Outagamie County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1895 (part 4 of 6)

President Dey gave a short introductory speech and called upon Chas. Wolcott who carries the weight of eighty winters on his shoulders. He read a poem eminently suitable to the occasion. Mr. Dey then called the vice-presi- dent, Henry Kethroe, who gave a very humorous account of "an operation" performed by Dr. Mosier along in the 40's. Judge Bo}Td then followed with a speech.

This is not to be a formal oration, but merely a familiar talk to old friends and neighbors, an introduction to the speakers to follow. It is pleasant to meet once a year in the sort of a winter picnic to keep up our acquaintances. In the early times to which we look back, one of the chief supports of the city was Lawrence Institute, indebted for its life to Rev. Sampson, and for financial success to Reeder Smirh. It drew people here to educate their children. As late as 1862 it was financially a boon to the city and socially it furnished the best society. It may still be proud of her sons, many of whom have gone out to honor and fame. Why do I say so much about Lawrence ? Because she is my Alma Mater, and I love her ; and because the people must not be allowed to forget her.

The water power was utilized slowly and supported hundreds of families and laid the foundation for a slow and steady growth of county and city. Other neighboring cities have fallen behind, but ours has advanced with every census. As soon as the water power developed, the railroads and telegraph came, and the success of the town as a center was assured; the telephone and electric light followed.

A philosopher says, "tell me the books a nation reads and I'll tell you the character of her people." Tell me the character of the first settler of a country and I'll foretell the future of that country. Without any conceit, we can predict for our city and county a steady advance in prosperity.

The city will continue to be a center of wealth and culture; and when the old citizens pass away, the wheels of the Fox will grind on whether the administration be Republican or Democratic.

Judge Boyd then read a letter from W. S. Warner, who came to Wisconsin in 1844, and bought the first city lot in 1849. He built the first hotel and lived in a house that two men built in a day and a half, but which needed urn- brellas to supplement the shingles. Of the heads of families then here, only Trerice, Buck, Randall and himself survive. The first white child born here was Frances Blake.

After remarks by President Dey a collection of $13.64 was taken up. Remarks were made by Judg-e Ryan, Jos. Moyer, H. D. Ryan, C. A. Abbott, Wm. Brig-g-s, Judg-e Goodland.

Residence

The Pioneer Association of Outagamie County met pursuant to notice, in south Odd Fellows' Hall in Appleton, Feb. 22, 1895, at 10 o'clock a. m., for their annual festival. The meeting was called to order by John Dey, the president. F. Spencer was present as secretary. The first business in order was the election of officers for the ensuing year, which resulted as follows: President, John Dey; vice-president, Henry Kethroe; secretary, E. Spencer; treasurer, John McGillan; executive committee, W. F. Johnston, Ira Scott, C. A. Abbott, A. A. Winslow, George R. Downer. At 12 o'clock adjourned for dinner. About one hundred pioneers sat down to a sumptuous dinner prepared by the ladies in true pioneer style.

Music on the piano by Miss Spicer; opening remarks by John Dey; memorial of the pioneers who have died since our last meeting, by John Dey; remarks by Rev. P. S. Bennett; song by J. H. Bowles. A collection was taken up amounting to $13.88.

The word presenting- itself most conspicuously at this moment is "pi°ncer-" A word conveying- the idea of going before, or. opening- the way of. The term it very applicable to the first settlers in a timbered country as Outagamie county was, yet many a locality bears the record of its pioneers experiencing greater hardships.

The history of this locality begins, really, with the treaty drawn at Cedar Point, on the lower Fox river, September 3, 1836, between the Menomonie Indian tribe and the United States government through its commissioner, Henry Dodge, governor of Wisconsin territory, signed by twenty -four chiefs of the Menomonie nation and eventually by Andrew Jackson, president of the United States, whereby the latter became owner of the land lying between the lower Fox and Wolf rivers, together with other territory, estimated at 4,184,320 acres.

In 1843 that part of Outagamie county lying east of the Wolf river was surveyed into congressional townships, and the first land sales were recorded in 1845.

The first attempt of settlement was that of Dominique Ducharme on the bank of the Grand Kakalin, (Kaukauna Rapids) upon land which he bargained for from the Indians. This was before the year 1800 and was not permanent. In 1813 Augustine Grignon settled there permanently, he also having procured land from the Indians.

The next settlements, as I have been able to learn, were that of E. B. Abbott, on section 11 of Freedom in 1843, and St. Mary on section 12 of Grand Chute and the Beebe family joining the Oneida Reservation on the west, all about the same time.

The first indication of change in nature's field in the western part of the county, was October 7, 1845, when Francis Gilbert bought the land now occupied by Stephensville. Nine days later Eimus Thompson, bought a half interest and early settlers say that the first map they saw of the country had this location marked, Thompson's Mill . When the mill was built remains with me a question; it was there, however, in 1847, and owned by William H. Bruce.

The Knapp brothers made shaved shingles in a shanty on the site of the present village of Hortonville during the winter of 1847-8, and March 25 Alonzo E. Horton purchased the land, the first sale made in the township, and began the first works for a saw mill which was completed and cut the first log Aug. 2, 1849.

December 28, 1847, Arthur C. Minto, John Stanfield and Thomas Swan, in the employ of George Bell of Ball Prairie, built a shanty and made rails in Uncle Sam's Rat river cedar swamp in the town of Dale; but the first land sale was recorded to Capt. William Young, April 12, 1848. The first school house was built of logs in the spring of 1850, by Harvey Greenfield and Peter Garret, a quarter mile south of Medina. They also manufactured and put in the furniture, consisting of benches made by putting legs into basswood puncheons, such as they used, when boys, and had procured their education on. The first term of school was taught during that summer by Mrs. Greenfield.

The first land sale in Greenville was eighty acres bordering on the county line to Francis Perry, April 7, 1847; but not being able to meet any settler who ever saw Mr. Perry it is doubtful if he was a settler. The first school was taught by Mrs. John Segar is the fall of 1850 in a part of present dwelling house on the farm of the late Louis Perrot.

The statement of these plain historical facts, however, does not picture in the average mind of to-day the reality of pioneer life, even though time would permit and we were to enter into detail; but, for a moment, let us forget our surroundings, and the conditions of our country, and imagine ourselves on some high pinnacle looking down upon a great stretch of unbroken timbered country crossed by many a stream and tributary, with deer, bear, wolves and other wild animals plentiful, and not a single highway or thoroughfare, except an occasional winding Indian trail

Yes, there was a thoroug-hfare; it was yonder same beautiful stream playing- to-day between two picturesque banks upon one of which this beautiful city now stands. A thoroug-hfare opened long- ages and ages ago, when the forefathers of some ancient class of humanity afar in advance of the earliest possible means of reckoning, in the days of antiquity, lived here and traversed it in their simple way. We may look down upon yonder aged stream and imaginarily see Jean Nicolet, the first white man to pass between its banks, two hundred and sixty years ago, or even the four hundred years which America has been known to the civilized world is naught compared with that which elapsed before that date, so remote a time that when considered the articles of speech cease action, but the mind is carried into some fanciful realm or great oblivion.

So I say, let us look down upon a vast stretch of unbroken timbered country, ne'er touched by the hand of civilization's progress, and see the Indians, the remnant, or improvement of some unknown race of humanity, the owners of their soil, convened at Cedar Point, (where prog" ress is to-day building the future city of Kimberly) convened to sign away forever the home of a long ancestry.

Ah ! look at yonder tree fall, the hand of progress has touched, an opening is made in yonder forest, a little cabin arising by an industrious hand, and by the camp fire stands awaiting the partner in life, afar from any fellow men. Where are their provisions and implements of toil ?

Here are three men: Reeder Smith, W. H. Sampson and H. L. Blood in 1847 locating the Lawrence Institute among the trees of the very block upon which this building now stands; and a year later surveying and platting the village of Appleton, and a few days later, John F. Johnston alone clearing away the brush on the corner of Johnston and Durkee streets erecting a rude frame to receive boards for & future home.

Mr. Johnston went to the Duck Creek saw mill with his team and procured a few boards, and while applying- them to one end of the frame to serve a partial shelter, an approaching familiar voice startled him of which Mrs. Johnston says, "He asked me what I was going to do there, and I told him, live with him." J. S. Buck, D. W. Pierce and James Blood were their guests the first night.

Towards the last of March of this same year, 1848, Zebediah Hyde, his son Louis, and Alva McCrary with ox team, wagon, and few supplies, opened a track sufficient to permit a wagon to wind its way among the trees and made a land looking tour. The selections were on the site of the present village of Medina and there they built the first settlers cabin in the town of Dale.

About two weeks later John Culbertson, his son Matthew, and Alexander McKinzie came looking for land, making their selections in Greenville, and April 18, four days after buying, Matthew began cutting logs for his home, the first established in Greenville.

Here and there settlers were now pouring in, and the 11,695 acres taken in Greenville during this year of 1848, the most of which was for actual settlement, illustrates the true character.

But we are asked, in consideration of the time required to remove this great growth of timber, and it being those with limited capital who made this effort to procure homes for their families, and the country being equally new for many miles around and the settlers on a common level, where did they get their provisions ? What source had they for income ? What means was there of supplying their needs?

Ask him who went before, who opened the way of. Ask him who endured the hardships and experienced the privations. He whose home was the little cabin 12x14 with a roof of puncheons, with a fire place, and a chimney built of sticks and mud, "out in the cold," a small window, perhaps none for a time, a rude door hung on creaking wooden hinges, all of which he made himself, and lastly but not least, the puncheons laid upon pins in the logs for shelves and the two hooks on the wall near the fireplace. There's a relationship between those hooks and the pioneer's scanty shelves. Did you ever know where the pioneer kept his game overtaker ?

*You know best. Picture the two on yonder wall; and the young lady of refinement and well-to-do parentage; and she of the woods, fifty years ago. Who could offer a single suggestion ?

Who could wish to be thrust into the position of the hard working laborer coming home at night broken down with fatigue, the evening repast a scanty one, and to-morrow he must shoulder the sack of corn, has he raised any yet ? He has no money, there are no roads, has he a team ?

Yonder he goes through the woods with half his first crop on his shoulder, a bushel of corn, and the mill twelve miles away. A storm overtakes him. He is delayed two days. He has sold his corn and bought an equal weight of corn meal and a piece of calico and returns happy. Welcome indeed is he, the good wife has served the provisions sparingly, a piece of venison remains, but she ground parched corn in the coffee mill to satisfy the hunger of her children.

It was this pioneer who planted the first golden footprints of prosperity in the bottom of each furrow combining two extreme and wonderful epochs in the history of our country; one the distant unknown past, the other the eventful future. For this historic character, the pioneer, who wrought the change from the dormant period to that of industry and progress, once forever, I fondle a token to his continued memory.

The eventful past fifty years can be considered but naught in comparison with the possible future. Year after year, generation after generation will come and go; century after century will pass away; and reflecting upon our country's future possibilities, for him in yon far distant future who may wish to reflect, as we to-day, in commemoration of the historic past, I would letter in marble bold

We can never again see the pioneer's rude cabins arising and dotting our land like the increase of the stars of evening, we can only cultivate tokens of regard and sympathy. Sympathy is not the expression when we think of little four-year-old Clark Webley in 1853 lost and perishing in the woods, for he who planted the settlement, cleared the forest, subdued the land and harnessed the outgrowth, carries many a silvery lock marking the advance pages of his biography, and

The paper that I have prepared is a short biography of two of the pioneers of Outagamie county, Wisconsin, Mr. and Mrs. P. M. Brooks, and also a sketch of their pioneer life in Seymour.

My father, Porter Matthew Brooks, was born in Riger, Monroe county, N. Y., June 18, 1821. In September, 1831, he removed with his parents to Medina, Ohio, and to Waterloo, Wis., January, 1842. He was married at Lake Mills, Wis., June 3, 1845, to Miss Lydia Streeter, of Waterloo, Wis., and on June 3, 1895, they will celebrate their golden wedding at Seymour. To them were born nine children, three of whom are now living, C. S. Brooks of Beaver, South Dakota, Ettie M. Wheeler of Glenwood, Wis., and Ida M. Downer of Appleton, Wis. His father, Porter Brooks, was born in Haddam, Middlesex county, Conn., in 1786, died at Seymour, Wis., April, 1867.

My mother, Mrs. Lydia Streeter Brooks, was born in Rossie, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., May 29, 1825, and with her parents removed to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, in 1841. Her father, Reuben Streeter, was born in New York state, April, 1797, died June 7, 1853, at Waterloo, Wis.

In the winter of 1864 my parents left their former home in Waterloo, Wis., to make for their little family a home in what was then a dense forest in Outagamie county. They left their old home, their relatives, and life-long friends to make a new home and form ties and associations among strangers. We all stayed four weeks at Aunt Sally Munger's, whose name is familiar to all the old pioneers, and whose old log house still stands in the city of Seymour.

Our new home which was three miles north, was then ready for us, and on the twenty-second of February, thirty-one years ago to-day, we moved into our new house. It was a little log house about 12x16 feet, no window's whatever, the door was a horse blanket and the barn was attached to the house on the north side, which was for economical purposes, I suppose, as common lumber was twenty-four dollars a thousand.

How well I remember our first supper in our new home. We had no table that night and so mother spread a table cloth on a tool chest and our little family of five gathered around it for our evening meal, which consisted of bread and butter and jelly and tea, the butter and jelly was brought from Waterloo, but after that "only as we had company which was not very often." We drank hemlock tea and crust coffee; neither was very expensive, but it is a luxury we do not have now. Some of the neighbors preferred sage tea, some had none at all. In the following spring we had a window consisting of one pane of glass, 8x10, put in the gable end of the house. The same spring father made thirty-seven pounds of maple sugar which lasted our family to the following spring.

Our nearest neighbor, Wm. M. Ausbourne, lived one-half mile south; he was the first settler in our town, we had no other neighbors, until we came to what is now the city of Seymour, two families were living there, one house is still left, "the old log house on the hill."

We were without the luxuries of life, although we had sufficient for our necessities; there was plenty of wild game such as deer, rabbits, squirrels, partridges and pigeons, and occasionally a bear; the meat was thought to be almost as good as beef. The first year we had no potatoes or meat, only wild game. The next year we had potatoes, and that winter we had beef; the way it happened was, that while the cattle were brousing in the chopping where a clearing was being made, a tree fell on one of them and it had to be killed; it was not tender, juicy steak by any means, but we found no fault; pork was $24 a barrel and not many of the settlers could afford such a luxury as salt pork; our nearest neighbor, Mr. Ausbourne, had pork, true it was fattened on acorns, and five pounds would fry into one, but pork was pork in those days.

We also believed in durability of dresses, not in style ; my sister and I wore brown denems dresses every day and when we had a calico dress which then cost forty-five or fifty cents a yard, there were no superfluous goods left for ruffles, drapery or big sleeves.

Every year new settlers were moving up in the woods, and to every one was extended a warm welcome and the first call always included a day's visit. Our latch string was always on the outside to the wayfarer and to our neighbors, all were welcome to our table and bed, even if that bed was sometimes on the floor, the doors were never locked and thefts were unknown; we had no screen doors or windows, but we had mosquitoes in abundance.

Our nearest postoffice was Appleton; we would get our mail once in four or six weeks. Whenever a neighbor went to town he would get the mail and do the errands for all the neighborhood. Oxen were used at that time by the early settlers, and it took three days to make the trip to Appleton and return. Our first schoolhouse was built of log's, four benches and desks on each side; it also served for a church and Sunday school purposes.

Our first school teacher was Mag-g-ie Conklin; our first pastor was Mr. Bullock, a Methodist minister; the parsonage was in the town of Osborne, and every other Sunday, rain or shine, Mr. Bullock would walk four miles "and return" to preach to a congregation of not more than twenty persons and many times less than ten. His salary was about what was g-iven him at a donation which was always held every winter at the residence of some of the church members.

Our first Fourth of July celebration was held in that little school house, and I can truly say I have never enjoyed one since as I enjoyed that one; there were no fruits, salads, jellies, or pressed chicken, for refreshments, but we had g-ood wholesome food in abundance, some of the cakes were frosted with maple sug'ar frosting- and some were not frosted at all. I have heard the old settlers say what g-ood times we used to have when we first moved up in the woods; we were all neig-hbors then, no bickering- or backbiting-, all tried to help and befriend each other. Every year the old pioneers are leaving- us, one by one they are crossing- that silent river, they have all passed the meridian of life and are descending- toward life's settingsun, just a few short years and these places will know them no more; let us honor them while we have the opportunity for they were the ones who endured the hardships, toil and privations that we mig-ht have plenty.

The following- poem was written by W. G. Bedell of Appleton, which may be interesting- to some of the pioneers, more so, perhaps, to those from the northeastern part of the county:

The Ogd Gog House On The Higl

I came to Wisconsin in 1849 ; stopped in Dodge county a few weeks, and did some writing in the register's office there ; but hearing much of the new town of Appleton, myself and three others, Harrison Green was one of the number mentioned, decided to visit Lawrence University. We drove to Neenah and left the team there as the road from there to Appleton was nearly impassable for wagons. We found some boatmen who said they would take us to Appleton for twenty-live cents apiece, but after two hours of fruitless efforts to pass the rapids, we left the boat and walked to Appleton. We found a few shanties in the woods and a building in process of erection which was the germ of Lawrence University; and which was known for some time after as the Institution. At that time there were no streets or established roads visible to the naked eye; trees were everywhere, with only a few small buildings scattered around in the woods.

The idea of a college in the forest seemed to us perfectly ludicrous, still one of our number made arrangements for his sisters to attend the school as soon as it should be opened. We looked over the situation a short time, then walked back to Neenah and the next day returned to Dodge county and I taught school there the following winter. In the meantime I thought often of the possible advantages of the new town I had visited, with its college and fine water power; and as soon as my school closed, I took the first conveyance I could find, which was a horse team coming to Neenah. I found Appleton much improved and rapidly increasing in population.

I worked about a month rowing passengers from Neenah to Appleton, and through the remainder of the summer did whatever work I could find to do. The next winter I taught the first public school in Appleton, in what is now the Second ward, drove team through the summer, taught school again the following winter; and in the fall of 1852 I returned to Vermont, and was married three weeks after; came back to Wisconsin with my wife, and taught school the following winter in what is now the Third ward. In the meantime I had built a house on the lot where the Northwestern House now stands, where I lived eight years. I then moved to my farm on the Center road, where I now live.

Here I have done what I could to subdue and cultivate the soil, and to beautify my home; and now when failing health prevents my meeting with you, I send kindest greetings to all the old pioneers and to all the younger workers who are filling their places as one after another passes to the better land.

Name

Number of pioneers present who were here before 1850, sixteen; before 1855, fifteen; before 1856, eig-hteen; before 1857, twelve. Number of soldiers, fourteen; soldiers' wives, five.

The Spencer Family

In 1631 three brothers named Thomas, William and Jared Spencer, came from England and settled first at Cambridge, Mass., and a short time after they went with a company through the wilderness and helped make the first settlement in the State of Connecticut, at the place where the city of Hartford now stands. I find by the records that one of said brothers, viz. : William Spencer was a representative in the General Court in 1634-5, and in 1639 a selectman of that town and a deputy in the General Court and was appointed with Mr. Willis and Mr. Webster to prepare the first revisal of the laws of that year.

Descendants in the line of Thomas Spencer, one of the first settlers of Connecticut, he died in Hartford, Sept. 11, 1687 ; his son Jared Spencer was born in Hartford, Conn., and died there in 1712, and his son, Jared 2d, was born in Hartford, Jan, 15, 1683, and died in New Hartford, Conn., in 1784, aged 72 ; his son Nathaniel B. Spencer was born in New Hartford, May 10, 1724 and died in 1773, aged 49 years ; his son Ashbel Spencer was born in New Hartford, Conn., May 25, 1750, and died August 14. 1821, aged 71 years, he was my grandfather and a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was with Arnold when he went through the wilderness in winter from Boston to Quebec in 1775, to attack Quebec ; his son Elihu Spencer was my father, born in New Hartford, Conn., March 23d, 1786; in 1813 he emigrated to Huron, Wayne county, N. Y.; he cleared and improved two farms in the then wilderness and buili: the first grist mill in that town; his wife, my mother, was Jemima Upson, of New Hartford, Conn., her grandfather came from Scotland ; my father died in Huron, N. Y., June 14, 1825, aged 39 years ; my mother died June 4, 1825, aged 35 years. They left a family of nine children. My oldest sister Hulda was then 15 years old, my youngest brother Andrew was then nine months old. I was born in Huron, Wayne county, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1816; I was married to Miss Rhoda McKoon of the same county, New York, April 23, 1840. My wife traces her ancestry to Roger Williams, the first settler of Rhode Island, and also to Martin Luther, the German Reformer, being the seventh generation from the former, and the thirteenth generation from the latter. My wife died in Appleton, Dec. 1, 1887 ; our three oldest children, Delia, William E. and Kirtland were born in New York State ; in the fall of 1845 we left our native town in New York, and emigrated with our three children in company with my sister Mary and her husband, Mr. Nelson Phelps, and their four children ; three of their sons enlisted in the army and served through the war of the rebellion, and all came out alive and after the war went to Iowa and took up homesteads, and are now residents of that State. We all landed in Milwaukee, Oct. 2, 1845, and settled at Menominee Falls, now in Waukesha county, where I bought a quarter section of land near the now village of that name. I sold my land there in 1853, I moved my family to Appleton and located on the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 34, near Appleton

Junction, now in the Third ward of this city. I supposed when I located there that I was so far from the then village of Appleton, that they would not be likely to take me into the corporation, but when they framed their city charter they found I was a stranger, very kindly took me in, which doubled my taxes without any correspondingbenefit. I boug-ht three forties in 1853, all fronting- on what is now Spencer street; two are in the town of Grand Chute and one in the city. I paid five dollars per acre for those two in Grand Chute and in 1856 sold to AdamMertes sixteen acres of the west end for twenty-five dollars per acre, just what the eig-hty acres cost me. The forty acres, now in the city, I paid seven and a half dollars per acre for in 1853, and in 1856 I sold six acres off the east side for forty dollars per acre. I then had ninety-eig-ht acres left, which I cleared and improved for my homestead. It is now risen very much in value. Several pieces in Grand Chute have been sold for one hundred dollars per acre, they are now asking- two hundred dollars per acre for the same pieces. The railroad company paid two hundred and fifty dollars per acre for three acres near the Junction to lay their new tracks on. The Appleton Pickle Factory Company paid three hundred dollars for one acre adjoining their factory. Since I have lived in Appleton I have been eng-ag-ed in several different enterprises ; in 1855 I ran the first milk wag-on in Appleton and my two little boys drove the wag-on and did the delivering of the milk. I kept eight cows but found it difficult to sell all their milk as so many cows were kept in Appleton, they were then allowed to let them run in the streets and vacant places so the next year I quit that business. It was difficult what little grain we then raised to get threshed as no machine was owned near here. Old E. B. Abbott, father of our Charles Abbott who lived near the Oneida Indian settlement, owned a small machine with a tread power, he threshed for me and the neighbors several times ; finally I bought a small separator which could be put on a common wagon and run with a sweep power with three teams and hired Josiah G. Cavert to run it, with my son William to help him, then sixteen years old. Next year Cavert left and William ran it successfully alone, with hiring one man and a team to go with him, the farmers put on one team. He threshed in Grand Chute, Greenville and Ellington.

When the war broke out in 1861, in October, William enlisted in the army under Professor Pomeroy, who was then raising a company in Appleton, many of the students in the college enlisted, the company became Co. G in the first cavalry. William served one year and died Sept. 26, 1862, on board a steamer on the Mississippi and was buried at Memphis; after William went into the army, Kirtland, my next son 16 years old said he could run the threshing machine if I would hire a man and team to go with him. I told him to try it ; he ran it successfully two seasons when he brought the machine home at the end of the second season he sairl, Father, I'll never run that old machine another day, if I can't have as good a machine as the other boys, I won't thresh, for they will get all the best jobs and I have to take their leavings. I admired his grit, I said, you shall have as good a machine as any of them ; I then bought of J. I. Case one of his best machines, it cost seven hundred dollars, he soon earned enough with it to pay for it. He ran it successfully seven years, when he was taken sick and died Feb. 29, 1872. I bought a circular saw machine to run with our horse power to saw our own wood and some for the neighbors. After the war began, 1861, Capt. Spaulding came to my house and wanted me to come and saw his wood pile, he said he had about fifteen cords at his house and could not get any one to saw it as the men were all away in the army. I promised I would come and saw his wood as soon as I could get my fall work done and Kirtland got home from threshing. I came with my saw machine as I agreed and began sawing his wood. As soon as his neighbors heard the machine, they all came and wanted me to saw their wood piles. I told them I would come as soon as I could but must take them in rotation, they kept me at it all winter ; in the spring by looking over my account I found I had sawed nearly 1,000 cords of four-foot wood, they kept me at it

I have done considerable surveying- in this county; I commenced the business at Menominee Falls, under the instruction of Mr. J. B. Nehs, an old surveyor from Pennsylvania, who was then building- a grist mill at the falls ; I boug-ht his compass and chain and when I moved to Appleton in 1853, Mr. Charles Turner, the first county surveyor of Outagamie county, wished to leave the county ; he appointed me his deputy and I filled the remainder of his term. In the fall of 1854 John Stevens was elected county surveyor, and as settlers were coming into the county very fast he had more work than he could do ; he wished me to assist him ; he appointed me his deputy and I worked under him several years as deputy. In 1872 I was elected county surveyor, my name was on both tickets and I got more votes than Grant and Greeley both together, who were then running for president. John Stevens was elected in 1874 and in that year he moved to California and I filled out his term by appointment by the board of county supervisors. I was again elected county surveyor in 1878 and was re-elected six times in succession, and held the office until 1890, and probably ran more lines and set more corners in this county than an other surveyor, as the county surveyor's records will show.

My wife was mother of six children on,ly the two youngest are now living. Delia, my oldest daughter, was born in Wayne county, New York, June 16, 1841, was twelve years old when I came to Appleton, June 2, 1863. She was married to Mr. D. B. Bailey, now the the well known merchant of Appleton, who has been in business here since 1868. She was the mother of six children ; Quincy, her oldest, when ten years old was drowned in the canal just below the upper lock ; her second son, Ralph Waldo, graduated in the Ryan High School and afterwards graduated at the Spencerian Business College in Milwaukee, and is now in business in Denver, Col.; her third son, Andrew Spencer Bailey, is a graduate of Lawrence University and afterwards he gradvu ated at Ann Arbor in the school of dentristry and is now practicing- dentistry at Menominee, Mich. ; her fourth son, D. B. Bailey, Jr., commenced a course of study in Lawrence University and while studying- there was attacked with the grip and has never recovered fully his usually good health since; he has just gone to Colorado this winter, hoping the climate may improve his health, so he can go into some business ; Ruthie, her daughter, is now eighteen years old and a student in Lawrence University ; Charlie, the youngest son, is now at home and attends the district school. Mrs. Bailey died Nov. 22, 1884. My two boys, William and Kirtland, I have already told you of and my second daughter ; Lucy was born at Menominee Falls, Wis., Dec. 30, 1846 and died Sept. 12, 1847 ; my third daughter, Hulda, was born at Menominee Falls, Aug. 2, 1851, was two and a half years old when I moved to Appleton, she attended the Third Ward district school until old enough to enter Lawrence University ; after spending several terms there. At the age of sixteen years she taught the district school at Perry's corners in Greenville ; afterwards she taught five terms in Denier district, Kllington, and one term in the Bogan district, Grand Chute, and one term in the school house at the forks of the road, near where John Cary now lives. Afterwards she taught the intermediate department five years in the Third Ward school, when her health failed; she quit teaching and commenced helping her mother in the kitchen and soon regained her health. On May 29, 1878, she married Mr. A. F. Bounds; they have two children, Florence, aged twelve years, and Hattie, aged ten years ; they have a comfortable home on a part of my old farm and are engaged in raising strawberries, raspberries and vegetables. I have made my home with them the last four years and probably shall spend my few remaining days in their family. Under their filial care I have a pleasant warm room in their house and have reason to be contented and happy in my old age. I am now in my seventy-ninth year and my health is good for one of my age. My youngest daughter, Flora, was born in Appleton, April 30, 1854, and was married to Mr. B. C,

Wolter, Sept. 25, 1879 ; they have two children living', Mabel ag-ed fourteen years, and Robert aged eleven ; they lost one son, Raymond, who died the day he was seven years old ; they now live in the house I built for my homestead. Mr. Wolter was county clerk from 1878 to 1886 and has been engaged several years selling farm machinery in Appleton.

P. S. - The above biographical and historical sketch of Ihe Spencer Family was written by Elihu Spencer, to be read at the Twenty-third Annual Festival of Outa gamie County Pioneer Association, but the hour of adjournment arrived before it was reached, Feb. 22, 1895.

Kamps-Moeskes Family

In 1855 Everard Kamps emigrated from Menseln, near Fort Wesel, Rhenish Prussia, to the United States, settling in Washington county, Wisconsin. In 1860 his parents, remaining brothers and sisters, and Herman Moeskes, a neighbor, with his family followed him, the former joining him in Washington county, and the Moeskes family settling in Manitowoc, Wis. In 1861 Gerhard and Theodore Kamps removed from Washington county to Appleton, Wis., and opened a harness shop on the site until lately occupied by the Rahn & Bottrell furniture store. The year following Gerhard Kamps erected the building now occupied as a barber shop, immediately west of the Continental Clothing House, and occupied that as his harness shop until he removed to his present site. The elder Kamps, John Henry, was born in 1797, married in 1821 to Maria Agnes Blankenmeier. They celebrated their golden wedding in 1871, at Appleton, Wis., where his wife died Sept. 4, 1873, and he followed her July 17, 1876. Of the children who came with them to Appleton, to-wit : Everard, John, Gerhard and Theodore, sons; Anna Katharina, Mechtildis and Mary ; two of them, Gerhard and Theodore, still reside at Appleton, our pioneer harness makers. Everard and John removed to Grant county, South Dakota, in 1882, and resided there ever since. Mary, the youngest, was married to G. T. Moeskes, at Appleton, in October, 1869, and died in August, 1894 ; her two older sisters hav-

£ng passed over to the great beyond before her, Anna Katharina, nee Vogt, in South Dakota, in 1885, and Mechtildis, nee Esser, in Chilton, Wis., in 1872.

Gerhard Kamps, the older of the family, was married on July 4, 1861, to Catharina Jansen, a daughter of Herman Jansen, one of the early pioneers of the town of Kaukauna, who bore him seven children, John Henry, now of Kamps & Sacksteder, druggists ; Helen, now the wife of Cashier John J. Sherman, of the Citizens' National Bank ; Herman, jeweler, now of the firm of Mayer & Kamps ; Theodore, who succeeded his father as harness maker, and Agnes, now the wife of Henry Reuter, spoke manufacturer, of Rice Lake, Wis., and two who died in infancy. Mrs. Kamps died April 17, 1872. Gerhard Kamps was re-married June 21, 1873, to Sophia Bauman, who bore him five children : William F., bookkeeper at the Citizens' National Bank ; Richard, clerk at the drug store of Kamps & Sacksteder ; Etta and Margaret, still living, and one who died in infancy.

Theodore W., the other brother of Gerhard still residing here, was married Nov. 12, 1867, to Mary Karls, who bore him eight children, Anna, Ferdinand, William A., Louise, Rosa, Adolph and Mamie still living, and three who died in infancy.

Mary, the youngest sister of the Kamps family, was married in October, 1869, to G. T. Moeskes, who bore him three children ; Katie, the wife of E. W. Sacksteder, of the firm of Kamps & Sacksteder, druggists, Herman and Lizzie still living, and Agnes, who died at the age of twenty-one in August, 1892 ; William, who died at the age of sixteen in October, 1893, and two who died in infancy. Mrs. Moeskes died in August, 1894.

The Ryan Family

Col. Samuel Ryan, who traced his ancestry back into the fifth century, was born at Nenag-h, Tipperary county, Ireland, in 1789. He was impressed as a British seaman and deserted to the American army on Lake Ontario during the war of 1812, and foug-ht on the American side at Plattsburg- and Lundy's Lane. He married at Erie, Pa., in 1823, Martha Johnson, a descendant of the Fifes of Scotland. In June, 1826, they came to Fort Howard, Green Bay. He was the first justice of the peace appointed by Gov. Dodg-e in the Territory of Wisconsin, and the first Methodist on the Fox river. In 1852 he removed to Menasha, where he was Receiver of the United States Land Office, residing- there until his death in 1875. His widow removed to Appleton in 1880, where she resided with her youngest son until her death in 1883, at the ag-e of 83.

Sam, their eldest son, was born at Sackett's Harbor, Jefferson county, N. Y., in 1824. He learned his trade in the office of the Green Bay Republican ; worked in Milwaukee in 1844 ; succeeded to the Green Bay paper that fall ; removed it to Fond du Lac at the close of 1847, and there published The Fountain City three years; failed in the business and went back to Green Bay, where he published the Green Bay Spectator two years. In January, 1853, he came to Appleton, and on Feb. 24, 1853, issued the first number of the Appleton Crescent. He was school com- missioner of Green Bay for three years. In this locality he has held a few offices. Was a member of the first board of trustees of the Village of Appleton ; clerk of the Circuit Court two terms ; a trustee of the Cemetery Association for forty years ; member of assembly, one term ; county judge, two terms ; school clerk, about twenty years ; and justice of the peace for nearly the same term. In the Odd Fellows he was grand master two terms, and grand representative for five years, besides being the director in the Wisconsin Odd Fellows' Insurance Co., for twenty-five years. His wife is a daughter of John J. Driggs, a Green Bay pioneer, from Rome, N. Y., and a niece of the Rev. Albert Barnes.

Francis A. Ryan was born in 1828, became a printer and lived long at Kenosha. He came to Appleton in 1858, and established the Appleton Motor, the predecessor of the Post. He belonged to the "Clay Guards," mustered by Gen. Cassius M. Clay, in the defense of Washington, in 1861, and was subsequently receiver of the United States Land Office at Mennsha. He died in 1882, leaving a widow, Delia A. Ryan, now living at Athol, Mass.

James Ryan was born in 1830. He came to Appleton in the fall of 1853, and the next year entered the Crescent force, where he still is. He has been mayor, alderman, city treasurer and postmaster of Appleton, and State Senator of the Twenty-second District. His son Sam J., a native of Appleton, is now business manager of the Crescent, and his second son, Dudley, long a postal clerk, is about to enter a Green Bay manufacturing concern in a responsible position. His wife, Carrie, is from New York City.

John C. Ryan was born in 1833, and came here with the Crescent in 1853, with which he remained until 1859, when he went to the Rocky Mountain Region. He has traversed all the States and Territories from British Columbia to Lower California, being a Colorado printer, an Idaho gold miner, and an officer of the Montana legislature. When last heard from he was in Nevada.

184 OUTAGAMIE COUNTY PIONEERSjoined the Crescent force soon after the establishment of the paper, which he edited during- the civil war. He has been under sheriff of this county, and assessor and city attorney of Appleton. He is an able lawyer, and althoug-h averse to office holding-, would make a g-ood mayor and a safe legislator. His wife is a native of Wisconsin ; his son, William A., is bookkeeper in the Kimberly Mills.

David J. Ryan was born in 1840. He led a cow to Appleton from Fort Howard in the fall of 1853 ; remained here and went to school to Daniel Huntley until the end of the school year. In the fall of 1854 he went to Menasha, where he resided until 1880, when he took up his residence in Appleton. He was town clerk of Menasha, and clerk to the register of the United States Hand Office. He has a military history, being- badly wounded at the battle of Perryville, in which his regiment, the twenty-first, was hotly eng-ag-ed. He is immersed in business, is a bachelor and would be a splendid prize for a rich widow.

Mrs. Martha J. Allen, twice a widow, the young-est of all the Ryans, was born in 1843, and came to Appleton to reside in 1880. Her son, Louis J. Robinson, is an efficient and popular clerk in the Appleton post office. All the Ryans, except "the judg-e" were born at Fort Howard.

John W. Woodward

The subject of this sketch was born in Otseg-o county, New York, Aug-ust 19, 1793. His father's family consisted of six children ; two daug-hters, Nancy and Lucy ; four sons, John Wesley, Fletcher, Arnold and Richard. At the ag-e of twenty-four he experienced relig-ion and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was an active member till his death. February 18, 1818, he married Sophia Z. Warner, daughter of Charles and Sophia Warner, of Unadilla, N. Y.

When quite young Mr. Warner joined the American army and was an officer under Gen. Washington, and was at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to the American forces. He died in 1836, aged seventy-eight years. Mrs. Warner survived her husband eleven years ; she died in 1847, aged seventy-nine years. Their family consisted of eight children : Esther, Lucy, Sophia, Charity, Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah and Charles.

Mr. Woodward moved to Geddes, Onondaga county, when it was new and kept public house for several years, when he turned his attention to farming ; he also kept a store of general merchandise till the fall of 1851, when, on account of his wife's health and the advice of the attending physician, he closed his business and on Oct. 9, 1851, started for the west, spending the winter at Menominee Falls, Wis. In the spring of 1852 he moved to Appleton where he opened a store in a building where Kamps' drug store now stands. During the summer he built a home on Lawrence street and occupied it Nov. 5, 1852. He also built the stone block on College avenue in 1856, now known as the "Douglas Block," where he remained in business until his death, on Sept. 6, 1868, aged seventy- five years, three months and twenty-nine days. His family consisted of eight children, four sons and four daughters, their names in order being, Deloso Elihu, Elury Louisa (Mrs. C. G. Adkins), Wesley Grondison, Eldridge Warner, Sarah L. (Mrs. B. Douglas), Francis I. (Mrs. L. B. Noyes), Henrietta Esther (Mrs. T. W. Brown), and Charles Richard. Wesley died in California Jan. 3, 1857, Charles Richard in Stephensville, Wis., Feb. 1, 1867, aged twenty-eight years; Eldridge, in Onondaga county, N; Y., Henrietta, Appleton, Sept. 6, 1876; Delos, California.

Nathan Nve

Born April 24, 1798, on the island of Martha's Vinyard. Removed while young to Washington county, Vermont ; was married in 1820 to Betsy, eldest daughter of Moses Shelden. Removed with his family to Racine county, Wisconsin Territory, in 1845. From there he went to Appleton in 1849, and to Freedom in 1856. One son survives him, Edwin Nye, who is still a resident of Freedom.

The Dey Family

and Hannah Russel Dey, were born in Jersey City, and the father and two brothers were soldiers in the war of the revolution. Mr. Dey's father was seventeen )*ears old when he saw Washing-ton at the battle of Princeton. Mr. Dey is of Holland lineag-e in the material line ; he was reared on his father's farm and fulfilled his legal oblig-ations to his parents. In the fall of 1845, Oct. 9, he was married .to Miss Eveline Kling-; in 1846 with wife and one child went west and located twenty miles north of Chicag-o, in Cook county, where he learned the cooper's trade ; in 1849 he leftfor Appleton with his wife and two children. T.heir conveyance was a lumber wag-on and oxen. Arrived Oct. 3, 1849, and located on the northeast corner of what is now John Finkle's farm, on Sec. 29, T. 21, R. 17, and worked at the cooper's trade and clearing- land until the year 1854. In February he moved his family to the town of Greenville, on Sec. 7, T. 21, R. 16, where he now resides, and reared and educated the following- children : Martha J. Dey, born Aug-. 7, 1846, married to Mr. Leonard Jewell, Nov. 15, 1860; they have had ten children, six of them now living-, all of whom reside in Rendville county, Minnesota.

they now reside in the town of Deer Creek and have had seven children, six of them now living-. David J. Dey with a twin sister Nannie, born Nov. 20, 1851 ; Nannie died Jan. 20, 1853 ; David was married to Miss Mary O'Brien,

Oct. 14, 1872, they have had eight children, all living and well educated ; they reside in Antigo ; he is now employed in the United States Mail Service on the M. L. S. & W.

8, 1854, married to Flora R. Salter, Sept. 7, 1875; they now reside on a farm in Cicero ; have bad three children, all boys. Third daughter, Elizabeth Eveline Dey, born Dec. 12,

1892 ; his widow now resides on a farm adjoining her father's farm on the south, having five children, four boys and one girl. Fourth daughter, Ella Louisa Dey, born Sept. 1, 1861, now living with her father, unmarried and out of health for fifteen years. Fifth daughter, Nettie May Dey, born Feb. 16, 1867, married to George Berry, April 20, 1891 ; they reside on a farm in the town of Maine and have no children. Anna S. Dey, born April 13, 1865, married to Emil C. Frank, March 17, 1891, now residing with her father and mother on their homestead.

9, 1895, they intend to celebrate their golden wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Dey united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in the fall of 1847, and still remain in full member- ship of said church. Mr. Dey is now superintendent of the Sunday School, and has been for the last forty years. He is now president of the Outagamie County Agricultural Society and has held that office for the past fifteen years, and has lately been elected a trustee of the Outagamie County Insane Asylum for three years, and also been president of the Outagamie County Pioneer Association for seventeen years. Mr. Dey by his experience is good authority on fruit culture, and has a fine orchard on his homestead. He was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion and enlisted in August, 1862, in Appleton, in Company D, Twenty-first Regiment for three years and left a wife and six children on the farm; was wounded Aug. 7, 1864, in a battle before Atlanta and was discharged May 19, 1865 ; he has been justice of the peace thirty years and assessor thirteen years.

Mathew McComb was born the first day of January, 1821, at the Spa-Wells, in the county of Down, Ireland ; was married to Mary J. Stewart, of Saintfield, in said county, the thirty-first day of March, 1849, who died the sixth day of February, 1891, at Horton ville in the county of Outagamie, and State of Wisconsin, with whom he had six sons and three daughters, all of whom are living (excepting one son, Edwin B., who died January 14, 1864), viz.: Isaac N. McComb, now residing at Brillion, Calumet county, Wis. ; Jennie S., wife of C. H. Baake; Henry R. McComb of Shawano, Shawano county, Wis.; A. C. McComb of Oshkosh, Wis.; Emma A., wife of Delos Lewis of Dale, Outagamie county, Wis.; Virgil B. and C. H. McComb of Bozeman, Montana; and Ina V., wife of John Reincking of Hortonville, Outagamie county, Wis. On the 30th day of January, 1893, he married Cynthia C. Griffin, formerly wife of George N. Pembleton. He has resided in the town of Hortonia, Outagamie county, Wis., from the second day of July, 1849, to the present time.

William W. Briggs

of 1812, after which he, with his wife, Pheba Thomas Briggs and seven children settled at Monson, Me. The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood as a pioneer in northern Maine; his mother dying when he was but fourteen years of age. He was engaged in lumbering on the rivers St. Johns, Penobscot and Kennebec, wh ichmeans the hardest kind of work, for lumbering then had no conveniences as now. In 1851 William W. Briggs was married to Mary E. Page, and the year following they came to Wisconsin, first stopping in northern Illinois. They traveled by team from Beloit, Wis., to Hortonville. The men walking when it was rough and poor roads, which was most of the way. They had two children, Eben P. and Eliza M. Briggs.

Mr. Briggs was engaged in the milling business there for about eighteen years, when he moved with his family to Appleton, where he has lived ever since. In 1874 he built the " Briggs House" and engaged in active hotel life for four years.

Mr. Briggs with Ira Hersey and H. B. Sanborn built the first grist mill at Hortonville, which is now considered the oldest one in this c unty.

The Blood Family

Henry L. Blood was born Dec. 27, 1813, in Oxford county, New Hampshire ; was married to Miss Catharine Southmayd, of Jay, N. Y., April 25, 1838; they had three children, E. J. Blood, born April 10, 1846, married to Miss Laura Washburn; had two children, both dead ; E. J. Blood died in 1885. Second son, Fred. Blood, born Aug. 6, 1848, married to Miss Lillian

Curtis, Oct. 18, 1875 ; they have four children, three boys and one girl ; they now live in Appleton. F. H. Blood is engaged in the wood and coal business. Kitty Blood was born May 4, 1851, married to George M. Miller in 1872; they have had two children, one boy having died and the girl now living ; Mrs. Miller died in Lawrence,

Henry L. Blood

Kan., Dec. 28, 1874. Mrs. H. L. Blood died Jan. 11, 1855. Mr. Blood married three times ; Miss Mary Brown, Jan. 5, 1859 ; they have two children now living, Frank L. Blood, born June 15, 1862; married to Miss Benito Fuller; they have two children, a boy and a girl. May Blood, born July 31, 1865, married to C. W. Jarvis Sept. 16, 1891 ; they now live in Ishpeming, Mich.

Mr. H. L. Blood moved to Mackinaw Island in 1844 ; in 1846 he moved to Oshkosh and kept the first hotel ; in 1847 moved into the Astor House, Green Bay ; in 1849 moved to Appleton ; he was agent for Lawrence University and built the first College Building ; he built the first shanty in Appleton in 1848, and hired John F. Johnston and wife to move into it to board the men who worked on the first college building. Mr. Blood kept a hotel several years in Appleton and was a prominent citizen. He died Feb. 21, 1888.

Henry J. Diener

Mr. Henry J. Diener was born in Germany, June 20, 1830 ; came to America with his parents in 1832 ; they located in New York and lived in Monroe county until 1848, then came to Wisconsin and lived in Oshkosh and Rosendale two years, then moved to Ellington in this county in 1850 and located on Sec. 9, T. 22, R. 16, where he now lives ; in 1855 he married Miss Anna B. Jenny, she was born in Canton Glaurus, Switzerland, in 1837 ; in 1844 she came with her parents to Rochester, N. Y , where she lived until 1855, when they removed to the town of Ellington, in this county ; they have ten children, nine of them now living, seven daughters and two sons. Eouisa, the oldest daughter, married Mr. Orris Axtel in 1867 ; they have five children, two sons and three daughters. Second daughter, Charlena, married to Otto P. Schlafer May 18, 1881 ; they have three children, one son and two daughters ; they now live in Appleton. Third daughter, Florence A., married Hiram C. Greely in 1881; they have two daughters. Fourth daughter, Wilna E., married to John A. Boon 1880; they have two sons and one daughter. Fifth daughter, Amelia M., married G. L. Finkle Nov. 29, 1883 ; they have one son. Sixth daughter, Jessie E., married to Byron Smolk in 1886; they have one pair of twin daughters. Seventh daughter, Carrie E., married to Charles Tackman in 1884. Eighth child, a son, Charles H. Diener, born in child, Walter H. Diener, both sons now live with their parents on the homestead. Mrs. Diener's mother, Mrs. Magdalene Jenne, now in her eighty-sixth year, lives with her in her family. Mr. Diener was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion and is now a prominent and respected citizen of the town of Ellington and a successful farmer,

The Cuebertson Family

About the beginning- of the eighteenth century, there lived near Campbeltown, Scotland, one James Culbertson, who took for a wife, Jean Campbell; whose son Robert married Nannie Harvey; whose son James and his wife Jenet White Culbertson had six sons and three daughters, Jean, Agnes, Robert, Janet, William, John, James, Samuel and David. For many years the family rented and lived on Skerbolin Farm, five miles north of Campbeltown ; but when all the children had reached maturity they emigrated to America betwen the years 1818 and 1822, locating in southern Indiana where the first settlers were making their pioneer start. John, who was born May, 1796, was the last to emigrate.. Soon after reaching America, but before his journey was completed, he was married Sept. 11, 1822, to Margaret Reid, a member of the same emigrant party and a resident of his native land.

They located in Shelby township, Jefferson county, Indiana, where John's people had preceeded him. Here he took a quarter section of unimproved very heavily timbered land and subdued it into a modern farm of that date and here their family was born: James, Matthew, John, Janet, Margaret, Alexander and Nancy.

At the time the boys had reached manhood and wished to establish homes for themselves, Wisconsin Territory was in the boom, and March 22, 1848, John accompanied by his son Matthew, started on a land-seeking- expedition. They went by an Ohio river boat to Cincinnati, from there by canal boat to Toledo, then by railroad sixty-five miles to the terminus, then by stage to St. Joseph, Mich., and from there by boat to Sheboygan, Wisconsin Territory, where they arrived at the earliest possible moment, which was April 4, and from here they proceeded on foot, finally holding up at Green Bay where, April 14, they bought in the Government land office three hundred and eighty acres of land, being that upon which members of the family now reside in the town of Greenville.

Matthew at once built a cabin and was the first settler in Greenville. His father, after remaining with him several weeks, returned to his home in Indiana, where Matthew joined the family in November. The next spring, accompanied by his brother James, moved with team and wagon to the pioneer home, where they were joined by John Jr. in 1850 and Alexander in 1855.

In 1854 their mother, Margaret, died, and their father, selling his farm, moved to Wisconsin in 1858, accompanied by Margaret and Nancy. March 6, 1851, Matthew took for a partner in life Hannah, daughter of Enos Otis. John was married Dec. 8, 1853, to Miss Esther Prentice ; James March 18, 1860, to Abbey Wickwire, and Alexander to Sylvina Perry April 15, 1869. Their father, John, died Dec. 7, 1877, and was buried in the Greenville town cemetery.

N. B. Draper

Mr. Nelson B. Draper was born in Otsego county, N.Y., Dec. 13, 1823 ; he was married to Miss Sarah A. Spencer Nov. 21, 1855 ; they have one daughter, born Jan. 1, 1860, married to Adelbert Grant June 13, 1882 ; they have two sons and three daughters ; they now reside on section 27 in Ellington. Mr. Draper came to Ellington Sept. 21, 1857, and settled on section 27, where he established a home and resided there until his death, Oct. 25, 1880. His widow now resides in Appleton.

The Roudebush Famiey

Silas J. Roudebush was born in Ohio, May 11, 1818; came to Appleton in 1854 ; he had been in California four years dig-g-ing- gold. He settled on the s. e. % sec. 28, T. 21, R..

17, where he established his home and resided there until his death, April 30, 1875. He was married to Miss SylviaW arner March 2, 1847; they have had six children, three sons and three daughters. First child, Josephine, born Dec. 16, 1847, died March 6, 1869. Second child, Frances Kleanor, born Aug. 4, 1 850, was married to Chas. Bowen Feb. 22, 1866 ; they removed to Iowa in 1872; they have seven children, two sons and five daughters. Third child, Perry G., born Dec. 4, 1854; married to Dela Page ; they live in Appleton and have six children, two boys and four girls. Fourth child, Martha A., born Nov. 10, 1856, married to G. H. Murphy Jan. 3, 1878; they have no children; they now live on the family homestead, and Mrs. Murphy's mother lives with them ; she is now in the sixty-eighth year of her age ; Mr. Murphy is engaged in lumbering. Fifth child, David W., born Jan. 22, 1858, married to Miss Fannie Armstrong May 27, 1880 ; they live in Appleton and have four children, all boys. Sixth child, William C., born Sept. 17, 1865, married to Miss Minnie R. Stern ; they now live on part of the homestead and have three children, all boys,

Sieas J. Roudebush The Scott Family

Jared G. Scott was born of Scotch parents on a farm in Saratoga county, New York, Feb. 8, 1808. When seventeen years old he was bound out to learn the tan and currier and shoe makers' trade. There he stayed till he thought he knew enough about that business, then ran away and brought up in the town of Castile, Wyoming county, N. Y., where he, in 1828, married Sally Hurd. There they lived and raised a family of four boys and four girls till they came to Wisconsin, in May, 1854. In September of that year he bought land in the town of Ellington, this county, where with the help of his family he cleared his land and erected buildings that made it a good home. Sally Scott died Sept. 4, 1869. J. G. Scott died April 8, 1877. The children are all living; the girls are Mrs. A. H. Burch, Mrs. John Van Heuklon and Mary Scott, all residents of Grand Chute, and Mrs. G. M. Davis of Nebraska. The youngest son, Z. D. Scott, resides in Milbank, S. D. Norman and J. G. Scott in Stephenville and your humble servant in Appleton.

Jared G. Scott John Kobussen

Came from Holland in 1848 ; came to this county in 1851 and settled on Sec. 32, T. 21, R. 19, now town of Buchanan, where he cleared a farm and established a home ; March 17, 1869, removed to Gittle Chute where he now resides ; he has no children.

The Whitman Famiey

Sylvester S. Whitman was born May 5, 1811, in Turner, Oxford county, State of Maine, married in 1833 to Miss Nancy M. Waite, who was borh in Livermore, Me., in 1814 ; they have had six children, three sons and three daughters. First son, Oscar V., born in 1835, married to Miss Rispah Leavitt in 1860 ; they have one son and one daughter ; they live in South Paris, Me. Second son, Orson, died at the age of four years. Third son, A. B., was born in 1854, in the State of Maine, was married to Miss Eliza M. Briggs in Appleton, Jan. 1876; they have three daughters. Mr. Whitman was a graduate of Lawrence University in 1875 ; has been superintendent of schools in Appleton for nine years and district attorney two years, and is now city attorney and does a general law business. First daughter, Osta M., married to Ashley Briggs, she died in 1870 and leaves two children. Second daughter, married to John McMurdo, who died in Hortonville in 1890; the widow now lives in Hortonville. Third daughter, Mary Ellen, married to W. J. Stewart of Mason City, la., where they now live; they have two daughters. S. S. Whitman had a farm and store in the State of Maine ; he came to Wisconsin in 1857, settled at Oshkosh ; staid two years, then moved to Hortonville in 1859 and engaged in the lumbering and saw mill business ; he died June 2, 1894; his first wife died in Appleton in

Sylvester S. Whitman Henry Kethroe

May 10, 1812. I worked at the hatter's trade until we came to America in 1848. We remained in the State of New York one year, then came to Wisconsin, and settled in Ellington, Outagamie county, where we lived until 1866, when we moved to Hortonia, where we now reside.

In 1841 1 married Esther Webb. Of our six children now living three are married. These are Mrs. B. M. Gurnee, Stephensville, Wis. ; Mrs. S. C. Heard, Reardon, Wash.; and Mrs. T. R. Curtis, San Bernardino, Cal. A son, Joseph Kethroe, lives in Washington, and two daughters at home. One son died in Arizona in 1879 and one died in infancy. Mrs. Kethroe was born March 2, 1817 and died June 21, 1889.

David Palmer, father of E. S. Palmer, was a soldier in the war of 1812 and lived in Jefferson county, N. Y., near Sacket's Harbor, where E. S. Palmer was born in 1827 ; he came to Wisconsin in 1853 and settled on section 6 in Greenville ; was married to Miss Martha Lewis, a sister of A. P. and Jerome Lewis, June 7, 1854 ; they have had four chilhenry kethroe.

Outagamie Countv Pioneers

dren, two boys and two girls. Their first daughter, Carrie O. Palmer, born Sept. 5, 1852, married to Ed. Somers April 4, 1884 ; they have three children, all boys. Second daughter, Eva E., born Sept. 24, 1857, and died March 26, 1862. Edwin P., born Jan. 27, 1864. E. C., born Jan. 17, 1870. Both boys live at home on section 6 in Greenville.

The Gates Family

27, 1827, was married to Miss Juliette Arnold in September, 1850, in Oswego, N. Y.; they have one son and three daughters ; one son and one daughter now living ; the son, James P., born July 7, 1860, married to Miss Mary King of Fond du Gac ; they have one son ; they now live in Milwaukee. First daughter, Esther G., born July 13, 1851, died in Appleton in 1864; second daughter, Marion J., born in Appleton, Oct. 7, 1851, married to John Miller ; they have one son and five daughters ; Mrs. Miller died in May, 1893. Third daughter, Nellie J., born April 2, 1867, married to Virgil McComb ; they have two sons and two daughters ; they live in Bozeman, Mont. Mr. Gates now keeps the Gates House in Hortonville ; he was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion in Co. I., Third Wisconsin Cavalry ; he enlisted March 20, 1862, and was discharged July 12, 1865.

Porter J. Gates The Johnson Family

William Johnson was born July 27, 1811, in Philadelphia, Pa.; his father, John Johnson died in Tunchannock, Pa., in 1834 ; his uncle, Col. William Johnson was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and lost a leg- in the battle of Brandywine. Wm. Johnson came to Appleton in 1850 ; he was married May 19, 1845, to Miss Lydia Sophia Story, a daug-hterof Col. Story, an early settler and prominent citizen of Appleton ; they have had four sons and four daughters ; their oldest son, Amos Augustus, is married and has one son and four daughters. F irst daughter, Sarah Louise, is married to C. S. Buckland ; they have two sons and three J daughters ; they now live in Appleton. Third child, Dewitt S. Johnson, married Beulah Johnson ; they have two sons and one daughter ; Mrs. Johnson died November, 1882. His second wife, Maud Jenkinson, had one son; Mrs. Johnson died in Jan. 1892. Mr. Johnson is now postmaster in Rhinelander, Wis. Fourth child, Frances S. Fifth child, Lena, now dead. Sixth child, William, now dead. Seventh child, Ina B., and her sister, Frances, are now in the insurance business in Appleton. Eighth child, John Allen, married Miss Bertha Breitung ; they have two daughters ; they now live in Appleton. Wm. Johnson was mayor in the city of Appleton in 1862, '63 and '64, and treasurer in 1866-7 ; aiderman in 1877, and assessor from 1879 to 1887, also collector of United States internal revenue. He died in Appleton wife, were natives of Nova Scotia ; they came to this county in the fall of 1848 ; he first pre- empted a quarter section in Sec. 6, T. 21, R. 16; he was not on time to prove up on it as the roads were in a horrible condition and the oxen nearly exhausted with the long drive from Waukesha county ; he was not able to get upon his claim in time, so he lost it, but entered a tract of land in section 22, now town of Ellington. They had a family of nine children, seven sons and two daughters. James Albert Hardacker died at the age of twenty-one years. John T., now a butcher and lives at Stewartville, Mo. Isaac M., served in the War of the Rebellion three years ; he died July 30, 1873. Henry D. is a physician, located at Hortonville, Wis. Lewis A., a farmer at Green Valley, Shawano county, Wis. Herman T., lives on the old homestead. Rolla W., the youngest son died at Hortonville, Wis., March 5, 1884, aged nearly twenty-five years. Elizabeth A., married L. B. Mills in 1858, and they resided on the n w of section 17 in Greenville until Mr. Mills' death which occurred in October. 1886. Since then Mrs. Mills and a part of her family have lived in Appleton. Della G. Hardacker, second daughter, has been in 1799 ; he came to Appleton in 1852 and located on the w of w ^ of ne yA Sec. 26, T. 21, R. 17, now in the Second and Sixth wards of the city of Appleton, where he established a home and resided there until his death in 1888 ; he was married to Ann Hurd in 1820 ; they have had s£ven sons and two daughters ; their oldest son, A. B., was born Jan. 1, 1821 ; he married Theresa Gridley, June 5, 1845; they had one son and one daug-hter. A. B. was a preacher in the M. E. church and one of the first in Appleton ; he died July 31, 1894 ; his wife still survives. Henry R. Randall, born Oct, 1822 ; he married Harriet Russell in 1845 ; they have two daug-hters. Mr. Randall died Feb. 1872; his wife died in 1852. Third son, Ransford B. Randall, born Sept. 27, 1823 ; he now lives on the old homestead in Vermont. Fourth son, R. H. Randall, born Aug-. 11, 1825 ; he married Miss Sarah A. Prindle, Jan. 1, 1845; they have one daug-hter. Mr. Randall came to Appleton in 1849 and located on the s w % Sec. 24, T. 21, R. 17, where he established a home on which he now resides ; his daug-hter married to J. N. Fox in 1881 ; they have two sons ; they now live in the First ward of Appleton. Fifth child, Harriet

F. Randall, born June 5, 1827, married to C. V. Smith ; they now live in Vermont. Sixth child, L. L. Randall, born June 22, 1829, married to Miss Jeannette J. Gridley in 1856; they have two daughters, Clara, married to A. C. Tucker ; they have two daughters ; Mr. Tucker died in 1894. Second daughter, Lilly, married to Mr. Gridley ; they have one son. L. L. Randall came to Appleton in 1852 ; he now resides in the First ward of Appleton. Seventh child, R. K. Randall, born July 24, 1831, married to Miss Elizabeth Taylor in 1857 ; they have three daughters ; they now live in Iowa. Eighth child, Theresa Randall, born April 9, 1845, married to Hurd Morehouse in 1864 ; they had one son; Mr. Morehouse died in 1868. Mrs. Morehouse married to James Parkhurst, 1873 ; they have one son and one daughter ; they now live in Alabama. Ninth child, Palmer N. Randall, born Oct. 23, 1846 ; died in June, 1871.

Mrs. Levi Randall died Oct. 16, 1856 ; Levi Randall married June 16, 1857, to Electa Norton ; they had one daughter, Flora, married to George S. Thompson in 1873 ; they have two sons and one daughter ; they now live in Colorado. Four of Levi Randall's sons were soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, A. B. Randall was chaplain, R. H. and L. L. Randall were in the Sixth Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, R. K. Randall was in the First Wisconsin Cavalry.

Woodford D. Jordan

Was born in Raymond, Cumberland county, Me., Jan. 19. 1825 ; he is from pioneer stock, having descended from Rev. Robert Jordan of the Church of England, who came from Dorsetshire, England in 1639, and settled in Falmouth, now Portland, Me., the line of descent is as follows: First, Robert ; second, Dominicus ; third, Dominicus ; fourth, Nathaniel ; fifth, Dominicus, who was the first settler in the said town of Raymond; sixth, William; seventh, Dominicus; eighth, Woodford D., who was the first settler in the town of Bovina, Outagamie county, Wis., having purchased the land of the government and built the first house where Shiocton now stands in 1850 and has resided in the town ever since. He married Mary E. Manning, Dec! 14, 1851, at Algoma, Wis., no children. He has held the office of school district clerk in the town continously for thirty-five years ; in June, 1875, he laid out the plat of the village of Shiocton and at present resides upon his farm north of the village.

George H. Myers

Hon. George H. Myers was born Oct. 24, 1824, in Delaware county, New York ; when four years of age he came with his parents to Erie county, Pennsylvania ; he studied law and was admitted to the bar in Erie City about 1 848 ; he came to Appleton in the fall of 1849, where he practiced his profession ; in 1865 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Fifty-first Regiment, Infantry ; in the fall of 1878 he was appointed Circuit Judge of the Tenth Judicial District, Wisconsin, to fill a vacancy and afterwards was twice elected judge: george h. myers. judge and held the posi-

_ tion until his death which occurred Aug. 1, 1891 ; he was married to Miss Betsey A. Hawley, Aug. 25, 1852, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania ; they have had one son and one daughter ; their son, George, died March 7, 1864; their daughter, Ada E., now lives with her mother at the homestead.

Rev. Philo S. Bennett

the ministry at a seminary at Mexico, N. Y., and ordained in 1837. He was married June 13, 1838, at Pulaski, N. Y., to MissCalphumia Chase, a relative of Secretary Chase. She was a remarkable woman. It is quite safe to say few Methodist itinerants have been favored with a helpmate who in all respects of Sister C. C. Bennett. He was occupied with various charges in New York State until 1850, when he came to Wisconsin. He was stationed first at Platteville and afterwards at Beloit ; meantime he continued his studies and received a degree from Beloit College in 1854. He afterward held various charges in the State, including Milwaukee and Racine, and in 1861 he came to Appleton, where he has since resided. For the past eight years he has not been engaged in active work, but being of an energetic temperament has occupied himself to a great extent with literary work and lecturing as well as frequent pulpit work. Since the death of his estimable wife seven years ago, after a happy married life of nearly half a century, he has made his home with his only daughter, Mrs. L. A. Briggs, where his last days were happily spent, made pleasant by the loving- care of children and grand -children. Elder Bennett died April 5, 1895.

The Rexford Family

Eunice Rexford, moved to Johnsburgh, Warren county, N. Y. when he was in his eighteenth year; he helped his father on his farm until he was twenty-one. In 1828 he was married to Miss Rebecca Wilcox. Their children were, Jacob W., born June 11, 1830; Sanford W., born Nov. 19, 1834, and Eben E., born July 16, 1847; in March 1856 Mr. Rexford came to Wisconsin and settled on a farm in the town of Ellington and established a home where he resided until his death Oct. 10, 1887, loved and respected by all who knew him, and it can truly be said of him a good man has gone to his reward and his influence for the right lives after him. Their oldest son, Jacob W., was married to Harriet J. Wilber at Johnsburgh, N. Y., July 24, 1852 ; they have two children, Fred E., Eva May ; they came to Shiocton in 1854; in 1860 moved to Shawano; in 1862 he enlisted in Co. D, Twenty-first Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, was taken prisoner in December at the battle of Stone River and was paroled prisoner ten months and exchanged, marched with Sherman to the sea, was discharged at the close of the war ; in 1878 went to Arapahoe, Neb., with his family ; in 1892 they all went to Sardis, British Columbia, where they now reside.

The second son, Sanford W., was married to Mary L. Downs, June 17, 1855, at Johnsburgh, N. Y. ; three children were born to thorn. Harry Sanford, born Dec. 1, 1858; he was married to Lulu Macken, Oct. 12, 1879, at Hortonville, Wis. ; his wife died in 1888, had one child, Burrows Garfield ; they went to Prace City, Neb., in 1887 ; in 1890 he married Lizzie Rea, of Pennsylvania; they have one child, Max Sanford. Second child, Olive C., was born May 18, 1862, was married to Frank Spencer, July 4, 1888; they have two children, Mary Blanche and Frank Rcxford ; they now live on a farm in Grand Chute. Third child, Elmer Jabez, was born Nov. 25, 1867, was married to Maud E. Hunter of Iron River, Mich.; they have one child, William Sanford ; they now live on the old homestead in Ellington. Sanford W. Rexford came to Wisconsin and settled on a farm in Ellington in '856 and established a home where he resided until his death, June 21, 1889, he died of cancer of the stomach after fifteen months' great suffering ; he enlisted Aug. 9, 1862, in Co. D, Twenty-first Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, was wounded at the battle of Perryville, marched with Sherman to the sea and to Washington ; participated in several battles; was discharged June 17, 1865.

The third son of Jabez B. Rexford, Eben Eugene Rexford, was born July 16, 1847 ; came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1856, attending the district school for a time then went to Lawrence University. Commenced his literary work when quite young ; with untiring energy he has advanced until his writings are read and appreciated by the many, especially his Talks on Flowers. He was married Dec. 22, 1890, to Miss Hattie Harsh of Shiocton, where they have a pleasant home; surrounded by his birds and flowers, they have a happy, busy life.

The Johnston Family

married Miss Harriet Faville, and resided in that county until 1851, when they removed to Appleton and located on the s. e. % of Sec. 14, T. 21, R. 17, now in the town of Grand Chute, where he cleared a farm and established a home, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Johnston was a prominent citizen, and has been probate judge of this county. He died in 1881; his wife died in 1886. They had six sons, the first, Wm. F., born Feb. 7, 1820, married in 1851 to Harriet E. Sack- ett ; they have three sons, all married, and now live in Milwaukee. Mrs. Johnston died in December, 1864. Mr. Johnston was married to his second wife, Mary West, June 17, 1867 ; they have one son. Second son, John F. Johnston, born July 8, 1822, married to Janet M. Finch of Neenah, formerly of New York, March 26, 1846; they have had three children, one son and one daughter now living. Their son, Wm. Henry Johnson, is now mayor of Ishpeming, Mich.; their daughter Emma is now the Widow Canfield and lives in Ishpeming.

John F. Johnston moved to Appleton in July, 1848, and kept the first boarding house and hotel in Appleton in a board shanty ; was a prominent citizen and was the first postmaster in Appleton. He died Aug. 18, 1893 ; his widow survives and lives in Appleton, Third son, Duncan

McArthur Johnston, born May 3, 1827 ; he has lived most of the time in the West ; his home is now in Omaha. Fourth son, Michael B. Johnston, born July 26, 1830, was married to Miss Lorinda Oney, Feb. 22, 1854 ; they have four sons and one daug-hter. First son, Wm. R. Johnston, born Jan. 21, 1856, married Jan. 19, 1882, to Loretta Fox; they have three sons living'. Wm. Johnston is now engaged in the creamery business in Appleton ; his brother, Fremont, is with him. Second son, John O. Johnston, born March 16, 1858, is now unmarried. Third son, Fremont M. Johnston, born July 23, 1861, is married to Jeannette Finch of Ncenah. Fourth son, Asa F. Johnston, born June 25, 1861, married to Clair Smith, June, 1894. Fifth son of Col. Johnston, Geo. G., was born Oct. 11, 1832, married to Elizabeth Pepher, May 1, 1867 ; they now live in Ishpeming, Mich., and have no children living. Sixth son of Col. Johnston, Asa, born July 25, 1835 ; died in 1854. Michael B. Johnston now lives on the homestead established by his father ; his son, Asa, now lives with him ; their daughter, Mary Lorinda, born Sept. 25, 1871, now lives with her parents, unmarried.

Jere Cough

Was born in Jefferson county, New York, Jan. 16, 1844, was married to Mary E. Brewster, Jan. 1, 1870; they have had six children, four boys and two girls. First child, Jenny, born in Greenville, Sept. 24, 1870, was married to James B. Mills, Nov. 1894; they now live on a farm in Greenville. Second child, Henry G., born in Greenville, March 12, 1873, unmarried and lives at home. Third child, Ray M., born in Dale, March 14, 1876, now lives at home. Fourth child, Floyd E., born in Dale, Dec. 1879, lives at home. Fifth child, Wayne B., born in Manitowoc county, Aug. 18, 1881, lives at home. Sixth child, May E-, born May, 1885, lives at home. Mr. Cough now lives on a farm in Grand Chute ; he came to this county in 1868, and settled on a farm in Greenville, this county in 1849 and located on Sec. 23, T. 21, R. 16, now in the town of Greenville and cleared his land and established a home. In 1866 he moved to Appleton which has been his home till now. Mr. Tompkins was married to Sarah Pierce in 1838, who was born in 1821 in Oneida county, New York ; they raised seven daughters. First daughter, Jane Augusta, born Feb. 3, 1839, married to Frank Mills Feb. 21, 1860 ; they have six children, three sons and three daughters ; they now live in Hortonville. Second daughter, Maria Louise, born June 30, 1846, married to A. A. Babcock, April 7, 1868 ; they have two sons and one daughter ; they now live in Appleton. Third daughter, Loretta C., born May 3, 1849, married to Don Babcock, Nov. 13, 1867 ; they have two sons ; Mr. Babcock died in 1887. Mrs. Babcock married in 1889 to James Read ; they now live in Des Moines, la. Fourth daughter, Helen Paulina, born Sept. 7, 1851, married to Charles Clark, Dec. 4, 1879 ; they have one son and one daughter ; they now live in St. Lawrence county, New York. Fifth daughter, Henrietta K., born Aug. 3, 1853, married to George Usher Dec. 13, 1871; they have one daughter; Henrietta died Oct. 27, 1880. Sixth daughter, Cornelia, born July 28, 1860, died in 1882. Seventh daughter, Nabby Ophelia, county, N. Y. ; in May, 1855, he came to Wisconsin and located in Greenville on the s. w. % sec. 17, the place formerly occupied by Seymour Howe, where he established a home and resided until his death in 1865 ; his wife, Julevra Cecil, died about three hours previous to her husband's death ; they were both buried in one grave ; they had six children. First son, Ferdinand, was born Jan. 14, 1814, was married to Rose Besha ; they have six children, five girls and one boy ; they now live in Appleton. Second child, Adele, born April 24, 1817, died Sept. 3, 1870. Third child, Julius, born Jan. 26, 1822, married to Ann Cox; they have had one son and one daughter, both dead. Fourth child, Cecil, named after her mother, born Sept. 26, 1826, died in 1842. Fifth child, Louis Perrot, born Oct. 28, 1829 ; he lived on his father'shomestead until his death, May 14, 1893; he was a prominent citizen of Greenville and engaged in dairying and built the first cheese factory in Outagamie county ; he was married to Theresa McCrary, who was born in Ohio, March 10, 1839, and came with her parents to Greenville, April 1, 1848, Mr, Perrot was first president of Outagamie

Louis Perrot

County Agricultural Society, supervisor of Greenville and postmaster several years, reporter to Statistical Department, United States, Washing-ton, D. C., etc.; he had nine hundred pounds of cheese on exhibition at the World's Fair in New Orleans in 1885 and was awarded first premium, $125 in g-old. Sixth child, Frank Perrot, born July 26, 1835, married to Emma Bates, of Appleton ; they had one son and one daughter ; his wife died Dec. 12, 1887. Frank Perrot was a mechanic, worked at blacksmithing, wagon making and building, etc.; he now lives with his son in Rhinelander, Wis.

The Shepherd Family

he came to Wisconsin in 1840 ; he came to the town of Osborne in 1860 and settled on Sec. 5, T. 23, R. 18, where he cleared his land and established a home where he resided until his death in 1872 ; his wife, Margaret Bull, born in 1793, they had two sons and three daughters. First child, Allen, born in 1824, married to Margaret McNaughton, of Vernon, Waukesha county, Wis.; they have three sons and three daughters ; they now live on their farm in Section 5, Osborne. Second child, Eliza A., born August, 1826, married to David Benedict ; they had three sons and five daughters ; Mr. Benedict died June 17, 1875; Mrs. Benedict married Thomas Brookshire ; they now live on the old homestead on the northeast corner of Sec. 6,

T. 23, R. 18. Third child, Sewall, horn in 1829, married to Jane Dowd in 1858 ; they have two sons and two daughters ; he came to Osborne in 1859, where he cleared a farm on section 5; he now resides in Appleton. Fourth child, Sally J., married Hiram Gragg- ; they have five sons and two daughters ; they now live in Waushara county, Wis. Fifth child, Nicea S., born in 1833, married to John Knox in 1860, by Rev. O. P. Clinton, of Menasha ; they have two sons and four daughters-; they now live on a farm on Sec. 8 in Osborne.

John M. Baer

July 4, 1812 ; moved to Ohio in 1820, and came to Black Creek, this county, in the fall of 1862, and located on Sec. 32, T. 23, R. 17, where he established a home and resided until his death in 1871 ; his wife died in 1881. Their only surviving son, John M. Baer, was born in Tiffin, Senica county, Ohio, October 14, 1845 ; he located eighty acres of land in Black Creek in 1859; he enlisted in the Union army of the War of the Rebellion at the age of fifteen years, and served in several different regiments; saw much hard fighting ; was wounded several times ; served until the end of the war, and when discharged, Oct. 14, 1865, he held a commission of captain in the forty-eighth battalion of Ohio veteran volunteers ; he was married to Libbie C. Riley Nov. 18, 1867; they have three sons and one daughter - Attic M., Charles O., Eddie S., and John M. Jr. John M. Baer, C. W. Hopkins and George Welch were the first settlers in the town of Black Creek. John M. Baer was elected town clerk when twenty-one years old ; was assessor two years ; justice of the peace ten years ; supervisor four years ; register of deeds eight years, and is now postmaster of the city of Appleton. He assisted in organizing the first G. A. R. post in Outagamie county.

Ireland, in 1799 ; when quite a young man he came to Quebec and worked on the British fortifications there until they were finished, then he returned to Ireland where he married Nancy Malone, also of Tyrone ; about 1832 they came to America, settled in New Jersey ; in 1839 they removed to Columbia county, Ohio; in September, 1851, they removed to the town of Center, in this county, and settled on n. e. % of Sec. 34, T. 22, R. 17, where he cleared a farm and established a home where he resided until his death which occurred Aug. 19, 1864. Mr. McGillan was the first postmaster in Center. His wife died March 16, 1862 ; they had five sons. John H., born in Ireland; Thomas and Robert, born in New Jersey ; James and Samuel, born in Ohio. Samuel died in November, 1873 ; their daughter, Margaret, born in Ohio, married three times, has one daughter living. Second daughter, born in 1842, married to Patrick Newcomb ; they have three sons and three daughters ; they now live on a farm in Ellington. John H. McGillan married Catharine McNeal, Sept. 17, 1867 ; they have three sons, one of them is a natural artist, and two daughters ; they now live on a farm in section 35, Center. Robert McGillan married Elizabeth Shirk ; they have six sons and two daughters. Robert died June 20, 1886. James McGillan married Joanna Cummings ; they have had five sons and five daughters ; they now live in Appleton. Mr. McGillan has been sheriff of this county and county surveyor four years and has spent several years locating and dealing in pine lands. His wife is celebrated for her excellent voice and good singing, which is inherited by her children. One son, James Jr., is a rising young lawyer in Marinette, Wis. Nancy, daughter of John H. McGillan, married to Dennis McGinnis; they have one son; they now live in Appleton.

John Henry Bottensek

Was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1806 ; he came to Wisconsin in 1847 ; he came to the town of Dale in 1854 and settled on a farm on Sections 14 and 23, T. 21, R. 15, where he cleared his land and established a home where he resided until his death in 1865; he married Sophia Remmers in 1846 ; they have two sons and one daughter now living. The oldest, John, born in 1850, married to Ella Buck of Appleton ; they have one daughter. John Bottensek is a graduate of Lawrence University ; is practicing law in Appleton and is now district attorney. The second son, August, born in 1852, married to Marietta H. Scott in 1875 ; they have three sons and two daughters ; they now live on a farm in Dale. Their daughter, Lena, born in 1858, married to Edward Wege; they have four daughters; they now live in Ellington. John Henry Bottensek's widow now lives in Appleton.