USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 45
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In November, 1870, he was elected clerk of the circuit court, and has been reëlected three times, being now in his fourth term, of two years each. He is especially qualified for this office, and not- withstanding his wound, is able to discharge its duties fully and satisfactorily. In politics he has always acted with the republican party.
In early life Mr. Fosbinder united with the Wes- leyan Methodist church, and now belongs to the Episcopal Methodist body.
On September 14, 1865, he was married to Miss Phoebe A. Fluno, of Juneau county, by whom he has had four children, three of whom are now living.
In his personal character Mr. Fosbinder presents most excellent qualities ; quiet and unassuming in manner, he carefully, conscientiously and cheerfully performs the duties of his daily life, and enjoys the respect and confidence of all who know him, as being a true and upright christian gentleman.
CHARLES ALEXANDER, M.D.,
EAU CLAIRE.
C HARLES ALEXANDER, who was born at
Pittston, Maine, April 28, 1824, was deprived of both his father and mother before he was five years old, and placed in the family of Rufus Allen, of Farmington, where he remained, well cared for, until seventeen years of age, farming and attending a common school. The next few years he devoted exclusively to his education, attending the North Yarmouth and Farmington academies, and, depend- ing entirely upon his own resources, tanght a part of each year to defray his expenses. He prepared for the sophomore class of Bowdoin College, but instead of continuing his literary course, began the study of medicine with Dr. W. H. Allen, of Orono, Penob- scott county, in 1845. He attended medical lectures at the medical department of Harvard College, Jef- ferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and the med- ical department of the University of New York, and received his diploma at the last-named institution on the 8th of March, 1850.
Dr. Alexander passed the first eight years of his
professional life at Orono, and from 1858 until the opening of the civil war, in 1861, was engaged in his profession at Farmington.
He entered the army as surgeon of the 16th Reg- iment of Maine Volunteers, and remained steadily at his post until he received a serious, though not a severe, wound at Gettysburg, where he was taken prisoner, and from an attack of lock-jaw narrowly escaped death. Being exchanged, he returned to Maine, and in abont seventy days was again with his regiment, and continned in the service until March, 1865, when ill health compelled him to re- sign. While in the army he was twice promoted, the second time to the position of surgeon-in-chief.
After leaving the army Dr. Alexander returned again to Farmington, but soon removed to Old Town, in his native State ; he next went to Malden, Massachusetts, and in September, 1866, removed to Wisconsin and settled at Eau Claire. Since his set- tlement there his practice has been marked by a gradual growth, until it has become quite extensive
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while he has established a good reputation, both as medical practitioner and surgeon. Before going into the army his surgical practice was extensive ; in the army he had a good opportunity to extend his practical knowledge of this branch of science, and now surgery may be regarded as his specialty.
The Doctor has given considerable attention to geology and chemistry, on which subjects, as well as on anatomy and physiology, he has often lectured. He has a good collection of geological charts, and makes his lectures on the " stony science " popular as well as instructive. He also speaks, occasionally, on the subject of temperance, always treating it sci- entifically. In his studies, however, his profession takes the precedence over every branch, and he is constantly enriching his medical library and his mind with the fresh fruits of the best minds.
Dr. Alexander has been twice married. First to Miss Achsah E. Allen, daughter of Hon. N. T. Al- len, of Industry, Franklin county, Maine, who died November 13, 1856, in the eighth year of her mar- ried life. They had one child that died at the age of fourteen months. His second wife was Miss Charlotte Augusta Bullen, to whom he was married in January, 1861, and who died March 27, 1875,
i leaving one child, a son, now in his seventh year. Both wives were well educated and especially active christian women. The latter was the daughter of Mrs. Joseph Bullen, a sister of Rev. George D. Boardman, the pioneer Baptist missionary to the Karens of Burmah, who is now living with Dr. Al- exander. She is in her seventieth year, and is pa- tiently awaiting the call of the Master, when she shall join her glorified brother.
Though Dr. Alexander had a hard struggle in early life, with a firm trust in God and a manly self- reliance, he overcame every obstacle and has at- tained that success which invariably follows honest effort. He is a prominent member of the Baptist church, and superintendent of the Sunday school. He is also greatly interested in secular education, and very active on the school board in the west-side district of Eau Claire.
The Doctor has a fine physique, being five feet nine inches in height, and weighing one hundred and ninety-five pounds. He has a full, round and cheerful face, looking as though he had just made himself happy by relieving physical suffering, or by administering comfort to weak and diseased human- ity in some other way.
NICHOLAS D. FRATT,
RACINE.
A MONG the successful men of Wisconsin may be placed the name of Nicholas D. Fratt, of Racine. Mr. Fratt, after a successful business ca- reer, retired from business, and sought retirement in a rural home, but his talents were too well known to be allowed to rust, and he has been called upon to fill offices of trust and honor.
Mr. Fratt was born January 25, 1825, in the town of Watervliet, Albany county, New York; is a son of Jacob and Catharine Fratt. He received a com- mon-school education at Troy, New York, and then assisted his father in the provision and packing trade, West Troy, where he remained until he was eighteen years old. He then went to Albany and worked for his uncle in the grocery business, re- mained with him one year, then turned his steps westward to begin his career. Arriving at Racine in 1843, he engaged in the provision and packing business, which he continued with good success until 1868. The latter years, from 1852, he did not
devote all his time to business, but bought a two- hundred-acre farm, two miles from Racine, and has superintended its improvement, which was more congenial to his tastes. Here, Cincinnatus-like, he enjoys that quietude which he values higher than renown.
Mr. Fratt has been member of the State senate from Racine county ; was elected president of the Racine County Agricultural Society in 1858; was again elected to the same position in 1870, and has been reëlected each year to the present time. He served as school district clerk for sixteen years; is a member of the executive committee of the State Agricultural Society; was a director of the Racine County Bank from 1852, at which time the bank was organized, until 1858, when he was elected president of the same, and continued its presiding officer until the bank was changed to the First National Bank of Racine, when he was again elected presi- dent of the bank, and still holds that position. Mr.
N. D. Fratt
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Fratt is very much respected among a large circle of acquaintances. He was nominated for Congress by the democratic reform party in 1874, but was de- feated by Chas. G. Williams, republican.
Mr. Fratt was married in 1845 to Miss Elsie
Duffes; has three sons and three daughters, and en- joys the happiness of harmonious domestic relations.
He is a gentleman of pleasant address, plain and unassuming in his manners, and has a host of friends.
JOHN M. CHADWICK,
MONROE.
JOHN MONROE CHADWICK was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1822, and is the second living son of John and Polly (Scudder) Chadwick, of the same State. This branch of the Chadwick family is descended from French Huguenot ancestors, who took refuge in England from the persecution of the sixteenth century, whence the great-grandfather of our sub- ject immigrated to New Jersey prior to the revolu- tion. His son John moved to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1793. John Chad- wick, the father of our subject, was born November 4, 1789, and was a manufacturer of edged tools. In 1837 he immigrated to the West, settled in Green county, Wisconsin, where he bought large tracts of land, and became an extensive real-estate speculator and farmer, accumulating a handsome fortune. In 1857 he retired from active life, and settled in the city of Monroe, where he died, August 19, 1866, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, leaving a family of three sons and four daughters, namely, Jotham C., John M., William W., Sarah, Elizabeth, Lydia T. and Amanda L. The mother of our subject was of German descent, her grandfather being a native of that country. He immigrated to New Jersey prior to the revolution. His descendants are now numerous in the middle States, and are among the most distinguished literary and professional men of the country.
The juvenile years of John M. Chadwick were spent in his native State, working on a farm or in his father's factory, varied by a few weeks' attend- ance at the district school during the winter season, until his fifteenth year, when he moved with the family to Wisconsin, and settled upon the present site of the village of Juda, Green county. Here John assisted in opening a. farm, upon which he worked till he attained his majority. During the first six years of his residence in his western home there were no public schools; but in the year 1840
a log school-house was built, where he attended school for three months. This, with what he had received previous to the age of fifteen, constituted the sum total of his schooling. He was, however, a man of fine natural gifts, and by close observation and study has made the most of his advantages. At the age of twenty-one years he rented one of his father's farms, which he conducted for three years with fair success, leaving a margin of savings, after rent and expenses, sufficient to buy a farm of two hundred acres, and build a comfortable house.
At the age of twenty-four he married Miss Eliza- beth Bridge, daughter of Jeremiah Bridge, one of the first settlers of Wisconsin, and began to lay the foundation of that ample fortune which has since crowned his well directed industry. His savings were invested in adjoining farming lands, from year to year, till his possessions were wide and his flocks numerous. Milwaukee, on the lake, afforded a market and shipping point for his cattle, which were sold in droves of five hundred to one thousand. His operations were increased until his sales amounted to nearly a million dollars annually, and he now takes the lead in this branch of commerce in Wisconsin.
In early life his desire was to be a comfortable farmer, and to that end his calculations were made and his plans laid. He thought that if he were only master of ten thousand dollars he would be contented and rest on his oars; but this accom- plished he was as far from rest as at the first, and although his fortune has many times exceeded this figure he is still accumulating.
His success is the result of a combination of favorable circumstances. His habits have always been temperate ; he has never drunk a glass of beer or any intoxicating beverage, nor used tobacco in any shape during his whole life, while all his trans- actions and intercourse with his fellow-men have been governed by probity and scrupulous upright-
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ness, until his word has everywhere become an equivalent for his bond. He scorned to take advan- tage of his neighbor's ignorance, or to overreach him in any transaction. His fortune has been made honorably, and his children inherit no taint of re- proach from their father. He is a wise and saga- cious business man, of sound judgment, and an intuitive perception of men's motives and character. He is prompt, decisive and energetic. He possesses a genial and affable temperament, and is a devoted and true friend. He has always evaded public office, is a man of one pursuit, and has never varied his occupation; he trades with the same men to- day that he did twenty-five years ago.
He was raised in the Baptist church, and adheres to the faith of his fathers, and contributes liberally toward the support of the institutions of religion. He is generous and kind hearted, always ready to lend a helping hand to the children of misfortune, or those struggling to gain a position in the world. He holds his wealth in trust for the good of others, and is only concerned to know how it can be used to the best advantage.
He was reared in the whig school of politics, and naturally drifted into the republican party, and
during the late war was one of the most patriotic citizens of the republic, giving largely of his means, not only to influence enlistments, but also toward agencies for the care of sick and wounded soldiers, and the maintenance of their widows and orphans.
The fruit of his marriage with Miss Bridge was eight children, four of whom survive, namely, Mar- tha, Jehu, Kate and Frank. Jehu is a graduate of Madison University, and a young man of much promise. Kate is a graduate of the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois; a lady of much personal beauty, high intellectual development and superior social qualities. She is a leading member of the Young Ladies' Literary Association of Mon- roe, and is among the first in every enterprise for the mental, moral and physical improvement of the people. Frank is attending the Monroe High School. Martha is the wife of Charles Fisher, Esq., an extensive farmer of Green county. Mrs. Chad- wick died on the 29th of December, 1873, and on the 25th of February, 1875, Mr. Chadwick married Miss Elizabeth L. Start, daughter of Robert Start, formerly of New York State, now a resident of Green county.
JOHN A. BINGHAM,
MONROE.
Jº HN AUGUSTINE BINGHAM was born at Morristown, Vermont, February 27, 1819, the son of John and Lydia (Thompson) Bingham. His parents were descended from early Puritan stock, and farmers by occupation, industrious, energetic, practical, and sternly religious, as only New England Puritans have been or can be. His father was a man of unusual size, strength and endurance, and enjoyed the reputation of being able to do more work than any other man in his part of the country. His grandfather - also named John- was likewise a large, powerful man, even larger than his son, and was not less noted for the virtues. The mother of our subject, a most exemplary woman, is remem- bered for her remarkably happy and hopeful dispo- sition. To her the worst disaster appeared "better than it might have been." Under the most adverse circumstances " health, peace and prosperity "- the three blessings she was wont formally to invoke on her friends - were always near at hand. Though
descended from a shorter-lived, less vigorous and less practical family than her husband, she held with him the New England idea of work.
The subject of this sketch taught school the win- ter he was fifteen years of age, having among his pupils young men five years his senior, but, so far as he could judge, not one of them ever suspected their teacher of being their junior. Before he taught his first school he urged his father to send him to the Montpelier Academy; but the father, confidently believing that the boy had learning enough - that more would only make him lazy - refused. But finally, weary of his importunities, he replied to the oft-repeated request : " If you get the potatoes dug and housed before school begins you may go." To the father's surprise, the potatoes were safely stored in the cellar before the day appointed, having been dug and carried to the house at the rate of fifty bushels per day. The father, who had supposed the fulfillment of the conditions impossible, reluctantly
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granted his son's request. But the first appeal of the boy for money to defray his expenses overcame the conscientious scruples in deference to which he had permitted him to go, and his reply was, “Come home." In this instance John disobeyed, not return- ing to the parental roof till the end of the first quar- ter, but paying his own expenses by sawing fire-wood for the institution. Subsequently, when he earned money by teaching, he attended for a short time an academy at Johnson, Vermont. He assisted his father during the farming season, until he attained his majority; during the intervals of farm labor he studied surveying and read law in the office of an attorney at Stowe, Vermont. From the age of fif- teen he earned, by teaching, surveying, selling books on subscription, or by some manual labor, the means to purchase his own clothing and books. To pro- cure the books he needed he was often obliged to sell those he already possessed. This necessity he regarded as a great misfortune, and so impressed him that in after years he insisted that his own chil- dren should retain every book studied by them, from the primer to the science of government ; nor would he-consent, under any circumstances, to a deviation from this rule.
In the summer of 1841 Mr. Bingham removed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He afterward traveled on foot over southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois ; taught school one term at Rochester, Ra- cine county, Wisconsin, and in February, 1842, set- tled in Monroe, Green county, where he opened a law office and resided during the remainder of his days.
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On the 25th of November, 1843, he married Miss Caroline E. Churchill, a woman of fine intellect and strong character, in whom he found a faithful and loving wife. She was born at Ridge Prairie, Illinois, June 26, 1824, and still lives at Monroe.
During the years 1846 and 1847 Mr. Bingham was district attorney of Green county, and afterward held for eight years the office of probate judge of the county, the duties of which he discharged with rigid and characteristic exactness, and won for him- self the respect and unlimited confidence of all who knew him. In 1854 he opened a broker's office, which subsequently grew into the Bank of Monroe - the first bank organized in the county. A few years later he was conspicuously active in connec- tion with the building of the Monroe branch of the Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad.
Judge Bingham was one of the most gifted men
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of the State. His intellect was of that broad and comprehensive character which grasped the true relation of circumstances in every aspect in which they might be presented to him. As a lawyer he was full of resources, and his opponents at the bar never felt sure that he was beaten until a judgment in their favor had been actually executed. As a business man and an administrator of affairs his accuracy of judgment was remarkable, and this, united with a profound knowledge of human nature, was a great secret of his success. His mind was clear and vigorous, as well as broad and capacious. On questions of State and national policy he never failed to perceive and defend with signal ability the foundation principles which should govern the pub- lic mind. He looked upon shams of every kind with contempt, and was rarely, if ever, deceived by them.
In politics he was formerly a whig, and always anti-slavery in principles. He was an earnest sup- porter of Fremont in 1856, and of Lincoln in 1860, and was a member of the national convention that renominated the latter in 1864. To his influence is largely due the revolution in the politics of his county, which, formerly largely democratic, is now overwhelmingly republican. He was an ardent sup- porter of the government during the civil war, and it was a source of great sorrow to him that failing health prevented his entering more actively into the service of his county.
Judge Bingham took an active interest in all mat- ters of public improvement, contributing freely both time and money to the success of enterprises which met his approval. Above everything else he was the friend of education, and no other man ever did so much for the schools of Monroe. For months at a time he visited them daily, watching the progress of favorite classes, counseling teachers, and study- ing methods of instruction. He possessed a natural love of teaching, and was peculiarly happy in his mode of imparting information. This disposition, sharpened and intensified by the difficulties he had encountered in procuring an education, led him to take great pleasure in assisting all young men, and especially poor and ambitious youths who were struggling to gain an education.
Having helped himself he understood the value of self-help, and never squandered money in any enterprise because it was labeled "benevolence." Every effort calculated to better qualify men to help themselves, or to render them temporary relief from pressing difficulties, commanded his cordial support ;
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and during the last years of his life a large constitu- ency, whom he counseled gratuitously, regularly sought his advice in regard to the conduct of all their more important affairs. The community also leaned upon and trusted his judgment as it had never trusted that of any other man, and when he was pre- maturely stricken down his acquaintances felt that . their strongest and ablest man was gone.
He had six children, three sons and three daugh- ters, five of whom survive. The eldest son, Horace, died in infancy ; Homer, the second son, was edu- cated at Cornell University, New York, and is at present (1876) attending the law department of the Wisconsin University, with a view to the profession of his father, and is a youth of fine presence and large promise; Herbert, still in his teens, is attend- ing the Monroe High School; the daughters, Helen
M., Alice and Ada, all graduates of the Lombard University, Galesburg, Illinois. Alice is the widow of the late Professor Herbert E. Copeland, for some years professor of natural science in the Whitewater, Wisconsin, Normal School, and latterly in a similar institution in Indianapolis, Indiana. He died on the 12th of December, 1876. Helen is a well known contributor to the current literature of the day, and has been for some time past engaged in writing a history of Green county, a task for the successful accomplishment of which her tastes and talents emi- nently fit her. Ada is a medical student at the Bos- ton University, and gives promise of a bright and successful career.
Judge Bingham died at Johnson, Vermont, July 24, 1865, having been stricken down by paralysis while on a visit to his native State.
JOHN G. MEACHEM, M.D.,
RACINE.
JOHN G. MEACHEM, a native of Axbridge, county of Somerset, England, was born on the 27th of May, 1823, and is the son of Thomas Meachem, whose wife was Elizabeth Goldesbrough. His parents were from aristocratic families, and at one time very wealthy; his father, however, not being a business man, lost both his own and his wife's property, and afterward became principal of a large school. In 1829 he received an appointment from the Duke of Wellington which would have proved very lucrative, but which he declined after going up to London to qualify. His attention was then directed to the sacred ministry, and he resolved that America should be the field of his labors. He immigrated to this country in 1830, and was ordained in the Protestant Episcopal church in the city of New York, by the late Bishop Benjamin T. Onder- donk. He ministered with great earnestness and success in different parishes in the State of New York until his death, which occurred in 1849.
Four of his sons became practicing physicians ; the eldest studied law, and afterward medicine, which he practiced ten years, and then entered the ministry of the Episcopal church, and was chaplain during a part of the late rebellion to General Mead's staff.
John, the third son, after receiving his academic education at Canandaigua and Richmond Academy,
from which latter institution he graduated, turned his attention, together with a brother next older than himself, to the study of medicine, and entered the medical department of Hobart College. After re- maining there during the years 1841-2 he left, and entered Castleton Medical College, Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1843, at the age of 20, and though the youngest in a class of 150, took the highest honors.
In 1844 he settled at Weathersfield Springs, New York, where he remained about one year, and then removed to Bethany. During the five years that he remained here, he had charge of the insane asylum of that place, and conducted a successful and satisfac- tory practice, and performed the very delicate and difficult surgical operation of ovariotomy. In 1850 he sold his residence and good name to another prac- titioner, who has since figured largely as an army surgeon from the State of Iowa, and removed to Warsaw, about fourteen miles distant from Bethany, and during the next twelve years built up an exten- sive medical and surgical practice. Almost every surgical case of importance occurring for many miles around fell into his hands. While here he received from the trustees of the Buffalo University the ap- pointment as one of the board of examiners of that institution. He was three times president of the Wyoming Medical Society, and for ten years its
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