USA > Wisconsin > Biographical sketches of old settlers and prominent people of Wisconsin > Part 4
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William Henry Martin Froehlich was born at Jackson. Washington County, Wisconsin, June 22, 1857, and was the second son of Balthaser Jacob Froehlich, a shoemaker and farmer, who was born at Tiefenort, Saxony Weimar, Germany, May, 2, 1832, and came to Wisconsin July 8, 1853, and located at Schlessingerville, Washington County, July 15, 1853, and was married at that place May 28, 1854. to Amelia Therisia Grosskopf, who was born at Fieselbach Saxony, Germany, August 6, 1832, and came to America, locating at Schlessingerville. in April 1854. The result of this marriage was ten children, viz .: Jacob, born June 28, 1855, and died August 3, 1855, aged 1 month and five days; William Henry Martin, the subject of this sketch: Jacob Friedrich John. born February 20, 1859, married Mina Ohm of Friestadt, Wisconsin: Ernest Henry Carl, born May 12, 1860, unmarried: Magdaline Therisia Wilhelmine, born February 11, 1862, and died April 3. 1862. aged 1 month and 22 days; Wilhelmine Johanna Barbara, born January 11. 1863, married Herman Koepsel, of Jackson, Wisconsin: Louis Ernest Carl, born September 16, 1864, married Maria Butzke, of Jackson, Wisconsin; Margaretha Fridericka Johanna, born November 22, 1866, married August Graese, of Jackson, Wisconsin; Theodor Friedrick Henry, born February 14, 1868 and died April 2. 1870, aged 2 years, 1 month and 18 days; John Louis August, born February 25, 1870, married Dora Eggert, of Stacyville, Iowa. All the above were born at Jackson. Washington County, Wisconsin, except the first, Jacob, who was born at Schlessingerville, in the same county.
William Henry Martin Froehlich was married September 21. 1879 at Jackson, Wisconsin, to Miss Clara Frank, who was born at Cedarburg. Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, May 16, 1857, and is the daughter of the Honorable J. G. and Wilhelmine (Krause) Frank. Seven children were
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WILLIAM H. M. FROEHLICH. (Secretary of State.)
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the result of this union, viz .: John Alfred Charles, born July 17, 1881; Alfred Balthaser Theodor, born November 14, 1883; Paul Ernest August, born October 18, 1885; Amelia Pauline Louise, born March 21, 1889; William Ludwig John, born June 11, 1891; Robert Jacob Carl, born January 17, 1893; Wilhelmine Johanna Louise, born February 14, 1896.
The grandparents of Mr. Froehlich were Jacob and Margaretha (Schlothauer) Froehlich, who were born at Tiefenort, Saxony Weimar, Germany. The grandfather was born in 1790 and the grandmother in 1800, and both are now deceased. They had eight children, viz: Nicolaus Casper, Balthaser Jacob, Maria, Johannes Wilhelmine (deceased), Nicolaus, Casper and Maria.
While the subject of this sketch lays no claim to being a University man, he received a liberal education in the public, private and parochial schools, and is a graduate of the Spencerian Business College in Mil- waukee. After completing his education he located for a few years in the city of Milwaukee, where from 1874 to 1877 he was employed as a clerk, and in 1878 accepted a position in the large mercantile house of T. A. Chapman & Company as assistant bookkeeper, which position he filled acceptably to his employers till June 1880, when feeling that if he ever made any mark in the world, he must be in business for himself, so he established a general merchandise business in the place of his birth. To him belonged the honor of establishing the first Separator Creamery in Washington County, which he did in 1892 by the organiza- tion of the Jackson Butter and Cheese Company, upon its organization he was elected Secretary and Treasurer, and has held the position ever since. ยท By his careful and thorough business methods the company has scored a success from the start to the present time.
Although a busy man Mr. Froehlich found time to look after political matters, in which he always has taken a great interest, and has thus been conspicuous in politics. He is an uncompromising Republican, and as his county was usually strongly Democratic, he had many hard struggles for the success of his party; and though uncompromising, Mr. Froehlich was never an offensive politician, thus retaining the admiration and respect of his fellow citizens in such a manner, that in one office he held, he was re-elected without opposition.
In 1881 in recognition of his party service, he was appointed post- master of Jackson, which position he held until 1893. He has been a Justice of the Peace since 1887; a member of the school board since 1891, and in 1893 was elected Town Clerk, and re-elected without opposition, until he was elected to the office of Secretary of State.
In 1892, his party nominated him for the General Assembly, but the district was too strongly Democratic for him to overcome their majority; but two years later in 1894, he was renominated for the same offiee and received 110 majority over his Democratic opponent, and was the only Republican elected on the county ticket, and the first Republican to represent Washington County in the Assembly. He was again nomi- nated for the Assembly in 1896 and defeated his Democratte opponent by 382 votes.
The popularity of Mr. Froehlich, and his recognized strength and
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ability soon got beyond the bounds of his own county, and in 1898, the Republican State Convention, seeking a strong candidate for the office of Secretary of the State, placed Mr. Froehlich's name on the ticket for that office, and such was his popularity, he was elected by a handsome majority, running far ahead of the head of the ticket, receiving 180,548 votes against 125,636 votes for his Democratic opponent, thus giving him a plurality of 54,912 and a majority of 35,249 over the combined Democratic, Peoples, Prohibition, Social Democracy and Socialistic Labor parties.
Mr. Froehlich possesses a pleasing personality, a quick conception, and is a firm believer in keeping abreast of the times; as a practical man he has not only seen, but seized opportunities and held firmly, unwaver- ing through all trials and oftimes discouragements. He always recognized the fact that hard work and close application were the cardinal requisites for success. From boyhood he has had a lofty ambition, an ambition which soared upward and did not grovel. Edward Everett Hale says: "the young man who can find out in early life, what the line of his genius is, has every reason to be grateful;" and our subject has just reason to feel grateful at his success thus far in life. "If a man possesses the consciousness of what he is, " said Shelling, "he will soon learn what he ought to be; let him have a theoretical respect for himself, and a practical will soon follow." In a well defined aim, or a great purpose to unify life, there is a marvelous power.
Thus it is that his uncompromising devotion to duty, and his deter- mination to reach the top round of the ladder, have predominated his life, and there is no doubt in the mind of the writer, that still greater honors await the subject of this sketch.
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HERMAN JESSE FISK.
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HARMON JESSE FISK.
NE of the most striking features in the character of a western farmer is individuality and self-reliance. These qualities, as a general thing, have been inherited from ancestors who were compelled by circumstances to depend upon their own industry for a living. The subject of this sketch, from all we can learn, is a man who from early youth seems to have been remarked for uncommon self- reliance, and has always been punctilious in the performance of duty; being a man of resolute will and strong common sense, but with no reputation for obstinancy.
Harmon Jesse Fiske, our subject, is the great-grandson of William Fisk, who was born at Wellington, Connecticut, April 26, 1732. He was twice married, but there seems to be no record of the maiden name of either of his wives. He resided in Stanwich, Fairfield County, Connec- ticut, and later removed to Genoa, New York. He and two of his brothers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, which shows that our subject comes from good old revolutionary stock. He had eleven chil- dren, three girls and eight boys, one of whom, Sylvanus was the grandfather of our subject. Sylvanus Fisk, was born at Stanwich, Connecticut, February 17, 1775, and when twenty years of age left the parental roof and went to Cayuga County, New York, where in 1799 he married Sally Avery, and soon after, with his wife, went to Brownville, Jefferson County, New York, which at that early day was but sparsely settled. In 1813 he removed to Ogden, Monroe County, New York, where owing to sickness he remained but a short time, and then moved to Stafford, Genesee County, New York, where he carved a beautiful farm out of an almost unbroken forest. Eight children, all boys, were born to Sylvanus and Sally Fisk, namely, Frederick, born May 1800; Alfred, born April 25, 1802; Henry Alva, born September 5, 1803; Jesse Hartwell, the father of our subject, born April 20, 1804; Sylvanus Maxon, born March, 1811; Earl, born March, 1813; Amos Howe, born May, 1812, and William, born July, 1814. His wife died in Stafford, November 29, 1816. He married his second wife, Mrs. Franklin, a widow, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Bud, October 18, 1818, and six children were the result of the union, three boys and three girls, namely, Asa Porter, born December 8, 1821; Daniel, born November 19, 1826; Lyman Franklin, born August 3, 1828; Sarah, born August, 1819; Almend, born March, 1823; and Ann Jane, born July 3, 1825. He was a whig of the old school, and a member of the Calvanistic Baptist Church.
Jesse Hartwell Fisk, the father of our subject, was born at Watertown, New York, April 20, 1804, and was married at Stafford, Genesee County, New York, January 10, 1829 to Amanda Parkes, who was born in Stratsburg, Orange County, Vermont, April 17, 1813.
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There were born to them seven children, five girls and two boys, namely, Amanda Malvina, born November 29, 1830; Ann Jane, born April 3, 1832; Harriet Elizabeth, born June 13, 1834; Adeline Eliza, born March 3, 1837; Harmon Jesse, our subject; Wyman Parkes, born February 23, 1842 and Helen Mariah, born September 23, 1845. Jesse H. (as he was called by his friends and neighbors) was a farmer, and worked early and late for many years, succeeding by his industry and thrift in acquiring a fine farm of three hundred acres in the town of Stafford, Genesee County, New York, which at that time was known as the celebrated wheat belt of the Genesee Valley. He was a true, kind hearted man, but by over-confidence in his friends he was drawn into indiscreet endorsement, by which he lost his property. In the spring of 1856 he emigrated to California, where he remained about ten years, encountering the varied fortunes of a miner. He then came to Wiscon- sin and spent the remainder of his days with his children. He died in Spring Valley, Rock County, Wisconsin, in July, 1871.
Harmon Jesse Fisk, our subject, was born in the town of Stafford, Genesee County, New York, August 1, 1839, where he led the average life of a boy on a farm, attending the district school until he was ten years old, after which, being compelled to assist on the farm, he only went to school during the winter terms, until he was sixteen, when he was through the misfortunes of his father, thrown upon his own resources. He worked on a farm during summer months, and attended the Academy at East Pembrok, New York, during the winters, being determined to secure for himself a good education. After this he spent one year at Oberlin College in Ohio; then taught school near Kendall- ville, Indiana, during the winter of 1860-1, after which he joined with his brother Wyman in working a farm on shares and keeping a hotel in Stafford. He was married September 10, 1862 to Lucy, daughter of Noble and Percy Farley Daniels, of the town of Stafford, where Lucy was born March 5, 1842. The result of this union was three girls, namely, Jessie Leah, born July 31, 1863 and died November 16, 1890, aged 27 years, 3 months and 15 days; Gertrude, born July 14, 1869, and Stella Amanda, born March 17, 1872.
In November 1862, about a month after his marriage, he removed to Wisconsin, and in February 1863 purchased a farm in the town of Fountaine Prairie, Columbia County, Wisconsin. He read law in the office of Gerry W. Hazeltine and Charles L. Dering in Columbus, Wis- consin, and was admitted to the bar, March 14, 1866. In the spring of 1867 he removed to Spring Valley, Rock County, Wisconsin, where he purchased a farm and resided for three years. In April 1869 he was elected Town Clerk. In March 1870 he removed to Columbus, Columbia County, Wisconsin, and bought a farm near Fall River where he has resided since. In April 1876 he was elected Treasurer of the Town of Columbus, and in November of the same year was elected a Member of the Assembly and served one term in each office. He was elected Chairman of the Town Board of Columbus in 1888-89-90-91 and '92, was elected Assessor in 1894-5 and re-elected Chairman in 1896-7-8 and 9, and at the November session of the Columbia County Board in 1898 was elected Chairman of that Board which position he is occupying at this
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time. A remarkable thing, and one which shows the standing, and confidence reposed in Mr. Fisk by those who know him is, that in all the times he has been before the people for their sufferage, he never asked a man to vote for him or in any way use influence in his behalf, as he desired no office except he could obtain it on his own merits.
Harmon Jesse Fisk has been a life long Republican, having cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has voted for every Republican candidate for the Presidency since.
In religion, Mr. Fisk believes in the Divinity of Christ, and the right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, so long as he keeps within the bounds of the law.
Harmon Jesse Fisk's advance in the world has not been due to favor, or to any special opportunity that forced itself upon his attention. He has hewn his own way by energy, diligence and perseverance.
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HON. SILAS WRIGHT LAMOREUX,
NE who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often scales the barriers to it, and thus, earnest resolution has often seemed to have about it almost a savor of omnipotence; the subject of this sketch furnishes a remarkable illustration of what may be effected by the energetic development and exercise of faculties which, at least, are in every human heart.
Silas Wright Lamoreux was born in the town of Lenox, Madison County, New York, March 8, 1843, and was married to Harriet Adelia, daughter of George Nelson and Lucy Surena Cobb of Summit, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, November 22, 1866, she was born April 6, 1845.
The result of this union was four children, Courtney Wayland, born August 17, 1869, who married Isabelle Husting, and they have two children, Vera Rosalind and Marion Juneau; Don Percy, born December 12, 1873, who married Ysobel Holmes, November 19, 1898; Lucy Vivian and Harland Silas, twins, born May 16, 1882.
Mr. Lamoreux had eight sisters and brothers, Oliver Horton, married Elizabeth Hall, August 1890; Andrew; Martin Van Buren, mar- ried Jane Higgins; Pardon Barnard, married Jennie Phelps; Jane (deceased) married George Yorton; Caroline (deceased) married James Henry; Electra, married John Widig.
Peter L'Amoreux, the grandfather of Silas Wright Lamoreux, was born in Paris, France, during the reign of Louis XV, being a Huguenot and unable to withstand the persecutions which were constantly inflicted upon the protestants, he with his two brothers fled from France and settled in New York City in the year 1770. His family consisted of one daughter and five sons, one of whom, William Lamoreux. father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Orange County, New York, in August 1796 and was married to Harriet Bernard of Madison County, New York, being born in Connecticut in December 1799. William Lamoreux was a soldier in the War of 1812 and received a pension during his life for his services in that war. At the close of the war he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He, with his family came to Wisconsin in 1852, settling at Plover, Portage County, but moved to Mayville, Dodge County in 1854.
Silas Wright Lamoreux began life a poor boy, but to him "in the bright lexicon of youth there was no such word as fail, " and he early learned that it was will-force of purpose-that enabled men to do or be whatever they set their minds on being or doing, and that integrity in word and deed was the backbone of character, and the sure talisman of success.
In politics Mr. Lamoreux has been a life long Democrat, and in his early youth he bent his energies to the success of that party, and his
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party was not long in recognizing the talent and ability possessed by the young man. He was successively elected to the office of Town Clerk, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and in 1872, while yet under thirty years of age was elected a member of the Assembly; was District Attorney of Dodge County from 1873 to 1875, County Judge of Dodge County from January 1877 to March 1893, when he resigned that office to accept the position of Commissioner of General Land Office, which was tendered him by President Cleveland, which office he held until March 1897. During his official career as Land Commissioner of the United States, Judge Lamoreux was called upon to make some of the most important decisions in the history of that office. In 1895 as Land Commissioner he published a detailed map of the United States and Territories, showing the extent of Public Survey; Indian, Military and Forest Reservations; Railroads and Canals, which was of the most com- plete character and on a large scale, being seven feet two inches long, by five feet wide. He also published a map of the State of Wisconsin, completed from the official records of the General Land Office, and other sources.
Judge Lamoreux established a bank in Trenton, Nebraska, in 1880, also the Exchange Bank in Maville, Wisconsin, in 1883.
In 1864 Mr. Lamoreux enlisted in Company F, 5th Wisconsin Volun- teer Infantry and served until the close of the war. The last six months of his service he was detailed to take charge of the mails of the Army of the Potomac.
Judge Lamoreux has for years been prominent in the councils of his party, both in state and national politics, and in 1888 was elected delegate to the St. Louis National Democratic Convention that nominated Grover Cleveland, and was again elected delegate and chairman of the Wisconsin delegation in the National Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1892, which nominated President Cleveland.
But few men have had more honors conferred upon them than has Silas Wright Lamoreux, and being still comparatively a young man, doubtless more and greater honors await him.
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HORACE BIRNEY WILLARD, M. D.
HE primary qualities for a successful life, lie in learning the value of industry, promptitude, method, accuracy, courage before difficulties, self-denial, self-control and temperance; and "the secret of success" says a clever writer, "lies in being alive to what is going on around one; in adjusting one's self to one's condition; in knowing the wants of time; in being the sum, the concretion, the result of the influence of the present time." Our subject early learned the necessity of these qualifications, and was not negligent in embodying them in the platform on which his future life was constructed, for he was cognizant of the fact that his parents were poor. and that he would be compelled to work out the problem of life single-handed.
Horace Birney Willard was born in the town of Volney, Oswego County, New York, May 2, 1825. He was the great-grandson of John Willard, who was born in New England. and settled in Berkshire County, Massachusetts; and grandson of Major John and Abigail (Hall) Willard, who were both born in Berkshire County. Massachusetts, and they had two sons, John and George. John, who was a stone mason and the father of our subject, was born in Berkshire County in 1791. He married Polly Buck who was born in Connecticut in 1794. They were married in Berkshire County, removing soon after to Oswego County, New York, where they lived more than forty years. They had six children, four sons, namely, William, who died in 1897: Franklin, who was born in Oswego County, New York, July 11, 1823 and now living at Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin; Horace Birney, the subject of this sketch, and Hatsel, who was born in Oswego County, and is now living in Butler, Bates County, Missouri: and two daughters, Polly Butler and Electra Marion.
Horace Birney Willard was married July 11, 1849. to Miss Elizabeth S., eldest daughter of Stevens and Jerusha D. Vickery, of Onondago County, New York. She was born May 23, 1830, in the town of Clay, Onondago County, New York. The fruit of this union was one daughter, Julia Adele, who married Chester A. Caswell, Esq., of Fort Atkinson, January 8, 1878.
Mr. Willard, when a lad, took advantage of every opportunity to secure a good education, in which undertaking he was eminently suc- cessful, so much so, that at the age of twenty-one he found himself fitted to enter the professional field as a Medical Student underthe instruction of Dr. William B. Coye, of Gilbertsville, New York.
The incident of starting out in this world, handicapped by poverty, has a tendency to chill the ardency of youth. Under it some may shrivel and dry up; not so however with all, for some are thus stimulated to greater activity, and are thus insured success. That was the effect it
HORACE BIRNEY WILLARD.
MRS. DR. H. B. WILLARD.
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seems to have had on young Willard. True, he felt as he expressed it to the writer, that one morning when he awoke and found himself poor he wanted to kick somebody, Fate, if no one else, but his grit never left him for a moment. After being the recipient of what was termed the "College Beneficiary," which under the laws of New York gave to two poor, worthy students tuition for one course of lectures, he was compelled as he expressed it to "run his face" for the rest, in securing his chosen profession. The kind hearted Professor at the College suggested that it was evident that his "face" would take him through most any ordeal, but never revealed what there was in his face that was so seductive. The "face" did its work, and finding himself short seventy-five dollars at his graduation, he gave his note and received his diploma. In a short time he paid the note in full and bade farewell to all the handicaps of his early life. During the Spring of 1849, a few months previous to his marriage, he graduated from the Geneva Medical College. The same year, with his wife he emigrated to Wisconsin, settling at Aztalan, where he remained for seven years, when, finding his health failing, he disposed of his practice and spent a year in travel and recuperation. He then resumed practice in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1866. Finding the arduous duties and responsibilities of his large and constantly increasing practice was undermining his constitution, he felt himself forced to permanently abandon the profession he so dearly loved, and enter a field entirely new to him. Being a man of quick penetration, intelligence, comprehension and sagacity he, immediately after disposing of his practice in Lake Mills, removed to Fort Atkinson and joined in the organization of the North western Manufacturing Com- pany, and for twenty years was one of the directors of that Company. He also became a member of the mercantile firm of Willard & Company, his associates at one time being N. F. Hopkins and at another, F. M. Vickery. At present he is engaged in the banking business, having been connected with the Citizens State Bank, of Fort Atkinson, since the date of its organization in 1884, and is now the Vice-president of that bank.
Dr, Willard has never paraded as a politician but has always taken a deep interest in the political affairs of his town, county, state and country. He was a member of the convention held at Madison in 1854 which gave birth to the Republican party in Wisconsin. In 1861 he was elected to the Assembly and early in the session his colleagues learned that he was the possessor of personality, self-reliance and incisive vigor. His course in the legislature was endorsed by his constituents by a re-nomination, which while appreciated by him, he felt it his duty to decline. When Horace Greely was a candidate for the Presidency, Doctor Willard left the Republican party and has since that time classed himself among the Independents, and today is a Gold Democrat.
Death entered the Doctor's home February 10, 1889, taking his loving wife. She was a woman of uncommon character, combining in harmonious proportions all the qualities necessary to make the best and noblest of her species, a good and true wife and mother. She was genial, warm-hearted, companionable and had many friends. She was a woman who had a high social standing, and whilst fond of society, she
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