History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 154

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 154

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EDGAR S. McBRIDE, head clerk of the State Land Department ; was born in Portage Co., Ohio, June 30, 1833; he is a son of the veteran editor of the Sparta Herald, formerly of Pennsylvania. Mr. McBride prepared for college at Norwalk Academy, Ohio, and in 1850 entered Oberlin College, in the classical course, but withdrew during the Junior year ; from 1853 to 1858, he resided at Manlius, Onondaga Co., N. Y .; in the summer of 1858, he settled in Sparta, Monroe Co., Wis., and became connected with his father in the publication of the Sparta Herald; on the 1st of January, 1860, he removed to Madison and took the position as clerk in the State Land Department, and was continuously in that office till 1874, when, on the incoming of a Democratic administration, he retired, and for four years engaged in the real-estate and insurance business; he resumed his position in the Land Department in Jannary, 1878, which he still retains. He was married, January 10, 1861, to Miss Caroline D. Curtis, daughter of a

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prominent merchant and manufacturer, who did business in Manlius and Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y. ; they have no children ; he owns a pleasant brick residence on Carroll street.

BOBERT MCCURDY was born in the province of New Brunswick, April 16, 1836 ; resided there until his parents, Chandler and Rachel (Simpson) McCurdy moved to Oshkosh, Wis., in the fall of 1850, where he has since resided ; was engaged in lumber business until 1861 ; was City Treasurer three years, and Register of Deeds six years ; State Senator in 1873 and 1874, and Assistant State Treasurer ever since January, 1878; is now serving second term. Was married at Oshkosh, Oct. 27, 1858, to Catharine C. Vosburg, a native of Warren, Herkimer Co., N. Y .; they have one son living-Alfred Edson, born at Oshkosh, Oct. 20, 1860. Mr. McCurdy is connected with the I. O. O. F.

ELIZABETH McKITTRICK, M. D., a graduate of the Woman's Hospital Medical College, of Chicago; was born in 1844, in County Down, Ireland ; came with her parents to the United States in 1852, and settled in Berlin. Green Lake Co., Wis. ; she was educated in the public schools of Berlin, and is a graduate from the Berlin High School ; taught several years in public schools in Wiscon- sin, and two years in high school of Berlin ; studied medicine three years, under the tutorship of Dr. N. M. Dodson, of Berlin ; spent two years in Woman's Hospital Medical College, in Chicago ; also had six months' experience in hospital practice ; received her degree of Doctor of Medicine on the 2d of March, 1880, and on the 1st day of April, 1880, she opened an office for practice of medicine in Madison, at No. 5 Brown's Block, Pinckney street ; boards at Mrs. Pettengill's, on Wilson street. She is a practical woman of principle and culture.

J. A. MACK, M. D., was born at Savannah, Ga., May 25, 1851 ; is a graduate of the Chicago Medical College, and has been engaged in practice in Madison since 1876; was Assistant Phy- sician at the Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane from April 1876, until Dec. 1 of the same year ; then removing to Chicago, where he remained for a time, posting himself in hospital practice, until January, 1877, when he returned to Madison, and has been engaged in practice here ever since; is Secretary of the Dane County Medical Society, which position he has held for several years ; is also a member of the State Medical Association, and has been appointed delegate to the American Association ; is a member of A., F. & A. M., and A. O. U. W.

HON. ALEXANDER H. MAIN, was born in Plainfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., June 22, 1824; is the son of Alfred and Samantha (Stillman) Main ; his father, a native of Connecticut, removed to New York in his youth, thence in 1846, to Dane Co., Wis., where he still resides, and has been elected Sheriff of his county ; Mr. Main received his education in the common schools and academies of his native State, and at the age of 19 accepted a clerkship in a store in Cuba, N. Y., and subsequently in Little Genesee, N. Y., where he continued clerking until 1850, when he became a partner in the mercantile business under the firm name of Main, Ennis & Co., and continued the business with reasonable success until 1856, when he removed to his present home, Madison, Wis., where, in partnership with his brother, W. S. Main, he resumed his merchandising, and continued with varied success until 1860; in September of that year he became cashier of the Sun Prairie Bank, in which capacity he served until he closed its business in the spring of 1863 ; in the autumn of 1862, he was appointed Deputy Assessor of Internal Revenue, in the Second District of Wisconsin, and about the same time established himself in the insur- ance business from that time until the present (1876); except during a period of six months of President Johnson's administration, he has served as Deputy Assessor and Collector. Politically, Mr. Main is, and always has beer. since its organization, identified with the Republican party, and in 1855, prior to his removal to the West, represented Allegany Co. in the New York State Legislature. Mr. Main has been twice married; first, in 1852, to Miss Mary Cottrell, of Allegany Co., N. Y., who died in February, 1862; he subsequently wedded his present wife, Miss Emma Cottrell, a sister of his former wife.

W. S. MAIN, Deputy U. S. Marshal ; born in Edmeston, Otsego Co., N. Y., Aug. 16, 1828; came to Prairieville (now Waukesha), Wis., with his parents in spring of 1846 ; January, 1847, came to Madison, where he has since continued to reside; engaged in clerking until 1851, when he entered the office of his father, who was then Sheriff of Dane Co. ; in 1852 he was elected Sheriff, and he became his father's successor; served two years; in 1855, he was Town Clerk'; from 1856 to 1859, he was in the mercantile business ; in 1860, he was appointed Under Sheriff, and in 1862 he was again elected Sheriff ; served as Under Sheriff in 1865 and 1866 ; again elected Sheriff, and served in that position in 1867 and 1868; he was Under Sheriff in 1869 and 1870; in January, 1871, he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal, and has served in that position ever since. Prior to coming to Wisconsin, he resided for twelve years in Allegany Co., N. Y.

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J. F. MALANEY, plumber, steam and gas fitter, Madison, Wis. ; he is the son of John and Margaret Malaney, and was born in Madison, Wis., July 20, 1859 ; he learned his trade in Madison, and has been in his present business since 1871. Mr. M. began business for himself in April of 1877 ; he now has three hands in his employ. Mr. M. is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

MRS. E. M. MALLINSON (nee Faville), millinery and notions, No. 29' Carroll street ; res" idence same; native of New York; taught several years in Minnesota. Was married, in Minnesota, in 1869, to M. Mallinson ; she located in Madison in 1874, and opened store in the spring of 1875 ; she has one daughter, aged 10 years ; she employs five assistants; she carries a large stock of goods, and has a satisfactory patronage.

REV. CLARK O. MALTBY, Pastor Baptist Church ; he was born in Rutland, Jefferson Co., N. Y., July 19, 1836 ; is the son of Rev. Sherman Maltby, and the grandson of the Rev. Joseph Maltby, a pioneer Baptist preacher of Northwestern New York; he graduated from the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y., in 1858, and taught one year in the Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute at Brooklyn, N. Y. Was married, in 1859, to Miss Fannie E. Clark, daughter of Milton Clark, a promi- nent business man of Watertown, N. Y., where the subject of this sketch spent fifteen years engaged in business ; he spent three years in the Rochester Theological Seminary, and graduated in the Class of 1877; in January of that year, he was called to the First Baptist Church of this city, and he began his services the autumn after graduation, being ordained on the 6th of September, 1877. Has an adopted daughter-Cora E. Maltby, now in public school in this city. During his pastorate, there has been a net increase of twenty-four members, an organ has been purchased, and repairs on church, aggregating nearly $3,000. The society is prosperous.

DAVID MASON, Superintendent of the Magnetograph Observatory of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ; he is a native of Waukesha, Wis .; was born April 2, 1853; he obtained his preparatory education in the public schools of his native county, and was also one year at Carroll College, Waukesha. He taught school in the winter of 1873-74, and, while teaching, he made the acquaintance of an ardent friend of the Wisconsin State University, who was then teaching in the same township, and, through his influence entered the university the spring term of 1874, in the sub-freshman department ; graduated in the classical course, Class of 1879. The first two vacations of his university course were spent in the employ of the United States Coast Survey, in connection with Prof. Davies. The Magnetic Observatory was established in the fall of 1876, and Mr. Mason was appointed " Observer," before the instruments were in position. Prof. Davies was two years Superintendent of Observatory, and Mr. Mason was assistant, and had practical charge of the same; he has taken all the observations from the initial to the present date. On the 16th of December, 1878, he was Superintendent, and has full charge, doing all the work without an assistant. This is the only observatory of the kind in the United States, and contains the instruments from the vacated Magnetic Observatory at Washington, D. C. Mr. Mason is an accomplished gentleman and a devotee of science.

JAMES B. MEARS (deceased), was born in 1810, in New York; he came to Madison in 1853, and engaged in mercantile and real-estate business. His first wife died early in 1854. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Lois C. Newton, daughter of Judge Newton, of Ohio; her father was some years a law partner of Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, ex-member of Congress from the Garfield District ; her hus- band was Assistant Paymaster in the office of Simeon Mills, at Madison. In December, 1862, he received appointment of Additional Paymaster of Volunteers ; in March, 1867, he received a commission as Major, and the appointment of Paymaster in the Regular Army; in March, 1875, he was retired, with rank of Major, on account of failing health ; he died April 26, 1877, leaving three children, all married. The last two years of his life was a gradual decline, the result of Southern malaria ; he was of a quiet, retiring dispo- sition, but was appreciated, both in business and social circles ; his executive ability and stanch integrty were large factors of success ; he was punctilious in the performance of every official duty, and was faith- ful in all the relations of life. Family are Presbyterians. The home is a fine brick residence, on corner of Carroll and Gilman streets.

JOHN R. MELVIN, foreman roundhouse; was born in Canada, in November, 1832, and at the age of 12, he started for himself in the battle of life; was chore-boy for John Spaulding, of Mont- pelier, Vt., and at the age of 16, he began railroading, first as fireman on the old Vermont Central R. R., and after two year's experience, was given charge of engine in the fall of 1851; he came West in 1852, and worked a few months in Chicago Machine Shop while waiting for position on railroad; in the fall of 1852, he took charge of an engine on the Chicago & Galena R. R., and first work was to distribute rails

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to replace the strap-iron rails between Chicago and Elgin; was one and three-fourth years there, also in the employ of the C., B. & Q. R. R., in 1854, the year the railroad was extended to Mendota; in March, 1855, he entered into the service of the Milwaukee & Mississippi R. R., now the Prairie du Chien division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R. R., and he has been on the pay-roll of that company ever since with the exception of one month spent in the East on a visit. Twenty-five years of continuous service, running one engine for sixteen years, and in all of that time never had an accident, and was never reprimanded by his superior officer. Was married, Jan. 31, 1860, to Miss Frances P. Hart, formerly of Vermont; they have no children. Residence on University avenue; he is now Alderman of the Fifth Ward; ten years President of St. Raphael Benevolent Society, and is otherwise officially connected with that church. In May, 1876, he was promoted from locomotive to charge of roundhouse, which position he fills acceptably at present time.

GEORGE F. METCALF, proprietor of meat market, Madison, Wis .; was born in Balti- more, Md., Feb. 5, 1814 ; he is the son of Abraham and Jemima Metcalf; he was educated in Baltimore, Md. ; Mr. M. went to Milwaukee, Wis., in May, of 1840, and lived there, engaged in the butchering busi- ness until he removed to Madison, Wis., about sixteen years ago; most of the time since, he has been en- gaged in his present line of business. April 27, 1842, Mr. M. was married, south of Mcadville, Penn., to Miss Rachel M. Thompson, who was born Aug. 17, 1817 ; they have one adopted child-Mary Elizabeth, who was born Aug. 20, 1842. Mrs. Metcalf belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOHN C. MEYER, shoemaker, Madison, Wis .; is the son of Dietrich and Dorothea Meyer ; and was born in Germany, whence he came to this country in 1861, going directly to Reedsburg, Wis., which place he reached Oct. 8, 1861 ; he worked on a farm' for one year ; March 22, 1863, he removed to Madison, and was employed by Mr. Gilman for three years ; in 1868, he began business for himself, as a boot and shoe maker ; Sept. 29, 1839, he was married to Miss Catharine Luhring, who was born Jan. 24, 1811 ; they have four children-Dorothea, William, Henry and Kate; the family belongs to the Lutheran Church. Mr. Meyer was for eleven years a soldier in Hanover, Germany, being a member of the King's Body Guard.

REV. J. G. MILLER, minister of the Evangelical Church of Madison, and one of the pio- neers of Dane Co., was born June 9, 1813, in Wurtemberg, Germany ; his parents emigrated to America in 1824, and settled in Tioga Co., Penn., going with wagons from New York City, a distance of over 300 miles ; remained there till 1835 ; then removed to Crawford Co., Ohio; entered the ministry of the Evangelical Association in 1843 ; an account of his missionary labors in Illinois and Wisconsin is given in another part of this work; he located on Sec. 10, in what is now the town of Blooming Grove, in 1845 ; at the organization of the new town, he suggested the name to Dr. Tiffany, of Blooming Grove, from the beautiful groves and abundance of wild flowers in bloom. He was the first Superintendent of Schools elected in the town, but soon after resigned in favor of R. W. Lansing, as he was going to Pennsyl- vania. He was married, in 1847, in Union Co., Penn., to Miss Sophia Dunkel, a native of that county, and has four children-Mary M., single, and at home ; Emma Sophia, now the wife of Rev. E. C. Einsel, of Nebraska; Charles T., practicing medicine in Madison, and Sarah, at home. Has a farm of 320 acres on Sec. 10 in Blooming Grove, valued at $60 per acre; has resided in Madison for the last ten years.

J. L. MILLER, joint proprietor of the firm of Johnson & Miller's meat market, Madison, Wis. ; is the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Miller, and was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, Aug. 23, 1847; he came to America in 1857, and settled in Waukesha Co., Wis. ; there he lived for eight years, engaged in farming ; then removed to Iowa, where he spent eight years in farming ; returning to Wisconsin, he lived in Verona until March, 1880, when he went to Madison and opened his present business. Feb. 22, 1870, he was married to Miss Jennie Grieve, who was born in Scotland Aug. 11, 1850; they have two children -Llewellyn and Myrtie. They belong to the Presbyterian Church. Besides the firm, there are two hands employed steadily in the shop.

SIMEON MILLS, one of the early settlers of Dane Co., was born in Norfolk, Litchfield Co., Conn., Feb. 14, 1810; his father, Martin Mills, was the eldest son of Constantine Mills, a Revolutionary soldier; his mother was the daughter of Clement Tuttle, of Torringford, Conn., also a soldier of the Rev- olution. In 1811, his father removed to Ohio and became one of the pioneer settlers in the dense forests of the Western Reserve, locating in the county of Ashtabula, where the subject of this sketch was brought up to the active labor of farming in a new country, receiving, at the same time, a good common-school ed- ucation; at the age of 20. he engaged for a short time in teaching a district school, but, soon procuring a situation in a store, abandoned teaching, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits for several years there- after. On the 21st of May, 1834, he was married to Maria Lonisa Smith, daughter of Church Smith,

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Esq., of Berkshire Co., Mass .; Mrs. Mills was born in Sandisfield on the 21st of May, 1815, and, when about 12 years of age, her father removed with his family to Ohio and located in Austinburg, where she resided until the time of their marriage. In the spring of 1835, Mr. Mills made his first journey West, going around the upper lakes on the steamer Thomas Jefferson, on her first trip to Chicago. In 1836, he visited Wisconsin, and, upon the location of the seat of government at the Four Lakes, determined to make that his future home; in pursuance of such determination, on the 10th of June, 1837, he located at Madison, erected a small building of hewed logs, 16x18 feet, purchased a small stock of goods at Ga- lena, and opened the first store at the capital city of Wisconsin. In the spring of 1838, he returned to Ohio for his wife-who had remained behind until provision could be made that would at least afford shel- ter and some protection from inclement weather-and reached Madison on his return on the 18th day of June, 1838; the journey had been made by water to Milwaukee, and from there across the country by wagon, crossing Rock River at Janesville ; there was then no house, a distance of forty miles, between that place and Madison, and no road or marks to point the way they should travel, except a few stakes that had been stuck up on the prairies, and a few trees blazed by au exploring party the fall before. Thus. be- ginning with Madison in its earliest infancy, Mr. Mills and wife have made it their life-long home, raising a family of five children, two of whom are already numbered with the dead; their oldest daughter, Florence Eme- line, was married to Dr. Charles C. Hayes in 1859, and now resides in Hyde Park, Mass .; Arthur Constantine, the only sou living, was married to Helen Bennett, daughter of Thomas Bennett, Esq., of Green Bay, in 1866, who, together with the youngest daughter, Genevieve, reside with their parents in the city. In 1837, there was no mail or mail route between Madison and Milwaukee; but, in the fall of that year, he made a contract with the United States for carrying the mail between those points until the 1st of July, 1842 ; the difficulties of getting the mail through twice a week, with no houses between Madison and Aztalan, and at rare intervals the remainder of the route, with streams and marshes unbridged and roads unbuilt, cannot be easily understood or appreciated by the present generation as they fly over the country with the speed of the wind, and talk with the antipodes as to next-door neighbors; the task was accom- plished, however, without the loss of a single trip during the life of the contract-a feat rarely performed at the present time, though the distance is spanned with iron and traversed by powerful locomotives. On the 12th of August, 1837, he was appointed the first Justice of the Peace in Dane Co., and probably the only one at that time between Dodgeville and Milwaukee; in 1839, Dane Co. was organized, and he was elected one of the County Commissioners, and appointed Clerk of the Court, which latter office he held about nine years ; he held the office of Territorial Treasurer when the State Government was organized, and was elected the first Senator from Dane Co .; afterward renominated and declined; in 1848, he was ap- pointed one of the Regents of the University of Wisconsin, and took an active part in the organization and commencement of the institution, purchasing its site and superintending the erection of its first build- ings ; in 1860, he was appointed one of the Trustees of the State Hospital for the Insane, and was an active member of that board for seventeen years, taking a deep interest in the erection of buildings and the general management of affairs in and about the institution ; he has been identified with public im- provements, and contributed largely to the early prosperity of the city ; he invested all his gains in lands and the erection of buildings, making their care the business of his life. At the breaking-out of the re- bellion in 1861, he took an active part in the enlistment of troops by extending material aid to the fami- lies of the earliest volunteers ; he was appointed Paymaster General by Gov. Randall, and, during the first year of the war, disbursed more than one and a half millions of the war funds of the State. Mr. Mills is remarkable for quick perception, sound judgment, thorough self-reliance, great energy and unwa- vering perseverance ; his knowledge is practical, and his habits industrious and economical ; he has aided in building schools, colleges and churches, and in developing the resources of a new country, has eocour- aged his fellow-man, by precept and example, to attain a higher civilization. In religion, he always elaimed to he orthodox, having been early taught to " believe that God fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass ; " he believes that the Creator and Ruler of all things would provide and care for the future as for the past, and, having an abiding faith in the wisdom and benevolence of God, was satisfied to trust the hereafter entirely in His hands; he did not believe that Providence ever helped those that failed to help themselves, or that the intercessions of the creature with the Creator ever lifted the weight of a feather from the burdens we bear, or added a single grain to the product of the land; he often expressed the de- sire that he might leave the world no worse than he found it.

MRS. MARIA LOUISA MILLS, wife of Simeon Mills, was a daughter of Church Smith, and born in Sandisfield, Berkshire, Co, Mass., May 21, 1815; when she was about 12 years of age, her father removed to Ohio. locating in Austinburg, Ashtabula Co , where she resided at the time of her mar- riage, May 21, 1834. In 1838, Mrs. Mills removed to the Territory of Wisconsin and located at Madi-

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son; at that time, the interior of Wisconsin was sparsely inhabited, and the entire population of Dane Co. did not exceed four or five families. The journey from Ohio was made by water to Milwaukee, and thence to Madison by wagon and on foot, as necessity required; from Janesville to Madison, a distance of sbout forty miles, there was neither house nor road, and three days were required to make the journey, finally arriving in Madison June 18, 1838. In speaking of her pioneer life, Mrs. Mills says, " I came ex- pecting to make my home in Madison, and not for one moment have I ever been homesick, or regretted the location we made.". This remark illustrates her strength of purpose and the force of character predomi- nating in her temperament in a marked degree; full of life, animation and enterprise, she infuses the same elements in the company in which she mingles; of excellent mental attainments, her conversation is ever ready and entertaining ; strictly domestic, industrious, frugal and retiring in her habits, she never makes any pretensions to publicity, and, being a firm believer in Christianity, has ever inculcated in her children s love for the same principles, which form an attractive feature of her daily life and Christian character ; given more to industrious diligence than to gayety, she presides as mistress of her own household, and one so enshrined in the hearts of her immediate family circle cannot fail in having the esteem and regard of her neighbors and friends.

FREDERICK MOESSNER, baker and confectioner, Madison ; is the son of Charles and Catharine Moessner, and was born in the village of Gondelsheim, Amt Bretten, in Baden, Germany, April 9, 1832; his father died in August, 1850, near Madison, Wis., but his mother is still living; she is 80 years old; in the fall of 1849, Mr. M. came to Dane Co., and, for five years, lived with his brother on a farm, five miles to the northeast of Madison, Wis .; early in the year of 1850, Mr. M. went to Milwaukee and learned the confectionery trade, with Henry Miller, of that city ; remained about two years in Mil- waukee, and then went to Madison, where he worked at his trade and the bakery business; afterward was for one year in Galena, Ill .; in 1853, he returned to Madison and began for himself in his present busi- ness, but in 1858 went to St. Louis and was gone for a year, after which time, returning to Madison, he worked at his trade in the employ of others until 1864, when he went to Pilot Knob, Mo., where for three months he baked for "the boys in blue;" returning to Madison, he worked for Mr. Gunkel, in the confectionery business, for some time ; about fourteen years ago, having spent one year in Chicago in the same business, he again began business for himself in Madison, where he has since remained. Dec. 12, 1858, he was married to Miss Catharine Delle, who was born Oct. 26, 1840; they have six children, viz .: Estella Josephine, Alma Lena, Louise Adelia, Lilie Elda, Richard August and Flora. Mr. M. belongs to the society of United Workmen.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 154

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