History of Buffalo and Pepin Counties Wisconsin (Volume 2), Part 26

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 885

USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo and Pepin Counties Wisconsin (Volume 2) > Part 26
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useful career, Mr. St. Martin is residing on his original forty-acre farm, enjoying the fruits of his many years of industry. During that period he has seen many wonderful changes and improvements take place in the county; has watched its increase in population and in the value of the land, the development of beautiful farms, with the introduction of improved farm machinery, the construction of good roads, the coming of the rail- roads, furnishing better methods of transportation than the pioneer set- tlers ever hoped to enjoy-to say nothing of the automobile-and the springing up of villages and cities. And in this work of civilization he has the satisfaction of knowing that he has himself borne a worthy part, having converted many an acre of wild land into cultivated soil producing bountiful crops. Although never prominent in local politics or governmental affairs, Mr. St. Martin in former days rendered useful service on the school board of his district (No. 4), serving as treasurer. His political principles are in general those of the Republican party, though he reserves the right to vote independently when occasion requires. In 1870 Mr. St. Martin was married to Agnes Brown, who was born in the state of Vermont, daughter of Joseph and Rosella Brown. Her parents having removed to New York State, the father died there, and Mrs. Brown, with her children, came in 1868 to Wisconsin, locating in Waterville township, Pepin county, where she subsequently died. The domestic life of Mr. and Mrs. St. Martin has been rounded out by the birth of nine children, whose record in brief is as follows: Willard, a farmer residing at Spooner, Wis .; Elfreda, wife of Jule Carrington of St. Paul; Warren, a farmer of Spooner, Wis .; Linda, wife of Orris Bashaw of St. Paul; Russell, now lieutenant in a company raised at Durand for service in the present war; Nora, wife of John Keller of St. Paul; Margaret, wife of Joseph Hutton of Waterville township; Josephine, wife of Frank Richardson, a farmer of Waterville township; and Martha, wife of August Lieffring, of Waubeek township.

Ezra N. Sabin, a well known and highly esteemed citizen of Durand, Pepin county, where he is now living retired after a life of useful activity, was born on a farm in Rock county, near Brodhead, Wis., April 27, 1848, son of Nelson and Abbie (Brewster) Sabin. Nelson Sabin was born in Wayne county, New York, April 25, 1822, and became a farmer. His wife Abbie was born near Wooster, Ohio. In 1844 they removed from Ohio to Wisconsin, settling near Brodhead on a tract of wild land which Mr. Sabin entered from the government. He and his family remained there until the spring of 1855, when they came to Bear Creek Valley, seven miles east of Durand, where Mr. Sabin bought land, he and his family taking up their residence in a log shanty. There he remained for some twelve or fourteen years, engaged in developing his farm. At the end of that time he went back to the vicinity of his old home at Brodhead, taking a farm in the neigh- borhood, on which he lived for a number of years until he retired. He then moved into Brodhead, where he died May 5, 1899. He had long survived his wife, who died in 1868. Nelson Sabin was a prominent man in the communities in which he resided and at various times held school and township offices. He and his wife had four children: Charles H., Ezra N., Phoebe E. and Jasper J. Ezra N. Sabin was the second born of his parents'

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children. He first attended school near Brodhead and later in Bear Creek Valley, Pepin county ; also the "Hanan" Academy, a private institution at Durand. In the fall of 1864 he enlisted in the 17th Wisconsin regiment as a private, and served until July, 1865. At the battle of Wilcox's Bridge, near Kingston, N. C., he was taken prisoner and was sent to Libby prison, where he was confined until he was parolled and sent to the parol camp at St. Louis. Later he was mustered out at Madison, Wis. He then came home and worked as a farm hand until November 21, 1868, when he was united in marriage with Martha Hardy, who was born near Sardinia, Erie county, New York, daughter of Perry E. and Lucina (Hewlett) Hardy. Her parents, both natives of New York State, came to Pepin county, Wis- consin, about 1856, locating on a farm six miles northeast of Durand. Later they sold that farm and moved to Durand, Mr. Hardy retiring from active work. He had proved his worth as a good citizen and held various township and school offices. He and his wife had a large family number- ing eleven children, the daughter Martha being one of the youngest. She was educated in the district school nearest to her parents' farm. At the time of his marriage Mr. Sabin engaged in farming for himself in Lima township, and was thus occupied until 1883. He then moved to Durand and engaged in the harness business for eight years, afterwards conduct- ing a grocery and restaurant for about four years. He then sold out and engaged in carpenter work, continuing in that business for a number of years until his retirement in 1907, except during the years 1900, 1902 and 1903, when he was serving in the office of sheriff. He was also supervisor of the Second ward of the city of Durand for twelve years, and was chief of the volunteer fire department for fifteen years. In politics he is a Re- publican. Mr. Sabin built his present residence in Durand in 1883. It is located at No. 604 Seventh avenue, there being three acres of land in con- nection with the house. Mr. Sabin is a member of the Odd Fellows' lodge at Durand, in which he has passed all the chairs. He is a man of influence in the community and is interested in everything that tends toward its moral or material advancement, being always ready to support a worthy cause.

Paul Lieffring, a well known farmer and stock raiser residing in sec- tion 9, Waubeek township, Pepin county, was born in Canton township, Buffalo county, Wis., June 28, 1874, son of Charles and Katherine (Jentgen) Lieffring. His parents were natives respectively of Belgium and Luxem- burg, both born in 1844. Coming to the United States when ten years old, the father, Charles Lieffring, for a while resided in New York State, and later, when grown to manhood, in Lake City, Wabasha county, Minnesota, where he married Katherine Jentgen, who had come to this country in 1863. In 1869 they moved to Canton township, Buffalo county, Wiscon- sin, where they made their home for twenty years, coming to Waubeek township, Pepin county, in 1889. Here they were actively engaged in farming until 1912, and in the spring of the following year retired and took up their residence in Eau Galle, Wis .; where Charles Lieffring died August 11, 1915. His wife is still residing there. Paul Lieffring attended school in Canton township, Buffalo county, and when young assisted his

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PAUL LIEFFRING AND FAMILY

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father on the home farm. At the age of 18 he began working out, at first on farms in the neighborhood. Later he went to Iowa, and from that state to the Dakotas, following farm work in both states. He then re- turned to Wisconsin and for the next ten years was engaged in carpenter work in the village of Eau Galle, Dunn county. In 1912 he came to Wau- beek township, Pepin county, and purchased his father's farm, on which he still resides, and which he is conducting on a profitable basis, doing mixed farming, including in particular raising of Durham cattle. Through in- dustry and intelligent management he has taken rank among the success- ful agriculturists and stockmen of this township. He has served as a member of the town board, but is independent in politics. He attends the Catholic church at Eau Galle, and is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge, and of the Beavers at Eau Galle, to which last mentioned order his wife also belongs. Mr. Lieffring was married, September 9, 1902, to Ida Baier, daughter of Joseph A. and Luitgarda (Keller) Baier, and he and his wife have three children, Raymond James, George and Gladys May. Joseph A. Baier, the father of Mrs. Lieffring, was born in Germany, April 15, 1824, and his wife in Baden, Germany, October 17, 1838. He came first to this country, about 1850, Mrs. Baier coming soon after. He was an employee for a time of the Carson & Rand Company at Eau Galle, Dunn county. He served in the Civil War as a member of Company E, 37th Wisconsin Vol- unteer Infantry.

Thomas McGuine, for half a century one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Durand township, but now passed away, was born in County Clare, Ireland, in 1833. When a lad of 17 years he left his native land and came to America, landing in Quebec in 1851. He worked in the pineries that winter and the following spring, and then removed to Ella Grange, Cattaraugus county, New York, where he worked during the summer of 1852. In the meanwhile his father and the other members of his family had crossed the Atlantic and come to that place to live. From there he and a brother came west and worked in a brick yard at Delaware, Ohio, for one season, thence going to Milwaukee, Wis., where he followed the same occupation. In the fall of 1854 he went to Dubuque, Iowa, and from there, in company with the late Loftus Fox, came up the Mississippi on a land-hunting tour. At Reed's landing they met the late Truman Cur- tiss, who told them to come with him and he would show them a beautiful country. They took a keel boat up the Chippewa to the mouth of Bear Creek, where Perry Curtiss, a brother of Curtiss, then lived. The next morning they started up Bear Creek Valley, traveling until they arrived at the farm now (1906) occupied by A. L. Fox, which Loftus said suited him and that he would buy it. Mr. McGuine went on a short distance until he came to the farm in what is now section 25, Durand township, which became his subsequent home, and saying "This is the farm for me," went no further. They at once started out for the land office at La Crosse, where each purchased the land they desired at $1.25 per acre, this being the first land entered for settlement in the now famous Bear Creek Valley. In the summer of 1855 Mr. McGuine moved his family to the new home, arriving on September 5th. There he resided for a little over 50 years,

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during which time he developed his land into an excellent farm, also build- ing on it the first brick house between La Crosse and Chippewa Falls. This latter work he did himself, being able to lay as well as to make brick. Mr. McGuine died April 20, 1906. He left no surviving children and no widow, his wife, whose maiden name was Jane Kerrin, and who, like him- self, was a native of County Clare, Ireland, having preceded him to the land beyond the tomb several years previously, June 10, 1903. He was mourned by his adopted son, John McGuine, of the town of Durand, and an adopted daughter, to both of whom he was a kind foster father, as well as by the entire community in which he had so long made his home. He and his wife had had two children of their own, both of whom, however, had died in infancy. In the Civil War Mr. McGuine had been attached to the army as a carpenter, but never served as a soldier. In addition to the adopted children above mentioned, two members of his father's family survived him-Mrs. Susan Glasspole, of West Salem, Wis., and Michael McGuine, of the town of Mondovi. The Pepin County Courier, issue of April 27, 1906, from which most of the facts recorded above have been taken, said further in regard to him : "Mr. McGuine possessed a warm heart and was of a kind and obliging disposition, and made friends wherever he went. For some years his health was not good, but no complaint on his part gave any token of the suffering he patiently endured. Feeling he could no longer manage his farm, a few months ago he sold it, with the machinery and stock, to his adopted son, John, and came to this city to reside; but the disease that had so long afflicted him bore heavily upon him and he, thinking he would have a chance for quicker recovery, about two weeks ago went to Eau Claire for treatment in the Sacred Heart Hos- pital, but it was of no avail. He soon succumbed and on the 20th inst. his spirit went home to God. He was an honest man and a consistent christian, being a member of the Roman Catholic church. His funeral was held at the Catholic church here, Rev. C. B. Werkman officiating, last Saturday afternoon, and the remains laid to rest in the family lot in the church cemetery. May he rest in peace."

John McGuine, proprietor of the old Thomas McGuine farm in section 25, Durand township, was born in the state of Kentucky, Feb. 24, 1880, son of Kenneth and Margaret Wood. When a child of three years he had the misfortune to lose his parents, who were killed in a railroad accident. Placed in an orphans' home in New York City, he remained there six months, and was later adopted by Thomas and Jane (Kerrin) McGuine, of Durand, whose memoir is elsewhere given. In his boyhood he attended school at Woods Corners, Durand township, and resided with his foster father until his marriage, in December, 1903, when he moved to Red Cedar, entering the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. A year later he purchased the farm on which he had been brought up and has since resided here. The homestead contains 80 acres of valuable land, and in addition to this Mr. McGuine is operating other adjoining land to the total extent of 200 acres, carrying on general farming and dairying with profitable results. Mr. McGuine was married, Dec. 24, 1903, to Nora Hubbard, who was born in Dunn county, Wisconsin, Oct. 30, 1880,

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R. A. PARKHURST AND FAMILY

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daughter of Newton and Emma (Fleischauer) Hubbard. She was the first born in a family of five children, and was educated in Dunn county, attending district school. Mr. and Mrs. McGuine are the parents of one child, Kenneth Clair, who was born June 26, 1907. Mrs. McGuine is a member of the Red Cross Association and both she and her husband belong to the order of Beavers. They are prominent people in Durand township and have a host of friends.

Reuben A. Parkhurst, proprietor of a productive farm of 40 acres in section 27, Durand township, Pepin county, was born in Beloit, Wis., Dec. 5, 1863, son of James Monroe and Lydia (Belden) Parkhurst. The father, who was a native of the little village of Pomfret, in Windsor county, Ver- mont, came west, and located in Beloit, Wis., where he learned the mable- cutter's trade. From there he came to this locality in 1867, locating in Bear Creek Valley, Buffalo county, where he engaged in farming. Later he went to Barron county, resided there a few years and then settled in Dunn county. His wife Lydia, who was born in Plattsburg, N. Y., in 1821, died in Colfax township, Dunn county, in 1892, after which James M. Parkhurst made his home for some time with his son, Reuben. He died

in Durand, where he was then living retired, on April 14, 1904. Reuben A. Parkhurst, who was the ninth born in a family of eleven children, at- tended district school in Buffalo and Barron counties, Wisconsin. He resided with his parents until two years before his marriage, working out at times in Durand township, and then engaged in farming at his present location. Though his farm is small compared with some, the soil is ex- cellent, the buildings modern, and Mr. Parkhurst realized good returns. In politics he is a Republican but has taken no active part in public affairs. He was united in marriage, July 13, 1905, to Agnes Stewart, who was born . in Durand village, daughter of Charles and Mary (Sleeper) Stewart, and they have one child, Dorothy May, who has graduated from the common school in Durand township. Mr. Parkhurst belongs to the Odd Fellows' lodge at Durand, in which he has passed through the chairs, and is also a member of the Beavers fraternal society, while Mrs. Parkhurst has passed through the chairs in the Rebeckah lodge, affiliated with the Odd Fellows, and is an ex-secretary of the ladies' branch of the G. A. R. Charles Stewart, father of Mrs. Parkhurst, is thought to have been a native of Massachusetts, and his wife a native of Bristol, N. H. They came from Massachusetts to Durand, Wis., in 1850. Mr. Stewart had been a mason and plasterer by trade, but on coming here engaged in farming, though for a few years subsequently he occasionally worked at his trade. He died about 1892, his wife surviving him about two years. They were the parents of eight children. The name of Charles Stewart is a famous one in history, having been borne by two sovereigns of England. A few words in regard to the family, of which Mrs. Parkhurst's father was a descendant, may be of interest. "Every man or woman who bears the name of Stewart must look back to Walter Fitz Alan, as the progenitor of this most illus- trious family of Scotland. Walter Fitz Alan was the second son of Alan, son of Flad, who died in the twelfth century. Alan is said to have been a Norman, who came to England with William the Conqueror, and from

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him received a grant of land with the title of Lord. Alan's eldest son, William Fitz Alan, remained in England and was the progenitor of the Earls of Arundel. The second son, Walter Fitz Alan, went to Scotland, where he became the Lord High Steward of the country under King David. It was Walter Fitz Alan's grandson who changed the name from Fitz Alan to Stewart. From him have sprung the illustrious family of Stewart in Scotland, England and Ireland; from him were descended the Stewart kings of England-James I, Charles I, Charles II and James II-and the colonist who brought the name to America. The spelling 'Stewart' is the one usually insisted on by families in this country and Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots was the first to employ the French spelling of the name, 'Stuart,' when she married the king of France. There are at least ten distinct families in America who can trace their establishment back to colonial days. One of the most prominent of these families was estab- lished by Robert Stewart, a covenanter from Scotland, who came to Boston in 1718 in search of religious freedom. He settled in Londonderry, N. H. Another New England Stewart progenitor was Duncan Stewart, who set- tled in Rowley, Mass. The Baltimore family of Stewart was founded by David Stewart, who was born in Ireland in 1745. The New Jersey family was established by Charles Stewart, who was born in County Donegal, Ireland, and came to this country in the middle of the eighteenth century. A description of the arms of the Stewart family may be found in any book of heraldry, but as such description, couched in heraldic terms, would be unintelligible to the great majority of readers, it is here omitted."

William Arthur Bilderback, agriculturist and proprietor of 120 acres of land in Albany township, Pepin county, his residence being in section 22, was born in the town of Maxville, Buffalo county, Wisconsin, Jan. 24, 1894, son of William Thomas and Margaret (Stewart) Bilderback. The father was born in Illinois in 1859, and in 1865 was brought to Wisconsin, his family settling on a farm in the town of Maxville, Buffalo county. Later they settled in Albany township, Pepin county, where they now reside, being engaged in agricultural work. Mrs. Margaret Bilderback was born in the town of Maxville, Buffalo county, Wisconsin. William Arthur Bilder- back attended school in Gilmanton township, Buffalo county, and the high school at Mondovi in the same county. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits and in 1914 became proprietor of the 120 acre farm on which he now resides, carrying on general farming. In the spring he also operates a small sawmill. His cattle are of the Jersey breed and he keeps other good stock, raises crops for which he finds a profitable market, and is enjoying a comfortable degree of prospertiy , with excellent prospects for the future. In politics he is independent and he attends the Methodist church, while his fraternal society affiliations are with the Beaver lodge at Mondovi. On Dec. 1, 1915, Mr. Bilderback married Vinnie Mae Perkins, daughter of James F. and Elizabeth (Brougham) Perkins. Her father was born in the town of Lima, Pepin county, and her mother in Pennsylvania. They set- tled on a farm in Albany township, Pepin county, Wisconsin, 35 years ago, or about 1882, and are still living. Mr. Perkins has had a long and active career, and is a prominent citizen of the township, having served on the

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F. A. STEWART AND FAMILY

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town board and the school board of his district. Mr. and Mrs. Bilderback are the parents of two children: Ralph Hilton and Rodney Wendal.

Freeman Mikesell, a well known farmer of Albany township, Pepin county, residing in section 15, was born in Indiana, May 6, 1888, son of John and Mary (Cripe) Mikesell. The parents were both natives of In- diana, the father born Sept. 9, 1858, the mother May 15, 1866. Coming to Wisconsin in 1907, they settled in Buffalo county, where John Mikesell is still actively engaged in farming. Freeman Mikesell was educated in his native state of Indiana, attending rural school. He was given a good agricultural training and until reaching the age of 21 years worked for neighboring farmers in Buffalo and Pepin counties. Since 1913 he has been farming on his own account, owning 80 acres of land, but having the man- agement of 240 acres, which he operates for Henry Murman, Minneapolis, Minn. His cattle are of the Jersey and Guernsey breeds, and he keeps other good stock, besides raising the usual crops. He is doing a successful business and is numbered among the progressive and successful men of his township. He is independent in politics and is a member of the Breth- ren church. Mr. Mikesell married Cennie Bilderback, who was born in the town of Maxville, Buffalo county, May 3, 1886, daughter of William and Margaret Bilderback, her parents, who are farming people, being resi- dents of Buffalo county, where Mrs. Mikesell, in girlhood, attended school. Mr. and Mrs. Mikesell are the parents of three children, Lawrence and Velma, aged respectively eight and five years, and Marvin Allen, born Oct. 8, 1918.

Frederick A. Stewart, who is engaged in operating a good farm of 158 acres in section 26, Durand township, Pepin county, was born in this town- ship, May 22, 1858, son of Charles and Marian (Sleeper) Stewart. The father, supposed to have been a native of Massachusetts, and his wife of Bristol, N. H., came from Massachusetts to Wisconsin, being one of the earliest settlers in Durand, as he located here in 1850. He was a plasterer and bricklayer by trade, but here became a land owner and farmer, though he worked at his trade at intervals for a few years. He died about 1892, his wife passing away two years later. They were the parents of eight children: J. Parker, Ida, Charles, Fred A., Frank Edwin, Albert and Agnes. Frederick A. Stewart, in his boyhood, attended the school at Woods Corner, Durand township. When 17 years of age he en- tered the employ of V. W. Dorwin, with whom he remained four years. For the next seven years he was engaged in farm work during the sum- mers, working in the woods in winter. Marrying in his twenty-eighth year, he then bought land near his present location, took up his residence in a log house and began farming for himself. There he remained until he had accumulated 200 acres of land, the greater part of it lying in Buf- falo county. About the year 1900 he sold that property and came to his present farm of 158 acres, where he carries on general farming with profitable results. He has made many improvements on the place, which is now in excellent condition. He has been a director on the school board for a number of years and is a member of the Congregational church. In politics he is independent. Mr. Stewart was married April 12, 1888, to

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Jane Elizabeth Fox, who was born near Mondovi, Buffalo county, Wiscon- sin, daughter of John L. and Elizabeth (Stringer) Fox. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother English, the former coming with his parents to Buffalo county at an early date. He grew up in this vicinity, attending school both in Buffalo and Pepin counties, and later took up the occupation of farming. He finally moved to Eau Claire, where his death took place in the fall of 1913. His wife now resides in Eau Claire, Wis. Mrs. Stewart was the second born of their three children. She attended school in Durand and also rural school in Pepin county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are as follows: Sarah E., wife of Clem Catt, a farmer of Dunn county ; Frederick John, who is single, and is in the United States service; Eula May, wife of Marshall De Marce, residing near Arkansaw, Pepin county ; Esther Fern, Margaret and Jeanette, living with their par- ents, and Erwin Charles, who is now deceased. The children of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Fox were: John, now living in Minnesota; Ellen, now Mrs. Marcellus Dorwin, of Durand township, and Jane Elizabeth, now Mrs. F. A. Stewart, of Durand township.

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History of Buffalo and Pepin Counties Wisconsin (Volume 2), Part 26

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Number of Pages: 885

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 885