USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 13
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From January 11, 1911, to July 1, 1915, Mr. Ninman served as post- master of Sauk City, during the last republican administration. While he was postmaster he was instrumental in securing the installation of a complete modern equipment in the postoffice building. Mr. Ninman is vice president of the Farmers' Packing Company. One of the chief social occasions of Sauk City in recent years was the "Homecoming" held in August, 1907. Mr. Ninman was the originator and promoter of this event, and was secretary of the committee in charge of arrangements.
There has always been musical talent in the Ninman family and Mr. Ninman has developed his taste in that direction since childhood. In fact since he was a boy he has been director of the local band and has instructed a number of similar organizations. He has been interested in republican politics and through the influence of his father was chosen to
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serve as delegate to the Republican State and District Conventions in 1900. Another interesting distinction is that he was chosen master of the local lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen when only nineteen years of age, and was probably the youngest master that order has ever had in the state. He is also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 113, Free and Accepted Masons, at Prairie du Sac, and served as its senior warden in 1909, and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.
On June 28, 1904, at Sauk City, Mr. Ninman married Hannah Lenz, daughter of William and Elizabeth Lenz, carly residents of Sauk City. Her father was owner of a brewery and in different ways took an active part in the early development of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Ninman have one child, Charles F., named for his honored grandfather. Mr. Ninman is one of the Associate Editors of this publication.
JAMES B. FADDEN, whose fine country home is one of the show places of Dellona Township, is a highly-educated young man who early in life determined to apply the resources of his mind and character to farming, and along that line has made a notable success for one so young.
Mr. Fadden was born in Dellona Township of this county June 25, 1892, a son of Jeremiah and Catherine (Gallagher) Fadden. His parents came from County Mayo, Ireland, in 1852, and his father for several years worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. In 1867 the family located in Dellona Township, where the father developed a good estate as a farmer. In the family of Jeremiah Fadden and wife were the following children: John, Mary, Alice, all deceased; Anne, Jeremiah; William; Catherine; Peter, deceased; James B .; and Teresa, deceased. Jeremiah Fadden was one of the old settlers in Dellona Town- ship, and earned and was rewarded with the respect and confidence of the entire community. One of the daughters, Anne, married James McFadden, who lives at Douglas, Arizona, where he is manager of the Copper Queen Mining Company.
James B. Fadden grew up in the rural district of Dellona Township, acquired a university education, and for five or six years has applied himself successfully to the business of farming on 140 acres. He does general farming, and is also a breeder of Shorthorn cattle. He is now town clerk of Dellona Township and is a republican.
CARL A. HOFMANN. One of the native born sons of Baraboo, who is well and favorably known to the citizens of that place, is Carl A. Hof- mann, city mail carrier. During a long and active career his operations have invaded several fields of endeavor, and at the present time, in addi- tion to performing his official duties, he is the proprietor of Hofmann's Dutch Bulb House. Mr. Hofmann belongs to one of the oldest and best known families of Sauk County, and was born in his present home at Baraboo, at 219 Second Street, August 16, 1866, being a son of Michael and Serena (Becker) Hofmann.
Michael Hofmann was born in Gersheim, Darmstadt, Germany, on the Rhine River, July 6, 1832, and in May, 1851, came to Sauk County, Wisconsin, whence his brother, John Hofmann, had preceded him by two years. After his arrival Mr. Hofmann worked for one year for a Mr.
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Jamieson, who was the owner of a farm, and about 1852 came to Baraboo and started to work for James Dykens, a manufacturer of wagons, a work in which he remained for many years. Toward the latter part of his life he became associated in this business with Henry Miller, Sr., and the firm was successfully engaged for a number of years in supplying a local trade as well as a large amount of outside business. Mr. Hofmann became a prominent figure, being for sixteen years street commissioner of the City of Baraboo. He was retained in office until advancing years caused him to resign, this being about four years prior to his death, which occurred October 15, 1911. Mrs. Hofmann was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 21, 1835, and was thirteen years of age when she came to the United States and to Sauk County, Wisconsin, with her mother, Mrs. Rosa (Wolf) Becker, her brother, Alois, having come to Baraboo three years before. Mrs. Hofmann died July 4, 1891, in the faith of the Catholic Church, to which her husband also belonged. He was a democrat in politics. Mr. Hofmann was universally respected and esteemed as a good and reliable citizen and as a straightforward and honest man of business. He and Mrs. Hofmann were married at Sauk City in 1855 and in 1858 went to Juneau County to live for two years at Plymouth, but then returned to Baraboo. At that time there were about thirty residents in the city, but Mr. Hofmann lived to see Baraboo become a prosperous and thriving community, and through his activities helped to make it so. He and his wife were the parents of four children : Anna J., who died in 1893; Edward A., who died in 1882; William A., of Duluth, Minnesota; and Carl A.
Carl A. Hofmann was educated in the graded and high schools of Baraboo, following which he spent some time in private study. He started his business career at Oshkosh, where he entered the offices of the J. H. Weed Lumber Company, later was with the Sherry Lumber Com- pany of Neenah, and the Paine Lumber Company of Oshkosh, and then engaged in the newspaper business at Virginia, Minnesota. Disposing of this interest, he returned to Baraboo, where for seventeen years he has been in the employ of the city in the capacity of city mail carrier. As before noted, Mr. Hofmann is also interested in the growing and sale of plants, being a specialist in regard to seeds and bulbs. Among his leaders arc Burpee's guaranteed seeds, perennials and plants, and sum- mer flowering bulbs, roses and shrubbery. Politically he is a democrat, and he and Mrs. Hofmann are members of the Catholic church. He is a prominent member of the Knights of Columbus and has held the various chairs in that order during seven years, and is now past grand knight and a member of the state council.
On February 21, 1899, Mr. Hofmann was united in marriage with Miss Nellie M. Monroe, of Hartford, Washington County, Wisconsin.
HENRY HAHN is one of the old-time residents and business men of Reedsburg, where he has had his home for nearly half a century. His name is one that carried weight and influence in that community.
He comes of that substantial stock of German people contributed to America by the Kingdom of Hanover, in which country he was born December 20, 1847. His parents, Christian and Dorothea (Elers) Hahn, Vol. II -.- 7
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spent all their lives in Germany and both died there in the year 1898. They had six children: Henry, W. Hahn, Dorothea, Mary, Annie and Minnie, all of whom are still living except Dorothea, who died at Reeds- burg in 1873.
Mr. Henry Hahn grew up and acquired the usual training of a German boy, learned the trade of a carpenter as a result of a thorough and painstaking apprenticeship, and in 1868, at the age of twenty-one, immigrated to America, and in the same year found his first home at Reedsburg. For eleven years he worked industriously at his trade as. carpenter, and then in 1879 entered the saloon business and his business interests have been in that line ever since. He is now living practically retired, his home being at 201 West Main Street.
Mr. Hahn is a democrat and has exercised a strong influence in behalf of good government in Reedsburg. At one time he was an alderman. He and his family are members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church and he has been a member of that organization since he came to Reedsburg.
The place of business of Mr. Hahn, by an interesting coincidence, was the site of the home where his wife was born on July 27, 1853. Her maiden name was Caroline Emser. She was a daughter of Peter and. Dorothea Emser, who arrived in Reedsburg about 1851. Her father was. a blacksmith and for many years conducted a shop in Reedsburg, where he died in 1898, at the age of seventy. Mrs. Hahn's mother also died in this city at the age of seventy-eight. Mrs. Hahn was the only child of her parents, but her mother, by a previous marriage to Mr. Wener, had four children, all of whom are deceased except Julia, wife of Hugh O'Connor, of Reedsburg.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Hahn consists of four children and the three still living are all married and have homes of their own. Lena, the oldest, is the wife of Henry Schroeder, of Neillsville, Wisconsin. Their children, six in number, are Leo, Emil, Helen, Harold, Marvin and Henry. Emil, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Hahn, is a successful jeweler and optician and is connected with the firm of Stolte, Dangel & Foss Company. He married Ida Gittslof and they have three children, Law- rence, Henry and Marion. Edna married Albert Huebing, of Reedsburg, and has five children : Juanita, Edgar, Dorothea, Wilhelm and Clinton. The fourth and youngest child, Edgar, died in 1893, aged fifteen years and four months.
HENRY ALEXANDER. During 1905 the retired colony of Baraboo was augmented by the arrival of Henry Alexander, whose activities have been centered in Sauk County since the close of the Civil war and whose career is expressive of the possibilities of country life when directed by a well-trained mind, an earnest purpose and a keen appreciation of its benefits and prerogatives. Mr. Alexander represents a widely known family of this part of the state, whose members bore their full share of the hardships of the war between the states, and who have always been good and helpful workers in advancing the movements which have cul- minated in progress and public welfare. He was born in Germany, October 15, 1846, and is a son of Jacob and Lucetta (Hahn) Alexander.
The parents of Mr. Alexander were born in Germany and married in.
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that country, and in 1850 immigrated to the United States and took up their residence in Pennsylvania. The mother lived only two years after coming to America, and in 1857 the father left his Pennsylvania com- munity and made his way to Sauk County, Wisconsin, with his son John. Settling in Freedom Township, he built a log house on the 80-acre farm which he had purchased, and to which he subsequently added an addi- tional eighty acres. In 1858 he was joined by his son Henry, and in 1859 his son Peter came to this state, with two sisters: Henrietta, who kept house on the farm until her death in 1864, and Philipina, who had been married to W. Simon in Pennsylvania and who after coming to Sauk Township located on a farm in the Township of Freedom about one mile from the home of her father. Her husband is now deceased and she is a resident of Baraboo. After Henry Alexander married, Jacob Alexander went to live with him and his last years were passed at the home of his son, where he died in 1896, at the age of eighty-three years. His six children were: An infant who died in Germany; Philipina, now Mrs. Simon, of Baraboo; John, who met a soldier's death on the bloody field of Antietam during the Civil war; Peter, who also died in the Civil war while wearing a blue uniform ; Henry, of this notice ; and Henrietta, deceased. Of the three Alexander brothers who joined the Union army, John was the first to enlist, in May, 1861. He became a member of Company A, Sixth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and Sep- tember 17, 1862, was killed in action at Antietam. Peter Alexander enlisted in the month of October, 1861, joining Company F, Eleventh Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Fort Blakeley, April 9, 1865, and never recovered therefrom, his death occurring May 6, 1865.
Henry Alexander was still a lad when he came to Sauk County, and here his education was completed in the public schools. He was reared on the homestead place, and remained at home assisting his father until the fall of 1864, at which time he took a trip to Pennsylvania. While there he followed the example of his brothers in enlisting in the Union army, becoming a member of Company K, Forty-ninth Regiment, Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, a regiment with which he remained until the close of the war. With an excellent record for bravery and fidelity the young soldier returned to the home farm after securing his honorable discharge, and in time bought the property, to which he added eighty acres, at one time having 240 acres in the tract. Later he sold 160 acres, and he still owns eighty acres of the place. Next Mr. Alexander pur- chased 240 acres in the Township of Westfield, on which he lived until July, 1905, when he retired, buying a good home at No. 717 Eighth Street. He is also the owner of 71/2 acres of the old Tuttle farm, includ- ing a grape vineyard of one acre and a two-acre fruit orchard. Mr. Alex- ander is a republican, but has never aspired to office. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On October 15, 1866, Mr. Alexander married Miss Sophia Stubaus, and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary October 15, 1916. She was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1848, a daugh- ter of Peter and Sophia (Schneider) Stubaus, natives of Germany. Mr.
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and Mrs. Stubaus immigrated to America on the same boat, met at Balti- more, Maryland, where they were married, and after a few years in that city moved to Pittsburgh. In 1858 they came to Sauk County, Wis- consin, and settled in Westfield Township, having a farm of 160 acres. While on a visit to Pittsburgh in 1890 Mr. Stubaus died at the age of eighty-three years, his wife having passed away on the farm in 1874, aged sixty-eight years. They had the following children : John; George; Peter, who enlisted in Company A, Sixth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, was promoted to sergeant, and was wounded at Gainesville and Gettysburg; Philip, who enlisted in Company F, Eleventh Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in October, 1861, and served three years ; Andrew Jackson, who was a sergeant in the Forty-ninth Wisconsin Vol- unteer Infantry ; and Sophia, Mrs. Alexander. To Mr. and Mrs. Alex- ander there have been born the following children: John Levi, born November 17, 1868, formerly a teacher and railway postal clerk for eight years, and now engaged in farming in Greenfield Township, Sauk County ; William Edward, born February 17, 1869, a farmer owning eighty acres of the homestead in Westfield Township; Sophia Lucetta, born December 12, 1870, who is the wife of Frank Fostick, of Chicago, Illinois; Harry Philip, born March 7, 1872, who is engaged in farming in Barron County, Wisconsin ; George Alvin, born August 26, 1874, now engaged in farming in Baraboo Township; Emma Lily, born February 11, 1877, the wife of Edward Davidson, of Barron County ; Henry Percy, born October 2, 1880, the owner of eighty acres of the homestead; and Cora Lyle, born September 1, 1883, the wife of Winifred Biege, of Bara- boo, a railroad man with the Northwestern, and a veteran of the Spanish- American war.
ALBERT L. Foss, a successful general farmer of Dellona Township, has spent practically all his active career in Sauk County, where he is widely known not only for his business enterprise but his civic standards.
Mr. Foss was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 28, 1859, a son of John Foss. On January 8, 1885, Albert Foss married Augusta Rupp, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Rupp, of Portage, Wisconsin. To their marriage were born Lilly, Esta, Bertha, Walter, Alma, Minnie, Edward and Paul. The daughter Lilly is now the wife of Fred Hillman, of Delton. Esta married R. Haines, of Linden, Wisconsin. Bertha is the wife of W. Darrow, of Reedsburg. Mr. Albert Foss is independent in politics.
PHILIP CHEEK. Of the citizens of Sauk County who became widely known and prominent over the state at large one of the most notable was the late Philip Cheek. He had lived in Sauk County from early boyhood, went from this county as a soldier in the Civil war, afterwards rose to prominence in public affairs both in his home county and in one of the responsible offices connected with the state government, attained distinc- tion in official circles in the Grand Army of the Republic, and enjoyed the acquaintance and esteem of many men distinguished in Wisconsin and national life.
Philip Cheek was an Englishman by birth, born in Somersetshire
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May 11, 1841. His parents, Philip and Hannah (Cunningham) Cheek, immigrated to the United States in 1852, first settling in New Jersey, later moving to Providence, Rhode Island, and in 1856 coming to Wis- consin. The late Philip Cheek was about eleven years of age when the family arrived in Wisconsin and settled on a farm in Excelsior Township of Sauk County. The parents later removed to Baraboo, where they died. Philip Cheek, Sr., was a carpenter by trade, but in Sauk County gave most of his time to farming. There were six children: Jane, who died before the family left England; Mrs. Anna Roberts, who died in Baraboo; Mrs. Hannah Rothwell, who died in Minnesota; Mrs. A. L. Sweet, who died in Providence, Rhode Island; Philip; and Robert, who was killed at Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864.
The late Philip Cheek acquired his education partly in England, in the different communities where his parents resided, and had some of the advantages of school after coming to Wisconsin. He grew up on a farm in the town of Excelsior, and was just twenty years of age lacking one day when he went forth to render all the service he could in the preservation of the Union. It was early in the war, and the second call for troops had been made, the President requesting the service of three hundred thousand men to put down the rebellion. Mr. Cheek enlisted May 10, 1861, in Company A of the Sixth Wisconsin Infantry. From that time forward for more than a year and a half he was in active service, but in December, 1862, was granted an honorable discharge on account of injuries received in the great battle of Antietam on Septem- ber 17, 1862. He then returned to the old Wisconsin farm, but in the fall of 1863 was appointed assistant provost marshall of the district, and performed the duties of that office until the close of the war.
After the war Mr. Cheek was elected clerk of courts of Sauk County, and filled that office with characteristic fidelity and efficiency for four years. While in the office he took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and on giving up his office he entered into active practice and soon had a paying clientage. He was elected district attorney, and the four years spent in that office laid the basis for a still larger reputa- tion. He was then called into the official life of the state by election as Insurance Commissioner of Wisconsin, and by re-election held the office four years. Those four years he spent most of his time at Madison, though the family still remained at Baraboo. During his last year in the office he resigned. Mr. Cheek then became special agent of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company for Wisconsin, and continued with that company, with headquarters at Baraboo but with a range of business duties which took him all over the state, for a period of twenty years.
Mr. Cheek was honored by his old comrades by election as Depart- ment Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, served two terms, was a member of the executive board of the National Commander, remain- ing on that board four years, his other associates being Nevins of New Jersey, Brown of Ohio, Burton of Missouri, and Tanner of Washington, District of Columbia. Mr. Cheek was for six years one of the trustees of the Waupaca Home for Veterans, and was on that board when he died.
The death of this honored lawyer, soldier and public official occurred September 11, 1911. He had organized many of the Grand Army Posts
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in the State of Wisconsin. He was also a member of the Masonic order, and for years was a trustee of the Baraboo Methodist Church, and was on the building committee when the new church edifice was erected.
In July, 1861, while on a furlough from the army, Mr. Cheek married Catherine Faller. Mrs. Cheek, who still resides in Baraboo, was born May 24, 1840, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 1853 came to the Town of Freedom in Sauk County with her parents, Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Horn) Faller, both of whom were natives of Germany, but eame to America in youth and were married in Pennsylvania. They spent their last years in Freedom Township. Mrs. Cheek is one of the oldest living residents of Sauk County and has spent sixty-three years in the county. She has taken a very active part in many interests and institutions outside of her home, has been active in the Woman's Relief Corps, and in the church and missionary societies. She was educated in the district schools, in the Ladies' Female Seminary at Baraboo, and for a few years before her marriage taught school. Mr. and Mrs. Cheek had three children. Robert, the oldest, was killed by lightning in 1880 at the age of sixteen. Arthur resides at Baraboo. Jane, the youngest, is the wife of Henry Blaek, assistant postmaster of Baraboo, but they reside on the old home- stead with Mrs. Cheek. Mr. and Mrs. Black have two children, Catherine and Dorothy.
Arthur P. Cheek, only surviving son of the late Philip Cheek, was born in the Town of Excelsior, Sauk County, March 13, 1866, but sinee 1871, when his parents removed to Baraboo, he has made that city his home. He was educated in the high school at Baraboo, and in the Spen- cerian Business College at Milwaukee. In 1885 he entered his father's office. After that he became a special agent of the Phoenix Fire Insur- anee Company of Hartford, Connecticut. In April, 1891, Mr. Cheek bought an interest in the fire insurance and abstraet business with Edwin Selleck, making the firm Selleck & Cheek, which has now been in business for a quarter of a century. In 1898 Mr. Arthur Cheek was appointed postmaster of Baraboo, and served until 1911. Since then he has been agent of the Guardian Life Insurance Company. He married Miss Emma Randall, and they have one child, Ruth.
FRANK R. BENTLEY, district attorney of Sauk County for four years and a lawyer of substantial standing, especially in corporation practice, is also the son of a well-known attorney and citizen. His father, Mr. Bentley, and his grandfather and unele, all served in the Civil war. The first named moved to Baraboo in 1869, when Frank R. was a year old, practiced law for thirty years and was one of the first supervisors of the village. The son, with the exception of four years spent in Seattle, Washington, has resided in Baraboo since he was an infant. He was a student at law in the State University, was admitted to the bar in 1891, and first entered into partnership with his father. Subsequently he formed professional connections with John M. Kelley and James H. Hill. Besides condueting his private practice, performing his duties as district attorney and general counsel for the Cazenovia Southern Railroad and attorney for other corporations, Mr. Bentley served for five years as internal revenue collector and has been a director in the First National
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Bank, in the railroad mentioned and in several land and investment com- panies. He is a stalwart republican, has been a candidate for attorney- general and was one of Governor Philipp's campaign managers.
GEORGE M. CLARK. With the exception of nineteen years spent in South Dakota the activities of George M. Clark and those of his farm have gone hand in hand in Fairfield Township ever since the attainment of his majority. An association of many years argues stability for both man and property, but particularly does it reflect the faithfulness and ability of the human side of the partnership. In the same degree that he has been an important agricultural factor in Fairfield Township, so has he also been an intelligent observer of the changes that have taken place during his residence here. He is a native son who has won his success in the locality of his birth, for he was born in Fairfield Township, Sauk County, March 5, 1852, and is a son of Frank and Mary (Bliss) Clark.
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