A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II, Part 33

Author: Cole, Harry Ellsworth
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 608

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May 19, 1891, he married Miss Luella Eggleston. Mrs. Curry was born at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, June 22, 1875, daughter of Edward and Henrietta (Ambler) Eggelson. Her parents were early settlers at Prairie du Sac. She was a small child when her mother died and .she grew up in the home of her Grandmother Ambler. Mrs. Curry died April 7, 1912, the mother of nine children, all of whom are living. Archie Bruce, the oldest, is now in the signal corps of the United States Army at Fort Bliss, Texas. The other children in order of birth are Mildred Luella, wife of Gustav Kleinschmidt, Cecil George, Lyle Edward, Sadie ,Manzaneta, Robert Claire, Theodore, Thelma Viola and Clifford Crosley.

HENRY K. DILLENBECK. Among the thriving business enterprises of the prosperous City of Baraboo, one which has grown to be a leader in its line under its present management, is the cigar and tobacco store conducted by Henry K. Dillenbeck. The proprietor of this business is a product of the agricultural community of Wisconsin, a former railroad man and for some years connected with the grain trade. In his present line of business he has made many friends at Baraboo and has firmly established himself in public confidence as a reliable and capable man of affairs.

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY

Mr. Dillenbeck was born at Janesville, Wisconsin, August 26, 1870, and is a son of Ezra and Jennie (Pritchard) Dillenbeck. His father, born in 1836 in the Mohawk Valley of New York, was nineteen years . of age when he came to Wisconsin in 1855, settling in the vicinity of Janesville on a Rock County farm. Being enterprising, capable and industrious, he succeeded well in his agricultural undertakings, devel -. oped an excellent property, and accumulated a competence that enabled him to retire in the evening of life and to pass his closing years in com- fort at Janesville, at which city his death occurred February 14, 1916. Mr. Dillenbeck was not only an energetic and able agriculturist, but also made a place for himself as a helpful and public-spirited citizen. Rec- ognizing his general worth and sterling integrity, his fellow citizens frequently called upon him to serve in positions of public responsibility, and after acting as assessor of the Township of Harmony for nine years he was elected township chairman and retained that office three years. He was a republican in his political views, and wielded something of an influence in the ranks of his party in his locality. During a period of twenty-seven years he faithfully discharged the duties of the office of treasurer of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and the members of that organization placed the most implicit confidence in his honesty and judgment. He was an attendant of the Congregational Church, and was fraternally affiliated with the local lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Dillenbeck, who was born in 1837, did not survive her husband long, as her death occurred December 27, · 1916, only ten months after he had passed away. She was a faithful ,member of the Congregational Church and a woman of many excellencies of mind and heart. There were four children in the family: Emma ; Albert, whose death occurred in 1915; Henry K., of this notice; and May.

Henry K. Dillenbeck was reared on the home farm until he was seventeen years of age, in the meantime attending the graded and high schools of Janesville. Subsequently he took a course in the select school of Mrs. C. A. Hunt, having for a classmate Judge Stevens, and in 1891, at the time of attaining his majority, came to Baraboo and entered upon his career as a fireman in the employ of the Northwestern Railroad. After four years with this line Mr. Dillenbeck went to North Dakota, where for eight years he was engaged in the grain business. His first location was at Hatton, subsequently he moved to Northwood, and from the latter place went to Sharon, where he remained until 1903. In that year he disposed of his interests at that point and returned to Baraboo, where he sought a suitable location in a business way. Eventually he purchased the cigar business of B. W. Brewer, and here he has since built up an excellent trade. Mr. Dillenbeck, like his father, is a repub- lican, but unlike the elder man has never been an aspirant for office of a political character. He is widely known in fraternal circles, being a member of Baraboo Lodge No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons; Baraboo Chapter No. 49, Royal Arch Masons; Baraboo Commandery, Knights Templar; the Knights of Pythias; and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is treasurer of Baraboo Local of the Brotherhood of Loco- motive Firemen and Engineers.

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY .

Mr. Dillenbeck was married in August, 1899, to Miss Emily Hender- son, who was born in 1871, in England, a daughter of Robert and Eliza- beth Henderson. Mrs. Dillenbeck was brought to the United States by her parents in 1874, the family settling first in Chicago, from whence they soon came to Baraboo, Mr. Henderson being foreman of the black- smith shop of the Northwestern Railroad for a period of twenty-seven years. His death occurred in 1911, at which time Baraboo lost a depend- able and useful citizen. To Mr. and Mrs. Dillenbeck there have been born three children, namely : Henry John, who died at the age of seven years; Robert E., who died in infancy; and Marjorie, born in March, 1906.

CARL W. WICHERN. The younger element of the agricultural indus- try in Sauk County, upon which must come the work that will insure the future prosperity of this wonderfully fertile region, is ably represented by Carl W. Wichern, who is carrying on operations in Greenfield Town- ship. Mr. Wichern also has the distinction of belonging to one of the old and honored families of the county, being a son of Mathias Wichern and a brother of Louis M. Wichern, in whose sketch on another page of this work will be found the family history.

Carl W. Wichern has had an essentially agricultural career. His life has been passed in the country, amid the surroundings of the farm and out of his opportunities he has acquired success. Born on the old home- stead place in Baraboo Township September 23, 1880, he was given good educational advantages in his youth, first attending the public schools of Sauk County and later completing his agricultural training by a course in the agricultural department of the University of Wisconsin. On his return from the university Mr. Wichern at once began to work at his chosen vocation and shortly thereafter he and his brother Louis M. secured a farm in Barron County, which they sold later. They oper- ated the old homestead in Baraboo for six years and this partnership continued until November, 1914, when their association was mutually dissolved. At that time Carl W. Wichern bought a farm of eighty acres located in Greenfield Township, to which he first added twenty acres and later forty acres more, now having 140 acres of some of the finest land to be found in the township. He has installed first-class im- provements and built a set of fine, commodious, modern buildings, his machinery and appliances are of the latest manufacture, and the gen- eral air of prosperity hovering over the farm indicates the presence of able and progressive management. In addition to carrying on general farming operations Mr. Wichern has met with very satisfying success as a breeder of livestock, making a specialty of pure-bred Guernsey cattle and Poland-China hogs. He is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-opera- tive Creamery Company of Baraboo, and has a number of other inter- ests. He is a republican, but has not found time to engage actively in political affairs, although he takes a good citizen's interest in matters of importance affecting the welfare and advancement of his community and its people and gives his support to such measures as he believes will be beneficial.

Mr. Wichern was married in June, 1915, to Miss Nettie Kimball, who

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY

was born December 28, 1889, at Baraboo, Wisconsin, daughter of Willard and Lizzie (Gerofski) Kimball, of Lyons, Wisconsin, and granddaughter of Daniel and Harriet Kimball, pioneers of Sauk County, who died here. Mrs. Willard Kimball was born in Germany and was a child when brought by her parents to the United States, the family first settling in Illinois, later removing to Dane County and then going to New York, where the maternal grandparents of Mrs. Wichern passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Wichern are the parents of one daughter, Ethel Mae.

MRS. ROBERT SCHLAG, widow of the late Robert Schlag, has her home in Prairie du Sac and represents some of the pioneer elements of German citizenship in Sauk County.

Mrs. Schlag is a daughter of Frederick and Barabara (Frank) Wieg- low. Both her parents were born in Germany. Her father died in 1912 and her mother in 1889. They came to America when still single, were married in New York State and coming westward, settled in Merri- mack Township of Sauk County on a farm. They lived on that place for a number of years and finally sold it to Mr. Palmer of Baraboo. The mother died on the old farm, and the father lived retired for eight years in Baraboo.

Mrs. Schlag was one of eleven children: Frederick, married and living in Baraboo; Caroline, Mrs. Orlando Gottminkle, of Baraboo; Bertha, Mrs. William Clark, of Baraboo; Anna, who died in March, 1906, married Frank Hewer, of Belvidere, Illinois; Charles, who is married and living in South Dakota; Mrs. Schlag; Frances, wife of John Cox, living in Baraboo; Ida, who died in 1885, after her marriage to Ernest Thomas; Oscar, who is married and living in Baraboo; Minnie, the widow of William Graff; and DeGraw, who is married and living in Baraboo. These children all grew up and received their early educational training in Merrimack Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Schlag were married March 8, 1879. To their marriage were born two children. Lena Dell, the older, is now Mrs. Fred Scheuf- ler, and they live in Merrimack Township and have two children, Doris Gladys, aged twelve years, and Elmer Dell, aged nineteen months. The son, Rudolph, is married and living on the old homestead farm in Sumpter Township.of Sauk County.

The late Robert Schlag was a son of John G. Schlag, who came from Germany in 1844 and was one of the earliest residents in Sumpter Town- ship, the land he took up and developed now being occupied by his son Rudolph. John G. Schlag married Wilhelmina Steidtman, and on the same day they set sail for America. Their first stop was Milwaukee, and from there they went to Bear Creek and then settled on their farm in Sumpter Township. John G. Schlag and wife had nine children : Rudolph, deceased ; Lena, who died after her marriage in 1901; Andrew, deceased; Susan, Mrs. Herman Matthews, living in Baraboo; Paul, who is married and living in Sumpter Township; Herman, of Prairie du Sac; Eliza, Mrs. August Ocherhaurer, of Baraboo; Robert; Alexander, who is married and living in Baraboo. These children all grew up on the farm in Sumpter Township except the two youngest, who were chil- dren when their parents removed to Baraboo. John G. Schlag, after

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leaving the farm became proprietor of the Wisconsin House in Baraboo, an old hostelry occupying the site now filled by the Ringling Theatre. Some years later the old farm was sold to Robert Schlag, and he in turn sold it to his son Rudolph. John G. Schlag continued to run the Wis- consin House until his death.

Robert Schlag moved to Baraboo with his parents, but after a couple of years there became discontented and returned to the farm, where he lived with his father's tenant, at the same time attending school. After his marriage he went to Minnesota, took up a homestead claim, and during the five years they spent there they proved up on the land and were then able to sell out at a good profit. Returning to Sumpter Town- ship, Mr. Schlag bought his father's place and made it his home until two years before his death, when he sold it to his son Rudolph and then moved to Prairie du Sac, where his death occurred in July, 1916. He was an honored citizen of the county, was generous, upright and had a host of friends. For four years he served on the school board, and in politics was a republican. His parents were members of the Lutheran Church, but most of the present generation are free thinkers in matters of religion.

EDWARD N. MARSH (deceased) was, for many years, a photographer and hotel keeper at Devil's Lake. He built the first hotel in that locality, which was known as the Minnewaukee House. He conducted it for a number of years, sold it and moved to Elkhart Lake, where he erected and managed the Swiss Cottage for some time. His next move was to Fairplay, Colorado, where he also was engaged in the hotel business ; then he took up a homestead in South Dakota, located at Baraboo and there engaged in the real estate business until his death in 1910. Mr. Marsh was a Civil war veteran: His wife and living widow (nee Mary Ann Blake) came to Baraboo with her parents in 1850, when twelve years of age, and attended the first village school in a log house. She was married to Mr. Marsh in 1855.

GEORGE W. HACKETT. While it may offend his natural modesty to make the statement, there is no question that George W. Hackett of North Freedom is one of the foremost authorities on poultry in the State of Wisconsin. What he has accomplished in that line as a practical poultry- man and the recognition paid to his abilities both in this state and else- where serves as a voucher of his leadership.

For seven years Mr. Hackett has been poultry lecturer at farmers' institutes throughout the state. He is editor of the poultry department for the Wisconsin Agriculturist, published at Racine, and is also super- intendent of the poultry department of the Wisconsin State Fair. Mr. Hackett is member of one of the oldest and best known families of Sauk County. The farm which he now owns and occupies at North Freedom was the scene of his birth on December 17, 1867. His grandfather was Samuel Hackett, who founded the family in Sauk County in 1848. Samuel Hackett was born in New Jersey in 1805, and after his marriage moved to Canada, but in 1839 returned to the United States, locating in Illinois, and from there coming to Sauk County in 1848. His descend-

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY

ants are now numerous both in this state and elsewhere. The Hackett family has held annual reunions for the past thirty-five years, and Mr. George W. Hackett is secretary of the Hackett Family Reunion Asso- ciation.

His parents were Frank S. and Ann E. (Loomis) Hackett. Frank S. Hackett, a son of the pioneer Samuel Hackett, was born in Boone County, Illinois, July 24, 1840, and was eight years of age when brought to Sauk County. He received the limited advantages of the public schools of that day, and grew up on a farm and made it his steady vocation. He had a place of forty acres in North Township and owned forty acres in the Village of North Freedom. He finally retired to his home in North Freedom and lived there until his death on October 15, 1916. He was one of the honored old citizens and for some years served as justice of the peace, also as street commissioner, and was a member of the village board. He also had a military record, having enlisted during the Civil war in Company F of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry. After a brief service he was discharged on account of disability. Frank S. Hackett mar- ried for his first wife Pauline Wiggins. The one child of that marriage is W. J. Hackett, of Tennessee. On February 10, 1867, Frank S. Hackett married Miss Ann Elizabeth Loomis, who was born in the State of Michigan August 8, 1848. She was a daughter of Jerome and Harriet (Chittenden) Loomis. Her mother was a cousin of a former secretary of the United States Treasury. Jerome Loomis came to Sauk County in the early '50s, locating in Freedom Township in the "Hill settlement." He was one of the early farmers there. In 1885 he moved out to Dakota Territory, but subsequently located at Valley Junction in Monroe County, Wisconsin, where he died. His wife died in North Freedom. Jerome Loomis and wife had the following children: Ann Elizabeth ; Helen, deceased; William; Thomas; Jay B .; Francis; Mina; and Douglas. Frank S. Hackett was a republican in politics, and he and his wife and their respective parents were members of the Latter Day Saints Church. The children of Frank S. Hackett by his second wife were: George W., Joseph F., Samuel J., Joshua T., Mary Ann, John M., Jacob A., Martha E., Laura, Arthur J. and Ethel M. All these are living except John M., who died July 18, 1892.

Mr. George W. Hackett grew up in the rural surroundings of Free- dom Township. Besides the local public schools he attended the Rock- ford, Illinois, Commercial College. For a number of years he followed general farming and for seven years conducted a meat market at North Freedom. About 1892 he began breeding poultry as a practical enter- prise. He had always been interested in this department of farm activ- ity and for many years has been a close student and observer of every- thing connected with the subject. His own experience might constitute him an authority on several special lines of poultry, while his extensive associations with poultrymen have done much to improve his judgment and his ability as a demonstrator and judge. For the past twelve years Mr. Hackett has given his entire business attention to the breeding of poultry. His special breeds are the Barred Rock, the Partridge Rock and the Rhode Island Reds. For the past ten years his services have been in great demand as a judge of good poultry, he having officiated

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY

at such shows as the Great Mid-West Show at Chicago, and the best shows of the Middle West. He has been officially identified with the Wisconsin State Poultry Breeders' Association, and has done much for more and better poultry in Wisconsin. He had charge of securing and assembling the poultry exhibits of Wisconsin at the Panama Exhibition in San Francisco. His own Partridge Rock fowls exhibited there won the first special premium.

Mr. Hackett has also been a leader in public affairs. He is independ- ent in politics and is a strong and active force for temperance. For several terms he served as mayor of North Freedom, and was also village clerk and assessor for two years, and assessor of Freedom Township two years. For fourteen years he was clerk of the school board and president of the county board of education two years. Fraternally he is affiliated with North Freedom Lodge No. 284, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.

On December 28, 1892, Mr. Hackett married Miss Diantha Gertrude Call. Mrs. Hackett was born in Rock County, Wisconsin, June.29, 1869, a daughter of Charles Frederick and Mary (Sanborn) Call. Her father was born in the State of Maine in 1840, while her mother was born in Walworth County, Wisconsin, in February, 1849. Her father died at North Freedom in 1913 and her mother is now living at Rockford, Illi- nois. Mrs. Hackett is an influence for good outside her own household, and is now serving as president of the North Freedom Library Board and as county secretary of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. To Mr. and Mrs. Hackett were born four children: Gerald A. and Harold W., twins, were born in August; 1894. Gerald died at the age of six years. Harold W. is a graduate of the North Freedom graded schools and the Baraboo High School, and then entered Berea College at Berea, Kentucky, where he took his bachelor's degree in June, 1915. He also pursued graduate study at Columbia University, New York City, in 1916. He is still at Berea, acting as cashier of the treasury department of the college. Howard Lloyd, the third child, was born March 30, 1899, was graduated from the Reedsburg High School with the class of 1917, and entered Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, in September, 1917. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the youngest, was born January 1, 1904, and graduated in the eighth grade in June, 1917, enter- ing high school the following fall. He has marked talent for drawing and cartooning and is now taking a special course in that work.

EDWARD R. THOMAS. The career of Edward R. Thomas reflects prac- tical and useful ideals and its range of activities has included the pro- motion of agriculture, education, politics and insurance. Primarily a farmer, with large landed interests, he has also been prominent in busi- ness affairs of the community of Fairfield Township, and for many years has been an active factor in the civic life of the community, having been frequently elected to represent his fellow citizens in official positions of trust and responsibility. Mr. Thomas was born April 27, 1856, in Dane County, Wisconsin, and is a son of William and Lydia (Wineland) Thomas.

William Thomas was born in New Jersey, but as a young man Vol. II-17

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removed to Eastern Pennsylvania, where he became a teacher in an academy. While there he married Lydia Wineland, who was born in the Keystone State, and in 1856 they came to Wisconsin and settled on a farm in Dane County. There they made their home until 1881, when they came to Fairfield Township, Sauk County, and began agricultural operations on the farm now owned by their son, B. F. Thomas. William Thomas continued to be an energetic and progressive farmer and highly esteemed citizen here during the remainder of his life, and died in 1894, having rounded out an honorable career of eighty-five years, while Mrs. Thomas passed away in 1895, when eighty years of age. They were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the parents of the following eleven children: Maria, who died in 1915; Ann Eliza- beth, a resident of Savannah, Georgia; George, who fought for 41/2 years of the Civil war as a member of the Third Wisconsin Infantry, and is now a resident of Taft, Florida; William, who was a soldier of the . Twenty-third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the war between the North and the South; Charles, who was a member of the Eleventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and met a soldier's death during the Civil war; Martha, whose death occurred in Nebraska; Jefferson, who died when twenty-two years of age; Emma, who is the wife of James J. Bray, a veteran of the Civil war; John, who died in infancy ; Benjamin Franklin, who owns the old homestead and resides at Baraboo; and Edward R., of this review.

The youngest of his parents' children, Edward R. Thomas received good educational advantages in his youth while being reared on the home farm. He first attended the public schools of Dane County, then went to the Oshkosh and Baraboo High schools, and completed his education at the Oshkosh Normal School, following which for several terms he was engaged in teaching school in Sauk County. In 1880 he began agricul- tural work on a farm of 113 acres situated in Fairfield Township, to which he has since added 153 acres and on which he has made improve- ments of a modern character. His farm is one of the model tracts of the community and its buildings are substantially constructed and hand- some in appearance. In addition to general farming he gives some atten- tion to the raising of live stock, and has made a specialty of Holstein cattle. For some years Mr. Thomas has been identified with important business enterprises. At this time he is treasurer and a director of the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company of Baraboo; for twenty years has been a director of the Baraboo Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, of which he has been president for the past fifteen years; and is a director of the Wisconsin Tornado Insurance Company of Evansville, Wisconsin. Among his business associates he is accounted a man of shrewd judgment and great foresight, possessing the qualities that make for leadership and executive ability.

Politically Mr. Thomas has always been independent in his views, relying upon his own judgment in the selection of candidates. During the past twenty-two years he has served as township clerk of Fairfield Township, for several years was clerk of the school board, and during the past nine years has been chairman of the township board of trustees. He has always given his best abilities to the discharge of his official

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duties and has been an important factor in securing numerous improve- ments for his community. Mr. Thomas attends the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Thomas is a member.

In 1879 Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Carrie F. Ayers, who was born in Fairfield Township, Sauk County, January 30, 1857, a daughter of Royal and Amelia (Jackson) Ayers, early settlers of that township. Mr. Ayers, who was a farmer by vocation, was active in political affairs, and was for several years chairman of the township board of trustees. He died about the year 1890 and Mrs. Ayers survived him for six years. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas the following children have been born : Charles, who died in August, 1914, married Jennie Pinneo, of Baraboo, and had five children, Arthur, Edward, Theodore, Ruth and Bessie, the widow and children now making their home with the family of Edward R. Thomas; Millicent, who is the wife of George Caflisch, of Baraboo, and the mother of seven children, Roger, Bryan, Robert, Rodney, Donald, Lucille and Wilbur; Herbert, who married Fern Porter and has two children, Audrey and Donald; Frank, a farmer of Fairfield Township, who married Eva Davis and has one child, Phyllis; Neal, who died in infancy ; Della, who is the wife of Harry Filer, of Pipestone, Minnesota, and has two children, Francis and Mary; Donald, who died in infancy; Percy, who resides on the home farm and is assisting his father in its operation; and Lucy, who was engaged in teaching in the public schools of Reedsburg, is now the wife of Rollo Webster and lives on a farm in Fairfield Town- ship.

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A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II, Part 33

Author: Cole, Harry Ellsworth Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 608

Author: Cole, Harry Ellsworth
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 608