USA > Wisconsin > Biographical sketches of old settlers and prominent people of Wisconsin > Part 14
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Mr. Adams' brothers and sisters were Josiah, George H., William, Philena and Julia A. Josiah and Julia A. died in infancy. George H. married Martha M. Lilly, 1873; Philena married Samuel M. Austin, 1874; William married Harriet Rogers, 1868. George H. died in 1896.
Mr. Adams was married to Miss Lovina E. Harger, at Elba, Dodge County, September 16, 1852. She was born at Trenton, New York, Sep- tember 6, 1834. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have no children but have a foster daughter, Susan, adopted in early childhood, now the wife of Paul Dutcher, of Brookings, South Dakota.
In 1840, when Mr. Adams was nine years old, his parents came with their family to Wisconsin, first settling at Oakland, Jefferson County, removing to and taking up land in Elba, Dodge County, in 1845. Those were primitive days in Wisconsin. There were no roads, no bridges; only an occasional blazed tree through the heavy timber, or tracks of a miring and getting out again where the luckless driver had crossed the river or the marsh. Game was plenty, but powder and shot were scarce with the pioneer boys. Worst of all for the rising generation, there was no school. One day there was a meeting of all the settlers around at the house of Mr. Adams' father, to plan for a school. The boys came too, and were at first discouraged when it had been decided by their elders that nothing could be done at present. The men went home, but the boys remained, and it was then resolved by young Mic and four others that there should be a school house at any rate. Next day the boys went to work, and quickly had a comfortable log school house ready. The site was a short distance south of the present Elba Catholic church. A load of wheat was contributed from around the neighbor- hood, which the boys hauled to Milford, with the proceeds buying school books. A young lawyer out of a job was engaged as teacher, and there was a very good school, the first in that region of the country.
Between attending school, driving breaking team and doing other farm work summers, and working in the saw mill at which was cut a
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large part of all the lumber used in that portion of the country in those days, Mr. Adams' time as a boy was well occupied.
In the years 1850-1-2, Mr. Adams as a raftsman penetrated the wil- derness of northern Wisconsin, being among the first to run rafts on the Wisconsin river from as far up as Jennie Bull Falls, now known as Merrill. His adventures and hairbreadth escapes would fill a volume.
Mr. Adams removed from the Elba farm to the city of Columbus in 1874, and opened a real estate and insurance office.
He is a Republican. His religion is to "live with a conscience void of offense toward God and man."
He has filled many public offices; those of Constable one year, Super- visor three and Town Clerk seventeen, in the town of Elba; Member of Assembly, 2d district Dodge county in 1872; the same for 2d district Columbia county in 1883; Police Justice for city of Columbus two years; Supervisor for first ward city of Columbus fifteen years; Chairman County Board Columbia county three years; President of the Board of Education city of Columbus 9 years. He has also been Secretary of the Columbus Library association for twenty years; Secretary, Warden, and Master for fifteen years of Columbus Lodge F. & A. M .; and High Priest of Columbus Chapter R. A. M. for eight years.
His is, in summing up the history of a busy life, well spent and resulting in an honorable old age.
MIC ADAMS.
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A. J. HUMPHREY.
NDREW JACKSON HUMPHREY was born in Underhill, Chit- tenden County, Vermont, September 9, 1831, being the youngest son of Jonas and Mehitable (Rogers) Humphrey, and the grandson of William Humphrey of Massachusetts. His ancestors came from England with the Massachusetts Colony in 1634.
In 1849 he went to Pennsylvania and studied medicine, and was employed as an apothecary clerk until 1852, when, catching the "Cali- fornia fever," he emigrated to that state and followed mining, afterwards going to Idaho, thence to Washington, Oregon and Montana. After fourteen years as a miner and explorer, he came to Wisconsin in 1866, settling on a farm near Waterloo, and in 1873 purchased Mead's drug store in Waterloo, following that business ever since under the name of the "Old Family Drug Store." He has had several partners in the meantime, but has now incorporated, under the name of the A. J. Humphrey Drug Company, with two of his former clerks, Edwin O. Whipple and William N. White. These gentlemen supply the young blood of the firm, and are equal owners with Mr. Humphrey in the cap- ital stock.
Mr. Humphrey was married December 26, 1866, to Alta Ann, daughter of Albert Dudley of Waterloo, and five children were born to them, namely: Dudley, born October 9, 1867, married Ora Agnes Stone, and has one son, Jackson, born June 23, 1899; Hattie, born April 7, 1871, married Herbert A. Whipple, and has two children, Martina, born February 26, 1893, and Marcia, born April 4, 1897, now living in Bara- boo; Mabel, born September 25, 1874, married William N. White, and died November 1, 1897, leaving one daughter Hope, born September 17, 1895; Clifford Wayne, born November 19, 1878, now in the senior year at the University of Wisconsin; Kenneth Blaine, born October 6, 1892.
Mr. Humphrey is now President of the School Board, and was one of the active promoters and builders of the present large and beautiful high school building in the village.
(For PORTRAIT see page 273.)
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MOSES WETMORE, SR.
HE subject of this sketch was the son of Moses Wetmore, who was born January 7, 1772, and died May 18, 1857, aged seventy- nine years and four months. He married Elinor E. Guild, who was born September 19, 1773, and died February 19, 1861, aged 88 years and 5 months.
Moses Wetmore, Sr., our subject, was born in Lewis County, New York, May 3, 1799, and married Mary Allen November 30, 1823. She was born in Jefferson County, New York, February 22, 1804. They came to Wisconsin in June, 1860, settling in the town of Portland, Dodge County. He died December 4, 1881, aged 82 years and 7 months, and his wife died February 15, 1882, aged 77 years and 7 months. There were born to them seven children, as follows: Schuyler G., born September 24, 1824, married Lucretia Mitchell. He died in Michigan in 1898 and she died in 1894. They had two children, both deceased; Ethan Allen, born April 15, 1826, went to California in 1856 and died there in 1898; Warren, born June 4, 1828, married in 1862, enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry from the town of Portland, August 21, 1862, and died in the army at Franklin, Louisiana, December 7, 1863; John A., born September 19, 1834, married May Hayes, and now resides in Edenvale, California; George Alonzo, born January 9, 1836, died in Jefferson County, New York. June 15, 1852; Moses Arthur, born May 17, 1840, in the town of Orleans, Jefferson County, New York, and married, February 28, 1860, Frances Allen, who was born in the same town, November 2, 1840. They have one daughter. Emogene, born September 2, 1865, who married George Osen and they have two children, Francis, born November 27, 1894, and George Arthur, born July 7, 1899. They now reside in San Jose, California. Moses A. came to Wisconsin December 31, 1875, settling in the town of Portland, Dodge County, and now lives in the town of York, Dane County: Densa Maria, born September 10, 1845, married, in 1864, George Johnson and lives in Portland, Dodge County, Wisconsin, and have five children, Ella, Cora, Nettie, Ada and Heber.
Moses Wetmore, Sr., was a ship builder and house joiner, and was a Justice of the Peace for over twenty years. In politics, a Whig, then a Republican and in religious faith a Baptist.
(For PORTRAIT see page 249.)
CHARLES L. LONG.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
CHARLES LEVANT LONG.
NE of the self-made business men of Sun Prairie, Dane County, Wis- consin, and a man who has always taken a lively interest in public and business affairs of his town, and who is thorough in every enterprise he engages in, and withal, a quiet, unassuming indi- vidual, is Charles Levant Long, who comes from good old Irish stock. His great-great-grandfather was John Long, who, with his wife and three children emigrated from Ireland to America in 1726, settling in Taunton, Massachusetts, where he spent the remainder of his life. One of his children was named John, who was the great-grandfather of Charles Levant Long, and was born in Ireland, January 19, 1720, being six years old when he came to America. He married Mary Taft, who was born in Ireland and came over on the same ship with the Longs. Nine children were born to them, among whom was a son, Aaron, the grandfather of Charles Levant, who was born at Shelburn, Massachusetts, August 27, 1764. He married Mary Miller, February 16, 1786, at Shelburn, and eleven children were born to them. Their eldest son, Aaron, being the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born at Shelburn, Mas- sachusetts, January 20, 1797, and became a practicing physician; he married Nancy Cooley, January 7, 1827, who was born at Worchester, Massachusetts, October 29, 1807; they had ten children-Charles Le- vant; Sarah Chapman (deceased); Ann Judson (deceased); Mary Miller, (deceased); Frances Amelia (deceased); Helen May; Harriet Lacy (deceased); Harriet Adelle (deceased); Laura Matilda and Frances Anna.
Charles Levant Long, was born at Pembroke, Genessee County, New York, October 29, 1827, and was married at Albion, New York, October 20, 1853, to Cordelia Jane, daughter of William and Mary (Boutelle) Manley, who was born at Batavia, New York, June 27, 1834. Four children were the result of this marriage-Carrie, born January 27, 1855, at Pembroke and married to Lyman Moore of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and has four children; Carl Sibley, born September 20, 1861, died May 13, 1874; Robert Manley, born February 28, 1869; Paul Manley, born February 10, 1874, in Sun Prairie. Mr. Long came to Wisconsin in 1856, settling in the town of Sun Prairie, but moved to the village in 1863. He served in the Civil War in the Fortv-third Reg- iment Wisconsin Volunteers, as Hospital Steward.
In politics Mr. Long is a staunch Republican, and his efforts in behalf of his party were rewarded by President Hayes appointing him Postmaster of Sun Prairie, which position he filled acceptably from 1880 to 1886.
Mr. Long at the present time is engaged in the grocery business, and is one of the leading business men of the Village of Sun Prairie.
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ASA PORTER. [DECEASED. ]
ONNECTICUT'S contribution to Wisconsin of the Porters, was one the state should appreciate for they are an honest, indus- trious people, who came to Wisconsin before it was admitted to the sisterhood of states.
Isaac Porter, the father of our subject, and his wife, Betsey (Hurd) Porter were born and married in Connecticut, and about 1804 went to the state of New York, where they lived until 1846, when they came to Wisconsin and settled in the town of Portland, Dodge County. Their children were, Ebenezer, married Harriet Nash; Lodicea, married Tim- othy Burgess; Minerva, married Stephen Smith; Garrett, married Lucina. Hart; Merritt, Isaac, Anna, Laura, Mary, Philander, married Aurelia Prentice; Adeline, married Harrison Thompson, and Asa.
Asa Porter was born in Oneida County, New York, September 11, 1815, and was married in the town of Medina, Dane County, Wisconsin, December 17, 1848 to Susan, daughter of John and Jemima Tracy, who was born July 11, 1820, in Westminster, Windham County, Vermont. They had four children, namely: Mary, born October 14, 1849, and died September 4, 1852; Garrett John, born October 15, 1852, and he and his aged mother are living together on a 160 acre farm in the town of Port- land, Dodge County, on Section 18; Algenia, born April 9, 1855, and Alma, born September 29, 1857, died October 4, 1859.
Asa Porter was a successful farmer, a man much respected by his neighbors. In politics he was a Republican, and in religion a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
[For PORTRAIT see page 249.]
THOMAS HUGHES.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
THOMAS HUGHES,
HE life of an editor requires true wisdom and often resolute deter- mination in order to transform possibilities into realities; and attention, application, accuracy, method and dispatch are some of the principal requirements for the efficient conduct of his busi- ness. He must have the courage of his convictions in order to go patiently onward in the condition of life which it has pleased God to call him; he must be a firm believer in the "survival of the fittest." Such a man we find in Thomas Hughes, editor and publisher of the DODGE COUNTY CITIZEN at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, who began work at the low- est round of the ladder.
Mr. Hughes'father, who was a carpenter, was born in the north of Ireland, and his mother in New Hampshire, who after their marriage lived at Sherbrooke, Eastern Township of the Province of Quebec, where they both died in 1842, and where our subject was born, August 25, 1841. After his parents' death, he, in 1843, was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Sewell Haskell, and with them went to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in 1847. His adopted parents died several years ago. In June, 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss May L., daughter of William Hambright in Oak Grove, where she was born. One daughter was the result of this union, Myrtle M., born in Beaver Dam and married March 27, 1895, to Edgar E. Coxshall, Superintendent of Lumber Yards at Randolph, Wisconsin, and they have one son, Clifford, born May 20, 1898.
Thomas Hughes has resided in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, since 1847, except one year at Madison. Since October 1862 he has been connected with the "DODGE COUNTY CITIZEN" as publisher and editor, and has been the sole proprietor since October 1876; today it is the leading Republican newspaper of Dodge County.
Mr. Hughes has been a member of the Board of Education, City Clerk several terms, for nearly two years one of the three Jury Commis- sioners, and the Secretary of the Dodge County Pioneer Club since its organization eleven years ago. He was appointed Postmaster of Beaver Dam by President Mckinley, and assumed the duties of the office, April 1, 1899. He is a member of the Presbyterian congregation, and no man has a better standing among his fellow citizens, than the subject of this brief sketch.
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GARRETT PORTER, [DECEASED. ]
ARRETT PORTER was the son of Isaac Porter who was born January 14, 1776, and died March 13, 1857, and Betsy (Hurd) Porter, who was born February 13, 1778, and died August 27, 1850. They were both born in Connecticut and died in Wiscon- sin.
Garrett Porter was born in Madison County, New York, January 12, 1804, and was married in Oneida County, New York, January 14, 1824, to Lusina Hart, who was born in Oneida County, New York, Nov- ember 14, 1803. They came to Wisconsin in 1845 and settled in the town of York, Dane County, where he died April 25, 1886, aged 82 years, 3 months and 13 days, and she died February 17, 1880, aged 76 years. 3 months and 3 days. The children born to them were, Philander E., born July 7, 1826, married Mary Jane Hinman March 9, 1853, and died Nov- ember 27, 1886; Lester, born May 7, 1828, married Cynthe Leroy, September 8, 1850; Aroxsa Jane, born May 31, 1830, married Gustavus Cone, October 1, 1850; Morris, born February 1, 1832, married Orzelia Fuller, April 26, 1857; Betsy, born June 21, 1835, died May 6, 1840; Warren, born November 4, 1837, married Kate Montross January 5, 1864; James Henry Porter, born October 9, 1824, married March 13, 1848, to Amanda Lovina Gouldborough, in McHenry County, Illinois. She was the daughter of DeLevy Gouldborough, of Waverly, Cataraugus County, New York, where she was born, as was her husband. Theresult of this marriage was seven children: George Henry, born March 13, 1849, died October 15, 1850; Ellen Jane, born November 5, 1850, married to James Wild; Margaret, born January 8, 1854, married to Wait Hurd: Elmer, born March 8, 1859, died October 8, 1859; Warren, born February 22, 1861, died August 22, 1868; Florence, born April 13, 1867, married Gay Thompson; Herman, born September 1, 1871, married Clara Burger.
Mr. Porter was one of the successful farmers of Dane County; a man who was respected by all who knew him.
(For PORTRAIT see page 249.)
MRS. MARY A. BROWN.
MRS. HORACE CHAPIN.
A. J. HUMPHREY.
HON. CYRUS PERRY.
ORSON CARSKADEN.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ORSON CARSKADEN.
LTHOUGH only the Generals names may be remembered in the history of any great battle, it has been in a great measure through the individual valor and heroism of the privates that victories have been won. So it is with our subject, while he has led the quiet life of a farmer, he has had the courage to go patiently onward, fighting the battles of life, and today though past his four score years, is hale and hearty, and bids fair to add many more years to his life. Open hearted, a friend to everybody, it is with pleasure that we embrace this opportunity to perpetuate an epitome of his life.
The grandparents of our subject were both born in Scotland, Wil- liam Carskaden about 1760, came to this country and was a soldier in the Revolution under General Wayne. He died March 7, 1810. His wife, Susannah, was born about 1760 and died in July, 1848, aged 88 years. They had three sons, Robert, William and James, and two girls, Hannah and Catherine.
James Carskaden, the father of our subject, was born in 1792 in Dutchess County, New York, and died June 29, 1865, at the age of 73 years. He was in the war of 1812 and marched from Albany to Lake Champlain, a distance of 400 miles, but reached there after the battle had been fought. He was married September 12, 1811, to Harriet Adsit who was born in 1794 and died June 16, 1852, aged 57 years, 8 months and 25 days. Nine children, three boys and six girls, were born to them, namely: Harriet A., born October 3, 1812, married Enoch N. Snyder, November 12, 1837. She died in Dutchess County, New York, in 1894, aged 82 years; William J., born October 22, 1814, married, June 3, 1849, Mrs. Samantha Hoag, who was born September 1, 1810, and died July 9, 1851, aged 41 years. William married for his second wife Caro- line Strever, January 25, 1856, and by her had three children, Elizabeth, born August 23, 1859, died October 5, 1872 and Marietta, born April 10, 1864; Orson; Betsey M., born April 25, 1821, married Elias Briggs Octo- ber 11, 1844, and died in Dutchess County, New York, about 1892; Cynthia T., born April 1, 1823, married Henry Collier, and is now deceased; Cornelia A., born February 4, 1826, married Alonzo Cook February 11, 1850. He died November 23, 1897, and she now lives in the town of Antrim, Columbia County, Wisconsin; Mulford H., born January 22, 1828, married Eliza Dodge, January 30, 1856, and had three children. He is deceased, and his wife now lives in Kansas; Jane A., born October 5, 1830, married Henry L. Becker November 16, 1857. He is deceased, and she is living in Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York; Susan M., born August 17, 1835, married Norman Nooney, and died in Copech, Columbia County, New York.
Orson Carskaden was born in Duchess County, New York, August
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17, 1818, and was married to Lovina Bashford November 10, 1839. She was born March 28, 1822, and died May 12, 1876. Seven children was the result of this union, two boys and five girls, namely: Mary, born September 24, 1840, married Eli Call, and had two children, who died; George J., born January 24, 1843, married Mary Olmstead, July 4, 1863, who is now deceased. They had three children; William B., born Feb- ruary 19, 1845, and died in Wisconsin in 1849; Tamma Cornelia, born November 23, 1850, married Wallace Andrews, August 17, 1871, and has 5 children; HarrietG., born June 12, 1852, married George Call and now lives in the town of York; Annette, born May 16, 1854, died October 8, 1857; Laura Lovina, born March 13, 1857, married Conrad Fox, December 7, 1857, and have two children living, George and Charles. He is now deceased and she married Jacob Fox, and by him has one son.
Orson Carskaden was married the second time, May 4, 1879, to Amarilla Dodge, who was born October 27, 1827.
Though past his four score years, Mr. Carskaden is one of the most act- ive old men in Dane County, and it was but a short time ago that he was able to jump up and crack his heels together three times before lighting.
Mr. Carskaden is an enthusiastic member of the Masonic fraternity.
[FOR PORTRAIT See page 273.]
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
MRS. MARY ANN BROWN. [DECEASED. ]
HE women who came to Wisconsin while it was yet a territory, and who knew so well, by experience, the sufferings and trials of pioneer life are fast passing away, and will soon be known only to history, and the memories of coming generations. Prom- inent among these grand, good women was Mrs. Mary Ann (Rainsford) Brown, the subject of this sketch, who was the only daughter of Rainsford and Mrs. (Wright) Knapp-Rainsford. She was born at Rome, New York, January 10, 1811, and married David Brown at Potsdam, New York, in 1835 and went to Bytown (now Ottawa City) Canada, to reside. Mr. Brown was a shoemaker by trade. Believing that he could do better in the United States, than in Canada, he with his fam- ily removed to Wisconsin, arriving in the town of York, Dane county, September 13, 1847, and in 1851 he removed to the village of Waterloo, Jefferson County, which has been the family home ever since.
Mrs. Mary Ann Brown was the mother of ten children, namely: George Wright, born July 6, 1836, married Miss Julia Grenell, of Darien, Wisconsin, and had three children; Francis Jane, born April 24, 1838, married James Thompson, of Waterloo, Wisconsin, in 1859. She had two children, George and Jessie, and died in Waterloo November 16, 1873; Dr. Lindsey Stockwell, born April 18, 1840, married Amanda Jane Newton, June 18, 1869, and has two children, Mary Catherine, born Nov. 20, 1870, Bertha Louise, born October 19, 1875. He was a soldier in the Civil War, a member of Company C, 11th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. After returning from the war, he studied medicine, making a specialty of the eye and ear, and is now successfully following that profession in Madison, Wisconsin; James Rainsford, born 1842, died November 5, 1854; Harriet Amanda, born December 13, 1843, married Myron Allen, and has four children; Henry Washington, born March 2, 1846, married, and has two children living; Asa Taylor, born November 24, 1848, married Florence Newton in June 1874, and has three children, Grace Adell, born April 4, 1875; John Rainsford, born April 20, 1877, and Florence Hazel, born January 10, 1892; Mary Elizabeth, born September 2, 1850, married Thomas A. Williams, February 6, 1869, and has two children, Mary Agneiss, born September 7, 1872, and Lindsey A., born November 17, 1874. Mr. Williams was a member of the same regiment and com- pany with her brother, Dr. L. S. Brown, and is now engaged in insur- ance and real estate business in Waterloo, Wisconsin; and two children who died in infancy.
In the spring of 1859, David Brown, accompanied by his son, George, went to California, remaining there until the summer of 1865, when he returned to Waterloo, Wisconsin, where he died July 4, 1865.
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George now resides in Washington.
Mrs. Brown spent the last few years of her life with her son, Dr. L. S. Brown, in Madison, and her daughter, Mrs. Williams, at Waterloo, at whose home she died February 12, 1893, at the advanced age of 82 years, 1 month and 2 days. She was a kind and loving mother, taking a deep interest in the welfare of her children, and during the long absence of her husband, she managed by industry and strict economy to bring up her large family, and gave them all a good common school education. She was a woman of exemplary character, was a member of the Presby- terian church and her memory will long be cherished by her family and friends.
(For PORTRAIT see page 273.)
FRANCIS V. PIPER.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
FRANCIS VICTOR PIPER.
ESULTS in life are generally attained by simple means; by being content, meanwhile looking patiently forward in hope, advanc- ing step by step. The knowledge of this is one of the secrets of a successful life, and our subject, who today is recognized as one of the successful men of Jefferson County, has closely observed the truth of the old proverb, "Time and patience change the Mulberry leaf to satin."
Francis Victor Piper is the grandson of Jonathan and Sophia (Rob- inson) Piper, and the son of Jonathan Piper, who was born in Guilford, New Hampshire, February 7, 1818, and died in Pipersville, Wisconsin, May 4, 1896, and Jennette (Rathbon) Piper, who was born in Auburn, New York, November 26, 1814, and died December 26, 1871. They were married at Folsomdale, New York, February 9, 1840, and came to Wis- consin in 1847, settling at Pipersville, Jefferson County.
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