USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 83
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John received a fair common-school education, and worked on his father's farm until he was twenty- four years old. He then immigrated to America, landing in New York city in the spring of 1849, and in the month of July following settled in southern Wisconsin. He worked by the month at such occu- pation as he could find until 1850, when he entered a grocery store in Racine as clerk, and after four years of industry and thrift purchased the stock of his employers and commenced business on his own account. He formed a partnership with Mr. T. L. Williams, which continued with increasing success for twenty years, and at the close of 1873 Mr. Vaughan purchased the interest of his partner, and continued the business alone till his decease. By his own industry and business tact he raised him- self to wealth and influence, and at the time of his death was the owner of several of the largest build- ings in the city. He was a member of the common council of Racine for eight years, and was elected a member of the general assembly of the State in 1864. He was a director of the Racine Dredge Company, a director of the Manufacturers' Nation- al Bank, and also a stockholder in the silver-plat- ing company. He was part owner of the largest
lime-kiln in his section of country, and was one of the originators of the fire department of Racine, and the first steam fire engine was named the "John Vaughan " in honor of him. The city, at the time of its purchase, being unable to pay for the engine, he gave his note to the manufacturers. He was a man of great public spirit, and was the prime mover in every enterprise for the benefit of the citizens or the prosperity of the city, and was looked up to by the community as one of the most enterprising and respected citizens of Racine, being popular with all classes.
He was married on the 24th of May, 1858, to Martha 'Thomas, a very amiable and worthy lady, who survives him. Their two children, John and Martha, are still living.
Mr. Vaughan was not a member of any church, but was a regular attendant on the Methodist ser- vice. He was a distinguished Mason, and also an Odd-Fellow, and was regarded as the patron and patriarch of all the Welsh people in town, a large colony of whom settled in Racine mainly through his influence.
He was a republican in politics, and organized some seventy of his countrymen into a military company and sent them to the war, taking care of many of their families during their absence. As a politician he wielded considerable local influence.
He was a most generous and kind-hearted man, willing to help every one in need to the extent of his ability. He was uniformly on the bail-bond of every city or county treasurer, and indorsed nearly
John Vanghan
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all that asked him, not having the heart to refuse. In many cases he suffered heavily by his suretyship. His career was one of very remarkable success. Starting in life without capital, or any of the advan- tages of education or influence, which often fall to the lot of others, by his own force of character and honest purpose he not only achieved a fortune, but became an eminently useful citizen, possessing till the day of his death the respect and esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances.
He died on Sunday, January 28, 1877.
At a special meeting of the city council held on the following day, the mayor, Hon. John J. Mecham, M.D., submitted the following official communica- tion :
GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMON COUNCIL: John Vaughan died yesterday afternoon at his late residence on the corner of Chippewa and Seventh streets. Ile was long one of our most prominent business men, and eight years a member of the city council, acting with energy and ability upon two of its most important committees, fire and harbor. He was most emphatically a Racine man, having been conspicu- ously identified with all of our improvements for the last twenty-five years. Not a church has been erected in the city during that time that has not received aid from his treasury. The college and St. Luke's Hospital owe him thanks for his liberality toward them. Once he has repre- sented our city in the State legislature. During the rebel- lion he was active, liberal and patriotic. To the poor he was always kind and generous, and many a bountiful gift has his right hand made that his left knew not of. I would
recommend that the members of the council attend his funeral.
Resolutions of respect to his memory and condo- lence to his family were passed by the Masonic Lodge, No. 18, of which he was a member.
From an obituary notice of him published in the "Racine Journal " on the 31st of January, 1877, we make the following extracts :
By the death of Mr. Vaughan, Racine loses one of her oldest and most enterprising citizens. No man ever lived in our city who was more identified with its interests or more earnest and faithful in advancing them.
By attention to business and hard work he had succeeded in amassing a reasonable amount of this world's goods; of a most useful nature and having the interests of the city at heart, he invested his earnings in permanent improvements, and many fine buildings now stand as monuments to his memory.
The article enters at some length into the details of his public career and private virtues, as set forth above, and concludes by stating :
The funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon from the Presbyterian Church, and was one of the largest ever seen in the city. His honor the mayor and the members of the council, the masonic lodge of which he was a member, and the fire department, were in attendance. The church was densely packed, extra seats having been put in the aisles. The services commenced by singing the hymn -
" How still and peaceful is the grave, Where life's vain tumults past,
The appointed house. by heaven's decree. Receives us all at last."
ISAAC LAIN,
WAUKESHA.
T HE Lain family emigrated from England at an early period in the settlement of the colo- nies, and settled on Long Island. The father of Isaac Lain was living in Orange county, New York, when the son was born (December 18, 1820), his occupation being that of a farmer. The maiden name of his mother was Deborah Alger. Isaac, the youngest of a family of nine children, aided his father until 1833, when the father died. He con- tinued to work at farming until seventeen years old, usually attending a district school during the winter months. At that age he went to Chemung county, and worked five years with two older brothers at the carpenter's trade.
In June, 1842, he settled in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and there continued to operate as a house-builder and contractor for about ten years, doing, at times, quite an extensive business, and employing a large number of men.
In 1852 he engaged in the real-estate and insur- ance business, adding manufacturing a few years later. He is now (1877) a stockholder in the Wau- kesha County Manufacturing Company, and is sec- retary of the same. He still does something in the insurance line. For about three years he has been in poor health, and was entirely disabled for a while, but is improving and able to oversee his business.
Mr. Lain was a member of the general assembly in 1861, at the opening of the rebellion. Monday, April 18, had been set for the day of adjournment. The Sunday before the news of the firing on Sum- ter came. It was proposed to continue the session, and a few anti-war democrats tried to get out of town, but Governor Randall had seen the railroad officials, and no train left on Sunday night. The session continned another week or more ; war meas- ures were introduced, and before adjournment Mr. Lain was appointed one of the commissioners to go
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to New York and purchase arms. During the re- bellion he was very active in encouraging enlist- ments and in various ways helping on the cause.
He has held various, local offices, and has been very faithful in discharging his duties; has been president of the village several times, and for a short time was one of the commissioners of the Industrial School, located at Waukesha. He was chairman of the county board of supervisors from 1866 to 1870, and now holds that position.
Mr. Lain was a democrat until the republican party was organized.
He is a Royal Arch Mason, and has been a Bap- tist communicant more than forty years, and is now clerk of the Waukesha Church. He is a warm friend of temperance, and active in all enterprises which have the best interests of man in view. He favors manufactures and everything that will build up the village of Waukesha.
Mr. Lain has a second wife. His first, Miss Sarah C. Van Vechten, died in 1850, after being married a year and a half. To her sister, Rebecca J. Van Vechten, he was married in 1858; they have three children, two daughters and a son.
JACOB BODDEN,
THERESA.
P ROBABLY no farmer in Dodge county, Wis- consin, has been honored with more positions of trust and responsibility than Jacob Bodden. A native of Prussia, he is the son of Adam Bodden and Margaretta née Grath, and was born September 21, 1831. His father, a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, came to this country in 1847, when Jacob was sixteen years old, and settled at first in Washington county, Wisconsin, where he spent four years in farming. In 1851 he removed to Theresa, in Dodge county, where he still resides, his farm consisting of about one hundred and forty acres under excellent cultivation. Agriculture has been his life-pursuit, and he loves it ; but the people have seen fit to call him away from the plow many times.
Mr. Bodden has held an office of some kind most of the time since he has been in Dodge county, and has been faithful in the discharge of his duties. He was chairman of the town board of Theresa in 1858, and several times afterward was chosen for that po- sition. He was a member of the general assembly in 1861, 1866 and 1874. He was county treasurer from 1867 to 1871, chairman of the county board
of supervisors in 1874 and 1875, and was elected sheriff in 1876, and now holds that office (1877).
Mr. Bodden has always been a democrat, and is a strong partisan. In politics, as in everything else, he acts from conviction, and is firm in his adhesion to what he regards as right.
In religious belief he is a Catholic, holding to the faith of both his paternal and maternal ancestry.
Mr. Bodden has had two wives. To his first wife, Miss Agnes Schafer, of Theresa, he was married in 1856. Mrs. Bodden died in the following year, leav- ing one child. His present wife was Miss Gertrude Schiefer, of Theresa. They were married in 1860, and have eight sons and two daughters.
Mr. Bodden has done good service to his con- stituents in Dodge county, and is held in warm esteem, particularly among his political confrères. Public-spirited and generous, he has looked well to the interests of the county, and hence his excellent standing. He never had much public-school educa- tion, is largely self-taught, and is to be commended for having fitted himself to hold such a variety of public offices.
RICHARD STREET,
WAUKESHA.
T THE subject of this sketch is a native of Stirling- shire, Scotland, and was born September 5, 1825, in Bannockburn, a town immortalized by the deeds of Bruce and the song of Burns, He is the
son of William and Lucy (Anderson) Street, his father being, for about fifty years, a manufacturer, and an overseer of woolen mills. At eleven years of age, with an ordinary common-school education,
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Richard went to the trade of his father, working under his charge until of age, adding, meantime, slightly to his stock of knowledge, now and then, by attending a night school. At twenty-one he moved to the town of Stirling, a few miles from Bannockburn, and became overseer of a woolen factory. After holding that situation several years he removed to Alva. Stirlingshire, where he held a similar position in a larger factory until 1855, when he immigrated to the United States.
Settling at Lancaster, Grant county, Wisconsin, he remained there until 1860, when he went to Utica, New York, and became overseer of the Globe Mills. He returned to Wisconsin in 1868, and was superin- tendent in Blake and Co.'s factory at Racine until 1871, and there introduced the manufacture of the celebrated Badger State shawl. In January of that year he settled in Waukesha, and became superin- tendent of the mills of the Waukesha County Manu- facturing Company, which consume from one hun- dred and fifty to two hundred thousand pounds of wool annually, and turn out as fine woolen cloths and shawls as are manufactured in the Northwest. The company does on an average about one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars per annum, which is
intrusted entirely to the hands and oversight of Mr. Street, who, as a business man of competency, effi- ciency and trustworthiness, has few equals and no superior in the village of Waukesha. He is always at his post, vigilant, untiring, and everything about the great factory moves like clock-work. The repu- tation of many of the brands of cloth, and of the famous Wisconsin shawls, manufactured under his charge, is so good that they are made to order. He is thoroughly wedded to his business. He be- lieves in doing one thing at a time and doing it well. . He is a firm republican in politics, but rarely ac- cepts an office, and never any outside the village corporation.
He is a member of the Temple of Honor, and an ardent and influential advocate of the temperance cause ; a member of the Baptist church, the super- intendent of its Sunday-school, and a tireless worker for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. He is one of those active Christians who are always in their place and completely fill it.
The wife of Mr. Street was Miss Elizabeth Robert- son, of Stirling, Scotland, whose father is now resid- ing at Platteville, Wisconsin. They have had ten children, nine of whom are living.
CAPTAIN GILBERT KNAPP,
RACINE.
G ILBERT KNAPP, the first white settler and T founder of the city of Racine, was born at Chatham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, December 3, 1798, and is the son of John and Sarah (Smith) Knapp, both descended from English ancestors, who settled at Horseneck, Connecticut, early in the eighteenth century. His father was a captain in the revolutionary war, and at the close of that struggle became a seafaring man, and for many years commanded a merchant vessel trading with European ports. In later life he was a successful merchant in Poughkeepsie, New York. His mother was the daughter of Elijah Smith, a substantial merchant at Barnstable, Massachusetts, and a na- tive Englishman.
Gilbert was educated at the schools then in ex- istence at his native place; he studied English, mathematics and navigation, giving special atten- tion to the last named science. At the age of fif- teen he went to sea before the mast in a vessel
commanded by his uncle, by marriage, Captain Childs. His first voyage was to Davis Straits, thence to Cadiz in Spain, and occupied a period of nine months. Soon after the declaration of war with England (1812) he shipped as masters' mate on board the Leo, a private armed vessel, letter of marque, with seventeen guns and one hundred and fifty men, Captain Be Sonne, of French de- scent, which was chartered by the American gov- ernment to carry dispatches to France, and run the blockade, which England had then established over the French ports, into Natches. He made three voyages in this service with success, though with very great risk. During one of those voy- ages, while cruising off the Western Islands, they fell in with a British ship, letter of marque, of six guns, with which they had a sharp engagement, and afterward took her by boarding. Her crew consisted chiefly of Portuguese and Spaniards, and she was laden with a cargo of Chinese silks and cochineal,
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valued at half a million dollars, and had in her safe some forty thousand dollars in gold, which was trans- ferred to the Leo and distributed among the officers and crew. They took the prize in custody, manned her with thirty men and ordered her to France; had her in possession ,some nine days, when an English frigate retook her, and thus they lost their prize. On a subsequent voyage they had an en- gagement with two British letter-of-marque vessels. This encounter occurred in the night. The Leo oc- cupied a central position midway between the frig- ates, and was for a time in a very critical situation. She received several broadsides, and made the best response possible, but her escape was due to her su- superior sailing facilities. Her loss was one man killed and several wounded. During the third voy- age to France with dispatches they fell in with a British man-of-war fleet,-two frigates, a sloop of war and tender, with six guns. They were chased into Brest; had a sharp engagement and cut up the tender pretty severely, but were obliged to flee from the frigates.
During the war he had made the acquaintance of several naval officers, persons who had been in Perry's fleet on Lake Erie, who prevailed on him to come to the lakes to learn the geography of their coasts, with a view to a position in the marine service. He accordingly went on board a lake cutter in 1818, and after spending nearly two years in tutelage, visiting every harbor and tribu- tary river on these inland oceans, he was, in 1819, commissioned as captain in the United States rev- enue marine service, and placed in command of the A. J. Dallas, then in commission at Detroit, where he remained some ten months. At this time the celebrated John Jacob Astor was at the head of a great fur trading company on the west- ern lakes, and had complained to the government that a large illicit trade was being carried on be- tween the English and the Indians to the injury of the government and the detriment of licensed traders.
Captain Knapp, with his vessel, was accordingly ordered to Mackinaw to look after this business. In the discharge of his duties he captured large quantities of contraband goods, which were con- fiscated by the revenue department, and the illicit traffic was in this way completely suppressed, to the no small benefit of Mr. Astor. He remained at this station for eight years, and in 1828 left the service and retired to private life. During
one of his cruises on Lake Michigan he had halted at the mouth of the Racine river and gone ashore to "spy out the land,"- being, as he believes, the first white man who had ever pressed the soil at this point. He was greatly charmed with the beauty of the situation and made a secret resolve to visit the place again with a view to settlement. After quitting the revenue service he located tem- porarily at a point on Lake Erie, in Chatauqua county, New York, where he was the owner of some property, and where for two years he was engaged as a forwarding and commission merchant, being part owner of the vessels engaged in the transportation. In 1834, however, he sold out his Lake Erie property and resolved to see Racine river once more. Stopping at Chicago, he pro- cured the services of a trusty Indian guide and proceeded overland by an Indian trail as far as "Skunk Grove," five miles west of Racine, where was an Indian encampment, and thence, under the direction of a fresh guide, proceeded to the mouth of the river, passing by the rapids on his way. He spent two days in investigating the adaptabil- ity of the mouth of the river for the purposes of a harbor, the probabilities of the situation gen- erally, and resolved to settle. He accordingly re- turned to Chicago, reported the result of his ex- plorations to his friend Gordon S. Hubbard, now of Chicago, who became his partner in the new enterprise; hired mechanics and purchased some building materials, which were shipped to the new settlement, where a shanty was soon erected on the edge of the lake south of the river, at the point now occupied by the lumber yard of George Mur- ray. He next erected a log warehouse and estab- lished a trading post ; sold flour and provisions to emigrants and traffickers passing up and down between Green Bay and Chicago. Other settlers soon followed and in a short time the place be- gan to be known. He and his partner, Mr. Hub- bard, took the necessary steps toward preëmpting a half section on the south side of the river (the . land had not yet come into market, hence it could not be bought), surveyed some lots and laid the foundation of a town, and would have secured a title under the preëmption laws, but during the winter preceding the date when the claim would have matured, congress enacted a law interdicting the preemption of land on which towns had been laid out, and restricting this privilege to actual settlers for homestead purposes. This was a seri-
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ous obstacle to the pioneer town enterprise, and much trouble was experienced by them in securing a title, they being obliged to build a court-house and jail as a precedent condition. They also pur- chased a tract on the north side of the river ad- joining the lake, on which a large portion of the city now stands, for which a dollar and twenty- five cents per acre was paid. A third gentleman, Mr. Benjamin F. Barker, was now taken into the partnership. A saw-mill was erected at the rapids aforenamed and other improvements added. In the year following (1835) the territory of Wiscon- sin was separated from that of Michigan, which was admitted to the Union, and Captain Knapp was elected to represent the county of Racine in the senatorial council of the first territorial legislature. This county then included the present counties of Racine, Kenosha, Walworth, Rock and Milwaukee. The new territory then included all the present State of Wisconsin, a part of Iowa, all of Minne- sota and part of Dakota. The legislature met at Green Bay, but owing to some difficulty touching the boundary of Ohio the new State of Michigan was not admitted until the following year; conse- quently the legislature of Wisconsin was not recog- nized and could therefore transact no business until the succeeding year, when Governor Dodge was ap- pointed by the President, and the legislature met at Belmont, in the present county of Lafayette. Of the twenty-one members from the counties east of the Mississippi river, which constituted this body, it is believed that only five survive at this date (1877), namely, our subject, Alenson Sweet and J. B. Terry, of the council, and General A. G. Ellis and Thomas Shanley, of the house. Few persons can now realize the condition of things as they were in 1836. During this session the State cap- ital was located at Madison, and appropriations made for commencing the erection of the build- ings. Captain Knapp was also a member of the council of the succeeding two legislatures, which met at Burlington, Iowa, in 1837 and 1838, and was one of the most industrious, influential and intel- ligent of the members. He was offered the nom- ination to congress from the territory, but declined in favor of George W. Jones, who was elected and subsequently made United States senator.
In 1840 Captain Knapp returned to the revenue marine 'service, resuming his former rank, and re- mained in the service until 1845, when he again retired to private life for a period of four years.
From 1849 till 1853 he was again in the revenue service, retiring in the latter year and giving at- tention to his private business until the opening of the rebellion, when his services were again brought into requisition by the government.
In 1860 he was elected to the Wisconsin legis- lature, and served a term in the lower house, but resigned three days before the adjournment of the session to take command of the "Dobbins," in which he served on coast and blockade duty on the capes for some time, and afterward in com- mand of the Morris at Boston harbor. Since the close of the war he has been stationed on the Jakes. He superintended the building of the rev- enue steam cutters Sherman and Fessenden at Cleveland, and was afterward in command of the latter for twelve years. Since 1874 he has been off duty -" awaiting orders," as the situation is tech- nically phrased, and expecting "retirement."
He was raised under Presbyterian influence, and still prefers that form of religion, though he some- times attends the Episcopal church, but is not in union with either.
He was married in April, 1821, to Miss Maria Annan, daughter of Robert J. Annan, Esq., a na- tive of Annandale, Scotland; she died in 1828, at Erie, Pennsylvania, leaving four children surviv- ing her, one of whom, an infant, named Harriet M., died soon after the mother. The eldest son, Robert Annan, born March 3, 1822, was a mid- shipman in the United States navy, and made a three years' cruise in the Mediterranean and other eastern waters, and resigned on account of failing health at the age of twenty-one. He afterward commanded a vessel on the lakes for several years. In 1852 he became connected with the Racine and Mississippi railroad - afterward the Western Union road - filling the various positions from sta- tion agent to division superintendent. This posi- tion he resigned in 1867. During the war, however, he served a short period as lieutenant in the navy under Commodore Foote, but owing to ill health was obliged to resign, and his place on the rail- road being still vacant he resumed it on regaining his health. He was subsequently connected with the Hannibal and St. Joseph line for a period of four years, but having been weakly the greater part of his life, died in August, 1876. The next son, Gilbert, studied law in Racine, and was ad- initted to the bar, but disliking the profession he turned his attention to farming, and is now a planter
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