USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
On July 3, 1870, Mr. Stoddard married for his second wife Miss Florence Higday. She was born in Iowa County, Wisconsin, October 12, 1850, a daughter of George and Clarinda (Hatch) Higday. Her mother was a daughter of Jonathan Hatch and wife, who came to Sauk County as early as 1844 and both died at Lyons in that county. Jona- than Hatch married for his second wife Polly Johnson, sister of Wil- liam Johnson, the man who plowed the first furrow in Sauk County. George Higday, father of Mrs. Stoddard, was born in New York State, while his wife was a native of Ohio. He came to Evansville. Wis- consin, at a very early day and was married at Prairie du Sac. Subse- quently he located at Dover in Iowa County, and was a merchant and manufacturer there. In 1855 he removed to LaPorte County, Indi- ana, and while there he went into the army. He died in LaPorte County in 1864, at the age of fifty-three. In 1865 his widow and fam- ily returned to Prairie du Sac, and she died at the home of Mr .. Stod- dard in 1889 at the age of sixty-three. In the Higday family were four children: Florence; Elizabeth; Caroline; and George, who died when about five years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard have four children, Lawrence C., who was born at Prairie du Sac November 2, 1872, married Lucy Young, and their three children are Ralph, Cecil and Lyle. George Bruce, who was born May 27, 1875, married Elizabeth Stillwell and has two sons, Charles Bruce and James Henry. Roy Charles, born July 7, 1881, married Alma Buehler and has a son, Lynn. Myrtle, born December 16, 1884, is now a proficient linotype operator in the Democrat office at Madison. Thus in his declining year's Mr. Stoddard has both the retro- spect of an honorable business career and also a home made delightful by children and grandchildren.
JOHN HI. CLARIDGE, of Reedsburg, is a native of Franklin Township, Sauk County, and came to the city when he was twenty-one years of age, in 1881. For a period of twenty-four years he was in the contracting business with G. W. Morgan under the title of the Morgan Building Com- pany, and the firm constructed some of the largest buildings at Reeds- burg. Mr. Claridge was afterward engaged in the produce business and for the last six years has been a real estate dealer. He has also been assessor at Reedsburg for there years, and is widely known in fraternal circles. His father, Thomas W. Claridge, is an old settler, and among his fond and proud recollections is the part he took as one of the body guards of the martyred Lincoln. A detailed biography of the elder Mr. Claridge is published elsewhere. John H. Claridge has four sons- the eldest a practicing physician and surgeon, another studying medicine in Chicago, a third serving in the national army, the youngest a school boy, but all anxious to "get to the front."
GEORGE J. PADDOCK. After a long life of industry and usefulness the worthy citizen of Sauk County whose name constitutes the cap-
.
787
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
tion of this sketch is now spending his declining years in comfortable and contented retirement at Baraboo. Mr. Paddock passed his active years as an agriculturist and was the owner of a large and well-culti- vated farm, which he had developed through the application of intel- ligent and well-directed methods. He has been successful in a mate- rial way and is looked upon as a good citizen and a representative man of a flourishing community.
Mr. Paddock was born in Onondaga County, New York, May 17, 1843, being a son of Daniel and Jan (Van Loon) Paddock, the former a native of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania. While a resident of New York the father was connected with canal boating, but after coming to the West he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He was married in New York, and in 1844 brought his family to Illinois, where he spent three years in farming, then moving on to Baraboo. He soon succeeded in securing 160 acres of United States Government land, which he later traded for another tract of like acreage in section 31, Baraboo Township. . There his death occurred in 1871, when he was fifty-nine years of age, while Mrs. Paddock survived him for a long period and passed away at the home of her son, George J., at Bara- boo in 1897, being then eighty-four years of age. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Paddock was a republi- can. There were six children in the family: Ann, who is deceased; George J., of this notice; Edwin B., deceased; Cynthia J .; Orlando F. and Laura J., the last two named being deceased.
George J. Paddock's educational instruction was obtained through attendance in the primitive log schoolhouses of his day and locality. He was a scholar, at the first school in Baraboo Township, and was grad- uated from a log shanty schoolhouse, following which he returned to the farm. When the Civil war came on his patriotism was aroused, and after several months of fighting he offered his services, in October, 1861, and was accepted as a private of Company A, Nineteenth Reg- iment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. With this organization he fought until September, 1865, when he received his honorable discharge. Mr. Paddock's service was largely in Virginia and North Carolina, and in the former state he was in the fighting around Richmond and partici- pated in the fall of that city. In all he was in thirty-seven. battles and came through the war without a wound, although he had numerous narrow escapes and on one occasion his hat was shot from his head. His army record showed him to be possessed of the qualities of cour- age, steadfastness and fidelity to duty, and when he returned to the affairs of civil life he applied these qualities there, with the discipline he had received as a military man, to the tasks which daily presented themselves. The result was that his operations proved successful and he eventually became the owner of the home farm. This he cultivated prosperously until 1891, when he sold out his holdings and came to Baraboo. Here he purchased a whole block on Ninth Avenue, where his home is now located at No. 506. He lives a quiet, retired life, con- tent in being able to enjoy the fruits of his enterprise and early industry in congenial surroundings, among his many friends, and holding the
788
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
confidence and respect of a wide acquaintance. He has never cared for public life. With Mrs. Paddock he belongs to the Church of God.
On October 10, 1867, Mr. Paddock was married to Wealtha Force, who was born in Dane County, Wisconsin, March 13, 1850, daugh- ter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Kelchbaugh) Force, natives of Connecti- cut who came to Wisconsin in 1846. After developing a good farm, Mr. Force sold it and moved to near the home of Mr. Paddock at Bara- boo, where he spent the rest of his life and passed away in 1884, when eighty-five years of age, Mrs. Force dying two years later, aged sixty- five years. They had children as follows: John, who died during the Civil war; Sarah; Deborah; Lydia, deceased; Wealtha; Daniel W. and Elizabeth, deceased. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Paddock: Edwin D., formerly a railroad man and now living with his father; William J., an engineer, who died June 25, 1915, aged forty-three years; and Ernest G.
Ernest G. Paddock, youngest son of George J. Paddock. was born on the home farm in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin,. May 9, 1876, and was reared there, in the meantime securing his edu- cation in the public schools. At the age of twenty years he began railroading, subsequently took up dray work, and in 1907 went back to the Northwestern Railroad in the capacity of locomotive fireman. In 1912 he was promoted to engineer, a position which he still holds. He is a republican, attends the Congregational Church and is a mem- ber of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers and the Order of Foresters.
In September, 1896, Mr. Paddock was married to Miss Annie Brew- ster, who was born in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, daughter of Uriah. and Anna (Miller) Brewster, natives respectively of New York and Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Brewster came to Wisconsin dur- ing the Civil war period and bought a farm in Baraboo Township, on which Mr. Brewster died March 26, 1914, aged eighty-six years. Mrs. Brewster had died November 3, 1897, aged fifty-one years, leaving a family of five children : Edward, Charles, Annie, Mary and Alice. To Mr. and Mrs. Paddock five children have been born, all of whom sur- vive : Hazel Alice, a graduate of the Baraboo High School and of the Oshkosh State Normal School, class of 1917; Raymond, a graduate of the public schools of Baraboo; Laura, who is in her second year of high school; Eva, who is in seventh grade in the Baraboo schools; and Adda May, who is in the fifth grade.
WILLIAM C. HOLTZ. Diligent and ever alert for his chance of ad- vancement, William C. Holtz has progressed steadily along the road to success until he is recognized today as one of the foremost farm- ers of the younger generation in Excelsior Township. Here he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, who honor him for his ability and for his fair and straightforward career.
William C. Holtz was born in the Empire of Germany, October 17, 1881. His parents, Henry and Augusta (Schloff) Holtz, were born and reared in Germany and there was solemnized their marriage. They resided in the land of their birth until May 27, 1883, when they packed
.
789
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
their belongings and started out with their family to face a new life in a new country. They came direct to Wisconsin and settled in the Village of Ableman in Sauk County. Mr. Holtz decided to take up farming and located on a fine landed estate of 315 acres within the city limits. He cleared his land and erected a fine house and barn, both of which are still standing and which are now occupied by the son, William C., subject of this review. Mr. Holtz is now sixty-two years of age and, having retired from active participation in business af- fairs, he lives with his son on the old homestead. His beloved wife died April 19, 1898, aged thirty-nine years, and she is survived by the following children : Bertha, William, Fred, Adolph, Emma, Paul, Anna and Walter.
When William C. Holtz arrived in Wisconsin with his parents he was an infant of but two years of age. What schooling he received as a boy came in the intervals of a rugged life of farm work and con- sisted of such facilities as were afforded in the country schools of that period. He was seven years old when his father purchased the farm on which he now lives and, being the oldest son in the family, he early began to assist his father in its work and management. In 1909 he bought the farm from his father and it now comprises 267 acres, of which sixty-seven acres are within the village limits of Ableman. He devotes his attention to general farming and stock raising and in both those lines has won marked success.
In 1911 Mr. Holtz married Miss Amanda Behnke, a daughter of Henry Behnke, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this edition. They have three children : Willis, Evan and Loraine.
Mr. Holtz and his family are members of the Lutheran Church in Ableman. His interest in political questions is deep and sincere and lie gives an earnest support to republican principles, believing that the platform of that party contains the best elements of good government. He was assessor of Ableman for five years and served three terms as one of the supervisors of the village. He is conscientious in the performance of duty and is generous and sincere in his friendships.
JOHN M. KINDSCHI is well and favorably known all over Sauk County, and for the past eighteen years has served as commissioner of the poor. At the urgent solicitation of his fellow citizens he has ac- cepted other places of trust and responsibility. For many years he was a progressive farmer in Prairie du Sac Township, but is now liv- ing retired in the Village of Prairie du Sac.
It was in Sumpter Township on a farm that he was born February 2, 1860. He is a son of Michael and Verena (Gasser) Kindschi. Both parents were born in Switzerland, the father in 1830 and the mother in 1833. Michael Kindschi was a son of John and Margaret (Accola) Kindschi. Margaret Accola died in Switzerland. The paternal grand- father, John Kindschi, brought his family to Sauk County in 1846, locating at Prairie du Sac and buying the farm previously owned by John L. Aceola. John Kindschi lived out the rest of his useful life there and died in 1884, at the age of eighty-four. He and his wife had four children: Michael, deceased; Peter, deceased; Kate, living
790
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
at Prairie du Sac, the widow of J. P. Felix; and Christian, of Bara- boo.
Verena Gasser, mother of John M. Kindschi, came to Sauk County in 1856, and a year or so later she married Michael Kindschi. They located on a farm in Sumpter Township, and by their industry and economy they prospered and at one time owned three farms. Michael Kindschi spent his last years in Prairie du Sac Township, where he died March 5, 1916, at the age of eighty-five. His wife had passed away in 1896, aged sixty-three. Their children were John M., Jacob, George, Christ HI., Michael J. and Mary, wife of John M. Meisser, living in Montana.
Within the limits of Sauk County John M. Kindschi has had his chief experiences in life and has worked out a substantial career. He was reared and educated in the county, had a farm training, and farming became his regular vocation. For many years he operated successfully a 160 acre place in Prairie du Sac Township, and after his children had grown up so as to relieve him of the heavier responsi- bilities he removed to the Village of Prairie du Sac in 1915 and bought one of the fine homes of that place, where he now enjoys every com- fort and advantage.
In politics Mr. Kindschi has always been affiliated with the republi- can party. He has served as township clerk, as chairman of the board of supervisors five years, having been township clerk four years, and since 1899 he has looked after with that carefulness and efficiency which are characteristic of him the interests of the poor in his capacity as poor commissioner. Mr. Kindschi and family are members of the Evangelical Church.
He was married in 1884 to Margaret M. Ragatz. Mrs. Kindschi, who died January 29, 1912, leaving her husband and four children, was born in Troy Township of Sauk County in 1860, a daughter of George and Caroline (Meyer) Ragatz. The Ragatz family were among the early pioneer settlers of Sauk County and both parents are now deceased. Mr. Kindschi had four children: Ella C., wife of Henry G. Witwen, of 1239 North La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois; Emma S .; Julia J .; and Arthur H., who died October 8, 1917, at the age of twenty-two years.
JOHN VOECK. The Voeck family has been a factor in the prosperity and development of certain favored portions of Sauk County for nearly half a century. Mr. John Voeck was fifteen years of age when he came to the county and has made his career one of great prosperity and of substantial community influence in Freedom Township.
He was born in Germany June 24, 1853, a son of Christian and Augusta (Krengel) Voeck. His father was born in the old country in 1813 and his mother in 1823. When they brought their family to Sauk County in 1868 they settled in Freedom Township with a son-in-law, William Dummer. Mr. Dummer is now living in Baraboo. Later Christian Voeck resided with his son John and died at the latter's farm in 1901, having survived his wife who passed away in 1899. Both were active members of the Baptist Church. They had a family of four children : Fredericka, wife of William Dummer; Charles, a resi-
791
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
dent of Baraboo, where for nearly forty years he has been an em- ploye in the railroad roundhouse; John; and Minnie, deceased wife of George Urbon.
Mr. John Voeck received all his education in Germany. On coming to Sauk County he was able to take a hand in cultivating the fields and doing other work, and he began his career without money and with nothing to depend upon except his industry and an ambition to make the most of his opportunities. He worked out by the day and the month, was employed by a railroad for a time, and subsequently began farming as a renter. His purchase of land was forty acres in Free- dom Township adjoining the place where he now lives. This was sold later and he then worked in the stave and sawmill at North Freedom, being head sawyer. After some fifteen years of this employment he bought the Sproul farm of 155 acres, and was owner of that well known place for nine years. He then sold out to the Iron Mining Company, retaining only ten acres on which he built a comfortable house and a good barn and managed it as a small farm until April, 1916, when he traded for the place he now owns in Freedom Township, compris- ing 120 acres. This farm is producing a big contribution to the gen- eral agricultural total of Sauk County and he also raises considerable stock.
Mr. Voeck is a republican and for four years was supervisor of Freedom Township and for the past four years has been township assessor. He is a member of the German Baptist Church of North Freedom.
March 1, 1880, Mr. Voeck married Miss Katie Mueller. Mrs. Voeck represents a family of prominent pioneers in Washington County, Wisconsin, where she was born April 10. 1862, a daughter of Henry J. and Margaret (Swentener) Mueller. Her father was born in Ger- many June 26, 1836, and her mother in Switzerland March 23 1837. Her father died in August, 1900, and her mother on May 6, 1917, at the age of eighty years. Henry Mueller came to Washington County, Wis- consin, when a child, with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mueller, who spent the rest of their lives in that county. Mrs. Voeck's mater al grand- father was Michael Swentener and her grandmother, Kate Swentener. The Swentener family established their home in the wilds of Washington County in 1846, the grandparents spending the rest of their lives there. Henry Mueller and wife were married in Washington County in April, 1856, and they have thirteen children, named Margaret, Peter, Katie, Henry, Minnie, Lydia, Tillie, Carl, Nellie, Freda, Mary, Benjamin and Arthur. All of these are still living except Carl, Mary and Arthur. Mrs. Voeck's parents were active members of the Baptist Church, and her father was a local minister in that denomination for twenty-five years. He enlisted with a Wisconsin regiment and served three years in the Union army. He was a very prosperous farmer and besides his pos- sessions in Wisconsin he owned a farm in Minnesota and also one in Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Voeck have some very capable children and also some grandchildren. The names of their children in order of birth are Arthur, William, Lillian, Gilbert and Edna. Arthur, who was born
Vol. II-15
792
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
February 19, 1884, married Edith Wilzewske and they have one son, Kenneth. William, born May 14, 1887, was accidentally killed May 2, 1914. He married Alice Lange and left a son, William. The daughter Lillian, born June 23, 1892, is the wife of Otto Wilzewske, and they have two children, Marie and Walter. The son, Gilbert, was born December 19, 1894, and the youngest child, Edna, was born January 21, 1906, both of them still being at home.
JOHN C. BUNN. The successful baking business of John C. Bunn, which is now in its twenty-second year at Baraboo, has become known as one of the reliable and substantial commercial enterprises of this thriving Wisconsin city. The business was primarily founded upon honesty, excellence of goods and a fair representation of the same, and this policy has continued to be its watchword, therein lying in a large degree its success. Its proprietor, John C. Bunn, is an industrious man of business who has done much in a commercial way to contribute to the welfare of his city, and who also, in the capacity of alderman, has since 1912 had a share in shaping its civic government.
John C. Bunn was born in 1865, in Germany, being a son of Christian and Mary (Petschow) Bunn. The family came to the United States in 1884, locating at Arlington, Wisconsin, where three years later the father died, being aged about fifty-two years. Mrs. Bunn survived until 1909, and was about seventy years of age when she passed away at Beloit, Wisconsin. They had a family of six children, namely: John C .; Ernest; Freda, who died in 1913; Charles; William; and Frank.
The education of John C. Bunn was secured in the schools of Ger- many, and in that country he was apprenticed to the trade of baker, a vocation which he learned thoroughly. In 1883 he immigrated to the United States and first located at Arlington, where he resided for two years, then going to Madison, where he secured employment at his trade. During 1887 and 1888 he traveled through Minnesota, Missouri and Kansas, working at his trade, and in the latter year returned to Wiscon- sin and began his first independent venture, a bakery at Hartford, Wash- ington County. After 11/2 years in this business he sold his estab- lishment and turned his attention to farming in Columbia County, Wisconsin, but in December, 1894, gave up agricultural pursuits and, returning to Madison, again began working at his trade. In February, 1896, he took up his residence at Baraboo, at the same time establishing his present business at No. 114 Walnut Street. Under his able manage- ment this has become one of the most successful commercial enterprises in the city and his business has grown and developed yearly until his goods are in demand not only throughout Baraboo, but in the surrounding country and in a number of the smaller towns and villages nearby. He enjoys an excellent reputation in business circles for fair and honorable dealing, as well as for good citizenship. A democrat in politics, for some years he has been interested in the campaigns of his party, and has accepted public service as a part of the responsibilities of citizenship.' He served as a member of the board of county commissioners of Sauk County for three years, and in 1912 was elected alderman of Baraboo, a capacity in which he has since acted very efficiently. He and Mrs. Bunn are consistent members of the Lutheran Church.
793
HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
Mr. Bunn was married in 1893 to Miss Caroline Behrend, who was born August 25, 1870, in Germany, a daughter of W. and Mary Behrend. Mrs. Behrend died in Germany, in 1874, and Mr. Behrend was left with three children : Carl, Caroline and Bertha, the last named of whom died in September, 1884. For his second wife he married Mary Baden, who died in 1889, in Germany, without issue, and his third wife was Mary Buscke, by whom he had three children: Ida, who died in Ger- many ; William and Freda. Mr. and Mrs. Behrend came to the United States and located at Madison, Wisconsin, where he continued to be engaged in business until his death in 1907, when he was seventy-two years of age. His widow still survives him and makes her home at Madison. Mr. and Mrs. Bunn have no children.
STEPHEN N. KINSLEY, who is now living a retired life at Reedsburg in his eightieth year, was one of the founders of Loganville, as will appear by reference to the sketch of that place in the general history. He comes of combined Vermont and New York stock, and when twenty- two years of age migrated from the Empire State to Racine County, Wisconsin, and then, in 1854, to the site of the Village of Loganville near Narrows Creek, this county. He had only been preceded to that locality by Chauncey P. Logan and R. B. Balcom. Mr. Kinsley had taken up 200 acres of Government land in that locality, divided the water power . with Mr. Logan and at once joined him in the erection of the sawmill, and in the following year became the first postmaster of the place. As will conclusively appear from the historical sketch of Loganville, Mr. Kinsley played as large a part in the development of the village as Mr. Logan himself. He continued to operate the sawmill for a number of years, improved much of the land he had purchased, and did not dispose of his interests at Loganville until 1899, when he located at Reedsburg. In 1856 Mr. Kinsley married Miss Lucy A. Scamans; one of the first to teach in the county, as was he himself. His first wife died in 1868 and he married a younger sister, Miss Elizabeth E. Seamans, who had also come on from New York to teach school. He has had four children by each wife.
HON. JOHN B. QUIMBY was born in Ireland, in 1823, his family name being Bartlett. He was a son of John Bartlett, also a native of Ireland. Jolın Bartlett's mother died in Ireland when the former was five years of age, and he soon afterwards went to Canada with his father. In Canada he was adopted by John Quimby, whose family lived in Vermont, and he ever afterwards honored the family name of Quimby. John B. Quimby grew to manhood in the East, was educated in the common schools, and finally took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar and on coming west, he located at Baraboo for a short time. Not finding the opportunities he desired at the county seat, he walked across the country to Prairie du Sac and made that his home. He also taught school in Sauk City for a couple of years and in 1850 set up as a regular lawyer at Sauk City. He continued in active practice until 1890, when he retired. During these years he held the office of county clerk, was county judge two terms and state senator six years. In 1870 he bought the old Baxter.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.