USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 46
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Albert Percy Steele, the youngest of his parents' children, was born on the farm where his father was raised in Delton Township October 22, 1885, and has seldom for any extended time been away from the scene of his birth and childhood. While learning the practical problems of farming, he attended the school in the Steele District, and since beginning his independent career has successfully farmed sixty acres of his grandfather's estate. He is doing well as a general farmer and stockraiser and has made a capable citizen and enterprising worker for the welfare of the community. Like his father he has served on the Steele School District Board and in politics is a republican.
July 9, 1907, he married Miss Josie St. John. She was born at Lime Ridge, Sauk County, May 29, 1886, a daughter of Herman and Melissa (Smith) St. John. Her parents came to Sauk County in an early day. She was only a child when her mother died and her father is still living in Minnesota. Mrs. Steele was reared in the home of her uncle and aunt, S. Z. and Rachel Hudson, at Ironton, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have one son, Milton Lorenzo, born May 27, 1908.
EDWARD ROBSON. Fortunate it is that so large a proportion of the steady, substantial men of a state and county turn their talents and energies to the business of farming. A farmer's life is certainly the most independent of all others, but it by no means is the least laborious, even in modern times when perfected machinery can be procured for the most toilsome tasks. Wonderful as some of this farm machinery is, there must be back of its great exhibition of energy, a man's mature Vol. II-23
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judgment and observing eye as to climate, weather changes, seed, soil, crop rotation and markets, together with the hundred other important bits of knowledge that will make the difference between the successful farmer and the one who never gets ahead. For three generations the Robson family has prospered as farmers in Troy and other townships in Sauk County, Wisconsin, a present representative being Edward Robson, one of Troy Township's leading citizens.
Edward Robson was born in this township March 24, 1862. His parents, Samuel and Elizabeth (Lonsdale) Robson, were born in Eng- land. His paternal grandparents, William and Phoebe Robson, came to the United States with their children in the '50s and settled in Troy Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, where the grandfather engaged in farming. His children, all of whom were born in England, were as follows: Samuel; Richard, John, Henry and Thomas, all of whom are deceased; Phoebe, who became Mrs. Relly; Jane, who married a Wyman; Laura, who married James Austin; and Eliza, who married Lancing Hildreth, of Madison.
Samuel Robson was educated in the schools of his native land and was twenty years old when he came to Wisconsin. He settled first in Blackhawk Township, Sauk County, in the year of his marriage, and then moved to Troy Township and in 1867 bought a farm near Edward Robson's present farm. His first purchase was of 40 acres and to that he continued to add as opportunity came until he had 300 acres, all fine, well cultivated land. On that place Samuel Robson resided until 1913, when he retired and moved to Spring Green, where he still lives, a very highly esteemed resident of the village. His wife passed away in 1913. They had eleven children, namely: Edward; Mirta, who is the wife of Harry Finney and lives at Spring Green; George, who lives with his family in Kansas; William, who is married, and lives on the old homestead ; Alpheus, who is deceased; Irving, who lives at Madison ; Silas, who lives with his family on the place adjoining that of Edward; Walter, who married Lizzie Jenson and lives in Iowa; Elsie, who is Mrs. John Hyett, of Spring Green, Wisconsin; and one who died in infancy.
Edward Robson was reared in Troy Township and attended school here and assisted his father until he was twenty-one years old, when lie started out for himself. For five years he followed farming in Bear Creek Township and then bought the farm in Troy Township on which he still lives, a tract of 240 acres. Mr. Robson may well take pride in this magnificent farm, all well cultivated and well improved as the result of his own industry. He erected all of the substantial farm buildings and they compare favorably with all others in the township. He carries on general farming, stockraising and dairying, these indus- tries being probably of more importance in the United States at present than ever before. He is considered a capable farmer, a fine judge of stock and conducts his dairy according to sanitary regulations.
Mr. Robson was married in his twenty-fifth year to Miss Bertha Becker, who is a daughter of Fred and Mary Becker, and they have six children : Forrest and Jennie, who were born in Bear Creek Town- ship, Sauk County; Gladys and Minnie, who were born in Bear Creek
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Township ; and Gordon and Howard, who were born in Troy Township. All the children were educated in the Troy Township schools and at Spring Green. Mr. Robson's father served two terms on the township school board and Mr. Robson himself served three years as clerk of the board, all the Robsons being interested in educational matters and as a family intelligent and well informed. Mr. Robson is a stockholder in the Hickory Hill Cheese Factory, a prospering enterprise of this section that is supoprted by the leading farmers and dairymen of this part of the county. With his family Mr. Robson belongs to the Congregational Church at Spring Green and contributes to the good work it is engaged in promoting. He belongs to the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America at Spring Green.
JOHN M. PADDOCK is one of the older native sons of Sauk County, and has spent practically his entire life within a few miles of the City of Baraboo. His work has been that of a farmer and with the prosperity accumulated through years of earnest toil he is now practically retired.
He was born in Baraboo Township, a mile from the county seat, June 5, 1859, a son of George W. and Ann (Marsh) Paddock. On both sides the families were represented as pioneers in this section of Wis- consin. George W. Paddock was born in New York State in 1818, and was an early settler in McHenry County, Illinois, and from there came to Baraboo in 1852. He was a practical sawmill man and spent his entire career in that industry. For a time he worked in a sawmill owned by his brother Nathan Paddock, and was also employed by Charles Waterman and John McCalf, both well known old lumbermen of the county. From the time he was eighteen years old he was a sawmill laborer and continued in that industry until he was seventy. He then retired and died in this county in 1901. He was married in Sauk County to Miss Ann Marsh, who was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1819 and died in Sauk County in 1882.
Ann Marsh was a daughter of Joshua and Susan (Parmeter) Marsh, who located in Milwaukee about 1840, subsequently removed to Lake County, Illinois, where Susan Marsh died, and in 1847 Joshua Marsh came to Sauk County, where he became identified with the frontier conditions and where he lived until his death in 1864. Joshua Marsh and wife had eleven children, named John, Margaret, Peleg, Alexander, Mary, Susan, Laura, Joshua, Ann, Abbie and Edward.
In this connection mention should be made of one of these chil- dren, Abbie Marsh, who was born in Nova Scotia, May 4, 1830, and is still living in Sauk County at the age of eighty-seven. She married Henry Willard, who was born at Chenango in Madison County, New York, August 15, 1826. Mr. Willard came to Sank County in 1852, and was chiefly identified with lumbering. For eight years he mined in Colorado, but in 1862 returned to Sank County and lived here until his death, an honored old resident, in 1892. He was a son of Rufus and Eliza Warren Willard, who were early day settlers in Illinois, and from there went out to California, conducted a fruit farm, and died at Napa in 1875. Mrs. Eliza Willard had, however, died in Illinois in 1856. The children of Henry Willard and wife were two in number,
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Ella and Emma. Emma was born in Lake County, Illinois, October 3, 1849, and in 1871 she married Nathan F. Sherman. Mr. Sherman was born in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, June 14, 1849, a son of Nathan and Cynthia (Scott) Sherman, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Connecticut. They were married in New York State and in 1847 removed to Rock County, Wisconsin, and from there to Jeffer- son County in 1849, and in 1855 to Vernon County. Cynthia Sherman died in Vernon County about 1878, and ten years later her husband removed to Sauk County, and died there in 1889, at the age of eighty- nine. Nathan F. Sherman is a farmer in Baraboo Township, a republi- can and an Odd Fellow. He and his wife have three children: Willard, born January 30, 1872; Bevie, born January 13, 1875; and Ray, born October 6, 1876.
Returning now to the Paddock family history, George W. Paddock and wife were the parents of six children : Leonard; Benjamin; Arthur ; Charles, deceased; John; and Albert. Their father was a very active republican and a member of the Baptist Church.
John M. Paddock grew up near Baraboo, attended the public schools and his first teacher was Rose Clark, now Mrs. Rilsa Morley. When he attained the age of twenty-one Mr. Paddock took up the business of brick manufacturing, and followed that industry for twenty-four con- secutive years. In the meantime he had acquired farming interests and has given his time to that vocation largely. Mr. Paddock owns at his home, 21/4 miles west of Baraboo, a well improved little place of twenty acres, and also has eighty acres near the old homestead. Mr. Paddock's farın is now under the managment of his son Fred J.
Politically he voted with the republican party for many years but lately has been a prohibitionist in sentiment and in action. He and his wife and the children are all members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
In 1887 he married Miss Ella Brennier, who was born in Baraboo Township, a daughter of John Brennier, one of the pioneer farmers of Baraboo Township. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock have two children: Fred J., who was educated in the Baraboo public schools, being a graduate of the high school, and is now active manager of his father's farm; and Ella, who graduated from the Baraboo High School and the Bara- boo Business College, taught school two terms, has had two years of correspondence school work and is now a capable stenographer employed at Chicago.
JOHN R. RICHES. Some of the finest soil and some of the best crops and livestock in Sauk County are found on. the farm of John Riches in Troy Township. Mr. Riches is a very capable farmer and business man and has spent all the days of his life in this county.
He was born in Troy Township in 1861, a son of Robert and Chris- tina (Burgha) Riches. His father was born in England and his mother in Switzerland. His father died about twenty years ago.
John R. Riches grew up and received his education in Troy Town- ship and then worked for his father on the homestead until he was twenty-five, when he married and started out for himself. After the
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death of his parents he acquired the homestead and has utilized its fertile acres for general farming and stock raising. At the present time he owns 500 acres of valuable land.
Mr. Riches married Abbie Meyer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Meyer, residents of Prairie du Sac Township. The six children born to their union are all still living. Anna is the wife of Walter Maely, of Prairie du Sac Township; Robert is unmarried and is still at home on the farm; Lona married Edwin Maely and lives in Prairie du Sac Township; Mabel is at home; Cora is also at home; Olive is attending the Prairie du Sac High School.
Mr. Riches has always taken much interest in public schools and other affairs of his locality and for many years was on the school board. His children were educated in the township and in the high school of Prairie du Sac. He is a republican in politics and he and his family are members of the Reformed Church at Sauk City.
WILLIAM FINGERHUTH. That agricultural industries succeed so well in Sauk County may be attributed in some degree to climate and to soil, but mainly to the fact that at the present day the big farms, the fine stock and the dairy interests are largely in the hands of men of farm experience who have been trained in the business since boyhood and understand how to make these industries profitable through their intelligent management. An example may be found in William Finger- huth, whose fine stock, dairy and grain farm is situated in Troy Township.
William Fingerhuth was born in Spring Green Township, Sank County, Wisconsin, in 1876. His parents are Henry and Mary Finger- huth. The father resides at Black Hawk, Wisconsin, now comfortably retired from active life. The mother died in 1901. They were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1860, settling in Sauk County, Wisconsin. The father took up eight acres of land in Spring Green Township. It was wild land that had never known the plow and it took years of hard work to clear it and transform it into a paying farm. Henry Fingerhuth persevered and prospered and continued to reside on that place until 1912. Then he built a comfortable residence in Black Hawk and is highly esteemed in that village. To Henry and Mary Fingerhuth twelve children were born, as follows: Henry, who is a resident of Chicago; Edward, who died when aged seventeen years; Lewis, who lives at Highland, Wisconsin : Albert; William; August, who is a resi- dent of La Crosse, Wisconsin ; Otto, who lives at Highland; Robert, who is a resident of Watertown, South Dakota; Carl, who died when aged thirteen years; Samuel, who is a farmer in Spring Green Town- ship; Ida, who is the wife of Herman Homouth and lives at Cadotte in Chippewa County, Wisconsin ; and Arthur. All the children survive except the two above noted and all went to school in Troy Township.
William Fingerhuth remained with his father until he was twenty- one years of age. At twenty-five years of age he married and began farming for himself, and two years afterward bought 146 acres of land in Troy Township. This land he has put under a high state of culti- vation and successfully carries on general farming, stockraising and
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dairying and is realizing satisfactory profits from his operations. In all he does he is thorough, whether, it is in the feeding and manage- ment of his stock or in deciding on soil and subsoil in regard to crops or in considering the great subject of drainage. In addition to his farm interests he is a stockholder in one of the big packing companies at Madison. He is level-headed and cautious as a business man and honest and friendly as a neighbor.
Mr. Fingerhuth was married in 1901 to Miss Anna Meng, who is a daughter of Jacob and Anna Margaret (Thoeing) Meng, who came to the United States from Switzerland and have lived in Sauk County since youth. Mr. and Mrs. Fingerhuth have one son, Roy William. As a family they belong to the Evangelical Church, and in politics he is a republican. He has served three years on the township school board.
AUGUST MARTINY. Eighty years of age, still active and hale in spite of the burden of years, August Martiny is one of the oldest and most admired citizens of Sauk County. It has been his lot to witness practically all the development of the county during the past fifty years and he lived in close contact with frontier conditions and frontier peoples. His interest in life is undimmed, and while most of his con- temporaries have long since been laid to rest, he takes a keen interest in all that goes about him. For a number of years he has lived prac- tically retired in a suburban home adjoining the City of Baraboo.
Mr. Martiny is a native of Belgium, born December 21, 1837. His parents were John and Mary (Balon) Martiny, both of whom spent their lives in Belgium. His mother died in November, 1855, and his father on January 2, 1857. There were seven children: Claude, still living in Belgium; Antoinette, who died in infancy; August; Katrine, of Belgium; Victorine, who is living in Waupaca County, Wisconsin ; Celestine, who died at Baraboo in 1905, at the age of fifty-eight; and John, still living in Baraboo.
August Martiny grew up in Belgium, had his education in that country, and for three years he was a soldier of the regular army. Fresh from that experience and training he immigrated to America in 1861, landing at New York City on the 20th of May. The Civil war had been in progress only a few weeks, and it was perhaps no more than natural that the young Belgian should be attracted into the Union army. On September 13, 1861, he enlisted in Company A of the Eighty- fifth New York Infantry, and remained in service four years, until his honorable discharge on July 15, 1865. He made a record as a soldier which his descendants will always cherish.
The fall of 1865 found Mr. Martiny at Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he remained about three months. In March, 1866, fifty-one years ago, he arrived at Baraboo, and with what he had been able to earn and save from his wages as a soldier he bought seventy acres of land in Baraboo Township. For this land, then raw and unimproved, he paid $1,200, and he subsequently bought forty-two acres for $210. As a farmer Mr. Martiny was busily engaged in converting his waste lands. into productive fields and he lived on his farm for thirty-four consecu- tive years. In 1895 he came to Baraboo and built a comfortable resi-
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dence for his retired years. In 1912 he sold his farm. Mr. Martiny has always done his duty as a good citizen, and in politics is a republi- can with strong leanings toward the prohibition cause. For eleven years he was a member of the school board. His church is the Methodist Episcopal.
On May 5, 1868, Mr. Martiny married Miss Jane Wilder. She was born at St. John in Lake County, Indiana, March 15, 1848, a daughter of Riley and Harriet (Caldwell) Wilder. Riley Wilder was born near Ashtabula, Ohio, September 17, 1826, while his wife was born in Ver- mont July 4, 1830. Riley was a son of Reuben and Jane Wilder, who canie from Ohio and became early settlers and pioneers in Lake County, Indiana. Harriet Caldwell also came with her parents, John and Minerva (Hill) Caldwell, to Lake County, Indiana, and her parents subsequently settled in Sauk County, in Baraboo Township, where both of them spent their last years on a farm. Riley Wilder and wife were married in Lake County, Indiana, and in 1852 came to Sauk County with wagons and teams, taking up Government land in Baraboo Town- ship near where August Mahoney now lives. They were a splendid type of people for this pioneer community, and besides developing their land they were good neighbors and sustained all the movements for betterment in their community. They spent their last years in Bara- boo, where Mrs. Martiny's mother died in 1904. Her father died in 1907. having spent his last years with Mr. and Mrs. Martiny. Mrs. Martiny was the oldest of nine children, the others being named Reuben, Augusta, Mary, John, Martha, Frank (now deceased), Fred and Almon. Mr. and Mrs: Martiny have six children : Riley, mentioned else- where : Ellen, wife of Adelbert Wickus, of Baraboo; Charles, who lives in Colorado; Mary, wife of William Britten, of Minnesota; Hattie, deceased ; and Nellie, wife of C. C. Cowles.
Mr. Martiny is now living just outside the limits of Baraboo in Baraboo Township, a fine home surrounded with five acres of land, which furnishes him ample occupation for his declining years. This land is valued at four hundred dollars an acre and altogether it con- stitutes a model suburban estate. The family are looking forward to a happy reunion and celebration of the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Martiny, which, should they live, will occur May 5, 1918. Mr. Martiny has many interesting recollections of life in Sauk County covering a period of fifty years. He says that he had shoes made for his children by Mr. Schultz, one of the pioneer shoemakers of Baraboo. This shoemaker was the father of Fred Schultz, now of Baraboo, and a well known citizen.
H. L. PECK is one of the veteran old timers of Sauk County, though for a number of years he lived in the far Northwest in Montana. He first knew Sauk County when he was a small boy, over sixty years ago, and he is still an active citizen of Merrimack Village, where for a num- ber of years he has conducted the leading dray line.
Mr. Peck was born in Ashtabula, Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1838, a son of J. W. and Harriet (Bennett) Peck. His father was born in Vermont in 1804, and was married in New York State, where his wife
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.
was born. For a few years they lived in Northeastern Ohio, and in 1848 they came to Wisconsin, which in that year was admitted to the Union. They lived in Walworth County until 1852, and then located in Sauk County, two miles north of the Village of Merrimack. Here the father bought eighty acres from John Dwinnell. It was raw and absolutely unimproved, and one of his first tasks was to erect some sort of shelter. This house consisted of only one room, but during the first year it had to accommodate the family of J. W. Peck and wife and eight children and also his brother and a sister. In course of time the land came under cultivation and improvement and the father spent the rest of his days there. He died in 1891, and his wife in 1878. Many of the experiences of the pioneer were his. His work animals for plowing
and hauling were oxen. When his farm gave him surplus produce he hauled it in wagons drawn by oxen to Portage. The ox wagon was even brought into use when the family went to church or attended funerals. In those days the doctor made his rounds on horseback, carrying his medicines in the saddle bags. J. W. Peck and wife had eight children. Ann died unmarried. Marie married O. Cooper, a lumber dealer at Merrimack, and both are now deceased. They left two children, Frank and Will. The third in age is Mr. H. L. Peck. Jane, who died in 1863, married Thomas Premo. Eliza married Phillip Quigle and is now deceased. George is married and lives with his family in Iowa. Mary died in 1916, the widow of James Morey. Samuel S., the youngest, lives in the town of Merrimack and was the father of five children, Birdie, Hattie, Phillip, J. and Rodney, Hattie and Rodney being now deceased.
H. L. Peck grew up in the primitive circumstances and surroundings of early Sauk County. He attended school in Merrimack Township and lived at home and assisted on the farm until he was twenty-four.
In 1864 he joined the expedition to the Northwest and to the newly opened territory of Montana. He drove across the country with an ox team, and remained a resident of Montana for seven years, living on a ranch and raising stock and also to some extent engaging in gen- eral farming. On December 10, 1870, he returned to his old home in Sauk County. His interests were still in Montana, but he was persuaded to remain here and for ten years he engaged in farming in Merrimack Township. In 1880 he returned to Montana, and after four years more in that state came back to Sauk County and bought the land where he now resides. He is now retired from active farming and for a number of years has been engaged in the dray business at Merrimack.
In 1876 Mr. Peck married Miss Harriet Lindsey, daughter of Alonzo and Martha (Dennett) Lindsey. Her parents lived for many years at Prairie du Sac, and are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Peck have one child, Jean, born in June, 1904, and now attending school. Mrs. Peck was born in New Hampshire in 1849, and was brought to the State of Wisconsin at the age of six years. Her parents located on Sauk Prairie, where she grew up and received her early education. After graduating from the Prairie du Sac High School she taught school four years. Her first term of school was taught when she was nineteen years of age in the Quigle District. Mrs. Peck has a brother and two sisters.
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MR. AND MRS. CHAUNCEY W. KELLOGG
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Rebecca is the wife of Peter Bennett, a farmer living at Wilmington, Virginia. George Albert resides at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and has three daughters, Martha, Hattie and Emma. Etta is the wife of Tim- othy S. Wells, a painter and paper hanger at Merrimack. Their two children are named Grace and Lysle, both still single.
Mr. Peck served twelve consecutive years as a member of the village board of Merrimack, finally resigning that office about a year ago. Politically he is a republican and the family are members of the Methio- dist Episcopal Church.
CHAUNCEY W. KELLOGG. The name of Kellogg has been identified with the history of Sauk County from early pioneer times. The late Chauncey. Warner Kellogg became a man of influence and leadership in the county while he lived there and enjoyed an enviable prominence due to his high character, his learning and his general ability.
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