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 65

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 938

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 65
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 65
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 65

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his party. He was a man of the strictest integrity and honored and respected most by those who knew him best. Ile left a limit- less circle of friends and a widow and eight children to mourn their loss. The names of his children are as follows: Anna, wife of Fred H. Miller; Sophia, wife of Henry F. Miller; Amelia and Adelia, twins, the former the wife of Andrew Bratberg, and the latter the wife of Henry Esmiller; Rachel, wife of F. D. Miller; Mary, wife of lIerman Weingarten; and Willie D. and Robert D., who reside with their mother in Holland township. Mr. and Mrs. Sandman lost one daughter. aged twenty-four years.

M RS. RHODA ANN CRONK, widow of John W. Cronk, has successfully managed the farm of 320 acres that was left her at her husband's death, and has manifested considerable ability as a business woman. Her husband was born in Steuben county, New York, in 1825, to John and

and eventually became the owner of the farm on which his widow now resides. Had his life been spared he would have undoubtedly become wealthy, for he was a man of sound, practical yet enterprising views, and possessed an abundant fund of energy. His death, which occurred October 8, 1872, was felt as a great loss to the community, and was a sonree of deep and lasting sorrow to his own immediate family. In social life he was highly esteemed, and in the domestic circle he was a model husband and father, and loved his family with extreme devotion, and made their happiness and comfort the chief aim and object of life. Ile was keenly alive to the sufferings and misfortunes of others, and no one ever appealed to him in vain for consolation or succor. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The names of his children are as follows: John, who is married and has a farm near his mother, was married to Helen Ryder, by whom he has seven children; Georgiana is the wife of Warren Moore, of Onalaska; and Moses C., who resides on the homestead with Margaret Cronk, and on a farm in his native ; his mother. The family residence is a sub-

county he was reared, his education being re- stantial structure, two stories in height, 28 x 28 teet, and the barn is also a commodious and well-constructed building. Mrs. Cronk's many amiable qualities have endeared her to a large circle of friends, and although she has seen much sorrow, it has only served to draw her into deeper sympathy with all forms of human suffering and affliction. ceived in the public schools near his home. At the age of twenty three years he was mar- ried to Miss Rhoda A. Spike, a lady of good family, who was born, reared and educated in Steuben county. She was a faithful wife and helpmate to her husband as long as he lived, and has carried on the work he so ably in- angurated, in a very efficient manner since his death. She is a daughter of Daniel and Anna (Vale) Spike, who were natives of Montgomery county, New York. John W. TIOMAS RODEN, proprietor of the Iron Bluff Dairy and Stock Farm, dealer in milk and breeder of Jersey cattle, is one of the most progressive men in his line of work in La Crosse county. He Cronk came to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in 1850, and purchased eighty acres, on which he lived for six years; then came farther west, where he could have a better oppor- tunity of purchasing more land for his sons, has some of the finest Jersey cattle in his

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part of the State, keeps fifty head of cows, and also fifty head of other cattle. Thomas Roden was born at Belfast, Ireland, July 2, 1847, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Me- Kee) Roden, of the same place, and when a lad of nine years he went to work in a linen manufactory. At the age of eighteen he found himself in the city of Quebec, where he spent six months, after which he located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He then resided for a short time in Sparta, afterwards in Vi- roqua, Vernon county, where his uncle, David MeKee, was one of the first settlers; but in 1870 he came to this county and bought some swamp land near North La Crosse for $500, which he improved and sold for $16,000. lIe at one time owned 350 cows, and kept the largest dairy northwest of Chicago. Ile located on his present farm in 1887, where he owns 760 acres of well-im. proved land, on which are valuable iron de- posits. His residence is a good two-story structure: his barns and sheds are commodi- ous, enabling him to stable 240 head of cat- tle and thirty-two head of horses, the latter animals being of the Bashaw and Hamble- tonian breed, and some of them very fine roadsters. Mr. Roden has been a breeder of Jersey cattle for the past eleven years, and has twenty-seven full-blooded cows. He has a stone milk-house, 18 x 40 feet, which has a twenty-four-horse steam power, and is now sole owner of a fire proof paint which he is introducing. lle also keeps 240 Cotswold sheep, and everything about his place is kept in model order and indicates that Mr. Roden is a man of progressive and enterprising views, thoroughly up with the times in all particulars, and admirably fitted for the busi- ness which receives his attention.

the former a superintendent in a linen factory in Belfast. Mr. and Mrs. Roden have a daughter, Anna, who is the wife of Mell. Smith, of Onalaska, and they are all mem- bers of a Protestant Church. Mr. Roden is a prominent citizen of the county, respected and esteemed for his sterling integrity, sound judgment and broad and progressive ideas. In the fall of 1886 he made a visit to his old home in Belfast.

-2 MIAARLES A. GLOVER, farmer, Ona- laska, Wisconsin. It cannot be ex- peeted, in a work of this kind, where but brief biographieal sketches of prominent citizens of the county are presented, that a lengthy laudatory article should be written of each one, and yet at times there are met with some who have been so intimately and closely identified with the county, and whose names are so familiar to all, that it is only just to dwell upon what they have done, and the influence of their career on others, not as empty words of praise, but the plain state- inent of a still plainer truth. Mr. Glover was born in Leicestershire. England, Febru- ary 15, 1848, and his parents, Charles and Martha (French) Glover were natives of the same country. About 1857 the parents crossed the ocean to the United States and located in Campbell township, La Crosse county, Wisconsin, where the father remained for three years and then returned to England. The mother died in La Crosse county. They were the parents of six children, viz. : George, who enlisted in the Second Wisconsin Cav- alry, in 1861, and died in the service of his country: Mrs. Lydia Gibbs, of Minnesota; Mrs. Mary Moss, of Campbell township, La Crosse county; Mrs. Lucy Tull, of Georgia;

He was married at Belfast in 1865 to Miss Rachel Ann MeClerry, daughter of John McClerry and Margaret ( MeBride) MeCherry, Charles A. (subject), and Mrs. Margaret

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Totten, of Burns township, La Crosse county. at home, and George Arthur, the latter's Charles A. Glover was reared on a farm and birth occurring November 11. 1869. George Arthur was deaf and dumb and received a thorough education in the College for Mutes, at Delavan, Wisconsin. His death, which occurred in 1886, at the age of seventeen, was a sad blow to his parents. Mr. Glover is a Republican in politics, and socially he is a member of the G. A. R., John Flynn Post, No. 77. He is one of the substantial and prosperous men of La Crosse county, and is well respected by all. received a good practical education in the common sehools. On March 20, 1865, in La Crosse county, Wisconsin, he enlisted in Company H. Fifty-first Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served until honorably dis- charged, August 17, of the same year. Ilis regiment was stationed at Benton Barracks, Missouri, and at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Returning to La Crosse county after cessa- tion of hostilities Mr. Glover engaged in farming. and in February, 1568. he came to his present farm, which now consists of 270 acres of rich land a short distance from Ona- laska. He has a good modern residence, the bay window of which is filled with beautiful plants and flowers, and everything about the place indicates to the beholder that the owner is a man of energy and taste. Ilis barns and ont buildings are commodious and substan- tial, and the barn is one of the most conven- iently arranged of all in the county. He feeds a great deal of stock, and is the owner of some fine Hambletonian and Clydesdale horses. "Glover Farm" is a beautiful place, and Mr. Glover has reason to be proud of it. Ile was married in February, 1866, to Miss Martha French, a lady of culture and refine- ment and of a good family. Her parents, Joseph and Charlotte (Rogers) French, are both natives of England. The father died in 1859. at the age of sixty-seven, but the mother is still living, and is a resident of Campbell township, La Crosse county. Mrs. Glover was but five or six years of age when she came with her parents to this county, and she received the rudiments of an educa- tion in Campbell township, finishing in the schools of La Crosse. She was the eldest of six children: George, Elizabeth, Oliver, Emily and Robert. To Mr. and Mrs. Glover have been born two children: Martha Ellen.

C. EGAN, farmer, La Crosse, Wis- consin, a resident of French Island and one of the best informed men of the same, is a native of the Emerald Isle, born August 14, 1820. He was but a babe when his parents, William and Catherine (Kavanaugh) Egan, crossed the ocean to New Brunswick. They remained there a short time and then went to Nova Scotia, afterward to Washington, District of Columbia, thence to the Bay of Fundy and finally to Platts- burg, New York. The father was a merchant tailor and died when eighty-two years of age. The mother was eighty at the time of her death. Of the nine chiktren born to this union, six sons and three daughters, M. C. was the oldest in order of birth. One sister, Mary, resides in North La Crosse. M. C. Egan grew to manhood in New York State, ilearned the baker's and afterward the mold- er's trade, which he followed many years at Ogdensburg, New York, and in different cities of Canada. He was a skilled workman and for thirteen years was in the employ of N. S. Pitkins. In 1856 he came to Mil- waukee, Wisconsin; followed his trade here for five years, and then came to North La Crosse, where he continued his former busi-

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ness for some time. He came on his present younger. Ile has traveled extensively and is a well informed man. He has a patent on a very valuable seeler and five small plows attached, which is a very valuable invention. farm April 29, 1863, and it was known as the old "Antoine La Bell Farm" for years. This fine farm, consisting of 207 acres of valuable land, is situated one and a quarter miles from North La Crosse, and the excel- -- EORGE G. BARBER, of Mindoro, Wis- consin, is one of the old and well-know.i settlers of La Crosse county, arriving here in 1851. Ile was born in Cayuga "county, New York, August 26, 1827, a son lent buildings on the same increase its value very materially. Mr. Egan's nuptials with Miss Eliza Ann Miltimore were celebrated on September 8, 1844, and the ceremony uniting them was performed by Rev. Father MeCoy, of the Catholic Church. Mrs. Egan comes of a good family and was born at Og. of Phineas B. Barber, who was born in Warren densburg, New York, where she was reared | county, that State, and married Miss Orpha and edueated. IJer father, John Miltimore, ! Morse, a native also of Cayuga county, and had four sons and three daughters. In 1830 the Barber family moved to Ohio, where George received a good education and became a successful teacher. Coming to La Crosse county, he settled in the Lewis valley, in 1851.

was born at Londonderry, New Hampshire, and his parents were natives of Londonderry, Ireland. Mrs. Egan's mother was Catherine (Hartell) Miltimore. Mr. and Mrs. Milti- more lived for a unmber of years in Cornwall, Canada. She died when forty-nine years of age and he when eighty-two. They were the parents of eight children. The father was married the second time and by this union became the father of five children. Mr. and Mrs. Egan's union was blessed by the birth of eight children: William John died when thirteen months old; Catherine was but a few days old when she died; Eliza Ann died when nine years of age; Caroline is the wife of Joseph Boucher of West La Crosse; Fran- ces E. became the wife of Arthur Horner and resides in La Crosse: William J. married and resides in La Crosse; Eliza Ann is the wife of William Atkins, and Joseph resides on the home place with his wife. Mr. Egan is a Prohibitionist and is independent in his po- litical views. In religion he is a Methodist. Mrs. Egan was reared an Episcopalian, but is now an active and worthy member of the Catholic Church. Mr. Egan is now seventy- one years of age, but the years have dealt leniently with him and he looks much 1

Ile has been married twice, first at the age of twenty-four years, to Miss Frances Cowles, by whom he had one daughter, Frances; she married a man named Martin, had two chil- dren, May Ellen and George, and died in 1880. Mrs. Frances Barber died July 25, 1853. and Mr. Barber, December 19, 1855, married Mrs. Rachel (Ward) Jackson, and by this marriage there were three children: Charles, Willis Eugene and May A., now the wife of J. W. Cook, of La Crosse. This Mrs. Barber died May 2, 1891.

Mr. Barber has been Justice of the Peace about forty years, marrying in that time seventy-five couples. He has been a member of the Methodist Church since 1855, and of the Masonie order since 1858.

W. E. BARBER, of the firm of Barber Bros., liverymen in Onalaska, was born in the Lewis valley, La Crosse country, Wisconsin, Sep- tember >, 185%, the son of George G. Barber. whose sketch precedes. He was educated at

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a business college at Galesville, this State, same place. The father brought his family to the United States in 1861, settling in Bal- taught school for some time, and afterward engaged in farming in Lewis valley. He . timore, Maryland, where he drove a team for commenced business with Bottles & Pierce, the l'nited States Government. Hle remained there until the fall of 1565, when he located in Bangor, where he has since resided. His family consisted of six boys and three girls. and all are still living, and all are married but three sons. buying and shipping live-stock. Finally, in Mareh, 1883, he came to Onalaska and pur- chased the interest of William Martin, of the firm of Barber & Martin, since which time the firm name has been the Barber Bros. Previously, in December, 1881, Charles Bar- ber had bought out T. B. Shoveon, on both sides of J street. The Barber Bros. built their barn, 40 x 76, on the corner of J and Third streets, in 1986. The posts are twenty feet in height, and the barn generally is well arranged. They keep eighteen to twenty horses, a sale and boarding stable, and make a specialty of faney turn-outs. For the past four years the brothers have also engaged in logging. Last winter they had a force of sixty men in the woods, in two camps, super- intended personally by W. E. Barber.

The subject of this sketeh was married December 28, 1580, at Mindoro, to Miss | a barber shop until in July, 1885. lle then Aurilla Gilfillan, who was born in Hamilton township. La Crosse county, a daughter of William Gilfillan, of Onalaska. She was educated at West Salem, and afterward be- came a careful and popular teacher for six or seven years. in La Crosse county. Mr. and Mrs. Barber have two children: Mary A. and Newell E. They lost their first-born. Eva, in her fourth year. Mr. Barber is a Repub- elected in 1891, and during the first term lie liean in his political views, and in his social assisted in establishing a free high school, and in building an addition to the school- house. relations is a member of the orders of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen.

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John, the eldest son and third child, was educated in the Bohemian, German and Eng- lish languages, and also gradnated at the La Crosse Business College. In 1869 he met with a sad misfortune, a white swelling caus- ing the loss of his left leg, the amputation taking place on St. Patrick's day. In 1870 he went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he seeured an artificial limb, after which he returned to Kansas City, Missouri, and clerked in a grocery store three years. Hle next established a eonfeetioncry store at the same place, which he conducted until 1876, and in that year returned to Bangor and ran accepted the appointment of Postmaster, which position he held until December, 1859, and during this time he was also made No- tary Public, which honor he still holds. After retiring from the office he established the Bangor Exchange Bank, in which he has been remarkably successful. lle was elected Treas- nrer of the School Board in 1888, and re-

Mr. Kupp was married March 11, 1877, to Lillie E. Fletcher, a daughter of William Fletcher, deceased, an early settler of this county. At one time he owned one of the finest farms in La Crosse county. Mrs. Kupp was born on this farm September 7, 1861.

OHN KUPP, banker, merchant, real- estate and insurance agent of Bangor, was born in Bohemia, Austria, May 13, 1852, the son of Franz Kupp, a native of the ' They have had two children, only one of

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whom survive, John, Jr., born June 2, 1879. Mr. Kupp is treasurer of the 1. O. O. F. Lodge, which he has represented twice in the Grand Lodge; is banker of the M. W. of A., in which he has passed the principal chairs, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W. and the K. of P. of La Crosse.

ON. WILLIAM SMITHI, of the firm of William & A. Smith, dealers in hard- ware, farm implements and furniture, Bangor, was born in Saxony, Germany, Au- gust 15, 1546. IIis father, Charles C. Smith, a native of Weimar, Germany, brought his family to the United States in 1854, locating in Sauk county, Wisconsin, among the In- dians and wild animals. Ile traveled from Sank City to Mineral Point to enter his land, and improved a farm on the prairie at the edge of the timber.

The subject of this sketeh was edueated in the common and private schools of Germany, and in 1861 came to Bangor township, this county, where he settled on a farm. Ile left this place in 1865, and elerked in a store at Bangor three years, after which, in 1875, he was engaged in buying grain for some time. In the latter year le engaged in the hardware business in this eonnty with his brother An- gust, and they now earry a stock of $4,000 in hardware, $600 in implements, and $600 in furniture. They also have a hardware and implement store in Viroqua, where they carry a stoek of 810,000. Mr. Smith was elected to the Legislature in 1889 on the Republican ticket, and served to the satisfaction of his constituents. He has been a member of the County Board of Supervisors for seven or eight years, and has also been a member of the Side Board about the same length of time.

He was married November 19, 1871, to Sarah J. Barber, a daughter of Daniel Bar- ber, deceased. They have four children: Lee A., Russell D., Clyde C. and Wayne W. Mr. Smith is a member of the Masonic order and of the A. O. U. W.

R. ALEXANDER B. NEWTON, a physician and surgeon of Bangor, was born in Oneida county, New York. July 3, 1842, a son of Liberty JJ. Newton, a native of Rutland, Vermont. Ile was an edge-tool maker by trade, but after coming West he worked at the blacksmith's trade. Ile emi- grated to Lily Lake, Kane county, Illinois, in 1849, and later removed to St. Charles, same eounty, and in 1859 to La Crosse. Our sub- jeet's mother, nee Cordelia Baxter, was a daughter of the renowned Rev. B. S. Baxter, a pioneer minister of Illinois. She was one of fourteen children, and taught the first school at Lily Lake. The mother of our subject died in October, 1874, and the father in April, 1890. They were the parents of six children, only two of whom survive, Alexander and Elihu B. One daughter, Mirs. S. H. Moody, died in La Crosse, in 1889, at the age of forty-one years.

The subject of this sketch was educated in the La Crosse high school, and also graduated at the Rush Medieal College, January 25, 1867. Hle settled in Bangor February 10, same year, where he has built up a large practice. Ile served in the late war as Hos- pital Steward, from April, 1861, to Septem- ber, 1865. when he returned from the war a physical wreck. Ilis hospital experience emi- nently qualified him for surgical and general praetiee. Mr. Newton is vice-president of the La Crosse County Medical Association, and was also made a Mason by special dis-

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pensation during the war, before twenty-one years of age, when home on a leave of ab- serce. He is now a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Baptist Church, is Health Officer, and was member of the School Board a few years.

Ile was married October 6, 1872, to Ida Mckenzie, a daughter of Charles W. Mc- Kenzie, a pioneer of this county. They have three children, viz .: Charles M., Cordelia L. and Alexander B., all born in this county. Charles graduated at the Bangor high school in June, 1891.

OTTLIEB BOSSILARD, one of the pro- prietors of the Bangor Cheese Factory, was born in Switzerland, Angust 14, 1836, a son of Casper Bosshard, who was killed by the cars on the railroad bridge at Bangor. The parents came with their young- est son, John, to this country in July, 1855. The mother died April 6. 1863, and was the first one buried in the Bangor cemetery. The father died September 4, 1584. They were the parents of five children, two of whom died in Switzerland.

The subject of this sketch left home De- cember 31, 1853. and came by sail-ship to the United States, encountering heavy storms en route, and two of the passengers died on board and were buried at sea. He stopped first in Honey Creek valley, Sauk county. Wisconsin, where he worked for William Campfield, near Baraboo. In October, 1854. he came to this county with an unele, John Bosshard, who had previously settled here. The next winter our subject and his brother Henry began work for themselves on land their uncle had bought for them with money their father had sent for that purpose. It was a part of section 4, where Bangor now

stands, and here they made rails and fenced forty acres. They raised twenty acres of corn, potatoes, etc., a part of which they sold at a good price. Mr. Bosshard was town Treas- urer and Assessor a few years, and is now agent for the Shelby Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, in which he does a large business. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W.

Hle was married October 1, 1858, to Min- nie Saxer, a daughter of Peter Saxer, who died in 1875. They have had nine children, six of whom still survive, viz .: Albert G., Amelia, William, Lonisa, Eliza and Hulda.

ILLIAM JORDSON, of the firm of Larson & Jordson, proprietors of the Bangor Creamery, located on section 4, Bangor township, was born in Ilamilton township, this county, February 18, 1865. His father, John Jordson, now of this town- ship, is a native of Norway, and came to the United States about forty years ago, when but a small boy. Our subject was engaged in farming until 1869, when he went to West Salem and clerked in the hardware store of George Palmer until the spring of 1890, after which he worked one year in the Salem Creamery. In March, 1891, in partnership with Edward Larson, they purchased the Bangor Creamery, and began operating it the April following. They make about 1,000 pounds of butter daily, and keep from 100 to 150 head of hogs. Their churning is done by steam, in two large churns. The creamery was built in 1884 by Bordwell Bros., who ran it but a short time and then sold it to J. Starr, who conducted it about two years. Larson & Jordson ship their butter to Chicago and New York, where they receive the highest market price.

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Mr. Jordson is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, and is an active, energetie young man, with bright prospects for the future.

AVID R. A. SHEPARD, a member of the army of contraetors and builders re- siding in La Crosse, is a native of the State of New York, born in Otsego county, at Exeter Centre, July 17, 1828, and is a son of Elisha and Jernsha (Angel) Shepard. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and was a son of Caleb Shepard, of Massachusetts. The maternal grandfather was Caleb Angel, and he was a farmer by oeenpation. David R. A., the subject of this notice, was reared with a family of five sons and one daughter, in Ot- sego county, New York, where he obtained a good education in the common sehools. At the age of twenty-one years he went to Water- town, New York, where he learned the trade he has since followed. In 1854, while Wis- eonsin was still on the frontier, he came to Ripon and carried on a building and eon- tracting business until 1863; in that year he went to Winona, Minnesota, and spent seven years in that place. Twenty-one years ago he first eame to La Crosse, and has been sinee that time closely identified with those move- ments which have aided very materially in the development of the county and its re- sonrees.

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 938

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 938