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 50
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Christina Andrew is married to Walter Thompson. They have three children, Belle, Wallace and Eva.
George Andrew married Mae Dixon; their children are Ethel and Letha.
Margaret Edith is married to Mr. Owen E. Cotton of Bruce, S. D., and has five children: George, Leo. Bertha, Blanche and Bernice.
George Cotton is married to Winifred Ackerman, and they have one child, Edith.
The third child, Belle, is married to Mr. Arb Townsend, a farmer of Magnolia township, and has eight children : Elmer, Hosea, Roy Bessie, Eva and Ella, twins. Bruce and Lester.
Elmer Townsend married Laura Schroeder, and they have two little daughters.
Mary, now deceased, was married to Bayard Andrews, and left two children : Edith, now the wife of Mr. Frank Woodstock, who have three children, Neva, Lloyd F. and Ray. These four children of Mr. Letts were born on the homestead, and educated in the public schools. Mr. Letts' second wife was Miss Anna L. nee Baker, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Last) Baker. She came to this country from County Kent, England, her native place, when twelve years old, with her parents. They settled in Magnolia township where the father followed his trade as a mason all the remainder of his active life. He died at the age of
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eighty-one years. The death of his wife occurred a number of years prior to his.
Mrs. Letts was educated in her native place and is a devoted member of the Advent church. Of four children born of this second marriage, three died in infancy. George William who survives, was born February 27, 1871 on the homestead which he now works, together with forty acres adjoining that which he owns. He married Miss Belinda Worthing, a native of Magnolia township and daughter of Edward and Frederika (Miller) Worth- ing, the former a native of Maine whenee he came to Rock coun- ty when a young man, and engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. George William Letts have had ten children, viz .: George, born October 23, 1895; Lyle, born October 25, 1896, and died at the age of five months; Bernice, born January 9, 1898; Ethel, born April 16, 1899; Lewis, born June 18, 1900, died at birth ; Helen, born February 19, 1902; Alice, born May 2, 1903; Gordon, born November 18, 1904; Edward, born November 20, 1905, died Jan- mary 20, 1906, and William, born February 14, 1907.
Joseph Flagler, who is the second of nine children born to Peter B. and Mary A. (Storm) Flagler, was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania on October 30, 1838. His parents lived on a farm in Pennsylvania, their native state, but in 1844 moved to Rock county, Wisconsin and settled on a quarter-section of un- improved land in section 12, Janesville township, which the father purchased for $5 per acre. He was a man of considerable influence in the community, well educated and for a time taught school and also engaged in surveying for a number of years. He improved and lived on the farm where he first settled, with mod- erate success, until his decease, which occurred in 1856. His widow survived until sometime in the eighties. She was a mem- ber of the United Brethren church. Their other children were named respectively, Edwin, George, Sylvester, John, Ira, Felix and Juliet. The youngest child died in infancy, unnamed. Jo- seph, who was six years old when the family settled in Rock county, received a good common school education in the district schools of the neighborhood, and when not in school, helped with the farm work. Reared in this way, he has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits in Rock county, and at the present time lives on the tract of seventy-two acres well improved with good buildings, a part of his father's original purchase. By good
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management, industry and thrift Mr. Flagler has been success- ful in his affairs and has been a somewhat extensive land owner. He has never sought or cared for official position, preferring the peace and quiet of his simple home life. He was at one time con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and during the Grange movement was a member of that organization, but is not now affiliated with any fraternal order. In politics he is a Republican.
In 1861 Mr. Flagler married Miss Cornelia A., daughter of Daniel G. and Mary E. (Maxfield) Brown, who removed from their native state, New Hampshire, to Rock county, in Septem- ber, 1847, and there passed the remainder of their lives. They had one other child, Mary, now deceased. . Mrs. Flagler is a na- tive of Sullivan county. New Hampshire. Of two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Flagler, Mary Emma, the elder, is married to Mr. William H. Ingle, a farmer of Rock county, and has eight chil- dren ; John R., their youngest child, married Miss Lena Taylor, and live in the city of Janesville. They have two children.
Orville D. Brace, who has spent most of his life in Rock coun- ty, Wisconsin, is a native of Ohio. He was born near the city of Cleveland, September 9, 1837, the second of three children born to William and Lucy (Reynolds) Brace, their other children be- ing named William H. and Helen, the latter now deceased. The parents, natives of New York and Vermont respectively, spent their early married life in Ohio, but in 1842 moved to Janesville township, Rock county, Wisconsin, where the father bought two hundred and eighty acres of wild land. Here he made a home for himself and family and passed the remainder of his life. He was a man of some prominence in the community, highly es- teemed for his upright life and public spiritedness. He served several years as a member of the town board, being a Republican in polities. In religions faith he was affiliated with the Episcopal church. He died on the homestead in 1861, his widow surviving until 1892.
Orville D. was little more than four years old when his par- ents settled in Rock county, so that practically his entire life has been passed there. Ile had the usual school privileges of the farmer boy attending the district schools and also went to school in Janesville and at Milton Center. He was raised on the farm and trained to hard work, and in the course of time after his
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father's decease, came into possession of the homestead, buying the interests of the heirs. Mr. Brace has always been careful in the management of his affairs, clear sighted, industrious and pro- gressive, and for many years has been known as a thrifty, pros- perous and well-to-do citizen. Ilis farm brought to a high state of cultivation and improved with good buildings and modern equipment, is one of the finest in the county.
Mr. Braee lived on his farm until 1900, when he removed to the city of Janesville, that his children might have better educa- tional advantages and live at home. He is a Republican in poli- tics and for sixteen years filled the office of township assessor. In religious faith he is affiliated with the Christian Science church.
In 1871 Mr. Brace married Miss Leora, daughter of Henry and Diana Swift, natives of West Popsin, Vermont. Her parents settled in Wisconsin in 1853 and spent the rest of their lives there. Of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brace, Ora, the eldest, married Miss Leah Stewart, and carries on the home farm; Luna, the second child, is married to Joseph Markson, and lives in Minneapolis; Mand is studying vocal music in London ; Donald lives in Minneapolis, and Leora, the youngest, is attend- ing school in Janesville.
William Wallace Child, who ranked among the most prosper- ous and successful business men of Edgerton, Wis., was born in Rutland county, Vermont, in 1824. His death occurred at Edger- ton in 1894. He was the eldest child of Penuel and Mary (Henry) Child, whose other children are: Rollin R., born in 1827; Mary Ellen, widow of Mr. R. R. Brown, who died in Cali- fornia in 1888, and Ellen, born in 1835, and who is the wife of Mr. H. B. DeLong. The first representative of the family in this country was Benjamin Child, who came from England and set- tled at Roxbury, Mass., in 1630, ten years after the landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. His son, Benjamin Child, Jr., was the father of Ebenezer Child, whose son, also named Ebenezer, was the father of Penuel Child, whose son, Penuel Child, Jr., was the father of our subject and grandfather of his only son, Harold Child, of the eighth generation in direct line from Benjamin Child, Sr. Members of the family were prominently identified with the colonial history of New England. Ebenezer Child, Jr., fought under the gallant Rufus Putnam in
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the French and Indian Wars which began in 1754; Penuel Child, Sr., served four years in the Revolutionary War, and his brother, Pearle Child, accompanied the expedition that resulted in the disastrous defeat of the Americans and the death of the brave Montgomery at Quebec.
Our subject was reared and educated in his native town and in 1845 came West and settled at Eagle, now Waukesha, Wis., and engaged in teaching some three years. He afterward en- gaged in the mercantile business at Moquantigo, then at Eagle and then Palmyra and later at Albion, whence, in 1865 he re- moved to Edgerton; in the meantime, in 1853, his parents re- moved to Wisconsin. The father died at the son's home at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother at the age of -.
During the first years of Mr. Child's residence in Edgerton, he was engaged in the mercantile business, but in 1869 he began dealing in leaf tobacco, his warehouse being the first ereeted for that purpose in Edgerton. Under his careful management the business grew to large proportions, and to meet its needs he in 1884 erected a warehouse 128x40 feet in dimensions and three stories high, which he occupied during his business career, being the most extensive dealer in leaf tobacco in Rock county in his time. He also engaged in buying and selling wool. His sales in that commodity amounting to 75,000 pounds annually.
Mr. Child's business success was the result of his own industry, foresight and determined purpose. Beginning his life in Wiseon- sin with little capital aside from his native abilities, he mastered every obstacle and reached the goal of his ambitions. An inci- dent which occurred soon after his arrival in Wisconsin illus- trates his thrift and foresight. With but $58 in his pocket he invested $50 of it in land in Waukesha county for which he paid $6 per acre, and which he sold a year later for $10 an aere. This was his first land speculation, though in after years he owned considerable real estate in and around Edgerton. In all his busi- ness relations, he was characterized by honorable and fair deal- ing, and by his just and upright conduct, gained a place of in- fluenee in the community, and maintained the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He was loyal to his friends and in his home eirele loving, indulgent and kind.
In politics Mr. Child was in early life a Whig, and on the organization of the Republican party identified himself with it,
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though he took no part in political affairs other than to perform his duties as a citizen. He was not identified with any religious organization, though among his New England ancestors are the names of many Congregational elergymen. He was an active member of the Masonie fraternity, and filled nearly all the chairs of his lodge, being worshipful master in 1879. He was private secretary to President Harrison, being a cousin on the Hatch side of the family.
In 1848 Mr. Child married Miss E. C. Hatch, who was a daughter of Orton and Parmelia (Harrison) Hatch. Her grand- father, Samuel Harrison, a graduate of Oxford University, Eng- land, was noted for his scholarly attainments. He settled at Chittenden, Rutland county, Vt., and died many years ago in the city of Washington. Mrs. Child died in 1898 at the age of years. Mr. and Mrs. Child had two children ; the elder, Florence E., was born in 1849 and presides over one of the palatial homes of Edgerton. The younger, Harold W., born in 1857, died in 1906.
Harold Wallace Child, whose earthly life ended on December 7, 1905, was one of the prominent influential and popular busi- ness men of Edgerton, Wis. A native of Eagle, Wis., he was born November 16, 1851, the son of William W. and Elluthra (Caroline) Child, who were among the pioneer settlers of Wis- consin, coming hither in 1835.
The father, a successful and prosperous business man, was engaged in general merchandising at Palmyra, and at the gravel store on Albion Prairie, and about 1865 moved with his family to Edgerton, where, besides conducting a general store, he engaged in the wool business. In 1873 he formed a connection and joint account with the leaf tobacco house of C. H. Spitzner & Son of New York, which continued till his decease September 3, 1894.
Harold W. had the advantage of a good English education gained in the publie schools and a thorough business training received in connection with his father's business with which he grew up. He was pre-eminently a business man, alert, progres- sive, wide-awake and elear-sighted and withal high-minded and honorable. He attained a degree of success of which any man might justly be proud. Having throughout his life been closely identified with his father's affairs he was ably fitted to take charge of the business and carry it forward upon his father's
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decease. The relations with the New York house were continued by Mr. Child and Mr. G. W. Spitzner, son of the elder Mr. Spitz- ner, with whom the elder Mr. Child was associated, and under their skillful management the business grew to large propor- tions and they came to be recognized among the largest individ- ual dealers in leaf tobacco in the state. In all his business rela- tions Mr. Child was actuated by pure motives, high ideals and a spirit of fairness ; and in his private as well as his public life, he maintained a character clean and unimpeachable. In manner he was quiet and unostentatious and while the arduous duties of his exacting business absorbed his time and attention, he was interested in public affairs and whatever appealed to him as right and good, received his moral and material support. He was at the time of his death a member of the public library board and was greatly interested in the project for increasing the useful- ness of that institution. Mr. Child was especially fond of home, though not a man of family, and his devotion to his only sister, Miss Florence Child. who shared with him the home life and with whom he found his happiest companionship, was most beau- tiful. The high esteem in which Mr. Child was universally held was amply shown by the vast numbers of all classes who were present at his funeral obsequies to pay their tribute of love and respect ; and his passing away in the prime and vigor of his man- hood was mourned by all who knew him as a personal loss. He worked to make the most and best of himself and the world is richer and better because he lived.
Christian August Hoen, one of the younger class of the enter- prising and progressive business men of Edgerton, Rock county, Wis., is a native of Kongsberg, Norway. He was born January 20, 1872, and is a son of Andrew and Maren (Jenson) Hoen, who emigrated from Norway in 1880 and settled at Edgerton, where the father is now (1907) engaged in the tobacco business.
Christian A. had good educational advantages and supple- mented his attendance at the public schools with a course of study in the Lutheran parochial school at Stoughton, Wis. In 1890 at the age of eighteen, he started in the leaf tobacco busi- ness, and in one way and another has ever since been connected with that line of trade. For a number of years he has held a re- sponsible position with the American Cigar Company, being at present manager of its business at Edgerton, and is also a direc-
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BIOGRAPHICAL
tor of the Wisconsin Cigar Company. In all his business rela- tions, Mr. Hoen has maintained a high standard of business ef- forts while his industrious habits, fidelity to duty and honorable and fair dealing, have gained for him a reputation of which he may justly be proud.
Mr. Hoen takes a commendable interest in public affairs, has served as a member of the Edgerton school board, and is now a member of the Edgerton public library board. In political senti- ment he is a Democrat, and is somewhat active in the councils of his party. In religious faith he is affiliated with the Norwegian Lutheran church. In hearty sympathy with whatever pertains to the welfare of his city and community, Mr. Hoen has come to be known as a man of public spirit, and with the reputation he has established for business sagacity and withal uprightness of character, he may confidently look forward to a career of con- tinued usefulness and success.
Edward H. Smith, who has been a resident of Edgerton, Wis., nearly half a century, is a native of Grafton, Mass., and was born January 31, 1829, the son of Henry and Eliza (Stone) Smith. Edward grew up on his father's farm and attended school in the old red school house ten weeks of each year. After leaving school he went to Westburn, Mass., and learned the watchmaker's trade with Mr. Moses Wood, and worked at his trade in Massachusetts till 1851. In 1855 he went to Fort Wayne, Ind., but in March of the following year removed to Madison, Wis., where he spent two and a half years. Settling at Edgerton in July, 1858, he was engaged in watch repairing at the begin- ning of the Civil War. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Thirteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and served four years and three months.
Mr. Smith was the first to open a jewelry store at Edgerton, and is the only survivor of those who lost by the fire of forty years ago.
In political sentiment Mr. Smith is a Republican. He voted for John P. Hall, the abolitionist, in 1852; in 1856 supported John C. Fremont, the first Republican nominee for the presi- dency. From 1869 to 1887 Mr. Smith was engaged in farming, but in the year last named was made police justice of Edgerton, and has held that important office ever since, enjoying the confi- dence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
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Mr. Smith is a member of the Masonic Order and has filled all the chairs but the master chair of his lodge. In religious faith he was reared a Unitarian, and is liberal in his opinions.
In 1850 Mr. Smith married Sarah Arnold, a native of Massa- chusetts, who died in 1878 at the age of forty-six years. Eight children were born to them, of whom the first, Henry, the third, Elizabeth, and the eighth, Rosa, are deceased. Those living are Eleanor, who is married to Mr. J. C. Nichols of Grafton, Mass .; Jessie, who is the wife of Mr. Edward H. Davidson of Elizabeth, N. J .; Benjamin F., who lives in Minnesota ; Lulu, who is married to Mr. Willard Learn of Edgerton, and Glenn, who lives at home.
Henry Johnson is one of the popular and progressive business men of Edgerton, Wis., where he was born on October 20, 1864. He is the son of Jacob and Magdalina Johnson and the youngest of a family of six children, all of whom are living. His parents are natives of Norway, whenee his father emigrated in 1854, and settled on a farm in Dane county, Wisconsin. Later he worked at his trade shoemaking, which he has followed since 1860 at Edgerton, his present home.
Henry attended the public schools of Edgerton and began his business life with Messrs. Jenson and Gunderson, tobacco dealers of Stoughton, Wis. After four years' service there he was employed by Mr. Andrew Jenson until 1890, when he en- gaged in the general insurance business at Edgerton, including fire, life and accident insurance. In the conduct of his business Mr. Johnson has won universal admiration. He is popular with all classes and his agency is widely known throughout the state; while among the insurance men he ranks among the first. His business is carried on in the commodious office which he fitted up in 1902 and comprises some sixty-three companies.
Mr. Johnson is a Republican in political sentiment, and since 1891 has filled the office of city clerk and is president of the Ad- vancement Association. Since 1891 he has been connected with the Masonic fraternity and he is also a member of the Elks and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1893 Mr. Johnson married Miss Cora, daughter of Mr. Walter Crandall of Edgerton.
Charles L. Culton. Born and raised here it is but natural that Mr. Culton should take a keen interest in Edgerton and her wel- fare. His father was one of the city's pioneer business men and
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for years conducted the brickyard and other commercial inter- ests, so his son naturally grew up in the atmosphere of industry and enterprise.
Ile has been identified with the tobacco industry for twenty- four years, and is now associated with the firm of Weil & Sons, extensive operators of New York, whose interests in the state are large. Besides the warehouse here, others are operated at Deerfield, Evansville, etc., and about 350 people are employed during the sorting season.
Mr. Culton owns the finest home in the city, which represents a cost of over $30,000, and has land and lumber interests in the South.
On all questions of local welfare and progress he believes in advancement, socially, morally, mentally and commercially.
Charles R. Bentley, a native of Albion township, Dane county, Wisconsin, is the third child of William P. and Harriet (Bur- dick) Bentley, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of New York. They had six children; the eldest, Cornelia, is the wife of Mr. Z. H. Brown of Edgerton; the second, A. Wal- lace, lives in Edgerton; the fourth, Frances, who married Mr. G. M. Pello, is deceased; the fifth, Fred W., is a lawyer 'in Chi- cago, and the youngest, Louisa, is the wife of Mr. John Cartliff of Fulton township, Dane county, Wisconsin.
Our subjeet's father was born in 1819 and died in 1898. He owned one of the finest and best improved farms of 280 acres in Dane county for many years, and was also extensively en- gaged in the tobacco business. He first engaged in that line in 1869, and was the first local resident buyer of tobacco in Wiscon- sin, and did a commission business for a New York firm whose warehouse is located in Edgerton. Our subject's mother was a daughter of Colonel Albion Burdick, one of the early settlers of Dane county. She was born in 1819 and died in 1890.
Charles R. passed his early life on his father's farm and after finishing his preliminary studies in the public schools of Edger- ton, attended Milton College. He began business for himself as a cigar manufacturer, but at the end of two years went to work with his father. In 1881 he began buying tobacco on commission for Messrs. Hevermyer & Vegalius; three years later he engaged with Messrs. Spingurn & Company and at the same time bought for Messrs. Leichtenstein Brothers. From 1885 to 1889 he was
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
associated with Mr. Charles L. Culton under the firm name of Bentley & Culton in the tobacco jobbing trade, after which he continued the business in his own name, and also engaged in the grocery business at Edgerton. In 1891 Mr. Bentley resumed the jobbing trade in connection with Mr. Culton, continuing until 1902, since which time he has carried on the business on his own aecount.
Mr. Bentley is a man of publie spirit and interests himself in whatever pertains to the betterment of his city or the welfare of his fellows. He is a Republican in politics, broad-minded and liberal in his views. Mr. Bentley is a man of fine social standing and is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Good Templars, Knights of Pythias and the Elks.
On January 1, 1879 Mr. Bentley married Miss Mary Eliza, daughter of James and Eliza (Croft) Culton, the former a na- tive of Ireland and the latter of England. He emigrated to the United States in 1836 and Mrs. Culton in 1842. He was a man of keen business foresight, prosperous and thrifty, and withal pub- lie spirited. He built the Baptist church at Edgerton and later made a liberal donation for a public library.
Mr. and Mrs. Bentley have one daughter, Margaret Ellen, in whose training and education they are sparing no pains. She possesses unusual musical talent and is studying in the Ameri- can Conservatory of Musie at Chicago. She won the gold medal in an academie course.
George Ellis Gary belongs to the younger class of Edgerton's wide-awake and progressive business men. He is a native of Henderson, Ky., and was born March 7, 1878, being the fifth of a family of eleven children born to Mr. William E. and Kate (Niles) Gary, who reside at Henderson, Ky., where the father is engaged in the tobacco business.
The first representatives of the family in this country settled in North Carolina at an early date. Patriek H. Gary, grand- father of our subject, was a prosperous tobaceo dealer in Rieh- mond, Va., nearly half a century ago.
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