USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 62
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Samuel Weidman grew up on the old farm, and from an early age
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manifested a more than ordinary curiosity in his environment and from boyhood became a student of local geology. He graduated in 1889 from the Reedsburg High School and in 1894 took his Bachelor of Science degree in the University of Wisconsin. He was a Fellow in Geology at the University of Wisconsin in 1895-96, and a Fellow in Geology at the University of Chicago in 1896-97. Mr. Weidman has the degree Doctor of Philosophy given him by the University of Wisconsin in 1898.
On many phases of Wisconsin geology, especially economic geology, he is a recognized authority, both by his work and his writings. He has discovered several new minerals. He was field assistant in the United States Geological Survey in the Lake Superior region in 1894-96. Dur- ing 1897-99 he was assistant geologist and since 1899 has been geologist of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. He is also secretary of the Wisconsin Clay Manufacturers' Association, an organi- zation for educational purposes largely. He is a Fellow of the Geologi- cal Society of America, of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, the Association of American Geographers, and a mem- ber of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters.
As an author Mr. Weidman is known by the following works. pub- lished by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey : "Soils and Agriculture of North Central Wisconsin," first published in 1903 and a second edition in 1908; "The Baraboo Iron Bearing District," 1904; "The Geology of North Central Wisconsin," 1907; "Soil Survey of Northwestern Wisconsin," 1911; "Soil Survey of Marinette County,'' 1911; "The Water Supplies of Wisconsin," 1915; and the following by the United States Geological Survey : "The Marathon-Wausau Geologic Folio," 1917; besides many reports, bulletins and articles for journals, including the article on local geology which appears under his name in this history of Sauk County.
Mr. Weidman is a member of the Sigma Zi, an honorary scientific fraternity, the University Club at Madison, is generally a democrat, and is a member of the Unitarian Church. He is also a member of the Masonic Order. His home is at 410 North Henry Street in the City of Madison.
On November 22, 1899, Mr. Weidman married Miss Adda J. Westen- haver, of Madison. . She was born in Sauk County, daughter of Henry and Alice (Hulburt) Westenhaver. Her mother is a sister of Dr. F. D. Hulburt, of Reedsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Weidman have three children : Samuel Henry, John McIlvaine, and Robert Hulburt.
JOSEPH KEITH. Many of the ablest men in America are ardent devotees of the great basic industry of agriculture and it is well that this is so, because the various learned professions are rapidly becoming so crowded with inefficient practitioners that in a few years it will be nearly impossible for any but the exceptionally talented man to make good or even to gain a competent living therein. The independent farmer who in addition to tilling the soil cultivates his mind and retains his health is a man much to be envied in these days of strenuous bustle and nervous energy. He lives his life as he chooses and is always safe from financial ravages and other troubles of the so-called "cliff dweller." An
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able and representative agriculturist who has ever done all in his power to advance the general welfare of his community is Joseph Keith, who is engaged in general farming and stock raising on a finely improved estate of eighty acres in Ironton Township, this county.
Mr. Keith was born in the State of Ohio, January 7, 1845, and is a son of William and Sarah (Holden) Keith. The parents left the Buck- eye state in 1855 and migrated to Sauk County, here settling on the farm now owned by the subject. The father died in 1859, at the age of forty years, and the mother passed away at the age of seventy years. To them were born six daughters and two sons, of whom Rachael, Joseph, Margaret, Elizabeth, Oney and Nancy are living.
At the age of ten years Joseph Keith aceompanied his parents from Ohio to his present home in this county and four years later he was bereft of his father. He assisted his widowed mother in clearing the land and erected several of the buildings still standing on the farm. His education consisted of occasional attendance in the country sehool and he early learned the rudiments of farming and stoek raising, to which lines of enterprise he has since devoted his earnest endeavors. Politically he is a democrat and he has served faithfully and with effi- ciency on the local school board.
In 1871 Mr. Keith married Miss Lucy Moorhouse, a native of Ironton Township and a daughter of James and Ellen Moorhouse, both of whom are deceased. Mrs. Keith died in 1894 and is survived by the following children: Josephine, Ira, Herbert, Clyde and Albie. Clyde is asso- ciated with his father in farming the old homestead. Mrs. Keith was a woman of most gracious personality and her memory will long be green in the hearts of her friends. Mr. Keith's life has been exemplary in every respect and he supports those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity. He is well liked by all with whom he has come in contact.
WILLIAM GIESE has played the part of a pioneer in Sauk County and is a member of a family which for more than half a century have made their efforts productive not only for the benefit of themselves but for the welfare of the community.
William Giese was born in Pomerania, Germany, January 17, 1849, a son of Michael and Elenore Giese. In November, 1864, the family eame to America and settled in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County. They acquired 220 acres, a part of which was cleared and improved. In a few years it was all brought under cultivation and became one of the farms of noté in that part of the county. Michael Giese died at Water- town, South Dakota, in 1894 and was buried at Watertown, and his wife passed away in 1871 and was buried in Honey Creek Township. All their children except the youngest were born in Germany, their names being Lottie, John, William, August, Amelia, Julius, Bertha and Annie.
William Giese grew up on his father's place in Sauk County. He married Miss Minnie Priebe January 11. 1871. She was a daughter of William Priebe and Minnie Priebe, and they also came from Germany.
He made his home in Chicago for six years and in 1876 came to Sauk
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County on a farm and had to grub out a place to put up a house for his family. There he made his home until the death of Mrs. William Giese, who died June 4, 1904, leaving seven children: Anna, William, John, Henry, Albert, George and Marie. Anna married William Harty ; William married Amelia Kohlmeyer ; Henry married Mary Luck; Albert married Clara Petske; and Marie married Jason Tuthill. William Giese is making his home with his son, John.
John Giese now owns the old homestead farm of his father, William, comprising 240 acres, half of which is situated in Franklin and the other half in Westfield Township. The improvements on this farm are a credit to the entire county. There is a commodious residence, good barns, and the farm also boasts two large silos, capable of storing many tons of feed for the stock. Mr. Giese is a very successful Holstein cattle breeder. In matters of politics the family are republicans and their church affilia- tions are Lutheran.
John Giese married March 1, 1905, Miss Minnie Rusch, daughter of William and Alvina (Backman) Rusch, of Reedsburg. To their union have been born five children: Agnes, aged twelve; Alvine, aged nine : Raymond, aged eight; and Edmund and Etta, twins, aged four years.
AARON AUSTIN. An able and representative agriculturist who has done much to advance progress and conserve prosperity in Sauk County, Wisconsin, is Aaron Austin, who owns and operates a finely improved farm in Ironton Township. Mr. Austin was born in Onondaga County, New York, March 29, 1846. He is a son of Elkana and Eliza (White) Austin, the former a native of Rhode Island and the latter of Connecti- cut. The parents both located in Onondaga County in early youth and there their marriage was solemnized and to them two children were born, namely, Charles, a resident of Southwestern Missouri, and Aaron. Elkana Austin died in Onondaga County, New York, in 1875, and his wife passed to the life eternal in 1909, in Sauk County, whither she had accompanied her son, Aaron, in 1881. She lived to the patriarchal age of ninety-three years.
To the public schools of the Empire state Aaron Austin is indebted for his educational training, and he continued to live in Onondaga County, New York, until 1881, when he came to the Badger state, pur- chasing a farm of 120 acres in Ironton Township, this county. At one time he owned a plot of eighty acres in Montcalm County, Michigan, near Stanton. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising and is considered one of the most substantial citizens in this vicinity. In poli- tics he is a stalwart republican and he has served with marked ability as treasurer, director and clerk of the local school board. He is kindly and courteous in his demeanor and is ever considerate of those with whom he has dealings.
In New York was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Austin to Miss Elizabeth Gardner, a native of Onondaga County, that state. To them were born three children, concerning whom the following brief data are here inserted : Eli is a resident of Milwaukee, where he married Edna Bogel, and they have a daughter, Bernice; Rose is the wife of Frank
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Steinberg, of St. Louis, and they have two children, Goldie and John; and Lawrence married Mala Schutz and is a farmer in Ironton Township. They have three children : Oliver, William and Adaline.
LOUIS SCHWANZ. In order to attain success in agriculture, in these modern days, it is necessary that science be displayed in operations and intelligence in management. Some of the best farmers in the country are to be found in Wisconsin, and especially in the great grain belt in which Sauk County is situated, its location making it particularly valu- able for agricultural purposes. Of those men working scientifically and intelligently that have attained more than ordinary success as farmers is numbered Louis Schwanz, who has passed his entire life in Reeds- burg Township.
Mr. Schwanz was born in this township, September 26, 1874, and is a son of William and Amelia (Klitzke) Schwanz, natives of Germany, who came to the United States in 1872. They were not possessed of any great amount of capital, in fact their ambition and willingness to work represented their chief assets, and for a number of years there were many hardships in their lives, but eventually they overcame all obstacles and gained a well merited success. In 1898 they purchased a farm of 120 acres in Reedsburg Township, upon which Mr. Schwanz died in 1901, at the age of sixty-two years, Mrs. Schwanz surviving until 1911 and being sixty-eight years of age at the time of her demise. There were . twelve children in the family of this worthy and highly respected couple : Albert, deceased ; Bertha ; Minnie, deceased ; Herman; William, deceased ; Louis; Anna and Mary, deceased; Ida, William, Martha and Emma, and the last named is deceased. The parents were devout members of the Lutheran Church and Mr. Schwanz was a democrat in his political views.
Louis Schwanz was reared on the home farm and received his educa- tion in the public schools, and, his training all having been along agri- cultural lines, he adopted farming when he made a choice of his life work. In 1901 he purchased eighty acres of land in Reedsburg Town- ship, which forms a part of his present farm, and when this was put under a high state of cultivation he added forty acres more in the same township. He later bought twenty acres of timber land in Ironton Township, which he also owns at this time. Mr. Schwanz has devoted his energies to general farming and stockraising, and has made a success of his efforts because he has realized the value of modern scientific meth- ods, while at the same time discarding none of those which still prove practical and which have been tested by time. He has made a study of his vocation, and combines industrious work with good management. His buildings are equipped with up-to-date appliances and the structures themselves are substantial and commodious. In his political affairs, Mr. Schwanz is allied with neither of the large parties, preferring to rely upon his own judgment in the selection of candidates for office. He belongs, with his family, to the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Schwanz was married October 4, 1906, to Miss Anna Niebuhr, who was born in Reedsburg Township, September 10, 1878, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Bergamann) Niebuhr. Her parents came Vol. II-31
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from Germany about the year 1871, settling on a farm in Reedsburg Township, and here Mrs. Niebuhr died in 1909, aged seventy-two years, while Mr. Niebuhr passed away at the home of his daughter and son-in- law, Mr. and Mrs. Schwanz, in 1914, when eighty years of age. They had five children : William; an infant who died unnamed; Henry, deceased ; Ernest; and Anna, now Mrs. Schwanz. Mr. and Mrs. Schwanz are parents of two children: Wilbert, born February 1, 1908; and Anola, born February 4, 1913.
FRANCIS BYRNE. Many people gain wealth in this world, many gain distinction in the learned professions, and many are honored with offices of trust and responsibility, but to few is it given to attain so high a place in the esteem and affection of their fellow citizens as that enjoyed by Mr. and Mrs. Francis Byrne, who are known throughout Sauk County for their hospitality. Their spacious and comfortable residence in the Village of Ironton is widely renowned for its charity, hospice having been frequently given to those persons less fortunate in the way of worldly goods than themselves. Farming was long Mr. Byrne's chief occupation but he is now living retired.
A native of the fine old Emerald Isle, Francis Byrne was born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1842. He is a son of John and Bridget (Royal) Byrne, who came to America and settled at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1852. Seven years later, in 1859, they located in Richland County, Wis- consin, going thence to Ironton, in which latter place they resided at the time of their demise. Seven children were born to them, as follows : Mary, Alice, Bridget, Francis, Peter, Catherine (deceased) and Ellen.
Francis Byrne was ten years of age when he arrived with his parents in the United States. His education consisted of such facilities as were afforded in the public schools of Lancaster, Ohio, and he was seventeen years of age when the family settled in Sauk County. As a young man he purchased a farm of forty acres in Westford Township and he added to that plot until he eventually owned 440 acres in that section. Subse- quently he began acquiring land in the vicinity of Ironton, and at one time owned an immense estate of 1,440 acres, parcels of which he has recently given to his sons. His main work in life has been the manage- ment of his farms, brain and not brawn building up his fortune. His success in life has proved that the adage of Benjamin Franklin, "He who by the plow would thrive, must either hold the plow or drive," is not applicable in all cases. For a number of years Mr. Byrne was super- intendent of outside works for John F. Smith, at one time owner of prac- tically everything in the vicinity of Ironton. Mr. Bryne set forth on his journey through life some seventy-five years ago, and from the date of the beginning of his business career at a tender age, under the rapidly shift- ing skies of success and adversity and through years burning with intense energy and devotion to the manifold affairs of life, he has come to the years of his retirement with undimmed alertness and clearness of men- tality and judgment and rejoices that he can still carry the burdens which would overwhelm most men of half his years.
In the year 1868 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Byrne to Miss Anna Slaven, a native of Dane County and a daughter of James Slaven, ,
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a pioneer of Dellona. To Mr. and Mrs. Byrne were born five children : John, a farmer near Ironton; James, likewise a farmer; Mary; Frank and Joseph (deceased). The family are Catholic in their religious faith and in politics Mr. Byrne is a stalwart democrat. Mrs. Byrne is a woman of most gracious personality and in conjunction with her husband has extended hospitality to the needy in many walks of life. They are greatly beloved by all who know them and their lives are a fine example of faith- ful industry and charitableness to the younger generation.
CHARLES M. KESTER. Shrewd business ability, special adaptiveness to his calling, appreciation of its many advantages and belief in his own power to succeed placed Charles M. Kester among the foremost and most substantial promoters of agriculture in Reedsburg Township. From the prairies his unaided industry brought forth ample means, permitting his retirement to Reedsburg in 1905 and his consigning to younger hands the tasks that made up the sum of his existence for forty years. He has a modern and well furnished home at the corner of North Walnut and Second streets, and is regarded as one of the financially strong and morally high retired farmers.
Charles M. Kester was born in Morrow County, Ohio, July 22, 1842, and is a son of William W. and Susan R. (Washburn) Kester. His father was born in Virginia in 1819, and as a young man went to Morrow County, where he met and married Susan R. Washburn, who had been born in New York, in 1822, and had gone as a child with her parents to Ohio. They resided in the Buckeye State for some years, but Mr. Kester felt that he could gain greater success further to the west, and in 1855 the family came to Wisconsin, settlement being made on a farm in Ironton Township which is now included in the Village of Ironton. The elder. Kester continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout the period of his active career, and upon his retirement located at Reedsburg, where he died April 30, 1901, Mrs. Kester having passed away February 20, 1897. They were the parents of eight children, as follows: Charles M., of this notice; Sarah P., who was for a number of years one of the popular school teachers of Sauk County; Charlotte J., now deceased, who also was well known in educational circles as a successful and popular teacher of this county; Olive E .; Harriet C., deceased ; John W., a successful practicing physician and surgeon of Mazomanie, Wisconsin ; Clara B., deceased; and Helen. When the office of county superintendent of schools was established, and the first exami- nation was held at Ironton, in April, 1862, Charlotte and Sarah P. Kester were among the applicants, and the former was the first teacher in Sauk County to receive a certificate. William W. Kester from being a small farmer and an obscure citizen of his community rose through his own efforts to the owner of a valuable property and to a place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was clerk and assessor in Washington Township, held the same offices in Ironton Township, occu- pied all the school offices in his community, and for several years was township superintendent of the Ironton Township schools. His public life was one marked by devotion and fidelity to duty and his record is clear and spotless. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Independent
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Order of Odd Fellows. During the early days he and Mrs. Kester belonged to the Free Will Baptist Church, later transferred their mem- bership to the Christian Church, and finally joined the Methodist Epis- copal Church, in the faith of which both died.
Charles M. Kester was reared on the homestead farm and secured his education in the public schools of Ohio and Sauk County. Brought up in a family noted for its patriotism, when the call to arms came at the outbreak of the Civil war he was not slow in answering, and October 1, 1861, became a private in Company F, Third Wisconsin Cavalry. He served his country bravely and faithfully during nearly three years while wearing the blue uniform, but in August, 1864, became incapaci- tated through injury and illness, and at that time received his honorable discharge. Returning to his home, when he was fully recuperated he resumed farming operations, and continued to be engaged therein in Ironton Township and Reedsburg Township for a period of forty years. In 1905 he disposed of his farm in the latter township and retired to Reedsburg, where he has since lived at the corner of Second and North Walnut streets. During the time that his attention was directed to matters agricultural Mr. Kester was successful in making his labors yield him handsome returns, his native business ability, resource, initia- tive and general all-around ability and energy enabling him to make a success of each venture in which he embarked. He is now known through- out the community as a dependable and upright man, one who regards his word as he would his bond, and who has ever maintained the highest methods of farming and the noblest ideals of home and community life. Politically a republican, he has served as a member of the board of education, and while residing in Ironton Township acted for a number of years in the capacity of justice of the peace. His fraternal connections are with Reedsburg Lodge No. 157, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Reedsburg Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Saint John's Commandery, Knights Templar. Mrs. Kester belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
On October 4, 1866, Mr. Kester was married to Miss Julia A. Ford, of Ironton, Wisconsin, and they became the parents of two children : X and Charles E. The daughter is now the widow of Allen Reese, who was a successful Nebraska farmer, and has four children, Rosetta, Charley, who is a member of the United States regular army, Jared, who on account of heart disease was rejected as a soldier, and Allen. Charles E. Kester is a resident of Hutchinson, Minnesota, where he is manager and vice president of the Hutchinson Produce Company, a position which he has held for many years. He married Mabel Peck, a daughter of a prominent citizen of that community, and they have two children, Harold and Ora May. Mrs. Kester died April 22, 1891, and in 1893 Charles M. Kester was married to Mrs. Electa (Benson) Wheeler, the widow of Henry Wheeler. Henry Wheeler was a native of Ohio and came to Sauk County in 1854, settling in Ironton Township with his parents, Nelson and Emmeline Wheeler, who died at Reedsburg, his father in 1869 and his mother about 1902. Mr. Wheeler died December 27, 1884, having been the father of four children : William, who is engaged in the machinery business at Madison, Wisconsin; Orton, a successful hardware merchant of Baraboo; Elias, who was an editor of newspapers
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at Reedsburg, Kilbourn and Oxford, former proprietor of the Mirror- Gazette and the Oxford Times, owner of 320 acres of land in Bowman, North Dakota, and now a newspaper editor at Bowman, North Dakota; and Emmeline, who is the wife of A. O. Sorge.
Mrs. Kester was born in Lincoln Township, Morrow County, Ohio, March 29, 1841, and is a daughter of Almeron and Lucinda (Stanton) Benson, the former born in Oneida County, New York, in 1815, and the latter in Pennsylvania, in 1819. They came to Ironton, Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1855, and purchased a farm, later selling out to buy another property in the same community, on which Mr. Benson died in 1889 and Mrs. Benson in 1897. They had the following children : James, Elias, Sophia and Sarena, who are deceased; Electa ; Mary ; Phoebe, who is deceased; Samantha; and Jennette, deceased. Mr. Benson was a major of militia in Ohio, and in 1861 enlisted in Company B, Twelfth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served bravely for two years, then being honorably discharged because of disability. He was a stanch republican in his political views, and a faithful member of the Christian Church, as was also his wife.
JOHN TAIT. Sauk County has long been favored with a fine and sturdy class of men who have contributed to its development along com- mercial and agricultural lines, and in the latter connection John Tait, the subject of this review, demands recognition, as he has been actively engaged in farming operations on the old Tait homestead in Ironton Township during practically the entire period of his career. He has long been known as a prosperous and enterprising agriculturist and as a man whose methods demonstrate the power of activity and honesty in the business world.
A native of Sauk County, John Tait was born on his present farm, in the vicinity of Reedsburg, January 17, 1882. He is a son of Thomas and Annie (McIntyre) Tait, the former of whom was a native of Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, where his birth occurred in 1842, and the latter was born at Mauston in 1851. Further data concerning the ancestors and immediate family of John Tait are given in the sketch of his brother Thomas, a brief record of whose life appears elsewhere in this work.
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