History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 143

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304

USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Wisconsin > Part 143

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

WILLIAM G. BEECROFT, merchant; was born in 1826 in England; his father, Joseph Beecroft, was a local preacher among the Primitive Methodists; learned the tailor's trade of his uncle in England ; came to the United States in 1846, and worked ten years for Samuel S. Powell, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Was married in 1849, to Miss Mary Owen, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y., who died in 1858, leaving two children, Fred and Mary. He settled in Madison in 1860, and, in 1862, he begaa mercantile business in his present store, which, with the house connected therewith, is his property ; it is No. 33 University avenue, near Lake street. He married his present wife in 1860 ; her maiden name was Mary Bouffler, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; they have five children-Lillie, Daisy, Alice, Albert E. and William G., Jr. He is a life-member of the State Agricultural Society, and is Vice President of the St. George's Society, also a member of the I. Q. O. F. The family are Congregationalists. He is a thrifty merchant and a worthy citizen.

JONAH BELL, grocer, Madison ; is the son of Robert and Mary Bell, and was born in Sum- mit Co., Ohio, April 1, 1819; in 1840, he came to Yorkville, Racine Co., Wis., and was farming there for about seven years, when he moved to the town of Union, Rock Co., where he lived for two years ; then for one year in Columbia Co., Wis .; for several years he lived in Sauk Co .; about thirteen years ago, he went to Lone Rock, Richland Co., Wis., where, for one year, he was proprietor of a hotel ; in January, 1872, he removed.to Madison, Wis., and has since then been engaged in his present occupation. April 5, 1840, Mr. B. was married to Miss Mary Reed, who was born Nov. 6, 1820, in Cornwall, England, near West Land's End ; they have had seven children, of whom four are now living, viz .: Edward R., Frank D., Mary Josephine and Ida E. Mrs. Bell is a member of the Methodist Church.

953

MADISON.

REV. MICHAEL BENSON, Pastor Methodist Episcopal Church ; was born in Ontario, Province of Canada, December 24, 1832; was educated at Picton High School and Victoria College, at Coburg, Canada, then taught in public schools for two years, and, in 1853, entered the Niagara Conference of the M. E. Church, and was appointed to the Dorchester Circuit ; subsequent appointments were in larger places, and of increased responsibilities ; the last eight years in Canada, he was Presiding Elder. Mr. Benson was married Sept. 16, 1858, to Miss Sybill P. Hamilton ; they have had seven children, five of whom are still living-Ivah M., James H., Susie A., Lulu N. and Anna A .; the oldest daughter, in 1880, married Dr. I. D. Wiltrout, of Pennsylvania ; the others are still at home. Mr. Benson came to Wiscon- sin in 1876, and, for two years, was Pastor of the church at Mineral Point; in 1878, he took charge of the church at Madison. He is a member of the A., F. & A. M., A. O. U. W., Good Templars and Tem- ple of Honor.

MARCUS B. BERGUM, proprietor of Thompson Hotel; was born in Dane Co. in 1859, where he has since resided ; is a graduate of the Northwestern Business College of Madison. He was married May 17, 1880, to Miss Ingere Helgeson, of Deerfield, Dane Co., Wis. Mr. Bergum took charge of the Thompson House May 15, 1880 ; the hotel has forty-one beds, twenty regular boarders, also excel- lent stabling accommodations in connection with the house ; the patronage is largely Scandinavian. Mr. B. and wife are members of the Lutheran Church.

CHARLES H. BILLINGS, superintendent Madison Plow Works; was born in Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y., in 1820 ; his father was a carriage-maker, and he learned the trade of carriage-ironer and blacksmith. He was married, in 1842, to Miss Maria M. Merrill, of Utica. He came West in 1845 ; learned the trade of plow-maker in the plow factory at Naperville, Du Page Co., Ill. ; in November, 1846, he settled in Madison, which has been his home to the present time, and plow making has been his main business in Madison ; he is superintendent of the factory of the Madison Plow Company, which has purchased the Garnhart Reaper Works, and during the season of 1880 they have been re-fitted and enlarged to meet the requirements of their increasing business. Mr. Billings was twelve years in the E. W. Keyes Fire Company and two years Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, also two years on Board of Supervisors ; is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His residence is 53 Johnson street. Has four children ; three live in Madison and one in Iowa ; the three oldest are married. During his thirty-five years' residence in Madison, he has seen it grow from a rude country place of 250 inhabitants to its present wealth and beauty. He is a skilled mechanic and a reliable citizen.

FRANKLIN C. BILLINGS (firm of Billings & Detloff), general blacksmithing and wagon-making ; born in Cazenovia, N. Y., in 1845; his parents removed to Madison in November, 1846, and this city has been his home to the present date. In 1863, he eolisted in the 3d W. V. A., L. H. Drury commanding, and served till after the close of the rebellion. Was married, in 1871, to Miss Mary Fogell, of Madison ; they have four children. He is by trade a plow-maker; has been ten years Engineer of the " A. Proudfit, No. 2; " his shop and residence are both on Webster street. Is the Noble Grand of Hope Lodge, No. 17, I. O. O. F., of Madison. Is a skilled mechanic and a good citizen.

IRA W. BIRD, retired ; was born Ang. 7, 1829, in Oneida Co. N. Y. ; he was educated in the public schools of Cayuga Co., N. Y., where his mother removed during his childhood ; when he was but three years of age, his father died. The father, Allan Bird, was a contractor and builder, and, in com- mon with nearly all the Birds, was an active worker in political affairs. At the age of 19, I. W. settled in Onondaga Co., N. Y., and there learned the trade of carriage-maker ; in 1851, he began carrying on busi- ness as carriage manufacturer in Skaneateles, N. Y .; he was quite successful in his business, but, in the fall of 1855, he sold out and came West ; that same season, he settled in Madison, and became associated with his brother, Truman E. Bird, in the manufacture of carriages. He was married, Sept. 24, 1851, to Miss Christina L. Stoner, who was born Aug. 31, 1829, a daughter of Henry Stoner, a Drum Major in the war of 1812 ; they have had four children-Spencer A., who died at the age of 25, after having been an invalid for twenty years; Truman E., who is now in charge of a telegraph office in Blair, Neb. ; Alice, who died in infancy, and Cassie B. Bird, who was born July 24, 1861-an event registered in the family Bible as having occurred the next day after the battle of Bull Run. At the commencement of the war, be was appointed Chief of Police and Street Commissioner, which offices he held two years ; was afterward four years in mercantile business ; on the 7th of December, 1875, he was appointed by Gov. Taylor one of the " Railroad Farm Mortgage Land Commissioners," which office he still holds; he was seven years W. M. of Hiram Lodge, No. 50, A., F. & A. M., in Madison, and he is a 32d Degree Mason. The family attend the Congregational Church. He owns an attractive home on Main street, and also other real

954

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

estate in the city ; he is not now actively engaged in any business; does not want for the good things of this life ; is a respected pioneer and useful citizen.

R. B. BIRD, of the firm of Lyon & Bird, general blacksmiths ; born Sept. 25, 1846, in Mad- ison ; son of Prosper B. Bird, a prominent pioneer of Madison, who came here in 1837 ; has been in Mad- ison during his entire life, except when in the army ; enlisted Aug. 15, 1862, in Co. I, 23d W. V. I., and was honorably discharged at Mobile, Ala., on July 4, 1865. Married, in 1872, Miss Lizzie Mahana, of Madison ; they have three children, two daughters and a son ; family affiliate with Congregational Church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Hope Lodge, No. 17, of this city ; he owns shop and also residence on Webster street. Is a Republican; is a carriage-ironer by trade, and is a popular and skilled mechanic.

EDWARD A. BIRGE, PH. D., Professor of Zoology in the University of Wisconsin ; was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1851 ; his preparatory education was obtained in the Troy High School; he graduated from Williams College, Mass., in the Class of 1873; studied zoology three years in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, in Massachusetts, and took the degree of Doctor of Phi- losophy in Natural History ; was called to the University of Wisconsin in June, 1876, as instructor in natural history, and held that position till January, 1879, when he was elected Professor of Zoology. Dur- ing the university year of 1880-81, he was absent on a European journey. A notice of his literary labors appears in this volume in the chapter on Authors. Dr. Birge has a good memory, logical power, with quickness and energy of mind. He requires exactness and promptness in class-room and laboratory. He has a happy faculty of handling large classes. His aims for his classes are clearly seen and usually at- tained. His lectures are conversational in style, devoid of ornamentation, but direct, clear and full of matter. He grasps and combines facts readily, and presents them clearly, and is an enthusiastic teacher of science.

ANDREW BISHOP, Street Commissioner; was born Nov. 30, 1819, in Litchfield, Litchfield Co., Conn .; he has a practical common-school education. On the 1st of January, 1839, he left Homer, Cort- land Co., N. Y., with a team load of home-made clothes and stockings; he sold the goods and team for cash in Coldwater, Mich. Putting all his worldly possessions into a " brown tow knapsack," he trudged on foot and alone to Chicago, about 150 miles ; then, getting a ride of seven miles across the marshes, he walked to Aurora, Kane Co., Ill., forty miles ; and, after a few days' visit with friends, started for South- port, now Kenosha, Wis., a distance of 100 miles; on a stormy night, when about twenty miles from Kenosha, his boots, while drying under the stove, were burned to a crisp ; he put on three pairs of woolen stockings, and bound on, with tow strings, the soles of the roasted boots, and began plodding his pathless jour- ney, through slush and mud, across prairie and ravine, arriving in Southport on the 2d of March, 1839. He soon engaged on a farm, for a Methodist minister named Curtiss, who was from Prairieville, now Waukesha; in the fall"he bought this farm, upon which he had worked, which was located a few miles from Racine, Wis. He then returned to New York, by way of the lakes, on Capt. Blake's steamer " Illi- nois," and also through the Erie Canal; he induced two brothers and two sisters to return with him ; they came overland, hy way of Canada, and reached the farm Jan. 1, 1840 ; both the brothers are now dead ; one sister married Oliver Ives, and lives in Decorah, Iowa ; the other is married and lives in Homer, N. Y .; she is now (summer of 1880) visiting Mr. Bishop, in Madison. After farming a few years, he turned his attention to " staging," both in Illinois and Wisconsin ; from 1852 to 1855, he was engaged in the livery business in Madison. He was married, in March, 1852, to Miss Marion McDougal, daughter of a Rock Co. pioneer ; they have buried five children, all in early childhood; the one living is named Kittie, and is in school at home .. He was elected Sheriff in the fall of 1854, and served in that office four years, and afterward two years as Under Sheriff; he was Chief of Police fully ten years ; also Street Commissioner as long ; his business also includes street-sprinkling and water-furnishing ; he owns residence on Pinckney street. During the war he bought not less than 2,000 horses for Government use; he was, in early times, a boon-companion of Harvey Frink, son of the Frink of staging fame. In the " free and easy " pioneer times, he was " one of the boys." During the last forty years, Madison has grown from a sidewalkless village to a queen city, and he has grown into a useful and honored citizen.

CAPT. BERNARD BLACKMER, Proprietor of the steamer Bay State; he was born in September, 1850, in the " Old Bay State;" learned the trade of carpenter and joiner in Massachusetts ; before coming West, he built several small boats for river service ; came to Madison in November, 1874 ; in 1876, he built the Bay State-modelcd and constructed it himself, and since its launch, in June, 1876, he has managed it on every trip across Lake Monona ; during the boating season he boards at the Ger- mania, East Madison ; he belongs to no secret societies, but devotes himself wholly to the interests of the " Bay State."

Jorge &. Bryant

957

MADISON.

GEORGE W. BLIED, barber of " Vilas House," Madison, Wis., is the son of Mathew and Kate Bisler Blied, and was born in Madison, Wis., Feb. 22, 1858; he learned his trade in Chicago, where he worked for two years ; opened business for himself in his present location in the summer of 1879; his shop has three chaira. Mr. B. belongs to the Temple of Honor, the United Workmen and to the " Lotus Club."

FRANCIS HERMAN BODENIUS was born in Baden, Germany, July 19, 1846 ; received his education at Heidelburg, Munich and Paris; passed university examination at Heidelburg, Sept. 2, 1868 ; passed German State examination Sept. 2, 1869 ; was Regiment Surgeon of 2d Grenadiers of Baden during the Franco-Prussian war ; afterward was for two years steamship physician, six months on Hamburg Packet Line, with the North German Lloyd Line one year and a half, then at Newark, New Jersey, five years ; during the yellow fever epidemic in 1879, was in Memphis. He was married in Madi- aon, Feb., 25, 1880, to Hermana Hiffert ; she was born in Madison. The Doctor is a member of the Turner Society, Maennerchor Musical Society and Madison Relief Association.

SINCLAIR W. BOTKIN, son of Alexander and Jane R. (Sinclair) Botkin, who came to Madison in 1841, where S. W. was reared and educated ; graduated from the State University in 1857; was Assistant State Librarian and Deputy Clerk of Supreme Court from 1859 until August, 1862, when he enlisted in Co. A, 23d W. V. I., as Ist Lieutenant ; was afterward promoted to captaincy of same company ; was in all the engagements his regiment participated in until he resigned and was mustered out in the fall of 1863 ; he returned to Madison, and in 1864 he resumed his position as Deputy Clerk of the Supreme Court; in 1865, he entered the law office of Spooner & Lamb, as law student ; November, 1866, he was admitted to the bar; soon afterward he was appointed Assistant United States Assessor for the Second District of Wisconsin ; was also appointed Assistant United States Marshal about the same time; in 1867, waa relieved of Assessor's duties, but continued as United States Marshal until 1869; on January 1 of that year, he entered into partnership with William Welch ; in 1875, he was appointed Register in Bank- ruptcy, which office he still holds.

D. F. BOUGHTON, M. D., Superintendent of the Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane, was born in Oakland Co., Mich., in 1843; fitted for college at Ypsilanti, Mich., and entered Michigan Univeraity in 1866; was two years in the literary course ; he then changed, in 1868, to the medical course, and graduated in the Class of 1870; he located the same season at Owosso, Mich., where for two years he practiced his profession. In April, 1872, he was elected Second Assistant Physician at Wisconsin State Hospital for the insane, and, on the death of Superintendent McDill, he was promoted, in February, 1876, to the superintendency. He was married, in October, 1875, to Miss Hellen C. McDill, of Plover, Wis .; they have two children. In conducting this Hospital for the Insane, the officials aim to render pleasant home-life predominant; as little force or restraint is used as is possible and still maintain the discipline of the institution ; the administration is non-political and non-sectarian ; religious services are held every Sabbath, and Pastors of all denominations, Catholic and Protestant, are invited to address the patients; questions of nativity, politics or religion, are never asked concerning officials or employes, and do not influence ap- pointments; on this day (July 17, 1880), there are 566 patients enrolled; many of the insane volunta- rily partake in the varied labors of the farm and Hospital ; in suitable weather, during the summer, patients are expected to spend aix to eight hours daily out of doors, and in winter, all who are able, to walk one and a half miles each half-day ; a vegetable and dairy farm supplies the needs of this peculiar village of nearly 700 persons; the furniture and tinware used in the Hospital are manufactured in their own shops ; much of the machinery used is also a home product, and all repairing of machinery is done by their own workmen; the convenience and economy of this arrangement are obvious; wise and progressive manage- ment ia apparent, together with kind and intelligent care of the afflicted. Superintendent Boughton's du- ties are complex and multitudinous, and would afford full scope for all the powers of a myriad-minded mso.

J. B. BOWEN, M. D., was born in Killingly, Windham Co., Conn., Aug. 19, 1815; came to Madison in April, 1852, and engaged in the practice of medicine; was never sick so as to be disabled for business; he is the oldest homoeopathic physician west of Milwaukee; from 1860 to 1862, he was in the hardware business, and has been engaged in the real estate business more or less ever since he came here; bought and sold probably over half a million dollars' worth of property; Director of the Park Savings Bsuk aince its organization, and is President of the bank ; was Mayor in 1871; commenced the practice af homeopathy with his brother in 1849, having graduated from the N. Y. Central School, at Rochester, N. Y., in 1848; he is the son of Jabez and Sarah (Tanner ) Bowen, both natives of Rhode Island, of the origi- osl fsmilies of Bowens from Holland ; his father was a cotton manufacturer; started one of the first cotton

958

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

Water looms in this country; he died when J. B. was a child of 6 years. Since 12 years of age, he has earned his living, clothed and educated himself, without help, working from 12 to 16 years of age in a cotton-mill; worked from 6 to 8} A. M. in the mill, attended school until 4 P. M., then worked in the mill until 8 P. M .; afterward was night-watch one winter, getting only three hours' sleep, and attending school during the day ; at Stafford, Conn., he commenced running a cotton-mill for himself when but 16 years of age; remained there six months, then went to Muddy Brook, Woodstock, Conn .; was there one year, then went to War- ren, Mass., and bought a mill there for $16,000; when he was but 19 years of age, he had a business pay- ing over $3,000 per year ; when 21 years of age, he had a mill and everything paid for; continued in the cotton manufacturing business until 1846. He married, in Killingly, Conn., Susan Tucker; they have two children-Susan M., now Mrs. Wayne Ramsey; and Sarah Jane, now Mrs. Dr. L. 3. Ingman.

HON. ARTHUR B. BRALEY, was born at Perry, Wyoming Co., N. Y., Feb. 11, 1824 ; he was the only son of Rufus and Hepzee Braley. His father was born in the town of Adams, Mass., and was among the early settlers of Western New York ; his mother's name was Foster, and her father, Daniel Foster, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and was at the battle of Monmouth Church. Arthur B. had the misfortune to lose an excellent father when he was 15 years of age; this great be- reavement practically threw him upon his own resources ; his education at that time was limited, with the exception of two or three terms in what might be termed a select or private school ; his habits in early life were formed under the influence of a most excellent mother, and were consequently good ; his mother was a member of the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers ; in the pure faith of that sect she lived and died ; her life exemplified its purity, and her death its power. After the death of his father, he went to live with a wealthy relative ; the generosity of a friend supplied him with the means, and he occupied many a leisure hour in perusing the works of the immortal bard of Avon, while hidden from the eye of „his watchful guardian ; his stay, however, in the house of his relative was short, and once more he re- turned to his home; in the spring of 1843, he ventured out into the world in search of fortune, and his first landing-place was Erie, Penn., where he spent some weeks among his friends ; thence to Cleveland, Co- lumbus, Cincinnati and to the blue-grass regions of Kentucky ; in the fall of 1844, he returned once more to New York ; in the ensuing spring, he began the study of law, making use of borrowed books for that purpose ; the next winter was spent in the beautiful Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, famous in history and in song ; after teaching three months in the last-named place, he returned to his home, and in the spring of 1846 emigrated to Wisconsin, settled first at Delavan, where he completed his legal studies, and in 1848 visited Madison, where he was admitted to the bar, and came to Madison to reside in the fall of 1852; upon the organization of the capital city in 1856, Mr. Braley was elected to the office of Police Justice, which place he held for three successive terms, of two years each ; in 1864, he was chosen Alder- man of the First Ward, an office which he held for three years; at the opening of the Presidential cam- paign in 1864, he took editorial charge of the Wisconsin Daily Patriot, a position which he retained until after election ; at the close of the Presidential campaign, he vacated the editorial chair, and returned to the duties of his profession ; in the spring of 1868, he was elected City Attorney of Madison, and in the summer and fall of the same year, he became principal political editor of the Madison Daily Democrat, which position he resigned at the close of the Presidential election ; in the spring of 1869, he removed to the village of Waukesha, Wis., where he remained until the fall of 1870, while here, he had the misfor- tune to lose his only remaining child, a bright and promising hoy of 6 years ; saddened beyond expression by this terrible blow, he returned to Madison, where he still resides ; in the spring of 1872, he was elected Police Justice, without opposition, and, this court having been re-organized and converted into a municipal court, for the city and county in the spring of 1874, he was chosen Judge of this court with- out opposition by the electors of Dane Co., for the term of six years. Mr. Braley was married, Feb. 11, 1855, at Madison, to Miss Philida Stevens, a most grand and noble woman ; they had three children, all deceased ; in 1879, he lost his wife ; this was indeed a most terrible blow to the happiness of Judge Braley; in April, 1880, he was again married, to Miss Alta E. Jordon, of Allegany Co., N. Y., an accomplished and most amiable lady, who studies to make the residence of her husband the most hospitable home in Madison.

REV. JOHN C. BRENDEL, Pastor of the Evangelical Association Church ; born in 1844 in Germany ; came to the United States when quite young; his parents settled in Herkimer Co., N. Y .; has resided io Wisconsin since 1850. He was educated mainly at the Northwestern College of the Evangelical Association, now located at Naperville, Ill. He was married, in 1868, to Miss Maggie Robish, of Jefferson, Wisconsin ; they have three children-Edward W., Maggie L. and Irvin W. His first pastorate was for two years at Beloit, Wis .; then he was three years in charge of the church at New Glarus,

959

MADISON.

Green Co., Wis .; then three years in the township of Honey Creek, near Sauk City, Wis. ; since 1878, his labors have been in Madison. His church has a membership of sixty ; he is a faithful Pastor of his " little flock."

LEVI M. BRESEE, proprietor of the Capitol House; born in 1837 in Canada ; has lived in Wisconsin most of the time since early boyhood. He began hotel life as a bell boy in the old American House, which stood on the block now occupied by the Park Savings Bank. At the breakiog-out of the rebellion, he was steward at the Vilas House. On the 25th of September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. I, 12th W. V. I., Col. G. E. Bryant, commanding ; served till the close of the war, and was mustered out in August, 1865. He was married, in September, 1858, to Miss Catherine E. Steele, of Sauk Co., Wis .; they have three sons, all at home. He entered the army as a private, and was discharged as Adjutant. The leading events of his military experience were the siege of Vicksburg, the capture of Atlanta and the march to the sea. Resuming hotel life, he served several years as clerk in the Vilas House. In the spring of 1878, he took charge of the Capitol House, which is a brick hotel, located on the corner of King and Clymer streets, and has fifty-three rooms for guests. He reduced daily rates from $2 to $1.50; also refurbished much of the house, and repaired generally, and the result is seen in the largely increased patronage.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 143

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1304

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304