USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 57
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General Ellis has had two wives. The first was Miss Pamela Holmes, of Winfield, Herkimer coun- ty, New York, to whom he was married in 1824. She lived at Green Bay from 1824 to 1847, when she died, leaving four sons and one daughter; one son and the daughter have since died. Hon. E. H. Ellis, the eldest son, is judge of the tenth judicial circuit, and resides at Green Bay; Fred. S. Ellis, late mayor of Green Bay, is now treasurer of Brown county, and R. F. C. Ellis is a citizen of Rochester, New York ; Orange R. Ellis died at Milwaukee three years ago. The second wife of General Ellis was Eliza C. J. C. Breuninger, a native of Stuttgard, Germany. Their marriage occurred in 1848. She died in November, 1872, leaving eight children, all girls, and all living with their venerated father. Her only son, Theodore, died two years before her demise.
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It will be seen that General Ellis has held many positions of trust and honor in what is now the State of Wisconsin, and he left every one of them with an untarnished record. No person could be more faithful than he was in the discharge of his obliga-
tions to the public. He has lived a pure, remark- ably industrious and eminently praiseworthy life, and has left the impress of a character that shall always shine brightly in the history of his adopted State.
SANFORD A. HUDSON, GANESVILLE.
T HE subject of this sketch was born at Oxford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, May 16, 1817, and is the son of Amos Hudson and Mary née Fisk. The genealogy of his father's family has not been carefully preserved, but it is claimed that he is descended from the same ancestry as the great navigator and explorer, Hendrick Hudson; while on the mother's side he is descended from Richard Haven, who immigrated from England and settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, about the year 1644. His maternal grandfather, Dr. Daniel Fisk, was one of the leading physicians of his county and a man of considerable prominence. From a published gene- alogy of the descendants of the above-named Rich- ard Haven, and embracing some eight or nine degrees of consanguinity and upward of thirty thousand persons, the descent of our subject from this common ancestor is thus traced: "Sanford A. Hudson, son of Mary Fisk, daughter of Daniel Fisk, son of Isaac Fisk, son of Hannah Haven, daughter of Richard Haven, son of Moses Haven, son of (the original) Richard Haven." In the first edition of the work referred to, which was published in 1843, there occur the names of some twenty-five gradu- ates by the name of Haven, from this ancestor, from Cambridge, Dartmouth, Providence and Amherst colleges, and twenty-nine in the same line of other names from Cambridge, Dartmouth, Providence, Amherst, Yale, Union and Middlebury colleges, while the descendants of this distinguished patri- arch under various names embrace many prominent citizens in every department of industry, science and art in every State in the Union and of Canada. The consideration of the above facts leads us to indulge in a line of thought but little, in proportion to its interesting and important nature, pursued or carried out. The Arabians are much more practi- cal about the genealogical tables of their horses than man, the heir of immortality, is about the names of the sires from whom he has sprung. Be it remem-
bered that every man must have two grandfathers, four great-grandfathers, eight great-great-grandfath- ers, and that not less than sixteen in the male line had a share in his paternity in the fourth generation. Thus paternity involves increase according to the laws of geometrical progression, and the ancestors of the humblest in the land twenty generations up would outnumber the population of a large-sized kingdom. But how few are there who know or care anything about these things? We believe, however, that the century upon which we are now entering will witness a marked change in this respect, and that in the coming time every birth will be made matter of record, and men will see as clearly as in the genealogy of the Saviour how many heroes, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the good King Hezekiah, had a share in leading to the birth of the great and good - the leaders of the world. There never was in this world a great, good man that could not have traced his name and his fame to worth in the ancestral line. "The seed of evil- doers shall never be renowned," is a Scriptural oracle, and never was there a truly good man that did not found a dynasty, though he may not have lived to see it glorified. In the people of this great nation the virtues and powers of the whole earth seem to be represented; hence there may be en- tailed upon this magnificent continent of ours bless- ings derived from confluent streams of worth that shall change this earth into a paradise.
To return to the subject before us. The father of our subject inherited a small fortune, which he invested in a cotton manufactory at Oxford, which proved unprofitable. He afterward immigrated with his family (our subject being then but three years old) to Jefferson county, New York, which was at that day considered "the far West," and though al- most entirely without capital he engaged in the manu- facture of scythes, and built up in the woods what was named the "Sandy Creek Factory." This he
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conducted with moderate success for nine years, when he died, leaving a widow and seven children -two older and three younger than our subject, who was then twelve years of age. The business had become embarrassed, and the losses incident to the settling up of the estate left nothing for the family. His eldest brother, then twenty years of age, continued the business, and Sanford worked with him, and learned the trade of edged-tool mak- ing, and ultimately that of general blacksmithing. The former married early and soon had a family of his own to maintain. Hence the support of the mother and younger children mainly devolved upon our subject, so that but few educational advantages were enjoyed by him. Prior to the death of his father he attended the common schools during the winter months, and after that event, when about six- teen years of age, spent two terms at Union Acad- emy, Belleville. This constituted the sum total of his schooling. By the study of such books as he could procure, however, he was able, at the age of twenty, to pass a competitive examination for the position of school teacher, and for several years taught a district school numbering about one hun- dred pupils with considerable credit. The disci- pline which this occupation afforded was of the greatest benefit to his own mind, while it afforded a much coveted opportunity of aiding in the educa- tion of his twin-brothers, two years younger than himself. After aiding them to the best of his ability, he defrayed their expenses to New York city, where they were apprenticed to the steel engraving busi- ness, in which they made considerable progress ; but their career in this line was interrupted by the mon- etary revulsions which made the year 1837 memor- able. Thrown out of employment they again looked to their brother, who now resolved to aid them in the study of medicine. He continued to work at his trade and to teach school occasionally, and by this means was enabled also to support his mother, who resided with him till her death in 1856. His brothers graduated with honor at Albany Medical College in 1847, and have since become distin- guished in their profession. One of them, Abishu S., was at one time a professor in the Keokuk (Iowa) Medical College, and afterward, about the year 1852, filled the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women in Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois. They were both surgeons in the army during the late war, and are now residing on the Pacific slope.
Thus absorbed in the interests of others he had
no time to plan or make calculations for his own future, and probably never would have bethought him of a profession for himself but for an accident which happened to him in 1846, while working at his trade in Sacket's Harbor, New York, by which one of his hands became permanently injured. Un- able further to pursue his trade or to perform any manual labor, he followed the advice of friends, who rightly judged of the instincts of his mind, and be- gan the study of law, entering the law office of Dyer N. Burnham, Esq., at Sacket's Harbor. He was admitted to the bar in 1848, after being examined with a class of sixteen, half of whom were rejected. It was with much hesitancy and embarrassment that he entered upon the practice of his profession, for although his attainments in the science of jurispru- dence were not inferior to the average of incipient attorneys, yet he felt keenly his lack of education, and regarded it as little less than presumption and folly on his part to attempt to compete with learned and cunning members of the profession. He formed a partnership with John R. Bennett, Esq., now a res- ident of Janesville, who had been a fellow-student with him in the office of Mr. Burnham, and who had . been admitted to the bar a few months previously, and to whom he cheerfully acknowledges a debt of gratitude for valuable assistance willingly rendered in his studies.
In the autumn of the same year (1848) they re- solved to remove to the West. They had never heard of Janesville before leaving New York, but during the journey they heard it highly spoken of as a promising village in the interior of Wisconsin. The place fully met their expectations, and has since been their home. They arrived in time to participate in the presidential canvass which was then at its height, and in a number of able speeches Mr. Hudson supported the whig candidate- Gen- eral Taylor- for the Presidency, and his old friend, Orsumus Cole, formerly of New York, then the whig candidate for congress in southern Wisconsin. After the campaign was ended the partners commenced to practice, and continued together, enjoying a large and increasing clientage, until 1852, when they dis- solved, Mr. Hudson purchasing the interest of his partner in their library. He has since continued the practice alone; and, notwithstanding the diffi- culties referred to above, he has achieved a success and popularity in his profession which has fallen to the lot of but few men. As a lawyer he is sound and conscientious, laborious and painstaking, ex-
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hausting every resource in the interest of his clients ; while in every relation of life his integrity and hon- esty are conspicuous. Amiable in disposition, social in manners, kind and courteous to everybody, he is, in every respect, such a citizen as any community may well delight to honor.
From an early period of his life Mr. Hudson took a lively interest in political matters. As early as 1844, when Henry Clay was the whig candidate for President, he engaged actively in his support in New York State, and on several occasions, in com- pany with Hon. Orsumus Cole-now of the su- preme court of Wisconsin -addressed large public meetings. In 1845, when the legislature of New York submitted to a vote of the people the question of licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors, he took an earnest and active part on the negative side of the question, and with very considerable effect. Since then he has been a staunch and uncompro- mising advocate of total abstinence.
In 1853 the town of Janesville obtained a city charter, and our subject was elected the first attor- ney of the new corporation. In the preceding year he had been nominated by the whig party for the position of prosecuting attorney for the county of Rock, but was not elected.
In 1856 the city obtained an amendment to its charter establishing a city court having jurisdiction over all criminal and city prosecutions; over this Mr. Hudson was elected to preside. In 1858 he was elected mayor of Janesville, and held that office two years. In 1863 he was again elected presiding magistrate of the city court, and held the office seven years consecutively and two years at a subse-
quent period, in all nine years. Since then he has devoted himself exclusively to his profession, prac- ticing before the State and United States courts, being also a United States court commissioner.
In politics he was originally a whig, and subse- quently a republican. His first vote was cast for General Harrison in 1840, and his last was for Gen- eral Hayes in 1876. He was one of the organizers of the republican party in Wisconsin, and has acted with it ever since.
He was raised in the communion of the Presbyte- rian church, of which his parents were members, but in 1853 he became a member of the Trinity Prot- estant Episcopal Church of Janesville, and has been one of its wardens for the last twenty-two years.
On the 13th of October, 1847, he was married to Miss Sarah D., daughter of John M. Canfield, Esq., of Sacket's Harbor, New York. They have five children. The eldest son, Theodore C., graduated at Racine College in the class of 1873, and is now receiving a theological education with a view to the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church, in which he expects to take orders during the current year (1877). The others are Frances S., Harriet J., Sanford H. and Sarah C.
In reviewing his life, Mr. Hudson's main cause of regret is that he had not early given himself to study and secured a thorough education; for although he has, in a great measure, overcome this disadvantage and attained to a most enviable eminence in his profession, yet his lack of a classical education has often been to him a cause of much mortification and embarrassment.
JOHN CHRISTOPHER CLARKE,
WAUSAU.
T' THE subject of this sketch, a native of North Wales, was born on the Isle of Anglesea, Febru- ary 17, 1831. His parents were William Clarke and Mary Ann née Burwell. The Burwells are an ancient and highly respectable family, and trace their history back to the invasion of England by the Normans in the eleventh century. The name originated thus : A Sir John, having encamped with his followers near a well where was an abundance of burrs, was called " John the burr well." The mother of our subject, a true and noble woman, lost her husband in North
Wales in 1838, and hence had the early and almost exclusive training of her children, nine in number. His grandfather came to this country in 1820, and sleeps in Trinity Churchyard, New York city.
John C. came to the United States with a brother- in-law and sister, Mrs. Davey, when he was fourteen years old, having prior to that time enjoyed good educational advantages, closing with six months' attendance at a mechanics' institute in Liverpool, England. He accompanied his relatives to Blue Mound, Dane county, Wisconsin, in June, 1845 ;
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but not being pleased with his situation, in Septem- ber following, went to what is now Cross Plains, and worked three months as a chore-boy for Colonel George R. C. Floyd, at that time secretary of Wis- consin Territory, receiving a compensation of three dollars per month. At the end of this time, without a dollar in his pocket, he went northward into Por- tage, now Marathon county, to Big Ball Falls, now Wausau. There he was for a short time engaged as cook in a logging shanty, at advanced wages; he subsequently worked in saw-mills, and running on the river ; and finally as a hired man became a pilot, sometimes receiving as high as fifty dollars a day - a handsome advance on his wages at the start, with the government official at Cross Plains.
In 1855 Mr. Clarke began to operate on his own responsibility, buying lumber and shipping it to St. Louis. In the spring of 1860, he rented Mr. Wal- rod's mill property, and four years later purchased the same, and still owns it, with numerous and large accessions. In 1874 he sold his whole property for a large sum, but the bargain was finally revoked and he still operates his mills. He has large tracts of pine and other timbered and farm lands, besides a fine farm one mile from Wausau, and other property, all of which he has accumulated by careful, enter- prising, honorable and energetic effort.
Soon after Marathon county was organized Mr. Clarke was elected county clerk, but declined to act ;
he held the office of sheriff in 1860 and 1861 ; was chairman of the board of supervisors five years, and has been a member of the council most of the time since Wausau had a city charter. He is a prompt and very efficient man, whether acting officially or in his private capacity. In politics he has always been a democrat, and is among the leaders of that party in his county. He was a delegate to the national con- vention which met at St. Louis in June, 1876.
Mr. Clarke is an attendant of the Episcopal church, and a liberal supporter of the gospel. He is very kind to the poor, and takes special delight in help- ing those who would help themselves. He has had two wives. The first was Miss Ann M. Gibson, of England, to whom he was married in September, 1853, and who died that same year. The second was Miss Rhoda J. Putnam, of Sycamore, Illinois. She has had eleven children, four of whom are now living. Having been for more than thirty years a resident of Wausau, Mr. Clarke has seen it grow up from the rough beginnings of a village to a city of four thousand inhabitants, with fine churches and school-houses, elegant and almost imposing man- sions, and all the indications of wealth, civilization and refinement; and few men have done more than he to make Wausau what it is. The deep impress of his hand is on all public improvements. He him- self has one of the finest residences and most at- tractive homes in Wausau.
GEORGE H. MYERS,
APPLETON.
T HE subject of this biography is a native of Middletown, Delaware county, New York. His father, Samuel Myers, was a farmer. The maiden name of his mother was Rachel Austin. His pater- nal grandfather, a Hessian, came to this country in the British army. He was captured with General Burgoyne, but made his escape while the prisoners were on their way to Boston. Going into New York State he worked awhile, intending to return to the old world when the captured army should be released and sent home, but finally settled on a farm in Del- aware county, where he remained until his demise.
Samuel Myers moved to Erie county, Pennsylva- nia, in 1828, and settled on a farm four miles from Waterford.
George Henry, our subject, worked on the farm
until about his twentieth year, and then spent about three years at academies in Waterford and Erie. He afterward studied law with Hon. John H. Gal- braith (afterward district judge in northwestern Pennsylvania), and was admitted to the bar at Erie in May, 1849. On the 11th of the next October he opened a law office in Appleton, Wisconsin, then a village of about three hundred inhabitants. He was the first lawyer who settled in Outagamie county, and when it was organized, in the spring of 1852, he was elected district attorney for the short term of nine months. Subsequently, he held the office two years more. In April, 1861, he was elected county judge, and resigned the office in February, 1865 ; and going into the army as adjutant of the 50th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, served six months, and then re-
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signed. Prior to enlisting he was draft commissioner a short time, under appointment of Governor Solo- mon. He was postmaster for eight years, commenc- ing in August, 1868. In politics he was formerly a whig, and later a republican. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and one of the trustees of that society, in Appleton. His Christian integrity is above suspicion.
August 25, 1852, Judge Myers was married to Miss Betsey Ann Hawley, of Liberty, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. They have had two children, one of whom, a daughter, eight years old, is now living.
The offices which Judge Myers has held, only
part of which have been named, were mostly in the line of his profession, and were urged upon him. He is a lawyer, and wishes to be known as such, and such only. He has a large and very valuable law library, and is a diligent student, and a growing man in the legal fraternity, and stands in the front rank in his county and circuit. Those who have long and intimately known him, say that he never encour- ages a person to go to law unless that person, in his judgment, has a clear case. The Judge is modest, unassuming, courteous- in every respect a Christian gentleman, and is highly esteemed for his many good qualities.
SAMUEL BROWN,
MILWAUKEE.
AMUEL BROWN was born at Belchertown, S Hampshire county, Massachusetts, on the 8th of January, 1804. His father died when he, the eldest son, was but eight years old. An older sister and two children younger than himself were thus thrown largely upon him for support and care. The same uncomplaining readiness to assume burdens which marked all his later life was characteristic of his boyhood. He was "a boy who took responsi- bility," says of him one who was acquainted with his years of boyhood. From the time of his father's death, until at the age of eighteen he left the early homestead to learn a trade, he worked much with an uncle who, in return for the boy's labor, helped largely to carry on the widowed mother's farm.
At the age of fifteen, Samuel Brown became a Christian, and by so early a conversion there was secured to him nearly sixty years of activity in Christ's service. He and his sister older than him- self, after being .propounded for two months, as was then the custom, united with the church at the com- munion in May, 1819. Since the father's death it had been the custom of the godly mother to gather her children every day and read the Bible and pray with them in family devotion. One morning, soon after his conversion, when the mother, having read as usual, closed the book and kneeled down to pray, the son said: "Mother, shall I not take the lead now?" After that time the boy Samuel took the lead in the family devotions. The same unassum- ing readiness to speak in any proper place and time for Christ remained with him till his death.
At the age of twenty-two he was married to Miss Dougherty, who some two years subsequently died, leaving her husband with a daughter for his care and love. At the time of his wife's funeral he was himself too ill to attend, the same fever which car- ried her away having brought him, after running a course of more than forty days, into the very mouth of the grave.
In 1831 he united with a colony and a colony church at Northampton, intending with them to set- tle himself at Bureau Grove, now Princeton, Illinois, But God had marked with his eye a more important place for him, where afterward a northern city was to grow up, and therefore turned aside the steps of his migratory child. Mr. Brown arrived in northern Ohio too late to take the canal, now frozen up for the winter, and so from Toledo he moved further north and west to St. Joseph, Michigan. Here he buried his wife, whom as Miss Lyman he had mar- ried in South Hadley, and with her her only child. After nearly two years of stay in Michigan he re- moved in August, 1833, to Chicago and began work as builder. The first Tremont House in that city was erected by him. The same spirit of fidelity which characterized his Christian living made excel- lent his work with plane, hammer and saw. His good workmanship secured for him the title of Cap- tain Brown.
It was about January 1, 1835, that a letter from Mr. Brown reached Troy, New York. In this letter he wrote that he had been up to see a place called Milwaukee, liked it, and should go there to settle.
Samuel Brown
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It was a new place, he added, and he intended to stay and grow up with the place. That place, then new, grew to a city of a hundred thousand, while the man, then in the vigor of thirty, was grow- ing to the gray hairs and ripened manhood of a Christian at seventy. Of no other man in the city can it be so truly said, " he has grown up with the city." A short time previous to the sending of this letter Mr. Brown, in company with Mr. Chase, had come to Milwaukee, they two thus being the oldest settlers, and neither knowing who was the first to step off the gang-plank of the steamer. In order to locate his claim, he built upon the land he intended to preëmpt, on the hill above Vliet street, between Second and Third streets, a house eleven feet by thirteen in dimensions, with one room, made of logs and covered with " shake " shingles - oak shingles, four feet long, bound down with poles, which were withed to the logs of the house. In this house lived for a time the first American family among the set- tlers of this city. Into this house he brought the wife whom he had married in Chicago, who with him has seen all these vast changes, and who now survives to mourn her husband. In those early years of his residence here Mr. Brown engaged actively in work as a master builder, sometimes employing as many as twenty men.
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