History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 61

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 61

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Josephine is the wife of Henry J. Dumuth and lives near Mineral Point. She has five children, Alles A., Frances J., Mary J., Vincent D. and Lucy. Lucy, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. McKenna, lives at home. She is an accomplished musician. Ella, a graduate of the Milwaukee normal school, is a teacher in the Milwaukee schools. Francis Eugene, a graduate at the University of Wisconsin in the class of 1891, is traveling secretary of the Bell Telephone company and makes his home in Milwaukee. He married Maud Bennett and has three children, Harold. Nellie and Anna. John C. is a life in- surance agent in Madison and is a graduate of the high school of that city. He married Miss Marsha Nichols. Henry M. is the agent for the United States Educational Company with headquarters at Eau Claire. William O. is a student at the Wisconsin academy in Madison. Sarah Irene, the youngest, is at home. The other children died in in- fancy. The family are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Mc- Kenna is a man of fine business sense, a courteous gentleman and a highly respected citizen.

Alexander McMurran, of Windsor, was born in the town of Burke, September 28, 1862. His father, Marshall MicMurran, was born in Pennsylvania, February 25, 1811, and his mother, Mary Ann (Knight) McMurran, in Indiana, October 6, 1826. Mr. McMurran came to Indiana in an early date, married there and had one son be- fore coming to Wisconsin in 1856. He settled on one hundred and eighty acres in the town of Burke. and by later purchases he acquired the title to four hundred acres of land, three hundred and twenty of it in the farm now owned by his son, Alexander. After the death of his first wife, he married Miss Knight, by whom he had eight chidren, six of whom are living. He was by trade. a tanner and worked at his trade in Indiana, but followed farming after coming to Wis- consin. He was a general farmer and stock dealer, and was also in- terested in outside investments, one of which, in Kansas City, proved very profitable. In politics he was a Republican. He died August 21. 1887, and his wife, March 15, 1890. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of Burke, and follows the occupation of a farmer; he owns two hundred and forty acres of land, and be- side general farming, cultivates tobacco; he is also a stock-raiser. He was married November 20, 1895, to Miss Cora Bell Crabtree, born in Green county, September 11, 1874, daughter of John C. Crabtree, of Windsor, whose parents, Jonathan and Mary (Hudson) Crabtree are natives of Lancastshire. England, the former born February 5. 1809, and the latter November 5, 1811. They were married in Eng- land and came to New York in 1846, locating on Staten Island. There

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were eleven children in the family, all of whom are living, except one, who died in Pennsylvania. Mr. McMurran's grandfather, Jonathan Crabtree, was a block printer by trade, employed in printing dress goods and silk handkerchiefs, and was manager of the printing de- partment in a business owned by his brother, John Crabtree. Both of the brothers were Independents in politics, and members of the Baptist church. John C. Crabtree, father of Mrs. McMurran, was educated in England and Staten Island, in the district school in the town of Castleton, district No. 7. He went to Pennsylvania when he was twenty-one years old, and engaged in coal mining, remaining for ten years at Powelton, Center county, and there married, June 5, 1835, Miss Matilda Mouchmer, daughter of Adam and Margaret (Traister) Mouchmer, natives of Pennsylvania, the father of Berks county, the mother of Cling Grove, Union county, and the daughter,- born June 15, 1835, of Pine Grove Mills. The family came to Green county, Wis., where both parents died. They had twelve children, three of whom died in infancy; the others are: Cyrus, Mar- garet, Mary, Elinor, Anna, Charles, Albert, Cora Bell, wife of Alexan- der McMurran: Edward. Mrs. Crabtree died December 18, 1897. Mr. Crabtree came, in 1866, to Green county, Wis., and located on a farm near Monroe, and in 1882 came to Burke. Dane county, where he bought a farm of ninety-five acres, upon which he has put most of the improvements; he is a general farmer and stock raiser, is an In- dependent in politics, formerly a Republican, and with his wife sup- ported the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. McMurran have had three children, Bessie Pearl, born December 1, 1897; Mar- shall, born March 7, 1898; Margaret, born January 20, 1904, who died in infancy.

George E. McWatty is one of the youngest farmers of the town of Fitchburg, but he gives promise of being one among the best in a town that is noted for progressive and up-to-date tillers of the soil. He was born in the village of Lake View. Dane county, WVis., on August 28, 1871, and is one of five children born to Wil- liam and Joanna (Bellman) McWatty, the father being a native of Pennsylvania and the mother was born in England. The father died in 1880. and of the five children only two are living- Charles E .. who resides in Waunakee, and George E., whose name introduces this review. Our subject started in life for himself at the age of thirteen years, working as a farm hand during the sum- mer months and attending school during the winter. In this way he managed to secure a very good education at the high school in the village of Oregon, and his uncle. ex-Sheriff R. J. McWatty,

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kindly furnished him a home. When he was twenty-one years old he rented a farm and remained upon it one year, and then, in 1893, gave up agricultural pursuits and went to Chicago, where he entered the employ of Marshall Field, as shipping clerk in the wholesale department, and continued so engaged until 1895. He then returned to Dane county and engaged in farming with his uncle in the town of Fitchburg, continuing so employed until his uncle was elected sheriff of Dane county, in 1902. After that he continued the operation of the farm until his uncle disposed of his place in Fitchburg, and in 1906 our subject bought the farm in the town of Fitchburg, where he expects to continue general farming and make his permanent residence. He is a man of splendid physique and is above the ordinary in mental attainments, being splendidly equipped in every way for a successful career. In his political views he clings to the tenets of the Republican party, his religious faith is expressed by membership in the Methodist church, and fraternally he affiliates with the Masonic lodge in the village of Oregon.

Robert J. 'McWatty, retired, formerly sheriff of Dane county was born in Mercer county, Pa., March 26, 1848. His father was Wm. McWatty, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States in the early forties and secured work on the Erie Canal, after having farmed for a time in Mercer county, Pa. In September, 1848, William McWatty came to Dane county, taking a one hundred and twenty acre farm eight miles south of Madison. He was an ardent Whig while that party was strong and later became a Republican, and al- though he never held an office he was always keenly interested in poli -. tics His wife was Sarah Jane McBurney, born in the north of Scotland. Both of them are strictly orthodox Presbyterians of the old school and believed in the rigid observance of the Sabbath. William McWatty died in the early seventies, at the age of sixty-two. He had never been ill a day in his life, and the last summons came suddenly. His wife died ten years later at the age of fifty-four, after having borne Mr. McWatty sixteen children. They were Jane, Mrs. Ralph Ray, deceased ; Ann Eliza, widow of Wendell Yeager, resides in Texas ; Margaret, widow of Mark Canada, lives in Iowa; Susan, widow of Michael Hagen, lives in Oregon; Martha, Mrs. John McFarland, died in 1904, and her husband a year later; William, deceased; Ellen, Mrs. Edward Nicholas, of Iowa; Robert J., the subject of the sketch; John, a farmer in Michigan; Sarah, Mrs. Frank McGann, of Madison; Maria, Mrs. Andrew Murphy, deceased; Hugh, a farmer in the townr of Fitchburg; David, died in infancy; Andrew, farming in the town

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of Fitchburg; Almira, widow of Walter Graves; and another child which died young. By a former marriage William McWatty was the father of two children, Mary, Mrs. George Gillin, deecased, and John Wesley, also deceased. Robert J. McWatty received what education the common schools of the county afforded. In March, 1864, when but sixteen years of age, he enlisted in Company E, Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was assigned to duty with the Army of the Potomac and was in all the large engagements of that army in 1864 and 1865. He was in the division of Gen. A. J. Smith, who precipitated the battle of Nashville. In the last engagement in which his regiment participated, Mr. McWatty was wounded slightly in the shoulder. In September, 1865, he received an honor- able discharge from the army and went to farming, continuing that pursuit four years. Then he went to Chicago and was employed for some ten years by the late Marshall Field. At the end of that period he went to mining near Omaha, Neb., and for several years success- fully followed that labor. On his return to Chicago in 1884 he drove stage for a year or more, and then once more turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in the town of Fitchburg. Here he remained until his election as sheriff in 1903, when he removed to Madison where he has since resided. In 1882 he married Katie, a daughter of Peter and Bridget Kane, natives of Wisconsin. Mrs. McWatty was one of eight children, of whom she and a sister, Margaret, ( Mrs. Fred Kriger, of Milwaukee,) are the only survivors. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Watty have no children. The genial ex-sheriff is a member of the Presbyterian church, of the Knights of Pythias, of the Independent Order of the Odd Felows; of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. His wife is a member of the Catholic church.

Nicholas P. Mader, Sun Prairie, was born in Flessenhime, Ger- many, March 26, 1860, the son of Theodore and Margaret (Shack- mut) Mader, both natives of Germany. The parents came to Kenosha in 1861, which was their home for the remainder of their lives, Mrs. M'ader dying there in 1872 and her husband, October 2, 1882. Nich- olas Mader received his education in the schools of Kenosha, and began in 1876 to learn the trade of carriage and wagon making, in the wagon shop of Nich. Perschi, of. Kenosha. Later he worked for a number of firms, including the Mitchell Lewis Wagon Co., the Bain Wagon Co., Fish Bros., and the Racine Wagon Co .; he was foreman for the Empire Cross Spring Co., of Janesville, for three years. He learned the business of organ making, beginning in 1881. He first opened a business in his own name in Sullivan and remained there

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for three years. On September 18. 1896, he came to Sun Prairie, where he established a black-smithing and wagon-making busienss, and where he is at present engaged. He has added agricultural im- plements to his stock, and is carrying on a flourishing business. He is a member of two fraternal societies, the E. F. U. and the M. W. A., and of the Catholic church. He is a Republican in his political pre- ferments. He married Miss Gertrude Neiderprim, who was born at Kenosha, in 1860. Their four children, all living, are Albert J. ; Einma M .; Russel B .; and Marie M.

Frank P. Maher, passenger conductor on the Chicago & North- western railroad, whose home is at 1037 Jenifer street. Madison. was born in Dane county on April 7. 1859. His parents were Mark and Catherine (Fardy) Maher, both natives of County Wexford, Ireland. The father was a farmer in the old country who came to the United States in 1849. His wife followed the next year and they were married in Madison in 1853. The father worked a farm after settling here. His death occurred in March, 1886. at the age of seventy-six. His widow died August 21, 1902, in her eighty- third year. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of the three children in the family. William is living on the old home- stead and Patrick died in infancy. Frank P. Maher was educated in the Blooming Grove district schools, completing his scholastic work with a course in the capital city schools. His first employ- ment after the completion of his studies was as a laborer for the same railroad that he is now working for. Subsequently he be- came a brakeman, in which position he served three years. In 1883 he was promoted to the position of passenger conductor and has served as such ever since. His record is one of the best. He has never had a serious accident. On November 3, 1895, he mar- ried Miss Delphine Grogan, born in Whitewater, Wis., and a daughter of Bernard and Agnes (Hannagan) Grogan. Her father was a blacksmith who came to the United States from Ireland when twenty-one years of age. His death occurred April 27, 1900, in his sixty-eight year. The widow is still living, a resident of Jefferson county, Wis. Mrs. Maher is one of eight children. all of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Maher have six children .- Agnes Catherine and Mary Iva, members of the Madison high school classes of 190; and 1908 respectively, Frank Bernard, Jen- nie Clare, William Raymond and Bernard Joseph. Like the an- cestors on both sides the family are all members of the Catholic church. The father is a member of the Catholic Knights and of the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors.

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Edwin Dakin Main, a resident of the village of Oregon, was born November 3, 1847, being a native of Dane county and of the town wherein he has spent all the years of his useful life. His father, Rob- ert P. Main, was born in North Stonington, Conn., and his grand- father, Rial Main, was a native of the same state. Tracing still farther back we find that the great-grandfather of our subject, whose name was David Main, was a captain in the Revolutionary War. The grandfather followed the trade of a ship-builder in Connecticut until 1853, and then came to Wisconsin, settling in the city of Madison, where he built a home and spent the remainder of his years. He was well educated, and after he had reached the age of sixty years he taught several terms of school. The maiden name of his wife was Eunice Palmer, a native of Connecticut, and she also spent her last days in Madison. Robert P. Main attended school very steadily until he was seventeen years old, then began teaching, and at the age of eighteen went south, where he taught in several states, but finally drifted to Cincinnati, and thence to Clinton county, Ohio, where he met and married Miss Cordelia, daughter of Preserved Dakin. She was born in Oakland, Clinton county, and her ancestors were among those who came to this country in the Mayflower. Her father, Pre- served Dakin, left his home in New York in the year 1804, and set- tled in Ohio on a tract of land containing one thousand five hundred acres, all in one body, which he purchased of the government and upon which he resided until his death. Mr. Main continued to reside in Ohio until 1843, when, with his wife and three children, he started with a team and made an extended journey to Bureau county, Ill. Two years were spent there, but as the locality at that time seemed unhealthy, in 1845 they started again with team and made an over- land journey to Dane county, Wis. At that time northern Illinois and the entire state of Wisconsin had but few settiers, and the greater portion of the land was still owned by the government. There were but few roads, and in making the journey hither Mr. and Mrs. Main followed the trail marked by the first team driven from Janesville to

Madison by Mr. Stoner. The parents of our subject located in the town of Oregon, where the father selected a tract of land in section thirteen, and there built a log house in which E. Dakin Main was born. The father went back to Ohio to collect some money that was due him, and upon his return to Oregon bought one hundred and twenty acres more at government prices. The family resided for three years on the land first purchased and then moved to the other farm. At that time there were no railroads, and all the grain had to be hauled to Milwaukee, entailing much time and labor. The father

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improved his farm and occupied the place until 1864, when he sold it and bought three hundred and seventy-six acres in the town of Rut- land, where he lived until 1868, and then moved to the village of Or- egon. There he lived in retirement until his death, which occurred in 1882, and his estimable wife lived to the advanced age of ninety years, dying on July 4, 1902. These honored pioneers were the par- ents of eight children: Mary Frances, who is unmarried and resides at Stoughton, Wis .; Louisa, deceased; Hattie, now Mrs. Glass, of Har- vard, Ill .; Martha, deceased; E. Dakin, whose name introduces this memoir; Anna, now Mrs. Comstock, of Oregon; Alice, now Mrs. Ames, of Brooklyn, and Robert Walter, who resides in Columbia Falls, Montana. Robert P. Main was formerly a Whig, but became a Republican at the formation of that party. He was public-spirited, and filled various offices of trust, being elected to the state legisla- ture in 1856. E. Dakin Main received his early education in the dis- trict school, supplemented by attendance at a select school in the village of Oregon, and in 1870 he took charge of his father's farm. This was located in Rutland, and here he operated until 1876, when he located on a farm of three hundred and twenty acres that he still owns, on section thirty-one of the town of Fitchburg. At the time he purchased this large and valuable tract of land he was able to pay only $1,000 of the purchase price, but by his untiring industry and good business ability, aided by his noble wife, the entire debt was paid off in a few years, and he was in a position of ease, if not of af- fluence. He followed general farming and stock raising, including the raising of horses and Shetland ponies, and resided on his farm for sixteen years. In the fall of 1892 he rented his farm out, and. purchasing a tract of sixty acres adjoining the village of Oregon, e- rected the most beautiful residence in that section of the county, where he has since resided; and though he deals extensively in real estate, he is living practically a retired life. Mr. Main was married Novem- ber 26, 1872, to Miss Julietta Chapin, who was born in the town of Union, Rock county, on June 2, 1853. Her parents were Thomas P. and Amanda (Ellsworth) Chapin, and it may be truthfully said that the family was one of the first in Wisconsin. Mrs. Main has three sisters and two brothers living, there having been eight children born to her parents. Those living, besides herself are as follows : Anna now Mrs. Burgess of Beloit, Wis., Emma now Mrs. Buckman, of Brooklyn. Dane county: Fred and James who reside on the old homestead in Rock county; and Lillian, who is now Mrs. Martin of Beloit. To E. Dakin Main and wife have been born five children, all of whom are members of the home circle : Celia H., Florence E., .

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who is a teacher in the Brooklyn high school; Della. a student in the musical department of the University of Wisconsin; Stanley D., and Lillian H. In politics Mr. Main is a Republican and he has served on the county board of supervsors and was president of the vil- lage of Oregon one term, was also a member of the town board of Fitchburg for several terms. He has always taken a deep interest in all public enterprises, is highly esteemed by by a wide circle of friends, and is a man of strict intergrity and high moral character. In his so- cial relations he is a member of the Masonic lodge at Oregon.

Willett S. Main was born in Edmeston, Otsego county, N. Y., August 15, 1828, son of Alfred and Samantha (Stillman) Main. His father, grandfather, Laban Main, and his great grand-father were all natives of North Stonington, Conn .; the great, great- grandfather was the pioneer of the family in America, and came to this country from England in colonial times. Alfred Main was married at the age of eighteen, in Otsego county, N. Y., his wife Samantha Stillman, being in her fifteenth year. She was the daughter of Rev. Willett and Soviah (Noyes) Stillman, of the same county and state. In 1833 our subject's father emigrated with his family of wife and three children to Allegany county. where he engaged in farming and lumbering until 1846, when he sold and came to Wisconsin territory. He traveled by team to Buffalo, thence by lake to Milwaukee, and then by team to Wau- kesha, where he remained until 1847, and then came to Madison, dying on his farm, four miles east of the city at the age of seventy- seven. Willett S. was only nineteen at the date of his arrival in Madison in February. 1847, and walked into town. He was ap- pointed under-sheriff in 1851, serving for two years, and was elected sheriff in 1852, also serving in that office for two years. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits with his brother, Alexan- der H., until 1860, when he again served as under-sheriff for two years, and then as sheriff for the same period. He was alternately under-sheriff and sheriff until 1871, when he was appointed deputy United States marshal. This position he held up to the time of his death, with the exception of the periods. 1885-89, and 1893-92. Mr. Main was a life-long Republican, and served as a delegate to the different county, district and state conventions, and represented Dane county in the state senate, 1889 to 1893. He was for many years president of the Monona Lake Assembly, one of the largest so-called "Chatauquas" in the country, and much of its success is due to his efficient labors. He married in 1855 Eliza A. Jenison, a native of Indianapolis, the daughter of Hon.

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Samuel and Melvina (Wingate) Jenison, by whom he had two sons, Hamilton W. and Frank J., now engaged in business in Madi- son. Mrs. Main died January 15, 1866, and in June of the follow- ing year, Mr. Main married Sophia L. Smith, a native of Roches- ter, Windsor county, Vermont, daughter of Samuel N. and Lois (Williams) Smith. There are four children of the second marri- age: Susie, wife of Charles P. Spooner, Annie E., John and Lois. Mr. Main was an active member of the Baptist church from the age of twenty-one, and was a trustee from 1852. His death took place July 5, 1902; and his wife and six children survive him.

Thomas Harvey Mair is a successful dealer in grain, coal, wood, farm machinery, carriages, etc., at Morrisonville, where he has for some years been engaged in mercantile pursuits. Of Scotch ori- gin, his parents. Charles and Margaret (Caldrow) Mair, came to Wisconsin when they were children. Charles Mair was the son of Thomas and Anna (Jameson) Mair, who settled in Lima, Rock county, Wis., in 1849. Later they owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Columbia county, where Mrs. Mair died. Mr. Ma'r lives in Poynette. Charles Mair, their son, was born in 1845, was educated in Columbia county and engaged in farming. He married Miss Margaret Caldrow, whose parents also resided in Columbia county and he now resides in Poynette, Wis. Mr. Mair was prominent in local politics, was supervisor in Arlington and assessor and treasurer though not identified with any political party. Mrs. Mair was a leader in the Presbyterian church of Ar- lington until her death in 1893. Their son, Thomas Harvey, was born in Columbia county, October 29, 1867. attended the Arling- ton school and the Poynette high school and worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-four years old. He then was employed by Jamieson Bros., at Arlington, in the grain business for two years, when he moved to Morrisonville and was in partnership with Jamieson Bros. in the same business. In February 1902, Gil- bert P. Rockstead bought the interest of the Jamieson Bros. and the firm became Mair, Rockstead & Co. January 1, 1905, the Rock- stead interest was purchased by Mr. Mair, who now owns the en- tire business. Mr Mair is a Democrat. and has been a member of the board of Windsor township. June 20, 1894, he married Miss Nett'e Robertson, who was born in Columbia county. Wis., daugh- ter of Robert and Maggie (Patton) Robertson, who reside on a farm in the town of Arlington. Columbia county, Wis. Mr. Rob- erton is a native of Scotland and his wife was born in Milwaukee.

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Mr. and Mrs. Mair have one son, Roswell Charles. The family at- tend the Arlington United Presbyterian church.

John Maly, a large farmer and prominent citizen of Springfield. was born in Bohemia, October 4, 1842. He is the son of John Maly, Sr., (born 1806) and Ella (Zizska) Maly, (born 1808). The parents. of Bohemian birth, came to New York in December, 1853, and after remaining there a short time came to Sauk City, Wis., and the following year located on a farm of eighty acres in the town of Roxbury. John Maly Sr., was a shoemaker by trade, but he followed the custom of most of the pioneers, and found that the breaking of virgin soil and the improvements necessary on a farm in a new country left little energy for other occupation. He iden- tified himself with the life of the community which he had entered and took part in its politics as a supporter of the Democratic party. He died at Roxbury in 1873 and his wife in 1877. Of the six children born to him, four are still living. John Maly, Jr., born in Bohemia, spent the first eleven years of his life and began his edu- cation in his native land. This he supplemented by study for two winters in the school of Roxbury, to which place he came with his parents in 1854. He followed his father as a farmer, and owned in Roxbury, a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which he sold to his brother, Rev. Joseph Maly, and removed, in 1880 to the town of Springfield. There, to his first purchase of eighty acres, he added from time to time until he became one of the largest land- holders in that vicinity, and out of his estate of seven hundred acres he has been able to provide homes for his children, and is still a well-to-do farmer with two hundred and forty-five acres for a homestead ; this he runs for general agricultural purposes and for stock-raising. A Democrat in politics, he has been elected a supervisor of Springfield for ten years and is now chairman, a po- sition which he has held for five successive years. He was mar- ried in 1866 to Miss Mary Germinder, who was born in Germany and is the daughter of Franc Germinder. Their only son, Norbert, is a prosperous farmer of Dane, owing a property of two hundred and twenty acres. Mrs. Maly died in 1868, and the following year Mr. Maly married Miss Mary Pertzborn, who was also German by birth, and who came with her parents, Mathias and Wolfborga (Allen) Pertzborn, from Germany to Springfield in 1852. Mr. Pertzborn died in 1894 and his wife in 1890. Mary (Pertzborn) Maly was one of a family of eleven children, seven of whom sur- vive their parents. Mr. Maly has eight children by his second marriage, all of whom are living; Henry, Anna, John, Maggie,

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History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 61

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