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 268

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 268

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ROYALTON.

The town is situated south of Little Wolf and west of Mukwa ; was first settled in 1848 by Messrs. Ilicks and Gill. It was organized in 1854, George E. More being Chairman of the Board. In 1857 the first schoolhouse was built in North Royalton. The first sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Stevens, in 1854, and the Congre- gationalists erected the first church in 1836. Ellis N. Roy- alton, for whom the town and village was named, built the first store in 1853, and T. and H. Gill the first saw- mill in 1850. The village itself has two hundred inhabitants and is growing.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

J. H. LEONARD, merchant, North Royalton ; was born in 1840, in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y .; his early life was spent on a dairy farm ; in 1851 his father died and he and a brother carried on the farm for some time together ; finally the farm was divided and the brothers separated; each pursuing that which seemed best for himself. Mr. Leonard continued farming until he came to his present place in 1870, when he bonght ont the mercantile business of C. Combs, the first merchant of Royalton. Mr. Leonard was appointed Postmaster at Royalton almost on his arrival, and has held that office ever sinee. At the time Mr. Leonard settled in Royalton, Appleton was his nearest railroad point. Mr. Leonard is a very courteous gentleman, and to meet him is to respect him. In October, 1865, he was married to Miss Mary E. Eastman, a daughter of the Rev. Morgan S. Eastman, the veteran Pastor and evangelist. He has three children, all at home.

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IIO1

HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.

F. EGGER, miller, North Royalton ; was born in Germany in 1830. The first eighteen years of his life were spent in ob- taining an education ; his father being a machinist and thorough business man saw the necessity and embraced the opportunity of preparing his children for future usefulness. In 1841 Mr. Egger and his family came to this country and settled on a farm in Manitowoc County in this State. The first four years was spent in clearing the land, but this was new business to them and savored too strongly of muscular labor for these business men. After four years of farming they moved to Two Rivers; the senior Egger taking charge of the machine shops at that place. The subject of this sketch went upon Lake Michigan and soon procured a schooner and followed the coasting trade business ; he also ran a store and a fish establishment. After Mr. Egger left the lake, he bought a saw and grist mill and ran them several years. He disposed of them and has since been in the lumber and grist mill business. In 1880 he bought the saw and grist mills at North Royalton ; he contemplates putting in a shingle and a post mill ; he has led a very active life and is brim full of business ; he acted upon the old saying, " Nothing ventured, noth- ing gained ;" knowing if his plans worked all right he was all right, and by that spirit which is always coupled with energy and pluck he can now view the field with complacency. Says Mr. Egger : " It makes me shiver to think of the risks I have taken in some of my speculations." He has been married twice, first in 1858, and again in 1864. He has seven children. When they settled in Manitowoc there were but five settlers between their place and Green Bay.

LIND.

This town, west of Fremont and south of Waupaca, was first settled, in 1849, by J. W. Chandler. The post office was established the next year, with George W. Taggart for Postmaster, the first mail route being carried by John Har- ris, familiarly known as "Old Zach." The town was organized in 1851. The Methodists built the first church, the first sermon being preached in 1850, by Rev. Mr. Baxter. First officers: Lyman Dayton, Chairman; Charles Beadle- ston and J. W. Chandler, Supevisors; Chauncy Doty, J. H. Jones, S. Warren, Justices; J. L. Rice, Town Clerk. The first store was built by Mr. Mitchell in 1859, and the first saw-mill by Mr. Strong in 1853-54. The name originated with George W. Taggart, "Jenny Lind " being the prime originator. Tyler Caldwell, George W. Tag- gart, the Sextons, Columbus Caldwell and Jarvis L. Rice made the first claims in 1849, on Walla Walla Creek.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

MARCUS BURNHAM, farmer, Sec. 3, P. O. Waupaca, was born March 11, 1830, at Williamstown, Vt. He received a common school and academic education, yet worked on a farm till he was twenty-three years old, changing his vocation in win- ter to teaching. At the age of twenty-three, he procured a clerkship in an insurance office at Montpelier, Vt., and remained there five years. After leaving the office, he traveled fifteen months. In October, 1859, he settled in Waupaca, where he remained five years, being employed as clerk in the mercantile business. In 1864, he moved upon his present farm of 157} acres. There were scarcely any improvements upon the place at that time, and a house which he moved upon it was burnt. The next year he built a large, commodious one, and has continued to thrive as but few in the country have. He has two barns, one of which is 42x50 and the other 24x36; he has a wind-mill and 120 acres improved. He has taught school a number of terms, and is an old veteran singing master. Notwithstanding Mr. B. has done so well, he has largely to congratulate himself upon a step he took Sept. 5, 1859, when he united his fortunes with those of Miss Pheba M. Folsom, a daughter of John Folsom, one

of the substantial men of Vermont, who prided himself on having children of which he was not ashamed. Mrs. Burnham com- menced teaching when but fifteen years old and continued at it for ten consecutive years. She lacked but thirty weeks of gradu- ating. Her field of labor has always been in the higher grades of schools. In Vermont, she taught the highest departments in Montpelier, Rutland, etc. She has been Principal of the Wau- paca Iligh School two years, and met with unbounded success. She is an old veteran in her profession, having taught fifty terms. Whatever she undertakes is accomplished. They have three children.

A. H. CHANDLER, farmer, Sec. 2, P. O. Waupaca, was born in Hanover, N. H., in 1819; came to Waupaca County in 1849; pre-empted his land of 160 acres. and returned to New Hampshire on a visit, returning in May, of the next year. He has 160 in Waupaca and 7 in Lind; he has made all the improvements upon his place. In 1870, he moved to Waupaca for the purpose of educating his children. He has had three children; they were-Fremont E., who is a graduate of the Wau- paca High School, and now teaching in his father's district ; Willie and Jessie, both dead. His wife was Miss Susan Wood- ard, and taught the first school in the county at her house. Mr. and Mrs. Chandlier and their son are members of the Baptist Church.

C. CALDWELL, farmer, Sec. 22, P. O. Lind, was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y, Sept. 25, 1830; in 1836, his father moved to Wisconsin, and took from the Government the first farm at Kennon Springs; in 1839 he moved to Rochester ; his father and uncle Joseph took the first claim on what is known as Caldwell's Prairie. His early life was on a farm, working there summers and attending school winters; the summer he was eight, and for thirteen successive summers, he drove a breaking-team; he came to this county in October, 1849, coming up Wolf River in a skiff from Winneconne; he pre-empted 160 acres, and in 1850 built the first house in the town; the next summer he was engaged in building corduroy roads. In January, 1852, he, with a brother-in-law and two sisters, started for California by the over- land route, as it was called, and reached the American Valley July 28; he remained there about seven years and returned by the Panama route to New York, and back to his Wisconsin home. Nov. 21, 1861, he was married to Mattie L. Taggart of Weyau- wega, who died Jan. 6, 1867. May 11, 1868, he married Ida Jane Taggart. Dec. 6, 1861, he enlisted in the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry ; his first year of service was in Missouri with the bush- whackers; his regiment was then transferred to the Army of the Cumberland; was Regimental Quartermaster eight months at Nashville; he was promoted from private to a Lieutenancy; on the 13th of April, 1864, while twelve miles east of Cleveland, Tenn., with a detachment of troops he, with nineten of his men, were captured; he was a prisoner eleven months, and during that time was incarcerated in the prisons at Atlanta, Andersonville, Macon, Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, Charlotte, Raleigh and Golds- boro; was exchanged and sent home on a thirty days' fur- lough, during which time the war closed. In 1867 was elected Register of Deeds; in 1872 was elected to the Legislature, and re-elected the following year; has been Chairman of his town sev- eral years, and held at different times sundry town offices. Has a farm of 189 acres, 125 of which are under cultivation. Ilis chil- dren are-Minnie L., Ida S., George T., Warner F., Otis L.

A. CUSTARD, farmer, See, 17, P. O. Waupaca; was born in Erie Co., Penn., Feb. 18, 1829; has always been a farmer. Oct. 6, 1853, he married Miss Jane E. Drummond, of Sinclair- ville, N. Y .; she was born in April, 1828; he came to Waupaca County November, 1855, and bought his land of Mr. N. Ward ; he now has 315 acres in one body and 40 acres in Waushara County ; he has had five children, all boys-Legeand, Rosco Irving, Orlando, Adelbert and Charles, dead ; he has been Supervisor of his town and held other offices ; Mr. Custard has acquired a very fine home, and prides himself upon having an abundance in store

1IO2

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

for old age ; his boys have been faithful to him and he proposes to see that they have a start in life; Mr. Custard commeneed empty handed, but has suecceded far better than many who had an abund- anee to commence with.

THOS. DURRANT, farmer, See 4, P. O. Waupaca ; was born in England in 1811; eame to Prince Edward Island, in 1831 ; lived in Nova Scotia seventeen years and in Boston seven years ; in 1843 he was married to Margaret Day ; in May, 1855, he came to Waupaca County and settled on See. 4, town of Waupaca ; he lived there six years and sold out to Mr. Broman ; went to Horton- ville and remained there one year ; then bought one hundred and twenty acres in the town of Lanark, Portage County ; remained there six years and then bought his present farm, upon which he has made all the improvements which are of a very substantial and convenient nature; Mr. Durrant has had nine children, three of whom served in the army ; William was in the 14th Wis. Vol.,

ship ; Mr. and Mrs. Gordinier have four living children ; Mr. Gordinier is one of the best known horsemen in the State, as his experience in the business dates back to 1842; while an Erie County farmer he exhibited nearly every year at the County Fair, held at Buffalo, and never but once failed in securing the first prize for a matched carriage team ; for his one disappointment he was consoled by being told by Millard Fillmore, then President, that the award was rightfully his ; for years Mr. Gordinier was the only man in Western New York who sent horses to the New York City market ; he brought with him to Wisconsin the trotting stallion St. Lawrence, and has since constantly bred Messenger, Black Hawk and Morgan horses ; he is now the owner of seventeen fine animals, among them the noble stallion Alar Clay, sired by Almont who is a half-brother of Goldsmith Maid ; Alar Clay is a mag- nificent mahogany bay, sixteen hands and one inch high, weighs 1,350, and, though never driven by a trainer, shows a 2:45 gait ;

RESIDENCE OF H. HARRINGTON.

and died of injuries received in the army; Charles was killed at Whitewater Bridge, Mo .; Thomas was in the army and is now liv- ing in Minnesota ; the rest of his children are still living in this State. Mr. Durrant has met with many misfortunes, one of which leaves him a eripple for life; he had his left limb severed at the knee with a scythe; it was some way attached, and again broken by being caught under a stringer of a bridge which gave way while he was crossing it with a loaded team.

JOHN GORDINIER, farmer and stock breeder, P. O. Wau- paca ; was born Nov. 22, 1822, in Glen, Montgomery Co., N. Y. Orphaned when ten years of age; he at thirteen went to live with a brother in Erie Co., N. Y .; at twenty-one he returned to Mont- gomery County and spent two years ; then, in Erie Co., N. Y., he married Juliette Sibley and settled in that county as a farmer ; in the fall of 1855 he removed to Green Lake Co., Wis., and in the spring of 1856 settled on the 220 acre farm in Lind which he still owns. In 1868 he came to Waupaca, practiced veterinary surgery two years ; was elected County Sheriff in 1869, served out his term, and then a term as Under Sheriff; in the fall of 1874 he was made County Superintendent of the Poor, and has since resided upon and been in charge of the County Farm in Little Wolf Town-

he is doubtless the most highly bred horse in the Northwest ; has taken eight first prizes at the Northern Wisconsin and Waupaca County Fairs ; the horse was bred by Gen. Withers, on his famous Kentucky stock farm; Young Lochiel, by Imported Lochiel, is also one of Mr. Gordinier's favorites and is a fine, powerful horse.

II. HARRINGTON, farmer, Sec. 3, P. O. Waupaca ; was born in Warren Co., N. Y., in 1828 ; his father died when he was but seven years old, and his mother when he was but eight ; he was left in charge of his older brothers, and his education was neglected, having never attended school more than six months; he com- menced working on a farm when very young; he worked fourteen years for one man at $10 a month, at which time he had due him $1,475; eleven years of that time he never lost a day ; Oet. 8, 1859, he married Miss Carline Vaughan ; he now owns 240 acres of land and has 115 improved; he has large barns and a large square brick house, which cost him over $3,000 ; he is a systematie farmer, and hy his own persistency and frugality has made for him - self and family a home of luxury ; his children are Orian C., HIosca Leroy, at home, Sarah, Cora, at Waupaca High School, and Linus at home ; Mrs. Harrington is a member of the Baptist Church.

1103

HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.

ALVIN POPE, farmer, Sec. 17, P. O. Lind; was born in New York in 1824; he learned the shoemaker's trade while a youth ; sailed for eight scasons on the lakes; came to Waupaca County in 1851 ; has improved six different farms in this county, and now has a fine place on which he hopes to spend his remain- ing days. Mr. Pope certainly has done his share of pioneer work, which shows a life of activity ; he found that improving and sell- ing farms was a paying business ; he has taught school for eleven terms, and been School Superintendent four years ; was defeated for the Legislature once; he was married Aug. 30, 1850, to Mar- garet Olmstead ; she was born in New York in 1828; he has five children -- Arthur, now County Superintendent of Schools in Nebraska, Clarence, teaching in Nebraska, John and George, now farming in this county, and Clifford, attending school at Lawrence University, Appleton; this speaks well for Mr. Pope and his family. In 1880 he manufactured 3,875 gallons of No. 1 sirup.

C. H. RITZ, miller, Lind, was born near Metz, in France, in 1831. He learned the milling business. In 1856 he came to Wanpaca Co., and ran the Lord Mills one year ; ran the Scan- dinavian Mills two years. From 1859 to 1866 he was proprietor of the City Mills, now the Woolen Mills. He disposed of that property and bought the stave factory at Waupaca, which he still owns. In 1877 he built the St. Paul's Mills, Lind, having four run of stone, and has smutter, separator and purifier. Has a saw-mill in connection with same. He ran a mill in Detroit, Mich., some time. January, 1863, he visited France, came home in September, and was drafted. He procured a substitute, and escaped without a scratch. Mr. Ritz, with John Endling, built the first store at Amberst. In 1876, he moved to Suffolk, Va., and bought a mill, but finding it not healthy there, he traded it for the old saw-mill and water-power at his present place. He was married in 1865. Has four children.

JULIUS H. ZASTROW, farmer, Sec. 12, P. O. Weyauwega, was born in Prussia in 1845; came with his parents to America in 1848, and in 1849 came to Oshkosh. In 1856 he settled in Weyanwega, and went into the mercantile business for a year and a half. At the end of that time he and his father settled on one hundred acres in Sec. 12. They have added forty acres to it since. He was with Mr. Hardy in the mercantile business for two years. In 1870, he went to California and Oregon, with intention of locating there if he liked it, but returned to Waupaca Co. and clerked it in New London. Took a contract of the W. C. R. R., since which time he has been with his parents, who are quite old and infirm. His father was born in 1808 and his mother in 1804. He is a graduate of Eastman's Business Col- lege, of Chicago ; has been Chairman of his town three terms, Supervisor, Clerk of his town three terms, and Clerk of Wey- auwega; is a member of Weyauwega Masonic Lodge, No. 82.

FARMINGTON.

This town is situated south of Scandinavia and west of Waupaca, the first settlement being made in the fall of 1849, by R. Hicks and G. Jones. The locality has the honor of observing the Fourth of July for the first time in the history of the county with a " grand celebration." The year was 1851, the place was on the north side of Maple Island Lake, the orator of the day was Wilson Holt, then residing in Waupaca. There were fifty persons present. The town was organized April 15, 1853, the first officers being G. Jones, Chairman ; C. O. Brown, M. Barton, Super- visors ; Francis Beardsmore, Town Clerk ; C. O. Brown, Treasurer. The Lutherans erected the first church in town. Sheridan was the first post office, W. II. Cipperly, who kept the first store, being Postmaster.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

FRANCIS BEARDMORE, farmer, Secs. 16, 20 and 21, P. O. Waupaca ; born in 1819, in Staffordshire, Eng .; came to America with his father, Francis Beardmore, in 1850, the next fall he came to Farmington and pre-empted a greater part of his present farm ; he had a pair of cattle, and built during the fall a log house which was his home for nine years thereafter. As a reward for thirty years of persistent toil and good management. Mr. Beardmore has 315 acres of land, with a spacious farmhouse supplanting the cabin of thirty years ago. Mr. Beardmore has been twice married, but has no children. The present Mrs. Beardmore is a sister of Prof. H. R. Palmer, the noted musician and musical author. To Francis Beardmore belongs the honor of giving his town its name; he served ten years as Town Clerk of Farmington and is one of its substantial men in every respect.

THOMAS BEARDMORE, farmer, Farmington, Secs. 21 and 20, P. O. Waupaca; born March 23, 1823, in Staffordshire, Eng .; spent most of his early life in Shropshire, Eng .; came to America in 1848, locating near Oshkosh, Wis., at that time he could have bought 160 acres, in what is now the heart of the city, for $1,100. In August, 1852, Mr. Beardmore made a claim on Bald Prairie, which was " jumped" by other parties ; in February, 1853, he came to Farmington, and for $50 bought the claim which is now his homestead farin ; here, he and his family lived for years, in the rude " claim shanty." Mr. Beardmore now has 260 acres of valuable land with suitable buildings. Few farmers in Waupaca Co. have succeeded in life as has Thomas Beardmore ; for years past he has made a specialty of the breeding of horses for general purposes ; has devoted but little time to the politics of his town, though he has served as Justice of the Peace, and four years as Assessor. He married in Oshkosh, Wis., Elizabeth J. Barber, a native of Cheshire, Eng. Of their six children, the two eldest were born in Wennebago Co., and the others in Farm- ington.

F. L. KING, farmer, Sec. 31, P. O. Farmington ; born May 31, 1827, in Sangersfield, Oneida Co., N. Y .; is a son of David and Phebe ( Bunce) King. On the morning of his twenty-first birthday, Mr. King left his old home for the West, and settled on a partially improved farm in Vinland, Winnebago Co., Wis .; re- turning East in the fall of 1848, he married in the town of Taylor, Cortland Co., N. Y., Sybil S. Crane. During the next two years the young couple lived on the Vinland farm. In Decem- ber, 1850, he pre-empted a quarter-section of his present farm and built upon it a board shanty, which stood on the banks of the creek twenty rods south of his present farmhouse; his claim was en- tered in the name of J. Fitzgerald, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. King lived happily and busily here until the fall of 1862, when they made a visit to her old Cortland Co. home. While here, Mr. King enlisted in the 10th N. Y. Cavalry, which regiment formed a part of the Army of the Potomac, Kilpatrick's brigade. Mr. King participated with his regiment in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Hanover C. H., Cold Harbor, etc., etc .; he crossed the Rappahannock under the successive command of Burnside, Hooker and Meade, and finally under Grant, " and that time we stayed there," as Mr. King puts it ; returning North after Lee's capitulation, Mr. King joined his family (who had re- mained during the war in Cortland Co.), and proceeded to his Wisconsin farm. Here he has since lived, cultivating, " peace, hope and prosperity." His commodious and substantial build- ings convey but a feeble idea of his primitive surroundings thirty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. King have two daughters-Frances and Della. While his farm and home have occupied most of his time and thoughts, he has dabbled in politics to the extent of serving as County Commissioner (defeating Hon. Myron Reed), and as Chairman and Assessor of Farmington.

1104

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

SAMUEL LEONARD, proprietor of Sheridan Mills, Farmington ; born April 28, 1828, in Griswold, Conn. ; came west as a farmer in 1851 ; in the spring of 1852 he bought the water power, which has since run his mill from the Government; in the fall of 1852 he began building the dam, and had a saw-mill in operation in 1853 ; this was demolished in 1874; during 1874, Mr. Leonard built his flouring mill, then called Leonard's Mills ; it has three run of stone, one of which is for middlings; for two years past it has been leased to N. B. David's ; Manuel and MeC'lennan built a carding mill on the water site in 1861, which was in operation ten years. Mr. Leonard was married in Lima, Rock Co .. Wis., to Mary Kinney, of Niagara Co., N. Y .; she died July 28, 1879; they had no children. Mr. Leonard has been Town Superintendent of Schools (under the old system) and Town Clerk.

JOHN MOREY, farmer, Sec. 20; P. O. Sheridan ; born April 5, 1833, in Cheshire, Eng. ; was reared in Shropshire, Eng .; in 1850, he came with his parents to America ; the

good and substantial buildings and 145 acres of land that is tilla ble ; he began the culture of hops about 1869. and now has a yard of three or four acres. Mr. Penney has been Assessor and Supervisor of his town. He married Harriett A. Dewey, of Adams, Jefferson Co., N Y .; they have four living children- Adelbert M., De Witt B., Talford H. and Franklin L. ; the two eldest were born in Jefferson Co., N. Y., and the others in Farmington ; two sons, Eddie and Eugene, are deceased.

IRA C. PITCHER, farmer, Secs. 25 and 26, Farmington ; born in 1830 in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y .; is a son of W. S. and Jane ( Ackerman ) Pitcher; W. S. Pitcher was a native of Con- necticut, and the mother of New Brunswick, N. J .; in 1852, the family settled in Kingston, Wis., and two years later removed to the present farm of Neil MeArthur in Farmington; Ira Pitcher spent a year in Waupaca, and bas since lived in Farmington, first on Sec. 23, and since 1861 on his present 160-acre farm, of which 100 is in cultivation; Mr. P. is a Freemason ( Waupaca Lodge), and a member of Waupaca Lodge, A. O. U. W .; George

SHERIDAN MI

FLOURING MILL OF SAMUEL LEONARD, FARMINGTON TOWNSHIP.

family located on Prince Edward Island, and six years later the family again removed to Northern New York ; Mr. Morey came from there to Farmington in 1865; has 280 acres of land bought of Lester and Oscar Benediet and J. K. Dunham ; has made good improvements upon this farm, among them erecting a 36x60 barn. He married, Sept. 26, 1850, on her native island ( Prince Edward ), Miss Sarah Kett ; they have nine living children, three of whom were born in Prince Edward Island, four in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., and the other two in Farmington ; Mr. Morey has a brother in Massachusetts, in which State his father died ; this brother was formerly a resident of La Fayette Co., Wis., and was at one time a prosperous farmer of Farm- ington.

ASHER PENNEY, farmer, Sec. 22; P. O. Waupaca ; born March 3, 1826, in Henderson, Jefferson County, N. Y .; came to Waupaca County, Wis., in 1855, and settled on the farm previously owned by George Calkins; three or four years later he settled on his present 160-acre farm ; it was then covered with sparse timber and " grubs," there being only ten or fifteen acres of tillable land about the building which served as a house for his family, and a shed for his cattle ; to-day he has

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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