USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 36
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George Vernon Weeks was the fourth son of Spencer Weeks, and is now the only one of his children living. He was born in Darien, New York. March 13, 1838. On October 26, 1859, he was united in marriage with Eliza Leadbetter Goodrich. He has devoted his life to farming and he now lives in Lyons. He is a musician of ability, and his life has won him a wide circle of friends, owing to his uprightness and public spirit lle has three children. Winthrop Goodrich, Shirley Spencer and Robert Dale.
Of the daughters of Spencer Weeks, Almena married Giles Anthony Waite and died in 1853 in Milwaukee: Maria married Lester Vantine, a brother of Otis's wife, and died April 5, 1859: Elvira married Joseph Ellicott Wait and they lived in Lyons until his demise: Eliza J. married Lorenzo
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Weeks, and she died on February 15, 1855: Sophia married Clarkson Morris Ross, and she died on July 5. 1869 ; Harriet married Lorenzo Dow Fonda and lived at Whitewater until her death.
The death of Spencer Weeks occurred on November 5, 1859, his widow surviving until February 10, 1883.
JOHN L. VOSS.
A painstaking and successful farmer and stock raiser of the southern part of Walworth county, who is deserving of the success that has attended his efforts, is John L. Voss, another of the thrifty citizens from northern Ger- many, one of that large horde of immigrants that has done so much for the upbuilding of our county and to whom we have ever extended a hearty wel- come.
Mr. Voss was born in Stralsund, Pommern, Germany, January II, 1872, and is the son of William and Johanna ( Strandt) Voss. In 1881 the family came to the United States and located in Walworth township, Walworth county, Wisconsin. About 1890 William Voss bought eighty acres of land in Linn township where Herman Schutt now resides. He continued farming there and and afterwards bought another eighty, making a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and here he became very comfortably established through hard work and close application to his individual affairs. With the exception of a year or two spent in the village of Walworth, he lived there the rest of his life. His death occurred in the fall of 1895. After this event his wife stayed on the homestead a year, then moved to Walworth where she has since lived, having a very comfortable home here.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. William Voss, named as fol- lows: Charlie lives two miles east of Oak Grove, Illinois; William lives in the village of Walworth; John L., subject of this sketch; Minnie is the wife of Herman Schutt, a farmer of Linn township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
John E. Voss spent his boyhood on the home farm and when of proper age he began working out. He received such education as he could in the public schools.
In February, 1896, Mr. Voss was united in marriage with Bertha Peters, daughter of Christian and Louise ( Fisher) Peters. She was born in Alden township, McHenry county, Illinois. Her people were also from Stralsund, Pommern, Germany.
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After his marriage Mr. Voss farmed the home place for one year, then operated John Lawson's farm in Walworth township for three years. He then lived on the Fritz Weber farm for five years, in the same township, at the outskirts of the village. In the fall of 1909 he purchased the farm where he lives at present, in section 4, Walworth township. He has an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres, well improved, good house and outbuild- ings, and he keeps a good grade of live stock. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John L. Voss, Margaret and Gladys.
Mr. Voss is a member of the Modern Woodmen, and he attends and supports the German Evangelical church of Walworth.
WILLIAM SCHULZ.
Whenever we find, in passing through a country new to us, a German settlement, we at once know that here is thrift, here are clean, quiet homes. good farms and, in every respect, an admirable neighborhood. The Germans have certainly done a great work in the development of Walworth county. . for they began casting their lots within its borders soon after the government placed its lands on sale here, and, having increased with succeeding years. there is now quite a large portion of the county's residents of German origin. Of this number, the Schulz family of Geneva township is deserving of men- tion, and the career of William Schulz is especially noted.
Mr. Schulz was born in Brandenburg, Germany, September 29, 1858. He is the son of Fred and Lizzie (Hahn) Schulz, an old family of the father- land. William Schulz grew to manhood in his native country and there re- ceived his education in the common schools, spending his boyhood on a farm. He was married when twenty-two years old to Minnie Steffen, of Branden- burg, daughter of Fred Steffen and wife. Her mother was named Schulz before her marriage, but she was no relation of William Schulz.
In March, 1882, Mr. and Mrs. Schulz emigrated to America, coming first to Twin Lakes. Wisconsin, but after remaining there six months, moved to Burlington, this state, where he rented a farm on which he remained three years, thereby getting a good start. Then he moved to Geneva township. Walworth county, and rented a farm in sections 23 and 24. Six years later he bought the place and there established the family home, and here he has been very successful as a general farmer, making many important improve- ments on the place and keeping it well tilled and the soil up to its original fertility.
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Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schulz, one of whom, Herman, owns one hundred acres immediately west of his father's farm, and on this the subject now lives, renting out his home place; Annie is the wife of Emil Papenfus, a farmer of Geneva township, a sketch of whom appears else- where in this work; Emma is the wife of Charles Weed and lives on the Sey- mour farm, in section 24, Geneva township; Minnie is the wife of H. J. Grief and lives on his farm in section II; they have three children, Allen, Earl and Mildred; William married Katie Schwanz and lives on Mr. Schulz's farm, and they have one son, Alvin; Thelma now lives in Lake Geneva; Otto is working on the farm of his brother-in-law, Charles Weed; Augusta and Martha are at home.
The subject is a quiet, industrious and well liked gentleman, who has been raised to work and save his money and he is, in turn, teaching his children to be frugal and economical, and as a result they give promise of successful futures.
ISAAC STOPPLE, SR.
As the name would imply, the Stopple family is of Hollandish origin, and the subject of this sketch, Isaac Stopple, Sr., now deceased, seemed to in- herit much of their traditional thrift and fortitude, for, through a long lapse of years, he labored to successful ends and was one of the best farmers in his community in Walworth county, having made his own property unaided, com- ing to a strange land with strange customs and manners, but imbued with an ambition to succeed.
Mr. Stopple was born at Santafier, Holland, June 27, 1815, and there he grew to manhood, emigrating to America when young, landing in New York, in which city he remained seven years. On December 22, 1848, he married Susanna Roebel. She was born March 18, 1827, in Holland, and after re- ceiving an education in her own language she came to America and settled in the state of New York about 1847. In March, 1849, the spring after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Stopple came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and estab- lished their home near there, where they carried on gardening. In the winter of 1874 and 1875 they came to Walworth county and settled on a farm in the east part of Walworth township, in section 30, and in 1885 they bought an- other farm over the line in Linn township, which was their home from that time until their deaths. They purchased another farm south of that in 1894. Through industry and economy they became well-to-do and had a finely im-
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proved farm and a comfortable home. Five children were born to them, one of whom died in infancy. The four living are, Isaac, Jr., who owns the home farm, which he operates; Herman owns and operates the farm south of the original homestead in Linn township; Elizabeth owns the part the family had in Walworth township and lives there with Isaac; Josephine, who married Lewis A. Crawford, lived in the east part of Walworth township until April, I9II, where Mr. Crawford owned a fine farm; they now live in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The death of Mrs. Isaac Stopple, Sr., occurred on February 13, 1904. She had been a most faithful life companion, a noble mother and earnest Christian. Her happiest hours were when the members of her family were around her to listen to her reading the Scriptures out of the old family Bible. This was a pleasant duty with her, and she loved and cared unselfishly for her family and home. After her death Mr. Stopple led a lonely life, but the kindness of the children was a source of consolation and he was the recipient of every attention from them until his death, on December 18, 1905, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, five months and twenty-one days. His neighbors and friends speak of him as a man who did not have a fault, and always per- formed his full duty to his family and all with whom he came into contact, believing in carrying into his every-day life the tangible principles of the Golden Rule. He was scrupulously honest, industriously and financially suc- cessful. At his death he left three well improved and valuable farms at the township line of Linn and Walworth townships, besides other desirable prop- erty.
JACOB CHRISTIAN FREY.
In touching upon the life history of Jacob Christian Frey, well known citizen of Geneva township, Walworth county, the writer aims to avoid fulsome encomium and extravagant praise ; yet he desires to hold up for con- sideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, useful and honorable life-a life characterized by perseverance, energy, broad charity and well defined purpose. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum pro- nounced upon the man by the people who have known him long and well.
Mr. Frey was born in Baden, Germany. April 12, 1852. He is the son of Michael John and Johanna ( Stolzenberger) Frey, and he is one of a family of five children, three sons and two daughters, namely : Elizabeth, deceased ; William Carl is now living in Nebraska: Christena married Charles Oberst
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and she lives at Elgin, Illinois, he being deceased; Jacob C., of this sketch; Charles lives in Chicago.
When the subject was fourteen years of age the family emigrated to America and settled at Dundee, Illinois. The voyage to this country was a very trying one, requiring three months. They had sold their household effects and engaged passage on a steamer, but it was too crowded and they took passage on a sailing vessel; they were delayed by storms in the English Channel for twenty-eight days. They sailed the southern circuit, around through the tropics, and were becalmed many weeks in mid ocean.
When but a boy the subject went to work as a farm hand in Illinois, continuing thus for nine years, mostly on farms near Elgin. Then returned to one of the farms on which he had previously worked and rented it for two years, after which he began farming for himself. After he was there two year she bought the place, which consisted of eighty-five acres, and he con- tinued to operate the same ten years after purchasing it, trading it in 1886 for a place in Walworth county, Wisconsin, and here he has since resided, owning the southwest quarter of section 20, Geneva township, consisting of two hundred acres, known as the "Maple Grove Farin," one of the most at- tractive and best improved in the township. He has here devoted his energies to general farming and stock raising for the past twenty-five years.
Mr. Frey was married on January 10, 1878. to Elizabeth Ott, daughter of Jacob and Frederica (Hager) Ott. She was born near Barrington, Cook county, Illinois. Her father was from Bavaria and her mother from Mecklen- burg-Schwerin, Germany.
Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frey, all of whom are living, namely: Henry, who married Emma Ziettlow, has one son, Elmer ; Henry Frey owns one hundred and twenty acres across the road from his father's place. George Frey, who married Susie Roth, lives in Delavan town- ship. where he owns one hundred and fifty-six acres and he has two children, Bernita and Vida. Theodore, Melvina, Luella, Leo, Malinda and Elsie are all at home.
Mr. Frey and family belong to the Evangelical association, of which he is trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school at Delavan. Mr. Frey still has a vivid memory of the old country, and talks very interestingly of conditions and customs there as compared with ours. He was reared in the great fruit and wine country near the famous Black Forest. He has worked hard and has made his own property by honest dealing as well as industry.
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
JOHN G. MEADOWS.
We are glad to give specific mention to such worthy citizens of Walworth county as John G. Meadows, of Lyons, now living retired at Lyons after an active life as a general farmer in this vicinity. He has been loyal to this, his adopted country, for he hails from "merrie England," from whence have come so many of our sterling citizens. He even sacrificed his time and offered his life, if need be, for the preservation of the Union during its days of peril fifty years ago.
Mr. Meadows was born in 1839 at Bent, England, and he is the son of George and Elizabeth (Greenwood) Meadows, both natives of England, the father born on December 26, 1804, and the mother on June 5. 1805. The father died on January 20, 1886, and the mother is also deceased. George Meadows and wife grew up and were married in their native country and there they remained until about 1841 when they brought their family to America. first settling near New Hartford, New York, where they lived for a short time, then moved to Burlington Flats, Oswego county, where they lived about four years. They then moved to Lyons, Walworth county, in 1855, where the father bought two hundred and eighty-six acres one and one-half miles from town, and this he put in a high state of cultivation. He finally sold the place to two of his sons, who divided it, and moved to Burlington where he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living. The father was a Republican in politics. He was a successful farmer and led a quiet life.
John G. Meadows grew to manhood on his father's farm and received his education in the district schools, which was limited to about three months each winter. In 1861 he enlisted in the Ninth Wisconsin Battery, Light Artillery, and he served very gallantly in the Federal army for three years, three months and twenty-six days. He was in the battles of Blue River and Weston, Missouri. He was made duty sergeant when he enlisted. He was sent home on recruiting service by special order No. 209, dated "District of Colorado, Denver, December 22, 1863." He was discharged at the expira- tion of his term of enlistment, January 26, 1865. at Leavenworth, Kansas. After returning home he again took up farming which he followed success- fully until about four years ago when he retired from active life.
Mr. Meadows was married in 1866 to Ellen M. Hond, daughter of Na- than B. and Marcia M. (Cowles) Hond, both natives of New Lebanon, New York, where they spent their early lives, emigrating to Walworth county in a very early day, in fact, were among the pioneer settlers.
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John G. Meadows and wife had five children, four of whom are still living, namely : Frank H. is deceased; Fred G. is farming and lives at Lyons ; John E. lives in Walla Walla, Washington; Emma Ruth is teaching school; Roy N. lives at home.
The subject has always been a stanch Republican, and he has held sev- eral township offices ; he was assessor for a period of seven years, and was also chairman. He was elected one of the commissioners of the Turtle Creek drainage district of Walworth county. He was also jury commissioner and a member of the Soldiers' Relief Corps, also of the soldiers' memorial com- mittee. He has long been active in Masonic affairs.
GROVER KULL.
Among the successful farmers and stock men of Walworth county is Grover Kull, of Bloomfield township. Having grown up on a farm and handled stock all his life, he is familiar with that class of husbandry. It re- quires something more than carelessness to select the best animals in any herd and to rear them in such a manner that the best points will be brought out and emphasized. As the best stock brings the best price, the best farmers make it an object to raise the higher grades, knowing that the market will be the better for a given effort and outlay. These important points are borne in mind by the subject who has long been known as one of our most enterpris- ing breeders of cattle, a man who, while yet young in years, has done much toward improving the breed of a particular brand of live stock in this section of the state and whose name has been carried to many remote localities through his fine stock, for he has been a close observer and a wide reader in order to adopt the best and most advanced methods in this, his chosen avenue of endeavor.
Mr. Kull was born in the north part of Bloomfield township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, on March 24, 1885. He is the son of Andrew and Anne (Rietbrock) Kull, a well known and influential old family of this county, a complete sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work, under the caption of Andrew Kull, to which the reader is respectfully directed for a full account of the family of the subject.
Grover Kull grew up on the home farm where he made himself useful in his boyhood days, and during the winter months he attended the district schools near his home, later the Lake Geneva high school.
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When only about eighteen years of age he took up active farming for a livelihood and in order to get a start he farmed his father's place two years on the shares. In 1907 he bought the farm where he now lives, a very pro- ductive and valuable place, consisting of one hundred and forty-three acres which he has brought up to a high standard of improvement and civilization and where, annually, abundant crops are repaying him for his outlay of labor. Ever since he was eighteen years old Mr. Kull has made a specialty of study- ing the breeding of Guernsey cattle, and he has succeeded in getting together one of the finest herds in this locality. He has exhibited his fine stock at county and state fairs and they have been frequent prize winners everywhere they have competed and, owing to their superior quality, they find a very ready market when offered for sale. His farm is known as the "Mariondale Farm."
Mr. Kull was married on October 4, 1905, to Marion Annie Lawrie, daughter of Charles and Annie Robinson (Vipham) Lawrie, an excellent and highly esteemed family of Walworth county, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.
Mrs. Kull was born in Lake Geneva and there received a high school education and grew to womanhood. One daughter, Helen Edna, has been born to the subject and wife.
Mr. and Mrs. Kull are members of the Congregational church. They are deservedly popular in the community, being hospitable and advocates of wholesome living.
Mr. Kull's farm is amply supplied with up-to-date machinery, and he has large, substantial and convenient barns and outbuildings, and is one of the progressive farmers and stock raisers in this part of the county. He is a member of the Walworth County Guernsey Breeders' Association and of the Western Guernsey Breeders' Association, taking a lively interest in both.
CHARLES H. STUBBS.
An enterprising business man and public-spirited citizen of Lyons, Wal- worth county, is the well known merchant, Charles Il. Stubbs, a man who has led a life consistent with the principles of time-tried ethics so that he has the good will and the confidence of all with whom he has come into contact.
Mr. Stubbs hails from the far-away Pine Tree state, his birth having occurred at Winterport, Waldo county, Maine, June 24, 1854. He is the
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son of Jolin and Hannah ( Hardy) Stubbs, the father of English descent and the mother of Welsh ancestry. John Stubbs was the son of Benjamin and Betsey (Lombard) Stubbs. Hannah Hardy was the daughter of Joseph Put- nam Hardy and Polly S. (Haskell) Hardy. Joseph P. Hardy was the son of Jonathan and Hannah ( Putnam) Hardy. Hannah Putnam was a sister of Gen. Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary fame.
It was in October, 1866, that the Stubbs family came to Wisconsin, locating first in Porter township, Rock county, and lived there about two years, then came to Clinton and was there until about 1869, in which year they came on to Walworth county, locating in Darien township where they remained until 1878 when they moved to Spring Prairie township, and located in the village. Here these parents spent the rest of their lives, the mother dying at Darien and the father died at East Delavan. Two children were born to them, Charles H., of this review, and Clara, now the wife of H. W. Stubbs, of Elkhorn.
Charles H. Stubbs lived at home until 1881. In 1872 he had begun to work at the butter and cheese factory at Allen's Grove, which work he followed successfully for about forty years. In 1878 he came to Springfield and for a short time ran the factory there, and from there he went to Spring Prairie and had charge of the factory there for three years. From there he went to North Geneva and had charge of that factory about two years, then spent a year at Elkhorn, then came back to the factory at North Geneva where he spent another year. In 1886 he came to Lyons and took charge of the fac- tory here. He owned the same up to 1909, and made a great success of it, as, indeed, he had done with all the factories with which he had previously been connected. He then sold out and retired from the manufacturing of dairy products. In the spring of 1911 he bought the general store at Lyons, of G. G. Reeve, taking charge the first of June, and he is now conducting this store and enjoying a large and rapidly growing trade with the surrounding country, carrying a large and carefully selected stock of up-to-date goods at all seasons. He was in the butter and cheese business probably longer than any other man in Walworth county, and he has a wide acquaintance.
Mr. Stubbs is a Mason, belonging to the chapter and the Order of the Eastern Star. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen. Politically, he is a Republican.
Mr. Stubbs was married on June 24, 1879, to Nellie Dyke, daughter of Charles R. and Mary (Kennie) Dyke. She was born in Massachusetts, and her forbears came to this country from Germany in colonial days.
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Charles R. Dyke was born on December 16. 1826, and Mary Kennie was born on February 11, 1837, both in Massachusetts. The family came to Walworth county in April, 1858, when Mrs. Stubbs was a baby, and they located in Spring Prairie township. The father has followed carpentering all his life. He is now eighty-six years old and is a wonderfully well pre- served man, having full use of all his faculties. His wife died on May 18, 1891, in her fifty-third year. Mr. Dyke was again married to Clara A. Hub- bard. He has lived at Troy Center since the death of his first wife. Mrs. Stubbs grew to womanhood in this county and was educated here, in fact, has spent her life in Walworth county. Two children have been adopted by the subject and wife, Daisy and Wallace Stubbs. Mr. Stubbs takes an interest in public affairs, always being ready to do his part in furthering any movement looking to the general upbuilding of his community.
FRANCIS G. ALLEN.
In writing of such noble characters as the late Francis G. Allen, of Lyons, there come trooping into view the children and grandchildren who inherit the good life but have no image, no memory of the author of the blessings of a worthy soul; and they are ennobled, inspired, sobered by the proud discovery of a family chief whose name was held in honor by men of sagacity and prob- ity ; they are enriched by reading the record in which their own names are linked with that of one who illumined the page of domestic annals with honor- able fame.
Mr. Allen was born on June 21, 1851. He was the son of Gain R. and Amelia (Potter) Allen, his mother being a sister of Joseph Potter, of Elk- horn, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Allen grew up on the home farm and received his education in the common schools, Elkhorn high school and Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio. He followed farming in his earlier life. He was married November 22, 1874, to Gertrude A. Dodge, daughter of Eugene Dodge and wife, whose sketch will be found on another page. For a time after his marriage Mr. Allen lived in Lyons, then spent about two years in Spring Prairie township. living the next ten years in Burlington, after which he moved to Madison. He became a prospector and promoter of mines upon his removal to Burling- ton, being interested in western mining properties, and he spent much time in the Black Hills of Dakota, being among the pioneer prospectors there. Hle
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