Portage County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1919 (part 12 of 15)

Arthur Benjamin Redfield, father of Alfred E., was the pioneer of the family in Portage County. He was born in Chenango County, New York, November 3, 1830, and was well educated in his home state both in public schools and academy. He was twenty-three years old when his parents came to Menasha, Wisconsin, and in the following year he sought home and opportunity to advance himself in the world at the new and primitive settlement of Stevens Point. Here he engaged in carpenter work, and later for a number of years had charge of the supplies for the Wisconsin Central Railway. For about twelve vears he was a postal clerk. In 1864 he enlisted in Company D of the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry and was in service until the close of the war, being present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He be- came a charter member of the Grand Army Post at Stevens Point, and at one time was also head of the Relief Commission for the county. In later years he was a grocery merchant at Stevens Point, and finally retired from business altogether and died here July 22, 191 1, in his eighty-first year. He attended the Baptist Church, of which his wife was a devout member.

March 28, 1855, Arthur B. Redfield married Miss Phebe Otis. She likewise represented a pioneer family of W isconsin. She was born in Clinton County, New York, August 27, 1837, daughter of Andral and Excey (Storrs) Otis. Her father was born in Connecticut in 1800 and her mother in New York State in 1805. W hen Wisconsin was still a territory they came west and settled in Dane County in 1844, and subsequently moved to a farm in Burnett County, where Andral Otis died in 1883. His widow survived him and passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Redfield, in Stevens Point in 1888. Andral Otis was a democrat, but broke away from party allegiance to the extent of supporting Abraham Lincoln for president in war times. He and his wife were members of the Baptist Church, and for many years he held the post of deacon. They had five children : Phebe, Caroline, Henry, Amanda and Dirwin. Arthur B. Redfield and wife became the parents of seven children: Frank, who died February 5, 1 89 1, married Mary Houston and had two children, Arthur and Frank. Martin died at the age of six years. Emma is the widow of Andrew Fleming Wyatt of Stevens Point, and has two children, Blanche and Benjamin, and the latter is now a first lieutenant in a machine gun company in France. Millie died March 4, 1918, the wife of Orval Ostrander. John died in the State of Idaho in 191 1. The sixth in the family is Alfred E. Charles, who now lives in St. Louis, Missouri, enlisted in Company A of the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish-American war, and was with his regiment in the Porto Rico campaign. He married Corinne Smith of Decatur, Illinois, and they have one child, Martin.

Mr. Alfred E. Redfield was born at Stevens Point April 24, 1869. He was reared and educated and spent practically all his life in his native city. Besides the advantages of the grammar and high schools he attended the Milwaukee Business College and as a trade he learned the business of car builder and was in the Wisconsin Central shops about four years. He then studied shorthand. For twenty years he has been in' the same office at 317 Main Street, being with different firms, and is now connected with the law partnership of Fisher & Caslin.

In the meantime his energy has brought him connections and affiliations with various other lines of business. He owns a first class dairy farm adjoining the city limits of Stevens Point, and keeps a herd of pure bred Holstcins. He is also interested in the sand and gravel business with the Stevens Point Sand Company, which is developing extensive pits of fine gravel and sand at Rocky Run, three miles from Stevens Point. Now and for several vcars past Mr. Redfield has represented the Fifth Ward in the City Council and is president of the Board of Public Works. In politics he is a republican, and is chairman of the Republican County Committee.

Bekt J. W alker. The qualities of adaptability, perseverance, good judgment and integrity have prevailed in the energetic life of Bert J. Walker, winning for him an enviable rank among the business, political and social elements of the village of Almond. As the proprietor of the department store conducted under the firm style of L. S. Walker Company, he directs the policies of one of the leading enterprises of this thriving community, but he is something more than a business man, as he has taken an intensely active interest in the welfare of the village, of which he may be said to be the father, and it was mainly through his efforts that it was incorporated.

Mr. Walker was born at Wautoma, the county seat of Waushara County, Wisconsin, in 1875, and is a son of Llewellyn S. and Narcissa (Barber) Walker, the former a native of Maine and the latter of the State of New York. Llewellyn S. Walker was a young man when he came to Wisconsin, and after residing at several other points established himself in a small mercantile business at Wautoma. That continued to be his place of residence and the scene of his business operations until 1880, in which year he moved with his family to Flainfield, Waushara County, and at once started a general store, in connection with which he engaged in the produce business. A man of marked ability as a merchant, he soon built his enterprise up to large proportions and began to enlarge his field. In 1894 or 1895 he established a like establishment at Hancock, and in 1901 a similar business was founded at Almond. With the assistance of his sons, Mr. Walker continued to manage and operate these ventures with continued and constantly growing success, and remained actively in the business harness up to the time of his death. In the various communities in which Mr. Walker operated he bore the reputation of being a man of the strictest integrity, shrewd and careful of his own interests, yet absolutely just in his dealings and ever unwilling to take advantage of the misfortunes of others. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having fought in a Wisconsin volunteer infantry regiment, and his record as a citizen was one which was commensurate with the other honorable features of his long and useful career. Mr. Walker was the father of five sons and four daughters, of whom all are living except one son and one daughter, the daughter having died aged fourteen years and the son at the age of thirtv-nine years. Mr. Walker belonged to the Baptist Church and lived lus faith. He was somewhat interested in fraternal work and belonged to the lodges of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Bert J. Walker was five years of age when the family removed from Wautoma to Flainfield. and in the public schools of the latter city he received his preliminary educational training, being a member of the first graduating class of the high school there. Subsequently he was sent to the University of Wisconsin, but after one year gave up his college career and returned to his home to enter upon business duties. His commercial training was secured in his father's store and under the elder man's teaching, and when the store was established at Almond he was ready to be placed in charge. This thriving little community has continued to be the scene of his busi- Vol. 11 - 1» ness operations to the present time, and here he has worked out a well-deserved success, being now the proprietor of a splendid department store which would do credit to a community much larger than the village of Almond. While he is the sole owner of this business, he continues to use the name of L. S. Walker Company, and has not deviated from the policies and the methods that made his father so highly esteemed in business circles and that attracted trade to the establishment during its early years. Like his father, he is a man of progressive methods, who finds that straightforward dealing wins and keeps customers.

Mr. Walker was married in 1897 to Miss Anna Maude Hamilton, who was born at Plainfield, Wisconsin, a daughter of Edwin N. Hamilton, and to this union there have been born two children : Harlan B. and Margaret R. P the former a student at the University of Wisconsin, and the latter a student at Milwaukee. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a fraternalist Mr. Walker is affiliated with the local lodges of the Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Equitable Fraternal Union. largely through his efforts the village of Almond was incorporated, but he has not sought any public honors for himself. However, as a matter of discharging the duties of citizenship he has accepted the offices of treasurer of the school board and member of the village board, positions in which he has shown himself possessed of marked executive ability.

Wallie B. Co ddi ngton. One of the important movements and undertakings of modem times in Portage County in raising the general standard of productiveness here and placing the county in the forefront of Wisconsin agricultural areas has been the reclamation through drainage of thousands of acres of land that was formerly waste and swamp.

The interests by which Wallie B. Coddington is most conspicuously identified with the county is as representative of this drainage movement. Mr. Coddington has been a leader in drainage associations here and in the state, is president of the Wisconsin State Drainage Association, and his own farming, of an extensive and important character, is done on a large place redeemed by means of drainage and situated near Bancroft.

Mr. Coddington is a native of Xew Jersey, born April 14, 1870. but spent most of his life until he came to Wisconsin in Illinois. His parents were John A. and Anna (Van Ness) Coddington, both natives of Xew Jersey, the father born in 1840 and the mother in 1841. They married in that state and in 1879 brought their family west to Illinois and settled in Mason County. The father was a highly successful and prosperous farmer there, and had an estate of about 500 acres. He died in 1905 and the widowed mother now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Sadie Summers, on the old homestead. John A. Coddington was a republican in politics and in Illinois served as school director and as township supervisor. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A record of their children's names is: Jennie, Lizzie, Phineas and Davis, all deceased; Wallie B. ; Sadie; and Frank, deceased.

learned farming under the careful and judicious eye of his father. In 1902, already a man of experience, progressive ideas and some capital, he came to Portage County for the purpose of organizing the Portage County Drainage District, a district comprising about 56,000 acres. Much of the great work undertaken sixteen years ago has been carried out successfully and it has given the county a splendid body of agricultural lands. Of this area Mr. Coddington personally owns about 1,000 acres, devoting it to high class agricultural production. He also owns property in the village of Plover, where he made his home until 191 6, when he moved to his country home in Buena Vista Township, located in section 19.

He is still chairman of the Drainage District Commission of Portage County, and, as already noted, is president of the Wisconsin State Drainage Association. Mr. Coddington platted the village of Coddington in this county along the Soo line in 19 10. He served as supervisor of the village of Plover and member of the countv board and has also been a member of the school board at Plover. He is a republican and is affiliated with Chandlerville Lodge No. 741, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with the Modern Woodmen of America, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and Knights of Pythias.

November 25, 1892, Mr. Coddington married Miss Susie M. Boice, who was born in Delavan. Wisconsin, August 29, 1875, daughter of Charles H. and Jane (Seamen) Boice. Her parents were also New Jersey people and were early day settlers in Tazewell County, Illinois. They have lived for more than thirty years in the city of Delavan. Her father during active life was a miller. In politics he is a republican and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Boice have six children, all living and married, named : Jane, Delia. Susie. Minnie, Nclia and Mildred.

Mr. and Mrs. Coddington had two children. May. who was born May 11. 1895, an d died m infancy; and William H., born July 27, 1897. The son was educated in the schools of Plover Township and the Stevens Point High School, also the Stevens Point Business College, and has recently entered upon an energetic program as an independent farmer. He is a republican voter and is now Most Worthy Beaver of Lodge No. 420 of the Order of Beavers at Plover. March 20, 191 7. he married Miss Gladys L. Newby. Mrs. William H. Coddington was born in Hull Township of this county December 25, 1897. daughter of William J. and Olhe (White) Newby, who now reside in Plover village.

Frank McGown is another of the sons of John McGown, referred to on other pages, and has for twenty years or more been one of the substantial factors in the life and affairs of Plover Township, being a capable carpenter and a practical farmer, and with other interests now one of the rural mail carriers.

Mr. McGown was born on the old homestead in Plover Township August 20. 1870. After a public school education he learned the trade 6i carpenter and has made that trade a service of usefulness to others and also to himself as a farmer, since he has the skill to construct and repair all his buildings. His father gave him the forty acres where he now lives, and later he bought another forty acres, giving him a well balanced and improved farm of eighty acres, part of which was cleared by his own hands. Mr. McGown has constructed good and substantial buildings and is prospering as a general farmer and stock raiser. He keeps a dairy. For about eight years he has been a substitute rural mail carrier, and in 1918 was appointed to full charge of route No. 2 out of Plover.

Mr. McGown votes the prohibition ticket as a rule in politics, but when prohibition is not an issue casts his ballot independently. He has served as a member of the school board and for about seven years has been clerk of the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America.

In 1894 he married Miss Jennie Welch, of Plover Township. Mrs. McGown was born in Michigan in 1873. Her father died in that state, and her mother, Mrs. W. S. Parsons, now of Plover village, brought the family to Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. McGown have three children, all living, named Harold A., Lawrence E. and Homer E.

George H. Grover has had an active life and a successful one identified with the business of farming and stock husbandry in Portage County. He manages his farm with the capability of the real agriculturist and business man, and is one of those who contributes to the prestige of Portage County as a dairy center.

Mr. Grover was born in Portage County September 7, 1871. His father, William Henry Grover. now deceased, was born in New York State in 1842, and was an early settler in Plover, Portage County. He followed the river in connection with the logging industry until 1881, when he retired to his farm. He married Candes Hale, who was born in New York State May 7, 1843, and is also deceased.

George H. Grover was reared and educated in Portage County and from early manhood has given the best of his energies and labors to his farm. His place is in section 14 and his postoffice is Junction City. He specializes in milk production and has about eighteen head of high class milch cows. Mr. Grover is a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

He married Miss Esther Topping, who was born at Stevens Point December 7, 1874, and is member of one of the old and well known families of this county. They have a family of seven children: Rodney, born in 1894 and a resident of Junction City; Lawrence, born June 9, 1896; Glen, born in 1904. now in Milwaukee; Keith, deceased; Carrol ; Beatrice, born in 1906, and Wallace G., born in 1908.

John A. Berry. At no time in history has an acre of land meant so much to the welfare am! sustenance of the world as at present. One of the men of Buena Vista Township who control and direct the operation of a large number of acres, constituting a highly developed and improved farm, is John A. Berry, a native of that township and a lifelong resident of the county.

His own career has been in the nature of a continuation of the work and experience accomplished by his honored father, the late Manuel Berry, who was one of the finest types of rugged pioneers in the historv of Wisconsin Territory and State. It will serve to interpret to the present generation some of the incidents of pioneer days and also the character of the men who contended with those early circumstances to review the salient experiences and records of Manuel Berry and his family. He was born at Bethlehem. Luzerne County. Pennsylvania, January 28. 1821. For all the dangers he went through, the hardships he surpassed, and other difficulties and privations, he lived more than- three quarters of a century, and died at his home in Buena Vista Township April 7, 1898. He stood six feet in height, was a giant in strength and wonderfully agile and possessed a maximum of physical and moral courage. At that he was about the smallest of his family, his brothers surpassing him in size. His parents were Andrew and Hannah (Eshenbach) Berry, who were born in Philadelphia, the former November 27, 1790, and the latter November 27, 1780. The Eshenbach family was established in this country by Andrew Eshenbach, who died in Pennsylvania before the Revolution. His son Andrew was a Revolutionary soldier and died at the very advanced age of ninety-nine years, nine monlhs, nine days.

Andrew Berry, founder of the Berry family in America, was born of German ancestry and probably in a German province and came to America with William Penn. He personally witnessed the treaty made by Penn with the Indians. At Philadelphia he erected a large tannery and was a wealthy man. His son, also named Andrew, succeeded to the tanning business and continued it during the Revolutionary war. During that war he contributed large sums of money for the support of the Continental Army and he also bore arms in the struggle. He went so far in his patriotic endeavors as to mortgage his property, and when the note fell due he had to turn over all his assets to his creditors. While carrying supplies to the soldiers at the battle of Brandywine he was severely wounded in the leg. He lived through the Revolution and later participated in the War of 1812, where his old wound broke out afresh with erysipelas and he died soon after his return to his home in Luzerne County. The maiden name of his wife was Susanna Frink. They had four children, named John, Andrew, Polly and Katy.

Andrew Berry, grandfather of John A. Berry, was a well known lumberman of Luzerne County and also owned land in Butler County. This property was subsequently swept away by speculations, and among the earliest pioneers he came to Buena Vista, Wisconsin, and located on land afterwards owned by his son Manuel. He died there about 1862, survived some years by his wife. Both are now at rest in the cemetery at Liberty Corners. Their children were : Benjamin, who died at Wausau. Wisconsin, in J 880 and is remembered by some of the old timers because of his phenomenal strength and giant stature; Robert, who became an engine builder and is supposed to have been murdered while installing an engine on a steamboat at Vicksburg, Mississippi ; John, who was a soldier in the Eighteenth Wisconsin Infantry and died in 1890: Andrew, who for many years was a farmer in Buena Vista Township; Mary, who married a veteran of the Eighteenth Wisconsin Infantry; Sarah, who married Edward Hugo, who was also in the Eighteenth Wisconsin Regiment and died in the army : Frank S., who was a Union soldier and also came to Wisconsin ; and Manuel.

Manuel Berry received his early education in Butler County, Pennsylvania. He walked five miles to the subscription district school. At the age of sixteen he began working for his father and had a thorough experience in the lumber woods of Pennsylvania several winters. It was in April. 1843, at the age of twenty-two. that he and his brother came to Wisconsin. They made the journey by boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi as far as Galena, Illinois, and from there walked overland to Wausau, Wisconsin. During the next twelve years Manuel Berry exerted his physical strength and experience in many of the lumber camps of Wisconsin. Being here in territorial times, when there were few well settled counties anywhere in Wisconsin, he had many experiences with the Indians. On the whole his relations with the red men were pleasant and he did much trading with them. Once the Indians killed two yoke of oxen belonging to him. One of his trading adventures occurred near Merrill, VVisconsin. He had exchanged provisions for a large number of buckskins. The pile of skins lay on the ground and were suddenly seized by a young Indian who tried to escape with them. Mr. Berry pursued, overtook the thief, and knocked him down. In the meantime another Indian had followed and with a heavy knife thrust at Mr. Berry and severely wounded him above the eye. But he turned quickly and with a tremendous blow laid out his second assailant.

At another time he agreed to meet an Indian chief and his followers near Merrill and exchange provisions for any wares the Indians had to trade. He took with him besides money a small keg and a barrel of whiskey. The barrel he hid a short distance away. This precaution he took because he feared the Indians might get well intoxicated and get beyond his control. He gave them all a small quantity of liquor from the keg, but they began clamoring for more and in the face of threatened danger Mr. Berry's two companions deserted him and left him alone with the red men. He was suddenly seized and some of the party made away with the keg of whiskey, but he broke loose and seizing a large club went in pursuit and soon had several of the red men stretched on the ground. The chief prevailed upon his followers to desist and they were not loth to obey when they realized what a terrible fighter they had to contend with. That ended the trouble and Mr. Berry carried out the transaction, paying the Indians in cash and mackinaw blankets for their goods.

It was in the spring of 1855 that Manuel Berry and his brother became permanent settlers in Buena Vista Township. He bought 160 acres of land, made a clearing in the midst of the forest, constructed a log house and in the same year brought his bride to this dwelling. Her maiden name was Miss Katherine Johnson. She was born in Sweden November 25, 1835. She died in Portage County in 1907. In the fall of 1851 she came to the United States with her parents, John and Breta Johnson. The Johnson family located in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, but five years later removed to Minnesota and were living near Ixmdon in that state when the terrible Indian massacre occurred, from which they all narrowly escaped. John Johnson died in Minnesota in January, 1891, at the age of eighty-seven, and the mother at eighty-three. John and Breta Johnson had the following children : Angeline, who married a brother of Manuel Berry, Katherine. wife of Manuel Berry; Annie, who married Anton Knoblnch, a Minnesota banker; John, who was a farmer in Minnesota; George, who married Annie Anderson; Marcus, who served as a revenue collector under President Harrison; Peter, who lives at Burbank, Minnesota.

Manuel Bern* and wife had three children: Annie, who married George Clarke, a' Buena Vista fanner; John A. ; and Edward F., who was born in Buena Vista Township September 14, 1864. and acquired the old homestead farm.

Manuel Berry was a republican in politics, and for a number of years served as township supervisor. He was always, active in the Lutheran Church, and his wife was a member of the same church until her later years when she joined the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Manuel Berry was a man of great strength of character and intellect as well as physical powers. He was a great Bible student and able to quote scripture and could discuss intelligently many of the profoundest questions of human life and experience.

Mr. John A. Berry was born in Buena Vista Township August u, 1858. He grew up on the homestead, had a public school education, and for the past forty years has been industriously engaged in farming. His farm is one of the most extensive in Buena Vista Township, comprising 452 acres. Mr. Berry has been a prominent figure in public affairs, being under sheriff of the county for years and sheriff from 1909 to 1910. For the past nine years he has filled the office of chairman of the township board. He is an ardent Republican, and fraternally is affiliated with Plover Lodge Xo. 76, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having been identified with that order for twentyfive years. For the past five years he has also been a member of Plover Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Berry has one son, Manuel, who assists him in handling the large farm. This son is also affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Plover.

Harrv Thomas Ravi.in. A bright, newsy little sheet that finds favor with the newspaper readers of Rosholt and Portage County generally is the Rosholt Journal, of which Harry Thomas Ravlin is owner, manager and editor. A practical printer and a good business man, Mr. Ravlin is making a success of the Journal and gives the people a newspaper that deserves to be well supported.

Harry Thomas Ravlin was born at Chicago, Illinois, August 28, 1891. His parents were Harry Hayden and Minnie L. (Holland) Ravlin. The mother died in the family home at Chicago in 1893. There were two children in the family: Harry Thomas and Horace Forest, the latter of whom died while young. The father of Mr. Ravlin was born at Chicago and there has followed his trade of stationary engineer.

After completing the public school course Mr. Ravlin learned the printing business, and although he has devoted time and attention to other vocations his natural inclination has usually led him back to "types and presses," the lure of which every true newspaper man acknowledges. In 1913 Mr. Ravlin came to Wisconsin from Chicago, and took charge of the telephone company operating at Nelsonville in Portage County, where he remained for several vears and then came to Rosholt and for two months worked on the Rosholt Journal and then purchased it from the former proprietor, O. F. Meyer.

The Rosholt Journal was established in 1912 and has been issued ever since, a weekly paper, and prior to Mr. Ravlin's ownership it was a two-page issue. In line with many other improvements Mr. Ravlin enlarged it to four pages, and with many interesting features added, has a newspaper that is highly creditable to its owner and editor and to the village.

Mr. Ravlin is a shareholder in the Co-operative Publishing Company of Chicago, and also in the Chicago Security Bond Company. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is identified fraternally with several well known organizations.

Will Wei.ler. A faithful historian is gratified when occasion presents itself to bring forward old pioneer names in any section, for they deserve preservation in permanent form. The early settlers who came to Portage County, Wisconsin, shortly after the admission of this state to the Union found hard conditions. They faced many hardships and endured privations in order to blaze a path for future generations, and when one notes what changes have been wrought within sixty years, what their initial efforts started, a still greater appreciation is aroused. Among the early names in Portage County those of Weller and Post continue honorably represented here, and the leading merchant at Amherst, Will Weller, is a representative of both families.

Will Weller was born in Amherst Township, Portage County, Wisconsin, in 1874. His parents were Alonzo and Martha (Post) Weller, both of whom were born in the State of New York. The maternal grandparents, Peter and Mary Post, came to this county in 1855, when their daughter Martha was fourteen years old. They resided in this county for some years, Mr. Post engaging in farming, but their last years were spent in Iowa.

Alonzo Weller was a young man when he came to the pineries of Wisconsin and prior to the outbreak of the Civil war he worked in lumber camps in the northern part of the state. Early in the war, however, he went to Beloit and there enlisted in what subsequently won fame as the '"Iron Brigade," the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served 2 l / 2 years as a member of Company G in that organization. He returned then to Wisconsin and for some time worked on the river and made his home at Stevens Point. Later Mr. Weller invested in land in Amherst Township, Portage County, and continued his farming operations during the rest of his active life. He died on his farm in 1910 and was survived by his wife but five years. They had three children: Charles, Will and May. The parents were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic.

Will Weller attended the public schools at Amherst until he was eighteen years of age and by that time had decided upon merchandising as a vocation. With this end in view he became a clerk in the mercantile establishment of C. N. Fenton at Amherst, with whom he continued in that capacity until 1909, when he bought the store of Mr. Fenton and has continued the business ever since, occupying the old quarters until 19 14, when he came to his present excellent location. He conducts a general store, which includes many separate departments of choice merchandise, and the volume of the business he does annually compares very favorably with any other enterprises outside of a city in the county. As a business man he commands the respect of those with whom he has dealings, while in his social relations in the community he is held in esteem. Mr. Weller has never been a politician in the general sense of that word, but he has always been an active and interested citizen. He has passed his life at Amherst and. in a way, has grown with the growth of the village, and ever through his influence as far as possible has worked for her betterment.

Mr. Weller was married in 1900 to Miss Stella Starks, who was born at Amherst, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Edgar Starks. Mr. and Mrs. Weller have three sons: Edgar, George and Delbert, all of whom are having educational advantages, Mr. Weller being particularly interested in educational matters. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal Church and do their part in its different fields of benevolence. The only fraternal organization to which Mr. Weller belongs is the Order of Modern W oodmen.

Ole J. Mallum. In the middle and late '70s Wisconsin became the home of many strong and sturdy men from Norway in search of more and better opportunities than their northern land afforded them. This was a welcomed invasion, for these men came as homeseekers and brought with them their industrious habits, their sound ideas of thrift, and a certain religious sentiment that may be noted in every Norwegian settlement.

Forty-seven years have passed since Ole J. Mallum left Norway, the only one of his father's family of five chddren to venture so far, and came to the United States and later reached Portage County, Wisconsin. He was born in I.ille Hammer, July 28. 185 1. His parents were John and Jane (Olson) Mallum, who are still dear memories to their son although thirty years have rolled by since he has been in communication with them. The father was a farmer and his five sons followed in his footsteps. Ole J. in Wisconsin, and Simon, Antone, John and Edward in Norway.

During his first years in Wisconsin Mr. Mallum found plenty of work, the lumber camps and sawmills even then calling for strong workmen, and all the early settlers needing help in the clearing operations. With the intention of finally becoming a landowner with the best of them, Mr. Mallum was careful in saving and kept watching for well located land that he could homestead as soon as conditions were satisfactory. This land he found in Alban Township, Portage County, and in 1878 he homesteaded a part of his 160 acres, and bought the rest, and here he has resided ever since. In the year preceding he had married and he and wife settled on the wild, pioneer farm, facing many hardships and deprivations and for some years accommodated themselves to a primitive mode of living. Each year afterward, however, showed a great advance and when Mr. Mallum started to make permanent improvements he erected not only substantial but attractive and comfortable buildings. At present he has seventy-five acres under cultivation but operates mainly as a stock and dairy man, paying particular attention to the dairying industry. He has always been a hard-working man, careful and methodical, and is numbered with the prosperous agriculturists of this part of Portage County.

Mr. Mallum was married in 1877 to Miss Nellie Halvorson, who was born in Norway and was brought to Portage County, Wisconsin, by her parents, who became farming people in New Hope Township. They arc now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mallum have had nine children, namely: Ida. who married Frank Manning; Mabel, who married John Simonis of Galloway ; Nora, whose married name is Simonis, lives at Rosholt ; Nellie, whose married name is Marpen, lives at Parshall, North Dakota; Murna, who lives at home; William, who is married, has purchased his father's farm ; Clara, who married Harald active service in France; and Myron, who died young. Mr. Mallum has given his children educational advantages and they have become useful and respected members of society and have friends wherever their homes are now situated.

Mr Mallum has always taken a good citizen's interest in local politics and has probably served in every school office in the township and with the result that the public schools here are well conducted and well taught, which unfortunately is not the case in those townships where the leading men of the districts take no personal interest in the matter. Mr. Mallum and his family are active members of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, one of the oldest religious organizations in Alban Township.

William Henry Tunks. For forty years William Henry Tunks has been steadily at work in one locality and on one farm, planning, directing and executing those varied details which constitute real achievement in agriculture. A great many people outside of Portage County are familiar with "Tunks Place," as his farm is known. Mr. Tunks in recent years has laid the nucleus and assembled one of the best herds of Holstcin cattle in this section of the state. His herd is headed by a two year old bull weighing 1600 pounds and obtained from the nationally known herd of John Erickson of Waupaca. Erickson's herd bull is valued at $15,000.

Mr. Tunks spent most of his life in Portage County. He was born at Omro in Winnebago County, this state. October 19. 1855, son of William and Mercy Ann (Day) Tunks. His parents were both born in Canada, his father in 183 1 and his mother in 1833. They married in that country and in 1852 located at Omro, Wisconsin. In the fall of 1856 they settled in Belmont Township. As pioneers here they acquired forty acres of Government land. Later William Tunks sold that, rented for a time, lx>ught and sold several properties, and in 1863 left his home and family to enlist in the Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry. Company C. He was in service as a Union soldier until the close of the war. On his return he lived one summer on the farm in Belmont Township now owned by Peter Rasmussen. and the next year bought a farm of eighty acres a mile and a quarter from "Tunks Place." While living there the mother died in 1871. William Tunks afterwards sold that property and moved to eighty acres just across the road from the home of his son William H.. and finally retired and spent his last years in the Soldiers Home in Waupaca County, where he died in 1014. He was an active republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The children of his first wife were: Martha fane, who died at Omro aged two years; William Henry; Ahbie Melissa, who died at the age of nine years; Frank, who lives near Menominee. Wisconsin; Ida. wife of Robert Lincoln and living at Bayard, Nebraska; Richard, who died when one year old; and Marv. who died in infancy at the death of her mother. For his second wife William Tunks married Rebecca Lincoln, a sister of Robert Lincoln. P.v that union there were four children, Everett, Maud, F.llery and May.

William H. Tunks spent most of his early life in Belmont Township and attended the public schools there. He had his experience as a worker in the woods and on the river, but finally applied all his energies to farming. In 1877 he bought sixty acres included in his present farm and has occupied it steadily since the spring of 1878. His farm now comprises 120 acres and he has done much of the actual work of construction on some of its substantial buildings. Mr. Tunks took up the breeding of thoroughbred Holsteins in 1912, and his herd now comprises twenty-six head. He is an active and interested member of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America and also of the state and county associations of that well known organization of breeders. In politics he has supported both the republican and prohibition parties. He served as side supervisor, treasurer and assessor of Belmont Township.

December 23, 1876, Mr. Tunks married Annette Lincoln, a sister of Robert Lincoln, previously mentioned. To their marriage were born five children. Warren, Garfield, Milton, Lula and Lena. Garfield, Milton and Lula arc all at home. Warren is a farmer in North Dakota, and by his marriage to Mabel McClellan has one child, Man,' Ann. Lena is the wife of Gaud Collier, of Almond Township. The mother of these children died in 1904. In 1906 Mr. Tunks married Mrs. Jennie Wolfe Mead, widow of Allen Mead. Mrs. Tunks by her first husband had five children: Frank, who is now a soldier in Camp Grant; John, who died October 8, 1918, in the service of the United States Army; Dewey; Mildred and Letha, both at home, the former a teacher by profession.

Alfred Taylor Bacon. Of the follower of any of the important trades or vocations no better recommendation is required rhan the credit of long employment under a reliable management. When Alfred Taylor Bacon was seventeen years of age opportunity knocked at his door in the guise of a minor position with the Wisconsin Central Railroad. Some time before he had gone out to seek a chance of livelihood, for he was an independent youth who desired to make his own way and the necessity arose for the conversion of his young strength into the wherewithal of existence. Sufficient that he was industrious and faithful, and that he recognized the advantage of association with an industrial institution which offered many avenues of advancement to the ambitious and deserving. From that time forward his advancement was steady and continuous until in 1898 he was given his first chance as an engineer, and for some years past he has been a passenger engineer with a regular run between Fond du Lac and Stevens Point.

Mr. Bacon was born at Escanaba, Michigan. March 31. 1868, a son of William B. and Amanda (Buck) Bacon. His father was born in Hannibal, New York, August 8, 1827, and his mother in Ohio, June 7. 1833. and both came single to Wisconsin, being married at "Saint Marie. Marquette County, January 8, 1852. They then went to Escanaba, where Mr. Bacon was superintendent of bridges and building for the Northwestern Railroad, and about 1870 going to Kenosha, where they remained only a short time. Their next place of residence was Hokah, Houston County, Minnesota, and in 1878 they removed to Winnebago County, Minnesota, where they lived for several years. Subsequently they came to Portage County, Wisconsin, Mrs. Bacon dying at Stevens Point in 1885, while Mr. Bacon in his declining years returned to F.scanaba, Michigan, and there passed away in November, 1909. He was a republican, a Free Mason and an Odd Fellow, and he and Mrs. Bacon were members of the Baptist Church. They were the parents of six children: Mary, Minnie, Jessie. Bertha, Alfred T. and Louise, of whom Mary. Bertha and Louise arc now deceased.

Alfred Taylor Bacon attended the schools of Minnesota and Wisconsin until he was about thirteen years of age, at which time he took up his residence at Stevens Point in the home of his brother-in-law, George W. Martin, and attended the public school. Subsequently he found employment in a box factory and also did stair work, but at seventeen years of age became connected with railroading. His first position was a humble one, consisting of watching engines, but soon he was given the post of call boy, and long before his majority began firing in the Stevens Point yards. Later he fired a heater boiler at the round house, and when he had attained his majority was given a position as a locomotive fireman. In 1898 he was promoted to engineer, and later was made a passenger engineer, with his present run. Mr. Bacon is considered one of his company's reliable and skilled engineers and one who can be depended upon in an emergency. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and of Evergreen Ix>dge No. 93, Free and Accepted Masons. Politically he is a republican.

Mr. Bacon was married January 28, 1890, to Miss Beatrice Bailey, who was born at Arlington, Massachusetts, August io, 1869. a daughter of George W. and Sarah Frances (Brooks) Bailey. Her grandfather, James A. Bailey, was the father of six sons, all of whom learned the trade of sawmaker. George W. Bailey was born at West Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 11, 1844, and was married in that state, at Boston, November 14, i#66, to Sarah Frances Brooks, who was born at Marlboro, New Hampshire, December 2, 1846. Like his brothers, he learned the trade of sawmaker, and at Arlington. Massachusetts, his father, in company with a Mr. Griffith, had the first saw factory in the United States, under the firm style of Welch & Griffith, Tames A. Bailey later owning this factory. In 1871 the parents of Mrs. Bacon came to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, at which point Mr. Bailey saw his first saw run, and there was engaged in business as a manufacturer and repairer of that useful tool in partnership with a Mr. Tilton. In July, 1876, he came to Stevens Point, where he was engaged for some years as a maker and repairer, also being agent for the Henry Disston Saw Company, but in the evening of life went to Bellingham, Washington, where he died May 8, 1906. He was a republican in politics, and his faith was that of the Unitarian Church. Mrs. Bailey was formerly a Universalist. but now belongs to the Episcopal Church and resides at Stevens Point with her children. The Bailey children were ten in number, as follows: Florette Eliza: Beatrice; Edna; Louise, who died January 7. 1880; Clara Esther; George Henry, who died July 27, 1916; Grace; Jennie; Helen; and Sarah Frances, who died January 13. 1896.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bacon there have been born the following children : Earl, who died in infancy ; Gladys Bertha, in the office of Mrs. W. B. Buckingham: Ruth, who died in infancy; Beatrice M.. a graduate of the Stevens Point High School, class of 1916, and a graduate from the Normal in June. 1918; Alfred George, a member of the

Mr. and Mrs. Bacon celebrated their silver wedding anniversary, at which time their children and their numerous friends in Stevens Point and other cities attended the festivities to give best wishes and congratulations to the couple who had rounded out a quarter of a century as happy life partners. Mrs. Bacon was educated in the old White School, which her husband also attended, and is a member of the White School Association. She graduated in 1887 from the Stevens Point High School, and took a position as bookkeeper in a local concern which she retained until the time of her marriage. She and her daughter belong to the same high school alumni, and Mrs. Bacon is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and of the Grand International Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of locomotive Engineers. The pleasant family home is situated at No. 342 Fremont Street.

Jay S. Bailey became a self supporting worker when only thirteen years of age. Life has offered him a great variety of experience. He is a native of Wisconsin, has been in the far Northwest, has run the rivers and done the varied work of lumber camps, but for about twenty years has been steadily and progressively engaged in the business of farming and stock raising. His farm in Belmont Township shows evidence of his hard work and ability as a manager, and his name may properly be placed among the successful and sturdy sons of the soil in this county.

He was born in Jefferson County, in the Township of Hebron, August 24, 1865. a son of Simon W. and Emma (Sargent) Bailey. His father was a Union soldier during the Civil war. Born in Essex County, New York, in 1840, he came to Wisconsin with his parents. Samuel and Emma (Wright) Bailey, when he was eight years old. I-ater he lived in Independence, Iowa, and subsequently established a home in Waupaca. Samuel Bailey and wife both died in 1893, the former at the age of eighty-eight and the latter at seventy-eight. Simon W. Bailey enlisted in 1861 in the First Wisconsin Cavalry, and was with that gallant regiment until after the close of the war. It was the First Wisconsin Cavalry which participated in the pursuit and capture of Jefferson Davis, the deposed president of the Confederacy. Simon Bailey was a marble cutter by trade and established the first shop of that kind at Waupaca in 1875. Later he removed to Pittsville in Wood County, and while living there was accidentally shot and killed in 1892. at the age of fifty-two. His first wife. Emma' Sargent, who was born in Wisconsin May 26, 1844, died at Hebron October 22, 1874. They were married at Hebron in 1863 and had three children : Jay S. and a twin that died in infancy, and Guy, who died at the age of three years. In 1876 Simon Bailey married Jane Smith, and they had two children, Jennie and Simon. Simon Bailey was an independent voter.

Mr. Jay S. Bailey was about ten years old when his father moved to Waupaca and he received much of his education there. At the age of thirteen he went to work as a farm laborer and the next year he spent as a boy assistant in a cook shanty in the lumber woods at wages of eight dollars a month. The following- spring he was permitted to work on a drive in Wood County for the Lyman Lumber Company, and he was an active river man for seven consecutive springs. For three years he was in Washington and Oregon and during that time was connected with a Government surveying party at the time the international boundary line between the United States and Canada was permanently settled. For a time Mr. Bailey was in the potato business at Waupaca.

In 1898 Mr. Hailey bought eighty acres of land in Belmont Township, and has since added another forty acres. When he bought the land only six acres had been cleared but he now has eighty acres under cultivation and has improved the farm with good buildings. He has specialized in the breeding of pure bred Holstein cattle.

November 27, 1892, Mr. Bailey married Miss Elizabeth Carrie Simonson. She was born at Scandinavia in Waupaca County in 1868, a daughter of Andrew and Annie Simonson, early settlers of Waupaca County. Her mother died many years ago and her father passed away in 1913, at the age of eighty-seven.

Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have had five children. Sadie, the oldest, was born in 1893, and died December 6, 1804. Lloyd, the second in age, was born June 10, 1895, was educated in the Portage County public schools and on November 27, 1915. on the anniversary of his parents' marriage, he wedded Miss Ida Fessman, and thev have one child, Lois Lydia, born September 3, 1917. Agnes, born January 1 1, 1898, married December 8, 191 7, Arnold Yohn. The fourth in the family, Mabel, was born October 20, 1904, and died June 22, 1905. The youngest is Arthur, born December 23, 1907.

David H. Howe. A resident of Portage County almost forty years, David H. Howe had his permanent home in Stevens Point nearly all these years and here his industry has borne fruit and his name is one that is spoken with honor and respect. He and his wife are one of the fine old couples of the county, and he has already lived to celebrate his eightieth birthday.

Mr. Howe was born in Norwich, Vermont, August 8, 1835, son of Joseph and Hannah Maria (Miles) Howe. Both parents were natives of Vermont, and from that state they moved to St. Lawrence County, New York, where the mother died in 1865, at the age of sixty-six. The father afterwards moved out to Michigan, where he died in 1872.

David H. Howe was reared and educated in Vermont, and went to New York State when about eighteen years of age. He married there Matilda Emlau. They became the parents of three children, Ella, Elizabeth and William. Ella married Martin Delehantv and is the mother of four children, Ella. Margaret, Edward and Albert. The daughter Elizabeth married George Yorton. proprietor of a hotel at Plover, Wisconsin, and their children are: Delia, wife of John Finch, of Stevens Point; Ruby, wife of Fayette Skinner, a postal clerk; and Isabel, wife of Henry Clark, a butter and cheese maker at Reedsburg. Wisconsin. Mr. Howe's son, William, is a farmer in Plover Township.

The mother of these children died in January. 1872, in the State of Michigan. In October. 1872. Mr. Howe married Sarah Goodale Clark, widow of Ernest Clark. She was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1845. daughter of John G. and Amanda M. (Britton) Goodale. both of whom were natives of Vermont and died in St. Lawrence County, New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Howe lived in Michigan one year after their marriage and then came to Wisconsin, locating in Milwaukee, where Mr. Howe followed his trade as a carpenter. In 1881 he came to Stevens Point, where he has had his home steadily ever since and where he followed his trade as a competent and reliable workman until he gave up his duties and is now enjoying retired life. Mr. ' Howe is a republican voter and a member of the Episcopal Church.

He is an honored survivor of the great War of the Rebellion. He enlisted from New York State in 1861 in Company K of the New York Infantry. He was in the army three years and three months. At first his regiment was in some of the great campaigns of Virginia and his service was marked by two of the greatest battles of the war in that part of the country, Antietam and Gettysburg. Later he was attached to the armies in Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia under Sherman, and in the battle of Lookout Mountain, when he and his comrades were fighting above the clouds, he was seriously wounded, being shot through the left hip. Mr. Howe has always kept up fraternal relations with old comrades as a member of the Grand Army Post at Plover. He and his wife reside in a comfortable home at 303 Center Avenue in Stevens Point.

They have three daughters, Sarah. Hattie and Cora. Sarah is the wife of Gustav Swanson, and their children are Geo, Joyce and Caroline. Hattie married Edgar Loomis, of Newell, Iowa, and their family consists of Orabelle, Howard, Lillian, Harold and Harlan. The daughter Cora married Gus Bean and they -have no children.

Benjamin Anderson*. One of the model farms of New Hope Township has been the home of Benjamin Anderson since birth, there he grew to manhood, and for more than a quarter of a century has used his sturdy energy and intelligent efforts in directing the farm as his main business in life, and it has well repaid all the labor bestowed upon it. Mr. Anderson is one of the very influential men of his community. 1 le helped organize and is still connected with the Farmers Butter and Cheese Association, and is serving as a director in the New Hope Norwegian Fire Insurance Company, a concern in which his father had an active part in the organization.

On his present farm, though at the time it was a tract of land vastly different in state of improvement and cultivation, Benjamin Anderson was born December 4. 1869, a son of Andrew and Guri (Anderson) Grothe. Both parents were natives of Norway, where they married, and in about 1857 came to America, locating on the land where their son Benjamin was born. The father acquired forty acres from the Government and subsequently bought adjoining land until he had a farm of 120 acres. He cleared much of it, erected the first buildings, but his main business was not so much farming as it was in following his trade as a blacksmith. He learned the blacksmith's trade in Norway and on coming to Portage County erected a small shop on his farm. This shop supplied a service greatly needed in that community. The farmers came for miles around bringing their plows and other implements to be repaired and their horses to be shod, and the reliable workmanship and genial personality of Andrew Grothe made his shop a landmark in the community. The father lived there until his death in 1898. His widow is now living in Dunn Countv. Wisconsin, with a daughter. In the family were

Benjamin Anderson while living at home went back and forth to the country schools in his neighborhood, and after leaving school he went to work on the farm, which he has owned since 1893. He has most of the 120 acres under cultivation and has erected all of the present buildings on the farm.

In 1893 Mr. Anderson married Miss Emma Loberg. She was born on the old farm of her father in Amherst Township, daughter of Johan N. Loberg, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of ten children: Gladys A. I.; Anna Josephine, who died in infancy; Alma, Edna, John Gerhard, Lillian, Anton, Carl, Herbert and Richard. All the living children are still around the home and constitute a lively group of young people, their lives showing much promise of good work and usefulness in the world. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the New Hope Presbyterian Church.

Michael O'Keefe not only represents one of the notable sturdy American families of Irish descent in Portage County but is a man of distinction in his business affairs as a farmer, having one of the best stock farms in Stockton Township.

This fine farm, which in so many ways represents his own improvements and efficient ideas, is the place where he was born February 14, 1872. He is a son of two honored and respected old time citizens of Portage County, Patrick and Mary (Toomy) O'Keefe. His parents were both born in Ireland. His father was born in County Cork May 7, 1825, while his mother was born in County Kerry June 11, 1830. They came to America when young, were married at Alton, Illinois. November 23, 1854. and soon afterward came to Wisconsin, after a brief sojourn in Milwaukee locating in Stevens Point in 1855. Patrick O'Keefe was a man of sturdy mold and earned a living as a woods worker for several years. In 1858 he bought the raw tract of land comprising 200 acres which he subsequently cleared and cultivated and developed as the farm now owned and occupied by his son Michael. After gaining an ample competence from his labors he lived there in contentment and peace until death, February 11, i8<>8. His good wife survived him a little more than a year, passing away May 29, 1899. Both were faithful members of the Catholic Church.

The record of their children, eleven in number, is worthy of perpetuation. Patrick, the oldest, was born November 23, 1855, is a resident of Brown County. Wisconsin, and by his marriage to Mar)' O'Keefe had fourteen children, the seven still living being Mary, Raymond. David, Dominic. Isabel, Frances and Catherine. Ellen, the second of the family, born May 7. 1858. is the widow of Dominic Dwver. and her children were Mary. Grace and Agnes, the last now deceased. Marv. born October 11, i860, is the wife of Michael Doyle, and their children are Frank. Bessie, Raymond, Helen, Jane, Margaret. Michael and Mary. Hannah, who was born Fehruary 15. 1862, died October 25, 1893. wife of Joseph Leonard, of Stevens Point. William, born April 15. 1863, is a Stockton Township farmer and elsewhere referred to. John, born June 8. 1865. first married Mathilda Conniff. the one child of their union, Isabel, being deceased, and ne married for his second wife Anastasia O'Keefe, but has no children by that union. Honora, seventh in the family, was bom May 2, 1868. and died May 4, 1869. David, born January 4, 1870, died April 29, 1900, when his brilliant talents as a lawyer were just beginning to bear fruit. He was a graduate of the Stevens Point High School and of the law department of the University of Wisconsin, and also attended law courses at Washington, D. C. For a time he was in the office of Catcs, Jones & Sanborn of Stevens Point, but a year later moved to Ashland, Wisconsin, where he practiced as a member of the firm O'Keefe, Dufer & O'Keefe, and later of Sanborn. Dufer & O'Keefe. While at Ashland he was elected district attorney and was filling that office at the time of his death. He was the eighth of the family, while Mr. Michael O'Keefe is the ninth. The tenth is James, who was born December 10, 1875, and died July 13, 1876. The youngest. Catherine, born February 7. 1877, became a sister in the Order of the Good Shepherd and died in France September 26, 1902.

Practically all his life Michael O'Keefe has lived on the old homestead farm. He gained his education in the public schools and after reaching manhood he took charge of the homestead and is now owner of the 200 acres, and has done much to arrange and develop its resources for his special purposes as a stockman. For twenty years his farm has been noted among stockmen as a place for the breeding of high grade percheron horses and thoroughbred Poland China hogs. He has also done much with his herd of Jersey cattle. It will be recalled that his son Leonard entered a pure bred Jersey calf in the Stevens Point Fair as a member of the Portage County Calf Club, and with seventeen entries in the competition won second prize. The same calf won second premium as a high grade Jersey at the Wisconsin State Fair among the numerous contestants from the Boys and

Mr. O'Keefe is a man of affairs in the county, and has done much to develop its substantial interests. For about eighteen years he was president of the Arnot Creamery Company, being president from the time of its organization in 1899 until 191 7. He has also been a director of the Stockton Township Insurance Company and he served as clerk of school district No. 5 for fourteen years until he resigned in I9t7- In politics he is independent, and he and his wife are members of St. Mary's Catholic Church at Stockton.

October 1 3. 1897, Mr. O'Keefe married Miss Lucy Fleanor I-eonard. Mrs. O'Keefe was born at Marshalltown, Iowa, Januarv 9, 1873, daughter of Patrick and Mary E. (McCarthy) Leonard. Her father was born in Ireland May 1, 1838, and her mother at Salem, Massachusetts. Julv Jf>, 1849. Her grandfather was named William Leonard. Mrs. O'Keefe's parents married at Berlin, Wisconsin, lived for a time at Waupun, where her father was a merchant, later at Marshalltown, Iowa, and on coming to Portage County settled in Stockton Township, also lived at Stevens Point, and owned and occupied a farm in Linark Township, and finally retired to Stevens Point. Her mother died at the countv seat August' v>, 1904, while her father passed away at the home of Mr. and Mrs. O'Keefe October 19. 1908. Mrs. O'Keefe is one o f seven children, named George, Lucy, Frank, John, Mary, who died in infancy, Theresa and Gertrude.

rick, already mentioned, was born July 12, 1903, and is already an intelligent boy farmer and stockman. Lloyd Michael, born September 4, 1905, died September 18, 1905; Michael, Jr., born January 1, 1908, also died in infancy. The youngest, Earl George, was born October 22, 1911.

A. W. Breitenstein. In a business way few citizens of Portage County are more widely known over Central Wisconsin than A. W. Breitenstein of Stockton. The diversity and extent of his business relations are imposing and reflect great credit upon the energy with which he has prosecuted his affairs during a very busy life. Mr. Breitenstein is a farmer and extensive land owner and merchant, and is owner of warehouses and business interests at half a dozen points besides his old and central establishment at Stockton.

Though a resident of Portage County from earliest infancy he was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1865. It was in October of the same year that his parents, Anton and Mary (Beck) Breitenstein, came to Portage County. His father was a native of Alsace-Lorraine, born in 1831, while his mother was born in Germany in 1836. They married in Pittsburg, and on coming to Portage County located on a small tract of land of forty acres in Stockton Township. Anton Breitenstein, Sr., was possessed of much of the ability and enterprise which have characterized his son. Though he began here comparatively a poor man, he added to his possessions until he had about 1,000 acres in Portage County. He developed to a high point of efficiency the old homestead of 280 acres, and lived there honored and respected by his fellow citizens until his death in 1910. His wife passed away in 1905. The Breitenstcins as a family are Catholics and the father was a democratic voter. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom are still living, and in order of birth they are : Lawrence, Lena, Louisa, Michael, Anthony W.. Richard. Charles and Mary.

The early associations and interests of Mr. A. W. Breitenstein were with the old homestead farm. He attended public schools and also the business college at Stevens Point, and his school days were varied with useful work on the home farm. He began his career as a fanner, and at the present time owns Coo acres, much of it highly developed, in Portage County, besides 280 acres in Rusk County, this state. .

Along with the management of his farm interests Mr. Breitenstein in 1892 engaged in business at Stockton, where his establishment is known throughout that section of the country. He is a dealer in agricultural implements, runs a mill and elevator and also has an extensive business as a grain and potato dealer.

Mr. Breitenstein is proprietor of a line of warehouses along the Soo line and St. Paul Railroad. On May 1. i9H. he organized the Breitenstein & Tozer Company at Stevens Point. This is an extension of his business at Stockton, and includes handling flour, feed, coal, cement and other products, and also agricultural implements.

Mr. Breitenstein still keeps his home in Stockton, where for the past fifteen years he has been postmaster. He is a democrat, but has been too busy to give much time to practical politics. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church. October 6. 1897. he married Miss Mary Kupps, of Milladore, Wisconsin. Six children were

Charles A. Newby, whose fine farm establishment is in Buena Vista Township, has been a resident of Portage County practically all his life, and while he has been identified with different vocations his work for a number of years has been as a general farmer and stock raiser, the results of his enterprise being in conspicuous evidence at his present home place.

He was born at the old homestead of his parents in Buena Vista Township September 9, 1866, a son of George Campbell Newby. Charles A. Newby is a brother of Mrs. Fred H. Huntley and through her a complete account of the Newby family is published on other pages of this publication. The Newbys came to Portage County in 1855, and thus the name is one of the oldest as well as one of the most honored in the annals of the county.

Mr. Charles A. Newby grew up on a farm, had a public school education, and for a number of years worked in the lumber woods. From that hardy and adventurous occupation he returned in 1892 to practical farming, buying 120 acres in Waushara County, Wisconsin. After nine years there he sold out and for two years was engaged in the livery business at Wautoma. In November, 1903, he bought the place he now owns in Buena Vista Township. This comprises 284 acres, and in addition to the original area under cultivation he has cleared up about thirty acres more and now has a well balanced and systematized farm. In 1913 he erected a large barn 40 by 50 feet, and also has another evidence of modern, progressive farming in a silo 10 by 35 feet.

Mr. Newby is a republican and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. July 14, 1891, he married Miss Rosa Puariea, who was bom in Buena Vista Township February 16, 1870, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Crofoot) Puariea, early settlers of that township. Both her parents are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Newby have three children and two young grandchildren. Their oldest child, Cecil, born January 25, 1893, married Frank Wenzel, of Stevens Point, and their young daughter, Elizabeth Sarah, was born July 4, 1917. Ward Wincel, the only son of the family, was born July 17, 1895. and by his marriage to Bertha Anna Wenzel has a son, Howard Charles, born October 23, 1917. Ruby Mae was born September 17, 1901, and is now a sophomore in the Stevens Point High School.

William F. Owen. It has been more than twenty years since William F. Owen came to Stevens Point to practice law, and he brought with him a record of capable performance as a lawyer and former district attorney of Price County. In Portage County his name has had increasing associations with the best work of the legal profession and with public affairs, and his abilities have received the compliment of a large law practice.

Mr. Owen has spent practically all his mature career in Wisconsin, but was born in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1861. His parents, James S. and Abigail E. (Dake) Owen, came to Wisconsin and spent a year and a half near Waupaca, but subsequently went back cast. William F. Owen was one of six children. He was educated in Pennsylvania, and in 1884, at the age of twenty-three, came to Wisconsin and located at Waupaca. In 1885 he moved to Amherst, where for two years he was a teacher and principal of the public schools. While there he took up the study of law. Me pursued it diligently and with all the resources at his command. At the same time he had to make his own way. He was also a law student during the three years he spent as principal of schools at Phillips in Price County. lie was admitted to the bar at Phillips in 1889, ana< in July, 1890, began practice at Phillips. Six months later he became a member of the firm Rowland & Owen, and subsequently was elected and served two terms as district attorney of Price County. In 1895 Mr. Owen moved to Stevens Point and his first partnership association here was Raymond & Owen. Afterwards he was a member of different firms but since 191 1 has been in practice alone and he has a choice of some of the best legal business in the local courts.

December 26, 1886, Mr. Owen married Dora Webster, of Amherst, youngest daughter of Enoch Webster, a pioneer of that town. Mr. Webster was postmaster twenty-five years, was one of the early county commissioners of Portage County, was justice of the peace, and for a number of years stood in the relationship of general adviser to the community. He was the type of man whose services could not be easily overestimated, and his name deserves longest memory and affection. Mr. Owen by his first marriage had three children, Wayne W., of Spencer, Wisconsin; Elizabeth, wife of Leo W. Eilertsen, of Seattle, Washington ; and Ruth, Mrs. L. E. Kennedy, of Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1903 Mr. Owen married Miss Emma Kurz, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. They have two young children, John Foster and Jeanne. Mrs. Owen is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Owen is affiliated with the three Masonic bodies represented at Stevens Point. Since moving to Portage County he served three consecutive terms as district attorney in the earlier years of his practice here, and only recently he was persuaded to accept another term in the same capacity. He has also been city attorney of Stevens Point and for several terms was a member of the local school board and in 19 1 8 was elected mayor of the city.

Carl Tech. One of the oldest citizens of Plover Township is Mr. Carl Tech. who has been a resident of Wisconsin more than half a century and has spent many useful and productive years as a farmer in this county.

Mr. Tech was born in Germany November 11, 1836, son of Carl and Marie Tech. both of whom died in the old country. Carl Tech had five brothers. Chris, August, Albert. Fritz and William, all of whom bore arms for the fatherland in the successive wars between Germany and Denmark and Germany and France, the latter being the Franco- Prussian war of 1870.

Carl Tech spent nearly thirty years of his life in Germany, and in 1865 settled in Buffalo County,' Wisconsin. He married at Buffalo in 1870 and after eleven years moved to Portage County and settled in Plover Township. Subsequently he made a change of residence and came to the place he now owns, comprising a good farm of seventy acres. Some years ago he gave his son William thirty acres, and the son now has the practical management of the entire farm. Mr. Carl Tech has been in Wisconsin since the days when forests covered a large part of the state, and in his own time he has cleared up many acres and put them in cultivation. In politics he is a republican and is a member of the Lutheran Church.

Mr. Tech married Miss Herman, daughter of Fritz and Hannah Herman, who on coming to America first settled in Minnesota and afterwards in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. They lived on a farm there, and finally moved to the village of Plover in 1893, where her father died in 19 13 at the advanced age of eighty-seven. Mrs. Tech's mother died at Plover some years prior to her husband, at the age of seventy-six. In their family were eleven children: Minnie, deceased; Augusta; Henrietta; William and Hannah and Fredericka, all deceased ; Robert ; John ; Charles, August and Hannah, deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Tech are the parents of seven children: Matilda is the wife of Edward Isherwood ; Fred married Mary Prain and has two children, Evelyn and Harry. Julia, living with her parents, is the widow of Fred DeVore, by whom she had a son, Ernest. Albert married Sarena Thornsden, and their family consists of Robert, Rose and Beatrice. The fifth child, Robert, is now deceased. William is the manager of the home farm. Nellie, the youngest, is also deceased.

Edwin Tlrner was one of the pioneers of Portage County, shared in the parceling out of the Government domain in this section, lived upon and worked energetically to improve and develop the natural resources of the county, and was a man of many valuable and useful activities. He was an old soldier, and soldier records have been prominent in the family through the various generations.

The Turners are of old New England stock. Edwin Turner was born in Clinton County, New York, in 1830, a son of Abel and Mary (Turner) Turner. The mother is said to have been the first white child born at Plattsburg, New York, and was a niece of Nathan Beeman, who figured in Revolutionary activities as the man who piloted Ethan Allen through some of the wild places of Northern New York in the war for independence. Abel Turner served as a soldier in the War of 1812. He and three other soldiers were presented with muskets for bravery on the field of battle. These guns were made from the first iron ore taken from the mines in the vicinity of Plattsburg. The gun presented to the grandfather is now owned by Miss Cora Turner of Amherst, and is one of the most interesting relics of a century ago found in Portage County. The name of her grandfather is engraved on a piece of metal fixed to the stock.

The late Edwin Turner grew up in the East, where his parents spent their lives, and was twenty-one years of age when he came west to Appleton, Wisconsin. For a time he was employed in carrying mail on the stage line between Xeenah and Green Bay. He and his brother Charles also did considerable land surveying north of Marinette, Wisconsin.

It was in the year 1855 that Edwin Turner came to Lanark Township in Portage County and located a tract of Government land. In the fall of that year he went back East and married Miss Electa Miles. She was then living in New York State but was a native of Vermont. Her grandfather had also served as a soldier of the Revolution. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Turner returned to Portage County and lived on their farm until about 1870. They then sold this land and bought what is now known as the George

Ciperfie farm, also in the vicinity of Amherst. On this they pursued their activities as substantial farming people until about 1893, when they retired to the village of Amherst, where both of them spent their declining years.

The military record of Edwin Turner began with his enlistment as a private in a Wisconsin regiment, and he rose to the rank of lieutenant of Company I, Thirty-first Wisconsin Infantry. He had enlisted at Waupaca in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry as a private, and altogether saw three years of active service. For many years he was an honored member of the Grand Army Post at Amherst. His wife was a member of the Episcopal Church. The shoulder straps and other war relics carried by this old Union soldier arc now carefully preserved by Miss Cora Turner. Miss Turner is herself a woman of thorough patriotism, interested in the deeds of her ancestors in the various wars, and in the present great world struggle in which America is engaged is doing much to the extent of her own strength and abilities and is setting an excellent example for her community in the matter of practical patriotism. Edwin Turner and wife had three children: Henry, Cora R. and Edith F. Edith died in infancy. Edwin Turner was always a man of influence and willing to work in matters of local and community improvements, and in politics was a stanch republican.

Olaus Iverson Aanrud. A resident of Portage County over thirty-five years, formerly connected with the sawmilling industry of Stevens Point, Olaus Iverson Aanrud has for many years been a successful farmer in New Hope Township, and has succeeded by industry and intelligent management in surrounding himself with all the needed comforts and conveniences that make life pleasant.

Mr. Aanrud was born in Norway August 17, 1856, a son of Iver and Olia (Christopherson) Aanrud. His mother died in the old country and his father many years later, in 1894, came to America and spent the last five years of his life with his son Olaus in Portage County. Accompanying him to America was a sister Randi, who also spent her last years in the home of Mr. Aanrud. Iver Annrud in Norway spent his years as a farmer. There were four children to grow up: Dorothy, living in Minneapolis; Olaus Iverson; Martina, of Minneapolis; and Hans, who is still a resident of Norway and has gained considerable literary distinction, being author of several books.

Olaus Iverson Aanrud was twenty-four years of age when he came to America. He was educated in his native land and on leaving there in 1880 he came direct to Berlin. Wisconsin, where he spent one summer, and then moved to Portage County. For a number of years he worked at Stevens Point, most of the time with the John Week Lumber Company, being employed in the company's mill as setter. In 1894 Mr. Aanrud moved to a farm in New Hope Township, buying eighty acres, but in 1910 he bought his present place from his fatherin-law. Here he has 120 acres, well cultivated, nearly all of it productive, and his farm is the home of some well selected Guernsey cattle. Mr. Aanrud is an active member of the Lutheran Church, and has done his part in local affairs as clerk of the school board.

Mrs. Aanrud was born on the farm where Mr. Aanrud now resides. Her father, Peder Christenson, located on this tract of land in pioneer times. He came to America about 1866, and soon afterward located in Portage County, where he cleared and improved a large tract of land. His wife, whom he married in Norway, was Annie Olson. Both of them died on the old farm, and their six children to grow up were: Christ. Olena, Marie, Carrie, Edwin and Regina.

Orrin Pikk has known Portage County from his earliest recollections. Since attaining his majority he has acquired a worthy success as a practical farmer and business man in Plover Township, and has shown a spirit of helpfulness in all matters of community concern.

Mr. Pike was born February 28. 1882, during a brief residence of his parents in the State of Kansas. However, his people are pioneers of Wisconsin. His grandparents Pike came from New York State and settled in Belmont Township of Portage County in early days, and finally removed to McDill. where both of them spent their last years. They were laid to rest in the Kent Cemetery in Belmont Township. Their children consisted of Carrie, Nancy, Josie, Ionise, Alva, Percy and Alonzo.

Alonzo Pike, father of Orrin. was born in New York State in 1850 and was brought to Portage County when a small child. He was reared and educated in Belmont Township and has always been a practical farmer. In 1892 he bought 160 acres now owned by his son Orrin, and cleared a large part of the land. In 1909 he removed to Adams County, Wisconsin, where he had previously taken up a homestead and now has an eighty acre farm in that county. lie and his family spent about three years in the State of Kansas, and he also . owned a farm there. Alonzo Pike married Eliza Pray, who was born in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, in 185 1. Alonzo and wife had nine children, five sons and four daughters : Charles. Frank, Carrie. Orrin, Rosetta. Leroy, John, Myrtle and Minnie. Alonzo Pike is a republican.

While growing up on the farm that he now owns Orrin Pike attended the public schools and acquired most of his knowledge and training in agricultural lines on this farm. He has been its proprietor since 1909, and has carried forward the work of improvement, clearing and building until he has one of the valuable places of the community. Mr. Pike is a general farmer and stock raiser and has a number of high grade Guernsey cows. In politics he votes as a republican and is now a member of the local school board.

April !i. 1905, Mr. Pike married Miss Nellie Whitney. Mrs. Pike was born at Mineral Point in Iowa County, Wisconsin, Tune 29, 1874, daughter of Robert and Martha Maria '( Saugwin ) YVhitney. Her father was born in Massachusetts August 22. 1822, and her mother in Pennsylvania in 1836. Robert Whitney left home at the age of fourteen, and came west through what was then the small village of Chicago and later located in Wisconsin at Mineral Point, where he married. He acquired his education in Massachusetts and at Springfield, Illinois. By trade he was a wagonmaker and followed that occupation at Mineral Point for a number of years. He finally went west to Nebraska and lived with his son Herbert Whitney and later both removed to Missouri, where the father of Mrs. Pike died in 1909. Mrs. Pike's mother died at Mineral Point in 1895. The Whitney children numbered the following: Albert; Walter, deceased; Herbert; Jenette; Isabel, deceased; Nellie and William. Mrs. Pike's father was also a California forty-niner, having gone out to that far western district across the plains, but returned to the states by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was at that time a young single man, and he married in 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Pike have one daughter, Phyllis, born December 24, 1907.

Louis Rauskey. An enterprising young citizen of Stevens Point who has gained recognition among the energetic and successful business men is Louis Rauskey, who has been a resident of this community since 191 2.

Mr. Rauskey was born in Greece. He came to America, arriving in the land of freedom on October 9, 1907. His first employment and experience was as a worker in cotton mills at Holyoke, Massachusetts. He swept out the floor every day and was paid four dollars a week, and at the same time he attended night school. He remained at Holyoke eighteen months and from there went to Kensington, Illinois, where he worked with a railway section gang until the following winter. He then found employment with the R. II. Davis Rug Factory at Batavia, Illinois, employed as a rug weaver and attending school at the same time. On March 27, 1909, he found employment as a railway interpreter. His headquarters during this work was at Appleton, Wisconsin.

In 1912 he came to Stevens Point and established a shoe shining parlor. About that time he sent for his brother, who came over from Greece and joined him. In 1915 Mr. Rauskey took over a news stand, and on February 15, 1917, opened the Ariad Pool and Billiard Parlor and also the Ariad Restaurant and the College Inn a few months later.

Mr. Rauskey has traveled over thirty-nine states of the American Union and nine different nations, and is a young man'of wide and cosmopolitan experience. He prepared for a position as wireless operator, and passed a successful examination and entered service in July, 1918. He was sent to Fort Leavenworth. Kansas, in the signal corps of the United States Army as a wireless operator and in October was transferred to Camp Meade, Maryland, ready for overseas service, arriving at the port of embarkation November 11. the day the armistice was signed. He obtained his honorable discharge December 6, 1918, and arrived at Stevens Point ready to attend to his business on December 12, 1918.

Harry K. Sifa'wright. The list of leading business citizens of Stevens Point contains the name of Harry E. Sievwright, who has established the right to such a title within comparatively a few short years. He has been the leading factor in the development of one of the city's important business industries, and is a man of recognized ability who has gained the reputation of always carrying through to a successful conclusion what he started out to do.

Mr. Sievwright is a native son of Stevens Point and was born June 13, 1885, his parents being Samuel H. and Ella (Hoag) Sievwright. He 'comes of Scotch. English and Irish descent, and his great-grandfather was Sir Archibald Sievwright, who was born May

24, 1769, a captain in the Napoleonic wars. He married Eleanor Holmes, born April 12, 1786, and in 1821 they emigrated from their native Scotland to Montreal, Canada, where Sir Archibald died in 1846, and his wife in 1870. They were the parents of the following children: Thomas; Mary; Eleanor, who died at the age of eightynine years, was the wife of Mathew Tyndale, a descendant of the great translator, W. Tyndale, and a cousin of the late John Tyndale, the scientist; Thomas (2); Samuel, the paternal grandfather of Harry E. Sievwright; Isaac; Archibald; Agnes; Mary (2); Elizabeth ; and George, and three children who died in infancy.

Samuel Sievwright, paternal grandfather of Harry E. Sievwright, was born in Ireland in 1818 and was there married to Maria Goodbody, who had been born there the year before her husband. They went to Canada, and in May, 1856, came to Stevens Point, where the grandfather was a lumberman for some years. In 1866 he went to Minnesota, and after a short stay at Lake City died in 1867. His widow later returned to Stevens Point arid then went to Rhinelander, where she died in 1905, but her body was brought back to Stevens Point for burial. Their children were: Eleanor; Elizabeth; Archibald, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin; Maria, the wife of John Wright, of Elcho, Wisconsin ; Mary Agnes, the wife of Charles Sparks, of Stevens Point ; William, deceased ; Samuel Holmes ; and Anna Jane, the wife, of William Whitakcr, of Rhinelander. Eleanor Sievwright, the eldest among the above children, was born February 22, 1843, and was married July 4, 1865, at Stevens Point, to Thomas James Murray, who was born December 12, 1844, in Pennsylvania. He fought during the last two years of the Civil war as a Union soldier, and following the close of hostilities came to Stevens Point, where he was a surveyor and civil engineer for many years, and died January 27, 1906. He was a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a man esteemed and respected wherever known. Mrs. Murray, who survives him, owns a comfortable home at No. 1 102 Ellis Street, Stevens Point, but at present lives with her daughter, Mrs. Thomas Fulton, at 218 Dixon Street. She and her husband were the parents of nine children: Mary Holmes, Walter James, Ethel Hope; Violet, deceased; Grace Florence; Bertha Inez, deceased; Rose Evelyn; ErHc Myrtle, deceased; and Eleanor, who died in infancy.

Samuel Holmes Sievwright, father of Harry E. Sievwright, was born August 7, 1855, in Canada, and was about nine months of age when brought to Portage County, Wisconsin, in May, 1856. He was educated in the public schools, and was married at Stevens Point to Ella Hoag, who was born in the northern part of Wisconsin. For a number of years Mr. Sievwright was identified with various business enterprises and ventures at this place, but in 1906 went to Rhinelander, where he now makes his home. Mrs. Sievwright passed away there in 1917. They were the parents of two children: Harry E. ; and James C., in the United States service as a member of the Machine Gun Company. Sixty- Ninth Infantry, U. S. A.

After attending the public schools of Stevens Point Harry E. Sievwright became a student at the State Normal School here, and entered upon a course at the Stevens Point Business College. In 1903 he went to Rhinelander, where he was employed by the Mason- Donaldson Lumber Company until 191 1, when ill health compelled him to change his vocation for a time and for three years he lived the outdoor life of the farm. In 1914 he re-entered business affairs when he established a wholesale lumber company at Stevens Point, known as the H. E. Sievwright Lumber Company, Incorporated, which has since grown to large proportions, with a complete stock of northern products. It also acts as agent for southern lumber and west coast stock. While young, Mr. Sievwright is a thorough-going business man and an enterprising citizen and enjoys an excellent reputation at Stevens Point and elsewhere. He is a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and has other connections, business and social. Civic affairs hold interest for him as they do for other public-spirited men, and worthy movements never fail to have his support. His political beliefs make him a republican, while his religious affiliation is with the Catholic Church.

Mr. Sievwright was married in 191 1 to Miss Margaret Huntington, of Platteville, Wisconsin, and they had one daughter, Eleanor Jane. Mrs. Sievwright died in 1915, and in 1916 he was married to Miss Ruth Fulton, of Stevens Point, their union having been blessed by the birth of two children: John and Marjorie.

Martin W. Hilgkndorf. Among the younger generation of business men whose operations are being carried on in the southern part of Portage County, one who has attained to a position of large responsibility at an age when most men are just getting their start is Martin VV. Hilgendorf, manager of the Melcher I -umber Company at Almond. Mr. Hilgendorf is one of the progressive and energetic men of this prosperous and growing community, and while his energies have been mainly devoted to the affairs with which his business is concerned, he has taken an earnest and helpful interest in civic matters and is accounted a valuable asset to the village in which his operations are centered.

Martin W. Hilgendorf was born at Juneau, the county seat of Dodge County, Wisconsin, February 17, 1K89, and is a son of August and Henrietta (Melcher) Hilgendorf. His father, a native of Germany, came to the United States as a lad of eight years, learned the trade of carpenter in his youth, and gradually developed into a contractor and builder, a line in which he has built up a large and profitable business. His honie and business headquarters are at Juneau, but his operations extend far beyond the limits of that community, and in many parts of the state he is known as an able and astute man of business. He was married in Wisconsin, Mrs. Hilgendorf being a native of this state, and they are the parents of three children: Leonard, who is connected with a furniture establishment at Juneau ; Bernard, a resident of Almond: and Martin W., of this review.

Martin W. Hilgendorf received his education in the public schools of Juneau, then had a two year course at Stought Training School, Menomonie. and then taught one year at Butler, Pennsylvania, as manual training teacher, and one year in St. Paul. His early business training was secured at Juneau, under the preceptorship of his father. In this way he came into contact with the lumber business, in which he showed a great interest and for which he developed a marked aptitude, and by gradual stages he advanced in that industry until he came to Almond to take charge of the yards of the Melcher Lumber

Company. He has continued in this position to the present time, and through hard work, natural ability and making the most of his business opportunities has succeeded in increasing the business of this concern materially. Mr. Hilgendorf has firmly established himself at Almond, having bought a home here and also invested in some residential property, and has also demonstrated his faith in the future of the locality by showing a marked interest in its civic welfare. He has taken an active part in various civic movements, and has served efficiently and faithfully as a member of the village board, his work on that body being constructive and helpful. It has been his fortune to have impressed himself upon his fellow citizens as a man of worth and public spirit, a reputation which he is striving earnestly to maintain.

Mr. Hilgendorf married Miss Cora Martin, who was born at Almond, a member of a well known family here. They are members of the German Church, where both have numerous friends, as they have in other circles of the village.