USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 64
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The subject was born on the farm where he now resides in the northern part of Bloomfield township. Walworth county, June 26, 1878. Ile is the son of Caspar J. and Christina Kimball, and is a brother of Lewis A. Kim- hall, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work, and in which will be found the Kimball ancestry. However, suffice it to say here that his father was born in Saxony, Germany, and his mother in Grolsheim. Germany, near
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the city of Worms. and they spent their childhood days in the fatherland. and when young emigrated to America and married in this country. The father came with the pioneers to Walworth county in the fifties and here be- came well established through thrift and industry.
Ifenry Kimball grew to manhood on the home farm and when young he worked out by the month three or four years. He was married in 1902 10 Freda Pfaff, daughter of Carl Louis Pfaff and Bertha ( Kuempel) Pfaff. She was born in Wernshansen. Saxe-Meiningen, Germany. She came to America in 1882 with her parents and the rest of the family. They located at Mauston. Juneau county, Wisconsin, and lived there until her marriage. Mr. Pfaff is a successful farmer, still living in Juneau county.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kimball, three of whom are living at this writing, namely : Marian died when about nine months okt: Thedora, Helen and Louis are at home.
After his marriage Mr. Kimball took up farming for himself on the old homestead and has lived here ever since. He owns one hundred and twenty acres of excellent land, which he has placed under good improvements and cultivation, his labors being annually repaid by bounteous harvests, due to his skillful management and his close attention to his work. For a time he car- ried on butter making. but found it detrimental to his health and abandoned the same. Mr. Kimball is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
HOBART M. HLATCIL
Hobart M. Hatch. one of the most progressive and pain-taking agricul- turists and stock raisers of Linn township. Walworth county, is a worthy representative of the great middle class of Anglo-Saxons from which the true noblemen of our republic spring: for it is a fact patent to all contemplative minds that those who belong to the respectable middle class of society, being early taught the necessity of relying upon themselves, depending upon their own exertions. will be more apt to acquire that information and those busi- ness habits which alone can fit them to discharge life's duties in a commend- able manner, and, indeed. it has long been a noticeable fact that our great men in nearly all walks of life in America spring from this class.
Mr. llatch was born in the central part of Linn township. Walworth county. Wisconsin, on the farm where he now lives, May 3, 1861, and he has been contented to spend his life in his home community. He is the son of
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Seymour Norman Hatch and Mary ( Stoneall) Hatch, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Mr. Hatch grew up on his father's farm and there assisted with the general work when quite young. He received his education in the public schools here, also the seminary at Lake Geneva. His father had one of the finest farms in the southern part of the county, consisting of seven hundred acres, and Hobart M. Hatch was placed in charge of the place while yet a young man, managing it in an able and satisfactory manner. With the ex- ception of one year spent in California, he has spent his life on the home- stead and is regarded as one of the most up-to-date and skillful of our general farmers. Ilis judgment of live stock is also equal to that of any of his con- temporaries in the county.
Mr. Hatch was married on September 22, 1898, to Mary Grimm, daugh- ter of John Chalmer Grimm and Lillian Amanda ( Eshelmann) Grimm. She was born at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and from there moved to Cleveland, where she lived most of the time up to 1897, when she came to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hatch, namely : Helen May, Lester Franklin, Dorothy, Seymour Norman and Donald Hobart.
Mr. Hatch has been a member of the town board, and he and his family belong to the Congregational church. Ile is a progressive Republican and is a member of the Republican county committee, also chairman of the central committee for Linn township. Ile is regarded as a local leader and wields a potent influence in public affairs. He is a man of broad ideas and is of genial and obliging address, so that he enjoys the confidence and good will of all with whom he has come into contact, his honesty of purpose being un- questioned.
HARRY ELMER COCROFT.
The gentleman to whom the reader's attention is now directed was not favored by inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, but in spite of these, by perseverance, industry and a wise economy, he has attained a comfortable station in life, and is well and favorably known throughout Walworth county as a result of the industrious life he has lived here for many years, being regarded by all who know him as a man of sound business princi- ples, thoroughly up-to-date in all phases of agriculture and stock raising and as a man who, while advancing his individual interests, does not neglect his general duties as a citizen.
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Harry Elmer Cocroit was born in Rochester, Racine county, Wisconsin, on March 7, 1867, the son of Joseph E. and Ann ( Woodhead) Cocroft, an excellent old family, long influential in the affairs of southeastern Wisconsin, a complete sketch of whom will be found an another page of this work.
Harry E. Cocroft, the present efficient superintendent of the famous Ceylon Court farm near the city of Lake Geneva, has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits with marked success, having received excellent training on the home farm, where he grew to manhood, assisting with the general work during the crop seasons, and in the winter time he attended the neighboring schools. When twenty-one years old he left home and went to North Dakota, where he spent two years in charge of a big farm. He then accepted a posi- tion with the American Express Company at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and was with this company until 1901, becoming one of their most faithful and trusted employes. In that year J. J. Mitchell. well known Chicago capitalist and horse man, began developing Ceylon Court farm near the shores of Lake Geneva, and Mr. Cocroft was employed by him. After three months in a subordinate position, he was put in charge of the farm and directed the in- provements, also bought all the live stock for the place, Mr. Mitchell having trusted everything ahnost entirely to his judgment. He has also had the hiring of the men who work on the farm, and has a large force under his direction. He drew up the plans and specifications for the buildings (de- scribed elsewhere), which are regarded by all who see them as models of their kind, and they were built under his supervision. And he is still work- ing on plans for future improvements.
Although Mr. Cocroft was compelled to leave school when only eleven years old and take up the work of a man, which he has continued ever since. he has found time to do a great deal of home study and is therefore a self educated man in the most liberal terms, being familiar with various branches of literature, science and art. familiarizing himself especially with all phases of agricultural, horticultural, stock raising. landscape gardening and architecture. and after his daily work he has often studied late into the night, -- in fact, has ever been a profound student.
Mr. Cocroft was married in 1891 to Catherine Moon, of Lake Geneva, the daughter of William and Margaret ( Foster ) Moon, a highly respected family of this community. To the subject and wife two sons and one daugh- ter were born, namely : Lloyd Everett, Glen Earl and Marguerite. The wife and mother passed to her rest in 1901, and in 1904 Mr. Cocroft was united in marriage with Clara Griniger, of Lake Geneva. daughter of John and Mary (Giesie) Griniger, an excellent German family, the parents both natives of the
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empire, having emigrated to Lake Geneva in early life, first living. however, near Vienna, Wisconsin, where their daughter, Clara, was born.
Mr. Cocroft is a quiet, practical man, obliging and thoroughly enamored of his work, consequently does it exceptionally well and he can claim a wide circle of friends throughout this locality.
ALMON L. PETERSON.
The record of Almon L. Peterson, a successful farmer of Whitewater township, Walworth county, is that of an enterprising gentleman whose life has been very intimately associated with the material prosperity and moral advancement of this locality during the most progressive period of its history. and he has always been found on the right side of questions looking to the development of his county in any way.
Mr. Peterson was born in Richmond township, this county, on April 4. 1860. He is the son of Oliver H. and Mary (Halderson) Peterson, both natives of Norway, the father born in 1830 and the mother in 1829. He came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1849 with his parents, John and Carrie ( Valley) Holden, the father dying the second day after landing, and he was buried in Richmond township. His widow subsequently married John Arveson, whose death occurred in 1872, and in 1879 she passed away. She was born in 1795. Mary Halderson came to Walworth county in 1849 and the parents of the subject were married in Delavan, this county. Their family consisted of seven children, four of whom are living. Oliver Il. Peterson devoted his life to farming and became the owner of one hundred and fifty-four acres. His death occurred in 1909 and his wife died in 1908.
Almon L. Peterson was reared on the home farm and received his edu- cation in the public schools of his township and the Whitewater Normal. Ile has continued farming from boyhood and he purchased one hundred and forty acres in Sugar Creek township, which he later sold, then came to White- water township, three miles east of his former place, and purchased one hun- dred and seventy-six acres, known as the "Big Spring" farm. Here he has been most successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, carrying on dairy- ing and breeding Jersey cattle.
Politically, Mr. Peterson is a Republican, and he was assessor of Sugar Creek township for a year, and was also a member of the school board for a year. He was assessor in Whitewater township for three years, and was
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township chairman one year, filling these various positions with much credit and satisfaction. He belongs to the Methodist church.
Mr. Peterson was married on January 23, 1895. to Laura Larsen, who came to Wisconsin in 1871. She is the daughter of Peter and Mary ( Ras- mussen ) Larson, both born in Denmark, where they were reared. About 1858 they emigrated to America, and soon came on to Neenah, Winnebago county, Wisconsin. Her father's death occurred in Oconto county, this state. in 1908. and his widow is still living there. To the subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Ira L., born May 13, 1896, and Almon Harold, born March 19. 1898.
EDWIN GEORGE PRICE.
It is safe to say that Bloomfield township has no more painstaking tiller of the soil than Edwin George Price, a very creditable representative of one of the old families of Walworth county, and a descendant of thrifty Germans. many of whose estimable qualities seem to have outcropped in him.
Mr. Price was born in this township October 20, 1859, and here he has been content to spend his life. He is the son of Caspar and Christene (Kessler ) Price, both natives of Saxony. Germany, where they grew up and were married, making their home near Schmalkalten. Schpringstille, until 1852. and there two of their sons, twins, Godfrey and Ferdinand, were born. In 1852 the family emigrated to New York, and spent one year in Pennsyl- vania, then came to Wisconsin and located in section 15. Bloomfield township. Walworth county. There were no railroads here at that time and even the wagon roads were few and poorly kept. People traveled mostly on foot or horseback. Here the parents of the subject spent the rest of their lives. Godfrey Price married Julia Chapin. daughter of John Chapin, and he farmed in Bloomfield township most of his life, and his death occurred at Genoa Junction in the winter of 1902. Ferdinand Price married Bertha Steffen. of Simache, Pommern, Germany, daughter of Fred and Wilhelmina Steffen; he is farming in the west part of Bloomfield township on his own farm, and he has a family : Caspar Price died October 6, 1883, in his seventieth year, and his wife, Christene Price, died on May 3, 1803.
Edwin G. Price, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm in Bloomfield township and lived there most of the time until his marriage, in 1883. to Wilhelmina Krause, daughter of August and Gusta ( Tell) Krause,
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a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Price was born near Berlin, Germany. Her mother died in the old country, from the results of a conflagration in which their city, Deutsch Kronin, was nearly wiped out. The mother and her child, only three hours old when the fire started. were exposed to the cold, which was too severe for them to bear. The father had already made preparations to come to America, and after the death of his first wife he married again and came on to the United States, bringing Wilhelmina and her brother, Julius Edward Krause, now of Lyons, this county.
Edwin G. Price bought the farm where he now lives at the time of his marriage, this place consisting of one hundred and six acres in sections 17 and 20, Bloomfield township. The place was without improvements, not even a fence on it. Mr. Price has, through years of close, persistent work, brought it up to a high standard of improvement and cultivation, and is suc- cessfully engaged in general farming and stock raising.
For nine years Mr. Price was treasurer of the school board, also served as clerk of the board for some time. He has never been an office seeker or a politician, preferring to devote his attention to his farm and home. He raises fine cattle, formerly keeping full blooded Holsteins, and he now raises reg- istered Jerseys, his fine stock being greatly admired by all.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Price, the oldest, Emma, dying when thirteen years old, on January 24, 1897; Carrie, who has remained single : Louis, who married Dagmar Langkilde, daughter of Carl and Rosa Langkilde, of Bloomfield Center; Louis lives at Genoa Junction, being em- ployed in the Borden milk plant ; Ethel, Chester and Edith Price, the younger children of the subject, live at home. Mr. Price and family all belong to the Lutheran church at Lake Geneva.
WALTER EDWARD LEDGER.
The enterprise of Walter Edward Ledger, well known farmer and stock raiser of Linn township, Walworth county, has been. crowned by success, as a result of rightly applied principles which never fail in their ultimate effect when coupled with integrity, uprightness and a congenial disposition, as they have been done in the present instance, judging from the high standing of the subject among his fellow citizens, whose undivided esteem he has justly won and retained. He is the scion of one of the early families of this town- ship, members of which have lived to take a more or less conspicuous part in
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the transformation of the same from the wilderness of a half century ago to the present, with its fine farms and pleasant homes, and they have not only aided in the material development, but have also done their full share in promoting the civic and moral welfare of the community, being known as advocates of wholesome living, both in public and private life, and the many admirable characteristics of the elder Ledgers seem to be fostered in the subject.
Mr. Ledger was born on the farm where he now lives in Linn town- ship, Walworth county, Wisconsin, on October 29, 1868. He is the son of Thomas and Fannie ( Shepherd) Ledger, both natives of England, the father born in Lincolnshire, and there they spent the earlier years of their lives. It was about 1850 when Thomas Ledger emigrated to America. He visited many parts of the country before settling permanently, and he spent con- siderable time in Michigan, also came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, for a while. then returned to England about three years after his arrival on our shores, and while on this trip he and Fannie Shepherd were married. Soon afterwards they returned to the United States and purchased forty acres. the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 23. Linn town- ship, comprising the farm where his son, Walter E., of this sketch, now resides, and here he established his home and spent the rest of his life, en- gaged in general farming, in which he prospered from the first, and he added to his original purchase until he became the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent land.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ledger, namely : John William lived in Linn township, south of the Ledger homestead and owned a farm of one hundred acres, and here his death occurred on Septem- ber 27. 1890, leaving a wife and two children : Nellie married A. G. Palmer and they live in Geneva township, this county ; Maria, who married Henry M. Turner and lived in Illinois, just across the state line south from her home. died in April, 1886: David owns and operates a large farm in the southwest- ern part of Geneva township; Susan, who married T. Il. Speaker, lives in Richmond, Illinois; Charles lives in Rockford, Illinois; Frances, who mar- ried Frank Brewster and lived in Geneva township, this county, is deceased. as is also her husband; Walter Edward, of this sketch, was the youngest of the family.
Politically, Thomas Ledger, the father, was a Republican, and he took an active interest in public affairs, and at one time he was a member of the township board of supervisors. His death occurred in April, 1908, at an advanced age, his wife having preceded him to the grave in September. 1898.
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Walter M. Ledger grew up on the home farm and he received his edu- cation in the common schools of his district. He early turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and he has spent his life on the homestead, which he has managed with a skill little less than his able father before him, keeping the land well tilled and improved so that it has increased in value rather than been depleted.
Mr. Ledger was married to Eva C. Weter on October 18, 1893. She was born in Linn township, this county, and is the daughter of Mahlon Eber Weter and Cordelia ( Mickle) Weter. Both parents came from Oneida county, New York. Mrs. Ledger's paternal grandparents, Palmer and Jane (Paliner) Weter, were also natives of the East, and her father, Mahlon Weter, came to Wisconsin with his father and step-mother when he was nine years old, his own mother having died in New York. The Weter family came here probably as early as 1845 and located in section 23. in the south part of Linn township, and there the Weter home remained for many years. Palmer Weter remained there until late in life, then moved to the village of Sharon, where he spent the rest of his days. There Mahlon Eber Weter grew to manhood and was married to Cordelia Mickle. She was the daughter of John and Polly ( Nutt) Mickle. She was born in Oneida county, New York, and she came here with her parents about the same time the Weters came here. The Mickle family located in section 31, in the southwestern part of Linn township and there established the permanent home of the fam- ily. Upon their arrival they had an opportunity to locate on Bloom Prairie, but, like most pioneers, they selected a place where timber and water were plentiful, but it was in the hills and rougher land, similar to what they had been used to in the state of New York. After Eber Weter was married he bought a farm adjoining his father's, in sections 32 and 33, a little of it across the line in Illinois, owning one hundred and twenty acres there, and this place continued to be his place of abode until 1903, when he moved to the village of Hebron, Illinois.
Mrs. Ledger was one of a family of six children, namely : Emma, wife of Howard Cornue, lives just across the line in Illinois, just south of Zenda ; David lives near Hebron, Illinois: Eva, wife of Walter E. Ledger: Albert lives in Illinos, near his father's farm; Palmer lives on the old homestead ; Alice is at home with her parents.
After his marriage Walter E. Ledger, of this sketch, continued farming on the old home place, as he had done for two or three years previously and he has continued farming. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, always keeping a good grade of live stock, and he is making a specialty of dairying, for which he is exceptionally well equipped.
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Politically, Mr. Ledger is a Republican and he is more or less active in political affairs. Ile is a member of the township board of supervisors and is also treasurer of the school board.
Besides his farming and dairying interests, Mr. Ledger is a director in the Farmers National Bank of Lake Geneva and a director of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of the town of Geneva, a company doing business in Geneva. Lyons, Linn, Bloomfield and Delavan townships.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ledger. named as fol- lows: Albert William, Walter Mahlon, Maria Cordelia and Eunice Mary, all attending school, two in the Lake Geneva high school.
Fraternally, Mr. Ledger is a member of the Masonic order. the Royal Neighbors and the Modern Woodmen. He and his wife belong to the Linn and Hebron Presbyterian church.
JOSEPH STONEALL.
There are always lessons of extraordinary interest to be gained through the perusal of life records such as that of the late Joseph Stoneall. for many years one of the honored and influential citizens of Walworth county, and now that he has gone to the land of the Mystic Beyond, his memory is reverenced by a host of friends who yet linger on "this brink and shoal of time."
Mr. Stoneall was born in Wilkeshire, England, about twenty miles from Bath, probably in the year 1817. He was the son of Richard Stoncall and wife. The mother died in England while Joseph was a youth. When he was about twenty years old he and his father and two sisters and brother, George, came to America. AAnother brother, Henry, and a cousin and cousin's wife had previously voyaged to our shores and settled at Geneva, Illinois. In 1840 Joseph Stoneall and his father came to the eastern part of Linn town- ship, this county, and built a small house, when Mary came and kept house for them. She afterwards married Seymour Hatch. George Stoneall re- mained at Geneva, Ilinois, and died there. While there a nurseryman set out a large stock of nursery trees on his land, under an arrangement for leasing or renting, but he never came back, and Mr. Stoneall tended it and furnished trees to the entire locality, supplying many orchards here in the early days. The family experienced many hardships during the first year or two of their residence here. They had been tailor- in England and were without experi- ence as farmers. They were prodigious walkers and when they came here
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from Geneva. Illinois, they walked all day without food. The country was sparsely settled, mostly by young men "keeping batch," and they found it difficult to get anything to eat. They walked about sixty miles the first day. About 1852 they bought a farm in the southeastern part of Linn township. It was new land and all overgrown with hazel brush. This they cleared and finally had a good farm. Richard Stoneall died about 1859. In 1861 Joseph Stoneall married Mrs. Lucy ( Rowe) Everson, widow of Hiram Everson, Jr. She was the daughter of Lucian and Lucy (Stillwell) Rowe, and she was born in Onondago county. New York, and there she lived until the death of her first husband, January 8, 1857: by her first marriage one son was born. Herbert Everson, who now lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In June. 1857, she came to Genoa Junction, this county, and she lived in that vicinity with her brother, Franklin Rowe. Daniel Rowe, her uncle and an old pioneer. also lived in that neighborhood. After her marriage she made her home on the farm in the southeastern part of Linn township. Mr. Stoneall cleared the ground, built a house and continued to improve the place, building a better house in 1880, and he proved to be one of the best farmers in that part of the county. Three sons and one daughter were born to them: Martha Louise, who married Naynard Cornne, lives in Lake Geneva : Seymour Joseph lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; Franklin Lewis died when three years and eight months old; George Edward married Anna Rodeweg, of Saybrook. near Bloomington, Illinois, and they have three children, Winifred Elaine, Bernice Althea and Rex Milfred : George E. is running the farm; they have two him- dred and twenty acres, of which sixty acres lie across the state line in Illinois.
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