USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 96
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Generous Rood Van Sant, D. D. S., the leading dentist of Deer- field, was born September 5, 1875, in Baraboo, Wis. He is one of two children of Oliver and Nancy (Rood) Van Sant, the former a native of Indiana and the mother of New York state. In 1873 Oliver Van Sant came to Sun Prairie and two years later removed to Baraboo, where he remained until 1884, when he returned to Sun Prairie. He is still farming the old homestead in that town, the daughter, Edith, making her home with her parents. Oliver Van Sant was a private in Company K. Tenth Indiana Infantry, Captain Bush commanding,
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and served from 1861 to 1864, when he received his honorable dis- charge. Dr. Van Sant attended the public schools of Sun Prairie. His scientific training was received at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, where he was graduated in 1895. He immediately began the practice of his profession in Deerfield, and has continued there success- fully since. In politics Dr. Van Sant is a Republican and is the pres- ent incumbent of the office of village clerk, in which he is serving his second term. He is not affiliated with any religious organization. He is a member of Deerfield lodge, No. 1413, Modern Woodmen of America: he was elected venerable consul of this organization in 1904 and re-elected in 1905. On December 5, 1897. Dr. Van Sant married Annie, daughter of A. O. Skaar, of Deerfield and to this union have been born three children,-Franklin Arthur, born September 11, 1898; Morley Nansen, born in October 1901 : and Rose Emley, born in Sep- tember. '1903. Dr. Van Sant is a much respected citizen of the com- munity and a leader in political and fraterneal affairs.
Napoleon B. Van Slyke, president of the First National bank of Madison, Wisconsin, was born in Saratoga county. New York. December 21. 1822. He is the son of Daniel and Laura (Mears) Van Slyke : Daniel's father was Gerrett Van Slyke. a farmer, who was born in Herkimer county. N. Y., of early Holland ancestry. Daniel was a civil engineer and had charge of the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal from Georgetown to Harper's Ferry. He was also associated with De Witt Clinton. Jr .. in the construction of the ship canal connecting Savannah and Ogeechee rivers in Georgia. He died while still a young man (age thirty- one ) in Onondaga county, N. Y., in 1831. The mother of Napo- leon B. was a native of Montgomery county, N. Y., and died in Onondaga county. in 1842, when thirty-eight years of age. Her parents James and Louis Mears were natives of Vermont, and spent the last years of their lives in Madison, Wis., the former living to be ninety years of age, and the latter eighty-five. Napo- leon B. was but nine when his father died and, without brothers or sisters, was dependent on his own exertions for the means of living. He received an academic education at irregular periods and places ; was married in 1844, at Sennett, in Cayuga county, N. Y., to Laura Sheldon, a native of that state, and a daughter of Hon. E. W. Shel- don. He was again married in 1859 to Annie Corbett, daughter of Cooper Corbett, of Corbettsville. N. Y. Two children survive as issue of the first marriage, and one of the second. During his early manhood he engaged in farming in Cayuga county, N. Y .. and was for a short time engaged in the manufacture of salt at Syracuse,
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whence he removed to Madison, Wis., in the spring of 1853. He organized the Dane county bank in 1854, of which he was the first cashier, and then president for five years. Mr. Van Slyke was active in public as well as private affairs at this early period; was a member of the first city council after the incorporation of Madi- son in 1856 ; assissted in making many of the first substantial im- provements in the city ; in the erection of the city hall ; in the selec- tion and improvement of beautiful Forest Hill Cemetery ; and in the purchase of the city's first fire engine and apparatus. Some of the city's oldest residences were also built by Mr. Van Slyke at this time. For a brief period before the war. he abandoned bank- ing and engaged in the manufacture of lumber in the northern part of the state. During the war he was assistant quartermaster of the state until 1862 and was then placed in charge of the quartermas- ter's department for the United States, rising to the rank of lieuten- ant-colonel. From 1862 to the close of the war he furnished all Wisconsin soldiers with everything pertaining to the quarter-mas- ter's department, and was given large discretionary powers by the general government. Since then he has been the president of the First National bank. (No. 144) the successor of the old Dane county bank. For many years he was a regent of the University of Wisconsin, and was chairman of the executive committee for twelve years. He has also served as president of the Wisconsin Banker's association and as a member of the executive council of the American Banker's association. He is also vice-president of the Savings Loan and Trust Co., and president of several other corporations. He is an honorable. courteous gentleman, regarded as one of Madison's most successful and capable business men, and is justly held in the highest esteem in the community in which he his lived so long.
Fritchiof Johnson Vea, president of the Stoughton Wagon Com- pany, is one of the representative young business men of the Badger state and is one of Stoughton's most progressive and public-spirited citizens. He was born in the city of Stoughton, November 29, 1875, and is a son of Matthew and Oliva (Johnson) Johnson, both natives of Norway. The name of the paternal grandfather of the subject of this review was John Johnson, who was a pioneer of this county and died in Stoughton. The maternal grandfather, Anders Johnson (Tommerstigen) came from Norway to America in 1844, settling in Cambridge township, Dane county, Wisconsin, where he secured three hundred and twenty acres of government land, being one of the carly settlers of that township. The old homestead farm, which he
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reclaimed from the wilderness, is still in the possession of the family. He passed the closing years of his life in Stoughton. Matthew John- son, father of Mr. Vea-the surnames differing according to the cus- tom of Scandinavian nomenclature-came to America as a young man and took up his abode in Dane county. Here he turned his at- tention to agricultural pursuits, finally locating in Stoughton, where he opened a tailor shop, having learned the trade in his native land. Eventually he became one of the leading clothing merchants of the town, later engaging in the buying and shipping of wool and finally turning his attention to dealing in the local product of tobacco upon a large scale, under the firm name of Johnson & Company. With this line of enterprise he continued to be identified until his death. He was one of the leading business men of Stoughton and held the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community. He was one of the founders and principal stockholders of the Stoughton state bank, was the senior member of the retail grocery firm of Johnson, Tusler & Company, and also dealt extensively in farm lands. He died Jan- uary 10, 1883, and his widow and ten children survive him, viz., Mar- tin A., cashier of the First National bank of Stoughton: Josie J., wife. of Olaf Hoff ; Charles, a resident of Canal Dover, O .: Ada J., wife of Dr. Julius Noer; Matthew M., treasurer of the Stoughton Wagon Company ; Georgia, wife of Dr. Henry Williard ; Martha, wife of Dr. Walter Winchester; Fritchiof J., the immediate subject of this sketch ; Valborg, wife of Merle Davis; and Elleda, a resident of Stoughton. Fritchiof J. Vea was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Stoughton and later attended Gordon academy, in Ogden, Utah. In JOO1 he was graduated from the engineering department of the Uni- versity of Wisconsin. From 1894 to 1897 he was engaged in the mining business in southern Idaho. In 1901 he was elected president of the Stoughton Wagon Company, one of the most important indus- trial concerns of Stoughton, and of this office he has since remained in tenure. In politics he is independent of strict partisan lines, and is a member of the First Norwegian Lutheran church of his native city.
Herman Jansen Veerhusen, junior member of the firm of Olson & Veerhusen, clothiers and furnishers, is a Madison product. He was born October 6. 1855, and is a son of William and Elsbeth ( Freitag) Veerhusen, the father a native of Germany and the mother of Switzerland. Both parents arrived in the United States in 1848, coming directly to Wisconsin. They were married in Madison in 1854. The father was one of the prominent merchants 59-iii
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of Madison in pioneer days. His death occurred in 1888 and his widow died in 1896. Miss Elsbeth Veerhusen, an assistant pro- fessor of the department of German of the University of Wiscon- sin, is the only member of the family beside the subject of this sketch who now resides in this locality. Herman J. Veerhusen received his preparatory education in the common schools of this city and in Professor George's academy, completing his scholastic work with a course in the business college. In 1877 he formed a partnership with Torgrim Olson and the firm of Olson & Veer- husen has been one of the landmarks of Madison ever since. For twenty-two years the place of business was at 23 South Pinckney street, but in September, 1899. the firm removed to more adequate and commodious quarters at Nos. 7 and 9 North Pinckney street. This is the oldest partnership in the city. Politically Mr. Veer- husen is affiliated with the Republican party, but aside from one term as alderman in the city council, he has never aspired to nor held political office. He is identified with the Blue Lodge of the Masonic order, and also with the council and commandery, and is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Forty Thousand club and the Maple Bluff golf club. He was one of the organizers of the Provi- dent Building & Loan Association, the first organization of the kind in Madison, and was also one of the original stockholders of the Central Wisconsin Trust Company, organized in January, 1906. In city affairs he is known as a man of influence and activity, and his interest in them is worthy of emulation. On July 9. 1884. Mr. Veerhusen was united in marriage to Miss Emma M., daughter of Col. and Mrs. William Helm of Madison. To this union have been born two children, Vera, now seventeen years of age, and Herman H., two years younger. They are both students in the Madison high school.
Hans Veium is one of the substantial and highly respected mem- bers of the farming community of Dunkirk township and has been very successful in his efforts as an agriculturist. He was born in Norway, July 23, 1853, and is a son of Toleff (Skobba) and Margaret Halvor (Jonsaas) Veium. He was reared and educated in his na- tive land, where he remained until he was twenty-seven years of age, when, in 1879, he immigrated to America and forthwith made his way westward from New York city to Dane county, Wisconsin, where he secured employment on a farm in Dunn township, working the place on shares and making tobacco his principal crop. He was thus en-
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gaged for two years, in the meanwhile carefully conserving his earn- ings, and he then in 1881, purchased the farm of one hundred and six acres where he now resides, subsequently adding to its area until he now has one hundred and fifty-nine and seventy-two one hun- dredths acres. The greater portion of the place is under effective cultivation, and he has made good improvements throughout, erecting substantial buildings and showing himself to be a man of energy and good judgment in the carrying forward of his farm enterprise. He is a Democrat in his political proclivities and he and his family are members of Christ church, (Norwegian Lutheran), in the city of Stoughton. August 2, 1884, Mr. Veium was united in marriage to Miss Gunhil Lunde, daughter of Even and Guro (Larson) Lunde, who were born in Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Vieum have seven chil- dren, namely: Tollef and Gunda ( twins). Even, Halvor, Mary. Hans, Jr., and Agnes.
Arthur Vickers, who is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred acres in Albion, section 11, is of English descent but has always lived in Abion. His father, Samuel Vickers, was born in Derbyshire, Eng- land, and there learned the stone mason's trade, at which he worked1 until 1869. He married Miss Hannah Marsden, also of Derbyshire. and in 1869 took passage for himself and family to America. Other men from the vicinity of their home in England had settled at Albion and Mr. and Mrs. Vickers were encouraged by their success to con- tinue their journey to Dane county, where they obtained a tract of one hundred and twenty acres, partially under cultivation, and made it their home. The buildings upon the farm were small and in bad condition and Mr. Vickers replaced them by substantial and com- fortable ones. While engaged in improving his farm, Mr. Vickers also worked at his trade and soon became established. With his fam- ily he attended the Primitive Methodist church of Albion, with which his son Arthur and his family are likewise identified. Mrs. Vickers died in 1897 and her husband in 1889. Eight children were born to them: Martha, who married Thomas Moore and resides in Hanson county, South Dakota: John a retired farmer of Alexander, South Dakota; George, who lives.at Edgerton; Samuel, of Mitchell, South Dakota; Walter a citizen of Edgerton; Mary who married H. W. Goodrich and lives at Elkhorn. Wis .: Arthur, who lives on the old homestead, and Joseph, who makes his home in Mitchell, S. D. Arthur was born in Derbyshire, August 20, 1859, attended the com- mon schools and has always been occupied with farming in which he is successful. Since 1880 he has managed the old home farm which he now owns and upon which he carries on an extensive business. In
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October, 1889, he married Miss E:zabeth Bunting, of Albion, daugh- ter of Joe and Mary Bunting, who were also natives of England. Five children blessed the marriage: Harvey, George (deceased) Russell, Clifford and Rosamond.
Hon. William F. Vilas. In the long roll of distinguihsed citi- zens of Wisconsin none has achieved higher place than the subject of this sketch. Soldier, lawyer, statesman,-his vigorous person- ality stands forth, and marks him a leader of men. The limits of this sketch can only hint at some of his achievements. William Freeman Vilas was born in Chelsea. Orange county, Vt .. July 9, 1840, and was only eleven years of age when his father, Judge Levi B. Vilas, came to the new territory of Wisconsin and made his home at Madison. He was one of the first graduates of the University of Wisconsin, and was but eighteen when he received his degree in 1858; a year later he went to the Albany law school and received the degree of that eminent law school in 1860; the University of Wisconisn granted him the degrees of A. M. in 1861, and of L. L. D. in 1885. When he had finished the law course he at once returned to Madison and formed a partnership for the prac- tice of law with Charles T. Wakeley, with whom was afterward joined Eleazer Wakeley, a former United States territorial judge, and subsequently a Federal judge in the state of Nebraska. While in his twentieth year. Colonel Vilas argued his first case in the state supreme court, and promptly won the esteem of his brethren in the profession. During the earlier years of his practice he was an exceedingly popular advocate, and established a reputation among the people as a winner of verdicts, and an eloquent and suc- cessful jury lawyer. His later practice, chiefly in the courts of last resort, has found him engaged in weighty controversies, involving large interests, and yielding him correspondingly large rewards. His early career as a lawyer was interrupted by the Civil War. He had gained some military experience in the old Governor's Guard, and as captain of a Zouave company. When the urgent need for troops came in 1862, he raised a company for the Twenty- third Wisconsin Infantry, and was mustered in as senior captain of the regiment, being soon promoted major and then lieutenant-col- onel, and was in command of his regiment during part of his term of service in the absence of Colonel Guppy. He served with Grant in the Army of the Tennessee, and during the Vicksburg campaign and the subsequent siege and capture of that city, and led his regi- ment in several battles and skirmishes. On the fall of Vicksburg, his regiment was ordered to New Orleans, and Colonel Vilas, sec-
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ing only a prospect of a long term of comparative inactivity in that quarter of the Confederacy, resigned and came home. Moreover, his father was threatened with heavy litigation, and desired the aid of his son in defending it. Unlike many others he was able to re- sume the duties of civil life where he had left off when he became a soldier, and he at once pressed forward in his professional career. Despite the high order of his natural ability, and his undoubted oratorical ability, he was systematic. diligent and pains-taking in the preparation of his cases, and never made the mistake of going into court unprepared. It was at this period of his life that he was married to Miss Anna M. Fox. in 1866, and soon after establishhed imself in a beautiful country home near Madison, where he could devote his evenings without interruption to his books and family. Though absorbed for many years thereafter in the exacting duties of a busy and highly successful lawyer, he yet found time to delve deep in the well of general literature, history, politics, science and belles-lettres. In ยท 18:2-1845, Colonel Vilas, in conjunction with Gen. Edwin E. Bryant, his law partner from 1822 to 1883, pub- lished a new edition, wth notes, of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Reports, vols. 1. 2, 3, 4, 6-20; in 1875 he was appointed, together with Judge David Taylor and Hon. J. P. C. Cottrill, as member of a commission to revise the statutes of Wisconsin. The work was admirably done, and was accepted by the legislature of 1818. being the recognized authority until the revision of 1898. He was a member of the law faculty of the university 1868-1885, and 1889- 1892. when his profound grasp of the law, and his scholarly attain- ments came into full play : he has rendered signal service also to the university as one of its regents during the years 1881-1885, and 1897-1904, serving with great fidelity, and giving unsparingly of his time and efforts ; no man has taken a deeper interest in the up- building of the state's great institution of learning. Politically Colonel Vilas has been a consistent adherent of the time-honored constitutional principles and policy of the Democratic party, and has always acted in sympathy with it, except on the issues of the Chicago platform in 1896. A brilliant stump speaker. he has been a powerful factor in political campaigns, and became the acknowl- edged leader of his party in the state, as well as one of the great national leaders. He often declined to become a candidate for of- fice, but served as a delegate to the national conventions of his party in 1876. 1880, 1884 and 1892, and in 1884 was chairman of the convention which first nominated Grover Cleveland. As a minority party for many years in the state, the Democracy of Wisconsin
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has put forth but few men of national distinction, among whom Colonel Vilas is facile princeps. As Cleveland's postmaster gen- eral. and secretary of the interior. 1885-89, and as United States senator. 1891-97, he was afforded an opportunity to display his talents as an administrative officer and his great powers of con- structive statesmanship. He made a brilliant record as a member of President Cleveland's first cabinet; and in the senate, was one of his trusted supporters during his second administration. Few men have been better equipped for service in the United States senate. He is a clear-headed, well-trained jurist. deeply versed in constitutional law. familiar with all the needs of government, and gifted with superb powers of expression, and a high order of ability as a public speaker and debater. He was thus able to cope on equal terms with the best minds of the world's greatest legisla- tive body. He has a voice "of wonderful range and compass, capa- ble of filling the largest auditorium." and his language is "rich in thought. with lofty diction," while he is "felicitous and clear in argument, vigorous always, thoroughly in earnest, full of the ardor of conviction, never abusive of adversaries, full of high-toned courtesy, yet a foe to be feared." His fame as an orator had be- come national long before he was called to fill high station. His address at the annual reunion of the Army of the Tennessee in 1878, in Indianapolis, and his speech the following year in response to the toast to General Grant, at the banquet of the Army of the Tennessee in Chicago, are entitled to a place among the classics of American oratory. Cornelius Vilas Guild Hall, his beautiful memorial to a loved daughter, and Henry Vilas Park, his large- hearted gift to the public in memory of an only son, show his de- votion to the city of his residence and its interests. His beautiful and stately home, crowning the highest hill overlooking Lake Mendota, is one of loveliest in a city of beautiful homes.
Daniel D. Vincent is a farmer of Windsor township and the pres- ident of the Farmer's Ideal Creamery Co. He is also interested in other business matters in the township, is agent for the Coe, Converse & Edwards Nursery Co., which he represented for ten years, and is a director in the Arlington Farmers Fire Insurance Co., which office he has held for thirteen years, and district clerk, which last position he lias held for over twenty years, and is chairman of the town board. He is identified with the Republican party and has held the office of supervisor and justice of the peace. Samuel Vincent, father of Dan- iel D., was born in Scoharie county, New York, September 21, 1813, attended school in New York and was there married to Miss Hannah
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Tompkins, who was also from an old New York family and was born in 1818. Mrs. Vincent's uncle, Daniel Tompkins, was at one time vice-president of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent left New York in 1849 and came west as far as Kenosha county, where they lived until June, 1856, when they came to Windsor and purchased a large farm, now occupied by their sons, Daniel V. and E. T. Vincent. Mr. Vincent died August 31, 1874, and his wife October 12, 1873. Four of their seven children survive them. Daniel D. was born in Scoharie county, N. Y., April 20, 1847, educated in the Windsor schools and at the University of Wisconsin. At the age of eighteen years he began to teach school, which profession he practiced for thirteen terms. He now owns a farm of one hundred and twenty- two acres, whose improvements have been almost altogether made by the present owner and he carries on a large general farming and Quarry business. July 4, 1872, he married Miss Maria Peckham, daughter of Parden L. Peckham, who came to Wisconsin in 1855, lived in the town of Sun Prairie and in Arlington and now resides on a farm in Sun Prairie. Mrs. Vincent's grandfather, Parden Peck- ham, stood the draft of 1812 when they took every other man. To Mr. and Mrs. Vincent were born eight children of whom but four are living. Samuel, Herbert. Katie and Perlie T. are deceased; the survivors are D. Ray, Phebe Della, Rex R. and Nella Carrie
Eldert Tymesen Vincent is a prominent farmer of Windsor, and son of Samuel Vincent, whose history appears with that of Daniel D. Eldert T. Vincent was born in Kenosha county, Wis .. Nov. 4, 1850. He was one of a family of seven brothers and sisters, was educated in Windsor and with his parents attended the M. E. church. He came to the town of Windsor in 1856, when six years of age, and has always been a farmer. His farm in Windsor is a fine property of three hundred acres, on which he raises all kinds of farm produce and also short-horned cattle and Poland China hogs. Mr. Vincent also owns a farm in South Dakota of one hundred and sixy acres. Mr. Vincent is allied with the Republican party. July 4, 1871. he mar- ried Miss Margaret Baxter, who was born in Philadelphia, October 6. 1848, daughter of George and Mary (Eddy) Baxter. Mr. Baxter was born in Ireland in 1800 of an English family and died in Wind- sor, in 1866, and Mrs. Baxter was born in Ireland in 1808 and was of Scotch descent. They came to the United States from Canada and settled in Dane county in 1853 and lived in Windsor and Burke. Mrs. Batxer was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and died in Madison in 1857. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Vincent ; Hannah May was educated at the Madison high school and
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