USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 11
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The canal was prostrated by a repeal, at the ses- sion of 1841-42, of the laws previously passed for its aid, and by the subsequent appropriation of the funds derived from the sale of the lands for other purposes. When it seemed evident that the canal was doomed, Mr. Kilbourn urged upon the legislature to make use of the land granted for that purpose, by authorizing its application to the construction of a railroad. But it was decided that such a project was premature, and, though supported by some of the most enlightened minds, was overruled by the majority.
In 1840 Mr. Kilbourn was a candidate for delegate to congress, but his opponent, Governor Doty, was
In 1845 Mr. Kilbourn was elected to represent the county of Milwaukee in the territorial legis- lature. In 1846 the city of Milwaukee was char- tered, and he was chosen a member of the first board of aldermen. On the 19th of August of the same year the county convention met to nominate candidates for various offices. On the first ballot for a candidate to represent the county in the terri- torial senate, Mr. Kilbourn received a majority of the votes of the convention; but as it was stated and understood that his business arrangements for the season would not permit him to accept the sta- tion, the Hon. H. N. Wells was nominated on the next ballot. In 1847 Mr. Kilbourn was reëlected to the office of alderman, and was also chosen a delegate to the convention which met at Madison on the 15th of December of that year, and formed the present State constitution. In that body he was chairman of the committee on the "general provisions " of the constitution, and as such drew up and reported the preamble and declaration of rights, the article on boundaries, the article on banks and banking, and the article on amendments. In 1848 he was elected mayor of the city of Mil- waukee, then containing about fifteen thousand in- habitants. He was elected a delegate to, and vice- president of, the free democratic national convention, which met at Buffalo in 1848, and nominated Martin
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Van Buren for president, and Charles Francis Adams for vice-president of the United States.
When the public mind began to comprehend the importance of railroad communication with the in- terior, Mr. Kilbourn was by common consent desig- nated as the most suitable person to lead the first enterprise of that description, and was accordingly elected president of the Milwaukee & Mississippi railroad company by a unanimous vote of the board of directors. This company was organized in the early part of 1849, and he continued to occupy the position of president of the company until the early part of 1852. He also engaged with equal zeal in prosecuting another work of equal merit, the La Crosse & Milwaukee railroad ; and it is mainly attributable to his address and indefatigable enter- prise that the numerous difficulties with which these companies had to contend were overcome, and the roads so successfully carried forward.
Mr. Kilbourn was reelected mayor of the city of
Milwaukee in 1854, by more than a thousand ma- jority. The "Wisconsin" remarked in reference to his opponent, Colonel Walker: " He had been so repeatedly elected mayor, that he was thought to be invincible, but he could not stand before the popular sentiment in favor of Mr. Kilbourn."
In February, 1855, Mr. Kilbourn was the regular democratic candidate before the legislature of Wis- consin for the office of United States senator. After several unsuccessful ballotings, his competitor, the Hon. Chas. Durkee, was chosen by one majority. Mr. Kilbourn was also president of the board of education. It has been said that no man in Wis- consin has made so many railroad speeches, or has so often presided over State and district conventions and other public meetings as Byron Kilbourn.
In the fall of 1868 Mr. Kilbourn went to Jack- sonville, Florida, for the benefit of his health, where he died suddenly of apoplexy, on the 16th of De- cember, 1870, in the seventieth year of his age.
EDWARD H. BALL,
MILWAUKEE.
E DWARD H. BALL, a native of Ogden, Monroe county, New York, was born on the 29th of May, 1825, and is the son of Joseph and Esther Ball, who settled upon their present homestead in 1824, having removed thither from Lee, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. The father is now eighty- eight years of age, and the mother eighty-six, and they have been married sixty-three years.
Edward received a good common school educa- tion, and besides spent one year in a select school. At the age of fifteen years, he accepted a clerkship in the store of Messrs. Church and Ball, of Spencer- port, one of the largest mercantile houses in western New York, and so far enjoyed the confidence of his employers that he remained with them seven years. In 1846 he removed to Wisconsin, and settled at East Troy, Walworth county, and there conducted a large and successful general mercantile trade, doing the most of his business on the credit system of those days. Removing to Milwaukee in 1862, he became a member of the firm of Dutcher, Ball and Goodrich, wholesale grocers. Mr. Dutcher afterward retired, and the firm name changed to Ball and Goodrich. The business has steadily increased, and is now one of the largest in the State, extending
throughout the Northwest and western Michigan, while the house is known for its good financial stand- ing. During his business career of thirty years, many of which have been years of depression and financial crisis, Mr. Ball has maintained a high standing, and never had a note protested or once failed to discharge an obligation. Blessed with a vigorous constitution, he has been enabled to devote his entire attention to his business, and each year has had an income larger than his disbursements, and has always avoided running in debt.
In his habits, he is strictly temperate, has never tasted of any alcoholic liquors, or used tobacco in any form. In politics, he was formerly a whig, but has been identified with the republican party since its organization. He was a firm supporter of Presi- dent Lincoln's administration, and during the war contributed liberally toward furthering the interests of the Union cause.
When eleven years of age he united with the Pres- byterian church, and has continued a member of this and the Congregational church ever since, con- tributing liberally to the support of all religious enterprises. For many years he has been identified with Sabbath school work, and of late years has
Edward A Place
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conducted a young men's Bible-class, and has been the means of great good to those who have been brought under the influence of his teachings. He is now a prominent member and ruling elder of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church of Milwaukee, and in the midst of his active business pursuits, never
allows himself to become so absorbed as to forget the claims of his fellow-men or the higher claims of his God.
Mr. Ball was married, August 26, 1847, to Sarah E. Cobb, daughter of Dr. John Cobb, of Ogden, New York; they have one son and four daughters.
MORITZ VON BAUMBACH,
MILWAUKEE.
PROMINENT among the leading men in the city of Milwaukee is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this short biographical history.
Moritz von Baumbach, a descendant of an an- cient and noble German family, was born on the 13th of January, 1834, at the city of Cassell, in Western Germany, which was the capital of the Electorate of Hesse Cassel, now of the province of Hesse Vassan, Prussia, and of the province of Lower Hesse. His father, Baron Ludwig von Baumbach, held a commission as military officer in the German army, and participated in the battles of his native country against Napoleon the First, from the year 1813 until the year 1816. After that date he, pos- sessing talents that eminently fitted him for the position, became a very prominent and influential politician, and was a member of the first German parliament, at Frankfort.
In his early boyhood, Moritz von Baumbach re- ceived the foundation of his education from private tuition, but as he advanced in age he entered col- lege at Rinteln, and also at Cassel.
In 1849 he immigrated, with his parents, to the United States of America, and resided with them for several years in Elyria, Ohio, and afterward in the city of New York.
He came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the year 1856, being then twenty-two years old; and his talents and fitness for office being at once recog- nized, he was appointed to the office of deputy city treasurer the year following his arrival, and immedi- ately afterward was elected to the honorable post of city treasurer of Milwaukee.
In 1860 he engaged in business by establishing a banking-house, under his own name, which he car- ried on successfully for ten years, and then consoli- dated with the Home Savings Bank, and has carried the same on up to the present time as the German Exchange Bank, of which he was president.
The official appointments held by this gentleman have been numerous, as he has been consul for Austria and Hungary, and also for Saxony, and many other German governments. In 1874 he was selected to fill the office of vice-consul for the German Empire.
In religion Moritz von Baumbach is a believer in the Protestant faith, having been brought up in the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Politically, he has always been a partisan of the democratic party, and during the American war he was a war-democrat.
He was united in marriage, in the year 1863, to Anna Lafaulnier.
JOHN PEAT DICKSON,
JANESVILLE.
F OREMOST among the pioneer settlers of Janesville, Wisconsin, stands the name of John Peat Dickson. He is a native of Danville, Vermont, where he was born on the 18th of April, 1808, and is the son of John and Margaret (McCalum) Dick- son. His father was a silk manufacturer in Paisley,
Scotland, and immigrated to America toward the end of the last century. On arriving he located himself in Hartford, Connecticut, and thence re- moved to Danville, where he finally settled. He was a strictly religious man, firmly attached to the old Presbyterian communion, and careful of the
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moral training of his children. On coming to America he gradually abandoned the manufacturing interest and devoted his time to farming, which occupation he followed until his death.
During his youth John P. Dickson passed his time in the summer months on the farm, and in the winter attending the district school as opportunity offered. From this it will be inferred that his edu- cational advantages were not very great, but the lad lost no opportunity to profit by them.
In 1836 he decided to settle in the West, and in May of that year left Vermont for Milwaukee, where he arrived a month later. After casting about for some time in search of a suitable location, he selected the site of Janesville for his permanent residence, and in August, 1838, entered about two hundred acres of land. Part of this he laid out as a farm, and disposed of the remainder in various ways, selling portions of it, and again adding other land as occasion served. Mr. Dickson also acted as land agent for eastern speculators, and gradually developed, in this manner, a business in real estate. Being one of the earliest settlers of the town, he
became concerned in the conduct of its municipal affairs. In 1842 he was elected justice of the peace, and from that time held the office for seven years almost continuously. He has also filled the office of town clerk, and several other positions of like nature. In 1859 he was elected to the legislature, and served two terms.
In political affairs he has always attached himself to the republican party, and taken a most active interest in its career and management.
Mr. Dickson is one of the representative men of the Northwest, an early settler, and one who has identified himself closely with its progress. He has successfully borne all the hardships and privations incident to such a life, and they have developed in him, as a natural result, both physical vigor and the sturdy moral and mental health which are secured by the constant practice of industry and thrift.
On the 21st of November, 1832, Mr. Dickson was united in marriage to Lorinda, daughter of Mr. James Stevens, of Danville, a prominent farmer of that place. There have not been any children born to them of this union.
HON. MORTIMER M. JACKSON,
HALIFAX (NOVA SCOTIA).
M ORTIMER M. JACKSON, formerly one of the judges of the supreme court of Wiscon- sin, was born in Rensselaerville, Albany county, New York. His father, the late Jeremiah Jackson, was a man of intelligence, probity and influence. The son, who was quite young at the time of his father's death, was afterward sent to a boarding school on Long Island, and thence to the Collegiate School, in the city of New York. After leaving that institution, he entered the office of the late David Graham, an eminent lawyer and advocate. In 1834 he was a delegate from the city of New York to the Whig Young Men's State Convention, which nominated William H. Seward for governor ; and was the author of the address adopted by the convention to the people of the State.
In 1838 he married Miss Catherine Garr, daughter of the late Andrew Garr, formerly a distinguished lawyer of New York. At that time the great North- west was attracting an enterprising population from the old States. Wisconsin was a new territory, ris- ing rapidly in importance, and Mr. Jackson deter-
mined to make it his future home. Having made his residence at Mineral Point, he engaged in the practice of his profession, and soon became promi- nent at the bar.
He wrote a series of articles over the signature of " Wisconsin," calling the attention of the intending emigrants to the West to the natural advantages of Wisconsin, pred@ting its rapid growth and future greatness. He identified himself with the whig party, and became a leader and distinguished speaker. He was attorney-general of the Territory nearly five years; and upon the organization of the State government, in 1849, was elected a judge of the supreme court and judge of the fifth judicial circuit. As a presiding judge he was dignified and courteous, and faithful and impartial in the discharge of his duties.
After retiring from the bench he continued to practice law until appointed by President Lincoln, in 1861, to the office which he now holds, of United States Consul at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Circum- stances connected with the late civil war gave to
Mortimer IJackson
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that consulate an importance second to none under | the government, and requiring abilities of a high order ; not only tact and vigilance, but firmness, in- tegrity and loyalty. These qualities were in an eminent degree combined in Judge Jackson.
At the request of the State department in October, 1870, Judge Jackson submitted a report upon the fisheries and fishery laws of Canada, in which the principal questions involved in the controversy be- tween Great Britain and the United States on the subject were fully examined and discussed. This report was transmitted to congress with the docu- ments accompanying the President's annual message.
Of the many American consuls who have faith- fully and ably served their country abroad, no name in our consular annals exhibits a more honorable record than that of Mortimer M. Jackson.
On the 16th of August, 1875, at Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, the wife of Judge Jackson passed from earth to heaven. Thirty-seven years before, with the fidelity of a true woman and the devotion of a loving wife, she turned from the blandishments and the luxuries of a gay city to share the trials, the privations and the hardships of her husband in his western home. Her sympathies nerved his arm in his struggles for fame and fortune ; her smiles brightened his future prospects. Twenty- three years later, when called upon to represent his country abroad, she was still his wise counselor, his faithful friend, his devoted wife. Her intelligence, refinement and accomplishments, which had won so many hearts in her native land, were justly appreci- ated in her foreign home; and when removed by death the shock was felt alike at home and abroad.
HON. THOMAS R. HUDD,
GREEN BAY.
T' HOMAS R. HUDD, a native of Buffalo, New York, was born on the Ist of October, 1835, and is the son of Richard Hudd and Mary née Har- rison. His father, an ornamental painter and de- signer by occupation, was a man of decided char- acter, and took special care in the training of his only child, giving him all the advantages that his means could afford. Thomas removed from his native place and settled in Chicago, Illinois, with his widowed mother when he was seven years old, and there received his early education in the public and select schools; and also worked three years at the printer's trade, to earn money with which to complete his education, being engaged on the " Western Citizen," a weekly paper, and also on the " Evening Journal." With the money thus earned, he attended the Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wisconsin, and after closing his studies there, be- gan the study of law, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. At once entering upon the practice of his profession in Appleton, he continued it with good success during a period of twelve years, and at the expiration of that time, in 1868, established himself in Green Bay, and there opened that practice in which he is still engaged, and in which he has be- come widely known as an honorable, and a shrewd and successful attorney. At the present time, 1876, he is associated with Mr. Wigman, under the firm
name of Hudd and Wigman. Aside from his regular duties he has served in many public capacities, and always with credit to himself and satisfaction to all interested. In 1856 he was elected district attorney for Otogamie county, and reëlected in 1858. During the years 1862 and 1863 he represented the twenty- second district in the State senate, and in 1868 was elected a member of the general assembly from Otogamie county, and reëlected to the same position in 1875 from Brown county. He was chosen city attorney of Green Bay in 1873, and in 1876 was again elected to the State senate from the second district. In all these varied positions he has shown himself worthy of the trusts that have been reposed in him, and by his able and efficient service has con- tributed largely to the welfare of his State, and gained the highest respect of all with whom he has had to do. His practice is general, he having been admitted to all the courts of Wisconsin and also to the supreme court of the United States. At the present time, he has the largest federal practice o any lawyer in his city.
In his political sentiments, Mr. Hudd is identified with the democratic party.
In his religious views, though not connected with any church organization, he inclines toward the Unitarian. Unsectarian in his opinions, he makes the rule of his actions that expressed in the words :
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" Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
He possesses most excellent personal and social qualities, and the best estimate of his character and worth may be formed from the high regard with which he is held by those who know him best.
Mr. Hudd was married on the 7th of June, 1857, to Miss Parthenia S. Peak, who died Septem- ber 24, 1870, leaving two sons and three daughters. He was married a second time on the 2d of Oc- tober, 1872, to Mary Kill, and by her has two daughters.
CHARLES SPENCER DUNCOMBE, M.D.,
RACINE.
C' HARLES S. DUNCOMBE, a native of Mid- dleburgh, Schoharie county, New York, was born on the 18th of November, 1821, and is the son of Elijah E. Duncombe and Catharine Bouch Duncombe. His ancestors have been somewhat noted for their longevity. His great-grandfather, a revolutionary soldier, was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. His grandfather removed to Canada in 1819, whither his father went three years later. He was a prominent man in his community, highly respected by all, and for more than forty years a practicing physician in Saint Thomas. Two of his uncles, Charles and David Duncombe, also phy- sicians, served in the provincial house of par- liament during a period of twelve years. Charles, therefore, being raised under such influences, natur- ally inclined to the medical profession.
During his boyhood he attended the common schools of his adopted home in Canada, whither his parents had moved when he was one year old, and besides had the advantages offered by a seminary in London. At the age of seventeen he engaged in teaching, and two years later began the study of medicine, under the supervision of his father, and soon afterward pursued a course of study in the Medical College, at Geneva, New York, attending two courses of lectures, and graduating on the 23d of January, 1844. In the ensuing spring, drawn by
the superior inducements which it offered to young men, he removed to the West, and settled in Wal- worth county, Wisconsin, and there established him- self in his profession. He remained there four years, meeting with good success and building up a fair practice, but at the end of that time returned to Saint Thomas, Ontario, and there resumed his prac- tice, following it for a period of twelve years, attend- ing during that time a course of lectures at the Toronto University and one at Geneva College. Returning to Wisconsin in the spring of 1860, he settled at Racine, his present home, and opened an office in partnership with Dr. Rufus B. Clark,. a homœopathist. During this year he attended a partial course of lectures at the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, and graduated with honor from the same. His practice has been con- stantly growing, and he is now widely known for the care and skill with which he treats his cases; he has made his profession financially successful.
His political sentiments are republican, though in the midst of his professional duties he has found no time to devote to political affairs.
In his religious communion Dr. Duncombe is identified with the Episcopal church.
He was married on the 24th of January, 1844, the day after his first graduation, to Miss Susan A. C. Baker, and by her has one son and two daughters.
GENERAL DAVID ATWOOD,
MADISON.
D AVID ATWOOD was born in Bedford, New Hampshire, December 15, 1815. He belongs to a vigorous and long-lived family. His father, at the age of ninety, was living at the old homestead. Like most New England boys, young Atwood
worked on the farm during the summer, and attended the district school in the winter. The summers being short in that latitude, the work was continuous. There was but little time for relaxation - none for idleness. The winters were severely cold, and the
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pathway to school was frequently obstructed by snow-drifts. This course of life, until he was six- teen years of age, developed and strengthened him, and firmly established those habits of industry and frugality which assured him subsequent success. In his sixteenth year, he accompanied an elder brother to Hamilton, Madison county, New York, where he commenced working at a printer's case. His em- ployers were law-book publishers. He remained there five years, and became master of his craft be- fore visiting home. After this he traveled through Pennsylvania, the South and the West for nearly three years. Stopping but a short time in any one place, he had ample opportunity to see much of the country, and become familiar with its resources and the character of the people. Part of this time he was in the employ of the house where he learned his trade. He visited every place of note in Ken- tucky, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and every organized county in Indiana. Chicago he remembers as a village in a swamp, with a muddy and almost im- passable street, and a little wooden hotel not far from the present Tremont House. He was highly pleased with the West, and had a tempting offer to engage in business in Cincinnati, but declined and returned to Hamilton in 1839, where, with his brother, he undertook the publication of the " Ham- ilton Palladium," a weekly newspaper. He worked hard for five years, through the Harrison log-cabin campaign, and until the defeat of Clay, in 1844. He was a zealous supporter of the famous Ken- tuckian, and very earnest in advocating the princi- ples he espoused - a characteristic of New Hamp- shire whigs, who, being in a minority at home, had learned to make up in zeal what they lacked in numbers. Overworked and broken in health, in the political campaign that culminated in the defeat of Clay-a campaign so gallantly fought, and so fool- ishly lost- Colonel Atwood again set his face to the westward. The "Palladium " had paid expenses, and nothing more. Five years of his life had been given to the advocacy of the cause of his party, and to the duties of a citizen, in urging the interests of the country where he resided. It had been to him not only a pecuniary sacrifice, but had seriously im- paired .his health. It had taken some of the best years of his life, and he doubtless felt that leaving the East was like transplanting a half-grown tree, leaving its best roots in the earth. In the time that had elapsed since his first journey, the West had grown immensely; and though opportunities for es-
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