USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 46
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Albert M. Hanson, of this sketch, was reared on his father's farm and there he worked in his boyhood, attending the district schools during the winter months. He followed farming until 1898, on the homestead, also carried on dairying there, and the last two years he was on the home farm he bought and sold live stock, making a pronounced success of all his opera- tions, and getting an excellent start in life. In the fall of 1897 he came to Whitewater and the result of his trip was the formation of a firm for the purpose of handling live stock, known as Freeman & Hanson, which partner-
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ship continued most successfully until 1909, when Mr. Hanson and Mr. Zuill began dealing in all kinds of live stock. They have built up a large and constantly-growing business. They operate a sales stable and livery. On March I, I911, the firm name became Hanson, Zuill & Hawes. This firm is known throughout this section of the state.
Mr. Hanson is regarded as one of the best judges of live stock in Walworth county. He still owns the home farm. He has managed well. been persistent and has been successful.
Mr. Hanson is a Republican and he has always taken an abiding interest in the affairs of his home community. For two years he was supervisor of the town of Richmond and he was alderman of that city for a period of eight years. He is a Lutheran.
In 1899 Mr. Hanson was united in marriage with Clara Savel, of the town of Whitewater, this county, the daughter of a highly respected family. To this union the following children have been born: Harry. Helen and Alice.
THOMAS E. LEAN.
One of the owners of valuable farming interests in Whitewater town- ship. Walworth county, is the gentleman whose name initiates this page. Mr. Lean's valuable property has been acquired through his own efforts, his per- sistency of purpose and his determination, and the prosperity which is the legitimate reward of all earnest effort is today his. He is now living in retirement in Whitewater.
Thomas E. Lean was born in Cornwall, England, May 3. 1848. He is the son of William and Ann (Knight) Lean, both natives of Cornwall. England, where they grew up and were married, finally coming to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, locating north of Palmyra, where Mr. Lean began work- ing on a farm. Subsequently he entered a farm in Waukesha county, this state, near North Prairie. After living there two years he came to Walworth county in 1865 and bought a farm in Lagrange township of two hundred acres, and here he remained until his death, on February 24. 1874, his wife dying in January, 1897. Their family consisted of five children. Poli- tically, he was a Republican and a member of the Methodist church.
Thomas E. Lean was reared on his father's farm and educated in the public schools, and he has devoted his life to farming, now owning the old homestead, to which he once added twenty acres, later fifty-seven acres and
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one hundred and twenty acres at another time, the farm now consisting of three hundred and twenty acres, all well improved and under a high state of cultivation, and on this he has made an exceptional success as a general farmer and stock raiser, everything about his pleasant home denoting good management. For several years he was in partnership with his brother, Robert Lean. They owned one hundred and seventy-five acres near Elk- horn. In 1899 he came to Whitewater and bought the attractive residence he now owns at No. 231 Fremont street, and has since that time lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his former years of toil. He was a stockholder and director in the State Bank at Elkhorn. He has been very successful as a business man, having managed well and carried the Golden Rule into his daily life, thereby winning and retaining the good will and confidence of his fellow men. Politically, he is a Republican, and for two years he was as- sessor of Lagrange township, also supervisor for the township for three years, supervisor in Whitewater, and one of the trustees of the insane asylum and superintendent of the poor. In all of these positions he has given the utmost satisfaction and most worthily discharged his duties. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Lean was married on December 21, 1898, to Edna D. West, who was born in Lafayette township, this county, September 14, 1875, the daugh- ter of Frank and Catherine (Hodges) West, pioneer settlers of this county ; they now live in Lagrange township and are highly respected by all who know them. Their family consisted of six children, all of whom are still living.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lean two children have been born, Howard Thomas, born November 29, 1899, and Donald William, born September 1, 1906.
H. E. LINDSAY. M. D.
For over thirty years the name of Dr. H. E. Lindsay, of Whitewater, has been a household word in Walworth county, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice, being numbered among the representative citi- zens of this locality, having ever been known to be an able, reliable and pro- gressive physician and patriotic in citizenship. He is esteemed for these commendable traits, together with his cordial disposition and genuine worth, and although he has been more or less active in various relations with his fellow men, his name stands out more prominently in connection with the medical profession in which he has long been a prominent figure.
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Doctor Lindsay was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1840. He is the son of Thomas and Mary ( McFatrick) Lindsay, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they grew up and were married. The grand- parents on both sides of the house were of Scotland. Thomas Lindsay, the father, devoted his life to farming, and he came to Lafayette county, Wis- consin, in 1846, and began farming on a small scale in true pioneer fashion, the country then being a wilderness. Taking up government land, in due course of time he had developed a fine farm of two hundred acres near Dar- lington and there engaged in farming until his death. He was a very loyal Democrat and took an active part in campaigns, and although he had numer- ous opportunities to obtain responsible public positions he would never accept anything higher than the chairmanship of the county board. He was a good and useful man and enjoyed the esteem of a wide acquaintance.
Dr. H. E. Lindsay remained on the home farm until he was eighteen years of age, during which time he attended the district schools, also the Darlington high school, from which he was graduated. Early in life he determined upon the medical profession and with that end in view he took a course in the Rush Medical College at Chicago, from which he was grad- uated in 1869. Soon afterward he began the practice of his profession with his uncle at Lena, Illinois, but remained there only a short time, when he came to Avoca, Wisconsin, in 1870, and there remained ten years, building up a good practice. In 1880 he came to Whitewater, Walworth county, and here he has been practicing ever since, occupying a position second to none of his compeers. He has always been a profound student and has kept well abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession and has met with a large measure of success all along the line.
Doctor Lindsay was married in 1875 to Grace Barnard, of Avoca, and to this union one child was born, Roy Barnard Lindsay, who is now living in San Francisco, representing the Johnston Service Company of Milwaukee.
When Doctor Lindsay was eighteen years of age he made the long overland journey in a wagon to California, leaving here in April. 1860. He arrived at Dayton, Nevada, while the gold excitement was on and there re- mained four years. There was not a railroad west of the Mississippi river at that time. During the last two years of his stay in the gold fields he was foreman of a quartz mill. Just before coming home he panned out a small hole in a gulch and obtained three hundred dollars worth of gold. He made the return trip east by way of San Francisco and the Panama route. The Doctor made a trip to Europe in 1898 and spent several months there, visiting many watering places and hospitals, making a tour of all the principal coun-
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tries of Europe. Being by nature and training a keen observer, his trip abroad was very beneficial.
The wife of Doctor Lindsay passed away in April, 1902. She was popular with a wide circle of friends, being admired for her many com- mendable attributes of head and heart.
Doctor Lindsay is a member of the county and state medical societies and of the National Medical Association. Fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, the chapter, council, commandery and the An- cient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has long stood high in the Masonic order, and his daily life would indicate that he carries its high precepts into the same.
FREDERICK J. STARIN.
A man who boldly faces the responsibilities of life and by determined and untiring energy carves out for himself an honorable success exerts a strong influence upon the lives of all who follow him. Such men constitute the foundation of our republican institutions and are the pride of our civili- zation. To them life is so real that they find no time to plot either mischief or vice. Their lives are bound up in their duties, they feel the weight of their citizenship, and take pleasure in sowing the seeds of uprightness. Such was the career of the late Frederick J. Starin, of Whitewater, long one of the best known men in local railroad circles, and, owing to his genial dispo- sition and open-heartedness, one of the most popular.
Mr. Starin was born in Fultonville, Montgomery county, New York. April 17, 1821. He was the son of Jacob J. and Harriet ( Schermerhorn ) Starin, natives of New York, in which state they grew up and were mar- ried, in fact, spent their lives.
The subject spent his boyhood in his native state and was educated in Union College, New York. When a young man he came to Whitewater, Wisconsin. He devoted his life to civil engineering and teaching, much of his time being spent in the employ of railroads. He surveyed the line for the Wisconsin Central. For a period of thirty years he was in the employ of the Northwestern railroad, as right-of-way agent, giving the company the utmost satisfaction in every respect, and being regarded as one of their most trusted employes, understanding his work thoroughly and was always con- scientious.
Politically, Mr. Starin was a Republican, and in religious matters he
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was a Universalist, while his wife was a member of the Congregational church. He had a pleasant home in Whitewater, where the family has resided since 1853.
Mr. Starin was married to Jane M. Groat, who was born in Mont- gomery county, New York, on April 25, 1821, the daughter of John and Mary Groat, who lived and died in New York. Four children were born to the subject and wife, named as follows: Margaret, who married .A. D. Converse, is now deceased; H. Imogene, who married Charles Birge, the son of Leander Birge, a pioneer `of Walworth county, Wisconsin: Charles Birge is now deceased, leaving one son, Charles E., an architect of New York city and a young man of much promise. The latter's mother is still living at the old homestead in Whitewater. The third child born to the subject and wife was named E. Serene and is now deceased; the youngest, Jessie G., is the widow of John W. Stump, and she, too, resides in the old Starin home here. Mr. Stump passed away some time ago, leaving besides a widow, one child, a daughter, Genevieve, now at home. The death of Frederick J. Starin occurred in Whitewater in October, 1896. his widow surviving until June 11, 1910.
CHARLES E. POTTER.
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of earnest, straight- forward men, are instructive as guides and incentives to others. The exam- ples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illus- trate what is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to 110 exclusive class in life; apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulous to carry them to ultimate success. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem almost to justify the conclusion that self-reliance with a half chance can accomplish any reasonable object. The gentleman whose life history is here briefly outlined has lived to good purpose and achieved a greater degree of success than falls to the average man. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a position of ease and respectability.
Charles E. Potter, who is now living in honorable retirement in his cozy home in Whitewater, after a long, useful and successful career as an agriculturist, was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county, New York, March 21,
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1847. He is the son of Riley and Phoebe (Green) Potter, the father born in Berlin, New York, on February 18, 1814, and the mother at the same place on August 28th of the same year. There they grew to maturity, re- ceived their schooling in the old-fashioned schools, and there they were married, subsequently coming to Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to Peoria, Illinois, where they spent the balance of their lives, both dying the same year, 1892. It is a remarkable coincidence that a couple should be born in the same year, reach such an advanced age, seventy-eight years, and die in the same year. They were a fine old couple and lived happily and let their influence for good permeate the lives of those with whom they came into contact. Religiously, they were Seventh-Day Baptists. Politically, he was a Republican. They were the parents of one son and two daughters.
Charles E. Potter, of this sketch, spent his early boyhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. When ten years old he accompanied his parents to Illinois, in 1857. and he attended the public schools in his community, later attended school at Alfred, New York, then took a course in Milton College. He returned to Illinois and took up farming for a livelihood, buying eighty acres of land. He moved to Rock county, this state, in 1881 and there continued farming. He then moved here on a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres four miles west of Whitewater, where he carried on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale until 1901, when, in the month of December. he moved to Whitewater, Walworth county, having built a fine residence, modern and attractive, on Case street, and here he has since lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his earlier years of strenuous endeavor.
Politically, Mr. Potter is a Republican, and he is now the assessor of the city of Whitewater. He belongs to the Congregational church.
Mr. Potter was married on September 16, 1868, to Ella C. Slocuni, who was born in Rock county, Wisconsin, on September 16, 1849. She is the daughter of Abel and Mary C. ( Haskins) Slocum, the father born on December 18, 1817. and the mother on October 3d of the same year. He came to Rock county, this state, in 1839 and she in 1840. He took up two hundred and eighty acres of land, which he developed into a fine farm, which is now owned by his daughter. Ella C., wife of the subject. Mr. Slocum also owned another excellent farm of two hundred and sixty acres. Politically, he was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Congregational church. He was very active in church matters and was one of the founders of the local church. Mr. Slocum's death occurred on March 24, 1896, his widow following him to the grave on May 3, 1897.
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Mr. Slocum was the first nursery man in southern Wisconsin and he also con- ducted the first lime kiln in this part of the country.
To Mr. and Mrs. Potter two daughters have been born, Flora B. and Grace R. The former was educated in the public schools, the normal school at Whitewater and the Pratt school in Brooklyn, New York. She made a specialty of art, for which she has strong natural talent, and she is at this writing supervisor of the schools in the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where she has worked for the past sixteen years. She has two hundred teachers under her supervision. Grace R. Potter is primary critic in the State Normal School at Whitewater and, like her sister, is a young lady of rare talent and is very successful in her work.
JOHN C. KACHEL.
A successful business man and honored citizen who has the interests of Walworth county at heart is John C. Kachel, of the Wisconsin Dairy Supply Company, one of the important business concerns of Whitewater. Mr. Kachel was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, March 25, 1862. He is the son of John Kachel, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work.
John C. Kachel was reared in Whitewater and educated in the local high school, and when a boy he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked until he was twenty years old. Then in 1883 he and Harvey Marr established the dairy supply business under the firm name of Marr & Kachel, the name being changed later to Marr & Kachel Brothers, and in 1803 they incorporated under the firm name of the Wisconsin Dairy Supply Company. In 1895 J. C. and Thomas Kachel bought out Mr. Marr and have since been sole owners. The firm of Kachel & Marr was established and owned about fifteen cheese factories, and this firm is one of the best known in the state in this line of business, their operations being very extensive and are constantly growing.
John C. Kachel is interested in the Platteville Creamery Company, at Platteville, Grant county, Wisconsin, of which concern he is vice-president. They employ at present from fifteen to twenty men. The subject has been president ever since the reorganization of the local company, and his brother. Thomas Kachel, secretary of the company.
The subject is also a stockholder and director in both the Citizens and the First National Banks of Whitewater, and a director and stockholder m!
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the Sullivan Bank. He has been very successful as a business man and is now one of the substantial citizens of his county. He has made few mistakes and his judgment is singularly sound and his plans exceptionally well laid and executed.
Politically, Mr. Kachel is a Republican, but he has never been an office seeker. The family attend and support the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Kachel was married in November, 1891, to Alice Drake, who was born near Johnstown, Rock county, this state, and there reared and educated in the common schools. One son and two daughters have been born to the subject and wife, namely : Lawrence, Marie and Eloise, all at home and con- stituting a happy and congenial household. Mr. Kachel has a pleasant and attractive home in one of the choice residential districts of Whitewater and here the many friends of the family delight to gather, for they find a true hospitality for which the Kachels were always noted.
L. EDMUND HAWES.
Among the first to brave the wilds of Walworth county was the Hawes family, members of which have aided very materially in its development dur- ing the past three-quarters of a century, for it was in the days of the wide- stretching forest, unused to the ring of the axeman, and the days of the Indian and wild deer when this family emigrated from the old Empire state, through a country of bad roads, across unbridged streams, toiling patiently for weeks until they reached this favored section of the commonwealth of Wisconsin, and, having the sagacity to foresee here a great future, estab- lished their home in Walworth county, where they became well fixed through their industry and were well known and influential in the life of the com- munity. One of the best known of the present generation is L. Edmund Hawes, now living in retirement in his pleasant home in Whitewater, after a life of strenuous endeavor. He comes down to us from a pioneer age, and he has lived here to note wondrous changes in everything, taking a leading part in the upbuilding of the county, so that he is today highly honored by all who know him.
Mr. Hawes was born in Chautauqua county, New York, August 14. 1829. He is the son of Morris F. and Sarah (Lormsbury) Hawes, the father born in Warrick, Orange county, New York, in 1797, and the mother born in Rutland, Vermont, in 1797. They grew up and were married in the East,
MR. AND MRS. L. EDMUND HAWES
PUBLIC 118SE.1
ASTOR, LEHOX TILPEN FOUNDATIONS
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and in 1837 they emigrated to Walworth county, Wisconsin, locating in Richmond township, squatting on land, and in 1839 they took up three hundred and seventy-five acres. Mr. Hawes walked from Richmond to Mil- waukee to attend a land sale, which was then postponed, and he went a second time. He was a successful farmer, although he had hard work clearing and improving his land here from the wild condition in which he found the country. He finally sold his farm, retired from active life and moved to Whitewater, where his death occurred in January, 1868, his wife having pre- ceded him to the grave in July, 1869. They had a family of nine children, of whom L. Edmund, of this sketch, and Dr. Palmer Hawes are the only ones living. Their son, Francis Marion Hawes, whose birth occurred on January 5, 1838; was the first white child born in Richmond township. Politically. Morris F. Hawes, the father, was a Democrat, and was prominent in political affairs, having been a member of the state Legislature in the early days, and he was a justice of the peace for many years. His wife belonged to the Episcopal church.
L. Edmund Hawes, of this sketch, went with his parents to Lenawee county, Michigan, and his father kept a tavern between Coldwater and Au Train. He came overland to Walworth county, driving horses to Chicago and two yoke of oxen on to Walworth county, Wisconsin, living in the wagon and camping under trees until a home could be built.
The subject grew up on the home farm, which he helped to clear and improve, and he received his education in the public schools, such as there were in those early times. He began a livery business in Whitewater in the year 1852, which he continued successfully for fifteen years, then bought a farm in Whitewater township, two miles from the city, remaining there twenty-nine years. He was very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and he added to his original holdings until his place consisted of four hundred acres of well improved and productive land, and he became one of the substantial agriculturists of the county. This land he still retains ; how- ever, retired from active life a number of years ago, moved to a pleasant home in Whitewater, where he still resides, enjoying the fruits of his former years of labor. He has bought and sold several valuable places in White- water.
Politically, Mr. Hawes is a Democrat, but he has never been an aspirant to office, though he was pathmaster a number of years, during which time he built many good roads.
Mr. Hawes was married in 1855 to Carrie Beamer, who was born 11 (77)
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1832, and to this union six children were born, namely: Stella, deceased ; Harriet married Lincoln Gantt, of Tacoma, Washington; Mabel, wife of Edmund Lanngan, died in 1908; Fred married Catherine Smith and they have two children, Harold and Charles; Morris J. married Ida Wagner and they have one child, Edmund; Frank married Margaret Macdonald and they have two children, Lincoln and Sarah Lounsbury.
JOHN H. FRYER.
The name of John H. Fryer is certainly entitled to special mention in a biographical compendium of the nature of the one in hand, for he has long been one of the influential citizens of Whitewater, Walworth county, and through his efforts this city and surrounding country have reaped lasting benefits, for his exceptional administrative capacity has been directed along lines calculated to be for the general good. A man of forceful individuality and marked initiative power. he has been well equipped for the duties of citizenship, while his probity of character and his genial personality have gained for him universal esteem and friendship in the locality where he has spent the major portion of his active and useful life.
Mr. Fryer was born in Cold Spring, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, Feb- ruary 11, 1850. He is the son of Nelson and Lucinda ( Miller ) Fryer, the father born in Princetown, Schenectady county, New York, February 22, 1816, and the mother was born in the same county on August 5, 1820, and there grew to maturity, received their educational training and were married, and from there they emigrated to Whitewater, Wisconsin, in 1842 among the pioneers. They established the permanent family home in Cold Spring township, Jefferson county, where the father purchased two hundred acres of land and there he developed a fine farm on which he lived until he was seventy years of age, when he moved to Whitewater, where his death oc- curred in 1896, his wife also dying here in that year. They were the parents of four children, three sons and one daughter, all of whom are living. Politically, the father was a Democrat, and held a number of local offices, including that of county treasurer and chairman of the board of supervisors, in fact held all the township offices. He was at one time a member of the General Assembly, and was a leader in local political affairs. He was a Free- mason, and a Universalist in his religious belief.
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