History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 50

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1168

USA > Wisconsin > Green County > History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 50

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).

Free from obnoxious partisanship as it is pos- sible for a man to be, he proved to be a most satisfactory and capable judicial officer. He died on the 22d day of October, 1882, in Janes- ville, Wis.

John R. Bennett,

present judge of the twelfth judicial circuit, was born at Rodman, Jefferson Co., N. Y., on the Ist day of November, 1820; he was the second son and third child of Daniel Bennett and Deborah Leeds Bennett, whose maiden name was Spicer ; his father and mother were

descendants from English Puritan ancestors, who settled in the State of Connecticut about the year 1640. His father was born in the town of Stonington, in that State, on the 16th day of February, 1793. The fourth son of David Bennett and Rebecca Bennett, whose maiden name was Miner and David, was the son of Stephen and Mehitable Bennett. His mother was the daughter of William Spicer and Han- nah Spicer, whose maiden name was Han- nah Leeds, being the daughter of Gideon Leeds, of the city of Leeds, England. His father being a farmer in comfortable circumstances, the son worked at home on the farm, attending the common district school until the fall of 1839, when he commenced attending the Black River Literary and Religious Institute, located at Watertown, N. Y., and prepared for teach- ing school, which he engaged in that fall, and from that time until the month of April, 1844, continued attending this school at Watertown, and teaching district and select schools. He then entered upon the study of law in the office of Western W. Wager, at Brownsville, Jeffer- son Co., N. Y., reading with him about six months. On the 28th day of November, 1844, at Hounsfield, Jefferson Co., N. Y., he was mar- ried to Elsie L. Holloway, the daughter of Charles and Chloe Holloway, whose sweet gentle influence has ever tended to lead him in the proper and pleasant paths of life, and to be under the guidance of the better angel of his nature ; the purity of her life, the wisdom of her counsel and the comfort of her society, are still continued to him by a bene- ficient Providence, and are the sources of his greatest happiness. In the month of April, 1845, he commenced reading law in the office of Dyre N. Burnham, of Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., and continued reading with him until the 8th day of May, 1848, when he was admitted to practice in all the courts of that State. On the 2d day of October, 1848, he started for the west, reaching Janesville, Wis., October 13, where he located, and has since practiced his profession ;

347

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

he has no children, but has adopted two sisters, Minnie and Kitty Parry, who have assumed his name and have been with him now over twenty- years, and are the light and joy of his home ; they have been with him since they were re- spectively, four and two years of age. Mr. Bennett's practice, which has gradually in- creased from its commencement at Janesville, is confined mostly to Rock, Walworth, Jeffer- son and Green counties, and the Supreme Court of the State. From 1863 to 1867, he held the office of district attorney of Rock county, and, in 1860, was a delegate to the National repub- lican convention, held at Chicago, which nomi- nated Abraham Lincoln for President ; without being a candidate, he was nominated, in 1875, by the republican State convention for attorney- general, but was defeated with the rest of the ticket, with the exception of Harrison Luding- ton, the candidate for governor. In religious behef he is a New Churchman, or Swedenbor- gian, as the members of the denomination are more frequently called ; they hold that the Sacred Scriptures, unlike all human composi- tion, contain within the letter a spiritual sense as far above the literary sense in beauty, bright- ness and power, as the immortal soul exceeds the perishable body, in which it "groans in this life, being burdened ;" he counts it a fortunate circumstance that his ancestors, so far as he has any knowledge of them, were deeply religions ; and for the pious instructions received from his parents, who now, he trusts, occupy the ever- lasting abodes of the blessed, he is under a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid.

The counties in the twelfth eirenit, the times of holding court in each, and the places where they are held, are set forth in the following tabular statement:

TWELFTHI CIRCUIT.

Judye-JOHN R BENNETT-Janesville. Term expires first Monday of January, 1889.

Counties

Terms.

Where held.

Laws.

Roek ...

4th Monday in January .. 4th Monday in April .. . . .. Wednesday after Ist Mon- day in November.

Janesv'e

See. 2424, R. S.

Green ... 1st Tuesday in Mar .h ... 3d Tuesday in June ... 1st Tuesday in October ...

Monroe . See. 2424. R. S.

Jefferson Ist Monday in February. 2d Tuesday in June ... 1st Monday in September

Jeffers'n See. 2424, R. S.

No jury shall be summoned for either of the terms in this circuit appointed to be held in the months of January and June. Every term in this circuit shall also be a special term for the whole judicial circuit .- Section 2124, Revised Statutes.

COUNTY COURT OF GREEN COUNTY.

The act of Congress which provided for the organization of Wisconsin Territory, declared that the judicial power therein should be vested not only in a Supreme Court, district courts and justices of the peace, but also in probate courts, the last named being the same courts now denominated county courts. During the continuance of Wisconsin Territory the judges of these last mentioned courts were called "probate judges;" and prior to 1843, they were appointed by the governor, although none was appointed for this county.

County courts were established in Wisconsin by chapter 86 of the Revised Statutes of 1849; and the jurisdiction and powers previously ex- ercised by probate courts were transferred to them. Civil jurisdiction was to a limited extent vosted in them, but was soon after taken away.

Probate and County Judges. (Probate Judges.) \

D. S. Sutherland, 1843 ; Asa Richardson, 1344; S. P. Condee, 1846; D. Smiley, 1848.

(County Judges.)

J. A. Bingham, 1849; J. A. Bingham, 1853 ; B. Dunwiddie, 1857; B. Dunwiddie, 1861 ; B. Dunwiddie, 1865; . B. Dunwiddie, 1869; B. Dunwiddie, 1873; B. Dunwiddie, 1877; B. Dunwiddie, 1881.

The first letters of administration granted in the probate court of Green county is set forth in the following record:

Probate Court, Green County, Ang. 13, 1841.

Personally appeared before this court, Robert Hopkins, of Vigo county and State of Indiana, and after being duly sworn said that Caleb Hopkins, late of this county, died on or about the first day of December, 1840, in Honey Creek township, Vigo county and State of Indi- ana, and that the said Caleb Hopkins was his lawful brother, and that he left no widow or children to heir his estate known to him from the best of his knowledge, and that the deceased has no heirs residing in this Territory who might administer on the estate, and that the

348

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

deceased owed at the time of his decease debts and expenses in his last sickness that cannot be paid without issuing his estate lying in this county. Therefore the said Robert Hopkins made application for letters of administration to be granted to him, the said Robert Hopkins and William Rittenhouse. Bonds being filed, letters of administration was granted to Robert Hopkins and William Rittenhouse, and issued.

WILLIAM BOWEN,

Judge of Probate.

The first will probated in the probate court · of Green county, is fully set forth in the fol- lowing transcript:

I, Josiah Pierce, of the county of Green and Territory of Wisconsin, do make and ordain this my last will and testament, in manner and form following, viz .: I give and bequeath to my daughter, Camilla A. Tillson, the sum of five dollars; I give and bequeath to my daugh- ter, Marcia D. Rust, five dollars; I give and be- queath to my daughter, Rhoda F. Rattan, five dollars; I give and bequeath to my two oldest sons, Albert Henry Pierce and Franklin Pierce, each the sum of one dollar, having already given them in land what I considered their share of my estate; I give and bequeath to my daughter, Elesta Augusta Pierce, the sum of thirty dollars; I give and bequeath to my daughter, Sophrona Amanda Pierce, the like sum of thirty dollars; I give and bequeath to my youngest son, Josiah Dwight Pierce, the west half of the southwest quarter of section No. 13, and the west half of the northwest quarter of section No. 24, both in town No. 3 north and range No. 7 east-to have the same when he arrives at the age of twenty-one years, excepting his mother should be then living; in that case his mother shall hold the use of that part now under improvements during her life all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal, goods and chattels I give and be- queath to my beloved wife, Ruth Pierce, whom I nominate, constitute and appoint sole execu- trix of this my last will and testament, hereby

revoking all other and former wills by. me at any time heretofore made.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-sixth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-three.

[Seal.] JOSIAH PIERCE. Signed, sealed, published and delivered by the said testator, Josiah Pierce, as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us, who have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto in the presence of the said testator:

ALEX F. STEDMAN, ARTHUR SMITH, LEWIS NIXON. Recorded this 30th day of March A. D. 1844. DANIEL S. SUTHERLAND, Judge of Probate.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCIIES. John A. Bingham.

John Augustine Bingham was born at Mor- ristown, Vt., Feb., 27, 1819, the son of John and Lydia (Thompson) Bingham. His parents were descended from early Puritan stock, and farmers by occupation, industrious, energetic, practical, and sternly religious, as only New England Puritans have been or can be. His father was a man of unusual size, strength and endurance, and enjoyed the reputation of being able to do more work than any other man in his part of the country, His grandfather, also named John, was likewise a large, powerful man, even larger than his son, and was not less noted for the virtues. The mother of our sub- ject, a most exemplary woman, is remembered for her remarkably happy and hopeful disposi- tion. To her the worst disaster appeared "bet- ter than it might have been." Under the most adverse circumstances health, peace and pros- perity, the three blessings she was wont form- ally to invoke on her friends, were always near at hand. Though descended from a shorter- lived, less vigorous and less practical family, than her husband, she held with him the New England idea of work. The subject of

349

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

this sketch taught school the winter he was fif- teen years of age, having among his pupils young men five years his senior, but, so far as he could judge, not one of them ever suspected their teacher of being their junior. Before he tanght his first school ho urged his father to send him to the Montpelier Academy, but the father, confidently believing that the boy had learning enongh, that more would only make him lazy, refused. But finally, weary of his importunities, he replied to the oft repeated re- quest: "If you get the potatoes dug and housed before school begins you may go." To the father's surprise, the potatoes were safely stored in the cellar before the day appointed, having been dug and carried to the house at the rate of fifty bushels per day. The father, who had supposed the fulfillment of the conditions impossible, reluctantly. granted his son's re- quest. But the first appeal of the boy for money to defray his expenses overcame the con- scientious seruples in deference to which he had permitted him to go, and his reply was: "Come home." In this instance John disobeyed, not returning to the parental roof till the end of the first quarter, but paying his own expenses by sawing firewood for the institution. Subse- quently, when he earned money by teaching, he attended for a short time an academy at John- son, Vt. He assisted his father during the farming season, until he attained his majority. During the intervals of farm labor he studied surveying and read law in the office of an at- torney at Stowe, Vt. From the age of fifteen he earned by teaching, surveying, selling books on subscription, or by some manual labor, the means to purchase his own clothing and books. To procure the books he needed he was often obliged to sell those he already possessed. This necessity he regarded as a great misfor- tune, and so impressed him that in after years he insisted that his own children should retain every book studied by them, from the primer to the science of government, nor would he con- sent, under any circumstances, to a deviation

from this rule. In the summer of 1841 Mr. Bingham removed to Milwaukee, Wis. He af- terwards traveled on foot over southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois; taught school one term at Rochester, Racine Co., Wis., and in February, 1842, settled in Monroe, Green county, where he opened a law office and resided during the remainder of his days.

On the 25th day of November, 1843, he mar- ried Caroline E. Churchill, a woman of fine in- tellect and strong character, in whom he found a faithful and loving wife. She was born at Ridge Prairie, Ill., June 26, 1824, and still lives at Monroe.

During the years 1846 and 1847, Mr. Bingham was district attorney of Green county, and af- terward held for eight years the office of pro- bate judge of the county, the duties of which he discharged with rigid and characteristic ex- actness, and won for himself the respect and unlimited confidence of all who knew him. In 1854 he opened a broker's office, which subse- quently grew into the Bank of Monroe, the first bank organized in the county. A few years later he was conspicuously active in connection with the building of the Monroe branch of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad.

Judge Bingham was one of the most gifted men of the State. His intellect was of that broad and comprehensive character which grasped the trne relation of circumstances in every aspect in which they might be presented to him. As a lawyer he was full of resources, and his opponents at the bar never felt sure that he was beaten until a judgment in their favor had been actually executed. As a business man and administrator of affairs his accuracy of judgment was remarkable, and this united with a profound knowledge of human nature, was a great secret of his success. His mind was clear and vigorous, as well as broad and capacious. On questions of State and national policy he never failed to perceive and defend with signal ability the foundation principles which should govern the public mind. He

350

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

looked upon shams of every kind with con- tempt, and was rarely if ever, deceived by them. In polities he was formerly a whig, and always anti-slavery in principles. He was an earnest supporter of Fremont in 1856, and of Lincoln in 1860, and was a member of the national con- vention that re-nominated the latter in 1864. To his influence is largely due the revolution in the polities of his county, which, formerly largely democratic, is now overwhelmingly re- publican. He was an ardent supporter of the government during the Civil War, and it was a source of great sorrow to him that failing health prevented his entering more actively into the service of his country.

Judge Bingham took active interest in all matters of public improvement, contributing freely both time and money to the success of enterprises which met his approval. Above everything else he was the friend of education, and no other man ever did so much for the schools of Monroe. For months at a time he visited them daily, watching the progress of favorite classes, counseling teachers, and studying methods of instruction. He possessed a natural love of teaching,and was peculiarly happy in his mode of imparting information. This disposition, sharp- ened and intensified by the difficulties he had encountered in procuring an education, led hin to take great pleasure in assisting all young men, and especially poor and ambitious youths who were struggling to gain an education. Hav- ing helped himself he understood the value of self-help, and never squandered money in any enterprise because it was labeled "benevolence." Every effort calculated to better qualify men to help themselves, or to render them temporary relief from pressing difficulties, commanded his cordial support; and during the last years of his life a large constituency, whom he counseled gratuitously, regularly sought his advice in re- gard to the conduct of all their more important affairs.

The community also leaned upon and trusted his judgment as it had never trusted that of

any other man, and when he was prematurely stricken down his acquaintances felt that their strongest and ablest man was gone.

He had six children, three sons and three daugh- ters, five of whom survive. The eldest son, Horace, died in infancy; Homer, the second son, was educated at Cornell University, New York, and is at present (1876) attending the law de- partment of the Wisconsin University, with a view to the profession of his father, and is a a youth of fine presence and large promise ; Herbert still in his teens, is attending the Mon- roe High School; the daughters, Helen M., Alice and Ada, all graduates of the Lombard Univer- sity, Galesburg, Ill. Alice is the widow of the late Prof. Herbert E. Copeland, for some years professor of natural science in the Whitewater, Wis., Normal School, and latterly in a sim- ilar institution in Indianapolis, Ind. He died on the 12th of December, 1876. Helen is a well known contributor to the current litera- ture of the day, and has been for some time past engaged in writing a history of Green county, a task for the successful accomplishment of which her tastes and talents eminently fit her. Ada is a medical student at the Boston University, and gives promise of a bright and successful career.

Judge Bingham died at Johnson, Vt., July 24, 1865, having been stricken down by paralysis while on a visit to his native State.

Brooks Dunwiddie

was born in Green Co., Ohio, Jan. 22, 1818. His parents were John and Ruth (Betts) Dun widdie. About the time of the Revolution, two brothers came from sonthern Ireland to America, and enlisted in a Maryland regiment. One of them was killed at the battle of Brandywine. The surviving brother, John Dunwiddie,settled upon the eastern shore of Maryland. He married and raised a family of children, of which John, one of his sons, was the father of the subject of this sketch, he marrying Ruth Betts, in the State of Delaware, a step-daughter of a Mr

351

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

Merideth. John Dunwiddie last mentioned, re- moved to Ohio, where he died in 1829.

Brooks Dunwiddie remained with his mother until her death, which occurred from cholera in 1834. He was afterwards sent to school by an older brother, and graduated with honors at Harveysburg Seminary, Clinton Co., Ohio. At the age of nineteen he entered the law office of Thomas Corwin, in Lebanon, Ohio. He studied law in Corwin's office eighteen months. Before applying for admission to the bar, two cousins who had recently emigrated from Uniontown, Penn., to Green Co., Wis., passed through the place where Mr. Dunwiddie was at that time boarding, on his way from Clinton Co., Ohio, with a drove of sheep to Wisconsin. The consins gave such glowing accounts of their new home in Wisconsin and of sheep herding, and of wild prairies, that Mr. Dunwiddie de- cided for the time being to abandon his law studies, and go with his cousins to Wisconsin. He arrived in Green county in August, 1842. He remained in Wisconsin during the following winter, and in the spring returned to Warren Co., Ohio, and, in company with his brother Hiram, purchased a lot of sheep, and the two brothers returned to Wisconsin in August, 1843. In three years after that Brooks Dunwiddie herded his sheep and sold his clip in Milwan- kee.

In 1846, about the 1st of July, the weather set in unusually hot and continued so until in September. A large proportion of the popula- tion was attacked with chills and fever-and among the victims was the subject of this sketch. The result was that he could not watch his sheep, and frequently for long periods no one could be hired to attend his flock. Wolves were plenty, and ever on the watch to. kill sheep. The result was that his herd, during summer and fall of 1846, was nearly destroyed. The malady of chills and fever afflicted him for about eighteen months. The result was his herd was reduced so low that in 1847 he sold his sheep to a Hungarian at Sank Prairie, and |

took in pay Territorial scrip; and, before that was converted into money, it was shaved, which was as much damage as the loss of sheep by the wolves.

This was the end of Mr. Dunwiddie's sheep- herding. His capital was now exhausted, first by wolves, second by loss on Territorial scrip; and eighteen months' sickness left him broken down in health.

The only thing he could do was to turn his attention again to the law. Having a complete set of elementary law books, he commenced a review of the law, and applied at the June term of the circuit court in 1848, and was ad- mitted to the bar. He thereupon opened an office at Monroe, Wis. Mr. Dunwiddie was a whig in politics. In the fall of 1848, there were three political parties in the field. IIe was elected by a plurality to the office of dis- trict attorney, serving two years. After that, the democrats regained power and elected a full county ticket in 1850.

The people of Wisconsin had by this time made considerable progress in building the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, terminating at Prairie du Chien, and, in 1854, the road was completed to Madison, with a branch to Janes- ville. The people of southern Wisconsin em- barked in the enterprise of building a road from Janesville to Dubuque. The agents of the company held out flattering inducements to the farmers along the line of road to subscribe lib- erally for the stock of the company, and pay in bonds maturing in ten years with interest cou- pons attached, secured by mortgages on real es- tate. The farmers on the line of the road be- tween Janesville and Dubuque subscribed to the stock about $500,000, and gave farin mortgages as security. Subsequently these mortgages gave the farmers much trouble.

In the fall of 1855, the farmers brought Mr. Dunwiddie's name before the stockholders' meeting, and he was made a member of the board of directors, to look after their interests. The half million of securities finally became

352

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

pledged as securities for the loan of $500,000, a part of the floating debt of the company. In July, 1857, the company became insolvent, and the road was turned over to a trustee. This made the stock of the company worthless, and left the farmers wholly unpaid which in most cases was nearly equal to the value of the land. Absolute ruin now stared the farmers in the face, but Mr. Dunwiddie set his wits to work to extricate the farmers from this enormous debt. He found that the first mortgage was not orig- inally given on the rolling stock and personal property of the company, though, after the sale of the road and of the farm mortgage bonds, the legislature passed a law giving the first mortgage bond holders a lien on the rolling stock and personal property. Mr. Dunwiddie contended that this was in fraud of all the cred- itors of the company. The farm mortgage bonds only being turned out as collateral to the debts of the company, the holders of the se- curities were, of course, creditors of the com- pany.

Mr. Dunwiddie opened negotiations with the holders of the farm mortgage securities, re- questing them to sue the company and attach their rolling stock and personal property, which was amply sufficient to pay the floating debts of half a million secured by farmers' bonds as collateral. This proposition was assented to by the holders of the floating debt and attach- ment suits were about to be commenced when the trustee managing the road "called a halt," and an arrangement was made with him to issue a new class of stock and sell the same in the New York market, the proceeds to be ap- plied in redemption of the farm mortgages. This was done by the trustee, and the farm mortgages were redeemed. Hlad not Mr. Dun- widdie discovered that the rolling stock could not be held by the first mortgage on the road, the farmers would have been left to pay their mortgages. The farmers, from Milton Junction to Dubuque, were thus relieved by this proceed- ing

In July, 1854, Mr. Dunwiddie, with many citizens from Green county, attended the mass meeting at Madison to organize the republican party. Ile was a member of the committee on resolutions, and in conjunction with C. F. Thompson, was instrumental in procuring John Walworth to be elected permanent chairman of the convention. He has identified himself with the republican party to the present time.

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 Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 50

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1168