USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 15
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1908, in North Dakota, the mother of two children of that union: Oliver and Annie.
To lose one's father at the age of thirteen years is usually a very serious matter, greatly interfering with proper schooling and eliminating the innocent recreations of boyhood, especially when a family's responsi- bilities are added to this calamity. Alfred W. Ladd was but thirteen when his soldier father died and it became absolutely necessary for him to assist his mother, and for a long time his work was not considered worth more than three dollars a month in wages. He was faithful to the duty thus imposed on him and cared for her until he was twenty-seven years of age.
In 1879 Mr. Ladd came first to Sauk County, and he worked through one summer and then returned to New York, but in 1881 he came back to Sauk County and rented farming land here until 1885, when he pur- chased a farm of 100 acres in Freedom Township. This property he has greatly improved, in the way of erecting substantial buildings and shel- ters and in bringing his fields under a fine state of cultivation through intelligent and scientific methods. He keeps a general line of high grade stock and devotes much attention to his herd of Shorthorn cattle. He is considered a sound farmer and an excellent judge of stock.
Mr. Ladd was married December 31, 1883, to Miss Amelia Carlow, who was born in Honey Creek Township, Sauk County, July 9, 1862. She is a daughter of William and Henrietta (Glasknop) Carlow, who were born and reared in Germany and were married there May 12, 1861, and immediately set off for the United States. When they reached Sauk County, Wisconsin, they located in Honey Creek Township and Mr. Carlow worked by the day or by the month as opportunity came, and through his industry and his wife's frugality he became able to buy first a tract of forty acres and later twenty more and left this estate to his family. He was born October 9, 1830, and died December 6, 1912. His widow survives, she having been born May 12, 1835. They had seven children, namely : Amelia, Mollie, August, Louisa, Matilda, William and Ida, all living except August, Louisa and Ida.
Mr. and Mrs. Ladd have had two children: Clara, who lived nine months and twelve days; and Clarence, who was born April 15, 1893, and since completing his education in the public schools has assisted his father. In politics Mr. Ladd is a republican and on a number of occa- sions has been chosen for public office in Freedom Township and has served on the school board and as supervisor.
SOLOMON DEKOEYER has lived in Sauk County more than forty years. This was a new and largely undeveloped region when he came, and his vigorous strength and capability enabled him to clear up considerable land and make it fruitful for agricultural purposes.
As pioneers and developers of new country the people of Holland have always had a conspicuous and enviable record. Mr. DeKoeyer, though a native of the United States, is of Holland-Dutch parentage. He was born at Grand Rapids, Michigan, January 20, 1854, a son of Elias and Ada (Hendrich) DeKoeyer. His father and mother were both born at Amsterdam, Holland, and were married in the old country.
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Three children were born to them there, John, Kate and Cornelius. In 1853 the little family came to America and joined a large colony of Hollanders in Western Michigan at Grand Rapids. The Hollanders are today among the chief elements of population in that section of Michigan. While they lived at Grand Rapids two other children were born, Solo- mon and Dora. The parents then went to the vicinity of Marshall, Michigan, where they bought a farm and where the father spent his last years. He died January 24, 1868, at the age of forty. His widow sur- vived him forty-three years, passing away on the old Michigan home- stead in 1911, at the age of eighty-seven. After they moved to Calhoun County, Michigan, other children came into their home, named Elias, Ada and William.
Solomon DeKoeyer grew up on a Michigan farm, and had such advan- tages as were afforded by the local schools. On reaching the age of twenty-one and seeking opportunities for himself he came to Sauk County in 1875 and bought a farm of 120 acres in Delton Township. After keeping this land and improving it he sold to advantage in 1881 and then bought the place he now occupies in the same township. This is a splendid farm of 160 acres and its present developments and improve- ments reflect the achievements of Mr. DeKoeyer as a farmer and devel- oper. The ground was almost completely covered with timber when he bought it, and he bravely undertook the task of clearing it all away and making fields. He has also erected substantial buildings and though now retired from active responsibilities is well content to live on the farm. His business has been general farming and stock raising.
Mr. DeKoeyer is a democrat in politics and he served as treasurer of his home school district for about fifteen years. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church at Baraboo. On June 22, 1876, Mr. DeKoeyer married Miss Effie Palmer. On June 22, 1916, Mr. and Mrs. DeKoeyer celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary, and at that time more than a hundred guests came to their home and paid their respects to this worthy old couple and wished them continued long life and prosperity. Mrs. DeKoeyer was born at Baraboo January 12, 1858, a daughter of James Gilbert and Eliza (Crandall) Palmer. Her people have long been prominent in Sauk County. Mr. and Mrs. DeKoeyer had three children : Gilbert, born April 5, 1877, lives at Baraboo and is an engineer for the Chicago, Northwestern Railway. He married Carrie Herfort, and they have a daughter, Elizabeth. Ada D., the second child, was born March 22, 1880, and died February 28, 1884. George, the youngest child, was born July 3, 1883, and for a number of years was a rural mail carrier. Out of his experience he invented a very excellent type of supply boxes for rural mail carriers, and is now giving his time to the manufacture of these boxes and has a large sale for them. He married Lorena Stephens. They have one child, Arthur.
WILLIAM SIGGELKOW. The active career of William Siggelkow lias connected him closely with the agricultural as well as the business inter- ests in Sauk County. For a number of years he was a practical farmer and gained a large acquaintance with the farming element of this com- munity. In later years he has been a salesman for threshing machinery,
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and has extended his acquaintance with the substantial farming element throughout a large section of the state.
Mr. Siggelkow was born in Caledonia, Columbia County, Wisconsin, September 23, 1870, a son of Christopher and Wilhelmina (Fryer) Sig- gelkow. Both parents were natives of Germany, were married in the old country, and in 1856 arrived as early settlers in Columbia County, Wisconsin. His father followed farming and cleared up a large tract of land in that county, but in 1873 he moved to Sauk County. His place of sixty acres in Columbia County he sold to his sons Charles and Moses. In Greenfield Township of Sauk County he bought a larger place of 1371/2 acres, situated near the Tucker Bridge. He finally retired from his farm and spent his last years in Baraboo, where he died November 28, 1912. His wife passed away in July, 1909. Their children were : Mina, Mary, Charles, Helmuth, Otto, Moses, William and Sophronia. All these children are still living.
William Siggelkow was about three years of age when his parents located in Sauk County. He attended the public schools here, grew up in a country atmosphere, and also had the advantages of the Evansville Seminary. When he was still a youth he went out to North Dakota and spent a year and a half in the Northwest. While there in the fall of 1888, he enlisted in Company K of the Eighth Cavalry, United States Army. He had the training and experience of a regular soldier for six months and nine days, but beyond the regular routine of army post life there was no special incident nor any active warfare.
On leaving the army Mr. Siggelkow returned to Sauk County and was at work on the home farm until he was twenty years of age.
On October 8, 1890, he married Miss Mary Alice Murphy. Mrs. Siggelkow was born in Baraboo Township of Sauk County March 3, 1870, a daughter of Nicholas and Mary (Brown) Murphy. Her father was born in Pennsylvania in 1828 and her grandfather, Moses Murphy, was born in the same state in 1808. Moses Murphy married Frances Smaltz, and in 1851 they came west to Sauk County and were pioneer settlers in Baraboo Township. Moses died there in November, 1898, while his wife passed away in 1873, when about seventy years of age. Nicholas Murphy acquired the old homestead of his father and lived there until his death in 1906. His wife, Mary Brown, who died in 1870, was the daughter of Ralph Brown, who married a Miss Hubbard. Mary Brown was born in Connecticut in 1846, and both her parents were natives of the same state. The Brown family came out to Sauk County and were among the early settlers of Baraboo Township, where Ralph Brown fol- lowed farming until his death. Mary Brown had only one brother, Delos, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Murphy had the following children : Emma, wife of Stephen Abelman, of Baraboo; and Mary Alice.
After his marriage Mr. Siggelkow removed to Baraboo and was em- ployed as a railway locomotive fireman until the spring of 1895. At that date he bought the old Murphy homestead and on that place he made his success as a progressive and practical farmer. He lived there until 1909, when he returned to Baraboo and bought one of the attractive homes of the city at 630 Eighth Avenue. During the past seven years Mr. Siggel-
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kow has been traveling representative for the Advance-Rumley Threshing Machine Company, whose machinery is manufactured at LaPorte, Indi- ana, but the branch office to which Mr. Siggelkow reports his business is at Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Siggelkow knows his goods thoroughly, and also understands the people among whom he travels, and has made a splendid record as a salesman.
While living on the farm he served as township treasurer two years. He is an active republican, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Beavers, the United Commercial Travelers and the Illinois Commercial Men's Asso- ciation. He and his family are Baptists.
Mr. and Mrs. Siggelkow have three children : Luella, who was born June 10, 1894, and is now the wife of Clyde H. Thomas, of Lombard ; Marion, born March 31, 1896; and Florence, born September 24, 1898. All the daughters are graduates of the Baraboo High School.
CHARLES R. TUTTLE. To the lover of nature no occupation known to man furnishes more interesting possibilities than the nursery business. Recent developments along this line have been as wonderful as they were formerly unexpected and unbelievable. Yet even to the man who labors faithfully to maintain standards already established and who has no time to explore in luring paths of promise, there is always that satis- faction in accomplishment possible only when one works in collaboration with the elements of creation. Sauk County has its share of carnest, painstaking nurserymen, men who delight in their labor and contribute liberally to the well being of the community. Few, however, have had a more prosperous career than Charles R. Tuttle, of Baraboo Township, who is busily engaged in his labors at this time as nurseryman and fruit grower.
Mr. Tuttle was born on the farm which he now owns; adjoining the City of Baraboo in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, July 12, 1879, and is a son of Merritt I. and Edna (Reynolds) Tuttle. Albert G. Tuttle, the paternal grandfather of Charles R. Tuttle, was born at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1814, and when he left his native state took with him a recommendation from the Seth Thomas Clock Company, for which concern he had done work. On his arrival in New York City he became identified with a dry goods concern, which, recognizing his abilities, sent him to Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin, to trade with the Indians. In the early '40s Mr. Tuttle came to Baraboo, and in partnership with a Mr. Sumner embarked in a general store business. This was a successful venture, but about this time Mr. Tuttle's health began to fail, and he accordingly began to look about for a desirable farming property, feel- ing that the country life would benefit him. Finally, in 1848, he bought the farm now owned by his grandson, a tract of eighty acres, from a Mr. Thompson, who had entered it from the Government. Later he added to this twenty acres, and subsequently sixty acres in the City of Bara- boo, his holdings running from the farm of his grandson to Eighth Street. He was personally acquainted with Baribou, for whom the river was named. Mr. Tuttle continued to be engaged in farming until 1860, in which year he began to devote the greater part of his attention to the
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nursery business, establishing the Baraboo Valley Nursery Company, which is still conducted by his grandson under the same name. Albert G. Tuttle continued to follow farming, the nursery business and fruit growing until his death, which occurred in 1905, when he was ninety-one years of age. Politically he was an abolitionist prior to the Civil war, following which he joined the democratic party, and, all else being even, would give his support to the candidate who was a prohibitionist. He belonged to the Presbyterian Church. Among the early settlers of Sank County he was held in the highest esteem and confidence and his business standing was beyond question. He married Elizabeth Clark, for whom Elizabeth Street, Baraboo, was named, who was born in Connecticut in 1818, and died in Baraboo Township. They became the parents of the following children : Albert, Herbert, Merritt and Edward.
Merritt I. Tuttle, father of Charles R. Tuttle, was born in 1849, in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, and here received his early education. When still a boy he left home and went to Illinois, where he attended school, subsequently going to Connecticut, where he lived with an uncle and completed his education. After leaving school he became an archi- tect and engaged in contracting and building, and for some years made his home in the West, but in 1893 returned to Baraboo, although shortly thereafter he went to Colorado and there, in addition to following his regular vocations, engaged also in the handling of real estate. About the year 1911 he went to Montana, where he still makes his home, living in Clark's Fork Valley, near Billings. Mr. Tuttle owns. considerable prop- erty in that region, including his home, Fromberg, thirty miles south of Billings. During his long and varied career he was engaged in building in various sections of the country, and two sunimers were spent in putting up hotels in Yellowstone Park. Mr. Tuttle married Miss Edna Reynolds, who was born at Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1853, and they became the par- ents of the following children : Charles R., of this notice; Nellie, who is the wife of Oss Woolman; Harvey: Ada, who is the wife of a Mr. Hostatter; and Dorothy, who resides with her parents. The maternal grandfather of Charles R. Tuttle was William Reynolds, who was born in Connecticut and came to Wisconsin at an early day, settling among the first residents of Appleton. He was sent by the Appleton Company to a point north of Tomah, Wisconsin, and there his death occurred while he was in charge of sawmills for the company. He and his wife had two children : Edna and William.
Charles R. Tuttle was reared at Baraboo until he was seven years of age and commenced his educational training in this city. In 1886 he went with his parents to Colorado, where he attended the public schools, but in 1893 came back to Baraboo and completed his education in the high school here. While in Colorado Mr. Tuttle owned a farm and also assisted his father in the elder man's building operations for five years, but again returned to Baraboo in the fall of 1906 and bought the old homestead, now having thirty acres, upon which he is engaged in the nursery business and in fruit growing. He is also a manufacturer of fruit products, and has built up an excellent business in each direction. Mr. Tuttle's gardening business includes practically all the vegetables in popular demand and he derives a large income from his beautiful and
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seasonable flowers, as well as the products of his berry culture. His vegetables, fruits and flowers reach the remote corners of the county, and his name has become associated with all that is best in garden pro- visioning and floriculture. Mr. Tuttle is independent in his views and takes only a good citizen's part in political matters.
Mr. Tuttle was married in 1907 to Miss Charlotte Armstrong, of Tomah, Wisconsin, and they are the parents of the following children : Albert, Edward, Florence, Ralph and Charles.
DR. DANIEL M. KELLY, of Baraboo, is a native of the Town of Green- field, to which his father came in 1851. Patrick Kelly, the father, served for several years as chairman of the Town Board and was also treasurer for some time. In 1916 he died as a substantial farmer and citizen, at the age of eighty-six. The doctor resided on the Greenfield farm until he was nineteen years of age, when he came to Baraboo. Entering Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1888, he was graduated with his professional degree in 1892, and has since practiced at the county seat. He has also served for twenty years as United States pension examiner and as county physician for eighteen. Doctor Kelly is a leading democrat, having been for fourteen years chairman of the County Committee of that party. He has been mayor of Baraboo for two years, has served as vice president of the First National Bank since its reorganization, and is also examiner for many fraternities and old line insurance companies.
CHARLES HENGSTLER. Among the people who came early to Sauk County were the Hengstlers, sturdy, industrious and homeseeking. This beautiful country, with its cultivated farms and every token of high civilization, was very different when Charles Hengstler, the elder, with his wife and little children, reached here in 1856. He bought forty acres in Greenfield Township but later moved to Excelsior Township and there reared his family of seven children, the fourth in order of birth being his namesake, Charles Hengstler, who is one of Sauk County's representa- tive agriculturists at the present time.
Charles Hengstler, the younger, was born in Lycoming County, Penn- sylvania, September 12, 1851. His parents were Charles and Margaret (Waltz) Hengstler, the latter of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the former in Germany, in 1822. He was young when he accompanied his mother to America, his father having died in Germany, and they settled in Pennsylvania. Charles was the eldest of three children, the others being : Mrs. Frank Fowler, of Monmouth, Illinois; and Anthony, of Paona, Colorado. Charles Hengstler took care of his mother during her life. He learned the trade of wagon maker but after his marriage he determined to establish his growing family on a farm and thereby provide for their future. For many years after the Hengstlers came to Sauk County hard pioneer conditions prevailed and they had to endure many deprivations. Mr. Hengstler sold his first farm after residing upon it for a time and making some improvements, and then bought 160 acres ยท in Excelsior Township, and he lived on that place until his death, which occurred in 1864. His wife survived him and died at Baraboo in 1891. They were members of the Baptist Church. Of their children four sur-
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vive, Sarah, Charles, Mary and William, while Gotlieb, Jonathan and Samuel are deceased.
Charles Hengstler, the younger, was four years old when his parents came to Sauk County and he has very vivid recollections of this section during his boyhood. As opportunity offered he attended the country schools but early became his father's helper and in the course of time became a capable farmer. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Hengstler bought his first land in Excelsior Township, a tract of 120 acres, to which he subse- quently added forty acres. Until 1909, when he retired from hard work, he carried on general farming and gave considerable attention to fine stock, keeping Shorthorn cattle and having a valuable herd. All of the farm industries are now well managed by his son-in-law, August Henke, a member of an old Excelsior Township family. Mr. Henke is an up-to- date farmer and a very successful breeder of Percheron horses and pure bred Durham cattle.
Mr. Hengstler was married June 11, 1878, to Miss Emma Shale, who was born in Excelsior Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, April 1, 1859, a daughter of Christian and Margaret (Baringer) Shale, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania in 1819, and the latter in Germany in 1829 and was five years old when brought to the United States by her parents, who were John and Margaret Baringer. They came to Sauk County with the pioneers of 1858 and resided in Excelsior Township during the rest of their lives. The parents of Mrs. Hengstler were mar- ried in Pennsylvania and came to Sauk County in 1857. Her father became the owner of 200 acres of fine land in Excelsior Township, of which he eleared a large part and continued to reside on that farm during the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1889. The mother of Mrs. Hengstler died in 1898. They had ten children, Mrs. Hengstler being the eighth in order of birth, as follows: Kate and Frederick, both of whom are deceased, Sophia, John, Mary, William, who is deceased, Lizzie, Emma, Ellen, and Charles, who is deceased. The parents of the above family were fine people, honest, upright, kind and neighborly, and were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Hengstler have had five children, namely: Aliee, who married Max Springer, of Delton Township, and they have four children, Hazel, Dorris, Lester and Alice; Grace, who is the wife of Irvin Prindel, and they live in Fond du Lac County; Inez, who is the wife of August Henke; Jessie, who died at the age of eighteen years; and Edna, who is the wife of Paul Henke, and they have three children, Gladys, Durlin and Goldie. Mr. and Mrs. Hengstler attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a republican. He has served in township offices connected with the public schools and has been treasurer of the school board.
JOHN D. STEUBER, a representative of the progressive farming element of Merrimack Township, was born here when the country was all new and out on the frontier, and his parents went through all the battles of existence in this section in pioneer times. Mr. Steuber was born in Merri- mack Township in 1854, a son of John and Louisa (Swartz) Steuber. Both parents were natives of Germany and when they came to Sauk
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County and settled in Black Hawk Township they found few families who had preceded them to that portion of the wilderness. The father bought eighty acres in Black Hawk Township, but after a couple of years . sold out and removed to Sumpter Township, where he acquired 80 acres and 160 acres in Merrimack Township. That land he made the object of his best endeavors as a farmer and remained a resident until his death. There were nine children in the family : Maggie, Mrs. Henry True, living in Baraboo; Kate, wife of Delos Quiggle, of Baraboo; John D .: Robert, who conducts a general store at Merrimack, married Miss Tillie Bearnes; Albert, deceased ; Louisa, wife of Louis Hacker, a farmer near Madison, Wisconsin; Fred, who lives in Sumpter Township and married Cora Weirich; Frank, who has a farm in Merrimack Township and lives in Prairie du Sac, married Ella Acelan; and Ella, wife of William Frese.
John Steuber, the father of this family, was not only a successful farmer but a leader in the betterment and improvement of his locality. He was a member of the Evangelical Church and a republican. He was born September 11, 1821, and died in 1904, while his wife was born in 1826 and died in 1885. For several years he made his home with his son John D.
John D. Steuber was married in 1883 to Miss Pauline Mather. Mrs. Steuber was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, July 4, 1859, a daughter of Gottlieb and Catherine (Munzenmaier) Mather, who spent all their lives in the old country. Mrs. Steuber came to America in 1880 with her sister and brother-in-law. She was the sixth in a family of seven children, briefly noted as follows: Carl, still living in Germany; Ernest and Albert. both deceased; Sophia, wife of Robert Koslitz, a boilermaker living in Chicago; Reglie, now living in Baraboo, widow of the late Gottlieb Clause, with whom Mrs. Steuber came to America; and Julia, who is the wife of John Eucker, of Merrimack Township, and they have two children, Johnnie, born February 23, 1900; and Pauline, born in 1904.
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