USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 14
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JAMES H. O'BRIEN.
James H. O'Brien, operating a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Eden township, is well entitled to recognition among the enterprising and sub- stantial young agriculturists of this county. His birth occurred in Osceola, Wis- consin, on the IIth of February, 1886, his parents being James and Mary (Mo- riarty) O'Brien, who were natives of New Hampshire and Vermont respectively. His paternal grandparents were John and Mary O'Brien, the former being a native of County Clare, Ireland. In 1849, when their son James was but two years of age, they came to Wisconsin, John O'Brien taking up a tract of govern- ment land that was heavily covered with timber. After clearing the property he erected a shanty and took up his abode therein. That farm has remained his home to the present time or for more than six decades.
In early manhood James O'Brien, Sr., wedded Miss Mary Moriarty, who came to this state with her parents in 1850. When twenty-six years of age he purchased a farm of eighty acres in Osceola, where the birth of his son James occurred. In 1887 he sold that property and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Eden township, which he greatly improved and on which
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he spent the remainder of his life. When he passed away, on the 11th of De- cember, 1896, the community mourned the loss of one of its most respected and substantial citizens. . He served as clerk of the school district for several years and was ever a stanch champion of the cause of education. Unto him and his wife were born four children, as follows: Michael F., John, Mary and James H.
James H. O'Brien, whose name introduces this review, was reared to man- hood on the home farm in Eden township and since his father's death has oper- ated the same. His mother still survives and makes her home with him. His labors as an agriculturist have been attended with success, for he is thoroughly familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for crops.
Mr. O'Brien gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has ably served in the capacity of supervisor for the past two years. In religious faith he is a Catholic, belonging to St. Mary's church. Practically his entire life has been spent in Fond du Lac county and he has many friends here.
JOHN MURTHA.
John Murtha, who has been operating a blacksmith shop in Ripon for twenty- seven years, is one of Fond du Lac county's native sons, his birth having occurred in Friendship township in 1856. His parents, Patrick and Bridget (Crawley) Murtha, were natives of Ireland, whence they emigrated to the United States in 1850, coming direct to Fond du Lac county. The father, who was a farmer, first bought land in Friendship township, but later he located in Eldorado town- ship, subsequently returning from there to Friendship, where he resided until his death in 1880. The mother is also deceased. To them were born five sons, two of whom are deceased, and of those living our subject is the only one in this county, his brothers being residents of Marinette, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Murtha were communicants of the Roman Catholic church and held mem- bership in St. Patrick's parish.
After leaving school John Murtha learned the blacksmith's trade under a Mr. Richeson of Fond du Lac. He subsequently came to Ripon, becoming identified with one of the shops here about 1877, but he later returned to Fond du Lac for a brief period. In 1885, he came back to Ripon and purchased the blacksmith shop he has ever since been operating. He is a skillful workman, efficient and reliable and has made a success of his business.
In Ripon in 1879, Mr. Murtha was married to Miss Catherine Duffy, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Duffy, and 'to them have been born seven children: James, who is a resident of Fond du Lac; Margaret; Mary, who became the wife of George Kliner; John, who is deceased; Thomas; one who died in infancy; and Maggie, the wife of Wyman Towne.
The family all hold membership in the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Murtha is affiliated with the Catholic Knights. He is a man of genial, affable nature, by means of which he has won many friends, who accord him the respect he justly merits by reason of his active, diligent life.
GEORGE H. STANCHFIELD.
George H. Stanchfield has for the past six years been engaged in municipal work as a contractor of Fond du Lac and has won a creditable measure of suc- cess in this connection. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Fond du Lac. His birth occurred here on the 3d of July, 1868. His parents are Samuel B. and Ophila (Edgerton) Stanchfield, the former a native of Leeds Center, Maine,
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and the latter of Rome, New York. Samuel B. Stanchfield, whose natal day was March 17, 1836, came to Wisconsin in 1854, and purchased a farm of eighty acres. He has since been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He owns a tract of two hundred and twenty-eight acres in the city of Fond du Lac and is one of the esteemed and substantial citizens of the community in which he has so long resided. He has been a prominent figure in public affairs, having served as state senator for two terms and for several years as chairman of the board of supervisors, of which he was a member for a long period. To Samuel B., and Ophila (Edgerton) Stanchfield, the latter of whom came to this county in 1847, were born three children. Samuel G. married Miss Gertrude Bartlett, of Fond du Lac, by whom he has three children, Charles S., Mabel G. and Gancello B. Bartley K., who is a mechanical engineer wedded Miss Olga Wilke of Fond du Lac and has one son, Charles B. George H. is the subject of this review.
George H. Stanchfield attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education and completed the high-school course in 1888. Subsequently he en- tered the University of Wisconsin at Madison, from which institution he was graduated in 1892 with the degree of Civil Engineer. He then devoted his at- tention to farming in association with his father for two years and at the expira- tion of that period became city engineer of Fond du Lac, serving in that capacity for two years. During the following seven years he served as city engineer of Watertown and then returned to Fond du Lac, here again acting as city engineer for a period of two years. Following his retirement from that office, in 1906, he turned his attention to contracting and has since devoted his time principally. to municipal improvements.
In 1893 Mr. Stanchfield was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Park, of Madison, and to them have been born four children, Madelyn E., Eleanor J., Georgia O. and Allan G. Mr. Stanchfield gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is Presbyterian in religious faith. He is a member of the Twilight Club and fraternally is identified with the Masons, the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
HENRY L. CLAPP.
Henry L. Clapp is conducting a large market gardening and floral business in Ripon, Wisconsin, and his activities in this line of work make him a prominent force in commercial circles. He was born on November 12, 1854, in Westfield, Massachusetts, and is a son of V. P. and Almira H. (Root). Clapp. Their mar- riage occurred in Westfield, Massachusetts, where they remained until 1858. In that year they came to Wisconsin, locating in Alto township, where the father successfully farmed for five years. He later located for one year at Fox Lake before coming to Ripon where he bought land two miles east of the city, and improved and developed it. In 1881 he moved into the town and established himself in the market gardening business. He gained a great degree of prosperity in this line of activity and continued in it until his death. His wife has also passed away, her death occurring in April, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. V. P. Clapp were the parents of five children : Henry L .; Charles, who is now deceased; Francis A., a resident of Ripon ; Fannie who died in infancy ; and Hattie J., who passed away when she was twenty-one years of age. The elder Mr. Clapp was well known in political circles of Ripon as a stanch republican and as a man keenly interested in the future progress of the city in which he lived. He belonged to the Congre- gational church.
Henry L. Clapp received his education in the public schools of Ripon township, Wisconsin, and later attended Ripon College. He made wise use of his opportuni- ties along this line and by constant study and wide reading fitted himself. for
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teaching, which occupation he followed for four winters. In 1885 he went back upon his father's farm in Ripon township and was successfully engaged in agricul- ture for eight years. In 1893 he located in Ripon and established himself in the gardening and greenhouse business with which he has been identified ever since. He built his present plant in 1895, and added to it in 1909. He has now the only floral establishment in the city of Ripon and is carrying on his business along honorable and worthy commercial principles.
On September 13, 1881, Mr. Clapp was united in marriage to Miss Lucretia E. Morse, a daughter of C. A. and Elizabeth (Abbott) Morse. Mrs. Clapp's father was born in 1828 and lived in Concord, New Hampshire, until he went to Waupaca county, Wisconsin, in the fall of 1868. He followed farming with much success and was a prosperous and representative agriculturist. His family came originally from England and has been prominent in American affairs for some time. Mrs. Clapp's father was a cousin of Mr. Morse, the great inventor of the present day telegraph code. The wife of our subject is one of six children, the others being: Helen B., who is Mrs. Chadwick, of Boston, Massachusetts ; Joseph E., who resides in Pennacook, New Hampshire; Alfred C., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Mary Colby of New Hampshire; and Anna, who passed away when she was two years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Clapp has been born one child, Florence Elizabeth, whose natal day was January 22, 1883, and who married Mr. Hillsberg of Ripon, by whom she has two children, Helen and Carroll, aged seven and five years respectively. Mrs. Hillsberg and children are now residents of New Hampshire.
In his political affiliations Mr. Clapp is a republican and has always voted the party ticket. He takes an intelligent interest in educational affairs, and as school commissioner for nine years did active and constructive work. He affiliates with the Congregational church. A growing and prosperous business enterprise of any kind is a useful and valuable addition to a community, and Mr. Clapp has become well known in Ripon as the owner of one of the largest greenhouses in the county and a large gardening concern. His plant affords him capacity for carrying on a valuable and useful enterprise. He has won his success by intelli- gent effort along honorable and worthy lines and has come to his present state of prosperity through hard work, good management and continuous diligence.
AUGUST NAST.
August Nast is a successful representative of business interests in Fond du Lac county as the secretary and treasurer of the Nast Brothers Lime & Stone Company of Eden, which was incorporated under that name in 1904. His birth occurred in Germany on the 25th of February, 1854, his parents being William and Wilhelmina (Bucholtz) Nast. The father, a shepherd in Germany, crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1862, being accompanied on the voyage by his wife and five children, namely: William; Amelia; August, of this review ; Louise, who is deceased; and Herman. They made their way direct to the vil- lage of Fond du Lac in this county, William Nast working in sawmills for one year. On the expiration of that period he purchased land in the town of Eden, there residing until called to his final rest, in 1883, at the age of fifty-nine years. He opened up the large quarry now operated by his sons and met with gratify- ing success in his undertakings in this connection. His wife passed away in 1907, when eighty-four years of age. One daughter, Anna, was born unto them in Fond du Lac.
August Nast began his education in the fatherland and continued his studies in the district schools of the home locality in Fond du Lac county. As a young man he assisted in the operation of the home farm. In 1871 his father opened
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up the stone quarry on the farm and made lime and sold stone for building pur- poses. In 1880 he opened the large quarry now operated by August and William Nast under the name of the Nast Brothers Lime & Stone Company, which was incorporated in 1904. In 1880 switches were put into the quarry and the company began making carload shipments to Illinois and throughout Wisconsin. The concern is capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars and its officers are as follows: William Nast, president; George Nast, vice president; and August Nast, secretary and treasurer. The Nast brothers also have plants at Kewaunee and Knowles and have conducted their enterprise in a manner that has insured its steady growth and continued success. August Nast is also interested in the Mammoth Springs Cheese & Butter Company; the Greenleaf Stone Company, of Greenleaf, Wisconsin; and the Empire Lime & Stone Company, of Quarry, this state. The Nast brothers are, moreover, heavily interested in timber lands in northern Wisconsin. August Nast has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, his prompt and honorable methods having won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellowmen.
In 1882 Mr. Nast was joined in wedlock to Miss Margaret Baumhardt, a daughter of George Baumhardt. Unto them have been born six children, namely : George; Rinato, who died in infancy; Lucy; Vincent F .; Nahla; and Katherine. The family reside in a modern home in the village of Marblehead.
Mr. Nast gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never sought nor desired office as a reward for his fealty. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical church. The period of his residence in this county covers a half century and the circle of his friends and acquaintances is an extensive one. He is a man of marked strength of character, genial disposition and genuine worth, and has the unqualified respect and good-will of his fellowmen.
WILLIAM J. WALDSCHMIDT, M. D.
Dr. Waldschmidt has been in the successful practice of his profession in the city of Fond du Lac since 1905. He was born in the town of Taycheedah, No- vember 4, 1878, and is a son of Henry and Kunigunda (Kreamer) Waldschmidt. The father was born in the town of Forest, February 7, 1855, and passed away on September 28, 1908, in Fond du Lac county. The mother is a native of Wis- consin, her birth having occurred in the town of Marshfield on February II, 1857. To Mr. and Mrs. Henry Waldschmidt eight children were born. William J. is the subject of this review. Harriet is the wife of Oswald Britengress who is auditor for the Western Weighing Association, and they have one child, Fre- mont. Otto, a machinist and wheelwright who lives in Fond du Lac, is married to Bertha Wentslaff. Landra married Miss Louise Picket, and they reside on the old homestead, where he engages in farming. They have three children: El- mer, Henry and Clarence. Edith, Kathryn, Reuben and Mata are at home and the latter two attend high school in Fond du Lac.
Dr. Waldschmidt received his early education in the public schools at Empire and completed his course in the high school at Fond du Lac. After pursuing the necessary preliminary studies he entered the medical department of Northwest- ern University at Chicago, Illinois, where he completed the course in the science of medicine and surgery and graduated with honors in 1905 with the degree of M. D. Immediately following his graduation he located in Fond du Lac where he has since been engaged in the successful practice of his profession.
Dr. Waldschmidt was married in 1908 to Miss Lena Rueping of Fond du Lac, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Rueping. Dr. Waldschmidt is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Modern
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Woodmen of America. He is also a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood of California and of the Royal Neighbors. He is affiliated with the republican party.
Dr. Waldschmidt is one of the progressive and successful physicians of Fond du Lac where he has established a reputation as a careful, conscientious and thoroughly accomplished worker in his profession.
GEORGE I. MIDDLETON.
George I. Middleton has been prominently connected with the wool business in Ripon, Wisconsin, for over thirty years and has a record of twenty-five years of continuous activity in the lumber and fuel line. He was born April 3, 1856, and is a native of Andover, Massachusetts. His parents were James and Jane Middleton, both of whom are of Scotch birth and ancestry. They left their native country for America in 1846 and spent the remainder of their lives in Massachusetts. Mr. Middleton's father was identified for many years with a thread mill, as superintendent of a large concern in this line of trade in Andover. He died when he was seventy-seven years of age and his wife passed away when in her seventy-fourth year. They had four children: Margaret, who resides in Jamaica, New York; James, who makes his home in Hyde Park, Massachusetts ; George I., of this review; and Jean, who also lives in Jamaica.
George I. Middleton was reared at home and attended the public schools of Andover. He supplemented this by a course in high school and pursued the usual studies until he was eighteen years of age. In that year he laid aside his text- books in order to learn the wool business. He spent about seven years in Boston engaged in this line of activity but finally located in Ripon in 1880. From that year until 1910 he was prominent and prosperous in the business which he had learned in his childhood. He has a record of thirty years of continuous activity in this line and his business methods have always been based upon high standards of commercial honor. In 1886, in partnership with G. F. Horner he engaged, aside from the wool business, in a lumber and fuel enterprise. This association had an uninterrupted existence for twenty-five years and was one of the principal sources of Mr. Middleton's income. In 1911 Mr. Horner retired and the business is now conducted by Mr. Middleton alone. He does an increasingly successful trade in all kinds of building materials and his fuel department is an important branch of his enterprise.
On May 1, 1884, Mr. Middleton was united in marriage to Miss Carrie L. Eggleston, a daughter of Major Henry S. and Elizabeth A. (Washburn) Eggles- ton. The father earned distinction in the Civil war and served in the Federal army with the rank of major. He died in 1862, when he was forty-two years of age. He was the father of three children: Carrie, the wife of our subject ; Mary E., now Mrs. Marshall, of Ripon ; and Myra E., now Mrs. Smith, a resident of the same city. To Mr. and Mrs. Middleton have been born three children : Helen M., born April 1, 1887, a graduate of Grafton Hall, of Fond du Lac, who pursued a special course in library work at the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; James A., born June 11, 1889, who is associated with his father in business; and George I., born November 27, 1892, who is attending the State University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he is specializing in scientific agricul- ture.
In his political affiliations Mr. Middleton is a democrat but has never been an office seeker. He is a judicious and discriminating man, interested in the com- mercial expansion of the city in which he resides. He is a director in the local telephone company and active in many other lines of municipal development. Mr. Middleton's career has been quietly but continuously successful. He is energetic, straightforward and strictly honest, and these qualities are the basis
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of sure prosperity. He is well known as a man whose cooperation can be counted upon in any judicious enterprise and in the quarter of a century of identification with the line of activity in which he is engaged, he has become representative in Ripon of energy and progress.
GEORGE TRELEVEN.
George Treleven, one of the enterprising and progressive agriculturists of Fond du Lac county, owns and operates a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 6, Eden township. Here he has resided from his birth to the present time, his natal day being November 18, 1861. His father, Thomas Treleven, who was born in England in October, 1816, emigrated to the United States in 1834, when a young man of eighteen, making the voyage in company with his mother, three brothers-John, Joseph and Daniel-and two sisters-Mrs. Elizabeth Tanner and Mrs. Anne Balsam, both of whom are now deceased. Michael, the oldest son of the family, always remained in the mother country. It was subsequent to the death of the paternal grandfather of our subject that his widow and children crossed the Atlantic to America. They took up their abode in Poughkeepsie, New York, and worked for the Vassars (founders of the college of that name) for eight years. On the expiration of that period they came to Wisconsin, John Treleven having already established his residence in Empire township, Fond du Lac county. Thomas Treleven there joined his brother John and in the winter of 1842 worked for Frank Moore in Taycheedah township. He operated a farm in association with his brother John for one or two years and then took up the quarter section of land which is now in possession of his son George, the tract being heavily covered with timber. The small frame house which he erected remained the family home for some time. In 1854 Daniel Treleven, Thomas Treleven and Squire Newton built the Eden Flouring Mills, conducting the same for about fifteen years, at the end of which time they sold out. In 1855 Thomas Treleven married Miss Elizabeth Bradley, who was a native of England and in 1848 emigrated to the United States with her parents, Samuel and Anne Bradley, who established their home in Winnebago county, Wisconsin. Daniel, Joseph and Thomas Treleven first introduced a horse-power threshing machine in this county, hauling it through by team from Elgin, Illinois, in the early '50s and running the outfit for several years. In his later years Thomas Treleven devoted his attention exclusively to general agricultural pursuits. When his first house was destroyed by fire he erected the modern residence which now stands upon the farm and also built substantial barns. After a residence of almost a half century in this county he was called to his final rest, passing away on the 6th of April, 1891. His wife, whose natal year was 1830, died on the 2d of April, 1905. Thomas Treleven held a number of town and school offices and took an active and prominent part in public affairs of his community, being widely recognized as a leading and progressive citizen. Unto him and his wife were born two sons, namely: Melvin, whose birth occurred on the 8th of October, 1856, and who is a traveling sales- man; and George, of this review.
The latter attended the common schools in the acquirement of an education and has always remained on the home farm, assisting in the work of the fields as soon as his age and strength permitted. At the time of his father's demise he purchased the interest of his brother in the property, which has since remained in his possession and which he has brought under a high state of cultivation and improvement. He makes a close' study of agriculture and through the careful cultivation of the soil and the rotation of crops gather's abundant harvests each year, thus adding to his annual income.
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In politics Mr. Treleven is a republican where state and national questions are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot in favor of the candidate or measure that he deems will best conserve the general welfare. He has frequently refused political office but in the interests of the cause of educa- tion has served as school director for the past eighteen years. In his social and business life he is recognized as a man of genuine personal worth who has won the respect and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.
CHRISTIAN U. SENN, M. D.
A doctor who is intelligent, broad-minded and imbued with an instinct of humanity has many enviable opportunities of doing good in the world. If he is also public-spirited in an intelligent way his advantages in this respect are mate- rially increased. A physician of this sort is Dr. Christian U. Senn, engaged in the general practice of medicine in Ripon. He was born December 15, 1877, in the township of Ashford, and is a son of John and Anna (Mintner) Senn, promi- nent residents of that section. Mr. and Mrs. John Senn were the parents of ten children : Anna, who is Mrs. August Senn and makes her home in South Dakota ; John, who died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the age of forty-two years; Katie, who married William Miller and is living in Minnesota; Edward, a resident of Campbellsport, Wisconsin; Libbie, now Mrs. Weiting, of Ripon; Peter, who resides in Campbellsport, Wisconsin; Christian, the subject of this sketch; William also a resident of Campbellsport; Ulrich, now a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Milwaukee; and Henry, who resides in Minnesota.
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