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 44
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On August 28, 1900, Mr. Gibbons married Miss Katherine, daughter of Edward and Ellen (Noon) Hogan, who was born in Clinton township, March 29, 1879, and educated in the local schools. Her parents, both now (1907 )living, were early settlers of Rock county. The father, born in Ireland in 1847, came to this country when a young man and lived in New York state till 1852, when he removed to Clinton township, Rock eounty. He leased and worked land a few years and then bought eighty acres, to which he afterwards added another eighty acres, which he cultivated and improved, making one of the finest farms in the county. Here he has made his home and reared his family, and now lives in retirement from active work, enjoying the fruits of his industry. The place is improved with a commodions and substantial two-story dwelling house and has large barns and other buildings, and all the accompaniments of a modern model farm. He is a Democrat in politics and with his family is con- nected with the Roman Catholic church.
In 1859 Mr. Hogan married Miss Ellen, daughter of James and Bridget (Hanley) Noon, early settlers of Rock county, the father owning and cultivating a farm of 120 acres in Clinton township, where both he and his wife passed their lives. Mrs. Noon was born in Ireland and came to this country with her parents when she was seven years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons have two children, viz .: Zita, born May 8, 1902, and Lucile Helen, born November 27, 1904.
Jesse Pramer, who was an early settler of Rock county, was
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born in the town of Sharon, Schoharie county, New York, April 30, 1827, and there passed his boyhood and received his early education. His parents, Christian and Susan (Mareness) Pramer, moved from New York state to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in an early day and settled on a farm which the father purchased. He was a millwright by occupation and followed his trade, both in New York state and after settling in Wisconsin, devoting but little of his time to farming. Both he and his wife lived to an advanced age and died at their home in Walworth county.
Jesse lived at home until he grew to manhood and after his marriage joined with his father in erecting and operating on Turtle creek a saw mill which they afterwards converted into a grist mill. This property they sold at a later date, but after the death of his father, our subject repurchased and improved it, and operated it with good success until 1871. Moving then to the town of Bradford, he built there a grist mill which he operated till his death, which occurred February 4, 1880. Dur- ing one year of this time. Mr. Pramer carried on the farm of his father-in-law, now owned by his widow, Mrs. Pramer. He was a kind hearted, public spirited man, highly esteemed in his com- munity, and made a success of whatever he had in hand. In polities he was a Republican, but he neither sought nor cared for official position. He found in the peace and quiet of his simple home life and the discharge of his daily duties, enough to engage his time and talents, and was satisfied that he did faithfully and well the work to which he devoted his life.
On September 1, 1852, Mr. Pramer married Miss Martha H., daughter of Lewis and Clarinda (Carter) Coffeen, who was born in Lewis county, New York. August 17. 1835. When she was eleven years of age, her parents moved from New York, their native state, to Clinton township, Rock county, Wisconsin, where the father entered from the United States a quarter section of land, which he improved and where he made a home for him- self and family and passed the remainder of his days. His widow, who lived on the homestead for many years after his decease, passed away at an advanced age at the mill in Sharon township in Walworth county.
Of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Pramer, the eldest, Andrew Jackson, born September 25. 1854. is a wagonmaker at Delevan, Wis .: he married Miss Elsie Dun, and they have had
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six children, viz. : Jesse E., Verne, Ralph, Fred, David and Elsie F., now deceased. The second child, Almira, born October 31, 1858, is married to Mr. William Weliver, a farmer of Bradford township, and has one child, Jesse. The third child, Jessie, is married to Mr. Alva Cole, a farmer of Bradford township, and they have four children, viz .: Joseph Roy, Alva Loran, James Henry and Edward. Jane, the fourth child, born November 28, 1867, is married to Mr. William Brotherson, of Racine, and Charles L., the youngest, born June 4, 1870, on the home farm, which he now works, married Miss Mary Shaul, a native of Ot- tawa, Ill. They have four children, viz .: Lola May, Martha Elizabeth, Ruth Fern and Charles Ellsworth.
Henry S. Anderson, a resident and merchant (owning a gen- eral merchandising store) of Bergen, Clinton township, in Rock county, came here with his parents in 1868. He was born in Norway, Racine county, Wisconsin, October 7, 1864, the son of Peter and Soneva (Offerdahl) Anderson, both natives of Sogn, Norway, and came to the United States in 1847, and settled in Raeine county, near Milwaukee; there the father engaged in farming, which he continued until the fall of 1867, then removed to Boone county, Illinois, and followed the same business the remainder of his life. His farm of 200 acres was located in Leroy, Boone county, Illinois, and in Clinton township, Roek county, Wisconsin-Clinton being his postoffice. Through his industry and good management, Mr. Anderson built up a model home, which is still owned in the family. He was always pros- perous and progressive and up with the times in all business matters. He was a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Jefferson Prairie, of which he was trustee and deacon at va- rious times. In politics he was a Republican, and one who was held in high esteem in the community. Mr. Anderson died at the age of eighty-one years and was buried in the West cemetery at Bergen. The mother died at the home of her daughter, sister of our subjeet, two years after the death of her husband, at the age of seventy-six years, and was buried also at Bergen. She was a noble Christian woman, a loving mother and devoted wife. Mrs. Anderson was the mother of nine children, three of whom are now living, viz .: Martin, who lives on the old homestead; Mary, wife of Mr. C. E. Powers, of Chicago, and Henry S., the subject of this sketeh.
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Henry S. received his education in the district schools in the town of Leroy, in Boone county, Illinois, and remained at home until 1890, when he started out to make his own way in the world. He first engaged in railroading, which he followed for some time, and in 1897 purchased the store which he now owns in the village of Bergen, and has since been engaged in general merchandising. He has always been a Republican in politics, and held the office of justice of the peace for several years. He was also school director for a number of terms. Mr. Anderson was appointed to the position of postmaster of the village of Bergen during President McKinley's first term, and reappointed by President Roosevelt, remaining in the office until the rural route system was established. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, is also a member of the Masonic fraternity and Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Anderson was married in 1892 to Miss Ann Amelia Skof- stad, who was born in Boone county, Illinois, in 1868. She was the daughter of Mr. Ole and Malinda (Anderson) Skofstad, who were early settlers of Boone county, coming from Racine county before the Civil War. Mr. Skofstad was also a prosperous farmer and is now living a retired life at his home in Rock county. Mrs. Skofstad died some years ago.
Mrs. Anderson, the wife of our subject, was educated in the common schools of Boone county, Illinois, and lived at home until her marriage. She was a member of the Anderson Lutheran church of Rock county, and died on February 10, 1901. She was also buried in the West cemetery at Bergen. Mrs. Anderson was the mother of two children, both of whom are now living, viz .: Peter Sylvanus, born August 30, 1892, in St. Paul, Minn., and Ann Malinda, born February 13, 1898, in the village of Bergen. She was the first child born in Bergen.
Henry O. Anderson, who was born in Clinton township, Rock county, Wisconsin, July 20, 1865, is one of eleven children born to Rev. Ole and Ragnhild (Paulson) Anderson, who were mar- ried on June 8, 1843. The father, a native of Norway, was born on March 2, 1818. He came to the United States in 1841 and settled in Racine county, Wisconsin. In 1842, feeling himself called to the gospel ministry, he began preaching, and a little later gave himself entirely to the work, traveling from place to place and preaching in the Norwegian settlements of Wisconsin.
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The following year he moved to Jefferson Prairie, in Rock county. In 1847 he moved to Mission Point, La Salle county, Illinois, having been called thither the previous year, and or- ganized congregations at Leland, Fox River and Lisbon. He served there until 1851, and then being called to Wisconsin, or- ganized congregations at Racine, Milwaukee and Muskego, which he served two years. In 1853 he responded to a call to Fox River and remained there till 1856, when he accepted a call to the Evangelical Lutheran church at Clinton, Wis., where he labored nearly thirty years. It was while there that he bought the homestead, consisting of 1591/2 acres, where our subject was born and on which he now lives. He departed this life on February 23, 1885, in his sixty-seventh year, beloved by all and leaving to his family the heritage of an honored name. His widow, who was born May 23, 1824, still lives on the homestead with her son.
Henry O. grew up on the farm, helping with the farm work and attending the district schools and the academy of Beloit. With the exception of four years, spent as a fireman on the Northwestern railroad, he has always lived on the home place, and since his father's death, has carried on general farming, stoek raising and dairying. Mr. Anderson has filled several local offices, being at present, 1907, assessor of Clinton township. He helped to establish the Nora creamery at Bergen, of which he is secretary and treasurer. In politics he is a Republican and he is a member and one of the trustees of the Norwegian Evan- gelical Lutheran church at Bergen.
On November 28, 1905, Mr. Anderson married Miss Carrie Amelia, daughter of Knudt B. Duxstad, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Anderson is a native of Clinton township and was reared and educated there and in the village schools at Clinton. She is a member of the same church as her husband. They have one child, Karl Henry, born January 5, 1907.
Samuel S. Jones, a prominent farmer and stock grower and an influential citizen of Clinton township, Rock county, Wiscon- sin, where he was born September 3, 1854, is one of nine chil- dren, seven of whom are living, born to Samuel and Margaret (Richardson) Jones, both natives of New York state. They came to Wisconsin at an early day, going first to East Delavan,
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but later settling in Clinton township, where they made their permanent home and reared their family. The father was a general farmer and stock raiser and lived to be eighty-seven years of age, his death occurring April 10, 1897; the mother died March 30, 1905, at the age of ninety-three.
Samuel S. has spent his life on the home farm, having pur- chased from the other heirs their several interests in it; it com- prises 200 acres finely improved, besides which Mr. Jones has forty acres in the village of Clinton. Mr. Jones is a Republican in politics, and has filled various offices. He was five years town clerk, nine years chairman of the town board and for two years has been chairman of the county board. During 1895 and 1896, he was a member of the state legislature and served on some of the important committees. He was one of the organizers and president of the Clinton creamery. He is a Free Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1876 Mr. Jones married Miss Jessie E., daughter of Mr. Griswold and Rachael (Tuttle) Weaver, the former a native of Canada, came to Wisconsin in 1836, and the latter a native of New York, came thither in 1838. The father entered govern- ment land in Clinton township, which he improved and where he made a home for his family. Hc engaged in general farming and stock raising. He also conducted a general store at Clinton and dealt in stock and grain, and was the owner of the elevator at Clinton. He died at the age of fifty-seven years. The mother, who still survives, is in her ninety-first year.
Mrs. Jones is a native of Clinton township, where she re- ceived her early education, supplementing it with a course of study at Milton college, and is a member of the Eastern Star. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have one child, Rachael E., born August 18, 1880, who is married to Mr. Clayton E. Storey, of Clinton town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Storey have four children, viz .: Edythe F., born November 26, 1900, and Wesley S., born July 5, 1902; Jesse M., born November 24, 1905, and Frank C., born September 26, 1906.
Hiram Cooper, whose life has been spent in Wisconsin, was born in Walworth county, February 1, 1847, and is one of a family of eight children born to John H. and Dolly (Houston) Cooper. His father, for many years a leading citizen of Rock county, was born at Rockingham, in Windham county, Vermont,
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November 22, 1804, to John and Diana (Himes) Cooper. He received his education and passed his boyhood in his native state, and for some years taught school there. On November 18, 1828, at Ackworth, N. H., he married Miss Dolly, daughter of Alexander Houston, who died December 30, 1854. Mr. Coo- per then married Sarah Blood, who died at Shopiere, Wis., in April, 1865. After the death of his second wife he married Loraine Bard, who also died at Shopiere in 1874, and he took for his fourth wife Miss Mary Barton.
Mr. Cooper on coming West in the spring of 1845 settled and lived for ten years at Heart Prairie, Wis., then lived three years at Clinton Corners, and in the spring of 1858 moved to Shopiere and engaged in the real estate business, continuing in that line till 1880, when he returned to Clinton township. He was a man of much influence and prominent in his community, filling nu- merous offices of trust and being for two years a member of the board of supervisors of Rock county when the board comprised only seven members. In his early life he was a Whig, but sup- ported General Andrew Jackson for the presidency. In April, 1891, while on a visit to Shopiere, he suffered a stroke of paraly- sis which resulted in his death at the home of his son, Solon, now a resident of Clinton township, and was interred at Shopiere.
Hiram was eleven years old when his father moved to Sho- piere, and he received his preliminary education there, and then attended the academy at Allen's Grove, and later studied a year in the preparatory department of Beloit College. On attain- ing his majority he began life for himself and for a number of years leased from his father and cultivated a farm in Clinton township. In 1874 he went to Kansas and there spent eight years in general farming, and in 1882 returned home, and in the fall of that year settled on his present farm of eighty acres in section 22 (purchased by his father) and resumed his occupation of farming and stock raising. Mr. Cooper, a Republican in politics, hạs for twelve years last past been clerk of his town, and for twenty years or more has been a deacon in the local Congrega- tional church. He settled in Rock county before any railroads were built there and has witnessed great changes and may justly claim the honor of having done his share in the work of trans- forming it into a land of rich farms and prosperous homes.
In 1871 Mr. Cooper married Miss Carrie Nevins, who was
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born in Michigan but spent most of her life in Wisconsin. She was an active member of the Congregational church and on her decease in 1882 left three children, viz .: Elsie L., who lives at Clinton; Henry O., a gardener at Montello, Wis .; and Oscar J., who married a Miss Olga, by whom he has one child, Robert. He lives in Chicago and is employed as an electrician for the Com- monwealth Electric Company. After the death of his first wife Mr. Cooper married Miss Eliza, daughter of Preston and Frances (Schofield) Smith, who was born in Clinton township. Her father, a native of Rochester, N. Y., settled in Wisconsin in 1846, before his marriage, and for many years was engaged in general farming in Clinton township. Mr. Smith while a resident here was active and prominent in public affairs, taking a leading part in politics. He was an ardent advocate of temperance and a charter member and for many years an honored deacon of the Congregational church at Clinton. Mr. Smith now resides at Hays, in the state of Kansas, where his wife died in 1879. He is now eighty-five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had a family of eight children, of whom seven are now (1907) living.
Ole Knudson Natesta, originally Nattestad, who founded the first Norwegian settlement in Wisconsin and the fourth in the United States, was born December 24, 1807, in Vaegli Rollong parish, Norway. His early ambition was to be a farmer and own a farm in his own country, but not finding that occupation profit- able, he became for a time an itinerant merchant and then worked at blacksmithing, but was handicapped, since the law did not allow him to work at his trade in the city. In 1836, with his younger brother, Austen, he went over the mountains to the western part of Norway to buy sheep, and was so impressed with the wonderful stories he heard about America that he resolved to seek a home there. Hastily preparing for the journey, the two brothers in 1837, with $800 in Norwegian money, sailed from Gotherborg on a vessel laden with Swedish iron, and after a voyage of thirty-two days landed at Fall River, Mass., paying $50 each for their passage. He settled in the northern part of Clinton township July 1, 1838, that being the beginning of Jef- ferson Prairie, now one of the garden spots of the state, and he being the first Scandinavian to settle in Wisconsin. There were then but eight American settlers in the township. In the spring of the next year his brother Austen, with Thore Holgeson,
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Kittle and Christopher Newhouse, Erik Skavlen and others, bought land and settled near him. Austen, who was born August 26, 1813, died April 8, 1889.
On his arrival in the spring of 1838 Mr. Natesta worked by the day in the northern part of Illinois, but in July of that year he bought land in Clinton township, where in 1839 he built a small log house, in which he received his fellow countrymen named above. In 1840 he married Miss Lena Hiset, who died September 15, 1888. Mr. Natesta was an enterprising man, pros- perous and thrifty and esteemed by all who knew him as a kind benefactor and good citizen. He was a Republican in politics and served on both the town and school board. His death oe- curred at Clinton on May 28, 1886, and his body is interred, as is also that of his widow, in the cemetery at Bergen.
Mr. and Mrs. Natesta reared a family of seven children, all of whom are well educated and in prosperous circumstances. Henry O., the youngest son, who now owns and lives on the old homestead, comprising 1131/2 acres, was born in Clinton town- ship on March 5, 1856. He is known as one of the prosperous farmers of his section. He carries on general farming and stock raising through his tenants, though he has an oversight of af- fairs. The place is finely improved, having a spacious and sub- stantial dwelling house and other buildings, and in fact all the equipments that go to make a modern model farm. He also owns besides the home farm sixty-eight acres well improved in section 28. He is a Republican in polities and has served as a member and chairman of the town board and for several years was super- visor, and chairman one term. He is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church and for fifteen years has been its treasurer, and was vice-president of the "Home-coming" at Clinton, which oc- curred July 4, 5 and 6, 1907.
Christian K. Newhouse, who has passed his whole life as a farmer in Roek county, Wisconsin, was born on a farm in Clinton township, where he now resides, on June 12, 1849. He is the second of a family of four children, three of whom are now (1907) living, born to Kittill and Kari (Natesta) Newhouse, both natives of Norway. They came to the United States in the spring of 1839, before their marriage, in company with a number of their countrymen induced to come hither by Austen Natesta (a brother of Ole Knudson Natesta, the first Norwegian settler of
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Wisconsin), who returned to Norway after first coming to this country to organize and bring hither a colony of his countrymen. Kittill Newhouse entered from the government a tract of land, being a part of the farm now owned by our subject, married and there made a home and reared his family. He was a successful and model farmer, a kind-hearted man and an upright citizen, whose death occurred on November 26, 1874, when he was sixty- five years of age, and was mourned by a large circle of friends. He was a Republican in politics and with his wife was connected with the Norwegian Lutheran church. His widow, who was a sister of Ole Knudson Natesta, died some four years later, and the remains of both are interred in the Norwegian cemetery at Bergen, Wis. After the death of his father Christian K. by pur- chase came into possession of the family homestead, comprising 167 acres of fine, fertile land richly improved in sections 20, 21 and 29, Clinton township, where he has always been engaged in general farming and stock raising.
Mr. Newhouse has always given close attention to his affairs and is highly esteemed for his manly qualities and justly count- ed among the representative men of his community. He is a Re- publican in politics and for some time has held the office of dea- con in the Norwegian Lutheran church, of which his family also are honored members.
On April 21, 1881, Mr. Newhouse married Miss Ragnihld Lar- son, a native of Norway, who came to this country when a child. They have three children, viz .: Cora, unmarried and living in Denver, Colo., and Charles and Nettie, who live with their par- ents on the family homestead. All the children were born in Clinton township and received their education in the public schools of Clinton.
Michael Mullooly, who was for many years a successful farmer of Rock county, Wisconsin, was a native of Galway, Ireland. When about ten years old he came to the United States with his parents and settled at Racine, Wis. There he lived a number of years and received his education in the public schools. Thence he removed with his mother to Clinton township, Rock county, where they bought forty acres of land and made a home. He carried on general farming and stock raising to a limited extent and did his full share in developing the resources of his section,
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which he saw transformed from a wilderness to a land of fertile farms and beautiful homes.
Mr. Mullooly met a tragic death on March 3, 1881, when but forty-four years old. Going on foot to the village of Sharon dur- ing a severe storm to get medicine for a sick child, he attempted to return home, but lost his way in the blinding storm and per- ished from exposure, his body being found a few days later. He was a devout member of the Catholic church and in politics a Democrat, and as a citizen was universally esteemed for his many virtues.
Mr. Mullooly married Miss Bridget Tigue, who came with her parents from Ireland when eleven years old and settled at Provi- dence, R. I., whence the family moved to Rock county, Wiscon- sin. Mrs. Mullooly since the death of her husband has continued to live on the home farm with her sons, having added forty acres to the original purchase and improved it with a new and sub- stantial modern farm house and other improvements.
Of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mullooly all except the eldest were born in Rock county; the eldest, Henry, is a mining engineer and lives in Colorado; Annie, the second child, is fore- woman in the Phelps Infant Shoe Factory at Louisiana, Mo .; the third, James, lives at home; John, the fourth, who is a machinist in the employ of the McCormick Reaper Company, making his headquarters in Chicago, but now living at home, married Miss Rose, daughter of Mr. Henry Wright, a stone mason by occupa- tion, late of Clinton, Wis .. where his widow now (1907) resides. They had one child, who died when eighteen months old, and the wife died at Clinton in 1902. The fifth child, Julia, is mar- ried to Mr. Edward Casey, of St. Louis, Mo., and has one child, Leo; Kate, the sixth child, and Leo, the youngest, live on the home place with their mother.
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