USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume V > Part 27
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Albert Gregory Zimmerman received his early education in the schools of Grant county, Wisconsin, and at the age of seventeen years adopted the profession of educator, passing the next ten years in alternately attend- ing and teaching in the public schools. He entered Valparaiso Univer- sity, Indiana, being graduated therefrom in 1885, when he organized the high school at Bloomington, Grant county, Wisconsin, where he acted in the capacity of principal until 1889. At that time, having decided upon a legal career, he became a student in the University of Wisconsin, was graduated in law in 1890, and in that year formed a partnership with Mr. Roe, practicing under the firm name of Roe & Zimmerman for a short period, when the firm became LaFollette, Harper, Roe & Zim- merman, and continued as such until 1894. Mr. Zimmerman then en- gaged in practice alone, and was so engaged in January, 1902, when he became county judge of Dane county, an office he has continued to fill with eminent ability to the present time. For some years he has been attorney for the Western Union Telegraph Company in Western Wisconsin, and for two years was president of the Wisconsin County Judges Association. He has written a number of legal stories for law and other magazines, and is said to be engaged in the preparation of
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an extensive work on probate law and practice. In 1888 Judge Zimmer- man became a member of Patch Grove Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in Grant county, but later demitted, and is now connected with Madison Lodge No. 5, and also holds membership in Madison Lodge No. 410, B. P. O. E. His political support is given to the Republican party.
Judge Zimmerman was married August 17, 1892, to Miss Nell Brown, who was born at Bloomington, Wisconsin, daughter of Daniel F. and Clara (Brooks) Brown, the former a native of Ohio who died in 1905 at the age of seventy-six years, and the latter a native of New Hampshire, died in 1913. Daniel F. Brown came to the territory of Wisconsin in 1846 with his parents, locating at Patch Grove, Grant county, where he resided until 1853. In that year he made the trip over- land to California, spending some nine or ten years in mining in the West, and then returning to Grant county and engaging in the general merchandise business at Bloomington. He became one of the prominent men of Grant county, and was widely known in political circles, serving as chairman of the county board and in various other offices. He was a Democrat after 1872, having formerly supported the principles of the Republican party.
Judge Zimmerman has occupied a place of high credit and distine- tion among the leaders of the legal profession, and he has been a con- spicuous and influential force as a leading citizen interested in the im- portant public movements of the day. The sound judgment, the well- balanced judicial mind, the intellectual honesty and freedom from bias which are required in a judge-these attributes have all been his and have enabled him to maintain the best traditions of the judicial office.
JOHN A. KELLY. Though he has passed virtually his entire life in Wisconsin, this well known and representative attorney of law claims the historic old "Hub" city as the place of his nativity. He is en- gaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Oconomowoc and is one of the able and successful members of the bar of the state, even as he is a citizen of utmost loyalty and progressiveness.
Mr. Kelly was born in the eity of Boston, Massachusetts, on the 3d of September, 1856, and is a son of Ferdinand and Elizabeth (McCurdy) Kelly, both of whom were born in Ireland, representatives of staunch old families of the fair Emerald Isle. Ferdinand Kelly was reared and educated in his native land, whenee he immigrated to America when a young man, in 1850. He engaged in farming near the city of Boston, where he remained until 1862, when he came to Wisconsin and num- bered himself among the pioneers of Waukesha county. He secured a tract of land near the present village of Delafield, and there developed a valuable farm, becoming one of the honored citizens and prosperous agriculturists of that part of the county. He was a man of sterling character and indefatigable industry, alert of mentality and animated
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by kindliness and consideration in his association with his fellow men, both he and his devoted wife having at all times held inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew them. "They remained on the old homestead farm until 1890, when they removed to Oconomowoc, one of the attractive little cities of the county in which they had long maintained their home, and there Ferdinand Kelly lived virtually retired until his death, which occurred in 1910, his loved companion having passed to the life eternal about a year previously, so that "in death they were not long divided." Both were sincere and zealous com- municants of the Catholic church and in politics the father was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party. Of the five children one son and three daughters survive the honored parents, and of the five John A., of this review, was the second in order of birth. Ferdinand Kelly contributed his quota to the industrial and social development of Waukesha county and his name merits a place on the roll of its sterling pioneers, for he here lived and labored to goodly ends for a period of nearly a half century.
Reared under the invigorating discipline of the home farm, John A. Kelly gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of the vicinity, and shortly before attaining to his legal majority he entered Sacred Heart College, at Watertown, where he pursued higher academic or literary studies for one year. He began the reading of law under the effective preceptorship of Judge Rufus C. Hathaway, of Oconomowoc, and through his close application and receptive mental powers he made rapid advancement in his technical study, with the result that he proved himself eligible for and was admitted to the bar of the state in June, 1884. He forthwith engaged in active practice in Oconomowoc, where he has continuously maintained his residence since thus serving his professional novitiate and where he has gained distinct precedence as a specially resourceful and versatile trial lawyer and well equipped counselor. At the beginning of his professional career Mr. Kelly formed a partnership with Samuel Hammond, under the title of Kelly & Hammond, and this alliance continued one year. For the en- suing year Mr. Kelly was associated in practice with Judge Edward W. Hale, under the firm name of Kelly & Hale, and thereafter he was senior member of the law firm of Kelly & Carswell until 1893, his coadjutor having been Joseph Carswell. Since that year he has conducted an in- dividual professional business, and his practice has long been one of important and representative order, in connection with which he has appeared in many notable litigations in both the state and federal courts of Wisconsin.
A staunch and effective advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, Mr. Kelly has given yeoman service in behalf of its cause and he has been called upon to serve in various offices of local trust. From 1884 to 1886 inclusive, he was city clerk of Oconomowoc; he has been a mem-
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ber of the city board of aldermen; he served eight years as justice of the peace; and he is a court commissioner of said county at the time of this writing. He takes a loyal interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city and county and is essentially progressive and liberal in his civic attitude. He is a member of the Waukesha County Bar Association and the Wisconsin State Bar Association, and is at the present time special attorney for the First National Bank of Oconomo- woc. Both he and his wife are earnest communicants of the Catholic church.
Mr. Kelly has been twice wedded,-first, in 1885, to Miss Anna Dougherty, who died in 1898, and who is survived by no children. On the 7th of November, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kelly to Miss Anna Hybers, and of their five children four are living,-Maria, J., Elizabeth, Margaret B. and Thomas A.
LEONARD W. GAY, though but in the prime of life, has been instru- mental, by his energy and initiative, in the construction of many resi- dences and business blocks in Madison, and in developing suburban property, around Madison. He has also acquired for himself a reputation for sagacity in land investments that extends his business relations to many parts of the state. Mr. Gay is the eldest son of the late Matthew H. Gay, who came to this country from Stroud, England. in 1849 and settled in Madison about the same time that his future wife Sarah Cath- cart Story, born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, came to Madison with her mother, Mrs. Beattie. Mr. Gay, Sr., and Mrs. Beattie both by chance bought lots on University avenue, and built homes that stood for half a century. It is on this same property where in 1855 his parents were married and where he and his six brothers and sisters were brought up that Mr. Leonard Gay has recently erected a business block. The deeds to the lots given by Chancellor Lathrop of the University are among the heirlooms of the family.
Mr. Leonard Gay may therefore be literally said to have grown up with the city. Altho for the first ten years of his young manhood. he followed in his father's footsteps as a merchant tailor, he built his first house before he was twenty-one. In 1888 he married Miss Kate Lyon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Lyon, by whom he has five sous. One of his earliest enterprises was the redeeming of the marsh on the eastern side of the city in connection with the making of Tenney Park. One of the streets opened at this time by him bears the name of his see- ond son Sidney, then a baby, now a recent graduate of the State U'ni- versity. In 1899, Mr. Gay published a new Atlas of Dane county. origi- nal surveys and plates for this work, being made under his supervision. Mr. Gay is at the present time actively engaged in developing a number of suburban properties. On what is known as Wingra on the old "Mars- ton" farm, which he acquired a few years ago, a veritable village has
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sprung up. The Monona Bay Subdivision is being built up with sub- stantial dwellings, and he is one of the controlling spirits in the Lake Forest Land Company that is handling the former Vilas property across Lake Wingra. A few years ago, he entered into partnership with Mr. C. B. Chapman and among their joint enterprises is the erection of the fine business block now in process of construction on the property of the Capitol square which they have taken on a lease for 99 years, the first lease of this sort drawn in Madison.
L. N. ANSON. While Mr. Anson has for thirty years been a resident of Merrill, and among this city's most enterprising and substantial citizens, his business interests have been so extensive and widespread as to entitle him to claim identity with the great Northwest. During this time he has been connected with the lumber interests of several States, and has been one of the most extensive manufacturers and largest dealers in paper among the many enterprising men whose vigor and energy have made that one of the leading industries of Wisconsin. Mr. Anson was born in Portage county, Wisconsin, July 3, 1848, and is a son of Jesse and Maria (Sands) Anson.
Jesse Anson was born in New York, a descendant of a old New England family, and at an early age was left an orphan. When still a youth he came West to Illinois, where he met and married Maria Sands, also a native of the Empire State, and, like her husband, a descendant of one of the old Colonial families of New England. In 1843 they came to Wisconsin and located at Plover, where the re- mainder of their lives were spent, the father dying in 1894, well advanced in years. During the Civil War he fought valiantly in a Wisconsin volunteer regiment in the Union army, and ever showed himself a patriotic and public-spirited citizen.
L. N. Anson was given a good practical education in the common schools of Portage county, Wisconsin, but in March, 1865, laid aside his studies to take up arms in the Union cause, as a private in the Fifty-Second Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, in Missouri. He then returned to his Portage county home, and soon after went to Chicago, where he took a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College. It was not long thereafter that he received his introduction to the lumber busi- ness, and in 1883 he came to Merrill, Wisconsin, and formed a co- partnership with George F. Gilkey and John Landers, under the firm style of Gilkey-Anson Company. The firm purchased a mill which became one of the largest and best in the Northwest, but for the past few years has not been in operation. The Grandfather Falls Paper Mills, of which he is president, were located in Merrill in 1905, but while the plant is situated here, the power is secured from Grand- father Falls. This is known as one of the largest enterprises of its kind
Jours Very Truly, 2. NiAucun
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in the Wisconsin Valley, and has attained its prestige through the keen foresight, business ability and intelligent management of its directing head. The business qualities that are essential for the man- ager of so vast an enterprise are obvious. To push and energy, quick- ness to perceive opportunities and courage to grasp them and breadth and comprehensiveness of mind, there must be added a capacity for organization, as well as attention to detail, and in all of these qual- ities Mr. Anson excels. He has interested himself in various other enterprises, one of which is the Anson, Gilkey & Hurd Company, of Merrill, one of the largest manufacturing plants of the Wisconsin Valley, which employs 500 men in the manufacture of sash, doors and windows. George M. Anson, Mr. Anson's son, is president of this enterprise. Amidst his active business life, Mr. Anson has found time and manifested an inclination to perform all the duties of good citizenship. As mayor of his adopted city, he gave his fellow-cit- izens an excellent and businesslike administration, and this was duplicated by his son, George M. Anson, when he occupied the may- oralty chair.
On December 29, 1872, Mr. Anson was married to Miss Hannah A. Meehan, who was born in Canada, and to this union there have been born two children: George M. and Mary T.
PHILIP Fox, M. D. It is in connection with the sciences of medicine and surgery that Dr. Philip Fox is best entitled to be remembered as one of the benefactors of Madison, Wisconsin, a connection which has continued here for a period covering more than thirty-six years. Dur- ing this time he has labored assiduously in the alleviation of the ills of mankind, and even now, at an age when most men excuse themselves from the activities of life, he faithfully gives his time and thought and work to the cause which enlisted the earliest sympathies of his boyhood and the mature interest of his later life. Dr. Fox was born in LaGrange county, Indiana, March 27, 1840, and is a son of George W. and Cath- erine (Keenan) Fox.
William M. Fox, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Fox, was born in Ireland, and received his education in the schools of County Westmeath. following which he engaged in the mercantile business in his native locality. He was later engaged in general merchandising in the city of Dublin, whence he came, during the early thirties, to the United States on a sailing vessel. His first location was the city of Cleveland, Ohio. from whence he moved to Indiana, and finally came to Wisconsin terri- tory and entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, build- ing the first church of that faith in Madison, and ending his ministerial career in the church at Wauwatosa, Milwaukee county, where his last years were spent.
George W. Fox was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, in May,
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1820, and was a lad of fourteen years when he accompanied his mother and the other children to America to join his father, who had preceded them to this country. Arriving in New York City after a long voyage on a sailing vessel, George W. Fox left the family in the metropolis, while he and another young man started to go forward and meet his father, who was coming to accompany the family across the country, but in some way missed him, and finally was compelled to finish the journey on foot to Indiana, where the family was united. George W. Fox com- pleted his education in the schools of Indiana, and engaged in the boot and shoe business at Lexington, that state, but in 1843 made removal to Dane county, Wisconsin, and engaged in farming in Fitchburg town- ship, there passing away in 1894, at the age of seventy-four years. During the Civil war he maintained the stand of a War Democrat, but after the close of that struggle became independent in his views and attitude. His wife was born in Queens county, Ireland, in 1820, and passed away in 1907, having been the mother of seven children, of whom one died in infancy, and four of whom are now living, namely: Dr. Philip; Marie, the wife of P. J. Geraughty; Catherine, the wife of Gar- rett Barry; and Adeline, the wife of Daniel Kiser.
Philip Fox received his early education in the district schools of Wisconsin, dividing his time between securing his education and work- ing on the home farm, and subsequently went to a private school at Sinsinawa, Grant county, Wisconsin. At this time he commenced reading medicine in the office of his uncle, Dr. William H. Fox, of Fitchburg, and eventually he entered Bellevue Hospital College, New York City, where he was graduated with the class of 1863. From March to December .of that year he was engaged in practice at Fitchburg, and in the latter month was appointed assistant surgeon in the Second Regiment, Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, in the Union army, with which organization he continued until July, 1904. Returning to Fitchburg, Dr. Fox became associated with his uncle, this professional partnership continuing until 1870, when Dr. Fox removed to Janesville, Wisconsin. In December, 1876, he changed his field of endeavor to the city of Madison, and here he has given the best years of his life to the care of a large and repre- sentative practice. This practice in Madison has not been merely local, for the reputation that he has acquired for skill and learning has brought patients from all the surrounding country to obtain the skilled treatment that has not been available in the vicinity of their homes. He has been regarded as a master in his profession, and not content with the knowledge which his early study gave, he has kept his eyes open to the progress of medicine and surgery and adopted every im- provement that the rapid advancement of the sciences has introduced. Dr. Fox is a member of the Dane County Medical Society, the Wiscon- sin State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, in the work of all of which he takes an active and intelligent interest. His
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acquaintance is large throughout the state, and he has hosts of friends and well-wishers. Dr. Fox is a Democrat in politics, but his time has been so devoted to his profession, that he has found no leisure for pub- lie life, nor has he desired personal preferment.
On September 6, 1866, Dr. Fox was married to Anna E. Reynolds, who died in 1894, having been the mother of four children, as follows: Dr. Philip R., a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, and known as a well known physician and surgeon in Madison; Anna C .. who is single and lives at home; Mary J., the wife of Carl Hilbert; and Dr. George W., a prominent physician and surgeon of Milwaukee.
LYMAN JUNIUS NASH was born at Shelby. Orleans county, New York, January 18, 1845, a son of Francis and Catherine Van Burgen ( Curtis) Nash, the former of whom was born in Spencertown, Columbia county. New York, September 1, 1804, and the latter of whom was a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where her birth occurred November 9. 1818. The father was a farmer in New York state up to the year 1851 and was one of the men who helped construct the Erie canal. In 1851 the family home was established in Rock county. Wisconsin. There Mr. Nash was reared to maturity under the invigorating influence of the old homestead farm. He was six years of age at the time of his par- ents' removal to Wiseonsin and after completing the curriculum of the public schools of Roek county he attended Lawrence College, at Apple- ton, Wisconsin, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1870. Prior to entering college he taught school for two years and from 1870 to 1872 he was principal of the North Side high school at Manitowoe. While filling the position of principal he studied law during his spare moments under the able preceptorship of E. B. Treat. In December, 1872. he was admitted to the Wisconsin bar and for the ensuing thirty-seven years he was engaged in the active practice of his profession at Manitowoc. His first public office was that of justice of the peace at Manitowoc and for nine years he was a mem- ber of the school board. He served his city as alderman from the Sixth ward, was a member of the county board for one term, was a member of the Wisconsin board of bar examiners for seven years, and for ten years was president of the Manitowoc Public Library. On February 1, 1910, he was appointed state revisor, with offices at the capitol in Madison, and he is ineumbent of that position at the present time. in 1912. In connection with his professional work Mr. Nash is a member of the American Bar Association and of the Wisconsin State Bar Asso- ciation, of which latter organization he was president for one term. In a business way Mr. Nash is a member of the board of directors of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company at. Two Rivers, Wisconsin, a director in several other corporations and for many years was a stockholder and director in the National Bank at Manitowoc.
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September 2, 1873, Mr. Nash was united in marriage to Miss Emma Aratlıusa Guyles, who was born in Waukegan, Illinois, March 31, 1848, and who is a daughter of John F. and Lydia A. (Bacon) Guyles, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Nash have three children, as follows: Archie Lyman, Alice May (Mrs. Kirby White), and Francis John.
Mr. Nash thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends. He is always courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him personally accord him the highest esteem. His life has been exemplary in all respects and he has ever supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own high moral worth is deserving of the highest commendation.
DR. ROBERT J. WALSH. A lifelong resident of the state of Wiscon- sin and a man whose business and professional career has made him well known throughout many sections of Wisconsin and in different parts of the west, Dr. Walsh has for some years had his residence at Waupaca, and is president of the Roche-a-Cri Medical Company.
Robert J. Walsh was born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, August 15, 1863, a son of Pat H. and Elizabeth (Ball) Walsh, who were among the pioneers of Old Columbia county. The doctor grew up on a farm in Columbia county, and took his education partly from the district schools and partly from the Portage high schools. His first regular vocation was that of school teacher, and for several terms he managed a group of scholars in both Columbia and Adams counties. His profes- sional preparation was received in the University of Northern Indiana at Valparaiso, where he was graduated in the class of 1893. After that several years were spent on the road with a special line of drugs, and he traveled in different sections of the west and had his residence in different states. During a portion of the same time he owned and con- ducted a farm in Adams county, Wisconsin.
As a Democrat the doctor has been one of the party leaders for a number of years, and in 1900 was a candidate in a strong Republican district for the office of assemblyman, making a very flattering showing in the race. During the same year, 1900, Dr. Walsh organized the Roche-a-Cri Medical Company, and has been president of this growing concern ever since. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Wood- men of America. For some time Dr. Walsh resided in North Dakota, and was there at the time the old Dakota territory was divided and made into two states, and he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Con- vention of North Dakota. He is a strong advocate of the Temperance cause, and a man of influence both in his immediate community and in the state.
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