USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 44
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and finally sold out the concrete business. He had discontinued the wood business some time previously. In 1891 he bought out Gross & Brooks, who then had the retail trade here, and he combined that with the wholesale ice business, shipping principally to Chicago and vicinity. About 1899 he sold out to the Knickerbocker Ice Company for fifty-three thousand dollars, the product of nine years' work. His last year's shipment before selling out totaled twelve hundred and sixty-three car loads of ice. When he went out of the ice business. he began dealing in farm lands near Lake Geneva, buying run- down farms and swamp lands and improving them, some of these improve- ments being very extensive. On one of his farms he raised three squashes which he exhibited at the state fair, their combined weight being two hun- dred and ninety-three pounds. He has also raised prize potatoes and other things. He raises great quantities of fine potatoes, and the best corn in the county, fifty-pound watermelons and many other superb specimens of skillful agriculture. This is the result of his low lands being exceptionally rich in nitrogen. He now has over eight hundred acres of valuable land in Geneva and Lyons townships and on the east side of the city of Lake Geneva on which are valuable gravel deposits, that being one of the pieces he bought for timber. He drains and tiles the low lands and adds artificial fertilizers on the old farms. bringing it all up to a high standard.
Mr. Seymour also does some contracting. He built the two new public piers at Lake Geneva, as a side line of his work. He has traveled quite ex- tensively in the Middle West, Northwest and Mexico, and, being a keen ob- server, he had profited thereby and is a good conversationalist, being well edu- cated, self-taught, having kept well abreast of the times in current events and is not unfamiliar with various branches of the world's best literature.
Mr. Seymour was married in 1882 to Emma Jane Martin, daughter of James and Lovina (Bartlett) Martin. She was born in Pennsylvania and came here during her childhood with her parents, who located near Alden, later moving to Lake Geneva where the parents still reside. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seymour, namely; Helen May, Myra Ethel and Eva Kathelene.
Myra E. Seymour is at Deming, Mexico, teaching music in the schools there. She attended the University of Chicago, from which she was gradu- ated in 1909; she had been graduated from the Chicago Musical College in 1907. She has exceptional talent in music. Helen M. Seymour attended Milwaukee Downer College and the Cosmopolitan School of Music in Chicago, graduating from the latter in 1907. She, too, is a skilled musician, and has been successfully teaching in the schools of Lake Geneva for five years. Eva
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K. Seymour is pursuing a musical education, giving evidence of an unusual musical ability.
Mr. Seymour has served as alderman eight or nine years in Lake Geneva, has been a member of the school board for two years, and he is supervisor of the first district at this writing. He has been a member of the Republican county committee for about ten years, and has been a delegate to state con- ventions, having taken part in the memorable convention when the stalwarts bolted the convention in opposition to the LaFollette forces. He is numbered among the influential stalwarts in the party and is a leader in local affairs. Fraternally, he is a Mason. He is a broad-minded, progressive man of affairs and public-spirited citizen, and in all life's relations is found true to every trust reposed in him and he is eminently deserving of the high esteem in which he is universally held.
NEWTON O. FRANCISCO.
Another of the sterling sons of the old Empire state who have been of great assistance in the upbuilding of the locality of which this history treats is Newton O. Francisco, now living retired from the active duties of life in his cozy cottage in the town of Delavan. He was born on October 16, 1840, in Oneida county, New York, and he is the son of Henry and Mary E. (Hor- ton) Francisco, the father born in Wellsville, New York, March 20, 1811, and the mother at Union, Connecticut, July 19th of the same year. They grew up, were educated and married in the East, and the elder Francisco took up farming for a livelihood, emigrating to Wisconsin in the spring of 1844 and settled in the town of Oakland, Jefferson county, taking up eighty acres of land from the government, when this country was sparsely settled. He and his wife remained on this place several years, then sold it and bought a farm between Ft. Atkinson and Whitewater. From there they moved to Lake Mills, Wisconsin, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying on March 13, 1865, his widow surviving to a ripe old age, dying on March 20, 1911, having outlived her husband nearly a half century. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Philena, born September 28. 1836; Henry A., born September 2, 1838; Newton O., of this review; John J., born September 28, 1842; Charles F., born September 2, 1844; Erastus H., born November 28, 1847: Danford E., born September 28, 1851 ; Maly C., born September 25, 1857.
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Newton O. Francisco was educated in the district schools of Jefferson county, this state, and he worked on the home farm until he was seventeen years of age, then learned the wagon-maker's trade, which he continued for a period of forty years, becoming an expert in all its details, and his prod- ucts were of such superior quality that they were eagerly sought after; in fact, it was just two score years to the day that he followed this vocation. He worked in Ft. Atkinson, Whitewater, and Delavan, Wisconsin, having been in the last named town when he retired from his vocation in 1897, and he has since lived here retired.
Mr. Francisco has taken considerable interest in public affairs, and he was elected mayor of Delavan in 1906, the duties of which office he dis- charged to the satisfaction of all concerned. He was alderman from the second ward for several terms. He is a Republican.
Mr. Francisco was married on February 20, 1862, to Marcella Gove, daughter of Dana and Alice Gove, and to this union one child was born, Mary Alice, whose birth occurred on January 31. 1864. She is still at home with her parents.
ISAAC S. LOOMER.
Another of our native sons is Isaac S. Loomer, who, after a career as a general farmer and stock man, is now living in the city of Delavan.
Mr. Loomer was born in Sugar Creek township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, on January 29, 1854. He is the son of Simeon E. and Eliza (Weaver) Loomer, both natives of Nova Scotia, where they grew up, were educated and married and there they continued to reside until 1840, when they came to Wisconsin and settled in Sugar Creek township, Walworth county. The parental grandparents of the subject also came here at that time and here the family purchased a farm and established the home in which the grandparents spent the balance of their lives. The father, Simeon E., remained on the homestead until his father's death, after which he conducted the same until his own death in 1891. They developed this farm from the wilderness, for the country was wild when they settled here, and the family was well known and influential among the early settlers.
Isaac S. Loomer grew to manhood on the home farm and he received his education in the public schools of Sugar Creek township and the White- water Normal School. Early in life he turned his attention to farming, which he followed with much success until 1891, when he moved to Elkhorn.
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where he lived two years, then went to Millard and engaged in the mer- cantile business three years, then came to Delavan, taking a position with the Deering Harvester Company, which he continued in for about three years, later entering the live stock business there. He finally bought the elevator at that place which he operated for three years, selling the same in 1910, and retiring from active business, accumulated a competency and been success- ful in his various lines of endeavor, and he is now living in Delavan where he owns a substantial home. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent and well improved land in the town of Bradford, Rock county, also owns a valuable farm of two hundred and twenty-one acres in Sugar Creek township, this county. He is a member of the Baptist church, and is a Republican.
Mr. Loomer was married on October 20, 1897. to Dora Koch, daugliter of Daniel and Lana Koch, and to this union two children have been born, Gretchen and Beth.
CHARLES M. CLARK.
This well known citizen is an excellent representative of the better class of retired farmers of the United States. He comes from an ancestry that distinguished itself in the pioneer times. When southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois were covered with an almost interminable forest of large trees and the woods filled with wild animals, he and his people came west and began to carve from the primeval forests, assist in building schools and churches, and introduce the customs of civilization in the wilderness. They were genuine pioneers, willing to take the hardships in order that they might acquire the soil and the home that was sure to rise. They were willing to work and do without many of the luxuries of the so-called effete East from which they had come and which had been the abiding place of their ancestors so long. It has been just such spirit that has caused the great West to be reclaimed and utilized, as told in Theodore Roosevelt's superb "Winning of the West."
Charles M. Clark, who after a long and strenuous life as an agricul- turist, is now living in retirement in his pleasant home in the town of White- water, was born in Vermont on November 25, 1833. He is the son of John M. and Julia (Beckwith) Clark, the father born in Pollet, Vermont. in 1803. and she in Granville, Washington county, New York, in 1808. The
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father came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, as early as 1839 and secured eight hundred acres of land in Whitewater township. He went back East and came again to this county in the fall of 1845. his family following in 1846. Here he became well-to-do for those early times and was a man of influence in the county. His death occurred on May 17, 1864, and his wife died in March, 1883. They were the parents of three children, namely : Charles M., of this sketch; Henry, who died in 1890, and Mrs. Gibbs of Whitewater. Politically, the father was a Whig, then a Republican. He and his wife were members of the Congregational church.
Charles M. Clark was reared on the farm in Vermont, his father having owned five hundred acres there, and he received his education in the public schools. He took up farming for a livelihood. He accompanied the family to Wisconsin and here he became well established, carrying on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale, and for years he was recog- nized as the leading sheep man of Wisconsin, keeping large numbers of sheep, cattle and horses, the latter of high grade. He has always liked blooded horses and is an excellent judge of them, in fact, of all kinds of live stock. His place, "The Whitewater Stock Farm," was brought up to a very high state of improvement and cultivation by his untiring perseverance and good management and was one of the "show places" of the county. He was a student of everything that pertained to his work and was one of the most up-to-date farmers this county has ever had. He managed his place so skillfully that abundant crops were produced from year to year, often as high as ninety-nine bushels per acre of corn was raised.
Accumulating a competency and feeling that a respite from toil was due him, Mr. Clark retired from active duties of life in 1903. and purchased an imposing, commodious and pleasant home on Main street. Whitewater. where he has since lived quietly. He has sold his fine farm and is investing his money in various things. Politically, he is a Republican of the progressive wing. He attends the Congregational church.
Mr. Clark was married in 1859 to Ellen Baskett, a native of Massachu- setts, and to this union two children were born, Henry and Ellen, the latter dying in 1867, when three years old. The wife and mother died in 1864. and in 1866 Mr. Clark married Ellen Holbrook, who was born in Shoreham, Vermont. Her death occurred in December, 1910. To this union two children were born, Jennie H., who is living at home, and Julia B., who died on July 17, 19II.
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LEOPOLD CLINE.
Human life is made up of two elements, power and form, and the proportion must be invariably kept if we would have it sweet and sound. Each of these elements in excess makes a mischief as hurtful as would be its deficiency. Everything turns to excess; every good quality is noxious if un- mixed, and to carry the danger to the edge of ruin nature causes each man's peculiarity to superabound. One speaking from the standpoint of a farmer would adduce the learned professions as examples of this treachery. They are nature's victims of expression. You study the artist, the orator, states- man and inventor to find their lives no more excellent than that of mechanics or farmers. While the farmer stands at the head of art as found in nature, the others get but glimpses of the delights of nature in its various elements and moods. Leopold Cline, now living in honorable retirement in his beau- tiful home in the town of Sharon, is one of Walworth's citizens who has ever taken a delight in nature and existence, because he has been in touch with the springs of life, having spent the major part of it on the farm.
Mr. Cline is another of the natives of the old Empire state who has cast his lot with the people of the newer Badger state and has added his full quota to the work of pushing forward the wheels of civilization. He was born in the state of New York on January 27, 1842. He is the son of George and Sophia (Eberhart) Cline, both natives of Waldhambach, Germany, where they grew to maturity and were married on December 31, 1840. The father was born on April 25. 1821, and the mother on November 16, 1816. They were married in this country. They came to Wisconsin, and settled on a farm in section 9, Sharon township. Walworth county, there established a good home, and he was numbered among the community's leading agriculturists and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George Cline, named as follows : Leopold, subject of this sketch; Caroline was next in order of birth: George, who became a soldier in the Union army, was killed in the battle of Peters- burg, April 2, 1865 : Sophia, Mary Ann and Lottie.
Leopold Cline was but a boy when he accompanied his parents from New York to Walworth county and here he grew to manhood on the home farm where he assisted his father with the general work, much of which fell to him, as he was the oldest of the children, but he found time to obtain a fairly good education in the public schools of Sharon. Early in life he turned his attention to farming and pursued that vocation with much success until 1908, when he retired from active work and moved to his beautiful home in the
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town of Sharon and is now enjoying the fruits of his former years of activ- ity. He is the owner of one of the choice, fertile and well improved farms of the southwestern part of the county, which lies in section 9, Sharon township. He has always been known as a man who closely applied himself to his affairs, having little inclination to be a public man. In religious mat- ters he belongs to the German Evangelical church.
Mr. Cline was married to Jacobena Horick on January 1, 1868. She was born in Bavaria, Germany, on February 18, 1850, the daughter of Fred- erick and Mary (Wolf) Horick, who were born, reared and married in Ger- many, from which country they emigrated to America in 1866, reaching here on October 23d. They located in the town of Darien, Walworth county, Wisconsin, and there became very comfortably established.
To Mr. and Mrs. Cline nine children have been born, named as follows : Laura, born December 27, 1869; Alfred, born July 19, 1870; Ida, born July 24, 1872; Emma, born January 20, 1874; Nellie, born November 30, 1877; Alma, born September 6, 1880, is deceased; Minnie, born October 28, 1882; Nettie Leona, born January 25, 1885, and Lelah, born October 28, 1892.
AUGUST KRAHN.
The chief characteristic of August Krahn, well known citizen of the town of Whitewater, Walworth county, who is now living retired after a very busy life, are keenness of perception, an unflagging energy, honesty of purpose and motive and every-day common sense, which have enabled him not only to advance his own interests, but also largely contribute to the moral and material advancement of the locality. He worked his way from a modest beginning, having landed from a foreign strand on our shores many years ago, "a youth to fortune and to fame unknown," step by step to a position of no mean importance, by his individual efforts which have been practically unaided, which fact renders him the more worthy of the praise that is freely accorded him by his fellow men, his life having been one of unceasing industry and perseverance up to a few years ago, and the honorable and systematic methods he has ever employed are commended to others, if they court the goddess Success.
Mr. Krahn was born in the province of Stetten, Prussia, Germany. on July 6, 1840. He is the son of Carl and Louisa ( Yandre) Krahn, both born in Germany, where they were reared and married, and from there they
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emigrated to America in 1857. They located in Sheboygan county, Wiscon- sin, where they purchased a farm and there they spent the balance of their lives, the father dying in 1890 and the mother in 1901, she at the age of eighty- three and one-half years, his age having been seventy-eight and one-half years. Four sons and three daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Krahn : they are all living but two daughters.
August Krahn, of this sketch, was reared and educated in Germany, being seventeen years of age when he came with his parents to Sheboygan county, Wisconsin. Later he went to Milwaukee and there was united in marriage with Wilhelmena Engle, who was born in Germany, and to this union six children were born, all living at this writing, and named in order of birth as follows: Amanda, Herman, Carl, August, Oscar and Willie.
The subject came to Walworth county in 1868 and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Whitewater township. This he later sold and then went back to Milwaukee where he remained seven years, then returned to Walworth county and purchased two hundred acres, of Peter Nelson, and to this he added until he owned one of the choice farms of the county, consisting of four hundred and fifty acres. He was very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, carrying on both on a large scale. He accumulated a competency and, old age coming on, he desired to give up the active pursuits of his vocation, consequently he sold his farm to his two sons, August and Oscar, and on August 6, 1909, moved to Whitewater, where he owns a fine home, and here he has lived quietly ever since, on Franklin street, one of the choice residental sections of the city.
Politically, Mr. Krahn is a Republican, but has never been especially active in party affairs. In religion matters he belongs to the Lutheran church.
HENRY D. BARNES.
The name of Henry D. Barnes should occupy a conspicuous place in the history of Walworth county's pioneer citizens. Although he did not come as early as some, he was here in time to assist in the later-day development of the county and has witnessed its growth with much more than passing interest. He has led a life consistent with the truth, and has therefore earned the high esteem in which he is held by all who know him.
Henry D. Barnes was born February 19, 1842. in the town of Sher- burne, Chenango county, New York. His father, Joseph Barnes, was born
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in 1795, in Washington county, New York, and his mother, Lovina ( Yaw) Barnes, was born in 1797, in Colerain, Massachusetts. The family came west by way of the Great Lakes, landing at Southport (now Kenosha) in May, 1842. A short time after they bought a farm in the town of Spring Prairie, consisting of one hundred and fifty-two acres, for which they paid twenty-five hundred dollars. There he and his wife both lived until they died, he in 1870 and she in 1873. The family consisted of four children, Adeline S., who died in 1854; Davis, who died in infancy; Helen M., who died in 1903. and Henry D., who still lives on the old homestead. The latter received his education in the district school at Spring Prairie Corners. He enlisted August 21, 1862, in Company I, Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Infantry Volun- teers and was mustered out August 23, 1865, at Brownsville, Texas. The regiment was assigned to the Seventh Army Corps. The regiment was in the Yazoo Pass expedition and in the siege of Fort Pemberton in the spring of 1863, and also in action at Helena, Mt. Elba and Little Rock. In January, 1865, the regiment was assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, and were present and took an active part in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort, Fort Blakeley and Mobile. The regiment returned to Madison after mustered out, where the men received pay and final discharge September 22, 1865.
Mr. Barnes was married April 30, 1871, to Mary L. Hay, daughter of Horace N. and Margaret Fuller Hay, natives of Livingston county, New York, who came to Wisconsin in 1842, settling in Elkhorn. Mr. Hay started for California in 1842 by the way of the Isthmus, died of yellow fever and was buried at sea off the coast of Acapulco. Mrs. Hay died in 1870.
Mr. Barnes followed the business of farming until 1892 and was also engaged for a number of years in the dressing and shipping of poultry to the eastern markets, sometimes dressing one hundred thousand pounds in a season. In 1894 he was elected register of deeds and moved to Elkhorn, where he has since resided. He was elected and held the office for five con- secutive terms. In politics he has always been a Republican without qualifi- cations, excuses or apologies, but has never hesitated to vote the Democratic ticket when demagogues and hypocrites have sought to fool the people under
the pretense of trying to alleviate the suffering of "God's patient poor." He was for twenty-three years master of Spring Prairie Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, high priest of Elkhorn Chapter one year and commander of R. B. Hayes Post, Grand Army of the Republic, one year.
Mrs. Barnes died October 10, 1907. Six children were born to them, two dying in infancy. Four are still living : Herbert T., a physician, married
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and lives in Pewaukee, Wisconsin: Mary L, wife of Henry Lockney, lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin; Henry D., Jr., married and lives in San Diego, California, and is in the employ of the Union Title and Trust Company : and Lovinia R. Barnes, register in probate, lives at home with her father.
WILLIAM HENRY DEWITT.
"Through struggle to triumph" seems to be the maxim which holds sway for the majority of our citizens, and, though it is undoubtedly true that many fall exhausted in the conflict, a few by their inherent force of character and strong mentality, rise above their environment and all which seems to hinder them, until they reach the plane of affluence toward which their face was set through the long years of struggle that must necessarily precede any accomplishment of great magnitude. Such has been the history of William Henry DeWitt, who, after a long, busy and useful life, is living in honorable retirement in his attractive home in Whitewater, spending his declining years in quiet. From his life record many useful lessons may be gleaned by the youth starting out on the road to fortune and renown, for he has been a man who believed in the old adage, "Lose no time in getting off the wrong road as soon as you discover that you are traveling it." He has been an advocate of progress in all phases of life, progress at any sacrifice.
Mr. DeWitt was born in Catskill, New York, on October 14, 1839. He is the son of DeWitt and Sarah (Eckler) DeWitt. both born in Greene county, New York. The paternal great-grandfather was one of the first settlers of the state of New York. The parents of the subject grew up and were married in the old Empire state and from there they emigrated to Black Hawk county, Illinois, in 1864, living for a time at the town of Andalu- sia, coming on to Troy township. Walworth county, Wisconsin, the same year, 1864. and purchasing two hundred acres, to which they later added one hun- dred and five acres, then sold out and moved to the town of Palmyra, Jeffer- son county, this state, and there they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1906, at the advanced age of ninety-four years, his wife having died in 1904 when eighty-seven years old. They were the parents of ten children. four of whom are living. Politically, the father was a Whig in his earlier life, later becoming a Democrat. While he was active in political affairs he never sought office.
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