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 36
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Mrs. Heimstreet, a bright, active and highly intelligent woman, renders her husband valuable assistance in his business correspondence and in the clerical duties of the various society secretaryships which he holds, and without her cheerfully ren- dered services, it would be impossible for him to successfully dis- charge the various duties imposed upon him without neglecting his private business. Mr. Heimstreet is recognized as one of the wideawake, progressive business men of Janesville, public spir- ited, broad in his views, of unquestioned integrity and always up with the times, his interest and efforts in the cause of wholesome laws in regard to pharmacy, have won him distinction throughout the state.
Sanford Soverhill, one of the wide-awake business men of Janesville, Wis., was born in Fulton township, Rock county, October 25, 1856, and is the son of Myron H. and Adeline M. (Sanford) Soverhill. He grew to manhood in the country, at- tending the district schools and later the graded schools of Ful- ton, and devoted himself to farming until he was twenty-six years old. In 1885 Mr. Soverhill left the farm, and going to Janesville, was for several years engaged in the tobacco trade, buying on commission for New York and other eastern houses and for European concerns. About 1886 he changed the char- acter of his business, and instead of acting as a broker, turned his attention to buying and packing tobacco and shipping to various market points in the United States. This he has con- tinued to the present time (1908) with good success, being now engaged also in buying and selling wool.
Mr. Soverhill is a practical and thoroughly careful man in his business relations and while looking closely after his more personal interests, has also devoted much time to other outside business affairs. He is president of the Peoples' Coal Company, of Janesville, and is also one of its directors, and also a director of the Monarch Mining, Developing & Reduction Company, of Grant county, New Mexico.
In political sentiment he is a Republican. He is identified with several fraternal and social organizations, such as the Knights of Pythias, the United Commercial Travelers, Twilight Club of Janesville, and others local in character. In religious faith he is affiliated with the Presbyterian church.
On November 23, 1883, Mr. Soverhill married Miss Anna G.,
STANLEY B. SMITHI.
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daughter of Isaac and Anna (McNall) Porter, of Cookville, Rock county, a woman of charming personality, who presides with womanly grace over their comfortable and happy home.
Mr. and Mrs. Soverhill have an interesting family of four children, named respectively, Cora, Laila, Edith and Wilna.
Edward Ruger, of Janesville, Wis., is descended from Philip Ruger, of Dutchess county, New York.
John Ruger, the son of Philip, married Catherine Lec Roy, who was of a French Huguenot family. He served in the Revolution- ary war, was in the battle of Saratoga, and after the surrender of Burgoyne, moved to Saratoga county, New York.
Francis Ruger, his son, married Jane Jewell, of Connecticut. She was of Puritan ancestry. Thomas Jefferson Ruger, his son, was born in Northumberland county, New York, February 25, 1802. He graduated from the Union college, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1830, with the degree of M. A. Was principal of Wilbra- ham academy; he married Maria Hutchins in 1830; was ap- pointed president of Wesleyan seminary at Lima, N. Y., in 1832, and in 1836 was ordained priest in the Protestant Episcopal church.
On Maria Hutchins side, Benjamin Hutchins was captain in the Eighteenth Connecticut regiment, and served with his com- pany under Washington in New York in August and September, 1776. Marched to Bennington in 1777, and was promoted to major. In May, 1778, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-sixth regiment by Governor Jonathan Trumbull, and resigned in 1781. Benjamin Hutchins, his son, was born October 14, 1767, and in 1785 married Jerusha Bradley.
Maria Hutchins, daughter of Benjamin, was born in East Haven, Conn., October 31, 1804, and married Thomas Jefferson Ruger, September 5, 1830. They had nine children, viz .: Cor- nelia Maria, Thomas Howard, Edward, William, Henry Hobart, Frances Eliza, Bradley Morgan, Ellen Augusta and Morris.
Edward Ruger was the third child and second son of Thomas Jefferson and Maria (Hutchins) Ruger. He was born at Lima, Livingston county, New York, September 16, 1834. His parents moved from Lima to Bridgewater, Oneida county, thence to Sherburne in Chenango county, thence to Marcellus in Onondaga county, all in the state of New York. While at Marcellus, Edward Ruger attended public school.
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In 1844, Rev. T. J. Ruger moved with his family to Janesville, Wis., as a home missionary of the Protestant Episcopal church. At Janesville Edward Ruger at first attended the public schools and later the Janesville academy, of which his father was the first principal. He also attended the academy under Principals A. B. Miller, Messrs. Woodruff and Woodard, and Professor Spicer. During these periods he worked on his father's farm, pursuing his studies mornings, noons and evenings under the supervision of his father, being in school proper only during the three win- ter months of the year. His father was an accomplished mathe- matician, and by inheritance and study Edward Ruger became enamored with the study of mathematics and was early drawn to the profession of civil engineering and surveying, and prior to his opening an office in Janesville for the practice of his pro- fession, he had experience in United States land surveying, sub- dividing sections, and making preliminary and locating surveys for railroads and their construction. In 1857 he opened an office in Janesville for the practice of his profession, and in 1859 was elected city engineer of Janesville, and in 1860 was elected county surveyor of Rock county. He held this office and prac- ticed his profession at Janesville until 1861, doing some hydraulic engineering work in Walworth and Jefferson counties relative to backset of water.
In 1861 he enlisted and raised a company for service in the war of the rebellion and was enrolled as captain of Company A, Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He remained in Camp Treadway at Janesville till January, 1862, when he was ordered to the front, going first to Leavenworth and Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, and then to Fort Scott, Kansas, thence to Fort Riley. Here he was appointed a member of a court martial, at the completion of which he assumed command of his company and proceeded with his regiment to Moscow, Ky. Here he was detailed to rebuild a bridge across the Obion river which had been destroyed by the enemy. When this work was completed, he proceeded with his regiment to Columbus, Ky., where he was appointed provost marshal and served in this capacity till granted a thirty-day leave of absence. Returning at once to Janesville, he was married to Miss Sarah B. Wright, daughter of Josiah Wright, August 23, 1862. At the expiration of his leave of absence, he returned to his regiment, then stationed at
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Fort Henry, Tennessee. From Fort Henry his regiment was ordered to Fort Donaldson, and here he was detailed as acting topographical engineer, and from this time on to the elose of the war he served in the capacity of topographical engineer on the staffs of Major General Lovell H. Rausseau and Major Gen- eral George H. Thomas. Upon joining the command of General Thomas, he entered upon his duties as superintendent of the topographical engineer's office of the Army of the Cumberland and remained in such position until 1869. He made new surveys and drew up the maps of the operations of the Army of the Cum- berland during the war, and of the operations of the armies of the Tennessee and Ohio during the Atlanta campaign, which are now on file in the war department at Washington.
After returning from the war, he opened an office in Janes- ville, Wis., for the practice of his profession, civil engineering and surveying. Since 1874 he has been engaged almost wholly on hydraulic engineering pertaining to water powers and water works, having been employed as consulting or chief engineer on almost every feature of hydraulic engineering, his praetiee call- ing him to twenty-three states in the Union.
Mr. Ruger still resides in Janesville, and for more than thirty years has been an elder in the First Presbyterian church, which office he still holds. He has two sons, Frank, a successful busi- ness man of Superior, Wis., and Harry, a professor of psychology. Both sons are married and blessed with children.
Solomon Spoon, for more than three score years a resident of Rock county, Wisconsin, is justly counted among the representa- tive citizens and substantial farmers. He was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, on August 11, 1829, and is the fourth of eleven children born to Abraham and Martha (Earnest) Spoon, both natives of that state. Their other children named in the order of their births, were Anna, Samuel, Elizabeth, George, Con- ard, Abraham, Mary, John and Henry. The youngest died in' infaney unnamed. The father, a mason by trade, in 1846 settled with his family in Plymouth township, Rock county, making the trip around the lakes to Racine and thence with team and wagon. He bought 120 acres of wild land, which he improved and culti- vated and where he made his home with his family until his decease, in 1874. His wife died there. They were both honored members of the Congregational church.
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Our subject was seventeen years old when he came with his parents to Rock county. He was reared to farm work and re- ceived a common school education. Two years after attaining his majority, in 1852, prompted by the spirit of the times, he went to California in quest of gold, the trip being made overland with four yoke of oxen and occupying four months' time. He re- mained there nearly five years, and in 1857 returned by boat via Isthmus of Panama. On his return home Mr. Spoon bought a farm in Magnolia township which he worked some ten years, when he sold out and bought in Plymouth township. After carrying on his farm there ten years, he again sold and moved to Janesville township, where he engaged in farming until 1890, when he retired from farming and took up his residence in the city of Janesville, where he now owns and occupies a beautiful modern home.
Throughout his busy life Mr. Spoon has prospered in his affairs, and by his upright and honorable dealings, has gained the confidence and esteem of a wide circle of friends and ac- quaintanees. He has always shown a commendable interest in public affairs and when called to fill local offices, has discharged his duties faithfully and well. In both Magnolia and Plymouth townships he served as director of the schools. In politics he is a Republican, but has always preferred the quiet of his home life to official position. In religious faith he and his family are affil- iated with the Congregational church.
In 1860 Mr. Spoon married Miss Augusta, daughter of George and Elizabeth Royer, who was born in Pennsylvania. His parents moved to Wisconsin in the early days and passed their lives there.
Of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Spoon, the eldest, Mary, is married to Mr. Peter Nelson, of Milwaukee; the second, Frank, married Miss Luella Borrow, and lives in Janesville. Jennie is the wife of Mr. Frank Martin, a Congregational minister at Galva, Ill., and Grace, the youngest, lives at home and is teach- ing school at Janesville.
William Payne, who was a resident of Janesville for more than a third of a century, was a native of Waterbury, New Haven county, Connecticut, and was born September 5, 1814, to Raphael and Ruth (Mix) Payne, the former a son of Thomas Payne, a Connecticut farmer. The family is of English origin,
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and tradition says that three brothers immigrated from Paynes, England, in colonial days, and settled with the Puritans, two of them in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut.
In 1819 our subject's parents moved to New York state, where his father died about 1825. At the age of thirteen, Wil- liam, with his mother, returned to Meriden, Conn., where he found employment in the shop which was the nucleus of the present Meriden Britania Company. Young Payne was an apt learner and ambitious to succeed, and in a friendly contest, in which he surpassed all the other employees, so impaired his health that he was obliged to quit the shop. He was now seven- teen years. Engaging as a canvasser for the sale of a book, he spent some two years with good success, and then, in 1835, went to Ohio and settled on a farm near IIuntsburg in Geauga county. A return of his former ailment soon compelled him to abandon farming, and he again found employment as a sales- man, and engaged with a friend at Elyria, Ohio, in the manu- facture of silverware and in buying and selling jewelry and shell combs. The business prospered and he later employed peddlers on his own account. Owing to the financial erisis of 1837, he was obliged to close out his business, however, but paid every dollar of his indebtedness with interest. After that he spent several years selling woolen goods from a wagon for an Ohio manufacturing concern, and in 1842 engaged as salesman for a wholesale dry goods house at Pittsburg, Pa., with which he re- mained till the business of the house was destroyed by fire, and then secured employment with Messrs. Shaeklett and Glyde, of that city. Mr. Payne became a partner in this business in 1850, under the name of B. C. Shacklett & Co., and seven years later purchased the entire business. In 1858 he took a partner, the firm name becoming Wilson, Payne & Co. This firm continued about two years, but impaired health forced Mr. Payne to make a change, and in 1860 he bought and settled on a small farm in the outskirts of Janesville, Wis., spending the winter months, for the most part, in Florida. Mr. Payne could not content him- self in idleness, and with others organized and incorporated the Janesville woolen mills, of which he was made president. He afterwards disposed of his interests and closed his relations with the concern.
Mr. Payne was a man of intense energy, and throughout his
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life held a commanding place among his associates and in the community in which he lived. He was a Republican in politics, and with his wife, actively associated with the Baptist denomina- tion in religious work.
In 1835, Mr. Payne married Miss Julia, daughter of Abraham and Julia (Barnes) Thorp. She was a native of Massachusetts and of English ancestry. Of five children born to them, four, viz .: George, Martha M., Zerelda and William, are deceased, and one, Mrs. M. P. Leavitt, well known in Janesville, alone sur- vives.
Mr. Payne's death occurred on May 16, 1896, and that of his wife on July 6, 1900.
Charles L. Valentine, postmaster of Janesville, was born October 16, 1846, in Genesee county, New York, son of James and Elizabeth Valentine. They were of English and Scotch an- cestry, the original founders of the family having settled near the site of the present city of New York in the early part of the eighteenth century.
While Mr. Valentine never had the educational advantages which the youths of Wisconsin have offered to them at this time, he received the best common schooling to be obtained at that time, and enlisted in the army while quite a young man and served his country during the Civil War as private in Company E, Fifth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers. Was wounded at Spottsylvania.
In politics he has always been a staunch Republican. He has been called at various times to serve the public in holding offices of trust and responsibility. He has served as city clerk of Janes- ville, register of deeds of Rock county, and has represented his district in the state legislature. He is at present postmaster, and holds sway over the beautiful government building in Janes- ville. He is an active and useful member of the following lodges of the city : Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In religious faith Mr. Valentine was reared as a Methodist, his parents being members of that church.
On May 2, 1871, Mr. Valentine was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Gage.
George Scofield, who in his lifetime was one of Rock county's
LAWRENCE C. WHITTET.
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representative and substantial citizens, was born in Saratoga county, New York, on September 2, 1843, the eldest child of Edwin and Jane (Mason) Scofield, both natives of Connecticut. Their other children were named in the order of their births- Eliab, Caroline, Mariah, Silas, Charles, Fanny and Georgie. The father was engaged in farming, both in his native state and in New York, and on his removal to Rock county, Wisconsin, with his family in 1846, he purchased the farm on which he passed the remainder of his days. After the decease of his wife in 1889. he married her sister Jane; by Polly, his first wife, he had four children, viz. : Frank, Marshall, Harriet and Eben. He was a man highly esteemed in the community, active in all that per- tained to the welfare of his fellows, and was honored with nu- merous local offices. He was a Republican in politics, and in religious faith was affiliated with the Baptist denomination. His death occurred on January 1, 1895.
George, our subject, was reared on his father's farm, and sup- plemented his common school education with a course of study at Milton college. About the year 1863, he went to California, where he spent a year. Soon after his return he married, and going to Fulton township, Rock county, settled on a farm, where he lived until December, 1891, when he retired from farming and settled at Janesville and there passed the remainder of his life.
Mr. Scofield was a man of intense activity, industrious and thrifty, and withal of a kindly, happy disposition that attracted to him many loyal friends. He was a Republican in political sentiment, but preferred the quiet of his home life to official posi- tion. He died on May 6, 1897.
In 1866, Mr. Scofield married Hiss Sarah, daughter of Silas and Cynthia M. (Cowan) Hurd, early settlers of Rock county. Of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Scofield, the eldest, Ma- litta, is married to Mr. L. N. Bushour, and lives in Pawnee, Okla .; Willis, the second child, married Anna Burdick, and lives on the home farm; Clara E. is the wife of Mr. John Thomson; Elma L. lives at home with her mother; Bertha E. is married to Mr. Eugene C. Noyes; Jessie E. is the wife of Dr. Edwin N. Nash, and Floy, the youngest, is single and lives at home. Besides her own children, Mrs. Scofield also has with her a niece, Miss Francis M. Ingle, a daughter of her sister.
The family are connected with the Presbyterian church, and
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the handsome modern home on Milton avenue is a center of social and domestic enjoyment, the family being one of the oldest and most highly esteemed in the community.
Halvor L. Skavlem, historian and public-spirited citizen of Janesville, Wis., was born in the town of Newark, in Rock county, on October 3, 1846, son of Lars Halvorsen and Groe (Nilssen) Skavlem; the father was born in Norway in 1819, and emigrated to the United States in 1839 and died in Rock county, Wisconsin, September 2, 1879. The mother came here from Nor- way, her native country, in 1842, and the next year was married to Mr. Skavlem, Sr. She died at Beloit, July 23, 1907. She was a woman of model Christian character and a devoted wife and mother. She braved the hardships and privations of a new and sparsely settled country that her children might have the benefits of a republic, where independent thought and action was the equal privilege of all. At the time they established their home in Newark in 1843, there were but few houses in the township. The father of our subject took a prominent part in organizing the Liberal Lutheran church in early days, and their house was used for church services for years before there were school houses and church buildings available. He was a radical anti- slavery man and identified himself with the movement to abolish human slavery in the United States and territories, and east his first ballot for James Birney, who was candidate for president for the "Liberty Party." He was a man of intense energy and strong convictions, positive in his opinions when he knew that his cause was just and right-in fact, one of nature's noblemen.
Our subject, Mr. II. L. Skavlem, received a good common school education, and although his opportunities were limited, he made the best use of them and fitted himself for a school teacher, and combined the two occupations of farming in sum- mer and teaching school in the winter months. In 1873 he was married to Miss Gunnil Olmstad, on December 15, 1873, and bought a farm in Newark township, where they made their home until 1880, when he was elected sheriff of Rock county. They then removed to the city of Janesville, where they have since resided. Previous to being elected sheriff, and while living on the farm, Mr. Skavlem held many local offices and was a member of the county board. He has always taken interest in public affairs, and has at all times been ready to aid every movement
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that had for its purpose the betterment of Rock county and its cities. Since living in Janesville, Mr. Skavlem has also taken a great interest in the public library, and was the librarian for three years and for many years has served on the board of di- rectors. He promoted and helped organize the State Library Association. He has always been interested in the early and in the contemporary history of his native state of Wisconsin, as well as in the prehistoric ages of this region. He is a member of the Wisconsin Historical Society, and is one of the leading members of the Wisconsin Society of Achaology, also of the Wisconsin Natural History Society, and as a naturalist has more than a local reputation. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. In religious matters he is inclined to do his own think- ing, being more in harmony with the Unitarian belief than any other. Mr. Skavlem wields a ready and versatile pen, and his literary field ranges from the technically scientific paper to the lighter shade of magazine contributions in both prose and verse. He is a man who is well and favorably known by nearly every- body in Rock county.
Mr. and Mrs. Skavlem are the parents of four children : Hannah L., born October 13, 1875, deceased; Louis Norman, born October 19, 1877 ; Gertrude J., born February 15, 1879, and Henry Gilman, born January 31, 1885.
Frank H. Snyder, who is a native of Green county, Wiscon- sin, was born March 5, 1864, and is a son of John T. and Martha A. (Fleek) Snyder. His grandparents, James S. and Eliza (Mar- tin) Snyder, were natives, James from the blue grass region of Kentucky, Eliza from Indiana, and who, in an early day removed to Richland county, Wisconsin, being among the early pioneers of that section.
James S. lived to be eighty years old and died at Richland Center, in Richland county. Eliza, the grandmother, died in July, 1906, at the age of ninety-four years.
Our subject was raised on his father's farm in Rock county, Wisconsin, and received his education in the common schools of Evansville. After leaving school he returned to the old home- stead and followed the life of a farmer until 1899, when he re- moved to Janesville, and commenced business on his own account. He has sinee continued in the general fire insurance business and has met with continued success.
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He is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge and of the Elks.
On March 25, 1891, Mr. Snyder was married to Miss Jose- phine, daughter of Joseph Marshall, at Richland Center, Wiscon- sin, and they have one child, Cliff W.
Frank P. Starr, who has always lived in Rock county, Wiscon- sin, was born in Newark township on November 27, 1856, and is the elder of two sons born to James and Amelia (Butters) Starr, natives of England. His brother, Egbert, is now deceased. The parents came to the United States in 1850, and after four years' residence in Beloit, Wis., settled on a farm in Newark township, where they passed the remainder of their days. The father was a successful farmer and brought his farm, which was wholly unimproved when he settled on it, to a high state of cultivation, and improved it with good buildings and other equipments of the modern farm. He was a Republican in politics, but took no active part in political affairs more than to perform his duties as a good citizen, preferring the peace and quiet of his simple home life. Both he and his wife were affiliated with the "Church of England" and highly esteemed in the community.
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