USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 41
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State of Wisconsin, he settled at Newport, Sauk county, then a town of greater expectations than have been realized. While practicing his profession there he purchased an interest in a drug store, which he sold in 1860, and during the next five years was engaged in the management of a farm.
In 1865 Mr. Temple removed to Mauston, where, in company with other parties, he built an elevator, and engaged in the produce business during the next three years; at the expiration of that time he sold his interest in the elevator for a farm, which he has since supervised, at the same time furnishing wood and ties for a railroad company.
While residing in the State of New York, Mr. Temple was, in 1842 and 1843, superintendent of public schools for Madison county, and was also justice of the peace at Munnsville for eight years. In 1850 he was a member of the New York legisla- ture, where he served one regular and one extra session: Since removing to Wisconsin, and while a
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resident of Newport, he was justice of the peace, about four years, and chairman of the board of supervisors for six years. Since he settled in Maus- ton he was one of the commissioners, when three men did the whole business of the county. In 1860 he was elected a member of the assembly, and the next winter was on the committee which reported the bill for organizing the Wisconsin regiments which were furnished at the commencement of the war. He also attended the extra session of the legislature which met in the summer of 1861, and took an active and prominent part in furthering all war measures, and is a man whose patriotism was never questioned. Public-spirited and generous, Mr. Temple takes an active interest in all local matters, and has been honored by his fellow-citizens with the highest office of the village corporation.
He is a Royal Arch Mason, and has held the principal offices in that order. In religious senti- ment, Mr. Temple is a Universalist.
He was a democrat of free-soil proclivities until 1856, when he became identified with the republican party, with which he heartily cooperates.
In April, 1840, Mr. Temple was married to Miss Caroline P. Stillman, of Otsego county, New York, and by her has had seven children, six of whom are still living.
In all his business relations Mr. Temple's course has been that of a conscientious, honorable and upright man ; and in the discharge of all the trusts and duties that have been imposed upon him he has gained the confidence of all, and lives in the enjoyment of the highest respect of a very large circle of friends.
HORACE CHASE,
MILWAUKEE.
H ORACE CHASE was born in the town of "Derby, in the county of Orleans, in the State of Vermont, December 25, 1810. He comes of pio- neer and revolutionary stock, and is one of ten children of his father. His ancestors on the father's side came from England to America in 1629, and settled in New Hampshire. His grandfather on the mother's side was in the battle of Lexington. His father moved to the town of Derby in 1807. At that time it was a comparative wilderness, and no grist mill within thirty miles; even at that distance grain was carried on horseback to be ground. He lived with his father, working on the farm in the summer and going to school in the winter. In his seventeenth year, while unloading hay in his father's barn, he became overheated, injuring his health in such a manner as to incapacitate him for manual labor for two years. Afterward he obtained employ- ment as clerk in several different mercantile firms in succession in Vermont, Canada, Boston, and the city of New York, at which latter place he formed the acquaintance of Mr. P. F. W. Peck, of Chicago, Illi- nois, by whom he was prevailed upon to go with him to Chicago, which he reached in May, 1834. He was employed here by several different firms as clerk or bookkeeper, until he formed a partnership with Mr. Archibald Clybourn in the mercantile busi- ness, which was to continue three years. In the
meantime he made a claim at the mouth of the Milwaukee river, and another where the Wisconsin Leather Company is now located. In 1836 he and Mr. Clybourn opened a large store, and transacted all the forwarding and commission business of the then village of Milwaukee. In October, 1837, Mr. Chase married Miss Sarah Ann Gray, sister of Charles and George M. Gray, of Chicago. Mr. Chase was elected a member of the first constitutional conven- tion, which assembled at Madison in the winter of 1846-7; afterward elected to the first legislative assembly, which convened in June, 1848. In 1852 Mr. Chase met with a severe affliction in the death of his wife. In 1858 he was again married to Miss Mary H. Davis, of Mount Holly, Vermont, who is still the partner of his joys and his sorrows. In 1861 he was elected alderman and supervisor of the fifth ward of the city of Milwaukee, and in 1862 elected mayor, the duties of which office he discharged sat- isfactorily to the people. In 1869 Mr. Chase was elected first president of the Old Settlers Club. In 1873 the fifth ward was divided, and the twelfth ward established, in which he was elected counselor for one year. He was afterward, in 1874, elected alder- man for two years, his term expiring in 1876. He is a self-made man, characterized by his accurate knowledge of men, clear perceptions of business relations, sound judgment and persevering energy.
Horace & Make
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The accumulation of his large fortune is the legit- imate result of the exercise of those faculties, and he enjoys it rationally and usefully. It is an agree- able source of pleasure to Mr. Chase that he can remember the time when Milwaukee had but three inhabitants, including himself, and that he has
materially aided in building it up to its present highly prosperous condition with its hundred thou- sand inhabitants. He has a distinct recollection, too, of the Indian trail from Chicago to Milwaukee, as furnishing the only mode of access to and from those two places.
FERNANDO WINSOR,
MAUSTON.
A MONG the early and most respected citizens of Juneau county is Fernando Winsor, a native of the Empire State. He was born at Franklinville, Cattaraugus county, on the 15th of April, 1831, his parents being Mathewson and Nancy Potter Winsor. His father was a tanner, shoemaker and farmer, and died when the son was about ten years old.
Fernando had previously spent two years in Ohio, and at this time was sent to a sister's, with whom he lived until he was sixteen, working on the farm, attending school, and making a brief attempt to learn the shoemaker's trade. At the age of sixteen he removed to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and with the aid of an elder brother, Horatio S. Winsor, was enabled to attend school two years at Janesville and Beloit. He was next engaged in teaching during the winter months, and employed the summers in farm work, and improved his leisure hours in reading law.
Having finished his studies at Elkhorn, he was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1853. A year later he settled at Portage, where he was engaged one year in the law practice, and at the expiration of that time removed to Mauston, at that time part of Adams county, and now the seat of justice of Juneau. Here he has practiced for twenty-one years, and has always had a good reputation as an able lawyer and conscientious man, and is now a
member of the firm of Winsor and Veeder. He has also a dry-goods store, and is operating largely in this line of business.
In 1855 Mr. Winsor was appointed county judge, an office to which he afterward was elected by the people, and which he held in all about four years. Between these two terms, in 1857, when Juneau county was organized, he was elected district attor- ney, and held that position four years.
In politics, Mr. Winsor has been a republican since the organization of the party, though formerly he was a democrat.
He is a member of the Episcopal church, and has served as warden of the same.
In November, 1854, he married Miss Mary Helen Munsel, of Delavan, Wisconsin. They have had four children, of whom three are now living.
Mr. Winsor was one of the three commissioners who built the public road from Mauston to Dexter- ville, Wood county, and is one of the leaders in all local enterprises. He has much public spirit, and no man takes greater delight in the progress of the village and county. In fairness of dealing he has few peers, knows no such word as compromise, but pays all dues to the last cent, and answers to Pope's portrait and panegyric :
"An honest man's the noblest work of God."
RUSSELL BROUGHTON, M.D.,
BRODHEAD.
TH THE subject of this sketch, a native of Albany, Green county, Wisconsin, was born May 16, 1842, and is the son of John Broughton and Amanda Griffin, who were married in Rensselaer county, New York.
He is from a sturdy, rugged and industrious race
of English descent, three brothers having immigrated from that country to America about the year 1700, and settled in Connecticut; two of them afterward returned to their native country, and from the third have descended all of the Broughtons in the United States. Russell received his early education in his
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native place and afterward entered Milton College in Rock county, Wisconsin, intending to take a full course of study, but was diverted from his purpose by joining the army in 1863. He afterward pur- sued a course of study at Bryant and Stratton's Commercial College of Milwaukee, and, having de- cided to enter the medical profession, pursued a course of study in Rush Medical College of Chicago, and graduated from the same in February, 1869. His taste for this profession developed at an early age, and he was greatly encouraged in his purpose of fitting himself for it by Dr. H. F. Persons, of Albany, Wisconsin, in whom he found a true friend. He first began his practice five miles from his birth- place among his acquaintances in 1869, and from the very beginning has conducted a steadily increasing business, each year having added largely to its in- crease, and is now widely known as a skillful surgeon and careful physician. During one year he has rid- den with horses twelve thousand miles in attending to his professional duties, and is at the present time (1876) employed by sixteen hundred families. Dr. Broughton has made it a rule of his life never to put off his work, and to be prompt in all his duties and engagements. His entire career has been marked by industry and frugality. He began without means, and even while receiving his education paid the most of his expenses by hard work. When eighteen
years of age he taught school for seventeen dollars per month, boarding at home and walking four miles and building his own fires; yet he was never tardy. At the age of twenty-one he had never taken a meal at a hotel, never been inside of a saloon, never used tobacco and never spent a half day in town; and during his last summer at home was not off the farm a week-day from the first of April to the first of Octo- ber. In these habits of industry, formed in early life, we find the secret of Dr. Broughton's success. Promptness and strict attention to business is his rule, and by adhering to this in all his dealing he has made his work a success, both professionally and financially. He has accumulated an ample fortune, and lives in the enjoyment of all the comforts of a happy home.
He has never held public office, except that of superintendent of public schools from 1872 to 1875, preferring the quiet of his profession to political emoluments and honors, but in his political senti- ments is a rigid democrat.
Dr. Broughton was married, February 1, 1869, to Miss Julia A. Smiley, third daughter of Hon. David Smiley, of Albany, Wisconsin. Mrs. Broughton is a lady of fine native endowments, is highly accom- plished, and besides is a most devoted wife and fond mother. Their union has been blessed by one son.
HON. WILLIAM T. PRICE,
BLACK RIVER FALLS.
W ILLIAM THOMPSON PRICE, a native of Barre township, Huntington county, Penn- sylvania, was born June 17, 1824, the son of William and Mary (Leonard) Price. He left home before he had reached his teens, and attained most of his education while a salesman and bookkeeper in a store in Hollidaysburg. In April, 1845, he removed to Mt. Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, and in No- vember of the same year settled at his present home in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. At that time the Black River valley was an unbroken wilderness, with no postoffice within a hundred miles. The few inhabitants of the place were lumbermen, and at once joining himself to this class he has continued in the lumber business until the present time (1877), and is now the owner of large tracts of land in the valleys of the Black and Chippewa rivers.
In his early life he had an ardent desire for study, and among the works which he digested were Black- stone's and Kent's Commentaries. Subsequently he continued his law studies, and in 1852 was admitted to the bar, and was engaged in legal practice more or less until 1857, when he abandoned the law, and has since confined himself to his lumber business, except when discharging some official duty.
In 1850 Mr. Price was elected to the general assembly of Wisconsin, and in 1856 to the senate, serving two or three years during the interim as judge of Jackson county. He was appointed col- lector of internal revenue for the sixth district in 1862, a position which he resigned two years later. He was a presidential elector in 1868, and in 1870 was elected a second time to the State senate, where he rendered efficient and valuable service.
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In his political principles Mr. Price was a demo- crat until 1854. Upon the organization of the re- publican party he united with that body. Latterly, being more independent in his views, has not de- fined his politics.
On July 10, 1851, he was married to Miss Julia Campbell, of Grant county, Wisconsin, by whom he has had four children, two of whom are now living.
Mr. Price was the originator and first president of the West Wisconsin Railroad, originally known as the Tomah and Lake St. Croix road, and was chiefly instrumental in bringing this road to Black River Falls. He is at the head of more enterprises, insti- tutions and corporations than all other men in Jack- son county ; being president of the Black River Improvement Company, the Jackson County Agri- cultural Society, the village corporation, the Jackson County Bank, which was opened at Black River Falls January 2, 1877, and chairman of the county board of supervisors. .
During his early days in Wisconsin Mr. Price saw the sad effects of intemperance, particularly among lumbermen, and was himself more or less addicted to the habit until twenty years ago, when he wholly
abandoned it. He is now its open, avowed and un- compromising enemy, and the temperance cause has few stronger or more influential advocates. He heartily sympathizes with every cause which tends to better the condition of his fellow-men; and al- though not a member of any church, has contributed thousands of dollars to aid in building houses of worship and sustaining preaching in Black River Falls and throughout the Chippewa and Black river valleys.
Mr. Price has a farm of eighteen hundred acres, about fourteen miles from town, mostly improved, and employs twenty-five hands continually, and at times (including choppers and teamsters) has four hundred at work.
Possessed of vast executive ability and a wonder- ful power of will, and a warm, generous heart, he engages with untiring zeal in every enterprise which he undertakes ; and has left the impress of his char- acter on monuments that shall live when the mind and hand that wrought them has passed away ; and in a literal sense has contributed his full share in transforming a wilderness, that it "blossoms as the rose."
GEORGE RUNKEL,
TOMAII.
T HE Runkel family, of which the subject of this sketch is a member, is of French descent. Upon the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes the father of our subject fled to Prussia.
George Runkel was born October 7, 1839, at Neuwied, France. His parents were William and Julia (Moore) Runkel. An uncle on his father's side fought in the battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815. George attended school from five to fourteen years of age, at which time, in 1853, the whole family immigrated to this country and settled at Mansfield, Ohio, where the son was initiated into business by becoming a clerk in a grocery store. About two years afterward the family removed to Portage, Wis- consin, where George resumed clerking, at first for other parties, and afterward for his father, who went into business for himself after being in Portage about three years. In 1856, when the Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad was completed to Greenfield, Monroe county, he went thither and opened a store, contin- uing in trade for three years, when he removed to
Tomah, in the same county. Here he was joined by his father, and they went into business together. About this time he spent one year in Pike's Peak, with fair success as a miner and trader, and soon after returning went to New Lisbon and opened a store, still retaining his connection with the house at Tomah, his brother, Frederick, having an interest in the latter house.
He spent about six years at New Lisbon, and while there built a saw-mill, which he operated in connection with his mercantile business; and also built, in 1866, the Tomah flouring mills, now oper- ated by Runkel and Freemen,
In 1868 Mr. Runkel returned to Tomah, and after conducting the flouring mill for a time erected a building and opened the Bank of Tomah, in part- nership with Mr. J. T. Freeman, who is president, while Mr. Runkel is cashier. They are also engaged largely in real estate. Mr. Runkle makes land operations his specialty, and has been very success- ful. Monroe county is dotted all over with lands
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which he has sold, while he has large quantities still in the market. He advertises very extensively, holding out great inducements to purchasers; he sells small farms on easy terms to poor people, and has been the means of bringing hundreds of settlers to Monroe county. Probably no other man of his age has done as much to settle and improve the county. Nor are his operations limited to any one county. In 1875 he built a saw-mill at Runkel's Mills, Port- age county, on the Wisconsin Valley railroad, which is operated by the Eau Pliene Lumber Company, of which he is the principal member. In 1876 he aided in building another saw-mill on the same rail- road line, in Juneau county, known as Smith's Mill, that being the name of the postoffice.
Mr. Runkel is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order, belonging to the La Crosse commandery.
He is democratic in his political opinions, but never allows politics to interfere with his legitimate business.
On the 20th of January, 1860, he was married to Miss Eliza J. Lockwood,¿ of Greenfield, Wisconsin. Of six children that they have had five are now living.
At fourteen years of age Mr. Runkel started out to fit himself for business. From the first he gave careful attention to all the details, and has never attempted work of any kind without doing it thor- oughly and well. He has always been kind to the poor, and liberal in every humane cause. Especially is he accommodating to people of restricted means who want a home on a strip of land; and in aiming to help others has helped himself. Although but in middle life, he has acquired a competency, and has earned by honorable dealings every dollar which he possesses.
His father, who brought him to this country twenty-four years ago, and from whom he imbibed his correct business habits, died in Tomah, January 12, 1876. His mother is still living.
REUBEN DOUD,
RACINE.
"THE subject of this sketch, a native of McGraw- ville, Cortland county, New York, was born on the 20th of January, 1830, and is the son of Reuben G. Doud and Betsey née McGraw.
He passed his boyhood in his native place, at- tending the common school; and in 1849, being then nineteen years of age, removed to Racine, Wis- consin. Remaining there but a short time he went to Delavan, and thence to Green Bay. Later he en- gaged in the transportation business at Kankanna, in connection with the boats on Fox river, and con- tinued thus employed during a period of five years. At the expiration of this time he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, purchased a steamer and went thence down the Ohio river, up the Mississippi, to the Wisconsin, and was the first to pass with a steam- boat through the locks on the Fox river, after the improvements on the Wisconsin in 1856.
Returning to Pittsburgh in 1857, he built the steamer Appleton Belle, and taking her by the same route to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, there sold her. In the winter of this same year he built a steamer at Berlin, Wisconsin, which plied between that place, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Green Bay, until 1860. During this year he built the steamers Fountain City
and Bay City, and ran them on the same route. In 1861 he closed out his steamboat interest on this route, and engaged in the warehouse business at Gill's Landing; and during the same season ran the steamer Berlin City from Green Bay to New London, in connection with the Wolf river boats. In 1863 and 1864 he built the steamers North- western and Tigress, and several others; and continued thus employed doing a prosperous busi- ness until 1866, when he closed his affairs at Gill's Landing and removed to Racine, his present home.
Associating himself with Mr. Martin E. Trem- ble, under the firm name of Tremble and Doud, he engaged in the lumber business, which has proved eminently successful. The business of the firm is very extensive, their annual sales amounting to twelve million feet of lumber and twelve million shingles, besides a large amount of lath, pickets, posts, etc., most of which is cut from their own lands, which are located with their mills on the Big Suamico river near Green Bay. Mr. Doud is also largely interested in vessel property, hav- ing built the Reuben Doud at a cost of thirty- three thousand dollars, the schooner M. E. Trem- ble at a cost of sixty-five thousand dollars, and
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also acquired by purchase the schooner Rainbow. His career from the beginning has been one of constant energy, activity and of entire success in all his undertakings; consequently he has amassed an ample fortune. He has also been honored with positions of public responsibility and trust, all of which he has filled with great credit to himself.
In 1864 he was elected to the State legislature on the republican ticket ; in 1872 became mayor of Racine, was reëlected in 1873, and again elected to the same position in 1875.
He was married on the 15th of September, 1864, to Miss Katharine Reynolds, of Cortland, New York, by whom he has one daughter. He is now mak- ing preparations to start on an extended tour in Europe with his family, and after a few years he will return to make his permanent residence in the city of Racine, where, among the many elegant and costly residences which adorn the "Belle City of the Lakes," the home which he has designed and built stands preeminent for its elegance and tastefulness.
HON. ROMANZO BUNN,
SPARTA.
R OMANZO BUNN is a native of Otsego county, New York, and was born September 24, 1829. His father, Peter Bunn, was a farmer, and moved to Cattaraugus county in 1832.
At the age of sixteen Romanzo entered Spring- ville Academy, in Erie county, and prepared for college, teaching in the winters, and entered Oberlin in 1849. At the expiration of one term he went to Elyria, and studied law for à time with Messrs. McAcheren and Myers. Later he returned to Cat- taraugus county, and finished his legal studies with Hon. W. H. Wood, of Ellicottville, and in 1853 was admitted to the bar. After practicing one year in that place, in partnership with Mr. Wood, Mr. Bunn removed to the West. He at first stopped for a few months at Sparta, and in the spring of 1855 settled at Galesville, the county seat of Trempealeau county. At the end of six years, during which time he built up a good practice, he removed to Sparta, in 1861, where he continued the practice of his profession until the spring of 1868, at which time he was elected judge of the sixth district for a term of six
years. In 1874 he was reëlected, and is now serving on his second term.
As a jurist, Judge Bunn possesses eminent qualifi- cations, and with each year grows more and more in public favor.
The year before leaving Trempealeau county he was elected to the State legislature, to represent that and two other counties.
Judge Bunn cherished free-soil sentiments before he was old enough to vote, and has voted the repub- lican ticket since the party was organized.
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