USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 92
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and they never reached their original destination, but halted at Laporte, Lorain county. Ohio, not far from Cleveland, which was the family homestead until the death of the father, February 1, 1875. The mother died in Thayer, Wilson county, Kansas, July 16, 1877, in her eighty-fifth year. Daniel Tenney was a man of in- dependent character, and was gen'al, temperate, industrious, honest and generous, qualities which he has transmitted to his posterity. He was at one time connected with the Quakers, but he later united with the Universal church. Daniel Kent Tenney, the youngest of a family of ten children, was born at Plattsburg, New York, December 31, 1834, and was less than a year old at the time of the removal of the family to Ohio. When he was about eight years · old he began to learn type-setting at the office of his brothers, Horace and Henry, who published a paper at Elyria. This train- ing was not only an excellent substitute for school but was later the medium of self-support during his college days ; although these. both at the Western Reserve College and the University of Wis- consin were cut short by the independent spirit of the young man who could not brook the arbitrary rule which was deemed neces- sary in the management of the youth of fifty years ago. Daniel K. came to Wisconsin in 1850, whither his brothers had preceded him, and of the life at Madison, and especially as it was conected with the infant university, he has written entertainingly in "Madison, Past and Present." His inclinations toward journalism were given up by the advice of his brother Henry, in whose office at Portage he began reading law a little later. He continued his studies at Madison, occupying at the same time the office of deputy clerk of the circuit court. He was admitted to the bar, December 11, 1855, just before attaining his majority, and immediately formed a part- nership with Thomas Hood, then one of the leading attorneys of Madison. Upon the retirement of Judge Hood in 1856, he was as- sociated first with Chas. T. Wakeley and then with his brother. Henry W. Tenney. In 1870 he formed a partnership with John J. McClellan, and established his business in Chicago. He continued to practice there for twenty-seven years under the following firm names: Tenney, McClellan & Tenney ; Tenneys. Flower & Aber- crombie ; Tenney. Flower & Cratty; Tenney, Flower & Gregory ; Tenney. Bashford & Tenney ; Tenney. Driggs & Hawley ; Tenney. Church & Hawley : Tenney, Hawley & Coffeen ; Tenney, McCon- nell & Coffeen. Mr. Tenney afterward returned to the practice of law in Madison and has identified himself with the city in his later years. His first partnership after his return in 1897 was with
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Briggs and Morgan, and the following year he became the senior partner in the firm of Tenney, Hall & Tenney, and at the present time he is associated with Frank W. Hall and his nephew, Charles II. Tenney, and although some changes have been made in the junior partners, that has been the principal business connection since 1898. Mr. Tenney's name is associated with the establish- ment of Tenney Park, an area of about thirty-four acres with a frontage on Lake Mendota of four hundred and sixty feet. The expenses connecting with the improvement of this park has been in the neighborhood of $20,000 of which Mr. Tenney has assumed more than one-half. He is a member of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, and enters heartily into every project for improving and beautifying his home city. generously backing his sentiments by financial aid. He is a public spirited man in the best sense, and when questions of public interest have been likely to fail of solution, as in the case of the city hospital, because of divided opinions as to means and methods, his temperate views of the folly of blocking a needful work on account on nonessentials have carried the day. He has never used these expressions of pub- lic interest for private and personal ends, but has resolutely avoided the field of politics. Mr. Tenney is a man of originality and in. dependence and wields a fearless and trenchant pen and if he had been less engrossed with business and professional cares, or had car- ried out his original intention of entering the journalistic life, he might have met with a wide recogniton in that line. The liberality of his views on religious and theological matters is well known, and although he has little use for religious forms, it is at the cant and hypocricy which too often uses religion as a cloak that his objections are aimed. Practically he carries out the precepts of the higher life in regard to honor, honesty and generosity, and it, has been said of him that no man in the city more literally fulfills the conditions of the Golden Rule. In 1856, Mr. Tenney married Miss Mary Jane Marston, daughter of Jeremiah Thorndyke and Miranda Cleves (Dodge) Marston, and two children were born to them. John, born at Madison, May 15, 1860, and Mary, born April 2, 1863.
Major Horace A. Tenney, one of the early settlers of Madison, was born in South Island, Grand Isle county, Vt .. February 22. 1820. His father, Daniel Tenney, was born February 13, 1794, at Temple, N. H .. and his mother. Sylvia (Kent) Tenney, in Dorset, Vt., October 26, 1792. The earlier history of these two famillies is given in connection with the sketch of Daniel K. Tenney the
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youngest brother and the only survivor of a family of ten children. The family moved, in 1828, to Plattsburgh, N. Y., and there Mr. Tenney spent the rest of his childhood, obtaining his school in- struction in what was known as the "Old Academy." At the age of thirteen he began the preparation for his later work as a jour- nalist by becoming a compositor in the office of the Keeseville, (N. Y.), Argus. When in May, 1835; the family moved to Ohio, he remained behind in the office of the Mohawk Courier, of which J. A. Noonan,-whose name is familiar to any student of early Wis- consin history .- was the editor ; following this he was successively employed on the Elyria Democrat. the Ashtabula Sentinel, the Painsville Telegraph, the Buckeye (Ravenna) Democrat, the Lorain (Elyria) Standard, the Cleveland Advertiser (now Plaindealer), and the Columbus Statesman. In the meantime he had been read ing law and taught school for a short time. In April. 1842, he returned to Elyria and purchased the Independent Treasury. He changed the name of the journal to the Lorain Republican and as editor and proprietor, published it for three years. The following year, 1843, he was admitted to the bar, and in December was mar- ried to Juliette P. Chaney, daughter of Charles Chaney, Esq .. editor of the Lorain Standard, of which Mr. Tenney had been in charge in 1840. In May, 1845, Mr. Tenney began his journey west, mak- ing the trip from Cleveland to Milwaukee, by way of the Great Lakes, in five days ; he came from Milwaukee to Madison on horse- back and shortly after continued his journey across the state to Mineral Point, by private conveyance and then to Galena, Ill., by stage. Having decided to establish a paper at this point he re- turned to Ohio to make the necessary preparations. In October, 1845, began the existence of the Galena Jeffersonian, under the firm name of H. A. & H. W. Tenney, the presses and other material necessary for its issue having been brought overland from Chicago, by team. Ill health, occasioned by the malarial conditions of a new country, caused the abandonment of this enterprise the following year, and Mr. Tenney sold out his interest in the Jeffersonian and purchased a share in the Wisconsin Argus, published in Madison. He reported the proceedings of the first, and .- in company with H. W. Tenney, J. Y. Smith and David Lambert,-the journal and debates of the second constitutional convention, and was, soon after his coming to Madison, elected as territorial printer. At the organization of the university in 1848 Mr. Tenney was appointed to collect a cabinet and was later appointed curator and librarian. In 1853 he was appointed assistant state geologist and contributed
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to the museum a valuable collection of specimens, which was un- fortunately lost at the burning of the first Science Hall in 1883. During all the early years of the development of Madison Mr. Tenney was an active factor in its growth, interesting himself in municipal, state and university affairs. Mr. R. W. Thwaites, in speaking of the influence of the press in the early days, and of Mr. Tenney's connection with the Argus, and later with the Patriot. says: "They (the members of the early Wisconsin press) were men whose names are indissoluably connected with the work of moulding the young commonwealth .- men whose history is that of the Wisconsin of their day." Mr. Tenney was a member of the legislature in 1856 and introduced and helped to secure the passage of the bill authorizing the erection of the new state capitol, and also the hospital for the insane and the Main Hall of the Univer- sity of Wisconsin buildings, and also acted as superintendent in the construction of the last. He served on numerous important com- mittees and was appointed comptroller of the state treasury by Governor Randall. During the Civil War he had charge of Camp Randall and the fitting out and preparation of Wisconsin regiments for the field. During the nine months in which he performed the arduous duties pertaining to this office about 15,000 men were prepared and equipped and nearly all transferred to active duty in the field. In July, 1862, he was commissioned paymaster, U. S. A., by President Lincoln, and continued in this service, often exposed to difficulties and dangers, until July, 1864. In 1870, he went to Chicago and became assistant editor of the Republic. until that journal changed hands, when he accepted a similar position on the Chicago Post, remaining there until the great fire of October, 1871. destroyed the plant. From 1842 to 1874 he was the political editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and the following year was appointed chief clerk of the railroad commission of Wisconsin, and in 1878 was the national candidate for congress in the second district. Mr. Tenney's health was impaired while he was with the army in the south, and he was compelled to give up active editorial work a good many years ago, but from his beautiful farm in the western sub- urbs of Madison he still kept in touch with the world, and was a frequent contributor to the press, especially to the papers of Chi- cago, Milwaukee and Madison. His death, which occurred March 13, 1906, at the age of eighty-six, called forth from the press many appreciative expressions of his personal characteristics and public services. "He was a man of strong intellect, a vigorous and pow- erful writer, active in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the
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territory and state, a man who made strong friendships as well as at times strong antagonisms." "The record of his services rendered the public by virtue of the positions he has filled, and his interest in all matters of public concern, has rarely been surpassed." "His name will pass into history as one of the remarkable men of his times." "His work was notable in many ways and of a high order of efficiency. He held many public positions and more might have come to him had he sought them, but he was one of the large mould who served the interests of the public before those of self." "He was a fine type of the strong upright pioneers who laid so wisely the foundations of a great state." "His life was an eventful one, although modest and retiring in his disposition . ac- cepting only that tribute which was accorded him as a recognition of his ability;" these quotations indicate the place which Major Tenney had won in public esteem and which he maintained through. sixty years of citizenship in Madison. Mrs. H. A. Tenney died twenty-two years ago, and but four of the eight children of the family survive their father; they are Charles K. Tenney, the well known attorney of Madison; Mrs. J. R. Simms of Racine; Hor- ace A., Jr., of Madison, and Arthur R., of Oregon. The dead are Mrs. Ann Eliza Jackson, wife of Col. Chas. Jackson; Wm. D .; George A. : and Ida Frances.
D. O. Thompson, a prosperous and well known dairyman and stock raiser of the town of Primrose, was born in Telemarken. Nor- way, December 12, 1844. His parents were Ole Thompson and Carrie Thompson, Norwegian immigrants to this country, June 21. 1869, when the subject of this sketch was still young. The family consisted of the father and mother. D. O. Thompson, and three sis- ters and one brother. They were poor people. His father was sixty-three years old and his mother was fifty-three, and D. O. worked as a hired hand about six years, until he had earned some money, and he then bought the farm of one hundred and twenty acres in the town of Primrose, where he still lives, his parents mak- ing their home with him the remainder of their lives. He received a common school education in Norway, and that was the extent of his scholastic training, but he has been very successful in life, a fact that is evidenced by the extent of his operations since coming to America. On September 8, 1882, Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Baker, a daughter of Hon. P. O. Baker, of Mount Vernon, and this union has been blessed with six children : Ida, who is the wife of Otto Vogel ; Clara. Dora, Julia, who is the wife of Peter Schmidt; Palmer and Johnnie, the latter of whom
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died when three years old. The other children all received their scholastic acquirements in the Primrose schools. Mrs. Thomp- son's parents are both living. Mr. Thompson is associated politi- cally with the Republican party, but he has never consented to become a candidate for office, and he is a communicant of the Lutheran church. He has been a resident of the town of Prim- rose for more than thirty years, and he is respected in all sections for his integrity, enterprise and sincerity of purpose.
G. A. Thompson is one of the progressive farmers of the younger generation in the town of Blue Mounds, and all of his life has been spent as a resident of Dane county. He was born in the town of Vermont. May 13, 1862, and is the son of Andrew and Julia (An- derson) Thompson, both of whom were natives of Norway. They. came to America in 1848 and settled in what is now the town of Vermont. being among the early pioncers. The father followed farming as his life's vocation, but in the later years removed to Mt. Horeb, where he lived in retirement until his death, the mother still residing at Mt. Horeb. The subject of this review is one of five children that were born to these parents. Mary married G. Mickle- son and resides at Mt. Horeb ; Enger E. married S. M. Belgum and resides at Mt. Horeb ; Julia married P. O. Peterson and resides at Rice Lake; Cornelia married I. E. Kitleson and resides at Mt. Horeb; and the last born is the subject of this review. He was reared to manhood in the town of Vermont and received his edu- cation in the public schools. Upon reaching man's estate he began his independent career as a farmer and has always been numbered among the devotees of that noble occupation. He removed to Blue Mounds in the spring of 1884, in which town he owns a fine home- stead comprising one hundred and seventy-six acres, and he has since made his home there, conducting a somewhat extensive dairy and dealing largely in Poland China hogs in connection with his farming operations. He was married on May 24, 1884, to Miss Olena Mickleson, daughter of Hiram Mickleson, one of the pioneers of the town of Blue Mounds, his death occurring in 1884. The wife of our subject was born in Blue Mounds and died there on February 7, 1892, aged thirty-eight years. She left five children: Henry A., Arthur G., who was graduated from the high school of Mt. Horeb ; George, Gusta Christena, and May Victoria, all of whom remain at the parental home. Mr. Thompson married for his second wife, - on May 1, 1905. Miss Marie Mickleson of Blue Mounds. . Our sub- ject has served as treasurer of the town three years, and as also served as a member of the town board and on the school board.
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Politically, he is a Republican and fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and also of the Woodmen of the World.
G. J. Thompson of Perry township is the owner of a fine prop- erty on which the family have lived since 1885. John Thompson and Mary Arneson, afterward Mrs. Thompson, were both natives of Norway and came to America in 1856. on the same vessel. but were not married until some three years later. They commenced their life together with little capital but energy and thrift. For the first few years of his life in America Mr. Thompson was em- ployed as a farm hand but in a short time was able to purchase a farm of eighty acres in the town of Blue Mounds, to which he later added one hundred and twenty acres. This was his home until his death in 1899. Mrs. Thompson resides with her son, G. J. There were five children in the family. of whom three are living. G. J. is the oldest, Maria is the widow of Mr. Anderson and resides in Iowa county and Minnie married Rev. Mr. Holte of . Mount Horeb. G. J. was born at the old homestead in Blue Mounds. October 19, 1863, attended the district school in the neighborhood and early engaged in farming. When he reached the age of twenty-one years he purchased eighty acres of his father's farm and has made that his home ever since. He is a pros- perous and successful farmer and his success has been due entirely to his own efforts. Mr. Thompson is a man of remarkable physical power and health and great endurance. In political matters he does not ally himself with any party but votes for the man who. in his judgment, will best serve the people. March 14, 1885, Mr. Thompson married Miss Julia Sale. who was born in the town of Vermont. Dane county, daughter of Ole and Emma Sale of Blue Mounds township. Three children blessed the marriage, all of whom reside with their parents; Maria, Olvin Emil and Joseph Emil. The family is identified with the Norwegian Lutheran church. church.
Nels Thompson is the owner of a well improved farm of ninety- seven acres in Blooming Grove township, and is one of the well known and popular citizens of this section of the county. where he has passed practically his entire life, having been about one year of age at the time when his parents, Johanas and Magdalena (Gudvangen) Thomas, emmigrated from Norway to America and took up their residence in Dane county. He was born August 4. 1853. When his parents took up their residence in Blooming Grove township they located on the farm which he now owns and
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operates, and much of which he personally cleared from the wilds with his own hands. He was reared on this pioneer farm and re- ceived only such educational advantages as were afforded in the district school of the locality and period. His father died about the year 1880, and the mother remained with her sons on the old homestead, being cared for with true filial solicitude until her death, in 1902. The older son, Mons, still remains with the subject of this sketch on the old homestead. Mr. Thompson's career has been one of constant endeavor and has been filled with energy and good judgment in the direction of his farming operations, so that he has gained prosperity through his own efforts, while he stands high in the estimation of the community in which he has lived from his childhood to the present. His wife has been his faithful helpmeet and companion, and shares with him the rewards of for- mer years of toil and application. They are consistent members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, and he is a supporter of the cause of the Republican party. April 8, 1876, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Mary Sainey, daughter of Knute and Christina Sainey, of Pleasant Springs township, and they have nine children, whose names and respective dates of birth are as follows: Malinda Christina, February 9, 1871; Jerome Cornelius, March 8, 1879; Arthur Melvin, February 1. 1881; Mabel Sophia, November 13, 1882 ; Edith Regina, December 1. 1884; Nellie Amanda, May 8, 1887; John Theodore, September 13, 1890; Selma Charlotte, August 10, 1892; and Florence Amelia, March 14, 1896. Malinda C., the eldest daughter is now the wife of John J. O'Neil, of Madison.
Peter O. Thompson, a thrifty farmer of the town of Deerfiel.], was born in Christiana township. Dane county, Wis., February 14, 1848. He was the son of Ole Tulofson and Anna Clauson, natives of Norway. The parents came to Wisconsin about 1847 and set- tled on Koshkonong Prairie, on one hundred and twenty acres of land purchased from the government. After five years the father died and the family sold the farm and removed to another farm of forty acres, not far from the original farm, where they resided for twelve years. The last removal was to Pleasant Springs, where the mother and brothers still reside. There were six brothers in the family, five of whom are now living,-Tolif, in Pleasant Springs : Claus. in Clay county, Minn ; Peter O., in Deerfield ; and George and Ole, both residents of Stoughton. Peter O. Thomp. son received a very limited education in the district schools of the town of Christiania. When fifteen years old he started life for himself. For seven years he worked as a farm hand and then for
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two years raised tobacco on shares. After a two years' residence in Emerald Grove, Rock county, he returned to the vicinity of Lake Kegonsa and farmed there for twelve years, after which he bought a farm in Cottage Grove. About 1902 the duties incident to the operation of a large farm such as Mr. Thompson's Cottage Grove estate becoming too heavy, he leased it and bought a smaller place near Deerfield, where he now resides. He has enough of this world's wealth so that he could have retired with ease, but he says it is not his nature to be idle. In politics he is a Republi- can ; in religion a Lutheran. December 21, 1822, he married Lottie, daughter of James and Mary Ann (Tibbetts) Thompson of the town of Rutland. Mrs. Thompson was born October 10, 1854. To this marriage have been born thirteen children: Henry Olaus, born July 27, 1874 ; Anna Elizabeth, born December 29, 1875 ; James Theodore, born May 5, 1878, died May 3, 1881; William Edward, born August 8, 1880; Emma Jane, born July 20, 1882; Herman Theodore and James Oscar, (twins), born November 20, 1885; George Elmer, born September 9, 1888; Clara, born November 9, 1890 : Chester Palmer, born January 28, 1892; John Raymond, born April 27, 1894: Martha. born July 12, 1896, Peter Adolph, born June 12, 1899.
Stener Thompson, a thrifty farmer of the town of Dunn, was born in Telemarken, Norway. April 20, 1855. He was a son of Ajehl and Carrie (Emerson) Thompson, natives of Norway. In 1862 Ajehil Thompson brought his family to Wisconsin, settling first in the town of Burke, where he remained until March, 1863. Then he bought a farm of eighty-one acres in the town of Dunn. which was his home until his death in 1821. At the age of twenty- one Stener started life for himself. He purchased the father's homestead, which had been but little improved because of the father's death, and began improving the place. He used oxen ex- clusively for several years in his farm work. The first wagon the family had was one the father inade. Stener keeps as relics of olden days the chest and tools his father brought from Norway and the copper kettles and appliances used for distilling liquor. The farm today is one of the best equipped in the vicinity. In politics Mr. Thompson is absolutely independent. He is the incumbent of the office of road overseer, and has served as constable. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church. On May 31, 1882. he married Elsie. daughter of Tjorbjorn and Bergetta (Johanasdaugh- ter) Vick of Stoughton. Mrs. Thompson was born June 25, 1862,
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and was one of ten children. To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have been born twelve children,-Clara Amelia, March 30, 1883; Theo- dore, April 2, 1885, died in infancy ; Theodore Barthold, February 24, 1887; Nora Amanda, November 21, 1888; Selma Olive, May 12, 1890 ; the next child died in infancy ; Alma, born in 1894, died in in- fancy; Tarbjör Cecelia, November 26, 1895; Alma Charlotte, April 14, 1892; Conrad Daniel. December 10, 1899 ; Emily Bernice, March 20, 1901; and Elsie Louise, June 25, 1905. Mr. Thompson is the only survivor of the original family of five.
Thomas A. Thompson was born in Norway, June 16, 1861. His ancestors were all natives of that country. His paternal grand- father, coming to Wisconsin in 1866, settled in Columbia county, and afterward removed to Dane county, although at the time of his death which occurred in 1883, in his eighty-first year, his home was near Lodi, in Columbia county. His wife, Rose Hagerstad, died during their residence in Dane county. On the maternal side the grandfather, Lewis Lewiston, and his wife, Anna, lived and died in Norway. Andrew Thompson, father of Thomas A., born February 1, 1829, and his mother, Gertie (Lewiston) Thompson, born in 1831. came to this country with the parents of the former, making their home first in Dane and afterward in Columbia county. Later he returned to Dane county, where he is at present living on a farm He comes of a sturdy northern stock,-five of his six children are living at the present time. Mr. Thompson received his education in the public schools of Columbia and Dane counties. A me- chanical aptitude and the necessity for self-support determined the occupation of his early manhood, and he followed the trade of the carpenter for ten years. Afterward he turned his attention to agri- cultural pursuits, and is at present the owner and operator of a large farm of two hundred and ninety acres, purchasing that known as the "Archibald Arries Farm." He makes a specialty of the breeding of short-horn cattle and Poland China hogs; he also de- votes a part of his farm to the raising of tobacco. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics and during his residence in Dane county he served as town treasurer for two years. His interest in educa- tion and the public welfare has been recognized by the fact that he has been retained as a member of the school board for twelve years. Both he and his family are connected with the Lutheran church .- the Ilson church in Dane county, with which the family of Mr. Andrew Thompson is associated being the oldest Lutheran 'church of the Scandinavian people in America. Mr. Thompson was married April 13, 1881, to Miss Lena Coldvell,-daughter of
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