The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 135

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

USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin > Part 135

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RICHARD UNDERWOOD was born at Lundy's Lane, Canada, Feb. 10, 1824; his parents removed to Springfield, Penn., when he was 3 years old; resided in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Toronto, Buffalo (N. Y.), and removed to Toronto again in 1837, where he remained until coming to Mil- waukee Oct. 2, 1846; removed to 'Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., in 1849, and, in June, 1868, to Fond du Lac. Mr. Underwood is a plasterer. He was married at Buffalo, N. Y., Sept. 21, 1846, to Hannah Downing, who died in 1847, leaving one son-Henry, a resident of Fond du Lac. He was married, Feb. 10, 1850, to his present wife, Mary J. Hodgman, born at Mason, N. II., May 21, 1830; they have two children living-Frances A., born Jan. 20, 1859, and Willie E., born Nov. 30, 1873; have lost three-Francis Edwin, born June 19, 1851, died Sept. 6, 1854; Richard Lester, born Oct. 17, 1853, died Oct. 13, 1857, and J. Elmer, born Nov. 23. 1866, died Nov. 25, 1867.

PETER VANDERVOORT was born at Amsterdam, Montgomery Co., N. Y., May 10, 1796. of Ilolland-Dutch parents ; came, Nov. 5, 1844, to Milwaukee, and the next year to the town of Eden, settling on Sec. 17; he was a Wesleyan Methodist preacher, and held the first services in the house in which he lived ; his house, which was 25x32 feet, was called the " Big Shanty," and in it for several years all elections for that section were held. Mr. V., who went from Amsterdam to Plattsburg, N. Y., when 11 years of age, served all through the war of 1812, in Seth Sherry's company, Col. Miller's regi- ment. He was married at Plattsburg. Dec. 24, 1829, to Miss Maria Bartlett, who was born at Chazy, Clinton Co., N. Y., Oct. 16, 1808; they have had seven children-Elizabeth B., born Oct. 1, 1832, died as the wife of C. C. Lewis July 14, 1868; Julia Ann, born July 3, 1843, died in 1845 at Milwaukee ; Peter V., Paul, Cornelius, Michael and Anu Maria, now Mrs. William Fisher, of Eau Claire, Wis.

D. R. VAN DUYNE was born in the township of Pequawnock, Morris Co., N. J., May 1, 1807 ; son of Richard Van Duyne, who was the son of Martin Van Duyne, whose father, James, came from Amsterdam, Holland, with his father and mother, when a boy, and lived with his parents on Long Island, now Brooklyn, N. Y., and afterward settled in New Jersey, and built the house in which Daniel R., Richard, his father. and Martin, his grandfather, were born. The subject of this sketch lived with his father and mother till he was 16 years of age, when he left his father's house and engaged in the trade of edge-tool making, and continued at that some six years ; he then purchased a farm at Vine Brook, in his native township, and became a successful farmer, owning and occupying the farm for twenty years ; having sold out, in September, 1849, he moved to Wisconsin, and purchased a section of land where the station called Van Duyne, on the North-Western Railway, in the town of Friendship, Fond du Lac Co., is situated, adjoining the line of Winnebago Co .; since then, he removed to the city of Fond du Lac. and, at this date, resides on East Division street. Mr. Van Duyne was married to Miss Plebe Crane, of Cald- well, Essex Co., N. J., March 10, 1827; to them were born three children-Marcus Eugene, Aug. 1, 1828, died in infancy ; Richard Voorhies, born June 17, 1830, died Feb. 23, 1870, and Anna H., born April 7. 1839, now living in Union Township, Union Co., N. J., the wife of Henry J. Woodward; Mr. Van Duyne's wife died May 30, 1866. In August, 1869, he went to San Francisco, Cal .; spent three years traveling with horse and buggy between Los Angeles, Cal., and the line of British Columbia, near the Frasier River, visiting many of the islands in Puget Sound, opposite Vancouver's Island, using the same horse and buggy the whole time; in November, 1872, he returned to Fond du Lac, and having purchased a small drove of horses, drove them to New York, single handed, by way of Milwaukee, Chi- cago, Fort Wayne, Canton ( Ohio), Sharon, Franklin, Phillipsburg, Mauch Chunk, Easton ( Penn. ), Morris- town and Elizabeth City, N. J., thenee via Newark to New York, sold them and returned to Fond du Lac. On the 6th day of June, 1874, he married Mrs. Jane Hadlock. Mr. Van Duyne built the house in which he now lives ; did all the carpenter work without plan or bill of lumber from carpenter or architect ;

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also all the cellar walls ; also his barn and about forty rods of picket fence ; was about two years in com- pleting it, and now lives retired on the fruits of his labor, at the ripe old age of 73.

DANIEL VARNEY. speculator ; is a native of Addison Co., Me. ; born in January, 1802 ; spent most of his time there on a farm till 1852, when he was called upon to settle up the estate of a deceased brother, whose death occurred that year ; in 1853, he came West for his health, and in the fol- lowing year settled at Fond du Lac, Wis .; here, for the two years following, he was engaged in buying grain, and, in 1856, he became interested in real-estate speculations, which has been his principal business since that time ; in 1859, he began loaning money on Kansas land, by which some of it fell into his bands, which caused him an annual visit to that State for the next ten years. In 1829, he married Miss Sarah C. Dow, daughter of Winthop and Susan Dow, of Lincoln, Vt. ; they had one child-deceased ; Mrs. Varney died in 1832 ; he was married a second time, in 1836, to Mrs. Kezia Lawrence, widow of John Lawrence, of Monkton, Vt., she having two sons-George and John Lawrence, the latter deceased.

ANTON VOGT was born in Switzerland Oct. 26, 1828; came to New York Feb. 11, 1848 ; came soon after to Milwaukee ; went to Oshkosh for seven months, two and one-half years later, and then came to Fond du Lac ; he engaged in tailoring until the war, when he eulisted Aug. 15, 1862, in Co. E, 26th W. V. I. ; served one and one-half years, participating in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Returned to Fond du Lac and worked seven years for Paul Hauser, then began business for himself; Mr. V. is proprietor of a beer hall. He was first married at Fond du Lac, Jan. 6, 1853, to Gertrude Trautvetter, born in Saxony, who died in October, 1853; he married, May 5, 1856, Mary Glocke, born in Germany ; they have had two children, but none are now living. Mr. V. is a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge.

GEN. LYMAN M. WARD was born Oct. 15, 1836, in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y .; came to Fond du Lac in 1850; engaged for some time in the public schools of the city. Enlisted in April, 1861, in the three-months service ; was appointed Orderly Sergeant of Co. I, Ist W. V. 1 .; re-enlisted for three years at the end of first term, and was commissioned Captain ; was successively promoted to Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of the 14th W. V. I. ; was in command of a brigade two years, receiving the brevet rank of Brigadier General. Gen. Ward is now engaged in fruit-growing at Benton Harbor, Mich. He was a member of the Michigan Legislature for 1879-80.

JAMES FRANKLIN WARE, attorney; was born in Litchfield, Me., Feb. 11, 1849 ; came to Hortonville, Wis., in 1855 ; graduated from Lawrence University in 1871; from the Law Department of Michigan University in 1873, and then came to Fond du Lac and began the practice of law, being a member of the firm of Gilson & Ware. Mr. Ware was the Republican nominee for the Assembly in 1876, and was elected Assemblyman on that ticket in November, 1879. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias.

JOHN WALLER. mason ; was born in Norfolk County, England, July 18, 1819; came to New York City, where he worked at his trade eight months, in 1848; removed to Milwaukee in 1849, and in January, 1850, came to Fond du Lac. Mr. Waller was married, in England, May 22, 1840, to Sarah Odham, a native of Lincolnshire, England ; she died in Fond du Lac in 1853, leaving two children -John Robert, born in England, and Mary, born in Wisconsin. Mr. Waller was the builder of some of the best business blocks in Fond du Lac.

HENRY WALLICHS, grocer and druggist; was born in Germany Jan. 10, 1842; lived in New York City one year before coming to Fond du Lac, which he did in 1863, engaging as a clerk ; in 1870, he began business for himself, which he has since continued. He was married, at Fond du Lac, in April, 1873, to Bertha Rueping, who was born at Essen, Germany, Oct. 11, 1851; they have two children-Heury and William. Mr. W. is an Odd Fellow.

COL. JEROME A. WATROUS. The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Conklin, Broome Co., N. Y., Sept. 6, 1840, and came with his parents to the Territory of Wisconsin in the fall of 1844, and located at Sheboygan Falls. In the spring of 1849, his parents moved to what is now Hayton, Calumet Co., where they remained until October, 1850, at which time his mother and her six children, in consequence of the death of husband and father, which occurred on the 10th of September of the same year, returned to New York. At the age of 10 years, young Watrons was obliged to earn his own living, which he did by working nine months of the year on a farm, the other three months being spent in district school. This was continued until he arrived at the age of 15 years, when he " worked and earned wages " for two summers, and attended school one winter, and taught school the winter follow- ing his 16th birthday in the village of Brookdale, Susquehanna Co., Penn. The following July, with one snit of clothes, $3 in money and a ticket to Sheboygan, in company with an older brother, he started for his old home in Wisconsin, and the second day after his arrival at Hayton, commenced work on a farm

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for $13 a mouth. For two winters he taught district school in Calumet Co., and, in the spring of 1859, walked to Appleton, carrying his worldly possessions in an oil-cloth grip-sack, and entered Lawrence Uni- versity, intending to work his way through college and adopt the law as his profession. When his funds had nearly run out, he learned that an apprentice was wanted in the Appleton Crescent printing office. He withdrew from the school, with the consent of Prof. R. Z. Mason, who was Acting President, and entered upon the duties of printer's devil. That same year he commenced writing local items for the Crescent, which were each morning submitted to the editor, Judge Samuel Ryan, who at first would cut a foolscap page of carefully prepared manuscript down to six or eight lines, and indorse it, "Young man, you must learn to condense, if you expect to be an editor." At the end of six months, Mr. Ryan ceased the cutting-down process. For a couple of months during the winter of 1860, young Watrous was local editor of the Menasha Conservator, a paper founded by ex-Governor Harrison Reed, of Florida. He then returned to the Crescent office, and, in February, 1861, became one of the editors and publishers of the paper. In June of the same year, he enlisted as a private in the first company that left Appleton, and became a member of Co. E, 6th W. V. L., and remained a member of that regiment four years, lacking a few days. In March, 1862, he was made Ordnance Sergeant of King's Brigade, which afterward became the Iron Brigade of the West, and, after the battle of Antietam, was promoted to Ordnance Sergeant of the division. Returning to his regiment at his own request, he was at once made Sergeant Major, and very soon after that was commissioned First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 6th. In a few months, he was made Adjutant General of the Iron Brigade, then commanded by Gen. John A. Kellogg. At the battle of Gravelly Run and White Oak Road, his horse was shot, three bullet-holes were made in his clothing, and he was taken prisoner. This occurred on the 31st of March. Reaching Libby Prison, Richmond, on Sunday, the 2d of April, 1865, he was soon gladdened by hearing that all the prisoners were to be paroled and sent to City Point, then in the Union lines. The prisoners were sent to Annapolis, Md., and the officers were granted a thirty days leave of absence. He was brevetted Captain for " gallant and meritorious conduct in battle," the commission dating from March 31. Under a general order, issued May 15, all paroled prisoners were directed to be mustered out of the service. Adjt. Watrous was reported killed in the battle of March 31, and had the pleasure of reading handsome obituary notices of himself in the State Journal, Appleton Crescent, Green Bay Advocate and several other Wisconsin papers. While in the army, he corresponded for the Appleton Crescent, State Journal, Washington Chronicle, Indianapolis Journal, Chippewa Falls Union, the Montrose (Penn.) Republican and the Binghamton (N. Y. ) Democrat. Returning to Wisconsin in June, 1865. after taking four days to visit, he bought a half-interest in the Jackson County Banner, at Black River Falls, and resumed his profession. For a year he edited the paper, did the press work, set type, did job work, canvassed, collected and fonght the wolf from the door. In 1866, he was made Superintendent of Schools for Jackson Co., and that fall received the Republican nomination for the Assembly from the district composed of Clark and Jackson Cos., and was elected by a large majority, and was the youngestmember of the House, being 26 years of age. He served on two regular committees, and was a member of a special committee of three to investigate the affairs of the Insane Asylum at Madison. It was while a member of the Legislature that he became a temperance man. In 1868, Gov. Fairchild sent Capt. Watrous a commission as Colonel, and a member of his military family. A similar commission was sent him by the same Governor in 1872, and Gov. Smith has twice commissioned him Colonel. In August, 1869, Col. Watrous, in company with Hon. S. S. Fifield, who has since been Speaker of the Assembly, and a State Senator, and T. B. Reid, Consul to Funchal, bought the Fond du Lac Commonwealth. In 1870, he was the Republican candidate for Congress in his district. Ile remained one of the editors and proprietors of that paper until March, 1876, when he rented his interest to his part- ner, H. M. Kutchin, and a year later sold to the same gentleman. In 1873, Col. Watrous joined the Temple of Honor, a temperance and fraternal society. In 1875, he was chosen Grand Worthy Vice Tem- plar, and September of that year he was made Grand Worthy Templar hy the resignation of Dr. W. A. Gordon, of Oshkosh. He has been unanimously re-elected. by acclamation, every year since, having held the office nearly five years, during which time the Order has grown from ten Temples to 230. In May, 1876, Col. Watrous, seeing the need of a paper to assist him in introducing the Order, of which he was the head, started the Appeal, a six-column monthly. It was enlarged to seven columns the following year, and set in new type. During an experience of three years, the paper cost its proprietor $1,000 more than it returned, but is now on a paying basis. In February, 1870, the Appeal was moved to Milwaukee, given a new dress of smaller type, thus enlarging it to a considerable extent. It is the leading temperance news- paper in the West. In July, 1879, he bought an interest, in the Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph, and, in October following, bought another interest, which gave him an undivided half of the paper, his partner being Col. E. A. Calkins. The two Colonels have the reputation of ranking among the best editors in the

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State. In 1872, Col. Watrous took an active part in organizing the Northern Wisconsin Press Associa- tion, and served two years as its President, being succeeded by A. T. Glaze, of the Ripon Commonwealth. Though engaged in business in Milwaukee, he still resides at Fond du Lac.

JOHN WEBER. merchant tailor ; was born in Hessen in 1834 ; learned his trade in his native country, and came to America in 1854; remained in New York a short time, then moved to Baltimore, Md., whence, in 1858, he came to Fond du Lac, where he has since followed his trade. In 1860, he married Miss Agnes Carstenes, of Fond du Lac ; she was a native of Germany ; they have seven children, as follows-George W. H., Andrew H., Edward (deceased ), Lydia T., Fredrick W., John E. (deceased), and Jacob S. Mr. Weber is a member of the Temple of Honor. His family are members of the Meth- odist Church.

W. F. WEBER, editor, publisher and bookbinder, was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, Oet. 3, 1851, where he learned his trade of bookbinder, after attending the public schools the usual period ; he came to Chicago in September, 1871, where he resided three years; located at Marquette, Mich., six months, and came to Fond du Lie in July, 1874, where he has since carried ou the business of a bookbinder. In March, 1878, Mr. Weber became the editor and proprietor of the Nordwestlicher Courier, a German news- paper, which he has since published. He was married at Ripon, Wis., May 15, 1877, to Matilda Weber, a native of Theresa, Wis .; they have one child-Amelia, living, and have lost one, Josephine. They are members of the German Catholic Church.

JESSE C. WEDGE, Vice President of the Wheel and Seeder Co .; is a native of Lewis Co., N. Y., born in 1821 ; lived there on a farm with his father till about 23 years of age : in 1844, he immigrated to Fond du Lac Co., Wis., and settled on a farm in what is now known as Wedge Prairie in Waupun Township, where he spent about twenty years at farming; from there he came to Fond du Lac, and was interested in various enterprises till 1874, when he with others formed the incorporation known as the Wheel and Seeder Co., with which he has since been connected. In 1854, he married Miss Lovina Bent, daughter of Albert Bent. a farmer of Lewis Co., N. Y. Mr. Wedge has been a Masou sinee 1859.

THOMAS S. WEEKS, gunsmith, was born near Highland Mills, Orange Co., N. Y., and removed to Goshen, when 16 years of age, where he lived until coming to Fond du Lac in 1849, with Samuel B. Amory. He learned the trade of a gunsmith before coming to Fond du Lac, and has followed it continuously ever since, going into business for himself in June, 1860. Mr. Weeks, who is a bachelor, was a member of the Assembly in 1874, and was elected Alderman of the Second Ward in 1877 for three years, but resigned in 1879.

W. H. WELLS, banker ; was born in Orange Co., N. Y. ; resided at Cold Spring and New- burg; was connected with the banking business twenty years before coming to Fond du Lac, where he opened a private bank for the transaction of a general banking and exchange business, in May, 1870.

FREDRICK WEYER, dealer in wines and liquors, ete., No. 17 Division street ; was born in the province of Brandenburg, Prussia, March 19, 1835; in 1852, he emigrated to America, and lived at Cambria, N. Y., about seven years, at the end of which time he came to Fond du Lac ; October, 1861, he enlisted in Co. A, 2d W. V. C., returned in 1863, and served until the spring of 1866, when he was honorably discharged at Austin, Tex .; he participated in a number of severe engagements, the principal oues being at llelena, Ark., Vicksburg, and a series of battles around that place and Memphis. Mr. Weyer has been married twice, first wife was Annie Kramer, she died March 28, 1870; present wife was Eliza Dienger ; one child-Freddie ; Mr. W. has been in business in Fond du Lie since 1867. In politics, he is a Republican.

JACOB WHEELER, foreman ou third floor in Meyer's sash, door and blind factory, is a native of Vermont; born in 1830: learned his trade in his native county, and in 1854, emigrated to Berlin, Wis., where he followed the sash, door and blind manufactory till 1863, whence he went to Eureka, Wis., and continued it for one year; in October, 1864, eame to Fond du Lac, and began work for Mr. Meyer in his factory ; in 1865. he became foreman of sash, door and blind work and has remained in that position since that time. He married Miss Mary Smith, daughter of John F. Smith, boot and shoe manufacturer of Hubbardton, Rutland Co., Vt., April 26, 1851 ; they have had two sons- Frank B., deceased, and Freddie.

REV. L. N. WHEELER, Presiding Elder of the Fond du Lac District; was born at Waukesha, Wis., Feb. 28, 1839 ; came to Fond du Lac in 1845 ; three years later, his father, Truman Wheeler, was killed while securing timber for the grist- mill frame erected back of the Court House; his mother died here in 1857. Mr. Wheeler was educated at the Union School in this city; received the degree of A. M. from Lawrence University in 1878; learned the printer's trade with Royal Buck ; was foreman of a printing office for some time ; published the Omro Republican one year ; was then licensed

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to preach in the M. E. Church, and appointed to the Two Rivers Circuit, which included most Manitowoc Co., and a part of Kewaunee, where he remained one year ; at Byron two years ; Empire two years ; Sheboy- gan uearly a year, and in 1865, was appointed missionary to China ; did there general mission work, and super- intended the mission press of Foo-Chow ; for some time, while at Foo-Chow, China, he edited an Anglo- Chinese magazine ; his health failing, he removed to Peking, where, as the first M. E. missionary, he remained for four years ; his health still failing, he returned home via Japan and California, thus completing the circuit of the world ; after his return, Mr. W. was stationed two years at Manitowoc ; two years at Lake Mills, Wis. ; two years at Court Street Church, Janesville ; appointed, in the fall of 1878, Presiding Elder of the Fond du Lac District ; while at Manitowoc, MI. W. was active during the war in raising recruits, making speeches, and was commissioned by the Governor, Captain of a militia company. He was married at Oshkosh, Nov. 20, 1857, to Mary E. Davis, boro at Gouverneur, N. Y., Sept. 24, 1828 ; they have five children-Frances Irene, Carrie Ada, Aggie May, Lucy E. and Laura Maud; they lost four children in infancy.

HENRY T. WHINFIELD. salesman in Whittelsey's dry-goods store, was born in Wisbech, England in 1839, shortly after which his parents removed to London, thence to America in 1846, and settled at Taychcedah, Fond du Lac Co., Wis. ; thence to Fond du Lac in 1848, where he lived on a farm for a few years ; in 1853, he entered Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wis., where he remained as a student till 1856 ; returning to Fond du Lac, he was clerk in T. B. Mason's tea store for the next three years ; in 1859, he returned to Taycheedah and taught school for two winters; thence to Fond du Lac again for eight years, being elerk in a dry-goods store for Sewell Bros .; in 1869, by invitation he formed a copartner- ship with Carswell & Mason, dealers in dry goods, carpets, etc., which lasted one year ; after its dissolution he clerked one year for C. J. Pettibone ; then with John Sewell, afterward Carswell & Sewell, till the summer of 1878 ; when the firm was dissolved he became salesman in Whittelsey's dry-goods store. He was married to Miss Jemima Howe, daughter of J. E. Howe, farmer, of Geneva Lake, in 1868. They had two children-Fredrick and an infant, both of whou are deceased ; Mrs. Whinfield died Nov. 21, 1876.

SAMUEL WHITMORE, farmer, See. 5; P. O. Fond du Lac ; is a son of Thomas and Amy Whitmore, of Leicestershire, England, and was born in 1818. At the age of 13, he was put to work on a farm by his father, who was a carpenter and joiner in that country, but preferred to have his son to be a farmer ; Samuel continued his agricultural vocation in his native country till 1847, when in January he with his wife and child set sail for America, and landed in New Orleans the 15th of March following, reaching Fond du Lac Co, one month later, with only sixpence in his pocket to support his little family ; his reso- lution, stimulated by the necessities of his loved ones, soon found him something to do; removing his fam- ily to a small shanty on his brother's farm, he worked by the day till he was able to buy that pioneer necessity-the cow-from which his wife, by churning the milk with a spoon, made and sold one hundred pounds of butter within the year ; by the year 1850 he had saved enough money to pay his brother $200 for 80 acres of land in Sec. 5, town of Fond du Lac, where he has since lived and continued as an honest farmer, who now enjoys the reward of his many years of toil. Oct. 12, 1845, he was married to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of James and Sarah Gamble, of Leicestershire, England, who has shared his toils and pleasures through life thus far ; they had six children-Sarah A. ( Mrs. V. Pitcher, of Fond du Lac, deceased , Jay ( deceased ), Mary (now Mrs. Nelson Vandervoort. of Fond du Lac), George, William and Samuel. Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore are members of the Methodist Church.

P. J. WICKERT, proprietor meat market; was born in Prussia Jan. 17, 1843 ; came directly to Fond du Lac in October, 1865, and engaged in C. J. L. Meyer's factory; in the spring of 1879, he began his present business. Ile was married in Fond du Lac, Feb. 8, 1868, to Margaretta Terners, a native of Prussia; they have one child, Amelia, born Nov. 20, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. W. are members of the German Evangelical Church.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 135

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