The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 161

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

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DAVID GIDDINGS, farmer. Secs. 29 and 30; is a son of Joshua Giddings and Abigail Cogswell, of Ipswich, Essex Co., Mass ; born in 1808; his father was a tanner by trade, but devoted much of his life to farming, with whom David pursued the same voeation till about 19 years of age, when he became proprietor of a variety store in Ipswich, which continued for seven years; in 1835, he came to Chicago, thence, with three comrades in a skiff to Milwaukee, where they found Mr. Juneau, the trader, as the ouly settler ; after spending about a fortnight here, he went to Green Bay and spent much of his time in surveying Government lands in that and other counties ; in June, 1836, he, in company with a number of surveyors-Colwert Pier, Mrs. Robins, her nephew and others, came down in a Durham boat

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from Green Bay to Fond du Lac ; Mr. Pier and wife settled at Fond du Lac, and the surveyors passed on to the southern part of this and the northern part of Dodge Co., where they spent from June till September at their work, and saw only one white man aside from their company during that time ; in 1837, he went to Sheboygan and purchased a half-interest in a lumber-mill at Sheboygan Falls, where he was engaged in the lumber trade till 1865; disposing of his lumber business at that time, he purchased a farm of 600 acres in Sees. 29 and 30. town of Empire, and removed thither ; he now has 407 acres, having sold the rest to some of his neighbors. In June, 1842, he married Miss Dorothy, daughter of Deacon William and Dorothy Trowbridge, nee Chapin, of Worcester, Mass .; they have had three children, as follows : Howard, of Sheboygan Falls; Clara ( deceased), George, of the firm of DeGroat & Giddings, of Fond du Lac. Mr. Giddings was one of the first settlers of Sheboygan Co., and took an active part in all affairs pertaining to the general welfare of that county while a resident there, and he has been none the less active in all such pertaining to this county, since his identification with its citizens.

D .P. GILTNER (deceased ), was a son of Jaeob and Mary Giltner, and a native of Ithaca, Tompkins Co., N. Y., born Jan. 14, 1814; being the son of a farmer, he spent most of his boyhood at that calling ; at the age of 16, he removed to Tioga Co., N. Y., where he was engaged more or less in the lumber trade till 1846. In 1840, he married Miss Hester M., daughter of Hallack and Lydia Smith. of Chemung Co., that State. In 1846, they emigrated to the town of Empire, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., com- ing in via the lakes and Sheboygan, where they waited three days for a team to convey them to their des- tination, having only $5 in his pocket when he reached Wisconsin, and only $1 when he reached his brother's, and that he lost in a few days after, so it may be said that he reached his future home penni- less ; they lived with his brother for about one year, or until they got their house finished, in which they afterward kept tavern; it was here that the first railroad meeting was held in Fond du Lac Co., an account of which is given in the article on railroads, though it will not be out of place to state here that Mrs. Giltner cooked a barrel of eggs for dinner that day, and fed eighty guests; they kept hotel for seven years, after which he turned his attention to farming till his death, April 12, 1871. They have a son and daughter-George L. and Mary F., both of whom were born in New York. Their house was often used for church service in those days, and when they had no service there, they often walked three or four miles to church ; Mrs. Giltner is a member of the Baptist Church; her daughter of the Episcopal Church.

NELSON E. HILLEBERT, farmer; is the second son of Eleazor and Laura Hilbert, nee Comstock, of Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., born Dec. 25, 1838; in 1848, he, with parents, removed to Fond du Lac Co., and settled in the town of Waupun. Jan 1, 1863, he married Miss Addie, daughter of William and Cynthia Johnson, nee Wheeler, of that town, though native of Herkimer Co., N. Y., who emigrated from there in 1849; they have had six children, four daughters and two sons-Mary E., Jennie, George E .. Charles H. (deceased ), Viola E. and an infant daughter not yet named. In 1865, be removed to the city of Fond du Lac, where he was engaged in the saw-milling business most of the time till the spring of 1879, when he removed to Mr. Griffith's farm in the town of Empire. Mr. H. has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since 1868.

FRANCIS J. ISAAC. farmer, Sec. 17; son of Martin and Mary Isaac, of the Province of Rhine, Germany, born March 3, 1823. Francis was educated according to the school system of his native country, and at the age of 17 was apprentieed to the cabinet-maker's trade ; in 1847, he came to America. landing in New York ; thence direct to Milwaukee, where he continued his trade for one and a half years ; he then bought a farm seven miles southwest of the city of Milwaukee, where he followed farming for three years; in 1851, he disposed of his farm and removed to the town of Marshfield, Fond du Lac Co., where he owned a farm of' eighty acres; living there for twelve years, he purchased a farm of ninety aeres in Sec. 17, forty of which he has given to his son. In 1847, he married Miss Jennie C., daughter of Peter and Katie Schreiner, of the Rhine Province; they have five children-Annie, Hobert, Joseph, Inglebert and Katie. Members of the St. Mary's Catholic Church. Mr. I. is Justice of the Peace of the town of Empire ; he held the same office in the town of Marshfield for nine years.

WILLET JOHNSON, farmer ; Secs. 29 and 30 ; is a native of America, Dutchess Co., N. Y .; born about 1831 ; his parents both dying when he was quite young, he was placed under the care of a guardian, whose treatment of him was such that at the age of 11 he was forced to seek a new home : this he did by finding employment with some of the neighboring farmers of that county till about 17 years old : in July, 1849, with barely money enough (and that his own earnings) to pay his expenses, he started for Wisconsin ; reaching Fond du Lac Co., he began working at farm labor for Mr. Briggs, with whom he continued for one year ; for the next two years he was in the employ of Mr. A. T. Germond, at $10 per month ; after this followed clearing up pieces of land for farmers in the neighborhood ; by these contracts he gained money enough to purchase a yoke of oxen and a plow ; in 1853 he purchased an eighty-acre tract

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of raw land, which he began to improve ; he went up in the pineries with his ox team and worked for $1 per day for Mr. Meiklejohn, till he paid for enough lumber to build his first house ; in 1863 he disposed of that farm and bought his present one of eighty acres of Mr. David Giddings. In 1852 he married Miss Sarah, daughter of Edward Davis, of Fond du Lac, she being a native of Canada West ; they have three children, as follows: Louisa, now Mrs. Arthur Maxin, of Fond du Lac ; Elizabeth and Albert E. Such is a short life-history of one who began the world almost friendless, but, by his perseverance and hon- est industry, stands a worthy example for all such unfortunate young men.

RICHARD KAYE, farmer ; Secs. 23, 24 and 25; was born in Yorkshire, England, March 8, 1829 ; is the son of Abraham and Mary Kaye ; his mother, a woman of rare Christian virtues, was not long spared him, having died in England when he was a mere boy, but his father lived to a good old age; In 1841, he, with his father, immigrated to Racine Co., Wis., and settled at Burlington, whence in the spring of 1848, they removed to the town of Empire, where Richard now owns a farm of 240 acres in the above-named sections ; here his father died Jan. 29, 1875. Feb. 2, 1852, he was married to Miss Olive, daughter of Obadiah and Nancy Putney, nee Strader, a native of Canada, but her husband of New York State ; Mrs. Kaye was born in Lisbon, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1850, and they have four children-Mary I., now Mrs. Joseph F. Steen, of Fond du Lac; Edwin S., Frank W., Anna M

ALANSON P. LYONS, farmer, Sec 9; is a son of the pioneers of this town, David and Sarah Lyons; A. P., was born in Tioga Co., N. Y., in 1834 ; came with his parents to the town of Empire and lived with them till abont 26 years of age, when he bought a farm of 120 acres in Sec. 9. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. I, of the 5th W. V. I., but was discharged at Madison on account of sickness, after three month's service. Dec. 27, 1863, he married Miss Emerette T., daughter of William T. and Mary A. Banning. of the town of Empire, but a native of Connecticut ; they have three children-Herbert E., Edward S. and Ula G.

DAVID LYONS, farmer, Sec. 29; was born in Tioga Co., N. Y., Dec. 21, 1809 ; he is the son of Justice and Annie Lyons, natives of Orange Co., N. Y., who immigrated to Tioga Co. soon after their marriage; David spent much of his time on his father's farm till 20 years of age, when, for his faithful- ness, and as an expression of' paternal affection his father give him a farm of fifty acres in that county, on which he spent a short time and then removed to a farm belonging to his wife ; in 1843, he with his fam- ily emigrated to MeHenry Co., Ill., remaining there over winter; in the summer of 1844 he came to Fond du Lac Co., and was the first man to settle on what is known as the Ledge in the town of Empire ; not having means enough to pay the express on a chest of household goods and bureau from MeHenry Co. to Milwaukee, they were compelled to do without many of the essentials to even a pioneer home, till he, with his whole family, could, by working for $1 per day, earn enough money to defray the expense on the goods ; he rented the Conklin mill during the years of 1845-46, from which the neighbors for miles around were able to get flour for their daily bread, it being the first mill in that section of the country, though during the winter of 1846-47 the water failed and the people were compelled to resort to the faith- fol coffee-mill as the only means by which they could get their wheat ground. In 1830, he was married to Miss Harriet, daughter of William and Lydia Ellis, of Tioga Co., N. Y., who died in February, 1831, leaving one son-Ranson E , now of Monroe Co., Wis .; some months after ( though during the same year ), his first wife died, he married Miss Sarah, daughter of John and Deborah Hannah, of Tioga Co., N. Y .; they have four children-A. P. and George of Empire ; Deborah A., Mrs. S. M. White, of Salem Co., Wis., and William T., of Crete. Neb.

THOMAS MAYHEW (deceased ). He was a son of John and Sarah Mayhew ( nee Church), of' Amenia, Dutchess Co. N. Y. ; born in 1815; he spent his early life on his father's farm in that county ; was educated in the common schools; when about 15 years of age, he went to live with a widow lady in that county, with whom he made his home till 1839, when, Sept. 20 of that year, he married Miss Betsey A., daughter of David and Abby Collar (nee Kedney ), of Dover, Dutchess Co., soon after which he began farming for himself, and continued till 1846, when he returned to the widow lady's farm and managed that for four years, whence, in 1850, they removed to Fond du Lac Co., Wis., and pur- chased a farm of 120 acres in Secs. 33, 34 and 28, where he made his home till his death, May 24, 1872, leaving a widow, by whom he had four children-George N. (deceased in 1852), Eliza R. (now Mrs. Arthur Olmsted, of the town of Fond du Lac), Henrietta ( now Mrs. William Benning, of the town of Fond du Lac), Ella (now Mrs. Sanford Pease, of the town of Fond du Lac). Mrs. Mayhew is a mem- ber of the M. E. Church.

JOHN MEIKLEJOHN, farmer, Sees. 22, 23, 14 and 15; a native of Putnam, Washing- ton Co., N. Y., though of Scotch descent, his father, Andrew Meiklejohn, being a native of that country,

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but his mother. Elizabeth Easton, being a native of Putnam, Washington Co., N. Y .; John was born in 1823, and spent most of his boyhood attending district school, and at work on his father's farm ; in September, 1846, he came to Fond du Lae Co., Wis., to try the wilds of the then " Far West," learn what pioneer life was, and to seenre for himself and family a Western home; he bought a farm of eighty aeres, and was one among the first settlers of the town of Empire; time and labor have changed his rude pioneer house into a fine, commodious briek residenee, his small farm of 80 acres to one of 265 aeres, with all the eon- veniences of a first-class farm, and the writer learned from the neighbors that Mr. Meiklejohn is regarded by them as one of the exemplary men and farmers of the county. He has represented his town for four years in the County Board, and, in all other affairs of publie enterprise and interest, he is one of the first of his town-liberal in his views and with his money, though practicing economy where needed, using his judgment when a thing is presented, as to its merits or demerits. In 1846, he married Miss Julia A., daughter of James and Betsey Nims, of Fort Ann, Washington Co., N. Y .; their children are Warren, Ruth (deceased ), James W. (of Columbia Co., Wis.), Charles, Mary J., Albert and Julia. Mrs. M. is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

GEORGE OTTERY, farmer, Sees. 20 and 21 ; is a son of William and Elizabeth Ottery (nee Brooks), born in Draycott, Somersetshire, England, May 1, 1822; though unfortunate in literary advantages, having received a very limited education, he laeked none of that resolution and determination of purpose which, when joined with honest industry, is most sure of success ; at the age of 13, he began farm laboring, which he steadily continued there till the spring of 1846, when he set sail for America, with the intention of making his home upon some of its hroad acres; landing in New York May 14, he went to Cayuga Co., where he remained one and a half years ; not yet having reached his goal or found the objeet of his search, he came to Wisconsin in the fall of 1847, and, with his brother William, purchased a farm of 180 acres in Sees. 20 and 24, town of Forest, Fond du Lac Co. ; making his home at Neenah, Wis., till 1849, he returned to Cayuga Co., N. Y., where, in October, 1850, he married Miss Ann, daughter of William and Hannah Kelley, and eame again to his farm in the town of Forest, which he made his home till 1876. when he sold that and bought his present one of 153 acres in Sees. 20 and 21, town of Empire. They have had five sons-Henry (deceased), Edwin I., Albert G. (deceased ), Albert G .. Jr. ( deeeased ), Herbert G. Mrs. Ottery is a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Ottery is no politieian, but takes quite an interest in educational affairs ; he has served ten years as a member of the School Board as Clerk.

FREDRICK M. PHELPS, farmer, Sees. 28 and 29; a native of the Green Mountain State ; born at Alburgh Springs, Grand Isle Co., Vt., Feb. 6, 1837, and, from his history, the writer judges him to have some of that enterprising spirit which is characteristic of the people of Vermont ; he is the son of Benajah S. Phelps and Asenith Fletcher, who were natives of that State, but immigrants to Wiseonsin in 1855 ; having a desire to work at machinery, at the age of 16 he entered upon an appren- ticeship at the machinist trade in the shops of the Lake Shore R. R. Co. ; remaining with the Company till 1856, he went to Mississippi and engaged as an engineer on a passenger train over the Mississippi Central for three years; he was next employed as master mechanie of the Northern Division of the Mubile R. R. for three years; during the battle of Pittsburg Landing, he was sent by Gen. Grant to run engines on that road out of the reach of the enemy ; in the attempt, one of his engines broke down, and he was taken prisoner and held at Columbus, Miss., as such for six months ; being released, he reported to Gen. Grant, and was appointed master mechanie of the military road at Wilmington, N. C , and early in the spring of 1866, he was sent to take charge of the military railroad on the border of the Rio Grande River, Texas ; he resigned this position in June of that year and entered the Mexican Army ; here he was soon commissioned Major of Engineers on the staff of Caravajal ; was in the campaign that captured Maxi- milian ; returned to Texas in the early part of 1867. and was appointed inspector of the port at Brazos, Santiago. Holding this position for three months, the yellow fever broke out there, and he resigned and returned to Fond du Lae, and has since devoted his time to farming and stock-raising, making a specialty of fine horses ; he has a farm of 160 acres in Sees. 28 and 29, probable value $60 per acre. In 1863, he married Miss Christina, daughter of Benjamin Long, of Jacksonville, Ill .; they have one daughter- Mary. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

JOHN H. SHOEMAKER, farmer, See. 8; was born in Tioga Co., N. Y .. April 12, 1840 ; is the son of George N. and Eveline Shoemaker ; in 1849, he, with parents, came to Fond du Lae Co., and settled in the town of Taycheedah, where they lived till 1864, at which time they sold that and bought this one in Sec. S; in 1877, his parents removed to the city of Fond du Lac and gave up the farm to John H. In 1878, married Miss Belle, daughter of Peter and Ann Ferguson, of the town of Empire, but a native of Scotland ; they have one daughter-Jessie May, born July 11, 1879. Mrs. Shoemaker

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is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Shoemaker enlisted in Co. A, of the 18th W. V. I., March 1, 1862 ; was with the Army of the Tennessee in the battle of Pittsburg Landing and Mission Ridge ; was discharged by special order from War Department Dec. 13, 1863.

J. CLARK WELLS. farmer.

HENRY WESTERVELT, farmer, See. 32; is a son of Cornelius C. and Rebecca West- ervelt, natives of Ilolland, but early immigrants to Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., N. Y., where Ilenry was born March 7, 1820 ; he received a common-school education in the schools of the city, and at the age of 10, preferring the life of a farmer to that of a blacksmith-his father's trade-he sought employ of the neighboring farmers ; this he continued there till about 17 years of age, when his father died in Wayne Co., N. Y., one day after his removal to that county ; his stepmother-his mother having died when he was only 2 years old-sent for him to come aud help take care of the family. In 1843, he married Miss Sarah A., daughter of Robert and Marietta Patrick, of Wayne Co., N. Y., and in the spring of 1845, with his wife and son Cornelius C., immigrated to Wisconsin and settled in the town of Empire, on a quarter-section of land which his brother, John W., who had preceded him, entered from the Government, and hoped to have a house built by the time Henry arrived with his family, but having only the logs laid up, and it being impossible to get lumber to cover it, they got a few basswood boards and placed one end of them on the upper log of one side of the house and rested the other on a shelf on the opposite side, thus forming a roof which answered well enough in dry weather, and when it rained the father would take the son in his arms and hold the umbrella over him, while the mother would wrap up in a bed-quilt and keep dry as best she could ; this house, 16 by 24 feet, was, for a short time in the spring of 1846, the home of four families-those of Messrs. Vale, Cogswell, Jewell and Platt. Mr. Westervelt has since been a prominent resident of the town of Empire, and at differen times has held various offices in the town and county, among them Justice of the Peace and a member of the County Board; he now owns 100 acres in Sec. 32, town of Empire, and twenty acres in Sec. 4, town of Eden ; they had only two children-the son as above named, and one daughter, Mrs. Alfred Jennings, of Empire.

BENJAMIN WHITE, farmer; is a son of Ethan and Meyra White, nee Northrop, of Washington, Dutchess Co., N. Y .; born in 1833 ; his father being an extensive farmer in that county ; Benjamin was early impressed with the idea that industry and attentiveness to business were essentials to success; his mother, a woman of rare Christian virtues, did not fail to impress upon his mind those lessons of honesty and integrity which have characterized all his business transactions through life; in the spring of 1852, he started for Wisconsin, and landed in the town of Empire April 13, where he purchased a farm of 160 acres, on which he made his home till 1874, whence he removed to another farm of 200 aeres- 160 of which is in the town of Eden and forty in the town of Empire-he, however, retains his first farm of 160 acres ; here he makes a specialty of blooded stock, especially cattle, of which he sold four in 1876, which brought him just $700, and in the following year he sold a milch cow which weighed 1,700 pounds. Mr. White is regarded as one of the most successful farmers of his neighborhood; his motto has always been, " do well what you do do;" he has never been an office-seeker, and has never taken a very active part in political affairs, though his creed is Republican. In 1849, he married Miss Harriet, daughter of J. and Clarissa Briggs, of Washington, Dutchess Co., N. Y .; they had two daughters-Hannah A., now Mrs. F. C. Carpenter, of Fond du Lac; Hattie E., now Mrs. J. W. Cooper, of Plymouth, Sheboygan Co. Mrs. White is a member of the M. E. Church of Empire.

ROBERT WILLIS, farmer, See. 26; is of the sturdy old England descent ; is the son of Peter and Sarah Willis. nee Coombs, of Somersetshire, England ; born June 10, 1818; his father's means being quite limited, Robert was early put to do what he could to earn something so that the burden of the family might fall lighter on his father ; when he was about 10 or 11 years old he was employed to scare the erows from the farmers' corn-fields and to watch the cattle as they grazed upon the meadows ; at the age of 15 he was employed at farm labor, for which he received about $15 per year ; these earn- ings he carefully saved and by constant toil he gradually increased. April 2, 1844, he married Miss Louisa, daughter of John and Mary Amesbury, nee Parsons, of Somersetshire, England, and in just six years after, April 11, 1850, set sail for America, and landed in New York May 12 following; he followed laboring on a farm in that State for little more than three years ; during his stay in York State he sent for his wife and two daughters, whom he left in England because he had not means enough to bring them at the time be came over; in October, 1853, they immigrated to Iroquois Co., Ill., where he remained eighteen months, thence to the town of Empire, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., in 1855, and purchased eighty acres of land-the west half of the southwest quarter of Sec. 26-where he has since devoted his time to agricultural pursuits ; they have had six children, as follows-Mary E., now Mrs. Peter Stage, of Car- roll Co., Ill. ; Sarah L., now Mrs. James H. Dyson, of Montgomery Co., Iowa ; Thomas, who married

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Miss Josephina Meiklejohn, of the town of Empire; Robert J. and two infants (deceased ). Mr. and Mrs. Willis are members of the M. E. Church. Politically, he is a Republican. He also has twenty acres of land off the west side of the northeast quarter of Sec. 34.

GEORGE E. WRIGHT, farmer, Sec. 22; son of Robert Wright and Jane Cummings ; his father was a native of England, and his mother of Washington Co., N. Y. His father immigrated to America about the year 1808, and settled in the town of Putnam, Washington Co., where he afterward married, and where his son George was born Nov. 30, 1821. The educational facilities being quite limited and George being the son of a farmer, he was compelled to get his education by attending a dis- triet school only three months in the year, and then had a certain amount of work to do every morning before walking a distance of three or four miles, to the schoolhouse. At the age of 22, he began running a canal-boat on the Lake Champlain & Hudson Canal, which he continued for a few years, then took charge of his father's farm in Washington Co., N. Y., which he managed until 1848; in that year he immigrated to Fond du Lac Co., Wis., and settled on a farm of 120 acres in Sec. 22, town of Empire. June 3, 1857, he married Miss Agnes B. Wager, daughter of William and Mary Ryan, nee McGrath. Her mother, after the death of Mr. Ryan married Mr. Wager, and Agnes, being young, went by the name of Wager instead of Ryan. They have had six children-Jennie E., Mary E., Georgia A., Nannie B., Robert W., Bessie (deceased ). Mr. W. has been a member of the Town Board for a number of years ; politically, he is a Republican.

BYRON TOWNSHIP,

WELLINGTON ABBY, See. 20, P. O Byron; born in Canada West in 1840; son of Mary and Abner Abby, a earpenter and joiner and farmer ; he was educated in the public schools; in the year 1850, went to Sheboygan Co., Wis, and, in 1852, came to Fond du Lac Co .; from that time he lived part of the time in Canada and part in this county, until 1861, when he joined Co. A, 14th W. V. I., and went to war and served through the entire war; was mustered out in 1865. Married in Byron, in the spring of 1866, to Estella L., daughter of Louisa and Russell Watrous, a carpenter and joiner living in Oakfield. He owns 120 acres of land, valued at $50 per acre. They have three children-Gaorge W., Burt and Edith M. Mr. A. is politically a Greenbacker.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 161

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