USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 87
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Halle Steensland, one of the prominent Norse citizens of Madi- son, and for many years vice-consul of Sweden and Norway, was born June 4. 1832, at Sandeid, near Stavanger, Norway, son of Halle H. Steensland, a farmer, who was for many years a non-commis- sioned officer in the regular army of his native land. His mother's name was Ingeborg Knudstatter, who after her husband's deatlı, came to America and made her home with her son Halle until her death. Mr. Steensland's early years were spent on the farm, and as a clerk in Stavanger. When a little past his majority he came to America in 1854, and had but $10 when he reached Chicago. He came to Madison in 1855, where he first clerked in a store, and then
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embarked in business for himself; later he took an active part in or- ganizing the Hekla Fire Insurance Co., and became its secretary and treasurer. and later its president. When he severed his connection with this company, he organized the Savings Loan & Trust Co., of which he is now the president, and his son, E. B. Steensland, is its secretary. Under his careful management the company is doing a large and constantly growing business. Mr. Steensland was married in Madison to Miss Sophia Halvorsdater in 1857, and six children, five sons and a daughter, were the fruits of the union. Two sons and a daughter have been graduated from the University of Wiscon- sin, and one son, Mortem M., from Luther College, Decorah. Iowa. Mr. Steensland is a Republican in politics, and has always taken an active interest in political matters. At present he is a member of the city council. In 1872 he was appointed vice-consul in Wisconsin for Norway and Sweden and held that position up to the dissolution of the united kingdom in 1905. Both Mr. Steensland and family are earnest members of the Lutheran church. The library at St. Olaf's College, Northfield, Minn .. is one of Mr. Steensland's noteworthy gifts to the cause of education. He has traveled abroad extensively, and is recognized as one of Madison's substantial business men. He has taken a keen interest in public affairs, and his splendid gift :0 Madison, known as the Steensland bridge, is marked by a spirit of broad liberality.
Frank Stegerwald, senior member of the firm of Stegerwald & Co., well known contractors of East Bristol, Wis., was born in Blooming Grove, Dane county, Wis., on November 3, 1854. His parents, Michael Stegerwald and Barbara Wolf, were natives of Bavaria. Germany, and immigrated singly to this country. They were married in Ohio and soon thereafter started farther west, settling in Bristol in 1851. Later they spent two years at Bloom- ing Grove, where the subject of this sketch was born. Then they returned to their former home, taking up their residence on the farm where they spent the remainder of their lives. Four sons were born to them, of whom only one, Frank, survives. The father died in 1857 and Mrs. Stegerwald married twice after his death. Her second husband was Joseph Hausner. There were three chil- dren from this marriage, only one of whom is living. Her third husband was Herman Ritter by whom she had two children. Mrs. Stegerwald died December 3, 1895, at the family homestead. Frank Stegerwald was educated both in the parochial schools and in the common schools of Bristol and in his early manhood he worked on the farm. Thirty-two years ago he learned the car-
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penter's trade and since that time he has either built or had a hand in the building of many of the most important structures erected in his own and in neighboring towns. Among these buildings are the Tremont House at Columbus, and the Hotel Green at Sun Prairie. In 1890 he built the Catholic church at East Bristol and five years later the handsome parochial school house which is connected with this church. He also built two churches at Sun Prairie, the largest store in Columbus as well as the building which houses the First National bank of that place. Much of the work on the brewery plant at Columbus was done under his direction. In politics he is a Democrat and he has served his party as side supervisor at Bris- tol. Like the other members of his family he is a member of the Catholic church at East Bristol. He was married on September 5, 1876. to Mis's Philomene Goetzinger, who was born in Balen, Ger- many, on February 5, 1856, her parents being Alois Goetzinger and Therese (Reffel) Goetzinger. both natives of Germany. The par- ents of Mrs. Stegerwald came to Baltimore in 1856 and six years later came as far west as Milwaukee. After three years' residence in this latter place they moved to Bristol where the wife died in August, 1886. To Mr. and Mrs. Frank Stegerwald the following children have been born : Ida, Anna. Emma, Frank A .. educated in the common schools and at Sacred Heart College, Watertown, now a member of the firm of Stegerwald & Co., Mary, Flora. Julia (de- ceased). Hattie, Amalia, Edward, (deceased), Oscar (deceased), Frederick.
Joseph Anton Steinle, retired, living at 1610 Hudson avenue, Mad- ison. was born in Masenbach-housen, Oberamt. Brackenheim, King- dom of Wurtemberg, Germany, July 7. 1838. With his parents, Joseph and Francisca ( Keohnle) Steinle, he came to this country in 1840, and went to Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, which was his home until June. 1846, when he removed to Milwaukee. For a num- ber of years Mr. Steinle attended the public schools of Milwaukee and for four years was employed in a soda-water factory. In Febru- ary, 1856, he came to Madison and entered the employ of Caspar Mayer, remaining until 1876 when he started in business for himself. After winning a competence sufficient to keep him comfortably the rest of his days, Mr. Steinle retired several years ago and purchased a home in Elms de, a suburb to the cast of Madison. Before his retirement he filled many offices of public trust. For sev- eral years he was one of the representatives of the old third ward in the city council ; was a member of the fire department from the time of its organization unt'l 1875. and at one time was assistant engineer
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of the same. He is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Druids, and in 1878-79 was president of Madison, No. 2, Relief Association. On October 20, 1860, Mr. Steinle marrie.1 Miss Dorothea Margaretta Langeneckhardt born January 9, 1838, at Wilgersdorff, Kreis Siegen, Province of Westphalia, Prussia. This union has been blessed with nine children, seven of whom are living. The names of the children, with the dates of birth follow : Lizzie, August 7, 1861. died October 9, 1862; Joseph Edward, July 5. 1863 ; George Anton, September 10. 1865 : Emilie Therissa, August 14, 1867; William, October 6; 1869; an unnamed infant, born Septem- ber 18, 1871. died six days later ; Josephine, October 12, 1872 ; Cath- erine, October 8, 1874, and Leo. July 7, 1879. Leo is the representa- tive of the Gisholt machine company in Cologne, Germany. His wife (lied there some time ago. For the past eight years Mr. Steinle has enjoyed the quiet and rest of a suburban life after many years of earnest and honest toil.
William Stephenson, member of the prosperous hardware firm of Stephenson & Studeman of Madison, whose store is at 401 West Gilman street, is a native of Norway. He was born in that country November 19. 1843, and when but a mere lad came to America with his parents, Ole and Martha Stephenson. locating in the Ole Bull colony of Pennsylvania. When nine years of age Mr. Stephenson removed with his parents to Chicago and in 1854 came to Madison. Here the father worked at his trade of carpenter and many of the buildings are monuments of his skill. Ole Stephenson died at the age of fifty-eight and his wife some years later at the advanced age of eighty-three. They were both members of the Norwegian Lutheran church. Of their six children there are but two sur- vivors,-the subject of this sketch and Martin (familiarly known as "Tony"), a printer residing in Madison. William Stephenson received his education in the capital city and learned his trade, that of tinsmith, in the same place. He started life for himself in 1859. When the war cloud was dimming the horizon of national unity Mr. Stephenson enlisted (in October. 1862.) in Company A. Twenty-third Wisconsin Infantry. He was a participant in the battles of Arkansas Post, Port Gibson, Champion's Hill, in the siege of Vicksburg, the Red river campaign, the capture of Mobile and the engagement at Saline Cross-Roads. On July 4. 1865, he re- ceived an honorable discharge at Mobile and returned to Madison. He had served about three years in all. but was never wounded or captured nor was it necessary for him to be absent from service because of illness a single day. Apparently he is none the worse
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for the exposure and fatigues incident to an army career. With the same enthusiasm with which he donned the uniform of blue Mr. Stephenson returned to his work. He continued business as a tinsmith until 1894. when he entered into the present partnership. He is not politically ambitious and although often urged by his friends to become a candidate for office, has always steadfastly de- clined. On September 28, 1870, he was united in marriage to Frances A., daughter of Nicholas and Ruth (Stark) Smith. Mrs. . Smith was a direct lineal descendant of Mollie Stark of Revolution- ary War fame. Mr. Smith died before the Civil War and his wife some forty years later. Mrs. Stephenson is a native of Madison and is the mother of four children. Alice E., is the wife of Charles H. Cronk of Chicago ; Harriet F. and Martha M. are teach- ing ; and Louis D. is a student in the Madison high school. The daughters are all graduates from the University of Wisconsin. Mrs. Stephenson is a member of Grace Episcopal church of Madi- son. Her husband is a member of the Knights of the. Maccabees and of Lucius Fairchild post, Grand Army of the Republic.
Prof. John W. Sterling, prominently identified with the begin- nings of the University of Wisconsin, and for many years its vice president, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., July 17, 1816. His earliest education was obtained in the common schools, and he then atended an academy at Hamilton, N. Y., and one at Homer in the same state. He then studied law for two years in the office of Judge Woodard, at Wilkesbarre, Pa., but never entered on the practice, though qualified. When twenty-one he experienced a desire for a broader culture and entered the sophomore class of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), and was graduated therefrom in 1840. He served as principal of the Wilkesbarre Academy for one year, and then began a course of study in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, completing the course in 1844, and serving meanwhile as a tutor in the College of New Jersey. He next served for a year as a Presbyterian missionary in his native county, and came to Wiscon- sin in 1846. He was at first professor of mathematics at Carroll Col- lege, Waukesha, but soon resigned, and taught school in Waukesha until he was called to the University of Wisconsin, October 7, 1848. Chancellor Barnard was then the nominal head of the young institu- tion, but gave it little of his time, and Professor Sterling was acting chancellor. In 1865 he was elected vice-chancellor, and vice-presi- dent in 1869, holding the latter office until the time of his death, March 9, 1885. His chair was that of mathematics, but like many of the instructors during the early life of the University, he was called upon
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to teach other branches, and he gave instruction in the branches of natural philosophy and astronomy until 1874. He received the degree of Ph. D. from Princeton in 1866, and the same year, that of LL. D from Lawrence University, Appleton. In 1851, Professor Sterling married Miss Harriet Dean, a native of Massachusetts, and a woman of rare refinement and culture. Three children survive the union, Grace, the wife of George L. Lindsley, of Portland, Oregon; Susan Adelaide, assistant professor of German in the University of Wiscon- sin; and Charles Gordon, an accomplished Presbyterian minister, now . located at Waterloo, Ia. Mrs. Sterling was long known as the "mother" of the University.
A. T. Stevens, of Oregon, was born December 25, 1830, in Brad- ford county, Pa. His parents were A. B. Stevens, a native of Connec- ticut, and Lucy (Taylor) Stevens, who was born in New York. Mr. Stevens was a farmer and moved to New York when the subject of this sketch was about two years old; that remained their home until their death. They had three children, A. T. Stevens; Luman, (de- ceased); and C. G. Stevens of Albion, N. Y. Mr. Stevens received his education in the town of Lima, N. Y., and started out for himself when he was twenty-one years of age; when he was twenty-six, (1856) he came to Dane county and established himself on a farm in Rutland township; on this farm of eighty-five acres he lived for over fifty years,' putting upon it most of the improvements. About two years ago he retired from active work and purchased a home in the village of Ore- gon, although still retaining the ownership of his farm. He and his wife, to whom he was married February 3, 1852, are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Stevens was Miss Melissa Bixby, daughter of George Bixby (deceased), who came to Rutland in 1852. Mr. Stevens has always been actively interested in the affairs of his community, having served as town clerk for the long period of twenty- three years; he has also held the office of assessor and has served on the school board; during the active life of those organizations, which be- gan the agitation of those questions which have since become national in their influence, he belonged to the Good Templars and to the Grange. In politics he is a Republican.
Breese J. Stevens. The law has ever called into the circle of its devotees the brightest minds. the most gifted sons of the nation. The keen intellect is sharpened by its clash with others as brilliant and gains thereby an added strength and power. The most careful analy- sis, closest reasoning and most logical thought-processes are bought into play. and the lawyer of ability, by reason of his strong intellectu- ality, rises to leadership in thought and action. Among those whose
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life and services lent dignity and honor to the bar of the state of Wisconsin was the subject of this memoir, who was for many years recognized as one of the most brilliant and distinguished members of his profession in the fair capital city of this commonwealth. The name which he bore is one which has stood exponent of the most ster- ling personal characteristics, the deepest appreciation of the rights and privileges of citizenship in our great republic and one which has been indissolubly identified with the annals of American history, in a direct and collateral way, from the early colonial epoch. There have been strong men and true, as one generation has followed another on to the stage of action, and new honors and new dignity were con- ferred by him whose name initiates this paragraph. Through various ancestral lines Mr. Stevens was allied to many distinguished families of Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. The original Amer- ican ancestor in the agnatic line was Cyprian Stevens, who came hither from London, England, and took up his abode in the colony of Massachusetts. At Lancaster, that colony, in 1671, he married a daughter of Major Simon Willard. On the maternal side Mr. Stev- ens was of the fifth generation in direct descent from Sidney Breese, who came to New York from Shrewsbury, England, about 1733. He was buried in Trinity churchyard in 1767, and on the stone which marks his last resting place, in the very heart of our national metropolis, may today be read his quaint epitaph, written by himself in his last illness. Major John Burrowes, a great-grandfather of Mr. Stevens, was an officer in the Continental army during the War of the Revolution and served under General Sullivan during the cam- paign against the Six Nations. The original manuscript journal which he kept during that campaign is still in the possession of the family. It is through him that descendants have hereditary member- ship in the New Jersey chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was a charter member. Major Burrowes' father and his father-in-law, Samuel Forman, were the original proprietors of Mil- dletown Point, New Jersey. Major Burrowes, then twenty-two years of age, and his brother-in-law. Jonathan Forman, organized the first New Jersey company to enlist in defense of the colonial cause in the Revolutionary War, the company having been mustered in at the Bur- rowes home. Here also occurred the raid of "The Greens," by Brit- ish soldiers June 5, 1778, when an effort was made to capture Major Burrowes. His young wife encountered an English trooper on the staircase, and the dastardly soldier inflicted upon the defenseless wo- man a sabre wound which later caused her death. Her daughter, Helena Burrowes, with her uncle, General Jonathan Forman, and
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his daughter ( who became the mother of Governor Horatio Sey- mour) made the journey from Middletown Point, New Jersey, to Cazenovia, New York, in 1796. "A sloop was chartered for the jour- ney up the Hudson and they were one week in reaching Albany, whence they proceeded the rest of the way in the first 'top carriage' that had ever passed west of Utica. Fourteen years later Helena Bur- rowes, then Mrs. Samuel Sidney Breese, went back, after the birth of her third child, to visit her New Jersey home. taking with her her infant daughter, Elizabeth. They went from Albany to New York in the sloop 'Oneida Chief,' and their return passage was taken on the steamboat 'Robert Fulton,' which was still so great a wonder that cannons were fired, flags raised and the docks everywhere filled with spectators gazing almost spellbound. When in her eightieth year Mrs. Breese, in writing an account of the wonderful changes in her day. said she had seen 'the making of the great Genesee turnpike from old Fort Schuyler ( Utica) to Buffalo, the making of the Erie canal, the first horse cars, the building of the great New York Cen- tral Railroad and the telegraph completed." Helena Burrowes be- came the wife of Hon. Samuel Sidney Breese, a native of Philadel- phia, where he was born in 1768, and a son of Judge Samuel Breese. of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, who has served as a colonel in the Con- tinental army. In 1789 Yale College conferred upon Samuel Sidney Breese the honorary degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was one of the pioneers of Cazenovia, having been the first practicing lawyer of Madison county, New York. One of his sisters married Rev. Jed- ediah Morse and became the mother of Samuel Finley Breese Morse. the inventor of the telegraph. The Breese homestead in Oneida county, New York, was built in 1813, the land being. deeded to the family by the Oneida Indians, and the place was named after a fa- mous chief of that tribe, "Skenandoah." Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel S. and Helena (Burrowes) Breese, married Hon. Augustus C. Stevens and became the mother of Hon. Breese J. Stevens, to whom this memoir is dedicated. It was from the home at Sconon- doali, New York, that the three sons and one daughter were sent to their various schools, Mrs. Stevens having returned to Sconondoal from Michigan after the death of her husband. She died in 1889. Breese J. Stevens was born at Sconondoah, Oneida county, New York, March 22, 1834, and he died at his home in the city of Mad- ison, Wisconsin, October 28, 1903, after four months' illness. Mr. Stevens received his preliminary educational discipline in the Oneida and Whitesboro Academies and Cazenovia Seminary. In 1853 he was graduated from Hamilton College, and three years later his
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alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. His law studies were pursued in the office of Hon. Timothy Jenkins, of Oneida Castle, New York, and under the preceptorship of the firm of Graves & Wood. of Syracuse. In 1856 he came to Wisconsin to look after the landed interests of his uncle, Sidney Breese, and later he also took charge of those of Hon. Horatio Seymour, a kinsman. He took up his residence in Madison and here entered upon the active practice of his profession, his first partnership having been ,with J. W. Johnson and H. M. Lewis. This alliance was of brief duration, but the firm of Stevens & Lewis continued in practice from 1857 until 1868, when it was augmented by the admission of James M. Flower. In 1870 the firm title became Stevens, Flower & Morris. When Mr. Flower left Madison Mr. Stevens continued to be associated for a number of years with W. A. P. Morris, who had been his college- mate at Hamilton College. Later Hon. I. C. Sloan joined the firm, and upon his retirement the firm name again becaine Stevens & Mor- ris. Mr. Stevens at once assumed high rank at the bar of the state, and his prestige was based on the most solid foundation of profes- sional learning and acumen. He conducted some of the most import- ant railroad, land-grant and water litigations ever brought before the courts of Wisconsin and Michigan. He was attorney for the trustees of the Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement Company on the forcclosure of the trust mortgage, and from 1866 to 1880 he was acting president or had official connection with the Green Bay & Mis- sissippi Canal Company, continuing a director and attorney for that corporation until the time of his death. He was general solicitor for the Madison & Portage Railroad Company and attorney for Wisconsin of the Illinois Central Railroad from the time of its ex- tension into Wisconsin. He was a director of the Consumers' Gas Company, of Chicago, and for fifteen years was attorney and manager of the Michigan Land & Iron Company. From the time of its organ- ization until his death he was a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of Madison, and he was also president of the Madison Land & Lumber Company and of the Monona Land Company. His capitalistic interests were large, varied and important and he was dis- tinctively a man of affairs. During the later years of his life his law business had almost entirely to do with corporation interests and the major portion of his time and attention was demanded in the super- ' vision or his private affairs. Mr. Stevens was stanch in his alle- giance to the Democratic party but was never ambitious for politcal office. He served as mayor of Madison in 1884. In 1891 Governor George W. Peck appointed him a regent to the University of Wis- 54-iii
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consin, and he continued to render efficient and valuable service in this capacity until he was called from the scene of life's endeavors, having been vice-president of the board at the time of his demise and having been for several years chairman of the executive committee of the board, ever taking the deepest interest in all that concerned the welfare of the state's noble educational institution. For many years he was curator of the State Historical society. He was a devout churchman, having been a communicant of Grace church, Protestant Episopal, and having served as a member of its vestry for twenty- eight years, taking a zealous interest in all departments of the church work. He was a member of the Madison Literary Club, one of the twelve members of the Town and Gown Club. a member of the Reform Club of New York and also of the Milwaukee Club. While in college he became a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity, and as one of the highest rank in his class he also became identified with the fraternity of scholars, the Phi Beta Kappa. In 1902 his alma mater, Cornell College, conferred upon him its highest degree, that of Doctor of Laws. Mr. Stevens first married Miss Emma Curtis Fuller, daughter of Monis E. Fuller, of Madison, and she died one year later. leaving one daughter, Amelia Fuller Stevens, who re- mains at the old homestead. October 25, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stevens to Miss Mary Elizabeth Farmer, second daughter of the late Marcellus Farmer, of Syracuse, New York. Mrs. Stevens survives her honored husband, as does also their only child, Elizabeth Breese Stevens. . Mr. Stevens was a man of forceful and distinct individuality, high intellectual attainments and signal in- tegrity of character. Courtly and dignified in his bearing, of patri- cian manner, tolerant and kindly in all the relations of life, Mr. Stevens won and retained the inviolate confidence and esteem of his fellow men. Strong in his convictions, always firm in defense of right, he had no room in his heart for revenge. Compassion and pity dwelt in him as constant guests. Flattery could not cajole him into compromise nor power awe him into silence. His life was a suc- cessful one, as modern ideas conceive success, but farther than this it represented that greater success which has its basis in strong and noble character,-and this indeed truly denoted the man.
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