USA > Wisconsin > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present : including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county [microform] > Part 85
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In 1888 Mr. Sholes was married, at North Bend. Jackson county. Wisconsin, to Miss Estella Sims, daughter of W. S. and Olive Sims, pioneers of Jackson county and well to do and highly respected citizens. They were the parents of five children, of whom three are living, viz. : Estella, now Mrs. Sholes: George D .. and Edna, who married F. J. Dostal and resides in Minnesota. The ancestors of Mrs. Sholes are traceable to France on the mater- nal side, while the paternal grandfather was from Scotland. To Mr. and Mrs. Sholes have been born six children. four of whom are now (1912) living, viz .: Charles Franklin. born September
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26, 1889; Elma, born August 25, 1894; Lloyd W., born September 11. 1898. and Lilah May, born September 10, 1903.
Charles E. Simpson, only son of Gustavus and Mary E. (Kemp) Simpson. was born at Havana, III., November 20. 1862. His par- ents were natives of Watertown. N. Y., where they remained until 1849, when. during the gold excitement in California. they joined the ranks of the westward traveler, and started overland for the field of promised riches. Arriving at Havana, Ill., after a long and tiresome trip. they gave up the undertaking and located there. where Mr. Simpson embarked in the hardware business. Disposing of his interests in Havana in 1865, he came to Sparta, Wis., and again opened a hardware store and was one of the first men to engage in this line of business in the village. Ile con- ducted a successful business from the start. which he followed for the remainder of his active life.
As a progressive and enterprising citizen and business man. Mr. Simpson ranked among the first. He was a man of marked individuality. independent in thought and action and an impor- tant factor in the early upbuilding of the town selected for his future home. Ile was at one time village assessor and later was an alderman in the city council for his ward, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was born in 1830 and died in 1897. ITis widow. mother of our subject, was born in 1832. in Watertown, N. Y., and came west. with her parents, to Havana, Ill., in 1840, where she was reared and educated. She was possessed of remarkable energy and thoroughly domestic in her ways. and sought no greater pleasure than she found in her home and family. She died in 1901 at the age of sixty-nine years.
Charles E. Simpson received his education in the public schools and the Sparta high school, and when still a young man he entered the hardware store with his father and received a thorough knowl- edge of the business, and in 1896 he embarked in the same line of business on his own account, in which he has sinee been emi- nently successful, and at this time (1912) conduets the leading hardware store in Sparta.
On August 8, 1886, he was married to Miss Hortense Smith. daughter of D. H. Smith, of Sparta. They have four children, viz. : David G., Grace H., Paul and Eloise Simpson.
Samuel Sizer, a prominent and substantial farmer of seetion eleven. Adrian township, is one of the pioneers of that town. A native of England, he was born at Cambridgeshire, November 1. 1847. the son of Samuel and Sophia (Laton) Sizer. also natives of England and of English parentage. The same year our subject
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was born, in 1847. his parents emigrated to the United States and first located in Walworth county. Wisconsin, and. after a resi- dence there of seven years, they came to Monroe county and located on what is known as the "Ridge." in Adrian township. on 160 acres of government land. established the family home and there spent the balance of their active life. Surviving the hard- ships and privations of the pioneer and transforming their wild land into a well cultivated farm with comfortable buildings, they lived to enjoy the fruits of their toil for many years: he died at the age of eighty-four and his widow at the age of sixty-one years. Of this family there survives, besides our subject. one daughter. Sophia. now Mrs. Albert Thompson, of Sparta.
Samuel Sizer early attended the district schools and remained on the homestead assisting in the farm work until he was twenty- four, when he purchased eighty acres of land, all of which was wild excepting fifteen acres. He erected the first buildings, which are still standing on a rise of ground a short distance north of his present residence. From the first payment of $50 on this land he has. by hard work and persistent efforts, won his way to success and now has one of the most comfortable and commodious homes in the county and his land is in a high state of productiveness. Besides his modern residence erected in 1899. he built a large and substantial barn in 1893. Ile was married in 1871 to Miss Lydia Burroughs, a native of Chautauqua county. New York, and daugh- ter of the late Samuel and Naomia (Faulkner) Burroughs. natives of the same county. The father came to Wilton township and was one of the first settlers on the old stage road from New Lisbon 10 Sparta, and in this home they spent their lives. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Sizer are: Edmund. of Adrian: Edith, wife of Frank Spensley. of Adrian township. and Mary. the wife of Her- bert Garnee, of Minneapolis, Mim.
Edmund, the son, who with his father conduets the home farm. was on December 14. 1910, united in marriage with Miss Maggie Darnutzer, of Sparta, daughter of Casper and Eva (Flich) Darnutzer, and they have one child-Clara Eva Sizer.
Mr. Sizer. our subject. vividly recalls the hardships experi- enced in the early days. when he. as a boy in the wilds of the then new country. used to carry grist on horseback from the Ridge to the Jacksonville mill. a distance of eight miles. It is due to such a class of pioneers as are here found that the township contains so many fertile spots. Mr. Sizer has always taken a keen interest in the growth and development of the town as well as in public affairs. and has been a member of the board of supervisors three
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terms. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sizer are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mrs. Cecilia Slayton, a lady of refinement, was born July 2, 1847. in Norway. Her father, Hans Erickson, emigrated from Norway to America in 1862 with a family of nine children, six of whom are now living. The family settled in La Crosse county, Wisconsin, where the father worked one year for his brother. then for two years engaged in farming on his own account on a rented farm. At the expiration of that time, he purchased eighty acres of land in that county and there made his home until his death, which occurred in 1904. Mrs. Erickson, mother of our subject, still survives at the advanced age of ninety-one years. The father was an influential and highly respected citizen, and a devoted member of the Reformed Lutheran church, as is also the mother.
Our subject was married to Morey Oscar Slayton at Winona, Minn., March 20, 1872. To this union five children were born. viz. : Elsie, born September 15. 1873; Minnie, born January 19. 1877: Howard, born July 4, 1879: Sadie, born June 9, 1885, and Charles, born October 16, 1887. Mr. Slayton was born July 2. 1839. His father came from Vermont to Ohio and thence to Wis- consin and located at Sheboygan, and after a time came to Monroe county and settled in the Leon valley, purchasing what is now known as the old Alsworth farm, which he afterwards sold. and removed to Red River, Minn., where he resided at the time of the Indian massacre. Owing to the hostilities of the Indians, he was compelled to leave that place and return to the Leon valley, where he bought eighty acres of land and made his home and spent the remainder of his life. After his death, which occurred May 6. 1902. his son, Mervey O., came into possession of the farm. which is adjacent to the village of Leon. and the residence was converted into a hotel which is now kept by Howard Slayton, son of our subject, who married a daughter of W. W. Link. now one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Leon valley.
Mrs. Howard Slayton is now the popular postmistress of Leon. Mr. Slayton, the husband of our subject, was a carpenter and joiner by trade and constructed several of the buildings in the village of Leon. He was active, aggressive, publie-spirited, and devoted to his family. home and county ; a man thoroughly trust- worthy. reliable and upright in all his dealings. A short time after his death, Mrs. Slayton erected a handsome modern resi- dence at the side of the hotel, where she now resides with her family, surrounded by a host of friends.
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Charles William Smith, a resident of section twenty-eight. Lafayette township, Monroe county. Wisconsin, is a native of Sutton, Brome county, Canada East, and was born December 18. 1860. one of a family of three children born to Roswell and Lydia (Adams) Smith. natives of Canada and Vermont, respectively. The others are: Nellie E., wife of William Morse. of Winnetka. Ill .. and Alonzo R. one of the leading attorneys of Baraboo, Wis. Roswell Smith was a son of William and Sarah (Winches- ter) Smith, and was born June 22, 1833, at Sutton. Canada East. He was raised in the Dominion and there received his education. and became familiar with the details and management of a large stock farm. In 1855 he came to Wisconsin and assisted in the organization of Lafayette township. in Monroe county, and was elected one of the officers. He remained here eighteen months. then returned to Canada, where he resided until 1868. then came back to Monroe county, and purchased 145 acres of land in section twenty-eight, Lafayette township, forty acres being in oak timber. This farm is considered one of the best in Monroe county. and a brook of pure water, which has but recently been stocked with trout, runs through the place and adds mate- rially to its value. Here Roswell Smith conducted his stock farm and made his home until his death. February 27, 1912, at the age of seventy-nine years.
William Smith was a son of John Smith, a native of Scotland : he was paymaster-general of the English army. and received a grant of land from the government. consisting of 400 acres located at Sutton, Canada. The mother was born at Plainfield. Mass .. and belonged to an old and highly respected family. They had nine children, six sons and three daughters. William Smith was an early settler in Monroe county, and located on land across the highway from his son Roswell, where he lived until his death in 1875, at the age of seventy-three years. Sarah Winchester. his wife, and grandmother of Charles W., who was also a native of Canada, died in 1880. at the age of sixty-seven years. Mrs. Smith, mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Lydia Adams, was born January 25, 1842. a daughter of Charles Stewart and Sarah (Reynolds) Adams, both natives of Vermont. Charles Stewart Adams was a son of Darius and Hannah (Rouse) Adams. The Adams family were originally from Massachusetts, and the Ronse family were of German extraction. Mrs. Smith, who still resides on the homestead farm, is one of a family of five chil- dren : the others are: Eliza, who married David Gunther, of
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Canada, is deceased; Caroline, deceased; Darius resides in Can- ada, and Lorenzo is a resident of Sioux Falls, S. D.
Roswell Smith was a member of Valley Lodge, No. 60, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and was a member of that body for more than fifty years. Ile was a man of good business qualifica- tions, kind-hearted and generous, and gave liberally of his means to charitable and all worthy causes that appealed to him.
Charles W. Smith was educated in the common schools of his home town and at the La Crosse Business College. He was reared on the home farm, and early learned the trade of carpenter and joiner. During the years 1883-84 he worked at his trade at Sionx Falls, S. D., with his unele, L. D. Adams, and two years later returned to the home farm and remained until 1887, when he went to West Superior, Wis., and continued at his trade with J. W. Hinckley, remaining there six years. From that time to 1896 he followed his trade at St. Paul and Sparta, and in January of that year returned to the home farm, which since 1897 he has successfully conducted; he has rebuilt the barns and out- buildings, made an addition to the residence, and otherwise improved the place. He is engaged in general farming and dairying, and keeps the farm well stocked with grade Durham cattle. He takes an active interest in the affairs of his town and county, and is now serving as town clerk, an office he first occu- pied in 1881, and again in 1901. He was town treasurer in 1905-6 and 7, and has also been one of the health officers of his town. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Beavers.
On December 22, 1896, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Edith Schultz, daughter of John and Sophia (Hildebrandt) Schultz, natives of Germany. After coming to the United States her parents first located at Elgin, Ill., where, after making a good start in life they lost their all by the failure of banks in that place. Nothing daunted, they started anew, and by hard work and economy saved their earnings, and later came to Monroe county, and located near Tront Falls, in Lafayette town- ship, where they resided for forty-five years. The father died in 1900 at the age of eighty-five years. The mother survives and lives in Angelo township at the age of seventy-five years. They raised a family of nine children, viz: Anna, married a Mr. Cooper; Fred, deceased; Eva, who married John Faulkner, is deceased; William lives at Olympia, Washington; Sophia and Mary are deceased; Caroline, wife of August Riewert, deceased, lives with her mother in Angelo: Edith, now the wife of our
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subject, and John, who is assistant anditor of the Great Northern Railway, resides at Brainard, Minn.
To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born four children : Marie, Nellie, Harold and Mabel Smith.
Emil C. Sonnenburg*, who resides on his farm of 140 acres in section nine, LaGrange township, started life with nothing but his native ability, and has won his way by hard work and per- sistent efforts, and is counted among the progressive citizens of the county. He was born at Tunnel City, Monroe county, June 26, 1877, the son of Fred and Bertha (Tessman) Sonnenburg, both natives of Germany. They came to America before their marriage and were among the prominent carly settlers of Monroe county, and endured their share of hardships incident to pioneer life and the upbuilding of the leality where they settled. In 1874, Mr. Sonnenburg. Sr., settled on a farm near Tunnel City, where he continued to live until 1908. when he removed to the city of Tomah. where he now resides. His wife, mother of our subject, passed away in 1910, at the early age of fifty-nine years, and was loved and respected by all who knew her. They reared a family of eight children, five of whom are living; Emil, the subject of this sketch, being the oldest. The others are Agnes, widow of Louis Kirst, lives in Minnesota : Fred is on the home farm near Tunnel City; Bertha is now Mrs. John Lackelt, of Tomah township, and Martha.
Emil was educated in the district schools, and was reared on the home farm, and while variously employed, retained this as his home, to which he devoted much time and attention, until 1903, when he purchased his present farm. In 1908, he built a comfortable and commodious house and has added other needed improvements. Besides carrying on general farming. he makes a specialty of breeding and raising Guernsey cattle.
On September 2, 1903. he was married to Miss Emma Kohl, daughter of August and Henrietta (Heinz) Kohl, of LaGrange township; they have two interesting children: viz. : Ella Bertha Henrietta and Edna May. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Son- nenburg are members of the German Lutheran church, of Tomah.
Fred P. Sonnenburg, one of the hustling young farmers of Greenfield township, Monroe county, Wisconsin. who resides in sections twenty-three and twenty-four, is a native of this town, where he was born July 27, 1882. and is one of a family of eight children born to Fred A. and Bertha (Tessman) Sonnenburg: of the others four are now (1912) living. viz .: Emil. who is a farmer and resides on section nine. LaGrange township; Agnes
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lives in Minnesota, and is the widow of Louis Kirst; Bertha married John Lackelt, and lives in Tomah township, and Martha. The parents emigrated from Germany to the United States in the early seventies, and one year after arriving in this country, they located on a 120-acre tract in Greenfield township, and later on purchased an eighty-acre tract in the same town, which is now owned by our subject. The farm at that time was wild timbered land with only three or four acres broken. Being possessed of that energy and thrift characteristic of the German race, the father went diligently to work to clear, subdne and improve the farm, and establish the family home. The privations and hard- ships were many, but by persistent efforts were overcome, and the land made to blossom like the rose. A new residence was erected in 1888 and the barn in 1895, since which time a granery, water mill and other improvements have been added. The farm is now one of productiveness due largely to the efforts of our subjeet, who is an energetie and deserving young man who believes in faithful toil and reaps the reward of honest labor. In 1909 the father retired to the city of Tomah, where the mother died on February 3, 1910 at the age of fifty-three years.
Fred P. was reared on the home farm, attending the district schools and assisting in the farm work; he has always lived on this place and after the removal of his father to Tomah in 1909, purchased the farm which he is now successfully carrying on, using up-to-date methods in his operations. On October 27, 1909, Mr. Sonnenburg was married to Miss Emma Boettcher, daughter of August Boettcher, of Lincoln township, this county. They have one daughter, Dahla Leona, born October 21, 1911.
A member of the St. Paul Lutheran church located at Tomah, Wis., and also of the Lutheran Aid Association.
Samuel M. Steele, a progressive farmer who resides in section twenty, Byron township, was born in Wyoming county. New York, December 21. 1863, the son of James and Mary Ann (Fuller) Steele. both natives of New York state, and for many years resi- dents of Java township, Wyoming county, where the father still resides and owns a farm of 200 acres. His wife, mother of our subject, died in 1877 at the age of forty-five years. This branch of the Steele family was descended from an old and prominent New England family. They were the parents of five children ; those besides our subject are James A., of Byron township, this county ; Emmett resides on the old homestead in Wyoming county, New York : Lyn is the wife of Merton Barber, of Java Village,
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Wyoming county. N. Y .. and Jennie is the wife of Fred Wooley. of the same place.
Samuel M. attended the district school of his home town, and at the age of nineteen years, came west to Michigan, and a year later came to Wisconsin and was first employed in the lumber woods for some time, after which he purchased a forty-acre tract of wild land in section eighteen. Byron township. Monroe county. to which he added from time to time until he owned 240 acres. a part of which he subsequently sold, and since March, 1899. has been the owner of his present farm, consisting of 120 acres: this farm was previously owned by the late C. A. Crawford. one of the early settlers of the town of Byron and a veteran of the Civil War, who settled there some forty years ago. Since purchasing the farm. Mr. Steele has made many improvements: built a resi- dence. and in 1912 erected a barn. 32 × 56 feet with basement. and has the land in a fine state of cultivation. He takes an active part in township and county affairs and has served as town clerk for two terms. chairman of the town board for six years and treas- urer for several terms. He was married November 27. 1890. to Miss Minnie A. Root. danghter of Oren A. and Alvira ( Wood) Root. of Byron township.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Steele are Miles L .. Watson E., Winfield S .. Clifford J .. Nellie B., Mernie M. and Ralph E. Steele.
George P. Stevens, a representative citizen and farmer of see- tion twelve. Adrian township, was born in Washington county. Wisconsin. July 5. 1851. and the fourth child of a family of six children born to George P. and Emily (Shove) Stevens, natives of New York and Connecticut, respectively: of the others. Caroline N. married Joseph Turner. and is now deceased. her death having occurred in 1912: Alice A. is the widow of Henry Burlingame: Nancy, who was Mrs. C. E. Bell. is deceased : Oliver B. resides at Riverside. Calif .. and Chester H. lives at Tomah. The ancestors on the Stevens side were originally from England. while on the mother's side they were Scotch origin. The parents came to Wisconsin in the forties and first located in Waukesha county, and in 1856 moved to Monroe county and settled on a farm in Adrian township. where the father died in 1866 at the age of fifty-one years, when our subject was in his fourteenth year. The death of the mother occurred in 1865 at the age of fifty years.
George P. received his education in the district schools and spent his boyhood on the homestead farm. where he now resides and which came into his possession in 1875. Mr. Stevens has
GEORGE P. STEVENS
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resided in Adrian township during his whole lifetime, and has taken great pride in improving and making his farm of 145 acres one of the best in the county. He remodeled and made an up-to- date residence with modern conveniences in 1911, constructed a barn in 1905, which, with his other ontbuildings and the highly cultivated condition of his land. makes an ideal country home. In public affairs Mr. Stevens has always taken a keen interest ; he has represented his district in the state legislature two terms, 1903 and 1905, and as a member of the railway commission made himself prominent before the people, and was county treasurer for two terms. Ile is now serving his second consecutive term as chairman of the town board, an office he has previously held for several terms. He has also been treasurer of his town and is one of the most popular public spirited citizens on the east side of the county.
In 1875 he was married to Miss Ida E. Jackson, daughter of W. W. Jackson, of Adrian township. The fruits of this union are four children. viz .: Harold L., of Chicago; Grace. deceased; Ruth A., wife of J. G. Kemp, of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Leonard J .. who lives in Chicago, where he is employed at con- tracting work.
Louis Storkel *. That intelligent "hustling" pays, is well exemplified by the success scored by Lonis Storkel. the well known florist of Tomah. Mr. Storkel was born in Weilburg, Germany. on June 23. 1860, to Philip and Johanna (Gras) Storkel, both natives of Germany, and the parents of nine children-seven sons and two daughters. He was a strong disciplinarian and required each of the boys to learn some trade. He died in Germany in 1901. The mother is still living at the age of seventy- one years.
Louis received his education in his native country and there learned the florist trade. He came to America and located in New York City, where he worked at his trade for a time, and deciding to try his fortune in the West, he came to Milwaukee in 1884. Not finding this city suitable for the business in which he wished to engage, however, he came to Tomah, arriving here with just 17 cents in his pocket. He felt that success was before him and he was equal to the task of carving out for himself more than a bare livelihood. Ile seeured employment as a laborer, which occupa- tion he followed for eight years. Determined to succeed in the country of his adoption, he brought to bear that indomitable. power of will common to his German ancestors, and with the desire uppermost in his mind to become a landed proprietor in this
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country, he succeeded by thrift, economy and industry in saving his earnings with which he purchased thirty-five aeres of land adjoining the city of Tomah, and erecting thereon a small green house, started in business at his trade. He prospered from the beginning, and soon enlarged his first building to a large green- house containing 8,000 square feet of glass. His business con- tinued to prosper and he began to increase his land holdings and expand his facilities until he now owns 120 acres of choice land on which he raises large quantities of small fruits and vegetables, his annual sales amounting to thousands of dollars. In the year 1910 he realized $4,000 from the sale of strawberries and other small fruits ; in addition, he raised large quantities of tomatoes, cabbage and celery. He supplies the home market besides shipping in carload lots to other markets. His nursery stock is the finest in the county and his place is called "the Tomah green house and fruit farm," and is the largest of its kind in the state of Wisconsin.
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