USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 13
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In 1817 Mr. Harrington became a resident of the town of Potter, Yates county, New York, by the emigration of his parents in connection with his maternal grandparents and family, Mr. Samuel Andrews. Here he spent his youth and early manhood, cultivating his mind by every means within his limited reach, and achieving a marked character for earnest yet consistent love of duty,
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and a faithful discharge of it, both to himself and others; hence he became a man without vicious or demoralizing habits and with principles fixed in heart and habit. His early educational advantages were very limited, his attendance at school not being more than one year previous to his nineteenth birth- day. At this time he began teaching at eleven dol- lars per month, an occupation which he continued during seven winters and two summers. During this time he attended the Yates County Academy, and the Franklin Academy of Prattsburgh, New York, and by close application to his studies in and out of school, acquired a good English education and some knowledge of Greek and Latin. He has through his life been devotedly attached to books of the best authors, and with his first-earned fifty cents invested in a three months subscription to a news- paper.
In 1843 he became an inhabitant of the Territory of Wisconsin, making Delavan, then an infantile hamlet, his first stopping place, and soon fixed upon it as his permanent home, and entered into business under the firm name of Harrington and Monell, as merchant, his partner being J. D. Monell, of Hud- son, New York. Subsequently he assumed the en- tire control of the business, and pursued it to a successful issue in the year 1850, when he retired therefrom, and devoted his time and attention to travel, and afterward to banking, insurance and various agencies, and speculative purchase and sale of real estate, in which he has been eminently suc- cessful, and exceptionally free from delinquency and defalcation, never having failed for a single day to meet his business engagements during the whole period of his career, and rendering universal satis- faction to those who committed their trusts into his hands. Yet thus careful and exact in his deal- ings, no fair man will charge him with meanness or oppression, while his neighbors award him universal respect.
With regard to ambitious aspirations for public positions, he disclaims any lack of appreciation of the honors, but says that the people can find just as good servants for less pay than he can afford to ab- stract his services and skill from his own affairs, and therefore has occupied comparatively but few public positions, except when constrained to do so from a conscious obligation, and in those only where the emolument was nothing or nominal, and that, too, without regard to the responsibility or labor in- volved. Hence he gave his services to the Deaf
and Dumb Institute, located at Delavan, for fourteen years, as trustee, treasurer and corresponding secre- tary, and his best fostering care, without salary, and until this asylum of mercy had gained a hold upon the charities of the State that now carries it along triumphantly.
He also accepted the office of post-master under the administration of Franklin Pierce, unsolicited, for the purpose of obtaining additional mail facili- ties for Delavan, at this time, 1853, when there were but three mails each week from the east and three from the west, making a tri-weekly mail. So effect- ual were his efforts and influence with the post-office department, that in one and one-half years after his acceptance of the post-office, Delavan could boast of forty-five mails each week. When these addi- tional weekly, semi-weekly and daily mails were se- cured, he resigned the office of postmaster. In this connection it seems quite proper to say that Mr. Harrington is an admitted attorney-at-law in the courts of the State, which with his other business qualifications eminently fits him for the intelligent discharge of all duties assumed.
In politics he is usually associated with the dem- ocracy, but in the late war period he lent his influ- ence earnestly to the preservation of the Union. He holds decided religious opinions, and is a zeal- ous member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and also a Freemason of a high order, to which in- stitution he is strongly and conscientiously attached.
Socially, he has few superiors ; ever ready to draw from all rational sources knowledge and pleasure, he greatly contributes in return from his exhaustless fund of carefully collected facts and points of his- tory, an interest to the pleasure and profit of those about him. In his domestic relations his treasure of a wife, with him, presides over the household in genial unison, and their home is the seat of domestic peace, plenty and happiness, without excess or stint. For some years they have mutually devoted their first care and attention to the rearing and education of their four children - three sons and one daugh- ter, and for the purpose of training his sons to practical business duties, Mr. Harrington has to some extent resumed merchandising; and now since he has passed his sixth decade is engaged in establish- ing himself and family permanently at a rural home, one and a half miles distant from the village, which shall embrace the practical facilities of farm life with that of cultivated moral taste and freedom from fancied town-life restraints, To this end he is
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occupied in the erection of a country residence and 1 outbuildings that shall vie with any in the State for taste, convenience and practical uses, and with other improvements of lawn and soil to correspond and render it a success, both agriculturally and artisti- cally. This he says is to be the climax of his am- bition, and to this end he is sparing neither skill nor money, and when consummated it will favorably compare with any place in the State for its combina- tion of taste, convenience and utility.
Another feature of Mr. Harrington's character is an ardent love of his kindred and friends, never for- getting and never failing to extend an up-lifting aid to their necessities and deficiencies, that seems al- most by intuition to elevate and advance them above the plane of their ordinary personal dependence, and place them where hope and prosperity bear them onward.
It is with a most commendable pride that he points to scores of individuals whose lives and fortunes verify this fact, and that, too, without an instance where the ends do not more than justify the means, and affirm the value and blessing of an elevating hand and spirit. His sympathies have always been deeply engaged in the welfare of the weak and those in distress, and for the aid of all such his labors have never been withheld.
It is no purpose of the writer to eulogize or flatter the subject of this life sketch beyond the statement of simple" facts, and from them find evidences that confirm and bear out the philosophy of his life rule, "System in all things that we do, a hearty purpose to attain a higher and better and more perfect plane of human usefulness than from whence we start, and by patient industry and perseverance secure suc-
cess." Such has been his course, his aim, and faith, and the results are before the world. Yet, with all this, I would not claim that he is not without eccen- tricities, peculiarities, and even faults, for who that is human is ?
But, in conclusion, I will say, that his is a life and he a sample of what consistent effort, directed by correct principles, may aim at and hope for.
Mr. Harrington has been thrice married ; his first two wives died in early wedded life, without chil- dren; therefore, it is with his present companion, the mother of his children, that his paternal ties have been formed, and by mutual bearing and for- bearing, a most genial unity has been maintained and cemented, and which, doubtless, largely con- tributed to secure results so favorably distinguishing their lives and condition.
Mrs. Harrington's maiden name was Catharine M. Crosby, daughter of Eber Crosby, a descendant of Enoch Crosby, alias " Harvey Burch," Cooper's spy of the revolution. She was born at Patterson, Putnam county, New York, on the 27th of October, 1825, and is a lady of superior culture and sterling qualities, and a most fitting balance and aid to her husband.
The writer must say, before concluding, that he knows, and closely observed the subject of this biographical sketch from boyhood to his depart- ure for Wisconsin, and has been in regular corre- spondence from that time, and has visited him at his home at Delavan, where the main facts of his life have been enacted, therefore confidently commits it to the annals of history of his adopted State as a proud and worthy record, and thus most respect- fully submits it.
ERASTUS B. WOLCOTT, M.D.,
MILWAUKEE.
E' RASTUS B. WOLCOTT, M.D., was born at Benton, Yates county, New York, the 18th of October, in the year 1804, son of Elisha Wolcott and Anna Hull Wolcott, who came from Litchfield county, Connecticut, and were among the first set- tlers in that region of country.
In 1822 Dr. Wolcott commenced the study of medicine and surgery with Dr. Joshua Lee, an emi- nent physician and surgeon of central New York, and received a diploma from Yates County Medical
Society in 1825. He attended the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York from 1830 to 1833, and took his degree in medicine and surgery at that institution. In the spring of 1835, he was examined by a board of army surgeons, and received the appointment of surgeon in the United States army, January Ist, 1836. He resigned in 1839, and came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1836 he married Elizabeth J. Dousman, who died in 1860, leaving a daughter and a son. Dr.
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Wolcott gave his children a liberal education, the former having graduated at the Milwaukee Female College, and the latter at Yale College.
He was connected with some of the earliest enter- prises of the State. He built the first mills at West Bend, Washington county, Wisconsin, and, with others, the first mill at Humboldt, near Milwaukee. He was one of the prime movers in building the first railroad in the State, from Milwaukee to the Missis- sippi river, and among the first in the Northwestern Life Insurance Company, and continues to be a trustee to the present time. He was appointed trustee of the Wisconsin Hospital for the Insane, the first year, and reappointed through Governor Ran- dall's and Governor Lewis's administrations. He was appointed one of the board of regents of the State University, by Governor Dewey, in 1850. He was appointed surgeon of the State militia, as early as 1842, by Governor Doty. He was commissioned colonel of a regiment of militia in 1846, and in the same year major-general of the first division of Wis- consin militia. He held, through the war of the late rebellion, the position of surgeon-general of Wiscon- sin, with the rank of brigadier-general, and still retains it. He was, in 1866, appointed by Governor Fairchild commissioner to represent the State of Wisconsin at the Universal Exposition at Paris, in 1867. He was appointed in the same year (1866), by congress, manager of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, at Milwaukee, which position lie retains to the present time, having been reappointed in 1875.
He was married, October 12, 1869, to Laura J. Ross, M.D. Her ancestry, during colonial times, were distinguished for patriotism in revolutionary history. Both on the father's and mother's side were leading minds in the support of the national cause of independence. She was carefully disciplined and thoroughly educated in the best schools and by the ablest teachers in New England. One of the pio- neer women in the study of the natural sciences, and one among the first women who graduated in medi- cine and received hospital instruction in this country, she spent some time in Europe, to pursue the study of her profession, and has followed it in Milwaukee, with marked success, for eighteen years.
She is the counterpart of her husband, differing only to complete the mystic union by which man and wife are one. She has ventured beyond the threshold prescribed to her sex by the lords of crea- tion. She has entered the temple of science, and
won honors those lords might envy. Skilled in her profession, she has relieved many a pang of human suffering. Intelligent, cultivated and sympathetic, she is particularly so in the sick-room. Her sympa- thies give hope to the afflicted, and her smile dispels the gloom of despondence. In this sphere, as well as in every other in which the activities of her mind are engaged, or the sympathies of her heart enlisted, she is, in the language of Dante, "a womanly woman."
Dr. Wolcott is a lineal descendant of Henry Wol- cott, Esq., a landed gentleman of England, who came to America in 1630. He was the son and heir of John Wolcott, of Golden Manor. The manor house is still standing in England, is of great antiquity, is richly ornamented with carved work, and upon the walls may be seen the motto of the family coat of arms : " Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri" (inclined to swear in the words of no master). This sentiment was in harmony with the spirit of the English gentlemen of the middle ages, and that of the Puritan of a later date, who spurned the dicta- tion of ecclesiastical wisdom. This peculiarity of the family has lost none of its force in the character of Dr. E. B. Wolcott, who derives his knowledge of the Author of all things from the study of His works.
Henry Wolcott, of the old English gentry, was the first magistrate in the Connecticut Colony, and his descendants in a direct line, for over one hundred and eighty years, were counselors of war, officers of the army during the revolution, one a signer of the " Declaration of Independence," representatives and senators in congress, chief judges of the supreme court, and six governors of Connecticut, three bear- ing the name of Wolcott - Roger, Oliver, and Oliver junior.
Roger Wolcott, first governor of Connecticut, was judge of the county court, deputy governor, chief justice of the superior court, and governor of the State. He lived to see his son Oliver governor during fourteen years, and his grandson Oliver four years ; and of his descendants bearing the name of Wolcott, twelve were graduates of Yale College, two of Harvard University, and two at other New Eng land colleges, previous to the year 1834.
The maternal branch of the Hull family were revolutionary patriots, and pioneers of Yates county ; were zealously interested in educational matters, and had marked and estimable characteristics, the women of the family being noted for their intellectual pow- ers and womanly graces.
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Science teaches us the laws of order, of fitness, and of progress in the physical world. Mind teaches us that we have intellectual powers susceptible of indefinite improvement, and consciousness reveals to us our immortality. Observation teaches us there is harmony in all things. Upon this basis philosophy has erected the superstructure of man's perfectibility. Transcendentalists have dreamed of it; philosophers have formed theories in regard to it; religionists have taught it. Who shall say, then, that when the laws of hereditary descent shall be better known, and better obeyed, the greater share, at least, of human imperfections shall not be eliminated, and humanity elevated to a degree of excellence attained now only in individual instances, and that individual instances may not transcend all our present concep- tions ? .
We have been led into these reflections by the contemplation of those qualities which characterize
the ancestors of Dr. E. B. Wolcott, which, whether by hereditary descent, by example, or by instruction, seem to have culminated in him. His form is sym- metrical, his movements graceful, his youthful ener- gies unimpaired. His mind is vigorous and active, embracing a wide field of observation. Always emi- nent in his profession, he keeps a steady step in the inarch of medical science. Skilled as a surgeon, the knife does not tremble in his hand. Unerring in his diagnosis, he waits with the patience of a nurse. His sensibilities are alive to every object of human suffering. As son, husband, father, and friend, he- discharges his duties with scrupulous fidelity. We have been told that Cervantes "smiled the chivalry of Spain away." If so, she, like Liberty, took her flight to the New World, and found worshipers in its for- ests. If truth, justice, honor, and mercy are her characteristics, they are happily personated in the subject of our sketch.
EDWARD BEESON,
FOND DU LAC.
T HE truth of the old maxim, "Heaven helps those who help themselves," is peculiarly shown in the career of Edward Beeson, of Fond du Lac county, whose great energy, self-reliance and industry, coupled with true innate principles of right, entitle him now to the proud satisfaction of looking back at a well-spent life and a character uprightly sustained. .
His parents, John and Sarah S. Beeson, lived in Columbiana county, Ohio, where his father carried on business as a miller. Edward was born on the 7th of July, 1815, and educated at New Lisbon in the same State. On leaving school he went to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, to learn the trade of printing, and at nineteen years of age he and his brother commenced the publication of the " Demo- cratic Watchman," which they carried on for about eighteen months.
It will be observed by this sketch of his life that, from the time he left school until he finally settled at Fond du Lac in 1842, his mercurial temperament was always leading him to strike out for " pastures new."
In the fall of 1835 he was for a short time on the Detroit "Free Press," but in the following year he came to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he worked as
a carpenter, and in the latter part of the same year he engaged on the Chicago "Democrat," which was published at that time by John Calhoun, and shortly afterward edited by John Wentworth. In the spring of 1837 he returned to Green Bay, where he and his two brothers built a saw-mill on the Little Swamico river. In the fall he sold out and went to St. Louis, Louisville (Kentucky), and Cincinnati, at which latter places he worked on the Louisville "Journal " and the Cincinnati "Gazette " during the winter. In 1838 he engaged on the Finlay "Courier," in Hancock county, Ohio, where he, in partnership with a friend, successfully conducted the paper until the spring of 1841. He then came to Keno- sha, Wisconsin, and remained there one year in the printing business. In 1842 he came to Fond du Lac county, where he turned his attention to farm- ing for about four years. In the winter of 1846 he worked as a compositor in the office of the Fond du Lac "Whig," and in the spring bought the Fond du Lac "Journal," which he carried on for several years, until 1854. Since then he has been con- nected with the Fond du Lac " Union," the "Demo- cratic Press," etc., and in the spring of 1867, revived the publication of the " Journal."
He was married on the 8th of September, 1849,
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to Miss Susan E. Bell, by whom he had seven children, two sons and five daughters, of whom two died in infancy. His many good qualities have gained for him a large circle of friends, and it is shown by the fact of his being elected repeatedly to town and city offices, and twice as county treasurer, that the citizens look upon him in the light of a trustworthy, honorable gentleman. Although con- siderably advanced in years he is still in vigorous health. He is president of the Star Printing Com-
pany and of the Gravel Road Company of Fond du Lac.
National progress is the sum of individual indus- try, energy, and uprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, selfishness and vice. Edward Beeson will leave to his children the best of heri- tages, a good and honest name; happy the son who can say, with Pope, "I think it enough that my par- ents, such as they were, never cost me a blush, and that their son, such as he is, never cost them a tear."
JAMES LUTHER CLARK,
OSHKOSH.
T HE subject of this sketch, a native of Alton, Belknap county, New Hampshire, was born April 17, 1824, and is the son of Aaron Clark and „Marcy née Ham. His father was a farmer, and suc- ceeded by honest toil in making a comfortable living for his family. James received his education at a common school in his native town, after leaving which he learned the carpenter and joiner's trade. This he followed until 1855, when he came West and located at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Here he pur- sued his trade for two years, subsequent to which he engaged in the lumber business for about three years, and for the two years following held the position of superintendent in the mills of different parties. In 1862 he engaged in making match splints, and after pursuing this occupation for five years, commenced the manufacture of matches, his brand being known as the "Star Match." The value of the amount produced in 1867 was twenty thousand dollars, but the recognized superiority of the brand soon gained for it a general sale throughout the northern and western States, in consequence of which the business
has steadily increased until in 1875 it amounted to three hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
He has been a republican since the organization of the party, but has never allowed his better judg- ment to be so hampered by party prejudices as to support measures which he believed to be wrong. Desirous of no political office, he has chosen rather to devote to his private business that care and at- tention which cannot but be crowned with success.
His religious views are broad and liberal. He was married July 26, 1851, to Miss Sarah Flint, by whom he has had two sons.
Mr. Clark, starting in life without means, has suc- ceeded by combining industry, integrity, and perse- verance, in building up a business which has been, at once, a means of great prosperity to himself, and of furnishing employment and support to a large number of hands. His quiet, unassuming manners, and sterling business qualities have gained him the firm friendship of a large circle of acquaintances, and have made him an object of pride and esteem to the city of his adoption.
JOHN P. SLIGHT, WATERTOWN.
T' HE subject of this sketch, a native of Laugh- ton, Lincolnshire, England, was born on the 27th of August, 1820, and is the son of William Slight and Ann née Preston. His father, a farmer in comfortable circumstances, was a man of enterpris- ing spirit, and influential in his community. John passed his boyhood on his father's farm in his native
place, receiving a limited education, and in 1837, being then seventeen years of age, immigrated to America, and settled at LaFayette, Indiana. During the first year after his arrival he was employed on the Wabash and Erie canal.
After the completion of the work, at the end of one year, with his brother Joseph he took charge
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of a steamboat lock at Delphi, thirty miles up the river. Sickness, however, compelled them to leave at the end of two or three months, and they went to Louisville, thence to Cincinnati, and from there to Mansfield, Ohio. At the expiration of three months, having regained their health, they returned to Wabash, and engaged in pork-packing during the winter. In the following spring they took it to New Orleans, intending to ship it to England, but were not able to procure a suitable boat. Returning to Indiana in the ensuing fall, Mr. Slight remained there till the autumn of 1842, when he returned to Ohio, and in the following spring took a drove of horses to New York. During this same year he visited his home in England and remained there till 1844, when he returned to Mansfield, Ohio. In 1845 he removed to Watertown, Wisconsin, and en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, in which occupation he is still engaged, owning and conducting a beauti- ful and extensive farm of five hundred and sixty acres, three miles from the city.
Mr. Slight's life, while it presents few phases in distinction from that of other men, is yet marked by a spirit of enterprise and determination, and rewarded
with a degree of success well worthy of emulation. He came to the United States a poor boy, without friends or acquaintances, and by his own industry, energy and perseverance, has made his way, step by step, to his present standing, as a successful business man and an honorable citizen. Throughout his career he has been known for his fair dealing and promptness in meeting his engagements, and by close attention to business has accumulated an ample fortune, and lives now surrounded by the comforts . of a happy home, and enjoys the high regard of all who know him.
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