USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 22
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Bjorn T. Daley has been a prominent and successful farmer of the town of Perry for many years and is the son of a pioneer of Dane county. He was born in Nessedal, Norway, August 14, 1848, son of Torge and Anna (Johnson) Daley, both natives of Norway.
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"The family embarked for America in 1852, when Bjorn was a child four years old, and came to Dane county immediately upon their arrival in the United States. Koshkonong was their first home but after one year Mr. Daley purchased a farm in the town of Perry which was his home until his death in 1861. His widow con- tinued to reside upon the farm with her children and died there in 1890. There were four children in the family: Bjorn, John, who now lives in North Dakota; Anna, Mrs. Hans Severson of Pierre, South Dakota'; Carrie, Mrs. Martin Kittleson of North Dakota. Bjorn attended school in Perry and after his father's death assisted his mother and brothers in the work of the farm, gradually assum- ing the entire control. He resided upon the old homestead of two hundred acres until 1906, when he left it to the care of his son and purchased a small home of sixty-five acres near Dahle- ville, which is his present home. Mr. Daley has seen the growth of the country from a wild, sparsely settled district to a fertile and productive land and has always stood ready to do his part in any work for the advancement of the community. He has served as treasurer of the school board for twenty-five years, took the United States census in that neighborhood in 1900 and has served several terms as supervisor, and is secretary and treasurer of the Perry Fire Insurance company, serving his second year. He is a member of the Republican party. In 1871, Mr. Daley married Miss Mary Iverson, a native of Norway, who died in 1880. Six ·children were born to the marriage: Isaac married Alma Boden and lives in Perry; Anna is Mrs. Oscar Olson of Minnesota ; Theodore resides with his parents; Amanda married Carl Hoiby of New Glarus; two children died in infancy. The second wife of Mr. Daley was Miss Hannah Peterson, also a native of Norway, daughter of Edward and Maren Peterson. Seven children blessed the marriage; Oscar, who married Miss Emma Peterson and lives in Iowa county ; Clara, Albert. Thea, Alvin and Ruth, who reside with their parents.
James O. Davidson. Into the career of the present governor of the great state of Wisconsin have entered no elements of special dramatic intensity, no startling episodes. He has risen to success and distinction by normal means and through worthy effort. In reviewing his life it is found that interpretation follows fact in a direct line of derivation, and that each step has in a measure presaged what the next would compass with all of surety and de- termination. Governor Davidson has risen to the position of ex- ecutive head of one of the great commnwealths of the union, a
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state of cosmopolitan social fabric, and he has made a definite im- press upon his times as a loyal and public spirited citizen, holding inviolable the interests of the people and showing that sturdy manhood from whose well-springs come all that is best and most permanent in life. He is the first of Scandinavian birth or lineage to be elevated to the gubernatorial chair of Wisconsin, and the honor is one well merited. His past services having clearly in- dicated the solidity and unassuming integrity of this sturdy son of the fair Norseland. James O. Davidson was born in Sogn, Nor- way, February 10, 1854, coming of a sterling lineage but of a family whose lives but exemplified the "short and simple annals of the poor." His parents are deceased but he has two sisters living. His early training was such as to beget in him a deep appreciation of the dignity of honest toil and endeavor, and principles of honesty and industry were inculcated in his mind, to dominate and direct a life of great usefulness in broader fields than the lad himself could possibly apprehend or realize. His early educational ad- vantages were exceedingly limited in scope, "the only schooling he received being from itinerant religious instructors who traveled from farm to farm, imparting instruction to the children of one family and then passing on to the next farm, returning again at in- frequent intervals." The résumé of Governor Davidson's life from which the above excerpt is taken, continues as follows: "This may have been a blessing, as in not be surfeited with an
overabundance of studies his mind developed normally, and ex- . hib'ts today a keenness that adds force to the arguments of those who are contending for what they call a rational method of edu- cation, where the brain is not prematurely forced beyond the strength of the body, to later suffer from reactionary effects." It may well be imagined that a youth fostered under such influences and conditions would wax strong and self-reliant, the spur of necessity having ever a potent and beneficent function when ap- plied to the one who is intrinsically stanch and valiant of soul and purpose. Quoting again from the article to which recourse has already been had, "At the age of eighteen years he arrived in Madi- son, Wisconsin, friendless, penniless, unable to speak or under- stand the language of the country and in debt for his passage money. The first work he did was on a farm. Later lic learned the tailor's trade, and then abandoned this to clerk in a general store. Within a few years he had saved enough to enable him to open a general at Soldiers' Grove, Crawford county, and this place has ever since been his home, his business increasing from
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year to year. In 1885 his store was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of ten thousand dollars, this being attributed to incendiaries, but the store was immediately rebuilt. In 1892. when the cause of the Republican party appeared hopeless in Wisconsin and in Davidson's county, the leaders of the party, in casting around for an especially strong candidate for the legislature, picked up Mr. Davidson and, in spite of his protests, nominated him as a candi- date for the assembly. That these leaders had not mistaken in at- tributing to Mr. Davidson those qualities which make a man strong, had not overestimated his popularity and strength, was later demonstrated by the fact of his election, although every other Republican candidate whose name appeared on the ticket with him was defeated. A contest was inaugurated in the assembly but his election had been so decisive that even a Democratic assembly al- lowed him to retain his seat. Twice he was re-elected, but he never forgot that he was in the assembly to represent his con- stituents. With a mental grasp of the fundamental principles up- , on which rests the foundation of representative government, hie stood aloof from the corporation control that had dulled the con- science of too many who have been elevated to similar positions of trust, and he introduced and had the satisfaction of seeing framed as law, a bill for the taxation of express companies, by which they were taxed for the first time in the history of the state ; also a bill to increase the taxes paid by telegraph, telephone, sleep- ing car, insurance and other corporations. During the legislative session of 1895 Mr. Davidson introduced and secured the passage of a law creating the office of state bank examiner, which has led up to the present efficient and highly satisfactory system of bank supervision securing, as it does, the confidence of depositors, thus placing the business of banking on a higher and safer plane, and today Wisconsin's banking law is the model for many of the other states. Mr. Davidson was elected state treasurer in 1898 and re- elected in 1900, bringing to that office the same careful business methods applied in his private affairs. "The interest on public funds turned into the state treasury during his tenure of office was one hundred and one thousand dollars, or three-fold greater than under previous administrations, and of the three million dollars of public funds invested by him as treasurer there was not a dol- lar's loss to the state." In 1902 Mr. Davidson was elected lieu- tenant governor of the state, on the ticket with Hon. Robert M. La Follette, now United States senator, and from this fact it will be seen that the people of Wisconsin were determined to retain
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him in the public service, though he had been involuntarily drawn into the political arena at the start. "As presiding officer of the senate Lieutenant Governor Davidson was as fair and courteous as he personally is genial and popular with his associates." The resignation of Governor La Follette to accept the office of United States senator, brought Mr. Davidson to the gubernatorial chair, into which he was inducted January 1, 1906. His record, official and private, is unblemished and he has in a high degree the ele- ments of personal popularity and strength. He never inclines in the least to spectacular effects but moves calmly and effectively along the course of honor and integrity in official capacity, bring- ing to bear his full powers in fostering and protecting public in- terests and showing a keen and accurate administrative ability. He has never violated a trust placed in his keeping, and his career in the field of public life and activity has been creditable alike to him and to the great state of his adoption. From the article from which the previous quotations are made are drawn the following appreciative statements. "He is a strong man, of vigorous intel- lect, honest to the core, one entirely in sympathy with the Repub- lican policy as outlined by President Roosevelt, and thoroughly in favor of restoring to the people the rights which in the past few years have been taken from them by the usurpation of the great. corporations. While he is a man of strong convictions and always. ready to stand for what he believes is right, he is not so radical but what in every movement he displays a coolness of judgment, a breadth of vision, a keenness of insight and a fairness that make him a safe and able man for the office of governor. The story of the life of James O. Davidson should be an inspiration to young men, convincing them that the development of character is more to be sought than the accumulation of wealth, offering in itself the highway that is most likely to lead to success worthy the name." At Readstown, Wisconsin, was solemnized the marriage of Gov- ernor Davidson to Miss Helen Bliss, and they have two daughters, Mabel and Grace, the former of whom was a student in the Uni- versity of Wisconsin with the class of 1906. The governor was. reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, in which he was con- firmed, but the family is now affiliated with the Methodist Episco- pal church. He is a Mason of high rank and is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men of America.
Thomas Davidson of Verona, is the son of Scottish parents, Adam and Mary (Ferry) Davidson. The former was born at
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Greenlaw, Scotland. May 5, 1811, and came first to Toronto, Can- ada, where he remained one year, coming to Dane county in 1844, and settling on the farm now occupied by his son, Adam. They had six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the old- est ; the others were Neal, (deceased) ; Adam, of Verona; Sarah, married Thomas Thomas, of Dodgeville; Bridget, married Melvil Proud of Madison; Maggie, married Dennis McMahon, of Emery, S. D. Thomas Davidson was born in Verona, Jan. 11, 1847, was reared in his native place, obtaining his education at the public schools. He adopted the vocation of farming and in 1878 bought the place where he at the present time resides. It consists of four hundred and forty acres in sections 29, 31 and 32. He is a gen- eral farmer and stock raiser, making a specialty of the breeding of short-horn Durham cattle. He was married Feb. 7. 1877, to Miss Agnes White of Verona, who was born on the place where they now reside. They have had five children, Jennie, deceased, William, Margaret, Jessie and Blanche. Mr. Davidson is a Republican and has held a position on the school board. Mrs. Davidson's father was Peter White who was born in Scotland, came to this country when a young man, being one of the pioneer settlers of this local- ity and located in Dane county in 1850; he married Miss Jessie Black, also a native of Scotland. He was a farmer all his life, but died when Mrs. Davidson was about eight years old, in 1866, aged about forty ; Mrs. Davidson's mother died in 1865, aged twenty- seven. There were three children, Agnes Adalaide, (Mrs. David- son) ; Jennie Eveline, (Mrs. Adam Davidson) ; John Alexander, who died when a child. The family belonged to the Presbyterian church.
Hon. Romanzo E. Davis, ex state senator and merchant of Mid- dleton, Wis., has for many years been prominent in state and local politics and was one of the early residents of the village. He is the son of Jepther and Harriet (Conger) Davis, who came from New York state to Wisconsin in 1846, locating in Green county. Here Mr. Davis was a woolen manufacturer in which business and the management of a large farm in Green county, his son, Romanzo, assisted him. Mr. Davis was a Democrat. Eight sons and daugh- ters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, of whom the eldest daughter, Elmira, died; Corintha lived in California, but is now deceased, passing away at the age of eighty-three years; Louisa and Electa are dead ; Truman lives at Madison, Wis .; Amanda is employed in the United States postal department in Washington, D. C., and Sarah resides in Chicago, Ill. All were educated in the home
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schools and Romanzo was one of the students at the University of Wisconsin in its early days, from 1850 to 1853. R. E. Davis was born in Wyoming county. N. Y. in 1831, came with his parents to Attica, Green county, Wis., and remained with them until he was twenty-five years of age. In 1857 he was engaged in forwarding houses, in the grain and commission business in Cole county, Mo., as clerk, and four years later, started in the grain business at Cross Plains. In 1865 he located at Middleton and soon became promi- nent in local affairs. At that time Middleton was a small village but the center of a prosperous and growing farming community and for four years Mr. Davis was occupied in shipping grain and produce to Milwaukee. Becoming interested in politics, he was elected to the state senate on the Republican ticket in 1869 and occupied his seat four years. He was elected for four years more on the Democratic ticket. Winfield Scott was the first candidate for president voted for by the young politician. After 1872 he voted the Democratic ticket. In 1877 he was nominated for lieuten- ant governor, but failed to be elected. In 1879 he opened a store for general merchandise in Middleton and carried on a large and flourishing business until 1887, when he retired. Mr. Davis was a member of the I. O. O. F. of Middleton and was Grand Master of the state in 1880. Also a charter member of the Masonic Lodge of the village, he was for many years prominent in the order. For two years he was appointed by Governor Ludington, one of the trustees of the State Hospital for the insane at Mendota and has been for seven years one of the commissioners of the Dane county poor farm and asylum. At one time he was president of the Mid- dleton Fire and Lightning Ins. Co., and is now its secretary. In 1861, Mr. Davis married Miss Miltimore from New York and they still make Middleton their home.
Truman P. Davis, retired, of 235 West Gilman street, Madison, was born at Sheldon, Wyoming county, N. Y., August 23. 1828. His father, Jepther Davis, was born in Wales, Mass. At the age of eighteen, Jepther's father gave him his time and he learned the manufacture of woolen goods. In Attica, N. Y., he married Har- riet Conger, a native of Oneida county, N. Y. In 1844 he left New York and drifted west through Illinois and Michigan, looking for a suitable location for a mill. In Green county, Wis., he finally found a spot best suited to his purpose. Four acres of land with desirable water power were purchased and Mr. Davis erected a carding mill, which he operated for twelve years and then sold. This was one of the first mills in the state, and the town which
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grew up around it was named Attica, after the town of that name in New York. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jepther Davis four are now living, their ages averaging about seventy-five years. Truman P. Davis' education was very limited. With his father's family he came west, arriving in Milwaukee at noon on April 25, 1846, and at Attica, May 2. He worked in the factory with his father until he was twenty-one. In 1852 he returned to the east and stayed there two years. The western fever was strong in Mr. Davis, however, and he came back to Green county and opened a general store. In 1863 he sold out and went to Wal- worth county, where he took to farming for the benefit of his health, keeping an interest in several cheese-factories and a general store. Later he went to Middleton and for several years kept a store there. In 1885 he located in Madison; and in 1895 he built the home where he now resides at 235 West Gilman street. Un- like his father, who was a radical Democrat, Mr. Davis is independ- ent in politics. He served the citizens of the town of Attica, as justice of the peace two years. His church affiliations, like his mother's, are with the Methodist Episcopal church. On April 25, 1854, he married Nancy E., daughter of Simeon P. and Anna M. (Farnham) Noyes. Mr. Noyes first saw the light of day on April 3. 1800, in Canaan, N. H. ; Mrs. Noyes was born in Bennington, N. Y., October 18. 1810; they were married December 31, 1828. Five children were born to them,-Annetta, deceased, wife of Charles H. Wilder; Almira, deceased, wife of Marvin Colton; Nancy E., (Mrs. Davis) ; George S., deceased, and Ira, deceased. Simeon P. Noyes was a farmer who went from Black Rock, N. Y., to Bennington, N. Y., where he was a very extensive farmer, some- times employing as many as thirty men. In 1856. he went to Evansville, Wis., and later removed to Walworth county, where he died. He also farmed extensively in Wisconsin. His first wife died in 1841; he was married a second time to Electa Powers of Sheldon, N. Y., who died in 1898 at the advanced age of ninety- three. Truman P. and Nancy E. Davis have had four children,- Ida, died in infancy ; Romaine E., drowned August 27, 1903 ; he was president of the First National bank at Park Falls, Minn .. also president of the Akley bank of Akley, Minn., and left a widow and two children, Donna and Rudyard E .; Etta Estella, wife of Prof. J. W. Shuster, of the University of Wisconsin ; and Nellie E., died in infancy. In 1893 Mr. Davis retired from an active business.
Edward F. DeBower is a representative citizen of Vienna. He is of German descent, although his name indicates, perhaps re- 15-iii
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motely, a French ancestor. His grandparents, Eden and Gesina (Folken) DeBowers, were born and died in Germany, the former attaining the age of sixty-five and the latter seventy-five years. His parents were Simeon and Marie (Froh) DeBower, born re- spectively in 1832 and 1845; the former came to America in 1857 and settled in Vienna township. He was accompanied by a brother, Gerd DeBower, and the brothers took a farm and worked in partnership for some time. With the thrift characteristic of their nationality, they were the owners of a fine tract of three hun- dred and twenty acres of land at the dissolution of the partnership. Mrs. DeBower came to America in 1870 and was married after her arrival here. Mr. DeBower afterward associated his son, Edward, with him in his farming operations, and at the time of his death, owned. clear of debt, a farm of three hundred and forty-eight acres. He was in politics a Republican, and both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church. The family of five children all received a good education. The oldest, Emily, began in the com- mon school, and finished in the academy connected with the North- western Business college. She married John Christiansen, and lives at Berrien Springs, Mich. Edward, the subject of this sketch, was born April 28, 1873. He early became his father's assistant on the farm and afterward fitted himself for independent work in the Northwestern Business college, Madison, having been gradu- ated from that institution .in 1892. Following graduation he taught school for two years, and then took up his life on the farm, purchasing eighty acres of the old homestead. This he runs as a stock farm, specialties being short-horn cattle and Poland hogs. He is a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and continues his interest in educational and public affairs as clerk of the school board and assessor of the town of Vienna. His two sisters, Louise and Tillie were educated at the Stoughton academy ; the elder is a teacher and the younger resides at home. Andrew J. the youngest of the family, was educated in the Lodi high school, and was graduated with the class of 1902. He served as telegraph operator and station agent at Manyaska, Minn., for two years, and was at Toledo. Iowa, with the C. & N. W. R'y. Co. He also took the census of Vienna for 1905. He is at present taking the electrical engineering course at Scranton Correspondence school. The fam- ily record exhibits unusual marks of thrift, energy and intelligence, every member of it being actively engaged in honorable employ- ment.
Dennis Dempsey, one of the pioneers of Dane county, was born
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at Ballincash, county of Wexford, Ireland, August 4, 1820, his parents. Morgan and Dorothy (Foley) Dempsey, both being na- tives of the Emerald Isle. For four hundred years the Dempsey family were Irish farmers, succeeding each other in the county of Wexford. Dennis Dempsey was educated in the common schools of his native county, and in early life was a miller. After his mar- riage he pursued the avocation of a farmer. On September 11, 1843, he was married to Mary, daughter of Owen and Catherine (French) Dempsey, of county Wexford, and on March 24, 1850. embarked with his wife and three children on a vessel bound for America. Upon landing in this country they made their way di- rectly to Wisconsin, which was then on the frontier. The father purchased eighty acres of land in the town of Blooming Grove- the present family homestead-and to this he afterward added one hundred and sixty acres, making a farm of two hundred and forty acres of fine land. He was Democrat in his political affiliations, held the office of town treasurer and other local offices. In re- ligion he was a Catholic and helped to erect the first Catholic church in the city of Madison, where he held his membership until his death, which occurred on Feb. 19, 1904. During his life of more than half a century in the county he was always regarded as one of the most worthy of her representative citizens. Dennis and Mary Dempsey had ten children, five sons and five daughters. Owen, (deceased) ; Dora M .; Mary Ann, (deceased) ; Morgan is a Catholic priest in Detroit. Mich .; William; Catherine is the wife of Warren A. Carter, a prominent lumberman of Ludington, Mich .; Agnes S., is the wife of Dr. John Cunningham of Madison; Es- ther E .; Dennett R. who has resided in Denver for several years ; and John still lives on the old homestead. Mrs. Dennis Dempsey died September 22, 1900.
. William Dempsey, the third son and the fifth child of Denis and Mary Dempsey, was born at Blooming Grove, Dane county, April 6, 1856. He was educated in the common schools in the town of Blooming Grove and at Madison, and after attaining his majority went to Nebraska, where he opened a grocery and pro- vision store, and also purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land. Owing to the depression caused by dry seasons, he sold his stock of goods and returned to the old homestead. though he st'll owns his farm and store building at Alliance, Neb. He says he expects to spend the remainder of his days on the farm where he was born, and which is endeared to him by many hal- lowed associations. In his political views Mr. Dempsey is a
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Democrat,-one of the kind who is always ready to defend his principles. While living in Nebraska he was elected to represent his county in the general assembly and served one term. He has also held the office of clerk in the town of Blooming Grove. He is a member of the Catholic church in Madison and is a contributor to its charitable work. He has never married.
William H. Denison, deceased, for many years a prominent and prosperous business man of the capital city, was born in Madison, Aug. 12, 1858. He was a son of Henry and Mary (Pyncheon) Denison, the latter a native of Madison, born in 1846 when that city was but a village. The father was a native of Brookfield, New York, who was drowned in 1865 while serving as a volunteer in the Union army. His widow afterward became Mrs. John B. Eugene, and is still a resident of Madison. The subject of this sketch was the only child of the family. He was but seven years of age at the time of his father's death. His "bringing up" was in Madison, where he attended the common schools and when fif- teen years of age began driving a dray for John Pyncheon, an uncle, who had purchased his father's business. After a year's work as an employe of his uncle he purchased the controlling inter- est in the business and from 1874 until the time of his demise was the active manager of it. The company has grown from a one- horse affair with headquarters in a dilapidated shed to a concern of considerable dimensions. The barns of the company today are in a substantial brick building, and the equipment is many times as large as originally. By good business management and econ- omy Mr. Den son built up the business until it has become exceed- ingly remunerative. For many years, in connection with his other affairs, he made a business of shipping ice to packing firms in large cities. The revenue derived therefrom was by no means small and at the time of his death he was one of the most comfortably situated men of the city. On August 7, 1876, he married Miss Anna Sullivan, who died in November, 1891. His second mar- riage occurred March 12, 1893, to Mrs. Margaret (Shanley) Sulli- van, a native of Madison of Irish ancestry, her father and mother. Michael and Margaret (Foley) Shanley, both emigrating from the Emerald Isle. They were pioneers of the state, having arrived in 1841. Mr. Shanley died September 21, 1881, and his wife on April 18, 1893. They were members of the Catholic church. Their six children were John B., now an engineer on the Rio Grande railroad, who resides at Denver, Colo .; Thomas C., a railroad yard- master at Minneapolis; James C., a railroad employe, living in
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