History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 57

Author: Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Madison, Wi. : Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 998

USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 57

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She had three brothers and three sisters. Stark (Styrk) S. Reqve, was married, but is now a widower: He is a minister of Spring Grove, Minn .; Rev. Peder S. was also married, but died about twenty- five years ago; Lars S. also married, was consul to Holland four ycars, and a professor at the Norwegian Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; Brita married Ole L. Quale and is deceased. Martha, deceased, was unmarried. Anna Maria married Rev. Halvor B. Hustvedt, and re- sides at Decorah, Iowa. To Nels and Mari Lee (Lie), have been born five children : Julia A. born Aug. 28, 1866, died two years later : Sever A. born Feb. 2, 1867, married Anna Eliason and resides on the home farm; they have five children, Nels C., Nora M., Henrietta M., Sarah A., Agnes S .; Julia A., born April 8, 1869; Lauris P. S., born April 2, 1881, and died two years later ; and Peter A. G., born January 3, 1884. Mr. Lee is known as a public spirited citizen, a man of means and sterling worth. He is greatly interested in the preservation of Indian relics and he has one of the best collections in the state. N. A. Lee also built the first independent telephone line from Deerfield to Nora and Utica, about nine miles. This was in 1900 and the next year he built from Nora to Madison about twelve miles, and at Madi- son he got connection with the Madison Telephone company. This line he owned unt 1 1906 when he sold out to J. C. Bell.

Alexander Lemon is not only one of the successful farmers of Cottage Grove township but is also a native of Dane county and a representative of one of its sterling pioneer families. He was born in the city of Madison, the capital of the state, June 16, 1842, and is a son of James and Margaret Lemon, both of whom were born in Ireland. They took up their residence in Madison in the year 1837, the capital at that time having been a mere village. James Lemon was among the first to institute the development of the agricultural resources of Dane county, having taken up his residence in Cottage Grove township in 1845 and having there se- cured a tract of heavily timbered land, which he began to reclaim and place under cultivation. He became one of the successful pioneer farmers of this township, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Alexander Lemon was reared to manhood on the old homestead, while his educational advantages were limited to the curriculum of the somewhat primative district schools of the vicinity. He remained at the parental home until he had attained the age of twenty-two years, when he initiated his independent career, securing employment at farm work and being thus engaged about five years. He then rented land and worked the same on the sharing system until the spring of 1880, when he

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removed to Rooks county, Kansas, becoming one of the pioneers of that section of the Sunflower State, where he continued to follow agricultural pursuits for seven and one-half years, having become the owner of a tract of three hundred and twenty acres in the county mentioned. He then returned to his native county and took charge of the farm of his mother-in-law, finally becoming owner of the property, which comprises ninty-five and one-half acres of most fertile and productive land and which is one of the best farms of Cottage Grove township, being located in section seven. Mr. Lemon is held in high esteem in the community, having passed the greater portion of his life in this township, and he shows a loyal interest in public affairs, though never a seeker of office. He is aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and his wife holds membership in the Presbyterian church. February 27. 1870, Mr. Lemon was united in marriage to Miss Katie Beecher, who was born in Dane county, April 16, 1849, being a daughter of Isaac and Jane Beecher, the former of whom was born November 22, 1821, his death occurring August 1, 1864; the latter was born June 12, 1822, and still resides on the old home- stead, with her daughter, Mrs. Lemon. Mr. and Mrs. Lemon be- came the parents of three children: Isaac B., who was born De- cember 15. 1870, died April 26, 1880; Eugene Clark, who was born October 13, 1873, married Miss Mabel Tomlinson and they reside in Fair Oaks, a suburb of the city of Madison; Ray Alexander, born September 26, 1891, remains at the parental home.

George E. Lester, of Waunakee, is of English ancestry, his father, Starkey M. Lester, having been born in Leicestershire, and his mother, Rebecca Ann (Lomis) Lester, in Nottingham, Eng., in December, 1821, and October, 1822, respectively., They came to Dane in 1847, took up one hundred and sixty acres of land, and the following year bought, in Vienna, a claim of one hundred and sixty acres ; on the latter place they made their home and spent their lives, although Mr. Lester died at Waunakee, September 28, 1898. Mrs. Lester died January 6, 1891. Mr. Lester was a Democrat and held the office of treasurer and assessor of the township for seven years. Both were members of the Baptist church and of their seven children, six are living. George E. Lester, the subject of this sketch, was born November 8, 1860, in Vienna township. He acquired his education in the common school of Vienna and the grade schools of Waunakee village. His boyhood was spent upon the farm which he assisted his father in developing and improving. After becoming of age he was moved by the restless spirit of youth

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and changed his vocation, being employed by the C. & N. W. R'y Co. for eleven years: at the end of this time he returned to the farm, and resumed his former occupation for five years; in 1902 he engaged in the livery business at Waunakee, and has the leading business of the place. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, and in religious matters with the Catholic church. He was married October 11, 1882, to Miss Anna Schillinger, a native of Germany, daughter of Anton and Barbara (Acker) Schillinger, ' both of whom were born in Germany and came to Springfield in 1821. Anton Schillinger died in Springfield in 1896 and his wife in Waunakee in 1901. To Mr. George E. Lester and his wife have been born four sons, Leo E., Lewis S., Starkey A., George E., Jr. The family occupies one of the fine residences of Waunakee.

George W. Levis, secretary and treasurer and general manager of the Starks-Levis land company, comes of English-Quaker an- c'estry. His great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel Levis, was a founder of the family in America, securing a thousand acres of land near Philadelphia during William Penn's settlement of that section of the country. About one-half of this property is still in the family name. Samuel Levis II, the great-great-grandfather, was the father of Thomas Levis, who served in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War. Samuel Levis III, son of Thomas Levis, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and the father of John Levis, born in 1807, in Bristol, Pa. John Levis mar- lied Emeline Gullord, born in 1821 in Norway, and in 1841 brought his family to Wisconsin, locating in Black River Falls, where in 1854 he was instrumental in organizing, with the aid of German capital, an iron company which built the first iron furnace in Wis- consin. Aside from this business he was engaged in the lumber trade, operating a saw mill. When the Civil War had closed he de- voted himself entirely to the lumber interests until about 1870, when he retired. His death occurred in 1893. While residents of Black River Falls a son, George W. Levis, the subject of this sketch, was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Levis. He received his preliminary ed- ucation in the public schools of his native city and in 1893 was graduated at the law department of the University of Wisconsin. From 1893 to 1896 he engaged in the practice of his profession in West Superior and La Crosse, Wis., and in the latter year located permanently in Madison to take a position as deputy United States marshal for the western district of Wisconsin. This position he held until 1900, when he became the chief influence in the organiza- tion of the Starks-Levis land company, of which he has since been

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secretary and treasurer, beside general manager. In his political connections Mr. Levis is a stanch supporter of Democratic princi- ples and has several times been the candidate of his party for different offices. In 1890 he was the nominee for the office of as- semblymen from Jackson county, and was defeated by only eighty- six votes in what had always been a Republican stronghold. In 1894 he was the Democratic candidate for congress from the sev- enth Wisconsin district and managed to reduce materially the former Republican majority in that district. In 1904 he was made secretary of the Democratic state central committee and has since served in that capacity. He has filled at different times practically all the minor offices of Jackson county. His church connections are with the Unitarian society. Mr. Levis has been twice mar- ried, his first wife having been Miss Clara Winden, to whom he was wedded in 1893, daughter of Gilbert P. and Christine (Colby) Winden of Madison. Mrs. Levis died at La Crosse on January 9, 1896, leaving a son, George. On October 31, 1903. Mrs. Susie Findorff, widow of Augustus Findorff, became his bride. She is a daughter of George Speckner of Madison. To this union has been born a daughter, Emeline. Fraternally, Mr. Levis is identified with the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Mystic Workers of the World. He is a man of excellent qualities, active, enterprising and resourceful, the kind of man who infuses new blood into the life of a community.

. Eric A. Lewis, who is now living retired in the city of Stoughton, is a native of Dane county and has been prominently identified with the agricultural industry here until impaired health compelled him to sever his active connection with work of the sort. He was born in Dunn township, this county, June 24, 1863, being a son of Thomas and Bertha Lewis, both natives of Norway, whence they came to America and settled in Stoughton in 1854. Here the father was employed in railroad work about one year, at the ex- piration of which he removed to Dunn township, where he bought cighty acres of wild land, developing the same into a productive farm. The place is now owned by his son-in-law, Henry Lewis. Ile later added another eighty-acre tract to his possessions. After the death of his wife he removed to Dunkirk township, where he continued to reside until his death, at the age of seventy-five years. He reared a family of four children, namely : Benjamin T., Ann'e, wife of Henry Lewis; Eric A., and Tollif. Eric A. Lewis passed his youth on the home farm, in Dunn township, and his educational

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advantages were those afforded by the common schools of the locality. For a number of years he owned and resided upon the second farm purchased by his father, finally selling the same to his brother and in 1889, purchasing one hundred and five acres in Dunkirk township. In 1892 he bought one hundred and twenty- one and one-half acres, adjoining, and in 1893 he removed from Dunn township to his large farm in Dunkirk, making many improvements on the place, including the erection of a good dwelling, two barns. three tobacco sheds, stripping house, etc. He fenced practically the entire farm and personally reclaimed about forty acres of virgin land. In 1906 he purchased seven and one-half acres with build- ings adjoining his Dunkirk farm and in the summer of 1906 erected a handsome home for himself on the corner of Page and Washington streets, Stoughton. In 1897 his health became so im- paired as to render imperative his retirement, and he has since lived in the city of Stoughton, although still retaining possession of his farm. In politics he is a Republican and he takes much inter- cst in all that concerns the welfare of his native county. August 1, 1889 Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Emma Johnson, who was born and reared in Dunn township, her parents having immigated from Norway and numbered themselves among the pioneers of Dane county. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have three chil- dren. Theodore K., Elmer A., and Myrtle B.

John Lewis, for many years an engineer on the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul railroad, now in charge of the company's round house in Madison, was born in Monmouthshire, England, July 20, 1846. His parents, James and Mary (Jones) Lewis, never crossed the sea but lived and died as subjects of the British Empire. The father was a farmer by vocation. Of the family of two sons and two daughters only the two sons survive. the other beside the sub- ject of this sketch being Henry, who conducts a drug store on State street. John Lewis was but fourteen or fifteen years old when he came to this country, landing in Quebec, and going thence directly · to Milton, Wis. While still a youth he entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad when it was known as the Milwaukee & Mississippi, starting as a newsboy. For three years he continued in that capacity and then by diligence and strict at- tention to the business in hand was gradually promoted to the position of fireman and then engineer. He served as such some thirty years, and then through an unfortunate accident, the side rod of his engine breaking and causing a wreck, he was so maimed and crippled that he was unable longer to attend to the duties of

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an engineer's position and resigned. The company, however, in recognition of his fidelity and life-long service placed him in charge of the round house in Madison and he still holds that position. Since 1866 he has been continuously in the employ of the St. Paul system, and aside from vacations has scarcely missed a day. In his political relations Mr. Lewis is a Republican and as the repre- sentative of that party served two terms in the city council as al- derman from the fifth ward. He is not identified with any religious. organization, but notwithstanding is a man whose life is worthy of emulation. He claims membership in the Free and Accepted Masons and the brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. In Au- gust, 1887, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Ziel, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Ziel of Prairie du Chien, and a native of Germany. Mr. Ziel and his wife are still living, mak- ing their home in Prairie du Chien. To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have been born eight children, Caroline, John, Jr., James, Florence, Mary, Earl, Pauline and Fanny.

John Leroy Lewis was one of the sterling pioneers of Dane county and was for many years a valued member of the police force of the city of Madison, where he died August 4, 1893. Mr. Lewis was born in Petersburg, Rensselaer county, New York, January 28, 1822, and was a son of Leonard and Elizabeth (Allen) Lewis, who were likewise born and reared in that county. Mr. Lewis received a good common school education in his native state, and was reared to the discipline of the farm. He was mar- lied in 1847, and in the following year came with his young bride to Wisconsin which was then in the initial stages of its develop- inent, industrially and socially. He took up his residence in Dane county, and during the Civil War he was employed at Camp Ran- dall, this county, under Napoleon B. VanSlyke, who is now president of the First National bank of Madison. While thus en- gaged he assisted in the shipping of seven thousand horses from Madison, the same being used in the Federal armies. After the war Mr. Lewis was employed for two years on the farm of the University of Wisconsin, and he then accepted a position on the Madison police force, continuing to be identified with this depart- ment of the municipal service until his death, representing a period of a quarter of a century. Few men were better known in the capital city than was John L. Lewis, and he had hosts of friends among all classes. He was the soul of honor and generosity, al- ways ready to aid those in affliction, but his name was a terror to malefactors, his courage being of the maximum, while he exempli-

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fied most fully in his character the truth of the saying, "The brav- cst are the tenderest ; the loving are the daring." He was ever solicitous of the welfare of those about him, eager and ready to aid every charitable enterprise or movement, and one to whom friend- ship was inviolable and personal honor impregnable. His life was not lived upon a lofty plane but it was one true to itself and to the highest ideals, so that from it are to be gained both lesson and in- centive. With the co-operation of his devoted wife he gained financial independence, and this was much, when cognizance is had of the fact that when they arrived in Madison they had no acquaint- ances and very little money. Economy and careful management brought due rewards, however, and finally Mr. Lewis was enabled to purchase a farm in Blooming Grove township, where they re- mained about five years, then returning to Madison, where he passed the remainder of his life and where his widow still resides. Mr. Lewis was a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. On May 23, 1847, was celebrated his marriage to Miss Virtue Cushman Ward, daughter of Silas and Susan ( Hathaway) Ward, of Cayuga county. New York, where she was born and reared. Mr. Lewis is survived by one son, Leroy Ward Lewis, who was born on the 1st of May, 1851, is now. a resident of Chamberlain, South Dakota, who has one daughter, Jean Gladys, the wife of John Widmeier, of Dubuque. Iowa.

Henry M. Lewis is a veteran member of the Mad son bar, and a brief outline of his legal work and positions may be given as fol- lows: He received his legal training with the firm of Vilas & Rem- ington, later with Collins, Smith & Keyes; was admitted to practice in Dane county in October, 1853, his examining committee being Hon. Levi Vilas, Hon. Thomas Hood and Hon. Arthur McArthur, the last was afterward judge of the circuit court of Milwaukee county and judge of the supreme court of the District of Columbia. and was the father of General McArthur of the United States army. His first partnership was with Major W. H. Semmes, of Hudson and his next was with Leopold Lathrop, son of Chancellor Lathrop of the University of Wisconsin. Later partnerships were Ainsworth, Johnson & Lewis, Stevens & Lewis, Stevens, Lewis & Flower, Lewis, MeKenney & Tenney, Lewis, Lewis & Hale, Lewis & Harding, Lewis & Pfund, Lewis & Briggs, and Lewis. Briggs & Dudgeon. Ile was admitted to the supreme court of Wisconsin in 1855 and to the supreme court of the United States in 1878 ; he was (listriet attorney of Dane county from 1861 to 1863, collector of in-

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ternal revenue for the second district of Wisconsin from 1867 to 1843; United States district attorney for the western district of Wisconsin from 1878 to 1886; referee in bankruptcy since 1898. He is a member of the state bar association and of the American bar association. In municipal affairs he has taken a prominent part from the time when, from 1863 to 1869, he served as alder- man and devoted his energies to the difficult task of extracating the city from the financial difficulties involved in its issue of rail- road bonds, and placing it upon a sound financial basis, through the fifteen years which he served on the board of education, three as president, to his present position on the board of the hospital as- sociation and on the board of the Madison free library, which jatter position he has held since the inception of the institution in 1873. Back of this summary of a successful legal career lie cer- tain facts of temperament and environment which account for the opinion passed by another member of the Madison bar in pro- nouncing him, "the most admirable character of the Dane county bar." The bare facts of his early life read like those of hundreds of others. He was born in Cornwall, Addison county, Vermont, September 7, 1830, the son of Martin and Sophia (Russell) Lewis, the former a native of Cornwall, Vermont, and the latter of Tolland. Connecticut. He passed through the hard conditions of a New England boyhood, where the severity of the climate impressed itself upon the character of the people and the unwilling earth found something of a counterpart in the life of the inhabitants of that rock-ribbed country. Mr. Lewis on the occasion of the pre- sentation of his portrait to the circuit court, tells the story of his early life. His school training consisted of two yearly terms of three months each, which was termnated when he became large enough to be useful in the work of the farm, and he says of the teachers, who were usually changed from term to term, '"Only three or four are held in grateful remembrance as inspirers of my youthful mind." He was fifteen years of age when his father came to Wisconsin and settled in the town of Burke. Dane county, but previous to that time two ardent desires had found lodgement in his mind and grew with his years ; one, stimulated by the vicinity of Middlebury college, was a collegiate education, and the other. by the accident of being present at a law suit in a justice court, a wish to enter the legal profession. Only one of these was destined to fulfillment, and while he was admitted to the bar and attained eminence as a lawyer, he was in other respects a self-educated man, and was obliged to substitute his solitary reading and study for the 36-iii

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culture of the schools. His collegiate life was limited to a single term at the University of Wisconsin, then an institution of only thirty students, all told. Nevertheless the association with the faculty of this infant university, men of scholarly attainments and social culture, was a life-long stimulus to Mr. Lewis, as the friend- ships formed there, many of which lasted for half a century, were a life-long benediction. Few men have carried away with their diplomas as much of real value in what goes to make up the essen- tial qualities of true manhood, as Mr. Lewis obtained from his sin- gle term. Mr. Lewis' characteristics as a lawyer are studiousness, earnestness, close reasoning and candor. In speaking of the death of his partner, and son-in-law, Mr. Harry E. Briggs, which he says is his "great, abiding sorrow," he unconsciously reveals his own character. He says, "his conduct was guided by the loftiest ideals of honor and ethics, which should ever be the ruling principle of the lawyer." His strength as a jury lawyer is conceded and one of the lasting memorials of his work as an attorney is his contribution of the Wisconsin section of "The Law of Incorporated Companies Operating Under Municipal Franchise," published in 1892, by A. R. Foote of Washington, D. C. The appreciation of Mr. Lewis by his brethren of the bar was demonstrated in a practical manner when January 14, 1905, they presented his portrait, a painting in oil by James R. Stuart, to the circuit court. It is handsomely framed in gilt and hangs upon the walls of the circuit court room. Hon. C. K. Tenney, in presenting the gift made an appreciative address in which he says, "For nearly fifty-two years our friend has been a member of this bar. You have all, I believe, young and old, met him in the active practice of your profession. You know him, many of you intimately, and you will approve my statement when I say that no more honest, upright, unselfish, conscientious and obliging gentleman ever practiced in this or any other court. I speak of these characteristics because I feel their truth, and because they should be a beacon light to guide the actions of every lawyer." This is high praise, but it receives the endorsement, not only of the inembers of his profession, but of the general public as well. Mr. Lew's is an active member of the Unitarian church and belongs to the fraternity of Free Masons. He was married, September 1, 1858, to Miss Charlotte E. Clarke, born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, and the daughter of Addison and Cynthia M. (Arnold) Clarke. Three daughters were born to them, Lottie Breese, (deceased). who married William H. Holmes, of Janesville : Jessie Russell, who married Rev. Lloyd Skinner of Eau Claire, and Sophia M., who was,

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before her marriage to Harry E. Briggs, the librarian of the Madi- son free library, and since the death of her husband has been libra- rian of the agricultural college of the University of Wisconsin. The death of Mrs. Lewis occurred in August, 1884.

Ledyard Verdine Lewis, M. D., of Sun Prairie, is one of the able and popular representatives of the medical profession in this part of the county, where he controls an excellent practice. The doctor claims the old Green Mountain state as the place of his nativity, having been born in Cornwall, Addison county, Vermont, on July 9, 1845, and being a son of Chauncey A. and Mary Cornelia (Flana- gan) Lewis, the former of whom was born in Cornwall, Vermont, March 10, 1817, and the latter in Vergennes, same county, Oct. 30, 1819. Their marriage was solemnized Oct. 14, 1840, and they came to Dane county and took up their residence at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, in 1854, thus becoming pioneers of this section. Here the father turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, developing a good farm, and he continued his residence here until 1858, when he removed to the west, being now a resident of Waterville, Washington. and having attained to the patriarchal age of eighty- nine years, in 1905. His loved and devoted wife died March 20. 1905. They became the parents of four children, namely : Julian C., who was a valiant soldier in the Civil War, meeting his death in the battle of Gainesville, Virginia, August 28, 1862, and having been a member of the Seventh Wisconsin regiment of volunteers Company B; Ledyard V., who is the immediate subject of this sketch; Leslie L., who died in Virginia township, Union county, S. D., in 1892; Flora E., who is the widow of Seth Huggins, of Waterville, Wash. The honored father of these children is a stanch Republican in his political adherency, and while a resident of Dane county he served as treasurer of Bristol township and later was assessor of Virginia township, Union county, S. D., where he resided for a number of years He is a member of the Congrega- tional church, as was also his wife, and he early identified himself with the Independent Order of Good Templars. His father, Alan- son Lewis, was a brother of the late Martin Lewis, and uncle of Judge H. M. Lewis, one of the veteran members of the bar of Madison, where he is now incumbent of the office of referee in bankruptcy. Dr. Ledyard V. Lewis secured his earlier educational training in the public schools of Dane county, having attended the high school in Sun Prairie, after which he passed about one and one-half years as a student in the University of Wisconsin. In 1886-7 he was a student in the medical department of the Univer-

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History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 57

Author: Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Madison, Wi. : Western Historical Association Number of Pages: 998

Author: Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Madison, Wi. : Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 998