USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 19
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Mr. Williams was born on May 2. 1837, in Albany, New York, and he was the son of J. J. and Ellen ( Richardson) Williams. His father was of Welsh descent and was born near Newport News in 1798 and he went to New York in 1826, finally emigrating to Delavan township. Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1852, where he bought eighty acres of land and re- mained until his death, on June 4. 1870, having begun life here in typical pioneer fashion, but he was not permitted to long enjoy his new home, having been "gathered to his fathers" before fully developing his farm. His widow survived many years, joining him in the spirit land on June 13, 1894. They were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Hollister, is now deceased; James R., Thomas F. and Margaret A., the last named being now deceased.
Thomas F. Wilson, of this review, was reared on the home farm and when but a lad he assisted with the arduous toil on the same, and he obtained what education he could in the early district schools of Walworth county and at Allen's Grove, state of Wisconsin. He has followed farming all his life and has been rewarded by a large measure of success. He is the owner of a well improved, well kept and productive farm in Delavan township, section 35, where, in connection with general farming, he has acquired a good annual income. In 1911 he retired from active farm life and is now sur- rounded by plenty as a result of his former years of activity, spending his declining age in comfort.
Mr. Williams was married on February 21. 1861, to Cynthia A. Barnes, daughter of Stephen and Emily Barnes, of the state of New York. This union resulted in the birth of one child, Ellen L., now deceased.
Mr. Williams is a Republican in politics, and, fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined that lodge in 1873. He has been chairman of the Delavan township board for the past seven years and has been justice of the peace since 1877, still holding the office. having been out of office only one and one-half terms since he was first
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elected to the same. He has discharged its affairs in an able and eminently satisfactory manner, his decisions being fair and unbiased and he has given the entire community eminent satisfaction in this capacity and has proven to be a worthy and able public official. He is highly respected for his uniform courtesy and honesty. Mrs. Williams departed this life November 2, 1910, since which time Mr. Williams has boarded.
HENRY FRANCIS.
A highly respected citizen of Williams Bay, who, although ait American by adoption only, has had the interests of Walworth county at heart for over a half century, is Henry Francis, a man who has won success in life because he has been persistent and never permitted obstacles to thwart him in his course when once he knew he was right. He came here with no capital and, liking the country and having faith in its future, he cast his lot with the people of this locality ; they soon began to admire him for his good habits and his thrifty ways and he has enjoyed their esteem and good will all the while, and thus he and they have been benefited by his long residence here.
Mr. Francis was born at Weststour, Dorsetshire, England, August 9, 1836. He is the son of Henry Francis, Sr., and Patience Francis.
The subject lived in his native land until he was about twenty-one years old, then emigrated to America in the spring of 1857, and after a very stormy voyage of forty-two days, landed at Quebec, Canada. But he did not reinain there, having come on to Chicago, where he spent some six weeks, then came to Walworth county to work in the harvest fields, and here he has lived ever since. He did his work so well in the harvest fields that his employer engaged him by the year. A few weeks afterwards his employer was killed by a threshing machine, and through accepting the advice of the administrator of the estate not to file a claim for his services, Mr. Francis lost all his earnings. He engaged to another man by the year, with whom he remained three years, during which he left nearly all his wages with his employer, who took advantage of the young Englishman and would not pay him, so he lost all. In the meantime during the Civil war he was drafted, although he was still a British subject and had no vote. He was unable to get redress, so his wife borrowed three hundred dollars from Lavalette Douglass and seured a substi- tute. He then went to work in Douglass' mills, where he remained for eigh- teen years, losing only six days' time during that period and he often worked
MR. AND MRS. HENRY FRANCIS
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overtime. He thus paid back what he had borrowed and saved enough of his earnings to buy a farm, in 1877, in sections 10 and II in Walworth township, consisting of one hundred and eighty-eight acres. There he remained until IS91, when he gave up farming and built a home in Williams Bay. He sold his farm in 1909. He had been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and by his thrift, economy and honest dealings accumulated a com- petency.
Mr. Francis has taken an interest in local public affairs, and he has served very acceptably a number of times on the board of supervisors of Wal- worth township.
Mr. Francis was married in 1859 to Sarah Holmes, daughter of William and Anna ( Mitchell) Holmes. She was born in Lincolnshire, England, and came to this county when fifteen years old, with her parents, who located in Walworth township, near the head of Lake Geneva, where Fontana is now located. The family settled there in 1855, and in that vicinity her parents spent most of their lives after that.
Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Francis, namely : William, who lives along the shore, about two miles west of Lake Geneva, married Carrie Davis, and they have two children, Earl and Herbert; Charles, a phy- sician and the first doctor at Williams Bay, married Hettie Southwick, and his death occurred in June, 1908; Lavalette and Lafayette, twins, were next in order; the former grew up and married Jennie Southwick and farmed near the observatory until his death, December 19, 1911 ; Lafayette, who lives at Beloit, married Maude Dalton, and they have two children, Ruth and Harry; he is employed in the factory of Fairbanks, Morse & Company. Sarah Jane, the subject's youngest child, died when one year old.
The record of Henry Francis is an interesting one and it may be studied with profit by the discouraged young man, for it shows that one can succeed in the face of all obstacles. When seventeen years old he left home and went to the island of Alderney, where he worked on government works, building a breakwater three-fourths of a mile out into the English channel, and build- ing fortifications also. He crossed to Plymouth, England, from there and took ship for America. He had little opportunity to secure an education, for his father died when he was a baby and his mother had a hard time to get along, and he was thrown upon his own resources early in life, being put to work picking up potatoes in potato-digging time when quite small. But notwithstanding his long life of hard work, he is remarkably well preserved. and his spirit has never been broken. He enjoys a good joke and is a man of genial nature, obliging, honest and seems to possess youthful vigor, although now past seventy-five years of age.
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H. J. WELSHER.
The history of Walworth county is not a very old one. It is the record of the steady growth of a community planted in the wilderness scarcely more than a half century ago and has reached its magnitude of today without other means than those of industry. The people who redeemed its wilderness fast- nesses were strong-armed, hardy sons of the soil who hesitated at no difficulty and for whom hardships had little to appal. There was also other work to be done, work of various kinds. Their efficient efforts have been fully appre- ciated by those who came at a later period and builded on the foundation which they laid so broad and deep. Among the latter class is H. J. Welsher, the genial and popular manager of the Halls Park Hotel at Delavan lake, Walworth county. While his arrival was not as early as some, yet he came in the formative period and has done much toward the general upbuilding of the county which now occupies a proud position among the most progressive and enlightened sections of the great Badger state.
Mr. Welsher was born on October 24, 1868, in Rochester, New York, and he is the son of Harrison and Mariah ( Whitbeck) Welsher, both natives of the state of New York, where they spent their early lives, coming to Wis- consin later in life and settling at Madison, and for some time Mr. Welsher was superintendent of the state fish hatcheries. From there the family moved to Walworth county, where they established a pleasant home and became well known, and spent the rest of their days here, Mr. Welsher dying on January 23, 1906, and four years later, 1910, Mrs. Welsher died on the same day of the same month, January 23d. They were the parents of four children, namely: Matilda died in 1906; Williard lives in Madison, Wiscon- sin; F. L. is living with H. J., of this review, who is the youngest of the family.
The immediate subject of this review received his educational training in the schools of Walworth, this county, including the high school. He was but a boy when he accompanied his parents to this country and here he grew to maturity and has spent the major part of his life, engaging for the most part in agricultural pursuits in which he has met with a large measure of success. He assumed the management of Halls Park Hotel in the spring of 1910 and he has so far been very successful in this new field, being courteous, consid- erate and obliging and an excellent manager. This hotel is one of the most popular on famous Delavan lake and is a commodious, neatly kept, attractive and altogether desirable place to spend the summer months, and here hundreds pay annual visits, coming from all parts of the country.
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Politically, Mr. Welsher is a Republican. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has been a member of the Modern Woodmen of America for the past twenty-three years. For the past seven years he has been supervisor of the Delavan township board and he held the office of deputy sheriff of Walworth county for two years. As a public servant he has been faithful to every trust reposed in him, giving the utmost satisfaction to all concerned.
Mr. Welsher was married on October 30, 1896, to Clara Belle Hall, a lady of pleasing personality. This union has been without issue.
ANDREW J. RODMAN, M. D.
The name of Dr. Andrew J. Rodman, of Delavan, has long been a house- hold word to the people of Walworth county, where he has for the past forty years occupied a leading place in the ranks of the medical profession. He has deemed it a rare privilege to carry surcease from our multiform ills to suffering humanity and has conscientiously as well as ably gone about his work in a manner that has won both the confidence and universal esteem of all classes.
Doctor Rodman was born in Schoharie county, New York, on May 22, 1830, and there he spent his boyhood and attended New York Conference Seminary at Charlottesville, New York, and Union College, at Schenectady, from which he was graduated in 1853. He began life for himself by teaching. which he followed several years, part of the time in the New York Con- ference Seminary at Charlottesville, later in the academy at Perry, Wyoming county, that state, being principal of the latter for a time, and it was while living there that he began the study of medicine, which he continued after coming to Delavan, Wisconsin, in 1857. He practiced for some time in Woodstock, Illinois, later moving to Huntley, that state, practicing there six- teen years. He was graduated from the Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1865. He was appointed sanitary surgeon in the Union army during the Civil war, and, according to his comrades, he was very faithful in the performance of his duties. He returned home after the war and continued in the general practice of medicine, succeeding Doctor Sutherland in Darien, Wisconsin, in October, 1874, and was engaged in practice there about nine years. He camie to Delavan, this county, in the fall of 1883, and here he has since remained. enjoying a large practice throughout the county, having been very successful as
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a general practitioner, and kept fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession. He maintains an office at his residence, No. 127 South Fourth street.
Doctor Rodman was married in 1858 to Helen A. Streeter, of Geneva, this county, daughter of an excellent old family, and to this union four chil- dren were born, namely: Carrie; Willis is deceased, as is also Archer; Helen was the youngest, and she is living on the Isle of Pine.
The wife and mother passed to her rest on January 10, 1894, and Doctor Rodman was married on December 3, 1907, to Mrs. Harriet Eliza Scaffin, a lady of many estimable qualities and of a highly respected family.
Doctor Rodman was alderman of Delavan for eighteen months, and he was president of the village board for three years here. He is at present ably discharging the duties of justice of the peace, having held the same for a number of years.
CASSIUS F. ARNOLD.
One of the best known business men in southwestern Walworth county is Cassius F. Arnold, a man who has tried to follow the Golden Rule in his every-day life, consequently has enjoyed the confidence and good will of his fellow men, and at the same time has forged to the front in material things. He has manifested a good citizen's interest in the affairs of his community and has done his share in the upbuilding of the same.
Mr. Arnold was born in Granville, Washington county, New York, on December 30, 1847. He is the son of F. P. and Jane (Willis) Arnold. The father was born in New York in 1836, and he was educated in Poultney Academy, Vermont. He studied law in his native town. He came to Sharon, Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1850, and was admitted to the bar at Elk- horn in 1851, and here he became a man of much influence in public affairs, representing the second district in the General Assembly in 1862, and his services in the state Legislature were highly commendable. He was chair- man of the town board of Sharon for sixteen years. He was a successful lawyer, although he always counseled the settlement of differences without resort to legislation and tried to bring about amicable settlements among neighbors, disregarding his own interests. He was a good and useful man and his influence in this locality will long be felt. His death occurred on January 19, 1872. He was married to Jane Willis in Washington county, New York, and five children were born to them, namely: Cassius, of this
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sketch ; Emma S. is the wife of W. E. Hoard; Ella is the wife of William Pearsons; Laura was the next child: Jennie is deceased. The mother of these children is now the wife of Royal Perkins, of Sharon.
Cassius F. Arnold, of this sketch, received his education in the district schools, Allen's Grove Academy and Sharon Academy. He was in the luin- ber business in Sharon for seventeen years, building up a large trade, then sold out and has since been a general hardware merchant in Sharon, handling a complete and well selected stock of modern hardware and farming imple- ments and he enjoys a large and growing trade with the surrounding country.
Mr. Arnold was at one time town treasurer and he was on the city council for one term, and he is now secretary of the Town of Sharon Fire Insurance Company, having discharged the duties of this position most ac- ceptably for the past thirty years. Politically, he is a Republican and, fra- ternally, a Modern Woodman.
On November 10, 1875, Mr. Arnold was united in marriage with Clara F. Weiblen, daughter of Frank A. and Mary E. (Waidley) Weiblen, the fa- ther a native of Germany and the mother of Pennsylvania. Two children have been born to the subject and wife, namely: Mrs. Roe A. Dean, of Chicago, and Mrs. Hazel Stevens, of Niagara, Wisconsin.
CHARLES WINTER.
Another of the sterling natives of the old Empire state who came to Walworth county in the early days and here became well established through his industry and right living, and thereby has benefited himself and the com- munity alike is the well known retired miller and farmer, Charles Winter, of Sharon, a man who has merited in every way the success he has achieved in a material way and the esteem of his fellow citizens, which all who know him freely accord.
Mr. Winter was born on November 10, 1838, in Schoharie county, New York. He is the son of George and Sally (Little) Winter, both natives of the state of New York, where they spent their early lives and were married. and there they lived until 1842, when they came to Walworth county, Wis- consin, and settled at South Grove, taking up one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government, to which they later added eighty acres, and there the father farmed the rest of his life, maintaining also at South Grove a wagon shop for thirty years, and he became well known as a wagon-maker.
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He built the first store building, which was of brick, in South Grove. He was an influential man in his community and highly respected. His family consisted of eight children, namely: William, deceased; Elmira, deceased ; Charles, of this sketch; Stewart is deceased; Walter lives in Racine; David is deceased; Nelson died in infancy.
Charles Winter was educated in the schools of Walworth county and here grew to manhood, being three years old upon his arrival. He grew up amid pioneer conditions and found plenty to do, for in developing a new country there is work for all. He engaged in farming and milling success- fully for a period of thirty years, but retired from the active duties of life in 1891 and moved to the town of Sharon, having sold his farm and mill.
Mr. Winter is a Republican, but he has never been very active in party affairs. He is a member of the English Lutheran church.
On March 12, 1868, he was united in marriage with Sarah Josephine Wilkins, daughter of Alva and Huldah (Hotchkiss) Wilkins, the father a native of New Hampshire and the mother of Hampton, Washington county, New York. He came to Sharon township, this county, in 1863 and settled on a farm. He was a molder of stoves, etc., by profession, which he fol- lowed until compelled to give it up on account of ill health. His death oc- curred on December 22, 1881. His widow survives and makes her home with the subject. The subject's marriage has been without issue.
HILAS H. DALRYMPLE.
A gentleman of pleasing address and quiet appearance, frank and kindly in manner, thus popular with his friends and fellow citizens, is the old soldier, Hilas H. Dalrymple, living in the city of Delavan, Walworth county. He has, according to his friends, led a singularly pure and clear life, abstaining from intoxicating liquors and other vices which drag men down. Measured by true standard of excellence, he is an honorable, upright, courteous gentleman, true to himself and to others, and his influence in the community has always been potent for good. Like many of the enterprising citizens of this county, he hails from the old Empire state, but the major part of his active life has been spent in the locality of which this history treats, having lived to see and take part in the wonderful changes that have here taken place in such a com- paratively short time. for this section is as well developed, much better, in fact, than many of the older sections of the Eastern states. This has been due
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partly to the richer soil of the Badger state and partly to the indomitable enterprise of the people who have settled here.
Mr. Dalrymple was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on April 12, 1840. He is the son of Marcus and Orrila ( Sherman) Dalrymple, who spent the earlier years of their life in the state of New York, finally coming to Walworth county, Wisconsin, settling in East Delavan, when their son, Hilas H., of this sketch, was about twelve years of age, and there they established a good home and spent the balance of their lives.
The subject was reared on the home farm here and he assisted with the general work on the place during his boyhood, and attended the public schools in his district during the winter months.
Mr. Dalrymple has been twice married, first to Helen M. Reynolds on September 9, 1864. Her death occurred on February 10, 1898. This union was without issue. Mr. Dalrymple was then married, on July 4, 1900, to Celestia Hollister. This union also has been without issue.
Mr. Dalrymple enlisted in Company K, Forty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, on February 6, 1865, to serve one year, under Capt. A. J. Cheney. He saw no active service at the front, doing garrison duty, and he was dis- charged on November 8, 1865, at Benton Barracks, Missouri.
Returning to Walworth county from Missouri, Mr. Dalrymple purchased a farm of fifty acres near Lake Como, Walworth county, and here established a very good home, which he finally sold and purchased fourteen acres in the city limits of Delavan, where he has since resided. He has a pleasant home here and his land is very productive and valuable. Politically, he is a Repub- lican, and he belongs to the Latter-Day Saints church.
JOSEPH H. OSMOND.
Well directed efforts in the practical affairs of life and his capable man- agement of his fine farm in Sharon township have brought a well deserved prosperity to Joseph H. Osmond, whose career demonstrates forcibly what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any discouragements which may seem to arise. In all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact and a biographical history of Walworth county would need to contain his record should it profess to be complete.
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Mr. Osmond was born in the state of New York on February 27, 1857, and is the son of George and Ann (Salvage) Osmond, both of English descent. The father came west, locating at Richmond, McHenry county, Illinois, where he spent the rest of his life on a farm, dying there in 1901, his widow surviving until 1908. They were the parents of four children, namely : George lives in Richmond, Illinois; Joseph H., of this sketch; Will- iam John Harrison, and Mrs. Lenora Cairns, of Richmond, Illinois.
Joseph H. Osmond, of this sketch was educated in the schools at Rich- mond, Illinois, and he grew to manhood on the home farm there. He came to Wisconsin on December 2, 1882, and settled in Sharon township, Wal- worth county, buying'an excellent farm of two hundred and eighty acres, acres after he had worked for a time with his father-in-law.
The subject farmed and raised live stock most successfully for a period of twenty-seven years, during which time he improved his place into one of the most desirable farms of the community. Then he purchased the feed mill in Sharon in 1907 and is now operating the same.
Politically, Mr. Osmond is a Republican, and was an official for the township of Sharon for a number of years. He has been a member of the city council of Sharon for the past four years. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masons, the Eastern Star, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen.
Mr. Osmond was married on December 15, 1881, to Ida Sherman, daughter of Elisha Judson Sherman and Harriet (Story) Sherman. This union has been without issue.
JAMES E. BRETT.
A member of one of the old and highly esteemed families of New Eng- land and the Empire state, and of Walworth county, Wisconsin, James E. Brett, of Lyons township, has stamped the impress of his individuality upon the community and added luster to the honorable name which he bears. having always been scrupulously honest in all his relations with his fellow men and leaving no stone unturned whereby he might benefit his own condition as well as that of his neighbors and friends, consequently he long ago won the favor of a great number of people of this locality where he has become one of our substantial citizens through his industry and close application.
Mr. Brett was born at Stamford, Delaware county, New York. Decem- ber 12, 1843, and is the son of John F. and Sarah Ann (Davis) Brett. This
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is an English family. The first to emigrate to America was William Brett in 1640, who settled with the Pilgrims in Massachusetts and helped John Alden and Miles Standish lay out the town of Duxbury. The subject is, in fact, a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullens, of Pilgrim fame. Seth Brett, a grandson of the first of the Bretts in America, married a great-granddaughter of John Alden. William Brett, mentioned above, was a leader in both church and town affairs, and was often representative to the general court of the colony. He was one of the original proprietors of the town of Bridgewater, and he, together with Miles Standish, John Alden and three others, were granted lands about Saytucket, four miles each way from a center to be selected by them, they to divide and lay out the land in trust for the inhabitants of Saytucket. It was in 1640 that William Brett arrived at Duxbury. Joshua Brett was the son of Rev. Silas Brett, who preached thirty years at Freetown, Massachusetts, and when the latter came on most of his church members sided with England and discharged him for being in sympathy with the American colonists. Joshua Brett went into the Revolu- tionary war as surgeon's mate and later served as a surgeon. After the war he was a physician at Harpersfield, New York.
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