The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 130

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082

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COL. COLWERT K. PIER. On the 7th day of June, 1841, nearly thirty-nine years ago, there was a sensation in sparsely inhabited Fond du Lac. On that day, there came to Fond du Lac Co .- then known as Brown Co .- the first white twins born within its borders, a boy and a girl. They were gladly welcomed in the family of Edward Pier, the first white man to locate in what is now the

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second city of a great State. At that time ( 1841), there were not to exceed twenty white families in what at present constitutes a county of at least fifty-five thousand inhabitants. These new-comers, these pioneer twins, were named, respectively, Colwert K. and Carrie S. The baby boy of thirty-eight years ago is the subject of this sketch. Ile has always made Fond du Lac his home and now lives on the same farm his father commenced in 1836, or forty-four years ago, and the record shows only one transaction in that time, namely, from Edward Pier to Colwert K. Pier. It is perhaps the only piece of property in the entire county whose record is similarly made up.

There are at this time four members of the late Hon. Edward Pier's family, as follows: Mrs. Anna P. Carpenter, wife of J. W. Carpenter, who resides at Pine River, Waushara Co., Wis .; Mrs. Ruth R. Harvey, wife of L. J. Harvey, who resides in Fond du Lac, and Mrs. Carrie S. Skinner, wife of H. R. Skinner, also a resident of Fond du Le. Mrs. Carpenter taught the subject of this sketch his letters. He worked on a farm during the spring, summer and autumn, and attended district school winters, until he arrived at the age of 16 years. An apt scholar in all branches, he, however, excelled in mathematics, composition and elocution. He was generally accorded the leadership by his associates, who usually were his seniors in age. The speaking-schools and debating-clubs were places of great attraction to young Pier, and he seldom attended one in which he did not participate. As a financier, Mr. Pier's first experience dates back to his early boyhood, when, on election day, terms of court, circus occasions, and the Fourth of July, he industriously peddled apples and pop-corn. This branch of trade, during the occasions indicated, he successfully followed from the time he was 12 until he had reached the age of 16 years, at which time he was sent to Lombard University, Galesburg, Ill. Having a taste for the law, he soon commenced preparations to enter upon that honored profession. Ite studied first in the office of the late Judge Robert Flint, in this eity. It was while in Judge Flint's office, industriously storing his mind with legal lore, that the nation was startled by the fall of Fort Sumter, and the surrender of Maj. Anderson. The news was made kuown in Fond du Lac through extras and from the various pulpits. On that memorable Sun- day evening, young Pier and Christie Klock, a neighbor's son, spent an hour or more in discussing the all-absorbing topic. At the end of that time, both had come to the conclusion that it was their duty to enlist. Early Monday morning, when young Kloek ( since Capt. Klock, and now a successful sheep-raiser in Texas), came along, they went to the office of Col. S. E. Lefferts and signed the muster-roll, Pier's name appearing first, and Klock's second. There is no record to show that he was not the first man in Fond du Lac Co. to enroll his name as a volunteer in the war of the rebellion. Indeed, it may be recorded that this young law-student, not yet 20 years of age, was the first in the county to offer his serv- ices. The company was not long in filling up, and was known as Co. I, Ist W. V. 1., three-months men. It became a part of Maj. Gen. Patterson's army, and it was at Falling Waters that young Pier, a private soldier, listened to the songs of bullets and shell. At the end of the term for which the regiment was sworn in, Mr. Pier accompanied a sick comrade to New York, and very soon afterward entered Albany Law School; from there he returned to Fond du Lac, and entered the law office of the late James M. Gillet and Judge W. D. Conklin. While he made excellent progress in his studies, he nevertheless gave but little time to them, being full of the war spirit, participating in all of the demonstrations and taking a deep interest in the formation of every new company. While in this office, he organized a military company under the State law ; the company elected him Captain. At that time the political cauldron was boiling boisterously. Violent political opponents of the Captain joined in a written protest to Gov. Harvey, to withhold his commission. The contest became decidedly bitter, but the Governor sent him the commission. Capt. Pier afterward organized nine other companies into a regiment whose commissioned officers elected him Colonel, the Governor losing no time in forwarding him a commission as such. By a vote of the men in this regiment, it was tendered by the Colonel to the General Government, but, suppos- ing the war nearly over and no additional troops would be required, Gen. Frey declined the offer. This was a sad disappointment to the boy-Colonel, for such he was, being only a little past 21 years of age, and in his disappointment he was joined by his officers and men, who had become great admirers of their young commander.

When General Grant assumed command of all the armies, Wisconsin was called upon for three new regiments, and Governor Lewis issued an order for the formation of the 36th, 37th and 38th. By this time Col. Pier had pretty much abandoned. the idea of re-entering the service. Toward evening, one day, soon after the new regiments were ordered, and while he was busily engaged in his duties, a messen- ger handed him a telegram from Madison. It read : " Will you accept a commission as Lieutenant Colonel of the 38th Regiment ? Answer immediately." It was a great surprise ; ten minutes later he had found his father and shown him the dispatch. After reading it and reflecting a moment, the veteran ex-Senator said : " You had better hear what mother says about it; if she is willing, I will not object to your

L. Leemiller Sul. K.

(NEW CASSEL.)

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accepting it." The pioneer mother was sick in bed ; the son approached her and read the dispatch ; her eyes filled with tears; with a trembling voice she said : " Do as you think best, my boy ; I will be satisfied with your decision." In less than half an hour from the receipt of the dispatch, these words were sent to the Governor : " I will accept." This incident was related to the writer by Col. Pier many years ago, and when he reads this sketch he will learn for the first time that it was not forgotten by his friend. In a few days the Lieutenant Colonel was busily engaged in organizing his new command; many of his old regiment rejoined him, aod in a remarkably short space of time five full companies were ready to start for the scene of action, to join the Army of the Potomac, leaving the Colonel, Adjutant and Quartermaster to fill up the other companies and join them later, which they did in the fall. They joined Grant in the memorable Wilderness campaign at White House Landing ; there three ( consolidated , companies of the gallant Minnesota 1st were joined to his command, making it larger than almost any of the regiments in that army which had been so roughly handled in the bloody contests of that year ; he was first engaged at Cold Harbor, where not a few of his men gave up their lives. From that time until the surrender of Gen. Lee, Col. Pier was a participant in all of Grant's battles. He fought his regiment most gallantly, soon winning a reputation for coolness and undaunted bravery in action. In the never-to-be-forgotten charges and countercharges at Petersburg, on the 18th of June, 1864, Col. Pier was grazed by a bullet on the forehead, was shot in the fleshy portion of the leg, and au ugly fragment of a shell hit him on the instep, the latter giving him much pain, but the three failed to drive him from the field, though the loss of blood greatly weakened him. In the early Petersburg engagements his regiment met with fearful losses. A sharpshooter made the Colonel his especial target one day, in front of Petersburg, but did him no more harm than to shoot away one of the silver leaves on his coat. During the Weldon Railroad fight, late in August, 1861, his regiment did splendid service, being at one time nearly surrounded and receiving a most galling fire. It was during this battle that he received a letter from home announcing his mother's death. In an engagement on the left of Petersburg, late in September, the regiment was flanked ; it was a part of the force supporting a battery ; the rebels came pouring down upon the infantry at a double-quick. The horses of the battery had fled to the rear with the caissons, leaving the guns at the mercy of the enemy. Seeing the danger, Col. Pier, without orders, commanded a small part of the 38th to save the guns, which it did by hauling them away by means of the drag-ropes, while the balance of the regiment faced the on- coming rebels and peppered them unmercifully. Beside saving the guns, the 3Sth captured several of the enemy, so close was the contest. Lieut. Col. Pier was division officer of the day, and answered the signal the 20th of January, on that part of the line in front of Petersburg, when Vice Presi lent Alexander Stephens and Mr. Campbell, the Confederate Commissioners, made their appearance with a flag of truce, secking entrance to our lines on the way to meet President Lincoln, Secretary Seward and other members of the Cabinet at City Point. Col. Bintliff arrived with the other five companies and assumed command of the regiment ; Lieut. Col. Pier was assigned to the 109th N. Y. V. I., they having lost all field officers. This was a trying position ; there never was the most cordial feeling between Wisconsin and New York troops, at best. The New Yorkers were indigoant, and not at all backward in making the fact known. But for the fact that the new commander was soon called upon to lead his New Yorkers in a fight, where his coolness and bravery were conspicuous and won for him the respect and confidence of most of the officers and men, it is likely that he would have had serious trouble. As it was, he became very popular with the regiment, and, at the end of the war, the officers and men presented him with a handsome horse and saddle, and their pride in their Wisconsin commander was so great that they insisted on his returning to Elwira with them when mustered out. Col. Pier led this regiment in the charge on Fort Mahone, at Petersburg, April 2, 1865, and was in command during the active operations of' that eventful day.

When not in active campaigns, while the army was in front of Petersburg, Col. Pier was usually on duty at division or corps headquarters, as President of a general court martial. After the regiment moved to Washington, he performed similar duties at Gen. Augur's headquarters up to August, 1865. When Col. James Bintliff was mustered out of service, Pier was commissioned Colonel, but, owing to the lack of a sufficient number of mon, and the fact that the struggle was over, he was not mustered as such. His army record is a proud one ; entering the army a private in 1861, he returned to his home with honorable scars, a splendid fighting record. and with a Colonel's commission in his pocket. He and the balance of the regiment were inustered out on the 15th of August, 1865. That saine year, he commenced the prac- tice of his profession, the firm being Gillet, Conklin & Pier ; afterward Gillet & Pier; then Gillet. Pier & Bass, and then alone until 1874, when he entered the Savings Bank ; he soon took high rank as a lawyer, being very successful, and winniog an enviable reputation. Col. Pier was married to Miss Kate Hamilton, of Fond du Lac, on the 25th of June, 1866; they have four children-Kate H., Carrie H., Harriet H. and Mary H. In July, 1873, in consequence of a serious injury to his father, who was President of the Savings

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Bank, and the failing health of Hon. E. H. Galloway, the Vice President, Col. Pier entered the bank. The call from his chosen profession to these new duties was sudden, and at a most trying time, for it will be remembered that that was the year in which the distressing financial panic came ; the panic, and the death of both Mr. Galloway and his father, threw an immense responsibility upon his shoulders ; the handling of a half-million deposits and equal discounts, at such a time, was by no means a trifling affair; but the Savings Bank went through the great panic without a quiver. The great depression in business was particularly severe on Fond du Lac; while many sought to draw their capital out of business channels, then so precarious, Col. Pier, on the contrary, tried to keep the wheels in motion and the laboring people employed, and, through the Business Men's Association, which he was a leader in establishing, to unite and solidify what business was left. The Mihills Manufacturing Company, the Fond du Lac Harrow Company and the Fond du Lac Building Association gave employment to over three hundred people. But for his business taet, confidence, courage and capital, it is quite safe to say that these several enterprises would not have been established nor maintained, and most of these people been obliged to seek employment out of the city : he and those who co-operated with him in continuing the business at so much risk, will never receive the meed of praise to which they are justly entitled ; he and they could have used their capital at much less risk and care, and, doubtless, with more profit. Col. Pier has never been a politician, in the common acceptation of the term, but on several occasions has taken an active part, on the stump and in organizing for victory ; he is an easy, pleasant and forcible speaker. He has never sought office. and it is not likely that he will; in polities he is a Republican. He has always taken a deep interest in everything that pertains to the welfare of the men who fought in the late war. He has been a Trustee of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home a longer term than any other one, having been appointed the second year it was founded and held the position ever since; he has been Secretary for many years, and is now Vice President. Ile is at present President of the Wisconsin Soldiers' Re-union Association, and to him, more than to any other man, should be given the credit of bringing about the great Re-union and the interest growing out of the subject. His pen has been tireless the past year in agitating the question that is of so much interest to the old soldiers. His "Soldier Chapters," printed in the Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph and elsewhere, are by far the best that have ever been produced in Wisconsin. In this connection, it is proper to state that the Colonel is a good writer, as well as a thorough business man and eloquent speaker. While in the three-months service, he wrote highly interesting letters to the Saturday Reporter, of Fond du Lac. In 1870, he bought a two-thirds interest in the Fond du Lac Commonwealth, and, for a year or more, frequently contributed to its editorial columns. He retained an interest in the paper, as a matter of accommodation, until 1874. Col. Pier is publie spirited, contributes liberally to the poor, and is a warm friend of all benevolent enterprises. " Act right " is his religion, and " Charity " his precept ; the balance he confidently leaves to Ilim who doeth all things well.

JOHN C. PIERRON. proprietor of the Fond du Lac Boiler Works; is a native of France ; born in 1829; came to America in 1818, and lived at Syracuse, N. Y., till 1851, when he returned to France; remaining there about six months, he came again to Syracuse, N. Y., where he lived for nearly two years; in 1854, came to Milwaukee and made that his home till the spring of 1856, when he moved to Fond du Lac and began boiler manufacturing, which he continued till 1858; he then returned to Mil- waukee and worked in the shops of the Milwaukee & La Crosse Railroad for eight months, when he came again to Fond du Lac and for a short time was employed in the shops of the C. & N .- W. Ry., but was soon transferred to the C. & N .- W. Ry. shops at Chicago, remaining there from 1859 to 1862, when, for the third time, he returned to Fond du Lac and again established the boiler works of which he has since been proprietor. In 1854, ho married Miss Adaline Prudhon, of Milwaukee; they have two children- Florence A. R., and John C. Mr. Pierron has been a member of the City Council from Fifth Ward ; at various times member of the County Board, and was elected City Treasurer in the spring of 1879.

E. R. POWERS. farmer ; is the son of Jonathan and R. Powers, natives of New York. E. R. was born in Erie Co., N. Y .. in 1836, and, at the age of 10 years, came to Fond du Lac Cu., traveling the whole distance, except crossing the Lake, with a team and wagon. Ilis intention was to settle in Win- nebago Co., but after reaching it, and not being pleased with the prospects, they returned to Fond du Lac July 5, 1847, and pre-empted eighty acres of land in Section 17, town of Fond du Lac, to which they afterward added 120 aeres. Ilis father dying in 1868, the land has been divided among his heirs, of which E. K. has seventy acres, valued at $75 per acre. In 1862, he married Miss Sarah, daughter of John and Harriet Silver, of Michigan, but a native of Canada; they have one daughter, Rose. Mrs. Powers is a member of the Baptist Church.

DE WITT CLINTON PRIEST, attorney; was born in Brownville, Jefferson Co., N. Y., where he lived until coming to Fond du Lac. Dec. 5, 1857; Mr. P. located on the site where his fine

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honse now is, in 1858, and has since resided upon it, engaged continuously in the practice of law. He was married, in New York, to Susan T. Joy, a native of Orleans, Jefferson Co., in that State. They have two children-Charles H. and Edward B.

JAMES K. PUMPELLY, artist ; was horn at Owego, Tioga Co., N. Y., April 25, 1834, where he resided until coming to Fond du Lac, first on a visit in 1837, and then to establish a home in 1859. In 1862, Mr. P. helped raise Co. 11, 32d W. V. I., of which he served as First Lieutenant two years and a half, being mustered out in the fall of 1864. After leaving the army, he engaged in farmning five years ; then turned his attention to art, and is now engaged in painting, making portraits in India ink or colored crayon. Mr. P. was married in September, 1862, to Eliza W., daughter of the late Gov. Samuel W. Beall ; she was born at Cooperstown, N. Y., and her mother, the late Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper Beall, was a near relative of James Fenimore Cooper; they have had one child, now deceased.

ALBERT G. PURDY, lumberman ; is a native of Bennington Co .. Vt .; born in 1837 ; wheu 3 years old, with parents, Grahaw and Hannah Purdy, he removed to Erie Co., Penn., where he spent the balance of his time till 18 years of age. In 1855, he came to Door Co., Wis., spent the summer, and then returned to Vermont. In 1856, he came a second time to Wisconsin, and settled in the city of Fond du Lac, where, for one year, he was engaged in the grocery business. He then began saw-milling and lumbering, which he continued most of the time till 1871. In 1862, he joined the U. S. Navy of the Mississippi, under Commodore Porter, and served one year. He returned, then, to Fond du Lac, and resumed his business. In 1871, he formed a copartnership with Edward Squires, and, for the next year, was engaged in the manufacture of carriages. Ile then resumed the lumber trade, and is now operating in Pierce Co., Wis. In 1858, he was married to Miss Euphemia, daughter of George Il. and Mary Curtis, nee Thomas, then of Outagamie Co., Wis., but a native of New York ; their children are John R. (now at Oshkosh), Albert H., Ella and Georgia.

HENRY RAHTE, Sr., wholesale liquor dealer; born in the Kingdom of Hanover in Decem- ber, 1819, where his father owned a large estate; after attending college at Winsen, be became entry clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house in the city of Hanover, where he remained four years, being afterward a salesman in Brunswick, Breslau and Leipzig; at the age of 23, he started a woolen and silk factory for ladies' dresses, in the Kingdom of Saxony, in which he was successful, employing as high as 500 men ; when the Revolution of 1847 broke out, he was compelled to abandon his factory, and, in 1849, came to America, intending to engage in farming ; after spending some time in New York and Milwaukee, he pur- chased the Edward Pier farm, a portion of which is now in the fair grounds south of Fond du Lac, and, after making some improvements, started a distillery the same year, 1849 ; he made whisky from wheat, which he purchased of the neighboring farmers at from 30 to 40 cents per bushel ; two years later, finding the distillery did not pay, Mr. Rahte abandoned it and bought out Hugo Peters, next to R. A. Baker's bank, and began the wholesale liquor business; in 1856, he sold out to Rupp & Bro., and went to France and England for the purpose of forming business connections to open a wholesale liquor house in Chicago. The outlook being unsatisfactory on his return, he came to Fond du Lac and began the same business with his brother-in-law, Franz Lauenstein, having a branch house at Oshkosh for one year ; at the end of two years, he sold out to Mr. Lauenstein, and made a trip to Italy and Sicily, after which the two again started a distillery on Ingram's place ; since that time, he has carried on the wholesale liquor business in his own name. He was married in Germany, in 1844, to Maria hauenstein ; they have nine children, of whom the oldest is 33. and the youngest 14 years of age.

HENRY RAIITE, Jr., was born in Fond du Lac Feb. 15, 1851, which has always been his home. He enlisted in Battery K, Ist Light Artillery, regular army, in which he served from 1867 to 1870; in the fall of 1870. he opened a beer hall, which business he has since followed. He was married at Fond du Lac, July 29, 1873, to Henrietta Pulse, born also in this city ; they have two children-Nor- bert A. and Walter. Mr. Rahte is a member of the Concordia Society, Turner Society and Druids.

DON A. RAYMOND, M. D., son of Ebenezer and Rebecca Raymond ; was born at War- ren, Washington Co., Vt., Sept. 10, 1818 ; educated in his native town at the academy at Montpelier, Vt , and at the Randolph Academy ; in 1845, he graduated from the Castleton Medical College ; after two years' practice in his native town, while settling his father's estate, he removed to Canton, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., where he remained three years, when he was appointed Surgeon of the State Prison in Clinton Co., N. Y., and remained there three and a half years ; in November, 1853, he removed to Wisconsin, and came to Fond du Lac in January, 185.4, where he has since remained; in 1861, soon after the outbreak of the war, he entered the service of the United States as Surgeon of the 3d W. V. I., acting most of the time as Brigade Surgeon, however ; after one and a half year's service, his health failed, and he was compelled to resign ; he returned home, and, after recruiting his health, resumed practice. In his professional capacity

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he is one of the oldest and best exponents of the science of medieine in this part of the State, and is justly entitled to a prominent place among the best physicians ; he has performed a prodigious amount of profes- sional labor ; his health has been considerably impaired by overwork, and he has been obliged to deeline much business proffered to him. May 15, 1850, he was married to Miss Maria R. Foote, by whom he has two daughters-Ella J. ( now Mrs. George Frank, of Madison, Wis. ) and Emma (now Mrs. Frank Knapp, of Fond du Lac). llis wife was born at Canton, N. Y., in June, 1823, and died Sept. 28. 1874.

W. A. READER. undertaker ; was born at Columbus, Ohio, March 11, 1838, and eame with his father, A. W. Reader, to Fond du Lac Sept. 24, 1855. Ile enlisted May 5, 1861, in Co. E, 6th W. V. I. as Orderly Sergeant, but was promoted to First Lieutenant and transferred to Co. G same regiment, soon after ; he was discharged on account of sickness in November, 1862. In January, 1863, he became associated with his father under the firm name of A. W. Reader & Son, continuing with him until June, 1861, since which time he has carried on the business alone. Mr. R. was married at Fond du Lac July 5, 1859, to Catherine R., who was born in Green Bay, Wis., daughter of F. D. McCarty, one of the earliest settlers of Fond du Lac, now a resident of Milwaukee; they have two children-Frank D., born Aug. 13, 1860, and George B., Oct. 20, 1865.

JOHN W. REYNOLDS, son of John Reynolds, a resident of the city, was born at Bow- mansville, Erie Co., N. Y., Dec. 14, 1852 ; came with his parents to Fond du Lae when 3 years of age ; the family spent one winter in the city and then removed to a farm, spending twelve years in Oakfield, Alto and Byron, returning then to the city. John W. spent most of his time in school until beginning the grocery business, which he followed seven years as a clerk and the last four years as a member of the firms of Reynolds & Lee and Reynolds & Olmsted. Ile was married in Fond du Lac, May 1, 1878, to Emma J., daughter of JJacob Ward, born in this city ; they have one son-Wallace E., born May 3. 1879.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 130

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1082

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082