USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 66
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The death of James S. Reek occurred on September 24. 1911, after several months illness. He had lived a very active and industrious life. He was a man of rare business ability, managed well and made few mistakes. Being scrupulously honest in his relations with his fellow men, he won and retained their good will and confidence. While interested in public matters, he was not ambitious to hold public offices or be a leader of men. preferring to spend his time with his family and give his attention to his business interests. He had the reputation of being a kind and indulgent father and husband, an obliging, genial neighbor and a man of fine ideas and many commendable attributes of head and heart.
CHARLES HIGH.
This well remembered pioneer and prominent citizen of Walworth county who is now numbered "with them that sleepeth," was a native of the state of New York, which has been the cradle of much of our western civilization and upon which the commonwealth of Wisconsin has largely drawn for its most enlightened. enterprising and progressive citizenship. Early in life Mr. High established those habits of industry and frugality which insured his success in later years. Coming here when the country was wild and undeveloped, he secured raw land which, with the able assistance of his estimable life com- panion, he soon extended the area of cultivable land and in due course of time found himself upon the high road to prosperity with a fine farm in his possession and many of the comforts and conveniences of life surrounding
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him. in fact, he was one of the large land owners of the county and one of our most substantial and influential citizens for many years, and, having exem- plary habits and being public spirited, doing much for the permanent good of the locality, his name is eminently deserving of a conspicuous place in his country's history.
Charles High was born in Herkimer county, New York, May 10, 1810. He grew to manhood in his native state and received such educational train- ing as the early times afforded. He emigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in an early period and there he and William Doughton built the first san -mill. He was a millwright by trade, which he learned when a young man in New York. He became very successfully established in business in Milwaukee and while living there he was united in marriage with Nancy Bartlett Rolfe, a native of Manchester. New Hampshire, born there on September 9, 1818. She was descended from John Rolfe, who married the celebrated Pocahontas, the Indian maid, in the early days of Virginia, tokl of in colonial history.
In 1841 Charles High came to Walworth county and here he entered land in Bloomfield township, section 20, and lived there a number of years. He was very successful as a general farmer and an extensive dealer in live stock. He made one shipment of fat cattle, aggregating ten thousand dollars. He had put these cattle in the stable and fed them all winter. He was one of the largest stock men of his day in this part of the state and no small amount of his fortune was obtained in this manner. By close application. the exercise of sound judgment and honest dealings with his fellow men, he prospered with the increasing years and became the owner of thirteen hun- (red acres of valuable land.
Mr. High was twice married. Four children were born of the first union. one of whom died in infancy ; the other three were, Eugenia Christina, now Mrs. William K. Slade, of Canton, South Dakota : Anna Mary, wife of Albert Pierce, of Hudson. South Dakota : Martha Alice, who married Robert Whit- ing. now living on the oldl homestead.
The mother of these children passed away on March 17. 1872. at the age of fifty-three years, and Charles High was subsequently married to Margaret Groesbeck. from near . Alden, Illinois.
Charles High built a new home, large and attractive, just cast of his first home and there be spent the rest of his life, dying there on February 8. 1877. at the advanced age of seventy seven years, after a useful, industrious and well spent life, a life which resulted in much good to the community, in fact to all with whom he came into contact.
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ยท SEYMOUR NORMAN HATCH.
Wonderful indeed has been the transformation of Walworth county since it was first beheld by the late Seymour Norman Hatch, one of our earliest pioneers and for many years an influential and highly honored citizen, for when this sterling character cast his lot here he found a wide-stretching wilderness, still the domain of the various tribes of Indians of this section of the Union, and also the haunts of various species of ferocious creatures of the carth and air. But he was not a man to be disheartened at scemingly insurmountable obstacles,-in fact, being a man of courage and farsighted- ness, he underwent the hardships and trials incident to life in a new country and enjoyed it better than being hampered by the civilization of the old En- pire state, from whence he came. He was a man whom all admired for his sterling honesty, his courage, his hospitality and his public spirit, and he is eminently deserving of a permanent place in his county's history.
Mr. Hatch was born at Leroy, Genesee county, New York, on April 12, 1817, and there he was reared to manhood. He was the son of Hervey and Amy (Seymour) Hatch, the latter being the daughter of Zadock and Naomi (Munger) Seymour. The father, born April 30, 1757, enlisted at Water- bury, Connecticut, for service in the Revolutionary war, through which he served with much credit. Ile was a son of Steven and Mehitable ( Hickox) Seymour, of Waterbury, Connecticut, he having been born in 1718. Steven Seymour was a son of Ebenezer Seymour, who was the son of Richard Sey- mour, who was born in Farmington, Connecticut. in 1682, and in 1668 he was the leader of a pioneer colony to what was then termed "the great swamp." now Kensington. Richard Seymour was the captain of Fort Sey- mour, built for protection of the settlers from Indians. He was the son of Richard Seymour, Sr., who emigrated to America in 1639 and settled at Hartford, Connecticut, and in 1650 became one of the founders of the town of Norwalk, in which he spent the rest of his life.
Hervey Hatch was the son of Timothy and Abigail (Porter) Hatch, he having been born in Vermont in 1792. Abigail Porter was the daughter of Moses and Sarah ( Kelham) Porter, the father a soldier in the Revolutionary war, who fought at Bunker Hill, Long Island and Saratoga and was at the surrender of Burgoyne. He was a selectman at Powlet in 1785 and 1787, and was a deacon in the Congregational church.
Hervey Hatch's father, Timothy Hatch, was born on May 7. 1764. He devoted his life to farming in Genesee county, New York. He was a captain of militia. and was senior warden in the Episcopal church for a period of
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twenty-seven years. His father. Timothy Hatch, Sr .. was born June 22. 1728, at Tolland, Connecticut. His father was also named Timothy, and he was born at Falmouth on October 19, 1695. and his death occurred at Kent, Connecticut, on March 30. 1766. In May. 1740, he was commissioned cap- tain of the "training band" by the General Assembly at Hartford. Connecti- cut. He was a justice of the peace for many years and was moderator of the town; he was a man of large wealth and was very influential in his locality. The last named Timothy Hatch was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Eddy ) Hatch, he a native of Falmouth and she of Tisbury. Benjamin Hatch was a cordwainer. He was born at Falmouth on September 7, 1855, and was the son of Jonathan and Sarah ( Rowley ) Hatch. The father was born in England about 1625 and he came to America with his parents, Thomas and Grace Hatch. He lived to be nearly one hundred years of age. Thomas Hatch was the ancestor of the family of this name in America. He emi- grated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1630, or at least not later than 1634: his wife, Grace, was of Welsh descent. He was born in the county of Kent, England. He became a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1634. and in 1639 he became one of nine original purchasers of Yarmouth town- ship, Plymouth colony. in Cape Cod. In 1640 he became an equal or joint proprietor with about twenty-five other men of the township of Barnstable, and there his death occurred in 1661. He became well-to-do for that early day.
The mother of Seymour N. Hatch died while he was young. He grew to manhood in the state of New York, and when he reached his majority he came west and located in Linn township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1838. taking up eighty acres of government land along the northern shore of the lake, on which he located. Then he went down into llinois, where he spent about four years, returning to Walworth county in 1842 and entered another eighty acres from the government, bordering the south shore of the lake. Some years afterwards he bought one hundred and sixty acres along the south shore of the lake, and in time he became the owner of seven hundred acres of very valuable land in this locality, and was one of the substantial and influential men of the county, and he made his home the rest of his life in the beautiful lake country which he loved so well.
Seymour N. Hatch was married to Mary Stoneall, who was born in England. a daughter of Richard Stoncall and wife. Her mother died when Mrs. Hatch was a child. The father was a tailor and followed his profession in England. About 1837 he brought his daughter Mary and son Joseph to
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Geneva, Illinois, where the brother of Mrs. Hatch. Henry, and a cousin had already located. In 1840 the father and Joseph Stoneall came to Walworth county and settled in the eastern part of Linn township and built a small house there, and the daughter and sister, Mary, came and kept house for them. They underwent many of the hardships of pioneer life. In making the trip here they walked all the way from Geneva. Illinois, in one day. Later a nurseryman leased part of their land and set out many fruit trees, then went away and never came back. Mr. Stoneall took care of the trees and later they became the stock of a number of the finest orchards in Linn township.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Seymour N. Hatch, named as follows: Louise E., wife of Isaac Moorhouse, lives in Lake Geneva : Emily A. lives near the old home in Linn township; Norman Henry lives at Wichita, Kansas; Harvey R. lives at Zenda and follows farming; Hobart M. lives in the central part of Linn township; Mary is the wife of John Betts and lives near the old home in Linn township; Clara died when seven years of age; and George died when fourteen months old.
Mr. Hatch was active in public affairs and in the early days he held a number of the township offices. He was a most valued citizen in the com- munity which he honored by his residence for over fifty years. The death of this sterling old pioneer occurred on August 12, 1899, his wife having pre- ceded him to the grave on November 29, 1887.
The Hatch home was for a half century known as a place of genuine hospitality and it sheltered many people, some distinguished in the affairs of their country. The old people could relate many interesting reminiscences of the early days.
DANIEL FAIRCHILD.
No compendium such as the province of this work defines in its essential limitations will serve to offer fit memorial to the life and accomplishments of the late Daniel Fairchild. for many years one of the leading agriculturists of Walworth county, a man of indomitable perseverance and strong individuality, and yet one whose entire life had not one esoteric phase, being able to bear the closest scrutiny. His accomplishments but represented the fit utilization of the innate talent which was his, and the directing of his efforts along lines where good judgment and discrimination led the way. There was in him a weight of character and a fidelity of purpose that commanded the respect of all. but greater than these was his honesty, and "an honest man is the noblest work of God."
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Mr. Fairchild was born in section 17, in North Geneva, Walworth county, Wisconsin, on November 1. 1851. He is the son of Nelson and Laura ( Kinney ) Fairchild, a complete sketch of whom appears on another page of this work.
The subject grew to manhood on the home farm and there began work- ing during the summer months when quite young. He received his educa- tion in the common schools in that district and in Elkhorn, and he began life for himself by teaching school, which he followed successfully for several years. He began farming for himself on forty acres which he bought about 1876. In 1878 hie purchased of his brother George the place which remained his family home the rest of his life, in section 17. adjoining his father's farm on the east. and which place consisted of two hundred two and one-half acres. Being a man of excellent ability and very industrious, he improved his farm and made it one of the finest farms in the county. He went into the dairy business in connection with general farming and stock raising, making a large success of all. He was a practical farmer, but he also studied and investi- gated, constantly experimenting, always seeking to improve his methods. He was a leader in gardening and raising potatoes. He paid much attention to his fruits and berries, which showed the result of care and scientific culti- vation in their unusually good quality. His dairy barn was inspected by ex- perts soon after he built it and they pronounced it the finest in southern Wis- consin at that time. It stables fifty cows and has a capacity for one hundred and ninety-five tons of hay, and is provided with the latest approved system of ventilation. He raised his own cows, and he kept thoroughly informed on all points touching dairying. horticultural and agricultural work, both tech- nical and practical. He built up a private trade in Chicago which he supplied for twenty years or more. His place, known as "Willow Glen Stock Farm." is one of the attractive landed estates of the county. Its large, convenient. substantial buildings, well kept fields, bespeak the care and industry in it- management.
Mr. Fairchild was a man who took much interest in the general upbuikl- ing of his community. He was a member of the town board for years and was chairman for several years. When sixteen years old he united with the Baptist church at Elkhorn and throughout his hie was an active worker both in the church and Sunday school and he was superintendent of the Sunday school for some time.
Mr. Fairchild was married in May. 1878. to Edna Vincent, daughter of Jarvis and Sarah A. ( Waterbury ) Vincent. She was born and reared at Williams Bay, this county, and received her education in the local schools.
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Her parents were from Onondaga county, New York, and they emigrated to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1845, locating in section 31. one of the choice vicinities of Geneva township, northeast of Williams Bay, overlooking Lake Geneva. Mr. Vincent entered part of his land from the government, and bought more adjoining, owning altogether two hundred and forty acres. Jarvis Vincent's mother was known in her maidenhood as Phoebe Dean, and she was a Quaker. The death of the former occurred on his home farm in 1891. To Jarvis Vincent and wife six children were born, five daughters and one son, namely: Elizabeth married Hiram Cornwell and lived and died at Rockford, Illinois; Oscar was a soldier in the Civil war, in the Fortieth Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, and his health was shattered by reason of his ser- vice, but he survived and lived until May, 1911 ; Phoebe married A. B. Calkins and lives at Delavan, this county ; Ida married J. W. Utter, of East Delavan, and her death occurred about 1879: Edna is the widow of Daniel Fairchild, of this sketch: Jennie, who has remained unmarried, lived with her mother in Delavan until the latter's death on November 2, 1910, at the advanced age of ninety-two years ; she had retained her faculties to a remarkable degree.
Three children, two daughters and one son, were born to Daniel Fair- child and wife, named as follows: Jessie Laura married Charles R. Burton and lives near Delavan, and they have one son, Ralph Fairchild Burton, now two years old; Jennie is at home with her mother; Burton D. married. in February, 1910, Edith Gates, daughter of Charles M. Gates, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. They have a little daughter. Edna Caroline. Burton Fairchild was eighteen years old when his father died, and since then he has had charge of the home place and has shown that he is a worthy successor of his father. having kept the place well improved and well tilled.
ALBERT HOGE.
One would be compelled to cover a wide radius of territory in southern Wisconsin to find a more painstaking tiller of the soil than Albert Hoge. of Geneva township, but this is not to be wondered at when we learn that he comes of the thrifty Germanic race and that his ancestors were all people who believed in hard work and painstaking effort.
Mr. Hoge was born in Pommern, Germany, on September 3, 1867, and is the son of Christ and Rica Hoge. The subject spent his boyhood in the fatherland, and when sixteen years old he emigrated to America, with his aunt. to Harvard, Illinois. After working out a year and a half, he had saved
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enough out of his earnings to pay for the transportation of his father, mother and brother. Ben, and sister, Freda, to America, which he accordingly did. and the family located near Harvard, Illinois, the parents finally buying a nice home and lived there many years, the father dying in May, 1908. The mother is still living, making her home with her daughter Freda, who married August Prussing. Ben also worked and saved his money, learned the barber's trade. which he now follows, and he, too, owns a good home.
Albert Hoge bought his farm in 1899, but rented his father-in-law's farm for four years and then moved on his present farm in Geneva town- ship. Walworth county, section 19. in which he has eighty acres ; he also owns forty acres in section 20. He built a splendid residence here in 1911, and is now well fixed, having a well improved and productive farm, which he has kept up to a high state of cultivation. He handles a good grade of live stock.
Mr. Hoge was married in May, 1891, to Annie Rader, of Geneva town- ship, this county. She was born in Brandenburg. Germany, and when a child was brought to Walworth county, Wisconsin, by her parents, William and Dora ( Brinkman ) Rader. They located in Bloomfield township, this county. about 1870. buying a farm there. After living there some time they bought a farm in Geneva township, near Como, and lived there twenty-five years or more. The mother died a few years after coming to America, and the father is now living near Genoa Junction, Bloomfield township. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hoge. Oleda. They all three belong to the Lutheran church at Elkhorn.
NELSON FAIRCHILD.
The death of Nelson Fairchild, a sterling pioneer of Walworth county. was regretted by all who knew him. Ile was a man who regarded home ties as most sacred and friendship as most inviolable. Emerson says, "The way to win a friend is to be one," and no man in the locality of which this biog- raphy deals had more friends than the subject. Ile was a man of sympa- thetic and generous nature, a pleasant companion, and especially congenial to those who cultivated all that was highest and best in life, and today his mem- ory is cherished in the hearts of his many friends, and his influence still re- mains as a blessed benediction to those among whom he walked on the high- way of life.
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Mr. Fairchild was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, in April, 1822, and there he grew to manhood, emigrating to Walworth county in 1843 and bought the farm where Daniel D. Fairchild, his son, and who is mentioned in this work, was born, and here the permanent home of the family was estab- lished.
Nelson Fairchild was one of a family of eight children born to Samuel and Sallie ( Alexander ) Fairchild. The father was a farmer and he brought his family to Walworth county in 1844. He lived a year in Spring Prairie township, then made his home with his son Nelson, of this sketch, until his death, in March. 1856, dying at the age of seventy-five : his widow died three years later at about the same age. Samuel Fairchild was the son of Eleazer Fairchild, whose parents were natives of Ireland, from which country three Fairchild brothers emigrated to America in colonial times and founded the family in America. Eleazer Fairchild went to Canada and served as an officer in the British army, and he received twenty-one hundred acres of land for his services. He died at the age of seventy-five years, having given his attention to the management of his valuable land, which the city of Montreal now covers.
Sallie Alexander, mentioned above, was the daughter of David Alex- ander, a native of Scotland and a tailor by trade. He also spent his last days in Canada.
Nelson Fairchild spent his boyhood in his native county in New York, and there attended the public schools and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed there and in Wisconsin for many years, having come to Wal- worth county in 1843, and in 1844 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in section 17, Geneva township, to which he later added twenty acres, and here he engaged successfully in general farming and stock raising until his death, in 1903. He was a good manager and kept his place well cultivated and had a good home.
Mr. Fairchild was married on November 13. 1847. to Laura Kenney. She was the daughter Daniel and Margaret ( Lytle ) Kenney, natives of Jeffer- son and St. Lawrence counties, New York, respectively. The death of Mrs. Fairchild occured on August 20. 1885.
To Nelson Fairchild and wife six children were born, named as follows: George W. married Susan Wylie, who died in August. 1911 ; he was engaged in the lumber business at Manchester. Jowa, until recently, and he now lives in Everett, Washington: Daniel D., whose sketch appears on another page. was the next in order of birth of the subject's family : Albert N. married Elma Bray and he recently went to Everett, Washington, to engage in the lumber
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business with his brother, George W .; for a number of years he was a teacher in Milwaukee ; Ason, who married Cora Bagley, was an excellent dentist, but he is now engaged in the real estate business at Mechanicsville, lowa : Samuel lived at Marcelene, Missouri, for about twenty years, but he now resides at Ft. Madison. Iowa : he married Lou Williams ; Mina married Engene Barker. of Delavan, and they have two daughters, Elma and Ruth; he is a member of the Barker Lumber Company, of Delavan.
CAPT. THEODORE A. FELLOWS.
The Union soldier during the great war between the states builded wiser than he knew. Through four years of suffering and wasting hardships, through the horrors of prison pens and amid the shadows of death, he laid the superstructure of the greatest temple ever erected and dedicated to human freedom. The world looked on and called those sokliers sublime, for it was theirs to reach out the mighty arm of power and strike the chains from off the slave, preserve the country from dissolution, and to keep furled to the breeze the only flag that ever made tyrants tremble and whose majestic stripes and scintillating stars are still waving universal liberty to all the earth. For all these unmeasured deeds the living present will never repay them. Pen- sion and political power may be thrown at their feet : art and sculpture may preserve upon canvas and in granite and bronze their unselfish deeds ; history may commit to books and cold type may give to the future the tale of their sufferings and triumphs; but to the children of the generations vet unborn will it remain to accord the full measure of appreciation and undying remem- brance of the immortal character carved out by the American soldiers in the dark days in the early sixties, numbered among whom was Capt. Theodore A. Fellows, for many decades a highly respected citizen of Walworth county, whose death occurred at his home at Genoa Junction, on February 10, 89)12.
Captain Fellows was born in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, May 12. 1836. He was the son of Timothy Hopkins Fellows and Eliza Ann ( Duncan ) Fellows. The lineage of this family may be traced back to William Fellows. who was born in England abont 1609. who emigrated to America, making huis home at Ipswich, Massachusetts, where his death occurred in 1676; tradition makes it probable that he came to the New World about togo or a few years later. His son, Ephraim, Forn in 1039. was a trooper in king Philip's war. in 1675, under Capt. Nicholas Page. His son, Ephraim, had a son, Alnel, Sr., who lived at Canaan, Connecticut, his birth having occurred on October
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