USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 51
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William H. Williams, of this sketch, grew to manhood in Genesee county, New York, and there received his education in the public schools. He accompanied his parents to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1854. first settling one and one-half miles west of Darien on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which he later sold and moved to Rock Prairie where he bought one hundred and forty acres, which he developed into a fine farm, brought up to a high state of cultivation and there continued to engage in general farming and stock raising up to about twelve years ago, when he sold out and moved to Darien, Walworth county, where he has a pleasant home in which he is spending his declining years in peace and surrounded by plenty as a result of his earlier years of activity. He has always been a hard worker and a good manager and his efforts were met with success.
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Mr. Williams is a Republican and has been more or less active in party affairs. He has filled a number of local offices, such as supervisor and assessor, holding these for a number of years and discharging his duties faithfully.
Mr. Williams was married on January 1, 1850, to Margaret Vanderhoof. and to them six children have been born, namely : James is deceased : Daniel R. : Mrs. Ida Rockenbrodt: Dora is deceased: Lydia and May are also both deceased.
EDWARD DECATUR PAGE.
All honor is due the pioneers who braved the dangers and uncom- plainingly withstood the hardships of Walworth county when it was in its primordial state. They paved the way for the present-day magnificent de- velopment, and for our happy homes and innumerable luxuries and conven- iences which they knew little of. One of this sterling and honored horde from the East was the late Edward Decatur Page, whose advent in this lo- cality was in 1848, and here he established his permanent home, developing a fine farm on which he spent the rest of his life, dying on November 15. 1904. He was born at Darien, Genesee county, New York, March 20, 1843, the son of Jesse Wright Page and Huldah Roxcenia (Martendale) Page. the father of , Welsh extraction and the mother of English lineage. Both families were early settlers in Vermont, and his ancestors fought in the Revo- lutionary armies and in the war of 1812. His parents were married at Dor- set. Vermont, and subsequently came to Genesee county, New York, finally to Wisconsin in 1845. and purchased the farm on which the subject spent his life. He was one of three children, the others being Roxcenia. who died in 1877. and Mrs. Ellen Lorain Trescott, of Fairport. New York.
Edward D. Page was a man of enterprise and he carried on general farming and stock raising on a large scale. becoming one of the leading farmers of his township.
Mr. Page was always deeply interested in the affairs of his community, and for eight years he served as chairman of the town board of supervisors and for a like number of years he was assessor of the town of Spring Prairie. He was a member of the school board from shortly after he reached his ma- jority until 1901, and he had a potent influence on the progress of education in the eastern part of the county. He kept well informed on current events
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and was a man of advanced ideas and exemplary character, meriting in every respect the high regard which was universally accorded him.
Mr. Page was married, first, on June 6, 1864, to Lizzie Fraser, whose death occurred on December 29, 1872. To this union were born two chil- dren, Jay Wright Page and Lenora Page, the daughter marrying William B. Stetson and her death occurred on June 15, 1891, when twenty-three years of age. A sketch of the son appears on another page of this work.
Edward D. Page was again married on May 10, 1875, to Frank Fraser, a sister of his former wife, who survives him and lives on the old homestead near Honey Creek, where also resides the only child of their marriage. R. Lucile McDonald, wife of Leroy L. McDonald.
EDWARD KINNE, M. D.
Among the physicians of Walworth county who have risen to eminence in their chosen field of endeavor is Dr. Edward Kinne, of Elkhorn, whose career has been that of a broad-minded, conscientious worker in the sphere to which his life and energies have been devoted and whose profound knowl- edge of his profession has won for him a leading place among the distin- guished medical men of his day and generation in southern Wisconsin.
Doctor Kinne was born in Sugar Creek township, this county, June 29, 1856, and is the son of Augustus C. and Cecilia ( Rosenkrans) Kinne. The Kinne family came from England, probably through Holland, and lo- cated in Salem, Massachusetts, about 1650. Henry Kinne (born 1624) was the progenitor of the family in America. His second son. Thomas Kinne, who married Elizabeth Knight, was the ancestor of the family of this name in Walworth county. The latter's son, Thomas Kinne, Jr., married Martha Cox and in 1715 moved to Preston, Connecticut, and there his death occurred in 1756. His third child, Stephen Kinne, was born in Salem in 1705. went to Preston in 1715. and in 1740 moved to Amenia. Dutchess county, New York. Nathaniel, his fourth son, was born in 1739 in Connecticut. had a son, Elias, born at Amenia in 1764, who married Lydia Rundell, in North Nor- wich. Chenango county, New York. The Rundells were from an old Con necticut family. Elias came to this county and died when nearly ninety-three years old.
Of the Rosenkrans family not so much is known; they came from Hol-
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land to New Amsterdam, now New York, in 1658, and in 1715 a descendant. Alexander, went over into Sussex county, New Jersey. Alexander's son, Col. John Rosenkrans, was colonel of a New Jersey regiment during the Revolutionary war.
Augustus C. Kinne, son of Elias Kinne, was born at North Norwich, Chenango county, New York, in 1808 and came to Walworth county, Wis- consin, in 1838, among the early settlers. He spent a winter or two at Troy at Major Meacham's. He lived on Sugar Creek prairie and on Heart prairie until 1850, then bought a farm in section 1, Sugar Creek township, and lived there until his death in 1863. He represented this county in the second constitutional convention, and was a prominent man in the early days of the county, holding various local offices for many years. His wife, Cecilia Rosenkrans, was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1830, and in 1850 accompanied her parents, James O. and Susannah (VanCampen) Rosen- krans, to Walworth county, Wisconsin. The family located in Sugar Creek township, and there she was married in 1854. This union resulted in the birth of four children: Mary, who married Walter E. Lauderdale, lives at Lauderdale Lakes; Herbert is a lawyer in Milwaukee: Harriet N. is the wife of Herbert C. Henderson and lives at Santa Paula, California; Edward, of this sketch, was second in order of birth. The mother of these children passed away in 1892.
Dr. Edward Kinne spent most of his boyhood on the farm, and he re- ceived his primary education in the district schools, later attending the State Normal School at Whitewater from which he was graduated in 1878. He then took a medical course in the University of Virginia, from which insti- tution he was graduated in 1896. He practiced near Richmond, Virginia, about three years and there he was married to Lulu M. Colvin, daughter of Charles W. and Catherine P. (McMurtrie) Colvin. She was a native of Pennsylvania, and from there moved to Virginia, her father having been in- terested in coal mines in the latter state.
In 1899 Doctor Kinne returned to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and here has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession to the present time, having built up an extensive practice which has ever been on the increase. He has resided meanwhile at Elkhorn. His name is well known throughout the county, and he ranks high with his professional brethren in southern Wisconsin. He has ever been a profound student of medical science and has kept fully abreast of the times. He stands well in
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the community both as a man and physician. Fraternally, he is a Mason, a member of the blue lodge and the chapter.
The Doctor's wife was called to her reward in Elkhorn in 1903. leaving two children, Constance, born in 1900, and Augustus C., born in 1902, both living in Elkhorn.
LEWIS L. COOK.
Few business men of a past generation left such an indelible imprint upon the minds and hearts of the people of Walworth county as the late Lewis L. Cook, of Whitewater, than whom a more whole-souled, high-minded and public-spirited character it would have been hard to find. As a result of his many estimable attributes of head and heart he was held in high esteem by all who knew him, sharing the confidence of all with whom he had dealings. for he carried the Golden Rule into his every-day life and sought to set an example of which none of his descendants could be other than proud. Such a record as his should not be passed over lightly by the youth whose destinies are yet matters for the future to determine and whose place of power in the world of affairs is yet to be determined, for therein lies many valuable lessons.
Mr. Cook was born in Homer, New York, on November 18, 1820. He is the son of Mathias and Elizabeth Cook. For a full history of the former the reader is referred to the sketch of D. S. Cook, appearing in this volume. Lewis L. Cook was educated in the public schools of New York, and he began his life work as a clerk with Jedidiah Barer at Homer, New York, where he remained six years. In 1845 he was united in marriage with Maria L. Reston, of Albany, New York, and located in Lisle, Broome county, New York, and engaged in business with Dyer & Bean, who also owned stores in other places. He was given entire management of the store at Lisle, and there he remained two years, then came to Horicon, Wisconsin, and engaged in business with Chauncey Brown. in 1848. In 1856 Mr. Cook came to White- water, Walworth county, as a member of the firm of Brady, Starin, Cook & Company. In 1859 the subject and his brother, D. S. Cook, sold out to Mr Starin, and this ended his career in the dry goods business. For a period of twenty-seven years he sold goods for his brother, D. S. Cook, but refused any share of the profits, also refused to listen to thanks for his services.
Mr. Cook had been very successful in the mercantile business and in 1860 he began as a money lender. He was never known to crowd a debtor, but he often sacrificed his own interest to further the interest of those who owed
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him. Many came to him for advice, and no one ever came in vain. He was a man of broad charity and humanitarian impulses, and believed in religious living. He was an ardent Republican and was active in public matters, being a successful worker in the ranks for many years. He was one of the most useful and universally beloved men that Walworth county has ever known.
The death of this splendid citizen occurred in January, 1895, his widow surviving until 1899, both receiving the summons at the family residence in Whitewater.
JOHN F. HENDERSON.
One of the men who has stamped the impress of his strong individuality upon the minds of the people of Whitewater and vicinity in a manner as to render him one of the conspicuous characters of this locality, is John F. Hen- derson, who has had a somewhat varied career, his life being spent princi- pally in fire and life insurance, but who is now engaged in the general insur- ance business. Faithfulness to duty and a strict adherence to a fixed purpose, which always do more to advance a man's interests than wealth or advan- tageous circumstances, have been dominating factors in his life, which has been replete with honor and success worthily attained. He is a scion of one of the sterling old pioneer families of the Badger state, and many of the strong characteristics of his progenitors seem to have outcropped in him, and he has been most vigilant in keeping untarnished the bright escutcheon of the family name, for the Hendersons were noted for their sterling honesty, their hospitality and their readiness to assist in the upbuilding of their community in any way.
Mr. Henderson was born in Cold Spring, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, on December 5, 1861. He is the son of William A. and Lucinda A. (James) Henderson, the father born in Rockville, Canada, on February 13, 1832, and the mother in the state of Tennessee on October 17, 1838. The father spent his boyhood in Canada, and from there came to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, in 1846, with his father, John Henderson, the latter's wife, Betsey D. Hender- son, having died in Canada; they were born natives of Scotland. The paternal grandfather, John Henderson, took up one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government in Jefferson county, and there established his home, but later in life moved to Lena, Illinois, where he spent his last days, in the home of a daughter, where his death occurred in 1872.
William A. Henderson, father of the subject, lived in Cold Spring
JOHN F. HENDERSON AND FAMILY
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township, Jefferson county, until 1900, where he had established a good home. then coming to Walworth county and locating in the town of Whitewater, where he lived about four years. He died January 25, 1912, his wife having died in 1872. When a young man he started for Pike's Peak, but stopped in Missouri, where he was married on March 25, 1860. His family consisted of six children, of whom five are living at this writing. He was twice mar- ried, secondly to Caroline Petersen, and to this union one child was born. His second wife died on March 31, 1900. Politically, he was a Republican.
John F. Henderson, of this sketch, was reared on the home farm, where he worked when a boy, and he received his education in the public schools and farmed until he was eighteen years old, when he began learning the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for three years. He then followed railroading for an equal length of time, then returned to carpentering, which he continued for ten years, becoming an expert and his services were in great demand. In 1895 he engaged in the insurance business in Whitewater. Ite bought a farm in East Whitewater in 1899, which is a well improved and very desirable place, but his principal work for the past seventeen years has been in general insurance, fire and life, and he has built up a large and ever- growing business, and is one of the best known insurance men in this part of the state.
Politically, Mr. Henderson is a Republican and he has long been active and influential in public affairs, but has never been an office seeker. For the past eight years he has been supervisor of the first ward in Whitewater, dis- charging his duties in a most faithful and acceptable manner.
Mr. Henderson was married on March 3, 1886, to Alice .A. Niquet. who was born in Clarence Center, Erie county, New York, February 8. 1866, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth ( Wogan) Niquet, who came to Walworth county about 1865, locating in Whitewater township. He was a wagon- and cabinet-maker, also worked at the carpenter's trade. llis death occurred in this township in 1872, his widow surviving many years, dying in January, 1903.
The wife of the subject died on May 30, 1807. To this union four children were born, named as follows: Roy, born July 21. 1889, was grad- uated from the Whitewater high school, and when nineteen years old engaged in the insurance business with his father, which work he is continuing at present ; Neal R., born February 8, 1892, was graduated with the class of 1910 from the Whitewater high school, and he is now engaged in business with his father. He was in the South two years: Ralph .A. and Ruth .1.,
(80)
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twins, were born on November 20, 1895, and are now students in the White- water schools.
Mr. Henderson was again married on March 12, 1899, to Mrs. Nellie M. Clemmons, who was born in Albion, Dane county, Wisconsin, April 26. 1876. She is the daughter of Asa and Sarah (Sherman) Clemmons, the father born in Troy township, Walworth county, in 1848, and the mother in Troy township in 1850. Mrs. Henderson's paternal grandfather, Harvey Clemmons, was born in Orange county, New York, in 1817, and his death occurred during the Civil war, while in the service. His wife, Emily Taylor, died in Troy township, near Little Prairie, February 26, 1908, at an ad- vanced age. Mrs. Henderson was one of a family of five children, all living at this writing. The father of Mrs. Clemmons died on December 25, 1891 ; his widow still survives.
CHARLES HENRY NOTT.
The career of Charles Henry Nott is too well known to the readers of this work to need any formal introduction by the biographer, for he has been prominently identified with the business and public life of Elkhorn for years and has spent his life in Walworth county, whose interests he has ever had at heart. He is progressive in all that the term implies and yet is straightfor- ward and unassuming in all the relations of life.
Mr. Nott was born in Sugar Creek township, this county, May 11, 1857. He is the son of William and Sarah (Curl) Nott, both natives of England, the former a son of John and Elizabeth (Shute) Nott and the grandson of Edward Nott. William Nott was born near Barnstable, Devonshire, Eng- land, on January 29, 1824, and there grew to manhood. On March 1, 1849, he married Sarah Curl, embarking for America immediately afterwards, ar- riving in Richmond township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1850, moving from there to Lagrange township in 1851 and to Sugar Creek township in 1852. There they worked two years, each hiring out in order to get a start in life, then purchased forty acres in section 3, that township, and there by in- dustry and economy established a comfortable home in which they remained until March 1, 1900, when Mr. Nott retired from active life. He had been very successful as a general farmer, adding to his original purchase until he had an excellent farm of two hundred and eight acres. He began voting the Democratic ticket upon arriving in the United States and he continued loyal to that party, and more or less active in its affairs. He was at one time a
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member of the board of supervisors of Sugar Creek township. In religious matters he and his wife were Episcopalians. His wife, known in her maid- enhood as Sarah Curl, was born on November 23, 1827. She was the daugh- ter of John, Jr., and Mary (Babcock) Curl. Mrs. Nott's mother was the daughter of John and Bridget Babcock. The death of William Nott oc- curred on December 9, 1906. His widow is living in Elkhorn.
Nine children, four sons and five daughters, were born to Mr. and Mrs. William Nott, named as follows: William Edward, born June 9, 1851, pur- chased a farm adjoining his father's in Sugar Creek township and there lived until his death on August 21, 1895. John, born in 1853. married Addie Babcock, who died three years afterwards, leaving a daughter Nellie, also deceased. John Nott has spend his life on the home farm and now lives with his mother in Elkhorn. James was born in 1855, was graduated from the Whitewater schools, then taught school, later learning telegraphy, which he worked at in several different stations in northern Wisconsin: his health failing, he went to Dakota and there resuming teaching school; he was an en- thusiastic Republican and while there made the race for county superintend- ent. Returning to Lagrange, Walworth county, in 1903. he clerked for his brother, Charles H., of this review, for a period of five years, then came to Elkhorn and lived with his mother until his death on February 9. 1909: he was a Mason, a member of the chapter, also the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was very active in fraternal work. Charles Henry, of this sketch, was the next child in order of birth. His oldest sister. Sarah Belle Nott, was born in 1859, married Henry Laville, of Michigan, and two years later died at her home in Whitehall, Michigan. Lucy, who was born in 1861, married Richard Holcomb, of Lagrange, and her death occurred a number of years ago, leaving one daughter, Elsie. Mary Ann Nott, who was born in 1863, lived at home until 1910, then married Doric Southwick and now lives at Beloit. Emma, born in 1865, attended the normal school at Whitewater, taught school several years, then married M. J. Lathrop and they now live in Beloit. Elizabeth was born in 1867. attended the normal school at Whitewater, later taught school here and in South Dakota, and finally married A. S. Smythe and they now reside at Mansfield, Ohio.
Charles H. Nott was reared on the home farm, where he remained until he was twenty-two years of age; however, he had worked out from time to time during his boyhood, and after leaving home he worked by the month for several years. In 1879 he went west and took up two claims, a tree claim and a homestead in Hanson county, South Dakota, having worked out in
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order to get money with which to develop the claims, which he proved up on in 1884. During that year he was married to Emogene Foster, daughter of Asa Foster, one of the pioneers of Sugar Creek township, Walworth county. They immediately went to housekeeping on their claims and soon had estab- lished a comfortable home. Mr. Nott made a specialty of sheep raising, at one time owning a drove numbering fifteen hundred. He was very active in pol- itics there and was county commissioner for some time, also held all the va- rious local offices. He has always been a stanch Republican.
Returning to Lagrange, Walworth county, in 1891, Mr. Nott purchased the store owned by Thomas Taylor, registrar of deeds, and he conducted this store successfully for a period of thirteen years. During that time he was also postmaster at Lagrange, and while living there he was president of the Sugar Creek Fire Insurance Company. Selling his store in 1904, he moved to Elkhorn, and here has continued his political activity. He has been su- pervisor from his ward for the past three years, and in a business way he has been in the real estate and loan business to some extent. He came here chiefly for the purpose of educating his two children, Ethel Ruth and Will- iam Asa; the former is now a junior at Beloit College and the latter is in school in Elkhorn. In Mr. Nott's family is also Elsie Holcomb, daughter of Richard and Lucy (Nott) Holcomb, her mother having been the subject's sister. Elsie's parents both dying when she was young, she has been a mem- ber of the subject's household since she was five years old ; she is now attend- ing the State Normal School at Milwaukee, having been graduated from the Elkhorn high school with the class of 191I.
Fraternally, Mr. Nott has been a Mason for nearly thirty-five years, belonging to the chapter and the commandery at Delavan. He was at one time master of the Elkhorn lodge.
MRS. ESTHER ANN WEEKS.
This estimable lady, whose high Christian character has, like Dorcas ·of old, so lived that her light has been shed abroad on her many friends, hav- ing an ameliorating effect upon them, so that she has ever been held in high- est esteem by all with whom she has come into contact.
Mrs. Esther Ann Weeks was born on October 14, 1837, at Morristown, New York, and she is the daughter of Alonzo Cady Wilcox and Matilda
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(Stanton) Wilcox. A history of the Wilcox family will be found in the sketch of Thomas H. Wilcox, appearing elsewhere in this work.
Mrs. Weeks came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, with her parents when eight years of age and here she grew to womanhood and received her education in the early schools. On January 11, 1860, she was united in mar- riage with Robert Gibson McMillen, son of Andrew and Annie (Gibson ) McMillen, of Sharon, Mercer county, Pennsylvania. He had come to Lyons. this county, in the early fifties. Two children were born to them, Fred Alonzo and Matilda C., the latter dying in childhood, the former growing up to be a prominent citizen of the county, serving the same as sheriff in 1898 and 1899. He married Minnie Ewing, of Whitewater, and died on April 10, 1902, leaving six children: his oldest son, Fred E., is paymaster in the United States navy, and the oldest daughter, Bessie, married Arthur Trevor. a graduate of Annapolis, and an officer in the United States navy. Another son. Donald Robert, is now a civil engineer in Philadelphia: next in order of birth were the three daughters, Nanna, Emily Stanton, and Marian, all in school at San Diego, California.
Robert Gibson McMillen was a soldier in the Twenty-second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and his death occurred on April 7. 1863, at Nashville. Tennessee, while in the Union service, en route to Libby prison as a prisoner.
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