History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 201

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 201

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HON. R. P. MAIN, Oregon; is of Connecticut ancestry, and was born May 13, 1816, in Stoning- ton, Conn .; he attended the common schools, and for a short time the academy of Stonington; taught school in Charleston, R. I., and in 1836 in New Jersey, then attended a select school in Philadelphia for a time. He next visited "Ole Virginny," thence to Washington, where he became familiar with the countenances of Webster, Calhoun, Crittenden, Benton, etc. Journeying south through North Carolina, he strayed into Kentucky, and taught a term of summer school; next he went to Ohio, and taught school, and met his fate, i. e., he was married, in 1838, to Miss Cordelia A. D. Dakin, daughter of Preserved and Elizabeth C. (Prosser) Dakin ; Preserved Dakin was a Quaker, who left his native place in Dutchess County, N. Y., for Ohio in 1804; Mrs Main was born, educated and married in Oakland, Clinton Co., Ohio; she began at fifteen and taught school until married. After six years of farming in Oakland, they removed to Wabash County, Ill .; finding the climate sickly, they came North, reaching Rome Corners July 28, 1845, Mr. Main entering a new farm on Sec. 13, where he built a 12x14 log house, " having not only a floor, but a carpet," says Mrs. M .; provisions were brought from Milwaukee, and their furniture was scant, yet they took an occasional boarder. "The best and kindliest of feelings prevailed, as in all new settlements, and the latch-string always hung out." Nineteen years of steady work secured a good farm and home, Mr. Main then exchanging for his present 200-acre farm on Sec. 7, in Rutland. In the fall of 1871, they settled in a roomy and well-appointed home in the village; this house burned with its entire contents in 1873, the pioneer couple having a narrow escape ; since this they have occupied a smaller, yet most pleasant home, Mr. M. managing his farm. He was one of the leaders in the Republican organization in Wisconsin, and one of the members of the first Republican Assembly ; is best known as Squire Main, hav- ing been Justice of the Peace eight or ten years. Disgusted with the subserviency of the two "great " parties to the moneyed aristocracy, he has for some years been a member of the Greenback party ; was nom- inated Sept. 9, 1880, as candidate from the Second District for Congress. Mrs. Main is a member of the Presbyterian and he a member of the M. E. Church, in which he is Sabbath school Superintendent. The Squire is a leading Mason, belonging to the Oregon Lodge and Evansville Chapter. Mr. and Mrs. Main have reared eight children-M. Francis, Louisa A., Harriet E., Martha E., E. Dakin, Anna M., Alice C. and R. Walter; of these, all except the eldest are married, and the combined company of grand- children numbers twenty-one.

A. B. MARVIN, dealer in grain, Oregon ; born Ang. 29, 1824, in Lyne, New London Co., Conn .; his father, Ulysses, was a native of New York, and his mother, Elizabeth, of.Middletown, Conn .; he removed in his fourth year to Ohio, his father, strong and robust at 80, still residing there, he taking the census of the town of Stowe, Summit Co., in 1880. A. B. Marvin learned carriage-making in Sum- mit County ; spent a year in Portage Co., four in Trumbull Co., then two in Summit Co., coming to Porter, Rock Co., Wis., in 1854; a year later he removed to Rutland, Dane Co., and in

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TOWN OF OREGON.

the fall of 1856, built and occupied the house in which he has since lived in Oregon Village ; him- self and William Bedford built the Getz wagon-shop, Mr. M. the next year commencing business in the old schoolhouse. At the building of the C., & N. W. R. R., through Oregon, he began buying grain in the elevator which he built, and has since enlarged. E. J. Andrew and sons own the Oregon warehouse, and the present partnership was in 1873, the firm of Andrew & Marvin, dealers in grain of all kinds, salt, coal, land plaster, etc .; Mr. M. cast his first vote for Van Buren on the Buffalo platform, was a Free- Soiler, and a Republican ; was elected Justice of the Peace in 1858 or '59, served four years, then refused it; was Town Treasurer subsequent to this. He married, in Trumbell Co., Ohio, Miss Helen P. Drake, born in Mexico, Oswego Co., N. Y .; they have four children-Henry H., born in Trumbull County, now a hardware merchant in Oregon; Helen A., born in Summit County ; Judson L., a hardware merchant at Union Center, and Arba U., with his father, the two younger were born in Oregon.

HENRY H. MARVIN, dealer in hardware, Oregon; born June 11, 1850, in Warren, Trum- bull Co., Ohio (see sketch of A. B. Marvin); H. H. Marvin received his schooling in Oregon; learned his trade of a tinner in Beloit, Wis., at 18; left Beloit at 21, and opened a stock of hardware in the old build- ing of C. W. Netherwood; fortunately, removed six weeks before it burned. During the past six years, he has done business in the old building built by W. S. Bedford, as a residence, having thoroughly remodeled it; Mr. M. is the only hardware man in the place, and carries a very complete line of hardware, stoves and tinware, employing two tinners, and keeps two peddling wagons constantly on the road; his trade is large and increasing, and he does business in a way that merits the good-will and patronage of all. He married Lucinda Bryan, who was born Sept. 26, 1851, in Onondaga Co., N. Y., she died April 2, 1873, leaving a son, Louis B. The present Mrs. Marvin was Miss Rosa A. Bryan, born Sept. 26, 1849, in Onondaga Co., N. Y .; they have three children-Nellie A., Arba B. and Herbert H. Mr. M. is a Mason and a Re- publican.

WILLIAM H. MYERS, machinist, Oregon ; born in Janesville, Wis., Oct. 27, 1845; son of Dr. Edward and Sarah Myers, of Pennsylvania, and pioneers of Rock Co .; they settled on Wheeler's Prairie in 1855, where the Doctor died. William H. learned blacksmithing in Edgerton and studied machinery at Watertown; has also worked in Janesville and Madison, and served six months as black- smith in the Union army, 1865; began in Oregon in 1869, and worked six years for G. W. Getz; built a brick shop in 1877 (the Fox drug store) and his steam feed-mill in 1878; has added to it, now having a saw-mill, and will add a foundry ; is manufacturing sleighs, harrows, hayracks, stoneboats, wheelbarrows, and some furniture, also does wood and iron turning by the job or piece, and means business. He mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Tillingham, who died Feb. 14, 1878, leaving five children-Sarah J. and Mary E. (twins), Emily L., Rosie E. and Henry E .; two sons died before her, C. E. and W. E .; the present Mrs. Meyers was Miss Olive Possel. Mr. M., is liberal in politics and religion.

J. B. MUNGER, proprietor of the Oregon brick-yard, was born Dec. 13, 1817, in Fenner, Madison Co., N. Y .; was a farmer in the East; came West in 1855, and located on a farm in Rutland Township, where he now owns 148 acres in one farm and 22 in another; in 1831, he bought four acres on the southeast quarter of Sec. 12, Oregon, less than a mils from the village, and has since continued the manufacture of brick, averaging from 500,000 to 600,000 per annum; employs eight hands, and sells in Chicago and other points in Illinois ; his brick closely resembles the famous brick of the Cream City, and were used in building the State Insane Asylum and in the business blocks of Madison ; he also has a large trade with the adjacent country. He married Julia A. Jackson, of Verona, Onieda Co., N. Y .; they have two children-Frankie (Mrs. C. E. Powers born in Cazenovia, N. Y.) and Nora, born in Rutland, Dane Co., Wis. Mr. Munger is full of business in the brick-making season ; is a Republican and was one of the Town Board six or eight years.

CHARLES W. NETHERWOOD, Postmaster of Oregon ; born in the town of Watervliet, Albany Co., N. Y., Jan. 14, 1843 ; three years of his early life were spent in a woolen factory ; he came to Wisconsin in 1856, with his parents, Joseph and Emma Netherwood, who settled on a farm in the south part of the town of Oregon, where he took his early lessons in Western life at driving cattle. Enlisted in the 23d W. V. I., Co. E, in August, 1862; did good service in Ken- tucky; at Memphis, Arkansas Post, and the first attack on Vicksburg, and later in the desperate battles preceding the first investment ; at the battle of Baker's Creek, Mr. N. was knocked senseless by a piece of iron thrown from an exploding shell, and was thought dead by his comrades ; was at the extreme front at the battle of Black River Bridge, though a non-combatant ; he did recover in time to participate in the bloody assault of May 22, 1863, on the works defending Vicksburg, receiving a rebel ball through the lower part of his face; rendering necessary the removal at different times of all the lower jaw-bone

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

on that side; his torment was extreme, as eating was out of the question, his experience as a Dr. Tanner lasting a week after the final operation ; he was honorably discharged in December, 1863 ; returned to Wis- consin ; attended school for a time; tried farming, clerking, making and peddling brooms in company with M. M. Green, but was foiled in all by ill health ; he is on the list of permanent pensioners, receiving $18 per month ; his first wife, Eva Bedford, died in 1867. In the fall of 1868, he married Mrs. Lucy H. Gilbert, a native of New York; her former husband, Thomas Gilbert; a Sergeant in the 8th W. V. I., was killed on almost the last battle of the war at Mobile, after serving through the war; he left a daughter, Addie. Mr. and Mrs. Netherwood have four children-Harry, Eva, Lucy and Pearl, all born in Oregon. Mr. N. is now Secretary of Oregon Lodge A., F. & A., M., of which he was Master four years.

CORNELIUS O'BRIEN, farmer, Sec. 27 ; P. O. Oregon; born in Plymouth, Luzerne Co., Penn., March 15, 1839. His father, Michael O'Brien, was educated in one of the Dublin universities ; married and came to New York City, where he engaged in business; from New York he went to Caracas, S. A. (see sketch of John O'Brien); Cornelius O'Brien attended school in his native county, and in 1853 came to Wisconsin ; attended a select school in Brooklyn, and in 1861 bought 80 acres of his present farm ; broke 30 acres and the next year 20 acres ; bought 95 acres more in 1864, and settled on his farm in April, 1865. In 1868, the small grubs covering 25 acres of his land were cleared and the land broken; up to 1875, Mr. O'Brien resided in what is now his granary, he that year building one of the largest and best farmhouses in his town, making a close examination of a number of recent build ; he combined the best points of each in his own ; the house is an upright and wing eighteen feet high, 18x28 and 16x26 respectively ; the kitchen is 14x16x20 ; the whole painted, blinded and finished in the best manner ; two carpenters worked fifty days on the inside-finish. Mr. O. Brien married Abegail, daughter of Michael and Mary Barry ; she is a native of St. Lawrence Co., N. Y .; they have two children-Emmet S. and Emma F. Mr. O'Brien is a Democrat, and a Catholic, as is his wife.

JOHN O'BRIEN, farmer, Secs. 35 and 36; P. O. Brooklyn ; born in 1828, in the city of Caracas, South America ; his parents, Michael and Catherine O'Brien, were natives of Cork, Ireland, who first located in New York City, going from there to South America ; while they prospered in Caracas, the climate was killing the wife and mother, causing a second settlement in New York, where the family for- tunes were wrecked in the panic of 1837 ; in 1838, the family settled on a farm in Luzerne Co., Penn., where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. John O'Brien has led a life as strange as his birth- place; while yet in his cradle, his parents were driven from the house by an earthquake, he being forgotten for the time and literally rocked by nature's hand ; his young manhood was spent on the canals of Penn- sylvania and Maryland; in 1853, he came West and settled on his present 130-acre farm ; here he replaced a log house with a well-built frame one, and, in 1862, built a substantial basement barn. He married, in March, 1851, Miss Catherine Richardson, of Luzerne Co., Penn .; they have nine living children-Mary E., Joseph, Johanna, Margaret A., Anastasia, Eliza J., Catherine, Julius F. and Agnes; two sons, Daniel and John died in infancy. The entire family are Roman Catholics, he serving on the Church Committee from 1856 to 1876. Is a Democrat and favors greenbacks. John O'Brien is a live and successful farmer, yet is ever mindful of the teaching : " It is more blessed to give than to receive."

E. H. OSBORN, M. D., Oregon ; born Jan. 14, 1830, in Geauga Co., Ohio; son of Joseph and Mary Osborn, both New England people ; they settled in 1842, on a farm in Porter, Rock Co. ; the next year, E. H. spent three months in a select school on Rock Prairie, which was followed by a three. years' course at Milton Seminary, under Prof. Bicknell; was for nearly a year prior to this a student in the old Beloit Seminary; began the study of medicine under M. N. Barber, M. D., of Racine, Wis. ; attended at term at the Rush Medical College, Chicago, and one at the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Col -. lege, from which he graduated in 1852 ; his first eighteen months' practice was in Fulton, Rock Co., Wis .; he then located in Belleville where he practiced twenty years; the Doctor settled in Oregon in 1874; has practiced since with the exception of a two years' rest. Married in Belleville, April, 1867, Miss Marion, daughter of the Rev. M. A. Fox, of Oregon; they have two children-Mary G. and Charles D .; a daughter, Jessie S., died when 3 years old. The Doctor is a Republican, and a member of Oregon Lodge, A., F. & A. M.

O. M. PALMER, of Oregon Village; was born in the town of Northeast, Erie Co., Penn,, Jan. 28, 1821 ; has been a lifelong farmer ; came to Wisconsin in September, 1853 ; spent a year on an unimproved farm on Sec. 17, Oregon ; and a year later bought his present farm of 160 acres, Sec. 2; 70 acres were broken, and a claim shanty built in which himself and family lived five years. In 1860, Mr. P. built a frame farmhouse 24x28, and later a 28x32 barn, also a 20x40 hot-house ; selling his farm in 1876, he

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removed to the Pierce farm, and, in 1878, settled in Oregon Village, where he has one of the finest of its many pleasant homes ; the farm is still his, owing to the failure of the buyer. He married Miss Hulda Hall, in her native town of Fairville, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. ; she was born Sept. 23, 1821, and has three children-Mary, Cassius, now on the farm, and John, a resident of Minnesota. The daughter married Cole Kierstead, who died in January, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer are members of the M. E. Church of Oregon, of which he was class leader for seventeen years, and for many years a steward. Is a Republican, and was Supervisor in 1855 and 1871.

A. S. PARSONS, of Oregon, was born Oct. 12, 1833, in Moravia, Cayuga Co., N. Y .; his father, A. G. Parsons, of New York, married Nancy Thompson, of Maine. In 1850, the family settled on See. 12, town of Oregon, beginning in a log house on a then new, but now, improved farm, where the father still lives, aged 91, while his aged wife is now an invalid; their son, our subject, learned the trade of carpenter of his father ; spent 1856 in the mercantile business in Monroe Co., Wis. ; was appointed Deputy Sheriff in 1861, and served until January, 1864, when he enlisted in Co. F, 13th W. V. I., as a re- cruit; was with A. J. Smith up the Red River, and in the fight at Pleasant Hill, where the 33d made an heroic record guarding the Union retreat, and afterward at the three days' fight at Tupelo, Miss. ; their hardest service was in the forests and swamps of Missouri pursuing Price-one cracker per day for each man, and many of them barefooted; after guarding a thousand rebels to St. Louis, they went to Nashville in time to participate in the great battle which destroyed Hood's army ; the siege and capture of the forts at Mobile added fresh palms to the splendid wreath of heroic deeds woven by the 33d. Mr. Parsons well remembers the incidents of march, siege and battle, and saw his last service on the 150-mile march up to Montgomery, Ala., traversing pine swamps for a distance of 75 miles without seeing a house; after the discharge of the 33d he was transferred to the 11th W. V. I., and kept five weeks longer in service, then returned to Oregon. Aug. 31, 1857, he married Miss Louisa, daughter of S. S. Johnson, a pioneer of 1844 in Oregon ; he died in November, 1879. Mr. P. settled on the Johnson farm, of 100 acres, in 1874; he also owns 23 acres on Sec. 12. No man in the town has been so closely identified with temperance work ; a Good Templar in good standing since September, 1855, he has held all the offices of the order, and is now State Deputy ; as Lodge Deputy, this is his seventh year ; he has also been a leader in Sabbath school work. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons have seven children-Mary L., Hubert A., Elmer S., Charles A., Laura J., Ira S. and Rena B.

J. G. PIERCE, farmer, Secs. 4, 5 and 3; P. O. Oregon ; born in 1836, in Jefferson Co., N. Y. ; son of John and Alvira ( Hyatte) Pierce, both natives of New York; in June, 1842, the family settled on a wild, new farm near Janesville, Wis., and after building, breaking, etc., exchanged for 160 acres of the Pierce farm in Oregon ; Mr. P. and sons did good work here, cleared the scattering burr oaks, the father owning 120 acres, J. G. 280, Sylvester 120 and Alfred 80 ; there were ninc children-Mary A., Sylvester, Orelia, John G., Jane, Rebecca and Nancy ; were born in Jefferson Co., N. Y. ; Melvin was born and died in Rock Co .; Alfred was born in Oregon. No family in Dane Co. suffered equally with them from the tornado of May 23, 1878; the old couple and Alfred were in the substantial, well-framed house when the storm struck them; the son, standing in the door, was hurled headlong and laid senseless as the house rose bodily from its foundations, striking the ground twice, was crushed like an egg-shell the third time ; Mr. P. was badly injured, three ribs and his right leg broken, while his wife caught by the falling timbers and held by them against the hot stove, where she lay half an hour mercifully unconscious; she was finally taken out but died in great agony June 7, 1878. The barn, corn-crib, 400 bushels of oats and 150 of corn were also swept away, not an ear of the corn ever being seen. Sylvester's house and one owned by J. G. were also raised from their foundations, while the residence of the latter was unroofed, and his barns, etc., totally wrecked. The father has not rebuilt his home, but lives with his son. J. G. Pierce, married, in 1865, Angeline Woodward, who was born April 4, 1846, in Walworth Co., Wis. The family belong to the M. E. Church, Oregon, of which John Pierce was steward twenty-five years. All Republicans and non-office seekers.

S. J. PRATT, Secs. 11, 12 and 2; P. O. Oregon ; born in Erie Co., N. Y., Jan. 22, 1821 ; son of Stephen and Anna (Jones) Pratt. Stephen Pratt, born Feb. 13, 1790, is now the oldest person in Oregon, with one exception. The family settled in Ohio in 1837 ; S. J. Pratt came to Oregon in 1844, and bought his present farm of 200 acres ; bought of the Government ; burr oak openings; he has, by his own labor, made it equal to any prairie farm ; two years' work among his pioneer neighbors earned a team, some implements, etc. ; he then built a log house, and, in 1848, married Artimissa Wolf, who died in Feb- ruary, 1853, leaving two children-Isadore L. and Charles Wallace. He married again Catherine L. Whipple, who died in November, 1874, leaving seven children-Ned, Addie, Cora, Edith, Clifford, Nellie,

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and Ralph, who met an accidental death in 1876. The present Mrs. Pratt was Julia Olds; she married William Slater, a Wisconsin calvaryman, who died in the prison pen at Andersonville, leaving two children -Seymour, and Ella, who died in January, 1874. The mother of Mr. P. died in 1847. None of the pioneer settlers of Oregon have borne greater sorrows than he, yet sustained by a manful spirit of enter- prise, he has made a good record.

H. B. RICHARDS, grain and produce dealer, Oregon ; born in the town of Goshen, Litchfield Co., Conn., July 11, 1816; attended school and worked as a farmer till he was 21, then went South as collector for a company dealing in clocks ; followed this three years, returned, and farmed two years, then clerked seven years, and, in 1852, began mercantile business in Litchfield ; came to Wisconsin in 1856, clerked a short time in Footville; then farmed it, speculated, and did Justice business until his settlement in Oregon, Nov. 1, 1865 ; worked a year in the depot here, then formed a partnership with E. A. Foot, who built the Oregon warehouse, which Mr. R. bought three years later, at the dissolution of the firm of E. A. Foot & Co. ; up to 1879, he dealt extensively in grain, now renting the warehouse. Squire Richards has been Justice of the Peace in the village for the past ten years, and has done most of the Justice business. Is a Republican. He married, in her native town, of Litchfield, Conn., Miss S. A. Phelps ; they had two daughters-Anna E. (Mrs. C. H. Cronk) and Fannie A., who died in Footville, aged 19. The Squire has a pleasant home in the village, owning 17 acres adjoining, where he farms on a limited scale.

JERE RICHARDS, of Lovejoy & Richards, lumber dealers, Oregon ; born in Exeter, Penob- scot Co., Me., in 1826, passing his school days there ; he attained his majority, and went to Savannah, Ga., and after four years, to Tallahassee, Fla .; seven years later he went to Jacksonville, Fla., and was there at the stormy outbreak of the civil war ; was in the lumber business during these fourteen years ; returning to Maine, he spent a year, and, in 1863, came West ; began lumber business at Lyons, Iowa ; thence to Dixon, Ill. ; thence to Chippewa Falls, Wis., where he did business on his own account ; again going South, he built saw-mills at Cedar Keys, Fla., and was employed by the same firm to found a lumber yard at Galveston, Tex. ; yellow Jack, not war, drove him North a second time, after a dangerous attack of the fever ; recruiting his health in the pure bracing air of old Maine, he again, and finally, came West; spent 1869 in Lyons, Iowa, and, in 1870, formed the partnership with A. P. Lovejoy, a native of Maine, and a resident of Janesville. Mr. R. has since resided here, having the only lumber-yard in town ; a very complete stock of lumber, lath, shingles, sash, doors and blinds, pickets, moldings, etc .; the firm have a similar stock at Brooklyn, Green Co:, and at Baraboo, where his only son is in charge. Mr. Richards married, in Savannah, Ga., in 1850, Miss Mary E. Hartt, of the State of New York ; they lost two daugh- ters, one in infancy, and one aged 8 years ; the only living son, Walter C., was born Aug. 31, 1858, near Tallahassee, Fla. Mr. R. is a Republican, and a member of Oregon Lodge, A., F. & A. M.

GARRETT RUNEY, farmer, Secs. 24 and 23; P. O. Oregon ; is a son of the first settler of Oregon Township, viz., Bartley Runey, who was born in Maryland in 1795; he married in his and her native State, Margaret Garnett; they settled in Ohio in 1824. Garrett Runey was born in Preble, Clin- ton Co., Ohio, Oct. 10, 1832 ; in March, 1841, Mr. Runey left La Porte Co., Ind., with team and covered wagon, and reached Janesville, Wis., April 8; early in the spring of 1842, he made the first claim, built the first house and became the first permanent white settler of what is now Oregon ; the log house was on the southwest quarter of Sec. 24, and did good service till the spring of 1843, when part of the present frame house was built ; this was the Pioneers' Hotel, and in it the first religious service was held. Thirty-eight years ago, the nearest house was that of William Quivey, in Fitchburg. Mr. Runey was accidentally killed in September, 1846, by the overturning of his wagon, on a steep hill three miles south of Madison ; he left a wife and nine children-Susan (Mrs. P. Russell), Eliza (Mrs. S. Hutson), Jane (Mrs. D. Anthoney), Reason, Mary (Mrs. J. Fox), Catherine (Mrs. L. Hanan), Garrett, Mervin and Clara (Mrs. George Tarrant). Mrs. Runey, Reason and Mervin, all died on the old homestead of 168 acres, oow owned by Garrett. He married Maria Costleman, born May 20, 1832, in Jefferson Co., N. Y .; they have had six children-Joseph B., Frank (deceased), Helen A. (deceased), Willis E., Clarence E. and Clara E. (twins) ; all were born on this first improved farm; 240 acres were first claimed, but Mr. R. had paid for only 120 at his death, the son adding 48 acres, and has rebuilt the house, erected the barn, eto. Mr. R. is a Republican, and a member of the U. B. Church of Rutland ; his father was a Democrat.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 201

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