Sisson's Peony Gardens

JOHX R. BLACKBURIV, proprietor of the Blackburn House, i.s a native of Yorkshire, England; his father, Samuel Blackburn, a wool-stapler, was born also in Yorkshire, Oct. 28, 1798 ; his mother, Elizabeth Durant, was born in the county of Sussex, Sept. 22, 1795; they were married May 22, 1823, and had a family of seven children, four of whom are now living, as follows: Amelia, now the wife of Thomas Parkin, and lives in Toronto, Canada ; John R., the subject of this sketch ; William R., who now lives in Clear Water, Minn., aiid Maria E., now Mrs. Leonard Brown, of Fond du Lac. John R., the oldest son, was born May 7, 1830, and with his father's fimily immigrated to America in 1842, and settled at Toronto, Canada, where for the following fiur years his father was engaged in the mercantile business. In August, 1846, the family, consisting of parents and four children, landed in Milwaukee as immigrants to Wisconsin, and came thence to the town of Lamartine, Fond du Lac Co., where they settled on a farm on Sec. 34, which was their home till the fall of 1875, when they removed to the city of Fond du Lac, where they now live ; John R. made his home with his parents on the farm till 1854, when, May 29, of that year, he was married to Miss Abigail P., daughter of Daniel W. and Sarah (Bradford) Potter (natives, her father of Connecticut, born Dec. 19, 1787, her mother of Vermont, born Sept. 9, 1798, who were afterward married and settled in the town of North Chili, Monroe Co., N. Y., where Abigail was born Oct. 27, 1834; and was afterward married to Mr. Blackburn) ; they came at once to the town of Lamartine, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., where he continued farming for five j'ears ; in 1860, he began merchandising at Lamartine, and continued there till 1873 ; he then removed his business to the city of Fond du Lao, where he devoted his attention more especially to the grocery trade for four years ; in the spring of 1877, he removed to the village of Rosendale, and continued mei'chandising till June, 1879; in the fall of 1877, he purchased the old Rosendale Hotel property, a year later rebuilt it, named it the Blackburn House and has since been its proprietor. Their children are Frank W., who married Miss Matilda, daughter of Robert and Mary J. Blair, of Fond du Lac, May 29, 1878, and is now the merchant of this village ( Rosendale) ; H. Elmer, now a printer in Chicago ; Charles R., Daniel Bert, S. Elizabeth, H. Louise and Minnie M., now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Blackburn are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Passage source: The History of Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin, published 1880.

HENRY' C. BOTTIJM, farmer. Sec. 30;' P. 0. West Rosendale; was born in Addison Co., Vt., in January, 1826 ; he is one of a family of seven children, whose parents were Roswell and Elue Bottum, and were also natives of Addison Co., Vt.; at the age of 18, he began clerking in a store, which he continued until 22 years old ; for the next six years, he was engaged in the mercantile business on his own resources, at Benson, Rutland Co., Vt. At Lowell, Mass., July 21, 1852, he was married to Miss Helen M., daughter of Dr. Z. P. and Fannie Burnham, of that city; in November, 1854, with his wife and one son, he emigrated ti) Fond du Lac Co , Wis., and settled on a farm in Sec. 30, town of Rosendale, which has since been their home. Mr. Bottum was Town Clerk of Rosendale fifteen successive terms, beginning with the year 1856 ; he was Chairman of the town for three terms ; in 1868, he was elected a member of the Wisconsin Assembly from the first Assembly District; was re-elected in 1869 and 1878. They have six children - Joe H., Roswell, Perkins B., George R., Sheldon G. and Helen N.

Passage source: The History of Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Rosendale Village - 21,414 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.