USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 3
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Mr. Lawrie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. November 26. 1855. He is the son of Adam and Marian (Tate) Lawrie, and he grew to manhood near that city and there received his education, and there learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for about ten years. When about twenty-five years of age he came to America, and after spending nearly three months in northern Michigan, he came to Chicago, then lived for a time at Elgin, Illinois. but soon returned to Chicago. While there he was engaged to work in building one of the large summer residences at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and he came here in the fall of 1881, and, being favorably impressed with the future as well as the beauty of the place, has since resided here. continuing carpentering. and for the past ten years has been contracting on his own account. He has erected or assisted in the erection of many of the substantial and attractive residences, business houses and public buildings in this locality, which will long stand as monuments to his skill as a builder.
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Mr. Lawrie was married in November, 1882, to Annie Robinson Viphan, daughter of George Viphan and wife. She was born in Lincolnshire, Eng- land, and there spent her girlhood, emigrating to the United States when eighteen years of age, with her parents, who located in Walworth county, Wisconsin.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lawrie five children have been born, namely : Charles Douglass, who died when twenty-two years of age; Edna is the wife of Leo Chase, of Lake Geneva, and they have two children, Marian and Ethel; Marian, third child of the subject and wife, married Grover Kull, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Arthur is attending college at Beloit; Ethiel, the youngest child, died when thirteen years of age.
The mother of the above named children was called to her rest in April, 1898. In May, 1908, Mr. Lawrie was united in marriage with Sarah Lloyd, who was born in Yorkshire, England, and came to Chicago when a child and there grew to womanhood.
Mr. Lawrie is not a party man in politics, but he was at one time elected on an independent ticket for city treasurer of Lake Geneva, the position con- ing unsought, and he filled it most creditably. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen, and he and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.
ANDREW W. HAFS.
One of the leading agriculturists and public spirited citizens of the vicin- ity of Genoa Junction is Andrew W. Hafs, a man who has kept well abreast of the times in all that pertains to his vocation, having believed in doing well whatever was worth doing at all, from his youth up, and it is this adherence to thoroughness and system that has won him a very substantial material suc- cess and rendered him a man of influence in his county.
Mr. Hafs was born in the town of Wheatland, Kenosha county, Wiscon- sin, September 1, 1865. He is the son of Herman and Johanna (Vogt) Hafs, both natives of Pomerania, Germany, where they spent their earlier years, finally emigrating to Canada, and from there to Kenosha county, Wis- consin, in 1862, and there rented a farm. After renting for some years on two or three different places, they purchased a farm in Randall township. that county, near Powers lake, and there they lived about eight years, becoming very comfortably established through their industry. About 1874 they bought
(50)
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a farm of one hundred and forty acres in sections 10 and II, Bloomfield town- ship, Walworth county, and later purchased eighty acres adjoining them on the south where they made their home, and there the death of the mother occurred on November 17, 1891.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Herman Hafs, one of whom, a son, died in infancy before the family left Canada; Mary died when about two years old; Bertha grew to womanhood, married John Radeeg and lived in Randall township, Kenosha county, until her death in September, 1898; An- drew W., of this sketch; Amelia is the wife of Frank White and lives at Genoa Junction; Emma married John H. Berger and also lives at Genoa Junction.
Andrew W. Hafs, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm where he assisted with the work when a boy, and he received his education in the common schools. In June, 1889, he was united in marriage with Clara Kohls, daughter of William and Wilhelmina (Bartz) Kohls. She was born near Burlington, this state. Her parents came from Germany and were among the very first settlers in the locality of Burlington. Upon reaching Chicago from the old country they found a straggling hamlet in a semi-swamp. The nearest settlement was at Kenosha, then called Southport, and they were com- pelled to drive there to market, making the trip with ox teams. They endured all the hardships incident to pioneer life, and here they spent the rest of their days. There Mrs. Hafs grew to womanhood, was educated, and lived until her marriage.
After his marriage Mr. Hafs spent five years on the farm where his father had located upon first coming to this county, in sections 10 and II, Bloomfield township. He then purchased a farm of one hundred and forty acres in section II, of Donald Forbes, which has been his home ever since. It is noticeable as a neat, well-kept and pleasant place. He has purchased the old homestead of his father, which he has placed under a high state of improvement and cultivation, and he is now the owner of three hundred and sixty acres of valuable and very productive land on which he carries on general farming and stock raising in a manner that stamps him as one of the up- to-date farmers of the county.
Mr. Hafs has been influential in political matters for some time, and he has held several township offices, such as a member of the board of super- visors, justice of the peace and he is now township clerk. As a public servant he has performed his duties in a faithful and most acceptable manner.
Mr. Hafs makes a specialty of raising high grade Holstein cattle and White hogs, at which he has been quite successful, and he is frequently called
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upon at farmers' institutes to talk on the subject of successful breeding and stock raising, in which he is exceptionally well versed.
Mr. Hafs and wife are the parents of two children, Oscar H. W. and Florence Aurora, both attending high school at Genoa Junction, where they are making excellent records.
Mr. Hafs and his family belong to the Lutheran church at Slades Corn- ers, and no family in this part of the county stands higher in the community than they.
HERMAN MALSCH.
One of the most progressive of the summer generation of business men in Walworth county and one of the most deserving is Herman Malsch, a rep- resentative of one of our most highly esteemed families, and his birth oc- curred at Springfield, this county, on November 1, 1874. He is the son of John Frederick and Christina (Rader) Malsch, the father being generally known as "Fred" Malsch. He came from Saxe-Meiningen, Germany, about 1865 and located near Springfield, Wisconsin. In Germany he grew to man- hood and married, and his wife died before he left the old country. Here he was married a second time, his last wife being Christina Rader, who was from the same part of Germany in which he was reared. The father of the subject was a mason by trade, as was also the paternal grandfather, who did a great deal of contracting. Fred Malsch established a good home at Springfield, where he spent the rest of his life, dying in May, 1900, and there his widow still resides. The subject has one brother, Andrew, who is in the Moore hardware store at Lake Geneva.
Herman Malsch grew to manhood at Springfield and when about four- teen years of age he began learning the mason's trade with his father. In 1892 and 1893 he took a position in a store, but gave it up after a year and a half to resume his trade as a mason. Early in life he began taking contracts in a small way. In 1895 he and Edward C. Reinert formed a partnership for doing all kinds of concrete and masonry work at Lake Geneva. In 1906 they took in another partner, William Baumbach, under the firm name of the Cement Stone & Brick Manufacturing Company. They have pushed this business and added various lines which are related to those they originally had, including the building of silos of cement blocks, in which they are doing a very extensive and rapidly growing business. This is one of the best known firms of its kind in southern Wisconsin and would be a credit to any commun-
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ity. They are well equipped with every modern appliance and apparatus for prompt and high grade work and only skilled workmen are employed.
In the fall of 1909 the firm began the building of their present superb plant in Lake Geneva, a two-story building of cement block with a basement, the building being fifty by one hundred feet with an office added that is twenty- four by fifty feet, built of their new granite-finish concrete block, which has almost the exact appearance of real stone of a high grade.
Herman Malsch was married on November 25, 1900, to Nina Johnson, daughter of David and Miranda Abigail (Bogardus) Johnson, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work. She was born in North Geneva, this county, and her parents were from Albany, New York. They lived in Illinois for some time, then, about 1877, came on to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and located on a farm in North Geneva and here became well established. Six children have been born to the subject and wife, namely : Rose Arlene, Floyd, Alvan, Donald Everett, Glenn and Harvey. Rose Arlene and Donald Everett died in infancy. Mr. Malsch belongs to the Mystic Workers.
JOHN BOLTZ.
By a life of persistent and well applied industry led along the most hon- orable lines, the gentleman whose name appears above has justly earned the right to be represented in a work of the character of the one at hand, along with the other men of Walworth county who have made their influence felt in their respective localities.
John Boltz, a successful farmer of Lagrange township, was born in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, October 22, 1866. He is the son of Andrew and Amelia (Miller) Boltz, both natives of Germany, the father born on April 2, 1830, and the mother in April, 1829. There they grew to maturity and were educated. Andrew Boltz emigrated to America in 1853 and settled in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, and later Amelia Miller came, and they were married there in 1860. They found a good home in the new country and there reared their five children, four of whom are living at this writing. These parents owned seventy-seven acres of land in Jefferson county, and there the father is living retired, his wife having died in 1889. In politics he is a Democrat and a member of the Catholic church.
John Boltz, of this review, was reared on the home farm and was edu- cated in the district schools and early in life he turned his attention to farm- ing. He came to Walworth county in 1888 and worked out in order to get a
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start and in 192 he bought the farm in Lagrange township of one hundred and fifty-six acres, which he still owns and on which he has made a very comfortable living as a general farmer and dairyman, always keeping an excellent grade of live stock.
Politically, Mr. Boltz is a Republican, but he has never made an effort to be a leader in the affairs of his community. He was married in 1896 to Minnie Helena Winn, who was born in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, Decem- ber II, 1876, the daughter of John H. Winn, a farmer of Lagrange town- ship. To the subject and wife have been born one son, Leroy J., whose birth occurred on September 25, 1905. The Boltz family have all been character- ized for their thrift and industry.
FRANCIS M. HIGGINS.
The newspaper profession in Walworth county has an able and worthy representative in the person of Francis M. Higgins, editor of the News at Lake Geneva, whose success since locating here has won him a high place among his contemporaries and many admirers in the city and county for his straightforward and public-spirited policy, and his influence has been for the general upbuilding of this locality in every way possible, for he evidently has unswerving faith in its future and its interests at heart.
Mr. Higgins was born in LaSalle county, Illinois, May 23, 1861. He is the son of James and Ellen (Egan) Higgins, the father born in county Donegal, Ireland, and was there reared and educated, emigrating to America in 1837, and located in LaSalle county, Illinois, in 1838. He was a stone cutter and there he assisted in building culverts and viaducts on the Illinois & Michigan canal, and he was living there when he married Ellen Egan, a native of county Mayo, Ireland, who came to America when young and at the time of her marriage was living at Joliet, Illinois. When these parents came to northern Illinois they found a wild, sparsely settled prairie. James Higgins took a prominent part in public affairs, in organization and general civic duties in LaSalle county, of which he was commissioner at the time the county was laid off as a separate county. He bought land and turned his attention to farming. His family consisted of twelve children, all born and reared on the farm in LaSalle county. The death of James Higgins occurred in 1889: his widow is still living, being now eighty-seven years of age. After spending fifty-five years on the home farm, she moved to Seneca, Illinois, in 1905, where she still resides:
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Francis M. Higgins grew up on the home farm on which he worked when a boy, attending the district schools in the winter time, later attending the Grundy County Normal at Morris, Illinois. When nineteen years of age he obtained a certificate to teach school and he taught near home during the winters for several years. In 1884 he went to Kansas, where he spent six years, part of the time in Nebraska, handling horses. Returning to the home farm in LaSalle county, Illinois, he remained there five years, managing the same in partnership with his brother, then he bought a newspaper at Seneca and has been in the newspaper business ever since. In 1899 he leased the plant of the Fair Dealer, a newspaper at Ottawa, Illinois, and he remained at that place until the spring of 1903. In October of that year he came to Wis- consin and took the management of the Lake Geneva News, and here he has continued his efforts to the present time. He has made his paper an important factor in local affairs, increased its circulation constantly, rendered it valuable as an advertising medium and brightened very materially its mechanical ap- pearance.
Mr. Higgins has long taken an active interest in politics, and before leav- ing Illinois he took a hand in public affairs. He is at present chairman of the Republican county central committee of Walworth county. He is president of the Wisconsin League of Progressive Republican Newspapers. He is also a member of the executive committee of the State Progressive League. He is heart and soul for the progressive movement, believing it to be the fight for the people, although he was reared a Democrat and was with that party in his earlier career.
Mr. Higgins was married in 1895, at Seneca, Illinois, to Katherine Mc- Cormick, daughter of James and Johanna (Sheedy) McCormick. She was a native of LaSalle county, Illinois, and her death occurred in 1902, leaving three children, Mildred, Florence and Francis. She was a member of the Catholic church, to which her children and Mr. Higgins also belong. In 1904 Mr. Higgins was united in marriage with Mrs. Cora (Gifford) Hanscom, daughter of E. P. and Marietta (Chapin) Gifford, and widow of P. L. Hans- com, deceased. She was born in Walworth county, of which her parents were early settlers. Her mother was born on the "Maple Glen Farm," near Lake Geneva, seventy years ago. Her father came here from New York about 1840, being among the very early settlers. Mrs. Higgins had one daughter by her former marriage, Winnifred. Her first husband, Mr. Hanscom, died in 1901.
Mr. Higgins' hobby is scientific agriculture. Before leaving Illinois he spent a week each year at the state agricultural experiment station, and he
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has endeavored ever since to disseminate knowledge and arouse interest in experiment work along these lines. He gives much time to farmers' insti- tute work and in organizing corn contests, distributing seeds, etc. He is well read, keeps fully abreast of the times in all scientific and research work as well as the world's best literature, and he is known as an earnest worker for any cause which he espouses.
JAMES HENRY CAMP.
James Henry 'Camp, retired druggist of Delavan, and a well known citi- zen of Walworth county, belongs to that class of substantial men whose lives do not show any meteoric effects, but who, by their support of moral, political and social status for the general good, promote the real welfare of their respective communities, and are therefore deserving of honorable mention on the pages of a county history. He is now advanced in years, having come down to us from the pioneer epoch. He has, however, had the advantages of a good home education, and industrious habits have brought him a fair success in life.
Mr. Camp was born in the village of Vernon, Oneida county, New York, November 28, 1828. He is the son of James and Laura (Andrews) Camp, and the grandson of John and Roxy (Stoddard) Camp. Roxy Stoddard was the daughter of Eli Stoddard, who was the son of Thomas Stoddard, son of Nathaniel and Eunis (Standish) Stoddard. Eunis Standish was the daugh- ter of Capt. Miles Standish, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, one of the Pilgrims and first settlers of the old Bay state. James Camp, father of James Il. Camp, was born January I, 1798. Laura (Andrews) Camp, mother of J. H. Camp, was the daughter of Mr. Andrews, who was a soldier in the war of 1812.
James Camp, father of the subject, was originally a cabinet-maker, later becoming an organ builder. When his son, James H., was six years old, the family moved to Perry, Wyoming county, New York, and there the father began the manufacture of organs, removing, a few years later, to Nunda, Liv- ingston county, that state, continuing the manufacturing of organs for a number of years.
When eleven years old the subject returned to Vernon as clerk in a drug store owned by his cousin, James Turner, remaining there about a year, and even at that early age he became interested in political affairs, his sympathies being with the Whigs, and as his employer, Mr. Turner, was an ardent Demo-
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crat, they frequently had some hot arguments. The only disagreement which the subject later regretted was when he wished to go and hear Daniel Web- ster speak at Utica in the political campaign of 1844 and Mr. Turner refused his permission, thus the boy lost his opportunity to hear the Great Ex- pounder of the Constitution. In a year he returned to Nunda, where he re- mained fifteen years, clerking a number of years for the Remington drug store, eventually buying out his employer. In 1856 he sold out his drug business and moved to Milwaukee, where he remained about two years in a wholesale drug store, moving, in October, 1857, to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where he started the first exclusively drug store in that city, and where later his broth- er-in-law, C. H. Britton, joined. After remaining there several years he sold to Britton and went to Janesville, where he bought the drug store of Tall- man & Collins in partnership with Orange Williams, purchasing his partner's interest four months later, and continued to run the store about two years, selling out soon after Lee's surrender, in the spring of 1865, and came to Delavan, where he has since resided. Here he bought the drug store of Cyrenius McKee and remained in business here about thirty-eight years, building up a good trade with the surrounding country and becoming one of the oldest druggists in this part of the state, and thus completing sixty-two years in the drug business. In his youth he read medicine but never practiced.
It is worthy of note that it was in Camp & Britton's drug store in Elk- horn, Wisconsin, that Joseph H. Webster began writing the music of his famous song, "Sweet Bye and Bye," Doctor Bennett assisting with the words.
Mr. Camp was married, first, to Lucy (Angier ) Britton, in Nunda, New York, December 17, 1851. She was the daughter of Surranus and Priscilla (Russell) Britton. Six children were born of this marriage, namely: Frank Britton Camp, who died when nineteen years old; Laura Priscilla, who mar- ried Harrison Kay, lives in Chicago and has one son, Leonard James ; Anna Maria married Frederick Lindeman, lives in Delavan and has one daughter, Ruth Camp; John William, who is engaged in the drug business at Council Bluffs, Iowa, married Flora Ellis and has one son, George Britton; George Frederick, also engaged in the drug business in Council Bluffs, married Flora Jeffers ; James Lincoln, who died when one year old, and Lucy Adelle, who married James S. Parsons and lives in Delavan.
The mother of the above named children passed to her rest on March 27, 1884, and on October 8, 1885, James H. Camp was united in marriage with Mrs. Susan ( Marsh) Kellog, widow of Edson Kellog, of Whitewater. She had been a widow twenty years when she and Mr. Camp were married; they had been schoolmates at Nunda. She was a daughter of Daniel Marsh. of Canandaigua, New York. Her death occurred on March 15, 1901.
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Although past eighty-three years of age, Mr. Camp is remarkably well preserved and he takes a delight in hunting trips in the northern part of the state and the Dakotas. He reads without glasses and his other faculties are good. He is a writer of some ability, and many of his stories of the early days, published under the title, "Some Recollections of an Octogenarian." possess a certain interest, having been culled from a long life of experience, and retentive memory especially of War of the Rebellion incidents as occurring at home. He recalls the fact that on his first Sunday in Elkhorn he and his wife attended church and were surprised to find the congregation all young people, no gray heads among them. But few of that congregation remain this side of the Great Beyond.
FRANK S. MOORE.
The business career of Frank S. Moore, the popular ex-postmaster of Lake Geneva, Walworth county, and now a successful hardware merchant of that city, is one that should encourage others to press on to greater achieve- ments ; for when a boy he set to work to overcome all difficulties that might lay in his path to success and the high standing which he now enjoys is the result. Earnest labor, unabating perseverance, a laudable ambition and good management are the elements by which he has ascended the steeps.
Mr. Moore was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, on the 27th of October, 1854. He is the son of Charles and Harriet (Clark) Moore. The father died when the subject was five years of age. He and his wife came overland from the state of New York in an early day and located at Beloit, passing through Lake Geneva on their way, the latter being a mere hamlet with but one hotel at that time. After the father's death, the mother and three children went to Freeport, Illinois, and lived there about six years, then went on a farm near Lena, that state, where they remained about seven years, then Frank S. ' Moore went to Lena and learned the tinner's trade, remaining there three years. His next move was to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he spent two years working at his trade. In 1870 he came to Lake Geneva and took a position as tinner with the firm of Briggs & Ingham, tinners and hardware merchants. The firm later changed to Smith & Ingham. Five or six years after he came to this city Mr. Moore succeeded Mr. Smith in the firm and later bought out his partner's interest, and has continued the business alone ever since, enjoying an extensive patronage, his trade extending over a wide territory. In 1903 he erected a handsome, substantial building for his plant
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and store, the upper part of the structure being used for the offices and plant of the News. He keeps a large and carefully selected stock of goods and his prices are always right. He has long been considered an expert at the tinner's business.
Mr. Moore has long taken an active part in public affairs, being an ardent Republican. He has served two terms as alderman and also two terms as mayor of Lake Geneva, during which he did many commendable things, his efforts resulting in much permanent good to the vicinity. He was postmaster of the local office from May 10, 1906, to May 15, 1911, giving the utmost sat- isfaction to the people and the department. As a public servant he always discharged his duties earnestly and faithfully. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He has passed through all the chairs and has long been active and influential in the same.
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