USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 6
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Mr. Lawson has ever taken a good citizen's interest in public affairs and is influential in local politics, although merely in an effort to place the best men in the offices sought. He was a member of the school board for about fifteen years and was town clerk for four or five years. He is a loyal Repub- lican.
Three children have been born to Mr. Lawson and wife, namely : Joyce, who was graduated from the high school at Walworth, also took a course in a business college and she is now head bookkeeper for the Bradley Knitting Company at Delavan ; Beulah and Ralph are at home and attending school.
Fraternally, Mr. Lawson is a member of the Masonic order and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a man of pleasing personality, kind- hearted, honorable in all his dealings with his fellowmen, and consequently inspires confidence and respect in those he comes into contact with.
EDGAR O. BURDICK.
The subject of this sketch has long enjoyed prestige as one of the enter- prising and public-spirited citizens of Walworth, standing high in the county and having the unbounded respect of all who have the pleasure of his ac- quaintance, and as the present treasurer of the village honored by his resi- dence he is giving the utmost satisfaction to all concerned.
Edgar O. Burdick was born in Otsego county, New York, October 25, 1842. He is the son of Joshua and Mary (Crumb) Burdick. About 1858 the family came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and settled in the south- eastern part of Walworth township, where the father bought a small farm and there spent the rest of his life. His family consisted of seven children, four sons and three daughters, namely: Edgar O., of this sketch ; George. who was a soldier in Company K, Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, died during the Civil war; Emily, who married Edward Stocking,
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lived at Sharon, and her death occurred in 1908; Henry A. lives at Los Angeles, California ; Flora G. married James Jorgenson and has lived in San Francisco many years; Ella, who married George Richards and lived at Darien, died in 1909: Carrie M. died when nineteen years old.
Joshua Burdick, father of the above named children, spent his life in agricultural pursuits, and his death occurred in 1896, his wife having pre- ceded him to the grave in 1886. His father, Benjamin Burdick, and his wife's father, Silas Crumb, lived in Oswego county, New York.
Edgar O. Burdick, of this sketch, grew up on the home farm, where he remained until 1861, in the fall of which year he enlisted in Company K, Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the Western Division, seeing service in Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, most of the time on guard duty and after bushwhackers. He was in the service about. two years. After he was mustered out he went to Minnesota and entered a homestead, on which he spent four years. In 1864 he was united in marriage with Emily Sherburne, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Atwood) Sherburne. Her parents were from near Glover, Vermont, where Mrs. Bur- dick was born. The Sherburne family came to Walworth county, Wiscon- sin, about 1845 when Emily was one year old, the family settling on a farm in Walworth township, where they continued farming all their lives. There were five children in Joseph Sherburne's family, two sons and three daugh- ters, namely : Phoebe A. married Lucien Covey and lived in Linn town- ship; Edward, who lived in Chicago about twenty-five years, spent the rest of his life in this county, dying about 1897; Mary, who married C. C. Clark, lives in the village of Walworth; George lives at Covert, Michigan; Emily, wife of Mr. Burdick. The father of these children passed away in 1876, the mother surviving until 1889.
After his marriage Mr. Burdick lived in Minnesota until about 1868, then went to Chicago where he spent two years in the employ of the street car company. From there he came to Walworth township, and has since made his home here, engaged in farming until about 1902, when he moved to the village of Walworth, where he has since resided. He was very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Burdick has always taken quite an interest in politics, and is a Republican of the old school and a loyal supporter of its principles. He has held various local offices, such as township supervisor, assessor, treasurer and clerk, and he has been clerk of the village of Walworth for about eight years. He has given eminent satisfaction as a public servant and has always discharged his duties faithfully.
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Three children have been born to the subject and wife: Grace, who married Burt Button, a traveling salesman, who was born and reared at Milton Junction, where they still reside; Beulah married Harvey L. Bur- dick (no relation) and they live at Delmar Junction, Iowa, where he is prin- cipal of schools, and they have two children, George and Dorothy; Flora married Dr. H. M. Johnson, who came here from Stone Fort, Illinois, and is now practicing dentistry in Walworth.
Fraternally, Mr. Burdick is a Mason and a Modern Woodman, and also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is secretary both of the Masonic and Modern Woodmen lodges at Walworth, and stands high in fraternal circles in this community. He is a man of obliging, sociable nature and of upright character and is highly respected by all who know him.
JASPER M. FISH.
A venerable and highly respected citizen of Geneva township, Walworth county, is Jasper M. Fish, a man who has lived a quiet. useful and successful life and has taken part in the development of this locality, laboring unselfishly for the improvement of the same along all lines, and it is to such worthy cit- izens as he that the present generation can enjoy so fully the blessings of the finely improved country which we of the younger generation find awaiting our pleasure.
Mr. Fish was born in Honey Hollow, Greene county, New York, Janu- ary 31, 1836, and is one of eight children born to the union of Silas and Betsey (Raymond) Fish. The paternal grandfather, Silas Fish, who lived to an advanced age, dying on the old homestead, was a native of Albany county, New York, where he followed farming for a number of years, his family being early settlers in the Empire state. He was three times married and he reared a family by each wife, but the father of the subject was the only son of the second union to grow to manhood. The daughters by that marriage were, Susan, who married Nathaniel Thompkins, of Albany county, New York; Mary, who married John Townsend, of Philadelphia; Sarah, who married Isaac King, of Albany county, New York; and Amy, who married Daniel Frost, also of that county. The maternal grandfather, Elias Raymond, was a native of Athens, New York. During his early years he followed the cooper's trade, but later engaged in merchandising. He married Hannah Scott, and they reared a family of six children. In 1857 they came to Wis-
JASPER M. FISH
PUBLIC ARANY 1
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION'
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consin and in the spring of 1868 came from Sauk county to Walworth county. He died in November, 1878, at the age of ninety-one years. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist church, and he lived a temperate, honorable and upright life.
Silas Fish was also born in the state of New York, his birth occurring on April 19, 1806, and there he followed farming and lumbering. In April, 1855, he emigrated to Winfield township, Sauk county, Wisconsin, locating near Reedsburg, where he purchased a farm of two hundred and four acres, of partly improved land, and thereon made his home until his death, February 20, 1882, a month before his eighty-sixth birthday. He and his wife were Quakers. Eight children were born to them, namely : Elizabeth, who married Thomas Powell, of Sauk county; Elias R. lives in Monroe county, this state ; Spencer C. lives at Reedsburg; Lewis N. and Emma Jane, who married Charles E. Kelley, both lived in Sauk county ; Lucius lives at Reedsburg, and Elbert W. lives in Sauk county, also.
When nineteen years old Jasper M. Fish, of this sketch, accompanied his parents to this state, having been reared in New York and educated in the common schools. He remained with his parents until attaining his majority, and in 1859 he settled on forty acres in Sauk county which his father gave him. He had met Temperance Hand in Walworth county while on a visit here the previous winter, and on October 29, 1859, they were married. She was a daughter of Jared and Mary J. (Raymond) Hand, and was one of five children who grew to maturity, the others being, Hannah A., deceased, who married John Greenwood, of Sauk county; Raymond J., a contractor and builder of San Antonio, Texas, who married Harriet Coles, of Lyons, this county ; Helen M. married J. W. Moore, an attorney of Dallas, Texas; and Milton J., who has a milk and dairy supply business in Kansas City, and who married Adaline Wischhusen. Mrs. Fish came to Wisconsin with her parents when she was six years old. Her union with Mr. Fish was blessed with seven children, namely: Lorenzo J., Mary E., William R., Silas B., Elizabeth M., Charles R. and Grace T.
For some time Mr. Fish was a Democrat and he voted for Cleveland in 1884, but since then he has been a Prohibitionist. He lived about eight years on his farm in Sauk county, and in 1866 purchased one hundred and sixty- one acres in Walworth county, in section 12, Geneva township; in 1874 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in section II and afterwards added sixty acres more in section II, adjoining the other two tracts, also owned forty acres in section 2 and thirty acres in section 1, his fine farm being known as "The Fish Stock Ranch."
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In the winter of 1891 Mr. Fish took a prominent part in organizion the Walworth County Printing Company, together with other leading Prohibi- tionists, of which company he was president. They established the Blade, a Prohibition paper, and for some time Mr. Fish devoted his attention and energy to its publication, it becoming a powerful factor for the cause in this part of the state.
Mr. Fish and his wife now reside on the northeastern quarter of section II and they rent their farms to their sons. Lorenzo J. married Lucy Johnson and has a farm of his own in the north part of Geneva township; Mary E. died unmarried in April, 1906; Silas B. is farming the one hundred and sixty acres where the subject and wife reside; Elizabeth married Howard Lame- reaux and lives at Winesap, Washington ; Grace married Bert Vant, now de- ceased, and she lives with her parents, and has one son, Arthur Vant.
Silas B. and Charles B. Fish are both told of at some length under sepa- rate headings herein.
JONAS B. WISE.
One of the best known and most highly honored of our native sons, who has been content to spend his long, useful and very active life right here at home and thus benefited himself, his family and the community in genral, is Jonas B. Wise, well known real estate and insurance man of Sharon. He was born on October 28, 1848, in Sharon, Wisconsin. He is the son of Joseph and Matilda (Alexander) Wise, the father a native of France where he spent his earlier years, coming to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1842, and settling in Sharon township on a farm, taking up one hundred and twenty acres from the government, and here he farmed until about 1870, when he sold out and moved to the town of Sharon, retiring from active work. His death occurred in 1889, at Sharon. His widow survives, being now eighty-three years of age, and she has a host of friends at Sharon and vicinity. They were the parents of two children, Jonas B., and Frances, of Sharon.
.Jonas B. Wise was reared on the home farm in this township, and there he worked during the crop season. He received his education in the public schools of Sharon and spent three years in the academy at Allen's Grove. He began life as a merchant and for a period of fourteen years successfully con- ducted a store at Sharon, then operated the local elevator for a period of six- teen years, building up an extensive grain trade with the surrounding country. He finally sold out and went into the real estate and insurance business in
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Sharon, which he still continues and he does a large and growing business. He owns a beautiful residence on Lake Geneva, where he spends his summers. He has been very successful in a business way, being a man of keen observation and endeavoring to keep fully abreast of the times.
Mr. Wise is a loyal Republican and he has always taken an abiding inter- est in political affairs. He was chairman of the board of supervisors for about seven years, in the village. He was clerk of the district schools for twelve years, having filled these offices very creditably and to the satisfaction of the public. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Wise was married on June 18, 1874, to Alice Arnold, daughter of S. G. and Ann Arnold, a highly respected family of Sharon. To the subject and wife one child has been born, Alice Pearl, who died when twelve years of age.
ALFRED HENRY FRICKER.
Among the enterprising and progressive men of affairs in Walworth county is Alfred Henry Fricker, of Walworth, an American by adoption only, but nevertheless a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He was born in Chester, England, March 21, 1873, and is the son of John Henry Fricker and Alice Elizabeth (Whittle) Fricker. The father was a mechanical engineer, one who made a specialty of installing brewery plants. He was a native of England. but had spent probably seventeen years, prior to his marriage, in Canada, where he followed his vocation, but he was making his home in England when his son, Alfred H., was born. The business of the father took him to various parts of England, but the son spent the major part of his youth in Liverpool, in which city he was educated at the Liverpool Institute and the Liverpool University, giving special attention to chemistry and making an excellent record in each of those well known institutions. About 1890 he emigrated to America and, after traveling over the states considerably, located at Whitewater, Wisconsin, accepting a position in a hardware store. He remained there until 1905, when he came to Walworth and went into business for himself, establishing a hardware store, he and D. W. Porter buy- ing out Rowbotham Brothers. They continued in partnership a year and a half, then Mr. Fricker purchased his partner's interest and has been in business alone ever since, having been very successful, enjoying a large and growing trade with the surrounding country. He carries a large and care- fully selected stock of general hardware and farming implements, and his many customers are treated with uniform courtesy and fairness. His store would be a credit to a much larger town than Walworth.
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Mr. Fricker was married on October II, 1895. to Zelpha Powell, who was born and reared at Whitewater, Wisconsin. She is the daughter of William and Emma (Matthew) Powell. William came from England, receiving his education there. He learned the trade of carpenter and came to this country after his marriage. He came direct to Whitewater, where he had friends, and worked at his trade there up to the time of his death. He had five children: Zelpha, wife of the subject; William married Adah Johnson and they have two children, Theodore and Ronald. He lives at Stephens Point, Wisconsin, where he is manager of a telephone company ; Walter married Lily Kellar; Ed, who is married and has two children, Rosetta and Edward, lives in Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Nellie is married to Ember Fowler, who lives in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
To the subject and wife two sons have been born, William Henry and Earl Norman, also a daughter, Florence Ada.
Mr. Fricker and wife belong to the Episcopal church. He takes a due interest in public affairs and is recognized as a man of influence in his com- munity. Mr. Fricker's mother is now living in Bristol, England. His father died the first of October, 1910. The subject was summoned by cable and within a week from the time he was at home in England, having made a very quick trip.
WALWORTH STATE BANK.
The Walworth State Bank, located at Walworth, Wisconsin, is univer- sally regarded as one of the sound and safe institutions in the southern part of the state, and under its present capable management it is rapidly growing in prestige. It was started in 1900 as a private bank by Hiram S. Bell, and on August 23, 1903, it was chartered as the Walworth State Bank. It now has a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars and a surplus of the same amount. The following comparative statement will show the growth of deposits of this bank during the past four years: February 20, 1908, $94,- 773.10; February 20, 1909, $108,788.30; February 20, 1910, $111,454.43 ; February 20, 1911, $166,189.05 ; February 20, 1912, $220,654.33.
The following condensed report of the state banking department show- ing the condition of the Walworth State Bank at the close of business on February 20, 1912, is self-explanatory, speaking for itself : Resources-Loans and discounts, $174,422.86; bonds, $6,200; furniture and fixtures, $1,445-72; cash on hand and in banks, $68,005.28; total, $250,073.86. Liabilities-
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Capital stock, $15,000; surplus and profits, $14.428.53: deposits, $220,- 645.33 ; total, $250,073.86.
When chartered the officers of this bank were. Hiram S. Bell, presi- dent; L. C. Church, vice-president ; J. C. Partridge, cashier. In 1904 Mr. Church was elected president and Frank E. Lawson, vice-president, and in 1908 Mr. Lawson became cashier, and C. S. Douglass vice-president ; in 1909 Mr. Douglass was elected president and E. A. Peterson, vice-president.
WILLIAM C. BROWN.
Energy, sound judgment and persistency of effort, properly applied, will always win the goal sought in the sphere of human endeavor, no matter what the environment may be or what obstacles are met with, for they who are endowed with such characteristics make of their adversities stepping-stones to higher things. These reflections are suggested by the career of William C. Brown, farmer of Darien township, Walworth county, who has forged his way to the front ranks of twentieth-century husbandmen in this section of the county under consideration, and is one of the representative men of the same. For in studying the character of this gentleman it will be found that he came from a class of people who do not permit obstacles to lie in their way and hinder them from the goal sought : they are the kind of people who redeemed the wilderness, routed the savage and transformed the hills and valleys into fertile farms and good homes.
William C. Brown was born on March 14, 1863, in the state of New Jersey, where he spent his early childhood, but most of his life has been spent in Walworth county, Wisconsin. He is the son of James and Margarette (Moran) Brown, born natives of Ireland, where they grew up and were mar- ried and from there they emigrated to the United States in 1861, first locating in New Jersey. James Brown was a stone mason by trade, which he followed about nine years after coming to America. It was in 1870 that he brought his family to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, locating on Johnson's creek, where he bought a farm which he worked about six years, then moved to Darien town- ship, Walworth county, where he now resides in section 24, with his sons, James and Stephen Brown. He was very successful as a general farmer, but he has lived a retired life for the past ten years. His wife died on Decem- ber 18, 1909.
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Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. James Brown, named as fol- lows: William C., of this review; Mary, Mrs. Maggie O'Brien ; James ; Mrs. Nettie Fanning; Stephen; Frank is deceased, as is also Ora.
William C. Brown received his education in Rock county, Wisconsin, in the district schools. Early in life he turned his attention to farming and this has been his life work. He started humbly, but by hard work and good man- agement he has laid up a competency and become the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land in section 26, Darien township, which he has under an advanced state of improvement and cultivation, and he has a good home and such outbuildings and modern farming machinery as his needs require. He always keeps a good grade of live stock.
Politically, Mr. Brown is a Democrat, but he has never found time to be - especially active in public affairs. In religious matters he is a faithful sup- porter and member of the Catholic church. At present he is clerk of district school No. 3, Darien township. Fraternally, he belongs to the Catholic For- esters and the Modern Woodmen.
Mr. Brown was married on July 21, 1898, to Mary Fanning, daughter of Michael and Mary (Holland) Fanning, natives of Ireland. They came to this county twenty-five years ago, settling in Lima, Wisconsin. There were eleven children in that family, all of whom are living. They are members of the Roman Catholic church.
To Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been born three children, named as fol- lows : William, born February 10, 1900: James, born September 3, 1902, and Mary, born November 5. 1904.
ARCHIBALD COLBURN.
We are always glad to revert to the lives of the old pioneers, for it seems that they had elements about them that are not found in the lives of men in the present generation ; they seem to have been more courageous, more patriotic and more honest-it is at least indisputable that they were more hospitable. The stranger was always welcome and a guest need have no money with which to defray expenses of a night's lodging at the cabin of the early settler, and if he needed assistance in any way, he could always obtain it readily. There was evidently more brotherly love between men -- a broader altruism. The change from such conditions to those of the present day is a regrettable one.
Mr. Colburn, father of Lucius Colburn, of this county, was the head of the family in this county. They came here from Livingston county, New
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York, in 1846, and lived first two miles east of Walworth for one year, then moved about a mile nearer the village the following spring, then traded for eighty acres a little over a mile south of Walworth and there he lived until his death. The death of Archibald Colburn occurred in 1880, while he was attending the Republican national convention that nominated Garfield, his widow surviving until November 14, 1895. She had been known in her maid- enhood as Charity Blair and was born in Chenango county, New York, the daughter of John Blair and wife.
Archibald Colburn was born at Pittstown, New York. When the Colburn family settled south of Walworth they found an open prairie country, with few neighbors. Their home was one of the very few frame houses, except ten- porary structures. Prairie wolves were often seen. No roads had been regu- ularly laid out, the highways being only tracks across the wild prairie land. All barns were built of timber hewn from the woods, there being no sawed lumber. Later in life Archibald Colburn purchased twenty acres of timber. He worked hard and established a good home and had an excellent farm, and he became one of the influential men of his day in this vicinity. All of his children but the third and the youngest were born at Nunda, New York. The third was born here.
The subject and wife were both worthy members of the Baptist church.
Lucius Colburn was born in Livingston county, New York, August 4, 1831, and there he spent his boyhood and in 1862 was united in marriage with Letitia Heritage, who was born at Shiloh, Cumberland county, New Jersey, and about 1848 she came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, with her parents, Zacheus and Isabel (Ayers) Heritage. Lucius Colburn took up farming early in life, which he continued in Walworth township, this county, on his excellent farm three and one-half miles southwest of Walworth. In 1905 he sold out and bought land in South Dakota. He has lived in the village of Walworth since 1905. He has three children : Herbert, who married Fannie Pankhurst, has two sons and a daughter, Arba, Ivan and Claude. Mr. Pankhurst is farm- ing near Alexander, South Dakota. Florance Colburn, son of the subject, lives at home and follows painting. Iva married Frank E. Lawson, cashier of the Walworth State Bank, a sketch of whom appears herein.
On January 1, 1912, Lucius Colburn and wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and their children were all at home, the occasion being one long to be remembered by the family. Although now past eighty years of age, Mr. Colburn has never been sued nor sued any one nor ever been a wit- ness in any case. He has always led an honest, industrious life, quiet and law- abiding.
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