USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 10
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Al Ringling's name and memory shall long be honored by the circus going public as well as by the city which honored him and which he repaid in loyalty and appreciable service. Al Ringling died at Baraboo, Wisconisn, January 1, 1916.
Last but not least, Mr. Al Ringling erected a beautiful $25,000 marble mausoleum for himself and his wife in the Baraboo Cemetery and had above the door the names of "Al and Lou Ringling" cut in the marble.
JOHN P. STONE. As one of the noted early industries of Sauk County much attention has been paid to hop growing, and it has a big place in the agricultural history of the county, though it is now practically extinct. One of the men who knows every phase of that business from practical experience is John P. Stone, now a prominent banker at Reeds- burg and president of the State Bank of that city.
Mr. Stone is a native of the State of Maine, having been born in Oxford County February 5, 1847. He has been a resident of Sauk County more than sixty years. His grandfather was David Stone, a loyal and gallant soldier of the American army in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Stone is a son of Thomas S. and Sarah P. (Tredwell) Stone. Both parents were natives of Maine. His father was born May 8, 1816, and his mother March 30, 1816. They were married in Maine, and in 1856 brought their family to Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Thomas S. Stone acquired a farm of 120 acres now adjoining the city of Reedsburg. He was hard at work at its improvement and development when he died in 1857. His widow died a number of years later. Their children were eight in num- ber: Mary, Sarah, Charles H., Betsey, all deceased; John P .; Clara, deceased ; Flora; and Ella. In February, 1860, the mother married George Kellogg, of Sauk County.
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From the date of his mother's second marriage John P. Stone had to shift for himself. He had a very limited education, chiefly in the schools of his native state. Hard work was his portion in the early years, and he was a farm hand and also worked long hours in the hop fields. Finally he and his brother Charles bought a farm, which is now included in the city limits of Reedsburg. There. they were successfully identified with the business of hop growing until that industry proved unprofitable. Mr. Stone continued to live on his farm until 1910, when he removed to his city residence on North Park Street. The old farm has since been sub- divided and sold for town lots.
On March 10, 1898, the State Bank of Reedsburg was opened for business with Mr. Stone as president. He has guided the destinies of that financial institution with wisdom and discretion and has made it one of the strong banks of Sauk County. Mr. Stone is a republican in politics, is a member of the Presbyterian Church and has been an elder for many years.
On April 22, 1874, he married Miss Amy P. Phillips, of Sauk County, daughter of Otis and Janet Phillips, who were settlers in this county in the year 1866. Both are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have two children. Winifred P. is a graduate of the Reedsburg High School and the Whitewater Normal School, was a teacher in the Reedsburg schools two years, and is now the wife of Mr. N. T. Gill, cashier of the State Bank of Reedsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Gill have two sons, Kenneth and Charles H. Stone Gill. Charles H. Stone, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Stone, is a graduate of the Reedsburg High School, the University of Wisconsin, has his law degree from the State University, and is now a successful attorney in his native city. In addition to his private practice he is serv- ing as income tax assessor for Sauk County. This young lawyer married Edna Bryden, of Reedsburg, and their three children are named Thomas S., David and Portia.
BERT MAHONEY. Among the younger representatives of the farming element in Sauk County few have made better progress in material pros- perity since reaching years of maturity than has Bert Mahoney, of 802 Ash Street, Baraboo. In Mr. Mahoney's return to the country is found an instance of the call of Nature rising above the din of the city and the possibly more rapid compensations of a commercial career, for during several years he was identified with mercantile matters, only to again take up the vocation of his forefathers, that of the husbandman. He is at this time the owner of 160 acres of well-cultivated land in Excelsior Township, and is numbered among the skilled and progressive farmers of his part of the county.
Bert Mahoney was born at Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin, April 11, 1888, and is a son of Cornelius J. and Agnes (Bevins) Mahoney. On both sides of the family he is descended from families who have resided during a long period in Wisconsin, for his father was born at Clinton and his mother at Janesville, both in Rock County. Cornelius .J. Mahoney followed railroading all his life, and for forty-five years was conductor on a passenger train on the Northwestern Railroad, running out of Janesville, in which city his death occurred April 6, 1913, when he was
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fifty-nine years of age. He was one of the trusted employes of his com- pany, a reliable, steady and faithful trainman, and a general favorite with the traveling public who journeyed over his branch of the road. In political matters he took no part, and in regard to a preference for one or another of the parties, he invariably maintained an independent position, his ballot being cast in favor of the man whom his judment told him was best fitted for the duties of the office at stake. He and Mrs. Mahoney, who survives him and still resides at Janesville, were members of the Catholic Church. They had four children: Frank, Bert, Estelle and Catherine.
Bert Mahoney received his education in the public schools of his native city, and after his graduation from the Janesville High School secured employment in a mercantile establishment there. There he resided until 1907, continuing to be connected with business matters, and in the year mentioned came to Baraboo, where he became associated with a business house as a traveling representative. He was successful in this direction and undoubtedly would have gone far as a business man but the call of the country was too strong to resist and in 1913 he took up farming in Excelsior Township, where he now has 160 acres of good land, although he still makes his home at Baraboo, having a comfortable residence at No. 802 Ash Street. He has brought his land to a high state of cultivation and has improved his property with modern buildings, equipped with the latest appliances. As a general farmer he has reaped the success that is given as a reward for industry and good management, and his stock-raising efforts have also met with prosperous returns. In the life of the community he takes an active part, although public matters have had little interest for him, and had he so desired he would have found it difficult to find time from his farming duties to enter the lists as a candidate for office.
On January 15, 1913, Mr. Mahoney was married to Miss Maud Kellogg, who was born in Greenfield Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, October 9, 1887, a daughter of Arthur and Mary (Wilson) Kellogg, the former born in Greenfield Township, March 27, 1858, and the latter at Decorah, Wisconsin, in 1866. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Mahoney were Albert Frederick and Sarah Jane (Bassett) Kellogg, pio- neers of Sauk County and the first of this family to come to Wisconsin, the former home of the Kelloggs having been in New York. Albert F. Kellogg was engaged during the early days in teaming between Baraboo and Milwaukee, and became widely and favorably known to the people of this locality. He died in 1887, at an advanced age, having rounded out a full and useful life, while Mrs. Kellogg survived until 1913, and was also well advanced in years at the time of her demise. They had the following children : Chauncey, Ansel, Elwin, Levi, Almira, Alice, the wife of Charles Mattoon, of Watertown, Connecticut; and Arthur.
Arthur Kellogg was educated in the public schools of Sauk County, attending the primitive log schoolhouse in Greenfield Township and receiving instruction from J. M. True, one of the pioneer teachers of the county. For a number of years he was engaged in farming and stock- raising, and also was a stock buyer with George Hill, of Baraboo, but later embarked in the livery business, and continued to be engaged therein dur-
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ing a period of seventeen years. He then retired from active pursuits and went to Janesville, where he resided for several years, but his death occurred at Portage, Wisconsin, Thanksgiving Day, 1913. He was a republican, but not a politician. Mrs. Kellogg had passed away July 28, 1904, the mother of five children, all of whom survive: Maud, now Mrs. Mahoney ; and Beatrice, Charles, Frederick and Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Mahoney are the parents of one child : Mary Patricia, born June 27, 1916.
HENRY H. TINKHAM. Back to stanch old New England stock does Henry H. Tinkham, of Baraboo, trace his lineage, and that in his char- acter abide those sterling qualities which have ever marked the true type of the descendants of Vermont's sons is manifest when the more salient points in his career are considered. Since the year 1881 Mr. Tinkham has been identified with the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, and during this long period he has advanced steadily in the esteem of his employers as well as in the confidence of his fellow workers, and at the present time is the possessor of one of the most desirable passenger locomotive runs out of Baraboo.
Mr. Tinkham is a native son of Sauk County, having been born in Baraboo Township September 25, 1862. His parents were Hiram W. and Harriet (Foster) Tinkham, the former born at Dickerson, New York, October 28, 1833, and the latter at Yorkshire, England, October 28, 1835. The paternal grandfather of Henry H. Tinkham was Jacob Tinkham, who was born October 24, 1797, at Windsor, Vermont. He married Rebecca Nutting, who was born August 4, 1800, at Reading, Vermont, and shortly thereafter they removed to New York, where they lived for some years. Making their way then to the West, they stopped for a time in Illinois and then pushed on to Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1846, and took up land from the United States Government in section 3, Excelsior Township . Here they continued to be engaged in successful agricultural operations until 1870, at which time they went to Michigan to live with their youngest daughter, Anna Violette, the wife of Doctor Parmeter, at whose home Mr. Tinkham passed away November 24, 1871. Mrs. Tink- ham continued to live with her daughter to the time of her death, which was in October, 1882. There were seven children in the family, namely : Matilda ; Amos W .; Harriet P .; Irving Wilbur, who died on a Southern battlefield while wearing the uniform of his country during the Civil war; Hiram Wesley, the father of Henry H .; Aralette Rebecca and Anna Violette.
John Foster, the maternal grandfather of Henry H. Tinkham, was born in England, and on bringing his family to the United States settled in the vicinity of Whitehouse, near Toledo, Ohio, where his death occurred not long thereafter. His daughter Harriet came to Sauk County, Wiscon- sin, with a family by the name of Hunter, when she was about eighteen years old, and about two years later, in 1855, was married to H. W. Tinkham. They became the parents of seven children: William Watson, deceased ; John, deceased ; William, deceased ; Henry H .; Alice, deceased ; Sarah, and Eva B., deceased.
Hiram W. Tinkham was about thirteen years of age when he came with his parents to Sauk County, Wisconsin. Here he learned the trade
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of carpenter, which he followed for some years, in addition to which he drove a stage coach from Prairie du Sac to Kilbourn. He likewise spent three years in Iowa in working at his trade, but eventually returned to Wisconsin and became a farmer in Baraboo Township, a vocation which he followed during the remaining active period of his life. He was a democrat in politics, but never sought public office.
Henry H. Tinkham was reared on the home farm and secured his education in the public schools. Like many other farmer boys he was attracted by the life of the railroad man, and finally secured a position with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway on June 3, 1881, entering upon his duties in a minor position in the yards. There he soon found that railroading was hard work and not a romantic life at all, but he was determined upon remaining in the business, and about four months later was given his chance to work as a fireman. He proved steady and dependable and November 20, 1884, was promoted to the position of engineer, which he has since retained. In 1912 he was given a regular passenger run. Mr. Tinkham has been very prominent in the Brother- hood of Locomotive Engineers, which organization he joined at an early day. He has been chief of the local lodge, and secretary and treasurer thereof at different times, and has been a delegate to a number of national conventions, including those at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1902, Los Angeles, California, 1904, and Columbus, Ohio, 1908. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, having joined as a charter member in 1886, and attends the Congregational Church. In politics he has pre- ferred to maintain an independent stand.
On September 24, 1885, Mr. Tinkham was united in marriage with Miss Minta H. Brown, who was born at Baraboo, March 29, 1866, a daughter of Bela E. and Sabrina (Allen) Brown, the former of whom was born in Broom County, New York, October 15, 1835, and the latter in Ohio, March 5, 1840. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Tinkham, Armour Brown, was born July 17, 1808, and his wife, Clarissa Howe, January 31, 1812. They were married June 22, 1831, and came to Sauk County at an early day, Mr. Brown following the trade of carpenter here for some years. During the '60s, however, they went to Oshkosh, Wis- consin, and there both died. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Tinkham was Alden Allen, who was born April 11, 1802, and died October 7, 1872. He married Harriet Williams, who was born March 1, 1812, and about the year 1847 came to Sauk County and settled in Baraboo, later making their home in Reedsburg, where the grandfather died, the grandmother subsequently going to Dakota, where she passed away. They were the parents of the following children: Malissa, born March 17, 1830; Arlotha, born November 23, 1832, died January 21, 1914; Amanda, born April 21, 1834, died May 19, 1838; Olivia, born April 14, 1836; died May 21, 1843; Elmira, born July 1, 1838, now a resident of Kilbourn ; Sabrina, born March 5, 1840; Jane, born September 15, 1844: Alden, Jr., born May 21, 1846, died April 3, 1847; Oscar, born November 25, 1847 ; Mary Adele, born July 18, 1849, died September 21, 1872; Henry, born November 26, 1851; and Almond, born January 27, 1853, died November 11, 1853.
Bela E. Brown was a young man when he came to Sauk County with
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his parents. He enlisted in Company E, Forty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, but remained in the army only four months and on account of sickness was honorably discharged. He then returned to Baraboo, where he had left his young wife, to whom he had been married March 18, 1860. Mr. Brown assisted in building the foundations of the woolen mills at Baraboo and worked there during many years of his life, being at the time of his death, October 31, 1879, boss carder. He and his wife, who still survives him and is sevety-seven years of age, were the parents of seven children, all of whom are living: Alba E., Armour J., Minta, Charles E., Bela, LaVerne A. and David D., all of whom were born at Baraboo.
Mr. and Mrs. Tinkham have had three daughters: Laura, born May 30, 1886, a graduate of the Baraboo High School and of Knowlton Train- ing School for Nurses, Milwaukee, died at Milwaukee, January 5, 1912; Eva Eunice, born December 14, 1887, received her education in the Bara- boo High School and is a graduate of the Baraboo Business College, and now the incumbent of a business position at Madison; and Ruth A., born November 7, 1902, who is still attending school. The pleasant family home is located at No. 321 Fourth Street, Baraboo, where Mr. and Mrs. Tinkham located shortly after their marriage, in 1885.
HENRY L. NAUMANN, a native of Wisconsin, is one of the men who are contributing their enterprise to the making of Sauk County a great dairy center, especially in the production of cheese. Mr. Naumann has one of the most modern and best equipped and best conducted cheese factories in the county in Bear Creek Township.
He was born in Door County, Wisconsin, April 9, 1885, a son of August and Katherina Naumann. His parents came to this country front Germany about 1851 and were married in Wisconsin. They are still living. The father located on 120 acres in Door County and cleared up and improved that, being one of the pioneers in that section of the state. The parents had the following children: Annie; William and Louise, both deceased; Ida; Henry; Minnie; Lilly; Herman; Mary; Elsie, and August.
Mr. Henry L. Naumann was educated in the common schools, and at an early age learned the business of cheese making. On February 20, 1912, he established himself independently in the manufacture of cheese, and his factory is situated in the center of a very fine farming district. The factory is absolutely modern and Mr. Naumann bears the reputation of being one of the best in the business. He handles an average daily supply of milk of about 35,000 pounds.
March 16, 1910, Mr. Naumann married Louise Scholl, daughter of William Scholl, of Bear Creek Township. Two children were born to their marriage, August; who died at the age of two months, and Henry, now five years old.
PETER ZINS is one of Sauk County's representative and estimable citizens, a farmer of advanced ideas, well trained in business and honor- able in all his civic and personal relations. He represents one of the early families of the county.
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He is himself a native of Sauk County, and was born a mile and a half west of Lodde Mills in Prairie du Sac Township January 28, 1860. His parents were John and Motlena (Durish) Zins. His mother was born in Switzerland in 1825 and died at the age of sixty-seven, while his father was born in Germany February 17, 1815, and died at the age of seventy-seven. The first of the family that came to America was Andrew Durish, the oldest brother of Mrs. John Zins. He located in Sauk County in 1847. He was followed by his parents and other mem- bers of the family and a year later John Zins came to Sauk County and was married at Sauk City in 1848. For two years after their mar- riage they lived at Roxbury and then came to Prairie du Sac Township, where they paid $1.25 an acre for 160 acres of land. Subsequently Jolin Zins bought forty acres a mile from where his son Peter now lives. On the old farm John Zins prospered and spent the rest of his life. There were six children : Lena, born in 1850 and now deceased; Lizzie, born in 1855, wife of Arch Baker, of Sauk City; Anna, born in 1857, wife of Robert L. Leinenkugel, of Sauk City; Peter, the fourth in age; Andrew, born April 1, 1862, living on a farm a mile west of Lodde Mills; Mary, born in 1865, wife of John Baultes, of Roxbury.
Mr. Peter Zins grew up on the old homestead farm, attended school, and after his marriage went to farming on his father's place. In 1902 he removed to Lodde Mills and was in the saloon business eleven years, since which time he has given his attention to farming. Mr. Zins received $300 from his father as a start in life, and the rest of his pros- perity has been the results of his steady efforts and wise management. He now has a fine farm of 355 acres, a hundred acres in the Township of Troy and the rest in Prairie du Sac Township. Mr. Zins served eight years on the school board and is a democrat in politics. The family are members of the Catholic Church.
On February 20, 1900, he married Amelia Paepke, daughter of Wil- liam and Minnie (Balk) Paepke. Her parents were both born in Ger- many and for forty-five years have lived at Roxbury. They were the parents of ten children : Willie, forty-three years of age and still living in Troy Township; Mrs. Zins; Charles, a resident of Prairie du Sac Township; Mrs. Clara Westerman, living at Bismarck, North Dakota ; the fifth in age died young; Rose, is Mrs. Robinson, living in California ; Mrs. Gusta Winninge lives in Milwaukee; Bertha is unmarried and lives at Sioux Falls, Iowa; Mrs. Freda Miller lives at Castle Prairie; and Herman is unmarried and lives at Honey Creek, Sauk County.
Mr. and Mrs. Zins have four children: Otto, born in 1901; Clarence, born in 1902; Rudolph, born in 1905; and Lawrence, born in 1909. The children are all being educated in the Prairie du Sac Township schools.
FRANCIS M. BAKER, a leading agricultural implement dealer and prominent citizen of Reedsburg, is a son of Sterne Baker and Betsey Ann (Babb) Baker. On his mother's side he is therefore descended from James Wilson Babb, the founder of the place. His parents were married in Green County, Ohio, December 8, 1846, and in 1850 crossed the Baraboo River at Babb's Ford, now Reedsburg; which was six years after Mrs. Baker's father had settled there and pre-empted over 1,000 acres of land,
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a portion of which was in what is now Ironton Township. That was a few months before Francis M. was born. He was brought up on Babb's Prairie, afterward educated in the Reedsburg public schools, and subse- quently engaged in various lines of business, finally forming a partner- ship with a cousin, Henry Babb, and taking contracts to thrash for neigh- borhood farmers. In 1901 he sold the old homestead to advantage and in the following year located at Reedsburg and established himself there as a dealer in agricultural implements.
SAMUEL WELCH, now living retired in the city of Baraboo, is a vet- eran of the Civil war, and he made his substantial success in life as a farmer. He cleared up many acres in Sauk County, harvested crops year after year during his prime, and as a result of his industry and good judgment was finally able to retire with a competence sufficient for all his needs.
Mr. Welch was born at Milton, Wayne County, Ohio, February 19, 1847. He is a son of Nelson and Anise (Griswold) Welch, being the only child of these parents. His father was a native of New York State and his mother of Ohio. The Welch family came to Wisconsin in 1849. In 1850 they located. in Rock County and in 1851 moved to Baraboo, and the father bought 160 acres of land in the town of Delton. Nelson Welch spent his last days in Baraboo, where he died in 1889, at the age of sixty-seven. He was three times married. By his first wife there were two children : Laura, deceased; and John, who was a Civil war soldier. and is also deceased. For his third wife Nelson Welch married Nancy Murphy, and there were seven children of that union: Stantia and Clayton, deceased ; Frank, Ralsa; Hattie; Eva and Lottie.
Mr. Samuel Welch has spent practically his entire lifetime in Sauk County, though his varied activities have at times taken him beyond the bonndaries of his home county. He was educated in the local public schools and grew up on a farm. Though he was extremely young at the time, he enlisted in 1861 in Company F of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry. He proved his mettle as a soldier and fought alongside his older comrades in that regiment for one year. He re-cnlisted in Company F of the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry. He went into the service at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and remained until the end of hostilities. A notable part about his service is that he marched with the victorious armies in the Grand Review up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, a tried and seasoned veteran, and worn and weary from nearly four years of active service. Just fifty years later to the day he went back to Washington, then with the burden of many years upon him, with hair grown gray, but with spirit still alert and young, and again marched over the same ground and again was reviewed by the President of the United States.
With the close of the war, but still under age, he returned to Sauk County and for the next thirteen years he spent his winters as a lumber- man on the Chippewa River. He finally settled on his father's old home- stead, buying the farm, and subsequently removed to Baraboo Township, where he rented land for some years. In 1909 Mr. Welch retired from the farm and bought a comfortable home at 202 Fifth Avenue in Baraboo.
He has shown the same public spirit in local affairs as he did while
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a soldier in the army during the Civil war. He has been a loyal republi- can, and while living in Delton Township he served on the township board seven years and for many years had a part in directing the district schools as a school director. His father was an active member of the Baptist Church.
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