USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > Rock County, Wisconsin; a new history of its cities, villages, towns, citizens and varied interests, from the earliest times, up to date, Vol. II > Part 32
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
In such diversified labors the long years sped away, and the dignified, stalwart figure which Milton students for nearly fifty years have associated with the name and memory of "Elder" Whitford, began to move about feebly, and all too quickly, while love's chosen tasks were multiplying before him, he went out and up on the wings of the morning to come not back. The tearful throng that gathered to join in the farewell service to his mem- ory told how deeply he had impressed himself upon two genera- tions of people, far and near, among whom he had walked as instructor and friend; and who had known him as a scholar and patriot, but who loved best to call him "The Elder." He was the father of one daughter and three sons, the youngest of whom, Milton C., alone survived him.
Byron H. Wells, who ranks among the substantial and in- fluential citizens of Milton, is a native of Roek county, and was born March 24, 1857. His parents, Caleb and Martha (Williams) Wells, removed from New York, their native state, to Milton township, Rock county, Wisconsin, in 1850, and settled on a farm, where they passed thier lives enjoying the well merited esteem of all who knew them. The father, who was a man of commanding influenee in the community, died in 1901 at the age of seventy-five. The mother, a woman of true womanly virtues, died at the age of seventy-six, in 1895.
Byron II., reared on his father's farm, received a good Eng- lish education in the district schools, and afterwards attended Milton college, after which he turned his attention to farming. He has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs and has been called to fill numerous loeal offices, village trustee, president of the village board, assessor, etc. In polities he is a Republican. He is a man of fine social qualities, a loyal friend, and a genial comrad, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Naturally of an inventive and mechanical turn of mind, he has always taken an interest in electrical developments and im- provements, and sinee 1901 has been treasurer and manager of the Milton and Milton Junetion Telephone Company. He has also been president of the Bank of Milton since 1904.
In 1900 Mr. Wells married Miss Marguerite, daughter of William H. and Madeline (Hamilton) Coon, of Milton. They have one child, Kenneth B.
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Lewis Alexander Platts, who for many years has been one of the foremost men of the Seventh-Day Baptist denomination, is a native of Clarke county, Ohio, and was born February 21, 1840. He is the eldest of five children born to David Rittenhouse and Angeline (Davis) Platts, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Virginia. Their other children were Benjamin K., who enlisted in Company K, Fifth Wisconsin Infantry, and died while a prisoner of war in 1862, in Virginia; Corliss I., who was a member of Barstow's Third Cavalry Regiment and died while on scouting duty in Arkansas in 1862; Sarah Eleanor, who married Captain George W. Clement, and died at Welton, Iowa, in 1870, and Willametta J., who is married to Mr. John H. Bab- eock, of Milton, Wis.
David R. Platts settled in Green Lake county, Wisconsin, with his family in 1845. He was a cabinet maker and farmer by occupation. He died in Harrison county, West Virginia, in 1877, at the age of seventy-two years. His wife had died two years previous to that time in Farina, Ill., at the age of sixty. She was a woman of intense religious nature and deep religious con- victions, and the influence of her teachings and godly living in her family, first turned the mind of our subject to the gospel ministry, in which he has so long been a leader.
Lewis A., after finishing his preliminary studies, attended Milton college, where he was graduated with the class of 1864; two years later he received a degree from Alfred university, in the state of New York, and in 1871 was graduated from the Union Theological seminary, New York city. While a student, he served the Seventh-Day Baptist church at Friendship, N. Y., as pastor, and from 1868 to 1876 held the pastorate at Newmar- ket, N. J. From 1876 to 1882 he was a pastor at Westerly, R. I., and during the next ten years edited the "Sabbath Recorder" at Alfred, N. Y. From 1892 to 1896 he filled the chair of church history and homiletics at Alfred university, and since the year last named has served as pastor of the Seventh-Day Baptist church at Milton. In 1886 Mr. Platts received from Alfred uni- versity the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and stands as one of the strong men among representative men of his denomination.
Dr. Platts has never been on the "waiting list." His ser- vices have always been sought, and his calls for labors outside his regular work have been and are many. He was two years
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president of the village board of Alfred, N. Y., and also vice president of the University bank, and for seven years president of the building and loan association of that village. He was for a short time president of the board of trustees of Alfred univer- sity, and is vice president of the board of trustees of Milton col- lege. He was for six years recording secretary of the board of managers of the Seventh-Day Baptist Missionary Society, at Westerly, R. I.
Dr. Platts is alive to all that pertains to the good of his fel- lows and the result of his earnest work and Christian living is shown in the lives of those who have come within the range of his influence.
In 1864 he married Miss Emma, daughter of Jesse and Dency (Blivin) Tefft, of Almond, N. Y. Mrs. Platts is of New England ancestry. She was graduated from the teachers' course of Mil- ton college in 1864, and in 1866 from the philosophical course at Alfred university, which institute conferred on her the degree of Master of Arts in 1873. Since 1898 she has been an instructor in French language and literature at Milton college. Dr. and Mrs. Platts have three children, viz .: William Whitford, of Mil- ton; Jesse Allison, who is pastor of the Presbyterian church at Bellfonte, Pa., and who married Miss Emily Ophilia Maxson, of Elmira, N. Y., and Lewis Arthur, a doctor of dental surgery at Chicago, who married Miss Alice Leona Davidson, of Milton.
Willis Peck Clarke is a native of Unadilla Forks, Otsego county, New York, and was born May 15, 1842, and is a son of Erastus P. and Mary Jane (Peck) Clarke, both of whom were of English ancestry. The father was a native of West Edmeston, N. Y., and the mother of Bridgeton, N. J. They moved from Otsego county, New York, to Plainfield, N. J., and thence re- moved to Milton, Wis., in 1856. He was a carpenter by trade and a man of influence in his community. He was for twenty years an insurance agent and justice of the peace. He was a man of deep religious convictions and was prominent in the councils of the Seventh-Day Baptist church at Milton. He died in 1905 at the age of eighty-seven years. Our subject's mother died in 1885 at the age of sixty.
Willis P. was educated in the district and select schools and at Milton academy before the organization of the college, grad- uating in June, 1861. On October 7, 1861, he enlisted in Com-
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pany K. Thirteenth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Pliny Noreross. He was in the service through Kansas, later in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, and after the elose of the war went under General Sheridan to Texas to enforce the evacuation of Mexico by the French. He received numerous promotions during his term and returned to Wiscon- sin in command of his company and received an honorable dis- charge December 27, 1865. On his return to Milton Mr. Clarke was for a number of years employed as a mechanic, but in 1875 engaged in the drug business, to which he has since devoted his attention, except during a part of the years 1878-9, while serving as confidential clerk under State Superintendent W. C. Whit- ford. Mr. Clarke has always been a prominent and· influential man of affairs. He served twenty-five years as secretary of the board of trustees of Milton college, resigning in 1905, and dur- ing the administrations of Presidents Arthur and Harrison was postmaster at Milton. Since the close of the war he has been secretary of the association of the survivors of the Thirteenth Wisconsin Regiment, and is a charter member, and for twenty- five years has been treasurer of the State Pharmaceutical Asso- ciation of Wisconsin. Mr. Clarke has been connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1870 and has filled the various chairs; has been a member of A. D. Hamilton Post No. 60, Grand Army of the Republic, since its organization; is a cor- responding member of the Wisconsin Natural History Society and also is connected with the State Historical and the National Geographical Societies. Since 1870 he has given much time to gathering rare and valuable archeological specimens in the vicinity of Lake Koshonong, and in 1907 donated his fine collec- tion of 2,500 specimens to the archeological department of Milton college. In religious belief Mr. Clarke is a Unitarian.
On October 15, 1867, Mr. Clarke married Miss Lucy A., daugh- ter of Mr. Alvit Clarke, of Plainfield, N. Y. They have two chil- dren, viz. : Bessie E., who is married to Mr. Samuel W. Clarke, of Allegany county, New York, and Ray W., who is a practicing at- torney at Milton.
Ray Willis Clarke, attorney-at-law, was born at Milton, Roek county, Wisconsin, May 27, 1879, and is a son of Willis P. and Lucy A. (Clarke) Clarke, both of whom were natives of New York state. His grandparents, Erastus P. and Mary Jane (Peck)
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Clarke, came to Milton in 1856, where they lived until their death, the grandmother in 1885 at the age of sixty years, and the grandfather in 1905, at the age of eighty-seven years.
Ray Willis Clarke received his early education in the Milton high school and graduated from the Milton college with the class of 1902, receiving the degree of B. S. He then entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, grad- uating in 1905, and was admitted the same year to the Rock county bar and began his practice at Milton, where he has since remained. He has also been assistant professor of political science and history at Milton college since 1905.
In politics Mr. Clarke is a Republican on all national issues, but on all local matters casts his ballot for the man whom he thinks best qualified for the position. He is prominent in Mil- ton College Debating Society, and also a past grand of the I. O. O. F., and a member of A. F. & A. M., as well as a member of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.
In 1906 Mr. Clarke was married to Miss Madge E., daughter of F. Y. Holcombe, of Madison, Wis. A son, Franklin Willis, was born to them August 8, 1907.
William Clifton Daland, who since the summer of 1902 has been at the head of Milton college, was born in New York, Octo- ber 25, 1860. He is the son of William B. Daland, of Elizabeth, N. J., and Alexina Janet Kenworthy. His paternal ancestry runs back to the French Huguenots, while on the maternal side he is of English and Scotch lineage. He received his preliminary education at the "Pearl Cottage Seminary," a private school at Elizabeth, N. J., and in 1875 entered Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, from which he was graduated in 1879 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He studied three years at the Union Theological seminary of New York city and was grad- uated in 1886, and while a student there became an adherent to the Seventh-Day Baptist faith. From June, 1886, till October, 1891, he served the Seventh-Day Baptist church at Leonardsville, N. Y., as pastor; then had charge of the church at Westerly, R. I., till May, 1896, then preached in London, England, till June, 1900, when he returned to the church at Leonardsville and there remained till called to the presidency of Milton college in 1902. While a pastor in London, Mr. Daland spent some months study- ing in Germany, and also visited the west coast of Africa in the
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interests of missions. He became a student of music early in life and when fifteen years old was organist at the Second Presby- terian church at Elizabeth, N. J., where he continued six years and then took a similar position with the First Baptist church at Brooklyn, N. Y., which he held till he went to Leonardsville in 1886.
Mr. Daland is the author of "Song of Songs," translated from the Hebrew with notes, a work which secured high praise from the late Prof. Franz Delitzseli, of Leipsic, and which was recommended to his classes in Hebrew poetry by the late Presi- dent William R. Harper, of the University of Chicago.
In June, 1887, Mr. Daland received from the Alfred univer- sity the degree of Master of Arts, and in June, 1896, Milton col- lege conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Alfred university also honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divin- ity in 1903.
In September, 1884, Mr. Daland married Miss Agnes B. Nor- ton, of Elizabeth, N. J. They have four children, viz .: John, Clifton, Stephanie and Alexander.
Paul M. Green, cashier of the Bank of Milton, Milton, Wis .. is an influential and highly respected citizen, and one of the best known business men in northern Rock county.
He was born in Allegany county, New York, August 15, 1837, son of Henry W. Green, and grandson of Joseph Green, whose early home was in New Jersey. Henry Green, the father of Paul M., was born in Brookfield, N. Y., and at Alfred, N. Y., married Martha M. Coon, daughter of Stephen Coon, father of a large family. Many of his descendants are now citizens of Rock county and adjoining counties in Wisconsin.
To Henry W. and Martha M. Green were born three children. Paul M. was the youngest. The oldest, Ira, died in infancy, August 15, 1829. Mary E. was born September 27, 1832, and died August 22, 1901. She was married to M. S. Burdick.
Paul M. Green's parents in 1840 moved to Wisconsin, and settled upon government land in the northwestern part of the township of Milton, not far from what is now known as Charley Bluff, on the shore of Lake Koshkonong. Here they lived for twenty-eight years. Mr. Green was a leading man in the com- munity, being in the early forties road commissioner for the town- ships of Milton and Lima, when they were under the territorial
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government. Later he was a supervisor of his own town, and held other local offices, being for several years a trustee of Mil- ton academy. He died in January, 1878, being seventy-two years of age. Mrs. Green was a natural nurse, and in the early pioneer. days often took the place of the physician, using her own home- made remedies and good common sense. Her services were eagerly and often sought and greatly appreciated by the people of the neighborhood. She died at a good old age, eighty-six, February 2, 1894. They were both prominent and loyal mem- bers of the Seventh-Day Baptist church.
Paul M. passed his boyhood days on the farm and received a good common school education. He afterwards attended Milton academy. For a time he was engaged in farming, but when in 1868 his father moved to what is now the village of Milton, he likewise made this place his home and has lived here ever sinee that time. The first four years he was associated with his father in the boot and shoe business. Then for thirteen years he was postmaster, and for eight years he owned and managed the lum- ber and coal yards of the place. In 1884 he became one of the organizers and stockholders of the Bank of Milton. About 1893 he was president of the bank two years, and since then has been its trusted and efficient cashier.
Mr. Green has always taken an active interest in public affairs and in the welfare and prosperity of the community. He has been called to fill many local offices of honor and trust. As chairman of the town board for five years, and as supervisor of the village of Milton since its incorporation, he has served on the Rock county board, being now a member of the building com- mittee. He was a member of the state legislature in 1893-94, representing the first assembly distriet of Rock county. For nearly twenty years he has been connected with the manage- ment of the public school of the place. For forty years he has been a trustee of Milton college and is now president of the board. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Milton Citizens' Association. He is the acting manager and treasurer of the cemetery association. He is one of the promoters and stockholders of the Milton and Milton Junetion Telephone Company. Fraternally he is a member of Du Lae Lodge No. 322, I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republican. Religiously, he is a member of the Seventh-Day Baptist church.
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In 1859, May 19, Mr. Green was married to Miss Abbie Me- Henry, of Almond, N. Y., daughter of James and Abbie (Vincent) MeHenry. Mr. MeHenry was one of the earliest settlers in Alle- gany county, New York. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Green, Eldon L., who died when only about one year of age. Mrs. Green is a charming lady whose gracions manners both in her home and in society have been very helpful to her husband in achieving the success which is his. Together, by their wise counsel, by their publie spirited enterprise, by their sane optim- ism, by their loving helpfulness, they have contributed largely towards giving to Milton the reputation it enjoys of being one of the most desirable places in Wisconsin in which to live and rear a family.
Elmer L. Barnes, who was born March 7, 1873, is a son of Richard and Ella (Peek) Barnes, natives of England and Ver- mont, respectively. The father was born in 1832 and the mother in 1843. They came to Rock county over half a century ago, and for twenty-two years Milton Junction, where they still live, has been their home.
Elmer is the younger of two children, Mary Luella is the wife of Frank Maryatt, and resides in Milton township.
The subject of this sketch received his early education in the public schools at Milton Junction, and from 1892 to 1900 was engaged in steam and electrical engineering. In 1900 he pur- chased the elevator at Milton and has since successfully con- ducted a large flour, feed and grain business. Since engaging in the grain business, he has rebuilt his elevator, which is now modern in its appointments and equipped with a new thirty-two horse power engine of the Fairbanks & Morse type.
In political faith, Mr. Barnes is identified with the Republican party, though taking no active part in the affairs of the party, except to perform his duties as a citizen. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a progressive and enterprising citizen, commanding the respect and confidence of his large circle of friends, in the community in which he resides.
On November 15, 1894, Mr. Barnes was married to Miss Clara Garthwait, daughter of L. H. and Hannah (Jenkins) Garthwait, of Milton Junetion. To this union has been born three children : Lottie L., George R. and Herbert E. Their home at Milton is
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built of concrete blocks, and is modern in construction and ap- pointments.
Frank C. Binnewies, M. D., of Milton, Wis., is the fourth child of a family of eight children born to Frederick and Elizabeth (Yarcho) Binnewies, who were both natives of Germany. They came to America in the early fifties, settling first in Illinois, then to Walworth in 1871, and subsequently removed to Sharon, Wis., in 1888, where he engaged in farming and stock raising, in which he was successful, and where he resided until his decease. He was a man of commanding influence in his community, and his death, which occurred in 1895, at the age of sixty-seven years, was mourned by his large circle of friends and acquaintances.
The mother of our subject is still living at her home at Sharon, Wis.
Frank C. was born at Harvard, Ill., on May 31, 1869. He re- ceived his education in the district schools of his native county, and at the Walworth high school. After taking a course of study at the Chicago Veterinary college, he entered the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, of Chicago, in 1897, from which he was graduated with the class of 1900. He is also a graduate of the Hahnemann Medical college of the class of 1905. Imme- diately after receiving his diploma he located at Milton, where he has since resided and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. IIe is identified with the American Institute of Homeopathy, is a member of the state and county medical so- cieties, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Dr. Binnewies was married on May 18, 1904, to Miss Laura Josephine Bullis, daughter of James P. Bullis, of Milton.
Albert Rogers Crandall, M. A., Ph. D., who ranks among the leading educators of Wisconsin, is a native of Little Genesee, New York, and was born September 16, 1840, son of Jairus and Julia A. (Wells) Crandall, natives of Rhode Island. They settled in Allegany county, New York, in 1832 and spent the remainder of their lives there. The genealogy of the family runs back to early colonial days, its first representatives in this country hav- ing come from England to this country as early as 1635, settling finally in Rhode Island.
Our subject developed a fondness for study in early life and after closing his preliminary studies in 1858, entered the aca- demic department of Alfred university, at Alfred, N. Y. In re-
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sponse to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, young Crandall enlisted and entered the Civil War, and at the expira- tion of his term reënlisted, serving two and a half years, reach- ing the rank of first lieutenant by promotion. Resuming his studies he spent three years as a student of Milton college, re- ceiving the degree of B. A., and later the degree of M. A. After leaving college, he was one year principal of Big Foot academy, at Walworth, Wis., after which he spent five years at Harvard university as a student in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, taking special studies in geology, paleontology and zoology. At the same time he made a special study of botany in the Botanical garden, and during one year was an art student in the Boston Lowell institute evening school, and during all these years spent his summer vacations in field studies and as a collector for the Museum of Comparative Zoology, his journeyings extending over parts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine to the Ottawa region in Canada, western New York and along the Appalachian belt from the Catskills to northern Georgia, Alabama and Mis- sissippi.
In 1873 Mr. Crandall was appointed assistant to Prof. N. S. Shaler of Harvard university in the work of the Kentucky geo- logical survey. In 1873 he was instructor and three years later became professor in the department of natural history of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, at Lexington. In 1875 he was instructor in the summer school of geology or- ganized by Prof. Shaler at Cumberland Gap, Kentucky. In ad- dition to his other duties, Prof. Crandall continued work on the geological survey until 1892.
During the years 1896 and 1903 he was professor of natural history at Alfred university, and since the latter date has filled the same chair at Milton college, Milton, Wis., his chosen place of residence. Prof. Crandall has written many papers and de- livered various addresses on his specialties and is widely known in educational and scientific circles for his published works on the geology and botany of eastern Kentucky.
On February 16, 1874, Professor Crandall married Miss Ellen A., daughter of Truman and Phebe (Willcox) Saunders, the former a native of New York and the latter of New England an- cestry. Of three children born to them, Alberta has since 1903 been principal of the piano and organ department of Milton col-
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lege, where she was a student in the school of music from 1893 until 1898. From 1898 to 1901 she studied and taught the piano at Alfred university. During 1891-3 studied under Dr. W. S. Matthews, and in the New England Conservatory of Music at Boston; Ellen, who since 1904 has been instructor of the violin, viola and violoncello at Milton college, and an orchestra leader, was a student in the school of music there from 1893 to 1898, taking violin lessons of Prof. Hardige, of Watertown, Wis., one season, studied and taught the violin at Alfred university, 1898- 1901; studied the violin at the Conservatory of Music, Corning, N. Y., under Prof. Bastleman, 1900-01, and from 1902 to 1904 was a student of the violin and of orchestration at the New Eng- land Conservatory of Music at Boston, and William T., graduate of Milton college, is at the University of Wisconsin, pursuing post graduate studies, and a member of the university orchestra.
Clem W. Crumb has always made his home at Milton, Wis., where he was born September 7, 1858, the son of M. Wells and Hannah (West) Crumb, the former born August 13, 1824, at DeRuyter, N. Y., to John and Elizabeth (Wells) Crumb, of that place, and the latter, born November 19, 1828, at Leonardsville, N. Y., to Clement H. and Rachael (Davis) West, natives of Shiloh, N. J. Our subject's parents were married in 1849 at Leonards- ville, New York. In 1856 they settled on a farm near Milton, Wis., but in 1876 retired from the farm and moved into the vil- lage, where the father died August 8, 1879. The mother now lives with her son, our subject.
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