The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, Part 138

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899, [from old catalog] ed; Western historical company, chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1104


USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement > Part 138


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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FELIX MeLINDON, son of James and Sarah MeL., was born in the town of Annaloist. County Armagh. Ireland, Oct. 31. 1812 : came to Peru. N. Y .. in May, 1831 ; lived there six years. and in Franklin and Chemung Cos,, until the fall of 1845. when he came to Shullsburg. Wis .. in April. 1849 ; moved from there to Portage. Mr. MeLindon has been engaged in various pursuits : was Postmaster of the Assembly in 1853; has been Constable twenty-seven years, Justice of the Peace during the last four years : was Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly in 1849. He was married in Peru. Clinton Co., N. Y .. Jan. 28. 1838, to Margaret, daughter of Win. and Elizabeth Watson. born in Scotland ; she died Dec. 16. 1877, leaving three children-Martha J .. now Mrs. D. L. Beards- lov, of Odessa. Minn .. born July 1. 1842 : James, of La Crosse, born July 19, 1844. who is an engineer on the Southern Minn. R. R .. and was married in September. 1874. to Ellen MeLaughlin :


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Robert E., born at Fort Winnebago. April 16, 1851. is an engineer on the M. & St. P. P. R .. and was married June 25. 1879, to Teresa MeSorley. Mr. MeLindon was for several years President of the St. Joseph's Total Abstinence Society, and is now its Vice President.


JOHN II. MADDEN was born in County Galway, Ireland. Aug. 25. 1839 ; came with his parents, Michael and Mary Madden, to America in 1847; located in Racine Co., resided there until 1851, and then removed to Buffalo, Marquette Co. His mother died in May, 1877 : his father is now a resident of Portage. Mr. Madden is carrying on his farm of 240 acres on Secs. 20 and 29. in the town of Buffalo, and is also engaged in the mercantile business at Portage. He was married in Montello, Marquette Co., Wis .. Jan. 11. 1864, to Maria Eagan, a native of County Roscommon. Ireland ; her parents, who were old settlers of Columbia Co., now reside in Marcellon. Mr. and Mrs. Madden are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. M. was a member of the Board of Supervisors for three years: also Roadmaster in the town of Buffalo. They have nine children-Mary Ann. Martin James. John. Win. Henry. Catherine, Thomas Francis, Margaret. Clara and Estella.


THOMAS C. MADDEN came to Wisconsin, in 1850, with his father, Michael Madden. who located in Buffalo, Marquette Co., Wis., and who is now living with his son. Thomas C .. in Portage. Mr. Madden was engaged in the dry-goods and grocery business at Lyons, lowa. for nine years, from 1860 to 1869 ; enlisted in Co. K, 18th W. V. L., and served until discharged on account of disability caused by sickness ; engaged in farming from 1869 to 1872 ; traveling salesman three years ; in business at Portage one year ; at Montello one year ; then on a farm one year. Mr. Mad- den married Hellen Hendricks, who died in 1873. leaving one daughter-Mary Ellen. He married his present wife, Mary A. Ogle, a native of Wisconsin, Sept. 17. 1879.


PETER E. MAHON, born in Meath Co., Ireland, Dec. 4, 1846; came to America with his parents. Edward and Mary Mahon, who settled in Milwaukee, where they resided six years : came to Portage in May, 1855 ; father died Jan. 31. 1871 ; mother is still resident of Portage. The subject of this sketch has worked at carpenter and joiner's trade the past sixteen years ; is carpen- ter. contractor and builder. lle was married in Portage, Jan. 24, 1876, to Elizabeth O'Brien ; they have two children-Mary, born March 4. 1878. and Edward, born Nov. 15, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Mahon are members of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Mr. M. has been Chairman of the First Ward Board of Supervisors three years, and is now serving his fourth year as Alderman of the same ward.


DR. EDWIN C. MAINE, homeopathic physician : born in North Stonington, New Lon- don Co., Conn .. July 26, 1821 ; eame to Wisconsin in the fall of 1850; made it his home for a year and a half in Dane and Rock Cos .; in Madison for about four years ; came from Madison to Port- age in October, 1856 ; engaged in student practice with Dr. J. B. Bowen, at Madison, and ever since coming here has practiced homeopathy strictly, being one of the oldest physicians of that school in Wisconsin. Married at North Stonington, June 13, 1852, to Ellen L. Wheeler ; she was born at North Stonington : they have three children-Lilla M., Clinton Dewitt and Thurlow Wheeler. Dr. M. was for five years member of the Board of Allermen ; is a Mason an Odd Fellow, also belongs to the Temple of Honor, Good Templars, etc., and member of the State Medical Homeopathic Association.


THOMAS MALOY, born in Vermont ; came to Wisconsin in 1855, locating at La Crosse : he was in the employ of the C., M. & St. P. R. R. Co. until about five years ago ; after leaving the railroad business, he entered into partnership with Mr. Sanborn in the brick and ice business : he has been in the brick business six years and the ice business two years. He was married at La ('rosse, in June, 1859. to Mary Quinn, who died in January, 1874. leaving two children-Annice Il. and George MI. Mr. M. and his daughter are members of the Episcopal Church.


ESTHER F. MARSH, widow of Darius Marsh, a former physician in Portage ; she was born on the 2d of August, 1802, in the town of Brookfield, Otsego Co., N. Y. ; her deceased husband was born on the 25th of December, 1798. in Litchfield, Conn. ; on the 1st of April, 1815. when a mere lad. he enlisted as bugler, in the United States Army, and he served until his honor- able discharge. on the 1st of March, 1819; Mrs. Marsh's grandfathers, on both sides, were Revolu- tionary soldiers, and of the old English Puritan Stock. They were married Feb. 1, 1820, in Broome Co .. N. Y. lle was educated as physician, and practiced the healing art several years in the East : came West in 1846. and settled in Galesburg, Knox Co., Ill., where he practiced his profession : after residing in other places in Illinois, he came to Columbia Co. in 1856, and located at F't. Winnebago, near Portage; in 1861, he enlisted in Capt. Coffin's company. to try the fate of a second war ; he was honorably discharged in April. 1862. because of injuries received at Bowling Green.


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Ky. ; for some time after the war, he practiced his profession in and about Portage, but lived on his farm in F't. Winnebago; he applied for a pension, and on the day that he received his pen- sion papers, he was seated in the City Hotel playing his fife to an admiring group. while waiting for his conveyance home : suddenly, in the midst of a martial strain. he dropped lifeless, and thus the veteran of two wars passed away on the 8th of May, 1871 ; the family then moved into Portage, where they still reside ; they had eight children, two of whom died in childhood ; the living are- William L., born JJan. 11. 1821 ; George W., born Sept. 21. 1823; Andrew J., born Feb. 28, 1826 ; Esther M., born Ang. 11. 1832 : Mary E., born Feb. 13. 1834. and Clarissa A., born Oct. 20. 1840 ; all the children are married. Dr. Marsh . was a " Seventh Day Adventist," and that is the faith of Mrs. Marsh. Her youngest daughter. Clarissa, was married on the 3d of October, 1859, to Samuel Crouch, Jr. ; on the 26th of September, 1861. he enlisted in the 10th W. V. 1. ; he died on the 17th of March, 1862, as a result of exposure, at Nashville, Tenn. ; he left but one child, Albert S. born Ang. 11. 1862 ; Mrs. Marsh and this widowed daughter, Mrs. Crouch, live in one home ; Mrs. Marsh draws a pension, as a widow of soldier of 1812, and Mrs. Crouch draws a widow's pension for her sacrifice in the rebellion : the old lady. though nearly fourscore, retains use of all her faculties : she is still cheerful, and is " only waiting till the shadows be a little longer drawn ; only waiting till the Father calls, . My child, come home.'"


GEORGE W. MARSH was born in Lisle, Broome Co., N. Y., Sept. 21, 1823. and resided in Broome and Chenango Cos. until 1847, when he went to Boston, Mass .; spent six years in that city. and studied short-hand ; removing from Boston, he came to Pacific, Columbia Co., in Decem- ber. 1854, and remained there until he enlisted in 1861 ; was the first man who enlisted in Portage, in the Portage Light Guards at first, afterward Co. G, 2d W. V. E; served until Ang. 2, 1861. when he was discharged for injuries received at the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861 ; Oct. 7, 1861. he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of the Fremont Rifles of Portage City, afterward Co. D. 10th W. V. 1 .: served about two years in this company, on detached duty most of the time : Post Adjutant at Louisville, Ky,, and afterward detailed as Commissioner of claims at Huntsville, Ala .. and on Gen. Rosecrans' staff. detailed to do duty at Louisville, Ky., in charge of discliarge office : resigned after about two years' service. and coming to Cohunbia Co., where he has lived most of the time since ; after resigning. he spent several years in teaching ; was afterward Deputy County Clerk for two years ; Coroner from 1858 to 1862; Town Clerk in Pacifie for five years ; janitor of the court house now, and in the insurance business with L. S. Rolleston. He was married in Smith- ville, Chenango Co .. N. V., March 12. 1848. to Maria Pick ; she was born in the town of Green in that county ; they have four children-Ellen A. (now Mrs. Gabriel Rudal, of Lodi), Emma J., Esther A. (now Mrs. W. R. Kenyon), and George A. While in the army, Mr. Marsh was the accredited correspondent of the Milwaukee Sentinel, writing under the nom de plume of " Agawan."


JOHN MARSHALL, boot and shoe maker, was born in Lenarkshire. Scotland. in 1837 : his father was a shoemaker, and John served an extended apprenticeship at home-calls himself an apprentice for the past thirty years, and has not learned it all yet. He was married in 1860 to Miss Ellen Phelan, of Manchester, England : came to America in 1865, and ever since has been a resident of Portage. Hle has nine children. all living at home-Robert, born in 1861; James in 1863 ; Nellie in 1865 ; John in 1867 ; Thomas in 1869: Henry in 1871; Willie in 1873; Annie in 1875 : and George in 1877. Ilis two oklest sons are his assistants in the shop. Since the exhibition of his work at the fair, some years ago, he is often called the " Premium Shoemaker."


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WILLIAM MEACHER, M. D. The subject of this sketch, a native of Bungay, Suffolk Co .. England, was born on the 27th of May. 1833, and is the son of William and Sarah Ann (Brown) Meaeher. At the age of ten years, William attended part of a winter term of school and one sum- mer term of the same length in Monroe Co., N. Y .; later. he spent a little less than two years in school in Wisconsin, whither he moved with his father in the summer of 1844 ; at the age of 22. he conceived a desire for literary culture, and. giving himself with avidity to the work, at once began the arduous task of educating himself; beginning with grammar, arithmetic and spelling, he spent the forenoon in study and devoted the afternoon to work on the farm, or carpentering, during the summer, and in the winter employed his evenings and Sundays with his books. After one year's diligent study. he spent two months in a select school in the city of Portage, and in the following winter taught the school of his district, receiving a compensation of $18 per month and boarding himself ; in early life it had been his desire to become a physician. but it seemed beyond his reach. During this winter. however, he determined to accomplish his purpose and gratify his desire. Accordingly. in the ensuing spring, with the encouragement of Dr. O. D. Coleman, of whom he


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borrowed books, he began his studies at home, dividing his time between them and his work to support his family. At the expiration of two years thus spent, he mortgaged his farm of 40 acres for $250, and with this money pursued a course of study at Rush Medical College of Chicago, and in the fol- lowing summer began practice in Waushara Co., Wis .; meeting with little success, he sold his land in the fall for $500, paid his former loan, and with the balance attended another term at the college. and graduated in the spring of 1862, six years from the time when he first began his private study of grammar and spelling. It had been a long and tedious work, but as he compared his condition now, the master of a noble profession, with his former state, when, as a boy, he was obliged to toil as a day laborer, or when, as a sailor upon the lakes, he was thrown into the company of those whose influence tended only to degrade, he did not regret his course, and felt that he had made a noble sacrifice, and what he had gained repaid him a thousand-fold for all that it had cost him. It is worthy of mention that during all his former varied career, though at times associated with reck- less and abandoned characters, he had never contracted any of the habits of drinking, gambling. or using tobacco. After his graduation, without means, Dr. Meacher began his practice in the village of Pardeeville, and, by the aid of his friend and benefactor, Dr. Coleman, managed to make a living. IIe engaged in this work because it was his natural preference, and he considered it the noblest of all professions ; beginning at the bottom. his career has marked a gradual growth. and each year has added to his practice and reputation. Thoroughness in his professional work has always been his motto, and to this may be attributed his remarkable success. Of late years, he has devoted him- self especially to surgery, and in all his surgical operations, his constant practice is to make a care- ful study of his case, both by reading and observations. before beginning it. During the war, Dr. Meacher was commissioned Assistant Surgeon of the 16th W. V. I .. and later, served for four months as contract surgeon. He was at the siege of Atlanta, and participated in the famous march to the sea. Aside from his professional duties. he has shown a public spiritedness. and been honored by his fellow-citizens with positions of trust. Ilis ambition. however, has never led him to desire political honors, he finding in his profession ample scope for his best talents. His political views are Democratic, though he is not a partisan ; in his religious sentiments. he has always been a " free thinker." He is a prominent member of the Masonic Fraternity, having taken thirty-two degrees. and makes the principles that underlie this brotherhood his religion. Dr. Meacher was married in the winter of 1854 to Miss Jane E. Clayton. an orphan. of Oak Creek, Milwaukee Co .. and by her he has had two sons and three daughters, of whom the eldest. a son. died in infancy.


GORDON H. MERRELL was born in Utica. Oneida Co., N. Y., July 24. 1807 ; resided in Utica, Sacket's Ilarbor and Oswego until 1830 ; then removed to Geneva, N. Y., and carried on the drug business until 1840, when he came to Ft. Winnebago, Wis., and engaged in merchandising and farming, with his brother Henry, six or eight years ; then came to Portage and purchased his present location, where he has lived ever since ; he is real-estate agent, and is also agent for various property owners of the city. Mr. M. was married, at Geneva, N. Y., to Mary C. Tippetts, who died at Portage in 1841 : they had two children, both of whom died before the mother. His second wife (deceased) was Alvira Tompkins, of Fox Lake, Wis .; born in Canada ; they had three children, all deceased. Mr. M. was married again, in 1862, to Mrs. Milo Pettibone, nee Eliza Dibble, born in New York City ; came to Portage in 1852 ; she had three children-Frank R .. now a resident of Chicago ; Jessie, deceased, and Flora E .. living at home.


HENRY L. MERRELL was born at Ft. Winnebago July 22, 1848, in the same house in which he now lives (the same having been removed to Portage) ; son of Henry and Elizabeth (Low) Merrell; mother died when Henry was 5 years of age. A portion of Mr. Merrell's farm is a part of the old homestead ; he was engaged in the drug business up to the time of his father's death. May, 1876 ; since then attended to matters pertaining to the settlement of his father's extensive estate ; in 1875, Mr. M. purchased an orange grove of 15 acres and 1,100 trees at Orange City. Fla .: spends winters there with his family. Mr. M. was married in Portage, Sept. 5. 1872. to Ida MI. Miller, born in Portage, daughter of Dr. Fred K. and Amanda Miller, early settlers of Portage. hav- ing located here in 1850 ; they have one child-Frederick H., born May 17, 1873.


JULIUS METTLER, butcher and stock-dealer ; was born in Switzerland Jan 4. 1830 ; settled in Newark. N. J., when he first came to America ; then coming to Sauk City, Sauk Co .. Wis .. where he remained eleven years, when he came to Portage and engaged in present business ever since coming here. Married, at Newark, N. J., in the fall of 1854, Barbara Abbath ; she was born in Baden, Germany ; have nine children-Thecla, Amelia, Julia, Emma, Bertha, Julius. Jr., Carl, August and Joseph. Mr. M. is a member of I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W.


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JOHN METZLER, boot and shoe maker and repairer : born in Baden. Prussia. in 1848 ; rame to America in 1867. and settled in Portage in spring of 1870 ; has carried on the business since 1876 ; employs one journeyman. Was married, on the 20th of March. 1871, to Miss Paulina Daup, formerly of Erie, Penn .; has three children, named Carrie. Charley and Johnny. The family affiliate with the Catholic Church ; his shop is on Cook street. and his house on Bronson avenue.


CHARLES MOHR is a native of Germany ; was born in Ilesse-Cassel Oct. 15, 1836. and came to America in 1853 ; engaged in steamboating on the lakes four years before coming to Wis- consin ; in 1857, he located in the town of Caledonia on a farm. and remained there until 1860 : he commenced teaching school in this county, and taught most of the time for four years : went then to Milwaukee and clerked in a wholesale grocery for nine months. after which he was employed in the office of the Banner & Volksfreund, attending to their collections ; he then was engaged in lumber man- nfacturing one year, also made a business of raising hops one year ; then traveled for the Banner d' Follesfreund one season : then coming to Portage September. 1869. he commenced his present bus- iness of merehant and dealer in hops. Mr. M. was married in Portage. July 1. 1862, to Mary Arntz ; she was born in Prussia ; they have one son-Charles, Jr .. aged 17 years. Mr. and Mrs. Mohr are members of the German Methodist Church.


GEORGE W. MORRISON, son of George T. and Harriet T. Morrison, who settled at Southport, Wis., in 1845, and came to Marcellon. Columbia Co .. in 1849 ; remained there until 1857 ; from there removed to Portage ; mother died in June. 1860, and father in October, 1878. Mr. Morrison was born in Jordan. Onondaga Co .. N. Y .. April 26. 1839 : engaged in farming while liv- ing in Marcellon ; was in the City Hotel here for five years. his father being proprietor ; lived in Brandon, Fond du Lac Co., for three years, in mercantile business ; from there went to town of Vork, Dane Co., and again occupied his time in farming ; thence to Lowville, and farmed there for three years, then coming back to Portage, where he entered the store of Gates & Austin as a clerk. remaining with them six years ; he then went into business with his brother, James G., and has con- tinued it to the present time. Married in Portage JJuly 6. 1863. to Miss Z. E. Marrs. she was born in the town of Paris. Edgar Co., Ill .. Sept. 5, 1839 (daughter of Sylvanus R. Marrs, who was among the early settlers of Portage); they have four children-Arthur J., Stephen F., Marion E. and George W .. Jr. Mr. M. is a member of the A. O. U. W. and Temple of Honor. Mrs. Morrison's father died in Portage March 17. 1851 ; her mother also died here Nov. 11, 1868; they were both natives of ('lark Co .. Ind., and came to Watertown. Wis .. in 1849, and came to Portage in 1850.


JOHN MUELLER, the subject of this sketch. was born in Hesse-Darmstadt. Germany, June. 1838. and came to New York City in 1862. remaining one year there. when he came to Portage. and engaged in the coopering business ever since ; worked alone at first, and now employs three men ; manufactures all kinds of cooperage. Was married in Portage. October. 1867, to Anna Schleisman ; she was born in' Hesse-Darmstadt. Germany; they have four children-Anna. Charles, Louis and Fannie.


DAVID G. MUIR, a native of Dunbar. Scotland; was born July 11. 1840. and is the son of Daniel and Ann Muir, who came to America in 1849. coming directly to Marquette Co .. Wis .. and engaged in farming ; lived there until 1861. when they came to Portage, where they now reside. D. G. Muir commenced business here as a clerk. and continued as such until 1865. when he went into the mercantile business with Parry & Bebb, under the firm name of Parry. Bebb & Muir. which firm existed for four years, when the present firm of Parry & Muir was organized. Married in the town of Buffalo. Marquette Co .. Wis .. Oct. 20. 1863. to Catherine R. Cairns ; she was born in Peebles, Scotland ; they have four children-Carrie. Annie. Wilberforce D. and John D. Mr. M. is a member of the Presbyterian Church; he has been one of the choir singers in that church for six- teen years. lle is a charter member of the Temple of Honor.


GEORGE MURISON was born in Aberdeen. Scotland. March 17. 1833 : moved to Mont- rose when 3 years of age. and lived there until he came to America. locating at Milwaukee, in 1850, where he remained until October. 1853. when he came to Portage; in 1858, engaged in business in the manufacture of furniture, undertaking. etc., which he still continues. Mr. M. was married in Port- age. July 3. 1864. to Jane Dalton. a native of the city of York. England ; she died July 17, 1866. leaving one child -Richard W .- born July 8. 1866: he was married again. Nov. 26. 1868. to Fannie E. Wallace, a native of Essex Co. N. Y .: they have two children-Wallace. born Sept. 7. 1860 ; Mary F .. born July 29. 1876. Mr. M. is a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge.


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BRYAN MURPHY was born in County Carlow. Ireland : came to America in the fall of 1865 ; located and engaged in the fruit business in New York City : resided there about ten years : removed to Richmond. Va .. and continued the same business : was in business for himself six vears : came to Portage, Wis .. from Richmond, August. 1879; commenced the grocery business in this place in November of the same year. Mr. Murphy was married in Brooklyn. N. Y .. Nov. 6. 1870, to Catherine Sheehan, a native of County Limerick. Ireland ; they have had six children- Mary Ellen, born July 13. 1876: an infant son. born Mareh 8. 1880; Edward Emmett. born Oct. 1. 1871, died Sept. 2. 1875 ; John, born July 19. 1873. died Aug. 2. 1875 ; Bernard, born Sept. 21. 1874, died Ang. 19, 1875 ; Annie. born April 12. 1878, died Aug. 29, 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are members of the Catholic Church.


HENRY NEEF, the subject of this brief sketch. was born in the town of Black Rock. near the city of Buffalo. N. Y., July 21, 1838 : when he was 18 years of age. he came to this county, locating in Marcellon, May, 1856. and engaged in farming ; he eommeneed farming on his own account in 1860. He was married at Jefferson. Wis .. December. 1861. to Helvetia L. Reese ; they have seven children-Clella R., William J. J .. Carrie L .. Della May, Henry Alden, John H. and Sarah. During his residence in Marcellon he was Town Clerk about eleven years : he was elected County Treasurer in the fall of 1876. and re-elected in 1878. Mr. N. enlisted in March, 1865, in Co. F. 194th O. V. I .. and was mustered out Oct. 24. 1865. Is a member of Pardee Lodge. A., F. & A. M.


DAVID M. NEILL was born in Perthshire, Scotland. Feb. 2. 1852 : son of John and Margaret (Moreland) Neill, who came to New York in 1859 : remained there one year, then removed to Caledonia, Wis .. and located on Sec. 36. where they now live : when 10 years of age, he left home ; attended high school in Portage two years : commenced clerking in the grocery store of John Fulton, March 19. 1871 ; remained there until July of the same year : Aug. 10. 1871. he entered the employ of Purdy & Merrell, druggists, in which store he has remained ever since. Mr. Neill was married at Fox Lake, May 20. 1875. to Alice A. Purdy, daughter of Edmund and Harriet Purdy. born at Fox Lake ; they have one child-Edmund-born at Portage, July 26, 1877. Mr. N. is a member of the Odd Fellows' Lodge.


HENRY NEILL, County Superintendent of Schools ; was born in the parish of Kin- cardine. Perthshire. Scotland. March 26. 1849 ; came with his parents, JJohn and Margaret More- land Neill. to New York in 1859, remained there one year : in the spring of 1860, they located on Sec. 36 in the town of Caledonia. Columbia Co., Wis .: engaged in farming until 21 years of age : taught school until 23 years of age : spent three years at Thayer College, in Kidder. Mo., from the spring of 1872 to June. 1876 ; entered Beloit College, September. 1876. graduated July 3. 1878, with degree of _1. B .. full classical course ; he taught district school in Caledonia in the winters of 1878 and 1879 : commenced teaching in the Portage High School in September. 1879; elected County Superintend- ent of Schools, November. 1879 ; taught the high school until the holidays ; resigned his position in the school Dec. 24, 1879, to assume the duties of the office which he now holds. Mr. Neill is a member of I. O. O. F. lodge.




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