  they  sold  a 
portion  of  it,  still  retaining,  however, 
320  acres. 

Turning  from  the  business  career  to 
the  private  life  of  Mr.  Henquinet,  we  note 
that  on  the  29th  of  July,  i860,  was  cele- 
brated his  marriage  to  Desire,  daughter  of 
Antone  and  Mary  (Grede)  Colignon.  In 
1862  they  became  residents  of  Gardner 
township.  Door  county,  but  after  three 
years  returned  to  Kewaunee  county. 
About  1867,  however,  they  again  came  to 
Door  county,  settling  on  land  belonging 
to  Mrs.  Henquinet's  mother,  which  is  still 
their  home.  Mrs.  Colignon  lived  with 
them  until  her  death  in  1876. 

Our  subject  at  once  began  to  clear  the 
farm,  and  during  the  first  season  raised  a 
crop  of  potatoes  and  wheat.  He  came  to 
this  country  a  poor  boy,  but,  together,  he 
and  his  brother  worked,  and  their  earnest 
labor,  which  was  carried  on  uninterrupt- 
edly, and  their  perseverance  and  economy 
brought  to  them  a  well-merited  compe- 
tence which  is  now  theirs  to  enjoy.  In 
1883  John  Henquinet  established  a  gen- 
eral store,  and  is  doing  a  good  business 
in  that  line,  receiving  from  the  public  a 
liberal  patronage.  In  1889  he  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  at  Gardner,  and  the 
duties  of  that  office  he  discharges  in  a 
prompt  and  faithful  manner,  in  addition 
to  the  other  business  cares  which  are 
resting  upon  him.  Seven  children  graced 
the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henquinet: 
Antone,  Louie,  Joseph  (deceased),  Lucy, 
Theophilus  (deceased),  Joseph  and  Mary. 
Four  of  the  number  are  still  under  the 
parental  roof,  and  the  family  is  one  of 
prominence  in  the  community,  while  the 
household  is  the  abode  of  hospitality. 
Mr.  Henquinet  supports  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party,  has 
served  as  supervisor  for  two  years,  and 
was    chairman    of    the    town    board    one 


576 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOOIiAPHICAL   RECORD. 


year.  His  business  cares  receive  his 
earnest  attention,  tiie  trusts  reposed 'in 
him  are  faithfully  fultilled,  and  he  is  a 
most  highly  esteemed  citizen. 


ANTON  CERO\SKY,  Jr.(Cherov- 
sKv),  a  successful  farmer  of  Carl- 
ton township,  Kewaunee  county, 
was  born  in  Cista,  Jicin  county, 
Bohemia,  November  5,  1850,  and  is  a 
son  of  Anton  and  Annie  (Ziska)  Cerovsky, 
Sr. ,  the  mother  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
Ziska,  of  the  famous  Bohemian  family  of 
that  name. 

Anton  Cerovsky,  Jr.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  attended  school  until  fifteen 
years  old.  On  May  i,  1S68,  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  years  seven  months,  he  em- 
barked at  Bremen,  German}',  on  the  ves- 
sel "Kosmos,"  for  America,  and  after 
severe  trials,  landed  at  New  York  City, 
July  3,  following,  where  he  learned  team 
shoemaking  as  trimmer.  For  a  short  time 
he  followed  different  vocations,  and  then 
worked  at  his  trade  as  trimmer  about 
eight  years,  or  until  i  876,  when  he  went 
into  the  saloon  business,  which  netted  him 
a  neat  sum  of  money  before  he  quitted  it 
in  1882,  at  which  time  he  engaged  with  a 
New  York  firm  as  a  traveling  salesman. 
For  a  year  or  more  he  traveled  through 
the  West,  being  desirous  of  finding  a  lo- 
cation, and  of  leaving  New  York,  but  he 
returned  to  that  city  and  again  engaged 
in  the  saloon  business,  losing  four  thous- 
and dollars.  He  then  leased  a  large 
place  in  New  York  for  ten  years,  but  after 
five  years  sold  out  his  business  and  lease, 
having  cleared  a  neat  capital,  and,  retir- 
ing from  the  business,  came  to  Carlton 
township,  where  he  bought  the  farm  he 
still  occupies,  without  the  slightest  knowl- 
edge of  farming.  Mr.  Cerovsky,  Jr. ,  was 
a  member  of  Zerubbabel  Lodge  No.  324, 
V.  ik.  A.  M.,  at  New  York,  from  which  he 
withdrew  upon  removal  from  that  city, 
and  became  a  worthy  member  of  Key 
Lodge  No.  174,  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Ahnapee, 
Kawaunee  Co. ,  Wis.      He  is  also  a  mem- 


ber of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  (Praha  Lodge  No. 
436,  N.  Y.  C),  and  the  C.  S.  P.  S.  (Jan 
Amos  Komensky  No.  loj,  being  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  same — the  strongest 
Bohemian  society  in  the  United  States, 
numbering  a  membership  of  over  ten 
thousand.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republi- 
can, and  is  one  of  the  justices  of  the  peace 
of  Carlton  township. 

Mr.  Cerovsk}',  [r. ,  was  married  in 
New  York  City,  November  3,  1872,  to 
Mary  Husek,  who  was  born  February  6, 
1853,  in  Guttenberg,  Bohemia,  a  daughter 
of  Jachim  and  Barbara  Husek,  the  father 
a  dealer  in  the  celebrated  Bohemian  ware. 
The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cerovsk)', 
Jr.,  has  been  blessed  with  the  birth  of 
eleven  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living, 
as  follows:  .Annie,  the  eldest,  is  one  of 
the  most  successful  school  teachers  of 
Kewaunee  county,  Wis.;  Julian  helps  his 
father;  Ludwig,  who  is  attending  the 
Carlton  High  School,  is  a  bright,  studious 
boy,  and  ranks  among  the  first  of  his  class; 
Marcella,  Emily,  .\nton  and  Arthur  are 
also  attending  school.  Mr.  Cerovsky  has 
been  very  successful  as  an  agriculturist, 
and  stands  high  in  the  esteem  of  his  fel- 
lovvmen  in  Carlton. 


AUGUST  J.  BOSMAN.  The  great 
class  of  farmers  that  form  so  im- 
portant an  element  in  national 
history  and  national  prosperity  is 
well  represented  by  our  subject,  who  is 
one  of  the  leading  agriculturists  of  Gard- 
ner township.  Door  county.  He  was 
born  March  8,  1830,  in  the  Province  of 
Brabant,  Belgium.  His  grandfather, 
Phillip  Bosman,  was  a  native  of  the  same 
country,  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade, 
and  died  March  11,  1838,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years.  There  Louie  Bosman, 
father  of  our  subject,  was  born  December 
'9-  '799;  he  married  Mary  C.  Liesse,  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  children  as 
follows:  August  J.,  Catherine,  Gustaf, 
Antonet,  Jane,  Adolph,  Dieu  Donne. 
The   subject    of  this  sketch   received 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


577 


the  advantages  afforded  by  the  common 
schools,  and  continued  his  education  until 
seventeen  years  of  age  when  he  began 
learning  the  carpenter's  trade  with  his 
father,  from  whom  he  received  instructions 
in  the  business  some  four  years.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen  he  went  to  Brussels, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  four  years, 
and  then  returned  to  his  father's  employ, 
the  succeeding  two  years  being  thus 
passed.  Attracted  by  the  opportunities 
and  privileges  of  the  New  World,  he  set 
sail  from  Antwerp  February  ii,  1856, 
and  forty-eight  days  later  landed  at  New 
York.  His  destination  was  Wisconsin, 
and,  on  reaching  Green  Bay,  he  proceeded 
to  Red  River,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
carpentering  three  years,  after  which  he 
was  employed  by  the  government  for  one 
year  to  carrj'  the  mail  between  Green 
Bay  and  Sturgeon  Bay,  a  distance  of 
fifty  miles,  the  trip  being  made  twice  a 
week  through  a  wild  forest  and  across  a 
trackless  prairie. 

On  October  3,  1859,  Mr.  Bosnian  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Elionore  Burgu- 
enium,  and  they  came  to  Gardner  town- 
ship. Door  county,  where  Mr.  Bosnian 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land,  and  erected 
a  log  cabin,  which  for  five  years  was  their 
home.  The  young  couple  began  their 
domestic  life  in  a  primitive  style,  but  in 
that  little  home  many  happy  hours  were 
passed,  for  there  is  a  freedom  and  ease 
about  such  a  life  that  has  its  charm  for 
all.  Our  subject  cleared  the  farm,  trans- 
forming the  once  wild  land  into  a  rich 
and  fertile  tract  until  five  years  had  passed, 
when  he  returned  with  his  wife  on  a  visit 
to  the  land  of  his  birth.  There  he  also 
passed  five  years,  and  in  1869,  yielding 
to  the  wishes  of  Mrs.  Bosnian,  he  again 
returned  to  the  Wisconsin  farm  which  has 
since  been  their  place  of  residence.  As 
his  financial  resources  have  increased  he 
has  added  to  his  land  until  he  now  has 
160  acres,  si.xty  of  which  are  cleared  and 
improved,  and  in  addition  to  its  cultiva- 
tion he  owns  and  operates  a  cheese  fac- 
tory  which    he   himself   built.      Mr.    and 


Mrs.  Bosman  have  one  child,  Gustaf,  who 
was  born  February  26,  1867,  and  Febru- 
ary 9,  1890,  married  Miss  Mary  L.  Gas- 
soul,  by  whom  he  has  three  children: 
August  J.,  Elionore  L.  and  Louie. 

The  Bosnians  are  worthy  members  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  gentleman 
of  whom  we  write,  in  his  political  views, 
is  a  Republican;  he  was  elected  town 
clerk,  serving  two  years;  chairman  of  the 
town  board,  serving  one  year;  town  treas- 
urer, serving  four  years;  and  justice  of  the 
peace,  serving  sixteen  jears.  His  has 
been  a  well-spent  life,  characterized  by  a 
laudable  ambition,  an  untiring  industry 
and  a  commendable  perseverance,  and 
the  success  that  has  come  to  him  is  the 
just  reward  of  his  own  labors. 


JOSEPH  ROBINSON  is  the  owner  of 
one  of  the  most  highly  improved 
farms  of  Jacksonport  township.  Door 
county,  and  is  numbered  among  the 
leading  agriculturists  of  the  locality  where 
since  an  early  day  he  has  made  his  home. 
The  record  of  his  life  is  as  follows: 
He  was  born  February  20,  1833,  in 
County  Fermanagh,  Ireland,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  Robinson  and  Jane  fSmith),  the 
former  a  farmer  of  comfortable  means. 
In  the  familj'  were  ten  children — seven 
sons  and  three  daughters — Joseph  being 
the  fourth.  No  event  of  special  im- 
portance occurred  during  his  childhood 
and  youth,  he  aiding  in  the  labors  of  the 
farm  and  giving  his  father  the  benefit  of 
his  services  until  nineteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in 
America,  hoping  thereby  to  enhance  his 
condition.  In  July,  1852,  he  sailed  from 
Liverpool,  England,  on  "The  Crown," 
and  after  a  voyage  of  nine  weeks  landed 
at  Quebec.  Having  an  uncle,  Joe  Smith, 
living  in  Upper  Canada,  thither  he  pro- 
ceeded, earning  there  his  first  dollar  by 
chopping  wood.  For  about  six  years  he 
remained  in  Canada,  and  then  removed 
to  Fulton,  N.  Y. ,  where  his  brother  John 


57S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


was  living,  and  where  for  some  time  he 
made  his  home.  During  that  period  he 
learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Canada,  and  for 
about  eight  or  ten  years  was  in  the  employ 
of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  Company, 
serving  first  as  brakeman,  then  as  bag- 
gageman and  later  as  conductor. 

In  July,  1866,  Mr.  Robinson  moved 
to  Wisconsin,  locating  in  Jacksonport 
township,  Door  county,  where  he  did  a 
jobbing  business  in  getting  out  cedar.  At 
that  time  there  was  but  one  house  in  the 
town — that  occupied  by  P.  G.  Hibbard. 
He  aided  in  building  the  first  pier  at  Jack- 
sonport, and  continued  in  this  place  for 
three  years,  after  which  he  returned  to 
New  York  City,  where,  about  the  year 
1869,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Margaret  Breen,  who  was  bom  in  the 
same  county  as  her  husband,  in  Ireland, 
and  had  been  one  of  his  schoolmates  in 
her  girlhood  days.  About  the  time  of  his 
marriage,  Mr.  Robinson  visited  in  Canada, 
and  was  offered  his  former  position  with 
the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  Company,  but 
his  interests  were  in  Door  county,  and  he 
returned  to  Jacksonport,  where  he  and  his 
wife  began  their  domestic  life  in  the  home 
which  he  had  erected.  He  was  engaged 
in  getting  out  cedar  lumber,  in  which  en- 
terprise he  was  very  successful,  but  after- 
ward suffered  misfortune,  having  $1,200 
in  notes,  from  which  he  had  expected  to 
realize  full  value,  but  instead  lost  all.  In 
1885  he  took  up  his  residence  on  his 
farm  in  Section  15,  Jacksonport  town- 
ship, and  now  has  a  tract  of  166  acres,. 
seventy  of  which  are  cleared.  Rapidly 
has  he  improved  his  land,  and  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  valuable   and  desirable   farm. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson  had  a  family 
of  five  children,  as  follows:  Mary  J.  (de- 
ceased in  infancy),  and  George  J.,  Will- 
iam J.,  Isabella  M.  and  Jane  E.,  still  at 
home.  The  parents  are  both  members 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  in  politics, 
Mr.  Robinson  was  formerly  a  Republican, 
but  of  late  years  has  affiliated  with  the 
Democratic    party.       He  is  a  highly  re- 


spected man,  a  good  citizen,  a  kind  neigh- 
bor, and  in  the  history  of  Door  county 
well  deserves  representation. 


ARCHIBALD  MacEACHAM,  M. 
D.  (deceased),  was  born  Decem- 
ber 25,  1833,  in  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land, and  the  place  of  his  birth, 
known  as  "Granite  Palace,"  is  still  in  the 
possession  of  the  family.  His  parents, 
Neil  and  Jane  (Taylor)  MacEacham, 
were  also  natives  of  the  land  of  heather, 
the  father  born  in  the  island  of  Islay,  the 
mother  in  Paisley.  In  1834  they  came  to 
this  continent,  making  their  New-W'orld 
home  in  Prince  Edward's  Island,  and  here 
the  mother  died  in  1837,  the  father  sur- 
viving her  until  1883,  dying  also  in  Prince 
Edward's  Island. 

The  subject  of  these  lines  was  but  an 
infant  when  his  parents  brought  him 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  at  the  common 
schools  of  Prince  Edward's  Island  he  re- 
ceived a  liberal  educational  training. 
When  sixteen  years  old  he  commenced 
the  study  of  medicine,  which  he  prose- 
cuted till  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion,  when  he  entered  the  naval 
service  as  surgeon's  assistant,  remaining 
as  such  some  four  years,  during  which 
period  he  was  twice  wounded  while  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties.  After  the  war 
he  resumed  his  medical  studies,  and  on 
graduating  practiced  in  Chicago,  111., 
later  in  Marquette,  Wis.,  in  1 870  coming 
to  Sturgeon  Bay,  where  he  soon  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive practice,  and  by  his  energy,  sagacity 
and  progressiveness  became  one  of  the 
foremost  promoters  of  the  welfare  and 
importance  of  the  city.  In  1875  he 
bought  out  McKinney's  drug  store,  and 
thereafter  devoted  much  of  his  time  to 
that  business,  as  well  as  to  his  office 
practice.  In  1880  he  bought  the  farm  at 
Circle  Ridge,  built  a  dock  there  and  con- 
verted it  into  a  busy  shipping  place,  giv- 
ing employment  to  a  large  number  of 
hands  in  the  winter  seasons,  getting  out 


A.  MacEacham,  M,  D. 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


5S1 


cedar.  The  Doctor  died  March  21,  18S4, 
at  Brooksville,  Fla. ,  whither  he  had  gone 
to  purchase  a  winter  home,  and  from  an 
issue  of  a  Sturgeon  Bay  paper  of  about 
that  date  we  glean  the  following:  "  His 
death  was  a  public  loss,  a  temporary 
wound  to  the  prosperity  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
and  the  principal  business  men  felt  that 
one  of  the  business  props  of  the  place 
had  been  broken  down.  Probably  one  of 
the  largest  funeral  processions  ever  seen 
on  the  peninsula  followed  his  remains  to 
Bayside  Cemetery.  People  from  all  parts 
of  the  county  were  there  to  show  their 
respect  and  esteem  for  the  departed,  and 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  there  was  not 
another  person  in  the  community  more 
universally  beloved  by  the  people  in  gen- 
eral than  the  deceased.  *  *  *  As  a  practi- 
tioner, he  won  the  confidence  and  love  of 
all  who  employed  him,  and  although  when 
established  in  the  drug  business  he  relin- 
quished his  practice,  yet  quite  a  number 
of  his  old  patients  would  not  permit  a 
tranfer  of  themselves,  but  clung  to  their 
old  doctor."' 

On  March  20,  1872,  Dr.  MacEacham 
was  married  at  Sharon,  Wis. ,  to  Miss 
Nettie  Barrett,  of  New  York,  and  two 
children  came  to  brighten  their  home: 
Jeanie  F. ,  born  February  23,  1873,  and 
William  A.,  born  February  6,  1875.  Mrs. 
Nettie  MacEacham  is  a  daughter  of  Jesse 
and  Margaret  Ann  (Smith)  Barrett,  edu- 
cated and  refined  people,  the  father  born 
in  Bedford,  Westchester  Co.,  N.  Y. ,  son 
of  Joseph  and  Deborah  (St.  John)  Bar- 
rett, the  mother  a  native  of  New  York 
City,  daughter  of  Ellis  and  Hannah  (Pel- 
ham)  Smith:  she  was  educated  at  Miss 
Prime's  Seminary  at  Sing  Sing  on  Hud- 
son, at  which  city  she  was  married  to  Mr. 
Barrett  in  January,  1834.  They  began 
housekeeping  in  Bedford,  Westchester 
Co.,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  there  their  children 
were  born,  named,  respectively,  in  the 
order  of  their  birth:  Julia,  Ellis,  Nettie, 
Jotham,  Samuel,  Roscoe,  Jennie,  Will- 
iam and  Carleton.  Of  these,  Roscoe, 
33 


Samuel,  Jennie  and  Carleton  are  de- 
ceased; William,  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
joined  the  regular  army,  stationed  in  the 
West,  and  has  not  been  heard  from  in 
nearly  twenty  years;  the  others  are  mar- 
ried and  living  in  different  parts  of  Wis- 
consin. In  1857  the  father  of  this  family 
sold  his  farm  at  Bedford,  N.  Y. ,  and 
moved  west  to  another  at  Markesan, 
Green  Lake  Co. ,  Wis. ,  taking  with  him 
all  his  family  except  his  daughter  Nettie, 
who  remained  in  the  East  some  years 
longer,  making  her  home  in  the  family  of 
her  mother's  only  brother,  J.  W.  Smith, 
a  merchant  of  New  York  City.  After  a 
few  years'  residence  in  Markesan  Mr.  Bar- 
rett sold  his  farm  and  removed  to  Sharon, 
Walworth  Co.,  Wis.,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  honored  life,  dying 
in  1877.  His  widow  passed  away  in  1880, 
at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Mac- 
Eacham, at  Sturgeon  13ay,  whither  she 
had  gone  to  pass  her  declining  )-ears,  but 
dying  in  less  than  a  week  after  her  arrival. 
Mrs.  MacEacham  is  now  living  at  Stur- 
geon Bay  in  the  companionship  of  her 
children,  and  enjoys  the  unqualified 
esteem  and  regard  of  her  many  friends 
and  acquaintances. 


FREDERICK  BACH,  one  of  the 
most  influential  citizens  of  Ke- 
waunee, is  a  native  of  Austria, 
born  October  11,  1847.  His 
father,  Anton  Bach,  was  a  farmer,  and 
as  it  was  the  custom  of  the  country  to 
learn  a  trade,  he  was  also  a  wood-turner. 
Wenzel  Bach,  the  father  of  Anton,  was  a 
school-teacher,  and  his  trade  that  of 
painting  and  wood  carving.  He  came  to 
America  in  1854,  and  died  in  Kewaunee 
in  the  spring  of  1854.  * 

Anton  Bach  was  m.arried  in  Austria 
to  Teressa  Doerfler,  and  with  her  and 
the  other  members  of  the  family  came  to 
the  United  States  in  1853.  To  the  mar- 
riage of  Anton  were  born  six  children, 
viz.:  Edward,  Martin,  Frederick,  Anna, 
Mary    and    Lottie.     The    father    of   this 


5S3 


COMMEMORATirE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


famil)-,  after  reachiiij,'  the  United  States, 
passed  a  year  in  Milwaukee,  ^^'is. ,  and 
then  took  up  a  piece  of  wild  land  from 
the  State  in  Kewaunee  county,  in  what 
is  now  known  as  Kewaunee  township, 
which  he  improved  and  resided  upon  un- 
til 1S65,  when  he  rented  it  out  and 
moved  to  Carlton,  dyinfj  there  in  the 
winter  of  1S66. 

Frederick  Bach,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  sketch,  lived  on  the  home  farm,  as- 
sisting his  father  until  1865,  his  brothers 
Edward  and  Martin  serving  meanwhile  in 
the  Civil  war.  On  their  return  Edward 
and  he  bought  the  general  store  and  saw- 
mill of  a  Mr.  Dean,  at  Carlton,  which  was 
conducted  for  a  time  under  the  firm  name 
of  Taylor  &  Bach,  Frederick  having 
really  no  interest  in  the  business  until 
1875.  when  he  bought  a  share,  the  firm 
then  becoming  Taylor,  Bach  &  Co.  In 
1892  Frederick  Bach  and  his  family  came 
to  Kewaunee,  where  he  had  an  interest  in 
a  gristmill;  this  he  superintended  about 
si.\  months,  when  his  health  failed,  and 
since  that  time  he  has  taken  no  active 
part  in  the  management  of  the  concern, 
although  he  retains  his  interest  therein. 
He  is  also  a  stockholder  in,  and  president 
of,  the  Bach,  Koenig  &  Piser  General 
Store  Co.,  of  Kewaunee,  which  company 
was  organized  in  1893,  and  has  also  a 
large  branch  store  at  Carlton.  Mr.  Bach 
also  has  an  interest  in  the  Kewaunee 
Jiank,  and  in  a  cheese  factory  that  now 
ranks  as  second  in  the  State,  although  it 
was  run  at  a  loss  for  some  time,  when 
first  started,  by  Tavlor,  Bach  &  Co.,  in 
1875. 

Mr.  Bach  was  united  in  marriage  in 
September,  1876.  with  Miss  Emma  St. 
Fetter,  a  native  of  Carlton,  W'is.,  and  to 
this  union  have  been  born  five  children, 
\\/.. :  Cora,  Maud,  Luella,  Rowland  and 
Edward.  In  politics  Mr.  Bach  is  a  Re- 
])ublican,  and  cast  his  first  presidential 
vote  for  ( irant,  but  he  prefers  business  to 
politics.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O. 
(>.  F.,  and  K.  of  P.,  and  is  a  great  favor- 
ite   in   social    circles.      His    integritv   has 


never  been  questioned,  and  his  word  has 
been  always  accepted  as  being  ' '  as  good 
as  his  bond."  His  business  abilitj-  and 
enterprise  have  been  matters  of  admira- 
tion and  commendation,  and  there  are 
few  men  that  stand  as  high  in  the  esteem 
of  the  community  as  does  Frederick  Bach. 


JOSEPH  GOETZ,  a  well-to-do  agri- 
culturist of  Section  3,  F'orestville 
township.  Door  county,  has  here 
made  his  home  since  1879,  at  which 
time  he  purchased  160  acres  of  wild  land, 
covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber. 
He  at  once  began  to  clear  and  im- 
prove the  place,  and  in  course  of  time 
the  tract  was  transformed  into  rich  and 
fertile  fields  which  were  made  to  yield  to 
the  owner  a  golden  tribute.  His  first 
dwelling  was  a  log  cabin,  but  it  has  long 
since  been  replaced  by  a  more  modern 
structure,  his  present  residence,  which 
was  erected  in  1889,  being  a  story  and  a 
half  frame,  20  x  32  feet,  with  an  L  24  x 
1 8  feet.  He  also  has  a  large  barn  40  x 
60  feet,  and  all  the  other  accessories  and 
conveniences  of  a  model  farm.  In  1 889 
he  erected  a  cheese  factory  which  he 
operated  until  1893,  when  he  ga\e  it  over 
to  the  care  of  his  son. 

The  owner  of  this  fine  property  was 
born  in  Prussia  in  1838,  and  is  a  son  of 
Philip  and  Margaret  (Breal)  Goetz,  who 
were  natives  of  the  same  country.  In 
1853  they  left  the  fatherland  for  America, 
locating  in  Manitowoc  county,  \\'is. . 
where  Mr.  Goetz  developed  and  improved 
a  farm  until  1876.  when  he  moved  to  Nase- 
waupee  township,  Door  county,  and  here 
made  his  home  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred when  he  was  aged  eighty-one 
j'ears.  His  wife  passed  away  in  1894,  in 
the  seventy-ninth  year  of  her  age,  leaving 
a  family  of  four  children,  namely:  Joseph; 
Nich,  whois  living  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship; Katie,  wife  of  Gottlieb  Mussman, 
also  of  Nasewaupee  township;  and  Anton, 
a  resident  of  Minnesota.  One  had  died 
after  coming  to  this  country. 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


5S3 


The  subject  proper  of  this  sketch 
began  his  education  in  the  pubhc 
schools  of  Germany,  and  there  contin- 
ued his  studies  until  thirteen  years  of 
age,  when,  in  1852,  he  came  with  his 
uncle  to  the  United  States,  the  voyage 
being  made  in  a  sailing  vessel,  which 
landed  after  a  passage  of  thirty-six  da3's. 
Coming  westward  to  Wisconsin,  he  be- 
came a  resident  of  Rapids,  where  for  some 
time  he  worked  as  errand  boy  in  a  hotel 
by  the  month.  In  i860  he  moved  to  the 
Lake  Superior  region,  northern  Michigan, 
and  was  there  engaged  in  mining  imtil 
1863,  when  he  returned  to  Wisconsin 
and  in  Manitowoc  worked  in  a  sawmill 
till  1864.  In  that  year  he  once  more 
journeyed  to  the  Lake  Superior  region, 
and  was  there  employed  in  a  sawmill  till 
1866,  when  he  returned  to  Manitowoc, 
Wis.,  where  he  worked  in  a  sawmill  until 
coming  to  Forestville,  Door  county,  at 
which  time  he  turned  his  attention  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  as  above  stated. 

In  1863,  in  Manitowoc  count}'.  Wis., 
Mr.  Goetz  wedded  Miss  Marv  F"rocena,  a 
native  of  Poland,  and  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Susan  Frocena,  who  were 
born  in  the  same  country.  In  185 5, with 
their  family,  they  became  residents  of 
Manitowoc  county,  and  the  father  secured 
land  which  he  operated  during  the  rest  of 
his  life,  his  death  occurring  in  1893;  his 
widow  still  survives  him.  In  the  family 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goetz  were  nine  children, 
as  follows:  William,  who  is  married, 
operates  a  cheese  factory  and  a  general 
store,  and  is  now  serving  as  postmaster  at 
Maplewood;  Joseph  is  engaged  in  teach- 
ing in  Stratford,  Wis. ;  Frank,  Anna, 
Katie,  Margaret,  Thomas,  Julia  and  Felix 
are  all  yet  at  home.  Mr.  Goetz  is  num- 
bered among  the  pioneers  of  Door  coun- 
ty, and  in  its  growth  and  upbuilding  he 
has  ever  borne  his  part,  while  in  its  wel- 
fare he  manifests  a  most  commendable 
intere.st.  He  exercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise in  support  of  the  Democracy,  has 
served  as  treasurer  of  the  school  board, 
and  has  alwavs  been  a  warm  friend  to  the 


cause  of  education,  believing  it  to  be  one 
of  the  important  factors  in  the  promotion 
of  good  citizenship.  In  connection  with 
his  family  he  holds  membership  with  the 
Catholic  Church. 


WILLIAM  BARRETTE,  a  public- 
spirited  and  progressive  citizen 
of  Red  River  township,  Kewau- 
nee county,  who  has  identified 
himself  with  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  makes  his  home,  was 
born  in  Belgium  February  18,  1829,  one 
of  the  eight  children  of  Francis  and  Mary 
J.  (Millman)  Barrette.  The  father  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and  through  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  carried  on  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  The  members  of  the  fam- 
ily are  John  13.,  Catherine,  Joseph,  An- 
toinette, Casper,  Constant,  \Villiam  and 
Isador. 

In  taking  up  the  history  of  William 
Bariette  we  present  to  our  readers  the  life 
record  of  one  who  is  both  widely  and 
favorably  known  in  Kewaunee  county. 
The  common  schools  afforded  him  his  ed- 
ucational privileges,  and  in  his  younger 
years  he  learned  the  stone  cutter's  trade, 
at  which  he  worked  until  his  marriage. 
That  important  event  in  his  life  occurred 
July  16,  1846,  the  lady  of  his  choice  be- 
ing Virginia  Geos,  and  to  them,  while 
still  residing  in  Belgium,  was  born  a  son, 
Joseph.  In  the  year  1848,  having  de- 
cided to  try  their  fortune  in  America,  they 
embarked  at  Antwerp  on  a  sailing  vessel 
bound  for  Quebec,  Canada.  From  that 
city  they  made  their  way  direct  to  Green 
Bay,  Wis. ,  thence  to  Ahnapee  township, 
now  a  part  of  Lincoln  township,  Kewau- 
nee county.  Here  Mr.  Barrette  pur- 
chased fort}'  acres  of  land  in  Section  8,  a 
wild  and  unimproved  tract,  upon  which 
not  a  tree  had  been  cut  or  a  furrow 
turned.  He  made  the  journe\-  in  a  wagon 
drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  followed 
the  path  marked  by  blazed  trees,  for  no 
roads  had  yet  been  made  in  that  vicinity. 
A  place  had  to   be  cleared   large   enough 


5«4 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


to  construct  a  house,  and  a  dwelling 
22X22  feet,  covered  with  cedar  bark, 
was  built.  With  characteristic  energy 
Mr.  Barrette  began  the  development  of 
a  farm,  and  though  the  work  was  slow, 
and  his  implements  quite  crude  in  com- 
parison with  those  used  to-daj-,  the 
work  progressed,  and  where  once  stood  a 
dense  forest  were  seen  waving  fields  of 
grain.  The  marketing  was  done  at  Green 
Bay,  a  distance  of  twentj'-one  miles,  and 
as  Mr.  Barrette  owned  the  only  team  in 
this  locality  he  did  all  the  marketing  for 
the  neighborhood.  It  frequently  required 
three  days  to  make  the  trip,  and  he  would 
spend  the  night  in  his  wagon  somewhere 
on  the  road  between  Bay  Settlement  and 
Green  Bay.  He  used  a  grub  hoe  in 
planting  his  first  crop  of  wheat  and  pota- 
toes, and  the  wheat  was  harvested  with  a 
sickle  and  threshed  with  a  flail.  After  seven 
years  spent  upon  his  first  farm,  during 
which  time  he  had  increased  it  to  eighty 
acres  and  cleared  thirty  acres,  he  sold 
out  and  went  to  Chicago,  where  for  a 
similar  period  he  worked  at  his  trade.  On 
his  return  he  purchased  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Section  5,  Red  River 
township,  now  owned  b}'  his  son,  Prosper, 
and  again  began  the  work  of  developing  a 
new  farm.  On  that  place  he  lived  twenty 
years,  and  added  to  his  possessions  until 
he  was  the  owner  of  392  acres  of  valuable 
land.  A  part  of  this  he  afterward  sold, 
and  then  removed  to  Section  9  of  the 
same  township,  where  he  purchased  one 
acre  of  land,  erecting  thereon  a  store  and 
residence;  he  has  also  just  purchased  a 
pier  and  mill  on  the  bay  shore,  costing 
$1400,  and  to  his  various  business  enter- 
prises now  devotes  his  attention.  After 
coming  to  Wisconsin  five  children  were 
added  to  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bar- 
rette, namely:  Mary,  Augustine,  Prosper. 
Octavie  and  William,  Jr. ;  the  mother  of 
this  family  passed  away  September  19, 
1889.  The  youngest  son,  who  has  always 
remained  at  home  with  his  father,  secured 
his  literary  education  in  the  common 
schools,  and  for  two  years  attended  busi- 


ness college.  On  the  25th  of  April,  1S91, 
he  was  married  to  Mary,  daughter  of 
Clement  and  Frances  (Kayej  Genesse, 
and  the}-  had  two  children — Fannie  and 
Lillie. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  is  a  Republican,  has  served 
as  supervisor  in  Ahnapee  township,  and 
as  chairman  of  the  board  of  supervisors 
in  Lincoln  township  three  j'ears.  For 
four  years  he  was  chairman  of  the  town 
board  in  Red  River  township,  since  Au- 
gust 14,  1890,  he  has  been  postmaster  at 
Duvall,  and  his  prompt  and  faithful  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  devolving  upon  him 
has  won  him  the  commendation  of  all 
concerned.  In  religious  belief  he  is  a 
Catholic,  and  while  living  in  Lincoln 
township  mass  was  held  in  his  home 
when  there  was  no  church  in  that  locality. 
He  is  one  of  the  honored  pioneers  of  the 
county,  and  has  not  only  witnessed  the 
growth  and  development  of  this  region 
but  in  all  possiible  ways  has  aided  in  its 
progress  and  advancement. 


JACOB  RODRIAN,  county  treasurer 
of  Kewaunee  county,  was  born  in  the 
Rhine  Province,  German}',  Novem- 
ber 6,  1845.  His  father,  Philip 
Rodrian,  a  farmer  by  occupation,  married 
Fredericka  Bretz,  whose  father  was  also 
a  farmer.  Mrs.  Fredericka  Rodrian  died 
in  Germany  in  1890;  Philip  Rodrian  is 
still  living  in  that  country. 

Our  subject  attended  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  country  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  fourteen  years,  and  then  worked 
on  his  father's  farm  until  he  was  twenty- 
four  j'ears  old,  or  until  1869,  when  he 
came  to  America.  He  had  one  brother 
and  three  sisters,  and  of  these  onl}'  one, 
a  sister,  came  to  America,  the  others  re- 
maining in  Germany.  When  Mr.  Rod- 
rian reached  America  he  landed  at  New 
York  City,  whence  he  at  once  pushed 
forward  to  Wisconsin,  locating  at  Hart- 
ford, Washington  county,  and  here  hired 
out  on  a  farm  for  two  years;  then  moved 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


585 


to  Ahnapee,  Kevvaunea  county,  where  he 
bought  the  farm  on  which  he  still  makes 
his  home,  and  where  he  is  classed  among 
the  best  farmers  in  the  county.  In  pol- 
itics he  has  always  been  a  Democrat 
since  coming  to  the  country,  being  active 
in  both  national  and  State  politics.  In 
1882  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  his  town, 
which  office  he  filled  three  consecutive 
terms,  1884-85  and  '86;  was  assessor 
1887-88,  and  in  the  latter  year  was 
elected  countv  treasurer,  in  which  incum- 
bency he  is  serving  his  third  term,  seem- 
ing to  be  peculiarly  fitted  for  this  special 
class  of  public  service.  In  1894  he  was 
elected  for  a  member  of  Assembly  to  the 
Wisconsin  Legislature. 

On  April  30,  1872,  Mr.  Rodrian  was 
married  to  Miss  Julia  Portz,  daughter  of 
John  Portz,  whose  family  came  from 
their  native  Germany  in  1875,  and  in  this 
country  the  father  died  in  1S83.  Eight 
children  have  come  to  bless  the  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rodrian,  who  are  devout 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  at 
Ahnapee.  The  family  are  held  in  high 
esteem  by  their  neighbors,  and  Mr.  Rod- 
rian is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  county,  and  one  of  its  sub- 
stantial, go-ahead  citizens. 


J  NO  GISLASON.  The  name  of 
Gislason  was,  for  many  years,  a 
most  familiar  one  in  Iceland  where 
Gisli  Einersen,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  a  prominent  Lutheran  minister.  He 
graduated  in  the  theological  course  of  the 
Copenhagen  University,  and  was  ordained 
to  preach.  A  man  of  much  mental  abil- 
ity and  a  deep  thinker,  he  wielded  a 
powerful  infiuence  for  good,  and  was 
greatly  beloved  by  his  parishoners.  His 
wife,  Sigridur  Gudnundsdaughter,  was 
also  a  native  of  Iceland  and,  as  her  name 
states,  was  a  daughter  of  Gudnundur, 
that  being  the  manner  of  denoting  the 
family  to  which  a  child  belongs.  She 
was  the  mother  of  five  children,  of  whom 
our  subject  was  the  youngest. 


Jno  Gislason  was  born  December  12, 
1S49,  at  Kalfholti,  Iceland,  and  was  but 
eighteen  months  old  when  his  father  died. 
He  was  educated  in  Iceland,  and  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  commenced  clerking 
in  a  general  store,  where  he  remained 
employed  at  intervals  until  1870,  then 
emigrated  to  the  United  States.  In  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  he  remained  four  months, 
then  made  his  way  to  Washington  Island, 
Door  county,  and  found  work  in  the 
woods,  but  in  the  spring  of  1871  he  lo- 
cated permanently  at  Detroit  Harbor 
where  he  now  resides.  He  bought  a 
farm  of  sixty-one  acres,  although  he  made 
fishing  his  business  until  1876,  when  he 
sold  his  possessions  and  went  to  Madison, 
(Wis.)  where  he  attended  school.  He 
was  then  twenty-seven  years  old,  and 
though  possessed  of  a  good  education  in 
his  native  tongue  he  inherited  too  much 
of  his  father's  scholastic  tendencies  to  be 
content  with  that  after  locating  in  another 
country.  Accordingly  he  remained  in  the 
school  at  Madison  until  he  had  mastered 
the  English  language,  and  secured  a  fair 
knowledge  of  other  topics.  The  spring 
of  1877  found  him  in  \Vashington  Island, 
Wis.,  where  he  followed  various  pursuits 
until  1884,  when  he  opened  a  general 
store  at  Detroit  Harbor,  which  business 
he  has  continued  ever  since,  having  built 
up  a  large  and  constantly  increasing  trade, 
and  become  prosperous  in  every  way. 
When  any  public  enterprise  needs  the  as- 
sistance of  the  business  men  of  the  place, 
Mr.  Gislason  is  one  of  the  first  to  be  ap- 
proached, and  unless  the  plan  appears 
impracticable  he  accords  it  his  hearty  co- 
operation. Since  his  return  to  the  Island 
he  has  bought  240  acres  of  land  which  he 
is  having  cleared  and  prepared  for  culti- 
vation; it  will  then  be  most  valuable  and 
for  this  foresightedness  he  will  no  doubt 
reap  a  rich  profit  on  his  investment. 

Mr.  Gislason  is  a  stanch  Republican, 
taking  an  active  part  in  political  affairs, 
and  although  having  no  desire  for  office 
his  friends  have  made  him  supervisor  and 
justice  of  the  peace.      He  is  now  clerk  of 


=;86 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  board  of  education  in  his  district,  and 
is  ever  ready  to  promote  the  interests  of 
the  schools.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  which  was  so  dear  to 
Ills  father's  heart,  and  contributes  Hber- 
aily  t(jward  its  support;  while  his  gener- 
osity in  every  charitable  enterprise  brought 
to  his  notice  is  most  commendable.  On 
November  8,  1877,  he  was  married  at 
Milwaukee,  \\'is. ,  to  Miss  Augusta  Barna- 
son,  also  a  native  of  Iceland,  and  the  fol- 
lowing named  eight  children  were  born  to 
them:  Sarah  E.,  Gisli  I.,  August,  Law- 
rence, Ella,  Charles,  Esther  and  Stella 
T.  Mr.  Gislason  is  personally  superin- 
tending their  education,  and  hopes  to 
make  them  useful  men  and  women. 


1841, 


FRED  HARDER,  for  over  twenty 
\ears  a  resident  of  Egg  Harbor 
township.  Door  county,  is  a  na- 
tive of  German}-,  born  August  16, 
the  eldest  in  the  family  of  Fred 
Harder,  who  had  five  children — one  son 
and  four  daughters. 

In  1864  Mr.  Harder  was  married,  in 
German}-,  to  Caroline  Kullmann,  who  was 
born  there  in  1834,  and  late  in  the  fall  of 
1866  they  sailed  from  Hamburg  on  a  ves- 
sel bound  for  New  York,  where  they 
landed  after  a  somewhat  unpleasant  voy- 
age of  four  weeks.  By  rail  they  came 
west  to  Chicago,  where  Mr.  Harder  en- 
gaged immediately  at  any  labor  that 
would  bring  him  an  honest  dollar,  for  the 
e.xpenses  of  the  journey  had  nearly  ex- 
hausted his  savings.  Chicago  was  their 
home  for  over  five  years,  Mr.  Harder 
working  at  the  carpenter's  trade  there 
after  the  great  fire,  and  in  1873  removed 
his  family  to  Door  county,  Wis.,  where, 
in  Section  29,  Egg  Harbor  township,  he 
bought  si.xty  acres,  paying  cash  for  same; 
but  shortly  afterward  it  was  found  that  the 
title  was  imperfect,  and  he  had  to  pay  a 
second  time  for  part  of  the  tract.  The 
land  was  totally  unimproved,  and  he  com- 
menced the  task  of  clearing  without  de- 
lay,   proving    himself    a     most 


worker,  and  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  energy 
and  perseverance  that  allows  nothing  to 
discourage  him.  He  now  owns  140  acres, 
eighty  of  which  he  has  cleared  and  has  in 
good  condition,  doing  the  greater  part  of 
the  work  himself.  By  his  own  unaided 
efforts  he  has  acquired  a  comfortable 
property,  and,  by  his  conscientious  hon- 
esty and  fairness  in  all  his  transactions, 
has  gained  the  resp^ect  and  confidence  of 
those  who  have  had  dealings  with  him. 

To  Fred  and  Caroline  (Kullmann) 
Harder  were  born  four  children,  two  in 
German}' — Gusta,  now  Mrs.  William  Mil- 
ler, of  Plymouth,  Ind. ,  and  another 
daughter  that  died  in  infancy,  while  en 
route  to  the  United  States — and  two  in 
Wisconsin  —  \J\zz\e,  Mrs.  John  Weiter- 
man,  of  Voseville,  Door  Co.,  Wis.,  and 
a  daughter  that  died  in  infancy.  The 
mother  of  these  passed  from  earth  in  Egg 
Harbor  township,  and  Mr.  Harder  subse- 
quently wedded  Amelia  Bunner,  a  native 
of  Saxony.  For  his  third  wife  he  was 
married,  April  15,  1883,  in  Egg  Harbor, 
to  Miss  Caroline  Blunk,  who  was  born  in 
1 85 1  in  Germany,  and  this  union  has 
been  blessed  with  one  child,  William. 
Mr.  Harder  is  a  Lutheran  in  religious 
sentiment,  and  politically  he  is  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  Republican  party. 


JOHN  \\'EIS,  a  prosperous  and  highly 
esteemed  farmer  citizen  of  the  town 
of  Sturgeon  Bay,  is  a  native  of  Wis- 
consin, born  in  Washington   county 
May  I,   1857. 

His  father,  George  Weis,  was  a  native 
of  the  Rhine  Province  of  Bavaria,  and 
when  a  young  man  came  to  the  United 
States,  first  locating  in  New  York,  where 
he  followed  the  trade  of  baker,  which  he 
had  learned  in  the  Fatherland.  His  eye- 
sight becoming  impaired,  however,  he 
was  obliged  to  abandon  that  business, 
and  coming  to  Wisconsin  made  a  new 
home  in  Washington  county,  where  he 
turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits.    He  there  wedded  Mrs.  Mary  Stroh 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


587 


{iicc  Stormj,  who  had  two  children:  Mary 
and  Joseph.  George  Weis  passed  the 
rest  of  his  days  in  Washington  county, 
dying  there  in  1882,  where  his  widow  is 
still  residing.  This  worthy  couple  were 
the  parents  of  seven  children — five  sons 
and  two  daughters — our  subject  being  the 
third  child  and  second  son. 

Having  passed  his  early  life  in  a  Ger- 
man settlement,  John  Weis  was  educated 
in  that  tongue  until  eleven  years  of  age, 
when  he  left  home  to  work  for  others, 
and  has  since  been  dependent  on  his  own 
resources,  so  that  whatever  success  he 
has  achieved  is  due  entirely  to  his  per- 
sonal efforts.  When  nineteen  years  old 
he  commenced  working  at  the  mason's 
trade,  which  he  followed  some  seven 
years,  and  until  he  reached  his  majority 
he  handed  all  his  earnings  over  to  his 
parents,  not  even  buying  his  own  clothes. 
Coming  to  Door  county  (where  he  had  a 
half-brother  living),  in  order  to  look  up  a 
location,  he  during  the  first  summer  found 
work  in  a  sawmill  for  A.  W.  Lawrence, 
after  which  he  was  engaged  at  the  trade 
of  stone  mason.  Long  and  earnestly  did 
he  now  work,  until  he  had  secured  enough 
money  to  purchase  a  farm,  and  in  course 
of  time  he  found  himself  the  owner  of  1 20 
acres  of  land,  forty  of  which  he  has 
cleared.  Xhis  is  one  of  the  most  pro- 
ductive farms  in  the  county,  made  so  by 
the  efforts  of  the  owner,  who  is  justly 
numbered  among  the  practical  and  enter- 
prising agriculturists  of  the  county. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four  years  our 
subject  was  married  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Marie  Toppings,  widow  of  Thomas  J. 
Toppings,  who  enlisted,  in  1862,  in  Com- 
pany A,  Ninth  Missouri  Cavalry,  in  which 
he  served  three  years  and  seven  months; 
he  died  in  1875,  o^  consumption,  brought 
on  by  exposure  and  consequent  sickness 
while  in  the  army.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M. 
Weis  was  born  March  3,  1850,  at  Pitts- 
burg, Penn.,  daughter  of  Nicholas  Hinker, 
who  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay  in  1857,  and 
settled  in  Sevastopol  township,  then  a 
vast  wilderness,  where    he   died   January 


26,    1865,    of    heart    disease,   contracted 
through  exposure  and   hard  work   in  his 
endeavor  to  clear  up  a  farm  and   support 
a    family    consisting    of    his    wife,    aged 
father-in-law   and    five   daughters.      The 
father-in-law,  John  Bates,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of   Amsterdam,  Holland,  died  at  the 
age  of  102  years,  leaving  but   one  daugh- 
ter,   the    wife   of   N.    Hinker.      Nicholas 
Hinker  left   surviving    him    his  wife  and 
five  daughters,  to  wit:   Mrs.  Elizabeth  M. 
Weis;     Mrs.     Catherine     G.    Follett,    of 
Green  Bay,  born  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Feb- 
ruary   28,    1852;    Mrs.    Mary   A.    Stroh, 
born    at  Larimer's  Station,    Penn. ;   Mrs. 
Caroline  M.  Lavassor,  of  the  city  of  Stur- 
geon   Bay,    Wis.,    born    at     Sevastopol, 
Door  Co.,  Wis.,    January  15,   i860;   and 
Mrs.  Margaret  L.  Weis,  born  December 
31,  1862,  also  at  Sevastopol,  now  a  resi- 
dent  of   Sturgeon    Bay,  and   with  whom 
the  widowed  mother  is  at  present   living. 
The  third  daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Stroh, 
died  May  23,  1880,  leaving  four  children: 
Frank,    Lizzie,     Cassie,    and     an    infant 
daughter  whom  the  mother,  on  her  death- 
bed, gave  to  Mrs.  E.    M.  Toppings  (now 
Mrs.   John  Weis)  who   named  the  infant 
Mary  Josephine  Weis  (she   is  now  [1895] 
fifteen  years  old,  and  is  bright,  affection- 
ate and  dutiful).      There  is   also  now  an- 
other infant  left   to  the  care   of  the  old 
home,  a  little   son   of  John  Weis'  second 
sister,  Mrs.  Andrew  May,  who  died  April 
22,   1895,  the   same    hour    the  baby  was 
born,    leaving    also     husband     and    four 
children — two    sons   and  two    daughters; 
she  was  also  born   and  reared  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Wisconsin. 

Nicholas  Hinker,  who  was  a  native  of 
Alsace,  Germany,  came  to  this  country 
with  his  parents  when  six  years  old,  and 
in  1849  married  Mary  C.  J.  Bates,  who 
was  born  at  Utrecht,  Holland,  in  1831, 
and  when  eight  years  of  age  accompanied 
her  father  and  brothers  from  her  native 
country  to  the  United  States,  locating  at 
first  in  Philadelphia,  from  there  moving 
to  Pittsburg  where  she  married  Mr. 
Hinker.      He    was    a  coal    miner   seven 


5S8 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


years  prior  to  coining  to  Wisconsin.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  M.  Weis  was,  as  will  be  seen, 
seven  years  old  when  her  parents  brought 
her  to  the  then  wilderness  of  Sturgeon 
Bay,  settling  four  miles  east  of  what  was 
then  the  village  of  Sturgeon  Bay.  For 
the  most  of  the  way  in  their  journey 
through  this  region  they  found  no  road  of 
any  description,  so  the  men  in  the  com- 
pany had  to  make  one  and  "blaze"  the 
trees,  and  the  party  did  not  reach  the 
roofless  shanty  until  the  third  day,  which 
was  June  i8,  1857.  It  rained  so  much 
that  no  work  could  be  done  at  first,  so 
Mrs.  Weis'  father  and  mother  peeled  a 
lot  of  cedar  bark  to  form  a  temporary 
roof,  and  about  the  worst  trouble  they 
had  was  from  the  swarms  of  mosquitos 
that  visited  the  shanty  to  feast  on  the 
new  arrivals — so  numerous  and  sanguin- 
ary were  the  ' '  varmints"  that  a  ' '  smudge" 
had  to  be  kept  up  night  and  day. 

The  fact  that  Mr.  John  Weis  has 
prospered  in  his  undertakings  is  due,  as 
will  be  readily  understood,  to  deter- 
mined effort  and  good  management,  and 
he  is  now  in  comfortable  circumstances. 
In  religious  faith  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  political  affilia- 
tion since  attaining  his  majority  he  has  sup- 
ported the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party. 


M 


.\TTHIAS  ROLLER,  an  in- 
dustrious and  well-to-do  farmer 
of  Carlton  township,  Kewaunee 
county,  was  born  in  Germany, 
February  25,  1S31.  and  is  a  son  of  Al- 
bert and  Theresa  Roller. 

His  boyhood  days  were  passed  in  the 
school  room  and  on  the  farm  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  when  he  started  out  in  life  for  him- 
self, beginning  as  a  farm  servant,  and  so 
continuing  until  185S  when  he  came  to 
the  United  States.  It  took  him  si.\  weeks 
to  cross  the  ocean,  and,  landing  at  New 
York,  he  proceeded  to  Carlton,  having 
only    fifteen    dollars  left  to  start  in  life 


with.  The  ne.\t  year  after  arriving  at 
Carlton,  he  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  un- 
loaded vessels,  for  which  he  received  ten 
cents  an  hour,  and  then  only  three  times  a 
week.  Not  being  able  to  make  a  living 
there,  he  came  back  to  Carlton,  and  for 
about  two  years  chopped  cord-wood,  also 
worked  in  the  forest,  and  was  then  able 
to  locate  on  the  farm  he  now  owns.  The 
land  was,  of  course,  all  in  standing  tim- 
ber which  he  proceeded  to  cut  and  mark- 
et, at  the  same  time  preparing  the  soil 
for  cultivation.  These  pioneer  days  were 
days  of  hardship  and  toil,  but  perseverance 
and  industry  carried  him  through,  and 
his  farm,  consisting  of  120  acres  of  land, 
is  now  all  cleared,  and  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  any  farm  in  the  township.  On 
the  night  of  September  30,  1888,  Mr. 
Roller's  property  was  destroyed  by  fire. 
The  loss  amounted  to  four  thousand  dol- 
lars, insured  for  two  thousand  dollars, 
but  the  ne.xt  year  he  immediately  set  to 
work  and  re-erected  the  building. 

In  1S58  Mr.  Roller  married  Theresa 
Sipple,  who  was  born  in  Germany  in 
1837,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Josephine 
Sipple.  This  marriage  has  been  blessed 
with  eleven  children,  namely:  Joe,  Julius, 
John,  Willie,  Matthias,  Philip,  Mary, 
Caroline  and  Laura,  living,  and  Joseph 
and  Louisa,  deceased.  Six  of  these  are 
now  married,  namely:  Joe,  Julius,  John, 
Mary,  Caroline  and  Laura;  five  are  living 
on  farms  in  the  same  town,  where  their 
father  has  started  them  in  business; 
Laura  is  residing  in  Chicago.  Mr.  Roller 
and  famil}-  enjoy  the  respect  of  all  their 
neighbors,  and  are  regarded  as  good  and 
useful  citizens,  such  as  form  a  solid  and 
healthful  community. 


REV.    ALONZO    PARRER   CUR- 
TISS  was  born  January  2,  1862, 
in  Westmoreland,  N.  Y. ,  and  his 
ancestors    on    the    mother's    side 
were  the  old  English  refugees  who  fled  to 
Holland  during  the  period  of  the  Restora-. 
tion. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


5S9 


The  Curtiss  family  is  also  of  English 
origin,  and  the  grandfather  was  a  buyer 
and  seller  of  live  stock  in  New  York,  mak- 
ing his  home  in  Westmoreland,  that 
State,  where  he  owned  some  real  estate 
and  spent  his  last  days.  His  son,  Josiah 
A.  Curtiss,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Westmoreland,  N.  Y. ;  he  mar- 
ried Juliet  Phelps,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Alonzo  Phelps,  of  Kirkland,  Oneida  Co., 
N.  Y. ,  a  descendant  of  Oliver  Cromwell's 
private  secretary  who  signed  the  death 
warrant  of  King  Charles  I.  After  the 
death  of  Cromwell,  and  during  the  time 
of  the  Restoration,  he  fled  to  Holland 
with  his  family.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
force  of  character  and  influence,  and  a 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  in 
a  church  in  Holland.  The  old  family 
name  was  originally  Guelph — the  family 
name  of  Queen  Victoria.  His  descend- 
ants came  to  America  and  settled  in  New 
York.  The  mother  of  our  subject  died 
June   15,   1894. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his 
primar}'  education  in  the  grammar  school 
of  Clinton,  N,  Y. ,  a  Presbyterian  institu- 
tion, where  he  pursued  his  studies  three 
years.  Later  he  emigrated  westward, 
settling  in  Sandwich,  111.,  where  he  be- 
came book-keeper  for  the  Sandwich  Manu- 
facturing Company,  and  afterward  held 
the  same  position  in  their  branch  house 
in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  remaining  in  the 
employ  of  that  firm  for  about  three  years. 
He  then  went  to  Boston,  where  he  studied 
Latin  and  Greek  with  a  Harvard  tutor, 
preparatory  to  entering  the  Western 
Theological  Seminary  in  Chicago,  his 
name  being  enrolled  among  its  students 
September  29,  1889.  He  was  graduated 
therefrom  in  May,  1892,  was  ordained  as 
deacon  in  June  of  the  same  year  in  Sheboy- 
gan, Wis.,  and  was  ordained  priest  in  the 
cathedral  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  Novem- 
ber 20,  1892.  In  June  of  that  year  he 
had  come  to  Ahnapee,  and  has  since  had 
charge  of  St.  Agnes  church  of  this  place, 
having  given  evidence  of  great  pastoral 
power,  while  with  both  old    and  young. 


Thorough 


rich  and  poor  he  is  a  favorite 
study    and   preparation    have    made   him 
well  fitted  for  his  chosen  work,  and  he  is 
doing  good  service  in  Ahnapee. 


HECTOR  BONCHER,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  influential 
citizens  of  Luxemburg  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  is  a  native  of 
Wisconsin,  born  in  Humboldt  township. 
Brown  county,  December  6,  1864,  a  son 
of  John  B.  and  Mary  (Tracy)  Boucher, 
well-to-do  agriculturists  of  that  locality. 
They  were  born  in  Belgium,  whence 
the  father,  when  he  was  about  thirteen 
years  old,  came  to  this  country  with  his 
parents,  Maria  and  Theresa  Boucher, 
who  settled  in  Humboldt  township. 
Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  taking  up  320  acres  of 
wild  land.  Here  for  a  long  time  they  and 
their  children  were  employed  getting  logs 
out  of  the  woods  and  making  shingles 
by  hand,  one  thousand  being  considered  a 
good  day's  work.  The  children,  fifteen 
in  number,  born  to  John  B.  and  Marj- 
Boucher,  were  as  follows:  \'ictor.  Hec- 
tor, Ortance  (deceased),  Henry,  Joseph, 
Mary,  Adeline  and  Catherine  (twins), 
Eli,  one  that  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  Ortance  Paul  (deceased),  Gene- 
vieve, Victoria,  Paul  (deceased)  and  Mar- 
tin. The  parents  are  yet  living  on  the 
old  homestead  in  Humboldt  township. 
Brown  county,  now  consisting  of  ninety 
acres  of  well-improved  land,  which  the 
father  himself  conducts.  The  children 
all  commenced  the  business  of  life  early. 
Hector,  our  subject,  when  fourteen  years 
old,  entering  a  sawmill  in  Oconto  where 
he  worked  a  couple  of  months  at  fifteen 
dollars  per  month,  after  which  he  re- 
turned home  for  a  few  weeks  and  then 
went  into  the  lumber  woods,  laboring 
there  four  months.  Another  two  months 
were  spent  at  the  parental  home  bv  Mr. 
Boncher,  and  we  next  find  him  in  Her- 
mansville,  Menominee  Co.,  Mich.,  work- 
ing in  a  sawmill  at  twenty-six  dollars  per 


59° 


COJUMEMORAriVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


month,  whence  after  three  months  he 
moved  to  Crystal  Falls,  Iron  county, 
same  State,  where  he  drove  team  for  a 
railroad  company,  at  twenty-eight  dol- 
lars per  month.  At  the  end  of  two 
months,  however,  he  was  unfortunate- 
ly taken  sick,  and  had  to  return  home; 
but,  recovering  in  a  few  weeks,  he 
once  more  went  into  the  lumber  woods, 
driving  a  yoke  of  oxen  three  months.  He 
then  once  more  came  home  in  order  to 
help  his  parents.  All  this  time  his  earn- 
ings were  regularly  sent  to  them  to  assist 
in  paying  off  the  debt  on  the  farm,  in 
which  filial  duty  his  example  was  followed 
by  his  brothers.  In  1880  our  subject 
went  to  New  Franken,  Brown  county, 
where  he  served  an  apprenticeship  of  two 
and  one-half  years  at  the  trade  of  black- 
smith under  Antoine  Burkhardt,  and  then 
went  to  Kansas  City,  Kans. ,  six  miles 
from  which  city,  in  \fissouri,  he  worked 
seventeen  hours  a  day  for  two  months,  for 
a  gardener,  his  wages  being  fifteen  dollars 
per  month.  From  there  he  proceeded  to 
Beatrice,  Neb.,  for  the  purpose  of  look- 
ing up  a  certain  land  claim,  which,  how- 
ever, he  failed  to  locate,  and  thence 
moved  to  Quindaro,  Kans.,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade  three  months.  While 
•residing  in  Kansas  he  attended  night 
school,  thus  acquiring  about  all  the  edu- 
cation he  ever  received,  by  which  it  will 
be  seen  that  he  is  not  only  self-made,  but 
also  self-educated.  From  Kansas  he  went 
to  Joliet,  111.,  then  returned  to  Kansas, 
and  was  engaged  there  one  year  and  nine 
months  shoeing  wild  horses;  but  receiv- 
ing a  severe  injury  one  day  while  at  work, 
.he  had  to  abandon  the  job  and  leave  for 
his  home  in  Brown  county.  Recovering 
from  his  accident,  he  came  to  Luxem- 
burg township,  Kewaunee  county,  and 
here  worked  at  his  trade  eighteen  months 
at  $1.25  per  day. 

This  was  in  18S7,  on  October  26  of 
which  year  he  married  Miss  Catherine 
Arendt,  daughter  of  Michael  and  Mary 
Arendt  (deceased),  respectable  farming 
people  of  Luxemburg  township,  a  sketch 


of  whom  follows.  After  marriage  our 
subject  removed  to  Humboldt  township. 
Brown  county,  where  he  bought  forty 
acres  of  land,  half  of  which  was  cleared, 
and  here  for  five  j'ears  he  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  as  well  as  his  trade,  and 
also  kept  a  saloon,  in  each  interest  meet- 
ing with  unqualified  success.  Selling  out 
to  his  brother  Victor,  who  is  still  carry- 
ing on  the  business,  and  whom  he  taught 
the  trajJe  of  blacksmith,  our  subject  again 
came  to  Luxemburg  township,  and  buy- 
ing half  an  acre  of  land  at  Luxemburg 
erected  thereon  a  building,  60  x  60  feet, 
known  as  "The  Railroad  House,"  in 
part  of  it  engaging  in  the  saloon  business 
for  a  time,  the  remainder  of  the  building 
being  rented  for  a  general  store.  In 
1895  he  sold  this  property  and  business, 
and  he  is  now  building  a  fine  residence  at 
Luxemburg.  He  is  connected  with  the 
Petrie  &  Co.  Lumber  Co.,  as  agent.  To 
him  and  his  wife  were  born  four  chil- 
dren: Daniel,  Elisa  (deceased),  John  (de- 
ceased) and  Edmund.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Boucher  are  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  his  political  pref- 
erences he  is  a  Democrat. 

That  from  a  poor  uneducated  boy, 
who  when  he  was  but  fourteen  years  old, 
the  time  he  first  left  the  parental  home, 
could  not  write  even  a  short  letter  to  his 
father  or  mother,  he  has  risen  to  his  pres- 
ent comfortable,  well-to-do  position  by 
his  own  unaided  efforts,  is  proved  by  his 
brief  but  interesting  biography;  and  that 
he  well  deserves  all  he  has  succeeded  in 
acquiring  goes  without  saying. 

Mrs.  C.\therixk  (Arendt)  Boncher 
is  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  born  in  Luxem- 
burg township,  Kewaunee  county,  October 
26,  1866,  and  remained  at  the  residence 
of  her  parents  till  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
when  she  was  united  in  matrimony  with 
Hector  Boncher,  October  26.  1887. 

Her  parents,  Michael  Arendt  and 
Anna  Maria  (Deiski),  were  natives  of 
German}-,  and  both  came  to  this  country 
in  their  youth.  They  met,  the  first  time, 
as  new  acquaintances   in  Gran\illo,  Mil- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


591 


waukee  Co.,  Wis.,  and  after  being  mar- 
ried there  they  moved  to  Lu.xemburg 
township,  Kewaunee  county,  finding  them- 
selves in  a  considerably  wild-looking  coun- 
try, without  roads,  and  with  but  very  few 
settlers.  Then  taking  up  woodland  they 
commenced  clearing  up  the  same  for 
farming,  besides  which  they  kept  a  saloon 
and  postoffice  (W'alhain),  the  mail  being 
carried  by  hand.  About  si.v  years  after- 
ward they  removed  from  that  place  one 
and  a  half  miles  east,  and  again  set  to 
work  to  clear  up  new  land  for  farming 
and  agriculture,  on  which  they  remained 
the  rest  of  their  lives.  The  children  born 
to  this  pioneer  couple  were:  Peter,  who 
died  February  20,  1873;  John,  now  a 
dealer  in  general  merchandise  in  Luxem- 
burg township,  married  to  Margaret  Denk, 
who  was  born  in  Germany;  Joseph,  who 
died  November  19,  1888,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  years;  Mary  and  Margaret, 
both  deceased  in  infancy;  Michael,  a 
farmer,  and  owner  of  his  parents'  farm, 
and  chairman  of  Luxemburg  township, 
married  to  Annie  Gengler,  who  was  born 
in  Granville  township,  Milwaukee  Co. , 
Wis. ;  Catherine,  wife  of  Hector  Boncher; 
Daniel  (single),  farmer  of  Luxemburg 
township;  Lucy,  now  the  wife  of  J.  C. 
Parks,  a  prominent  law  officer  of  Chicago, 
111. ;  Peter  (single),  a  farmer,  living  with 
his  brother  on  the  old  home;  Nicholas, 
deceased  in  infancy;  and  Mary,  also  stay- 
ing with  her  brothers  in  the  old  home. 
The  family  lost  their  beloved  father  July 
17.  1878,  when  the  youngest  child  was 
three  months  old,  he  being  at  that  time 
fifty  years  old.  Mrs.  M.  Arendt,  the 
widowed  mother,  continued  farming  with 
her  children  for  eight  _vears  more,  and  then 
followed  her  deceased  husband  into  Eter- 
nity, dying  August  20,  1 886,  at  the  age 
of  forty-seven  years.  The  Arendt  family 
are  members  of  St.  Mary's  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  at  Luxemburg,  Kewaunee 
county,  in  the  cemetery  connected  with 
which  the  remains  of  their  dear  parents, 
brothers,  sisters  and  children  rest  in 
peace. 


DR.  JOHN  A.   ROBERTS,  of  Ke- 
waunee, was   born  in    Manitowoc 
county,  Wis.,  February  12,  i860, 
a  son  of  Adam  and  Ann  Roberts, 
both  nati\'es  of  England,  the  former  born 
at  Montfort  Bridge,  Shropshire,  England, 
the  latter  at  the  Isle  of  Ely. 

Dr.  Roberts,  after  receiving  a  sound 
preliminary  education  at  the  Monitowoc 
high  school,  attended  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, Chicago,  from  which  institution  he 
graduated  with  the  class  of  1890,  and  at 
once  began  practice  at  Kewaunee,  where 
he  had  previously  been  interested  in  the 
drug  business  with  his  brother,  C.  B. 
Roberts,  who  had  settled  here  in  1874. 
This  partnership  in  the  drug  business  had 
been  formed  in  1879,  and  in  1882  a  sec- 
ond store  was  established  at  Ahnapee, 
John  A.  taking  charge,  but  in  1887  this 
branch  was  sold.  In  December,  1891, 
C.  B.  Roberts  died,  and  Dr.  John  A. 
Roberts  then  bought  out  the  interest  of 
the  widow  in  the  Kewaunee  store,  since 
when  he  has  oonducted  it  on  his  own  ac- 
count, in  connection  with  his  professional 
practice,  which  has  continued  to  augment 
its  proportions  quite  rapidly  up  to  the 
present  time. 

Dr.  Roberts  was  united  in  marriage 
September  19,  1883,  with  Miss  Mary  L. 
White,  daughter  of  Bradford  R.  W'hite, 
the  result  of  this  union  being  one  inter- 
esting daughter — Florence  L.  Roberts. 
Socially,  the  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  K.  of  P.  and  Knights  of  the 
Maccabees.  In  his  political  affiliations, 
he  is  a  Democrat,  and  he  fills  the  posi- 
tion of  commissioner  of  public  health. 


PHILIP  HERRBOLD,  one  of  the 
industrious  and  thrifty  farmers  of 
Sevastopol  township.  Door  coun- 
ty, was  born  October  8,  1848,  in 
Ozaukee  county.  Wis.,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  Herrbold,  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  when  a  youth  of  fourteen  years  came 
with  his  father,  Philip  Herrbold,  to  Amer- 
ica, crossing   the   Atlantic  in  1839.     The 


592 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


family  located  about  ten  miles  from  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  which  was  then  one  of  the 
most  distant  frontier  settlements.  Jacob 
Herrbold  was  married  in  Ozaukee  county 
to  Susan  Conrad,  a  native  of  Germany, 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren— four  sons  and  two  daughters — one 
of  whom  is  still  living  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Ozaukee  county,  while  our  sub- 
ject and  his  two  sisters — Mrs.  Wm.  Bar- 
tel  and  Mrs.  David  Klumb — reside  in  Se- 
vastopol township.  The  father  of  this 
family  died  in  1888;  the  mother  is  still 
living. 

Philip  Herrbold,  whose  name  opens 
this  sketch,  received  a  fair  education,  and 
remained  at  home  until  he  had  attained 
his  majority,  for  his  father  was  in  com- 
fortable circumstances  and  could  help 
his  children.  On  December  29,  1877,  in 
Ozaukee  county.  Wis.,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Hermena  Geidel,  a  native 
of  Germany,  who  was  brought  to  America 
when  a  year  old  by  her  parents,  ^fr.  and 
Mrs.  Gottfried  H.  Geidel.  The  young 
couple  began  their  domestic  life  in  Ozau- 
kee county,  but  in  the  spring  of  1878 
they  came  to  Door  county,  reaching  their 
new  home  on  the  28th  of  June.  Their 
home  has  been  blessed  with  five  children 
— Clara,  Louisa,  Amanda,  Jacob  and 
Rudolph;  they  lost  their  first-born,  a 
daughter,  in  infancy.  Mr.  Herrbold's 
father  gave  him  i  20  acres  of  land  in  Sec- 
tion 36,  Sevastopol  township,  and  he 
at  once  began  the  development  of  a  farm, 
for  the  land  was  covered  with  a  heavy 
growth  of  timber,  and  no  improvement 
had  been  made  on  the  place.  Cutting 
the  wood,  he  would  dispose  of  it  at  neigh- 
boring markets,  and  thus  earned  enough 
to  support  his  family  while  his  farm  was 
being  prepared  for  cultivation.  In  ap- 
pearance, to-day,  it  bears  little  resem- 
blance to  the  tract  upon  which  he  located 
in  1878;  for  now  rich  and  fertile  fields 
yield  him  a  golden  tribute  in  return  for 
the  care  and  labor  he  bestows  upon  them, 
and  good  buildings  and  other  improve- 
ments stand  as   monuments  to  his  thrift 


and  enterprise,  at  the  same  time  adding 
to  the  value  and  attractive  appearance  of 
the  place.  All  is  new  and  well-kept, 
and  the  farm  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  lo- 
cality. 

Mr.  Herrbold  has  been  and  is  a  hard- 
working man,  and  has  led  a  busy  and 
useful  life.  Indolence  and  idleness,  are 
utterly  foreign  to  his  nature,  and  his  per- 
severance and  good  management  have 
made  him  one  of  the  substantial  citizens 
of  the  community.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat,  and  has  served  as  town  super- 
visor, but  has  never  cared  much  for  pub- 
lic office;  in  matters  of  religion,  he  is 
connected  with  the  Moravian  Church  of 
Sturgeon  Bay. 


JOHN  M.  BORGMAN,  the  enterpris- 
ing proprietor  of  the  planing-mill  in 
Kewaunee,  was  born  in  Green  Bay 
February  25,    1851,  the  eldest  in  a 
family  of  eleven  children,  of  whom  five 
sons  and  four  daughters  are  still  living. 

John  Borgman,  the  father,  who  was 
a  native  of  Prussia,  born  April  20,  1S23, 
when  sixteen  years  old  was  apprenticed 
to  the  trade  of  carpentry,  and  became  a 
master  carpenter.  For  three  years  after- 
ward, however,  he  was  obliged  to  serve 
the  regulation  time  in  the  Prussian  army, 
and  at  a  later  date,  in  1848,  was  abnut 
to  be  pressed  into  the  service  again,  when 
he  escaped  to  America  and  settled  in 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  resuming  his  trade  in 
1849  or  1850.  His  marriage  took  place 
in  the  latter  year  to  Miss  Catherine  \Vald, 
also  a  native  of  Prussia,  born  June  10, 
1832,  and  who  came  to  America  with  her 
parents  in  1840.  The  father  of  Miss 
Wald  also  located  in  Green  Bay,  and 
later  bought  a  large  tract  of  land  east  of 
the  city,  where  he  followed  farming  the 
remainder  of  his  days.  Mr.  Borgman 
engaged  in  contracting  and  building  in 
Green  Bay  until  1858,  when  he  moved  to 
Kewaunee,  still  following  his  trade  until 
1880,  when  he  bought  a  farm  one  mile 
south    of  the  then   village,  'on   which  he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


593 


Still  resides.  A  Democrat  in  politics,  he 
has  never  been  an  office-seeker,  yet  has 
consented  to  perform  the  duties  of  some 
of  the  village,  township  and  county 
offices. 

John  iM.  Borgman,  from  the  age  of 
seven  to  that  of  sixteen,  attended  the  dis- 
trict school  of  Kewaunee,  excepting  three 
months'  stud}'  at  a  business  college  in 
Milwaukee,  in  1875.  Under  his  father 
he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  in 
iSSi  erected  his  present  plant,  compris- 
ing planing  mill  and  fanning-mill  factory, 
with  an  extensive  lumber  yard  attached, 
which  he  enlarges  as  his  increasing 
trade  demands,  employing  at  the  present 
about  ten  men  constantly.  For  the  past 
five  years  he  has  done  a  considerable 
amount  of  government  work  in  harbor 
contracting,  and  he  has  a  valuable  interest 
in  the  Kewaunee  Brick  Co.,  of  which  he 
is  the  secretary  and  treasurer.  He  is  un- 
tiring in  his  energy  and  ever  on  the  alert 
for  opportunities  to  extend  the  field  of  his 
practical  usefulness.  In  politics  Mr.  Borg- 
man is  a  Democrat,  and  takes  the  interest 
in  both  local  and  national  affairs  that 
every  true  citizen  should  feel  as  a  duty 
and  not  for  emolument.  He  has  served 
his  fellow-citizens  in  two  or  three  public 
positions,  because  he  has  been  sought  for 
the  office,  not  that  he  sought  the  office. 
In  1878  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  the 
county,  and  for  nine  years  was  supervisor 
of  his  ward;  he  was  also  chairman  of  the 
county  board  four  years,  and  at  various 
times  has  been  a  delegate  to  State  and 
Congressional  conventions. 

Our  subject  was  first  married  August 
22,  1876,  to  Miss  Mary  Riedy,  daughter 
of  Patrick  Riedy,  who  was  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Kewaunee  county,  and  to 
this  union  were  born  two  children,  Wil- 
fred M.  and  Charles  Edwin,  both  of 
whom  died  in  infancy,  the  mother  de- 
parting to  the  beyond  February  17,  1879. 
Mr.  Borgman's  second  marriage  was  con- 
summated November  27,  1883,  with  Miss 
Mary  K.  Poser,  daughter  of  Frederick 
Poser,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  county. 


By  this  union  were  born  three  children, 
of  whom  one  only.  Vera  A.,  is  now  living, 
Estella  having  died  at  the  age  of  five 
years,  and  Clarence  W.  in  infancy.  Mr. 
Borgman  is  an  upright  and  useful  citizen, 
a  thoroughly  practical  business  man,  and 
is  deeply  interested  in  everything  pertain- 
ing to  the  welfare  and  progress  of  his 
adopted  city,  Kewaunee. 


ALBERT  SCHMELING.  Among 
the  many  thrift}',  industrious  farm- 
ers to  whom  Kewaunee  county 
owes  the  rapid  development  of 
her  agricultural  resources,  we  find  many 
Germans,  and  of  these  the  gentleman 
here  named  is  a  prosperous  agriculturist 
in  the  town  of  Ahnapee. 

He  was  born  June  23,  1851,  in  Prus- 
sia, Germany,  son  of  Charles  Schmel- 
ing,  also  a  native  of  Prussia,  born  in 
181 1.  The  latter  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools,  and  was  reared  on  a 
farm.  When  a  young  man  he  married 
Doretha  Westphal,  a  native  of  the  same 
country,  born  in  1S14,  and  to  their  union 
came  five  children  who  reached  maturity, 
viz.:  Caroline,  deceased;  Hannah,  Mrs. 
Charles  Noll,  of  Waterford,  Racine  Co., 
Wis. ;  Henry,  overseer  of  the  poor  of 
Kewaunee  county;  Alvenia,  Mrs.  Charles 
Dammas,  of  Ahnapee,  and  Albert.  In 
1857  Mr.  Schmeling  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  and  came  to  Ahnapee. 
Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis. ,  where  he  purchased 
a  part  of  the  farm  now  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  his  son  Albert,  engaging  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  the  township,  and  passed 
through  all  the  hardships  and  trying  ex- 
periences of  early  Wisconsin  pioneer 
times.  He  converted  what  was  a  wilder- 
ness at  the  time  of  his  arrival  into  a 
smiling  farm,  and  conducted  it  success- 
fully until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1 88 5,  his  wife  following  him  to  the  grave 
in  May,  1893.  They  were  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  he  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  the  first  Church 


594 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Mrs.    Schmeling  is  a 


society  in  Ahnapee  township.      Politically 
he  was  a  Republican. 

Albert  Schmeling  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Ahnapee,  and  reared  on 
a  pioneer  farm,  experiencing  thereby  in 
his  earlier  years  manj'  of  the  inconven- 
iences of  life.  He  has  lived  on  this  place 
altogether  since  coining  to  Wisconsin,  at 
the  age  of  six  years,  and  here  he  has  al- 
ways followed  agricultural  pursuits,  being 
now  one  of  the  successful  representative 
farmer  citizens  of  his  locality.  Since 
coming  into  possession  of  the  farm  he  has 
erected  commodious  buildings,  improved 
the  place  generally,  and  added  to  it  until 
he  now  owns  105  acres  of  good  land. 
Politically,  like  his  father  before  him,  he 
is  a  Republican,  and  in  religious  faith  is  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Mr.  Schmeling's  marriage  to  Hannah 
Grunvaldt  took  place  June  20,  1.S74,  and 
to  their  union  were  born  nine  children, 
three  of  whom  are  deceased;  the  living 
are  Charles,  Hugo,  Herman,  Minnie, 
Martha  and  Elsie 
native  of  Prussia,  born  in  1854 


JOHN  R.  Mcdonald,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  insurance  business  in 
Ahnapee,  claims  Connecticut  as  the 
State  of  his  nativity,  his  birth  hav- 
ing occurred  in  Litchtield  county,  Octo- 
ber 20,  1823.  He  is  descended  from  the 
old  McDonald  family,  of  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  whose  representatives  came  in 
an  early  day  to  New  England,  and  were 
well-known  people  of  Connecticut. 

His  father,  Lewis  McDonald,  was  a 
native  of  Litchfield  county.  Conn.,  there 
followed  shoe  making  for  some  years,  and 
then  removed  with  his  family  to  Erie 
county,  Penn.,  where  he  followed  farm- 
ing. Becoming  a  resident  oi  Cattaraugus 
county,  N.  Y. ,  he  there  engaged  in  hotel 
keeping  for  a  time;  then  removed  to 
P"orestville,  X.  Y. ,  and  later  emigrated  to 
Wilmot,  Kenosha  Co.,  ^^'is.,  where  he 
carried  on  shoe  making.  He  died  there 
at  the  age   of  seventy-nine  years,  and  in 


his  death  the  community  lost  a  highly 
esteemed  and  valued  citizen.  He  mar- 
ried Betsy  Rowley,  a  native  of  the  Nut- 
meg State,  and  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer 
Rowley,  whose  father,  Ebenczer  Row- 
ley, Sr. ,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  His  powder-horn,  on  which 
is  engraved  his  name,  a  church  and  a 
dragon,  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the 
family.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McDonald  were:  John  R.,  Charlotte 
(deceased),  Elizabeth,  Harriet,  Mary  and 
Homer.  The  mother  of  this  family  died 
in   Missouri. 

Our  subject,  who  was  onh'  two  years 
old  when  his  parents  left  Litchtield  coun- 
ty. Conn.,  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  near  Erie,  Penn.,  in  early  life  was 
employed  on  a  farm  and,  later,  read  law 
in  Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y.  After  being 
admitted  to  the  bar,  he  engaged  in  practice 
in  western  New  York,  as  a  partner  of  Judge 
Elisha  \\'ard,  until  failing  health  com- 
pelled him  to  abandon  that  work;  so,  sell- 
ing his  possessions,  he  went  by  water  to 
Detroit,  thence  drove  across  the  country 
with  a  horse  and  wagon  to  Wisconsin, 
narrowly  escaping  being  stuck  in  the  inud 
in  Chicago.  His  brother-in-law,  David 
McCummins,  and  his  father,  being  resi- 
dents of  Kenosha  county.  Wis. ,  thither 
Mr.  McDonald  went,  locating  in  Wilmot, 
where  he  practiced  law  for  a  short  time. 
For  several  years  during  the  fall  season 
he  would  organize  fishing  parties  whom 
he  would  escort  to  Green  Bay.  during 
which  time  his  family  li\ccl  in  Wihnot.  On 
June  I,  1859,  he  came  to  by  water  .-^hna- 
pee.  Wis. ,  where  he  was  engaged  in  hotel 
keeping  for  several  years;  in  [863  he  was 
appointed  internal  revenue  collector  for 
Kewaunee  and  Door  counties,  serving  in 
that  capacity  five  years.  In  the  fall  of 
1868  he  was  elected  from  those  counties 
to  the  State  Legislature,  and  while  in  the 
.Assembly  secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  for 
levying  a  tax  for  the  ]')urpose  of  creating 
a  fund  to  open  the  mouth  of  Wolf  river 
(now  known  as  .\hnapee  river)  for  navi- 
gation,   a    work    which    was    eventually 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOQRAPHWAL   RECORD. 


595 


accomplished  through  an  appropriation 
made  by  the  United  States  Government. 
His  efforts  led  to  the  estabHshment  of 
Ahnapee  harbor,  a  work  of  much  benefit 
to  the  locality.  He  has  been  justice 
of  the  peace  for  about  twelve  years,  is 
notary  public,  and  has  been  court  com- 
missioner for  many  years.  Although  an 
ardent  Republican,  he  was  elected  district 
attorney  in  a  Democratic  county,  and  the 
good  majority  which  he  received  attests  to 
his  personal  popularity  and  the  confidence 
and  trust  reposed  in  him  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen. 

Mrs.  McDonald  was  in  her  maiden- 
hood Helen  M.  Bennett,  daughter  of  Rev. 
James  Bennett,  a  Baptist  minister,  of 
Forestville,  N.  Y.  To  our  subject  and 
his  wife  were  born  five  children:  Charles 
(deceased),  James,  George,  Frank,  and 
Nellie,  \\'ife  of  Herbert  Thorp.  The  par- 
ents and  children  are  widely  and  favor- 
ably known  in  the  locality  in  which  they 
live,  the  home  is  the  abode  of  hospitality, 
and  the  members  of  the  family  hold  an 
enviable  position  in  social  circles.  Mr. 
McDonald  has  led  a  busy  and  useful  life, 
and  is  recognized  as  a  prominent  and 
influential  citizen  of  the  community 
whose  worth  and  ability  have  made  him 
a  leader  in  his  adopted  countj'. 


JOSEPH  BOHMAN,  one  of  the  most 
successful  farmers  of  Carlton  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  was  born  in 
Pilsen,  Bohemia,  February  15,  1854. 
His  father,  also  named  Joseph,  a 
native  of  Germany,  was  born  in  18 19, 
and  by  trade  was  a  baker.  He  married 
Mary  Fisher,  and  in  1S55  brought  his 
wife  and  three  children  to  the  United 
States,  Joseph  being  then  an  infant;  after 
their  arrival  here  four  more  children  were 
born.  The  family  first  located  in  Mani- 
towoc county.  Wis.,  where  the  father 
was  employed  in  making  shingles  for 
about  a  year,  then  came  to  Carlton  town- 
ship and  homesteaded  a  farm,  which  he 
at  once  proceeded  to  clear  up  for  cultiva- 


tion, but  after  a  short  time  he  sold  a  por- 
tion of  this  farm  to  pay  for  the  rest.  He 
then  bought  a  portion  of  another  one, 
which  he  tilled  until  1863,  when  he  went 
into  the  saloon  business  on  the  same  farm. 
This  he  followed  about  eighteen  years, 
then  sold  and  lived  in  retirement  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  December  6,  1892. 
His  wife  was  born  in  Germany  in  1824, 
and  died  in  Carlton  in  1877. 

Joseph  Bohman,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  sketch  and  the  third  of  the  seven 
children  alluded  to  above,  passed  his  boy- 
hood in  attending  the  schools  of  Carlton 
township,  and  his  earlier  manhood  in 
assisting  in  cultivating  the  home  farm. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-four  he  started 
farming  on  his  own  account,  and  he  has 
proven  himself  to  be  one  of  the  best  man- 
agers and  one  of  the  most  successful 
farmers  in  Carlton  township.  Mr.  Boh- 
man was  united  in  marriage,  J  une  1 8,  1877, 
with  Miss  Barbara  Viska,  who  was  born 
in  Bohemia  December  6,  1859,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Josephine  Viska,  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1864,  and 
settled  in  Carlton.  To  the  union  of 
Joseph  Bohman  and  Barbara  (Viska) 
Bohman  have  come  four  children,  their 
names  and  dates  of  birth  being  as  follows: 
Joseph,  November  10,  1879;  Emma, 
September  2,  1881;  Mary,  July  12,  1883, 
and  Polly,  December  29,  1889.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bohman  are  members  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church;  socially  he  is  affiliated  with 
the  Royal  Arcanum,  and  politically  he  is 
a  Republican.  He  has  held  several  town- 
ship offices,  the  duties  of  which  he  has 
performed  with  fidelity  and  to  the  full 
satisfaction  of  the  public.  He  and  his 
family  enjoy  the  respect  of  their  neigh- 
bors, and  he  is  looked  upon  as  being  one 
of  Carlton's  most  substantial  citizens. 


FRANCIS    BELANGER  has  been 
actively    identified  with    farming 
and    lumbering    in   Door   county, 
and    especially    in    Sturgeon  Bay 
township.      He  is    a    Canadian   by  birth,. 


596 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL   RECORD. 


having  first  seen  the  Hght  March  1 3,  1 845, 
in  Charrington,  (.)uebec.  and  is  a  son  of 
Francis  Belanger,  who  was  also  a  native 
of  Canada,  where  he  owned  a  farm. 
Francis,  Sr. ,  was  a  carriage  maker  by 
trade.  He  was  twice  married,  and  had 
a  family  of  eleven  children — eight  sons 
and  three  daughters — our  subject  being 
the  eldest  child  by  the  first  wife,  who 
died  in  Canada.  The  father  died  in 
Massachusetts. 

Our  subject  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  in  the  French  language, 
which  he  speaks  and  writes  fluently.  He 
remained  on  the  home  farm  up  to  the  age 
of  si.xteen  years,  \\'hen  he  went  to  Troy, 
N.  Y. ,  and  commenced  work  in  a  brick- 
\'ard,  at  $15  per  month  and  board,  con- 
tinuing to  work  there  for  three  summers, 
during  the  winter  time  living  at  home. 
Having  acquired  considerable  knowledge 
of  the  business,  he  went  to  North  Adams, 
Mass. ,  where  with  his  e.xperience  he  could 
command  higher  wages  for  the  same 
work,  being  employed  there  one  summer, 
and  in  December,  1866,  he  came  to  Stur- 
geon Bay,  Wis. ,  expecting  to  find  em- 
ployment, lumbering,  but  his  first  work 
was  at  Fish  Creek,  Door  county,  where 
the  vessel  "  Ludington  "  was  then  being 
built.  After  coming  here  he  engaged  in 
various  occupations,  principally  lumber- 
ing, remaining  in  the  employ  of  A.  W. 
Lawrence  for  eighteen  years,  in  the  lum- 
ber woods  during  the  winter  season,  and 
in  mills  during  the  summer  time,  for 
nine  winters  holding  the  position  of  fore- 
man, and  generally  acting  as  head  sawyer 
in  the  mills. 

On  April  29,  1872,  Mr.  Belanger  was 
married,  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  to  Jane  Be- 
langer (no  blood  relation),  a  native  of 
Ottawa,  Canada,  and  daughter  of  Francis 
Belanger,  and  in  1873  he  bought  a  lot  in 
Sturgeon  Bay,  on  which  he  erected  a 
residence,  where  they  resided  for  si.\ 
years,  when  he  sold  it.  Then,  in  1879, 
he  bought  from  A.  W.  Lawrence  the 
eighty-acre  farm  he  now  owns  and  occu- 
pies,   paying   $1,600   for  same.       Not  a 


stump  had  been  removed  from  the  place 
at  that  time,  and  Mr.  Belanger  lost  no 
time  in  commencing  the  work  of  clearing, 
now  having  fifty  acres  of  his  farm  in  till- 
able condition.  His  attention  is  now 
given  chiefly  to  farming,  though  he  is  still 
a  first-class  sawyer,  and  also  engages  in 
lumbering  occasionally.  By  assiduous 
industry  he  has  succeeded  in  converting 
his  land  into  a  productive  farm,  which  he 
is  continually  improving,  having  erected  a 
comfortable  house,  a  barn  and  other  out- 
buildings, and  in  various  ways  added  to 
its  beauty  and  value.  Mr.  Belanger's  in- 
dustrj'  has  met  with  well-merited  success, 
but  he  has  also  had  his  misfortunes  in 
business,  meeting  his  greatest  setback  in 
1 87 1.  While  in  the  lumber  business  in 
Gardner  township.  Door  county,  in  part- 
nership with  another  man,  they  were  vis- 
ited by  fire,  Mr.  Belanger  barely  escaping 
with  his  own  life,  and,  besides  losing  the 
work  of  a  whole  summer,  lost  three  thous- 
and dollars  in  lumber  and  a  valuable  mare 
worth  $250 — one  of  the  team  which  drew 
their  supply  wagon.  Our  subject  was  at 
work  again  within  a  month,  however,  and 
though  the  loss  was  especially  severe  at 
the  time  his  never-failing  perseverance  and 
energy  placed  him  once  more  on  a  sound 
footing. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Belanger  have  been 
born  children  as  follows:  Josephine, 
Willie,  Emily,  Eva,  Leo,  Jurdich,  and 
Leonard,  living,  and  one  son  that  died  in 
infanc}'.  The  family  are  Catholics  in  re- 
ligious connection.  Mr.  Belanger  was  a 
Democrat  in  political  sentiment  until 
1893,  \\hen  he  enlisted  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Republican  part\',  of  which  he  is  now  a 
stanch  supporter. 


JAMES  KEOGH,  cashier  of  the  Bank 
of    Sturgeon  Bay,  and    one    of    the 
most    highly  respected  citizens  and 
leading  business  men  of  Door  county, 
is  a  native  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  born  April 
26,  1850. 

In  1852  his  parents,   James  and  Mary 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


599 


(Moore)  Keogh,  emigrated  with  their  in- 
fant son  to  Canada,  locating  near  Dunn- 
ville,  Ontario,  whence  after  a  residence  of 
three  years  they  moved  to  the  United 
States,  setthng,  in  1855,  in  Forestville, 
Door  Co.,  Wis.,  where  they  were  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  up  to  their 
death,  the  father  dying  December  5,  1890, 
the  mother  in  September,  i860.  They 
had  four  children — John,  Edward,  Luke 
and  James — all  living  at  Forestville  ex- 
cept  James. 

At  the  common  schools  of  Forestville 
our  subject  received  his  elementary  educa- 
tion, which  was  supplemented  with  a 
course  of  study  at  the  State  Normal 
School  at  Oshkosh,  prior  to  which,  how- 
ever, he  had  taught  school  some  three 
years.  After  leaving  the  Normal  he  again 
taught  school  three  years,  during  his  en- 
tire six-years'  career  as  teacher  in  various 
parts  of  Door  county — Nasewaupee,  Clay 
Banks,  and  Forestville — proving  an  able, 
efficient  and  successful  educator,  and  he 
is  yet  held  in  the  most  respectful  remem- 
brance by  many  of  his  old  pupils.  In 
1874  he  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  having 
been  elected  to  the  office  of  register  of 
deeds  on  the  independent  ticket;  in  the 
following  year  his  re-nomination  to  the 
same  office  came  from  the  Republicans, 
was  endorsed  by  the  Democrats,  and  his 
election  was  accomplished  by  the  people. 
For  fourteen  continuous  years,  or  until 
1888,  Mr.  Keogh  served  faithfully  and 
diligently  in  this  incumbency,  only  leav- 
ing it  to  accept  a  position  as  cashier  in 
the  Bank  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  that  his 
services  were  fully  appreciated  by  his 
constituents  was  manifested  by  his  re- 
peated re-elections.  In  fact,  his  admin- 
istrative ability  was  so  justly  recognized 
by  his  fellow  citizens  that  they  promptly 
called  him  to  other  positions  of  public 
honor  and  responsibility,  to  wit:  In  1878 
he  was  elected  county  superintendent  of 
schools,  and  filled  the  office  two  years; 
served  as  alderman  several  terms,  school 
commissioner,  and  president  of  the  board 

of  education    at  different  times,    also   as 
34 


justice  of  the  peace,  and  during  the  years 
1892-93  was  mayor  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  his 
nominations  coming  invariably  from  the 
Republican  party,  of  which,  since  qual- 
ified to  vote,  he  has  been  an  active,  con- 
scientious member.  From  1891  till  the 
spring  of  1893  he  was  secretary  of  the 
Sturgeon  Bay  Dock  Company,  and  since 
January,  1889,  he  has,  with  character- 
istic ability  and  fidelity,  been  identi- 
fied with  the  Bank  of  Sturgeon  Bay  as 
cashier.  He  is  also  president  of  the 
Brown  Manufacturing  Co.,  of  Sturgeon 
Bay,  and  is  a  director  of  the  Ahnapee  & 
Western  railroad,  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  organizers  and  proprietors  of  the 
Sturgeon  Bay  branch.  On  March  3, 
1883,  Mr.  Keogh  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
as  an  attorney  at  law,  and  in  April, 
1895,  he  was  elected  city  attorney  of  the 
city  of  Sturgeon  Bay. 

On  December  29,  1S73,  Mr.  Keogh 
was  married  in  Ahnapee  to  Miss  Rose  C. 
Simon,  daughter  of  Peter  Simon,  an  hon- 
ored pioneer  of  Door  county,  and  the  fol- 
lowing named  seven  children  have  been 
born  to  them:  Ida,  Ella,  Nora,  Isabella, 
Lillie,  Walter  and  Eulalia.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Keogh  are  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church;  he  is  president  of 
Branch  No.  59,  of  the  Catholic  Knights 
of  Wisconsin,  and  State  delegate  of  the 
Catholic  Order  of  Foresters;  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Wisconsin  State  As- 
sembly, serving  in  the  session  of  1893, 
and  served  on  the  committees  of  Insur- 
ance, Banks  and  Banking,  besides  others. 
He  has  always  been  a  prominent  and  influ- 
ential leader  in  city  affairs,  and  is  a 
powerful  supporter  of  any  cause  to  which 
he  may  give  his  sanction. 


PETER     A.     PETERSON.       The 
township    of    Nasewaupee,    Door 
county,    is    settled    largely  by  for- 
eigners, who  by  their  thrift  and  in-, 
dustry  have    made   that    section    of  the 
country  to  consist  of  a  succession  of  well- 
cultivated  farms. 


6oo 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Conspicuous  among  this  industrious 
class  is  Peter  A.  Peterson,  who  was  born 
in  Norway  in  1S53,  son  of  Kittie  and 
Ingebor  Kristene  Thorscn  Peterson,  who 
came  to  the  United  States,  and  in  1856 
to  Wisconsin,  where  they  subsequently 
settled  in  Sturgeon  Hay,  the  father  work- 
ing in  a  sawmill.  He  was  a  sailor  while 
living  in  Norway,  and  naturally  sought  a 
home  near  the  water.  Soon  after  com- 
ing to  Sturgeon  Hay  he  bought  a  bit  of 
woodland  which  in  time  he  converted  into 
a  home  where  he  remained  until  July  2, 
1866,  when  he  was  killed  by  a  tree,  while 
peeling  bark.  His  wife  died  Julv  22, 
18S5.  Their  family  consisted  of  three 
children;  Peter  A.,  our  subject;  Nicko- 
lena,  who  died  when  four  years  old;  and 
Andrew,  who  now  makes  his  home  in 
Sawyer,  Uoor  county,  Wisconsin. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  three 
years  old  when  he  accompanied  his  par- 
ents to  Nasewaupee  township,  and  was 
reared  on  the  farm  he  now  owns.  The 
common  schools  were  not  too  plentiful  in 
that  locality  at  that  time,  but  he  had  the 
advantages  of  the  best  there  was,  and  be- 
tween times  helped  his  father  with  the 
lighter  work  on  the  farm.  As  he  grew 
older  he  came  t(j  like  the  free  indej)endent 
life  of  a  farmer,  and  decided  to  follow- 
that  vocation  through  life;  he  now  owns 
eighty  acres  of  land,  fifty  of  which  are 
under  cultivation.  He  is  a  good  farmer 
and  careful  manager,  and  his  produce  is 
of  the  best  that  is  raised  in  the  township. 

Mr.  Peterson  votes  the  Republican 
ticket,  and  takes  much  interest  in  local 
politics.  He  was  married  in  Sturgeon 
Bay  township  .\pril  15,  1885,  to  Miss 
Louisa  Anderson,  daughter  of  August 
Anderson,  a  prominent  farmer  of  Nase- 
waupee, who  came  here  in  1879.  The 
family  were  natives  of  Sweden.  Mrs. 
Peterson  is  the  mother  of  five  children: 
Ethel  May,  Clarence,  Emcline.  Jo.sephine 
and  Elsie.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peterson  being 
the  children  of  early  pioneers,  their  youth 
was  spent  in  the  utmost  simplicit)'.  Their 
modes    of    recreation    were  few  and   of  a 


primitive  kiiid.but  contained  for  them  more 
real  enjoyment,  no  doubt,  than  the  chil- 
dren of  the  present  generation  would  get 
from  the  most  elaborate  entertainment. 
Mr.  PetersoTi  takes  a  paternal  pride  in  his 
family  of  little  ones,  and  intends  to  give 
them  better  educational  advantages  than 
was  possible  f<jr  him  to  have   had. 

GEORGE  L^'CKE  may  appropri- 
ately be  termed  "  a  man  with  a 
grandfather."  His  ancestor,  two 
generations  back,  was  Captain 
Louis  L.  Lycke.  a  native  of  P'rance,  who 
fought  under  Napoleon  and  fell  in  the 
famous  battle  of  Waterloo  (in  181 1;).  His 
son,  our  subject's  father,  Louis  L. ,  Jr., 
was  born  in  France  in  1801,  received  an 
excellent  education,  and  was  possessed  of 
much  natural  relinement.  When  a  yf)img 
man  he  started  out  to  seek  his  fortune, 
and  his  inclination  leading  him  to  Den- 
mark, he  there  purchased  a  farm,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  the  hand  in  marriage 
of  Miss  Dora  lUirring.  Si.\  children  were 
born  to  them,  of  whom  Fred,  the  young- 
est, is  dead;  the  others  are:  Anton, 
George,  Laura  (of  Demnark),  Ferdinand 
(of  Cirand  Forks  county,  N.  Dak.),  and 
Herman  (a  cigar  manufacturer,  of  Cincin- 
nati. Ohio). 

Our  subject  was  born  March  4.  1841, 
in  Denmark,  where  he  received  a  practi- 
cal education,  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years  was  apprenticed  to  the  mason's 
trade,  which  business  he  followed  in  his 
native  place  until  1871,  when  he  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  locating  in 
Chicago,  where  he  was  engaged  in  mason 
work  seven  years.  In  1878  he  removed 
to  Washington  Island,  Wis.,  where  he 
bought  160  acres  of  heavily-timbered 
land,  which  he  cleared  and  prepared  for 
cultivation;  he  has  also  erected  a  brick 
house  and  other  buildings  proportionately 
good. 

Mr.  Lycke  is  affiliated  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  who  have  elected  him 
chairman  for  si.\  consecutive  years,  which 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


60 1 


office  he  still  holds.  He  is  an  honored 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
contributes  liberally  of  his  means  toward 
its  support.  Previous  to  his  coming  to 
America  he  was  married  to  Miss  Katha- 
rine Olson,  a  native  of  Denmark,  born 
May  27,  1842,  and  they  have  seven  chil- 
dren: Abel,  Lewis,  Dora,  Frank,  Annie, 
Walter  and  Laura;  the  first  three  men- 
tioned reside  in  Clark  county,  Wisconsin. 


NIELS  FRUS,  a  native  of  Den- 
mark, born  May  27,  1850,  is  a  son 
of  Mathias  Frus,  who  was  an  ex- 
tensive horse  and  cattle  dealer  in 
Denmark,  and  a  man  of  good  education 
and  of  considerable  influence.  He  was 
married  to  Margaret  Nielsen,  by  whom 
he  had  four  children:  Mads  (deceased), 
Niels,  subject  of  sketch;  Hans,  of  Den- 
mark; and  Anton,  now  a  resident  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

Niels  Frus  attended  the  public  schools 
of  Denmark,  and  being  an  apt  pupil  se- 
cured a  fairly  good  education  during  the 
brief  years  that  he  was  able  to  attend. 
His  father  owned  a  large  farm,  and  he  was 
away  much  of  the  time  buying  and  sell- 
ing stock,  so  young  Niels,  on  whom  a 
great  deal  of  responsibility  fell  in  his 
early  life,  was  left  to  look  after  the  affairs 
at  home.  At  seventeen  \'ears  of  age  he 
left  the  parental  roof,  and  from  that  time 
on  earned  his  own  living  unassisted.  In 
1870  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
landing  in  New  York  with  just  two  dollars 
in  his  pocket,  and  fortunately  found  em- 
ployment at  once,  so  he  remained  there 
six  months  working  in  a  brick  \ard;  then 
removed  to  Washington  Island,  Door  Co., 
Wisconsin,  where  he  worked  for  others 
for  some  time,  subse(|uentK'  buying  eighty 
acres  of  land.  His  purchase  was  covered 
with  timber  still  untouched  by  the  hand 
of  the  woodman,  but  Mr.  Frus  cleared 
the  ground  himself,  and  in  due  time  be- 
gan raising  crops.  The  soil  proved  to  be 
unusually    fertile,    and    his   harvests   now 


amply  repay  him  for  his  long  season  of 
irksome  toil. 

In  politics  Mr.  Frus  votes  with  the 
Democratic  party,  and  has  filled  the  office 
of  supervisor  with  satisfaction  to  the  com- 
munity at  large,  is  well  posted  on  the  af- 
fairs of  his  adopted  country,  and  talks  in- 
telligently on  the  leading  topics  of  the 
day.  He  possesses  a  strong  religious 
vein  which  has  induced  him  to  unite  with 
the  Lutheran  Church. 

On  January  13,  1876,  our  subject  was 
married  to  Miss  Christina  Berg,  a  native 
of  Norway,  born  October  22,  1844,  and 
three  children  were  born  to  them:  Mollie, 
Nora  and  Emma.  Mr.  Frus  takes  an 
active  interest  in  all  educational  matters, 
and  is  giving  his  daughters  a  practical  ed- 
ucation. 


ARNI  GUDMUNDSEN  is  an  Ice- 
lander by  birth,  and  comes  of  a 
famil\-  of  scholars  and  profession- 
al men.  His  father,  Thordur, 
was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Cop- 
enhagen, in  the  law  department,  and  was 
appointed  judge  of  a  District  Court,  which 
office  he  held  for  many  years,  being  once 
appointed  to  till  a  vacancy  as  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  He  also  served  as  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  and  attracted 
much  attention  by  his  clear  knowledge  of 
the  law  and  keen  judgment  in  legislation. 
He  was  married  to  Johanna  Knudsen,  an 
estimable  lady  of  Danish  descent  on  her 
father's  side,  and  of  Iceland  extraction  on 
her  mother's.  They  were  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  of  whom  five  sons  and 
two  daughters  are  still  living. 

Our  subject  was  born  February  2, 
1845,  in  Reykjavik,  the  capital  city  of 
Iceland,  is  the  eldest  son,  and  had  private 
tutors  under  whom  he  received  an 
education  in  the  Icelandic  as  well  as 
in  the  Danish  language.  When  seven- 
teen years  of  age  he  secured  a  position  as 
clerk  in  a  general  store  where  he  remained 
until  1 871;  then  was  secretary  to  a  dis- 
trict judge  for  less  than  one  year.     In  the 


6o2 


COMMEMOnATIVE   BIOORAPniCAL    RECORD. 


latter  part  of  the  year  following  he  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  coming  west 
to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  whence  after  a  short 
time  he  removed  to  Washington  Island, 
Door  Co. ,  Wis. ,  where  he  worked  at  com- 
mon labor  five  years.  In  1878  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Haldora  Petersen,  by 
whom  he  had  nine  children,  as  follows: 
Gudnj'  Anna,  Johanna  Andrea  (deceas- 
ed), Margaret  S.,  Laura  M.,  Thordur, 
Magnus,  Paul,  John  A.  and  Halldor. 
After  his  marriage  he  bought  160  acres  of 
timbered  land  in  Door  county,  of  which 
he  subsequently  sold  eighty  acres,  and 
improved  the  rest,  erecting  good  buildings 
and  making  the  place  most  attractive  and 
habitable.  He  has  discovered  that  his 
land  contains  a  rich  deposit  of  tine-grade 
marble,  which  will  be  most  valuable  when 
developed. 

Mr.  Gudmundsen  votes  the  Republi- 
can ticket,  and  has  been  treasurer  of 
Washington  township  for  fifteen  years, 
justice  of  the  peace  fourteen  years,  and 
in  I S90  was  appointed  to  take  the  census. 
His  wife  died  November  8,  1893,  aged 
thirty-nine  years,  and  is  buried  in  Wash- 
ington Harbor  cemetery.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gudmundsen  were  both  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 


ARCHIE  WILTSE,  who  devotes 
his  time  and  energies  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  to  merchandising 
and  to  the  manufacture  of  cheese 
in  Liberty  Grove  township,  Door  county, 
was  born  March  28,  1835,  '"  Cattaraugus 
county,  N.  Y.,  and  is  the  second  in  the 
family  of  six  children  of  Hiram  and  Al- 
vira  (Day)  Wiltse.  The  father  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation  all  his  life.  The 
children  of  the  family  were  Lorenzo, 
Archie,  Celestine,  Clarissa,  Judson,  and 
one  who  died  in  infancy. 

The  parents  being  in  limited  circum- 
stances, the  children  early  started  out  in 
life  to  provide  for  their  own  maintenance, 
except  Archie,  who  aided  his  father,  giv- 
ing him  the  benefit   of  his  services  until 


twenty-two  years  of  age.  The  mother 
died  when  our  subject  was  only  about 
thirteen  years  old,  and  for  his  second 
wife  the  father  wedded  Mary  Ann  Peck. 
She  being  also  called  to  the  home  beyond, 
Mr.  Wiltse  afterward  married  Rachel 
Smith,  and  after  her  divorce  was  joined 
in  wedlock  with  a  German  lady.  When 
Archie  Wiltse  left  home  he  went  to  work 
in  a  brick  yard  where  he  remained  some 
eight  seasons,  receiving  at  first  only  fifteen 
dollars  per  month  in  compensation  for  his 
services,  but  afterward  his  wages  were 
increased  to  sixty  dollars  per  month.  His 
early  life  was  thus  one  of  hardship,  in 
which  he  labored  long  and  late  in  order  to 
acquire  enough  money  to  meet  his  living 
expenses.  Industry,  enterprise  and  per- 
severance, however,  have  proved  to  him 
the  rounds  of  the  ladder  on  which  he  has 
climbed  to  success,  and  overcoming  the 
difficulties  and  obstacles  in  his  path  he 
has  steadily  worked  his  way  upward. 

In  1858  Mr.  Wiltse  chose  as  a  com- 
panion and  helpmeet  on  life's  journey 
Miss  Martha  O.  Partridge,  daughter  of 
William  and  Betsy  (Powers)  Partridge, 
their  wedding  being  celebrated  in  Pal- 
myra, Wis.,  whither  Mr.  Wiltse  had  re- 
moved with  his  parents  in  1846.  He 
there  remained  until  1871,  when  he  came 
to  Liberty  Grove  township,  Door  county, 
where  he  had  purchased  160  acres  of 
land  at  five  dollars  per  acre,  a  tract  lying 
south  of  his  present  farm.  Here,  in  con- 
nection with  his  brother  Judson,  he  built 
a  log  cabin,  20  x  30  feet,  in  which  he 
lived  for  about  three  years.  Archie 
Wiltse  then  purchased  i  50  acres  of  land, 
on  which  stood  a  building  that  is  now 
used  as  a  store  room,  but  otherwise  the 
place  was  little  improved.  Wild  game  of 
various  kinds  could  be  secured  in  the  for- 
ests, through  which  no  roads  were  cut, 
and  the  place  was  all  in  a  primitive  con- 
dition and  unimproved.  In  1872,  he  be- 
gan clearing  the  land,  and,  almost  entirely 
unaided,  placed  ninety  acres  under  cul- 
tivation. To  his  original  purchase  he  has 
added  until  within  the  boundaries  of  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


603 


farm  is  now  comprised  350  acres  of  good 
land.  In  1872  he  also  built  a  pier,  which 
he  has  since  used,  and  in  1881  he  em- 
barked in  general  merchandising,  which 
he  has  since  carried  on  continuously  in 
connection  with  the  pursuits  of  agricul- 
ture and  the  manufacture  of  cheese. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wiltse  were  born 
six  children,  only  one  of  whom  is  now 
living:  Charles  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years;  Jessie  M.  (i),  when  eleven  years 
old;  Jessie  M.  (2),  at  the  age  of  two  and 
a  half  years;  Edward,  at  the  age  of  two 
months;  Edward  is  the  only  surviv- 
ing member  of  the  family;  Jessie  M.  (3); 
died  when  aged  about  sixteen  months. 
Since  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Mr.  Wiltse  has  affili- 
ated with  the  Republican  party,  and 
warmly  advocates  its  measures.  He  has 
held  the  offices  of  assessor  and  town 
clerk  for  one  year  each,  and  was  chair- 
man of  the  town  twelve  years,  town 
board  of  supervisors  about  twelve  years, 
filling  the  office  so  acceptably  that  he  was 
constantly  re-elected.  He  is  true  to 
every  trust  reposed  in  him,  whether  pub- 
lic or  private,  and  has  the  confidence  and 
high  regard  of  a  large  circle  of  friends  and 
acquaintances  whom  we  feel  assured  will 
receive  with  interest  this  record  of  his 
life. 


DAVID  SHAMPO  is  one  of  Wis- 
consin's native  sons,  born  in  ttie 
city  of  Green  Bay,  in  November, 
1842.  His  father,  Oliver  Shampo, 
was  a  native  of  Montreal,  Canada,  and  a 
shoemaker  by  trade,  but  during  much  of 
his  life  he  followed  farming.  When  a  young 
man  he  wedded  Mary  Mansou,  and  to 
them  were  born  ten  children,  of  whom 
David  is  the  oldest.  He  could  attend 
school  but  little,  and  that  in  the  winter 
season,  for  his  services  were  needed  upon 
the  home  farm,  and  to  his  father  he  gave 
the  benefit  of  his  labors  during  his  minor- 
ity. He  has  witnessed  a  great  change  in 
the  common  schools  since  his  own  youth, 


and  in  this  fact  rejoices,  for  he  is  a  warm 
friend  of  education. 

In  February,  i860,  in  Bay  Settlement, 
Wis.,    Mr.    Shampo   married  Miss    Mary 
Leason,  a  native  of  Green  Bay,  and  then 
located  in  Scott  township,    Brown    Co., 
Wis. ,  where  he  made  his  home  for  about 
twenty-six   years,    coming   then   to   Door 
county.    In  September,   1864,  he  enlisted 
in    Company    D,    Sixteenth  Wis.    V.    I., 
which  was   sent    from   Madison  to  Rock 
Station,  Ga.,  and  there  joined  Sherman's 
army  which   marched   to  Savannah.      In 
that  city  Mr.  Shampo  was  taken  sick  with 
typhoid    fever,    and  lay  ill   from    Decem- 
ber until  the  following  April,  when  he  re- 
joined his  command  at  Raleigh,   the  day 
before  the  surrender  of   Johnston.      After 
the  South  had  laid  down  its  arms  he  went 
with    his    regiment   to   Washington,    and 
there   participated   in   the  grand  review, 
the  most   brilliant   military   pageant  ever 
seen  on  the  Western    Hemisphere,  after 
which    he    was    honorably   discharged  in 
Madison,    Wis.,  in  June,   1865.      He  was 
fortunate  in  that  he  was    never  wounded, 
but  the  sickness  and  exposure  he  endured 
was  fully  as   bad,    and  he  returned  to  his 
home  in  Bay  Settlement  much  broken  in 
health.      In    March,     1876,    Mr.    Shampo 
sold   his  farm   in   Scott  township.  Brown 
county,  and  came  to  Door  county,  where 
he  purchased  forty  acres  of  land  on  Sec- 
tion  10,   Jacksonport  township,   at  once 
beginning  to  clear  it  of  the  heavy  growth 
of  timber  with  which  it  was  covered.    The 
trees  quickly  fell  before  his  sturdy  strokes, 
and  when  the  land  was  cleared  furrows 
were  turned  and  crops   planted   until  the 
once  wild  tract    was   made  to  yield  rich 
harvests  to  the  owners.      The  boundaries 
of  his  farm  have   been   extended   until  it 
now  comprises  120  acres,  forty  of  which 
are  under  cultivation,  and  the  substantial 
and   modern   improvements  thereon  give 
evidence  of  the  careful  supervision  of  the 
owner. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shampo  have  been 
born  ten  children:  David,  Frank  and 
Joseph,  who  reside  in  Jacksonport  town- 


6o4 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ship;  George,  at  liome;  Marj',  wife  of 
Josepli  Miner,  a  resident  of  Egg  Harbor, 
Wis. ;  Jane,  wife  of  Alex  La  Bombard, 
of  Rapid  River,  Mich.  ;  Matilda,  wife 
of  Isaac  Brennett,  who  is  located  in  De- 
Pere,  Wis.;  Emi]\-.  at  home;  Louis,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  fonrteen  years;  and 
Virginia,  who  died  in  Brown  county. 
Wis.,  when  three  months  old.  Mr. 
Shanipo  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  is  affiliated  with  Schuyler 
Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Sturgeon  Bay.  Wis. 
He  is  one  of  the  supporters  of  the  Re- 
publican party  in  his  township,  and 
warmly  advocates  its  principles.  His 
fellow  townsmen  have  demonstrated  their 
confidence  in  his  ability  by  frequently 
calling  upon  him  to  serve  in  positions  of 
public  trust,  and  his  first  election  to  office 
was  as  supervisor  of  his  town.ship,  in 
which  capacity  he  served  three  years.  He 
was  then  made  chairman  of  the  town 
board,  and  creditably  served  in  that  posi- 
tion five  years;  has  also  been  assessor 
three  years,  and  was  school  treasurer  five 
years.  His  defective  hearing,  resulting 
from  sickness  and  exposure  in  the  army, 
has  caused  him  to  retire,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, from  politics,  although  his  friends 
greatl)'  desire  to  retain  him  in  office,  and 
he  is  now  serving  as  assessor.  Mr. 
Shampo  is  widely  known  in  Door  county 
as  a  good  neighbor  and  representative 
citizen,  and  in  a  high  degree  enjoys  the 
respect  of  a  large  circle  of  warm  friends. 


HANS  TORSTENSON  is  one  of  the 
largest  landowners  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  Door  county,  of 
which  he  has  been  a  well-known 
resident  for  many  years.  He  is  a  native 
of  Norway,  born  December  i.S,  1846,  son 
of  Torsten  and  Anna  (Erickson)  Hanson, 
farming  people,  who  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children,  viz. :  Bertha,  Theodore, 
Randa,  Hans,  Cora,  Ole.  Edward  and 
Julius. 

Our  subject    enjoyed   in    his   boyhood 
but     limited    educational    opportunities, 


never  having  attended  school,  but  re- 
ceived all  his  instruction  at  home.  For 
eight  years  he  was  employed  by  one  Ole 
Oleson,  a  storekeeper,  the  compensation 
for  his  services  being  $10  per  jear  in 
money,  a  suit  of  clothes  and  a  pair  of 
boots.  Believing  that  he  could  do  better 
in  the  New  World  he  decided  to  emigrate, 
and  in  1869  sailed  from  Christiania  on  a 
vessel  bound  for  Quebec,  whence,  after 
landing,  he  came  directly  to  Chicago,  111., 
soon  obtaining  employment  at  $10  per 
month,  which  he  then  considered  very 
good  wages.  He  worked  six  months  as 
a  farm  hand,  and  then  engaged  as  team- 
ster at  $35  per  month,  continuing  thus 
for  about  three  years.  In  1872  became 
to  Ephraim,  Door  Co.,  Wis.,  where  for 
two  years  following  he  was  employed  by 
A.  Anderson,  at  teaming,  and  then  pur- 
chased forty  acres  of  land  at  Liberty 
Grove,  cleared  and  in  tillable  condition, 
paying  one  thousand  dollars  therefor. 
In  1873  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Minnie  Nelson,  daughter  of  Carl  and 
Anna  C.  Nelson,  and  the  young  couple 
took  up  their  residence  on  the  farm,  re- 
maining there  eight  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  Mr.  Torstenson  sold  the  place 
for  five  hundred  dollars,  and  coming  to 
Hedge  Hog,  purchased  160  acres  of  tim- 
berland.  Building  a  dock  here,  he  com- 
menced the  wood  business,  in  which  he 
has  since  been  prosperously  engaged.  By 
various  purchases  he  acquired  ownership 
of  over  640  acres  of  land  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, of  which  280  acres  are  still  in  its 
primiti\e  condition,  and  has  not  yet  been 
touched  b)-  the  axe.  Mr.  Torstenson  is 
one  of  the  best  known  men  in  his  section, 
and  for  fourteen  consecutive  years  was 
the  faithful  and  efficient  postmaster  at 
Hedge  Hog,  having  been  but  recently  re- 
moved from  the  office,  for  political  reasons 
only,  he  being  a  stanch  member  of  the 
Republican  party. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Torstenson  were 
born  eight  children,  namely:  Olive  (de- 
ceased), Cornelius,  Ella,  Clarence  (de- 
ceased). Alma,  Seldon,  Clara,  and  Adolph. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


605 


In  religious  connection  our  subject  and  his 
wife  are  both  members  of  the  Brethren 
Church  at  Ephraim. 

JARED  A.   JONES,    of  Jacksonport, 
is  one  of  the  self-made  men  of  Door 
county,    one    who    has    worked  his 
way  upward  from  a  humble  position 
to  a  condition   of  comparative   affluence, 
overcoming  the  difficulties  in  his  path   by 
perseverance  and  good  management. 

He  was  born  in  Westbrook,  Middlesex 
Co. ,  Conn. ,  April  8,  1 846,  a  son  of  Erastus 
Jones,  a  vessel  caulker  by  occupation,  and 
Elizabeth  (Spencer)  Jones,  who  died 
leaving  a  family  of  five  children,  Jared  A. 
being  the  only  son,  and  at  that  time  but 
eght  years  old.  His  parents  being  in 
somewhat  limited  circumstances,  his 
school  privileges  were  in  consequence 
meager.  Upon  his  mother's  death  he 
went  to  live  on  the  farm  of  his  grand- 
father, Capt.  William  Spencer,  and  in 
1 868  came  west  in  company  with  his 
father  and  brother-in-law,  E.  A.  Hill,  to 
Egg  Harbor,  Wis.,  where  the  daughter, 
Jerusha,  now  the  wife  of  P.  W.  Kirtland, 
was  living.  The  following  spring  the  father 
returned  east,  and  died  in  Westbrook, 
Conn.,  in  the  spring  of  1871,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-seven  3ears.  Jared  A.  had  followed 
fishing  along  the  coast  of  New  England, 
and  when  he  came  to  Wisconsin  he  began 
business  in  his  own  interest,  by  engaging 
in  fishing  near  Jacksonport,  Wis.,  and 
later  at  "The  Door."  In  the  spring  of 
1870  he  purchased  120  acres  of  new  land 
■on  Section  20,  Jacksonport  township,  and 
made  improvements  upon  it,  first  by  lum- 
He  now  owns  160  acres  of  good 


bering. 

land,  about  forty  acres  of  which  are 
cleared.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  has 
followed  fishing,  and  for  three  years  he 
sailed  the  lakes.  Physically  he  is  a  pow- 
erful man,  and  his  life  has  been  one  of 
hard  labor,  but  he  is  now  in  comfortable 
circumstances. 

In    1880,    in  Jacksonport,    Wis.,    Mr. 
Jones  was  married  to  Miss  Elida  Phillips, 


a  native  of  the  Empire  State.  They 
have  a  pleasant  home,  and  it  is  the  abode 
of  hospitality.  In  his  political  views  Mr. 
Jones  is  a  Republican,  a  stanch  adherent 
of  the  party  principles,  and  has  served 
his  fellow  townsmen  as  supervisor  for  a 
period  of  live  years,  while  for  two  years 
he  filled  the  office  of  school  clerk.  His 
public  and  private  life  are  alike  above 
reproach,  no  trust  reposed  in  him  is  ever 
betrayed,  and  he  is  a  valued  citizen,  one 
who  takes  an  active  interest  in  everything 
pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  commun- 
ity, the  upbuilding  of  the  county  and  its 
general  prosperity. 


HENRY    POEHLER,    one    of    the 
most  industrious  and  'enterprising 
agriculturists  of  Door  county,  and 
the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm  of 
seventy  acres,  was  born  August  lo,  1861, 
in    Ozaukee    county,    Wis. ,    of    German 
lineage. 

His  father,  Frederick  Poehler,  was  a 
native  of  Germany,  and  in  the  family 
were  nine  children,  Henry  being  the  third 
in  order  of  birth.  As  his  parents  were  in 
limited  circumstances  he  was  early  thrown 
upon  his  own  resources,  and  when  not 
yet  twelve  years  of  age  began  to  earn  his 
living  as  a  farm  hand.  He  continued 
with  his  first  employer  four  years,  giving 
entire  satisfaction,  for  he  was  industrious 
and  enterprising.  At  the  e.xpiration  of 
that  time  he  came  to  Door  county,  locat- 
ing in  Sturgeon  Bay  township,  where  he 
chopped  wood  for  John  Gilbert;  subse- 
quently went  to  the  lumber  woods,  and 
was  there  employed  three  3'ears.  He 
and  his  brother  worked  together,  and  the 
greater  part  of  their  earnings  were  given 
to  their  parents.  On  September  28, 
1885,  in  Sevastopol  township,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Jessie  Blank,  who  was 
born  in  Germany,  a  daughter  of  Martin 
Blank,  and  who,  at  the  time  of  her  mar- 
riage, was  serving  as  a  domestic  in  Door 
county.  By  their  union  have  been  born 
five  children — Louisa,  Fred,  Amelia,  Hat- 


6o6 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHWAL   KECORD. 


tie    and    Edward — and    the   family  circle 
yet  remains  unbroken. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage  Mr. 
Poehler  owned  eighty  acres  of  land  which 
he  had  cultivated  and  improved,  building 
thereon  a  good  residence.  Not  a  tree 
had  been  cut  down  when  he  became  the 
owner  of  the  place,  but  he  at  once  began 
to  clear  it,  and  in  course  of  time  it  was 
placed  under  the  plow.  In  1892  he  pur- 
chased an  additional  eighty-acre  tract, 
and  now  has  a  quarter  section  of  land,  of 
which  fifty  acres  are  under  cultivation. 
He  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  sup- 
port of  the  Democracy,  and  holds  mem- 
bership with  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr. 
Poehler  has  led  a  busy  life,  and  some- 
thing of  his  labor  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  expression  ' '  as  hard  a  worker  as 
the  Poehler  boys"  is  a  common  compari- 
son in  his  locality.  He  is  destined  to 
become  a  rich  man,  for  he  is  not  only 
industrious  but  also  possesses  good  busi- 
ness and  e.xecutive  ability,  and  his  career 
has  already  been  a  prosperous  one. 


GEORGE  M.  ROBERTS  is  a  na- 
tive of  Massachusetts,  born  in 
Ncwburyport,  October  30,  1831, 
and  a  son  of  Emanuel  and  Sarah 
(Odderway)  Roberts,  the  former  a  native 
of  Spain,  the  latter  of  the  Keystone  State. 
Emanuel  belonged  to  a  wealthy  family, 
and  when  a  lad  of  nine  summers  came  to 
the  United  States  on  a  vessel  which  was 
owned  by  his  uncle,  and  "which  was 
en  route  for  Nova  Scotia.  He  was  left 
at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  and  on  the  re- 
turn trip  was  to  have  been  again  taken  on 
board,  but  no  one  ever  came  for  him,  and 
for  some  years  he  lived  with  a  minister. 
He  then  married  and  became  the  father 
of  eleven  children — seven  sons  and  four 
daughters.  Both  parents  died  in  the  old 
Bay  State. 

George  M.  Roberts  received  but 
meagre  educational  privileges,  and  while 
still  young  learned  ship  carpentering, 
which  he  followed  for  some  years.      On 


August  25,  1853,  he  was  married  at  New- 
buryport, Mass.,  to  Miss  Rachel  Phil- 
brick,  who  was  born  in  Jefferson  township, 
Lincoln  Co.,  Maine,  April  23,  1834,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Fannie  (Noyes) 
Philbrick,  who  had  twelve  children,  nine 
of  them  daughters,  eight  of  whom  became 
school  teachers.  Upon  his  marriage,  Mr. 
Roberts  located  in  Newburyport,  Mass., 
where  he  lived  si.x  years,  working  at  ship 
carpentering.  In  New  England  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  until  about  1857, 
when  he  migrated  to  Shebo\gan  Falls, 
Wis.,  reaching  that  place  with  little  cap- 
ital save  a  persevering  spirit  and  a  com- 
mendable industry.  At  Sheboygan  Falls 
he  secured  work  in  a  sawmill,  hut  after  a 
short  time  went  to  Two  Rivers,  where  he 
worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  except 
through  the  winter  seasons,  when  he  was 
employed  as  a  lumberman.  Subsequently 
he  removed  to  Manitowoc,  Wis.,  and  for 
a  time  worked  in  a  shipyard,  after  which 
he  returned  to  Two  Rivers,  where  he  was 
employed  at  carpentering  and  in  the  lum- 
ber woods.  While  at  that  place  he  also 
began  fishing  along  the  west  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan  till  the  spring  of  1861, 
when  he  removed  to  Claybanks,  Wis. , 
fishing  in  that  vicinity  until  1882.  Locat- 
ing in  Section  18,  Sevastopol  township, 
in  that  year,  he  purchased  a  small  tract 
of  land,  and  has  since  engaged  in  fishing 
and  farming.  He  also  owns  160  acres  of 
land  in  Claybanks  township,  and  has  a 
considerable  amount  of  this  world's  goods, 
acquired  through  his  own  well-directed 
efforts. 

Five  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Roberts,  to  wit:  George,  a  farmer 
and  fisherman,  of  Claybanks  township; 
Emma,  wife  of  Theodore  Delelle,  of 
Claybanks;  Carrie,  who  has  successfully 
engaged  in  teaching  for  seven  years; 
Nettie,  wife  of  John  Pallister,  of  Sevasto- 
pol township;  and  Fannie,  who  died  in 
infanc}'.  ^Ir.  Roberts  exercises  his  right 
of  franchise  in  support  of  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party,  with 
which  he  has  been  identified  since  its  or- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


607 


ganization,  and  his  first  Presidential  vote 
was  cast  for  Fillmore.  He  has  never 
been  an  office  seeker,  but  has  served  as 
treasurer  of  Claybanks  township;  was 
treasurer  of  the  school  district,  and  is  now 
serving  in  that  capacity  in  District  No.  3, 
and  for  about  seven  years  filled  the  office 
of  supervisor  with  credit  to  himself  and 
satisfaction  to  his  constituents.  Socially, 
he  is  connected  with  the  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  has 
been  a  Freemason  for  thirty  years,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  K.  O.  T.  M.  A  self- 
made  man,  he  deserves  great  credit  for 
his  success  in  life,  which  is  due  entirely 
to  his  own  efforts. 


SAMUEL  CHRISTOPHER  HAN- 
SEN, who  has  followed  the  voca- 
tions of  tanner,  cabinet  maker, 
stair  builder  and  farmer,  was  born 
April  3,  1823,  in  Denmark,  a  son  of  Hans 
Hansen,  a  weaver  by  occupation,  who 
died  when  Samuel  was  but  two  years  old. 
The  mother,  Inger  Christina  Kroer  Han- 
sen, had  six  children — three  daughters 
and  three  sons,  Samuel  being  the  second 
son. 

Our  subject  received  a  common-school 
education,  and  when  but  ten  years  of  age 
left  home  and  began  to  earn  his  own  liv- 
ing. For  six  years  he  worked  in  a  tan- 
nery, and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  was  ap- 
prenticed to  the  cabinet-making  trade, 
which  took  six  years  to  complete.  This 
occupation  he  followed  twenty-two  years 
in  Denmark,  and  in  1867  he  emigrated  to 
America,  where,  in  Chicago,  he  worked 
at  his  trade  two  years,  and  then  followed 
stair  building  five  years.  On  his  arrival 
in  Chicago  he  had  but  fifty  cents  that  he 
could  call  his  own,  yet  he  lived  upon  that 
small  sum  eight  days,  when  he  was  for- 
turnate  enough  to  secure  work.  In  1875 
he  removed  to  Washington  Island,  Door 
Co. ,  Wis. ,  where,  five  years  previously 
he  had  invested  in  eighty  acres  of  timber 
land;  on  this  he  located,  and  then  began 
the  tedious  task  of  clearing  and  preparing 
the  ground  for  cultivation.      His  place  is 


now  all  cleared  and  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  amply  repays  him  for  all 
of  his  past  hard  work. 

Previous  to  his  coming  to  the  United 
States  Mr.  Hansen  was  married  in  Den- 
mark, to  Godtfredsine  Martine,  who  was 
born  May  20,  18 19,  and  they  had  three 
children,  viz. :  Christophina  Godtfred- 
sine Martine,  who  died  in  Denmark;  Jacob 
Marcus  Glasius,  who  died  in  Chicago; 
and  Godtfred  Martin  Samuel,  now  first 
assistant  lighthouse  keeper  at  Pilot  Island, 
or  Porte  Des  Morts.  Mr.  Hansen  be- 
longs to  the  Lutheran  Church,  as  does 
also  his  wife  and  son.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican,  although  taking  no  active 
part  in  elections.  He  is  a  good  neighbor 
and  public-spirited  citizen,  ever  ready  to 
advance  any  cause  which  will  benefit  the 
community.  In  his  native  land  he  saw 
active  service,  as  a  soldier  in  the  Danish 
army,  sharpshooters  (infantry),  in  the  war 
between  Denmark  and  Prussia  during  the 
years  1848,  1849  and  1850,  returning 
home  in  185 1.  His  son,  Godtfred  Martin 
Samuel,  was  born  in  1855,  in  Denmark; 
was  educated  in  the  Danish  and  English 
languages,  and  in  1 879  was  married  to  Miss 
Ellen  Mary  Olsen,  of  Norway,  by  whom 
he  has  three  children,  named  respectively: 
Freetjoff  Carl  Marinus,  Olivia  Godtfred- 
sina  Wilhelmina  Christophina  and  Hen- 
rietta Julianna  Caroline  Mary.  The 
mother  and  children  reside  with  the 
grandparents,  where  their  father  comes 
during  his  vacation  from  the  lighthouse. 


TELLACK  AND  ELLEN  (HAL- 
VERSON)  HAINES,  natives  of 
Norway,  emigrated  to  Canada  in 
1848,  and  from  there,  after  two 
years,  removed  to  Washington  Co. ,  Wis. , 
thence  to  Door  county,  locating  in  Union 
township,  and  purchasing  a  farm  which 
they  commenced  at  once  to  prepare  for 
cultivation. 

After  remaining  upon  this  place  some 
seven  years,  they    removed  to    Sturgeon 


•6oS 


COMMEMORATiy'E   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Bay  township,  same  county,  where  they 
h'ved  two  years;  tlience  proceeded  to  Saw- 
yer's Harbor,  in  same  township,  where 
they  again  purchased  land  which  they 
had  to  clear.  In  1880  they  again  changed 
their  location,  this  time  moving  to  Nase- 
waupee  township,  same  county,  settling 
upon  the  present  homestead,  which  now 
-contains  200  acres,  sixty-eight  of  which 
are  under  cultivation.  In  the  year  of 
their  removal  (1880)  Mrs.  Haines  died, 
the  mother  of  the  following  children: 
Oliver,  who  enlisted  in  the  Civil  war,  and 
died  in  hospital;  Tellif,  who  lives  at  Stur- 
geon Bay,  Wis. ;  Melvin,  who  makes  his 
home  at  Sawyer's  Harbor,  Wis. ;  Mary, 
wife  of  John  Peterson;  Elias;  Christena, 
now  the  wife  of  Hans  Eliason;  Oscar 
(the  last  four  mentioned  live  in  Nasewau- 
pce  township,  Wis.),  and  Eliza,  wife  of 
Thomas  Gillespie,  of  Sturgeon  Bay  town- 
ship. Mr.  Haines  was  remarried  in  1884, 
this  time  to  Mrs.  Simpson,  of  Manito- 
woc county. 


WILLIAM  MOORE  was  born  in 
Essex  county,  N.  Y. ,  in  1864, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  Moore, 
Sr. ,  who  was  born  and  reared 
in  Ireland,  and  emigrating  to  America  set- 
tled in  Essex  county,  N.  Y. ,  where  he 
met  and  married  Miss  Sarah  McMahon,  a 
nati\e  of  New  York. 

He  there  engaged  in  teaming  and  in 
burning  charcoal  until  1870,  when  he 
started  westward  and  became  a  resident 
of  F"orestville  township,  Uoor  county. 
Wis.,  settling  upon  the  farm  which  is 
now  the  home  of  our  subject.  It  was  a 
wild  and  unimproved  tract  of  i6o  acres, 
and  was  reached  only  by  a  trail,  no  roads 
having  yet  been  laid  out.  Mr.  Moore 
built  a  log  house  in  1871,  and  at  once 
began  to  clear  and  improve  his  farm, 
which  he  continued  to  cultivate  until  1 880, 
when  he  was  accidentally  killed  by  a  fall- 
ing tree.  His  wife  survived  him  about 
•eight  years,  and  died  on  the  old  home- 


stead. Mr.  Moore  took  a  deep  interest 
in  the  cause  of  education,  did  all  in  his 
power  for  its  advancement,  and  aided  in 
organizing  the  school  districts  of  the 
neighborhood.  In  his  family  were  ten 
children — Ida,  wife  of  William  Johnson, 
of  Forestville;  William;  Agnes,  wife  of 
John  Gordon,  of  F"orestville;  Sarah,  wife 
of  John  Cadigan,  of  New  York;  Maggie, 
wife  of  Leo  Otto,  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis., 
Richard;  Efifie,  who  is  living  in  Chicago, 
111. ;  Alice,  who  makes  her  home  at  Two 
Creeks,  Manitowoc  Co.,  W'is. ;  John,  a 
resident  of  Essex  county,  N.  Y.,  and 
Joseph,  deceased.  After  the  death  of  her 
first  husband,  Mrs.  Moore  became  the 
wife  of  James  Parish,  and  they  had  five 
children — Cora,  of  Two  Creeks,  Wis. ; 
Welthy,  of  Nasewaupee,  Door  Co. ,  Wis. ; 
Gladys  and  George,  both  of  Forestville 
township;  and  Stephen,  who  is  li\ing  in 
the  same  locality  as  Welthy. 

William  Moore,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  sketch,  was  a  six-year-old  child  when 
he  came  to  the  Badger  State.  The  dis- 
trict schools  afforded  him  his  educational 
privileges,  and  upon  the  old  home  farm 
in  Forestville  township  he  was  reared, 
much  of  the  work  of  developing  and  im- 
provmg  the  place  devolving  upon  him,  as 
he  was  the  eldest  son.  He  cleared  the 
greater  part  of  the  farm,  and  at  length 
came  into  possession  of  a  tract  of  160 
acres,  fifty  of  which  are  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.  He  has  led  a  busy 
life,  j'et  has  found  time  to  faithfull}'  dis- 
charge his  duties  of  citizenship,  and  for 
two  years  he  served  his  fellow  townsmen 
as  constable,  discharging  the  duties  of  the 
office  with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfac- 
tion of  his  constituents. 

In  February,  1889,  in  Forestville 
township,  Mr.  Moore  married  Miss  Amel- 
ia Brandt,  who  was  born  in  Manitowoc 
county.  Wis.,  a  daughter  of  August 
Brandt,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  be- 
came one  of  the  early  residents  of  Mani- 
towoc county,  thence  removing  to  Forest- 
ville township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore  had 
four  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  liv- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


609 


ing — Willie  and  Emily;  Frankie  died  at 
the  age  of  six  weeks,  and  Esther  lived 
only  one  week.  Mr.  Moore  is  a  member 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  his  wife  of  the 
Lutheran,  and  both  are  well-known  peo- 
ple, held  in  high  regard  by  their  many 
friends. 


ANDREW  JACOBSON.  Finland, 
Russia,  has  furnished  to  Door 
county  a  number  of  worthy  citi- 
zens, among  whom  is  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  is  here  recorded.  He 
was  born  June  28,  1849,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Helena  Jacobson,  who  had  a 
family  of  four  children — Mathias,  August, 
Henry  and  Andrew.  The  father  died 
when  Andrew  was  only  si.x^ months  old, 
and  when  his  mother  died  he  was  sixteen 
years  of  age.  His  early  life  was  not  an 
easy  one,  for  he  had  no  school  privileges 
or  other  advantages,  learning  only  to  read 
and  write,  and  at  the  age  of  nine  he  began 
work  on  a  farm,  being  employed  in  this 
way  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age. 
At  that  time,  Mr.  Jacobson  shipped 
before  the  mast,  first  sailing  on  the 
vessel  "Equator,"  which  went  on  a 
twenty-two-months'  trip  from  Finland  to 
London,  thence  to  New  Zealand,  from 
there  to  Peru,  South  America,  and  to 
France,  returning  thence  to  Finland. 
His  next  trip  was  to  Hamburg,  and  in 
1874  he  came  to  New  Orleans  on  an  Eng- 
lish vessel.  Later  he  sailed  to  France 
and  the  West  Indies  on  a  six-months' 
trip;  after  which  he  went  to  the  Baltic 
Sea,  returning  to  Liverpool,  England,  and 
to  New  York,  where  he  joined  the  crew 
of  an  American  vessel,  which  was  just 
starting  to  Peru,  going  thence  to  Spain 
and  back  to  New  York,  having  been  away 
from  that  harbor  eighteen  months.  Two 
months  later  we  find  him  in  Amsterdam, 
Holland,  where  he  engaged  in  a  vessel 
bound  for  the  East  Indies,  which  after  a 
voyage  of  nine  months  again  reached  the 
port  from  which  it  sailed.      Mr.  Jacobson 


then  returned  to  his  native  land,  from 
which  he  had  been  absent  four  years,  and 
after  a  visit  there  went  to  Sweden,  where 
he  engaged  on  a  Swedish  vessel  bound 
for  London,  where  he  shipped  on  an  En- 
glish vessel  for  New  Orleans.  In  the  lat- 
ter city  he  hired  on  an  American  vessel, 
just  starting  for  Italy  and  France,  and 
reached  New  York  again  after  a  voyage 
of  seven  months.  For  one  summer  Mr. 
Jacobson  sailed  on  the  Great  Lakes,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1876  came  to  Baileys  Har- 
bor, Wis.  For  a  few  months  he  worked 
in  the  woods,  and  then,  in  connection 
with  John  and  Andrew  Brann,  purchased 
some  land,  the  partnership  continuing  for 
about  three  years,  when  by  mutual  con- 
sent it  was  dissolved. 

Mr.  Jacobson  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Ellen  H.  Neholm,  daughter  of 
John  and  Helena  Neholm,  and  to  them 
were  born  two  children — John  ahd  Wil- 
helmina,  the  latter  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy. Our  subject  and  his  wife  now 
have  many  friends  and  acquaintances 
in  this  community,  and  are  highly  re- 
spected people.  When  he  made  his 
first  purchase  of  land,  he  became  owner 
of  a  tract  of  forty  acres  upon  which  he 
made  his  home  for  a  year.  In  1881  he 
went  to  Chicago  and  worked  at  the  car- 
penter's trade  for  a  time;  then  removed 
to  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. ,  and  embarked  in 
the  cigar  business,  having  learned  that 
trade  in  Finland.  For  six  months  he 
lived  in  Bay  View,  Wis.,  then  returned 
to  his  farm,  continuing  its  cultivation  for 
about  five  years,  or  until  1886,  when  he 
came  to  Baileys  Harbor  and  rented  a 
saloon  which  he  conducted  two  years, 
after  which  he  purchased  the  house  which 
he  now  occupies,  and  turned  his  attention 
to  the  manufacture  of  cigars,  which  in- 
dustry still  occupies  his  time  and  atten- 
tion. In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  but 
has  never  sought  or  desired  official  prefer- 
ment for  himself.  His  life  has  been  an 
eventful  one,  and  his  extensive  travels 
have  made  him  an  entertaining  conver- 
sationalist. 


6io 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL   RECORD. 


JW.  WORACHEK,  one  of  the  well- 
known  and  popular  citizens  of  Door 
county,  has  spent  his  entire  life  in 
Wisconsin,  which  is  the  State  of  his 
nativity,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  the 
neighboring  county  of  Kewaunee,  in 
Casco  township,  in  1863.  His  father, 
Albert  Worachek,  was  born  and  reared 
in  Bohemia,  and  when  a  young  man  he 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  for  he 
had  heard  much  of  its  advantages  and 
privileges,  and  wished  to  trj'  his  fortune 
in  the  New  World.  Coming  westward  to 
Wisconsin,  he  located  in  Casco  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  upon  a  tract  of  en- 
tirely unimproved  land,  and  began  the 
development  of  a  farm  which  has  since 
been  his  home.  He  married  Miss  Lizzie 
Sticker,  also  a  native  of  Behemia,  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  six  sons  and 
four  daughters  who  grew  to  mature  years, 
and  three  that  died  young. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  is  the 
second  son  and  child,  was  reared  on  the 
old  homestead  in  the  usual  manner  of 
farmer  lads,  early  beginning  work  in  the 
fields,  for  his  parents  were  poor  and 
could  not  afford  to  hire  help.  His  school 
privileges  were  in  consequence  very  mea- 
ger. When  he  had  attained  a  sufficient 
age,  he  began  working  in  the  neighbor- 
hood as  a  farm  hand,  giving  his  money  to 
his  parents  for  safe  keeping.  When  he 
had  thus  acquired  a  sufficient  sum  he  in- 
vested it  in  land,  improved  the  same  to  a 
considerable  extent,  and  then  sold  at  a 
good  profit.  In  December,  1885,  in 
Casco  township,  Kewaunee  county,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary 
Bunda,  who  was  born  at  Two  Rivers, 
Wis.,  in  October,  1868,  a  daughter  of 
Wenzel  Bunda,  a  native  of  Bohemia  and 
a  mason  by  trade,  but  now  engaged  in 
farming.  The  young  couple  began  their 
domestic  life  upon  a  farm  which  our  sub- 
ject had  purchased,  and  there  made  their 
home  until  May,  1890,  when  their  dwell- 
ing and  barn  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
they  then  removed  to  Sister  Bay,  Wis. 
Mr.   Worachek  entered   into  partnership 


with  Wenzel  Bunda,  a  merchant  and 
cheese  manufacturer,  and  the  connection 
was  continued  for  one  year,  after  which, 
in  the  spring  of  1868,  our  subject  came  to 
Egg  Harbor  and  established  the  first 
cheese  factory  in  the  township.  This 
business  he  has  conducted  continually 
since,  and  his  trade  has  steadily  increased, 
bringing  him  success.  In  the  spring  of 
1894  he  embarked  in  the  hotel  business, 
and  is  now  the  genial  host  of  the  "Ke- 
waunee House,"  a  popular  hostelry, 
which  receives  a  liberal  share  of  public 
patronage.  He  sets  an  excellent  table, 
and  the  appointments  of  the  hotel  are 
such  as  are  found  in  any  first-class  estab- 
lishment of  the  kind. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Worachek  have  two 
interesting  children,  both  daughters, 
Annie  and  Hattie.  The  parents  attend 
the  Catholic  Church,  of  which  they  are 
devout  and  consistent  members,  and  in 
politics  Mr.  Worachek  is  a  Democrat, 
supporting  by  his  ballot  the  men  and 
measures  of  that  party,  but  is  not  strictly 
partisan.  He  is  thrifty  and  energetic, 
and  is  now  a  prosperous  and  popular  citi- 
zen, having  by  well-directed  efforts  gained 
a  good  business  which  yields  to  him  a  fair 
income.  His  entire  life  has  been  passed 
in  his  locality,  and  those  who  have 
known  him  from  boyhood  are  numbered 
among  his  stanchest  friends,  a  fact  which 
indicates  an  honorable  and  well-spent  life. 


WILLIAM  J.  JACKSON  has  the 
honor  of  being  a  native  of  Wis- 
consin, and  is  one  of  her  oldest 
sons,  reckoning  years  of  contin- 
uous residence.  He  was  born  in  Fort 
Howard,  Brown  county,  April  25,  1827, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  William  Jackson,  a 
butcher  by  trade  and  a  very  successful 
business  man,  but  who  was  killed  by  the 
Indians  two  months  prior  to  the  birth  of 
our  subject.  His  wife,  who  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Catherine  Dockerty,  was 
a  daughter  of  John  \^^  and  Margaret 
Dockertv,  the  latter  of  whom  reached  the 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


6n 


remarkable  age  of  103  years.  After  being 
left  a  widow  two  years,  Mrs.  Jackson  mar- 
ried Peter  Eldred,  who  in  1831  took  the 
family  to  Manitowoc,  Wis.,  where  for 
four  years  he  worked  at  the  shoemaker's 
trade,  ■  removing  then  to  Two  Rivers, 
Wis.,  here  again  following  shoemaking, 
until  his  death  in  1838;  his  wife  also 
passed  her  remaining  days  in  that  place. 
By  her  second  marriage  there  were  born 
three  children:  Albert  and  Charlie,  who 
died  in  infancy,  and  John,  now  living  in 
Clay  Banks  township.  Door  county. 

Our  subject  was  the  only  child  of  the 
first  marriage.  His  educational  privileges 
were  somewhat  limited,  for  at  the  early 
age  of  ten  years  he  began  earning  his  own 
livelihood,  sailing  on  the  lakes,  and  dur- 
ing the  succeeding  thirty-five  years  he 
was  engaged  in  this  way  and  in  fishing,  in 
which  latter  industry  he  was  very  success- 
ful. On  July  ig,  1856,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Caroline  Sherman, 
daughter  of  Emfred  and  Caroline  Sher- 
man, who  were  living  in  Baileys  Harbor, 
where  our  subject  then  spent  much  of  his 
time  fishing  until  August  15,  1862,  when 
he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Twenty-sev- 
enth Wis.  V.  I.  He  went  first  to  Mil- 
waukee, thence  to  Madison,  and  on  to 
Columbus,  Ky. ,  where  he  joined  his  regi- 
ment. The  first  engagement  in  which  he 
participated  was  at  Union  City,  Ky.,  after 
which  he  was  under  fire  at  the  battles  of 
Storey,  the  Seige  of  Vicksburg,  and  the 
battles  of  Helena,  Little  Rock,  Spoonville, 
Bentonville,Okalona,  and  Saline  Bottoms. 
At  the  last  named  engagement  he  was 
wounded,  whereby  he  suffered  the  loss  of 
his  second  finger,  and  almost  lost  his  entire 
hand.  When  the  war  was  over,  he  was 
honorably  discharged,  June  6,  1865,  and 
returned  to  his  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jackson  have  six  children  living:  Frank, 
Albert,  Ira,  Irving  H.,  Minerva  and 
Roger  E. ;  they  lost  three  children:  Hen- 
rietta, who  was  drowned;  and  Olive  and 
Bertha,  who  were  burned  to  death  in  their 
own  home. 

For  some  time  after  his  return  from 


the  war,  Mr.  Jackson  was  obliged  to  cut 
wood,  but  later  resumed  his  old  occupa- 
tion of  fishing,  which  he  followed  until 
1868,  when  he  embarked  in  the  lumber 
business.  Subsequently,  he  began  read- 
ing law,  and  has  now  for  some  years  been 
successfully  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the 
legal  profession.  He  is  thorough  and 
systematic  in  whatever  he  undertakes, 
and  his  life  has  been  a  busy  and  useful 
one,  in  which  he  has  gained  the  respect  of 
all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in 
contact.  He  has  been  called  upon  to  fill 
a  number  of  public  offices,  having  served 
as  constable,  justice  of  the  peace,  town 
clerk,  assessor  and  notary  public,  and  in 
all  these  positions  he  has  discharged  his 
duties  with  a  promptness  and  fidelity 
which  have  won  him  high  commendation. 


WILLIAM  STICHMANN,    an  en- 
terprising agriculturist  of  Door 
county,  whose  farm  is  situated  in 
Section  15,  Forestvilletownship, 
is  a  native  of  Prussia,  born  in  1859,  a  son 
of  Carl  and  Reko  (Mahuke)  Stichmann, 
who  were  also  of  German  nativity. 

In  1867  the  family  located  in  Mani- 
towoc county.  Wis.,  but  in  1872  they  re- 
moved to  Forestville  township.  Door 
county,  where  the  father  commenced  the 
development  of  a  farm  and  continued  in 
its  cultivation  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1891;  the  mother  died  Jan- 
uary 12,  1895.  This  worthy  couple  had 
a  family  of  four  children,  as  follows: 
Bertha,  wife  of  Fred  Myers,  of  Forestville 
township;  Anna,  wife  of  Joseph  Dettmann, 
of  the  same  township;  William;  and  Min- 
nie, wife  of  Fred  Barnosky,  of  Nase- 
waupee  township.  Door  county. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  was 
reared  in  Manitowoc  county  and  in  For- 
estville township,  the  public  schools  of  the 
neighborhood  in  which  he  made  his  home 
affording  him  his  educational  privileges. 
At  the  early  age  of  eleven  years  he  began 
swinging  the  axe  in  aiding  in  the  clearing 
and  developing  of  the  home  farm,   thus 


6l2 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


becoming  familiar  with  all  the  hardships 
and  arduous  labors  of  frontier  life.  When 
he  started  out  in  life  for  himself  he 
turned  his  attention  to  aj^ricuitural  pur- 
suits, and  now  he  has  a  good  farm  of 
eighty  acres,  sixty  of  which  are  under  a 
high  state  of  cultivation  and  well  im- 
proved. In  1892  he  erected  ;i  large 
frame  barn,  64x32  feet,  and  the  other 
conveniences  are  in  keeping  with  this 
structure.  In  1885,  in  Ft)restville  town- 
ship, he  was  married  to  Miss  Mar>-  Ann 
Gordon,  who  was  born  in  New  Y(jrk,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  (Moore)  Gor- 
don, natives  of  Ireland,  who  in  an  early 
day  came  to  Door  count}',  where  they  still 
reside.  Mrs.  Stichmann  died  in  1889, 
leaving  two  children — Elmira  and  Liilie — 
and  in  1892  Mr.  Stichmann  was  again 
married,  this  time  in  Ahnapee  township, 
Kewaunee  count}-.  Wis.,  to  Miss  Anna 
Shirkc}-.  a  native  of  that  county,  b\  whom 
he  has  two  daughters — Martha  and  Esther. 
In  his  political  views  our  subject  is  a 
Republican,  and  in  religious  belief  he  and 
his  wife  are  Lutherans,  attending  the 
church  at  Forestvilie.  Mr.  Stichniami 
is  a  warm  friend  of  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, and  is  now  serving  as  a  member  of 
the  school  board.  \  public-spirite<l  and 
progressi\c  citizen,  he  takes  a  warm  in- 
terest in  ever}thing  pertaining  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  community,  and  dt)es  all  in 
his  power  to  promote  enterprises  calcu- 
lated to  pro\e  of  public  benefit. 

AUGUST  BUSSE  is  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  cheese,  and  also 
follows  farming  in  Forestvilie 
township,  Door  count}',  where  he 
located  in  1887.  During  the  following 
year  he  built  a  factory  20x30  feet,  14 
feet  high,  wherein  is  used  the  milk  of  one 
hundred  and  twent}'  cows,  24,000  pounds 
of  tine  cheese  being  the  annual  output. 
He  owns  a  good  farm  of  1 20  acres,  sixty- 
five  of  which  are  cleared  and  improved, 
and  thereon  he  erected,  in  1888,  a  good 
stor}-and-a-half  residence,  22  x  32  feet. 


Mr.  Busse  was  born  in  Lippe-Det- 
mold,  German}',  in  1836.  and  is  a  son  of 
Fred  and  Elizabeth  Busse,  natives  of  the 
same  country,  where  the  father  worked 
as  a  laborer  throughout  his  entire  life;  he 
died  in  1854,  his  wife  in  1872.  They 
had  two  children.  August  being  the  only 
one  now  living.  \o  e\ent  of  special  im- 
portance occurred  during  our  subject's 
childhood,  which  was  passed  under  the 
parental  roof  and  in  attending  the  public 
schools.  When  <]uiti'  \oung  he  learned 
the  trade  of  brick  making,  becoming  an 
expert  in  that  line,  and  soon  was  enabled 
to  occupy  the  position  of  overseer  in 
brickyards,  being  thus  employed  imtil  his 
emigration  to  America.  Ere  leaving  his 
nati\c  land  he  was  married,  in  1866,  to 
Miss  Carolina  Ream,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  province  as  himself,  a  daughter 
of  Conrad  and  Eliza  ( Langanberg)  Ream, 
also  natives  of  Germany,  where  they 
lived  and  died.  Seven  children  have 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Busse:  Eliza, 
wife  of  Louis  Jerchow.  of  Ahnapee,  Wis. ; 
August;  Julius:  Willie;  Herman;  Amelia, 
and  Clara. 

In  1870,  accompanied  by  his  family, 
Mr.  Bu.sse  sailed  for  the  United  States 
and  took  up  his  residsnce  in  Sheboygan 
county.  Wis.,  devoting  his  time  and  at- 
tention to  farming  in  Herman  township, 
where  he  made  his  home  until  his  re- 
moval to  Door  county  in  18S7.  Here  he 
has  since  ("onducted  a  good  business,  both 
as  a  farmer  and  cheese  manufacturer,  and 
by  his  enterprise  and  energy  has  acquired 
a  comfortable  competence,  which  num- 
bers him  among  the  substantial  citizens  of 
the  communit}'.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and 
in  his  political  views  he  is- a  Democrat. 


D 


ESI  RE  ENGLEBERT.  a  pros- 
pertius  farmer  of  Brussels,  Door 
count}',  was  born  December  8, 
1842,  in  Belgium,  a  son  of  John 
Englebert;  who  was  a  carpenter  in  his 
own  country,    and   in    1856  emigrated  to 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


613. 


the  United  States  with  his  family,  which 
then  consisted  of  wife  and  six  sons — 
Felix,  Joseph,  Gustaf,  Charles,  John  and 
Desire — and  one  daughter  Mary.  All 
of  the  sons  except  one  are  still  living. 

On  the  arri\al  of  the  family  in  this 
country  they  stopped  at  Dayton,  Ohio, 
but  the  place  not  proving  exactly  to  their 
liking  the\'  removed  to  Chicago,  by  which 
time  their  finances  had  become  so  low 
that  they  found  it  necessary  to  secure  a 
home  as  cheaply  as  possible,  and  where 
the  facilities  for  steady  work  were  good. 
In  the  spring  of  1857  they  came  to  Brus- 
sels township.  Door  county,  where  Mr. 
Englebert  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
section  20.  After  four  years'  residence 
on  this  place  he  sold  it  for  $350.00  and 
bought  160  acres  in  section  2(S  (north- 
east quarter),  at  which  time  it  was  cov- 
ered with  forest  trees,  and  he  was  the 
first  to  cut  into  this  tract  of  land,  where 
he  erected  buildings,  the  children  soon 
beginning  to  look  upon  it  as  their  perma- 
nent home.  In  the  spring  of  1892  the 
father  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  church-yard 
in  Brussels,  where  the  remains  of  the 
mother  had  been  deposited  twelve  years 
before.  One  daughter,  Mary,  was  born 
to  them  after  their  arrival  in  the  United 
States. 

Desire  Englebert  was  fourteen  years 
old  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to 
the  United  States,  and  as  a  consequence 
his  education  was  entirely  in  his  mother 
tongue.  The  jear  following  their  arrival 
the  family  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  as 
they  were  in  somewhat  straightened  cir- 
cumstances, our  subject  went  to  work  for 
strangers  that  he  might  support  himself. 
He  spent  two  summers  working  in  a 
truck  yard  in  Chicago,  whither  he  had 
tramped  from  his  home  in  Brussells, 
Wis.,  on  foot,  begging  his  way  the  entire 
distance,  and  often  sleeping  in  the  woods. 
In  Chicago  he  arrived  with  just  fifty  cents 
in  his  pocket,  .having  given  his  entire 
wages  to  his  parents,  who  were  greatly 
in  need  of  the  help.  Such  industry  and 
filial  devotion  was  not  to  go  unrewarded. 


however,  for  from  that  time  forth  he  was 
always  successful  in  securing  work,  and 
he  prospered  in  every  waj'. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  years,  in 
1865,  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss 
Emerance  Gaspart,  a  native  of  Belgium  * 
and  a  resident  of  Brussels,  who  bore  him 
ten  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy. Those  living  are:  Eugene,  of  Kau- 
kauna.  Wis.,  a  machinist  by  trade,  and 
Eloisse,  Elmond,  Celina,  Joseph,  Henry, 
Nestor  and  Josephine  at  home.  After  his 
marriage  Mr.  Englebert  bought  forty  acres 
of  land  in  Section  28,  Brussels  township, 
all  woods  save  a  small  plat,  on  which 
stood  a  log  shanty.  For  this  property  he 
paid  $500.00  and  went  largely  in  debt. 
In  the  course  of  ten  years  he  had  cleared 
the  land  and  erected  good  buildings,  but 
the  fire  of  1871  swept  everything  away — 
his  buildings,  his  stock,  his  household 
furniture — everything,  in  fact,  save  the 
clothes  which  he  and  his  family  had  on  at 
the  time  they  were  swallowed  up  in  the 
flames.  After  he  had  recovered  some- 
what from  the  effects  of  the  fire,  he  built 
a  commodious  brick  house,  which  was  the 
best  in  the  township.  Since  his  first  pur- 
chase he  has  added  to  his  possessions, 
and  now  owns  200  acres  of  land,  eighty 
of  which  are  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
Mr.  Englebert  is  an  excellent  farmer, 
careful  in  his  calculations,  and  conse- 
quently is  very  successful.  Politically, 
formerly  he  was  a  Republican,  but  now 
gives  his  vote  on  the  side  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  was  assessor  for  four- 
teen years,  and  in  the  spring  of  1894  was 
elected  chairman  of  the  township  board. 
In  religious  faith  he  and  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


WENZEL  M.  WOCHOS,  a  popu- 
lar young  educator,  was  born  in 
the   township   of   Franklin,  Ke- 
waunee Co.,    Wis.,  August    16, 
1873,  and  is  a  son   of  Mathias  Wochos. 
who  was  born  in  Bohemia,  June  6,   1844. 
Mathias  Wochos  was  a  son   of  John 


6i4 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


W. ,  who  followed  him  from  Europe  about 
the  year  1866,  and  who  died  in  the  town- 
ship of  Montpelier  in  1894.  Mathias  at- 
tended the  common  schools  of  his  native 
country  until  twelve  years  of  age,  when 
he  came  to  the  United  States  himself, 
landing  at  Two  Creeks,  Manitowoc  Co., 
Wis.,  and  residing  with  his  uncle,  working 
there  at  making  shingles,  etc.,  four  years. 
He  then  went  to  Mishicot,  same  county, 
where  he  worked  on  a  farm  and  attended 
school  about  two  years.  While  at  Mishi- 
cot, he  was  drafted,  and  served  about  six 
months  in  tiie  Union  army,  toward  the 
close  of  the  Civil  war.  After  this  he  went 
to  Muskegon,  Mich.,  and  there  worked  in 
a  sawmill  and  at  logging  some  two  years. 
In  1 866  he  came  to  Franklin  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  and  located  on  the  farm 
now  occupied  by  his  heirs.  This  farm  he 
cleared,  put  under  cultivation,  and  con- 
tinued to  conduct  until  his  death,  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1893.  He  was  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  and  at  different  times  was  elected 
chairman  of  Franklin  township,  super- 
visor, and  a  member  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation. In  religion  he  was  a  Catholic. 
He  was  united  in  marriage,  in  1S67,  to 
Mary  Skornicka,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Maggie  Skornicka,  natives  of  Bo- 
hemia. Mrs.  Wochos  was  born  in  Bo- 
hemia in  1848,  and  died  in  Franklin 
township  November  15,  1893,  the  mother 
of  thirteen  children,  viz. :  Joseph,  Mathias, 
Wenzel,  Maggie,  Albert,  Frank,  John, 
Jacob,  Louis,  Fannie,  Mary,  Charles  and 
Stephen,  all  living  with  the  exception  of 
Mary  and  Charles. 

Wenzel  Wochos  was  reared  on  the 
home  farm  and  attended  the  common 
schools  until  he  reached  the  age  of  six- 
teen, when  he  entered  the  Kewaunee  high 
school,  and  there  pursued  his  studies  one 
year.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  passed 
examination  and  was  granted  a  certificate, 
which  permitted  him  to  teach  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Kewaunee  county,  and  he 
is  now  engaged  in  this  vocation,  being 
recognized  as  one  the  first-class  teachers 
of  Kewaunee  county.    He  is  a  strict  mem- 


ber of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  one  of 
the  most  highly  respected  young  men  of 
his  age  in  the  township. 


HON.  GEORGE  GRIMMER.  This 
gentleman,  who  is  now  the  only 
settler  living  in  Kewaunee  who 
came  here  in  1853,  is  prominent 
in  the  array  of  leading  capitalists  in  this 
part  of  Wisconsin,  and  one  of  the  most 
widely-known,  respected  and  prosperous 
citizens  of  Kewaunee  county.  Indeed, 
there  is  no  name  that  ranks  higher  than 
that  of  George  Grimmer,  in  all  those 
qualities  which  constitute  good  citizen- 
ship; and  there  is  none  more  deserving 
of  an  exhaustive  biographical  record  in 
the  pages  of  this  volume. 

Mr.  Grimmer  is  a  native  of  New 
Brunswick,  Canada,  born  February  28, 
1827,  in  the  Parish  of  St.  David,  Char- 
lotte county,  and  comes  of  more  imme- 
diate Scotch  ancestry,  although  the  name 
indicates  German  origin. 

The  first  of  the  family  to  immigrate 
to  this  continent  settled  in  what  is  now 
the  Parish  of  St.  Stephens,  Charlotte 
Co.,  New  Brunswick,  where  they  became 
landowners  and  prosperous  agriculturists. 
Thomas  Grimmer,  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Wey,  an 
English  lady,  by  whom  he  had  ten  chil- 
dren— five  sons  and  five  daughters.  James 
Grimmer,  the  third  son.  was  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits  and  lumbering  in 
New  Brunswick,  which  latter  vocation, 
however,  he  chiefly  followed,  the  river  St. 
Croix  being  the  scene  of  his  operations. 
In  1850  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  bringing 
his  family,  and  in  Shawano  county  fol- 
lowed lumbering  up  to  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1865,  when  he  was  aged  sixty- 
five  years.  His  wife,  Hannah  (Camp- 
bell), who  was  the  3'oungest  daughter  of 
Duncan  Campbell,  also  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, was  a  woman  of  great  force  of 
character,  possessed  of  sound  judgment, 
and    surrounded    herself    with    hosts    of 


.^^^ 


^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BWGMAPUICAL    RECORD. 


617 


friends,  especiall}'  among  her  own  sex, 
many  of  whom  in  time  of  trouble  came 
to  her  for  help  and  advice,  and  to  them 
she  ever  proved  a  true  blessing  and  com- 
forter. She  was  the  mother  of  ten  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  reached  maturity: 
George,  Thomas  D.,  Mary  Hannah  (wife 
of  Clark  McKay,  of  Shawano,  Wis.), 
James  Henry,  Alfred  W.,  and  Angeline 
(wife  of  Morris  Thomas,  of  Duluth,  Minn.). 
The  mother  of  these  departed  this  life 
September  26,  1865.  In  Grandfather 
Thomas  Grimmer's  family  there  were 
forty-four  children  and  grandchildren  born 
before  the  first  death  occurred  among 
them. 

George  Grimmer,  the  subject  proper 
of  this  sketch,  received  a  common-school 
education  in  his  native  parish,  his  teach- 
er, James  McBride,  having  been  an  ed- 
ucator in  that  locality  for  forty-five  years, 
and  had  Mr.  Grimmer's  mother  for  one  of 
his  pupils.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  our 
subject  laid  aside  his  books,  and  com- 
menced lumbering  in  the  woods  on  the 
St.  Croix  river,  under  his  father.  In  the 
fall  of  1850  he  moved  with  the  rest  of  the 
family  to  Shawano.  Wis. ,  whence  at  the 
end  of  a  year  he  went  to  Neenah,  in  1853 
coming  to  Kewaunee,  landing  in  the  then 
village  on  the  17th  of  July.  Here  he  fol- 
lowed his  old  vocation,  lumbering,  work- 
ing on  salary  till  1862,  when  the  firm  of 
Slauson,  Grimmer  &  Co.,  was  formed. 
For  eighteen  years  he  scaled  logs  on  the 
Kewaunee  river,  and  probably  no  other 
man  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  en- 
tire river  as  he,  and  no  one  was  more 
welcome  among  the  settlers,  who,  one 
and  all,  honored  and  respected  him  for 
his  fair  and  honest  dealings.  The  firm 
dissolved  in  1877,  and  in  all  those  years 
they  never  had  litigation  of  any  kind  in 
regard  to  log  contracts,  which  were  in- 
variably of  a  verbal  nature.  Since  then 
Mr.  Grimmer  has  not  been  identified  with 
any  active  pursuit,  but  attends  to  his  real- 
estate  interests.  He  is  a  director  of  the 
State  Bank  of  Kewaunee;  was  chairman 

of   the   town  board  of  Kewaunee,    three 
35 


years,  and  chairman  of  the  county  board 
two  years.  He  has  also  found  time,  in 
the  midst  of  his  business  relations,  to  give 
his  attention  to  many  things  tending  to 
the  welfare  of  the  community,  especially 
educational  matters  in  which  he  has  al- 
ways taken  a  prominent  and  substantial 
interest. 

In  1876  Mr.  Grimmer  was  induced  by 
his  friends  to  offer  himself  as  a  candidate 
for  the  State  Senate,  to  represent  the 
First  Senatorial  District,  at  that  time 
comprising  the  present  counties  of  Ke- 
waunee, Door,  Oconto,  Shawano,  Lan- 
glade, Forest,  Florence  and  Marinette,  an 
area  comprising  nearly  one-seventh  of  the 
State.  His  opponent  was  William  Mc- 
Cartnej',  of  Marinette,  a  very  popular 
Democratic  leader,  and  as  Gen.  Taylor 
had  previously  carried  the  District  by  one 
thousand  Democratic  votes,  the  contest 
appeared  to  be  very  unequal;  yet  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Grimmer  in  Shawano  and 
other  places  rallied  round  his  banner,  and 
so  well  did  they  work,  and  so  popular  was 
their  candidate,  that  he  was  triumphantly 
elected  by  a  crushing  majority  of  1,916, 
the  polls  at  the  close  standing — "  Grim- 
mer, 5,114;  McCartney,  3,198."  Mr. 
Grimmer  was  re-elected  two  years  later 
by  a  majority  of  about  400,  a  consider- 
able falling  off  from  his  first  victory, 
partly  due  to  his  having  voted  against  the 
memorial  to  Congress  in  the  matter  of 
providing  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver, 
and  the  ratio  of  silver  used  in  the  dollar. 
He  served  on  various  committees,  and 
was  chairman  of  that  on  corporations;  in 
short,  he  made  as  good  a  record  as  State 
Senator  as  he  has  earned  in  his  business 
relations. 

On  June  19,  i860,  Mr.  Grimmer  was 
married  in  Kewaunee  to  Miss  Bertha  Lo- 
renz,  a  native  of  Germany,  a  lady  of  re- 
finement and  superior  education,  one  who 
advocates  and  encourages  advanced  ideas 
regarding  the  destiny  of  her  sex.  Four 
children  have  been  born  to  this  union, 
two  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  and  two 
are  living,   namely:     Laura  A.,    wife  of 


6iS 


COMMKMORATIVK    BIOGRAPEICAL    RECORD. 


J.  L.  Haney,  and  Walter  G..  of  Diiluth. 
Minnesota. 

In  the  history  of  Kewaunee  county, 
where  for  over  four  decades  he  has  borne 
the  highest  reputation  as  a  business  man 
and  a  citizen,  Mr.  Grimmer  is  a  man  of 
mark  and  leadin;,'  character.  He  is  quiet 
and  sedate,  likes  simple  ways,  abhorring 
ostentation;  can  converse  well  and  freely, 
but  prefers  to  listen  rather  than  to  speak. 
He  is  a  firm  and  enduring  friend,  not  a 
bitter  or  vindictive  enemy.  Few  men  are 
more  free  from  envy  or  jealousy,  and  the 
promotion  or  advancement  of  others  he 
has  always  most  cordially  encouraged  and 
aided.  In  one  word,  he  possesses  a  clear, 
sound,  well-balanced  mind,  every  faculty 
of  which  is  thoroughly  practical,  and  such 
a  combination  is,  in  our  work-a-day  world, 
worth  infinitely  more  than  genius. 


CHARLES  P.  BERG,  a  representa- 
tive farmer  of  Ahnapee  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  was  born  Sep- 
tember   22,     1855,    in    Germany. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  niiilcr  by 
occupation,    operating    a    mill    near    the 
Rhine,  in  Prussia. 

Jacob  Berg,  father  of  the  subject  of 
these  lines,  was  born  February  2,  1816, 
in  Prussia,  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  at- 
tended the  common  schools,  in  which  he 
received  all  his  literary  education.  When 
a  young  man  he  learned  the  trade  of 
wagon  maker,  which  he  followed  for  a 
number  of  years.  On  April  30,  1845,  he 
married  Miss  Caroline  Theobald,  who 
was  born  in  Germany  July  11.  1825,  and 
twelve  children  were  the  result  of  this 
union,  the  names  and  dates  of  birth  of  the 
eight  survivors  being  as  follows:  Char- 
lotte, January  23,  1846;  Caroline,  April 
21,1849;  Mary,  June  18,1853;  Charles  P., 
September  22,  1855;  Christina,  July  9, 
1859;  Alzina,  December25,  1861 ;  Julius, 
April  10,  1863;  Emma.  April  22,  1865, 
the  first  four  named  being  born  in  Ger- 
main", the  remaining  four  in  Ahnapee, 
Wis.      Of    this    famiiv,  Charlotte    is    the 


wife  of  Perry  Austin,  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Wis. ;  Caroline  is  married  to  Peter  Knorr, 
of  Prescott,  \\'is. ;  Mary  is  a  resident  of 
St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Charles  P.,  is  our  sub- 
ject; Christina  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Per- 
onto,  of  White  Fish  Bay,  Wis. ;  Alzina  is 
the  wife  of  Robert  Mueller,  of  Marinette, 
Wis. ;  Julius  is  proprietor  of  a  cheese 
factory  in  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.; 
Emma  is  the  widow  of  John  Utnehmer, 
of  Ahnapee,  Wis.  .\fter  his  marriage 
Jacob  Berg  owned  and  conducted  a  hotel 
until  1856,  in  which  \ear  he  came  to  the 
United  States,  locating  in  the  village  of 
Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis.,  where  he 
worked  as  a  common  laborer  •  fcjr  two 
years,  at  the  end  oi  that  time  purchasing 
a  forty-acre  tract  of  timberland  in  the 
tosvn  of  Ahnapee,  whereon  he  engaged  in 
farming.  Being  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  this  section,  he  shared  with  the  other 
pioneers  the  hardships  and  trials  of  life  in 
a  sparsely  settled  region,  among  other  in- 
conveniences being  obliged  to  do  without 
flour,  and  consequent!}- bread,  for  months. 
After  a  four-years'  residence  on  his  first 
purchase  he  sold  it,  and  buying  another 
farm  in  the  same  township  continued  to 
engage  in  agricultural  pursuits  up  to  his 
death,  which  occurred  December  14, 
1893;  Mrs.  Berg  preceded  him  to  the 
grave  August  8,   1890. 

During  his  earlier  years  Charles  P. 
Berg  attended  the  common  schools  of 
his  neighborhood,  and  was  trained  to 
farming  on  the  home  place,  where  he  has 
always  resided.  On  December  i,  1886, 
he  was  married  to  Louisa  Mueller,  and 
their  union  has  been  blessed  with  four 
children,  Arthur,  Hilda,  Oscar  and  Helen. 
Mrs.  Berg  was  born  February  16,  1  S63, 
in  Milwaukee,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Al- 
bert and  Amelia  (Goger)  Mueller.  Since 
his  marriage  Mr.  Berg  has  owned  and 
conducted  the  home  farm,  and  he  ranks 
among  the  successful  agriculturists  of  this 
thriving  agricultural  community.  Politic- 
ally he  is  independent,  casting  his  ballot 
invariably  for  the  best  man.  In  religious 
faith  the  faniilv  are  Lutherans. 


COMMEMORATIVK    BIOGRAPmcAL    RECORD. 


619 


HA.  LARSON,  a  prominent  farm- 
er and  stock  raiser,  residing  in 
Section  26,  Forestville  township, 
Door  county,  has  here  made  his 
home  since  1870,  at  which  time  he 
bought  an  eighty-acre  tract  of  land  heav- 
ily covered  with  timber.  No  road  led 
to  the  land,  and  the  nearest  settler  was  a 
mile  and  a  half  distant.  Mr.  Larson  at 
once  began  opening  up  a  farm,  and  in 
course  of  time  the  once  primitive  soil  was 
transformed  into  rich  and  fertile  fields, 
and  to  the  original  purchase  was  added 
another  tract  of  eighty  acres,  mak- 
ing 160  acres  in  all.  One  half  of  this  is 
now  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and 
there  are  good  improvements  upon  the 
place,  the  little  log  cabin  being  no  longer 
used,  for  in  1892  was  erected  a  brick  resi- 
dence 18  X  28  feet,  one  story  and  a  half 
in  height,  with  a  one-story  L  20  x  24  feet. 
There  is  also  a  good  brick  barn,  30  x  50 
feet,  well  arranged,  while  the  other  out- 
buildings are  such  as  are  found  upon  any 
model  farm.  In  addition  to  the  raising  of 
grain,  Mr.  I^arson  makes  a  specialty  of 
the  breeding  of  fine  horses,  having  two 
stallions,  one  a  full-registered  Ch'desdale, 
besides  some  high-grade  Percherons. 

Mr.  Larson  was  born  in  Norway  in 
1856,  a  son  of  H.  and  Mary  (Monk.son) 
Larson,  natives  of  the  same  country, 
where  the  father  followed  farming  until 
1 866.  In  that  year  he  and  his  family 
left  their  old  home  to  try  their  fortune 
in  the  New  World,  taking  passage  at 
Bergen  on  a  sailing  vessel,  which  after 
seven  weeks  and  five  days  dropped  anchor 
in  the  harbor  of  Quebec,  whence  they 
proceeded  by  rail  to  Detroit,  Mich.,  and 
thence  by  boat  to  Manitowoc  county. 
Wis.  In  1870  the  father  settled  on  the 
farm  which  is  now  the  home  of  om-  sub- 
ject. Both  parents  are  yet  li\ing,  and 
the  worthy  couple  have  a  family  of  seven 
children,  as  follows:  Nellie,  wife  of 
Henry  Franzen,  of  Ahnapee,  Wis.,  Mar}-, 
widow  of  Ed  Urtmann,  of  Green  Bay, 
Wis. ;  Henry,  who  is  clerking  in  Iowa; 
Julia,  wife  of  Ole  Nelson,  of  Polk  county, 


Minn. ;  Barbo,  wife  of  Peter  Peterson,  of 
Forestville  township;  H.  A.,  subject  of 
this  sketch,  and  Martin,  who  is  living  in 
Claybanks  township.  Door  county,  and 
is  married  to  a  daughter  of  Gilbert  Ander- 
son. 

H.  A.  Larson  was  reared  in  Mani- 
towoc count}-,  \\'is. ,  from  the  age  of  ten 
years,  and  acquired  his  education  in  its 
public  schools.  He  aided  in  opening  up 
the  home  farm,  and  since  an  early  age 
has  been  familiar  with  all  the  duties  of 
farm  life.  In  1885  he  was  married  in 
Forestville  township  to  Miss  Mary  Ander- 
son, daughter  of  Gilbert  Anderson,  an 
early  pioneer  of  the  township,  and  to 
them  were  born  four  children,  two  of 
whom  are  living — Martin  and  Esther; 
Henry,  the  eldest  child  died  at  the  age  of 
four  \ears,  three  months  and  five  days, 
and  one  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Larson  are  both  members  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  are  prominent  and  well- 
known  people,  whose  friends  in  the  com- 
munity are  many.  In  politics,  Mr.  Lar- 
son is  independent,  voting  for  the  candi- 
date whom  he  thinks  best  qualified  for 
the  office,  regardless  of  party  affiliations. 
He  was  the  f^rst  man  to  settle  in  his  part 
of  the  township,  and  has  ever  been 
recognized  as  one  of  the  best  citizens  in 
the  community,  being  public-spirited  and 
progressive,  and  taking  an  active  interest 
in  everything  calculated  to  promote  the 
general  welfare. 


ROBERT  LOCKHART,  a  progres.s- 
ive  and  prosperous  agriculturist,, 
whose  fine  farm  lies  in  Section  9„ 
Forest\ille  township, Door  count}-, 
was  born  in  County  Armagh,  Ireland,  io 
1837,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Eliza 
(Aikens)  Lockhart,  who  were  also  natives 
of  County  Armagh. 

The  father  of  our  subject  crossed  the 
Atlantic  in  1845,  to  America,  locating  in 
Essex  county,  N.Y.,  where  he  worked  as  a 
laborer  for  a  few  years,  and  then  purchased 
a  farm  whereon   he  passed   his  remaining 


620 


COMMEMORATIVE   BlOGliAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


days,  his  death  occurring  in  i860.  His  first 
wife  died  in  1 84 1 ,  and  in  i  S4G  he  was  joined 
by  his  children  and  his  second  wife,  whom 
he  had  married  in  Ireland,  and  who  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Margaret  Henderson. 
By  the  first  union  there  were  four  chil- 
dren, viz.:  Anna  and  Henry,  who  died  in 
Ireland;  James,  married',  and  now  resid- 
ing in  Forestville  township;  and  Robert, 
our  subject.  By  the  second  marriage 
there  were  two  children:  Ellen,  wife  of 
Da%'id  Kerr,  of  Essex  county.  New  York; 
and  Thomas,  who  died  in  that  county. 

No  event  of  special  importance  oc- 
curred during  the  childhood  and  youth  of 
Robert  Lockhart.  He  was  nine  years  old 
when  he  came  to  this  country,  and  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Esse.x  county, 
N.  Y.,  where  after  attaining  proper  age 
he  began  working  as  a  farm  hand,  also 
engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  charcoal. 
On  leaving  the  Empire  State  he  came  to 
Door  county,  settling  in  Forestville  town- 
ship. Ere  leaving  Essex  county,  N.  Y. , 
he  was  married,  in  1862,  to  Mrs.  Mary 
Uougan,  who  was  born  on  the  Emerald 
Isle,  daughter  of  John  and  Agnes  (Lock- 
hart)  Moore,  natives  of  County  Armagh, 
Ireland ;  the  father  died  many  years  ago, 
and  in  1S57  the  mother  became  a  resident 
of  Essex  county,  whence,  in  1870,  she 
came  to  Door  county,  and  lived  in  Forest- 
ville township  until  called  to  the  home 
beyond,  in  1888.  Of  the  Moore  family 
there  were  five  children,  to  wit:  Will- 
iam, who  came  to  Door  county  in  1870, 
and  was  killed  by  a  falling  tree  in  Forest- 
ville township  in  1879;  Mrs.  Lockhart  is 
the  ne.xt  younger;  Sarah,  wife  of  John 
Gordon  has  her  home  in  Forestville 
township;  Thomas,  who  died  in  Illinois 
in  1868;  and  John,  who  removed  to 
Crawford  county,  Iowa,  but  is  now  living 
in  California.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lockhart 
have  four  children,  namely:  Adelia,  now 
the  wife  of  Edward  Barrand,  a  resident 
of  Ahnapee  township,  Kewaunee  Co., 
Wis.  (they  have  one  child,  Robert  Ed- 
ward) ;  Effie,  wife  of  George  Tagg,  of  For- 
estville township  (they  have  five  children: 


Winnie,  Elsie,  Muriel,  Dora  and  one  as 
yet  unnamed);  Stella,  who  served  as  post- 
mistress of  Maplewood  from  1888  until 
1 89 1,  and  was  married  October  10,1894, 
to  Max  Plettner,  of  Forestville,  Wis. ; 
and  Dora,  who  died  in  1879  at  the  age 
of  nine  years. 

Mr.  Lockhart  is  an  ardent  advocate 
of  Republican  principles,  and  does  all  in 
his  power  to  promote  the  growth  and  in- 
sure the  success  of  the  party,  but  has 
never  been  an  office-seeker,  although  for 
some  six  years  he  served  as  school  treas- 
urer. He  and  his  wife  attend  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  the  family  is  one  of 
prominence  in  the  community,  occupying 
a  leading  position  in  social  circles.  Their 
home  is  a  pleasant  story-and-a-half  resi- 
dence, erected  in  1891,  the  dimensions  of 
the  building  being  30x20  feet,  with  a  one- 
story  L,  16x18  feet.  Mr.  Lockhart  first 
erected  upon  his  farm  a  log  barn,  20  x  56 
feet;  later  he  built  a  frame  barn,  36x50 
feet,  which,  together  with  considerable  hay 
and  farm  machinery  contained  therein, 
was  destroyed  by  fire  September  15,1 893. 
With  characteristic  energy  he  rebuilt  in 
1S94,  and  now  has  a  good  barn,  40x80 
feet  in  size,  one  of  the  best  in  the  town- 
ship. His  farm,  one-half  of  which  is 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  com- 
prises 160  acres,  which,  at  the  time  of  his 
purchase  in  1 870,  was  covered  with  a 
dense  growth  of  timber  and  was  reached 
onl)^  by  a  trail,  no  roads  being  laid  out  to 
the  place;  but  in  appearance  to-day  it 
bears  little  resemblance  to  the  tract  of 
which  he  became  owner  some  twentj'-five 
years  ago,  for  waving  fields  of  grain  now 
delight  the  eye  and  the  accessories  of  a 
model  farm  may  there  be  found. 


JOSEPH  MACHIA,  one  of  the  worthy 
citizens    that  New  York   State  has 
furnished  to  Door  county,  was  born 
in  St.  Lawrence  county,  in  the  Em- 
pire State,  in  1845,  and  is  a  son  of  Lewis 
and  Matilda  Machia. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


and  reared  in  Canada,  and  in  an  carl\' 
day  removed  to  St.  Lawrence  count\', 
N.  Y.,  where  he  resided  until  called  to 
the  home  bej'ond,  in  i86[.  Three  years 
later  his  widow  came  to  Forestville  town- 
ship, Door  Co.,  Wis.,  and  in  1865  was 
married  to  James  Keogh,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  the  township,  and  one  of  its 
valued  citizens  until  his  death  in  1890. 
Mr.  an.d  Mrs.  Machia  were  the  parents  of 
nine  children  (six  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing), of  whom  Lewis,  who  served  one 
year  as  a  member  of  Company  F,  Twen- 
tieth Cavalry,  is  now  living  in  Casco,  Ke- 
waunee Co. ,  Wis. ;  John  enlisted,  in 
1 861,  in  Company  F,  Sixtieth  N.  Y.  \'.  L, 
and,  re-enlisting,  served  with  his  regi- 
ment until  the  close  of  the  war,  when,  in 
186;,  he  located  in  Forestville  township, 
dying  there  in  April,  1894;  Joseph  is  the 
subject  of  these  lines;  David  is  living  in 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. ;  James  resides  in 
Egg  Harbor,  Door  county;  and  Henry 
and  George  are  living  in  Sturgeon  Baj', 
Wisconsin. 

Joseph  Machia  spent  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  and  j'outh  in  the  county  of  his 
nativit}',  his  time  being  devoted  to  work 
upon  the  farm,  and  to  the  study  of  the 
common  English  branches  taught  in  the 
public  schools.  In  January,  1864,  then 
in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  responded  to  the 
country's  call  for  troops,  by  joining  Com- 
pany A,  Tenth  New  York  Artillery;  he 
was  assigned  to  the  army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, and  did  garrison  duty  in  Georgia  until 
peace  was  once  more  restored,  when  he  was 
honorably  discharged.  He  then  returned 
to  his  home  in  New  York  State,  and  the 
following  year  came  by  boat  to  Ahnapee, 
Wis.,  and  from  there  on  foot  to  Forest- 
ville, Door  county,  locating  on  a  farm  in 
Forestville  township,  where  he  secured 
an  eighty-acre  tract  of  land  on  which  not 
a  furrow  had  been  turned  or  an  improve- 
ment of  any  kind  made.  He  at  once  began 
to  clear  and  develop  it,  and  now  has  sev- 
enty acres  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. His  life  has  been  one  of  usefulness; 
but  though  he  has  worked  hard  in  his  own 


interest  he  has  yet  found  time  to  devote 
to  public  affairs,  and  has  ever  discharged 
his  duties  of  citizenship  with  promptness 
and  fidelity. 

In  1873,  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  Mr. 
Machia  was  married  to  Miss  Celia  Olson, 
a  native  of  Norway  and  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Olson,  who  was  born  in  the 
same  country,  and  who  on  emigrating  to 
America  settled  in  Claybanks  township. 
Door  county,  where  he  opened  up  a  farm ; 
he  now  resides  in  North  Dakota,  where 
his  wife  died  December  25,  1892.  Seven 
children  have  been  born  to  our  subject 
and  wife:  Ella,  Frank,  David,  Lydia, 
George,  Elmer  and  Lester.  In  politics 
Mr.  Machia  is  a  Republican;  socially  he 
is  affiliated  with  William  A.  Nelson  Post 
No.  97,  G.  A.  R. ,  of  which  he  is  now 
serving  as  senior  vice-commander.  His 
wife  belongs  to  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  both  have  many  friends  in  this  com- 
munity who   hold   them   in    high   esteem. 


HERMANN  TAUBE,  farmer  and 
stock  raiser  of  Sturgeon  Bay 
township.  Door  county,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Prussia,  Germany,  born 
February  14,  1842.  His  parents,  John 
and  Caroline  (Haft)  Taube,  were  born  in 
Germany,  and  there  passed  their  entire 
lives,  the  father  dying  in  1868,  the  mother 
in  the  autumn  of  1871.  They  reared  a 
famil}-  of  six  children,  as  follows:  Her- 
mann, the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Charles, 
a  resident  of  Berlin,  Germany;  Hannah, 
living  in  Germany;  Albertina,  wife  of 
Otto  Helmholtz,  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. , 
Albert,  who  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis., 
in  1874,  and  in  1880  removed  to  Mil- 
waukee, where  he  now  resides;  and 
Augusta,  who  died  in  Germany. 

Hermann  Taube  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  his  native  country,  and  on  com- 
mencing life  for  himself  at  first  followed 
farming,  later,  for  three  years,  engaging 
in  the  hotel  business.  In  1871  he  came 
to  the  United  States,  arriving  in  Manito- 
woc   countv,    ^^■  is. ,    where    he    hired    out 


622 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


as  a  farm  hand  for  several  months.  In 
1872  he  came  to  Door  county,  and,  pur- 
chasing land  in  Section  33,  Sturgeon 
Bay  township,  commenced  farming  on 
his  own  account.  His  land  was  in  its 
wild  state  at  the  time  he  purchased  it, 
and  required  no  small  amount  of  perse- 
verance and  industry  to  convert  it  to  its 
present  condition  of  fertility.  He  owns 
200  acres,  100  cleared  and  under  culti- 
vation, giving  all  his  attention  to  general 
farming  and  stock  raising,  in  which  he 
has  prospered  greatly;  numerous  improve- 
ments have  been  added  under  his  direc- 
tion, and  in  1S85  a  comfortable  frame 
dwelling  30.S24,  with  a  wing  28x18, 
and  a  stor\-  and  a  half  in  height,  and  a 
barn  40x60  were  erected. 

In  1873  Mr.  Taube  was  married,  in 
Door  county,  to  Miss  Amelia  Zelka,  who 
was  born  in  Germany,  and  came  thence 
to  Door  county.  Wis.,  in  1873.  Her 
parents,  Daniel  and  Dora  (I\raft)  Zelka, 
were  also  born  in  Germany,  where  the 
former  died  in  1864,  and  the  latter  still 
resides:  Henrietta  Kraft,  grandmother  of 
Mrs.  Taube,  has  resided  in  Chicago,  111., 
since  1882.  Ten  children  have  been  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taube,  namely:  Otto, 
Minnie  (who  has  been  a  school  teacher  at 
Forestville  for  two  j'ears),  Dora,  Emma, 
Augusta,  Bertha,  Herman,  Albert,  Ljdia 
and  Henry.  Mr.  Taube  has  always  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  the  educational  in- 
terests of  his  section,  and  assisted  in  the 
organization  of  his  school  district,  also 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  board.  Polit- 
ically he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  German  Meth- 
odist Church  at  I^av  View. 


GUSTAV  CARLSON  was  born  in 
Sweden  August  29,  1840,  and  is 
a  son  of  Charles  Carlson,  a  farmer, 
who  rented  land  of  those  who 
owned  large  tracts  and  leased  it  in  small 
portions.  His  family  numbered  six  chil- 
dren— four  sons  and  two  daughters — of 
whom  Gustav  is  the  eldest  son  and  second 


child.  As  his  parents  were  in  very  lim- 
ited circumstances,  the  privileges  and  ad- 
vantages which  he  received  in  his  jouth 
were  somewhat  limited,  but  his  training 
to  farm  labor  was  bj-  no  means  meager. 
At  an  early  age  he  began  work  in  the 
fields,  and  to  his  father  gave  the  benefit 
of  his  services  until  he  had  attained  his 
majority. 

Afthe  age  of  twenty-two  Mr.  Carlson 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Sophia  An- 
derson, a  native  of  Sweden,  and  upon  a 
rented  farm  they  began  their  domestic 
life,  living  in  that  way  until  their  emigra- 
tion to  America.  With  a  hope  of  better- 
ing their  condition  Mr.  Carlson,  alone,  in 
June,  1880,  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  the 
New  World,  and  making  his  way  to  Chi- 
cago, there  worked  hard  and  lived  eco- 
nomically in  order  to  secure  the  money 
which  would  pay  his  wife's  and  children's 
passage.  In  the  following  September  he 
was  joined  by  his  famil}',  and  the  meeting 
was  a  very  happy  one;  but  a  short  time 
afterward  he  was  taken  ill,  and  for  six 
months  was  unable  to  work.  Their  lot  was 
a  sad  one,  indeed,  for  they  had  nothing  to 
live  upon  save  what  the  wife  and  children 
could  earn.  For  three  years  the\'  contin- 
ued their  residence  in  Chicago,  and  then, 
in  1883.  Mr.  Carlson,  unaccompanied  by 
his  family,  came  to  Wisconsin  in  search  of 
a  suitable  location,  taking  a  train  to  Green 
Bay,  then  by  stage  to  Bay  Settlement, 
whence  he  walked  to  Baileys  Harbor, 
where  he  chopped  wood  for  one  winter. 
In  the  spring  of  1884  he  returned  to  Chi- 
cago and  brought  his  family  to  Jackson- 
port  township.  Door  count}',  settling  in 
Section  20,  where  he  bought  forty  acres 
of  land  on  which  stood  a  rude  shant}' — 
the  first  home  of  the  family  in  this  local- 
ity. Not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  or  an 
improvement  made  upon  the  place;  but 
inspired  with  the  thought  of  securing  a 
good  home  for  his  wife  and  children  Mr. 
Carlson  worked  hard,  and  in  course  of 
time  the  once  wild  land  was  transformed 
into  rich  and  fertile  fields,  which  now 
yield  to  him  a  good  income.      At  present 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


623 


he  owns  120  acres  of  good  land,  sixty-five 
of  which  have  been  placed  under  the 
plow. 

To  our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been 
born  the  following  named  children:  Al- 
fred, Emile,  Ellen,  Hulda,  Herman,  John, 
Clara  and  Emma,  all  yet  living.  The 
parents  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  in  his  political  affiliation  Mr. 
Carlson  is  a  Republican,  but  has  never 
been  an  office-seeker.  He  started  out  in 
life  a  poor  man,  determined  to  make  for 
himself  a  comfortable  home,  and  has 
steadily  worked  his  way  upward  from  an 
humble  position  to  one  of  affluence,  over- 
coming the  difficulties  and  obstacles  in 
his  path  by  industry,  perseverance  and 
well-directed  efforts.  He  need  never 
have  occasion  to  regret  his  removal  to 
America,  for  he  has  prospered  here,  and 
has  not  onl}'  gained  a  comfortable  compe- 
tence, but  has  also  won  many  warm  and 
valued  friends. 


CHARLES  E.  MANN,  who  owns 
and  operates  240  acres  of  land  in 
Baileys  Harbor  township,  Door 
county,  is  a  native  of  New  York 
State,  born  in  Syracuse,  June  5,  1853, 
and  is  the  second  in  the  family  of  eight 
children  of  James  R.  and  Helen  (Rogers) 
Mann,  the  former  of  whom  is  of  English 
descent,  and  by  trade  is  a  miller.  The 
names  of  their  children  are:  Willie, 
Charles  E.,  James,  Fred,  Horatio,  Ella, 
Cora  and  Frank.  The  children  all  re- 
mained at  home  until  they  had  attained 
to  years  of  maturity. 

When  twenty-one  years  of  age  our 
subject  set  out  for  the  West,  hoping  to 
better  his  financial  condition  on  its  broad 
prairies,  and  locating  near  Atlantic,  la., 
he  there  engaged  in  farming  for  two 
years.  Removing  at  the  end  of  that  time 
to  Marne,  la.,  he  there  carried  on  a 
restaurant  for  two  years,  and  then  went  to 
Oakland,  same  State,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  meat  market  business  for  a 
period  of  six  months.      We  next  find  him 


in  Harlin,  also  in  Iowa,  where  he  worked 
at  the  carpenter's  trade  for  ten  years, 
earning  a  good  income  and  saving  some 
capital.  In  1891  he  became  a  resident 
of  Door  county.  Wis.,  and  settled  on  his 
present  farm  of  240  acres  which  was 
given  him  by  George  Bossford,  who  is 
now  a  resident  of  Sevastopol  township. 

On  May  26,  1876,  Mr.  Mann  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Eliza  Boss- 
ford,  daughter  of  George  and  Sarah  Boss- 
ford,  and  their  union  has  been  blessed 
with  seven  children — five  sons  and  two 
daughters — Edward,  Cora,  George,  Clar- 
ence, Bertha,  Clayton  and  Henry,  and 
the  family  circle  yet  remains  unbroken. 
The  land  which  was  given  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mann  was  well  cleared  and  improved 
with  good  buildings,  and  is  still  well  kept 
up,  its  neat  appearance  indicating  the 
enterprise  and  careful  supervision  of  the 
owner.  He  now  devotes  his  entire  time 
and  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
is  meeting  with  good  success.  In  his 
political  views,  Mr.  Mann  is  a  Republican, 
and  keeps  well  informed  on  the  issues  of 
the  day,  but  has  never  been  a  politician 
in  the  sense  of  office-seeking.  Mr.  Mann 
holds  membership  with  the  Seventh  Day 
Adventists  Church,  and  both  are  well- 
known  in  the  community,  highly  respect- 
ed by  their  many  friends  and  acquain- 
tances. 


ANTON  MACH,  member  of  the 
Mach  &  Langer  Brewing  Co., 
Kewaunee,  is  a  native  of  Bohe- 
mia, born  January  6,  1850.  His 
father,  John  Mach,  who  was  a  cloth  manu- 
facturer, died  in  Bohemia  in  1862;  his 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Dora 
Fomandel,  is  still  living  in  that  country. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  our  subject  came 
to  America,  and  for  two  years  worked  on 
a  farm  m  the  town  of  Franklin,  Kewaunee 
county,  whence  he  moved  to  Michigan, 
where  he  worked  in  a  sawmill  fourteen 
years;  then  returned  to  Kewaunee  count}', 
and  for    three    vears  rented  a  farm  and 


624 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


saloon  in  the  town  of  Carlton,  after  which 
he  came  to  Kewaunee  villap;e  and  bought 
a  saloon,  which  he  conducted  three  years 
and  six  months.  In  Januarj',  1890,  he 
bouf^ht  the  Pilsen  Brewery  of  Frank 
Wihlencek,  but  two  weeks  later  sold  one- 
half  interest  to  Joseph  Langcr,  the  style 
of  the  firm  being  now  the  Mach  &  Langer 
Brewing  Co.,  giving  employment  to  three 
men. 

In  1 878  Mr.  Mach  was  married  to  Miss 
Katie  Langcr,  and  to  their  union  have 
been  born  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 
The  family  are  adherents  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  In  politics  Mr.  Mach  is  not  a 
party  man,  but  votes  for  the  nominee 
that  he  considers  to  be  best  suited  for  the 
position.  He  has  had  office  thrust  upon 
him,  however,  and  is  the  present  super- 
visor of  his  ward;  has  also  served  as  alder- 
man, besides  in  some  minor  offices.  He 
is  public-spirited,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  men  of  the  city,  although  he 
never  had  any  education  outside  of  the 
public  schools  of  Bohemia,  excepting 
what  he  has  himself  acquired  without  the 
aid  of  instructors.  .  He  is  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  our  school  system,  and  is  always 
ready  to  lend  it  a  helping  hand. 


RICH.ARD  M.  PERRY,  a  well- 
known  farmer  of  Door  county, 
has,  since  1865,  resided  on  his 
farm  in  Section  29,  Forestville 
township.  He  first  purchased  160  acres 
of  wild  land  on  which  not  a  furrow  had 
been  turned  qr  an  improvement  made, 
and  with  characteristic  energy  began  the 
development  of  a  farm,  transforming  the 
forest  into  rich  and  fertile  fields,  and  im- 
proving the  place  with  good  buildings. 
He  has  cleared  245  acres  of  land,  and 
now  owns  300  acres,  230  of  which  are 
under  cultivation — a  greater  amount 
than  is  owned  by  anj'  other  man  in  the 
township.  Mr.  Perry  has  resided  in 
Door  count)'  since  1857,  having  located 
first  on  Wolf  river,  after  which  he  en- 
gaged in    lumbering,   getting  out  ties  and 


posts,  and  making  shingles  by  hand. 
He  had  removed  to  this  State  from  New 
York,  but  Ireland  is  the  land  of  his  birth, 
he  having  been  born  in  County  Tippcrary 
in  1840.  His  parents,  John  and  Susan 
(Minchin)  Perry,  were  also  natives  of 
Ireland,  and  died  in  that  country.  Four 
of  their  children  became  residents  of 
Wisconsin,  namely:  John,  who  settled  in 
Door  county  at  an'  early  day  and  after- 
ward went  to  California;  Samuel,  who  at 
one  time  followed  farming  in  Door 
county,  but  is  now  a  merchant  of  Ahan- 
pee;  Matthew  and  Richard  M.,  leading 
agriculturists  of  Forestville  township. 

Our  subject  spent  the  first  twelve 
}ears  of  his  life  on  the  Emerald  Isle  and 
then  came  alone  to  America.  In  New 
York  State  and  in  Canada  he  worked  on 
farms  as  a  day  laborer  until  coming  to  Wis- 
consin in  1856.  In  1859  he  went  to  Louisi- 
ana, and  for  two  winters  was  employed  by 
a  planter  to  take  charge  of  a  wood-yard 
on  the  Mississippi.  In  the  summer  of 
1 860  he  was  employed  by  the  government, 
driving  teams  to  Salt  Lake  City,  then 
spent  the  following  winter  in  Louisiana, 
whence  he  went  to  Indiana,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion. 

In  1 86 1  Mr.  Perry  responded  to  the 
country's  call  for  troops  by  joining  Com- 
pany E,  Fourteenth  Wis.  V.  I.,  three 
years'  service,  and  when  that  term  ex- 
pired he  veteranized  and  was  with  his 
regiment  until  after  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  was  with  the  army  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh, 
luka,  Corinth,  Raymond,  Champion  Hills, 
Black  River  Bridge,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Atlanta,  Ezra  Church,  Lovejoy  Station 
and  Bentonville,  besides  in  many  minor 
engagements.  He  then  took  part  in  the 
Grand  Review  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
after  which  he  went  to  Mobile,  Ala., 
where  he  did  provost  duty  until  honorably 
discharged,  October  9,  1865.  At  once 
returning  to  his  home  in  Door  county, 
he  has  since  been  engaged  in  general  farm- 
ing and  in  the  raising  of  Holstein  cattle 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


625 


and  Berkshire  hogs;   he  is  also  interested 
in  dairy  farming. 

In  1867,  in  Door  count}',  Mr.  Perry 
married  Miss  Anna  Konopp,  a  native  of 
Penns3lvania  and  a  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Gertrude  (Bretz)  Konopp,  who  were  born 
in  Germany  and  about  the  year  1865  be- 
came residents  of  Ahnapee,  Wis.,  where 
the  father  carried  on  farming  until  his 
removal  to  Door  county.  His  death 
occurred  in  1883;  his  widow  is  still  liv- 
ing in  Ahnapee.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perry 
have  six  children — Richard  M.,  a  commis- 
sion merchant  of  Milwaukee;  Susan,  wife 
of  Julius  Sehute,  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. ; 
Anna,  Edward,  Henry  and  Elizabeth,  all 
yet  at  home.  Mr.  Perry  aided  in  cutting 
the  first  road  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  has 
generally  assisted  in  opening  up  and  de- 
veloping Door  county,  in  the  progress  of 
which  he  still  manifests  a  commendable 
interest.  He  is  a  stalwart  adherent  of 
the  Republican  party  and  its  principles, 
and  has  been  called  upon  to  fill  a  num- 
ber of  positions  of  public  trust,  having 
been  postmaster  at  Forestville  for  eleven 
years,  while  in  1 890  he  was  census  enu- 
merator. He  also  served  as  assessor  and 
supervisor,  and  in  all  these  offices  has  dis- 
charged his  duties  with  a  promptness  and 
fidelity  which  have  won  him  marked  com- 
mendation. Mr.  Perry  belongs  to  William 
A.  Nelson  Post,  No.  97,  G.  A.  R. ,  is  now 
serving  as  adjutant,  and  was  the  honored 
commander  of  the  Post  for  some  years. 

Matthew  Perry  was  born  in  County 
Tipperary,  Ireland,  in  1838,  also  a  son 
of  John  and  Susan  (Minchin)  Perry. 
There  he  was  reared  and  educated,  and 
in  1856,  having  emigrated  to  America,  he 
settled  in  Door  county,  where  he  worked 
at  various  occupations,  including  shingle 
making  until  1861,  when,  prompted  by  a 
spirit  of  patriotism,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany E,  Fourteenth  Wis.  V.  I.,  and  with 
the  army  of  the  Tennessee  took  part  in 
the  engagements  enumerated  in  the 
sketch  of  his  brother,  Richard  M.,  and 
took  part  in  the  Grand  Review  at  Wash- 
ington.     He   had  re-enlisted  in  the  win- 


ter of  1863-64,  and  after  leaving  Wash- 
ington went  to  Pittsburg,  thence  to  New 
Orleans  and  on  to  Mobile,  where  he  did 
provost  duty  until  honorably  discharged, 
in  October,  1S65. 

On  his  return  to  Wisconsin,  Mr. 
Perry  began  farming  in  Forestville  town- 
ship. Door  county,  having  secured  160 
acres  of  timber  land,  to  which  he  has 
added  until  he  now  has  iSo  acres,  140 
being  well  cultivated  and  improved.  He 
also  raises  a  good  grade  of  stock,  a  branch 
of  his  business  that  yields  him  a  good  in- 
come. His  life  has  been  a  busy  and  use- 
ful one,  yet  he  has  found  time  to  devote 
to  public  interests,  and  has  always  borne 
his  part  in  advancing  worthy  enterprises. 
Among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  county 
he  is  numbered,  and  as  such  well  deserves 
mention  in  this  volume. 

In  1865  Matthew  Perry  was  married 
to  Miss  Adaline  McChenzie,  who  was 
born  in  Germany,  a  daughter  of  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Kewaunee  county,  Wis., 
John  McChenzie,  who  died  in  1889;  her 
mother  is  still  living  on  the  same  old 
homestead  in  that  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Perry  have  si.\  children:  Samuel,  Mat- 
thew, Hattie,  Edward,  Lizzie  and  one 
whose  name  is  not  given.  They  lost  two 
children:  Thomas,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  years;  and  William,  who 
died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Perry  votes  with 
the  Republican  party  and  takes  quite  an 
active  interest  in  politics,  while  socially 
he  is  connected  with  William  A.  Nelson 
Post,  No.  397,  G.  A.  R,,  of  Forestville, 
in  which  he  has  served  as  sergeant-major. 


GEORGE  D.  ROBERTS,  who 
holds  a  prominent  place  among 
the  prosperous  agriculturists  and 
landowners  of  Ahnapee  township, 
Kewaunee  count}',  is  a  native  of  ^^'ales, 
born  January  2,  1853,  in  Llangollen. 
His  ancestors  were  farming  people  in  that 
country. 

Godfrey   William    Roberts,    father   of 


630 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPmCAL   RECORD. 


our  subject,  was  born  in  Wales,  and  was 
t  educated  in  the  Welsh  language.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Jones,  a  native  of  the 
same  country,  whose  family  were  promi- 
nent and  wealthy  people  in  the  neighbor- 
hood in  which  they  lived,  man\-  of  the 
members  thereof  being  government  offi- 
cials and  well-known  in  the  Navy  depart- 
ment. To  Godfrey  W.  and  Elizabeth 
(Jones)  Roberts,  were  born  twelve  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  died  in  Wales.  Of 
the  others,  Evan  is  now  a  resident  of 
Birnamwood,  Shawano  Co.,  Wis.;  John 
is  living  in  Menominee,  Mich. ;  Mary  Jane 
is  the  wife  of  John  Sullivan,  of  Milwau- 
kee, Wis.;  Joseph  lives  in  Birnamwood; 
David  comes  ne.xt  in  order;  George  D.  is 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch; 
Elizabeth  is  married  to  John  Bach,  of 
Chicago:  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
Kugler,  of  Milwaukee;  Almira  is  the  wife 
of  Perry  Fay,  of  Chicago;  Godfrey  is  a 
resident  of  Birnamwood.  In  1858  Mr. 
Roberts  came  with  his  family  to  the 
United  States,  locating  first  at  Racine, 
Wis.,  where  he  followed  blacksmithing 
for  one  year,  and  then  removed  to  Ah- 
napee,  Kewaunee  county,  here  purchas- 
ing the  farm  our  subject  now  owns  and 
occupies.  The  land  being  still  in  its 
primitive  condition,  he  commenced  at 
once  to  clear  away  the  timber  and  pre- 
pare the  soil  for  cultivation,  following 
general  agriculture  on  the  place  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  i860.  When 
he  arrived  in  the  United  States  he  was  a 
poor  man,  but  he  was  a  man  of  consider- 
able energj'  and  perseverance,  and  by 
good  business  management  and  steady 
industry  had  accumulated  considerable 
property,  and  gained  for  himself  an  en- 
viable reputation  for  honesty  and  open- 
hearted  generositj-.  I5cing  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  the  township,  he  experi- 
enced many  of  the  hardships  incident  to 
pioneer  life;  but  he  lived  to  see  the  re- 
gion developed  from  a  wilderness  to  a 
prosperous  farming  community.  In  jiolit- 
ical  faith  he  was  a  member  of  the  Repub- 
licen  part}',  and  in  religious  connection  a 


member  of  the  Church  of  England,  as 
was  also  his  wife.  Mrs.  Roberts  was  a 
lady  of  considerable  education  and  re- 
finement; she  was  a  sister  of  John  Jones, 
a  millionaire  and  prominent  man  of  Lon- 
don, England;  he  is  a  manufacturer  of 
watches,  also  holds  large  interests  in  rail- 
roads, and  now  owns  the  farm  once 
owned  by  the  mother  of  Henry  VII,  of 
England. 

George  D.  Roberts  came  with  his  par- 
ents to  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  in  the 
common  schools  of  which  locality  he  was 
educated,  at  the  same  time  receiving  a 
thorough  agricultural  training  on  the  home 
farm.  When  a  young  man  he  learned  the 
blacksmith's  trade,  which  he  followed 
more  or  less  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
1879  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Elizabeth  Frank,  daughter  of  Capt.  J.  D. 
Frank,  and  of  German  e.xtraction.  She 
died  one  year  and  ten  days  after  her  mar- 
riage, at  the  early  age  of  twenty-three, 
and  is  buried  at  Ahnapee.  On  April  2, 
1884,  Mr.  Roberts  was  again  married, 
this  time  to  Pauline  Braasch,  a  native  of 
Mishicot,  Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis.,  born 
May  5,  1854,  the  eighth  in  the  family  of 
nine  children  born  to  Frederick  and 
Sophia  (Hanson)  Braasch,  the  former  of 
whom  was  a  native  of  Saxony,  Germany, 
the  latter  of  Danish  ancestry.  Mr. 
Braasch  was  a  man  of  thorough  educa- 
tion, having  graduated  from  two  uni\ersi- 
ties,  and  possessed  considerable  natural 
ability;  his  wife  had  also  received  a  care- 
ful literary  training,  and  was  well  edu- 
cated, both  in  German  and  French.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Braasch  are  now  deceased, 
he  having  died  in  1884,  she  in  1892,  con- 
sistent members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
They  were  among  the  early  settlers  of 
Mishicot,  Wis.,  of  which  place  Mr. 
Braasch,  who  was  a  veterinary  surgeon  by 
occupation,  became  a  citizen  of  much 
prominence. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  have  been 
born  five  children,  as  follows:  Gladys, 
October  12,  1885;  Luella,  August  2, 
1887;  George  E.,  May  28,  1889;  David  J., 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


62"; 


November  15,  1890,  and  Bessie  B.,  Sep- 
tember 5,  1892.  Since  his  marriage  Mr. 
Roberts  has  been  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits,  now  owning  the  home  farm, 
consisting  of  200  acres  of  good  land,  and 
is  one  of  the  substantial  agriculturists  of 
the  township.  Politically,  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican. The  family  attend  the  M.  E. 
Church,  Mrs.  Roberts,  however,  being  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  In  1884 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  visited  relatives  in 
England,  and  had  a  most  enjoyable  trip, 
of  which  they  recall  many  pleasant  inci- 
dents. 


JOSEPH  ULLSPERGER  is  one  of 
the  leading  and  influential  citizens  of 
Door  county,  and  is  now  serving  as 
town  clerk  of  Forestville  township, 
which  position  he  has  filled  for  six  years. 
He  is  also  an  enterprising  general  mer- 
chant of  the  town  of  Forestville,  and 
proprietor  of  a  cheese  factory,  has  made 
his  home  in  this  locality  since  1878,  and 
has  been  a  resident  of  the  State  since 
1868. 

Mr.  Ullsperger  was  born  in  Bohemia 
in  1854,  and  is  a  son  of  Wenzel  and 
Frances  fDeofler)  Ullsperger,  also  natives 
of  that  land,  who  in  1868,  having  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  the  New  World,  located 
in  Pierce  township,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis., 
where  they  are  still  living.  They  had  a 
family  of  ten  children,  namely.  Joseph; 
John,  who  was  killed  by  a  failing  tree  in 
Clay  Banks  township.  Door  count}',  in 
1874;  Wenzel,  who  is  interested  in  a 
cheese  factory  in  Ahnapee,  Wis. ;  George, 
who  is  living  in  Marinette,  Wis. ;  Theresa, 
wife  of  John  Hundseder,  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Wis. ;  Rudolph,  who  makes  his  home  with 
his  parents;  Anton,  who  died  in  Bohemia 
at  the  age  of  three  years;  Anna,  wife  of 
Robert  Bufflot,  of  Kewaunee  county.  Wis.  ; 
Frank,  who  is  engaged  in  tailoring  in 
Wausaukee,  Wis.,  and  John,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  ten  months.  Our  subject  spent 
the  first  twelve  years  of  his  life  in  Bohemia, 


then  accompanied  his  parents  to  America, 
and  with  his  grandfather,  Frederic  Doefier, 
went  to  Cook  county.  111.,  locating  on  a 
farm  where  an  uncle  lived.  In  1867  the 
grandfather  came  to  Kewaunee  county. 
Wis. ,  and  in  1 869  returned  to  Bohemia, 
where  he  died  in  1 876.  Joseph  Ullsperger 
acquired  the  greater  part  of  his  education 
in  his  native  land,  and  after  coming  to 
this  country  he  attended  school  in  Cook 
county.  111.,  for  two  terms,  learning  to 
read  and  write  the  English  language. 
During  the  earlier  years  of  his  manhood 
he  followed  farming,  continuing  in  that 
occupation  until  he  turned  his  attention 
to  commercial  pursuits.  In  1872  he  came 
to  Door  county,  and  in  1878  located  on 
Section  7,  Forestville  township,  there 
securing  about  eighty  acres  of  land  covered 
with  timber,  which  he  at  once  began  to 
clear.  On  coming  to  Forestville  he  sold 
that  property,  and  in  1883  established  a 
factory  in  Forestville  for  the  manufacture 
of  full  cream  cheese,  in  addition  to  which 
he,  in  1887,  opened  a  general  mercantile 
store.  These  two  lines  of  business  he  has 
since  followed  with  good  success,  work- 
ing up  an  excellent  trade,  from  which  he 
derives  a  good  income. 

Mr.  Ullsperger  was  married  in  Pierce 
township,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.,  in  1879, 
to  Miss  Mary  D.  Peters,  who  was  born  in 
Milwaukee,  a  daughter  of  Mathias  and 
Barbara  (Williams)  Peters,  natives  of 
Prussia,  who,  crossing  the  briny  deep  in 
an  early  day,  became  residents  of  Mil- 
waukee, and  about  1866  removed  to 
Pierce  township,  Kewaunee  county,  where 
the  father  opened  up  a  farm;  his  death 
occurred  in  1874;  his  wife  died  in  1891. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ullsperger  were  born 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  are  yet  liv- 
ing: Mary  D.,  Anna,  Helen,  Joseph  and 
George;  John  died  at  the  age  of  ten 
months,  and  two  died  in  infancy.  In 
politics  our  subject  is  a  stanch  Democrat, 
has  frequently  served  as  delegate  to  the 
County  Convention  of  his  party,  and  on 
the  Democratic  ticket  has  six  times  been 
elected  to   his  present  position   of  town 


628 


COMMEMORATIVE   BTOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


clerk  of  Forestville  township,  which  he 
has  all  along  creditably  and  acceptably 
tilled.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
thr  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  he  be- 
lonjjs  to  the  Catholic  Knights.  During 
his  residence  in  Door  county,  Mr.  Ulls- 
perger  has  witnessed  many  changes,  has 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  development 
and  upbuilding  of  his  town  and  township, 
and  has  manifested  a  commendable  in- 
terest in  ever_\thing  pertaining  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  community. 


ALBERT  WOBSER,  who  owns  a 
fine  farm  of  200  acres  in  Section 
36,  Nasewaupee  township,  Door 
county,  was  born  in  Germany  in 
1S41.  His  parents,  John  and  Caroline 
(Kuhter)  Wobser,  were  natives  of  the 
Province  of  Pomerania,  Prussia,  where 
the  father  was  a  shoemaker.  He  died  in 
i860,  and  his  widow  came  to  America  in 
1 86 1,  and  to  Door  county.  Wis.,  in  1871, 
making  her  home  in  Forestville  township. 
She  was  a  strong  healthy  woman,  and  a 
very  hard  worker;  her  death  occurred  in 
September,  1891,  when  she  was  aged 
seventy-eight  years.  She  had  but  one 
child,  Albert. 

Our  subject  attended  the  public  schools 
of  German}',  and  at  a  suitable  age  learned 
his  father's  trade,  that  of  shoemaking. 
In  1861  he  emigrated  to  America,  for 
some  time  residing  in  Canada,  where,  in 
Toronto,  Ontario,  he  worked  at  his  trade 
and  at  the  butcher  business.  He  next 
went  to  Chicago,  111.,  and  subsequently 
to  Milwaukee  where  he  engaged  in  the 
shoe  business.  In  January,  1865,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Regi- 
ment, Wis.  V.  I.,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  detachment  of  the  army  of  the  Cum- 
berland which  was  stationed  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  on  picket  duty  and  guarding  the 
trains.  He  was  honorably  discharged  as 
sergeant  in  1865  at  Nashville,  and  re- 
turned to  Milwaukee  where  he  continued 
in  business  until  1869,  when  he  sold  out 


and  removed  to  Forestville,  Door  county, 
and  here  bought  320  acres  of  land. 
Later  he  sold  160  acres,  and  improved 
the  remainder;  then  bought  eighty  acres 
more.  W'hen  he  came  to  Forestville  he 
exchanged  forty  acres  to  a  man  for  forty 
daj's'  work,  in  order  to  have  a  neighbor 
nearer  than  two  miles  away.  In  1873  he 
sold  his  whole  farm  here  and  recom- 
menced the  shoe  business  in  Milwau- 
kee; but  ere  the  expiry  of  two  years  he 
abandoned  the  busmess  and  returned  to 
Door  countj',  where  he  took  up  a  home- 
stead of  160  acres  in  Section  36,  Nase- 
waupee township,  which  at  that  time  was 
all  woods,  at  once  commencing  the  diffi- 
cult task  of  clearing  and  preparing  the 
ground  for  cultivation.  He  added  forty 
acres  to  his  farm,  and  now  has  200  acres, 
of  which  sixty  acres  are  cleared  and  grow- 
ing very  fine  crops.  About  five  years  ago 
he  went  into  gardening  and  fruit  raising. 
While  li\ing  in  Milwaukee  Mr.  Wobser 
was  married,  in  1866,  to  Miss  Charlotta. 
daughter  of  Karl  Dommer.  of  Germany, 
where  she  was  born.  She  is  the  mother 
of  seven  children,  as  follows:  Hans,  who 
operates  a  cheese  factory;  and  Hugo, 
Hermann,  Henry,  Herbert,  Helena  and 
Hedwig,  residing  at  home.  Mr.  Wobser 
votes  with  the  Republican  party,  and 
while  living  in  Forestville  township  was 
town  clerk,  but  he  resigned  before  the  end 
of  his  term  and  left  the  town  for  Milwau- 
kee. He  assisted  in  organizing  the  school 
district  in  which  he  resided,  and  was  a 
school  officer  for  twelve  years;  was  also 
town  chairman  of  Nasewaupee  in  1 880. 
Although  his  army  experience  was  very 
brief,  he  thoroughly  enjoys  the  soldiers' 
reunions,  and  is  an  enthusiastic  member 
of  the  William  A.  Nelson  Post,  Number 
97.  Mr.  Wobser  has  a  much  better  edu- 
cation than  the  majority  of  men  who  do 
manual  labor;  in  addition  to  the  common 
course  of  study  in  Germany,  he  studied 
law  for  two  3'ears,  but  abandoned  that 
profession  to  come  to  the  United  States. 
Mr.  W^obser  traveled  considerably  when 
he  was  young;  he  was  in  five  States  on 


COMMEMORA  TIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


629 


the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  and  in 
twelve  States  on  this  side,  but  everything 
considered  he  likes  Door  county,  Wis., 
the  best. 


ALEXANDER  LAWSON,  Jr.,  has 
since  1878  resided  upon  his  fine 
farm  in  Section  2,  Forestville 
township,  Door  county,  but  the 
iiighly  cultivated  tract  of  to-day  bears  lit- 
tle resemblance  to  the  crude  land  which 
he  purchased.  He  became  owner  of 
eighty  acres,  forty  of  which  he  has  under 
cultivation,  the  rich  and  fertile  fields 
yielding  to  him  a  golden  tribute  in  return 
for  the  care  and  labor  he  bestows  upon 
them. 

Mr.  Lawson  was  born  in  Essex  coun- 
ty, N.  Y,  in  1850,  but  was  reared  in  Clin- 
ton county,  and  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Clintonville,  after 
which  he  started  out  to  make  his  own  way 
in  the  world,  earning  his  livelihood  by 
mining  and  teaming,  hauling  charcoal  and 
iron  ore.  Thus  his  time  was  passed 
until  his  emigration  westward,  after  which 
he  worked  for  one  year  on  the  home  farm, 
and  then  sought  employment  in  the  mills 
and  in  the  lumber  woods,  devoting  his 
energies  to  these  occupations  until  1878, 
when  he  began  operating  his  present  farm. 
On  January  i,  1877,  in  Forestville  town- 
ship, Door  count}',  he  married  Miss 
Katie  Eiermann,  who 
towoc  county,  Wis. , 
Eiermann,  a  native 
came  to  this  country,  and  in  pioneer  days 
took  up  his  residence  in  Manitowoc  coun- 
ty upon  a  wooded  farm ;  he  there  died  on 
the  old  homestead  in  1888,  where  his 
widow  is  still  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Law- 
son  have  three  children:  William  John, 
Edith  and  Frank. 

Our  subject  has  witnessed  much  of  the 
growth  and  development  of  Door  county, 
and  has  aided  in  its  progress  and  ad- 
vancement by  giving  his  support  to  every 
enterprise  calculated  to  prove  of  public 
benefit.    He  is  recognized  as  a  progressive 


was  born  in  Mani- 
daughter  of  Joseph 
of  Germany,    who 


citizen,  and  in  the  history  of  his  adopted 
county  well  deserves  representation.  He 
votes  with  the  Republican  party,  and  has 
served  as  constable  of  his  township.  The 
sketch  of  his  father  we  give  below. 

Alexander  Lawson,  Sr.  ,  has  since 
1870  resided  in  Section  10,  Forestville 
township,  Door  county,  where  he  first 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land,  beginning 
at  once  to  clear  it  of  the  heavy  growth  of 
timber.  His  first  home  was  a  log  cabin 
18  X  14  feet,  which  was  replaced  by  a 
blockhouse,  26  x  20  feet,  one  story  and  a 
half  in  height,  with  a  one-story  L,  14  x  18 
feet.  This  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1893, 
and  in  October  of  the  same  year  he 
erected  his  present  residence,  20  x  20 
feet,  with  an  L,  20x18  feet.  As  his 
financial  resources  have  increased,  he  has 
also  extended  the  boundaries  of  his  farm, 
and  now  owns  i  50  acres  of  good  land,  of 
which  fifty  acres  have  been  placed  under 
the  plow,  and  now  yield  to  the  owner 
good  crops  as  the  reward  for  his  care  and 
labor. 

Mr.  Lawson  was  born  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  in  1825,  and  is  a  son  cf  Alex- 
ander and  Sarah  (Stewart)  Lawson,  the 
former  also  born  in  Glasgow,  and  the 
latter  in  Dundee,  Scotland.  The  father, 
who  was  a  butcher  by  trade,  in  1827  re- 
moved to  Bainbridge,  and  thence  to  Rath- 
fryland.  County  Down,  Ireland,  where  he 
followed  his  trade  and  made  his  home  un- 
til 1879,  when,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
one  hundred  add  two  years,  six  months, 
he  passed  away.  His  wife  died  in  1869. 
They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children, 
namely:  James,  who  emigrated  to  Essex 
county,  N.  Y. ,  in  1862,  and  died  in  1872; 
John  and  Ann,  both  of  whom  died  in 
Ireland;  Jane,  who  became  the  wife  of 
John  McCrum,  and  died  in  the  Emerald 
Isle;  Eliza,  wife  of  James  Brown,  of 
Rathfryland,  Ireland;  William,  who  emi- 
grated to  Philadelphia  in  1847,  and 
the  following  year  became  an  Indiana 
farmer,  his  death  occurring  in  Prince- 
ton, Ind.,  in  1887;  David,  who  is  mar- 
ried and  follows  farming  in  Essex  county, 


630 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


N.  Y.,  where  he  located  in  1850;  Alex- 
ander, subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Mary 
and  Stewart,  who  died  in  Ireland.  The 
grandparents  of  this  family.  William  and 
Sallie  (Harbison)  Lawson,  were  also  na- 
tives of  Scotland,  and  throughout  his  life 
the  grandfather  followed  butcherinji  in 
Cila.sf^ow. 

Aie.xander  Lawson,  Sr. ,  was  reared 
on  a  farm  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  and 
attended  its  public  schools  until  he  began 
work  for  himself  as  a  farm  hand.  In 
1847  he  determined  to  seek  a  home  in 
the  New  World,  hoping  thereby  to  benefit 
his  financial  condition,  and  sailed  from 
W'arrens  Point  Island,  on  the  brig  "  Sea 
Bird,"  which  was  commanded  by  Capt. 
John  ^^'ray,  and  which,  after  a  voyage  of 
si.Nty-two  days,  dropped  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  New  Vork.  From  there  Mr. 
Lawson  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  engaged  in  wea\  ing  for  nearly  three 
years,  and  then  removed  to  Esse.x  county, 
N.  v.,  and  here  purchased  a  farm  of  fifty 
acres;  but  for  nearly  eighteen  years  there- 
after he  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Iron 
Company  as  overseer,  severing  his  con- 
nection with  the  firm  on  his  remo\al  to 
Wisconsin.  Mr.  Lawson  was  married  in 
County  Down.  Ireland,  in  1846,  to  Miss 
Ellen  McMahon,  who  was  born  in  that 
county,  as  were  also  her  parents,  James 
and  Jane  (Robinson)  McMahon,  who 
passed  their  entire  lives  in  the  Emerald 
Isle.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawson  became  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  as  follows: 
Sarah  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  months; 
Alexander,  Jr.,  is  fully  spoken  of  above; 
Ellen  is  the  wife  of  A.  K.  Liut^,  a  banker, 
of  (ladott.  Wis. ;  William  is  married  and 
lives  near  his  father;  Anna  is  the  wife  of 
J.  E.  Spal.sbnry,  of  Clay  Banks  township. 
Door  county;  Eliza  is  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Schneider,  of  Forestville;  Frances  is  the 
wife  of  Albert  Mitts,  of  Clay  Banks  town- 
ship;  Sarah  died  in  New  \'ork. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Lawson  is  a  Republi- 
can, keeps  well  informed  on  the  issues  of 
the  daj',  and  is  deeply  interested  in  the 
leading  questions.    He  has  served  as  clerk 


of  Forestville  township,  was  also  assessor, 
has  been  a  member  of  the  town  board, 
and  for  about  eighteen  years  has  been 
justice  of  the  peace,  a  fact  which  indicates 
his  fidelity  to  duty  and  the  trust  reposed 
in  him.  He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers 
in  the  organization  of  the  school  district, 
has  always  been  a  friend  to  education, 
and  has  withheld  his  support  from  no  en- 
terprise calculated  to  promote  the  general 
welfare  and  advance  the  county's  best 
interests. 


HON.    MICHAEL  C.    HANEY,   of 
Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  wide- 
1)'  and  favorably  known  in  business 
circles  throughout  northern  W'is- 
consin,  is  a  native  of  New  York  State,  born 
December  i,   1855,  in  Alexander,  Genesee 
count}'. 

Thomas  Haney,  father  of  Hon.  Mich- 
ael C.  Haney,  was  born  near  Sligo,  Ire- 
land, was  reared  to  farming,  and  received 
all  his  education  in  his  native  country,  be 
coming  well  read  in  historical  matters, 
and  especially  conversant  with  the  history 
of  Great  Britain.  In  early  manhood  he 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  locating 
first  in  Genesee  county,  N.  Y. .  where  he 
followed  farming,  and  where  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Margaret  Clancy,  a  native 
of  Clare,  Ireland.  In  1859  they  removed 
to  Wisconsin,  residing  one  year  in  She- 
boygan, and  thence  coming  to  Ellisville, 
Kewaunee  county,  where  they  lived  a 
number  of  years,  Mr.  Haney  becoming 
one  of  ths  most  successful  farmers  of  the 
county.  In  1880  he  retired  from  active 
life,  removing  into  the  city  of  Manitowoc, 
where  he  and  his  wife  and  daughter  yet 
make  their  home.  Thomas  Haney  is  a 
man  of  strong  convictions  and  great  force 
of  character,  and  was  a  leader  in  town- 
ship andcounty  affairs,  taking  an  independ- 
ent stand  in  political  matters,  and  giving 
his  vote  and  support  to  the  l)est  man  re- 
gardless of  party  connection.  There  are 
three  children  in  his  family:      Michael  C, 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


631 


John  L.  (of  Kewaunee)  and  Mary  A.  (of 
Manitowoc). 

Michael  C.  Haney  received  the  bene- 
fit of  the  common  schools  of  Kewaunee 
county,  and  also  attended  Green  Bay 
Business  College,  where  he  took  a  full 
commercial  course.  For  five  years  he 
successfully  taught  school  in  Brown  and 
Kewaunee  counties,  and  then  remo\'ed  to 
Kewaunee,  where  he  engaged  in  the  agri- 
cultural implement  business  in  partner- 
ship with  his  brother,  and  so  successful 
were  they  that  after  one  year  they  re- 
moved to  Ahnapee,  establishing  them- 
selves in  the  same  line  here.  The  firm  is 
known  as  Haney  Bros. ,  and  they  handle 
everything  in  the  way  of  farm  implements! 
also  wagons  and  carriages,  carrying  as 
complete  a  stock  as  can  be  found  in 
Kewaunee  and  Door  counties.  They  have 
another  store  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  from 
which  they  supply  Door  county,  and  their 
trade,  in  the  implement  line,  is  unques- 
tionably the  largest  in  the  State  north  of 
Milwaukee.  Mr.  Haney's  business  meth- 
ods have  been  strictly  honest,  his  good 
name  and  good  will  being  second  to  none 
in  the  State.  It  takes  time  to  build  up  a 
good  business,  and  more  time  to  build  up 
a  good  character,  but  he  has  succeeded  in 
doing  so  in  a  comparatively  short  period. 
Since  1880  Mr.  Haney  has  been  identified 
with  Ahnapee,  and  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  its  growth  and  development, 
proving  himself  a  useful  citizen  and  a 
champion  of  every  good  enterprise. 
Politically  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  in  the 
fall  of  1 886  was  nominated  and  elected  by 
the  party  for  member  of  the  Assembly, 
holding  the  office  two  years,  during  which 
he  served  on  the  conmiittee  of  Incorpcjra- 
tions  and  made  a  creditable  record  as  a 
legislator. 

In  addition  to  his  implement  business, 
above  mentioned,  Mr.  Haney  is  also  con- 
nected with  the  Ahnapee  &  Western  rail- 
road, of  which  he  is  vice-president;  is  a 
stockholder  and  director  in  the  Ahnapee 
Veneer  &  Seating  Co.,  and  stockholder 
and    director    in   the   Ahnapee   Furniture 


Co.,  all  of  which  he  helped  and  protected 
in  their  infancy.  His  influence  among 
his  fellow  citizens  is  widespread,  and  a 
strong  moral  character  and  high  sense  of 
integrit}'  directs  that  infiuence  to  the 
furtherance  of  every  project  that  promises 
to  be  useful  and  beneficial  to  himself  and 
his  fellow  men.  Oneof  the  most  substantial 
men  in  the  county,  he  is  at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  most  quiet  and  unobtru- 
sive, showing,  however,  when  occasion 
demands  it,  a  reserve  force  and  a  strength 
of  will  that  are  as  powerful  as  une.\- 
pected. 


IVl 


ELVIN  HAINES,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Nasevvaupee  town- 
ship. Door  county,  is  well 
known  throughout  the  county 
as  a  successful  and  public-spirited  busi- 
ness man.  He  is  a  native  of  Ozaukee 
county.  Wis.,  and  was  born  in  1850. 
His  parents,  Tellack  and  Ellen  (Halver- 
son)  Haines,  came  originally .  from  Nor- 
way and  settled  in  Canada  in  1848, 
where  thej'  remained  two  years,  then  re- 
moved to  Ozaukee  county.  Wis.,  where 
they  purchased  the  farm  on  which  our 
subject  was  born.  When  Melvin  was  six 
years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to 
Door  count}'  where  the}'  bought  a  tract 
of  timber  land,  on  which,  after  clearing, 
they  made  their  home.  As  the  surround- 
ing country  was  wholly  undeveloped  at 
that  time,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
educational  advantages  were  very  limited, 
the  children  or  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tellack 
Haines  received  but  a  meager  amount  of 
schooling.  The  mother  died  in  Nasevvau- 
pee township  in  1878. 

In  1868  Melvin  Haines,  our  subject, 
went  to  Central  City,  also  to  Idaho 
Springs,  Colo.,  and  at  the  latter  place 
spent  four  years  working  in  the  mines. 
Later  he  learned  photography,  and  opened 
a  gallery  in  Golden  City  (Colo.).  The 
patronage  not  being  up  to  his  e.xpectations 
he  tried  Denver  with  a  like  result,  and  in 
1872  returned   to  Wisconsin,  where,  with 


6y. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


his  brother  Tellif  as  a  partner,  he  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  business,  their  house  be- 
ing the  first  of  that  kind  in  Bay  View, 
where  they  had  located.  One  year  later 
our  subject  went  to  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship. Door  Co.,  where  he  bought  a  farm. 
Since  that  time  he  has  added  to  his 
original  purchase  until  at  the  present 
time  he  owns  300  acres  of  land,  delight- 
fully situated  on  the  shores  of  Green  Bay 
and  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  extending  to 
Idlewild.  This  place  possesses  unex- 
ceptional ad\antages  for  a  summer  resort. 
Politically  Mr.  Haines  is  an  ardent 
Republican,  and  has  served  his  towns- 
people well  as  supervisor,  town  clerk  and 
member  of  school  board;  in  fact  he  or- 
ganized the  school  district  in  which  he 
lives.  He  is  a  member  of  Peninsula  Lodge 
No.  320  I.  O.  O,  F.  In  iS72hewas 
married,  in  Door  county,  to  Miss  Mary 
Sorenson,  a  native  of  Germany  and  a 
daughter  of  John  Sorenson,  an  early 
pioneer  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  who  now 
resides  in  Bay  View,  same  State.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Haines  have  had  six  children 
born  to  them,  of  whom  Oliver,  Ida  and 
Oscar  died  when  quite  young;  Arthur, 
Frank  and  Lizzie  live  at  home.  In  1885 
the  mother  died,  and  two  years  later  the 
father  married  Miss  Amelia  Thoreson, 
daughter  of  Lewis  Thoreson,  who  came 
to  Nasewaupee  township  in  1873.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Haines  are  respected  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  which  society 
they  are  active  workers. 


REV.  FATHER  ALPHONS  M. 
BROENS,  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's 
Church,  Sturgeon  Bay,  Door 
county,  is  a  citizen  of  whom  any 
community  might  be  proud,  a  clergyman 
whose  presence  would  benefit  any  localit}-, 
and  whose  name  would  reflect  honor  upon 
any  office  or  station. 

He  is  a  native  of  Holland,  born  in 
the  city  of  Weert  May  i ,  1 864,  a  son  of 
Arnold  Broens,  of  the  same  nativity,  born 
in  July,  1827,  a  son  of  Leonard  Broens, 


born  in  Holland  in  1800,  whose  father 
was  a  German  by  birth.  As  far  back  as 
can  be  traced  the  male  members  of  the 
family  were  men  of  business,  for  the 
most  part  merchants.  On  February  28, 
1853,  Arnold  Broens  married  Miss  Anna 
Beckx,  also  a  native  of  Holland,  a  rela- 
tive of  the  late  Father  Peter  Beckx,  who 
for  many  years  was  superior-general  of 
the  Jesuits.  To  this  marriage  were  born 
twelve  children,  namely  :  Bertha,  Mary, 
Catherine,  Leo,  Alphons  M.,  Lambert  J., 
and  Anna,  living,  and  live  that  died  in 
infancy.  The  three  sons  are  all  priests — 
Leo,  at  Bay  City,  Mich.;  Alphons  M.,  at 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.;  and  Lambert  J.,  at 
Martinsville,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.  The 
mother  died  in  December,  1887  ;  the 
father,  who  is  a  retired  merchant,  is  still 
living  in  Holland  with  his  daughter  Mary. 
The  subject  of  these  lines  attended 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  place  up 
to  the  age  of  twelve  years,  when  he  en- 
tered college  at  Weert,  from  which  insti- 
tution he  graduated  in  1881,  directly 
afterward  setting  out  for  America.  Com- 
ing westward  from  the  port  of  debarca- 
tion  to  Indiana,  he  entered  Notre  Dame 
University,  in  that  State,  where  he  studied 
philosophy  until  September,  1882,  at 
which  time  he  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
and  there  for  twelve  months  was  profes- 
sor of  Latin  in  St.  Joseph's  College,  also 
teaching  mathematics.  In  September, 
1 883,  he  entered  St.  Francis  Seminary,  near 
Milwaukee,  and  there    continued  and,  in 

1886,  completed  his  theological  studies, 
fully  qualifying  himself  to  enter  the  priest- 
hood. In  the  latter  year  he  came  to  Green 
Bay,  and  after  spending  sometime  at  the 
Bishop's  home  was  appointed  assistant 
pastor  of  the  Catholic  Church  at  Marinette, 
same  State, taking  charge  thereof  October 
21,1 886,  and  retiring  from  it  September  8, 

1887,  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Sturgeon 
Bay,  having  been  appointed  pastor  of  St. 
Joseph's  Church  in  that  city,  an  incum- 
bency he  has  since  filled  with  true  Chris- 
tian zeal  and  fidelity.  Since  his  coming 
to  take  the  responsibility  of  this  charge, 


/^Q^/.  ^^^-^--^^^2:^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


635 


many  improvements  have  been  effected  in 
the  status  of  the  parish  through  Father 
Broens'  efforts:  The  old  frame  church 
building  that  was  standing  when  he  came 
to  it  has  been  replaced  by  the  present 
substantial  brick  edifice;  in  188S  was 
erected  the  elegant  brick  schoolhouse, 
which  was  opened  October  i ,  same  year, 
with  III  pupils  and  three  teachers;  to- 
day there  are  235  pupils  and  four  teach- 
ers. The  foundation  stone  of  the  new 
church  was  laid  in  18S8,  and  the  building 
was  completed  and  dedicated  October  i, 
1889,  by  Bishop  Katzer.  In  1890  was 
built  a  residence  for  the  Sisters,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  priest's  residence  was 
enlarged.  Father  Broens  now  claims  a 
congregation  of  200  families  made  up  of 
no  less  than  si.x  nationalities,  to  whom  he 
preaches  in  three  languages  —  English, 
German  and  French.  In  social  affilia- 
tions he  is  an  active  member  of  the  Catho- 
lic Knights  and  the  Catholic  Order  of 
Foresters. 


WILLIAM  ST.  PETERS,  of  West 
Kewaunee  township,  Kewaunee 
county,     was    born    in  Carlton 
township,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis., 
November    14,  1854,  and  is  a  son  of  An- 
ton A.  D.  St.  Peters. 

Anton  A.  D.  St.  Peters  was  born  at 
Wolf  River,  Canada,  March  10,  1826, 
and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Julia  St. 
Peters,  also  natives  of  that  country. 
Until  he  was  twelve  years  old,  Anton 
lived  on  a  farm,  and  then  went  with  his 
parents  to  New  Brunswick,  where  he  was 
employed  in  the  cod  fisheries  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-three,  at  which 
time  he  came  to  the  United  States,  land- 
ing at  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  whence,  in  1850 
he  moved  to  Two  Rivers,  same  State, 
and  located  on  a  farm  in  Carlton  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county.  Here  he  was 
engaged  in  making  shingles,  following  that 
occupation  five  years,  when  he  bought 
320  acres  of  good  farming  land  near  Mena- 
sha,  and  commenced  tilling  the  soil.      In 

36 


this  he  continued  until  1883,  then  sold  his 
farm,  removed  to  Kewaunee,  and  invested 
to  some  extent  in  city  property.  In  Au- 
gust, 1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A, 
Twenty-seventh  Wis.  V.  I.,  and  served 
nearly  two  j'ears  under  Capt.  Cunning- 
ham. Mr.  St.  Peters  is  now  a  member 
of  the  G.  A.  R.,  John  M.  Read  Post,  of 
Kewaunee,  and  is  also  an  Odd  Fellow; 
politically  he  is  a  Republican.  Anton  St. 
Peters  was  married,  in  1849,  to  Mary 
Rogers,  who  was  born  in  1831,  daughter 
of  Charles  and  Katharine  Rogers,  and  to 
this  union  have  come  twelve  children, 
viz. :  Katharine,  George,  Eliza,  William, 
Idel,  Charles,  Matilda,  Nellie,  Margaret, 
Eugene,  Rachel  and  Emma,  all  of  whom 
are  living  with  the  exception  of  Margaret, 
who  died  when  an  infant,  and  William, 
who  was  accidentall}'  killed  since  this 
sketch  was  prepared. 

William  St.  Peters,  the  subject  proper 
of  this  sketch,  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  received  a  good  common-school 
education.  The  country  being  new  and 
he  young,  his  farm  labors  were  quite  oner- 
ous, and  during  the  two  years  his  father 
was  in  the  army  his  toil  and  responsibility 
were  considerably  increased.  Mr.  St. 
Peters  early  affiliated  with  the  Republi- 
can party,  and  was  active  in  its  behalf. 
For  three  years  he  was  clerk  of  the  board 
of  education,  and  treasurer  of  School 
District  No.  2.  On  September  21,  1872, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Janet 
Dalziel,  who  was  born  in  Scotland  July 
3,  1855,  a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Janet 
Dalziel,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
Hurlford,  Scotland,  in  December,  1823. 
This  union  has  been  blessed  with  four 
children,  their  names  and  dates  of  birth 
being  as  follows:  William  Robert.  May  5, 
1874;  Reginald  I.,  July  3,  1877;  Jeanette 
Beatrice,  June  19,  1881,  and  Blanche, 
November  28,   1884. 

Mr.  William  St.  Peters  was  accident- 
ally killed  by  the  discharge  of  a  gun  on 
his  premises  in  West  Kewaunee  April  17, 
1895.  He  started  out  in  the  afternoon 
to  go  into  the  woods  to  work,  and,  as  was 


636 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


customary,  took  his  gun  alonj:;  with  him. 
At  seven  in  the  evening,  his  body  was 
found  by  his  sons  in  the  path  near  a  rail 
fence,  which  he  had  evidently  attempted 
to  climb  with  tiic  gun,  ami  which  had  in 
some  manner  caught  upon  a  knot  and  dis- 
charged itself  into  his  body,  causing  in- 
stant death.  His  funeral  was  one  of  the 
largest  ever  witnessed  in  the  community. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  progressive  and 
industrious  farmers. 


c 


H.\RLE.S  LEWIS  FELLOWS, 
who  for  the  past  several  years  has 
been  engaged  in  general  agricul- 
ture and  stock  raising  in  Clay- 
banks  township,  Door  county,  is  one  of 
the  most  prominent  citizens  of  this  section 
of  the  State,  having  been  intimately  as- 
sociated with  its  interests  and  progress 
for  almost  the  past  forty  years. 

The  I'ellows  famil\-  is  of  English  and 
Irish  origin,  and  the  earliest  ancestors  of 
whom  we  have  record  took  an  active 
part  in  the  Reformation.  The\'  came  to 
this  country  from  Ireland  in  1630,  settling 
in  Connecticut,  and  Nathaniel  Fellows, 
the  first  of  the  family  in  this  country  of 
whom  anything  definite  is  known,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Colonial  army  during  the 
Pequod,  King  Philip  and  other  wars  in 
early  New  England  days. 

Isaac  Fellows,  the  great-grandfather  of 
our  sul)ject,  was  a  descendant  of  Nathan- 
iel l-'ellows.  .-^  copy  of  an  Act  of  the  As- 
-sombly  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut 
reads  as  follows:  "  This  Assembly  do  es- 
tablish Isaac  Fellows  to  be  Lieutenant  of 
horse,  in  the  Nineteenth  regiment  in  this 
Colony.  Enacted  May  17,  1775,  by 
General  Assembly  of  the  English  Colony 
of  Connecticut.  Jonathan  Trumbull, 
Governor."  He  died  in  October.  1777, 
while  fighting  for  liberty  and  independ- 
ence with  the  Continental  ariny,  in  which 
two  of  his  sons  also  served — Jason,  who 
was  killed  in  the  army,  and  John,  who 
was  afterward  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
general,  and  served  until   the  triumphant 


end  of  the  struggle.  He  then  located  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  died  in 
1808.  Adolphus  Fellows  (son  of  Isaac 
Fellows,  and  grandfather  of  our  subject) 
was  a  native  <jf  Connecticut,  where  he 
was  born  in  1 764.  and  died  November 
29,  1849,  at  Racine,  Wis.  He  married 
Lucy  Tucker,  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 
who  was  born  in  1773,  and  died  in  Will- 
iamstown.  State  of  \'ermont,  in  1841. 
The  Tuckers  were  prominent  during  the 
early  settlement  of  New  England,  and 
during  the  Revolutionarj'  war,  serving 
principally  in  the  infant  navy  of  that 
period.  Commodore  Tucker  being  the 
most  prominent  naval  officer  of  the  war. 
After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
some  of  them  removed  to  \'ermont  (then 
known  as  the  New  Hampshire  grant). 

George  D.  Fellows,  father  of  Charles 
L.  Fellows,  born  June  2,  181 2,  in  Ver- 
mont, was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools  of  the 
Green  Mountain  State.  In  1835  he 
found  employment  on  a  sloop  on  the 
Hudson  river,  plying  between  Albany  and 
New  York,  and  the  ne.\t  year  (1836) 
walked  from  Williainstown,\'t., to  Racine, 
Wis.,  where  he  engaged  in  cutting  tim- 
ber, and  soon  began  contracting  on  his 
own  account,  doing  a  jobbing  business. 
He  also  bought  and  sold  claims,  and  con- 
tinued this  until  1839,  when  he  went  back 
to  Vermont,  in  1841  returning  to  Wis- 
consin with  his  family  and  locating  in  the 
city  of  Racine,  where  he  again  established 
himself  in  the  jobbing  business,  and  car- 
rying it  on  until  his  death,  which  took 
place  February  26,  1857.  He  also  owned 
several  vessels,  which  were  used  princi- 
pally in  the  lumber  and  wood  trade  be- 
tween Michigan  and  Chicago.  Though 
an  active  business  man  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  Mr.  Fellows  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  organization  and  general  ad- 
vancement of  the  city  of  Racine,  as  well 
as  the  development  of  its  business  re- 
sources, and  was  one  of  its  best  known  and 
most  honored  residents.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  first  council  of  Racine  after 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


637 


its  organi;?ation  as  a  city,  and  served  in 
various  other  positons  of  trust,  holding  a 
high  place  in  the  esteem  of  his  towns- 
people and  fellow  citizens  generally.  Po- 
litically he  was  originally  a  Whig,  joining 
the  Republican  party  on  its  organization, 
his  last  Presidential  vote  being  cast  for 
John  C.  Fremont,  the  first  Republican 
nominee.  Socially  he  was  a  member  of 
the  I.  O.  O.  F.  until  his  death.  He 
married  Louisa  Olds,  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont, who  died  April  10,  1859,  aged 
forty-seven  years  and  seven  months,  the 
mother  of  four  children,  viz. :  Charles 
Lewis,  whose  name  opens  this  sketch; 
William,  of  Chicago;  Harrison,  who  died 
April  I,  1887,  at  Racine,  aged  forty-six 
years  and  nine  months  (at  the  time  of  his 
death  he  was  a  large  coal  dealer  and  ves- 
sel owner  in  that  city);  and  a  daughter 
that  died  in  infancy.      Mrs.    Fellows  was 

the  daughter  of  Joel    and fKidderj 

Olds,  natives  of  New  England.  She  was 
a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

Charles  Lewis  Fellows,  the  subject 
proper  of  this  sketch,  was  born  August  i  i , 
1834,  in  Williamstown,  Orange  Co.,  Vt., 
and  when  but  seven  years  of  age  came 
with  his  parents  to  Racine,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  early  education,  completing  his 
studies  at  Bell's  Commercial  College, 
Chicago,  whence  he  graduated  in  the 
spring  of  1856.  Prior  to  this  he  had 
sailed  on  the  lakes  for  a  number  of  years, 
when  but  eighteen  becoming  captain  and 
part  owner  of  the  schooner  "Julia  Ann." 
which  was  the  first  vessel  that  ever  sailed 
into  the  Ahnapee  river;  he  was  also  cap- 
tain and  o\\-ner  of  the  "  Whirlwind,"  the 
first  vessel  that  ever  loaded  at  the  bridge 
pier  in  Ahnapee.  In  1856  Mr.  Fellows 
came  to  Ahnapee,  and  embarking  in  the 
mercantile  marine  business  continued  to 
follow  it  successfully  imtil  1887.  He  re- 
moved to  his  present  farm  in  Claybanks 
township.  Door  county,  in  1871,  and  has 
since  given  his  time  and  attention  jirinci- 
pally  to  general  agriculture  and  stock 
raising,  making  a  specialty  of  O.xford- 
Down    sheep.       The   ability   and   energy 


which  have  characterized  him  in  all  his 
business  pursuits  have  been  recognized  as 
the  secret  of  his  success,  and  his  fellow 
citizens  have  given  many  evidences  of 
their  confidence  in  him,  selecting  him  to 
fill  numerous  position  of  responsibility, 
the  duties  of  which  he  has  invariably  dis- 
charged in  a  conscientious  faithful  man- 
ner, giving  universal  satisfaction.  For 
twenty-three  years  he  served  as  post- 
master at  Foscoro,  and  is  at  the  present 
time  chairman  of  Claybanks  township, 
an  oi^ce  to  which  he  has  been  elected  for 
the  past  eight  years,  and  he  never  fails  to 
give  his  influence  and  support  to  any  en- 
terprise for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
section,  especially  its  agricultural  develop- 
ment. He  was  appointed  a  member  of 
the  Advisory  Council  of  the  World's  Con- 
gress Auxiliary  on  Farm  Culture  and 
Cereal  Industry,  and  during  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago,  in  1 893, 
was  a  member  of  the  World's  Agricul- 
tural Congress.  He  is  Republican  in 
politics,  casting  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  John  C.  Fremont  in  1856. 

Mr.  Fellows  was  married,  in  1857,  to 
Mary  Frances  Yates,  who  is  a  native  of 
Wisconsin,  born  December  29,  1839,  at 
Pleasant  Prairie,  daughter  of  John  L.  V. 
Yates,  and  to  this  union  have  come  seven 
children  as  follows:  George  Decatur,  a 
resident  of  Racine;  Fred  Wild,  of  Goge- 
bic, Mich. ;  John  Lewis,  of  Foscora,Door 
Co.,  Wis.;  Edith  I.,  now  Mrs.  William 
White,  of  Ahnapee;  Frank  Edward,  who 
died  July  11,  1893,  aged  twenty  years, 
six  months  and  eleven  days;  William 
Harrison,  of  Jeffris,  Wis.,  and  a  son 
who  died  in  infancy  in  1871.  In  relig- 
ious connection  Mrs.  Fellows  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Fel- 
lows is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution. 

John  L.  V.  Yates  (father  of  Mrs. 
Charles  L.  Fellows)  was  born  July  19, 
1809,  at  Pittstown,  Rensselaer  Co.,  N. 
Y.,  of  Dutch  extraction,  and  died  April- 
12,  1890,  in  Foscoro,  Wis.  His  parents, 
Thomas  and  Florinda  f  Lewis)  Yates,  also 


638 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


reached  advanced  ages,  the  father  dying 
March  24,  1854,  at  Kenosha,  Wis.,  aged 
seventj'-three  years  and  five  months,  and 
the  mother  passing  away  January  i,  1861, 
at  Chicago,  aged  eighty-three  years. 
John  L.  V.  Yates  married  Jane  Ames, 
who  was  born  May  19,  1817,  in  Onon- 
daga county,  N.  Y.,  daughter  of  Silas  and 
Eliza  (Johnston)  Ames.  Silas  Ames  was 
a  man  of  considerable  education  and  abil- 
ity, and  from  1835  to  1838  held  the  posi- 
tion of  collector  of  tolls  on  the  Erie 
canal.  He  and  his  wife  both  passed 
their  threescore  years  and  ten,  spending 
their  last  daj'S  at  Kenosha,  Wis.,  where 
Mr.  Ames  died  December  9,  1870,  aged 
seventy-nine  years  and  eight  months,  pre- 
ceded to  the  grave  by  his  wife,  who  passed 
from  earth  May  27,  1869,  aged  seventy- 
six  years  and  seven  months.  They  reared 
a  family  of  twelve  children.  The  John- 
ston family,  of  which  Mrs.  Ames  was  a 
member,  were  people  of  education  and 
refinement,  and  were  quite  prominent  in 
the  community  where  they  resided.  To 
John  L.  V.  and  Jane  (Ames)  Yates  were 
born  six  children,  namely:  Irene,  now 
Mrs.  Frank  Deniing,  of  Chicago;  Mary 
Frances,  Mrs.  Charles  L.  Fellows;  Char- 
lotte F.,  Mrs.  William  H.  Seymour,  of 
Elgin;  Katharine,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Young,  of 
Ahnapee;  and  Susan  and  Thomas,  who 
died  before  reaching  maturity.  The 
mother  of  this  family  died  April  6,  1891. 
Before  his  removal  to  Wisconsin,  Mr. 
Yates  was  a  well-known  resident  of  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y.,  and  was  postmaster  at  that 
city  in  1837. 


LBERT    BUSCHMANN,   one    of 


the    leading    pioneer    citizens    of 


A 

I  ^  Brussels  township,  Door  county, 
was  born  September  27,  1834,  in 
Prussia,  Germany,  the  third  son  of  Martin 
Buschmann,  a  cooper  by  trade,  who  had  a 
family  of  seven  children,  five  of  them 
being  sons.  The  parents  both  died  in 
Germany. 

The   subject  of  these  lines   attended 


the  public  schools  of  his  native  country 
until  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  then 
commenced  learning  the  cooper's  trade 
under  his  father's  supervision,  serving  an 
apprenticeship  of  seven  years.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one  he  commenced  to  think 
about  turning  his  trade  to  account,  and 
for  the  next  three  3ears  earned  no  little 
money  in  so  doing.  He  was  exempt  from 
army  service  in  Germany  on  account  of 
being  under  the  regulation  height.  Being 
of  an  ambitious  turn  of  mind  he  conclud- 
ed to  emigrate  to  the  United  States, 
where  he  hoped  to  command  higher 
wages,  as  he  was  a  very  competent  work- 
man, and  to  this  end  he  procured  money 
from  kind  friends,  wherewith  to  defray 
his  passage.  About  March  i,  1858,  he 
left  Hamburg  on  a  sailing  vessel  for 
Quebec,  arriving  at  the  latter  place  in 
safet}'  after  a  voyage  of  six  weeks,  and 
from  there  journeyed  to  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
Not  being  able  to  find  work  immediately 
in  that  city,  he  went  into  the  country 
south  of  Milwaukee,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed by  a  farmer,  and  for  four  months 
he  was  obliged  to  take  farm  products  as 
compensation  for  his  work.  Later  he  se- 
cured work  at  his  trade  in  Milwaukee; 
but  money  was  very  scarce  that  year,  and 
he  could  scarcelj'  make  his  expenses. 
Learning  that  coopers  were  desired  in 
Baraboo,  Sauk  county,  he  immediately 
went  there,  and  for  the  next  seven  years 
secured  steady  employment  at  his  trade. 
In  1859  Mr.  Buschmann  was  married 
at  Baraboo  to  Miss  Minnie  Fritz,  also  a 
native  of  Germany,  a  former  schoolmate 
and  neighbor  of  his,  and  who  came  to  this 
country  on  the  same  ship  with  him.  They 
had  six  children  as  follows:  Julius,  who 
is  engineer  for  the  Goodrich  line  of  ves- 
sels and  lives  at  Manitowoc;  Henry,  who 
died  when  thirteen  years  old;  Albert,  Jr., 
of  Milwaukee;  William,  a  practicing  phy- 
sician of  Two  Rivers,  Wis. ;  Edward,  a 
machinist  of  Ahnapee,  and  Emma,  a 
teacher  in  Milwaukee.  In  December, 
1873,  the  mother  of  these  died  and  was 
buried  in  Manitowoc,  and  soon  thereafter 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


639 


Mr.  Buschmann  started  a  coopering  busi- 
ness in  Manitowoc,  which  for  twenty 
years  he  has  operated  successfully.  It 
was  here  that  he  was  married  June  24, 
1875,  to  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Bertolit,  widow  of 
John  Bertolit,  by  whom  she  had  one 
daughter,  Minnie,  now  Mrs.  Edward 
Buschmann,  of  Brussels  township.  Mrs. 
Buschmann  is  a  native  of  Kossuth,  Mani- 
towoc Co.,  Wis.,  born  February  7,  1851, 
a  daughter  of  Ludwig  Ahlswede.  Of  this 
marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buschmann  have 
two  children  living:  Charles  and  Hugo, 
both  at  home;  Ida  and  Louis  died  in 
infancy. 

Mr.  Buschmann  lived  in  Manitowoc  un- 
til April,  1883,  when  he  disposed  of  his 
interests  there  and  came  to  Brussels 
township,  Door  county,  where  in  Section 
25  he  bought  160  acres  of  timber  land. 
At  that  time  this  particular  part  of  the 
country  was  wholly  undeveloped,  and  in 
many  respects  resembled  a  wilderness; 
but  in  due  time,  by  unremitting  toil  and 
perseverance,  he  succeeded  in  clearing  a 
large  portion  of  his  land,  and  has  made 
additions  to  the  original  number  of  acres 
he  purchased  until  at  the  present  writing 
he  has  400  acres,  which  places  him  as 
the  largest  individual  land  owner  in  Brus- 
sels township.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  but  does  not  aspire  to  office. 
His  entire  family,  including  himself,  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  The 
marvelous  success  which  has  attended 
Mr.  Buschmann's  later-year  efforts  is  at- 
tributable entirely  to  his  natural  sagacity, 
combined  with  good  practical  business 
methods. 


AUGUST  GOSIN  comes  from  a  land 
that  has  furnished  to  Kewaunee 
county  a  number  of  her  best  citi- 
zens, the  Kingdom  of  Belgium, 
where  he  was  born  August  7,  1852,  a  son 
of  Donnie  Gosin,  a  farmer  of  that  coun- 
try, who  married  Amelia  Ramoisey,  and 
by  her    had    a    family  of    five    children: 


Frank,  Amelia,  August,  Virginia  and  John 
B.,  all  yet  living. 

When  our  subject  was  about  live  years 
of  age  his  parents  bade  adieu  to  home 
and  friends,  and  with  their  family  sailed 
for  the  New  World,  landing  in  New  York 
after  a  voyage  of  thirty-eight  days.  They 
did  not  tarry  long  in  the  eastern  metropo- 
lis, but  came  west  at  once  to  Green  Bay, 
Wis.,  and  after  two  weeks  removed  to 
Lincoln  township,  Kewaunee  county, 
where  the  father  purchased  a  quarter  sec- 
tion of  land,  all  covered  with  hardwood 
timber.  A  log  house  was  constructed  24 
.X  28  feet,  and  in  it  they  began  life  on  the 
frontier  in  true  pioneer  style,  suffering  the 
hardships  and  trials  which  come  to  those 
who  make  homes  in  a  frontier  region. 
The  arduous  task  of  clearing  and  develop- 
ing the  land  was  at  once  begun,  and  the 
work  was  performed  with  an  axe  and  grub 
hoe  until  a  space  was  cleared  large  enough 
to  plant  a  crop  of  corn,  wheat,  peas  and 
potatoes.  From  two  bushels  of  wheat 
sown,  sixty-two  bushels  were  harvested. 
The  children  were  deprived  of  early  edu- 
cational privileges,  owing  to  the  distance 
from  the  nearest  school  house,  but  our 
subject  afterward  attended  business  col- 
lege, and  was  thus  fitted  for  the  practical 
duties  of  life.  Their  provisions  were 
shipped  to  Uyckesville,  and  carried  from 
there  to  their  home,  a  distance  of  seven 
miles. 

The  subject  of  our  sketch  frequently 
worked  for  neighboring  farmers,  but 
made  his  home  with  his  parents  as  long 
as  they  lived,  and  cared  for  them  in  their 
later  years.  He  was  married  December 
10,  1876,  to  Anna,  daughter  of  Edward 
and  Jane  (Davies)  Davies,  which  worthy 
couple  had  a  family  of  thirteen  children, 
as  follows:  Sarah,  Samuel,  William, 
Edward,  John,  Jennie,  Mary,  Margaret, 
James,  David,  Anna,  Alexander  and 
Susan.  Mrs.  Gosin  was  born  in  High- 
land, Iowa  county.  Wis.,  July  7,  1853, 
and  was  of  English  descent,  her  ancestors 
having  emigrated  to  America  in  an  early 
day  in  the   history  of   this  country.      She 


640 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


is  a  lady  of  culture  and  refinement,  and 
was  teaching  school  in  Luxemburg  town- 
ship at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gosin  have  become  the  parents 
of  seven  children,  their  names  and  dates  of 
birth  being  as  follows:  Salena,  September 
2S,  1877;  Clara,  September  2,  1879;  Ed- 
ward, October  15,  1881;  Donnie,  May 
31,  1884;  Susie  May.  September  11, 
1886;  Berna,  March  12,  1888,  and 
Fabian,  September  11,  1890.  In  No- 
\ember,  1874,  Mr.  Gosin  came  to  Lu.x- 
emburg  township,  and  purchased  eighty- 
five  acres  of  land  in  Section  17,  which 
constitutes  his  present  home.  He  de- 
votes his  time  and  energies  to  general 
farming,  also  to  dealing  in  general  merch- 
andise and  farm  implements,  and  is  a 
man  of  good  business  and  e.xecutive 
ability,  whose  capable  management  and 
careful  attention  to  all  details  have 
brought  him  success.  His  life  has  been 
well  spent,  and  throughout  the  com- 
munity he  is  held  in  high  esteem.  In 
politics  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  and  has  served  as  supervisor 
of  his  township,  while  in  religious  belief 
his  wife  and  children  are  connected  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


HH.  FULLER,  of  Forestville. 
Door  county,  is  numbered  among 
Wisconsin's  native  sons,  his  birth 
having  occurred  inYorkville  town- 
ship, Racine  county,  in  1852.  He  comes 
of  an  old  New  England  family,  his  grand- 
parents, Samuel  and  Chloe  (Walker) 
Fuller,  having  been  natives  of  Connecti- 
cut, whence  they  removed  about  18 14  to 
New  York.  They  later  settled  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  that  State,  where  Mr.  Fuller 
spent  his  remaining  days,  his  death  oc- 
curring in  1843;  his  widow  afterward 
came  to  Wisconsin,  where  she  died  in 
1847.  Her  father.  Nelson  Walker,  located 
in  Racine,  Wis.,  in  1843,  and  there  pub- 
lished a  paper  until  his  removal  to  Wau- 
kegan,  111.,  whence  he  went  to  Chicago, 


where  he  edited  a  paper;  he  died  at  Stur- 
geon Bay,  Wis.,  about  the  year  1883. 

Elijah  S.  Fuller,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  Chenango  county,  N.  Y. , 
in  181 5,  but  was  reared,  educated  and 
taught  the  cooper's  trade  in  Jefferson 
county,  N.  Y.  He  married  Betsy  C. 
Clarke,  a  native  of  Jefferson  countj',  and 
with  family  emigrated,  in  1844,  to  Racine 
county,  Wis.,  where  he  improved  a  farm, 
making  his  home  thereon  until  1855.  In 
that  year  he  went  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis., 
where  he  engaged  in  the  lumber  business 
for  five  years,  and  ran  the  first  ferry  across 
the  bay.  For  three  years  he  was  owner 
of  a  ferry,  and  then  turned  his  attention 
to  fishing  and  burning  lime,  which  pur- 
suits he  followed  until  1892,  when  he 
came  to  Forestville,  where  he  died  Janu- 
ary 8,  1895.  In  their  family  were  eight 
children,  of  whom  Byron,  the  eldest,  died 
in  childhood;  Amelia  became  the  wife  of 
Abel  Whittaker,  and  died  in  1885,  her 
husband  dying  in  Bay  View,  Wis.,  in 
1891  (their  children  were  Olive,  Arthur 
and  Otisj;  Cornelia  first  married  Sandy 
Templeton,  b\-  whom  she  had  five  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  yet  living — 
Carrie,  wife  of  John  Jewett,  of  Menomo- 
nee;  Allen  and  Sandy;  (for  her  second 
husband  Cornelia  wedded  Jake  Hermann, 
and  four  of  their  children  are  living — 
Willie,  Nellie,  Henry  and  Gertie;  the 
mother  died  in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  in 
1887);  Emma,  the  ne.xt  in  the  family,  died 
in  1872;  H.  H.  is  the  fifth  in  order  of 
birth;  William  died  in  childhood;  Inez  is 
the  wife  of  E.  W.  Brewster,  of  Bay 
View,  and  thej^  have  three  children, 
Nellie,  Ray  and  Edna;  Louis  died  in 
Neenah,  Wis.,  in  September,  1893,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-nine  years,  and  his 
widow  now  resides  in  Sheboygan. 

H.  H.  Fuller,  our  subject,  was  reared 
in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  and  received  the 
educational  privileges  afforded  in  its 
public  schools.  He  began  farming  near 
Ba)'  View,  and  later  had  charge  of  the 
business  of  the  Washington  Ice  Co.,  for 
five  and  a  half  years,  during  which  time 


COMMEMORATIVE    BlOGliAPUWAL    REOOBD. 


641 


he  established  an  agricultural  implement 
store  in  Bay  View,  which  he  yet  carries 
on,  doing  a  good  business  along  that  line. 
In  1 89 1  he  embarked  in  the  hotel  and 
saloon  business  in  Forestville,  but  retired 
from  the  same  in  1893.  In  1880  he 
was  united  in  marriage,  in  Bay  View, 
with  Miss  Sarah  Noble,  who  was  reared 
in  Manitowoc  county,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  William  and  Susan  Noble,  natives  of 
St.  Lawrence  county,  N.  Y. ,  who  located 
in  Manitowoc  county  in  an  early  day. 
Mrs.  Fuller  died  in  Bay  View  in  1885, 
and  in  1887  Mr.  Fuller  wedded,  in  Manito- 
woc county,  Ella  Andrews,  a  native  of 
Wisconsin.  Socially  our  subject  is  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum  Lodge  of 
Sturgeon  Bay,  and  in  politics  he  is  a 
Republican. 


JOHN  B.  VAN  DENHOUTEN.— 
Belgium  has  furnished  to  W^isconsin 
a  number  of  citizens  who  have  al- 
ways borne  their  part  in  the  work  of 
public  advancement  and  improvement, 
and  among  these  is  well  worthy  of  men- 
tion our  subject,  who  is  a  resident  of 
Lu.xemburg  township,  Kewaunee  county. 
He  was  born  in  Belgium  in  February, 
1840,  a  son  of  William  and  Petronell 
(Vander  Veekan)  Van  Denhouten,  the 
former  of  whom  was  a  barber  and  weaver. 
They  reared  a  family  of  .six  children, 
namely:  Frank,  Elizabeth,  John  B., 
Johanna,  Theresa  and  Jennie. 

Our  subject  attended  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  country  until  fifteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  on  a  forty-seven  days'  voyage  to 
America,  landing  at  New  York,  whence 
the  following  day  they  started  for  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  traveling  mostly  by  boat; 
thence  they  came  to  Lu.xemburg  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  which  at  that 
time  was  a  part  of  Casco  township.  Here 
the  father  purchased  forty  acres  of  total- 
ly unimproved  land;  a  log  cabin  was  erect- 
ed, 17x17  feet,  to  which  the  following 
year  an  addition  was  made  of  about  equal 


size,  in  all  making  a  comfortable  home. 
With  an  axe  and  grub  hoe  the  work  of 
clearing  the  land  was  begun,  and  although 
the  labor  was  very  arduous,  yet  it  was 
continued  uninterruptedly,  in  course  of 
time  bringing  rich  returns.  Potatoes  and 
wheat  were  planted  by  hand — their  first 
crops — and  the  latter  was  harvested  with 
a  sickle  brought  from  the  old  country. 
There  was  no  road  within  three  miles  of 
their  home,  and  everything  had  to  be  car- 
ried to  the  cabin  for  that  distance.  They 
afterward  bought  and  cleared  an  addition- 
al tract  of  forty  acres,  and  the  once  wild 
land  was  transformed  into  one  of  the  val- 
uable farms  of  Kewaunee  county.  The 
other  children  left  home,  but  our  sub- 
ject remained  with  his  parents,  and 
retained  possession  of  the  old  home- 
stead which  he  yet  owns  and  occupies. 
He  has  added  a  quarter  section  of  land  to 
this,  and  now  has  320  acres,  220  of  which 
are  cleared  and  under  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation. The  well-tilled  fields,  substan- 
tial improvements  and  neat  appearance  of 
the  place  all  indicate  the  practical  and 
progressive  spirit  of  the  owner. 

In  May,  1864,  John  B.  Van  Den- 
houten was  married  to  Victoria  Jacque. 
His  father  died  one  year  previous  to  that 
time,  but  his  mother  lived  with  them  for 
three  years,  when  she  married  Philip 
Bredael,  and  they  then  lived  on  his  own 
farm.  Since  the  death  of  her  second 
husband,  seven  years  later,  she  has  re- 
sided with  her  daughter,  Elizabeth,  now 
the  wife  of  Frank  Bredael,  on  the  same 
place.  T  oour  subject  and  wife  have 
been  born  eight  children — one  daughter 
and  seven  sons — Josephine,  Joseph,  Eli, 
Eugene,  Frank,  Louis,  George  and  Ben- 
jamin. Politically,  Mr.  Van  Denhouten 
supported  the  Republican  party  until 
1 890,  when  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the 
Democrats,  with  whom  he  has  since  been 
identified.  For  three  years,  from  1890 
to  1893,  he  served  as  supervisor;  from 
1893  to  1894,  as  assessor;  has  been  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  since  1892;  and  school 
district  clerk  since  April,   18S7,  his   pres- 


643 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ent  term  beirifj  his  third  one.  In  his 
official  positions,  as  in  all  relations  of  life, 
he  has  been  found  faithful  and  true  to 
the  trusts  reposed  in  him.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  in  the  community  where 
they  live  they  are  held  in  high  regard, 
and  have  many  warm  friehds. 


HENRY  STARR  is  a  native  of  Fin- 
land, Russia,  born  March  10, 
1862,  and  is  the  sixth  in  the  fam- 
ily of  nine  children  born  to  John 
and  Catherina  (Hanson)  Starr,  viz. :  John; 
Johanna  and  Peter,  both  deceased;  An- 
drew; Henry,  deceased;  Henry,  of  this 
sketch;  Jacob,  who  has  also  passed  away; 
Johanna,  and  August.  The  father  made 
farming  his  life  work,  and  was  quite  suc- 
cessful in  his  undertakings. 

Our  subject  received  but  few  advan- 
tages in  his  youth,  educational  or  other- 
wise, for  at  the  early  age  of  nine  years  he 
began  work  on  his  father's  farm,  and  aided 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  fields  until  eight- 
een years  of  age,  when  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  commercial  pursuits.  He  was 
then  for  a  year  engaged  in  clerking  in  a 
store,  after  which  he  returned  home  and 
remained  there  for  a  year.  He  next  went 
to  Helsingfors,  Finland,  where  he  worked 
at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  had 
learned  ere  leaving  home.  Two  years 
later  he  sailed  for  America,  having  de- 
termined to  try  his  fortune  in  the  New 
World,  and  after  a  voyage  of  eleven  days 
landed  at  New  York  July  11.  From 
there  proceeding  to  Camden,  N.  J.,  he 
there  spent  two  weeks  in  working  as  a 
carpenter,  but  believing  that  the  west 
furnished  better  opportunities  to  j'oung 
men,  he  came  to  Baileys  Harbor,  \\' is. , 
making  the  journey  partly  by  boat  and 
partly  by  rail.  Here  he  began  to  earn 
his  livelihood  by  chopping  wood,  and  was 
thus  employed  for  a  year,  after  which  he 
purchased  120  acres  of  land  and  com- 
menced farming;  but  not  wishing  to  make 
that  his  life  work,  he  sold  his  land  to  his 


brother-in-law  after  two  years,  then 
rented  a  farm  upon  which  he  lived  two 
years.  On  his  removal  to  Baileys  Har- 
bor, he  worked  at  various  occupations 
until  purchasing  the  saloon  which  he  has 
since  conducted  with  good  success  except 
for  about  one  year,  which  he  passed  in 
Utah,  engaged  in  mining. 

On  August  15,  1885,  Mr."  Starr  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Maria  Brann, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Anna  Maria 
(Grandroot)  Brann,  and  by  her  has  three 
children:  Ellen  M.,  May  and  John  Will- 
iam. They  also  lost  two  sons — John 
William  and  Harry — who  were  the  eldest 
in  the  family.  In  his  political  views  Mr. 
Starr  is  a  stalwart  Democrat,  having  ad- 
vocated the  principles  of  that  party  since 
coming  to  the  United  States.  He  is  now 
serving  as  school  director,  but  has  never 
been  an  office  seeker,  preferring  to  give 
his  time  and  energies  to  his  business  in- 
terests. He  need  never  have  occasion  to 
regret  his  emigration  to  .America,  for  here 
he  has  secured  a  comfortable  competence 
and  won  many  friends. 


BF.  OTIS,  farmer.  Sturgeon  Bay 
township.  Door  county,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Maine,  born  January  3, 
1858,  in  Fairfield,  son  of  John  P. 
and  Hannah  (Tibbets)  Otis,  farming  peo- 
ple. 

Our  subject  attended  the  common 
schools,  obtaining  a  good  practical  edu- 
cation, and  was  reared  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  continuing  to  follow  same  in 
his  native  State  until  1869,  when  he 
came  to  Wisconsin,  borrowing  fifty  dol- 
lars from  his  grandmother  for  that  pur- 
pose. Journeying  by  rail  to  Green  Bay, 
thence  by  stage  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  he  ar- 
rived at  the  home  of  his  brother-in-law, 
in  Door  county,  who  had  offered  him 
thirty  dollars  a  month  to  drive  oxen,  and 
he  was  thus  engaged  until  spring.  He 
then  entered  the  employ  of  A.  W.  Law- 
rence, for  whom  he  worked  in  the  lumber 
regions  and  in  mills,   and  afterward  was 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


64s 


engaged  in  the  lumber  camps  for  seven 
winters  under  various  employers,  remain- 
ing in  Wisconsin  nine  years  befor3  he  re- 
visited his  early  home.  In  1885  Mr. 
Otis  bought  from  Albert  Jacobs  eighty 
acres  of  wild  land  in  Sevastopol  town- 
ship, at  that  time  totally  unimproved,  and 
by  unremitting  industry  he  has  succeeded 
in  clearing  over  twenty  acres  of  this  tract 
for  cultivation.  He  has  gained  an  en- 
viable reputation  for  strict  honesty  and 
reliability,  and  has  prospered  well,  ac- 
cumulating his  property  solely  by  his  own 
exertions,  for  he  arrived  in  Door  county 
ninety  dollars  in  debt,  and  has  placed 
himself  in  his  present  comfortable  cir- 
cumstances by  hard  work.  He  gives  all 
his  time  to  his  farm,  taking  no  active  part 
in  public  affairs,  and  is  non-partisan  in 
politics,  voting  for  the  candidate  he  be- 
heves  best  fitted  for  office. 

On  March  30,  1887,  Mr.  Otis  was 
married  to  Miss  Emily  J.  Kimber,  a  na- 
tive of  Sturgeon  Bay,  and  daughter  of 
Buck  Kimber,  who  came  here  from  New 
York  State.  In  religious  faith  Mrs.  Otis 
is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 


UDOLPH  ZETTEL,    a  progress- 


ive, well-to-do  agriculturist  of  Se- 


R 

I  V  vastopol  township.  Door  county, 
where  he  is  the  owner  of  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  16  and  forty 
acres  in  Section  2,  is  a  native  of  Switzer- 
land, born  August  20,  1845,  in  the  town 
of  Gross  Dietvyl,  Canton  of  Lucerne. 
His  father,  Joseph  Zettel,  was  highly 
educated,  speaking  several  languages, 
and  a  man  of  no  little  prominence,  hold- 
ing official  positions;  he  died  in  Switzer- 
land at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years;  the 
mother  of  Rudolph  died  when  he  was 
four  or  five  years  old. 

The  subject  of  this  writing  secured  a 
fair  education,  and  remained  at  home 
until  he  was  seventeen,  at  which  time  he 
left  the  parental  roof,  as  did  also  his 
brothers,  Albert,  Joseph,  Alfred,  Casper, 
Conrad  and  Julius,  all  eventually  coming 


to  the  United  States,  and  all  remaining 
in  this  country  except  Julius,  who  re- 
turned to  his  native  land.  Accompanied 
by  Casper  and  Conrad,  and  also  John 
Kaufman,  Rudolph  Zettel  sailed  from 
Havre,  France,  on  the  good  ship  "  Quis- 
nel,"  arriving,  after  a  voyage  of  forty- 
nine  days,  at  New  York,  whence  he  came 
westward  to  Wisconsin,  where  his  brother 
Joseph  was  living,  landing  in  Door 
county  June  23,  1863.  Here,  in  Little 
Sturgeon,  he  worked  in  a  sawmill  for  a 
time,  after  which  he  went  to  Chicago 
where  he  found  employment  in  a  linseed- 
oil  factory,  in  the  railroad  shops,  and  in 
other  lines  of  work.  Returning  to  Door 
county  he  worked  some  four  or  five  years 
in  the  sawmill  in  Sturgeon  Bay  under  the 
management  of  A.  W.  Lawrence  and 
Fred.  I.  Schuyler.  Some  time  before 
going  to  Chicago  he  had  purchased  the 
farm  whereon  he  now  resides,  but  on 
moving  to  that  city  he  sold  it,  and  when 
he  again  came  to  Door  county  he  re- 
purchased the  property,  paying  an  ad- 
vance of  $400  on  the  former  price,  by 
way  of  compensation  for  a  few  improve- 
ments that  had  been  made  thereon  in  the 
meantime.  During  the  greater  part  of 
the  time  since  then  he  has  carried  on 
general  farming.  Forty  acres  of  the 
land  are  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
the  fields  are  well  tilled,  fences  kept  in 
good  repair,  and  all  the  improvements  of 
a  model  farm  are  to  be  found.  In  1893 
a  fine  residence  was  erected;  while  the 
other  buildings  are  in  keeping  with  the 
house,  all  indicating  the  careful  supervis- 
ion of  the  owner  himself,  who  is  justly 
numbered  among  the  leading  farmers  of 
his  township. 

On  April  25,  1870,  in  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Wis.,  Mr.  Zettel  wedded  Mary  Gertrude 
Berens,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  Au- 
gust 19,  1845,  daughter  of  Joseph  Berens. 
She  came  to  the  United  States  in  1864, 
and  was  visiting  in  Door  county  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage.  The  young  couple 
began  their  domestic  life  in  a  rude 
shanty,  which   was  burned  down   in   the 


644 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


middle  of  February,  while  the  husband  was 
absent  at  work  in  the  lumber  woods.  The 
home  was  blessed  with  seven  children,  but 
Frank  J.  and  August  died  in  early  child- 
hood, and  Mary  G.  died  at  the  age  of  three 
years;  those  still  living  are  Mary  Chris- 
tina, Amelia  E.,  Mary  E.  J.,  and  Elida 
G.  Traisia.  Mr.  Zettel  is  a  stanch  advo- 
cate of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  takes  a  deep  interest  in  every- 
thing pertaining  to  its  growth  and  success. 
His  fellow  citizens,  appreciating  his  worth 
and  ability,  have  frequently  tendered 
him  office,  but  he  has  steadily  refused, 
preferring  to  give  his  undivided  attention 
to  his  business  interests.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  Church  at  Sevasto- 
pol. He  is  an  honest,  kindhearted  man, 
one  that  has  made  the  golden  rule 
his  motto,  and  his  well-spent  life  and 
sterling  worth  have  gained  him  many 
friends. 


AUGUSTUS  GENESEE  is  one  of 
\\'isconsin's  native  sons,  having 
been  born  in  Humboldt  township, 
Brown  county.  May  i6,  1859,  a 
son  of  Clem  and  Frances  (Kaye)  Genesse, 
who  both  emigrated  from  Belgium  to 
America  in  early  life,  and  were  married  in 
this  country. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  farmer 
and  lumberman,  and  after  his  marriage 
located  in  Humboldt  township,  where  he 
became  the  owner  of  a  forty-acre  tract  of 
timber  land,  upon  which  not  a  furrow  had 
been  turned  or  an  improvement  made; 
but  soon  the  noble  trees  of  the  forest  fell 
before  his  sturdy  strokes;  with  axe 
and  grub  hoe  he  cleared  the  land,  and  in 
time  had  rich  and  well-tilled  fields  which 
began  to  yield  to  him  a  golden  tribute  in 
return  for  the  care  and  labor  he  bestowed 
upon  them.  He  and  his  neighbors  had  no 
teams,  and  the  first  stove  which  he  had, 
purchased  in  Green  Baj',  was  taken  apart 
and  carried  home  by  nine  men.  Previous 
to  that  time  their  bread  had  been  baked 
in  an  iron   kettle,  buried    in   the  coals  of 


the  fire-place.  The  house,  14x14  feet, 
was  the  home  of  three  families  for  one 
winter;  but  such  a  life  promotes  socia- 
bility, and  furnishes  pleasures  such  as  are 
unknown  to  the  present  generation.  The 
father  cut  most  of  his  pine  lumber  into 
shingles,  and  thus  earned  a  living  for  his 
family  in  those  early  days.  In  1864  he 
entered  the  army,  and  there  contracted  a 
fever  which  disabled  him  for  further  farm 
labor. 

Selling  his  land,  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Green  Bay,  and  in  connection 
with  Charles  Massey,  established  a  store 
which  he  carried  on  for  one  year.  He 
then  removed  to  Union  township.  Door 
county,  purchased  land  and  established  a 
store  in  the  town  of  Union:  but  after  a 
year  the  building  and  its  entire  contents 
were  destroyed  bj-  fire.  The  partnership 
was  then  dissolved.  Mr.  Genesse  contin- 
ued on  his  farm  two  years,  and  next  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land  on  Section  28, 
Union  township,  once  more  undertaking 
the  task  of  clearing  away  the  pine  tim- 
ber. This  arduous  task  was  completed 
within  fifteen  years,  and  where  once  stood 
the  native  forest  were  ultimately  seen 
billowy  fields  of  grain.  When  he  located 
upon  this  place  he  built  a  large  house, 
and  for  six  years  conducted  a  hotel  or 
tavern,  prospering  in  the  business,  and  to 
his  farm  he  from  time  to  time  added,  as 
his  financial  resources  increased,  until 
within  its  boundaries  were  comprised  208 
acres  of  rich  land.  Mr.  Genesse,  whose 
worth  and  ability  were  widely  recognized, 
served  for  fifteen  years  as  postmaster  of 
Namur;  was  town  clerk  for  a  similar 
length  of  time;  was  town  treasurer  one 
year  and  justice  of  the  peace  fifteen  years. 
In  addition  to  his  other  labors  he  engaged 
in  fishing  for  sixteen  jears,  which  proved 
a  successful  business.  On  February  23, 
1890,  he  went  to  Green  Bay  with  a  load 
of  fish;  but  on  returning  lost  his  way,  and, 
owing  to  the  intensely  cold  weather,  was 
partly  frozen.  He  lingered  on  for  twenty- 
one  days,  when  death  released  him.  In 
the    family    were    children    as    follows: 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


645 


Augustus,  Victor  (who  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three),  Josie,  Adel,  Alphonse, 
Charlie,  Mary,  Fannie  and  Joseph. 

Being  the  eldest  of  the  family,  Au- 
gustus Genesse  received  but  limited 
educational  privileges,  for  his  services 
were  needed  on  the  home  farm.  His 
training  along  this  line  was  not  meager, 
for  early  in  life  he  became  familiar  with 
all  the  duties  of  the  agriculturist.  For 
some  years  he  remained  at  home  caring 
for  his  mother  who  is  now  living  in  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  but  on  the  19th  of  May, 
1 89 1,  he  made  preparation  for  a  home  of 
his  own  by  his  marriage  with  Victory, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Theresa  Mohi- 
mont.  They  lived  with  her  parents  for 
two  years  in  Green  Bay  township,  Brown 
county,  and  in  January,  1893,  came  to 
their  present  home  in  Union  township. 
Door  count}'.  Their  union  has  been 
blessed  with  two  interesting  children;  Ida 
B.,  born  July  7,  1892;  and  Benjamin, 
born  March  17,  1894. 

Mr.  Genesse  has  followed  in  the  po- 
litical footsteps  of  his  father,  and  is  a 
stanch  adherent  of  Republican  principles, 
having  supported  that  party  since  attain- 
ing his  majority.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
are  highly  respected  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity. Wisconsin  has  reason  to  be 
proud  of  her  children  if  they  are  all  like 
Mr.  Genesse,  who  is  an  enterprising 
farmer,  a  faithful  friend  and  a  valued  citi- 
zen, one  who  gives  his  support  to  all 
worthy  enterprises  calculated  to  benefit 
the  community  at  large. 


JOSEPH  OURADNIK,  who  for  some 
forty  years  has  been  prominently 
connected  with  the  mercantile  and 
official  interests  of  Casco  township, 
I\ewaunee  county,  is  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
born  September  28,  1843.  He  is  a  son 
of  Frank  and  Annie  Ouradnik,  also  na- 
tives of  Bohemia,  where  the  father  was  a 
farmer  and  grain  buyer,  and  a  prominent 
man  in  the  locality  in  which  he  made  his 


home.  In  1857,  accompanied  by  his 
family,  he  emigrated  to  America  and  took 
up  his  residence  in  Casco  township,  Ke- 
waunee Co. ,  Wis. ,  where  he  purchased  a 
section  of  timber  land  which  he  at  once 
began  to  clear  and  improve,  carrying  on 
agricultural  pursuits  the  greater  part  of  his 
life.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  both  lived  to 
advanced  age. 

The  educational  privileges  which  our 
subject  received  were  those  afforded  by 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  land,  in 
which  he  pursued  his  studies  until  twelve 
years  of  age.  About  that  time,  in  1855, 
he  came  with  his  brother-in-law  to  the 
United  States,  and  with  him  located  in 
Manitowoc,  Wis.,  but  after  a  short  time 
he  removed  to  Casco  township,  Kewau- 
nee county,  where  he  was  joined  by  his 
parents  in  the  year  1857.  Here  he  form- 
ed a  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law, 
John  Stika,  purchased  land,  and  after 
clearing  the  timber  from  the  same  began 
farming,  becoming  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  that  locality.  He  came  to  this  country 
a  poor  boy  without  any  knowledge  of  the 
English  language,  but  has  steadily  worked 
his  way  upward  from  a  humble  position 
to  one  of  affluence,  is  now  the  owner  of 
125  acres  of  valuable  land,  the  greater 
part  under  cultivation,  and  is  numbered 
among  the  representative  men  of  his 
township.  He  is  also  doing  a  profitable 
business  as  a  merchant  and  saloon  keeper 
in  Slovan,  and  owns  and  operates  a 
cheese  factory,  which  also  adds  materi- 
ally to  his  income. 

In  i860,  Mr.  Ouradnik  was  joined  in 
wedlock  to  Miss  Katherina  Marsicek,  who 
was  born  in  Bohemia,  October  31,  1845, 
and  their  union  has  been  blessed  with 
thirteen  children,  namely:  Mary,  Annie, 
Joseph,  Lydia,  Christina,  Lewis,  Frank, 
Rosa,  Theresa,  Frances,  Agnes,  Emma 
and  Katie.  In  politics  Mr.  Ouradnik 
affiliates  with  the  Democratic  party,  and 
has  served  as  supervisor  and  chairman  of 
the  town  board  for  many  j'ears.  He  has 
also  long  served  as  township  treasurer,  is 


646 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


still  filling  that  position,  and  in  1886  was 
elected  treasurer  of  Kewaunee  county, 
serving  for  three  terms  of  two  j-ears  each. 
At  this  writing  he  is  candidate  for  county 
sheriff.  He  has  also  held  the  office  of 
school  treasurer  for  si.xteen  years,  and  in 
these  various  positions  has  ever  been 
found  true  and  faithful,  discharging  his 
duties  with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfac- 
tion to  his  constituents.  During  President 
Hayes'  administration  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  at  Slovan,  and  is  still  filling 
■that  office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  and  it  was  largely  through 
his  instrumentality  that  the  Holy  Trinity 
church  of  Slovan  was  erected;  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Knights  of  Wis- 
consin. Our  subject  is  truly  one  of  the 
most  prominent  men  of  his  township,  and 
well  deserves  representation  in  the  history 
of  his  adopted  county. 


HANS  JOHNSON  has  been  an  im- 
jiortant  factor  in  the  growth  and 
upbuilding  of  Liberty  Grove  town- 
ship. Door  county,  and  in  the 
history  of  this  section  of  Wisconsin  well 
deserves  representation.  A  native  of 
Denmark,  he  was  born  May  3,  1846,  and 
is  a  son  of  Johan  and  Karen  (Clausen) 
Larson,  who  were  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, namely:  Nels,  Laurena,  Klausena, 
Hans,  Theodore,  Laurena  (deceased),  and 
Hans  (deceased).  The  father  of  this 
family,  who  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
died  when  the  son  Hans  was  only  five  years 
of  age. 

Our  subject  received  a  good  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
land,  and  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
nineteen  years  of  age  when  he  bade  adieu 
to  friends  and  family  and  set  out  for  the 
New  World,  taking  passage  on  a  vessel 
bound  from  London,  England,  for  New 
York,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Milwau- 
kee, Wis.,  at  which  city  he  arrived  No- 
vember 2,  1865,  and  then  went  to  Man- 
istee, Mich.,  where  he  worked  in  the 
pineries    during   the    succeeding   winter. 


In  the  spring  of  1866  he  returned  to 
Milwaukee,  and  secured  work  as  a  farm 
hand;  but  after  being  employed  in  that 
way  two  months,  again  went  to  Man- 
istee, Mich.,  where  he  was  employed  two 
years,  receiving  as  a  compensation  for 
his  services  $30  per  month.  His  next 
place  of  residence  was  in  Racine,  ^^'is. , 
where  he  made  his  home  for  a  year,  and 
in  I  87 1  he  came  to  Door  county,  settling 
at  Rowleys  Bay,  where  he  engaged  in  pre- 
paring cordwood  for  the  market.  His 
labors  in  that  direction  were  interrupted 
by  an  accident,  he  cutting  his  foot  so 
badly  that  he  was  disabled  for  work 
some  four  months.  When  he  had  re- 
covered he  was  employed  as  a  teamster 
by  the  firm  of  Osborn,  Coxwell  &  Co. ,  re- 
maining with  them  a  year  and  a  half,  at 
the  expiration  of  which  time  he  re- 
moved to  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  where  he 
worked  on  the  canal.  When  the  summer 
was  over  he  returned  to  Rowleys  Bay  and 
was  again  employed  by  Osborn,  Coxwell 
&  Co.  eight  months;  was  then  made  fore- 
man of  the  men  engaged  in  woodcutting, 
serving  in  that  capacity  a  year  and  a  half, 
when  he  bought  out  his  employers  and 
took  a  contract  to  get  out  i ,  500  cords  of 
wood.  This  task  was  completed  within 
a  year,  and,  with  the  capital  he  thereby 
acquired,  he  purchased  320  acres  of  land 
in  Libert}'  Grove  township,  on  which 
farm  he  lived  until  1879.  The  following 
year  he  went  back  to  New  Port,  where  he 
purchased  about  200  acres  of  timber  land, 
built  a  dock  and  established  a  general 
merchandise  store  which  he  carried  on 
with  good  success,  receiving  from  the  pub- 
lic a  liberal  and  well-deserved  patronage. 
In  1882,  he  secured  the  establishment  of 
a  postoffice  at  that  place,  and  served  as 
postmaster  for  seven  years  when  he  re- 
signed. He  was  engaged  in  the  real- 
estate  and  the  wood  business,  besides  at- 
tending to  his  mercantile  interests,  and  is 
now  in  business  at  Charlevoix,  Michigan. 
On  January  20,  1872,  Mr.  Johnson 
married  Miss  Anna  Zink,  daughter  of 
Klause  and  Mary  Zink,   who  are  now  liv- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPEICAL   RECORD. 


647 


ing  at  Fish  Creek,  Wis.  In  1886  Mr. 
Johnson  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the 
death  of  his  wife,  who  passed  away  Janu- 
ary 13,  that  3'ear,  lamented  by  many 
friends.  Mr.  Johnson  has  been  honored 
with  various  political  offices,  having 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace  one  year; 
chairman  of  the  town  board  of  supervis- 
ors three  years;  as  county  assemblyman 
for  two  years;  and  as  school  treasurer. 
He  established  the  schoolhouse  at  New 
Port,  and  was  instrumental  in  promoting 
the  leading  enterprises  and  interests  of 
Liberty  Grove  township,  his  name  being 
inseparably  connected  with  the  history  of 
its  growth  and  upbuilding. 


ANDREW  NELSON,  whose  name 
is  inseparably  connected  with  the 
official  history  of  Liberty  Grove 
township,  Door  county,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Denmark,  born  May  30,  185 1. 
His  parents,  Nels  and  Elsie  (Oleson)  So- 
renson,  were  of  the  same  nativity,  the 
father  born  April  27,  1817,  the  mother 
Februar}'  4,  1820.  They  are  farming 
people,  and  still  live  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Denmark,  which  is  carried  on  by  their 
youngest  son,  Ole  Nelson.  The  other 
children  in  the  family  are  Elsie,  Soren, 
Andrew,  Kjestina,  Anna  and  Meta. 

Our  subject  received  such  educational 
privileges  as  were  afforded  by  the  common 
schools,  and  secured  a  good  practical 
knowledge.  Most  of  the  children  left 
home  when  about  fourteen  years  of  age, 
but  Andrew  remained  with  his  parents 
until  he  was  twenty.  At  that  time,  hav- 
ing heard  much  of  the  advantages  and 
privileges  offered  in  the  New  World  to 
young  men,  he  resolved  to  test  the  truth 
of  these  reports  by  trying  his  fortune  in 
the  United  States,  and  accordingly  sailed 
from  Copenhagen  in  1872,  landing  in  New 
York  on  the  ist  of  April,  that  year.  From 
there  he  traveled  to  Chicago  and  to  Pat- 
.ton.  111.,  where  he  received  work  as  a  farm 
hand  at  $20  per  month,  and  after  being 
thus  employed  for  about  two  and   a  halt 


months  he  removed  to  Menominee, 
Mich.,  where  he  was  employed  in  the 
lumber  woods  for  about  ten  months  at 
$28  per  month.  Later  he  returned  to 
Chicago,  there  spending  about  one  month; 
then  took  up  his  residence  in  Marinette, 
Wis. ,  and  here  was  employed  in  a  saw- 
mill two  months.  About  that  time  his 
brother  Soren  received  a  very  severe 
wound  in  the  hand,  and  as  soon  as  he  re- 
covered they  went  to  Marquette,  but  not 
long  afterward  returned  to  Marinette.  Our 
subject  began  working  on  the  North  West- 
ern railroad  between  Menominee  and 
Escanaba,  Wis.,  and  often  received  as 
high  as  six  dollars  per  day,  in  which  way 
he  managed  to  save  some  money;  but  be- 
coming ill  it  was  all  expended  for  doctor 
bills,  so  that  when  he  came  to  Liberty 
Grove  he  was  without  any  capital.  He 
then  began  cutting  cordwood  for  Kirch 
Brothers  at  $1.25  per  cord,  and  continued 
in  their  employ  for  one  winter,  after 
which  he  purchased  120  acres  of  land 
from  Peter  Anderson,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Door  county.  This  land  was 
partially  cleared,  and  he  and  his  brother 
at  once  commenced  its  further  develop- 
ment, continuing  its  cultivation  for  three 
years,  when  they  dissolved  partnership. 

At  that  time  Andrew  Nelson  went  to 
Rowleys  Bay,  where  he  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  wood  land,  and  cutting  the 
timber  disposed  of  it  as  cordwood.  Three 
years  later  he  sold  that  property  and  re- 
moved to  Garrett  Bay,  and  purchased 
partially  from  the  Fox  River  Company 
600  acres  of  land,  which  he  yet  owns. 
He  began  cutting  the  timber,  built  two 
docks  for  shipping  purposes,  established 
a  store  and  in  five  years  also  opened  a 
stone  quarry.  He  has  now  for  thirteen 
years  been  engaged  in  the  wood  and 
stone  business,  shipping  an  average  of 
3,000  cords  of  wood  each  year. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1877,  Mr. 
Nelson  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Mary  Christenson,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Mary  Ann  (Madson)  Christenson,  and 
to  them  were  born  nine  children,  named 


648 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


respectively:  Louis,  Adolph,  Alma,  Will- 
iam, Ella,  Edwin,  Otto,  Harry  and 
Chester.  Mrs.  Nelson  is  a  member  of 
the  Moravian  church,  and  is  an  estimable 
lady,  one  who  has  p;ained  many  warm 
friends  in  the  conmiunity  in  which  she 
now  makes  her  home.  In  his  political 
views  Mr.  Nelson  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  been  called  upon  to  fill  \arious 
positions  of  honor  and  trust.  He  served 
for  five  years  as  ^a  member  of  the  town 
board  of  supervisors;  has  been  treasurer 
of  school  district  No.  5  for  seven  years, 
is  now  serving  as  justice  of  the  peace,  a 
position  he  has  filled  for  fi\e  years,  and 
in  1895  was  elected  chairman  of  the 
town.  He  discharges  his  duties  in  a 
capable  and  acceptable  manner,  being 
ever  true  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him, 
and  in  Liberty  Grove  township  he  is  re- 
garded as  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
strict  integrity — a  valued  and  progressive 
citizen. 


JOSEPH    MAHLBEKG,  one  of    the 
most    intelligent    young    farmers   of 
West  Kewaunee  township,  Kewaunee 
county,    was    born    in    the    town   of 
Kewaunee  February  26,  1865. 

Henry  Mahlberg,  his  father,  was  born 
July  2,  1832,  at  Eschen,  Germany,  was 
educated  at  the  conimoii  schools,  and 
later  worked  at  farming  until  1848,  when 
he  volunteered  in  the  German  army  and 
served  three  years,  receiving  at  the  end  of 
that  time  an  honorable  discharge.  In 
April,  1852,  he  landed  in  New  York  City, 
whence  he  came  to  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
from  that  point  prospecting  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  and  finally,  in  1861, 
purchasing  the  farm  in  West  Kewaunee 
township,  which  his  family  now  occupy, 
and  where  he  died  December  16,  1891. 
Soon  after  reaching  the  United  States  he 
declared  his  intention  of  becoming  a  citi- 
zen, and  at  once  affiliated  with  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  and  was  elected  assessor  of 
West  Kewaunee  township.  In  religion 
he  was   a.  Catholic.      His    marriage  took 


place  June  23,  1862,  to  Mary  Hauer,  who 
was  born  in  Schleswig,  (icrmany,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1844,  a  daughter  of  Hans  P. 
and  Mary  Hauer,  and  by  this  union  there 
were  five  children,  viz. :  Henry,  Joseph, 
William,  Eilward  and  Emma,  of  whom 
Joseph  and  Emma  are  still  living. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  was 
reared  on  the  home  farm,  and  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Kewaunee  and  in 
the  high  school.  In  the  spring  of  1880 
he  successfully  piassed  the  board  of  ex- 
aminers, \\as  granted  a  teacher's  certifi- 
cate, and  at  once  engaged  in  that  pro- 
fession, which  he  followed  until  18S5, 
when  he  returned  to  the  farm.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  an  ardent  Democrat.  He  served 
as  township  clerk  in  1892-3,  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace  in  1893,  and  in  April, 
1894,  was  elected  chairman  of  the  town- 
ship by  nearly  100  majority. 

Mr.  Mahlberg  was  married  November 
26,  1890,  to  Annie  Zeman,  a  daughter  of 
Frank  and  Annie  Zeman,  natives  of  Bo- 
hemia. She  was  born  November  24, 
I  869,  in  Pierce  township,  Kewaunee  Co. , 
Wis.,  and  has  borne  her  husband  two 
children:  .\unie,  born  July  26,  1S91,  and 
who  dietl  July  29,  following;  and  Elroy, 
born  October  24,  1892.  Mr.  Mahlberg, 
aside  from  being  popular  with  his  party, 
is  highly  respected  by  the  community  at 
large,  and  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the 
most  progressive  young  farmers  of  his 
township. 


GEORGE  KING  was  born  De- 
cember 6,  1850,  in  Cooperstown, 
Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis.,  and  is  a 
son  of  Clifford  King,  who  was 
born  in  Canada,  of  French  descent,  and 
who  became  a  farmer  and  hotel  keeper. 
He  married  Lucy  Goodchild,  a  native  of 
Canada,  b}'  whom  he  had  seven  children — 
five  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  third  son, 
spent  his  boyhood  days  upon  his  father's 
farm,  and  remained  at  the  old  home  in 
Manitowoc   county  until    he    was  si.xteen 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


649. 


years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  Neshoto, 
in  the  same  county,  where  for  about  ten 
years  he  was  employed  as  a  laborer.  At 
the  end  of  that  decade  he  changed  his 
place  of  residence  to  Manitowoc  Rapids, 
and  entered  the  employ  of  Mrs.  Walker, 
now  Mrs.  Decker,  serving  as  overseer  on 
her  farm  for  about  a  year,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  came  to  Casco  township, 
and  has  acted  as  overseer  on  the  farm  of 
Ed.  Decker  since  that  time.  He  now  has 
charge  of  all  Mr.  Decker's  landed  inter- 
ests, also  of  the  sawmill,  in  fact,  is  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  all  Mr.  Decker's 
business  affairs.  He  receives  a  salary  for 
his  services,  and  in  addition  has  an  inter- 
est in  the  business,  and  is  one  of  Mr. 
Decker's  most  confidential  employes,  re- 
ceiving his  unlimited  trust  which  he  well 
merits.  During  the  time  he  has  had 
charge  of  affairs  the  business  has  in- 
creased in  volume  and  in  profit,  and  his 
management  of  the  sawmill,  especially, 
has  made  that  a  paying  investment. 

On  May  i,  1875,  was  celebrated  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  King  with  Miss  Emma 
Doretha  De  Pons,  who  was  born  March 
31,  1857,  in  Manitowoc  count}-.  Wis., 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Doretha  (Ahrnes) 
De  Pons,  who  were  of  French  extraction. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  King  have  one  child,  George 
Roy,  born  November  19,  1889.  Our 
subject  is  a  member  of  Vigilant  Lodge, 
No.  20,  K.  P.,  and  is  a  highly  respected 
citizen. 


CHARI^ES  O.  FRANKLIN,  gar- 
dener and  small-fruit  grower  of 
Sturgeon  Bay  township.  Door 
county,  is  a  native  of  Wisconsin, 
born  October  12,  1842,  in  Burlington, 
I^acine  county,  youngest  in  the  family  of 
Oliver  Franklin,  who  had  three  sons  and 
one  daughter.  Oliver  Franklin  came  west- 
ward from  New  York  State,  becoming  an 
early  settler  of  Racine  county. 

Up  to  the  age  of  fifteen  years  our  sub- 
ject remained  at  home,  attending  school 
irregularly  and  helping  with   the  work  on 


the  home  farm.  After  commencing  life 
for  himself  he  was  engaged  for  se\-eral 
_\earB  in  fishing,  along  Lake  Michigan 
from  Kenosha  to  Death's  Door,  and  was 
occupied  at  various  kinds  of  labor,  such 
as  fishing,  lumbering,  etc.,  until  thirty 
years  of  age,  when  he  went  west  to 
Nebraska  and  took  up  a  homestead  in 
Boone  county.  But  he  found  the  grass- 
hoppers so  destructive  to  crops  that  after 
three  years  he  gave  up  his  claim  and  re- 
turned to  Wisconsin;  next  spent  a  winter 
with  a  brother  in  northern  Michigan,  and 
then  came  to  Fish  Creek,  Door  Co., 
Wis. ,  taking  up  a  farm  in  the  woods.  On 
that  place  he  remained  seven  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  engaged  in  agriculture 
and  fishing,  and  then,  the  home  being 
broken  up  by  the  death  of  his  wife,  he 
went  to  Marinette,  Wis.,  where  for  three 
years  he  was  employed  in  the  artificial 
stone  works.  About  this  time  a  tract  of 
land  in  Ontonagon  county,  Mich.,  was 
opened  up  to  settlers,  and  Mr.  F"ranklin, 
taking  up  a  claim  there,  lived  thereon 
four  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
sold  his  right  for  $6,000,  having  found 
great  difficulty  in  establishing  his  title. 
Coming  again  to  Door  county.  Wis. ,  and 
to  Sturgeon  Bay,  he  here,  in  August, 
1 89 1,  purchased  a  twenty-acre  tract  of 
land  from  A.  W.  Lawrence,  and  made  a 
snug  home,  his  aged  mother  living  with 
him  for  a  time.  The  land  has  been  greatly 
improved  under  his  care,  and  is  in  the 
highest  state  of  cultivation,  being  devoted 
entirely  to  gardening  and  the  raising  of 
small  fruits,  Mr.  Franklin  having  the 
most  extensive  business  of  the  kind  in 
Sturgeon  Bay  township. 

In  Boone  county,  Neb.,  Mr.  Franklin 
was  married  December  25,  1875,  to  Myra 
E.  Bristol,  a  native  of  Belvidere,  111., 
who  died  at  Fish  Creek,  Door  Co. ,  Wis. , 
October  15,  1893,  leaving  three  children, 
namely:  Charles  H.,  of  California;  Mabel, 
of  Hay  Springs,  Neb.,  and  Melva,  of 
Marinette,  Wis.  On  April  3,  1894,  at 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.,  our  subject  was 
married,    for   the    second   time,    to    Mrs. 


650 


COMMEMORATirS   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Minnie  Laebbe,  a  native  of  German}'. 
Mr.  Franklin  takes  no  active  part  in 
public  affairs,  and  is  generally  non-part- 
isan in  politics,  though  he  has  a  prefer- 
ence for  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party. 


ANTON  LANGENKAMP,  the  fa- 
mous brewer  of  Carlton,  Kewau- 
nee county,  is  a  native  of  West- 
phalia, German}',  born  October 
28,  1843,  in  the  village  of  Rinkenrod. 
His  father,  Henry  Langenkamp,  was  born 
in  Germany  in  1804,  and  died  at  his  na- 
tive place  in   1857. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  seventh  in 
a  family  of  eight  children,  attended  the 
common  schools,  receiving  a  good  educa- 
tion, and  worked  at  intervals  on  a  farm 
until  seventeen  }'ears  of  age,  when  he  en- 
tered upon  an  apprenticeship  to  the  brew- 
ing business,  finishing  his  "time"  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two.  He  then  started 
out  on  his  travels,  as  was  and  is  still  the 
custom,  and  hence  the  term  "journey- 
man," to  gain  further  instruction  in  his 
business,  his  indentures  entitling  him  to 
full  pay  as  a  journeyman  wherever  he 
might  find  employment  or  choose  to 
work.  After  visiting  many  places  in 
Europe,  he,  in  1865,  set  out  for  America, 
coming  direct  to  Kewaunee,  Wis. ,  where 
he  remained  about  four  years,  first  work- 
ing in  a  sawmill,  then  on  a  farm,  and 
finally  in  the  Kewaunee  brewery.  He 
then  went  to  Ahnapee,  where  he  worked 
at  his  trade  about  two  years,  then  two 
years  at  Francis  Creek,  after  which 
he  was  two  and  one-half  years  employed 
at  the  branch  in  Manitowoc  county,  then 
returned  to  Ahnapee,  and  a  year  later 
purchased  the  brewery  at  Tisch  Mills. 
Here  he  is  in  partnership  with  his  brother, 
and  together  they  have,  since  they  be- 
gan operations,  rebuilt  or  enlarged  the 
brewery  and  so  improved  the  quality  of 
the  product  that  it  is  recognized  as  the 
best  in  this  section  of  the  country,  the  re- 
sult being  an  extensive  and  lucrative  trade. 


Mr.  Langenkamp  is  altogether  a  man  of 
energy  and  business  push,  and  in  addition 
to  his  brewery  interest  has  stock  in  the 
flouring  and  sawmill  at  Carlton.  Socially, 
he  is  a  member  of  the  F.  &  A.  M. ,  I.  O. 
O.  F. ,  Sons  of  Hermann,  S.  M.  H., 
American  Legion  of  Honor,  and  C.  S. 
P.  S.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  ever 
active  in  securing  the  success  of  the 
party  in  his  township  and  county,  and  he 
is  now  a  member  of  the  county  board  of 
Kewaunee  county.  In  1892  he  was  the 
candidate  of  his  party  for  the  General 
Assembly,  but  was  not  elected;  on  ac- 
count, however,  of  irregularities  in  the 
election  proceedings,  he  contested  the 
seat  in  the  Assembly,  and  though  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Democratic  party,  he  was  not 
allowed  the  seat  by  them  when  they  were 
in  office,  yet  he  was  vindicated  in  his 
course  by  the  Republicans  when  they 
came  into  power,  as  they  promptly  reim- 
bursed him  for  the  expenses  incurred  by 
him  in  the  contest. 

Mr.  Langenkamp  is  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  substantial  citizens  in  his  sec- 
tion, as  well  as  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial in  public  affairs,  possessing  a  social 
and  genial  nature  which  wins  him  uni- 
versal popularity  among  his  fellow  citizens. 
He  lives  in  a  fine  residence  adjoining  the 
brewery  property,  which  he  has  admir- 
ably equipped  with  modern  improvements 
and  surrounded  by  fine  fruit-bearing  trees, 
all  planted  by  him  since  his  residence 
here,  the  beautiful  and  well-kept  property 
giving  ample  evidence  of  his  taste,  he  dis- 
playing the  same  interest  in  that  as  in 
everything  else  with  which  he  is  con- 
nected. 


JURGEN  REHDER,  an  industrious, 
prosperous  farmer  of    Egg    Harbor 
township.  Door  county,  is  a  native 
of  the  Fatherland,  born  March   10, 
1859,    in    Holstein,     third    child    in    the 
family  of  Claus   Rehder,    who    was    the 
father  of   nine    children — seven  sons  (of 


n 

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HLx.' 

COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOEAPHICAL   RECORD. 


653 


whom    Jurgeii    is    the     eldest)    and    two 
daughters. 

Up  to  the  age  of  fourteen  years  our 
subject  attended  school;  also  assisting  his 
father  and  mother  at  home,  and  after 
that  time  commenced  working  for 
strangers,  giving  his  wages  to  his  parents. 
In  the  fall  of  1883,  at  the  age  of  twentj'- 
four  years,  he  left  his  native  land,  on 
September  29,  sailing  from  Amsterdam 
on  the  steamer  "Shidam,"  which  landed 
at  New  York  October  14.  One  of  his 
brothers  having  settled  in  Iowa,  our  sub- 
ject set  out  for  that  State,  but  on  arriving 
at  Chicago,  111.,  he  found  himself  without 
money,  without  friends,  and  unable  to 
speak  the  English  language.  He  man- 
aged to  secure  employment,  however, 
and  in  a  few  weeks  came  by  boat  to 
Door  county.  Wis.,  landing  at  Sturgeon 
Bay  November  3.  In  Section  14,  Egg 
Harbor  township,  he  found  work  cutting 
wood,  receiving  one-half  of  the  wood  for 
his  labor,  continuing  at  that  through  the 
winter,  after  which  he  hired  out  as  a  farm 
hand  on  the  place  where  he  now  lives,  in 
Section  14,  and  which  now  consists  of 
220  acres,  over  one  hundred  of  which  have 
been  cleared  by  honest  industry. 

On  March  8,  1888,  Mr.  Rehder  was 
married,  in  Egg  Harbor,  to  Mrs.  Dora 
(Perls)  Forey,  widow  of  George  Fore}', 
and  to  this  union  were  born  three  children: 
Charles,  John  and  Catherine.  In  politi- 
cal affiliation  Mr.  Rehder  was  originally  a 
Democrat,  but  he  now  votes  according  to 
the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  re- 
gardless of  party  lines.  In  religious  con- 
nection he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church. 


CHARLES  PLINSKE  follows  farm- 
ing   on    Section    15,    Forestville 
township,  Door  county,  where  he 
owns  and  operates   175   acres  of 
valuable    land,    which    farm    he    located 
upon  in   1875  and  commenced  clearing, 
for  it    was    then    covered  with    a   heavy 

growth   of  timber. 
37 


He  now  has  eighty 


acres  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion, improved  with  good  buildings  and 
the  other  accessories  and  convenien- 
ces of  a  model  farm.  His  home  is 
a  comfortable  and  substantial  brick 
residence,  28  x  29  feet  with  an  L  1 1  x  28 
feet,  and  has  two  large  barns,  one  40  x  ^6 
feet,  the  other  28  x  56  feet.  He  makes  a 
specialty  of  the  breeding  of  Holstein  cat- 
tle and  Berkshire  and  Poland-China  hogs, 
and  also  does  dairy  farming,  keeping  on 
hand  from  ten  to  fifteen  cows  for  that 
purpose. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Germany 
November  29,  1844,  and  his  parents, 
Charles  and  Charlotte  (Rebein)  Plinske, 
were  natives  of  the  same  locality.  In 
1868  they  emigrated  to  America,  and  the 
family  settled  on  a  farm  in  Manitowoc 
county.  Wis. ,  while  the  father  worked  at 
farm  labor  in  order  to  provide  for  their 
support.  Later  he  opened  up  his  own 
farm,  and  continued  its  cultivation  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  life;  but  in  his  later 
years  he  laid  aside  active  business  cares 
and  retired  to  the  city  of  Manitowoc, 
where  he  spent  his  last  days,  his  death  oc- 
curring in  1887,  his  wife  dying  there  in 
1893.  They  were  the  parents  of  five 
children,  namely:  Caroline,  who  became 
the  wife  of  John  Gnadt,  and  died  in  Mani- 
towoc county  in  1872;  Minnie,  widow  of 
William  Albracht,  of  Manitowoc  county; 
Charles;  Ferdinand,  who  is  living  in  the 
city  of  Manitowoc,  and  Albertine,  who 
died  when  fourteen  years  of  age.  Charles, 
our  subject,  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  land,  and  served  in  the  German 
army  for  nearly  three  years,  doing  duty  in 
Austria  in  1 866,  three  months,  in  the  war 
with  that  country,  the  rest  of  the  time  in 
Berlin,  Germany.  He  afterward  worked 
as  a  farm  hand  in  his  native  land  and  also 
in  this  country  until  he  was  able  to  begin 
farming  for  his  own  account.  He  was  also 
foreman  of  a  gang  of  men  engaged  in  rail- 
road grading  in  Illinois  and  Michigan, 
later  spending  two  years  in  Kansas,  Min- 
nesota and  Missouri,  working  at  various 
kinds  of  labor;  was  also  employed   in   a 


654 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


brick  yard  in  Chicajjo  for  two  summers — 
1872  and  1873 — working  by  the  piece, 
and  making  from  five  to  eight  dollars  per 
day.  He  has  worked  in  nine  States  of 
the  Union,  and  has  always  been  found 
busy,  for  idleness  is  uttcrh'  foreign  to  his 
nature. 

Mr.  Plinske  was  married  in  Manitowoc 
county  May  19,  1874,  to  Miss  Gusta 
Aestreig,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Augusta  Aestreig,  who 
were  born  in  the  same  country,  and  in 
i860  emigrated  to  Manitowoc  county. 
Wis.,  where  the  father  opened  up  a  farm 
on  which  he  still  makes  his  home;  he  was 
called  upon  to  mourn  the  death  of  his 
wife  in  1888.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Plinske  have 
eight  children:  Clara,  Richard,  Laura, 
Ella,  Arthur,  Elsie,  Hugo  and  ^^atikle. 
Our  subject  takes  a  warm  interest  in  poli- 
tics, and  supports  the  Republican  party, 
by  whom  he  has  been  elected  to  several 
local  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  such 
as  town  supervisor,  school  director  and 
town  treasurer,  which  latter  position  he 
has  filled  eleven  years,  and  is  present  in- 
cumbent. His  duties  are  promptly  and 
faithfully  performed,  and  the  community 
recognizes  in  him  a  valued  citizen,  one 
who  gives  his  support  to  all  worthy  en- 
terprises, and  bears  his  part  in  the  up- 
building of  town  and  county.  He  and  his 
estimable  wife  hold  membership  with  the 
Lutheran  Church,  in  which  he  is  serving 
as  deacon,  and  take  quite  an  active 
interest  in  Churcli  and  Sunday-school 
work. 


CHRIST  DEMMIN,  one  of  the 
prosperous  and  substantial  farm- 
ers of  Egg  Harbor  township. 
Door  county,  was  born  in  Prussia, 
Germany,  October  28,  1835,  and  is  the 
youngest  son  in  a  family  of  six  sons  and 
two  daughters.  His  father,  John  Dem- 
min,  was  engaged  in  the  livery  business  in 
a  small  German  village. 

Our    subject    attended   the    common 
schools,  and   remained  at  home  until   his 


marriage  to  Miss  Dora  Rhode.  On  Oc- 
tober I,  1862,  Mr.  Demmin,  with  his  wife 
and  two  children,  took  passage  at  Ham- 
burg on  the  sailing  vessel  "Helena," 
which  after  a  \oyage  of  ten  weeks  and 
two  days  arrived  at  Xew  York.  In  the 
Empire  State  he  remained  two  and  a 
half  jears,  working  as  a  farm  hand  near 
Poughkeepsie,  and  in  the  spring  of  1865 
he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  made 
his  home  some  nine  years,  engaged  in  un- 
loading vessels  and  in  other  service  yield- 
ing him  an  honest  living.  I'nr  five  years 
he  was  in  a  carriage  factory,  operating 
the  machinery,  and,  while  thus  employed, 
by  his  prudence,  industry  and  economy 
he  sa\ed  quite  a  little  sum  of  monv  and 
then  started  out  in  search  of  land.  Visit- 
ing Door  county,  he  purchased  a  fortj'- 
acre  tract  of  timber  land  in  Section  32, 
Egg  Harbor  township,  to  which  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  the  foUcjwing  j'ear. 
There  were  no  improvements  in  this  lo- 
cality, no  road  was  cut  to  the  farm,  and 
not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  upon  the 
place;  but  with  characteristic  energy  he 
began  to  clear  it,  and  in  1 874  he  raised 
his  first  crop,  consisting  of  potatoes  and 
corn.  Each  \ear  saw  a  larger  amount  of 
land  cleared  and  placed  under  cultivation, 
bountiful  harvests  were  gathered  and  the 
farm  at  length  became  a  paying  invest- 
ment, making  its  owner  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  the  communitj'.  As 
his  financial  resources  have  increased,  he 
has  extended  the  boundaries  of  his  farm 
until  he  now  has  240  acres,  one  hundred 
of  which  are  cleared  and  improved. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Demmin  were  born 
the  following  children:  \\"illiam  and  Min- 
nie, who  were  born  in  the  Fatherland, 
and  died  in  New  York  shortly  after  the 
arrival  of  the  family  in  this  countr\'; 
Louisa,  now  the  wife  of  Charles  Juergens, 
residing  in  Minnesota;  Charles  and  Theo- 
dore, who  died  in  childhood,  while  in 
Chicago;  John,  Louis  and  August,  all  at 
home,  the  last  named  having  been  born 
at  Egg  Harbor,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Dem- 
min votes  with  the  Republican  party,  and 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


655 


believes  strongly  in  its  principles,  yet  is  not 
an  intolerant  partisan.  He  has  served  as 
township  supervisor  four  years,  and  is 
now  enjoying  his  seventh  term  as  town 
treasurer,  a  fact  which  indicates  his  effi- 
ciency and  the  confidence  and  trust  re- 
posed in  him  by  his  fellow  townsmen. 
He  is  a  believer  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Moravian  Church,  assisted  in  building  the 
house  of  worship,  is  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  congregation,  and  has 
served  as  one  of  the  officers  since  its  or- 
ganization. He  is  a  typical  self-made 
man,  for  he  started  out  in  life  empty- 
handed,  and  for  some  years  after  coming 
to  this  country  had  to  work  as  a  common 
laborer;  but  he  scorned  no  employment 
which  would  yield  him  an  honest  living, 
and  as  the  result  of  his  industry,  perse- 
verance and  ec(inomy  he  has  steadily 
worked  his  way  upward  and  acquired  for 
himself  and  family  a  pleasant  home  and 
comfortable  competence.  He  certainly 
deserves  great  credit  for  his  success  in 
life,  and  his  example  is  one  well  worth}'  of 
emulation. 


JOHN  B.  DELWICHE.  Belgium 
has  furnished  many  worthy  citizens 
to  Wisconsin,  among  whom  is  the 
subject  of  this  brief  review — a  well- 
known  farmer  of  Door  county.  His  par- 
ents, William  and  Mary  (Duper)  Del- 
wiche,  now  live  with  him,  and  in  their 
family  were  seven  children,  who  in  the 
order  of  birth  are  as  follows:  Catherine, 
Felicity,  John  B.,  \'irginia,  Lucy,  Joseph 
and  Frank. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Belgium  in 
1847,  and  in  that  country  spent  the  first 
nine  years  of  his  life,  after  which  he  came 
with  his  parents  to  .America,  the  family 
locating  in  Union  township.  Door  Co., 
Wis.,  where  the  father  made  purchase  of 
forty  acres  of  land — the  farm  on  which 
he  yet  resides.  A  log  cabin  was  built, 
16x16  feet,  and  as  they  had  no  team  the 
logs  were  carried  by  the  men;  the  work 
of  improvement  was  at  once   begun,  and 


with  a.\e,  grub  hoe  and  plow  the  once 
wild  timber-land  was  transformed  into 
rich  and  fertile  fields,  which  in  course  of 
time  began  to  yield  abundant  harvests. 
As  the  years  passed  the  boundaries  of  the 
farm  were  extended  until  it  comprised  137 
acres.  The  mother  of  our  subject  died 
here  July  6,  1S77.  Since  coming  to 
America  John  B.  Delwiche  has  resided 
upon  this  farm,  and  in  the  work  of  de- 
\elopment  and  ciilti\ation  he  has  ever 
borne  his  part,  while  in  the  experiences 
of  frontier  life  he  has  also  had  his  share. 
On  June  i,  i.'^7.i,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Cauquet,  and  their  union  has  been 
blessed  with  ten  children,  namely:  Jau- 
quet,  Moise,  Heloise,  Lizzie,  Celine, 
Joseph  Arthm",  Frank,  William,  John  and 
Fred,  of  whom  William  is  dead. 

Mr.  Delwiche  and  his  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in  the 
community  where  they  reside  they  are 
highly  respected  people  who  have  many 
warm  friends.  By  his  ballot  our  subject 
supports  the  I'vepublicau  party,  and  has 
several  times  been  called  to  positions  of 
honor  and  trust,  having  served  for  one 
year  as  chairman  of  the  town  board,  for 
three  years  as  town  treasurer  and  for  two 
years  as  town  clerk.  In  all  of  these 
ofifices  he  has  discharged  his  duties  with 
a  promptness  and  fidelity  that  has  won 
him  high  connnendation,  and  in  all  re- 
spects he  is  recognized  as  a  valued  citizen. 


ANDREW  KONOP,  an  industrious 
and   thriving   farmer  of  Franklin 
township,  Kewaunee  county,  was 
born  in  Bohemia,  May  24,  1842, 
and    is    the   second   in    the   family  of  six 
children  of    Mathias   and    Annie    Konop. 
also  natives  of  Bohemia. 

Our  subject  attended  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  land  (the  Bohemian,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  German)  until  four- 
teen years  of  age,  in  the  meantime  learn- 
ing the  weaver's  trade.  He  then  wended 
his  way  to  Vienna,  Austria,  where  he 
plied  his  trade  until  he  was  twenty  years 


656 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHWAL   RECORD. 


old,  then  returned  home  and  lived  four 
years  with  his  mother,  his  father  having 
in  the  meantime  died.  In  1867,  along 
with  his  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  he 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  coming 
directly  to  the  town  of  Franklin,  Wis., 
where  he  worked  in  a  sawmill  about  three 
years  and  then  bought  the  farm  he  now 
operates  and  resides  on,  and  set  to  work 
at  the  usual  task  of  clearing  off  the  tim- 
ber and  reducing  the  soil  to  a  fit  state  for 
cultivation.  He  has  continued  to  add  to 
his  possessions,  has  erected  good  sub- 
stantial buildings,  and  he  is  now  a  model 
farmer  with  a  model  farm. 

The  marriage  of  Andrew  Konop  took 
place  May  24,  1865,  to  Miss  \Iaggie 
Cilar,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Cilar, 
natives  of  Bohemia,  where  Mrs.  Konop 
was  born  December  25,  1844,  and  the 
children  born  to  this  marriage,  four  in 
number,  are  named  Mary,  Annie,  Fannie 
and  Joseph.  The  family  are  Catholic  in 
their  religious  faith,  and  Mr.  Konop  is  a 
member  of  the  C.  S.  P.  S.  of  Kewaunee 
county.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and  he  has  been  eight  times  elected  treas- 
urer of  the  township  of  Franklin;  in  1893 
he  was  elected  chairman  of  the  board  of 
supervisors,  and  re-elected  in  1894  bj^  a 
large  majority — a  significant  fact,  indicat- 
ing that  he  has  filled  the  office  with  credit 
and  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  all  con- 
cerned. The  social  standing  of  the  fam- 
ily is  all  that  could  be  desired. 


I 


GEORGE  HARBERS,  who  carries 
on  a  successful  business  as  a  vet- 
erinary surgeon  at  Baileys  Har- 
bor. Door  county,  was  born  in 
Oldenburg,  Germany,  May  3,  1849,  ^"d 
is  a  son  of  Antone  C.  Harbers,  who  car- 
ried on  agricultural  pursuits,  becoming 
prosperous,  and  who  married  Margaret 
Lange.  They  became  the  parents  of  five 
children:  Anna,  Catherine,  Freda,  An- 
tone and  George. 

Our  subject  received  good  educational 
privileges,  completing  a  high-school  course. 


and  remained  under  the  parental  roof  un- 
til fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  left 
home  to  earn  his  own  livelihood,  and  be- 
gan work  upon  a  farm.  In  that  manner 
he  was  employed  some  five  years,  when 
he  entered  the  army,  serving  one  year. 
He  then  left  the  service  for  about  a  year, 
but  again  returned,  and  during  the  six- 
teen months  of  his  second  service  he  par- 
ticipated in  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 
Returning  to  his  home,  he  there  passed 
one  year,  after  which  he  was  united  in 
marriage,  December  i,  1872,  with  Miss 
Matilda,  daughter  of  Edward  and  Helena 
f Peters)  Buzing;  but  in  1874  she  died, 
leaving  two  children:  Helene  and  Ed- 
ward, the  latter  of  whom  is  now  emplo3'ed 
as  a  salesman  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  In 
the  same  year  Mr.  Harbers  bade  adieu  to 
home  and  friends  in  the  Fatherland,  to 
seek  a  home  bejond  the  water,  and  after 
a  voyage  of  eleven  days  landed  in  New 
York,  whence  he  came  direct  to  Baileys 
Harbor,  Wis.,  arriving  on  the  24th  of 
June.  Here  he  secured  employment  in 
the  store  of  Fred  Wohlmann,  with  whom 
he  remained  seven  years — a  trusted  as- 
sistant. In  I S76  he  returned  to  Germany 
on  a  visit  to  his  parents,  and  in  1878  he 
was  a  second  time  married,  the  lady  of 
his  choice  being  Miss  Anna  Lungohr, 
daughter  of  Herman  and  Theresa 
(Schwartz)  Lungohr.  They  have  two 
children — Augusta,  born  December  23, 
1879;  and  Lydia,  born  May  5,  1881. 

Upon  his  second  marriage  Mr.  Har- 
bers bought  340  acres  of  land,  the  pur- 
chase price  being  $2200,  and  he  and  fam- 
ily moved  into  a  little  log  cabin  which 
was  their  home  for  two  years,  when  a 
more  modern  structure  was  erected.  Of 
the  farm  only  thirty  acres  had  been 
cleared,  and  he  at  once  began  to  improve 
the  place,  selling  the  timber  as  cordwood, 
for  some  of  which  he  received  as  high  as 
$5  per  cord.  After  cultivating  that  farm 
for  si.x  3'ears  he  sold  out  for  $4, 700,  and 
purchased  his  present  home  in  Baileys 
Harbor  township.  He  embarked  in  the 
meat  business,    but   as  it  did  not   prove 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHWAL   RECORD. 


657 


very  profitable  he  sold  out  to  Gustaf 
Pfeifer  in  1885,  and  has  since  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  veterinary  surger}',  in 
which  he  has  met  with  most  excellent 
success.  Since  becoming  an  American 
citizen  he  has  supported  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party,  and  is 
now  serving  as  constable,  a  position  which 
he  has  filled  for  eight  years  in  an  exem- 
plary manner.  Both  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  with  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  are  highly  respected  citizens,  their 
friends  throughout  the  community  being 
many. 


HERMANN     BOETTCHER     was 
born   September  6,  1863,  on  the 
farm   where    he    now   resides,    in 
Lincoln      township,      Kewaunee 
county,  Wis.,  and  is   a  son  of   Friedrich 
Boettcher,    a  native   of   Pommern,    Ger- 
many, born  March  6,  1826. 

The  father  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  land,  and 
worked  as  a  common  laborer  until  his 
marriage  to  Sophia  Wagner,  also  a  native 
of  Germany,  born  March  15,  1831.  They 
had  seven  children — four  sons  and  three 
daughters.  In  1857  they  emigrated  to 
America  and  located  in  Manitowoc,  Wis., 
residing  there  two  years,  removing  thence 
to  Ivewaunee  county,  where,  in  Lincoln 
township,  the  father  purchased  160 
acres  of  timber  land,  which  he  at  once 
began  to  clear  and  improve,  transforming 
the  wild  tract  into  rich  and  fertile  fields. 
He  has  since  carried  on  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  is  one  of  the  representative 
farmers  of  the  township.  His  wife 
died  October  19,  1885,  in  the  faith  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  to  which  she  be- 
longed. The  children  of  the  family  yet 
living  are  Hermann;  William,  of  Hart, 
Minn. ;  and  Annie,  wife  of  John  B.  Meu- 
nier,  of  Marinette,  Wisconsin. 

The  public  schools  of  the  neighbor- 
hood of  his  boyhood  home  afforded  our 
subject  his  educational  privileges,  and  he 
was  reared  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer 


lads,  working  for  his  father  until  after  he 
had  attained  his  majority.  In  1889  he 
took  charge  of  the  home  farm  which  he 
still  manages,  and  is  now  widely  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  wide-awake  and  en- 
terprising \oung  farmers  of  Lincoln  town- 
ship. 

On  July  I,  1886,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Hulda  Kersten,  who  was  born  in 
Cooperstown,  Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis.,  De- 
cember 31,  1869,  and  they  have  two 
children:  Emma  B.,  born  August  3, 
1891;  and  Berhnerd,  born  April  7,  1894. 
In  his  political  views  Mr.  Boettcher  is  a 
Democrat,  and  has  filled  the  offices  of 
pathmaster  and  constable  in  a  creditable 
and  acceptable  manner.  He  holds  mem- 
bership with  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
his  entire  life  has  been  passed  in  Kewau- 
nee county,  where  he  is  widely  and  favor- 
ably known,  and  where  he  is  held  in  high 
regard  as  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
strict  integrity. 


GEORGE  BREY,  who  has  been  a 
resident  of  Ahnapee  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  for  the  past 
twenty-five  years,  is  a  native  of 
Bohemia,  born  April  22,  1836,  in  Chu- 
diwa.  He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
(Simmat)  Brey,  also  natives  of  Bohemia, 
the  former  of  whom  was  a  farmer  and 
saloon-keeper.  They  had  a  family  of  six- 
teen children  (four  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased), George  being  the  fifth  in  order 
of  birth. 

Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  country,  re- 
ceiving his  instruction  in  the  German  lan- 
guage, and  was  reared  on  a  farm  up  to 
the  age  of  thirteen  years,  when  he  was 
apprenticed  to  learn  the  harness-maker's 
trade,  completing  his  apprenticeship  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years.  .After  follow- 
ing his  trade  for  eight  years  he  became  a 
cavalryman,  and  served  nearly  eleven  years 
in  the  army,  participating  in  the  war  with 
Prussia,  after  which  he  acted  as  private 
help  for  noted  families  of  Austria  some  six 


65S 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


years,  and  then  entered  a  wholesale  house 
in  Pras^iie,  which  had  a  lar^e  export  trade 
in  Bohemia.  Remaining  there  some  two 
years,  he  returned  home,  and  shortly 
afterward,  on  April  25,  1869,  embarked 
on  the  steamer  "Germany,"  bound  for 
the  United  States,  landing  at  New  York 
May  16,  a  short  time  thereafter  locating 
at  La  Porte,  Ind.,  whence  he  soon  after- 
ward removed  to  Wisconsin,  settling  in 
Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  where  he 
was  engaged  as  a  laborer  for  a  few  weeks. 
On  August  2,  1869,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Mary  (Merrit)  Gettin- 
ger,  a  widow,  who  was  born  in  Bohemia 
in  1845,  ^"d  is  the  mother  of  two  chil- 
dren by  her  first  marriage:  Annie,  now 
Mrs.  Frank  Gressel,  of  Ahnapee,  and 
Mary,  Mrs.  William  Amstein,  of  Chicago. 
To  her  second  marriage  were  born  ten 
children:  George,  Joseph,  Frances, 
Clara,  Peter,  Katharine,  John,  Ivy  and 
Adam,  living,  and  Theresa,  deceased. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Brey  located  upon 
the  farm  he  still  conducts,  and  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  which  have  ever 
since  been  his  principal  occupation.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Brey  are  members  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  and  politically  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat; socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Wenzlaus  Society,  a  Bohemian  organ- 
ization. 


ANDREAS    ERICHSEN,    a    well- 
known  farmer  of  Carlton  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  was  born 
in    Schleswig-Holstein,     Prussia, 
German),  March  31,  1831. 

His  parents,  Erick  and  Mattie  Erich- 
sen,  came  to  the  United  States  in  1857. 
Mrs.  Erichsen  died  in  Kewaunee  in  1874, 
and  in  1S75  Mr.  Erichsen  passed  from 
earth  in  Milwaukee,  and  the  remains  of 
both  are  interred  in  Kewaunee.  Andreas, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was  the 
fifth  in  a  family  of  nine  children,  was  ed- 
ucated in  the  public  schools  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  and  later  worked  on  a  farm.  In 
1854  he  and  a   brother  came  to  America, 


where,  after  wandering  as  far  west  as 
Chicago,  they  found  themselves  without 
money.  They  consequently  worked  at 
whatever  they  could  find  to  do  in  that 
city,  also  at  La  Porte.  Ind.,  and  in  a 
short  time  reached  Mishicot,  Manitowoc 
Co.,  W'is. ,  where  the  same  program  was 
followed  for  a  \ear.  when  Andreas  came 
to  the  township  of  Carlton,  Kewaunee 
county,  and  located  on  the  farm  he  still 
owns  and  occupies.  The  farm  at  that 
time  was  in  a  dense  forest,  and  the  bring- 
ing of  it  to  its  present  state  of  productive- 
ness necessitated  industry  and  a  con- 
stancy of  purpose  that  would  have  dis- 
couraged any  person  possessed  of  less 
tenacity  of  purpose  than  that  which  char- 
acterized Mr.  Erichsen.  However,  he 
has  met  his  reward,  and  now  is  possessed 
of  one  of  the  neatest  and  best-improved 
farms  in  Carlton  township. 

Mr.  Erichsen  was  united  in  marriage, 
July  18,  1863,  with  Annie  Wilhelmina 
Klopke,  who  was  born  at  Eutin,  Ger- 
many, April  9,  1S42,  daughter  of  Claus 
and  Dorothea  Klopke.  This  union  has 
been  blessed  with  the  birth  of  five  chil- 
dren, viz. :  Robert  B.,  Henry  R.,  George, 
Mattie  A.,  and  Lewis  E.,  of  whom  Rob- 
ert B.,  died  in  1868.  Mr.  Erichsen  has 
afforded  his  children  the  advantages  of  a 
good  education,  and  he  is  himself  con- 
sidered to  be  one  of  the  most  enterpris- 
ing citizens  of  the  township,  and  well 
worth}'  of  taking  charge  of  the  township's 
interests,  but  he  has  never  aspired  to 
official  cares  of  distinction.  He  is  re- 
spected as  one  of  the  county's  foremost 
and  best  farmers,  and  his  upright  walk 
through  life  has  greatly  added  to  this  re- 
spect, which  is  extended  to  all  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family. 


ALBERT  ,ICKE.     who    for    many 
years   sailed    the  lakes,   is  now  a 
worthy  representative  of  the  mer- 
cantile interests  of  Ellison    Bay, 
Door  county.      He  was    born  March  15, 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


659 


1839,  in  Inzel  Ruger,  Germany,  and  is  a 
son  of  Joachin  Icke,  a  fisherman  by  oc- 
cupation, wlio  lived  and  died  in  the 
Fatherland.  The  mother  of  our  subject 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Maria  Org,  and 
and  in  the  family  of  this  worthy  couple 
were  nine  children — Fred,  Mar}-,  August, 
Alvina,  Malta  and  Albert  (twins),  Matilda, 
Sophia  and  Minnie. 

The  school  privileges  which  our  sub- 
ject received  were  very  meager,  as  he  had 
to  begin  to  earn  his  own  livelihood  when 
yet  young.  At  the  earl}-  age  of  seven 
years  he  began  working  in  the  summer, 
and  in  the  winter  season,  as  opportunity 
afforded,  he  attended  school.  When  a 
youth  of  only  fourteen  years,  he  went  to 
sea,  taking  passage  on  the  ship  "Au- 
gusta," his  first  trip  being  to  a  Norwegian 
port,  after  which  he  sailed  to  Russia, 
then  to  England.and  thence  home.  During 
the  remainder  of  the  year  he  was  em- 
ployed on  a  trading  vessel  which  sailed 
between  Germany  and  England,  and  sub- 
sequently became  a  member  of  the  crew 
of  the  •■  Helmene,"  which  sailed  to  En- 
gland and  Porticabella,  and  then  to  the 
Gulf  of  Me.xico,  where  they  suffered 
shipwreck.  For  fifteen  days  and  a  half 
Mr.  Icke,  with  other  members  of  the 
crew,  was  in  a  small  boat  tossing  about 
on  the  waves,  being  for  three  days  and  a 
half  without  food.  The\-  finally  landed 
on  a  small  island,  and  five  days  later 
reached  New  Orleans,  whence  Mr.  Icke 
returned  to  Hamburg,  Germany.  After 
being  emplo}-ed  on  a  government  boat  for 
about  si.x  months,  he  again  joined  the 
crew  of  a  ship  plying  between  Germany 
and  England,  and  was  a  salt-water  sailor 
about  four  years  longer.  Returning  to 
his  own  home,  he  in  i860  came  to  the 
United  States,  and  began  sailing  the  lakes, 
being  thus  emplo}'ed  until  the  fall  of 
1893.  For  twenty  }-ears  he  sailed  one 
vessel  for  a  Milwaukee  firm,  and  after 
that  time  commanded  vessels  of  his  own. 
Two  of  his  vessels  were  wrecked,  and 
as  there  was  no  insurance  on  them  the 
loss  proved  very  heavy  to  him. 


On  May  18,  1865,  Mr.  Icke  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Rosetta 
Klug,  daughter  of  John  and  Elenora 
(Fisher)  Klug,  and  by  her  has  had  a  family 
of  seven  children,  as  follows:  Francisco, 
Alvina,  Albert,  Ale.xis,  Hattie,  Rudolph, 
and  Frank,  three  of  whom  are  now  mar- 
ried— the  eldest  being  the  wife  of  John 
Anclam,  a  resident  of  Baile}-s  Harbor, 
Wis. ;  Alvina,  the  wife  of  Michael  Ander- 
son, of  Milwaukee,  and  Albert,  who  re- 
sides in  Milwaukee.  The  mother  of  this 
family  died  of  heart  disease  April  7,  1894, 
and  man}-  friends  mourn  her  decease,  for 
she  was  a  most  estimable  lady.  In  1882 
Mr.  Icke  came  to  Ellison  Bay,  and  estab- 
lished the  store  in  which  he  is  still  inter- 
ested. He  also  owns  280  acres  of  good 
land,  of  which  160  acres  are  cleared, 
while  60  are  under  the  plow.  In  1893  he 
was  appointed  postmaster  of  Ellison  Bay, 
and  still  fills  that  position;  though  he 
was  appointed  under  a  Democratic  admin- 
istration, he  does  not  affiliate  with  that 
party,  supporting  by  his  ballot  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party.  His 
life  has  certainly  not  been  an  uneventful 
one,  for  his  long  experience  on  the  seas 
brought  to  him  many  interesting  and 
ofttimes  thrilling  adventures.  His  school 
privileges  were  limited,  but  during  his  long 
\-oyages,  and  through  his  contact  with  the 
world,  he  has  gained  a  wide  and  varied 
knowledge,  and  can  relate  many  entertain- 
ing episodes. 


JOHN  DAUL  was  born  August  i, 
1869,  in  the  town  of  Casco,  Kewau- 
nee county,  a  son  of  Lawrence  and 
Catherine  (Salentine)  Daul,  the  for- 
mer of  whom,  who  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, and  a  farmer  by  occupation,  in 
1854  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America, 
settling  in  Washington  county.  Wis., 
where  he  worked  as  a  day  laborer.  After 
six  years  there  passed,  he  removed  to 
Kewaunee  county  and  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Luxemburg  township, 
from  which  he  at  once  began  to  clear  the 


66o 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


heavy  growth  of  timber.  In  1859  he 
married  the  daughter  of  Gregory  and 
Anna  (Wahl)  Salentine,  and  in  a  little  log 
cabin  the  young  couple  began  their  domes- 
tic Ife,  living  in  true  pioneer  style.  At 
that  time  there  were  few  roads  cut  in  the 
county,  and  the  forests  were  still  the 
haunts  of  deer  and  other  wild  game,  as 
well  as  of  bears  and  wolves.  They  owned 
a  team  of  o.xen  which  were  used  in  develop- 
ing the  farm,  and  which  they  also  drove 
to  market  at  Green  Bay  and  De  Pere,  it 
taking  three  days  to  make  the  trip.  Mr. 
Daul  worked  hard  clearing  his  land,  his 
busy  and  useful  life  being  at  length  re- 
warded with  a  handsome  competence, 
and  he  added  to  his  farm  until  his  landed 
possessions  aggregated  1040  acres.  He 
also  did  an  e.xtensive  lumber  business, 
and  was  a  successful  financier,  his  e,\- 
ecutive  ability,systematic  business  methods 
and  sagacity  winning  for  him  quite  a  for- 
tune. The  family  numbered  eight  chil- 
dren, namely:  Lena,  Mary,  John,  Alber- 
tine,  Lawrence,  Ludwig,  Frances  and 
Annie.  The  father  died  of  lung  fever 
November  28,  1886.  He  was  a  Catholic 
in  religious  belief,  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
and  for  three  years  served  as  chairman  of 
the  town  board. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history 
of  John  Daul,  who  spent  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  and  youth  in  his  parents'  home, 
and  to  his  father  gave  the  benefit  of  his 
services  until  his  marriage,  which  interest- 
ing event  was  celebrated  November  15, 
1893,  with  Miss  Barbara  Filz,  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Anna  (Lanser)  Filz.  They 
removed  to  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  which 
Mr.  Daul  had  inherited  from  his  father's 
estate,  and  the  young  couple,  who  are 
widely  and  favorably  known  in  the  com- 
munity, and  have  many  warm  friends,  are 
there  living  at  their  pleasant  home.  Mr. 
Daul  votes  with  the  Democratic  party, 
and  throughout  Kewaunee  county  he  is 
recognized  as  a  wide-awake  and  enter- 
prising young  farmer  of  known  business 
ability,  and  his  friends  have  no  fears  in 
predicting  for  him  a  successful  future. 


August 
ily    of 


PETER  PEOT,  a  well-to-do  farmer 
of  Kewaunee  county,  and  one  of 
the  honored  pioneer  settlers,  was 
born  in  Washington  county,  \Vis. , 
2,  1850,  the  youngest  in  the  fam- 
seven  children  of  Nicholas  and 
Catherine  (Moos)  Peot.  The  children 
were  Barbara,  Michael,  Catherine,  Ange- 
line,  John,  Nicholas  and  Peter.  With 
the  exception  of  our  subject,  all  were 
born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  as  were  also 
the  parents,  and,  in  1845,  the  family  emi- 
grated to  America,  landing  in  New  York 
after  a  voyage  of  nine  weeks.  From 
there  they  came  west  to  Milwaukee,  Wis. , 
and  the  father  secured  a  homestead  claim 
of  forty  acres,  whereon  he  lived  nine  years, 
after  which  he  came  to  Lu.xemburg  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  and  entered  a 
claim  of  160  acres.  There  were  no  roads 
cut  through,  and  it  required  six  days  to 
make  the  trip  to  Green  Bay  with  an 
ox-team.  At  New  Franken,  Wis.,  they 
were  delayed  five  days  until  a  road  was 
completed  over  which  they  could  travel. 
Mr.  Peot  and  his  sons  at  once  began  to 
clear  the  land,  and  among  the  stumps 
planted  wheat,  in  harvest  time  gathering 
a  crop  of  ninety  bushels  from  five  bushels 
which  had  been  sowed.  Upon  three- 
fourths  of  an  acre  potatoes  were  planted, 
and  the  yield  thereof  was  three  hundred 
bushels.  The  work  of  clearing  the  farm 
was  steadily  contained  until  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  placed  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation. 

Our  subject  experienced  all  the  hard- 
ships incident  to  frontier  life  in  the  days 
when  this  was  a  frontier  settlement,  in 
which  Indians  were  frequently  seen,  while 
bears  and  wolves  yet  roamed  the  for- 
ests. Mr.  Peot  remained  at  home  until 
he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  for  his 
father  dying  when  Peter  was  a  lad  of 
thirteen,  the  care  of  the  farm  devolved 
upon  the  four  sons.  At  the  age  of  twen- 
ty-two our  subject  married  Anna  Shaut, 
and  having  each  received  eighty  acres  of 
land  from  their  fathers,  they  began  their 
domestic  life  upon  their  farm,  Mr.  Peot 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


66 1 


erecting  buildings  and  clearing  the  land, 
which  in  course  of  time  he  transformed 
into  rich  and  fertile  fields.  He  has  added 
to  his  farm  an  additional  tract  of  eighty 
acres,  and  his  success  in  life  has  all  been 
due  to  his  own  industrious  efforts,  and 
honest  dealing.  The  first  bushel  of  wheat 
that  was  ever  taken  to  Kewaunee  was 
drawn  there  by  Michael  Peot,  then  shipped 
to  Racine,  ground  into  flour  and  returned 
to  Mr.  Peot,  that  he  might  eat  the  first 
bread  made  from  wheat  raised  in  Kewau- 
nee county.  The  history  of  frontier  life 
is  very  familiar  to  our  subject  and  he  well 
deserves  mention  among  the  pioneers  of 
the  county. 

Nine  children  have  been  born  to  Peter 
and  Anna  Peot,  as  follows:  Catherine, 
Peter,  Gertrude,  Elizabeth,  Antone,  Hen- 
ry, Dillia,  Anna  and  Joseph.  The  par- 
ents hold  membership  with  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  in  his  political  views  our 
subject  is  a  Democrat,  but  takes  no 
prominent  part  in  public  affairs,  although 
he  never  fails  to  faithfully  perform  his 
duties  of  citizenship. 


LOUIS  REICHEL,   a  wide-awake, 
industrious  and  progressive  young 
business  man    of    Sturgeon  Bay, 
Door  county,  is  a  native  of   Wis- 
consin, born   in   Boscobel,  Grant  county, 
in   May,    1864. 

His  father,  also  named  Louis,  was  a 
native  of  Germany,  whence  when  a  young 
man  he  came  to  America,  settling  in 
Grant  county,  where  for  many  years  he 
followed  his  trade,  that  of  merchant  tailor, 
which  he  had  learned  in  the  Fatherland. 
In  Wisconsin  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Maggie  Webber,  also  a  German  by  birth, 
and  five  children  were  born  to  them, 
namely:  Maggie,  Katie,  Lizzie,  Louis, 
and  Daniel,  the  last  named  dying  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years.  The  parents  at 
the  present  time  are  living  at  Boscobel, 
Grant  Co.,  Wisconsin. 

Louis  Reichel,  our  subject,  received  a 
liberal  education  at  the  common  schools 


of  his  place  of  birth,  and  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  went  to  Dubuque,  Iowa,  there  to 
learn  the  trade  of  jeweler,  and,  after  com- 
pleting his  apprenticeship,  worked  as  a 
journeyman  at  various  places.  In  1885  he 
came  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  where  for  three 
years  he  continued  his  trade  as  journey- 
man, and  then  established  his  present 
jewelry  and  drug  business,  in  which 
venture  he  has  met  with  well-merited  suc- 
cess, his  stock  in  trade  being  complete  in 
both  lines.  In  1886  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Lizzie  Weston,  also  a 
native  of  Wisconsin,  born  at  Necedah, 
Juneau  county,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth  (Dawes)  Weston,  who 
while  young  came  from  their  native  State, 
Maine,  to  Wisconsia,  where  they  married 
and  had  a  family  of  eight  children,  of 
whom  the  following  named  five  are  yet 
living:  Laura,  Lizzie,  Emma,  May  and 
Helen.  The  father  of  these,  who  was  a 
lumberman  of  no  little  prominence,  died 
in  1889;  his  widow  now  resides  at 
Necedah,  Wis.  To  our  subject  and  wife 
have  been  born  four  children:  Louis, 
Daniel,  Hattie  and  Inez.  Mr.  Reichel 
in  his  social  affiliations  is  a  member  of  the 
F.  &  A.  M.,  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  Modern 
Woodmen.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican, 
on  which  ticket  he  served  as  alderman 
one  term,  in  1893  was  elected  mayor  of 
Sturgeon  Bay  without  opposition,  and  is 
the  present  city  clerk,  chosen  by  the 
council. 


CHARLES  PETERSEN,  United 
States  Lighthouse  Keeper,  at  Ke- 
waunee, was  born  in  Norway 
February  8,  1866.  His  father, 
Lars  August  Petersen,  was  an  architect 
and  master  mason  by  occupation,  was 
born  in  Christiania,  the  capital  city  of 
Norway;  the  mother  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Maren  Ostensen,  and  her  father, 
who  had  been  a  soldier  all  his  life,  re- 
ceived a  silver  cup  from  the  king  for  gal- 
lantry in  the  war  between  Norway  and 
Sweden,    and  later  was    assigned  to  the 


662 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


charge  of  the  powder  magazines  on  an 
island  near  Christiania.  Mrs.  Petersen 
was  born  at  Christiania  in  1825,  and  be- 
came the  mother  of  five  sons  and  four 
daughters,  of  whom  four  sons  are  still 
living.  The  father  died  when  Charles 
was  quite  \oung;  the  mother  is  still  living 
in  Arendal,  Norway. 

Our  subject  graduated  from  the  high 
school,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve  com- 
menced to  study  English,  later  some  of 
the  higher  branches,  preparatory  to  enter- 
ing the  navy,  A  course  of  study  in  the 
Naval  Academy  was  necessary  for  ap- 
pointment to  this  branch  of  the  service, 
and  one  year's  actual  experience  at  sea 
was  necessary  to  an  entrance  into  the 
academy;  accordingly,  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, he  shipped  on  board  a  merchantman 
in  order  to  tit  himself  for  admission.  But 
he  changed  his  intention  and  remained  in 
the  mercantile  marine  service  three  years, 
\isiting  Sweden, England,  France,  Africa, 
South  America,  the  West  Indies,  New- 
York,  in  fact,  nearly  the  whole  world. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  became  a  resi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  for  five 
years  sailed  the  lakes,  a  part  of  the 
time  being  in  the  United  States  Life- 
Saving  Service  at  Milwaukee.  In  1890 
he  entered  the  United  States  Lighthouse 
service  at '  Milwaukee,  as  assistant,  and 
remained  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  received  his  appointment  as  light- 
house keeper  at  Kewaunee. 

Peter  Julius  Petersen,  eldest  brother 
of  subject,  entered  the  Norway  mercan- 
tile marine  service  when  fourteen  or  fif- 
teen 3-ears  old.  following  the  ocean  for 
thirteen  years,  and  becoming  first  officer 
of  several  of  the  largest  vessels  in  the 
service;  he  was  at  one  time  presented 
with  a  gold  medal,  by  the  Oueen  of  Eng- 
land, for  saving  the  lives  of  eight  British 
seamen  while  in  this  employ.  He  afterward 
sailed  the  lakes  ten  years,  as  master  of 
different  vessels,  and  is  now  lighthouse 
keeper  at  Winds  Point,  near  Racine. 
Lars  Petersen,  another  brother,  served 
in   the   Norwegian    navy   until  disabled. 


and  is  now  agent  for  a  steamboat  com- 
pany. Johan,  the  youngest  brother,  has 
been  at  sea,  is  a  graduate  from  a  marine 
school,  and  is  now  fitting  himself  at  home 
for  the  position  of  officer. 

Charles  Petersen  was  married,  in  1887, 
to  Miss  Ida  Goodletson,  daughter  of 
Goodlet  Goodletson,  a  native  of  Norway, 
who  came  to  America  at  the  age  of  seven 
years,  ^^^len  seventeen  he  enlisted  in 
the  Seventeenth  United  States  Regulars, 
and  served  throughout  the  Civil  war. 
He  is  a  vessel  master,  and  lives  on  Wash- 
ington Island,  where  his  daughter  Ida  was 
born.  To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Petersen  were  born  two  children:  One 
son,  Ralph,  being  with  his  father;  one 
daughter  died  in  infancy  in  Milwaukee; 
where  Mrs.  Petersen  also  passed  awa\'  in 
1891.  Charles  Petersen  is  a  thorough- 
going American,  and  has  done  much 
toward  advocating  the  floating  of  the 
stars  and  stripes  over  lighthouses  on  cer- 
tain national  holidays,  and  has  succeeded 
in  carrying  out  this  idea  at  Kewaunee  by 
private  outlay.  The  newspapers  have 
paid  him  many  compliments  for  this  act, 
and  are  urging  upon  the  government^the 
propriety  of  adopting  the  sj'Stem  through- 
out the  Union.  Mr.  Petersen  has  on  sev- 
eral occasions  been  the  means  of  saving 
lives,  among  them  that  of  a  young  lady 
from  drowning  at  Milwaukee,  at  other 
times  giving  aid  to  vessels  in  distress. 


FREDERICK  KRUEGER,  farmer. 
Sturgeon  Bay  township.  Door 
county,  was  born  September  i , 
1826,  in  Nuthagen  in  Coslin,  Ger- 
many, son  of  Michael  and  Henrietta 
(Bearg)  Krueger,  natives  of  the  same  prov- 
ince. The  father,  who  was  a  farmer, 
died  in  Germany  in  1865,  the  mother  in 
1853.  Of  their  family  of  five  children, 
Fredericka  is  the  \\ife  of  \\^illiam  Karn- 
itz,  and  lives  in  Germany;  Ernestine,  who 
married  John  Bartz,  died  in  Germany  in 
1S91;  Minnie  married  Gottfried  Bearg, 
and  died  in  Germanx'  in  1888;  Caroline  is 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


663 


the  wife  of  William  Groins,  of  Germany; 
Frederick  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Our  subject  was  reared  in  Germany, 
receiving  a  good  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  in  1844  entered  the 
army,  serving  continuously  for  two  years 
at  Stettin,  after  which  he  was  granted  a 
furlough.  Later  he  again  entered  the 
service,  being  stationed  at  Berlin  for  nine 
months,  and  on  leaving  the  army  he  en- 
tered the  service  of  a  baron,  as  coachman, 
remaining  in  his  employ  for  two  years,  or 
until  1854,  when  he  came  to  America. 
Embarking  at  Hamburg  he  landed  at 
New  York  after  a  voyage  of  four  weeks, 
coming  thence  to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where 
he  found  employment  and  remained  un- 
til 1856,  in  which  jear  he  removed  to 
Ahnapee,  at  which  place  he  worked  in 
the  mill  for  Afr.  Hall.  In  1868  he  settled 
in  Sturgeon  Bay  township,  and  purchas- 
ing an  eighty-acre  tract  of  timberland  in 
Section  19,  of  which  but  five  acres  had 
been  cleared,  set  to  work  on  this  place, 
devoting  the  summer  season  to  clearing 
and  improving  his  farm,  and  during  the 
winter  time  worked  for  A.  W.  Lawrence. 
Later  he  purchased  i  20  acres  more,  mak- 
ing 200  acres,  half  of  which  he  sold  to 
his  eldest  son,  now  retaining  100  acres 
for  himself,  of  which  sixty  are  in  tillable 
condition.  Mr.  Krueger  first  built  a  log 
house,  which  in  1888  was  replaced  by  a 
comfortable  two-story  brick  residence, 
38x38   feet. 

In  1858  Mr.  Krueger  was  married,  in 
Ahnapee,  to  Miss  Mary  Buske,  daughter 
of  Fred  and  Henrietta  Buske,  all  natives 
of  Germany,  who  came  to  America  in 
1854,  locating  in  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee 
Co.,  Wis.;  Mrs.  Buske  died  in  1886  at 
Chippewa  Falls,  Wis.,  where  Mr.  Buske 
and  his  son  still  reside.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Krueger  have  been  born  eight  children,  as 
follows:  Fred,  married,  and  residing  on 
the  farm  adjoining  his  father's  (he  has 
one  son,  Marvin);  Frank,  who  taught 
school  in  Door  county  for  ten  years,  and 
now  operates  a  cheese  factory  and  has  an 
interest    in    C.   Wulf   &   Go's,    hardware 


business,  at  Sawyer,  Wis.  ;  Ida,  wife  of 
Joseph  Rafenstein,  of  Sawyer,  has  two 
children,  Elsie  and  Esther  (she  was  also  a 
teacher  in  Door  county);  Louisa,  wife  of 
Ferdinand  Bartz,  of  Kensal,  North  Da- 
kota; Rosa,  who  has  taught  school,  and 
is  now  attending  the  Oshkosh  State  Nor- 
mal School;  Amalia,  a!s(5  a  teacher  in 
Door  county;  Lydia,  and  Ella.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Krueger  are  members  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  taking  an  active  part  in  all  Church 
work,  and  Mr.  I\rueger  is  at  present  serv- 
ing as  trustee,  and  teaching  in  the  Sun- 
day-school. He  has  done  his  share  in 
opening  up  and  improving  this  section, 
and  is  always  ready  to  give  his  support  to 
any  movement  for  the  general  good,  or 
the  advancement  of  any  of  its  interests. 

In  October,  1864,  Mr.  Krueger  en- 
listed for  one  year  at  Ahnapee,  in  Com- 
pany E,  Seventeenth  Wis.  Y.  I.,  and 
was  with  Sherman's  army  in  the  cele- 
brated march  to  the  sea.  Later  he  was 
stationed  at  Fort  Beaufort,  S.  C,  where 
he  was  in  hospital  for  some  time,  was 
subsequently  sent  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
Wis.,  and  was  there  discharged  in  1S65. 
He  is  a  member  of  Henry  A.  Schuyler 
Post  No.  226,  G.  A.  R. ,  of  Sturgeon  Bay. 
In  political  sentiment  he  is  a  Republican. 


FRED  ANSCHUTZ  was  born  Sep- 
tember 12, 1856,  in  New  Franken, 
Brown  Co.  ,Wis. ,  of  German  line- 
age, his  father  having  been  born  in 
Germany.  He  received  but  a  common- 
school  education,  and  at  an  early  age 
started  out  in  life  for  himself,  working  in 
sawmills  and  in  the  lumber  woods.  In 
the  fall  of  1879  he  and  his  brother  Henry 
left  their  home  in  Preble  township.  Brown 
Co.,  Wis.,  walked  to  Door  county,  and 
in  Jacksonport  township  secured  work  as 
wood  choppers.  Together  they  worked 
as  partners  for  some  time,  but  at  length 
our  subject  made  a  purchase  of  land,  be- 
coming owner  of  1 60  acres  on  Section  9, 
Jacksonport  township.  The  greater  part 
of  it  was  still  in  its    primitive   condition, 


664 


COMifEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPmCAL   RECORD. 


and  none  of  it  had  been  placed  under  the 
plow,  so  that  its  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment is  due  entirely  to  the  labor  of  its 
owner,  who  is  recognized  as  a  thrifty  and 
enterprising  man.  For  two  years  he 
lived  in  a  camp,  and  then  built  the  first 
house  upon  the  farm. 

Mr.  Anschutz  was  in  very  limited  cir- 
cumstances on  coming  to  Door  county, 
but  possessed  a  young  man's  bright  hope 
of  the  future  and  a  determination  to  suc- 
ceed, while  his  courage  and  ambition, 
combined  with  perseverance  and  industrj', 
have  secured  for  him  a  pleasant  home,  and 
he  has  prospered  in  his  undertakings.  At 
the  same  time  that  he  has  won  success, 
he  has  gained  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in 
contact,  and  by  his  straightforward  deal- 
ing. He  now  has  a  good  farm,  equipped 
with  all  modern  conveniences  and  acces- 
sories, together  with  the  latest  improved 
machinery,  and  in  addition  to  the  culti- 
vation of  grain  keeps  on  hand  a  good 
grade  of  stock. 

On  June  6,  1884,  in  Denmark  town- 
ship. Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  was  celebrated 
the  marriage  of  Fred  Anschutz  and  Miss 
Mina  Tiedkee,  a  native  of  Germany,  and 
they  began  their  domestic  life  upon  a 
farm  which  has  since  been  their  home, 
and  which  had  been  his  place  of  residence 
for  five  years  previous.  The  farm  com- 
prises 200  acres  of  land,  si.xty  acres  of 
which  have  been  worked.  The  home 
has  been  blessed  with  of  two  interesting 
children,  Caroline  and  Arthur,  the  elder 
being  now  (1895)  five  years  of  age. 

Mr.  Anschutz  exercises  his  right  of 
franchise  in  support  of  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party,  has 
been  honored  with  several  local  offices, 
and  has  several  times  refused  to  accept 
official  preferment.  In  religious  belief  he 
and  his  wife  are  Lutherans,  belonging  to 
the  church  of  that  denomination  in  Jack- 
sonport,  of  which  he  has  been  treasurer 
for  seven  years.  While  the  house  of 
worship  was  being  erected  he  served  as  a 
member  of  the  building   committee,  and 


by  his  time  and  money  aided  greatly  the 
enterprise.  His  life  has  been  well  and 
worthily  passed,  throu<rhout  the  commu- 
nity he  has  many  warm  friends,  and  in 
the  history  of  his  adopted  county  he  well 
deserves  representation. 


NICHOLAS  PELNAR,  a  genial 
hotel-keeper,  merchant  and  a 
skillful  farmer  of  the  town  of 
Carlton,  Kewaunee  county,  was 
born  in  Bohemia,  November  18,  1844,  a 
son  of  Simon  and  Katie  Pelnar.  The 
father  was  born  March  30,  1805,  and  in 
1835  was  united  in  marriage  with  Katie 
Votruba,  who  was  born  May  25,  1806. 
The  couple  emigrated  to  the  United  States 
in  1855.  coming  directly  to  Carlton  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  Co.,  ^^'is. ,  where  Simon 
Pelnar  entered  a  claim.  Being  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers,  he  experienced  all  the 
hardships  of  pioneer  life.  Here  his  wife 
died  August  20,  1888,  and  he  passed 
from  earth  April  12,   1889. 

Our  subject,  who  was  the  eldest  son 
in  a  family  of  nine  children,  was  a 
schoolboy  in  the  old  country  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  twelve,  when  he  came 
to  this  country  with  his  parents.  Here 
he  supplemented  his  early  education  by 
an  attendance  of  two  terms  of  three 
months  each  at  the  district  school,  then 
passed  an  examination,  secured  a  teach- 
er's certificate,  and  taught  eleven  terms 
at  inter\als.  He  assisted  his  father  on 
the  home  farm  until  he  had  reached  the 
age  of  twenty-seven,  when  he  located  on 
the  farm  he  now  occupies  and  has  since 
tilled.  On  this  farm  he  has  erected  the 
"Carlton  House,"  and  in  connection  with 
this  hotel  conducts  a  general  mercantile 
business  and  a  saloon.  Politically  Mr. 
Pelnar  is  a  Democrat,  and  he  has  been 
honored  with  the  offices  of  township  clerk, 
assessor,  and  supervisor,  and  for  many 
years  has  served  as  justice  of  the  peace; 
he  has  also  been  clerk  of  the  board  of  ed- 
ucation since  1869,  and  during  Grant's 
administration  was  appointed  postmaster 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


665 


at  Noi  man,  which  office  he  filled  with  credit 
for  a  great  number  of  years.  He  has 
also  held  the  office  of  notary  public  ever 
since  the  administration  of  Governor 
Rusk  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  He  is  a 
member  of  St.  Joseph's  Catholic  Church 
at  Norman,  and  of  the  Bohemian  Catho- 
lic Central  Union  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  He  was  united  in  marriage, 
May  28,  1869,  with  Miss  Annie  Melichar, 
a  native  of  Bohemia,  born  May  i,  1S49, 
a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Melichar. 
To  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pelnar  were 
born  the  following  children:  Emma, 
Julia,  Bertha,  Annie,  Fannie,  Pauline 
and  Gerard,  still  living,  and  Joseph  and 
Nicholas  now  deceased.  Socially  the 
family  standing  is  deservedly  very  high. 
All  the  rest  of  Mr.  Pelnar's  father's  fam- 
ily, except  one  brother,  deceased,  are  in 
good  health  and  fare  well.  The  family 
relationship  is  one  of  the  most  extensive 
in  the  State,  indeed  of  the  whole  of  the 
United  States,  and  members  thereof  are 
scattered  over  the  entire  world. 


JOHN  BRANN,  who  for  some  years 
has  been  connected  with  the  agricul- 
tural interests,  of  Dcior  county,  well 
deserves  representation  among  the 
leading  farmers  of  Baileys  Harbor  town- 
ship. The  record  of  his  life  is  as  fol- 
lows: A  native  of  Finland,  Russia,  he 
was  born  September  7,  1849,  and  is  one 
of  a  family  of  eight  children,  as  follows: 
John,  Andrew,  Johanna,  Hannah,  Maria, 
August,  William,  and  Matilda;  of  whom, 
Johanna  and  Matilda  are  deceased.  The 
father,  Jacob  Brann,  made  farming  his 
life  work,  and  was  quite  prosperous,  se- 
curing a  comfortable  competence.  His 
wife,  Anna  Maria  (Granroot),  who,  like 
her  husband,  was  a  native  of  Finland, 
born  April  24,  1824,  died  June  11,  1894. 
The  early  life  of  our  subject  was  one 
of  labor,  intermixed  with  few  advantages, 
educational  or  otherwise,  for  when  a  lad 
of  only  eleven  summers  he  left  home  and 
began  working  in  a  sawmill,  where  he  was 


employed  five  years.  He  then  shipped 
before  the  mast,  and  for  twelve  years  fol- 
lowed the  sea,  as  did  also  his  brother 
Andrew.  In  1876,  they  both  became 
American  citizens,  emigrating  to  the 
United  States  and  settling  at  Baileys  Har- 
bor, Wis.,  where  they  secured  employ- 
ment with  Andrew  Jacobson  as  wood- 
choppers  for  one  winter.  In  the  following 
spring  they  purchased  forty  acres  of  land, 
ten  of  which  had  been  cleared,  and 
to  this  they  added  from  time  to  time 
until  they  became  the  owners  of  eighty 
acres,  and  bought  out  their  old  employer. 
Their  financial  resources  increased,  as  the 
result  of  their  earnest  and  untiring  labor, 
and  at  last  they  found  themselves  possess- 
ors of  400  acres,  and  giving  employment  to 
their  two  brothers,  August  and  William, 
who  in  the  meantime  had  come  to  the 
United  States,  The  partnership  between 
John  and  Andrew  was  continued  for  eight 
years,  when  by  mutual  consent  it  was 
dissolved,  our  subject  retaining  possession 
of  the  eighty  acres  of  land,  which  he  yet 
owns,  and  where  he  makes  his  home.  He 
also  at  that  time  bought  a  lake  vessel, 
sailing  same  five  years,  and  on  disposing 
of  that  he  bought  another,  which  he  com- 
manded two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time,  in  1893,  he  sold  out. 

Mr.  Brann  was  married,  1876,  to  Miss 
Ellen  Short,  who  was  born  in  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  of  Irish  descent,  a  daughter  of 
Felix  and  Rose  (Price)  Short.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Brann  have  had  twelve  children, 
named  respectively:  Bridget,  John,  Ed- 
ward, Elizabeth,  Michael,  William,  Ro- 
sanna,  J.  Aaron,  Anna  M.,  Victoria,  Alice 
and  Andrew  Jacob.  Of  this  family  Michael, 
born  August  3,  187S,  died  November  19, 
1889;  William,  born  September  25,  1880, 
died  October  28,  1889;  Rosanna,  born 
August  27,  1882,  died  November  9,  1889; 
J.  Aaron,  born  October  i,  1887,  died 
October  2,  1889;  Andrew  Jacob,  born 
September  14,  1893,  died  September  5, 
1894.  Mrs.  Brann  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  while  Mr.  Brann  is  a 
Protestant.      Politically,    he   is  a  Demo- 


666 


COMMEMOKATiyK    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


crat,  and  is  deeply  interested  in  the  affairs 
of  his  party,  doinj;  all  in  his  power  to  in- 
sure its  success  and  promote  its  f,T(jwth. 
In  1890  he  embarked  in  the  furniture 
business  at  I^aileys  Harbor,  where  he 
has  since  conducted  a  first-class  store, 
and  is  enjoying  a  good  trade,  his  honest 
dealing  and  earnest  desire  to  please  his 
customers  winning  him  a  liberal  patron- 
age. His  success  in  life  is  well  deserved, 
and  while  securing  prosperity  he  has  also 
gained  the  confidence,  good  will  and  high 
regard  of  those  with  whom  he  has  been 
broutrht  in  contact. 


JOSEPH  C.  DALEMONT,  one  of 
the  representati\'e  farmers  of  Door 
county,  belongs  to  that  class  of  men 
to  whom  the  progress,  prosperity 
and  advancement  of  a  county  is  due,  and  in 
the  history  of  this  section  of  Wisconsin  he 
well  deserves  mention. 

He  was  born  I^'ebruary  35,  1854,  in 
W'alhain,  in  the  Province  of  Brabant, 
Belgium.  The  ancestry  of  the  family 
can  be  traced  back  thrcjugh  several  gene- 
rations to  Charlie  Dalemont,  who  was  a 
blacksmith.  The  next  in  the  line  of  direct 
descent  also  bore  the  name  of  Charlie, 
and  followed  the  same  trade.  His  son, 
John  B.  Dalemont,  married  Justine  Fitch- 
fette  and  they  became  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  namely:  Mrs.  Mary 
Joseph,  John  B.,  Justine,  Louie,  Artance 
(deceased),  Alfred,  Artance,  Frank,  Joseph 
(also  deceased),  Adelaide  and  Joseph. 
The  second  in  this  family  became  the 
father  of  our  subject. 

John  B.  Dalemont,  Jr. ,  was  born  De- 
cember 5,  1820,  in  the  Province  of  Na- 
mur,  Belgium,  in  the  town  of  Sombreffe, 
and  on  arriving  at  man's  estate  he  wedded 
Frances  Grandhenry.  His  early  educa- 
tion was  ac<]uired  at  the  common  schools, 
such  as  that  day  and  age  afforded,  and 
when  he  was  fourteen  years  old  he  began 
learning  the  blacksmith's  trade  with  his 
father,  working  at  the  same  four  years  ere 
he  was  pronounced  a  master  of  the  busi- 


ness. It  will  thus  be  seen  that  his  train- 
ing along  that  line  was  very  thorough. 
When  the  four  years  had  passed  he  trav- 
eled over  much  of  the  European  conti- 
nent, working  at  his  trade  in  various 
places  until  his  emigration  to  America  in 
1856.  In  the  meantime,  November  5, 
1850,  Mr.  Dalemont  was  married,  and  six 
years  later,  accompanied  by  his  family, 
he  took  a  sailing  vessel  at  Antwerp  for 
the  New  World,  and  after  a  passage  of 
forty-six  days  they  landed  at  New  York 
whence  they  at  once  proceeded  to  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  the  journey  being  made  partly 
by  rail  and  partly  by  water.  The  suc- 
ceeding winter  was  passed  in  what  is  now 
Luxemburg,  Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis. ,  and 
in  the  following  spring  Mr.  Dalemont  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Lincoln  town- 
ship, where  his  father  had  located  about 
a  year  previous,  and  where  he  had  pur- 
chased a  small  farm.  In  i  858  hechanged 
his  place  of  residence  to  what  was  then 
Brussels,  now  Gardner,  township,  and  pur- 
chased forty  acres  of  land.  He  then  went 
to  Pensaukee,  and  secured  employment  as 
a  blacksmith  with  F.  B.  Gardner,  work- 
ing at  his  trade  until  the  fall  of  1858. 
The  family  experienced  all  the  hardships 
incident  to  life  on  the  frontier.  Mr. 
Dalemont  walked  from  Lincoln  to  Gard- 
ner, and  his  wife  and  children  afterward 
accomplished  the  same  journey  on  foot, 
going  to  the  latter  place  where  the  father 
had  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land.  Dur- 
ing the  succeeding  five  _\ears  he  was  em- 
ployed as  a  blacksmith  between  Little  Stur- 
geon and  Pensaukee,  Wis.,  subsequently 
continuing  his  labors  at  Little  Sturgeon. 
For  twenty-two  years  he  remained  in  the 
employ  of  Mr.  Gardner,  a  fact  which  in- 
dicates the  extremely  pleasant  relations 
existing  between  the  two  gentlemen — a 
respected  employer  on  the  one  hand,  and 
a  trusted,  efficient  and  faithful  employe 
on  the  other.  While  he  thus  carried  on 
blacksmithing,  his  father,  John  B.  Dale- 
mont, Sr.,  and  his  children  cleared  the 
land,  developed  the  farm,  and  to  his  pos- 
sessions he  added  from  time  to  time  until. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


667 


when  he  abandoned  his  trade,  he  had  240 
acres — a  vahiable  tract,  the  merited  re- 
ward of  honest  labor. 

To  John  and  Frances  Dalemont  were 
born  eight  children — Louise,  Joseph  G., 
Charlotte,  Jule,  Jennie,  Leona,  Mary  and 
Adelaide.  This  family  of  Dalemonts  were 
among  the  first  residents  of  Gardner  town- 
ship, and  when  they  located  here  the 
woods  were  full  of  game,  no  roads  were 
cut,  and  the  only  paths  which  they  might 
follow  were  the  Indian  trails.  There 
were  only  about  twenty  families  in  the  lo- 
cality, all  of  whom  had  located  in  the 
neighborhood  within  a  few  months  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Dalemont  family. 

Joseph  G.  Dalemont,  whose  name  in- 
troduces this  review,  has  always  remained 
at  home  with  his  parents.  He  was  only 
about  two  years  old  when  he  was  brought 
by  them  to  America,  and  his  entire  life 
has  been  passed  in  Wisconsin.  His  edu- 
cational privileges  were  meager,  he  at- 
tending the  district  schools  to  a  limited 
extent,  and  spending  four  months  in  an 
academy  at  Madison,  Wis.,  but  his  cher- 
ished plan  of  pursuing  a  collegiate  course 
had  to  be  abandoned  as  he  was  an  only 
son,  and  his  services  were  needed  on  the 
farm.  Like  the  other  members  of  the 
family,  he  is  connected  with  the  Spiritual- 
ist Church,  and  his  political  views  are  in 
harmony  with  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  He  has  served  as  school 
clerk,  was  postmaster  at  Little  Sturgeon 
ten  years,  and  has  been  chairman  of  the 
town  board  of  supervisors  twelve  years, 
his  long  continued  service  in  these  vari- 
ous positions  indicating  a  marked  fidelity 
to  duty  and  an  unwavering  faithfulness  to 
the  trust  reposed  in  him. 


FRANK  HAMACHEK,  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Kewaunee,    is   a   native 
of  Austria,  born  March  31,  1853, 
the  eldest  in  the   family  of    eight 
children  born  to  Anna  and  John   Hama- 
chek.       His    father  came  to  America  in 
1866,  and  located  on   a  farm   about  four 


miles  southwest  of  Kewaunee  city,  where 
the  mother  died  in  1888,  and  where  the 
father  remained  until  1893,  since  when 
he  has  resided  in  the  city  of  Kewaunee. 
Although  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  he  is 
still  an  active  man  and  enjoys  excellent 
health. 

Our  subject,  at  the  age  of  eleven  years 
and  six  months,  began  to  learn  the  cabi- 
nent  maker's  trade  in  Reichenberg,  Aus- 
tria, at  which  he  served  two  years,  chiefly 
working  on  pianos,  organs  and  other  fine 
work.  The  family  then  came  to  America, 
and  here  Frank  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  for  about  three  and  half  years,  and 
then  for  two  years  as  a  carpenter,  after 
which  he  learned  the  trade  of  millwright, 
which,  indeed,  are  but  coarser  grades  of 
the  trade  he  had  learned  in  the  old  coun- 
try. For  two  years  he  was  foreman  for 
E.  P.  Ellis  in  Milwaukee,  in  which  city 
he  acquired  his  literary  education  after  he 
had  attained  his  twenty-first  year,  by  at- 
tending evening  school  under  a  private 
tutor.  In  1877  he  bought  an  interest  in 
his  present  business  of  foundry  and  ma- 
chine shop  in  Kewaunee,  of  a  Mr.  Davis, 
with  whom  he  continued  in  partnership 
about  a  \ear  and  a  half,  when  he  bought 
his  partner  out.  In  1878  his  establish- 
ment was  entirely  consumed  by  lire,  but 
with  indomitable  energy  he  set  to  work  to 
construct  his  present  shops,  foundry, 
machine  shop  and  planing-mill,  in  which 
he  emploj'S  at  least  twenty-five  men  all 
the  year  round.  Besides  operating  this 
large  plant,  his  attention  is  also  given  to 
the  handling  of  agricultural  implements, 
which  fact  not  only  materially  adds  to  his 
income,  but  proves  to  be  of  considerable 
accommodation  to  his  mill  patrons.  In 
addition  to  his  share  in  the  furniture 
factory  and  The  Kewaunee  Brewing 
Company,  Mr.  Hamachek  is  a  stock- 
holder in  the  two  newspaper  companies 
of  Kewaunee,  and  takes  a  lively  interest 
in  every  enterprise  inaugurated  in  the 
city. 

In  politics  Mr.  Hamachek  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  always  been  a  favorite  with 


668 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


that  party,  having  bj-  it  been  elected 
several  times  a  member  of  the  board  of 
aldermen,  as  civil  engineer,  and  to  several 
minor  local  offices,  and  as  its  candidate 
for  mayor  of  the  city  came  within  three 
votes  of  being  elected  over  his  opponent 
in  this  Democratic  stronghold — a  fact 
that  gives  evidence  that  he  is  not  onlj' 
popular  with  his  party  but  with  the  public 
at  large. 

On  October  i6,  1880,  Mr.  Hamachek 
was  married  to  Miss  Annie  F.  Shimmel, 
daughter  of  Wensel  Shimmel,  a  resident 
of  Sturgeon  Bay.  Mrs.  Hamachek  was 
born  in  Kewaunee  county  in  1862,  and  is 
a  member  of  one  of  its  first  families. 
She  has  borne  her  husband  a  family  of 
five  interesting  children,  named,  respect- 
ively, Ella,  Olga,  Vopta,  Frank  and  Silva, 
whose  presence  sheds  a  lustre  as  that  of 
sunshine  on  the  Hamachek  household. 
Mr.  Hamachek  is  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum  and  of  the  C.  S.  P.  S.,  and 
although  he  has  no  church  connection 
is  very  liberal  in  his  donations  to  the 
cause  of  Christianity,  as  well  as  to  school 
purposes.  He  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  substantial  citizens  of  Kewaunee, 
as  being  devoted  to  its  material  progress 
and  as  being  ever  ready  to  do  all  in  his 
power  to  promote  the  happiness  of  its 
citizens,  and  to  soothe  the  toils,  cares  and 
asperities  in  the  lives  of  the  poor.  Few 
men  enjoy  a  higher  position  in  the  esteem 
of  their  neighbors,  and  few  are  as  unos- 
tentatious in  their  acts  of  disinterested 
benevolence. 


FRANK  LONG,  proprietor  and  edi- 
itor  of  the  Sturgeon  'Hay  Advo- 
firh-,  owes  his  iniiuential  position 
in  the  affairs  of  Door  county 
solely  to  his  own  efforts.  He  was  bcrn 
in  the  village  of  Entrup,  Province  of 
Westphalia,  Prussia,  December  31,  1847, 
the  son  of  John  and  Minnie  (Thresa) 
Lange  (a  name  since  Americanized  to 
Long).  For  manj'  generations  the  an- 
cestors of  the  family  had  been  landown- 


ers, farmers  and  shoemakers,  jointly,  in 
this  sequestered  spot  of  the  Fatherland; 
but  the  father  of  our  subject,  John,  broke 
the  traditions  of  time  by  starting,  in 
1853,  with  his  wife  and  two  children, 
Frank  and  Thresa,  for  the  ' '  land  of  lib- 
erty."  Sailing  from  Bremen  in  the  good 
ship  "  Grosse  Herman,"  they  landed  at 
New  York  in  August,  after  a  si.x-weeks' 
passage,  and  proceeded  at  once  by  a  variety 
of  transportations  to  the  West,  first  by 
the  newly-constructed  railroad  to  Buffalo, 
thence  b}'  a  little  lake  steamer  to  Toledo, 
and  thence  by  the  Wabash  canal  to  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.  Here  the  dread  plague 
cholera  raged,  and  the  mother  and  sister 
fell  victims.  The  father  remarried,  and 
in  1856  removed  to  Green  Bay,  Wis. 
Misfortunes  had  seriously  impaired  his 
little  capital.  Leaving  the  old  country 
with  $1700  in  gold,  sickness  and  ex- 
change to  the  "wild-cat"  currency  then 
in  circulation  drained  his  resources,  and 
he  reached  Green  Bay  almost  impover- 
ished. Leaving  his  family  here,  the  de- 
termined shoemaker-emigrant  started  out 
in  search  of  employment,  finding  it  at 
Sturgeon  Bay  with  E.  S.  Yates,  the  first 
shoemaker  at  that  little  city.  Si.x  months 
later  the  family  removed  by  sailing  vessel 
to  Sturgeon  Bay  city,  arriving  October 
22,  1856.  The  father  from  that  time  on 
conducted  the  boot  and  shoe  business  on 
his  own  account  until  he  retired,  in  1872. 
He  still  resides  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  an  hon- 
ored pioneer  citizen.  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, a  devout  Roman  Catholic  in  religion. 
Frank  Long  received  his  early  educa- 
tional training  at  the  parochial  school  of 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind. ,  and  subsequently  at- 
tended the  public  schools  of  Sturgeon 
Bay;  but  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  began 
his  newspaper  career  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder,  as  "devil"  in  the  office  of  the 
Sturgeon  Bay  Advocate.  It  was  a  month 
before  the  first  issue  appeared,  and  by 
that  time  Frank  had  learned  quite  a  little 
about  "slinging"  type,  at  which  he  as- 
sisted on  the  first  paper  issued.  Si.x 
months  later  the  mechanical  work  of  is- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOOIiAPIIICAL    RECORD. 


669 


suing  the  paper  fell  wholly  upon  his  young 
shoulders,  but  he  proved  equal  to  the 
emergency  and  remained  in  charge  until 
1864,  when  he  varied  his  experience  by 
going  to  Oconto  and  assisting  in  establish- 
ing the  Oconto  Lumbcnnan.  A  year  later 
he  returned  to  Sturgeon  Bay  and  resumed 
his  old  place  on  the  Adz'ocatc,  remaining 
in  the  composing  room  until  1875,  when 
by  purchase  from  the  Messrs.  Harris  he 
became  sole  proprietor  of  the  paper, 
which  as  editor  and  publisher  he  has  con- 
ducted up  to  the  present  time.  It  is  a 
valuable  property.  Stalwart  Republican 
in  tone,  it  has  grown  from  a  five-column 
folio  to  a  six-column  eight-page  paper. 
It  has  a  circulation  of  2,000,  and  is  the 
most  important  and  influential  paper  in 
Door  county.  Mr.  Long  built  and  owns 
the  home  of  the  Advocate,  a  neat  brick 
building  25  x  50  feet.  The  office  is  fitted 
with  steam  power  and  other  modern  ap- 
pliances. With  its  three  cylinder  presses 
it  is  prepared  to  expeditiously  do  printing 
of  all  kinds.  There  are  no  plates  or 
patent  sheets  in  the  Advocate.  Every- 
thing is  homemade,  and  the  success  of 
the  paper  is  due  to  the  untiring  efforts  and 
ability  of  its  editor  and  publisher.  Though 
active  and  influential  in  politics,  Mr. 
Long  has  never  sought  official  position 
through  the  power  of  the  Press,  but  he 
has  built  up  a  paper  that  enjoys  the  pa- 
tronage and  confidence  of  a  large  and 
growing  clientage.  Mr.  Long  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  Henry  S.  Beard 
Lodge  No.  216,  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  also  of 
the  Sons  of  Hermann  Lodge  of  that  city. 
He  was  married  October  20,  1869,  at 
Sturgeon  Bay,  to  Miss  Agnes  M.  Dam- 
koehler,  a  native  of  Walworth  county. 
Her  father,  a  native  of  Brunswick,  Ger- 
many, served  under  Napoleon  in  the  Al- 
gerian campaign;  during  the  Civil  war  in 
this  country  he  enlisted  in  Company  H, 
Twenty-sixth  Wis.  V.  I.,  and  while  tak- 
ing part  in  a  sortie  was  wounded  and  cap- 
tured. He  was  confined  in  the  "infa- 
mous Andersonville  prison,"  and  there 
died  of  starvation  and  neglect.       Mr.  and 

38 


Mrs.  Long  have  a  familj'  of  six  children: 
Frank  E.,  born  October  21,  1870,  a 
blacksmith  at  Sturgeon  Bay;  Ernest  W. , 
born  April  7,  1872,  compositor  and  as- 
sistant in  the  Advocate  office;  Clarence 
E.,  born  October6,  1873, assistant  editor, 
bookkeeper  and  confidential  secretary  in 
his  father's  office;  Amy  B,,  born  May  28, 
1875;  Dudley  S.,  born  September  12, 
1879,  and  Agnes  M.,  born  February  i, 
1882.  The  home  of  the  Advocate  ediior 
is  a  modern  and  handsome  residence,  one 
of  the  finest  in  Sturgeon  Baj'.  It  is  sit- 
uated on  Garland  street,  and  was  erected 
by  Mr.  Long  in  1886,  at  an  expense  of 
six  thousand  dollars.  Here  he  is  sur- 
rounded by  those  comforts  that  make  life 
worth  living,  and  here  he  enjoys  the  fruits 
of  a  successful  and  prosperous  business 
career. 


WILLIAM     ARTHUR     HAYES, 
principal  of  the  Ahnapee   High 
School,    and   one    of    the   most 
enterprising  young  men  of  the 
county,  was  born  June  2,  1867,  in  Eden, 
Fond  du  Lac  county,  Wisconsin. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  whose  par- 
ents were  people  of  eastern  Ireland,  grew 
to  manhood  in  Toronto,  Canada,  and  in 
his  younger  days  learned  the  trade  of  ma- 
chinist which  he  followed  throughout  his 
entire  life.  He  had  three  sons,  to  wit: 
John,  who  went  to  Texas,  and  has  never 
been  heard  from  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion;  one 
(name  not  given)  who  died  in  Toronto, 
Canada,  about  the  year  1891 ;  and  Henry, 
father  of  the  subject  of  these  lines. 

Henry  Hayes  was  born  in  Toronto, 
Canada,  and  when  quite  young  was  left 
an  orphan.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
came  to  Wisconsin,  locating  in  Milwau- 
kee where  he  secured  employment  with 
the  Prairie  du  Chien  railroad  as  a  bridge 
builder.  This  trade  he  followed  for 
many  years,  until  locating  on  a  farm  at 
Cascade,  Sheboygan  Co.,  Wis.,  which 
he  operated  up  to  1866,  when  he  removed 


6/0 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


to  Eden,  Fond  du  Lac  county,  where  he 
resides  on  a  farm  of  200  acres.  He  is  an 
expert  bridge  builder,  and  for  four  years 
was  employed  as  superintendent  of  the 
wood  work  in  the  Lake  Shore  railroad 
shops  at  Kaukauna,  Wis.  He  is  a  man  of 
ability,  prominence  and  influence,  and 
while  in  Sheboygan  county  represented 
his  District  in  the  State  Legislature.  For 
five  years  he  was  chairman  of  his  town, 
and  is  now  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  in 
his  county.  He  married  Anna  M.  Kir- 
win,  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  by  their 
union  were  born  eleven  children,  of 
whom  ten  are  yet  living.  Mrs.  Anna  M. 
Hayes  came  of  a  wealthy  family  in  east- 
ern Ireland,  who  owned  \aluable  lands 
and  milling  property  on  the  river  Ho\'ne. 

\\'illiam  A.  Hayes  enjoyed  somewhat 
limited  educational  privileges  in  his  early 
life,  attending  the  common  schools  for 
only  about  three  years;  but  by  study  in 
his  leisure  hours  he  fitted  himself  for  a 
course  in  the  State  Normal  School, 
finally  entering  that  institution,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of 
1892.  He  has  ever  been  a  th(jrough  and 
systematic  student,  and  close  application 
and  earnest  effort  have  well  fitted  him 
for  his  chosen  profession.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1892,  he  received  the  appointment 
as  principal  of  the  Ahnapee  High  School, 
prior  to  which  he  had  taught  the  village 
and  district  schools  for  about  three  years, 
the  experience  thereby  gained  proving  of 
much  use  to  him  when  entering  upon  his 
more  advanced  labor. 

Mr.  Hayes  has  now  served  three  years 
as  principal  of  the  high  school  at  Ahna- 
pee, and  it  is  said  by  the  State  inspector 
of  high  schools  that  the  school  there  has 
been  among  the  most  progressive  in  Wis- 
consin during  the  past  two  years.  Mr. 
Hayes  has  had  e.xperience  in  all  grades  of 
school  work,  including  district,  graded 
and  high  schools;  has  conducted  institutes 
and  teachers'  summer  schools,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1895  he  organized  a  teachers' 
summer  .school  for  Kewaunee  county,  the 
first  ever  held  there.    When  he  graduated. 


in  1892,  he  was  chosen  both  president 
and  valedictorian  of  his  class,  and  has 
since  gained  considerable  recognition  as  a 
public  speaker  on  educational  and  socio- 
logical questions.  The  excellent  schools 
of  Ahnapee  under  his  able  leadership  have 
risen  to  a  yet  higher  standard  of  perfec- 
tion, and  he  enjo\s  the  distinction  of  be- 
ing among  the  foremost  in  the  van  of  pro- 
gressive educators  in  Wisconsin. 


F 


ELIX  .MELEKA,  painter,  decor- 
ator and  farmer,  of  Kewaunee,  was 
born  in  Belgium  August  6,  1835. 
His  father,  John  Melera,  a  painter 
and  glazier  by  trade,  was  a  native  of 
Italy,  born  in  17SS,  and  when  fifteen 
years  of  age  went  to  Belgium,  where  he 
married  Constance  Pera,  a  native  of  that 
country,  who  bore  him  eight  children — 
four  sons  and  four  daughters — of  whom 
Felix  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth.  John 
Melera  brought  his  family  to  America  in 
1855,  landing  in  New  York  in  Januar}', 
thence  coming  directly  to  Wisconsin,  and 
settling  on  a  farm  in  the  northwest  part 
of  Kewaunee  county,  where  he  made  his 
home  until  1865  when  he  moved  to  Ke- 
waunee city  and  followed  his  trade  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  while  on  a  visit 
to  a  daughter  in  Ked  River  in  i  876.  His 
widow  followed  him  to  the  grave  one  year 
later,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-three. 
Our  subject  recci\ed  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  land, 
and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  began  learning 
his  father's  trade.  He  came  to  America 
in  June,  six  months  after  his  father's  ar- 
rival, and  went  at  once  to  Green  Bay, 
Wis.,  being  then  twenty  years  of  age. 
He  soon  joined  his  father  on  the  farm, 
and  remained  with  him  six  years;  then 
came  to  Kewaunee  and  bought  a  farm  of 
thirty-three  acres  one  mile  south  of  the 
city,  on  which  liis  family  lives,  while  he 
is  chiefly  engaged  in  his  business  of  dec- 
orator and  painter  in  the  city.  He  has 
taken  great  interest  in  the  politics  of  the 
Demcjcratic    party;  for  three    terms  was 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


elected  b\-  it  to  the  county  treasurership, 
and  in  1884  was  elected  sheriff  in  which 
office  he  gave  great  satisfaction  one  term, 
but  declined  a  second  nomination;  at 
present  he  is  alderman  of  his  ward,  and 
has  help  the    office  four  years. 

In  1 86 1  he  was  married  to  Miss  Ter- 
aselia  Leveque,  who  was  born  in  Canada 
in  1843,  and  whose  parents  came  to  Wis- 
consin in  1848,  locating  in  F"ond  du  Lac 
one  year;  then  resided  at  Two  Rivers  for 
some  time  and  finally  returned  to  Canada, 
where  the  father  died  in  1889.  To  this 
union  have  been  born  sixteen  children,  of 
whom  five  sons  and  six  daughters  are  still 
living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Melera  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  are  very 
highly  respected   by  all   who  know  them. 


FMADS  HANSEN  is  a  native  of 
Denmark,  having  been  born  No- 
\-ember  17,  1835,  in  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  at  that  time  a  part  of 
that  country.  His  father,  who  bore  the 
same  name,  was  born  on  the  Island  of 
Arro,  Denmark,  and  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  which  occupation  he  followed  until 
quite  late  in  life,  when  he  practiced 
veterinary  surgery.  He  married  Annia 
Maria  Jacobson,  a  native  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  where  they  both  passed  from 
earth,  the  parents  of  two  children,  F. 
Mads  and  Hans,  the  latter  of  whom  died 
in  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jacobson  were 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

Our  subject  received  a  good  education 
at  the  parochial  schools  of  his  native 
country,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  years 
commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  mason 
which  he  followed  until  1871  when  he 
emigrated  to  America.  Coming  direct  to 
Washington  Island,  Door  Co. ,  Wis. ,  he 
here  purchased  forty  acres  of  land,  which 
he  immediately  began  to  cultivate,  and 
has  continued  to  do  so  up  to  the  present 
time.  From  time  to  time  he  has  pur- 
chased additional  land,  and  now  owns 
320  acres,  seventy  of  which  are  improved. 
The  buildings  he  has  erected  are  commo- 


dious  and    well    kept,    giving    the  whole 
place  an  air  of  thrift  and  neatness. 

Before  leaving  Denmark  Mr.  Hansen 
was  married  to  Miss  Annie  Katharine 
Smidt,  who  was  born  in  Schleswig,  in 
1839.  They  have  had  eight  children,  as 
follows:  Maria,  Katharine  (deceased), 
HansL. ,  Lewis,  Annie  M.,  Lauritz  Will- 
iam, Mary  Dora,  Walter  George  and 
Alfred.  In  politics  Mr.  Hansen  is  a 
Republican,  and  has  filled  the  office  of 
supervisor  many  years.  He  came  to  this 
country  a  poor  man,  but  is  now  one  of 
the  most  successful  men  in  his  township, 
and  is  universal!}'  regarded  as  an  honest, 
upright  citizen. 


JOSEPH  MILLER,  of  Kewaunee,  is 
a  native  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin, 
having  been  born  in  Sheboygan 
county  in  1850.  His  father.  Vitals 
Miller,  who  was  born  in  Bavaria  Decem- 
ber 12,  1 82 1,  came  to  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
in  1847,  thence  proceeding  to  Manton, 
Mich. ,  where  he  remained  a  year  and  a 
half;  moved  thence  to  Sheboygan,  Wis., 
where  he  farmed  three  years,  and  then 
went  to  Lake  Superior,  remaining  four 
years.  In  1856  he  came  to  Kewaunee 
county,  and  here  rose  to  distinction;  after 
following  farming  for  awhile,  he  moved  to 
the  village  of  Kewaunee,  and  here  con- 
ducted the  Mill  Boarding  House  some 
four  years,  after  which  he  again  engaged 
in  farming.  In  1864  Mr.  Miller  enlisted 
in  the  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
marched  with  Sherman  to  the  sea,  serv- 
ing faithfully  and  honorably.  In  1871  he 
was  elected  register  of  deeds,  which  office 
he  filled  eight  years;  was  president  of  the 
village  two  years,  and  for  seven  years  was 
clerk  of  the  school  board,  of  which  for 
ten  years  he  was  a  member.  In  1881  he 
was  elected  county  judge,  was  re-elected 
for  a  second  term,  and  died  while  holding 
the  office,  November  27,  1885.  His 
funeral  was  probably  one  of  the  most 
largely  attended  of  any  that  ever  occurred 
in  Kewaunee   village,    being  attended  by 


672 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


delegations  from  the  Odd  Fellows,  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  of  the 
Fire  Department. 

Joseph  Miller,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  notice,  received  a  very  fair  education 
in  the  schools  of  Kewaunee.  In  1872  he 
married  Miss  Anna  Dickenshied,  who  lost 
her  father  when  she  was  a  small  child, 
and  to  this  union  have  been  born  two 
children — Joseph  and  Louisa.  After  his 
marriage  Mr.  Miller  farmed  near  Kewau- 
nee for  two  years,  and  then  bought  a  liv- 
ery establishment  in  the  city,  which  he 
conducted  six  years,  making  manj-  friends, 
who  clung  to  him  when  he  went  into  the 
saloon  business  immediately  afterward, 
when  many  more  were  added  to  the  list 
and  still  patronize  him.  As  a  Democrat, 
he  has  for  three  years  served  as  alderman. 
Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O. 
O.  F. ,  the  Sons  of  Hermann,  and  the 
Sons  of  Veterans. 


NELSON  CRAITE,  captain  in  the 
Life  Saving  service  at  Kewaunee 
Station,  was  born  at  Manitowoc 
Rapids,  Wis.,  Decembers,  1853. 
His  father,  Eusebe  Craite,  was  born  at 
Three  Rivers,  Canada,  about  the  year 
1827,  and  was  a  farmer;  his  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Zora  Ruelle,  whose 
father,  also  a  farmer,  came  to  Wisconsin 
in  1 85 1.  The  father  of  our  subject  died 
August  10,  1894;  the  mother  is  yet 
living. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  eldest  in  a 
family  of  ten  children,  all  of  whom  are  yet 
living  save  one,  attended  school  until  he 
was  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  then 
taught  school  one  term,  and  for  five  win- 
ters worked  in  the  woods  of  northern 
Wisconsin,  remaining  at  home  during  the 
summer  months.  In  1885  he  engaged 
as  a  surfman  in  the  Life  Saving  service 
at  Two  Rivers,  Wis.,  and  was  employed 
seven  seasons  of  eight  months  each.  In 
October,  1893,  he  was  promoted  to  cap- 
tain, and  took  charge  of  the  Kewaunee 
Station,  with  seven  men  to   assist  him. 


This  promotion  was  awarded  him  solely 
on  his  own  merits,  he  having  been  a  faith- 
ful man,  ever  ready  to  obey  orders. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Craite  occurred 
October  23,  1876,  to  Miss  Julia  Leclair, 
who  was  born  in  Mishicot,  Wis.,  in  i860, 
of  French  descent.  Her  father,  Oliver 
Leclair,  was  born  in  Canada,  and  was 
married  in  Wisconsin,  where  he  died  in 
1864;  his  wife  is  still  living.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Craite  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  he  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Knights  of  Wisconsin  and  of  St. 
Peter's  Society.  In  politics  he  confines 
his  interest  to  his  vote,  not  being  allowed 
to  hold  office.  He  is,  however,  unusu- 
ally well  posted  on  the  public  questions  of 
the  day,  and  deeply  read  in  its  current 
literature,  history  included. 


M 


ICHAEL  LEY  has  the  honor  of 
being  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  his 
birth  having  occurred  in  Rock- 
land township.  Brown  county, 
October  30,  185 1. 

His  parents,  Joseph  and  Maria  Wei- 
land  (Engels)  Ley,  were  farming  people, 
and  the  mother  died  when  her  son  Mich- 
ael was  a  child  but  four  years  old ;  he  also 
had  one  younger  brother  named  Joseph, 
who  still  lives  on  the  old  homestead.  The 
father  continued  to  live  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Rockland  township,  where  he  was 
recognized  as  a  successful  farmer.  He  was 
again  married,  this  time,  in  1858,  to 
Josephine  Dettrey,  and  to  them  were  born 
children  as  follows:  Mary,  Julia,  Theresa, 
Josephine,  John  and  Thomas.  The  father 
of  our  subject  was  a  native  of  Germany, 
and  when  about  twenty-one  years  of  age 
emigrated  to  America,  locating  at  first  at 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  later  removing  to  Fond 
du  Lac,  where  he  learned  the  carpenter 
and  joiner  trades,  following  that  occupa- 
tion until  his  marriage,  which  occurred  in 
the  year  1849,  at  which  time  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land  in  its  primi- 
tive condition.  Having  cleared  away  the 
trees,    he    erected    a    small    log    house, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


673 


22  X  24,  and  in  that  pioneer  home  he  and 
his  young  wife  spent  five  happy  years 
when  she  died  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
Shantytown  cemetery.  There  was  plenty 
of  wild  game  in  the  forest,  including  deer 
and  bears,  and  wolves  were  frequently 
killed  by  the  settlers.  The  first  year  Mr. 
Ley  had  no  team,  but  the  following  sea- 
son he  bought  an  ox  team  and  raised  a 
crop  of  potatoes  and  turnips,  and  as  the 
land  was  cleared  planted  it  with  cereals 
adapted  to  the  climate.  His  remaining 
days  were  spent  upon  the  farm  where  his 
death  occurred,  November  19,  1878,  and 
he  was  laid  to  rest  in  De  Pere  county 
cemetery. 

Mr.  Ley,  the  subject  proper  of  this 
sketch,  received  educational  privileges,  by 
reading  and  observation  has  gained  a  fair 
practical  knowledge,  and  always  keeps 
himself  well  informed  on  the  questions  of 
the  day.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  went 
to  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  and  began  work  on  a 
farm  at  ten  dollars  per  month,  and  in  the 
fall  of  that  year  he  went  to  the  woods  on 
the  Wolf  river  at  thirty  dollars  per  month, 
and  was  thus  employed  about  four  years, 
after  which  he  returned  to  De  Pere,  Wis., 
and  began  learning  the  blacksmith  trade, 
serving  a  two-years'  apprenticeship  under 
George  Weiland,  of  that  place.  He  then 
engaged  in  blacksmithing  for  some  time, 
being  employed  at  De  Pere,  in  Appleton, 
and  in  Fonddu  Lac,  after  which  he  came 
to  Luxemburg,  and  entered  the  employ 
of  A.  Gosin,  with  whom  he  continued 
three  years. 

During  that  time  Mr.  Ley  was  mar- 
ried to  Annie  Ruckle,  the  second  in  order 
of  birth  in  the  family  of  five  children  of 
George  and  Anna  M.  (Prisinger)  Ruckle. 
Her  brothers  and  sisters  are  Barbara, 
Alois,  George  and  Francis.  To  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ley  have  been  born  ten  children, 
eight  of  whom  are  yet  living:  Mary, 
Anna,  Alois,  George,  Odelia,  Theresa, 
Rosa  and  Michael  R.  They  also  lost  two 
children:  Josephine  and  Michael,  both  of 
whom  died  in  infancy.  For  about  three 
years  after  his  marriage  Mr.   Ley  carried 


on  blacksmithing  with  good  success  in 
Luxemburg,  and  then  purchased  forty 
acres  of  land  in  Luxemburg  township, 
upon  which  he  has  still  made  his  home. 
He  built  a  residence  and  smithy,  and 
when  these  were  destroyed  by  fire,  with 
characteristic  energy  he  at  once  replaced 
them  with  new  buildings.  In  the  line  of 
his  trade  he  is  an  expert  workman  and 
could  always  command  a  liberal  patronage 
on  account  of  his  efficiency.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
in  which  they  take  quite  an  active  inter- 
est, and  Mr.  Ley  belongs  to  St.  Joseph 
Society  and  to  the  Order  of  Catholic 
Knights,  being  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  latter.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and  has  filled  offices  of  honor  and  trust 
with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfaction  to 
his  constituents,  having  served  as  town 
clerk,  five  years;  as  chairman  of  the  town 
board  three  years;  and  was  notary  public 
and  justice  of  the  peace  twelve  years. 
He  has  lived  a  quiet  and  unassuming,  but 
honorable  and  upright  life,  and  has  gained 
thereby  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all 
with  whom  business  or  social  relations 
have  brought  him  in  contact. 


OHN  C.  RANK,  who  numbers  among 


the  go-ahead,  live   citizens   of  Stur- 


^1     geon  Bay,  Door  county,  is  a  native  of 
Wisconsin,   born    May    10,    1858,  in 
Manitowoc,  Manitowoc  county. 

Jacob  Rank,  his  father,  was  born  in 
Germany,  where  he  married  Miss  Maggie 
Gerl,  by  whom  he  had  eight  children — 
Peter,  Jacob,  Maggie,  Frank,  William, 
Louis,  Joseph  and  John  C. — all  born  in 
the  Fatherland  except  the  youngest,  our 
subject.  In  1852  the  father  came  alone 
to  America,  settling  on  a  farm  near  Man- 
itowoc, Wis.,  the  mother,  accompanied 
by  her  children,  following  in  1854;  she 
diedon  the  farmin  1859,  the  father  August 
10,  1 87 1.  He  came  of  a  good  family, 
and  was  a  well-educated  man.  He  had 
three  brothers,  who  passed  their  lives  in 
Germany,    two  of   them    being  Catholic 


674 


COMMEMORATIVE    DIOGUAPUICAL    RECORD. 


priests;  the  other,  byname  Joseph,  was  a 
writer  and  poet  as  well  as  a  prtJininent 
politician. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  memoir 
was  a  one-year-old  infant  at  the  time  of 
his  mother's  death,  and  the  family  were 
kept  together  by  their  father  up  to  his 
death  some  twelve  years  later.  The  lad 
then  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of 
shoemaker  at  Manitowoc,  but  after  about 
eighteen  months  he  wont  to  sailing  on  the 
lakes,  first  in  the  capacity  of  cook,  from 
which  position  he  rose  until,  in  1879,  he 
was  enabled  to  purchase  a  schooner.  In 
I  88 1  he  was  granted  a  captain's  license, 
and  had  charge  of  a  steam  tug  for  a  few 
years  thereafter,  or  until  the  fall  of  1884, 
when  he  went  to  Xew  Orleans,  and  in  the 
following  winter  sailed  along  the  coast  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  On  his  return  to 
Wisconsin  he  took  up  his  residence  in 
Sturgeon  Ba\',  and  entered  the  employ  of 
Charles  I.  Martin,  proprietor  of  the 
Jl'ii/c/y  Expositor,  having  charge  of  the 
settling  up  of  the  newspaper  accounts. 
In  1885  ^Ir.  Martin  embarked  in  the  meat 
business,  and  Mr.  Rank  has  continued 
with  him,  superintending  the  entire  busi- 
ness at  Sturgeon  Hay,  which  consists  of 
buying  and  shipping. 

On  May  25,  1887,  Mr.  Rank  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Cora  Mann,  daughter  of  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Sturgeon  Bay. 
In  politics  our  subject  is  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican, and  has  served  his  city  as  alder- 
man from  the  Fourth  ward;  socially  he  is 
a  member  of  the  F.  &  A.  M.  and  I.  O.  O.  F. 
Lodges  at  Sturgeon  Bay. 


AUGUST  HARMANN,  a   thriving, 
energetic     farmer     of     Ahnapee 
township,  I\ewaunee  county,  is  of 
German    birth,   having  first  seen 
the  light  August   24,    1849,  in    Prussia,  a 
son  of  Daniel  and  Louisa  Harmann. 

He  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  country,  and  came 
to  the  United  States  with  his  parents  in 
1867.      Reared  on  a  farm,  when  nineteen 


jears  of  age  he  started  out  in  life  for 
himself,  since  when  he  has  been  chieti)' 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  though 
he  also  worked  some  three  or  four  years 
in  the  sawmills  at  Ahnapee  and  Sturgeon 
Bay.  Mr.  Harmann  was  united  in  mar- 
riage, in  1877,  with  Bertha  Kasten,  and 
their  union  has  been  blessed  with  three 
children:  Justin,  Lena,  and  Henry.  Mrs. 
Harmann's  parents,  John  and  Johanna 
(Benhkcj  Kasten,  were  natives  of  Prussia, 
where  she  was  also  born,  on  February  8, 
1858.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Harmann 
located  upon  the  farm  he  owns  and  occu- 
pies (he  having  previously  purchased  a 
part  of  it),  his  farm  now  comprising 
eighty  acres  of  good  land,  well  improved 
by  his  own  labor,  and  he  is  one  of  the 
well-to-do  farmers  of  his  township.  In 
politics  he  is  independent,  always  aiming 
to  support  the  best  man  regardless  of  po- 
litical affiliations.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


ANTON  F.  DANEK  is  the  leading 
merchant  tailor  of  Ahnapee,  Ke- 
waunee county,  and  a  leading  bus- 
iness man  who  is  both  widely  and 
favorably  known  in  the  county.  He  was 
born  March  11,  1837,  in  Borskobiz,  Bo- 
hemia, where  for  many  generations  his 
ancestors  had  lived,  honored  and  re- 
spected people  who  made  farming  their 
life  work.  The  old  estate  has  long  been 
handed  down  from  father  to  son,  and  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  the  family,  being  now 
owned  by  Frank  Danek,  a  brother  of  our 
subject.  His  ancestors  were  far  above  the 
common  class,  were  well-educated  people, 
and  throughout  the  community  where 
they  lived  were  held  in  high  esteem. 

The  grandparents  of  our  subject, 
Mathias  and  Catherina  (Melchior)  Danek, 
both  reached  a  good  old  age,  the  former 
being  ninety-three  years  old  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  while  the  latter  passed  away 
in  her  eighty-eighth  year.  She,  too,  came 
from  an  old  and  well-to-do  family.  This 
worthy  couple  were  the  parents  of  eight 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


6;5 


■children,  among  whom  was  Frank  Danek, 
father  of  Anton  F.,  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion. He  inherited  the  estate,  and  in 
connection  with  its  management  he  served 
as  justice  of  the  peace  for  many  years, 
and  throughout  the  community  was  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  citizens.  A  devoted  Catholic, 
he  lived  a  long  and  useful  life,  and  died 
in  the  faith  of  that  Church  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three.  His  wife,  who  in  her 
maidenhood  bore  the  name  of  Antonia 
Kohouth,  and  was  also  born  in  Bohemia, 
was  an  intelligent  and  cultured  lady,  and 
was  called  to  the  home  beyond  at  the  age 
sixty-eight,  having  survived  h^  husband 
several  years.  They  had  a  family  of  eleven 
children  who  reached  maturity  and  be- 
came useful  and  respected  members  of 
society. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  reared 
under  the  parental  roof,  acquired  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
land,  and  in  Europe  learned  the  trade  of 
merchant  tailoring,  at  which  he  became 
quite  proficient.  At  length  he  determiried 
to  seek  a  home  beyond  the  Atlantic,  and 
in  1 867  crossed  the  briny  deep  to  the  New 
\\"orId,  settling  in  Ahnapee,  Wis. ,  where 
he  has  since  made  his  home.  Here  he 
opened  a  merchant-tailoring  establish- 
ment, and  the  excellency  of  his  work  soon 
won  him  a  wide  patronage  and  gained 
him  a  large  reputation,  which  he  still  re- 
ceives and  which  yields  to  him  a  good 
income. 

At  Ahnapee,  Mr.  Danek  married  Miss 
Antonia  Rosek,  also  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
and  their  union  has  been  blessed  with  six 
children,  all  yet  living,  namely:  Emil, 
Annie,  Emma,  Mary,  William  and  Frank. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  borne  his 
part  in  the  upbuilding  and  development 
of  his  adopted  county,  is  a  public-spirited 
and  progressive  citizen,  and  always  aids 
those  enterprises  calculated  to  prove  of 
benefit  to  the  community.  In  religious 
matters  he  and  his  family  are  closely 
identified  wi  h  the  Catholic  Church,  of 
which    they    are    members.       He    is   the 


founder  of  the  Danek  family  in  America, 
and  in  future  generations  his  descendants 
can  point  with  pride  to  their  progenitor 
as  an  honorable,  upright  man,  who  left  to 
his  posterity  an  untarnished  name. 


JOHN  J.  STANGEL,  hotel  proprietor, 
merchant,  and  prominent  citizen  of 
Stangelville,  Ivewaunee  county,  was 
.  born  in  the  town  of  Mishicot,  Manito- 
woc Co.,  Wis.,  May  16,  1857,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Dora  Stangel,  natives  of 
Bohemia,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1854  and  the  next  year  took  up  a 
homestead  in  Mishicot  township,  Mani- 
towoc county.  Mr.  Stangel  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  the  vicinit}',  and  en- 
dured all  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life, 
but  succeeded  in  clearing  up  his  farm,  and 
retired  on  a  well-earned  competency  in 
1892.  His  wife,  Dora,  was  born  in  1831, 
and  died  in  the  town  of  Mishicot  in  1872; 
Mr.  Stangel  was  born  in  the  same  year  as 
his  wife. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  seventh  in  a 
family  of  eight  children,  acquired  his 
education  in  the  pioneer  schools  of  Wis- 
consin, and  his  studies  were  ended  when 
he  reached  the  age  of  twelve  years,  after 
which  he  worked  with  his  father  on  the 
farm  until  eighteen.  He  then  engaged 
in  agriculture  on  his  own  account,  and 
followed  the  occupation  until  May,  1888, 
when  he  sold  his  personal  property  and 
entered  into  business  in  Stangelville, 
where  he  is  the  proprietor  of  the 
"Stangelville  House,"  in  connection 
with  which  he  conducts  a  saloon.  He  is 
also  engaged  in  mercantile  business,  and 
is  owner  of  the  cheese  factory  in  the 
same  village,  and  still  owns  and  operates 
a  farm.  In  all  the  business  undertakings 
in  which  he  is  engaged  he  has  proven 
himself  to  be  sagacious  and  far-seeing, 
and  all  have  been  successfully  and  profit- 
ably conducted.  He  is  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  has  filled  the  offices  of  assessor 
and  super\-isor,  for  nine  }'ears  has  been 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  every  position 


676 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


has  more  than  met  the    expectations   of 
the  people. 

In  1875  ^'r.  Stangel  was  married  to 
Miss  Annie  Seidenglanz,  who  was  born  in 
Bohemia  December  8,  1856,  aud  to  this 
union  were  born  five  children,  viz. :  Mary, 
Emma,  William,  Wenzel  and  Jacob.  The 
mother  of  these  died  April  12,  1892,  and 
for  a  second  wife  Mr.  Stangel  married, 
October  3,  1893,  Frances  Tikalsky,  who 
was  born  in  Bohemia  December  3,  1859. 
To  this  last  union  have  been  born  two 
children:  Delia  and  Flora.  Mr.  Stangel 
is  a  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Union  of  Wisconsin,  and  is  a  devout 
member  of  the  Catholic  Church.  He  is 
highly  respected  by  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  is  regarded  as  being  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  business  men  of  the  town- 
ship. 


JOHN  WEITERMANN  is  a  progress- 
ive citizen  and  enterprising  business 
man  of  Voseville,  Door  county, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  merchandis- 
ing, also  conducting  a  saloon  and  operat- 
ing a  cheese  factory.  He  was  born  April 
9,  1 864,  in  Manitowoc  county.  Wis. ,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Phctbe  Weitermann, 
prominent  and  well-kno\\'n  people  of  the 
locality.  He  attended  the  common 
schools,  and  was  reared  in  the  usual  man- 
ner of  farmer  lads  until  sixteen  years  of 
age,  when  he  began  learning  the  butcher's 
trade  in  Ahnapee.  Later  he  worked  in  a 
brewery  in  Brown  county,  until  his  health 
failed  him,  when  he  was  compelled  to 
give  up  his  position,  and  during  the  suc- 
ceeding four  }ears  he  could  engage  in  no 
labor,  but  spent  that  time  at  his  parents' 
home  in  Jacksonport  township.  Door 
county. 

On  recovering  from  his  long  illness, 
Mr.  Weitermann  became  interested  in  the 
saloon  business  in  Voseville,  in  October, 
1889,  bought  out  John  Hocks,  and  has 
since  been  engaged  in  the  retail  liquor 
trade.  He  is  also  carrying  on  general 
merchandising  in  connection  with  William 


Voeks,  and  owns  and  operates  a  cheese 
factory  which  adds  materially  to  his  in- 
come. He  takes  quite  a  prominent  part 
in  political  matters,  supports  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  is  now  serving  his  third 
term  as  town  clerk,  having  been  elected 
in  1892  over  an  opponent  who  had  held 
the  office  for  fifteen  years.  At  the  same 
time  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  is  still  serving,  the  youngest  justice 
ever  elected  in  Sevastopol  township,  and 
after  the  shortest  residence  here.  He  is 
true  and  faithful  to  his  public  duties,  and 
is  a  valued  and  public-spirited  citizen, 
one  who  manifests  a  commendable  inter- 
est in  everything  pertaining  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  community  and  its  upbuilding. 
On  July  3,  1892,  in  Voseville,  Wis., 
Mr.  Weitermann  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Lizzie  Harter,  a  native  of  Chi- 
cago, and  a  daughter  of  Fred  Harter, 
who  now  lives  in  Egg  Harbor,  Wis. ;  they 
have  one  child,  John  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Weitermann  attend  the  Lutheran  Church, 
of  which  she  is  a  member,  and  in  this 
locality  they  have  many  friends  and 
acquaintances. 


M 


ATHIAS    RIHA,    a     native    of 

Carlton,  Kewaunee  Co.,   Wis., 

was  born  February  24,  1859,  a 

son  of  Wenzel  and   Mary  (Ko- 

zisik)  Riha,  natives  of  Bohemia. 

Wenzel  Riha  was  born  September  12, 
1 812,  and  was  a  son  of  Wenzel,  Sr. ,  and 
Barbara  Riha,  also  natives  of  Bohemia. 
Wenzel,  Jr.,  attended  school  in  the  old 
country  until  twelve  years  of  age,  and  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  left  the  parental  roof 
to  learn  wagon-making.  He  finished  his 
apprenticeship  at  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  and  then  left  his  native  land  and 
journeyed  to  St.  Petersburg,  also  to 
Vienna  and  other  places  in  Austria,  fol- 
lowing his  trade,  as  is  the  custom  in  his 
native  land  with  beginners.  After  about 
five  years'  absence  he  returned  to  Bohemia, 
where  he  continued  his  vocation  until 
1854,  when  he  came  to  the  United  States 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


677 


and  for  a  short  time  stopped  in  Milwaukee, 
whence  he  went  to  Mishicot,  Manitowoc 
Co. ,  Wis. ,  where  he  resided  on  a  farm  for 
a  year,  and  then  came  to  Carlton  town- 
ship, entering  the  homestead  which  his 
son,  Mathias,  now  owns  and  occupies. 
Here  he  was  engaged  in  making  shingles, 
as  well  as  in  clearing  his  land,  and  as  soon 
as  the  latter  task  was  accomplished  he 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  agriculture 
until  1880,  when  he  retired.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  of 
the  Bohemian  Catholic  Union  of  Wiscon- 
sin. In  1 841  he  married  Mary  Kozisik,  a 
native  of  Bohemia,  born  in  1824,  and  to 
this  union  have  been  born  the  following 
named  children:  Wenzel,  Joseph,  Joseph, 
Mary,  Mary,  Wenzel,  Mary  and  Mathias, 
all  now  deceased  excepting  Wenzel  and 
Mathias. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  spent 
but  a  short  time  in  the  schools  of  Carl- 
ton, his  services  being  required  on  the 
home  farm,  where  he  worked  for  his  par- 
ents until  he  reached  his  majority,  at  that 
time  taking  full  charge  as  his  father  was 
in  poor  health.  He  is  now  considered  to 
be  one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
Carlton  township,  and  an  able  man  in  all 
other  respects.  He  is  a  member  of  all 
the  societies  to  which  his  father  belongs, 
and  in  politics  is  a  strong  Democrat.  On 
July  15,  1879,  he  married  Mary  Schauer, 
who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Carlton 
May  14,  1862,  a  daughter  of  Wenzel 
Schauer,  and  to  this  union  were  born  five 
children,  viz.:  Pauline,  Mary  A.,  Annie 
C.  A.,  and  Cecilia  C.  P.,  living,  and 
Mary,  deceased. 


WENZEL  SOUKUP  (deceased), 
late  proprietor  of  a  general  store 
and  saloon  in  Soukupsville,  was 
postmaster  of  Stokes  postoffice, 
to  which  position  he  was  appointed  in 
July,  1894.  He  also  began  merchandis- 
ing same  year  in  the  store  which  was 
built  by  Mr.  Stokes  in  1884,  and  carries 
a  full  line   of  general  merchandise.      He 


came  here  from  Sturgeon  Bay,  where  he 
had  located  in  1871,  entering  at  that  time 
the  employ  of  A.  W.  Lawrence,  for  whom 
he  worked  fourteen  years  and  eight 
months  at  wagonmaking.  He  was  then 
employed  by  the  firm  of  Leathem  & 
Smith,  in  the  manufacture  of  shingles, 
continuing  with  them  for  two  years,  when 
he  was  taken  sick.  On  his  recovery  he 
opened  a  saloon,  and  in  connection  with 
his  mercantile  interests  became  the 
owner  of  1 20  acres  of  land  in  Nasewaupee 
township,  1 60  in  Sturgeon  Bay  township, 
and  four  lots  in  the  city  of  Sturgeon  Bay. 
Mr.  Soukup  was  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
born  Jan.  20,  1849,  a  son  of  Mordis  and 
Barbara  Soukup,  natives  of  that  country, 
and  who,  in  1871,  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, locating  at  French  Creek,  Wis.  In 
1875  they  removed  to  Sturgeon  Bay  town- 
ship. Door  county,  and  lived  upon  a  farm 
owned  by  our  subject.  The  father  died 
in  Sturgeon  Bay,  in  1888,  and  the  moth- 
er's death  occurred  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship in  1892.  They  were  the  parents  of 
children  as  follows:  Barbara,  who  is  liv- 
ing in  Bohemia;  Jacob,  who  died  while 
engaged  in  a  war  in  Bohemia;  John,  who 
is  living  in  that  country;  Martin,  who  also 
died  in  the  war;  Mardis,  who  resides  in 
Nasewaupee  township,  and  Wenzel. 

Our  subject  was  reared  in  Bohemia, 
and  the  public  schools  of  his  native  land 
afforded  him  his  educational  privileges, 
though  his  advantages  along  that  line 
were  somewhat  limited.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  he  went  to  Bavaria,  where  he 
learned  the  trade  of  wagon  making,  which 
he  followed  until  1871,  when  he  crossed 
the  briny  deep  to  the  United  States 
and  became  a  resident  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Wis.  In  the  same  year  he  was  married 
in  Mishicot,  Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis.,  to 
Miss  Anna  Bohr,  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
and  a  daughter  of  John  Bohr,  who  be- 
came a  resident  of  Manitowoc  county  in 
1854.  He  is  now  residing  on  Mr.Soukup's 
late  farm  in  Sturgeon  Bay  township.  Door 
county.  To  our  subject  and  his  wife  have 
been  born  eight  interesting  children,  viz.  r 


678 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Mary,  Fannie,  Anna,  Rudolph,  Barbara, 
Emily,  Belle  and  Charley.  Mr.  Soukup 
died  May  6,  1895.  In  his  political  views, 
he  was  a  Democrat,  and,  sociallj',  he  was 
connected  with  Peninsula  Masonic  Aid 
Lodge,  Sturgeon  Bay  Lodge,  No.  211, 
I.  O.  O.  F. ,  and  Sons  of  Hermann. 
Whatever  success  he  achieved  in  life 
was  due  entirely  to  his  own  efforts.  He 
was  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune, 
building  wisely  and  well,  and  the  struc- 
ture which  he  reared  had  for  its  founda- 
tion industry,  enterprise  and  strict  in- 
tegrity. 


WSEYK,  a  prominent  dealer  in 
grain  at  Kewaunee,  was  born  in 
Bohemia  September  28,  1840, 
and  in  1854  came  to  America 
with  his  father,  who  settled  in  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin. 

Frank  Se}k,  the  father,  was  born  in 
1803,  was  a  tailor  by  trade,  and  in  1831 
was  married  to  Miss  Annie  Wendska, 
who  bore  him  four  children,  three  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  W.  Seyk,  our  subject, 
being  the  youngest  and  the  only  one  to 
come  to  America  with  his  parents.  The 
mother  died  in  1890,  but  the  father  still 
survives  and  makes  his  home  with  our 
subject,  whose  prosperity  has  been  such 
as  to  fully  enable  him  to  care  for  his  ven- 
erable sire  in  his  declining  days.  The 
family  lived  in  Milwaukee  until  July,  1 864, 
when  they  moved  to  Kewaunee,  where 
the  father  and  sen  went  into  the  mer- 
chant-tailoring business,  which  they  con- 
tinued seven  years,  or  until  1871,  when 
our  subject  built  the  first  gristmill  ever 
erected  in  Kewaunee.  In  1865  he  had 
gone  into  the  grain  trade,  which  he  found 
to  be  profitable,  and  in  which  he  has  con- 
tinued ever  since.  In  1872  Mr.  Sejkmet 
with  an  accident,  which  led  to  his  taking 
in  Frank  Brunkhorst  as  a  partner  in  the 
milling  business,  and  to  his  permitting  his 
own  name  to  be  used  as  a  candidate  for  the 
county  treasurership,  and  he  was  thrice 
■elected    to    fill  the    office,  a  compliment 


somewhat  unusual.  He  then  resumed 
the  tailoring  business,  with  W.  Shimmel 
as  partner.  In  1880  he  again  assumed 
the  duties  of  count}'  treasurer  bj-  appoint- 
ment of  the  county  board,  his  previous 
performance  of  its  duties  having  been  so 
very  satisfactory,  and  on  this  occasion  he 
served  two  years. 

In  1 88 1  Mr.  Seyk  bought  out  the  in- 
terest of  Mr.  Shimmel  in  the  tailoring 
establishment,  and  has  since  continued  it 
on  his  sole  account,  being  quite  artistic 
and  verj-  popular  in  that  particular  line.  In 
1 889  the  gristmill  was  destroyed  b\'  fire, 
when  a  stock  company  was  formed,  called 
the  Seyk  Flour  Mill  Co.,  a  new  mill 
built,  and  operations  resumed  under  very 
favorable  circumstances;  but  in  1S92  Mr. 
Seyk  sold  his  stock  in  this  company,  and 
rented  a  water-power  mill  three  miles 
west  of  Kewaunee,  which  he  still  owns 
and  operates  with  excellent  results.  In 
politics  Mr.  Seyk  has  always  been  a  Dem- 
ocrat, and  has  been  unflagging  in  his 
efforts  toward  the  improvement  of  Ke- 
waunee, especially  regarding  the  railroad 
and  the  harbor,  making  a  trip  to  Wash- 
ington in  1 891  in  the  interest  of  the  lat- 
ter. His  individual  shipping  interests, 
alone,  are  very  extensive,  amounting  to 
$150,000  per  annum,  and  including 
grain,  hay  and  farm  produce  generally, 
and  he  is  as  anxious  to  increase  the  ship- 
ping facilities  of  others  as  he  is  of  his  own. 

Mr.  Seyk  was  first  married,  in  1865, 
to  Miss  Agnes  Rencin,  a  native  of  Bo- 
hemia, who  came  to  America  when  but 
two  years  of  age,  and  to  this  union  were 
born  eight  children,  of  whom  seven  still 
survive.  This  wife  and  mother  died  in 
Kewaunee  in  1882,  and  in  1883  Mr.  Seyk 
married  Miss  Josephine  Stransk}-,  who  was 
born  in  Kewaunee,  daughter  of  Judge 
Stransk}-.  No  children  have  come  to  bless 
this  marriage.  The  surviving  children  by 
the  first  marriage  all  live  under  the  par- 
ental roof  with  the  exception  of  two — 
Edward,  vvho  is  married  and  assists  in 
his  father's  store,  and  Annetha,  a  pupil  in 
a  Milwaukee  school.      Mr.  Sevk  is  not  a 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


679 


member  of  anj-  secret  society;  he  is  not  a 
member  of  any  Church,  but  his  life  has 
been  one  of  integrity,  and  full  of  justice 
to  his  fellow  men — the  cardinal  virtues 
manifesting  themselves  in  his  every  act 
and  giving  to  the  world  every  ' '  assurance 
of  a  man." 


VICTOR  KAYE  was  born  July  26, 
1865,  and  is  a  son  of  Anton 
Joseph  and  Ann  Marie  (Pewes- 
mann)  Kaye,  who  were  natives  of 
Belgium.  In  July,  1854,  they  came  to 
America,  and  for  about  si.\  months  re- 
sided in  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  after  which  the 
father  purchased  a  homestead  claim  of 
thirty  acres  of  pine  land  in  Humbolt 
township.  Brown  Co. ,  Wis.  The  locality 
was  all  wild,  being  just  opened  up  to 
civilization.  Two  brothers  and  two  sis- 
ters of  Mr.  Kaye  located  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  and,  as  the  land  was  un- 
surveyed,  some  of  them  learned  after  a 
time  that  they  were  not  on  their  own 
property,  and  consequently  had  to  build 
new  homes.  They  learned  to  make  and 
shave  shingles,  the  neighbors  meeting  to- 
gether for  that  purpose,  but  this  work 
}'ielded  them  only  a  scanty  living,  for  they 
had  to  haul  the  shingles  to  market  at 
Green  Bay,  the  route  thither  being  a 
roundabout  one,  for  no  roads  had  been 
cut  through  at  the  time.  The  settlers 
often  blazed  their  way  through  the  forest 
and  frequently  carried  tin  horns  with 
them,  which  they  would  blow  in  order  to 
let  their  whereabouts  be  known. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  mason, 
having  learned  the  trade  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen with  his  father,  and  to  some  extent 
followed  it  after  his  arrival  in  America. 
He  sowed  his  crops  among  the  stumps, 
and  as  the  years  passed  began  to  meet 
with  better  success;  but  when  the  Civil 
war  broke  out  he  was  forced  to  enter  the 
army,  leaving  his  home,  in  1S63,  to  the 
care  of  his  wife,  with  five  little  children, 
the  eldest  being  a  girl  of  nine  years. 
Again    they  suffered    much,    the    mother 


being  compelled  frequently  to  carry  a 
bushel  of  grain  to  mill  to  have  it  ground 
that  the  family  might  have  bread.  In 
1865  the  father  returned,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  established  a  hotel  and  tavern, 
which  he  conducted  until  1886,  making 
some  money  in  that  way.  In  1867  he 
bought  a  cow  and  horse,  the  latter  being 
the  first  owned  within  a  radius  of  ten 
miles  from  his  home.  At  length  he  be- 
came owner  of  160  acres  of  land,  which  he 
operated  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1 891 ,  when  he  was  seventy-six  years  old. 
The  grandfather  died  in  1872  at  the  age 
of  eighty-two,  and  the  grandmother 
passed  away  in  1869.  The  maternal 
grandparents  had  died  in  Belgium,  and 
the  mother  of  our  subject  lived  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  until  April,  1894,  when 
she  went  to  Green  Baj'  and  is  now  living 
with  her  youngest  son,  Josiah. 

In  the  family  there  were  thirteen  chil- 
dren— four  sons  and  nine  daughters — 
only  six  of  whom  are  now  living,  and 
between  these  the  proceeds  from  the  sale 
of  the  old  home  was  divided.  The  eldest 
child,  Mary,  born  May  12,  1858,  was 
married  in  December,  1877,  to  Felix 
Dart,  a  blacksmith,  now  living  in  De- 
Pere,  Wis.,  by  whom  she  had  two  sons 
and  seven  daughters,  namely:  Flora, 
Julia,  Bertha,  Ida,  Seeinon,  Jennie, 
George,  Tillmay  and  one  (unnamed)  de- 
ceased. Nettie,  born  April  13,  i860, 
was  married  in  April,  1879,  to  Gustave 
Maze,  a  blacksmith  and  machinist,  and 
they  have  one  son  and  two  daughters 
living — Alice,  George  Victor  and  Ellen. 
Julia,  born  August  3,  1S62,  was  married 
in  November,  1886,  to  John  Mularky,  a 
carriage  maker  and  painter,  and  they 
have  three  daughters:  Lorre,  Minerva 
and  May.  Victor,  who  is  next  in  the 
family,  married  Adelia  Minnie,  daughter 
of  A.  C.  Kuehn,  a  pioneer  settler  and  old 
soldier,  who  served  from  1862  until  1865; 
they  were  married  June  17,  1890,  and 
have  three  sons — Myron  Joseph,  born 
June  10,  1891;  Cletius  \'.  Josiah,  born 
October   'io,    1892;  and  Charlie  C,  born 


68o 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


April  24,  1894.  The  next  brother  of  our 
subject,  Joseph  V.  Kaye,  was  born  April 
28,  1867,  and  married,  September  23, 
1889,  Lizzie  Verihden,  of  Humbolt,  Wis., 
by  whom  he  had  one  child,  now  deceased. 
Josiah  Tuphil,  born  July  20,  1869,  was 
married  in  October,  1891,  to  Josephine 
Rosemann,  of  Preble,  Wis.,  and  they  had 
three  children — Rosalie  H.,  born  June 
10,  1892,  and  twin  boys,  deceased.  The 
brothers  are  all  well-to-do,  they  having 
good  business  interests,  as  do  the  hus- 
bands of  the  sisters,  and  nearly  all  own 
their  homes. 

The  children  were  reared  on  the  home 
farm  and  aided  in  its  development.  The 
father  did  work  as  a  lumberman,  and 
made  the  bricks  for  the  first  chimney 
built  in  his  neighborhood.  Victor  Kaye 
began  school  in  1 870,  with  Philip  Coopense 
as  his  first  teacher,  and  attended  school 
on  his  grandfather's  farm  in  an  old  build- 
ing which  was  destroyed  by  fire  about 
eight  years  ago.  He  pursued  his  studies 
until  twelve  years  of  age,  when  his  father 
needing  his  help,  he  began  farm  work. 
In  later  years,  realizing  his  need  of  an 
education,  he  began  reading  and  studying 
at  home,  and  thus  made  up  for  his  lack 
of  school  privileges.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  began  learning  the  blacksmith's 
trade  with  his  brother-in-law,  Felix  Dart, 
in  De  Pere,  Wis.,  returning  to  aid  in  the 
harvest  work  in  the  summer  of  1883,  and 
each  year  until  1885;  the  remaining  time 
being  spent  at  blacksmithing.  He  then 
entered  the  employ  of  Mr.  Maze,  his 
brother-in-law,  in  ISrussels,  Wis.,  where 
he  continued  until  March  i,  1886,  when 
he  went  with  his  brother-in-law  to  North 
Dakota.  In  April,  1886,  at  Montpelicr, 
Mr.  Maze  bought  lots  and  built  a  hotel 
and  blacksmith  shop;  then,  after  working 
with  him  for  a  time,  Mr.  Kaye  entered 
the  employ  of  the  Northern  Pacific  rail- 
road, and  later  took  up  farm  work.  After- 
ward he  resumed  railroad  work  between 
Jamestown  and  Devil's  Lake,  N.  Dak., 
returning  home  December  20,  1886,  and 
living  with  his  parents    until  February, 


1887,  when  he  again  took  up  blacksmith- 
ing. Not  long  afterward  he  began  work 
in  the  lumber  woods,  but  a  few  days  later 
he  took  up  railroad  work  and  also  did 
teaming  until  moving  to  South  Dakota, 
where  he  was  employed  as  a  farm  hand 
until  1889,  when  he  returned  home.  His 
life  was  one  of  labor  in  logging  camps 
and  upon  the  farms  where  he  did  thresh- 
ing, and  he  underwent  many  hardships. 
On  entering  the  employ  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Grain  Elevator  Company,  man- 
aged by  Mr.  McKernen,  he  became  famil- 
iar with  the  grain  business,  and  with  that 
gentleman  he  also  obtained  considerable 
general  information.  The  next  year  he 
wenttoBrainerd,  Minn.,  a  railroad  center, 
and  after  teaming  for  a  time  was  a  driver 
on  a  street  car  during  the  winter.  In 
July,  1888,  he  went  to  Montpelier,  N. 
Dak.,  where  he  worked  at  haying  and 
harvesting,  sleeping  during  that  fall  under 
hay  stacks  and  returning  home  in  Decem- 
ber, reaching  De  Pere,  Wis,  on  Christmas 
eve.  There  he  worked  for  his  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  Dart,  and  at  blacksmithing 
and  carpentering,  and  in  the  succeeding 
autumn  went  to  Green  Bay  to  serve  as 
weighmaster  and  grain  receiver  with  W. 
W.  Cargill.  He  was  also  employed  by 
other  grain  buyers,  and  later  was  sent  to 
take  charge  of  a  warehouse  at  Luxemburg. 
Here  he  purchased  three  lots  and  erected 
a  home,  which  is  now  his  place  of  resi- 
dence, and  here  he  successfully  conducts 
a  grain  business,  having  built  up  a  thriv- 
ing trade.  Mr.  Kaye  is  widely  known 
and  highly  respected  throughout  the  com- 
munity. 


RUDOLPH  T.  THORP,  proprietor 
of  a  well-equipped  livery  stable  in 
Sturgeon   Bay,  Door  county,  is  a 
native  of  Wisconsin,  born  in  De- 
cember, 1850,  in   the   town   of    Rubicon, 
Dodge  county,  a  son  of  Truman   Thorp, 
who  was  a  lifelong  agriculturist. 

Our  subject  was  reared   and  educated 
at  the  place  of  his  birth,  working  on  his- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


father's  farm  until  1879,  in  which  year  he 
•came  to  Door  county,  for  some  nine 
months  making  his  home  at  Egg  Harbor. 
In  the  spring  of  i88r  he  moved  to  Stur- 
geon Bay,  and  for  the  first  two  and  one- 
half  years  clerked  in  a  hardware  store, 
leaving  which  he  bought  out  a  livery- 
stable  business,  which,  however,  at  the 
end  of  five  months  he  sold.  In  1887  he 
purchased  his  present  livery  stable  and 
barn,  where  he  has  built  up  a  first-class 
business,  always  keeping  on  hand  a  com- 
plete equipage  of  elegant  and  substantial 
vehicles  of  all  kind,  and  horses  second  to 
none  for  general  road  purposes,  either  in 
harness  or  under  saddle.  He  has  run  the 
stage  line  between  Sturgeon  Bay  and 
Menominee,  Mich.,  six  winters,  and  has 
experienced  some  perilous  adventures  in 
crossing  Green  Bay  on  the  ice  with  his 
sleigh-load  of  passengers. 

In  April,  1881,  Mr.  Thorp  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Nancy  Thombleson,  daughter 
of  Francis  and  Elizabeth  Thombleson,  all 
natives  of  England,  and  two  children  have 
been  born  to  them:  Norma  and  HoUis. 
Politically,  our  subject  is  a  Republican, 
and  he  has  served  as  deputy  sheriff  of  the 
county,  and  in  the  city  council  one  year; 
socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 
He  is  one  of  Sturgeon  Bay's  real  business 
"  hustlers  "  and  most  useful  citizens. 


OL.  ANDRESON,  one  of  the  pros- 
perous young  farmers  of  Sturgeon 
Bay  township,  Door  county,  was 
born  in  1863  in  Norway,  son  of 
Andrew  and  Bertha  Cecelia  (Oleson) 
Oleson,  also  natives  of  that  country, 
where  the  father  died  in  1879.  The 
mother  came  to  America  in  1882,  and 
now  resides  in  Sturgeon  Bay  township. 
Door  Co. ,  Wis.  There  were  eleven  chil- 
dren in  their  family,  seven  of  whom  are 
living,  as  follows:  Bertha,  wife  of  Thore 
Thorsenson,  of  Norway;  Rachel,  wife  of 
Iver  Wogen,  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. ; 
Malina,  wife  of  Thomas  Oleson,  of  Stur- 
geon   Bay;    Ole,    a  farmer   of    Sturgeon 


Bay  township;  Annie,  married  to  Bertel 
Vaagen,  and  residing  in  Norway;  Peter,  a 
farmer  of  Sturgeon  Bay  township;  and 
O.  L. ,  our  subject. 

O.  L.  Andreson  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  the  country  of  his  birth,  and 
when  yet  a  boy  commenced  the  life  of  a 
sailor,  being  on  the  ocean  for  years.  In 
1882  he  came  to  America,  and  to  Stur- 
geon Bay  township,  Door  Co.,  Wis., 
where  he  bought  eighty  acres  of  new  land 
from  Nels  Thompson,  to  the  improvement 
and  cultivation  of  which  he  has  since 
given  much  of  his  time,  and  has  succeeded 
in  clearing  a  large  part  of  the  tract.  He 
has  also  erected  a  substantial  brick  resi- 
dence, a  commodious  barn,  90  x  30,  and  a 
good  granary,  besides  other  necessary 
farm  buildings,  fences,  etc.  After  com- 
ing to  Sturgeon  Bay  Mr.  Andreson  sailed 
on  the  lakes  during  the  season  until  1891, 
and  again  went  out  in  the  fall  of  1893,  as 
mate  on  a  steam  barge. 

Mr.  Andreson  was  married,  in  1891, 
in  Door  county,  to  Miss  Helen  Oleson,  a 
native  of  the  county,  daughter  of  Halver 
and  Lizzie  Oleson,  natives  of  Norway, 
who  came  to  Door  county  in  an  early 
day,  and  still  reside  in  Sturgeon  Bay 
township.  Two  children  have  been  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andreson,  Harald 
Edward  and  Bertha  Cecelia.  In  religious 
connection  they  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  in  his  political 
preferences  Mr.  Andreson  is  a  Republican. 


JOSEPH  FILZ,  a  wide-awake  and 
enterprising  man,  whose  success  in 
life  is  due  entirely  to  his  own  efforts, 
was  born  June  13,  1848,  in  the 
Rhine  Province,  Germany,  and  is  a  son 
of  Nicholas  and  Catherine  (Rohr)  Filz, 
who  had  a  family  of  five  children — Joseph, 
Lena,  Catherine,  Nicholas  and  Barbara. 
The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
and  in  his  undertakings  met  with  good 
success.  The  grandfather,  Nicholas  Filz, 
also  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits. 
The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  re- 


682 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ceived  such  educational  privileges  as 
were  afforded  by  the  common  schools  of 
his  native  land,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
began  learning  the  carpenter's  trade,  serv- 
ing a  three-years'  apprenticeship.  When 
seventeen  years  of  age  he  returned  to  his 
parents'  home,  where  he  spent  about  a 
year,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  began 
traveling  on  the  European  continent, 
spending  some  time  in  various  cities, 
working  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  a  year 
and  a  half  being  thus  passed.  At  length 
he  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in 
America,  and  bidding  adieu  to  the  Father- 
land sailed  from  Antwerp  in  1869.  Eleven 
days  later  he  landed  in  New  York,  whence 
he  made  his  way  direct  to  Chicago, 
where  he  remained  until  the  fall  of  1870, 
working  at  his  trade  during  that  year. 
He  then  removed  to  a  place  five  miles 
from  the  city  and  engaged  in  gardening. 
On  October  10,  1870,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Anna  Lanser,  daugh- 
ter of  Nicholas  and  Margaret  Lanser,  and 
to  them  have  been  born  three  children, 
viz. :  Barbara,  now  the  wife  of  John 
Daul,  of  Lu.xemburg,  Wis.;  Nicholas  (I), 
who  died  in  infancy;  and  Nicholas  (II),  at 
home. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Filz  continued 
gardening  until  the  great  Chicago  f:re  in 
1 87 1,  when  he  mo\ed  to  that  cit\-  and 
again  worked  at  carpentering,  there  being 
a  great  demand  for  labor  in  that  and 
other  lines.  He  was  thus  employed  until 
the  autumn  of  1873,  when  he  came  to 
Luxemburg  township,  Kewaunee  Co., 
Wis.,  and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  wild 
land,  upon  which  no  trace  of  improve- 
ment could  be  found,  he  having  to  clear  a 
space  ere  he  could  erect  a  house.  He 
built  a  frame  residence  which  he  con- 
tinued to  make  his  home  until  1883,  and 
during  that  time  he  cleared  and  plowed 
his  farm,  placing  it  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  also  worked  at  carpenter- 
ing to  a  considerable  e.xtent.  His  land, 
which  he  caused  to  3'ield  him  a  good  re- 
turn, he  operated  until  1882,  when  he  pur- 
chased   his  present    home.      Besides    his 


property  in  the  town,  he  owns  160  acres 
of  land,  comprising  a  good  farm  which  is 
operated  under  his  supervision. 

Mr.  Filz  first  engaged  in  merchandis- 
ing as  a  member  of  the  tirtn  of  Dandooven, 
Filz  &  Ley,  which  firm  carried  on  the 
business  until  1885,  when  our  subject 
bought  out  his  partners,  and  has  since 
been  alone  in  the  enterprise  that  now 
occupies  the  greater  part  of  his  time  and 
attention.  In  brief,  since  1882  he  has 
been  engaged  in  merchandising,  in  con- 
ducting a  saloon,  and  in  operating  a 
cheese  factory  in  Luxemburg.  He  has 
filled  several  positions  of  honor  and  trust, 
having  served  as  town  clerk  four  years, 
while  from  1883  until  1893  he  was  post- 
master of  Lu.xemburg,  being  reappointed 
to  that  office  in  1895.  I"  1890  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  for  Ke- 
waunee county,  and  so  ably  did  he  rep- 
resent the  District  that  in  1892  he  was 
re-elected  to  that  office,  in  which  he  served 
in  a  most  creditable  and  acceptable  man- 
ner. Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  Mr.  Filz  is 
one  of  the  prominent  and  representative 
men  of  Kewaunee  county. 


DA\'ID  SEEMANN,  a  steady-going 
and  substantial  famer  of  West 
Kewaunee  township,  Kewaunee 
county,  is  a  native  of  Baden,  Ger- 
many, born  January  i,  1823,  and  is  a  son 
of  Simon  and  Rosina  Seemann.  He  was 
reared  a  farmer,  and  on  the  farm  acquired 
those  habits  of  industry  and  thrift  for 
which  the  German  race  is  noted.  His 
literary  education  was  obtained  at  the 
common  schools. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  came  to 
the  United  States,  and  for  nine  years  fol- 
lowed farming  in  Milwaukee  county. 
Wis. ;  then  came  to  Kewaunee  county, 
settling  on  a  farm  in  West  Kewaunee 
township,  where  he  has  put  his  early 
training  to  good  use,  and  has  secured  for 
himself  and  family  a  competence.  His 
residence    is    neat    and   comfortable;  his 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


6S3., 


farm  is  well  tilled,  and  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  any  of  its  size  in  the  county. 
Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  but  is  no 
partisan  in  the  obnoxious  sense  of  the 
word.  On  June  8,  1846,  he  was  united 
in  marriage,  in  Germany,  to  Magdelain 
Gab,  daughter  of  Adam  and  Catherine 
Gab,  the  latter  of  whom  was  born  Decem- 
ber 2,  1823.  To  the  marriage  of  David 
and  Magdelain  (Gab)  Seemann  have  been 
born  nine  children,  their  names  and  dates 
of  birth  being  as  follows:  Michael,  No- 
vember 8,  1848;  Charles,  March  3,  1850; 
Mary,  August  17,  1852;  Annie,  September 
27,  1854;  Lizzie,  March  14,  1857;  David, 
February  14,  i860;  Theresa,  April  16, 
1862;  Frank,  January  17,  1865,  and 
Maggie,  August  4.  i  S67 — of  whom  all 
survive  except  David,  who  died  March  3, 
1878. 

Mr.  Seemann  began  life  a  poor  man, 
but  he  made  good  use  of  the  lessons  he 
learned  in  his  earlier  days,  and  can  now 
afford  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  ease  and  comfort,  if  he  were  so  dis- 
posed. He  enjoys  the  respect  of  his 
neighbors,  and  is  looked  upon  as  being  of 
that  material  from  which  all  prosperous 
communities  are  built. 


IVI 


OSES  SHAW,  a  well-known  agri- 
culturist of  Ahnapee  township, 
I\ewaunee  county,  is  a  native 
of  same,  born  November  8, 
1 86 1,  on  the  farm  which  is  still  occupied 
by  him  and  his  brothers. 

They  are  sons  of  Capt.  Zebina  and 
Katharine  (O'Brian)  Shaw,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  December  25,  181 5,  at 
Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia,  of  English  extrac- 
tion, the  latter  born  August  15,  1832,  in 
County  Tipperary,  Ireland.  She  set  sail 
for  this  country  in  1850,  accompanied 
by  her  father,  Terrence  O'Brian,  five 
brothers  a:nd  two  sisters,  landing  in  Janu- 
ary, 185 1,  at  New  Orleans,  after  a  voy- 
age of  eight  weeks,  her  father  subse- 
quently settling  at  Memphis,  Tenn.  At 
that  place  Mrs.  Shaw  was  married,  at  her 


father's  house,  to  Capt.  Zebina  Shaw, 
and  then  in  the  spring  of  1851  they  re- 
moved to  Chicago.  From  there  Capt. 
Shaw  commenced  sailing  the  lakes  that 
season,  during  which  time  he  became  in- 
timately acquainted  with  Capt.  Bill  Higgj-, 
Capt.  David  Duhl,  Capt.  Francis,  Capt. 
Sanford  and  others,  of  Racine,  who  in- 
duced him  to  remove  to  that  cit}',  which 
he  did  in  the  fall  of  1851.  From  there 
he  sailed  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Camfield, 
George  Fellows,  Sr. ,  and  David  Youngs, 
at  that  time  of  Racine.  In  the  fall  of 
1855  he  moved  to  Ahnapee  ("then  "known 
as  Wolf  River),  and  from  that  point 
sailed  David  Youngs's  vessel  "Amslie " 
(which  had  been  moved  from  Racine  to 
Ahnapee),  and  here  he  also  did  business 
for  this  Mr.  Youngs,  and  Steele  &  Co. , 
of  Chicago,  in  getting  out  ties,  purchas- 
ing posts,  ties  and  cordwood,  as  well  as 
pier  timbers  and  spiles  for  the  Ahnapee 
pier  which  was  built  thirty-nine  years 
ago.  Later  Capt.  Shaw  moved  to  Silver 
Creek  where  he  superintended  work  for 
Wells  and  Valentine  from  whom  he 
bought  the  farm  whereon  the  family  now 
live,  and  which  at  that  time  was  all  tim- 
ber land.  He  carried  the  first  mail  be- 
tween Ahnapee  and  Two  Rivers.  Capt. 
Shaw  died  of  heart  disease,  January  3, 
1881,  at  White  Fish  Bay,  Door  Co., 
Wis. ,  leaving  behind  a  record  of  a  hard- 
working, honest  man  who  had  always 
been  faithful  to  his  employers  in  ever}' 
respect. 

Capt.  Zebina  Shaw  received  his  literary 
education  at  the  common  schools  of  Nova 
Scotia,  also  attending  high  school  in  order 
to  study  navigation,  and  commenced  sail- 
ing the  Atlantic  Ocean  when  a  lad  of 
fifteen  summers.  He  continued  to  follow 
a  "life  on  the  ocean  wave"  over  twenty 
jears,  during  which  time  he  rose  to  the 
position  of  captain,  and  became  a  skillful 
navigator.  To  his  marriage  with  Miss 
Katharine  O'Brian  were  born  eleven  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  are  now  deceased — 
John,  Joseph  A.,  Harry,  Katie  E. ,  Will- 
iam E. ,  Hattie  Effie,  Nellie  E.  and  James 


6S4 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


— and  three  living — Moses,  George  A.  and 
Frank.  Capt.  Shaw  was  originally  a 
Democrat  in  political  sentiment,  later  be- 
coming a  Republican,  and  he  took  an 
active  interest  in  public  affairs,  holding 
several  local  offices  of  trust.  In  religious 
faith  he  was  a  Baptist.  Moses  Shaw, 
his  father  (grandfather  of  Moses,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch),  was  for  a  number  of 
years  engaged  at  farming  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  ship  building  in  St.  Johns,  New  Bruns- 
wick, but  later,  on  his  removal  to  Kewau- 
nee county.  Wis. ,  became  a  school  teacher 
in  the  town  of  Ahnapee,  where  he  taught 
the  first  term  of  school  in  District  No.  5. 
He  finally  removed  to  Canada,  where  he 
died,  and  where  his  remains  now  rest. 

Moses  Shaw  attended  in  his  boyhood 
and  early  youth  the  common  schools  of 
Ahnapee,  and  was  reared  on  the  home 
place  to  farming,  which  has  been  his 
principal  occupation,  and  with  which  he 
has  become  thoroughly  familiar.  On 
January  5,  1S86,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Frances  Heald,  and  to 
their  union  have  come  three  children,  viz. : 
Zebina  Eugene,  born  January  16,  1888; 
Coleman,  born  January  11,  1890,  and 
Ethel,  born  May  19,  1892.  Mrs.  Shaw 
was  born  March  28,  1867,  at  Claybanks, 
Door  Co.,  Wis.,  daughter  of  Eugene  and 
Agnes  (Hitt)  Heald,  and  is  descended 
from  New  England  stock.  After  his  mar- 
riage Mr.  Shaw  located  at  Clark's  Mills, 
Manitowoc  county,  acting  as  overseer  of 
a  farm  at  that  place  for  one  year,  when 
he  took  up  his  residence  on  the  home 
farm,  and  has  since  lived  here.  In  polit- 
ical faith  he  is  a  Republican. 


RICHARD  P.  CODY.  Many  a  man 
mistakes  his  life  work,  yet  by  earn- 
est application  makes  a  partial  suc- 
cess; but  it  is  only  when  natural 
tact  is  coupled  with  an  ambition  to  suc- 
ceed that  anything  like  eminence  is 
reached  in  any  vocation,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  gentleman  whose  name  is  here  re- 
corded. 


Mr.  Cody  is  a  native  of  Ireland,  born 
August  21,  185  I,  in  the  Province  of  Lein- 
ster,  a  son  of  John  and  Margaret  Cody,  of 
the  same  locality,  and  where  their  ances- 
tors for  many  generations  had  lived.  The 
family  came  to  America  in  November, 
1 85 1,  when  Richard  P.  was  a  three- 
months-old  infant,  and  in  the  following 
May  settled  on  an  eighty-acre  farm  in 
Manitowoc  county  which  the  father  had 
bought,  and  where  his  family  of  three 
sons  and  four  daughters  were  reared.  Our 
subject  received  his  education  in  part  in 
the  common  schools  of  the  neighborhood 
of  his  home  in  Manitowoc  county,  and  in 
part  at  the  State  Normal  School  at  Osh- 
kosh,  Wis.,  after  which  he  taught  school 
five  or  six  years  in  the  county,  building  up 
a  good  reputation  as  a  competent  teach- 
er. Becoming  desirous,  however,  of  tak- 
ing up  the  profession  of  law,  he  com- 
menced its  stud)'  in  the  office  of  H.  G. 
and  W.  J.  Turner,  Manitowoc,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1881,  after  which 
he  at  once  located  in  Sturgeon  Bay, 
where  he  has  since  remained  in  contin- 
uous practice. 

On  June  25,  1888,  Mr.  Cody  was 
united  in  marriage,  in  Oshkosh,  with  Miss 
Sadie  E.  Marsh,  daughter  of  George  L. 
Marsh,  a  highly  respected  citizen  of  that 
city,  and  to  this  union  has  been  born  one 
child,  Irene.  In  his  political  sympathies 
Mr.  Cody  has  always  been  a  stanch  Dem- 
ocrat, but  is  equally  popular  among  both 
parties,  so  much  so  that  he  was  elected, 
by  a  large  majority  of  both  Democrats 
and  Republicans,  to  the  position  of  dis- 
trict attorney  of  Door  county,  and  re- 
elected in  1888;  he  has  filled  the  incum- 
bency with  characteristic  tact  and  ability, 
and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  at 
large.  In  educational  matters  he  has 
ever  taken  a  deep  interest,  and  for  years 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board,  four  years  in  the  capacity  of  pres- 
ident. Mr.  Cody  is  accounted  one  of  the 
most  successful  legal  practitioners  in  Door 
county,  a  hard  worker,  always  having  at 
heart  the    interests   of  his  clients.      He  is 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


685 


regarded  as  a  useful  local  counselor  and 
office  lawyer,  critical  in  adjustment  and 
preparation  of  cases,  and  has  the  reputa- 
tion, by  his  conscientious  advice,  of  sav- 
ing his  clients  long,    expensive   and  use- 


less litigation. 


LOUIS  D.  BRUEMMER,  is  a  native 
of  the  State   of   Wisconsin,    born 
August     15,     1859,    in     Mishicot, 
Manitowoc  county,  and  has  passed 
the  greater   part  of  his  life   in  Ahnapee, 
having  removed  thither  with   his  parents 
in  early  childhood. 

Henry  Bruemmer,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  Mecklenburg,  Germany, 
where  he  was  educated    in  the  common 
schools,  and   when  a   young   man  served 
an  apprenticeship  to  the  milling  business. 
A  short  time  after  completing  his  trade  he 
came  to   the   United    States,  making   his 
first  location  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  where  he 
worked  some  three  years,  thence  remov- 
ing  to   Mishicot,    Manitowoc  Co.,  Wis., 
and  invested  the   money   saved   from    his 
earnings  while  in  New  Jersey  in  a  flouring- 
mill  in  company  with  another  man.     Here 
he  followed  the  business  some  four  or  five 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  sold, 
and    building    the   mill    in    Carlton,    now 
known    as    Tisch    mills,    operated    same 
some  five  years,  when  he  again  sold  and 
purchased  an    interest   in    the    Ahnapee 
Mills,  which   he  still   carries  on,  in   con- 
nection with  our  subject.      This  mill  has 
a  favorable   reputation  for  turning  out   a 
high  grade   of  flour,  and  competes   suc- 
cessfully with  all    first  grade   mills.       In 
connection  with  the  flouring-mill  they  op- 
erate a  saw  and   planing  mill,  doing  quite 
an  extensive   business  in  that  line.    .  Mr. 
Bruemmer  is  an  ardent  Democrat,  taking 
an  active  part  in  all  questions  pertaining 
to  the  welfare  of  his  town  and    county, 
and  has  filled  several  important  offices  in 
his  town,  being  the  present  treasurer.    He 
came  to  the  United  States  a  poor  man; 
but  by  industry   has  placed  himself  in  a 
substantial  position  among  the  successful 

39 


self-made  citizens  of  his  town  and  county. 
Mr.  Bruemmer  married  Louisa  Demzien, 
also  a  native  of  Germany,  and  their  union 
has  been  blessed  with  eleven  children,  all 
of  whom  are  living,  as  follows:  Minnie, 
Mrs.  Henry  Ruhnke,  of  the  town  of  Ahn- 
apee; Louis  D.,  our  subject;  Fred,  of 
Baileys  Harbor,  near  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Wis.;  Herman,  of  Ahnapee  (married); 
Earnest,  at  home;  Caroline,  Mrs.  Henry 
Hancke,  of  Ahnapee;  Amelia,  Mrs.  Henry 
Perlivitz,  of  Ahnapee;  Ida;  Amanda; 
Rudolph,  of  Ahnapee  (married),  and 
Ernestena,  Mrs.  Fred  Wolf,  of  Ahnapee. 
Mr.  Bruemmer,  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

Louis  D.  Bruemmer  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools  of  Ahnapee,  and  was 
reared  from  boyhood  to  the  milling  busi- 
iness,  in  which  he  has  become  an  expert, 
and  he  invented  a  very  useful  wheat 
cleaner  and  heater;  he  is  now  associated 
with  his  father.  He  was  married  May  9, 
1884,  to  Miss  Caroline  Sibilsky,  a  native 
of  Eagle  River,  Mich.,  born  September 
18,  1864,  of  German  descent,  her  parents 
being  natives  of  Rudolstadt,  Germany. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruemmer  have  had  five 
children,  namely:  Clara,  Louisa,  Laura, 
Erma  and  Ella.  Politically  Louis  D. 
Bruemmer  is  a  stanch  Repubhcan,  and 
has  been  honored  by  election  to  the  clerk- 
ship of  his  town.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


ALBERT  HARDTKE,  farmer  of 
West  Kewaunee  township,  Ke- 
waunee county,  was  born  in  Prus- 
sia December  20,  1847,  and  is  a 
son  of  Michael  and  Kathrina  Hardtke. 
When  five  or  six  years  of  age  Albert 
was  brought  to  the  United  States  by  his 
parents,  who  located  in  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
in  1853,  remained  there  about  two  years, 
and  then,  the  father  being  a  farmer,  came 
to  Kewaunee  county,  when  Kewaunee 
city  contained  but  one  store  and  a  few 
frame  dwellings.  Thus  it  occurred  that 
the  boy  Albert  was  really  a  pioneer  of  the 


686 


COMIiTEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


county,  as  he  endured  all  the  hardships 
incident  to  the  lives  of  its  earl^'  settlers. 
He  attended  the  common  schools  of  the 
county  for  two  years,  and  all  his  after 
education  was  comprehended  in  the  labor 
necessary  to  clear  up  the  farm.  But 
this  practical  education  has  been  of.  in- 
calculable use  to  him,  as  it  has  brought 
him  success  in  overcoming  difficulties 
where  others  have  failed.  On  reaching 
his  majority  he  became  a  Democrat,  and 
has  adhered  to  the  doctrines  of  that  party 
ever  since.  About  the  year  1876  he 
united  with  the  German  Lutheran  Church, 
and  is  still  faithful  to  its  discipline  and 
teachings.  His  marriage  to  Mi.ss  Mary 
Redue,  daughter  of  August  and  Augustie 
Redue,  took  place  March  31,  1872,  and 
the  union  has  been  blessed  with  the  birth 
of  eleven  children,  in  the  following  order: 
Charles,  February  22,  1S73;  Emma, 
January  3,  1875;  August,  April  12,  1877; 
Sophia,  April  10,  1879;  Edward,  February 
7,  1 881;  Louisa,  February  14,  1882; 
Daniel,  February  22,  1884;  Lewis,  May 
12,  1886,  Martha,  March  9,  1888;  Theo- 
dore, July  9,  1890,  and  Arthur,  ^farch  19, 
1 894,  all  yet  living  with  the  exception  of 
Emma,  August  and  Edward.  Mr.  Hardtke 
has  been  a  hard-working,  honest  man, 
whose  steady-going  habits  have  won  for 
him  the  respect  of  all  who  know  him. 


GEORGE  PETER  ANDERSEN, 
a  native  of  Schleswig-Holstein, 
Germany,  was  born  August  30, 
1850,  a  son  of  Andreas  P.  Ander- 
sen, of  the  same  place,  who  followed  the 
occupation  of  blacksmithing  and  farming. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Bodil 
Maria  Fyin,  also  a  German,  and  to  her 
and  her  husband  were  born  five  children. 
The  father  died  in  1 893  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  youngest  son 
in  the  family,  received  good  common- 
school  advantages.  At  a  suitable  age  he 
was  apprenticed  to  the  blacksmith  trade, 
which  vocation  he  followed  until  he  was 


twenty-two  )cars  of  age.  In  1872  he 
married  Miss  Katharine  Maria  Peterson, 
who  was  born  in  Denmark  in  1848,  and 
they  have  three  children:  Andreas  P., 
of  Appleton;  Bodil  Maria  and  Katharine 
Maria.  This  marriage,  not  being  har- 
monious, Mr.  Andersen  secured  a  divorce 
in  Germany,  where  they  were  li\ing,  and 
soon  after  emigrated  to  the  United  States. 
He  first  located  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  but 
after  a  short  time  removed  to  \\'ashington 
Island,  Door  Co. ,  same  State,  where  he 
purchased  the  farm  he  now  owns  and 
occupies.  He  has  just  completed  a  neat 
two-story  frame  house,  and  is  otherwise 
well  situated.  While  in  Milwaukee  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Elsie  Olsen,  who 
was  born  in  Denmark,  and  they  have  four 
children  :  Peter,  Clara,  John  and  Henry. 
In  politics  Mr.  Andersen  is  a  Republican, 
and  is  a  well-informed  man  on  the  issues 
of  the  day.  In  religious  faith  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


HERMANN  DETJEN,  superintend- 
ent of  the  Kewaunee  Furniture 
Co.,  was  born  in  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, July  21,  1843.  His  father, 
Henry,  was  born  in  1804,  was  married  to 
Miss  Metha  Meyer,  daughter  of  Paul 
Meyer,  and  came  to  America  in  1871, 
making  his  home  in  Manitowoc,  count}', 
Wis.,  with  his  son  Hermann,  until  his 
death,  having  lost  his  wife  in  the  old 
country. 

Hermann  Detjen  having  finished  his 
schooling,  began  at  the  age  of  si.xteen,  to 
learn  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  mill- 
wright. In  1865  he  came  to  America, 
locating  in  Manitowoc  county.  Wis.,  and 
in  1867  he  bought  a  farm.  This  he  sold 
in  1874,  and  lived  for  two  years  in  Door 
county,  Wis.;  then,  in  1S76,  moved  to 
Ahnapee  village,  Kewaunee  county,  and 
bought  a  planing-mill  and  furniture  fac- 
tory, which  he  conducted,  in  partnership, 
under  the  firm  name  of  H.  Detjen  &  Co., 
until  1 89 1,  when  a  joint-stock  company 
was  formed  under  the  name  of  the  Ahna- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


6S7 


pee  Manufacturing  Co.,  Mr.  Detjen  being 
its  president.  In  1892  the  capital  stock 
was  increased,  and  the  named  changed  to 
the  Ahnapee  Furniture  Co.,  Mr.  Detjen 
becoming  one  of  the  directors.  In  1893 
he  sold  his  interest  in  this  concern,  moved 
to  Kewaunee  city,  and  helped  to  organize 
the  Kewaunee  Furniture  Co.,  he  being 
one  of  the  directors  and  the  superintend- 
ent. In  that  same  year  he  bought  a  farm 
in  Ahnapee  township,  and  in  1894  he 
moved  back  to  Ahnapee,  and  has  since 
lived  on  his  farm. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Detjen  took 
place,  in  1868,  to  Miss  Bertha  L.  E. 
Roduenz,  a  native  of  Germany,  born  in 
1849,  whence  she  was  brought  to  Amer- 
ica when  a  child  by  her  people,  who  died 
in  Wisconsin.  To  this  marriage  have 
been  born  nine  children — six  sons  and 
three  daughters — all  living  under  the  par- 
ental roof.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Detjen  are  sin- 
cere members  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  are  training  up  their  family  in  the 
same  faith.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republi- 
can, has  been  supervisor,  city  treasurer 
and  alderman  of  Ahnapee,  but  much  pre- 
fers his  business  to  politics.  He  has  been 
a  popular  man  in  spite  of  himself,  and 
his  business  reputation  stands  without  a 
blemish.  Since  the  above  sketch  was 
written  Mr.  Detjen  has  sold  his  interest 
in  the  Kewaunee  Furniture  Co.,  to  his 
eldest  son,  Fred,  who  is  now  manager 
and  superintendent  of  that  concern. 


ORRIN     WARNER,    Sr.,    one    of 
Ahnapee's  best-known   and   most 
prominent  citizens,  comes  of  Eng- 
Hsh  ancestry  who  settled   in   New 
England  in  an  early  day,  and  was  born 
Januarj'    17,     1820,    in    Orleans    county. 
New  York. 

Reuben  Warner,  father  of  Orrin,  was 
a  native  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  in 
the  common  schools  of  which  he  received 
his  education,  and  he  was  reared  on  a 
farm.     When  a  young  man  he  was  united 


in  marriage  with  Mary  Pachin,  a  native 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  born  near  the 
source  of  the  Delaware  river,  who  bore 
him  three  children,  as  follows:  Charles 
and  Mary,  deceased,  and  Orrin,  whose 
name  introduces  this  sketch.  A  few 
years  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Warner 
met  with  an  accident  which  caused  his 
death,  and  Mrs.  Warner  subsequently 
married  William  Lee,  to  which  union 
came  two  children,  Charlotte  and  John, 
both  deceased.  Mr.  Lee  died  in  1832, 
and  his  widow  afterward  married  Luke 
Olds,  by  whom  she  had  three  children, 
Charles,  Mary  and  Oscar,  all  now  de- 
ceased. The  mother  died  in  1866  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years,  several  years 
after  the  death  of  Mr.  Olds. 

Orrin  Warner  was  given  a  common- 
school  education,  in  his  native  State,  was 
reared  on  a  farm,  and  in  early  life  was 
engaged  in  lumbering  in  New  York  State. 
When  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  married 
Jane  Bennet,  a  native  of  Seneca  county, 
N.  Y. ,  born  in  1823,  and  to  them  have 
been  born  children  as  follows:  John, 
Simon,  Orrin  (of  Kewaunee),  Harriet 
(Mrs.  Abraham  Hall,  of  the  city  of 
Ahnapee),  and  Charlotte  (Mrs.  Henry 
Dagno,  of  the  city  of  Ahnapee),  living, 
and  Reuben  and  George,  deceased.  After 
his  marriage  Mr.  Warner  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  in  the  State  of  New 
York  for  about  one  year,  and  then 
migrating  westward  to  Lake  county,  111., 
followed  farming  there  some  five  years, 
afterward  coming  to  Wisconsin  and  tak- 
ing a  job  of  lumbering  at  Manitowoc 
which  occupied  him  some  two  years.  At 
the  end  of  that  time,  in  company  with 
Ed.  Trudell  and  John  Hughes,  he  came 
to  Ahnapee,  being  the  Hrst  permanent  set- 
tler in  this  section  of  the  country,  and  the 
nearest  neighbor  was  a  settler  at  what  is 
now  the  city  of  Kewaunee.  After  his 
removal  here  Mr.  Warner  took  up  eighty 
acres  of  land  iipon  which  he  located,  and 
immediately  commenced  removing  the 
timber  and  clearing  the  land  for  farming. 
For   a   time   he    did    cjuite    an    extensive 


6SS 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


business  selling  trees,  cordwood,  posts, 
etc.,  and  since  then  has  followed  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  highly  respected  citizens  of 
Kewaunee  county,  and  one  of  her  pros- 
perous self-made  farmers,  for  all  he  now 
owns  has  been  accumulated  b}'  earnest 
toil  and  years  of  persevering  thrift.  Polit- 
ically'he  is  independent,  and  always  sup- 
ports the  candidate  best  fitted  for  office; 
he  himself  has  filled  many  positions  of 
honor  and  trust  in  his  town,  having  been 
appointed  deputy  sheriff,  an  office  he  held 
eight  years,  served  both  as  town  and 
county  supervisor,  and  has  filled  the 
offices  of  assessor,  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  alderman  in  the  city  of  Ahnapee, 
with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfaction  of 
his  constituents,  his  high  sense  of  duty 
and  sterling  integrity  recommending  him 
to  all  as  a  faithful  and  valuable  servant  of 
the  public. 


NICHOLAS  PEOT,  whose  indus- 
try and  perseverance  and  well 
directed  efforts  have  made  him  a 
successful  farmer  of  Luxemburg 
township,  Kewaunee  county,  was  born  in 
Prussia,  Germany,  August  i6,  1847,  a 
son  of  Nicholas  and  Catherine  (Maas)  Peot. 
His  educational  privileges  were  very 
meagre,  but  his  training  at  farm  labor 
was  without  limit.  At  a  very  early  age,  and 
under  his  father's  instruction,  he  began 
work  in  the  fields,  soon  becoming  familiar 
with  farm  labor  in  all  its  departments. 
^^'hen  he  was  six  months  old  his  parents 
sailed  for  America,  landing  in  New  York, 
whence  they  came  direct  to  W'isconsin. 
In  Washington  county  the  father  pur- 
chased forty  acres  of  timber  land,  and  in 
a  log  cabin,  in  true  pioneer  stj-le,  began 
life  in  the  West.  This  was  the  year  of 
Wisconsin's  admission  to  the  Union,  and 
many  portions  of  the  State,  including 
that  in  which  the  Peot  family  located, 
were  still  in  their  primitive  condition. 
After  ten  years,  during  which  he  made  a 
great  change    in   the   appearance  of  his 


farm,  placing  much  of  it  under  cultiva- 
tion, he  came  to  Kewaunee  county,  set- 
tling in  what  was  then  Casco,  now  Luxem- 
burg township,  purchasing  160  acres  of 
land. 

Our  subject  was  reared  to  manhood 
under  the  parental  roof,  and  to  his  father 
gave  the  benefit  of  his  services  until  his 
marriage,  which  occurred  November  19, 
1872,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Agatha 
Sibylla,  daughter  of  Mathias  and  Agnes 
(Nikolas)  Schneiders.  She  was  born  in 
Scott  township.  Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  Janu- 
ary 18,  1854,  and  was  one  of  eight  chil- 
dren, namely:  Joseph  and  Margaret 
(twins),  Jacob,  Theresa,  Barbara,  Agatha 
S.,  Peter  Joe  and  John.  For  a  year  after 
their  marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peot  resid- 
ed with  his  parents,  and  then  removed  to 
their  present  home,  which  was  built  by 
our  subject  on  a  part  of  his  father's  farm. 
He  now  owns  120  acres  of  land  compris- 
ing the  farm  whereon  he  resides,  and  has 
a  third  interest  in  an  eighty-acre  tract 
elsewhere.  With  the  exception  of  ten 
acres  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
house,  the  farm  was  uncleared;  but  with 
his  axe  on  his  shoulder  he  started  out  each 
morning,  and  soon  under  his  swinging 
blows  the  trees  of  the  forest  fell  one  by 
one,  and  the  land  was  made  ready  for 
the  plow.  Crops  were  planted,  and  after 
kindly  Nature  had  matured  the  grain 
abundant  harvests  were  garnered,  and  a 
good  income  derived  therefrom. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peot  have  had  children 
as  follows:  Catherine,  Barbara,  John, 
Agnes,  Angeline,  Peter,  Nicholas,  Lena, 
Sibylla,  Lorenz,  Theresa  (who  died  in  in- 
fancy), Michael  and  Edward.  The  family 
are  all  members  of  St.  Mary's  Catholic 
Church,  and  have  many  friends  and 
acquaintances  in  this  community.  Mr. 
Peot  votes  with  the  Democratic  party, 
but'has  never  entered  the  political  arena 
as  a  contestant  for  office,  although  he 
faithfully  discharges  his  duties  of  citizen- 
ship. His  life  has  been  an  honorable  and 
upright  one,  and  though  quietly  passed 
has  gained  him  the  confidence  and  regard 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


689 


of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in 
contact,  and  has  secured  for  him  a  well- 
merited  competence, 


JOSEPH  SVOBODA,  wood  carver 
and  dealer  in  furniture  and  wall 
paper,  Kewaunee,  was  born  in  Bo- 
hemia March  3,  1859.  His  father, 
John  Svoboda,  was  born  in  1833,  was  a 
cloth  weaver,  and  a  jeweler  to  some  ex- 
tent, and  the  grandfather,  Emmanuel, 
was  also  a  cloth  weaver.  John  Svoboda 
was  married  in  1857  to  Anna  Krcil,  who 
became  the  mother  of  eight  children,  of 
whom  two  sons  and  two  daughters  died 
in  Bohemia,  leaving  one  son  and  three 
daughters  as  survivors. 

Of  these,  Joseph  Svoboda  came  to 
America  in  1879,  locating  in  Carlton, 
Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.,  and  for  three  years 
worked  at  carpentering,  which  he  had 
learned  in  the  old  country.  He  then 
bought  a  farm  in  Carlton,  in  the  mean- 
time sending  money  to  Bohemia  to  aid 
his  father,  mother  and  sisters  in  reaching 
Carlton,  and  subsequently,  in  1886, 
brought  over  his  foster  brother.  The 
mother  died  in  Carlton  in  June,  1891,  and 
the  father  in  May,  1893.  Mr.  Svoboda 
carried  on  farming  for  seven  years,  al- 
though he  worked  at  his  trade  at  the  same 
time.  In  the  spring  of  1891  he  rented 
his  farm,  located  in  the  city  of  Kewaunee, 
and  started  his  present  business,  making 
a  specialty  of  artistic  church  furniture  and 
fine  wood  carving.  He  has  achieved  a 
high  reputation,  having  made  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  altar  furniture  in  the  State, 
drawing  his  own  designs  and  making  his 
own  patterns.  This  industry  enables  him 
to  employ  steadily  three  assistants.  He 
had  acquired  a  high  and  chaste  idea  of 
his  art  by  working  in  different  cities  in 
Austria  and  Turkey  before  coming  to 
America,  although  his  education  had  been 
confined  to  the  common  schools,  and  this 
privilege  had  not  been  attained  until  after 
reaching  his  twelfth  year. 


Mr.  Svoboda  was  married  in  May, 
1 88 1,  to  Miss  Anna  Langer,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Langer,  a  pioneer  of  Kewaunee 
county,  and  this  imion  has  been  blessed 
with  six  children,  viz. :  Antone,  Katy, 
Anna,  Bohomila  (who  died  in  infancy), 
Joseph  and  Emily.  In  politics,  Mr. 
Svoboda  is  a  Democrat,  but  is  not  vio- 
lently partisan,  contenting  himself  with 
the  exercise  of  his  franchise  as  an  Amer- 
ican citizen.  He  and  wife  are  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church. 


LEVI  BARABOO,  proprietor  of  the 
"  Leplant  House,"  in  Egg  Har- 
bor, Door  county,  was  born  June 
i6,  1841,  in  Upper  Canada,  third 
son  of  Andrew  Baraboo,  a  native  of  the 
same  country.  Andrew  Baraboo  was 
twice  married,  and  by  his  second  wife 
had  six  children — four  sons  and  two 
daughters — of  whom  our  subject  was  the 
fifth  in  the  order  of  birth.  The  father 
died  when  Levi  was  but  twelve  years  old, 
the  mother  a  few  years  later,  thus  leav- 
ing the  lad  obliged  to  support  himself  at 
an  early  age. 

For  a  short  time  after  his  father's 
death  Levi  Baraboo  lived  with  his  eldest 
sister,  who  was  married,  and  at  the  age 
of  thirteen  began  to  work  in  a  brickyard, 
being  employed  four  summers  by  the 
same  man,  during  the  winter  season  living 
with  an  uncle,  who  was  a  tavern-keeper. 
By  this  time  he  was  old  enough  to  work 
at  lumbering,  an  occupation  he  followed 
until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.  In  the  fall  of  1865  he  went  to 
Crown  Point,  N.  Y.,  near  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  place 
he  found  employment  cutting  cordwood, 
and  here  he  was  married,  in  1S67,  to  Miss 
Mary  Minor,  also  a  Canadian  by  birth. 
After  his  marriage  he  continued  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Lake  Champlain  about  a 
year,  working  in  a  tannery,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Door  county.  Wis.,  where  his 
father-in-law  and  two  of  his  brothers  had 


690 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


already  located.  In  Section  29,  Egg  Har- 
bor township,  he  bought  forty  acres  of 
timberland,  for  which  he  paid  $336,  cash, 
and  taking  up  his  residence  in  the  small 
log  house  which  stood  thereon  set  himself 
to  work  to  clear  the  ground  for  agricul- 
tural purposes.  He  lived  there  until 
1884,  in  which  year  he  bought  a  lot  in 
the  village  of  Egg  Harbor,  on  which  he 
erected  a  building,  and  in  partnership 
with  his  brother  Louis  opened  a  butcher 
shop,  afterward  buying  out  his  brother's 
interest  and  carrying  on  a  grocery.  In 
1 889  he  embarked  in  the  hotel  and  saloon 
business,  in  which  he  has  since  continued, 
conducting  the  "  Leplant  House,  "  which 
was  established  a  number  of  years  ago. 
Mr.  Baraboo  still  retains  his  farm  prop- 
erty, owning  eighty  acres,  forty  of  which 
he  has  cleared,  and  by  hard  work  has 
succeeded  in  putting  it  in  a  good  state  of 
cultivation.  He  is  a  self-made  man  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  having  built 
up  his  own  fortune  from  a  start  of  noth- 
ing except  industry  and  perseverance,  and 
he  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  substantial 
well-to-do  citizens  of  that  section.  Giv- 
ing his  whole  time  and  attention  to  his 
business  interests,  he  takes  no  active  part 
in  politics  beyond  casting  his  vote  as  a 
stanch  supporter  of  the  Republican  party. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baraboo  have  had  chil- 
dren as  follows:  Delia,  Mrs.  Charles  La- 
Rush,  of  Egg  Harbor;  Mary,  Mrs.  Thomas 
Carmody,  of  Egg  Harbor;  Victoria,  Mrs. 
John  Bunda,  of  Sister  Bay,  Wis. ;  Elda, 
Theodore  and  Albert,  at  home;  and  two 
daughters  who  died  young.  In  religious 
faith  the  family  are  Catholics. 


JOHN  MILLIDGEwas  born  June  26, 
1836,  in  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  the 
oldest  town  north  of  St.  Augustine, 
Fla. ,  it  having  been  founded  in  1604. 
It  also  has  the  greatest  tide  in  the  world, 
the  water  rising  to  a  j^erpendicular  height 
of  seventy  feet. 

Our  subject  is  descended  from  one  of 
the  oldest  families  of  the  United  States, 


his  ancestors  having  come  from  England 
to  America  with  Gen.  Oglethorpe  in  1 733, 
and  the  ancestry  can  be  traced  back 
several  generations.  He  is  a  great-grand- 
son of  Thomas  Millidge,  and  one  of  his 
relatives  was  a  Senator  and  the  Governor 
of  the  State  of  Georgia.  The  family  has 
been  a  noted  one,  and  has  furnished  many 
men  of  prominence  to  various  professions. 
The  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  John 
Millidge,  and  his  parents  were  George  S. 
and  Margaret  (Snuden)  Millidge.  The 
father  was  a  highly  educated  man,  a  fine 
lawyer,  and  received  the  appointment  of 
judge  of  a  certain  court  from  the  Crown. 
He  amassed  quite  a  fortune,  having  a 
very  large  law  practice,  and  also  owning 
landed  interests  which  yielded  to  him  a 
handsome  income.  His  children,  ten  in 
number,  were  as  follows  :  John,  Mar)', 
George,  Thomas,  Augustus,  Charles,  El- 
mer, James,  Fannie  and  Bessie  ;  two  of 
the  sisters  are  yet  living. 

John  Millidge  was  baptized  b}-  the 
well-known  Bishop  Ingalls.  He  remained 
at  home  until  fifteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  went  to  sea  on  the  vessel  "Sir  John 
Bannerman,  "  his  first  trip  being  to  Liver- 
pool, England,  after  which  he  returned 
and  then  entered  upon  a  sea-faring  career 
which  was  full  of  thrilling  experiences  and 
adventures.  He  sailed  for  about  five 
years  on  the  ocean,  then  went  to  New 
Orleans,  came  up  the  Mississippi  river 
and  made  his  way  to  Chicago.  He  then 
followed  the  lakes,  being  most  of  the 
time  emplo}ed  on  sailing  vessels,  and  has 
filled  every  position  from  that  of  cook  to 
captain.  Continuing  on  the  lakes  until 
1886,  he  then  entered  the  lighthouse 
service,  and  was  appointed  by  Collector 
Watson  of  Grand  Haven  to  a  position  in 
that  District.  Having  successfully  passed 
the  examination  he  was  made  acting 
assistant,  then  permanent  assistant,  then 
acting  keeper  and  finall)'  permanent 
keeper.  His  first  appointment  was  in 
Petit  Point  au  Sauble,  which  is,  in 
English,  "Little  Sandy  Point,"  and 
there  he   remained   two  years,  when  he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


691 


was  transferred  to  Baileys  Harbor,  where 
he  has  since  served. 

On  December  14,  icS63,  Mr.  Millidge 
married  Miss  Margaret  Cooney,  daughter 
of  John  and  Margaret  (Maney)  Cooney, 
whose  family  numbered  seven  children — 
Bridget,  Michael,  Dennis,  Alice,  William, 
Margaret  and  John.  Mrs.  Millidge  was 
born  in  Carboniere,  Newfoundland,  Sep- 
tember 5,  1846,  is  a  cousin  of  Archbishop 
Feehan,  of  Chicago,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  To  our 
subject  and  his  wife  came  six  children — 
George  B.,  born  November  3,  1864, 
and  died  November  27,  1866;  Alice, 
born  December  3,  1867  ;  Elizabeth,  born 
November  8,  1868,  and  died  December 
I,  1887;  Margaret  R. ,  born  June  16, 
1883.  and  died  February  16,  1884  ;  John, 
born  December  5,  1885  ;  and  Ruth,  born 
December  29,  1888.  In  his  political 
views  Mr.  Millidge  is  a  Democrat,  having 
supported  that  party  since  becoming  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States.  His  life 
has  been  well  and  worthily  passed,  and 
in  public  and  private  life  he  is  ever  true 
and  faithful  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him. 


JOHN  HARMANN  was  born  August 
I,  1847,  in  Prussia,  Germany, 
where  he  received  a  good  education 
in  the  common  schools.  In  his  na- 
tive country  he  remained  up  to  the  age  of 
twenty  years,  at  which  time  he  came  to 
the  United  States,  and  has  since  had  his 
home  in  Kewaunee  county,  being  one  of 
the  well-to-do  agriculturists  of  Ahnapee 
township. 

Daniel  Harmann,  his  father,  was  born 
in  Prussia  in  1812,  received  a  common- 
school  education,  and  worked  as  a  laborer 
until  1867,  when  he  came  to  the  United 
States.  He  was  married  in  Germany  to 
Louisa  Gaulke,  also  a  native  of  that 
country,  born  in  18 19,  and  they  became 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  two  of 
whom,  John  and  August,  both  of  Ahnapee, 
Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.,  are  living;  the 
others  are  deceased.     After  coming  to  the 


United  States  Mr.  Harmann  located  in 
the  village  of  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  remained  one  year,  and  then, 
purchasing  the  farm  our  subject  now 
owns  and  occupies,  engaged  in  cutting 
away  the  timber,  and  commenced  the 
task  of  clearing  the  land  for  farming,  an 
occupation  he  followed  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1890;  his  wife  passed 
from  earth  one  year  previous.  They 
were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Mr.  Harmann  came  to  the  United  States 
a  poor  man,  but  at  the  time  of  his  death 
was  in  prosperous  circumstances,  brought 
about  by  his  own  industry  and  persever- 
ing toil. 

John  Harmann  has  been  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  ever  since  his  settle- 
ment here,  and  now  owns  the  home  farm, 
a  fertile  tract  of  120  acres,  which  is  well- 
improved  and  equipped  with  good  build- 
ings. Politically  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  in 
religious  faith  he  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  with  which  he  has 
been  connected  some  twenty-seven  jears, 
and  is  one  of  the  leaders  in  Church  work. 
Mr.  Harmann's  marriage  to  Augusta 
Kasten  took  place  August  29,  1871,  and 
five  children  have  been  born  to  them, 
viz. :  Minnie,  Mrs.  Albert  Maganburg, 
of  Ahnapee;  William,  of  Ahnapee;  Fred, 
John  and  Rosa.  The  mother  of  these 
died  March  20,  1882,  at  the  age  of 
thirtjr-two,  and  August  3,  1883,  Mr. 
Harmann  was  again  married,  this  time  to 
Henriette  Schutz,  who  bore  him  two 
children.  Earnest  and  August;  Mrs.  Har- 
mann died  May  3,  1886,  aged  thirty-two 
years. 


JF.  C.  KUEHL,  furniture  dealer  and 
manufacturer,  of  Kewaunee,  is  a 
native  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 
Germany,  born  August  30,  1845. 
His  father,  Fred  Kuehl,  born  in  the  same 
town,  was  a  shepherd,  and  his  mother, 
the  daughter  of  a  linen  wea\er,  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Maria  Stuebe.  They 
were  the  parents  of  three   sons    and   two 


692 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


daughters,  and  both  died  in  Germany — 
the  father  in  1852,  the  mother  in    1864. 

J.  F.  C.  Kuehl,  who  is  the  youngest 
in  the  familj',  was  a  common  laborer  in 
the  old  country,  but  acquired  a  fair  com- 
mon-school education,  and  after  coming 
to  America,  in  1867,  and  settling  in  Ke- 
waunee village,  he  studied  English  for 
three  months  under  a  private  teacher. 
His  first  work  here  was  in  a  sawmill,  in 
which  he  remained  three  Nears,  becoming 
head  sawyer.  He  then  learned  the  car- 
penter's trade,  at  which  he  worked  until 
1885,  at  which  time  he  opened  a  furniture 
store.  He  manufactures  much  of  his  own 
furniture  in  his  own  place,  and  has,  be- 
side, an  interest  in  the  Kewaunee  Furni- 
ture Company,  as  well  as  an  interest  in 
the  Kewaunee  Printing  Company.  On 
September  20,  1894,  in  company  with  his 
son  Frank,  he  started  another  furniture 
store  in  De  Pere,  Wis.,  under  the  name 
of  Kuehl  &  Son,  Frank  being  manager  of 
same.  In  addition  to  all  these  interests, 
our  subject  deals  to  some  e.xtent  in  real 
estate,  being  one  of  five  gentlemen  who 
laid  out  an  addition  to  Kewaunee  called 
"  Pautz  Addition."  He  is  entirely  a  self- 
made  man,  having  landed  in  America 
with  no  capital  save  good  health  and  will- 
ing hands,  and  is  now  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  substantial  men  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Kuehl  was  first  married  in  Ger- 
many, September  26,  1S67,  and  started 
ne.xt  day  for  America  with  his  bride,  Dora 
Krohn.  This  lady's  father  was  a  farmer, 
who  for  his  second  wife  married  a  Miss 
Schneman,  who  became  the  mother  of 
Mrs.  Kuehl  and  another  child,  but  both 
parents  died  the  same  day  while  Mrs. 
Kuehl  was  still  very  young.  Mrs.  Dora 
Kuehl  bore  her  husband  four  sons  and  two 
daughters,  and  died  April  11,  1890.  On 
May  28,  1891,  Mr.  Kuehl  married  Bertha 
Stuebs,  also  a  native  of  Germany,  but 
brought  to  America  at  the  age  of  one 
year.  Her  father,  August  Stuebs,  is  now 
a  resident  of  West  Kewaunee;  her  mother 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Amalia  Steffens, 
and   is  the   eldest  in   a  family  of  twelve 


children.  To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kuehl  has  been  born  one  son, 
Erhard. 

In  politics  Mr.  Kuehl  is  a  Democrat, 
was  one  of  the  first  aldermen  when  Ke- 
waunee was  organized  as  a  city,  and  held 
the  office  three  terms;  he  is  at  present 
supervisor  of  his  ward,  and  fills  the  posi- 
tion with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  his  fellow  citizens,  in  whose 
esteem  he  holds  a  very  high  place.  In 
1894  he  was  appointed  a  candidate  for 
Member  of  Assembly  of  Wisconsin  on  the 
Independent  or  Individual  Nomination 
ticket,  but  ran  about  160  votes  short  of 
Jacob  Rodrian,  his  opponent. 


M 


ATHIAS  REINHART.  a  worthy 
representative  of  the  business 
interests  of  Ahnapee,  was  born 
in  Faha,  Kreis  Saarburg,  near 
Trier,  Germany,  August  14.  1840,  and 
comes  of  a  family  that  originally  located 
in  France,  where  the  name  was  spelled 
Reinard.  The  father  of  our  subject, 
Johann  Reinhart,  was  born  in  the  same 
locality  as  Mathias,  and  became  a  miller 
by  trade.  In  Faha  he  followed  that 
business,  and  his  death  occurred  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two  years.  His  wife,  who 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Elizabeth 
Mertens,  was  born  in  Ail,  Kreis  Saarburg, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  forty  years,  leaving 
seven  sons — Peter,  John,  Mathias,  Jacob, 
Nicholas,  Michael  and  Franz. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  our  subject  was 
left  an  orphan,  his  parents  both  dying  in 
the  same  year.  The  eldest  brother, 
Peter,  having  married,  became  the  head  of 
the  family,  and  with  him  Mathias  learned 
the  trade  of  shoe  making,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when 
he  entered  the  German  army,  serving 
therein  three  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  period  he  was  honorably  discharged, 
and  he  then  married  Magdalena  Mel- 
chior  (a  sister  of  M.  Melchior,  postmaster 
at  Ahnapee),  and  settled  in  the  little  vil- 
lage of  Schwemlingen,  Kreis  Merzig,  Ger- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


693 


many,  where  his  wife's  people  resided. 
There  he  worked  at  liis  trade  until  1 866, 
when  the  war  broke  out  between  Prussia 
and  Austria  and  he  was  called  into  the 
army  service  as  a  reserve.  A  month  later 
he  obtained  a  six-days'  furlough,  but 
instead  of  returning  he  extended  his  leave 
of  absence  and  made  his  way  to  America, 
landing  in  New  York  on  the  evening  of 
July  3,  1866.  The  following  day,  "The 
Fourth,"  was  celebrated,  and  made  quite 
an  impression  upon  Mr.  Reinhart,  who 
thought  this  a  wonderful  country.  By 
steamer  he  journeyed  to  Ahnapee,  where 
he  soon  obtained  employment  in  his 
brother-in-law's  shoe  shop,  and  there 
worked  steadily.  His  wife  arrived  four 
months  later,  accompanied  by  her  parents 
and  brother  Michael.  In  1869  our  sub- 
ject took  charge  of  the  boot  and  shoe 
store  owned  by  Mathias  Melchior,  and, 
becoming  proprietor,  successfully  con- 
ducted the  same  until  February  5,  1894, 
when  he  gave  it  over  to  the  charge  of  his 
sons.  In  connection  with  the  boot 
and  shoe  business  he  also  dealt  in  sewing 
machines,  and  along  both  lines  did  a 
large  and  prosperous  business,  accumu- 
lating thereby  a  modest  fortune.  When 
he  embarked  at  Havre,  France,  for 
America,  he  had  but  one  cent  left,  which 
he  flung  into  the  ocean  as  an  offering  to 
"Dame  Fortune,"  and  she  has  smiled 
upon  him  since.  He  was  interested  in 
the  establishment  of  the  factories  at 
Ahnapee,  has  supported  all  of  those  enter- 
prises which  are  calculated  to  benefit  the 
town,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  a  hand- 
some home  and  considerable  valuable 
real  estate  in  that  place. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reinhart  were  born 
the  following  children  :  Anna  (wife  of 
William  Barnhart,  a  harness  dealer  of 
Sturgeon  Bay)  ;  Mathias  ;  Kate  (wife  of 
Frank  Witzpaleck,  a  teacher)  ;  George, 
Mary,  Lena,  Sophia,  Frank,  two  deceased, 
Michael  and  Leona.  The  children  have 
been  highly  educated  in  music,  and  Kate 
was  for  five  years  the  organist  of  St. 
Mary's  Church,  while  Mathias  and  George 


are  both  good  musicians,  the  former  hav- 
ing a  fine  baritone  voice,  while  the  latter 
is  leader  of  the  Ahnapee  Silver  Cornet 
Band.  In  politics  Mr.  Reinhart  has 
always  been  a  Democrat  ;  served  as  a 
delegate  to  the  State  convention  in  1890, 
and  has  held  a  number  of  city  offices, 
discharging  the  duties  connected  there- 
with in  a  creditable  and  acceptable  man- 
ner. He  has  been  very  successful  in  this 
country,  and  is  a  leading  and  influential 
citizen  of  Ahnapee. 


BARTHOLOMEW  DRURY  claims 
New  York  as  the  State  of  his 
nativity,  having  been  born  in 
Erie  county  March  17,  1855.  His 
father,  Michael  Drury,  was  a  native  of  the 
Emerald  Isle,  whence  he  emigrated  to  the 
United  States.  In  Ireland  he  had  mar- 
ried Catherine  Meigh,  also  a  native  of 
that  country,  and  three  children  were 
there  born  to  them,  the  rest  in  the  United 
States.  A  brief  record  of  their  family  is 
as  follows:  Thomas  is  now  living  in  Lux- 
emburg township,  Kewaunee  county; 
Bridget  is  the  wife  of  John  McCalvy,  of 
Lincoln  township,  Kewaunee  county; 
Mary,  wife  of  John  C.  Burke,  resides  in 
Casco  township,  Kewaunee  county;  Peter 
has  his  home  in  Ingalls,  Mich. ;  Bartholo- 
mew is  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Michael 
lives  in  Casco  township;  Maggie  is  de- 
ceased. The  parents,  who  were  both 
consistent  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  died  when  our  subject  was  quite 
young.  The  father  for  the  most  part  was 
engaged  in  railroad  work. 

Bartholomew  Drury  was  only  five 
years  of  age,  when,  with  the  family,  he 
became  a  resident  of  Casco  township, 
Kewaunee  county.  He  received  his  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools  of  Ahnapee 
township,  and  remained  upon  the  home 
farm  until  after  the  death  of  his  parents, 
when  he  went  into  the  lumber  regions  and 
followed  lumbering  some  nine  years.  He 
then  returned  to  Casco  township,  locating 
upon  the  farm  which  has  since  been  his 


694 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


home,  and  which  was  formerly  owned  by 
his  father.  He  has  since  devoted  his 
time  and  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  is  accounted  one  of  the  leading  farm- 
ers of  the  community,  a  fact  well  evi- 
denced b\'  the  neat  and  thrifty  appear- 
ance of  the  place,  its  good  buildings  and 
other  substantial  improvements. 

On  October  27,  1889,  Mr.  Drury  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Alice  Jalle}', 
daughter  of  William  and  Annie  (Dunn) 
Jalley  (who  were  of  English  extraction), 
and  a  native  of  Wausau,  Marathon  Co., 
Wis.,  born  April  30,  1862.  To  this  union 
have  been  born  five  children — Annie, 
Frank,  Ellen,  Mary  and  Alice — and  the 
father,  who  is  a  warm  friend  of  education, 
means  that  they  shall  be  provided  with 
good  school  privileges,  thus  fitting  them 
for  the  practical  and  responsible  duties  of 
life.  Mr.  Drury  belongs  to  the  Catholic 
■Church,  and  exercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic 
party,  but  has  never  been  an  aspirant  for 
political  honors,  preferring  to  give  his 
time  and  attention  to  his  business  inter- 
ests, in  which  he  has  met  with  good 
success. 


JOSEPH  E.  BUBNHv,  merchant 
tailor,  Kewaunee,  is  a  native  of  Bo- 
hemia, born  August  27,  1862.  His 
father,  Emanuel  Bubnik,  was  born 
in  the  same  country  in  1838,  was  mar- 
ried in  1859,  and  came  to  America  in 
1867,  settling  in  Kewaunee,  Wis.,  and 
working  at  his  trade  of  tailor. 

To  the  age  of  sixteen  Joseph  E.  at- 
tended the  schools  of  Kewaunee,  and  then 
worked  a  year  for  his  father,  learning  the 
tailoring  trade,  after  which  for  three  and 
a  half  \ears  he  worked  in  Chicago,  where 
he  also  learned  cutting.  In  1883  he  re- 
turned to  Kewaunee  and  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  his  father,  putting  in  a  fine 
stock  of  ready-made  clothing,  and  also 
following  the  merchant-tailoring  business. 
In  1887  the  partnership  was  dissolved, 
Joseph  E.  continuing  on  his  own  account; 


he  now  carries  one  of  the  largest  and  best 
selected  stocks  in  the  city,  and  is  doing  a 
most  prosperous  trade.  He  has  been 
twice  married,  first  time  to  Polly  Urbanck, 
but  secured  a  divorce  from  her,  and  in 
August,  1890,  he  married  Anna  Drab, 
who  has  borne  him  two  children,  both  of 
whom  are  now  deceased.  Mr.  Bubnik  is 
a  Republican  in  his  political  affiliations, 
but  is  conservative  and  votes  for  whom  he 
considers  the  best  man.  He  is  himself 
quite  popular,  has  served  two  years  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  has  also  held 
several  minor  offices.  He  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Kewaunee  Fire  Depart- 
ment, also  of  the  Bohemian  Turners 
Society,  and  has  won  for  himself  a  high 
reputation  as  a  business  man  and  as  a 
citizen. 


J 


OHN  L.  HANEY.  the  well-known 
dealer  in  agricultural  implements  at 
Kewaunee,  was  born  August  6.  1857, 
in  the  city  of  Batavia,  Genesee  Co., 
N.  Y.,  and  was  two  years  of  age  when 
brought  West  by  his  father,  who  located 
in  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  for  about  six  months, 
and  then  removed  to  Montpelier,  Kewau- 
nee county,  where  he  settled  on  a  farm. 
Here  our  subject  was  reared  until 
seventeen  years  of  age,  assisting  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  land  in  the  summer  and 
attending  the  district  school  during  the 
winter  season.  He  then  entered  the  busi- 
ness college  at  Green  Ba)',  remaining 
two  terms,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
commenced  teaching  school  in  the  town- 
ship in  which  he  had  his  home.  In  i  879 
he  located  in  Kewaunee,  where  he  form- 
ed a  partnership  with  his  brother,  M.  C. 
Haney,  opening  a  depot  for  the  sale  of 
farm  implements.  In  1881  this  firm 
established  a  branch  at  Ahnapee,  of  which 
the  brother  took  the  superintendency.  In 
1883  thej-  opened  a  third  store  or  depot, 
which  was  established  at  Sturgeon  Bay, 
and  all  three  are  conducted  under  the 
firm  name  of  Haney  Brothers.  Mr.  Haney 
has  always  taken   an   active  part  in  any 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


695 


enterprise  tending  to  the  advancement  of 
the  interests  of  I\e\vaunee.  The  firm  are 
also  interested  in  the  Ahnapee  Veneer  and 
Seating  Company  at  Ahnapee,  and  are  in 
the  lumber  and  plaster  business  of  Haney 
Bros.  &  Erichson. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O. 
O.  F. ,  K.  of  P.,  and  Royal  Arcanum,  in 
which  latter  order  he  has  passed  all  the 
chairs.  He  has  been  a  great  traveler  in 
his  day,  having  visited  nearly  every  part 
of  the  United  States,  including  two  trips 
to  California.  On  February  27,  1889,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Laura  A.  Grimmer, 
daughter  of  George  Grimmer,  and  his 
home  has  been  made  the  more  happy  by 
the  birth,  September  i,  1891,  of  one 
child,  Olga  B. 


WILLIAM  HAG  ARTY  was  born 
in  Sheboygan  county.  Wis., 
October  16,  1857,  and  is  a  son 
of  Andrew  and  Ellen  (Ennes) 
Hagarty,  natives  of  Ireland.  In  that 
country  they  were  married,  and  became 
the  parents  of  two  children,  with  whom, 
in  1847,  they  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  the 
New  World,  sailing  from  Dublin,  li-eland, 
to  New  York  City,  where  they  arrived 
after  a  long  and  tedious  voyage. 

Locating  in  Washington  county,  N. 
Y.,  the  father  there  worked  as  a  day 
laborer  on  farms,  and  was  thus  employed 
for  about  eight  years,  after  which  he 
came  to  Sheboygan  county.  Wis. ,  and 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land.  [While 
en  route  a  fire  destroyed  everything  they 
possessed  except  the  clothing  they  wore.] 
Bears  and  wolves  were  still  seen  in  the 
neighborhood,  deer  and  other  wild  game 
furnished  the  table  with  meat,  and  the 
entire  locality  was  still  in  its  primitive 
condition.  Mr.  Hagarty  built  a  log  cabin 
16x16  feet,  and  at  once  began  to  clear 
his  land,  the  greater  part  of  which  he 
had  placed  under  cultivation,  when,  in 
1 86 1,  he  sold  out,  preparatory  to  mov- 
ing to  Luxemburg  township,  Kewaunee 
county.      Here  he  secured  eighty  acres  of 


land,  now  a  part  of  the  farm  belonging  to 
our  subject,  but  at  that  time  only  a  half 
acre  had  been  cleared  The  family 
traveled  in  a  wagon  covered  with  sheet- 
ing and  drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  as 
there  were  no  roads  they  frequently 
had  to  cut  their  way  through  the  forest. 
In  the  family  were  eight  children — James, 
Margaret,  Julia,  Mary,  Helen,  Matthew, 
William  and  George.  They  moved  into 
a  small  shanty  which  had  already  been 
built,  and  this  continued  to  be  their  home 
for  three  years,  during  which  time  the 
father  and  children  made  considerable 
headway  in  clearing  the  farm.  In  the 
spring  they  sowed  three  bushels  of  wheat 
and  some  potatoes,  and  in  the  fall  har- 
vested the  former  crop  with  a  sickle, 
threshing  it  with  a  flail. 

On  account  of  the  limited  circum- 
stances of  the  parents,  the  children  began 
work  early,  and  at  the  tender  age  of 
eight  William  Hagarty  began  aiding  in 
the  labors  of  the  farm.  They  did  their 
trading  and  marketing  in  Kewaunee,  and 
the  father  at  one  time  carried  a  100-pound 
barrel  of  flour  on  his  back  for  three  miles, 
stopping  to  rest  but  once  in  all  that  dis- 
tance. Some  time  afterward  he  pur- 
chased an  additional  tract  of  land  of  160 
acres,  and  continued  to  operate  the  old 
homestead  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1 88 1,  when  he  was  aged  sixty-three 
years,  caused  by  a  fall  from  the  barn. 
His  wife  preceded  him  to  her  final  rest 
by  two  years.  At  this  time,  most  of  the 
children  had  gone  to  homes  of  their  own, 
and  our  subject  and  his  brother  George 
took  charge  of  the  old  farm,  which  after 
three  years  was  divided,  and  the  interest 
of  the  other  heirs  was  purchased  by  Will- 
iam, who  now  owns  180  acres  of  valuable 
land  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
and  improved  with  all  the  accessories  and 
conveniences  of  a  model  farm.  His  life 
has  been  a  busy  one — a  season  of  hard 
labor — and  the  experiences  and  trials  of 
frontier  life  are  all  familiar  to  him. 

On  September  29,   1886,  Mr.  Hagarty 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Gather- 


696 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPUICAL   RECORD. 


ine  Burke,  and  their  union  has  been  bless- 
ed with  three  children:  Helen,  born  in 
1888;  Viola,  born  in  1 890;  and  Raymond, 
born  in  1892.  The  parents  hold  member- 
ship with  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in  his 
political  views  Mr.  Hagarty  is  a  Demo- 
crat. 


JOHN  CHRISTIANSON,  a  well- 
known  prosperous  farmer  of  Stur- 
geon Bay  township.  Door  county, 
settled  here  in  1879,  and  has  since 
been  actively  identified  with  the  farming 
interests  of  the  section.  Mr.  Christian- 
son  is  a  native  of  Norway,  born  in  1830 
near  Drammen,  son  of  Christian  and 
Gunnell  (Hanson)  Johnson,  farming  peo- 
ple of  that  country,  where  they  both 
died,  the  former  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven 
years,  the  latter  at  the  age  of  forty-nine. 
They  reared  a  family  of  six  children,  of 
whom  five  are  now  living,  namely:  Hans 
and  Maren,  in  Norway;  John,  our  subject; 
Andrena,in  Norway;  and  Nels,  in  Chicago. 
The  subject  of  these  lines  was  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  Norway,  and  early 
in  life  commenced  sailing  on  the  Atlantic, 
afterward  visiting  various  ports  in  South 
America,  the  East  Indies  and  many  other 
places.  In  1871  he  embarked  on  a  vessel 
bound  for  New  York,  shortly  afterward 
coming  to  Manitowoc,  Wis.,  where  he  re- 
mained for  eight  years,  working  as  ship 
carpenter.  In  1879  he  came  to  Sturgeon 
Bay  township.  Door  county,  here  pur- 
chased land,  and  has  since  been  success- 
fully engaged  in  farming,  now  owning  lOO 
acres  of  good  land,  forty  acres  lying 
within  the  corporation  limits  of  Sturgeon 
Bay,  and  sixty  adjoining.  This  was  all 
in  the  woods  when  he  came  to  it,  and  the 
many  improvements  which  have  so  materi- 
ally increased  the  value  of  the  place  are 
entirely  the  result  of  his  own  labors.  He 
takes  a  keen  interest  in  all  movements  for 
the  benefit  of  the  community  in  general, 
and  served  four  years  as  supervisor  of  the 
township.  In  political  affiliation  he  is  a 
Republican.      Mr.  Christiansen  is  an  act- 


ive member  of  the  United  Brethren 
Church  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  wherein  he  has 
served  as  trustee  ever  since  its  organiza- 
tion, taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  pro- 
motion of  all  Church  work. 

On  December  30,  1855,  Mr.  Christian- 
son  was  married,  in  Norway,  to  Miss 
Christina  Jorgensen,  also  a  native  of  that 
country,  and  daughter  of  Jorgen  and  Allie 
(Johnson)  Anderson,  who  passed  their 
whole  lives  in  Norway.  Mrs.  Christian- 
son  died  in  1880  in  Door  count)'.  Wis., 
leaving  five  children,  a  brief  record  of 
whom  is  as  follows:  George  was  born 
May  21,  1858,  in  Norway,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  early  schooling,  completing  his 
education  at  the  schools  of  Manitowoc, 
Wis.  For  several  seasons  he  sailed  on 
the  Lakes,  and  since  abandoning  that  pur- 
suit has  engaged  in  farming  in  Sturgeon 
Bay  township,  Door  county.  He  is  an 
ardent  member  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  local 
government,  being  justice  of  the  peace  in 
the  township,  and  at  present  serving  his 
third  term  as  clerk.  Gustav  Emil,  the 
second  child,  was  born  in  Norway  Octo- 
ber 4,  1863,  and  now  resides  in  Bay 
View,  Wis.;  he  was  married,  in  1892,  to 
Josephine  Samuelson,  and  has  one  child, 
Idelia.  Christina  Annetta  is  the  wife  of 
Andrew  Anderson,  and  resides  in  Stur- 
geon Bay;  they  have  one  child,  Florence 
Adelaide.  Anna  Josephine,  who  was  a 
successful  teacher  in  Door  county  for 
seven  years,  was  married  in  1894  to  C.  C. 
Clauson,  of  Clintonville,  Wis.  Olga 
Marie  was  born  in  1873  in  Manitowoc,  is 
married  to  Frank  Van  Doozer,  and  has 
two  children,  Maud  and  an  infant;  they 
reside  in  Bay  View. 


DESIRE  COLLE,  one  of  Kewaunee 
county's  native  sons,  was  born  in 
Luxemburg  township,  January  24, 
1862,    a  son   of  Peter   Colle   and 
Catherine  (Roge),  honored  pioneer  people 
of  that  locality,  in  whose  family  are  five 
children,  as  follows:    Mary,  Desire,  Eliza- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPSICAL   RECORD. 


697 


beth,  Charles  and  Anna,  all  yet  living. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Luxemburg, 
Germany,  and  in  1854  came  to  America 
taking  up  his  residence  in  what  was  at 
that  time  Casco  township,  Kewaunee  Co., 
Wis. ,  but  is  now  in  Lu.xemburg  township. 
He  was  the  first  settler  in  the  latter  town- 
ship, and  it  was  through  his  instrumen- 
tality that  it  was  cut  off  from  Casco  town- 
ship. 

Peter  Colle  secured  160  acres  of  wild 
land,  cutting  the  first  tree  that  had  been 
felled  in  the  forests  of  Lu.xemburg  town- 
ship, and  continued  the  work  of  clearing 
his  land  until  he  had  room  enough  to 
build  a  log  cabin  and  plant  a  crop.  He 
owned  no  team,  and  had  come  on  foot 
from  Green  Bay  to  his  farm.  Two  years 
had  passed  ere  he  was  able  to  purchase  a 
team,  and  the  only  farm  implements  he 
had  were  an  axe  and  grub  hoe,  so  that  the 
work  of  developing  the  farm  was  carried 
on  with  great  difficulty.  His  first  crop 
was  one  of  fall  wheat,  the  seed  for  which 
he  carried  on  his  shoulder  from  Green 
Bay,  and  sowing  two  bushels  of  this  he 
harvested  a  crop  of  forty-eight  bushels. 
During  the  first  six  years  after  his  ar- 
rival his  grain  was  threshed  with  a  flail, 
and  the  rails  which  he  used  in  making  his 
fences  were  carried  on  his  back  to  the 
place  where  they  were  needed.  The 
father  lived  and  died  upon  his  farm,  and 
it  is  still  the  home  of  the  mother,  who  has 
now  reached  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 

When  our  subject  was  a  child  of  only 
ten  summers  he  was  obliged  to  operate 
the  farm,  for  his  father's  health  had  failed, 
and  he  continqed  the  management  of  the 
property,  doing  nearly  all  the  work  him- 
self, until  he  was  twenty-four  years  of 
age.  His  youth,  therefore,  was  not  one 
of  ease,  but  from  a  tender  age  he  was  in- 
ured to  the  hard  labor  of  developing  wild 
land,  and  his  life  has  always  been  a  busy 
one.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four  he  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Mary  Toucher, 
and  from  his  father  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land,  for  which  he  paid  $400, 
the  young  couple  beginning  their  domestic 


I 


life  upon  that  farm.  He  built  a  log  house, 
which  is  still  standing,  and  for  $260  pur- 
chased a  team,  with  which  he  worked  his 
land  for  two  years.  During  the  succeed- 
ing two  years  he  engaged  in  the  nursery 
business,  but  at  the  expiration  of  that 
period  returned  to  the  farm,  which  he 
cultivated  until  the  railroad  was  built, 
when  he  was  employed  on  railroad  con- 
struction at  four  dollars  per  day.  Again 
he  took  up  farm  work,  continuing  same 
until  June,  1S94,  at  which  time  he  erected 
in  Luxemburg  a  building  30  x  60  feet,  in 
which  he  has  since  engaged  in  the  saloon 
business. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Colle  have  four  children 
— three  sons  and  a  daughter,  viz. :  Peter, 
Michael,  Joseph  and  Elizabeth.  In  his 
political  views  our  subject  is  a  Demo- 
crat; socially  he  is  connected  with  the 
Catholic  Ivnights  of  Wisconsin,  and  in  re- 
ligious belief  both  he  and  his  wife  are 
Catholics.  He  is  a  representative  of  one 
of  the  earliest  families  of  Kewaunee 
county,  and  with  the  history  of  its  pioneer 
days  is  familiar. 


SL.  HALL  claims  New  York  as  the 
State  of  his  nativity,  his  birth  hav- 
ing occurred  in  Cayuga  county  in 
1854.  He  is  a  son  of  Simon  and 
Desire  (Smith)  Hall,  who  were  also  born 
in  Cayuga  county,  where  the  father  was 
engaged  in  farming  until  1856,  in  which 
year,  with  his  family,  he  migrated  to 
Kewaunee  county.  Wis.,  settling  in  Ahna- 
pee.  He  there  established  a  sawmill, 
operating  same  for  some  years,  and  was 
also  owner  of  a  gristmill,  but  in  1889  he 
abandoned  the  business,  and  has  since 
lived  a  retired  life.  He  is  a  public-spirited 
and  progressive  man,  actively  interested 
in  everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of 
Ahnapee  and  the  surrounding  country. 
In  the  Hall  family  there  are  three  chil- 
dren— Sarah,  wife  of  I.  W.  Elliott,  pub- 
lisher of  the  Ahnapee  Record;  S.  L. ,  and 
H.  S.,    who  is  living  in  Ahnapee,  Wis., 


69S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


where  he  is  managing  the  erection  of  a 
hotel. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was 
but  an  infant  when  he  was  brought  to  this 
State,  was  educated  in  the  schools  of 
Ahnapee,  reared  under  the  parental  roof, 
and  in  early  life  became  familiar  with  the 
lumber  business  in  his  father's  mill.  He 
first  embarked  in  this  enterprise  for  him- 
self in  jacksonport,  Wis.,  where  he  re- 
mained four  years,  operating  a  sawmill, 
after  which  he  returned  to  Ahnapee,  and 
was  there  employed  in  his  father's  mill 
until  coming  to  Forestville.  Here  he 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  lumber  for 
a  time,  and  then  embarked  in  the  manu- 
facture of  shingles,  which  enterprise  he 
has  carried  on  since  1889.  He  makes  a 
specialty  of  dimension  and  clear  cedar 
shingles,  and  has  an  annual  output  of 
about  five  million,  for  which  he  finds  a 
ready  market  in  Racine,  Wis.,  selling  to 
the  firm  of  Kelly,  Weeks  &  Company. 

Mr.  Hall  was  married  in  Forestville 
township.  Door  county,  in  1889.  to  Miss 
Ella  Kenned}',  who  was  born  in  Canada, 
as  were  her  parents,  Henry  and  Mary 
Kennedy,  who,  in  1 872  became  residents 
of  Forestville  township.  Door  county, 
where  they  j-et  reside.  The  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hall  has  been  blessed  with  two 
children-   Henry  and  Clare. 

Mr.  Hall  e.xercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise in  support  of  the  men  and  measures 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  takes  a  deep 
interest  in  political  affairs,  keeping  well 
informed  on  the  issues  of  the  day.  He 
is  a  man  of  e.xcellent  business  and  execu- 
tive ability,  straightforward  and  honora- 
ble in  all  his  dealings,  and  by  good  man- 
agement, perseverance  and  earnest  appli- 
cation he  has  won  success. 


FKKD    W.    MAEDKE.  owner   of  a 
snug  farm   in   Ahnapee   township, 
Kewaunee   county,  where  he  has 
resided  for  over  twenty-five  years, 
is  a  Prussian  by  birth,  born  October  24, 
1 83 1,  son  of  Christian   Maedke,  a   native 


of  the  same  country  and  a  laborer  by 
occupation.  He  had  seven  children,  of 
whom  Ferdinand  lives  in  the  town  of 
Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.;  Charles 
is  a  resident  of  Prussia;  August  is  deceased; 
Lena  is  the  wife  of  John  Bartz,  of  Rich- 
field, Wis. ;  and  Fred  W.  is  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  The  parents,  who  were 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  both 
died  in  their  native  country,  where  they 
are  buried. 

Fred  W.  Maedke  was  educated  in 
Prussia,  and  worked  at  common  labor 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
had  been  in  correspondence  with  friends 
in  the  United  States  from  whom  he  re- 
ceived glowing  accounts  of  the  advan- 
tages offered  in  this  country,  and  con- 
cluding he  could  better  his  condition  here 
he  emigrated  in  1852.  His  first  location 
was  at  Milwaukee,  Wis. ,  where  he  worked 
in  the  brick  yards  for  about  ten  years; 
then  removing  to  .\hnapee  township,  Ke- 
waunee county,  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  timber  land,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided, following  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
has  also  purchased  another  forty  acres  of 
land,  the  greater  part  of  which  he  has 
improved  and  provided  with  good  build- 
ings and  fences.  While  living  in  Mil- 
waukee Mr.  Maedke  married  Wilhelmina 
Froemmeling,  also  a  native  of  Prussia, 
and  to  their  union  came  eight  children, 
viz. :  Bertha,  now  Mrs.  August  Schultz,  of 
Door  county.  Wis. ;  Frederick,  of  Ahn- 
apee township;  William,  of  Forestville, 
Door  county;  Louisa,  Mrs.  Frank  Brown, 
of  Manitowoc,  Wis. ;  Wilhelmina,  de- 
ceased; Edward,  of  Manitowoc;  Albert,  de- 
ceased; and  one  that  died  in  infancy.  The 
mother  of  these  died  in  1873,  and  in  1875 
Mr.  Maedke  was  again  married,  this  time 
to  Johanna  Schultz,  a  native  of  Germany. 
She  is  the  mother  of  seven  children,  as 
follows:  Ervin,  Leonard,  Frank,  Lillie, 
Walter,  Emma  and  Menmieta.  Mr. 
Maedke  and  family  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  politically  he  is 
affiliated  with  the  Republican  party.  Dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the   war  of  the  Re- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


699. 


bellion  he  became  a  member  of  Company 
E,  Seventeenth  Wis.  V.  I.,  serving  some 
ten  months,  when  the  war  closed  and  he 
was  honorably  discharged;  he  now  draws 
a  pension  for  his  services. 


M 


ICHAEL  SEEMAN,  a  thriving 
farmer  of  West  Kewaunee  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  was 
born  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  No- 
vember 18,  1848,  and  is  a  son  of  David 
Seeman.  Michael  was  reared  on  the 
home  farm,  and  was  educated  in  the  old- 
time  log  schoolhouse  of  West  Kewaunee 
township.  He  assisted  and  remained 
with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  when  he  bought  the  farm  he 
still  occupies.  It  was  then  covered  with 
timber,  but  he  has  labored  hard  and 
cleared  it  away,  till  to-day,  instead  of  a 
wilderness,  there  are  waving  fields  of 
grain.  He  has  erected  good  buildings, 
and  made  every  improvement  necessary 
to  a  model  farm. 

On  July  29,  1873,  Mr.  Seeman  was 
married  to  Earnestine  Kohn,  a  daughter 
of  Christian  and  Johanna  (Karlbine)  Kohn, 
natives  of  Germany,  where  she,  also,  first 
saw  the  light,  October  17,  1853.  Her 
father  was  born  in  1824,  and  his  wife  in 
the  same  year;  they  were  married  in 
1848,  and  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1855. 
Earnestine  was  the  third  in  a  family  of 
eleven,  and  to  her  marriage  with  Mr. 
Seeman  were  born  fifteen  children,  their 
names  and  dates  of  birth  being  as  follows: 
Amelia,  May  11,  1874;  Matilda,  July  16, 
1875;  Henry,  September  14,  1876;  David, 
March  25,  1878;  Ida,  November  18, 
1879;  Lydia,  July  10,  1881;  Frank, 
August  30,  1882;  Bertha,  January  10, 
1884;  Michael,  October  26,  1885,  Ed- 
ward, June  14,  1887;  Earnestine,  Novem- 
ber 2,  1888;  Alma,  April  10,  1890;  Laura, 
July  16,  1 891;  William,  November  26, 
1893,  and  Albert,  July  16,  1894.  These 
all  survive  to  gladden  the  hearts  of  their 
parents,     with    the    e.xception    of    four: 


Henry,  who  died  December  28,  1878; 
Matilda,  January  11,  1879;  Ida,  Novem- 
ber 2,  1892,  and  Albert,  August  30,  1894. 
Of  this  family  Amelia  was  married  April 
II,   1894,  to  Anton  Holub. 

Mr.  Seeman  is  regarded  by  his  neigh- 
bors as  one  of  the  most  progressive,  as 
well  as  able,  farmers  in  the  community, 
and  he  and  his  family  are  greatly  respect- 
ed through  West  Kewaunee  and  the  ad- 
joining townships,  and,  indeed,  through- 
out the  entire  county. 


JOHN  BANGERT,  a  popular  boot  and 
shoemaker  of  Kewaunee,  was  born 
March  25,  1833,  in  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many, a  son  of  Henry  (a  farmer 
by  occupation)  and  Lizzie  Bangert,  who 
were  the  parents  of  nine  children.  The 
father  died  in  Germany  in  1867;  and  the 
mother  in    1 869. 

John  Bangert,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  sketch,  attended  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  country  until  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  then  learned  shoemak- 
ing,  which  he  followed  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  when  he  enlisted  in 
the  German  army,  serving  three  years  in 
the  infantry,  and'  then  returned  to  work 
at  his  trade.  In  May,  1 862,  he  settled 
in  Kewaunee,  Wis.,  and  started  in  busi- 
ness; but  after  a  time  he  bought  a  farm, 
which  he  worked  two  years,  but  grew 
tired  of  that  vocation  and  sold  out,  return- 
ing to  Kewaunee  and  resuming  his  old 
trade,  in  which  he  still  continues. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Bangert  took 
place  in  Germany,  in  the  early  part  of 
1862,  to  Miss  Theodora  Ballering,  whose 
father,  Anton  Ballering,  was  also  a  shoe- 
maker. He  came  to  America  in  1869, 
and  settled  in  Kewaunee,  where  he  died 
in  1888,  his  wife  in  1889.  To  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bangert  have  been 
born  three  sons  and  six  daughters,  named 
as  follows:  Anton,  John,  Henry,  Anna, 
Lizzie,  Mary,  Amelia,  Dora  and  Stella. 
Of  these,  Anton   is   married   and  lives  at 


700 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Eagle  River,  Wis. ;  Anna  and  Lizzie  mar- 
ried brothers,  Fred  and  Ciiarles  Poser, 
and  live  in  Kewaunee  city,  and  the  others 
reside  with  their  parents.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Banfjert  are  devout  members  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  and  are  much  respected  by 
their  friends  and  neighbors  for  their  up- 
right lives.  In  politics  Mr.  Bangert  is  a 
Democrat,  but  has  never  been  an  office- 
seeker,  preferring  profitable  trade  to  pre- 
carious office. 


HANS  JACOB  OLSON,  a  success- 
ful farmer  of  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship. Door  county,  was  born  in 
Norway,  in  1845,  and  when  eight 
years  of  age  accompanied  his  parents  to 
the  United  States.  His  father,  Ole  Olson, 
who  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  on  reach- 
ing this  country  took  his  family  to  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  where  he  remained  one  year, 
working  at  his  trade.  He  then  moved  to 
Sturgeon  Ba}-,  and  here  for  a  time  did 
carpentry,  after  which  he  worked  in  the 
first  sawmill  built  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship. At  times  he  followed  hunting  and 
fishing  exclusively,  in  which  vocation  he 
was  very  successful.  His  death  occurred 
in  1884;  his  widow  still  resides  at  Stur- 
geon Bay.  They  reared  a  family  of  five 
children,  all  yet  living,  'namely:  Hans 
Jacob  (our  subject) ;  Olaf  and  Ole  B.,  who 
reside  in  Sturgeon  Bay  township;  Mollie, 
married  to  Louis  Anderson,  of  Liberty 
Grove  township,  and  Amelia,  wife  of 
Thomas  Knapp,  of  Manitowoc  county. 

Our  subject  received  a  practical  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Sturgeon 
Bay  township,  and  as  he  grew  to  man- 
hood worked  on  a  farm.  In  1886  he 
bought  120  acres  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship, and  has  cleared  eighty  acres  of  it, 
which  he  now  owns  and  occupies.  In 
1872  he  was  married  to  Miss  Louisa 
Almeda  Bernard,  who  was  born  in  New 
York  State,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
Bernard.  Her  father  was  born  in  F"rance, 
and  came  to  Nasewaupee  township.  Wis. , 
in  1868;  he  died  in  Door  county  in  1882; 


the  mother  died  while  the}"  were  living  in 
New  York.  Mr.  Olson  belongs  to  the 
Republican  party,  and  takes  much  inter- 
est in  politics,  although  he  does  not  aspire 
to  office.  He  has  had  a  family  of  chil- 
dren as  follows:  Viola,  now  the  wife  of 
John  Magnusson,  of  Mihvaukee  (they  have 
two  children,  viz. :  Sidney  Lloyd  and 
Daisy  Almeda);  Effie  Rosetta,  who  is 
married  to  Alex.  Eliason,  of  Milwaukee; 
Mate  Hilton,  has  one  child,  Daisy  Almeda; 
Bert,  and  Daisy  Almeda,  who  died  in 
1892,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years  and 
ten  months. 


LORENZ  C.  FENSEL  is  a  native 
of  Kewaunee,  born  June  i,  1870. 
His  father,  Conrad  Fensel,  was 
born  near  the  city  of  Erlangen, 
Bavaria,  Germany,  October  28,  1837, 
and  from  the  age  of  fourteen  to  the  time 
he  was  seventeen  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  tinner's  trade.  Leopold  Fen- 
sel, father  of  Conrad,  was  a  blacksmith 
and  a  man  of  excellent  standing,  having 
served  as  mayor  of  his  town,  besides 
holding  several  minor  offices. 

In  i860  Conrad  came  to  America  and 
located  in  Kewaskum,  Washington  Co., 
Wis.,  but  in  April  of  the  ne.xt  year  en- 
listed, at  Milwaukee,  in  Company  F, 
Sixth  Wis.  V.  I.,  for  three  months;  here- 
enlisted  in  the  same  regiment  for  three 
3'ears,  and  was  honorably  discharged  July 
15,  1864.  His  regiment,  one  of  the  old 
"Iron  Brigade,"  fought  at  Gainesville, 
Bull  Run,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville,  Gett3'.sburg,  Jerichoford,  Cold  Har- 
bor and  Petersburg.  Mr.  Fensel  was 
taken  prisoner  at  Gettysburg  in  July, 
1863,  and  was  sent  to  Andersonville 
Prison,  but  was  soon  exchanged,  which 
was  his  only  absence  from  roll-call  dur- 
ing his  whole  service,  and  at  his  discharge 
he  was  highly  complimented  by  nis 
superior  officers  for  his  bravery  and  sol- 
dierly bearing.  On  his  return  to  Milwau- 
kee he  immediately  sent  to  Germany  for 
his   betrothed,    Miss    Margaret    Theuers- 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPmCAL    RECORD. 


701 


bacher,  and  their  marriage  took  place  in 
Milwaukee,  December  18,  1864.  During 
the  following  four  years  he  worked  at  his 
trade  in  Milwaukee  and  Grafton,  and  in 
1868  came  to  Kewaunee.  Here  he  started 
in  the  business  for  himself,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  his  death,  July  15,  1876. 
He  was  a  Republican,  had  been  city 
treasurer,  and  filled  several  other  offices 
of  trust,  and  was  honored  and  respected 
by  all  who  knew  him.  He  also  organized 
the  Fire  Department  of  Kewaunee,  and 
superintended  the  laying  of  the  water 
mains,  expending  considerable  time  and 
money. 

Mrs.  Conrad  Fensel  was  born,  in  1838, 
in  the  city  of  Erlangen.  Her  father  was 
of  French  descent,  and  by  trade  was  a 
tanner.  After  her  husband's  death,  Mrs. 
Fensel,  with  the  assistance  of  her  chil- 
dren, continued  the  business  until  Octo- 
ber, 1 89 1,  when  her  son  Lorenz  C.  bought 
the  concern,  which  he  still  carries  on. 
Lorenz  attended  the  district  and  high 
schools  cf  Kewaunee  until  he  was  seven- 
teen years  old,  w'hen  he  began  clerking 
for  his  mother,  and  so  continued  until  he 
bought  out  the  business.  He  still  makes 
his  home,  however,  with  his  mother.  Mr. 
Fensel  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  takes 
an  active  part  in  national  and  local  poli- 
tics, although  he  has  never  sought  any 
office.  He  has,  however,  served  as  sec- 
retary of  the  board  of  education,  and  was 
also  a  member  of  the  county  board  for 
the  World's  Fair.  He  is  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  Kewaunee  Chapter,  Sons  of  Vet- 
erans, and  was  adjutant  and  quarter- 
master of  the  Wisconsin  division  of  the 
Order  under  Col.  Wing.  He  is  a  strict 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  highly  respected  young 
men  of  Kewaunee  city. 

On  June  12,  1894,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Minnie  Klatt,  of  Ahnapee,  Wis., 
who  was  born  November  2,  1875,  in 
West  Kewaunee,  moving  with  her  parents 
to  Ahnapee  in  1880.  To  this  marriage 
was  born  a  daughter,  named  Melva, 
March  31,  1895. 

40 


JOSEPH   STONEMAN,   who  is  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  farming  in  Sec- 
tion 20,  Forestville  township.    Door 
county,  was  born  on  the  farm,  which 
is  still  his  home,  July  8,    1857,  and  is  a 
worthy  representative  of  one  of  the  promi- 
nent pioneer  families  of  that  county. 

His  father,  John  Stoneman,  was  born 
in  England  in  1808,  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  his  native  land,  and  in  an  early 
day  crossed  the  ocean  to  the  New  World, 
taking  up  his  residence  in  Racine  county, 
Wis. ,  where  he  worked  in  shingle  mills. 
In  that  county  he  wedded  Miss  Mary 
Venia,  a  native  of  Canada,  and  in  1855 
brought  his  wife  to  Door  county,  locating 
in  the  midst  of  the  forest  upon  a  tract  of 
wild  land  in  Forestville  township.  There 
he  developed  and  improved  a  fine  farm, 
upon  which  he  made  his  home  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  May,  1885. 
He  took  quite  an  active  part  in  political 
affairs,  supported  the  Democratic  party, 
and  served  his  fellow  citizens  as  town 
clerk;  in  religious  belief  he  was  a  Catholic. 
His  wife  preceded  him  to  the  better 
world,  having  passed  away  April  1 7,  1 884. 
They  had  a  family  of  seventeen  children, 
six  of  whom  are  now  living,  and  we  have 
the  record  of  the  following :  John  is 
now  deceased;  William,  who  enlisted  in 
Company  E,  Fourteenth  Wis.  V.  I., 
during  the  Civil  war,  died  in  the  hospital 
at  New  Albany,  Ind.,  while  in  the  service; 
Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Andrew  Sloan,  of 
Forestville  township;  Luke  resides  in 
Nasewaupee  township;  Emily  is  the  wife 
of  Ashley  Coffrin,  of  Sturgeon  Bay;  George 
resides  at  Egg  Harbor;  Joseph  comes 
next  in  order  of  birth;  William  is  married 
and  lives  in  Nasewaupee  township. 

The  subject  of  our  sketch  was  reared 
on  the  old  homestead  farm  and  acquired 
his  education  in  the  common  schools, 
which  he  attended  through  the  winter 
season,  while  in  the  summer  months  he 
aided  in  opening  up  the  farm.  His  entire 
life  has  been  devoted  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  he  is  now  the  owner  of  130 
acres  of  good  land,  eighty  of  which  have 


702 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


been  cleared  of  a  heavy  growth  of  timber 
and  are  now  under  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. The  fields  arc  well  tilled,  the 
place  is  divided  into  fields  of  convenient 
size  by  well-kept  fences,  and  all  the  con- 
veniences and  accessories  of  a  model  farm 
are  there  found.  In  connection  with 
general  farming  Mr.  Stoneman  engages 
in  stock  raising  and  in  supplying  eggs  and 
butter  to  the  Menomonee  market. 

In  Forestville  township,  in  i8S6,  Mr. 
Stoneman  was  married  to  Miss  Bridget 
Alice  Mulvihill,  who  was  born  in  Nase- 
waupee  township.  Door  county,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Bridget  Mulvihill,  natives 
of  Ireland,  whence  they  came  to  Door 
county  in  an  early  day,  settling  in  Nase- 
waupee  township,  where  they  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  lives,  the  father  dying 
January  5,  1894,  the  mother  April  28, 
1889.  Six  children  were  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Stoneman,  three  of  whom  are 
at  rest;  those  yet  living  are  John,  Joseph 
and  Leo. 

In  politics  Mr.  Stoneman  votes  with 
the  Republicans,  and  keeps  well  in- 
formed on  the  issues  of  the  day,  but  has 
never  sought  or  desired  political  prefer- 
ment for  himself,  his  time  and  attention 
being  largely  taken  up  with  his  business  in- 
terests and  the  enjoytnent  of  home  pleas- 
ures. In  religious  faith  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  with  the  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Stoneman  has  been  a  wit- 
ness of  the  greater  part  of  the  growth  and 
development  of  Door  county,  and  has 
ever  given  his  hearty  support  and  co- 
operation to  enterprises  calculated  to  pro- 
mote the  general  welfare;  therefore  in  the 
history  of  his  native  county  he  well 
deserves  representation. 


FRANK   PAULU,  one  of  the  ener- 
getic and  prosperous    farmers    of 
West  Kewaunee  township,  Kewau- 
nee county,  was  born  in  Boiiemia 
October  i,   1837,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Frances  Paulu,  also  natives  of  Bohe- 
mia, who  came  directly  from  the  old  coun- 


try to  Kewaunee  in  1857,  where  the 
father.  Joseph,  purchased  a  farm,  which 
he  cleared  and  culti\:ited  until  his  death 
in  1866. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  second  born 
in  a  family  of  eight  children,  was  educat- 
ed in  Bohemia,  and  was  (]uite  young  when 
he  graduated  in  the  classics.  He  came 
to  the  United  States  with  his  parents  and 
a.ssisted  on  the  farm  until  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Civil  war.  when  he  enlisted  in 
Company  (i,  Ele\enth  Wisconsin  \'olun- 
teer  Infantrx,  hut  was  not  called  out  at 
that  time;  in  1S65  he  re-enlisted  and  was 
in  actual  service  about  eight  months, 
when  he  receix^ed  an  honorable  discharge. 
His  health  was  impaired  while  in  the 
army,  and  for  about  nine  years  he  suffer- 
ed from  disease,  .\fter  fully  recuperat- 
ing he  settled  on  the  farm  he  now  owns, 
and  on  which  he  has  met  with  much  suc- 
cess as  an  agriculturist. 

On  June  9,  1859,  Mr.  Paulu  was 
united  in  matrimony  with  Miss  Mary 
Shimon,  only  daughter  of  Lawrence  and 
Rosile  Shimon,  also  natives  of  Bohemia. 
She  was  born  July  11,  1839,  and  came 
with  her  parents  to  Wisconsin  in  1856. 
To  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paulu  have 
been  born  twelve  children,  named  as  fol- 
lows: Mary,  Frank,  .Annie,  Gustie,  Emily, 
Bozenna,  Paulina,  Joseph,  John,  Edward, 
Adolph  and  Emanuel.  Mr.  Paulu  has  led 
an  industrious  and  consequently  prosjier- 
ous  life,  ami  his  standing  in  the  esteem 
of  his  neighbors  is  an  enviable  one. 


CHRISTIAN  FELSCHOW.a thriv- 
ing farmer  of  Carlton  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  now  residing 
at  Kewaunee,  was  born  in  Meck- 
lenburg, Ciermany,  May  16,  1842,  and  is 
a  son  of  Henry  and  Dora  (Eversj  Fels- 
chow,  both  natives  of  Germany,  the 
former  born  in  1.S15,  and  was  there  mar- 
ried in  1840.  In  1853  he  brought  his 
family  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Carlton  township,  Kewaunee  Co.,  \\'is. , 
where  he  engaged   in    farming.      Here   he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


703 


lost  his  wife  in  1872,  and  he  himself  died 
December  2,   1892. 

Of  their  four  children,  Christian,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  the  eldest  born, 
attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
country  until  the  departure  of  his  parents 
for  the  United  State.  The  family  landed 
in  New  York,  where  they  passed  six 
months,  then  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  for 
three  years  li\ed  in  Milwaukee,  finally  set- 
tling on  the  farm  in  Carlton  township 
alluded  to  above.  Here  Christian  as- 
sisted his  father  until  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  when  he  started  out  in  life  for  him- 
self. He  made  a  trip  to  Illinois,  where 
he  worked  a  year  at  carpentering,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Carlton  and  jnir- 
chased  a  farm  on  which  he  lived  until 
1874,  when  he  sold  out  and  bought  the 
farm  he  at  present  occupies,  and  which 
he  has  improved  nith  a  fine  brick  dwell- 
ing and  substantial  farm  buildings,  and 
surrounded  with  a  fine  fence.  He  has 
also  received  a  bequest  of  eight}'  acres 
from  his  father,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
solid  farmers  of  Carlton  township.  For 
six  years  he  \\as  school  treasurer,  then 
clerk  of  the  school  board  till  he  sold  out 
there,  and  for  ten  years  has  been  treas- 
urer of  the  Forest  Hill  Cemetery  Associa- 
tion. Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Sons  of  Hermann. 

Mr.  Felschow  was  married  April  14, 
1864,  to  Catharine  Luttjohann,  who  was 
born  in  Germany  in  1847,  and  to  this 
union  have  been  born  four  children:  Ed- 
ward H.,  Ella,  Hulda  and  Lillie.  The 
family  are  Lutheran  in  their  religious 
faith,  and  none  are  held  in  higher  esteem 
by  the  citizens  of  the  township. 


AUGUST  BOHNE,  an  enterprising 
and  progressive  citizen  of  Kewau- 
nee, was  born  at  Mequon,  Wis., 
March  14,  1851,  and  is  a  son  of 
Frederick  and  Teressa  (Zenker)  Bohne. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Saxony,  Ger- 
many, born  in  1802,  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  and  was  married  to  his  second  wife 


(the  mother  of  our  subject)  in  1S40.  In 
1 844  he  came  to  America,  located  on 
public  land  at  Mequon,  Ozaukee  Co., 
Wis. ,  and  for  nine  years  was  employed  in 
clearing  away  the  heavy  timber;  he  then 
went  to  Port  Ulao,  in  the  same  county, 
where  he  lived  four  years,  settling  there- 
after permanently  in  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  had  previously  bought  a  heavily 
timbered  tract  of  land,  comprising  640 
acres,  and  for  the  first  few  years  again 
followed  lumbering.  In  1870  he  moved 
to  Kewaunee  village,  where  he  embarked 
in  business,  and  died  in  June,  1874.  His 
widow  then  married  John  Besserdich,  and 
died  in  Kewaunee  January  25,   1894. 

The  subject  proper  of  these  lines  had 
very  few  school  advantages,  as  he  assisted 
his  father  until  the  age  of  fifteen,  when 
he  was  apprenticed  to  a  blacksmith,  for 
whom  he  worked  two  years,  and  then  re- 
turned to  the  farm,  where  he  lived  until 
1870,  at  which  time  he  started  in  life  for 
himself  with  a  capital  consisting  of  will- 
ing hands  and  a  cheerful  heart.  He  fol- 
lowed well-digging  and  boring,  afterward, 
in  1874,  adding  pumps  to  his  business, 
and  has  been  quite  successful.  He  was 
married  October  20,  1874,  to  Crescencia 
Mintz.  The  father  of  this  lady  was  a 
native  of  Bavaria,  and  came  to  America 
in  1857,  settling  in  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  died  in  1876;  his  widow,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  Bavaria,  and  who 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Margaret  Feira, 
survived  until  1893.  To  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bohne  have  been  born  four 
children,  named,  respectively:  Maggie, 
Willie,  Anna  and  Theodore. 

In  his  business  Mr.  Bohne  employs 
from  three  to  fifteen  hands,  is  fully  equip- 
ped with  all  the  modern  implements  for 
digging,  boring  and  drilling  wells  and  has 
shown  himself  to  be  a  man  of  enterprise 
and  sound  judgment.  Politically  he  has 
always  been  a  Democrat,  and  has  been 
treasurer  of  Kewaunee,  a  member  of  the 
Fire  Department  eighteen  years,  of  the 
Police  Force  three  years,  and  in  1894  was 
a  member  of  the  City  Council.    Socially  he 


704 


COMMEMORATIVE   DIOORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Hermann. 
Mrs.  Bohne  is  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Cathohc  Church. 


JACOB   BLAHNIK,    one  of  success- 
ful self-made  farmers  and  large  land- 
owners of  Ahnapee   township,    Ke- 
waunee   county,    was    born    August, 
1838,   in   Bohemia,  son  of  George  Blah- 
nik,  a  native  of  the  same  countrj'. 

George  Blahnik  was  reared  on  a 
farm  and  when  a  young  man  married 
Katharine  Blaha,  also  a  Bohemian  by 
birth,  who  bore  him  six  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Mathias,  of  Casco,  Kewaunee  Co., 
Wis. ;  Jacob,  whose  name  opens  this 
sketch;  and  George,  Joseph,  John,  and 
Anton,  of  Ahnapee  township,  Kewaunee 
Co.,  Wis.,  all  born  in  Bohemia  except 
Anton.  In  1855  the  father  brought  his 
family  to  the  United  States,  and  coming 
directly  to  Wisconsin,  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  timber  land  in  Ahnapee  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  on  which  he  located, 
immediately  commencing  the  clearing  of 
the  place  for  farming.  He  was  the  third 
settler  in  that  part  of  Ahnapee,  which  at 
that  early  day  was  almost  a  perfect 
wilderness,  and  passed  through  many 
hardships  incident  to  the  life  of  a  pioneer 
in  such  a  region.  Later  he  purchased 
240  acres  more  of  land,  all  of  which  he 
improved  and  equipped  with  good  build- 
ings, acquiring  a  comfortable  share  of  this 
world's  goods.  His  death  took  place  in 
1893,  that  of  his  wife  in  1S91.  They 
were  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Jacob  Blahnik,  our  subject,  was  edu- 
cated in  his  native  tongue,  and  was 
seventeen  years  of  age  when  he  came 
with  his  parents  to  the  United  States. 
When  nineteen  years  old  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Katharine  Gatina,  also  a 
native  of  Bohemia,  of  German  descent, 
born  in  1S44.  She  is  the  mother  of  four- 
teen children,  four  of  whom  are  deceased, 
the  living  being  Joseph  (of  Menomonee), 
Katharine  (now  Mrs.  William  McCory, 
of  Chicago),  Barbara  (of  Chicago),  Annie, 


Mar}',  Lena,  Amelia,  Jacob,  George  and 
Michael.  Mr.  Blahnik  was  reared  to 
farming  pursuits,  and  after  his  marriage 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land,  locating 
upon  which  he  engaged  in  general  agricul- 
ture. He  subsequently  purchased  more 
land,  now  owning  215  acres,  well  im- 
proved with  good  buildings,  fences,  etc., 
and  he  ranks  among  the  substantial  well- 
to-do  farmers  of  his  township.  The  fine 
property  he  now  owns  has  been  accumu- 
lated by  his  own  unceasing  industry  and 
good  business  management,  qualities 
which  he  possesses  to  an  unusual  degree. 
Mr.  Blahnik  is  a  member  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  political  affiliation,  and 
has  filled  several  local  offices  of  trust.  He 
and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  of  Ahnapee,  and  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  Knights  of  Wisconsin. 


JOSEPH  SOUTHARD  CORNELL  is 
the  eldest  of  eleven  children.  His 
mother,  Elizabeth  Southard  Cornell, 
was  a  native  of  Lower  Canada  and 
of  Scotch  extraction.  His  father,  James 
Cornell,  a  farmer  by  occupation,  was  born 
in  New  York  State,  where  he  was  mar- 
ried. He  moved  first  to  Michigan,  then 
back  to  New  York,  thence  to  Illinois,  and 
subsequently  to  Washington  Island,  Door 
Co.,  Wis.  Later  in  life  he  removed  to 
Green  Bay,  at  which  place  he  died  in 
1882.  He  was  an  honored  member  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  and  a  most  useful  member 
of  society.  His  children  are:  Joseph, 
our  subject;  Thomas,  who  resides  in 
Homer,  III.;  Elizabeth,  married  to  Harri- 
son Root,  and  residing  at  Baileys  Har- 
bor; Jane,  married  to  Joseph  Anderson, 
and  living  at  Sturgeon  Bay;  Mary  Anna, 
married  to  Walice  Boyce,  and  making  her 
home  at  Escanaba,  Mich.;  John  F. ,  of 
Middle  Inlet,  Mich. ;  Margaret,  married  to 
Abner  Cady,  and  residing  in  Kansas,  and 
Euretta,  now  Mrs.  Hiram  Willman,  of 
Fort  River,  Michigan. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Pontiac,  Oak- 
land Co.,  Mich.,  July  14,  1830,  where  his 


COMMEMORATIVE   BWORAPHICAL    RECORD. 


705 


parents  had  removed  when  first  coming 
west  from  New  York;  and  returning  to 
the  Empire  State  at  the  time  he  had 
reached  the  school  age,  he  received  his 
education  there.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  the  lad  early  learned  to  assist  with 
the  work.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
left  home,  and  continued  to  work  at  com- 
mon labor  until  he  had  reached  his  ma- 
jority. In  1847  he  removed  to  Illinois 
with  his  parents,  where  he  was  married, 
in  1857,  to  Miss  Rachel  Stewart,  who 
was  born  in  Cook  county.  111.,  January 
18,  1835,  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Emily 
(Brooks)  Stewart.  Mr.  Stewart  was  of 
Scotch  lineage,  his  early  ancestors  being 
Quakers  who  settled  in  Pennsylvania  in 
the  time  of  William  Penn.  After  his  mar- 
riage Mr.  Cornell  removed  to  Washing- 
ton Island,  Wis.,  and,  until  1862,  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  fishing.  On 
August  2,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company 
B,  105th  111.  V.  I.,  served  under  Theodore 
Rogers,  took  part  in  the  engagement  at 
Resaca  (Ga.),  May  15,  1864,  and  accom- 
panied Gen.  Sherman  in  his  famous  march 
to  the  sea.  He  was  honorably  discharged 
July  7,  1865,  and  returned  to  Illinois, 
where  he  followed  farming  four  years, 
then  traveled  for  a  firm  in  Aurora,  111. , 
one  year,  after  which  he  came  to  Wash- 
ington Island,  Wis.,  and  bought  forty 
acres  of  land.  He  cleared  the  timber 
from  same,  and  has  since  occupied  him- 
self in  tilling  the  soil;  later  he  purchased 
more  land,  and  now  owns  120  acres, 
thirty  of  which  are  improved.  Two  years 
of  his  residence  in  this  place  he  spent  in 
fishing.  He  is  in  reality  one  of  the  oldest 
settlers  on  this  Island,  having  owned 
property  here  since  1867. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Cornell  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  has  filled  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  for  seventeen  years. 
His  health  was  materially  injured  during 
his  service  in  the  war,  and  he  now  draws 
a  pension  from  the  government.  He  is 
the  father  of  eleven  children:  James, 
Emily  (now  Mrs.  Edward  Petersen,  of 
Washington    Island),     Edward,     Lenora 


(now  Mrs.  Thomas  Madden,  of  Sheboy- 
gan, Wis.),  Elmer,  Ulysses,  Albert  (de- 
ceased), Byron,  Eva,  Alfred  and  Newell. 
Mr.  Cornell  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  in  which  faith  his  family  are  in 
sympathy. 


ALFRED  ANDERSON,  who  has 
been  police  watchman  of  Bay 
View,  Door  county,  since  June, 
1894,  has  been  a  farmer  of  Stur- 
geon Bay  township  for  a  number  of  years 
past,  and  is  well  known  in  his  locality- 
He  was  born  in  1850  in  Sweden,  son 
of  Andres  and  Anna  (Johnson)  Ingleson, 
farming  people  of  that  country,  the  former 
of  whom  died  there  in  1883  on  the  old 
farm,  the  latter  still  living  in  her  native 
country.  Their  children  were  as  follows: 
Alfred,  our  subject;  John,  who  came  first 
to  Brown  county.  Wis. ,  and  now  resides 
in  California;  Mangus,  a  resident  of  Cali- 
fornia, engaged  in  repairing  railroad 
bridges,  being  a  carpenter  by  trade;  Otto, 
also  of  California;  Fred,  who  was  drowned 
in  Sweden,  and  Emma  and  Celia,  married 
and  living  in  Sweden. 

Our  subject  obtained  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  Sweden,  remain- 
ing there  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  went  to  Arendal,  Norway,  and  there 
learned  the  trade  of  ship  carpenter.  In 
that  country  he  followed  same  until  1871, 
in  that  year  coming  to  America  and  to 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  where  he  found  work 
on  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  railroad. 
He  soon  returned  to  his  trade,  however, 
and  entering  the  employ  of  Thomas 
Spears,  worked  for  him  at  various  places 
in  Wisconsin — Green  Bay,  Little  Stur- 
geon, Sturgeon  Bay,  Menomonee  and 
Ozaukee.  He  also  worked  at  Ahnapee, 
and  coming  to  Sturgeon  Bay  in  1877, 
assisted  in  the  construction  of  the  tug 
"John  Leathern."  Here  he  was  em- 
ployed by  A.  W.  Lawrence  for  a  time, 
and  then  resolved  to  commence  on  his 
own  account.  He  bought  forty  acres  of 
land  in  the  midst  of  the  woods,  which  he 


7o6 


COMMEMORATI\'E   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


bejifan  immediately  to  clear,  and  now  has 
thirty-five  acres  well  improved  and  under 
cultivation.  In  1893  he  built  a  sub- 
stantial brick  residence  (with  stone  foun- 
dation) 20x32,  one  story  and  a  half  in 
height,  with  a  one-story  "L"  18x22. 
In  addition  to  this  he  is  the  owner  of 
property  in  Bay  \'iew,  all  accumulated 
since  his  residence  in  Door  county  b>'  his 
own  industry  and  perseverance. 

In  1874  Mr.  Anderson  was  married, 
in  Green  Bay,  to  Anna  Sophia  Mauver,  a 
native  of  Sweden,  to  which  union  have 
been  born  seven  children,  namely:  Annie, 
Freddie,  Emma.  Lida,  Charlie,  Cora  and 
Dona.  Mr.  Anderson  is  a  Republican  in 
political  preference,  and  takes  a  lively 
interest  in  the  success  of  his  party.  He 
was  appointed  to  his  present  position  by 
the  city  council  in  June,  1894.  Socially 
he  is  a  member  of  Peninsula  Lodge,  No. 
320,  I.  O.  O.  F. 


JOHN  H.  ROONEY,  postmaster  at 
Kewaunee,  was  born  in  what  was 
then  known  as  the  village  of  Kewau- 
nee, Wis.,  March  31,  1861,  and  is 
the  eldest  in  the  family  of  eleven  chil- 
dren— four  sons  and  seven  daughters,  of 
whom  four  are  deceased — born  to  Patrick 
J.  and  Mary  E.  Rooney. 

When  our  subject  was  ten  years  of 
age  the  family  went  to  Minnesota,  then 
to  Nebraska,  were  absent  six  months  and 
then  returned  to  Wisconsin,  passing  six 
months  in  Milwaukee,  and  finally  return- 
ing to  Kewaunee,  where  Mr.  Rooney  re- 
ceived his  education  in  the  district  school. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  teach- 
ing, which  vocation  occupied  his  time  and 
attention  five  years,  and  he  then  passed 
another  year  in  Milwaukee.  On  his  re- 
turn he  was  appointed,  in  1886,  as  under 
sheriff,  two  years  later  as  deputy  sheriff, 
and  for  two  years  additional,  in  1891-92, 
was  sheriff  of  the  county.  He  has,  be- 
sides, served  as  city  clerk  and  constable, 
and  in  1893  was  appointed  assistant  ser- 
geant-at-arms  of  the  Wisconsin  Assembly, 


being  in  politics  a  stanch  Democrat  and 
taking  an  active  interest  in  that  party's 
affairs  in  National,  State  and  county  con- 
tests. In  June,  1893,  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  of  Kewaunee,  the  office  being 
then  of  the  fourth  class,  but  since  raised 
to  the  third  class. 

Mr.  Rooney  is  a  member  of  the  Sons 
of  Veterans,  and  is  financial  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  Branch  No.  32,  Catholic 
Knights  of  Wisconsin,  but  is  not  con- 
nected with  any  secret  order.  He  was 
married  July  11,  1882,  to  Miss  Sophia 
Melera,  daughter  of  Felix  Melera,  an 
early  settler  of  Kewaunee  county,  a  man 
of  much  prominence,  having  been  sheriff 
of  the  county,  besides  filling  a  number  of 
other  offices  and  being  at  present  a  mem- 
ber of  the  city  council  of  Kewaunee.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rooney  have  been  born 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom 
Louis  H.  and  Henry  L.  are  deceased. 
The  survivors  are  Laura  E.,  Walter  F., 
Flora  May  and  Estella.  Mr.  and  Mr. 
Rooney  are  devout  Catholics,  and  stand 
very  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  and  county. 

Judge  P.  J.  Rooney,  father  of  John 
H.  Rooney,  was  born  in  County  Down, 
Ireland,  February  14,   1839. 

About  the  year  1846  he  came  to 
America  with  his  parents,  who  first  locat- 
ed at  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  where  they 
lived  for  about  one  year,  when  they  re- 
moved to  Milwaukee.  There  he  received 
a  good  common-school  education,  and  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  years  commenced  to 
learn  the  printer's  trade,  which  he  follow- 
ed until  1857,  when  he  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Pierce,  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming.  In  1859 
he  set  up  the  type  for  the  first  edition  of 
the  Kewaunee  Enterprise,  nearly  thirty- 
five  years  ago.  On  August  21,  1862,  he 
enlisted  under  Capt.  Chas.  H.  Cunning- 
ham, in  Company  A,  Twenty-seventh 
Regiment  Wisconsin  Infantry,  as  private, 
was  promoted  to  corporal,  and  served 
honorably  and  with  credit  to  himself.  On 
account  of  disability    he   was   honorably 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


707 


discharged  from  the  service  at  Clarksville, 
Texas,  on  the  31st  of  July  1865.  Return- 
ing to  Kewaunee,  he  again  devoted  his 
time  to  farming  until  1871,  when  he 
sold  his  farm  and  took  a  trip  to  Minnesota 
and  Nebraska,  returning  to  Milwaukee  in 
July,  1872,  where  he  remained  about  one 
year.  Once  more  coming  to  Kewaunee, 
he  engaged  with  the  late  John  M.  Read  to 
take  charge  of  the  Kewaunee  Enterprise, 
having  full  charge  of  the  publication  of 
the  paper  for  three  years.  Judge  Rooney 
was  town  superintendent  of  schools  in  the 
earl)'  history  of  Kewaunee,  also  town 
clerk,  and  was  elected  town  treasurer  in 
1866,  which  office  he  held  until  1 871;  in 
1874  he  was  elected  clerk  of  the  circuit 
court,  filling  the  place  with  marked  ability 
for  twelve  years.  In  1887  he  was  ap- 
pointed mail  carrier  for  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington,  but  was 
obliged  to  relinquish  that  position  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health,  and  his  son  Franklin 
was  appointed  in  his  place.  In  1889  he 
was  elected  county  judge,  which  position 
he  was  holding  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
Judge  Rooney  was  married  in  i860  to 
Mary  E.  Allen,  of  New  York  State,  who 
survives  him,  and  by  her  he  had  eleven 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  still  living, 
viz.:  John  H.,  William  P.,  Mary  E., 
Frank  A.,  Agnes  A.,  Charlotte  I.  and 
Regina.  It  is  doubtful  if  ever  a  man 
lived  in  Kewaunee  county  who  enjoyed  a 
more  extended  acquaintance  or  had  more 
ardent  friends  than  the  late  Patrick  J. 
Rooney. 


WILLIAM  STONEMAN.a  promi- 
nent manufacturer  of  Nasewau- 
pee  township,  Door  count}',  was 
born  in  Forestville  tovs'nship, 
Door  county.  Wis.,  in  1865,  a  son  of 
John  and  Mary  (Venia)  Stoneman,  the 
former  of  whom,  a  native  of  England, 
came  to  Racine,  Wis.,  in  1835.  After 
his  marriage  there,  in  1S55,  he  removed 
to  Door  county,    locating  in   Forestville 


township  on  a  farm.  He  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  this  locality  and  was 
greatly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
He  took  an  active  interest  in  politics, 
always  voting  the  Democratic  ticket; 
served  as  chairman  of  the  township  for 
some  time,  and  gave  universal  satisfaction 
while  in  office.  He  and  his  excellent  wife 
were  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
They  reared  a  family  of  seventeen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  but  six  are  now  living,  as 
follows:  Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Andrew 
Sloan,  of  Forestville  township;  Luke  is  a 
farmer  of  Nasewaupee  township;  Amelia 
is  the  wife  of  Ashley  Coffrin,  of  Sturgeon 
Bay;  George  resides  at  Monument  Point, 
Egg  Harbor  township;  Joseph  lives  in 
Forestville  township,  on  the  old  farm; 
William  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  mother  departed  this  life  in  1884,  the 
father  one  year  later,  both  dying  upon 
the  old  homestead. 

William  Stoneman  was  educated  in 
the  schools  of  Forestville  township,  where 
his  early  life  was  spent.  After  leaving 
school  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade, 
and  removing  to  Menominee,  Mich.,  there 
followed  that  vocation.  Later  he  returned 
to  Door  Co. ,  Wis. ,  this  time  locating  in 
Nasewaupee  township,  where  he  built  a 
cheese  factory,  which  is  situated  four 
miles  from  Sturgeon  Bay.  In  1891  he 
engaged  in  manufacturing  cheese,  the  out- 
put from  his  factory  per  season  amount- 
ing to  40,000  pounds.  He  still  continues 
in  this  business,  finding  it  a  most  lucrative 
one.  In  politics,  like  his  father,  he  is  a 
Democrat,  and  he  has  held  numerous 
township  offices,  at  the  present  time  serv- 
ing his  second  term  as  township  clerk. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  Catholic  Order 
of  Foresters,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  In  1889  Mr.  Stone- 
man was  married  to  Miss  Kate  Murray, 
daughter  of  John  and  Jane  (Maloney) 
Murray,  natives  of  Ireland.  Mr.  Murray, 
who  at  one  time  was  a  sailor,  came  to 
Wisconsin  and  settled  in  Nasewaupee 
township  in  1 866,  where  he  purchased  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  resides.      Mr.  and 


7oS 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPniCAL   RECORD. 


Mrs.  Stoneman  have  three  children:   Earl, 
Jennie  and  Phebe. 

Although  our  subject  is  still  a  very 
young  man,  and  was  born  in  this  county,, 
he  has  witnessed  remarkable  changes  in 
the  surrounding  country.  Where  twenty- 
five  years  ago  the  sight  of  a  deer  was  an 
ordinary  circumstance;  where  the  wolves 
and  the  bears,  made  bold  by  hunger,  oc- 
casionally visited  the  lonely  pioneer 
cabins,  and  where  the  vision  was  then 
limited  to  a  few  hundred  yards  because  of 
the  forest  trees,  there  now  appear  com- 
modious farm  houses  and  vast  fields  of 
growing  grain  with  only  now  and  then  a 
bit  of  wood,  adding,  if  anything,  to  the 
beauty  of  the  landscape.  He  has,  liter- 
ally speaking,  grown  up  with  the  country, 
and  takes  an  honest  pride  in  its  rapid  de- 
velopment, noting,  with  satisfaction,  its 
continuous  changes  for  the  better;  as  a 
father  would  watch  the  mental  unfold- 
ment  of  his  favorite  child. 


PETER  JONET,  farmer  of  Luxem- 
burg township,  Kewaunee  county, 
was  born  in  Belgium  in  the  month 
of  August,  1834,  son  of  Frank  and 
Frances  (Polisc)  Jonet,  who  with  their 
family  crossed  the  ocean  to  the  United 
States  during  the  early  childhood  of  our 
subject.  The  vessel  in  which  they 
sailed  arrived  at  New  York,  and  from 
that  city  they  came  to  ICewaunee  county. 
Wis.,  taking  up  their  residence  upon  an 
eighty-acre  tract  in  Section  5,  Luxem- 
burg township,  which  the  father  pur- 
chased. The  country  all  around  was 
covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  timber, 
through  which  no  roads  had  been  cut, 
and  their  provisions  had  to  be  carried 
from  Bay  Settlement,  for  they  had  no 
team.  An  a.\e  and  a  grub  hoe  constitut- 
ed their  farm  implements,  and  they 
started  to  open  up  a  new  farm  and  secure 
a  home  in  the  West.  Soon  afterward  Mr. 
Jonet  sold  twenty  acres  of  his  first  pur- 
chase, and  bought  another  tract  or  forty 
acres,  making  in  all  one  hundred  acres. 


By  trade  he  was  a  mason,  but  in  this 
country  he  devoted  all  his  time  and  ener- 
gies to  agricultural  pursuits.  The  family 
numbered  si.\  children,  in  order  of  birth 
named  as  follows:  John,  Peter,  Celia, 
Peter,  Adele  and  Joseph. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  opens  this 
sketch  always  lived  with  his  parents,  and 
like  a  dutiful  son  gave  his  father  the 
benefit  of  his  services  in  his  younger 
years.  He  is  familiar  with  the  arduous 
task  of  improving  wild  land,  and  also  with 
the  other  hardships  and  difficulties  inci- 
dent to  life  on  the  frontier.  At  an  early 
age  he  began  work  in  the  fields,  and  soon 
became  familiar  with  farm  work  in  its 
various  departments.  In  1857,  when 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  Mr.  Jonet  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Adele  Del- 
core,  and  they  have  always  lived  upon 
the  old  homestead.  Their  union  has 
been  blessed  with  seven  children:  Felix, 
Theresa,  Eugene,  Philip,  Minnie,  Adele, 
Frank  and  Joseph. 

Mr.  Jonet  is  a  representative  farmer, 
and  successfully  manages  his  business  in- 
terests. He  now  has  sixty  acres  of  his 
one-hundred-acre  farm  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation,  and  the  rich  and  fertile 
fields  yield  to  him  a  comfortable  income 
in  return  for  the  care  and  labor  he  be- 
stows upon  them.  In  addition  to  the 
cultivation  of  his  farm  he  is  also  engaged 
in  the  saloon  business.  He  votes  with 
the  Republican  party,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  hold  membership  with  the  Catho- 
lic Church. 


ALFRED  OLANDER  was  born  in 
Finland,  Russia,  Februarj-  22, 
1856,  and  is  the  sixth  in  order  of 
birth  in  a  family  of  eight  children — 
Johanna,  Sophia,  August,  Louise,  John, 
Alfred,  Otto  and  Axel — all  of  whom  are 
}et  living;  but  only  Alfred,  John  and  Otto 
are  in  America.  The  parents  are  Hans 
and  Maria  (Westerlund)  Olander,  and  the 
father  was  a  sailor. 

The  subject  proper  of  this  sketch  re- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQBAPHWAL   RECORD. 


709 


ceived  the  educational  advantages  afforded 
by  common  schools,  and  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  years  shipped  before  the  mast. 
He  first  sailed  from  Finland  to  England, 
thence  to  the  East  Indies,  returning  after 
a  two-years'  voyage.  The  ne.xt  trip  was 
from  Sweden  to  England,  during  which 
the  vessel  was  wrecked,  though  none  on 
board  were  lost.  Going  to  Swansea, 
Wales,  Mr.  Olander  there  boarded  an  En- 
glish vessel  bound  for  Africa  and  the  East 
Indies;  then  sailed  to  the  Island  of  Cey- 
lon and  Australia,  after  which  he  returned 
to  Europe,  landing  in  Germany,  having 
spent  fourteen  months  on  that  trip.  On 
a  Nova  Scotia  vessel  he  went  to  Phila- 
delphia, Penn. ;  then  to  Amsterdam,  Hol- 
land, where  he  joined  the  crew  of  an  En- 
glish vessel  bound  for  Wales,  the  East 
Indies  and  Germany.  For  twelve  years 
he  followed  the  sea,  and  during  that  time 
experienced  a  number  of  narrow  escapes 
that  would  make  the  strongest  minds 
shudder. 

In  1 88 1  Mr.  Olander  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Johanna  Brann,  daugh- 
ter of  Jacob  and  Maria  (Grandroot) 
Brann,  and  sailed  for  the  State  of  Wash- 
ington, but  landed  first  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  whence  he  made  his  way  to 
Washington.  There  he  was  employed  in 
a  sawmill  for  a  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  came  to  Baileys  Harbor,  working 
in  the  woods  for  a  year.  Purchasing  120 
acres  of  wild  and  unimproved  land,  he 
cleared  a  space  large  enough  to  build  a 
house  on,  and  then  began  the  develop- 
ment of  a  farm.  For  ten  years  he  had 
no  team,  and  with  some  difficulty  carried 
on  agricultural  pursuits,  but  has  now 
thirty  acres  under  cultivation  and  is  mak- 
ing for  himself  and    family  a  good  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Olander  have  four  chil- 
dren: Alfred,  August,  Mary  and  Lena, 
three  of  whom  are  now  attending  school. 
The  parents  are  faithful  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church;  in  politics  Mr.  Olander 
is  a  Democrat,  and  takes  a  warm  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  his  party  and  its  suc- 
cess.     He  served  for  one  year  as  consta- 


ble, is  now  filling  the  office  of  supervisor, 
and  in  his  public  duties  he  is  ever  true. 
Whatever  success  he  has  achieved  in  life 
is  due  to  his  own  efforts,  and  his  example 
of  perseverance  and  industry  is  well  wor- 
thy of  emulation. 


M 


ATHIAS  MATHISON,  who  de- 
votes his  time  and  energies  to 
agricultural  pursuits  in  Clay 
Banks  township.  Door  county, 
was  born  January  17,  1867,  a  son  of 
Mathias  Mathison,  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, who  married  Clara  Oleson,  by  whom 
he  had  six  children:  Inga,  John,  Chris- 
tian, Anna,  Burt  and  Mathias. 

In  the  land  of  his  nativity  our  subject 
acquired  a  fair  education,  which  has  been 
supplemented  by  a  knowledge  gained 
through  reading  and  experience,  until  he 
is  now  a  well-informed  man.  In  18S0, 
when  a  youth  of  thirteen  years,  he  crossed 
the  ocean,  landingat  Philadelphia,  whence 
he  proceeded  to  La  Crosse,  Wis.  After 
being  employed  in  a  sawmill  in  that  city 
for  about  six  months,  he  came  to  Clay 
Banks  township,  Door  county,  and  en- 
tered the  employ  of  his  brother  John,  a 
farmer  of  that  locality,  by  whom  he  was 
employed  one  summer.  During  the  suc- 
ceeding winter  he  worked  in  the  lumber 
woods,  after  which  he  returned  to  his 
brother  John's  farm,  but  when  a  few 
months  had  passed  he  removed  to  Mich- 
igan, where  he  sought  and  obtained  em- 
ployment as  a  farm  hand.  Again  he  went 
to  the  home  of  his  brother,  and  once  more 
worked  in  the  lumber  woods  through  the 
winter  season.  His  next  place  of  resi- 
dence was  Sturgeon  River,  Mich.,  where 
he  found  employment  in  a  sawmill  for  a 
time,  subsequently  being  engaged  at  lum- 
bering until  his  marriage,  his  services  in 
that  line  requiring  his  residence  at  La- 
Crosse  (Wis.),  Winona  (Minn.),  and  Good- 
hue county  (Minnesota). 

In  1886  Mr.  Mathison  returned  to 
Door  county,  and,  purchasing  forty  acres 
of  land   in  Clay   Banks  township,  began 


flO 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


the  development  and  cultivation  of  a 
farm,  which  he  has  since  operated.  His 
preparations  for  a  home  were  completed 
by  his  marriage  to  Miss  Lena  Hanson, 
who  was  born  June  17,  1852.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  with  five  children, 
of  whom  three  are  living:  Martin,  Ber- 
nard and  Henry,  Clara  and  Bertha,  twin 
daughters,  both  dying  in  1890.  The 
mother  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  is  a  most  estimable  lady, 
highly  esteemed  by  all  who  know  her. 
Mr.  Mathison  votes  with  the  Republican 
party,  and  has  served  as  path  master,  but 
devotes  the  greater  part  of  his  time  and 
attention  to  the  management  of  his  farm, 
which  has  been  increased  by  the  additional 
purchase  of  forty  acres,  until  it  now  com- 
prises eighty  acres  of  rich  land.  It  has 
all  been  cleared  by  the  owner,  and  the 
improvements  thereon  stand  as  monu- 
ments to  his  thrift  and  enterprise,  while 
its  neat  appearance  indicates  his  careful 
and  thorough  supervision. 


HON.  WILLIAM  ROGERS,  coun- 
ty clerk  of  Kewaunee  count}',  was 
born  in  the  county  of  Gloucester, 
province  of  New  Brunswick,  in 
the  year  1838.  His  father,  Charles 
Rogers,  was  born  in  Queen's  county.  New 
Brunswick,  and  early  engaged  in  lumber- 
ing. In  the  fall  of  1S49  the  latter  came 
to  Wisconsin,  locating  at  Sheboygan,  his 
family  following  in  the  spring  of  1850, 
and  there  he  continued  in  the  lumbering 
business  until  the  fall  of  the  latter  year, 
when  he  moved  with  his  family  to  Two 
Rivers.  Remaining  there  until  1851,  he 
ne.xt  moved  to  Carlton,  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  lived  until  1855,  in  which  year 
he  returned,  with  his  family,  to  Glouces- 
ter, N.  B.  In  1863  he  and  family  again 
came  to  Carlton,  where  the  father  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  days,  dying  in  1878. 
His  children  were  nine  in  number — six 
sons  and  three  daughters. 

William  Rogers,  the  subject  proper  of 
this  sketch,   was  the  fourth  in  order  of 


birth  of  the  nine  children  above  alluded 
to.  He  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  New  Brunswick  and  of  Kewau- 
nee county,  and  after  quitting  school 
assisted  his  father  in  lumbering  and  shin- 
gle making  until  he  had  attained  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years,  when  he  married 
Miss  Jane  Powers,  daughter  of  Martin 
Powers,  of  Kewaunee  county.  He  then 
purchased  a  farm  in  Carlton  township,  on 
which  he  and  his  family  still  reside,  and 
where  he  follows  the  vocation  of  an  agri- 
culturist. In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and  in  1.878  he  was  elected  supervisor  of 
his  town,  and  was  chairman  of  the  board 
until  1888.  In  1 88 1  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  lower  house  of  the  State 
Legislature  and  served  one  term;  in  1888 
he  was  elected  county  clerk,  a  position  he 
has  filled  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the 
people  of  the  county  to  the  present  daj'. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
Order,  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum,  and  the  K.  of  P.,  and,  with 
his  wife  and  ten  children,  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Rogers  is  thoroughly  iden- 
tified with  the  interests  of  Kewaunee 
county,  and  is  one  of  its  most  substantial 
citizens. 


ANDREW  M.   SCHLEIS,   register 
of  deeds,  Kewaunee,  was  born  in 
Germany   about    the   j-ear   i860, 
and  is  a  son  of  Andrew  and  Fran- 
ces (Bohman)  Schleis. 

Andrew  Schleis,  Sr. ,  was  an  overseer 
of  timberlands  in  Germany,  and  came  to 
this  country  in  187  I,  settling  in  the  town 
of  Montpelier,  in  Kewaunee  county.  Wis. , 
on  a  farm  of  fort)'  acres,  which  he  has 
increased  to  200  acres,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  leading  farmers  of  the  count}-.  He  is 
a  Democrat  in  politics  and  a  Catholic  in 
religion,  and  is  highly  respected  by  all 
who  know  him.  His  children  are  three 
in  number,  namely:  Anton,  who  is  a 
farmer;  Joseph,  a  sawmill  proprietor, 
and  Andrew,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Andrew   Schleis   received  most  of  his 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGBAPHWAL   RECORD. 


711 


education  in  the  old  country,  which  he 
left  when  he  was  about  twelve  years  of 
age,  and  after  coming  to  America  worked 
on  the  farm  until  seventeen  years  old, 
when  he  went  to  Nebraska,  there  attend- 
ing the  English  school  four  months.  After 
a  year  passed  in  Nebraska,  in  1878,  in 
company  with  Anton  Datel  and  Anton 
Novak,  he  started  with  a  horse  team  from 
near  Fremont.  Neb.,  through  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  State,  passing  south  to 
Trego  county,  Kans.,  where  he  entered 
land  and  remained  one  year,  when  he  sold 
his  interest  in  the  team  and  stock  to  An- 
ton Datel,  who  in  the  meantime  had  mar- 
ried and  was  living  on  his  homestead. 
Mr.  Schleis  then  went  to  Topeka,  Kans., 
and  worked  on  the  State  Capitol;  thence 
to  Kansas  City,  Mo. ,  where  he  worked  in 
the  depot  six  months;  then  returned  to 
his  homestead  in  Kansas  and  made  some 
improvements.  In  the  fall  of  1879  he 
visited  Colorado,  Mexico,  Arizona,  Utah 
and  Montana,  following  mining  for  a  time, 
or  anything  he  could  find  to  do.  In  1880 
he  started  on  horseback  from  Trego 
county,  Kans. ,  through  Kansas,  Indian 
Territory  and  Mexico,  traveling  over  600 
miles,  just  to  see  the  country.  In  1882 
he  returned  to  his  home  in  Kewaunee 
county,  and  the  winter  of  1882-S3  he 
spent  in  the  lumber  region  of  northern 
Wisconsin;  the  summer  of  1883  he  passed 
in  Minnesota,  returning  to  the  Wisconsin 
woods  in  the  winter  of  1884,  and  follow- 
ing hunting  for  a  livelihood.  While  thus 
engaged,  in  company  with  Henry  Conrad, 
he  was  accidently  shot  in  the  right  arm, 
the  bullet  passing  through  the  hand  to 
and  above  the  elbow  and  grazing  the 
muscles  of  the  shoulder.  In  this  condi- 
tion he  was  obliged  to  walk  over  eighty 
miles,  or  three  days  and  nights,  through 
rivers  and  swamps,  before  receiving  at- 
tention. He  passed  the  following  year  on 
his  father's  farm,  recuperating. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Schleis  took  place 
in  the  spring  of  1886,  to  Miss  Frances 
Walachka,  daughter  of  Joseph  Walachka, 
a  farmer  of   Montpelier  township,  and  to 


the  union  have  been  born  one  son  and 
three  daughters.  Mr.  Schleis  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum, of  the  K.  of  P.,  and  of  the  K.  O. 
T.  M.,  and  has  held  offices  in  all  these 
orders.  In  1888  he  was  elected  sheriff  of 
the  count}',  and  in  1890  register  of  deeds, 
and  has  proved  to  be  a  \-aluable  and  use- 
ful citizen  in  every  respect. 


CLEMENT      KILLMAN,      county 
clerk  of  Door  county,  at  all  times 
courteous  and  obliging,    and  one 
of  the  most  respected  citizens  of 
Sturgeon  Bay,   is    a    native    of   Sweden, 
born  in  the  city  of  Boras,    Elfsborg,   in 
November,    1851. 

His  father,  John  Killman,  was  a 
prominent  attorney  in  Boras,  where  he 
married  Miss  Anna  Peterson,  by  whom  he 
had  thirteen  children,  five  of  them  now 
living.  He  died  in  Sweden  in  1866,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1867  the  mother  and  her 
fatherless  children  came  to  the  United 
States,  locating  in  Chicago,  111.,  where 
she  now  resides.  Clement  was  then  in 
his  sixteenth  year,  a  bright  scholar,  well 
educated  both  at  school  and  under  private 
tutors,  privileges  his  father  could  well 
afford  him,  having  at  one  time  been  in 
affluent  circumstances,  but  he  spent  much 
of  his  wealth  traveling  o\er  Europe  in 
search  of  health.  On  reaching  Chicago 
our  subject  found  employment  in  Field  & 
Leiter's  store,  where  he  remained  about 
half  a  year,  at  the  end  of  that  time  at- 
tending a  school  some  six  months,  for  the 
purpose  of  improving  himself  in  the  En- 
glish language.  On  leaving  school  he  se- 
cured a  position  in  a  fish  store  in  Chicago; 
but  after  six  months  in  that  occupation, 
having  bought  an  interest  in  some  nets, 
he  for  several  years  was  engaged  in  the 
fishing  industry.  In  1873  he  moved  to 
Port  Washington,  Ozaukee  Co.,  Wis., 
there  continuing  that  vocation  until  1879, 
the  year  of  his  coming  to  Door  county, 
where,  in  Union  township,  he  resided 
until  1 88 1,  still  engaged  in  the  same  line 


713 


COMifEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  business,  and  employing  several  hands. 
In  the  last-mentioned  year  he  bought  a 
farm  at  Little  Sturgeon,  in  Gardner  town- 
ship, whither  he  removed,  and  there  re- 
mained till  1890,  when,  having  been 
elected  to  the  position  of  county  clerk,  he 
came  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  selling  out  all  his 
fishing  interests.  He  was  elected  to  this 
office  by  a  majoritj'  of  1 2  votes,  and  re- 
elected in  1892  by  a  majority  of  800, 
which  in  itself  testifies  to  his  popularity. 
In  1 88 1  Mr.  Killman  was  married,  at 
Red  River,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.,  to  Miss 
Mary  Barrett,  a  native  of  that  county, 
daughter  of  William  and  Theresa  Barrett, 
Belgians  by  birth  who  came  to  Kewaunee 
county  in  an  early  day,  and  took  up  farm- 
ing. They  had  a  family  of  five  children. 
Politically  Mr.  Killman  is  a  Republican 
and  while  a  resident  of  Gardner  township 
he  served  as  chairman  of  the  township 
one  term.  He  and  his  wife  attend  the 
Moravian  Church,  and  enjoy  the  esteem 
and  regard  of  the  community  at  large. 


JOHN  WEITERMANN,    Sr.,  is  one 
of  the  self-made  men  of  Door  county, 
who  by  his  own  well-directed  efforts 
and  good  business  ability  has  worked 
his  way  upward   from  a  humble  position 
to  one  of  affluence,  and  his   example  may 
well  serve  to  encourage  others. 

He  was  born  in  the  Kingdom  of  Ba- 
varia, Germany,  January  6,  1830,  the 
second  son  in  a  family  of  five  children — 
three  sons  and  two  daughters.  His  father, 
George  Weitermann,  was  a  farmer,  and 
upon  the  old  homestead  John  was  reared 
to  manhood,  attending  school  until  four- 
teen years  of  age.  He  then  aided  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  farm  until  seventeen 
years  old,  when  he  determined  to  try  his 
fortune  in  America,  having  heard  much 
of  the  advantages  and  opportunities  here 
afforded  joung  men,  and  in  July,  1 847, 
he  sailed  from  Havre  de  Grace,  France, 
on  a  French  vessel  bound  for  Australia 
by  way  of  New  York.  After  thirty-eight 
days  spent  upon  the  bosom  of  the  Atlan- 


tic, he  landed  at  New  York  City,  and 
spent  two  years  in  the  Empire  State,  liv- 
ing near  Port  Jervis,  where  he  worked  as 
a  farm  hand.  Mr.  Weitermann  had  a 
very  limited  capital  at  the  time  of  his  ar- 
rival in  this  country,  but  he  worked  hard 
and  soon  got  a  start  in  life.  From  New 
York  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  stopping  first 
in  Milwaukee,  but  failing  to  find  work 
there  he  went  to  Walworth  county, where 
he  engaged  at  farm  labor  for  four  months. 
On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  re- 
turned to  Milwaukee,  where  he  learned 
the  tanner's  trade,  working  there  until 
1853,  when  he  removed  to  Two  Ri^•ers, 
Wis.  There  he  again  engaged  in  tanning, 
also  keeping  a  boarding  house  for  the 
Wisconsin  Leather  Co.,  for  about  fifteen 
years,  doing  a  good  business  during  that 
time. 

In  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  in  1852,  Mr. 
Weitermann  married  Philomena  Magda- 
lena  Yost,  who  was  born  in  Prussia  in 
1829,  and  when  a  young  lady  came  to 
the  United  States,  landing  in  New  Or- 
leans; thence  she  went  to  Watertown, 
Wis.,  where  she  had  friends  living.  By 
this  union  were  born  seven  children,  as 
follows:  Augustina,  now  the  wife  of 
Albert  Zico,  of  Minnesota;  Charles,  a 
farmer  of  Jacksonport  township;  Lena, 
wife  of  William  Voeks,  of  Voseville, 
Wis. ;  John,  who  is  also  living  in  \'ose- 
ville;  Emma,  wife  of  John  Richter,  of 
Escanaba,  Mich. ;  Ernest,  a  resident  farm- 
er of  Jacksonport  township;  and  George 
C,  at  home.  The  mother  of  this  family 
died  in  1870,  and  was  buried  in  the  ceme- 
tery in  Centerville  township,  Manitowoc 
Co.,  Wisconsin. 

In  1865  Mr.  Weitermann  removed 
from  Two  Rivers.  Wis.,  and  purchased  a 
farm  in  Centreville  township,  Manitowoc 
county,  which  he  partially  improved, 
making  his  home  thereon  until  1879, 
when  he  went  to  Ahnapee,  Wis.  At  that 
place  he  engaged  in  the  butchering  busi- 
ness and  conducted  a  meat  market  until 
1 88 1,  when  he  came  to  Door  county,  lo- 
cating in  Section  32,   Jacksonport  town- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


713 


ship,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home. 
The  improvements  upon  the  place  were 
all  placed  there  by  his  own  hands,  and 
the  farm,  with  its  highly  cultivated  fields 
and  modern  conveniences,  is  one  of  the 
best  in  that  locality.  In  connection  with 
his  sons,  Mr.  Weitermann  at  one  time 
owned  440  acres  of  land,  but  as  the  sons 
have  gone  to  homes  of  their  own  this  has 
been  divided,  though,  in  connection  with 
his  son  George,  he  still  retains  possession 
of  280  acres,  of  which  forty-five  are 
cleared  and  cultivated. 

Our  subject  has  ever  been  a  hard 
worker,  and  whatever  success  he  has 
achieved  in  life  is  due  entirely  to  his  own 
efforts.  In  1884  his  left  leg  was  broken, 
and  for  some  time  his  life  was  despaired 
of;  but  his  vigorous  constitution  and 
naturally  robust  health  at  length  tri- 
umphed over  disease  and  he  recovered, 
though  he  will  always  be  a  cripple.  In 
his  political  views,  he  has  always  been  a 
stalwart  Democrat,  and  has  served  as 
supervisor  of  his  district,  proving  an  effi- 
cient and  capable  officer.  He  had  but 
limited  educational  privileges  in  his  youth, 
but  possesses  an  observing  eye  and  very 
retentive  memory  and  has  made  him- 
self a  well-informed  man.  His  life  has 
been  a  busy  and  useful  one,  and  he  well 
merits  the  high  regard  in  which  he  is  held 
by  his  neighbors  and  friends. 


CHARLES  JESS,  son  of  a  worthy 
old  veteran  of  the  German  army, 
was  born  March  23,1 846,  m  Schles- 
wig-Holstein,  Germany.  His  fa- 
ther, Glaus  Jess,  was  born  in  the  same 
place  in  1820,  passed  his  childhood  on  a 
farm,  and  attended  the  common  schools. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  years  he  entered 
the  German  army,  and  that  life  suiting 
him  he  remained  a  soldier  the  greater 
part  of  his  life.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Elseba  Rowher,  who  was  born  February 
12,  1822,  in  the  same  section  of  the 
country  as  himself,  and  five  children 
came    to    bless    their    home:     Hans,    the 


youngest,  who  died  of  cholera  in  the 
Philippine  Islands;  Charles,  our  subject, 
in  Washington  Island,  Wis. ;  Elseba, 
now  living  in  Holstein,  Germany;  Annie, 
of  Hyde  Park,  Scotland,  and  Katharina, 
who  resides  on  the  Island  of  Sylt,  in  the 
North  Sea. 

Charles  Jess,  our  subject,  received  an 
excellent  education  in  the  German  and 
Danish  languages,  and  was  afterward 
apprenticed  to  the  blacksmith  trade,  which 
he  followed  until  1866,  the  year  of  his 
emigration  to  the  United  States.  He 
located  in  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  and  followed 
his  trade  there  until  1879,  when  he 
moved  to  Washington  Island,  Door  county, 
Wis.,  continuing  blacksmithing  here  for 
six  years,  and  then  investing  in  eighty  acres 
of  land,  on  which  he  has  since  lived.  At 
a  later  date  he  bought  forty  acres  adjoin- 
ing, and  now  owns  a  very  fine  farm  of 
120  acres.  He  had  little  money  to  start 
with,  but  by  careful  economy,  close  at- 
tention to  business  and  good  manage- 
ment, he  has  acquired  a  splendid  piece  of 
property,  the  value  of  which  he  has  in- 
creased by  erecting  good  substantial  build- 


livmg 


While 
met  and  married 
was  born  August 
burg,    Germany, 


in  Sheboygan  Mr.  Jess 
Miss  Mary  Heker,  who 
18,  1852,  in  Mecklen- 
and  they  have  three 
daughters:  Laura,  Clara  and  Agnes.  Mr. 
Jess  and  all  of  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  to  which  his  father 
also  belonged.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  has  been  elected  a  justice 
of  the  peace;  he  has  also  been  a  school 
officer  for  a  number  of  years. 


JOSEPH  DEBEKER,  a  retired  farm- 
er residing  in  Red  River  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  claims  Belgium  as 
the  land  of  his  nativity.  He  was 
born  in  October,  1837,  the  eldest  of  seven 
children  born  to  Louis  and  Albertine 
(Nelis)  Debeker,  the  former  of  whom  was 
a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade.  The 
other    members    of    their    family    were 


7H 


CO.V.VEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Oliver,  Adel.  Clementine,  Harriet,  August 
and  John  J. 

Our  subject  has  obtained  his  educa- 
tion for  the  most  part  in  the  school  of 
experience.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  years 
he  began  learning  the  carpenter's  trade 
with  his  father,  for  whom  he  worked 
three  years,  and  in  i,S55  he  accompanied 
the  family  on  their  emigration  to  the  New 
World.  After  a  long  and  tedious  voyage 
of  sixty  days  they  landed  in  New  York, 
thence  making  their  way  direct  to  Green 
Bay,  Wis. ,  where  they  arrived  in  the 
month  of  August.  They  then  came  to 
Kewaunee  county,  and  a  farm  of  forty 
acres  was  purchased  on  Section  30,  Red 
River  township.  They  went  through  all  the 
experiences  and  hardships  of  pioneer  life, 
and  in  the  autumn  after  their  arrival  the 
father  had  the  misfortune  to  be  struck  by 
a  falling  tree  and  severely  injured,  being 
thus  unfitted  for  work  for  some  time. 
Their  first  home  was  constructed  merely 
of  brush,  not  even  a  log  shanty  being 
erected  until  in  the  fall.  They  had  no 
team,  and  all  of  their  provisions  and 
goods  were  carried  from  Bay  Settlement 
on  their  backs. 

In  the  autumn  of  1855  Joseph  Ue- 
beker  started  for  Oconto  in  search  of 
work.  He  had  not  a  cent  in  his  pocket, 
and  was  compelled  to  ask  for  the  food 
on  which  he  lived  until  he  could  ob- 
tain employment;  but  he  was  not  very 
long  in  securing  the  coveted  work,  en- 
gaging as  a  farm  hand  at  eighteen 
dollars  per  month.  For  three  months 
and  four  days  he  remained  at  that 
place,  and  then  returned  with  a  cash  capi- 
tal of  fifty-five  dollars.  He  found  his 
parents  in  \ery  poor  circumstances,  their 
money  exhausted,  and  he  gave  them  his 
earnings  to  enable  them  to  obtain  the 
necessities  of  life  and  continue  the  work 
of  iinpro\ing  their  farm.  In  the  fall  of 
the  next  year  he  again  went  to  Oconto, 
the  snow  being  at  that  time  three  and  a 
half  feet  deep,  but  while  at  work  he  cut 
his  foot  \ery  badly  and  was  forced  to  re- 
turn.      In   the   winter  of    1858   he    again 


started  out  in  search  of  employment, 
going  to  Green  Bay,  thence  to  Fond  du 
Lac,  and  on  to  Hartford,  to  Milwaukee 
and  Chicago,  traveling  all  that  distance 
on  foot  and  without  a  cent  of  money  in 
his  pocket.  After  one  summer  spent  in 
the  last  named  city,  he  made  his  way  to 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  thence  up  the  Missouri 
ri\er,  500  miles  to  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

While  in  Leavenworth  Mr.  Debeker 
was  married  to  Catherine  Reis,  and  in 
that  city  made  his  home  until  a  year  had 
passed,  working  in  a  sawmill.  His  next 
place  of  residence  was  upon  a  farm  near 
Rock  Creek,  Kans. ,  where  he  carried  on 
agricultural  pursuits  two  years,  returning 
thence  to  his  home  in  Wisconsin.  Here 
he  purchased  twenty  acres  of  partially 
improved  land  in  Green  Bay  township, 
operating  same  for  two  years,  when  he 
was  drafted  for  service  in  the  army,  but 
he  hired  a  substitute  to  go  in  his  place, 
and  spent  one  summer  in  Hartford,  \\'is. 
Removing  then  to  Red  River  township, 
he  bought  forty  acres  of  land  on  Section 
16,  but  there  continued  for  only  one  win- 
ter, when  he  sought  and  obtained  employ- 
ment in  a  sawmill  on  the  Bay  Shore;  but 
after  two  weeks  the  mill  was  destroyed  by 
fire  and  he  had  to  return  to  his  farm.  In 
1 866  he  purchased  ten  acres  on  Section 
7,  Red  River  township,  and  to  it  added 
until  the  tract  comprised  sixty-five  acres. 
He  then  carried  on  farming  until  1893, 
and  was  very  successful,  managing  his 
affairs  in  such  a  manner  that  he  obtained 
a  comfortable  competency  which  now  en- 
ables him  to  live  retired. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Debeker  have  been 
born  six  children — J^osa,  Joseph,  Mary, 
Sarah,  Benjamin  and  Venerant — all  of 
whom  are  married  and  have  gone  to  homes 
of  their  own.  The  parents  hold  member- 
ship with  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in  his 
political  \iews  Mr.  Debeker  is  a  Republi- 
can. He  has  supported  that  party  since 
its  organization,  and  for  six  years  has 
served  as  chairman  of  the  township  board 
of  supervisors  in  a  most  creditable  and 
acceptable  manner.      His  prosperity  is  the 


CO-VMEMORATTrE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


I^S 


reward  of  his  own  efforts.  He  has  been 
one  of  the  most  industrious  of  men,  and 
perseverance,  economy  and  earnest  labor 
have  brought  to  him  a  competence  which 
is  well  merited. 


SOLON  BIRMINGHAM  was  born 
in  the  village  of  Black  River,  Jef- 
ferson Co.,  N.  Y.,  January  27, 
1837,  son  of  Richard  Birming- 
ham, who  was  born  in  England  in  i  800. 
When  a  lad  of  nine  years  Richard  Bir- 
mingham was  sent  with  a  pitcher  and 
nine  cents  to  get  some  milk,  but  he  pos- 
sessed an  adventuresome  disposition,  and 
throwing  the  pitcher  over  London  bridge 
he  used  the  money,  and  then  secured  a 
position  as  waiter  boy  on  a  boat  bound 
for  Canada.  He  afterward  enlisted  in  the 
British  service,  and  was  stationed  at  Og- 
densburg  for  some  time.  Later,  with  a 
few  companions,  he  went  on  the  ice  to 
Morristown,  N.  Y.,  and  then  to  Antwerp, 
in  the  same  State,  and  began  farming  on 
the  Russel  turnpike,  where  he  made  his 
first  purchase  of  land.  In  that  locality 
he  married  Plumie  Stone,  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  who  removed  to  the  Em- 
pire State  when  a  young  lady,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  nine  children — 
Charles,  who  went  to  California  and  be- 
came quite  wealthy;  Andrew,  who  died 
in  Door  county  in  1893;  Sylvia,  wife  of 
Mort  Delano,  of  Pensaukee,  Wis. ;  George, 
who  is  also  living  in  Pensaukee,  Wis. ; 
Nancy,  who  became  the  wife  of  Peter  Mc- 
Intyre  and  died  January  16,  1894;  Susan; 
Jessie,  who  is  living  in  Pensaukee;  Solon; 
and  Nelson.  The  father  of  this 
died  in  February,  1852,  and  was 
in  the  cemetery  at  Black  River, 
The  mother  died  on  the  old  homestead 
farm,  si.x  miles  from  Watertown,  N.  Y., 
in  1862. 

Solon  Birmingham  received  only  a 
meager  education,  but  his  training  in  farm 
labor  was  not  limited.  On  the  death  of 
his  father  he  started  out  in  life  for  him- 
self,   working   as   a   farm  hand,    and   did 


family 
buried 
N.   Y. 


such  good  service  that  he  could  always 
return  to  a  man  for  whom  he  had  once 
worked.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he 
married  an  old  schoolmate  in  Jefferson 
county,  N.  Y. ,  Miss  Jane  Sancomb,  who 
was  born  in  Franklin  county,  N.  Y. ,  and 
about  three  years  later  joined  the  boys  in 
blue.  He  enlisted  in  1862,  at  the  first 
call  for  300,000  troops,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Thirty-fifth  Regiment,  New 
York  State  Militia,  for  two  years.  He 
volunteered  and  served  in  Company  K. 
Tenth  Heavy  Artillery,  and  was  first 
under  fire  at  Cold  Harbor,  where  the  en- 
gagement lasted  seven  days.  He  was 
with  his  command  in  storming  the  heights 
of  Petersburg,  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Fisher's  Hill,  below  Winchester,  where 
Sheridan  made  his  famous  ride,  and  in 
the  battle  of  Bermuda-Hundred.  On 
April  2,  1865,  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
for  a  short  time  was  in  Libby  prison,  be- 
ing thence  transferred  to  Appomattox, 
where,  with  Lee's  army,  he  was  surren- 
dered. He  then  went  to  Petersburg, 
where  he  remained  three  months,  issuing 
rations  to  the  people  of  that  place;  he 
next  went  to  Hart's  Island,  N.  Y. ,  and  in 
September,  1 865,  having  been  discharged, 
returned  to  his  home. 

In  1878  Mr.  Birmingham  lost  his  first 
wife,  who  died  and  was  buried  in 
New  York,  leaving  one  child  to  mourn 
her  death — Hattie,  now  the  wife  of  Albert 
Green,  of  Carthage,  N.  Y.  Before  his 
marriage  our  subject  had  come  to  Wis- 
consin and  worked  in  the  lumber  woods. 
On  June  2,  1880,  he  was  a  second  time 
married,  in  Sevastopol  township,  the  lady 
of  his  choice  being  Angeline  Lawson,  who 
was  born  July  5,  1850,  in  Sheboygan, 
county.  Wis.,  daughter  of  William  Law- 
son,  a  native  of  Canada.  They  have 
three  children — Burton,  Mabel  and  Lura. 
In  1879  Mr.  Birmingham  settled  upon  his 
present  farm  in  Section  27,  Sevastopol 
township,  where  he  owns  and  operates  a 
tract  of  eighty  acres  which,  at  the  time  of 
his  purchase  was  unbroken,  but  to-day  is 
a  highly  cultivated  region  which  yields  to 


7i6 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPUICAL   RECORD. 


the  owner  a  fi;olden  tribute  for  the  care 
and  labor  he  bestows  upon  it.  He  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  members 
and  supporters  of  the  Republican  party 
in  his  locality,  and  by  his  ballot  has  up- 
held its  candidates  since  casting  his  first 
Presidential  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 
During  the  Civil  war  he  was  a  loyal  citi- 
zen, and  to-day  manifests  the  same  fidel- 
ity to  his  public  duties  as  when  he  fol- 
lowed the  old  flag  on  southern  battle- 
fields. 


WILLIAM  HARRISON  WAR- 
REN, acting  surveyor  of  Door 
county,  is  one  of  the  earliest 
pioneers  of  this  section  of  Wis- 
consin, and  for  many  years  has  been 
prominently  connected  with  its  interests, 
especially  in  Cla\banks  township,  where 
he  resides. 

Mr.  Warren  was  born  October  26, 
1 814,  in  Rushford,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y., 
son  of  Lewis  Warren,  a  native  of  Can- 
ada, who  was  of  English  extraction. 
The  latter  met  his  death  by  drowning  in 
March,  1S15.  He  was  a  man  of  consid- 
erable education  and  good  business  quali- 
fications and  was  a  manufacturer  of 
woolen  cloth  by  occupation.  In  early 
manhood  he  married  Sophronia  Adams, 
who  was  born    in   March,  1790,  daughter 

of  Daniel  and (Ainsworth)  Adams, 

and  came  from  old  Puritan  stock,  being  a 
direct  descendant  of  Miles  Standish. 
Daniel  Adams  served  several  years  as  a 
private  in  the  Continental  army  during 
the  Revolutionary  war.  To  Lewis  and 
Sophronia  (Adams)  Warren  were  born 
three  children,  Lewis  (now  deceased),  Al- 
bert G.  (of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis.),  and 
William  Harrison  (whose  name  intro- 
duces this  notice). 

William  H.  Warren  received  his  ele- 
mentary education  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  State,  which  he  attended  up 
to  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  then, 
having  had  a  thorough  training  in  the 
common    branches,    began   the  study  of 


geometry  and  trigonometry,  which  he 
pursued,  though  somewhat  irregularly  un- 
til he  was  eighteens  year  old,  studying  to 
some  extent  under  a  private  teacher. 
^^'hen  fifteen  years  old  he  left  home  for 
"a  life  on  the  ocean  wave,"  and  by  the 
time  he  was  eighteen  had  risen  to  the  po- 
sition of  second  mate  on  the  brig  "  Good 
Hope,"  continuing  to  sail  at  intervals  for 
twenty  years,  during  which  time  he  was 
placed  in  many  positions  of  responsibility 
and  trust,  and  gained  a  captain's  certif- 
icate. His  uncles,  Elihu  Adams  and  Guy 
F.  Adams,  having  been  lost  at  sea,  his 
relatives  pursuaded  him  to  abandon  his 
sea-faring  life,  and  our  subject  took  up 
his  residence  in  Hartford,  there  learning 
the  potter's  trade,  which  he  continued  to 
follow  for  a  number  of  years,  still  sailing 
at  various  times.  On  March  17,  1855, 
he  set  out  from  Worcester,  Mass.,  for 
Wisconsin,  journeying  to  Neenah,  thence 
on  foot  to  Wrightstown,  where  he  hired 
a  sleigh  for  Green  Bay,  and  from  there 
drove  on  the  ice  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  arriv- 
ing April  I.  Shortly  afterward  he  com- 
menced surveying,  and  before  long  took 
up  land  in  the  town  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  re- 
siding there  until  December  2,  1858, 
when  he  removed  to  a  farm  of  120  acres 
in  Claybanks  township  which  he  has  since 
owned  and  occupied.  Mr.  Warren  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  region,  and 
recalls  many  interesting  incidents  of  life  in 
early  days.  He  is  one  of  the  most  thor- 
oughly respected  citizens  of  Claybanks 
township,  with  which  he  has  been  closely 
connected  since  its  organization,  having 
been  elected  to  various  public  positions, 
and  served  as  the  first  clerk  of  the  town- 
ship, also  filling  the  office  of  chairman 
for  five  3'ears.  As  county  surveyor  he  has 
served  many  years,  and  still  continues  to 
act  in  that  capacity,  his  thorough  efficien- 
cy and  accuracy  giving  his  services  more 
than  ordinary  value.  He  was  also  elected 
county  superintendent  of  schools,  an  of- 
fice which  he  filled  in  a  most  satisfactory 
manner.  Mr.  Warren  cast  his  first  Pres- 
idential vote  for  Martin  Van  Buren,  joined 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


717 


the  Republican  party  on  its  organization, 
and  remained  under  its  banner  until  the 
birth  of  the  People's  party,  of  which  he  is 
now  an  ardent  supporter. 

In  1836  Mr.  Warren  was  united  in 
marriage,  at  Norwich,  Conn.,  with  Miss 
Eliza  B.  Dodge,  to  which  union  have 
been  born  six  children,  as  follows:  Har- 
riet, wife  of  George  F.  Foss,  of  Chicago; 
Edward,  of  Allegheny  City,  Penn. ;  Julius, 
of  Claybanks,  Door  county;  Sarah,  who 
married  John  Campbell,  of  Claybanks; 
William  Henry,  a  resident  of  Chicago; 
and  Lewis.  Two  of  the  sons,  Julius  and 
Lewis,  enlisted  in  the  Union  service  dur- 
ing the  Civil  war,  Lewis,  who  was  the 
first  volunteer  from  Door  county,  being 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant;  Julius 
was  wounded  and  still  carries  a  bullet  in 
his  leg. 

Mrs.  Eliza  B.  Warren  was  born  Jan- 
uary 31,  181 5,  in  the  town  of  Bozrah, 
New  London  Co.,  Conn.,  daughter  of 
William  and  Mary  (Ward)  Dodge,  natives 
of  the  same  State,  and  granddaughter  of 
Moses  Ward,  who  was  a  Revolutionary 
patriot. 


REV.  VENCESLAS  KOZELKA, 
pastor  of  St.  Lawrence  Church,  at 
Stangelville,  Ivewaunee  county, 
was  born  in  Valdice,  Bohemia, 
July  10,  1853.  His  father,  Frank  Ko- 
zelka,  was  born  in  1792,  attended  the 
common  schools  until  twelve  years  old, 
then  attended  the  Gymnasium  three 
years,  and  then  entered  college  and  pre- 
pared himself  for  a  teacher.  He  next 
studied  music  for  three  years  under  a 
private  tutor.  He  then  began  teaching 
in  a  public  school,  teaching  at  one  place 
until  1847,  when  he  took  charge  of  a 
school  at  Valdice,  where  he  taught  the 
common  branches  to  children  over  twelve 
years  old  in  the  forenoon,  and  music  in 
the  afternoon,  and  held  this  position  until 
1862.  From  that  time  until  1883  he  was 
principal  of  a  school  of  five  classes  or 
grades  at  Beromice,  where  he  was  retired 

41 


and  drew  a  Government  pension  until  his 
death  in  1 887.  He  was  married  to  Frances 
Fischer,  and  to  their  union  were  born  six- 
teen children. 

Venceslas  Kozelka,  from  the  age  of 
six  3'ears  till  eleven,  passed  his  time  in 
the  public  schools.  He  then  followed 
with  two  years'  study  of  the  Bohemian 
language,  and  also  spent  some  time  in  the 
study  of  the  German  language,  after 
which  he  entered  the  Gymnasium,  mak- 
ing a  specialty  of  languages  and  acquiring 
a  knowledge  of  six.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  joined  the  army,  served  one  year, 
and  after  his  discharge  went  to  Prague, 
for  two  and  a  half  years  studying  for  the 
priesthood,  then  served  a  year  and  a  half 
longer  in  the  army,  and  then  went  to 
Koeniggratz,  and  completed  his  theologi- 
cal studies.  He  was  ordained  priest  in 
1879,  and  for  eight  years  was  assistant 
priest  in  Bohemia  at  different  points.  In 
July,  1887,  he  landed  in  Kewaunee  county. 
Wis.,  and  immediately  took  charge  of  his 
present  congregation.  Since  his  admin- 
istration here  he  has  succeeded  in  build- 
ing one  of  the  finest  churches  in  the 
county,  and  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
costly  in  this  part  of  the  State.  Father 
Kozelka  is  a  member  of  the  C.  S.  P.  S. 
and  of  the  Knights  of  Aloysius.  He  has 
been  untiring  in  the  performance  of  his 
duties  as  a  pastor,  and  has  endeared  him- 
self to  his  flock,  who  feel  that  they  have 
in  him  a  sincere  and  devoted  friend. 


GEORGE  MARTIN,  manager  of 
an  extensive  brewery  at  Sturgeon 
Bay,  Door  county,  was  born  in 
Scott  township,  Brown  Co. ,  Wis. , 
July  16,  i860,  and  is  a  sen  of  Ludwig 
Martin,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  died  in 
Preble  township,  Brown  county.  In  the 
family  were  four  children  who  grew  to 
adult  age  and  two  who  died  in  early  life. 
The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  Wis- 
consin in  1852  and  was  at  that  time  five 
dollars  in  debt,  but  he  was  a  hard-work- 
ing man  and  eventually  secured  a  com- 


7rS 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPniCAL    RECORD. 


fortable  pr()i)erty.  In  politics  he  was  a 
stanch  Rcjuibhcan,  a  vahied  and  prcjfjress- 
ive  citizen,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  He  was  married  in 
Brown  county,  Wis. ,  and  his  widow,  who 
was  born  in  February.  1824.  is  still  livinjj 
in  Preble  township,  that  county,  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years.  Like  her  husband 
she  belongs  to  the  I^utheran  Church,  and 
she  is  a  consistent  Christian  woman,  held 
in  warm  regard  b\'  her  many  friends. 

Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict and  city  schools,  and  remained  under 
the  parental  roof  until  1878,  when  he 
began  working  for  Frank  F.  Hagemeister, 
of  the  Green  P)a\'  I-5rowery.  serving  first 
as  general  utility  nian,  and  constantly 
winning  promotion  as  the  result  of  faith- 
ful and  efficient  service  until  18S7,  when 
he  was  sent  to  Sturgeon  Ha)'  to  take 
charge  of  the  brewery  purchased  by 
Hagemeister  Bros,  at  that  place.  Since 
the  9th  of  December,  of  that  year,  he  has 
been  manager  and  overseer,  and  the 
business  has  greatly  increased  under  his 
care,  the  annual  output  being  3,  500  bar- 
rels, a  gain  of  1,500  over  the  sales  when 
he  took  possession,  while  the  capacity 
has  been  increased  to  4,000  barrels  a 
year. 

On  October  22,  1885.  in  Green  Bay, 
Wis.,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Martin  and  Miss  Paulina  fachman. 
who  was  born  in  ICaton  township,  lirown 
Co.,  Wis.  The\-  lived  tirst  in  Preble 
township,  that  count},  and  in  1887  came 
to  Door  county,  where  they  have  resided 
continuously  since.  Children  as  follows 
grace  their  union:  .\lma  .Aint-lia  and  l-2d- 
vvard,  all  still  with  their  parents.  On 
questions  of  State  and  Nati'nal  import- 
ance, Mr.  Martin  votes  \\ith  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  but  at  local  elections  sup- 
ports the  man  who{n  he  thinks  best 
qualified  for  office  regardless  of  party 
affiliations.  He  is  a  thorough  and  prac- 
tical brewer,  one  who  thoroughly  under- 
stands the  business  in  all  its  details  and 
is  a  trusted  and  etficient  employe.  He 
devotes  himself  untiringK-  to   the  concern 


with  which  he  is  connected,  and  his  suc- 
cess is  shown  in  the  greatly  increased 
output. 

JOHN  B.  COLL.\KD  has  spent  his 
entire  life  in  Door  county,  and  has 
e.xjierienced  the  hardships,  the  trials 
and  the  pleasures  of  frontier  life.  He 
deserves  mention  among  the  early  settlers 
of  the  communit}-,  and  it  is  with  pleasure 
we  present  to  our  readers  the  record  of 
his  life. 

He  was  born  December  18,  1S62, 
son  of  NPartin  and  |ulia  Collard,  natives 
of  I-5elgium  who  came  to  .\merica  in  1S56, 
locating  in  Union  township,  Door  Co., 
Wis.  They  had  a  family  of  three — two 
daughters — Josejjhine  and  Clara — and  one 
son,  our  subject.  The  father  purchased 
a  forty-acre  tract  of  land  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, where  no  roads  had  been  made,  the 
Indian  trails  being  the  oidj-  paths  which 
led  from  (ireen  Bay  to  Sturgeon  Bay. 
The  parents  walked  from  the  former  place 
to  their  farm,  and  upon  their  arrival  there 
Mr.  Collard  built  a  log  house  16x20  feet, 
covering  it  \\'\X.\\  hemlock  brush,  after 
which  he  began  to  clear  the  farm.  l-'rom 
the  [line  timber  he  made  shingles  which 
he  carried  on  his  back  a  mile  and  a  half 
to  a  place  of  shipment,  and  in  this  \vay 
earned  a  living  for  himself  and  family. 
F"or  Hve  years  he  had  no  team  and  all 
logging  was  done  by  hand,  while  the  work 
of  clearing  the  farm  was  accomplished 
with  an  a.\e  and  grub  hoe,  the  crops  being 
planted  among  the  stumps.  .\s  the  \ears 
passed,  however,  the  once  wild  tract  of 
land  took  on  the  appearance  of  a  highlj' 
cultivated  farm  and  became  one  of  the 
valuable  places  of  the  neighborhood.  The 
father  still  resides  on  the  old  homestead, 
but  the  mother  was  called  to  her  final 
rest  July  26,  18S4.  being  killed  by 
lightning. 

During  his  minorit\  John  B.  Collard 
remained  at  home  with  his  parents,  except 
for  two  years,  which  he  passed  in  Osh- 
kosh.  Wis.,  where  he    was  emplo}'cd  in  a 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


719 


sawmill  and  in  a  door  and  sash  factory. 
On  April  2,  1882,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Josephine,  daughter  of 
Frank  and  Antoinette  fLaduronJ  Leco- 
que;  her  grandfather,  Maximilian  Leco- 
que,  has  reached  the  advanced  age  of 
ninetj'  years,  and  is  living  in  Union  town- 
ship. Door  count}'.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Col- 
lard  have  had  eight  children:  Julia, 
Emma,  Clara,  Ida,  Antoinette,  Frank 
(deceased),  Jennie,  and  one  who  liied  in 
infancw 

Our  subject  exercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise in  support  of  the  Democratic  party, 
has  served  as  town  assessor  for  one  year, 
and  at  this  writing  is  serving  as  chairman 
of  the  town  board;  but  he  has  never  been 
an  acti\c  ]i(>litician  in  the  sense  of  office- 
seeking,  although  he  believes  in  faithfully 
discharging  the  duties  which  have  come  to 
him  through  the  trust  reposed  in  him  bj- 
his  fellow  townsmen.  He  and  his  family 
hold  membership  with  the  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Collard  is  now  the  owner 
of  a  tract  of  land  of  160  acres,  which  he 
is  rapiiily  placing  under  cultivation  and 
improving  with  the  accessories  and  con- 
veniences of  a  model  farm.  He  is  num-  ' 
bered  among  the  leading  agriculturists  of 
the  community,  and  is  widely  known  in 
the  count}'  where  his  entire  life  has  been 
passed. 


AXDI^FW  THRONDSON  is  one 
of  the  valued  citizens  that  Nor- 
wa}' has  furnished  to  Door  count}'. 
He  was  born  in  the  Pro\  ince  of 
Christiania,  in  1845,  son  of  Thrond  and 
Mar}'  f.AndersonjThoreson,  who  were  also 
natives  of  the  same  land.  There  the 
father  lollowed  farming  throughout  his 
entire  life,  and  died  in  1859.  In  1872 
the  mother  emigrated  to  this  countrx',  lo- 
cating in  .Allamakee  county,  Iowa,  where 
she  lived  six  years,  thence  removing  to 
South  Dakota,  where  she  now  resides. 
She  is  now  the  wife  of  Ole  Silverson,  by 
whom  she  has  two  children — Thomas,  a 
farmer  of  Forestville  township;  and  Alex, 


who  resides  in  South  Dakota.  By  her 
first  marriage  she  had  a  family  of  children, 
five  of  whom  are  now  living — Thor,  who 
resides  in  South  Dakota;  Andrew,  our 
subject;  Ingebard,  wife  of  Soren  Soren- 
son,  of  Minnesota;  Celia,  wife  of  Knud 
Johnson,  of  South  Dakota;  Mary,  who  is 
married  and  lives  in  Norway. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared 
in  Norway  and  educated  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  country.  In  1868  he  came  to 
the  United  States  and  settled  in  Manito- 
woc county.  Wis.,  from  which  place  he 
went  to  Ahnapee  township,  Kewaunee 
county,  where  he  made  his  home  three 
years,  removing  thence  to  Manitowoc 
county.  Wis.,  in  June,  1868.  There  he 
worked  at  farm  labor  until  coming  to 
Door  county  in  1872,  at  which  time  he 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  timberland 
from  the  Fox  River  Co. ,  beginning  its  im- 
provement immedialel} .  In  1893,  he 
erected  a  story  and  a  half  frame  resi- 
dence, 18x24  feet,  with  a  one-story  L 
i6x  22  feet,  and  in  1886  he  built  a  barn 
56  X  36  feet.  All  the  improvements  of  a 
model  farm  are  there  found,  and  the  place 
in  its  neat  and  thrifty  appearance  indi- 
cates the  enterprise  and  careful  supervis- 
ion of  the  owner. 

Mr.  Throndson  was  married  in  For- 
estville to\vnship,  in  1883,  to  Miss  Sere 
Ingrebright,  a  native  of  Norway  and  a 
daughter  of  Ingrebright  Nelson,  who  was 
born  in  the  sanie  country,  and  in  1872 
came  with  his  family  to  this  count}', 
where  he  and  his  wife  yet  reside.  Our 
subject  and  his  wife  are  meml)ers  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  take  an  active  part  in 
its  work,  and  Mr.  Throndson  has  for  some 
time  served  as  one  of  its  officers.  He 
votes  with  the  Republican  party,  but  has 
never  been  a  politician  in  the  sense  of 
office-seeking,  preferring  to  give  his  entire 
attention  to  his  business  interests,  in 
which  he  has  won  good  success.  He  had 
no  capital  with  which  to  start  out  in  life, 
but  by  hard  labor  accumulated  .some 
money  and  invested  it  in  land.  In  this 
way  he  has   steadily  worked    his  way  up- 


COMMEilORATIVK   BIOGIiAPEICAL    RECORD. 


ward,  and  as  a  result  of  his  earnest  appli- 
cation and  good  management  he  is  now 
the  possessor  of  a  comfortable  compe- 
tence. 


AUGUST  BAUMANN,  a  well- 
known  farmer  citizen  of  the  town 
of  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county, 
is  a  native  of  Germany,  born 
|anuary  9,  1834,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Sax- 
ony, a  son  of  F'rederick  and  Caroline 
(Wetzel)  Baumann,  natives  of  the  same 
country. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  butcher, 
in  which  occupation  he  continued  until 
1858.  when  he  came  to  the  United  States. 
Shortly  afterward  locating  at  Sheboygan, 
Wis.,  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  tim- 
ber land  which  he  commenced  clearing, 
antl  as  soon  as  possible  put  the  land 
under  cultivation,  following  farming  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1880,  when 
he  was  eighty-two  years  of  age;  his  wife 
died  in  1888.  They  were  the  parents  of 
twelve  children,  five  of  whom  are  de- 
ceased; a  brief  record  of  the  others  is  as 
follows:  August  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Minnie  is  the  wife  of  John  Henry, 
of  Shebojgan;  Anton  is  a  resident  of 
Plymouth,  Wis. ;  Henrietta  is  married 
and  resides  in  Sheboygan;  Charles  is 
also  living  in  Sheboygan;  Amelia  is  mar- 
ried to  Frank  Koulman,  of  Ahnapee; 
Alvin  is  a  resident  of  Forestville,  Door 
Co.,  Wis.  The  parents  were  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

August  Baumann  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  country, 
and  learning  his  father's  trade  worked 
with  him  until  their  removal  to  the 
United  States.  After  his  arrival  in  Wis- 
consin August  Baumann  had  no  capital  to 
commence  with,  and  finding  employment 
on  the  railroad  at  Sheboygan  he  worked 
there  four  months,  during  which  time  he 
managed  to  save  $60.  With  this  sum  he 
purchased  his  farm  of  eighty  acres,  in  Ahna- 
pee, Kewaunee  county,  and  locating  there 
engaged  in  general  agriculture,   which  he 


has  ever  since  devoted  his  attention  to. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  his 
township,  and  when  he  came  here  the 
region  was  a  complete  wilderness  for  miles 
in  every  direction.  He  has  experienced 
all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  life  on 
a  new  farm  in  a  sparsely  settled  countrj% 
and  the  comfortable  property  he  now 
owns  has  been  accumulated  by  hard 
work,  coupled  with  good  business  man- 
agement and  a  careful  attention  to  the 
details  of  his  work;  and  he  is  widely  and 
favorably  known  as  one  of  the  most  in- 
dustrious men  in  his  neighborhood. 

In  1859  Mr.  Baumann  was  married  to 
Henrietta  Brockhausen,  a  native  of  Rus- 
sia, born  in  1829,  who  died  in  1881;  she 
was  the  mother  of  six  children,  two  of 
whom  are  deceased;  those  living  are 
Paul  and  August,  of  the  town  of  Ahnapee; 
Lewis,  a  resident  of  Texas,  and  Paulina, 
of  Milwaukee.  In  1883  Mr.  Baumann 
married  Mrs.  Minnie  (Sandermann)  Skir- 
key,  a  native  of  Prussia,  born  January 
15.  1850,  and  to  this  union  came  four 
children,  one  of  whom  is  deceased; 
Henry  and  Edith  (twins)  were  born  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1885;  Clara  was  born  April  20. 
1887.  Mrs.  Baumann,  by  her  first  mar- 
riage, to  Edward  Skirke}-,  had  six  chil- 
dren, five  living — Mary  K.,  Anna  M., 
Josie  M.,  Emma  and  William — and  one 
deceased.  Mr.  Baumann  in  religious 
faith  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church;  politically  he  is  a  Democrat. 


WILLIAM  HEIMBECKER  was 
born  and  bred  in  the  "Badger" 
State.  His  father,  William 
Heimbecker,  came  from  Ger- 
many to  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Minnie  Lipkey,  and  soon  after- 
ward he  moved  to  the  citj'  of  Manitowoc, 
Wis. ,  where  in  1  856  our  subject  was  born. 
The  father  was  a  shoemaker  and  followed 
his  trade  in  that  city  for  many  years.  In 
1 87 1  became  to  Door  county,  where  he 
located  at  Horns  Pier,  Claybanks  town- 
ship, on  a  homestead  claim.      He  died  on 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


721 


this  place  in  18S2;  the  mother  now  re- 
sides at  Sturgeon  Bay.  They  had  a 
famil)'  of  seven  chikh'en,  all  of  whom  are 
hving  :  William,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Gusta  (widow of  Herman  Kleicke), 
of  Bay  View,  Wis. ;  Emma,  the  wife  of 
Albert  Lipkey;  Minnie,  who  resides  in 
Door  county;  Adolph;  Fred,  who  is  mar- 
ried and  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  and 
Charley,  who  makes  his  home  in  Denver, 
Colorado. 

William  Heimbecker  attended  the 
public  schools  in  Manitowoc,  and  when 
fourteen  years  of  age  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Claybanks,  Door  county, 
where  he  helped  to  clear  the  home  farm. 
In  18S3  he  decided  to  have  a  home  of  his 
own,  and  in  that  year  married  Miss  So- 
phia, daughter  of  Chris,  and  Gusta 
(Buschman)  Tansing,  who  were  born  in 
Germany  and  were  among  the  first  settlers 
in  Sturgeon  Bay,  Door  county,  where 
the  daughter  was  born,  and  where  the 
father  still  resides,  the  mother  having 
died  in  1893.  Mr.  Heimbecker  bought 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  26,  Nase- 
waupee  township,  of  which  he  has  cleared 
thirty  acres.  Since  his  removal  to  this 
place  he  has  erected  an  18x24  one-and- 
one-half  story  frame  house,  built  a  barn, 
and  has  a  good  well;  he  is  a  hard  worker, 
a  successful  farmer  and  an  able  business 
man.  He  belongs  to  the  Republican 
party,  and  talks  intelligently  on  political 
subjects,  although  he  does  not  aspire  to 
office. 


IVI 


ARTIN  MILLER,  who  is  num- 
bered among  the  honored  pio- 
neers of  Door  county  of  1856, 
and  is  also  one  of  its  leading 
farmers,  claims  Germany  as  the  land  of 
his  birth,  which  occurred  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Prussia  in  1830. 

His  parents,  Peter  and  Charlotte 
(Yager)  Miller,  were  also  natives  of  Prus- 
sia, and  in  that  country  the  father  fol- 
lowed farming  until  1856,  when,  having 
determined  to   seek  a  home  in   America, 


he  boarded  the  sailing  vessel  "Rudolph," 
at  Hamburg,  Germany,  and  after  a  voy- 
age of  seven  weeks  and  three  days  landed 
at  New  York.  He  came  at  once  to  Door 
county.  Wis.,  and,  locating  upon  a  farm, 
here  made  his  home  until  his  death;  he 
passed  away  in  1894,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-seven  years.  His  wife 
passed  away  some  years  previous,  dying 
in  1 88 1.  This  worthy  couple  had  a 
family  of  five  children,  namely:  Martin, 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Ferdinand,  who 
resides  in  Section  3,  Forestville  town- 
ship; William,  who  is  married  and  lives 
in  Brussels  township;  John,  who  is  living 
in  Merrick  county.  Neb.  ;  and  Hermann, 
who  is  also  located  in  Nebraska. 

Our  subject  was  reared  in  the  usual 
manner  of  farmer  lads,  and  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  land  obtained  a  good 
education.  He  followed  farming  in  the 
Fatherland  until  twenty-six  years  of  age, 
at  which  time  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  has  since  been  a  resident  of 
Door  county,  having  during  the  years 
which  have  since  passed  cleared  and  im- 
proved eighty-five  acres  of  his  fine  farm, 
which  comprises  1 20  acres  of  rich  land. 
There  are  good  buildings  upon  the  place, 
and  the  well-tilled  fields  tell  of  the  thrift 
and  enterprise  of  the  owner.  In  1S66, 
in  Forestville  township,  Mr.  Miller  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Caroline 
Dresterbeck,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Sophia  Dresterbeck, 
who  lived  and  died  in  that  country.  Six 
children  have  been  born  to  this  union,  as 
follows:  Albert,  Ferdinand,  Bertha  (now 
the  wife  of  Frank  Storm),  Albertina, 
Edward  and  Martin.  The  parents  are 
both  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  Mr.  Miller  is  now  serving  as  trustee. 
He  takes  quite  an  active  interest  in  poli- 
tics, but  allies  himself  with  no  party,  pre- 
ferring to  support  the  man  whom  he 
thinks  best  qualified  for  office  regardless 
of  party  affiliation.  He  has  served  as 
supervisor  and  was  chairman  of  the  board 
of  Forestville  township  for  about  four 
vears.      Mr.    Miller  is  one    of  the    oldest 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


citizens  of  Door  county,  and  well  deserves 
mention  among  her  honored  pioneers,  for 
during  thirty-eight  years  he  has  aided  in 
the  development  of  this  region,  has  done 
all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  work  of 
public  improvement,  and  has  been  identi- 
fied with  those  enterprises  calculated  to 
prove  of  public  benefit.  His  labors  have 
aided  in  transforming  the  county  from  an 
unl)roken  wilderness  to  a  region  of  rich 
fertility,  and  in  placing  Door  county  in  the 
front  rank  among  the  counties  of  the  State. 


JOHN  BLEY,  one  of  the  substantial 
agriculturists  of  Jacksonport  town- 
shi|\  Door  county,  where  he  stands 
high  in  the  estimation  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  thorough  business  man  and 
a  financier  of  no  small  ability  is  a  Ger- 
man by  birth,  born  September  5,  1834, 
in  the  Grand  Ducln-  of  Sachsen-Weimar. 
He  is  the  youngest  smi  of  (leorge 
Bley,  who  was  a  musician  in  the  Father- 
land. Our  subject  received  a  fair  educa- 
tion at  the  public  schools  of  his  place  of 
birth,  was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  remained  under  the  parental  roof  un- 
til he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  when  he 
left  the  old  home  and  for  a  few  months 
worked  for  others.  In  the  spring  of  1S56, 
having  concluded  to  emigrate  to  the  West- 
ern World,  he  took  passage  at  the  port  of 
Hamburg  on  a  sailing  vessel  bound  for 
Ouebec,  Canada,  which  ancient  capital 
was  reached  after  a  voyage  of  eleven 
weeks.  In  Canada  he  followed  agricul- 
tural pursuits  in  all  fourteen  years,  clear- 
ing fifty  acres  of  land  which  he  had 
l>ought.  Coming  from  Canada  to  Jack- 
sonport. Door  Co.,  Wis.,  he  first  assisted 
Charles  Reynolds  in  getting  out  railroad 
ties  and  telegraph  poles,  and  having  had 
a  good  view  of  the  surrounding  country 
became  so  well  satisfied  with  it  that  he 
concluded  to  finall}'  settle  here,  with 
which  intent  he  returned  to  Canada,  sold 
his  property  there,  and  brought  his  fam- 
ily to  Jacksonport  township.  Here  he 
purchased  160  acres  of  wild  land  in  Sec- 


tions 1 7  and  8  at  $1.25  per  acre,  on  which 
there  was  neither  clearing,  road,  nor 
dwelling  of  any  sort;  but  fearlessly  the 
bold  pioneer  went  to  work,  and  ere  long 
he  had  a  good  substantial  log  house  built 
for  himself  and  family.  He  had  brought 
a  team  of  horses  with  him — something  of 
a  curiosity  in  those  parts  at  that  time 
when  horses  were  rarely  met  with — and 
these  proved  of  great  service  to  him  in 
clearing  his  land.  To  the  original  160 
acres  he  from  time  to  time  added  until  he 
owned  360  acres,  160  of  which  he  dis- 
tributed among  his  children,  lea\ing  him 
still  200  acres,  ninety-five  of  which  are 
cleared,  representing  one  of  the  most  fer- 
tile farms  in  the  township. 

In  1 8 58,  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Bley 
was  married  to  Miss  Ann  Spanswick,  a 
native  of  England,  and  children  as  fol- 
lows were  born  to  them;  Nicholas,  a 
farmer;  Mary  M.,  now  the  wife  of  Henry 
Anschutz;  Rosa,  now  the  wife  of  John 
Anschut;?;  and  Sarah  J.,  all  of  Jackson- 
port township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bley  both 
attend  the  services  of  the  Protestant 
Church  ;  in  his  political  preferences  he  is 
a  Republican,  has  been  a  member  of  the 
township  board,  and  at  present  is  serving 
as  school  director.  In  the  van  of  the 
noble  army  of  representative  self-made, 
successful  and  progressive  pioneer  farmers 
he  stands  among  the  most  prominent,  the 
more  so  because  when  he  first  set  foot 
on  the  shores  of  this  vast  continent 
his  financial  condition  was  at  zero,  his 
means  being  no  more  than  sufficient 
to  bring  him  across  the  Atlantic;  while 
to-day,  by  honest  toil,  untiring  labor  and 
reasonable  thrift,  he  finds  himself  ranking 
second  to  none  among  the  substantial 
farmers  of  the  township  and  county  of  his 
adoption. 


w 


ENZEL  SCHAUER,  one  of  the 
most  successful  citizens  of  Carl- 
ton township,  Kewaunee  coun- 
ty, was  born    in    Bohemia    De- 
cember   1 6,   1842.      His  parents,  Wenzel 


COMMEMOIIATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


723 


and  Fanny  Schauer,  also  natives  of  Bo- 
hemia, came  to  Carlton  township,  Kewau- 
nee Co.,  Wis.,  in  1857,  and  engaged  in 
farming. 

Our  subject  attended  school  in  his 
native  land  until  he  came  to  Carlton  with 
his  parents,  and  here  he  assisted  his 
father  in  clearing  up  the  farm  and  work- 
ing it  about  three  years,  or  until  he  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  was  em- 
ployed as  clerk  in  a  general  store  at 
Sandy  Bay,  Carlton  township,  for  about 
a  year;  he  then  purchased  and  located  on 
the  farm  he  now  occupies,  and  by  econ- 
omy and  hard  work  has  made  agriculture 
a  success.  His  place  is  in  first-class  condi- 
tion, and  he  is  looked  upon  as  a  first-class 
agriculturist.  In  politics  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  has  been  honored  by  his  party 
with  the  of^ce  of  town  treasurer  and  that 
of  supervisor,  as  well  as  a  number  of 
minor  offices,  all  of  which  he  has  filled 
with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  people.  Mr.  Schauer  is  also 
an  accomplished  musician,  playing  well 
on  several  different  instruments,  and  is 
the  leader  of  the  Schauer  Band  of  Nor- 
jnan. 

Mr.  Schauer  was  first  married  to 
Mary  Schup,  who  was  born  in  Bohemia 
in  1 842,  and  she  bore  her  husband  the  fol- 
lowing named  children:  Mary,  Michael, 
Joseph,  Wenzel,  John,  Joseph,  Kath- 
arine, Annie,  Cecilia,  Fanny  and  Anton. 
The  fnother  of  this  family  died  in  the 
town  of  Franklin  May  7,  1885,  and  in 
1 88"  Mr.  Schauer  married  Mary  Pelnar, 
who  was  born  in  Bohemia  in  1845.  Mr. 
Schauer  and  all  his  family  are  consistent 
members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
they  are  highly  respected  in  the  commun- 
it\'  in  which  they  live. 


THEODOK    WUNSCH.       Among 
the   worthy  German  citizens  who 
have   found  homes    in   Kewaunee 
county,  and  are  deserving  of  men- 
tion in  her  history,  is  the  gentleman  whose 
name  begins  this    review.      He    was  born 


in  Oberndorf  November  9,  1833,  son  of 
Christian  and  Maria  (Daul)  Wunsch, 
the  former  of  whom,  a  carpenter  by 
trade,  died  when  our  subject  was  only 
two  years  old,  after  which  the  mother 
married  Bernard  Somer,  by  whom  she 
had  two  children: — Simon  and  Mar}'. 
By  her  first  marriage  she  also  had  two 
children,  namely:     Theodor  and    Frank. 

Theodor  Wunsch  acquired  a  fair  edu- 
cation, attending  school  between  the  ages 
of  six  and  fourteen  years,  according  to 
the  laws  of  his  native  land.  He  then  en- 
tered upon  his  business  career  by  serving 
a  two-years'  apprenticeship  to  a  shoe- 
maker, and  in  1852  he  came  to  America. 
He  was  then  a  young  man  of  nineteen 
years,  and  hoped  that  he  might  benefit  his 
financial  condition  by  his  removal  to  the 
New  World,  for  he  had  heard  much  of 
the  advantages  and  privileges  here  afford- 
ed. He  landed  at  New  York  and  re- 
mained in  that  city  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
working  on  the  railroad,  after  which  he 
came  west,  settling  in  West  Bend,  Wash- 
ing county.  Wis.  During  the  succeeding 
two  years  he  was  employed  at  farm  labor, 
and  on  changing  his  residence  sought  a 
home  in  Montpelier,  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  purchased  160  acres  of  wild 
land,  building  thereon  a  log  house,  16x22 
feet,  which  he  covered  with  shakes.  Out 
of  the  wilderness  he  hewed  a  farm,  and 
to-day  has  an  elegant  home  and  a  valua- 
ble and  highly  improved  tract  of  land. 

On  June  19,  1858,  Mr.  Wunsch  led 
to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Caroline  Daul, 
daughter  of  Benedict  and  Mary  Josephine 
(Daul)  Daul.  He  then  returned  to  West 
Bend,  Wis. ,  where  he  harvested  a  ten- 
acre  crop  of  wheat,  after  which  he  re- 
sumed work  upon  his  farm,  having  placed 
sixteen  acres  under  cultivation,  when,  in 
1862,  he  was  draftsd  for  service  in  the 
army.  On  November  24  of  that  year  he 
was  called  for  duty,  went  to  Kewaunee, 
and  thence  to  Racine,  Wis.,  joining 
Copany  K,  Thirty-Fourth  Wis.  V.  I., 
with  which  he  went  to  Columbus,  Ky. 
After  three   months  spent  at  that  place 


724 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPmCAL   RECORD. 


the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  and  Mr.  W'unsch  there  continued 
until  discharged  on  account  of  disabihty, 
having  contracted  disease,  from  which  he 
has  never  yet  recovered.  He  then  re- 
turned home,  and  during  the  succeeding 
winter  was  unable  to  work,  but  as  soon  as 
possible  he  resumed  his  farm  labors,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  his  estimable  wife 
he  has  gained  prosperity. 

Ten  children  were  born  to  them — 
Lena,  Jacob,  Frank,  Catherine,  Andrew, 
Henry,  Fred,  Albert,  Mary  and  Barney — 
of  whom  Andrew,  Mary  and  Barney  are 
still  at  home.  The  mother  of  this  fam- 
ily was  called  to  her  final  rest  December 
28,  1 89 1.  Mr.  Wunsch  holds  member- 
ship with  the  Catholic  Church,  and  \otes 
with  the  Republican  party,  but  gives  most 
of  his  time  to  his  farm  work,  although  he 
finds  plenty  of  leisure  in  which  to  faith- 
fully discharge  his  duties  of  citizenship. 


HERMAN    GAULKE,    one   of    the 
wide-awake  and  enterprising  farm- 
ers of  Lincoln  township,  Kewau- 
nee   county,    was    born    in    Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  February  20,  1864,  son  of 
Fred  Gaulke,  who  was  born  in  Germany 
March  6,  1S23. 

The  father  was  reared  on  a  farm,  ac- 
quired his  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  land,  and  when  a 
young  man  held  the  position  of  foreman 
on  a  large  farm  for  some  seven  years. 
He  then,  in  1852,  emigrated  to  the  United 
States,  locating  in  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
where  he  worked  as  a  laborer  for 
four  years,  after  which  he  was  em- 
ployed in  the  car  shops  for  a  similar 
period.  He  then  came  to  Lincoln  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  and  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  timber  land  upon  which 
he  located,  turning  his  attention  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  This  land  he  cleared 
and  improved  and  to  it  added  100  acres, 
which  constitutes  a  valuable  and  highly 
improved  farm,  now  supplied  with  all 
modern  conveniences,  and  accessories. 


Mr.  Gaulke  was  married  in  Germany, 
in  1 85 1,  to  Augusta  Graundemann,  who 
was  born  in  that  country  in  1822,  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  si.\  children: 
Fred,  who  is  living  in  Lincoln  township, 
Kewaunee  county;  Bertha,  wife  of  Her- 
man Holtz,  of  Casco  township;  Charles, 
who  is  also  living  in  Lincoln  township; 
Herman;  Albert,  who  is  located  at  Rio 
Creek,  Lincoln  township;  and  William, 
deceased.  The  father  of  this  family  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  a  member  of 
the  German  Lutheran  Church.  He  is 
truly  a  self-made  man,  for,  although  he 
came  to  this  country  a  poor  man,  he  has 
steadily  worked  his  way  upward  to  a 
position  of  affluence. 

Our  subject  came  with  the  family  to 
Kewaunee  county  during  his  early  jouth, 
and  acquired  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Lincoln  township.  He  has 
carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  through- 
out his  entire  life.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen he  began  working  as  a  farm  hand  in 
the  neighborhood  of  his  own  home,  and 
was  thus  employed  until  his  marriage, 
which  took  place  June  21,  1887,  the  lady 
of  his  choice  being  Ernestina  I'Circhmann, 
who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Casco, 
Kewaunee  county.  May  7,  18C6.  To 
them  were  born  four  children — Alma, 
August,  and  Lewis  and  John,  twins,  the 
latter  now  deceased. 

Upon  his  marriage,  Mr.  Gaulke  located 
upon  the  home  farm,  which  he  operated 
for  two  years,  removing  then  to  Sturgeon 
Bay,  where  he  worked  in  a  sawmill  and 
in  a  stone  quarry  for  three  years.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  he  purchased  his  father's 
farm  of  eighty  acres,  which  he  now 
owns  and  occupies,  and  in  its  manage- 
ment and  cultivation  he  shows  such  abili- 
ty that  he  is  numbered  among  the  lead- 
ing agriculturists  of  the  county.  He  takes 
a  warm  interest  in  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, and  means  to  give  his  children  good 
advantages  along  that  line,  thus  fitting 
them  for  the  practical  and  responsible 
duties  of  life.  The  best  interests  of  the 
community  always  find  in  him    a   friend, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


725 


and  his  support  is  withheld  from  no 
worthy  enterprise.  He  exercises  his  right 
of  franchise  in  support  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  belong  to 
the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs.  Gaulke's 
parents,  August  and  Johanna  (Pagel) 
Kirchmann,  are  also  residents  of  Ivewau- 
nee  county,  living  upon  a  farm  in  Casco 
township.      By  birth  they    are    Germans. 


GEORGE  FRONEY,  a  solid  farmer 
of  Carlton  township,  I\ewaunee 
count}',  was  born  at  Hardegsen, 
Hanover,  Germany,  February  28, 
1838.  His  father,  August  Froney,  was 
born  in  1 796,  and  his  mother,  Caroline 
(Geier)  Froney,  was  born  in  1805,  and 
both  were  natives  of  Hanover. 

In  1847  August  Froney  brought  his 
family  to  the  United  States  and  located 
in  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  followed  his 
trade  of  shoemaking  two  years;  he  then 
moved  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  opened  a 
shoe  store,  and  two  years  later  moved  to 
Amherst,  Ohio,  where  he  kept  a  shoe  store 
for  five  or  six  years.  Next  removing  to 
Elmore,  Ohio,  he  there  continued  the 
same  business  until  his  death,  in  1870, 
Mrs.  Caroline  Froney  djing  at  the  same 
town  in  the  same  3'ear. 

George  Froney  is  the  third  in  a  family 
of  eight  children.  His  boyhood  was 
passed  in  attending  school  at  Buffalo  and 
Cleveland  until  eleven  years  of  age,  when 
he  became  a  waiter  in  the  "American 
Hotel  "  at  Buffalo,  remaining  a  year  and 
then  returning  to  Amherst,  where  he  at- 
tended school  about  three  years,  and  then 
worked  a  year  at  cabinet  making.  He 
next  commenced  work  as  a  carpenter  in 
Fremont,  Ohio,  and  here  assisted  in  build- 
ing the  house  in  which  ex-President  Hayes 
died.  From  Fremont  he  went  to  Urbana, 
Ohio,  where  he  worked  a  year  as  a  car- 
penter, then  returned  to  Elmore,  where 
his  parents  were  then  living,  and  for  about 
five  years  followed  his  trade,  afterward  en- 
gaged in  the  grocery  business  for  a  twelve- 
month,   when    he   sold   the    grocery    and 


speculated  in  real  estate  until  1868.  His 
next  venture  was  in  the  hotel  business  at 
Sheboygan  Falls.  Wis. ,  but  at  the  end  of 
two  years  he  traded  the  hotel  for  city 
property,  and  this  he  traded  for  land  in 
Carlton  township.  He  at  once  cleared 
his  land,  and  has  been  engaged  in  farming 
ever  since,  to-day  ranking  among  the  most 
substantial  farmers  in  Kewaunee  county. 
Mr.  Froney  was  united  in  marriage,  in 
i860,  with  Miss  Rachel  Jacobs,  daughter 
of  John  and  Rachel  Jacobs,  natives  of 
German}'.  John  Jacobs  was  born  Octo- 
ber 5,  1805,  and  died  in  Amherst,  Ohio, 
in  1 88 1;  his  wife,  Rachel  (Nippoot) 
Jacobs,  was  born  in  18 10,  and  died  in 
Amherst  in  1869.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Froney  have  been  born  eleven  children, 
to  wit:  George,  Alice,  Lizzie,  Mary, 
Dora,  Albert,  Florence  and  Maynard, 
living;  Stella,  who  was  born  in  1875, 
died  in  1878;  Grant  and  Sheridan  (twins), 
born  in  1878,  died  the  same  year.  Mr. 
Froney  has  proven  himself  to  be  a  most 
excellent  business  man,  and  has  won  for 
himself  and  family  the  esteem  of  all  who 
know  them. 


N 


the  gen- 


ICHOLAS  J.  TERENS, 
ial  and  accommodating  clerk  at 
the  "  Read  House,"  in  the  city  of 
Kewaunee,  was  born  in  Two 
Manitowoc   Co.,    Wis.,  February 


Creeks, 
27,   1870, 

Henry  M.  Terens,  his  father,  was  born 
in  Prussia  March  23,  1839,  son  of  Nich- 
olas Terens,  who  was  born  in  France  in 
1 813.  The  latter  married  Addie  Pasch, 
a  native  of  Prussia,  and  they  came  to 
America  in  1847,  locating  at  Two  Creeks, 
Wis. ,  where  Mrs.  Addic  Terens  died  in 
i860,  Nicholas  in  1876.  Henry  M.  Ter- 
ens received  his  schooling  in  this  country, 
lived  a  short  time  at  Port  Washington, 
W'is. ,  and  then  accompanied  his  parents 
to  a  farm  in  Franklin,  Kewaunee  county, 
assisting  his  father    in   making   shingles. 


fence  posts,  etc. 
and  clearing  up 


,  and  in  cutting  cordwood 
the   farm   for  cultivation. 


726 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


After  ten  years  of  those  employments,  he 
and  his  father  started  a  saloon  in  partner- 
ship at  Mishicot,  Wis.,  which  they  car- 
ried on  until  Henry  M.  enlisted  in  Jan- 
uarj',  1862,  in  Company  H,  Second  Wis- 
consin Cavalry,  in  which  he  served  until 
February  4,  1865.  Afterward  he  re- 
turned to  Mishicot,  but  after  a  short  time 
moved  to  Two  Creeks,  where  he  formed 
a  partnership  \\ith  his  father  in  mercan- 
tile business.  At  the  end  of  three  or  four 
years,  however,  he  sold  his  interest  and 
bought  a  farm  near  Two  Creeks  which  he 
cultivated  about  eight  years,  then  sold, 
and  purchased  the  "Alaska  House,"  at 
Alaska,  Wis.,  which  he  conducted  until  his 
death,  November  24,  1886.  In  all  his 
ventures  Mr.  Terens  manifested  great 
abilities  as  a  business  man.  He  was  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  was  elected 
treasurer  of  his  township,  the  people  hav- 
ing the  utmost  confidence  in  him,  and  he 
also  served  as  postmaster  of  Alaska 
during  the  administration  of  Garfield 
and  Arthur.  He  was  an  active  mem- 
ber of  John  M.  Reed  Post,  G.  A.  R., 
and  was  altogether  a  popular  and  genial 
gentleman.  In  1866  he  was  united  in 
marriage,  at  Mishicot,  with  Miss  Barbara 
Dobry,  \\ho  was  born  at  Pilsen,  Bohe- 
mia, April  2,  1846,  daughter  of  John  and 
Annie  Dobry,  natives  of  Bohemia,  with 
whom  she  came  to  Wisconsin  in  i860. 
John  Dobry  was  born  in  1818,  and  his 
wife  in  1825.  To  the  union  of  Henry  M. 
and  Barbara  (Dobry)  Terens  eight  chil- 
dren were  born,  in  the  following  order: 
Annie,  December  21,  1866;  Amelia, 
April  7,  1868;  Nicholas  J.,  February  27, 
1870;  Isabella,  November  26,  1872; 
Henry,  April  13,  1874;  John,  March  17, 
1875;  Charles,  May  17,  1881;  and  Char- 
lotte, December  4,  1885.  Of  these,  An- 
nie fell  into  a  well  and  was  drowned  May 
31,  1869,  and  Charles  died  August  17, 
1881. 

Nicholas  J.  Terens  was  educated  in 
the  pioneer  log  shoolhouses,  but  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  was  compelled,  on  account 
of  the  feebleness  of  his   father,    to   relin- 


quish his  studies  and  assist  his  parents. 
After  his  father's  death  he  commenced 
the  tinner's  trade  in  Two  Rivers,  working 
at  it  two  years,  and  then  went  to  Chi- 
cago, where  he  worked  another  two 
jears.  He  ne.xt  traveled  through  north- 
ern Illinois  and  Indiana  for  a  short  time, 
and  on  returning  to  Kewaunee  went  to 
Peshtigo,  where  he  worked  a  year  or  so, 
and  then  established  himself  in  Kewaunee 
in  the  tin  and  hardware  business.  A 
year  later,  however,  he  sold  out,  and,  en- 
gaging with  different  firms  a  year  longer, 
has  since  held  the  responsible  position  of 
clerk  at  the  "Read  House,"  where  his 
affable  demeanor  has  won  him  hosts  of 
friends.  Mr.  Terens  is  Master-at-Arms 
of  Valiant  Lodge  No.  120,  K.  of  P.,  of 
Kewaunee,  and  is  Captain  of  R.  L.  Wing 
Camp  No.  63.  S.  of  \'.  He  is  a  young 
man  of  most  excellent  business  capacity 
and  strictly  moral  habits,  and  has  won 
the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 


IVI 


YRON  DEWEY,  one  of  the  best 
and  most  favorably  known  of 
Ahnapee's  farmer  citizens,  was 
born  April  5,  1835,  in  Jefferson 
county,  N.  Y. ,  and  is  descended,  on  his 
father's  side,  from  Hollanders  who  set- 
tled in  New  Amsterdam  (now  New  York) 
in  1 620.  Grandfather  Dewey  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Continental  arm}',  and  lost 
his  life  in  the  struggle  for  American  inde- 
pendence. 

Amos  Dewey,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  among  the  Green  Mountains  of 
\'ermont,  and  was  at  first  a  shoemaker 
bj"  occupation  but  later  engaging  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  followed  same  until  his 
death,  February  11,  1847,  when  he  was 
aged  fifty-one  years.  W'hen  a  young 
man  he  located  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  where  he  married  Zeviah  Zeruah 
Beebe,  a  native  of  \'ermont,  born  in 
1797,  and  of  English  e.xtraction,  her 
father  having  been  born  in  England  in 
1775,  whence  when  a  boj-  he  came  to  the 
Colonies  with  his  parents;  his  father  en- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


I-I 


listed  in  the  Continental  aini}-,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  Re\olutionar\-  war.  Mr. 
Dewey  remained  in  the  State  of  New 
York  until  1842,  when  he  came  to  Wis- 
consin, and  locating  in  Racine  county 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land,  whereon 
he  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until 
his  decease.  Mrs.  Dewey  survived  until 
1889.  She  was  the  mother  of  si.xteen 
children,  nine  of  whom  are  deceased,  the 
others  being  Joel,  of  Minnesota;  Aaron, 
of  Waupaca  county.  Wis. ;  Alvah,  of 
Minnesota;  Anna,  Mrs.  William  Jenks, 
of  Racine,  Wis.;  HuldaA.,  Mrs.  George 
Sterns,  of  Waupaca  county.  Wis. ;  Ma- 
tilda, of  Milwaukee,  Wis.  ;  and  Myron, 
whose  name  introduces  this  sketch. 

Myron  Dewey  came  with  his  parents 
to  Wisconsin  in  childhood.  When  but 
thirteen  years  old  he  lost  his  father  by 
death,  and  was  consequently  thrown  on 
his  own  resources  at  an  early  age,  devot- 
ing himself  to  general  agriculture  on  the 
home  farm  for  a  number  of  years.  When 
twenty  years  of  age  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Theresa  Leggett,  who  was  a 
native  of  Lower  Canada,  born  in  1836  of 
French  descent,  and  she  became  the 
mother  of  two  children,  Cordelia  M.,  now 
Mrs.  George  Nutter,  of  Amesbury,  Mass., 
and  Alice  A.,  deceased.  Four  years 
after  her  marriage  Mrs.  Dewey  died,  and 
was  buried  at  Racine,  and  Mr.  Dewey 
afterward  married  Sarah  Van  Valken- 
berg,  who  was  born  in  Michigan  City, 
Ind. ,  September  19,  1838,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania-Dutch parentage.  She  is  the 
mother  of  thirteen  children,  as  follows: 
Arthur,  born  October  3.  1879,  died  May 
14,  1884;  three  children  died  in  infancy; 
the  living  are  Alvahro,  born  December 
18,  1861;  Alice,  born  October  28,  1863; 
William,  born  April  i,  1866;  Frank, 
born  Augusts,  1868;  George,  born  April 
2,  1870;  John,  born  May  24,  1871; 
Lewis,  born  April  22,  1874;  Earnest, 
born  October  12,  1876.  and  Belle,  born 
February  22,   1882. 

After  his  second   marriage  Mr.   Dewey 
worked  as  a  laborer  until    December  14, 


1863,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  K, 
Tenth  \\'is.  V.  I.,  for  three  years  or  during 
the  war,  and  was  assigned  to  Sherman's 
army,  taking  part  in  the  famous  march  to 
the  sea.  Some  time  after  his  enlistment 
he  was  transferred  to  Company  G,  Twen- 
ty-first Wis.  \'.  I.,  in  which  he  served  to 
the  close  of  his  term,  receiving  an  hon- 
orable discharge,  June  28,  1865.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  post  at  Ahnapee. 
After  his  return  from  the  army  Mr.  Dewey 
came  to  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  and 
on  January  i,  1866,  bought  forty  acres  of 
timber  land,  part  of  the  farm  he  now 
owns,  upon  which  he  located  and  com- 
menced farming,  which  he  still  follows. 
He  has  since  purchased  eighty  acres  more, 
now  owning  a  good  farm  of  120  acres,  the 
larger  part  of  which  is  improved  and  un- 
der cultivation.  In  political  faith  Mr. 
Dewey  is  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  always  takes  an  active  interest 
in  all  questions  pertaining  to  the  welfare 
of  his  town  or  county;  he  has  filled  sev- 
eral local  positions  of  honor  and  trust, 
having  served  seven  years  as  chairman  of 
the  township,  was  deputy  sheriff  for  two 
years,  and  for  many  years  a  member  of 
the  district  board  of  education.  Mrs. 
Dewey  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

KASPAR  DURST,  who  for  almost 
a  quarter  of  a  century  has  lived  on 
his  present  farm  in  the  town  of 
Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  is  a 
native  of  Switzerland,  born  October  19, 
1834.  His  father,  Peter  Durst,  was  also 
born  in  Switzerland,  and  was  a  laborer 
b}'  occupation.  He  married  Anne  Lu- 
cenkar,  of  the  same  nativity,  who  bore 
him  twehe  children,  seven  of  whom  are 
now  deceased,  as  are  also  the  parents. 
In  religious  faith  they  were  members  of 
the  Reformed  Lutheran  Church. 

Kaspar  Durst  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  country, 
where  he  obtained  a  \er\"  fair  education, 
and  wlien  a  joung  man  was  apprenticed 
to   the   draper's   trade,    subsequently   fol- 


728 


COMMEMORATIVE    BJOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


lowing  cartoon  draping  some  twenty-one 
years,  after  which  he  came  to  the  United 
States.  In  Svvit;;erland  he  married  Anna 
Cheasar,  a  native  of  that  country,  and 
like  himself  a  cartoon  draper,  and  to 
them  have  come  six  children — four  of 
whom  were  born  in  Switzerland  and  two 
in  the  United  States — as  follows:  Peter 
(of  Waterford,  Racine  Co.,  Wis.),  Henry 
and  August,  living;  and  three  deceased, 
Henry  and  two  that  died  in  infancy.  In 
1870  the  family  came  to  the  United 
States,  coming  directly  from  the  port  of 
landing  to  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis. , 
where  Mr.  Durst  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  timber  land,  the  farm  he  now  owns  and 
occupies.  Here  he  engaged  in  cutting 
away  the  timber,  and  after  clearing  the 
land  commenced  farming,  in  which  he  has 
ever  since  successfully  continued.  The 
land  has  all  been  cleared  and  improved 
with  good  buildings,  and  forty  acres  have 
been  added  to  the  original  farm,  which  he 
has  also  improved.  Since  his  location 
here  Mr.  Durst  has  had  many  difficulties 
to  contend  with,  accidents  and  losses  by 
fire,  and  while  chopping  feed  for  the  stock 
lost  his  right  hand,  it  having  been  caught 
in  the  feed  mill.  But  in  spite  of  all  ob- 
stacles he  has  persevered  in  his  work, 
and  has  succeeded  in  establishing  himself 
and  family  in  a  comfortable  home,  and  in 
acquiring  a  fine  farm,  which  yields  him  a 
good  income.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Durst  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  of  Ah- 
napee. Politically  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  has  been  road 
master  some  seventeen  years. 


JAMES     McINTOSH,    an    e.x-Union 
soldier,  and  now  a  thrifty  farmer  of 
West  Kewaunee    township,  Kewau- 
nee county,  was  born  in  Kilmarnock, 
Scotland,    January    31,    1840,    a    son    of 
Samuel  and  Janet  (Howe)  Mcintosh. 

The  boyhood  of  our  subject  was 
passed  in  school  and  in  acting  as  page  or 
foot-boy.  He  started  out  in  life  quite 
young,  and  after  about  two  years  of  serv- 


ice in  aristocratic  families  shipped  as 
steward  on  board  the  •'  Eliza  Leshman," 
bound  for  Australia.  (This  vessel  was 
afterward  wrecked  on  the  north  of  Ire- 
land coast  after  Mr.  Mcintosh  had  left 
her).  He  next  engaged  as  second  .-stew- 
ard of  the  "Lady  Kilburn,"  running  be- 
tween Glasgosv  and  Ayr,  and  remaineil  on 
board  about  eighteen  months,  after  which 
he  engaged  with  the  "  Peru,"  bound  for 
Genoa,  Italy,  and,  leaving  her  at  that 
port,  shipped  aboard  the  "Emily," 
bound  for  Alexandria,  Egypt.  He  then 
returned  to  England,  and  at  London,  in 
1854,  shipped  on  the  "  Polly,"  bound  for 
New  Orleans.  Here  he  quit  his  sea-far- 
ing life  and  wandered  up  the  countr} .  In 
1856  he  left  Illinois,  where  he  then  was, 
and  came  to  Kewaunee,  Wis.,  remaining 
here  about  a  jear,  after  which  he  went 
to  Oconto,  where  after  a  short  period  he 
shipped  again,  sailing  between  Oconto 
and  Chicago,  and  between  Cleveland 
(Ohio)  and  Saginaw  Bay,  until  the  spring 
of  1 86 1.  Then,  at  the  call  of  Lincoln 
for  volunteers,  he  enlisted  in  June,  1S61, 
in  the  Gailian  Guards  of  Ohio,  was  mus- 
tered in  June  23,  in  Company  C,  Twen- 
ty-third O.  V.  I.,  and  served  until  hon- 
orably discharged,  July  27,  1865.  part 
of  the  time  under  Gen.  K.  B.  Hayes 
(afterward  President).  On  May  i,  1862, 
at  Clark's  Hollow,  he  was  wounded,  and 
he  carried  the  ball  somewhere  in  his 
anatomy  until  recentl}-.  After  his  dis- 
charge he  returned  to  Kewaunee,  and  in 
1872  engaged  in  farming,  which  vocation 
he  has  followed  ever  since. 

In  politics  Mr.  Mcintosh  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  was  appointed  lighthouse- 
keeper,  under  President  Harrison,  at  Two 
Rivers  Points,  but  was  later  transferred 
to  Canna  Island.  Mr.  Mcintosh  was 
united  in  marriage,  December  13,  1871, 
with  Eliza  Jane  Calhoun,  a  distant  rela- 
tion of  the  renowned  John  C.  Calhoun, 
and  a  daughter  of  Arthur  and  Elizabeth 
Calhoun,  By  this  union  were  born 
seven  children,  in  the  following  order: 
Samuel  .A.,  August   2r,   1872;   George  J., 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


729 


April  21,  1874;  Elizabeth  M.,  March  28, 
1876;  William  K.,  February  22,  1878; 
Daniel,  March  8,  1880;  John,  March  13, 
1882,  and  Nettie,  May  8,  1884.  Mr.  Mc- 
intosh is  honored  by  his  neighbors,  not 
only  for  the  gallant  part  he  has  taken  in 
defending  the  integrity  of  his  adopted 
country,  but  for  his  upright  walk  through 
life  and  his  usefulness  as  a  citizen. 


F 


ELIX  ENGLEBERT  is  the  eldest 
son  of  John  B.  and  Mary  (Pierard) 
Englebert,  who  were  natives  of 
Belgium,  where  the  father  was  a 
wagon-maker.  His  family  consisted  of 
the  following  named  children:  Felix  (our 
subject).  Desire,  Joseph  (who  died  in 
Ahnapee,  Wis.),  Gustav  (of  Brussels 
township),  Charles  (also  of  Brussels),  and 
John  B.  (who  died  in  Chicago  soon  after 
coming  to  the  United  States). 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1856  that  this 
family  left  Antwerp  for  New  York  on  the 
vessel  "David  Hodly,"  the  sea  voyage 
consuming  fifty-eight  days,  during  which 
time  there  were  nearly  si.xty  deaths  on 
board,  most  of  them  being  children. 
The  destination  of  the  Englebert  family 
was  Dayton,  Ohio,  but  after  three  or  four 
daj's  spent  there  they  concluded  to  go  to 
Chicago,  where  they  spent  the  summer, 
then  coming  to  Green  Bay,  Wis.  While 
in  Chicago  the  father  was  employed  in  a 
brick  yard  where  two  of  his  sons  assisted 
him,  and  Felix  worked  in  a  bakery.  After 
a  few  weeks  in  Green  Bay  they  came  to 
Brussels,  Door  Co.,  Wis.  (where  many 
of  their  countrymen  were  then  located), 
the  entire  distance,  thirty  miles,  being 
traveled  by  the  whole  family  on  foot. 
The  father  secured  eighty  acres  of  land, 
heavily  wooded,  in  Section  20,  Brussels 
township,  on  which  he  at  once  built  a  log 
house,  using  brush  for  the  roof  of  same, 
and  under  this  rude  shelter  the  family 
passed  the  winter,  the  father  and  sons 
clearing  away  the  timber  as  rapidly  as 
possible  and  getting  out  lumber  for  a  new 
house.     On  this  place  they  lived  for  the 


next  five  years,  then,  selling  t|ie  same, 
purchased  another  piece  of  land  in  Sec- 
tion 28,  which  was  also  uncleared,  and 
their  hardships  of  the  previous  five  years 
were  repeated.  It  was  on  this  farm  tliat 
the  father  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
dying  there  January  20,  1892;  the  mother 
died  October  27,  1883,  and  they  are 
buried  in  Brussels.  One  child  was  born 
to  them  after  their  coming  to  this  coun- 
try, Mary,  now  Mrs.  Eugene  Hautelet,  of 
Brussels.  Mr.  Englebert  was  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  and  was  atone  time  justice 
of  the  peace,  discharging  the  duties  of 
that  office  in  his  native  language.  Physi- 
cally he  was  very  strong  and  robust. 
During  his  residence  in  this  country  he 
had  accumulated  a  comfortable  little  prop- 
erty, and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  a 
well-known  and  respected  citizen. 

Felix  Englebert,  our  subject,  was  six- 
teen years  of  age  when  he  came  to  this 
country,  previous  to  which  he  attended 
the  common  schools  of  Belgium,  but  he 
has  never  received  any  instruction  in  the 
English  language,  acquiring  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  latter  wholly  by  practice  and 
observation.  He  being  the  eldest  son  the 
brunt  of  the  hard  work  fell  upon  his 
shoulders,  and  he  knows  exactly  what  it 
is  to  convert  a  forest  into  a  well-culti- 
vated farm.  He  lived  at  home  until  his 
marriage,  which  occurred  November  15, 
1863,  in  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  to  Miss  Hen- 
rietta Gefebore,  also  a  native  of  Belgium. 
By  this  wife  he  had  three  children,  as 
follows:  Julia  J.,  Charles  and  Henrietta 
M.  Mrs.  Henrietta  Englebert  died  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1 87 1,  in  Green  Bay,  and  on 
February  28,  1876,  in  Lincoln,  Wis.,  he 
married  for  his  second  wife.  Miss  Julienne 
Francart,  also  a  native  of  Belgium.  The 
children  of  this  marriage  are:  Frank  (who 
died  in  infancy),  Frank  J.,  Marie  J.  (de- 
ceased), Marie  v.,  Sophia  R.,  Marie  J., 
Clemence  A.  and  John  B. 

After  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Englebert 
moved,  in  the  spring  of  1864,  to  Chicago, 
after  having  spent  the  winter  in  the  pine 
woods.      In  Chicago  he  worked  in  a  brick 


730 


COMMEMORATIVE   lilOGRAPniCAL   RECORD. 


yard  for  six  months,  then  removed  to  St. 
Peter,  Minn.,  where  he  wa.s  emplojed  by 
a  merchant  for  three  and  one-half  years. 
He  then  came  to  Door  county,  Wis.,  and 
bought  land,  but  after  spending  two  years 
on  this  new  farm  he  sokl  out  and  went  to 
Green  Bay,  where  he  was  again  employed 
in  a  brick  yard  for  two  years,  and  later  in 
a  feed  store  until  1877.  He  then  came  to 
Brussels  township.  Door  county,  where 
in  Section  19  he  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  timber  land,  and  erected  a  house  of 
logs,  which  was  the  first  one  in  this  sec- 
tion. Of  his  farm  thirty-five  acres  are 
now  cleared,  the  work  having  been  done 
entirely  by  himself  and  family.  In  pol- 
itics Mr.  luiglebert  is  a  Republican.  He 
has  been  chairman  of  the  township  for 
two  terms  (four  yearsj,  and  has  been 
treasurer  of  School  District  No.  4  for 
seven  years.  He  and  his  family  arc  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church. 


EUGENE  CORDIEK.  Foremost 
among  the  systematic  farmers 
of  Egg  Harbor  township,  Door 
county,  and  respected  as  one  of 
the  most  deserxing  of  its  prosperous  self- 
made  men,  stands  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  He  was  born  February  6,  1833, 
in  France,  son  of  John  Cordier,  who 
died  when  Eugene  was  but  thirteen  years 
of  age,  and  being  the  eldest  son,  the  lat- 
ter became  practically  the  mainstay  of 
the  family,  and  worked  hard  to  do  his 
part. 

On  .\pril  22,  1S55,  Mr.  Cordier,  be- 
lieving he  could  advance  himself  in  the 
New  World,  took  passage  at  Havre  de 
Grace  on  a  vessel  bound  for  New  York, 
landing  at  that  city  in  thirty-three  days, 
and  thence  continuing  westward  h\  boat  to 
Detroit,  Mich.  He  found  work  on  the 
Wabash  railroad  (then  in  course  of  con- 
struction) near  Lockport,  Ind. ,  but  after 
a  time  was  seized  with  the  fever  and 
ague,  and  his  illness,  which  lasted  eighteen 
months,  exhausted  all  his  savings.  On 
his    recovery    he  went    to    Chicago,    111., 


where  he  passed  one  winter,  working  in 
the  McCormick  Reaper  Factory,  and  in 
the  following  spring  came  to  Green  Bay, 
Wis.,  and  hired  out  to  a  butcher  named 
Jeffrey.  Failing  to  receive  his  wages, 
however,  he  came,  in  the  fall  of  1857,  to 
Union  township,  Docjr  county,  here,  in 
the  midst  of  what  was  then  a  vast  wilder- 
ness, pre-empting  and  locating  upon  a 
tract  of  wild  land,  on  which,  during  his 
four-years'  residence  there,  he  made  vari- 
ous improvements.  Selling  out,  he  em- 
barked in  the  lumber  business  in  the 
northern  ])art  of  Door  coimty,  which  he 
followed  successfully  for  eighteen  years, 
buying  land  all  over  the  county,  cutting 
off  the  timber,  and  then  selling;  frequently 
holding  such  large  tracts  that  his  taxes  dur- 
ing this  time  amounted  to  as  nuich  as  $400 
perjcar,  on  unimproved  land.  About  1876 
he  purchased  in  Section  2,  Egg  Harbor 
township,  seven  forty-acre  tracts  of  land,  in 
its  primitive  condition,  and  here  he  has  ever 
since  resided,  retaining  200  acres  of  his 
original  purchase,  sixtj'  of  which  have 
been  cleared  and  put  under  cultivation. 
In  1884  Mr.  Cordier  erected  a  very  pleas- 
ant home,  one  of  the  most  comfortable 
farm  residences  in  the  townshi]>.  He  has 
met  with  well-merited  success,  and  he 
now  ranks  among  the  leading  farmers  of 
his  township.  Having  been  denied  the 
adxantages  of  schooling  in  his  early  days, 
and  receiving  no  aid  from  an}'  source  to 
conmience  life,  he  has  by  reading  and 
observation  acquired  a  practical  educa- 
tion, by  energy  and  industrx'  accumu- 
lated a  comfortable  competence,  and  has 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  neighbors 
and  fellow  citizens. 

On  December  31,  18S2,  Mr.  Cordier 
was  married,  in  Egg  Harbor,  to  Miss 
Sophia  Cote,  who  was  born  in  1851  in 
Lower  Canada,  six  miles  from  St.  Paul, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Cote,  a  farmer; 
she  came  to  li\e  with  her  brother  in  Door 
county.  Wis.,  and  here  met  Mr.  Cordier. 
To  their  union  have  been  born  three  chil- 
dren, Joseph  and  Louis,  living,  and  Mary 
S.,  who  died  in  infancy.      They  have  also 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


731- 


an  adopted  son,  named  CieorRe.  Mr. 
Cordier  is  a  Republican  politically,  his 
first  Presidential  vote  beinjj  cast  for  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  and  he  takes  an  active  in- 
terest in  local  party  affairs,  having  served 
as  chairman  of  his  township.  The  family 
are  devout  Catholics  in  relif,nous  belief. 

On  July  17,  1892,  Mr.  Cordier  set  out 
with  his  family  on  a  trip  to  his  native 
country,  \isiting  the  home  of  his  early 
boyhood,  but  he  found  only  four  persons 
living  there  whom  he  had  previously 
known.  The  journey,  which  took  them 
through  Canada  and  England,  as  well  as 
France,  lasted  four  months. 


HENRY  .ANSCHUTZ,  one  of  the 
leading  and  representative  farm- 
ers of  Door  county,  and  a  promi- 
nent and  influential  citizen,  was 
born  on  July  14,  1859,  in  15ay  Settlement, 
Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  son  of  August  An- 
schutz,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  on  emi- 
grating to  America  became  a  farmer  of 
Brown  county.  Wis.  Upon  the  old  home- 
stead our  subject  spent  his  early  boyhood 
days  and  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
neighborhood  accjuired  his  education;  but, 
as  his  parents  were  in  limited  circum- 
stances, his  advantages  in  that  direction 
were  somewhat  meagre. 

Mr.  Anschutz  began  to  earn  his  own 
livelihood  when  quite  3'oung,  and  in  1879 
he  came  to  Door  county,  securing  work 
in  Jacksonport  township  at  wood  cutting. 
He  and  his  brother  Fred  worked  together, 
and  by  earnest  and  untiring  labor  he  got 
a  start  in  life,  securing  some  capital,  with 
which  in  18S0  he  made  his  first  purchase 
of  land,  becoming  owner  of  an  eighty- 
acre  tract  on  Section  21,  Jacksonport 
township.  This  was  then  covered  with 
timber,  but  Mr.  Anschutz  cleared  a  place, 
built  a  log  cabin  and  began  the  further 
development  of  his  farm.  Its  boundaries 
he  has  extended  from  time  to  time  imtil 
he  now  owns  280  acres  of  gooil  land, 
eighty  acres  of  which  are  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  the   farm  is  one  of  the  best  im- 


proved in  the  township.  Mr.  Anschutz 
is  a  natural  mechanic,  built  his  own  barn 
and  residence,  and  has  made  nearly  all 
the  improvements  upon  the  place  with  his 
own  hands,  also  working  to  some  extent 
at  carpentering  in  the  neighborhood. 

In  the  fall  of  1 880,  in  Jacksonport, 
Door  count\-,  Mr.  Anschutz  was  joined  in 
wedlock  with  Miss  Mary  Bley,  a  native  of 
Canada,  and  a  daughter  of  John  Bley. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  a  family 
of  seven  children — four  sons  and  three 
daughters,  namely:  John,  Mabel,  George, 
Alice,  Albert,  Charles  and  Mary.  Politic- 
ally Mr.  Anschutz  is  a  Republican,  hav- 
ing supported  that  party  since  he  attained 
his  majority.  He  has  been  honored  with 
a  number  of  local  offices,  the  duties  of 
which  he  has  discharged  with  promptness 
and  fidelity,  has  several  times  served  as  a 
member  of  the  town  board,  and  for 
twelve  years  was  school  clerk.  He  is 
now  serving  his  second  term  as  chairman 
of  the  township  board,  and  is  among  the 
youngest  members  of  the  county  board; 
but  his  age  is  no  detriment  to  efficient  and 
faithful  service,  which  has  won  him  the 
commendation  of  all  concerned.  Four- 
teen years  ago  Mr.  Anschutz  came  to 
Jacksonport  township  a  poor  boy,  but  his 
diligence  and  perseverance  have  brought 
to  fiim  a  comfoi'table  property,  and  he  is 
now  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  the 
counnunity,  and  one  of  its  public-spirited 
and  progressive  citizens. 

PETER  ARNDT,  who  is  numbered 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Ke- 
waunee county,  was  born  in  Lux- 
emburg, Germany,  in  1839,  son 
of  Michael  Arndt,  a  farmer  and  dealer  in 
horses,  who  did  a  successful  business. 
There  were  but  two  children  in  the  fami- 
ly— Stephen,  who  is  still  living  in  Lux- 
emburg, Germany,  and  our  subject.  The 
latter  received  but  limited  educational 
privileges,  never  attending  school  after  he 
was  twelve  years  of  age,  from  which  time 
until   eighteen  years  of  age  he  was  em- 


COiTMBMOIiATIVE    BIOGBAPHWAL    RECORD. 


ployed  at  farm  labor;  he  was  then  drafted 
into  the  army,  in  which  he  served  for  three 
years,  and  at  the  age  of  twent}--one,  not 
wishing  longer  to  be  a  soldier,  he  deserted 
and  came  to  America,  his  brother  furnish- 
ing him  the  money  for  this  purpose. 

Mr.  Arndt  landed  in  New  York  and 
made  his  way  to  Milwaukee,  \\^is.,  where 
he  was  employed  for  six  months,  after 
which  he  came  to  Luxemburg,  Wis.,  and 
worked  for  a  lumberman  for  a  similar 
period.  He  then  entered  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  as  a  substitute  for  John  Tyler, 
who  paid  him  $700,  and  became  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  K,  Fourteenth  Wis.  V.  I. 

The  first  engagement  in  which  he  par- 
ticipated was  at  Mobile,  and  at  that  place 
was  taken  sick  and  sent  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  lay  in  the  hospital  for  one 
month.  He  was  then  granted  a  twentj'- 
days'  furlough  and  returned  home,  later  re- 
ceiving another  furlough  of  twenty  days, 
after  which  he  went  to  Madison,  Wis., 
and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  for 
he  was  physically  disabled  for  duty,  and 
during  the  succeeding  year  was  able  to 
work  scarcely  at  all. 

Mr.  Arndt  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Catherine  Galontine,  and  then  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  timber  land,  erecting 
thereon  a  log  house  i6x  20  feet,  in  which 
he  made  his  home  for  three  years,  when 
it  was  replaced  by  a  more  commodious 
structure.  His  first  crop  was  potatoes, 
and  his  only  farm  implements  were  an 
axe  and  grub  hoe;  but  with  these  he 
managed  to  clear  a  little  piece  of  land  and 
afterward  bought,  at  $2  per  bushel,  eight 
bushels  of  wheat,  from  which  he  harvested 
a  crop  of  nearly  i  50  bushels,  cutting  the 
same  with  a  cradle,  and  selling  it 
at  $1.50  per  bushel,  thus  realizing 
considerable.  He  kept  on  clearing  his 
land  and  extended  the  boundaries  of  his 
farm  by  an  additional  purchase  of  fifty 
acres,  making  in  all  130  acres,  the  greater 
part  of  which  is  now  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation  and  well  improved,  the  owner 
being  a  practical  and  progressive  farmer, 
one  whose  success   in   life  is  due   to  his 


own  efforts.  In  his  political  views  Mr. 
Arndt  is  a  Democrat,  and  for  eight  years 
filled  the  office  of  supervisor,  also  serving 
as  constable  for  a  time.  He  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  with  the  Catholic 
Church.  In  their  family  are  nine  chil- 
dren, namely:  Anna,  Catherine,  Marj', 
Nicholas,  Theresa,  John,  Joseph,  Law- 
rence and  Michael. 


JOHN  MEUNIER  is  one  of  the  self- 
made  men  of  Kewaunee  county,  who, 
by  his  own  efforts,  has  steadily 
worked  his  way  upward  from  a 
humble  position  to  one  of  affluence,  and 
is  now  recognized  as  one  of  the  thrifty, 
substantial  and  representative  farmers  of 
Lincoln  township. 

He  was  born  in  France  October  27, 
1827,  son  of  Bernhard  Meunier,  who  was 
born  in  Prussia  in  1794,  was  educated  in 
the  German  language,  and  in  his  youth 
learned  the  weaver's  trade.  When  a 
young  man  he  married  Margaret  Weber, 
who  was  born  in  France  in  1786,  and  re- 
moving to  that  countrj'he  made  his  home 
there  for  about  ten  years,  following  the 
weaver's  trade,  after  which  he  returned 
to  Prussia.  In  1835  he  again  went  to 
France,  where  he  spent  two  years;  then 
once  more  returned  to  Prussia,  where  he 
died  in  1856.  His  father,  Jacob  Meunier, 
was  a  successful  teacher  and  a  man  of 
good  education,  having  studied  for  the 
priesthood.  The  family  have  always  ad- 
hered to  the  Catholic  faith. 

Our  subject  was  the  third  in  a  family 
of  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  was  ed- 
ucated in  France,  and  also  has  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  German  language.  When  a 
young  man  he  learned  the  trade  of  mak- 
ing mirrors,  following  same  until  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  when,  on  the  5th  of 
June,  1854,  he  embarked  on  an  English 
vessel  bound  for  the  United  States,  ar- 
riving in  New  York  City  on  the  2nd  of 
August.  He  then  made  his  way  to  Port 
Washington,  Wis. ,  where  he  carried  on 
agricultural  pursuits  until   1859,  at  which 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


733 


time  he  went  to  Ahnapee,  Wis.  Entering 
eighty  acres  of  timber  land  in  the  town 
of  Lincohi,  Kewaunee  county,  he  at  once 
began  to  clear  and  improve  it,  since  which 
time  he  has  successfully  carried  on  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  He  has  added  to  his 
first  purchase  a  tract  of  120  acres,  and 
now  has  a  valuable  farm  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  improved  with  good 
buildings  and  all  modern  accessories. 

In  1 86 1  Mr.  Meunier  was  married,  in 
Paris,  France,  to  Annette  Weber,  who 
was  born  in  Luxemburg,  Germany,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1829,  and  their  children  are 
Michael,  of  Marinette,  Wis. ;  John,  who 
is  living  in  Menomonie,  Wis. ;  Lawrence, 
at  home;  John  Batis,  also  of  Marinette; 
Katherine,  wife  of  Henry  Bastar,  of  Glad- 
stone, Mich. ;  and  Annette,  wife  of  Will- 
iam Culligan.  The  children  have  been 
provided  with  good  educational  advan- 
tages, and  thus  fitted  for  the  practical  and 
responsible  duties  of  life.  Mr.  Meunier 
came  to  this  country  a  poor  man,  and  he 
has  prospered  through  earnest  effort, good 
management  and  perseverance.  He  is 
independent  in  politics,  supporting  the 
man  best  qualified  for  office,  and  has 
served  as  pathmaster.  He  has  also  done 
much  toward  organizing  school  districts, 
and  for  the  past  twenty-four  years  has 
served  as  school  director.  When  he  came 
to  this  county  it  was  a  wild  and  unsettled 
region,  and  he  underwent  the  hardships 
of  frontier  life,  but  he  is  now  surrounded 
by  the  comforts  of  civilization,  and  has  a 
good  home. 


GOTTLIEB  MOSIMANN  is  a  pros- 
perous   farmer    in     Nasewaupee 
township,  Door  county,  and  owns 
a  fine  place  of   eighty    acres    in 
Section  23,  sixty  acres  of  which  he    has 
cleared  himself. 

Mr.  Mosimann  was  born  in  the  Canton 
of  Berne,  Switzerland,  in  1840,  son  of 
Andrew  and  Magdalena  (Weis)  Mosimann, 
who  were  born  in  the  same  Canton;  the 
father  was  a  silversmith  in  that  country. 

43 


In  1848  he  and  his  family  boarded  a  vessel 
at  Havre,  landing  after  a  voyage  of  six 
weeks  at  New  York  harbor.  They  went 
on  to  Buffalo,  and  then  by  the  lakes  to 
Manitowoc  county.  Wis.,  where  Mr.  Mos- 
imann bought  a  small  tract  of  wooded 
land  which  he  undertook  to  clear  for  a 
homestead;  but  the  work  was  harder  than 
he  was  accustomed  to,  and  in  1868  he 
gave  up  the  place  and  removed  to  Pet- 
tis county,  Mo.,  where  he  bought  an 
improved  farm  located  fourteen  miles 
from  Sedalia.  Mrs.  Mosimann  died  there 
in  1882.  She  was  the  mother  of  seven 
children,  of  whom  two  are  deceased — 
Anna  and  Mary  Ann,  the  latter  dying  in 
Pettis  county.  Mo.,  in  1884.  Those  liv- 
ing are  Gottlieb  (our  subject);  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  Jacob  Becker,  of  Pettis  county. 
Mo. ;  Magdalena,  wife  of  Herman  Meyer, 
of  Sedalia,  Mo. ;  John,  married  and  re- 
siding in  Sedalia,  and  Lena,  the  wife  of 
Lewis  Timmer  Schute,  of  Pettis  county, 
Missouri. 

Gottlieb  Mosimann  was  eight  years 
old  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to 
Wisconsin.  He  received  a  good  practical 
education  in  the  public  shools  of  Manito- 
woc, and  when  out  of  school  assisted  his 
father  with  the  work  on  the  farm.  In 
March,  1862,  he  enlisted  from  Manito- 
woc county,  in  Company  K,  Second  Reg- 
iment Wis.  V.  I.,  army  of  the  Potomac; 
he  was  taken  sick  at  Fredericksburg,  Va. , 
and  getting  no  better  was  honorably  dis- 
charged, returning  home  the  same  j'ear. 
He  soon  recovered  his  health,  however, 
and  in  1863  re-enlisted,  this  time  in  Com- 
pany G,  First  Regiment  Wis.  V.  C.  for 
three  years.  He  was  placed  in  the  army 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Chattahoochee  River,  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
Atlanta,  and  many  minor  engagements; 
he  also  participated  in  Wilson's  raid. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  and  returning  home  in  July, 
1865,  began  to  farm  in  earnest. 

In  1 868  Mr.  Mosimann  was  married 
in  Manitowoc  county,  Wis. ,  to  Miss  Katie 


734 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Goetz,  who  was  born  in  the  Rhine  Prov- 
ince, Prussia,  daughter  of  Phillip  and 
Maggie  Goelz,  who  came  from  Prussia 
and  settled  in  Manitowoc  county  at  an 
early  date;  both  died  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship. After  his  marriage  Mr.  Mosimann 
went  to  Pettis  county.  Mo.,  following 
farming  there  until  i  S74,  when  he  returned 
to  Wisconsin  and  bought  the  farm  he  now 
owns  and  occupies  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship. Door  county.  He  is  a  member  of 
Henry  Schuyler  Post,  G.  A.  R. .  at  Stur- 
geon Bay,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in 
politics,  voting  with  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  the  father  of  ten  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living,  as  follows:  Mary  (who 
is  married  to  William  Suher,  of  Menom- 
inee, Mich.),  Lena,  Robert,  Nicholas, 
Joseph,  Dressie,  John,  Andrew,  Peter 
and  Delia. 


THOMAS  PANTER  is  a  highly  es- 
teemed citi/en  of  Door  county, 
and  has  many  warm  friends 
throughout  the  conmiunity  in 
which  he  has  passed  the  greater  part  of 
his  active  life.  A  native  of  England,  he 
was  born  May  4,  1835,  '"  Northampton- 
shire, son  of  James  and  Lucy  (Tillie) 
Panter;  the  father  was  a  watchman  for 
twenty-five  years.  In  the  famil}'  were 
seven  children — William,  James,  John, 
Thomas,  Levi,  Reuben  and  Joseph.  They 
all  remained  at  home  until  they  had 
arrived  at  years  of  maturity,  and  the 
school  privileges  which  they  received 
were  somewhat  meager. 

The  knowledge  which  our  subject  has 
gained  has  been  mostly  obtained  through 
his  own  efforts  in  leisure  hours,  but  by 
reading  and  obser\atioii  he  has  m'ade 
himself  a  well-informed  man.  He  re- 
mained under  the  parental  roof  until  he 
had  attained  his  majority,  when,  in  May, 
1S56,  he  started  for  the  New  World. 
He  was  married  on  April  26,  of  that  year, 
to  Miss  Rebecca  Coe,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Mar}'  fBeaver)  Coe,  and  bidding 
adieu  to  his  young  wife  he  sailed  for  New 


York  from  Liverpool,  reaching  his  destin- 
ation after  a  voyage  of  five  weeks  and 
six  days.  The  vessel  on  which  he  took 
passage  was  the  "Andrew  Foster,"  and 
as  he  stepped  from  its  gang  plank  he  felt 
that  he  was  indeed  separated  from  his 
old  home  and  interests.  He  made  his 
way  direct  to  Dover,  Racine  Co.,  Wis., 
where  he  engaged  in  railroad  work  until 
1862,  at  which  time  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Baileys  Harbor,  having  been 
joined  by  his  wife  in  1858. 

On  his  arrival  in  Door  county  Mr. 
Panter  purchased  1 20  acres  of  land, 
which  forms  a  part  of  his  present  farm, 
and  began  the  development  of  the  primi- 
tive tract,  which  had  thitherto  been  in- 
habited only  by  bears,  deer  and  Indians; 
he  has  seen  as  many  as  twenty-five  deer 
within  forty  rods  of  his  own  home.  In 
those  early  days  he  went  through  all  the 
experiences  and  hardships  of  frontier  life, 
living  in  a  log  cabin  16x20  feet,  which 
continued  to  be  their  home  for  twenty 
years.  Mr.  Panter  at  once  began  clear- 
ing his  land,  but  the  work  went  slowly 
at  first  for  his  only  farm  implement  was 
an  axe;  yet  as  time  passed  the  place  was 
cleared  and  cultivated,  the  timber  being 
cut  in  cord  wood,  some  of  which  he  sold 
at  five  dollars  per  cord.  In  Milwaukee 
he  bought  the  first  oil  lamp  he  ever  saw, 
which  was  regarded  as  quite  a  wonder 
throughout  the  neighborhood,  and  the 
two  gallons  of  oil  which  he  purchased  at 
the  same  time  lasted  all  winter.  Mil- 
waukee was  the  principal  trading  pt)int 
and  to  that  place  Mr.  Panter  went  by 
boat,  for  there  were  no  roads  cut  through, 
the  only  paths  being  Indian  trails. 

Mr.  Panter  was  instrumental  in  found- 
ing the  towns  of  Jacksonport,  which 
originated  in  a  fishing  town  founded  by 
P.  G.  Hibbard  and  J.  T.  Wright.  He 
helped  to  cut  all  the  roads  in  the  \icinity, 
and  bore  his  part  in  the  other  work  of  de- 
velopment and  upbuilding.  The  first 
crop  of  oats  which  he  sowed  yielded  a 
very  large  return,  and  was  harvested  with 
a  cradle.      Mr.    Panter  to-day   owns    160 


CO}dMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


735 


acres  of  land,  and  upon  the  eighty  acres 
which  he  has  cleared  there  remains  not  a 
stump,  it  being  in  the  best  condition  for 
cultivation  of  any  land  in  the  township. 
To  our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been 
born  seven  children:  Julia,  Mary  L. , 
Samuel  J.,  Florence,  Delia,  Charles  and 
Edmond.  In  his  political  views  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  his  fellow  townsmen, 
recognizing  his  worth  and  ability,  have 
several  times  called  upon  him  to  fill  po- 
sitions of  honor  and  trust,  he  having 
served  as  member  of  the  site  board  for 
five  years  and  as  assessor  for  two  years, 
discharging  the  duties  of  that  office  in  a 
creditable  and  acceptable  manner.  He 
is  public-spirited  and  progressive,  the 
best  interests  of  the  connnunity  find  in 
him  a  friend,  and  his  support  is  given  to 
all  worth}'  enterprises  calculated  to  prove 
of  public  benefit.  His  success  in  life  is 
due  to  his  own  efforts  and  the  assistance 
of  his  estimable  wife,  and  they  well  de- 
serve the  prosperity  which  has  come  to 
them. 


JOHN  W.\EGLI  is  a  native  of  Switz- 
erland, born  June  lo,  1830,  son  of 
Benedict  Waegli,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  country  .August  i,  1804, 
and  came  to  the  United  States  in  1851, 
locating  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Here 
he  remained  two  years,  and  then  came  to 
Wisconsin,  stajingoneyear  in  Milwaukee, 
after  which  he  moved  to  Waukesha 
county,  where  he  died  in  October,  18S2. 
His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Annie 
Miller,  and  was  born  July  i,   1804. 

John  Waegli,  their  son,  attended  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  land  until 
seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he  began 
learning  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  he  fol- 
lowed same  in  the  old  country  until  he 
came  to  America  with  his  parents,  he 
being  then  twenty-one.  Here  he  still 
followed  his  vocation  about  fifteen  \ears, 
and  then  acted  as  o%erseer  of  Sandy  Bay 
Pier  until  1874,  when  he  bought  land  in 
Carlton  township,  Kewaunee  count}',  and 


has  been  engaged  in  farming  ever  since, 
being  now  recognized  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing agriculturists  of  the  township  and  a 
representative  citizen.  All  he  has  he  has 
gained  by  his  perseverance  and  sound 
judgment,  and  he  has  won  the  full  con- 
fidence of  his  fellow-citizens,  whom  he 
has  served  two  different  terms  as  chair- 
man of  the  township  and  also  as  assessor. 
He  was  united  in  marriage,  April  i,  1858, 
with  Miss  Frances  Hummel,  who  was 
born  in  Switzerland  in  1840.  This  union 
has  been  blessed  with  eleven  children, 
viz.:  Charles,  Frank,  John,  Louis,  Ru- 
dolph, Guido,  Lillic,  Philip,  Benedict, 
Stella  and  Nettie.  Mr.  Waegli  has  now 
a  comfortable  property,  and  holds  a  well- 
merited  position  in  the  esteem  of  his 
neighbors. 

HENRY  M.  AWE,  farmer  and  fruit 
grower  of  Ahnapee  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  is  a  native  of 
the  Fatherland,  born  September 
II,  1859,  in  Prussia,  but,  coming  to  Wis- 
consin with  his  parents  in  childhood,  he 
has  passed  the  principal  part  of  his  life  on 
the  farm  in  Kewaunee  county,  which  he 
now  owns  and  occupies. 

Frederick  Awe,  father  of  Henry  M. , 
was  born  in  1824  in  Prussia,  where  he 
was  reared  and  educated,  receiving  a  good 
literary  training,  and  when  a  young  man 
followed  the  profession  of  teacher  for  a 
time.  Afterward  engaging  in  the  hotel 
and  milling  businesses,  he  continued  thus 
until  1865,  in  which  year  he  removed  to 
the  United  States,  making  his  first  home 
in  this  country  in  Manitowoc  county.  Wis. , 
where  he  worked  as  a  laborer  for  some 
eighteen  months,  after  which  he  followed 
agricultural  pursuits  until  about  1867, 
when  he  embarked  in  the  saloon  business. 
He  conducted  same  for  some  two  years, 
when  he  resumed  agriculture,  remaining 
in  Manitowoc  county  for  about  two  years 
longer,  and  then,  removing  to  Kewaunee 
county,  purchased  the  farm  in  Ahnapee 
township  which    is   now  the    propert}'  of 


736 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


his  son,  Henry  M.  The  farm,  beinj,'  yet 
uncleared  at  that  time,  it  required  several 
years  of  hard  labor  to  transform  it  to  a 
condition  of  fertility,  and  he  followed 
general  farming  there  until  1892,  when  he 
sold  the  farm  to  his  son,  Henry  M.,  re- 
moving to  Forestville,  Door  Co.,  Wis., 
where  he  now  lives  retired. 

In  Germany  Mr.  Awe  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Sophia  Derbald,  also  a 
native  of  Prussia,  born  in  1822,  who  be- 
came the  mother  of  eight  children,  as 
follows  :  Philippina,  wife  of  James  E. 
Bristol,  of  Union  township.  Door  Co., 
Wis.,  who  is  a  fisherman  by  occupation; 
Bernard,  of  Forestville,  Door  county; 
Gustav,  of  Oshkosh,  Wis.;  Henry  M., 
whose  name  opens  this  sketch;  Minnie, 
Mrs.  Leopold  Colebeger,  of  the  town  of 
Sevastopol,  Door  county;  Amelia,  Mrs. 
William  Herman,  of  Nadeau,  Mich. ;  John, 
deceased,  and  a  daughter  that  died  in 
infancy.  The  mother  of  this  family 
passed  away  in  1890  in  Ahnapee,  Ivewau- 
nee  county.  Mr.  Awe  is  a  Republican  in 
political  faith,  and  is  actively  interested  in 
local  affairs,  having  served  in  several 
public  positions.  He  attends  the  Luth- 
eran Church. 

Henry  M.  Awe  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Manitowoc  count)-, 
obtaining  a  liberal  education,  and  received 
under  his  father's  tuition  a  thorough  train- 
ing in  agriculture,  which  he  has  adopted 
for  his  life  vocation.  On  September  12, 
1892,  he  was  married  to  Clara  Benhard, 
who  was  born  January  22,  1873,  daughter 
of  Robert  and  Bertha  Benhard,  natives 
of  Germany,  the  former  born  August  25, 
1827,  the  latter  October  1 1,  1847.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Awe  have  one  child,  Alfred, 
born  November  6,  1893.  After  his  mar- 
riage Mr.  Awe  purchased  the  home  farm 
from  his  father,  comprising  160  acres  of 
excellent  land,  whereon  he  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  and  fruit  raising,  having 
now  sixteen  acres  in  fruit  trees.  He  is  an 
energetic,  progressive  young  man,  and 
bids  fair  to  become  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous   men    in    his   section.       Like    his 


father,  he  is  a  Republican  politically,  and 
in  Church  connection  is  a  Lutheran.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  a 
hunter  by  occupation;  the  maternal  grand- 
father was  a  brick  and  tile  maker. 


JAMES  S.  HALSTEAD  is  a  wide- 
awake and  enterprising  business 
man,  who  for  the  last  thirty  years 
has  been  connected  with  lumber  in- 
terests, and  is  now  engaged  in  that  line  of 
trade  in  Jacksonport,  Door  county.  He 
was  born  in  Ontario,  Canada,  July  4, 
1849,  and  is  one  of  the  famil}'  of  thirteen 
children — seven  sons  and  six  daughters — 
born  to  William  and  Sarah  (Gibbons) 
Halstead;  the  former  is  a  native  of  Nova 
Scotia,  has  always  been  a  hard  working 
man,  and  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  engaged  in  the  lumber  business. 
He  is  now  living  a  retired  life,  making 
his  home  with  our  subject. 

James  S.  Halstead  was  reared  under 
the  parental  roof  and  acquired  a  good 
education,  for  his  early  advantages,  which 
were  those  of  the  common  schools,  were 
supplemented  h\  a  three-years'  course  in 
an  advanced  school.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen he  engaged  in  lumbering,  first  cut- 
ting logs,  and  his  faithful  service  won  him 
promotion  from  time  to  time  until  he  be- 
came superintendent  of  the  camp.  His 
employer's  interest  he  ever  made  his  own, 
and  his  industry  and  efficiency  were  such 
that  he  was  enabled  to  command  a  good 
position.  In  1871  Mr.  Halstead  was 
joined  in  wedlock,  in  Canada,  with  Miss 
Mary  Nugent,  and  while  still  a  resident 
of  that  country  two  sons  were  born  to 
them — George  and  William  J.  In  the 
spring  of  1874  Mr.  Halstead  brought  his 
family  to  the  United  States  and  took  up 
his  residence  in  Jacksonport,  Wis.,  where 
he  has  since  made  his  home.  At  the 
time  of  his  arrival  here  his  cash  capital 
had  been  reduced  to  $31.70,  but  he  at 
once  engaged  in  the  cedar  business  and 
his  financial  condition  soon  began  to  im- 
prove.     He  is  now  engaged  in  getting  out 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


lyi 


timber  on  Chamber's  Island  for  the  Wis- 
consin Chair  Co.,  of  Port  Washington, 
Wis. ;  and  his  thirty  years'  experience  in 
the  lumber  business  well  fits  him  for  such 
work. 

Mr.  Halstead  continued  to  reside  in 
Jacksonport  until  May,  iSSi,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Section  22,  Jacksonport  town- 
ship, purchasing  forty  acres  of  land  all  in 
its  primitive  condition.  The  improve- 
ments upon  it  have  been  placed  there  by 
his  own  hands,  and  stand  as  a  monument 
to  his  thrift,  enterprise  and  progressive 
spirit.  Since  coming  to  the  United 
States  the  family  circle  has  been  increased 
by  the  birth  of  seven  children — Thomas, 
Henry,  Agnes,  Edna,  Alice  and  Ruth, 
all  at  home;  and  Robert,  who  died  in 
infancy.  In  his  political  views  Mr.  Hal- 
stead  has  always  been  a  Republican,  and 
takes  a  warm  interest  in  the  success  and 
growth  of  his  party.  He  served  as  town- 
ship clerk  for  about  ten  years,  was  elected 
treasurer  in  1888,  and  since  filled  that 
office  with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfac- 
tion to  his  constituents.  He  is  also 
justice  of  the  peace,  notary  public  and 
school  treasurer,  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  A 
highly  respected  man,  his  straightforward 
career  and  honorable,  upright  life  have 
gained  him  universal  confidence  and  es- 
teem. 


JOHN  BUETTNER,  farmer  and  ex- 
soldier,  of  Pierce  township,  Ke- 
waunee county,  was  born  Decem- 
ber 26,  1846,  near  New  York  City, 
son  of  John  and  Margaret  Buettner,  na- 
tives of  Germany.  They  landed  in  New 
York  in  1846,  and  after  remaining  there 
eighteen  months  came  to  Wisconsin  and 
located  in  Milwaukee,  in  which  city  John, 
the  father,  died  of  cholera.  Mrs.  Buett- 
ner, soon  after  her  husband's  death,  mar- 
ried his  brother,  an  industrious  farmer. 

John  Buettner,  our  subject,  was  the 
elder  of  two  sons  who  constituted  the 
family  of  John  and  Margaret  Buettner. 


He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  Wisconsin,  and  chiefly  reared  on    his 
stepfather  s  farm,  on  which  he  remained, 
giving  all  the   assistance  that  he   could, 
until  1863,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company 
C,  Fourteenth  Wis.  V.  I. ,  serving  in  the 
war    of    the    Rebellion     until     October, 
1865,    when    he    received    an    honorable 
discharge.      His  chief  engagements  were 
at  Nashville,    Mobile  and   Spanish  Fort. 
Returning  to  the  home  farm,  he  worked 
for  his  parents  until    1875,  when  he  pur- 
chased the  place,  operating  it  on  his  own 
account  until  1881,  in  which  year  he  sold 
it  and  moved  to  Sheboygan.     There  he 
worked  in  the  chair  factory  about  seven 
months,  when  he  came  to   Pierce  town- 
ship and  purchased  the  farm   he  now  oc- 
cupies.     He  has  brought  the  place  into  a 
high  state  of  cultivation  and  developed  a 
farm  that  has  won   for  him   a  reputation 
as    being    one   of    the    most   skillful  and 
thrifty  farmers  in  the  township.      In  con- 
nection with  his  farm  he  has  also  run  a 
sawmill  since    1882.      In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican,    and    has  been    honored    by 
being  elected  chairman  of  the  town  board 
seven  different  times.      Mr.  Buettner  was 
united  in  marriage,    in   1875,   with  Mary 
Shomer,  and  the  union  has  been  blessed 
with  eleven  children,  viz. :   Casper,  John, 
Bernard,  Philip,   Peter,  Henry,  William, 
Annie,    Mary,     Rosie    and    Katie.       Mr. 
Buettner  has  made  a  success  of  his  life 
work,  and  has  won  for  himself  and  family 
a  tine  standing  in  the  community. 


CHARLES  LUEBCK  is  one  of  the 
representative  and  enterprising 
farmers  of  Kewaunee  county,  one 
whose  entire  life  has  here  been 
passed,  for  he  was  born  in  the  township 
which  is  still  his  home — Luxemburg — and 
on  the  farm  which  he  now  owns,  March 
I,  1868.  John  and  Caroline  (Schneider) 
Luebck,  his  parents,  were  both  natives 
of  Germany,  and  had  but  two  children — 
Ida  and  Charles.  In  1853  they  left  the 
Fatherland  and  sailed  for  .America,  taking 


7.V^ 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


up  their  residence  in  Luxemburg  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.,  where  Mr. 
Luebck  bought  fort\'  acres  of  land  in  its 
most  primiti\'e  condition.  The  county 
seemed  to  be  ahnost  on  the  border  of 
civilization,  and  the  city  of  Kewaunee 
contained  at  that  time  only  one  store  and 
one  tavern,  while  the  township  was 
sparsely  settled  and  bore  little  resem- 
blance to  its  present  improved  condition. 
After  a  time  Mr.  Luebck  was  enabled  to 
purchase  an  additional  tract  of  land  of 
eighty  acres,  and  transformed  his  farm 
into  rich  and  fertile  iields. 

Our  subject  was  only  three  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  and 
the  mother  was  thus  left  with  her  family 
to  support.  When  he  was  only  eight 
years  of  age  a  great  deal  of  farm  work 
devolved  upon  him;  but  he  also  received 
able  assistance  from  his  sister,  who  when 
a  girl  of  fourteen  did  all  the  plowing  upon 
the  farm.  Thus  they  toiled  together 
under  great  disadvantages,  and  heavy 
were  the  burdens  which  rested  on  their 
young  shoulders;  but  they  maintained  the 
family,  succumbed  not  to  discourage- 
ment, and  brighter  days  followed.  Mr. 
Luebck  is  now  the  owner  of  i6o  acres  of 
land,  much  of  which  is  under  a  good 
state  of  cultivation,  and  also  has  a  saloon, 
which  he  has  conducted  since  1893.  In 
his  political  views  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
is  a  faithful  member  of  and  liberal  con- 
tributor to  the  Lutheran  Church. 


THOMAS  HLINAK,  brewer,  Ke- 
waunee, was  born  in  Bohemia 
December  19,  i860,  the  fifth  in  a 
family  of  fifteen  children,  of  whom 
three  sons  and  three  daughters  only  are 
now  living.  The  father,  John  Hlinak, 
was  born  in  1830,  was  a  blacksmith,  and 
married  Katie  Unhlicek.  In  1874  the 
family  came  to  America  and  settled  on  a 
farm  in  West  Kewaunee,  where  the  father 
still  lives,  and  where  the  mother  died  in 
1889. 

Thomas  Hlinak,  having  attended  the 


common  schools  of  Bohemia  until  his  de- 
parture for  America  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen, devoted  his  time  to  assisting  on  the 
farm  here  until  he  was  nineteen,  when  he 
went  west  for  a  year;  he  then  went  north 
and  for  two  years  worked  in  the  lumber 
district.  Again  returning  to  Kewaunee, 
he  bought  some  property  and  engaged  in 
business  for  a  jear,  and  for  the  following 
six  years  was  employed  as  a  fireman  on  a 
railroad  in  Michigan.  In  March,  1893, 
he  again  returned  to  Kewaunee  and  pur- 
chased a  half  interest  in  the  Bavarian 
Brewery,  the  product  of  which  is  daily 
gaining  in  favor. 

Mr.  Hlinak  is  a  Democrat  in  his  polit- 
ical proclivities,  but  is  not  an  active  par- 
tisan and  never  held  an  office.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  C.  S.  P.  S.,  and,  with  his 
wife,  of  the  Catholic  Church.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1886,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Mary  Klimesh,  daughter  of  Mat. 
Klimesh,  an  early  settler  of  the  county  of 
Kewaunee,  and  this  union  has  been  blessed 
with  two  children-— one  son  and  one 
daughter — named  respectively  Wenzel  and 
Libbie.  Although  Mr.  Hlinak  is  still  a 
young  man,  he  has  succeeded  in  securing 
a  solid  grasp  on  the  ladder  that  leads  to 
wealth,  and  is  rapidl)'  nearing  the  top- 
most rung,  where  he  will  find  ease  and 
comfort. 


ADOLPH  EBEL,  a  well-known 
farmer  of  West  Kewaunee  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  was  born 
in  Prussia,  German}",  October  14, 
1835,  son  of  \\' illiam  and  Augusta  Ebel. 
Adolph  attended  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  land  (including  a  course 
of  three  years  in  the  high  school)  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  si.xteen,  when  he  learned 
the  baker's  trade,  following  same  in  the  old 
country  until  nineteen  years  old,  and  in 
1855  came  to  America,  and  directly  to 
Milwaukee,  Wis.  There  he  worked  at  his 
trade  a  short  time,  thence  going  to  Chi- 
cago, and  afterward  returning  to  Mil- 
waukee, and  in  1857  came   to   Kewaunee 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAl^HICAL    RECORD. 


739 


county,  locating  in  Luxemburg  township, 
where  he  was  employed    in    farming   and 
lumbering    until     1863.        Removing    to 
Pierce  township,    same   county,    he  con- 
tinued  farming   and   logging   until    1864, 
when  he  came  to  West   Kewaunee  town- 
ship and    bought    and    settled    upon  the 
farm  he  has  ever  since  occupied   and  cul- 
tivated.    His  life  is  another  illustration  of 
what  industry  and   economy  can    accom- 
plish.     Coming  to  this  country  in  the  pio- 
neer days  without  money,  but   willing   to 
endure   the    hardships    and    privations   of 
backwoods  life,  he  has  by  perseverance, 
tact,    and    good    business    management, 
secured  a  good    home.      In    a   short   time 
after  arriving  in  the  country  he   declared 
his  intention  of  becoming  a  citizen,  affili- 
ating   with    the    Democratic    party,    and 
since   his    settlement    in  West   Kewaunee 
township  he  has  figured  quite  prominently 
in  the  local  politics  of  his  township.      He 
has  been  elected  supervisor  several  times, 
has  served  two  3'ears  as  a  member  of  the 
county  board,  and  has  held   the   office   of 
town   clerk   ten   or   twelve   years.      After 
the  division  of  the  township   in    1877  he 
was  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  super- 
visors, and    is   clerk   of  the   township  to- 
day, in  all  public  positions   proving  him- 
self to  be  honorable,  faithful  and  capable. 
Mr.  Ebel  was  joined  in  wedlock,  April 
10,    1862,    with   Helen  Bohne,   who  was 
born   near   Milwaukee,  October  2,  1845, 
daughter    of    Frederick     and     Theressa 
Bohne,  natives  of  Saxony,  who   came  to 
the  United  States  in    1844.      To  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.    and  Mrs.    Ebel   have  been 
born  seven  children:      Fred  H.,  May    10, 
1 863 ;  Minnie  T. ,  March  27,  1 867 ;  Charles, 
March    17,    1869;    Emma    C,    July    17, 
1870;  Adolph  A.,  January  6,   1873;  Hat- 
tie,  June  26,  1884;  and  Helen,  September 
25,  1887.       Of  these,  two  are   deceased: 
Fred  H.,  who  died  March    16,  1883,  and 
Charles,  who  died  April  7,  1869.      Fred- 
erick Bohne,  father  of  Mrs.  Ebel,  died  at 
Kewaunee   June    10,   1874,  and  Theressa 
Bohne,    her    mother,   died    at    the    same 
place  Januarj-  25,  1894. 


LOUIS  BASSINE,  a  practical  j-oung 
agriculturist  of  Brussels  township. 
Door  county,  was  born  there  Sep- 
tember  6,    i860,  son    of    Clement 
Bassine,  a  native  of    Belgium    who   came 
to  this  country,  settling  in  Brussels  town- 
ship, Door  Co.,  Wis.,  in  1856. 

Before  leaving  Belgium,  Clement  Bas- 
sine was  married  to  Mary  Theresa  Dacos, 
by  whom  he  had  one  child  born  in  Bel- 
gium, Mary  T.,  and  seven  born  in  this 
country,  of  whom  Louis,  our  subject,  is 
the  only  one  who  attained  maturity.  The 
father  had  but  barely  funds  enough  to 
bring  his  family  to  America,  and  when  he 
arrived  in  Wisconsin  he  secured  forty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  29,  Brussels 
township.  The  family  was  among  the 
first  in  that  section,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  undergo  many  inconveniences  ere  they 
could  be  comfortable  to  any  degree.  Mr. 
Bassine  erected  a  log  cabin  in  which  they 
lived  for  some  time.  For  the  first  three 
years  they  had  no  horses  or  cattle  and 
were  obliged  to  do  all  the  work  by  hand. 
About  1870  Mr.  Bassine  secured  another 
forty  acres,  in  Section  19,  and  from  that 
time  on  he  has  gradually  been  accumulat- 
ing more  land  until  at  the  present  time 
he  has  200  acres,  ninety  acres  of  which 
are  under  cultivation.  In  1882,  having 
bought  forty  acres  in  Section  30,  he  built 
thereon  a  good  substantial  dwelling,  where 
they  have  since  resided.  He  and  his  es- 
timable wife  are  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  are  greatly  respected 
as  pioneers  who  have  done  much  to  open 
up  a  new  country  to  civilization. 

Louis  Bassine,  our  subject,  had  but 
limited  opportunities  for  an  education. 
Being  an  only  son,  and  his  father  not  be- 
ing able  to  afford  hired  help,  he  was 
obliged  to  work,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
with  him.  Aside  from  the  three  years 
which  he  was  permitted  to  spend  in  the 
public  schools  of  Green  Bay,  he  has  spent 
his  life  on  his  father's  farm.  On  Novem- 
ber 25,  1882,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Leona  Gelard,  a  native  of  Belgium,  who 
came  to  this  country  when  but  two  }ears 


740 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPmCAL   RECORD. 


old,  and  the  young  couple  took  up  their 
residence  on  the  home  farm,  where  they 
have  since  lived.  They  have  three  chil- 
dren: Octavia,  Joseph  and  Frank.  Like 
his  father,  Mr.  Bassine  is  a  Republican, 
politically,  and  he  has  filled  the  office  of 
school  clerk  since  the  organization  of  Dis- 
trict No.  4;  in  1890  he  was  elected  chair- 
man, serving  as  such  four  years.  He  is 
a  rising  young  man  and  verj'  popular 
among  his  associates. 


JACOB  CRASS,  deceased,  was  one  of 
the  honored  pioneers  of  Door  county 
who  located  here  at  an  early  day,  and 
was  prominently  connected  with  the 
work  of  development  and  improvement, 
bearing  his  part  in  all  enterprises  calcu- 
lated to  prove  of  public  benefit.  He  was 
born  in  Germany  in  1824,  and  as  his 
parents  were  people  of  small  means,  he 
early  started  out  in  life  for  himself.  When 
a  young  man  he  crossed  the  ocean  to 
America  and  made  his  way  to  Wisconsin, 
settling  in  Sevastopol  township.  Door 
county,  where  he  spent  his  remaining 
days. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival  the  county 
was  just  being  opened  up  to  civilization; 
almost  the  only  roads  were  the  Indian 
trails  or  paths  through  the  forests,  the 
few  settlers  were  widely  scattered  and 
deer  and  wolves  were  very  frequently 
seen.  The  land  which  Mr.  Crass  secured 
was  entirely  wild,  not  a  furrow  having 
been  turned  or  an  improvement  made 
upon  it,  but  he  was  anxious  to  secure  a 
good  home,  and  out  of  the  forest  he  hewed 
the  farm  which  at  length  became  a  valua- 
ble property.  In  earlier  years  he  had 
learned  the  trades  of  a  gunsmith  and 
blacksmith,  and  was  in  fact  a  natural 
mechanic,  his  abilities  along  this  line 
proving  of  much  benefit  in  the  work  of 
developing  his  land  and  making  farm  im- 
plements. His  first  home  was  a  rude 
shanty,  which  stood  near  the  site  of  the 
present  residence. 

When  the  Civil  war   broke  out    Mr. 


Crass  laid  aside  the  plow  and  hoe  and 
responded  to  the  country's  call  for  aid, 
enlisting  in  Company  H,  Twelfth  Wis. 
V.  I.,  and,  when  his  first  term  had  e.xpired, 
he  re-enlisted  and  continued  in  the  service 
until  after  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
a  faithful  and  brave  soldier,  always  loyal 
to  the  old  flag  and  the  cause  it  repre- 
sented, and  took  part  in  a  number  of 
important  engagements.  He  was  never 
wounded,  but  the  exposure  and  hardships 
incident  to  war  brought  on  rheumatism, 
which  rendered  him  almost  helpless  in  his 
later  years. 

On  July  4,  1869,  Mr.  Crass  was  mar- 
ried in  Sevastopol  township  to  Mrs. 
Margaret  (Cole)  Melville,  widow  of 
Thomas  Melville.  She  was  born  in 
County  Cork,  Ireland,  June  20,  1830, 
daughter  of  Gregory  Cole,  and  in  the 
Emerald  Isle  married  Thomas  Melville, 
who  died  there,  leaving  one  child,  Thomas, 
now  a  resident  of  Sevastopol.  In  1862 
the  mother,  with  her  son,  came  to  the 
United  States,  landing  in  New  York  on 
the  3d  of  July,  and  made  her  waj-  to 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  she  supported 
herself  and  son  until  coming  to  Door 
county  with  her  uncle,  William  Cole.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crass  came  the  following 
children  :  Jacob,  born  April  26,  1S70, 
who  now  manages  the  home  farm;  Maggie, 
born  July  7,  1871,  and  William  H.,  born 
January  5,  1879,  who  died  on  the  23d  of 
March  following. 

Mr.  Crass  was  ever  a  hard-working 
man,  and  his  success  in  life  was  not  due 
to  a  fortunate  combination  of  circum- 
stances, but  resulted  from  earnest  labor 
and  perseverance.  In  politics  he  was  a 
stalwart  Republican,  believed  in  the  pro- 
tection of  American  industries,  and  took 
an  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party,  but 
never  sought  office  for  himself,  preferring 
to  devote  his  time  and  attention  to  his 
business  interests.  He  served,  however, 
as  a  school  officer,  and  was  a  warm  friend 
of  the  cause  of  education;  in  religious 
belief  he  was  a  Lutheran.  He  died 
November  24,    1888,    and   was  buried  in 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


741 


Bear  Side  cemetery.  His  widow  and  her 
two  children  still  reside  on  the  old  home- 
stead, which  comprises  1 20  acres  of  land, 
now  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and 
improved  with  all  the  accessories  and 
conveniences  of  a  model  farm.  Although 
only  eighteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
his  father's  death,  the  son  assumed  the 
management  of  the  business  affairs,  and 
has  displayed  marked  ability  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  which  fell  upon  his 
young  shoulders. 


OLE  A.  ANDERSON,  a  well-to-do, 
respected  resident  of  Egg  Harbor 
township,  Door  county,  was  born 
February   22,    1844,   in  Norway, 
son  of  John   C.    Anderson,    a   farmer  of 
that  country. 

The  father  of  our  subject  emigrated 
with  his  family  to  America  in  1854,  and 
came  west  immediately,  via  the  Great 
Lakes,  sailing  from  Buffalo  on  the  steamer 
"Columbia."  He  settled  in  Door  coun- 
ty, Wis.,  first  locating  at  Ephraim,  and 
died  in  1889,  at  Sister  Bay;  Mrs.  Ander- 
son now  lives  with  her  son,  Ole  A.  They 
were  the  parents  of  five  children,  namely: 
Andrew  J.,  Capt.  Michael  (of  the  schooner 
"Annie  Doll,"  who  has  his  home  in  Mil- 
waukee), Ole  A.,  Mary  and  Maria. 

Ole  A.  Anderson  had  few  opportuni- 
ties in  his  boyhood  for  obtaining  a  good 
education,  as  few  schools  flourished  in 
the  home  neighborhood  at  that  time,  and, 
having  plenty  of  work  to  do  at  home,  he 
attended  them  only  as  circumstances  per- 
mitted. Up  to  the  time  of  his  marriage 
he  obtained  his  livelihood  sailing  and  fish- 
ing, and  after  that  event  located  on  land 
one  mile  south  of  Ellison  Bay,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming,  also  getting  out  ties 
and  cordwood.  He  lived  in  that  vicinity 
until  1 89 1,  when  he  removed  to  his  pres- 
ent home  near  Horse  Shoe  Bay,  and  here 
he  has  since  been  engaged,  in  partnership 
with  his  brother,  Capt.  Michael  Anderson, 
in  getting  out  cordwood.  Mr.  Anderson 
formerly    owned    160    acres   of    land    in 


Liberty  Grove  township,  and  he  now  has 
a  half  interest  in  400  acres  in  Egg  Harbor 
township.  He  has  worked  hard  to  get  a 
start  in  the  world,  and  the  prosperity  and 
success  which  have  attended  his  efforts 
are  well  deserved,  as  all  who  know  him, 
and  are  acquainted  with  his  steady  indus- 
trious habits,  will  agree,  and  he  is  much 
respected  by  his  fellow  citizens.  While 
in  Liberty  Grove  township  he  served  as 
supervisor,  but  he  has  no  aspirations  for 
political  preferment,  giving  his  entire  time 
and  attention  to  his  business  interests.  In 
political  sentiment  he  is  a  Republican. 

In  1874  Mr.  Anderson  was  married, 
in  Ellison  Bay,  to  Miss  Gertie  Anderson, 
a  native  of  Sweden,  and  to  their  union 
was  born  one  child,  John  O.,  who  lives 
at  home.  Mrs.  Anderson  died  in  1890, 
in  Milwaukee,  to  which  city  she  had  gone 
for  medical  treatment,  and  her  remains 
now  rest  at  Sister  Bay,  Door  county. 
Mr.  Anderson  is  a  Lutheran  in  Church 
connection. 


FRED     LEISCHOW,    agriculturist 
and  cheese  maker,  and  one  of  the 
most  widely   known   farmer  citi- 
zens of  the  town  of  Ahnapee,  Ke- 
waunee county,  is  a  Prussian,  born  June 
I,   1850,  in  Pomerania. 

His  father,  John  Leischow,  was  a 
native  of  the  same  country,  born  in  18 19, 
where  he  attended  school,  receiving  a 
good  German  education.  He  was  reared 
on  a  farm.  When  a  young  man  he  mar- 
ried Minnie  Raedke,  who  was  born  in 
Prussia  in  18 18,  and  she  became  the 
mother  of  eight  children,  of  whom  three 
are  deceased  and  five  are  living,  as  follows: 
Augusta,  Mrs.  Ferdinand  Miller,  of  the 
town  of  Forestville,  Door  Co. ,  Wis. ; 
Caroline,  Mrs.  Ferdinand  Maedke,  of  the 
town  of  Ahnapee;  Fred,  whose  name 
opens  this  sketch;  Albert,  of  the  town  of 
Ahnapee,  and  Bertha,  ^Irs.  August 
Froemming,  of  Ahnapee.  After  his  mar- 
riage Mr.  Leischow  followed  agricultural 
pursuits,  also  working  as  a  roofer,  until 


742 


commemohative  biographical  record. 


1868,  in  which  year  he  emigrated  to  the 
United  States,  whither  two  daughters  had 
preceded  him.  Coming  directly  to  Ke- 
waunee county,  Wis.,  he  purchased  in 
the  town  of  Ahnapee  an  eighty-acre  tract 
of  timberland,  upon  which  he  located, 
and  without  delay  began  the  work  of 
clearing  the  place  for  cultivation.  Later 
he  purchased  100  acres  more,  all  of  which 
he  improved,  and  he  became  one  of  the 
prosperous  men  of  his  township.  Po- 
htically  he  was  a  Republican,  and  in  re- 
ligious connection  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  He  died  in  May, 
1892,  and  his  remains  now  rest  in  the 
Forestville  cemetery. 

Fred  Leischow  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  country, 
and  when  eighteen  years  of  age  came 
with  his  parents  to  the  United  States, 
continuing  to  work  on  the  home  farm  up 
to  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  when  he 
married  and  started  in  life  for  himself. 
Purchasing  from  his  father  the  farm  of 
eighty-five  acres  which  he  yet  owns  and 
occupies,  he  engaged  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, in  which  he  has  met  with  well-mer- 
ited success.  He  has  since  bought  more 
land,  and  now  owns  1 20  acres,  well  im- 
proved and  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
the  result  of  his  labors  entitling  him  to  a 
place  among  the  best  farmers  of  his  town- 
ship. In  addition  to  his  agricultural  in- 
terests, he  owns  and  operates  a  cheese 
factory,  which  does  an  extensive  and 
profitable  business.  Mr.  Leischow  gives 
his  own  affairs  the  strictest  personal  at- 
tention, but  he  also  takes  a  lively  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  the  community  in 
which  he  lives,  and  he  has  filled  the  office 
of  chairman  for  si.\  years,  has  served  as 
supervisor,  and  for  the  last  nine  years  has 
been  clerk  of  his  school  district.  In  po- 
litical connection  he  is  a  Republican.  In 
religious  faith  the  family  are  members  of 
the  M.  E.  Church  of  the  town  of  Forest- 
ville. 

Mr.  Leischow  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Caroline  Kaaee,  a  native  of  Ger- 
many,  born    in    1854,   and  they  are  the 


parents  of  ten  children,  as  follows:  Lizzie 
(Mrs.  Louis  Batcher,  of  Door  county. 
Wis.),  Leonard,  Amelia,  Frederick, 
Lydia,  Annie,  Alma,  Gerhard,  Louis  and 
Harrv. 


JACOB  J.  KULHANEK.  an  enter- 
prising young  farmer  of  Franklin 
township,  Kewaunee  county,  was 
born  in  Bohemia,  May  i,  1863,  a 
son  of  John  and  Katie  Kulhanek,  who 
immigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1871, 
coming  directly  to  the  town  of  Mont- 
pelier,  in  Kewaunee  county,  where  the 
father  purchased  land  and  at  once  com- 
menced farming,  so  continuing  until  1881, 
when  he  sold  his  farm  and  purchased  the 
one  his  son  Jacob  now  owns  and  occupies. 
Jacob  J.  Kulhanek  was  the  fifth  born 
in  a  family  of  si.x  children,  and  was  but 
eight  years  of  age  when  brought  to 
America  by  his  parents.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  Franklin, 
but  ended  his  school  days  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years,  and  worked  on  the  home 
farm  until  si.xteen,  when  he  started  in 
life  for  himself,  commencing  in  a  saw- 
mill in  Menomonie,  where  he  worked 
about  two  years  and  then  returned  home. 
About  a  year  later  he  obtained  a  situa- 
tion as  night  watchman  in  a  large  saw- 
mill at  Garden  Bay,  Mich.,  where  he  re- 
mained, interchanging  positions,  for  about 
five  years.  During  this  period  his  father 
had  given  him  the  farm,  and  when  he 
returned  home,  at  the  expiration  of  the 
time  mentioned,  he  took  charge  and  has 
been  engaged  in  its  cultivation  ever  since, 
prospering  greatlw  Mr.  Kulhanek  was 
married  September  12,  1881,  to  Miss 
Annie  Rabitz,  daughter  of  Mathias  and 
Mary  Rabitz,  natives  of  Bohemia  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1857.  Mrs. 
Annie  Kulhanek  was  born  in  the  town- 
ship of  Franklin  in  1865,  and  is  now  the 
mother  of  four  bright  children,  namely: 
Mathias,  Mary,  Jacob  and  Annie.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  Mr.  Kulhanek  is  a  member 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


743 


of  the  Roman  Catholic  Bohemian  Society 
of  Wisconsin,  and  of  the  C.  F.  P.  S.,  a 
Bohemian  Benevolent  Society  of  the  town 
of  Franklin.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and,  as  such,  has  served  as  township 
assessor,  and  also  filled  several  minor 
offices;  for  three  years  he  has  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  still  filling  that 
position  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner. 
He  is  one  of  the  most  highly  respected 
young  men  of  the  township,  with  every 
prospect  of  a  bright  future. 


M 


daughter 
marriage    the 


ATHIAS  NYGARD  is  a  native 
of  Norway,  born  April  27, 
1856,  and  is  the  only  son  of 
Mathias  and  Anna  (Semson) 
(Peterson)  Nygard.  They  also  had  a 
Christine,  and  by  his  second 
father  had  three  sons — 
Peter,  Simon  and  Antone.  By  occupa- 
tion he  was  a  farmer,  and  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  throughout  his  entire  life. 
Mr.  Nygard  received  a  common-school 
education,  and  spent  his  boyhood  and 
youth  upon  his  father's  farm,  early  becom- 
ing familiar  with  the  work  of  cultivating 
land.  His  time  was  thus  passed  until 
1872,  when  he  sailed  for  the  United  States 
on  a  vessel  which  dropped  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  Baltimore,  Md. ,  his  passage  be- 
ing paid  by  Mathias  Mathison,  who  is  now 
a  resident  of  Cla3'banks  township.  Door 
county.  Our  subject  came  at  once  to 
Sturgeon  Bay,  Wis. ,  and  for  about  three 
months  worked  for  George  Bosford,  after 
which  he  went  to  .\rthur  Bay,  where  he 
was  employed  in  lumbering  for  about 
eleven  months.  His  next  place  of  resi- 
dence was  Claybanks  township,  and  he 
lived  with  John  Mathison  for  a  short  time, 
going  then  to  Sturgeon  river,  where  he 
was  employed  in  a  sawmill  during  the 
four  succeeding  summers.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Claybanks  township,  but  at  that 
time  had  no  intention  of  locating  here; 
however,  he  finally  purchased  a  store 
building  and  the  ground  on  which  it  stood. 


and  opened  a  small  mercantile  establish- 
ment in  partnership  with  John  Mathison, 
they  continuing  together  for  two  years, 
when  Mr.  Nygard  bought  out  Mr.  Mathi- 
son, and  has  since  been  alone  in  business. 
He  has  a  full  and  complete  stock  of  gen- 
eral merchandise  and  a  well-arranged 
store,  and  his  customers  come  from  many- 
miles  around.  In  1888  he  built  a  cheese 
factory,  which  he  has  since  operated  in 
connection  with  his  other  interests. 

Mr.  Nj'gard  holds  membership  with 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  contributes  lib- 
erally to  its  support.  Since  becoming  an 
American  citizen  he  has  supported  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  is  a  warm  advocate  of 
its  principles;  but  has  never  sought  or 
desired  political  preferment,  his  time  and 
attention  being  fully  occupied  by  his  busi- 
ness interests.  He  is  a  man  straightfor- 
ward and  honorable  in  all  dealings,  and 
his  earnest  desire  to  please  his  customers, 
his  courteous  treatment  and  his  honorable 
career  have  won  him  success. 


LOUIS  SCHWEDLER  is  one  of  the 
worthy  and  representative  citizens 
that  Germany  has  furnished  to 
Kewaunee  count}'.  He  was  born 
in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia  January  5, 
1818,  and  is  a  son  of  John  G.  and  Julia 
(Scharf)  Schwedler,  the  father  a  minister, 
and  is  the  only  living  member  of  a  family 
of  thirteen  children,  those  deceased  being: 
Rhinehart,  Adolph,  Adolphine,  Minnie  L., 
Frank  S.,  Eliza  A.,  Augusta,  Adelaide, 
Ewald,  Arnold,  Arthur  and  Albert. 

When  our  subject  was  a  youth  of 
thirteen  he  entered  school,  having  pre- 
viously been  taught  by  his  father,  who 
was  a  well-educated  man.  At  the  early 
age  of  five  years  he  could  read  and  write, 
and  at  the  age  of  si.xteen  he  completed  a 
high-school  education.  In  1843  he  wed- 
ded Louise  Manisel,  and  about  that  time 
secured  the  position  as  manager  over  a 
large  estate  in  Germany  of  2,000  acres, 
receiving  as  a  compensation  for  his  serv- 


744 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ices  $600  per  annum.  He  was  also  in 
the  German  army  for  three  years,  doing 
duty  in  the  cavalry  service. 

In  1S48  he  bade  adieu  to  friends  and 
Fatherland  and  sailed  for  America,  land- 
ing at  New  Orleans  after  a  voyage  of 
fifty-three  days.  He  at  once  started 
north,  traveling  until  he  had  reached 
Washington  county.  Wis.,  where  he  pur- 
chased forty  acres  of  wild  land,  heavily 
covered  with  timber.  There  were  no 
roads,  nothing  but  Indian  trails,  wild 
animals  were  frequently  seen,  and  the 
county  was  just  opening  up  to  civiliza- 
tion. Milwaukee  was  the  nearest  trading 
point,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  and  it 
required  about  a  week  to  make  the  jour- 
ney to  and  from  that  place,  for  he  had 
only  an  o.\-team,  and  those  animals  are 
not  noted  for  their  speed.  After  living 
upon  the  farm  in  Washington  county  for 
nine  years,  during  which  time  he  cleared 
and  improved  eighty  acres  of  land,  Mr. 
Schwedler  came,  in  1856,  to  Luxemburg 
(then  a  part  of  Casco)  township,  Kewau- 
nee county,  and  purchased,  on  Section  14, 
160  acres  of  land,  for  which  he  paid  $80. 
There  was  not  a  space  cleared  large 
enough  to  erect  a  house,  so  he  had  to  cut 
down  the  trees  ere  he  could  build  his  first 
home,  i8.\20  feet  in  dmiensions,  in 
which  he  lived  until  1865.  He  plowed 
his  land  with  an  ox-team,  and  his  imple- 
ments were  an  axe,  a  plow  and  a  grub 
hoe.  Two  years  later  he  purchased  forty 
acres  of  his  present  farm,  and  in  1865  sold 
his  first  farm  and  went  to  Neenah,  Wis., 
where  he  purchased  a  house  and  lot,  his 
son  being  employed  in  a  foundry  at  that 
place.  After  two  years,  however,  he 
returned  to  Luxemburg  township,  and, 
locating  upon  his  forty-acre  farm,  built  a 
log  house,  which  was  his  home  until  1880, 
when  it  was  replaced  by  his  present 
residence.  The  boundaries  of  his  farm 
he  has  extended  from  time  to  time,  having 
purchased  forty  acres  in  1868,  forty  acres 
in  1 87 1,  and  forty  acres  in  1877,  making 
in  all  160  acres  of  land. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schwedler  have  been 


born  eleven  children — Adelaide,  Mary 
(deceased),  Oscar,  Awald  (deceased), 
Herman,  Albert  (deceased),  Louis,  Ru- 
dolph, Robert  (deceased),  Ida  and  Adelia. 
Since  becoming  an  American  citizen  the 
father  of  this  family  has  been  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  has  served  as  assessor 
and  pathmaster.  A  progressive  and  pub- 
lic-spirited man,  betakes  a  warm  interest 
in  everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of 
the  community,  and  well  deserves  repre- 
sentation in  the  history  of  his  adopted 
county. 


J 


ACOB  KOZINA,  an  active  and  en- 
terprising young  farmer  of  Franklin 
township,  Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis. ,  was 
born  in  Bohemia  August  i,  1862. 
His  parents,  Thomas  and  Mary  Ko- 
zina,  natives  of  the  same  country,  came 
with  their  children  to  the  United  States 
in  1869,  making  their  way  directly  to 
Franklin  township.  Here  the  father 
bought  the  farm  now  owned  in  part  and 
occupied  by  their  sen  Jacob,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  and  followed  farming 
until  1892,  when  he  sold  part  of  the 
homestead,  having  already  deeded  eighty 
acres  to  Jacob.  Our  subject  is  the  fourth 
in  a  family  of  six  children,  and  was  but 
seven  years  of  age  when  brought  to 
America.  His  education  was  therefore 
secured  partly  in  the  old  country  and 
partly  in  this,  but  he  left  school  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  and  worked  with 
his  father  until  twenty-three,  when  the 
eighty  acres  were  deeded  to  him;  since 
then  he  has  followed  the  vocation  of 
farming  continuously,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  representative  agriculturists  of  the 
township. 

On  June  2,  1S85,  Mr.  Kozina  mar- 
ried Miss  Frances  Wishka,  who  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Carlton,  Kewaunee  Co., 
Wis.,  April  24,  1868,  and  is  a  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Josie  Wishka,  who  came 
from  Bohemia  to  Carlton  township  in 
1865.  The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ko- 
zina  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  four 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


745 


children,  namely:  Peter,  Joseph,  Annie 
and  Francis.  The  family  are  members 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  Mr.  Kozina 
is  a  member  of  the  Bohemian  Roman 
Catholic  Central  Union.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Democrat,  and  has  held  the  office  of 
town  treasurer  about  three  years.  He  is 
a  successful  man  in  his  vocation,  is  a 
useful  citizen,  and  enjoys  the  esteem  of 
all  his  fellow-citizens,  regardless  of  creeds 
or  politics. 


JOHN  CHATER,  retired  farmer,  was 
born  May  7,  18 17,  in  Northampton- 
shire, England,  son  of  James  and 
Mary  (Smith)  Chater,  in  whose 
family  were  six  children — Elizabeth,  Mary 
Ann,  Sarah,  John,  Martha  and  Anna. 
The  father  died  when  our  subject  was 
only  five  years  old,  and  this  compelled 
John,  when  he  was  yet  quite  young, 
to  earn  his  own  living.  He  was  only 
about  seven  years  of  age  when  he  began 
to  aid  his  mother  in  the  support  of  the 
family,  his  first  work  being  what  was 
called  quill  winding.  Later  he  learned 
the  weaver's  trade,  which  he  followed  for 
about  fourteen  years,  earning  quite  a  good 
livelihood  in  that  way,  for  he  was  an  ex- 
pert workman. 

On  January  7,  1840,  Mr.  Chater  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Julia 
Buford,  daughter  of  William  and  Anna 
(Loseby)  Buford,  who  were  the  parents 
of  five  children,  namely:  Elizabeth,  Julia, 
Martha,  George  and  Fred.  In  1862  our 
subject,  having  determined  to  try  his  for- 
tune in  America,  sailed  from  Liverpool, 
England,  and  after  a  voyage  of  fourteen 
days  landed  at  New  York,  whence  he 
made  his  way  to  Door  county.  Wis.,  and 
located  in  Waterford,  this  State.  In  the 
following  November  he  came  to  Baileys 
Harbor  and  purchased  135  acres  of  land, 
three  miles  south  of  the  town,  upon  which 
he  built  a  log  house  18x24  feet,  the  best 
residence  in  the  township  at  that  time. 
His  wife  crossed  the  Atlantic  about  three 
years  later,  landing  at  Quebec  and   com- 


ing at  once  to  Baileys  Harbor,  whence 
she  walked  to  the  farm.  Many  hours  she 
spent  in  tears  in  those  early  days,  for  the 
new  home  was  in  such  contrast  to  her  old 
one  with  its  comforts    and   conveniences. 

Mr.  Chater  worked  hard  from  morn- 
ing until  night,  and  after  a  time  waving 
fields  of  grain  were  seen  where  once  were 
barren  fields,  and  the  bounteous  harvests 
greatly  added  to  the  income  of  the  owner. 
His  first  crop  was  millet,  and  his  sales 
from  three  acres  netted  him  over  one 
hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Chater  continued 
to  make  his  home  upon  the  farm  until 
1887,  when  failing  health  forced  him  to 
abandon  agricultural  pursuits,  and  he  has 
since  lived  retired,  enjoying  the  rest  which 
he  has  so  truly  earned  and  richly  de- 
serves. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chater  was  born  a 
daughter — Matlida — now  the  wife  of 
James  Riding,  who  lives  on  her  father's 
farm.  Our  subject  exercises  his  right  of 
franchise  in  support  of  the  Democratic 
party,  taking  a  deep  interest  in  the  growth 
and  success  of  same,  and  keeping  well  in- 
formed on  the  issues  of  the  day.  He  is 
numbered  among  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  Door  county,  aided  in  laying  out  a 
number  of  its  roads,  and  has  been  other- 
wise identified  with  its  progress  and  de- 
velopment. 


JOHN  WRABETZ,  of  Kewaunee,  was 
born  in  Moravia,  a  province  of  Aus- 
tria, June  9,  1839,  son  of  Frank 
and  Anna  (Kalab)  Wrabetz,  who 
were  married  in  1837.  The  family  came 
to  America  in  1853,  but  the  father  being 
taken  ill  a  few  days  before  landing,  he 
was  taken  to  a  hospital  on  Long  Island, 
N.  Y. ,  where  he  died  after  an  illness  of 
seven  days,  leaving  his  widow  with  two 
sons  and  one  daughter,  John  being  the 
eldest. 

The  family  at  once  came  to  Milwau- 
kee, Wis. ,  there  remaining  together  until 
1859,  when  John  went  to  Chicago  for 
two  years,  or  until  the   spring  of   1861, 


746 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


when  he  came  to  Kewaunee,  reaching 
here  April  26.  .He  opened  a  wagon 
shop,  having  learned  the  trade  under  his 
father,  who  was  a  wagon-maker,  and 
conducted  it  until  August  15,  1862,  when 
he  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-seventh  Wis. 
V.  I.,  with  which  he  served  in  all  its 
marches  and  engagements  until  Sejjtem- 
ber  29,  1865,  when  he  was  honorably 
discharged  from  the  \\' estern  Department. 
In  the  fall  of  the  same  \ear  he  returned 
to  Kewaunee,  built  a  new  shop,  resumed 
his  old  trade,  and  carried  it  on  until  1881, 
when  he  sold  out  and  bought  an  interest 
in  a  stone  quarry,  which  he  held  until  the 
spring  of  189^,  when  he  sold.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1894,  he  purchased  his  present 
meat  market  in  Kewaunee,  and  is  now 
doing  a  thri\ing  trade. 

Mr.  Wrabetz  was  married  in  .\pril, 
1866,  to  Miss  Mary  Herbek,  who  l)ecame 
the  mother  of  si.\  sons  and  six  daughters, 
of  whom  three  sons  and  four  daughters 
are  still  living;  the  mother  was  called 
away  in  February,  1883.  Mrs.  Anna 
Wrabetz,  mother  of  our  subject,  died  in 
Milwaukee  in  1889.  Mr.  W'rabetz  is  a 
solid  Republican  and  cast  his  first  vote 
for  Lincoln.  As  the  candidate  of  this 
party,  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  Kewaunee 
count)'  in  1868,  and  served  one  term;  as 
city  treasurer  he  served  four  terms,  and 
he  has  also  tilled  the  office  of  alderman. 
He  is  a  member  of  no  Church,  nor  of  any 
secret  organization,  but  his  popularity 
rests  on  his  own  jiersonal  merits. 

FKlCDliRICK  SCHUMACHFK,  a 
])rosperous  farmerof  Carlton  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  was  born 
at  Hohenbrunzow,  Germany,  Jan- 
uary I,  1854.  His  father,  Frederick,  Sr. , 
was  a  native  of  the  same  place,  born 
March  25,  1825.  His  grandfather,  Chris- 
topher, was  born  in  1797,  and  died  in 
1862;  his  grandmother,  Christina  (Arnst) 
Schumacher,  was  born  in  1799,  and  died 
in  1882. 

After    leaving    school,  at    the    age    of 


fourteen,  Frederick,  Sr. ,  began  working 
out  for  strangers  at  farm  work,  and  was 
thus  employed  until  twenty  years  old, 
when  he  was  called  to  join  the  standing 
army  for  three  years,  and  was  then  dis- 
charged. The  German  revolution  broke 
out  about  this  time,  and  he  was  again 
called  to  serve  his  country  for  a  year; 
after  his  second  discharge  he  re-engaged 
in  farm  labor  until  October  10,  1863, 
when  he  brought  his  family  to  the  United 
States,  and,  locating  in  Chicago,  111., 
worked  there  for  seventeen  years  at  what- 
ever he  could  find  to  do.  He  then  rented 
a  farm  in  Cook  county.  111.,  which  he 
culti\ate(l  some  seven  years,  and  again 
went  to  Chicago,  where  he  now  resides. 
He  had  married,  in  1850,  Caroline  Bau- 
mann,  who  was  born  in  Granshendorf, 
Germany,  March  i,  1828,  and  to  this 
marriage  have  come  six  children,  viz. : 
Rika,  Frederick,  Caroline,  Bertha,  Mary 
and   William. 

Frederick,  Jr.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  passed  three  jears  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  country,  and 
being  but  nine  years  of  age  when  he 
reached  Chicago,  he  there  attended  the 
public  schools  about  five  years,  securing 
a  good  education.  After  this  he  followed 
teaming  for  about  nine  years,  when  he 
joined  his  father  in  farming  on  the  rented 
land.  When  the  father  returned  to 
Chicago  our  subject  came  to  Carlton 
townjihip,  Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis. ,  and 
bought  the  farm  he  now  occupies,  which 
was  gained  by  hard  labor  and  good  man- 
agement. 

Mr.  Schumacher  was  first  united  in 
marriage,  July  9,  1882,  with  Annie  Gierz, 
daughter  of  Fred  and  Lena  Gierz.  She  was 
born  in  Hohenbrunzow  August  7,  1858, 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1882,  and 
died  in  Carlton  township  December  22, 
1893.  ^'it'  bore  her  husband  three  chil- 
dren, viz.:  Herman,  born  May  19,  1883; 
Annie,  August  18,  1884,  and  Martha, 
September  30,  1886.  The  second  mar- 
riage of  our  subject  was  to  Augusta  Kealke, 
on  March  28,   1894.     This  lady  was  born 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


747- 


in  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  Gerniany,  No- 
vember 7,  1865.  Her  father  was  John 
Kealke,  who  was  born  in  Furstensee, 
Germany,  in  January,  1820,  and  died  in 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz  June  4,  1883;  her 
mother  was  Minnie  (Stegnian)  Kealka, 
who  was  born  in  Godendorf,  Germany, 
November  21,  1823,  and  died  August  i, 
1884.  Mr.  Schumacher  is  a  member  of 
the  Lutheran  Church  at  Sandy  Bay,  and 
he  and  his  family  enjoy  the  respect  of  all 
who  know  them. 


CONRAD  WACKTLER,  a  pioneer 
citizen  of  Wisconsin,  now  resid- 
ing in  Nasewaupee  township. 
Door  county,  was  born  in  Wur- 
temberg,  Germany,  in  1827.  His  parents, 
Conrad  and  Elizabeth  (Brodbeck)  Wack- 
tler,  were  agriculturists  in  Gerniany,  and 
of  their  family  three  are  now  living: 
Michael  (residing  in  Germany),  Barbara, 
and  Conrad  (our  subject).  The  father 
died  in  his  native  country  in  1829,  and 
the  mother  followed  him  in  1837. 

Conrad  Wacktler  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  German}-,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  3ears  entered  in  the  German 
army,  fighting  in  the  conflict  which  raged 
between  his  country  and  Denmark  over 
the  possession  of  Schleswig-Holstein. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
home  and  carried  on  farming  until  1852, 
when  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
taking  passage  on  a  sailing  vessel,  the 
voyage  occupying  six  weeks.  He  went 
at  once  to  Albany,  New  York,  where  he 
found  employment  in  a  tannery;  remain- 
ing there  but  a  short  time  he  went  to  Port 
Washington,  Wis.,  where  he  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade;  but  at  the  end  of  three 
years  he  gave  that  up  and  moved  to  Gib- 
son township,  Manitowoc  county,  there 
following  his  former  occupation  of  farm- 
ing until  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany F,  Fifteenth  Wis.  V.  I. ,  Fourteenth 
Army  Corps.  He  fought  in  the  battle  of 
Island  No.  10,  was  with  Sherman  on  his 
famous  march  to  the  sea,    and  took  part 


in  a  number  of  fierce  conflicts,  receiving 
an  honorable  discharge  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  in  1865,  after  which  he  returned 
to  his  home  in  Manitowoc  county. 

While  living  in  Port  Washington  Mr. 
Wacktler  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth- 
Broadbeck,  a  native  of  Germany,  whose 
parents  lived  and  died  there.  She  has  borne 
him  four  children,  three  of  whom  are  living. 
Wilhelm,  who  resides  at  home,  looks 
after  the  farm  and  conducts  a  saloon; 
Henry,  also  living  at  home,  and  Gustav, 
who  is  married  and  lives  near  his  parents. 
Catherine  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years.  Mr.  Wacktler  is  a  member  of  the 
G.  A.  R.  at  Sturgeon  Bay.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican,  and  takes  much  interest 
in  securing  good  capable  men  for  officers. 
He  and  his  estimaljle  wife  are  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


FRED  LEONHARDT  is  one  of 
Wisconsin's  native  sons,  born 
January  29,  1858,  in  Sheboygan 
county,  and  is  the  youngest  in  a 
family  of  four  children,  whose  parents  were 
Adam  and  Anna  Margaret  (Schneider) 
Leonhardt.  The  father  was  a  successful 
agriculturist.  The  children  are  Peter, 
now  living  in  Oconto,  Wis. ;  Mary,  wife 
of  Theodore  Youngerman,  a  resident  of 
Marinette,  Wis. ;  Anna,  wife  of  A.  Adels- 
beck,  who  lives  in  California,  and  Fred. 
Fred  Leonhardt  well  deserves  repre- 
sentation in  the  history  of  his  adopted 
county.  His  mother  died  when  he  was 
only  two  and  a  half  j-ears  old,  and  in  his 
early  childhood  he  had  few  advantages. 
When  only  thirteen  years  of  age  he  went 
into  the  lumber  woods,  where  he  was 
employed  as  a  teamster  for  two  winters, 
after  which  he  began  learning  the  shoe- 
maker's trade,  serving  a  two-years'  ap- 
prenticeship; but  on  the  expiration  of 
that  period  he  was  compelled  to  abandon 
the  work  on  account  of  failing  health, 
and  in  order  to  provide  for  his  own  main- 
tenance he  then  again  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  teaming,   which  he  followed  for  a 


74S 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


number  of  years.  The  greater  part  of 
his  life  has  been  spent  in  Wisconsin,  and 
his  career  has  been  one  of  usefulness. 
In  1880  he  removed  to  \'oseville,  where 
he  began  working  for  George  Peterson, 
and  while  at  that  place  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Harriet  Richardson,  the 
wedding  being  celebrated  on  Christmas 
Day,  1882.  The  lady  is  a  daughter  of 
Lorenzo  and  Chloe  A.  (Porter)  Richard- 
son, well-known  people  of  Door  county. 
After  their  marriage  the  young  couple 
came  to  Baileys  Harbor  and  Mr.  Leon- 
hardt  bought  100  acres  of  land  at  three 
dollars  per  acre — a  timber  tract  which 
was  entirely  unimproved.  They  lived  in 
Mr.  Richardson's  home  for  seven  years 
and  then  mo\ed  to  their  present  residence, 
which  is  noted  for  its  hospitality  and  good 
cheer.  Mr.  Leonhardt  now  has  twenty 
acres  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 

Four  children  blessed  the  union  of 
our  subject  and  his  wife,  but  the  second 
child  died  in  infancy,  and  Lorenzo  A.  died 
at  the  age  of  two  years.  Ashire  F. ,  the 
eldest,  and  Aaron  L.,  the  youngest,  are 
still  under  the  parental  roof.  Mr.  Leon- 
hardt is  a  Republican,  and  alvvaj-s  sup- 
ports that  party  by  his  ballot,  but  he  has 
never  sought  office  for  himself,  preferring 
to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness interests.  Whatever  success  he  has 
achieved  in  life  is  due  to  his  own  efforts, 
and  is  the  reward  of  diligence  and  earnest 
application. 


E  HENRY  HERRICK  is  of  Bo- 
hemian parentage,  his  parents, 
Joseph  and  Annie  Herrick,  having 
been  natives  of  Bohemia,  whence 
they  emigrated  to  the  United  States  be- 
fore he  was  born.  His  father  was  a 
wagon- maker  in  his  own  country,  and 
now  follows  that  trade  in  Lincoln  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.  There  were 
six  children  in  the  family — four  sons  and 
two  daughters:  Joseph,  Jr.,  E.  Henry 
(our  subject),  James,  \\'illiam,  Mary  (now 


Mrs.    Frank  Nowak,  of  Milwaukee),  and 
Lillie  (who  is  still  at  home). 

E.  Henry  Herrick  was  born  October 
14,  1868,  in  West  Bend,  Washington 
Co.,  Wis.,  where  up  to  the  age  of  ten 
years  he  attended  the  German  parochial 
schools,  later  attending  the  public  schools 
of  Lincoln.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
he  left  home  and  went  to  northern  Mich- 
igan, where  he  secured  a  position  as  sca- 
ler in  a  lumber  camp.  When  summer 
came  he  went  home,  but  the  following 
winter  he  returned  and  became  foreman 
for  the  same  jobber  in  the  lumber  camp. 
Again  returning  home  he  was  married, 
on  September  6,  1890,  to  Miss  Rosa 
Naze,  of  Brussels  township,  daughter  of 
Eugene  Naze,  who  is  at  present  (1894) 
township  treasurer  of  Brussels.  After 
Mr.  Herrick's  marriage  he  located  in 
Rosiere,  Brussels  township,  where  he 
went  into  partnership  with  his  father-in- 
law  in  the  farming,  cheese-making  and 
mercantile  businesses,  which  under  his 
careful  management  are  rapidly  increas- 
ing. He  has  but  one  child,  Louisa,  who 
was  born  August  21,  1893. 

Mr.  Herrick  holds  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party,  and  has  been  sent  by 
them  as  a  delegate  to  the  Republican 
county  convention  from  Brussels  town- 
ship. He  is  an  unusually  bright  young 
man,  and  is  most  popular  with  all  classes 
of  people  with  whom  he  comes  in  con- 
tact in  business  and  social  relations.  He 
speaks  four  languages:  English,  Ger- 
man, Bohemian  and  Belgian,  an  accomp- 
lishment which  has  proved  of  the  utmost 
value  in  business.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  is  most 
active  in  promoting  all  measures  which 
will  benefit  the  communitj'. 


w 


Ignatz 


HECK,  an  enterprising  and 
prosperous  young  jeweler  of  Ke- 
waunee, was  born  in  Bohemia, 
February  12,  1863.  His  father. 
Heck,  was  a  substantial  farmer  in 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPUICAL    RECORD. 


749 


the  old  country,  as  was  his  father  before 
him.  Ignatz  married  a  farmer's  daugh- 
ter, who  bore  him  twelve  children,  of 
whom  six  still  survive.  About  the  year 
1880  this  family  came  to  America,  set- 
tling on  a  farm  in  Pierce  township,  Ke- 
waunee Co.,  Wis.,  where  the  father  still 
lives. 

W.  Heck  attended  school  in  his  na- 
tive land  until  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
became  fairly  educated  both  in  Bohemian 
and  German.  He  then  began  learning 
the  jewelry  business  in  the  city  of  Par- 
dubitz,  Bohemia,  serving  three  years, 
and  then  came  to  America  with  his  par- 
ents, he  being  then  seventeen  years  old. 
On  arriving  here  he  at  once  located  in 
Kewaunee,  and  for  seven  years  worked 
for  others,  then  establishing  a  store  for 
himself,  he  met  with  much  success,  and 
in  1 89 1  built  his  present  block,  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  city;  part  of  it  is  occu- 
pied by  the  postoffice,  and  the  remainder 
by  his  jewelry  store  and  as  his  family 
residence.  Mr.  Heck  is  also  interested 
in  the  Kewaunee  Furniture  Factory,  of 
which  he  is  treasurer,  and  likewise  in  the 
Bohemian  Printing  Co.,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1890,  and  is  altogether  a  most 
progressive  young  business  man. 

Mr.  Heck  was  united  in  marriage  in 
Kewaunee,  August  18,  1886,  with  Miss 
Anna  Dolensky,  a  native  of  Kewaunee 
county  and  a  daughter  of  Frank  Dolen- 
sky, an  early  settler.  This  union  has 
been  blessed  with  two  children — Anna 
and  Otto.  In  politics  Mr.  Heck  is  en- 
tirely independent,  but  has  served  as 
alderman.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum,  and  of  the  Bohemian  Turners, 
and  socially  he  and  his  family  are  highly 
esteemed  by  the  entire  community. 


WILLIAM   BARTEL    is    a   wide- 
awake  and    progressive    citizen 
and  the  owner  of  a  tine  farm  in 
Sevastopol      township,       Door 
county,  which  has  been  placed  under  its 
present  high  state  of  cultivation  through 
43 


his  own  efforts.  He  was  born  in  Ger- 
many September  4,  1849,  and  is  the 
second  son  in  a  family  of  seven  children, 
six  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  father, 
William  Bartel,  was  a  farmer  in  Germany 
who  had  a  comfortable  income,  and  in 
the  schools  of  that  country  the  children 
were  educated. 

Our  subject  remained  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  until  about  twenty-six  years  of 
age,  when  his  father  gave  him  money 
with  which  to  come  to  America,  and  in 
December,  1875,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
sailing  from  Bremen  on  the  steamer 
"America,"  which  after  a  voyage  of  six- 
teen days  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York.  Making  his  way  to  Mil- 
waukee, Wis. ,  he  there  secured  work  with 
the  Chicago  &  North  Western  Railway 
Company  near  Granville,  this  State.  He 
worked  hard,  saved  his  money  and  thus 
got  a  start  in  life  and  on  the  29th  of  June, 
1878,  came  to  Door  county,  and  soon 
after  became  the  owner  of  eighty  acres  of 
timber  land..  Here  in  the  midst  of  the 
forest  he  hewed  out  a  farm,  for  his  prop- 
erty was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of 
timber  which  had  to  be  cleared  away  ere 
he  could  plow  and  plant  his  land.  The 
boundaries  of  this  farm  he  has  extended 
until  he  now  has  184  acres,  of  which 
eighty  acres  are  under  cultivation  and  yield 
to  him  a  good  income.  His  home  is  a 
comfortable  residence,  and  the  improve- 
ments of  a  model  farm  are  there  found. 

Mr.  Bartel  was  married,  February  28, 
1878,  in  Ozaukee  county.  Wis.,  to  Miss 
Margaret  Herrbold,  who  was  born  in  that 
county  July  12,  1850,  and  is  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  Herrbold,  a  German  farmer, 
who  in  his  younger  years  emigrated  to 
America.  Their  union  has  been  blessed 
with  three  children,  one  son  and  two 
daughters — George,  Susie  and  Louisa,  all 
yet  under  the  parental  roof.  The  parents 
are  highly  respected  people  and  are  con- 
sistent members  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
and  in  his  political  views  Mr.  Bartel  has 
always  been  a  Democrat,  but  he  has 
never  sought  or  desired  official  preferment. 


75° 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


He  has  been  the  architect  of  his  own  for- 
tune, and  has  built  wisely  and  well.  He 
started  out  in  life  for  himself  with  very 
limited  circumstances,  worked  as  a  rail- 
road laborer,  chopped  wood  at  fifty  cents 
a  cord,  and  scorned  no  labor  which  would 
yield  him  an  honest  living.  Steadily  has 
he  worked  his  wa\'  upward,  overcoming 
the  difficulties  and  obstacles  in  his  path 
by  perseverance  and  diligence,  and  to-day 
he  is  numbered  among  the  well-to-do 
farmers  of  his  adopted  county. 


HENRY  BULTMANN,  a  well-to-do 
farmer  of  West   Kewaunee  town- 
ship, Kewaunee  county,  was  born 
in  Munster,  Germany,  September 
II,    1838,    and   is    a  son    of  Joseph  and 
Annie  Bultmann. 

Henry  was  reared  to  farming,  and  was 
educated  in  a  Catholic  school  in  the  old 
country.  He  worked  for  his  father  on 
the  home  farm  until  about  twenty-eight 
years  old,  and  on  March  7,  1868,  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  locating  first 
at  Effingham,  111.,  but  shortly  afterward 
removing  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  1 869,  however,  he  came  to  Wis- 
consin, settling  in  Kewaunee,  where  for 
six  years  he  worked  in  the  sawmills.  He 
then  bought  the  farm  he  still  owns  in 
West  Kewaunee  township,  where  he  has 
since  resided  and  which  he  has  ever  since 
successfully  cultivated,  adding  yearly  to 
his  store  of  worldly  goods,  and  now  pos- 
sessing as  neat  a  farm  as  any  of  its  size  in 
the  township.  Mr.  Bultmann  was  united 
in  marriage  February  14,  1S69,  with  Miss 
Gertrude  Huttar,  who  was  born  August 
25,  1843,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Eliza- 
beth Huttar.  To  their  union  have  been 
born  four  children,  as  follows:  Henry, 
May  28,  1873;  Anton,  February  26,  1876; 
Bernard,  April  17,  187S,  and  Annie,  Sep- 
tember 13,  1884.  Mr.  Bultmann  is  a 
Democrat  in  his  political  affiliations,  and 
in  his  religious  faith  is  a  devout  Catholic. 
He  has  led  an  industrious  and  upright 
life,  and  he  and  his  family  are  highly  es- 


teemed in  their  community,  where  Mr. 
Bultmann  is  looked  upon  as  a  valuable 
and  useful  citizen. 


HERMAN  SCHLUESSEL,  who  is 
one  of  the  well-to-do  farmers  and 
substantial    citizens    of    Brussels 
township.  Door  countj',  was  born 
in  Germany  August  11,  1853,  son  of  Mar- 
tin Schluessel,  a  retired  farmer  of  Ahna- 
pee,  who  was  also  born  in  Germany. 

W'hen  Herman  was  thirteen  years  of 
age  the  family  emigrated  toAmerica, sailing 
from  Hamburg  to  New  York.  They  came 
west  to  Milwaukee,  W^is. ,  where  our  sub- 
ject remained  with  his  mother  while  his 
father  went  on  farther  to  look  up  a  loca- 
tion, and  deciding  to  settle  in  the  town  of 
Gibson,  Manitowoc  county,  they  lived  on 
a  farm  there  for  the  ne.xt  nine  years,  at 
the  end  of  that  time  removing  to  Ahna- 
pee,  Kewaunee  county.  During  this 
period  Herman  also  worked  for  neighbor- 
ing farmers,  and  the  wages  thus  obtained 
he  gave  to  his  parents,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained until  1873.  About  this  time  he 
concluded  to  get  a  home  for  himself,  and 
in  Section  24,  Brussels  township.  Door 
county,  he  purchased  100  acres  of  land, 
then  all  wooded,  and  he  himself  cut  the 
first  tree  that  was  felled  on  the  property. 
He  erected  a  small  cabin  on  his  clearing, 
and  did  his  own  cooking  for  some  time. 
On  October  15,  1875,  he  was  married,  in 
Cooperstown,  Manitowoc  count}',  to  Miss 
Hulda  Ueker,  a  resident  of  that  county, 
and  daughter  of  Frederick  Ueker,  a  re- 
tired farmer.  After  their  marriage  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Schluessel  immediately  com- 
menced housekeeping  in  the  log  cabin 
where  Mr.  Schluessel  had  been  living,  but 
in  1893  they  built  one  of  the  best  farm 
residences  to  be  found  in  Brussels  town- 
ship. They  have  a  family  of  bright  chil- 
dren, named  as  follows:  William,  Annie, 
Hannah,  Henry,  Minnie.  Gustav,  Fred 
and  Matilda,  all  living;  John  died  when 
si.\  months  old. 

At  the  present  time  Mr.  Schluessel  has 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


73' 


1 50  acres  of  land,  all  but  two  acres  under 
cultivation,  and  this  is  the  largest  cleared 
farm  in  the  township.  For  two  years  he 
conducted  a  general  store  on  his  farm, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1889  he  began  the 
manufacture  of  cheese,  in  which  he  has 
continued  up  to  the  present  time,  his 
daughter  Annie  aiding  him  materially  in 
this  enterprise.  Mr.  Schluessel  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  and  in  religion  he 
and  his  entire  family  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Church  of  Forestville.  In  up- 
rightness of  character  and  honesty  of  pur- 
pose Mr.  Schluessel  stands  prominent 
among  his  townspeople. 


HERMAN      KLEIMANN,     a     sub- 
stantial   farmer  of  West    Kewau- 
nee township,  Kewaunee  county, 
was  born  in  Germany  November 
'5-  1837,  son  of  Casper  and    Mary   Klei- 
mann. 

During  his  boyhood  our  subject  at- 
tended the  Catholic  schools  of  his  native 
country,  and  lived  on  a  farm  until  1864, 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States,  com- 
ing directly  through  from  the  seaboard 
to  Illinois,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm 
for  about  four  years.  He  then  came  to 
Kewaunee  county.  Wis.,  where,  a  short 
time  after  his  arrival,  he  purchased  his 
present  farm,  which  he  has  cleared,  and 
by  carefully  attending  to  his  business  has 
secured  for  himself  a  good  home.  After 
becoming  naturalized  he  cast  his  vote 
with  the  Democrats,  but  he  has  never 
sought  public  office.  On  April  10,  1866, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary  Os- 
pring,  y^ho  was  born  near  Chicago,  111., 
August  28,  1850,  daughter  of  Andrew  and 
Eva  Ospring.  Fifteen  children,  all  still 
living,  have  been  the  result  of  this  union, 
and  were  born  in  the  following  order: 
Lizzie,  April  15,  1868;  Casper,  March 
18,  1870;  August,  April  29,  1872;  Will- 
iam, October  i,  1874;  Mary,  February 
24,  1876;  Lucy,  October  29,  1878;  Annie, 
August  7,  1880;  Clara,  February  7,  1882; 
Trissie,  September  19,  1883;  Katie,  April 


20,  1885;  Theodore,  January  8,  1887;  Gus- 
tie,  March  14,  1888;  Isabelle,  December 
25,  1890;  John,  April  28,  1892,  and  Julia, 
November  28,  1893.  Mr.  Kleimann  and 
family  are  adherents  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  are  much  respected  by  their 
neighbors.  He  is  a  most  industrious  man, 
and  is  one  of  the  best  farmers  in  West 
Kewaunee  township. 


THEODORE  PETERSON,  an  in- 
dustrious, rising  young  farmer,  of 
Egg  Harbor  township.  Door  coun- 
ty, is  a  native  of  Sweden,  born 
September  10,  1866,  third  son  of  Peter 
Peterson,  a  farmer.  The  family  consisted 
of  eight  children — five  sons  and  three 
daughters — of  whom  Theodore  is  the  fifth 
in  the  order  of  birth. 

Our  subject  was  given  a  good  com- 
mon-school education,  and  until  about 
eighteen  years  old  assisted  his  father  on 
the  home  farm,  afterward  working  for 
others  for  some  two  years.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1886,  he  sailed  from  Gottenborg, 
and  ten  days  later  landed  at  New  York, 
coming  westward  immediately  to  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  and  thence  by  stage  to  Stur- 
geon Baj',  where  he  arrived  early  in  De- 
cember. For  the  remainder  of  that  win- 
ter he  was  engaged  in  cutting  cordwood, 
in  Gibraltar  township,  Door  county,  and 
he  was  employed  at  various  kinds  of 
labor  until  the  fall  of  1889,  when,  in 
partnership  with  his  brother,  he  bought 
the  farm  of  eighty  acres,  lying  in  Section 
20,  Egg  Harbor  township,  on  which  he 
now  lives.  He  is  a  thrifty,  industrious 
worker,  and  under  his  management  the 
farm  has  undergone  many  changes  and 
improvements,  and  is  yearly  becoming 
more  valuable.  With  a  reputation  for 
thorough  honesty  in  all  his  dealings,  he 
has  the  good  will  of  all  who  know  him, 
and  being  yet  young  has  a  prosperous 
career  before  him. 

In  May,  i  893,  Mr.  Peterson  was  mar- 
ried, in  Egg  Harbor  township,  to  Miss 
Maggie  Rossau,  who  was  born  in  Gibraltar 


752 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHWAL    RECORD. 


township,  Door  county,  daughter  of  John 
Rossau,  a  native  of  Holland,  and  to  this 
marriage  has  come  one  child,  Albert.  Mr. 
Peterson  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Har- 
rison. In  religious  faith  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 


LUKE  KILLOREN  is  one  of  Ire- 
land's honest  sons  now  numbered 
among  the  leading  agriculturists  of 
Door  county.  He  was  born  in 
County  Sligo  in  1834,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Mary  (Karens)  Killoren,  the 
father  a  farmer  by  occupation.  In  the 
family  were  eleven  children — Dominick, 
John,  Patrick,  Thomas,  Andrew,  Bridget, 
Luke,  Mary,  and  three  who  died  in  infancy. 
The  career  of  Luke  Killoren  is  not 
one  of  brilliant  or  e.xciting  episodes,  but 
is  that  of  a  man  who  has  lived  a  quiet 
life,  performing  faithfullj'  the  duties  which 
have  come  to  him,  and  living  at  peace 
with  all.  He  attended  school  until  about 
seventeen  years  of  age,  and  afterward 
aided  in  the  labors  on  his  father's  farm 
until  his  marriage  to  Miss  Margaret  Egan, 
daughter  of  John  Egan,  whose  family 
consisted  of  the  following  named  children 
— John,  James,  Patrick,  Allie  and  Mar- 
garet. In  1850  the  young  couple  bade 
adieu  to  the  old  home  and  sailed  for  the 
New  World,  hoping  thereby  to  benefit 
their  financial  condition.  After  eight 
weeks  and  three  days  spent  upon  the 
Atlantic  they  first  set  foot  on  American 
soil  at  Boston,  whence  they  went  to 
Salem,  Mass.,  and  there  for  one  year  Mr. 
Killoren  was  employed  as  a  common 
laborer.  He  then  removed  to  Lowell, 
Mass.,  and  during  the  succeeding  si.\ 
years  was  employed  in  a  cotton  factory  at 
two  dollars  per  day;  but  again  they 
changed  their  place  of  residence  and  this 
time  sought  a  home  in  the  West,  locating 
in  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Killoren  purchased 
ten  acres  of  land  for  seventy-five  dollars, 
built  a  log  cabin,  16  x  20  feet,  and  cleared 
five  acres  of  the  land,  but  during  most  of 


the  time  worked  for  the  farmers  in  the 
neighborhood.  After  seven  years  he  came 
to  Gardner  township.  Door  county,  and 
worked  in  a  sawmill  for  ten  years,  when, 
in  1879,  he  purchased  the  104  acres  of 
land  constituting  his  present  farm.  It 
was  then  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of 
timber,  but  he  at  once  began  to  clear  it, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  his  sons  has 
placed  about  fifty  acres  under  cultivation. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Killoren  have  had  a 
family  of  eight  children — Anna  (deceased), 
Anna,  John,  Thomas  and  Maggie  (twins), 
Lizzie,  James  and  William.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  family  all  belong  to  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  and  are  well-known  and 
highly  respected  people  of  the  community 
in  which  they  reside.  Mr.  Killoren  votes 
with  the  Democratic  part}',  but  has  never 
been  an  aspirant  for  public  ofTice,  prefer- 
ring to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  his 
business  interests.  Such  in  brief  is  the 
record  of  his  life;  much  might  be  said  of 
the  hardships  through  which  he  has 
passed  and  the  trials  that  he  has  borne,  but 
with  persistent  effort  he  has  worked  on 
and  gained  for  himself  and  family  a  com- 
fortable home,  won  the  respect  of  all 
with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in  con- 
tact, and  gained  a  place  among  the 
valued  citizens  of  the  community. 


FRANK  MILECHAR  was  born  in 
the  town  of    Carlton,    Kewaunee 
county,    March    18,  1859,    and  is 
still  a  resident  of  his  native  town- 
ship.     His  father,  Joseph   Milechar,  was 
born  in  Bohemia  and  by  vocation  was  a 
farmer. 

Frank,  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  six 
children,  was  also  reared  to  agriculture, 
and  still  follows  that  pursuit.  He  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Kewau- 
nee county,  which  were  necessarily  re- 
stricted in  their  means  and  methods  in 
his  early  day,  but  he  succeeded  fairly  well 
in  acquiring  a  substantial  fund  of  infor- 
mation. When  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-four  years   he  was  presented    by 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOOEAPHICAL   RECORD. 


753 


his  father  with  the  farm  he  now  owns  and 
has  ever  since  cultivated,  making  many 
necessary  as  well  as  desirable  improve- 
ments. Mr.  Milechar  has  thriven,  and  he 
is  now  considered  to  be  one  of  Carlton's 
representative  men.  A  Democrat  in  pol- 
itics, he  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
town  board,  as  town  treasurer,  as  con- 
stable, as  a  member  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation, and  has  filled  other  minor  offices, 
always  serving  the  people  with  ability  and 
honesty.  In  religion  he  is  devoutly  Cath- 
olic. On  January  17,  1882,  he  married 
Miss  Annie  Wannek,  daughter  of  George 
and  Mary  Wannek,  natives  of  Bohemia, 
and  this  union  has  been  blessed  with  the 
birth  of  seven  children,  viz. :  Albina, 
Adolph,  Emil,  Frank,  Anton,  Mary,  and 
one  whose  name  is  not  given,  all  living 
except  Frank,  who  died  in  1892. 


JACQUES  NEUVILLE  is  a  progress- 
ive and  public-spirited  citizen,  one 
who  labors  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  community  in  which  he  resides, 
and  whose  worth  is  recognized  by  many 
friends  who  hold  him  in  high  esteem.  He 
was  born  May  13,  1840,  in  Belgium,  and 
is  a  son  of  J.  Joseph  and  Mary  J.  (Del- 
saou)  Neuville,  the  father  a  farmer  by 
occupation.  In  the  family  were  children 
as  follows:  Adolph,  Nicholas,  Catherine, 
Elnore,  Henry,  Jacques,  Julian,  Joseph 
and  Andrew. 

Mr.  Neuville  attended  school  until 
thirteen  years  of  age,  when  he  began 
learning  the  mason's  trade,  serving  a 
three-years'  apprenticeship.  On  the  ex- 
piration of  that  period  the  family,  except- 
ing Adolph,  crossed  the  briny  deep  to 
New  York,  and  thence  came  direct  to 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  and  on  to  Gardner 
township,  Door  county.  The  father  had 
died  when  Jacques  was  only  five  years  of 
age.  The  mother  purchased  160  acres  of 
land  at  seventy-five  cents  per  acre,  and 
the  sons  built  a  log  cabin,  22x22  feet, 
carrying  all  the  timber  on  their  shoulders. 
They  at  once  began  to  clear  the  land,  and 


their  first  crop  consisted  of  potatoes  and 
two  bushels  of  spring  wheat,  their  har- 
vests increasing  with  the  amount  of  cleared 
land  until  they  were  able  to  reap  abund- 
antly. The  work  was  continued  as  rapidly 
as  possible,  but  the  task  was  an  arduous 
one,  for  they  had  no  team  and  the  farm 
implements  of  that  day  were  very  crude. 
No  roads  had  been  made  in  this  locality, 
nothing  but  Indian  trails  marked  their 
paths;  the  woods  were  full  of  wild  game 
of  all  kinds,  and  Nicholas  Neuville  at  one 
time  had  a  yoke  of  cattle  killed  by  the 
wolves  which  were  very  numerous  in  this 
region.  Jacques  often  walked  to  Green 
Bay,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  and  like 
his  brothers  shared  in  the  hard  labor  of 
the  farm,  working  from  early  morning  un- 
til night.  The  children  remained  at  home 
until  their  marriage,  and  when  the  last 
one  left  the  parental  roof  the  mother  went 
to  Bay  Settlement,  Brown  Co.,  Wis.,  to 
live  with  her  son  Julian.  Her  death  oc- 
curred about  1884. 

On  May  3,  1862,  Jacques  Neuville  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Theresa  Salun, 
and  on  November  16,  1864,  our  subject 
left  his  young  wife  to  aid  in  the  defense 
of  the  Union,  enlisting  in  Company  K, 
Fifth  Minnesota  V.  I.,  with  which  he 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He 
then  returned  to  his  home,  and  having 
previously  purchased  forty  acres  of  land 
in  Gardner  township,  began  the  work  of 
developing  his  farm,  the  boundaries  of 
which  he  has  since  extended  until  it 
now  comprises  120  acres,  of  which 
eighty  acres  are  cleared.  Nine  chil- 
dren bless  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Neuville,  namely:  Flora,  Isadore,  Rose, 
Eliza,  Mellory,  Josephine,  Louie,  Mary 
and  Ananias.  The  parents  and  children 
are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
in  politics  Mr.  Neuville  is  a  Republican. 
He  has  served  as  supervisor  for  a  number 
of  years,  has  been  school  clerk  and  school 
director,  and  is  a  warm  friend  of  the  cause 
of  education,  which  he  believes  to  be  one 
of  the  prime  factors  in  the  promotion  of 
good  government. 


754 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPniCAL    RECORD. 


CHARLES  LUTGEN.    a    thriving 
young    farmer   of  West   Kewau- 
nee township,  Kewaunee  county, 
was  born   at   Kewaunee  Septem- 
ber 13,  1865,   and  is  a  son  of  John  Lut- 
gen,  who  was  born  in  Bremen,  Germany, 
August  4,  1S28. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  John  Lutgen 
came  to  America,  and  for  a  while  lived 
in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  thence  moving  to 
Two  Rivers,  Wis.,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed in  lumbering  about  six  3-ears,  at 
the  end  of  that  time  buying  a  farm  at 
Saxonburg,  Manitowoc  county.  He  fol- 
lowed agriculture  until  1854,  when  he 
came  to  Kewaunee,  being  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  the  county,  and  he  helped  to 
build  the  first  sawmill  in  Kewaunee,  also 
assisting  in  erecting  the  first  German 
Lutheran  church  of  the  same  place,  of 
which  Church  he  is  a  faithful  adherent. 
He  was  the  first  man  to  enlist  from 
Kewaunee  county  during  the  Civil  war, 
and  served  until  discharged  on  account  of 
disability,  his  eye-sight  having  failed;  in- 
deed, a  short  time  after  his  discharge  he 
became  totally  blind,  and  so  remained 
for  three  years,   when  his  sight  was  re 


stored. 


Engajrme: 


in     lumberinsr    until 


1880,  he  then  located  on  a  farm  now 
owned  by  his  son  Charles,  and  here  fol- 
lowed the  vocation  of  farming  about 
eight  years,  when  he  retired.  He  is  a 
member  in  good  standing  of  the  G.  A. 
R.  post  at  Kewaunee,  and  has  been  for 
many  years.  John  Lutgen  was  married, 
in  1849,  to  Margaret  Rife,  who  was  born 
February  15,  1831,  daughter  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  Rife,  and  died  March  11,  1892, 
the  mother  of  ten  children,  viz. :  John 
(deceased),  Henry  (deceased),  Johnnie, 
Minnie,  Mary  (deceased),  Martha  (de- 
ceased), Charles,  Hattie,  Edward,  and 
one  that  died  in  infancy  unnamed. 

Charles  Lutgen,  the  seventh  in 
order  of  birth  of  the  above-named  chil- 
dren, was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Kewaunee  county,  and  worked  on  the 
home  farm  until  twenty-two  years  old. 
In    1889   he  engaged   in  farming  on  his 


own  account,  and  has  been  very  success- 
ful. On  September  15,  1888,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Emma  Bielke, 
who  was  born  March  31,  1867,  and  she 
has  borne  him  two  children— Henry, 
born  September  29,  1889,  and  Maggie, 
born  June  22,  1893.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lutgen  are  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
esteem  of  all  who  know  them. 


M 


ICHEL  BOTTKOLwas  born  in 
October,  1831,  in  the  Rhine 
Province  of  Germany,  which 
was  also  the  birthplace  of  his 
parents,  Michel  and  Mary  (Bartholmas) 
Bottkol.  In  the  family  were  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  three  sons  and  one  daughter 
are  j'et  living. 

In  1856  the  father  emigrated  to  the 
United  States,  leaving  Germany  in  April 
and  reaching  New  York  on  the  7th  of 
June.  From  there  he  proceeded  to  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  whence,  after  a  short 
time,  he  came  to  Kewaunee  county, 
where  he  purchased  200  acres  of  land  in 
Lincoln  township,  which  he  at  once  began 
to  clear  and  improve,  there  carrying  on 
agricultural  pursuits  with  good  success  for 
a  number  of  years.  Removing  to  Ahna- 
pee,  he  there  died  in  1888,  having  sur- 
vived his  wife  two  years.  They  were 
members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  were 
highly  respected  people,  and  in  politics 
the  father  was  a  Democrat. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  eldest  son  in 
the  family,  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  land,  after  which  he 
came  with  his  parents  to  the  United 
States,  locating  in  I\ewaunee  county  in 
1866.  He  is  numbered  among  the  early 
settlers,  and  became  familiar  with  the 
hardships  and  trials  of  frontier  life.  About 
six  years  after  his  arrival  here,  in  con- 
nection with  his  brothers,  he  assumed 
the  management  of  the  old  home  farm 
and  continued  its  cultivation  until  1887, 
when   he  embarked  in  general  merchan- 


disinc 


the     saloon  business   and  in 


the    manufacture  of  cheese,   carrying  on 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


755 


operations  along  these  lines  in  connection 
with  his  brothers,  George  and  Mathias.  In 
1 866  he  was  united  in  wedlock  with  Mary 
Gakinet,  who  was  born  in  Belgium  in  1843, 
and  of  their  children  are  named  the  follow- 
ing: Mary,  who  died  in  early  life;  Katherina, 
now  the  wife  of  Emil  Rasor,  of  Marinette, 
Mich. ;  Michael,  living  in  Menomonie, 
Wis. ;  Annie,  who  is  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Holzbach,  of  Manitowoc,  Wis.,  and  Clara. 
In  1 87 1  the  Bottkol  brothers  built  a 
saw  and  grist  mill  which  they  operated 
until  July,  1894,  when  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  causing  quite  a  loss,  for  there  was 
little  insurance  upon  it.  The  family  has 
been  very  successful — one  of  the  most 
prosperous  in  the  township — and  its  mem- 
bers have  a  reputation  for  honesty  and 
uprightness  that  have  been  earned  by 
fair  dealing,  and  of  which  they  may  be 
justly  proud.  Our  subject  is  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  a  Catholic  in  religious 
belief,  and  is  a  public-spirited  and  pro- 
gressive citizen,  whom  Kewaunee  county 
could  ill  afford  to  lose. 


JOHN  MADDEN  is  one  of  the  enter- 
prising and  successful  farmers  of 
Door  county,  one  who  may  truly  be 
called  a  self-made  man,  for  his 
prosperity  in  life  is  not  the  result  of  fort- 
unate circumstances  or  an  inheritance 
from  wealthy  ancestors,  but  has  been 
achieved  through  persistent  effort,  dili- 
gence and  good  business  management. 

Mr.  Madden  was  born  March  18,  1826, 
in  County  Cork,  Ireland,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jeremiah  and  Mary  (Mahony)  Madden, 
the  former  a  successful  farmer.  Their 
children,  nine  in  number,  were  Margaret 
(deceased),  Mary,  Ellen,  James,  Mar- 
garet, John,  Jeremiah.  Johanna  and 
Honora.  The  educational  privileges 
which  our  subject  enjoyed  were  very 
limited,  for  his  father  died  when  he  was 
only  ten  years  of  age,  leaving  the  mother 
with  eight  children  to  support.  Her 
father,  John  Mahony,  also  lived  with 
them  for  about  five    years,   or  until   his 


death,  which  occurred  at  the  advanced 
age  of  ninety-nine.  When  John  was  a 
lad  of  fourteen  the  mother  with  four  of 
her  children  crossed  the  broad  ocean,  and 
after  a  voyage  of  seven  weeks  and  three 
days  landed  at  Quebec,  Canada,  where 
they  remained  for  about  three  months. 
They  then  removed  to  Kingston,  Ontario, 
and  during  the  succeeding  ten  years  John 
was  employed  as  a  farm  hand,  after 
which  the  family  moved  west  to  Strat- 
ford, Ontario,  where  he  worked  at  day 
labor.  Seven  years  later  the  Maddens 
sought  a  home  in  Wisconsin,  locating  in 
Claybanks  township.  Door  county. 

On  September  22,  1848,  Mr.  Madden 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Louise  Vlier, 
daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Meshien) 
Vlier,  a  lady  of  French  descent,  who  is 
one  of  eleven  children,  namely:  Joseph, 
Edward,  Omer,  Matilda,  Harriet,  Charles, 
Oliver,  Louise,  Angeline,  Mary  and  Dan- 
iel. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Madden  came  to  Clay- 
banks  township  and  purchased  120  acres 
of  land  in  its  primitive  condition,  covered 
with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber,  which  was 
still  the  haunt  of  bears,  wolves,  deer  and 
Indians,  while  Indian  trails  were  the  only 
paths  in  the  neighborhood.  In  the  entire 
township  there  were  only  one  horse  and 
one  yoke  of  oxen,  and  three  years  had 
passed  before  Mr.  Madden  could  afford  to 
purchase  a  team.  He  lived  on  the 
"beach"  in  ahouse  14X  I4feet,  in  which 
there  was  not  a  single  window  and  only 
one  door,  but  in  this  home  he  commenced 
his  successful  life  work.  Those  early  «lays 
formed  a  period  of  labor  and  hardship 
unknown  to  the  younger  generation,  but 
as  time  passed  the  earnest  efforts  of  our 
subject  were  crowned  with  prosperity,  and 
to-day  he  is  the  owner  of  200  acres  of 
valuable  land,  constituting  one  of  the  fine 
farms  of  the  neighborhood. 

In  Mr.  Madden's  family  are  eight  chil- 
dren— Ellen,  James,  Mary,  Jerry,  John, 
Nora,  Louise  and  Eugene,  the  last  named 
now  attending  college  at  Marquette,  Wis. 
John,  who  was  graduated  from  the  State 
Normal  School  of  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  after- 


756 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOORAPHJCAL    RECORD. 


ward  went  to  the  medical  college  in  Ann 
Arbor,  Mich.,  and  during  the  year  1893 
studied  in  Germany;  he  is  now  located  in 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  a  talented  and  able 
young  physician,  successfully  engaged  in 
practice.  The  family  are  members  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  In  politics,  Mr. 
Madden  is  a  Democrat,  and  for  four  years 
has  served  as  supervisor;  he  is  also  a 
member  of  the  school  board,  and  the  cause 
of  education  finds  in  him  a  warm  friend, 
while  to  every  enterprise  calculated  to 
prove  of  public  benefit  he  gives  his 
hearty  support  and  co-operation. 


CHRISTOPHER  LEONHARDT, 
for  the  past  thirty  years  or  more 
a  popular  and  well-known  resi- 
dent of  Sturgeon  Bay,  Door 
county,  is  a  native  of  Germany,  born 
September  16,  1837,  his  father's  birth- 
day, in  Selzen,  Grosse-Darmstadt,  where 
his  father  and  grandfather  were  also  born, 
the  latter  of  whom,  by  name  Jacob  Leon- 
hardt,  owned  a  si.\ty-acre  farm  in  that  lo- 
cality, and  there  passed  his  entire  life. 

Jacob  Leonhardt,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, who  was  the  eldest  but  one  in  the 
family  of  eight  children — three  sons  and 
five  daughters — of  Jacob  Leonhardt,  was 
born  September  16,  iSoi,  and  was  reared 
to  agricultural  pursuits  on  his  father's 
farm  in  Germany.  In  1S27  he  was  mar- 
ried in  the  Fatherland  to  Miss  Anna  M. 
Berwing,  also  a  native  of  Selzen,  and 
nine  children  blessed  their  union,  all 
save  the  youngest,  Elizabeth,  born  in 
Germany,  to  wit:  Henry,  John,  Jacob, 
Christine,  Maggie,  Christopher,  Mary, 
Peter  and  Elizabeth.  Of  these,  four  are 
yet  living,  a  brief  record  of  whom  is  as 
follows:  Henry  is  living  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Germantown  township, 
"Washington  Co.,  Wis. ;  Jacob  is  a  farmer 
of  Menomonee  Falls,  Waukesha  Co., 
Wis. ;  Christine  is  the  wife  of  Andrew 
Zimmerman,  also  a  farmer  in  Waukesha 
county.  Wis. ;  Christopher  is  the  subject 
proper  of  this  sketch.      In  1843  the  fam- 


ily came  to  the  then  Territory  of  Wis- 
consin, where,  in  Germantown  township, 
Washington  county,  the  father  purchased 
a  partly  improved  farm  of  eighty  acres, 
their  settlement  being  among  the  early 
ones,  the  first  in  that  locality  having  been 
made  in  1840.  This  farm  they  cleared 
and  improved  till  it  came  to  be  looked 
upon  as  second  to  none  in  the  township, 
and  here  the  father  died  April  18,  1857, 
the  mother  in  May,  1870. 

Christopher  Leonhardt  was,  as  will  be 
seen,  six  years  old  when  the  family  immi- 
grated to  Wisconsin,  and  at  the  common 
schools  of  Germantown  township,  Wash- 
ington county,  he  received  a  fair  educa- 
tion. On  the  home  farm  he  remained 
until  he  was  twenty-seven  years  old, 
when  he  came  to  Sturgeon  Bay,  arriving 
on  the  loth  day  of  June,  1864,  and  im- 
mediately erected  the  dwelling  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Pine  and  Cedar  streets, 
where  he  and  his  family  now  reside.  For 
seven  years  he  kept  the  hotel  which  he 
had  opened  shortly  after  coming  here,  and 
in  1872  he  put  up  a  frame  building  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Pine  and  Cedar 
streets,  at  that  time  the  largest  in  the 
city,  on  the  site  where  he  is  now  in  busi- 
ness; but  in  1884  this  was  burned,  and  he 
at  once  erected  his  fine  brick  building. 
Mr.  Leonhardt  has  dealt  largely  in  real 
estate — both  city  and  farm  property — and 
at  the  present  time  owns  the  two  valuable 
corner  lots  in  Sturgeon  Bay  already  re- 
ferred to,  besides  several  other  lots  and 
farm  property. 

On  August  12,  i860,  our  subject  was 
married  to  Miss  Catherine  Lorch,  born  in 
Selzen,  Germany,  who,  in  1856,  came 
with  her  widowed  mother,  one  sister, 
Christine,  and  one  brother,  Peter,  to 
Wisconsin  and  to  Door  county.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lorch  had  four  children,  as  follows: 
Casper,  the  eldest  son,  came  to  America 
in  1 8 52,  and  was  burned  to  death  in  the 
great  forest  fires  which  swept  over  Door 
county  in  October.  1871;  Peter  died  in 
Door  county  in  1880;  Catherine  is  the 
wife  of  Mr.    Leonhardt;  Christine  is  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPEICAL   RECORD. 


757 


wife  of  Joseph  Zettel,  a  farmer  of  Sevas- 
topol township,  Door  county,  where  he 
raises  a  vast  amount  of  fruit,  being  the 
owner  of  the  largest  orchard  in  Wiscon- 
sin. Of  this  family,  Mrs.  Catherine 
Leonhardt  and  Mrs.  Christine  Zettel  are 
the  only  survivors.  The  father,  Christo- 
pher Lorch,  died  in  Germany  in  1849, 
the  mother  in  Door  county  in  1877.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leonhardt  were  born  ten 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  living:  Cath- 
erine, Henry,  Minnie,  Julia,  Peter,  Louisa 
and  Lottie;  Lizzie,  Adolph  and  Mary 
died  when  young.  In  politics  our  sub- 
ject is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  he  has 
held  various  offices  of  honor  and  trust, 
to  wit:  treasurer  (to  which  he  was  elected 
in  1874,  and  which  he  held  three  terms), 
member  of  the  town  board  nine  years, 
trustee  of  the  village,  and  also  president 
one  term;  assessor  and  treasurer  for  the 
city;  alderman  one  term;  member  of  the 
county  board,  four  years;  school  treas- 
urer, one  year;  and  in  1883  he  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Assembly.  Since 
its  organization  in  1868  he  has  been  pres- 
ident of  the  Cemetery  Association,  and  he 
has  ever  taken  an  active  interest  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  general  welfare 
of  his  adopted  city  and  county.  Socially 
he  is  a  member  of  the  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
Sons  of  Hermann,  in  which  latter  organ- 
ization he  belongs  to  the  National  Lodge 
and  the  local  Grand  Lodge,  and  was 
twice  a  delegate  to  the  National  Lodge, 
and  seventeen  years  to  the  Grand  Lodge. 


FERDINAND  JONES,  more  pop- 
ularly known  as  "  Harry  "  Jones, 
captain  of  the  schooner  "Eliza- 
beth," is  one  of  the  best-known 
citizens  of  Egg  Harbor  township.  Door 
county.  He  is  a  native  of  the  Father- 
land, born  September  13,  1842,  in  Ham- 
burg, son  of  August  Jones,  ship  carpenter. 
During  his  boyhood  our  subject  at- 
tended the  common  schools  of  his  native 
country.  From  his  childhood  he  was 
fond  of  sailing,  and   when   thirteen  years 


old  he  commenced  to  work  about  vessels, 
afterward  sailing  on  the  ocean  for  over 
thirteen  years,  during  which  time  he 
visited  many  Mediterranean  ports,  the 
East  Indies,  West  Indies,  Rio  Janiero, 
China,  California,  and  other  places.  In 
1857  he  shipped  at  Hamburg  on  the 
"Sunshine,"  bound  for  Boston  and  New 
York,  and  leaving  the  vessel  at  the  latter 
city  he  made  his  home  there  for  some 
time.  Later  he  went  westward  to  Chi- 
cago, and  commenced  sailing  the  Great 
Lakes,  but  shortly  afterward  coming  to 
Door  county,  W'is.,  he  bought  a  forty- 
acre  tract  of  totally  wild  land  in  Bailey 
Harbor  township,  on  which  he  erected 
the  first  house,  and  began  to  clear  the 
land  for  cultivation.  After  following  farm- 
ing there  for  a  few  years,  however,  he 
sold  the  place  and  removed  to  Chicago, 
where  he  found  employment  for  about  a 
year  around  docks  and  vessels,  and  then 
returning  to  Door  county  purchased  land 
in  Section  31,  Egg  Harbor  township, 
where  he  has  ever  since  had  his  home. 
This  farm  contains  160  acres,  eighty  of 
which  have  been  placed  under  cultivation 
by  Mr.  Jones,  who  has  made  all  the  nu- 
merous improvements  which  beautify  the 
place  and  add  to  its  value  as  a  farm  and  a 
home.  In  1890  Mr.  Jones  bought  the 
schooner  "Elizabeth,"  which  plies  be- 
tween Egg  Harbor,  Green  Bay,  Menomo- 
nee,  and  other  bay  ports,  trading,  and  of 
which  he  himself  is  captain,  sailing  dur- 
ing the  season,  and  remaining  on  his  farm 
in  winter.  Mr.  Jones  has  been  blessed 
with  robust  health,  having  never  had  need 
of  a  doctor's  services,  and  he  has  used 
his  strength  to  advantage,  working  hard 
all  his  life,  and  by  persevering  industry 
has  established  himself  in  the  comforta- 
ble home  he  now  enjoys.  He  is  well- 
known  in  this  section  of  Door  county, 
and  has  the  respect  of  all  who  have  come 
in  contact  with  him  in  any  way. 

Mr.  Jones  was  married,  in  Baileys 
Harbor,  to  Dora  Dow,  a  native  of  Meck- 
lenburg, Germany,  and  they  are  the  par- 
ents of  the    following  children:    Louis  (of 


rss 


COMilEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPmCAL   RECORD. 


Baileys  Harbor),  Adolph,  Caroline, 
Emma,  August,  Martha,  Alvina,  Eddie, 
Herman  and  Fritz,  living,  and  two — one 
son  and  a  daughter — deceased.  In  re- 
ligious connection  Mr.  Jones  is  a  Lu- 
theran. Politically  he  is  a  stanch  member 
of  the  Republican  party,  but  devotes 
little  time  to  politics,  though  he  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  township 
board. 


M 


ARION  FREN'CH,  the  popular 
and  genial  host  of  the  "Wis- 
consin House,"  of  Ahnapee, 
was  born  in  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
February  9,  1S46,  and  comes  of  a  family 
of  German  origin,  which  was  founded  in 
America  by  his  grandfather,  Peter  French, 
a  native  of  Germany,  who  when  a  young 
man  became  a  resident  of  Knoxville, 
Tenn.  In  that  locality  he  owned  four 
large  plantations,  kept  many  slaves  and 
conducted  a  large  and  lucrative  business. 
He  died  in  Kno.wille  before  the  Civil 
war,  and  willed  all  his  property  to  seven 
of  his  children,  disinheriting  his  eighth 
child,  Frederick,  who  had  followed  the 
dictates  of  his  heart  and  married  the 
daughter  of  a  poor  widow.  The  grand- 
father was  an  aristocrat  of  the  old  Euro- 
pean school,  very  proud  of  his  family. 

Frederick  French,  who  was  born  in 
Kno.wille,  turned  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing in  order  to  support  his  family,  and 
afterward  removed  to  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
where  he  became  the  owner  of  two  large 
farms  on  the  west  branch  of  the  Wabash 
river.  In  spite  of  the  aid  refused  him  by 
his  father  he  became  a  prosperous  man, 
was  a  leader  in  the  community,  and  had 
considerable  influence  among  his  neigh- 
bors. His  last  days  were  spent  with  his 
second  daughter  in  Shelby  county.  111., 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 
His  faithful  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Polly  Hensle}',  died  two  years 
previous,  when  seventy-four  3-ears  of  age. 
Marion  French  was  the  seventh  in 
order   of   birth  in    their   family   of   eight 


children,  and  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm,  where  his  physical  training  devel- 
oped a  strong  constitution.  His  literary- 
education  was  acquired  in  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  seminary  in  Paris,  111.,  and  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  accompanied  by  his 
brother  Jordan,  he  started  on  a  long  trip 
through  the  ^^'estern  States,  traveling  for 
two  years,  dealing  in  stock,  which  he 
would  ship  to  Chicago.  At  length  the 
brothers  returned  to  Shelbyville.  111., 
where  Jordan  located.  Marion  had 
studied  mineralogy  and  geology  in  Paris, 
111.,  and  now  started  on  a  prospecting 
tour  through  the  northern  part  of  Canada 
and  British  Columbia,  having  most  of  the 
time  no  companion.  At  length,  near 
Port  Arthur,  in  the  Thunder  Bay  district 
on  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Superior, 
he  located  almost  12,000  acres  of  mining 
land,  on  which  was  located  gold,  silver 
and  iron  ore,  purchasing  the  same  from 
the  Canadian  Government.  He  then  or- 
ganized a  stock  company  in  Chicago  with 
a  capital  of  $1,000,000,  and  among  the 
stockholders  were  noted  bankers  and  real- 
estate  men  of  that  city.  Mr.  French 
owns  one-fourth  of  the  stock,  became 
superintendent  and  general  manager  of 
the  company,  and  showed  much  ability 
in  opening  up  the  mines,  surveying  and 
prospecting  5,000  acres  of  land  and  lo- 
cating ten  silver  mines  and  one  iron  ore 
mine.  Two  of  the  silver  mines  were 
found  to  contain  e.xcellent  ore,  but  the 
distance  from  market  and  transportation 
was  so  great  as  to  render  the  operation 
of  the  mines  unprofitable,  and  the  work 
has  been  temporarily  abandoned  until 
such  time  as  railroads  shall  be  built 
through  that  country,  when  the  stock- 
holders in  the  company  will  undoubtedly 
reap  a  rich  return  from  their  investment. 
Our  subject  spent  about  ten  years  alto- 
gether in  the  mining  district. 

On  October  22,  1874,  Mr.  French 
was  married  in  \'igo  count}',  Ind.,  to 
Miss  Margaret  Ella — a  lady  of  Scotch  de- 
scent, and  they  have  one  son.  Earl 
Marion,  who  was  born  in  Antwerp,  Ohio. 


COMMEMOIiATIVE   BWGRAPUICAL    RECORD. 


759 


In  1890  Mr.  French  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  George  Smith,  son  of  ex-Gov- 
ernor Smith,  of  \'ermont,  the  old  war 
Governor,  and  owner  of  the  Vermont 
Central  railroad.  Their  office  was  lo- 
cated in  the  Guarantee  Loan  Buildinf(,  in 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  and  the  partnership 
was  continued  until  the  death  of  Gov. 
Smith,  when  Mr.  French  removed  to 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  he  soon  became 
known  as  a  mining  expert,  and  did  con- 
siderable work  for  mining  companies  of 
that  cit)'.  On  May  12,  1893,  he  came 
to  Ahnapee,  leased  the  "Wisconsin 
House "  for  five  years,  and  is  now  suc- 
cessfulh'  conducting  the  same,  managing 
it  so  ably  that  it  has  found  great  favor 
with  the  traveling  public,  while  he  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  popular 
landlords  in  northeastern  Wisconsin. 


JOSEPH  PAULU,  a  pioneer  farmer 
of  ^^'est  Kewaunee  township,  Kewau- 
nee county,  was  born  in  Bohemia 
May  I,  1834,  son  of  Joseph  and 
Frances  Paulu,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Bohemia  in  1809,  and  the  latter 
in  1S12. 

Joseph  Paulu,  Sr. ,  arrived  in  the 
United  States  in  1857,  coming  direct  to 
Kewaunee  count}',  ^^'is.,  and  locating  on 
a  farm  in  West  Kewaunee  township,  fol- 
lowed farming  there  until  his  death,  in 
1867.  Joseph  Paulu,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  attended  school  in  his  native  land 
until  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  then  learned 
the  trade  of  mason,  following  it  until  1854, 
when  he  entered  the  army  and  served  ten 
years,  six  months  and  thirteen  days.  On 
his  final  discharge  he  came  directly,  in 
1865,  to  I-iewaunee,  Wis.,  and  immediate- 
ly settled  on  the  farm  he  at  present  owns 
and  occupies  in  West  Kewaunee  township. 
This  farm  he  soon  cleared  of  timber,  and 
has  so  cultivated  and  improved  it  that  he 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  representative 
farmers  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Paulu  was  united  in  marriage,  in 
1864,  with  Miss  Mary  Eucharda,  who  was 


born  in  Bohemia  in  1841,  and  to  this 
union  have  been  born  seven  children,  viz. : 
John,  Frederick,  Joseph,  Frank,  Anton, 
Ferdinand  and  Mary,  of  whom  Anton, 
born  September  28,  1874,  died  May  24, 
1889,  and  Ferdinand  died  in  infanc}'  in 
1876.  In  politics  Mr.  Paulu  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  in  1S80  was  elected  treasurer  of 
West  Kewaunee  township,  serving  two 
years;  he  has  been  agent  for  the  German 
Insurance  Company  of  Kewaunee  about 
fifteen  years,  and  is  now  agent  for  the 
Bohemian  Farmers'  Insurance  Company 
of  Casco,  I\ewaunee  count}-.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  C.  S.  P.  S.,  a  Bohemian 
benevolent  society,  and  is  also  a  member 
of  S.  C.  F.,  a  Bohemian  Society  of  Ke- 
waunee and  Manitowoc  counties,  of  which 
society  he  has  been  president  for 
ten  years.  Mr.  Paulu  has  not  only  been 
successful  as  a  farmer,  but  his  integrity 
and  upright  walk  through  life  have  won 
for  him  the  respect  of  all  who  know  him. 


JAMES  RIDINGS  is  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, born  June  3,  1837,  and  comes 
of  an  old  English  family.  His 
grandparents  were  John  and  Martha 
Ridings,  the  former  a  weaver,  who  oper- 
ated a  hand  loom.  He  was  quite  radical, 
very  pronounced  in  his  views,  and  was 
twice  imprisoned  for  his  speeches  against 
the  government.  In  his  family  were 
five  children — John,  Joseph,  Dan,  Ann 
and  Nancy.  The  first  named,  the  father 
of  our  subject,  was  also  a  hand-loom 
weaver,  having  learned  the  trade  of  his 
father.  When  he  reached  manhood  he 
married  Grace  Barrett,  and  by  their  union 
were  born  two  sons — Robert,  in  1834, 
and  James,  in  1837.  The  mother  died 
when  our  subject  was  only  five  years  of 
age,  and  thus  deprived  of  her  tender  care 
his  early  childhood  was  not  one  of  entire 
ease. 

When  quite  young  Mr.  Ridings  began 
to  earn  his  own  living,  and  in  consequence 
could  not  attend  school,  save  on  Sundays, 
at  which  time  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of 


760 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  common  English  branches.  On  June 
30,  1866,  was  celebrated  his  marriage 
with  Miss  Matilda  Chater,  daughter  of 
John  and  Julia  Chater,  and  the  same 
year  he  sailed  with  his  bride  from  Liver- 
pool, England,  landing  in  N^wYork  City 
after  a  voyage  of  ten  days.  His  father, 
however,  always  remained  in  his  native 
land,  dying  there  in  1S68.  Five  children 
grace  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ridings — 
Ida  (now  the  wife  of  William  Bradley,  of 
Baileys  Harbor),  Fred,  Hannah,  Clara 
and  Matilda.  Upon  his  arrival  in  this 
country  Mr.  Ridings  came  direct  to 
Baileys  Harbor,  where  his  wife's  parents 
were  living,  and  worked  on  his  father-in- 
law's  farm  for  two  years,  after  which  he 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land  in  Section 
30,  Bailey  Harbor  township,  at  ten  dol- 
lars per  acre,  and  after  erecting  a  log 
house  began  clearing  the  farm,  which  was 
covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber, 
through  which  yet  roamed  wolves  and 
other  wild  animals.  His  farm  implements 
were  crude,  but  he  worked  hard,  in  course 
of  time  placing  much  of  his  land  under 
cultivation,  and  the  once  barren  tract  was 
made  to  yield  to  him  a  golden  tribute  in 
return  for  the  care  he  bestowed  upon  it. 
There  he  lived  until  1883,  when  Mr. 
Chater,  being  unable  longer  to  work, 
traded  farms  with  our  subject.  His  life 
has  been  a  busy  and  useful  one,  and 
having  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities 
and  privileges  he  has  steadily  worked  his 
way  upward.  For  three  years  he  has 
served  as  assessor  of  his  township,  dis- 
charging his  duties  with  promptness  and 
fidelity;  in  his  political  views  he  is  a  stal- 
wart Democrat,  while  in  religious  belief 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  Methodists. 


VALENTINE  HOFFMANN  is  one 
of  the  oldest  residents,  in  point  of 
occupation,  of  Kewaunee  county, 
having  settled  here  in  1855.  before 
the  county  was  organized. 

He  was  born  in   Saxony,    Germany, 
January  20,  1832,  the  only  son  in  a  family 


of  five  children.  At  the  age  of  six  years 
he  lost  his  father,  and  his  mother  died  in 
German}'  in  1852;  the  father  was  a 
veterinary  surgeon.  The  eldest  sister  of 
Valentine  left  her  native  land  in  1846, 
and,  coming  to  America,  located  at  Balti- 
more, Md.,  to  which  city  our  subject 
followed  in  1849.  He  attended  school 
in  Germany  from  the  age  of  six  to  four- 
teen years,  according  to  law,  and  after- 
ward learned  the  weaver's  trade.  Resid- 
ing six  years  in  Baltimore,  he  came  to 
Wisconsin,  and  after  passing  six  months 
in  Racine,  came  to  Kewaunee,  where  for 
four  years  he  worked  in  sawmills  in  sum- 
mer and  in  the  woods  in  winter.  He 
next  clerked  in  Hitchcock's  general  store 
two  years,  or  until  1862,  when  he  enlisted 
in  Company  A,  in  a  regiment  of  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  and  after  a 
service  of  three  years,  one  month  and 
twentj'-nine  days,  was  honorably  dis- 
charged in  September,  1865,  with  the 
rank  of  corporal.  He  took  an  active  and 
gallant  part  at  the  fall  of  Vicksburg;  was 
at  Spanish  Fort  and  Mobile,  Ala.,  and  at 
Little  Rock,  Ark.,  and  in  numerous 
skirmishes  and  minor  battles,  in  one  of 
which,  Salem  Bottom,  where  the  fight 
lasted  from  7  a.  m.  until  4  p.  M.,  he 
received  a  slight  gunshot  wound,  but  did 
not  leave  the  field.  This  was  his  only 
casualty,  but  after  his  return  to  Kewaunee 
he  was  ill  a  long  time.  After  his  recovery 
he  again  clerked  for  Mr.  Hitchcock  two 
years,  and  then  for  eight  months  for 
Duvall  &  Co.  He  then  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  eighteen  months  in  West  Kewau- 
nee in  partnership  with  his  wife's  brother, 
then  sold  his  interest  and  returned  tO' 
Kewaunee,  where  for  the  past  twenty- 
one  years  he  has  carried  on  a  first-class 
saloon. 

Mr.  Hoffmann  was  married  in  April, 
1862,  to  Miss  Lovisia  Helwich,  a  native 
of  Prussia,  who  came  with  her  parents  to 
Kewaunee  in  1855.  To  this  marriage 
have  been  born  eight  children,  of  whom 
seven  are  still  living,  one  having  died  in 
1884.      All   the   survivors  live  under  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOQRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


761 


parental  roof  with  the  exception  of  \Jizz\e 
(who  was  married  to  Charles  Deda,  who 
died  in  1891)  and  Ezra  (who  is  married, 
and  is  at  the  head  of  his  own  household). 
Charles  Hoffmann,  the  third  child  in 
the  above  family,  was  born  in  Kewaunee 
November  13,  1868,  and  is  now  an  active 
member  of  the  younger  Democratic  ele- 
ment. He  has  been  supervisor  of  his 
ward  four  terms,  city  clerk  two  years, 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  at  present  is 
deputy  postmaster.  He  is  also  captain  of 
the  Sons  of  Veterans,  and  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  leiding  young  men  of  Kewaunee. 


CHRISTIAN  JACOBSON.  The 
population  of  this  country  is  large- 
ly formed  of  the  sons  of  other 
lands;  but  no  country  has  furnish- 
ed more  valuable  citizens  to  the  United 
States  than  has  Norway,  within  the  bor- 
ders of  which  occurred  the  birth  of  our 
subject,  on  November  1 1,  1843.  His  pa- 
rents were  Jacob  and  Dora  Woolson,  the 
latter  of  whom  died  when  her  son  Chris- 
tian was  two  and  a  half  years  old,  leaving 
the  following  children — Eric,  Dora,  Peter, 
Toriston,  Dannine,  Jacob  and  Christian. 
Mr.  Jacobson  was  in  his  early  life  a 
sailor,  and  spent  a  number  of  years  on 
the  high  seas.  In  1870  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  America,  and  made  his  way 
to  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  where  for  one  year 
he  resided.  During  the  succeeding  four 
years  he  traveled  all  over  the  United 
States,  working  during  this  time  at  day 
labor,  and  in  1875  he  went  to  Michigan, 
spending  the  succeeding  seven  years  in 
the  city  of  Menominee,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  sawmill.  In  1882  he  arrived 
in  Claybanks  township,  Door  Co.,  Wis., 
and  he  purchased  forty  acres  of  land  on 
Section  8,  which  he  at  once  began  to 
clear  and  place  under  cultivation.  His 
agricultural  labors  at  that  place  continued 
for  two  years,  when  he  went  to  Manito- 
woc, Wis.,  and  worked  in  a  shipyard,  but 
after  a  time  he  returned  to  his  farm.  His 
second  period  of  residence  thereon  was  of 


three  years'  duration,  and  in  1890  he 
bought  forty  acres  of  land  where  he  now 
lives. 

In  1879  Mr.  lacobson  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Carrie  Marren,  who 
died  in  1883,  and,  after  living  single  for 
two  years,  he  married  Carrie  Modson. 
His  three  children  are  Dora,  Gunda  and 
William.  The  family  is  connected  with 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  in  his  political 
views  Mr.  Jacobson  is  a  Republican, 
warmly  advocating  the  principles  of  that 
party;  but  political  preferment  has  had 
no  attraction  for  him,  and  he  has  never 
sought  the  support  of  his  fellow  townsmen 
for  public  office.  He  desires  rather  to 
give  his  entire  time  and  attention  to  his 
farming  interests,  and  along  this  line  is 
meeting  with  a  fair  degree  of  success, 
which  is  certainly  well-merited,  and  which 
proves  the  wisdom  of  the  determination 
which  he  formed  in  1870,  to  seek  a  home 
in  the  land  of  the  free. 


preparatory 

of  nineteen 

School    at 


PROF.  M.  McMAHON.  the  accom- 
plished superintendent  of  the  city 
schools  of  Kewaunee,  is  a  native 
of  Chicago,  111.,  although  his  early 
life  was  passed  on  a  farm   in   Manitowoc 
county,  Wisconsin. 

He  there  received  his 
education,  and  at  the  age 
entered  the  State  Normal 
Oshkosh,  which  he  attended  two  years. 
After  an  examination  by  the  State  Board 
of  Examiners  he  was  granted  a  life  cer- 
tificate to  teach  in  any  school  in  the  State 
of  Wisconsin,  and  in  1874  took  charge  of 
the  Kewaunee  city  schools,  in  which  he 
has  since  continuously  taught  until  the 
present  time,  with  the  exception  of  four 
years,  from  1881  to  1885,  when  he  had 
charge  of  the  schools  at  Durand,  Wis. 
In  the  last  named  year  he  resumed  charge 
of  the  Kewaunee  schools.  He  has  always 
taken  a  great  interest  in  school  work, 
independently  of  his  immediate  position, 
in  which  he  has  labored  so  long  and  so 
persistently.      That  his  abilities  as  an  in- 


762 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


structor  have  been  fully  recognized  by  the 
citizens  of  Kewaunee  is  evident  from  the 
pertinacity  with  which  they  cling  to  him, 
and  many  are  the  young  men  and  young 
women  of  the  citj',  now  grown  to  mar- 
riageable age,  who  look  back  to  the  days 
of  their  childhood  and  adolescence  and 
bless  the  kind  and  patient  teacher  who 
moldcil  their  growing  intellects  to  forms 
of  usefulness  as  well  as  ornamentation  to 
society  and  happiness  to  themselves. 

Mr.  McMahonwas  married  in  Decem- 
ber, 1875,  to  Miss  Bertha  Brandes,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  Brandes,  Sr. ,  mention  of 
whom  is  made  on  another  page  of  this 
volume,  and  this  union  has  been  blessed 
by  the  birth  of  two  children — Edna  and 
Mattie.  The  family  mingle  with  the 
most  refined  residents  of  Kewaunee,  and 
in  this  circle  are  accorded  the  highest 
position  attainable. 


FREDERICK  DAMMAN  was  born 
in  Mecklenburg,  Germany,  Octo- 
ber 24,  1S36,  son  of  Charles  and 
Mary  Damman,  who  were  also 
natives  of  the  same  countr\',  the  father  be- 
ing a  farmer.  In  1862  the  latter  sailed 
for  the  New  World,  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Milwaukee,  Wis. ,  where  he  lived 
until  called  to  the  home  beyond,  in  1890. 
His  wife  died  in  Milwaukee  in  1886. 
They  reared  a  family  of  four  children: 
Mary,  now  the  wife  of  Lewis  Casborn,  of 
Ahnapee  township,  Kewaunee  Co.,  Wis.; 
Fredericka,  wife  of  John  Buchholz,  of 
Forestville  township;  Sophia,  wife  of 
Frederick  Hals,  of  Milwaukee,  Wis. ;  and 
Frederick. 

Our  subject  is  a  well-known  farmer  of 
Door  county.  In  his  youth  he  became 
familiar  with  all  the  duties  of  farm  life, 
aiding  his  father  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
home  farm,  and  he  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools,  having  by  reading  and 
observation  in  his  later  years  become  a 
well-informed  man.  When  seventeen 
years  of  age  he  crossed  the  broad  Atlantic 
to  America,   making    the   voyage    in    the 


sailing  vessel  "Gladwin,"  which  reached 
New  York  after  a  six-weeks'  voyage.  For 
one  year  he  worked  as  a  farm  hand  near 
Albany,  N.  Y. ,  and  then  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, settling  in  Milwaukee,  where  he  fol- 
lowed any  honest  emplojment  he  could 
find.  In  1 86 1  he  removed  to  Kewaunee 
county.  Wis.,  locating  in  Ahnapee  town- 
ship, where  he  developed  a  farm  of  si.xty 
acres.  In  1878  he  removed  to  his  pres- 
ent farm  of  sixty  acres,  forty  acres  of 
which  are  in  Forestville  township.  Door 
county.  This  place  he  cleared  of  the 
timber  with  which  it  was  covered,  then 
plowed  and  planted  the  land,  and  in 
course  of  time  gathered  abundant  harvests 
which  rewarded  the  care  and  labor  that 
he  had  bestowed  upon  them.  His  is  now 
one  of  the  desirable  farms  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  the  improvements  seen 
thereon  are  a  monument  to  the  thrift  and 
enterprise  of  the  owner. 

Mr.  Damman  takes  a  deep  interest  in 
political  affairs,  keeps  well  informed  on 
the  issues  of  the  day  and  by  his  ballot 
supports  the  men  and  measures  of  the 
Republican  party.  Socially,  he  is  con- 
nected with  William  A.  Nelson  Post  No. 
227,  G.  A.  R. ,  for  during  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  he  went  to  the  defense  of  the 
Union,  enlisting  in  1864  as  a  member  of 
Company  E,  Seventeenth  Wis.  V.  I., 
and  was  with  the  army  of  the  West;  he 
marched  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta, 
then  was  in  the  entire  Atlanta  and  Caro- 
lina campaigns,  and  took  part  in  the  Grand 
Review  in  Washington,  where,  "wave 
after  wave  of  bayonet-crested  blue,"  the 
victorious  armies  of  the  North  marched 
in  triumph  before  the  nation's  Chief  E.x- 
ccutive.  The  war  having  closed  and  his 
services  being  no  longer  needed,  Mr. 
Damman  was  honorably  discharged  in 
Madison,  W^is. ,  in  June,    1865. 

In  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  in  1856,  our 
subject  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Sophia  Bedke,  who  was  born  in  Germany, 
daughter  of  Joachim  Bedke,  one  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Milwaukee,  who  died 
in  that  city  in  1876.     In  1868  Mr.  Dam- 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


763 


man  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  death 
of  his  wife,  who  passed  away  in  Kewau- 
nee count}',  Wis.,  leaving  two  children — 
Josephine,  now  the  wife  of  Matt  Schaus, 
by  whom  she  has  five  children;  and  Fred, 
who  resides  in  Milwaukee.  Mr.  Danmian 
was  again  married  in  Kewaunee  county, 
in  1869,  this  time  to  Anna  Jorkey,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  the  Fatherland.  By 
the  second  union  have  been  born  nine 
children,  namely;  Mary  (wife  of  Frank 
Clear,  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.),  Lena  (wife of 
Ed  Dengle,  of  that  city),  George  (who  is 
married  and  lives  in  Milwaukee),  Emma, 
Henry.  John,  Louisa,  Hermann  and 
Anna.  The  family  is  one  of  prominence 
in  the  community,  and  its  members  have 
many  warm  friends. 


IVI 


ATHL\S  MEYER,  agent  at 
Ahnapee  of  the  Van  Dycke 
Brewing  Company  of  Green 
Bay,  Wis.,  is  a  native  of  the 
"Badger  State, "  born  August  14,  1868, 
in  Port  Washington,  son  of  Leo  Meyer. 
Leo  Meyer  was  born  in  Baden,  Ger- 
many, where  in  the  common  schools  he 
obtained  a  good  education,  and  when 
a  young  man  was  apprenticed  to  the 
weaver's  trade,  which  he  followed  until 
he  came  to  the  United  States,  in  1862. 
The  Civil  war  being  then  in  progress,  he 
soon  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-fourth  Wis. 
V.  I  ,  and  going  to  the  front  served  until 
the  close  of  the  conflict,  when  he  received 
an  honorable  discharge.  He  was  wounded 
in  a  skirmish  at  Big  Shanty,  Ga.,  while 
with  Sherman's  army  on  its  march  to  the 
sea,  and  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Madi- 
son, Wis,  after  his  recovery  returning  to 
his  command,  where  he  was  promoted  to 
the  ranks  of  corporal  and  sergeant.  He 
was  permanently  disabled,  having  received 
a  wound  in  the  left  arm  which  deprived 
him  of  the  use  of  that  member,  and  he  now 
draws  a  pension.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
G.  A.  R.  After  his  return  from  the  army 
Mr.  Meyer  began  working  at  the  tinsmith 
trade    in     Port    Washington,     remaining 


thereuntil  1871,  when  he  came  to  Ahna- 
pee, Kewaunee  county,  and  here  at  once 
established  the  tinshop  and  hardware 
business  in  which  he  still  continues.  He 
was  married,  at  Port  Washington,  to 
Elizabeth  Furst,  a  native  of  that  place, 
who  is  of  German  extraction,  and  their 
marriage  was  blessed  with  thirteen  chil- 
dren, viz.:  Mathias;  Susan,  Mrs.  Frank 
Kohlbeck,  of  Ahnapee;  John,  an  engineer 
on  a  boat  for  the  Manistee  Lumber  Co. ; 
Emil,  a  tinner  by  trade,  who  lives  at 
Ahnapee;  Annie;  Julius,  a  tinner,  of  Ahna- 
pee; Leo;  Carl;  Amelia;  Lucy;  Leonia; 
Julia,  and  Adeline.  Politically  Mr.  Meyer 
is  a  Democrat.  In  religious  faith  he  is  a 
Catholic,  and  socially  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Catholic  Knights  of  Wisconsin  and 
the  German  Central  Beneficial  Society. 

Mathias  Meyer  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  receiving  instruction  in 
both  the  German  and  English  languages. 
When  a  young  man  he  learned  the  tin- 
ner's trade,  an  occupation  he  followed 
nearly  twelve  years,  since  when  he  has 
been  agent  for  the  Van  Dycke  Brewing 
Company,  of  Green  Bay,  having  charge 
of  the  branch  at  Ahnapee,  where  the  com- 
pany is  doing  an  extensive  and  ever-in- 
creasing business.  Mr.  Meyer's  energy 
and  capability  are  recognized  by  all  who 
have  dealings  with  him,  and  are  fully  ap- 
preciated by  his  employers.  The  com- 
pany is  known  throughout  this  section  of 
Wisconsin  as  manufacturers  of  first-class 
Wiener  and  lager  beer,  and  a  very  fine 
grade  of  bottled  goods;  and  by  putting 
their  business  in  the  hands  of  so  competent 
a  man  as  Mr.  Meyer  they  have  established 
a  most  profitable  trade  in  Ahnapee  and 
the  surrounding  country. 

On  June  17,  1890,  Mr.  Meyer  was 
united  in  marriage,  in  Ahnapee,  to  The- 
resa Grassel,  daughter  of  Ignatz  and  Bar- 
bara Grassel,  natives  of  Austria,  in  which 
country  Mrs.  Meyer  was  also  born.  One 
child,  Julia,  born  June  18,  1891,  has 
come  to  this  union.  Politically  Mr. 
Meyer  is  a  Democrat,  and  in  religious  faith 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic   Church. 


764 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


Socially  he  is  connected  with  the  Catholic 
Knights  of  Wisconsin,  the  Catholic  Order 
of    Foresters,  and  the  Sons  of  Veterans. 


M 


ARTIN  N.  KNUDSEN,  keeper 
of  the  Porte  Des  Morts  Light- 
house, was  born  June  27,  1854, 
in  Denmark.  His  father,  Peter 
Knudsen,  received  a  good  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Denmark,  and 
served  an  apprenticeship  to  the  weaver's 
trade,  following  this  business  in  Denmark 
until  his  emigration,  in  1857,  to  the 
United  States.  He  first  located  in  Ra- 
cine, Wis.,  where  he  followed  various 
pursuits  until  his  enlistment  in  the 
Twenty-second  W^is.  X.  I.,  but  he  was 
shortly  afterward  taken  sick  and  sent 
home.  After  his  recovery  he  re-enlisted 
in  the  Sixteenth  Wis.  V.  I.,  and  now 
draws  a  pension  of  eight  dollars  per  month 
from  the  government. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Knudsen 
returned  to  Racine,  and  worked  there  at 
coopering  until  1866,  when  he  removed 
to  Washington  Island,  Door  Co.,  Wis., 
and  continued  at  his  trade.  There  he 
remained  for  ten  years,  after  which  he 
went  to  Pomeroy,  Iowa,  remaining  there 
eighteen  years,  farming  and  shoemaking, 
and  in  1894  located  permanently  at  New- 
port, Wis.,  where  he  now  resides.  His 
wife  was  also  born  in  Denmark,  and  they 
have  had  eight  children,  three  of  whom 
are  deceased;  those  living  are:  Martin 
N.,  our  subject;  Peter,  of  Newport, 
Wis.,  who  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Johnson  &  Knudsen,  dealers  in  general 
merchandise,  wood,  etc. ;  Nelson,  of 
Beaver  Island  Harbor  Lighthouse  of  St. 
James  (Mich.);  W'illiam,  in  the  lighthouse 
service,  and  residing  in  Pomeroy,  Iowa; 
and  Mary,  who  married  Charles  E. 
Young,  keeper  of  Chambers'  Island 
Lighthouse.  The  parents  are  respected 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

Martin  N.  Knudsen,  our  subject,  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools  of  this 
country,  and  when  a  young  man  followed 


his  father's  trade  of  coopering.  Later  he 
became  a  fisherman,  and  subsequently  a 
sailor.  In  1 866  he  came  to  Washington 
Island  with  his  parents,  and  thereupon 
began  the  business  of  farming,  which  vo- 
cation he  still  continues  to  follow.  He 
now  owns  fifty  acres  of  improved  land,  on 
which  he  raises  excellent  crops,  and  has 
met  with  well-deserved  success  in  his 
farming  operations. 

Mr.  Knudsen  belongs  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  for  many  years  has  tilled 
the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  also 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  ed- 
ucation. He  received  his  present  ap- 
pointment as  keeper  of  the  Porte  Des 
Morts  Lighthouse  (Washington  Island)  in 
1 889,  previous  to  which  he  was  keeper  of 
the  South  Manitou  Station  from  June, 
1882,  to  September,  1889,  proving  a 
most  trusty  and  able  man  for  that  re- 
sponsible place.  In  religious  matters  he 
is,  like 'his  father,  a  strong  believer  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  Baptist  Church.  His 
wife,  Theresa  (Koyen),  who  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 24,  1855,  in  Denmark,  has  borne 
him  four  children,  viz:  Edward  W., 
Agnes  M.,  Martin  Arthur  and  Mertie  M. 


CAPTAIN  ANTON  HANSEN,  the 
owner  and  master  of  the  three- 
masted  schooner  "  F.  H.  Will- 
iams," having  his  residence  in  the 
city  of  Kewaunee,  was  born  in  Laurvig, 
Norway,  March  20,  1837.  His  parents 
were  Soren  and  Matilda  Hansen,  whA 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1853,  and 
settled  in  Ephraim,  Door  Co.,  Wis. 
Soren  Hansen  was  born  in  Norway,  De- 
cember 24,  1800,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Door  county,  where  he  died  in 
November,  1890. 

Anton  Hansen  has  passed  his  entire 
life  upon  the  water.  He  was  first  em- 
ployed as  a  cook  on  the  "  Familia,"  a  vessel 
plying  between  England  and  the  Scandi- 
navian peninsula.  Since  his  arrival  in 
America  he  has  been  sailing  on  the  Great 
Lakes,    his  first   shipment   being  on  the 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


765 


"Transit,"  sailing  between  Manitowoc, 
Wis. ,  and  Chicago,  111. ,  on  board  which  he 
remained  one  year,  since  when  he  has 
sailed  on  a  number  of  vessels,  holding 
various  positions,  but  chiefly  before  the 
mast  for  eight  or  ten  years,  and  then  as 
first  mate  about  nine  years.  He  then 
became  owner  of  the  "Glenn  Cuyler, " 
which  he  sailed  about  four  years,  when 
he  disposed  of  her  and  bought  the  ' '  In- 
dustry." This  vessel  he  sold  four  years 
later,  and  took  command  of  the  "Min- 
nehaha," holding  that  position  about  nine 
years,  when  he  purchased  the  "  F.  H. 
Williams,"  the  first  vessel  that  ever  en- 
tered the  harbor  of  Kewaunee. 

In  1864  Capt.  Hansen  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Lena  Hansen,  and  this 
union  was  blessed  with  five  children,  viz. : 
Matilda  Isa,  Hans,  Jacob,  Sena  and 
Lewis.  Mrs.  Lena  Hansen  died  in  1876, 
and  in  1879  the  Captain  married  Rena 
Hansen,  to  which  union  have  also  been 
born  five  children:  Alvin,  Lena,  Samuel, 
Alice  and  Arthur.  Capt.  Hansen  is  one 
of  the  most  successful  navigators  on  the 
lakes,  always  satisfying  the  owners  by  the 
faithful  manner  in  which  he  performed 
his  duty  to  them,  and  as  an  owner  him- 
self he  has  won  the  confidence  of  ship- 
pers and  the  esteem  of  other  owners. 
Underwriters  have  suffered  very  little  in- 
deed at  his  hands. 


JE.  HARRIS,  one  of  the  brightest 
young  business  men  of  northern  Wis- 
consin, and  one  of  the  most  progress- 
ive, is  a  native  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Door  Co.,  Wis.,  born  June  23,  1866,  son 
of  Joseph  Harris,  Jr.,  who  for  some  years 
was  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Sturgeon 
Bay  Advocate,  later  of  the  Republican. 

He  received  his  education  at  the  city 
schools  of  his  native  place,  and  in  1882 
commenced  to  learn  the  printing  business 
in  the  office  of  the  Advocate  at  Sturgeon 
Bay.  After  serving  his  apprenticeship,  and 
rising  from  the  plutonic  degree  of  "  devil" 
44 


to  the  more  seraphic  one  of  "jour," 
he  worked  in  various  offices  throughout 
the  State  until  1890,  in  which  year  he 
bought  of  his  father  a  half  interest  in  the 
Sturgeon  Bay  Republican,  in  the  follow- 
ing year  taking  over  the  other  half,  by 
purchase,  and  changing  the  name  to  The 
Democrat.  From  that  time  he  had  full 
charge  of  the  paper  until  August,  1894, 
when  he  sold  out  and  accepted  a  position 
on  the  Green  Bay  Gazette. 

In  January  1890,  Mr.  Harris  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Mary  Darling,  also  a  native 
of  Sturgeon  Bay,  daughter  of  John  Dar- 
ling, and  two  children  have  been  born  to 
them:  Harry  and  Lottie.  Politically  Mr. 
Harris  is  a  Democrat  of  the  first  water, 
and  takes  a  zealous  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  the  party. 


ALBERT  JOSEPH  DWORAK  is 
the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Casco  township, 
Kewaunee  county,  all  of  which  he 
has  cleared  and  developed,  transforming 
the  wild  land  into  rich  and  fertile  fields, 
and  placing  upon  it  good  improvements 
in  the  shape  of  neat  and  substantial  build- 
ings, all  of  which  attest  the  thrift  and 
enterprise  of  the  owner. 

He  was  born  April  22,  1840,  in 
Bohemia,  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
Mathias  Dworak,  who  was  born  in  1795. 
The  grandfather,  Mathew  Dworak,  was  a 
native  of  Bohemia,  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
and  he  and  his  wife  were  adherents  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  to  which  their  descend- 
ants also  belong.  Mathias  Dworak  was 
reared  on  the  old  home  farm,  acquired  a 
good  education  in  the  common  schools  of 
his  native  land,  and  remained  in  Bohemia 
until  1855,  when  he  emigrated  to  the 
United  States.  In  his  early  manhood  he 
wedded  Mary  Richa,  who  was  born  in 
Bohemia  in  1803,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  six  children — Joseph,  now  of 
Milwaukee,  Wis. ;  Katherine,  married  in 
Bohemia  to  Bartholomes  Smitke,  who 
came   to  this   country  with    his    family, 


766 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGMAPHICAL   RECORD. 


locating  in  Milwaukee,  where  his  wife 
died  in  1858;  Mary,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Martin  Behringer,  a  resident  of  Mil- 
waukee; Annie,  who  married  Frank  Lukes, 
of  Casco  township,  and  died  in  1862; 
Rosa,  who  married  a  Mr.  Beyer,  of  Mil- 
waukee, and  died  in  that  city  in  1864;  and 
Albert  J.,  the  subject  of  these  lines.  On 
coming  to  this  country  the  father  located 
in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  working  there  as  a 
common  laborer  until  his  removal  to 
Casco  township,  Kewaunee  county,  where 
he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  timber  land. 
This  he  at  once  began  to  clear,  culti- 
vating and  improving  the  same  until  1 864, 
when  he  returned  to  Milwaukee,  where 
his  death  occurred  in  1 872 ;  his  wife  passed 
away  in  1884. 

The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  was 
educated  in  the  city  of  Neuhaus,  Bohemia, 
in  the  German  language,  after  having 
attended  the  common  schools  of  his  native 
province.  He  was  a  youth  of  sixteen 
when  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their 
emigration  to  America,  and  like  the  other 
members  of  the  family,  became  a  resident 
of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  he  worked  as 
a  common  laborer  until  185S,  after  which 
time  he  came  to  Casco  township,  Kewau- 
nee county.  Here  he  aided  his  father  in 
clearing  the  land  which  had  been  pur- 
chased, soon  after  took  charge  of  the 
home  farm,  and  has  since  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  owning  eighty  acres  of 
the  old  homestead,  which  he  has  trans- 
formed into  a  valuable  property.  Mr. 
Dworak  votes  with  the  Democratic  party, 
has  served  as  chairman  of  the  town  board 
four  years,  and  for  fourteen  years  has 
filled  the  office  of  clerk  and  justice  of  the 
peace  of  the  township,  in  the  various 
positions  which  he  has  tilled  proving  a 
most  capable  and  acceptable  officer. 

In  1 86 1  Mr.  Dworak  was  united  in 
marriage,  in  Casco  township,  with  Miss 
Mary  Lukes,  who  was  born  in  Bohemia 
in  1843,  and  they  have  four  children  liv- 
ing— Henry,  Albert,  Annie  and  Emma. 
They  also  lost  eight  children,  all  of  whom 
are  buried  at  Slovan,  Wis.      Mr.  Dworak 


and  his  famih'  are  members  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Order 
of  Catholic  Knights  of  Wisconsin. 


JAMES  HAMILTON  LOCKHART 
came  to  Forestville  township.  Door 
county,  in  1856,  and  secured  240 
acres  of  timber  land.  Indians  were 
then  in  large  numbers  in  that  vicinit}-,  and 
had  their  camping  ground  on  some  of  the 
land  on  which  our  subject  located.  On 
his  arrival  here  Mr.  Lockhart  commenced 
the  improvement  of  his  land,  and  erected 
a  small  log  cabin;  but  in  1857  he  returned 
to  Essex  county,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had 
resided  for  some  years  previously. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  County  Ar- 
magh, Ireland,  February  14,  1833,  sonof 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Aikens)  Lockhart, 
both  of  whom  were  natives  of  the  same 
county,  his  father  being  a  farmer.  The 
mother  dying  about  1839,  the  father,  the 
next  year,  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Margaret  Henderson,  and  in  1847  took 
passage  with  his  family  on  a  sailing  ves- 
sel for  the  United  States,  landing  after  a 
voyage  of  forty-seven  days  at  Boston, 
Mass.  Here  he  remained  for  a  time 
working  in  a  printing  office,  subsequently 
locating  in  Essex  county,  N.  Y. ,  where 
he  opened  up  a  small  farm  of  twenty 
acres  to  which  he  afterward  added  200 
acres.  His  death  occurred  in  1850.  By 
his  first  marriage  there  were  five  children — 
James  Hamilton,  our  subject;  Anna,  who 
died  young;  Robert,  who  resides  in  For- 
estville township;  Henry  Hamilton,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  and  Anna, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  three  years  and 
six  months.  By  the  second  marriage 
there  was  one  child,  Ellen,  now  the  wife 
of  David  Carr,  residing  in  the  town  of 
Chesterfield,  Essex  Co.,  New  York. 

James  H.  Lockhart  remained  at  home 
until  twelve  years  of  age,  and  then  went  to 
Port  Patrick,  Scotland,  where  he  lived  for 
a  little  more  than  a  year.  Leaving  that 
place,  he  shortly  afterward  went  to  the 
County  of    Durham,    England,  where  he 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


767 


was  engaged  in  mining  for  two  and  a  half 
years.  He  then  concluded  to  come  to  the 
United  States,  and  leaving  Whitehaven 
went  to  Newry,  Ireland,  where  he  visited 
with  relatives  a  short  time,  and  then  set 
sail  on  April  28,  1850,  from  Belfast,  land- 
ing in  the  city  of  Quebec  on  August  i. 
Leaving  Quebec,  he  set  out  on  foot  for 
Montreal;  meeting  a  friend  there, he  stayed 
four  weeks,  going  thence  to  Essex  county, 
N.  Y. ,  to  the  home  of  his  father,  and  work- 
ing on  the  home  farm  until  after  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  Determining  to 
make  a  home  for  himself,  he  made  several 
trips  to  different  parts  of  the  country,  and, 
as  already  stated,  in  1856  came  to  Door 
county.  Wis.,  locating  240  acres  of  gov- 
ernment land.  In  1859  he  received  an 
offer  of  $100  per  month  and  expenses,  and 
went  to  Marquette  county,  Mich.,  where 
he  remained  some  time  engaged  in  burning 
charcoal.  In  the  winter  of  1859-60  he 
went  to  Houghton  county,  Mich. ,  where 
he  made  a  contract  to  cut  1,000  cords  of 
wood,  and,  after  completing  his  job,  en- 
gaged in  the  spring  of  i  860  in  the  char- 
coal business  in  the  same  county,  where 
he  remained  until  1865,  during  which 
time  he  followed  different  lines  of  busi- 
ness. In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  returned 
to  Door  county,  and  in  1867  settled  on 
the  farm,  which  he  improved,  in  connec- 
tion therewith  engaging  in  the  lumber 
business,  also  in  buying  and  selling  real 
estate.  For  the  last  sixteen  years  he  has 
conducted  a  mercantile  business. 

In  1863,  in  Houghton  county,  Mich., 
Mr.  Lockhart  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Lydia  F.  Bailey,  who  was  born  in 
Windham,  Cumberland  Co.,  Maine, 
daughter  of  William  and  Emma  (Reed) 
Bailey,  who  were  also  natives  of  Maine, 
of  English  ancestry;  the  mother  died  in 
Maine  in  November,  1S61,  and  in  1865 
the  father  settled  in  Superior,  Wis. ,  and 
died  in  Door  county  in  1890.  On  No- 
vember 25,  1890,  Mr.  Lockhart  married 
for  his  second  wife,  in  Manitowoc,  Wis., 
Mrs.  Helen  Ward,  iicc  Summers,  who 
was  born  in  Jackson  county,  Iowa,  daugh- 


ter of  Caleb  and  Nancy  Jane  (Gregg) 
Summers,  the  former  a  native  of  Indiana 
and  the  latter  of  Kentucky.  They  were 
early  settlers  of  Jackson  county,  Iowa, 
where  they  were  married  and  where  Mr. 
Summers  yet  resides.  Mrs.  Summers 
died  January  26,  1886.  There  daughter 
Helen  was  married  in  1876  to  Theodore 
D.  Ward,  and  to  that  union  was  born  one 
child,  Justin  Grey,  who  died  November 
18,  1879.  By  his  first  marriage  Mr. 
Lockhart  became  the  father  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  now  living — 
Wellington  G.,  Bertha,  Walter  S.,  Wil- 
mot  and  Willie.  The  deceased  are  Ros- 
well,  Martha,  Wallace,  Grace  and  two 
who  died  in  infancy.  By  his  present  wife 
there  is  one  child,  Daisy  June. 

Politically  Mr.  Lockhart  has  been  a 
Republican,  and  voted  in  1856  for  John 
C.  Fremont,  the  first  candidate  of  that 
party  for  President;  he  is  now,  however, 
acting  with  the  Populist  party.  He  was 
instrumental  in  establishing  the  postoffices, 
Maplewood  and  Forestville,  and  was  the 
first  postmaster  of  the  former  place,  serv- 
ing thirteen  years  and  six  months.  He 
has  been  quite  active  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  welfare  of  Forestville  town- 
ship, and  assisted  in  organizing  the  town- 
ship and  also  the  school  district  in  which 
he  resides. 


PAUL    HOVERSON,    of    Franklin 
township,  Kewaunee  county,  was 
born  in    Norway,  August  8,   1826, 
and  is  the  second  of  three  children 
born  to  Hover  and  Emily  Eversson,  also 
natives  of  Norway. 

Paul  passed  the  first  fifteen  years  of 
his  life  in  school  and  on  a  farm,  alternate- 
ly, and  after  he  had  finished  his  schooling 
continued  to  work  for  his  father  on  the 
home  place  until  he  reached  the  age  of 
twenty.  He  then  began  tailoring,  at 
which  trade  he  worked  about  six  years, 
when  he  embarked  for  the  United  States, 
and  came  through  directly  to  Manitowoc, 
W' is. ,  working  there  for  two  years  or  so 


768 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


at  whatever  he  could  find  to  do,  and  then 
bought  a  tract  of  land,  on  which  he  lo- 
cated and  which  he  cleared  of  timber.  At 
the  end  of  three  years  he  sold  this  prop- 
erty and  came  to  Franklin  township,  Ke- 
waunee county,  buying  the  farm  he  now 
occupies.  This  farm  was  then  a  wilder- 
ness, and  the  township  was  without  roads 
or  even  organization,  he  being  one  of  the 
first  settlers.  Since  then,  however,  he 
has  brought  his  farm  under  cultivation, 
and  it  is  now  one  of  the  best  tilled  in  the 
township.  Mr.  Hoverson  was  naturalized 
soon  after  coming  to  the  country,  and  has 
several  times  been  elected  from  Franklin 
township  to  the  board  of  supervisors  of 
of  the  county,  and  been  made  its  chair- 
man. 

Mr.  Hoverson  married  Miss  Sarah 
Knudson,  who  was  born  in  Norway  Octo- 
ber 6,  1 82 1,  and  to  this  union  have  been 
born  nine  children,  as  follows:  Emily, 
January  5,  1850;  Hover,  August  21,  1852; 
Julia,  August  7, 1 854;  Sarah,  May  17,1856; 
Emily  Maria,  April  8,  1858;  Ole,  August 
2,  1 860;  Mary,  October  i,  1862;  Bertha, 
April  3,  1866;  and  Paul,  October  13, 
1868;  all  of  whom  survive  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Hover,  who  died  March  18, 
1853.  The  family  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  and  enjoy  the  respect 
of  all  their  neighbors  and  the  community 
at  large. 


FRED  HEUER,  a  prosperous  farm- 
er citizen  of  the  town  of  Ahnapee, 
Kewaunee  county,  was  born  Oc- 
tober 28,  1842,  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Prussia.  He  is  a  son  of  Fred  and  So- 
phia (Runke)  Heucr,  also  natives  of  Prus- 
sia, the  former  of  whom  was  born  March 
25,  1808,  and  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1856,  locating  near  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
where  he  worked  as  a  laborer  some  three 
years.  Thence  coming  to  the  town  of 
Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  timber  land  which 
he  at  once  commenced  to  clear,  and  fol- 
lowed farming   from  that   time  until    his 


death,  on  October  25,  1872.  He  landed 
in  the  United  States  a  poor  man,  but  by 
constant  labor  and  the  exercise  of  all  his 
native  thrift  he  acquired  a  comfortable 
property,  and  was  a  successful  farmer. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heuer  had  seven  children 
as  follows:  Minnie,  Mrs.  Brandt,  of 
Lincoln  township,  Kewaunee  Co. ,  Wis. ; 
Ferdinand,  of  Ahnapee  township;  August, 
who  died  in  the  army;  Fred,  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Earnestina,  Mrs.  Girke;  Ber- 
tha, Mrs.  Zastrow,  of  the  town  of  For- 
estville,  Door  Co.,  Wis. ;  and  Gustie,  Mrs. 
Rader,  of  the  town  of  Pierce,  Kewaunee 
county. 

Fred  Heuer  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Germany,  and  was  four- 
teen years  of  age  when  he  came  with  his 
parents  to  the  United  States,  since  when 
he  has  been  almost  continuously  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  working  first  for 
other  people.  On  January  28,  1863,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  E,  Fourteenth  Wis. 
V.  I.,  and  remained  in  the  army  until 
October,  1865,  fighting  under  Sherman, 
with  whom  he  made  the  famous  march  to 
the  sea.  He  participated  in  the  engage- 
ments around  .Atlanta,  and  many  other 
battles  and  skirmishes  in  which  Sher- 
man's army  was  engaged,  and  he  is  now 
a  pensioner.  He  is  a  member  of  the  G. 
A.  R.  Post  at  Ahnapee. 

Mr.  Heuer  started  in  life  for  himself 
with  no  capital  but  his  strength  and  a 
willing  pair  of  hands,  and  he  has  had 
many  difficulties  to  overcome  on  his  road 
to  prosperity,  but  by  hard  work,  together 
with  good  business  management,  and  a 
careful  attention  to  his  business  interests, 
he  has  accumulated  a  neat  property, 
now  being  the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of 
200  acres,  well  cultivated  and  improved. 
Mr.  Heuer's  marriage  to  Rosa  Damas  took 
place  December  8,  1866,  and  has  been 
blessed  with  eight  children,  of  whom 
Regina  and  Frederick  are  deceased;  the 
others  are  Seraphine  (Mrs.  Bangert,  of 
Eagle  River,  Wis.),  Rosa,  Alma,  Earnest, 
Arthur  and  Arnold.  Mrs.  Heuer  was 
born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  June  4,  1849, 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


j6g 


daughter  of  Fred  and  Rosina  (Stebana) 
Damas,  natives  of  the  same  country  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1854,  lo- 
cating in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  Mr. 
Damas  followed  his  trade,  that  of  brick- 
maker.  In  185S  they  came  to  Ahnapee, 
where  he  purchased  land  and  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits,  which  he  still  fol- 
lows. He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  as  are  also  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Heuer.  Mr.  Heuer  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  political  affiliation. 


WILLIAM  MAACK,  present  asses- 
sor of  the  town  of  Ahnapee, 
Kewaunee  county,  and  one  of 
its  well-known  agriculturists,  is 
a  native  of  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia,  born 
May  22,  1846.  He  is  a  son  of  Hans  and 
Liesette  (Baade)  Maack,  also  natives  of 
Prussia,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
1818  and  died  October  15,  1890,  in  Ran- 
toul,  111.  Mrs.  Maack  was  born  in  1821, 
and  died  February  8,  1892,  in  Nebraska; 
her  remains  now  rest  bj'  those  of  her  hus- 
band, in  Illinois.  She  was  the  mother  of 
five  children,  viz. :  Henry,  of  Rantoul, 
111.;  William,  our  subject;  Louisa,  Mrs. 
Alexander  McHarry,  of  Rantoul,  111. ; 
Wilhelmina,  Mrs.  Fred  Trennt,  of  Buf- 
falo county,  Neb. ;  and  a  daughter  that 
died  in  infancy.  Hans  Maack  was  edu- 
cated in  the  common  school  of  his  native 
country,  and  when  a  young  man  learned 
the  brewer's  trade,  following  same  until 
1868,  when  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
and  locating  at  Rantoul,  111.,  here  pur- 
chased a  small  farm,  whereon  he  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  death. 
He  and  his  entire  family  were  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church. 

William  Maack,  whose  name  intro- 
duces this  sketch,  received  a  common- 
school  education  in  his  native  country, 
and  when  twenty  years  of  age,  in  1866, 
came  to  the  United  States,  preceding  his 
parents  by  some  two  years.  He  located 
in  Rantoul,  111.,  where  he  worked  at  farm 
labor  some  five  years,  and   then  married 


Bertha  Pieplow,  who  has  borne  him  six 
children,  as  follows:  Albert,  Louisa, 
Clara,  Emma,  Ida  and  Paulina.  Mrs. 
Maack  is  a  daughter  of  Joachim  and  Maria 
(Evert)  Pieplow,  natives  of  Mecklenburg, 
Germany,  where  Mrs.  Maack  was  born 
December  2,  1852.  After  his  marriage 
Mr.  Maack  purchased  a  small  farm  and 
followed  general  agriculture  there  until 
1883,  when  he  sold  and  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, settling  in  the  town  of  Ahnapee,  Ke- 
waunee county,  where  he  purchased  i 20 
acres  of  land.  Here  he  has  since  con- 
tinued farming  with  marked  success,  im- 
proving his  property  year  by  year,  and  he 
has  gained  an  enviable  reputation  as  a 
thorough  agriculturist  and  a  worthy,  re- 
spected citizen.  Politically  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, for  a  number  of  years  has  tilled 
with  honor  the  office  of  supervisor,  and  at 
present  is  serving  as  assessor  of  the  town- 
ship with  his  customary  faithfulness  and 
ability. 


JOHN     ANDERSON,     a    well-to-do 
farmer  of  Carlton  township,  Kewau- 
nee county,   was  born  October  12, 
1839,    in    Sweden,    son  of    Andraes 
Johnson   and   Christiana  Anderson,    also 
natives  of  Sweden. 

Our  subject  received  his  education  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  country,  and  on 
commencing  to  work  engaged  for  two 
years  in  cutting  slate,  and  afterward,  for 
one  year,  in  painting.  Subsequently,  for 
three  summers,  he  sailed  from  different 
ports  of  Sweden;  and  then,  for  four  years, 
sailed  on  the  ocean.  In  1862,  having 
heard  and  read  so  much  of  the  unlimited 
opportunities  for  advancement  offered  in 
the  undeveloped  regions  of  the  United 
States,  he  emigrated,  shortly  afterward 
taking  up  his  residence  in  Carlton,  Ke- 
waunee Co.,  Wis.,  and  for  fifteen  years 
after  his  arrival  followed  the  Great  Lakes. 
In  1877  he  abandoned  a  sea-faring  life, 
and,  making  a  permanent  settlement  on  a 
tract  of  eighty  acres  which  he  had  pur- 
chased in  Carlton   township,    has  trans- 


770 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOORAPBICAL    RECORD. 


formed  the  place  into  one  of  the  neatest 
and  most  fertile  farms  in  the  town  of 
Carlton,  hip^hh'  improved,  and  provided 
with  all  necessary  buildings.  During  the 
winter  season  he  is  also  engaged  in  lum- 
bering, and  he  is  known  as  one  of  the 
most  industrious,  progressive  farmers  of 
his  section.  It  is  to  such  sturdy,  earnest 
workers  that  this  section  of  Wisconsin 
owes  her  steady  advancement  and  her 
ever-increasing  prosperity  in  the  develop- 
ment of  her  agricultural  interests.  Mr. 
Anderson  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  religious  connection,  and  poli- 
tically he  is  independent. 


FREDC.  WALLNER,  of  the  Bava- 
rian Brewing  Co. ,  Kewaunee,  was 
born  in  Bavaria,  November  2, 
1 86 1,  son  of  George  and  Anna 
(Rab)  Wallner.  He  was  but  five  years  of 
age  when  his  father,  who  was  a  physician, 
was  called  from  earth,  leaving  a  widow 
and  three  children,  of  whom  Fred  C. 
was  the  eldest.  The  widow  kept  her 
little  family  together  some  five  years, 
when  she  married  Andrew  Gump,  a 
mechanic,  and  in  1884  they  came  to 
America,  locating  at  Milwaukee;  but  Mr. 
Gump,  not  liking  this  country,  returned 
to  his  old  home  a  year  later  and  there 
died  in  1886.  Six  children  were  the  re- 
sult of  this  marriage.  Mrs.  Gump  still 
retains  her  residence  in  Milwaukee. 

Fred  C.  Wallner  came  to  America 
alone  at  the  age  of  about  nineteen  years, 
or  in  1 88 1,  making  his  first  stop  at  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  but  two  months  later  re- 
moving to  Milwaukee,  where  for  six  years 
he  worked  for  the  Philip  Best  Brewing 
Co.  He  then  came  to  Kewaunee  as  fore- 
man for  the  Borgman  &  Deda  Brewing 
Co.,  and  after  holding  this  position  one 
year  bought  one-quarter  interest  in  the 
business;  in  1889  he  bought  an  additional 
quarter,  or  Mr.  Borgman's  share,  this 
gentleman  retiring;  and  the  firm  name 
then  became  the  Wallner  &  Deda  Brew- 
ing Co.,  so  continuing  until  March,  1893, 


when  Thomas  Hlinak  bought  out  Mr. 
Deda's  stock,  the  style  now  being  The 
Bavarian  Brewing  Co.  The  firm  is  doing 
an  excellent  trade,  employing  five  men, 
and  its  members  understand  the  business, 
as  Mr.  Wallner  began  learning  it  in 
Bavaria  when  but  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  has  devoted  his  entire  attention  to  it 
ever  since. 

Mr.  Wallner  was  first  married,  in  1882, 
to  Miss  Katy  Fritz,  an  American,  who 
bore  him  two  children — Felix,  who  lives 
with  his  father,  and  one  that  died  in  in- 
fancy. The  second  marriage  of  Mr. 
Wallner  was  in  1889,  to  Miss  Carrie 
Deda.  Her  father,  Charles  Deda,  was 
born  in  Germany  in  1824  and  came  to 
America  in  1856,  first  locating  in  Mil- 
waukee, Wis. ;  the  year  following  he  came 
to  Kewaunee,  and  here  kept  a  hotel  five 
years;  he  was  town  register  of  deeds  four 
years,  school  clerk  nine  years,  and  in  the 
interval,  in  1868,  bought  the  Bavarian 
Brewery.  He  was  married,  in  1857,  to 
Miss  Josephine  Cihacak,  a  native  of  Aus- 
tria, and  three  children  were  born  to  this 
union — Carrie,  Mr.  Wallner's  present 
wife,  being  the  youngest;  Anna,  the  eldest 
child,  is  married  to  Henry  G.  Borgman 
and  resides  in  Antigo,  Langlade  Co., 
Wis. ;  Charles,  the  second  born,  died 
December  28,  1891.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wallner  have  been  blessed  with  two 
children — Aurea  and  Wilfried.  Both 
parents  are  faithful  members  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Wallner 
is  a  Democrat,  but  reserves  to  himself 
the  right  to  vote  for  the  man  he  deems 
best  suited  for  the  office  to  be  filled. 


ERNEST  WOLSKE,  a  native  of 
Germany,  was  born  in  the  King- 
dom of  Prussia  in  1843,  son  of 
Samuel  and  Catherine  Wolske,  who 
were  also  natives  of  Prussia.  The  father 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  throughout 
his  entire  life  followed  that  occupation  in 
Germany,  where  he  died  in   1S72,  having 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


771 


for  eight  years  survived  his  wife,  who 
passed  away  in  1864.  This  worthy  couple 
were  the  parents  of  six  children — John 
and  Samuel,  both  of  whom  died  in  the 
Fatherland;  Michael,  who  is  married  and 
follows  farming  in  Forestville  township, 
where  he  located  in  1867;  Caroline,  wife 
of  Albert  Zettle,  of  Egg  Harbor,  Wis. ; 
Minnie,  and  Ernest. 

Ernest  Wolske  spent  his  boyhood  days 
under  the  parental  roof,  and  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  his   native  land. 
He  entered  upon  his  business  career  as  a 
teamster   and    was    thus    employed    until 
1867,  when  he  determined  to  try  his  for- 
tune beyond  the  Atlantic,  and  sailed  from 
Bremen  in  a  vessel,  which  after  a  voyage 
of  twelve  weeks    reached  the    harbor    of 
Quebec,  Canada.      He  then  went  to  Man- 
istee, Mich.,  working  there  in  the  lumber 
woods  for  a  short  time,    after  which  he 
came  to  Door  county,  Wis.,  locating  in 
Forestville  township.      Here  he  worked  as 
a  farm  hand  for  John  Stoneman  until  1869, 
when  he  purchased  and    located    on    his 
present  farm,  then  an  eighty-acre  tract  of 
wild  timberland.     It  is  situated  in  Section 
34,    Forestville    township,   and    with    the 
exception  of   eight  acres  is  all   now  under 
a  high  state  of  cultivation.      In  1871  Mr. 
Wolske    erected  a  good   home  and   now 
has  two  good  barns,  one  30  x  56  feet,  the 
other  27x60   feet,  thus   furnishing  ample 
accommodations  for  his  stock   and  grain. 
In     the    township    which    is    still    his 
home  Mr.  Wolske  was  married  in  1871  to 
Miss    Emeline,    daughter    of    John    and 
Louisa    (Krueger)    Kum,    natives  of   Ger- 
man}', who  in  i860  became    residents  of 
Door  county,    where    Mr.    Kum   died    in 
1 8 So;   his  widow  is  still   living  in   Forest- 
ville township.      Of  the  children  born   to 
Mr.    and    Mrs.    Wolske    five    are    living; 
Otto,  Louis,  John,  Paulina  and  Ernestine; 
and  three  are  deceased;  Albert,  who  died 
when  about  sixteen  years  of  age;  Amelia, 
who  died  at  the  age   of  six   months;   and 
Elsie,  at    the  age   of  two   months.      The 
mother  of   this   family  was  called  to  the 
home    beyond   June    19,    1890,  and    her 


death  was  widely  and  deeply  mourned,  for 
she  was  a  lady  who  had  many  friends. 

Mr.  Wolske  has  served  his  fellow- 
townsmen  as  assessor  for  one  term,  and  has 
several  times  been  a  member  of  the  town 
board.  He  votes  with  the  Democratic 
party,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  in  which  he  is  now  serving  as 
trustee.  His  public  and  private  life  are 
alike  above  reproach,  and  his  many  ex- 
cellencies of  character  have  won  him  high 
regard,  while  his  faithfulness  to  all  duties 
has  made  him  a  valued  citizen. 


LUDWIG  SCHUMACHER,  who 
has  been  a  resident  of  Door  county 
since  1857,  was  born  in  Bavaria, 
Germany,  in  1832.  His  father, 
Henry  Schumacher,  lived  and  died  in 
Germany  on  a  farm.  Two  of  the  family 
came  to  this  country,  our  subject  in  1841 
and  Andrew  in  1846.  The  latter  was 
a  clergyman  and  preached  in  Chicago 
until  1 86 1,  whenheenlistedin  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Regiment,- 111.  V.  I.,  for  three  years. 
Ludwig  Schumacher,  our  subject,  at- 
tended the  public  schools  of  Germany, 
and  when  nineteen  years  of  age  came  to 
the  United  States.  The  sailing  vessel  in 
which  he  came  set  out  from  Havre  and 
reached  the  harbor  of  New  York  at  the 
end  of  fifty-two  days.  On  coming  to 
Wisconsin  he  settled  in  Nasewaupee  town- 
ship. Door  county,  and  bought  some  land 
which  was  all  forest.  He  had  no  neigh- 
bors and  was  a  long  way  from  any  town, 
and  one  time  he  lived  upon  potatoes  and 
salt  for  about  a  month.  While  in  Niagara 
county,  N.  Y.,  he  was  married,  in  1856, 
to  Miss  Rhoda  Walker,  who  was  born  in 
England,  daughter  of  Charles  Walker, 
who  came  to  Niagara  county  at  an  early 
date.  Mr.  Walker  was  killed  by  the 
cars,  and  his  widow  still  lives  in  New  York. 
In  1 863  Mr.  Schumacher  enlisted  from 
Door  county  in  Company  F.,  First  Wis. 
V.  C,  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and 
shared  their  vicissitudes  until  the  close  of 
the  war.      He  was  honorably  discharged 


77= 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  1865  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  returned 
to  his  home  and  family.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Henry  Schuyler  Post,  No.  222,  G. 
A.  R.,  at  Sturgeon  Bay.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican,  keeping  well  posted  on 
the  political  issues  of  the  day.  Mr. 
Schumacher  is  the  father  of  the  following 
named  children:  Henry  (who  is  married 
and  resides  in  Nasewaupee  township), 
Andrew,  Eli  (married  and  residing  in 
Sevastopol  township),  Robert,  Frank, 
Walter,  Lizzie  (wife  of  Charles  Walker, 
of  Sevastopol),  Emma  (wife  of  William 
Bernard),  Rosa,  and  Jennie  (wife  of  L. 
Bernard).  Mr.  Schumacher  now  owns 
eighty-five  acres  of  land  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  said  land  being  his  purchase 
of  1866. 


CHARLES     PALECEK,    a    rising 
young  farmer  of  the  town  of  Ahna- 
pee,  Kewaunee  county,  is  a  native 
of  same,  born  October  27,  1867, 
son  of  Frank  Palecek,  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
who  was  born  in  1826. 

Frank  Palecek  was  educated  in  his 
native  language,  and  was  reared  to  farm- 
ing. He  married  Mary  Jacobosky,  a  na- 
tive of  Bohemia,  born  in  1827,  and  she 
became  the  mother  of  nine  children,  as 
follows:  Mary,  Mrs.  Leopold  Seller,  of 
the  town  of  Ahnapee;  Peter,  deceased; 
Annie,  deceased;  John,  of  Sturgeon  Bay, 
Wis. ;  Victoria,  Mrs.  Patrick  Ludden,  of 
Menominee,  Mich. ;  Frank,  of  the  town 
of  Ahnapee;  Charles,  whose  name  opens 
this  sketch;  and  Wenzel  and  Jacob,  of 
Kansas.  Mr.  Palecek  came  from  Bohemia 
to  the  United  States  to  better  his  condi- 
tion, and  for  one  year  lived  in  Chicago, 
coming  thence  to  Manitowoc,  whence 
after  a  short  residence  he  removed  to  the 
town  of  Ahnapee,  Kewaunee  county,  and 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  timber  land,  on 
which  he  settled,  becoming  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  this  part  of  Ahnapee. 
Later  he  purchased  more  land,  and  at  his 
death  owned  200  acres,  well  improved, 
upon  which   he   had   erected    substantial 


buildings,  and  was  one  of  the  well-to-do 
farmers  of  the  township.  In  religious 
connection  he  and  his  family  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church.  Mr.  Palecek 
died  February  17,  1890,  preceded  by  his 
wife,  who  died  November  27,  1882. 

Charles  Palecek  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  town  of  Ahnapee, 
and  was  reared  to  agriculture  on  the 
home  farm.  When  twenty-one  years  of 
age  he  married  Matilda  Wick,  a  native  of 
Germany,  born  in  1865,  and  they  have 
had  one  child,  Annie,  born  February  14, 
1890.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Palecek 
purchased  from  his  father  the  farm  of  120 
acres  he  now  owns  and  occupies,  and  has 
since  been  engaged  in  general  agriculture, 
meeting  with  the  success  which  industry  is 
sure  to  bring.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  polit- 
ical affiliation,  and  in  Church  connection 
he  and  his  wife  are  Catholics. 


JOACHIM  ROHDE,  one  of   the  lead- 
ing farmers  of  Egg  Harbor  township, 
Door  county,  is  a  native  of   Prussia, 
Germany,  born  April  25,  1828,  and 
is  the  eldest  son  of  Jacob  Rohde,  whose 
family    consisted    of    six    children — three 
sons  and  three  daughters. 

Our  subject  remained  at  home  up  to 
the  age  of  fourteen  years,  attending  school 
and  assisting  his  parents,  and  then,  after 
his  confirmation,  commenced  to  work  for 
strangers,  \\lien  twenty-five  years  of  age 
he  married  Mary  Glove,  and  three  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them  in  Germany, 
namely:  Lena,  who  is  now  the  wife  of 
Fred  Schrumm,  of  Egg  Harbor  township. 
Door  Co.,  Wis.;  Mary,  now  Mrs.  Henry 
Sohn,  of  Chicago,  111. ;  and  Reka,  Mrs. 
Julius  Rohdes,  of  Watertown,  Wis.  In 
the  spring  of  1864,  Mr.  Rohde  embarked 
with  his  little  family  from  Hamburg  on 
the  vessel  "John  Badram,"  and  after  a 
voyage  of  five  weeks  and  three  days  land- 
ed in  New  York,  thence  journeying  west- 
ward to  Chicago,  111,  where  he  first  ob- 
tained employment  unloading  vessels.  He 
had  his  residence  in  Chicago  for  ten  years. 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


773 


engaging  in  various  kinds  of  labor,  and 
during  that  time,  liaving  managed  to  save 
$i,ooo,  he  concluded  to  locate  in  Door 
county,  Wis.,  where  land  was  then  cheap. 
Removing  hither  in  the  fall  of  1874,  he 
purchased  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
Section  32,  Egg  Harbor  township,  with- 
out improvements  of  any  kind,  and  the 
log  shanty  he  built  for  his  family  was  the 
first  building  on  the  place.  Setting  to 
work  immediately  Mr.  Rohde  succeeded 
in  clearing  enough  land  to  plant  a  small 
crop  in  the  following  spring,  and  year  by 
year  continued  to  improve  his  farm  and 
home,  also  adding  to  the  area  of  the 
place  until  he  now  has  220  acres,  126 
of  which  are  cleared  and  in  a 
state  of  cultivation 
the  largest  cleared  tracts  in  Egg  Har- 
bor township.  Mr.  Rohde  has  pros- 
pered by  his  own  industry,  but  his 
labor  has  been  well  rewarded,  and  he 
now  holds  a  prominent  place  among  the 
well-to-do  farmers  of  his  township,  his 
fairness  and  honesty  in  all  its  transactions 
gaining  him  the  respect  of  all  who  have 
dealings  with  him.  He  gives  his  entire 
attention    to    his    farm,    taking  no  active 


good 
this  being   one    of 


part  in  public  affairs,  political  or  other- 
wise. Though  a  stanch  member  of  the 
Republican  party  in  national  politics,  he 
is  non-partisan  in  local  elections,  support- 
ing the  candidate  he  deems  best  fitted  for 
office. 

Mr.  Rohde's  first  wife  died  in  Chi- 
cago; for  his  scond  wife  he  married,  in 
that  city,  Miss  Reka  Ranke,  a  native  of 
Germany,  who  died  in  Egg  Harbor,  and 
he  subsequently  wedded  Ida  Schwantes, 
who  was  born  in  Germany  March  2, 
1852.  By  his  second  marriage  Mr. 
Rohde  has  children  as  follows:  Annie, 
Mrs.  John  Lohmer,  of  Minnesota ;  Min- 
nie, Mrs.  William  Reihart,  of  Escanaba, 
Mich.;  Louis  and  George,  at  home;  So- 
phia, Mrs.  Charles  Johns,  of  Sister  Bay, 
Door  Co.  Wis.,  and  August,  at  home. 
By  the  third  union  he  has  as  follows: 
Albert,  Martha  and  Edwin,  at  home;  and 
there  are  eight  others  now  deceased. 
Mr.  Rohde  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Evangelical  Church,  in  which  he  has 
held  various  positions  of  trust,  at  present 
serving  as  treasurer  of  the  Church  and 
Sunday  school. 


INDE^X:. 


PAGE. 

Abrams,  Hon.  W.  J 114 

Adriaenssen,  A.  A.  L,.  .  .  .  378 

Aebischer,  Charles  N 176 

Aebischer,  Mrs.  Marg-'t.  .   175 

V     Aebischer,  Samuel 175 

Aldrich.Chauncy  N 121 

Ames,   Milo 367 

Andersen,  Dedrick  0 384 

Andersen,  George  Peter..  686 

Andersen,  Hans  P 274 

Anderson,  Alfred 705 

Anderson,  Andrew 346 

Anderson,  John 769 

Anderson,  Ole  A 741 

Anderson,  W.  B 181 

Andreson,  O.  L 681 

Andridge,  Rev.  Andrew  A  539 

Anschutz,  Fred 663 

Anschutz,  Henry 731 

Ansorge,  Eugene  K 199 

Armstrong,    William 119 

Arndt,    John   P 213 

Arndt,  John  Wallace 213 

Arndt,  Peter 731 

Arveson ,  Arve 256 

Ash,  Mrs.  Mary 517 

Ash,  Richard 517 

Atkinson,  Thomas 118 

Awe,  Henry  M 735 

Babcock,  Augustin  H.  .  . .   176 

Bach,   Frederick 581 

Bailev.  Patrick 341 

Bangert,  John 699 

Baraboo,  Levi 689 

Bartel,  William 749 

Bartelme,  John 343 

Barth,  Martin 345 

Barrett,  Jesse 581 

Barrette,  William 583 

Basche,  F.  W 468 

Bassford,  George 533 

Bassine,  Louis 739 

Batey,  John 159 

Baumann,     August     (Ke- 
waunee county) 720 

Baumgart,  August,  Sr...  238 


p.\GE. 
Baumgart,  August  (Brown 

county) 236 

Baumgart,  Edward 345 

Baumgart.  Paul 238 

Beaupre,  Dr.  Wm 309 

Becher,  John 212 

Becher,  Joseph 212 

Beck,  H.   M.,  M.  D 229 

Becker,  Ernest 480 

Becker,  Peter  J 316 

Beissel,  Eseius 307 

Belanger,  Francis 595 

Berg,  Charles  P 618 

Berg,  Jacob 618 

Beth,  John 13 

Beyer,   George 530 

Bingham,  Webster  A....     40 

Birmingham,  Solon 715 

Black,  James 463 

Black,  R.  J 161 

Blahnik,  Jacob 704 

Blesch,  Francis. 160 

Blesch.  Frank  T 160 

Bley,  John 722 

Boalt,  Charles  Griswold. .  528 

Boehm,  Joseph 344 

Boehm,  Sylvester 332 

Boettcher,  Hermann 657 

Bohman,  Joseph 595 

Bohne,  August 703 

Boncher,   Mrs.   Catherine  S90 

Bencher,  Hector 589 

Bone,  Leonard 167 

Bongers,  Rev.  Matthew.  .   323 

Borgman,  John 592 

Borgman,  John  M 592 

Borman,  Gregorie 371 

Borman,  Henry 371 

Bosnian,  August  J 576 

Bottkol,  Michel 754 

Bowring,  Thomas  D 118 

Boyden,  Elbridge  G 248 

Bozmack,  Rev.  Jacobus.  .   154 

Bradley,  D 463 

Bran'des,  Charles 510 

Brandes,  Charles  H 520 


p.\GE. 

Brandes,  Edward 521 

Brann,  John 665 

Brauns,  A 464 

Brennan,  Jeremiah 259 

Brett,  B.  C,  M.  D 37 

Brey ,  George 657 

Brice,  O.  J.  B 452 

Britton,  David  W 132 

Broens,  Rev.  Father  Al- 

phons  M 632 

Broeren,  John 326 

Bruemmer,  Christian....  559 

Bruemmer,  Henry 685 

Bruemmer,  Louis  D 685 

Bruemmer,  Louis   558 

Brunette,  Dominick 186 

Brunette.  Manuel 186 

Bubnik,  Joseph  E 694 

Buckmann,  Ahrend  S . . . .  324 

Buckmann,  H.  F 324 

Buettner,  John 737 

Bultmann,  Henrv 750 

Burdeau,  Willard  E 190 

Buschmann,  Albert 638 

Busse,  August 612 

Callahan,  Peter 334 

Caiman,  John 390 

Caiman,  Mrs.  Kate 390 

Camm,  Herbert  F 297 

Campbell,  H.  Porter 453 

Carlin,  P.H 418 

Carlson,  Gustav 622 

Casey,  W.  J 179 

Cashman,  William 483 

Cautereels,  Rev.  P.  J 362 

Cerovsky,  Anton,  Jr 576 

Champion,  Seth  W ISO 

Chase,  Jasner  S 420 

Chater,  John 745 

Christiansen,  John 696 

Clarey,  M.J 475 

Cleeremans,  Alex 125 

Cleeremans,  Charles 403 

Cleeremans,  Frank 263 

Cody,  John 211 

Cody,  Richard  P 684 


776 


COMMEMORATIVE    BIOQRAPEICAL   RECORD. 


PAGE. 

Coenen,  John 287 

Coenen,  Theodore 287 

CofFeen,  \V.  B.,  M.  D 446 

Colburn,  Theodore 421 

Collard,  John  B 718 

Collard.  Martin 718 

Colle,  Desire 696 

Colle,  Peter 696 

Conen,  William 368 

Conley ,  Horace  J 145 

Connelly,  John 127 

Cook,  John 123 

Cook,  John  (deceased). . . .  303 

Cook,  William 303 

Corbett,  M.J 416 

Cordier,  Eug^ene 730 

Cormier,  David 357 

Cormier,  Joseph 357 

Cornell,  Joseph  Southard.  704 

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 

Craite,  Nelson 672 

Crane,  C.  E.,  M.  D 480 

Crass,  Jacob 740 

Crocker,  Ephraim 416 

Curran,  Martin 279 

Curtis,  Rev.  AlonzoP...  588 

Daix,  Constant 491 

Dalemont,  Joseph  G 666 

Danek,  Anton  F 674 

Damman,  Frederick 762 

Daul,  John 659 

Davis,  Charles  L 451 

Davis,  Daniel  H 210 

Davis,  E.  B 451 

Day,  Charles  W 48 

Debeker,  Joseph 713 

Decker,  Edward 42 

Dehos,  Philip  Jacob 513 

De  Jong-he,  Constant 220 

Delaney.  George  A 179 

Delaney,  James  C 179 

DeLouw,  Rev.  Father  C. .     91 

Dehviche,  John  B 655 

Demmin,  Christ 654 

Denis,  Capt.  Joseph 147 

Denis,  Charles  R 290 

Denis,  Gregorie 88 

Desnoyers,  Francis 477 

Desnoj-ers,  Frank  B 477 

Detjen,  Hermann 686 

Dewey,  Myron 726 

DeWilt,  Rev.  Elsear 425 

Dohn,  Adam 229 

Dollard,  John 373 

Dollard,  Patrick  E 373 

Doolan,  Bartholomew. .. .  240 

Doran,  Terrence 250 

Doughertj',  Cornelius. . . .  324 

Drake,  James 406 

Droog-,  Felix 146 

Drury,  Bartholomew 693 


P.\GE. 

Duaime,  Joseph  E 336 

Dubois,  F.  E 475 

Ducat,  Jacques 372 

Duchateau,  Abelard 454 

Duchateau,  F.  J.  B 454 

Duffy,  James 330 

Duffy,  Thomas 330 

Duncan,  Archibald  M. . . .  465 

Duncan,  John 465 

Durst,  Kaspar 727 

Dworak,  Albert  J 765 

Dwyer,  Anthony 267 

Dwyer,  Patrick 267 

Ebel,  Adolph 738 

Ebeling-,  J.  H 47 

Ehle,  Herrman 239 

Eisenman,  Andrew  A.  . . .  322 
Eisenman,Mrs.  ApoUonia  381 

Eisenman,  John  C 322 

Eisenman,  John 381 

Elliott.  Hon.  George  W.  ..  509 

Ellis,  Albert  G 55 

EUis,  Eleazer  H 55 

Ellis,  John 516 

Ellsworth,  Dr.  Albert  H.  313 

Elmore,  Hon.  James  H..  21 

Enderby,  John 280 

Enderby,  William  R 280 

Engels,   Edward 461 

Eng-lebert,  Desire 612 

Englebert,  Felix 729 

Englebert,  John 612 

English,  Mark 349 

Erichsen,  Andreas 658 

Erickson,  Niels 249 

Esraann,  John  D 192 

Evrard,  Elick 565 

Evrard,  Frank 564 

Fairfield,  W.  E.,  M.   D...  434 

Faick,  Jacob   364 

Falck,  Philip 295 

Falck,  Philip  (deceased).  294 
Fellows,  Charles  Lewis...  636 

Felschow,  Christian 702 

Fensel,  Lorenz  C 700 

Fetzer,  Hon.  John 518 

Filz,  Joseph 681 

Findeisen  Bros 364 

Findeisen,  John  G 363 

Finnegan,  Barnard 185 

Finnegan,  Hugh 332 

Finnegan,  John  C 186 

Finnegan,  Patrick 332 

Finnegan,  William 96 

Finnerty,  Hon.  Patrick. .  73 

Fisk,  W.  J 70 

Flatley,  D 321 

Flynn,  Edward 402 

Flynn,  John 403 

Follett,  Mrs.  Rosamond..  14 

Franklin,  Charles  0 649 

French,  Marion 758 

Frisque,  Florentine 432 

Froney,  George 725 

Frosch,  Frank 277 

Frosch,  George 277 

Frus,  Niels 601 

Fuller,  Eliza  S 640 


1>.\GE. 

Fuller,  F.  H 384 

Fuller,  H.  H 640 

Gage,  Dr.  C.  0 459 

Gagnon,  M 485 

Gallagher,  Rev.  Chas.  J..  427 

Gardner,  Walter  E 489 

Gauche,  Father  James. . .  289 

Gaulke,  Fred 724 

Gaulke,  Herman 724 

Gay  lord,  Capt.  G.  A 455 

Genesse,  Clem 644 

Genesse,  Augustus 644 

Georgi,  Ottoman 221 

Geurts,  George 211 

Gislason,  Jno 585 

Goemans,  Anthony    168 

Goeraans,  Mrs.   Joanna.  168 

Goepfert,  Rev.  P.,C.S.Sp.  36 

Goetz,  Joseph 582 

Goffart,  Ferdinand 124 

Goflfart,  Zacharie 142 

Goldsmith,  Christoph 252 

Gonion,   A.  B 383 

Goodell,  C.  F 174 

Gosin,  August 639 

Gotfredsen,  Mrs.  L 261 

Gotfredsen,  Niels  H 261 

Gow,  William 437 

Gowej-,  Archie  L 193 

Graf,  Charles 549 

Gratza,  Father  John 306 

Graves,  Capt.  Charles  A.  467 

Graves,  Orlo 467 

Greiling,  August 217 

Grignon,  D.  H 437 

Grimmer,  Hon.  George. ..  614 

Groessl,  George 479 

Gro-ss,  Fred.  P 122 

Gross,  John  G.,  Jr 423 

Gross,  John  G.,  Sr 414 

Gudniundsen,  Arni 601 

Haese,  August 138 

Hagartj',  Andrew. 695 

Hagarty,  William 695 

Hagemeister,  Henry  F.  . .  106 

Hagemeister,  Louis  W...  106 

Hagen,  Walter  T.,  M.  D.  27 

Haines,  Melvin 631 

Haines,  Tellack,  and  El- 
len (Halverson) 607 

Hall,  S.  L 697 

Halstead,   James  S 736 

Hamachek,  Frank 667 

Hamilton,      Judge      Fitz 

James 497 

Handeyside.   William....  136 

Hanev,  John  L 694 

Haney,  Hon.  Michael  C.  630 

Hansen,  Capt.  Anton  ....  764 

Hansen,  Christ 295 

Hansen,  F.  Mads 671 

Hansen,  Hans 389 

Hansen,  Niels 130 

Hansen,  Samuel  C 607 

Harbers,  Geortre 656 

Harder,  Fred.  T 586 

Hardtke,  Albert 685 

Harmann,  August 674 


INDEX. 


777 


PAGE. 

Harmaun,  Daniel 691 

Harniann,  John 691 

Harris,  J.  B 765 

Hart,  Capt.  C.  B 65 

Hart,  Edwin 53 

Hart,  Capt.  H.  W 54 

Harteau,  D.  M 162 

Hastings,  Hon.  S.  D.,  Jr..     52 

Hay  den,  George  W 391 

Haydeu,  Hiram  P 488 

Hayford,  S.  W 181 

Hayes,  William  Arthur.  .   669 

Hebel,  Joseph 180 

Hebert,   Joseph 387 

Heck,  W 748 

Heim,  lyorenz 193 

Heimbecker,  William....   720 

Helmholz,  William 532 

Henquinet,  John 575 

Henrigilles,  Joseph 163 

Herber,  Peter 126 

Herrbold,  Philip 591 

Herrick,  E.  Henry 748 

Hess,  George  B 96 

Heuer,  Fred   768 

Hewitt,  Rev.  John  L, 107 

Heyrmau,  Charles  L 129 

Heyrman,  Frank 128 

Hey rman,  John  B 410 

Hibberd,  Andrew 278 

Hinsdale,   William  C 110 

Hittner,  H.  M.,  M.  D 385 

Hlinak,   Thomas 738 

Hobbins,  James 308 

Hobbins,  John 309 

Hochgreve,  August 426 

Hoeffel,  Joseph 168 

Hoffman,  William 397 

Hoffmann,  Charles 761 

Hoffmann,  Valentine 760 

Hogan,  Hon.  John  M 49 

Holmes,  Albert  G.  E 105 

Hoskens,   Peter 130 

Hoverson,  Paul 767 

Howland,  Major  Levi.  .  . .  399 

Howland,  Thomas 399 

Hrbek,  Frank 572 

Hudd.  Hon.  Thomas  R...   109 

Huisenfeldt,  George 237 

Huisenfeldt,  Stephen 237 

Hunter,  Alvin 165 

Hussin,  Joseph 362 

Icke,  Albert 658 

Ihlenfeld,  John  Frederick  573 

Jackson,  Robert 400 

Jackson,  William  J 610 

Jacobsen,  Jacob 292 

Jacobson,  Andrew 609 

Jacobson,  Christian 761 

Jensen,  Lars 315 

Jess,  Charles 713 

Joannes,  Charles 76 

Joannes,  Mitchell 78 

Joannes,  Thomas 81 

Johann,  Capt.  John  W. . .  354 

Johannes,  Frederick 573 

Johnson,  A.  W 200 

Johnson,  Hans 646 


P.\GE. 

Johnson,  Magnus 457 

Jones,  Ferdinand 757 

Jones,  Jared  A 605 

Jonet,  Peter 708 

Jorgensen,  Mrs.  Elsie. . . .  385 

Jorgensen,  Hans 385 

Jorgensen,  John  L 11 

Jorns,  Adolph  M.  C 555 

Kalb,   Joseph 470 

Kalb,  Louis 471 

Kaye,  Victor 679 

Kellogg,  William  E 82 

Kennedy,  William 388 

Keogh,  James 596 

Keogh,  James  (deceased).  546 

Keogh,  John 546 

Kerr,  James 439 

Kersten,AlphonseM.,M.D  241 

Kettenhofen,  Jacob 225 

Killman,  Clement 711 

Killoren,  Luke 752 

Kimball,  Alonzo 24 

Kimball,  Charles  T 476 

Kimball,  N.  S 113 

King,  George 648 

Kirpal,  Rev.  Joseph 556 

Kitten,  Oriu  S 379 

Klaus,  Henry  P 103 

Klaus,  Philipp 102 

Kleiinanu,  Herman 751 

Knudsen,  Martin  N 764 

Knudsen,  Peter 764 

Knudson,  Henry  C 553 

Knuth,  Lewis 269 

Kolb,  Peter 392 

KoUer,  Matthias 588 

Konop,  Andrew 655 

Kozelka,  Rev.  Venceslas.  717 

Kozina,  Jacob 744 

Kozlowskv,  Frank 231 

Kozlowsky,  Frank,  Jr....  232 

Kruegar,  Frederick 662 

Kuehl,   J.  F.  C 691 

Kulhauek,  Jacob  J 742 

Kuntz,    Christian 409 

Kurz,  A.  G   361 

Kustermann,  Carl 23 

Kustermann,  Gustav 22 

Kuy pers.  John  A 428 

Kwapil,  Judge  Frank. . . .  496 

Lamarre,  Alphonse 246 

Lamarre,  John  L 246 

Lancaster,  Henry 370 

Lange,  Eberhardt  A 176 

Lange,  John 668 

Langenkatnp,  Anton 650 

Larsen,  William 232 

Larson,  H.  A 619 

Last,  J.  B 123 

Lau,  Rev.  Clement 252 

Lau  Family 469 

Lau,  Jacob 469 

Laurie,  Robert 540 

Lawlor,  Thomas 419 

Lawrence,  Augustus  W. .  560 

Lawrence,  G.  S 319 

Lawson,  Alexander,  Sr. ..  629 
Lawson,  Alexander,  Jr.. .  629 


PAGE. 

Lawton  Family 28 

Lawton,  Capt.  Joseph  G. .     28 

Leary,  Cornelius 310 

Lebal,  John 247 

Leischow,  Fred   741 

Leischow,  John 741 

Leitermann,  Joseph 331 

Leonard,  Bernard  A 209 

Leonard,  J.  H 296 

Leonhardt,  Christopher...  756 

Leonhardt,  Fred 747 

LeRoy,J.  H 66 

Le  Roy,  Jonas 66 

Ley,  Joseph, Sr 177 

Ley,  Joseph 177 

Ley,  Michael 672 

Liebmann,  Edmund  F —  215 

Liebmann,  Franz 191 

Liebmann,  Louis 215 

Liussen.  Henrj' 236 

Linssen,  Matthias 236 

Lockhart,  James  H 766 

Lockhart,  Robert 619 

Lomas,  C.  W 289 

Long,  Frank 668 

Louw,  Rev.   FatherC.de     91 

Lucia,  Charles  J 314 

Luebck,  Charles 737 

Lueke,  William 12 

Lurquin,  Felix 140 

Lutgen,  Charles 754 

Lycke,  George..   600 

McAbee,  John  L 481 

McAllister,  James  D 149 

McArdle,  James 550 

McCartney,   David 60 

McCartney,  William 60 

McCormick,  M.  J 454 

McCormick,  Patrick 455 

McCunn,  John  N 270 

McDonald,  John  R 594 

McGeehan,  Hon.  Rob't.  J.     94 

McGrath,  Thomas  J 112 

Mcintosh,  James 728 

McKnight,  John 135 

McKone,  James 226 

McLean,  Thomas 340 

McMahon,  Prof.  M 761 

MacEacham,     Archibald, 

M.  D 578 

MacEacham,  Mrs.  Nettie.  581 

Maack,  William 769 

Mach,  Anton 623 

Machia,  Joseph 620 

Madden,  John 755 

Maedke,  Fred  W 698 

Mahlberg,  Henry 648 

Mahlberg,  Joseph 648 

Mailer,  Andrew  C.,M.  D.  427 

Mann,  Charles  E 623 

Manthey,  Carl 197 

Marcussen,  Peter 352 

Marsh,  George  W 568 

Martin,  Constant 39 

Martin,  Daniel  H 433 

Martin,  George 717 

Martin,  Henry 536 

Martin,  Mrs.  Mary 350 


778 


COMMEMORATIVE   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


PAGE. 

Martin,  Michael 350 

Martin,  Hon.  Morgan  L.       7 
Martin,  Oliver  H.,M.  D..  538 

Martin,  P.  H 19 

Martin,   Xavier 38 

Masliek,  Voyta 503 

Ma.son,  Jared  D 361 

Mathison,  Mathjas 709 

Matzke,  Fred 218 

Meehan,  John 408 

Meehan,  Thomas 408 

Meister,  Charles 3S6 

Meister,  Christoph 158 

Melchior,  Mathias 571 

Melera,  Felix 670 

N^^'  Messiner,  Bishop  S.  G 242 

'     Meimier,  John..   732 

Meyer,  Leo 763 

Meyer,  Mathias 763 

Michelson,  John 248 

Milechar,  Frank 752 

Miller,  Godfrey 302 

Miller,  Jo.seph 671 

Miller,  Martin 721 

Miller,  Peter 721 

Millidg-e,  John 690 

Milling-ton   Family 304 

Minahan,  J.  R..M.  D 36 

Moore,   William 608 

Moran,  James  T 378 

Morau.x,  J.  D.,  M.  D 196 

Morrow,  Elisha 104 

y<s3Iosimann.  Gottlieb 733 

'     Mowers,  H.  E 353 

Mueller,  Carl  G 137 

Mueller,  Charles  W 138 

Mullen,  John  F.,  M.  D 515 

Muller,  Philipp 50 

Murphy,   John 202 

Murphy,  Simon  J.,  Jr.  .  . .   204 

Murphy,  Timothy 202 

Nachtwey,  Anton 154 

Nachtwey,  Henry 154 

Nelson,  Andrew 647 

Nelson,  Niels 268 

Neuville,  Jacques 753 

Neville,  John  C 95 

Neville,  Julian 477 

Neville,  Jules  C 477 

Newell,  C.  A 448 

Newton,  Abel  D 208 

Nolan,  M    H 160 

Norton,   Joseph 358 

Nuss,  Michael 474 

Nuss,  W.  W  474 

Nyg-ard,  Mathias 743 

Oatley ,  Albert  B 424 

O'Brien,  Rev.  M.  J 262 

Olander,  Alfred 708 

Oldenburg,  Gerhard 405 

Oldenburg,  Otto  N 405 

Olmsted,  Aus.  F.,  M.  D.  .     18 

Olson,  Hans  Jacob 700 

Otis,  B.  F 642 

Ouradnik,  Joseph 645 

Paape,  Frank 570 

Page,  David,  Sr 488 

Palecek,  Charles 772 


PAGE. 

Palecek,  Frank 772 

Pamperin,  Wilhelm 486 

Panter  Thomas .' .   734 

Parker,  James  M.  L 522 

Parker,  Mavnard  T 522 

Patton,  John 228 

Patton,  Michael 227 

Paulu,  Frank 702 

Paulu.  Joseph 759 

Pautz,  Herman  Reinhart.  552 

Pelnar,  Nicholas 664 

Pelnar,  Simon 664 

Peot,  Michael 567 

Peot,  Nicholas  (pioneer).  .  567 

Peot,  Nicholas 688 

Peot,  Peter 660 

Perry,  John 502 

Perry,  Matthew 625 

Perry,  Richard  M 624 

Perry,  Samuel 498 

Petersen,  Charles 661 

Peterson,  Niels 351 

Peterson,  Peter  A 599 

Peterson,  Theodore 751 

Peterson,  \V.  H 418 

Phelps,  Henry 321 

Pinney,  George 505 

Pinney,  John  J 550 

Plinske,  Charles 653 

Poehler,  Frederick 605 

Poehler,  Henrv 605 

Popp,  Rev.  C.  A.  F 448 

Popp,  Godfrey  G.  L 450 

Poser,  Frederick 503 

Poser,  Mrs.  M.  A 503 

Prust,  Charles 414 

Quatsoe,  Ferdinand 374 

Quatsoe,  Peter 374 

Radoe,  August  F 408 

Rank,  John  C 673 

Rasmussen,  Niels 139 

Ray  makers,  Hermann...  .  369 

Reiider,  Jurgen 650 

Reichel,  Louis 661 

Reinhart,  Mathias 692 

Revnen,  Matthias 74 

Reynolds,  Charles 537 

Revnolds,  Thomas 494 

Rhode,  Henrv,  M.  D 273 

Rice,  W.  D..'. 228 

Ridings,  James 759 

Riha,  Mathias 676 

Ripp,  Mathew 331 

Roberts,  George  D 625 

Roberts,  George  M 606 

Roberts,  Godfrev  William  625 

Roberts,  Dr.  John  A 591 

Robinson,  Joseph 577 

Rodrian,  Jacob 584 

Rogers,  Hon.  William 710 

Rohde,  Joachim 772 

Rondou,  A 196 

Rooney,  John  H 706 

Rooney,  Judge  P.  J 706 

Rowbotham,  Rev.  Wm...   320 

Ryan,  Thomas 173 

Rvan,   Timothy 219 

Sawyer,  A.  P 285 


PAGE. 

Saw ver,  Thomas 285 

Scaiilan,  Thomas  H 198 

Schaden,  Casper 293 

Schauer,  Wenzel 722 

Schiller,  L.  G 183 

Schlies.   Andrew  M 710 

Schluessel.  Herman 750 

Schmah,  Herman 537 

Schmeling,  Albert 593 

Schmeling,  Charles 593 

Schmidt,  Alex.  P 200 

Schneider,  F.  W 114 

Schroeder,  Charles 158 

Schultz,  Peter  Hanson .  .  .  203 
Schumacher.  Frederick.  .  746 
Schumacher,  Ludwig....  771 

Schwarz,  Christian 288 

Schwedler,   Louis 743 

Seeinann,  David 682 

Seeman,  Michael 699 

Sellers,  Malcolm 92 

Senft,  George,  Sr 511 

Sensiba,  George  W 359 

Servotte,  Ernst   W ..   471 

Servotte,  Joseph  H 472 

Seyk,  W 678 

Seymour,  Frank  B 462 

Shampo.  David 603 

Sharp,  Thomas  E 67 

Shaughnessy,  John 312 

Shaw,  Moses 683 

Shaw,  Capt.  Zebina 683 

Sherlock.  Andrew 431 

Sherlock,  James 368 

Sherlock,   Philip 431 

Sherwood,  Edison 424 

Sherwood,  Mrs.  Olive  I. .  .  424 

Sibree  Family 512 

Sibree,    Henry    Cheever, 

M.  D 512 

Simons,  Andrew 313 

Slaughter,  A.  W.,  M.  D. . .  395 

Smet,  Ferdinand 241 

Smith,  Alexander 397 

Smith,  Don  F 222 

Smith,  Frank  C 382 

Smith,  Frank  T 59 

Smith,  J.  M 57 

Smith,  James 396 

Smith,  John 269 

Smith,  Michael  B 382 

Smith,  Thomas  H 495 

Smitz,  Father  Adolph 268 

Snyder,  Frank 380 

Soukup,  Wenzel 677 

Spear,  George  0 466 

Sprague,  A 474 

Spuhler,  Adam 20 

Stangel,  Frank  J 514 

Stangel,  John  J 675 

Starr,  Henry 642 

Stebbens,  De  Wayne 507 

Stephenson,  Henry  B.  . .  .  523 

Stewart,  Robert  D 68 

Stewart,  William  M 69 

Stichmann,  Carl 611 

Stichmann,  William 611 

Stoneman,  Joseph 701 


INDEX. 


779 


PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

Stoneman,  William.. 

...  707 

Van  De  Wyngaard,  M.  . . . 

260 

Wellens,  Lambert.... 

...  335 

St.  Peters,  Anton  A. 

D..  635 

Van  Dycke,  Julius  J 

479 

Wellever,  Frank 

...  545 

St.  Peters,  William.. 

....  635 

. ...   405 

Van  Dycke,  Louis  C 

Van  Dvke,  Anton 

478 
339 

. '  Weter,  James  P 

...  214 

Straubel,  Henry  A. . . 

Whitcomb,  W.    S 

...   372 

Streckenbach,  C.  W.. 

....   144 

Van  Roosmalen,  Rev.W.F 

458 

Whitney,   Daniel 

...     83 

Stroh,  Joseph  F 

...   566 

Van  Seg-gern,  H.   D 

264 

Whitney,   Harriet  H... 

...     87 

Sullivan,  John 

...   347 

Van  Vonderen,  John 

388 

Whitney,  Joshua 

...     87 

Svoboda,  Joseph 

689 

Verberk,  Rev.  A.J 

71 

Wiese,  F.  H 

...266 

Sweeney,  B.  P 

...   404 

Verboort,  Albert 

255 

Wie.se,   William ...... 

...  266 

Sweeney,  Peter 

...   404 

Verstegen,  Rev.  John 

290 

Wilcox,  Chester  G 

...  298 

Taube,  Hermann 

....  621 

Ver  Straten,  Mrs.   Anna. 

195 

Wilcox,  Levi  S 

...  301 

Tayler,  J.  H 

. ...  415 

Ver  Straten,  John 

195 

Williams,  Albert 

...  311 

Terens,  Henry  M. . . . 

. ...   725 

Ver  Straten,  Martin 

194 

Wilt,  Rev.  Elsear  de.  . 

...  425 

Terens,  Nicholas  J. .  . 

. ...  725 

Voshardt.  Aug-ust  C 

542 

Wiltse,  Archie 

...  602 

Thibaudeau,  Simon.. 

. ...   535 

Wachenreiter.  Dr.  Chas.  . 

490 

Wing  Family 

...   491 

Thiele,  Aug-ust 

401 

Wacktler,  Conrad 

747 

Wing,  George  W 

...   493 

Thompson,  Rev.  H.  W 

.  ...  472 

Waegli,  John 

735 

Wing,  Rufus  L 

...   492 

Thornton,  Mrs.  Catherine 

Wagener,  N.  Arnold 

557 

Winton,  C.  M 

...   166 

Anna 

. ...   487 

Wagner,  William  P 

456 

Wirth,  Philip  M 

...  257 

Thornton,  John  H 

. ...  487 

Wallner,  Fred  C 

770 

Wittig,  Ferdinand   .. 

...   251 

Thornton,  Matthias. . 

487 

Walsh,  John 

565 

Wob.ser,  Albert 

...  628 

Thorp,  Rudolph  T 

....  680 

Warner,   Orrin,  Sr 

687 

Wochos,  Wenzel  M. . . 

...  613 

Throndson,  Andrew.. 

....  719 

Warren,  Albert  G 

551 

Wolske,  Ernest 

...   770 

Torstenson,  Hans 

....  604 

Warren, William  Harrison 

716 

Woolford,  William  B. 

...  316 

Touhey,  James 

157 

Washburn,  Leroy  M 

563 

Worachek,  J.  W 

...  610 

Treml,  Joseph 

. ...   183 

Watermolen,  Henry 

35 

Workman,  W.  M 

...  216 

Ullsperg-er,  Joseph.  .  . 

....  627 

Watermolen,  John  F 

220 

Workman,  William.. 

...   155 

Van  Abel,  Martin .... 

....  275 

Wattawa,  Hon.  John 

524 

Wotter,  Frederick...  . 

...   458 

Van  Beek,  Martin.  ... 

41 

Weber,  M 

Weber,   Nicholas 

483 
395 

Wotter,  H.  A.,M.  D.  . 
Wrabetz,  John 

...   458 

Van  Calster,  Emile.. 

141 

...   745 

Van  Denhouten,  John 

B..  641 

Webster,  Capt.  H.  W 

450 

Wunsch,  Theodore... 

...  723 

Vanderheiden,  Peter. 

.  ...    148 

Weis,  John 

586 

Yates,  John  L.  V.... 

...  637 

Vauderkinter,  Frank. 

. ...   144 

Weise,  Albert 

434 

Zettel,  Joseph     

...  547 

Vanderkinter,  Peter. 

. ...    143 

Weitermann,  John 

676 

Zettel,  Rudolph 

...643 

Van  Deuren,  P.  J 

. ...   460 

Weitermann,  John,  Sr...  . 

712 

Zimdars,  David 

...  201 

A 


05 


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