USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 42
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George E. Premo grew up and attended the schools of Merrimack Township, and lived at home until he was twenty-one. In 1883 he married Carrie Lappla, daughter of Peter and Christina (Zerbel) Lappla. His mother came from Stettine, Germany. Peter Lappla and wife located in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County. To Mr. and Mrs. Premo were born three children. Lewis, the oldest, died at the age of seventeen. Charity is the wife of L. E. Utter, who is engaged in the lumber business with his brother-in-law, W. E. Cooper, at Nashotah, Wisconsin. They have two children. The youngest child, Gertrude, is unmarried and lives at home with her parents.
After his marriage Mr. Premo moved out to Minnesota and was a farmer at Pipestone eight years. He next moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and remained there twelve years, when he returned to Sauk County. Mr. Premo has been a, permanent resident of Sauk County for the past eighteen years. For a number of years he lived on the old Walter Flanders property, but six years ago he sold that place and bought the property he now owns and occupies. For the past thirteen years Mr. Premo has been driving the mail wagon on rural route No. 2. He is a member of the Mystic Workers at Merrimack, and his wife belongs to the Degree of Honor at Duluth, Minnesota. Mrs. Premo is a member of the Methodist Church. In politics Mr. Premo is a republican. His suc- cess in life is due to good management as well as hard work, and he is now enjoying a home and prosperity such as none could justly begrudge him.
JOHN T. CLAVADATSCHER. The Clavadatscher family have been iden- tified with Sauk County for fully seventy years. They helped reclaim a portion of the wilderness and their lives have always been significant of industry, energy and a high degree of civic pride and honor.
The family was founded here by Nicholas Clavadatscher, who was born in Switzerland in 1812. He came to America in 1847 and located in the Township of Prairie du Sac, where he found himself in a virtual wilderness and was one of the first to subdue the forest and plant crops in the land. In 1846, in Switzerland, he married Catherine Meisser, who was born in 1822.
Nicholas Clavadatscher came to Sauk City the same year that Mil- waukee was incorporated. He bought 120 acres of raw land in Prairie
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du Sac Township and went through all the pioneer experiences involved in clearing, building a house and other shelters, and in raising crops and stock. For a number of years he used oxen to drag the plow across the fields and to haul his produce to Milwaukee. Later the market was changed to Madison. Prices were exceedingly low and the farmer had very little to show for his hard work until about the time of the Civil war. After developing his first farm Nicholas Clavadatscher sold it and bought 270 acres in Troy Township. This was chiefly timber and was valuable only for lumber and pasture. In course of time he had much of it developed and under cultivation. Nicholas Clavadatscher was a good old pioneer of Sauk County and died in 1903, his widow passing away in 1904. They were the parents of five children: Tobias, the oldest, has been a merchant at Baraboo for half a century. He married and had a family of three children: Kate L., who died in Baraboo in 1896, the wife of Philip Cramer; Lena, the wife of E. D. Scales, a part- ner in the Clavadatscher store; and Pearl, wife of J. M. Donahue, a locomotive engineer living at Baraboo. The second child of Nicholas Clavadatscher and wife is Mr. John Clavadatscher, mentioned in the following paragraph. Martin died on the old homestead in Troy Town- ship in 1914. Christian died at the age of eighteen. Catherine is the wife of Rev. John Schneller, of Tomah, Wisconsin.
John Clavadatscher was born in Troy Township and for many years actively followed farming. In 1902 he left his farm and has since re- sided in the Village of Prairie du Sac. He began his independent career on a farm adjoining that of his father and his agricultural enterprise was directed on one body of land until he retired. He married Barbara Schneller and they had four children: John T .; Kate, wife of J. B. Myer; Anna, who died unmarried four years ago; Nicholas, who died in infancy.
The present owner and occupant of the John Clavadatscher farm in Troy Township is John T. Clavadatscher, who was born on that farm in 1877. He grew up and received his education in the local schools and in 1903 married Miss Lona Wintermantel, a daughter of George Winter- mantel, of Honey Creek Township. Mrs. Clavadatscher taught school for eight years before her marriage and became a cultured and very capable homemaker. They have one child, Evangeline, born in 1905, and now a student in the public schools.
In 1903, after his father retired, John T. Clavadatscher took pos- session of the home place and now has a fine estate of 145 acres, which he devotes to general farming and dairying. Politically he is a repub- lican and his family are members of the Evangelical Church. Mrs. Clavadatscher passed away in July, 1916.
JOHN ALEXANDER. While it is not an uncommon sight in Sauk County, a thoroughly improved farm and herds of sleek cattle inevitably attract attention and favorable comment, and there are few better properties or finer herds than those owned by John Alexander, teacher, farmer and stockraiser, of Greenfield Township. With acre after acre of cultivated field and rich pasture land stretching as far as the eye can reach, with sleek cattle and wholesome appearing stock of all kinds
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maturing under the best of conditions and methods, and with abundant provision made for care and protection in the way of substantial struc- tures of modern type, the visitor may see in all these what real scientific agriculture means to a wide-awake, intelligent and progressive man, such as is John Alexander, owner of the Allswell Dairy Farm.
John Alexander belongs to one of the prominent old families of Sauk County and was born in Freedom Township November 17, 1867, a son of Henry Alexander, extended mention of whom will be found in this work. He was reared on his father's farm and was educated in the country schools and the high school at Reedsburg. Other interests than farming claimed him for some time afterward, teaching school accept- ably for some years and afterward serving for eight years as a railway mail clerk. During this period, however, he had never entirely separated himself from that inherent love of the soil, which undoubtedly is an inherent quality in those who became truly successful agriculturists, and this resulted in his purchasing a farm in Freedom Township, and in 1905 an additional purchase in Greenfield Township of what is now his home place, the Allswell Dairy Farm, situated two miles east of Bara- boo. Here Mr. Alexander has become a heavy breeder of stock, notably of Poland China hogs, and makes a specialty of breeding Holstein cattle, and in his herd of sixty-one animals may be found some of the most attractive specimens in the state, rich in the best blood lines of the breed. Mr. Alexander's land is well adapted to both general farming and to carrying on his large stock of dairy interests. He has been lavish in expenditure in the way of improvements, adopting modern ideas in his structure building, an evidence of this being a magnificent barn, one of the largest ever constructed in the county, its dimensions being 176 by 36 feet. He has also built two great cement silos, all his operations being carried on on a large scale and in an up-to-date manner.
In 1899 Mr. Alexander was married to Miss Lydia Schluter, who was born in Washington Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Charles Schluter, now of Reedsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Alex- ander have five children, namely: Percy H., Beatrice Lydia, Hazel Irene, Clinton John and Mildred. The family belong to the Congrega- tional Church and have a pleasant social acquaintance that extends over the county. Their home is one of great hospitality.
Mr. Alexander has always been identified with the republican party and has been an important factor in politics both in Freedom and Green- field Townships and at times has served in township offices, being as- sessor and chairman of the Freedom Township board and also very actively concerned in educational matters in the two townships, serving on the school board in both, and as clerk of the board in Freedom Town- ship. He is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company of Baraboo, and has other interests. He belongs entirely to the modern school of farmers, keeping abreast of the times in all that concerns his profession, for profession it is, being ever on the alert for new ideas and having the sound judgment that enables him to adapt them to his own needs. His example and success are not lost in his neighborhood, his influence resulting in considerable desirable emu- lation.
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CHRISTOPHER AUGUST ZUCH. One of the successful farmers and stockraisers of Sauk County is Christopher August Zuch, who is the owner of the old Zuch homestead situated in Greenfield Township. Mr. Zuch is one of the leading citizens of his township and is well known all over the county. He was born in Greenfield Township, March 29, 1884. His parents were Gustav and Barbara (Habecker) Zuch, both natives of Germany, the father born January 9, 1846, and the mother on August 23, 1849.
Gustav Zuch came to Sauk County in 1872. He had served for three years in the German army and during that time had taken part in many important military movements but had never suffered from any material injuries. He was a young man when he came to Wisconsin and was mar- ried November 9, 1874, to Barbara Habecker, who had come alone to Sauk County. Mr. Zuch soon purchased forty acres of uncleared land located in Greenfield Township and to this later added another forty acres, and was occupied during the rest of his active live in improving his property. He was industrious, quiet and frugal and at the time of death, on February 7, 1914, was respected and esteemed throughout the township. In politics he was a democrat but was never very active in political matters, and all his life was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church. The same might be said as to high regard in the home neigh- borhood of his wife, who survived until in April, 1915. She was a care- ful, self-sacrificing mother and the kindest of neighbors. They reared a large family of sons and daughters and they also belong to the town- ship's best citizenship. Of these Christopher August was the seventh in order of birth, the others being: Emma, Susie, Lizzie, Anna, Chris- tian, Edward, Otto and Fred Charles.
Christopher A. Zuch has always lived on the old home place, which he purchased in 1912. He carries on general farming and stockraising in modern, progressive ways, and has the satisfaction of seeing his well cultivated acres yield up to expectation and his various kinds of stock bring him handsome profits. Mr. Zuch was educated in the public schools and is a sensible, broad-minded man and as such has been chosen at times by his fellow citizens to serve in public office. During his term as road overseer there were no complaints about the highways in Green- field Township.
Mr. Zuch was married November 26, 1908, to Miss Tilla Jahn, who was born in Greenfield Township and is a daughter of Herman and Dora (Wendt) Jahn, both of whom were born in Germany. In 1880 they came to Dodge County, Wisconsin, and later to Sauk County, and now own a farm of 200 acres in Greenfield Township, where he carries on an extensive business in breeding Holstein cattle. He is a prominent man in the township, of which he has been assessor for some years and is serving also on the school board. Mr. John is a member of the Lutheran Church. His children are as follows: Minnie, Tilla, Otto, William, Louise, Helen, Dora, Hulda, Herbert and Ada, all of whom are living.
Mr. and Mrs. Zuch have two children, Irvin and Eleanora. Without doubt these children will have excellent school and social advantages
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and is equally certain that they will be carefully reared in the Lutheran faith, to which church both parents belong.
Fred Charles Zuch, the youngest brother of Christopher A. Zuch, was born in Greenfield Township, Sauk County, in July, 1889. He obtained his education in the public schools and afterward worked for three years at the carpenter trade. In 1911 he bought the Michael Steckmann farm of seventy acres, situated in Greenfield Township, and since then has made a specialty of breeding Duroc Jersey hogs, and, like his older brother, has been successful in his undertaking. Politically he is a democrat, but has not served in office, although well qualified. In 1912 he was married to Miss Louisa Waters, who was born at Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, and they have one daughter, Gladys, who was born July 11, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Zuch are members of the Lutheran Church.
PAUL SCHNELLER did his part as a productive worker in Sauk County through farming for thirty years on the old homestead in Troy Town- ship, and is now living with the comforts of town in Prairie du Sac.
Mr. Schneller is a native son of Sauk County, and represents that sterling Swiss element which has had so much to do with the develop- ment of the country from pioneer days. He was born in Troy Township February 1, 1858. His father, John Schneller, was born in Switzerland in 1809 and immigrated to America in 1849. He located in Troy Town- ship of Sauk County and developed a tract of land which he had secured direct from the Government. That land is still owned by his family. He was a hard working and prosperous citizen and lived a long and useful career. His death occurred in 1890. He married Anna Bueler, and they became the parents of eight children: Peter, Leonard, Jacob, George, John, Paul, Barabara and one that died in infancy.
The old homestead which was the scene of his youthful pleasures and joys was also the farm which Paul Schneller occupied for such a long period of years. He was reared and educated in Sauk County, and had been trained to methodical industry under the direction of his father. Though he farmed the old place for thirty years and is still vigorous and active, he moved to the Town of Prairie du Sac two years ago, his children in the meantime having grown up so as to be capable of looking after their own interests. Mr. Schneller spent three years as a member of the town board and four years on the school board. He and his family are active supporters of the Evangelical Church.
He was married January 1, 1881, to Miss Minnie Accole, who was born in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County July 16, 1860. Her parents were John and Fannie Meisser Accole, both natives of Switzer- land. They were born in the same year, 1829, and her mother died in 1885 and her father in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Schneller are the parents of four children: John E. and Dan B., both of whom are married ; Ella, wife of Walter Sprecher; and Edwin J., who is unmarried and is now secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Detroit, Michigan.
MRS. R. B. BARRY, widow of the late R. B. Barry, is a resident of Merrimack Township, where she and her family and their connections
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have been since pioneer times. She is a member of the Roll family, and the Rolls and Barrys did their part in cleaning up the land and fitting this locality for the uses of civilization.
Mrs. Barry was born in Sauk County, in the Township of Honey Creek, in 1863, and is a daughter of Andrew and Julia (Solliguer) Roll. Her mother was a native of France and her father of Germany. Andrew Roll and Julia Solliguer came to New York about 1846 on the same vessel, and were married in New York City about a year after they landed. Two years later they moved West to Galena, Illinois, and after two years in that city on the Mississippi River they moved to Sauk City on the Wisconsin River, and took up a farm in Honey Creek Town- ship about 1852. Andrew Roll was successfully identified with farming in that locality until his death in 1865, at the age of fifty-two. For ten years after his death his widow and children continued to live on the farm, then removed to Sauk City for two years and from there to Prairie du Sac, where the mother died in 1880. Andrew Roll and wife had nine children : Andrew; George, a resident of California, who married Vina Werrich, and has two children, Bertha and George; John, also a resi- dent of California, who married Emma Runge; Julia, who is the wife of Henry Ferber, of West Allis, their three children being Felix, a resi- dent on the old home farm, Freda, a teacher at West Allis, and Robert, a druggist in West Allis; Frank, Felix O. and Robert B., all of whom are residents of California; Mrs. R. B. Barry; and Elisa, deceased. Elisa was a graduate nurse, having graduated from the Cook County and Presbyterian Hospitals in Chicago, and afterwards spent three years in the University of Wisconsin. .
Mrs. Barry grew up and received her education in Sauk County, and taught until her marriage in 1887 to Mr. R. B. Barry. Mrs. Barry has three children: Stella, who acquired her early education in Sauk County and afterwards took training in the Madison General Hospital ; Linda, a graduate of the Prairie du Sac High School and now teaching in Cazenovia; and David, in the third year of his high school course.
The late R. B. Barry was born in Dane County, Wisconsin, in 1857, a son of David and Mary (Joyce) Barry, both of whom were natives of Ireland. His parents were married in Massachusetts and had three chil- dren : Margaret, who is the wife of Henry Kelley, of Portage, Wiscon- sin, and their two children, Mary and James, are both deceased; James, who died in 1887 ; and Richard B. Barry, who died in 1910. Mr. Barry's parents located in Sauk County in 1865 and bought the tract of land where Mrs. Barry now lives. They lived on that old farm until 1887, when they moved to Portage, and the management of the farm was left in the hands of their son Richard, who steadily worked the place and made a success as a farmer. He continued actively in that pursuit until his death and Mrs. Barry and her children have since looked after the farm and she has shown great business capability in doing so.
The late Mr. Barry was chairman of the Board of Supervisors for several years and was clerk and assessor at different times. He was affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and was a democrat in politics. He belonged to the Catholic Church. Mr. Barry before engag- ing in farming had taught school for six years and left that occupation
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to enter the business in which he made his chief success, general farming and stockraising.
Mrs. Barry's grandfather, John Roll, also lived in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County about ten years, and died there in 1867, when ninety-six years of age. He was also a farmer.
JOHN F. HAMBURG is one of the progressive and thrifty farmers of Baraboo Township, and largely by his own exertions has developed his land and put many of the improvements upon it which mark it out among the homesteads of this vicinity. Besides his interests as a farmer he is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company of Baraboo.
Mr. Hamburg was born in Westfield Township of Sauk County September 19, 1879. He is a son of Henry and Margaret (Carstons) Hamburg. His parents were born and married in Germany and in 1877 came to Sauk County. His father was a man of great energy and in- dustry but arrived in America with very limited capital. For about two years he worked for day wages, and then bought a farm near the county line, four miles and a half southwest of Reedsburg. This old home- stead is now owned and occupied by his son, Henry, Jr. Henry Ham- burg and wife removed to Baraboo in 1915, and are now living in that city retired. Their seven children were: Ernest, John F., Tillie, Albert, Emma, Freda and Henry.
John F. Hamburg grew up on his father's farm near Reedsburg, attended the public schools there, and by his early experience was well trained for the vocation of farming and husbandry when he started his individual career. In 1907 he bought his present farm in Baraboo Township. This comprises eighty acres of rich and fertile land and is situated three miles south of the county seat. Besides general farming Mr. Hamburg is doing well as a breeder of Red Polled cattle and of Rhode Island Red chickens. He is looked upon as something of an authority on these two branches of stock husbandry. Politically he is a republican and he and his wife are active members of the Lutheran Church, his parents being of the same denomination.
Mr. Hamburg was married in Baraboo Township February 22, Washington's birthday, 1905, to Miss Freda Schubring, of Baraboo Township. Her father, August Schubring, died a number of years ago and her mother is now Mrs. Henry Bittrich of Baraboo Township. Mr. and Mrs. Hamburg have two children : Norma and John Henry.
NELSON W. MORLEY is one of the oldest surviving pioneers of Sauk County and is still enjoying a vigorous old age at his home in Baraboo. The chief secret of a long life, health and prosperity is hard work coupled with a cheerful and even disposition. Mr. Morley could account for his unusual success by hard work, and he is still a worker though eighty-six years of age. He can still handle the axe with some of the old-time energy which he employed in hewing out a farm from the wilderness of Sauk County sixty or more years ago.
Mr. Morley was born in Lake County, Ohio, January 2, 1831. Lake County is in the Western Reserve of Ohio. Much the greater part of the
Adaline . Morley
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early population of the Western Reserve was composed of New Eng- landers, chiefly from Connecticut. Mr. Morley's people were early settlers in the Reserve and all of them possessed the substantial virtues of the New England character. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Morley, came with his wife and children in 1814 from Massachusetts to Lake County, Ohio, and spent the rest of their years there, being highly esteemed in the community where they lived. Mr. Morley's maternal grandfather was Habel Russell, who came out from Connecticut to Lake County, Ohio, also in pioneer days. Nelson W. Morley is a son of Thomas and Lillis (Russell) Morley, his father a native of Greenfield, Massa- chusetts, and his mother of Connecticut. They were married in Lake County, Ohio, and the mother died there in 1852, They had a family of seven children, namely: Russell Lyman, who was an early settler in Sauk County and died in 1853; Isaac, who served as the first county superintendent of Sauk County ; Alvin, who died at New Buffalo, Michi- gan; Harriet, who died leaving no family; Thomas M .; Nelson W .; and Ralsa, who also eame to Sauk County. The father of these children was a farmer by occupation, as nearly all the members of the family had been for generations. He spent nearly all his life in Lake County, Ohio, but most of his children settled in Sauk County, Wisconsin. He made a visit among them, but .subsequently decided to spend his last years in his home county of Ohio, where he died lacking only a few months of being ninety-three years of age. All his children except Nelson were successful teachers at some time in their careers, and all of them developed strong traits of character and were useful in their respective spheres and hardly any family name in Sauk County possesses more associations with thrift and general well being.
Nelson W. Morley grew up on his father's farm in Lake County, Ohio, and had a good education, though it was not composed of the liberal advantages enjoyed by present school children. He took up farm- ing, and from the first was especially interested in horses. In 1852 he was awarded a fine medal at the Ohio State Fair for the best gelding exhibited at Cleveland. That medal he still has in his possession 'and cherishes it with special pride. Not long after this, in 1852, he came to Sauk County, Wisconsin. His brother Thomas had come to the county the preceding year, and taught a term of school on ground now occupied by the high school building in Baraboo. Thomas Morley did not remain a resident of Sauk County.
Mr. Nelson Morley on coming to the county bought a farm in Baraboo Township and spent many industrious years in clearing and developing it. Part of the land and the old homestead is now owned and occupied by his son Frank. As a farmer and stockman Mr. Morley was easily a leader in Sauk County and he acquired a large amount of land which he subsequently divided among his children. These children now comprise a group of farming people among the most progressive in the county.
For the stimulation and development of Sauk County's dairy interests perhaps no one man deserves more credit than Mr. Morley. As far back as 1876 the butter from his dairy won a substantial prize when exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. A bronze medal and diplomas which were awarded Mr. Morley are filed in the Museum of the
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