USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 34
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CHARLES A. CARPENTER is one of the veterans in the service of the Chicago Northwestern Railway Company. He has been in the train service for over forty years and for the greater part of that time has had one of the passenger runs as a conductor through Baraboo. He is a popular man in the Order of Railway Conductors and has a host of friends in his home city and among the traveling public generally.
Mr. Carpenter was born in Westchester County, New York, March 3, 1853. Three years later, in 1856, his parents, Alonzo B. and Phoebe Jane (Smith) Carpenter, came west and located in Richland County, Wisconsin. Their place of settlement was in Ithaca Township on Bear Creek. Here Alonzo B. Carpenter took up a tract of Government land and followed farming actively for a number of years. He also served one term as county superintendent. He had eighty acres of land and was in a fair way to prosperity when his good wife died on that farm February 21, 1865, at the age of thirty-one years, two months, twenty- five days. She was survived by five young children : Charles A., Char- lotta, now deceased; Eugenia, Benjamin F. and Nellie. Charles was then twelve years of age. The father took his little family back to New York State for one year and then returned to Richland County, Wis- consin, and married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Waterman. There was one child by the second wife, who was born in Iowa. Alonzo Car- penter followed the lumber business in Iowa for a number of years and died there May 16, 1885, at the age of fifty-four years, eight months, seventeen days. He was a well educated man, having gained his educa- tion in New York State. He became a pharmacist and was also a skilled
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accountant. Politically he was a republican and a member of the Masonic Order. The family on both sides were for generations connected with the Friends or Quaker Church.
Charles A. Carpenter began his education in Richmond County, attending the public schools, and also for one year attended school at Ossining in Westchester County, New York. He returned to Richmond County with his father and subsequently began working as a farm em- ploye in Walworth County. He had a variety of experiences, and from an early age was dependent upon his own resources. During one sum- mer he worked on a Government steamboat running on the Wisconsin River. For one or two winters he was employed in the pine woods.
It was in 1873 that Mr. Carpenter began his service with the Chicago Northwestern Railway and with headquarters at Baraboo. At first he was employed in the bridge department, but in 1876 secured a job as freight brakeman, and in 1881 was promoted to freight conductor. After ten years in that capacity he was promoted to passenger conductor in 1891, and for over a quarter of a century has had charge of some of the passenger trains of the Northwestern Railway.
In 1895 Mr. Carpenter built one of the handsomest homes of Baraboo at 407 Second Street. He and his family have lived there for many years and have surrounded themselves with the comforts and also with many social pleasures. Politically Mr. Carpenter is a republican but has confined his work in politics to voting.
On February 6, 1879, he married Miss Frances Stone. Mrs. Car- penter was born in Columbia County, Wisconsin, November 13, 1854, daughter of John and Esther (Sharp) Stone. Her parents were pioneers in Columbia County, but subsequently removed to Baraboo, where they spent their last years. Her mother died in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter had one daughter, Perliett C., who was born June 26, 1883, was well educated in the Baraboo High School and was just at the entrance of a beautiful young womanhood when she was taken away by death August 22, 1901.
REV. HENRY MUELLER, who is now minister of the Evangelical Luth- eran Church at Baraboo, represents a family which have been pioneers in the establishment of the Lutheran religion in Wisconsin and in various other parts of America. The Evangelical Lutheran Church at Baraboo is one of the finest in that city, and it is also one of the largest congrega- tions of religious worshipers. Rev. Henry Mueller has done a great deal of constructive and organizing work in the ministry, and is very pleased with his church and its people and they in turn give much credit to his spiritual leadership in the community.
Rev. Mr. Mueller is a native of Wisconsin, and was born at Freis- tadt, Thiensville, June 4, 1865. His parents were Frederick and Julia (Rohr) Mueller, both natives of Germany. The father was born in 1808 and the mother in 1836. The maternal grandfather, Henry Rohr, and his wife Julia came to America in 1841, locating first at Buffalo, New York. Henry Rohr was a minister, but in Germany had served as an officer of the King's Guard. On coming to the United States he brought twelve congregations of people of his own faith and located them
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in New York and Wisconsin. Frederick Mueller and Henry Rohr organ- ized the first Lutheran churches in Wisconsin, and thousands of Lutheran people came to this state partly under their guidance. Rev. Henry Rohr died in New York in 1876.
Frederick Mueller also came to the United States in 1841, locating at Buffalo, New York, and was a minister for upwards of thirty years. For two years he preached in Canada, then returned to New York, and was active in his profession both in that state and in Wisconsin. He was one of the early settlers at Freistadt, Wisconsin, and served as minister there eighteen years. He and his wife were the parents of five children : Julia, Beata, John, Reverend Henry and Ella. John died in infancy.
Rev. Henry Mueller soon after his birth was taken to New York, where he lived until eleven years of age. In 1876 the family located at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he continued his education in the parochial and public schools. He was also partly educated at Water- town, Wisconsin, and attended Northwestern College there and the Lutheran Seminary, at Milwaukee, from which he was graduated in 1889. For fourteen years he was a minister in Manitowoc County, and while there he erected a fine church. In 1903 he came to his present charge, the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Baraboo, and under his leadership the congregation completed in 1914 the handsome church edifice at East Avenue and Fifth Street. This church was dedi- cated February 28, 1915. It is a fine structure, built of red brick, and with rich and beautiful interior. His congregation numbers about 700 people and 140 families.
Rev. Mr. Mueller was married in 1893 to Miss Emma Buss of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They have one daughter, Adelia, who has been edu- cated in the public schools of Baraboo.
WILLIAM H. PREMO. One of the substantial men of Sauk County is William H. Premo, who is a well-known representative of the farm and stock interests, particularly in Greenfield Township, in which, adja- cent to Baraboo, lies his valuable farm of 113 acres. Mr. Premo belongs to an old pioneer family of this county and was born in Merrimack Town- ship, Sauk County, May 19, 1867. His parents were Charles and Eliza (Astle) Premo.
Charles Premo was born in 1835, in the State of New York, and died on his farm in Sumpter Township, Sauk County, in 1901. He was a son of Joseph and Melvina (Delergie) Premo, both of whom were born in France. In 1850 they came to Sauk County from New York, and lived for one year in Sumpter Township and then moved to Merrimack Township, and there Joseph Premo bought and improved a farm, on which his death occurred in 1877 and that of his wife in 1880. Charles Premo purchased a farm in Sumpter Township, removing to it in 1877. He married Eliza Astle, who was born in England in 1837, a daughter of William Astle, a pioneer in Sauk County, and she died in Sumpter Township in 1905. Of their family of eight children three survive, namely : Stephen, Joseph and William H., and the following arc deceased : Sarah, Elizabeth, Herman, Ada and John.
William H. Premo was reared on a farm and all his life he has been
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interested in agricultural pursuits. He attended the public schools dur- ing boyhood, is a well informed man along many other than agricultural lines, but he early chose the life and business of a farmer and stock- raiser and his success has justified him. He owned the homestead in Sumpter Township and additional land that aggregated 225 acres, and this large property he continued to manage and operate until 1912, when he sold it. On March 7th of the same year he bought his present valuable farm, consisting of 113 acres in Greenfield Township, which adjoins the corporate limits of Baraboo, where he maintains his residence. He devotes his attention mainly to the breeding of Aberdeen Angus cattle, and experts say that his present herd of thirty-five are among the finest specimens of this breed in the state. His farm structures are modern and adequate and all the surroundings indicate excellent management, resulting in prosperity.
In 1895 Mr. Premo was united in marriage with Miss Nellie J. Shaw, who was born in Sauk County in 1874. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary Shaw, both now deceased. The father of Mrs. Premo served as a soldier in the Civil war for three years, nine months and eighteen days. He came to Sauk County among the pioneers. His death occurred in 1915, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Premo. To them have been born four children : Lavantia, a graduate of the Baraboo High School, is a student in the Platteville State Normal School; and George, Lilah and Stanley. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Premo is a republican.
RICHARD B. GRIGGS is an old business man of Baraboo, having been a resident and merchant of the city since 1874. He had previously been engaged in various lines at Waukegan and Chicago, for several years. Since 1912 he has been retired from the clothing business, his brother and nephew having succeeded him. Mr. Griggs has been prominent in the prohibition movement for many years, and has been a leader in other fields. In 1895 he assisted in the organization of the Baraboo Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he was president for some time, and is now its secretary. He also held the secretaryship of the Sauk County Agricultural Association for a time.
HENRY L. HALE. One of the best known among Sauk County's citi- zens is Henry L. Hale, county sheriff, former city treasurer and long a resident of Baraboo. Coming to this city forty years ago, for thirty-three years he was connected in various capacities with railroad work, and whether as railroad man or county official he has always had the esteem and friendship of these among whom his labors have brought him.
Henry L. Hale was born at Easton, Adams County, Wisconsin, February 2, 1857, being a son of Fred L. and Mary E. (Willis) Hale, natives of New York. They came to Wisconsin as a vonng married couple and settled on a farm in the vicinity of Easton, where Fred L. Hale carried on agricultural operations until 1860. In that year he went to Racine and seenred work in a factory and was thus employed until 1863, when he enlisted at Milwaukee in a Wisconsin volunteer infantry regiment for service in the Union army during the Civil war. While
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wearing his country's uniform he contracted a disease which necessitated his removal to the army hospital at Keokuk, Iowa, and there his death occurred. Mrs. Hale, who still survives her husband, is a resident of Fond du Lac, and is now in her eighty-third year. There were four children in the family: Henry L .; Emma, who is the wife of George Vetter, of Racine; Fred L., also a resident of that city; and Nettie, wife of Nelson McDonald, chief clerk in the sash, door and blind factory at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Henry L. Hale received a common school education in the rural dis- triets of Wisconsin and has been a resident of the state all of his life. He began his career as a farm hand, but an agricultural life did not appeal to the young man, and at the age of twenty years he came to Baraboo and secured employment as a section hand in the service of the Chicago & North-Western Railroad. After one year of this kind of work he was promoted to train service and became a brakeman, a vocation which he followed two years. His next promotion was to the position of fireman, and after fourteen months of firing he was entrusted with an engine and continued to manipulate the throttle until August 5, 1905. Mr. Hale was one of the best liked men on the road, as well as one of the most trusted men in the service, and his retirement as an engineer came only as a result of the loss of sight in his right eye, which incapacitated him for further service in that direction. He did not leave the employ of the company, however, as his past services had convinced his employers of his value, and he was transferred to the round house at Baraboo, where he was put in charge as foreman. He remained in that capacity until May 5, 1910. Following this, Mr. Hale engaged in the insurance busi- ness. a line in which he continued for two years. In the meantime he had become interested in politics, and in 1912 was elected on the republi- can ticket as city treasurer of Baraboo. He served in that office for two years, or until April, 1914, and established a splendid record in the handling of the city's finances. On January 1, 1915, he was the success- ful candidate of his party for the office of sheriff of Sauk County, being elected for a term of two years. In the shrievalty, as in the treasurer's office, he discharged his duties in a highly acceptable and conscientious manner, and no stain or blemish mars his record. While a republican, Mr. Hale is a great admirer of President Wilson and his policies.
Mr. Hale joined the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 1886 and is still a member of that great body, and during the past eight years has been secretary and treasurer of the Baraboo Local of the organization. He was one of the charter members of Baraboo Lodge of the Independent Order of Foresters and still holds membership in that fraternity. An enthusiastic motorist, during the past twenty-two months ending in December. 1916, Mr. Hale has traveled by automobile no less than 11,000 miles in Sauk County. While his greatest friendships are probably to be found among trainmen, he is also well known to the people in other vocations and few men possess more friends.
On September 7, 1878, Mr. Hale was united in marriage with Miss Vina B. Hill, who was born at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, daughter of Thomas B. Hill, an early settler of Wisconsin. To this union there have been born three sons and one daughter: LeRoy W., who is a resident
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of Detroit, Michigan; Ethel M., who resides with her parents; and two sons who died in infancy.
H. O. KLEINER. The well-cultivated farm, with its substantial group of buildings, where Mr. Kleiner now lives in Prairie du Sac Township, has been his home since birth and in that one environment he has worked out life's problems and utilized its opportunities.
Mr. Kleiner was born in Prairie du Sac Township in 1872, a son of Samuel and Mary (Sutter) Kleiner. His parents were both natives of the Canton Zurich, Switzerland, his father born in 1830 and his mother in 1832. After their marriage they came to America in 1854 and first located in Sauk City. After four years there they went to Troy Town- ship and in 1873 moved to Prairie du Sac Township and bought the land now owned by their son, H. O. Kleiner. Twenty-two years ago the parents moved into Sauk City, where they retired and where the father died November 9, 1890, and the mother on December 15, 1898. Samuel Kleiner began life at the bottom of the ladder. In the old country he had taught school for a couple of years, but was a farmer by training and vocation. On coming to Sauk County he secured employment in mills, and he got his real start by farming a place in partnership with William Fisher in Troy Township. In 1863 he bought 120 acres in Prairie du Sac Township and in time he had it all under cultivation except twelve acres. The present buildings on the farm were erected by Mr. H. O. Kleiner, who has owned and occupied the homestead for the past twenty-two years.
Samuel Kleiner and wife had a large family of fourteen children, and those still living are all married. The names of this family are: Samuel, who lived at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and died at the age of thirty-five; Jacob and Rudolph, both residents of Eau Claire; Carl and Anna, who died young; William and Fred, living in Eau Claire; Louisa, Mrs. George Ament, of Chicago; Emma, twin sister of Louisa, wife of Edmund Tausend, living in Iowa; Charles, a resident of Utah; Mary, who died young; H. O. Kleiner, who was the twelfth in order of birth ; George, who lived in Illinois, where he died two years ago; and Albert.
Mr. H. O. Kleiner has made his success as a general farmer and stock raiser. He served fifteen years as town clerk and was clerk of the school board for three different terms. He and his family are members of the First Reformed Church and in politics he is a republican and fraternally is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Equitable Fraternal Union at Sauk City.
He married in 1894 Miss Elizabeth Kleinert, daughter of Henry W. and Caroline (Schoephoerster) Kleinert. Her parents were natives of Germany. Her father was brought to America at the age of seven years. They lived in the Township of Troy, where her father died February 23, 1916. Her mother is still living in Prairie du Sac.
Mr. and Mrs. Kleiner have three children, all unmarried and all were well educated in Sauk City and the township schools. Their names are Nellie, Lillian and Irene.
CHARLES C. ALLEN. Old age is honorable and worthy of veneration when viewed as the climax of a virtuous and well spent life. To have
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lived to the verge of three-score and fifteen years is primarily the result of a careful observance of the laws of nature, and to have reached that advanced stage in the earthly journey with all the receding years unmarred by reproach is indeed a consummation devoutly to be wished. Crowned with honor and upheld by a sustaining faith is he who can look back over so long a career in the serene consciousness that he has faith- fully discharged his duties to his God, his country and his fellowmen. Among the few to whom such a retrospect is possible may be counted the venerable and greatly esteemed Charles C. Allen, one of the best known among Baraboo's retired citizens.
Mr. Allen belongs to an old and honored American family, and is a descendant of the great Revolutionary patriot and hero, Col. Ethan Allen. He was born in Washington Township, Erie County, Pennsyl- vania, June 16, 1841, a son of Levi and Cynthia Elizabeth (Walden) Allen, the former a native of Massachusetts, born in 1818, and the latter of Connecticut, born in 1814. They were married in Massachusetts, went next to Erie County, Pennsylvania, then to Chenango County, New York, and in 1847 came to Wisconsin, locating first at Milwaukee. Sub- sequently they moved into Dane County, at Grand Springs, and in 1849 removed to Washington Township, Sauk County, where they received Government land. This 160-acre tract they later sold and removed to the Township of Reedsburg, where they took the John Babb Farm and resided thereon until 1873. Mr. Allen then took his family to Nebraska, where he took up a farm from the Government and proved up on a homestead, on which he spent the remainder of his life, his death occur- ring in 1900, at Alina, the county seat of Harding County. Mrs. Allen passed away there in 1901. They were the parents of the following children : Charles C., of this notice ; Albert, who was a member for one year of the Fiftieth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and died in December, 1915; Myron F., who lived for some years on the old home- stead in Nebraska, a part of which is owned by his wife, but who died in Montana; Hiram, who is a retired farmer and lives at Cambridge, Nebraska ; Edward N., who went to Nebraska in 1871 and took up Gov- ernment land, built a schoolhouse on his claim and was county superin- tendent of schools three terms, taught school for some years, was a hard- ware merchant at Arapo, Nebraska, then was sent to the state senate. and finally went to Seattle, Washington, where he died about 1906, and two sons and one daughter who died while young.
Charles C. Allen was reared in Sauk County and secured his educa- tion in the Washington and Reedsburg Township schools and the public schools of Baraboo. About the year 1858 he went to Dane County to secure employment, but did not remain there long, but instead took a boat down the Mississippi River. When the Civil war broke out he was on Island 63. He was seized by the authorities and taken to Memphis, Tennessee, but after some examination was allowed to leave the state, and went to Springfield, Illinois, where in 1861 he enlisted in the State Guards. Later he was sworn into the United States Army as a member of Company I, Fourteenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which organization he served three years and twenty-six days, re-enlist- ing in 1865 in the Ninth United States Veteran Volunteer Infantry
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Corps. He received his final honorable discharge April 16, 1866, at Detroit, Michigan. After the war closed the brave young soldier returned to Sauk County and located on a 40-acre farm in Excelsior Township, which he had purchased before. This he disposed of in 1872, when he went to Nebraska, in which state he proved up on a farm of 320 acres. Returning to Sauk County in 1880 he bought a farm in Fairfield Town- ship and resided thereon until 1904, when he retired from active labor. He came to Baraboo in that year, purchased a lot, and erected a modern home at 215 Eleventh Street. Mr. Allen is a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Since 1880 his political views have coin- cided with those of the prohibition party.
Mr. Allen was married September 30, 1866, to Miss Lilah Whitney, and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary September 30, 1916. She was born at Grafton, Vermont, May 11, 1846, a daughter of Seneca and Charlotte (Lacy) Whitney. The family came to Sauk County in 1852 and settled on a farm in Baraboo Township, but in 1866 removed to Lyons Village, and after some years to North Freedom, where Mr. Whit- ney died in 1894 and his wife in 1895. They were the parents of four children : Harriet, who is deceased; Sarah, the widow of A. J. Spahr, of Baraboo; Lilah; and Charlotte, the wife of Yoss Harseim, of Baraboo Township. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have had five children: Hiram, who died when four years of age; Whitney, a farmer of Baraboo Township, married Mabel Thomas and has three children, Myrtle, Cecil and Mil- dred; Carrie, who died in Nebraska at the age of three years; Edith, who is the wife of James Karns, of Kilbourn, Wisconsin; and C. Lotta, who is the wife of Roy Steele, of Delton Township, Sauk County, a farmer, and has three children, La Veta, Dean and Elmer.
GUSTAV SEILS. One cannot follow the long career of Gustav Seils without renewed appreciation of those homely, sterling qualities which, when allied with practical business sense, lift men from obscurity to influence and from poverty to affluence. This Fairfield Township farmer has been a resident of Sauk County for more than forty-five years, and during this period has been a witness to and a participant in the won- derful advancement which has taken place in this rieh agricultural com- munity. His own fortunes have increased with the prosperity of the county, and his aetions have been helpful in bringing about a number of movements which have added to Sauk's prestige.
Mr. Seils was born in Germany, March 13, 1853, and is a son of John and Lena Seils, natives of that country. The family had resided in Germany for many years, and while the name was an honored one the fortunes of the family were not large, and the activities of the mem- bers were largely confined to farming on small plots which yielded but a meager living. With a desire to establish themselves in a comfortable home, where they might hope to attain a competence for their declining years and afford their children better educational advantages and other opportunities, the parents came to the United States in 1870 and located in Sauk County, where they settled on a farm in Baraboo Township. Here they spent the remaining years of their lives, both rounding out full and useful careers. John Seils died on the homestead in June, 1894,
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when seventy-two years old, while Mrs. Seils passed away at the same age in 1896. They were the parents of six children: Gustav, of this review; Mary, who is deceased; Lena, Herman, Bertha and John. The parents were good church members of the Methodist Episcopal faith and reared their children to lives of industry and honesty, fitting them as far as lay in their power to take their rightful, honored places in the world. The children have all been reasonably successful and have grown up to be a credit to themselves, to their family, and to the kind and loving training given them in their youth.
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