USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume II > Part 49
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Norman L. Kneeland, deceased, of Wauwatosa, was born on Feb. 6, 1832, at Bergen, Genesee county, N. Y. The family history is a most interesting one and has been prepared with great care by Hon. Stillman Foster Kneeland, LL. D., judge advocate general of the state of New York and the author of a number of standard legal works. Family legends run back to the Vikings who overran Europe in the Tenth century, but authentic history begins with Alexander Kneland, born about 1225, who lived in Gowrie, Scotland, and the Knelands acquired their first coat of arms-a hare with a hunting horn sus- pended from its neck, and as a crest, a falcon upon a mailed hand, with two greyhounds for supporters-as hereditary foresters to the ancient Earls of Douglas. The later coat of arms, which was brought to this country by the first of that family, was bestowed on Maj. Wil- liam Kneland, or his son, Capt. John Kneland, and is described in heraldic terms as "He bearest Sable: a Lyon rampant, Or, holding in his Dexter paw an Escutcheon, Argent charged with a cross," and car- ries the motto, " A cruce et ferro corona." This was a mark of favor from Mary, Queen of Scots, of whom Maj. Kneland was an ardent supporter. The name in the earliest known form, Kneland, is, in
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England and Scotland, variously spelled Kneland, Cleland, Knells, Kineiland, Newlands, Neelands and Neylands, whose relationship may be traced by the similarity of their coats of arms. After the establish- ment of the family in this country certain branches adopted the pho- netic spelling, and we find that Neeland, Neland, Nealand, Neiland, Nelan, Nealan and Neyland, were all variations of the spelling of the same name, adopted by some of the descendants of Edward Kneeland- the Edward who fought in King Philip's war writing his name "Edward Neland." The genesis of the family in this country is found in the descendants of John and Edward Kneeland, brothers, who came about 1630, the former settling in Boston and the lat- ter in Ipswich. They belonged to the twelfth generation from Alexander Kneland, the line being as follows: (I) Alexander, (2) James, (3) John, (4) John, (5) John, (6) William, (7) Wil- liam, (8) Alexander, (9) James, (10) William, (II) John, (12) Edward. Norman L. Kneeland, of this sketch, is a descendant of Edward, the American line continuing as follows: (13) Edward, (14) Benjamin, (15) Isaac, (16) David, (17) David, (18) Sylvester. W., (19) Norman L. Edward (13) was born in Ipswich in 1640, and died in the same place in 17II. He was a soldier in King Philip's war. Benjamin (14), from whom two-thirds of all the Kneelands now in America are probably descendants, was born in Ipswich, July 7, 1679, and died in Hebron, Conn., in February, 1743. Isaac (15) was born at Hebron, Conn., May 15, 1716, and married, first, Sarah Beach; second, Content Rowley, a descendant of Edward Fuller, who came to America in the Mayflower. He fought in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. David (16), son of the second marriage, was born at Hebron, Conn., April 23, 1752, and married his cousin, Mercy Knee- land, the latter a descendant on the maternal side of the Pepoon (origi- nally Pepin) family, descended from Louis I, and among the French Protestants who fled from France to escape religious persecution. It was after one of the three brothers of this name, who came to America, that Lake Pepin, an expansion of the Mississippi river be- tween Wisconsin and Minnesota, was named. David died on Feb. 24, 1834, and his wife on Jan. 9, 1834. David (17) was born at Marl- boro (formerly Hebron), Conn., Aug. 23, 1772; married Statira Wil- liams, a descendant of Thomas Williams, who came over in the May- flower, and of Rev. John Robinson, out of whose church came the original "Puritans." Sylvester W. (18) was born on May 27, 1803, at Hartford, Conn., and died in Eagle Harbor, N. Y., May 26, 1875. At a very early age he was taken by his parents to western New York and spent practically all of his life in that vicinity, mostly in Genesee and Livingston counties. He married April 5, 1827, his step-sister, Sarah Hannah, and they bought a farm in Bergen, Genesee county, where the three older children were born. In 1832 they removed to Barre, Or- leans county, where the younger children were born, and which is now owned and occupied by their great-grandchildren. Mr. Kneeland was a successful farmer, an excellent business man, and for some time a justice of the peace. There were eight children in the family as fol- lows : Almira, born July 1, 1828, married Arnold Gregory and died
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June 16, 1881 ; David, born July 28, 1830, died Feb. 13, 1849; Norman L., of this sketch; Moses J., born Aug. 30, 1833, died Oct. 23, 1851; Sarah J., born Jan. 16. married Henry S. Danolds, died Dec. 22, 1875. James Pierson, born Feb. 27, 1838, married Alice P'easlee ; Sylvester Hanna, born April 20, 1840, unmarried; Ella A., born March 27, 1846, married Arnold Gregory. The three last-named are all of this family who are now living. Norman L. Kneeland received his education at Knowlesville, Albion Academy and Genesee College, and after reaching manhood engaged in manufacturing business in St. Catherine, Canada, remaining there three years, and then removed to Orleans county, N. Y., from which place he entered the military service, shortly after the breaking out of the Civil war, as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-first New York volunteer infantry. His regiment was assigned to garrison duty at Baltimore, Md., but after a year of service he was incapacitated for duty by a serious illness and was discharged for physical disability. In No- vember, 1865, he decided to go west, and started by way of the great lakes for Milwaukee, Wis., locating after his arrival on a farm of ninety acres about two miles from the city. The property had been owned by his father and uncle for some fifteen years, but he pur- chased it, soon afterward built a comfortable home and resided therein until 1889, when he sold the place to the park commissioners of Milwaukee, and it became a part of the beautiful Washington Park. Mr. Kneeland then retired from active work, and built a handsome residence in Wauwatosa, which his widow now occupies. On March II, 1856, Mr. Kneeland was united in marriage to Miss Carrie A. Baker, daughter of Otis and Laura (Burnham) Baker, of Albion, N. Y. Mrs. Kneeland was born near Medina, in Orleans county, N. Y., in 1839. Her father was a farmer by vocation; was a native of Massachusetts, and a soldier of the war of 1812. To Mr. and Mrs. Kneeland the following children were born: Ella A., born Jan. 7, 1857, at St. Catherine, Canada; Otis Sylvester, born Aug. 5, 1859, at Eagle Harbor, N. Y., married Margaret Frame and they have had a family of seven children; David M., born Feb. 28, 1861, at Eagle Harbor, N. Y., married Cornelia Buttles, of Milwaukee (Otis and David both reside at Lewiston, Mich.) ; Anna M., born July 29, 1864, at Eagle Harbor, N. Y., married Charles A. Carpenter and resides at Faribault, Minn .; Sarah L., born March 9, 1866, married William A. Godfrey, and resides in Wauwatosa; Rose B., born Aug. 19, 1872, is now the wife of Morris Ives, of Chicago; James Ralph, born July II, 1880, resides at home with his mother, as does also the oldest daughter, Ella A .; Frank, born April 19, 1883, at Milwaukee, died on Aug. 10, 1883. Mr. Kneeland was a member of the Methodist church, a supporter of the Republican party, and had served for some time in the city council, being president of that body at the time of his death, Dec. 23, 1900. He was a man of sterling character, and wide influence, and in his death the community suffered a loss which it will be difficult to replace. Gen. Stillman F. Kneeland, in his sum- ming up of the family characteristics, says: "Strong of constitution, religious, combative, self-opinionated, honest, temperate, too much
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given to hospitality and humanity to be over-frugal or over-rich, yet withal independent, mirthful, happy, intensely desirous of the good- will of others, always holding to a good-will of themselves (or as the Scotch put it, having a great 'conceit of themselves'), hopeful, good- natured, always inspiring hope and cheer in others-these are the ten- dencies of the race, however much they may differ in the individual." These leading characteristics he sees expressed in the coat of arms as "Nobility, designated by the fact of a coat of arms; strength and courage, shown by the lion rampant, and Christianity by the cross." In these particulars Mr. Kneeland was a characteristic descendant of his long line of noble ancestors, and another proof of the influence of heredity upon a man's life and achievements.
Luther A. Warren, deceased, late of Wauwatosa, was born at Grafton, Mass., March 31, 1834, and died on Jan. 6, 1903. His parents were Jonathan and Livinia (Damon) Warren, the former born in Massachusetts on Feb. 4, 1810, and the latter was a native of New Hampshire. The father came to Wisconsin in 1839, when Milwaukee was a little village and most of the surrounding country was a forest wilderness. He took up a homestead in the town of Wauwatosa, just across the street from the present residence of Mrs. Luther Warren, and there spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1877. Luther A. was only five years of age at the time of the removal of the family to the west, and was reared in Wauwatosa, obtaining his education in the village schools, and graduating from the high school. He remained on his father's farm, assisting in the work of the place until his marriage when he was twenty-four years of age, then going to Mil- waukee and entering the insurance business which he followed for twenty-seven years. The later years of his life he spent at Wauwatosa, superintending the work of the old homestead until his death. On Jan. II, 1859, he was married to Miss Anna L. Hoppin, daughter of Richard and Lydia (Potter) Hoppin, of Providence, R. I., and the children born to them are: Clara, wife of Charles G. Wade, of Wauwatosa; Helen, wife of W. R. Nethercut, also of Wauwatosa ; and Frances, wife of Harold W. Nicholson, deceased, late of Milwau- kee. Mr. Warren was a Republican in his political beliefs and a mem- ber of the Congregational church. He was a worthy representative of the stanch New England families who came westward in such numbers in the late thirties and the forties, and whose influence in the laying of the foundations of this comonwealth are so marked. He was a man widely known in his section of the state, and as widely esteemed.
Reuben Mahler, a prosperous citizen of Milwaukee, who is engaged in the fur business, was born in Roumania, Nov. 1, 1881, being the son of Gershaw and Lecia Mahler, who were born in the same country in 1858 and 1866, respectively. His parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Milwaukee in 1895. His father is a painter by trade and since coming to the city has continued to work at this trade. Reuben, our subject, was educated in the public schools of his native country until he was fourteen years of age and then came to America with his parents. From that time he attended
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the public schools of Milwaukee and learned the English language. After finishing school he learned the painter's trade with his father, but did not care to become a painter and served his apprenticeship as a furrier with Savitsky. He was then employed by Hansen's Fur Factory and also Wallace Smith Company, later employed by the Russia Tanning and Fur Company as foreman, and he learned the business most thoroughly. While working for the last named firm he accumulated a sufficient capital to establish himself in business, and early in 1908 opened a fur establishment of his own, where he has met with remarkable success. Mr. Mahler is a self-made man and his present success is the reward of tireless industry, attention to detail and a successful effort to please his patrons. In politics he is a Republican and a stanch supporter of the principles of that party. With his family he is a member of the Jewish Temple. In 1902 occurred his marriage with Miss Rose Stockland, and one child has come to bless their union : Jennie, aged four years. Mr. Mahler is secretary of the Krauken Unterstitzung Verein, the Roumania Con- gregation. Mr. Mahler is a provident man and carries insurance in the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Prudential Insurance Company of America.
Albert S. Dahl, who owns and operates one of the largest plumb- ing establishments of the West Side at 1613 State street, is a native of Iceland, born there on Dec. 6, 1869, the son of Albert and Gertrude Dahl, who were born in Iceland in 1835. His father was a carpenter, who immigrated to the United States in 1876 and located in Mil- waukee. Albert, the subject of this sketch, was given the benefits of the scholastic training of the Milwaukee public schools and then was associated with the White Hill Sewing Machine Company, but severed his connection with that firm to accept a more congenial one with the A. P. Allis Company. Mr. Dahl was ambitious and not contented to remain an employee for any length of time. He learned the plumber's trade, and after working at it for some time established himself in business at his present location in 1902, where he has successfully continued. He has built up a good trade by fair dealing, strict atten- tion to business and a desire to please his patrons and now conducts one of the most substantial establishments in the neighborhood. Mr. Dahl is a self-made man and owes his success to his own efforts, his natural ability, integrity and unceasing efforts. On April 22, 1896, he was united in marriage with Miss Elfrida Rupp, of Milwau- kee. They have two children : Laurine, aged eleven; and Evelyn, who is eight. Mr. and Mrs. Dahl are members of the Reformed Lutheran church, in which they are willing workers. Mr. Dahl is a firm advocate of the principles of the Republican party and is affiliated with the Masonic Order, being a thirty-second degree Mason, and of Tripoli Temple, Noble of the Mystic Shrine; also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees.
Gustav Merten, one of the popular dry goods merchants of Milwaukee, was born in Germany on Oct. 10, 1859, the son of Edward and Josepha Merten, both natives of the same country. The elder Merten immigrated to America and located in Milwaukee, where he
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still lives. Gustav Merten, the subject of this review, received his primary education in the public schools of Germany, near Carlsbad, Austria, one of the famous old towns of Europe. He left home and attended a business school where he learned the tailor's trade and then took a course in the cutting school in order to command a better position. The opportunities offered in a new country appealed to him and he left his native land for America. Soon after landing in the United States he came to Milwaukee, and in 1884 became cutter for a wholesale cloak house on Broadway. In 1887 he established himself in business and for a year was on Reed street, before he moved to his present location, 518-520 Sixth avenue, where he con- ducts one of the leading dry goods stores of the district. Mr. Merten is a self-made man and his success in his chosen occupation is a result of his own industry, fair dealing and an effort to cater to the demands of his customers. He is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Sons of Hermann, and is trustee of that organization for the state of Wisconsin; the United Order of Foresters; Harmony Lodge, No. 142. Free and Accepted Masons; the Gegenseitige Unterssuetzungs Gesellschaft Germania Society, and the South Side Turners. In 1886 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Merten and Miss Bertha Watka, the daughter of William Watka; they have become the parents of four children : William, Clara, Hilda and Walter, who have all been reared in Milwaukee.
Benjamin F. Parker, member of Grand Army of the Republic Post, No. I, at Milwaukee, Wis., and also a member of the Loyal Legion, Wisconsin Commandery, was born on July 27, 1839, at Con- neautville, Pa. His father and mother, Ledyard P. and Hannah (Thompson) Parker, had four children, of whom he is first in order of birth, the others being David, Mary and Jane. The father died in Meadville, Pa., about the close of the war and the mother is a resi- dent of Mauston, Wis. In the paternal line Mr. Parker traces him- self to early stock in the history of the country; his mother was of French-American birth, her father belonging to the latter and her mother to the former nationality. The son attended the schools of Meadville until he was eleven, when he entered the Meadville Acad- emy. In 1853 he went to Waukesha county, Wis., to live with an uncle, who initiated him into a knowledge of the business of a carpenter and builder. His uncle removed to Waushara county, where he lived until he enlisted, in April, 1861, at Milwaukee, and was mustered into the "Wisconsin Rifles," which was assigned to the Second infantry as Company K. The regiment went from rendezvous at Camp Randall in the latter part of June to Washington and was assigned to Tyler's division in Sherman's brigade. Mr. Parker was in the action at Bull Run, and was a participant in the experiences of the Second, which entailed all the credit of bravery on the rank and file and left the officers where the officers left the command in action. After returning to Arlington Heights, Company K drilled for artillery service, there being a scarcity in that branch, and the company became Battery A, First Wisconsin heavy artillery. It was assigned to duty at Fort Cass, there passed the winter of 1861-2, and in the following
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summer Mr. Parker, in his capacity of corporal, was selected to drill new recruits, arriving in response to the call for additional 300,000 troops. He was afterward with the battery at Fort Ellsworth in garrison duty in defense of Washington. He was promoted to ser- geant and, with two others of the same rank, received orders to pro- ceed to Wisconsin on recruiting service for three batteries for the battalion, of which the First was to be the nucleus. Mr. Parker was stationed at La Crosse and he enlisted what was afterward assigned as Battery C, being made Second Lieutenant of the command. The battery was mustered at Milwaukee in October and ordered in Novem- ber to report to General Thomas at Chattanooga, Tenn. He was in command of the battery through the fighting at Chattanooga, Mission Ridge, Lookout Mountain and all the service through which the troops there passed, his proficiency in military matters placing him at the head in emergencies. He passed the winter of 1863-4 in garrison duty, and performed the same until the spring of 1865, holding and guarding the position, it being the base of supplies and consequently the object of Confederate attack, and the situation was, until the arrival of Hooker from the East, filled with danger, the river being low and the troops insufficient to guard it. At the date mentioned the battery was sent to Athens, Tenn., and later to Strawberry Plains. During the summer he was detailed for duty on the general court martial at Greenville, Tenn., and in the fall, in September, 1865, reported at Nashville for muster-out. He was promoted at Chatta- nooga to junior first lieutenant in 1864, and in the spring of 1865 to senior first lieutenant. While at Chattanooga he was a member of the Council of Administration. On his return to Wisconsin he settled at Mauston and engaged in the sale of furniture with O. F. Temple, their relations being severed in 1873. While residing at Mauston he joined the Independent Order of Good Templars, and in 1873 was made Grand Secretary of Wisconsin, holding that position for twenty- seven years. At the meeting of the Grand Lodge at Toronto, in May, 1885, he was made Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the World and has been re-elected since that date. In 1881 he was elected Secretary of the Good Templars' Mutual Benefit Association and is still the incumbent of that position. He is managing editor of the International Good Templars' Magazine, a journal devoted to the interests of the society throughout the world, and which is published at Milwaukee. Mr. Parker has held a commission in the Wisconsin National Guards since 1869; he formed a company at Mauston, in which he held the various ranks and was commissioned major of the Third battalion in 1881. In 1883 he was commissioned lieutenant- colonel and was called into service with the Third regiment during the Spanish-American war. He is now retired. He has taken all the degrees of the Masonic order, including the thirty-second. He belongs to La Fayette Lodge, to Calumet Chapter, and Ivanhoe Com- mandery, all in Milwaukee, and to the Wisconsin Consistory, thirty- second degree at Milwaukee, and to the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and served two years as Grand Master. He has attended every meeting of the
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Grand Lodge since its organization. Mr. Parker is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, and held the position of High Chief Ranger for ten years, ending in June, 1905. In political affiliation he was always a Republican until recently he has acted with the Prohibitionists. His marriage to Lucille W., daughter of H. G. and Lydia A. (Combs) Penniman, occurred at Mauston on Feb. 3, 1868. Their only child is named Addie M., and she is the wife of Col. G. H. Windsor, of Superior, Wis. They have one daughter, Miss Helen Lucile.
Henry Gilman Rogers, deceased, late a prominent business man of Milwaukee, Wis., and a member of E. B. Wolcott Post, No. I, Grand Army of the Republic, was born April 28, 1841, in Milwaukee. He completed his education at Beloit College, and, a few months after attaining his majority, entered the military service of his country. The progress of the war during the first year of its existence had brought to reflective, prescient men the conviction that the movement of the South, at first regarded as something like impetuosity, which would cool in a few months, had method in its madness, and that a question as important as the founding of the republic was at the fore for settlement and must be met. Probably the history of enlistment in the summer of 1862 would make the most remarkable showing of the real character of American citizenship and its responsibilities that could be brought forward. Every interest in the country was in peril ; all that had been accomplished and all the promise of the future hung in the balance when the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin enrolled, organized and hastened to the front. Mr. Rogers enlisted Aug. 13, 1862, and on the organization of Company B, Twenty-fourth Wiscon- sin, was made a corporal. Bragg was marauding northern Kentucky and the regiment moved southward to participate, in a little more than a month after leaving the state, in the battle of Perryville. They chased the fleeing Confederates and returned afterward to Nashville to prepare for further activities, which they encountered at Stone's River. Corporal Rogers distinguished himself on the field and was made sergeant during the action. In May, 1863, he was promoted to orderly sergeant and passed the successive months on the march to and in the vicinity of Chattanooga and Chickamauga, until the battle of Sept. 19, in which he received five wounds. Two bullets struck his right arm, and almost immediately afterward an explosive shot cut away the second and third fingers of the left hand; a buckshot hit the same hand and severed the cords of the little finger, holding its position in the hand for two months, and finally working itself out. A minie-ball took off the first joint of the first finger of the same hand. He was hit ten different times during his term of service, but paid no attention to the near approach of the deadly missiles. One bullet ploughed through the top of his head gear, cutting off the hair from his head along its track, and a shot struck his right cheek on the facial bone; one shot hit his gun, glanced and struck his lip with little injury; and. although several other missiles came in his way to remind him of Confederate civilities, he received such slight results that he did not heed them. After the battle of Chickamauga lie went
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to the field hospital of the Twenty-first army corps, having been wounded on Sunday and wounds not dressed until Wednesday. He remained in the hospital until Oct. 8, 1863, when he rode sixty miles over the mountains to Stevenson, Ala., to return to Wisconsin on a sixty-day furlough, his arm resting on a pillow during the ride. The scarcity of supplies was felt by the wounded and suffering in the hos- pitals as well as among the troops awaiting help at Chattanooga, and his strong desire to reach some point where he could receive proper care and food caused him to take the risks of his journey, the aggra- vation resulting from its severity making necessary an extension of his furlough to ninety days, during which he was under treatment. He had been offered the position of lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty- fifth Wisconsin by Governor Lewis, but his wounded condition pre- vented his acceptance. He was unable to rejoin his regiment, and was mustered out Jan. 27, 1864, at Madison, having been commissioned lieutenant of Company B, Twenty-fourth Wisconsin, to date from Nov. 23, 1863. In addition to the actions named, Mr. Rogers was in the scrimmages at Guy's and Hoover's Gaps. After his return to Milwaukee, he engaged as soon as sufficiently recovered, in the real estate business, which he afterward prosecuted. He always main- tained his interest in the military affairs of Wisconsin and was made lieutenant-colonel of the First regiment, National Guard, during the administration of Governor Ludington. He was also made major of the Fourth battalion (Fourth Milwaukee, National Guard). As soon as the order of the Grand Army of the Republic was organized in Wisconsin, on Oct. 10, 1866, he connected himself with Post Phil H. Sheridan, No. 9, of which he was commander, and also served in other positions. The post surrendered its charter, and in 1880 he became a charter member of E. B. Wolcott Post, No. I. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest members in the state and country, and was always actively connected with the affairs of the order. In 1874 he was assistant quartermaster-general of the Wiscon- sin Department, junior vice-commander 0 1875, senior vice- mander in 1876, and was made department commander in 1877, thus holding the positions in regular sequence, and his is the only instance of regular advancement in the state. His wife, one of the most promi- nent women in the order of the Woman's Relief Corps in Wiscon- sin, was made department president in 1886, and re-elected in 1887. Through her administration new life was infused into the auxiliary of the Grand Army by her energetic activity and unflagging efforts to advance the material interests of the organization. Many new corps were added to the general body, and she organized and systematized the workings of the department in a manner which has been felt far beyond her personal administration. She is a woman who never does anything with which she is connected in a half-way manner or with half-heartedness; and consequently her influence is always felt. It is impossible, in a sketch like this, to do full justice to the value of Major and Mrs. Rogers to the Department of Wisconsin. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the National Pension Committee of the Woman's Relief Corps, and was its secretary in 1889. Her activities
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