USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume V > Part 16
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Since his retirement from the army, General King has continued to maintain his home in Milwaukee, secure in the love and the admiration of the entire state and known through America not less for his brilliant military career than for his virile writings in the field of fiction. "While he emphatically disavows all literary traditions and declares that his labors in this field were inspired solely by the motive of 'making one woman happy,' and giving his son and daughters proper educational ad- vantages, which would be impossible by any other means within his com-
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mand, the strong human interests, the swift movement, and the delicate sympathy and tender pathos of his stories are sufficient proof of the fact that liis work is done with a genuine heart interest, and not as a perfunc- tory task. 'Between the Lines' and 'The General's Double' are General King's favorites of the scores of stories which he has given to the public. His first story was 'Kitty's Conquest,' and was written in the '70s. This was regarded by its author as a passing whim, a pastime to relieve the monotony of an officer's life in a frontier post. This was published in the United Service Magazine of Philadelphia, and immediately attracted favorable attention. This initial story was followed in 1881 by the stir- ring romance first called 'Winning His Spurs,' but later issued in book form as 'The Colonel's Daughter.' Then Mr. Alden, the venerable edi- tor of Harper's Magazine, reached out for the work of the young mili- tary novelist, and secured the charming stories, 'A War-Time Wooing,' and 'Between the Lines.' "'
Virtually all of the literary work of General King has been along the line of experiences in army life, and he is still in command of his forces in this field of work,-a domain in which he has gained high and enduring reputation. Altogether his writings number over sixty. and besides those already mentioned are the following: "Famous and Deci- sive Battles," "Marion's Faith," "Captain Blake." "The Iron Brigade," "A Conquering Corps Badge," "Medal of Honor." His is a strong and noble personality and in the twilight of his active career he may feel assured that he is one to whom it has been given to approach more nearly than the average person, the castle of his dreams, hopes and aspirations.
General King has membership in many social and military orders. including the Loyal Legion, Army of the Potomac, Veterans and Indian Wars, Foreign Wars, Army of the Philippines. etc. His clubs are the Army and Navy at Washington, the United Service, the Delta Phi at New York, the Milwaukee, and the Old Settlers at Milwaukee.
It is needless to say that the home life of General King has been one of ideal character, and to him home has ever been a sanctuary, a place loved and inviolable. On November 20, 1872, he married Miss Adelaide Lavander Yorke, a daughter of Captain Louis S. Yorke, of Carroll Parish, Louisiana. The glamour of romance attended the meeting and mutual attraction of General and Mrs. King. and the passing of years has done nothing to obliterate this, as they have been one in hope and interest and have found their lives crowned with a goodly share of those things which represent the highest and best in the scheme of human existence. They have three surviving children: The eldest Carolyn M .. married Doctor Donald Ross MacIntyre and with their children they are residents of Gwinn, Michigan ; the next in age. Elinor Yorke, mar- ried Mr. Charles John Simeon of Cheltenham. England. The youngest. Rufus, the only son, is a graduate of St. John's Military Academy at Delafield, and of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, is now
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a distinguished young officer in our Navy, and in 1911 was united in marriage to Miss Helen C. Crosby, youngest daughter of Mr. Warren Jefferson Crosby of Norfolk, Virginia.
MARSHALL COUSINS is the son of Henry and Louisa (Preston) Cous- ins, and has lived in Eau Claire all of his life for he was born in this city. Henry Cousins was born in Mayville, Chautauqua county, New York, in 1821, and in the early fifties he came west and settled in Wis- consin, at East Troy in Walworth county. He was a lawyer by profes- sion and after his admission to the Wisconsin bar, he was in active prac- tice in East Troy until 1858. At this time he was elected county clerk and was consequently forced to move to the county seat. He lived in Elkhorn, which was the county seat during his several terms as county clerk and then came the Civil war. An enthusiastic believer that the Union must be preserved and that the Confederacy was fighting for wrong principles, Mr. Cousins was among the first to offer his services. He raised a company of men and was elected captain of the company, but the examining surgeon pronounced him disqualified and he was not able to serve.
After this disappointment he located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and became a practicing lawyer once more. From then until the time of his death, with the exception of a year and a half which he spent in Tucson, Arizona, as register of government lands, he was one of the prominent attorneys of Eau Claire. He held a number of public positions. For several terms he was district attorney in Eau Claire and he also served the city as alderman and supervisor. He was elected a member of the state legislature and was re-elected several times. He married Louisa Preston in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and two children were born of this union, Marshall Cousins and his sister, Mary, who is the wife of James T. Joyce, vice-president of the Union National Bank of Eau Claire.
Mrs. Cousins, a daughter of Honorable Otis Preston, who was long prominent in public affairs in Walworth county, was born in White Pigeon, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and is still living. Mr. Preston was one of the organizers of the Walworth County Fair some sixty years ago. This has developed, by degrees, into one of the great county fairs of the country.
Mrs. Cousins, like her late husband, takes a deep interest in public matters and is interested in the work of the charity organizations and the Women's Club.
Henry Cousins died on the 25th of October, 1888, at sixty-seven years of age.
Marshall Cousins was educated in Eau Claire and at his father's death took charge of the estate. At an early age he entered into the banking business by accepting a position as collector with the Bank of Eau Claire, of which bank Honorable Wm. A. Rust was then president. July 1st,
Um Forrance
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1906, the Bank of Eau Claire merged with the Chippewa Valley Bank under the name of the Union National Bank. Mr. Cousins at this time is cashier of this bank, the capital of which is $200,000.
He served with the Third Wisconsin Infantry, in the Spanish-Ameri- can War, participating in the Porto Rican campaign under General Miles, and was wounded in the battle of Coamo. During the war he served as a Battalion Adjutant, with rank of first Lieutenant. He is now Regimental Adjutant with rank of Captain Third Infantry, under Colonel Orlando Holway.
He served a term in the State Legislature and for many years has been a Fire and Police Commissioner. In politics he is a Republican and reads the New York Sun. He is interested in a number of busi- ness enterprises, both in Wisconsin and other states. He is a stock- holder in several banking institutions.
Mr. Cousins is a member of the Eau Claire Lodge No. 112, Anciest Free and Accepted Masons; of Eau Claire Chapter No. 36, Royal Arch Masons; Eau Claire Commandry No. 8, Knights Templars; of the Wis- consin Consistory. He is a member of Tripoli Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; of the Knights of Pythias; of the Order of Elks, having served in that organization as Treasurer for many years. He is a member of the Hoo Hoos and of the United Spanish War Veterans. He is a charter member of the Eau Claire Club and now holds position as secretary and treasurer.
WILLIAM TORRANCE, of the firm of John Torrance & Son, he be- ing the son, has been identified with this business since 1877, when his father assumed charge of the business of the old firm of Leech & Paul, foundrymen of this city. In addition to his connection with business activities of the place, Mr. Torrance has taken an able and prominent position in the municipal and civic workings of the city. and his life has been one of the utmost value to his community. He is the son of Seotch parents, and was born January 24, 1857, in Airdrie, Kentucky, his parents being John and Isabella (Johnson) Torrance.
Concerning these worthy people, it may be said that John Tor- rance was the son of Gaven Torrance, and he was born in Lanarkshire, Seotland, on January 1, 1833, and there received his education. In Glasgow he learned the trade of a moulder, and in that city he worked at his trade until 1852, when he emigrated to America and located in Troy, New York. He remained in that city but six months, and then went direct to Delhi, Delaware, where for six months he was employed in the machine shops of the place. Returning to Troy at the end of that time, he was for two years located in that eity, after which he went to Airdrie, Kentucky, and worked at his trade until 1858. In that year he made his way to the middle west and located in Houston county, Minnesota, but his stay there was a short
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one. In the spring of 1859 he located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and from then until now his family has been identified with the place. He secured work in the foundry there operated by Leech & Paul, and his ability in his work soon won for him a promotion to the foremanship of the foundry, in which capacity he continued until 1863. In that year he started a foundry on his own responsibility, locating at the foot of State street, and in association with Archibald Gould, the firm name being Torrance & Gould. In 1865 the shop was burned, the structure being a frame one, and the business was aban- doned. Mr. Torrance again entered the employment of Leech & Paul, and subsequently worked with C. C. & E. G. Smith, and also with Thornley & James. In 1877, in company with his son, he estab- lished the present business, known as John Torrance & Son, which, guided for many years by the experience of the elder Torrance, together with his most worthy business qualifications, reached a place where it now ranks among the leading foundry and machine shops in the city.
Mr. Torrance was married in Delhi, New York, January 3, 1852, to Miss Isabella Johnson, the daughter of William and Mary Johnson, and six children were born to them, named as follows: Isabella, Mary, William, Nettie, John, Annie and May, the latter named being now deceased, death claiming her in August, 1880. The mother died on November 14, 1866, in Evansville, Indiana. In 1876, Mr. Torrance crossed the Atlantic ocean for the third time, and while in Edinburgh he was married to Miss Mary Gibson, nee Patterson, in May of that year. Mr. Torrance died in 1897, a member of the Universalist church and of the Masonic Order, in which he was affiliated with the Knights Templar and other bodies.
William Torrance was the third child born to his parents. He received a somewhat meager education in the schools of the commu- nity in which he was reared, and as a youth he served a full appren- ticeship in the foundry of Leech & Paul. When his father died, years after having established the business of John Torrance & Son, Wil- liam Torrance carried on the foundry under the same name, and the firm is still known by that honored title today.
Mr. Torrance is a man of considerable popularity in La Crosse, and has been particularly active in public life. He is a Democrat and has taken a live interest in the work of the party since he reached the years of manhood. He has given worthy service to La Crosse as an official of the highest order, serving first as alderman from 1892 to 1898; as mayor of the city from 1903 to 1907, and he has also served for three years as supervisor. Again in 1911 he was elected to the board of aldermen, and is now filling that office. He was president of the Board of Trustees of the County Asylum for six years, and in 1908 was appointed Police and Fire Commissioner
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of the City of La Crosse, serving one term under the new law requir- ing five members instead of four. He was named as the fifth member of the board now serving. Mr. Torrance was one of the organizers of the La Crosse Bridge & Steel Company, also of the German-Amer- ican Bank, now merged with the Batavia National Bank, with both of which he has been honorably and prominently connected.
Mr. Torrance is a member of the Universalist church, as was his father before him, and since 1900 he has been a Mason of the thirty- second degree. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yeomen.
On September 7, 1885, Mr. Torrance was married in the city of La Crosse to Miss Jennie Gibson. She died in 1894, leaving four children,-William J., Nettie P., Bessie and Lillian. Mr. Torrance was married a second time on June 9, 1908, when Miss Sarah Iola Mckown became his wife, the marriage being celebrated at Flandreau. South Dakota. Two children have been born of this latter union,- Elizabeth and Meredith A.
CHARLES M. UPHAM. Since the pioneer days of Wisconsin the Upham family has furnished some of the most notable figures in public and commercial affairs of the state. To those familiar with political history perhaps the name which would first come to mind would be that of former Governor William H. Upham, soldier, manufacturer and banker at Marshfield, since 1878, and Governor of Wisconsin from 1895 to 1897. Of a second generation of the same family is Frederick William Upham, one of the foremost business men of Chicago, and a national political leader. Concerning these men and other representa- tives of the family appropriate mention is made on other pages of this work. For the present consideration is introduced the remarkable career of Charles M. Upham, who for fifty-five years has been engaged in business at Shawano, in Shawano county.
Only now and then is it given to men of affairs to celebrate the semi-centennial of a business career which has been continuously een- tered about one line of general activity, and in one place. Yet. in 1908, Charles M. Upham, amid the congratulations of associates and the hundreds of his friends and admirers, entered upon the second half- century of his career as a merchant, capitalist, banker, and leading man of affairs at Shawano. In 1858 Charles M. Upham established a small country store at Shawano, walking through the woods from New London and his goods went on a barge hauled by Indians. It was a modest establishment in an old frame building, and from that year to the present he has been continuously in the mercantile business at Shawano, now fifty-five years. His enterprise has grown with the increase of population and with the development of his own remark-
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able ability, and for a number of years Mr. Upham has been president of the Upham-Russell Company, controlling half a dozen large stores and business concerns in Shawano. The company has extensive real estate interests in the city and adjacent counties, including several thousand acres of hardwood lumber and cut-over land in northern Wisconsin. Mr. Upham is president of the Upham Hardware Com- pany of Shawano, of the Hub Clothing Company, and for twenty years was president of the First National Bank of Shawano, from its organ- ization until he retired. Concerning the origin of the business in Shawano, and the progress of Mr. Upham's business undertaking, a few sentences taken from a booklet issued at the time of the Semi- Centennial in 1908 afford the proper setting and historical retrospect.
"It is a long look backward," to use the words of the article just mentioned, "from the Shawano county which a stranger sees for the first time today, with its fertile farms, modern farm houses and barns, its school houses, churches and creameries dotting the landscape in every direction to the wilderness of primeval forests absolutely un- broken except for the little settlement at Shawano, trodden only by the foot of wild animals and the moccasined feet of the red men of the forest, which was its appearance fifty years ago. And harder still is it to imagine in the beautiful city of Shawano with its electric lights, paved streets, beautiful homes and modern places of business, the little village of scarce a hundred souls, nestling on the banks of Wolf River, in 1858.
"Into this wilderness in the summer of that year came a boy of twenty-one to start the pioneer store of Shawano county. It was an up-hill fight, for Shawano county boasted no railroads or wagon roads in those days, and he traveled the thirty-two miles from New London on foot, following the Indian trails through the forest.
"His little stock of merchandise-a few groceries, a few provisions, and a few. very few, dry goods, six hundred dollars in all-came by water from New London on a barge poled by Indians. The receiving of merchandise in those days was not the simple matter which it is today. The nearest railroad was at Fond du Lac, one hundred miles away, and mail was carried on horseback from Menasha only once a week. Goods ordered from the distant city took weeks to arrive. But perseverance and pluck won, and from the modest beginning of a six hundred dollar stock made by Charles M. Upham in the little store sixteen by eighteen feet in 1858, has arisen the mercantile house of Upham & Russell Company, with its eighty thousand dollars worth of stock and annual sales close to a quarter of a million dollars. As the county and city have grown during the fifty years, so has the growth of the business founded by Charles M. Upham in 1858 kept pace with it."
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Some other facts concerning the history and growth of the business should be added. Associated with the founder of the business at various times have been his brothers Nathan and Calvin Upham, and in 1870 the co-partnership of Upham & Russell was formed, at which time II. C. Russell and G. W. Gibbs entered the business. In 1884 the partnership was merged into a corporation, the Upham & Russell Com- pany, with a capital stoek of two hundred thousand dollars. In 1858 an old story and a half frame building with a covered porch in front furnished floor space for the enterprise with two hundred and eighty- eight square feet. By 1908 the total floor space occupied by the general store, the meat market and the hay barn, the elevator and coal sheds, clothing store and hardware department amounted to over fifty thousand square feet. From the general store as founded and con- dueted for a number of years, several of the departments developed until it became necessary to establish them on an independent and individual basis. Thus the clothing department outgrew its space in the general store, and in 1889 a separate store was provided. The business continued to grow, and in 1904 the business was individually incorporated with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars. The same is true of the hardware department, which was first established in 1872 as a tinshop and a few stoves as the principal stoek carried. Two years later its business had grown so that a separate building was pro- vided and from a stock valued at a few hundred dollars, the business in 1908 carried all kinds of hardware and implements to the value of seventeen thousand dollars.
The founder and still the business head of this undertaking was born in the state of Massachusetts, September 21. 1837, a son of Alvin and Sarah (Derby) Upham, both of whom were natives of Massachu- setts. The younger son of the family was William H. Upham, the former governor of Wisconsin. Mr. C. M. Upham had a common school education in his native state, and in 1852 the family moved to Niles, Michigan. Here the father died, and the mother who had relatives at Racine, Wisconsin, took her family to that eity. Her relatives were members of the Raymond family, among the earliest settlers of Racine. Wisconsin. It was in the vicinity of Raeine that the mother spent her last years.
Charles M. Upham grew up to manhood in southern Wisconsin, and his first business experience was at Weyanwega in Waupaca county. where his brother Nathan had opened a store. A few years later they determined to extend their business to Shawano, and it was for the purpose of opening up the establishment that Charles M. Upham made the trip across country previously described.
In 1872 Mr. Upham married Julia Parsons, of Racine. Their two children are Robert A .. and Sarah B. Mr. Upham has been affiliated
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with the Masonic order for a great many years, and though he keeps up his dues, seldom visits the lodge rooms any more. For a number of years he had extensive building holdings in Marshfield, the home of his brother, Governor Upham, but sold out his property there a few years ago and practically all his interests are concentrated in Shawano and vicinity.
HON. JOHN B. SIMMONS. The bar of Racine county has no abler nor better known representative than John B. Simmons who for forty. years has been connected with his profession in this state and who has practiced continuously during this period, either in Walworth county or in Racine. Mr. Simmons is the son of a lawyer who was for many years prominent in practice in Lake Geneva, so that the name has been associated with the legal profession in this state for well upwards of half a century. John B. Simmons has not only been one of the most successful lawyers, but has done important work as a contributor to legal literature. His name appears on the title page of a work entitled "Simmons' Wisconsin Digest," a large work of three volumes, which is to be found in almost every law office in the state. This work in its general plan followed the lines of a previous work executed by his father who was long known to the profession as the author of the first Wisconsin Digest of practical value. He exercised all the care and judgment of his legal mind in the course of its preparation of the volumes and they are now regarded as probably the most indispensable standard reference book on state decisions to be found in Wisconsin. The publishers of the digest are Callaghan & Company of Chicago.
Mr. Simmons, who is a senior member of the firm of Simmons & Walker at Racine, was born at McHenry county, Illinois, October 26, 1851. His father, James Simmons, moved from McHenry county to Lake Geneva, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where for many years he was one of the most successful attorneys. James Simmons married Catherine McCotter, who was born in the state of Vermont, where she acquired her education.
His early education was obtained in the public schools of Elk- horn, Wisconsin, where he was graduated from the high school and then entered his father's offices in Lake Geneva, where he read law and gained considerable practical experience from observation of the profession and clerical work in the office before his admission to the bar of the Circuit Court at Elkhorn, in 1873. Mr. Simmons was associated with his father in practice until 1896, in which year he formed a partnership with Franklin J. Tyrrel of Lake Geneva. On the dissolution of this partner- ship in 1898 Mr. Simmons located at Racine, and for the past fifteen years has been regarded as one of the leaders of the bar in this city. Here he formed a partnership with H. A. Cooper, and Peter B. Nelson, under the firm name of Cooper, Simmons & Nelson. First Mr. Cooper
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and afterward Mr. Nelson retired from this partnership and Mr. M. E. Walker was taken into the firm, that change occurring in 1907. Since then the firm has become Simmons & Walker, its present title, and these two well known lawyers enjoy a large share of the business in the local courts and office practice at Racine.
Mr. Simmons is attorney of the Commercial & Savings Bank at Racine. He has had a prominent part in local affairs and always lends his influence to any civic improvement and movements of philanthropic or benevolent nature. He was formerly a mayor of Lake Geneva. In 1876 occurred his marriage to Miss Sarah B. Sturges, daughter of George W. Sturges, one of the highly respected citizens of Lake Geneva. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons were the parents of two children, John E., a naval architect in Chicago, and Katherine S., who is a graduate of the Racine High School and of the University of Chicago, and is now the wife of Ralph W. Bailey, of Waupaca, Wisconsin. Mr. Simmons and family have their home at 1013 Lake Avenue.
EVERARD L. AINSWORTH. About forty years ago there came out from the New England state of Vermont to Buffalo county, Wisconsin, a young school teacher. He was one of the early educators in that section of Wisconsin, and the work which he did there as a schoolmaster left an impress and individual character which has not been effaeed to the present time. About thirty years ago he became connected with large industrial affairs which occupied his attention and has been identified with the lumber business up to the present time. He has been an official of the American Immigration Company and one of the foremost business men of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
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