The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 111

Author: Wesern historical company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 899

USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc. > Part 111

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CITY OF JANESVII.LE.

W. T. VAN KIRK, grocer; born in Orleans Co., N. Y .: son of John J. Van Kirk, who came to Rock Co. and located in Harmony Township in 1846 ; a resident of Janesville since 1863; W. T. Van Kirk has been engaged in the grocery business since 1858; he is one of the Trustees of the State Blind Institute, also Treasurer of that institution; he is Alderman of the Second Ward, Chairman of Rock · County Republican Committee, and President of the Board of Trustees of the Fire Department; he is one of the most active and enterprising citizens of Janesville.

GARRET VEEDER, born in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1812; parents removed to Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence Co., in 1825; at this this place they resided until 1856 ; was here educated at the St. Law- rence Academy, Taylor Lewis, Principal, and R. W. Judson, Assistant ; commenced to learn the printing business, in 1835, in the office of the St. Lawrence Republican. A. B. James, editor and proprietor ; trav- eled pretty extensively as a journeyman printer in 1840-45 through New York State, working in the principal cities. Married Frances Elizabeth Burke Oct. 1, 1848, in Ogdensburg. In 1856, removed to Janesville, Wis., where he has since resided. In 1863, bought a half-interest in a job printing office with Ellis Doty, located in Lappin's Block ; Doty soon sold his interest to H. L. Devereaux, of the Bur- lington Standard; the latter in turn sold to S. S. St. John. After two years under the firmn of Veeder & St. John, on the 1st of September, 1869, the publication of the Rock County Recorder was com- meneed, with C. W. McHenry as editor.' McHenry withdrew within three months and Vecder & St. John continued as editors and proprietors till July, 1873, when W. H. Leonard bought out Mr. St. John's interest. The firm is now Veeder & Leonard. Mr. Veeder is the father of six children, four of whom are dead. Charles G. Veeder. the only son, is a printer and is 25 years of age. In September, 1872, Libbie, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Veeder, married H. W. Lewis, traveling agert for Bell, Conrad & Co., of Chicago; she is now in her 28th year. Under the business management of Mr. Veeder, the Recorder has grown from a seven to a nine column paper, with a bona-fide circulation of 800. On the 18th of March, 1878, the Janesville Daily Recorder was started as a morning paper, and now has a healthy circulation of 800 subscribers, and is increasing every day. The daily and weekly Recorder are considered by many to be the best advertising mediums in Rock Co. Mr. Vecder has been a telegraph operator, railroad agent, grocer and shoe merchant, but has, from time to time, drifted back to "preserve the art of all preservatives."

J. H. WARREN, M. D., born in Hogansburg, Franklin Co., N. Y., Aug. 23, 1825; son of Lemuel and Betsey (Richardson ) Warren. His grandfather served in the Revolutionary war, and his father, a descendant of the New England Warrens, was a soldier in the war of 1812. John attended the first school taught in Janesville. At the age of 20 he studied medicine with Dr. Nichols, of Janesville, and afterward with Dr. Dyer, of Chicago, while pursuing his studies at the Rush Medical College, where he graduated in 1849. He then began the practice of medicine at Lodi, Columbia Co., till 1851, when he removed to Albany and followed the milling and mercantile business with much success till 1870. Ho has won honorable distinction as a statesman, being elected to the State Senate in 1857 and was afterward Clerk of the same. In 1862, he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue by Lincoln, which office he held seven years; he was also appointed by Secretary Stanton as Receiver of Commutation during the rebellion. He has been a Director of the Sugar Valley Railroad and a stockholder in the samo. He is the largest mail contractor in the United States, having about one hundred routes, and his business takes him to all the most remote parts of the country, which has given him unusual opportuni- ties for becoming acquainted with the nature of the Indians, and he is strongly in favor of a peace policy toward them. Throughout this public career, ho has gained a reputation for enterprise, coupled with that more commendable and rarer clement, sterling integrity, which has served to give him a prominent position among the representative men of the State. He changed from the Whig party to the Republican party, in which ranks he still serves. He was reared a Presbyterian, though not a member of any church, and believes in the principles of Christianity as inculcated by his mother. He married Dec. 18, 1854, Miss Louisa M. Nichols, daughter of his old preceptor ; they have two sons and five daughters-Herbert N. Julia, Lissie, Gertrude, Lulu, Benjamin and Fannie. The eldest son is a graduate of Rush Medical College and is intending to pursue his studies in Europe.

CHARLES G. WILLIAMS was born at Royalton, Niagara Co., N. Y., Oct. 18, 1829. He is of New England parentage, his father being born at Hartford, Conn., and his mother at Shorcham, Vt. Ile is the youngest of a family of ten children ; his first educational advantages were such as only a district school afforded, and were much interrupted by ill-health. He early manifested an aptitude for public speaking, and the debating schools of the neighborhood were places of special delight to him ; hero he met the farmers in discussion, and soon placed himself on the best of terms with them, and it has been a subject of remark with him, in later years, that he found his truest friends among this class of men. At the

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age of 14, he notified his father of his desire to study law. This proposition was met with an incredulous smile, but the boy proved the better prophet of the two. His father entered into full sympathy with his desires, and was planning to give him a thorough education, but died when Charles was 16, throwing him entirely upon his own resources for the future. By the aid of his two brothers, E. W. and M. B. Williams, of Lockport, N. Y., and by teaching and working at day-labor during vacation, he completed a thorough academic course at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N. Y. He always speaks with gratitude of the timely aid of these two brothers, and gives some ludicrous accounts of the economy he was com- pelled to practice during these years. He commenced the study of law in the office of Judge L. F. & George Bowen, of Lockport, N. Y., teaching a portion of the time in the high school at that place. In 1852, he moved to Rochester, N. Y., where he completed his studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Here, the same year, he married Miss Harriet Gregg, daughter of Benjamin Gregg. and entered at ouce into the practice of his profession, which, with rigid economy, enabled him to meet current expenses. He fully intended making Rochester his permanent home, but, at the end of the first year, through mutual acquaintances, the Greggs being relatives of Mrs. Noggle, he received a very liberal offer from the late Judge Noggle, of Janesville, to come to that place and take charge of his legal business, as he was desirous of retiring from practice. As the Judge was soon after elevated to the bench, this afforded Mr. Williams a rare opportunity for entering at once into a lucrative practice. Two months after he reached Janesville, his wife, who had long been in ill-health, died. Afterward, he married Mary A., eldest daughter of Judge Noggle. They have two children-a daughter, Kate A., and a son, Ward D. The attachment which grew up between Judge Noggle and Mr. Williams has often been remarked upon. Both were positive, combative men, not at all reserved in the expression of their opinions, yet, though associated in the closest social and business relations for twenty years and more, an unkind word of a per- sonal nature was never known to pass between them. They agreed almost by intuition on all public ques- tions, and where they disagreed, no personal feeling was engendered. This attachment continued down to the death of the Judge, which occurred at the house of Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams reached Janesville in 1856, and that year was prominently brought before the public in connection with the Fremont cam- paign. As an ardent Republican, he needed only an opportunity to express his mind on political matters. and very soon attracted attention, and took rank with the best speakers of the Northwest. He was engaged to canvass the State, and spoke in every considerable town in Wisconsin. During this campaign, he received many complimentary notices from the press, both as an orator and a man of ability in the legal profession. The prominence thus gained had its advantages and disadvantages. While he entered actively upon the practice of his profession, each political canvass took him away from it for weeks, and sometimes months. Notwithstanding this, and the fact of continued ill-health, he and his partner, up to the time he entered upon official life, had one of the best law practices in Southern Wisconsin. In 1868, Mr. Williams was a Republican Presidential Elector, and the same year was elected a member of the State Senate, over which body he presided as President pro tem. He was re-elected to the Senate, in 1870, and made Pres. ident pro tem., and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of that body. He at once took a front rauk among the leaders of the Senate. He was nominated by acclamation by his party, for Congressman, and elected to the XLIIId Congress. He has been renominated and re-elected successively to the XLIVth. XLVth and XLVIth Congresses, practically without much opposition, and by majorities ranging from four to six thousand. At his last election, a large Democratic vote was cast for him on the hard-money issue. Though what would be called a stalwart Republican of the strictest sect, and particularly outspoken in his feelings and views, yet, some of his most intimate and life-long friends have been Democrats of equally pronounced views. No man has ever pretended to doubt or question Mr. Williams' sincerity or personal honor, and probably no member of Congress ever enjoyed, in a greater degree, the confidence and esteem of his constituents. Mr. Williams' course in Congress has been characterized by becoming reserve and sound practical judgment. After careful study, he has spoken upon nearly every important question which came before the house during his term of service, among which may be mentioned Inter-State Commerce, Cen- tennial Exposition, Civil Rights, Force Bill, Specie Payments, Transfer of the Indian Bureau, Chinese Emigration, Electoral Count, Arrearage of Pensions, Election Laws, and Army and other appropriation bills of the last session of Congress. Some of these speeches have been widely circulated in the South. = in the North. His reputation in Congress has been one of steady and healthy growth, and his course in the session just closed has given him a marked distinction as a faithful and fearless champion of the right, und a sagacious, sound and safe legislator. He has been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives for six consecutive years, and was promoted to the Committee on Judiciary at the beginning of the present Congress. Mr. Williams has spoken in Maine, Ohio and other States, during political campaigns, and taken high rank among the public speakers of the country. His oration at

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CITY OF JANESVILLE.

Arlington Heights, on the 30th of May, 1878, was pronounced by competent judges to be one of the best aver delivered there. The two distinctive characteristics of his public life have been sympathy for the soldier and the persecuted colored people of the South. He has never let an opportunity slip for saying a word or doing an act for either of these. His rooms at Washington are frequented by exiles from the South, both white and black, and he is thus afforded full opportunity for judging of the actual condition of things in that section. Mr. Williams is emphatically a man of the people, never hesitating to espouse their cause, regardless of consequences to himself. He is of a most affable disposition, and no person, either man or child, ever approached him with a fear of a want of cordial welcome. While full of sympathy and humor, be possesses great decision of character, and the consistency of his course, through twenty-five years of eventful history, has been preserved without a blemish. He is now 49 years of age, in robust health, of strictly temperate habits, in full possession of his powers, and believed to have a useful and brilliant future before him. His beautiful residence, at Janesville, is the home of a loving, refined and happy family.

A. D. WICKHAM, Justice of the Peace; born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y .; admitted to practice in 1845; came to Janesville, March, 1856, and has been engaged in the practice of law ever since; was City Assessor two terms, and elected Justice of the Peace in 1878. Judge Wickham is a prominent member of the Temple of Honor.

GEORGE H. WILLISTON, retired ; born in Binghamton, Broome Co., N. Y .; settled in Harmony Township, Rock Co., Wis., April 22, 1837 (on Sec. 17); remained there till December, 1841, when he removed to Janesville, having been elected that year Register of Deeds ; was re-elected for five years consecutively ; he was in the grocery business about two years ; held the position of City Clerk from 1863 to 1870; was Assessor several years; Mr. Williston is still the owner of most of the farm where he first located in this county. Married Nancy A. Fordham, a native of Pennsylvania, April, 1839; she came to Rock Co. in June, 1839 ; had four children-Jennie E. (now Mrs. Nash, of Dakota Territory), Clara H. (who resides with her parents), Horace (Secretary of the Menominee River Lum- ber Co., and located in Chicago), William H. (also a resident of Chicago).

HON. JOHN WINANS, the son of William R. Winans and Catharine Winans, whose maiden name was Simonson, was born in the town of Vernon, county of Sussex, N. J., on the 27th day of September, 1831 ; his father, a descendant of the Hollanders who were among the earliest settlers of that State, was a relative of Hans Ross and Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, and he was at the head of a large manufacturing establishment in that city for a number of years, and he, in connection with Ross and Thomas Winans, spent several years in Russia in manufacturing and keeping in repair the rolling-stock on the railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow, under contracts with the Russian Government, and in this and his other business pursuits, he accumulated a handsome property ; he also held for many years the office of Justice of the Peace in New Jersey, and, though he was not specially educated for the legal profession, he was admitted to practice in all the courts of that State, and his great natural abilities soon gave him a lucrative practice and a commanding position, showing that had he in early life chosen this field of labor, he would have attained the highest rank in the profession ; during the last years of his life, he was a resident of Rock Co. in this State, where his aged widow still resides. The subject of this sketch spent his early years attending school and assisting his father in his business ; he received an academic education at Deckertown Academy, in Sussex Co., in his native State, after spending some time at a private school at Warwick, Orange Co., N. Y .; after reading law at Newton and Trenton, N. J., about four years, and a portion of the time with the Hon. Martin Ryerson, since one of the Circuit and Supreme Court Judges of that State, he was, in the fall of 1855, admitted to practice in all its courts. On the 14th day of November, 1855, he married Maggie A. Cochran, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Dennis Cochran, with whom he lived in constant and undisturbed felicity until the 22d day of December, 1878, when she was called from her earthly home and friends, to whom she was tenderly attached, to the everlasting abodes of the blessed, to receive the reward of a pure, charitable and unostentatious Christian life. In the fall of 1857, Mr. Winans removed to Wisconsin, locating at Janesville, engaging in the practice of his profession, where he has since resided. The source of every lawyer's wealth, so far as the practice of his profession is concerned, is in the confidence reposed in him as a man and lawyer, by the people with whom he becomes acquainted; this confidence, though easily lost, can only be won and retained by a long, useful and honorable professional career. The large, successful and constantly increas- ing legal business of Mr. Winans in both civil and criminal cases in Rock and other counties of this State, shows that he has not only won the confidence and estecm of his fellow-citizens, but that he most worthily retains them. He combines in himself most of those qualifications which are requisite for an able lawyer; he is upright and learned in his profession, industrious and attentive to business, bringing to

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the mercantile business in view, he chose the latter, and Aug. 15, 1865, came to Wisconsin and located in Beloit, where he soon after accepted a position as salesman in Mr. S. S. Waterman's dry-goods store, with whom he continued till Jan. 20, 1868, when he went to Oneonta, N. Y., and organized the dry- goods firm of Bedford & Baumes. Believing the prospects for business enterprises to be far better in the West than in the East, and realizing the need of a larger place to conduct as large a business as he wished to do, he sold out his interest in the store in Oneonta and returned to Beloit in May of the same year, when he was offered his former position of book-keeper and head clerk in Mr. Waterman's store, which position he retained till Aug. 24, 1870. On Aug. 25 of the same year, he accepted a position in the wholesale department of Field, Leiter & Co's store in Chicago, and continued with that firm till April 21, 1871, when he returned to Beloit, to give all his time and business ability to the firm of Carpenter & Baumes, which firm was organized in March, 1871, the members of the firm being James M. Carpenter and William H. Baumes. Mr. Baumes remained a member of that firm till Feb. 1, 1879, when the firm was dissolved by mutual consent. During the eight years of the business career of the above firm, it enjoyed unbounded prosperity, and did a larger dry-goods business than any firm ever transacted in Beloit, its sales reaching $100,000 annually, and, notwithstanding the panic of 1873, the hard times and shrink- age in values of all kinds of merchandise, from 1875 to 1878, the business of this firm was but slightly affected, and cach year they were enabled to realize handsome dividends from their business. On Feb. 1, 1879, the firm of Carpenter & Baumes was dissolved by mutual consent, and Mr. Baumes opened his pres- ent dry-goods store, situated on the corner of State and Broad streets, which is the largest store in the city used for the dry-goods business. His trade is very large, and his. sales show a handsome increase each month, and Mr. Baumes is well pleased with his successful and profitable business. He has no partner in his business. On Jan. 2, 1879, the Citizens' National Bank of Beloit was organized, and Mr. Baumes was elected Cashier, which office he held until April 16 of the same year, when he resigned that position, to devote all his time to his mercantile and other business interests. He is still interested in the bank, and holds the office of Director. Few young men have succeeded so well. Aug. 23, 1876, Mr. Baumes married Minnie H. Chapman, at Unadilla Forks, N. Y. He has one child-William H. Baumes, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Baumes are members of the First Baptist Church of Beloit.

WILLIAM H. BEACH. Principal of the High School; was born in Seneca Falls, Seneca Co., N. Y., Oct. 8, 1835, and came to Wisconsin Sept. 1, 1875, locating at Beloit. Mr. Beach received his education at Seneca Falls Academy and Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. In 1867, he went to Dubuque. Iowa, and was appointed Principal of the High School at that place. In 1875, he moved to Beloit and accepted the position of Principal of the High School, which he still holds. Mr. Beach enlisted in the army in May, 1861, in Co. B, Ist N. Y. (Lincoln ) Cavalry, Col. Reynolds, and was Lien- tenant and Adjutant of the regiment. He was engaged in the battles of Mechanicsville, White Oak Bridge, White Oak Swamp, Antietam, Winchester (under Milroy), Piedmont, Lynchburg, Winchester (under Crook), Morefield (under Averill), Martinsburg (under Crook ), Winchester (under Sheridan), Fisher's Hill ( under Sheridan), Front Royal, Mount Jackson, and also in about forty skirmishes in Vir- ginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. He received his discharge July 7, 1865. Mr. Beach married, Dec. 26. 1867, Sarah M. Peterson, of Canoga, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Beach are members of the Presbyterian Church.

JOHN BELL was born in Chibbet, Scotland, Sept. 15, 1830; he moved to County Durham. Eng., where he was a blacksmith for five years. From Durham he went to New York City ; thence to Chicago, and from there to Beloit, Aug. 29, 1866, and since has been engaged as foreman of the forging shop of Merrill & Houston's Iron Works. Mr. Bell married, Dec. 31. 1856, Ellen Scott, of Durham Co .. Eng .; he has five children living-William, Elizabeth, John Scott, Joseph P. and Walter A. Mr. Bell is a member of the Second Congregational Church at Beloit.

DR. SAMUEL BELL, physician and surgeon, State street; was born in Glen, Montgomery Co., N. Y., and came to Wisconsin June 10, 1849, locating in the village of Shopiere. Dr. Bell took his medical course at the University of Ann Arbor, under Prof. Moses Gunn, Professor of Surgery, and Profs. Armour and Abram Sager. He graduated with honor, passing all the chairs and received his diploma in the year 1864, his specialty being the diseases of women and children. He then went to Prairie du.Sac. Wis., and commenced the practice of medicine alone ; from there he went to Shopiere, Wis., and practiced for eight years; from Shopiere he came to Beloit, where his practice has grown to such an extent that he is unable to attend to all who call on him. Aug 10, 1864, Dr. Bell was commissioned First Assistant Surgeon of the 15th W. V. I., Col. O. C. Johnson, and went with the regiment to Atlanta, Ga .; when the time of the regiment expired returned with it to Nashville, Tenn., where they were mustered out He was then appointed Acting Assisting Surgeon under Dr. B. B. Breed, who was in charge of Hospital

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No. 1, at Nashville. Dr. Bell became a member of the State Medical Society in 1869, and has been a member of the Committees of the Society on Diseases of Women and Children, and Obstetrics. He married August, 1864, Mary Eveline Bowen, daughter of Hon. Hiram Bowen, one of the editors of the Janesville Gazette, and Postmaster of Janesville for four years. Has two children living-Nettie Evelyn and Martha Wheeler. Mrs. Bell is a member of the Episcopal Church at Beloit.

DR. C. H. BICKNELL, physician, Race street; was born March 7, 1818, at Providence, R. I .; came to Wisconsin July 15, 1838, and located at Beloit. From Providence he moved to Canaan, Essex Co., Vt., and engaged in farming; from Canaan he moved to Beloit, making the distance from Caanan to Buffalo with teams and then by steamer United States to Chicago ; thence by teams to Wis- consin. He went to farming with his father on 300 acres of land ; followed farming but five or six years ; then opened the Beloit House, which he kept four years, when he commenced the study of medicine in Rockford, Ill., under Dr. Goodhue, a prominent physician of that place. He finished his studies with his brother, G. W. Bicknell, and then engaged with his brother Thomas in the drug business, under the firm name of Bicknell Bros., which he carried on for four years; again practiced medicine with his brother G. W. up to 1861, since which time he has practiced alone. Dr. Bicknell married, Sept. 12. 1848, Eliza- beth S. Goodhue, of Sherbrooke, Canada ; has two children-Charles H. and Elizabeth. Mrs. Bicknell belongs to the Episcopal Church.

J. J. BLAISDELL, Professor of Beloit College ; was born in Canaan, Grafton Co., N. H., Feb. 8, 1827, and came to Wisconsin in September, 1859, locating at Beloit. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1846, and at the Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass., in 1852. He then moved to Lebanon and engaged in the practice of law for three years, after which, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was there Pastor of the Presbyterian Church seven years. From Cincinnati, he moved to Beloit, and since that time has been connected with Beloit College, from 1859 to 1864, as Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, and from that time, as Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Christian Evidences. Mr. Blaisdell was Superintendent of Schools in 1847, at Lebanon, N. H. In 1864 to 1869, was Super- intendent of City Schools in Beloit. In 1854, was Chaplain of the 40th Wisconsin Volunteers. He mar- . ried, Feb. 1, 1853, Susan Ann Allen, of Lebanon, N. H .; he has two children-Philip Van Bergen and. James Arnold. Mr. and Mrs. Blaisdell are members of the First Congregational Church at Beloit.

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The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 111

Author: Wesern historical company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 899

Author: Wesern historical company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 899