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 38
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His amiable nature makes him very popular with his fellow members in the different fraternal orders, and he carries the passwords of the Masons, Odd Fellows and the Elks. Together with the rest of his family he is an Episcopalian in religious faith.
On September 14, 1882, Mr. Hutchinson was united in mar- riage with Miss Agnes Olson, daughter of Andrew Olson, of Janesville. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson two children-Fred O., born June 22, 1884, and Althea E., born September 18, 1888.
Hon. Hamilton Richardson, a prominent business man and early settler of Janesville, Wis., was born in the town of Le Roy, Genesee county, N. Y., on October 17, 1820, and was a son of William and Mary (Pierson) Richardson. His father, who was of Scotch and English descent, was born in Johnstown, N. Y., and the name of Hamilton which our subject bears was the maiden name of his mother, who was of Scotch ancestry. Mr. Richardson's mother was born also at Johnstown, N. Y., and on her father's side was of English descent, while her mother, who was a Van Valkenburg, was of the old Mohawk Holland an- cestry.
Our subject was reared on his father's farm and received his education in the district schools, which he attended until fif- teen years of age, when he left the farm and entered the service of a mercantile firm and became a member of the family of one of its partners, a personal friend of his father's and a most ac- complished business man, with whom he emigrated to Michigan when that state had just been admitted to the Union. The en- tire state except along the southern border was almost an un- broken wilderness. The firm with which young Richardson was employed located in Genesee county at what is now the thriving city of Flint. They laid out a large part of that town and built the first dam across the Flint river at that point, erected the first sawmill and established the first mercantile house in the city and county.
Their business included banking and for a time was pros- perous, but when the great commercial panic of 1837 occurred they, like thousands of other business men, were forced into bankruptcy. Throughout his entire connection with the firm Mr. Richardson participated in the management of its extensive
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
business and had the varied experience of opening, conducting and closing an extensive enterprise.
In the financial history of the country the panie of 1837 marks a disastrous epoch of which but few business men of the present day have any knowledge. To the experience acquired at that early day may be attributed the caution and forethought that marked his course through life and to which he was largely indebted for his uniform success in the various business enter- prises in which he engaged.
In 1840 he returned to New York and renewed his studies in the academy of his native town; but he was too much imbued with the western spirit to long content himself in the East, and consequently in the spring of 1842 he again wended his way westward and located at Milwaukee, Wis., where he secured em- ployment as bookkeeper in one of the large commercial houses in that city. In the year 1844 he engaged in the hardware busi- ness at Racine, but not realizing his expectations in that line, he sold out in the spring of 1846 and removed to Janesville, where he again engaged in the hardware business.
In 1850 Mr. Richardson, in connection with Mr. Truesdell, erected the Excelsior Mills, later known as the Hodson Mills. The venture proved an unfortunate one, as the property was at first nearly destroyed by fire and later by flood. A succession of poor erops had produced dull times, which still farther embar- rassed matters, and Mr. Richardson, to make a change of base, in the fall of 1851 removed to California, where the gold ex- citement of that day had caused a great rush of emigration. He selected Marysville, at the head of navigation on Feather river, as the site of future operations, and there established a merean- tile house through which he furnished supplies to mountain traders and miners. At that time Marysville was an important commercial center, and for four years he carried on the business above mentioned with marked sueeess. In the course of his op- erations he was obliged to make long trips over the mountains, visiting various miners' eamps and new hamlets. While on one of these expeditions he was attacked and robbed by a portion of Joaquin's noted band of highwaymen and narrowly escaped with his life.
While a resident of California Mr. Richardson helped to organize a company which operated a line of steamers on the
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inland waters of the state in opposition to a giant monopoly that was robbing the public by its extensive charges. He was one of the largest stockholders in the enterprise and served as seere- tary and treasurer of the company. The new line proved a great success and broke up the monopoly, as its projectors and managers intended. After five years spent on the Pacific slope he returned to Janesville and again entered into business at that place. Although just on the eve of the great commercial crisis of 1857, he made successful investments in real estate and ac- quired extensive property interests here. He was a stockholder in various manufacturing establishments, including the New Doty Manufacturing Company and the Janesville Cotton Mills, and was a stockholder and director of the First National Bank. He owned two store buildings on South Main street and three on West Milwaukee street.
On August 9, 1858, Mr. Richardson was married at Janesville to Miss Caroline A. Pease, the daughter of the late Judge Lor- rain T. Pease, of Hartford, Conn. She was born at Enfield, Conn., but was reared and educated at Hartford. Her father was in government employ and in discharge of his duty visited Green Bay, Wis., and Fort Snelling, Minn., during the early settlement of the Northwest. His son, the Hon. John J. R. Pease, a pioneer settler of Janesville, came to Green Bay with his father in 1840, as did the daughter, Mrs. Richardson.
On the consummation of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rich- ardson went abroad, spending the remainder of that and the following year in a tour of Europe. On returning to Janesville the husband erected the elegant mansion in which his widow still resides. He also bought the Doty Manufacturing Company and was the largest stockholder in the New Doty Manufacturing Company. Prior to the Civil War he was a Democrat in politics, but on the commencement of the great struggle he joined the party of the administration and gave the government a patriotic and hearty support. He contributed largely both of time and means in raising troops for the war. He was one of a commit- tee of three which raised the Thirteenth Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry and was an active member of nearly every committee that was organized for war purposes in the city of Janesville.
In 1864 he was elected to the legislature by the united Re- publican and war Democratic vote, and in 1868 was elected
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county commissioner and appointed a member of the committee on publie buildings which had the charge of the erection of the Roek county courthouse, an edifice which for beauty, stability and convenience was unrivaled in the state. He was subse- quently twice elected a member of the county board of super- visors and in 1876 was elected to the state senate, and was three times reelected, serving from January, 1877, until 1882. During the session of 1877 Mr. Richardson introduced and managed the passage of a bill which provided that all charitable and reform- atory state institutions should be under the management of one board of control, a law that has tended to produce a more uni- form and satisfactory operation of these institutions. In the session of 1881 he introduced a bill to provide for the humane care of the chronic insane, not otherwise provided, which estab- lished the present system of combined state and county control. He was chairman of the committee on charitable and penal in- stitutions of Wisconsin and in March, 1881, presented an ex- haustive and comprehensive report on the subject of the investi- gation of the state hospital for the insane. On March 30 of that year he delivered a very eloquent and touching eulogy on the character of the late Hon. Matthew Hale Carpenter. In all his relations with the senate Mr. Richardson was recognized as a useful and influential legislator. His connection with impor- tant committees was marked by energetic and prompt action and his views and opinions were always respected and valued by his fellow senators.
In July, 1883, he was appointed by President Arthur to the position of postmaster of Janesville and served in that capacity until February, 1888.
Mr. Richardson was a Mason, belonging to the West Star Lodge No. 14, A. F. and A. M .; Janesville Chapter No. 5, R. A. M .; and Janesville Commandery No. 2, K. T.
Mr. and Mrs. Richardson were parents of six children, five sons and one daughter: Victor P. Richardson, who is president of the New Doty Manufacturing Company and was twice mayor of Janesville; Sarah M., residing in the city of Janesville; Ham- ilton P., residing in Chicago, Ill., in the commission business ; John P., residing in Chicago, Ill .; Marshall P., a lawyer, residing in city of Janesville; and Lorrain T., a captain in the regular army, located in California.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
In 1873 Mr. Richardson again visited Europe and made an extensive tour of the Old World. Among the most enterprising and successful business men of Janesville, he was without ques- tion accorded the foremost place. He possessed that quiek per- ception and sound judgment, cool nerve and indomitable will which are so essential to the successful prosecution of all busi- ness enterprises. As a financier he was conservative yet pro- gressive, and his opinions were valued and respected by those with whom he was associated. In polities he was universally successful and won his point in many a contest when opposed by the most powerful manipulators of the machine. Integrity of character, steadfastness of purpose, liberality and broad views on the great principles and affairs of the world charae- terized his life and won for him the unqualified respect and esteem of neighbor, friend and fellow eitizen.
Mr. Richardson died at his home in Janesville on September 22, 1906, after a long life filled with usefulness and honors. He was a fine type of the high-elass business man, one of the men who by their energy, integrity and strength of character lay deep and solid the foundations of new communities and leave as a legaey to their relatives and friends the memory of a strong character beautifully tempered by kindliness and justice and charity.
William Blodgett was born March 13, 1834, at Columbus, Ind. His parents were Selvey K. Blodgett, born January 12, 1812, in Batavia, N. Y., and Mahaila Norris, born in Virginia July 28, 1812, who was the first white woman to make her home in Beloit, eoming here in December, 1836, with her father-in-law, Caleb Blodgett, and her two-year-old son, William, the subject of this sketch.
His grandfather, Caleb Blodgett, the first white settler at Beloit, was born near Randolph, Vt., April 17, 1789. He mar- ried Chloe Kidder on December 25, 1807, and died August 7, 1840. He was a descendant of Thomas Blodgett and wife Susan, who embarked in the "Increase" from London April 18, 1635, settling in Cambridge, Mass., as members of "Rev. Thomas Shep- herd's Company," which founded what is now the Shepherd Me- morial church.
The Blodgetts were a patriotic raee. They served in the French and Indian wars, and, they furnished 114 Revolutionary
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
soldiers. Samuel Blodgett, the grandfather of Caleb, was a friend and correspondent of Washington, was called the "Pio- neer of Progress," and was best known for his great enterprise of the time of completing a canal around Amoskeag falls at Manchester, N. H. A son of his, Samuel, Jr., served on the staff of Washington, was chairman of the commissioners to fur- ther the project of the national capitol, built the first house at Washington and furnished the first money ($10,000) toward laying the foundation of the capitol and the president's house.
Caleb Blodgett and grandson William came to Beloit in De- cember, 1836, and bought for $200 the rights of the French Cana- dian Thibault. In the language of the Indians, he stood on a high hill and bought so many "looks," about 7,000 acres of land on the east bank of Rock river. Indians and squaws helped him roll up the logs for his house, which was built with two rooms and stood on the banks of Rock river on what is now State street. He dug a race down what is now called South Race street and set up the first sawmill in Beloit in March, 1837. He sold to Dr. White, of the New England Emigrating Com- pany, a one-third interest in his claim excepting the sawmill for $2,500. That same year his son, Selvey K. Blodgett, the father of William, arrived from Ohio and engaged in farming on the place now known as Yost's park. Here in a log house was born the second white child in Beloit, William's brother, Selvey K., Jr., June 10, 1838.
Caleb Blodgett had named the settlement New Albany, but the later arrivals in the village disliked that name, so that in the fall of 1838 a committee of three chose the new name, Beloit.
In Caleb Blodgett's house, using Caleb's large family Bible, twenty-four members founded the First Congregational church of Beloit, December 30, 1838.
Selvey K. Blodgett, the father of William, discontinued his farming business and in 1852 crossed the plains to California to investigate the wonderful stories told of that western state, returning to his home in Beloit after three months, where he continued to buy and ship stock and produce.
William Blodgett received his primary education in the pio- neer schoolhouse of that early day. Desiring a better business education, after saving enough from his own earnings he pursued and completed a full course at D. V. Bell's Commercial College
LA LA Birlikte
ELIJAH F WIXOM
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BIOGRAPHICAL
(now Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College) in Chicago, Ill., receiving his diploma for a thorough knowledge of commercial law and bookkeeping in the spring of 1856, then accepting the position of bookkeeper in the milling business for his uncle, John Hackett.
The following year, 1857, he and his father purchased a half interest in Mr. Hackett's milling business, the connection con- tinuing until 1867, when they purchased Mr. Hackett's interest. Following many changes of partnership, in 1888 William Blodg- ett purchased the entire ownership of the business and continued sole proprietor until 1890, when the business was organized into a corporation, the Blodgett Milling Company, of which he was president until his death. In July, 1898, the mill was almost totally destroyed by fire and the fall of the same year the busi- ness of the Blodgett Milling Company was moved to Janesville, where Mr. Blodgett died August 27, 1901, and was buried in the cemetery at Beloit.
June 17, 1856, William Blodgett was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth M. Hodge, who was born in Vesper, N. Y., Decem- ber 2, 1834, and died in Janesville, Wis., December 6, 1906, a woman of Christian attainments and possessed of a wonderfully strong character to influence for good those who met her. Five children came from this union, three of whom died in childhood. The two remaining are Frank H. Blodgett and Mrs. David Wheeler Holmes, of Janesville, Wis.
William Blodgett was a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Morning Star Lodge No. 10, A. F. and A. M., Beloit ; Chapter No. 9, R. A. M., and Beloit Commandery No. 6, K. T. He was also a member of Myrtle Lodge No. 10, I. O. O. F. He was a valued trustee of the Beloit Methodist church for many years.
In political sentiment he was a Democrat. He was honored with several local offices of trust in the city of Beloit, once as acting mayor, and for three terms he served as alderman from the Fourth ward.
Mr. Blodgett was a man of more than ordinary business abil- ity and wise judgment. In the official and responsible positions he held he always proved himself capable, honorable and trust- worthy, so that no one stood higher in public esteem than did William Blodgett.
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
Thomas O. Howe, who holds a high place in the business world and social life of Janesville, Wis., is a native of Ohio and was born on May 5, 1860, and is a son of Frank and Martha (Vigan) Howe, both of whom came of English ancestry. He had good educational advantages in early life, which he improved, and after finishing his preliminary studies pursued a course of study at Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio. After leaving college Mr. Howe devoted himself to teaching for some time, but since 1886 has been connected with the Rock River Cotton Company, engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods, being now one of the principal men connected with that enterprise.
Mr. Howe is a man of clear foresight and good judgment, practical and progressive in his ideas, and withal honorable and straightforward in all his methods and dealings, and in the dis- charge of his duties in whatever position he has been placed has always shown himself capable and trustworthy. He is a man of pleasing personality and fine social qualities, and is identified with various benevolent, industrial, fraternal and social organ- izations, being a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, and United Commercial Travelers.
On May 27, 1883, Mr. Howe married Miss Clara Muggleton, whose varied accomplishments and womanly endowments of mind and heart make her the center of attraction among her wide circle of friends. They have one child, Hazel C.
Franklin F. Lewis was born September 28, 1850, at Fort Win- nebago, now Lewiston, Columbia county, Wis., and is a son of Edward F. and Betsey (Barrett) Lewis. The father was a na- tive of Connecticut and at the age of eighteen removed with his father to Wisconsin. At a later date he settled in Columbia county, and for a time conducted a hotel, also carried on a gen- eral store, and for two years served as sheriff of the county. He was a man of influence in the community, and during the Civil War filled the post of deputy provost marshal. In 1871 he founded the Lewis Knitting Company, which, beginning in a small way, through skillful management, wise forethought and careful attention on the part of those in charge has grown to . large proportions and become one of the prominent industries of the state. Our subject's mother is the daughter of Stephen Barrett (a descendant of Colonel Barrett of Revolutionary fame),
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BIOGRAPHICAL
who was born in Massachusetts and engaged in the woolen man- ufacturing business. He settled at Turtle Creek, in Rock county, Wis., in 1842. He was a man highly esteemed for his upright- ness of character and manly dealing, and for years was a deacon in the Baptist church. His death occurred at the age of eighty- four years at the home of his daughter. Ilis widow died two years later.
Our subject is one of a family of seven sons, of whom two besides himself survive, viz., Stephen B. and William L. The eldest brother, Judson A., who was a sergeant in Company C, Twenty-third Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, was killed by a bullet through the forehead at the battle of Vicksburg.
Franklin passed his boyhood on his father's farm and at- tended the common schools, supplementing his study there and in the high school at Portage with a course of study at the State Normal School at Whitewater. He taught school several years at Waupun and served two years as superintendent of the West Ward school there. Going thence to Whitewater, he was for one year principal of the East Side school and one year superin- tendent of city schools in that city. Going to Redwing, Minn., he spent two years in commercial life and then engaged as a traveling salesman, selling undertakers' supplies for the White- water Manufacturing Company, and the Cleveland Burial Case Company, of Cleveland, traveling through the states of Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas.
Thus equipped, Mr. Lewis in 1883 established himself in the manufacture of knit goods in association with his father and brother at Portage. Upon the death of the father in 1885 the management of the business fell upon the brothers, who removed it to Janesville, Wis., in 1887, where it was incorporated by them in 1889 as the Lewis Knitting Company. Mr. Lewis is president of the corporation.
Mr. Lewis has always taken an interest in the civic and re- ligious affairs of his city, being a Republican in politics, and with his family being actively affiliated with the Congregational church, which he has for many years served as secretary. He is one of the directors and president of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association of Janesville and was the chief organizer of their concert band. He has been for twenty-nine years a member of the Ancient Order of United Workinen.
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
On November 29, 1877, Mr. Lewis married Victorine, daugh- ter of Anson and Hannah (Thorpe) Rockwell. Of three children born to them, Mabel Barrett and Francis Eleanor are living. The eldest, Edward, died in infancy.
Allen Perry Lovejoy, who was for many years one of the leading and influential citizens of Janesville, Wis., was a native of Wayne, Me. He was born March 21, 1825, and was a son of Nathan and Temperance (Wing) Lovejoy. Both his grandfather and his great-grandfather Lovejoy were officers in the American Revolution. The former was a member of the "committee of safety" from 1777 to 1780, and also on the committee for revising the state constitution. His father was a native of New Hamp- shire, but when a young man moved to Maine and settled on a farm and there died in 1867 at the age of eighty-one years. His mother was a daughter of Allen Wing, a farmer. His lands sur- rounded a lake, formerly called Wing pond, and included a saw- mill, from which he furnished lumber for the first church edifice built in Wayne.
The Lovejoy family is of English Puritan origin, and among its members who have attained to eminence in this country were the abolitionists Elijah P. and Owen Lovejoy, the latter a con- gressman from Illinois, both of whom were educated in the same school with Allen P.
Our subject was raised on his father's farm, and early in life acquired those habits of industry, frugality, self-reliance and thrift that characterized his entire life. He supplemented his common school education by a course of study at Wesleyan Seminary, Readfield, Me., and at the age of eighteen years taught a public school in his state. In 1844 he became an apprentice in the carpenter's and builder's trade and followed that occu- pation some sixteen years. At the age of twenty-five, in 1850. he turned westward, landing at Milwaukee, Wis., with little cap- ital other than his native energy, firm purpose, dauntless cour- age and determination. He took stage to Jefferson and walked from there to Janesville, where he at once found work, and there and in Beloit, Wis., for nine years devoted himself to his trade as a contractor and builder. From his building operations Mr. Lovejoy branched out into the retail lumber trade, and from that to manufacturing and the purchase of standing timber, un- til his lumber interests extended throughout several states. He
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was also financially interested in numerous other commercial and banking enterprises in Wisconsin and was for ten years president of the Janesville Machine Company. Mr. Lovejoy wielded a wide influence and took an active interest in civic affairs in his city and state. He was elected to the general as- sembly of Wisconsin in 1869, and during the years 1887-1889 served as a member of the state senate, being a Republican in political sentiment. He was prominent in Masonic circles and was a member of the Knights Templar and Knights of Pythias. In his death, which occurred March 18, 1904, at Janesville, the city lost one of its most substantial, progressive and public-spir- ited men, and the state a worthy citizen of the best class.
On May 29, 1880, Mr. Lovejoy married Miss Julia I. Stow, of New Haven, Conn., by whom he had four children-Allen P., Henry S., Julia S. and Webster Ellis, the last of whom died in infancy.
Frank D. Kimball, a prosperous business man of Janesville, Wis., was born on December 12, 1848, at East Greenwich, R. I., and is a son of Fenner and Adeline (Allen) Kimball, who came West and settled at Janesville, Wis. Here Frank D. acquired his education in the public schools, and after leaving school learned the painter's trade. After that he was employed as a brakeman on the Chicago & North-Western Railway. Later, after an interval spent in firing an engine, he became a locomo- tive engineer, and for sixteen years was engaged in that capac- ity on the North-Western Railway. In 1882 Mr. Kimball aban- doned railroading and turned his attention to the furniture and undertaking business at Janesville, where he has continued in that line with eminent success for more than a quarter of a cen- tury.
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