Sauk County, Wisconsin - The whole text, 1918 (part 13 of 20)

Michael Keitel throughout the rest of his days lived on and farmed the old homestead. He took the place as a part of the wilderness, and it was years before he had the clearing and the grubbing so far advanced that he could cultivate any considerable area. He began farming with oxen, and used those animals to plow and do all other kinds of farm work for years. His surplus grain and produce he hauled to Portage, a distance of twenty-five miles, and it required many hours to make the journey with the slow plodding oxen. He would leave home one night and not get back until the next. In those days the price paid for wheat was seldom more than 50 cents a bushel, and the price paid for eggs was 5 cents a dozen and 7 cents a pound for butter. The wages of a good harvest hand was never more than $1 a day. During the winter Michael Keitel worked in the woods splitting rails, and there was never a time when his hands did not find some good and useful employment. At first he had sixty acres, and subsequently he bought another forty acres and finally another sixty. Besides his work at home he served two years as road master. He was an active member of the Lutheran Church. Michael Keitel died at the old home in 1886. Since then Mrs. Keitel has remained on the old place, and she managed the farm with the aid of hired labor until four years ago, when her grandson, Elmer, took charge.

"Willis F. Ryan is a Baraboo Township farmer. His enterprise has been well directed, not only to the profitable management of his farm from season to season but also to the proper conservation of its resources and the gradual improvement of its value as a home and place of business. Mr. Ryan is a native of the City of Baraboo, where he- was born July 1, 1867, a son of Henry R. and Abbie 0. (Gazlay) Ryan. His father was a pioneer of Sauk County. He was born at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, in 1818, and his wife was born in New York State in 1828. They were married in New York and in 1853 came west and located at Portage, Wisconsin. Henry R. Ryan was a cabinet maker by trade and spent most of his active career in some line of wood working or manufacturing. In 1855 he removed from Portage to Baraboo, and until 1870 conducted the mill at Baraboo for the manufacture of lumber. Subsequently he became manager and part owner of the Baraboo Furniture Manufacturing Company. Same of his resources were invested in land near the county seat, where he owned 440 acres, and his last days were spent at the homestead where his son Willis now resides. He died there in 1898. Mrs. Henry Ryan is still living and is now eighty-nine years of age. The father was an active republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their four children, all living, are George H. and Charles A., both in the State of Washington ; Abbie M., living in Chicago ; and Willis F.

Willis F. Ryan grew up on a farm and most of his early recollections are centered around the place where he now lives. He attended the public schools of Baraboo. Since reaching manhood he has given the l)est of his labors to farming and now owns 105 acres of the old homestead, besides eighty acres of timber land in Baraboo and Sumpter townships. He follows mixed farming, keeps some good stock, and has built or supervised the building of most of the modern improvements on his land. Mr. Ryan is a republican without aspirations for public office, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, and attends religious services in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1888 Mr. Ryan married Miss Bird E. Dockham. Mrs. Ryan was born in Baraboo Township in 1872, daughter of J. A. and Maria Dockham, a pioneer family of Sauk County, and both her parents are now deceased. Her father was a veteran Union soldier of the Civil war and after the war followed farming in Sauk County. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan have three children. Stella B. completed her education in the public schools of Lyons and is now the wife of Eric Stebler, of Milwaukee. Marjorie P. is a graduate of the Lyons and the Baraboo high schools, and is now in the sophomore year of the University of Wisconsin. Howard R. completed his high school course at Baraboo with the class of 1917, having previously attended the Lyons High School.

William Burckhardt, a practical farmer of Merrimack Township, has lived and prospered in this agricultural section and by industry and diligence has found those rewards which constitute the object of every ambitious man's efforts.

He was born in this county in 1874, and his parents. Christian Traugott and Sophia (Schuman) Burckhardt, were among the very early settlers in Merrimack Township. They were born in Germany, and Christian T. Burckhardt crossed the ocean and came to America alone in 1849. Miss Schuman came to this country in 1850 with her parents. After locating in Sauk City Christian. T. Burckhardt was employed for a time in the brick yard, and subsequently worked on the ferry boat at Watson's Ferry at Merrimack. After a few years he was able to establish a home of his own and he bought as the nucleus of his property forty acres on the township line between Sumpter and Merrimack townships. That farm is now the property of Mr. William Burckhardt, and has been under continuous development and improvement by members of the family for over half a century.

Christian T. Burckhardt lived on the home farm until his death, September 3, 1900. His widow passed away in 1908. Christian T. Burckhardt was a successful farmer, and he and his wife were almost the first settlers in that part of the county. They endured all the hardships of pioneer life and in time, in addition to providing for their growing family of children, they were able to add to their possessions until they owned about 170 acres of cultivated land and forty-nine acres of woodland. Christian T. Burkhardt was a member of the Lutheran Church. A brief record of their children is as follows : Emma, Mrs. John Gobbler, living near Hombard, Wisconsin; Herman, who is married and lives in the Town of Merrimack; Augusta, Mrs. Eschenbach ; Emilia, Mrs. Herman Gattwinkle, of Prairie du Sac ; Louisa, Mrs. Frank Schlag, of Sauk City; Charles, who is married and lives in Texas ; Edward, married and living on a farm in Merrimack Township ; William ; and Ida, deceased.

Mr. William Burckhardt was married in 1910 to Emelia Bender, daughter of Michael Bender, of Honey Creek Township, a well known farmer in that section. Mr. and Mrs. Burckhardt have two children : Henry, born January 7, 1911 ; and Clara, born March 10, 1914. Mr. Burckhardt is a republican, Mrs. Burckhardt and children attend the Lutheran Church, of which they are members.

Henry Sorg. One of the best known and highly respected residents of Sauk County is Henry Sorg, who now lives retired on his valuable farm of 414 acres, which is situated in Troy Township. For many years before retirement he led the quiet, steady, industrious life of a farmer, devoting himself entirely to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, but there was a time when, for three long, wearisome, dangerous years, he was a soldier in the Union army and marched and fought with courage, self sacrifice and determination side by side with other brave men, and through their combination of effort the disunion of the states was prevented. Not gladly but from a sense of duty he responded when President Lincoln issued his first call for patriots, and when his duty had been well performed he quietly returned home and again took up the peaceful pursuits that meant much more to him than military glory. During his long residence in Sauk County he has proved a man of solid worth and sterling character.

Henry Sorg was born in Germany, in 1839. His parents were Philip John and Mary (Hiltz) Sorg, both of whom were natives of Germany. They immigrated to America when he was young, and after living for two years in the State of New York made their way to Washington County, Wisconsin. The father was a man of great industry and he desired to establish a permanent home in Wisconsin. He worked as a farmer for five years in Washington County and then came to Sauk County and bought a farm of 160 acres in Honey Creek Township. He cleared that land and lived on it for twelve years and then moved to Troy Township and located on the place on which Henry Sorg now lives. The father died on this farm in 1900 and the mother died two years later.

Henry Sorg grew to manhood in Honey Creek Township and attended the district school as opportunity was afforded. He assisted his father on the farm until 1861, when he enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company D, Ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Mr. Sorg served three years in this organization and took part in many battle engagements but sustained no permanent injury, and at the close of his term of enlistment was honorably discharged.

When Henry Sorg returned from the army he was married shortly afterward to Miss Caroline Kruhl, a daughter of August Kruhl and wife, natives of Germany, but then residents of Honey Creek Township. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sorg, namely: Carrie, deceased, who was the wife of Marion Farris; Henry, who married and lives in Sauk City; Hattie, who married George Barto and they live 14 mile west of Mr. Sorg; Philip, who resides on his father's farm, carries on the farm industries, and has a family of his own ; Fred, who lives with his family on his farm in South Dakota; William, who is a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Louisa, who is deceased, was the wife of John Baker.

After his marriage Henry Sorg settled on the next farm west of the one on which he now lives, containing 220 acres, which he bought and there all his children were born. He then came to his present farm, where he has 414 acres of well developed land. His main business was general farming for many years, but he also raised fine stock and to some extent engaged in dairying. Whatever Mr. Sorg undertook he accomplished through his industry and good judgment and he became so successful a farmer that many of his neighbors from time to time adopted his methods.

In politics Mr. Sorg has been a republican since he cast his first vote but he has never been anxious to serve in public office, though, owing to his interest in general education he accepted membership on the school board and during the ten years that he so served his sound, practical advice and counsel were recognized as being of great value, both to the school children and to the taxpayers of the township. Mr. Sorg is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Castle Prairie.

Charles Enge. One of the names longest and most prominently identified with Sauk County agriculture is that of Enge. As a family they represent the substantial elements of the Swiss stock, and in their careers they have proved themselves masters of circumstances and have done' much to improve the community while working for their own welfare.

The old Enge homestead in Troy Township, which has been in the family possession for many years, is now under the proprietorship of Mr. Charles Enge, who was bom on that farm in 1869. He is a son of the late Peter and Louisa (Schoephorster) Enge. His father was born in Switzerland in 1831 and his mother in Germany in 1841. Peter Enge, who died at Prairie du Sac in April, 1917, came alone to Sauk County in 1851. His parents joined him here a year later. Grandfather Enge took up eighty acres of land in Troy Township, near where Charles Enge now lives. This land subsequently came under the ownership of Peter Enge, who used it as the nucleus for his gradually extending estate, until now the farm consists of 345 acres. This is owned by Mr. Charles Enge. There was besides 120 acres given by Peter Enge to his son Ulrich, and another farm of 217 acres sold to Mr. J. P. Enge. The late Peter Enge had one sister, Anna, wife of Martin Witwen, of Troy Township.

The late Peter Enge was a very capable agriculturist and also a stock raiser. He raised large numbers of good livestock, including horses and cattle, and was a successful grain farmer. One year he had the biggest crop of wheat in Sauk County. About seventeen years ago Peter Enge retired from the farm and spent the rest of his years at Prairie du Sac, where his widow is still living. They were the parents of four children. Peter Enge was twice married. His first wife was Anna Witwen. The four children of this union were: Ulrich, who is living in Troy Township on a farm; J. P. Enge, of Prairie du Sac; while the second and fourth children died young. For his second wife Peter Enge married Louisa Schoephorster, and the children of this union are: Anna, widow of George Ragatz, of Prairie du Sac; Mary, who died when three years old ; Mary, second of the name, now Mrs. Henry Meyer, of Prairie du Sac, a widow; and Charles.

Charles Enge grew up on the old homestead farm in Troy Township and attended the local schools there. In 1900 he married Miss Minnie Gasser, daughter of Jacob Gasser, who came from his native country of Switzerland and settled in Honey Creek Township of Sauk County. Mrs. Enge 's mother was a native of German5^ Mr. and Mrs. Enge have six children. Clarence, Howard, Carl, Ramona, "Wallace and Robert, all of whom are attending school except the youngest. Clarence is a student in the Prairie du Sac High School.

chairman of the township board, and for the past twenty years has been secretary and treasurer of the Tryo-Honey Creek Creamery. This is one of the oldest and most profitably managed creameries in the county. Mr. Enge is also a member of the Farmers Packing Company of Sauk City. He and his family worship in the Evangelical Church. In politics he is a republican. Since early manhood his business has been that of general farmer and stock raiser, and he is one of the large dairymen of Sauk County.

W. W. Fuller has been a resident of Sauk County since 1882. He has made a success as a farmer and has reared a very capable family of children in his home in Merrimack Township.

Mr. Fuller was born in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, at Milford, October 8, 1855. He is a son of Albert and Keziah (Uda) Fuller. His parents were both natives of Vermont and were very early settlers in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, where they experienced all the hardships of pioneering. His father died March 23, 1860, and his mother married again and lived to a good old age, passing away in September, 1913. Albert Fuller and wife had the following children: W. W. Fuller; Mary E. Black, of Madison; Wesley, who lives at Aurorahville in Waushara County; and Albert, a resident of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. There are also four half-brothers : Curtis Philips, of Sauk Prairie ; Arthur Philips, living at Brooklyn in Dane County, Wisconsin ; Charles Philips, of Evansville, Wisconsin; Wilber Philips, also of Evansville.

Mr. W. W. Fuller was reared and educated in Jefferson County and in 1882 came to Merrimack Township. He bought eighty acres of land but has since sold some of it, and his present farm consists of about fifty-five acres. He has been a prosperous general farmer for many years. For three years Mr. Fuller served on the school board. He is independent in politics and votes for the candidate he thinks best fitted for office.

In Jefferson County in 1877 he married Miss Gertrude Carr, daughter of James C. and Mary (Crocker) Carr. Her parents were both natives of New York State. James C. Carr was one of the most influential citizens of Columbia County, Wisconsin. He located there in 1843, taking up land from the Government. He walked all the distance from Columbia County to Green Bay in order to enter his land in the land office and secure his title. He had the distinction of planting the first apple trees in Columbia County, bringing apple seed in his pocket from New York State. He also originated the plan for locating the county seat at Portage and was the first town superintendent. He died in 1894 and Mrs. Fuller's mother passed away in 1884. Their daughter Hattie was the first white child born on Fountain Prairie, four miles from Columbus. James C. Carr was the first county treasurer and the first county clerk of Columbia County. Mrs. Fuller has the following sisters and brothers: Hattie, mentioned above, was for some years a resident of Baraboo, but is now a resident of Winona, Minnesota, the wife of Mr. Shepard; Mary A. Myers lives in Otsego, New York; Mrs. Fuller is the third in age ; Margaret Thornton lives at Ashwood, Oregon; Jessie F. Baker lives at Lucile, Idaho; James A. Carr is also a

Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have three daughters: Hattie M. is the wife of Leigh Wilson, living in Minnesota,, and their four children are Wardner W., Catherine M., Beatrice F. and Leigh W. The second daughter, Carrie M., is the wife of George A. Green, living at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and has one child, Wallace. Edna K. is the wife of Fred Powers, a resident of Merrimack Township. Edna K. Fuller was for twelve years a rural mail carrier from Merrimack and the only woman who ever carried mail out of that town. She was married January 20, 1916, and the patrons and friends along her rural route held a big wedding in her honor and she received many beautiful gifts from the people she had so faithfully served along her route. About 300 friends and relatives were present at her wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller's children were well educated in the local district schools and in the Merrimack High School. Hattie studied music at home and later taught music. Edna was a graduate of the Lodi High School and took up the work of mail carrier soon after leaving school. Carrie graduated from the Portage High School and the Whitewater Normal School and taught in Columbia County and in Merrimack before her marriage.

James M. Terry. Many of the substantial farmers of Sauk County have passed their entire lives either on the homestead upon which they were born or in the near vicinity, and in this class is found James M. Terry, the owner of 270 acres of fine land in Baraboo Township. Energy and patient endeavor have been leading factors in securing for him financial and general success, and he has made the most of each opportunity that has presented itself, and where none has appeared he has made opportunities of his own. In both general farming and stock raising operations he is accounted one of the skilled and wellinformed men of his community, and as a citizen has been identified with a number of movements his activity in which has testified to his public spirit and community interest.

James M. Terry was born on the Terry homestead place in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, October 3, 1870, being a son of John and Katherine (Dorsey) Terry. His father, who was born in 1834, in Ireland, was still a child when his mother died, and was sent to Newfoundland to be reared in the home of an uncle. There he received his education and continued to make his home until fully grown, developing qualities of perseverance and ambition and carefully saving his earnings. From his youth he had heard of the chances afforded by the United States for young men who were willing to work and who had a fair amount of ability, and during the early '60s he came to this country and located in Sauk County. With him he had brought gold worth about $500, and as this metal was very much in demand at that time he was able to dispose of it for about $1,000 in money, which he immediately invested in a farm of eighty acres, located in Baraboo Township. This formed the nucleus for his later large land holdings. When his original purchase was cleared and put under cultivation lie bought forty acres more, and this was followed by the purchase of the old T. B. Byron Farm, a tract of 200 acres in the same township, and the Spandig Farm of 220 acres in Delton Township, in addition to which he likewise owned the farm that is now the property of his son, James M. John Terry was one of the able and industrious men of his day and locality. From small beginnings he worked out a splendid success, and in its gaining was always fair and honorable in his dealings, never taking an unfair advantage of a competitor. When he died he not only left his children wxll-to-do as to material things, but also bequeathed to them the heritage of an honorable name. Mr, Terry's death occurred in 1908, while he was living at the home of his son James M., where he had lived from the time the house on the old homestead was destroyed by fire. Mrs. Terry died on the homestead in November, 1914, greatly respected and beloved in her community. Like her husband, she was a faithful member of the Catholic Church. Politically a democrat, Mr. Terry was not desirous of public favors, but served his locality well in the capacity of road superintendent for several years. There were ten children in the family: Edward; James M., of this notice; Alice; William; Mary; John; Nellie; Joseph P., who is engaged in farming in Baraboo Township; Ann ; and Gertrude, who died in 1904, at the age of twenty years.

James M. Terry was reared on the homestead farm and was brought up with the idea of his becoming a farmer, being supplied with a comprehensive training all the way through in agricultural work. His education was obtained in the country public schools, which he attended during the winter terms, and when ready to enter upon a career of his own started farming on the 270-acre property which is now his home. This is located in Baraboo Township, not far from the city of that name, and is a well-cultivated and productive farm, on which Mr. Terry carries on both farming and stockraising with equal success. He has made numerous modern improvements, including a substantial set of buildings, and is an adherent of progressive methods and the use of up-to-date implements and machinery. In addition to his farming activities Mr. Terry has several business connections, among them being the Excelsior Co-operative Creamery Company at Baraboo, of which he is a stockholder. Politically a democrat, he was for seven years a member of the township supervisors, being for six years chairman of the board, was also for several years leader of his party's forces in the first ward, and a highway commissioner, and operated the crushing plant for the township, building the first macadamized road in Sauk County, With his family he belongs to the Catholic Church.

Mr. Terry was married November 24, 1909, to Miss Julia David, who was born in Greenfield Township, Sauk County, January 16, 1875, daughter of Louis and Catherine (Bresnahan) David. Mr. David was born in Walworth County, Wisconsin, in 1841, and Mrs. David in Ireland, January 1, 1845, she being a daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Welch) Bresnahan, who came to the United States and located in Vermont in 1846 and five years later removed to Adams County, Wisconsin. There Mr. Bresnahan died in 1877, aged sixty years, while his widow survived until 1896, when she passed away at Kilbourn, Wis- consin, aged seventy-four years. The following children were bom to Mr. and Mrs. David : Carrie ; Louis ; Arthur ; Julia, who is now Mrs. Terry; Catherine; Charles, on the old family homestead at Delton; and Lawrence. Mr. and Mrs. Terry have three children : Louis, John Donald- and Catherine Eileen.

Herman Meyer. One of the solid and representative citizens of Troy Township, Sauk County, is found in Herman Meyer, who now lives retired near Spring Green, Wisconsin. He has been a resident of Sauk County for about fifty years and during this time, through his own persevering industry, has become possessed of ample means, and through honest and upright business methods and neighborly kindness has gained the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens.

Herman Meyer was born in Germany, in 1850. His parents were Henry and Albertine (Jiese) Meyer, who remained in Germany until 1893 and then came to Sauk County and settled at North Freedom and subsequently died there. Herman Meyer was eighteen years of age when he came to America, at that time having little capital except good habits and robust health. He reached Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1868 and stopped at Leland, where he worked for some time. After his marriage he settled on a farm one mile south of the small farm on which he now lives, in the next year moving to the farm of 127 acres on which he remained until 1909. There Mr. Meyer developed a fine property and successfully carried on the usual farm industries. In that year he sold this farm to his son Elmer and then moved to the little farm near Spring Green, one mile north of his old place. He also owns 200 acres of valuable timber land.

In 1872 Mr. Meyer was married to Mary Nichelhouse, and they have six children, all of whom are married except John C, who resides with his parents. The others are as follows : Herman, who lives at Baraboo, Wisconsin ; Elmer, who now owns the old homestead in Troy Township ; Emma, who is the wife of Julius Fuchs and lives in Troy Township ; Edith, who is the wife of William Fuchs, of Troy Township ; and Mata, who is the wife of George Dickerson and lives at Sauk City.

In earlier years Mr. Meyer was somewhat more active in politics than now and his influence was felt in township affairs, and he served two terms as school clerk and school treasurer. The family belongs to the Evangelical Church Association,

Reynard S. Ott. One of the large, substantial and truly worthy families of Sauk County is that of Ott. It was established here in 1857 and has always prospered because of its sterling honesty, its industry, thrift and good management. The family has been an agricultural one and its farms, stock and fine herds of cattle have been among the best in the county for years. The Otts have always also been intelligent, temperate and church-going people. A well known and highly respected member of this old family is Reynard S. Ott, who was born in 1879 on the old homestead in Troy Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, which his father bought, cleared, broke and improved. He is one of a large family bom to his parents, who were Gottlieb and Mary (Hoppe) Ott.

Gottlieb Ott was born in Germany and lived there until he was thirty-five years old. He was a shepherd, a tender of sheep in his native land, but knowing that he could never hope to own either flocks or land in Germany he decided to emigrate. As many of his countrymen had already settled in "Wisconsin, when he reached the United States he also made his way here and secured employment from Wilson Cassel at Cassel Prairie in Troy Township, Sauk County. He worked faithfully day after day in the winter time for Mr. Cassel and on farms in the summer time until he was able to buy his first tract of land, this being forty acres of his son's present farm. He kept on buying land, the most of it being heavily timbered at the time, late in the '50s, until he was one of the heaviest taxpayers in Sauk County, and at the time of his death, March 29, 1914, he owned 642 acres. During early years times were hard and deprivations many. There were no railroads through this section and travel was by stage-coach, and this was also the means by which the mails were transported. He lived to see wonderful changes and to enjoy unlimited comfort in his old age.

Gottlieb Ott was twice married, first, in 1860, to Sarah Helf, who died 214 years later. His second marriage, in 1868, was to Mary Hoppe, and they became the parents of the following children: Gottlieb, who lives with his family in North Dakota ; Mary, who died in 1910, was the wife of Patrick Kernan, and they lived at Donnybrook, North Dakota; Minnie, who died in April, 1917, was the wife of Bat Sullivan, and they lived in North Dakota; Gustav, who lives with his family in Troy Township ; Daniel, also married, lives in Troy Township ; Reynard S. ; Roxie, who is the wife of Michael Hanley, of Donnybrook, North Dakota; Lizzie, who is the wife of Frank Williams and lives in Sauk County ; Elmer, who lives in North Dakota ; Blias, who lives in Wisconsin Emma, who is the wife of Andrew Hansen, of Withee, Wisconsin ; and Sarah, the twelfth and youngest, died in infancy. All the others lived to maturity and attended school at Cassel Prairie.

Reynard S. Ott grew up on the old homestead and attended school through boyhood and then assisted his father on the farm until two years before his marriage, when he took charge and has been farming for himself ever since, his agricultural industries including crop raising, dairying and stockraising, and in every line he has been unusually successful. He makes use of modern machinery, keeps well posted in relation to new agricultural methods and is a very fair representative of the prosperous agriculturist of the country as found in modern times.

In 1903 Mr. Ott was married to Miss Lena Just who is a daughter of Christ and Louisa (Moehlman) Just. Her mother was born in Germany but her father was born at Watertown, Wisconsin, where his parents settled when they came from Switzerland. Before the building of the railroad Mr. Just engaged in a draying and teaming business between Mazomanie and Prairie du Sac. Mr. and Mrs. Ott have had three children, the youngest of whom, Cyril, is the only survivor. Russell died in infancy and Violet lived to be but 3I/2 years old. From a former marriage there was a son, Laverne, who resides with Mr. and Mrs. Ott. Mr. and Mrs. Ott belong to the Evangelical Church at Black

Hawk. Having very strong temperance convictions, Mr. Ott, from a sense of duty, has united with the prohibition party and in the present attitude of the country on this great subject, not unreasonably believes that the time is near when prohibition 'principles will be accepted by every one and the world thereby will be made happier and better.

John H. Diehl. That some of the best farms in Sauk County have been developed from wild land within the past thirty years into a state of rich fertility and general improvement is a remarkable fact when one remembers the tremendous amount of labor such development required. The clearing of 140 acres, as comprises the valuable farm of John H. Diehl, one of Troy Township's most representative and substantial citizens, was alone a stupendous undertaking, but it was accomplished, and practically without help, by its present owner, who also did the entire sum of improving and put up all the substantial farm structures. Mr. Diehl is yet in the prime of life, his strenuous activities having been crowded into a short period, comparatively speaking, and what he has accomplished through his industry may also be credited to a large measure of good judgment and managing ability.

John H. Diehl was born in Troy Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1867, on the first farm north of where he now lives. His parents were John Peter and Elizabeth (Rudolph) Diehl, who were born in Germany. John Peter Diehl came to the United States and to Wisconsin in the '50s and for a short time remained on a place near Harrison with his brothers. He then came to Sauk County and bought a small tract of land in Troy Township, in what was known as the Patterson Pocket. This was heavily timbered and Mr. Diehl worked early and late to grub out the roots after the timber was cut on his place, in the meanwhile building himself a log house, in which he used wooden pegs in the place of nails, his German ingenuity providing him with the necessary fastenings for his logs. He also built a barn in the same way and thus had a home ready when he was married in 1859 to Elizabeth Rudolph, who had come to Sauk County at a later date. They settled on this farm of eighty acres and to this first tract he continued to add until he owned 214 acres and lived on the same place until his death, which occurred September 23, 1883. Although for thirty years his wife had been in poor health she survived him a long time, her death taking place June 7, 1916. There were the following children in their family : John H. ; Lizzie, who is the wife of Fred Schweppy and lives in Troy Township ; Kate, who is the wife of Conrad Laukauf and lives in Troy Township ; Matilda, who is the wife of George Gasser ; Amelia, who is the wife of Martin Mohley; John Peter, a first lieutenant in the present war with Germany ; and Caroline, who is the widow of William Hoppe and lives in Troy Township.

John Peter Diehl, the sixth born in the above family, is married and lives at Fortress Monroe, being a soldier in the United States army and now stationed there. He has a fine record of service in the Spanish- American war and was the brave artilleryman who placed the first American fiag on San Juan Hill. He has been in the artillery division since 1899. Previously, he spent five years in the infantry.

John H. Diehl grew to manhood in Troy Township and attended school here in boyhood. The assistance he gave his father in clearing and developing land proved very useful when his time came to do practically the same work. He worked on the farm he now owns for six years before he was married and for two years afterward rented the property and in the third year purchased it from the estate of Henry Patterson. It is a fine property and Mr. Diehl is justified in feeling proud of the fact that he not only developed it but paid for it without any assistance. He has always carried on general farming and has raised good stock and done dairying, making a specialty of Holstein cows for this purpose. He has grown many hogs and, in comparison with present prices on all hog products, it seems almost unbelievable that at one time he had to accept a price of 2i/2 cents per pound.

Although Mr. Diehl has devoted himself quite closely to his own affairs, he has somehow managed to find time to perform public duties and has served acceptably for nine years on the school board and three years on the township board, elected to these offices on the republican ticket, of which party he is a staunch adherent. He is a stockholder in the Cassel cheese factory. In addition to his farm in Troy Township Mr. Diehl owns 514 acres in Sumpter Township, Sauk County, and 1,280 acres, two sections, in Texas.

Mr. Diehl was married in 1887 to Miss Henrietta Schweppy, who is a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Yoge) Schweppy, who were born in Switzerland and Germany, respectively, and they have had children as follows : Minnie, who is the wife of Fred Braun and lives in Troy Township ; Luella, who is the wife of John Bernhard and lives at Bau Claire; Richard, who now lives with his family in Sherman County, Texas ; and Ray, James, Harold and Violet, all of whom live with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Diehl and their children all belong to the Evangelical Association and the older members have always attended church at Black Hawk.

Albert Percy Steele represents a family that has continuously for three generations and for a period of over fifty years been identified with one farming community in Delton Township. Of the qualities of permanence and stability no family in Sauk County has exemplified more than the Steeles. They have been practical agriculturists, fine business men and public spirited citizens since Sauk County was a wilderness.

The founder of the family in this region was James Steele, greatgrandfather of Albert P. James Steele was known all over Sauk County as "Gran Steele." He was a remarkable character in more ways than one. He came to Sauk County along with the first settlers, and was closely identified with the old settlement of Newport. Doubtless his was the longest life of any man in the annals of Sauk County. At his death he had attained the age of one hundred and thirteen. His vigor and vitality were with him almost to the last. He was past the century mark when he broke a pair of steers to work. He also married his last wife after he was a centenarian, and at her death she had attained the age of one hundred and two.

]\Ir. Steele's grandfather was James Steele, Jr., who married Sarah Ann Smith. They settled at a very early date in Delton Township, where James Steele acquired 260 acres of land, where they raised their family and he also acquired 380 acres , of other nearby land. He also owned a large amount of land around Newport. He had some of his father's vitality and died at Kilbourn, Wisconsin, in 1911, at the age of eighty-nine, while his wife passed away in 1915 at the age of seventy-eight. Their children were: Theodore, who died in 1913 ; Lorenzo M. ; Albert and Ida, twins, the former dying at the age of ten and the latter at nineteen; and Ella, now Mrs. W. J. Hurlbut, of Reedsburg.

Lorenzo M. Steele, father of Albert P., was born on the old homestead in Delton Township, October 18, 1857. He grew up on that farm, attended the public schools at Newport, and was a very successful farmer. Besides the homestead of 260 acres he added another 60 acres, making him a full half section. In 1912 he moved to Kilbourn, where his death occurred November 26, 1915. He was a republican in politics and for many years served on the school board in the Steele District. He married Miss Lucy Anderson, who was born in the State of Iowa, June 17, 1863, and is still living at Kilbourn. Her parents once lived in Sauk County, at Newport. Lorenzo M. Steele and wife had three children : Clara Mabel is the wife of Claud Newell, of Fairfield Township, and is the mother of two children, Genevieve and Everett. Roy Chester, the second child, owns and farms land joining the old homestead.

Albert Percy Steele, the youngest of his parents' children, was born on the farm where his father was raised in Delton Township October 22, 1885, and has seldom for any extended time been away from the scene of his birth and childhood. While learning the practical problems of farming, he attended the school in the Steele District, and since beginning his independent career has successfully farmed sixty acres of his grandfather's estate. He is doing well as a general farmer and stockraiser and has made a capable citizen and enterprising worker for the welfare of the community. Like his father he has served on the Steele School District Board and in politics is a republican.

July 9, 1907, he married Miss Josie St. John. She was born at Lime Ridge. Sauk County, May 29, 1886, a daughter of Herman and Melissa (Smith) St. John. Her parents came to Sauk County in an early day. She was only a child when her mother died and her father is still living in Minnesota. Mrs. Steele was reared in the home of her uncle and aunt, S. Z. and Rachel Hudson, at Ironton, Wisconsin, Mr. and Mrs. Steele have one son, Milton Lorenzo, born May 27, 1908.

Edward Robson. Fortunate it is that so large a proportion of the steady, substantial men of a state and county turn their talents and energies to the business of farming. A farmer's life is certainly the most independent of all others, but it by no means is the least laborious, even in modern times when perfected machinery can be procured for the most toilsome tasks. Wonderful as some of this farm machinery is, there must be back of its great exhibition of energy, a man's mature judgment and observing eye as to climate, weather changes, seed, soil, crop rotation and markets, together with the hundred other important bits of knowledge that will make the difference between the successful farmer and the one who never gets ahead. For three generations the Eobson family has prospered as farmers in Troy and other townships in Sauk County, Wisconsin, a present representative being Edward Robson, one of Troy Township's leading citizens.

Edward Robson was born in this township March 24, 1862. His parents, Samuel and Elizabeth (Lonsdale) Robson, were born in England. His paternal grandparents, William and Phoebe Robson, came to the United States with their children in the '50s and settled in Troy Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, where the grandfather engaged in farming. His children, all of whom were born in England, were as follows: Samuel; Richard, John, Henry and Thomas, all of whom are deceased ; Phoebe, who became Mrs. Relly ; Jane, who married a Wyman ; Laura, who married James Austin; and Eliza, who married Lancing Hildreth, of Madison.

Samuel Robson was educated in the schools of his native land and was twenty years old when he came to Wisconsin. He settled first in Blackhawk Township, Sauk County, in the year of his marriage, and then moved to Troy Township and in 1867 bought a farm near Edward Robson 's present farm. His first purchase was of 40 acres and to that he continued to add as opportunity came until he had 300 acres, all fine, well cultivated land. On that place Samuel Robson resided until 1913, when he retired and moved to Spring Green, where he still lives, a very highly esteemed resident of the village. His wife passed away in 1913. They had eleven children, namely : Edward ; Mirta, who is the wife of Harry Finney and lives at Spring Green; George, who lives with his family in Kansas; William, who is married, and lives on the old homestead ; Alpheus, who is deceased ; Irving, who lives at Madison ; Silas, who lives with his family on the place adjoining that of Edward ; Walter, who married Lizzie Jenson and lives in Iowa ; Elsie, who is Mrs. John Hyett, of Spring Green, Wisconsin ; and one who died in infancy.

Edward Robson was reared in Troy Township and attended school here and assisted his father until he was twenty-one years old, when he started out for himself. For five years he followed farming in Bear Creek Township and then bought the farm in Troy Township on which he still lives, a tract of 240 acres. Mr. Robson may well take pride in this magnificent farm, all well cultivated and well improved as the result of his own industry. He erected all of the substantial farm buildings and they compare favorably with all others in the township. He carries on general farming, stockraising and dairying, these industries being probably of more importance in the United States at present than ever before. He is considered a capable farmer, a fine judge of stock and conducts his dairy according to sanitary regulations.

Mr. Robson was married in his twenty-fifth year to Miss Bertha Becker, who is a daughter of Fred and Mary Becker, and they have six children : Forrest and Jennie, who were born in Bear Creek Township, Sauk County; Gladys and Minnie, who were bom in Bear Creek

Township ; and Gordon and Howard, who were born in Troy Township. All the children were educated in the Troy Township schools and at Spring Green. Mv. Robson's father served two terms on the township school board and Mr. Robson himself served three years as clerk of the board, all the Robsons being interested in educational matters and as a family intelligent and well informed. Mr. Robvson is a stockholder in the Hickory Hill Cheese Factory, a prospering enterprise of this section that is supoprted by the leading farmers and dairymen of this part of the county. With his family Mr. Robson belongs to the Congregational Church at Spring Green and contributes to the good work it is engaged in promoting. He belongs to the lodge of the IModern Woodmen of America at Spring Green.

John M. Paddock is one of the older native sons of Sauk County, and has spent practically his entire life within a few miles of the City of Baraboo. His work has been that of a farmer and with the prosperity accumulated through years of earnest toil he is now practically retired.

He was born in Baraboo Township, a mile from the county seat, June 5, 1859, a son of George W. and Ann (Marsh) Paddock. On both sides the families were represented as pioneers in this section of Wisconsin. George W. Paddock was born in New York State in 1818, and was an early settler in McHenry County, Illinois, and from there came to Baraboo in 1852. He was a practical sawmill man and spent his entire career in that industry. For a time he worked in a sawmill owned by his brother Nathan Paddock, and was also employed by Charles Waterman and John McCalf, both well known old lumbermen of the county. From the time he was eighteen years old he was a sawmill laborer and continued in that industry until he was seventy. He then retired and died in this county in 1901. He was married in Sauk County to Miss Ann Marsh, who was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1819 and died in Sauk County in 1882.

Ann Marsh was a daughter of Joshua and Susan (Parmeter) ]\Iarsh, who located in Milwaukee about 1840, subsequently removed to Lake County, Illinois, where Susan Marsh died, and in 1847 Joshua Marsh came to Sauk County, where he became identified with the frontier conditions and where he lived until his death in 1864. Joshua Marsh and wife had eleven children, named John, Margaret, Peleg, Alexander, Mary, Susan, Laura, Joshua, Ann, Abbie and Edward.

In this connection mention should be made of one of these children, Abbie Marsh, who was born in Nova Scotia, May 4, 1830, and is still living in Sauk County at the age of eighty-seven. She married Henry Willard, who was born at Chenango in Madison County, New York, August 15, 1826. Mr. Willard came to Sauk County in 1852, and was chiefly identified with lumbering. For eight years he mined in Colorado, but in 1862 returned to Sauk County and lived here until his death, an honored old resident, in 1892. He was a son of Rufus and Eliza Warren Willard, who were early day settlers in Illinois, and from there went out to California, conducted a fruit farm, and died at Napa in 1875. Mrs. Eliza Willard had, however, died in Illinois in 1856. The children of Henry Willard and wife were two in number,

Ella and Emma. Emma was boru in Lake County, Illinois, October 3, 1849, and in 1871 she married Nathan F. Sherman. Mr. Sherman was born in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, June 14, 1849, a son of Nathan and Cynthia (Scott) Sherman, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Connecticut. They were married in New York State and in 1847 removed to Rock County, Wisconsin, and from there to Jefferson County in 1849, and in 1855 to Vernon County. Cynthia Sherman died in Vernon County about 1878, and ten years later her husband removed to Sauk County, and died there in 1889, at the age of eightynine. Nathan F. Sherman is a farmer in Baraboo Township, a republican and an Odd Fellow. He and his wife have three children : Willard, born January 30, 1872; Bevie, born January 13, 1875; and Ray, born October 6, 1876.

Returning now to the Paddock family history, George W. Paddock and wife were the parents of six children: Leonard; Benjamin; Arthur; Charles, deceased; John; and Albert. Their father was a very active republican and a member of the Baptist Church.

John M. Paddock grew up near Baraboo, attended the public schools and his first teacher was Rose Clark, now Mrs. Rilsa Morley. When he attained the age of twenty-one Mr. Paddock took up the business of brick manufacturing, and followed that industry for twenty-four consecutive years. In the meantime he had acquired farming interests and has given his time to that vocation largely. Mr. Paddock owns at his home, 214 miles west of Baraboo, a well improved little place of twenty acres, and also has eighty acres near the old homestead. Mr. Paddock's farm is now under the managment of his son Fred J.

Politically he voted with the republican party for many years but lately has been a prohibitionist in sentiment and in action. He and his wife and the children are all members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

In 1887 he married Miss Ella Brennier, who was born in Baraboo Township, a daughter of John Brennier, one of the pioneer farmers of Baraboo Township. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock have two children: Fred J., who was educated in the Baraboo public schools, being a graduate of the high school, and is now active manager of his father's farm; and Ella, who graduated from the Baraboo High School and the Baraboo Business College, taught school two terms, has had two years of correspondence school work and is now a capable stenographer employed at Chicago.

John R. Riches. Some of the finest soil and some of the best crops and livestock in Sauk County are found on. the farm of John Riches in Troy Township. Mr. Riches is a very capable farmer and business man and has spent all the days of his life in this county.

He was born in Troy Township in 1861, a son of Robert and Christina (Burgha) Riches. His father was born in England and his mother in Switzerland. His father died about twenty years ago.

John R. Riches grew up and received his education in Troy Township and then worked for his father on the homestead until he was twenty-five, when he married and started out for himself. After the death of his parents he acquired the homestead and has utilized its fertile acres for general farming ,and stock raising. At the present time he owns 500 acres of valuable land.

Mr. Riches married Abbie Meyer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Meyer, residents of Prairie du Sac Township. The six children born to their union are all still living. Anna is the wife of Walter Maely, of Prairie du Sac Township ; Robert is unmarried and is still at home on the farm; Lona married Edwin Maely and lives in Prairie du Sac Township ; Mabel is at home ; Cora is also at home ; Olive is attending the Prairie du Sac High School.

Mr. Riches has always taken much interest in public schools and other affairs of his locality and for many years was on the school board. His children were educated in the township and in the high school of Prairie du Sac. He is a republican in polities and he and his family are members of the Reformed Church at Sauk City.

William Fingerhuth. That agricultural industries succeed so well in Sauk County may be attributed in some degree to climate and to soil, but mainly to the fact that at the present day the big farms, the fine stock and the dairy interests are largely in the hands of men of farm experience who have been trained in the business since boyhood and understand how to make these industries profitable through their intelligent management. An example may be found in William Fingerhuth, whose fine stock, dairy and grain farm is situated in Troy Township.

William Fingerhuth was born in Spring Green Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1876. His parents are Henry and Mary Fingerhuth. The father resides at Black Hawk, Wisconsin, now comfortably retired from active life. The mother died in 1901. They were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1860, .settling in Sauk County, Wisconsin. The father took up eight acres of land in Spring Green Township. It was wild land that had never known the plow and it took years of hard work to clear it and transform it into a paying farm. Henry Fingerhuth persevered and prospered and continued to reside on that place until 1912. Then he built a comfortable residence in Black Hawk and is highly esteemed in that village. To Henry and Mary Fingerhuth twelve children M^ere born, as follows: Henry, who is a resident of Chicago; Edward, who died when aged seventeen years; Lewis, wlio lives at Highland, Wisconsin : Albert ; William ; August, who is a resident of La Crosse. Wisconsin ; Otto, who lives at Highland ; Robert, M'ho is a resident of Watertown, South Dakota; Carl, who died when aged thirteen years ; Samuel, who is a farmer in Spring Green Township ; Ida, who is the wife of Herman Homouth and lives at Cadotte in Chippewa County, Wisconsin ; and Arthur. All the children survive except the two above noted and all went to school in Troy Township.

William Fingerhuth remained with his father until he was twentyone years of age. At twenty -five years of age he married and began farming for himself, and two years afterward bought 146 acres of land in Troy Township. This land he has put under a high state of cultivation and successfully carries on general farming, stockraising and dairying and is realizing satisfactory profits from his operations. In all he does he is thorough, whether it is in the feedjng and management of his stock or in deciding on soil and subsoil in regard to crops or in considering the great subject of drainage. In addition to his farm interests he is a stockholder in one of the big packing companies at Madison. He is level-headed and cautious as a business man and honest and friendly as a neighbor.

Mr. Fingerhuth was married in 1901 to Miss Anna Meng, who is a daughter of Jacob and Anna Margaret (Thoeing) Meng, who came to the United States from Switzerland and have lived in Sauk Count.y since youth. Mr. and Mrs. Fingerhuth have one son, Roy William. As a family they belong to the Evangelical Church, and in politics he is a republican. He has served three years on the township school board.

August Martiny. Eighty years of age, still active and hale in spite of the burden of years, August Martiny is one of the oldest and most admired citizens of Sauk County. It has been his lot to witness practically all the development of the county during the past fifty years and he lived in close contact with frontier conditions and frontier peoples. His interest in life is undimmed, and while most of his contemporaries have long since been laid to rest, he takes a keen interest in all that goes about him. For a number of years be has lived practically retired in a suburban home adjoining the City of Baraboo.

Mr. Martiny is a native of Belgium, born December 21, 1837. His parents were John and Mary (Balon) Martiny, both of whom spent their lives in Belgium. His mother died in November, 1855, and his father on January 2, 1857. There were seven children: Claude, still living in Belgium; Antoinette, who died in infancy; August; Katrine, of Belgium ; Victorine, who is living in Waupaca County, Wisconsin ; Celestine, who died at Baraboo in 1905, at the age of fifty-eight; and John, still living in Baraboo.

August Martiny grew up in Belgium, had his education in that country, and for three years he was a soldier of the regular army. Fresh from that experience and training he immigrated to America in 1861, landing at New York City on the 20th of May. The Civil war had been in progress only a few weeks, and it was perhaps no m.ore than natural that the young Belgian should be attracted into the Union army. On September 13, 1861, he enlisted in Company A of the Eightyfifth New York Infantry, and remained in service four years, until his honorable discharge on July 15, 1865. He made a record as a soldier which his descendants will always cherish.

The fall of 1865 found Mr. Martiny at Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he remained about three months. In March, 1866, fifty-one years ago, he arrived at Baraboo, and with what he had been able to earn and save from his wages as a soldier he bought sevent}^ acres of land in Baraboo Township. For this land, then raw and unimproved, he paid $1,200, and he subsequently bought forty-two acres for $210. As a farmer Mr. Martiny was busily engaged in converting his waste lands, into productive fields and he lived on his farm for thirty-four consecutive years. In 1895 he came to Baraboo and built a comfortable resi- deiiee for his retired years. In 1912 he sold his farm. Mr. Martiny has always done his duty as a good citizen, and in politics is a republican with strong leanings toward the prohibition cause. For eleven years he was a member of the school board.' His church is the Methodist Episcopal.

On May 5, 1868, Mr. Martiny married Miss Jane "Wilder. She was born at St. John in Lake County, Indiana, March 15, 1848, a daughter of Rile}^ and Harriet (Caldwell) Wilder. Riley Wilder was born near Ashtabula, Ohio, September 17, 1826, while his wife was born in Vermont July 4, 1830. Riley was a son of Reuben and Jane Wilder, who came from Ohio and became early settlers and pioneers in Lake County, Indiana. Harriet Caldwell also came with her parents, John and Minerva (Hill) Caldwell, to Lake County, Indiana, and her parents subsequently settled in Sauk County, in Baraboo Township, where both of them spent their last years on a farm. Riley Wilder and wife were married in Lake County, Indiana, and in 1852 came to Sauk County with wagons and teams, taking up Government land in Baraboo Township near where August Mahoney now lives. They w^ere a splendid type of people for this pioneer community, and besides developing their land they \vere good neighbors and sustained all the movements for betterment in their community. They spent their last years in Baraboo, where Mrs. Martiny 's mother died in 1904. Her father died in 1907, having spent his last years with Mr. and Mrs. Martiny. Mrs. Martiny was the oldest of nine children, the others being named Reuben, Augusta. Mary, John, Martha, Frank (now deceased), Fred and Almon.

]\Ir. and i\Irs: Martiny have six children : Riley, mentioned elsewhere ; Ellen, wife of Adelbert Wickus, of Baraboo ; Charles, who lives in Colorado ; ]\Iary, wife of William Britten, of Minnesota ; Hattie, deceased; and Nellie, wife of C. C. Cowles.

Mr. ]\Iartiny is now living just outside the limits of Baraboo in Baraboo Township, a fine home surrounded with five acres of land, which furnishes him ample occupation for his declining years. This land is valued at four hundred dollars an acre and altogether it constitutes a model suburban estate. The family are looking forward to a liappy reunion and celebration of the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Martiny, which, should they live, will occur May 5, 1918. Mr. iMartiny has many interesting recollections of life in Sauk County covering a period of fifty years. He says that he had shoes made for his children by Mr. Sehultz, one of the pioneer shoemakers of Baraboo. This shoemaker was the father of Fred Sehultz, now of Baraboo, and a well known citizen.

H. L. Peck is one of the veteran old timers of Sauk County, though for a number of years he lived in the far Northwest in Montana. He first knew Sauk County when he was a small boy, over sixty years ago, and he is still an active citizen of Merrimack Village, where for a number of years he has conducted the leading dray line.

Mr. Peck was born in Ashtabula, Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1838, a son of J. W. and Harriet (Bennett) Peck. His father was born in Vermont in 1804, and was married in New York State, where his wife was boru. For a few years they lived in Northeastern Ohio, and in 1848 they came to Wisconsin, which in that year was admitted to the Union, They lived in Walworth County until 1852, and then located in Sauk County, two miles north of the Village of Merrimack. Here the father bought eighty acres from John Dwinnell. It was raw and absolutely unimproved, and one of his first tasks was to erect some sort of slielter. This house consisted of only one room, but during the first year it had to accommodate the family of J. W. Peek and wife and eight children and also his brother and a sister. In course of time the land came under cultivation and improvement and the father spent the rest of his days there. He died in 1891, and his wife in 1878. Many of the experiences of the pioneer were his. His work animals for plowing and hauling were oxen. When his farm gave him surplus produce he hauled it in wagons drawn by oxen to Portage. The ox wagon was even brought into use when the family went to church or attended funerals. In those days the doctor made his rounds on horseback, carrying his medicines in the saddle bags. J. W. Peck and wife had eight children. Ann died unmarried. Marie married 0. Cooper, a lumber dealer at Merrimack, and both are now deceased. They left two children, Frank and Will. The third in age is Mr. H. L. Peck. Jane, who died in 1863, married Thomas Premo. Eliza married Phillip Quigle and is now deceased. George is married and lives with his family in Iowa. Mary died in 1916, the widow of James Morey. Samuel S., the youngest, lives in the town of Merrimack and was the father of five children. Birdie, Hattie, Phillip, J. and Rodney, Hattie and Rodney being now deceased.

H. L. Peck grew up in the primitive circumstances and surroundings of early Sauk County. He attended school in Merrimack Township and lived at home and assisted on the farm until he was twenty-four.

In 1864 he joined the expedition to the Northwest and to the newly opened territory of Montana. He drove across the country with an ox team, and remained a resident of Montana for seven years, living on a ranch and raising stock and also to some extent engaging in general farming. On December 10, 1870, he returned to his old home in Sauk County. His interests were still in Montana, but he was persuaded to remain here and for ten years he engaged in farming in Merrimack Township. In 1880 he returned to Montana, and after four years more in that state came back to Sauk County and bought the land where he now resides. He is now retired from active farming and for a number of years has been engaged in the dray business at Merrimack.

In 1876 Mr. Peck married Miss Harriet Lindsey, daughter of Alonzo and Martha (Dennett) Lindsey. Her parents lived for many years at Prairie du Sac, and are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Peck have one child, Jean, bom in June, 1904, and now attending school. Mrs. Peck was born in New Hampshire in 1849, and was brought to the State of Wisconsin at the age of six years. Her parents located on Sauk Prairie, where she grew up and received her early education. After graduating from the Prairie du Sac High School she taught school four years. Her first term of school was taught when she was nineteen years of age in the Quigle District. Mrs. Peck has a brother and two sisters.

Eebecca is the wife of Peter Bennett, a farmer living at Wilmington, Virginia. George Albert resides at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and has three daughters, Martha, Hattie and Emma. Etta is the wife of Timothy S. Wells, a painter and paper hanger at Merrimack. Their two children are named Grace and Lysle, both still single.

Mr. Peck served twelve consecutive years as a member of the village board of Merrimack, finally resigning that olSce about a year ago. Politically he is a republican and the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Chauncey W. Kellogg. The name of Kellogg has been identified with the history of Sauk County from earlj^ pioneer times. The late Chauncey^ Warner Kellogg became a man of influence and leadership in the county while he lived there and enjoyed an enviable prominence due to his high character, his learning and his general ability.

He was of notable American ancestry. He was New England born and bred, having been born at Northfield, Connecticut, December 15, 1821. His father, Frederick Kellogg, was descended from the youngest son of the martyr John Rogers, who was one of the victims in the Smithfield burnings inaugurated by "bloody Queen Mary" and continued for three years from 1555. Frederick Kellogg was for about fifteen years a wholesale and retail merchant in New York City, but he subsequently cciine west to Baraboo and died at the home of his son Chauncey in May, 1860.

Chauncey W. Kellogg was liberally educated, having attended the Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. He was married October 4, 1846, to Mary Elizabeth Bassett, who was born at Northfield, Connecticut, March 3, 1826, a daughter of George and Eliza Bassett. One of her paternal ancestors held a colonel's commission in the army of George III and was sent to America to help subdue the colonies at the time of the Revolution.

Albert Frederick Kellogg, a brother of the late Chauncey W. Kellogg, had come to Greenfield Township of Sauk County in 1851 and bought two farms, one for himself. and one for his brother Chauncey. Chauncey Kellogg came west with his family, consisting of wife and son George, and settled in Greenfield Township when it was still part of Baraboo Township. He became a successful farmer, developed a large tract of land, and at the same time gave his time liberally and freely to the promotion of enterprises of substantial benefit to the community. He assisted in organizing .Greenfield Township, and was elected its first school superintendent. That office he filled many years. He- served his own school district as clerk and director, and it was largely due to his influence that this became the best school in the township. His old homestead comprised 138 acres situated in section 32, and it is one of the notable farms on Peck's Prairie. Chauncey W. Kellogg and wife were faithful and active members of the Episcopal Church.

They were the parents of six children, (leorge Trowbridge, who died at Baraboo, lived his career as a farmer and also served as township clerk and chairman of Greenfield Township ; Mary Anna and Kate, both at Baraboo; Frederick, who died on the home farm in infancy; Caroline. who also died in infancy ; and Archibald.

After the death of the father and }iiother the family left the farm and ' came to Baraboo. For a short time their home was near the hospital, but subsequently they bought the Jacob's residence at 915 Second Street, where the two daughters, Mary Anna and Kate, and the brother, Archibald, now live. They also own the old homestead and have increased its acreage until it is now 181 acres. The land is operated through tenants. Archibald Kellogg is the only living son of his father, was reared on the homestead and attended pulilic schools. Mary Anna and Kate completed the work of the Baraboo High School. Kate is a talented artist and deserves special mention among Sauk County's people of artistic pursuits. Archibald Kellogg is a republican and he and his sisters attend the Episcopal Church.

Some further reference should be made to another brother of the late Chauncey W. Kellogg, Ansel Nash Kellogg. He founded the Baraboo Eepublic, and during the Civil war he found it almost impossible to secure help in bringing out his paper and finally solved the problem by going to Madison and having one entire side of his paper printed in the capital city. This gave the idea which he subsequently developed and exploited as the "patent insidos" or "ready print" feature which has become so widespread and is now the basis of several large industries. Out of that idea Ansel N. Kellogg realized a fortune. There is hardly a small country newspaper anywhere in America which does not utilize the "patent inside" supplied from large central printing and news gathering plants. At his death Ansel N. Kellogg left his fortune to his wife, who afterwards married i\Ir. Dale. She died in the State of New York and her fortune was distributed among many relatives, five of ' whom resided in Baraboo, nephews and nieces of Ansel N. Kellogg, namely, George and Archibald Kellogg and Kate and Mary A., sons and daughters of Chauncey W. Kellogg, and Arthur Kellogg, son of Albert Frederick Kellogg.

Thomas Schwartz. Among the older residents of Sauk County few are better known or more highly respected than Thomas Schwartz, who located on the farm he yet owns in Troy Township forty-seven years ago. People have come and gone in that time and farms have changed owner.ship time and time again, but the Schwartz family is a steady, solid one, not given to wandering or to frequent change of habitation, and the idea of ever permitting the old homestead to pass out of the name could not be entertained for a moment. Although Mr. Schwartz has retired from its active management he is well satisfied, as he has capable and industrious sons to carry on all the farm industries that he managed so long by himself.

Thomas Schwartz was born in Germany, in 1838. He was married there in 1867, in 1874 came with his family to the United States, and in 1877 settled in Troy Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin. Farming was the business he understood, and as he secured one tract of land after the other he cleared, developed and improved them until he owned 240 acres of some of the finest land in the county.

Margaret, Avho is Mrs. Geo. Lagerman and lives in Milwaukee ; Thomas, who lives with his family in Iowa County ; Henry, who lives with his family at Redfield, South Dakota ; Mary, who is the wife of John Kramer and lives at Plain, Wisconsin ; Katherine, who is the wife of Prank Lagerman and lives in Milwaukee ; Joseph, who lives on the homestead ; and Albert, who lives with his family in Spring Green, Wisconsin. After the death of his first wife Mr. Schwartz was married to Margaret Mick, and to them the following children were born : Eva, who is the wife of Leo Lins, of Sauk County; and Bert, Herman, Agnes, Gertrude, Clement, Alvin and Grace, all of whom live at home. All the children but two were born and attended school in Troy Township.

Mr. Schwartz continued to operate his farm until 1912, having made all the substantial improvements here. He then moved to a comfortable residence- at Spring Green and his two sons, Michael and Joseph, under the name of Schwartz Brothers, conduct the farm industries, which are extensive, including general crop raising, stockraising and dairying, and for fourteen years they have also made a business of raising ginseng and golden seal, medicinal roots, the former being largely shipped to China, where it is an ingredient of many medical preparations, and the latter being marketed at home. This business has assumed large proportions and its development is creditable to the enterprise of the Schwartz Brothers.

In politics Mr. Schwartz has always been a democrat. Formerly he was a stoekholder in the Hickory Hill Cheese Company, but sold to his sons, who are present stockholders in a packing company at Madison. With the rest of the family Mr. Schwartz belongs to the Roman Catholic Church and is a parishioner at Spring Green.

Mrs. Julia Diehl. One of the most highly esteemed residents of Troy Township, Sauk County, is Mrs. Julia Diehl, widow of Henry Diehl, who for many years was a man of financial importance in this section. Mrs. Diehl was born in Austria, in 1837. Her parents were Joseph and Elizabeth Hehenberger and with them she came to the United States in 1852. For one year the family lived at Buffalo, New York, and then came to Sauk County and in the same year took up land and located permanently in Troy Township. The father had 100 acres and cleared his land and did all his early farming with oxen. Mrs. Diehl can remember when the grain was cut with a cradle and bound by hand and the threshing was performed with a flail. She can relate many exceedingly interesting details of farm life of fifty years ago and they picture life on a farm ver^^ different from the present day with modern conveniences on every hand.

Three years after coming to Sauk County Julia Hehenberger was married to Henry Diehl, who was born in Westphalia, Prussia, in 1818, and came to Sauk County, Wisconsin, with his mother in 1853. After marriage Henry Diehl took up a claim of forty acres of government land and afterward bought land until he owned 220 acres. He was a very industrious, careful man and was more enterprising than many of the other early settlers. He carried on his farming operations with success and profit and also engaged in hop growing and raised cane and manufactured sja-up. Still later he became interested in a cheese factory. His early farm industries he carried on as did his neighbors, with little help and with primitive implements, but the time came when in place of the flail to beat out the grain he owned nine threshing machines. He lived to be seventy-four years old and was a faithful member of the German Reformed Church, as is his widow. In politics he was a republican but business affairs interested him more than office holding. He was a fine man in every way and his memory is held in respect in the community in which he was known so long.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Diehl, as follows : Christ, who lives with his mother on the old home farm; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Henry, who died at Plain, Wisconsin, in 1906, and left a family; Louise, who is the wife of Adolph Schoenmann and resides at Madison, Wisconsin; Joseph, who is deceased; John, who lives with . his family at Plain ; Emma, who is the wife of A. T. Braun ; and Pauline, who is deceased.

Mrs. Diehl has resided on the same farm in Troy Township on which she and her husband first settled for over half a century. Mr. and Mrs. Braun reside with her and Mr. Braun not only operates the farm but also conducts two cheese factories. He is well known throughout the township and for several years has served as clerk of the township school board. Mr. and Mrs. Braun have two children, Warren and Hjalmar, both attending school and taking much interest in tlieir studies. They are members of the Lutheran Church.

F. J. Meyer, of Sauk City, is the pioneer dental practitioner of that community. He located there in 1894 and has built up a practice that gives him front rank among the dentists of Sauk County. Mr. Meyer has spent practically all his life in Sauk County and is a member of one of the old and honored pioneer families.

He was born in Troy Township of Sauk County February 2, 1868, a son of Henry W. and Elisabeth (Buehler) Meyer. His mother was born in Switzerland in 1836, and at the age of eleven years, in 1847, came to America with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Buehler. Jacob Buehler located on a farm in Troy Township, and acquired his land direct from the government. His father, Henry W. Meyer, was born in Germany in 1820 and came to Wisconsin in very early days, when Wisconsin was still a territory, and very little land was under cultivation. The Indian trails still ran in different directions over the virgin soil and through the woods, and most of the early breaking of the sod was done with ox teams. His parents had died in the old country and on coming to Sauk County he had his first home in Prairie du Sac Township and found employment at monthly wages on different places. Later he acquired a farm in Troy Township. Frequently he took his crops to Milwaukee with oxen, the round trip requiring about two weeks. He was a very hard working man, following his farming with increasing comfort and success until his death in 1897. He was active almost until the end, it being his seventy-seventh year. His wife passed away in 1913, also having attained the age of seventy-seven. Henry W. Meyer and wife had thirteen children. Those who grew up are mentioned as follows : Andrew, deceased ; Leonard, of Baraboo ; Henry, deceased ; Margaret, deceased; William, of Honey Creek Township; Dr. F. J, Meyer; Elisabeth, wife of C. H. Kindschi, of Prairie du Sac Township ; Jacob, wlio is married and lives on the old home farm. There were still five more children, but they died during childhood.

Doctor Meyer grew up on the home farm, learned his duties there as chore boy, and M'hen not otherwise employed attended the country schools. He afterward entered the Northwestern Dental College, where he graduated D. D. S. in 1894, and at once opened his office in Sauk City. He was the only dentist in the community at the time, and his skill and ability have kept him in the front rank of dental practitioners in that locality.

Doctor Meyer was married in October, 1898, to Miss Rose Witwen, daughter of Gaudence and Mary (Miller) Witwen. Her father came from Switzerland in 1848. Her mother, of English parentage, was born in the State of Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Witwen were born seven children: John, of Prairie du Sac; Elias, of Witwen; Sarah, Mrs. Erffmeyer, of Milwaukee ; Elisabeth, deceased ; Mary, Mrs. J. G. Nold, of Witwen; Rose, Mrs. F. J. Meyer, of Sauk City; and Henry, of Chicago. Mrs. Meyer's father was a carpenter, having learned that trade in Switzerland. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have two children: Lilah, who was born in 1899 and is a member of the class of 1917 of the Sauk City High School. H. Lowell F. Meyer, who was born in June, 1904, is still attending school. The family are members of the Evangelical Church at Prairie du Sac. Doctor Meyer is a Mason and a member of the Equitable Fraternal Union. Poltically he gives his allegiance as a rule to the republican party. For several years he served as a member of the village board and has always been interested in everything that affects the community welfare.

John Rieser. One of the early families to settle in Sauk County was of Swiss origin and bore the name of Rieser, and for sixty-two years this name has represented good citizenship and financial stability. Coming to Wisconsin in its seventh year of statehood, the Rieser family has always respected its laws and has lent its influence to promote temperance, education and religion. A well known and highly respected representative of this family is found in John Rieser, who bears his father's name, the latter being a pioneer in Sauk County. The present John Rieser was born at Sauk City, in 1857, and is a son of John and Madeline (Neiderhausen) Rieser.

The parents of John Rieser were natives or Switzerland, in which country they grew to maturity and married and in 1855 immigrated to the United States and found a home in Wisconsin. The father was a man of discrimination and good judgment and when he came to this state with the intention of following an agricultural life located in its southern part, in Sauk County. For the first two years the family lived in Prairie du Sac Township and then moved into Troy Township and settled on a farm lying three miles west of the homestead of the present John Rieser. which property he bought and improved. Seven j^ears later Mr. Rieser sold that farm and purchased a farm of 200 acres situ- ated three miles south, and started industriously to improve it. He was a hard worker and perhaps overdid his strength, as two years after taking possession of the last farm he sickened and died. At that time a man had to have a strong constitution to successfully contend with the hardships of pioneer farming. He made use of oxen in breaking up the ground and later in cultivating it, and when his fields of grain were ready for harvest he went over them with the old-time cradle. There was, as yet, little farm machinery in the country and some of the marvelous inventions of today had never been dreamed of. John Rieser was a faithful member of the Reformed Church. He was the fatlier of four children: Lena, who died at the age of two years; John; Lena (2), who married and lives at Sauk City; and Lewis, died in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1914.

The second marriage of Mrs. Rieser was to Ulrich Wirth, and three children were born to that union, namely : Bertha, who is the wife of William Radke; Amelia; and Alfred, all of whom live at Black Earth, in Dane County. Mrs. Wirth died in 1910. She was a devoted member of the Reformed Church. She was widely known in Troy Township and greatly beloved because of her neighborly kindness.

John Rieser obtained his education in the schools of Troy Township and has always taken a great deal of interest in the schools and has served continuously^ on the school board for fifteen years. He started out for himself as a farmer in the year of his marriage, buying 280 acres of land, and in attending to his many farm industries ever since has found his time and attention fully occupied. With easier methods in farming and assisted by machinery in almost every step of the way, he finds less drudgery and more certain the returns from his labor than did his father in his time. A careful agriculturist, looking after his crops and stock the year round, has no easy vocation. Mr. Rieser gives considerable attention to raising hogs.

In 1885 John Rieser was married to Miss Carrie Kurtz, a daughter of Gotleib and Wilhelmina Kurtz, who were residents of Troy Township. Three children make up their family, as follows : Alfred, who is married and resides on the home farm to give his father needed assistance ; Clara, who resides at home ; and Ella, who is attending school in Sauk City. Mr. Rieser and his family are all members, of the Reformed Church. In his political views he is a republican, but he is an intelligent and liroadminded man and in many matters relating to local affairs acts according to the dictates of his own judgment.

Thomas Baker. In the many years that he lived in Sauk County the community had no better, no more influential, and no more highly esteemed citizen than the late Thomas Baker, who came more nearly representing the varied business and civic interests of Prairie du Sac than any other man.

He was a native of England, born November 10, 1832. He was reared and educated in the old country. After coming to Sauk County he spent one winter in a school at Baraboo. Mr. Baker left England in April, 1852, and came to Baraboo with the F. K. Jenkins family. That was one of the prominent pioneer families of Sauk County. The only daughter of F. K. Jenkins is Mrs. Judge Marshall, now living at Madison. John Jenkins at one time was a congressman and was chairman of the Judiciary Committee and subsequently was appointed United States Judge to Porto Rico and died in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Rufus Jenkins was a member of the firm of Stanley, Hoag & Jenkins, and his two sons, George and Samuel, were long in business at Chippewa Falls. The youngest son, Walter, was a prominent lawyer and died in Chippewa Falls, and at one time had served as a page in the Legislature. F. K. Jenkins was killed while a loyal Union soldier at Gettysburg.

Thomas Baker after coming to this country clerked in a store at Madison for a time, and subsequently removed to Prairie du Sac, where he bought the shoe store of David Morrill. For a number of years he was one of the leading merchants of the village.

In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil war and in the first year of Lincoln's administration, Thomas Baker was appointed postmaster of Prairie du Sac. In 1869 he removed the postoffice to the old building which was the first frame store building built in the town and stood where the drug store is now located. Later Mr. Baker erected the red brick building which now houses the drug store. He was postmaster of Prairie du Sac through almost a generation. He held the office until 1893, with the exception of the period of Cleveland's first administration.

Mr. Baker became one of the leading republicans of Sauk County. In the winter of 1875 he represented his county in the State Legislature. He was reared in the Episcopal or Established Church of England, but he and his wife were afterwards Presbyterians.

Thomas Baker was married in 1858 to Jane McGinnis. She was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, December 10, 1834, a daughter of William and Jane (Kyle) McGinnis. This is one of the well known families of Sauk County. The McGinnis family in 1847 immigrated to America and settled in St. Lawrence County, New York, and in 1857 they came West to Sauk Prairie, buying a small place Avhere William McGinnis lived quietly and usefully until his death, in September, 1876. His wife had died in April, 1876. In the family of William McGinnis and wife were the following children : Mary, wife of Roswell Johnson ; Alexander, who at one time served as sheriff of Sauk County ; Joseph ; Eliza, wife of Philo W. Carpenter; Jane, Mrs. Thomas Baker; Catherine ; Margaret, who was a teacher for a number of years and then became the wife of Edward C. Hall ; and Lucinda, who began teaching at the age of fourteen, taught continuously for twenty-five years, and twelve years of that time was in Madison, where she was principal of the Second Ward School at the time of her death.

Mr. Thomas Baker continued to live at Prairie du Sac until his death on March 16, 1909. He had bought a fine home in that village, and it is now occupied by his wife and their only daughter and child, Sarah Jennie.

Miss Jennie Baker was reared and educated at Prairie du Sac, attending the village schools and later for two years was a student in the University of Wisconsin. She became a highly proficient and popular teacher, and taught at Prairie du Sac for sixteen years. At that time she was in the primary department, and for four terms she taught on Sauk

Prairie. Miss Baker has traveled extensively, and several years ago she and Miss Henrietta Glarner made a trip abroad, during which they visited the leading cities and places of interest in Europe. The late Thomas Baker, it should be noted, in addition to what has already been said, was deputy collector of internal revenue from December, 1869, until the second and third districts were consolidated in July, 1871.

Julius Balzer. One of the prosperous farmers and stoekraisers of Troy Township, Sauk County, is Julius Balzer, who has practically spent his life in this county and who owns the old Balzer homestead of 156 acres. He was born on a farm in Westfield Township, Sauk County, in 1863, and is a son of John H. and Henrietta (Hill) Balzer, both of whom were born in Germany.

John H. Balzer came to the United States in 1848. For a number of years afterward he worked in the pine woods of Michigan and Wisconson, also worked at Manawa and Milwaukee, and during the Civil war served for nine months as a soldier in Company E, Forty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry. For twelve years after coming to Sauk County he lived on a farm of eighty acres in Westfield Township and on that farm all his children were born, two of whom are deceased but three survive, namely : Mary, William and Julius. The mother of this family died when forty-six years old, but the father was a vigorous man into advanced age and lived until 1910.

Julius Balzer was reared to the age of four years in Westfield Township and then his father sold that place and in 1868 bought a farm of 156 acres in Troy Township, and that still is Mr. Balzer 's home and here the father died. This is excellent land and by father and sons has been well cultivated and from time to time improved. General farming is carried on and some stock is grown. Mr. Balzer 's sister Mary and brother William are also residents of Troy Township and all went to school here and have a wide circle of friends in their neighborhood. The parents were faithful members of the Reformed Church and they were carefully reared in the same religious body.

Mr. Balzer has never been very active in politics but, like his father was before him, is a sound republican and a conscientious citizen. The father served several years as a member of the school board and Mr. Balzer takes an interest in educational matters also. He is one of Troy Township's solid and dependable citizens.

William T. Marriott was the founder and is the head of the Marriott Hardware Company of Baraboo. He is a member of one of Sauk County 's oldest and most substantial families, inherits the splendid business qualities and integrity of his father, and though still a very young man has had a most successful business career. The present firm was established in 1909, and his business associates are William J. Stortz and Edward J. Coughlin.

Mr. Marriott was born in Baraboo December 30, 1885, a son of William and Laura (Sorenson) Marriott. His father was born in England December 30, 1860. The mother was born in Madison, Wisconsin, August 3, 1864, and died at Baraboo in 1916. Her parents were D. T.

and Wilhelmina Sorenson, both natives of Denmark and early settlers at Madison. D. T. Sorenson subsequently removed to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he and his wife died.

William Marriott came with his parents- to Sauk County in 1872. His father, Ebenezer, was for many years store keeper for the North Western Railway Company and died at Baraboo. William Marriott and his brother Henry engaged in business together under the name of Marriott Brothers, and their partnership was uninterrupted and mutually pleasant and profitable for twenty-five years. The lives of these two brothers always ran closely parallel. Both of them died in 1902, within three days of each other. Through their activities in the real estate field they did much to build up the east side of Baraboo. Both were republicans and both served at different times as members of the City Council. These two brothers organized the local telephone company, the canning factory and the Fair Association of Sauk County, and Henry Marriott was secretary and treasurer of the Agricultural Society and treasurer of the telephone company at the time of his death.

William T. Marriott has one sister, older than himself, Ada, wife of V. R. Harding, of Baraboo. Mr. Marriott grew up in Baraboo, attended the public schools, and after graduating from high school was a student in the University of Wisconsin for two years. In preparation for an independent business career he worked in various hardware stores in the cities of Milwaukee, La Crosse and Waukesha, and in 1909 returned to Baraboo and organized the Marriott Hardware Company, located at 112 Walnut Street. The firm occupies a large building, 50 by 80 feet, and in 1914 the business was expanded by the addition of a grocery department.

Mr. Marriott is a republican, but so far has had no time nor desire for active participation beyond casting an intelligent vote. He is affiliated with Baraboo Lodge No. 34, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, Baraboo Chapter No. 26, Royal Arch Masons, Baraboo Commandery No. 28, Knights Templar, for five years was secretary of his Knights of Pythias Lodge, and is a member of Lodge No. 688, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also active as a member of the fire department. His father was a Knight Templar Mason and Knight of Pythias, and also attended the Episcopal Church.

In 1908 William T. Marriott married Miss lone E. Franklin, of Baraboo, daughter of John Franklin, who for many years was a railroad engineer and spent most of his life at Baraboo, where he died in 1914. Her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Franklin, is still living at Baraboo. Mr. and Mrs. Marriott have two children : Evelyn Lucile and Franklin William.