USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 49
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Mrs. Teel was born in Broom County, New York, in 1844, and was brought to Sauk County at the age of twelve years by her parents, Charles and Ellen (Hoffman) Farington. Her parents were born in Dutchess County, New York, and were married in Poughkeepsie, and on coming to Sauk County located in Sumpter Township. About nine years later they moved out to the State of Iowa, but in 1884 returned to Sauk County and spent their last years where Mrs. Teel now resides. Her father died May 12, 1892, and her mother September 28, 1890.
Charles Teel's first wife was Miss Emma Cargil. Three children were born to them: Henry J. Teel, now of Milwaukee; Olive, now Mrs. George Grisim, of Northfield, Minnesota; and Frank, who died at the age of eighteen, when attending high school at Baraboo.
Mrs. Kate Farington Wilson was married in 1881 to Mr. Charles Teel. The two children of their union are both now deceased. The first died in infancy. The daughter Alta married Edwin Keitel, and she
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and her husband lived with Mrs. Teel on the farm. There is one child of that marriage, Shirley Catherine, who was born in 1910 and is a much beloved grandchild of Mrs. Teel. Mrs. Teel was first married to U. A. Wilson, and to that union was born one son, M. A. Wilson, now of Earl, North Dakota. He also has a son, Ivan A. Wilson.
Mr. Charles Teel was born in Ohio, May 24, 1832, a son of Henry Teel. He died at the old home in Sauk County, May 23, 1898, ať the age of sixty-six. In 1836 his parents moved to Helena, Wisconsin, and when he was eight years of age they came to Sauk Prairie and located on the place where Mrs. Teel now resides. This homestead was ac. quired direct from the Government and there Mr. Charles Teel spent his industrious years. The family first lived in a log house. The land was mostly prairie and the chief work animals in the early days were oxen. These animals hauled the wagons laden with grain and other produce to Milwaukee before railroads were constructed through this section. Mr. Teel's parents lived with him during their last years. His mother was born in Pennsylvania, February 9, 1786, and died October 2, 1882, at the remarkable age of ninety-seven years. Henry Teel died in 1856, when about sixty-nine years old. The family are all Metho- dists on both sides and both the Teels and Faringtons furnished numer- ous republican voters. Mr. Charles Teel was an honored resident of Sumpter Township and filled several local offices, including town clerk and member of the township board.
HUBERT BONGARD. The name of Hubert Bongard is one entitled to the high respect of the large community in Sauk County and to which he is bound by many ties made in the course of a long and useful life. He is one of Sauk County's oldest residents.
He was born in Germany, in 1823. In 1847 he married Gertrude Johnson. In the same year they set out for the New World, filled with high hopes of the future, and did not stop until they had penetrated the wilderness of Wisconsin into the Township of Prairie du Sac. Here Hubert Bongard took up seventy acres of Government land. After- wards he bought forty acres more, and the strength of his own arms sufficed to do the clearing and grubbing and also the erection of his own buildings. His first house was built of logs. He made his own chairs, even his own wagons. Oxen were used to perform the farm labor and he hauled his produce to Madison and Milwaukee, frequently . selling potatoes at ten cents a bushel or three dollars a load, whereas now a single bushel would bring as much as a load did at that time. Even with these low prices two full days were required to make the trip from his farm to and from Madison. He also experienced all the crude and early methods of farming, and did harvesting with cradle and scythe and gradually saw the introduction of the modern machinery which is now found in every farm in Sauk County.
On the old homestead he and his wife saw the birth of nine children. The first, Martin, died at the age of two years. The others all grew up in Prairie du Sac Township, and all of them married and are still living. Mary is the wife of Leonard Scheffer, living in Chicago; Josephine is Mrs. Lee Kechiner, of Chicago; Theodore is married and
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lives in Chicago; John is also a resident of that city; Martin has his home near Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. The seventh in the family is Mr. Carl Bongard. William and Bella, the youngest, are twins and the former lives near Chicago and the latter in that city.
Mr. Hubert Bongard lived on the old farm until he was about sixty years of age, when he retired into Sauk City. His good wife passed away there in 1903, and they had been married more than a half century. He then returned to the homestead and lived with his son Carl for two years and from there accompanied this son to Roxbury in Dane County. In the winter of 1916 he returned to Sauk County, where he is now passing his declining years, having attained the vener- able age of ninety-four.
Carl Bongard was married in 1887 to Elizabeth Knipscheld, daugh- ter of William and Frances (Koch) Knipscheld. Her parents were both born in Germany and were living in Merrimack Township of Sauk County when she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Bongard have eight children. William is married and lives in Roxbury. Frank is unmar- ried. Mary is the wife of William Frye, of Roxbury. Eugene, Bella and Clara, twins, Carl and Norbert, are all still young people and liv- ing at home. Carl Bongard at the age of twenty-five took the man- agement of his father's farm, renting it for a few years and then bought the homestead. After selling it he paid $16,000 for a large farm of 400 acres in Roxbury, improved it and with increasing values he sold out for $27,700. He then returned to Sauk City and bought the property where he now resides.
Carl Bongard served two years as a member of the township board and two years on the school board in Prairie du Sac Township. He was formerly affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, is a member of the Catholic Church and in politics is a democrat.
JOSEPH X. NACHREINER, a prominent and leading farmer of Frank- lin Township, has been a resident of Sauk County more than sixty-two years, and through all that time the name has been associated with good works and those influences which mean most to any community in the matter of advancement and progress.
Mr. Nachreiner was born in Bavaria, Germany, June 11, 1846, a son of Michael and Franzika Nachreiner. The founder of the family in Sauk County was Michael Nachreiner, who came in 1854 and settled on 120 acres of raw and unimproved land in Franklin Township. That land under his capable hands changed from a portion of the wilderness into a cleared and improved farm, and for years it responded to his efforts as an intelligent husbandman and agriculturist. Michael Nachreiner died in June, 1895, and his wife in July, 1908. Their children were Joseph, Alois, John, Michael, Caroline, Teresa, Frank, Anna and Simon, all of whom are still living except Michael.
Joseph X. Nachreiner was eight years of age when his family came to Sauk County, and he grew up here and received the somewhat limited advantages of the schools of that early day. He developed his oppor- tunities at first as a farmer, and became the owner of a highly devel- oped place of 160 acres. This farm he has since sold to his son Rudolph,
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who conducts it as a model dairy farm, keeping about thirty head of cattle and milking twenty cows. Mr. Nachreiner is a republican and a member of the Catholic Church.
On June 13, 1872, he married Miss Teresa Brueckel, daughter of Daniel and Mary Brueckel, of Franklin Township. Their children are : Joseph M .; Robert, who married Bertha Weishan; Daniel, who married Matilda Malloy; Otilie, wife of Joseph Brei; Albert, who married Mary Magli; Ludwine, wife of George Alt; Margaret, wife of William Ring; Herbert, deceased; and Rudolph, who married Rosella Heiser.
Joseph M. Nachreiner, son of Joseph X., married Mary Bettinger, daughter of Louis and Augusta (Hutter) Bettinger, of Franklin Town- ship. They were married October 28, 1902, and have two children : Alma, aged thirteen, and Marie, aged six. These children are being educated in St. Luke's parochial school at Plain. Mrs. Joseph M. Nach- reiner has the following brothers and sisters: Elizabeth, Katie, Philip, John, Rosa, Hilda, Bernetta and Alvin.
Joseph M. Nachreiner lived with his father on the farm up to the age of twenty-six and then entered the hardware and implement store of Lins & Hood at Spring Green. With the experience acquired there he established a partnership with John Beck in the general merchandise business at Plain. In 1902 the firm took in another partner, C. L. Car- penter, and then opened a branch store in White Mound, Franklin Township. In 1906 Mr. Carpenter became sole owner of this branch store. In 1912 John Beck sold his interest to his nephew, Lawrence Beck, who is the present active member of the firm with Mr. Nach- reiner. The business is now conducted as Nachreiner & Beck and in their store they handle every commodity and furnish practically every service required by the large community which furnishes them their patronage. They also have an undertaking and embalming department. Joseph M. Nachreiner has been an active and public-spirited citizen, was supervisor of the Village of Plain and for several years in succes- sion has been a member of the village board.
ALBERT TEEL. The Teel family is one of the oldest and best known in Sauk County. References to its members will be found in several places in this publication.
Mr. Albert Teel was born on the farm he still owns in Fairfield Township, December 27, 1854. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Getchell) Teel, and the family was established here by Benjamin and Thede (Morrill) Teel. Joseph Teel was born in New Hampshire, No- vember 22, 1827, was educated in St. Lawrence County, New York, and was a very young man when he came to Sauk County with his parents. His wife was born in the State of Maine in October, 1831. Joseph Teel took up 100 acres of Government land, now the old home- stead farm in Fairfield Township, and cleared and developed this tract and was a substantial farmer and upright and progressive citizen. He died in January, 1908, and his wife passed away October 30, 1896. Their children were: Albert; Arthur, deceased ; Burr, living in Oregon ; Curtis, who met death by drowning; Rollo, deceased; Carrie, wife of
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Abel Porter; Minnie, wife of John Sneller; the eighth child died in infancy ; and Clinton, deceased.
Albert Teel grew up on the old home farm, attended the local schools, and after reaching manhood he acquired an interest in the homestead and now owns its 100 fertile acres. He devotes it to general farming and stockraising and has some fine improvements, including a large barn and a silo. Politically Mr. Teel is a democrat.
March 18, 1897, he married Louise Roser, daughter of Christian Roser, of Sauk County. Two children were born to their marriage, Mary, deceased, and Arthur, still at home.
PATRICK MCPHILLIPS is. one of the progressive agriculturists of Bear Creek Township. His affairs are in a prosperous condition, and he is possessed of that intense energy and enterprise which are characteristic of the farming element of this county.
Mr. McPhillips was born in Ireland February 14, 1855, son of Michael and Mary (Smith) McPhillips. He was about thirteen years of age when his parents came to Wisconsin in May, 1868. The family lived at Bear Creek about a year and then settled on sixty-eight acres near Spring Green. The father was a man of much industry, and finally added forty acres to his original estate and continued a resident of the country districts until his death in August, 1912. The mother died in 1886. Their children were Patrick, Susan, John, Mary and Owen. Of these Mary is now deceased.
Patrick McPhillips finished his education in the public schools of Spring Green, and for the past forty years has been an industrious farmer, steadily forging ahead in the business of making a home and providing for those dependent upon him. In October, 1910, he settled upon his present farm, where he owns 320 acres. Some of this land he has since cleared, and most of it is in cultivation and in itself represents a competence. Mr. McPhillips has interested himself in community affairs, was for three years clerk of School District No. 2, is a democrat and a member of the Catholic Church.
In November, 1879, he married Catherine Burns, of Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. McPhillips are the parents of eight children, Mayme, James, Anna, Elizabeth, Rose, Susan, Leo and Gene- vieve. Mayme is the wife of Henry Ellefson; Anna married George Bauer; Elizabeth is the wife of Anton Weitzel; Rose married William Coyle, while the other children are still unmarried and at home.
Mayme McPhillips is a graduate of Spring Green High School and taught in the schools of Sauk County for fourteen years. Anna and Elizabeth graduated from the Richland County Normal and taught in the schools of Sauk and Richland counties for a number of years. Leo is the proprietor of the Muscoda Cheese Factory at Muscoda, and has operated the same for several years.
HON. GEORGE CARPENTER. It would be difficult to name an essential element in the advancement and development of Sauk County, and more particularly of the community of Baraboo, that does not bear the impress of the strong individuality of Hon. George Carpenter. He has
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been a very important factor in the industrial and commercial activity of the county, has been a leader among its farmers and stockmen, has advanced its moral and educational interests, has been one of its promi- nent representatives in the field of politics and in public life, and has founded business enterprises that stand as monuments to his enter- prise and well directed efforts.
Mr. Carpenter was born in the Town of Franklin, Sauk County, Wisconsin, April 22, 1866, and is a son of Daniel and Margaret (Thomp- son) Carpenter. His father was born at Newark, Ohio, May 2, 1828, and was married at Lexington, in that state, to Margaret Thompson, who was born in Mansfield, Ohio, January 13, 1829. Some time after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter came to Wisconsin, and in October, 1853, secured a land warrant in the Town of Franklin, where they made their home for many years and developed a well-cultivated farm. In 1885 they retired from active life and moved to Reedsburg, where both passed away at the age of sixty-nine years. They were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and were exemplary people in every way. Mr. Carpenter was an industrious citizen, of sterling integrity, who led a life of absolute probity, it being said of him that he never uttered an oath during his lifetime. In politics he was a republican, but was not a seeker for office, being satisfied to pass his existence in the pursuits of agriculture. On two occasions he en- deavored to enlist in the Union army for service during the Civil war, but in each case was rejected by the examining officers. However, he had four brothers who fought in the uniform of the North: Isaac, Justin, LaFayette and John H. The last named is serving as a member of the county board of supervisors of Sauk County, of which his nephew, George, is also a member, and resides at Spring Green, Wisconsin. LaFayette is now a resident of near Lexington, Ohio. These two are the only ones now surviving of a family of ten sons and one daughter. Daniel and Margaret Carpenter were the parents of seven children, of whom five survive, namely: I. W., a resident of Gentry, Arkansas; Alice, who is the wife of J. H. Bear, of Spring Green, Wisconsin ; Lorinda, who is the widow of George W. Morgan, who was in the lum- ber business with George Carpenter during the early days; Eliza, who is the wife of John H. Claridge, who was George Carpenter's first part- ner during the early days, when they did grubbing by hand; and George.
George Carpenter received his education in the public schools of Sauk County and early showed himself possessed of more than ordinary industry and ambition. By the time he was seventeen years of age he was already deeply interested in the stock business, and became a shipper at that time, also buying stock for and with E. W. Evans and on his own account. This business has always had a large share of his atten- tion, for it was the enterprise in which he really secured his start. When he was but nineteen years of age he took entire charge of the home place, which he operated successfully for three years, and then became interested in the lumber business at Reedsburg, where he also was engaged as a building contractor with G. W. Morgan and John H. Claridge, as the Morgan Building Company. This venture occupied his attention for two years, at the end of which time he went to Illinois.
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There he homesteaded a traet for a short time, but soon gave up the venture, as he felt that he had been deceived as to the crops, which were not those of Sauk County, and that there was no place like Wis- eonsin. Mr. Carpenter's experience in the Prairie State led him to believe that the water supply was poor and that the neighbors were not so friendly, helpful or hospitable as they were in the county of his birth, and he returned to Wisconsin and for one summer worked in the employ of the Morgan Building Company. Following this he purchased the William Hubing farm, on which he carried on operations for seven years, later was the owner of the Cahoon farm near Baraboo, which he cultivated for nine years, and then bought the Brown place, in which he retained a one-half interest. Mr. Carpenter's next venture was at Faulkton, South Dakota, where he spent one summer, then returning to Baraboo, where he established his present business, the Deppe-Car- penter Lumber Company, of which he is still president. In starting this business Mr. Carpenter purchased twelve acres of land adjoining the City of Baraboo, built a lumber yard, erected suitable business buildings, and in a short time had established one of the fast-growing enterprises of the city, and one which later extended materially by taking over the interests of the Stewart Lumber Company. In connee- tion with this business he handles a general line of building material, feed, produce, etc., and the management of this business oceupies the greater part of his attention, although he also is extensively engaged in the buying, breeding, selling and shipping of cattle. When his son Floyd was fourteen years of age, the latter expressed a desire to enter the cattle business, and Mr. Carpenter, remembering his own early success in that line bought for him the Thomas Barker farm, a 335-acre tract, which he equipped as an up-to-date cattle farm. This has proved an investment more valuable by far than it could have been expected to be at its start, for it is now nationally known as one of the best stock farms in America for the breeding of Shorthorn eattle. The eattle from the Carpenter place have won over 500 first prizes and more than 100 championships, including the grand championship and the championships of Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Toronto (Can- ada), Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri. In lots of 50 and 100 head the Carpenter farm has topped the three leading sales in the United States in prices.
Mr. Carpenter has been a lifelong republican and at various times has held publie office. He served one term in the Wisconsin Legislature, and was renominated by a 739 majority larger than ever before received by a candidate for that office. That he is an excellent debater is evi- denced by the opinion of Senator Everett, who said that no man in the Legislature could influence more votes when on the floor than conld Mr. Carpenter. At present he is one of the board of county commis- sioners and one of that body's most energetie workers. With his family, Mr. Carpenter belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Beavers and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is vice president of the Skillet Creek Farmers Club.
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Mr. Carpenter was married in 1886 to Miss Minnie Utendorfer, wlio was born at Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1867, a daughter of George and Marie (Brown) Utendorfer, natives of Germany, who came to the United States as young people. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have had three children: Vertie, who died at the age of nine years; Floyd, born July 1, 1897 ; and Marie, born in May, 1903.
WILLIAM ROSE. Science during recent years has done much to teach the farmer how to adapt his crops to the soil, how to combat the diseases which afflict his cattle, how to improve the quality and quantity of his crops and how to use to best effect the many appliances which have been invented to make his labors easier-in short, it is teaching him to treat his vocation as a profession and not merely as a means of gaining a livelihood. Sauk County has many farmers who have responded readily to these teachings and who, through grasping every opportunity, have secured satisfying results and are enjoying the prestige and ma- terial prosperity that success in the agricultural field brings. Among these is William Rose, the owner of a finely improved farın in Reeds- burg Township and a progressive farmer who has not been backward in adopting modern scientific ideas.
William Rose was born in Germany, March 14, 1866, a son of John · and Sophia (Bliss) Rose, who immigrated to the United States in 1868 and located in Sauk County. During the first four years here the family resided in Westfield and Reedsburg townships, then went to a rented farm in Honey Creek Township, where John Rose carried on operations for nine years, and finally located about one and one-half miles south of Reedsburg, in the township of that name, where the father purchased 120 acres of land. Here he followed general farming and stockraising during the remainder of his life, and died in 1882, aged fifty-four years. By that time, through the exercise of good business management, he had developed a good property, and by his honorable conduct of all his affairs had established himself in the confidence of the community. Mrs. Rose survived him for a long period, dying in 1901, when seventy years of age. They were the parents of four chil- dren : Henry ; Dora, who died in Germany; William; and Herman, who is a merchant at Tomah, Monroe County, Wisconsin.
Henry Rose, the eldest son of the above parents, was born Septem- ber 10, 1858, in Germany, where he received his early education, and was ten years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States. He was reared on the home farm, and after he had completed his education in the parochial schools secured employment in the lumber yard owned by Thomas Young, of Reedsburg, where he worked for several years. However, he soon returned to farming, going to West- field Township, where he rented a farm until 1894 and in that year pur- chased it. He now has a good property of 101 acres, nearly all of which is under cultivation, and on this land he has substantial build- ings, including a new barn and commodious silo. He follows general farming and stockraising and the success that he has won has been well deserved, as it has been attained purely through his own efforts. Mr. Rose is a republican, and attends the Lutheran Church. He was mar-
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ried January 26, 1883, to Miss Fredericka Ehlert, who was born in Germany, January 1, 1859, a daughter of Fred and Carrie (Pancho) Ehlert, who came to Sauk County in 1881 and settled at Reedsburg, where Mrs. Ehlert died in 1909, aged seventy-five years. Mr. Ehlert is now living retired at Reedsburg and is eighty-three years of age. They were the parents of twelve children: Fredericka; Carrie; Frederick and Herman, deceased; Charley; Minnie; Augusta and Martin, de- ceased ; Augusta (2); Sophia; John and William. Henry and Fred- ericka Rose are the parents of nine children : Emil, Elma, Lydia, Paul, Freda, Martha, Esther, Ruth and Florence.
William Rose has passed his entire life in an agricultural atmos- phere. He was reared on the home farm, and when not assisting his father in the duties of the homestead attended the district schools, re- ceiving an education similar to that of other farmers' sons. This has since been supplemented by reading and observation, and Mr. Rose is now a well-informed man upon many subjects. In 1889 he became a property owner, when he purchased forty acres of land in Reedsburg Township, and this has since been his home property, although he has added an additional forty to it. He has a substantial and comfort- able residence, a splendid barn, 32 by 58 feet, and a modern silo, 12 by 25 feet, and his improvements are modern in character, reflecting his ideas of progressive methods and appliances in the treatment of the soil. His operations as a general farmer and raiser of stock have been consistently successful, and he is accounted one of the agriculturists representative of the element which has given prestige to Sauk County. In politics Mr. Rose is a democrat; his religious faith is that of the Lutheran Church and he belongs to Saint Peter's congregation. As a stanch friend of education, he is now serving in the capacity of clerk of the school board.
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