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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01715 8434
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GOTERI CP OF WISCONSIN |864-65.
THE UNITED STATES
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
AND
PORTRAIT GALLERY
OF
EMINENT AND SELF-MADE MEN.
WISCONSIN VOLUME.
CHICAGO, CINCINNATI AND NEW YORK: AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1877.
KNIGHT & LEONARD
PRINTERS
CHICAGO
1521480
PREFACE.
IN undertaking the publication of the BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY the publishers are guided by two business principles : First, the belief that they are supplying a public need; and second, the con- viction that they will be able to supply the best work on the subject.
The belief that the work is needed is founded on the fact that the world worships success, and is glad to learn how it has been brought about. The truth of this is shown in the fact that if a man be poor, though he have the learning of a Blackstone, the genius of a Watt, or the patient persever- ance of a Goodyear, yet, until he has achieved success, mankind has no interest in his history. His aspirations, his anxieties and his heart struggles, may have an interest for beings of higher intelligence, but for the mass of mankind these have no charms. But if by some cunning device, by some daring enterprise, or after long struggles and perseverance, he acquire a fortune, then the reluctant world is lavish in its admiration, his history is full of interest, and every one is anxious to know how he achieved success. To gratify this universal longing, it is proposed to give the history of the lives of six hundred successful men of Wisconsin.
The Publishers found the second business principle on the fact that they are determined to spare neither labor nor expense in giving to the world the most authentic information how these men have won fortune, how the world has been benefited by their labors, and what has been the turning-point of their success. These examples are of great interest, may spread good seed, encourage the weary, give new life to the desponding, and energy to the aspiring. In the hearts of the young there are ever hopes and yearnings ; and although seldom expressed, and often not even acknowledged to them- selves, they want only the inspiration of example to point the way, to accomplish the full fruition of their hopes.
The Publishers believe they are engaged in a laudable enterprise, and trust to a discerning public for a liberal response. It is but just to mention that not one cent has been asked or received from the parties whose biographies have been given in this work; nor is it intended to pander to the vanity of the weak. Eulogy belongs to the dead, not to the living. A record of a man's life and works constitutes his biography; the praise of his virtues is more appropriate in an obituary. It is our object to seek out merit, and, by a simple narration of the origin, career, and achievements of indi- viduals, show how the country has become great, and who are the men that have helped to do the work. To know how to achieve success is a laudable craving of the human heart, and to teach by example is the best mode of satisfying that craving.
The rapid growth of the United States is unparalleled in the world's history. If it has been done by human hands, who has done it? Have the heroes of peace no honor? If they have, where is the record? Perhaps it may be found in the dusty files of some daily papers, where lie hidden the records of the worthiest deeds, while acts of rapine fill the pages of history. These may be sensa- tional, but they are not exemplary.
There may be yet living some few who took part in the War of Independence; so that it may be
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PREFACE.
said that in one life millions of acres of wild lands have been brought under cultivation, cities have sprung up as if by magic, industries have been developed which challenge the world for the vastness, utility and beauty of their productions. The arts have made great progress, and the sons and daugh- ters of America vie with the most eminent of the Old World. To make a record, in an accessible form, of the men who have achieved so much, is a desideratum which has a just claim upon every admirer of his country's progress.
The publication of this work will contribute to the supply of materials for the future historian. The day has arrived when something more than the memories of the ancestry of the titled few shall usurp the admiration of mankind. A new era, a new civilization, has sprung up, which furnishes a different material for history. There has been enough written of kings, feudal barons, and the turbu- lence of unbridled power. It is the social condition of the people that makes the history of the United States, which is by far more interesting, by far more useful, and by far more exemplary, than all the feuds and cabals which crowd the pages of European history.
The interests of the United States demand that her history should be modeled after her institu- tions, and viewed from that standpoint; honor should be given to those who have made the country great. A man is a constituent of a community ; so is the history of an individual a constituent of the history of a country ; and that history which best represents the lives of prominent individuals will best represent the social condition of a country.
The BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY will furnish this material. It is purely an American idea, and is in the direction of assimilating American literature with American civilization. A sound public opinion is essential to the permanency of a stable government. Opinions formed by a literature written for a people living under a different civilization, which includes monarchy and prerogative, aristocracy and privilege, and an exalted idea of birth and station, is wholly in conflict with republican simplicity. Therefore, however proud we may be of the names which adorn our language, we cannot be blind to the fact that a European literature is not an unalloyed blessing. A national literature must represent the national sentiment; should be in accordance with the principles, and a support to the institutions, of the country. A sound literature is one of the greatest aids to good order, and one of the best supports of the permanency and stability of a government.
In making a selection of names for the BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, the Publishers have aimed to give a view of the representatives of the various interests of the State; the Statesmen, the Preachers, the Lawyers, the Merchants, the Manufacturers, the Engineers, and indeed all who take part in the intellectual, social and material progress of the people. If all are not represented, it is because our efforts have failed to reach them, or because the parties themselves were not familiar with the impor- tance of the work, and have failed to furnish the necessary information. There are some who, from vain pride, have refused information; they feared that their names might be associated with names which did not come up to their standard; others again, who are worthy citizens, have, from a false modesty, refused to give particulars, as they said their lives were not of sufficient importance, thereby accepting the humiliating position of being supernumeraries in society, who have no share in the con- mon interest-forgetting that in a few years their names, without a record, will be lost in oblivion, and their posterity deprived of the gratification and advantage of reference to an honorable ancestry.
The BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY will present a galaxy of men whose careers will do honor to any country, exhibiting a variety of enterprise and the best illustration of social life ever published. The portraits have the accuracy of photographic art transferred to steel by the ablest engravers of England and America.
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
WISCONSIN VOLUME.
HON. JAMES T. LEWIS, COLUMBUS
SEARCHING the streets of Athens with a lantern, Diogenes illumined a truth of his own discovering, namely, that men are a nation's rarest as well as most precious jewels; and we have dis- covered that of those who shine in the crown of the Republic, none have a higher worth than the faith- ful administrators of the law. Prominent, on the roll of true and good men, we find the name of James T. Lewis, a native of Clarendon, New York. He was born on the 30th of October, 1819, and is the son of Shubael Lewis and Eleanor Robert- son. His grandfather, Samuel Lewis, lived in Brim- field, Massachusetts. His father, a native of New England, was born on the 27th of February, 1783, and grew up from a poor boy, with a spirit of self- reliance and strong hope, and by his sterling qualities commanded universal respect. He was a man of sturdy enterprise and acquired large estates both in New York and Wisconsin. He was thrice married : first on the 29th of January, 1815; and the second time on the 15th of April, 1835, to Parna Nichols, who was born on the Ioth of April, 1798. She was a lady of the truest womanly qualities, a devoted wife, and all that a mother could be to the children placed under her care. Her pure life was devoted to the welfare of her family, and to the influence of her teachings and example the subject of this sketch, to-day, feels himself largely indebted for the success of his life.
His third marriage was to Mary Bugbee. He died at the advanced age of seventy-eight years.
The mother of our subject, a lady of Scotch descent, died on the 8th of October, 1834.
Of Mr. Lewis' brothers and sisters, William L. was born October 19, 1815, and was married October 7, 1842, to Miss Eliza Ann Martin, of Clarendon, New York. Shubael R. was born November 3, 1817 ; was a distinguished soldier in the Mexican war-the first to scale the walls of Chepultepec, and for his gallant conduct on the field was presented with a sword; married August 18, 1839, to Mrs. Sarah Ann (Nichols) Brown, widow of Harvey Brown, M.D .; died in August, 1856. Hiram W. was born January 13, 1823; married September 2, 1847, to . Miss Me- lissa P. Tousley. Mary Jane was born September 6, 1825; married Oscar A. Harris. Andrew J. was born May 23, 1828; died January 20, 1840. Lydia A. was born September 22, 1831 ; died October 12, 1834.
James T., the third son, after receiving a common- school education, completed a course of English and classical study in Clarkson Academy and Clin- ton Seminary in New York, and in 1842 began the study of law with Governor Selden, of Clarkson. He afterward removed to Wisconsin, and in 1845 was admitted to the bar of the United States dis- trict court, and subsequently to the supreme court of the State.
Declining the gift of an eligible law office offered him by influential friends if he would settle in Clin- ton, New York, he decided more wisely, and estab- lished himself in Columbus, his present home. At the age of twenty-six years he was married to Miss
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THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
Orlina M. Sturges, daughter of a prominent and successful merchant of Clarendon, New York, and by her had four children: Henry S., deceased at the age of sixteen months; Selden J., named after Governor Selden, of Clarkson, New York; Charles R., named after Hon. Charles D. Robinson, of Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Annie L.
Mr. Lewis, a man of superior executive ability, rapidly rose to the successive positions of district attorney, county judge, member of the constitutional convention which formed the organic law of the State, member of the general assembly, state sen- ator, member of the court of impeachment, lieuten- ant-governor, secretary of state, and governor. As secretary of state it was truly said of him, "he has been prompt, methodical and systematic in all the departments of his office; a true man in every sense of the word, kind and gentlemanly in his deport- ment, and possessing great executive ability." When elected to this office he received every vote cast in the city of his residence, and when elected gov- ernor in 1863, received a majority of twenty-five thousand, by far the largest ever accorded any can- didate for that office.
The nation at this time being engaged in civil war, Governor Lewis felt that for the time political divisions should cease ; that all loyal men, forgetting party strifes, should rally around our country's flag and save it from dishonor ; that rebellion should be crushed by hearty cooperation and earnest sacrifice, and that peace should be restored. Sincerely im- pressed with this belief, he severed party ties and proclaimed, "he who is not a faithful friend to the government of his country in this trying hour is no friend of mine," and spared neither time, talent nor money in sending troops to save the national capi- tal. Especially was his attention engaged in caring for the needs of the sick. He repeatedly visited camps and hospitals, making long and careful tours, and finally secured a special order from the surgeon general of the United States, for the transfer.of all the sick and wounded soldiers from Wisconsin to hospitals within their own State, a privilege never before granted.
Under his administration hospitals were estab- lished, a soldiers' orphans' home was founded, and families of soldiers provided for.
Through his influence multitudes of suffering "boys in blue " were nursed back to life in hospitals with comforts; blessed by the prayers of mothers and wives at home, the dying hours of brave men
were soothed, and men who had risked their lives for a great principle, and bereaved families, were provided with homes. The unmarked, but not for- gotten, graves of our slain heroes dot the hillsides of the South; but had it not been for the noble work of Governor Lewis, hundreds who are among the living to-day would live only in the desolate, sorrowing hearts of those who loved them. By personal efforts he obtained credit from the govern- ment for soldiers furnished, and reduced the quota of Wisconsin at one time from nineteen thousand and thirty-two to fifteen thousand three hundred and eleven, and was especially successful in secur- ing the claims of his State against the government, amounting in all to more than half a million dollars. In 1865, by his wise adjustment of affairs, the State tax was reduced several hundred thousand dollars ; and during his entire administration he did not use one dollar of the military contingent fund. At his request the legislature declined to vote the usual appropriation of five thousand dollars as a general contingent fund for the use of the executive. He worked for the good of his State, and was econom- ical, systematic and prompt in all his departments of duty. His large-heartedness and sympathy went out to all; yet in the administration of justice he was inexorable.
In 1865, against the wishes of his State, he de- clined a renomination, preferring the retirement of private life to public honors and emoluments. Finding him firm in his determination, the Union nominating convention expressed in resolutions their regret at his decision, their cordial approba- tion of his administration, and their gratitude for his zeal, fidelity and generous work in behalf of others.
As a man and public officer, Governor Lewis possessed the unlimited confidence of the people, and throughout his varied career has maintained a name and character above suspicion or reproach. Figuring little in proclamations, orders and tele- graphic communications, he performed his duties quietly and without ostentation. Unselfish and self-denying in all his action, he labored for the welfare of his State and nation. Standing upon noble principle, he felt that he needed no other platform; the ends which he aimed at were "his country's, his God's and truth's." A marked fea- ture in the character of Governor Lewis, and one worthy of imitation, is his generous benevolence. Possessed of a liberal competence, he devotes a
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THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
portion of his annual income to the building and support of universities, colleges, academies and educational interests; thus exerting a silent but lasting influence for good, by developing the minds and morals of his country's youth. He has been a liberal contributor to churches and benevolent enterprises of various kinds, and in all that pertains to the welfare of his city, or the good of his fellow- men, he is ready to lend a cheerful support.
In 1864 Lawrence University conferred upon him the degree of LL.D., an honor which was justly bestowed and has been worthily worn.
He recently received a dispatch from Washing- ton tendering him the office of commissioner of internal revenue. He, however, declined the honor, owing to other duties which require his constant attention. Mr. Lewis has been several times offered similar offices, but has uniformly declined.
JAIRUS H. CARPENTER, MADISON.
J AIRUS H. CARPENTER, a native of Ashford, Connecticut, was born on the 14th of February, 1822, and is the son of Palmer and Martha Carpen- ter. With the exception of three or four terms spent in Holliston Academy, he received his education in the common schools. After closing his studies he engaged for a time in teaching, and later began the study of law, and completed his preparatory profes- sional studies with Hon. Loren P. Waldo, of Tolland, Connecticut. In March, 1847, he was admitted to the bar, and the same year engaged in the practice of his profession at Willimantic, Connecticut. In 1857 he removed to Wisconsin, and settled at his present home in Madison.
Politically, Mr. Carpenter is a republican, though
conservative in his views. He exalts the man above the party, and supports for office him whom he deems most worthy of the position. He has here- tofore, and still takes an active part in educational matters. For fourteen years he has been a member of the Madison Board of Education, and for ten years president of the same.
In 1868 he was elected professor of law in the University of Wisconsin, a capacity in which he still continues to act. In 1876 he was made dean of the law faculty. The honorary degree of A.M., was confered on him by Yale College in 1874.
Mr. Carpenter was married on the 13th of Feb- ruary, 1852, to Miss Martha C. Kendall, of Brook- field, Massachusetts.
THEODORE LYMAN WRIGHT,
BELOIT.
T' HE subject of this sketch, a native of East Hampton, Massachusetts, was born on the 6th of October, 1806, the son of Luther Wright and Sarah née Lyman. His ancestors were among the early settlers of the American colonies, and some of them participated in the revolutionary struggle. His parents, farmers by occupation, were highly re- spected in their community, and employed every means in their power to train their children to principles of morality and right.
Theodore received a good preparatory education, and afterward entered Yale College, but owing to impaired health, was compelled to abandon his studies before completing his course. The degree of A.M. was, however, afterward conferred upon
him as a compliment to his scholarly attainment. His natural literary tastes led him to devote his attention to teaching, and after closing his studies in college, he began fitting young men for college, and continued teaching, mainly in Hartford, Con- necticut, during a period of seventeen years, finding in this employment most agreeable and congenial work.
Removing to the West, in 1846, he settled at Beloit, Wisconsin, and during the next twenty years, or longer, was engaged in the insurance business, and in agricultural pursuits. In the meantime, hav- ing accumulated sufficient capital, he erected a paper-mill in Rockton, Illinois; and soon after, another at Beloit, in company with S. T. Merrill.
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and began that business, with which he is still con- nected, as president of the Northwestern Paper Company. He has not, however, confined his at- tention to any one branch of business. In com- pany with Mr. Newcomb and Mr. Merrill, he estab- lished the first book-store in Beloit, under the firm name of Wright, Merrill and Newcomb. His course, from the first, has been marked by a steady and healthful growth, and has been attended with that prosperity that inevitably follows honest, earnest and continuous effort. As a business man, he is known for his conscientious fair dealing, his prompt- ness and decision, and firm adherence to the highest principles of justice.
Politically, Mr. Wright is a republican, and aside from his regular business, has been honored with many public trusts. He has been for a number of years superintendent of the public schools of Beloit, and president of the Board of Public Schools; and is at the present time (1876) president of the Library Association. He visited Europe in 1835, in the
interests of his business, and has also traveled ex- tensively in the United States, and thus acquired a wide range of practical knowledge and a most valuable experience.
His religious training was under the influence of the Congregational church, and he is now a con- sistent member of that body, having united at the age of sixteen years.
Mr. Wright has been thrice married : First, on the 23d of September, 1833, to Miss Catherine B. Rynolds, who died on the 25th of April, 1852. His second marriage was on the 25th of November, 1853, to Jane Newcomb, who died on the 6th of October, 1866. On the 21st of August, 1867, he married his present wife, Mrs. Elenor F. Hutchins, whose grandfather, Amasa Clark, was a soldier in the war of independence.
Mr. Wright's personal and social qualities are of a high order, and he lives now in the enjoyment of an ample fortune, surrounded by the comforts of a happy home and hosts of true friends.
LEANDER F. FRISBY,
WEST BEND.
EANDER F. FRISBY was born June 19, 1825, in Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, Ohio. His father, Lucius Frisby, was a native of Vermont, but removed with his family to Ohio in 1817, where he settled on a farm, and followed the occupation of a farmer for over thirty years. Although of limited early education, yet he possessed strong native talent, and was well posted on all the topics of the day. His grandfather, on both his father's and mother's side, were soldiers in the revolutionary war. His mother, whose maiden name was Lavina Gary, was also a native of Vermont. She is still living at the ripe age of eighty-four years, and is at present, and has been for twelve years past, a member of the family of the subject of this sketch. She still retains those indelible traces of pure and intelligent woman- hood which were so characteristic of the American mothers of the last generation, and which have done so much to mould the best phases of American character.
Leander, in his early years, worked upon his fa- ther's farm during the summer months, and attended the neighboring district school for the short space of three months during the winter. At the age of
eighteen, with the consent of his parents, he left home and learned the trade of a wagonmaker. From his boyhood he felt and showed a fixed determina- tion to obtain an education, and occupied all of his leisure hours, while learning his trade, in reading and study. After becoming sufficiently skillful in his trade to earn wages, he commenced a course of study at Farmington Academy, in his native county, in Ohio, a school of considerable local fame, where he paid his board and tuition by working at his trade for a neighboring wagonmaker, out of school hours. He remained there for three terms, and, when he left, ranked with the best among some hundred and fifty students.
After leaving the academy he taught school one winter, for the purpose of replenishing his wardrobe and obtaining money to go west, where he intended to teach for a time, and return again to his studies. He landed at Sheboygan in September, 1846, and went from thence to the city of Fond du Lac. The fall of 1846 will be remembered by the old settlers of Wisconsin as the "sickly season," and within two weeks from his arrival he was taken sick with chill fever, which kept him disabled till far into the win-
LEander P. Prisby
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THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
ter. When he had so far recovered as to be able to work, the schools were all taken, and, being in des- titute circumstances, he sought work at his trade. He found, however, upon application to the only wagonmakers in his vicinity, that they had not work sufficient for their own employment; and rather than remain idle or to encroach upon the generosity of friends, he entered a cooper shop, as the only place where he could obtain employment, and worked two months, receiving only the munificent wages of his own board (which was the agreement he had made with the proprietors at the time he began work); in the meantime seeking work at his trade by cor- respondence with other parts of the surrounding country. Receiving a favorable reply from Beaver Dam in March, 1847, he borrowed fifty cents from a friend and started on foot for that place, paying his borrowed money for his supper and lodging, and arriving there about noon of the second day, with- out having tasted breakfast. Here he commenced work at his trade for a Mr. Craig, and continued in his employ until the latter part of June. This was the first glimmer of sunlight which had dawned upon his pathway since he left his native State. The long, sad, weary days of sickness, hardships, trials and despondency spent during that fall and winter at Fond du Lac cannot be portrayed, and it would be but a sad failure to attempt it. In the summer of I847 he went from Beaver Dam to Janesville, where he also worked at his trade in the shop of a Mr. Curler. During all of this time he never lost sight of his original object, and spent every moment which could be spared from his labors in hard, earnest study of such books as were at his com- mand.
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