The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, Part 141

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 141


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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ANDREW TARNUTZER was born in Switzerland Nov. 22, 1834 ; attended sehool there until 1846, when he came to Sauk Co., Wis., among the first settlers ; his father and mother both died in Sauk Co., and were buried at Little Prairie, or Black Hawk, in the town of Troy, in the Evangelical Cemetery, opposite the old homestead, which Mr. T. still owns ; he is a self-made man in every sense of the word. Mr. T. entered the ministry of the Evangelical Association in 1855, and was on probation in the Cedar Rapids Mission, traveling all the time ; there one year ; then in the spring of 1856, the present conference was formed, of which he was one of the founders ; he is now Presiding Elder.


JAMES B. TAYLOR is a native of Rupert, Bennington Co., Vt., born Aug. 15. 1840 ; was educated at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and Union College, situated at Schenectady, N. Y., where he took a four years' course, and graduated from that institution in June, 1865; came to Portage the same year, and commenced the study of law with his brother Emmons Taylor, who came to Portage in 1857, and died here April 13, 1874; after reading law with his brother for a year and a half, he was admitted to the bar, and has been engaged in practice here up to the present time, and has aeted as City Attorney the most of the time since. Was married at Portage, Sept, 16, 1873, to Miss Julia A. Davidson ; they have one child, Emmons Haskell, born April 7, 1875.


EZRA K. THAYER, born in Orwell, Addison Co., Vt., Jan. 3, 1812, where he resided umtil coming to Wisconsin, town of Green Lake, Green Lake Co., in 1853 ; lived there for eleven


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years, then removed to the town of Marcellon, Columbia Co., where he remained up to the time of coming to Portage. in the spring of 1877 ; has been engaged in grocery business since November. 1879. Married at Sudbury, Rutland Co., Vt., March 12, 1845, to Angeline E. Wallace. a native of Vermont. They have two children-Wm. W. and Isabella.


HENRY C. THEDE, born in Milwaukee, Wis., July 15. 1849 ; his parents. W. 11. and Catherine Thede. moved to Sauk City, where they now reside. in 1851 ; Mr. T. learned his trade. that of a harness-maker. in Madison and Mazomanie, and followed it in various places before beginning for himself at Portage in 1877. He was married at Sauk City. Aug. 23. 1877. to Joseph- ine Sturm, born in Tyrol. They have one child. William, born May 31, 1878.


ALEXANDER THOMPSON, born in Glasgow, Scotland, May 26, 1848: came with his parents, Ninnian and Mary Thompson. to Ft. Winnebago in August, 1850 ; father worked at carpenter's trade for fifteen years, then engaged in farming in the town of Dekorra, Columbia Co., which he still continues. Alex. T. worked at carpenter's trade three years, but in 1870 engaged in grocery business, and dealing extensively in clover, timothy and tiell seeds generally, which busi- ness he still continues. Mr. T. was married in Portage. Dec. 18. 1872, to Susan M. Purnell. a native of Norwich, Conn. They have one child. Mary Emma. born May 9, 1874. Mr. T. is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F.


A. B. THOMPSON, born in Smithfield, Providence Co., R. I., Aug. 6, 1825 : came to Pardeeville in November. 1864, resided there ten years, then removed to Portage. Was married in Smithfield. R. 1 .. November. 1846. to Thankful Handy. a native of that place ; they have four chil- dren living-Morgie A., now Mrs. Geo. W. Dusenberry. of Portage ; Philip F., Alice G., now Mrs. Frank A. Mathewson. of Pardeeville. and Frank B., living : Sarah, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Presbyterian Church, and of the temperance society.


MISS JENNETTE THOMPSON, at Corning House ; was born in Buffalo, Mar- quette C'o., Wis., in December, 1857 ; her parents are farmers, and were counted of - pure blood in the land of Burns." She has been for six years a member of the United Presbyterian Church : has been a year in the hotel.


WERT F. THOMPSON, deceased. was born in Colchester, Vt., in 1834 ; lived in Ohio before coming to Wisconsin ; settled in Portage in 1858 ; was married in 1860, to Miss Cornelia E. Reed, formerly of Seneca Co .. N. Y. ; her father, Warren S. Reed, came to Portage in 1858. and died in January. 1867. Mr. Reed started the restaurant business, at the depot, which. with enlargements. is now conducted by Mr. Fox. Mr. Thompson died in May, 1865, and at the time of his death, was in charge of the railroad shops ; he has been a railroad man most of his life ; he was a 32d Degree Mason, and was buried with Masonic honors ; Mrs. Thompson and her brother reside in the " Reed Homestead." The brother, Samuel, was born Jan. 10, 1844 ; he has been a resident of Portage since the age of 14. In June. 1873, he was married to Miss Julia Crane, of Mauston. Wis. ; they have one child, born September, 1874. and named Wert Thompson Reed ; Mr. Reed is a railroad engineer.


EPHRAIM B. TRADEWELL, farmer ; born in the city of Baltimore, Md., in 1822 : in 1840, he came to Wisconsin, and settled in Kenosha, which continued his home until the spring of 1851, when he came to Portage. In 1853, he was married, in Kenosha, to Miss Harriet Dana ; in 1860, he bought a farm. 200 acres. in Marcellon, Columbia Co., Wis., which he still owns and rents : since 1874 he has lived in Portage ; has two children-Frances, born in December, 1856 ; and Major D .. born in 1858 ; both live in the county : his wife died in 1876 ; he was crippled in the knee, by the out of an ax, on patella, when a chikl; Government was making the canal when he came to Portage, and water was let into the canal that same year ; muscle and grit were the elements of success then. for those were rough pioneer times.


A. J. TURNER was born in the town of Schuyler Falls (then Plattsburg). N. Y., Sept. 24. 1832, where he lived until 1853, removing to Grand Rapids. Mich., where he took his first les- sons in the art of type-setting in the Eagle office; returning to his native town, in 1855, he - set up " the first number of the Plattsburg Seutiuel, a paper still in existence, teaching school for a short time, and returning to Grand Rapids early the same year; in September, 1855, he came to Portage, and was employed as a compositor in the Independent office the second day after his arrival, and worked there until the spring of 1856, when he went to Madison, and was engaged at his trade in the office of the State Journal for six months ; at the end of that time. he was pro- moted to the position of city editor of that paper, and this event marked the beginning of his jour- nalistic career ; in the spring of 1857. he returned to Portage, and became one of the editors of the Record; in the fall of that year. he returned to Madison as a clerk of one of the legislative


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committees, and, in the following spring. he made the trip, on foot, with that remarkable genius, " Shanghai" Chandler. to Friendship. Adams Co., where he assisted in establishing the Adams County Independent, remaining there four or five months ; returning to Portage. he resumed his former connection with the Record. In the fall of 1860, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court. and served one term. at the expiration of which he was chosen to represent his district in the State Assembly : returning from the State capital, he again took his place upon the Record, which he soon afterward purchased and consolidated with the Wisconsin State Register. founded a few months previous by S. S. Brannan. upon the ruins of the Badger State ; he continued with Mr. Brannan. as publisher of the Register. for seventeen years, selling. in 1878, to Judge J. T. Clark. Mr. Turner has been prominently before the people of Columbia Co. for nearly a quarter of a century, having filled various county offices ; he was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Lin- coln, was Chief Clerk of the State Senate three years, and now hokls the office of State Railway Commissioner. To Mr. Turner is due the credit of establishing the - Blue Book " upon its present plan. and he was for several years its compiler : he was the first Secretary of the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, afterward one of the Directors of the Portage & Stevens Point Railway. and, still later. President of the Portage, Friendship & Grand Rapids Railroad, which was consolidated with the present Madison & Portage road. Mr. Turner was married at Friendship. Adams Co., ' Wis., May 29, 1860. to Mary O. Hanford. a native of Walton, Delaware Co .. N. Y .; they have three children-Fred J., Rockwell F. and Ellen B.


STEPHEN TURNER was born in Nelson Co., Va., Dec. 14, 1813 ; came to Portage May 3, 1858 ; engaged in peddling one year ; in 1860, commenced mercantile business, dealing in groceries and fruits ; continued in that for four years ; then engaged in auctioncering and speculating. in which he has successfully continued ever since ; owns two-thirds interest in the jewelry establishment of Turner & Parsons. Mr. Turner was married at Union Hill, Nelson Co., Va., December, 1849, to Eliza Jane Hill, born at Union Hill : they have had nine children, three of whom are deceased- Samuel died in 1861. aged 3 years and 3 months ; AAnnie died in 1872, aged 5 years ; Charles died in 1872, aged 3 years and 3 months ; the children living are Bluford B .. Stephen. Jr., Elizabeth, Lucretia, Willie and Jessie. Mr. T. is in every sense a self-made man.


EUGENE A. VAUGHAN, son of Samuel K. and Lavina Vaughan, who came to Wis- consin. locating at Waupun, at an early date ; his father died in Portage, in September. 1872; his mother is now living and a resident of this city : Eugene was born in Wyocena, Feb. 28, 1853, and has been employed in John Graham's drug and grocery house for the last ten years. He was married in Portage March 24, 1875, to Sarah A. Padley ; she was born at Lodi ; they have one son -Samuel K .- born March 12. 1876. Mrs. V. is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. V. is a member of the I. O. O. F.


MIRS. RICHARD F. VEEDER, widow of the earliest settler on this side of the canal ; her maiden name was Winopher Veeder, and she was born near Albany. N. V .. April 2, 1812 ; Mr. Veeder was born Jan. 11, 1812. in Montreal, Canada, where his parents were temporarily stopping ; from the age of 10 he lived with an uncle in Boston, Mass. ; he came to Wisconsin June 26, 1835. but stopped a while near Green Bay. as he had relatives connected with the pineries ; he came to Portage several years before his marriage, which was on March 10, 1844 ; when a "bach." he kept travelers at his cabin, and after marriage he kept open house for many years ; they built the first dwelling in Portage (since destroyed by fire), and there was nothing here when they built in the sum- mer of 1845 : they first spent nearly a year at the Indian trading-post ; the Wisconsin River now flows over the site of the trading post, and also over the site of their first pioneer dwelling near "the Post ;" the house built by them and now occupied by Mrs. Veeder is the oldest building in the city : it was built for a storehouse, but has been used for nearly everything. They have had four children-Eliza- beth, born in 1845, in the first dwelling in Portage (she is dead) ; John S. ,born Feb. 4, 1847 (he is now a railroad conduetor) ; Hannah, born in 1849, is dead ; Richard T., Jr .. born Jan. 1. 1851 (he is also a railroad conductor). Mr. Veeder is remembered as a kind-hearted man and good citizen, and was universally known as " Uncle Dick," and his widow is still called " Aunt Dick ;" he died Jan. 19, 1870 ; he was not a church member, but affiliated with the Episcopalians. Her son. R. F .. still lives with his mother on Sec. 5. where Portage is mainly built, and which Mr. V. bought at government price ($1.25 per acre) ; Mrs. V. owns two blocks in Portage beside her old home.


JOHN VERSEN, deceased, was born in Paderborn, Province of Westphalia. Prussia. Nov. 8, 1814 ; came to America and landed at New Orleans. December. 1847 ; remained there about one year ; removed to St. Louis, and worked at carriage trimming ; was in Galena, Ill., for some


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time, where he made the acquaintance of U. S. Grant ; afterward a resident of Madison ; came to Portage, Feb. 1. 1851. engaged with his partner in harness-making, with credit sufficient to obtain material for a single harness, having landed at Portage with only five cents ; at the time of his death. May 24, 1872. he carried on the largest harness manufactory in Central Wisconsin, doing business where Purdy's drug store is now located ; leaving a large estate at his death.


JOSEPH A. VERSEN, son of John Versen, was born in Portage June 9, 1857 : edu- cated at the High School : served an apprenticeship of three years in the harness and saddlery business ; has been engaged in mercantile business for some time, being now in the employ of of D. Fischbeck & Son, of Milwaukee, wholesale dealers in saddlery hardware and leather. The Portage Register of Oct. 3. 1874, contained the following complimentary notice of young Versen : " Joseph Versen. of this city, a boy of 17. entitled himself to the reward of merit,' if not to the . first premimn. by the manufacture of a set of single harness which he had on exhibition at the county fair. Though he is but a yearling in the business, his work would do no discredit to a much more experienced workman. Ile will. no doubt, make his mark in his particular line of business, if in no other direction. We take pleasure in saying a word of encouragement to him, as we do to all boys who pursue the rightcourse.'


SAM WAH & BROTHER, laundrymen ; Sam was born in China in 1863, and Charley was born in 1856 : Charley came to San Francisco in 1870. and Sam in 1878; both have lived in Red Wing, Minn. ; they came to Portage nearly a year ago, and are doing a good business on Conant street ; are law-abiding, prosperous Chinamen.


MRS. ELECTA WARD, widow of Orlando Ward, who was one of the earliest mer- chants in Portage : she was born Dec. 17, 1812, in Lee. Berkshire Co., Mass. Mr. Ward was born Jan. 22. 1812. in Vermont : they were married in Carlton, Orleans Co .. N. Y., on the 23d of June, 1836 : came West in 1849. remained two years in Milwaukee, and then settled in the house where Mrs. Ward now lives in Portage ; he died in October, 1871, leaving one child, Helen-now Mrs. Winne-living in Iowa ; Mr. Ward was a member of the Masonic Order, and of the Odd Fellows ; she is a member of the First Presbyterian Church : is still an active worker.


MARVIN WATERHOUSE, M. D. (deceased), was born in Alden, Erie Co., N. V., on the 19th of September. 1827 ; when at the age of 14, he was bereft of father, and. soon after- ward. he and his widowed mother removed to Darien, Walworth Co., Wis .: in 1850. he moved to Packwaukee. Wis,: his early life was passed amid the scenes and duties incident to farming. On the Ist of January. 1852. he was married to Miss Maria A. Older, who survives him : they had no children. A broken leg. in October, 1853. caused him to study medicine, and he graduated from Rush Medical College. in Chicago, in 1860 ; he had practiced medicine, in response to local calls. since 1855 ; in Angust. 1864. he was commissioned Assistant Surgeon of the Ist Regiment Wis. Heavy Artillery ; was in the army one year; located in Portage in September. 1865. and practiced his profession in the city and surrounding country until prevented by his last illness ; in July, 1867, he became a member of the Wisconsin Medical Society : was elected Vice Presi- dent in 1871. and President in 1873; was delegate four years to the American Medical Society, and contributed several valuable papers to the society ; he was a successful physician, and had a lucrative practice ; his broken limb never fully recovered. and finally amputation was necessary ; this was done Jan. 10. 1878, and the wounded limb rapidly healed ; but in the summer it broke out with ulcers, and an abscess formed. cansed by taking cokl ; he endured the intense pain with remarkable fortitude, until his iron constitution yiekled, and he died on the 19th of October, 1878 : he had been an active member of the I. O. O. F., and was one of the original Patriarchs of Excelsior Encampment, at Portage; the brotherhood conducted his obsequies. according to their impressive ceremonies. He was a public-spirited citizen ; at the time of his death, he was a member of the Board of Education. also, Examining Surgeon for Pensions : he was financially comfortable : he was naturally cheerful, but firm and tenacious ; all declare him to have been an honorable, high-minded gentleman, and one who acted well his part in all the varied relations of husband, citizen and healer of the afflicted.


ANDREW WEIR was born in Harthill. Lanarkshire, Scotland. April, 1821 ; he came to Ft. Winnebago. Wis., May, 1851 ; remained there until November of the same year, then went with his brother. John Weir, to California, where they spent fifteen months in mining, ete .; then went to Australia, where he spent fifteen months ; he then sailed for Scotland, where he arrived October. 1854. Mr. W. was married at Causewayhead, Sterlingshire, Seotland, May 9, 1855, to Margaret Kincaid, a native of Bowhouse. Sterlingshire, Scotland ; they sailed for America,


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landing in New York in June, 1855 ; came direct to Ft. Winnebago ; engaged in real-estate and grain business ; he now lives where he first settled. Mr. W. was one of the founders of the City Bank of Portage ; was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors several terms, and is now in that position.


ELISHA A. WELLS, farmer ; born in Hartford, Conn., on the 9th of September, 1801 ; his parents removed to Berkshire Co .. Mass .. when Elisha was quite young, and there the "old folks " resided until their death ; the father was a soklier in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Wells remained with his parents during their entire life. He was married on the 25th of June, 1828, to Miss Anna Martin, of Massachusetts ; they have had nine children ; the living are Ann C., Martha E., Horace E., Lydia V., Lemuel M. and Mary A. He came to Portage on the 5th of May. 1855 ; present house was first brick made in Portage ; lost a large residence May, 1879 ; has a small place in Portage, also land in Lewiston ; has documents dated 1704. signed by Ichabod Wells, a Sheriff of Connecticut at that date ; he was a town official many years in his New England home. Their " golden wedding" was celebrated on the 25th of June, 1878 ; kind friends and valuable gifts made it a memorable occasion.


HORACE D. WELLS, retired farmer, was born on the 2d of Jannary, 1798, in the city ot Hartford, Conn. ; he is the son of Elisha and Clara Deming Wells, of Connecticut ; the family trace their ancestry for 800 years, and show connection, by intermarriage, with nobility and royalty. The " Magna Charta," signed by King John, in 1215, was delivered at Gunnymede to " Bishop Hugode Wells, of the Cathedral of Lincoln." The ancestral tree is traced generations beyond the " Bishop," and its branches are in a connected line with the Wells family in Portage. The original "coat of arms" of the Wells family hore the motto. "('hrist's Cross is my Light." Gov. Thomas Wells, of Connecticut, was among their earliest ancestors in America ; real estate near Hartford, Conn., has been in continuous ownership of the Wells family for 200 years ; the subject of this sketch was married at Rye, N. Y., on the 30th of April. 1834, to Miss Mary S. Barker, daughter of James Barker, a retired merehant of New York City ; Mr. Wells was in the mahogany business at Yonkers, N. Y., from 1828 to 1843 : thence he went to Owego, and engaged in mercantile business, together with lumbering ; in 1848. he went to Hartford, and remained until coming West ; his residence in Hartford was onee the home of Gov. Morgan of Connecticut. and when Mr. Wells left the State, he sold it to Gov. Richard D. Hubbard. Mrs. Wells died Oct. 6, 1852, leaving two sons-James B., born March 7. 1836, and Lemuel 11., born Dec. 3. 18 -; the latter is an Episcopal Clergyman in Walla Walla, Washington Ter. Mr. Wells first made a tour of the West in 1854 ; in the spring of 1855, he bought a large traet in Sauk Co .. of which he still owns 1,000 acres ; he eame to Portage in 1862, and his present beautiful home of 20 acres was purchased soon afterward ; this is also the home of his son James B., who was married on the 20th of April, 1859, to Miss Anna P. King. daughter of the Hon. O. B. King of Watertown. Con. ; they have two children-Mary A., born May 24, 1860, and James H .. born November. 1862. The Wells families are all Episcopalians ; the old gentleman, past fourscore and two years. is in delicate health. but still retains the genial air and quiet dignity of the " old-school gentleman." He has always been a worthy citizen. and is blest with competency and hosts of friends.


JOSEPH E. WELLS was born in Birmingham. England. March 22, 1842; came to Wisconsin in 1851, with his father ; his mother and other children came to Wisconsin in April, 1852 ; his father located at Twigg's Ferry. in Columbia Co., on the Fox River. Rev. William Wells, father of J. E. Wells. now living at Fort Winnebago, located a farm in that town at abont that time, and still owns it : has been engaged in preaching at different points until fifteen years ago, regularly ; now preaches every other Sunday, as he is called upon. Joseph E. worked upon the farm until the age of 21. when he came to Portage and attended school for about a year : then commenced elerking for 1. W. Bacon, a hardware dealer, and remained with him between eleven and twelve years. then purchasing the business of the Bacon estate ; he has been in part- nership with 11. W. Williams for the last six years ; they also run a branch store at Waupaca. Mr. W. married in Portage, June 7, 1871, Addie E. Forrest ; she was born in New Hampshire ; they have four children-Mary E., Cora A., Maud S. and Josie A. He is serving his fourth year as Alderman of the Third Ward ; is member of the Temple of Honor and A., F. & A. M.


DANIEL WELLS, son of Walter Wells, who died in Yates Co., N. Y., was born in Ham- ilton, Madison Co., N. Y., Sept. 24. 1829. In 1858, he removed to Yates Co., N. Y., and resided in Penn Yan and vicinity. until 1859 ; in December of the same year. he settled in Wisconsin. pur- chasing a farm on Sec. 26, town of Randolph, and engaged in farming until he sold out in September.


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1868, and in November. 1868. removed to Portage; in February. 1870. engaged in flour and feed business, and also that of an auctioneer. Mr. Wells was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors while at Randolph ; has been City Marshal of Portage, and also held the office of Under Sheriff for two vears, Mr. Wells was married in the town of Jerusalem, Yates Co., N. Y .. Feb. 15. 1859. to Martha Gallett, a native of that place. They have three children-Susan. Elizabeth, John W., Daniel G. Mr. Wells is a member of the Odd Fellows' Lodge.


ROBERT B. WENTWORTH was born in the town of Buxton. York Co .. Me., Jan. 18. 1827, and resided there until he emme to Wisconsin in 1848, locating at Madison. He learned the trade of printing in Portland. Maine, when a boy, and while living at Madison, worked as a journeyman printer. He published the first paper that was ever issued in Dodge Co-Dodge County Gazette-which was published in Juneau, and continued the publication of that journal for about four years ; the last two years he issued it as the Barr Oak. He came to Portage in 1857, and bought the Portage V'ity Record, published it just four years, and then sold out to A. J. Turner. In 1861. he erected a grain elevator, and engaged in the grain and lumber trade ; he also carried on steamboating between this point and Green Bay; in the latter business ten years, from 1864 to 1874. lle is now interested in the City Bank of Portage ; he and his son own one-third of the stock of that institution. Mr. Wentworth was married at Fryeburg, Me., Oct. 9, 1850. to Lydia H. Pike : she was born in Fryeburg. Me. April 1, 1825. They have three children-Ella Augusta, Winfield Scott and Florence. He has been Allerman of the Second Ward four years, and member of the Assembly from Dodge Co. in 1857, and Justice of the Peace one year.


W. S. WENTWORTH was born in Juneau. Dodge Co .. Wis., Oct. 15. 1853 ; received his education at the public schools of Portage, and at the Lawrence University at Appleton, Wis .; was connected with MeGregor & Co., in the lumber and grain business, as clerk for one year ; after- ward one year for his father until January, 1875. he was then appointed assistant cashier of City Bank, and hell that position until July 1, 1878, when he was elected cashier, which position he has since held ; stockholder and Director of the bank since January. 1876.


CHARLES H. WILLIAMS, freight engineer on the C .. M. & St. P. R. R. ; was horn in Vermont Jan. 14, 1843. His parents came West in 1855, and settled in Beaver Dam, Wis. ; his railroad life began in 1860, as fireman on the old La Crosse & Milwaukee R. R .; he enlisted in August. 1862, in the 24th W. V. I., and was mustered ont on the 22d of June, 1865, having served nearly three years. His regiment was in the Army of the Cumberland during the entire war, and he was in eleven regular battles, besides skirmishes and raids unnumbered. Some of the engage- ments are familiar in history-Resaca. Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nash- ville : he had several " close calls." but came out withont a scratch. He enlisted from Milwaukee, and at the close of the rebellion, he returned to his old position and " fired" until 1867, when he took charge of an engine, and has run as engineer to date. Ile boards at the Fox House ; belongs to the 'Temple of Honor. "Charley is well liked."




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