USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 77
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On the 18th of April, 1884, in Eldorado, Wisconsin, Mr. Wiese was mar- ried to Miss Minnie Pauls, a daughter of Charles and Sophia (Lempka) Pauls both of whom were natives of Germany, where Mrs. Wiese was also born. Her family came to America in 1883, settling in Eldorado township, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, where the father died in 1894. The mother, however, had passed away before the emigration of the family to the new world took
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place, her death occurring in Germany in 1880, when she was fifty-one years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have been born twelve children. William, who married Iola Stafford, is a farmer living in Oakfield. Minnie is the wife of August Berger, formerly of Princeton, Wisconsin, now living in Lamartine township, where he follows farming. Charles, a farmer of Oakfield township, married Minnie Wessel, of Mayville, Wisconsin. Henry, Jennie, Lizzie and Emma are yet at home. Frank died in infancy. Elsie, Alvin, Arthur and Emil are still under the parental roof.
Carl Wiese votes with the republican party and is mindful of his duties of citizenship. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and as the years have gone by his persistent labor, intelligently directed, has gained him a place among the leading farmers of his part of the county.
HENRY L. WEBER.
Up-to-date dairying is rapidly becoming one of the important branches of agriculture and to it Henry L. Weber is devoting special attention. He also carries on general farming and the one hundred and twenty acres of land which he owns and operates in Lamartine township are well managed both from a business and an agricultural standpoint. Mr. Weber was born in Germany, on October 24, 1862, and is a son of Carl and Justina (Bade) Weber, both natives of that country. His father was born in 1831 and was a gardener by occupa- tion. He came to Fond du Lac county and settled in Eden township in 1872 and died in Lamartine township in 1893. His wife is living at the age of seventy- nine years and makes her home with our subject. To their union were born three children: Augusta, who is the wife of Otto Collins, a native of Germany, and a laborer by trade by whom she has two children, Carl and Emma ; Julius, a farmer in Fond du Lac county, who married Miss Hattie B. Drake of Black Earth, Wisconsin, by whom he has two children, William and Burdette; and Henry L., the subject of this sketch.
Henry L. Weber was ten years of age when he came to America with his parents. He attended the district schools of Eden township until he was four- teen years old, abandoning his studies in order to give active assistance to his father in the work of the farm. Until he was thirty-two years of age he lived at home and assisted in the various tasks incident to the agricultural enterprise which Carl Weber was conducting. Eventually, however, he rented land and for eight years carried on general agriculture upon this property. Ambitious, ener- getic and economical he saved his money and was able to purchase the old home- stead which then comprised eighty acres of improved land. To this he added forty adjoining acres and has owned his present tract since 1902. He keeps a large herd of thoroughbred cattle and makes a specialty of his dairy which is one of the finest in the county. It is kept in a clean and sanitary condition and is operated along the most scientific and modern methods. He sells his products in the Fond du Lac markets and this branch of his enterprise is an important source of income to him. He at the present time owns one hundred and twenty acres, excellently improved and developed on section 35, Lamartine township. His cattle are pure-bred and all of them are registered Holsteins. He is num- bered among the representative citizens of his district whose intelligent labors are promoting the progress of agriculture in Wisconsin.
On February 19, 1896, Mr. Weber was united in marriage in Lamartine township, to Miss Louisa Bowe, a daughter of Christian and Mary Ann (Gam- bert) Bowe, natives of Germany. They came to Lamartine township in 1848 and were among the pioneer agriculturists of the region. Mrs. Weber's father was
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MR. AND MRS. HENRY L. WEBER
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born in 1823 and died in 1892. Her mother's birth occurred in 1830 and her death in 1904. They had eight children, four of whom are still living: Julius, who is a farmer near Chilton, Wisconsin, and who married Miss Mina Bowe, by whom he has four children, Mary, Leona, Louis, and Jerome; Charles, who is a carpenter in Lamartine; Louis, who also follows carpentering and who married Miss Rose Diethert, by whom he has one daughter, Hazel; and Louisa, the wife of Henry L. Weber. Mr. and Mrs. Weber are the parents of three children: Leona, born January 8, 1897; Carl, born December 30, 1899; and Hazel, whose birth occurred on the 20th of June, 1904.
In his political beliefs Mr. Weber is a consistent republican and has served as road superintendent holding this office for fifteen years and conducting its affairs systematically and conscientiously. He also did able service as treasurer of joint school district No. 12. He is a stockholder in the Lamartine Creamery Company and is known as a man who is active in the promotion of local enter- prises. He belongs to the Methodist church and is well known in the affairs of the Modern Woodmen of America. His farm is in excellent condition and its equipment is practical and complete, while his fields are sowed to the most suitable grains. Rich harvests annually reward his labor and his methods are systematic and progressive, resulting in prosperity and success.
GEORGE IVEN BEIRNE.
In the early period of its development Wisconsin was largely given over to the lumber industry, but with its settlement it has come to the front as one of the great agricultural states of the Union and its. rich soil, carefully cultivated, has won for it the reputation which it bears in this connection. George Iven Beirne is classed with those who are winning success through application and careful management in the conduct of farming interests. He is well known in Fond du Lac county, for it is here that he was born, in the town of Oakfield, on the 5th of June, 1882. The father of our subject, James H. Beirne, was born at a place along the line of railroad between Chester and Burnett in Dodge county, for his father at that time had a grading contract with the North- western Railroad and with his wife was living in a railroad camp. The birth of James H. Beirne occurred February 12, 1853. His father was John Beirne, a native of Ireland, who became one of the early residents of Fond du Lac county, sleeping the first night after his arrival in the town of Oakfield under an elm tree. He came to be regarded as one of the valued, prominent and honored citizens of the township, where he took up his abode in 1842. He had previously for five years been a resident of New York, having come from the Emerald isle to the new world in 1837. He was at the time of his emigra- tion to this country twenty-two years of age, his birth having occurred Decem- ber 30, 1815, and he lived until the 22d of June, 1903, when death called him. The family of James H. Beirne numbered four children: Charles, who died at the age of nineteen years; George I .; Edith, who passed away April 17, 1912; and Evelyn, who married Abel Bristol, who is a farmer and breeder of registered Holstein cattle in Oakfield township.
George I. Beirne, spending his youthful days in Oakfield township, pursued his education in district school No. 3 until he reached the age of seventeen years, after which he spent two years as a student in the high school in Oak- field. He later entered Madison University, where he pursued a two years' course in agriculture, and was appointed to serve as one of three judges of county fairs out of about one hundred and seventy students who were available. He continued to act in that capacity throughout the state for a number of years, until in 1906 when he took charge of two hundred and fifty acres of the old home- Vol. II-33
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stead formerly belonging to his grandfather. He has been very successful in conducting his agricultural interests. He is a breeder of Guernsey cattle, which he and his father have imported extensively from the Isle of Guernsey, and their herd numbers about one hundred and twenty head. He also raises hogs for slaughtering for family use and has seven horses to carry on the work of the farm.
On the 5th of February, 1907, Mr. Beirne was married, at Lomira, Dodge county, Wisconsin, to Miss Regina Mathieu, a daughter of John and Charlotte (Parduhn) Mathieu, both of whom are natives of Germany. They were farm- ing people and became pioneer settlers of Dodge county. Mr. and Mrs. Beirne became parents of three children of whom one died unnamed, and another Louisa, in infancy. The other daughter, Alice, was born September 5, 1909. The parents are communicants of the Catholic church. Mr. Beirne has been a lifelong resident of Fond du Lac county and that his record is a creditable one is indicated in the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time.
HENRY SCHWARTZ.
Henry Schwartz having formed a copartnership with R. H. Lee, is en- gaged in the automobile business under the firm name of the Fond du Lac Automobile & Tire Repair Company. This firm has its principal office, sales- rooms and shops at Nos. 210-212 South Main street, Fond du Lac. Mr. Sch- wartz resides at No. 69 Eighth street. He was born in Byron township, Fond du Lac county, July 29, 1870, and is a son of Henry and Martha (Kapp) Schwartz, natives of Germany.
Henry Schwartz, the father of the subject of this review, emigrated to America in the year 1852 and on reaching the new world located in Byron town- ship, this county. He was by occupation a farmer and continued to reside upon the farm on which he made his original location. To Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz nine children were born: Fred; George; Bertha, now the wife of Cyrus Bemis ; Kate, the wife of Reilly Bemis; Lizzie, the widow of Allen H. Filbey ; Henry ; Lena, the deceased wife of Herman Haddey ; and John and Rose. The parents have long since passed to their reward, the father at the age of seventy-two and the mother at the age of sixty-eight. Both had been lifelong and devout members of the Lutheran church.
Henry Schwartz, our subject was reared on the farm in Byron township where he attended the district school. After completing his elementary educa- tion he became a pupil at the North Indiana Normal School in Valparaiso. Upon the completion of his course of studies at the Normal School he entered the employment of the McCormick Harvester Company as a traveling salesman and continued in this vocation for a period of seven years, at which time he closed his relation with the firm and was employed by the E. W. Clark Company of this city, with whom he remained for three years. In June, 1911, he formed a partnership with Mr. R. H. Lee, of Fond du Lac, under the style of the Fond du Lac Automobile Tire & Repair Company. This company has the agency for the Buick and Rambler machines and in addition to this line of business they carry a full stock of all kinds of automobile supplies and in their shops are prepared to do first-class repair work.
Henry Schwartz was united in marriage on the 9th day of November, 1898, to Miss May D. Divers, a daughter of Matthias and Martha (Wooldridge) Divers. Mrs. Schwartz is a native of Wisconsin, her birth having occurred in the township of Byron. She was reared at home and educated in the public schools of the district in which they lived. Her people were early settlers in
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this county where they continued to live during the remainder of their lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Divers five children were born: Herbert; Altine; Charles; May D; and Byron. The mother died in 1900 and the father survived her until 1907, when he passed away at the age of ninety-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz four children have been born: Alverda; Armel, who died at the age of twenty months; Lyle; and Clifford. Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz are both members of the Congregational church of this city.
Mr. Schwartz is affiliated with the republican party and is an enthusiastic adherent of that great political organization. He is a member of the school board commission. He is a man of sterling qualities, an experienced salesman and one of the successful business men of Fond du Lac. He is ever found ready to associate himself with any meritorious measure, seeking the moral and intellectual betterment of the people in the community in which he lives.
JOHN COYNE.
A pioneer in Wisconsin's settlement, a worthy veteran of the Civil war, a factor in the agricultural development of Fond du Lac county and an able pub- lic official-these are the claims of John Coyne to the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. He was born in Ireland, August 15, 1842, and is a son of John and Bridget (Fallen) Coyne, both natives of the Emerald isle. His father's birth occurred in 1807 and he remained in his native country until 1844. In the year he crossed the Atlantic to Canada, where he remained for twelve months, later going to Racine, Wisconsin, where he maintained his residence for three years. At the end of that time he removed to Eldorado township, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, and settled on a farm on section II, where from 1846 until the time of his death, in 1891, he was active and successful as an agri- culturist. He and his wife were numbered among the very earliest settlers in the district in which they resided. They were the parents of seven children : John, the subject of this sketch; May Ann; Bridget; Katie; Thomas, who is deceased; Ellen; and Thomas, the second of the name.
John Coyne came to America with his parents at an early age and settled with them in Eldorado township. He is now numbered among the earliest citizens of this district. When he was six years of age his parents resided upon a farm about one mile from the Menominee Indian village and the con- ditions of their life were extremely primitive. At one time there was a fight between two of the strongest Indians of the tribe, in which one was killed. The murderer was sentenced to be burned at the stake and Mr. Coyne's father, as a friend of the Indian agent, Mr. Smith, was granted permission to be present at the punishment. It was one of the most vivid recollections of his life, and he always remembered the sight of the condemned man, tied with bass-wood thongs to a stake which had been erected and surrounded by dry brush piled almost to his waist.
Mr. Coyne spent his childhood amid scenes of pioneer settlement. His edu- cation was limited. There were no schools in the district until he was four- teen years of age and when educational advantages were finally secured he was able to attend only during the winter months. He laid aside his books at the age of eighteen and worked upon the neighboring farms until 1862. On Feb- ruary 18th of that year he enlisted in Company C, Seventeenth Wisconsin Vol- unteer Infantry, for service in the Civil war and served with distinction until August 20, 1865. On that date he was mustered out with honorable discharge at Madison, Wisconsin, having seen three years of hard service and having been twice wounded. With the exception of his three years in the army Mr. Coyne has been identified with farming throughout his life. He now owns one
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hundred and twenty-seven and a half acres of land in Lamartine township, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, and has gained recognition among his fellow citizens as an expert and successful agriculturist. He keeps everything about his place in excellent condition and has attained practical results because his labors have always been progressive and systematic.
On September 18, 1865, Mr. Coyne was united in marriage to Miss Mary Connoughty, a daughter of John and Ann Connoughty, of Eldorado township. Mrs. Coyne was born on the 5th of August, 1842, and her parents were among the earliest settlers in Fond du Lac county, coming to this section of Wisconsin from Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Coyne have eight children: James J., a contractor and builder in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who married Miss Myra Conoboy of Lamartine township, by whom he has two children, Margaret and John; Thomas F., who follows farming and who married Miss Mamie O'Connors, of Osceola, Wisconsin, by whom he has three children-Elden, Helen and Ethel; Ellen M., the wife of J. L. Liberty, a former resident of Medford, who is now ex- tensively engaged in the real-estate business in Montana; Anna M., who mar- ried Thomas Shields, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, a machinist of Fond du Lac, by whom she has three children-Raymond, Lucille and Thomas; May, who became the wife of John O'Brien, a farmer of Osceola, Wisconsin; Katie, who married Fred Bonhauser, engaged in the railroad engineering business in North Fond du Lac, and who is now the mother of one child, Glenn; John, who lives at home; and Amanda, who is also with her parents.
In his political belief Mr. Coyne is a consistent democrat and has served his fellow citizens for two terms as supervisor and for a similar period as road superintendent. He has a record of thirty-three years continuous and able service as district clerk of the school board and has been during that time an active factor in educational expansion. He is a stockholder in one of the prin- cipal cheese factories in Lamartine township and his interest is always given to the promotion of local enterprises. There are degrees of financial success in the world, but no man can gain more personal recognition than is embodied in the title of an honest man. This tribute has never been denied Mr. Coyne, for his honesty and integrity of purpose dominate all his activities and influence his business and individual life.
CHARLES HARVEY LOOMIS.
Charles Harvey Loomis is one of the well known and successful farmers of Waupun township, where he is engaged in the cultivation of his farm located on sections 23 and 26. He was born at Ashford, Fond du Lac county, December 27, 1866, and is a son of Morris F. and Emily J. (Helmer) Loomis, the former of whom was born April 19, 1824. The paternal grandfather was Russell Loomis, who was born in Vienna, Oneida county, New York. Morris F. Loomis removed from the east in 1847 to Wisconsin and purchased eighty acres of government land in Eden township, having spent the winter in Racine cutting five hundred cords of wood with C. and F. Adekirk. In 1849 he was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Raymond, of Auburn, Wisconsin and within two years they settled upon eighty acres in that town. They became the parents of six children : Amelia M., Inez C., Florian A., Frank, Irving W. and Edwin P. The two daughters and Edwin P. are now deceased. The mother of this family died March 11, 1864. In 1865 Mr. Loomis settled upon his homestead in Eden township and cleared both tracts of eighty acres. He cleared it of its heavy timber, making in all a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he brought to a high state of culti- vation and improved with all necessary buildings. The son, Frank Loomis, is now the owner of the eighty acres in Osceola township which was originally
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purchased by his father. In May, 1865, Mr. Loomis was united in marriage to Miss Emily J. Helmer, of Lowville, Lewis county, New York, and they became the parents of two children: Charles Harvey, of this review; and George H. Mr. Loomis was affiliated with the republican party and was one of the first three justices of the peace to be elected in Eden township and is in every way entitled to be known as one of the early pioneers of Fond du Lac county.
Charles Harvey Loomis was reared at home and received his early edu- cation in the public schools of New Cassel. At the age of fourteen he started in life for himself, finding his first employment as a farm laborer on the Atwood farm, in which occupation he continued for some time and later spent one win- ter in school, after which he was employed by Owen & Meicklejohn, with whom he continued for some time, and then worked on his present farm for his father and at his death inherited the place. The farm is located on sections 23 and 26 in the township of Waupun and there he established his home about 1893 and has since continued to devote his attention to the cultivation of that property.
Mr. Loomis was united in marriage on the 13th of April, 1887, to Miss Maggie Kelly, a daughter of Thomas and Rosa (Drumm) Kelly, who removed from Iowa to Wisconsin in 1860. Thomas and Rosa Kelly were the parents of fourteen children : Ellen, deceased; Michael, who was last heard of in Denver; John, James, Frances and Bridget, all of whom died of diphtheria within two weeks; Mary, who married Robert Welch, of Chicago; Lizzie, who became the wife of Michael Kerrigan, of Chicago; Andy; Patrick, also living in Chicago; Maggie, who became Mrs. Loomis; Rose, the wife of R. F. Gaske, of Chicago; Jane, who married Henry Welch, of Eden, Wisconsin; and Katie, who died in infancy. To Mr. and Mrs. Loomis five children were born: T. Frank, who was born April 30, 1888; James R., born June 10, 1890, and Agnes J., born March 23, 1894, both of whom are attending school in preparation for the teachers profession; Charles H., whose birth occurred May 4, 1896; and Lillie R., who was born on the 8th of December, 1903. Mrs. Loomis died May 15, 1912. Mr. Loomis is a loyal member of the republican party and one of the well known and respected citizens of Fond du Lac county and a man who gives his support to every public enterprise which he believes will advance and improve the con- dition of the people of his county and state.
HON. JOHN SCOTT HORNER.
The prominent part which John Scott Horner played in shaping the his- tory of Wisconsin and the district once termed the northwest territory entitles him to more than passing mention in a record of Ripon, of which city he was long an honored resident. He was born in Warrenton, Fauquier county, Vir- ginia, December 5, 1802, and was the third son of Dr. Gustavus Brown Horner, assistant surgeon and nephew of Gustavus Brown, who was surgeon general of the Revolutionary army. His ancestors, Yorkshire people, resided near Ripon, England, and the family was founded in America by his paternal grandfather, who became a resident of Maryland during the pioneer epoch of its history and engaged in business there as a wholesale importing merchant. He was a near relative of Sir Francis Horner.
It was while inspecting the Maryland troops that Surgeon General Brown discovered his nephew, Gustavus Brown Horner, whom he took from the ranks, educated in his surgeon's tent and made an associate and assistant during the entire war. The young man later achieved success in the medical profession and in 1778 received from the Continental congress a commission as surgeon's mate. He was for a time stationed at Valley Forge and was at one time the
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medical attendant of the Marquis Lafayette. In 1783 he removed to Warrenton, Virginia, where he married Frances Harrison Scott, a daughter of Captain James Scott, a Revolutionary officer who had clothed and armed his company at his own expense and had gallantly served under the command of Colonel Thomas Marshall.
John Scott Horner, when ten years of age, was sent to a private boarding school near Middleburg, Loudoun county, Virginia, but his education was inter- rupted by the death of his father. In 1817, however, he entered Washington College of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated two years later. He en- gaged in the practice of law in his native state until September, 1835. On the 9th of that month President Andrew Jackson appointed him secretary and acting governor of the territory of Michigan, which then included Wisconsin and Iowa. He immediately started for Detroit to assume the duties of his office and the record he made therein has long been a matter of history. The follow- ing account appeared in the Wheeling (Virginia) Gazette, on February 27, 1836: "We were a little startled two or three weeks ago on observing in the Columbia Hemisphere, under the head of 'Renewal of Hostilities,' a letter from Toledo, giving an account of the perpetration of fresh disorders in the disputed territory, from which we apprehend a reacting of the exciting scenes of last summer. The account represented that the Michigan state authorities had at- tempted to collect taxes from the residents of the territory in question; that this had been resisted by the persons taxed, and that the Michigan authorities had thereupon seized the cattle and horses which they proceeded to sell at public auction; that in addition to this seizure a dwelling house had been broken open and a large amount of personal property taken and sold; that the Ohioans had in consequence collected in some force and seized the officer who, being set at large on bail, had sworn vengeance and was prepared to raise a mob to carry his threats into effect. Such was the substance of the account and the history of the last summer having proved the utterly lawless character of the people of the disputed territory, we daily expected to hear of these threats being carried into execution and were at a loss to know why they were not. The last Ohio papers, however, give the reason, and in so doing furnish high testimony to the gallant bearing of the pacificator. It seems that as soon as intelligence of the excitement reached Detroit, the governor, unaccompanied, so far as we are able to learn, by a single person, set off with all possible speed to the disputed terri- tory. Though politically obnoxious to the turbulent spirits he had to meet he threw himself among them at the hazard of his life and commanded them to dis- perse and abandon their design. The hearts of the sternest cowed under his rebuke and the agitators of war became the suppliants of his clemency. In a word, the men quietly returned to their home and perfect order was restored. No parleying, no delay was admitted; the whole was the work of the instant and the tumult was thus subdued by the heroic bearing of the executive, but for which the frontier might, and probably would, have been desolated, the militia been called upon to repair to the field of action at this inclement season of the year, and if blood were not shed an immense pecuniary loss would have at least been sustained. Though politically opposed to the appointment of the governor and though we wrote a paragraph or two at the time and aided in the circulation of others which reflected upon the sagacity of the president in mak- ing it, yet we have not been prejudiced observers of that gentleman's public career. We have watched him impartially and are compelled to admit that on all occasions Governor Horner has proved himself equal to every emergency. It will be recollected that he repaired to Michigan shortly after the mission of Messrs. Rush and Howard, in which those gentlemen, among the most talented and distinguished in our country, utterly failed to make any impression upon the semi-barbarians whom they went out to pacify and subdue, and immediately after another distinguished citizen, Judge Shaler, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, had declined a similar service. At this juncture Mr. Horner was appointed.
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