USA > Wisconsin > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men, Wisconsin volume > Part 88
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Talcott Wolcott, the father of our subject, was
one of the principal ship-merchants of Hartford, Connecticut, being engaged in the West India and South American trade.
Charles was born February 17, 1811, in Hartford, and was educated in the excellent graded schools of his native city. He moved to Ohio in 1834, and read law with Governor Tod, of Warren, and was admitted to the bar in that place in 1836. Settling at Wooster, Wayne county, he practiced there until 1850, when he removed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
While in Ohio, Colonel Wolcott had the command of a regiment of cavalry for twelve years, and from 1841 to 1846 was a member of the house of repre- sentatives and senate of Ohio.
On settling in the little village of Oshkosh, twenty- seven years ago, Colonel Wolcott resumed his legal practice, and continued it until about 1864, dealing also, during this time, largely and successfully in real estate. He owns the beautiful brick and stone
Eng ªby HBHall &SonsisBarci zy StNY
Charles Wolcott.
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block on the southeast corner of Main and Algoma streets, one of the best business localities in the city, and besides has other property in Oshkosh. Public- spirited and generous he has always been among the foremost in all public interests and improvements.
Colonel Wolcott was one of the founders of the Episcopal Church in Oshkosh, and drew up its arti- cles of association, and is the only living member of the church who signed those articles. He is one of the vestrymen, and is highly esteemed by all. As a citizen, he is upright and exemplary, and is well known as a gentleman of refined tastes and polished manners.
In politics Colonel Wolcott has always been a democrat, but for many years has not been an active politician.
His wife was Miss Ellen Edwards Plummer, daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Plummer, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a prominent man of the State. They were married August 19, 1836, and have no children. Mrs. Wolcott is an accomplished lady, on whose face time has shrunk from making any but the slight- est furrows. Like her husband, she has much of the vivacity of youth. She carefully cultivates the Christian virtues, and no lady in Oshkosh is more highly esteemed.
ALANSON H. LEE,
RACINE.
A LANSON HENRY LEE, son of Brewster Lee, is descended from a family who settled in New Hampshire near the close of the seventeenth cen- tury. Members of this family are now distributed through New England and many of the Northwest- ern States. On his mother's side he comes of Puri- tan stock, his maternal grandfather being a lineal descendant of Elder Brewster, of the Mayflower.
He was born at Pomfret, Connecticut, October 10, 1810, and spent the principal part of his early years in one of the large factories, so numerous in that part of the country, enjoying but limited educational facilities. He acquired his rudimental knowledge by night study, reading by the light of the fireplace such books as came to hand. But being an apt learner he made the most of his opportunities, and by cultivating his large natural gifts, became one of the best informed men of his day.
At an early age he removed to Chautauqua coun- ty, New York, and was there engaged in mercan- tile pursuits with his uncle, Oliver Lee, one of the pioneers of that part of the State, who afterward accumulated a large fortune. He was for many years president of the large banking house of Oliver Lee and Co., Buffalo, and was also largely interested in lake shipping, and was a conspicuous and well- known business man for half a century.
Alanson H. Lee resided at Silver Creek, a village about thirty miles southwest from Buffalo, for some years prior to 1841, when he formed a partnership with Mr. John Dickson, elsewhere sketched in this volume, and came to Racine, where, in the autumn
of that year, they opened a country store. The career of this firm, its early struggles, its ultimate triumphs, and the important part which it played in developing the resources of Racine, are more fully set forth in the sketch of Mr. Dickson above alluded to. The partnership under the style of Lee and Dick- son continued until the death of the former in 1861. The firm did an extensive business, had an unusu- ally wide-spread reputation, and was foremost in all enterprises which were designed to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the young city. They were among the founders of Racine College, and in a history of the institution, published by Professor Homer Wheeler in 1876, they are mentioned as among the largest contributors of money toward the erection of the building, and, consequently, to whom the college owes a great debt of gratitude. They were largely instrumental in the building of a plank- road from Racine to Delavan, an enterprise of great magnitude and importance at that day. To their efforts was largely due the improvement of the har- bor of Racine, by which it became a safe retreat for vessels, to which circumstance is due, in no small degree, the prosperity of the city. They were also the prime movers in the building of the Racine and Mississippi railroad, now Western Union, and of the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien railroad. Most of these enterprises proved unremunerative at the time, and the accumulations of the firm were largely absorbed in public works and improvements, of which the present generation are the beneficiaries. Their commercial standing, however, was never im-
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paired, and their engagements were always met with promptness and exactness.
Mr. Lee's health, never robust, was severely taxed by his unremitting industry and devotion to busi- ness, and in the fall of 1861 failed entirely. His death occurred on the 27th of December of that year, after an illness of two months. The relations of Mr. Lee with his business partner, Mr. Dickson, which lasted through a period of twenty years, were always of the most cordial and amicable character, and their memory is cherished with the most pro- found respect by the surviving member of the firm, whose estimate of him is summed up in the words, "he was
'An honest man-the noblest work of God.'"
In personal appearance Mr. Lee was tall and of spare but well-knit frame. In manner somewhat retiring, but always carrying an air of truthfulness and sterling integrity that never failed to impress those with whom he associated. These were, in short, the salient features of his character -his name in the community where he lived, and wher- ever he was known, being still a synonym for honesty
and fidelity. His charities were numerous but un- ostentatious, and no religious or benevolent enter- prise ever sought his aid in vain.
Although a frequent attendant upon the public worship of God in the Protestant Episcopal church, he was not a member of any religious denomination ; nor was he ever connected with any secret society.
He never held nor songht an office, but always refused to allow the use of his name in connection with any candidacy. He was not a politician, but in early life had affiliated with the democratic party, and in after years supported its candidates. He sup- ported the administration of Abraham Lincoln, and was known as a war democrat at the time of his death.
Mr. Lee was twice married: First, to Miss Per- melia A. Gaylord, at Chautauqua, New York, shortly before he came to Racine. By her he had three children, only one of whom survives, namely, Mr. Chas. H. Lee, of the law firm of Fish and Lee, Ra- cine, a young gentleman of fine education, brilliant intellect and large promise. Mrs. Lee died in 1853, and three years later he married her sister, Miss Sarah M. Gaylord, who survives.
REESE T. REESE,
BERLIN.
W ITH a single exception, the subject of this notice has been in the mercantile trade in Berlin longer than any other parties. He began on a moderate scale, doing business from the start on strictly honorable principles, and increased his busi- ness from time to time as the growing demands of trade would warrant, and now has the largest prem- ises and the largest stock of general merchandise in Berlin. All this has been done by strict adherence to business and careful attention to all its details.
Reese T. Reese is a native of Wales, but has spent all but the first ten or eleven years of his life in this country and in Wisconsin. His parents were Thomas Reese and Anna née Shelby, both natives of Wales. In the old country Thomas Reese was a joiner by trade, but on coming to Wisconsin, about 1842, he decided to get his living out of the soil, and to this end opened a farm in Waukesha county. About four years later he removed to Winnebago county, and a short time afterward to Waushara county, where he still resides, having passed his three-score years and ten, and still remaining quite
healthy. His wife died in that county about five years ago.
Young Reese remained with his parents until of age, when he began life for himself. He spent about five years in hotels in Waukesha county and in Milwaukee, and on May 1, 1857, settled in Ber- lin. At first, in company with H. A. Williams, now of St. Louis, he opened a small grocery store ; two years later he put in a general stock, and continued in this partnership until 1862, when Mr. Williams sold out to Pliney F. Whiting, and the firm of Reese and Whiting has been in business steadily from that date. They have a double brick store, eighty by one hundred feet, and three stories high above the basement, standing on ground which they own; usually carry about forty thousand dollars' worth of stock, and do on an average a business of one hun- dred and twenty-five thousand dollars annually. It is the leading house of the kind in the county, and has stood firm as a rock through all the financial crises of the last twenty years.
In politics Mr. Reese is a republican, but would
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never accept an office of any kind, except that of alderman for a term or two. He is a Royal Arch Mason.
In 1862 he was married to Miss Matilda Troxell, of Winnebago county, Wisconsin, a woman of great excellence of character. The fruit of this union has been seven children, four of whom are now living.
In appearance Mr. Reese is a man of light com- plexion and blue eyes. He is five feet and eleven
inches tall, and weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds. He usually wears a cheerful face. He is very social in his disposition; pleasant to his em- ployés as well as customers; has warm, generous feelings toward all classes, and is especially kind to the poor. As a man he is known and esteemed for his real worth, and by his industrious and upright life has endeared himself to all who have been brought under his influence.
ELI HOOKER,
WAUPUN.
T HE Hooker family, from which the subject of this sketch is descended, were among the earliest settlers in New England. The great-grand- father of Eli, Hezekiah Hooker, was born at Med- bury, Connecticut, about 1720; his grandfather, Jesse Hooker, about 1743; his father, May 19, 1778. The maiden name of his mother was Lovice Roe, who belonged to a numerous New England family. Hezekiah Hooker, the father of Eli, was a farmer many years in Dryden, Tompkins county, New York, where the son was born September 17, 1820. His younger years were devoted largely to educa- tional pursuits. He attended the Ithaca Academy at sundry times,-in all about four years, teaching school several winters. He prepared for college at Ithaca, but having an offer to remove to the West and start a newspaper, did not enter college, but went from the academy directly to Fond du Lac, in September, 1846, and with J. O. Henning started the "Journal," which was the first paper in Fond du Lac county; six months later he sold out his in- terest and bought a half-interest in the "Whig," then just started by J. M. Gillett. He wrote for that paper until January, 1848, when he removed to Waupun, and read law with J. J. Brown.
After practicing in the county court for a time, he was, on the 17th of April, 1854, admitted to the bar of the circuit court at Fond du Lac. He was afterward admitted to practice in the supreme court of the State, and in all the courts of Wisconsin for twenty years or more he has had a large and re- munerative business. He is a first-class court and jury lawyer, excelling in both departments of the profession. He has an unusually large law library, and is replenishing it from year to year. He is thoroughly wedded to his profession and has all the
avidity for study of his younger years, and never applied himself more closely. Law, the chosen pur- suit of his later years, has completely absorbed his time; with the exception of fourteen months, from August, 1866, to October, 1867, when he published the Waupun "Times," a republican newspaper, for which he is still acting as corresponding editor, as a means of literary recreation. He is a vigorous and strong writer, as well as an able advocate. With the exception of a membership in the local school board, which he has held many years, he has kept clear of political offices. He owes his success to having stuck to one thing.
Mr. Hooker is a member of the Temple of Honor; a strong advocate of temperance, and has lectured more or less on the subject, being an effective speaker. He has been a member of the Method- ist Episcopal church for twenty-five years, and a steward and trustee of the same. All his influence is on the side of good morals and a pure type of Christianity. In early days, and until slavery was abolished, he was a strong anti-slavery man, his sympathies being always on the side of the op- pressed.
He is a man of kindly disposition ; is a valuable neighbor and citizen; is independent in his cir- cumstances ; delightfully situated ; very hospitable, and a sumptuous entertainer. All his wealth is the honest proceeds of energies and talents well ex- pended. Persons best acquainted with Mr. Hooker during his professional life state that he never ad- vises persons to go to law who have not, in his judgment, a good case; invariably declines to be an advocate of a bad cause; never makes a pro- position of law to a court or jury that he does not believe to be correct, and is always very careful
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not to be mistaken; never misquotes testimony knowingly, nor does he misapply it to the issues in action. This course, which he has strictly followed, gives the people great confidence in him, and to it he attributes his success in legal practice and in life.
The wife of Mr. Hooker was Miss Catherine R. Sharp, daughter of Rev. John Sharp, nearly sixty years a Baptist preacher, and now living in Waupun, in his eighty-fourth year. His wife is also living, and they celebrated their golden wedding at Mr. Hooker's about seven years ago. Mrs. Sharp was a descendant of the Townly family, whose property was largely confiscated at the time of the restora-
tion, when Charles II came to the throne of Eng- land.
Mr. and Mrs. Hooker were married February 19, 1851. They have had four children, three of whom are now living. Viola A., the eldest child, was educated at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis- consin. Culver E., the only son, is in the senior class of the State University ; and Lillie Kate, the youngest, is being educated in the Waupun graded schools. Mrs. Hooker is one of the leaders in humane and benevolent enterprises conducted by the women of Waupun, and is the president of the Ladies' Temperance League of this place, and treas- urer of the State Alliance.
HON. EDWIN HURLBUT,
OCONOMOWOC.
E DWIN HURLBUT is a son of Philander Hurlbut, an attorney and farmer, and Julia née Thomas, and was born in Newtown, Connecti- cut, October 10, 1817. Both of his grandfathers fought for American liberty, and his father partic- ipated in the war of 1812-15. The family moved to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, when Edwin was about seven years old. There he remained about eight years, and enjoyed the literary advantages of a common school. At the end of that time he started for New Jersey, walking all the way to Newark, where he had an uncle, with whom he lived a year, and soon afterward started westward. He stopped a short time in Eaton county, Michigan, and after- ward returned to the East and studied law at Lodi, Seneca county, New York. Removing to Towanda, Pennsylvania, in 1842, he resumed the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1847 .. He returned to Michigan the same year, settled at Mason, Ing- ham county, and commenced his practice. He was appointed postmaster at that place in 1848; district attorney the same year, and a little later received from Governor Ransen the appointment of judge advocate in the State militia, with the rank of colonel.
In April, 1850, Colonel Hurlbut settled at Ocon- omowoc, where he has been in the steady and suc- cessful practice of the law for twenty-seven years, most of the time in the United States court, as well as the circuit and supreme courts of the State. During the first year of his practice in Wisconsin
he was appointed attorney of the Milwaukee, Water- town and Madison plank-road ; was elected district attorney in 1856, holding the office two years, and in 1858 was appointed attorney for what was then known as the Milwaukee, Beaver Dam and Baraboo railroad, now a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul road, and held that position several years.
At the opening of the rebellion, in the spring of 1861, Colonel Hurlbut was appointed colonel on Governor Randall's staff. He was very active in recruiting soldiers for the Union army, and con- tributed liberally to the war fund, and afterward gave his services gratuitously in procuring pensions and bounties. He went to Washington with the 4th Wisconsin Infantry, and had a position in the State commissary department. He had the inspection of troops, and before the close of the year was ap- pointed by the governor aide as commander-in- chief with the rank of colonel. In 1862 he was appointed deputy United States marshal with pro- vost-marshal's powers. He was tendered the colo- nelcy of one of the Wisconsin regiments, but de- clined, the historian says, "because the army was being officered by politicians rather than by sol- diers."
Colonel Hurlbut was a member of the general assembly in the session of 1869. He was chairman of the committee on federal relations, and on two or three other committees, and was one of the hard- working and influential members of the legislature.
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Eng. by H BHall&.
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The next year Governor Fairchild appointed him to represent himself at the International Congress on penitentiary and reformatory discipline, of which congress Rutherford B. Hayes was president.
Colonel Hurlbut is known as a humanitarian, and in 1872 was appointed a delegate to the Interna- tional Penitentiary Congress, which met in London. Two years later he was a member of the National Prison Congress, held in St. Louis, and was made one of its trustees and put on the committee on criminal law reform. In 1875 he became a trustee of the National Prison Association of New York, and was placed on the committee on discharged convicts.
Colonel Hurlbut has held various offices in the village and city of Oconomowoc; one of them being that of clerk of the school board, which he had about twelve years, and during that time was the prime originator of the excellent school system of the city. He was a member of the board of man- agers of the State Industrial School, located at Wau- kesha, and did good service while acting in that capacity.
In politics Colonel Hurlbut was a democrat until 1854, when he aided in forming the republican
party at Madison. He acted with this party until 1872, when he supported Horace Greeley for the Presidency; since that time he has been known as a reformer. It was by the reform party that he was elected district attorney of Waukesha county in 1873. He is editor and proprietor of the "Wiscon- sin Free Press," a weekly newspaper published in Oconomowoc, and devoted to the interests of the reform party. It is a large and ably-conducted journal.
He is a member of Waukesha Chapter, No. 37, of the Masonic fraternity; is a Baptist in religious sentiment, and has long been an active and strong advocate of temperance, and was grand worthy patriarch of the State in the Order of Sons of Tem- perance in 1853; and is usually a leader in move- ments tending to improve the condition of the unfortunate or raise the fallen. As a citizen he has few peers in usefulness, while as a lawyer he is, in every sense of the word, a success. He has prob- ably the largest and best law library in Waukesha county. Colonel Hurlbut was married in October, 1840, to Miss Chandler, of Seneca county, New York, and by her has three daughters. She died April 6, 1864.
THOMAS P. RUSSELL, M.D.,
OSHKOSH.
T HE subject of this biography, a native of Wind- sor county, Vermont, was born in the town of Bethel, April 19, 1827. His parents, Thomas P. and Martha (Cotton) Russell, were of patriotic stock, both his paternal and maternal grandparents having fought bravely in the struggle for independ- ence. Young Russell worked on a farm and at- tended a district school until he was about sixteen, when he spent two or three terms at the Royalton Academy. He was in the employ of the Vermont Central Railroad Company about four years, survey- ing at first, and afterward acting in the capacity of conductor. He commenced reading medicine in 1848 at East Randolph, with Dr. Walter Carpenter; later attended lectures at Woodstock, and graduated in 1852. After practicing at Weston, in his native county, two years, he removed to Wisconsin, and settled in Oshkosh, where he has been in practice ever since, except when serving his country on the tented field. In May, 1861, he became assistant
surgeon of the 2d Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, but resigned in about four months and returned to Osh- kosh. In May, 1862, he went out as surgeon of the Ist Wisconsin Cavalry, but, by reason of severe ill- ness in the winter of 1862-3, he left the army again and returned home, with no expectation of living a year. He, however, recovered, and has continued the medical practice with unabated zeal. He makes a specialty of surgery, and has a wide circuit and a very extensive practice.
Dr. Russell is a close student, and pays consider- able attention to sciences collateral to medicine and surgery. The microscope is now one of his favorite studies, and as a microscopist it is doubtful if he has more than one or two equals in the State.
Dr. Russell is a member of the Wisconsin State Medical Society, and of the United States Medical Association. He was a delegate to the World's Medical Congress, which met in Philadelphia in the autumn of 1876.
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In politics he was a democrat until the opening of the rebellion in 1861; since then he has acted with the republicans. He accepts no political offices, but steadily and closely adheres to his pro- fessional studies and practice. He attends the Epis- copal church.
Dr. Russell has a second wife. His first was Miss Myra Francis Egerton, of East Randolph, Vermont, whom he married in 1853; she died without issue two years later. His present wife was Miss Sophia Edgarton, of Oshkosh ; their union occurred in 1865. They have one child living, and have lost two.
HON. MARTIN L. KIMBALL,
BERLIN.
M ARTIN LUTHER KIMBALL, son of Reuel Kimball, a Presbyterian clergyman, and Han- nah née Mather, is a native of Leyden, Lewis county, New York, the date of his birth being Sep- tember 4, 1826. His father was a paymaster in the war of 1812-15, stationed at Sacket's Harbor, New York. Later in life he owned a farm, which he cultivated, and at the time preached, Martin aiding on the farm until seventeen years of age, and then prepared for college at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, teaching meantime during one winter. He entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in September, 1845, and graduated four years later. Removing to Wisconsin during the same year, he read law a short time with Judge Keep, of Beloit, but finished his legal studies with Finch and Synde, of Milwaukee, and was admitted to the bar in that city in 1851. He thereupon set- tled in Berlin, and has there been in the legal prac- tice since that date. He does business in all the courts of the State, and is a member of the United States district court. He is well read, and is a good jury as well as court lawyer, excelling, however, as a counselor. In legal standing and general. char- acter he honors the profession. Aside from his professional duties, he has been the recipient of honors and trusts at the hands of his fellow-citizens.
He was a member of the State senate in 1857 and 1858; and although the youngest member of that body, yet he was placed on the judiciary committee, also on that of privileges and elections. He was district attorney in 1854 and 1855, and, after a lapse of years, was again elected in 1874, and reëlected in 1876, and still holds that office. He has been chair- man of the county board of supervisors for twelve or fifteen years.
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