The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages etc, Part 154

Author: Western Historical Co., pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1050

USA > Wisconsin > Waukesha County > The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages etc > Part 154

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JOHN BURNELL, farmer, Secs. 6 and 7; P O. North Prairie; born May 7, 1801, in York- shire, England ; at one time he managed a 700-acre farm in his native land ; came to America in 1834, and settled for three years in White Pigeon, Mich .; made a claim (his present farm) in 1836, on which he settled with his family, June 11, 1837 ; built the largest log-house in the vicinity, ransacking two towns for men enough to raise it ; he had sent in from Michigan twenty-one barrels of flour, which were quickly snapped up by the settlers ; returning, he brought in six barrels of flour, the first head of cattle, and the first twenty hogs brought into Mukwonago; also, brought in the first fall wheat, raising 200 bushels for his first crop; flour in Milwaukee was worth $13 per barrel, and pork, $36; many of the settlers were half-starved, during the fall of 1837, when Judge Mix, of Constantine, Mich., sent in a large amount of flour made of wheat raised that year. Mr. B. first reached Waukesha with his breaking team of four horses, and, like the rest of the pioneers, went to his claim via Mukwonago ; he opened the first road to Waukesha, past Spring Lake; his half-section, once a burr-oak-flat, is now one of the best farms in the county, the old log-house being replaced years ago by a substantial two-story brick residence; his main barn, with basement, is 24x137 feet in size. Married, 1828, Miss Ann Walgate, who died 1840, leaving four children-William (deceased), Henry, Elizabeth, and Sarah (deceased). Married again Miss Jane Cobb, of Yorkshire, who died in September, 1879, leaving six children-Mary J., Ann, Hannah, Emma, John and Kate J. ; Helen, the third daughter, died in July, 1867. Mr. Burnell is a Democrat, and a genuine representative of the sturdy pioneers who opened up and developed this grand old county. He was for years noted for his first-class sheep, horses, etc., and as a dealer in horses.

J. W. CAIRNCROSS, M. D., Mukwonago; was born Sept. 19, 1852, in Lisbon, Wan- kesha Co., Wis., of which town his parents, George and Amy Cairncross, were farmers ; after a course of study in the district schools and the Pewaukee high school, he began the study of medicine with M. R. Hewitt, a graduate and warm friend of Bellevue Medical College, New York City, and at whose instance young Cairncross entered this well and widely known medical school, graduating therefrom as physician and surgeon in February, 1875 ; locating at once in Mukwonago, he has established a most satisfactory practice. He married Miss Helen, daughter of Isaac Smith, of Pewaukee ; they have an infant son, as yet, unnamed. The Docter is a Republican and a member of Pewaukee Lodge, I. O. O. F. This family originated and derive the name from the cairns and crosses of Scotland, and is one of the pioneer families in the county, settling here in 1842.

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TOWN OF MUKWONAGO.

THOMAS CARROLL, farmer, Sec. 1; P. O. Genesee ; born in 1816, in the County of Wickford, Ireland ; was a farmer and mason there; sold his farm in 1850, and came with his family to America, locating in Mukwonago ; he worked the first year for W. C. Chapin, at $13 per month, and was obliged to do this as he had exhausted his means in crossing the ocean ; the next ten years were spent working at his trade ; he then worked the farm of a Mr. Wilson ; having saved $200, he now bought 40 acres, but sold it in three years for $1,200, a gain of $200 on first cost; he next bought 120 acres at $2,300, paying $1,000 down; his wife died here, leaving him seven children, Margaret, William, Michael, Thomas, Mary A., John and Lizzie ; his son David was mate on a Mississippi steamer, died at New Orleans. Mr. Carroll's present farm of 90 acres is well improved, and has good buildings. He married in July, 1871, Mrs. Margaret, widow of John Colloton, who was a native of County Monahan, Ireland ; born in 1821 ; he came to America in 1839, lived two years in the State of New York, and came to Wisconsin in 1841, and bought in 1844, his farm of 90 acres, which he improved, and on which he died in 1864. His wife was Margaret Brenne, of County Clare, Ireland, who came to America in 1846 ; he left her five children, Mary A., Lizzie, Sarah, Margaret and Adelaide. The combined estate of 180 acres, is now con- trolled by Mr. Carroll and his youngest son. The family are Roman Catholics ; politics, Democratic.

WILDER C. CHAFIN, deceased ; was born in Weston, Vt., Dec. 1, 1813 ; atter engaging at cabinet making in Woodstock, Vt., for some years, he came to Mukwonago late in 1836, making a claim on Sec. 36, which he bought at the land sale three years later, and which is now so good a family home ;. he built a log house and lived as a pioneer, returning in an early day for a visit to his native State; he was married in 1845, to Miss Amelia T., daughter of Gaylord Graves; she was born in the town of Fowler, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., and accompanied her parents in a covered wagon to Wisconsin, during the winter of 1837, a trip few would undertake now, though they heeded the hardships but little then. Mr. Chafin lived to do good work, clearing, building and adding to his farm ; at his death Oct. 8, 1870, he left seven children-Laura E., Parthena A., Mary J., Nettie, Page W., Gaylord G. and Nellie M .; Page W. died in November, 1871. Mr. Chafin was a Congregationalist and a Republican. While trying to hold a young, spirited, and at the time frightened team, he was thrown to the ground, and injured so badly as to live but two days ; a most honorable, charitable and manly man, his death was the occasion of the most sincere expressions of grief and respect by all who knew him. His wife and family enjoy a most pleasant home on the 200-acre farm south of the village ; Mrs. Chafin is a Baptist in religion.

CHARLES L. CLARK, farmer, Sec. 21; P. O. Mukwonago; born in Whiteside Co., Ill., 1838; his father, Charles Clark, removed with his family from New York to Ohio about 1834, going from there to Illinois, and settling in Mukwonago in 1845 ; his elder son, Charles L. was educated here, and settled on his farm of 120 acres in 1866 ; has made the improvements himself. Married, in the spring of 1862, Miss Hannah, daughter of William Hill, deceased, who was one of the early settlers of this town; they have five children-Margaret E., William O., Alice E., Stanton R. and Ethel A. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are Congregationalists, he being an Independent Republican and a member of Mukwonago Division S. and D. of T. ; his father died in 1845; his mother is now living in North Wisconsin; his only brother, William O. Clark, enlisted among Berdan's famous sharpshooters, served through the Peninsular campaign, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Charles City Cross Roads, Va. Charles L. Clark is thus the only living member of this branch of the family. Mr. Clark is breeding full-blooded Spanish merino sheep from J. J. Brainerd's flock, of Attica, N. Y., now having 114.

THOMAS COATS, deceased ; born Nov. 5, 1809, in Yorkshire, England; came to America about 1830, his family being one of the first to settle on White Pigeon Prairie, Mich ; in 1835, the brothers, Thomas and John, came to Wisconsin, reaching what is now Sec. 7, Mukwonago, via Southport (Kenosha), making a claim to several hundred acres here; they then returned to Michigan for provisions and stock ; Mr. Coats made many a trip after this to the same State for supplies, the bachelor settlers meeting him, in a half-starved condition, at the Indian village of Mukwonago ; the old wagon used for these trips is still kept as a relic on the farm. Among the first settlers here, were the Sugdens, widow and six children ; part of the family located on Sec. 17, now the Hill farm ; entirely destitute of means, this heroic pioneer family saw, perhaps, more of the actual suffering and privations incident to that early day, than any other in this county ; a scant supply of potatoes, eaten without even salt, was their only sustenance for some time. On the 23d of March, 1840, Jane, the second daughter married Mr. Coats, they beginning housekeeping in the log house of John Coats, who lived with them ; in May, 1842, having built a part of the present house, they removed, living for years in what is now the front parlor, doing the cooking in a shanty under a noble burr oak, which still spreads its branches over the family roof. Mr. Coats died in 1865, leaving eight children-Mary (Mrs. Amos Patterson), Richard and George, farming

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in Mukwonago, Andrew J., Ellen, Charles H. and Emma, all on the homestead ; Ada J. is now Mrs. T. E. Swan, of Heart Prairie ; John, the eldest son, died in 1861; the 280 acres of improved land, on Secs. 7 and 8, with its large and substantial house and barns, are the result of the energy and pluck of Thomas Coats, who is missed by a host of warm friends, as a man ever open handed to the needy and always ready to encourage any enterprise that gave promise of good; he was a stanch Repubilcan, as are his sons. A. J. and C. H. Coats are breeding the best of stock ; P. O. address, North Prairie.

J. N. CRAWFORD, farmer, Sec. 24; P. O. Mukwonago ; born Sept. 19, 1837, in Huron Co, Ohio; his parents, formerly from Delaware Co., N. Y., left Obio in 1852, and settled in Baraboo, Wis .; in 1860, J. N. Crawford went to Colorado ; he is a carpenter by trade, and began work among the mines ; the firm of Woodbury, Norton & Crawford, of Black Hawk, Colo., erected most of the mining machinery used in that State for several years ; their contracts were with United States Senator Hill, the Black Hawk Mining Company, Smith & Parmlee, the Briggs Mining Company, etc. Mr. Crawford began empty-handed, earned a competence, and, in 1868, returned to Wisconsin, buying his present farm of 161 acres. On the 24th of March, 1868, he married Miss Louie, daughter of Hon. Jesse Smith, of Vernon ; they have five children-Martha, Louie B., Willie N., Jessie L. and Nora. Mr. Crawford is a member of the Universalist Society of Mukwonago, is a Republican, has been Chairman of the Town, was one of the original Trustees of the Town Insurance Company, and has been its President since 1876. Mr. Crawford is one of the most successful of the breeders of fine-wool sheep in Wisconsin ; he began with registered sheep from the flock of S. B. Lusk, Western New York, and has since bought of Stickney, of Vermont, and J. H. Paul, of Genesee, now having fifty registered animals, which are hard to beat; his Poland China hogs are from the herds of Magee, Shepherd & Alexander, Ellsworth & Street and other noted breeders ; of late, he has interested himself in Jersey cattle, having made valuable purchases from C. T. Bradley, Milwaukee.

WILLIAM M. FRAZIER, farmer, Sec. 24 and 25; P. O. Mukwonago; is a son of John and Mary (Walker) Frazier, and was born Sept. 14, 1816, in Homer, Cortland Co .; N. Y. Mr. F. is of Scotch ancestry, and resided in his native State as a farmer until June, 1845, when he settled on a part of his present farm of over 500 acres ; his first visit West was in 1840; Southport (Kenosha), Milwaukee and Racine were then villages; Whitewater consisted of two or three log houses, one used as a hotel ; Perkins' mill in Burlington was the only available one for settlers in the eastern part of Racine County ; five years later he saw the Janesville and Milwaukee road thronged with teams loaded with wheat grown on land that was untouched in 1840, and four-horse stages carried a daily mail each way; To show that he entered heartily into the progressive spirit of the times, we may look over his handsome cultivated fields, and at his small village of farm buildings, to which he is still adding; the log house, built forty-four years ago by James Orrendorff, as a hotel, was for years the best in the vicinity, but was

abandoned owing to its unhealthy location, Mr. F. building a log house on the site of his present frame. farm house, which replaced it in 1858; his first barn, built with a basement, was 30x40, and since, he has built two sheep barns, one 20x120 and one 18x36, a horse barn 24x48, coro house 18x24, tool-house 16x40, granary, colt stable, etc. He married Miss Martha M. Thompson, a native of Lodi Plains, N. Y .; they have two daughters-Lillian M. and M. Wilmina. Mr. and Mrs. Frazier are leading members of the Universalist Society of Mukwonago, he having been Supervisor of the town several terms, Town Clerk and Chairman. Politics, Republican. He has bred fine-wool sheep for twenty-five years, past, and now has a flock of 350, besides other stock.

JOHN H. GUDGER, farmer, Sec. 19; P. O. Eagle; born in Delafield, Waukesha Co., Wis., in 1851 ; son of John and Lydia Gudger, who came from Yorkshire, England, to Waukesha Co. about forty years ago, buying canal land of the Government; of the ten children, the four eldest were born in England ; David, the eldest son, one of the 2d W. V. I., was killed in the battle of Gettysburg ; William, the second son, is now a Kansas farmer ; John H. has lived in his native county, with the exception of five winters spent in North Wisconsin pineries , in 1875, his father bought the Skidmore estate of the widow of Isaiah Skidmore ; sold it to his son in two years, who has sold 140 acres of it, now owning 160 acres, well improved ; the large two-story brick house was built by Mr. S. at a cost of $4,000; he also erecting the barns and setting out the beautiful evergreens, and otherwise improving it. Mr. Gudger married, in 1877, Miss Mary Gillard, of East Troy, Wis. As a stock-breeder, he has a herd of thoroughbred Durham cattle, besides Spanish merino sheep, Norman horses, hogs, etc. Is a Republican. His father is a retired farmer of Pewaukee, his honored mother having gone to her fioal long rest. None of the early settlers did better than Mr. G., who earned a competence, besides giving generous aid to each of his ten children,

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TOWN OF MUKWONAGO.

EDWARD HARDAKER, farmer, Sec. 10; P. O. Mukwonago; born in Yorkshire, England, Oct. 17, 1834 ; his parents, John and Mary (Dunwell) Hardaker, came to America in 1845. Leaving his family in Massachusetts, John H. came at once to Mukwonago and bought 40 acres ; his family joined him at the end of two years. His son, our subject, was educated in England, and has been a life-long farmer ; bought his farm of 120 acres in 1865; during fifteen years of active and successful farming here, he has built a large and tasteful residence, a 36x42 foot barn, and other substantial build- ings. Miss Mary Briley, of Oldham, Lancastershire, England, joined her sister in Milwaukee, Wis., in October, 1860, and married Mr. Hardaker there March 16, 1862; they have seven children-Lydia, Charles H., Cecelia, Mary A., Sarah E., John E. and James E. Mr. H. is a Republican, and independ- ent of church or societies ; has usually from fifty to seventy-five excellent grade sheep, with good cattle and other stock.

JAMES HARDY, farmer, Sec. 2; P. O. Genesee ; born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, Jan. 26, 1819, son of Henry and Sarah (Reeves) Hardy, who emigrated to America, in 1842, spent a few weeks in Albany, N. Y., then came to Mukwonago, and settled on the Hardy homestead ; they were accompanied by James Hardy, and his wife, whom he married Dec. 25, 1840, she being Miss Dinah Gelder, a native of Westborough, Yorkshire ; the Hardys had been linen manufacturers in England, and found it awkward work to swing the ax ; at sight of the log shanty the elder Mrs. Hardy cried : "We never can live here," but live there they did until the next year, when they built a good log-house ; the farm was burr oak openings, there being only four or five houses between them and the river, and none on " The Point ;" the next progressive step was to build a good frame house ; Mrs. Hardy, Sr, died May 20, 1850, and Henry Hardy, March 4, 1874; Mr. and Mrs. James Hardy have nine living children : Dinah, Cynthia, Mary, Sarah, Robert, John, Jane, Anna, and Elizabeth ; Henry, the eldest son, enlisted in Col. Paine's 4th W. V. I. and died at Baltimore, March 14, 1862; the next son, William, of the 24th U. S. Regulars, died at Vicksburg, Miss., Nov. 13, 1866 ; the family are now living in their fourth house, a substantial two-story brick structure ; the improved farm is provided with all needed barns, stock, implements, etc. ; one feature of Mr. Hardy's history is most marvelous ; while engaged in reaping clover for seed in the fall of 1875, he fell from the seat, directly in front of the terrible knives ; the team drew these, playing like lightning, over and through him, cutting off several toes, gashing his arms in a horrible manner, and a ten-inch gash in his chest, by which the action of the lungs, heart, etc., were exposed to full view ; the six physicians in attendance at different times agreed in pronouncing the case hopeless; Mr. Hardy attributes his almost miraculous recovery to the faithful nursing of Dr. Robert Sabin, and that of his own devoted family, dur- ing the fourteen long, weary months of his confinement to the house ; the cost of that day's reaping was over a thousand dollars ; Mr. and Mrs. Hardy are members of the Genesee Congregational Church. Politics, independent.

GEORGE HENDERSON, farmer, Sec. 18, P. O. Eagle; born in the parish of Orwell, Perthshire, Scotland, July 1, 1805. At 21, he left home and traveled through England and Western Europe for the ensuing three years ; the next eight years were spent on a steamer plying between Liver- pool and Glasgow ; he then kept hotel nine years in the latter city ; in 1850, with his wife and four children, he came to America and Waukesha Co., buying his present farm of William Ellis. Mr. Hen- derson has done good work during his thirty years' residence here, building barns, stable, shop, etc., and adding a brick wing to the honse ; his farm of 240 acres is well improved, as is that of his son, who owns 100 acres near it. Mr. H. married Miss Agnes Duncan, a native of Maskinch, Fifeshire, on the 13th of Nov., 1829 ; they have four living children-Isabel, Agnes, George and Thomas ; the eldest daughter is wife of Gardner Campbell, proprietor of the Centennial Foundry, Milwaukee; Agnes is Mrs. James Colman, of Puget Sound, W. T .; George married Miss Elizabeth Hill, and is a thriving farmer ; Thomas married Miss Clara Cole, of Mukwonago, and is on the homestead. The old couple are Presbyterians. Poli- tics; liberal.

WILLIAM HILL, deceased; born 1805, in Cheshire, England; married Miss Rachel Bradley, who was born Oct. 9, 1810, in Yorkshire ; they came to America with four children, in 1840; reaching Waukesha, they were unable to find other shelter than a stable, where Mrs. Hill lay sick, while her husband searched ont a home, her children suffering for the bread she was unable to get them; Mr. Hill bought 80 acres on Sec. 17, living in a log house ; Mr. Hill did good work with his ax and breaking plow, building up a good home, and a good and honorable name. He died Feb. 6, 1870, leaving six children-Jacob, David, Jane, Anne, Mary and Elizabeth; James Hill died before his father ; Mary and her husband William Shultis are with the widow. Mr. and Mrs. H. were among the founders of the Genesee Congregational Church.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES :

GEORGE G. HOWARD, farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. North Prairie; born in Suffolk, England, April 13, 1814; spent his younger life in his native land as a butcher; came to America in 1832 and located in Detroit, Mich., where he engaged in his business, and married, March 22, 1837, Miss Eliza Moody, of Yorkshire, England ; in 1842 they came to Mukwonago and bought their farm of the Govern- ment; lived like pioneers, as they were, in a log house still standing as a memento beside the commodious frame structure, which is the reward of honest labor and care ; a further reward is the 173 acres of well- fenced and improved farm land. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have seven children-Charles, Mary A., Caroline, Benjamin, Alfred, Frances and Eliza ; the second son married Miss Mary J. Owens, and owns a small farm adjoining that of his father's, which he manages, devoting it to grain and stock. Mr. and Mrs. Howard are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politics independent.

MATTHEW HOWITT, miller; Mukwonago; born in Livingston Co., N. Y., Jan. 2, 1838; son of Andrew and Agnes (McKaro) Howitt, who emigrated from Scotland; Matthew attended the schools of his native county, residing there until 1856, when the family settled in the town of Lisbon; three years later he entered the flouring mill at Pewaukee, learned the business, and with B. Boorman, bought the Kellogg mill in Vernon, owned it two years, and sold it in 1864; spent a year in Sauk Co., Wis., and has since been in the milling business in Waukesha Co .; in 1878, the brothers Matthew and John Howitt, bought and now own the water-power, grist and saw-mill in Mukwonago; they also own and lease the cheese factory. The parents died in Lisbon, leaving ten children. Mr. Howitt married Mary Vass of Vernon, who died in 1872, leaving a son John W .; his present wife was Miss Mary J. Small, of Lisbon; they have two children, Belle and George Roy. Mr. Howitt is a Republican, and was Chairman of the town in 1889.

WALTER IRVING, farmer, Sec. 20; P. O. North Prairie; born in Alabama, Genesee Co., N. Y., Jan. 6, 1835; his parents, Walter and Jane (Christie) Irving, were Scotch; the father came to Wisconsin in 1846, and bought a tract of land near Madison, the family came up the lakes and joined him but did not go to Dane Co., owing to sickness, locating that fall on the present Irving homestead ; a log house stood on the improved 40 acres, the other 40 acres was openings ; Walter Irving, Jr., has owned the farm since 1860, added 80 acres, built a good house, basement barns, and improved generally. He married Miss Carrie E., daughter of P. F. Boss, one of the whole-souled pioneers of the county ; they have three children-John P., Walter W. and Lettie S., all born on the homestead, where their grandfather died Sept. 26, 1877, aged 81; the widow lives, hale and hearty in her 82d year. The old couple were Presby- terians; father and sons Republicans in politics.

E. S. KELLOGG, miller, Mukwonago ; born in 1846 in Vernon, Waukesha Co., Wis. His father, E. H. Kellogg, settled in Vernon in 1845, built a dam and saw-mill, built a grist-mill in 1856, sold to Boorman & Howitt in 1862 ; came to Mukwonago, and in August, 1864, bought the Mukwonago Mills ; he was naturally inventive, and gave his whole time to the study of milling and milling machinery ; his patent-flour bolt and his grain cleaner proving most satisfactory in their workings ; he died April 17, 1876. His son, our subject, was educated in the common schools and in Milton College, learned milling with his father, and operated the Mukwonago mill for two years, renting it one year after the death of his honored father. He married Miss Caroline, daughter of John Platner, Esq. ; she died May 2, 1870, leaving one daughter (Clara Louise) ; his present wife was Miss Luella, daughter of F. M. Payne, Esq., whom he married Dec. 24, 1878. Mr. K. is the son and grandson of practical millers ; in politics he is an independ- ent Republican.

MILES C. LOBDELL, farmer, Sec. 16; P. O. North Prairie ; born in Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y., on March 30, 1824, son of Noble and Sarah (Clark ) Lobdell. After the death of his mother, his father married again, and in 1846 came to Eagle, Wis., where he died in 1862. Miles C. was educated in his native county, residing there as a farmer until May, 1848, when he came with his wife to Wiscon- sin ; she was born in Hamburg, Erie Co., a daughter of Wray S. and Nancy Green Littlefield, both of whom died in New York State. Mr. L bought 80 acres of his present farm then in the beautiful burr oak openings of the "School Section ;" beginning with little, they spent the winter of 1849-50 in a 16x22- foot house, which was merely sided up, neither lathed nor plastered, and so open that the frost could be scraped by handfuls from the inside wall on cold mornings; Mrs. L. says she often feared her children would freeze to death, but so equal was the temperature indoors and out that they did not even take cold ; overhead on some loose boards were about forty bushels of onions grown as the first crop ; an ox team was used for breaking the virgin soil, for marketing the produce thereof, and for all visiting, church-going, etc. Miles Lobdell well represents the sturdy " York State " settlers of that day, who came West with the fixed purpose of making a home; his improved farm of 120 acres, his roomy and tasteful farm residence, base-

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ment barn and other substantial buildings are the result and reward. Of his five sons, Marion C., Dwight B. and Hamilton M. are Iowa farmers, Eugene L. and Wray O. being on the homestead ; both the daughters-Celia N. (wife of Rev. W. H. Thompson) and Sarah Belle-are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Lobdell are members of the North Prairie M. E. Church ; Mr. L. is an old-time Whig-Republican'; has grade stock and the usual crops ; his farm was the scene of the accidental shooting of the son of Joseph Smart, in August, 1849.

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The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages etc, Part 154

Author: Western Historical Co., pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Western Historical Co., pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1050