USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume II > Part 65
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The father of these children was a stanch Democrat, but never aspired to political offices. In early life he belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, and his wife was an Episcopalian.
Treasure K. Loveland, of this review, grew up on the home farm where he made himself useful in his boyhood days, and he received his education in the common schools. He took up farming for a livelihood and has since fol- lowed it: with the exception of four or five years in Illinois, he has lived in Walworth county. He has lived on the present farm nineteen years. He has an excellent place of one hundred and ten acres, carrying on general farming and stock raising successfully, making a specialty of dairying. During the past twelve years he has also been salesman for a medical concern and has met with success.
Mr. Loveland was married on July 30, 1881, to Mary C. Lennon, who was born in Lafayette township, this county, the daughter of James and Kath- erine (Keron) Lennon, both born in Ireland, from which country they came to America when young and settled in Pennsylvania, and about 1864 came to
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Wisconsin, locating in Walworth county. They had three sons and three daughters. The father farmed his thirty-acre place in Lafayette township. He was a Democrat and religiously a Catholic.
To Mr. and Mrs. Loveland three children have been born: Eddie Kipp, born February 9, 1884; Adelbert, born June 13, 1886; and Harley Floyd, born May 18, 1891, and died June 22, 1911. Politically, the subject is a Democrat.
OSCAR P. COATES.
Walworth county has long been known as a center for dairying, ranking well with her sister counties of this the greatest dairy state in the union. One of the men who has shown himself to be well informed on this question and who has made a great success of the same as well as in general farming is Oscar P. Coates, of Lafayette township. He was born in Lagrange township, this county, on March 31, 1856, the son of James and Ann ( Pilling) Coates, both born in England, where they grew up and were married and where they lived until 1841, when they emigrated to America and settled in New Jersey where they remained some time, in the vicinity where Washington deceived the British by kindling fires before his famous crossing of the Delaware, the night he slaughtered the Hessian troops hired to fight in the Continental army. The father of the subject learned the trade of cotton weaver in England, which he followed for a number of years in this country, at Providence and Newport, Rhode Island. Leaving the East, he came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1850 and purchased seventy acres of land in Lagrange township where he established a good home and here spent two years, then moved to Crawford county, where he bought a farm and spent the remainder of his life, dying on June 27, 1890, his widow surviving until in October, 1907. Their family con- sisted of eight children, who grew to maturity and three died in infancy. The father was a Democrat and took an active interest in the affairs of his party. He and his wife were reared in the Episcopal church in England. Mr. Craw- ford held various offices in Eastman township, Crawford county.
Oscar P. Coates, of this sketch, was educated in Eastman township, Crawford county, and early in life he turned his attention to farming. In 1880 he went to South Dakota where he took up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres and there he lived until the fall of 1894, having been successfully engaged in raising grain. He then came to Lafayette township, Walworth county. Wisconsin, where he has since resided, now owning one of the choice farms of the same, consisting of two hundred and twenty-five acres, which he
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conducts as a dairy farm, keeping a large and excellent grade of cattle. He has been very successful as an agriculturist and stock man and he is now well fixed.
Mr. Coates was married on December 3, 1885, to Josephine Larson, who was born in Crawford county, Wisconsin, and to this union three children have been born. Zella May. Clinton and Charles B.
Mr. Coates is a Republican, and while living in South Dakota he served as constable, assessor, also clerk and dairyman of the township in which he lived. He has been justice of the peace for six years and supervisor for three years since locating in Walworth county. As a public servant he has ever per- formed his duties most faithfully and conscientiously, to the eminent satisfac- tion of all concerned.
JOHN G. VOSS.
It is always a pleasure to look over a splendidly kept farm, with every- thing in ship-shape, like that of John G. Voss, of Sugar Creek township, Wal- worth county, known as "Rollingdale Farm," of the choice landed estates of that community, and here the subject has devoted years of patient toil in order to bring it up to a high standard and make it productive. Such persist- ent care always results in favorable returns.
Mr. Voss was born in Lafayette township, this county, on August 20, 1872. He is the son of Augustus and Maria W. E. (Winter) Voss, both born in Germany, where they spent their earlier years, finally coming to Wal- worth county, Wisconsin, where the father bought a farm of one hundred and forty-four acres and here spent the rest of his life engaged in farming. There were seven children in this family, five sons and two daughters. Polit- ically, the father was a Republican, and he was a member of the board of supervisors of Lafayette township. He was a very active man in the county. He was a faithful member of the Lutheran church. It was in 1858 that he came to this county. His wife came in 1863 with her parents.
John G. Voss was educated in the Elkhorn high school and the normal at Oshkosh. He began life by teaching school, which he followed two years, this being prior to going to the normal, from which he was graduated in 1898. He was very successful as a teacher and his services were in great demand. On January 1, 1899, he became county superintendent, which office he held continuously for ten and one-half years, in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned, doing a noble work in promoting the educational standard of the county, and taking a high
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rank with the leading educators of southern Wisconsin. He has always been a close student and has kept fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession. While teaching, he purchased one hundred and twenty-six acres, where he now lives, his place now consisting of one hundred and thirty- five acres. He moved here in 1906 and took charge of the farm in 1909, and he has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and he is now devoting his attention to dairying on an extensive scale, for which he is exceptionally well equipped. He raises full-blood Holstein cattle and Berk- shire hogs. He is president of the County Holstein Association, and secre- tary of the Holstein Friesian Breeders' Association of Wisconsin, and he is a director from Wisconsin of the American Association. He is a director of the International Dairy Show at Milwaukee.
The domestic life of Mr. Voss began on August 30, 1905, when he was united in marriage with Sarah Gleason, of East Troy, this county. Here she grew to womanhood and received her education. Two children have been born to the subject and wife, John D. and Donald G.
Mrs. Voss is a member of the Catholic church. Fraternally, Mr. Voss belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, including the chapter and the com- mandery.
WILLIAM HARMON.
A farmer of Lafayette township, Walworth county, who has forged his way to the front and won an honored place among the substantial citizens in his vicinity is William Harmon. He is widely and favorably known as a man of high character and for a number of years his influence in the county has been marked and salutary. In starting out in life he realized that success did not come to those who idly wait, but to the faithful toiler whose work is characterized by sleepless vigilance and cheerful celerity.
Mr. Harmon was born in the township in which he now resides on No- vember 25, 1860. He is the son of Andrew and Eliza (Howard) Harmon, both born in Ireland, where they spent their youth, and from there they emigrated to the United States, he in 1845, she coming at a later date. He came direct to Wisconsin and located in Lafayette township, where he secured land and improved a good farm, becoming very comfortably situated, and here he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1906. He had one hundred acres and was a general farmer. His family consisted of seven children.
William Harmon was educated in the district schools here and when old enough he assisted with the work on the home place and he has made farming
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his life work. He is now the owner of two hundred and fifty acres which he keeps well improved and under a high state of cultivation. He has a good set of buildings and in connection with general farming and stockraising carries on dairying.
Mr. Harmon was married in 1890 to Mary Doyle, who represents a highly respected family, and to this union four children have been born, namely : Georgie, Ray, Alice and Howard.
Mr. Harmon is a Democrat and has long been active and influential in local affairs. He is at present chairman of his township. He has always supported any measure that had for its object the general improvement of his locality. He is a worthy member of the Catholic church.
EMERY J. BROWN.
The subject of this sketch has spent much of his life, in fact, practically all of it, in Walworth county, having been only four years of age when his parents brought him here from the old Empire state, and he has always had deeply at heart the well being and improvement of the county, whenever pos- sible, for the promotion of enterprises calculated to be of lasting benefit to his fellow men, besides taking a leading part in all movements for the advance- ment of the community along social and moral lines, keeping untarnished the honored family name which he bears, the Browns having stood for upright citizenship and wholesome living since they took up their residence here, nearly a half century ago, and thus it is not surprising that he has ever stood high in the estimation of the people, being both honest in all his dealings with his fellow men and neighborly in his private life.
Emery J. Brown, successful farmer in the vicinity of Lyons, was born in Manchester, New York, on April 14, 1864. He is the son of George B. and Sarah (Lake) Brown, the father born in the state of New York and the mother born in South Carolina. They were married in the former state and began life there in the city of Manchester, but seeking a new land of better opportunities they came to Spring Prairie township, Walworth county, Wis- consin, in 1868 and settled on a small farm, and, through hard work and economy, they in time became very comfortably established, and here the father spent the rest of his life, dying in 1905 at the age of seventy-two years ; his widow survives, being now seventy years old. Three children were born to them, all living at this writing. Politically, George B. Brown was a Repub lican and in religious matters he was a member of the Baptist church.
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Emery J. Brown, of this sketch, was reared on the farm where he worked when a boy during the crop seasons, and in the wintertime he attended the dis- trict schools in his community. Early in life he turned his attention to gen- eral farming and stock raising, and for twenty-five years he has been en- gaged extensively as a shipper of live stock, one of the best known stock men, in fact, in the county, being regarded as an excellent judge of all kinds of stock and fair in his dealings. He has made a specialty in dealing in poultry and ยท veal, having shipped to Milwaukee for the past twenty years where he finds a very ready market for all that he offers for sale.
Mr. Brown is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of fertile, well improved and well cultivated land in this county, which yields abundant crops annually under his efficient management. He makes a specialty of dairying, for which he is exceptionally well equipped. He has a pleasant home and large, convenient outbuildings.
Politically, Mr. Brown is a Republican, and while he takes an interest in public affairs he has never been an aspirant for public offices.
Mr. Brown has lived in Spring Prairie township for forty-four years and hence has seen many important changes in the same. He has made most of the improvements on his place, and has always sought to keep abreast of the times in everything pertaining to his vocation. Mr. Brown has never married.
JOHN MAYER.
Although born under alien skies and taught to revere a flag other than the Stars and Stripes, nevertheless John Mayer, one of the venerable agricul- turists and public-spirited citizens of Spring Prairie township, Walworth county, loved his adopted country so well that he risked his health, business chances, even life itself in our great Civil war that the national union might not be disrupted, and this is not to be wondered at when we learn that he comes of a sterling race that produced the redoubtable Iron Chancellor, uni- versally regarded as one of the world's greatest statesmen, past or present ; in other words, he came of a race of fighters, not merely fighters in periods of war, when the great Mars strides menacingly over the welkin, but men who have such stick-to-itive qualities that they seldom give over any under- taking until the coveted goal is reached, therefore the German people have been of great assistance to us in forwarding our civilization, in clearing the wilderness from the various states of the union, in conquering our enemies and, building solidly the foundations of our various institutions.
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Mr. Mayer was born in Germany on August 12, 1838, and there he spent his early childhood, but most of his life has been lived in the western hemisphere. He is the son of Eberhardt and Magdaline (Zeek) Mayer, both natives of Germany, where they grew up and were married, and from which country they emigrated to America in 1848, locating in Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin, but they did not remain there long, going to what is now Cudahy, set- tling permanently on a farm of thirty acres and there they established a very comfortable home and spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1870, and the mother ten years later, 1880. They were the parents of nine children, only two of whom are living at this writing. Politically, the father of the subject was a Republican, but not active, leading a quiet home life, and he belonged to the Lutheran church.
John Mayer, of this review, was ten years of age when he came with his parents to Milwaukee. He had attended the common schools in the father- land, and he received further educational training in the public schools of Milwaukee county, Wisconsin. There he grew to manhood and worked on the farm when not in school, and when young took up farming for a livelihood, but eventually abandoned this vocation, turning his attention to engineering after the close of the Civil war, which occupation he followed successfully for twenty years, being in the Bayview Roller Mills for a period of seventeen years, and in Milwaukee three years, being regarded as an expert stationary engineer. Then he again returned to husbandry, buying a farm of one hun- dred and eighty acres in 1893 in Spring Prairie township, Walworth county, having previously purchased forty acres three miles from Milwaukee which he sold at a good price. Since coming to this county he has been very success- ful as a general farmer and stock raiser and has a fertile, well improved place, and a large, comfortable home and excellent outbuildings.
As intimated previously, Mr. Mayer was a soldier in the Union army dur- ing the war between the states, having enlisted early in the war, 1861, in Company D, First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in which he served three years and four months in a very faithful and gallant manner, seeing much hard service and taking part in many important engagements, including the great battles of Perryville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, being wounded at Perryville. Politically, Mr. Mayer is a Republican and he has always been interested in public affairs, but has not sought to be a leader in public affairs.
Mr. Mayer was married in 1866 to Louisa Rohrberg, who was born in Germany about 1845, from which country she came to the United States in early life. She is the daughter of Christ and Christina Rohrberg, who emi-
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grated to Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, about 1857, where they became very comfortably located and where they spent the balance of their lives. Mrs. Mayer died January 23, 1912. To Mr. and Mrs. Mayer three children have been born, all living, named as follows: Ellen, John and William.
GOTTLOB JOHN STRADINGER.
Among the large element of foreign-born citizens who have cast their lot with the people of Walworth county and have won success through their industry and close application is Gottlob John Stradinger, one of the pro- gressive husbandmen of the eastern part of Walworth county. He comes of a splendid family, one that has always been strong for right living and indus- trious habits, for education and morality and for all that contributes for the betterment of the community in which they resided. Many years ago he, unaccompanied, crossed the great Atlantic, having bid a final farewell to the fatherland, and located in Chicago, but after residing in the great metropolis for a time, he sought a freer life in the comparatively new country of south- ern Wisconsin, and, liking the same, he decided to make this his permanent home, so he is still laboring diligently here, having met with encouraging success all the while, and has also gained the esteem and confidence of all with whom he has come into contact owing to his habits of industry and right living.
Mr. Stradinger was born in Wittenberg, Germany, March 19, 1866. He is the son of John and Kathrine ( Brotzler) Stradinger, both born in Germany, where they grew up, were married and spent their lives. Their family consisted of eight children, only four of whom are living.
The subject of this sketch grew to maturity in his native land and there attended the common schools and learned the baker's trade. Believing that the United States held greater advantages for one of his bent, he came to Chicago in 1891 and there worked at his trade for some time, then came to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and began working on a farm by the month, then went to Michigan where he remained eighteen months in the lumber camps, also worked in a store, then worked three years by the month, and began rent- ing land in 1904, having returned to Walworth county. He got a good start in this way, and then bought two hundred and forty-nine acres where he now lives, to which he has added forty-two and one-half acres, and he also owns one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Adams county, Wisconsin. He has placed his home farm under a high state of improvement and culti-
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vation, and he has a splendid and attractive home, large and convenient outbuildings and everything about his place denotes thrift and prosperity. He makes a specialty of dairying, and keeps a fine grade of live stock, especially cattle. He merits the high esteem in which he is held, for, starting in life with nothing, he has accumulated a competency, a fine farmstead and is one of the substantial men of his community.
Politically, Mr. Stradinger is a Republican, but he prefers to devote his attention to his individual affairs rather than strive to be a leader in public affairs; however, his support may always be depended upon to further any movement having for its object the general public good. He belongs to the Lutheran church, while his wife and children are members of the Catholic church.
Mr. Stradinger was married on April 8, 1895, to Lizzie Molden, who was born in Germany, on December 27, 1874, and there she spent her child- hood and received her education in the public schools. She is the daugh- ter of Patrick and Josie Molden, natives of Germany, where they grew up, were educated and married and where they spent their lives. The wife of the subject emigrated to America when young, locating in Chicago when four- teen years of age, then went to Iowa where she remained for a time. She then returned to Chicago, later going to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where she was married.
To Mr. and Mrs. Stradinger eight children have been born, namely: Kathrine, Ernest. Otto, Louisa. John, Albert, Maud, Florence and Emil Joseph, all living.
SIMEON FRANCIS BAKER.
Simeon Francis Baker, one of the enterprising young farmers of Spring Prairie township, Walworth county, was born on the farm where he now re- sides on July 17, 1877. He grew to manhood on the farm, where he worked when old enough and during the winter months attended the common schools. He is the son of Francis and Anna (Birtchard) Baker, the father born in Rutland, Vermont, and the mother in Vienna, Austria, from which country she emigrated to America with her mother and step-father and settled in Wis- consin. The father of the subject came to Spring Prairie township, this county, in 1836 with his parents, making the long journey from the East in typical pioneer fashion, and here Francis Baker became a well-to-do farmer, owning three hundred and twenty acres of fine land, a good home, and on this the subject now resides. He was a man of fine principles and helped in the
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early development of the county to start the material, civic and moral prog- ress and here his death occurred on March 16, 1897. His widow is still living in Spring Prairie, now advanced in years, and it is interesting to hear her relate incidents of the early days here. The elder Baker was a Republican, but never had much ambition to be a leader in public affairs, although ready always to assist in all movements for the general good.
Simeon F. Baker, of this sketch, was reared on the home farm where he worked hard when a boy and he received his education in the public schools, and he has always followed farming for a livelihood. He is the owner of two hundred and eighty-seven acres of excellent land which he has kept well im- proved and well tilled, carrying on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale, making a specialty of Holstein cattle.
Politically, Mr. Baker is a Republican and loyal to his party's interests.
Mr. Baker was married on March 19, 1902, to Maud Rousseau, of Lovilla, Iowa, and to this union four children have been born, namely : Doro- thy, Theresa, Pearl Marie and one who died in infancy. Personally, Mr. Baker is a very pleasant gentleman to know, neighborly and hospitable.
OTTO R. ZASPEL.
Agriculture has been the true source of man's dominion on earth ever since the primal existence of labor and has been the pivotal industry that has controlled for the most part all the fields of action to which his intelligence and energy have been devoted. In a civilized community no calling is so cer- tain of yielding a compensatory return as that which is culled from a kindly soil, albeit the husbandman at times is sorely taxed in coaxing from mother earth all he desires or even expects; yet she is a kind mother and seldom chastens with disappointment the child whose diligence and frugality she deems it but just should be rewarded. One of those who have found a benefactress in Mother Earth is Otto R. Zaspel, one of the successful farmers in the vicinity of Honey Creek. He has never found allurements for any kind of work out- side of the realm of nature, and, having been a close student of the soils, the climate, the crops and all the phases that contribute to husbandry he has profited by his observation and is today well abreast of the times as an agri- culturist.
Mr. Zaspel was born in Burlington, Racine county, Wisconsin, on July 25. 1852. He is the son of Theodore and Palina Zaspel, both born in Ger- many, where they grew up and where the father learned the trade of rope
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maker, which he followed. It was as early as 1839 that he crossed the great ocean in an old-fashioned sailing vessel which required many days, and he settled in Racine county, Wisconsin, where he followed farming. The coun- try was new and not very thickly settled, and it was only a few miles farther west to an almost unbroken wilderness. He brought his family to Spring Prairie township, Walworth county, in 1865 and bought one hundred and twenty acres of land where the subject of this sketch now resides. He was a hard worker and became well established, and here he spent the balance of his life, reaching an advanced age, dying on February 6, 1909, when ninety- two years old; his wife had preceded him to the grave on June 3, 1891, when seventy-four years old. They were a fine old couple and had a host of good friends wherever they lived, being thrifty, honest and neighborly. They were the parents of seven children, of whom five are living. Politically, the father was a Democrat, but was not especially active in public affairs.
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