History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 80

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 80

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Irving J. Sanderson, a prosperous farmer of the town of Black Earth, was born at Middleville, Herkimer county, N. Y., April 12, 1844. His parents were Joseph and Mary Ann ( Farmer) Sanderso., natives of the same county, where the father was a carpenter. Both parents died in the county of their nativity, leaving six children, EstherA., now Mrs. Taber, of Herkimer, N. Y .; Irving J .. the sub- ject of this sketch; Alice, Mrs. Jackson, of Middleville, N. Y. (de-

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ceased) ; Viola and Hattie, who died young ; Frank H., now a resident of Vallejo, California. Irving J. Sanderson was educated in the dis- trict schools of New York. On August 6, 1862, lie enlisted in Con- pany C. One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Infantry. This regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and saw service in the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg and the Wilderness, where Mr. Sanderson was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville prison. Later he was moved to Florence stockade and then transferred. After a sixty-days furlough he rejoined his regiment before Petersburg, and when hostilities ceased went with it to Washington, but was too ill to take part in the grand review. In July, 1865, he received his honor- able discharge and returned home where he started making cheese. In 1875 he came west. settling on one hundred and thirty-three and one half acres of the old Manwaring place which he purchased. Later he added some ninety-six acres to this, and has generally improved the farm. He has continued making cheese while carrying on general farming, and for over forty years has been known as a famous cheese maker. In politics he works for the success of the Republican party, but has never aspired to office. On June 16, 1877, he married Emma S., daughter of William and Amanda Snyder Manwaring, both natives of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Manwaring were married September 22, 1851, at Burlington, Wis., where he had come in 1849 and his wife had come two years earlier. In 1853 they moved onto an eighty acre farm in the town of Mazomanie, and later onto the one hundred and sixty acre place where the subject of this sketch now resides. Mrs. Sand- erson was the second of three children, the others being George, now living in Black Earth, and Arthur H .. now a resident of Spring Green, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson have had five children : Bessie, died No- vember 26, 1903: William J., lives at home with his parents ; Mabel, died December 14. 1888 : Mary, died August 4, 1886; and Lyman, died March 4, 1888.

Hans H. Sater (deceased), at the time of his death superintendent of the plow works at Dubuque, Iowa, was for many years a resident of Madison, Wis. He was born in Norway, December 26, 1842, son of Hulstine Sater, who was a blacksmith and manufacturer of plows. Hans H. attended the public school at his home in Norway and was taught by his father in the art of plow-making. While quite a young man he determined to try his fortunes in America, and, nothing daunted by the fact that he was destitute of money in a strange land, he went bravely to work to follow his trade. His first home in Wis- consin was at Orfordville and here he entered into partnership with a Mr. Mitchell, made plows by hand, did a general blacksmith's work

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and in 1875 engaged in the same business in Brodhead, where he re- mained four years. In October, 1879, Mr. Sater was instrumental in the organization of a company for the manufacture of plows in Du- buque, Iowa, and was made superintendent of the manufacturing department. After ten years he sold his interest in the establishment and moved to Madison, where he was employed by the Fuller & John- son Company for five years as superintendent of the plow department. For two years he retired from active work and then went to Janes- ville, Wis., and superintended the manufacture of plows for the Janes- ville Machine Company. For some years Mr. Sater's health gradu- ally failed, and after his death in 1904, his widow returned to their old home in Madison. For some time Mr. Sater was a partner of Mr. Hanson in the Wisconsin Wagon Company. He married Miss Bar- bara Jensvold, born in Albany, Wis., March 10, 1855, daughter of Christian and Sarah (Gorden) Jensvold. Three children were born to the marriage: Melvin Hjalmar, who is note clerk of the First National Bank of Madison, Wis .; Josephine, who married Herbert Kropf of Chicago, and Ada Charlotte, who lives with her mother. Mr. Sater was identified with the Republican party.

Stephen Perry Saunders is the owner of a fine farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres at Albion, all under cultivation. where he car- ries on an extensive business. He is greatly interested in stock-rais- ing and is a veterinary surgeon. Many fine horses are raised upon his farm besides Durham cattle and Chester White hogs. In 1900 he built the store which he manages at present and where he has also lo- cated the central telephone office. Mr. Saunders is a native of Rhode Island, son of Capt. Perry Saunders of Washington county, who mar- ried Miss Emmeline Crandall of the same county. For thirty years Captain Saunders was a sea captain, navigating mainly the waters be- tween New York and the West Indies. In 1865, with his wife and three children, he came to Albion, Dane county, Wis. and purchased a farm of three hundred and five acres in section 22. He lived there until his death in 1902. Mrs. Saunders died in 1865 and the captain married Sarah Ann Crandall. sister of his first wife, who still lives on the Albion farm. Captain Saunders organized the Albion Fire In- surance Co. and was its treasurer. He also served on the town board and took an active part in the affairs of the town. The family be- longed to the Seventh-day Baptist church of Albion. Three children were born to the first marriage: Stephen P., George L., who is a re- tired farmer of Edgerton, and Mallisa, who married Dr. A. W. Ed- wads and died in 1893. Stephen P. was born in Rhode Island, May 6. 1850, attended the Albion academy and lived with his parents until

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his marriage. January 1. 1873; he married Miss Mary L. Humphrey, who was born in Christiania. daughter of Nathan H. Humphrey, who came to Wisconsin from New York. Mr. Humphrey married Laura A. Neff, also from New York, who died in 1860, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Saunders. Mr. Humphrey's second wife was Miss Louisa Cottrell. They were members of the Episcopal church and lived upon the farm in section 34. Christiania, generally known as the old Humphrey homestead, now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Saunders. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Saunders; Harlow N. died in 1883 ; Oliver Perry attended the Albion academy and resides with his parents ; Nathan Howard attends the Albion academy. Mr. Saunders is a member of the Democratic party but has never desired to hold office. With his family he attends the Methodist Episcopal church.

George C. Sayle, president of the Sayle Building and Manufactur- ing Company, was born in Dane county on the day before Christ- mas, 1865. His ancestry is Irish, his father and mother, George and Mary (DeLaney) Sayle, emigrating from the Emerald Isle in the early fifties. The father was a farmer in a small way in the old country and continued in the same line of work after settling in Dane county. He died in 1891 at the age of seventy. The mother still resides in Madison and although she has passed four score years is still vigorous. George C. Sayle was the fourth in a family of six children: Anna. now Mrs. P. H. Carr of Chicago; Margaret, Mrs. Edward McDonald. died at the age of forty-one; William, died at the age of twenty-one ; George C .; Richard, living in Madison ; and Mary, who died in infancy. Mr. Sayle received his education in the public schools of Madison. He learned his trade in the capital city and in 1890 in partnership with a Mr. Olson established the firm of Olson & Sayle. This concern lasted but a year. and then Mr. Sayle assumed the business himself. Since that time he has built a goodly proportion of the residences and a number of the new school buildings. His increase of busi- ness from year to year is evidence of the fact that his work has been highly satisfactory to his patrons. In the later eighties he served as supervisor of his ward and later served three terms in the city council. In 1892 he married Sarah, daughter of John and Honora (Quinn) Keyes of Madison. Mrs. Keyes died in 1889 and her husband March 2, 1906, at the age of ninety years. They left six children : three sons,-John. William, and Jeremiah, all living in Madison .- and three daughters,-Mary, now Mrs. McMillen of Milwaukee, Miss Elizabeth, and Mrs. Sayle. Mr. and Mrs. Sayle

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have two children, Mary and George. The family are all members of the Catholic church and the father belongs to the Catholic For- esters.

D. J. Scanlon, a prosperous and enterprising farmer in the town of Oregon, whose post-office is Brooklyn, Green county, was born in County Sligo, Ireland, July 4, 1866. He is a son of John and Eliza- beth (Drury) Scanlon, natives of County Sligo, Ireland, where his father was born in 1832 and the mother in 1829. They came to Madi- son together in 1870, the father devoting himself to agricultural pur- suits, and in 1876 removed to the farm on which the subject of this sketch now makes his home. The father's death occurred September 29, 1902. He was a Catholic in his religious affiliations and in polit- ical affairs was identified with the Democratic party. For ten years he was an officer of the board of education of his district. His widow is still living, making her home with her son, D. J. Scanlon, the eldest son. The other two children in the family were Bridget E. (Mrs. Car- roll), deceased, and Michael F., a resident of Stoughton. D. J. Scan- lan attended the district schools of the town of Oregon and then con- pleted his scholastic work with a course in the Northwestern Business College of Madison, since that time merged in the Capital City Com- mercial College. He left school to engage in railroad work in the engineering department, where he remained one year. He left that department to become an employe of the bridge construction division and in 1889 retired from the transportation business to follow the agri- cultural pursuits with his father. Since that time he has been con- tinuously engaged in farming, excepting a year in 1901-1902, when he was the Oregon agent, with Mr. Cullon, for a farm implement firmı. His especial lines are the breeding of short-horn cattle and Poland China swine, which has been both remunerative, and from a scientific standpoint, successful. Politically he is absolutely indepen- dent, casting his vote as his judgment dictates. For the past nine- teen years he has been a member of the district school board. Mr. Scanlan is unmarried. His farm of three hundred acres is one of the best improved places in the county.

Frederick Schenck, a merchant at 2016 Atwood avenue, Madison, was born in Hanover, Germany, March 8, 1848. He is the son of Christian and Marie (Meyer) Schenck, both natives of Germany. The father was a forester for the German government. His birth- place was Bevenson. province of Hanover, but because of the burn- ing of the official records the exact date of birth is not known. It was sometime between 1810 and 1813. He was an excellent work-

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man in his line. His death occurred in June, 1868. The same year his widow came to the United States, with the subject of this sketch, and located in Reedsburg. Wis. Until the time of her death in her seventy-first year, she made her home with a daughter, Dorothea Kroeger. She was a woman of noble qualities. Of her seven children four are still living. Frederick Schenck was the sixth child of the family. He received his education in the schools of his native country, including a musical training, and in 1868 brought his widowed mother to the United States. On his arrival he went to Reedsburg but later in the same year came to Madison. He has been engaged in different occupations. He has played in a band and labored as a painter. During the administration of Gov- ernor Taylor he was employed in the state capitol. He then man- aged an hotel and a mercantile establishment in Leeds for fifteen years and in 1893 returned to Madison. It was then that he estab- lished what has become known as "Schenck's Corners." He has lived in that immediate neighborhood ever since and today con- ducts a general mercantile store there. He inherits his father's love for nature and is greatly interested in gardening and flower raising. On July 10, 1823, Mr. Schenck led to the altar Miss Mina Kelgast, a native of Germany, who came to the United States the same year that he did. Her parents were Fritz and Sophie Kelgast. The father died in Germany and the mother in this country on October 13. 1905. at the age of eighty-eight. Mrs. Schenck is one of six children. of whom five are living. She is the mother of seven children, two of whom, Emma and Ella, died in infancy. Of the others, Matilda is clerk in her father's store. Herbert is employed by a lumber firm in Orfordville. He married Clara Sater, by whom he has one child. Helen. Fredrick is with the Mason-Kipp com- pany of Madison. Elsie and William, the two youngest. are stu- dents in the Madison high school. The family are communicants of St. John's Lutheran church. Mr. Schenck is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and at present is the treasurer of the order. He has held all the offices in the organization to which the local lodge could elect him. He is a type of the thrifty German citizens who in great part are the embodiment of the pros- perity of a community.

Rev. Ernest F. Scherbel, prominent in the Evangelical Lutheran church at Middleton, was born at Gruenlichtenberg, Saxony, April II, 1850. the son of Johann G. and Amalie (Moritz) Scherbel, both natives of Saxony, Germany. His father was active in school and church work up to the time of his death in 1889. Ernest Scherbel was edu-

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cated in the common schools until 1862, subsequently in the Fuersten- schule at Meissen and the Missionschule at Leipzig. On April I, 1870, he was enrolled as a private in the Fifth Escadron of the First Uhlans and served in the Franco-German war, participating in thirty- two engagements. He was decorated with the Iron Cross and in 1897 received a medal on the one hundreth anniversary of the birthday of Emperor William. In September, 1871 he was mustered out as ser- geant and non-commissioned officer. He then was sent as missionary to Marrazo, Africa, and afterward came to America. Of a large fam- ily, Ernest was the only one to come to this country, leaving two brothers and five sisters in the Fatherland. At the age of twenty-five years, he took charge of a church at Wheeling, West Virginia, from which he was called a year later to a parish at Jeffriesburg. Mo. His pastorate here lasted two and one-half years and was followed by a charge at Manchester, Green Lake county, Wis .. five years, after which he moved to Middleton, Wis., in April, 1884. He was married in January, 1878, to Miss Anna Schroeder of Silver Creek, Sheboygan county, daughter of William and Ernestine (Zimmerman) Schroeder. Five children were born to them; the eldest, Alexius, is a bookkeeper for the Standard Oil Co .; the second, Herbert, is a machinist at Mad- ison, Wis .; the third, Olga, is employed at Racine, Wis., and the two youngest daughters, Irma and Deborah, remain at home. Mr. Scher- bel is faithful to the Republican party, though too much occupied with church matters to take a prominent part in politics. As a minister of the church he has been most energetic and successful. Six churches owe their establishments to his efforts and three their restoration to usefulness. At Middleton he has established many substantial im- provements, organized a singing society, a men's choir and a mixed choir. Closely allied with the success of many churches and always able to notably increase the attendance upon those of which he had charge, the celebration of Mr. Scherbel's twenty-fifth anniversary of ordination was an event of importance in church circles. He also officiated at the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the first Lutheran church in the town of Middleton, in 1902, and in 1904, at a similar celebration of St. John's church in the town of Berry.

Charles Schernecker, president and manager of the Interurban Telephone company with offices at Sun Prairie. Wis., has enjoyed a noteworthy career, rising to his present position through his own per- severing efforts. His family home is at North Bristol. He was born at Bristol, Dane county, May 6, 1862, and comes of a family of six sons and one daughter. His parents, Lawrence and May (Stroh-

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menger) Schernecker were natives of Germany, the former being born February 24, 1833. and the latter February 24, 1837. His pa- ternal grandfather was Andrew Schernecker, who was born in Ger- many November 30, 1801, and who, with his wife, Catharine, re- moved to America in 1846, settling in Bristol where he took up eighty acres of land. later adding forty acres to this. He and his wife were ardent Catholics and assisted in building three different churches. They had cight children, six of whom are living. Lawrence received his education in Germany and also in the common schools of Bristol. In politics he was always a stanch member of the Democratic party and he and his family were members of the Catholic church. His wife was the daughter of George Strohmenger, who was born in Germany in 1803. He married Miss Barbara Keller in Germany and came in 1847 to Bristol, where he died in 1880, his wife dying in 1876. They had six children, three of whom are living. Charles Schernecker, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the common schools of Bristol. He engaged in agricultural pursuits until twenty-six years of age, when he removed to the village of North Bristol, in which place he remained for eleven years. After two years spent in the real estate business he became interested in the public telephone service and was one of the originators of the Interurban Telephone company, serving as its president since its organization. In politics he has long becn connected with the Democratic party. He was married Novem- ber 20. 1895, to Miss Florence Arians, the daughter of John and Julia (Sommermeyer) Arians, both early settlers of Bristol township. One child. Mary Julia Alice, has been born to them. Mr. and Mrs. Scher- nencker are both members of the Catholic church.

Frank Schey is the owner and manager of the York Center Creamery, a native of the town of York. He is of German descent . his parents, Jacob and Barbara (Weber) Schey, were born, educated and married in Germany and came to the United States soon after their marriage. They obtained a large farm in York township, cleared and improved it and made it their home for many years. In later life they moved to East Bristol, where Mr. Schey died. East Bristol is still the home of Mrs. Schey. Mr. Schey was a member of the Democratic party and active in its interests. Of h's family of eight children, six are living. The family belongs to the German Cath- olic church. Frank Schey was born on the farm in York, July 3. 1873. attended the home schools and early engaged in farming. His farm is a well-equipped property of two hundred and eighteen acres on which he carries on a general farming business and raises consid- erable stock. He became interested in the creamery business and now

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owns and operates the York Center Creamery which he is now engaged in improving by the addition of a complete and up-to-date new building. Mr. Schey is always active in promoting the best interests of the town and has served it as supervisor. He is a Democrat. February 17, 1894, he married Miss Caroline Trapp, who is a native of Hamden, Wis. Her father, Casper Trapp, and her mother, Verona ( Riedner) Trapp, reside in Columbia county. Mr. and Mrs. Schey have one son, Alexander Henry, born February 17, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Schev attend the German Catholic church. Mr. Schey is a member of the Modern Woodmen and of the Beavers.

Rev. John N. Schiltz, pastor of St. Michael's church of Dane and St. Patrick's church (Catholic), of Lodi, was born in the town of Bel- gium, Ozaukee county, Wis., December 4, 1872. His father, Peter Schlitz, was born in Belgium, January 21, 1841, and his mother, Susan- nah (Freyling) Schlitz, on October 20, 1840. They were married in Belgium and came to the United States in 1868, settling in the town of Belgium, Ozaukee county. Mr Schlitz was a wagon-maker by trade and there kept a shop. There were three sons and three daugh- ters in the family : Michael, (deceased); Michael, of Melrose, Minn., a teacher by profession; Mary, of Theresa, Wis .; John N., the sub- .ject of this sketch; Barbara, of Evanston, Ill .; Rose, of Lake Church, the old homestead. Rev. J. N. Schlitz was educated in the public school of Belgium (later known as Lake Church), and in the parochial school of the same place for one year; he was nine years a student at St. Francis, graduating in 1896. He was assistant pastor at Burling- ton for thirteen months, and four years at St. Anthony's church, Mil- waukee. He served one year at Mt. Horeb and in 1902 was installed in his present position.

Albert G. Schmedeman is the senior member of the firm of Schmedeman & Baillie, proprietors of one of the largest clothing es- tablishments in the city of Madison, and it has been largely to the former's keen practical judgment that their remarkable success has been due. Mr. Schmedeman is a native of Madison, having been born in the city on November 25, 1864, and during all of his mature life he has been identified with its business affairs. He, is the son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Camien) Schmedeman, both natives of Ger- many, who migrated to the United States in 1850. They came di- rectly to Wisconsin. making the trip on the lakes as far as Milwaukee, and then drove across the country to Madison. In his native land the father learned the trade of a tailor, and upon arriving in the capital city he at once opened a shop and began work in that line, being among the first to follow the tailoring business there. He continued

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so engaged for a number of years, well-earned success crowning his efforts, and he is at present living in retirement, his good wife, who was his helpmate in the truest sense of the term, having passed away in 1901. Albert G. Schmedeman was reared to manhood in the city and received his education in the Madison public schools. He bega:1 his independent career as a salesman in the clothing establishment of Olsen, Winden & Veerhusen and continued with that firm for a num- ber of years, thoroughly mastering the details of the business and fit- ting himself for the success that has attended his efforts in later years. The firm of which he is now the senior member was organized in 1888, the name at that time being Winden, Grinde & Schmedeman, but upon the death of Mr. Winden in 1892, MIcssrs. Grinde & Schmede- man became the sole proprietors. Mr. Grinde disposed of his interest a few years later to E. T. Baillie, and the present well-known firm- name has since appeared over the door of the popular place of bus- iness at No. 25 East Main Street, the place it has occupied since it was first established. eighteen years ago. The firm does an extensive business in clothing, gentlemen's furnishings and tailor-made goods, employing from fourteen to twenty tailors and several salesmen, and in addition to the brisk local trade, goods are sent to California, New York, and Texas, as well as to all of the towns surrounding Madison. Mr. Schmedeman is a Democrat in his political tendencies, but he usually maintains an independent attitude, cspecially in local affairs, and supports the men and policies that appeal to his better judgment. He takes a deep interest in civic matters and his ability has been rec- ognized by an election to the position of alderman for the fourth ward of the city of Madison, which function he is now exercising. In his religious faith he is an Episcopal an, and in his fraternal relations he has membership in the Masonic order. the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Modern Woodmen of America, and various German societies. Mr. Schmedeman was married on June 1. 1893, taking as his companion on the journey of life Miss Kate M. Regan, daughter of Thomas and Susan M. ( Pierce) Regan, old and re- spected citizens of Madison, where the daughter was born and the father still resides. The mother, who is deceased, was a native of Dane county, and the father was born in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Schmedeman are the parents of two very promising and interesting children. Katharine and Albert George.

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History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 80

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