USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 19
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The only son, William F. Weber, lived in Germany until twenty years of age, and after acquiring a common-school education there learned the book- binder's trade. In 1871 he came to the United States, reaching Chicago on the 28th of September, only a few days before the memorable conflagration which began on the 9th of October. He found employment in that city after the fire, there remaining until 1873 when he went to Marquette, Michigan, and worked in the office of the Marquette Mining Journal as a binder. The following year, however, he returned to Chicago but not finding employment to suit him he left there in July and came to Fond du Lac where he established a bindery business. In April, 1878, he purchased the Nordwestlicher Courier of Fred de Haas & Brothers, and has conducted the paper to the present time. It is a German weekly and an independent democrat in politics. In 1884 he also established a Sunday paper called Daheim, and in 1880, at West Bend, Wisconsin, he began the publication of the Deutscher Beobachter, which he afterward sold to Ernst Frankenberg. That paper is still being published. In 1883 he established a paper in Racine called the Racine Correspondent, which is also still published, and in 1888 he began the publication of an English daily called the Daily News. This was a morning paper which he published for three years. In connection with the Nordwestlicher Courier he conducts a job printing office, doing a general business of that character, resulting in gratify- ing profits. In 1910 he purchased the Wisconsin Telegraph and also the Dien- stagsblatt of Oshkosh, which he still publishes. He has thus become widely
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known to the newspaper fraternity and his life record is a credit to the history of journalism in Wisconsin.
On the 15th of May, 1877, Mr. Weber was married to Miss Matilda Weber, a daughter of Benedict and Josephine (Weiss) Weber. They became the par- ents of thirteen children. Josephine died in early childhood. Amalia is en- gaged in dressmaking. Carl, superintendent of the waterworks in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and well known as an electrical engineer, wedded Miss Mary Scotten and they have one daughter, Frances. Matilda is the wife of Leo Dana of Fond du Lac, and they have two daughters, Margaret and Mary. Ella is a student at the Art Institute in Chicago. Leo is manager of the job department of the Nordwestlichter Courier. Norbert is assistant advertising manager for the Northwestern Yeast Company of Chicago, Paul is in the employ of the Northwestern Railroad Company. Mary operates a typesetting machine in her father's office. Roman, William, Raymond and Florian are all at home.
Mr. Weber has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America for here in this land where opportunity is open to all he has made continuous progress, wisely using his time, talents and opportunities until he has gained for himself a creditable position in journalistic circles in Wisconsin.
JOHN F. MEADE.
John F. Meade is one of the diligent and progressive agriculturists of Eden township, where he has passed practically his entire life, his birth having occurred on a farm in the vicinity of his present home on the 14th of October, 1862. The father, Thomas Meade, was born and reared in County Louth, Ireland, whence he emigrated to the United States in 1843. He came direct to Fond du Lac county and upon his arrival here filed on government land in Eden township. which he cultivated during the remainder of his active life. Soon after he located here he married Miss Bridget McGinty, also a native of the Emerald isle, who came to America with her parents. The young couple began their domestic life in a little log cabin, where our subject, who is the eldest in a family of eleven, was born. The father passed away on the home farm on the 2d of April, 1905, but the mother is still living and now makes her home in Fond du Lac.
At the usual age John F. Meade began his education in the district schools. He attended both the summer and winter sessions until he was old enough to assist his father with the work of the farm, after which his summers were devoted to the work of the fields and care of the crops. Under the capable supervision of his father he early acquired a thorough practical knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of the agriculturist and has ever since devoted himself to this vocation with the exception of one winter when he worked in the lumber camps in the northern part of the state. When he was twenty-seven he was married and subsequently located on the place he now owns, and for three years there- after was associated with his father in the cultivation of it and the old home- stead. In 1892, Mr. Meade acquired the title to his farm and during the interven- ing years has wrought many and extensive improvements on it, including the erection of a modern house and large, commodious barns. He is an enterpris- ing, industrious man and takes great pride in the appearance of his place, as is evidenced by the well kept buildings and fences and the condition of his fields.
In 1889, Mr. Meade was married to Miss Mary Timblin, a daughter of Michael Timblin and a native of Forrest township, and to them have been born six children: Sarah Genevieve, Thomas Eugene. Mary Gertrude, Rosella Mar- garet, Lillian Bridget and Alice Eileen.
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The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church, being affiliated with St. James parish and Mr. Meade is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters in the Eden lodge and a member of the purchasing committee. His political support he gives to the democratic party and has been serving for twelve years as a school director in his district. Such success as has come to Mr. Meade is the result of unremitting energy and earnest purpose directed toward the achievement of a definite end and is fully merited.
FRANK H. BECHAUD.
As secretary and treasurer of the Bechaud Brewery Company, Frank H. Bechaud has for forty-one years been closely and successfully identified with the business interests of Fond du Lac. He was born in Germany on the 19th of January, 1848, and is a son of John P. and Josephine (Tillman) Bechaud, who were born, reared and married in the fatherland. They emigrated to the United States in 1851 and located in Fond du Lac, where for four years the father conducted a hotel. At the expiration of that time he bought a farm and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Twelve years later, however, he withdrew from active work and lived retired until his death in 1876. He was long survived by the mother, who passed away in 1909. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John P. Bechaud, four of whom are still living. Adolph married Elizabeth Kraemer and they have six children, Louisa, Josephine, August, Adolph, Jr., Lottie and Elizabeth. John B. married Mary Kraemer and they have seven children, Josephine, Ida, Rudolph, Louis, Armand, Amelia· E. and Pierre. Armand, who is a druggist at Chehalis, Washington, married Bertha Zimmermann of Fond du Lac, and to them have been born four children, Erma, Royal, Pierre and Wilbur. Frank H. is the subject of this sketch.
Frank H. Bechaud, who was a child of only three years when he was brought to the United States by his parents, obtained his education in the public schools of this city. At the age of twelve years his school days were terminated and he began assisting his father with the work of the farm. Later, however, he left home and went to work in the lumber regions of this state, where he was em- ployed for several years. In 1871, at the age of twenty-three years, he became associated with his brothers Adolph and John B., in the organization and estab- lishment of a brewery. They have ever since been engaged in the operation of this establishment in which they have met with a good measure of success.
Frank H. Bechaud married Miss Annie Abel of this city and to them have been born three daughters, Cora, Laura and Mary.
The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Bechaud belongs to the Sons of Herman. He votes with the democratic party, and although he is not remiss in matters of citizenship has never sought political preferment. He is held in high respect in the community as he is a man of integrity and con- ducts his business transactions in an honorable and straightforward manner.
THOMAS M. RYAN.
Thomas M. Ryan carries on general farming and stock-raising in Eden town- ship, where he owns eighty acres of fertile land, that he has been cultivating for twenty-four years. He is a native of Fond du Lac county, his birth having occur- red on his father's farm in Eden township on the 27th of April, 1855, and a son of Martin and Helen (McMann) Ryan. The father was born and reared in Ireland, whence he emigrated to the United States in his early manhood and
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located in New York state, where he resided for two or three years. The mother, who was also a native of the Emerald isle, came to America a year or two after Mr. Ryan did and they were married in Troy, New York. In 1847, they came to Fond du Lac county, locating in Eden township. Here the father bought some timber land that he set about clearing and improving, devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his active life. He subsequently turned the farm over to his son Michael and retired. For two years thereafter he lived in Eden, but at the end of that time he removed to Campbellsport, where he passed away on the 4th of November, 1895, at the age of eighty-four years. Mr. Ryan had been given the advantages of a very good education for that period and was one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of his township. He took an active interest in all public affairs, and served as school clerk in his district during the greater part of his residence there and he was also township treasurer for several years. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ryan five are still living, as is also the mother who is now eighty years of age and makes her home in Eden.
The education of Thomas M. Ryan was acquired in the district school, which he attended at irregular intervals during the winter months, when his services were not required at home. For several years after laying aside his text-books when the fall work about the farm was completed he went into the pine woods and worked until it was time to begin the spring planting. In 1888, he bought the farm where he is now residing and has ever since devoted his energies to its further improvement and cultivation. He erected a modern house and barn in 1893, and now owns one of the well equipped and highly cultivated farms in the community. In connection with his farming Mr. Ryan owns a threshing outfit that he has been operating for the past nineteen years, having been one of the first to engage in this work in the county.
In 1887, Mr. Ryan was married to Miss Margaret Meade, who was born in Eden township and is a daughter of Thomas and Bridget Meade, one of the early pioneer families of Fond du Lac county. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ryan: Josephine, the wife of Andrew Dillon; Alice, who married Ernest E. Lurvey ; and Charlotte, Thomas Irvin, Florence, Blanche, Francis, Em- mett and Bernet, at home.
The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church, being members of St. James parish, and Mr. Ryan is a charter member of the Catholic Order of Foresters at Eden, and was one of the first officers in that lodge. He is one of the diligent and enterprising men of his township, where he has passed his entire life and has many friends, the majority of whom have known him from child- hood.
NICHOLAS E. COSGROVE.
Nicholas E. Cosgrove, who has been a resident of Fond du Lac county since early boyhood, has been engaged in general agricultural pursuits throughout his entire business career and is the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres in Eden township. His birth occurred in Washington county, Wisconsin, on the 25th of September, 1858, his parents being Patrick and Mary (Smith) Cosgrove, who came to this country from Ireland. For several years the parents made their home in the state of New York and in 1855 removed to Washington county, Wisconsin, there residing until 1867. In that year Pat- rick Cosgrove came to Fond du Lac county and purchased land in the town of Eden, spending the remainder of his life on the home farm there. His demise occurred on the 26th of October, 1903, when he had attained the venerable age of ninety-five years. He had resided in this county for more than a third of a
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century and was well known and highly esteemed within its borders. His wife was called to her final rest in 1901, when seventy-two years of age. To them were born five children, three of whom survive.
As a youth Nicholas E. Cosgrove pursued his education in the district school during the winter months and throughout the remainder of the year assisted in the work on the home farm. His educational opportunities were somewhat limited, for this part of the country was still in a comparatively undeveloped condition and the boys of that period spent most of their time at work. He remained on the home farm and assisted in its operation until thirty-three years of age, when he started out as an agriculturist on his own account, purchasing the farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres which has remained in his posses- sion ever since. He has erected a substantial and commodious residence and also good barns, and has greatly improved his property in various other ways. The prosperity which has come to him is well merited, for he has worked untir- ingly and intelligently in the cultivation of his fields.
On the 14th of June, 1888, Mr. Cosgrove was united in marriage to Miss Julia Clark, a native of Fond du Lac county and a daughter of James Clark. To Mr. and Mrs. Cosgrove have been born four children: Francis, who passed away at the age of nine years; Mary, whose birth occurred on the 25th of May, 1891 ; Rosa, whose natal day was March 26, 1895; and Leo, who was born on the 19th of October, 1901. The family are communicants of St. James Catholic church. Mr. Cosgrove is a charter member of the Foresters at Eden and in every rela- tion of life has won the respect and unqualified confidence of those with whom he has come into contact.
ALFRED HOWARD.
Alfred Howard is numbered among the native sons of Fond du Lac county and among the successful, energetic and enterprising young farmers of Ashford township. Here he owns and operates a fine tract of land constituting the family homestead and has added to the improvements begun by his father, working along modern and systematic lines. He was born on June 26, 1879 on the farm which he now cultivates, and is the son of William and Albertina (Mitzloff) Howard, the former a native of England and the latter of Ger- many. The father came to America when he was a young man and settled in Wisconsin. He worked in the paper mills of this state and also followed general farming for a number of years, renting first and afterward purchas- ing a fertile tract of land in Ashford township. This he improved and de- veloped and upon it he lived until his death, which occurred in 1900, at the age of eighty-one years. He was a well known and representative citizen and an honored veteran of the Mexican war. His wife is still surviving and lives with her son William. They had eight children: William; Alfred, of this review; Henry; Edward, who has passed away; Elizabeth; May; Minnie; and Emma.
Alfred Howard was born upon the farm which he now operates and has always been connected with the development and improvement of this tract of land. He aided his father in the work of tilling and cultivating the soil and in the various other farm labors until the age of twenty-four, when he pur- chased the homestead. Since that time he has given his energies and atten- tion to making it one of the model properties in the district and has added many improvements.
In 1907 Mr. Howard was united in marriage to Miss Lena Yancy, a native of Minnesota, and they are the parents of two children; Francelia, born Sep-
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tember 26, 1908; and Leslie, born February 22, 1911. Mrs. Howard belongs to the Baptist church.
Mr. Howard affiliates with the republican party. He is one of the pro- gressive and promising young farmers in Ashford township. His methods are up-to-date and his business ability is of high order. Success has come to him as a natural result of intelligent labor along systematic lines, aided by personal experience.
S. M. PEDRICK.
S. M. Pedrick, attorney at law, who since 1897 has engaged in practice in Ripon and since the Ist of January, 1898, has been associated with Colonel George W. Carter in the law firm of Carter & Pedrick, was born in this city on the 3Ist of August, 1868. His father, Marcellus Pedrick, was a native of West- chester county, New York, born in 1828. Marcellus Pedrick came to Ripon in April, 1849, with his father, Samuel Pedrick, and the family, and from that time to the present the name of Pedrick has figured prominently in the annals of this city, the grandfather having been the builder of the first house in 1849 in the then new village of Ripon. This building was afterward used as a school- house and for many years was a landmark here. Samuel Pedrick was proprietor of a lumber mill in New York but had little opportunity to engage in business here for death called him in 1850. In the early '6os Marcellus Pedrick was en- gaged in the grain and commission business in Ripon and in 1869 entered into active connection with the lumber business in the northern part of the state. He also had local yards in Ripon for many years and in fact continued in active connection with the lumber trade to the time of his retirement. Study of the market, close application and capable control of his business brought him sub- stantial success. He died in Ripon in 1899 and the city thereby lost one of its valued and honored business men and residents. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Smith, was also a native of New York. They were married in Columbia county, Wisconsin, on the 12th of February, 1858, and Mrs. Pedrick, surviving her husband for about four years, passed away in 1903.
S. M. Pedrick is one of three children. At the usual age he entered the public schools, passing through consecutive grades until graduated from the high school with the class of 1886. He later entered Ripon College and completed his course in that institution in 1891. For a year he taught, in the Ripon city schools, after which he spent two years in the law school of the State University and won his LL. B. degree. Practical experience came to him as clerk in the law office of E. C. Eastman, of Marinette, Wisconsin, with whom he remained for one year, after which he spent two years with Wells, Brigham & Upham, in Milwaukee. In 1897 he came to Ripon and on the Ist of January following entered into partnership relations with Colonel Carter, in an association that has since been maintained. This is one of the strong law firms of the city and to them is accorded a large and distinctively representative clientage, connecting them with much of the most important litigation held in the courts of the dis- trict. Mr. Pedrick has the indispensable qualities of the resourceful lawyer and always prepares his cases with great thoroughness.
On the 12th of December, 1899, occurred the marriage of S. M. Pedrick and Miss Mildred Robbins, of Oshkosh, and unto them have been born two children, Marcella and Mildred. Mr. Pedrick holds membership with the Masons and Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Bar Association and of the American Bar Association, of the Wisconsin branch of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, of the Wisconsin State Historical Society and of the Ripon
SAMUEL M. PEDRICK
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Historical Society. He is a democrat in politics and his church affiliations are with the Congregationalists. He is secretary and general manager of the Ripon United Telephone Company, the recent consolidation of telephone interests in Ripon. He is prominent in community affairs and has been active along those lines leading to intellectual progress. He has served on the library board, was on the school board for eight years and has been a member of the official board of trustees of Ripon College since 1889. He was its treasurer for six years and at the present writing is secretary of the board. His position concerning any line of permanent benefit is never an equivocal one and what he has done for advancement establishes him as one of its stanch champions.
BONDUEL A. AND BERTHOLD JUNEAU HUSTING.
Bonduel A. and Berthold Juneau Husting constitute the well known law firm of Husting & Husting of Fond du Lac, a firm that by the consensus of public opinion stands in the front rank among the leading representatives of the legal profession in eastern Wisconsin. While the paternal grandfather of the brothers died in Luxemburg, his native country, when in middle life, his widow afterward came to the United States with her children, in 1852, and settled in Dodge county, Wisconsin, there founding the family on American soil. She lived to enjoy her new home for a long period, passing away when in old age. She was the mother of a large family. Her husband was twice married and by his first union also had several children.
John P. Husting, the father, was born in Luxemburg, Germany, and was· fourteen or fifteen years of age when he accompanied his mother to the new world. From Dodge county he removed to Fond du Lac, where he began learning the jeweler's trade under Gustave Kuenne, since which time he has been conducting business along that line. In 1876 he removed to Mayville and has since been proprietor of a jewelry store at that place. He married Mary Juneau, a native of Theresa, Wisconsin, and a daughter of Solomon Juneau, who was born at Terre Bonne, Canada, and who became the founder of Milwaukee. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Vieau, was a daughter of Jacques Vieau, and a granddaughter of Onatesia, the Pottawattomie Indian chief. Sol- omon Juneau, long a prominent factor in Wisconsin, his labors doing much to shape the history of the state, died at Shawano, while paying off the Indians for the government. His wife passed away the same year-1852-at Theresa, Dodge county, Wisconsin. They were the parents of thirteen children: Nar- cisse M .; Paul, the founder of Juneau, the county seat of Dodge county and a member of the first legislature; Theresa; Harriet; Bonduel; Louis; Eugene; Olive; Frank; Ella; Mary; and two who died in childhood. Two of the sons, Narcisse and Bonduel, as government agents, conveyed the Indians from this state to Kansas and the Indian Territory.
As previously stated, Mary Juneau became the wife of John P. Husting; and both were well known in Wisconsin as representatives of prominent pioneer families. Both were reared in the Catholic faith, to which they have always adhered. Mr. Husting served as postmaster of Mayville under Grover Cleve- land and has also been city treasurer there. Unto him and his wife have been born seven sons and a daughter, namely: Otto, a resident of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin; Paul, state senator from Dodge county; Max, of Fargo, North Dakota; Belle, the wife of Judge C. W. Lamoreux, of Dodge county ; Leo, who makes his home in Kaukauna, Wisconsin; Bonduel, of this review; Gustav, who is practicing law in Mayville, Wisconsin; and Berthold, also of this review.
Bonduel A. Husting was born in Fond du Lac, June 23, 1874, and Berthold J. Husting was born at Mayville, March 6, 1878. The former was but two Vol. II-9
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years of age when the family removed to Mayville and there he attended the public schools. When a youth of sixteen he began studying telegraphy and later was employed in that capacity by the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railway. He entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, with the intention of preparing for the practice of law and after successfully passing the state board examination in 1900 was admitted to the bar that year and located in Fond du Lac, where he has since remained. In 1905 he was elected district attorney, which office he continued to fill for two years, and in 1910 he was reelected to that position, which he is now filling, his reelection being an indication of his creditable service during his previous term and the confidence reposed in him by the general public. He is well known as a leader in political circles and has been secretary of the city and county demo- cratic committees.
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