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 42
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Warren W. spent his boyhood on the home farm, his experi- ences being those common to the western farmer boy of early days. He attended the first school established in the dis- trict and received an ordinary common school education. He has always given his attention to farming, remaining on the home- stead until his father's decease, when he came into possession of eighty acres of the homestead and also bought a quarter section in section 11, which constitute his present farm.
Mr. Swingle is a thorough, progressive and practical farmer, giving his attention both to general farming and the raising of pure-blooded, high-grade stock. He has always taken a com- mendable interest in public affairs and has served in the various local offices, having been chairman of the town board, town treas- urer three years, assessor ten years, and also supervisor.
In 1872 Mr. Swingle married Miss Frank Belle, who died in 1874, leaving one child, Frank, who now lives at Racine, Wis. In 1876 Mr. Swingle married Miss Emma Belle, a sister of his first wife, who died in 1882, leaving two children, to-wit: Esther, who is married to Mr. - Wheaton, and Lety, who is now the wife of Mr. Gordon Randall, of Janesville. In October, 1887, Mr. Swingle married Miss Flora Randall, of Janesville, and by her has three children, viz .: Carrie, Fayette and Raymond.
As a man and citizen Mr. Swingle is known for his upright- ness of character. He is a home-loving man, domestic in his tastes, and in the circle of his family and friends finds his highest enjoyment. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer-
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ica and in religious faith is affiliated with the Congregational church.
Ezra Philo Bostwick, son of Merrit and Dianna (Nash) Bost- wick, was born in Turtle township, Rock county, Wisconsin, on July 2, 1843. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother was born in Watertown, N. Y. They came to Wisconsin in 1837 and bought a tract of land from the government and en- gaged in farming for about five years, when he ventured in the carpenter, sash and blind business. This he continued for three years and then returned to the farm, where he spent the remain- der of his life. He died in 1894 at the age of cighty-seven years. Mrs. Bostwick passed away in 1906 at the age of eighty-six years. Mr. Bostwick was a public-spirited man and always interested in the affairs of the day. He was a Whig Republican and held a number of local offices. He was deputy sheriff for a time and was also a member of the school board. Mr. and Mrs. Bostwick were the parents of three children: Frances, the eldest, married to Mr. H. J. Beckwith, a druggist and living in Chicago; the second child is our subject, and the third was Charles, now deceased.
Our subject, Ezra P., enlisted in the Fortieth Wisconsin Vol- unteer Infantry, served in the Army of the South for 160 days and was honorably discharged the same year, 1864. He is a mem: ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp 1375, in Shopiere, Turtle township. Mr. Bost- wick now owns the old homestead farm of eighty-seven acres in Turtle township, which by improvements he has made is one of the model farms of the county.
In 1860 he was married to Miss Ella Sweet, daughter of Henry and Louise Gates. Mrs. Bostwick's father was also a staunch Republican and one of the oldest settlers of the county. He died at the ripe old age of eighty-six years, and her mother at the age of ninety-two is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Bostwick have had five children, viz .: Nellie, now Mrs. Lewis Vangelder; Henry, a farmer, living in Minnesota; Marcie, a music teacher, living at home, and a graduate of the Beloit Musical College; Gertrude, a school teacher and graduate of a Chicago high school; Racine M., living at home of our subject.
Mr. Bostwick has been a prominent member of the school board for some time and was clerk of the district school board for nine years.
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Charles F. Lathers is one of the class of prosperous and pro- gressive farmers whose work has given to Rock county, Wiscon- sin, the wide reputation it has for being the garden spot of the state. He is a native of Turtle township and was born on July 6, 1867, the fourth child of John W. and Angelina (Beckwith) Lathers, the former of German and the latter of English ances- try. They had a family of six sons, of which five are now living. The father settled at Turtleville in 1855 and there made a home and reared his family and there still (1907) lives with his youngest son in retirement from active work. The mother died there in 1903.
Our subject is a practical farmer in the full sense of the word ; he owns a beautifully situated farm of 235 acres, of which 150 acres are under a high state of cultivation, the remainder except a fine tract of woodland being used for pasturing. The farm is thoroughly equipped with the necessary appliances for carrying on a modern farm and improved with a fine brick dwelling house and substantial barns and outbuildings, most of which have been supplied by Mr. Lathers. He makes a specialty of dairy farming and has a splendid herd of sixty roan Durham cows, and retails milk to the city of Beloit, distributing 400 quarts daily, and re- quiring the services of four trained employes the year around.
Aside from some minor position in connection with the schools Mr. Lathers has never held public office, his farming interests having been more in keeping with his tastes and sufficient to fully occupy his time and gratify his ambitions. He is a Democrat in political sentiment, a member of Beloit Camp No. 348. Modern Woodmen of America, and also belongs to the order of K. C. at Beloit.
On September 26, 1888, Mr. Lathers married Miss Nellie M. Edwards, an adopted daughter of Mr. William B. Milner. They have an interesting family of seven children, viz .: Angelina, George, Agnes, Bessie, Esther, Charles and Florence, all of whom are living at home with their parents.
Mr. Lathers has a genius for hard work and has attained his success in his chosen occupation by persevering industry and strict adherence to the highest principles of honorable, upright and fair business methods and dealing.
William J. Lathers, one of Rock county's native sons and most successful farmers, belongs to that class of men whose success has
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been attained as a result of hard and faithful work in the line of his chosen calling. Reared on a farm from his birth, he is in the fullest sense a practical farmer who has learned from his years of experience the secrets of success. A son of John W. and An- gelina (Beckwith) Lathers, he was born on the family homestead in Turtle township in 1859. His father, who now (1907) lives in retirement from active work, is of German descent, while the mother, who died in 1903, was of English lineage.
Our subject received a good common school education in the district schools of the neighborhood, and also pursued a course of study at a business college in Milwaukee. Thus equipped with a good practical education and the knowledge gained from his boyhood experiences on his father's farm, Mr. Lathers, after starting life on his own account, was able to grasp and make the most of his opportunities and win a degree of success in which any man might take just pride. Of his 358 acres of fine land favorably situated in the garden spot of Wisconsin, 300 acres are under a high state of cultivation and well improved with good buildings and all the necessary accompaniments of an up-to-date farm. While carrying on general farming in all its various branches, Mr. Lathers has devoted special attention to the breed- ing of fine stock, Hereford cattle, Percheron horses, high-grade hogs, etc. Mr. Lathers has never found time or had inclination for matters outside of his legitimate pursuits. He is a Democrat in political sentiment, but takes no part in political matters more than to perform his duties as a good citizen.
In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic.
In 1890 Mr. Lathers married Miss Lena, daughter of Fred and Elizabeth (Knipschild) Roseling, whose families were early settlers of Wisconsin. Surrounded by their family of five chil- dren, John, Eugene, Clara, William and Helena (their second child. Fred, is deceased), Mr. and Mrs. Lathers live in the full enjoyment of domestic comfort and happiness and the well-earned esteem of a wide circle of friends.
Emanuel C. Reigart comes of an old Pennsylvania family whose home for several generations was in and around Lancaster, his native place. He was born June 13, 1853, the elder of two children of Amos E. and Letitia A. (Montgomery) Reigert, whose other child is Mrs. Mary R. Whitfield, of Rock county, Wisconsin.
Emanuel C. Reigert, our subject's grandfather, was a success-
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ful lawyer of Lancaster, his native place, and prominent and in- fluential in public affairs in his state. He was prosperous in his business affairs and at the time of his decease in 1869 left an estate of $500,000. During his lifetime he made several trips to Rock county, Wisconsin, for the purpose of selecting homes for his children, and thus located six of them within a radius of ten miles ; one of these trips was made in the early '50s with our sub- ject's father, who in 1856 brought his family, arriving in Rock county on April 6, and settled on the land now owned by our subject, purchasing it from Benjamin Riddle. Here the father made his home and reared his family and passed the remainder of his life. He was a man of retiring disposition, kind and loving, domestic in his tastes and strongly attached to his family and friends. At the same time he was a man of marked ability and would have honored any of the numerous public offices that were tendered him but which he declined. His death, which occurred on March 2, 1893, was universally mourned by the community as that of a good man and an upright and honorable citizen.
Our subject spent his boyhood on the home farm and after leaving the district schools finished his education at the Beloit high school. Delicate health prevented him from carrying out the educational plans his father had marked out for him, and after his father's decease he bought his sister's interest in the homestead and besides that now owns two other fine farms, ag- gregating in all 435 acres. Besides general farming he gives much attention to breeding and raising fine horses, cattle and other stock and is widely known as a prosperous, thrifty and successful farmer and a man of affairs.
On the homestead Mr. Reigert has a beautiful and spacious dwelling house, fine barns, granaries and other buildings, and all the appliances necessary to conduct an up-to-date, model farm. He also has a residence for his farm superintendent and other help, and on his other farms has houses and other buildings suit- ed to every need. One attractive feature in which Mr. Reigert takes great delight is his large orchard, comprising apples, plums, cherries and other fruits, and another noticeable and valuable feature are the fine groves of native trees, one of his farms having a tract of fifty-nine acres of oak and hickory timber.
Mr. Reigert is a man of high social standing, alive to all that pertains to the good of the community and ready to give a help-
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ing hand to every worthy cause. He is modest and unassuming in manner and wherever known is esteemed for his upright and manly character. In religious faith he is affiliated with the Epis- copal church of Beloit.
Henry Hall McLenegan was born in Lancaster, Pa., November 24, 1835. His father, Zephaniah MeLenegan, of Scotch-Irish descent, was a member of the Lancaster bar. His mother, Henri- etta Musser, was a woman of distinguished antecedents, being a descendant of the patriarch Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, who in 1742 founded the Lutheran church in America. The sons of Father Muhlenberg were well known in the Revolution; Freder- ick Augustus became president of the Pennsylvania convention which ratified the constitution; John Peter was the "fighting parson" of the Blue Ridge and one of Washington's aides.
Mr. McLenegan attended Franklin and Marshall colleges for three years, after which, owing to the death of his father, he went to work in a hardware store in Lancaster. After his marriage in 1856 to Sarah F. Reigart, of Lancaster, Mr. MeLenegan came to Wisconsin and with several of his wife's family settled in the town of Turtle. Although never an office holder, Mr. MeLenegan took a keen interest in the rural and public affairs of his town and county. He was a lifelong Democrat. In 1882 Mr. McLene- gan was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment, W. N. G., and was made major, commanding the militia during the lumber riots at Eau Claire twenty-five years ago. He was a member of the Episcopal church. Mr. McLenegan died in Beloit September 15, 1905. His widow and four children survive him : Charles Edward, principal of the West Division high school at Milwaukee; Samuel Bowman, manager of the Central California Traction Company at Stockton, Cal .; Archibald Reigart, head of the loan department Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, Milwaukee; and Annie Susan, assistant in English at the Beloit high school.
The home farm in the town of Turtle is still the family home.
Charles McGlauchlin, one of Rock county's prosperous and representative citizens, is a native of Montgomery county, New York; he was born March 17, 1854, and was the second of a fam- ily of four children born to Nicholas and Catherine (Haslett) MeGlauchlin, both natives of Montgomery county, New York. His grandfather, Daniel MeGlauehlin, was a Scotchman and a
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man highly esteemed for his manly qualities. The father moved from New York with his family in 1855 and settled on the farm where our subjeet now resides, and lived there until he retired from active work and took up his abode in Beloit. He was a man of influence in his community and during his active life took a prominent part in the public affairs of Rock county.
Our subjeet passed his boyhood on the home farm, sharing the ordinary experiences of the western farmer boy, attending the district school and helping in the farm work. Mr. McGlauch- lin, having grown up and passed his life in agricultural pursuits, is a practical farmer in the fullest sense, and his 200 acres of finely cultivated land gives ample evidence of his progressive ideas and practical methods. He also has twelve aeres of wood- land covered with a fine growth of white and black oak timber. Besides general farming he gives particular attention to breeding and raising high-grade stock, especially draft horses and pure- blooded Holstein cattle, having a splendid herd of twenty full- blooded Holstein cows.
Mr. McGlauchlin has given his attention closely to his farming interests and has had little time for outside matters, though he has served on the local school board.
On December 20, 1882, Mr. McGlauchlin married Miss Cor- delia, daughter of Mr. Edward Hall, one of the old and highly esteemed residents of Edgerton, Wis. Of seven children born to them, Catherine, the eldest, is a teacher, and Charles, Lawrence, Dorris, Ruth and Margery live at home. At Christmas time, 1904, the family circle was broken by the passing away of Mrs. Mc- Glauchlin, the mother, and Edith, the fifth child, each of whom was strieken with pneumonia.
William T. Moore, of Afton, Turtle township, Roek county, Wis., was born on November 9, 1865, the son of Walker and Mary (McHenry) Moore. The father was born in Lincolnshire, Eng- land, August 21, 1829. The mother was born in Pennsylvania on January 20, 1829. The grandfather, Mr. Moore, came to America with his family in 1845 and located near Milwaukee, Wis., where he engaged in farming on a large scale for a number of years. He died in Chicago of the black cholera. Mrs. Moore, the grandmother, died in England.
Mr. Walker Moore, father of William, came to Rock county in 1862 and settled near Afton, where he followed the business
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of farming for forty years successfully ; he also farmed in other parts of the country, making his residence principally in Rock county. He died in 1890 at Rockton, Ill., aged sixty-one years. Mrs. Moore, mother of our subject, died at Rockford on May 20, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Moore were the parents of two children, viz .: Mary A., now Mrs. Murray, of Beloit; and our subject, William T.
William T., after completing his studies in the schools of New- ark and Shirland, started out to make his way in the world by his own efforts, and assisted the family financially for some eight years. He was employed by R. B. Meach, of Beloit, Wis., for a considerable time. In 1896 he purchased the Adams farm in section 36-1-13, Turtle township, Rock county, and in 1903 he bought the Murray farm in section 25, Turtle township, in part- nership with Mr. Albert Saberson, of Beloit, which they after- wards divided, and Mr. Moore now has a farm of 106 acres of finely improved land, where he takes great pride in raising high- grade stock, consisting of pure-bred Percheron horses, registered Duroc hogs, full-blooded White Leghorn chickens and a fine herd of dairy cows, which with his fine orchard and other improve- ments makes his place an excellent specimen of a country home.
Mr. Moore was married on March 28, 1889, to Miss Jennie E. Peck, of Rockton, Ill., daughter of George D. Peck, a native of Winnebago county, Illinois. Mrs. Moore's parents reside at Mitchell, S. D., where they are engaged in farming and stock raising.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore have three children, viz .: Fred, Frank and Vernon.
Lucius S. Moseley, who was born in Indiantown, Bureau coun- ty, Ill., on February 26, 1843, is the second of a family of four children born to Selden D. Moseley and Harriet U. (Gage) Mose- ley, the former a native of Wyndham, Conn., and the latter of Bedford, Mass. During the early '30s, and prior to their mar- riage, the father and mother, in company with other colonists, settled in Bureau county, Illinois, near Dixon, traveling with ox teams and by way of the Ohio river, the father acting as guide from the Ohio river, he having a peculiar aptitude for locating trails, water, etc. Here they married and lived a number of years, but in 1843 the father made a trip to Rock county, Wis- consin, and after selecting a site for his home, returned and
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brought his family, reaching Beloit on May 15, 1843. While building his home, which was situated at what is now the corner of Bluff and D streets (it was then outside of the town limits), he lived with old Captain Houston in the old house on Fourth street, which still stands, and lived in other places in Beloit un- til they built, as above mentioned, in the year 1849. Here he lived thirteen years, engaged in draying, being the first drayman in Beloit. He also had a blacksmith shop, and afterwards a lum- ber yard, and by hard work prospered in a modest way, but through litigation growing out of a contract to build No. 2 school- house he lost all that he had accumulated and in 1884 died. Of his four children, the eldest, Harriet, and the third child, Cor- nelia, are deceased; Edwin, the youngest, is engaged in the lead mining business at Cuba City, Wis .; Lucius S. grew to manhood in Beloit and received his education in the public schools and at Beloit Academy, and is probably the oldest continuous resident of the city, having lived there more than sixty-four years.
On August 14, 1862, he entered the Civil War as a member of Company B, Twenty-second Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, and was mustered in at Racine under Colonel William L. Utley. Going to Cincinnati, Ohio, the regiment crossed into Kentucky and through the state via Danville to Louisville, and thence in a fleet of over sixty transports down the Ohio river and up the Cumberland to Nashville, whence they advanced to Brentwood on the extreme right wing of General Roseerans' army; thenee they went to Thompson's Station, where after five hours of desperate fighting and holding out against fearful odds they were compelled to surrender, 1,200 of the brigade being taken prisoners and sent to Libby Prison. After six weeks' con- finement Mr. Moseley, with some 600 others, was exchanged, and after reaching the Federal lines he was taken to Annapolis, Md., and to Parole Camp, Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo. The paroled troops were later reorganized at Camp Gamble, near St. Louis, and thenee went to Murphreesboro, Tenn., and later were sent to the front to join Sherman's army, and were with General Sherman in his famous march to the sea. At the battle of Peach Tree Creek on July 20, 1864, Mr. Moseley's company entered the engagement with seventeen men, and after a half day of hand- to-hand fighting came out with nine men. Mr. Moseley with his regiment participated in the grand review at Washington, and
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on July 29, 1865, was honorably discharged at Fort Lincoln, four miles from that city, and returned to Milwaukee. During his entire term of service Mr. Moseley was not absent from his regi- ment and never missed a roll call. For twenty-three years past, on September 2, the date of their mustering into the service, the survivors of his company have met in reunion at Mr. Moseley's home.
After returning to Beloit Mr. Moseley engaged for a time in threshing, then turned his attention to farming and leased land for a number of years, then bought what was known as the old Hugh Lee farm of 240 acres in sections 29 and 30. He also owns thirty-four acres within the limits of Beloit. Mr. Moseley makes a specialty of breeding and raising high-grade, pure-blooded stock, Jersey cattle, Poland-China hogs, thoroughbred chick- ens, etc.
In December, 1869, Mr. Moseley married Miss Fannie M., a daughter of Alfred Brittain, an early settler of Beloit township, now deceased. Of five children born to them, Nettie, the eldest, is a teacher in the public schools of Beloit; Harry L. is a fore- man in the Fairbanks-Morse Company at Beloit; Hubert B. is carrying on the home farm; Jessie V. lives at home ; and Florence H. is a student in the Beloit College.
Mr. Moseley has been president of the Rock County Sailors and Soldiers' Association, and was commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for three years and filled all the offices of his township excepting the chairmanship, declining to accept the same. In his travels he has made a fine collection of rare and valuable relics of historic interest, and delights in showing them to his friends. He lives in a beautiful home surrounded by a bright, happy family, and in the enjoyment of the respect of a host of loyal friends, with domestic and social comforts and pleasures, the well-earned fruits of his busy, useful and eventful life.
John R. Jones, one of Rock county's prosperous and progres- sive farmers, is a native of New York city. He was born on Au- gust 13, 1850, the eldest of a family of eight children, three of whom are now living, born to John N. and Mary A. (Smith) Jones, the former a native of Wales and the latter of New York. The father, a man of unusual energy and enterprise, left his na- tive land when a young man and came to New York, where he
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was for a time engaged in the milk business; but in 1850 he went by boat to California, doubling the Horn, and there spent three years at mining with good success. He then returned to New York and six months later went to Australia and there spent five years and accumulated a moderate fortune. On his return he made some investments in New York property, and in 1859 came West and made investments in Dodge county, Wisconsin ; among these properties in which he invested was a hotel which after- wards came into his possession and led to his bringing his family thither. His was a life of great activity and varied experiences, comprising among other things a term of service under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War, from which he was honor- ably discharged at the close of that conflict. He remained with his family in Dodge county till 1867, when he removed to Rock county and bought the Spring Brook farm, then known as the Parish farm, and there passed the remainder of his days, his death occurring in February, 1878.
John R. passed his boyhood at the family home in Dodge coun- ty and lived at home in Rock county until after his marriage, then started life on his own account. In 1886 he bought and settled on a farm which he afterwards sold and bought the old home- stead, consisting of 204 acres. The farm is favorably located and finely improved with a beautiful and commodious dwelling house, substantial barns and other buildings, and furnished with all the equipments requisite to the successful management of a model modern farm. Besides general farming he makes some- what of a specialty of dairying and is known as one of the most successful farmers of the county. At the time of his decease the father owned some 500 acres of fine land, and on a tract of 100 acres adjoining that of our subject the mother has her home, while a brother, Mr. Ira W. Jones, owns and lives on a quarter section in the immediate vicinity.
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