USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > Biographical history of La Crosse, Trempealeau and Buffalo Counties, Wisconsin : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each; engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 56
USA > Wisconsin > La Crosse County > Biographical history of La Crosse, Trempealeau and Buffalo Counties, Wisconsin : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each; engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 56
USA > Wisconsin > Trempealeau County > Biographical history of La Crosse, Trempealeau and Buffalo Counties, Wisconsin : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each; engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 56
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He was married December 30, 1876, at La Crosse, by Rev. Smith, to Miss Sophia Spang- ler, a lady of education and refinement. HIer father, Rev. J. II. Spangler, was born in Switzerland and died in May, 1890. Ilis wife, Louisa Hanhart, was born, reared and married in Switzerland. They came to Wis- consin in 1851, and here reared a family of ten children, three sons serving in the civil war: Henry, Walter and Adolph. Their mother died in Sank county, Wisconsin, in 1854, when her danghter, Mrs. Green, was an infant.
Mr. and Mrs. Green have two daughters: Imogene Louisa, born November 21, 1879,
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and Irma Elizabeth, born September 30. 1881.
Mr. Green is a Democrat, and socially be- longs to the I. O. O. F. His manners are frank and cordial, indicative of the man, and his personal popularity is abundant proof of his many sterling characteristics.
L. CLARK, a tanner and farmer by oe- cupation, but later engaged in mercan- tile trade, was born in Erie county. New York, in 1824, a son of John and Nancy (Levins) Clark, natives of New Hampshire and Vermont respectively. Dr. Samuel Clark, the paternal grandfather of our sub- ject, was a physician of enviable reputation in Stanstead, Canada; he married Betsey !
Burton, and to them were born five sons and five daughters. John Clark was a tanner by trade, and followed that calling forty years and more. He came West with his family in 1851, and settled in La Crosse county. where he engaged in agriculture; his death occurred in 1860, his age being sixty-tive years. Ile was one of the first Supervisors of the county, and was widely and favorably known. His wife died in 1853 at the age of fifty-three years; they were both people of strict integrity of character, and endured courageously all the hardships of their early life on the frontier. To them were born six children, three of whom are living. P. L. Clark, one of the three, has been engaged in both commercial and agricultural pursuits. For six years he was Chief of Police of La Crosse, and as this eity is justly entitled to the reputation of being one of the most orderly places on the Mississippi river, it is not unfair to place the eredit where it is due. Ile was one of the most watchful officials the
city has ever known, and fully possessed the courage of his convictions.
In 1848 Mr. Clark went to Mississippi, and remained there four years, engaged in the tanning business. ITis marriage to Miss Martha Kimball occurred in 1955, and of this union were born four children: Mary is the wife of J. C. Saupe of La Crosse, and they are the parents of one child, Flora May; Albert P. is one of the proprietors of one the largest livery stables in the city : Charles K. is station agent at Alden, Minnesota, and has been mayor of Alden for a number of years; he owns a large stock farm in Minnesota, and is very successful in his business operations; he married Miss Jennie St. John, of Vir- ginia, and they have three children: Frank, Sydney and Roy; Florence married Joseph Morley. of Neillsville, Wisconsin, and they have one child, Joseph Clark. Mrs. Clark is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her parents, Abraham and Mary (Bradbury) : Kimball, were from Buxton, Maine; they died a few years after coming to the West; they first settled in Illinois, and afterwards removed to Wisconsin; the father died in 1851, at the age of sixty eight years; his wife died the same year, at the age of sixty-three years. They had eight children, three of whom are yet living: Horace, of Paddock. Minnesota; Charles, of Oakland, California, and Mrs. Clark. Mary Bradbury Kimball was a relative of William B. Bradbury, the celebrated musician. The Kimball family is from the county of Cumberland. England, and takes its origin from a parish of that name upon the Scottish border. The descrip- tion of their coat of arms from the Herald's College, London: "The arms are argent [silver]; a lion rampant: gules [red] upon a chief [sable]; three crescents of gold. The crest is a lion rampant holding in the dexter paw a dagger au propre. Motto: Fortis, non
Ленаили
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ferox [brave but not ferocious. ]" The lion rampant in the coat-of-arms show that an ancestor had won a battle while in command at an engagement. The chief is a grant of honor for services done the government; and the creseents show that these services were against the Moors. The lion with a dagger in the crest shows that he who gained the victory dispatched the commander of the opposing forces with his dagger.
Politically our subject affiliates with the Democratic party, and ardently supports the issues of that body. Ile belongs to the Chosen Friends. He is a man of good prin- ciples, strong purposes and thorough reliabil- ity, commanding the esteem and highest regard of the entire community.
22022 #22222
OHN WHELDON, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and conveyancer of Bangor, resides on section 5, township 16, range 5 west, where he settled in 1853. He was born in Wales, October 4, 1815, a son of William J. Wheldon, deceased, a native of the same country. He went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1817, and thence to Steuben township, Oneida county, New York, in Dec- ember, 1819, where the parents both died several years later.
John, the subject of this sketch, was edu- cated in the common and high schools, and also taught school five winters in New York. Ile emigrated to this place in 1853, where he built the first log house, 22 x 16 feet. The Indians and wild animals were then numer- ous, and deer was shot on the present site of the village of Bangor. llis farm lay in the Bur Oak openings, and he now owns 180 acres, which is operated by his son, he devot. ing his time to his business interests. Ile has been a member of both the County Board
and Side Board several years, and in the early days was Superintendent of Schools. He was elected Justice of the Peace in April, 1872, and in the same year was appointed Notary Public. Ile has been a Republican since the party was organized, but never takes an active part in polities. He was appointed Post- master under President Grant April 28, 1873, and served unfil 1885, when he was removed on account of his political views.
Mr. Wheldon was married, in April, 1843, to Elizabeth Roberts, a native of Wales, and daughter of Richard Roberts, deceased. They have had twelve children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, viz .: Elias, Laura A., William, Richard (deceased), Stephen B., Morris C., Newton, John, Jennie M., Robert and Griffith. Mrs. Wheldon died in March, 1886 She was a consistent Christian and a member of the Congregational Church, of which our subjeet is also a member.
C. HANSON, one of the most active members of commercial circles in La Crosse county, has resided here since 1866, and in that time has built up a large and thriving business. Ile is a native of Norway, born on St. Patrick's day, in 1845, a son of Hans and Mary Hanson. Ilis father was a farmer by occupation. and he was reared to the same calling; he attended school until he was fourteen years of age, and then worked on the farm until he was nineteen. Desirous of trying some other kind of em- ployment he secured a position as elerk, which he filled for two years. Then came the wish to see another country, and to try his fortunes in the New World. Accordingly he sailed away across the sea to America, landing in the city of Quebec, in July, 1866, whence he went directly to Chicago, Illinois.
31
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After a short time in that city he came to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and settled on Half- way creek; he next lived in the town of Ona- laska for eighteen months, and from that point moved to Hamilton township, where he took up a homestead of Government land; he proved up on this tract and sold it in 1877. HIe then embarked in general mereantile trade in Rockland with John H. Dahl, the firm name being Ilanson & Dahl; this rela- tionship existed from 1877 to 1879, when they bought the stock of II. Holmboe, of Mindoro, and removed to that place; the business was conducted under the same firm name until January 12, 1885, when Mr. Hanson bonght Mr. Dahl's interest, and has continned the business alone. November 29, 1890, he purchased the stock of J. H. Hodge & Co., and now earries a stock of $10,000. In addition to this enterprise he owns a creamery which he has managed since 1888; in 1890 the sales were $25,000; he also oper- ates a cheese factory, the annual trade of which amounts to $2.500.
Politically Mr. Hanson is identitied with the Republican party, and is an ardent sup- porter of the issues of that body. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Super- visors for three years, reflecting great eredit upon himself and his constitueney; he has been Treasurer of the township for three years, and was Secretary of the School Board for a number of years, and is at present its Treasurer. Ile is one of the trustees of the La Crosse asylum, and has filled this responsi- ble position since the institution was opened. In the spring of 1879 he was appointed Post- master at Mindoro, and held that office until the fall of 1885. In January, 1891, he was appointed to the same position, and is the present inenmbent of that office; is one of the World's Fair Commissioners for La Crosse
connty, and a member of the Norden Society of La Crosse.
Mr. Hanson has been twice married: in March, 1879, he was united to Miss Anna Knutson, a native of Norway; she was but seven years of age when she was brought to this country, was edneated here, and became a snecessful teacher. She was the mother of three children: Alfred M., Clarence and Alma L. Her death occurred in 1885: she was a worthy member of the Lutheran Church, and a woman greatly beloved by all who knew her. The second marriage of our subject was to Miss Anna Anderson, in 1886; she is also a native of Norway; one son has been born of this union, Alexander T.
In addition to his mercantile interests Mr. Hanson owns a good residence and some town lots; he is a man of superior business qualifications, and has made the most of the opportunities that have been presented to him sinee taking up his residence in the United States. IIe has always given a lib- eral support to those movements which have recommended themselves as being of benefit to the general public, and the position he has taken in the commercial world is one of which any man might well be proud.
SAAC D. DAVIS was born at Cardigan- shire, South Wales, January 10, 1838, son of Isaac D. Davis, Sr., and Margaret, his wife, both natives of that place. He is one of a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters. When he was fourteen years old his father died. His mother lived to be eighty. Isaac D. was reared in his native land, and from his youth up worked in a coal mine, becoming an expert miner before he was twenty-one. When he reached his majority he left Wales, sailed from Liverpool
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to Boston, and from there went North; was in Ilalifax, Canada East, Montreal and Que- bec; thence to Boston and New York. Ile finally located in Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania, where he engaged in coal-mining for several years, and was successful.
While in Pennsylvania, Mr. Davis was married, December 10, 1863, to Elizabeth Williams, who was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1846. Her parents, John and Elizabeth Williams, were natives of Wales, passed their lives and died there. They had three sons and two daughters. Eight children have been given to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, seven of whom are living, viz .: Elizabeth Ann, wife of William Griffin, of Mount Pleasant, Mich- igan, has three children; John, of North La Crosse, is married and has ore son; and Thomas, Maggie, Willie, Gomer and Nelly, at home. Isaac died at the age of four months.
Mr. Davis left Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1866, and went West. Ile traveled all over Missouri, seeking a desirable location, and in 1871 we find him settled near Oskaloosa, in Mahaska county, Iowa. After remaining there a year he took his family East, and at New York embarked for California, making the journey via the Isthmus of Panama. Ar- riving on the Pacific coast, he took up his abode in Contra Costa county, and lived there for some time. Returning East by rail, he again settled in Mahaska county, Iowa, where he lived three years; thence to La Crosse county, Wisconsin. Hlere he purchased 120 acres of fine land in the Lewis valley and has since resided on it. He has a comfortable cottage home, built in 1887, and located half a mile from the village of Mindoro. All the improvements on his farm are first-elass and are kept in good order. lle is engaged in general farming and dairying, keeping ten eows.
Mr. Davis east his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has since affiliated with the Re- publican party. lle was roared a Methodist and his wife a Baptist. Being a close obser- server and having traveled extensively, Mr. Davis possesses a general fund of useful in- formation. Honorable and upright in all his business dealings, and obliging in his dispo- sition, he has the good will of all who know him.
Sneh is a brief sketeh of one of the repre- sentative citizens of Farmington township.
EORGE SLIGER, a farmer of Farming- ton township, is one of the best-known of the early German settlers of La Crosse county, having been a resident since April 17. 1853. lle was born in Saxony, Septem- ber 9, 1822, and is a son of llenry and Eve (Storandt) Sliger. Ile is the youngest of a family of three sons and four danghters, and was but three years of age when his mother died. He attended school until he was four- teen years old, and then was an evening pupil for a time; he took up the trade of a mason, and served an apprenticeship of several years. Ilis father was a master mason, and had charge of a large number of men; he died in his na- tive land, at the age of seventy-three years.
When onr subject was twenty-two years of age, he sailed from Bremen for the port of New York, believing that the opportunities afforded in the United States excelled those of the Old World. After a voyage of fifty- eight days he reached America, and continued his journey to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, via the Great Lakes; thenee he went to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and settled at Lake Geneva, where he secured employment as a hostler in a hotel. lle was one of the first settlers in this place; there were no roads ex-
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cept the Indian trails, and game could be had in abundance. Fortune did not at first smile upon Mr. Sliger; first he had a horse stolen, and then an ox died, and a series of misfor- tunes followed. But he is well endowed with that plnek and perseverance which so strongly characterizes his nationality, and he has suc- ceeded in overcoming many obstacles. He now owns a farm of 103 acres, which is well improved with substantial barns and sheds, and has a comfortable and convenient resi- dence.
Mr. Sliger was united in marriage, February 26. 1848, at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to Miss Margaret Young, also a native of Saxony, and a danghter of John Adam Young, who settled in Wisconsin in 1847. To Mr. and Mrs. Sliger have been born seven daughters: Mary, Amelia, wife of Robert Williams; Anna, wife of James II. Esaboll; Elizabeth, wife of Orlo Robinson; Lydia, wife of Dell Quiggle: Sarah, wife of Ed Rat- cliffe.
In his political convictions, our subject ad- heres to the principles of the voters known as independents. lle is a member of the Lutheran Church, and enjoys the esteem of all his associates. Although he lacks but one year of the " three score and ten " allotted to man, he is hale and strong and bids fair to see another decade in the history of the North- west.
ELANCTHON T. BURKE, secretary of the J. S. Medary Saddlery Com- pany, was born near Bethel. Clermont county, Ohio, March 17, 1831. ITis paternal great-grandfather, Hubert Burke, settled in Virginia previous to the Revolution and there married a sister of Obed Dunham, who laid ont the village of Dunhamstown (afterwards
Bethel), Ohio, and donated the land on which the Baptist church was built, the deed speci- fying that "no member of said church shall hold slaves or deal in intoxicating liquors." The anti-slavery and temperance sentiment of a later day was largely the result of the work of a few such sturdy souls who had the courage of their convictions at a time when it eost something.
Kelly Burke, son of Hubert Burke, emi- grated from Virginia, first to Kentucky, where he married Sarah Beck, and afterwards to Clermont county, Ohio, where Kelly D. Burke, the father of our subject was born, his mother. Emeline (Hill) Burke, being a native of Kentucky. The ancestors men- tioned were sturdy American pioneers of the best type, and were without exception promi- nent members of the Baptist Church, and uncompromising " old-line Whigs."
Mr. Burke is one of a family of six sons and three daughters. Ilis youth was spent in acquiring a good common-school education and assisting his father in clearing up and tilling the old Ohio farm. At the age of eighteen years he began his business career in the village of Bethel as clerk in a general store. After three years of faithful service, he embarked in the same kind of business for himself, which he carried on for several years. At the age of twenty-four he closed out his Bethel store and accepted a propo- sition of Jesse R. Grant (father of Gen- eral Grant), to go to Galena, Illinois, and assist in the management of his wholesale leather and saddlery business, then in charge of Mr. Grant's son, Samuel S. Grant. Mr. Grant's youngest son, Orville L., was sent to the Galena store two years later, and his son, Captain Ulysses S. Grant, who had resigned his eommission in the regular army, followed in February, 1860. Two years later found Samuel S. Grant in a consumptive's grave,
Mins Fourtillotte
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General U. S. Grant fighting the rebels at the head of the Army of the Tennessee, Or- ville L. Grant in charge of the Galena store, and M. T. Burke in charge of a new leather and saddlery business at La Crosse, Wiscon- sin, under the firm name of Grant & Burke, his partner being Orville L. Grant. A branch leather store had also been opened at Cedar Falls, Iowa. In 1866 the Galena, La Crosse and Cedar Falls stores were sold out and con- solidated at Chicago under the firm name of Grant, Burke & Co., the La Crosse business being sold to Davis, Medary & Hill.
In 1869, Mr. Burke withdrew from the firm of Grant, Burke & Co., but continued in the general leather and tanning business at Chi- cago and Portsmouth, Ohio, until 1880, at which time he returned to La Crosse as man- ager for the business he had established in 1861, now the J. S. Medary Saddlery Company. This company, of which he is a member, is one of the leading industries of the city, and has won a high reputation in commercial cir- eles.
Mr. Burke was married in 1852, to Helen M. Ross, a niece of Mrs. Jesse R. Grant. To Mr. and Mrs. Burke have been born three sons. The eldest son, Edward Ross, is a member of the prominent La Crosse Banking and Insurance firm of Magill & Burke. IIe married Anna L. Tracy (deceased), a grand- daughter of United States Senator Uriah Tracy, of New York. One child, Tracy I., was born to them. The second son, Charles Sumner, is the general agent of the Connect- ient Life Insurance Company at Boston, Massachusetts. He married Nellie Oatman, of Winsted, Connecticut, and Robert E. is their only child. The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Burke, William E., died at La Crosse in 1865.
Mr. Burke is a member of the Masonic order and of the Universalist Church. He is
an ardent and active Republican, but has never held a remunerative office. In 1852 he was a delegate to the Whig State Conven- tion at Columbus, Ohio. He has served the city of La Crosse two terms as a member of the Council, and also as a member of the Board of Education.
Just before the surrender of General Lee, Mr. Burke was given a secret commission by the Treasury Department to negotiate the purchase and protection of tobacco, cotton, ete., in Richmond, bnt Grant struck the last blow before the mission could be accom- plished.
In 1865, he was the Republican candidate for Mayor of La Crosse. The city was at that time largely Democratic, and he was de- feated by a small majority. He is a genial, courteous gentleman, is public-spirited and worthy of the esteem in which he is held.
ILLS TOURTELLOTTE, attorney at law, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, August, 31, 1853, and his parents are now honored residents of La Crosse. Both were natives of Connectieut. The father came to La Crosse Wisconsin, with his family, consisting of his wife and eldest son, and settled at West Sa- lem, since when they have had two sons and one daughter. He and Thomas Leonard were the principal movers in laying out that vil- lage. The father lived on a farm right in town until about 1884, when he moved to Denver, Colorado, where his son, John F., an able attorney, resides, and remained there until 1889. He then came to La Crosse, of which city he has been a resident ever since. Col. J. E. Tourtellotte, an uncle of our sub- ject's, was on General Sherman's staff until the latter was retired. He died July 22, 1891,
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and is interred at the National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginnia. He was but fifty- eight years of age.
Mills Tourtellotte was educated in the State University, in the class of 1877, but graduated in the law class of that institu- tion in 1875. He then opened an office in La Crosse and has continuously practiced law here since, meeting with excellent success. He is interested in all the enterprises which promise for their object the welfare of the city, and is a public-spirited citizen.
Ile was married in 1878, to Miss Lillie Woodbury, daughter of Capt. W. W. Woodbury, of Boston, Massachusetts. Capt. Woodbury served in the civil war and died November 15, 1891, aged sixty-two years. He served in a Minnesota regiment during the entire war. Mrs. Tourtellotte is the only child. Her mother is still living and is sixty years of age.
To Mr. and Mrs. Tourtellotte have been born four children: Lillie W., Augustus M., Wallace L., and Nathaniel M.
Mr. and Mrs. Tourtellotte attend the Epis- copal Church. Socially the former is a mem - ber of the K. of P., has been all through the chairs in the local lodge and has been a rep- resentative in the Grand Lodge one year. Ile is also a member of the Royal Arcanum and has been through all the chairs in the local lodge.
Mr. Tourtellotte is proprietor of the Tour- tellotte stock and dairy farm at Middle Ridge, La Crosse county, and Mr. A. C. Barber is manager. This is one of the largest stock and dairy farms in the county and Mr. Tour- tellotte is actively engaged in breeding thor- oughbred Holstein cattle and Poland-China pigs. The farm embraces 500 acres. This is one of the leading industries of the county, and is complete in all its appointments, includ - ing creamery, etc. Mr. Tourtellotte takes a
decided interest in politics and is an advocate of the principles of the Republican party, though not anxious to hold office. He is well read, is an able attorney, and possesses excel- lent business qualifications.
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M ARTIN REICHERT, a farmer resid- ing near Stevenstown, is another one of the enterprising and successful men of this county.
Mr. Reichert claims. Prussia as the country of his nativity, the date of his birth being November 23, 1844. He is a son of Jacob and Mary Ann (Teice) Reichert, both natives of Prussia. The subject of our sketch was a babe when his parents sailed for America. They landed at New York and from there camne direct to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, soon after settling in Washington county. In 1863 they came to La Crosse county, and here the parents passed the residue of their lives and died. They reared a family of six chil- dren, all of whom are living, namely: Agnes, Jacob, David, Martin, Mary and Barbara. . Four of them are in this country. The father died at the age of sixty-five years. In early life he was engaged at work in the lumber woods in Prussia, but after coming to Amer- ica he turned his attention to farming. The mother passed away in 1884, at the age of seventy-four years.
Martin Reichert spent his youth at farm work and received his education in the dis- triet schools. He was nineteen years of age when he came to this county. During the war lie enlisted, in February, 1865, in Com- pany C, Forty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry, and was at first stationed with his regiment in Madison. IIe was afterward in Missouri at St. Louis and Rolla. Ile received his dis- charge at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, after
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which he returned to his home in Wisconsin. Mr. Reichert has a fine farin of 200 aeres, a part of which was purchased in 1863. It is well improved, with a comfortable log honse, stables, fences, ete., and is devoted to general farming.
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