History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 142

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County, Wisconsin > Part 142

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).

T. SCHNITZLER, fire and accident insurance agent, Platteville ; is a native of De Pere, Wis., born in 1855; came to Platteville in the winter of 1876, and engaged in the confectionery business, which he still continues. He was married in October, 1877, in Platteville, to Miss Anna, daughter of Engle Van- derlire, one of the early settlers of Platteville, who died Jan. 29, 1880; he had been engaged in the insur- ance business for the last ten years of his life, and, at his death, Mr. Schnitzler succeeded him in that business.

H. P. SCHRODER, merchant, Platteville ; has been in business in Platteville since March, 1870, in his present location, where he keeps a general store ; he is a native of Prussia, born in 1838. In 1846, his parents came to America and settled in La Fayette Co., Wis., in 1847 ; he left home in 1851, and went to St. Paul, Minn , where he remained till the spring of 1862, then went to California and re- mained there till 1869 ; he then returned to Wisconsin, and has been a resident of Platteville since that time. He was married, in Platteville, in the spring of 1870, to Miss Minnie C., daughter of John Kenler, of that place. His father, Peter Schroder, went to California in 1849, and died there in the winter of 1851. Mrs. Schroder is still living in Platteville.

S. SICKLE, cigar manufacturer, Platteville; was born in Treves, Germany, Oct. 18, 1818; came to America in 1852 and lived two years in Buffalo, N. Y., and eighteen years in Detroit, Mich, most of the time in the mercantile and tobacco business ; came to Platteville in 1873, and has been in his pres- ent business since that time ; he is also in the wholesale and retail tobacco trade in company with his son Max, firm S. Sickle & Son. Mr. Sickle was married, in Detroit, Mich., in 1854, to Mrs. Frederica Mur- cus, daughter of M. Rosenbaum ; she was a native of Sternberg, Germany. Max Sickle was born in De- troit, Mich., in 1860, and has been in partnership with his father in the tobacco business since May, 1880 ; he has been Secretary of the Fire Department of Platteville since April 26, 1880, and was Secretary of the engine company about four years.

HERRMANN SIEMERS, of the firm of Siemers & Thiele, saloon-keepers, Platteville; was born in Pupsen, Germany ; came to America in 1865; lived nine months in New York City, then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and came from there to Platteville in 1868; worked three and a half months on a farm, and has been in bis present business since. In November, 1872, he was married, in Lyons, Iowa, to Lena Kuhl, and has three children-Mary, Julia and Frederick.

THOMAS SHEPHERD, deceased ; was born in Yorkshire, England, 1806; married Agnes Hoe, a native of Westmoreland, England ; they came in 1850, to America, with ten children, and located

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on a farm owned by Maj. Rountree. The Shepherd homestead originally of 160 acres was then pur- chased ; Mr. Shepherd did good work here clearing and improving; in 1857, he built the substantial stone house, now making a good home for his family ; he subsequently sold all except 84 acres; at his leath, June 31, 1862, he left his widow and the ten children namely : Allen, Mary, Anthony, Agnes, Thomas, Betsy, Isabella, Hannah, William and Joseph ; Mary is in Otisville, Iowa, and William in Oak- lale, Neb. ; all the others are now in the city and town of Platteville ; the family are members of the P. M. Church.

JOHN SPEAR, retired farmer, Platteville; was born Sept. 25, 1806, in Little Petherick, Cornwall, England; in early life he served an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner ; going to London, le worked fourteen years at his trade. In this metropolis of the world, he also married Anne Roberts, who was of Probus Parish, Cornwall; both their children, John R. and Annie R. were born in London. The family came to America and to Platteville in 1851 ; the journey from New York was a long and tedious one. via the Hudson River and great lakes to Milwaukee; they first located on the present farm of William Rundell; remained two years, then came to Platteville and spent a couple of years ; then for six years they were on a farm in British Hollow, town of Potosi; afterward they resided and farmed in the owns of Lancaster and Benton; in March, 1876, the ill health of young Spear caused the final removal and settlement of the family in Platteville; they still own a considerable amount of land in this county. Mr. Spear, Sr., made a most enjoyable visit to his native land in the fall of 1880, and takes pleasure in describing the progress and power of Merry England, as well as the changes made in thirty years.

MASON SPENSLEY, Platteville ; was born Jan. 14, 1815, in Yorkshire, England ; came to America in 1841, and located in the Catfish Mining Settlement near Dubuque, Iowa; here he was em- ployed both as a miner and smelter ; in 1850, he formed a partnership with Richard Straw, Ralph Spenslcy and Thomas Staley ; the firm rented the old furnace of Bell & Co., on the Big Platte River ; in 1852, Ralph Spensley withdrew, the remaining partners removing to Platteville; here in 1855 or 1856, Mr. Staley met an accidental death. Messrs. Spensley and Straw have since continued the business ; their blast furnace was purchased of L. Coates ; from 700,000 to 1,100,000 pounds of lead are annually produced. Mr. Spensley married Frances A. Taylor, a native of Knox Co., Ind., where her parents both died in her infancy ; an aunt brought her to Dubuque when she was 9 years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Spensley have nine children-James T., Rosa, Frances A., John T., Maggie, Richard, Mary, Allie and Cora.

REV. C. STARCK, Pastor of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Platteville : is a native of Erfurt, Germany, born in 1824; he was educated and entered the ministry in Germany, and came to America in 1851; came to Plattevillle in 1857, and remained till 1862; in 1871, he went to Louisville, Ky., and was professor in a high school there two years, then accepted a pastorate at Springfield, Ill., and remained there till the spring of 1880, when he was recalled to Platteville; he was for many years one of the Directors of Carthage Lutheran College of Illinois, and is at present, President of the Wart- burg Synod of the E. L. Church.

J. J. STEPHENS, Secs. 2 and 3; P. O. Platteville; was born in Peyrdinzabuloe, Cornwall, England, Feb. 3, 1825. His father, James Stephens, came to America and settled in Grant Co., in 1840, bringing with him his sons Thomas and J. J. The mother and the remainder of the children came with the " Stephens Colony " in 1842. The brothers, Thomas and J. J., dug several wells, and helped build the dam for Virgin's mill, as their first work. The father and sons continued mining and farming here up to the removal of the brothers to California in 1852. J. J. returned in 1853, and located on a farm east of Platteville, where he remained eleven years. He then bought the Ed Thomas estate of 195 acres, which is now his home. He married, Jan. 25, 1845, Miss Jane, daughter of Michael Stephens. They have eight children-James H., Selinda, Charles A., Almon M .. Sidney A., Olive N., Harlen K. and Fannie L., all born in Platteville. They lost two infant sons. Mr. Stephens is independent in politics, and the family attend the P. M. Church. Besides the Thomas farm, he owns 1463 acres of timber and pasture in Lima, and also a house and lot in Platteville.

JOHN STEPHENS, farmer; was born in the Parish of Peyrdinzabuloe, Cornwall, England, Nov. 11, 1797. He came to Platteville, Wis., in 1841, and took up a farm near town, now within the city limits. His twin brother, Michael, came over the next year with all the other brothers but one, and his brothers-in-law and their families, fifty-two persons in all, and all settled in the vicinity of Platteville. All the Stephens brothers were married in the same parish church in England, and now, all the sisters and sisters-in-law are buried side-by-side in the cemetery at Platteville. John Stephens was married Jan. 22, 1826. to Miss Catharine Repper ; she died at Platteville ; they have had seven children-Ann, now Mrs.

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William Laughton ; Catharine, who died in 1864 ; Elizabeth, now Mrs. H. H. Jacobs ; Thomas, living in Placerville, Cal .; Jane, now Mrs. Walsh, also in California; John R., living at Yankton, Dak .; Mary L., now Mrs. Hockett. Mr. Stephens had a stroke of paralysis in 1879, since which, he has not been able to attend actively to business, and his daughter, Mrs. Jacobs, has moved back to the old homestead, where he lives with her. Mr. Stephens has been a member of the Town Board of Platteville several terms, and has held other town offices.

W. C. STEPHENS, Platteville, is a son of Michael and Mary (Conlin) Stephens. He is one of ten children, and was born Oct. 22, 1820, in Peyrdinzabuloe Parish, Cornwall, England. His father was born same place Nov. 11, 1797. In June, 1842, no less than forty-nine members of this historic family arrived in Platteville, and it was the settled home of the different branches of the family until the out- break of the California gold fever in 1850-51. In 1852, Michael Stephens and his sons went to California, remaining until 1853. W. C. Stephens built, in 1844, a frame house near his present residence, and a family is now sheltered under the same shingles he laid thirty-six years ago. The pleasant home which his family now enjoy is the result of his own handiwork, he having accustomed himself to the use of car- penter's tools from boyhood. Mr. Stephens has a 146-acre farm on Secs. 1 and 12 in Platteville, which was his home for twenty years. He married, March 28, 1842, in England, Miss Ann Mitchell, of his na- tive Parish. They have four children-Mary A., Allie, George and Amo, all born in Platteville. Mr. Stephens is a Republican, and is with his wife a member of the P. M. Church. His aged father is a twin brother of John Stephens, and both are wonderfully well-preserved specimens of the hardy and stalwart men who have so proudly and successfully carried old England's flag around the globe.

F. STINGLE, merchant tailor and dealer in ready-made clothing, gents' furnishing goods, hats, caps, boots, shoes, etc., is a native of Bohemia, Austria; born in 1841; came to America in September, 1865 ; lived in Milwaukee nearly one year, then went to Monroe, Green Co., Wis. ; was in business there till September, 1875, since which time he has been in business in Platteville ; was married in Monroe to Miss Augusta Roth, and has three sons-Benjamin, Leopold and Emanuel.

RICHARD STRAW, of R. Straw & Co., smelters, was born Feb. 15, 1817, in Derbyshire, England. Hc came to America in 1828, with his father, residing in New York, New Jersey and Penn- sylvania until 1834 when he came to Dubuque, Iowa. Here he engaged in mining and teaming. In 1840, he came to Hazel Green, Wis., and engaged in mining ; ten years later he formed a partnership with Messrs. Mason and Ralph Spensley and Thomas Staley, and began the smelting business, which he has since followed (see sketch of Mason Spensley). Mr. Straw married Mary Place, of Yorkshire, England, by whom he has six children-Hannah, Mary A., Anne, Margaret, Carrie and Richard. Anne and Mar- garet were born in Montford, Grant Co., and the others in Platteville. Mr. Straw is a Republican, and a member with his family of the M. E. Church. He has served many years on both the town and village boards.

HENRY THIELE, member of the firm of Siemers & Thiele, saloon-keepers, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1840 ; came to America in 1866, lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, nine months, and came to Plattevill in August, 1867 ; has been in his present business since 1868; he was married in Platteville in 1868, to Dora Pranga, and has two children living-Harry and Mary ; lost one, August, who died when 3 years old in 1874.

E. W. THOMAS, retired, was born in Salem, Mass., in 1802; removed to Ohio in 1844; lived in Ashland Co., till 1851, and came from there to Grant Co., Wis., where he has since resided ; he followed farming two miles north of the village till 1865, and since then has lived in the city; he in com- pany with his son, Hudson, built what is known as Thomas' Block, in which Thomas Hall is located, completing it in 1871; he was married in Madison Co., N. Y., in 1825 to Polly Bacon, daughter of James Bacon, and has six children-Mary, Hudson, Huron, Homer, Martha and Hadley; Hudson en- listed in 1863, in the 33d W. V. I., and served as Second Lieutenant of Co. A till the close of the war; he is now living in Lyon Co., Mion. Huron was in the 25th W. V. I., Co. E, enlisted in 1862, and was Sergeant of his company ; went with Sherman to the sea, and was discharged on account of sickness at Savannah, Ga.

H. J. TRABER, Mayor of Platteville, was born in Albany Co., N. Y., Nov. 9, 1833; when 17 years of age he left home and went on a whaling voyage in the ship Montezuma, Capt. Williams, of New London, Conn. ; they sailed on the 15th of July, 1850, and returned on the 15th of May, 1853, crossed the equator seven times on the voyage, and visited during the time, the Azore Islands, St. Paul's Island, New Zealand, East Cape, in Russian America, Sandwich Islands, King Mills Group, La Drone

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Islands, Tihita, ard thence around Cape Horn, home ; be soon after made a voyage to Liverpool, Eng., then returned to America, and visited Bath, Me., Boston, Mass., and then went to Chesapeake Bay, Portsmouth, N. H., and back to Albany ; in the spring of 1855 he sailed to Buffalo, N. Y., and followed the lakes till July of that year, when he landed at Chicago on the 9th and came to Platteville July 16, and has been a resident of the city since that time; Aug. 14, 1862, he enlisted in Co. A, 33d W. V. I. as a private and was in the service three years ; in September, 1864, he was transferred to Co. H of the same regiment as Second Lieutenant, and had command of his company from that time till the close of the war; he was in twenty-one engagements during bis term of service and was never wounded and was never a day off duty ; he is the present Mayor of Platteville, elected in April, 1880; he was married in 1859, in Lancaster, Wis., to Miss Sarah Kines, and has had four children, three of whom are living.

AMBROSE TREGANOWAN, farmer, Sec. 6; P. O. Platteville; was born Mareb, 1810, in Fryock, Cornwall, England, where his early life was spent in the mines. In 1840, he came to America, and began work in the Virginia coal mines. This came near being his last work in this world, as he was nearly crushed to death by being drawn from the shaft against some timbers overhead by a thirty horse power engine. For months, it was thought he could not live, and it was years before he was able to work. However, he came to America again in 1846, and lived in Platteville until 1850, when he went to Cali- fornia. Nine months later, he returned, and settled on his present farm in 1853. He has 80 acres. His first wife, Peggy Mitchell, died in England. He then married in Platteville Ellen Stephens, who died thirteen months later. The present Mrs. Treganowan was Catharine Pothour, born in Trumbull Co., Ohio. He bas no children, but in spite of his many misfortunes preserves a warm heart and generous nature.

JOHN TRENARY, farmer, Secs. 12 and 13; P. O. Platteville; born July 10, 1809, in Red- ruth, Cornwall, England. His early life was spent in the interests of his father's large mercantile and other business. He came to America in 1840, kept the old Blue Run tavern for a time, and, in 1843, came to Platteville, where he engaged in mining and auctioneering. His first wife, formerly Eliza Pol- lard, of Redruth, died in 1847, leaving four children-Eliza, now in Kewaunee, Ill .; John, a Methodist Episcopal preacher ; Ellen, now residing at Big Patch, and an infant that died three months after the mother. In 1848, taking his three surviving children, he returned to England, where he remained eighteen months. Marrying Clarissa Lory, of Elstone, Cornwall, he brought her and the children to Platteville, and settled on a farm adjoining the one he now owns. Mr. Trenary now has 175 acres in the home farm, and 40 of timber in Lima. He was one of the founders of the Primitive Methodist Church, of Platteville. For more than twenty years, he has been Class-Leader and Sabbath School Superintendent. Mrs. Trenary has been a member for twenty-five years. They have ten children -Charles, Edwin, Carlin, Nelson, Eldred, Sarah, Lucy, Rosina, Albert and Eli.

HON. NOAH H. VIRGIN, Platteville, one of the pioneers of Grant Co. ; was born in Fayette Co., Penn., Dec. 6, 1812, son of Eli and Nacka (Hyatte) Virgin. When 6 years of age, his father died, and a few years after his mother married Col. Heaton, of Fayette Co., who owned a flouring mill and a woolen factory, in which young Virgin worked for some time, then learned the millwright's trade of his brother-in-law, Isaac Hill, of Greene Co., Penn. He came to Wisconsin in 1835, and worked at his trade in different places until April, 1836, when he came to Platteville, where he has resided since that time. He, in company with John H. Rountree and Neely Gray, built the Platteville flouring mill, which was completed in 1840, and was the first flouring mill built in Platteville. He afterward bought out his part- ners, and has owned and run the mill himself up to the present time. Since 1870, he has been engaged in grain dealing in company with bis son, Col. Horatio Virgin, in addition to his other business. Mr. Virgin was a member of the Assembly in the last Territorial Legislature in 1847, and also the first State Legislature in 1848, and again in 1855. He also served two consecutive terms in the State Senate, end- ing in 1861. He commenced political life as a Whig; was a Republican from 1854 till 1864, and since that time has acted with the Democrats. In 1866, Mr. Virgin was a candidate for Congress from this dis- trict, against Amasa Cobb, who was elected. On the 15th of January, 1839, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Pamelia E. Adams, daughter of Rev. Bartholomew Weed, of Platteville, and has had eight children, four of whom are still living-Horatio H., living in Platteville; Emma, now Mrs. George H. Laughton, of Chicago; Mary, now Mrs. William Laughton, of Platteville, and Eugene, the youngest, living in Platte- ville. His eldest son, Col. H. H. Virgin, was born in the village of Platteville April 9, 1840, and grew up to manhood in his native village. In April, 1861, he enlisted under the three months' call, and was assigned to the 7th Regiment, but did not go out of the State. The next October, he was appointed Aid on the Governor's staff with the rank of Colonel, and, on the 18th of December following, was appointed

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Battalion Adjutant of the 2d Wisconsin Cavalry (1st Battalion), and assigned to duty under Gen. Scho- field in Missouri, in the spring of 1862. On the 30th of August, 1862, he was commissioned Major of the 33d W. V. I., and, after March 1, 1864, had command of the regiment till the close of the war, being in command in every engagement except three, while he was with the regiment. He was temporarily in command of a brigade in the battle of Yellow Bayou, on the Red River expedition. After the battle of Nashville, he held a Lieutenant Colonel's commission till the close of the war, and was then brevetted Colonel. During his term of service, he was in forty-two engagements, and never received a scratch, though he had three horses shot under him, and on one occasion a ball passed through the top of his boot, and on another he had a lock of hair shot off just above his car, cutting a hole through the rim of his hat. After the elose of the war, he was three years in the corn business in St. Louis, and two years in the grain business in Booneville, Mo. In 1870, he returned to Platteville, Wis. ; built a warehouse, and since that time has been engaged in buying grain, in company with his father, under the firm name of N. H. Virgin & Son. Jan. 1, 1874, he was married to Miss Annie E. Kane, of Dodgeville, Wis.

CHARLES WEITTENHILLER, manufacturer of cooperage; was born in 1844 in Bavaria, Germany; came to America in 1853 with his parents and settled in Platteville, where they still reside. Learned his trade of his father, Sebastian Weittenheiller, who carried on the same business in Platteville till 1864. Charles Weittenhiller enlisted in February, 1864, in the 25th W. V. I., Com- pany E., and was in the service till the elose of the war. On the 22d of July, 1864, he was taken prisoner at Decatur, Ga., and was two months in Andersonville Prison, before he was discharged. He has been in business since 1867. He was married in 1867, in Platteville, to Miss Jennie Marshall, daughter of E. H. Marshall, and has four children-Cora, Addie, Marenus and Charles; has been Justice of the Peace for the last four years, and was on the Village Board one year.

SEBASTIAN WEITTENHILLER, Sections 5, 7 and 8; P. O. Platteville; was born April 7, 1824, in Eichseichstadt, Bavaria. Here in his and her native village, he married Annie Schiell, born Jan. 16, 1822. He came to America in 1849, spent eighteen months in New York, then came to Galena, and, after visiting Iowa, came in May, 1853, to Platteville. His wife came from Germany in November of the same year. Mr. W. had learned the cooper's trade in Rochester, N. Y., and for eleven years followed it in Platteville ; in 1864, he bought his present 164 acre farm, and has since lived upon it. Mr. and Mrs. Weittenhiller have nine living children-Charles, Mary, Annic, Conrad, Emil, Phillip, Lena, Jennie and Etta. They also lost five children, one of whom met an accidental death by the falling of a horse. The family are Presbyterians.

PETER WENTZ, southwest quarter See. 3; P. O. Platteville; born July, 1814, in Scheres- feldt, Bavaria, where he married Sarah Miller; his early life was spent at farming and coal mining. In 1854, he brought his family to the United States, spent eighteen months in Pennsylvania, then came to Platteville where he first bought 10 acres which he sold. Next he bought 40 acres on See. 3, which he sold in 1877, and that year bought his present 160-acre farm of I. Penberthy. Mr. and Mrs. Wentz have four children-Barbara, Sarah, Charlotta and Christian, all four in Bavaria; the only son, born March 23, 1852, married Mary Linden, who was born in Potosi, Grant County, Wis.

D. B. WILKINSON, retired farmer ; P. O. Platteville; was born Oct. 7, 1823, in Owersby, Lincolnshire, England ; he spent his carly life as a farmer. Married Elizabeth Marshall, who was born March 24, 1823, in Storton-by-Stow, Lincolnshire. They came to America and located in Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1846. Later, Mr. Wilkinson purchased a farm in Oswego Co., N. Y. In 1850, they came to Wisconsin and located on a new wild farm in the Whig Settlement, Grant Co. Beginning with 40 aeres and a log house. Mr. Wilkinson made steady progress toward better things, and more of them, increasing both his farm and home in size. The homestead of 200 acres is now in charge of his only son, Robert W. He was less than two years old when the parents came to the United Strtes. His wife, nee Frances MeRundell, of Fennimore, Grant Co., Wis, is the mother of three children-Lillie E., Flora B. and Lulu M. Since 1868, D. B. Wilkinson and wife have resided in the city of Platteville. He was, in former years, a most successful miner, he having discovered some of the rich "diggings " in Whig, one of these yielded him $1,000 net profit.

DAVID WILSON, dealer in fruit, faney groceries and confectionery, Platteville ; was born in Oswego Co., N. Y., in 1826 ; came to Wisconsin in 1844, and settled in Platteville ; learned the jewelry business in New York City of Wilson Brothers, 460 Maiden Lane; was there two years previous to com- ing to Wisconsin. He was married in Potosi, Grant Co., in 1848, to Miss Mary Ann Sturgeon ; he lived about a year in Platteville after marriage, then went to Canada with his family, where he remained about a year and a half, and then returned to Platteville; in 1854, he went to Richland Co., Wis., and com-

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

enced clearing up a farm ; his wife died there Nov. 8, 1856, and he soon after returned to Platteville ; e ran a peddling wagon about a year, then went to Reedsburg, Sauk Co., Wis., and was engaged in the welry business about a year ; was in the same business in New Lisbon, Juneau Co., four or five years, id Elkhorn one year ; he then kept hotel in Trempeleau one year, and boarding-house in Winona, Minn., year and a half; he then went to Preston, Minn., and ran a jewelry store three years; from there he ent to Fountain, on the S. M. R. R., and built the first hotel in the place in November, 1869 ; this was illed the " Wilson House," and he kept it till it was burned down in November, 1872; he then ;turned to Platteville and bought what was called " Hodges' old stand," and carried on the grocery and id fruit business till he was burned out again in April, 1874: he rebuilt the same fall, and kept a city staurant about three years, and since that has been engaged in his present business ; his second wife, to hom he was married in New Lisbon, Wis., Oct. 28, 1857, was Mary Judd; she died Sept. 11, 1878, ad he was again married Aug. 20, 1879, to Mrs. Helen Lewis, widow of J. H. Lewis, one of the early ttlers of Platteville; has four children, all by his first wife.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 142

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044