USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 60
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At the age of forty-five years Edward Krueger was married to Minnie Schroeder, whose people had come from Germany and settled at Wone- woc, Wisconsin, and she died at Reedsburg, February 3, 1916. They were the parents of the following children: Laura, who was born November 7, 1871, is the wife of Charles Krohn, of Reedsburg; Edward ; Henry, who was born July 10, 1874, resides at Clayton, Wisconsin; William, who was born March 30, 1876, lives at Port Edwards, Wood County, Wisconsin; Herman, who was born April 5, 1878, lives in Michigan ; Ida, who was born November 25, 1879, is the wife of Amandus Stampe, of Reedsburg; Frederick, who was born February 12, 1882, and Dietrich, his twin brother, are in a general store business at Reeds- burg; Bertha, who was born October 7, 1883, is a trained nurse resid- ing in Milwaukee; Otto, who was born March 15, 1886, died May 22, 1887; Gustav, who was born June 14, 1887, resides at Clayton, Wis- consin ; Emma, who was born April 4, 1889, resides at Reedsburg and is the youngest of a family remarkable for its general intelligence and robustness of constitution. In politics the father of the above family was a democrat but he was never interested enough to accept any politi- cal office for himself, although frequently urged to do so, as he was considered not only an honest man but one of business ability. He was one of the early shippers of wheat and also of hops from Kilbourn. Both he and wife were faithful members of the Lutheran Church and did much for the church at Reedsburg.
Edward Krueger, the younger, attended the district schools and as he was the eldest son was called on to give his father assistance for a number of years. He owns the old homestead of 160 acres and now carries on his industries with plenty of room, these being largely crop raising, and he is one of the successful farmers of the county. He is half owner of eighty acres in Polk County, Wisconsin, and has a half interest in 120 acres in the same county. He has another large source of income in his business of buying and selling horses, and thus far in 1917 has sold fifty-six head and has further contracts. He is a fine judge
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of stock of all kinds and keeps only a high grade. Mr. Krueger has made many improvements on his place that have added to its value and appear- ance. In 1913 his fine residence, with all manner of modern comforts installed, was completed and in 1906 he put up one of the best barns in the township, the structure being 36 by 86 feet in dimensions. Many of the progressive farmers in this section think they do well when they have one silo, but Mr. Krueger has two of these expensive but valuable structures, the dimensions of one being 14 by 36 feet, and the other 10 by 36 feet.
Mr. Krueger was married February 24, 1903, to Miss Matilda Ost, ยท who was born in Reedsburg Township, Sauk County, May 9, 1880, and is a daughter of Ferdinand and Frederika (Garske) Ost, extended men- tion of whom will be found in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Krueger have no children. They are active and valued members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Krueger casts his vote with the democratic party, to which he is very loyal.
AUGUST HENKE is member and head of a widely known family in Sauk County, especially in the North Freedom community. Mr. Henke has spent the best years of his life in Sauk County, but was born in Germany, March 23, 1848, a son of Martin and Rosa Henke. His parents came to this country and first located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, . and in 1867 moved to Excelsior Township of Sauk County, where they acquired 120 acres. This farm is now owned by August Henke, though some years ago he sold twenty acres and now has 100 acres. On occupying the land the father built a log house, and did much of the heavy clearing necessary for cultivation. August Henke during his regime has advanced improvements in many ways, has erected substan- tial buildings, and in 1913 put up one of the model country homes of the township. He is a successful farmer and stock raiser.
His parents finally left the farm and moved out to South Dakota, where they took up a homestead and both of them died at Gettysburg in that state; the father in 1889, when about eighty years of age, and the mother in 1913, at the age of eighty-nine. They had seven children : August; Julius, deceased; Nettie, Mrs. William Wiland, of Greenfield Township; Julia, wife of August Belter; William, who had taken up a claim in South Dakota and lost his life by drowning in the Missis- sippi River, his body never being recovered; Augusta is the wife of Gottlieb Siebrasse, of Gettysburg, South Dakota; and Rosa is the wife of John Barbknecht, of Tripoli, Iowa.
August Henke grew up partly in Germany and partly in Sauk County and has been continuously identified with the vocation of agri- culture for upwards of half a century. At Baraboo, on November 29, 1872, he married Miss Augusta Pflugradt. Mrs. Henke was born in Germany June 9, 1853, a daughter of Michael Pflugradt. Her father died in the old country in 1856, when she was three years of age, she being the only child. Her widowed mother, Justina Selmer Pflugradt, afterwards married Gottlieb Hildebrandt. There was one child of that union, August, but he is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Hildebrandt came to Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1867, when Mrs. Henke was fourteen
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years of age, and located in Honey Creek Township. Both of them spent their last years with their daughter in Excelsior Township, where Mr. Hildebrandt died in 1894 and Mrs. Henke's mother in 1886.
Mr. and Mrs. Henke had a family of eight children. Their names in order of birth are Emma, Edward, August, Otto (who died in infancy), Mary, Paul, Elizabeth and Julius. This family constitutes a number of the well known people of Sauk County. The oldest child, Emma, is the wife of Gustav Meyer, of Excelsior Township and they have four children, named Herbert, Irma, Clara and Minnie. The son, Edward, who was born on the homestead, was educated in the public schools, did his part in clearing up and developing the farm and in erecting its modern equipment of buildings, and is still steadily at work in its improvement and cultivation, living unmarried with his mother and father. The son, August, is a farmer in Excelsior Township and married Inez Hingstler. The daughter, Mary, is the wife of Jake Zimerly, of Excelsior Township, and they have three children, Ernie, Philip and Ruth. Paul, also a farmer in Excelsior Township, married Edna Hingstler, and their family consists of two, Gladys and Durlan. Elizabeth is the wife of A. Gurgel and the mother of four children, Fred, Raymond, Hilda and Viola. Julius, a farmer in Excelsior Township, married Dorris Springer and has two children, Julius and Wendall.
GEORGE GRANTIN. Some of the most progressive and successful of the agricultural representatives of Sauk County are engaged in opera- tions on land on which they were born and which has been in their famn- ilies for many years. In this class is found George Grantin, of Reedsburg Township, who has passed his entire life on the farm which was origi- nally owned by his father.
George Grantin was born in Reedsburg Township, November 24, 1882, a son of Henry and Mary (Pfifer) Grantin. His father, born in Ger- many in 1834, immigrated to the United States at the age of thirty years and first located at Chicago, where for several years he worked at the trade of carpenter, which he had mastered in his native land. Con- ing then to Sauk County, he purchased eighty acres of land in Reedsburg Township, of which he cleared forty acres, and in addition owned forty acres of timbered land in Ironton Township. He erected good buildings and made a number of improvements, and continued to actively follow general farming until 1906, when he sold his land to his son, retired to Reedsburg, and there died in 1907. He was an industrious and hard- working man and was highly esteemed in his community, where he was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church. In political matters he supported the principles of the republican party. Mr. Grantin was first married at Reedsburg to Mena Dravis, and they had three children, Henry, Bertha and Lena. After the death of his first wife he was mar- ried in Sauk County to Mary Pfifer, who was born in Honey Creek Township, Sauk County, in 1855, a daughter of Sheron and Annie Pfifer, pioneers of Sauk County, Mr. Pfifer being a veteran of the Civil war. He died about the year 1878 in Honey Creek Township. Mrs. Grantin passed away at Reedsburg in 1909, having been the mother of five children : Louise, Augusta, Anna, George and Ferdinand.
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George Grantin was reared on the home farm in Reedsburg Town- ship, where he attended the district schools, and was later sent to the Lutheran parochial school at Reedsburg. . With this training and that secured from his father in an agricultural way, he began farming for himself about the time he reached his majority, and in 1906 bought the home farm from the elder man and has sinee devoted his attention to the operation of its eighty aeres. Here he has his home, a comfortable residence, and his barns and outbuildings, but in addition to this land he owns forty aeres in Ironton Township, where he has likewise made good improvements. He has been successful in the raising of good erops of rye, wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, eorn and hay, and has also devoted some attention to the raising of graded Durham and Holstein cattle, while his dairy demands necessitate the milking of fifteen eows. Inde- pendent in his political views, he has taken no more than a good citizen's interest in party affairs. His religious connection is with the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Grantin was married June 12, 1906, to Miss Emma Schulz, who was born in Ironton Township, Sauk County, August 6, 1884, a daugh- ter of William C. and Angelina (Samsow) Schulz, of that township. the latter of whom died June 6, 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Grantin have been the parents of five children : Robert, Franees, Irma, Harry and Rhein- hold, the last named of whom died in infancy.
FERDINAND SCHMIDT. The changes that have been effected in Ameri- ean agricultural operations in recent years are transforming farm life, formerly so hard, into one of the most independent, peaceful and agree- able of occupations. Farm life today offers more attractions than at any other time in the world's history and is calling millions from the desks and factories of the city to the healthful, invigorating life of the country. Sauk County has many attractive and up-to-date farms, where the appliances and conveniences equal those of city life, and among these is that owned by Ferdinand Schmidt, a well-cultivated tract lying in Reedsburg Township. Mr. Schmidt is of foreign birth, but has been a resident of Sauk County for more than a quarter of a century, and is now numbered among his community's substantial men.
Mr. Schmidt was born May 31, 1879, in Germany, and is a son of Gottlieb and Christina (Gareng) Schmidt, the former born in Prussia, September 18, 1842, and the latter in Poland, April 4, 1854. They were married in Germany and there followed farming in a small way, but did not feel that their outlook for success was bright and accordingly, in 1890, started for the United States, their vessel making port at New York City June 13. After a short stay in the metropolis they came to Reedsburg, the father renting eighty acres of land, this now furnishing a part of the farm owned by his son. He bought this land in 1892, and later bought an additional forty acres, but disposed of the greater part of the latter before his retirement. He was industrious, thrifty and hard-working, and succeeded in the cultivation of a fertile and pro- duetive property and the establishment of a good home, in which he was ably assisted by his worthy wife. After she passed to her reward in Vol. II-30
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1908 Mr. Schmidt retired from active pursuits, although he still makes his home on the farm with his son.
Ferdinand Schmidt attended the public schools of his native country, as well as those of Sauk County, and from childhood has shown himself industrious and enterprising. The only son of his parents, when still a youth he became his father's assistant, and in 1906 invested the earn- ings which he had carefully accumulated in an eighty acre tract ad join- ing the homestead place. In the following year he added to his holdings by buying the original eighty acres of his father, and in 1911 he further augmented the size of his acreage by another purchase, and now has about 195 acres. This land is all valuable and productive, yielding large crops under Mr. Schmidt's intelligent methods of cultivation. The value of the farm is enhanced by good buildings and modern improvements, and in addition to general farming Mr. Schmidt carries on stock raising and is considered an excellent judge of cattle and other live stock. While not a politician or an office seeker, he stanchly supports the republican party's candidates, and as a citizen has been quick to assist wherever needed in the advancement of public-spirited movements. He belongs to the Lutheran Church, in the faith of which he was reared.
Mr. Schmidt was married August 22, 1906, to Miss Annie Grantin, who was born on the old Grantin homestead farm in Reedsburg Town- ship July 5, 1881, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Pfifer) Grantin, a sketch of whose career will be found elsewhere in this work in the review of George Grantin. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt are the parents of seven sons, all living: Harold, Herbert and Wilbert (twins), Arnold, Ferdi- nand, Raymond and Elmer.
WILLIAM HENRY BAXTER. There are few older settlers in Sauk County than William Henry Baxter, who arrived here in 1854 and in the sixty-three years that have since followed has built up a reputation for integrity and general worth that is as rare as it has been upbuilding to the townships of Baraboo and Fairfield. While he is now retired from active pursuits, having reached the advanced age of eighty-six years, he was formerly the owner of a large amount of valuable prop- erty, and is credited with being one of those men who maintain, into the eventide of their lives, those genial and kindly thoughts which make them a blessing and inspiration to those about them. He has kept pace always with the advance of agricultural science, and the improvements which he made upon his property indicated a painstaking and cautious judgment.
William Henry Baxter was born on a farm in Addison Township, Steuben County, New York, August 16, 1831, and is a son of William and Anna Baxter, natives of that county. The parents of Mr. Baxter were life long residents of Steuben County, where they followed farm- ing as residents of Addison Township, both passing away there, the father in 1836 and the mother in 1852. William H. Baxter was but five years of age when his father died, and in his boyhood he was denied many advantages which are granted to youths who do not have to spend the greater part of their time in working in order to contribute their share to the family income. His education was of a public school charac-
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ter and somewhat limited, but the lad was quick to learn, sharp in observing, and possessed of a ready intellect and retentive mind, so that he gained a much better training than many others who possessed greater advantages. Also, he was eager to succeed and placed his ambi- tions high, and early in life displayed a remarkable industry and unlim- ited capacity for hard, painstaking work. He was engaged in farming in his native state, and there started a household of his own when in 1852, following the death of his mother, he was married.
Mr. Baxter, as noted, was a hard and industrious worker and accepted whatever opportunities for honorable employment presented themselves, but he finally came to the conclusion that in New York his chances were limited and therefore decided to remove to some locality where the land was not so crowded. Reports had reached him of the fertility and pro- ductiveness of Sauk County land, and in 1854 he left the Empire state for Wisconsin and upon his arrival located on a farm of eighty-five acres situated in Fairfield Township. His first few years spent here were ones that tried his mettle, for under the new conditions he was forced to work out his own difficult problems, but he was persistent and patient, and his well directed labors soon began to bear fruit. After clearing a part of his original purchase he disposed of it and bought another farm near it in Fairfield Township, this being a tract of 120 acres. With the exception of sixteen years he has resided in Fairfield Township ever since coming to Sauk County. In 1895, after the death of his first wife, he moved to the City of Baraboo, but when his second wife died, in 1911, he returned to the Fairfield Township farm and here is now living retired. During the period of his active labor in agricul- tural work Mr. Baxter was accounted one of the skilled and thoroughly capable farmers of his locality. While somewhat conservative and rely- ing on tried and practical methods, he did not hesitate to give more modern means a chance and was ready to experiment with the new machinery constantly being invented to lessen the work of the farmer. He always aimed to make his land pay him for all the labor he put into its cultivation and generally succeeded in doing so, at the same time enhancing the value of his farm by the erection of good buildings and the installation of modern improvements. In addition to general farm- ing he carried on stock raising. Little by little Mr. Baxter disposed of his property to his children, who now own it all. In politics Mr. Baxter is a demoerat, and has several times been the incumbent of political positions, having served one term as a member of the board of town- ship supervisors and several years as a member of the school board. His citizenship has always been of the best, and his support has been given to worthy movements, eivic, educational and religious.
Mr. Baxter was first married in 1852, in Steuben County, New York, to Mrs. Samantha Hagadone, who was born in that county, and they became the parents of five children, as follows: Adelia, George Henry, W. Franklin, Frederiek and Thomas Jefferson. Mrs. Baxter died in Fairfield Township in 1895, at which time Mr. Baxter went to Baraboo. There he was married in 1897 to Mrs. John Dangerfield, who died in 1911. Mr. Baxter has rounded out a successful and satisfying career. He survives, like an oak in the forest, the majority of those who started
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in life when he did, and his memory is a panorama of those small and large events which make up the history of the white man's labors in Sauk County.
FRANK A. STRANG was born in Bear Creek Township of Sauk County August 21, 1869. He has never strayed far from the scene of his birth and early childhood, but in this one locality has made a success as a farmer and stockman and is today one of the leading and influential citizens of that community.
His parents were Nelson C. and Alvina (Harris) Strang. His father was born in New York State March 9, 1819, and the mother was born in 1840. Nelson C. Strang was a pioneer of Bear Creek, where he located in 1857, and died at Spring Green, Sauk County, February 8, 1889. The mother is still living. Their children were Frank, Minnie, Cora, Charles, Jacob, Harvey and Alma.
Frank A. Strang received a common school education when a boy, and then applied himself to the main business of life, farming. In April, 1896, he came to his present farm of 160 acres, and is widely known through that section of Sauk County for his success as a cattle- man. He keeps about forty head of cattle, many of them Holsteins, and his herd is headed by a thoroughbred bull. As a dairyman he markets the products of thirty-one cows. Mr. Strang is a republican, belongs to the Congregational Church and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Order of Beavers.
On Christmas Day, December 25, 1894, he married Cynthia L. Max- well, daughter of Charles and Johanna Maxwell. Mr. and Mrs. Strang traveled together along the highway of life for nearly twenty years, until her death on March 6, 1914. She became the mother of ten chil- dren, as follows: Minnie, Nelson, Harvey, Agnes, Florence, Eva, Edna, Herbert, Francis and one that died at birth. Nelson and Herbert are also deceased.
THEODORE HENRY KESSLER. Among the members of the agricultural fraternity of Sauk County one who is a representative of an early family of this region is Theodore Henry Kessler, whose property is located in Greenfield Township. He has passed his entire life within the limits of the county and has worked out a worthwhile success, being accounted one of the substantial farmers and stock raisers of the community, as well as a citizen who is aiding in the general advancement and progress of the locality. He was born in 1870, four miles from Loganville, in Westfield Township, Sank County, Wisconsin, and is a son of Rev. Christopher and Susannah (Oberheim) Kessler.
Rev. Christopher Kessler was born in Bavaria, Germany, where he was educated, and as a young man entered the ministry of the Lutheran Church. His ministerial labors were so successful in his native land that during the '60s the earnest young man was sent by the church as a missionary to Wyoming, where he established several churches, then going into Iowa, where he was married to Miss Susannah Oberheim, who had been born in Dubuque, that state. From Iowa Rev. and Mrs. Kess- ler came to Sauk County, where the remaining years of their lives were
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passed. Reverend Kessler became known far and wide as one of the most successful, devoted and energetic laborers in his church in Wisconsin. He built the stone church near Loganville which still bears his name, and in addition held charges at different times at Westfield, Ableman, Reedsburg and Merrimack, and in Greenfield Township. He was more than a minister to his people, for in addition to being their spiritual adviser he was also friend and counsellor, giving them valuable advice in money matters and performing all manner of services for the unfor- tunate. As a result he became greatly beloved, and when he died there were many to mourn his loss. Mrs. Kessler was an able helpmate for her husband, a devoted Christian woman, with a warm heart and a charitable nature, who seconded him in everything he did and whose life was filled with kindly acts and beautiful deeds. Reverend Kessler was a man of sound business judgment and became successful in a material way, wisely investing his means in valuable and productive land, of which he owned 320 acres in Greenfield Township. On this farm both he and his wife passed away. They were the parents of the following children: Carl, who left home to go to Denver, Colorado, where he was section foreman on the Denver & Colorado Railroad, and subsequently went to Alaska, since which time nothing has been heard of him; Mary, who is the wife of Rudolph Euholt, of Greenfield Town- ship; Henry, who is deceased; Theodore Henry, of this review; and Christopher, who is engaged in agricultural operations and owns a good farm in Baraboo Township, Sauk County.
When Theodore H. Kessler was still an infant his parents moved to their newly purchased farm in Greenfield Township, and it was in that locality that he received his education in the public schools. His early training was all along the line of agriculture, and no other vocation has ever suggested itself to him, for in the period of his career he has met with marked success in his operations, and has been content to follow the peaceful vocation of the husbandman, tilling his fields and gathering his crops. As the years have passed he has added from time to time to his holdings, and his present property, located in Greenfield Township, consists of 205 acres, all fertile, productive land, upon which he raises the standard crops of the locality. His buildings are large, substantial and attractive, including a handsome barn, 62 by 34 feet, and in them he has installed modern improvements and machinery calculated to save labor for the busy agriculturist. Mr. Kessler is a general farmer and also raises standard stock, in addition to which he does a profitable dairy business, being identified with the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company of Baraboo. He has never desired public office, but takes an interest in local affairs, and is one of the men of his township who have contributed to the success of beneficial and progressive movements. His support during elections is given to the candidates of the 'republican party, and he and Mrs. Kessler are members of the Lutheran Church of Baraboo.
In 1894 Mr. Kessler was united in marriage with Miss Emma Kosine. who was born in Germany and was a child when brought to the United States. Her father is Herman Kosine, who was one of the early settlers of Baraboo and who still makes his home in that city, one of the
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