USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 22
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Politically, Mr. Peterson is a Republican, and a member of the Lutheran church. On February 28, 1900, he was united in marriage with Annie Ole- son, who was born in Whitewater township, this county, May 3, 1876. the daughter of Nels and Carrie Marie (Ellisen) Oleson, both natives of Nor- way, and from that country they emigrated to America in 1868, settling in Walworth county, this state, owning a good farm of one hundred and fifteen acres in Whitewater and Richmond townships, which, however, has been deeded to the subject and wife with the understanding that they shall care for them as long as they live. They have one son too.
To Mr. and Mrs. Peterson six children have been born, namely: Olaf Norman, Clara D., Morris Glenn, Mildred Viola, Lester Alvin and Emma Lenora. They are all living.
LOUIS C. BAKER.
The name of Louis C. Baker, of Whitewater, needs no introduction to the people of Walworth county, for here he has played a conspicuous role in the drama of present day affairs for a number of years, establishing a repu- tation for public spirit, integrity and industry and meriting the high esteem in which he is universally held. Mr. Baker was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, May 10, 1853, and came with his parents to Rock county in 1855, where he lived until a year after the death of his mother, which occurred in 1868. His father died in 1863. After a short time at Milton College he returned to Whitewater and worked for the United States Express Com- pany. In 1874 he engaged in the grocery trade and from that time on has been active in various business enterprises. In 1878 he began work as a commercial traveler, representing one firm for nearly twenty years selling hats, caps, gloves, mittens and fur goods. In 1902 he resigned that position in order to devote more time to the mercantile business which he had estab- lished in Whitewater about 1894 and which had been under the management
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· of his brother, Rollin H. Baker, up to that time. He carries an up-to-date line of general hardware, china and silverware. Politically, Mr. Baker has long been a local leader in the Democratic party. In 1898 he was nominated for state senator and in 1902 was given the nomination for congressman in the first district and received 12,122 votes in this strong Republican district. At present he is serving his third term as alderman in Whitewater and is presi- dent of the city council. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Baker was married in 1875 to Nellie Hurlbut, a native of White- water and the daughter of Frederick and Sarah (Root) Hurlbut, the father a native of Connecticut and the mother of England. Mr. Hurlbut was a dry goods merchant in Whitewater for many years, but was a traveling salesman for the last fifteen years of his life. He died January 22, 1888, and was sur- vived by his widow until January 15. 1910. Their family consisted of three sons and three daughters, Will. Fred, Roy, Nellie, Lillian and Hattie.
For a complete sketch of Harvey Baker and wife, parents of Louis C. Baker, and the Baker ancestry, refer to another page.
ORA PHELPS TAYLOR.
One of the most enterprising and painstaking of the younger genera- tion of agriculturists of Walworth county is Ora Phelps Taylor, whose well kept and valuable farm lies just south of Elkhorn. He is a close student of everything that pertains to his vocation and has always been a wide reader on all phases of agriculture and horticulture, also stock raising, and, thus being well posted on these lines and a man of energy and determination, we do not wonder at his success thus early in life.
Mr. Taylor was born in Lagrange township, Walworth county, Wiscon- sin. May 14, 1884. He is a son of William Thomas Taylor, ex-register of deeds, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume.
Ora P. Taylor was four years old when his father moved from La- grange township to the city of Elkhorn, to take office as register of deeds, and they lived there six years, moving back to Lagrange township after going out of office, and there bought a farm, on which they lived four years, then sold out and bought the Westover farm, a mile south of Elkhorn, where the subject now lives. Here Ora P. grew to manhood and finished his education, graduating from the Elkhorn high school in 1903. After leaving school he
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continued farming on the home place, assisting his father. About 1905 he began working the homestead on the shares. His father died in April, 1906, and in 1907 Ora P. bought out the interests of the other heirs, and now owns the farm, which consists of one hundred eight-seven and one-half acres, on which are two dwelling houses, a good set of outbuildings and general im- provements. He has kept the place under a fine state of cultivation and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Taylor was married on June 22, 1910, to Erma Louise Ketchpaw, daughter of George Henry and Frances (Harrington) Ketchpaw. Her father was the son of George and Lucina ( Parks) Ketchpaw, early settlers in Sugar Creek township, this county, where he grew to manhood and lived until his marriage to Frances Harrington. The latter was a daughter of Delos and Rebecca (Scott) Harrington. Delos Harrington was born at Otsego. New York, in 1830. He was a son of Riley and Tirzy (Myers) Harrington, both of whom were from Otsego county, New York. It is said that Riley Harrington's father. probably Joe Harrington, was a soldier in the Revolution. Riley Harrington and wife came to Walworth county among the earliest settlers in 1836 when the country was a wild territory and neigh- bors were few and far remote and when Indians and wild animals were plen- tiful. The family located in Lafayette township, on the line about a mile north of Elkhorn, and here the elder Harrington entered land from the gov- ernment, which he afterwards sold to Delos Harrington and which is now the property of his son, George L. Delos Harrington went to California, where he remained three years engaged in mining in the gold fields. He had lived in New York a few years before going to California. He made the long trip overland. Returning to New York, he was married to Rebecca Scott, daughter of Merrick and Betsey (Chapel) Scott. Betsey Chapel was born in Connecticut. Merrick Scott was from Chenango county, New York.
Mrs. Delos Harrington was born in Chautauqua county, New York, and taught school all over that county. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Har- rington came here and lived about a year, then went to Sherman, New York, where he engaged in the mercantile business about ten years, selling out just before the Civil war and moved back to Walworth county and farmed on the old homestead, and there their daughter, Frances, grew to womanhood and married George Henry Ketchpaw. Two daughters were born of their mar- riage, Erma, now the wife of Ora P. Taylor, and Maude, who married Clif- ford Mills, of Denver, Colorado; Erma was born in East Delavan.
Mrs. Ketchpaw died when Mrs. Ora P. Taylor was five years old, and then the little daughter went to make her home with her grandmother Har-
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rington. The Harringtons moved to Madison and she and her sister Maude attended college there, both graduating with the class of 1906. Then Mrs. Taylor taught two years in West DePere and one year in southern Colorado. Mr. Harrington's death occurred in 1897. He held various township offices, and he followed farming all his life. Mrs. Harrington now lives in Elkhorn. George H. Ketchpaw, father of Mrs. Ora P. Taylor, now lives in Wyoming. Ora P. Taylor and wife have one child, a little daughter, Dorothy Maude, who was born April 2, 1911. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Masonic lodge at Elkhorn.
THOMAS H. PUGH.
This well known citizen is another of the old soldiers who went out to fight their country's battles a half century ago. What a splendid sight it is at the present day to see a company of these honored veterans go by on Decoration day or the Fourth of July, in their blue uniforms and with their tattered flags flying. But they will all be gone in a few more years, and noth- ing will be left but a memory. That memory should be something more than a sound. Their deeds should be perpetuated in song and story, in monument and perpetual commemoration, so that future generations may draw inspira- tion from their patriotism and gallantry. After an eminently successful, active and useful business career, Mr. Pugh is now living in retirement in his pleasant home in the town of Walworth, in the general development of which he has ever stood ready to assist ; and as a result of his ·public spirit, his genial address and obliging nature he enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him, having a wide acquaintance throughout Walworth county.
Thomas H. Pugli was born in Frankfort, Herkimer county, New York, April 20, 1841. He is the son of Stephen and Mary (Hamer) Pugh, both born near Newton, Wales, of a long line of sterling ancestry, and there they grew up and were married, emigrating to the United States soon after- ward and located in Herkimer county, New York, where they followed farm- ing. In 1850 the family moved to Augusta, Oneida county, that state, and established their home.
Thomas H. Pugh, of this sketch, grew up on the homestead and received such education as the public schools of his day afforded. On December 16, 1863, he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-second New York Cavalry, and was assigned to duty in the Third Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, and, according to his comrades, he proved to be a most faithful
THOMAS H. PUGH
PUBLI
TILDEN KOANDATIONS
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and gallant soldier, seeing much hard service. He was in the battle of the Wilderness, White Oak Swamp, Hanover, Stony Creek, and was on the famous Wilson raid and a number of battles in the Shenandoah valley, in- cluding Winchester, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, Newmarket, Waynesboro, and others, finally joining Grant in front of Richmond and followed up to Appomattox and Lee's surrender. He was discharged at Winchester, August 1, 1865.
After his military career Mr. Pugh returned to Oneida county, New York, and operated the home farm for his mother, his father having died when he was eleven years old. The death of the mother occurred in 1894. To Stephen Pugh and wife were born three sons and six daughters, two of the latter dying in young womanhood.
In 1870 Thomas H. Pugh came west and located in the town of Wal- worth, Wisconsin. He began at the bottom of the ladder, and in order to get a start worked out by the month at farm work. He had not accumulated anything for himself during his residence in New York in view of the fact that he had worked on the home place, assisting in the support of the family. After he had been in Walworth county some time he rented land, which he worked on the shares, and, managing well, he was enabled to buy a farm of his own, of one hundred and sixty acres, in 1880, one mile west of the village of Walworth. This was the place he had been renting. Here he continued to reside until 1887, when he rented his farm and moved to Fremont, Nebraska, where he spent four or five years, then returned to the village of Walworth, and here he held various town and village offices, such as town assessor and village assessor, and president of the village board. He was also secretary and agent of the Walworth Mutual Fire Insurance Company several years. In 1903 he removed to Oklahoma, where he spent about seven months. Returning to Walworth, he remained here until the fall of 1907, then went to South Dakota, in which state he lived two years, then went to Florida, spending two winters and one summer in that genial land of flowers; he then returned to Walworth, where he has since resided. Thus, after a residence here of practically forty-two years, he is deserving of a place in the county's history and to rank as one of her representative citizens.
On September 12, 1871, Mr. Pugh was united in marriage with Mary B. McCarty, daughter of T. McCarty and wife. She was born at Glover, Vermont, and when ten years of age came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, with her uncle, James Sherburne, with the intention of making it her future
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home, and she lived with him until her marriage. This union resulted in the birth of two children, namely: Mrs. Mary G. Brainard, of Walworth : she has one son, Rexford, now nine years old and in school at Walworth; and Frank T. Pugh, now residing in Alberta, Canada, engaged in farming near Edmonton; he is married and has two children, Dorothy and Thomas Holgate Pugh.
The death of Mrs. Thomas H. Pugh occurred on February 15, 191I, while she and Mr. Pugh were in Florida. She is remembered by a wide circle of friends as a woman of amiable disposition, gentle nature and of high mental endowment.
Thomas H. Pugh has figured in numerous enterprises of this commu- nity during his long residence here, and. it should be known that in 1891 he helped organize the Geneva Land Company, that established Glenwood Springs, and he was president of the company two or three years, and had charge of the surveying and laying out the place, building bridges and im- proving the place and was largely responsible for its prestige and its excel- lence. He is to be highly commended for his work in this connection.
For several years he was a member of the executive committee of the Walworth County Agricultural Society, and for a time he was township assessor ; he was often importuned to accept nominations for various offices, and he refused a number of township offices.
WILLIAM THOMAS TAYLOR.
The death of the late William Thomas Taylor, ex-register of deeds of Walworth county, resulted in the loss of one of the county's most highly respected citizens. As the day, with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its evening of completed and successful efforts, ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, so was the life of this honored man. His career was a long, busy and useful one, and he was to the end a genial, kindly friend and gentleman whom it was a pleasure to meet.
Mr. Taylor was born in Lagrange township, Walworth county, Wiscon- sin, January 5. 1852, the son of George and Ann (Crookes) Taylor, the father born in West Riding of Yorkshire, England, January 29, 1826. He was the son of William and Martha (Greaves) Taylor, and the grandson of Joshua and (Butlin) Taylor, and was born July 3, 1799. Ann Crookes
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was born at Dore, Derbyshire, England, October 19, 1833, and she died September 7, 1898. Joshua Taylor was born in 1770 and his wife in 1771. George Taylor and wife came to America soon after their marriage in 1851 and settled on Heart Prairie, Lagrange township, Walworth county, Wiscon- sin, and there Mr. Taylor worked for a Mr. Esterley, who was making and selling reapers. George Taylor had been a cabinetmaker in his earlier life. He also worked as a carpenter for a time after coming here. Later he bought a farm in Lagrange township, near Lagrange Center, but afterwards sold it and bought a farm about a mile and a half northeast of Lagrange Center, where he spent the rest of his life, dying on April 19, 1896.
William T. Taylor grew up on the farm in Lagrange township and he received his education in the local schools, studying at the Whitewater Nor- mal two or three years. He taught school in the winter and worked at the carpenter's trade in the summer, for about ten years. About 1875 he built a store at what is now called Lagrange Center, which he operated until 1889. In 1888 he was elected register of deeds of Walworth county, and took office the following year, and he discharged his duties so faithfully that he was twice re-elected to the same office, filling the office six years. He had pre- viously been township clerk for a number of years while he lived in Lagrange township. After leaving office as register of deeds, during which time he lived in Elkhorn, he returned to Lagrange township and bought a farm which he operated four years, then sold out and purchased a farm a mile south of Elkhorn, where he continued farming until April 26, 1906, the time of his death. Mr. Taylor was a Mason and stood high in the lodge.
On March 20, 1877, occurred the marriage of William T. Taylor and Eliza Alice Phelps, daughter of James Harper Phelps and Hannah (Loxley) Phelps. She was born near Whitewater, this county, January 12, 1859. Her parents came here in 1857 or earlier, from Worcestershire, England. They were married on December 31, 1847, at Hallow, Worcester, in the parish of Grimley. Hannah Loxley was the daughter of Thomas and Phoebe ( Hay- ward) Loxley. Phoebe Hayward was the daughter of William Hayward. James Harper Phelps was a maker of shoes when shoes were made by hand to order. He moved into Whitewater about 1859 and there spent the rest of his life, dying on November 19, 1862. After his death his widow and chil- dren moved to Mason City, Iowa, where Mrs. Taylor lived until her marriage to Mr. Taylor. Her mother died in that city on January 7, 1876.
Three children were born to William T. Taylor and wife, namely : Bertha Inez, born January 26, 1879, married Charles H. Bromely, December
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22, 1909, and lives in Lagrange township, where her father started in the merchandise business; she has one son, William Edward, born May 28, 1911. Ora Phelps Taylor, next in order, is farming just south of Elkhorn, and a sketch of him appears elsewhere in this work. Loxley Crookes Taylor, the youngest daughter, was born March 5, 1893, and is now attending a girls' boarding school at Columbia, South Carolina. William T. Taylor loved hunting and outdoor sports and was a practical naturalist. He made friends easily and was a strong character in every sense of the word.
ANGEVINE D. LOWELL.
In the course of a long, industrious and interesting life Angevine D. Lowell. now living in retirement in his splendid new modern home in Sharon, Walworth county, has learned many valuable lessons and has been of great help to those with whom he has come into contact. He has kept abreast of the times as much as possible, realizing at the outset that the wisdom of yes- terday is often the folly of today and that "old occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth, and that we must upward still and onward." And no doubt much of his material success has been due to the fact that he has been an advocate of progress in all lines, material, civic and moral, and has labored to this end in his native locality. He has thus been an interested spectator to the wonderful growth that has taken place in Walworth county, for he has spent his life right here at home and has witnessed the far-reaching forests of pine, fir, tamarack and hemlock give way to as fine a farming com- munity as the great Badger state can boast. He represents one of our worthy . pioneer families, the Lowells having established their permanent home here when it took courage and hardihood to stand the test.
Mr. Lowell was born on June 9, 1849, in Sharon township, this county. He is the son of Abram B. and Anna M. (Seever) Lowell, who were born in Decatur, New York, where they grew up and married, and there they con- tinued to reside until 1844, when they came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and settled in Sharon township, taking up eighty acres of government land. They made a little clearing and erected their log cabin, and went to work with a will, and in due course of time they had the land improved and under cul- tivation and a comfortable home established, and here they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying on June 11, 1902, at an advanced age, having survived his wife some thirty-three years, her death having occurred on May 7, 1869. They were the parents of eleven children.
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Angevine D. Lowell, of this review, grew to manhood on the home farm, where he assisted with the general work during his boyhood. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of his native district and at the Sharon Academy. After the death of his father he came into possession of the old homestead. This he has kept well tilled and well improved, so that it has retained its original fertility, and he has added to the original eighty, seventy-seven acres, making him now one of the choice farms of the com- munity, consisting of one hundred and fifty-seven acres, all in section 30, Sharon township. He has devoted his life to general farming and stock raising and has met with a fair measure of success all along the line, so that. having laid by a competency, he has recently retired from the active duties of life, moving to the town of Sharon, where he had erected an attractive, com- modious and modernly appointed home.
Politically, Mr. Lowell is a Prohibitionist, but he has never been es- pecially active in party affairs. In religious matters he belongs to the Metho- dist Episcopal church.
Mr. Lowell was united in marriage with Juvontia Kinyon on January 29, 1873. She is the daughter of Joseph T. and Catherine ( Merrill) Kinyon. a highly respected family of this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Lowell four children have been born, named as follows: Mrs. Leola E. Clement, who lives in Austin, Maine; Lloyd S. lives in Sharon, this county ; Marzo T. is a clerk in the employ of the Northwestern Railroad Company; Glenn F. lives in Sharon. These children all received good educations in the local schools and are well situated in life.
FREMONT P. PRAMER.
One of our retired farmers who has lived to see his early plans culmi- nate in success, because they were carefully laid and adroitly carried out is Fremont P. Pramer, of the town of Sharon, Walworth county, a man whose life record has been without blemish, he having sought to keep untarnished the excellent name of the pioneer family which he represents.
Mr. Pramer was born on January 16, 1863, in Sharon township, this county. He is the son of George H. and Melvina (Clapper ) Pramer, the former born in Carlisle, Schoharie county, New York, August II, 1828, and when a child he came with his parents and eleven brothers and sisters to Wal- worth county, Wisconsin, settling in Sharon township, in pioneer days, and
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here he devoted his life to farming. George H. Pramer continued to operate the home place after his father's death, finally moving to the town of Sharon, where his death occurred on April 5, 1904. He was married, first, to Mar- garet E. Merrill, on March 22, 1850. Her death occurred on July 8, 1857. On December 25, 1859, Mr. Pramer was married to Amanda M. Clapper, who still lives in Sharon. Two sons were born of the latter union, Fremont P., of this sketch, and Ray, a contractor in Sharon.
Fremont P. Pramer received his education in the district schools of Sharon township and he has devoted his life to farming, now owning one hundred and thirty-five acres of excellent land, eighty acres lying in Rock county, and fifty-five in Sharon township, Walworth county. Having accu- mulated a competency through his close application and good management, he retired from the active duties of life and moved to the town of Sharon in the spring of 1896, where he has a pleasant home.
Mr. Pramer is a member of the city council of Sharon. He was mar- shal for two years, and he was superintendent of the water works for seven years. He is a Republican and belongs to the Mystic Workers.
Mr. Pramer was married to Katie A. Klein on July 1, 1886, the daugh- ter of Peter and Sophia (Peters) Klein, both natives of Germany, he having emigrated to the United States in 1847 and settled in Albany, New York. After remaining there a year he came on to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1848 and bought a farm in Sharon township, which he operated until his death. He was born in Walhambach, canton Donlinger, Alsace, Germany, September 1, 1827, and his death occurred here on April 18, 1908. His wife was born in Weislinger, Alsace, Germany, on July 24, 1836, and she died in Sharon township, on January II, 1905. One child has been born to the subject and wife, Ethel Iva, whose birth occurred on August 12, 1892. She is at home with her parents.
FRED JULIUS SMITH.
Among the enterprising farmers and representative citizens of Wal- worth county who have been pleased to devote their energies to agricultural pursuits in their native community is Fred Julius Smith, of Lyons township, a man widely and favorably known for his intelligence, especially in modern farming, and for the wisdom with which he has directed his life, as well as the noble purposes and high ideals he has ever had in view and sought to
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impress upon those closely associated with hin. He therefore merits the high regard in which he is universally held.
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