USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 87
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He was married on the Ist of January, 1832, to
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Miss Margaret Mitchell, daughter of James Mitchell, his father's brother, a pious, amiable and benevo- lent lady, a devoted member of the Baptist church, whose life has been spent in doing good to all about her. They have had eight children, two of whom died in infancy and six survive : William, Eliza, Mary, Martha, Henry, and Frank. William is an
extensive saw-mill owner and lumber merchant in Olympia, Washington Territory; Mary is the wife of William F. Lewis, a member of the firm known as Mitchell, Lewis and Co .; Martha is the wife of C. D. St. Clair, also a member of the firm; Henry is overseer of the works, and Frank, the youngest, is bookkeeper of the establishment.
HON. DAVID W. SMALL,
OCONOMOWOC.
D AVID W. SMALL, a native of Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, was born at Frankfort, December 18, 1827. His father was a farmer, and both parents were members of the Society of Friends. He was reared on his father's farm in a very exem- plary manner, being early taught the virtues as well as the industries of life. Prior to his sixteenth year he had received only the literary instruction afforded by a common school during the winters. He then spent two years at the Moravian College at Nazareth, and at the age of eighteen began to teach and to read law, alternating between these two pur- suits for about five years, and in April, 1850, was admitted to the bar at Doylstown in his native State. Thinking that the West furnished a better field for young attorneys than the older States, he inmedi- ately started for Wisconsin, reaching Oconomowoc in May. Twenty-seven years ago this place was a very small village ; legal business was not pressing, and as he was not disposed to be idle, he spent part of his time in surveying, for a year or more. At the end of that time he had enough to do in his profes- sion, and since then has never suffered from a want
of briefs. Indeed, his has been a busy as well as a successful professional life.
Mr. Small held some offices of minor importance soon after coming to Oconomowoc. In 1862 he was elected district attorney for Waukesha county, and subsequently reëlected. He was chosen judge of the second judicial circuit in 1869, and reëlected in 1875, and still holds the office, discharging its duties with credit to himself and the satisfaction of all.
In politics, Judge Small was a whig, with " silver gray " proclivities, until about 1855, when, the name of his favorite party having disappeared from the political calendar, he became a democrat, and to this party owes his elevation to the bench.
His wife, who was Miss Susannah Ely, is an ac- complished lady, the mother of three children, one son and two daughters. The son is now studying in Europe.
Judge Small has a small farm adjoining the city, and bounded on one side by La Belle lake, near the shore of which sheet of water stands his large farm house. The house is in a little grove, and Pan, the heathen divinity, might covet its delightful situation.
JOHN R. BRANDT, A.M., M.D., ARCADIA.
D R. BRANDT, a native of Troy, New York, was born June 7, 1838, and is the son of William Andreas Brandt, of Holland Dutch extrac- tion, and Mary née Gillespie, of Scotch descent. She is noted for great force of character. Both parents were born in Rensselaer county, New York. They moved to Winnebago county, Wisconsin, in 1850, and settled near Eureka, where the mother became quite noted for her skill in handling various
diseases, she being a great advocate of hydropathy. As early as 1851 she was accustomed to use the thermometer in fevers. The father was a compe- tent linguist, and was generally well educated. John remained on the Indian reservation in Winnebago county under his instruction until 1853, when he spent one season at school in Omro, but wanted better opportunities for an education. He had heard of Oberlin College and its manual labor feature,
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and on the 3d of February, 1854, started on foot, nearly penniless and alone, and on the 3d of May entered that town, having walked the entire distance of more than eight hundred miles ! He stopped at several places and worked a short time in order to replenish his wardrobe. He started with five cents in his pocket and reached Oberlin with two of them. There he found a home with Hiram Pease, one of the founders of the institution. In a short time he was fitted to teach, and accordingly in June, 1856, he went to Mason county, Kentucky, and opened a select school near Maysville. He completed his course of studies at the Maysville Literary Institute in 1862. He spent two years in Bourbon county, teaching in private families and a select school; and in 1864 became professor of languages and music in the Cloverport Presbyter- ian Institute, in Breckenridge county; and the next year president of the Harrisburg Institute. He is a fine Oriental scholar, and at the age of twenty- four years delivered a course of lectures on the Jewish and other Oriental religions.
In 1868 he attended lectures in the medical de- partment of the Louisville University, having previ-
ously read with Dr. A. G. Stitt, of Millersburg. He also studied aural and ophthalmic surgery with Dr. Cheatham, of that city. In 1871 he began the prac- tice of medicine at Milford, Kentucky; three years later he went to Cincinnati, and made a special study of diseases of the eye, and also attended lectures at the Miami Medical College and the Medical Col- lege of Ohio, graduating from the latter in 1874. Thus thoroughly prepared for medical practice in its widest range, he, in 1876, returned to Wisconsin and settled at Arcadia, in Trempealeau county. Though a general practitioner, Dr. Brandt makes the treatment of the eye and ear a specialty, and has become widely known for his skill and success.
He is a Council Mason. In politics he is a demo- crat, and in religious sentiment, a Presbyterian with Catholic tendencies.
He was county school commissioner in Kentucky for several years, and in 1862 proposed, at a far- mers' convention, an institution similar to the pres- ent Grangers' Society, and was perhaps the first person to propose such an organization. He is an original thinker, and is polished in manners as well as in education.
CHARLES W. FELKER,
OSHKOSH.
T' THE subject of this sketch, a native of Penn Yan, Yates county, New York, was born on the 25th of November, 1834, and is the son of An- drew and Maria (Pixley) Felker. His father, an enterprising man, was a farmer in good circum- stances. Charles' early life presents few phases in distinction from that of ordinary farmer boys. He first attended school at Brockport, New York, and later pursued a course of study at Charlotteville, Schoharie county. In 1855, being twenty-one years of age, having determined to enter the legal profession, he removed to the West, and settled at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, his present home, and there began the study of law with Judge Wheeler. At the expira- tion of one year he took the editorship of the Osh- kosh "Democrat," a republican paper then advocating the election of John C. Fremont to the Presidency. He held this position for one and a half years and then resumed his studies with Judge Wheeler, con- tinuing them till April, 1858, when he was admitted to the bar at Oshkosh. He at once commenced
practice and soon became well known as a skillful and successful attorney. In 1864, his sympathies having been deeply aroused in the Union cause, he enlisted in the army as captain of Company A, 48th Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Serving till the close of the war, he was mustered out in Jan- uary, 1866, and returning to his home, resumed his legal practice, associating himself with Charles A. Weisbrod, whose sketch appears in another part of this work, under the firm name of Felker and Weis- brod. During that year he was appointed post- master at Oshkosh, by President Johnson, and held that office until 1867. From the beginning of his practice he has been growing in influence, and each year has added largely to his business. He makes his profession his study, and spares no pains in the preparation of his cases. In 1863 he was admitted to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, and in 1875, to the Supreme Court of the United States.
He is now (1877) attorney for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company. In 1873 he was
CharoZeven
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elected school commissioner, and, in 1875, superin- tendent of schools.
Mr. Felker's career has been marked by a gradual growth. When he began the practice of law he had in his pocket a single York shilling, and this he paid for having his books removed to his office. Success has attended him in all his work, and he stands to- day among the first advocates of his State, with a large and remunerative practice, and lives in the en- joyment of a pleasant home and ample competence. As a speaker he ranks among the best; cool, delib-
erate and with clear-cut thoughts, he has a remark- able power of argument. He has excellent social qualities, and exerts a strong influence over a large circle of warm friends.
His political views are democratic.
Though not a member of any church or organiza- tion, he believes in Christianity, and is an attendant upon the Episcopal service.
Mr. Felker was married on the 5th of January, 1862, to Miss Sarah Douty, and by her has two daughters and three sons.
MARTIN T. DRAPER,
OCONOMOWOC.
M ARTIN THAYER DRAPER, son of Frost Draper, a farmer, and Mary née Thayer, was born at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, on the 22d of Aug- ust, 1814. His grandfather, David Draper, was one of the first patriots to enlist in defense of the rights of the Colonies, and fought at Bunker Hill and in subsequent battles. His mother had ten brothers, most of whom were educated at Amherst College. But few of them, however, followed professional life. Martin received only a common-school education. He had a taste for mercantile pursuits, and became a general trader, sometimes in West India goods and dry goods, and at other times in lumber and coal, in different parts of Massachusetts.
In 1843 he came to the West, reaching Milwaukee on the 5th of November ; there he acted as an agent, entering and disposing of lands and collecting for eastern houses. He remained in Milwaukee nine years and then removed to Portage, where he lived about the same length of time, selling goods and act- ing as trustee and assignee for different parties ; doing, at times, an extensive business in the latter line.
In February, 1862, Mr. Draper removed to Ocon- omowoc and purchased what is now known as the Draper Hall property, though he did not open it as a hotel until 1869. The site is one of the loveliest for a public house in the State, being on a narrow neck of land, with Fowler lake on one side within a hundred feet of the house, and La Belle lake on the other only two hundred feet away, the waters of both being as clear as crystal. When Mr. Draper first opened the house to the public it had accom- modations for lodging about twenty-five persons ;
he has enlarged it from time to time and erected several neat cottages only a few steps from the main building, and can now entertain comfortably more than a hundred guests. Oconomowoc has become a popular summer resort, and Draper Hall, open during the whole year, is usually crowded during four or five of the warmest months. The natural attractions of Oconomowoc it is difficult to match in Wisconsin, and Mr. Draper has done more than any other man to make it a favorite resort during the hot season. Families come here from the South- ern States and spend four or five months.
If Mr. Draper is popular as a landlord he is no less so as a citizen, having served a second term as mayor of the city.
In politics, he has always been democratic. He rarely runs for office, but when he does, draws more than the party vote. He has very seldom, however, allowed his name to be used in connection with any office. He is contented to be a faithful private citi- zen and a first-class inn-keeper.
Mr. Draper was first married in 1835, to Miss Car- oline Watson, of Leicester, Massachusetts. They had two children, a son and a daughter, both still living. Mrs. Draper died in 1841. Edward F. is married and is a merchant in New York city ; Cor- nelia M. is unmarried, and lives in Worcester, Mas- sachusetts. Mr. Draper was united with his present wife in July, 1844, and by her has a son and daugh- ter, both of whom are at home. The present Mrs. Draper was Caroline Calkins, of Milwaukee, a wo- man of highly cultivated manners, good social qual- ities and very pleasant address. Her mother, now in her ninety-second year, is living with her, with
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mental faculties but slightly impaired, and still amusing herself with the knitting needles, which she learned how to use more than eighty years ago. Her maiden name was Bill ; she is a descendant of John and Dorothy Bill, who came to Massachusetts about 1633. The Bill family in England has been traced back more than five hundred years. Some of them in the old country, as well as in this, were noted scholars and doctors of divinity. From the history of the Bill family, published in New York in 1867, we learn that on the 20th of November, 1558, the Sunday following Queen Elizabeth's ascension to
the throne, Dr. William Bill preached at St. Paul's Cross; that he was soon afterward made Her Maj- esty's chief almoner, and in 1559 was elected provost of Eton College. He held at one time the posi- tions of master of Trinity, provost of Eton, and dean of Westminster,- a distinction, it is said, which no other person ever held.
Mr. Draper has been a resident of Wisconsin for thirty-four years, and has contributed his quota of energy and enterprise in the development of the State, and has had his full share of satisfaction and pleasure in its growth and prosperity.
GENERAL LEVI GRANT,
KENOSHA.
EVI GRANT was born in New Berlin, Chenango county, New York, April 25, 1810, and is the only child of Joshua and Esther (Naramore) Grant, both of whom were natives of Stonington, Connecti- cut. The great-grandfather of our subject was a native Scotchman, who immigrated to America pre- vious to the revolution, and was a near relative of the ancestor of the ex-President. Joshua Grant followed the business of farming during his entire life. He moved from Connecticut to New York about the beginning of the present century, and there ended his days. Physically he was a man of massive framework and uncommon energy; in boy- hood a great wrestler, and noted for feats of strength and agility. He was, moreover, a man of sterling qualities of head and heart,-plain, honest, upright, and although not a member of any church, was a firm believer in Christianity and its institutions; habitually read the Bible in his family and set a good example to his children.
The mother of our subject was descended of English ancestors, a robust, active and energetic woman, industrious, intelligent and conscientious, of strong sympathies and deep feelings. Her name is associated in the memory of her son with the most happy and hallowed recollections. She was, through life, an exemplary member of the Methodist Episco- pal church. Both had been previously married and the parents of families who survive them, but our subject was the only fruit of this union. The father died, when the son was young, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, but the mother survived her hus- band many years, dying at the age of seventy-five.
Levi Grant received a fair English and mathe- matical education at the district schools of his native town, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to learn the art of paper manufacturing, at which busi- ness he served till the age of twenty-one. He sub- sequently pursued the same craft as foreman of a paper-mill in Green county, New York, for a period of five years. But like many other young men of his day, possessed of the spirit of adventure, and the West offering a wider and more promising field for its development, he removed to Wisconsin in 1836, at the age of twenty-six, and settled on a three-hun- dred-acre tract of land in Kenosha county, some twelve miles west of the present city, which under his strong and industrious hands soon put on the habiliments of civilization, and became one of the most beautiful and highly cultivated farms in the West, the most exquisite taste being displayed in the style and arrangement of the dwelling and in the gardens, orchards, fences and general features of the surroundings. As a farmer he was eminently suc- cessful, and accumulated considerable capital. In 1856, however, becoming weary of agricultural pur- suits, which required constant care and unremitting attention, he sold out his beautiful homestead and removed to Kenosha, his present home, and em- barked extensively in the lumber trade, to which his attention has since been mainly devoted, with very satisfactory results. He has not only been success- ful as a business man, but patriotic and public- spirited as a citizen. "The Grant House," one of the finest and most elegant hotels in the West, which he built, not so much as a speculative investment as
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a source of benefit to the city, is a monument to his exquisite taste and public beneficence. His industry, prudent business qualities and high moral character have made him one of the most substantial as well as one of the most highly esteemed citizens of the State.
In his youth and early manhood he developed a taste for military tactics and gave some attention to the science of arms. Accordingly, in 1855, he was commissioned by Governor Barstow to the rank of brigadier-general of the State militia, and from this circumstance derived the title of "general," which has since clung to him, and by which he was known long before his more distinguished kinsman and namesake was heard of beyond the confines of West Point or the environs of Galena. Like his father, he is a man of great physical development, of ma- jestic mien and fine stature, being six feet four inches in height, with a framework and muscle development in proportion ; and had he devoted his life to the profession of arms, would undoubtedly have become a distinguished soldier.
In politics, Mr. Grant was always a republican ; and though naturally of a modest and retiring na- ture, he has been several times elected to offices of trust and responsibility by his fellow-citizens. In 1843 he served one session in the lower branch of the State legislature, and in 1853 was elected to serve for a period of two years in the State senate ; besides which he has held numerous local offices, always discharging the duties with consummate abil- ity and the most rigid integrity. He has carried through life a spotless character and an unblemished
reputation, which will be the richest legacy he can bequeath to his children.
He was married on the 25th of April, 1832, to Miss Frances E., daughter of the late Nathaniel Etheridge, Esq., of Green county, New York, an extensive farmer and a soldier of the war of 1812. He died at Sacket's Harbor before the end of that struggle. He was the son of a native Englishman. Mrs. Grant is a lady of superior mental endowments and liberal culture, of refined tastes and high moral aspirations; of an amiable and kindly spirit, and much beloved by her neighbors and all who know her. Both she and her husband have been exem- plary members of the Methodist Episcopal church for forty-seven years, and have been for twenty years past among the leading members of the con- gregation of that denomination in Kenosha.
Their union has been blessed with two children, one son and one daughter. The son, Emory Grant, was educated at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from which he graduated with honor in the class of 1856. After leaving college he engaged with his father in the lumber trade, of which he has since had the chief management. He is a gentle- man of fine business talents and high moral princi- ples. On the 29th of November, 1870, he married Miss Mary A., daughter of Walden Thomas, Esq., a distinguished citizen of Chicago. The only daugh- ter, Julia, a lady of fine accomplishments and most amiable character, is the widow of the late Julius A. Durkee, Esq., of New York city. She resides at present with her parents in Kenosha.
RUFUS C. HATHAWAY,
OCONOMOWOC.
A MONG the citizens of Oconomowoc who have witnessed its growth from a town of one hun- dred inhabitants to a little city of three thousand, is Rufus Corey Hathaway, the present city clerk and county surveyor. He is the son of Wilbur Hatha- way, a millwright, and Mercy née Goodrich, and was born at Homer, New York, May 24, 1816. His pa- ternal grandfather was a soldier of 1776. Hon. Milo Goodrich, member of the Forty-second Congress from New York State, is a brother of his mother's. At seventeen years of age Rufus began to learn the carriage makers' trade, and at twenty began to at- tend the academy at Homer, alternating between
working at his trade, teaching and attending school, for about five years. Being of a studious turn of mind he developed a fondness for reading and study, and in this manner employed all his leisure time. While working at his trade in Homer, when about twenty-five, he began to study law, but having to defray his own expenses, was much retarded in his studies.
In August, 1842, he removed to Beloit, Wisconsin, and read law a short time with his uncle, Milo Good- rich. He taught a school in Janesville the following winter ; in 1843 returned to New York with his uncle and worked at his trade more or less, at the same
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time continuing the study of law at intervals. He paid special attention to music for several years, and learned to compose it.
In 1848 Mr. Hathaway returned to Wisconsin and bought two hundred acres of wild land in Dodge county. He worked at his trade a short time in Milwaukee, and in the spring of 1849 made a per- manent settlement at Oconomowoc. Here he built him a house, and shortly afterward engaged in sur- veying, a branch of science to which he had devoted considerable attention while in the academy. For some years that branch of business largely occupied his time, he being elected surveyor of Waukesha county several times, and now, as already stated, holding that office.
Mr. Hathaway continued his study of law at odd intervals, and about 1862 was admitted to the bar of Waukesha county. He practices in the circuit court and in the supreme court of the State. Prior to 1862 he had done business in the justice court. Much against his disposition he has had several of- fices thrust upon him -offices, most of which he did not want. He has been supervisor several times and was chairman of the board one or two years. Was town clerk several times; district attorney in 1869 and 1870. in order to take which he resigned
the office of justice of the peace; and is now city clerk. Other offices he has been urged to accept, but peremptorily declined them. Those which he has accepted he has filled in a very satisfactory manner.
As a business man he is practical, prompt, accu- rate, reliable; and though a democrat, the votes which he receives when a candidate are limited to no one party.
Miss Flavilla Jane Hobert, of Homer, New York, became his wife in August, 1845. They have had seven children, four of whom are now living, two sons and two daughters, the last two being married. Emma, the elder, is the wife of Wallace Hastings, and lives near Oconomowoc; Lizzie is the wife of Horace Hastings, and lives in Iowa.
Mr. Hathaway is a plain appearing man, frank and cordial, genial-hearted, public-spirited, and an excellent citizen. During the first ten or fifteen years of his residence in Oconomowoc he continued to pay much attention to music, and was at one time the leader of a brass band, and while teaching the members, arranged all the music for the several parts. Latterly he has paid little attention to this branch of science, though he has a fine ear for the " concord of sweet sounds."
COLONEL CHARLES WOLCOTT,
OSHKOSH.
A MONG the early settlers and enterprising citi- zens of Oshkosh, none deserves a more honor- able mention than the subject of this sketch, known throughout Winnebago county, Wisconsin, as Colo- nel Wolcott. He is descended from the celebrated Wolcott family of Connecticut. From a reference to the early history of the United States we find that one member of this family was a signer of the Dec- laration of Independence ; another was secretary of the United States Treasury, and two others were governors of the State of Connecticut.
His mother, whose maiden name was Loomis, also belonged to a highly honorable family. Professor Loomis, of Yale College, has published a large genea- logical work on the Loomis family, from which we learn that several of its members were officers in the revolutionary army, and that some of our leading scholars bear that name.
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