History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc., Part 265

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052

USA > Wisconsin > History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc. > Part 265

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OSCAR BOWMAN, wagon maker, New London, was born on a farm in New York, living there until twenty-five or twenty-six years of age. Came to Wisconsin, July 7, 1844. He came to New London from Menasha, Wis., and began business in a small shop near the larger one which he built, and in which he now works. Mr. Bowman also built a pleasant home in the city. His wife was Calesta Thompson, of Northern Vermont. They have seven children, all, except the eldest, born in the West. Mr. Bowman is a Congregationalist.

H. P. BRIGGS, New London, Sheriff of Waupaca Co., is of New England ancestry, a son of David and Mary Briggs, who were very early settlers in Winnebago Co., Ill. H. P. Briggs was born in Rockton, Ill., 1842. Seven years later the family located in Hortonville, Wis. Here he attended school in a log cabin, sit- ting on a shingle block, with a board, resting on pegs driven into the logs, for a desk. He came to New London in 1870, and began the hardware business, building a store. His partner was J. C. Wilcox. In 1862, Mr. Briggs enlisted in the 32d W. V. I., served with the Army of the Tennessee during the sieges of Vicksburg and Atlanta. After the fall of the latter city, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant. and assigned to Company F, 44th W. V. I., and served until the close of the war in Tennessee and Kentucky. He then spent three years in locating pine lands in Northern Wisconsin, and settled in New London ; was Under

Sheriff four years, and elected Sheriff in November, 1880. He married Mary Reilly, and has two children; is a Freemason and an Odd Fellow.

GEO. W. CLINE, furniture dealer, New London ; born Dec. 1, 1849, in Elgin Co., Ont., where he lived until 1870, when he came to New London; spent two years in Bear Creek. In April, 1877, he began his present business. Is now located in Cline's Block, two-thirds of which was built by his father, Leonard Cline. Is also the agent in charge of Cline's Hall, the finest in the city. Mr. Cline has the only large stock of furniture in New London, and does a thriving business as undertaker; is a member of the T. of H. and the A. O. U. W. He married Miss Josephine, daughter of M. C. Hickey, and a native of New London. They have one son, Frank L. Mr. Hickey was a settler of 1856 of New London, and was the builder of the first bridge in the place.

EDWARD and JOSIAH C. DAWSON, New London. Edward Dawson was born in England, and came from Indiana to New London in 1854. He is now a prosperous farmer near the city. During the civil war, he served with the 17th W. V. I., was stricken with paralysis, and is now a pensioner in consequence. Has two children, J. C. and Mary. Josiah C. Dawson learned photographing with .J. R. Dake, of New London, bought ont his business in 1877, and has since done a very successful business here. His is the only gallery in the city, and, by close study and the utmost devotion to his business, he secures a large and well- deserved patronage. He keeps thoroughly up with the times, and will do, or will provide portraits in any desired size or style. He deals also in picture frames, stereoscopic views, etc.

J. W. DEAN, grocer, New London. Born March 8, 1831, in Rockport, Ohio, where he resided until the fall of 1854, when he reached New London, then a collection of half a dozen small houses, owned by Messrs. Ira Millard, L. Taft, E. P. and R. Perry, Geo. Lutse, Isaac Hanson and A. Lyon. Mr. Dean spent the summer in the woods, then a year in Ohio. Returning to New London with a brother, H. Dean, he opened a general stock of goods, continuing in business until 1860. In 1859 Mr. Dean married Gennette Ames, who died a year later, leaving a daughter who bears the mother's name. In the fall of 1863 Mr. Dean en- listed in the 3d W. V. C., served in the Southwest among Indians and white banditti until the close of the war. On his return to New London he resumed trade, and, in 1869, began an exclusively grocery and crockery business, which he has since maintained. His present wife was Helen M. Weeks. They have two children, George and Helen. Mr. Dean is a firm and consistent temperance man, is a leader in the T. of H., is also a Mason, and formerly was an Odd Fellow.

C. E. DICKINSON, druggist, New London ; is a son of Dr. Parley Dickinson, and was born in 1843, in Lake Co., Ohio : re- ceived his education in Waukegan, Ill., and in New London, where his father settled in 1857; he studied with and clerked for his father several years, and finally went into partnership with him (1867). In February, 1871, A. Trayser bought out Dr. Dickin- son's interest, thus forming the present firm of Dickinson & Trayser ; their large and well-filled store was built in 1874; it is 28x75, brick, and is most attractively arranged. Mr. Dickinson is a member and has been Secretary of the A., F. & A. M. Lodge here for the past seven years ; he is also Recorder of New London Lodge 47, A. O. U. W .; his wife was Emogene Stinson, of St. Lawrence Co., N. Y .; they have lost five children (three dying of diphtheria in August, 1879) and have two living.

PARLEY DICKINSON, M. D., New London ; is of Scotch and English ancestry, and was born Aug. 27, 1807, in Haddam, Conn .; his early life was spent on the Western Reserve, Ohio, where his parents settled in 1817 ; from there in 1845 he went to Lake Co., Ill., having graduated in the spring of 1844 from the Western Reserve Medical College ; thus he has had a practice of thirty-seven years ; in May, 1857, he brought his family to New London ; he was for twelve years in the drug business here ; in 1872 the Doctor was appointed Medical Examiner by the U. S.

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Pension Bureau, a position which he still holds ; Dr. Dickinson had the honor of being a charter member and the first Master of New London Lodge 131, A .. F. & A. M.

HON. H. S. DIXON, deceased; was born July 1, 1834, in South Fargeville, Jefferson C., N. Y .; his early life was spent, and his schooling attained in his native village; in 1855 he went to Milwaukee, Wis., and was in the employ of D. O. Dickinson & Co. until 1858, when he came to New London and opened up a stock of goods under the old Globe Hall ; after three years spent here he lived for a year on a farm ; during the next eight or nine years he was on the Wolf River, owning an interest in the Wolf River Transportation Co. Since 1877 Mr. Dixon has been busi- ness manager of the New London Stave Factory, which he, with a few others, owns; he had previously owned and operated a hub and spoke factory here, which burned down in 1875 ; that year he built the store of Dixon & Wright, forming the partnership with Mr. Wright about that time ; he married Miss Alice, daughter of Dr. Parley Dickinson, of New London ; they have four children ; in 1877 Mr. Dixon was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature, and it was through his instrumentality that New London secured her city charter ; he served several years as City Engineer and Supervisor, which position he now holds ; was President of the village several terms. Is Master of New London Lodge, A., F. & A. M. The owners of the stave factory own a similar establish- ment at Ogdensburg, Wis., and the two factories annually consume about 7,000 cords of stave bolts ; most of the sales of staves and headings are made in Minnesota ; thirty or more men are em- ployed.

ALONZO R. FREEMAN, M. D., New London ; was born in Ketehnmville, Tioga Co., N. Y., Aug. 26, 1842; received an academic education in Binghamton, N. Y., his facilities for obtain- ing such schooling as he desired being hampered by the early death of his father, and the harshness of his step-father ; at eight- een he went to the oil region of Pennsylvania, where he was very successful peeuniarily. Four years later he began a course in the famous old Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass .; after re- ceiving his diploma here, he entered and graduated from both the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, and the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn ; while in these, the best medi- cal schools on the continent, he was the favored private pupil of Dr. Frank Hamilton, one of the best known medical men in America ; Dr. Freeman served at different times as interne of the Bellevue, the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y., and Charity Hospital, Blackwell's Island ; in 1869 he went to Europe, where the splendid education already acquired enabled him to pass the rigid examinations and secure a diploma from the Edinburgh Medical College, receiving the degree of ad eundem ; after a tour over Europe he returned and began practice in Boston ; in April, 1872, he came to New London and served four years as surgeon of the G. B. & M. R. R. Co .; he then practiced three years in Tiskilwa, Ill .; he returned to, and has since lived in, New Lon- don ; to show that Dr. Freeman ranks high in his profession, we may state that he is a member of the Illinois State Board of Health ; the Wisconsin State Medical Society ; is Secretary and Treasurer of the Northwestern Wisconsin Medical Association, of which he was a founder, and of the American Medical Association ; living only for his chosen profession, he neglects no opportunity to in- crease his knowledge and to keep pace with the progress of the times ; the Doctor is a Freemason, and, though not a politician, is now Alderman of the Second Ward, New London; his wife was Miss M. C. Parks, of Newark, Wayne Co., N. Y. Their two children were born in New London.

JOHN FREIBURGER, blacksmith, New London; was born Dec. 6, 1839, in Alsace, Germany ; six years later the family came to America and settled in Washington Co., Wis .; Mr. Frei- burger grew to manhood here, learning his trade in Hartford and in Whitewater, Wis., from which place he came to New London. Mr. Freiburger is now serving his third consecutive term as Alder- man of the First Ward ; his wife was Agnes Sheild, who was born

in Prussia, but who has lived in America since she was a year old. They have five children ; the family are Roman Catholics.

D. W. HASKELL, dental surgeon, New Londen, is a native of Sandusky, Ohio : studied dentistry with Drs. Merrill and Phil- lips, of Buffalo , N. Y .; practiced for seven years in Centerville and Arcade, N. Y., and came to New London in January, 1877. Dr. IIaskell is the only dentist in the city, which speaks well for the work done by him since his residence here; his practice reaches Wey- auwega besides, and it is evident that his time is fully occupied by the demands of his profession.

J. C. IIOXIE, hardware and lumber dealer, New London, was born in Orleans Co., N. Y., Dec. 17, 1827; here his early life was spent; in 1836, the family went to Lucas Co., Ohio ; remained until 1844, then settled in Chenango Co , N. Y. While in Ohio, the ague was so prevalent that there was not well people enough to eare for the sick ones. At the age of twenty, Mr. Hoxie married in Chenango, her native county, Miss Almeda Davis ; began life without a dollar as a farmer, and two years later he removed to his native county, where he continued farming until 1855. Through his devotedly unselfish exertions, a home and farm was secured to his parents who had been unfort- unate, and on this farm to-day lives his aged mother ; arriving at New London in 1855, he at once proceeded to build a house; this was done by floating the lumber from Hortonville, and ereeting a 14x16 shanty, iu which his own and two other families passed the greater part of the summer. About the first work done by Mr. Hoxie in New London, was the building of Henry Ketchum's barn, he wading barefoot from his home to that of Mr. K., to do the carpenter work, which he had learned almost unaided. " Al- though I often went without boots," says Mr. Hoxie, " I was never without a little money, and never neglected what I thought would be a good investment." He speculated in securities, real estate, etc., from the first. At the outbreak of the war, in 1861, he went into partnership with W. H. Sibley, they opening up a $2,300 stock of goods and continued a thriving business until 1865, when Mr. Hoxie bought out his partner. Soon after he re- duced the stock to 88,000, exchanged it for lands which netted him $18,000, and, for years did a driving business as a lumberman and speculator ; in 1868, H. Ketehnm and himself monopolized the WVolt' River lumber trade. For a few years Mr. Hoxie was the owner and operator of a tannery here; in 1880, he built on the main business street of New London, one of the largest and finest hardware stores in the State, it is 30x100 feet, embellished with a splendid frontage, including windows, consisting of single sheets of the finest plate glass, each eleven feet six inches by eight feet two inches in size. Mr. Hoxie has a stock of hardware here which well corresponds with his store; he still pursues his lumber business ; owns 5,000 acres of timber in the Wolf and Menomonee Valley, and now has at least 25.000 feet of lumber on the first named stream. In politics, Mr. Hoxie has not been an aspirant for office, though he has sometimes served his townspeople in local positions ; he was the first Mayor of New London, and served again in 1878 and 1880 ; is now a representative of the city on the County Board. Such is a brief and faulty sketch of this son of the Empire State, who has doue as much, if not more, to advance the material pros- perity of New London, than any man who ever lived in that busy young eity.

II. K. JILLSON, M. D., New London; born in the town of Litchfield, Medina Co., Ohio, June 6, 1850; came to Wiscon- sin in 1854; resided in Portage Co., till 1862; from thence re- moved to New London ; has therefore been a resident of this place for nineteen years; received a common school education ; began the study of medicine with his father ( who is a physician ) in 1866; graduated at the Bennett Medical College, of Chicago, in the spring of 1875 ; has practiced in this city ever since he graduat- ed ; belongs to New London Lodge, No. 131, I. O. O. F.

HENRY KETCHUM, New London, one of Northern Wis- eonsin's most active and successful business men ; born April 13, 1822, in Cortland Co., N. Y. When about fifteen years of age

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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.

he began active business on his own account ; removed to Ketch- umville, N. Y. (founded by and named for his family), and began buying cattle, which he drove to Philadelphia, and later to Orange, N. J. He, in the same business, visited Ohio and Indiana. In partnership with his brother, L. T. Ketchum, he developed a large business during his eighteen years' residence in Ketchumville, they buying most of the live stock, produce, butter, eggs, etc., offered in their vicinity, and shipping to New York City. They also dealt largely in lumber and controlled the mail routes to Ketchumville. While in his native State, Mr. Ketchum took contracts in building the Erie, and the Syracuse & Binghamton Railways. In 1855 he located at New London, Wis., which has since been his home, his spacious and pleasantly located house being located just north of the outskirts, though within the city limits. His first venture here was to buy and run the New Lon- don House, which fell into his hands twice thereafter. Soon after coming here he began buying and locating lands along the Wolf River, building and buying saw-mills, etc. For many years he did a large mercantile aud commission business here besides. He constantly extended his lumbering operations on the Wolf and tributaries until about 1870, when his business extended from Fond du Lac to Shawano. He started the first thresher about New London and bought the first wheat here in 1860 ; has al- ways raised many cattle and horses, keeping 100 head of the former and 50 to 100 horses on the 2,000-acre farm he owns in Waupaca and Outagamie Cos .; has cleared about 1,000 acres of heavy timber and brought the land to production. At one time he owned six or seven saw-mills and a large mercantile business at Merrillan, where he still owns 6,000 aeres of land. He ent the first logs along Pigeon River, clearing the stream in order to run them down. In 1864 he bought all the logs in this part of the State, compelling mill owners to pay his price for them instead of their own as formerly. The following year, as logs promised to be a drug on the market, the millmen of Oshkosh and Fond du Lae combined against him, threatening to ruin him. Nothing daunted, he secured the control of every tug on Wolf River so that not a log owned by any one could be moved without his con- sent, this, of course, enabling him to dictate again to the mill owners. These bold strokes are fair examples of his methods of doing business, and the good effects are still appreciated by the timber owners of Wolf River Valley. "I always think, act, study and execute for myself," says Mr. Ketchum. In 1872-73 the Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad was built by him and D. M. Kelly, of Green Bay. Mr. Ketchum secured the right of way, visiting and personally canvassing every county crossed by the line; secured the raising of $1,500,000 in aid of the road, and himself furnished nearly all the timber and lumber used for the ties, bridges, depots, etc. Though not now interested in the road, Mr. Ketchum was for seven years its President, Messrs. Kruger, Summers and Kelly being the Vice Presidents under him. The elevator built by Mr. Ketchum at Eastmore was the largest on the Mississippi River. During the past nine years, Mr. Ketchum has done most of his lumbering business in the valleys of the Black River and its tributaries, owning here over 50,000 acres of timber lands and a score of saw-mills. Ile is President of the Black River Lumbering Company and is doing an immense business-sixty million feet of lumber cut by him in 1879-80. The firm of Kelly & Waterman, now dissolved, is well remembered, as it secured the charter of the La Crosse Booming and Transportation Company, which led to the spirited fight in the State Legislature with the Black River Booming Company. To Mr. Ketchum belongs the honor of making navigable the east fork of the Black River. He is now interested in business with George Hiles, Esq., of Dexterville, and C. M. Paine, of Oshkosh. During his active business career in Wisconsin and the Northwest, Mr. Ketchum has had constantly in his employ from 50 to 1,500 men. Roads, bridges and rivers have alike been improved by him in furthering the interests of a lumbering business which is sim- ply a marvel in its extent. His latest enterprise is the building of the Fort Madison & Northwestern Railroad from Fort Madison,

Iowa, to Oskaloosa, lowa. Preliminaries are now being adjusted which will result in extending the road to Peoria, Ill. Mr. Ketchum is President of the road, and his old lieutenant, Mr. Kelly, is Vice President. These two men furnish every dollar of capital, and are the sole owners of what will doubtless be a most profitable and popular route. Mr. Ketchum is still active, wiry and alert ; attends strictly to the details of his vast business, and bids fair to become a power that will be felt in business transactions affecting a wider range of territory than merely the Northwest.

THEO. KNAPSTEIN, Mayor of New London; was born 1848, in Rhenish Prussia ; the family came to America in 1853, and located in Outagamie Co., Wis., where the parents still live. Their son Theo. came to New London at the age of twenty-one, and went into the brewing business with Ed. Beeker, whom he bought out in August, 1875 ; has extensively improved the brew- ery, which now has a capacity of two thousand barrels per annum ; he married Francis Werner, of New London, by whom he has four children. Mr. Knapstein was a Village Trustee before the eity charter was granted ; served in 1879 and 1880 as Alderman of the Third Ward ; was President of the Council in 1880, and elected Mayor on the People's ticket.

GEORGE W. LAW, New London ; one of the earliest set- tlers of Outagamie County; was born 1828, in Coventry, Chester Co., Pa., where his boyhood was spent on a farm; in 1845 he went to Mercer Co., Pa., and was employed in the iron-works as keeper of a blast furnace; in April, 1850, he brought his family to Wisconsin ; leaving his wife on a farm near Waukan, he plunged into the woods of Maple Creek, and in March, 1851, built a " shake" roofed, puncheon-floored log cabin, the first in the town of Maple Creek. Only a lumber road led to his place from Hortonville; all family supplies came from Omro and Osh- kosh ; he owned two ox teams, and for over fifteen years busied himself cutting and running logs down the Wolf; meanwhile his wife passed many a lonesome hour in her forest home ; gradually, however, a farm was opened up, and to-day he is the owner of one of the finest and most productive farms in this region, containing two hundred acres. The log cabin is supplanted by a good frame farmhouse, and the place wears a very different aspect from the wilderness of thirty years ago. Mrs. Law was formerly Isabel Nichol, born in 1825, in Mereer Co., Penn; they were married in 1847, and have four children-Mary A., Victorina, Emma E. and Davis. A promising daughter, Rebecca J., died at the age of eighteen. Mr. and Mrs Law have resided in their pleasant city home sinee 1879, having built the house and lived in New London previously for the purpose of educating their children.

THOMAS LOGAN, merchant, New London; was born in York, Medina Co., O., May 19, 1841 ; is of Scotch lineage, and spent his boyhood on a farm ; leaving Ohio in 1858, he settled at Hortonville, Wis., and two years later moved to Appleton; in August, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, 21 W. V. I .; was in the battles of Perryville and Stone River, and in July, 1863, discharged on account of disability ; he resided in Appleton until June, 1864, when he again enlisted and served out his time (100 days); in February, 1865, he was commissioned Ist Lieutenant of Co. D, 49th W. V. I., which company was mainly raised through his efforts ; he then exchanged his commission for a sut- lership and was discharged with the regiment in September, 1865. Returning to Appleton he began elerking for his present partner, Capt. G. W. Spalding, who is still in Appleton. The partner- ship was formed in 1866, which was the date of Mr. Logan's set- tlement in New London. Mr. Logan takes pride in saying that the partnership has been a most harmonious one. Ile married Mary R. Sanford, of Heart Prairie, Walworth Co., Wis .; they have four children ; he is a member, with his wife, of the Congregational Church ; besides his mercantile business, Mr. Logan is one of the owners of the stave factories, and has been Vice President of the Bank of New London since November, 1876.

IRA MILLERD, pine land broker, New London ; was born July 5, 1809, in Madison Co., N. Y., where his boyhood was spent on a farm ; after a year spent in Ohio, he, in 1852, came to

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

the present site of New London. Ira Brown and L. Taft only were ahead of him. Mes-rs. Millerd and Taft together bought all the land on the north side of the river, which is now occupied by the city. Mr. Millerd may fairly claim the honor of being the first merchant here, his store and stock being located about midway between the New London House and Angier House of to-day ; two years later, he relinquished mercantile life and has since devoted himself to his present business ; he learned survey- ing in his native State, and served four years as County Surveyor of Waupaca County ; he married Sarah Dean, of Rockport, Ohio, by whom he has five children-Ira, Jr., Maria, Alice, Emma and Arthur W. The three eldest were born in New York State and the others in New London. Mr. and Mrs. Millerd are members of the Congregational Church, of which he is a Trustee. He has also served as County Commissioner, Village Supervisor, etc.

IRA MILLERD, Jr., farmer, Section 1, P. O. New Lon- don ; was born in the town of Taylor, Cortland Co., N. Y., in 1830. His early life was on a farm ; by his own exertions he re- ceived a little more than a common school education, and taught school for a few terms ; in 1851 he went to Ohio where his father, Ira Millerd, Sr., now of New London, had preceded him ; in 1852 our subject drove from Cleveland, Ohio, to New London, being sev- enteen days on the road ; he and his father bought eighty acres of land where New London now stands, and commenced opera- tions for laying out a town ; in 1853 thev platted the present site of the city ; the year previous to the Millerds' coming to Wiscon- sin, a Mr. Taft had taken up the land on the south side of the river and built a house ; in the winter of 1852, Mr. Millerd and Taft kept " bach" in New London. Mr. Millerd has the honor of being the first merchant in the city. He did not design to make a prominent business of it but to start a town. The Millerds have done a great portoin of the surveying in and about their present home. Well may they congratulate themselves upon the full realization of their plans, as they designed starting a city when they left the East. Mr. Millerd now owns a fine farm of one hundred and forty-six acres, one hundred of which is im- proved, and but a short distance from the business portion of the city. Ile has a fine residence, and in 1874 built a cheese factory, 30x45, with twenty-foot posts, close by his residence, which is a rich acquisition to his place and to the community. He has been Trustee in the village, Town Clerk and Superintendent of Schools ; March 11, 1856, he was married in New London to Miss P. L. Porter. In 1881 they celebrated their silver wedding. They have five children.

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Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1052

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052