USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 8
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In giving a brief history of the Frost ancestry, it is altogether in keeping with the spirit and purpose of this work to make mention of the family in connection with the early. history of Massachusetts, and its part in the Revolutionary war. History names Captain Stephen Frost as having made the first capture of that long struggle. He was at the head of a company of Minute Men, the same being stationed behind a wall at Arlington, about a mile from where Captain Frost had built his residence, already referred to as the home of the brother of the subject. When the baggage train of the British came along the road on its way to the Battle of Lexington, young Captain Frost, sprang up and demanded the surrender of the train. "Shoot down that dog," com- manded the British officer, whereupon the Minute Men sprang into action, and soon was effected the capture of the entire outfit, soldiery and all. This is recorded in the pages of history as the first capture of the war. Captain Stephen Frost died in 1810, in the house where J. Fred Frost now lives.
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Jason Russell, a maternal ancestor of the subject, together with eleven other American patriots, was killed in the Russell homestead at Arlington, by the retreating British after the battle of Lexington, on April 19, 1775. The old house is still in a good state of preservation and the state has erected a tablet before it, presenting a narrative of the occurrence, the old place standing as a monument to those early days of heroism and sacrifice.
While the editors rejoice in bringing to light these facts in relation to the ancestry of the subject, it should not be supposed that he is a man who relies upon the name and accomplishments of his forbears to carry him through life in these later days. Rather is he a typical American of the middle west, who does not inquire into the ancestry of a man to decide whether or not he shall approve of that person. He does not demand that a man shall be able to boast a stated number of grand- fathers before his individual approval shall be accorded to him. With him, the great thing is what a man has done,-not what his ancestors have accomplished.
Only two of the Frost men left Massachusetts, and they were Josiah L. and a brother, Daniel B. Frost. The latter came west in 1853, Josiah Locke Frost, coming two years later. He became a large land owner and a successful farmer of Portage county, and died on his farm in 1905 at the age of eighty-four years, secure in the esteem and confidence of all who knew him, and remembered in the county today as a man who played well his part in all the relations of life. His wife, Maria Jane Frost, died in 1876, when she was thirty-nine years of age. He later married Ella Wilcox, and she still survives, and makes her home with her daughter. Of the second union there were two children. Ernest lives in Canada; and Nellie is now the wife of Hon. Conrad Olson. of Portland, Oregon. Six children were born of his first marriage, how- ever, and of these the subject was the fourth born. The others are: Charles H., now deceased; Etta F., the wife of John S. Cowan; Josiah F., of Boston, Massachusetts; George E. of Portland, Oregon; and Dr. Carrie A. Frost of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Daniel Eugene Frost spent his boyhood on the home farm of his father. He was early educated in the district schools, finishing with a three year course at the Oshkosh Normal, after which he taught school for a year. He theu entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and in 1886 he was duly graduated from the law department. He made his first location at Stevens Point, in the county where he had been born and reared, and here he has since continued to make his home.
Mr. Frost for three years practiced law in association with Mr. T. H. Synon, now of Norfolk, Virginia, and with whom he still has business dealings, being himself a large owner of Norfolk and other Virginia property. Later Mr. Frost entered into a partnership with Mr. W. F. Owen, still later associating himself with the late James O. Raymond.
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and for several years being connected with John H. Brennan, now of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
In late years, however, Mr. Frost has gradually withdrawn from legal activities, in order that he might devote his time more exclusively to his private interests which began to assume larger proportions, and among which might be mentioned his Oklahoma Oil interests, real estate interests in Norfolk, Virginia, Tampa, Florida, and Chicago, Illinois, with some of the most valuable business property in Stevens Point, as well as a large quantity of North Dakota properties.
Mr. Frost is president of the Coyl Furniture Company, one of the largest industrial plants of Stevens Point, and he is a director of the Citi- zens National Bank.
A Republican, Mr. Frost has been active in the party ranks, and he was chairman of the Republican County Central Committee for six years. While yet active in his profession he served as district attorney for Portage county in 1897 and in 1907 he was appointed to the office of postmaster, succeeding Henry Curran, now deceased. He has proved himself a most capable incumbent of the office, and his administration has not been exceeded in general efficiency by any postmaster the city has ever known.
Mr. Frost was made the first president of the Business Men's Associa- tion when that association was organized in 1906, and he served three years in the office. He is a director and one of the Building Commission- ers of the City Hospital, and has been intensely interested in the success of this worthy institution, rendering a valuable service in his official connection therewith.
Fraternally, Mr. Frost has membership in the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 641, Stevens Point, and his church membership is with the Episcopal church, in which he is a vestryman. In his citizenship too much could not be said of Mr. Frost, for it is there that his splendid integrity and high-mindedness has been mani- fested in an unusual degree. In his labors for the advancement and growth of Stevens Point he has exceeded the most diligent, and he has never yet passed by an opportunity for the betterment and upbuilding of the best phases of life in the city. No enterprise has ever been launched here that has not claimed his immediate and timely support and co-operation, and by his influence, his money and his actual work has he taken a hand in the business of making the city and county entitled to a leading place in this section of the state. Said to be the richest man but one in Stevens Point, his influence has been highly com- mendable and is due to the facts of his splendid integrity and general wholesomeness of character.
HON. JOHN DIXON. For nearly a quarter of a century, Mr. John Dixon has been one of the leading business men of the city of Racine.
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He began his career as a worker at the carriage and wagon trade in Union Grove, Racine county. From that he became identified with the hardware business in the same town, and that line together with service in public affairs has occupied him for many years. Mr. Dixon is a native son of southern Wisconsin, and by his business integrity and success has acquired a position of prominence and influence in Racine county.
John Dixon was born in the town of Brighton, Kenosha county, Jan- uary 31, 1853. His father, James Dixon, was a native of England who came to the United States in 1842. He was a weaver by trade, but after coming to this country his regular vocation was farming. His death occurred at Union Grove, February 9, 1904, at the age of eighty-nine years. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Whitaker, who was also born in England. The family consisted of ten children, five sons and five daughters, two of whom died in infancy.
John Dixon grew up on the farm in Kenosha county, and the educa- tion which started him in practical life was obtained from the country schools. He continued to live and work on the farm until he was of age, at which time he began learning the carriage and wagon making trade with Mr. M. Nieson. This relationship subsequently ceased and Mr. Dixon in 1882 established a hardware store on Main street in Union Grove, having a large stock of general hardware and agricultural machinery. The business was built up to good proportions and carried on prosperously until 1892, at which time Mr. Dixon retired from active supervision and participation in the affairs of the business and moved to Racine. His partial withdrawal from the business at that time was occasioned chiefly by his election to the office of county clerk of Racine county. He entered upon the duties of this office on the first of January, 1893. Elected as a Republican he continued as county clerk for six years, and set a standard of efficiency in his administration which has not been surpassed by any subsequent incumbent. On retiring from his official responsibility, Mr. Dixon again resumed business as a hardware merchant, but this time in association with his son Guy, thus establishing the firm name of John Dixon & Son. The general hardware and imple- ment business at Union Grove was disposed of and the present firm has since conducted a store which is familiar in the city of Racine, under the title of "Sporting Goods." The location of the business is at 210 Third street, and Guy Dixon is the active manager of the store.
Besides his services as county clerk, Mr. Dixon has had other official honors. In 1903 occurred his election to the legislature from the First Assembly District of Racine county. As a member of the legislature he served on several important committees, and made an excellent record as a disinterested worker for the public welfare. For a number of years he has taken much interest in the local organization of the Republican party, and has served as delegate and otherwise been prominent in county and state politics. He is widely known over the state, both as a Vol. VII-5
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Republican and business man, and has a brother, R. M. Dixon, who is postmaster of Silver Lake in Kenosha county. Mr. Dixon among his other business relations is a director of the Commercial and Savings Bank of Racine, and a director of the Silver Lake State Bank of Silver Lake.
Mrs. Dixon, his wife, before her marriage was Miss Myrtle Jane Jones, a daughter of Richard Jones, who was an old settler of Racine county, and one of the most respected citizens of that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon are the parents of two children : Guy H. and Bessie May, the latter the wife of W. E. Pomeroy of Kenosha. Mr. Dixon is prominent in Masonry, being affiliated with Belle City Lodge No. 92, F. & A. M .; Orient Chapter, No. 12, R. A. M .; Racine Commandery, No. 7, K. T. His other affiliations connect him with the Modern Woodmen of America.
JUDGE JOHN B. WINSLOW. Since December 30, 1907, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, John B. Winslow has had a long and distinguished career in the bench and bar of Wisconsin. For many con- tinuous years he has served either on the circuit or supreme bench. He became judge of the first circuit in 1884, and was re-elected to the same office. In 1891 he became a justice of the supreme court to fill a vacancy, was elected by the people to the office and has since been confirmed by popular vote in this supreme judicial office. His eleva- tion to the chief justiceship occurred December 30, 1907, according to the regular rules of the supreme court.
John Bradley Winslow was born in Livingston county, New York, October 4, 1851, the only son of Horatio G. and Emily (Bradley) Wins- low. One of the direct ancestors was Kenelm Winslow, brother of Edward Winslow, governor of the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. The Winslow family came west and located in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1855, and it was in the city of Racine that Judge Winslow was reared, received his education in the public schools and was graduated with the degree of A. B. from Racine College in 1871.
In 1872 he began his studies for admission to the bar under E. O. Hand, in whose office he remained until 1873, at which date he became a student and clerk in the office of Fuller & Dyer. Then in September, 1874, he entered the college of law of the University of Wisconsin, where he was graduated in 1875. On returning to Racine he entered the office of Fuller & Harkness, and on the withdrawal of Judge Harkness, became a member of the firm, which continued in that town until 1877. From 1879 to 1882, inclusive, Mr. Winslow was city attorney of Racine, that office marking his entrance into prominent political affairs. From 1880 to 1882 he had as partner Charles A. Brownson, and then became asso- ciated with Joseph V. Quarles. In April, 1883, the voters of the first judicial circuit, comprising the counties of Racine, Kenosha and Wal- worth, elected him by a large majority to the office of circuit judge, and
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he began his duties on the bench in January, 1884. In 1889 occurred his re-election, without opposition, and this was the highest compliment that could have been paid to his judicial ability and his record as an official. In May, 1891, he was promoted to the supreme court, and in April, 1892, was chosen by the people without contest for the unexpired portion of his predecessor's term. This term ended in January, 1896, and in the preceding year he was elected for the full term of ten years. Since then he has been again elected and is now serving his second full term of ten years.
The first judicial circuit has always been Republican, and during his early career Judge Winslow always stood as a Democrat, although not an active partisan. The fact of his continuous retention in the duties of the circuit bench is an exceptional compliment paid to his ability. Early in his practice as a lawyer he had developed more than is usual among lawyers, an individual sense of right and justice which often seriously embarrassed him in his work upon the business in hand. It is said that he acquired the habit of not only viewing his own arguments and own side of the case, but also in building up a strong contention on the opposite side and often with such success that he found it difficult to overcome his disinclination to combat the stronger position which he had constructed for the opposition. This peculiarity of his mind in exam- ining both sides, and being completely free from the operation of prejudice, made such an impression upon his associates that it was really on this ground that he was first promoted on the concensus of opinions from his associates to the position of Judge. During his career on the circuit bench, Judge Winslow made a notable record for impar- tiality. Without coldness of demeanor, and without jeopardizing the warm regard of the bar, he always maintained the dignity of his position and made his rulings effective and clear with never a color of passion or prejudice. His record on the supreme bench is written indelibly in the reports of the court, and many of the strongest opinions of the Wiscon- sin Supreme court during the past twenty years have been written by Chief Justice Winslow.
He is the author of a history of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin from 1848 to 1880 entitled "The Story of a Great Court." During the year beginning in August, 1911, he was president of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, a national association whose object is to improve the administration of the criminal law. He is now one of the directors of the American Judicature Society, an organization which is actively engaged in a nation-wide movement for the more effi- cient administration of justice not only by the simplification of pro- cedure but by improvement of the court systems in the various states.
On January 19, 1881, Judge Winslow married Miss Agnes Clancy. They are the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters.
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MARTIN BENJAMIN HUBBARD. First as a public official, then as an attorney, and lastly as a county judge, Martin Benjamin Hubbard, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has been before the eyes of the people of the city and county for many years. During these years, in addition to his pro- fessional duties, he has carried on various business interests and his success has rivaled that of the men who have had their entire time to give to their business. During his entire life he has always been eager to participate in anything that had the improvement of the section at its end. He has been a leader in many ventures that have proved bene- ficial to Eau Claire, and though now well along in years he has never lost the progressive spirit, nor the gift of leadership, the latter being sim- ply strength of character, moral courage, and a knowledge of men.
Martin Benjamin Hubbard was born in western Ontario, near Lon- don, on the 11th of August, 1849. He is a son of Alfred and Mary A. (Dighton) Hubbard, both of whom were born in Jefferson county, New York. Alfred Hubbard was born January 29, 1826, and died on the 6th of May, 1907. He grew up in New York state and when he was a young man went into Canada where he was engaged in the lumber busi- ness until 1862. At this time he removed to Michigan, but he only remained there a few years, and he soon went back to Canada once more.
In 1865 he came to Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming. He lived here for many years, but retiring abont twenty years before his death he moved into the city of Eau Claire, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in polities was first a Whig and later a Republican. He married Mary A. Dighton in 1847. Mrs. Hubbard was born March 12, 1826, and died March 31, 1910. Four children, two sons and two daughters were born to this union, and all of the children are living today.
Martin Benjamin Hubbard was the eldest of his father's children and he spent his early boyhood in Canada, where he attended the public schools. He later attended the public schools in Wisconsin at Augusta and vicinity, and when his education was completed he became a school teacher and for three years taught in the graded schools of Wisconsin.
He next became a clerk in a general merchandise store in Augusta, remaining in this position for about three years. In 1875 he was elected clerk for the town of Bridge Creek, in Ean Claire county, Wisconsin. In the following year, in March he was appointed clerk of the circuit court by Judge H. L. Humphrey, and in November, 1876, was elected to this position. He was re-elected to this office in 1878 and again in 1880. During this period he had determined that his abilities and desires lay along the line of the legal profession and so he set to work to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1883 and began to practice in Eau Claire. He was elected county judge of Eau Claire county in 1897 and served on the bench for one term.
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Judge Hubbard has varied business connections. He is interested in the insurance, real estate and loan business and is a director in both the Eau Claire National Bank and the Eau Claire Savings Bank. He is secretary of the New Dells Lumber Company and is secretary and director of the Reedsburg Canning Company. For twenty years he was secretary and attorney for the Citizens Loan and Building Association. He is now secretary and director of the H. T. Lange Company, who are large wholesale dealers in groceries and fruits.
As a member of the Republican party the Judge has always been an active member and a valuable asset to the party in Wisconsin. He served as chairman of the Republican County Committee for eight years, only resigning when the duties of his judicial office forced him to give up his political work. For eight years he was a very efficient member of the school board. He has always been keenly interested in Masonry and is a member of the Eau Claire Lodge, No. 112, of Eau Claire Chapter, No. 36, Royal Arch Masons, and of the Eau Claire Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar.
Judge Hubbard has a most interesting ancestry, one that is truly unique in stories of lineage. He traces his line of descent back to an old Norse sea king named Hubba, who on one of his incursions upon the English coast, became impressed with the advantages of a life on land and settled in England with his Viking band. Like most of his kind he proved much stronger than the people among whom he settled and was soon the acknowledged lord of that part of the country. It was a step now to the royal throne of England and for four years he was practically king of England. The first of the name to come to this country were three brothers who settled in Connecticut during the early days of the colony. By this time the name had become transformed to Hubbard and it was a descendant of these brothers who located in northern New York. Martin Hubbard, the grandfather of the present head of the house was one of the pioneer Inmbermen in western Ontario in the early forties.
Judge Hubbard married Elizabeth Reed, a native of the state of New Jersey, in 1889, on the 27th of November.
EPHRAIM MARINER. We can not afford to hold in light esteem those who have wrought nobly in the past, nor fail to accord honor to those who have given the gracious heritage of worthy thoughts and worthy deeds. Among those who have stood as distinguished types of the world's workers was the late Ephraim Mariner, who died at his home in Milwaukee, on the 24th of January, 1911, secure in the unqualified confidence and esteem of all who had come within the compass of his benignant influence. He wrote his name large upon the annals of Wisconsin jurisprudence, as one of the essentially representative mem- bers of the bar of this commonwealth, and his versatility of genius
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was most significantly shown in his interposition in connection with business enterprises of broad scope and importance. His real estate operations in Milwaukee and vicinity were of extensive order, he was a most influential factor in connection with railroad building and operations, and in many other ways he contributed in large measure to the civic and material development and progress of the city and state in which he established his home more than sixty years ago and in which he marked the passing years with large and worthy achievement, not only as a lawyer of high attainments, but also as a man of affairs. At the time of his death he was one of the most extensive real-estate owners in the Wisconsin metropolis and in the improving of his many properties he did much to foster the substan- tial upbuilding and the industrial and commercial precedence of his home city, to which his loyalty was the most intense and appreciative order. His life was characterized by exalted ideals, signal integrity of purpose and a high sense of personal stewardship. He was a man of strength and action, thoroughly in harmony with the true Amer- ican spirit, making the most of his opportunities and working his way to success and to the attainment of those things that are most desir- able and ennobling in life. As one of the honored pioneers and representative men of Wisconsin, Ephraim Mariner is eminently en- titled to special recognition in this publication, and it is hoped that this brief memoir may measureably denote the man and his achieve- ments.
Mr. Mariner was a scion of a family, of stanch English origin, that was founded in America in the colonial era of our national his- tory, and representatives of the name were later numbered among the pioneer settlers in western New York. He was born at Penn Yan, the judicial center of Yates county, New York, on the 27th of March, 1827, and thus was nearly eighty-four years of age when he was summoned from the stage of life's mortal endeavors. He was a son of Miles and Millicent (Feele) Mariner, who passed their entire lives in the old Empire state, where the father was a carpenter and contractor by vocation. Miles Mariner was a man of strong character, upright, industrious and sincere, and while he never ad- vanced beyond the point of moderate financial success he made excel- lent provision for his children, to each of whom he accorded the best possible educational advantages, as he placed high estimate upon such training in fitting them for the active duties and responsibilities of life. After availing himself of the advantages of the common schools of his native town Ephraim Mariner prepared for college under the direction of a private tutor, and in 1846 he was matricu- lated in Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1849 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts and the degree of LL. D. In
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the meanwhile he had also carried on the study of law under the preceptorship of Professor Dwight, a member of the faculty of Hamil- ton College, and for a time after leaving college he was a student and assistant in the law office of Evart Van Buren, a representative mem- ber of the bar of his home town.
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