History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 160

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 160

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).

1040

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

DAVID H. TULLIS, Book-keeper in office of the Secretary of State; was born Sept. 15, 1812, in Warren Co., Ohio; is a son of Jonathan Tullis and Nancy Darke; his father was a soldier of the Revolution; subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of his native county ; he worked twelve years at the business of tanner and currier. He was married in March, 1834, to Miss Rachel M. Van Dyke, who died in February, 1854, leaving two children-Anna (). and Clara L. The greater portion of his life has been spent in teaching, both in Ohio and Wisconsin ; in February, 1856, he came to Mali- son to take charge of Bacons' Commercial College, of which, in 1858, he became proprietor, and it was then made the Commercial Department of the University of Wisconsin ; he remained at the head of the Commercial College till May, 1864, when he sold the institution and accepted the position of Book-keeper in the ofice of Secretary of State, and that position he has continued to hold for sixteen years, to the present time. In August, 1858, he was united in marriage with Miss Hannah W., daughter of Dr. E. Stevens, of Monroe, Ohio; they have one child, Sussie G., in school at home. Owns residence on Ham- ilton street; he was several years Justice of the Peace in his native State; was also in Ohio, twelve years, an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and since 1857, has held same office in the church at Madison .; for twenty-four years he has been identified with the history of Madison ; of his sixteen years' continuous service as Book keeper in office of Secretary of State, four years were during Democratic administrations, from 1861 to 1866, he was Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin. In the Com- mercial College, Mr. Tullis had many appreciative pupils, who now rank among the leading citizens of the State. He is a quiet, capable official, a reliable citizen, and, in all the varied relations of life, exhibits the spirit of the Christian religion.

SETH M. VAN BERGEN, retired farmer ; was born in Hudson, N. Y., July 4, 1814 ; his parents removed to, Otsego Co. when he was a child, and that was his home until he came West in 1840, on a tour of investigation ; he first visited his brother at Green Bay, and then walked to Fond du Lac, which was a small hamlet, unattractive and unambitious ; after prospecting awhile and receiving little encouragement, he returned to New York ; in 1842, he again cast his fortunes toward sunset, and became a resident of Madison, and his home has been in Dane Co. since that date; he soon bought a farm in Sun Prairie, which he sold in a few years, and lived some time in Madison ; he had several U. S. mail routes, and also State contracts ; he has owned a number of fine farms, the most noted of which is now owned by Dr. Bowen. He was married Aug. 23, 1847, to Miss Harriet, daughter of Chester Bushnell, who settled in Jefferson Co., Wis., in 1838; they have four children-Francis E., Fred M., Hattie C. and Allen B .; the two eldest are married and reside in Wisconsin; the youngest are at home. He was an Alderman during the first two years under the city charter, and was several years Supervisor from the township of Madison ; is now on his second term, of three years cach, as County Superintendent of the Poor. The family are Episcopalians ; they have been honored pioneers and useful citizens of Dane Co. for the last thirty-eight years, and have shared in its prosperity and experienced the changing fortunes of this Western world ; they are genial and respected.

JACOB VAN ETTA, proprietor of the Vilas House ; was born April 14, 1832, in Mont- gomery Co., N. Y .; he began his hotel life at the age of 13, in Canajoharie, Montgomery Co., N. Y., and was nine years with his first employer ; he obtained a practical public-school education while giving a portion of his time to the humblest duties of hotel-boy ; at the age of 21, he took charge of the Clinton House, in Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y .; this he managed until change of proprietors ; then, for two years, he clerked at the Central Hotel, in Utica, N. Y .; in the spring of 1856, he came to Madison in the em- ploy of Nelson & Russell, proprietors of the Capitol House, now known as the Vilas House; he was clerk in the house of which he is now proprietor, until June 16, 1858, when the house changed hands, owing to the death of one of the proprietors. He was married Aug. 13, 1858, to Miss Maria Fitzgeralds, of Madison, who died in March, 1880 ; they had no children. From 1858 to 1878, he was proprietor of the establishment known as the St. Julian billiard room and restaurant, on Main street, Madison; he owns real estate in the city and county ; since October 1, 1878, he has been proprietor of the Vilas House, which was the earliest first-class hotel in Dane Co .; large additions, modern improvements and popular manage- ment maintain the rank and reputation of this early favorite.

N. B. VAN SLYKE, President of the First National Bank; is a native of Half- Moon (now Crescent), Saratnga County, N. Y .; was reared in Syracuse, Onondaga Co .; came from there to Madison in March, 1853 ; engaged in banking and land business ; was U. S. Quartermaster from January, 1862, until the close of the war, and afterward resumed the business of banking as an active banker ; he was one of the Regents of the University of Wisconsin, from its organization to 1879 ;. he was a member of the first City Council of Madison.

Annie, C. Crenk,

OREGON.

1041

MADISON.

EDWARD P. VILAS, attorney and counselor at law, firm of Vilas & Bryant (W. F. Vilas, E. E. Bryant and E. P. Vilas), office in Farrington Block; was born November 6, 1852, in the city of Madison, which place has always been his home; graduated in classical course in the class of 1872 from the Wisconsin State University, and from the law department in 1875, and has since practiced law in all the courts of the State. Was married, Oct. 9, 1877, to Elizabeth G. Atwood, a native of this city, and daughter of Gen. David Atwood, proprietor of the Wisconsin State Journal ; they have one son-Charles Atwood, born Sept. 21, 1878. Mr. Vilas has been for eleven years organist of the First Congregational Church in this city ; he is a member of Madison Lodge, No. 5, A., F. & A. M. Is a Democrat, but not a politician. Is a studious and progressive lawyer.

. WILLIAM F. VILAS, LL. B., Lecturer on Practice, Pleadings and Evidence in the Law Department of the University of Wisconsin; was born in Chelsea, Orange Co., Vt., July 9, 1840 ; with his parents, he removed to Madison, Wis., in June, 1851 ; graduated at the University of Wisconsin in 1858 (A. M. in 1861) and at the Albany Law School (LL. B.) in 1860, and was admitted to the Supreme Courts of New York and Wisconsin the same year, and began practice at Madison on his twentieth birth- day, July 9,.1860 ; he has since that date followed his profession in Madison. He served in the war for the suppression of the Southern rebellion, being mustered into the 23d W. V. I., Aug. 25, 1862, as Cap- tain of Co. A, which he raised; this regiment in a few weeks joined the forces under Maj. Gen. Sherman, who was then preparing for an attack on Vicksburg; this regiment took part in several engagements pre- ceding the attack on Vicksburg, and, in the subsequent siege of that now famous city ; Capt. Vilas was appointed Major of the same regiment Feb. 25, 1863, and on the 23d of March, 1863, was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, and from June 5 to Aug. 25, 1863, when he resigned, he had charge of the regiment, having been in command during the last month of the siege and for nearly two months after the surrender. On returning from the war, he resumed the practice of his profession in Madison, Wis. He was married, Jan. 3, 1866, to Miss Anna Matilda Fox, born Oct. 15, 1845, daughter of Dr. William H. Fox and Cor- nelia Averill ; they have three children living-Cornelia, born May 31, 1867 ; Henry, born May 28, 1872, and Mary Esther, born Oct. 10, 1873. Their elegant and. hospitable home is on the corner of Wisconsin ave- nue and Gilman street. Col. Vilas is one of the Professors of Law in the Law Department of the University of Wisconsin ; he was one of the Trustees of the State Soldiers' Orphan Asylum, and Secretary of the board, and was one of the three counselors appointed by the Supreme Court to revise the statutes of Wis- consin under the act of 1875 for that purpose; he was also appointed, with an associate, to superintend the publication of the work; this volume, in its chapter on literature, art and oratory, contains one of Col. Vilas' most noted orations; he is conceded to be the leader of the Madison bar, and one of the most able and eloquent advocates in Wisconsin, and he is rapidly becoming known throughout the West for his abili- ties, both before a judicial tribunal and before that court of popular appeal-the American people.

WILLIAM VROMAN, was born near Syracuse, Onondaga, Co., N. Y., Feb. 28, 1818. When a child of only 2 or 3 years of age, his parents moved to Canada. He was there a short time, then came to Terre Haute, Ind. ; was there less than a year, then went to the town of Verona, Oneida Co., N. Y., where he remained until be came to Wisconsin. Married at Durhamville, Oneida Co., N. Y., in March, 1844, Harriet Field ; she was born in the town of Verona. They have two children-Charles Eduard and Ellen Josephine, both born in the town of Fitchburg. Came to Madison in June, 1839, where be remained until late in October, 1840, engaged in carpenter and joiner work. Then returned to the East, where he remained until September, 1844, when he came West and located on a farm in the town of Fitchburg (Sec. 17) and remained there until 1856. After that he made a farm on Sec. 8, where he remained until 1863; then came to Madison and commenced the lumber business, in partnership with Mr. Bunker, and has been in the same business, with same partner, ever since. Engaged in the hardware business, as senior partner in the firm of Vroman, Frank & Ramsey, for about five years ; recently retired. Was County Treasurer four years-elected in 1860, and re-elected in 1862.

A. J. WARD, M. D., was born March 1, 1824, at New Milford, Susquehanna Co., Penn. ; the son of William and Sally Ward. He received, in early life, an academic education, after which he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Case, of Howard Flats, Steuben Co., N. Y., remaining with him one year; then went to Philadelphia and entered the university, in which he remained four years, and from which he graduated in the spring of 1846. He commenced practice at Painted Post, N. Y. At the commencement of the war with Mexico, he joined the army as a private soldier, and went to California, around Cape Horn. Shortly after his arrival there he was promoted to the office of Assistant Surgeon, remaining as such until the close of the war. He remained there one year after the war, then returned to Pennsylvania. During the winter of 1849-50, he was in Washington City and in North Carolina. In

1042

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

the succeeding summer, he came to Madison and commenced the practice of medicine. He remained at Madison until 1859, when he left for St. Louis, Mo., where he opened an office, continuing there one year, when he went to Pike's Peak, prospecting for gold. The winter of 1860-61, he spent at Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hearing of the attack on Ft. Sumter, in the April following he returned to Madison, whence he was summoned to Washington to take charge of the 2d W. V. I., as Surgeon. This regiment com- posed a part of what was termed the Iron Brigade, under the command of Col. Lucius Fairchild, of Wis- consin. This brigade composed a part of the First Army Corps. Dr. Ward was connected with this corps during the three following years, occasionally acting as Brigade Surgeon, and as Surgeon in Chief of the division. During the first days fight in the Wilderness, nine hundred wounded soldiers were dressed and sent to the rear from his division alone, and from this time on there was continuous fighting until Rich- mond was reached. The term for which the 2d W. V. I. enlisted having expired, it was mustered out of the service, and Dr. Ward was mustered into the 43d W. V. I. This regiment was ordered to Nashville, Tenn., when Dr. Ward, by a general order from Gen. Thomas, was made Inspector of Hospitals in and ahout Nashville, in which capacity he acted until the spring of 1865. After the fall of Richmond he resigned and returned to Madison, and resumed the practice of medicine. Dr. Ward was married, in 1846, at Howard, Steuben Co., N. Y., to Miss Ellen McConnell. Two children have been the result of this union ; one only is living, and is the widow of the late Charles Atwood, the present Vice Consul at Liver- pool.

HON. HANS B. WARNER, of Ellsworth, Peirce Co., was born at Gulbrandsdalen, Nor- way, July 12, 1844; received a common-school education ; is by occupatian a farmer ; emigrated from Norway with his parents, and settled at Ashippun, Dodge Co., Wis, in 1849; remained there until 1855, when he removed to Martell, Pierce Co. He enlisted, in April, 1864, as a private in Co. G, 37th W. V. I .; was wounded and captured in front of Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864, and was held a prisoner of war in Danville and Libby prisons until Paroled, Sept. 1, 1864; was discharged from service, on account of wounds received in battle; July 18, 1865. Was married, Aug. 31, 1866, to Julia E. Hudson, of Martell. . He has held various local offices ; was County Clerk of Pierce Co. from January, 1869, to December, 1877, when he resigned to assume the duties of Secretary of State, to which office he had been elected in the preceding November; was re-elected Secretary of State in 1879, which office he now holds.

BENAJAH WARNES, contractor and builder; born in 1833 in Jefferson Co., N. Y .; came to Madison in 1855; was married in 1856 to Miss Margaret Powers, formerly of Troy, N. Y .; he worked several years as a journeyman carpenter, but, since 1861, has carried on the business, either alone or with a partner. He built the Jewish. Synagogue, Turners' Hall, and other public buildings. Built Judge Bunn's house, and many other fine residences. He has no children ; a nephew bearing the family name has been in the family since his infancy ; he is now 11 years old, and is named Michael Warnes. The family are Catholics. Owns brick residence corner of Main and West Canal streets; shop is on Main street; also owns three other houses, and none of his property is "ornamented with a mortgage." Has resided in Madison twenty-five years; is politically a Conservative Independent. After marriage and before starting housekeeping, his total cash assets were $40; he is still in business, and has pursued the " even tenor of his way" with no remarkable good or bad luck.

HON. CADWALLADER C. WASHBURN, was born in the town of Livermore, Me., April 22, 1818; he received an academic education ; he afterward read law and practiced his profes- sion ; in 1842, he came to Wisconsin and settled at Mineral Point ; he was elected to Congress from the Second District in 1854; re-elected in 1856 and 1858; in 1861, he entered the Union service as Colonel of the 2d W. V. C .; in June, 1862, he was Brigadier General, and, in November of the same year, Major General; resigned June 1, 1865 ; in 1866, he was elected to Congress from the La Crosse District; re- elected in 1868; in November, 1871, he was elected Governor of Wisconsin, and served for the years 1872 and 1873. He is President of the Board of Regents of the Wisconsin State University ; he is also President of the State Historical Society.

MRS. ALICE W. WATERMAN (nee Whiting), matron of the Vilas House; was born in Baton Rouge, La., Oct. 18, 1820; her father died when she was 8 years of age; she was reared in New York City and educated by private tutors. She was married in June, 1835, to Charles Henry Waterman, a lawyer of North Carolina, but most of her married life was spent in New York City, where her husband practiced his profession until his death in 1852; they had three children, but all died in childhood; in 1853, Mrs. Waterman removed to Chicago, and, for nearly fourteen years was matron of the Briggs House; in the spring of 1867, she engaged as matron of the renovated Vilas House in Madi- son ; for eight years she was silent partner in the proprietorship of that hotel ; she is now (1880) on the

1043

MADISON.

fourteenth year of her matronship at the Vilas House. During the first year of the war of the rebellion, among the captured prisoners at Island No. 10 was the 1st Ala. V. I., C. S. A., Col. I. G. W. Steedman, commanding. These, with other Confederate soldiers, were several months prisoners of war at Camp Ran- dall, in Madison. The Confederate dead, numbering one hundred and thirty-six, during the entire period of imprisonment in 1862, were buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. The lot is located 180 feet south of the Union soldiers' burial place. The lot is 90x70 feet, with a twenty-foot walk surrounding it. Before Mrs. Waterman came to Madison the weeds and grasses had grown over the graves of both Union and Southern soldiera. The lot appropriated to Union soldiers is substantially fenced, but the rank vegetation and appearance of neglect tell how readily man forgets even martyred heroes. In 1867, Mrs. Waterman, a lady of strong sympathies, voluntarily began caring for the lot where the Southrons lay sleeping. Gov. Fairchild kindly inclosed the lot with a board fence, which she has several times painted, and she has twice relettered and reset the headboards. Three large forest trees sentinel this encampment of the dead; she has planted evergreens and flowers, making it an attractive spot, which is now known as " Mrs. Water- man's lot," and the silent dead are kindly remembered as " her boys." Their graves are annually decked with flowers on the day of national decoration. Between early spring and the autumnal frosts, she visits many times this scene of her devoted watchcare. In " her lot " are found no tangled brush, no wild weeds or unkempt grasses. The neat appearance of this bivouac of resting soldiers, tells of the willing, tasteful hand of woman. The occupants of those graves were once armed foes of American nationality, but in the peace of death are remembered as our countrymen and brothers, and heirs of a common immortality. Mrs. Waterman has shown an unselfish regard for the dead strangers, which bespeaks one of the noblest attributes of humanity. She is a Christian lady of executive ability, cultivated taste, and strength of character.

PROF. JAMES CRAIG WATSON, deceased; former Director of the Washburn Observa- tory, and Professor of Astronomy in University of Wisconsin, was born in Middlesex (now Elgin) Co., Canada West, on Jan. 28, 1838. His father removed from Northumberland Co., Penn., to Canada, and thence to Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1857, and was appointed Teacher of Mathematics there. In 1859 he became Professor of Astronomy, and in 1860 of Physics and Mathe- matics ; from 1863 to 1878 he was Director of the University at Ann Arbor, and had entire charge of the astronomical department. He discovered twenty-three asteroids, for which, in 1870, he received the gold medal of the French Academy of Sciences. He went to Iowa in 1869 and to Sicily in 1870 to observe the eclipse of the sun, and in 1874 to Peking, as head of the United States expedition to observe from that point the transit of Venus ; he was also sent to Wyoming in July, 1878, when he discovered the planet Vulcan. Beside astronomical charts, he has published a "Popular Treatise on Comets" (Phila., 1860), and "Theoretical Astronomy " (1860). He contributed numerous papers to scien- tific journala. On Jan. 21, 1879, he was elected Professor of Astronomy in University of Wisconsin, and at the same date was elected Director of the Washburn Observatory. He was married in May, 1860, to Miss Annette Helna Waite, daughter of Hon. Benjamin W. Waite, of Dexter, Michigan. He was made a member of the National Academy of Science in 1867, the American Philosophical Society in 1877, the Royal Academy of Sciences in Italy in 1870, and in 1875 a Knight Commander of the Imperial Order of the Medjideh of Turkey and Egypt. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon him by the University of Leipsic and Yale College, and that of Doctor of Laws by Columbia College. While the above biography is in press, a dispatch announced the death of Prof. Watson on the morning of Nov. 23, 1880, after a brief illness. America's most brilliant Astronomer has fallen ; science mourns ; earth is poorer. His rare genius has added to the sum of human knowledge, and his cstate is bequeathed to the National Academy of Science at Washington, D. C., as a permanent fund for the advancement of the study and science of astronomy.

WILLIAM WELCH was born in the town of Lorraine, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, 1821. When 14 years of age went to Watertown, N. Y .; while there he purchased the Watertown Register, which he afterward named the Black River Journal ; ran it about three years ; went to Springfield, Ill., in 1844, and worked on public printing ; was admitted to the bar in that place, and came to Madison Novem- ber, 1845, and engaged in keeping the Madison Hotel for about two years; owned it in partnership with Mr. Bushnell, then with John D. Welch and Peter H. Van Bergen, until 1852, when Mr. Welch sold out his interest therein. In 1848, he was chosen Chairman of the State Whig Central Commit- tee; has been engaged in active practice since 1850; was a candidate for State Senator at first State election, in 1848; Justice of the Peace under town organization ; Alderman of the city; he was a member of the State Fish Commission from 1874 until 1879; President of the board during that

1044

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

time ; married, at Sun Prairie, Sept. 26, 1850, to Jane W. Petherick; she was born in London, England, and came to Dane County in 1849 with her father, William Petherick, an English attorney; they have four children-Victor J., William P., Rosina L. and Earl S.

HON. WILLIAM C. WHITFORD, horn in the town of Edmeston, Otsego Co., N. Y., May 5, 1828 ; his father, Capt. Samuel Whitford, of English lineage, belonged to a branch of the family which resided in Massachusetts more than a hundred and fifty years ; his mother, Sophia Clark, was connected by both her father and her mother with the numerous families of that name which originated in Rhode Island, and which have occupied important positions in that State ; both parents were born in the town of Brookfield, Madison Co., N. Y., when that section was comparatively new, and their youth was spent amid the hardships and deprivations of a pioneer life ; they enjoyed the most meager advantages to acquire even a common-chool education, hut, with strong minds and rare good sense, they were among the most intelli- gent and highly respected people in the community where they lived. The grandfather, David Whitford, died when his son Samuel was but 16 years of age, leaving in his care a family of eleven children, all of whom, except one sister, were younger than himself, and two of whom were cripples from birth, and all of whom he assisted to reach maturity. He worked at the potash business, managed the small farm left by his father, and for fourteen years devoted all his earnings to the maintenance of his mother and his brothers and his sisters ; by them he was loved with a devotion seldom exhibited, even in the family circle ; in later years, he became a man of considerable influence, and held various positions of trust and honor in both civil and military life ; the last years of his life were divided between the care of a farm and the business of buying cattle and sheep for the New York market. He was endowed with great physical strength and endurance, with a sound and reliable judgment, and with a superior moral and religious character. He died at the age of 51, in the vigor of his powers and in the midst of his usefulness. The mother, Sophia Whitford, also lost her father at an early age. She was the eldest of eight children, and, before her mar- riage, aided her mother for several years, after reaching her majority, in supporting and raising the other children of the family. She has been an invalid most of the time for the past thirty years, but she still survives, at 76 years of age, in the enjoyment of a vigorous mind, a retentive memory and excellent conversational powers.

William C. Whitford is the eldest of four children, all sons. The second is Hamilton Joseph, who has most generally taken the chief care of the mother since the death of the father, in 1848, and who . owned, for many years, the homestead farm. He now resides near the birthplace of the family, and is in charge of a saw-mill. The third son is Albert, who, after graduating at Union College, New York, has been since occupied in teaching. He has been employed as Principal of De Ruyter's Institute and as a Professor in Alfred University, both in New York State. Besides giving instructions for many years in Milton College, Wisconsin, he is now filling the position of President of that institution. The fourth son is Herbert David, who has served most faithfully for seven years in the United States Army, three of which being in the time of the rebellion. William, the eldest son, usually worked on the farm in summer and attended either a district or select school in winter, until he was 17 years of age. He early developed very great physical and mental activity. When 12 years old, he exhibited an extraordinary fondness for read- ing, and for five years thereafter applied himself assiduously to perusing all works of biography, history, travel, and of a didactic nature which came within his reach. In this period, he paid hut little attention to the studies taught in the public schools. Finding farm-work ill-suited to his taste, he resolved to make preparations for some literary or professional calling, and, accordingly, he entered, at 17 years of age, Brookfield Academy, New York, near his home, where he remained the greater part of three years. After this, when nearly of age, he became a student in De Ruyter Institute, New York, and there completed his preparation to enter the senior class in Union College, from which he graduated in 1853. In the mean- time, he assisted in teaching in Milton Academy, Wisconsin, one term, and was Principal of Union Acad- emy at Shiloh, N. J., for two years. He also spent a summer in making an elaborate map of portions of Madison Co., N. Y., and in this and various other ways he met a part of his expenses in obtaining an education.

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 160

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