USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 35
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Gustav Seils secured his carly education in the schools of his native land and was brought up in a home where industry and economy were considered cardinal virtues. He early learned the value of labor and of honesty and a naturally ambitious nature led him to endeavor to master any subject to which he applied himself. Ile was seventeen years of age at the time he accompanied the family to the United States, and here in Sauk County he attended the public schools and thus secured his education in English. It was twelve years before he was able to secure a property of his own, but in the meantime he was gaining valu- able experience on his father's farm and becoming thoroughly acquainted with farming methods, machinery and appliances. In 1882 he bought eighty acres of land in Fairfield Township, where he now resides, as well as fifteen acres in Greenfield Township, and most of this property he cleared himself, putting in modern improvements and erecting good buildings. These latter include a commodious and comfortable resi- dence, a splendid barn and a large up-to-date silo. He has adopted the latest methods of cultivating the soil and is a student of the science of farming, thus being able to make his land pay him well for the labor he puts into its operation. In addition to general farming he has met with success in the breeding of livestock, and his graded Holstein cattle find a ready market wherever shown. Mr. Seils is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company. Politically a republican, he has not taken any particularly active part in the work of his party, but has supported good community movements and has lent his support, moral and financial, to those things which have been promoted for the best interests of the public in general. With his family he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Seils was married in 1880 to Miss Rose Laukenberg, and they became the parents of three children, namely: Edward, Albert and Ferdinand. The mother of these children died in 1892, and in the fol- lowing year Mr. Seils was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Liver- entz, who was born in Germany, where her parents died. Mr. and Mrs. Seils are the parents of four children, all of whom are living: Otto, Lena, Bertha and Henry.
EDWIN J. FARR. Whether it was chance or fate that led the parents of Edwin J. Farr to Prairie du Sac in 1856, it is certain that the little growing Wisconsin city gained thereby one who was to prove a valuable citizen, and at the same time in the little village there came to the youth excellent business opportunities, the improvement of which brought him to a prominent position among the successful business men of the locality.
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The period of Edwin J. Farr's residence here has covered sixty-one years, during which time the little straggling town has been converted into a live and thriving commercial center. For many years he kept pace with the business development of Prairie du Sac, and it has only been within recent years that he has partially retired from active participation in affairs. But while as a business man he has won and deserved success, he is also known as one who has helped to secure things of material bene- fit to the community and as a public official who has always merited the confidence of his fellow citizens, as evidenced in his quarter of a century of incumbency in the office of justice of the peace.'
Edwin J. Farr was born in 1849, at Corinth, Orange County, Ver- mont, a son of Amos and Sally (Taplin) Farr, natives of the Green Mountain State. His father was a carpenter by trade, and followed that vocation throughout the period of his active career. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Unitarian Church, and in politics was a whig until the formation of the republican party, after which he gave his vote to the latter organization. Born in 1811, he had reached the advanced age of ninety-one years, lacking eleven days, when he passed away in 1902. Mrs. Farr's people had resided in New England for many years, where the family was principally engaged in the pursuits of agriculture.
Edwin J. Farr was about seven years of age when he came with his parents to Wisconsin, arriving at Prairie du Sac July 1, 1856. At that time the town covered about half a mile square, and, approximately, there were sixty houses and five barns, with one schoolhouse and one church. While growing to sturdy young manhood Mr. Farr attended the first school, and when ready to enter upon his own career chose the hard- ware business as the medium through which to work out his success. He was twenty-two years of age when he embarked in this venture, conduct- ing a store for four years with a moderate measure of success, and then disposing of his interests to turn his attention to the poultry business with his father and in connection with his uncle, J. F. Lamson, of Boston, Mr. Farr bought the poultry in the surrounding country and shipped it to Boston, and while during his first year he secured less than a ton all winter, during the latter part of his experience in this business he shipped his product in carload lots. When he embarked in this line poultry was worth about eight or nine cents per pound, with ten cents for turkeys; it is interesting to compare these prices with the ones of today. After fifteen years spent in this field of endeavor Mr. Farr trans- ferred his energies to participation in the implement business, which at that time offered a much broader and more remunerative field than at the present. He remained identified therewith for something like six years, and then disposed of his holdings and became connected with the creamery business, one of the first ones opened in the village and owned by Bickford & Lampson. His identification with the creamery covered a period of five years, and at the end of that time he bought out the hardware business of J. A. Moore, which he carried on successfully for five years and then sold to Stoddard & Fay. At that time Mr. Farr took up the fire and life insurance business, with which he has been connected more or less actively to this time.
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Mr. Farr has been connected with the official life of Prairie du Sac for many years and in a number of capacities. For twenty-five years he has served as justice of the peace, and during this time has been the means of satisfactorily adjusting countless disputes and controversies, many of which have come to a conclusion even before they reached the court. His first case was tried before him September 21, 1892. Judge Farr has also been president of the village seven times, giving its citizens a good and clean administration each term, and has been on the board of trustees several times. He has shown himself one of the most useful and energetic workers in the cause of securing local improvements, and was a member of the board at the time the first cement sidewalks were . laid in the city, an improvement which necessitated a hard fight to land. He has been a steadfast republican from the outset of his voting career, and in religious matters is a Universalist. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons, having held the office of worshipful master in the lodge at Prairie du Sac for eight years; and is a member of the Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors and the Eastern Star.
Judge Farr was married January 10, 1872, to Emma L. Dodd, daugh- ter of Garrous and Emeline (Baldwin) Dodd, natives of New Jersey. Her father was engaged in farming until twelve years prior to his death, at which time he took up work as a toll-keeper. Mrs. Farr died in February, 1916, leaving one daughter, Sarah Evelyn, who was born in October, 1874. She was educated in the public schools, and in 1895 was married to A. E. Fey, by whom she had four children: Berenice, Raymond, Alice and Winifred, who have enjoyed good educational advantages at Prairie du Sae and Viola, and the last two of whom are now going to school at Monroe. Mrs. Fey's first husband died, and she married for her second husband Henry E. White, of Monroe, Wisconsin, a cement contractor and well known business man of that place. They are the parents of two children, Mary Emma and Henry Edwin.
WILLIAM H. ATON. A business career which has always been looked upon as an important asset to the City of Baraboo is that of William H. Aton. Mr. Aton is progressive, enterprising and industrious from youth up and has developed one of the leading musical instrument houses in Sauk County.
His family is of old American ancestry and dates back to early days in Sauk County, through Mr. Aton himself is a native of Michigan, in which state he was born August 10, 1870. His parents were James G. and Marietta (Spencer) Aton. James G. Aton was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1844. and when a boy came to Sauk County, Wisconsin, with his uncle, John Aton, who was one of the pioneer farmers. James G. Aton grew up in this county, and developed and for many years operated a fine farm on Sauk Prairie. In 1885 he moved into the City of Baraboo and became identified with the sewing machine and organ business and gradually concentrated all his attention on piano selling, which he con- tinned until his death in 1900. His widow, who now lives in Sioux City, Iowa, was born in New York State in 1846, a daughter of Thomas Hardy and Nancy (Maynard) Spencer. Thomas H. Spencer was born at Say- brook in Middlesex County, Connecticut, in 1813, while his wife was born
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in Lennox, Madison County, New York, February 15, 1819. Three Spencer brothers came from New England in the year 1640, one of them settling at Saybrook, Connecticut. Thus this branch of the family history goes back for nearly three centuries in America. Marietta Aton's great- grandfather, Samuel Spencer, was a faithful soldier in the Revolutionary war. Thomas H. Spencer was married at Brownsville in Jefferson County, New York, in 1841 and in 1849 came to Waukesha County, Wis- consin, and soon afterwards to Baraboo Township, where he located on a farm. His wife died there in 1887 and he died in Baraboo in 1900. He was a republican and he and his wife were both Methodists, and they reared a family of eleven children, eight of whom are still living, as follows: Charles, who was a soldier in the Civil war; Julia, deceased ; Mrs. Marietta Aton; Louisa, deceased ; Jane ; Laura; Cynthia; Martha ; John and Milton, twins, the former deceased; and Mary.
James G. Aton and wife were married in Sauk County August 23, 1868. They had four children: William H .; Belle, wife of George Munderloh, of Chicago; Robert, of Sauk Prairie; and Lewis, of Sioux City, Iowa. The father of these children was a republican in politics, and both parents were members of the Methodist Church.
William H. Aton grew up on a farm in Sauk County, attended the public schools, and in 1885, at the age of fifteen, came to Baraboo, and after a course in the high school, engaged in business with his father under the firm name of James G. Aton & Son. When his father died he continued the business and in 1911 organized the W. H. Aton Piano Company, which continued very successfully for five years. Since then Mr. Aton has associated himself with the Marquette Piano Company of Chicago. He has offices and salesrooms at 1118 Oak Street.
Mr. Aton is a republican, and is affiliated with Baraboo Lodge No. 34, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Baraboo Chapter No. 49, Royal Arch Masons; Baraboo Commandery No. 28, Knights Templar; and with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America.
He has been happily married for many years. He was married February 19, 1891, to Martha O. Bishop. Mrs. Aton was born near Reedsburg in Sauk County January 8, 1871, a daughter of Thomas Keyes and Catherine (Vernoy) Bishop, both of whom were natives of New York. Her father settled on a farm west of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, about 1854 and lived there until his death in 1878. His widow spent her last years with Mr. and Mrs. Aton and died at their home in May, 1916, at the age of eighty-four. The children in the Bishop family were five in number: James, of Reedsburg; Naomi; Helen ; Effie, deceased ; and Martha O. Mr. and Mrs. Aton have four children: Elsie, after completing her education in the local grammar and high schools married Hallet Wickus, who died in May, 1916, leaving a son and daughter, James William and Elsie Elizabeth; Catherine C., who has finished her high school course at Baraboo; and James Keyes and Elizabeth Ross.
AUGUST PLATT. Prominent among the business men of the leading cities of Sauk County are found many who had their earliest training on the farm, and whose agricultural experiences formed the foundation upon which has been built the successful structure of their commercial
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operations. In this class is found August Platt, of Baraboo, who for more than two decades has been the proprietor of a thriving ice business, but who prior to that time was a farmer of Sauk County. The character of a town or community depends almost, wholly upon the standing of its business men, their degree of reliability, push, enterprise, integrity and fidelity to contracts and agreements being, in most instances, a mcas- ure of the prosperity of the town. It is generally found that the men who have had their upbringing among agricultural surroundings form a class of men who do their community proud, and in having a number of such men included in its business class Baraboo is decidedly fortunate.
August Platt was born in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, Wis- consin, March 5, 1864, being a son of Henry and Catherine (Bender) Platt, natives of Germany. The grandfather of Mr. Platt, Andrew Platt, after losing his wife by death in Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1849 and settled in Baraboo Township, where he con- tinued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred about 1871. While he was past the age of military service, he fought for the land of his adoption during the Civil war, and always showed himself a good and public-spirited citizen. He was the father of the following children: Jacob, who died while wearing the Union blue during the Civil war; Conrad, who also met a soldier's death during that struggle; George, who met an accidental death in California, being killed while operating a threshing machine; Louis, who died at Baraboo; Andrew, who was killed in a runaway accident; and Henry.
Henry Platt was still a youth when brought by his father to the United States, and his education was secured in the primitive schools of his day and locality, while he was reared amid agricultural sur- roundings and to the hard work of the farm. He grew to manhood on the home place, in the ownership of which he succeeded his father, and continued to be a farmer throughout his life and one of his community's highly-respected citizens. He was a republican and he and Mrs. Platt belonged to the Lutheran Church, in the faith of which she died in 1895 and he March 18, 1915, aged eighty-one years, ten months and eleven days. They were the parents of nine children, namely: Lena, George, August, Charley, Emil, Minnie, Mary, Ida and Adolph. All the children are still living.
August Platt was reared on the home farm in Baraboo Township and educated in the public schools. As before noted, his earlier years were passed on the farm, he continuing as an agriculturist until 1891, in which year he came to Baraboo and established himself in the ice business, an enterprise in which he has been very successful. While he gives the greater part of his attention to the business which he has so laboriously and painstakingly built up from small proportions to an important com- mercial asset of the city, he has been variously interested in other direc- tions and is a well known figure in business circles of the city, where he bears an excellent reputation for fair dealing and honorable conduct. Politically a republican, he served two years as alderman from the second ward. With his family he belongs to the German Methodist Church.
Mr. Platt was married December 31, 1889, to Miss Augusta Link,
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.
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who was born at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, March 12, 1865, a daughter of John C. and Fredericka (Wedewart) Link, natives of Germany. Mr. Link was eighteen years of age when he located in Sauk County, while Mrs. Link came here when a girl of twelve, and here they met and mar- ried. In 1874 they went to Juneau County, Wisconsin, but in 1879 returned to Sauk County and located at Baraboo. Here Mr. Link died in his seventy-ninth year, December 25, 1914, Mrs. Link having passed away in 1898, when fifty-seven years of age. They were the parents of the following children, all of whom are still living: Augusta, John, William, Lena, Frank and Charley. Mrs. Platt was given good educa- tional advantages, attending the Prairie du Sac public schools and the Baraboo High School, and for several years prior to her marriage was one of the popular teachers of Sauk County. She and Mr. Platt have had the following children: Lydia, a graduate of the Baraboo High School and now the wife of Paul Bittrich, of Freedom Township; Alfie, who died at the age of three years; Fern, a graduate of the Baraboo High school; Harold, also educated in that institution; Viva, who is a student in the eighth grade; and Cecil, who is in the second year of high school.
NATHANIEL DARROW, now a retired citizen of Reedsburg, was county surveyor for many years. His father, Henry A. Darrow, settled with the family (Nathaniel was then ten years old) in Winfield Township during the year 1851. He improved his property, became locally promi- nent and named the township after it was organized in honor of Winfield Scott. He died on the old homestead in 1887, and in 1902 his son, Nathaniel, sold it and retired to Reedsburg.
LEONARD C. ROSER. The growth of intelligence and sound optimism has advanced farming to a combination of science and vocation, the profound possibilities of which can be but imperfectly mastered by one man during his comparatively brief span of years. With his faith pinned to the soil, and with delight and reward using its stored fertility for the most enlightened needs of civilization, man has brought agriculture to a stage of usefulness unequaled in any other walk of life. To such must come the greatest material satisfaction also, as witnessed in all prosperous farming communities, of which Sauk County is a good ex- ample. Since the early history of this part of the state certain families have been connected with its continuous advancement, lending color and enthusiasm and splendid purpose to its unfolding prosperity. Of these one of the best and most favorably known is that which is rep- resented by Leonard C. Roser, a resident of Sauk County for sixty- two years, and now living in Baraboo Township, where he still pursues the vocations of farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Roser was born in Germany, May 10, 1849, a son of Christian and Louise (Welcher) Roser, both of whom were natives of that country. There they were educated, reared and married, and there several of their children were born, the family living on a small farm which the father cultivated with only medium success. Like many others of his countrymen, he became convinced that in his native land he could only
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hope for a life of hard work, without much chance of the attainment of success, and finally decided to risk his capital in a trip to America in an endeavor to find prosperity. Accordingly, in 1855, he brought his family to this country and settled in Sauk County, investing his re- maining means in forty acres of land in Freedom Township. The first several years of his residence here were very hard ones, as he was un- familiar with the customs of this country, the methods used in agricul- ture, or even the language, but he was persevering and thrifty, economical and industrious, and as he saw his prospects brightening visibly before him he was stimulated to renewed effort that eventually brought suc- cess. Mr. Roser spent ten years on his original farm in Freedom Township, but in 1865 disposed of that land and moved to Baraboo Township, where he purchased eighty acres. This he cultivated and improved, established a more comfortable home for himself and family, and by adding to his acreage eventually became the proprietor of a valuable and handsome country estate. There he passed the remaining years of his life and died in 1884, at the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Roser, who was born June 16, 1821, survived until September, 1903, being also eighty-two years old at the time of her demise. They were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Roser was a republican. While he took no active part in public or political life, he was a man of influence in his community, and his sober judgment and intelligent views were frequently relied upon in movements of im- portance affecting the welfare of the community. By his first marriage, to a wife who died in Germany, he had three children: Christian and Gottlieb, who are deceased; and Henry, who is now a resident of Bara- boo. Five children were born to him and his second wife: Frederick, Leonard C., John, Louisa and Samuel, the last named of whom is now deceased.
Leonard C. Roser was a lad of six years when he accompanied his parents on the long and perilous journey across the Atlantic and the subsequent trip across this country to Wisconsin, and his boyhood expe- riences included all of the hard work and harder play incident to life in a new farming community. He found his education in the country schools of Freedom Township, but his carcer as a farmer, for which vocation he had been carefully trained, began in Baraboo Township, where his entire career has been passed since 1865. At the present time he is the owner of the old homestead, a tract of eighty acres, which boasts numerous modern improvements and a set of substantial and attractive buildings, and in addition to carrying on general farming operations, he is also a skilled and successful breeder of Aberdeen-Angus cattle. For several years he was a stockholder in the Sumpter Creamery Company. Politically he is a republican and has taken an active inter- est and participation in the work and government of the community. For a long term of years he served in the capacity of supervisor of Baraboo Township, was a member and clerk of the school board for a long period, and is now a member of the board of school directors. With his family he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On November 20, 1890, Mr. Roser was married to Miss Lucetta Arnold, who was born near her present home in Baraboo Township Vol. II-18
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March 29, 1864, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Brenner) Arnold, natives of Germany. As young people they came to the United States and were married in New York, from whence they came to Sauk County, where they took up Government land in Baraboo Township, later buying forty acres, which they cleared and improved. Mr. Arnold was a republican, and he and Mrs. Arnold belonged to the Lutheran Church. He was born in 1824 and died in November, 1908, and she was born in 1832 and died in November, 1897. They had four children: George, Adam, John, deceased, and Mrs. Roser. Mr. and Mrs. Roser are the parents of two children: Bernice, born November 19, 1891, a graduate of the Baraboo High School, who taught one year in Sauk County and one year in North Dakota, and is now the wife of Walter Rodewald; and Howard, born August 18, 1899, who was educated in the public schools and is now engaged in assisting his father in the work of the home farm.
HENRY KOENIG was one of the liberal minded and progressive busi- ness men and industrial factors in Sauk County for many years. By trade he was a millwright, an expert in mill construction and other lines as well, and spent the best years of his life as an owner and operator of flour and saw mills.
He was born in Germany and came to Sauk County at the age of thirty-two. He was first identified with the lumber business, running a sawmill. From that he got into the flour and feed mill business and for twenty years was the leading miller at Leland. He sold out there in 1882, and for fifteen years lived at Sauk City, and from there bought the Lodde Mills, now owned and operated by his widow. He and Mr. Pagel conducted a sawmill at Leland for ten years and then converted it into a flour and feed mill. Mr. Henry Koenig died in 1907, and besides the substantial fortune he left he also left an honored name in business and civic affairs. For twenty years he served as school clerk at Leland and was a member of the village board at Sauk City. Politically he was a republican.
Mrs. Henry Koenig is a daughter of Martin and Christiana (Zeh) Lodde. Her parents were both born in Germany and, coming to America, locating in Milwaukee in 1850, where they were married. The father was nineteen and the mother was thirteen years of age when they came to America. Her father was born in 1824 and died in 1903, and her mother was born in 1836 and died in 1905. After a brief residence in Milwaukee the parents removed to Sauk County and became residents of Sauk City. Her father was a millwright and built many mills in this county and elsewhere in Wisconsin. In 1872 he bought the water rights and constructed what was known as the Lodde Mills, now the Sauk City Mills, which he operated until 1897, when he sold them to Mr. Henry Koenig. After that he retired from business.
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