History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons, Part 8

Author: Martin, Chas. I. (Charles I.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Sturgeon Bay, Wis., Expositor job print
Number of Pages: 158


USA > Wisconsin > Door County > History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons > Part 8


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1856. Andrew Gættelman, farmer; born Germany 1825; came to America 1855; married Cathrine Feldmann 1857; has four children.


1857. John P. Simons; farmer; born France 1823; came to America 1847; married Christenia Lucot 1850; has five chil- dren. His daughter Clemintine married James Keogh Jr., 1874; has three children, and lives in Sturgeon Bay. Emile N. mar- ried M. Liest 1880.


1857. Adoiph Arlt, farmer; born Germany 1850; married Amelia Screiber 1871; has two children.


1857. Nicholas Simon, farmer; born France 1824; married Tracy Thorstensen 1860; has two children.


1857. Emily Peterson, left a widow in 1867, with two boys. The young men are industrious, and hard workers. They stick to the farm, and use every means to comfort their mother.


1857. John Mann, farmer; born Germany 1829; married Catherine Stephan 1856; has four children. His daughter Mar- garet, married Martin Dehose. She died 1880.


1857. Christopher Stephan, farmer; born Germany 1828; married Philipena Schaeffer 1867; has one child.


1858. George Senft, farmer; born Germany 1823; married Mary Heilmann 1853. Second marriage 1863, to Mary Knuth; has five children.


1858. Fredrick Monk, farmer; born Germany 1818; married Sophia Tremason 1849; has four children. His son Charles married 1876; has one child, and lives in Manito- woc county.


1859. John Mulverhill, farmer; born Ireland 1831; married Bridget Mullane 1854; has eleven children. His daughter Marry Ann married Edward Kinney.


1860. Christian Tansing, farmer; born Germany 1827; mar- ried Augusta Bushmann 1853; has six chiidren.


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NASEWAUPEE .- EIGHTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


1860. John Mullane, farmer; born Ireland 1844; came to America 1854. He is a bachelor, of self-button-sewer inclina- tion.


1860. John Daley, farmer; born Ireland 1815; came to America 1850; married Margaret Looney 1845; has two chil- dren.


1860. Newel Langlois, farmer; born Canada 1844; married Phœba Stoneman 1866; has four children.


1862. John Pfiester, farmer; born Germany 1832; married 1867; has five children.


1865. Edward A'Hern, farmer; born Ireland 1849; married Katie Quaid 1879; has one child.


1866. Philip Gillick, farmer; born Ireland 1835; married Ann Kinney 1870; has six children.


1866. John Bink, farmer; born Germany 1817; married Margaret Pfiester 1867; has nine children.


1866. Conrad Michaels, farmer; born Switzerland 1828; married Mrs. Miller 1863; has five children.


1867. Hugo Seidermann, farmer; born Germany 1838; mar- ried Louisa Kestner 1862; has eight children.


1867. James Kinney, farmer; born Ireland 1845; married Mrs. Martin Currey 1880.


1867. John Murray, farmer; born Ireland 1838; married Jane Maloney 1866; has seven children.


1868. Richard Hennessy, farmer; born Ireland 1818; mar- ried Mary Crowley 1843; has eight children. Margaret mar- ried Edward Keogh, of Forestville. Mary married James Sul- livan, of Forestville. Hannah married Dennis Daley, of New Franken. John married Jennie Sloan. Michael married Maggie Wilson.


1868. Edward Kinney, farmer; born Ireland 1849; married Mary A. Mulverhill 1879; has one child.


1969. John Garlach, farmer; born Germany 1845; married Josephine Gerch 1866; has seven children.


1869. Albert Wobser, farmer; born Prussia 1841; married Charlotte Dommer 1866; has six children.


1870. Paul Leist, farmer; born Germany 1841; married Barbara Leichney 1863; has six children. His daughter Mary married Emile N. Simons 1880.


1870. Godlib Michaels, farmer; born Germany 1850; mar- ried Minnie Yoke 1873; has five children.


1870. Godfrey Michaels, farmer; born Germany 1855; mar- ried Hannah Yoke 18 -; has five children.


1870. Julius Cardy, farmer; born 1855, came from Milwau- kee; married Mary Dyteman 1879; has one child.


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HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY.


SEVASTOPOL-NINTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


November 17 1859, the county board set off from the township of Otumba, town 28, range 26, together with town 28, range 27, and that part of town 28, range 25, being East of Sturgeon Bay; calling the township set off "Laurieville," and the first town meeting to be held at the house of George Bassford, the first Tuesday in April, 1860. Some of the inhabitants wanted the name changed, and a public meeting of the citizens was called. The object of the meeting was to get up a petition to present to the County Board, asking that the name of the township be changed from "Laurieville" to that of "Sebastopol." At the February meeting, 1860, the Board granted the petition. By some means "Sebastopol" was enterred on the records as "Sevastopol," and it has gone by the latter name ever since. Sevastopol is now one of the most important towns in the county, and within its limits are many good farms.


Of the old settlers who have lived in this county ten or more years, now residing in Sevastopol, are the following:


In the year 1850, Capt. Klinkenburg first made a stay in Door county. He has lived at intervals, in and out of the county ever since-at present residing here. He was born in Norway, 1822; married Dora T. Spourland 1849; has six chil- dren. His daughter Ida married Hugh Solway 1877; has one child.


1851. Baaka Solway, farmer; born Norway 1809; married Regina Olsen 1835. Seeond marriage 1837, to Mortar Mar- tenus. Third marriage 1852, to Bertha Halverson; has six children. His son Eli married Anna , and lives in Oconto. His daughter Anna married Soren Anderson, and lives in Ft. Howard. Sarah married Julius Spaurland. Regina married Alfred Iveson, and lives at Marinette. Hugh married Ida Klinkenburg.


1852. Jacob Hanson, lake captain and a farmer; born Nor- way 1823; married Susan Forest 1850; has eight children.


1854. Robert Laurie, farmer; born Scotland 1825; came to America 1852; married Catherine Monroe 1849; has seven chil- dren. His daughter Katie married Wm. Schnider 1877.


1854. Wm. King, farmer; born Germany 1812; marriey Mary Hoff 1836; has two children. Mary married Benjamin Baptist. George married Margaret Shaffer.


1855. George Bassford, farmer; born England 1823, married Sarah Ceaton 1846. Second marriage 1853, to Johanah Rus- sing; has nine children. His son William married Charlotte Ash. John married Ida Wolcott. Eliza married Charles Mann and lives in Iowa.


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SEVASTOPOL-NINTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


1855. Joseph Zettel, farmer; born Switzerland 1832; came America 1853; married Christena Lorch 1860; has ten children.


1855. Frederick Schuyler, farmer; born Pennsylvania 1834; married Nancy A. Marshall 1856. She died 1878, aged forty years. He has eleven children.


1855. Jacob Crass, farmer; born Germany 1824; married Selena Sacket 1847. Second marriage 1869, to Margaret Cole has six children. His daughter Sarah married Sylvester Wead 1868. She died 1873, aged 24 years. His daughter Louisa married Joseph Jackson 1869; has four children, and lives in Shawano county. Charles married Sylvia Norton 1874. Ida married Joseph Norton 1880. Thomas Melville married Eliza Walker 1879.


1856. Henry B. Stephenson, farmer; born England 1830; came to America 1833; married Jane Orr 1852; has seven chil- dren. His daughter Ella married Frank Kimber 1877; has one child.


Mr. Stephenson furnishes us with the following appropriate extracts, taken fromn a letter that he wrote, which was pub- lished some years ago:


SEVASTOPOL, Wisconsin, December 8th, 1880.


H. B. Stephenson to C. 1. Martin:


The first white settier that we can get any account of was a Mr. Lovejoy, who came from Canada, and squatted on the cho re of Sturgeon Bay near its mouth, and which is now known as Hibbard's Bluff. sometime in the year 1836. He remained there for some years and followed the occupation of fishing and also furnished steamboats with wood but made no attempt at farming. The next white settlements were also made on the shore of Sturgeon Bay by Mr. H. P. Hanson and Salvi Salvison ( still old and respected residents of the town), in the years 1851 and 1852. In the year 1853 the Gar- lands, one of whome is so well known throughout the county, also settled on the shore of Sturgeon Bay; others soon followed and the shore of the Bay was dotted with the small clearings and still sma ller houses of the pioneers who left their foreign homes to seek a more congenial clime in the wilds of Door county, where they could enjoy freedom of speech, free air and worship God as best suited them. The principal occupation of those settling on the shore was fishing for the first few years, but later they have given their time and attention to clearing their lands and farming .... In the spring of the year 1856 A. Sackett, with his family, moved into the woods about five milfes from any settlement and commenced to open a farm on the east-hal of the south-west quarter of section 26. town 28, range 26. Mr. Jacob Crass soon followed him and settled on the south-east quarter of sec- tion 27 for the purpose of opening up a farm. Others followed at different short intervals of time and in the two years-1856 and 1857


74


HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY.


-George Bassford, John Hocks, E. C. Daniels, the Stephensons, P. J. Simon, J. Zettel, John Meyer L. Heldmann and a few others moved their families into the town to battle with the noble forests and the hard times that followed the panic of the fall of 1857, so long to be remembered by the few old settlers that first broke soil in these grand old woods .... In the fall of 1859 the town was set off from the old town of Otumba of which it had formed a part, and organized for election purposes; the name of Sebastopol was suggested by P. J. Simon, but for some reason it was put on the records of the town as Sevastopol and has been known by that name ever since. The first town meeting was held at the house of George Bassford; public schools and public roads then took the attention of the people. .. . In 1859, the La urie Brothers-Robert and Alexander-built a small schooner, the second one we believe built in Door county, and called the Peninsula, which was a model of beauty and one of the fastest sailers on Green Bay .... We will now pass on to the month of April, 1863, which was made memorable by the exciting incident of Mrs. Henry Martin's two children-a boy and girl-being lost in the woods, one being five and the other seven years of age. The residents of the town having been notified of the fact, made a general turn out and search was made in all parts of the . wood far and near and they were finally found on the morning of the day after they had strayed away from home, by Mr. Alex Laurie, (since deceased) having lain out in the woods one day and night and strayed about three miles from home. ... The civil war was also raging at its highest point about this time, and our good towns people had their troubles from this source, some of the more patriotic enlisted among which I find the naines of Jacob Grass, Richard Ash, Luke Coyne, and James Bannan; others waited until they should draw a prize in the great government lottery, and among those that drew and marched into the ranks were Dennis Crowley, Robert Stephenson, Nicholas Armbrust John Meyer and George King. At the close of the war they all returned to their peaceful homes and happy families to enjoy their lives as best they might .... The summer and fall of 1871 was the dryest ever known here since the settlement of the town, and fires raged in the woods and fields during the latter part of the summer and the entire fall; the destruction of timber and fences was fearful and amonnted to thousands of dollars. In some cases grain was burned in the fields. There was but one building burned, however, in the whole town. On the night of October Sth almost the entire woods of the town were on fire, and had the storm that passed over the more southern part of the county reached us I doubt if there would have been a soul left to tell the tale. Nothing of importance transpired since that time to mar the peace and prosperity of our towns people, until the night of the 25th of July, 1874; on that night a terrible wind and rain storm passed over the central part of the town, from west to east, and tore down a great amount of timber, took the roof entirely off from one barn and shifted the roof of Mr. Sailor's


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SEVASTOPOL-NINTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


house two or three feet end wise but did not carry it far enough to throw it to the ground; it also tore up eight or ten apple trees in Mr. Joseph Zettel's orchard, and the fences that came in its way were scat- tered far and wide. Mr. Andrew Finnegan lost one cow by the falling timber .... In the spring and summer of 1874 two post offices were established in the town, one at George Bassford's corners called "Sevastopol," (Henry Martin is now-1880-postmaster), the other at H. B. Stephenson's and called "Malakoff," and located nearly in the center of the town .... We now have business centers which afford the farmers a ready market for their farm and forest products, and they are all in a prosperous condition, each going on in his own way, improving his farm by putting on better buildings, better fences and setting out orchards of all kinds of fruit trees, many of which do exceedingly well in this locality .... As all things ordained by man must have an end so must this history of mine end.


1856. John Hocks, farmer; born Holland 1819; married Rosa Maher 1855; has six children, Mary married N. N. Crom- well. Katie married Charles Baptist. William married Mary Keagan.


1857. Leonard Heldmann, farmer; born Germany 1818; married Maggie Steger 1853; has seven children. Barbary married Alexander Hopp. Lena married Godfred Hopp. George married Maggie Uselding.


1857. John Meyer, farmer; born Germany 1835; married Barbara Wisnet 1857; has two children.


1857. Nicholas Armbrust, farmer; born Germany 1830; mar- ried Catharine Reilly 1852; has three children.


1857. Peter J. Simon, farmer; born Prussia 1821; married Magdelena Counsin 1847; has seven children. John married Martha Castle. Catharine married Lurton Jordon. Martin married Amanda Coyne. Annie married John P. Webber.


1857. Henry Martin, farmer; born Ireland 1830; married Eliza Peters; has eleven children. His step-son, Chas. Walker, married Lizzie Schumacher. Eliza married Thomas Melville.


1857. Alexander Templeton, farmer and weaver; born in France 1815; marrried Margaret Auld 1836. Second marriage 1873, to Mrs. Rhoda Sherwood; has three children. His son Robert married Jennie Colman 1869; and lives in Arkansas. Allen married Emma Lashure 1876.


1857. Andrew Finnegan, farmer; born Ireland 1828; mar- ried Johannah Maloney 1865; has eight children.


1857. Edward Daniels, farmer; born in Ohio 1840; married Helen Spaulding 1862; has four children.


1858. Anton Long, farmer; born Prussia 1836; married Antonir Brost 1864; has eight children.


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HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY.


1858. James Gillespie, farmer; born Ireland 1825; married Eliza Campbell 1857; has eight children. His daughter Sarah married Walter Damkohler 1879.


1859. Mrs. Ann, widow of Dennis Crowley. He died 1871; She has two children. Johannah married William Murphy 1879; has one child.


1860. Richard Ash, farmer; born England 1821; married Mary Veal 1848; has five children. Charlotte married William Bassford.


1861. Michael Grovogal, farmer; born France 1809; married Rosaly Winter 1842. Second marriage 1847, to Mary Platt; has one child, Conrad, who married Eliza Platt.


1861. James R. Mann, Sr., farmer; born England 1827; mar- ried Ellenor Ro ers 1849; has eight children. Charles married Eliza Bassford, and lives in Iowa. James, Jr., married Georgiana Mills.


1863. Lucas Miller, farmer; born Germany 1818; married Mary Neuland 1847; has three children. His daughter Caro- line married Frank Anton.


1863. Lucas Hopp, farmer; born Germany 1840; married Catharine Boory 1867; has four children.


1863. Rudolph Zettel, farmer; born Switzerland 1845; mar- ried Mary G. Berens 1870; has two children.


1864. Charles Boyce, farmer; born Delaware 1840; married Catherine Gurnsey 1866; has five children.


1864. Michael Donovan, farmer; born Ireland 1831; mar- ried Margaret Conland 1855; has thirteen children.


1864. Dominick Kemp, farmer; born Germany 1826; mar- ried Catharine Ellenbacker 1854; has seven children.


1866. Marcus Miller, farmer; born Germany 1846; married Pulcheria Dangel 1868; has six children.


1866. Albert Bankner, farmer; born Prussia 1846; married Barbary Ool 1869; has four children.


1867. James Dunn, farmer; born England 1841; married Bridget Ridde 1866; has four children.


1868. Andrew Birmingham, farmer; born New York 1825; married Julia Grant 1854; has seven children. Altha married M. F. Laplant 1880.


1868. John Hurley, farmer; born Ireland 1840; married Julia Linskey 1872; has three children.


1868. John George, farmer; born Germany 1838; married Lena Clowner 1868; has seven children.


1869. Thomas Campbell, farmer; born Ireland 1842; mar- ried Lucinda McCarty 1874; has three children.


1870. A. W. Moore, farmer; born in Pennsylvania 1842; married Margaret Waters 1869; has one child.


77


EGG HARBOR-TENTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


EGG HARBOR-TENTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


The County Board, on the 9th of July, 1861, set off of Gib- raltar the township of Egg Harbor. The first town meeting was held in the school house, near Mr. J. Thorpe's place.


As to the origin of the name "Egg Harbor," there is some variation in the statements of the "old settlers." One state- ment is, that Mr. Claflin, (the first white settler in Door county) so named it, because, while coasting along the shore, he got good shelter there, and on the beach he found a nest full of eggs-those of some wild fowl. Another report is, that Col. Robinson, and other gentlemen from Green Bay, many years ago, took a cruise in a small sail yacht, going as far north as "Death's Door." They visited most of the Harbors along the coast, and had a good time-in the old fashion meaning of the word. On one occasion they got to throwing eggs at each other, and did not "let up" until every egg they had was thrown, and the contestants completely smeared over with the shell-covered hen-fruit. Afterward, to distinguish the "battle- ground" from other places and little harbors along the coast, the Green Bay gentlemen referred to it as "egg harbor."


Whatever may be the origin of the name, Egg Harbor town- ship is now prominet in the make up of the county, and each year makes decided progress in the town.


Of the old settlers residing in the town, who have been in the county ten or more years, the following is a list:


1840 was the date Ransselaer Marshall, farmer, first came to Door county. He was born at Pensaukee, this State, 1830; married Adeline Laplant 1860. Second marriage 1873, to Catherine Post.


1841. Oliver P. Graham, farmer; born in Ohio 1816; married Mary Ann Marshall 1847; has ten children. Matilda married Hon. E. S. Minor, and lives at Fish Creek. Henry married Emily Rathbun.


Mr. Graham writes us the following letter concerning early time in this county:


EGG HARBOR, Wisconsin, October, 1880.


O. P. Graham to C. I. Martin:


I first care to Door county in 1841. There were but few inhabi- tants in the county at that time-one family (Mr. Boon's) on Rock Island-then called Louse Island-another family by the name of Saunders, at Eagle Harbor; Claflin at Fish Creek; Stevenson's at Little Sturgeon, and two or three old bachelors, I believe were about all the white inhabitants-excepting those at John P. Clark's fishing station, at Whitefish Bay-that were living in what is now known as Door


78


HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY.


county ____ A comical genius, by the name of Lovejoy, was an old bochelor that had lived in the county some time. He had been away from the society of women so long, that the sight of one would make him jump as if struck by electricity, and he would run off into the woods. However, sometime afterward, he became more reconciled, and finally got so close to a woman as to marry her. He was the first ship-builder in these parts. He built a small vessel at Big Sturgeon- sloop-rig, good model, and fine sailer. The craft was used for fishing and freighting about the Islands. The first winter after she was launched, he laid her up in a little inlet about a mile or so from the Door bluffs. The water fell so much that winter that he could not get the boat afloat the next spring. During the summer the porcu- pines gnawed several holes in her, which gave rise to the place being called"Hedgehog Harbor." .... As far as I know, Indians hereabouts have been generally peaceful, when Yankees kept firewater out of their reach. If the Indians were filled up with the "tangle," they were almost as bad as drunken white men .... Among the first to start busi- ness transactions in Door county, was J. M. Craw, of Ohio, who came to Washington Island, and engaged in fishing and lumbering. He was upwards of ninety years old when he came; drove a large business a few years, and then he retired from active business, and returned to Ohio, to enjoy the fruits of his younger-day labors. I believe he did not live long after he left Door county .... In 1848 I entered the land where the village of Sturgeon Bay now stands. My brother Robert, now deceased, built the "upper mill" in Sturgeon Bay in the fall of 1854 or 1855. Bradley & Crandall had built the "lower mill" a year or so previous ... Mr. Carrington was the first white settler in Bailey's Harbor, having settled and left there about 1849. His son Miles, now resides at the Harbor .... The steamer Michigan made an attempt late in the fall of 1854 to get into Sturgeon Bay with supplies for Bradley & Crandall, but had to back out and land the supplies at ¿Allen's dock, Egg Harbor. The Sturgeon Bay people had to turn out, cut a road down here, and haul the supplies through the woods .... The first road to Green Bay from Sturgeon Bay was cut out about 1855 or'56, and paid for by subscription. E. S. Fuller and Buck Kimber helped to cut it-camping on the route. I acted as "pilot."


1843. Leyi Thorpe, merchant and farmer; born in New York 1826; married Jane Ramsey 1858; has two children. His son Truman A. married Nellie Norton 1880.


1851. George A. Turner, fisherman; born Brown county, this State; married Elva Post 1873; has four children.


1853. Milton E. Lyman, farmer (ex-county judge); born in New York 1821; married Adeline King 1852; has two children. His son Edward C. married Jennie Sheldon, and lives in New York.


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EGG HARBOR-TENTH ORGANIZED TOWN.


The following interesting letter is from the pen of Mr. Lyman:


EGG HARBOR, Wisconsin, October 11th, 1880.


M. E. Lyman to C. I. Martin:


In the spring of 1852 I was elected justice-of-the-peace-town of Washington. I went to Manitowoc county to file my bond. The clerk of the Circuit Court could not tell me whether we belonged to that county for judicial purposes or not-we (this county) was not then organized for judicial purposes. . I filed my bond; came home, procured another set of bonds, and went to Green Bay, Brown county, and filed my bonds there, also-bound to be right. Thus I had to travel over 300 miles to file my justice bond .... In 1863 I visited the schools of Door county. At Little Sturgeon I found the names of ten children on the school register from one family-that of Robert Stephenson; one of Nature's Noblemen! I then challenged the State to show an equal on the school register. Mr. Pickard, our worthy State Superintendent was so much pleased with the challenge that he made the family a present of one year's subscription to the School Journal ..... The following is from an old report to the State Superin- tendent:


DOOR COUNTY.


Since my last Annual Report to you, I have held eight public examinations and 7 special examinations; I have granted thirty certificates; have rejec- ted seven applications ; have made thirty-seven visits to schools. My county is about one hundred miles long by sixteen to twenty wide, and not one mile of public conveyance in the county. I have traveled 1.142 miles. 1,022 on foot, for school purposes the past year. There are twenty-nine districts in the county, an increase of four districts the past year. Our county, in common with all new counties, has suffered from delinquent taxes, render- ing it almost impossible to hire teachers, or to pay them at the expiration of their term of office .... Door county is improving fast in school room accom- modations, but yet is sadly deficient We want more commodious and better ventilated school rooms, maps. globes and school apparatus, and what we most want is the active co-operation of school boards and parents with teachers M. E. LYMAN, County Superintendent.


NOTE .- Mr. Lyman shows commendable energy in his work and confirms the truth of the Proverb. "Where there's a will there's a way," if no highway. PICKARD, S. S. of S.


I had the pleasure of examining Mr. A. G. Warren, who taught the Sturgeon Bay school in the room now occupied by the "Advocate." Mr. Warren said: "Now, Judge, you must not be too hard on me, for I presume that I am a little rusty." I found him well qualified, and often remember, with pleasure, the pleasant hours we spent comparing the present system with those of our boyhood days .... A noted event, and one that caused a great excitement at that time, was the burning of J. M. Craw & Son's barn, at Washington Island, in March 185-, by J. Westbrook. In the summer of 1862 Westbrook cut some five or six tons of hay on State lands on Washington Island. He went outside and bought him a yoke of cattle to lumber with dur- ng the coming winter; relying on that for the support of his family




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