Sauk County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1918 (part 12 of 20)

Mr. Dibble was married December 25, 1867, to Miss Ella M. Bailey. Mrs. Dibble was born in New York State November 3, 1849, a daughter of John L. and Sophronia Ann (Cotton) Bailey. Her parents came from Ohio to Merrimack, Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1856. Her father bought a farm in Merrimack Township, but that being insufficient for his purposes he rented more land and became one of the substantial agriculturists of that vicinity. In 1865 John L. Bailey enlisted for service in the Union army, although he was then past military age. He served as a quartermaster and was with the army until 1866. Returning to Sauk County, he lived an active life as a farmer until he retired. He spent sixteen years at Lyons and finally met with a railway accident which made him helpless during his last six years. He died at the home of his daughter Mrs. Dibble in July, 1913. In December of that year he would have celebrated his ninety-third birthday. Mrs. Dibble's mother died at Baraboo in 1909, at the age of eighty-eight. They were married in Chautauqua County, New York, May 7, 1843, in 1849 moved to Ohio, and in 1856 came to Sauk County, Wisconsin. To make the journey from Ohio to Wisconsin required twenty-six days. John L, Bailey was born in Yates County, New York, December 21, 1821, and his wife was born there February 11, 1821. Their children were four in number: Joanna Adaline, who was born March 19, 1844, now deceased; Ella Marie, born November 3, 1849; Burton B,, born July 1, 1854, and died November 26, 1900 ; and Eliza Annette, born June 9, 1862, and died in 1865.

The only son of Mr. Dibble is Howard Lynn. He was born July 7, 1870, and was reared and educated at Bloomer in Chippewa County. He married Lavina LaBell, of that county. She was born in Bloomer and was a school teacher there before her marriage. Howard L. Dibble served as town clerk of Bloomer for a number of years. Like his father and grandfather he is a shoemaker by trade and now conducts a shop at Baraboo and is enjoying a prosperous business. He and his wife have six children, named Harry L., Maud, Ned, Glenn, Ella and Catherine.

George A. Gross is one of the oldest native sons of Merrimack Township, Sauk County. His life and its chief activities have been passed in that community, and he first gained success as a practical agriculturist and later has applied his time and capital to business enterprises in the Village of Merrimack.

Andrew and Margaret (Keitel) Gross. His parents were both born in Wurtemberg, his father in 1811 and his mother in 1813. In that year of the German revolution, 1848, they immigrated to America, having married in the old country. From August of that year until the following spring they lived at Sauk City. Early in 1849 they moved to Kingston Township and lived on rented land. While there Andrew Gross built one or two log houses and was there about two years. His home was near the bluff. He bought land from the Government, paying $50 for forty acres. He and Mr. Keitel acquired together three forty-acre tracts, and then divided them. In 1875 Andrew Gross bought what was known as the Colborn farm, where his son John now lives. Andrew Gross succeeded by hard work in acquiring a competence, and died in 1882, a highly respected citizen. He went through all the pioneer experiences. In the early days he used oxen to break the land and perform the other heavy work of clearing and cultivating. Many weary days he swung the cradle or the scythe in harvesting his grain. His surplus produce was hauled to Madison. Mrs. Andrew Gross died in 1887. From the time of her husband's death she made her home with her daughter, Sophia. They had three children, George being the oldest. John, who lives in Sumpter Township, is the father of seven children, two daughters and five sons. Sophia, the only daughter, is the wife of August Borchers, living at Lavalle in Sauk County. They have four daughters.

Mr. George Gross grew up in the Township of Merrimack and attended the local schools. His knowledge of farming came by practical experience under the direction of his father, and he spent most of his time at home until his marriage in 1880, at the age of twenty-nine.

The maiden name of his wife was Frances Roick, daughter of Charles Roiek and a sister of Henry Roick of Baraboo. Mr. and Mrs. Gross after their marriage located on the Gaunt farm, where he bought 120 acres. That was his home until 1889, when he bought the Sheppard farm a mile west of the Village of Merrimack. This furnished him scope and opportunity for his successful efforts as an agriculturist and he remained there until 1913, in which year he moved into the Village of Merrimack.

Mr. Gross was supervisor of the town board about twenty years, served as assessor two years and town clerk two years. He was on the school board of district No. 5 for nine years. He and his family attend the Methodist Church, and in politics he is a democrat.

He and his good wife are the parents of four children, Herbert, Waldo, Salina and Ervin. Herbert alone is married. He was well educated in Merrimack Township and also attended high school at Prairie du Sac. For six years he was a successful teacher after graduating, spending two years in Sauk County and four years in Green Bay. In June, 1911, Mr. George Gross bought the Merrimack Lumber Company and installed his son Herbert as active manager. Herbert has proved a very progressive young business man, and for the past three years has had the active assistance and co-operation of his father in managing this enterprise. .

two courses in the agricultural department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is now assistant cashier of the First State Bank of Burlington, North Dakota. The daughter, Salina, graduated from the Baraboo High School and in 1914 finished a four years' course in the University of Madison. She is now teaching at Spring Green. Ervin, the youngest child, attended school in Sumpter Township, finishing at the Lodi High School, and is now completing an agricultural course in the state university. The son Herbert married Agnes Schleuter, whose parents came from Westphalia, Germany.

John Meyer. One of the best known citizens of Sauk County was the late John Meyer, whose last years were spent at Sauk City. Mr. Meyer was of German birth, had the characteristics of the Bavarian and by unlimited industry and perseverance he developed a home for himself in the wilds of Wisconsin and lived to prosper and to enjoy the respect and esteem of his fellow men to the full.

His birth occurred in Bavaria February 24, 1823, and though his years were filled with labor and useful toil he lived to be nearly ninetyfour years old. He died at Sauk City January 12, 1917. He was the oldest of the family of six brothers and one sister. One brother is still living.

In his native land he was given a good secular and C!hristian training, and made a thorough study of agriculture. Agriculture was his line of endeavor while he lived in Germany and he left the old country in 1850, at the age of twenty-seven. With a party of friends he came to America, first locating at Pittsburg, where he found some relatives. In that city he remained until 1853. That year was marked by a visit back to his old home in Germany, but in the fall he returned to Pittsburg and there he met and on May 16, 1854, married Margaret Reiser.

A short time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. John Meyer made the journey to Central Wisconsin. They traveled by train as far as Madison, but from there it was necessary to take a wagon and team and journey through the woods into the wilderness of Sauk City. A yoke of oxen drew the wagon, and at Sauk City they found themselves almost on the frontier of civilization. Two years later John Meyer bought a tract of land in Troy Township in the neighborhood of Fairy Bluff on the Wisconsin River. For over thirty years he remained there, patiently working out his destiny as a home maker and farmer. In the early days before railroads were built in Sauk County he hauled his grain a distance of thirty-four miles to the City of Madison, and he used oxen for a number of years. In 1889 Mr. Meyer retired from active labors and responsibilities as a farmer and moved to Sauk City, where he had his home for nearly thirty years. He was able to take life at leisure but he was never an idle man and busied himself with gardening and with other occupations which made his old age pleasant and not without some contribution to the work of the world.

Mrs. John Meyer died in 1904. Eight children were born to their union, one of whom died in infancy, while a son, Thomas, died April 14, 1916. The other children are all living : John P. is a retired farmer living at Sauk City, and by his marriage to Emma Genz has three chil- dren, Mamie, Meta and Gilbert, Anna married George Strober, a retired farmer living at Sauk City. Jacob C. is unmarried and has found his work chiefly on the old homestead, where he still lives. He is now retired from the heavier part of farming and also does a business as a grain dealer. Conrad J. is a successful merchant at Kiel, Wisconsin, where he is in partnership with his brother George. He married Lillian Shumacher and has one child. George P. is in business at Kiel with his brother and by his marriage to Florence Bickford has two children. Minnie, the youngest of the children, is unmarried and lives at the old home with her brother Jacob.

John Meyer was a man whose interests caused him to do what he could to support community enterprises. He served as school clerk and also as road overseer. He always voted the republican ticket and kept himself well informed on public matters. He and his wife were active members of the German Reformed Church.

George B. McGilvra. Some of the leading representatives of farming in Sauk County have been contributed by the Empire State, and those who have come from that commonwealth have founded families whose members have taken positions of importance in various localities. In this classification is found George B. McGilvra, a substantial citizen and skilled and progressive agriculturist of Greenfield Township. Mr. McGilvra, while a native of New York, has spent practically his entire life in Sauk County, as he was an infant when brought here by his parents, and, therefore by education and training is a real Sauk County man. He has been a representative of the best element to be found in this rich agricultural district, and has had a hand in the shaping of its civic affairs, being at the present time chairman of the township board of supervisors.

George B. McGilvra was born June 26, 1853, in Herkimer County, New York, and is a son of Seth and Seviah (Farington) McGilvra, both of whom were born in the same county. His father had followed farming in the East until 1853, with but moderate success, and in that year came to Sauk County, buying a tract of land in Greenfield Township. He returned to New York and in April, 1854, he brought his family to Sauk County. During the remainder of his life he made his home here, continuing to add to his holdings until he had accumulated some 400 acres of land. He was an industrious farmer, who made the most of his opportunities and as a citizen held an honored place in the community. His death occurred at his home, which was located near the Fair Grounds, in Baraboo Township February 22, 1905. His first wife died in 1859, leaving two children: George B. and Albert D., and for his second wife he wedded Mary Ann Huntington, who bore him two children: Seviah and Emma. His third wife was, before their marriage, Mary Cranson, and they also had two children: Avis and Sarah.

The home farm, upon a part of which George B. McGilvra now resides, was the scene of his boyhood activities, and he was brought up in a family which was taught to have a love for truth, industry and honorable dealing. He was given his educational training in the public schools of the country and the graded schools of Baraboo, and when still a youth was launched upon his career as a tiller of the soil. He has had no desire to change his occupation, as his efforts have been rewarded with success, and at the present time he is the owner of seventy acres of productive land, which shows in its improvements the marks of his good management and constant industry. His son Edward has a similar tract, and the land of both father and son forms a part of the original homestead secured by Seth McGilvra in 1853. Sixty-five years of connection with the agricultural industry have given the men bearing this family name a sure and certain prestige for skilled farming and substantial citizenship, and the confidence placed in them by their fellow citizens has never been betrayed. George B. McGilvra is a gen, eral farmer, and has met with prosperity in his stockraising operations. He has ever held independent opinions in regard to political matters, in that he has refused to allow any party to dictate to him whom to support at election time, his right of franchise being exercised in behalf of the interests of the men, whom he personally believes best fitted to hold office. As before noted, he has been a factor in public affairs for some time, having served as township clerk and assessor, and for five years has been a member of the board of supervisors of Greenfield Township, of which body he is now chairman. His record as a public official will stand the most rigid scrutiny and be found to be unblemished by any dishonorable act. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. McGilvra was married March 18, 1874, to Miss Edith Turney, who was born at Baraboo, Wisconsin, August 5, 1855, daughter of Hiram S. and Jeannette Turney, who located at Baraboo in the year of Mrs. McGilvra 's birth. Mr. and Mrs. Turney were natives of Connecticut, and were married at Watertown in that state October 6, 1840. Fifty years later they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and in 1900 their sixtieth anniversary. Hiram Turney was born at Reading, Connecticut, February 4, 1818, and as a young man mastered the carpenter's trade, at which he was employed for many years. While still a resident of New England he was connected at Thomaston, Connecticut, with the famous factory of the Seth Thomas Clock Company, and after coming to Wisconsin was for a long time identified with the Ryan Chair Factory. Both he and Mrs. Turney were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was class leader and leader of the choir. He died at Baraboo, July 30, 1905, while Mrs. Turney passed away February 4, 1912, on her ninety-first birthday. Their children were : Amelia, Amanda, Henry, Charles, Egbert and Edith. Eight children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. McGilvra, as follows : Clarence, of Portland, Oregon, who married Jennie Dickinson and has four children, Hugh, Frances, Robert and Ralph ; Arthur, of Sioux City, Iowa, who married Hattie Hulsebos and has five children, Annetta, Edith, Raymond, Harold and Arthur; Edward, the owner of seventy acres of the old homestead, who married Mabel Congdon, and has three children, Ruth, George and Donald; Bessie, who is the wife of William Griffith, of Draper, South Dakota, and has one child, Ethel ; Ethel, who is the wife of Prof. Adolph Meyer, of Saint Paul, Minne- sola, a civil engineer by profession and an instructor in the University of Minnesota, and has three children, Beth, Martha and Caryl; Alice, who was given a thorough course as a trained nurse at Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is now engaged in the practice of her vocation at South Britain, Connecticut; Miss Jeannette, who resides with her parents; and Ealph, who was educated at the Saint Paul High School and the University of Wisconsin, at which latter institution he took a four-year agricultural course, and after training at the officers' camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, was commissioned lieutenant, and is now ready to fight for his country in the world war.

Fred L. Schubring. Of the younger generation of farmers whose efforts promise to lend vigor and prestige to the future of Baraboo Township mention is due to Fred L. Schubring, who has passed his entire life in this community. Starting his career with no advantages, either as represented by capital or other aiding influences, he has worked his way to a position among the successful farmers of the township and the ownership of a valuable and well-improved property. He was born in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, June 28, 1886, and is a son of August and Louisa (Schmidt) Schubring.

August Schubring was born in Germany and as a young man came to the United States, locating, about 1880, in Sauk County, where he was married to Miss Schmidt, who had also been born in the fatherland, and who came to this country as a girl. They became the parents of two children: Freda and Fred L., and had a happy and comfortable home and seemed on the verge of the achievement of prosperity when the father died in 1887. Three years later Mrs. Schubring was married to Henry Bittrich, who was born in Germany, November 1, 1849, a son of Charles and Mary (Boeke) Bittrich, natives of Germany, where Charles Bittrich died at the age of seventy-two years. Subsequently Mrs. Bittrich came to the United States and took up her residence in the State of Minnesota, where her death occurred in 1910, when she had reached the remarkable age of ninety-six years. She and her husband had a family of nine children, as follows : Fred, who is deceased ; Ferdinand ; Tina; Herman, deceased; August; Henry; Robert; Julius, deceased; and Albert, a resident of Baraboo.

Henry Bittrich was educated in the public schools of Germany, and as a young man entered the Prussian army, with which he fought as a soldier during the war of 1870-1. In 1881 he immigrated to the United States, first stopping in Ohio, where at Sandusky he remained from March to July. In the latter month he came to Sauk County, Wisconsin, where he secured employment at railroading while living at North Freedom. In 1893 he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, when he purchased sixty-eight acres of land in Baraboo Township, and through judicious investments has since increased this amount to 188 acres and has made many improvements, including the erection of a set of substantial buildings. While he is now retired, his sons being the operators of the land, he continues to reside on the farm and to supervise its work. Politically he is a republican, and he and his family belong to the Lutheran Church. Mr. Bittrich was married in Germany to Miss Amelia

Klein, who was born in that country and died in North Freedom Township, January 1, 1890. They were the parents of four children, namely : Charles, who is deceased; Augusta, who is the wife of James Heffel, of Baraboo ; Alma, the wife of Albert Heffel", of that city ; and Mary, who is unmarried. In 1890 Mr. Bittrich married Mrs. Louisa (Schmidt) Schubring, and they became the parents of three children: Ernest and Henry, who operate the home farm ; and Martha, who is the wife of Lee Cahoon, son of Wilbur Cahoon, of Baraboo.

Fred L. Schubring was only one year old when his father died, and many of the advantages granted to other boys passed him by in his youth. His educational training was confined to the opportunities to be gained in the country schools, and when he was still a lad he faced the world as a monthly and daily wage-earner and has since made his own way. Possessing traits of industry, determination and ambition, he carefully saved his earnings, subsequently establishing himself as a renter, and finally, in 1914, was able to become the owner of a farm of his own, in that year buying the Watkins farm in Baraboo Township, a tract of sixty-two acres, on which he has put a great deal of improvements. Three years of occupancy have already individualized the place and have converted it into an indicator of the personal traits and characteristics of the owner. To a large extent general farming is carried on, and high grades of livestock are bred. The home is a roomy and comfortable one and the barns and outbuildings are substantial and in good repair. Mr. Schubring is a stockholder in the Excelsior Creamery Company of Baraboo. He has energy, resource and keen intelligence, which qualities will insure him business success. Politically he is a republican, but not an office seeker, and his religious connection is with the German Lutheran Church.

On January 11, 1911, Mr. Schubring was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Hyer, who was born at Springfield Corners, Dane County, Wisconsin, September 28, 1891, daughter of Walter and Louisa (Beitz) Hyer. To this union there have been born two children : Walter, born November 15, 1911 ; and Harold, born March 4, 1913.

Walter S. Hyer was born at Madison, Wisconsin, December 28, 1857, a son of David R. and Eliza (Hyer) Hyer, who came from Vermont and settled in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, at an early day. The senior Hyer was a hotel keeper at Deerfield for some years, subsequently had a popular hostelry at Madison, and in the fall of 1891 came to Sauk County and settled in Sumpter Township, where he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1897, at the age of eighty-four years. His widow died at Baraboo in 1912, when ninety-two years of age. Walter S. Hyer, the only child of his parents, was educated in the schools of Dane County, at Hyers Corners, and was reared as a farmer. With his mother he owned eighty acres of land, which he sold in 1891 and came to Sauk County, takiiig up his residence in Sumpter Township, where he continued to be engaged in successful agricultural pursuits until his death, February 9, 1904. In politics he was a democrat, and his fraternal connection was with the Modern Woodmen of America. On January 26, 1882, Mr. Hyer> married Miss Louisa M. Beitz, who was born in Germany, November 4, 1866, daughter of Carl and Lena (Stubbie) Beitz, the former born in

1835 and the latter in 1825 ; both in Germany. Mr, and Mrs. Beitz came to the United States in 1868 and settled in Dane County, near Middleton, but later had a farm near Springfield Corners, where Mr. Beitz died, August 8, 1909. Mrs. Beitz died in Sumpter Township August 17, 1894. They were the parents of five children: Minnie, Christina, Louis, Augusta and Louisa, of whom Christina and Louis are deceased. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hyer, namely : David C, who died in infancy; Albert W., operating the homestead in Sumpter Township, married Ella Franst and has two children, Duane Albert and Eunice Eliza; Hattie L., now Mrs. Sehubring; Edna, who is the wife of Elvin Young, a farmer of Sumpter Township ; Roy, who is unmarried and resides in Sumpter Township ; and Esther, who is a student in the first year at the Baraboo High School.

Cyrus S. Bl.\nchet is a veteran survivor of the Union army, is past commander of the Baraboo Post of the Grand Army and now adjutant, and is also a veteran employe of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, being now on the retired list. His home has been in Baraboo for over forty years, and he is one of the oldest and most highly esteemed citizens.

Mr. Blanchet has lived in many sections of the Union. He was born in Aroostock County, Maine, April 14, 1843. His paternal ancestry goes back through the history of France to the thirteenth century. Members of the family lived for many generations in that stormy and interesting province of France known as Avignon, and some of them were participants in the revolutionary troubles and the religious wars. Mr. Blanchet 's parents were Alexis and Leocadia (Ouillet) Blanchet, both of whom were bom near Quebec, Canada, the former in 1804 and the latter in 1808. From Canada they moved to Maine, where they married, and in 1852 they came West and settled at St. Anne in Kankakee County, Illinois. There the father owned a farm and was quietly engaged in its cultivation until his death in 1876. His wife had died in 1866. They were active members of the Episcopal Church. Their children were Alexis, Andrew, John R., Mary C, Bruno, Cyrus S., Clement, Anna, Philonise, Robert, John B. and William F.

Cyrus S. Blanchet was nine years old when his parents went to Illinois, and he grew to manhood in Kankakee County, attending the public schools there. In 1861 he endeavored to enlist in the Union army, but his father took him out of the ranks. Already four brothers had gone to the war, and Cyrus did not get his opportunity until 1862, when he enlisted in Company D of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. With that regiment he saw a great deal of arduous campaigning, and was with it fourteen months. He was finally discharged on account of disability. He was the youngest of five brothers who were soldiers in that war, and all of them except Alexis and Andrew were in the same regiment. These other brothers fought with Kansas regiments and Andrew was killed by Indians while stationed at Fort Union in New Mexico in August, 1864. Bruno died as a result of disease contracted in the army in August, 1863. His death occurred at home. John R. died at his home at Morrill, Kansas, in

Mr, Blanchet followed some of his brothers out to Kansas in 1867, and located in Dickinson County, where he was a pioneer and he recalls much of the stormy and turbulent happenings in and around Abilene when that was the great center of the cattle industry and also a center of outlawry and many wild west adventures. While in that county on November 23, 1868, Mr. Blanchet married Elizabeth Van» Arsdal. She was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, April 24, 1843, a daughter of Henry and Catherine (Buck) Van Arsdal. From Indiana the Van Arsdal family moved to Kansas, and her parents both died in Dickinson County.

In 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Blanchet came to Baraboo, "Wisconsin. Here for thirty-two years he was a machinist in the employ of the North Western Railway Company, and was finally retired on a pension. In politics he is a republican, is a member of the Episcopal Church, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has been actively identified with the Grand Army of the Republic since 1880.

Mr. and Mrs. Blanchet became the parents of five children. Clara, the oldest, was educated in the Baraboo High School, married Charles C Hoyt, of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, and has one daughter, Madge. Allie is the wife of Lincoln J, Barrett, of Baraboo, and has two daughters, Estle and Elzaida. Catharine Mabel, after completing the course of the Baraboo High School, learned printing in the New Printing Office at Baraboo, and is now a linotype operator with the State Journal at Madison. Henry, the fourth child, died in infancy. Clement James, who attended the Baraboo High School, is now a machinist in the employ of the North Western Railway Company and lives at Kaukauna, Wisconsin. His first wife was Sophia Maiser, who died leaving one son, Kenneth Clement. Clement J. married for his present wife Mina Butler.

Mr. Blanchet has always taken an active part in politics and always as a stanch republican. He has served as an alderman from the Third Ward of Baraboo and has been a delegate to republican state conventions.

George E. Premo is one of the best known citizens of Merrimack Township, has retired from the heavier activities of agriculture which he carried so many years, and is now chiefly employing his time as a rural mail carrier.

He represents an old and honored family of Sauk County. He was born in 1857, in Merrimack Township, a mile and a half north of the village of that name. He is a son of Lewis and Jane (Sutton) Premo, the former a native of Buffalo, New York, and the latter of Pennsylvania. The mother died February 14, 1870. The grandparents Premo were natives of France and were early settlers in Sauk County. Lewis Premo was about eighteen years of age when he was brought to this county, and his people settled a mile and a half west of Merrimack Village. The Sutton family came about the same time and located two miles west of Merrimack. Lewis Prerao and wife were married in this county. Of their seven eMldren four are living: George E.; Harvey, who lives in Brooks, Minnesota, and has two children; Samuel, also a resident of Brooks, Minnesota, and married and the father of one child ; and Daniel, who lives west of the Village of Merrimack and has two children.

Lewis Premo started his farm enterprise in Sauk County with forty acres of land^ which he bought before he married. He cleared all this, and in the process of cultivating and bringing his land into condition he acquired other tracts until he owned 160 acres, all well improved and valuable. He lived on his farm until twenty-two years of age, when he bought property in the Village of Merrimack. Six years ago he sold his old home in that village to his son George. He died in Merrimack May 25, 1917.

George E. Premo grew up and attended the schools of Merrimack Township, and lived at home until he was twenty-one. In 1883 he married Carrie Lappla, daughter of Peter and Christina (Zerbel) Lappla. His mother came from Stettine, Germany. Peter Lappla and wife located in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County. To Mr. and Mrs. Premo were born three children. Lewis, the oldest, died at the age of seventeen. Charity is the wife of L. E. Utter, who is engaged in the lumber business with his brother-in-law, W. E. Cooper,' at Nashotah, Wisconsin. They have two children. The youngest child, Gertrude, is unmarried and lives at home with her parents.

After his marriage Mr. Premo moved out to Minnesota and was a farmer at Pipestone eight years. He next moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and remained there twelve years, when he returned to Sauk County. Mr. Premo has been a permanent resident of Sauk County for the past eighteen years. For a number of years he lived on the old Walter Flanders property, but six years ago he sold that place and bought the property he now owns and occupies. For the past thirteen years Mr. Premo has been driving the mail wagon on rural route No. 2. He is a member of the Mystic Workers at Merrimack, and his wife belongs to the Degree of Honor at Duluth, Minnesota. Mrs. Premo is a member of the Methodist Church. In politics Mr. Premo is a republican. His success in life is due to good management as well as hard work, and he is now enjoying a home and prosperity such as none could justly begrudge him.

John T. Clavadatscher. The Clavadatscher family have been identified with Sauk County for fully seventy years. They helped reclaim a portion of the wilderness and their lives have always been significant of industry, energy and a high degree of civic pride and honor.

The family was founded here by Nicholas Clavadatscher, who was born in Switzerland in 1812. He came to America in 1847 and located in the Township of Prairie du Sac, where he found himself in a virtual wilderness and was one of the first to subdue the forest and plant crops in the land. In 1846, in Switzerland, he married Catherine Meisser, who was born in 1822.

du Sac Township and went through all the pioneer experiences involved in clearing, building a house and other shelters, and in raising crops and stock. For a number of years he usecj oxen to drag the plow across the fields and to haul his produce to Milwaukee. Later the market was changed to Madison. Prices were exceedingly low and the farmer had very little to show for his hard work until about the time of the Civil war. After developing his first farm Nicholas Clavadatscher sold it and bought 270 acres in Troy Township. This was chiefly timber and was valuable only for lumber and pasture. In course of time he had much of it developed and under cultivation. Nicholas Clavadatscher was a good old pioneer of Sauk County and died in 1903, his widow passing away in 1904. They were the parents of five children: Tobias, the oldest, has been a merchant at Baraboo for half a century. He married and had a family of three children : Kate L., who died in Baraboo in 1896, the wife of Philip Cramer; Lena, the wife of E. D. Scales, a partner in the Clavadatscher store; and Pearl, wife of J. M. Donahue, a locomotive engineer living at Baraboo. The second child of Nicholas Clavadatscher and wife is Mr. John Clavadatscher, mentioned in the following paragraph. Martin died on the old homestead in Troy Township in 1914. Christian died at the age of eighteen. Catherine is the wife of Rev. John Schneller, of Tomah, Wisconsin.

John Clavadatscher was born in Troy Township and for many years actively followed farming. In 1902 he left his farm and has since resided in the Village of Prairie du Sac. He began his independent career on a farm adjoining that of his father and his agricultural enterprise was directed on one body of land until he retired. He married Barbara Schneller and they had four children : John T. ; Kate, wife of J. B. Myer ; Anna, who died unmarried four years ago ; Nicholas, who died in infancy.

The present owner and occupant of the John Clavadatscher farm in Troy Township is John T. Clavadatscher, who was born on that farm in 1877. He grew up and received his education in the local schools and in 1903 married Miss Lona Wintermantel, a daughter of George Wintermantel, of Honey Creek Township. Mrs. Clavadatscher taught school for eight years before her marriage and became a cultured and very capable homemaker. They have one child, Evangeline, born in 1905, and now a student in the public schools.

In 1903, after his father retired, John T. Clavadatscher took possession of the home place and now has a fine estate of 145 acres, which he devotes to general farming and dairying. Politically he is a republican and his family are members of the Evangelical Church. Mrs. Clavadatscher passed away in July, 1916.

John Alexander. While it is not an uncommon sight in Sauk County, a thoroughly improved farm and herds of sleek cattle inevitably attract attention and favorable comment, and there are few better properties or finer herds than those owned by John Alexander, teacher, farmer and stockraiser, of Greenfield Township. With acre after acre of cultivated field and rich pasture land stretching as far as the eye can reach, with sleek cattle and wholesome appearing stock of all kinds maturing under the best of conditions and methods, and with abundant provision made for care and protection in the way of substantial structures of modern type, the visitor may see in all these what real scientific agriculture means to a wide-awake, intelligent and progressive man, such as is John Alexander, owner of the Allswell Dairy Farm.

John Alexander belongs to one of the prominent old families of Sauk County and was born in Freedom Township November 17, 1867, a son of Henry Alexander, extended mention of whom will be found in this work. He was reared on his father's farm and was educated in the country schools and the high school at Reedsburg. Other interests than farming claimed him for some time afterward, teaching school acceptably for some years and afterward serving for eight years as a railway mail clerk. During this period, however, he had never entirely separated himself from that inherent love of the soil, which undoubtedly is an inherent quality in those who became truly successful agriculturists, and this resulted in his purchasing a farm in Freedom Township, and in 1905 an additional purchase in Greenfield Township of what is now his home place, the Allswell Dairy Farm, situated two miles east of Baraboo. Here Mr. Alexander has become a heavy breeder of stock, notably of Poland China hogs, and makes a specialty of breeding Holstein cattle, and in his herd of sixty-one animals may be found some of the most attractive specimens in the state, rich in the best blood lines of the breed. Mr. Alexander's land is well adapted to both general farming and to carrying on his large stock of dairy interests. He has been lavish in expenditure in the way of improvements, adopting modern ideas in his structure building, an evidence of this being a magnificent barn, one of the largest ever constructed in the county, its dimensions being 176 by 36 feet. He has also built two great cement silos, all his operations being carried on on a large scale and in an up-to-date manner.

In 1899 Mr. Alexander was married to Miss Lydia Schluter, who was born in Washington Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of .Charles Schluter, now of Reedsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have five children, namely : Percy H., Beatrice Lydia, Hazel Irene, Clinton John and Mildred. The family belong to the Congregational Church and have a pleasant social acquaintance that extends over the county. Their home is one of great hospitality.

Mr. Alexander has always been identified with the republican party and has been an important factor in politics both in Freedom and Greenfield Townships and at times has served in township offices, being assessor and chairman of the Freedom Township board and also very actively concerned in educational matters in the two townships, serving on the school board in both, and as clerk of the board in Freedom Township. He is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery- Company of Baraboo, and has other interests. He belongs entirely to the modern school of farmers, keeping abreast of the times in all that concerns his profession, for profession it is, being ever on the alert for new ideas and having the sound judgment that enables him to adapt them to his own needs. His example and success are not lost in his neighborhood, his influence resulting in considerable desirable emulation.

Christopher August Zuch. One of the successful farmers and stockraisers of Sauk County is Christopher August Zuch, who is the owner of the old Zuch homestead situated in Greenfield Township. Mr. Zuch is one of the leading citizens of 'his township and is well known all over the county. He was born in Greenfield Township, March 29, 1884. His parents were Gustav and Barbara (Habecker) Zuch, both natives of Germany, the father born January 9, 1846, and the mother on August 23, 1849.

Gustav Zuch came to Sauk County in 1872. He had served for three years in the German army and during that time had taken part in many important military movements but had never suffered from any material injuries. He was a young man when he came to Wisconsin and was married November 9, 1874, to Barbara Habecker, who had come alone to Sauk County, Mr. Zuch soon purchased forty acres of uncleared land located in Greenfield Township and to this later added another forty acres, and was occupied during the rest of his active live in improving his property. He was industrious, quiet and frugal and at the time of death, on February 7, 1914, was respected and esteemed throughout the township. In politics he was a democrat but was never very active in political matters, and all his life was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church. The same might be said as to high regard in the home neighborhood of his wife, who survived until in April, 1915. She was a careful, self-sacrificing mother and the kindest of neighbors. They reared a large family of sons and daughters and they also belong to the township's best citizenship. Of these Christopher August was the seventh in order of birth, the others being: Emma, Susie, Lizzie, Anna, Christian, Edward, Otto and Fred Charles.

Christopher A. Zuch has always lived on the old home place, which he purchased in 1912. He carries on general farming and stockraising in modern, progressive ways, and has the satisfaction of seeing his well cultivated acres yield up to expectation and his various kinds of stock bring him handsome profits. Mr. Zuch was educated in the public schools and is a sensible, broad-minded man and as such has been chosen at times by his fellow citizens to serve in public office. During his term as road overseer there were no complaints about the highways in Greenfield Township.

Mr. Zuch was married November 26, 1908, to Miss Tilla Jahn, who was born in Greenfield Township and is a daughter of Herman and Dora (Wendt) Jahn, both of whom were born in Germany. In 1880 they came to Dodge County, Wisconsin, and later to Sauk County, and now own a farm of 200 acres in Greenfield Township, where he carries on an extensive business in breeding Holstein cattle. He is a prominent man in the township, of which he has been assessor for some years and is serving also on the school board. Mr. John is a member of the Lutheran Church. His children are as follows : Minnie, Tilla, Otto, William, Louise, Helen, Dora, Hulda, Herbert and Ada, all of whom are living.

Fred Charles Zuch, the youngest brother of Christopher A. Zuch, was born in Greenfield Township, Sauk County, in July, 1889. He obtained his education in the public schools and afterward worked for three years at the carpenter trade. In 1911 he bought the Michael Steckmann farm of seventy acres, situated in Greenfield Township, and since then has made a specialty of breeding Duroc Jersey hogs, and, like his older brother, has been successful in his undertaking. Politically he is a democrat, but has not served in office, although well qualified. In 1912 he was married to Miss Louisa Waters, who was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they have one daughter, Gladys, who was born July 11, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Zuch are members of the Lutheran Church.

Paul Schneller did his part as a productive worker in Sauk County through farming for thirty years on the old homestead in Troy Township, and is now living with the comforts of town in Prairie du Sac.

Mr. Schneller is a native son of Sauk County, and represents that sterling Swiss element which has had so much to do with the development of the country from pioneer days. He was born in Troy Township February 1, 1858. His father, John Schneller, was born in Switzerland in 1809 and immigrated to America in 1849. He located in Troy Township of Sauk County and developed a tract of land which he had secured direct from the Government. That land is still owned by his family. He was a hard working and prosperous citizen and lived a long and useful career. His death occurred in 1890. He married Anna Bueler, and they became the parents of eight children : Peter, Leonard, Jacob, George, John, Paul, Barabara and one that died in infancy.

The old homestead which was the scene of his youthful pleasures and joys was also the farm which Paul Schneller occupied for such a long period of years. He was reared and educated in Sauk County, and had been trained to methodical industry under the direction of his father. Though he farmed the old place for thirty years and is still vigorous and active, he moved to the Town of Prairie du Sac two years ago, his children in the meantime having grown up so as to be capable of looking after their own interests. Mr. Schneller spent three years as a member of the town board and four years on the school board. He and his family are active supporters of the Evangelical Church.

He was married January 1, 1881, to Miss Minnie Accole, who was born in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County July 16, 1860. Her parents were John and Fannie Meisser Accole, both natives of Switzerland. They were born in the same year, 1829, and her mother died in 1885 and her father in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Schneller are the parents of four children: John E. and Dan B., both of whom are married; Ella, wife of Walter Sprecher; and Edwin J., who is unmarried and is now secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Detroit, Michigan.

have been since pioneer times. She is a member of the Roll family, and the Rolls and Barrys did their part in cleaning np the land and fitting this locality for the uses of civilization.

Mrs. Barry was born in Sauk County, in the Township of Honey Creek, in 1863, and is a daughter of Andrew and Julia (SoUiguer) Roll. Her mother was a native of France and her father of Germany. Andrew Roll and Julia SoUiguer came to New York about 1846 on the same vessel, and were married in New York City about a year after they landed. Two years later they moved West to Galena, Illinois, and after two years in that city on the Mississippi River they moved to Sauk City on the Wisconsin River, and took up a farm in Honey Creek Township about 1852. Andrew Roll was successfully identified with farming in that locality until his death in 1865, at the age of fifty-two. For ten years after his death his widow and children continued to live on the farm, then removed to Sauk City for two years and from there to Prairie du Sac, where the mother died in 1880. Andrew Roll and wife had nine children : Andrew ; George, a resident of California, who married Vina Werrich, and has two children. Bertha and George; John, also a resident of California, who married Emma Runge; Julia, who is the wife of Henry Ferber, of West Allis, their three children being Felix, a resident on the old home farm, Freda, a teacher at West Allis, and Robert, a druggist in West Allis; Frank, Felix 0. and Robert B., all of whom are residents of California; Mrs. R. B. Barry; and Elisa, deceased. Elisa was a graduate nurse, having graduated from the Cfook County and Presbyterian Hospitals in Chicago, and afterwards spent three years in the University of Wisconsin.

Mrs. Barry grew up and received her education in Sauk County, and taught until her marriage in 1887 to Mr. R. B. Barry. Mrs. Barry has three children : Stella, who acquired her early education in Sauk County and afterwards took training in the Madison General Hospital ; Linda, a graduate of the Prairie du Sac High School and now teaching in Cazenovia ; and David, in the third year of his high school course.

The late R. B. Barry was born in Dane County, Wisconsin, in 1857, a son of David and Mary (Joyce) Barry, both of whom were natives of Ireland. His parents were married in Massachusetts and had three children : Margaret, who is the wife of Henry Kelley, of Portage, Wisconsin, and their two children, Mary and James, are both deceased; James, who died in 1887 ; and Richard B. Barry, who died in 1910. Mr. Barry's parents located in Sauk County in 1865 and bought the tract of land where Mrs. Barry now lives. They lived on that old farm until 1887, when they moved to Portage, and the management of the farm was left in the hands of their son Richard, who steadily worked the place and made a success as a farmer. He continued actively in that pursuit until his death and Mrs. Barry and her children have since looked after the farm and she has shown great business capability in doing so.

The late Mr. Barry was chairman of the Board of Supervisors for several years and was clerk and assessor at different times. He was affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and was a democrat in politics. He belonged to the Catholic Church. Mr. Barry before engaging in farming had taught school for six years and left that occupation

Mrs. Barry's grandfather, John Roll, also lived in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County about ten years, and died there in 1867, when ninety -six years of age. He was also a farmer.

John F, Hamburg is one of the progressive and thrifty farmers of Baraboo Township, and largely by his own exertions has developed his land and put many of the improvements upon it which mark it out among the homesteads of this vicinity. Besides his interests as a farmer he is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company of Baraboo.

Mr. Hamburg was born in Westfield Township of Sauk County September 19, 1879. He is a son of Henry and Margaret (Carstons) Hamburg. His parents were born and married in Germany and in 1877 came to Sauk County. His father was a man of great energy and industry but arrived in America with very limited capital. For about two years he worked for day wages, and then bought a farm near the county line, four miles and a half southwest of Reedsburg. This old homestead is now owned and occupied by his son, Henry, Jr. Henry Hamburg and wife removed to Baraboo in 1915, and are now living in that city retired. Their seven children were : Ernest, John F., Tillie, Albert, Emma, Freda and Henry.

John F. Hamburg grew up on his father's farm near Reedsburg, attended the public schools there, and by his early experience was well trained for the vocation of farming and husbandry when he started his individual career. In 1907 he bought his present farm in Baraboo Township. This comprises eighty acres of rich and fertile land and is situated three miles south of the county seat. Besides general farming Mr. Hamburg is doing well as a breeder of Red Polled cattle and of Rhode Island Red chickens. He is looked upon as something of an authority on these two branches of stock husbandry. Politically he is a republican and he and his wife are active members of the Lutheran Church, his parents being of the same denomination.

Mr. Hamburg was married in Baraboo Township February 22, Washington's birthday, 1905, to Miss Freda Schubring, of Baraboo Township. Her father, August Schubring, died a number of years ago and her mother is now Mrs. Henry Bittrich of Baraboo Township. Mr. and Mrs. Hamburg have two children : Norma and John Henry.

Nelson W. Morley is one of the oldest surviving pioneers of Sauk County and is still enjo.ying a vigorous old age at his home in Baraboo. The chief secret of a long life, health and prosperity is hard work coupled with a cheerful and even disposition. Mr. Morley could account for his unusual success by hard work, and he is still a worker though eighty-six years of age. He can still handle the axe with some of the old-time energy which he employed in hewing out a farm from the wilderness of Sauk County sixty or more years ago.

early population of the Western Reserve was composed of New Englanders, chiefly from Connecticut. Mr. Morley's people were early settlers in the Reserve and all of them possessed the substantial virtues of the New England character. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Morley, came with his wife and children in 1814 from Massachusetts to Lake County, Ohio, and spent the rest of their years there, being highly esteemed in the community where they lived. Mr. Morley's maternal grandfather was Habel Russell, who came out from Connecticut to Lake County, Ohio, also in pioneer days. Nelson W. Morley is a son of Thomas and Lillis (Russell) Morley, his father a native of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and his mother of Connecticut. They were married in Lake County, Ohio, and the mother died there in 1852. They had a family of seven children, namely : Russell Lyman, who was an early settler in Sauk County and died in 1853 ; Isaac, who served as the first county superintendent of Sauk County ; Alvin, who died at New Buffalo, Michigan ; Harriet, who died leaving no family ; Thomas M. ; Nelson W. ; and Ralsa, who also came to Sauk County. The father of these children was a farmer by occupation, as nearly all the members of the family had been for generations. He spent nearly all his life in Lake County, Ohio, but most of his children settled in Saiik County, Wisconsin. He made a visit among them, but .subsequently decided to spend his last years in his home county of Ohio, where he died lacking only a few months of being ninety-three years of age. All his children except Nelson were successful teachers at some time in their careers, and all of them developed strong traits of character and were useful in their respective spheres and hardly any family name in Sauk County possesses more associations Math thrift and general well being.

Nelson W. Morley grew up on his father's farm in Lake County, Ohio, and had a good education, though it was not composed of the liberal advantages enjoyed by present school children. He took up farming, and from the first was especially interested in horses. In 1852 he was awarded a fine medal at the Ohio State Fair for the best gelding exhibited at Cleveland. That medal he still has in his possession and cherishes it with special pride. Not long after this, in 1852, he came to Sauk County, Wisconsin. His brother Thomas had come to the county the preceding year, and taught a term of school on ground now occupied by the high school building in Baraboo. Thomas Morley did not remain a resident of Sauk County.

Mr. Nelson Morley on coming to the county bought a farm in Baraboo Township and spent many industrious years in clearing and developing it. Part of the land and the old homestead is now owned and occupied by his son Frank. As a farmer and stockman Mr. Morley was easily a leader in Sauk County and he acquired a large amount of land which he subsequently divided among his children. These children now comprise a group of farming people among the most progressive in the county.

For the stimulation and development of Sauk County 's dairy interests perhaps no one man deserves more credit than Mr. Morley. As far back as 1876 the butter from his dairy won a substantial prize when exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. A bronze medal and diplomas which were awarded Mr. Morley are filed in the Museum of the

State Historical Library at Madison. The bronze medal and one of the diplomas were awarded at the Centennial of 1876, held in Philadelphia. The other two diplomas were awarded at the International Dairy Fair, held in New York in 1879. Besides these diplomas there was a cash prize of $250 given to Mr. Morley at the International Dairy Fair. He has attended a great many dairy conventions, and his example and influence were not inconsiderable factors in making Wisconsin one of the greatest dairy states in the Union. His work was especially helpful in getting Sauk County on the map as a dairy section. During his active years he was also well known as a breeder of Percheron horses. These fine draft horses Avere exhibited at the State Fair in Milwaukee and at many county and local exhibitions, and they always carried away a share of the prizes.

In 1899 Mr. Morley retired from the farm and coming to Baraboo built a fine residence at 626 Eighth Avenue. There he intends to spend his remaining years and abyut his home he finds sufficient occupation so that he can always be busy. He is a republican and his family are members of the Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Morley was married in September, 1853, to Miss Adaline Serviah Fuller. Mrs. Morley was born in Massachusetts May 10, 1830, a daughter of Ambrose Fuller, who died in that state. Mr. and Mrs. Morley became the parents of eight children, named Newton Fuller, Arthur William, Fannie, Lillis, Thomas, Frank, Lucy and Charles. Newton Fuller, the oldest, was born in Sauk County October 2, 1854, was educated in the public schools and is now a successful farmer in Baraboo Township. He was married May 17, 1883, to Miss Sarah Jane Christy, who was born in Sauk County in 1852, daughter of Archibald and Catherine (Haynes) Christy, pioneer people of Sauk County, and Mrs. Christy is still living at the age of eighty-seven. Newton F. Morley and wife have two children, Laura Hazel and Fannie Edna. Arthur William Morley, the second child, was bom November 1, 1855, is a farmer in 0 'Brien County, Iowa, and by his marriage to Abbie Van Buren has four children : Mabel, deceased ; Martha ; Carl and Keith, the last two being twins. Thomas Morley lives in Excelsior Township, while Frank occupies the old homestead. Frank married Elma Knapp and has two sons, Alvin James and Kenneth. The son, Charles, lives in Ohio, and by his marriage to Edna George has three children, Charles W. and Dorilia and Dana, twins.

Charles William Neuman. One of the large and important families of Sauk County bears the name of Neuman, and one would have to travel far to find better farmers or more highly respected people. The pioneer settler of the family still survives and is found in Charles William Neuman, who came from Germany to Wisconsin in 1869 and has been a resident of Sauk County for forty-six years. Mr. Neuman was bom in Germany, November 19, 1834, the second in a family of seven children born to his parents, John and Henrietta Neuman. His mother died in Germany in 1844 and his father in 1871. Their children were named as follows : John, Charles William, Edward, Louisa, Henrietta, William and Caroline. The father's second marriage was to Eva Zech, and to that union seven more children were born.

Charles William Neuman was thirty-five years of age when he came to America in the hope of hettering his condition, and was attracted to Wisconsin because of opportunities there at that time afforded to secure Government land and found a home. He attended school in boyhood and before leaving his own country had satisfied the authorities as to military service, and when he reached the United States it was as a free agent. He had married in his native land and his wife and two children accompanied him and they reached Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in 1869. Mr. Neuman took two years to look about him before he invested any money in land and then, in 1871, he bought eighty acres in Sauk County, where he yet lives. There was a large amount of timber on the place at that time but with the help of his sons the land was cleared and through Mr. Neuman 's careful methods was developed into a very valuable farm. In 1900 Mr. Neuman sold the homestead to his son Charles William, who is his namesake.

In Germany Mr. Neuman was married to Helen Zuch, who was born there May 6, 1841. To them were born the following children: Minnie, who was born in Germany in 1865, is the wife of Gustav Steinke; Gustav, who was born in Germany in 1867, and is a farmer in Greenfield Township; Amelia, who was born in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in 1871, is the wife of William Geyman, of Caledonia, Wisconsin; Charles William, who was born in Greenfield Township, Sauk County, March 30, 1873; John, who was born also in Greenfield Township, in 1876, married Paulina Steinhorst, and they have seven children, namely: Mabel, Viola, Laura, John, Adelia, Harold and Elsie; Jacob, who was born on the farm on which his father lives in Greenfield Township October 1, 1878, is a carpenter by trade and worked as such for eleven years, but in March, 1915, returned to farming; he was married June 14, 1905, to Miss Bertha Malzahn, who was born in Honey Creek Township, Sauk County, January 6, 1884, a daughter of Carl and Pauline (Kleinschmidt) Malzahn, who came to this country from Germany and both died here, the mother in 1886 and the father in 1900;. Jacob Neuman and wife have the following children : Irma, Beatrice and James ; Helen, who was born January 6, 1881, is the wife of Albert Koerth, a substantial farmer and well known resident of this township.

Charles William Neuman, the second son and the fourth born in his parents' family, was educated in the public schools of Greenfield Township and has devoted himself closely and profitably to farming. In 1900 he bought the homestead from his father and added land and is now operating 100 acres. His father had built a comfortable log house on the place, but Mr. Neuman has improved the property with modern buildings and has one of the most attractive farms in the township. He is a first-class farmer and also a reputable citizen. He votes with the republican party but has never consented to accept office. He is unmarried.

Charles William Neuman is one of the pillars of the Lutheran Church at Baraboo, to which church his wife also belonged, as do all of his children. Mrs. Neuman died October 29, 1915. She was a most estimable woman and not only her family but the neighborhood has sadly missed her. Mr. Neuman is a republican in politics but the Neumans have never been seekers for office. Since coming to Sauk County he has done his full duty and lived honestly and uprightly and now, in the evening of life, can look back over a long path with few regrets. He takes much comfort in the fact that his children are all in easy circumstances and are located near to him and each other, the tie of kindred in the family being very strong.

Gerhart Schuette. The United States ranks today as the foremost nation of the modern civilized world. It has served as the melting pot of the best characteristics of all other nations and the outcome is a fine, sterling, American citizenship consisting of strong and ablebodied men, loyal and public-spirited in civic life, honorable in business and alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with every measure tending to further the material welfare of the entire country. Like other countries, Germany has contributed its fair quota to the upbuilding of this great nation and among its representatives in this country are to be found successful men in every walk of life, from the professions to the prosperous farmer.

The Schuette family is one of old standing in Sauk County, the progenitor of the name in America being John Schuette, who was born in Germany early in the nineteenth century and who came to America and settled in Sauk County, AVisconsin, in 1861. He settled on a farm in Excelsior Township and was engaged in diversified agriculture until two years prior to his demise, when he located in Reedsburg, where his death occurred in October, 1886, at the age of seventy-one years. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Wilhelms, was likewise a native of Germany and she died in Reedsburg in October, 1897. They had five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth: William, Henry, Dora, Katherine and Frederick. Dora is the wife of Henry Behn, of Reedsburg, and Katherine married Henry Striek, also a resident of Reedsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Schuette were devout Lutherans and in the faith of that church they reared their children.

Henry W. Schuette, father of him whose name forms the caption for this article, was born in Germany November 7, 1854. He was seven years of age when he accompanied his parents to America and he was educated in the public schools of Excelsior Township. After reaching manhood he purchased his father's farm and there resided until his death in 1912, aged fifty-eight years. He married Dorathea Weseloh, who was born in Westfield Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, June 12, 1864. Her parents were John and Katherine (Sehroeder) Weseloh, both of whom were born in Germany in August, 1838. They came to America in 1863 and settled on a farm in Westfield Township, Sauk County, where he died October 2, 1912, and where she passed away October 3, 1910. They had ten children: Henry (deceased), William, Dorathea, Frederick, Eddie (deceased), Henry, Bertha, Emma, Mary and Martha. Mrs. Schuette survives her honored husband and now resides at 226 Locust Street, Reedsburg. Four children were born to them, namely: Martha, Gerhart, Hugo and Odelia. Mr. Schuette was a republican and a member of the Lutheran Church.

Schuette was born on the old family homestead in Excelsior Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, January 3, 1891. He was the second in order of birth in a family of four children and he received his educational training in the public schools of his native place. He has always followed the life of a farmer and since 1915 has rented the old homestead from his mother. In politics he maintains an independent attitude and though he has not as yet held any public office, he gives a loyal support to all matters projected for the good of his home community.

January 5, 1915, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schuette to Miss Meta Hinz, a native of Freedom Township, where she was born August 15, 1896, a daughter of Julius and Adeline (Heritz) Hinz, Her parents were pioneer farmers in Freedom Township, Sauk County, and they are now living retired in Ableman. Mr. and Mrs. Schuette are devout Lutherans and they are popular in connection with the social affairs of the younger generation in the community in which they live.

Mrs. Caroline Woffenschmidt has been a resident of Sauk County over sixty years, and has shown her ability as a capable business woman since the death of her husband by taking the active management of the home farm in Sumpter Township.

Mrs. Woffenschmidt was born in Sumpter Township of Sauk County July 31, 1856, a daughter of William and Christina (Graff) Siebecker. Her parents were both born in Germany and came to America in 1848. They soon afterwards located as pioneers on the homestead in Sumpter Township, buying land from a Mr. Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Siebecker farmed that place until 1886, M^ien they removed to another place a mile and a quarter north. At that time Mr. and Mrs. Woffenschmidt took charge of the old homestead. Mr. Siebecker lived on his new place about six years, then made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Woffenschmidt about five years, and from there removed to Sauk City, where he lived retired until his death in 1899. His wife had passed away in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Siebecker had eight children : Louisa is the wife of Fred Swartz and they live in Baraboo; William is also a resident of Baraboo ; Charles C, of Cambridge, Nebraska, married Margaret Evans ; Fred, a resident of Baraboo married Caroline Roick ; Christina is living at Baraboo, the widow of Joseph Kunzelmann, who died in 1897 ; Robert lives at Madison, Wisconsin, and married Josephine La Follette, sister of Senator La Follette-, the next in age is Mrs. Woffenschmidt; Ida is the wife of Carl Isenberg, of Baraboo.

Mrs. Woffenschmidt grew up on the home farm in Sumpter Township, was educated in the local schools, and in 1879 married the late Henry Woffenschmidt. Mr. Woffenschmidt took charge of the old Siebecker homestead, and was successfully engaged in farming until failing health compelled him to leave Wisconsin in 1898 and he spent several months in the West recuperating. On returning to the county he located at Baraboo, and lived there until his death in August, 1900. Several years he served as assessor of Merrimack Township. He was a member of the Evangelical Church and was affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. Henry Woffenschmidt was a son of Christian and Catherine (Murphy) Woffenchmidt, the former a native of Gex-

After the death of her husband Mrs. Woffenschmidt removed with her family to the old farm and has lived there in comfort, operating the place with hired help and giving her children all the advantages possible both at home and in school. She is the mother of four children. Amo, born in 1880, is a farmer in Sumpter Township on a place adjoining that of his mother, and by his marriage to Catherine Hatz has two children, Nora and Henry. Stella, bom in 1884, is the wife of Ervin Young, of Sumpter Township, and they have four children, Henry, Roland, Salma and Russell, all living except Roland. Salma, born in 1886, is the wife of Arthur Werich, of Sumpter Township, and the mother of one daughter, Florence. Robert Henry, who was born in 1899, married Ema Bernhard and lives at Prairie du Sac; their one child is Helen Gale.

Henry Guhl is one of the oldest native sons of Troy Township and has been identified with that locality of Sauk County as an active farmer for a great many years. Every one knows Mr. Guhl's material prosperity and also his influence as a citizen and capability as a leader in public affairs.

He was born in Troy Township February 26, 1856, a son of Henry and Barbara (Trueb) Guhl. His parents were both natives of Switzerland and were among the pioneers of Sauk County. About two years after their coming to this county they located on a farm in Troy Township, and there acquired a tract of Government land. They contended with the many difficulties of the time, reared their family and lived there until the death of the good mother twenty-six years ago. After two or three years the father then moved to Sauk City, where he married Emelia Yench. She died several years ago, and the father is still living in Sauk City at the age of eighty-five. His children are all by his first marriage and are named: Henry; Barbara, wife of Albert Speiger, of Reedsburg; Pauline, wife of John E. Whitman, of Prairie du Sac; Engline, wife of Lewis Querhammer, of Sauk City; and Anna and Fred, both of whom died in infancy.

Henry Guhl, Jr., grew up on his father's farm in Troy Township and in 1882 he married Miss Anna Sprecher, daughter of Andrew Sprecher. Mr. and Mrs. Guhl had six children: Sarah, born in 1883, is the wife of Martin Bernhard and lives in Troy Township ; Ida, wife of Julius Kietzke, lives in Troy Township ; and the younger children, all unmarried and living at home, are named Lyda, Anna, George, Henry.

Before he married Mr. Guhl bought his farm of 119^2 acres, and there he has been steadily at work as a general farmer and stockraiser, also doing some dairying and has not only provided liberally for his home and family from the products of his toil but has also amassed a prosperity sufficient for his future needs. "When his father started farming in Sauk County he used oxen to do the plowing and also to haul the produce to market. At first the nearest market was Milwaukee, later Madison and finally a railroad was built to Sauk City. The father owned 164 acres of land. The Guhl family have always worshiped in the Evangelical Church. Mr. Henry Guhl, Jr., has served thirteen years as assessor of Troy Township and also was for several years clerk and director of the school board. He is one of the stockholders in Troy Township Cheese Factory, is in politics a democrat, and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Black Hawk.

Alexander Smith is one of the well-to-do farming men of Sauk County and has reached a position in life where he can be classified as independent and spends most of his time in his city home at Baraboo.

A native of Scotland, he was born in that country in 1862, son of Alexander and Jane Smith. Five years later, in 1867, the family set out for the New World and came to Sauk County, Wisconsin. Here Alexander, Sr., bought twenty acres of land in Baraboo Township from Reuben Kipp and in 1876 acquired another tract of thirty-three acres from William Stanley. This was the land which he operated as a farmer and which he owned at the time of his death. He died in Baraboo Township in 1880, at the age of fifty-seven. His widow survived him until 1914, passing away at the age of seventy-nine. Their children were : Betsey, deceased ; Alexander ; John ; Jennie, who died in 1915 ; William ; Emma; and Ella.

Alexander Smith, Jr., grew up on the old farm in Baraboo Township, attended the public schools, and has found pleasure and profit in the management of his farm of seventy-six and a half acres near the old homestead. Besides general farming, Mr. Smith has developed a special industry as a bee keeper, and has about 125 colonies that work for him and furnish no little profit and also an enjoyable diversion. Mr. Smith is a republican in politics. His parents were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Smith was married in 1911 to Miss Anna Douglas, of Sauk County. Mrs. Smith was educated in the Baraboo High School and in the Whitewater State Normal School, and at the age of sixteen began teaching in the country district of this county. For some years she was the primary teacher in the school at Lyons, Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a good home in Baraboo, but spend part of each summer on the farm. While they have no children, their home is the center of many hospitable times for their many friends and they move in the best social circles -of Baraboo.

Mrs. Smith is a daughter of Edward Douglas, who was born in Vermont in 1832. Edward Douglas married Alice Fawcett, who was born in Ireland of English extraction. The Fawcetts have long been one of the leading families of England. She came to Massachusetts when about sixteen years of age to join some of her relatives on this side of the ocean. Later she moved to Portage, Wisconsin, and lived there until her marriage. Edward Douglas was a son of Henry and Lucy (Traverse) Douglas. The Douglases were very early day settlers near Portage, where Henry and his wife spent their last years. He was interested in sawmills in the East and his son Edward was also a lumberman and for years managed a sawmill at Baraboo. Camp Douglas took its name from Edward Douglas and two more Douglas boys about fifty years ago. Edward Douglas died at Baraboo in 1889, at the age of fifty- seven, and his widow survived him until April, 1916, being eighty-two years of age at the time of her death. The children of Edward Douglas and wife were : Anna ; Eobert ; and Fannie, wife of Clarence Kindsehi, of Beloit, Wisconsin. Edward Douglas voted the republican ticket. He and his wife were active members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas moved to Baraboo in 1868, and Mrs. Smith was born in that city. Edward Douglas had a military record as a soldier of the Union. He was a member of the First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery and had five brothers who were also Civil war soldiers. Their names were Henry, Joseph, Charles, Asa and George. Two other brothers, James and John, were too young to enlist. The sisters of the family were Sophia, Jane, Mary, Hannah and Esther.

William Smith, a brother of Mr. Alexander Smith, above mentioned, was born on the old Smith homestead in Sauk County July 30, 1867. He grew up there, attended the public schools, and has made farming his vocation. He has never married and with his sister Emma owns 100 acres of land in Baraboo Township. They have sold twenty acres to the Mining Company, but they still operate this land for farming purposes. Mr. William Smith is a general farmer and stockraiser and does considerable dairying. He is a stockholder in the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company at Baraboo. As a dairyman he keeps good grades of Guernsey cattle. He is a republican. He and his sister have a well improved farm and enjoy the comforts that have rewarded their many years of work and careful management.

William G. Montgomery. The agricultural industry of Wisconsin is excellently represented in Sauk County. Here are found men who consider their vocation as something more than a mere occupation, and who have elevated its standards until they have nearly reached the plane of a science. In doing so they have followed along lines that tbeir common sense, governed by years of practical experience, has directed. This is the kind of work that has contributed toward the iDuilding up of Sauk as one of the most progressive farming counties of the state, and one who has done his share in a practical way in helping things along is William G. Montgomery. Both Fairfield and Greenfield townships have profited by his well-directed labors, and his citizenship has been of the kind that promotes the general welfare at all times.

William G. Montgomery is a Wisconsin man by birth, education, rearing, training and experience. He was born at Fort Atkinson in Jefferson County, November 14, 1849, and is a son of George and Catherine (Prosser) Montgomery, natives of the Empire State. His parents were married in New York, and became residents of Fort Atkinson at an early date, but had not resided there long ere the news of the discovery of gold swept over the country, with its luring promises of fortunes to be had for the asking. George Montgomery made the long, hazardous journey across the plains to the Golden State in 1852, but it was not his fortune to be numbered among those who located the precious metal in large quantities, and he soon returned to Wisconsin to resume the prosaic but more satisfactory occupation of farming. In 1860 he brought his family from Eichland County to Sauk County, and was living here when the Civil war came on. His love of adventure, coupled with his patriotism, caused him to enlist in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry for service under the colors of his country, .and throughout the struggle between the North and the South he fought valiantly and faithfully, receiving his honorable discharge after peace had been declared. He continued to maintain his interest in his army comrades during the remainder of his life, and was one of the most enthusiastic and popular members of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. One of his brothers, Henry Montgomery, who was also a soldier, worked on the North Western Railroad for several years and assisted in drawing the material for the construction of that road through Sauk County. For some years George Montgomery resided at Baraboo, later went to Cazenovia, and finally took up his residence at Lime Ridge, where he died in 1914, aged about eighty-four years. Mrs. Montgomery had passed away in May, 1903, when seventy-two years of age. Their children were as follows : Maria, who is deceased ; William G., of this notice ; and Adelia, who was in the great earthquake at San Francisco, California, and subsequently died.

William G. Montgomery secured a public school education, and as a young man learned the trade of stone mason, one which he followed for several years. He decided, however, that farming held out a better future for him, and accordingly embarked upon agricultural ventures in Fairfield Township, where he resided for seventeen years, subsequently removing to Greenfield Township, where he passed twenty years. In the former township he had a good property, and at the present time he is the owner of forty acres of well cultivated land, upon which he has personally made the most of the improvements. Mr. Montgomery has always endeavored to maintain high standards in his work, and has always been ready to adopt new methods as they have shown their practicability. While living in Fairfield Township he was one of those who worked hard for the schools, and for twenty years was clerk of the school board of directors. He also served as a member of the board of supervisors, and since coming to Greenfield Township has been active in public affairs, having been health officer for a period, treasurer of Greenfield Township for four years, and clerk of the district in which he resides, holding the last-named position at the present time. He has always been independent in his political views, but has a strong tendency to give his support to the candidates who advocate prohibition.

Mr. Montgomery was married September 22, 1872, to Miss Carrie Malloy, who was born at Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1852, a daughter of Ralph and Harriet (Ward well) Malloy, early settlers of Sauk County, and granddaughter of Batholomew Malloy, one of the county's pioneers. Ralph Malloy, who died in 1868, married Harriet Wardwell, who was bom September 11, 1835, and who still survives, making her home with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery. There were four children in the Malloy family: Carrie; Frances; Douglas, who is deceased; and Albert, of Baraboo. Seven children have been bom to Mr. and M^rs. Montgomery: Hattie, who is the wife of William Jones, a farmer of Greenfield Township ; Arthur, who died when six years of age ; Fern, who is the wife of Lester Montgomery and resides in Green- field Township; Paul, who died in infancy; Avis, who is the wife of Emil Piatt, of Baraboo ; and Minnie and Winnie, twins, the latter of whom is deceased, while the former is the wife of Nelson Bartley, a railroad man, and lives in Adams County, Wisconsin.

John Jacob Gattiker. The early settlers of Sauk County were on the whole people of substantial character, above the average in intelligence and ability, and many of them were well educated according to the standards of the time. But the addition of John Jacob Gattiker to the local citizenship in 1855 gave a man of exceptional scholarship, of that broad culture which is closely associated with foreign learning and travel, and almost from the first he made his presence felt as a vitalizing influence in the affairs and institutions of the county.

His part in molding and influencing local affairs during the latter half of the last century can hardly be justly estimated even at the present time, and the few brief paragraphs that can be here devoted to his career must necessarily fall short of being an adequate representation of his character and influence. Fortunately the people of Sauk County have a permanent memorial of this splendid old time citizen in the form of a handsome memorial clock which was given to Sauk County in his memory by his daughters, Margaret and Luise Gattiker, and in 1915 was placed in the tower of the courthouse at Baraboo.

John Jacob Gattiker was born at Zurich, Switzerland, April 18, 1826, a son of Henry and Maria M. Gattiker, also natives of Switzerland. His father was a teacher, followed that profession in Zurich all his life, and died there when John Jacob was a young man. In 1871 the widowed mother came to the United States, and died in Baraboo at the age of seventy-six.

When he was twenty years of age John Jacob Gattiker graduated from the College at Zurich. He took up the same profession which his father had adorned, and for ten years was teacher of French, mathematics and Italian in the Gymnasium, corresponding to our high school or college. He was a fluent linguist and a master of many subjects. After leaving the Gymnasium he became a tutor to a wealthy family at Chamberi, Italy.

He was twenty -nine years of age when in 1855 he came to the United Spates and took up his residence with other early settlers on a farm in the Town of Honey Creek, Sauk County. A man of such talents naturally could not long be hid in a rural community, and in 1858 he was called to serve the county in the office of county clerk. He filled that office for eight years, and in the meantime removed his residence to Baraboo. Later he engaged in the hardware business with his brother, A. Gattiker, and they built up a large and prosperous establishment and he was identified with its management until he retired in 1886.

Perhaps the avenue through which he influenced the history of Sauk County more than in any other way was in inducing emigration to this section of Wisconsin. A great many German and Swiss families took up their homes here as a direct result of his leadership, and he thus contributed one of the most stable elements to the county's population. He not only influenced many families to come to Sauk County, but gave them every possible assistance after they arrived, and did much to insure their permanence of residence and their prosperity as capable home makers. Many of the descendants of these old families are still living in Sauk County and all of them hold the name of John Jacob Gattiker in special veneration. "-

He was not yet seventy years of age when he died, April 2, 1895, but he had lived usefully and well and made a name that will long have an honorable memory. In politics he was a republican. He represented his home community on the board of supervisors for a number of years and was chairman of the board a long time. Naturally he took the keenest of interest in educational advancement and was president of the Board of Education of Baraboo for a number of years, and the first and second ward school buildings were constructed under his personal supervision.

In May, 1851, before coming to America, Mr. Gattiker married Magdalene Truninger, who was born at Winterthur, Switzerland, October 30, 1828, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Truninger. Mrs. Gattiker died in the City of Baraboo August 3, 1898.

John Here. Among those men who have proved their competence and ability to get the best results out of the soil in Sauk County, one entitled to special mention is Mr. John Herr of Merrimack Township. Mr. Herr has lived in Sauk County over thirty -five years and practically his entire life has been spent in this section of the state.

He was born in New York State February 14, 1852, a son of Martin and Emilia (Hauesen) Herr. His parents were both born in Germany. His father came to New York State when a young man, learned the cooper's trade, and followed that actively until he came out to Wisconsin and became a farmer in Dane County. Mr. John Herr was about four years of age when his parents located on a farm at Roxbury. His father first bought forty acres and kept on buying more land and improving and developing until at the time of his death he had a valuable estate of 160 acres. This good and thrifty German- American citizen of "Wisconsin passed away about twenty years ago and his wife about twelve years ago. There were eight children : John ; Anna, unmarried and living at Roxbury with her brother George ; Maggie, Mrs. Alfred Raynolds, of Lodi, Wisconsin, has two children, Ralph and Wallace; Emma, Mrs. Frank Groves, of Lodi, has six children, Raymond, Vera, Louisa, Lerna, Milla and Harold ; Charles, who was married and lives in Dane County; George, unmarried and occupying the old home farm ; Frank, married and living at Reedsburg, has two children, Arthur and Helen ; and Mary, who died at the age of four years.

Mr. John Herr grew up on his father's farm in Dane County, attended the local schools and lived with his father and mother until he M^as twenty-nine, when he married and started out for himself.

He was married October 8, 1881, to Miss Helen Runge, a daughter of Augustua and Caroline (Foss) Runge, both natives of Germany. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Herr moved to his present farm in Sauk County, buying 151 acres. The years have prospered him as they have come and gone and as a general farmer and stock raiser he stands among the most substantial men of his community. He cleared most of the land which he now cultivates and has invested heavily of his personal labor and his means in buildings and other improvements. Besides his interests as a farmer Mr. Herr is now one of the directors of the Merrimack Stat& Bank.

To him and his good wife were born four children : Jessie, who died at the age of two years and three months; Anna, Mrs. Henry Weirich; and Charles and Walter, both unmarried and living at home.

Mr. Herr has served as chairman of the township board two years, and was director of his local school district for eighteen years. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America at Merrimack. In politics he reserves his right to vote for the best man regardless of party affiliations.

Peter Schneller, a veteran of the war for the preservation of the Union, is one of the oldest continuous residents of Troy Township and has been steadily identified with one farm there for over half a century. The element of permanency is a strong one in Mr. Schneller 's makeup, and the community recognizes in him one of its most substantial citizens.

Mr. Schneller was born in Switzerland, in 1840, a son of John and Anna (Buehler) Schneller. His parents were natives of the same country and brought their little family to America in 1848, locating in Troy Township of Sauk County. Here the father acquired direct from the Government forty acres, and after getting that under cultivation and as his means justified it he bought other land until at the time of his death he was proprietor of more than 400 acres. From the time he came to Sauk County he lived on his farm in Troy Township, and died there at a good old age, having survived his wife several years. In pioneer times he had cleared up his land and cultivated it with ox teams. That he was one of the earliest settlers is testified to by the fact that he lived eight years in Troy Township before the first school district was organized. Such surplus as were produced on his land he hauled overland to Milwaukee. In the family of John Schneller and wife were seven children, all of them still living, and named Peter ; Lenora ; Jacob ; George ; Barbara, Mrs. John Clausseher ; John and Paul.

Peter Schneller grew up on the old homestead in Troy Township, being about eight years of age when the family came to this county. He had just reached young manhood when the war broke out between the States and he enlisted in Company C of the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Infantry and saw three years of active army service.

Not long after returning from the army, in March, 1866, he married Margaret Nolt, of Troy Township. Eight children were born to their marriage, two of whom died in infancy. The other-s are mentioned as follows: John, who is married and lives in Naperville, Illinois; Vincent, married and living at Harrisburg; George, whose home is at Springfield, South Dakota; Anna, wife of Fred Kenchi, of Prairie du Sac ; Peter, who is unmarried and lives at Blackhawk ; and Carrie, wife of Oscar Cramer, and both of them live with her parents.

which year he bought 320 acres. This land has become highly developed under his constant care and attention and for many years has proved the basis of a fine business in general farming and stock raising. Mr. Schneller has also participated in public affairs, having served as chairman of his township four years, as clerk of the town board twenty years, and also as a member of the school board. He is a republican and a member of the Evangelical Church,

Mrs. Mary Keitel. is one of the oldest living residents of Sauk County. Before her eyes has been enrolled a great panorama of change and development during the last sixty years. She knew this country when it was a wilderness, when the forests spread almost unbroken from one side of the county to the other, and when comparatively little land was under the plow. She is still living on the old farm in Merrimack Township, on Rural Route No. 2, and has passed the age of four score.

After growing up and receiving her education in the old country she came to America alone at the age of nineteen. A year later she married the late Michael Keitel, and they then settled on the homestead where Mrs. Keitel still resides in Merrimack Township. This was one that Michael Keitel had acquired direct from the government. He was also a native of Germany and had come to America three years before his wife. He lived in the State of New York two years, and then settled in Sauk County.

Mr. Keitel by a previous wife, who died in 1854, had three children. The daughter Elizabeth married John Losh and they now live in Oklahoma. John, who died four years ago, married Ida Gattwinkle, a daughter of George Gattwinkle. John and Ida Keitel had two children, Edwin and Elmer, married and living in Prairie du Sac. Elmer, the grandson of Mrs. Keitel, married Nellie Mather, daughter of Matthew Mather. They have one child, Victor, now five years of age.

Mrs. Mary Keitel by her marriage to Mr. Keitel had one daughter, Mary, now Mrs. John Quimby. Mr. and Mrs. Quimby live in Duluth, Minnesota, and have two children, "Walter and Bessie.