USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 65
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The death of Joseph Stoneall occurred in 1897. He was a member of the Linn Hebron Presbyterian church, now known as the Hill church, although he was reared an Episcopalian. Mrs. Stoneall is a member of the Hill church ; she still makes her home on the farm where she has resided since 1861. Mrs. Stoneall's parents moved to Joliet, Illinois, when she was four years old: they lived there two years and there the father died: then the mother returned to New York state with her eight children, and lived there until the children grew to maturity and married. The father had left a sec- tion of land in Michigan and that was the mother's support. She came west shortly after Mrs. Stoneall came. probably in 1865, and lived among her chil- dren. She was born in 1800 and she died in 1882, at the age of eighty-two years.
George Edward Stoneall was born near where he now lives in Linn town- ship. Walworth county, February 23. 1869, and there he grew up on his father's farm and attended the home public schools and the high school at
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Hebron, Illinois. He was married in the fall of 1894 to Anna Rodawig, of Saybrook. Illinois, daughter of William Rodawig and wife. Her father was born in Prussia and came to Illinois about 1850 and spent most of his life near Saybrook.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stoneall, two daughters. Winefred and Bernice, and a son, Wilfred. He and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church. Mr. Stoneall has two hundred and twenty acres of fine land on which he is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is well known in this part of the county and is a man of honest principles.
AUGUST KRAUSE.
Another of the excellent German citizens who has long been a resident of Walworth county and by his thrift and honorable dealings has benefited himself and family and the community as well, is August Krause, whose pleasant home is to be found in section 32. Geneva township, in the picturesque community at the head of Lake Como.
Mr. Krause was born in the city of Deutsch Kronin, Germany, August 15, 1834. and is the son of Ferdinand and Katherine Krause. He grew up in his native community and worked on the farms there. He married Angusta Tell. who was born and reared in a village near that in which her husband was reared. Four children were born to them. Edward and Wilhelmina living, and two who died in infancy. Within three hours after the birth of one of the children, in February, 1868, the city was being destroyed by fire and many hundreds were left homeless and destitute. Mrs. Krause died from the effects of the cold and exposure. Mr. Krause had already planned to come to America. He later married his first wife's sister. Amelia, and brought her and his two children to the United States, locating first at Burling- ton. Wisconsin, and lived there until 1872. He then came to Walworth county and bought fifty-eight acres where he now lives, and this has been their home for forty years. Twelve children have been born to them here in America, three of whom died in infancy: William died in March, 1802, when nineteen years old: Frances, who married William Gardner, died in February, 1893, leaving a little daughter named Frances: Annie, who mar- ried George Eifer and lives at Walworth, has one son and two daughters : Emma married William Gardner, former husband of her deceased sister. Frances, and they live at Williams Bay and have two sons and one daughter ;
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Frank lives on a farm in Linn township, near his father's home, and he mar- ried Amelia Larsen and they have one son and four daughters; George, who lives at Williams Bay, married Lena Lindquist and they have one son and two daughters; Ilenry, who lives near Williams Bay, married Frances Henne and they have one daughter ; Fred and Otto are at home with their parents.
Of the children by Mr. Krause's first marriage, Julius Edward lives in Lyons township on a farm of his own; he married Lizzie Weyerauch and they have five sons. Wilhelmina Krause married Edward G. Price, a farmer of Bloomfield township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Mr. Krause and family belong to the Lutheran church at Elkhorn. In the early days after the Krause family came to this county they experienced the hard times that beset the early settlers, but bore their privations and hard- ships bravely and by perseverance succeeded. The chinch bugs completely destroyed their first crops. Employment was hard to find and the family was in dire straits for a time. The father was a brick mason as well as a farmer and he helped erect many of the buildings in Lake Geneva.
JOSEPH EPWORTH COCROFT.
The history of England has always been one pervaded with intense interest, especially to America, where a certain kinship is felt, for it has to do with a sterling race of people, possessing admirable qualities of heart and mind and ever vigilant to push the car of civilization on to the edge of things, -globe circumnavigators and empire builders,-even if the most sanguinary methods had to be resorted to. for they have ever had in mind the ultimate good of the race. We of America owe much to this hardy people. Wherever they have taken up their work in our states we find a thriving, law-abiding community. And it is of a scion of such praiseworthy people that the biog- rapher now essays to tell in a brief histroy.
Joseph Epworth Cocroft was born in Yorkshire, England, May 9, 1821. the son of Charles and Mary Cocroft. He spent his boyhood in his native country, emigrating to AAmerica when twenty-one years old, reaching his majority while on board the ship, the old-fashioned sailing vessel requiring six weeks to make the voyage. He came on west, locating at Rochester. Wisconsin, where he made his home for over forty years. He worked on the farm, in a saw-mill and other kinds of employment among the pioneers. finally saving money enough ont of his earnings to buy a farm there of one
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hundred nineteen and one-half acres and there he made his home until in March, 1880, when he moved to Spring Prairie, Walworth county, where he purchased a farm of seventy-seven and one-half acres and there he lived until November, 1891, when he retired from the active work of the farm, moved into the village of Lyons, where he has since made his home. He had been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Cocroft was married at Rochester, this state, to Ann Woodhead, also a native of England, and the daughter of William and Lydia ( Tinker ) Woodhead, her father having been born on April 1, 1785, and the mother on March 1. 1789.
Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Cocroft, namely : Mary, who married Stuart Harris, lives at Whambra, California. where Mr. Harris is regarded as one of the most substantial citizens, financially, of the place : Charles, who 'married Ida Cooms, lives at Lake Geneva, where he is engaged in poultry raising : William, who married Minnie Tompkins, lives in Minnesota; Allen married Cora Watkins and lives at Weyerhauser, Wis- consin, where he is engaged in the lumber business and owns considerable land: Horace, who married Anna Bell, lives in Burlington township, Racine county, this state, where he is engaged in farming; Nettie married Edward Smith and they live in Racine; Walter, who married Rose Kingston, lives in Lake Geneva and has charge of the fine horses of Ceylon Court farm ; Martha married George Ballack and they live on a farm in Dover township. Racine county ; Susannah married C. F. Headington and they live in Chicago, where she has a large physical culture class, which she teaches by mail. She re- quires a large staff of assistants and her pupils are to be found throughout the Union. Her business is conducted under her maiden name and is widely known. Her husband is a successful banker and merchant : Emma Cocroft. who married Dana Albee, lives in Waterford, Wisconsin, he being a retired farmer ; Harry is foreman on the farm of J. J. Mitchell, a Chicago million- aire, his position being one of much responsibility (see his sketch in this volume ) ; Lydia, the youngest of the family, died in infancy.
The mother of the above named children was called to her rest on December 14. 1809, when forty-four years of age. She is remembered as a woman of many virtues, a true helpmeet and a faithful mother.
Joseph E. Cocroft was again married May 30, 1877, to Mrs. Ann (Jeakins ) Lewis, widow of J. B. Lewis, deceased. She was the daughter of Burford Jeakins and wife. She was born at Battle, Sussex county, England. her mother dying in that country when Mrs. Cocroft was four years old, and the latter came to America with her father about 1841 and after a short resi-
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dence in New York City they came to Racine, Wisconsin. Here the father died, leaving the daughter, Ann, orphaned at an early age.
Mr. and Mrs. Cocroft are both remarkably well preserved, and they find employment by working about the home, especially with their flowers, of which many varieties are to be seen about their house. They are hospitable, obliging, genial and have a host of warm friends wherever they are known. Although now seventy-five years old, Mrs. Cocroft has all her faculties and is as active as most women at forty; she is a lady of refinement and their pleasant home in Lyons is often the gathering place for the many admirers of this fine old couple, who fully enjoy their declining years, which are passing . serenely away.
WILLIAM H. WHITING.
One of the well remembered and highly esteemed citizens of Walworth county of a past generation, who performed exceptionally well his allotted task and then fell serenely into that sleep which wakes not to toil, leaving behind him a rich heritage, not only in material things but in a good reputa- tion and an honored name, was William H. Whiting, than whom it would have been hard to have found a more genial, whole-souled, high-minded. public-spirited man within the boundaries of this county ; therefore. it is with pleasure that he is given specific mention in a volume of the province of the one at hand.
Mr. Whiting was born in Hudson, Columbia county, New York, August 15, 1813. His father died when the subject was an infant, and soon there- after the mother moved to Albany, and there the subject grew to manhood and received his education, with the exception of short intervals spent at the academies of Hudson and Kingston, New York. In 1829 he became a pupil of the engraving firm of Rawdon, Clark & Company, of Albany, which city, with Philadlephia, was at that time the headquarters of bank-note engraving. Ilis father had also been an engraver, a pupil of the celebrated Gideon Fair- mon, of Philadelphia.
On the 18th of August, 1834, Mr. Whiting was married in the city of Albany to Mary Jane Christian, a native of that city. Messrs. Rawdon. Clark & Company, having taken in other partners, decided to move their establish- ment to New York City, and the firm name was changed to Rawdon, Wright, Ilatch & Edson, and in the spring of 1836 Mr. Whiting followed them and continued in their employ until 1847; however, he had been admitted as a
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member of the firm several years previously. In 1842 DeWitt C. Hayes and Mr. Whiting bought four hundred acres of land, in the southwestern part of Bloomfield township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, and in 1844 Mr. Whiting made his first visit here. Ile had caused to be erected a small house on his land in 1843. In the spring of 1847 he and his family came from New York to his farm here and began building the brick house where he made his country home. There the family resided until 1851 and in August of that year Mr. Whiting returned to New York and became a member of the bank-note en- graving firm of Wellstood, Hanks. Hay & Whiting, and he remained a miem- ber of that firm until the American Bank Note Company was formed, and absorbed all the other firms. As secretary of that company he remained with the same until 1861, then returned to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and re- sumed charge of his farm again and became very well established here. He was elected one of the trustees of the American Bank Note Company, in which capacity he served for several years. He was regarded as an expert in his line, and was one of the best known engravers in the United States. His son Robert was born on his farm here, and here the death of the wife and mother occurred on November 28, 1879.
The death of William H. Whiting occurred July 9. 1886.
Mr. Whiting .was a devoted churchman, and he was one of the stanch supporters of the little Episcopal church at Bloomfield township, in which he took a deep and abiding interest. He was an able lay reader and he heldl services there and taught the Sunday school for many years. He was the idol of a large circle of worshipers there and the especial friend and companion of the children of the neighborhood, to all of whom he was indeed a true and helpful friend throughout his life.
EDWARD MILLER.
As one reviews the history of Walworth county and looks into the past to see what peoples were prominent in its early development, he will find that for the past three-fourths of a century the Germans have been closely con- nected with the progress and advancement of this section of the state. Wild was the region into which they came. Its forests stood in their primeval strength, the prairie land was still unbroken, and the Indians still roamed through the dense woods, seeking the deer and lesser game which could be had in abundance. The Miller family, while not so early as some, yet figured
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in the latter-day development of this section of the state, and Edward Miller. for a period of thirty-seven years a carpenter and builder at Genoa Junction, is a connecting link between the pioneer epoch and the present, having spent most of his life here and thus been identified with the history of the county; having ever manifested the characteristic thrift of the emigrants from the great empire of northern Europe.
Mr. Miller was born near Berlin, Germany, July 26, 1846. He is the son of William and Louise ( Lanlauff ) Miller, natives of Germany, where they grew up and were married and made their home until in October. 1855. when they voyaged across the wide Atlantic to our shores, landing at She- boygan. Wisconsin, having continued their westward course on the Great Lakes. They settled on a farm about eight miles from that city and there resided umtil their son, Edward, was about fifteen years old, then moved just north of Hebron, McHenry county, Illinois, on Hebron Prairie, where the subject worked out on a farm, remaining four years at one place. He later came to Genoa Junction, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he worked at different things, finally learning the carpenter's trade. On April 14, 1874, he was united in marriage with Anna Kaskan, daughter of Herman and Eliza- beth ( Bocker) Kaskan. She was born at Burlington, Wisconsin, but her par- ents were from Bourse-Steinford, Westphalia, Germany. They had been schoolmates there, and came to America at the same time, in 1851, single, and both located near Burlington, Wisconsin, and here they were married about 1856. They later moved near Slades Corner, where they maintained their home for over thirty years, then came to Genoa Junction, where they spent the rest of their lives, the mother dying in January, 1897, and the father in July, 1899.
Mr. Miller's parents moved to Genoa Junction about 1873 and here spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in April, 1879. and the mother in November, 1901.
After his marriage Edward Miller turned his attention exclusively to carpentering and building and has followed it ever since, having been in the business over thirty-seven years, as before stated, at Genoa Junction, during which time he erected many of the dwellings, business houses and barns of the community which will long stand as monuments to his skill as a builder. having in fact, erected most of the houses in Genoa Junction and nearly all the big barns and large buildings in general over the surrounding county. Hle has long enjoyed the reputation of building the best barns ever constructed in the county, some of them models in every respect.
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Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, namely : Emma died when nine months old: William, who was born on April 28, 1876, in Genoa Junction, married Sadie Reynolds, and they have one son, J. Edward : William was a carpenter with his father until 1901, when he went into the general merchandise business at Genoa Junction ; Mary married Luther Buell, of Genoa Junction, and they have one son, Edward; Elizabeth married Mahlon Toyton, of Genoa Junction, and they have two daughters, Gladys and Frances : Anna died when two and one-half years old : John Henry died when two years and two months old.
Mr. Miller was reared in the Lutheran church, but he is not narrow in his religious views and contributes to the support of all denominations. He loves home and family and is honest and trustworthy.
TIMOTHY HOPKINS FELLOWS.
It is always a pleasure when we can trace our ancestry back through several generations, especially if our progenitors have been men and women of honor and usefulness, as were those of Timothy Hopkins Fellows, who traces his ancestry back to William, father of Ephraim, father of Abiel, father of \biel, Jr., the subject being the son of the latter and his third wife Dorcas Hopkins, she the daughter of Timothy Hopkins. This is an old Connecticut family, which settled in Wyoming Valley, or near Forty Fort. The subject was born on March 14, 1812, and he came to Kalamazoo county, Michigan, in 1829 and he was married on December 1, 1831, to Eliza Ann Duncan, daugh- ter of William and Ruth ( Gilmore ) Duncan, and they had eleven children. The Duncans were of New Hampshire. The subject's sister, Emma, who was born in 1816, married George Field: and other sister, Lucy, who was born in 1826, married Charles W. Sibley, son of John Sibley, and they all settled at Bloomfield, Walworth county, Wisconsin, in an early day, when the country was wild and neighbors few, the subject settling here in 1839. in section> 3 and 34, Bloomfield township, and here established a good home through his industry and perseverance, despite obstacles and hardships.
Mr. Fellows took a lively interest in the affairs of his community and he was three times a member of the county board, and he was a member of the General Assembly in 1852 and there made his influence felt for the good of his locality and the people in general. In this race he beat Dr. Hilton W. Boyce and Moses Seymour, two strong men of that period. He made such a
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commendable record that he was chosen to represent the county at the next session of the Legislature over Capt. Albert Y. Wheeler and Dr. Lewis N. Woods. Ife was a keen observer and noted the trend of events and he had rare ideas as to what was best for the new state at that time, when conditions were all different to what we find today and he made a most satisfactory record as a public man.
The death of Mr. Fellows occurred on November 5. 1894, after a suc- cessful and honorable career, his wife having preceded him to the grave on April 23, 1887.
JAMES S. REEK.
Upon the role of reepresentative citizens of Walworth county of a past generation and prominent and highly esteemed men of affairs of the town- ship of Linn consistently appears the name of the late James S. Reek. Ile spent his life in this township and gradually won his way into the affections of the people through his genial address, his obliging and charitable nature and his unswerving honesty,-in short, he possessed those sterling qualities of character which commend themselves to persons of intelligence and the high- est morality. He was a public-spirited man, delighting in the upbuilding of his native community in any way possible, and his support was not withheld from all laudable movements looking toward the general welfare of his neigh- bors and friends and the inhabitants of the county which knew his parents in its early history, for the Reek family was attracted to this community when it was sparsely settled and undeveloped.
Mr. Reek was born in Linn township, this county, on November 18. 1850. fle was the son of John, Jr., and Amelia ( Bennett) Reek. John Reek, Jr., was the son of John Sr., and Mary ( Garside) Reek. He was born in Che- shire, England, August 12, 1813, there grew to manhood and married Amelia Bennett, and when twenty-two years old he emigrated to America. He located at Taunton, Massachusetts, where he worked as a carriage maker for eight years, then moved to Linn township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, and here established his permanent home, literally hewing it out from the heavy woods covered the county in those early days.
James S. Reek, of this sketch, was a man of determination and correct habits and established a good credit at once, and in due course of time he was well established, owning three farms in sections 20 and 21, Linn town- ship, aggregating five hundred and twenty acres. He became one of the most
MR. AND MRS. JAMES S. REEK
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOK, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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successful and substantial farmers in the southern part of the county. He believed in employing progressive methods and leaving no stone unturned whereby he might advance his interests and those of the locality, and thus he became one of the wealthiest farmers of Linn township. Ile was one of the promoters of the Co-operative Creamery, whose large success was at- tributable to his advice and influence in no small degree, and he was treasurer of the same until 1894. when it was discontinued. He devoted much of the last six or seven years of his life to buying and shipping live stock, doing an extensive business,-in fact, was one of the most extensive dealers in the county, shipping about one car load of stock to market a week, leaving the active work of the farm to his sons, believing that he was doing the right thing to develop their abilities, by such a course.
Politically, Mr. Reek was a Republican, and was active in party affairs, being one of the local leaders. He was elected a member of the board of supervisors in 1887, which office he held for many years.
On December 25. 1881, James S. Reek was united in marriage with Julia Kaye, daughter of Abram and Harriet ( Brayshaw ) Kaye: She was born and reared on the farm where she now lives in Linn township. this county, having never resided anywhere else. Abram Kaye was born in England in 1809 and there he grew to manhood. emigrating to America in 1840, but soon returned to his native land. In 1842 he brought his family to the United States, locating in the city of Baltimore, where he remained three years, then moved to near Philadelphia, where they spent three years. The father was a grader of wool in a woolen mill, but the work was hard and con- fining and his health failed under the strain, so he came west and bought a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Linn township. Walworth county, Wisconsin. Here he became well established and here his death occurred on April 21, 1875. His wife, known in her maidenhood as Harriet Brayshaw, was the daughter of John and Mary ( Stock ) Brayshaw. She was born April 15, 1811. She spent her old age with Mrs. Reck, dying at the advanced age of ninety-two years, in 1903. When Abram Kaye came here he bought one hundred and sixty acres, for which he paid two dollars and fifty cents per acre. later buying eighty acres more, for which he also paid two dollars and fifty cents per acre in 1848. Only a small clearing had been made, the land being mostly covered with dense woods. It had a small cabin on it, so Mr. Kaye had to do a great deal of hard work before he could make a crop, but he per- severed and in due course of time had a fine farm and a comfortable home.
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Mrs. Reek was the youngest of a family of ten children, five of whom were born in England, the other five in America. The eldest was Arthur, who founded Kaye's Park along the south shore of Lake Geneva, and was a prominent man, well known all around the lake and the southern part of the county, being successful in a financial way ; his death occurred in 1893, leav- ing a family. The other brothers and sisters of Mrs. Reek were, Addin. Hammon, Mary, who became the wife of Robert Lightbody; John B .: Sara, who married Frank E. Baker: Harriet, who became the wife of William Matthews : Abram, William J., and Julia. widow of the subject of this sketch.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. James S. Reek, named as follows: Nettie Mabel, Lillian Ethel, James Bennett, Alice K., Robert Arthur. and Harriet, the last named dying in infancy. The others all attended the Lake Geneva schools. Alice is now in the State University at Madison and Robert is in high school at Lake Geneva.
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