USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 72
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Another relic of revolutionary days is a pocket- case of instruments (morocco cover), consisting of sixteen pieces, with tortoise-shell handle, tipped with solid silver, which his father carried through the war for surgical purposes, and which the son now has in his possession.
Mr. Prentiss has retired from public life, and is now resting in his old age with an ample compe- tence, quietly awaiting the time when he shall pass over the boundaries into the world of the unseen.
HENRY HEWITT, SENIOR,
MENASHA.
T HE subject of this notice, a native of England, was born in Yorkshire, July 12, 1814, his par- ents being Henry and Millicent (Lancaster) Hewitt. By occupation his father was a farmer; in religious sentiment he was a Quaker. Henry was brought up on a farm, to the strictest principles of industry and virtne, with not more than three months' school instruction during his life. By dint of close applica- tion during spare moments he picked up some edu- cation, and, having read more or less about the New World, the rising West, early in the year 1842 em- barked for the United States, arriving at New York in March. Pushing westward, he, three months later, reached Racine, Wisconsin. There he took a contract for excavating the bluffs, and spent three years in filling that and other contracts. In 1845 he prospected a short time, and then aided in building the Watertown and Milwaukee plank road.
In 1848 we find Mr. Hewitt engaged on a con- tract on the Fox and Wisconsin river improvements, with headquarters part of the time at Appleton, part at Kaukauna, and at other timcs at Menasha. and Neenah, the last two places being only one mile apart. He operated on these improvements most of the time for nearly twenty years, gradually investing in various manufacturing and other en- terprises. He is at present (1877) part owner of a flouring mill, a woolen mill, a pail factory and some other manufactories, and has been president of the
National Bank of Neenah from the time of its estab- lishment in 1866.
In politics Mr. Hewitt is an ardent republican, but has always given preference to his business rather than politics, and has held no offices except in the municipality of Menasha, which has been his home since 1855. His residence is on the island between the two towns, while his manufacturing interests are in Menasha.
Mr. Hewitt has been twice married : first, to Mary Proctor (of Yorkshire, England), upon attaining his majority, and by whom he had eight children, four of whom are now living; Mrs. Hewitt died in 1854. His second wife was Mrs. Mary C. Mathewson, widow of Bernard Mathewson, of Connecticut, of which State she also is a native. He has had no children by his second wife. His eldest child, Mary, is the wife of Alexander Syme, a manufacturer in Menasha; Henry, the eldest son, has a family, and is cashier of the First National Bank of Menasha; William is married, and is a manufacturer, and lives in Neenah; Frances Jenette, the youngest, is single, and lives at home. One of the deceased daughters, Nancy, was the wife of E. L. Mathewson, of Men- asha, and died January 28, 1876. Henry Hewitt, junior, though only thirty-six years old, is one of the best business men in Winnebago county. He has been a lumber dealer since seventeen years of age, and owns eighty-four thousand acres of pine and
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other lands, all timber but about twelve thousand acres. A small part of it is in Michigan. He has an interest in a paper mill, a pail factory and barrel factory in Menasha, and five other barrel factories in other towns.
Henry Hewitt, senior, has been one of the most hard-working men in the Fox River valley, and his
success is largely due to his untiring application to business, and the strictest habits of economy. The lessons received from his parents in youth have been of incalculable benefit to him. He has been a town builder as well as government contractor, and the impress of his hand is on works which, after he has gone, will long survive as monuments to his memory.
JOSEPH E. HARRIMAN, APPLETON.
T "HE present mayor of Appleton, Wisconsin, and judge of Outagamie county, is probably as well known in the county as any resident. That he is very popular may be inferred from the fact that, while a republican, and living in a county which usually gives from fifteen hundred to two thousand democratic majority, the people elected him judge by a handsome majority. In stature he is small, weighing not to exceed one hundred and ten pounds. He possesses an active mind, and is a man of great energy, strict integrity and thorough business tact, and in every way a man such as the people delight to honor.
Joseph E. Harriman, son of Joseph and Lydia (Stearns) Harriman, was born in Louisville, St. Law- rence county, New York, August 16, 1834, and lived on a farm until he was seventeen years of age. When about twelve he had a disease of the hip, which shortened his right limb six inches, disabling him for some time. He came to Wisconsin in 1851, and attended the Milton Academy about two years, and then spent a year in the preparatory depart-
ment of Lawrence University, at Appleton. He studied law in 1858 and 1859 with Messrs. Jewett and Hudd, of Appleton, and later was a joint pro- prietor of a hotel at Green Bay for two years, and in 1864 resumed his law studies with Judge Cotton, of that place. He engaged in mercantile business at Appleton, and continued it for seven years, and in 1873 was elected county judge, the duties of which office he is at present (1877) discharging with great acceptance to his constituents.
Judge Harriman was elected mayor of Appleton in April, 1876, and still holds that office, and acts as president ex-officio of the school board. He was city treasurer in 1860, justice of the peace for several years, and has held other official positions of minor importance.
He has passed all the chairs in the subordinate lodge of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, and is a member of the grand lodge in Wisconsin.
In October, 1860, Judge Harriman was married to Miss Celia A. Pratt, of Milton, Wisconsin. Of their seven children, four only are now living.
HON. GEORGE W. CATE,
STEVENS POINT.
J UDGE CATE sprang from good patriotic stock ; his grandfather serving seven years in the strug- gle for American independence, and his father, Isaac Cate, being a non-commissioned officer in the second war with the mother country. The Cate family be- longed to the yeomanry of Vermont, and the subject of this sketch was born at Montpelier, September 17, 1825. The maiden name of his mother was Clarissa McKnight. He aided his father on the farm, and attended a common school until his seven-
teenth year, when he commenced studying law with Luther B. Peck, of Montpelier, teaching school, meanwhile, during the winters. He was admitted to the bar at twenty-one years of age, and in the autumn of 1848 removed to Wisconsin and began the practice of law at Plover, Portage county, re- maining there about two years; he then removed to Stevens Point, his present home. He was elected district attorney about 1850, and served two years ; was a member of the general assembly in 1851 and
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1852, and one of the managers of the impeachment trial of Judge Hubbell. On the 4th of January, 1854, he went upon the bench of the seventh judicial circuit, and occupied it constantly until the 4th of March, 1875, when he resigned to take a seat in congress, representing the eighth district, and serv- ing one term. While in the house of representatives he occupied a prominent position among the new members, and was strongly opposed to the appoint- ment of an electoral commission, for the reason that he considered that the power to count the votes was delegated to the two houses, and that the appoint- ment of such a commission was unwise and impolitic.
Judge Cate was a democrat until the opening of the rebellion, and believed in a united North until the Union was restored. He voted for Mr. Lincoln in 1864, and for General Grant in 1868, but has since acted with the opposition to the administration.
He is a believer in the Christian religion, and a member of the Episcopal church.
On the 24th of October, 1850, he was married to Miss Levara S. Brown, of Stevens Point. They have had seven children, six of whom are still living.
Judge Cate has been one of the foremost men in Portage county, in encouraging enterprises tending to develop its resources. He canvassed the county in favor of the Wisconsin Central railroad, before it came to Stevens Point, and has spent much time and some money in pushing forward other local projects.
As a lawyer, Judge Cate has stood for many years in the front rank in his judicial district, and during his twenty-one years on the bench has showed emi- nent fitness for that position, being thoroughly posted on legal questions, courteous to the bar, candid and fair in his rulings, and rarely having his decisions overruled by a higher court.
HON. WALTER D. McINDOE,
WAUSAU.
W ALTER DUNCAN McINDOE, a native of Scotland, is the son of Hugh and Catharine (McCrae) McIndoe. He was born in Dunbarton- shire, March 28, 1819, and after arriving at a suit- able age, attended school steadily until seventeen years old, when he immigrated to the United States. Landing in New York city, thoroughly fitted for a book-keeper, he there spent about four years in that business. He pursued the same calling in Virginia and South Carolina a short time, and in St. Louis, Missouri, about three years. Near that city, at Florisant, in St. Louis county, he courted and mar- ried Miss Catharine H. Taylor, the marriage cere- mony being performed by the Rev. Father Butler, S. J., on the 20th of February, 1845.
In the autumn of the same year Mr. McIndoe removed northward into the pineries of Wisconsin, leaving his young wife to follow him a year or two later. He settled at Wausau, Marathon county, then little more than a howling wilderness, and there engaged in lumbering, and followed it steadily until his demise, which occurred August 22, 1872. He was one of the most competent and successful busi- ness men that ever settled in his part of the State. His tact and talents were fully appreciated by his fellow-citizens, who frequently honored him with positions of trust and responsibility. He was a
member of the legislature during the sessions of 1850, 1854 and 1855, and was among the practical, wise and diligent workers in that body, though being a whig, a party in those days in the minority in the assembly, he could not occupy a high position on committees. In 1857 Mr. McIndoe was a promi- nent candidate before the republican State conven- tion for governor, but the nomination finally fell to the lot of Alexander W. Randall, who was elected. In 1862 Hon. Luther Hanchett, member of congress from the second district, died, and in December of that year Mr. McIndoe was elected to fill the va- cancy in the Thirty-seventh Congress. It was soon seen that the selection was a good one. He grew rapidly in popularity with his republican constitu- ents, and by reëlections was kept in congress five years. He rendered especially valuable service on the committee on Indian affairs. He was chairman of the committee on revolutionary pensions, and besides acted on other committees. He rarely oc- cupied the floor, his great strength being in the committee-rooms. He was an indefatigable worker and very influential, often carrying his point by sheer perseverance. Mr. McIndoe was a presidential elector in 1856, 1860 and 1872, casting his vote on those several occasions for John C. Fremont, Abra- ham Lincoln and U. S. Grant respectively.
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On leaving congress, in 1867, he applied himself very closely to his business, which had suffered some- what during his absence in public service. He had the finest saw-mills on the Wisconsin river; owned large tracts of land in Marathon, now part of it in Lincoln county ; and was, for many years, the lead- ing lumberman in Wausau. In 1860 he lost his right hand in a saw-mill. He soon, however, learned to write with his left hand, and seemed not the least crippled by his misfortune. When he was not able to do a thing in one way he would do it in another. He was a man of great intellectual as well as physical resources, and rarely failed in ac- complishing his ends.
Mr. McIndoe was six feet and one inch in height, weighed about two hundred pounds, was graceful and symmetrical in his proportions, had a more commanding figure than one often sees, and was a marked, attractive man in any gathering. He was genial, liberal and companionable ; a good converser, and richly endowed with the elements which go to make up the popular as well as useful man. His death was a loss to the city, the county and the State. He left his widow in comfortable circum- stances; she resides at the old homestead in the cen- tral part of Wausau. Though deprived of the society of her early-chosen companion, she has sources of comfort not known to the careless world.
REV. JOEL W. FISH,
FOX LAKE.
J TOEL W. FISH is a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and was born at Cheshire, Febru- ary 1, 1817. His parents were Jonathan and Har- riet (Hull) Fish. His grandfather was a revolution- ary soldier and pensioner. His father was a farmer, and also a licensed Baptist preacher. His pulpit efforts were attended with great success, and he was often urged to be ordained, but declined to do so, continuing to work a farm nearly up to the time of his death, which occurred March 24, 1853. He moved to Jefferson county, New York, while our subject was yet a child, and settled in the town of Ellisburg. There Joel joined the Baptist church at the age of fourteen years. He worked very hard on the farm until the age of eighteen, when he went to an academy at Belleville, Jefferson county, and af- terward finished his preparatory studies at Hamil- ton, teaching meanwhile during the winters. In 1839 he entered Madison University, and graduated in course. In 1843 he entered the theological sem- inary at the same place, and received his diploma in August, 1845. He was ordained in the church which he had joined in boyhood, and came directly to Wisconsin, where, in the autumn of 1845, he be- came pastor of the Baptist Church at Geneva. He preached there nearly seven years, acting also, most of the time, as town superintendent of schools. He was pastor at Racine two years, at Fox Lake eleven years, and general superintendent of missions for the Home Mission Society, in all, more than twelve years. Resigning this office in October, 1876, he is
now (1877) serving the Baptist church at Waupaca, and also doing voluntary mission work in other parts of Waupaca county. He resided at Fox Lake for twenty-one years, and still owns his home there, expecting some day to retire from his labors and re- turn thither.
Mr. Fish has been a trustee of the Wayland Insti- tute at Beaver Dam from its origin, and is one of the foremost men in the State in all denominational enterprises. He is also a member of the board of the Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, and is an ardent friend of education in its widest range. He is himself a good classical scholar, including the Hebrew language, and withal a fine critic. Al- though sixty years of age, he is very active both in mind and body, and few young clergyman in Wis- consin exhibit more energy or agility. He is thor- oughly devoted to his Master's service, and it is worthy of note that, since he entered the ministry, he has spent every birthday in the midst of revival work. He is a clear and cogent reasoner, a strong and very earnest preacher, and, it is safe to say, has been the means of leading thousands of people into the new life.
The sympathies of Mr. Fish have always been with the oppressed. In middle life he was an anti- slavery whig, then an out-and-out free-soiler, and still later has acted with the republican party. During the rebellion he gave strong moral support to the government, made speeches and aided di- rectly in recruiting soldiers. He also spent a short
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time in the service of the Christian Commission in Virginia and Washington, District of Columbia.
Mrs. Fish was Miss Rachel W. Stone, of Pulaski, New York. They were married September 1, 1846, and have had five children, but one of whom, a son, is now living; he is at present reading law with Hon. E. L. Browne, of Waupaca. Mrs. Fish is a woman of fine culture, of noble Christian character, and in hearty sympathy with her husband in his religious sentiments and in his arduous labors.
Mr. Fish has done a great deal of work outside the duties of the pastorate and his agency. Nearly half the time that he has been in Wisconsin he has acted as corresponding secretary of the Baptist State Convention, doing a great amount of letter writing, besides furnishing the annual report, which he has sometimes done in the main, even when not in office. In short he has been in "labors abundant," always cheerfully and well performed. The character of such men is the glory of a commonwealth.
EDWARD P. ALLIS,
MILWAUKEE.
T HE subject of this sketch, a native of Cazeno- via, Madison county, New York, was born in 1824, a son of Jere and Mary Allis. His father was a hatter by occupation. His mother, a woman of fine education, belonged to one of the best fam- ilies of Massachusetts. Edward graduated from Union College, Schenectady, in 1845, and during the following year removed to Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin, where, with a Mr. Allen, under the firm name of Allis and Allen, he established himself in the leather trade. This firm continued a few years, during which time it established a large tannery at Two Rivers, Wisconsin. In 1856 he sold his interest to his partners, and during the next three years was out of business. In 1860 he established the firm of E. P. Allis and Co., and engaged in the iron busi- ness, which has grown to be the most extensive in the Northwest, and a brief description of which we include herewith.
About 1861 Mr. Allis purchased on credit a small foundry and machine shop situated on West Water, near Wells street. The business then employed about thirty hands, and the first year yielded a product of about thirty thousand dollars. On the expiration of the ground lease in 1867 the business was removed to its present location on the corner of Clinton and Florida streets, and necessary build- ings were erected. These have been extended to meet the demands of the annually increasing busi- ness until they now cover an area of nearly six acres of ground. Some of them are of a very costly char- acter, the shop for casting iron pipe alone costing over one hundred thousand dollars. The entire business employs a capital of five hundred thousand dollars. The enterprise has marked a steady and
healthful growth, and is a brilliant example of far- sightedness, energy, industry and persevering deter- mination. Originally the " Reliance Works " made a specialty of building and furnishing flouring mills. The business of this department is still very exten- sive, reaching over many States and Territories. It also furnished the model flouring mill for the Jap- anese government. At present, however, saw-mill machinery is now manufactured in large quantities, and steam engines and cast-iron pipe are furnished to the satisfaction of a wide range of customers. The large pumping engines of the Milwaukee water- works are from these shops. Such are the general- ities of the business: It employs about four hundred men and boys (apprentices), paying them every Sat- urday night, when running full, from four thousand to four thousand five hundred dollars. Of the ma- terials consumed annually may be mentioned five thousand tons of coke, three thousand tons of coal, ten thousand to twelve thousand tons of pig iron, six thousand to eight thousand bushels of charcoal, two hundred and fifty tons of millstones, one hun- dred and fifty tons of hay, besides thirty to forty car-loads of fire-brick, clay and fine sand, and two thousand loads of lake sand, and some thousands of loads of foundry loam and clay. What the " Reli- ance Works " may become remains to be seen, but its progress under its present ownership renders it well worthy of a place among the leading manufact- uring interests of the Northwest.
Mr. Allis was married in 1848 to Miss Margaret M. Watson, of Geneva, New York. Mrs. Allis, a woman of superior natural endowments, is possessed of fine attainments, remarkable energy, practical views and strictly just sentiments. She is manager
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of the Industrial School of Milwaukee, whose object is the education of vagrant children, and there ex- erts a most healthful influence. Her characteristic influence, however, is more especially shown in her own family of children, consisting of eight sons and three daughters living. She has taught them obe- dience to their parents, respect for others, and love for each other. The eldest son is twenty-six years of age, and was educated at Antioch College in Ohio; the second at the Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. The eldest daughter is being educated at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie,
New York. The others are being educated in Mil- waukee.
Mr. Allis is in politics a republican; in religion a Unitarian. He is a member of the board of trus- tees of the Northwestern Life Insurance Company, and director of the National Bank Exchange. With- out having devoted his mind to the study of the learned professions, he has been a general reader, and is intelligently informed upon all subjects em- braced in a liberal education. In his business rela- tions his integrity is unimpeached, while in his social relations he is generous, hospitable and charitable.
HON. GILBERT L. PARK, STEVENS POINT.
T 'HE subject of this biography was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, August 31, 1825, and is the son of Elisha and Sarah (McDowell) Park. His grandfather, Joel Parke, was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and aided in the capture of General Burgoyne and his army. His father, a farmer by occupation, was highly esteemed in his community. Gilbert passed his boyhood on his father's farm, and attended school about half of the time during each year. At the age of fifteen he con- ceived the idea of seeing some of the hyperborean world, and running away from school enlisted in the Hudson Bay Company's service, and went up the Ottawa river, Canada, to Hudson Bay, and as far northward as Fort Churchill, on the Severn river. Returning to Georgian Bay he there left the com- pany, at the end of one year, and took passage on a steamer to Detroit, and went thence to Port Dover, now in the province of Ontario, where his father's family had recently settled.
Young Park next spent three years at an acad- emy in Millville, Orleans county, New York. At the end of that time he returned to Canada (then Can- ada West) and engaged in business for himself as a lumberman, and continued the same for two years with excellent success; but losing a large raft in a storm on Lake Erie in 1848, it passing in a dis- rupted state over the cataract of Niagara, he closed out the business, and going to Kalamazoo, Michigan, studied law with Hon. N. A. Balch, and was admit- ted to the bar of Kalamazoo county in September, 1851. He removed to Wisconsin in the following November, and after exhausting his funds in pro-
specting, went to work cutting saw-logs on the Wis- consin river. He continued in that business until September, 1852, when he formed a law-partnership with James S. Alban, at Plover. This firmi con- tinued in business nearly four years, when, in June, 1855, Mr. Park removed to Stevens Point, then a rising town five miles north, where he still continues his practice, and is making for himself an honorable name in his profession. Aside from his professional work he has been honored with positions of respon- sibility and trust. He was district attorney of Portage county for about four consecutive years, commenc- ing in 1854; was mayor of Stevens Point at the opening of the civil war, and resigned and went into the army as adjutant of the 18th Regiment Wiscon- sin Infantry, Colonel Alban commanding. He after- ward became captain of company G of the same regiment, and accompanied it through all its fortunes and misfortunes nearly three and a half years, and returned to Stevens Point in the spring of 1865, and resumed his legal practice, at the same time apply- ing himself very assiduously to a review of his studies. In a short time he became a strong man, both as a jury and a court lawyer, excelling in the last named. His readings are very thorough, and he still pursues them with unabated avidity.
Judge Park received his appointment to the bench from Governor Taylor, on the Ist of March, 1875, to fill a vacancy, and in April following was elected by the people. As a jurist he is discrimi- nating, cool, clear-headed, candid and logical. He presides with easy dignity, is fair and impartial, and sound in judgment, and is growing in popularity.
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