Byron Town

Byron Town

The first settlement in the town of Byron was in the year 1889 ; John Case and Oscar Pier, Patrick Kelley and William Stewart, selected a position and commenced the improvement of a neighborhood a little east of the middle of the north line of the town. Their location embraced a desirable variety of rich prairie, warm and fertile oak openings, and a beautiful grove of forest timber, with a small brook flowing through it. John Parsons, arriving direct from England, located upon a lot about a mile farther west. James Balson and Samuel Butler settled in this neighborhood in the fall of 1842. In the summer of 1844, John Potts, with his wife and four children, removed from the State of New York to Mound Prairie, in Byron. He set up crotches, upon which he laid long poles. He used prairie grass for a covering to this rude structure, and hung up blankets for its sides. Here he and his family were domiciled until he could build a house, obtaining hands from about ten miles distant to assist in rolling up the logs. Another settlement was soon after commenced by Hiram Merriam, Jabez C. Clemens and Jonas C. Reynolds, the last mentioned arriving in November.

These pioneers on Mound Prairie, were, many of them, nearly destitute of capital when they arrived at their new homes. They were able, however, to purchase some cows, which were then very cheap in Illinois. They put their cows together for a team ; broke up the prairie land, and planted corn on the sod in the spring. They realized a good harvest, and, although they met with some inconveniences, felt they were getting rich. In 1845, Messrs. Bullock, Churchill and Roan settled in the southeasterly part of the town, and in the month following, Sumner Sweet and Joseph Nightingale came into the same neighborhood. They were joined the same season by several others. Rev. Mr. Vaughn and some friends from the county of Genesee, N. Y., settled near Oakfield, and formed what was called the " Genesee neighborhood."

The early settlers in Byron shared in all the privations and difficulties so common in new countries. They raised grain in abundance, but found it very difficult to get it ground ; the few milh in this region were small and could not supply the demand. For several years the settlers went to Watertown, a distance of forty miles, to get their grinding done. The roads -were bad, and they had to wait several days to get their grists. Mr. Vaughn once sent his son to mill, and told him to wait for'his "grinding; " he was gone ten days. Mr. Reynolds once paid $14.50 for the milling of twenty bushels, and did not think it more than an average cost.

Byron was organized in 1846. William Stewart was elected Chairman, and Orrin Morris, at whose house the fii'st election was held. Town Clerk. Its boundary lines were run by Mullett & Brink during the first quarter of 1834 and the second quarter of 1835. Hiram Burnham ran out the sections and quarter-sections in the third quarter of the last-mentioned year. The town has for its territory the whole of Township 14 north, in Range 17 cast, of the Government survey. It contains 23,122/^^ acres of land. The town is bounded on the north by Fond du Lac ; on the east by Eden ; on the south by Lomira, in Dodge County, and on the west by Oakfield. The face of the country, before improvements began, presented a pleasing variety of prairie, oak openings, marsh and timber land, undulated with gentle ascents and declivities. There is, however, one bold elevation where " the ridge " passes through the town, which, in several places, breaks out with a rugged front. Springs and brooks are frequent, but not as abundant in this as in some of the other towns of the county. The springs furnish some of the headwaters of the east branch of Fond du Lac River. The southern part of Fond du Lac Prairie stretches into Byron. Mound Prairie, near the center of the town, is more elevated, lying above the ridge. The soil is generally fertile and easy of tillage, the more elevated part of the town being dry and warm.

The first birth which occurred in Bj^ron was that of Eliza, daughter of William Stewart, about tiie last of the year 1840. The first school taught was in the summer of 1843, in Mr. Butler's corn-barn, by Miss jMary Butler, afterward Mrs. F. Tallmadge. The first death was that of a German woman, in the summer of 1845. She came into the house of Joseph Nightingale - was greatly distressed ; said she had just drunk heartily at the cold spring near by ; lay down on a bench and immediately expired. Her name or place of residence was never learned. Tlie first religious societies formed in Byron were Baptists, Methodists and Wesleyans. At the first town election, held April 7, 1846, it was voted that the officers chosen serve gratis. There were 34 votes polled - 18 in favor of a State government and 16 against it. At the second election, held April 6, 1847, a motion to allow Orrin Morris $16.50 for stationery as Town Clerk was lost, as was also a motion to allow C. P. Piielps $10 for serving as Assessor. At this election, 43 votes were cast against and 26 in favor of license; 43 in favor of, and 71 against the Constitution, and 43 in favor of and 33 against equal suffrage. Patrick Kelley and his fimily, who settled in Byron in September, 1839, were the first Irish to make Fond du Lac County a permanent home. The first German in Byron was Phillip Bodemar. The first schoolhouse was erected at the expense of five men, in 1841, on land donated by Patrick Kelley. The first preaching in the town was in this schoolhouse. The "Ledge" passes through

Byron, on which, in Sections 20 and 29, is located the M. E. camp-ground, not far from the Narrow-Gauge Railway. In the vicinity of this camp-ground are many interesting natural curiosities in the line of mighty masses of rent limestone and winding passage-ways into the " Ledge." Very large and cold spring* are also found near this spot. The Chairmen and Town Clerks have been : 1846, William Stewart and Orrin Morris ; 1847, William Stewart and D. W. Cruthers ; 1848-49-50, the same ; 1851, D. C Brooks and Franklin Nye ; 1852, D. C. Brooks and Emerson Fay ; 1853, Henry Conklin and E. Fay ; 1854, H. Conklin and Joseph Noyes ; 1855, C. B. Brown and J. Noycs ; 1856, B. R. Harrington and J. Noyes ; 1857, F. Nye and D. W. Cruthers ; 1858, F. Nye and Alfred Bliss ; 1859, J. M. Adams and A. Bliss ; 1860, N. C. Lewis and A. Bliss ; 1861, C. P. Phelps and A. Bliss ; 1862, N. C. Lewis and A. Bliss ; 1863, D. D. Jones and A. Bliss ; 1864, Henry Bush and A. Bliss ; 1865, E. A. Cook and A. Bliss; 1866-67-68-69, Delos Allen and A. Bliss; 1870, D. D. Treleven and F. Nye; 1871, D. D. Treleven and A. Bliss ; 1872, John Bell and Delos Allen ; 1873, John Bell and A. Bliss ; 1874-75, John Bell and Delos Allen ; 1876, John Bell and George Radliff ; 1877, John Bell and D. Allen ; 1878, John Bell and F. Nye ; 1879, John Bell and John Lonergan.

Miss Josephina Meiklejohn, of the town of Empire ; Robert J. ;\ad two infants (deceased). Mr. and Mrs. Willis are members of the M. E. Church. Politically, he is a Republican. He also has twenty acres of land off the west side of the northeast quarter of Sec. 34.

GEOR<irE E. WRIGHT, farmer, Sec. 22 ; son of Robert Wright and Jane Cummings ; his father was a native of England, and his mother of Washington Co., N. Y. His father immigrated to America about the year 1808, and settled in the town of Putnam, Washington Co., where he afterward married, and where his son George was born Nov. 30, 1821. The educational facilities being (|uite limited and (jeorge being the son of a farmer, he was compelled to get his education by attending a district school only throe months in the year, and then had a certain amount of work to do every morning before walking a distance of three or four miles, to the schoolhouse. At the age of 22, he began running a canal-boat on the Lake Champlain & Hudson Canal, which he continued for a few years, then took charge of his ruber's farm in AVashington Co., N. Y., which he managed until 1848 ; in that year he immigrated to Fond du Lac Co., Wis., and settled on a farm of 120 acres in Sec. 22, town of Empire. June 3, 1857, he married Miss Agnes B. Wager, daughter of William and Mary Ryan, nee McGrath. Her mother, after the death of Mr. Ryan married Mr. Wager, and Agnes, being young, went by the name of Wager instead of Ryan. They have had six children - Jennie E., Mary E., Georgia A., Nannie B., Robert W., Bessie (deceased). Mr. W. has been a member of the Town Board for a number of years ; politically, he is a Republican.

WELIilNGTON ABBY, Sec. 20, P. 0 Byron ; born in Canada West in 1840 ; son of Mary and Abner Abby, a carpenter and joiner and firmer ; he was educated in the public schools ; in the year 1850, went to Sheboygan Co., Wis , and, in 1852, came to Fond du Lac Co.; from that time he lived part of the time in Canada and part in this county, until 1861, when he joined Co. A, 14th W. V. I., and went to war and served through the entire war; was mustered out in 1865. Married in Byron, in the spring of 1866, to Estella L., daughter of Louisa and Russell Watrous, a carpenter and joiner living in Oakfield. He owns 120 acres of land, valued at $50 per acre. They have three children - Gaorge W., Burt and Edith M. Mr. A. is politically a Greenbacker.

PHILIPP F. BODA9IER ; bom in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg Sept. 12, 1805 ; son of Cathrine and Philip J. Budamer, a hotel-keeper and farmer of that place. The subject of this sketch was educated in the schools of Germany and learned the butcher's trade; he served in the army of his country from 1826 to 1832, when he gjt his discharge and came to the United States, landing at Baltimore; worked at his trade there until 1835; he then went to Portland, Me., and, after working there until 1837, moved to Ohio; in 1838, moved to Terre Haute, Ind., and continued working at his trade there until 1846, when he came to Byron, Wis., where he has made his home ever since, occupied in farming. He was married in Baltimore, May 4, 1834, to Johannah P., daughter of Johannah and John Markle, a shoemaker, and they have had nine children boru to them - Charles (deceased), Sophia, Johannah (deceased), Matilda, Louisa, Henrietta, Paulina, Minnie and Caroline. Mr. Bodamer is the owner of 100 acres of land in Sees. 10 and 16, valued at $60 per acre. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and is politically a Democrat.

PETER BRILL, farmer. Sec. 8; P. 0. Fond du Lac; born in Prussia, on the river Rhine, April 12, 1811 ; son of Anna and Nicholas Brill, a farmer. The subject of this sketch was educated iu the common schools of his native country, and was brought up a farmer. He came to the United States in 1835, and worked at general work in the States of Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New York, and returned to Prussia in 1842 ; in 1845, he again came to the United States, and located in Byron, buying Government land at $1.25 per acre. Mr. Brill, while a young man, served three years in the Prussian Army. He married in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1845, Mary, daughter of Gertrude and Peter Ki.sch, a farmer; they have three children - Bridget, Mary Ann and Michael; all are married. His wife died in 1852; he married again in 1854, in Calumet Co., Ann Kinal, and had four children by this wife - John, Mary, Margaret and Anna. Mr. Brill is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and is, politically, a Democrat. He owns twenty acres of land, valued at $65 per acre.

HENRY BUSH, farmer. Sees. 7 and 8; P. O. Fond du Lac; son of Charlotte and Dr. Jonathan Bush; born in Lowville, Lewis Co., N. Y., March 22, 1821, his father being a physician and surgeon and a graduate of Yale College. Mr. Bush was educated in the common schools of his native place, and also worked as a printer on the first paper ever published in Lowville, N. Y.; afterward worked on a farm, which occupation he has followed ever since; in the spring of 1844, he landed in Milwaukee, and, after stopping there a few weeks, he came through the woods on foot to Fond du Lac, it taking him three days to get through, there being no wagon-road at that time ; he took up Government land in Byron, at SI. -5 per acre ; his was the first farm on what is called the prairie. He married in West Martinsburg, N. Y., Nov. 25, 1849, Mary Ann, daughter of Anna and Joel Phelps, an architect and builder; they have had three children - -Sedate (now Mrs. Dr. Buser), Alice (now Mrs. RoUin Smith") and Henry. Mr. Bush is a member of the Masonic Order, and is a Republican ; has held the office of Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for several terms ; has also been Justice of the Peace in an early day. Owns 320 acres of land; probable value. $65 per acre.

CHRISTIAN (itEIGER, farmer and quarryman ; P. 0. Fond du Lac ; born in Wurtemburg Feb. 20, 1846; came to America in March, 1869; spent a year in Milwaukee, then settled in Byron, and worked at his trade of mason and in the stone-quarry until the fall of 1873, when he bought the old Oliver quarry and thirty-two acres of land belonging. This is the largest quarry in the county, and one of the largest and best in the State. During 1879, Mr. Geiger burned and sold 16,000 bushels of lime, besides selling $1,200 worth of stone for building sidewalks, copings, etc. This is beautiful stone, and is sold throughout the country, also in Janesville and Menasha, Sheboygan and also in Minnesota; his lime commanded the highest price when Chicago was rebuilt. Married, April 16, 1871, Miss Augusta Schmelling, of Pomerania, Pru.ssia, she coming to Milwaukee in 1868 ; they have four children - Christian, Lizzie, Anna and John. Mr. Geiger is liberal in politics, and a Lutheran with his wife.

JAiflES CORNELL, farmer. Sees. 19 and 30 ; P. 0. Oakfield ; born in New Jensey in 1825; son of Ann and Jesse Cornell, a farmer ; he was educated in the common schools of that time, and was brought up a fiirmer ; in 1833, moved to Canada West, and lived there until 1848, when he came to Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Co.; in the spring of 1852, went overland to California, and was occupied in mining until 1854, when, after returning again overland, he located in Byron, where he has resided ever since. Married, in 1855, in Oakfield, Emeline B., daughter of Abby and Heman Warner, a former of Oakfield; they have had four children - Annie, Jesse, Ina and Fred. Mr. Cornell has held the office of Supervisor, and is now a member of the School Board. Is Republican in politics. Owns 1 95 acres, valued at $65 per acre.

ANDREW GIRSON, farmer, Sec. 19; P. 0. Oakfield ; born in London, England, May 5, 1798; is the son of Mary and Andrew Gibson, a silk weaver; Andrew was educated in London, and is by trade a blacksmith; he went aboard a British man-of-war as seaman, in 1811, and served until 1813; he then came to Canada, and commenced learning his trade in Montreal, living there until 1820, when he went to Platt.sburg, N. Y., and remained there until 1822 ; from there he went to St. Lawrence Co., remaining until 1827 ; he then returned to Plattsburg, and lived there about six years, then to Rochester for eleven years, and to Ohio for eighteen months; then coming to Fond du Lac in 1844, and worked at his trade for seventeen years on First street, in that city; in 1861, he came to Byron, and located on twenty acres of farming land in See. 19, the probable value being $50 per acre; he has lived here ever since. He was married in Plattsburg, in 1821, to Sarah, daughter of David A. and Charlotte Curtis, her fiither being a blacksmith ; they have had eleven children, born to them - Zilphia A., Charlotte. Marietta (now deceased), Andrew A., Polly C, Maria, Jerry H., Caroline (deceased), Emma (deceased), Wallace (deceased) and Bruce. Is a member of the Methodist ilpiscopal Church, and is politically a Republican.

DANIEL DENISON JONES, farmer, Sees. 5 and 18; P. O. Fond du Lac ; born in Albany Co., N. Y., in 1822 ; son of Denison and Hannah Jones, a fiirmer; the subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm, and educated in the common schools of his native place; in the spring of 1824, he moved to Harrisburg, Lewis Co., N. Y., and lived there until the spring of 1848, when he came to Wisconsin and settled in Byron ; in 1855, he returned to Harrisburg, and, in the spring of 1859, again returned to Byron, where he has lived ever since; he has served as Chairman of the town, as Supervisor and A.ssessor. He married, in Lowville, Lewis Co., Nancy A., daughter of Laura and Simon Brown, a firmer of that county; they have had three children - Edwin Denison, born in 1861 ; Leta M., born in 1863, died in 1865 ; Evelyn A., born in 1865. Are all members of the Baptist Church, and politically Republican. Owner of 200 acres of land ; probable value $65 per acre.

FRANKLIN NYE, farmer, Sec. 36 ; P. O. South Byron ; born in Lake Co., Ohio, Oct. 22, 1817 ; spent his early life and was married in his native State; coming to Wisconsin in 1846, he bought 120 acres in Byron, and forty in Lomira, the latter for a sugar bush ; in 1847, he settled on Section 35, in Byron, where they lived for some time in a poor, unfinished log shanty, seeing many hardships, as they began with little or nothing - Mr. Nye and a friend owning a pair of cheap cattle, and doing without a wagon ; in 1849, he sold the first tract of land and settled on his present form of 160 acres. Few men have equaled the life record of Franklin Nye, as he, seconded by his worthy wife, has brought the farm to a state of excellent cultivation, built a spacious farm residence, and all needed barns, etc., earning every dollar themselves; they removed to Fond du Lac in 1859, remaining for educational advantages until 186G. Mrs. Nye was Miss Liva Carrier, a native of Plainfield, Otsego Co., N. Y.; she came to Ohio in 184.5, and was married in September of that year ; they have three children - Sarah E., wife of Fernando Pholps, of Fort Dodge, Iowa; James D., who married Miss Angle Richardson, and is now studying medicine in Fond du Lac, and a second son, George W., who married Miss Adella Nightingale, and is on the hosestead. Father and sons are Republicans, Mr. Nye being the second Assessor in Byron, and serving many years as Town Superintendent of Schools, besides being Chairman, Supervisor, Town Clerk, etc.

I. C JONES, farmer. Sees. 4 and 5 ; P. 0. Fond du Lac ; born in Harrisburg, Lewis Co., N. Y., June 20, 1824 ; son of Hannah C. and Denison Jones ; the subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm and educated in the common schools of his native place ; he came to Fond du Lac and settled in Byron on his arrival in 1849; he has chiefly been engaged in farming and schoolteaching. He married, in Harrisburg, N. Y., Oct. 7, 1849, Marietta, daughter of Elija and Bessie Carpenter, and two children were born to them - Baruch W. and Ginevra ; both are now married ; Sept. 1 , 1856, he was married to his second wife - Mary E., daughter of Edward P. and Lucretia Crary, of Albany, Co., N. Y. Mr. Jones has served in the position of Town Treasurer and Supervisor, and he and his family are members of the Baptist Church. Owns 100 acres of land; probable value, S65 per acre.

PETER KATEMANN, larmer, Sec. 17; P.O. Fond du Lac; born in Prussia; son of Nicholas and Mary Kaufmann, his father's occupation being that of a farmer in Prussia ; he came to the United States in 1855, and settled in the State of Ohio for about one year; in 1856, came to Wisconsin and located in the town of Byron, where he has been engaged in farming ever since. Married in Byron, in 1866, to Bridget, daughter of Mary and Peter Brile, a farmer of Byron ; have had six children - Peter, Matilda (deceased), Martha, Charles, Michael and John. Owns 120 acres of land ; valued, $50 per acre.

AXON KETTLAR, farmer. Sec. 17 ; P. 0. Fond du Lac ; born in Emmerich, on the River Rhine, in Germany, Dec. 19, 1829; son of William and Diene Kettlar; his father was proprietor of a hotel in Emmerich ; the subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native country ; he learned the business of milling, and worked at that trade until 1847, when he entered the army of his country and served until 1850 ; in 1852, he came to the United States, and settled in Janesville, Wis., where he resided until 1855 ; then went to the city of New York, and took passage for, as he supposed, California, but, unfortunately, he embarked on one of the .steamers of the Nicaragua Line, which landed him in Granada, just at the time of the filibustering war, and was compelled to serve in the army under Gen. Walker, holding the po.sitions of Sergeant, First Lieutenant and Captain ; met with many hardships while there, and for weeks lived on mule and horse flesh and a dish composed of boiled grasses and leaves ; returned to New York in 1857, and to Janesville in 1859, where he kept saloon until war broke out in 1861 ; then was made recruiting officer at that point ; in the fall of 1861, went to Fond du Lac, and, in 1862, raised a company of soldiers, and. as their Captain, started for the war; resigned in 1863, and returned to Fond du Lac, and then settled in Byron, where he has resided ever since. He was married, in 1862, to Maria T., daughter of John and Barbara Geartner, her father being a farmer. Their children are John F., Francis A., Louis A., William F., Emma, Mata and Maria L. Are members of Roman Catholic Church ; Mr. Kaufmann is politically a Democrat. Owns 165 acres ; probable value, $60 per acre.

GEORGE H. LLOYD, farmer. Sees. 24 and 25 ; P. 0. Byron ; born in Byron Feb. 3, 1851 , son of George and Ann Lloyd, who came from Queen's Co., Ireland, to America, 1830, and settled in Byron 1848, Mr. Lloyd buying 80 acres, which is part of the present farm, living for a time in the shanty of Mr. Wilcox ; ho built a log house, and began chopping ; cleared the first 80 and added 46 acres in Eden and 41) in Byron, building a tasteful farmhouse in place of the pioneer's log house. He died, April 14, 1871, leaving four children - Ann, Catherine, Mary and George H.; Mrs. Lloyd died June 11, 1876. The farm is now owned by George H. Lloyd, he having added 80 acres more in Eden, built a horse-barn, sheds, etc., and proved himself worthy of his heritage. Married Miss Mary _Klotz, of Eden, Feb. 24, 1876, by whom he has two children - George I. and Mary J. Mr. Lloyd and wife are Catholics, and he, Uke his honored father, is a Democrat. Has a good stock of native cattle and sheep, grade Norman horses and other stock, with the usual crops.

PATRICK KELLEY, farmer; P. 0. Fond du Lac; the first Irishman who came to Fond du Lac Co. to stay; was born in Queens Co., Ireland, in 1800, and came to Jefferson Co., N. Y., in 1817, where he worked for various parties until September, 1839, when he settled on Sec. 3, town of Byron ; he owned originally over 400 acres of land, but has given most of it to his sons, and now lives in Sec. 2. Mr. K. was married, in Jefferson Co., N. Y., to Margaret Smith ; they have had eleven children - Catherine (deceased), Mary (deceased), Margaret, Esther, Elizabeth, Emeline, Eliza, Anna (deceased). James, Peter and John ; Mrs. Kelley is a member of the Roman Catholic Church ; Mr. Kelley gave the land for the first schoolhouse in Byron.

G-EOKtJE B. MoLEAN, general store ; P. 0. South Byron ; born near Toronto, Ont., in 1837 ; son of William and Mary McLean, the former a farmer ; in 1838, Mr. McLean moved to New York State, near Lockport, buying a farm there; the subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of that place, and, at the age of 15, came West and located in Byron, his father working a farm onshares; in 18.53, George was taken sick, and was an invalid for six years, not being able to do anything, and the effect of this sickness left him a cripple in one limb for life ; his father then moved to Iowa, taking George with him ; in 1860, George launched out for himself; buying a small tin trunk and stock of goods, he peddled his way back to Byron, and he has made his home in different parts of the town ever sioce, peddling part of the time on foot, and, after awhile, purchasing a horse and wagon for his business ; for one year, he entered into partnership with John Miles, in the grocery business, at Fond du Lac; finding that this venture did not prove a success, they closed out, and he went back to peddling ; a year after this, he bought a house and small piece of land for a home in Sec. 32, Byron, and has lived here ever since ; he is now running an elevator, in partnership with J. Simmons, and also keeping a general store, his wife - a woman of great ability - running the store ; Mr. McLean has a man on the road constantly, he being occupied at the elevator. He married, in 1866, in Byron, Anna Eliza, daughter of Benjamin and Margaret Van Valkenburg, the former a farmer ; they have five children - Fred B., John C, Viola A., George and Arthur. Mr. McL. has held the office of Town Treasurer for six different terms, and is now holding that office; he is a member of Oakfield Lodge, I. 0.0. F., and, politically, is a Republican.

HENRY l>. PARSONS, farmer. Sec. 4; P. 0. Fond du Lac; born <n Somersetshire England, April 2, 1832; son of John Parsons and Elizabeth Chappel ; his father was a farmer and currier in England, but after his arrival in America, he engaged in farming ; the subject of this sketch came with his people to the United States in 1843, coming directly to Wisconsin and locating in the town of Byron, his father buying 120 acres of Government land in Sec. 4; Henry received his education in the common schools of England, and after living with his father on the farm one year, he went to work for Peter V. Sang, of Lamartine, doing general work, and looking after mails, etc.; in 1849, he returned home and lived with his parents until 1854, when he went west to Black River Falls, Jackson Co., and engaged in the general mercantile business, continuing there for about five years, when he again returned to Byron and commenced carrying on the farm for his father, and has continued to live there ever since. He married, in Black River Falls, in 1860, Cynthia, daughter of Daniel and Melinda Braman, the former a farmer; the family are members of the M. E. Church; he has been a member of the Board of Supervisors for four years, and Treasurer of his school district for eighteen years; has also been a Delegate to the State Convention several times ; he is the present owner of 200 acres of land in Sec. 9 ; probable value §60 per acre. Politically, he is a Republican.

NATHANIEL PHELPS, flirmer; Sees. 20 and 29 ; P.O. Byron; owns 1031 acres; probable value, 805 per acre. Born in Goshen, Mass., in 1826 ; son of Nathaniel and Sarah Phelps ; his father was by occupation a farmer; the subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native place, and was brought up on a farm ; he came to Wisconsin in 1852, and located in Byron, where he has remained ever since. He was married, in July, 1854, to Isabel, daughter of Louisa and Russell Watrous, the latter a carpenter and joiner living in Oakfield ; they have had six children - -Ellen M. (now married), Juliet B., Elmer N., Cora L., Flora" E. and Fred R. They are members of the Wesleyan Methodist, Church ; politically, Mr. Phelps is a Greenbacker.

ALANSON T. REYNOLDS, farmer. Sees. 32 and 33 ; P. 0. South Byron ; is the owner of 208 acres, probable value, .SOO per acre. Born in Genesee Co., N. Y., Oct. 15, 1819, son of Ruby and Philip Reynolds, the latter a farmer ; the subject of this biography was educated in the common schools of Ohio, and was brought up as a farmer; he was the eldest of a family often children; in the year 1825, they moved to Ohio, and, in 1840, went to Pennsylvania; in 1843, they returned to Ohio, and, in 1845, came to Wisconsin, and has made Byron his home ever since. He married, in Columbus, Warren Co., Penn., Sept. 19, 1842, Hannah S., daughter of Daniel and Jerusha Jackman, the former a carpenter and millwright; they have had eight children born to them - Chelsea (deceased), George W. (deceased). Ruby J., Newell D., Warren A., Darius J., Melissa (deceased), and Willie M. George W. was a member oif Co. F, 14th W. V. I., and died in Madison April 6, 1864. Mr. R. has held the oflBce of Supervisor for a number of terms, and has also been Town Treasurer ; politically, he is a Republican.

APOLLOS NEARL, farmer, Sec. 5 ; P. O. Fond du Lac ; born in Palmyra, Wayne Co., N. Y., in 1822 ; son of Mary and Eliphalet Searl, a teamster and farmer, who died in 1824. Mr. Searl went to Jefferson Co., in 1823, then to Lowville and Leyden. both in Lewis Co., N. Y., and, in 1827, returned with his mother to Wayne Co., where he attended the common schools of the place until the age of 14, when he returned to Lowville, living there on a farm until he was 21 years of age; in May, 1849, he came to Byron, and has been a resident of Fond du Lac Co. ever since. He married Philinda Lupher, of Lewis Co., N. Y., March, 1S51 ; she died in Byron Sept. 14, 1862. H-e was married to his present wife March 28, 1864, in Byron ; maiden name was Harriet E., daughter of Laura and Simon Brown, a farmer of Lowville, Lewis Co., N. Y. Mr. Searl has held the office of Town Treasurer ; also been a member of the Town and School Boards. He has had four children by his present wife - Ida C., Emma L., Hattie L., Willie A., and are all members of the Baptist Church. Owns 160 acres of land ; probable Talue, $65 per acre.

WILLIAM SHUTTLEWORTH, farmer, Sec. 17; P. 0. Fond du Lac ; born in Nottinghamshire, England, in 181 1 ; son of Ellen and Samuel Shuttleworth, a farmer. Mr. S. was educated in the common schools of England ; and also learned and followed the trade of stonemason while in England ; he came to the United States, in 1844, and. located in Milwaukee and Prairieville ; also lived in Oakfield about two years ; came to Byron in 1849, and has made it his home ever since. He married in England, in 1831, Anne, daughter of Anne and John Stephenson, a farmer; have had seven children - Mary Ann, deceased ; John, Sarah, Helen, Selina, Samuel and William, drowned. Politics, Republican. Owns 120 acres; probable value, S50 per acre.

ITRIAH STROIIP, farmer. Sec. 4; P. 0. Fond du Lac; born in Roxbury, Delaware Co., New York State, in 1831 ; son of Rumah Peckham and George Stroup, his father's occupation being that of carpenter and joiner ; the subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native State; his father died in 1843, and he came West with his mother in 1846, living in Milwaukee and Dane Cos. until 1849, when they located in Dodge Co., living there until 1864, when they came to Byron, where he has made his home ever since. He married, in 1874, Madora, daughter of Sarah and Joseph Trelevan, a farmer of Byron ; they have had two children - Nellie Frances and George Trelevan. Owns 360 acres of land ; probable value $65 per acre.

PETER WEBER, farmer. Sec. 21 ; P. 0. Byron ; born in Westphalia, Prussia, in 1839 ; son of Doretha and John R. Weber, an overseer of a mine. The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of his native place; at the age of 15, he came with his people to the United States, coming directly West, and locating in Byron ; Peter worked on a farm during the summer, and went to school in winter; in the fall of 1865, he bought his first farm of twenty acres in Section 32 ; he is now the owner of 140 acres in Sees. 21 and 28, where he now resides, and is now engaged in building a handsome new residence. He married, in Byron, in 1861, Harriet N., daughter of Jonas C. and Betsy Reynolds, farmers; have four children - Silas E., Elmer C, Myrtie, John J. Family are members of the M. E. Church ; he is politically a Republican.

JOHN WINDECKER, Sec. 8 ; P. 0. Oakfield ; born in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., March 22, 1802 ; son of Mary and Jacob Windecker, a farmer; the subject of this sketch was educated in the German and English branches in the schools of New York, and w;is brought up on a farm ; in 1833, he embarked in the hotel and mercantile bu.siness in the town of Lowville, N. Y.; in 1851, he came to the State of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Co., and was occupied at mason work, at which he was quite an adept ; in 1854, he came to Byron, where he has made his home ever since. Married, March 27, 1821, in New York State, Caroline, daughter of Olive and John Ralsten, a shoemaker, and soldier of the Revolution and war of 1812 ; have had nine children born to them - William R., Mariette, Sandusky, Conrad, Simeon, Caroline A., and three at one date, all still living and married, Sydney, Sylvester, Sedate. He is a member of the Masonic Order - joined in the neighborhood of 1845 ; was Postmaster in New York for fifteen years ; was also a Captain of a militia company in 1H28 ; is a member of the Universalist Church, and politically a Republican. He resides with his two sons.

Source changes here: from Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin, Past and Present, by McKenna, Maurice, published 1912; 1,197 words in this source stream.

Byron Town

The town of Byron was organized in 1846. William Stewart was elected chair¬ man and Orrin -Morris, at whose house the first election was held, town clerk. The town lines were run during the winter of 1834-5, Hiram Burnham running the sections and quarter sections in the latter part of 1835. The territory of this town consists of township 14 north and range 17 east by the government sur¬ vey and contains 231,123 acres of land, lacking a fraction. It is bounded on the north by Fond du Lac, on the east by Eden, on the south by Dodge county, and on the west by Oakfield. The face of the country before improvements began pre¬ sented a pleasing variety of prairie, oak openings, marsh and timber land', undulated by gentle ascents and declivities. There is, however, a bold elevation where the ridge passes through the town, which in several places breaks out with a rugged front. Streams and brooks are frequent but not as abundant in this as in some of the other towns. The springs furnish some of the head waters of the east branch of Fond du Lac river. The south part of Fond du Lac prairie stretches into Byron. Mound prairie, near the center of the town, is more elevated, lying above the ridge. The soil is generally fertile and easy of tillage, the more elevated part of the town being dry and warm.

The first settlements were made in 1839 by John Case, Oscar Pier, Patrick Kelly and William Stewart, and commenced improvements a little east of the middle of the north line of the town, which location was rich prairie and oak timber lands, there being in the vicinity a beautiful grove and small brook flow¬ ing through it. John Parsons arrived soon after from England, locating upon a tract of land about a mile farther west, and James Balson and Samuel Butler set¬ tled in the neighborhood in the fall of 1842. John Potts, with his wife and four children, came to the town in the summer of 1844 and settled on Mound prairie. His first habitation was made of crotched poles, stuck in the ground, and covered with grass and blankets. He soon, however, had a log rolling, conducted by laborers obtained from an adjoining neighborhood. Another settlement sprang up soon after the arrival of Hiram Merriam, Jabez C. Clemens and Jonas C. Reynolds in 1845; the Bullocks, Churchills and Roans settled in the southeasterly part of the town and a month later Sumner Sweet and Joseph Nightingale became members of the neighborhood and were soon thereafter joined by others. These pioneers shared the many privations and difficulties common to a new country. They had no difficulty in raising corn but were often put to loss as to how to have it ground. Mills were few and far between and as the demand upon them became greater, days would elapse before a settler could return home with his grist. Rev. Mr. Vaughn, who had settled near by, once sent his son to mill and told him to wait for his grinding. The boy was gone ten days. It is said that Mr. Reynolds once paid $14.50 for the milling of twenty bushels of grain, which undoubtedly was an exorbitant price, even for that day, as money was very scarce and difficult to obtain.

Eliza Stewart, daughter of William Stewart, was the first white person born in the town of Byron. Her first appearance was made in the year 1840.

Mary Butler, who afterwards became the wife of F. Tallmadge, taught the first school in Butler's corn barn in the summer of 1841. Soon thereafter a schoolhouse was erected on land donated by Patrick Kelly, and paid for by five men in the town. This schoolhouse also served as the first church.

Among the early pioneers not mentioned were William Stewart, D. W. Cruthers, D. C. Brooks, Franklin Nye, Emerson Fay, Joseph Noyes, C. B. Brown,. B. R. Harrington, Alfred Bliss, J. M. Adams, N. C. Lewis, C. P. Phelps, D. D. Jones, Henry Bush, E. A. Cook, Delos Allen, D. D. Trelevan and George Radliff.

In 1845 a German woman entered the home of Joseph Nightingale in great distress, telling the family that she had just drank heartily at the spring near by, and lying down on a bench almost immediately expired. Her name and place of residence were never learned.

The hamlet of Byron is a postoffice and station on the Wisconsin Central rail¬ way, located on section 27, about nine miles south of Fond du Lac. It has two general stores and saloons, a blacksmith shop, a meat market and an implement store.

South of Byron is a postoffice and station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad on section 32, and is eleven miles south of Fond du Lac. This ham¬ let has an elevator, general stores, farm implement establishment, a creamery and blacksmith shop.

Hamilton is a postoffice and station on the Wisconsin Central railway on sec¬ tion 9 and is five and a half miles south of the city of Fond du Lac. There are important quarries and lime kilns.

Waupun, by the act of 1842, was organized as one of the three towns which then comprised Fond du Lac county - Fond du Lac, Waupun and Calumet. The first election was held at Seymour Wilcox's house, which was then located in what afterwards became known as the north ward of Waupun city.

The pioneer settlers of this town exercised foresight and splendid judgment in selecting a locality for future homes. The climate is healthful, the soil very productive and the topography of the country beautiful and pleasing to the eye. Originally there was considerable marsh, most of which has been drained and the fertile soil composes well cultivated and productive farms, upon which are buildings which harmonize with the rapid progress of the country. At the time of the first settlements there were many tracts of very line timber land and the community generally was well watered and drained by branches and tributary streams of Rock river. There are many schools in good condition, and churches, three of which are in the north part of the town, creameries and cheese factories. Grain-raising, fruit-growing, dairying, cheese-making and stock-raising are all profitable industries in the town of Waupun.

The first settlement in the town was made on the site of what is now the city of Waupun and was named by Seymour Wilcox in the fall of 1838. A more extended description will be given in the chapter relating to the city. Here also were the first mills, hotel, postoffice, church, school and store, and the city is practically the history of the town. The first settlement outside of the city was on Wedge's prairie in April, 1845, by Benjamin Cheeney. That same season J.

C. Wedge and Warren Florida entered land in the same locality, of what has since ' borne the name of Wedge's prairie. In the following October Deacon James Judd settled with his family in the western portion of the town. White's prairie was settled by Solomon White early in 1845.