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 159

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 159

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DANIEL W. WARNER, Hartland ; was born in Berlin, Hartford Co., Conn. ; in early life he followed a sea-faring life on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for about four years; he afterward trav- eled over nearly every State in the Union. In 1847, he came to Wisconsin, locating in Raymond, Racine Co., where he married Martha L. Phillamore, a native of Bennington, Wyoming Co., N. Y. ; after their marriage, they came to Hartland, where they have since resided. Mr. Warner is an old resident, and a . perfect encyclopedia of genealogical knowledge; he keeps horses and carriages, and meets every train, day and night, at Hartland, for the purpose of conveying travelers to any of the resorts in this vicinity, far or near ; and also suitable "rigs " for the transportation of fishing parties to the various lakes and lakelets here- about. To use his own language, he is " compos mentis," and he is a kind-hearted, obliging man, as well as a trusty and careful driver ; he is always ready, and, although he has had several competitors for his busi- ness, has thus far crushed out all opposition ; Mr. Warner can always be depended upon, and that, together with his overflowing good nature, is probably the secret of his success. Long may he flourish.

HON. STEPHEN WARREN, the original owner of the village of Hartland ; was born in Hawkesbury, Canada ; when he was 1 year old, his father, Sylvanus Warren, moved to Niagara County, N. Y., thence to Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1834, where Stephen remained until 1838, in which year he came to Wisconsin, arriving in Waukesha County in February of that year, and at present writing is the second oldest settler now living in the town of Delafield. May 7, 1840, he married, in Merton, Mary Nicholson, a native of Essex County, N. Y .; they had two children-Myron H. and Sarah ; Myron was born in Hartland; he married Emma Crosier ; they have two children-Edith and Stephen ; Sarah died in Hart- land, in 1854. Mr. Warren and wife were the first couple married in the town of Merton, and she taught the first school in the town of Delafield. In 1840, Mr. Warren sold the mill-power on his claim in Hart- land to Christian Herschey, who built the first, flouring-mill in the town, and did a good business for several years. Mr. Warren was a member of the Wisconsin Assembly in 1855, and has also filled various local offices. He owns 270 acres of land adjoining the village of Hartland, and his buildings and grounds add much to the attraction of the place ; he came when the surrounding country was a wilderness on every side ; has been a continual resident, and has been identified with the growth and prosperity of the town

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from its infaney until the present, when it ranks in its wealth and improvements, as well as in the intelli- genee of the people, the equal of any in the county.

P. T. YOUELLS, an enterprising farmer, Sec. 10; P. O. Hartland ; was born in Livingston . County, N. Y., in the year 1824, where he remained until 1846, when he came to Wisconsin, remained a short time, then returned to his native county. In 1848, he eame again to Wisconsin, and located in the town of Delafield, Waukesha Co., where he married Annie M. Myers ; she was also a native of Livingston County, N. Y. ; they have three children-Edward M., Mary E. and Albert; Mary E. is the wife of Henry Jones, Dakota. Mr. Youells owns 236 acres of land, finely improved and located in a most desir- able portion of the town of Delafield ; he has been elected to many local positions, and is a man who takes an active part in the advancement of every enterprise that promises to be of benefit to the country in general.

TOWN OF VERNON.

HIRAM AUSTIN, farmer, Sec. 17 ; P. O. Mukwonago ; born in Columbia Co., N. Y., in 1827 ; son of Alson and Annie Austin, also New Yorkers ; the family of six came to Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1846, settled on the Austin homestead; at this time, the grave of an Indian squaw was indicated in the timbers on this farm by a gayly painted post, it being among the roots of four trees around it; the family began elearing the timber on the first 75 acres, and cut the trees spoken of; the results of the thirty- four years occupying by the Austins of this farm may be seen in the 141-acre farm, well feneed and mostly cultivated, a small but good house and a substantial basement barn built 1879; Alson A., died in Septem- ber, 1876 ; his wife having died in 1849. Hiram Austin enlisted August, 1864, in the 3d W. V. C .; the regiment was at Little Rock, Ark., doing scouting duty until March, 1865, when a squad of forty were sent to surprise and capture a party of " Johnnies " thirty-five miles from Pine Bluff; they arrived early in the morning, but found the enemy ready, and waiting to fire the first volley which killed the Union Captain ; the rebels then made a dash for our boys and captured Mr. A. and seven others ; he was kept two months at Camden, Ark., and Shreveport, La .; was paroled, exchanged and rejoined the regiment ; he reached home after eleven months of stirring military life. In the spring of 1850, Mr. Austin married Miss Maria A. David, a native of New York State, by whom he has had six children-Alson H., John H., Asa A., William C., George M. and Louis D. Mr. Austin is a Demoerat. In conclusion, we may say that the Indian grave was forgotten after the protecting stumps of the old trees deeayed, and was found by William C. Austin while plowing the field in the spring of 1880, his plow struek the skull, and the entire skeleton was discovered, the skull and several of the bones now being kept by Mr. A. as curiosities.

REV. JOHN S. BALDWIN, farmer, Secs. 7, 8 and 18; P. O. Vernon ; was born Dec. 5, 1814, in Susquehanna Co., Penn .; learned harness-making in early life, and, having united with the Baptist Church of his forefathers, began study at 20, in the Hamilton (N. Y.) Theological Seminary ; was ordained at 22, and during the next eight years worked to the best of his ability for God, and the cause of human freedom, by both sermons and publie leetures. In 1844, he located in Vernon, and the next year went to East Troy ; 1846 found him in Mukwonago ; here he rented a farm, preaching alternately in the old Baptist Church in Mukwonago, and the old square-log schoolhouse in Vernon; and prior to the war delivered many a stirring leeture to alleviate the wrongs of the slave; since the war, he has preached the war, but has done good work in the temperanee cause, and preached the funeral sermon of many of the old settlers and early friends around him, who usually request it among their last wishes ; besides his able lectures on temperance, the Elder does all he ean to forward the cause at the polls, thus securing the election of a Prohibition ticket in Vernon, 1877, and brought to punishment several violators of the law that year. The Elder is an old-time Abolitionist-Whig-Republican, serving for many years as both Town Superintendent of Schools and one of the Supervisors, and is active enough to take the census of 1880, as the Deputy United States Marshal in Vernon ; he has 256 acres of land and a good home. The Elder married in his and her native county, Miss Polly West ; they had seven children-Henrietta, Eveline, Alfred, Leander, Susie and R. H .; the eldest son, Leonidas, enlisted in Col. Daniel's 1st W. V. C., and died a few months after at Kenosha, Wis.

ROYAL L. BAYLEY, mechanic and Postmaster, Dodge's Corners ; born July 22, 1814, in Derby, Orleans Co .. Vt .; learned the cooper's trade in Windsor, Vt. On the 14th of September, 1841, he mar- ried Miss Eliza Hammond, of Windsor, they leaving for Wisconsin on the same day ; they spent the

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

winter with relatives here, he buyiug 50 acres of John Dodge, on which he built in the spring of 1841 a ribbon house, or a house of oak strips nailed one upon the other ; Mr. B. also built a shop and worked many years at his trade, also, as carpenter and joiner ; he was first appointed Deputy Postmaster, by John Dedge, and served thus until 1855, when he received the appointment and has since served. His wife died in 1869, leaving five children-Haller H., James L., Thomas F., Mary E. and John D .; the eldest is in Atchison, Kan .; J. L. is in Washington Territory ; Thomas F. is a farmer in Vernon ; the daughter resides in Racine County ; and the youngest son is on the homestead of 128 aeres. Mr. Bayley married again, Miss Susan Story, of Windsor, Vt. He is a stanch Republican, served as Town Clerk many years in suc- cession, also Supervisor, etc .; he has a large and pleasant farmhouse for his home, which was completely remodeled in 1866 ; he is the inventor of a new and somewhat novel way of laying stone walls for build- ings, ete, by which the wall is " pointed up " at the time the wall is laid.

JAMES BEGG, farmer, Sec. 12 ; P. O. Vernon ; born in Ayrshire, Scotland, July 15, 1810; when he was 8 years old, his parents emigrated and settled in New York State ; here Mr. Begg spent his younger life, and was educated, and married Miss Janet Espie ; her parents left Glasgow, her native city, and in 1818 or 1820 settled in New York City, where her father carried on business, and she was educated ; they removed to Caledonia in 1829 ; in 1841, Mr. B., wife and eldest son, settled in Pewaukee, and spent the winter ; the next spring Mr. B. bought two eighties or his present farm, one of a Mr. Farr and one of J. C. Snover, now County Judge ; an aere cleared and a log house was all he bought with the farm, which is now one of the best in Vernon, with a handsome two-story farmhouse and substantial barns built on it ; Ms. B. was the first Scotchman to vote in this town, and had some exciting adventures with wildeats, etc., in early times ; none of the early settlers here saw more of sorrow or heartache ; they have had six children, viz .: James, who served as a brave Union soldier, and died after the war ; John, the second son, born March 18, 1843, is the only one living, and is now on the homestead ; Margaret, the third, and the two youngest Willie and Mary (twins) all died within a few days of each other, in May, 1857, and were buried in one grave; Thomas, the fourth of the children, grew up to manhood, and died Dee. 13, 1866, aged 19 ; Mr. and Mrs. Begg have been members of the United Presbyterian Church since the organization of the society, he serving three or four years as Elder ; his farming is most successful, the farm now containing 170 acres. Mr. B. says he raised the first turkeys in Vernon in 1842.

IRA BLOOD (deceased). Among the well-remembered pioneers of the southwest part of the county was this gentleman, who was born in Hollis, N. H., Dee. 30, 1811 ; his parents, Isaac and Eliza- beth Blood, settled in Andover, Vt., soon after ; at 15 he went to sea with an unele, but in consequence of an accidental fall, was so injured as to abandon sea-faring life; he then began elerking at Weston, Vt., which business he followed at various points in New England; entering Chester Academy, he attended several terms, and in May, 1836, in company with Martin Fields, left for Chicago. During the summer he and Fields were engaged in surveying here, and the following October made their first visit to the Indian village of Mequonago, reaching it by way of Milwaukee and Waukesha ; soon after they were employed by the three proprietors to survey out the village plat; after this, Mr. Blood made a claim on Sec. 31, in Vernon, and built a sham log house to hold it; in December following, he and Mr. Fields returned on foot to Chicago, going from there to Hennepin, Ill , where Mr. B. taught a winter term of school, returning to his claim in the spring of 1837, on which he lived until the fall of 1839, when he returned to Vermont and married, in Chester Miss Esther P., daughter of Josiah and Esther Jordan; her father was a native of Brookline, Mass., and her mother of Chester, Vt., where Mrs. Blood was born and educated, though her ealy life was spent in Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties, N. Y. ; the bridal tour was made to Mr. Blood's Vernon claim, where his parents awaited them. Mr. B. now devoted all his energies to his profession, and was often absent from home for weeks together on this business ; he also surveyed Kneeland's Addition to Millwaukee, and much of the west part of Raeine Co .; in 1858, he was elected County Surveyor and member of the Legislature over L. Martin ; two years before this were spent in Mukwonago, in merean- tile business, lumber business, and as a teacher; he also taught in an early day in the old log house of Mr. Hough, and served several terms as town Superintendent of Schools. A stanch advocate of Temperance, he delivered many a stirring lecture to further that cause; but all his labors were ended on the 22d of February, 1868, his death causing a feeling of sineere grief throughout the county where he was known by all to be an upright and energetie man, ever ready tolend a helping hand to aid any enterprise calculated to benefit mankind. His widow, now a resident of Mukwonago, furnished most of the above facts, and oth- ers regarding the school taught by her during the winter of 1839-40, when G. W. Lucy, Wix and Cornelia Munge, E. B., Elizabeth, Sarah, Frances and Augusta Thomas, Addison Resique, Theo., Samuel and Mon- roe Payne, and Evalina Masters were her pupils among others. Mr. Blood left four children-Isaac, Ed-

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ward J., Elizabeth C. and Rosanna F. ; the eldest now owns the homestead of 410 acres, 160 of which was claimed by his honored father in 1836 ; E. J. was in the U. S. Naval Service during the war and now lives in Chicago ; E. C. is now Mrs. W. A. Gault and R. F. is the wife of A. D. Hager. Mr. Blood was a steadfast Republican of Abolition antecedents, and was County Surveyor at his death.

DUNCAN CAMERON, farmer, Secs. 8 and 17; P. O. Vernon; was born in Caledonia, Liv- ingston Co., N. Y., March 26, 1817; is a son of Duncan A. and Sarah (McCall) Cameron ; his father emigrated from Scotland about eighty years ago and his mother a few years later; they were married in Cal- edonia in 1812 and had ten children-Hugh, Duncan, Mary, Kate, Daniel, Angus, Dugal, Charles, Alex- ander and Margaret ; Dugal and Daniel were both successful physicians in Wisconsin, while Hugh, An- gus and Alexander, all lawyers, located at La Crosse, where Angus and Hugh still reside ; Alexander and Dugal were both in the U. S. service during the war, Alexander dying at the old Caledonia home while Dugal was drowned in the Mississippi at LaCrosse ; Angus has now nearly completed his term as U. S. Senator from Wisconsin. Duncan, the only farmer in the family, was the first of these noted brothers to locate in Wisconsin, and was an early settler in Vernon, which he reached in October 1841; he was educated in Lima Seminary, " a good old Methodist school," as he says; his first night in Vernon was spent in Asa A. Flint's old log tavern, and ten days later he bought his homestead; building a log house he "bached it" until June 19, 1845, when he married Miss Mary, daughter of Porter Daniels, of Manchester, Conn .; she was a most worthy wife, and at her death, Aug. 4, 1879, left him three children-Charles, Jane and George; the eldest is a resident of Yankton, D. T., and ere this is printed will have married Miss Sarah Jakinson, now of Yankton, formerly of Coony; Jane is Mrs. L. Baldwin, a resident of Glen- dale, Monroe Co, Wis; George is now on the old honicstead of 180 acres, which is mainly under cultiva- tion. Mr. Cameron is a Republican of Greenback proclivities, and has assessed the town fifteen times ; per- haps no one in the county can equal this ; he has also served as Justice of the Peace a number of terms; was one of the founders and a leading member of the Vernon U. P. Church.

PERRY CRAIG, farmer, Sec. 32; P. O. Caldwell's Prairie, Racine Co., Wis .; Mr. Craig is a native of Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y .; born Jan. 12, 1819; his early life was spent and his education attained in his native State; being left fatherless when but 8 years of age, as may be seen, Mr. C.'s success in life is owing solely to his own efforts; January, 1841, found him in Milwaukee, Wis., with 2 cents in his pocket, he having made the winter trip on horseback ; leaving Milwaukee, dinnerless, he rode to Mukwonago, and made this town his residence for five years; a carpenter by trade, his work in early times was in building the old hotel of J. H. Camp, the house of Judge Feilds, the saw and flouring mills at Saylesville, etc. Married Miss Maria L., daughter of Asa Hollister (a pioneer of "'38 "), and in the spring of 1846, began on 80 acres of his present farm, of this, perhaps 20 were somewhat improved, the 16x20 oak-boarded house comprising the buildings ; rewarded by thirty-four years of intelligent labor bere, Mr. Craig now owns 240 acres, with 20 of marsh in Racine Co., a substantial stone farmhouse replacing the shanty of 1846, which is now a stable; his farm was the scene of a well remembered fire years ago, bis barn and sheds burning to the ground in spite of the efforts of the people, who left the church in the village to aid him, the fire occurring on Sunday ; the new barn, built in 1871, is 32x42, withi basement and roomy sheds attached. Mr. and Mrs. Craig have five children-Pascal L., Asa H., Francis D., Sylvius S. and Bertie W., the eldest born in Mukwonago, and the others on the homestead ; Alice, the only girl, died when 10 years old ; the eldest is a graduate of Rush Medical College, and one of the first settlers and most successful practitioners in Alamosa, Colo., he also having a drug store and mining interest there; Asa H., born Dec. 19, 1847, was educated at Albion Academy, Dane Co. ; is author and publisher of " The Common School Question Book," "Parliamentary Practice," etc. ; served as County Superin- tendent of Instruction in 1875, and is now one of the Supervisors of Vernon, and Secretary of the W. G. and S. B. Association ; is intending to locate in Greeley, Colo., and to become one of the representative sheep-growers of that State ; Francis D. is now editor of the East Troy Gazette, a six-column weekly, with a subscription list of 550. Perry Craig is better known than almost any other member of the Southeastern Wisconsin Sheep Breeders' and Wool Growers' Association, of which he was one of the fathers, and its most faithful Secretary for many years ; he has also been Assessor, Collector, Supervisor and Chairman, lacking only one vote of representing his district in the Legislature of 1866; is a Democrat, and favors the greenback. In 1853, Mr. Craig bought a flock of the famous Atwood sheep, of Allen Shepard ; has constantly devoted himself to the work of improving his flock since that time; "Capt. Jack," bred by Millen, heads his flock of 175 noble animals, fleeces of which averaged fourteen pounds in 1879.

LEONARD DANIELS, farmer, Sec. 8; P. O. Vernon ; is a son of Porter and Cleantha Daniels, and was born in Coventry, Herkimer Co., N. Y., April 21, 1840; Porter Daniels was born March

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

17, 1803, in East Windsor, Hartford Co., Conn. ; his early life was spent in the " Nutmeg State," work- ing in the paper mills, and as a manufacturer of the time-honored Connecticut clocks, at Bristol. He married, in 1825, Miss Cleantha Carpenter, and in 1843, came with his family to Wisconsin, reaching Vernon in June; here he bought 80 acres of Uncle Sam, which he sold to Amos Goff after five years, and bought the present homestead on Sec. 8; Mr. D. has built two log and two frame houses in Wisconsin, and did the best of work as one of the early settlers, so that his present retirement is merited. His faith- ful wife died in November, 1879, at the age of 74, leaving six children-Mary, late wife of Duncan Cam- eron ; Edwin H., Watson, Henry, Jane (Mrs. Isaac Sharp) and Leonard ; E. H. is a leading merchant of St. Croix Co., Wis. ; Henry has been, for thirteen years, in business in Vernon ; Watson and Leonard are on the homestead ; Leonard Daniels has spent his life and been educated in Vernon, where he also engaged in business for a number of years. He married, in September, 1867, Miss Caroline Kells, a resident of Mukwonago, and a native of New York ; they have two children-Cymbria and Porter H. The farm of 120 acres is now owned by the brothers, Leonard and family living in the pleesant farmhouse built by his father, and is now raising and remodeling the barn. In politics, Mr. D. is a Greenbacker.

JOHN DARLING, farmer, Sec. 12; P. O. Big Bend ; is the eldest son of John and Elizabeth (Wight) Darling, and was born May 11, 1824 ; his mother died in September, 1843, in Scotland, leaving three sons-John, James and Thomas all born in Berwickshire ; the father married again to Miss Susan Bertram, by whom he had five children-Peter, David, Elizabeth, Catherine and Andrew ; in 1849, the family emigrated, and settled in Vernon, buying the homestead of 148 acres and 20 of marsh ; John Dar- ling, Sr., died June 7, 1872, leaving a record which is an example to all ; he was a native of Berwickshire, and lived and died a member of the United Presbyterian Church; he was a Republican, as are all his sons ; his eldest son has proven a worthy succesor to the homestead with its substantial house and barns ; the old farm was, in early times, a forest, 120 acres now being under cultivation ; his stepmother is still with him. Mr. Darling has served twice as Supervisor of Vernon and is one of her substantial farmers.

THOMAS DARLING, farmer and carpenter, Sec. 14; P. O. Big Bend ; born June 13, 1830, in Berwickshire, Scotland ; he is the son of John and Elizabeth ( Wight) Darling ; the family came to America and settled on Sec. 12, in Vernon, in 1849; Thomas Darling learned both the carpenter and mason's trade without help of any kind ; he has done most of the mason work on the County Poor Farm, built the houses of William Sharp, W. R. Harris and others, having worked at his trade every summer for twenty years; Mr. Darling spent the winter of 1849 in Ohio and Kentucky, and the next summer in New York ; he owns 51 acres in Vernon and a pleasant home. He married Miss Elizabeth Purvis, of Berwickshire, by whom he has six children-Elizabeth, Susan, Crissie, Mary, John and William. Mr. Darling is a Republican and served many years as Supervisor, and in 1872 and 1873 as Town Treasurer ; he is a member with his wife of the United Presbyterian Church. (For further history of the family, see biography of John Darling.)

JAMES DARLING, farmer, Sec. 11; P. O. Vernon; born in Berwickshire, Scotland, in 1827 ; his early life was spent at farming ; his father, John Darling, emigrated to the United States with his family in 1849 ; there being three sons by the first wife, viz .: John, James and Thomas; the family set- tled on Sec. 12, in Vernon, James Darling going two years later to Michigan, working three years in the pineries. He married in Michigan, January, 1853, Miss Elizabeth Harris, a sister of W. R .; she was born in Anglesea, Wales, in 1854; he returned and bought his farm of 75} acres; of this, 20 acres were poorly broken and improved, the remainder being mostly timber and brush ; the old log house of this day is replaced by a substantial frame one, and the entire farm reclaimed ; Mr. and Mrs. Darling have four living children-John, Rowland, Jennie and Thomas; the first born, a . daughter Elizabeth, married William Killips, and died in 1872. Mr. Darling and wife are members of the United Presbyterian Church, he having united at 18 years of age, and serving many years as a Trustee ; he is Independent in politics and was twice elected Town Treasurer on the peoples' ticket.

AMOS GOFF, farmer, Sec. 10 and 3; P. O. Vernon ; born in Burlington, Otsego Co., N. Y,. May 16. 1806; his early life was spent in Oswego Co., N. Y., where he obtained his schooling; he began teaching at 19 years of age and taught ten or twelve terms. He married, in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Miss Mary Sayles, and in 1844, removed to Wisconsin, he buying 80 acres of the openings of Vernon; they began life here in a primative fashion, Mrs Goff cooking in a cauldron kettle hung out of doors, and washing half a mile from home, beside a brook in Mr. Clifton's woods; money due Mr. Goff was finally sent him, so that he bought a cook stove and an ox team ; the worst of fortune attended his early efforts, as he lost two good oxen by death ; during the first winter here, Mr. Goff chopped 9 acres, though he found it hard work, and the next season planted it to corn which his young sons kept clean with hoes, finding that .

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still harder ; by exchanging days' work, Mr. Goff gradually added to his clearing, living meanwhile in a most comfortable log house ; he now has 135 acres, a tasteful and pleasant home, and he has had a family of eleven children -Emily (Mrs. Henry Colyer ), Elisha, Dorr Wallace, Ann (Mrs James Stuart), Mary (Mrs. Mark Ehle), Amos Jr., Clentha, Aurelia C. (Mrs. Charles Perry ), Samuel D., and Chauncy ; the three oldest sons were Union soldiers, Elisha serving most of the time in the Far West, Wallace earning a Lieutenants commission, and Dorr dying in a Nashville hospital ; Mr. Goff is a Universalist and a radical advocate of the greenback ; he was formerly a Republican and a man whose heart, purse and sons were for the Union.

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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 159

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