USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 62
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of four years ; then adopted the " National " lessons with the same programme, and the Lord has been pleased to bless her labors abundantly, giving her many " souls for her hire," so that her spiritual chil- dren, who acknowledge her as the instrument em- ployed by God in the conversion of their souls, are scattered all over the West and Northwest, some in the ministry and others as Sunday-school teachers, and workers in the temperance cause, winning souls and serving God wherever they go. " The day " only will declare the amount of good which this excellent Christian lady has been the means of accomplishing for her Master. Then she will realize the full sig- nificance of the oracle, " They that be wise shall shine as the sun in the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever."
She has been the mother of five children, three of whom are living, and have risen up "to call her blessed." The eldest son, Claron I. Miltimore, en- tered the Union army as a private in the 22d Wis- consin Volunteers in 1862, and with a part of his regiment was captured by the rebels at Brentwood, Tennessee, confined in Libby Prison, exchanged and returned to his regiment. In the autumn of 1863 he was appointed adjutant of the 37th Wiscon- sin Regiment, and being transferred to the Army of the Potomac, participated in the siege of Petersburg and in all the campaigns and engagements of his regiment till the close of the war, making a proud and honorable record as a soldier and patriot. The second son, Chancy K. Miltimore, is a resident of Chicago, and the only daughter, Mary F., is the wife of Captain F. P. Dobson, a resident of Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory.
In religious sentiment Captain Miltimore is a Bap- tist, and has been, since early manhood, also a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity.
DE WITT C. VAN OSTRAND, NEENAH.
IN the young cities of Wisconsin are found many eminently successful men, who, beginning in obscurity, have worked their way slowly but stead- ily up to a competency, if not to independence, and to a high and commanding position in society, lo- cating in a town, in many cases, when it was in an embryotic state, and having no capital other than a
good character, a sound constitution, a resolute heart, and a willingness to do any kind of respect- able work which should offer itself. Of this class are three fourths of the leading men, the merchants and manufacturers of Neenah. De Witt. Clinton Van Ostrand, of the firm of Smith, Van Ostrand and Leavens, the great stove manufacturers, is a son of
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Aaron Van Ostrand, a trader, and Elizabeth née Collins. He was born at Liverpool, near Syracuse, New York, October 4, 1827, and is therefore just approaching his fiftieth birthday. He lost his father when four or five years old. He lived on a farm until he was about seventeen years old and then at- tended an academy at Evans' Mills a few terms, and afterward went to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, and worked about three years in a woolen factory.
In May, 1850, he removed to Neenah and started a small chair factory, which he conducted one year. He afterward worked in a storehouse a few months; ran a Durham boat a short time between Grand Chute (now Appleton) and Neenah, with Indians and half-breeds to propel it; the next season, in company with A. H. Cronkite, had the contract for portaging goods from Kaukauna, through Neenah, to Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, all merchandise for those points in those days being thus transported. He acted two years as chief clerk in a hardware store owned by Mr. Cronkite. In September, 1855, in company with Hiram Smith, he commenced mer- chandizing, and continued it nearly three years ; he was engaged in the manufacture of flour three years, in company with Mr. Cronkite; and later, spent about seven years at El Dorado, Fond du Lac county, milling and merchandizing, in partnership with James K. Scribner ; returning to Neenah, he, with Hiram Smith, purchased the Neenah paper
mills, the first manufactory of the kind built there, and operated them for seven years. During that time they bought an interest in the Neenah stove works, in connection with Mr. H. P. Leavens, and these three gentlemen now own the foundry and are manufacturing between five and six thousand stoves annually. Messrs. Smith and Van Ostrand have also an office on Cedar street, and are engaged to some extent in the loan business.
In 1865, while residing in Fond du Lac county, Mr. Van Ostrand represented that county in the lower house of the legislature. He was afterward renominated, but declined to run. At an early day in Neenah, before it became a city, he was presi- dent of the village two years. He was on the school board about three years, and acted as its clerk. He heartily sympathizes with every enterprise calcu- lated to advance the educational, moral or material interests of the city.
He is a member of the Presbyterian church.
On the 4th of March, 1856, he was married to Miss Eliza Wheeler, of Neenah. They have four children.
Mr. Van Ostrand has a dark hazel eye; an open, frank expression of the face; his hair quite a gray, the only indication of fifty winters. He is five feet eight inches in height, weighs one hundred and sixty five pounds, and has a symmetrical, well-propor- tioned physique.
MORGAN L. MARTIN,
GREEN BAY.
T HE subject of this sketch, a native of Martins- burg, Lewis county, New York, was born on the 31st of March, 1805, and is the son of Walter Martin and Sarah née Turner. His native place was named in honor of his father, who had bought the tract of land on which the town stands. Mor- gan's boyhood presented few phases in distinction from that of other boys ; he early developed a fond- ness for study, and after completing his preparatory education, pursued a regular course and graduated at Hamilton College in 1824, and later, spent two and a half years in the study of law at Lowville, Lewis county, New York. At the expiration of this time he removed to Detroit, Michigan, and there completed his studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. Thus equipped with a thorough educa-
tion, untiring energy, enterprise and a determination to succeed, he removed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and began the practice of his profession, the courts which he attended being held at Prairie du Chien, Green Bay and Mackinaw. He soon built up a re- munerative practice and became known as a success- ful and skillful advocate, and during a period of twenty-five years gave himself unremittingly to his work. In 1851, he became interested in the Fox River improvement, being the originator of the project, and gave to it his attention till 1858. Previous to this movement he had accumulated a small capital which he had invested in lands, and which had grown to a handsome fortune ; most of it, however, was lost in this enterprise. At the open- ing of the war in 1861 he entered the United States
S. L. Martin
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service as paymaster, and held that position till 1865, when he resigned, and, returning to his home in Green Bay, resumed his practice, in which he has for the most part been engaged until the present time (1876).
Aside from the regular duties of his profession Mr. Martin has been called to fill many positions of responsibility and public trust. In 1831 he was elected to the legislature of Michigan, and served in that capacity as long as Michigan remained a territory. After the organization of Wisconsin he represented his district in the legislature from 1838 till 1844, when he resigned the position. In the
following year he was elected a delegate to congress from Wisconsin and served one term. He was pres- ident of the constitutional convention of Wisconsin in 1848, and a member of the State legislature during the sessions of 1855, 1858-9 and 1874. He is now county judge of Brown county, having
been elected in 1875. Beginning thus with the early history of Wisconsin, Judge Martin has grown up with the State, and his name is coupled with many of its important and interesting events. As an attorney he is a man of recognized ability, while as a judge he is popular and respected by all for the clearness and justness of his decisions. He has been a close observer and profound student, and has gained a knowledge of men and things which, with his fine conversational powers and genial dispo- sition, renders him an agreeable social companion.
His political views are democratic, though not affiliating with any party, as now constituted; and in religion he is identified with the Episcopal church.
Judge Martin was married on the 25th of July, 1837, to Miss Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Colonel Melancthon Smith, of Plattsburgh, New York, and sister of Rear Admiral Smith, United States Navy, by whom he has two sons and two daughters.
HON. ALMARINE M. CARTER,
FOIINSTOWN.
T `HE subject of the following sketch, descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, all tillers of the soil, realizes in his own life, perhaps as much as any other man now living, the fulfillment of the prophecy so beautifully paraphrased by Mrs. Hale, regarding those who cultivate the soil :
"' Go till the soil,' said God to man, ' Subdue the earth, it shall be thine'; How grand, how glorious was the plan! llow wise the law divine! And none of Adam's race can draw A title, save beneath this law, To hold the world in trust; Earth is the Lord's, and he hath sworn That ere Old Time has reached his bourne It shall reward the JUST."
Mr. Carter has spent nearly the whole of his active life as a farmer, and now enjoys that respect, con- fidence and affection of his fellow-citizens which a useful and upright life alone can permanently secure.
He was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, October 4, 1814, and is the son of Guy and Serepta (Marshall) Carter, of the same State. The Carters claim descent from English ancestors who settled at Litchfield, Connecticut, about the year 1690. Their descendants, who are now quite numerous, are found in most of the States of the Union, have generally been husbandmen, imbued with Puritanic princi-
ples, and mostly connected with the old Presby- terian and Baptist churches. His grandfather, Adonijah Carter, a man of high moral character and sterling religious principles, died at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1820, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. His father moved to the State of New York in 1815 and settled at Paris, Oneida county, where he purchased a large farm and followed the occupation of husbandry all his life. In 1855 he removed to Johnstown, Wisconsin, where he died in 1857. He was a man of more than ordinary intelli- gence and considerable local influence, and was for a number of years a trustee of the Madison Uni- versity of New York, a Baptist educational institute of some eminence. The mother of our subject was a woman of most exemplary character, intelligent, hospitable and self-sacrificing, always studying the interests and welfare of those around her. She was also noted as a musician and sweet singer, a quality which she transmitted to her posterity, and espe- cially to our subject. She died in 1855, leaving be- hind a memory fragrant with good deeds and holy precepts.
Our subject was the eldest of a family of five children, three boys and two girls, and was named after his maternal grandfather, who was a wealthy
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merchant in Pennsylvania, and who lost his life at the burning of the theatre in the city of Richmond, Virginia, in 1811, the governor of Virginia and some forty or fifty others perishing in the same catastro- phe. He was educated at the Hamilton Academy, New York, from which he graduated in 1832. De- termining to pursue the business of husbandry, he purchased a large farm in Oneida county, New York, on which he remained till 1843, when, fol- lowing the tide of empire, he removed to the Terri- tory of Wisconsin and settled in Johnstown, Rock county, which has since been his home. He entered a farm of government land, the deed to which was signed by President John Tyler, and in real earnest set about the business of taming the wilderness, which under his strong hand, guided by his con- summate skill and taste, has long since been made to "rejoice and blossom as the rose." He was one of the most successful and dexterous farmers of the West. He was never ambitious for office ; but being a gentleman of more than ordinary capacity, of high education and refined manners, he has been fre- quently selected by his fellow-citizens to fill posi- tions of trust and honor, upon which he has always reflected the highest credit. He was one of the first commissioners of Rock county, and has held various town offices and other positions from his fellow-citizens. He was elected a member of the constitutional convention of 1847-8, which framed the constitution now in force in the State, serving on the committee of fifteen, of which the late Byron Kilburn was chairman, which mapped out the busi- ness for the various other committees, and was facetiously designated "the breaking team," being one of its most practical members. He has recent- ly written a history of that convention, which is quite an elaborate and racy document, containing some finely drawn pen-pictures of prominent members of that body. Mr. Carter is the only one of six col- leagues from Rock county now a resident of Wis- consin ; four are deceased and one is a citizen of another State. From the document referred to we make the following extracts, which are mainly in the line of our work :
We were then a sparsely settled territory, numbering only two hundred and ten thousand souls. Now we are a large and prosperous State. Then Wisconsin was the " far west." Minnesota was not known. Now the western boundary of population, enterprise and wealth of the nation is the Pacific ocean. Then our people were poor; now there is great wealth among us. Then no railroad had reached Lake Michigan; now the whole country is marked into squares by the iron band, and the steam-horse snorts in every locality. ... The convention was composed of
sixty-nine members, mostly young men and men of energy, who had left luxuriant homes in the East to seek fame and fortune in the West. They were proud of their adopted State, and had met to frame a fundamental law under which their children should live happily. There was carnestness and determination depicted upon each countenance as they took their respective seats. To trace the after career of some of these men may not be uninteresting. The presi- dent was Morgan L. Martin, who served in the legislature of 1876. Two of the members have been governors of the State, Harvey and Lewis, while the judiciary of the State has been largely and honorably represented by others. Whiton graced the bench from the organization of the State until his death. Orsanius Cole first represented his district, ably and well, in congress, and has for the last nineteen years done the State distinguished service upon the supreme bench; Larabee has been on the judicial bench, a member of congress, and is at present a distinguished citizen of Oregon. Gale has been upon the bench, and scarcely has there been a legislature since in which one or more of them have not occupied seats. Twelve have left the State; of these Reed has been governor of Florida; Reymert, a man of wealth in New York city; Easterbrook is a prominent citizen of Nebraska, and all are occupying distinguished positions. Eighteen have died.
Such is a brief extract from a document brimfull of most important historic matter, and destined to an honored place among the records of the State Historical Society.
In 1868, just twenty years after the constitution was framed, Mr. Carter was elected to the State legislature, and served much of the session as chair- man of the house committee on corporations. Since then he has declined all overtures to office, and has resided in ease and quietness at his home in Johns- town.
He is a member of the Johnstown Fire Insurance . Company. Has gone through the chairs of the Odd-Fellows fraternity, and is a member of the Granger organization, having been the presiding officer in his district since the society originated. He has been for twenty years a member and secre- tary of the society for the suppression of horse stealing, an organization which has done more toward the abatement of this species of plunder than all the laws and law-officers of the State. In a word Mr. Carter is an honest, truthful and capable man, both in public and private life. Ardently at- tached to those things which are true, good and just; hating oppression in all its forms; ever ready to rebuke meanness wherever it showed its head.
In politics he is a consistent, intelligent and active republican. He ever held that all men should be unfettered in running the race of life, hence the system of human slavery ever found in him an honorable but unrelenting foe; and when that ac- cursed system organized a rebellion against our government, too old himself to undergo the priva- tions and hardships of camp life, he sent an only
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son to uphold and sustain the just cause of his country.
But the crowning excellence of his character is his quiet, unostentatious religious life. The sweet- ness and fragrance of his daily walk is a constant blessing to the community in which he resides, and when he shall be finally called to his long home it shall be justly said of him, " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." He was one of the organizers of the Johns- town Congregational Society in 1844, and has ever since led the psalmody in the congregation, being rarely absent from his post on the Sabbath. He is, moreover, one of the most generous contributors to the support of the organization.
He has been twice married : first, September 26, 1836, in Goshen, Connecticut, to Miss Dolly A.,
daughter of Timothy Wadham, of that place; she died in 1847, leaving two children surviving her, namely, Ellen, wife of E. S. Carter, a merchant in Mendota, Illinois, and Charles, who served his coun- try throughout the late war, and is now a successful merchant in Johnstown. Mr. Carter's second mar- riage was to Miss Sarah Wedge, daughter of Asah Wedge, Esq., of Warren, Connecticut. She is the mother of one daughter, Frances W., a young lady of superior education and accomplishments, espe- cially noted as a musician.
The deceased Mrs. Carter was a lady of rare beauty of person, of the most amiable temper and engaging manners, of high intellectual and social attainments, and an exemplary member of the Bap- tist church, beloved and revered by all who knew her.
JOSEPH BODWELL DOE,
JANESVILLE.
A MONG the many substantial and enterprising business-men who have contributed to the material prosperity of Janesville, no one stands higher or has a stronger claim upon the respect and gratitude of his fellow-citizens than the subject of this sketch. He was born in Sommersworth, now Rolinsford, New Hampshire, April 20, 1818, his parents being Joseph and Mary B. (Ricker) Doe, of English descent. His father was a well-known and highly respected farmer, and was for many years a member of the New Hampshire legislature, and in all respects a man of acknowledged probity, influ- ence and usefulness. His maternal grandfather was Captain Ricker, of the American merchant marine service.
Our subject was brought up on the old farm at Rolinsford, with such educational advantages as the common schools of the place and period afford- ed, until the age of fourteen, when, actuated by a spirit of enterprise and independence, he went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and became a clerk in a dry-goods store, in which he remained one year. In the following year (1833) he removed to Boston, where he obtained a similar situation, and at the end of one year removed to New York city, where for three years he served in the same capacity. Being then nineteen years of age, and having ac- quired a pretty thorough knowledge of the princi-
ples of trade, he, in company with two partners, embarked in the wholesale silk-goods business on his own account in the city of New York, under the firm name of Doe, Mason and Co. The business was conducted with success till the year 1842, when our subject dissolved the partnership and resolved to seek his fortune in the West. He went to Wis- consin during that year and settled in Janesville, which has since been his home. In 1845 he pur- chased two acres of heavily wooded land, on which he built the house in which he has since resided and which is now in the midst of the busiest part of the city. On settling in Janesville he opened a store with a general assortment of goods, which he carried on with fair success till 1852, when he opened a private banking house, there being until then no institution of the kind in the village, and the need of one being urgently felt; and before he had any adequate facilities for doing business, or any organ- ization, so unbounded was the confidence in his integrity that he received deposits to a large amount from the citizens, with no security but his personal honor. From this nucleus sprung the Central Bank of Wisconsin, which was incorporated in 1855, and which became in 1863 the First National Bank of Janesville ; and although his nominal position has been that of cashier, yet he has ever been the soul and spirit of the institution. Under his skillful
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merchant in Pennsylvania, and who lost his life at the burning of the theatre in the city of Richmond, Virginia, in 1811, the governor of Virginia and some forty or fifty others perishing in the same catastro- phe. He was educated at the Hamilton Academy, New York, from which he graduated in 1832. De- termining to pursue the business of husbandry, he purchased a large farm in Oneida county, New York, on which he remained till 1843, when, fol- lowing the tide of empire, he removed to the Terri- tory of Wisconsin and settled in Johnstown, Rock county, which has since been his home. He entered a farm of government land, the deed to which was signed by President John Tyler, and in real earnest set about the business of taming the wilderness, which under his strong hand, guided by his con- summate skill and taste, has long since been made to " rejoice and blossom as the rose." He was one of the most successful and dexterous farmers of the West. He was never ambitious for office; but being a gentleman of more than ordinary capacity, of high education and refined manners, he has been fre- quently selected by his fellow-citizens to fill posi- tions of trust and honor, upon which he has always reflected the highest credit. He was one of the first commissioners of Rock county, and has held various town offices and other positions from his fellow-citizens. He was elected a member of the constitutional convention of 1847-8, which framed the constitution now in force in the State, serving on the committee of fifteen, of which the late Byron Kilburn was chairman, which mapped out the busi- ness for the various other committees, and was facetiously designated "the breaking team," being one of its most practical members. He has recent- ly written a history of that convention, which is quite an elaborate and racy document, containing some finely drawn pen-pictures of prominent members of that body. Mr. Carter is the only one of six col- leagues from Rock county now a resident of Wis- consin ; four are deceased and one is a citizen of another State. From the document referred to we make the following extracts, which are mainly in the line of our work :
We were then a sparsely settled territory, numbering only two hundred and ten thousand souls. Now we are a large and prosperous State. Then Wisconsin was the " far west." Minnesota was not known. Now the western boundary of population, enterprise and wealth of the nation is the Pacific ocean. Then our people were poor; now there is great wealth among us. Then no railroad had reached Lake Michigan; now the whole country is marked into squares by the iron band, and the steam-horse snorts in every locality. ... The convention was composed of
sixty-nine members, mostly young men and men of energy, who had left luxuriant homes in the East to seek fame and fortune in the West. They were proud of their adopted State, and had met to frame a fundamental law under which their children should live happily. There was carnestness and determination depicted upon each countenance as they took their respective seats. To trace the after career of some of these men may not be uninteresting. The presi- dent was Morgan L. Martin, who served in the legislature of 1876. Two of the members have been governors of the State, Harvey and Lewis, while the judiciary of the State has been largely and honorably represented by others. Whiton graced the bench from the organization of the State until his death. Orsanius Cole first represented his district, ably and well, in congress, and has for the last nineteen years done the State distinguished service upon the supreme bench; Larabee has been on the judicial bench, a member of congress, and is at present a distinguished citizen of Oregon. Gale has been upon the bench, and scarcely has there been a legislature since in which one or more of them have not occupied seats. Twelve have left the State; of these Reed has been governor of Florida ; Reymert, a man of wealth in New York city; Easterbrook is a prominent citizen of Nebraska, and all are occupying distinguished positions. Eighteen have died.
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