USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 4
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decided to invest his money in other enterprises, spent seven years in settling up his outstanding accounts and in making loans.
In 1863, with others, he organized the First Na- tional Bank of Whitewater, of which he remained president until his death, which occurred on the 29th of October, 1872. Mr. Marsh was thorough- ly qualified as a business man and financial man- ager. A life-long friend says of him : "He was a man of the strictest integrity ; kind and liberal to the poor ; very plain and democratic in his mode of living, and died beloved and respected by the entire community, his loss being felt alike by the rich and poor."
In his religious communion he was associated with the Universalist church, and took an active
part in all matters pertaining to its interests, and liberally contributed to all worthy benevolent enter- prises.
Politically, he was formerly a democrat, but be- came identified with the republican party upon its organization in 1856. He had, however, little po- litical ambition, finding in his regular business ample scope for the exercise of all his powers.
Mr. Marsh was married in January, 1841, to Miss Harriet N. Horton, of Nunda, New York. By her had one son, George S. Marsh, cashier of the First National Bank of Whitewater. Mrs. Marsh died on the 22d day of January, 1843.
His second marriage was in January, 1851, to Chelsea Pratt, by whom he had three daughters, all of whom are now residing at Whitewater.
EDWARD V. WHITON,
JANESVILLE.
E DWARD VERNON WHITON was the son of General Joseph Whiton, of Massachusetts, a soldier of the revolution and of the war of 1812, and was born at South Lee, Berkshire county, Mas- sachusetts, on the 2d of June, 1805. During the first thirty years of his life he continued to reside in his native town, whence he at length removed to the then Territory of Wisconsin, to take part in the great and glorious battle of life in that new field of development -the great West. He settled there when the present site of Janesville and its neighbor- hood was almost a wilderness, and lived for some time the life of a pioneer in a cabin on the broad prairie.
He was elected a member of the house of repre- sentatives for the first session of the legislative assembly at Madison. At the next subsequent ses- sion he was elected speaker of the house. During those sessions he was a frequent participant in de- bate, and took an active part in enacting the first territorial code. Up to that time the laws of Wis- consin consisted of the territorial statutes of Michi- gan, and the laws of the Wisconsin legislature, passed at the sessions at Belmont and Burlington. The revised statutes, which became of force on the 4th of July, 1839, were published under his super- vision. In 1847 he was a member of the consti- tutional convention which framed the constitution of the State. On the organization of the State
government in 1849 he was elected a circuit judge, and, under the then system, became a judge of the supreme court. He occupied this position until 1853, when the "separate supreme court " was es- tablished, when he was elected chief justice, and reëlected in 1857; and continued to hold the office until he was compelled to leave it by the disease of which he died.
Chief Justice Whiton was thoroughly identified with almost every prominent event in the history of Wisconsin, both as a Territory and as a State. Throughout the whole period of his residence in Wisconsin his life was a public life, and he filled political and judicial stations successively with such ability and integrity, that the people exalted him from place to place, until he had received the high- est honors in their gift: and the positions with which he was honored were ennobled by the lustre of his conduct and character. Amid all the con- flicts of party-both in the means by which he attained and the manner in which he discharged the duties of office-the purity of his character was ever unsullied by the slightest breath of re- proach or even suspicion.
In the early part of the year 1859 his health began to fail, and it became manifest to his asso- ciates upon the bench that his system was suffering from some malady which it was hoped would be but temporary in its effects, and would yield to the
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invigorating influences of relaxation and home ex- ercises, where the cares and anxieties of official responsibility would not intrude. Accordingly, his associates upon the bench, after much persuasion, induced him to retire, as all hoped, for a short season only, in order to recruit his energies for the approaching term, as well as to complete the un- finished former business still remaining. He left the bench, as was supposed, in the confident expec- tation of returning to it again after a short respite at home. Insidious disease, however, had obtained too strong and deep a hold in his system, and about noon on the 12th of April, 1859, he died at his res- idence in Janesville, in the house of his own con- struction, loved and mourned as to few men it has been vouchsafed to be loved and mourned.
Among those officially and professionally con- nected with him, as well as among his private circle, his death called forth the deepest expressions of sincere regret and sorrow. At meetings of the bar of the supreme court, and of the Milwaukee bar, as well as at those held at the county seats of the several counties of the State, resolutions were adopted indicative of the great general loss felt by the people, as well as the exalted estimation in which the deceased judge was most deservedly held by bench and bar. The president of the Milwaukee bar, in the course of a touching tribute to his virtues and ability, said of him : "Were I to name any one
sphere of action in his life in which he was most eminently distinguished, and for which he had a peculiar adaptation, I should say that it was as a legislator. His varied information, strict integrity, eminent conservatism and finely balanced mind, all combined to make him a ready debater and a high- minded and patriotic legislator. But it is useless to name any one sphere, when all the positions he ever occupied were filled so ably and perfectly." And another of his intimate associates said: "On this melancholy occasion I can hardly trust myself to speak. For years Judge Whiton has been to me as it were an elder brother. Our relations have been so harmonious, so uniformly genial, so entirely fraternal, that we have scarcely thought of official relation. During our long association, in delibera- tion upon matters of the gravest concernment, while discussion has been most free and unrestrained, never an unkind word, nay, not even a petulant expression, has been uttered. All through his of- ficial career he preserved a strictness of propriety which can scarcely be equaled, a conscientiousness which never wavered, a depth of thought and com- prehensiveness of the subject-matter ever present; commanding without force, controlling without in- trusion; clear and unassuming in his high office ; great when he least thought of greatness, but great only wherein man can be truly great-because he was wise and good."
RICHARD C. RUSSELL,
OSHKOSH.
T' `HE subject of this sketch, a native of Sunder- land, Massachusetts, was born on the 21st of April, 1829, and is the son of Alvin Russell and Sarah née Marsh. His father, a wagon-maker by occupation, was a man of moderate means, much respected by all who knew him. Richard's early life presented few marked phases, he receiving a good education at Amherst, and after closing his studies, spent four years in mercantile pursuits at that place. His health, however, becoming impaired, he removed to the West in 1856, and established himself at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the grain busi- ness. Remaining thus engaged until 1865, he con- ducted a good business, shipping both East and South, and made it financially successful. In 1865, having accumulated sufficient capital, under the
firm name of Russell, Leach and Co., he erected a saw-mill at Manistee, Michigan, and for three years engaged in manufacturing and shipping lumber. Closing out his milling interest, he, in 1870, estab- lished a private bank in Oshkosh, and the following March, with a capital of one hundred thousand dol- lars, organized the Union National Bank, with D. S. Libbie as president, and himself as cashier and gen- eral manager. In the destructive fire of 1873 their building was burned, but all the assets having been saved, the bank opened for business the next day and was again conducting a prosperous and substan- tial business. Aside from his banking interests, Mr. Russell is still concerned in mercantile pursuits, and also largely connected with real-estate operations.
Politically, he is identified with the republican
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party, and has been honored by his fellow-citizens with trustworthy positions. In 1863 he was elected superintendent of public instruction, and reëlected in the following year, and in this capacity rendered most efficient service in organizing the public schools of his city. In 1864-65 he represented his district in the State legislature.
In his religious communion, he is associated with the Congregational church.
He has traveled somewhat extensively over the United States, and the practical knowledge of men and things thus gained, combined with his fine executive and financial abilities, have enabled him
to turn circumstances to the interests of his business, and to make it in every way successful.
He was married in July, 1858, to Miss Maggie F. Reardon, and by her has two daughters and one son.
His present business and social standing is wholly due to his own effort, and he may most appropriately be called a self-made man. While he has been deeply engrossed in his business affairs, he has yet given much time to reading and self-culture, and by constant effort has developed a noble character that does not fail to impress all with whom he has to do with a sense of his merit and genuine worth.
JOSEPH B. WHITING, M.D.,
JANESVILLE.
E MERSON says : "It is the privilege of any human work which is well done, to invest the doer with a certain haughtiness. He can well afford not to conciliate whose faithful work will answer for him." This utterance may be taken as the key to the life of Joseph Bellamy Whiting, whose name stands at the head of this sketch. There is more of romance in every life than the casual observer is apt to note. Much that would be thought striking is simply unnoticed amid the hurrying throng. The little things that form a pivotal point upon which turns the destiny of a life are often lost sight of in the grand results which follow.
Dr. Whiting comes of good New England stock, both parents having been born in New Haven county, Connecticut, whence, after marriage, they removed to Barkhamstead, Litchfield county, Con- necticut, at which place he was born, December 16, 1822. His literary and professional tastes are hon- estly derived, his father, Mr. John Whiting, junior, having been a school teacher, and his mother, Mrs. Mary Warren Whiting, having been an intellectual and high toned woman of the old style. The for- mer died in 1825, aged thirty-nine, and the latter in 1867, aged seventy-one; hence the early training and subsequent development of the son was wholly in the hands of the mother, whose watchful care and beautiful life guarded his every step, and laid good and strong foundations for a true and noble life. The following extract from a private letter shows the estimation in which her memory is held by her worthy son : " It is not too much to say that what-
ever of good I have attained to has been largely due to her daily prayers and admonitions, which fol- lowed me wherever I went, this labor of love and duty ceasing only when her life itself was done."
The common school and home instruction brought the boy to the beginning of an academic course, at the age of thirteen years. At seventeen he began teaching, and continued in that work for five years, without special thought regarding his life work. Academic study was then resumed for a year, until in 1845 he began the study of medicine and surgery in the office of Dr. Vincent Holcombe, a distin- guished physician of the regular school of medicine, residing at Granville, Hampden county, Massachu- setts. The motives to this step are not easily de- fined, perhaps not very definite. The unconscious influence of Dr. Holcombe's noble mien won the heart and delighted the mind of the young student, until such a life and the profession which it adorned became the object of his ambition. Two years of thorough study followed. In 1847 he matriculated at the Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, and attended his first course of medical lectures. His second course was at the Vermont Medical College, Woodstock, Vermont, at the close of which he entered the office of Drs. H. H. and T. Childs, both of whom were professors in Berkshire Medical College, where he remained until his grad- nation at the latter in 1848.
Soon after leaving college he located in Wolcott- ville, a thriving manufacturing village in Litchfield county, Connecticut, where, in the autumn of 1850
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he married Frances A. Hungerford, daughter of John A. and Charlotte Hungerford. In 1852 he removed to Brooklyn, New York, where a career of unusual promise seemed to open to him, but he was compelled to relinquish it on account of the declin- ing health of his wife, who died in 1854. After this sad event he went to Lee, Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, where his marked abilities quickly secured him ample patronage, and made him prominent as a leader. The Berkshire District Medical Society, noted for the character and high standing of its members, made him its secretary and retained him in that honorable position during six years, until his removal from the State.
A new era in his life occurred in 1860, when he married the widow of the late chief-justice Whiton, and removed from the scenes of his early life, where success, joy and sorrow had so freely mingled in his cup, to become a citizen of Janesville, Wisconsin. Scarcely had the new home become a fixed fact before the tocsin of war sounded through our land, and every brave heart felt impelled to respond to our country's call. Dr. Whiting was a war demo- crat, and when the summons came he was ready to obey. After the battle of Fort Donelson his ser- vices were offered gratuitously, and Governor Har- vey sent him to the front to care for our wounded soldiers. Returning soon afterward with the sick and wounded, he remained on duty in the wards of Mound City Hospital during six months. The 33d Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers was now about to be raised, and Dr. Whiting received a commission as its surgeon, and immediately entered upon the work of perfecting its organization. The writer of this sketch was associated with him on the medical staff, and therefore has reason to know the thor- oughness which marked every step in the progress of that work. The experience gained in previous hospital service was put to practical use, and such examinations of the men were made as proved such of them as were accepted to be able to endure the fatigues and hardships of active military life. Six weeks were thus occupied while the new regiment was being gathered in camp at Racine, Wisconsin. Then it was ordered to Memphis, to form part of the great expedition which was intended to take Vicksburg, viâ Grenada and Jackson. The hard- ships of that campaign are, in part, matters of his- tory. No one pen will probably ever record them. To add to these hardships, unfortunate differences arose among the staff officers, in the midst of which
Surgeon Whiting was detailed for special service near army headquarters. Meanwhile great changes hạd occurred in the military programme. The army had returned to Memphis, whence a portion was sent by transports down the Mississippi, and active operations were in progress about Vicksburg, nearly opposite which, at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, a large hospital was established by order of General Grant, Surgeon Franklin put in charge, and Surgeon Whiting was made his chief executive officer. At the end of three weeks Surgeon Franklin was or- dered to rejoin his division, and Dr. Whiting suc- ceeded him as surgeon-in-chief. The importance of this position may be understood in view of the fact that it was the largest general hospital in the Mississippi valley below Cairo. It contained about three thousand persons, and was a model for good order, discipline, and thorough attention to, and care for, the wants of its inmates. The executive ability there displayed was noticeable in many ways other than maintaining good order and thorough discipline, which are the foundation of success. Its supplies for daily use were obtained from every available point, a work in itself of no mean magni- tude. Not only the quantity but the quality was scrupulously regarded, and an abundance was pro- vided for all; yet when the hospital was closed, in September, 1863, after an existence of seven months, there stood to its credit in the commissary depart- ment, as an unexpended balance, the handsome sum of ten thousand dollars, which had been saved to the government by economy in the hospital admin- istration, and which afforded proof, also, of the lib- erality of the government in providing for its hos- pital department. When the books were closed, and returns made to Washington, the accounts were found clear and correct.
The next post of duty was as surgeon-in-chief of the military district of Natchez, Mississippi, having that city as headquarters. This was in November, 1863. The hospitals were found to be in a demor- alized condition, but in a short time order was restored, when the district became infected with small-pox, which spread with alarming rapidity among the citizens and colored troops. Special hospital accommodations were at once provided. and further progress of the disease was averted. The necessities of the case required his appoint- ment by the military authorities as mayor of the city, the duties of which office he ably filled for some three months, when health gave way, and a
Franz Falk
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return home became inevitable, and he was honor- ably discharged from the service in July 1864. Through special favor his discharge was forwarded direct, instead of passing through the ordinary channels, a compliment not often paid to any retir- ing officer.
Dr. Whiting's military record is one of which any man might well be proud. Peculiarities of charac- ter which intensify the statement with which this sketch begins made him enemies, but only among those who would not understand, and could not appreciate him. His perceptions were clear, his professional knowledge accurate, his hand firm in action ; and though easily and too often disturbed by minor annoyances, he was ever calm, clear and determined in every emergency. And the strict honesty of his administration is worthy of all praise. With a discipline verging close upon severity at times, he was at heart, to those who knew him best, really simple as a child, and kind and gentle as a woman ; satisfied if his work was well done, and without care of its being approved by those who could not understand it.
A year of quiet rest at home prepared the way for the resumption of active professional life, in which Dr. Whiting has been engaged since 1865, enjoying the confidence and respect of the people to a remarkable degree, and honored, as at the East, by his medical brethren, having been unani- mously chosen president of the Wisconsin State Medical Society in 1875-6.
Dr. Whiting is a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Janesville, of which he has for many years been a warden. His sympathies and efforts have been largely given to the reformation of the inebriate, a cause which he has boldly and ably championed on every occasion when there was
need. The cause of education has found in him a warm friend and earnest supporter. The public schools of Janesville and State institutions of Wis- consin have in various ways, either indirectly or officially, shared his interest and efforts for their improvement. During five years he has held the office of secretary of the Wisconsin Institution for the Education of the Blind. In various ways he has proven that the duties of an able physician, a true philanthropist and a good citizen, are not at all incompatible.
In literary taste and culture Dr. Whiting would excel, if an intensely practical life did not interfere. His life-long regret is that he did not receive a col- legiate education. This regret has doubtless stim- ulated his activity in this direction in behalf of others. Yet his paper read before the State Med- ical Society, printed in the "Transactions " of 1874. entitled, " A higher standard of literary attainment, and a broader culture, necessary for young men who purpose to enter the profession," shows a breadth of thought and power of expression which are worthy of the man. Few men excel in many things. Happy should he be who excels in one, and the subject of this sketch excels in more than one.
Dr. Whiting has three children, all of whom are living, and give promise of being worthy of their sire.
In personal appearance he is tall, erect and com- manding, with a fine presence, somewhat resembling General Sherman. With an honest desire to be exactly right ; a readiness to acknowledge error, as well as to forgive ; a keen sense of justice ; an exec- utive ability that is marked, and a personal char- acter free of stain, Wisconsin can be proud of him as one of her representative citizens.
FRANZ FALK,
MILWAUKEE.
I N studying the life-history of him whose name heads this sketch we find underlying, and run- ning throughout the whole, an unswerving purpose, untiring enterprise and a firm adherence to principle. A native of Miltenberg, Bavaria, he was born on the Ioth of August, 1824, of Michael Falk and Margaret née Haeckler; and was early trained to those habits of industry and economy that have so signally
marked his career. His father, a cooper by occu- pation, was a man of considerable influence in his community, and received for life the appointment of wood-measurer for his city. With such an educa- tion as could be derived from the common school, Franz closed his studies when he was twelve and a half years of age, and spent the next six years work- ing at the cooper's trade. The business not being
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adapted to his tastes, and. having arrived at that age when it was necessary for him to choose a life occupation, he decided to become a brewer. Ac- cordingly he relinquished his former occupation, and after spending three years in the brewery business, in Miltenberg, left his native land and immigrated to America, landing in New York in June, 1848. Going thence to Cincinnati, he was there employed in a brewery three months, and in October of the same year settled in Milwaukee, which he has since made his home. During the first six months after his arrival he was in the employ of Mr. Au- gust Krug, doing general work in his brewery, and then became foreman in the brewery of C. T. Melms, a position which he held during a period of seven years. Having now accumulated a sufficient capital, he associated himself with Mr. Frederick Goes, and began business on his own account; and was also, for five years, interested in the malt-houses of a Mr. Williams. Although actively employed in his busi- ness, Mr. Falk has always shown a worthy public- spiritedness, and has taken a deep interest in all matters pertaining to the interests of his city. He
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is at the present time (1876) a director of the Brew- ers Insurance Company of America. His success is wholly the product of his own effort. Beginning without capital, he has made his way slowly and steadily to his present standing, and presented in his career an example of sturdy toil and honest enterprise well worthy of emulation. Though democratic in his political views, he is far from being a partisan, and always esteems the man above the party. His religious culture has been under the influence of the Catholic church.
While Mr. Falk has been constantly engaged in his business affairs, he has found much time for social culture, and has developed those traits of personal character that always mark the true man, and that never fail to secure substantial friends.
He was married in June, 1850, to Miss Louisa Wahl, and by her has seven sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Lewis W. Falk, manages the finan- ces in the Bavarian Brewery. The second, Frank R. Falk, is corresponding clerk in the Second Ward Savings Bank, of Milwaukee ; and the daughter is at- tending school in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany.
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