USA > Wisconsin > Clark County > Biographical history of Clark and Jackson Counties, Wisconsin : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each, and engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 16
USA > Wisconsin > Jackson County > Biographical history of Clark and Jackson Counties, Wisconsin : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each, and engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 16
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Mr. Markham was a soldier in the late war, in Company A, Thirty-fifth Regiment Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, serving nearly a year. He was assigned to the Pontoon Bridge Brigade, but was taken sick and lay several weeks in the hospital. He was then detailed as a unrse, and served until the close of the war. He was disabled in the army, and will soon draw a pension. He is a Re- publican politically and a member of the G. A. R. Post, and also of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.
UGUSTA RAETHER, widow of Au- gust Raether, was born in Prussia in 1828. She was married to Mr. Raether in 1847, and came to America in 1850, land- ing in Milwaukee the same year. Her hus-
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band learned the tailor's trade in the old conntry and was a hard-working man all his life. After coming to the United States he followed his trade in Milwaukee for a num- ber of years. Mrs. Raetlier became familiar with that trade and rendered efficient service to her husband. Ten children were born to them, all of whom have received a fair edu- cation in the district schools and in the Milwaukee graded schools. Mr. and Mrs. Raether moved to Waukesha, County, Wis- consin, in 1861, where they engaged in farm- ing. In 1878 they came to Clark County and bonght 180 acres of land in section 2, Lewis Township, abont forty acres of which they have cleared. Mrs. Raether was an in- valid for some five years and passed through many hardships, but by industry and econ- omy she and her husband laid the foundation of a nice little fortune. Mr. Raether re- ceived a stroke of paralysis, was entirely helpless for a long time and finally died in 1889. She and her son and a single daugh- ter reside on the farm. Mrs. Raether is a most estimable lady and is esteemed by all who know her.
NUD ANDERSON, JR., of section 15, Warner Township, Clark County, was born in Tellemarkn County, South- eastern Norway, November 20, 1828, the son of Adney Anderson, deceased. The father brought his family to the United States in 1843, settling in Norway Township, Racine County, Wisconsin, where he died in 1845. The family then came to Jackson County, in 1854, settling in Springfield Township, where the mother died in 1878. They had seven children, all now living, namely: Knud, Sr., Gunder, Ole, Mary, Knud, Jr., Margaret and Sarah.
While in Jackson County, Knud Anderson, Jr., first worked at carpentering, and then at farming. In 1869 he removed to La Crosse, where he kept a tavern one year, and in 1870 came to this connty and took up a homestead on section 18, township 27, range 1 east, where he lived five years. He next lived on Giles Creek four years, after which he worked in Tom Miller's mill. He came to his pres- ent place, Hemlock, in 1879, where he has been night watchman on the flood dam, and also ran the plane in the Hemlock Mills. He now has charge of the Hemlock flood dam for the Black River Improvement Com- pany. Mr. Anderson has also been engaged some at carpentering in this connty.
He was married in June, 1859, to Thea Burch, who was born near Christiania, Nor- way, the daughter of Torger Burchi, deceased. They have had fifteen children, twelve of whom are still living, namely: Clara T., Adolph, Angusta, Lanra, Millie, Nellie, Fer- nando, Georgiana, Birdie, W. Lee, Sadie and Frankie. Clara married James Rowe, of Calnmet, Michigan, and has one child, Win- nifred P. Adolph, a merchant at Greenwood, married Mary Francis, and has one child, George. Angusta married Albert Hnggett, of Melrose, Jackson County, and has one child also,-Ralph. Mr. Anderson is a Re- publican politically.
USTACE L. BROCKWAY, a promi- nent pioneer Inmberman of Brockway Township, Jackson Connty, was born in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1826, the son of James M. Brockway, who was born in Greenbush, New York, July 15, 1797. In 1816 the latter went to Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming until 1822, when he went into the mill busi-
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ness. In 1836 he sold the mill, and in 1842 went to Muscatine County, Iowa, where he was engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in his seventy-fifth year. During his later life he was a Republican, and held several offices. He was a member of the Methodist Church. Our subject's mother, Lydia (Goff) Brockway, was born near Ogdensburg, New York, in 1804, and died in Muscatine County, Iowa, at the age of forty-nine. She was a daughter of Will- iam P. Goff, a native of New York, and a farmer and surveyor by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Brockway had eight children, namely: Elmira, Eustace L .. Adis E., Emmett, Albert J., Edwin, Albina M. and George. The last two are deceased.
The subject of this sketch, the second child, was reared and educated in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. In 1843 he engaged in bridge-building and carpenter work in different parts of Iowa. In 1845 he came to Jackson County, Wisconsin Territory, then called Crawford County, and engaged in the lumber business; in 1847-'48 he cut timber for a saw-mill; and in May, 1850, built an addition and put in the first circular saw-mill on the Mississippi above Rock Island, Illi- nois. He has resided in the town of Albion (now Brockway) since 1845,-forty-six years.
As an interesting reminiscence we may re- late that Mr. Brockway in 1866, late in the fall, went down the Mississippi, with two fleets of sawed lumber, but failed to sell it until all the steamboats had made their last trips. He purchased a stern-weeler named the Skipper, of 150 tons' burden, at $3,000, loaded it with his crew of sixty men and winter's supplies and started up the river, but was compelled to stop at Muscatine, Decem- ber 8, on account of floating ice and winter storms. Shipping his men and a portion of the winter's supplies by rail by way of Chi-
cago and Milwaukee to the terminus of the road, he came directly home by team, at an expense of $15.
He owned and ran his steamboat on the Mississippi, Des Moines, Chippewa and St. Croix rivers until the autumn of 1868, when it sank in the Chippewa River. During the ensuing winter he built the steamer Chip- pewa Valley, at Eau Claire, in company with Captain George A. Buffington,-a boat of 185 tons,-and retained an interest in it while it was run, on the Mississippi and its northern tributaries, uutil the second year of the war, when he sold his interest in it. It was taken South and soon afterward sunk in the Arkan- sas River above Little Rock. Since his resi- deuce in Jackson County Mr Brockway has also built and owned four different saw-mills in this part of Wisconsin.
In 1871-'72 he was one of the Representa- tives in the Legislature from his district, then JJackson and Clark counties. He is now holding the office of County Surveyor. Politically he is a Republican.
Mr. Brockway was married, October 18, 1849, to Miss Sarah A. Riggs, who was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, January 28, 1832, the daughter of David and Katherine (Hen- dricks) Riggs, the former a native of New York, and the latter of Pennsylvania, but both emigrated to Ohio in early life. The father was a farmer by occupation, and held several township offices. Mr. and Mrs. Brock- way have had seven children, viz .: Melvin F., Ada M., Mary E., Albert M., La Fayette J., Fred R. and Judson W., all of whom are living.
The history of the Brockway family is as follows: In the early days in the history of the country seveu brothers by the name of Brockway settled in Connecticut. They came from England, and it is thought that most of the men now in the country by that name
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are descendants of these. Our subject's grandmother Brockway was a direct descend- ant of Captain Miles Standish, who came over on the Mayflower in 1620. The lineal descent of his mother's father, William Pot- ter Goff, was a general in the English army under Oliver Cromwell, and was one of the judges who, appointed by Parliament for that purpose in 1649, tried, convicted and sentenced to execution King Charles I, for tyranny and treason. Goff fled from Eng- land to this country in 1660, to escape the fate of the beheaded king, at the hands of Charles II, who had just gained accession to the throne. Here he had to remain in con- cealment for several years. A peculiar co- incidence in the Brockway family is the fact that E. L. Brockway has five boys and two girls, and he is himself one of a family of five boys and two girls, as was also his father.
Mr. Brockway, our subject, is one of the very early settlers here, and was at one time qnite wealthy. He is now a very popular man in the county.
ILLIAM DOUSE, who resides on a farm in section 21, Grant Township, was . born in Winslow, Maine, June 16, 1837. He received a fair education in his native State, and came West in 1861. He was married in Salem, Massachusetts, to an Irish lady, Miss Aın Duffa, by whom he has one child, Nellie M., who has been liber- ally educated in the district schools, and is married to Mr. W. W. Page.
Mr. Douse has been a hard-working man all liis life. He was engaged in farming prior to his enlistment in the army, and after his return he continued that occupation, which he lras since followed. During the war he served in Company A, Eighteenth
Wisconsin Infantry; was in the battle of Kingston and in the canrpaigur through North Carolina and Virginia. He was lion- orably discharged in 1865. Mr. Douse affili- ates with the Republican party.
HARLES C. MILES is one of the in- dustrious and progressive farmers of Sherman Township, and ranks among the most reliable men of the community. He was born in Dane County, Wisconsin, Jnne 23, 1847, and is a son of Samuel J. and Sarah (Burch) Miles, natives of Penn- sylvania and New York respectively. The parents were united in marriage in the State of Pennsylvania, and emigrated to Dane County, Wisconsin, in the year 1846, where they still reside. They have lived to see great changes in the country, and are de- serving of all the praise due the pioneers of any section of the land. It is indeed no small undertaking to convert a dense forest into a highly cultivated farm, and those early settlers were brave and determined souls, else civilization would never have at- tanred the higlr state which it has reached. Samuel J. Miles is identified with the Demo- cratic party, and is a citizen of sterling merit.
Charles C. is the fourth child of the latter,
. and grew to manhood on a farm in his native county. He received his education in the common schools, and was trained to the best methods of agriculture. He remained with his father, assisting him with his work, until he was twenty-one years of age.
In February, 1864, he responded to the call for men to come to the defense of this beloved country of ours, enlisting as a private in Company E, Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and serving until September 5,
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1865. He was honorably discharged at Demopolis, Alabama, when he returned to the more peaceful pursuit of agriculture. While in the service he was twice wounded.
It was not until the year 1869 that Mr. Miles removed to Clark County. He home- steaded 120 acres on section 26, Sherinan Township, and now owns 160 acres, thirty of which are cleared and under cultivation. Although he began life for himself without capital, he has accumulated a good property. During the summer season he runs a steam thresher, and finds it a profitable occupation. In the winter time he devotes his time to logging. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, and fraternally with the I. O.O. F.
Mr. Miles was joined in wedlock May 1, 1872, to Miss Gertrude Leatherdale, of Clark County, Wisconsin. Mrs. Miles was born in Adams County, Wisconsin, July 4, 1855, and is a daughter of Luke and Frances (Allerton) Leatherdale. Four children have been born of this Union: Herald C., Mabel G., Ray C. and Frances G.
ANIEL SPENCER, superintendent of the D. J. Spaulding farm, section 22, Warner Township, Clark County, was born in Martinsburg, Lewis County, New York, January 16, 1841, the son of Alvin and Barbara (Yousey) Spencer; the former was also born in Martinsburg, June 28, 1816, and the latter in Germany, August 15, 1820, but came to the United States when eighteen years of age. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom are now living, namely: Daniel, Lewis, Thomas, Henry, Lucetta, Etta, Charles M., Levina and Alvin. All are mar- ried and have families. The parents cele- brated their golden wedding May 3, 1890.
The subject of this sketch was reared to farm life and educated in the common- schools. He was a soldier in the late war in Company H, Thirteenth New York Heavy Artillery. He enlisted December 28, 1863, and was discharged in Angust 1865. He as- sisted in the capture of Petersburg and Rich- mond, and his battalion was the last to leave after the taking of the latter city. After the war Mr. Spencer continued farming until 1868, when he came to Jackson County, Wis- consin, settling in Garden Valley, and in the fall of 1869 he entered the employ of Mer- rill & Ice, and ran their farm in the town of Hixton for eight years. He then went to Black River Falls and farmed it until the fall of 1885, when he sold out and came to his present place, in March, 1887. Besides his general farmning and stock-raising, he was foreman in the pineries two winters, one for Merrill & Ice and one for Spaulding.
Mr. Spencer was married November 7, 1865, to Mary A. Searls, who was born in Lewis County, New York, August 12, 1844, the daughter of Clark Searles, deceased. Of their five children, four are now living: Julia E., Lizzie A., Major V. and Ethel M. Julia married Hans Syverson, of Nelson County, North Dakota, and has two children: May and Gny. Mrs Spencer was killed by light- ning at Black River Falls, August 11, 1882, during an electric storm, and her eldest son, Clark W., died May 30, same year, of scarlet fever, at the age of fourteen years. Mr. Spencer was again married, March 9, 1884, to Mrs. Maria Overturf, the widow of Thomas H. Overturf, and danghter of Charles Owens, deceased. Mr. Overturf was a native of Illi- nois, served in the Union army in an Illinois regiment, and died from the effects of a shell wound September 6, 1877, in the Soldiers' IJome at Washington, District of Columbia. Mrs. Spencer was born in Potter County,
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Pennsylvania, October 1, 1851. She had four children by her first husband, three of whom still survive: Delia M., George II. and Emma B. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have one child-Bessie. Mr. Spencer is a member of the G. A. R. and I. O. O. F. fraternities, and also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Greenwood. Politically he is a Prohibitionist. He had two brothers in the late war: Thomas was in the Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, and Henry was in the same company with Mr. Spencer.
LVA B. MARSH, secretary and man- ager of the firm of the Neillsville Milling Company, was born in Clark county, December 8, 1850, the son of Nel- son and Rocclia (Taylor) Marsh, natives of Tennessee, who came to this connty in 1856. The father is an extensive farmer in Grant Township, and is also engaged in the mer- cantile business; he is also Postmaster and one of the early settlers of the county. When he settled here there was only one settler within two miles, and only two or three honses in Neillsville. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years, and was also chairman of the Board of Super- visors. Mr. Marsh is one of the wealthy inen of the county, and takes an active in- terest in politics. He has a family of six children living, viz .: Joseph, who is engaged in the lumber business in Spokeville: is Postmaster at that place, and has held the position of chairman of the County Board of Supervisors; Lewis, Malvina, Sylvester, Alva B. and Spencer M., all having received a fine education. Spencer M. is now an attorney at law.
Our subject remained at home until twenty years of age, assisting on the farm
and attending the district schools. He then entered the Northwestern Business College at Madison, and graduated at that institution in 1882. He afterward engaged in clerking at Maple Works for three years. In 1886 he came to Neillsville and engaged as book- keeper for W. S. Colburn & Co., with whom he remained over two years, after which he rented the same for two years. He em- ployed eight men, and inade some money, but since that time the mill has been run by a stock company, and Mr. Marsh has held the position of secretary and manager. He has held the office of Supervisor of the First Ward for the past three years, and is also secretary of the Masonic Lodge, No. 163, of Neillsville.
Mr. Marsh was married in 1886 to Miss Mamie McIntyre, of Neillsville, and the dinghter of Ira and Mary McIntyre. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have two children-Clara B. and Fay. Mr. Marsh has built a fine home on Ninth street, where he now resides. He is a strong Republican politically, socially a Mason, and a prominent man both of the city and county.
MANUEL J. LEWIS, a lumberman of Hemlock, was born in Uniontown, Alabama, May 10, 1861, the son of Rev. George (deceased) and Patsy (Bnrges) Lewis. The father was a native of Rich- mond, Virginia, and was for twenty years a minister of the gospel in the Methodist Epis- copal Church in Alabama. The parents had ten children, viz .: Henry, Lucy, Mathew, Samnel, Emanuel, Dovie, Manasses, Georgia, Fleming and Rebecca.
Emanuel J., the subject of this sketch, came to Lewis Valley, Wisconsin, near La Crosse, with a Mr. Broadbent, when in his
Moule Dag las
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sixth year. He soon afterward went to live with Colonel A. Wood, of that locality, and remained with him over twenty years, having been engaged in teamning mostly. He began working in the pineries eight years ago, and now takes contracts in taking logs to the river for other parties. Mr. Lewis was mar- ried May 8. 1889, to Julia Markham, who was born in Sauk County, Wisconsin, August 9, 1865, the daughter of Morris Markham, whose biography appears in this work. They have one child, Mollie Reed, born July 30, 1890. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are members of the Presbyterian Church.
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ARK DOUGLAS, a farmer, lumber- man and mill owner of Jackson County, was born in Dumfrieshire, Scotland, September 19, 1829, the son of Thomas Donglas, who was born in the same place in 1787. In 1845 he camne to this country from Scotland by way of Liverpool and New Orleans, thence to La Crosse by steamboat, and then to the home of his sons, Robert and Thomas, in Melrose, where he lived until a short time before his death, when he went and lived with his daughter, Mrs. James O'Neill, of Neilsville, Clark County. Our subject's mother, nee Jane Dalryple, was born in Scotland in 1787, where she died at an advanced age. They were the parents of eleven children, namely : John, James, William, Jane, Robert, Hugh, Thomas, Isabella, George, David and Mark. Four of these children are now living: Will- iam, Robert, Hugh and Mark.
Our subject, the eleventh child, was reared and educated in Scotland. In June, 1845, he came to Melrose, which was at that time in Crawford County, Wisconsin. He went to work for his brothers, Robert and Thomas,
who were the first of the family to come to this county, remaining until the spring of 1849. In that year he went to Dane County, where he worked on a farm for his brother William until 1851. Before going to that county he had taken a claim of 400 acres at Melrose, and in the spring of 1852 he went to work on this land. In 1853-'54 he held the office of Town Treasurer of Melrose, and in 1855 was elected Chairman of the town, which position he held for twenty-six years. He was Postmaster here for nine years, and at that time the place was called Bristol, bnt he finally succeeded in having it called by its ·present name. In the fall of 1873 Mr. Donglas was elected to the Assembly, and in 1875 was elected to the State Senate, which position he held two years. In 1878 he was nominated by the Governor to the office of Fish Commissioner of the State of Wiscon- sin, which position he still holds. In July, 1876, he bought the Melrose Flouring Mills, which he still owns, and is also the owner of a very fine farm of 400 acres, the greater part of which is in section 8, where he now resides. He also owns village property in this city, and 4,000 acres of land in Chippe- wa County, and 2,500 acres in Clark County. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and is also a thirty-second degree Mason.
Mr. Douglas was inarried September 12, 1852, to Justina C. Merrill, who was born in Penobscot County, Maine, May 15, 1830, the daughter of Humphrey and Esther (Ham- mond) Merrill, both natives of Maine. In 1858 the parents came to Jackson County, Wisconsin, locating in Alma Center, where the father died at about seventy-five years of age. In early life Mr. Merrill was a sailor, bnt in later life followed farming. Politi- cally he was a Republican. Mrs. Merrill died in Hixton, at about eighty years of age.
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They were both members of the Baptist Church, and Mrs. Douglas is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Donglas have had no children of their own, but have an adopted danghter, Maud B. Douglas, now Mrs. E. A. Gaylord, of Melrose.
ERMAN H. PRAY, of Jackson County, Wisconsin, was born in the State of New York, March 8, 1835, the son of William H. Pray, a native of the same State. In 1837 the father went to Kalamazoo County, Michigan, where he died at the age of sixty-nine years. He was a pumpmaker by trade and a Democrat politically. His father was also born in New York, where he spent his entire life. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Our subject's mother, Adeline (Austin) Pray, was born in New York and died in Michigan, at the age of thirty-five years. The parents had nine chil- dren, namely: William, Julia, Adeline, Horace, Mary, Louise, Benjamin, Herman H. and Emily. Of these three are now liv- ing: Adeline, Mary and Herman H.
Herman H., their eighth child, was reared and educated in Kalamazoo County, Michi- gan, where he also followed various pursuits. August 15, 1850, he came to Jackson County, Wisconsin, where he remained but a short time, and then went to Manchester, where he was foreman in a saw-mill until 1856. In that year he went to St. Paul, from there on a raft to St. Louis, and in the fall of the same year returned to Jackson County, settling in Albion Township. He was engaged in a saw-inill until 1876, when he bought a mill of his own, in Fremont, Jackson County, and operated it until 1881, when he had the mis- fortune to be burned out, causing a loss of
$10,000. He never rebuilt the mill, and in the spring of 1882 bought 160 acres of land on section 18, Albion Township, where he now resides and carries on general farming. In 1877 he was appointed Postmaster there, the office being named after him, and he held the position four years. Mr. Pray has risen to liis present position by his own efforts, being now well off financially. Politically lie is a Democrat.
He was married December 13, 1857, to Anna J. King, who was born Angust 17, 1837, in the State of New Jersey, a daughter of Jolın and Mary (Wilson) King, natives also of New Jersey. In the spring of 1856 the parents came to Jackson County, Wis- consin, where they died at an advanced age. The father was a miller by trade, and politi- cally a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Pray have had four children: Lanra, John K., Alice A., Berdine. All are living except Laura, who died when a small child.
OHN ZIGLINSKE, one of the thrifty farmers of Clark County, resides on sec- tion 28, Grant Township. He was born in Germany, October 30, 1845, and was married in his native country in 1873. In 1875, with his wife and two children, he caine to America and located in Clark Coun- ty, Wisconsin. Their children are now be- ing educated in the district schools of this place. Mr. Ziglinske brought with him to the United States $200 that by hard work he had earned in the old country. He bought a farm of 120 acres which was a perfect wild- erness. By much toil he has cleared forty acres of this. At that time there were no roads near his place, and the new settlers Lrad many obstacles to meet and overcome before the country was cleared up. Mr. Ziglinske
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spent a short time in Minnesota. Not being favorably impressed with that State, however, he returned to Clark Connty, Wisconsin, the same year. That was when he first caine to America. His farm is well stocked with cattle and horses, and he is regarded as one of the prosperous fariners of the neighbor- hood. His political views are in accordance with Democratic principles.
LFRED DINGLEY, a contractor and bnilder, and also proprietor of a steam saw-mill at Greenwood, was born in Kennebec County, Maine, May 2, 1843, the son of Joseph A. and Mary J. (Wyman) Dingley, both natives of Maine; the former died in that State in 1887, and the latter in 1889. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, five of whom still survive, namely: Alfred, George, Eunice, Charles and Carrie. The children all live in Maine except Eunice, who resides in Bedford, Quebec.
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