USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 38
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Mrs. Johnson's mother, Harriet Coffin, was the daughter of Sarah Adams (Bassett) Coffin, who was a cousin to President John Adams. Mayhew Adams, his uncle, lived to the age of one hundred fifteen years. She lived to be one hundred years old. Sarah Coffin's father, Ebenezer Bassett, lived to a very old age. Mrs. Johnson has a photograph in which she and her son and grandson, her mother and her grandmother Coffin, five generations, occur.
The Johnson children had the benefit of good schooling in Illinois, in which school each pupil must secure a first-grade teacher's certificate before
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being permitted to graduate. The eldest daughter holds first-grade certifi- cates from both Ogle and Lee counties, Illinois.
Mrs. Johnson has thirty-four grandchildren and fifteen great-grandcliil- dren. She enjoys good health and strength for one of her advanced years, is able to read, hears well and keeps house. She still owns the farm in Geneva township and a home in Springfield where she now lives. She has a host of warm friends throughout the county, and is a grand old lady whom to know is to admire and accord the greatest respect, as a result of her long, useful Christian life. Mr. Johnson was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for many years. He was a man who lived honorably and was suc- cessful in business affairs until gripped by disease.
LARMER GRAHAM O'DELL.
It is always a pleasure to the biographer to write of the pioneer and the old soldier, for he knows at once that they are men of superior mould. It requires courage, self-sacrifice and fortitude to be either. No man braves the wilds of a new country unless he is made of sterling mettle, for he knows there awaits him much hard toil and no' little hardship before he accomplishes very much and no man goes into battle unless he lias a broad patriotism and a brave heart. Such a man is Larmer Graham O'Dell, of Delavan, Walworth county, who was born on December 23, 1841, in Elmira, New York, the son of John A. and Betsy (Belton) O'Dell, natives of the state of New York, where they spent their earlier years. Coming to Wisconsin in 1843 and settling in Rich- mond township, the father took up forty acres from the government; and here he lived about five years, when he sold out and did general work, moving to Delavan in 1856 where he lived until 1873. Then he moved to Harvard, Illinois, and there lived until his death in 1888, his wife, Larmer O'Dell's mother, having preceded him to the grave in 1845, nearly a half century, when the subject was but two years old.
To John A. O'Dell and wife three children were born, namely: Robert, who was a soldier in the Civil war, died of disease contracted while in the army ; Eugene, also a soldier in Company A, Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, from August 2, 1861, till January 5, 1866, was a pension attorney and justice of the peace, and died at New Richmond, Wisconsin, February 18, 1899; during the war he was a prisoner for about three months.
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Larmer G. O'Dell, the third son, grew up on the home farm in Walworth county and he received his education in the schools of Richmond township and Delavan City. After leaving school he learned the cooper's trade, con- tinuing the same for a period of fourteen years. He enlisted for service in the war of the Rebellion, in 1861, in Company D, Thirty-seventh Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, in which he served very faithfully until in October. 1863. On March 17, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company .\, Thirty-eightin Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, taking part in many important campaigns and hard-fought engagements.
After the close of hostilities he returned home and remained in Walworth county for a while, then, in 1867, went to Nebraska, and worked in the rail- road shops at Plattsmouth, remaining there until January, 1873, then returned to Delavan, Wisconsin. On the IIth of December, 1873. he was united in marriage with Alvina Hone, daughter of Amenzo and Margaret (Deremer) Hone, natives of the state of New York, who came to Wisconsin and settled in Walworth township, this county, in 1870, where Mr. Hone engaged in farming until about three years of his death, which occurred on August 7, 1892, his widow surviving about a year.
Four children have been born to the subject and wife, namely: Charles Eugene, born March 16, 1875, is now in the regular army and stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas; Mrs. Florence Shewey, born June 10, 1879, lives in Chicago; Mrs. Hattie May Tompkins, born July 23, 1881, lives on a farm in Sharon ; Mrs. Pearl Felter, born March 29. 1887, lives in Chicago.
Mr. O'Dell has led a very satisfactory life and is now comfortably located as a result of his former years of industry. Mr. and Mrs. O'Dell are members of the Baptist church.
WILLIAM L. MILLER.
William L. Miller, farmer and stock man of Lyons township, is a de- scendant of one of the first families to brave the wilds of Walworth county and undertake the task of clearing a farm and a home from the dense woods. When the family arrived here some three score and ten years ago the clearings were few and far between, and the family, children and all, were required to bestir themselves in cleaning off the timber and getting the virgin soil ready for the seed and the harvest, and they found it no easy task to remove the dense growth of brush that encumbered the soil and kept out the life-giving sunlight.
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Mr. Miller was born in East Troy township, this county, on May 10, 1867. He is the son of Lewis W. and Jennie ( Holmes) Miller. The father was born near Boston, Massachusetts, and was the son of Carl Miller and wife, both natives of Germany. When Lewis W. Miller was three years old, in the early forties, his parents brought him to Walworth county, and the family home was established in East Troy township, entering two hundred acres of land from the government. Later the elder Miller traded ten acres of this land for a cow. Wolves and other kindreds of the wild and denizens of the "heart of the ancient wood" were plentiful. The roads were little more than old Indian trails and the family experienced many hardships, but they let nothing stand in their way and in time had established a comfortable home. The family consisted of the following children who were reared in the pioneer home here: Lewis, Charles, Andrew, Frank, Joseph, Anton, Elizabeth and a daughter who died when two and one-half years old. There the old folks lived and died, and there Lewis Miller grew up and married Jennie Holmes, a daughter of William and Anna (O'Brien) Holmes. She was born in the state of New York and she came to Walworth county when about nine years old, her parents locating in Darien township. After their marriage Lewis Miller and wife continued to reside in East Troy township. Nine children were born to them, namely: William L., of this sketch: Mary Ann, who married Albert Grenowald, lives in Waterford township; Charles H. lives in Rochester township, Racine county ; Jennie married Clarence White and lives in Rochester township: Nellie, who married Frank Medbury; An- drew married Alice White and lives in Spring Prairie township; Anna Chancey lives on the old home farm in East Troy ; Florence lives at home with her father. The mother of the above named children was called to her rest in October, 1893. Lewis Miller, the father, is now living in the town of East Troy.
William L. Miller of this sketch lived on the home farm until he was about twenty-two years old, then started out for himself. He worked two years for the Wilbur Lumber Company at Honey Creek, then rented a farm in Spring Prairie township which he successfully operated for six years. In 1900 he purchased a farm in section 8, Lyons township, this county, and here he has since resided, keeping the place well improved and under a fine state of cultivation, carrying on general farming and stock raising successfully. He has one hundred and seventeen acres.
Mr. Miller was married on January 30, 1893, to Lizzie Brophy, a daugh- ter of Philip and Ellen (Thompson) Brophy. She was born in Muskego, Wisconsin. Her father was born in county Kilkenny, Castle Komar, Ireland,
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December 25, 1832, and he spent his boyhood days there, but died in Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, where his death occurred on May 26, 1903, at the age of seventy-three years. He was twelve years old when he accompanied his parents to America, the family locating in the state of New York. When twenty-two years old, Philip Brophy came to Muskego, Wisconsin, but the last twenty-one years of his life were spent in and about East Troy, this coun- ty. His family consisted of eleven children, namely : Mrs. Minnie Brown- lee, deceased; John ; Lizzie, wife of Mr. Miller of this sketch; George, Nellie, Ada, Edward, Henry, Abbie, Mrs. T. E. Dwyer, P. H., and Mrs. P. H. Lacy. Mrs. Philip Brophy now lives in east Troy. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller namely : Marie, Raymond, Glenn, Howard and Ella.
Mr. Miller and family belong to the Catholic church. He is an active, progressive citizen, frank and friendly.
HENRY BOYLE.
Among the earliest settlers of Walworth county was the Boyle family, of whom the present generation is very creditably represented by Henry Boyle, of near Springfield, one of the best known farmers of Geneva township. He has come down to us from the pioneer epoch and has spent his long, useful and industrious life in his native vicinity, which he has done much to upbuild. He has built up a highly commendable reputation and by right and honorable living has won and retained the good will and esteem of all who know him, and that comprises about every one in the eastern part of the county.
Mr. Boyle was born in Geneva township, this county, February 28, 1848, and is the son of Charles and Margery (Brown) Boyle. The father was born in Maryland and when a boy he accompanied his father to Geneva, New York, and there he grew to manhood, and he came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, about 1838 or 1839 and entered land from the government in sections 12 and 13, Geneva township. This land has remained in the possession of the family to the present day, having never been conveyed by deed and never been mort- gaged. Here the elder Boyle built a log cabin, in which the subject was born, while Wisconsin was yet a territory. The father found that he had few neighbors and that he would be required to do a great deal of hard work to establish his home in the new country ; but he was a man of courage and did not permit hardships to thwart him in his plans. He developed a good farm and became one of the leading men of his community. He led a quiet life, though he always attended the township meetings and took an active part in
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the affairs of his community. His wife was born in Ireland and when a child she came with her parents to America. They lived in Michigan until they came to Walworth county in the early forties, making the long overland trip with ox teams, which mired down as they were passing through Chicago, which place was then a village in practically a swamp. They located in Lyons township, this county, Mrs. Margery Boyle's brother entering land from the government.
Charles Boyle, father of the subject, spent the rest of his life on the land which he entered here. His family consisted of ten children, namely: Will- iam, who went to California when twenty-one years old; Ann married James Archer and lives at Los Angeles, California : George E. lives at Wittemore, Iowa ; Henry lives on the home farm; Elizabeth married C. C. Young and they live in Los Angeles ; Charles lives at Eureka, Nevada ; Mary married William A. Randall, a government employe, who has been in the Philippine Islands twelve years, and there his wife died in 1906: Emma married W. A. Weaver and lives at Snohomish, Washington: James L. lives at Goodland, Kansas : John O. is in Topeka, Kansas. The father of the above named children died on May 9, 1869, after three years' illness, and his wife survived over twenty years, dying on May 25, 1891.
Henry Boyle has lived all his life on the home place. He grew up here and after the other children all went away he bought the homestead, which he has kept well improved and well cultivated and made a success of general farming and stock raising. He was married on January 1, 1870, to Rebecca Booth, daughter of Edwin and Martha (Turner) Booth. She was born in Lyons township, this county, and here she grew to womanhood. Her people came from England, her father having been born there in 1809. Emigrating to America when young, he located at Wappinger Falls, New York, where he was married to Martha Turner. They came to Walworth county in a very early day, perhaps about 1840, and settled in Lyons township, becoming well established on a farm where they spent the rest of their lives.
Henry Boyle makes a specialty of raising fine live stock, some of his horses and cattle being eligible to registry. He is a Republican, and while he takes an active interest in party affairs, he is no office seeker. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Lake Geneva.
One son, Philip, has been born to the subject and wife; he is at home, assisting with the work on the place. Henry Boyle remembers many inter- esting things of the early development of the county, the putting through of the railroads, the surveying, the big Indian trail which ran across the home farm, the red men being plentiful when the family first came here. He is a good neighbor, generous, broad-minded and is well thought of by all classes.
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JOHN P. INGALLS.
Nothing could have so forcibly demonstrated the unity of this nation as the recent war with Spain, when men from north and south, and east and west, flocked to the standard of the country and marched shoulder to shoul- der to the scene of battle, gaining a glorious victory in the "Pearl of the Antilles," for liberty and humanity. Just thirty-seven years before, the na- tion was involved in a titanic struggle-the throes of the greatest civil war recorded in history. Aroused by what they believed to be a suppression of their rights, brave men from the South attempted to throw off all allegiance to the national power, but the guns of Fort Sumter awakened the loyalty and patriotism of the North, and thousands of citizen-soldiers marched forth to defend the Union and to maintain the supremacy of the Stars and Stripes. Walworth county, Wisconsin, furnished her full quota of "boys in blue," and when the clash with Spain came she placed many of her gallant sons at the disposal of the federal authorities and would have sent regiments had they been needed. One of the latter number was John P. Ingalls, now a well known and successful attorney. at law in Elkhorn, a worthy representative of one of our sterling pioneer families, and a man who has won his way to top ranks of his profession through his persistent efforts along lines of en- deavor which seldom fail to bring a due reward.
Mr. Ingalls was born in Linn township, this county, January 26, 1866, and here he grew to manhood and he has been content to spend his life in his native locality. He received his education in the local public schools, and early in life began bending every effort toward a legal career. He studied law in Elkhorn, then took a course in the Northwestern University Law School, where he made an excellent record and from which institution he was graduated in 1893. Thus well equipped for his lifework, he began practicing in Racine in partnership with his brother Wallace, and soon had a very satisfactory and growing clientele. Then the Spanish-American war came on in the spring of 1898, and he, having been a member of Company F. First Wisconsin Militia, at Racine, was called out with his comrades and mustered into the service of the United States for the war. The company started to the front and got as far as Jacksonville, Florida, where it remained in camp, its services not being needed in the West Indies. Being anxious for service. Mr. Ingalls regretted not being allowed to take part in the active campaigns. After the war he returned north and practiced law in Chicago several years with much success, then returned to Wisconsin and is now practicing in Elkhorn, enjoying a large clientele and ranking among the best
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legal lights of the local bar. He was elected district attorney of Walworth county in 1904, was re-elected in 1906 and again in 1909, taking office the following January, and he served in this capacity until January, 1911. He has also served as justice of the peace. Politically, he has always been active in the Republican ranks. As a public servant he has discharged his every duty in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of the people, winning the hearty approval of all con- cerned, irrespective of party alignment, enjoying the confidence and esteem of all classes.
As an attorney Mr. Ingalls has kept fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession, having always been a close student and an original investigator, cautious, painstaking, ever alert for the interest of his clients. He believes in going into court fully prepared, with his case well in hand, and his cases are always correctly drawn and he has great weight with the jury and the court.
Mr. Ingalls has remained unmarried. A complete sketch of his parents, Silas Ingalls and wife, and his ancestry appears on another page of this volume.
LEONARD C. CHURCH.
Although no section of the Badger state is richer in opportunities or offers greater advantages to its citizens than does Walworth county, success is not here to be obtained through desire alone, but is to be persistently worked for. Leonard C. Church, of Walworth, may be recorded among our worthiest native sons, having come down-to the present day from the pio- neer epoch, spending his useful and busy life within the borders of this county, preferring to remain on his native hills, and he has here worked his way to success and prosperity while he has so ordered his course in all the relations of life as to command the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
Mr. Church was born on a farm about a half mile northwest of the present village of Walworth, on January 31, 1846. He is the son of Cyrus and Emeline (Russell) Church, whose record appears at length in another part of this history.
Leonard C. Church spent his boyhood on the farm where he was born and where his father had settled when white men first came to live in this sec- tion of the Badger state. On January 31, 1854, occurred the death of the
LEONARD C. CHURCH
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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mother, when Leonard C. was eight years old. When he reached the age of sixteen he obtained his father's written consent, and enlisted in the Union army, Company L, Third Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry, at Madison. He was sent southwest and saw much active service in Missouri, Arkansas, Indian Territory and Texas. taking part in the battles of Prairie Grove, Elkhorn Tavern, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Dardanelle, and others, and he was on the Red River expedition, co-operating with General Banks, on what proved a rather disastrous campaign. They afterwards returned to Little Rock and spent a great deal of time chasing guerrillas and bushwhackers. Being a cavalry regiment they were kept on the move and saw much fighting in many small engagements. Mr. Church made a very faithful soldier, according to his comrades, and he was honorably discharged in February, 1865. He and two other boys had quit school here to go to the front, and he was the only one to return.
After his army career Mr. Church returned to Walworth county and resumed his studies, attending the academy at Allen's Grove. After leaving the academy he went to St. Anthony's Falls, Minnesota, and worked in a lumber mill and was there a year, then came home and worked on the farm until 1871, then went into the firm of S. P. Savage & Company in the com- mission business in Chicago, where he remained three years. While there, in 1872, he was married to Adeline M. Porter, daughter of Doric C. and Nancy J. (Hanchett) Porter. She was born in Walworth township, this county. Her parents were also among the first settlers here, and their record appears in this work.
After three years in Chicago, Mr. Church returned to the farm in Wal- worth township. In 1886 he was elected county treasurer and thereupon moved to Elkhorn, taking office on January 1, 1887. He was re-elected in the fall of 1888 and again in the fall of 1890, holding the office for six years, then returned to the old homestead. He was elected a representative to the Legislature and was a member of the General Assembly in 1897 and 1898. In 1890 he was appointed a member of the soldiers relief commission, having held the position ever since. He was president of the school board at Wal- worth for many years, finally refusing to hold the office any longer.
In 1899 Mr. Church engaged in the lumber business in the village of Walworth, as a member of the Walworth Lumber Company, of which he and his son and H. M. Thompson and Mr. Desert were members. They formed a corporation and established three yards, one at Walworth in 1899 and one
(72)
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at Zendon and one at Shirland, Illinois, in 1911. They deal in lumber, coal and feed, and in this connection they own and operate a feed mill at Wal- worth. Mr. Church has been manager of the company ever since its organi- zation and he has made it a great success. He organized the Walworth State Bank when it was incorporated and was president of the same for a period of five years, then sold out his interest there and retired from banking. He sold his farm in 1909 and now lives in Walworth.
Mr. and Mrs. Church are the parents of four children : Grace lived to be thirty-four years old, dying on July 15, 1908; she was an accomplished musi- cian ; Wells D., born November 1, 1873, was educated at Walworth and Elkhorn and the Atheneum Commercial College in Chicago; he worked in Marshall Field's store for a time, then taught school a while, farmed on the home place and when the Walworth Lumber Company was organized he became a partner in the same; he is clerk of the school board, and he helped organize the local telephone company, of which he is secretary; he has been village supervisor for several years; he was married to Effie E. Dake, of McHenry county, Illinois, and he has four children, Leonard C., Jr., Gilbert, Ruth and Adeline. Nancy J. Church was graduated from the Whitewater Normal and she has been teaching school successfully about fourteen years : Hattie E. was graduated from the Walworth high school and has been in charge of the books of the Walworth Lumber Company from the beginning ; Emeline E. also graduated from the Walworth high school, and in 1907 from the Whitewater Normal, has been teaching ever since and is known to be a very able instructor.
Mr. Church has been very successful in a business way, and as a public servant his record is highly commendable to all classes, irrespective of party alignment. He has always performed his duties faithfully, having the in- terests of his locality at heart.
Mr. Church is a member of the Masonic order and the Modern Wood- men, also the Grand Army of the Republic. He was one of the organizers of the Walworth county soldiers and sailors annual organization, which for about twenty-five years has been holding annual reunions, and last year he was president of the organization, much of whose success has been due to his efforts.
Mr. Church is a man of progressive ideas, sound judgment and wise discernment. well posted on current events and a leader in local affairs. yet plain and unassuming, obliging. friendly and of pleasing address, his opinion ever carrying weight with his fellow men.
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G. HART HOLLISTER.
The gentleman whose name appears above is one of Delavan's enterpris- ing business men and a worthy native son of Walworth county, who has done much to advance the prosperity of the same during his active career, most of which has been spent here. He has evinced much more than a passing interest in the improvement of public works and conveniences such as conduce to or are necessary for the comfort and health of the community. Mr. Hollister is recognized as a gentleman of strict integrity and business honor, and his social standing and that of his wife and family is with the best people of the community.
G. Hart Hollister was born on August 26, 1861, in East Delavan, Wal- worth county, Wisconsin. He is the son of Mason and Matilda (Dalton) Hollister, both natives of the state of New York, where they spent their earlier years and in 1841 they came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, first settling in the vicinity of East Delavan, buying a farm there of one hundred and sixty acres, and there they established a comfortable home and improved a good farm, and there the parents spent the rest of their lives, the father dying on June 30, 1884, and the mother on November 30th of the same year. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Mason Hollister, namely: G. Hart, of this sketch; Guy R., of Delavan; two children who died in infancy.
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