The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 108

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 774

USA > Wisconsin > Dodge County > The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc > Part 108

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CHARLES LINDLEY (deceased) ; was the son of William and Elizabeth Lindley ; born in Lincolnshire, England. He married Miss Prudence, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Gavil, of Lin- colnshire, in 1832. In September, 1851, they sailed from England for America, and landed in New York in October following ; thence via Buffalo and the lakes to Milwaukee, Wis .; here they loaded all their household goods into one wagon, and, after two weeks' journey through the marshes, they reached Fox Lake ; stopping here for a few weeks, he bought a farm of forty acres in Sec. 25, town of Westford, upon which he erected a log shanty 20x24 feet, to which he removed his family ; here with stools for chairs, poplar poles for bedsteads, pine boards for a table and other like conveniences, they made their first home in Wisconsin. In the parlor of this rustic mansion, Dec. 25, 1852, their oldest daughter, Hannah, was married to Mr. Jesse Bright. . In 1853, they moved to the town of Burnett, and, in 1854, returned to Westford, where he bought a farm of 160 acres in Sec. 22, and made that his home till his death in 1865, leaving a widow with two children, as follows : Hannah, Mrs. Jesse Bright, of Chippewa Falls, Wis .; Pres- cott, formerly Mrs. R. D. Ferdon ; her first husband enlisted in Co. A, 29th W. V. I .; wounded at Port Gibson May 1, 1863, and died in a few weeks after, leaving her with two daughters-Alice and Clara; now Mrs. Michael Keasling. The family are Episcopalians.

JAMES T. LINK, farmer, Sec. 6; P. O. Randolph ; is the son of William and Lydia Link, of Livingston Co., N. Y .; born in 1820. In 1840, he married Miss Mary J., daughter of Liberius and Fannie Munson, of Connecticut. In 1844, they immigrated to Wisconsin ; stopped for six months in Washington Co., and, in the spring of 1845, removed to the town of Westford, Dodge Co., Wis., where he has since made his home; he now owns a farm of fifty-six and a half acres in Sec. 6, within the corpo- ration limits of the village of Randolph. They have seven children-Emma J. (now Mrs. Charles Heyer, of Randolph, formerly Mrs. H. Williamson, of Westford), Ella (Mrs. Henry Wills, of Genesee Co., Mich.), Egbert E. (of Pipe Stone, Minn.), Annie, Marion (Mrs. O. D. Sherman, of Columbus, Wis.),. Myra E., Estella A. Mr. and Mrs. Link, with three of their children, are members of the M. E. Church. The following historical sketch, written by Mrs. Link, may appropriately be inserted here :

" In the year 1844, we made up our minds to seek a home in Wisconsin ; accordingly, in the month of September of that year, we started on our Western tour; we came to Buffalo with our own team, and embarked on the steamboat called the Great Western, and surely it was, for I think there were people of almost every nation, on board, all, or nearly all, seeking a home in this far off Wisconsin ; we had a long and tedious journey, entering every port between Buffalo and Milwaukee ; when our boat came into

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Mackinaw, the Indians swarmed the boat to trade fish for what other goods they could get, and a savage looking set they were; the young people were afraid and almost homesick when they saw so many ; at last we arrived in Milwaukee at 2 o'clock Monday morning, after a four-days voyage, and some of it pretty rough. Milwaukee was not then what it is now; it was only a small town then, with accommoda- tions that have been greatly improved since then ; after getting our team off the boat and loaded up, we started for a small town then called Hamburg, through heavy timber and bad roads, made still worse by heavy rain all day, and not a soul did we meet during a drive of twenty-two miles that could, or else they would not, speak one word of English ; every team we would meet, we would inquire how far to Ham- burg, but the answer was invariably nix far stae or a mere shake of the head ; surely this was encouraging for strangers, but we found our way at last, and finally drove up at a friend's house just at night, tired and hungry, not homesick, but a little sad it was to see a little new house with blankets and carpets for windows and doors; I thought when retiring for the night of the Indians, but was told that they were very peaceable and would do no harm, but was too weary to be kept long awake thinking of the Indians. Here we stayed the first winter, just on the bank of the Milwaukee River, in a little shanty built of white- ash boards ; at a little distance one would have thought it was painted white; but we soon determined that the woods was not the place for us, and the last of April found us journeying toward Dodge Co .; arrived here the last day of April just at night; cold, sour and gloomy was the last day of our journey ; most of the farmers had sowed their wheat, and some pieces were up an inch high ; when coming across the wild prairies and looking ahead, the oak openings looked like the old orchards in York State ; flowers grew in abundance, of every color and shape; surely here was a flower-garden of Nature's own making. We were made to feel at home by our old acquaintance, who came West with us; they had a very com- fortable though small log house, and here we lived, all in one family, in the little log house 14x16 feet, until the month of August, when we went into our own house, if it could be called into, for there was not a window, door or floor, and it was not sided up at the gable ends, but we had a good roof over our heads; we laid down some loose boards, just enough for the posts of the bedstead to stand upon, and the same for the stove and table; we walked around by stepping from one board to another ; it was here my husband was taken down with the fever and ague, and in a few days my husband's brother began to shake, and then our little girl 4 years old, and you may believe this was not a pleasant outlook ; the harvest was just ripe, and the men were depending on their days' work to get us our bread and to fix up our house for the winter; but this was not to be, for my husband shook till it would have taken two of him to have made one shadow ; his brother shook one day and worked the next; often I have left him and my little girl in one bed to do their shaking alone, while I went a mile distant and sewed all day to get whatever I could to help along the family provisions, while my husband was working for a man who owned an old- fashioned thrashing machine, and he could sit in a chair placed upon the platform and drive the horses ; thus he earned six shillings per day, but toward winter he began to get better, and things began to grow more cheerful. The Indians were pretty thick, and often gave us a call ; one day, we had been killing some hogs, and five or six came along and stopped to beg the head, liver, and so forth; I told one of them to talk English ; he shook his head and gave me a cross, savage look ; he then turned to my brother-in- law and made signs for him to give him some pork ; I was sitting near him and hit his foot and told him to make him ask for it in English, whereupon the Indian says to me, 'stop hit he foot.' In 1849, the first Methodist class was established by J. G. Southwell ; I believe that a preacher by the name of Barnes came from Beaver Dam once or twice, but Elder Lawson was the first circuit preacher sent to us ; he was a young man, 22 or 23, but a good man and very talented; he lived at Beaver Dam, and many times used to come on horseback, and the water was almost to the horse's back, but he was always there accord- ing to appointment ; his meetings were well attended and had some powerful revivals ; he received a very small salary, but was satisfied, for he was doing the work he was sent to do; then we built a schoolhouse in our neighborhood. and established a school, and then we thought we had fairly begun to live."

ANDREW MOUSE, farmer, Secs. 13 and 14; P. O. Beaver Dam ; is a native of Prussia ; born Jau. 30, 1830 ; son of Phillip and Elizabeth Mouse ; he came to America in 1854, landing in New York Nov. 2; thence he came direct to Beaver Dam, where he arrived penniless, and followed farm labor- ing till 1868; he then bought a farm of 200 acres in Secs. 13 and 14, town of Westford, which has since been his home. In 1856, he married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Yitta Newman, of Prussia ; they have had fourteen children, the first eight of whom died in infancy ; those living are Frank, William, Peter, Lengh, Sophia, Phillip. They are members of the Presbyterian Church ; politically, he is a Democrat.

CHARLES NUTTING, farmer ; Sec. 6; P. O. Randolph ; was born in Randolph, Orange Co., Vt., in 1817 ; son of William and Mary Nutting, nee Hubbard ; he received his early education in

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the public schools of his native village; then attended the Orange County Grammar School, for a while, after which, for two years, he attended the University of Burlington, but graduated at the " Western Reserve " of Hudson, Ohio, in 1840 ; he at once began the study of law with his father at Randolph, and was admitted to the bar in 1844; he then formed a copartnership with his father, which lasted till 1853. when he emigrated to Dodge Co., Wis., and bought a farm of eighty acres, in Sec. 6, town of Westford ; then Fox Lake, where he has since followed farming; he now has forty-four acres. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for a number of years in the town of Westford. In 1846, he married Miss Cordelia M. H., daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Gilman, of Tamworth, N. H., who died in December, 1878, and by whom he had eleven children-Charles H., of Westford; Annie C., deceased; Samuel E., of Iron Ridge, Wis. ; William, deceased ; Maria, Lillian, Cora, Harlin P. V., Clarence, Mabel and Perley G. Member of the Congregational Church ; politically, a Republican.

NELSON RASMUSSON, manufacturer and dealer in boots and shoes, Randolph ; son of Henson and Mary Rasmusson; born in Denmark in 1836 ; in the spring of 1856, he set sail from Ham- burg for America, and landed in New York early in July; thence to Hartland, Waukesha Co., Wis .. where he followed farming for one year; receiving an injury at that time which disabled him for farm work, he turned his attention to the shoemaker's trade, at which he had worked a little in his native country, though had not served his apprenticeship; this he continued at Hartland for three years, then removed to Pine Lake, Waukesha Co., where he followed it till 1864; thence to Randolph where he has continued it, and also deals quite extensively in boots, shoes, etc., etc. In 1864, at Pine Lake, he married Miss Hannah, daughter of Hans and Christina Hanson, a native of Denmark ; they have had six children, as follows : Hans ; Ann M., deceased ; Peter; Ann M., Jr., deceased; Lena and Henry C. Mr. R. has been a member of the Village Board for three terms; is now School Clerk. Politically, is a Republican; he and wife are members of the Lutheran Church.

REV. ANDRUS A. REED, Pastor of the M. E. Church, Randolph. The subject of the following sketch is of the sturdy New England stock ; son of Andrus and Mary Reed; born in Brook- field, Orange Co., Vt., in the year 1819, where he spent most of his time till 1849. He received his early education in the public schools, after which, for a short time, he attended the Newbury Seminary, of Orange Co., Vt. In the fall of 1849, on account of his health, he started, on board a steamer, for a trip round Cape Horn to California, spending about six months on the water; he visited San Francisco and other ports of California, and went as far north as Oregon; then returned by the steamer to Panama, which he crossed on foot to the Chagris River, passing down the stream in a boat to Prometheus, where he took the steamer for New York, and reached home early in January, 1851. He then devoted his time as before to various kinds of merchandising, till 1854; when he immigrated to Winnebago Co., Wis., and settled on a farm in the town of Omro ; here he followed farming for three or four years, and began his preparations for his ministerial work, which he afterward completed while in the Conference ; his first charge was that of the town of Empire, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., in 1858; in 1859 and 1860, he served the M. E. Church of the town of Lamartine, and from 1861 to 1863, that of the town of Byron, all in Fond du Lac Co., Wis. It was here they buried their oldest and only son-Azro De Estang -who was a lieutenant in Daniel's 1st Cavalry, and was taken with the diphtheria at Ripon, Wis. ; was brought home, and died Dec. 4, 1861. In 1863, he went to Green Bush, Wis., for one year ; thence to Brandon for three years ; thence to Sheboygan Falls for three years; and in 1870, to Beaver Dam, where under his care the church was greatly revived, and so strengthened, that the present brick church - was erected, and where for three years he preached to one of the largest congregations of the city ; after this, from 1873 to 1875, he was at Appleton, Wis., as Financial Agent for Lawrence University ; he was, in 1877, sent by Conference to the church at Sharon, Wis., for two years ; and in the fall of 1879, to the village of Randolph, Wis. In 1844, he married Miss Asenath D., daughter of Walter and Jerusha Buck, of Brookfield, Vt. ; they had one son as above mentioned. Such is a brief life-history of one of the most active and earnest workers in the Wisconsin Itinerancy.

RILEY S. RICHMOND, farmer; P. O. Randolph ; is a native of Monroe Co., N. Y .; son of Joshua and Abigail Richmond ; born Sept. 6, 1827 ; he followed farming in his native county till 1847, and then emigrated to Wisconsin and settled in the town of Randolph, Columbia Co., where he bought a farm of 200 acres in Secs. 16 and 21, and made that his home till 1872; he then bought four and a half acres of land in the West Ward of the village of Randolph, where he now resides in a large, commodious house and enjoys the fruits of his many years of honest industry ; he spends his time in superintending his farms, which are three in number-the one above named ; one of eighty-six acres in Sec. 34, town of Randolph, Columbia Co .; another of fifty acres in Sec. 33, town of Fox Lake, Dodge Co. In 1854, he married Miss Jane, daughter of Zenus and Caroline Oliver, of Randolph Center, Columbia Co., Wis., by

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whom he has one daughter-Eva I. (Mrs. John S. Lightner, of Randolph). Mrs. Richmond died Aug. 13, 1856. He married Miss Jane, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Hughes, of the town of Randolph, Feb. 4, 1857 ; they have two children-one son, Osro (deceased), and one daughter, Cora B. Mr. Rich- mond has been Justice of the Peace several times in the West Ward of the village ; has also been a mem- ber of the Village Board. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity.

EDWARD T. ROBERTS, farmer, Sec. 18; P. O. Randolph ; was born in Angleshire, North Wales, Dec. 25, 1851 ; is the son of Thomas and Catharine Roberts; in 1871, he emigrated to America, and settled in the town of Calamus, Dodge Co., Wis. ; made that his home till 1873; when he went to Waukesha Co., Wis. ; in September, 1878, he removed to a farm of 200 acres in Sec. 18, West- ford, which he had bought in June of that year. In February, 1878, he married Miss Annie, daughter of William and Mary Roberts, of Calamus, Dodge Co. ; they have one son-Robert. They are members of the Welsh M. E. Church; politically, Mr. Roberts is a Republican.

JOSHUA ROBERTS, merchant, Randolph; was born in North Wales in January, 1818 ; is the son of Robert and Elizabeth Ellis, nee Owens; and according to the customs of that part of Wales, he takes his father's first instead of his last name for his surname ; his principal business in his native country was that of a slate quarrier ; in 1845, he went to London, where he engaged in general merchandising for five years ; in 1850, he came to New York City, and there followed clerking in a dry-goods store till 1869, thence to Randolph, Dodge Co., Wis., where he has been engaged in merchandising; he was a member of the Village Board for one year ; has been School Treasurer since 1876. In London in 1850, he married Miss Catharine, daughter of Griffith Owen, by whom he had three children-Elizabeth C., Mrs. Lloyd, of Columbia Co .; Robert G. and Mary J .; Mrs. Roberts died in 1857; in 1859, he mar- ried Mrs. Elizabeth, widow of William Williams, of Prospect, Oneida Co., N. Y., by whom he has one daughter-Maggie J. ; Mrs. Roberts died in 1872. Mr. Roberts' family are members of the Welsh Cal- vanistic Church.

JOHN E. ROOT, Deputy Postmaster, Randolph; son of Charles and Miranda Root ; born in Utica, Oneida Co., N. Y., in 1830, and made that his home till 12 years of age; thence removed to Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., where he entered upon an apprenticeship at the harness-maker's trade ; here he continued his trade till the fall of 1856, when he emigrated to Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., Wis., where he was proprietor of a harness-shop for three years ; in the spring of 1861, he removed to the vil- lage of Randolph, and there opened the first harness-shop of that place, of which he continued proprietor till 1876; in the spring of 1863, he was appointed Postmaster at Randolph, and has since been more or less connected with the office, either in the capacity of Postmaster or Deputy ; he has been elected Vil- lage Supervisor for nine terms ; has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity since 1865. In March, 1856, he married Miss Louisa M., daughter of Fairfield and Margaret Morton, of Canada West, she being a native of Buffalo, N. Y., and her parents of Nova Scotia ; they have three children, two sons and one daughter-William F., of Randolph ; John E., of Milwaukee, and Nellie L. Mrs. Root is a mem- ber of the Methodist Church. Such is a short life of one of Randolph's leading citizens.

JOHN RUDD; farmer, Sec. 7; P. O. Randolph ; is a native of Westmoreland Co., England; born in April, 1822; is the son of Anthony and Ann Rudd; at the age of 16, he entered upon an appren- ticeship at the blacksmith's trade, in his native county ; at 21, he removed to Manchester, Eng., and con- tinued his trade till 1859. Here, in 1852, he married Miss Lucy, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Bennett, and in the spring of 1859, they emigrated to America, and settled in the village of Randolph, Dodge Co., Wis., where he followed his trade for six years ; in 1865, on account of poor health he gave up the trade, and bought a farm of eighty acres, in Sec. 7, town of Westford, where he has since devoted his time to the life of a farmer ; they have had three children-John and Mary A., both of whom died in England, and Lucy E .; the family is connected with the Congregational Church.

MARTIN RUSSELL SKAFTE, carpenter and joiner, Randolph ; better known in this county as Martin Russell ; was born in Denmark ; he lived with his parents, Rasmusson and Marne Skafte, till 22 years of age, when he began the ship carpenters' trade with his brother, which he followed for one year; in 1848, at the beginning of the war between Germany and Denmark, he was drafted and served in he army till the close of the war, when he was discharged and returned to his home in 1851, and con- tinued his trade for another year; in July 1852, he, with his brother, sailed for America, and arrived in Milwaukee, Sept. 28, following, thence to Pine Lake, Waukesha Co., where he worked in a wagon shop for the winter ; in the spring of 1853, he returned to Milwaukee for a short time, thence to Chicago, where he was employed as a ship carpenter for two years. In 1855, he returned to Waukesha Co., where Nov. 10, of that year, he married Miss Gabriela, daughter of Hans and Anna Gasmann, natives of Norway ; he followed house carpentering there for two years, then removed to the village of Randolph,

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where he has since continued the same ; they have three daughters and one son as follows-Matilda, Mrs. Dr. Haxton, of Grand Fork, Dakota; Josephine, Mrs. W. H. Anderson,"of Acton, Dakota ; Ettie and Guy . In November, 1861, he enlisted in Co. C, of the 15th W. V. I., was soon elected Second Lieutenant in Co. I, same regiment, but resigned in 1862. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, also of the M. E. Church ; in politics, he is a Republican.

WILLIAM B. SHEPARD, Randolph ; traveling salesman for Storm & Hill, dry-goods and notion house of Milwaukee; is a son of the Rev. S. V. R. and Lydia A. Shepard ; born in New York in December, 1846 ; when he was 1 year old, his parents removed to Marshall, Dane Co., Wis., where his father, then a contractor and builder, built the first schoolhouse, and the first brick building erected in that village, living there two years; his father devoted himself to the work of the ministry, which he after con- tinued for a number of years ; his last charge being that of the M. E. Church, at Randolph, in 1863-65. William was educated in the public schools of Fond du Lac, Fall River, and the Commercial School of Milwaukee ; in fall of 1863, he came with his parents to Randolph, and during the winter followed teach- ing. In the spring of 1864, he enlisted in Co. K, of the 39th W. V. I., 100-day service ; During the summer of 1865, he was engaged in the Commercial College of Milwaukee; in the fall, he went to Green Lake Co., and tanght for the winter; then for the two years following, he taught in the town of Randolph, Columbia Co .; in the fall of 1868, he began clerking in the dry-goods store for R. Ilsley, of Randolph, continued five years; in 1873 was connected with H. S. Manville, wholesale notion house of Milwaukee ; in 1877, returned to Randolph, and formed a copartnership with Ilsley, dry goods ; in July, 1879, he began traveling for the present firm. In Jan. 2, 1869, he married Miss Sarah S., daughter of George and Harriet Marvin, of Randolph, Wis .; they have two sons-George and Harry.

CHARLES H. SMITH, station agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Com- pany, Randolph ; is a son of Charles and Ewer Smith ; bern in Milwaukee Co., in 1848 ; when 4 years old, he, with his parents, removed to Washington Co., near Hartford, where he spent his spent his time till 12 years of age, on a farm, removing at that time to the village of Hartford, where he spent some time attending school, and where he received the greater part of his education. In the spring of 1865, he enlisted in the 23d W. V. I., under Col. Lewis, of Madison, with which he served till the close of the war, and was mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth, Kan .; he then returned to Hartford, where he made his home till about 20 years of age, and was engaged in attending and teaching school ; he was next in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, and, after seventeen years' stay at Hart- ford, was sent to Randolph as operator for a short time; thence to Swartzberg, Milwaukee Co., as operator for three and a half years ; thence to Richfield, Washington Co., as agent for one and one-half years; then again to Randolph, where he has been as agent for the Company since 1875. June 11, 1873, he married Miss Amy A., daughter of George and Celia Ellis, of the town of Granville, Milwaukee Co., by whom he had one son-George, deceased. Mrs. Smith died Dec. 19, 1874. Mr. Smith has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity since 1877.

JOHN SMITH, farmer, Sec. 31; P. O. Randolph ; is a son of Gabriel Smith and Mary Peter- son ; born in Chemung Co., N. Y., June 11, 1824 ; his father was born in 1795, and his mother in 1802; when 16 years of age, he began the ship-carpenter's trade at Fishkill, N. Y., which he afterward followed for a number of years ; in 1847, he emigrated to Waukesha Co., Wis., his parents having come the year before ; in 1848, he, with his father, came to the town of Calamus, Dodge Co., and entered 130 acres of land on Section 31, Calamus, and eighty acres in Section 36, town of Courtland, Columbia Co., where he has since made his home. Here his parents both died-his father Feb. 17, 1864, and his mother Feb. 13, 1878, leaving five children, as follows-Adaline (now Mrs. James Stall, of Chemung Co., N. Y.), John (the subject of this sketch, who married Miss Mary J., daughter of Sylvester and Catherine Churchill, of Oneida Co., N. Y., Jan. 3, 1850, and has had five children-Athalia A. (now Mrs. Carlton Toby, of Courtland, Columbia Co., Wis.), Sarah C. (now of Buffalo, N. Y.), Anson G. (deceased), John G. and Harvey L .; the rest of his father's family are Ann E. (now Mrs. L. Stonements, of Beaver Dam), Mary W. (now Mrs. Harvey Hitchcock, of Brown Co., Minn.), O. P. (now of Janesville, Minn.), Lanata (deceased). John has 480 acres of land in Duel Co., Dakota.

JOSEPH STALKER, retired farmer, Randolph; is a native of Albany Co., N. Y .; son of William and Jane (Allen) Stalker; born June 4, 1803; Joseph followed farming with his father, in Albany Co., till about 24 years of age. March 12, 1828, he married Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Will- iam and Margaret Machesney, of Albany Co., N. Y., after which he rented a farm in that county for two years ; then, in 1830, removed to Schenectady Co., N. Y., where he purchased a farm, and continued a tiller of the soil there for fourteen years ; in 1846, with his family, he emigrated to the town of Manches- ter, Green Lake Co., Wis., where he followed farming nearly twenty-one years, whence, in the spring of

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The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 108

Author: Western Historical Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 774

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 774