USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 71
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John Nicholas Paltz, manufacturer of rugs, whose place of busi- ness is at 124 West Mifflin street, is a native of Dane county. He was born in Cross Plains April 5, 1855. He is a son of Peter and Mary (Krantz) Paltz, both natives of Germany. His paternal
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grandfather died while a soldier serving in the Napoleonic war. Peter Paltz, although he is past eighty-four years of age, is hale and hearty, and makes his home on a farm in the town of Cross Plains. He is one of the pioneers of the county, having come here in 1848, the year of the organization of the state. For two terms he served as town treasurer. His wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in 1872 at the age of thirty-nine. There are nine children in the family, of whom John N. is the second. The others are Catherine, the wife of Matthew Koch. a resident of Dixon county, Nebraska ; Barbara, the wife of William Riddle. of Dixon county, Nebraska ; Mary, who married Joseph Mausbach, a mason of Madison ; Peter lives in Madison ; Adam died in 1903 at the age of thirty-nine; Anna, now Mrs. William Stoppelort of Cross Plains, who lives on the old homestead; Matthew, proprietor of the Park bowling alleys in Madison; and George, in partnership with Matthew. John N. Paltz was educated in the common schools of Cross Plains. After the completion of his scholastic work he labored on his father's farm until he had attained his majority and then learned the shoemakers' trade. This vocation he followed for ten years, part of the time conducting a shop of his own, where . he employed four men, in Calliope, Sioux county, Ia. In 1885 he returned to Madison and entered the grocery business in the firm of Esser & Paltz. This partnership continued for five years, when Mr. Paltz bought out his partner's interest. Later he closed out his grocery, but seven years after he again entered the same business, his store occupying the present site of the Hub Cloth- ing Company. When it was impossible to renew the lease of the building he withdrew from that line of trade and started, in Sep- tember, 1903, the rug manufactury which he has since been success- fully managing. He employs anywhere from three to ten men as the exigencies of the seasons demand. On May 8, 1883, Mr. Paltz was united in marriage to Catherine, a daughter of Jacob and Sophie Esser. Mr. Esser is a retired mason contractor. His wife died February 19, 1904, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mrs. Paltz is one of the five surviving members of a family of six chil- dren. By her marriage to Mr. Paltz she is the mother of three sons and three daughters. These in the order of their ages, are Peter Thomas, Jacob Frank, Margaret Gertrude, George, Amelia and Catherine. The family are members of the Catholic church. Mrs. Paltz is a member of the Women's Auxiliary of the Catholic Foresters and her husband is a Catholic Woodman. Mr. Paltz is of that thrifty German stock which makes a success of every-
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thing undertaken. He is one of the valuable and worthy citizens of the community, kindly, courteous and ever responsive to the pleas of suffering humanity.
John Barber Parkinson, vice president of the University of Wis- consin and professor of constitutional and international law, was born near Edwardsville, Madison county, Ill .. April 11, 1834, son of Peter and Valinda (Barber) Parkinson. Peter was born in Carter county, Tennessee, in 1805 and came to southern Illinois with his parents when he was a boy. Valinda Barber was a native of North Carolina. Edwardsville was not considered a healthful locality by its early settlers and in 1836, the Parkinson family of father, mother and two little children, Margaret and John, moved to southwest- ern Wisconsin, where an uncle of Peter Parkinson, Col. Daniel M. Parkinson, had resided since 1827. Peter purchased a large farm in Fayette, La Fayette county, and was there joined a few years later, by his father, William Parkinson. The latter was one of a family of five brothers, each over six feet in height, whose feats of physical prowess were celebrated even in that day of hardy fron- tiersmen. The name of Fort Defiance, built and defended by Col. D. M. Parkinson during the Black Hawk War, was characteristic of the man. The family of Peter and Valinda Parkinson num- bered eight children. The oldest died in infancy; Margaret mar- ried Robert Trousdale and died in 1853; Harriet died in infancy ; Sarah (deceased) was the wife of Alfred Marcy; James and Wil- liam died in infancy ; John and Carroll, the latter reading clerk of the United States senate, are the only survivors. The second wife of Peter Parkinson was Margaret McKee and five children were born to this marriage; Valinda (deceased), Eugene, Jason (deceased), Mina and Bell. John B. attended school at Fayette and in 1850 entered the preparatory department of Beloit College. In 1852 he took charge of an expedition fitted out by his father to cross the plains to California, and, after several years in the west, returned in 1855 and entered the University of Wisconsin in 1856 where, in 1860, he received the degree of A. B. with the highest honors. He was immediately appointed tutor, after one year was elected the first county superintendent of La Fayette county, was for several years in charge of the Fayette select school .- a private school very popular at that time, which graduated many men who have since become prominent in the commonwealth,-received his M. A. in 1863 and was made a member of the board of univer- sity regents in 1866. Among the names of the pupils of Professor Parkinson at Fayette are Senator R. M. La Follette and his sister,
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Mrs. Siebecker, Bishop Bashford of the Methodist Episcopal church. Hon R. M. Bashford, John W. Bashford of Hudson and Hon. A. F. Warden, at one time chairman of the Democratic state central committee of Wisconsin. In 1867 Mr. Parkinson was elected professor of mathematics of the University and in 1873 be- came professor of civil polity and international law, which position he resigned in 1874. He purchased a one-fourth interest in the Madison Democrat in 1871 and edited it from 1874 to 1876. In 1871 he served as chairman of the Democratic state central com- mittee and in 1876 was appointed a member of the Wisconsin state board of centennial managers of which he was made presi- dent. In 1876, Mr. Parkinson again became a member of the University faculty and held the chair of civil polity and political economy until 1893. when his chair was changed to that of consti- tutional and international law, which he now holds. Since 1885 he has been vice president of the University. Professor Parkinson is an educator of the school which holds social and moral training and example essentials of the good teacher and has always been a favorite among the students. He has been longer in active service than any other member of the instructional force of the University and the influence of his kindly personality has impressed itself upon a wide circle of alumni in whose individual careers he takes the liveliest interest. Prof. Parkinson has lectured in many Wis- consin cities in connection with the work of University Ex- tension, is a life member and curator of the State Historical Asso- ciation of Wisconsin, a member of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, of the National Historical Association and also of the National Political Science Association. In Decem- ber. 1861, he married Miss Frances Jane Gray, born in Mineral Point. December 4, 1838, daughter of Major Robert Gray and Lucy (Monroe) Gray. Eight children were born to the marriage; Mar. shall M., Mary (deceased), the wife of A. T. Schroeder, John Mon- roe, Ben Carroll, Henry Gray, Stanley Barber (deceased), Harriet and Myra.
Andrew S. Parsons, retired, whose family is identified with the early progress and development of Dane county, was born at Moravia, Cayuga county, N. Y., October 12, 1833, a son of Anson G. and Nancy (Thompson) Parsons. His paternal grandparents, Moses and Chloe Parsons, were the parents of twelve children, two of whom died in in- fancy. Daniel, the eldest, was familiarly known as "Major" all his life. His death occurred at Forestville, N. Y. Anson G., the sub- ject's father, passed the last thirty years of his life at Oregon, Dane
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county. Aaron was a shoe-maker who passed away at Moravia, N. Y. Warren was the incumbent of the office of warden of the New York state prison at Auburn when his death occurred. John, a min- ister of the Gospel of the Baptist faith, was stricken down while on a Mississippi river steamboat bound for his home in Minneapolis. Reuben died while still young. Sarah, the wife of Solomon Davis, died at Garretsville, N. Y., as did Susan, wife of Griffin Briggs; Eu- nice, wife of Charles Albert Wheeler; and Harriet, wife of Nathaniel Aylesworth. Anson G. Parsons first saw the light of day in Spring- field township, Otsego county, N. Y., September 8, 1789 and there grew to manhood. After his marriage to Nancy Thompson, which occurred January 8, 1823, he lived in Moravia, N. Y. many years. Nancy Thompson was born July 30, 1802, in New Hampshire and until she was two years old lived in the state of Maine. With her fa- ther and mother, John and Hannah (Healy) Thompson, she then re- moved to Madison county, N. Y. Her father died August 31, 1818 in his fifty-first year, the mother when she was ninety-four. Of the ten children in the Thompson family the following facts are of. in- terest : Abigail, born January 29, 1794, became the wife of Aaron Parsons. She died at Moravia, N. Y .; John, born October 1I, 1796, a farmer, died in Chautauqua county, N. Y .; Betsey, born November 20, 1798, wife of John Kelly, died at Lancaster. Wis .; Washington, born January 28, 1800, died while a farmer in Chautauqua county, N. Y .; Nancy, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in Or- egon, Wis .. March 15, 1881; Seth, a twin brother of Mrs. Parsons. died on his farm near Ann Arbor, Mich. ; Lydia, three times married, -to Asa Foster, James Eddy, and Ira Knight,-succumbed to injuries received in a railroad accident at her home at Gaines, Genesee county. Mich., November 28, 1892; Jane, born September 13, 1807. became the wife of Daniel Bush and died at Whitewater, Wis. ; Clarissa, born January 12, 1810, was the widow of James Pratt and died at Fenton in Gencsee county, Mich., March 24, 1906, over ninety-six years old ; and Naomi the youngest, born June 1, 1813, becaine the wife of John Felt and died in young motherhood, leaving two children. From Mo- ravia, Anson Parsons removed his family to Ledyard, N. Y., where he operated a mill for two years ; the following two years found him at Dresserville engaged in the same business and two years after at Milan. In 1850 he came west by way of the Great Lakes to Mil- waukee, thence by team to Oregon, Dane county, where he purchased a small piece of land in section 12, now a part of the village of Or- egon. Here he worked as carpenter and farmer until he was obliged to retire because of advanced age. His death occurred February 15,
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1881 in his ninety -- second year. His widow passed away just one month later. Both were ardent advocates of the abolition and tem- perance causes. The family consisted of four, daughters and two sons. Beside the subject of this sketch there were Eliza Ann, born February 8, 1824, who became the wife of Nelson Winston, and lives at Evansville, Wis .; Jane T., born March 3, 1826, became the wife of Ambrose Spencer and died at Sparta, Wis., May 13, 1858; Harriet, wife of Daniel Briggs, was born September 23, 1827, and now lives at Ironton, Sauk county, Wis. ; Josephine, born November 14, 1829, became the wife of Tristram Story and now lives at Evansville, Wis .; and Henry, born April 23, 1843, died June 27, 1847.
Andrew S. Parsons received what education the district schools of New York and Wisconsin afforded and then served an apprentice- ship as carpenter to his father until 1856. That year he went to Mon- roe county, Wis., to engage in mercantile business, but after a short time returned to Oregon and worked at his trade. In 1861 he was appointed deputy sheriff of the county, holding the office until 1864 at which time he enlisted as a recruit in Company F, Thirty-third Wis- consin Infantry. With the regiment he was a participant in the Red river expedition. Tupelo, Miss., and in the forests and swamps of Ark- ansas and Missouri suffering much from cold and hunger ; in the fight at Nashville which practically destroyed Hood's army ; the reduction of the Mobile forts, and a march through Alabama of one hundred and fifty miles, seventy-five miles being through a pine wilderness. When the Thirty-third was discharged Mr. Parsons was transferred to the elev- enth Wisconsin, and served some five weeks longer. On his return he went to work at his trade, later was deputy sheriff again and con- stable, and still later engaged in agricultural pursuits near Oregon on a farm of one hundred acres. Subsequently he sold this farm, im- proved and rebuilt on fourteen acres in the village adjoining the old homestead and is now building on a lot in Parsons addition. On An- gust 31, 1857, he was united in marriage to Louisa W., daughter of Stodderd S. and Patty (Wait) Johnson, pioneers of the state, coming here in 1844. Mr. Johnson was born on January 28, 1807, and his wife on July 5. 1806. Their marriage occurred at Solon, N. Y., Jan- uary 13, 1831, and their six children were Louisa W., (Mrs. Parsons), born May 3, 1834: Gilbert C., born April 16, 1836, died January 5. 1873: Laura, born March 10, 1840, died April 1, 1841 : Riley W., born September 12, 1842, Isaac S., born February 21. 1847, died April 17, 1848. Mrs. Johnson died June 21, 1872, and her husband November 20, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons have seven children. Minnie M. I ... ,
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born October 29, 1858, married Harvey G. Fox, of Brookings, S. D., and is the mother of four children, Bertha M., Hubert H., Merle E. and Forest W. Hubert A .. born October 12, 1860, married Mary Barker, and has two daughters Burl L. and Bula; their home is in Brookpark, Minn .; Elmer S., born August 25, 1862, married Etta Doughty. They have two children, Howard and Alice Louisa, and live at Ogilvie, Minn. Charles A., born December 13, 1869, married Estella Wilcox, by whom he has one daughter, and two sons, and died January 5, 1906. The other members of the family are Laura J., born January 27, 1874 ; married Elmer S. Rogers and they have one daughter and two sons; Ira S. born March 26, 1876, and Rena B., born February 1, 1878, married S. L. Porter and has one daughter and one son. Mr. Parsons like his parents, is a stanch bearer of the banner of temperance and is identified with many organizations seeking to promote its advancement. Since 1855 he has been a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars. having been a charter member of the first lodge at Oregon, now a member of Capitol lodge. No. 1, Madison, Wis. He has held all the offices of the local society and was state district and lodge deputy for years. He also was a member of the Cadets of Tem- perance, the Sons of Temperance and the Temple of Honor, I. O. of O. F. and G. A. R. In his political relations Mr. Parsons is af- filiated with the Prohibition party. Prior to 1884, however, he had been an active radical, Republican from the time of the organization of that party. For many years he was an energetic Sunday school worker and for about twenty-four years has traveled in the employ of several publishing companies in the collecting department.
William K. Parsons, a well-known merchant of Marshall and at one time a farmer in the town of Medina, is one of Dane county's old residents. His parents, Urbane Parsons and Mary (Dewey) Parsons, were natives of Massachusetts and lived for a time in Crawford county, Pa., where Mrs. Parsons died. Mr. Parsons' second wife was Miss Fannie Sheldon, who came with him to Mar- shall in 1848, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Parsons died in 1890 and his wife in 1892, aged ninety-six years. Mr. Parsons was a cooper and prominent in the village. For twenty years he held the office of clerk of the town. William K. Parsons was born October 30, 1828, in Crawford county, Pa., at- tended school in Pennsylvania and came with his parents to Mar- shall when he was twenty years old. For many years he owned and operated a farm in the town of Medina and sold it to open a store in Marshall. He has always been active in the affairs of the
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village and has been chairman of the board of supervisors and prominent on the school board. He has also held the position of treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Protective Fire Insurance Co. In 1852, he married Miss Ann Hart, a native of England, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Hart, who came to Dane county in 1845. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parsons; Orlando, who resides in Los Angeles, Cal; Mary, who lives at home ; Charles, de- ceased; Laura, the wife of Gus. L. Kaiser; and Fannie, who is Mrs. Ray Miller. Mrs. Parsons died in August, 1883, and Mr. Parsons married a second time, his wife being Mrs. Paulina L. Cole. Mr. Parsons was for a long time associated with the Good Templars and Temple of Honor and was also a member of the Grange; but at the present time has retired from the cares of an active business life.
George M. Patterson, of Stoughton, a prominent retired farmer and business man, is one of the popular citizens of his home city. He is the owner of valuable real-estate in the county, and to the man- agement of the same he now gives the major portion of his attention. Mr. Patterson is a native of Dane county and is a representative of one of its pioneer families. He was born in Pleasant Springs town- ship, January 21, 1851, and is a son of Jacob M. and Mary A. (Stew- ard) Patterson. His paternal grandfather, John Patterson, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1802, and while he was a child his parents re- moved thence to Trumbull county, Ohio, being numbered among the first settlers of Brookfield township, where the son was reared to man- hood and where he learned the trade of wheelwright. Later he de- devoted much of his time to the manufacture of wooden clocks, for which he found a ready demand throughout the pioneer community. In 1823 he married Elizabeth Meyers, who was of Welsh descent, and they became parents of four sons and five daughters. In 1846 the family came to Wisconsin and number themselves among the pioneers of Dane county, settling on section 5, Pleasant Springs township, where John Patterson continued to reside the greater portion of the time until 1870, when he removed to Grundy county, Iowa, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. He was thus a pioneer of three different states in the Union. Jacob M. Patterson, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, September 22, 1825, and was there reared and educated. At the age of twenty-one he accompanied his parents on their removal to Dane county, Wisconsin, and he secured one hundred and twenty acres of wild land in section 5, Pleasant Springs township, later adding
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to its area until he was the owner of two hundred and forty acres, the greater portion of which he reclaimed to cultivation. In 1849 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary A. Steward, who was born in York county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Charles and Margaret (Heyer) Steward, and who came to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1842. Of this union were born nine children: George M. is the immediate subject of this review; Tabitha M. is the wife of Peter Hurd; Lorena J. is unmarried; Alma D. is the wife of William Pennewell; Eunice C. is unmarried; Charles F. married Jennie Killion; Harley J. was the next in order of birth; William E. married Miss Stella Sager; and Frank F. married Miss Minnie Killion. George M. Patterson was reared on the old homestead which was the place of his birth and his educational advantages were those of the common schools of his lo- cality. He continued to be associated in the work of the home farm until he had attained to his legal majority, when he purchased a farm of sixty acres, in Pleasant Springs township. He sold this property in 1880 and then purchased one hundred and twenty acres in Dunn township, a tract which he still owns. He continued actively identi- fied with agricultural pursuits until 1893, when he took up his resi- dence in Stoughton, where he engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock, in which he continued for five years. He then established himself in agricultural-implement business, which he followed suc- cessfully for the ensuing six years, since which time he has lived practically retired, maintaining a general supervision of his farm and also giving attention to the selling of his attractive lots along the shore of Lake Kegonsa. He is a supporter and attendant of the Baptist church of Stoughton, of which Mrs. Patterson is a member, and his political allegiance is given to the Republican party. Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen of the World. February 28, 1880, Mr. Patterson was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Pennewell, daughter of John and Hannah M. (Miller) Pennewell, of Stoughton, and the children of this union are three in number: Floyd M., Ray W. and Hazel M. Floyd M. married Miss Pearl Page.
Jesse G. Patterson, postmaster at Cambridge and owner and editor of the Cambridge News, was born in Jefferson, Jefferson county, Wis., August 24, 1860, a son of Joseph B. and Sarah M. Pat- terson. The father was born in New York state and the mother in Kentucky. The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812, receiving some fourteen bullet wounds. He lived to the ripe old age of ninety-two years, passing away at the home of his son Joseph. His remains are at rest in the Hebron, Wis., cemetery. The
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first account of the mother's family is their settlement in Virginia, where the maternal grandmother of the subject of this sketch was captured by the Cherokee Indians during one of their raids and held as a hostage for three days. On both sides Mr. Patterson is of Scotch ancestry. He served his apprenticeship as a printer in the office of the Jefferson Banner and was foreman for a year of the Oconomowoc Local. Subsequently for a number of years he had charge of the Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter, editing and publishing it until its present editor, Mr. Coon, removed from Oconomowoc to Ed- gerton and assumed charge. June 26, 1886, Mi. Patterson estab- lished the Edgerton Index which for six years he continued to edit and publish. In 1892 he sold the plant to W. H. Bennett and removed to Milwaukee, but remained in the latter place only a year. purchasing in 1893 the Cambridge News and changing his place of residence to that village. He has since been sole owner and editor of the publica- tion, which has met with much favor, both in its own vicinity and clse- where. His political affiliations are with the Republican party, but aside from the office of postnraster to which he was appointed by Pres- ident Mckinley in 1898 and which he still holds, he has never accepted positions of public trust. January 8, 1882, he was married to Miss Grace F. Bands, daughter of James and Addie F. (Birge) Bands of Jefferson. To this union have been born six daughters .- Zenia M., Gretchen A., Dorothea, Jessie Hobart. Cecelia and Eliza- beth. Mr. Patterson is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Equitable Fraternal Union and the Beavers. He is widely and favorably known throughout the county.
Edward F. Paunack, stone dealer of Madison, residing at 811 Uni versity avenue, was born in Madison, April 16, 1863. His parents were Frederick and Amelia (Landman) Paunack, natives of Saxony, Germany, where the father learned the stone cutters' trade. In 1849 Frederick Paunack left his native land and sailed for America. For three years after his arrival he lived and worked in Baltimore, Md., and in 1852 came to Madison. The university buildings and the state capitol were in course of construction and Mr. Paunack obtained work at his trade without difficulty. In a few years he had saved enough to enable him to purchase a stone business, which he actively managed until his death in 1876, at the age of forty-seven years. Both he and his wife were active members of the German Presbyterian church. His wife is still living, making her home with her son. Of nine child- ren in the family there are but two living, Ida, Mrs. Michael Zwicky, of Chicago, and Edward F., the subject of this sketch. Edward F.
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Paunack received his education in the Madison public schools. At the age of fifteen he started in to learn the stone business and at the age of twenty-one he took over the direction and management of the busi- ness left by his father. He has made an immense success, and is rec- ognized in the commercial world as a man of thorough, safe methods. He furnishes a goodly portion of the stone used in macadamizing Mad- ison streets. A younger brother, Frederick W. Paunack, who died in Madison, May 4, 1904, was an architect, well and favorably known in Madison. He had worked in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, Ia., and had been a member of the firm of Gordon and Paunack. Four months before his death he became associated with his cousin, under the firm name of Paunack & Paunack. His widow nee Emma Slamer, still makes Madison her home. Edward F. Paunack is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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