USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 37
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Mr. Hoover is a republican but has never sought any official distinc- tion. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Guardians of Liberty. February 12, 1871, he married Miss Sarah J. Francis. Mrs. Hoover was born in Bennington, Wyoming County, New York, April 26, 1853, daughter of Charles and Cynthia (Hemstreet) Francis, who came to Wisconsin in 1862, first locating in Dodge County, and in 1865 moving to Sumpter Township in Sauk County. Her father bought a farm at Kings Corners and that farm was sub- sequently acquired by Mr. Hoover and is now owned by Roy Hoover.
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Charles Francis and wife spent their last years on the old homestead. They had five children : Zina, John, Oscar, Sarah and Elmer, all of whom are deceased except Mrs. Hoover.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoover now enjoy the solace of both children and grandchildren. Their oldest child is Blanche, wife of George Weiden- kopf, of Baraboo, and their two children are named Vane and Arlene. Royden J., the second child and only son, has the old homestead farm, and by his marriage to Myrtle Kellogg has a daughter, Lucile, now a student in the Baraboo High School. Maud, the third child, is the wife of Archie Cook, a farmer of Greenfield Township.
ALBERT KOERTH. A fine family are the Koerths of Sauk County, and they have lived here for ahnost a half century. They have been agriculturists in the main and through their excellent farming methods and careful stock selection have become some of the most substantial people of the county and have added to its agricultural wealth in no small degree. Albert Koerth, one of the younger generation of farmers, and who has recently purchased his father's fine homestead in Green- field Township, was born on this place July 16, 1886. His parents are Louis and Annie (Putz) Koerth.
Louis Koerth was born in Germany, September 1, 1843, a son of Michael and Wilhelmina Koerth, who immigrated to the United States and settled first in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and in 1870 came to Sauk County. They both died on the farm of their son Louis in Green- field Township, the father in 1888 and the mother in 1889. They had two children, a son and daughter, Louis and Amelia, the latter being the wife of William Putz, who is a farmer in Greenfield Township. Louis Koerth attended the public schools in Germany until old enough to enter the army, in which he served the number of years required by law. His desire was to become a farmer, and thus he was led to come to America, where farm land could be secured for a moderate price. In 1868 he reached Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and from there in 1870 he came to Sauk County and bought the farm which became the family home and which is now the property of his youngest son. For forty- seven years Mr. Koerth has successfully carried on his agricultural operations in Greenfield Township, in the meanwhile making excellent improvements on his property. Mr. Koerth is one of the township's most respected citizens, a man of upright character and good intention. He is one of the leading members of the Lutheran Church, in which faith his family has been reared. In politics he is a republican.
Louis Koerth was married in 1869, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, to Miss Annie Putz, who was born in Germany in 1844. Her mother died in Germany but her father, Christ Putz, came to the United States and to Wisconsin, and after coming to Sauk County lived with his son, Michael Putz, until his death. Ten children were born to Louis Koerth and wife, as follows: Emma, Minnie, Otto, Edward, Hulda, Matilda, Rose. Lena, Albert and Hannah.
Albert Koerth attended the public schools through boyhood and had excellent training for his life business under his father. He assisted on the homestead and has always lived here and in 1917 purchased the
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property from his father. He is a eapable general farmer and gives a great deal of attention to growing fine Shorthorn cattle, his herds making an excellent showing in any stock exhibition. Interested in- tensely in his farm enterprises, Mr. Koerth keeps abreast of the times in relation to newly discovered methods on the farm, and makes use of the best machinery that can be procured. His is a model modern farm and his undertakings are proving very profitable.
Albert Koerth was married in 1908 to Miss Lena Neuman, who was born in Greenfield Township, Sauk County, in 1884. Her parents, Carl and Helena (Zuch) Neuman, came from Germany to Waukesha County in 1869 and to Sauk County in 1871. The mother of Mrs. Koerth died here in October, 1915, aged seventy-six years. She was a kind and careful mother and a good neighbor. The father of Mrs. Koerth resides in Greenfield Township and has reached his eighty-fourth year. His children are: Minnie, Gustav, Amelia, Charles, John, Jacob and Lena. Mr. and Mrs. Koerth have two children, a son and daughter, John and Adeline. Mr. Koerth has no political ambition but is a good eitizen and ever ready to help in publie movements needful or beneficial in his township, and easts his vote with the republican party. He and wife are members of the Lutheran Church.
LOUIS SCHREIBER. The fine farms and general prosperity noted in Sauk County proves that there are capable farmers in this section of Wisconsin, and one of the representative ones of Greenfield Township is found in Louis Schreiber, whose well improved farm of 109 aeres is situated here. He has been a farmer and stockraiser during all his business life and the result of his experience is evident in his productive fields and his healthy stock.
Louis Schreiber was born in Germany, June 10, 1845. His father died in Germany and his mother, Mrs. Mary Schreiber, married John Kelinow and in 1873 they came to the United States and to Waukesha County, Wisconsin, where he died three days later. After that the mother of Louis Schreiber came to live with him and continued a mem- ber of his family until her death on September 22, 1899. Mr. Schreiber attended school in his native land and was a farmer there. On account of better opportunities being offered in the United States in the way of securing land and founding a home, he came to the United States and in 1871 to Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and from there in 1886 to Sank County. Here he decided to locate permanently and with this end in view purchased 109 acres of land situated in Greenfield Town- ship. This farm through his industry and efficient management has be- come one of the best in the township and his improvements in the way of substantial buildings have added still further to its value. He raises a good grade of stock, which command high prices when marketed. His cattle are kept in sanitary surroundings and he can sell all the milk and cream his cows produce to the Excelsior Cooper Creamery.
In · Waukesha County Mr. Schreiber was married on February 3, 1878, to Miss Anna Ludwig, who was born in Germany in 1859, and their children have been as follows: William, August and Kate, both of whom are deceased; Regina, Louis, Annie, Amanda, Amy, Minnie. Esther and Lucy.
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The parents of Mrs. Schreiber were John and Mary Ludwig, who were born in Germany and came to the United States and to Waukesha County in 1872. The father was an industrious and successful farmer and died in Waukesha County in 1889. The mother lived until March, 1906. Beside Mrs. Schreiber they had four children, namely : Christ, who lives in Lyons, Wisconsin; Hannah, who is deceased, was the wife of John Lange; Christina, who is deceased; and August, who is a farmer in Burlington Township, Racine County. Mr. Schreiber was the only child of his parents, but two children were born to his mother's second marriage, John and Christ, both of whom are deceased.
Mr. Schreiber has given his children all the advantages in his power and as a whole it is a family to be proud of. One son, Louis, is an unusually intellectual young man and is widely known and has many friends in different sections. He is a graduate of the University of Wis- consin and was teaching school at Sun Prairie when the state militia, to which he belongs, was sent to Texas. After completing his military duties there he returned to Wisconsin and then went to Arkansas and taught school in that state. Evidently there is a future for him in the educational field. In politics Mr. Schreiber is a republican. His parents were Lutherans but he has united with the Evangelical Church since coming to Sauk County. As a good farmer, kind and obliging neighbor and honest and sturdy citizen, Mr. Schreiber is held in high regard in Greenfield Township.
STEPHEN D. PERKINS. Now living retired at Prairie du Sac, Stephen D. Perkins has had a very long and active career, and has known Sauk County since boyhood for upwards of three score and ten years.
He is of New England birth and ancestry. He was born in the State of New Hampshire, May 4, 1843, a son of Hiram and Elizabeth (Drawn) Perkins. In the family were just two sons. At the age of five years Stephen Perkins came to Wisconsin with his parents and grew to man- hood in Sauk County. He attended the district and high schools there, and on leaving school had a practical experience in a store at Prairie du Sac. That experience gave him his start in life, and he subsequently became a hotel proprietor at Berlin, Wisconsin. For six years he was in the woolen mill business at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and for a time was in that industry with his brother, L. A. Perkins. He then returned to Wisconsin and engaged in flour milling, but finally opened and operated a hotel at Madison. His next location was at Mount Vernon, Wisconsin, where for two years he handled a creamery and also conducted a hotel. From Wisconsin he moved to Ashton, Iowa, where he combined the hotel and creamery business for about five years. Mr. Perkins was for many years a recognized expert in the creamery business and he spent a year installing creameries in various points in the State of Minnesota. During that year he lived at Worthington. Returning to Ashton, Iowa, and then to Wisconsin, he finally settled at Prairie du Sac in 1908. For three years he conducted a hotel, and since 1911 has lived retired except for the management of his private affairs. He formerly owned the hotel at ·Prairie du Sac and had a num- ber of other investments in the town.
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Mr. Perkins is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Prairie du Sac and the Odd Fellows in the same city. Politically he is a democrat, but has been more or less independent and a voter for the best man. His family were long members of the Universalist Church and he belonged to the same faith when young but later attended the Congregational.
Mr. Perkins started out for himself at the age of twenty-one and married and gained a home of his own. His first wife was Addie Haynes, daughter of Moody Haynes. To this marriage were born four children : Lucy U., who lives in Oregon on a ranch; Merrell D., who is manager of a lumber yard; William W., who conducts a wholesale supply house at Seattle, Washington; and Nathaniel W., who is living on a ranch in Oregon. The two older sons are married and also the daughter Lucy. The mother of these children died in 1894. In 1897 Mr. Perkins married Mabel Randle, of Watertown, Wisconsin, daughter of Silas E. Randle, formerly a prominent implement dealer at Water- town. Mrs. Perkins' mother was Martha Kein.
RICHARD METCALF. One of the well remembered citizens of Sauk County, now gone to his reward, was the late Richard Metcalf, who rep- resented a pioneer family here and for many years was identified with the service of the North Western Railroad Company.
Mr. Metcalf was born at Wappinger Falls in New York State August 26, 1847. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Warrener) Metcalf. His father was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1821, and his mother at Kilburn, England, in 1826. They were married in the old country and on immigrating to America they arrived in New York City April, 1847. For a few years they lived in Dutchess County, New York, and while there the son Richard was born only a few months after their arrival in this country. In April, 1852, when Richard Metcalf was five years
of age, the family arrived in Excelsior Township of Sauk County, and here the mother died in 1859. Thomas Metcalf, who lived to the year 1899, was a progressive farmer and developed some land from a state of wilderness. He was a republican and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife had only two children who reached maturity. The older was Richard and the daughter was Alice.
Richard Metcalf grew up on his father's farm in Excelsior Town- ship, was educated in the local schools, and finally left the farm to be- come an employe of M. J. Drown in the latter's business at Baraboo. From that he entered the service of the North Western Railway Com- pany and by various promotions remained in the work until his death, which occurred January 20, 1885. He had been for several years yard- master at Baraboo.
Mr. Metcalf was a loyal democrat, and was an active and well- thought-of member of Baraboo Lodge No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons, Baraboo Chapter No. 49, Royal Arch Masons, and also belonged to the Knights Templar Commandery. His wife and daughter Alice are members of the Eastern Star.
Mr. Metcalf was married in 1867 to Miss Mary Elizabeth Britton. Mrs. Metcalf, who is still living at Baraboo, was born in Providence,
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Rhode Island, December 5, 1849. She was brought to Sauk County when a small child, was educated in Excelsior Township, and lived there until her marriage to Mr. Metcalf. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf only one is now living .. Louis E., the only son, was born in Excelsior Township in 1868, also entered the railroad service, and for a number of years was a locomotive engineer with the North Western and died in 1912. His widow, whose maiden name was Cora Le May, is still living at Baraboo. They had four children, Doris, Muriel, Lou and Richard. Mabel, the second child of Mrs. Metcalf, was born in 1874, was graduated from the Baraboo High School, and taught school in Dane and Sauk counties until her death on February 4, 1916. Mary Alice, the only surviving child, was born in 1878, is a graduate of the Baraboo High School and also attended the Whitewater Normal School, and is now a teacher in the second grade of the First Ward School at Baraboo. She and her mother own and occupy a comfortable home at 308 Lake Street.
Mrs. Metcalf is a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Hudson) Britton, the former a native of Bristol and the latter of Chorley, England. They were married in England, and Mrs. Britton was born in the old country. In 1847 Mr. and Mrs. Britton came to Rhode Island, and from there in 1854 moved to Sauk County, Wisconsin. Isaac Britton bought a farm and by trade was a stationary engineer. For a time he operated the engine for Colonel Ableman at Ableman, in this county, but in 1863 he went to Colorado in a party guarding mule and ox teams, and spent several years on the frontier. He finally returned to Baraboo and lived in that city until his death in 1890. His wife, who is also deceased, was the daughter of W. T. and Elizabeth (Brindle) Hudson, and they deserve mention also as Sauk County pioneers. Both were born in England and in 1847 came to Massachusetts, locating at Danvers, later removed to Philadelphia, and from there to Sauk County in 1853. W. T. Hudson died at Baraboo and his widow died near Waterville in the State of Washington. W. T. Hudson and wife had the following children : Elizabeth; Alice, wife of Nelson Bowen; Hugh, who died near Water- ville, Washington, and his widow, whose maiden name was Alice Kay, and her children live near Hudson in the State of Washington.
Mrs. Metcalf was the oldest in a family of five children, the others being named : William, Albert, Alfred, and Bell, the last named the wife of Abner Carpenter, of Crandon, Wisconsin.
ARTHUR CHARLES HILLS. The Hills family has been identified with Sank County since pioneer times, over sixty years. They have con- tributed their share of the heavy labor required for clearing away the forest, grubbing out stumps, and putting the land into cultivation. Mr .. Arthur C. Hills is one of the oldest native sons of the county and for many years has been industriously engaged in looking after a well developed farm in the Township of Merrimack.
He was born in the year 1865 in West Merrimack Township, a son of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Phillips) Hills. His father was born in 1830 in the southern part of England, while his mother was born in Southern Wales in 1827. They came to New York State in 1854, were
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soon afterwards married and in 1855 came to Sauk County and located in Merrimack Township, where their son Arthur C. was born the same year. There were three other children, mentioned as follows: Eliza- beth, Mrs. John Humphreys, living in Iowa County, Wisconsin ; George J., who is married and lives in Nebraska; and Alice, wife of Arthur Chalfant, living in California.
On coming to Sauk County Charles A. Hills located in Merrimack Township and for nine years lived in the Village of Merrimack, where the mother was employed in the old tavern owned by Walter P. Flanders, while the father worked on Mr. Flanders' dairy farm. After three years he rented a farm and finally moved from the Village of Merrimack to the Farnsworth farm, four miles west. He was there one year and in 1866 came to a part of the farm now owned and occupied by Arthur C. Hills. Charles A. Hills died in 1880 and his widow is still living, past the age of ninety.
Arthur C. Hills grew up and received his early schooling in Merri- mack Township. He has never married and since 1883 has given his time to the working of the old farm which his father bought in 1866. His father first bought eighty acres and the son has since increased the . holdings until it now represents an estate of 240 acres, 180 acres of which are under cultivation. Mr. Hills has cleared up and grubbed out forty acres of this land by his own effort. He is successfully engaged in gen- eral farming and stock raising, and has a great deal to show for his life of well-directed enterprise. He lives with his widowed mother. In the early days the Hills family did their farm work with oxen and with the other limited facilities of the time. Mr. Hills and his mother are active members of the Methodist Church and he has been superintendent of the Sunday School of Merrimack for twenty years. His father was . a republican, while he himself votes the prohibition ticket.
JOHN J. HATZ. The name Hatz has always signified a great deal in the Prairie du Sac locality of Sauk County. The family of that name came as pioneers, when nearly all of Sauk County was a wilderness, and by their industry and their integrity they not only made themselves masters of a goodly quantity of land but also lived so as to command the respect and esteem of every one who knew them. Mr. John J. Hatz represents the second generation of the family and is now living retired at Prairie du Sac.
His father, Jacob Hatz, was born in Switzerland in 1816 and came as a pioneer to Wisconsin in 1844, four years before the territory be- came a state. He at that time located in Sauk County, and he brought with him his young wife. Her maiden name was Dorothy Accola, and she was born in Switzerland in 1814. Their home for the first two years was in Prairie dn Sac Township, and then Jacob Hatz moved to the place he had acquired from the Government in Sumpter Township. Jacob Hatz while living in Switzerland had followed the trade of carpenter and mechanic, but in Sauk County his work was as a farmer. He con- tinued to live on the old homestead until the spring of 1880, when he moved to town and he died in the fall of that year. His widow survived him until 1891. They were active members of the Evangelical Church
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and reared their children in the same faith. These children were eight in number, all born in Sumpter Township: Jacob, Casper, Luzie, Erhart, now deceased, Florian, of Yankton, South Dakota, Kate and Dorothy, both deceased, and John.
Mr. John J. Hatz was born on the old home place in Sumpter Town- ship of Sauk County, April 9, 1857. He lived there continuously until 1915, a period of fifty-eight years. His education came from the local schools of that community and as soon as he was old enough he took an active part in the labors of the home farm and finally succeeded to its ownership, and on the land where his father had provided for his children John J. Hatz lived and prospered and reared a family. Mr. Hatz and his family are supporting members of the Evangelical Church. He was prominent in his country community, spending seven years as a member of the town board and clerk of the school districts twenty-seven years.
Mr. Hatz has five children: Lillian, who married Herman Wilhelm; Kate R., wife of Arno Woffanschmidt; Jacob A., who married Ruth Gasser; Obert J., whose wife is Ina Hatz; and Lyman, unmarried. The old homestead is now being run by Jacob, and Jacob's son is the fourth generation of the family in that one place, and members of three gen- erations were born there.
JOHN ROONEY was a fighting young Irishman in the Civil war, is one of the few surviving veterans of that conflict still living in Sauk County, and one of the worthiest men upon whom the Government ever bestowed a pension.
He was born in Ireland August 15, 1844, but has been an American since early infancy. His parents, James and Ann (McManus) Rooney, were born and married in Ireland and in 1847 brought their family to America, locating in Dolphin County, Pennsylvania. There James Rooney died on August 15, 1852, when his son John was only eight years old. In 1853 the widow and her family removed to Muskingum County, Ohio, and in 1854 she was married there to George Sullivan. In 1855 the family came on to Wisconsin, first locating near Elkhorn, in Walworth County, later going to Cross Plains in Dane County, and in 1856 to Green County. In 1857 the Sullivans and the Rooneys came to Sauk County and established their homes in Honey Creek Township. The mother of John Rooney spent her last years in Freedom Town- ship. She died December 28, 1885. By her marriage with James Rooney she had six children : Mary and Patrick, deceased; John ; Mar- garet, deceased; Ann; and Elizabeth. By her marriage to Mr. Sullivan she was the mother of four children: Edward and Joseph, deceased ; George; and Michael.
John Rooney received all his early education in the public schools of Wisconsin. As a boy he learned how to be independent through hard work, and at one time he was employed during the construction of the railroad between Madison and Prairie du Chien and also on the line between Monroe and Janesville. This work furnished him occupation during the summer and for four winters he attended school in Sauk County, in Honey Creek and Sumpter townships. He also worked as a Vol. II --- 19
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farm hand for a Mr. Lock in Westfield and for another farmer in Sumpter Township.
In 1862, at the age of eighteen Mr. Rooney enlisted in Company K of the Twenty-third Wisconsin Infantry .. He was in the army until his honorable discharge on June 27, 1865. He carried a musket and fought alongside his comrades during the earlier campaigns and at Port Gibson was injured by a spent ball. He was afterwards assigned to the com- missary department, but was finally compelled to go to the hospital and remained there until discharged. His injuries were such that for twenty-seven years he has been an invalid and for seventeen of those years has been confined to his bed. Mr. Rooney has the cheerful disposi- tion and nature of the true Irishman, and though bedridden for so many years maintains a cheerful outlook. A great factor in his happiness has been his devoted wife, who has stayed with him and comforted his de- clining years and has made life worth living.
After the war Mr. Rooney returned to Westfield Township, rented a farm, and in 1869 bought a place in Freedom Township. In 1885 he came to the farm he now owns near Baraboo, buying fifteen acres within the corporation limits of that city.
Mr. Rooney is independent in political matters. He is a loyal and popular member of John Fowler Post of the Grand Army of the Re- public in North Freedom Township.
On May 24, 1869, he married Miss Sarah M. Lamb, who was born in Huron County, Ohio, March 10, 1846, a daughter of James Chauncey and Abbie (Petteys) Lamb. In 1857 the Lamb family came to Freedom Township, in Sauk County, and located in the midst of the heavy woods. Mrs. Rooney's father developed a farm from a portion of the wilder- ness but subsequently sold this property and he and his wife spent their last years in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rooney, where her mother died in 1887 and her father in 1889. Mrs. Rooney was the second of three children. Her brother George D. died at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1864, just one month after he had enlisted for service in the Union army. Her sister Emma died December 20, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Rooney have two children. Edward James, still living on the farm with his parents, married Theresa Picker. Their four sons, grandsons of Mr. and Mrs. Rooney, are named Sylvan J., Arthur M., Harold Leo Frank, and Lloyd Henry. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rooney is Alice M., wife of Edward J. Curry, now head machinist in the woolen mills at Baraboo. Mr. and Mrs. Curry have a son, Rollo Mckinley.
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