USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 25
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assistant superintendent of the same road, which was then called the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien railroad. He held this position until the spring of 1865, when he was appointed to the posi- tion of assistant superintendent of the Milwaukee and La Crosse railroad. In 1866, at the consoli- dation of this road with the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien road, he was appointed superintendent of the La Crosse division of the Milwaukee and St. Paul railway, which position he held until July, 1869, when he was appointed general superintendent of the Western Union railroad, which position he now holds.
Mr. Olin's religious views are liberal, although he was educated in a strictly puritanical school.
During the war he was a war democrat, and used his influence for the suppression of the rebellion.
He was a member of the common council of Milwaukee five years, three years of which time he was president of the board. Mr. Olin is a man of unquestioned natural and acquired ability, of prac- tical common sense-the basis of all genuine merit ---- of sound judgment, of accurate knowledge of men, and of their capabilities of usefulness. He is firm in his convictions of duty, and thorough in execu- tion. His firmness does not amount to obstinacy, for he is always open to conviction. He is cautious in all his relations to others, obsequious and syco-
phantic to none. He pays no homage to wealth and power. He sympathizes with the poor and the weak. He observes in his daily life the golden rule of doing unto others as he would have others do unto him. He has great reverence for deity, and contributes liberally to religious and benevolent institutions. An incident in the life of Mr. Olin equally honorable to his head and his heart was exhibited in his affectionate tenderness to his wife's mother, who spent the last years of her life in his family, and the tears he shed over her grave were - an eloquent tribute to the characters of both.
Mrs. Olin, his wife, is a woman of genius, learning and literary taste. Her contributions to the press have been much admired for their originality of thought, their freshness of sentiment, and especially for their naturalness and simplicity. Her transla- tions from the German authors are critical and just. Her literary pursuits do not conflict with her domestic duties. They are relaxations from the labor of life; order and economy prevail in her household. She is a loving wife, kind mother and genial companion. Such qualities of head and heart as characterize Mr. Olin and wife are rarely found in any of the relations of life. They are especially interesting when they characterize hus- band and wife, between whom there should be har- mony of opinions and congeniality of sentiment.
JAMES SPENSLEY,
MINERAL POINT.
T HE life-history of him whose name heads this sketch presents many varied and interesting experiences, and well deserves a place among the number of Wisconsin's self-made men. A native of Yorkshire, England, he was born on the 17th of April, 1833, and is the son of Richard and Alice Spensley. When he was six years old his parents immigrated to America and settled at Dubuque, Iowa, where he passed his early life, receiving a common English education and assisting in his father's work. Being of an adventurous turn of mind he left home at the age of seventeen, and with an ox team started across the plains for California. Owing to the large immigration of that year (1850) the feed of every kind on the way was consumed, and when within six hundred miles of Placerville, his point of destination, he was obliged to abandon
his team and walk the remainder of the way. Having only about four pounds of flour and one and a half pounds of bacon to subsist upon, he endured the severest perils, but with a stout heart, and finally at ten o'clock on Thursday, the 24th of August, reached the end of his long journey. He worked for his board until Saturday night, and dur- ing the next week engaged in mining, having met with some friends who supplied him with an outfit of tools. Continuing thus employed for nearly three years with varied success, he, in April, 1863, left the mines and went to San Francisco, intending to em- bark for Australia. He, however, changed his purpose, and took passage for New York viâ Panama, and arrived at his home in Dubuque in July. About this time his father moved to Galena, Illinois, and engaged in the smelting business at that
DAOlin
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place. His health having become greatly impaired by exposure, he was unable to attend to any regular business during the following three years, more than to assist in keeping his father's accounts. At the expiration of this time, having recovered his health, he removed to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and form- ing a copartnership with his father and brother, established himself in the smelting business under the firm name of James Spensley and Co. In 1861 the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent, and from that time till the present (1876) he has con- ducted the business in his own name; and by care- ful and judicious management and close application has made it a financial success. He is, besides, largely engaged in farming interests.
His political sentiments are republican, and although he has no ambition for political emolu- ments he was elected to the State legislature in 1866, and there rendered good service. All worthy matters of public interest readily enlist his sympa-
thies, and he heartily supports any enterprise tending to the welfare of his State or town.
He is a leading member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and has always lent a willing hand in furthering the cause of religion in his community.
Mr. Spensley was first married on the 24th of September, 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Ann Todd, daughter of George and Isabella Todd, of Jo Daviess county, Illinois. Mrs. Spensley died on the 11th of June, 1873, leaving a family of eight children.
Visiting England in 1874 he married his second wife, Elizabeth Ann Spensley, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Spensley, of Reeth, Yorkshire, on the 12th of May.
Mr. Spensley's many excellent personal qualities have secured to him many warm friends, and he lives in the enjoyment of an ample competence, commanding by his upright life the highest respect of all with whom he has to do.
JAMES B. BOWEN, M.D., MADISON.
JAMES B. BOWEN, the son of Jabez Bowen, J
was born at Killingly, Connecticut, August 19, 1816. His father died in 1822, having lost all of his property shortly before his death. The widow and ten children were left to their own resources for a living. James was kept at school until his eleventh year, when he entered into a contract with a cotton manufacturer to work for four years, during the usual hours and until ten o'clock at night, re- serving four hours a day for study in school. After another engagement for one year, he was placed in charge as superintendent, with the control of one hundred hands. In his eighteenth year he entered an academy at Pleasant Valley, New York, defray- ing his expenses by performing manual labor at night. He returned to Connecticut, walked thirty miles to Stafford to rent a cotton mill, thence to Hartford, thirty miles further, to procure a stock of cotton on credit (for he was without money), and succeeded also in hiring hands to perform the labor without money for the first six weeks. Afterward the hands were paid monthly. He ran the mill night and day for eight months, and derived large profits. At Warren, Massachusetts, he purchased a mill for ten thousand dollars, and commenced an
independent business. He was now accumulating a handsome fortune, when by the failure of his agents in New York, he lost everything he had made.
Previous to his failure he had married Miss Susan Tucker, whose womanly qualities and excellent counsels have contributed materially to his pros- perity and personal happiness.
He removed to Auburn, New York, and com- menced the study of medicine. Without relinquish- ing his studies he moved to Rochester, New York, and with a partner purchased a cotton mill, running it day and night for two years, clearing thirty thou- sand dollars, when he sold out, devoting his entire attention to the study of medicine. Becoming secu- rity for others, he again lost all the money he had accumulated, and was indebted for large amounts over and above his resources. In 1848 he gradu- ated at Central College as M.D., and commenced practice in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1852 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where his career has been in all respects successful. He practices the homeopathic system, and is considered the father of that system in Madison. If success is evidence of merit, Dr. Bowen has rare skill in his profession. As a business man he has few equals-clear in his
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perceptions, of sound judgment, prompt in reaching his conclusions, and decisive in action. His views in relation to public matters are broad and liberal. In 1872 he was elected mayor of the city by a hand- some majority, during his absence at the East. In 1874 he was elected president of the Park Savings Bank, and still holds that position.
Dr. Bowen has been scarcely less fortunate in his daughters than in his wife. Susan, the eldest, edu- cated at Troy, New York, is married to Wayne Ram- say, cashier of the First National Bank; Sarah, the younger, educated at Elmira, New York, is married to Dr. Ingman, the partner of Dr. Bowen. Both ladies are exemplary wives and admirable women.
PATRICK CONNOLLY, JUNIOR,
MILWAUKEE.
AS S an example of patient industry under difficul- ties, and an exemplification of the axiom that every life must find its own level in spite of untoward surroundings, the record of Patrick Connolly, junior, is unsurpassed. He was born of poor but honest parents, in Ireland, county of Leitrim, February 14, 1836, and attended the common school of his native village until ten years old. At the early age of eleven he bade adieu to the "Emerald Isle," and crossing the ocean, came to seek his fortune in the new world. By chance he located first in Montreal, Canada, where he served as cash boy in a commis- sion house, attending school during the winter months. Becoming impressed with the idea that the republic of the United States was the El Dorado for the advancement of ambitious youth, he aban- doned the Dominion in the autumn of 1850 and settled in Greenfield, Milwaukee county, Wisconsin. His insatiable thirst for knowledge had always im- pelled him to read much and improve every oppor- tunity for study, and in his new home he applied his mind with renewed energy, spending the winters of 1850 and 1851 at school.
His education at this time, though gained by his own efforts, was far in advance of many more favored students. Being thrown entirely upon his own re-
sources, he determined to prepare himself for the vocation of a teacher. Before the close of 1851, when only fifteen years old, we find him engaged in teaching one of the public schools of Milwaukee county. As an instance of his filial devotion and early habits of prudence we will mention that before the age of nineteen, he had bought with the savings of his limited salary a homestead, which he presented to his parents. In 1859 Mr. Connolly received the appointment of principal in the intermediate depart- ment of a school in Milwaukee city, and in 1863 was principal in full of all the departments of the same school, which position he retained till called by the voice of the people to serve in a more important public office. He became early identified with the interests of the democratic party, but was never in favor of human slavery. In 1872 he was elected clerk of the circuit court, and subsequently reelected by the flattering majority of forty-five hundred votes. Mr. Connolly was married in 1862 to Miss Julia A. Vanghey, and is the father of six children, four of whom are now living. He was brought up a Roman Catholic, and has conscientionsly adhered to the faith of his ancestors. He is still under forty years of age, and is eminently worthy of imitation by the youth of his native and of his adopted country.
H. STONE RICHARDSON,
MADISON.
H. STONE RICHARDSON was born in 1829, in the town of Nelson, Madison county, New York. His father, Asa Richardson, was an active, prominent citizen, known far and near as the "old honest cattle buyer; " a democrat after the straight- est sect, prominent as a politician, supervisor of his
town, a justice of the peace for nearly thirty succes- sive years. He was a poor man, and being the father of nine children, six girls and three boys, was only able to give them a home and a common-school education. At the age of eleven years, H. Stone Richardson had the use of a neighbor's library, but
Jakick Comally for
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before he had read half the books he determined to leave home and work his way through Union Col- lege. That resolution was never abandoned. His father doubted its practicability, but his mother laid her thin white hand on his boyish head, and said, "Go, my boy; and in answer to your mother's pray- ers God will bless you.". His mother tied up his wardrobe in a handkerchief, and on foot and alone he walked to the little village of De Ruyter, and secured the position of bell-ringer in the De Ruyter Academy, for which service he received tuition in the school, the use of a room in the building, and school books. He paid his board and earned money enough to buy his clothing by sawing wood for the students and citizens in the town. In this manner he paid his way until the winter of his sixteenth year, at which time he engaged a district school, and met with great success as a teacher. From this date his pursuit of knowledge was less difficult, and at the age of eighteen he was prepared for Union College. At this time he fell into the hands of unwise friends, who advised him to give up his college course and go to Albany and study practical surveying, civil engineering, etc. After finishing his studies at Al- bany he immediately proceeded to carry out the determination of his boyhood to see the world. Nearly four years were spent in travel, visiting in the meantime nearly every State and every noted local- ity in the United States, and spent thirteen months in a trip to Italy and among the islands of the Atlan- tic. He crossed the continent, going from San Antonio, in Texas, through upper Mexico to Pueblo, Los Angeles, to San Francisco, and finally, in 1850, found himself in Mariposa county, on the tract of land then owned by J. C. Fremont, and his near neighbor. In the fall of this year he was nomi- nated for the assembly, and was elected by a very large majority. When the legislature convened at San Jose, he took his seat and served the State with great acceptability. Near the close of the session he received a letter from his father, informing him that his mother was not expected to live. He at once asked the legislature for leave of absence. In grant- ing his request, the members of the house and sen- ate, together with the officers of the State, took the occasion to express to him their very high respect for his ability and integrity as a member of the assembly, and their esteem for him as a gentleman and friend. His constituents at this time invited him to return to the State and represent them in congress. He came home. His mother was gone ;
home was desolate; the rapidity of his long journey and its consequent severity upon his physical system threw him into a severe illness. During that illness he experienced the change through which Paul passed on his way to Damascus, and upon his re- covery to health, instead of going back to California and the life of a politician, he received from the lips of the Divine Master this command : "Go, preach my gospel." He immediately united with the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and in four years from that time was ordained elder by Bishop Simpson, with authority to " preach the word." His fifth appoint- ment was to the pastorate of the church at New York Mills, a church which was considered of the first importance in the interior of the State, thus show ing his standing as a young man. At this time (1861) the first notes of the rebellion were heard, and ob- taining leave of absence from his church, he gave his life for four years to the preservation of the country, not as a partisan. He was instrumental in raising the 76th New York Volunteers, and enlisted by his own personal effort four hundred and fifteen men for the 2d Harris Light Cavalry. He was chaplaini of the 76th New York Volunteers; was breveted major and finally appointed by Governor Fenton military agent for New York. As chaplain he did most unexceptionable service, and was alike loved by the boys in blue and the sick boys in gray, to whom he gave loving ministry as he found them wounded on the field or dying in the hospital. As military agent he handled hundreds of thousands of dollars, and received from the governor a letter say- ing that he had served the State with faithfulness and perfect integrity.
On his return from the army he was solicited by friends in Wisconsin to commence again his ministry in that State in the Methodist Episcopal church. He is now pastor of the church at Madison, the leading church in the conference, a church demand- ing talent of the best order.
Mr. Richardson is a lover of nature, and loves with an intense and absorbing passion a pebble, a mountain, a bee gathering honey and the flower from which he gathers it, the bird building her nest and the eagle cleaving the upper air. He is a painter, and has always in his heart and the halls of his memory ten thousand pictures. He is a poet when the thunder is abroad in the sky and the blue lightning is tangled and caught on the edges of the clouds. He is a poet and a child when the summer wind is south and all the future is full of flowers
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and hope and millennial light. He has been for twenty years a hard student of history, biography and general literature, and also of man in all his sameness and in all his variety. He prepares his sermons thoroughly, and preaches to make men better, broader, more loving, more charitable, more like Jesus the Christ, and means that his life shall be his most convincing sermon. He loves the study of oratory, and has struggled to become master of the art. His sermons are highly spiritual, and he is able at times to move an audience as only they can who have the gift divine. He is no bigot, no sec- tarian, no miser. His knowledge of the world and
of man, obtained by extensive travel, has taught him to regard all men as his brethren.
Believing himself commissioned from above to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to a perishing world, imbued with fervent piety, endowed with zeal, learning and eloquence, he can scarcely fail to fulfill the ends of his mission here and to receive a crown of glory hereafter.
Mr. Richardson was united in marriage to Miss Lottie L. Curtis, of Madison, New York. She was an accomplished and beautiful girl and is now an honored and beloved wife, the mother of two sons, and a woman of wide influence in the church.
FRANK GAULT,
MIDDLETON.
F RANK GAULT was born January 31, 1826, in the county of Down, near the city of Belfast, Ireland. He is the eldest son of Francis Gault and Debarah McCall. His father was the youngest son of Francis Gault, senior, a stern and uncompromis- ing Presbyterian, and one of the united Irishmen who engaged in the rebellion of 1798, and to show his zeal in the cause carried a pike against the almost invincible armies of England in several bat- tles. The family, including the above named Frank, immigrated to the United States in the year 1839, and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when he was immediately sent as an apprentice to learn the business of an engineer and machinist. In the year 1848 he removed to Wisconsin, the pioneer of the family, and was followed by them in the following spring. He landed in Milwaukee on November 21, and the following morning set out on foot and walked to Madison, arriving there on the 23d. After a short survey of Madison and vicinity, he concluded to make Middleton his future home. In the latter town he engaged in the manufacture of lumber for about three years, and in the year 1851, in company with W. A. Wheeler, he built the flouring mill in the village of Pheasant Branch, and continued to run the same until the year 1861, when they sold their interest in the mill to Hon. T. T. Whittlesey. He then engaged in farming, in which business he has remained up to this time, with the exception of an interval of three years' residence in Kentucky.
On the 30th of November, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Eyre Gyles, a daugh-
ter of Robert Ross Gyles, Esq., of Carlingford, county Lauth, Ireland, the result of this marriage being a daughter, now married to Robert L. Win- tersmith, junior, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and a son, Frank Gault, now living with his parents.
In politics, as might be expected from the grand- son of a man who had the courage to face the united armies of England with a pike, he is an uncompro- mising democrat. If he has a strong point in his character it is opposition to oppression in all things, particularly in politics and religion.
In religion he inclines to Presbyterianism, his father being of the same persuasion, and his mother, to whom he was tenderly attached, was a consistent member of the Episcopal church. He is willing to accord to all others the enjoyment of their opinions as he is determined in maintaining his own.
He was elected to represent his district in the legislature in the fall of 1857, and in the fall of 1858 he was elected treasurer of the county by a very large majority. In 1863 he was the democratic candidate for senator in his district, and was de- feated by the all-powerful administration party. In 1867-8 he represented his district in the legislature ; and has at various other times held the office of chairman of the town board, justice of the peace, supervisor, and other offices. He is still to be found doing service in the ranks of the democracy or reform party, and intends to continue to do so while there is despotism or corruption to root out.
Mr. Gault in person is about five feet ten inches in height, of well developed form, muscular, active,
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and is capable of enduring long continued labor. His temperament is sanguine bilious. He is ardent in his attachments, and but for a controlling judg- ment would be equally so in his animosities. Nature endowed him with rare mental faculties, and if they had been disciplined by education and study, he would have been distinguished in literature or the mechanic arts, especially the latter, as his knowl- edge of them seems to be intuitive. He is one of the best historians of the day, and occasionally in his fanciful moods coquets with the poetic muse.
He has been peculiarly fortunate in securing a good deal more than his better half in the choice of a wife, who in all the relations of daughter, wife, mother and neighbor, has but few equals and no superior. She is highly intelligent, hospitable, kind, charitable and pious; these qualities she has trans- mitted to her daughter, who possesses also that loveliest of all female qualities, gentleness. The son, Frank Gault, junior, has natural capacity equal to that of his father, has received a better educa- tion, and bids fair to be a useful citizen.
J. C. DUNDAS, M.D.,
CAMBRIDGE.
H IGH up in the northern part of Norway, in the district of Helgeland, Dr. J. C. Dundas, of Cambridge, was born in 1815, the last of eleven children then living. His father, Isaac George Dundas, was a lineal descendant of the renowned poet and bishop, Peter Dundas, and he was a son of the Scotlander, Robert Dundas, who in the sixteenth century went over from Scotland with his sister, Maria Dundas, to the district of Helgeland, in Nor- way. The Doctor's father was a man of large means, including islands, vessels and a great variety of per- sonal property. He was a man of liberal educa- tion and social and literary tastes. He was gener- ous to the poor, but careless of his property, and lost the greater portion of it. The Doctor's mother, Connelia Ström Dundas, was a woman of exem- plary character, and strong mental qualities. She was careful, economical and affectionate, inspir- ing her children with filial reverence. The dis- trict of Helgeland is celebrated in the old Nor- wegian sagas as the original home of the first settlers of Norway. The common occupation of the inhabitants was that of farming, but the Doctor having but little taste for agriculture, went to the city of Bergen to study medicine and surgery. He remained there three years, thence to Christiania, continuing the same studies during the years 1837-8-9, thence he went to Copenhagen, remain- ing two years, thence to Vienna one year. He was examined by the different medical faculties in the University of Helsingfors, in 1844. Studied in Berne, Switzerland, in 1845, also in Dorput, in 1844, and thence to Holland to be examined as surgeon for the Dutch East India service. After returning
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