USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 57
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Mr. Fish was born in Guilford township, Wyndham county, Vermont, June 13, 1836, and is the son of Edward and Eunice (Denison) Fish. The father was born at or near Halifax in the same county, and he was the son of Nathan and Susan (Lamb) Fish. His birth occurred in 1778 and he (lied in 1830. He was the son of Samuel Fish, who came with his wife from Groton, Connecticut, to Vermont when it was wild and unsettled, having made the trip on horseback through an almost trackless forest. Samuel's father was also named Samuel and he was born in 1751; he was a son of Nathan, born in 1727, the latter being the son of Nathan, born in 1699, he being the son of Samuel, born in 1656, the latter being the son of John Fish, the emigrant. The last named was one of three brothers, Nathan, John and Jonathan, who came from England and settled in Massachusetts, at the town of Lynn, in a very early day. In 1637 they moved from Lynn to Sandwich on Cape Cod. In 1655 we find a John Fish with wife and chil-
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dren at Groton, he being one of the first settlers there, and he is the ances- tor of this family. It is believed that the family name sprang from an ancient Saxon root, referred to in the records of Germany, the spelling there being Fisch, which would be pronounced as we pronounce the name Fish. At a very early date a branch of this family is found in England.
Eunice Denison, mother of the subject of this sketch. grew to woman- hood in Wyndham county, Vermont, where her people had long been well known. When Howard E. Fish, of this review, was ten years old the family moved across into Massachusetts and lived there until the fall of 1850 when the family moved to Belleville, Jefferson county, New York. There the parents died, after which Howard E. returned to Massachusetts and was there about two years, then returned to Jefferson county, New York, where he remained until the fall of 1868.
Howard E. Fish was married on March 17, 1860, to Emily Barbour, daughter of Roswell and Harriet Jane (Warriner) Barbour. The War- riners is an old English family, William Warriner having emigrated to America in 1638, joining the settlers at Springfield, Massachusetts, only eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims; thus he was one of the first settlers of New England and owned a considerable part of what is now the heart of the city of Springfield. Harriet Jane was the daughter of Reuben and Betsy (Chittenden) Warriner, the father having been born on April 17, 1781. Emily Barbour was born near Belleville, Jefferson county, New York, and when nine years old moved into Belleville and lived there until her marriage, after which they continued to reside in that city until December, 1864, when they moved to Adams.
During his young manhood Mr. Fish was a clerk in a store at Adams Center, then went into the clothing business with his brother, but soon en- gaged in the confectionery business alone, also handled school books and other lines. When he moved to Adams he continued the same line of busi- ness, adding a branch room and ice cream. In 1868 he came west and in 1869 settled in Chicago, where he started in business, remaining there ten years in charge of a bakery, confectionery and ice cream business. He came to Walworth, this county, in March, 1879. He traded for a farm at the edge of what was then the little hamlet of Walworth. There was no rail- road here then. He had two acres in the village and his farm consisted of one hundred acres. The village has grown and spread over part of his land, thirty-eight houses having been built on his land, which is now divided into lots, almost as many as there were in the town when he came here.
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He traveled and sold Cooley creameries several years after coming to Wal- worth, also other supplies, later selling complete outfits for creameries. Later he engaged in the buggy and implement business for some time at Walworth. Of late years he has discontinued most of this, but he still sells buggies and engages in the livery business.
Mr. and Mrs. Fish have one daughter, Eunice Elizabeth, now the wife of Charles Sumner Cooper, of Walworth, a complete sketch of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work. Mr. Fish has never been an office seeker, but he served on one of the first village boards of Walworth. Mr. and Mrs. Fish are members of the Congregational church, of which they are charter members.
CHARLES S. COOPER.
Few can draw rules for their own guidance from the pages of Plutarch, but all are benefited by the delineation of those traits of character which find scope and exercise in the common walks of life. The unostentatious routine of private life, although in the aggregate more important to the wel- fare of the community than any meteoric public career, cannot, from its very nature, figure in the public annals, though each locality's history should contain the names of those individuals who contribute to the success of the material affairs of a community and to its public stability ; men who lead wholesome and exemplary lives which might be profitably studied by the oncoming generation. In such a class must consistently appear the name of Charles S. Cooper, one of the leading business men and public spirited citi- zens of the village of Walworth, a man who leads a plain, industrious life, endeavoring to deal honestly with his fellow men and contribute somewhat to the general public good in an unobtrusive manner.
Mr. Cooper was born in section 19, Linn township, Walworth county, Wisconsin, October 23, 1859. He is the son of Peter and Lovina ( Ingalls) Cooper. The mother was born in Albany county, New York, June 5, 1829, and was the daughter of Enoch Ingalls, and a sister of Silas Ingalls, whose sketch, to be found elsewhere in this work, gives the early history of the family. She came to this county with her brothers when she was about seventeen years old. She attended school in Racine and afterwards taught there, and later at what was called the Old Basswood school, in the early fifties, and many of her pupils of sixty years ago have lived long lives of
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usefulness and been prominent in that part of the county. She and Peter S. Cooper were married on March 22, 1855. His birth occurred in Onon- daga county, New York, October 16, 1809. He was the son of Sylvanus Cooper and Elizabeth (Prince) Cooper, he having died when the son Peter S. was about a year old, the widow subsequently remarrying. Peter S. Cooper lived with his mother and step-father until he was fourteen years old, then was bound out to a Mr. Enos to learn the shoemaker's trade. When twenty-one years of age he received one hundred dollars and a set of shoe- maker's tools. He also learned the tanner's trade, and was an expert in both and followed them in and around Little Falls, New York, until 1844, when he emigrated to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and bought a farm in section 19, Linn township. He engaged John P. Snell to build him a house, then returned to New York, returning here in 1845 for the purpose of developing his land and making his permanent home, and here he worked at his trade in the pioneer way, finally renting out his farm. He went from house to house, sometimes remaining with one family for two weeks making shoes enough to last the family a year. This line of work was followed by Mr. Cooper until his marriage, after which he settled on his farm and there spent the rest of his life and became well established. His family consisted of four children, one of whom died in infancy; George S., who started to Alaska through Alberta, has not been heard from for about ten years; Har- vey lives at Pomona, California, where he is engaged in blacksmithing; Charles S., of this review, was the second of the three sons. The death of Peter S. Cooper occurred on April 10, . 1893, his widow surviving until March 22, 1907.
Charles S. Cooper grew up on the home farm and he attended Big Foot Academy. He began life for himself by teaching school three winters, work- ing out by the month part of the time at farm work, but most of his earlier life was spent at home. He was married on December 1, 1887, to Eunice Elizabeth Fish, daughter of Howard E. and Emily (Barbour) Fish, a com- plete record of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
After his marriage Mr. Cooper continued working the homestead for a number of years. During that time he purchased eighty acres cornering on the southeast of his father's estate. He made his home on the old home- stead until in March, 1902, successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising, then sold his farm and the old home place to Edward E. Aver and moved into the village of Walworth, where he has since resided. For some time prior to that he was manager of the Kaye's Park Creamery and at the
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time he moved to Walworth he was dealing in butter, eggs and poultry. In October, 1902, he purchased a meat shop in Walworth, his shop being de- stroyed by fire a year later, after which he went into the grocery business, also handling meats. In January, 1909, he admitted H. L. Radebaugh as a partner, the latter having closed out a stock of shoes and groceries, and they have since been in business together, and have built up a large and growing trade with the town and surrounding country, always carrying a large, sea- sonable and carefully selected stock of goods and according their hundreds of customers every courtesy and consideration. Mr. Cooper has been a man of persistent industry and has been very successful in whatever he has been engaged in.
Always deeply interested in the upbuilding of his community, Mr. Cooper has always stood ready to lend assistance in movements having as their ultimate aim the general progress of Walworth county. For two years he served as clerk of Linn township, and has also been assessor of the village of Walworth. He is a member of the Walworth high school board, having held this position five or six years. He and his wife both belong to the Congregational church, and he has been clerk of the local congregation for the past ten years and for a number of years has been active in church work.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, one of whom, Ethel, born June 15, 1889, died in infancy; Grace Bernice, born March 14, 1891; Dorothy Beatrice, born February 17, 1894; and Howard Charles, born May 12, 1904.
LESTER C. PORTER.
The true measure of individual success is determined by what one has accomplished, and, as taken in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, there is a particular interest attached to the career of the subject of this review, since he is a native son of Walworth county, where his entire life has been passed, and has so directed his ability and efforts as to gain recognition as one of the rep- resentative citizens of the vicinity, being a worthy scion of one of our sterling pioneer families.
Lester C. Porter, the present popular and efficient postmaster at Fon- tana and a successful merchant there, was born in Walworth township, this county, August 22, 1858. He is the son of Doric C. and Nancy J. (Han-
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chett) Porter, a complete sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work.
Mr. Porter grew to manhood on his father's farm here and he made himself useful on the same during the crop seasons, attending the public schools in the winter time. Later was a pupil in the Lake Geneva Sem- inary. When he was about sixteen years old the family moved to the head of Lake Geneva and there the father founded Fontana Park and they lived there in the summer and in the city of Lake Geneva in the winter.
In 1883 the subject went to South Dakota and entered a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of government land, on which he lived long enough to prove up and secure a title. He then returned to Walworth county and took charge of Fontana Park, assisting his father for two years.
Mr. Porter was married May 16, 1886, to Loretta J. Hitchcock. daugh- ter of Amos H. and Maria (Brown) Hitchcock. After his marriage he farmed for two years on the old homestead in Walworth township and from there moved to Fontana and has been there ever since. In the fall of 1902 he entered the general mercantile business at Fontana, which he still con- tinues, having built up a large and growing trade with the surrounding coun- try, carrying a complete and carefully selected stock of goods and by his honest and courteous treatment he has won a host of friends among his customers.
Mr. Porter has long manifested a lively interest in public affairs, and in 1904 he was appointed postmaster at Fontana, which office he still holds, discharging his duty in a manner that reflects credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the people and the department at Washington. He was township treasurer of Walworth township for two years, 1892 and 1893. He also served two years on the board of supervisors.
Five children, two sons and three daughters, have been born to the subject and wife, named as follows: Ima, who was graduated from the Walworth high school, has been teaching in the public schools for some time : Doric C., Jr., was graduated from the Walworth high school and is now in his third year at the State University at Madison; Amos D. is in the store with his father: Helen Clara and Rachael are both at home with their parents.
Fraternally, Mr. Porter is a member of the Masonic order, the Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also several other orders He is a public spirited man, a good neighbor, honest and generous of heart.
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DORIC C. PORTER.
In looking over the list of Walworth county's pioneers the name of Doric C. Porter stands out conspicuously, and although he "has been gath- ered to his fathers," as the Bible writers said of their beloved departed, his influence will long continue to have its effect in this community, whose every interest he had at heart and so unselfishly labored to promote.
Mr. Porter was born in Ashfield, Franklin county, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 16, 1815. The Porter family is of Scotch origin. Doric's great- grandfather, Rev. Nehemiah Porter, was a Presbyterian minister who served as chaplain in the Revolutionary war, and he died at the age of one hundred years in Massachusetts. His son, Joseph Porter, grandfather of Doric C. Porter, was a farmer, as was also his son Asa, father of the subject, and he died at the age of ninety-four years. The mother of the subject of this sketch was known in her maidenhood as Elizabeth Taylor, a native of Mas- sachusetts. This family was influential in their community in the old Bay state for many generations, especially during the colonial period, and their names frequently appear in the records there.
Doric C. Porter grew to manhood in his native state and when still a young man emigrated to the wild and almost unknown West, first spending a year at Dover, Ohio, then came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he established his permanent home; however, he later returned to Ohio and in the fall of 1839 married Nancy Jane Hanchet, of Dover. He came back to Walworth county and bought forty acres of government land near Lake Geneva and this he developed into a very productive farm. Four years later he sold it and purchased one hundred and sixty acres at the head of Lake Geneva and engaged in farming there a number of years with his usual success. In 1873 he purchased sixty-six acres of timber land along the lake shore and this he developed into Fontana Park, now well known as one of the "show places" about the lake, a truly beautiful and inviting retreat. It had been Chief Big Foot's camping ground.
Mr. Porter took much interest in public affairs, as stated above, and for some time he was chairman of the board of supervisors, and he held various township offices, always discharging his public duties faithfully and satisfactorily, leading a life that won him the esteem of a large number of friends.
The death of Mrs. Porter occurred in February, 1887. Eight children were born to the subject and wife, named as follows: Dwight W., who died
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in infancy; Eliza J., who married Charles Stevenson, of Oneida, Kansas, is now living in San Diego, California; Amelia N., who died when twenty- eight years old; Addie M. is the wife of Leonard C. Church; Doric and William P. are both farming in Kansas; Lester C. is a merchant and the present postmaster at Fontana; David W. lives in Walworth. The death of Doric C. Porter occurred in June, 1901.
MARSHALL M. FEATHERSTONE.
One of Walworth township's most diligent and painstaking farmers is Marshall M. Featherstone, a ·man who believes in carrying to successful issue whatever he attempts. He is a representative of one of our worthiest old families and he has been content to spend his life in this, his native county, and while laboring for his own . advancement he has not neglected his duties as a general citizen.
Mr. Featherstone was born in section 8, Walworth township, this county. on February 19, 1856. He is the son of Peter and Mary (Wagorn) Featherstone. The father was born in Headcorn, Kent, England, and the birth of the mother also occurred in Kent and there they grew up and were married. emigrating to America on the coronation day of Queen Victoria. After spending about two years in the East they came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, among the pioneers, having made the trip on a sailing vessel by way of the Great Lakes, being six weeks on the water. After living a year at Sharon they entered land from the government, one hundred and twenty acres in section 8, Walworth township, and there was their home the rest of their lives. No roads were at that time laid out on the government survey, the only road near being the old Territory road. Their nearest market was Racine and they went to Chicago to mill, the trip with ox teams requiring a week. Their family consisted of the following children: George grew up in this locality and owned a farm in section. 7. married Eliza Coon and they became the parents of three sons and one daughter : one of them, Frank, lives at Lake Geneva, and George died in May, 1892: Phebe Featherstone died when twenty-one years old; James married Hatty Lilley and lived in Dakota until his death, in August. 1885: one son. Fred. survives him: Jane married Edward Koones and lives at Harvard, Illinois ; Jesse died in early childhood ; Marshall M., the youngest of the family, is the subject of this sketch.
The death of Peter Featherstone occurred in 1860, his widow surviving
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until in March, 1886. They were among the founders of the First Baptist church of Walworth, the old brick church. Peter Featherstone's death was due to injuries received in 'a threshing machine. Marshall M. was three and one-half years old at that time, and the mother was left with five children to rear.
The subject grew to manhood on the home farm and he attended high school at Harvard, Illinois. In 1883 he was united in marriage with Bertha Leath, a native of Germany who came here when young with her parents. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone: Martha is the wife of Gilman Worden and lives on a farm in Sharon township; Elmer married Gertrude McNally and lives on a farm about two miles northwest of Walworth; Edward and Freddie are at home with their parents.
Mr. Featherstone has spent his entire life on the farm which his father entered from the government, consisting of one hundred and thirty-seven acres. He also bought one hundred and twenty acres in the southern part of the same section in 1893. About 1910 he bought another farm adjoining the last mentioned place, thus making a total of nearly three hundred acres, con- stituting one of the most desirable farms in this part of the county, and this he has placed under a high state of improvement and cultivation and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, having extensively raised Shropshire sheep.
Mr. Featherstone is a deacon in the Walworth Baptist church. He stands high in all circles in the community, leads a quiet, industrious life and has the good will and respect of all who know him.
GEORGE CHRISTIE.
One of our successful farmers and worthy native sons is George Christie, who has lived to see the county under many wonderful changes, being a boy here in a part of the pioneer period, reared in fact amidst the scenes of pioneer life, and he seems to have inherited many of the sterling traits of his father, who established himself here when he knew full well that if he established a home in this locality it was to be considerably removed from the advantages of civilization, in a dense forest, through which the wolves prowled and deer roamed. But he early became inured to hard work and knew how to appreciate honest toil at its true value, and his prominence in the community was the legitimate result of merit and ability.
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George Christie was born on May 26, 1856, in Richmond township, Wal- worth county, and he is the son of David A. Christie, who was born in Orange county, New York, where he spent his boyhood, coming to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1843, arriving here on October 5th of that year. He worked out as a farm hand for a while, later buying land in Richmond township, which he developed through hard work into a good farm and by industry established a good home. He married Jane Stewart, daughter of Arthur Stewart, who was a native of Ireland.
David A. Christie farmed all his life and here spent the balance of his days, dying on April 20, 1893. He and his wife became the parents of only one child, George, subject of this sketch, who grew up on the home farm and received his education in the public schools of his community. He engaged in farming up to a few years ago when he began buying and shipping live stock. He has been very successful. in this line and is now living in Darien.
He has been chairman of the township board in Darien township for the past ten years and was elected in November, 1911, chairman of the county board of supervisors. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order and the Woodmen.
Mr. Christie was married to Katie Cox, on September 15, 1884. She is the daughter of John and Mary Cox, of Troy, this county. To the subject and wife one child, Margaret, has been born.
SILAS ENSLEY WEAVER.
Fame may look to the clash of resounding arms for its heroes ; history's pages may be filled with a record of the deeds of the so-called great who have deluged the world with blood, destroyed kingdoms, created dynasties and left their names as plague spots upon civilization's escutcheon ; the poet may em- balm in deathless song the short and simple annals of the poor; but there have been comparatively few to sound the praise of the brave and sturdy pioneer who among the truly great and noble is certainly among the deserving of at least a little space on the category of the immortals. To him more than to any other is civilization indebted for the brightest jewel in its diadem, for it was he that blazed the way and acted as vanguard for the mighty army of progress that within the last century has conquered Wisconsin's wilderness and transformed it into one of the fairest and most enlightened of the Ameri- can commonwealth's domains.
MR. AND MRS. SILAS E. WEAVER
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LEHOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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A representative of a sterling pioneer family is Silas Ensley Weaver, well known citizen of Elkhorn, who was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, along the bay of Fundy, February 13, 1840. He is the son of Silas J. and Sarah (Jackson) Weaver, and there he spent his early boyhood, accompanying the family to the West in 1851. They arrived in Walworth county, Wisconsin, on June 21st of that year and located in Richmond township, where they bought a farm on which the parents spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of the following children : Eliza married Simeon Loomer and they lived in Sugar Creek township, where her death occurred in November, 1881, leaving a family ; Louisa married A. I. Swan and lived at Fairfield, Illinois, until her death; Amos is a Baptist minister, of Omaha, Nebraska, now living retired on account of ill health; Silas E., of this sketch; Wellington, who lived in Missouri a number of years, now makes his home at Ord, Nebraska; Jack- son lives in Detroit, Michigan, where he is superintendent of construction of dwelling houses; Hannah died in Illinois when about twenty-one years old ; James, who lived at Whitewater, died there in young manhood; Bert has been a ranchman and miner, and is now farming in Montana.
Silas E. Weaver came west with his parents in his boyhood and here he grew to maturity on the home farm. When the Civil war broke out he en- listed, the last of December, 1861, in Company K, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, and he served in Missouri most of the time. Late in the war he was in Greer- son's raid, when for sixteen days they were in the saddle, dashing through the enemy's country. He was in the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. After he had been in the service about two years he was disabled by rheumatism, which incapacitated him from duty for about six months. After his term of enlist- ment had expired he attempted to re-enlist, but was refused on account of dis- ability. He was a corporal when he went to the front and for meritorious con- duct was advanced to first sergeant. He was mustered into service on Janu- ary 8, 1862, and was active thereafter, always faithful to the duties assigned him. He spent two and one-half years in Missouri and northern Arkansas, then went down the Mississippi river to Vicksburg, where he remained two months, then returned to Memphis, where he was discharged on January 24, 1864. While in Missouri he was guarding against bushwhackers.
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