USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 11
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maiden name of the latter being Mary Noyse Ilsley. The father was the son of David Brigham, before mentioned, and was born at Fitchburg, Mass., July 21, 1825, and the mother was born at East- port, Maine, June 8, 1838. The father came to Wisconsin with his parents but soon thereafter returned to New England and entered Amherst college, from which he was graduated in 1845. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi (Greek letter) fraternity. After his graduation he returned to Wisconsin and read law in Madison, being admitted to the bar soon thereafter, and was appointed the first clerk of the supreme court. In 1851, he removed to Milwau- kee and became a member of the firm of Wells & Brigham, the firm name afterwards being changed to Wells, Brigham & Upham. Mr. Brigham became prominent in his profession and also in pub- lic affairs of a political nature. He served as city attorney of Mil- waukee, regent of the University of Wisconsin, and was a member of the legislature when the present charter of the city of Milwaukee was granted, being chairman of the committee that framed the same. He was also a member of the board of fire and police com- missioners when the civil service system was inaugurated in Mil- waukee, and he filled other positions of trust. He gave an un- swerving allegiance to the principles of the Republican party and contributed in all honorable ways to the furtherance of the inter- ests of that political organization. Mr. Brigham died in Milwau- kee in 1897. His son, Charles Ilsley Brigham, whose name intro- duces this memoir, was born in the city of Milwaukee in February, 1862, and is one of four children now living that were born to J. Ripley Brigham and wife-the latter died on August 13, 1894. Of these children Bessie married Charles W. Badgley and resides in Denver: the next in order of birth is our subject; Mary Ripley re- resides with Charles I., who is her only brother, and Katherine mar- ried Dr. Philip R. Fox, a more extended mention of whom is given on another page of this volume. Charles I. Brigham was reared in Milwaukee and there received his preliminary education in the public schools and at private institutions. He was graduated from the Milwaukee high school in 1881. and in the autumn of the same year entered the University of Wisconsin, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1885. He then taught school for a time, after which he spent one winter on a ranch in Colorado. In 1888 he took charge of the farm where he now resides, one mile east of Blue Mounds and four miles west of Mt. Horeb, the place comprising about eight hundred acres of fine land, and there he carries on an extensive dairy business, which is his principal occu- 8-iii
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pation. His farm is the largest division of land in the town of Blue Mounds. Although a Republican in his party affiliations, he is inclined to be independent in his views, and his worth as a citi- zen has been recognized by election to the position of chairman of the town board.
John Q. Brigham, of Madison. comes of English stock who set- tled in America before the Revolution, and his grandfather took part in that memorable struggle. His name was Stephen Brigham, and that of his wife Sarah Harrington, both natives of Massachu- setts. He d'ed in Oneida county, N. Y., in 1848, aged ninety-six years, his wife having passed away some years before. His par- ents were Stephen Brigham, Sr., born in Massachusetts, in 1783 and Elizabeth (Stevens) Brigham, born in Oneida county, N. Y., in 1803. Stephen Brigham, Jr., went to Oneida county with his parents when a child, and lived there until his death in 1850. His wife died in 1870; they had seven children, Eleanor ; Richard H. L .; George W .: Marian C .: Sarah M .; Emma O .; John Q .; the sub- ject of this sketch. Mr. Brigham was a farmer and surveyor. a Whig, and the family was connected with the Presbyterian church. He took part in the war of 1812. The maternal grandparents were of English birth, and settled in Oneida county, N. Y., where both died. John Q. Brigham received his education in Oneida county, first in the common schools, afterward in Aurora and Vernon Academies. He began life as a farmer of Oneida county, and at the age of twenty-six,-he was born March 7, 1848 .- came to Burk, and located on one hundred and sixteen acres of land, from which he afterward sold a small tract of ten acres. He is a breeder of Holstein cattle and raises tobacco and sugar beets. Mr. Brigham is a Republican and has held a number of elective offices; he was county treasurer for four years, chairman of Burk for two years and clerk of the town for two years. He is an attendant of the Baptist church of the city of Madison. He was married, January 15, 1876, to Miss Mary T. Carpenter, a native of Vernon township, One da county, N. Y .. daughter of Orson and Harriet (Tilden) Carpenter. both natives of New York, and who died in Oneida county of that state ; Mrs. Brigham was one of a family of three sons and two daughters, of whom one son and both daughters are living. To Mr. John Q. Brigham and his wife have been born five children, Zayda B .: John C., who died in infancy; Electa S .; Stephen O .; Horatio M.
Frederick W. Brinkhoff is one of those worthy citizens of Ger- man birth who have contributed so materially to the development
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and stable prosperity of Dane county, and he is now numbered among the representative farmers of Cottage Grove township, where he owns a fine landed estate of two hundred acres, in sec- tion 21. Mr. Brinkhoff was born in Germany, March 14, 1845, and is a son of Henry H. and Anna Catherine (Bode) Brinkhoff, both of whom were born and reared in Germany. The father was born in 1804 and died in 1887; the mother was born in 1805, and died in 1880. They came to America in 1865, and passed the closing years of their lives in Dane county, honored by all who knew them. Fredrick W. Brinkhoff was reared and educated in his native land, whence he accompanied his parents to America, arriving in New York city, September 24, 1865, and being twenty years of age at the time. The family remained in New York city one year and then came to Wisconsin and located in Sun Prairie township, Dane county. Here the subject of this sketch was employed in various labors for two years, after which he purchased a team and began working land on shares, thus continuing for one year. He then received nine hundred dollars from his parents and applied this sum to the purchase of his present fine farm, where he has ever since maintained his home, developing the place into one of the best farm properties of this part of the county. When he secured the land only a small portion of the same was cleared, while the improvements were of a very insignificant order. Years of earnest toil and endeavor have brought their due reward, and in surveying his attractive and productive estate today Mr. Brinkhoff may well feel that the deprivations and vicissitudes of the early days were not endured in vain. Mr. Brinkhoff has purchased lots in the at- tractive village of Cottage Grove, and he looks forward to taking up his residence there when he finally retires from active service, which time is in the remote future, for he retains his energies and ambition unimpaired and is best satisfied when on active duty in connection with the supervision of his farm. He is a stanch ad- vocate of the principles of the Prohibition party and both he and his wife are members of the Evangelical church. He was for two years a member of the township board of supervisors, and was for a number of years a member of the school board. In April, 1864, Mr. Brinkhoff was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Wessellner. who was born May 9, 1843, being a daughter of Frederick and Margaret (Aspelmeier) Wessellner, both natives of Germany. In conclusion is entered a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Brinkhoff: Henry John, born July 21, 1865, is now a member of the firm of Wiedenbeck, Dobelin & Company, black-
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smith and wagon supplies, Madison; Louisa May, born January 3, 1866, became the wife of August Steffen, and her death occurred January 3, 1895; Carrie Wilhelmina, born October 3, 1868, is mar- ried and resides in Madison ; Frederick William, born December 18, 1871, died July 21, 1898; William Herman, born February 3, 1874, resides in the city of Madison; Emma Augusta was born June 17, 1876, and died July 5, 1896 ; Samuel Herbert was born July 26, 1878, and died June 3, 1897; Ella Amanda, born September 5, 1880, died January 3, 1886 ; Clara Gertrude was born March 31, 1884, and Mil- ton Ellsworth, June 28, 1886.
Thomas Evans Brittingham, of Madison, was born in Hannibal, Mo., May 18, 1860, and is the son of Dr. Irvin Baird and Mary J. (League) Brittingham, the latter of whom is deceased. Thomas E. attended Hannibal college. In 1880 he moved to Clear Creek Gulch, Chaffee county, Col., and afterward to Lake county, Cal., in both of which states he followed the mercantile business. He located in Merrill, Wis., in 1885, and came to Madison in Decem- ber, 1888, having been engaged in the lumber trade since coming to this state. At Portland, Jefferson county, Wis., on December 5, 1889, he was married to Miss Mary Lucy Clark, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, born December 5, 1868, a daughter of James Adams and Mary (Hughes) Clark. Mr. and Mrs. Britting- ham are the parents of three children: Margaret, born May 19, 1892 ; Harold Hixon, born March 21, 1894; and Thomas Evans, Jr., born March 2, 1899.
Andrew S. Brown, senior member of the firm of Brown Bros., livery, is a native of Dane county. He was born in the town of Verona, April 3, 1855, of good Scotch stock. His father was Alex- ander Brown, born in Fifeshire, Scotland, who learned the trade of ropemaker in the land of his nativity. In 1843 he sailed for the United States and after a stormy passage of eleven weeks lie landed in New York. His relatives learned of the storm which had overtaken the vessel and had given up all hope of ever hearing of him again. His arrival was late in the evening and his worldly possessions consisted of a ten cent piece and the clothes on his back. He made the acquaintance of another Scotchman, William Brown, who secured him a position in a rope factory, and at seven the morning after his arrival he reported for work. This factory furnished him employment for seven years, six years of which he was its foreman. By the end of the first year he had saved enough money to have his wife and two children come over, the passage taking seven weeks. In 1850, a number of Scotch families in the
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east banded together and came west, forming a colony which set- tled in Verona, and Alexander Brown and his family came with them. Several hundred acres of land were entered by Mr. Brown and deeded by him to the colonists. For the first time in his life he undertook farming, but with characteristic energy he took hold and made a success of it, living and managing one hundred and eighty-seven acres until his death, a result of appendicitis, on De- cember 14, 1882. In the early days the only market for his wheat was in Milwaukee, and he would make yearly trips with it. It is related of him that he would often walk three miles to the woods, cut one hundred fence rails, and return in the evening apparently unfatigued. He was a devout Presbyterian and a great Bible stu- dent, and was exceedingly well read and always spent his evenings in study, mathematics being his favorite diversion. His wife Mar- garet (Smith) Brown, was a native of the same shire in Scotland Although nearly eighty-eight years of age she is wonderfully well preserved in mind and body. She makes her home with her young- est daughter in the town of Fitchburg. Andrew S. Brown is one of eleven children, two of whom, twins, died in infancy. The other children were Jeanette, died soon after the family's arrival in this country ; William, farming 1,200 acres in Mower county, Minn .; Anna, wife of James Leslie, a Brownsdale, Minn., farmer; Ellen, wife of James Henderson, a retired farmer of Verona; Agnes, wife of James Eddy, a retired farmer of Verona; Elizabeth, wife of John Lemont, a coal operator in the British possessions near Wash- ington; Myron, in business with his brother, married Sarah Donkle, by whom he has four children,-Leslie, Mabel, Jennie, and Alexander ; and Emma, Mrs. Floyd Mutchler in the town of Fitch- burg. Andrew S. Brown received his education in the schools of Verona, and then worked on his father's farm until he was eighteen years of age. For seven years he was a salesman for Lamont & Roach in the hardware and machinery business; four years were spent with the Fuller & Johnson Company and eleven years with S. L. Sheldon in the farm implement business. In the fall of 1892 he was elected sheriff of Dane county on the Democratic ticket, and no Democrat since that time has filed the office. During his term of office he took forty-five men and one woman to the state peniten- tiary. The two years following the incumbency of the sheriff's of- fice were spent on the road for the Fuller & Johnson Company. In January, 1897, Mr. Brown started his present business and has carried it on with great success. His stock is valued at $10,000.
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On November 13, 1877, he married Katherine M., daughter of John and Agnes Mausbach, natives of Germany, and by this union has three children,-Iva, married June 7, 1905, to Albert C. Wolfe, a La Crosse attorney ; Edna Agnes, born Dec. 27, 1884, died Novem- ber 3, 1893; and Margaret Alexander, in her second year in the high school. Mr. Brown is a member of the Presbyterian church. a Knight Templar Mason, a member of Monona Lodge, No. 12, Knights of Pythias, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Banyan Camp, No. 365, Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica.
Charles William Brown, deceased, was long and actively identi- fied with the agricultural interests of the town of Fitchburg, and deserves recognition among his confreres of that noble occupation. He was born in Wheeling. W. Va., August 5, 1854, and was the only son born to William Brown and his wife Elizabeth, who came to Wisconsin and located in Dane county when the subject of this review was a mere boy. A daughter, Mary Elizabeth, is the wife of Thomas Seals and resides at Bridgeport, Ohio. The parents established their home in the town of Fitchburg, and there Charles W. Brown received his education in the district schools, attending a few terms also in Rutland. When he had reached the required age he began his independent career and worked as a farm hand until after his marriage in 1876, and then removed to Minnesota, where he farmed for two years. In 1878 he returned to Fitchburg, and after renting a place for about two years moved to the old parental homestead and resided there twelve years. He then removed to the Kiser place in the same township, and after remain- ing there two years moved to another farm, and a year later to an- other in the same township, where he resided until his death, Novem- ber 8, 1898. Mr. Brown was a Democrat in his political affiliations and his religious faith was expressed by membership in the Cath- olic church. He was married November 28, 1876, to Miss Mar- garet Ann Connor, who is a native of Connecticut, born August 30, 1854, and the daughter of Patrick and Ann (Colager) Conner, both of whom were also natives of the Nutmeg state. These parents came to Wisconsin in 1855 and first located in the town of Rutland, where they bought a farm and resided about fifteen years, after which they moved to Oregon, where the father died in January, 1881, and the mother still resides. In the Connor family there were seven children, of whom the wife of the subject of this re- view is the eldest. The others are: Bridget, who married James Brazee and resides in the town of Fitchburg; Thomas Peter, who
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resides in Oregon ; Mary Jane, who is the widow of William Emer- son and resides in Madison ; Catherine, who is unmarried and lives with her mother in Oregon; John, who married Dorothy Hamm and resides in Stoughton ; and Barney, who is deceased. After the death of Mr. Brown his widow purchased a farm of eighty acres in the town of Dunn, where she now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were the parents of ten children: James Riley married Catherine Handle and resides in Madison; William Patrick married Anna Foster and resides with his mother; Mary Elva married Arthur J. Grady and resides in Fitchburg; Anna Elizabeth is deceased; and Charles Ambrose, John Danford, Catherine Arstina, Archie Paul, Margaret Helen, and Joseph Lyle, reside at home.
John Brown, a farmer of the town of Dunn, was born in New York city, June 21, 1840. He and a sister. Mary, deceased, were the only children of Morris and Johannah (Berry) Brown, natives of Ireland. John Brown came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1855 and located in the town of Dunn, where the father had pur- chased forty acres. The farm was enlarged by the addition of forty acres within a few years. then of thirty acres more of an adjoining farm, and in a few years by the purchase of the remainder of the adjoining farm, making in all a place of two hundred and thirty-five acres, part of which is on Lake Waubesa. By platting and selling a part of his lake-shore lots, Mr. Brown has realized qu'te a neat profit. John Brown always lived with his parents. He had the management of the farm for some years before his father's death, September 23, 1900, in his ninety-ninth year. His mother died in 1878. In politics Mr. Brown is independent ; in reli- gious matters he is affiliated with the Catholic church. November 20, 1877, he maried Lucy, daughter of Patrick and Bridget (Geary) Crane, residents of the town of Fitchburg. She was one of seven children, six of whom are living,-Patrick, a real estate dealer of Beloit; Lucy, wife of John Brown; William, dealer in coal and wood in Madison ; Joseph, in the Klondike when last heard from ; Andrew, traveling salesman for the Ohio Steel Range Company, who makes his home in Beloit; and Nora. wife of H. E. Hanan of Oregon. The marriage of John and Lucy Brown has been blessed with eight children,-Morris Patrick, born November 17, 1878; Joseph Henry, born June 12. 1881; Nora Jane, born April 2, 1883; John James, born February 22, 1885 ; David George, April 14, 1887; Mary Lucy, October 18, 1891 ; Josephine Bridget. January 2, 1894; and one child who died in infancy. Mr. Brown is a man much re- spected by his neighbors.
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John Brown, general merchant and postmaster at Riley, Dane county, was born on section 11, town of Springdale, and is a son of Michael and Margaret (Lynch) Brown, the father being a native of Kings County, Ireland, and the mother of near St. Lawrence, N. Y. Michael Brown was born in 1823, and was a son of John and Mary (Martin) Brown. He came to America in 1844, and lo- cated in Westchester county, N. Y., where he remained one year and then removed to Ohio. Later he returned to New York, and then moved to Wisconsin in 1849, locating first at Fitchburg, in Dane county. He afterward sold his place there and purchased the farm where his son now resides in the town of Springdale, and there followed farming the remainder of his active life, in later years taking up his residence in the village of Mt. Horeb, where he died. January 9, 1899, at the age of seventy-six years. His re- lig ous faith was manifested by a strong adherence to the Roman Catholic church, and in politics he was conservative, voting for those he considered the best men. For a number of years he was treasurer of his school district, and he always took a deep interest in public affairs, especially those of a local nature, but he never sought office. He was a first-class farmer, an upright man in every sense of the word, and one that could always be depended upon. He was married to Miss Margaret Lynch in 1851, and she still resides at the family home in the village of Mt. Horeb. They were the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom are living: Peter resides at Acme, Iowa; John is tbe subject of this review; Patrick lives in Minnesota; Joseph resides in Springdale; Mary married Samuel Farrell and resides in Cross Plains; Ella married Michael Hobbs and resides in the town of Oregon ; Margaret mar- ried William Ryan and resides in Minnesota ; Thomas is a photog- rapher in Mt. Horeb ; James is a real estate dealer and resides in Mt. Horeb ; and Theresa and Anna remain at home with their mother. John Brown, whose name introduces this review, was reared on the farm where he now resides and received his education in the pub- lic schools. He commenced life as a farm boy, but changed his occupation in 1882 and engaged in the business of buying and ship- ping stock. One year later he engaged in the general mercantile business at Riley and has conducted an up-to-date establishment ever since, adding to his duties, for about eighteen years, the busi- ness of buying grain. He was one of the promoters and is now president of the Pine Bluff Telephone Company, which purchased the Pine Bluff Central and was incorporated, September 27, 1904, with a capital stock of $10.000. The company covers the territory
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from Riley to Mt. Horeb, Cross Plains, Middleton, Klevenville, and serves farmers along the line. Mr. Brown is also the proprietor of the Riley Creamery, and he is interested in real estate in the northern part of Wisconsin. He was married on May 26, 1890, to Ella M. Farrell, daughter of Richard Farrell, who was one of the early settlers of Cross Plains, and he now resides with his danghter, Mrs. Brown. Our subject and wife have one son, James. Mr. Brown has served as postmaster at Riley for the past seventeen years, and prior to his appointment as such was assistant postmas- ter with full control of the office for a period of five years. One rural mail route leaves the office at Riley and makes daily trips. Our subject is a Republican in politics, and aside from the office mentioned he has filled the position of justice of the peace and town clerk. Fraternally he has membership in the Modern Woodmen of America.
Herbert L. Brown, of Cottage Grove, is well known as a success- ful stock dealer, and is a representative of one of the old and hon- ored families of Dane county. His father, Orvin Brown, was born in Monroe, Ashtabula county, Ohio, July 18, 1820, being a son of Roswell Brown, who became a pioneer of Wisconsin. Roswell Brown was born in Hillsdale, Columbia county, New York, Feb- ruary 4, 1796, having been a son of Luther and Mary (Greene) Brown, the former of whom was born in Scoharie county, New York, and the latter near Newport, Rhode Island ; she was a daugh- ter of Christopher Greene, who was a brother of the distinguished General Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame. Christopher Greene was twice married, both of his wives having been daughters of Governor Ward, one of the colonial governors of Rhode Island. Christopher Green's father was a preacher of the society of Friends. Roswell Brown, grandfather of the subject of this review, married Lucretia Raymond, who was born in Hillsdale, Columbia county, New York, November 17, 1799, being a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Webster) Raymond, the latter of whom was a relative of Noah. Webster and Daniel Webster. Roswell Brown was a cabinet maker by trade, and he followed work along this line for many years,-in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. From Eagle- ville, Ashtabula county, Ohio, he started with his family for Wis- consin in 1841, making the trip overland with wagon and ox-team. He related how much difficulty he encountered while passing through what is now the city of Chicago, his wagon having stuck in the mud of one of the principal streets of the town, and that so deeply that he was compelled to secure aid in prying out the ve-
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h'cle. He made his way to his destination, in Dane county. Here he secured one hundred and twenty acres of government land, the tract being heavily timbered. He thus gained place among the pioneer settlers of the county, his farm being located in Cottage Grove township. He manufactured the first cheese ever made in the county, pressing the same in its mold by placing it beneath the weight of a corner of rail fence. He also manufactured butter- . workers, the same being practically the models of the present-day butter workers known under the patents of Cornish, Curtis & Green. He made no attempt to patent his device, and years later the firm above mentioned took up practically the same idea, patented the device and placed it on the market, where it has had a large sale. Roswell Brown later secured more government land, eventually becoming one of the extensive landholders of the county. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, having served in New York city. His life was one of signal usefulness and honor. He attained to the age of eighty years, his death occurring August 29, 1866, in Cot- tage Grove township. He was prominent and influential in local affairs of a public nature in the pioneer days and was one of the founders and builders of Dane county. A' fine oil portrait of this stanch pioneer is placed in the fine library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, in the city of Madison. His wife died, at Springfield, Erie county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1832. Following is a brief record concerning the children of Roswell Brown. Orvin was the father of the subject of this sketch ; Caroline, who became the wife of Alexander Hammond, died in Cottage Grove township; Isaac died before the removal of the family to Wisconsin; Mary married Allen Harr's, of Cottage Grove township, and she now re- sides in the Black Hills district of South Dakota; Margaret died prior to the removal of the family to Wisconsin. Orvin Brown was twenty-one years of age at the time when he came to Dane ·county, and here he remained at the paternal home until his mar- riage, which occurred April 21. 1847, at Sun Prairie, this county, where he wedded Miss Clarinda A. Bailey. The marriage cere- mony was performed by Rev. J. G. Kanouse, the pioneer Presby- terian minister of the county and grandfather of Walter S. Ka- nounse, the well known merchant of the village of Cottage Grove. Mrs. Brown was born in Ticonderoga, Essex county, New York, May 4, 1826. being a daughter of Samuel and Almira (Bisby) Bailey, the former of whom was born in Connecticut and the latter in New Brunswick, Canada. The family located in Dane county, Wisconsin, in 1846. Samuel Bailey was a son of John and Asenath
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