Portage County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1919 (part 5 of 15)

Mr. and Mrs. Bischoff became the parents of nine children, as follows: Rose Gertrude, who is the wife of Hugo Quandt, and has two children, Viola Marie and Carl August, the latter of whom is a lieutenant in the United States Aviation Corps, ready for service in France; Joseph, D. D. S., who practiced his profession at Stevens Point for twenty years, until accepting a position with the United States Department of Justice with headquarters at New York City, married Gertrude Brown and has one child, John Lawrence ; Marie, who is the wife of Carl Cadman and has five children, Helen, Hazel, Elizabeth, Ada and John ; August Conrad, of Watertown, Wisconsin, a conductor on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, married Gertrude Dicmal and has two children, August Clifford and Helen Dolores; Gertrude Catherine, who is the wife of Hugo Pctzold, of Milwaukee, and has one child, Viola ; Lawrence Philip, a veteran of the Spanish-American war and a lieutenant in the United States Navy, who is an instructor of engineering at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, married Ethel McNaughton, and has two children, Marjorie and John ; Garence Mathew, a caster in the Chicago Brass Foundry at Kenosha, Wisconsin; and two children, Clara and Magdalen, who died in infancy.

Christ W. Rickman. Fifty years of residence give the Rickman family a place of substantial importance in Grant Township. They have been industrious and capable farmers of this section and no inconsiderable part of the land now under cultivation there is the result of the long continued labors of the Rickmans at clearing and otherwise improving. Through this work, which he took up as a boy, Christ W. Rickman has developed one of the most complete farms in that township.

He was born in Germany August 21, 1861, and when he was eight years old, in 1869, his parents, John and Sophia (Timm) Rickman, brought their family to America and settled in Grant Township of Portage County. People of very modest circumstances they began with forty acres of land, and that tract is now part of the farm of their son Christ. As a family they cleared the forty acres, and the father Jived there until his death in 1888, at the age of sixty-^nine. The mother passed away in 1897, at the same age as her husband. John Rickman was a democrat in politics and for two years served as supervisor of Grant Township. He and his family were active members of the Lutheran Church. Sophia Timm was a sister of Joachim Timm, a well known Portage County citizen elsewhere referred to. John

Christ W. Rickman gained most of his education in the public schools of Grant Township. He worked at home and for several years he was also employed in the lumber woods and in the sawmills. After settling down to a career of farming he developed one tract of land after another, and now owns 440 acres, nearly all of which is in cultivation. His personal efforts have been responsible for the clearing up of fully 260 acres. As a farmer he handled much good stock, including high grade Holstein cattle with a thoroughbred bull at the head of the herd. His farm buildings arc all substantial and modern in arrangement and facilities. One feature that stamps the farm as a progressive center of agricultural enterprise is a silo 12 by 26 feet.

Politically Mr. Rickman has been affiliated with the democratic party. He served as township clerk twenty years and for three years was chairman of the township board. For about fifteen years he has worked for the good of the local schools as a member of the school board.

In 1886 he married Miss Amelia Hannetnan. She was born in Germany August 7, 1865, daughter of August and Augusta Hanneman. About 1869 the Hanneman family came to America and settled at Rudolph in Wood County, Wisconsin. Two years later they moved to Grand Rapids Township in the same county and her parents spent the rest of their days there. Mr. and Mrs. Rickman became the parents of twelve children: Minnie. Emma, William. George E., Edward and Eleanor, twins, Annie, Esther, John, who died in infancy, Mamie, Edna and Elmer. Minnie is the wife of Fred Goldberg, of Kellner, and their children are Mabel and Martin. Emma married Andrew Timm, of Grant Township, and has a son, Gilbert. William married Louisa Dittman, of Shawano, and has a son, Victor. Edward married Rawata Radthke, daughter of Rev. Samuel Radthke, the Lutheran minister at Kellner.

GKORr.ii E. Vaughn. A resident of Portage County all his life, George E. Vaughn's individual activities and interests strongly identify him with the county and its welfare. He has been connected witn business at Stevens Point and is now one of the rural mail carriers out of that city.

The Vaughns are an old and pioneer family of this section of Wisconsin. He is a son of Audrae Otis and Elizabeth (Clement) Vaughn, both now deceased. His father was born in New York State and his mother in Vermont. Audrae Otis Vaughn came to Stevens Point about 1855. For many years he was in the woods and on the river as a factor in the lumber industry. He was a brother of B. L. Vaughn, another member of the family elsewhere referred to in this publication. Audrae Otis Vaughn was a Baptist and a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Stevens Point. In politics he voted as a republican. He and his wife had six children, George E. being the third in order of birth.

George E. Vaughn was born at Stevehs Point July 3, 1865. He was educated in the public schools and as a boy went to work in the woods and on the river with his father and is one of the few men who have an intimate knowledge based on personal experience with the old days of the river and woods in Wisconsin. Later for a number of years he was associated with his father in the sale of farm machinery. Mr. Vaughn has enjoyed the confidence and trust of his fellow citizens and is one of the honored ex-county officials of Portage County. For six years he was register of deeds and for one term was a member of the county board. Mr. Vaughn was one of the men responsible for organizing the wall paper factory at Stevens Point and was secretary of the business for 1 1 / 2 years. For about a year he was a grocery merchant but gave that up on account of ill health, and for a time sold insurance, but in 1909 took as a wholesome outdoor occupation the position of rural mail carrier, and has carried mail over one of the routes radiating from Stevens Point for the past nine years.

Mr. Vaughn is a republican in politics, is affiliated with Evergreen Lodge Xo. 93 Free and Accepted Masons, and is a charter member of Eureka Camp Xo. 48 of the Modern Woodmen of America and also a charter member of the Stevens Point Lodge of Beavers.

lie resides at 401 South Michigan Avenue, in a home which his father built many years ago and which has been remodeled and added to by its present owner. Mr. Vaughn married in 1898 Miss Jessie E. Martin, of Stevens Point, daughter of J. A. Martin, one of the early settlers here. Mrs. Vaughn died February 7. 1917. leaving one son, George Verne. This son was born December 22, 1900, and has made a splendid record in his school work, working up through all the grades of the State Normal at Stevens Point and is now a member of the senior class and also of the students army training corps, volunteering for army service October 1. 1918

Victor S. Prais. The active career of Victor S. Prais has connected him closely with the business interests of Portage County. He has had a very active career and has followed different lines, always with such energy as to maintain him in the rank of successful men. He is now proprietor of one of the best equipped paint, wall paper, tent and awning stores in Portage County.

Mr. Prais was born in Poland December 26, 1879. a son of Joseph and Marie (Yunke) Prais. When he was not yet five years old the family started for America, and on November 3, 1884. arrived at Stevens Point. The father was both a shoemaker and a mason by trade, and followed those occupations in Stevens Point until his death in 1906, at the age of fifty-nine. His widow is still living, aged sixty-nine. The father was a democrat and the family communicants of St. Peter's Catholic Church. There were six children in the family: Klinens F. ; Frances ; Victor S. : Agnes, who died at the age of thirteen; Martha, wife of Roman Suplecki ; and Johanna, wife of John Urbanowski, of Stevens Point. The oldest, Klinens F., bom in 1873, was educated both in Poland and in Stevens Point parochial schools, and is a carpenter and paper hanger by trade. For the past eleven years he has assisted his brother Victor in the store. November 3, 1897, he married Marie Olbranz, who died in 191 2, the mother of six children, Agnes, Joseph, Regena, Peter, Heronem and Margaret. Frances Prais, the older sister of Victor, was educated at Stevens Point, and by her marriage to Paul Archerlick has five children, Carl, Paul, Martha, Roman and Cecelia.

Victor S. Prais during his boyhood at Stevens Point attended both the parochial and public schools. He early learned the trade of painter, vol. n-» but afterwards took up another totally different line of employment, as cook and manager of boarding cars for the Wisconsin Central Railway. For four years he worked in a lunch room of the Wisconsin Central and he was the first man to run a boarding train at North Fond du 1-ac and also had charge of the erection of the railway lunch room at Fond du I-ac. In the course of his experience in this business he was stationed with a supply train at New Richmond, Wisconsin, at the time of the historic cyclone which did so much damage in that locality.

During his work as a painter Mr. Prats built up an extensive contracting business, and often had as many as twenty-two men working for him. On June 25, 1906, he bought the wall paper and paint store of Ira Eldridge, and on the following day opened up business under his name at 509 Main Street. About six years later he moved his store next door to where the electric light office was, and then moved over still another number. These moves were made consequent upon the growth and development of his business, and he now has a large and well equipped storeroom, stocked with an ample supply of paint, wall paper, tents and awnings, and other kindred merchandise.

Mr. Prais for seven years owned a home on Phillips Street but on March 13, 1917, sold it to Mr. Black. In June of that year he started the building of his new home at No. 307 Tremont Street, and he moved into the completed and comfortable residence on the 14th of December. In politics Mr. Prais is an active democrat and is affiliated with St. Peter^ Catholic Church. He married Miss Mary Wodarski, of Stevens Point. They have two children, Austin, born February 13, 191 1. and Bernadine, born in June, 1914.

Josf.ph M. Marshall is vice president of Gross & Jacobs Company, hardware and coal, one of the largest business firms of Stevens Point and operating one of the principal supply centers of that city. Mr. Marshall is a native of Stevens Point and has earned his present business dignity and success by a long and consecutive service with the firm, beginning as an employee and gradually making himself an invaluable and indispensable part of the business organization.

Mr. Marshall was born at Stevens Point September 3. 1875, a son of James B. and Elizabeth (Skinner) Marshall. His parents were both natives of Scotland, his father born at Glasgow on January 13. 1842, and his mother in Edinburgh in 1844. They married in Scotland and in 1865 the father came to the United States and located at Stevens Point. Some of the most skillful and resourceful men in the lumber industry of earlv days were from Scotland, and one of these was James B. Marshall. He followed the river for a number of years, but later took up the painting trade and is still at that line of business. He lives at 302 Monroe Street. A republican in politics he has been honored with several local offices, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. His wife came to Portage County in 1866. bringing her three children, and she died here in 1882. She was the mother of eight sons and daughters: Mary, who died in 1880; James; Margaret: Jessie ; Grace ; John ; Joseph ; and Ethel.

Joseph M. Marshall was reared and educated at Stevens Point, attending the public schools here. As a youth he served his apprenticeship at the tinsmith's trade in Milwaukee, and on his return went to work for Gross & Jacobs Company, and remained steadily in their employ for fifteen years. In 191 2 he acquired an interest in the business, and as vice president is one of the directing heads of the firm.

Mr. Marshall is a republican in politics, but has never aspired for any official place in his community. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having enlisted in 1898 in Company A of the Second Wisconsin Volunteers at Marshfield. He was with his regiment until mustered out at the close of hostilities. The military record of the family contains another name, his nephew, Joseph A., son of Joseph's brother James. This nephew is now a first sergeant in Company E with a Montana Regiment and is already in service in France. The Marshall family are members of St. Stephen's Catholic Church. They reside in one of the comfortable homes of Stevens Point at 218 North Division Street. June 18, 1902. Mr. Marshall married Miss Elizabeth Krembs, daughter of William and Mary Krembs, of Stevens Point. They have three daughters. Ruth. Dorothy and Jeanette, all living.

Herman H. Hoffman, president of the Village of Amherst Junction, is a citizen of mature years, of wide experience, and has done much for himself and family and also for the community. He served as a good soldier during the rebellion, and after the war applied himself for many years industriously and with a fair measure of profit to the business of farming in Portage County. His home has been in this county for more than half a century.

Mr. Hoffman is a native of Prussia, Germany, where he was born April 1, 1844. His parents, John G. and Christina (Exner) Hoffman, were both natives of Prussia. In 1856, when Herman was twelve years of age, the family immigrated to America and first lived in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. In the fall of 1859 they moved to Amherst Township of Portage County, trading their old place in Jefferson County for new land in Portage County. This latter place was east of Nelsonville. John G. Hoffman lived there until his death on June 8, 1886. His wife died November 7, 1884, at the age of sixty-seven. They have four children: Herman H., Gustav A., Mary, and Ida, deceased. John G. Hoffman improved and developed a good farm of 160 acres in Portage County, cleared much of it himself, and in course of time replaced the old log buildings with substantial structures in the way of houses and barns, all of which were most creditable to his enterprise and long continued labors.

Herman H. Hoffman, as already indicated, was twelve years of age when brought to America by his parents. He had received most of his schooling in the old country, and he came to manhood with practically no knowledge of the English language except the ability to use some of the more common words in speech. He was twenty years old when October 20, 1864, he enlisted at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in Company E of the Seventh Wisconsin Infantry. It was in the army that the need for an English education was forcibly brought home to him. He wanted to send some message home, and for that purpose sought out his most intimate comrade, asking him to write a letter. This comrade he discovered was unable to write and Mr. Hoffman realized that his deficiency was not only working a present hardship so far as communication with home and friends was con- cerncd, but the same might prove a permanent bar to his advancement in a business way. He therefore determined without loss of time to acquire a knowledge of the English language. Of course his early education in the German tongue served him to good purpose, and he began reading newspapers and books even without understanding what he read and practiced writing on every scrap of paper he could find about the camp. Thus he largely educated himself by self application and his war experience was really his principal school after coming to America. That in no wise prevented him from serving capably as a soldier. He was with his regiment on all duties until honorably discharged July 3, 1865. The captain of his company, William H. Gildersleeve, wrote on the back of his discharge a very complimentary note saying that Mr. Hoffman had been a most faithful soldier under all circumstances, and that on one occasion he had left the hospital at his own volition and joined the regiment on hearing that his comrades had received marching orders.

Immediately after his return from the war Mr. Hoffman returned to Portage County and bought 160 acres in Amherst Township. It was totally wild land and his own labors cleared and improved it. He was one of the leading farmers of the township until he retired to Amherst Junction in 1904. At his home in the village he now has 2y 2 lots of ground and combines some of the comforts and conveniences of the country with those of town.

On September 37, 1867, Mr. Hoffman married Miss Margaret Rothlander. She was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 20, 1849, daughter of Andrew and Magdeline (Weisensee) Rothlander. Her parents came from Bavaria in 1857, arriving at Amherst in the fall of that year, and locating in Stockton Township of Portage County, on a farm two miles southwest of Amherst Junction. Her father continued an active farmer in that community until his death on February 17, 1899, at the venerable age of eighty-three. Her mother died April 1, 1882, aged sixty-six. Mrs. Hoffman was one of only two children that grew up. her sister being Sophia. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman have been married fully half a century. They became the parents of a large family of nine children: William Frederick, deceased; Henrietta, wife of Edwin P. Tobie, who is now farm manager of the Hoffman farm; Milo who died in infancy; Henry H., of Amherst Junction; Ada, wife of Bernard Waller, of New Hope Township, Portage County; Mary, wife of Chester Aldridge, of Amherst; Grant, deceased ; Leslie, living at Wausau, Wisconsin ; and Ruby, a resident of Amherst.

Mr. Hoffman has again and again been honored with positions of trust and responsibility, indicating the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. He served as side supervisor of the township and also township chairman and was village supervisor before his election to his present office as village president. He has been a member of the Soldiers Relief Commission of Portage County since the commission was established and is now its chairman. In 1895 he represented Portage County in the State Legislature, and whether in the discharge of his responsibilities at the state capital or at home, has always shown that competence and honesty which are the prime member of Amherst Lodge, No. 274, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was organized in October, 1877. He has served as president of the Stockton Fire Insurance Company of Portage County and is now president of the Old Settlers Club.

August Kostka is one of Stevens Point's live and energetic business men and merchants, and for nearly a quarter of a century the people of the city and surrounding country have appreciated his wares and his methods of doing business, and many of his best friends are his oldest customers.

Mr. Kostka was born in Poland July 27, 1852. His parents spent all their lives in Poland. He was educated and lived in his native country until twenty-three years of age. In 1875, coming to America, he followed his trade as carpenter for about five years in Chenango County, New York. In 1881 he located for a brief time at Milwaukee, and in December, 1882, arrived in Stevens Point, which place has been his home for over thirty-five years. He was employed in carpenter work and for about three years worked in the local shingle mills. In 1894 Mr. Kostka engaged in the grocery business, and has had three different locations. For four years he was where the Frank Pleet store now is and for seven years was in the location occupied by the Public Grocery. He moved to his present location, 113 N. E. Public Square, in June, 1905. and that is one of the most popular business points and landmarks in Stevens Point. He has a good business, carries a large and well selected stock, both staple and fancy groceries, and a large amount of stock food supplies. Besides his store he has a large warehouse for the storage of goods. Mr. Kostka lives at 125 I'ifth Avenue. He is an independent voter and a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church. In 1882 he married Miss Toflie Wilch. She is also a native of Poland. To their marriage were born eleven children, Frank, who died in infancy; Anastasia, deceased; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Skiewerski, of Milwaukee, and has four children ; John, who was drowned in Muskegon Lake in Michigan; August, who -is employed in the store with his father ; Rosa, at home ; Robert, also assisting his father in business; Bronislawa and Toflie, both of whom also lend their youthful energies to the business; Edward, deceased; and Florence, still a student in the public schools.

Joseph Kithnowski. When Joseph Kuchnowski came to Portage County to enter upon a business career his available assets consisted of a very small amount of capital. He possessed determination and unlimited capacity for hard work, and these qualities have elevated him to a place among the substantial business men of Stevens Point, where he has been a prominent dealer in groceries and other food and feed products for many years.

Mr. Kuchnowski was born in Poland November 29, 1848. one of the twelve children of Joseph and Christina Kuchnowski. Of these children Joseph and two sisters alone are living.

Joseph Kuchnowski lived in his native land until 1872. when he immigrated to America and first located at Chicago. He found Chicago almost in ruins, as a result of the great fire of the preceding year. He was there only a few months and in 1873 came to Stevens Point. He went on to Minnesota for one year and on returning to Stevens Point made this his permanent home, except for six years after his marriage, when he was in business at Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, employed in a flour mill. In May, 1900, Mr. Kuchnowski returned to his native land to visit his parents. His father died in Poland in 1902 and his mother in 1903.

On January 24, 1882, Mr. Kuchnowski married Miss Katie Skilski, of Stevens Point. After their marriage they lived in Grand Rapids, but in 1888 returned to Stevens Point and in that year Mr. Kuchnowski engaged in the grocery, flour and feed business. He has had several partners. The first was his cousin, Martin Ketiszewski, and later he was in business with his brother-in-law, George Skilski, then with John Shippey, and his present active associate is his son-in-law, Julius Kulaszewicz. Mr. Kuchnowski is now sixty-nine years of age but is still active in business and his long experience as a successful merchant is largely responsible for the enviable position his house has long occuped in the esteem of this community. His business is at 213 Public Square.

Mr. Kuchnowski and family reside at 417 First Street. In politics he is a democrat and is a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church and of St. Peter's Society. He and his wife had five children: John, deceased, and one that died in infancy; Josephine; Mamie and Jennie.

Berton S. Fox has spent practically all the years of an effective and useful lifetime in Portage County. All other activities have only been incidental to his main vocation as a successful farmer. His home for many years has been in Plover Township, and it constitutes a farm of modern improvements and under a highly efficient system of management.

Mr. Fox's father was a prominent and well known citizen of Portage County and some of Mr. Fox's children comprise a part of the life and enterprising younger element in the county's affairs today. Berton S. Fox was born in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, February 22. 1857, son of Sylvanus Lafayette and Charlotte S. (Abbott) Fox. His father was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1824 and his mother near Burlington, Vermont. January 14, 1822. They married in Vermont and soon afterward came westward and settled in the township of Hebron in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. They made their settlement there about 1848, the same year that Wisconsin was admitted to the Union. After ten years of residence in that locality they moved in 1858, when their son Berton was less than one year old, to Portage County, settling in the Village of Plover. Then in 1869 they moved to a farm of 120 acres in Plover Township and here Sylvanus L. Fox lived until his death in 1884. His widow survived him until iqoq. Sylvanus Fox is remembered among other things on account of his service as a Union soldier. He enlisted in October, 1862, in Company G of the Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry. From that time until the close of the war he was with the armies fighting in the South and among other notable campaigns was with Sherman on the march to the sea. He was a war democrat in those days and always gave allegiance to that party. He was reared a Presbyterian and his wife was a member of the Free Will Baptist Church. Their children were: George B.; Lafayette S.. deceased; Viliara; Viana; Berton S. ; Layton T. ; and Frank H.

and some of his youthful years were spent in the arduous life of the lumber woods. In 1888 he bought eighty acres in section 35 of Plover Township. That was thirty years ago, and at that time hardly an acre of land could be cultivated 011 account of the dense woods which covered the entire tract. The broad and well tilled fields and the numerous improvements that constitute the good farm now stand largely as individual credits to Mr. Fox's hard and continuous labors and good management.

Mr. Fox has been a good citizen and has never neglected his responsibilities. He served as supervisor two terms, as justice of the peace and constable, and in 1900 was enumerator for the census in his township. He held the post of patriotic responsibility as chairman for the prosecution of the Third Liberty Loan. Mr. Kox is a republican, a member of the Order of Beavers and Sons of Veterans, also the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and was formerly identified with the Good Templars.

In April, 1879, Mr. lox married Miss Myrtle H. Frost, of Grant Township. Mrs. Fox was born in Pennsylvania in 1862, daughter of Waren J. and Julia A. (Adams) Frost. Her parents moved from Pennsylvania to Missouri and then came to Portage County, Wisconsin, where both of them died. Mrs. Myrtle Fox died in 1893, the mother of four children: Fred B., a successful Plover Township farmer mentioned elsewhere; Effie Myrtle, wife of George C. Roe and mother of one child, Mabel; Frank H., who lives in Seattle, Washington ; and Donald F., who died at the age of four years.

On March 26, 1894, Mr. Fox married Mrs. Jennie Slack, widow of George W. Slack. Her first husband was killed by a snow slide while hunting in the State of Washington February 28, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Slack had two children: Nccdham Ellsworth, deceased, and Robert Norman, who is a resident of Plover Township and at this writing is in a Chicago hospital with a broken leg.

Mrs. Fox's maiden name was Jennie Bailey. She was born in Plover Township October 2, 1872, daughter of Robert L. and Sarah (McGown) Bailey. Her father was born at Tiverton in Newport County, Rhode Island, in 1823, and her mother was born in 1844. Her father though well advanced in years made a gallant record as a soldier in the Civil war. He enlisted at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1861 in Company G of the Eighth New York Cavalry. He was in service with the Army of the Potomac for three years and among the more notable battles in which he engaged were those of Cedar Mountain, Antietam, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg. Gettysburg, and Brandy Station where he was wounded and made prisoner and was sent to Libby Prison at Richmond, being paroled twelve days later and exchanged at Annapolis, Maryland, on May 12, 1863. He rejoined his command in time to take part in the battle of Chanccllorsville and in 1864 was granted his honorable discharge at Rochester, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Bailev brought their family to Wisconsin in 1876, locating on a farm in Plover Township, where he died in 1906. His wife passed away in January, 1904. Their children were: Edwin, who married Li'llie Hawley, of Stevens Point, and has one child. Angie; Jennie, Mrs. Fox; and Eva A., deceased. Robert L. Bailey was an active member of Plover Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.

children, named in order of age Donald Lafayette, Garrett Okay, Valara, Jennie, Ruth, Olin, Edith, Mamie, one that died in infancy, Layton, Fern Eva, Howard J. and Elizabeth Catherine. The fifth and eleventh in order of birth, Ruth and Fern Eva, are also deceased. The oldest, Donald L., on April 14, 191 7, joined the United States Navy and is now on the battleship Wyoming. Garrett Okay, the second son, is also a soldier, being with the One Hundred Twentieth Field Artillery now in England, and was formerly a member of Troop I at Stevens Point. The third child, Valara. married Jacob C. Galloway, of Plover Township, and they have one daughter, Velma Blanche.

Ranslear \V. Parks. One of the names longest and most prominently identified with Portage County is that of Parks. As a family they came from New York State and the individual members have proved themselves masters of circumstances and have done much to improve the community while working for their own welfare.

Several of the names are well known to the people of Portage County. Mr. Ranslear W. Parks was born in Rockland. Sullivan County. New York, September 20, 1858, son of Silas T. and Wealthy (Ferdon) Parks. The family originated in Scotland. The greatgrandfather was known as Boatsman Parks, who in pioneer times moved up the Delaware River into New York State. lie lived out on the frontier and one time showed a very determined courage in handling a dangerous situation with some hostile Indians. Two red men planned an attack upon his home for the purpose of killing his children and himself and wife, but they were interrupted before they could put their plan into execution and Boatsman Parks shot one of his assailants and killed the other with an axe. The paternal grandparents of Mr. R. W. Parks were Moses and Sarah Parks, who spent all their lives in New York State. Moses Parks was a soldier in the War of 181 2, while his grandfather had performed patriot service in the Revolution.

Silas T. Parks, father of Ranslear W., was born at Hancock in Delaware County, New York. March 30, 1 83 1. He married at Rockland in Sullivan County Miss Wealthy Ferdon, who was born there May 15. 1841. After their marriage they remained in Sullivan County and from there in 1862 Silas Parks went away to the war as a Union soldier in Company F of the One Hundred Forty-fourth New York Infantry. He was with his regiment, fighting in many battles, until the close of the war.

In the meantime, in 1862, his wife and children, together with her parents and other members of the family, came out to Kossuth Township of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. They lived there until Silas Parks returned from the army. Wealthy Ferdon was a daughter of William and Frcelove (Davis) Ferdon, who also became identified with Portage County citizenship. Both were natives of New York State and after coming to Wisconsin they lived in several localities before coming into Portage County, where both of them died. Their children were: Mary; Sarah Jane; Hitabel and James, deceased ; Samuel ; Wealthy ; John ; Edward, who enlisted and went away to the Civil war at the age of sixteen and died while in Andersonville prison ; Emily ; Annis ; William Albert : and Lot.

there two years, spent another two years at Wild Rose in Warshara County, and then came to Lin wood Township of Portage County, acquiring a tract of land where Mr. Henry Clark now lives. The family moved to that place in 1871, but on May 4, 1893, Silas Parks brought his family to Plover Township and settled on the farm of 120 acres where Edwin Parks now lives. This is the home where Silas Parks died in 1903 and' his wife in 1901. He was a republican in politics and a member of the United Brethren Church. He and his wife had six children: Sarah Jane, deceased; Ranslear W. ; Alfred L. ; Emma A. ; Sidney W. and David W.

Ranslear W. Parks was about four years old when his mother brought him to Wisconsin. Even at that early age he had been introduced to the routine of a common school in his native state, and most of his education was acquired in Portage County at an old school on Mill Creek in Lin wood Township. While farming has constituted his major activities, he spent a number of years on the river and in the lumber woods. He bought land at the location where he now lives in section 25 of Plover Township in 1885. His first purchase was eighty acres, and later he added forty acres more. In 1918 he disposed of thirty-six acres, leaving him a comfortable estate to manage. When he went to that farm only four acres had been cleared and the big work of clearing the rest of it and putting it in cultivation is perhaps his chief contribution to the present agricultural resources of the county. He also erected good buildings and now has a general farm and has it well stocked with good cattle, horses and hogs. Mr. Parks has always borne an honorable and useful part in the community, served six years as side supervisor, and also school treasurer several terms. His father was for many years identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On December 25, 1879, Mr. R. W. Parks married Miss Ada M. Clussman. Mrs. Parks was born in Linwood Township May 15, i860, daughter of Edward and Anne M. (Hoyt) Clussman. Her father was born in Illinois in 1826 and her mother at Rockford, Sullivan County, New York, in 1833. Edward Clussman and wife married in Xcw York State, and in the early '50s came to Portage County as pioneers. He served as county clerk when the county seat was at Plover and died while still in that office in 1865. Edward Clussman's first place of settlement in Portage County was at Cronant Rapids in Linwood Township. He worked there in the woods and was also a riverman on the Wisconsin River. When the war came on he enlisted in the Union army but after a brief service was discharged on account of ill health. He also owned and operated a ferry near Plover, purchasing that property from Joseph Seamons. After the death of Edward Clussman, his widow, mother of Mrs. Parks, married Joseph Seamons. A son of Joseph Seamons is Oscar Seamons, whose name is mentioned on other pages of this work. Joseph Seamons by his marriage to Mrs. Clussman had one daughter, Josephine. Josephine was bom in Plover Township in 1870 and married Eugene Clendenning. Mr. Clendenning was born in New York State in 1863. son of Eugene and Ann Clendenning, who came to Plover Township from New York about 1883 and both died in Plover Village. Eugene Clendenning, Jr., is a mason by trade and he and his wife now live at Meehan Station in Plover Township. Mrs. Gen- denning formerly owned a farm there, but it is now the property of her son Arthur Clendenning. Mrs. Clendenning was for some years engaged in the mercantile business at Meehan Station but later sold the store. Her son Orin Clendenning, who was born in Plover Township January 31, 1889, now owns a farm of eighty acres near Meehan Station, having bought it in 1906. Orin Clendenning married in 1911 Susie Wolf, and they have four children.

Mrs. Parks' mother died January 4, 1901. Mrs. Parks was the youngest of the three children of her father and mother. The oldest, Mary, is the wife of Henry Fowler. Her only brother, William Clussman, was born in Linwood Township February 22, 1857. spent a number of years in his early life as workman in sawmills and at log driving, and made a number of trips down the rivers as far as St. Louis. He is now a fanner of seventy acres in Plover Township, and has made a place notable for its excellent improvements. As a republican he has served as clerk and treasurer of the school board. February 21, 1883, William Clussman married Jennie Edwards, of Portage County, and they have eight children, named Edward, Walter, Bertha, Clinton, Charles, Nettie, Grace and Everett. Of these children Bertha died at the age of fifteen years.

Mr. and Mrs. Parks have every reason to be proud of their family, numbering five children. Myrtle A. is the wife of Aaron L. Smith, of California, and they have five children, Zella, Eula, Alvin L., Ranslear J. and Merrill. The Smith family are distinguished by practically all the children being most competent and skillful players of the violin. Edwin R. Parks, second child of Mr. and Mrs. Parks, now occupies the farm which his grandfather settled upon. He married Rose Mathewson, and their children arc Edith, Cecil, Derrell, Orville, Etta and Rubie. Of the third child of Mr. Parks, Dennis H., a more detailed sketch is presented on other pages. Edna is the wife of Fred Fox, and their four children are Leslie; Wilbur, deceased; Kenneth; and Ada May. Addie, the youngest of the family, is the wife of Warren Beadle, of Biron, Wisconsin. They have one child, Eudora.

Patrick Collins. From the time of his arrival at Stevens Point in 1868 until his retirement in 1902, the late Patrick Collins conducted a blacksmithing and wagon-making business, and during this period impressed himself upon the people of this community as a reliable man of business and a sound and substantial citizen. It is to such men that Portage County owes its rapid advancement and the wonderful development of its business enterprises - men who watch for opportunity, utilize it when it comes and while promoting individual success also promote the general welfare.

Mr. Collins was born on Prince Edward Island, March 7, 1833, a son of William and Honora (Buckley) Collins, natives of Ireland, where they were married. Not long after their union they went to Prince Edward Island, and subsequently came to the United States, where their first place of residence was Boston. Massachusetts. From the East they came to Portage County, Wisconsin. Mr. Collins passing away at Portage City, while his widow died in -Iowa. They were the parents of eight sons and four daughters, of whom only one child is now living, Cornelius, a resident of San Antonio, Texas.

Island and Boston, and was still a youth when he accompanied his parents to Portage City. In 185 1 he went to Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, where he learned the trade of blacksmith and remained there, working for others, for seven years. In 1858 he located at Portage City and embarked in blacksmithing in partnership with his brother, James Collins, and prior to the outbreak of the Civil war began work for the United States Government at Fort Smith, Arkansas, being located at that point when hostilities between the North and the South commenced. He returned then to Portage City, but in 1862 again started to work for the Federal Government, this time at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After a short time he was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, and soon went to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he remained iyi years in the Government shop. He also spent some time at Fort Gibson, as a wagonmaker for the Government, but in the latter part of 1863 returned to Portage City, and in 1864 came to Stevens Point, where he engaged in business as a blacksmith and wagon-maker in partnership with another one of his brothers, William Collins. This association continued for about four years, when the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Collins entered upon a career of his own. During the next thirty-four years he built up a splendid business, his excellent workmanship, reliability and straightforward dealing attracting customers who remained as patrons for many years. Having through industry, strict attention to business and good management accumulated a satisfying competence, in 1902 he retired from active labors and until his death, in 1906. lived quietly at his Stevens Point home, enjoying the comforts of life that can be gained only through right living, and surrounded by his children. Mr. Collins left behind him at his death a wide circle of business and social acquaintances who had been drawn to him and held by bonds of friendship, his many sturdy and sterling qualities of mind and heart having impressed themselves forcibly upon those with whom he came into contact. He voted with the democratic party, but did not aspire to office, being contented to exert his activities in the line of business. He was a good citizen, taking interest in the enterprises which promised to benefit his city and lending his support and co-operation in a material way to worthy movements. He was a devout member of the Catholic Church and one of the charter members of the local Catholic Knights.

Mr. Collins was married June 24. 1868, to Miss Elizabeth Mc- Guire. who was born at Wilmington, Delaware, March 27, 1851, a daughter and Dennis and Margaret (Kelly ) McGuire.

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Collins became the parents of the following children: William F., a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, in law. who is now cashier of the Arnott State Bank at Arnott, Wisconsin, married Mary Ghoca and has two children. Elizabeth and Margaret; John Henry, who died in infancy; Mary, a graduate of the high school and of the state normal at Stevens Point, who is now a popular school teacher of the Second Ward; Elizabeth Anna, a graduate of the high school, who taught at Stevens Point for several years, died October 22, 1916, as the wife of Andrew Wood, of Gliddcn, Wisconsin, a captain in the United States Engineering Corps; Gretta. who died in infancy; Margaretta. a graduate of the high and state normal schools, who up to the time of her death in 1903 was a teacher in the local schools; John D., a graduate of the high school and the Stevens Point Business College, who was located at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, when suddenly taken ill, returned to his home and died at Stevens Point in 1912; Clare L., a graduate of the high" and state normal schools and now a teacher at Stevens Point; and Ada, who died in infancy.

At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Collins started housekeeping at No. 217 South Third Street, where all of their children were born. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Collins has erected a modern residence on the same ground, and here she makes her home, surrounded by the many friends who have come to know her during her long residence in this locality.

E. O. Jbvne. During a period of more than a half a century E. O. Jevne has been a resident of Eastern Portage County, and in this time has been principally engaged in farming, his home acres now being located in New Hope Township. Mr. Jevne is another one of the sturdy citizens given to this country by Norway who have proved invaluable factors in the development of large territories formerly useless because of lack of cultivation.

E. O. Jevne was born in Norway June 6. 1843, ar, d is a son of Ole and Martha (Erickson) Jevne. His father was boss in a sawmill in his native land, and in 1867 came to the United States to live with his son, who had preceded him two years, the parents both passing the remainder of their lives in Portage County. They were the parents of seven children, of whom three survive: Olavus, who for a long period was connected with the police dej>artment at Christiana. Norway, and now living retired at that place; E. O. ; and Peter, a resident of Barron County. Wisconsin.

The education of E. O. Jevne was secured in the public schools of his native land, and in his youth had learned saw mill work with his father, so that he was partly prepared with a trade when he decided that he could better his fortunes if he came to America. This was in 1865. when he was but a little beyond his majority, and he came directly to New Hope, Township in Portage County, where he joined an uncle, John Reton. He had no trouble in securing employment in the sawmills of this region, and being also strong and willing, found employment in the lumber woods and on the farms, so that he kept well occupied and was able to put aside some money. By the year 1867 he had accumulated sufficient capital with which to make his first payment on a partly-cleared farm located in New Hope Township, but on the Waupaca County line, a little cast of Peru. In that year he sent for his parents, who joined him, and who continued to make their home here for the rest of their lives. Mr. Jevne in the years that have followed has completed the clearing and development of his property and now has 120 acres in the home tract and forty acres in Waupaca County. All the buildings which now grace and make attractive the homestead were erected by him, and the various other improvements also indicate his good management and hard work. For some years Mr. Jevne made a success of raising Shorthorn cattle, but of more recent years has devoted himself almost entirely to general farming. He has always maintained a reputation for sound integrity and good business sense, and as a citizen concerned in his community's welfare has been a generous supporter of public-spirited movements. Mr. Jevne has done his share in the way of public service, having acted for several years as township supervisor and for ten or twelve years in the capacity of school director.

E. O. Jevne was married in 1880 to Miss Carrie Larson, who was born in Norway, daughter of Lars Larson, a sketch of whose career will be found in the review of I-ewis Larson, elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Jevne died many years ago, having been the mother of the following children: Oscar, who is deceased, and Minnie, Ida, Clara, Julia and Severin, the last named being also deceased.

G under O. Wemme, of Amherst Junction, was one of the first pioneers of Portage County. For a long period of years he followed actively his mechanical trade and also developed a good farm in New Hope Township.

He was born in Norway June 19, 1829, son of Ole K. and Ingeborg (Gunderson^ Wemme. His father was bom in 1789 and his mother in 1787. The father was twice married and by the first marriage had two children, Arcold and Knute, both of whom remained -in Norway. Ingeborg Wemme died in Norway in 1852, leaving four children, two sons and two daughters. Ole, the oldest, subsequently became a farmer in Bosque County, Texas, and married Antoinette Mortenson and had eight children. Gunborg, the second child, married Jerrold Grimland, a farmer in Portage County, and they have nine children. Anna married John Gunderson, and they live as farmers in Waupaca County and had a family of five children.

Gunder O. Wemme during his boyhood had a very limited education. Hut it gave him a knowledge of reading, and that was the door through which he acquired a generous contact with the wealth of books, while practical experience brought him into close touch with affairs and men. He was a young man of twenty-four when in May, 1853, accompanied by his father and his sister Anna, he took passage on a sailing vessel, the Brothers, at Arndal, Norway, and after a voyage of nine weeks and two days landed at St. John, New Brunswick. There was no money to complete the journey to their supposed destination, and the father and son went to work in New Brunswick, while the sister went on west with friends. After accumulating a few dollars they started for Weyauwega, Wauj>aca County. Wisconsin, where they arrived August 22, 1853. The father of Gunder died August 12. 1867.

The day following his arrival at Weyauwega Gunder Wemme found work as a deck hand on the Badger State, the first steamboat plying on the Wolf River. His wages were sixteen dollars a month, but at the end of two weeks he was promoted to pilot, the regular pilot being ill. In this position his wages were twenty-five dollars a month. At the close of the season he went to Stevens Point, and worked there until the following spring at anything that turned up. He then went into the lumber woods at Pine River, and spent a number of months in the hard labor of lumbering. In the spring of 1855 he returned to Stevens Point and learned the mason's trade. The first season he was paid a dollar a day. but the following year had wages of two dollars a day. While in the pineries he had preempted

1 60 acres of land in section 29 of New Hope Township, Portage County. That subsequently became the basis and scene of his long continued activity as a farmer. In the fall of 1855 he built a log house, a structure which was subsequently used as the kitchen of his more commodious home. After his marriage he took up his residence on the farm, added more land to it, and while supervising its clearing and cropping also continued his work at the mason's trade and was one of the most skillful workmen in that line in the county. In the early days of his residence on the farm he had to walk to Stevens Point or Waupaca for provisions, carrying them home on his back.

December 13, 1856. he married Miss Bertha Helena Johanneson Rambeck. Rev. Mr. Duse, of Scandinavia, performed the wedding ceremony. Mrs. Wemme was born in Norway May 2, 1838, daughter of Johannes Hanson and Maria (Nelson) Rambeck. Her parents were both natives of Norway, the father born September 28, 1812, and the mother August 10, 1802. They both died in Portage County, her father on September 28, 1880. and the mother on September 8, 1891. Mrs. Wemme left Kristiania, Norway, with her parents and three brothers on May 2, 1853, on board the William Tell, which sailed for Quebec. It landed it passengers there six weeks and three days later. The family then proceeded directly to Rock River, Wisconsin, where her father rented a farm, Mrs. Wemme in the meantime working as a domestic six weeks in Milwaukee. A little later the family moved to New Hope Township of Portage County, making the journey in a wagon drawn by oxen. There her father bought 160 acres in section 12, erected a log house upon it, and after ten years deeded that property to his sons and bought a forty acre farm, where he erected a home and where he lived until 1872, when he and his wife came to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wemme. Mrs. Wemme's mother by a previous marriage had a son Hans, who died in Hamlin County, South Dakota, January 16, 1888. One of Mrs. Wemme's brothers was Olaf. who became a farmer in New Hope Township and married -Miranda Larson. Her brother Johan was a private in Company I, Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of Missionary Ridge. He afterwards married Bertha Johnson and went out to California, where he died leaving considerable property.

Besides his substantial position as a farmer and citizen of Portage County, Gunder Wemme acquired other interests. In 1885 he visited some of his children in Dakota Territory, and in 1891 he bought 160 acres of wild land in Hamlin County of South Dakota. In New Hope Township he filled various offices at the call of his fellow citizens, was school director several years, clerk and treasurer, township chairman fourteen consecutive years, and many times served as supervisor. He also became president of the Home Insurance Company. He and his family were active members of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church. In politics he was a strong republican.

The record of the children of these worthy pioneers is briefly stated as follows: Olc. the oldest, was born August 8, 1857, and died August 20, 1857; Emma Matilde, born December 3, 1858, married Tune 26, 1883. Albert Engom and went out to a farm in Hamlin County, South Dakota; Josine Louise, born March 27, 1861, mar- ried April 8, 1880, Gunder Olson, and they also became residents of South Dakota; Oscar Martin, born February 5, 1863, died February 15, 1880; Clara Julia, born March 18, 1865, married December 19, 1883, C. L. Olson, a fanner of Portage County; Johan Nicolai, born June 19, 1867, died March 8, 1878; Gustave Halbert, born October 7, 1869, died February 25, 1878; Henry Anton, who spells his family name Wimme, is a successful and enterprising merchant at Nelsonville, and reference to his career will be found on other pages. Hannah Bcrtine, born December 14, 1874, Othilda Emelia, born February 20, 1877, and Johan Halbert, born September 17, 1879, were the three younger children.

John W. Vaughan represents one of the earliest pioneer families of Portage County. He was born at Jordan in Hull Township June 12, 1861, a son of Anselm and Rosette (Bedell) Vaughan. His parents were both born at Plattsburg, New York, his father August 23. 1823, and his mother September 21, 1822. They married at Saranac, New York, February 25, 1844, and about 1846 came west and settled in the Territory of Wisconsin in Rock County, subsequently moving to Sauk County, and in 1856 founding a pioneer home within the limits of Portage County. They located at Jordan, where Anselm Vaughan served as village blacksmith for many years. He also operated a feed mill and was a man oi consequence in that locality until his death, which occurred in 1893. His widow is still living at the venerable age of ninety-six. In December, 1901, she removed her home to Stevens Point, but after five years went back to Jordan, and in April. 1916, returned to Stevens Point, where she is still living. Anselm Vaughan was a republican but never sought official honors. He and his wife have been lifelong members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During his life he was very active in church affairs, was class leader and otherwise did much to uphold the spiritual influences in his community. Anselm Vaughan and wife had five children. The oldest. Henry C, was born in 1846 and died at the age of three months. Eleazer, the second in age, was born in 1847 and died in 1903 at Antigo, Wisconsin. He married Helen Gould, daughter of Albert Gould of Portage County, Wisconsin, and they were trje parents of four children: Albert, who married Aha Raird of Antigo and now rives in Los Angeles, California; Walter, of Antigo; Eugene, who lives at Antigo and by his marriage to Grace Stewart had children named Cecil, Virginia and Helen, the last dying in infancy; and Gerald, who died at the age of five years. Henry B., the third child, was born in 1850 and died in 1853. Ransom B. Vaughan, of Sand Springs. Oklahoma, the fourth in age, was born in 1852 and married Etta Balch, daughter of Ezra Balch, one of the pioneers of Hull Township in Portage County. Ransom Vaughan and wife have two children: Clarence E., of Kansas City, Missouri; and Inez Smith, of Manchester, New Hampshire.

John W. Vaughan, the youngest of the children, was educated in the public schools of Portage County, attended business college at Madison, and in early life began the employment which has made him a competent engineer and electrician. For fifteen vears he was connected with the Stevens Point Lighting Company. He also spent four years as an engineer with the granite works at Barre, Vermont. Mr. Vaughan is a republican, and for a number of years has been active

July 2, 1890, Mr. Vaughan married Miss Nellie Worby. Mrs. Vaughan was born in Waupaca County, at Iola, May 13, 1868, daughter of Joseph H. and Ann Janette (Whitaker) Worby. Her father was born in Buckingham, England, October 9, 1836, and her mother in Jefferson County, New York, February 29, 1840. Her father died at Tula Rosa, New Mexico, July 8, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Worby were married in Portage County, Wisconsin, on October 9, 1866, more than half a century ago, and after their marriage they settled in Iola, Waupaca County, where Mr. Worby conducted a blacksmith shop several years. In 1861 he entered the L'nion army as a member of the Eighth Wisconsin Light Artillery and was through the entire war, serving in many battles, including the great struggles of Stone River, Chickamauga and elsewhere. He was wounded at Stone River. He and his wife were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Vaughan was the oldest of seven children. The second, Nettie May, married J. L. Smith, formerly a resident of Stevens Point, now living at Pcnnellville, New York. Marettie A. is the wife of R. B. Taylor, formerly of Iola. Wisconsin, but now of Lake Stevens, Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have the following children: William, Edgar, Bessie, Marjorie, Walter, Spencer, Everett, Marie, and Russell, three of whom are deceased, Bessie, Marjorie and Walter. Eleazer Worby is a resident of Waupaca, Wisconsin, and by his marriage to Jessie Reed has four children. Elsie, Edris. Earl and Charles. Charles Elmer Worby is a resident of Shawano, Wisconsin, and married Catherine Rushe and has four children, Lee, Shirley, Gordon and Janette. Mabel married John Larsen and has seven children, Gerald. Sfa, Janette. Carl, Menerva, DeElda and Grace. Florence is the wife of Lester Smith, formerly of Clintonville, Waupaca County, but now living in New York State. They have four children, Carrol, Shirley, Kenneth and Willard.

Tri'man Rice. The twentieth century will be notable in the history of the world on account of many things, and without doubt one of these will be the abolition of alcohol as a beverage. No state or nation prohibitive law, however, was ever needed by Truman Rice, who is an honored and esteemed resident of Stevens Point and a living example of the worth of a temperate life. He chose that path in boyhood and today, although his appearance belies the date, is approaching his ninety-fourth birthday and with clear eye. active mentality and young-man physical vigor. He came of sturdy stock and of a long-lived family, but even then, as a pioneer farmer in Wisconsin and as a veteran soldier in the Civil war. opportunity was not lacking for a breakdown in health and a period of feebleness in advanced age. Nothing of the kind has happened, except during some months of starvation when a prisoner of war, and to nothing does Mr. Rice attribute his undiminished powers more than to his total abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and even tea and coffee, and he thinks it has been well worth while when, so near to the century mark, as far as steady nerves are demanded the Government could once more call for his services and find a fearless soldier.

(Hoten) Rice. They came to Bonors Prairie, Illinois, where they stopped a short time, and then came to Plover, Wisconsin, in 1856, and the father died at Watertown, but the mother lived to be eightysix years old and died at McDill, in Portage County. They had the following children: Lorenzo, who lived to the age of seventy-five years and died in Nebraska ; Philander C, who went to California in 1849 and later to Wisconsin and died at Lake Geneva when aged

McDill, Wisconsin; Harrison, who became lost to the family after leaving New York ; Daniel, who died at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in his eightieth year; Orsen, who died in Iowa, aged eighty years; Sarah, who died in her eightieth year at Plainfield, Wisconsin; and Truman.

When his parents came to Wisconsin as pioneer settlers, Truman Rice went to Franklin County, New York, and lived in Malone Township until he was twenty years old, from there going to Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, where he worked at the carpenter trade until he made up his mind to come to Wisconsin. In the meanwhile he had married and on April 29, 1856, with his family, started for Wisconsin and on June 20, 1856, reached Plover in Portage County. He bought a farm in that neighborhood and conducted it for seven years, although in the meantime, when Civil war was declared in 1861, he enlisted in Company K. Eighteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of Shiloh he was taken prisoner and was transported to Corinth, then to Memphis and afterward to Tuscaloosa, during this period suffering harsh treatment and when finally exchanged was so weak that he was placed in a hospital in St. Ixniis, Missouri. He weighed ninety pounds when he reached home and he was honorably discharged September 18, 1862. On February 29, 1864, Mr. Rice rc-cnlistcd entering Company B, Eighteenth Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, and served until August, 1865, when he was a second time honorably discharged, after performing a patriotic duty, at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

The second farm that Mr. Rice bought in Portage County was located east of McDill, later removing to another place in McDill he kept a hotel and a grocery store there for several years. The grocery store he later traded for a house on Clark Street, Stevens Point, and for sixteen years conducted a hotel at McDill. About 1901 Mr. Rice came to Stevens Point, where he owns several pieces of valuable improved property and has a comfortable appearing residence at No. 913 South Division Street. Mr. Rice takes pleasure in the fact that circumstances have never compelled him to live on rented property, he has always been able to buy his farms and houses and to have a feeling of independence about them.

At Potsdam, New York, in 1847, Mr. Rice was married to Sarah Ann Gilmore, who died July 16, 1892, at the age of sixty-six years, and they had four children, namely: Mary K., who is the widow of William H. Hulbut, resides at 536 Fremont Street, Stevens Point, and has one son, Charles ; Florence, who died at St. Joseph, Missouri ; Henry O., who lives at 1 larrison Valley, Potter County, Pennsylvania, married Clara Hulbut and they have one son and a daughter living, Lester and Florence, and a son, Harry, who died; and Sumner Lincoln, who died at Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Rice was married second to Mrs. Maria Brown, who died at Stevens Point. In 1900

Mr. Rice was married to Mrs. Excey Dunn, who was the widow of Lyman Dunn, a well known resident of this city, who died in 1893 and was buried at Neenah, Wisconsin. Mrs. Rice is a most estimable lady and belongs to one of the old county families by the name of Vaughn.

Mr. Rice has been a member of the Baptist Church since he was seventeen years old and was baptized July 4, 1842. For thirty-seven years he has been a member of Plover Lodge, Odd Fellows, and still lives up to the obligations he took upon himself when he joined it. To visit with Mr. Rice in his little shop where, to keep employed as he feels the need of exercise, he sharpens every kind of tool, is a real privilege, for his life has covered such a long interval and his quick intelligence has marked so many interesting events that he can recall in an interesting way. It is no unusual sight to his fellow citizens to have him speed by them on his bicycle or to take part in exercises that usually are difficult or embarrassing for men of half his years. He is so generally esteemed that his is always the place of honor when Stevens Point celebrates a national holiday.

Einar L. Leppex. Portage County is somewhat noted as the home of a number of prosperous business enterprises, and a number of these have been organized and now are officered by men of Norwegian birth. One of the important business concerns, in which the dairy farmers all over this section of the county are vitally interested, is the Nelsonville Creamery, of which company Einar L. Leppen, one of Amherst Township's most thrifty citizens, a native of Norway, is president.

Einar L. Leppen was born July 17, 1873. His parents, who still live in Norway, are Lars L. and Gurene ( Einardattcr ) Leppen. The father is a farmer and also a shoemaker. His first marriage was to Martha Maria Gordon, who was a sister of Lars E. Gordon, a well known citizen of Nelsonville. Mrs. Leppen died in Norway after the birth of one son. I-ars L. Leppen, Jr. The latter came to the United States in 1882 and for a time lived at Nelsonville in Portage County, moving then to Waupaca County, and he is now a prosperous farmer of Scandinavia Township. Lars L. Leppen, Jr., married Ida Twetan in 1895, and to them were born four children, Lilly, Mabel, Irvine and Leonard. The second marriage of Lars L. Leppen, Sr., was to Gurene Einarsdatter, and the following children were born to them: Einar L., Andres, Marie, Ingeborg, Hans and Olavus. Only two of the family came to the United States, Einar L. and Marie, the latter being a resident of Milwaukee.

In 1893, when twenty years old, Einar L. Leppen came to Wisconsin and immediately found work in the lumber regions and in a sawmill at Merrill in Lincoln County. In the following year he came to Portage County and this has been his home ever since. Although he attended school in his native land Mr. Leppen was not satisfied with the education he had acquired when compared with* American standards, but he determined to first thoroughly master the new language and farther than that his ambition led him to take and successfully pass the examinations in what was called the junior course in the Minneapolis Normal School and Business College. Not every young man would have persevered as did Mr. Leppen, for it meant much self denial and economy on his part, both at the Minneapolis School and later at the Stevens Point Normal School, where he again went through the junior course. All this time he was providing his own capital, working in the woods or for farmers in the summer time. This quality of persistency and determination has marked Mr. Leppen's subsequent course, making him a thorough farmer, an earnest citizen and a far-sighted business man.

Mr. Leppen was married December 30, 1903, to Miss Ida M. Waller, who was born in Portage County and is a daughter of Abraham Waller. Mr. and Mrs. Leppen have a fine, intelligent family of sons and daughters, named as follows : Alice, Lydia, Elmer, Ernest, Walter, Howard and Sidney. Mr. and Mrs. Leppen are members of the Lutheran Church at Nelsonville.

When Mr. Leppen decided to embark in farming for himself he rented land for five years in New Hope Township and then bought his present home farm, which contains 1 50 acres and is well situated land lying in Amherst Township. Since then Mr. Leppen has lived on his farm, with the exception of three years, 1013-14-15, when he rented the L. L. Loberg farm near Nelsonville. His own farm is located a little east of Nelsonville and is a valuable property. Through his good management this land is very productive and a number of substantial improvements arc annually adding to its cash value. He breeds Guernsey cattle.

Mr. Leppen as a good citizen has taken some interest in political matters and while residing in New Hope Township was appointed township clerk. He was one of the organizers of the Portage and Waupaca County Guernsey Breeders' Association and since Jt was founded has been a member and also is president of the Nelsonville Creamery Company. He is well known over the county and is held in high esteem as an honest upright man, a supporter of schools and church, and one who is ever ready to assist in furthering the agricultural development of this section by encouraging the breeding of high grade and pure bred stock and the use of scientific discoveries in caring for the soil.

Charles E. Emmons. One of the representative business firms at Stevens Point is that of C. E. Emmons & Son, grocers and meat men, located at No. 1001 Dawson Street. The business was founded in 1902 by the senior partner, Charles E. Emmons, and was enlarged when the junior, Myron Emmons, became a partner. It has always been conducted along honorable lines and no firm in the city enjoys greater confidence.

Charles E. Emmons was born August 4, 1862, at Red Wing, Minnesota. His parents were Richard and Amanda (Frederick) Emmons, names well known in pioneer days in Dane County. The paternal grandfather was Norton Emmons, who died in Dane County, in 1892. He came to Wisconsin at a very early day and was well known as an early stock buyer in Dane County, developing a line of business that has since become of great importance. The maternal grandparents of Charles E. Emmons were John and Joanna Frederick, who also came to Dane County as pioneers and were among the hardworking, hopeful early settlers who paved the way for easier lives for their descendants. Both died in Dane County.

Richard Emmons was reared in Dane County and as his father was a buyer of stock, he early came also into that line of business and afterward for some years worked in the Chicago Stock Yards.

At a later date, after his marriage, he engaged in a hotel business at Red Wing, Minnesota, at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and at other points. He was a man of sturdy character and was highly respected for he was known to be honest and upright in all his dealings. Both he and wife died in Dane County.

Charles E. Emmons has spent the greater part of his life in Wisconsin. He attended the public schools at Oregon in Dane County, until he was fifteen years old, when he came to Stevens Point. Here he entered the employ of Benjamin Burr & Son as a clerk and continued until 1890, when he went into the lumber regions along the Plover River, and from 1894 until 1900 was associated with the well known lumber firm of Rodgers & Cook of Ashland, Wisconsin.

After Mr. Emmons returned to Stevens Point he engaged for a short time with a firm here as a traveling salesman, but the life did not suit him and he determined then to embark in business for himself, and on February r, 1902, he opened a first class meat market. He dealt only in meats for the first four years and then expanded the scope of his business, adding a grocery line. On January 1, 1916, Mr. Emmons admitted his son, Myron Emmons, to a partnership, and the firm is now carrying on a large business in meats and groceries and are considered leaders in their line and are recognized as thoroughly reliable business men as well as dependable and useful citizens.

Mr. Emmons was married November 29, 1888, to Miss Matilda Neuman, who was born at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in 1864. Her father, Gotleib Xeuman, now deceased, was one of the early business men of this place. Mr. and Mrs. Emmons have had three children, one daughter and two sons: Anna Maud, who died in September, 191 5, when aged but twenty-three years, was a highly educated and socially popular young lady and was sincerely mourned by all who knew her; Myron, who is a graduate of the Stevens Point High School, is the junior member of the firm of C. F. Emmons & Son; and Roger, who is also a graduate of the high school of Stevens Point, is assistant cashier of the Hilbert State Bank of Hilbert, Calumet County, Wisconsin.

Mr. Emmons is one of the leading republicans of this part of Portage County and has served on numerous occasions in city offices. Fraternally he is a member of Evergreen Lodge No. 92, Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. The family belong to the Episcopal Church at Stevens Point.

Eugene Augustus Sherman. One of the honorable old names of Portage County is that of Sherman, one that has been worthily borne from pioneer times to the present, during all these years representing industry, business enterprise and sterling personal character. In the early records few names appeared more frequently in connection with the establishing of mills, the building of highways, the founding of mercantile centers, the encouragement given to religious organizations and schools, in fact to the developing of the wilderness into a region of safety and comfort none were more active and useful than the Shermans. In the death of Eugene Augustus Sherman on November 30, 1912, Stevens Point lost a representative of this fine old family and a citizen who was most highly respected and universally esteemed.

City, Portage County, Wisconsin. His parents were Simon Augustus and Rachel Sanders (Jones) Sherman. The father was born at Lynn, Massachusetts, and the mother at Rutledge, New Hampshire. 'Ihey were typical New England people, industrious, frugal and conscientious. They came to Portage County in the early '40s and in locating at Plover, Simon Augustus Sherman had in mind the vast adjacent timberlands that would contribute to the success of his sawmill, and with keen business judgment he erected it on the Plover River, on the present site occupied by the Plover Paper Company. Shrewdly but honorably he acquired acre after acre of land until he became one of the largest landowners in the county and later acquired immense lumber interests in the northern part of the state. Of his extensive land holdings 400 acres still remain in the family. To him is attributed the establishing of the first store at Stevens Point, and for many years his residence was the finest home in Portage County. He was not only a leader in business and in early social activities in relation to neighborliness in community affairs in order to bring about more comfortable conditions of living, but he was a conscientious politician and accepted public office because of the opportunity it gave him to forward matters of general welfare. For many years he served as chairman of the Plover Township Board, and at one time his party put him forward as a candidate for the General Assembly. He was one of the early members of Evergreen Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He had two sons, Clarence Augustus and Eugene Augustus. Clarence Augustus Sherman married in Portage County and at his death, in 1887, left three sons : Walter C, who died in 1902 ; Frank E. and James E.

Eugene Augustus Sherman grew to manhood at Plover and attended school there and later took a course, as also did his brother, in Lawrence University at Appleton. He had many of bis father's tastes and talents and soon became associated with him in the lumber business, learning it practically by working in lumber camps. Later he owned mills of his own and afterward built a store and a warehouse at Plover. For fifteen years he carried on a large business there and was one of the early potato buyers on a large scale. While still residing at Plover he united with the Masonic fraternity.

In 1902 he came to Stevens Point, and in 1903 'he erected a substantial business house on the corner of Fremont and Jefferson streets, where he continued active in the business field until the time of his death. Among his other possessions Mr. Sherman owned a valuable sand pit which he operated under the trade name of the Sherman Sand and Gravel Company. Since his death this part of his business has been continued by his widow, who has proved quite capable. Mr. Sherman was a man of strict integrity and was held in high regard by the many men with whom his large interests brought him into contact and often competition. Never very active in political life, nevertheless he was a careful and thoughtful citizen and at no time under any circumstances did he neglect to perform a good citizen's duty to the fullest extent.

Mr. Sherman was married February 1, 1881, to Miss Rita Marie Andrews, who was born in Linwood Township, Portage County, Wisconsin, January 3, 1864. Her parents, who now reside at Stevens Point, are Sylvester and Lucy Ann (Topping) Andrews, the former of whom was born October 9, 1840, at Fort Atkinson. Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and the latter, July 15, 1840, in Schenectady County, New

York. Mrs. Sherman is the eldest of their six children, the others being: Ida May, Minnie, Anna Savilla, Clarence Ivan and Frances Maud. Mrs. Sherman's only brother is a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a man of prominence in that body, and he is now in charge of the church at Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sherman, namely: W. Eugene, who was born at Plover December 3, 1881, died December 10, 1886; Alta Mabel, who was born July 5, 1884; Helen Rachel, who was born July 29, 1888; Irene Lucy, who was born September 25, 1893; and Elizabeth Eleanor, who was born in 1903. Alta Mabel was graduated from the State Normal School at Stevens Point in 1905, after taking the entire course, and won the prize in the Normal oratorical contest, being the only one of her sex ever so honored. She was married August 10, 1909, to Dr. James Blaine Vedder, of Marshfield, and they have three children: Charles Albert, James Sherman and Frank Sanford. Helen Rachel, the second daughter of Mrs. Sherman, was married in 1910 to George Washington Blanchard, city attorney of Edgerton, Wisconsin, and also at one time as an appointee of Governor Phillips was attached to the executive office. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have one son, George W. Irene Lucy, third daughter, was married to Ernest L. Bates October 10, 191 2, who is a representative of the Standard Oil Company at Antigo, Wisconsin, and they have two children, James Ernest, who was born October 25, 1913; and Rita Marie, who bears her grandmother's beautiful name, was born September 8, 1915.

J. S. I-oherg. Next tq the late Jerome Nelson probably no man has played a more active and influential part in the growth and development^ the Village of Nelsonville than J. S. Loberg. Mr. Loberg for many years was associated in business with Mr. Nelson, was active manager of the industrial activities which were at the center of Nelsonville's prosperity, and was also one of the live and enterprising men who practically organized the town and bore the responsibilities of civic enterprise here. Mr. Loberg is now practically retired from business.

He represents a pioneer Wisconsin family and was born in Iola Township of Waupaca County September 21, i860, son of Simon N. and Serena (Omit) Loberg. Both parents were natives of Norway. The paternal grandfather, Nels T. Loberg, came from Hjarpen to America in 1849 The maternal grandparents. Nels and Sarah Omit, came from the same province of Norway and arrived in this country in 1847. Though these families came to America two years apart they followed the same route and method of travel. Both took passage at the seaport of Skccn. Norway, traveled on a sailing vessel across the

A steamboat took them up the Hudson River to Albany, where they transferred to a canal boat on the Erie Canal and traveled westward to Buffalo. From that point the steam vessel carried them around the Great Lakes to Milwaukee, and they entered the wilds of Central Wisconsin with wagons and ox teams. Their first destination was Ashippen in Dodge County. The paternal grandparents located on government land in Dodge County. The maternal grandparents after a year or so in Dodge County moved to Scandinavia in Waupaca County, where Nels Omit founded a pioneer blacksmith shop, probvoyage at New York City.

ably the first one in that part of the county. His son N'els continued the shop for many years, and thus one family supplied most of the service in this mechanical art to the community over a long period of years.

When the Lobergs and the Omits settled in Iola Township of Waupaca County their homes were surrounded by the dense woods, and Indians were frequent visitors. Simon Loberg acquired government land there, spent his active life as a farmer, and died on the old homestead. He cleared away the woods, erected the first buildings ever set up on the land, and made his preliminary inprovements before bringing his family to their new home with wagon and ox teams from Dodge County. Accompanying the wagons he also drove some cows and sheep. Simon Loberg's widow spent her last days in the home of her daughter Mrs. Vevera at Nelsonville. There were four children : Regina, wife of Joseph Vevera, of Nelsonville; Nels, who lives in Forest County, Wisconsin; J. S. Loberg; and Severin, who was born March 6, 1863, and died March 24th of the same year.

Mr. J. S. Loberg attended some of the pioneer district schools of Waupaca County. He made good use of his opportunities and was well trained to the practical management of a farm by his father. In 1882 he left the farm and found employment in a flouring mill a little below Amherst on the Waupaca River. The proprietor of this mill was the late Jerome Nelson, founder of Nelsonville. concerning whom a more extended sketch is published on other pages. The old mill was at that time known as the Red Mill, and the plant has since been converted into an electric power station. Mr. Loberg was in that mill for eighteen years, and then removed to Nelsonville, where he took the management of the local flour mill for Mr. Nelson. On the death of Jerome Nelson he assumed entire management of the business, soon bought the plant, and operated it successfully until the spring of 1916, when he sold the business to the Jackson Milling Company. He is now living retired except for a little farming.

In 1884 he married Miss Flora Nelson, who was born at Stockton, Wisconsin, daughter of the late Jerome Nelson. Mr. and Mrs. Loberg have a family of six children, all of whom are living, and they are: Russell, of Stevens Point ; Ruby, of Marion, Wisconsin ; Luella, Miles. Manilla and John Jr., all at home. The family are communicants of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Loberg has been a prominent factor in the life and affairs of Nelsonville and the surrounding community for many years. In former years he was financially interested in most of the local business enterprises, including such corporations as the Telephone Company. He has served as clerk of the school board, was township supervisor before Nelsonville was incorporated, and did much to secure the incorporation of that village and was the first village chairman.

Hon. Jerome Nelson was founder of the Town of Nelsonville in Amherst Township. The citizens of that locality may always feel a high degree of pride in the character and activities of the man thus honored. He was one of the pioneers of Portage County and developed in the course of his lifetime extensive interests as a manufacturer and miller, was a gallant soldier of the Union army, and always public spirited and high minded in his relationships with his home community or with the country at large.

He was born at Attica, New York, January 9, 1829, and died at the age of sixty-eight in January, 1897. . He was the oldest child of Adin and Sally (Randall) Nelson. His father was a native of Massachusetts, and at the age of sixteen years accompanied his parents to Genesee County, New York. He and his wife were manried at Attica in 1828. His wife was a daughter of Miles Randall. Prior to the War of 1812 Miles Randall had moved with his wife to Canada, but upon the outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and the United States, being unwilling to subscribe his allegiance to the British government, he was compelled to return to his native country. His children were : Betsey, Statira. John, Sally, Esther. Harriet, Horace, and Aurilla. Adin Nelson was a farmer and miller and merchant. Seven years after his marriage he moved to Rochester, New York, and for a time he was an overseer during the construction of some of the first track, of the New York Central Railway. In 1836 he moved to Michigan, was a farmer in Lapeer County until about 1850, when he sold his land and moved to Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. There he conducted a general store for a time, but in 1853 sold out and came to Amherst Township of Portage County. As a pioneer in this section he improved and developed a farm, and also conducted a small store until shortly before his death. When about sixty-nine years of age he went back East to revisit the scenes of his childhood, and after a brief illness died at the home of a sister in Massachusetts. His wife lived until 1892, to the age of eighty-four. They had six children: Jerome; Harriet, who married Amos Wilts; Miles R., who was employed in a large store at New York City but died while visiting his brother Jerome in Amherst in 1856; George, who died in early childhood; Orpha, who died in infancy ; George, second of the name, who married Marian Phillips and became a merchant at Waukegan, Illinois.

Jerome Nelson received his early education in the public schools of New York and the State of Michigan. As a boy he worked on the farm and in his father's store, but at nineteen started out in life for himself. One summer was spent in Chicago. From there he went south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and for a time was engaged in cutting cypress logs at wages of $20 a month. Two years later, with the money he had saved, he engaged in the same business for himself in partnership with Frank Johnson, a South Carolina planter. They operated on a successful scale for about two years.

In 1852 Jerome Nelson came to Wisconsin, and for a short time assisted his father on the farm. He then established and for two years conducted a small store at Ration in Washington County, Wisconsin. This was traded for real estate in the same county, but after two years he sold out and came to Amherst, where in the summer of 1855 he had established a pioneer sawmill.

Mr. Nelson was at the head of a successful business when the war broke out and demanded the best blood and manhood of the North to put down the rebellion. He did not hesitate as to the course he should pursue and in October. 1861. enlisted in Company H of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry. The regiment spent their first winter at Janesville. Wisconsin, and in March. 1872, was sent to St. Louis and two months later to Leavenworth, Kansas. Here they did some important duty in exterminating Quantrill's famous band of guerrillas along the Kansas border. They also served as guard to supply trains between Fort Scott and Fort Gibson and until the close of the war they were sent on various missions, guarding the border, protecting the western posts from Indian or outlaw attack. Mr. Nelson was with his regiment through all the war and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. The war over, he returned to Amherst and resumed his milling operations.

Jerome Nelson became one of the leading industrial figures in Central Wisconsin. In 1855 he built a saw mill which, to use his own words, "wore out." In 1868 he erected a grist mill at Nelsonville. In 1873 he acquired by purchase a large flouring mill at Amherst, and in 1874 installed a steam saw mill at Nelsonville. These mills he continued to operate for a long period of years. He built up an enviable reputation for his products and, whether lumber or flour, they were in great demand not only locally but all over the central part of the state. Mr. Nelson did the pioneer work toward making Nelsonville, constructing the first dam across the river and thus utilizing the excellent water power. The land on which his mills and his elegant home stood was bought from the government in 1854. He was also interested in a saw mill in Oneida County, Wisconsin. This mill for some years cut ten million feet annually. The business was conducted under the title of the Nelson Lumber and Boom Company.

In May, 1853, soon after coming to Wisconsin, Mr. Nelson married in Washington County Miss Manila II. Yerkes. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1835, and died at the old home in Nelsonville in 1899, two years after her husband. Her parents were David and Caroline (Calkins) Yerkes, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York State. The Yerkes family lived for a time in Michigan, but about 1847 came to Wisconsin Territory, settling in Barton Township of Washington County. Mr. Yerkes was a lumber manufacturer there. He died in 1893 and his wife in 1868. They had seven children : Mrs. Marion Phillips; Oliver J., who was a Civil war soldier with a New York cavalry- regiment, and afterwards a farmer in Clark County, Wisconsin; Hannah E., who died in Michigan at the age of fourteen; Mrs. Marilla A. Nelson; Lovilla L. Baker; George W. ; and Sarah E., who married Eli Hanks.

Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Nelson had no children of their own. They adopted and lavished all their affection upon a daughter Flora S., who lived in their home from infancy. She is now Mrs. John S. Loberg, who for many years was actively associated in business with Mr. Nelson.

Mrs. Jerome Nelson was for many years active in the Episcopal Church. Jerome Nelson took his first degrees in Masonry in 1878 in Evergreen Lodge at Stevens I'oint. He was also a member of Crusade Commander)' of the Knights Templar. In politics he was a stanch republican. He was the type of man who is selected for important public services, though he was extremely modest and was unwilling to accept the honors that were often urged upon him. In 1876 he was elected a member of the State Legislature, and at one time was chosen a justice of the peace, but refused to qualify for the reason that judicial duties were distasteful to a man of his sympathetic nature. Several times he was a member of the town board. It was through his business and his close relationship with the community and his fellow men, always actuated by the highest principles of honor and philanthropy, that he performed his chief public service, and for which he

Charles A. Schenk. Among the men who for some years have been of considerable importance both in business and in public affairs at Stevens Point is Charles A. Schenk, who has many interests and many friends, and since 1902 has been treasurer of one of the city's large enterprises, the Stevens Point Brewing Company.

Charles A. Schenk is a native of Wisconsin and was born at Portage City in Columbia County October 20, 1862. His parents were Carl and Eva ( Bortcher) Schenk, who were born, reared and married in Germany. From that country they came to the United States in 185 1 and later reached Wisconsin, having lived at Buffalo, New York, for several years. The father was a cabinetmaker and worked at his trade in Buffalo and for many years afterward in Columbia County, Wisconsin. In politics he was a democrat and on many occasions his sound, practical sense recommended him to his fellow citizens for public office, but he was never willing to accept. His death occurred in Portage County in 1875. Both he and wife were faithful members of the Evangelical Church. Her death occurred at Portage City in 1866. They had three children, namely: Amelia, Augusta and Charles A.