Janesville City (part 5 of 5)

REV. HENRY SEWELL, Pastor of First Methodist Episcopal Church; born in England Sept. 11, 1832 ; spent boyhood in Madison, N. J. ; removed to New York at tlie age of 15, and remained there till coming West in 1852 ; was educated at Scherrill's Classical Seminary, at Madison, N. J., and is also a graduate of the High School in the same place ; was foreman and salesman in an extensive umbrella and parasol house in New York City for six years ; was farming four years in Rock Co. Married Elizabeth Demke, of New York City, Dec. 6, 1854; she was born Jan. 19, 1835; they have four children - - Henry A. and William A. are twins, born Sept. 30, 1855, and are now in business in Oconomowoc ; Robert, born March 11, 1859. is now in the Star Clothing house, Milwaukee; Ellsworth B. was born Juno 28, 1861, and is now clerk in Stockton's dry-goods store. Mr. S. joined the Wisconsin Conference in 1858, traveled one year, then rested one year; was ordained Deacon by Bishop Ames, at Whitewater, Wis., in 1859, and ordained Elder by Bishop Scott. Mr. S. has been Pastor of the following charge < ; Orfordville, Utter's Corners, Emerald Grove, Sun Prairie, Lake Mills, Oconomowoc, Columbus, Milwaukee and Janesville.

T22 Biouraphical Sketches

JOHN B. SIIiSBEE, of Silsbee Commercial College; born in Barrington, Yates Co.. N. Y.' Nov. 14, 1837; resided there till 1840, when his parents removed to Minisink, Orange Co., where they remained until ho was 12 years of age; they then removed to Tyrone, Schuyler Co., N. Y., and remained there until they came to Winnebago Co., Wis., in 1857. Mr. S. was educated in different schools and academies and at Kipon College, and studied in the latter institution two years and a half; he taught in different towns of Wisconsin several years ; was Principal of high school at Manitowoc ; Principal of high school at Two Rivers; Principal of high school at De Pere; served five months in 21st Wis. Vol. Cav., and was discharged on account of disability ; he was one year one of the proprietors of the Green Bay Business College, after leaving the high school at De Pere ; he then bought the Fond Du Lac Business College, which he conducted until he came to Janesville, in 1875; the college was incorporated April 23, 1877, the corporators being composed of many of the leading citizens of Janesville. Prof. Silsbee married Harriot J. Knapp, daughter of D. B. Knapp, of Rockford, Manitowoc Co., Wis., Nov. 29, 1860 ; she was born near Lake George, N. Y. ; have five children - Arthur W., Flora M. ; Hattie E. ; Homer K. and Laura Lee. jMr. and Mrs. S. are members of the Congregational Church.

S191E01V SmilONS, flxrmer, Sec. 10; P. 0. Janesville; born in Harmony Townahip, Eock Co., March 20, 1848; is son of Alfred Simmons, of Harmony, who settled there about 1845. Married Miss Carrie Davies, daughter of Cyrus Davies, of Janesville ; had two children, both now deceased - Edna May, born Feb. 15, 1877, died 1879; Simeon, born March 21, 1873, died in 1873. They attend the United Brethren Church.

HEIVRY SliAWSON, farmer, Sec. 7 ; P. 0. Leyden ; came to Wisconsin in 18,46, locating in Walworth Co.; livtd there five years; removed to Harmony Township; tame and settled in township of Janesville on land he now occupies in 1858; born in Albany Co., N. Y.; in 1810. Married Jane Black, a native of New York, in 1842 ; she died in 1848, leaving seven children - Sullivan, James, George, Amelia, Lorinda, born 1852, died 1877 ; Julia, Frerelyon. Married as second wife, Sarah Higgins, a native of Lowell, Mass., in 1859, who died in 1862 ; they had two children - Eugene and Lorinda. Married his third wife, Jane Virgin, a daughter of Mr. Johnston Virgin, of Rook Co. ; they have two boys and two girls - WilHam, Harry, Effa and Nellie. Has been Constable and Postmaster one term each ; is Director of School Board at present. Owns 1 1 2 acres ; raises grain and corn and stock for the Chicago and Blilwaukee markets.

A. HYATT SiVIITH. The history of A. Hyatt Smith is, in a large measure, the history of the State of Wisconsin, and more especially of its incipient railroad system, with which he has been largely connected.

He was born in New York City, February 5, 1814, and is the son of Maurice and May (Reynolds) Smith, natives of Westchester County, N. Y. His grandfather was one oF the unfortunate " Sugar House prisoners," as was also his maternal grandfather.

In 1826, his father resumed his old business of merchandising in New York, but died suddenly on the anniversary of Washington's birthday, in 1828, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, leaving a family of six children (a seventh was born about a month after his decease). He died young, though the family were proverbially long-lived, his father having died in his eighty-ninth year. On the death of her husband, Mrs. Smith removed to the neighborhood of Auburn, where her father's family resided, while our subject r<>maincd in the city with his guardian, James Smith, a relative and a lawyer of eminence, who, having sett^led the question of his ward's profession, held to the theory that the place to make a lawyer was in a lawyer's office, and, at the age of 14, under the rules of the Supreme Court, the name of A. Hyatt Smith was registered with the Clerk of the Supreme Court as a student-atlaw. He completed his education at Mount Pleasant.Seminary, then under the management of Rev. Samuel J. Prime, father of the present editor of the New York Observer, and was admitted to practice in the city courts in the summer of 1835, to the Supreme Court of the State in 1836, and immediately entered upon a large and lucrative practice in partnership with his former preceptor. For six years, he worked unremittingly, without sufficient time for sleep or rest, which so impaired his health that he was advised that the only way to save his life was to move away from the sea-coast. Accordingly, in 1842, he resolved to abandon his business, and move to Wisconsin, which he had previously visited on business, and, on the 22d of November, arrived in Janesville daring a tremendous snow-storm, and, being informed that the land on the west side of the river was for sale, purchased it, with a view to the improvement of the water-power, taking several other parlies into the transaction to gain monetary aid in making, the improvement. On the 1st of April, 1843,'l.he Territorial Legislature granted a charter to A. Hyatt Smith, William H. H. Bailey and Cliarles Stevens, conferring the right to dam Rock River, and utilize the power thus derived. Both of these last-named gentlemen, however, withdrew, and he subsequently associated with himself James MoClurg, of Western

New York; Martin 0. Walker, of Chicago, and J. B. Doe, of Janesville, and, on the 6th of January, 184G, commeneed the construotion of a mill, the lar^'est then west of the lakes, which commenced operatin;;; in the following summer, and gave Janesville, which had tli^n a population of but four hundred, its first substantial impetus.

In the summer of 1847, Mr. Smith, although a Democrat, was elected to the first convention to frame a State constitution, to represent a constituency, which, up to that time, had been largely Whig, and succeeded in preparing a report which was unanimously recommended by the committee and adopted by the convention.

In 183G, he was appointed to the oflBoe of Commissioner of Deeds in the city of New York, by nomination of Gov. Marcy and confirmation of the Senate ; from this office he was removed by Gov. Seward, who .succeeded Gov. Marcy. As above related, he was a member of the first Constitutional Convention of Wisconsin. In 1847, he was appointed by Gov. Dodge and confirmed by the Legislative Council Attorney General of the Territory, and held the oflioe until after the State was admitted into the Union. In 1848, he was appointed United States Attorney by PrcsidentPolk, and held the office until the accession of the Taylor administration. On the organization of the city of Janesville, in 1853, he was elected its first Mayor, and, in 1857, he was elected to the same position, against bis will. In 1851, while absent from the country in England, he came within two votes of receiving the Democratic nomination for Governor, without his knowledge or consent; and, again, in 1853, he stood for a long time within two votes of a nomination for the same office, but withdrew in favor of Barstow, who was elected. He was for many years Regent of the State University at Madison, having been elected from year to year by the Legislature without regard to party.

In 1847, he organized a company to build a plank road from Milwaukee to Janesville, apd endeavored to induce the people of Milwaukee to unite with him in organizing under a railroad charter which he then controlled, but the hostility became so bitter, personal and local, as to be absolutely intolerable, and, after about six years of hard work - the best years of his life given to the public without any profit but at a sacrifice of .several hundred thousand dollars of his private fortune - he did what he has not since ceased to regret, resigned, and let his franchises fall into the hands of Wall street speculators.

He was the owner of landed property in Janesville and Chicago, valued at over a million of dollars, most of which was sacrificed in the payment of these and other complications growing out of his railroad transactions. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that he should become strongly impressed with the idea that the man who undertakes a public improvement, from pure public spirit and enterprise, is a fit subject for a lunatic asylum. Mr. Smith is still in the enjoyment of his mental faculties, and has great cause for thankfulness, in one direction at least - he has never been tempted to relieve himself of any of his obligations by the aid of a bankrupt law ; he has paid every claim, to the uttermost, for which he became officially responsible.

He lost largely in the Chicago fire, of 1871, and, added to this, came sickness and distress in his family, until it seemed as if the afflictions of the patriarch Job were trifling as compared with his. But, notwithstanding the avalanche of misfortune which lighted upon his head and the waves of trouble that rolled over him, he is to-day as hopeful and happy a man as lives in Janesville ; and, with an energy peculiar to men of real ability, he has set himself the task of retrieving his fortune, in which, it is superfluous to say, wc wish him the utmost success.

HehasbeenformanyyearsaleadingmemberofthecoagregationofTrinity Church, Janesville. In politics, he has always been Democratic ; his flrst vote was cast for Martin Van Buren, and he was an earnest politician long before he was a voter. On the 4th of April, 1838, he was married, in St. Paul's Church, New York, by the Rev. Martin Eastburn, to Miss Ann Margaret Cooper Kelly, a native of Philadelphia and daughter ot Philip Kelly. The fruit of his union with Miss Kelly was eight children, four sons and four daughters, five of whom died in infancy and three survive - James Maurice, May C. and Ann Kate; the last named is the wife of Charles A. Patter.son. of Janesville.

ERASTIIS C. SMITH, Janesville; born in 1810 ; came to Rook Co. in 1846 from Oneida Co., N. Y. ; lived in Clinton Co. ten years, in western part of the county ; was Postmaster three years ; elected to State Legislature in 1849 ; held offices of Assessor, Treasurer and Justice of the Peace ; was County Treasurer of Rock Co. two years ; School Commissioner two years. Married, in Oneida Co., 1839, Mary E. Blakoslee ; one daughter - Orrie M. Predenhall, whose daughter is Alice M. Allen.

S. W. SMITH, President of the Rock County National Bank; came to Janesville in 1843 ; engaged in mercantile business until 1854; from 1848 to 1854, he also carried on flouring-mills, and has extensively engaged in farming ever since he came here ; in 1855, he engaged in banking business, and has been in the same business ever since ; connected with the Rock County Bank at the time of its organization and has continued with that and its successor, the Kock County National Bank, ever since ; the best evidence oF his sagacity as a financier is the fact that his institution has passed successfully through all the panics and vicissitudes of hard times.

NICHOLAS SMITH was born Oct. 31, 1836 or 1837, at Blackburn, Enghmd, His mother died in October, 1840, and the next year, he and his elder brother James, came to this country with an aunt, who ^fcttled at Pall River, Mass. ^ His father followed a year later, and found employment as a cotton weaver in that city. In the fall of 1844, he emigrated West, locating near Fair Play, Grant Co., in this State. In a few months after, Nicholas entered the family of a firmer named James Virden, to whom he was bound until he should reach his majority. His father remarried in 1847, when Vir.len relinquished all further claim to young Smith's services, and he went to live with his father, at Hazel Green, Grant Co. At the age of 11, he was put to work with his brother James in the lead mines. In 1849, the family removed to La Fayette Co., near Benton, where, for eleven years, the subject of this sketch worked on the farm in summer, and in the lead mines in the winter. He became a practical miner, learning thoroughly ull the details of the business, from running the windlass to sinking shafts, and managing the most difficult feats of blasting. In the fall and winter of 1860 and 1861, he taught a country school for f 12 per month. In April, 1861, he entered the law office of Hon. John K. Williams, of Shullsburg, with a view of preparing himself for the legal profession. Never having attended school, and his education being comparatively limited, he found much difficulty in attempting to master Blackstone and Kent's commentaries. He worked hard, however, and though doing a vast amount of office work, he was admitted to the bar in April, 1862, which was an ill-timed step, but taken at advice of his friends. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the 33d Wis. Inf , and on the 14th of the same month, married J. Clara, the second daughter of the late Dr. Moses Meeker, of Meeker's Grove, Lafayette Co. While in camp at Eacine. he was commissioned 2d Lieu-, tenant of Co. H. On the 12th of November, 1862, the regiment started for Memphis, Tenn., and took part in the Oxford and Holly Springs campaigns. In April, 1863, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and immediately after the siege of Vicksburg, to Captain of Co. H. In August, 1863, he was appoint d Acting Assistant Adjutant General on Col. Pugh's staff, who commanded the 1st Brigade of the 4th Division of the 17th Corps, but ho declined the appointment. Mr. Smith served in the 33d until January, 1865, when, in consequence of an injury in the foot, he was compelled to resign. He returned to Shullsburg, became Mr. Williams' law partner, and, in April, 1866, settled in Prairie du I'hien, and entered the office of Hon. 0. B. Thomas, as partner. Being convinced that he; was not " cut out " for a lawyer, and disliking the court business, he abandoned the profession. In 1867, was appointed Deputy Collector of Interna] Revenue, a position he held till July, 1868, when he went to Waukesha, and edited and published the Waukesha Freeman until May, 1870, when he was strongly urged to return to Prairie du Chien, and e'iit the Union. He bought that paper, and edited it until September, 1874, when he became city editnr of the Janesville Daily Gazette, and on the 1st day of January, 1878, he succeeded Gen. James Bintliif as editor of that paper. At the sessions of the Legislature, in 1871 and 1872, he was Clerk of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and during ten sessions was the correspondent of the Milwaukee Sentiiid, During the first session of the XLIIId Congress, he was the Washington correspondent for that paper. Mr. Smith's family consists of three children - Paulina Lorena, Jesse Florence and Marshall Denison. Charles Fenton died April 26, 1874, aged 6 years.

WILdilAM SmTH, attorney; was born near Dover, Canada, May 1, 1841, while his parents, natives and citizens of Now York, were temporarily sojourning there; came to Rock Co. in September, 1841; educated at Milton College; admitted to the bar in 1865; commenced practice in Janesville the same year ; came to this city in April, 1864. He was for two years Justice of the Peace, and four years Police Justice. Mr. Smith married Louise M. Steele at Janesville, April 9, 1868 ; she was born at Buffalo, N. Y. They have one child - Evalyn Louise, born Julv 15, 1872.

JOHIV SBfYDER, farmer. Sec. 16; P. 0. Janesville; born in Austria in 1852; came to America in 1871, settling in township of Harmony; in 1875, commenced operations for himself on a farm owned by Mr. Sexton, of about 160 acres; raises principally corn, oats and tobacco. Married Mss Anne Zuernon in 1871, also a native of Austria; have one daughter - Amelia, born Feb. 12, 1879. His father, Francis Snyder, lives on farm with him.

FRAXK a. STEVEIVS, manufacturer of cigars and cig.ir boxes; born in Janesville Sept. 25, 1849 ; son of Charles and Eliza Stevens ; Charles Stevens came to Janesville in the spring of 1837 ; he was proprietor of a siw-mill and a hotel for many years and was one of the most prominent and bestknown citizens of this region. He represented this district one term in the State Legislature. Died July 13, 1863; Mrs. Stevens died when Frank was only about 4 years of age. The subject of our sketch served three years in the Quartermaster's Department with the Army of the Tennessee. For three years.

he was with the firm of Morse, Hanson & Co., furniture manufacturers, of .Tanesvllle ; he was three years in the circus and menagerie business; afterward, for two vears, tie was with H. S. Woodruff & Co., buckle manufacturers, of this place; since 1876, he has been successfully engaged in his present business. On the 2tith of April, 1875, he married Miss Etta King, a native of Michigan; they have one child - Ina May, born May 1, 1876.

STEARNS & BAKER, druggists ; Henry C. Stearns learned the drug business in Tarrytown, N. Y. ; came to Chicago in 1869, and was in the drug business there five years; in 1874, came to Janesvilie, and has been in the same business since that time. Married Julia A. Joy, daughter of Hon. David Joy, of I^indlay, Ohio, Oct. 27, 1875 ; she was born in Mannsville, Jeflferson Co., N. Y. Mr. S. was alone in business here until October, 1878, when the partnership of Stearns & Baker was formed.

REV. JOHN ST. MUNICH, P. P. of St. Mary's Church; born Dec. 27, 1833, in Germany; came to America in 1847, and lived in Belleville, 111., ten years; graduated at St. Vincent College, Cape G-irardeau, Mo., in 1862; was ordained at Milwaukee in 1864; was priest of St. Louis' Church at Caledoni;i, Wis., also presided over Oak Creek and East Caledonia Missions at same time ; was here three years, then presided at Hartford, Washington Co., Wis., five years, and next at Brighton, Kenosha Co., five years, then came to Janesvilie and founded the church of St. Mary's, over which he now presides.

(jrEORGrE STOCKTON, dry-goods merchant ; a native of Williamsburg, Ohio, where he had the advantages of a commercial education and a sufiicient amount of practical experience in his father's store to give him, at an early ajje, an insight into the business of a merchant ; he went to New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and other large cities, where he took mental notes of the manner iji which the dry-goods trade was conducted, visiting the famous establishment of A. T. Stewart ; he came to Janesvilie in 1877, young in years, but old in experience, and established himself in the dry-goods business on Milwaukee street, West Side ; it was supposed by some of the old-established merchants that the business was already overdone in Janesvilie, and Mr. Stockton was given six months to regret his venture ; two years have passed, and instead of suspending, he has been compelled to increase his stock on several occasions ; he now employs three assistants ; the respectable appearance of the class of patrons he has drawn about him, speaks volumes for tlie quality of his goods and his mode of dealing with his customers ; he is what may be termed a modern man, alive to the requirements of the age.

JAMES W. ST. JOHN, physician and surgeon; son of Levi and Sarah T. St. John, who came to Janesvilie in the spring of 1836 ; Levi St. John engaged in farming here, his farm being within what is now the city of Janesvilie; he died here in October, 1861 ; his wife died in September, 1872; the subject of this sketch was born in Janesvilie Oct. 30, 1839 ; he was engaged in farming pursuits until 18 years of age; he then went tu Castleton, Vt., and attended the Seminary at that place one year; afterward, returned to Janesvilie and attended the High School, from wliich he graduated ; in 1859, he fcommencod the study of medicine. He was for six months in the United States Service as medical cadet during the late rebellion, Memphis, Tenn., being department headquarters while he served, his duties being at Memphis and vicinity. The Doctor graduated from the Chicigo Medical College, Class of 1865. He held the office of Mayor of Janesvilie in 1875 and 1876, and is now serving gecond year as President of the Board of Education. Feb. 6, 1873, he married Mary E., daughter of Ivers Gibbs, of Worcester, Ma~s. ; she was born in Vermont, but her parents removed to Worcester when she was a child.

JAMES SUTHERLAND ; was born in Smithfield Township, Jefferson Co., Ohio, on the 20th day of March, 1820 ; his earlier years were spent on his father's farm ; he received his education mainly at the Ashland Academy and the Norwalk Seminary, institutions of learning in his native State ; he taught school in the winter season, in order to obtain means with which to attend school during the summer ; owing to a failure of health from too close confinement to study, he was compelled to give up his cherished object of going through a regular collegiate course of study. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Withingion, in December, 1846, and in the spring of 1847, they emigrated to Rock Co., Wis. ; he took up a temporary residence in the town of Rock, but, in the fall of the same year, settled permanently in the village of Janesvilie, where he has ever since made his home ; in the spring of 1848, he opened a book and stationery store, which, though small at the time, has since grown to he among the largest in the State. Mr. Sutherland has always manifested a deep interest in all public enterprises which could advance the material prosperity of his adopted city, the county of Rock and the State at large ; he has, therefore, willingly contributed, according to his ability, lo aid in the construction of the railroads now centerino- in Janesvilie, and also for the building-up the manufacturing establishments, which have given a new impulse to the growth and prosperity of the place ; the year prior to his marriage he spent mainly in the Southern States ; it was while there, and witnessing the abominations growing out of the institution of slavery, that ho resolved within himself that in after life his best efforts should be pui forth to breik the bonds of the oppressed, and to restore the enslaved to their Grod-givcn rights; accordingly, he early espoused the Antislavery cause, and was present at the mass convention which organized the Republican party in this State, iind has ever been a warm advocate, both in public and in private, of its cardinal doctrines. Whatever cause, in his opinion, would lift humanity up into a higher and better life, he has never been afraid to advocate ; on the formation of the Rock County Bible Society, in the year 1848, he was elected its Treasurer, which office he has held the greater part of the time during its history; he has also served the Society in the capacity of Director, Secretary and President; it is doing no injustice to any officer of that Society to say that its business has been directed largely by his efforts, and that is beneficial results may be ,traced, in a good degree, to his untiring energy in the Bible cause : he devotes a due proportion of his time to church and Sunday-school work, and has been unanimously elected for the last ten years Treasurer of the Young Men'g Christian Association ; history has been one of the cherished studies of his life ; accordingly, lie has taken a deep interest in the success of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, by contributing toward its support; he is a life-member of the same, and has beenfor several years one of its Vice Presidents ; the citizens of Janesville and Rock Co. have, on different occasions, conferred upon hiro various offices of honor and trust ; on the formation of the State government, and its admission into the Union, ho was elected the first Superintendent of Schools for the town of Janesville; he was, upon the formation of a, city government for the village, elected its first Superintendent of Schools ; after the amendment of the charter of the city, conferring the control of the public schools upon a Board of Education, ho was, for several years, elected a member of the same ; he has served four years (two terms) as State Senator from the Seventeenth District, and was three years Chairman of the Committee on Education, School and University lands ; he took an active part, while there, in exposing and holding up to public condem^ nation the persons about the capital who were familiarly known as " The Purty," and who had been defrauding the school fund of the State by a fictitious sale of school lands ; he introduced the first bill in the Stat'> Legislature for the establishment of a State Normal School ; as Chairman of the Commiitec on Education, he reported back a bill, which provided for an educational fund for certain colleges, with a sub' stitutc, which he entitled " A Bill for the Encouragement of Academies and Normal Schools," and which was championed through the Senate mainly by his efforts, and, after being amended in the Assembly, became the law under which our State, without any direct cost to the people, has acquired an ample normal school fund, and now has the most complete system of normal schools of any State in the Uijion. Mr, Sutherland was a member of the extra session of the Legislature which disposed of the grant of land to this State, to aid in the construction of certain lines of railroad, and was among the few members of that body who refused a consideration for his vote, opposing every proposition for the disposition of the grant, and afterward took an active part in exposing the frauds in the disposition of the same ; he has been twice elected Mayor of the city of Janesville (during the years 1872-73), by larger majorities than were ever given for that office. In his earlier life, from too close confinement and hard study, he injured his health, and from which he has never been able fully to recover ; realizing that his strength was not sufficient to enable him to attend properly to his own business, and at the same time do justice to any public business with which he might bo intrusted, ho has not, in later years, a.spired to any important public position ; like mankind generally, he has been somewhat ambitious of public notoriety, and to accomplish something good and groat in the world; yet, it can never be said of him that he sacrificed principle or trampled upon the rights of others, in order to accomplish his cherished objects; his motto has been the Golden Rule - "Do ' unto others as you would that others should do unto you."

lillVDIiE Y M. THAYER, farmer. Sec. 12; P. 0. Janesville ; born in Watcrvillc, Kennebec Co., Me., in 1805; wife was born in Maxfield. Penobscot Co., Me., in 1805 ; have five children - Sarah, Elizabeth, Jessie, Mary and Abbie ; John P., dead. Belongs to the United Brethren Church ; Republican.

JOHBf (ir. TOO D, proprietor of Todd's Ale and Porter Brewery ; came with his fiither, John Todd, together with two brothers and two fisters, from Newcastle-on Tync, England, in the year 1853 ; commenced the brewing business in the fall of 18G8.

ALIiEX R. TOWL.E, proprietor of livery stable; born in Portland, Me., Jan. 20, 1854; son of Samuel T. Towlo, who served in the 10th Elaine V. I. during the late war; removed to Minnesota in 1854, and resided there about seven years; Allen R. Towie was in the Government employ, Indian Agency Department, about eighteen months; he was in the drug business at [Tastings, Minn., one year; removed to Chic.igo in 1873, and resided thereuntil ho came to Janesville in 1878; during the time he wa^i in Chicauo, he was one year proprietor of a restaurant, and for two years conducted a bakery, and was one year engaged in livery businc-s ; since locating in Janesville, he has given his entire attention to the livery business, and has now one of the best conducted stables in the city.

W. T. VAST KIRK, grocer; born in Orleans Co., N. Y.: son of John J. Van Kirk, who came to Rock Co. and located in Harmony Township in 1846 ; a resident of Janesville since 1863 ; W. T. Van Kirk has been engaged in the grocery business since 1858 ; ho is one of the Trustees of the State Blind Institute, also Treasurer of that institution; he is Alderman of the Second Ward, Chairman' of Rock County Republican Committee, and President of the Board of Trustees of the Fire Department ; he is one of the most active and enterprising citizens of Janesville.

GARRET VEBDER, bom in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1812 ; parents removed to Ogdcnsburg, St. Lawrence Co., in 1825 ; at this this place they resided until 1856 ; was here educated at the St. Lawrence Academy, Taylor Lewis, Principal, and R. W. Judson, Assistant; commenced to learn the printing bu.«iness, in 1835, in the oflSce of the St. Lawrence Republican, A. B. James, editor and proprietor ; traveled pretty extensively as a journeyman printer in 1840-45 through New York State, working in the principal cities. Married Frances Elizabeth Burke Oct. 1, 1848, in Ogdensburg. In 1856, removed to Janesville, Wis., where he has since resided. In 1863, bought a half-interest in a job printing office with Ellis Doty, located in Lappin's Block ; Doty soon sold his interest to H. L. Devereaux, of the Burlington Standard; the latter in turn sold to S. S. St. John. After two years under the firm of Veeder & St. John, on the 1st of September, 1869, the publication of the RocJc County Recorder was commenced, with C. W. McHenry as editor. McHenry withdrew within three months and Vccder & St. John continued as editors and proprietors till July, 1873, when W. H. Leonard bought out Mr. St. John's interest. The firm is now Veeder & Leonard. Mr. Veeder is the father of six children, four of whom are dead. Charles G. Veeder, the only son, is a printer and is 25 years of age. In September, 1872, Libbie, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs* Veeder, married H. W. Lewis, traveling agcrt for Bell, Conrad & Co., of Chicago ; she is now in her 28th year. Under the business management of Mr. Veeder, the Recorder has grown from a seven to a nine column paper, with a hona-fide circulation of 800. On the 18th of March, 1878, the Janesville Daily Recorder was started as a morning paper, and now has a healthy circulation of 800 subscribers, and is increasing every day. The daily and weekly Recorder are considered by many to be the best advertising mediums in Rock Co. Mr. Veeder has been a telegraph operator, railroad agent, grocer and shoe merchant, but has, from time to time, drifted back to "preserve the art of all preservatives."

J. H. WARREN, M. D., bom in Hogansburg, Franklin Co., N. Y., Aug. 23, 1825 ; son of Lemuel and Betsey (Eichardson) Wiirren. His grandfather served in the Revolutionary war, and his father, a descendant of the New England Warrens, was a soldier in the war of 1812. John attended the first school taught in Janesville. At the age of 20 ho studied medicine with Dr. Nichols, of Janesville, and afterward with Dr. Dyer, of Chicago, while pursuing his studies at the Rush Medical College, where he graduated in 1849. He then began the practice of medicine at Lodi, Columbia Co., till 18."Jl, when he removed to Albany and followed the milling and mercantile business with much success till 1870. lie has won honorable distinction as a statesman, being elected to the State Senate in 1857 and was afterward Clerk of the same. In 1862, he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue by Lincoln, which office he held seven years ; he was also appointed by Secretary Stanton as Receiver of Commutation during the rebellion. Ho has been a Director of the Sugar Valley Railroad and a stockholder in the same. He is the largest mail contractor in the United States, having about one hundred routes, and his business takes him to all the most remote parts of the country, whicli has given him unusual opportunities fur becoming acquainted with the nature of the Indians, and he is strongly in favor of a peace policy toward them. Throughout this public career, ho has gained a reputation for enterprise, coupled with that more commendable and rarer element, sterling integrity, which has served to give him a prominent position among the representative men of the State. He changed from the Whig party to the Republican party, in which ranks he still serves. Ho was reared a Presbyterian, though not a member of any church, and believes in the principles of Christianity as inculcated by his mother. He married Dec. 18, 1854, Miss Louisa M. Nichols, daughtfr of his old preceptor; they have two sons and five daughters - Ilcrbert N. Julia, Lissie, Gcr;rude, Lulu, Benjumin and Fannie. The eldest son is a graduate of Rush Medical Collesre and is intending to rur-uo his studies in Europe.

ARTIES G. WILLIAMS was bom at Royalton, Niagara Co., N. Y., Oct. 18, 1829. Re is of New England parentac;o, his father being born at Hartford, Conn., and his nioihcr at Shoroham, Vt. Ho is the youngest of a family of ten children ; his first educational advantages were such as only a district school aifordod, and were much interrupted by ill-health. He early manifested an aptitude for public speaking, and the debating schools of the neighborhood were places of special delight to liim ; hero he met the farmers in di-cu-ision, and soon placed himself on the best of terms with them, and it his boon a subject of remark with him, in later years, that he found his truest friends among this class of men. At the age of 14, he notified his father of his desire to study law. This proposition was met with an incredulous smile, but the boy proved the better prophet ot' the two. His father entered into full sympathy with his desires, and was planning to give him a thorough education, but died when Charle.s was 16, throwing him entirely upon his own resources for the future. By the aid of his two brothers, E. W. and M. B. Williams, of Lockport, N. Y., and by teaching and working at day-labor during vacation, he completed a thorough academic course at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N, Y. He always speaks with gratitude of the timely aid of these tw.j brothers, and gives some ludicrous accounts of the economy he was compelled to practice during these years. He commenced the study of law in the office of Judge L. F. & Oeorge Bowen, of Lockport, iSf. Y., teaching a portion of the time in the high school at that place. In 1852, he moved to Rochester, N. Y., where ho completed his studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Here, the same year, he married Miss Harriet Gregg, daughter of Benjamin Gregg, and entered at otice into the practice of his profession, which, with rigid economy, enabled him to meet current expenses. He fully intended makinii Rochester his permanent home, but, at the end of the first year, through mutual acquaintances, the Greggs being relatives of Mrs. Noggle, he received a very liberal offer from the late Judge Noofgle, of Janesville, to come to that place and take charge of his legal business, as he was desirous of retiring from practice. As the Judge was soon after elevated to the bench, this afforded Mr. Williams a rare opportunity for entering at once into a "lucrative practice. Two months after he reached Janesville, his wife, who had long been in ill-health, died. Afterward, he married Mary A., eldest daughter of Judge Noggle. They have two children - a daughter, Kate A., and a son, Ward D. The attachment which grew up between Judge Noggle and Mr. Williams hais often been remarked upon. Both were positive, combative men, not at all reserved in the expression of their opinions, yet, though associated in the closest social and business relations for twenty years and more, an unkind word of a personal nature was never known to pass between them. They agreed almost by intuition on all public questions, and where they disagreed, no personal feeling was engendered. This attachment continued down to the death of the Judge, which occurred at the house of Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams reached Janesville in 1856, and that year was prominently brought before the public in connection with the Fremont campaign. As an ardent Republican, he needed only an opportunity to express his mind on political matters, and very soon attracted attention, and took rank with the best speakers of the Northwest. He was engaged to canvass the State, and spoke in every considerable town in Wisconsin. During this campaign, he received many complimentary notices from the press, JDOth as an orator and a man of ability in the legal profession. The prominence thus gained had its advantages and disadvantages. While he entered actively upon the practice of his profession, each political canvass took him away from it for weeks, and sometimes months. Notwithstanding this, and the fact of continued ill-health, he and his partner, up to the time he entered upon oiEoial life, had one of the best law practices in Southern Wisconsin. In 1868, Mr. Williams was a Republican Presidential Elector, and the same year was elected a member of the State Senate, nver which body he presided as President ^ro tern. He was re-elected to the Senate, in 1870, and made Pres ident pro tern., and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of that body. He at once took a front rank among the leaders of the Senate. He was nominated by acclamation by his party, for Congressman, and elected to the XLIIId Congress. He has been renominated and re-elected successively to the XLIVth, XLVth and XLVIth Congresses, practically without much opposition, and by majorities ranging from four to six thousand. At his last election, a large Democratic vote was cast for him on the hard-money issue. Though what would be called a stalwart Republican of the strictest sect, and particularly outspoken in his feelings and views, yet, some of his most intimate and life-long friends have been Democrats of equally pronounced views. No man has ever pretended to doubt or question Mr. Williams' sincerity or personal honor, and probably no member of Congress ever enjoyed, in a greater degree, the confidence and esteem of his constituents. Mr. Williams' course in Congress has been characterized by becoming reserve and sound practical judgment. After careful study, he has spoken upon nearly every important question which came before the house during his term of service, among which may be mentioned [nter-State Commerce, Centennial Exposition, Civil Rights, Force Bill, Specie Payments, Transfer of the Indian Bureau, Chinese Emigration, Electoral Count, Arrearage of Pensions, Election Laws, and Army and other appropriation bills of the last session of Congress. Some of these speeches have been widely circulated in the South, as in the North. His reputation in Congress has been one of steady and healthy growth, and his course in the session just closed has given him a marked distinction as a faithful and fearless champion of the right, and a sagacious, sound and safe legislator. He has been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives for six consecutive years, and was promoted to the Committee on Judiciary at the beginning of the present Congress. Mr. Williams has spoken in Maine, Ohio and other States, during political campaigns, and taken high rank among the public speakers of the country. His oration at

City Of Janes Ville

Arlington Heij!;hts, on the 30th of May, 1878, was pronounced by competent judges to be one of the best ever delivered there. The two distinctive characteristics of his public life have been sympathy for the soldier and the persecuted colored people of the South. He has never let an opportunity slip for saying a word or doing an act for either of these. His rooms at Washington are frequented by exiles from the South, both white and black, and he is thus afforded full opportunity forjudging of the actual condition of things in that section. Mr. Williams is emphatically a man of the people, never hesitating to espouse their cause, regardless of consequences to himself He is of a most affable disposition, and no person, either man or child, ever approached him with a fear of a want of cordial welcome. While full of sympathy and humor, he possesses ^rreat decision of character, and the consistency of his course, through twenty-five years of eventful history, has been preserved without a blemish. He is now 49 years of age, in robust health, of strictly temperate habits, in full possession of his powers, and believed to have a useful and brilliant future before him. His beautiful residence, at Janesville, is the home of a loving, refined and happy family.

A. D. WICKHAM, Justice of the Peace ; born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; admitted to practice in 1845 ; came to Janesville, March, 1856, and has been engaged in the practice of law ever since ; was City Assessor two terms, and elected Justice of the Peace in 1878. Judge Wickham is a prominent member of the Temple of Honor.

GEORGE H. WILLISTOIV, retired ; born in Binghamton, Broome Co., N. Y. ; settled in Harmony Township, Rock Co., Wis., April 22, 1837 l^on Sec. 17) ; remained there till December, 1841, when he removed to Janesville, having been elected that year Register of Deeds ; was re-elected for five years consecutively ; he was in the grocery business about two years ; held the position of City Clerk from 1863 to 1870 ; was Assessor several years ; Mr. Williston is still the owner of most of the farm where he first located in this county. Married Nancy A. Fordham, a native of Pennsylvania, April, 1839 ; she came to Rock Co. in June, 1839 ; had four childrfen - Jennie E. (now Mrs. Nash, of Dakota Territory), Clara H. (who resides with her parents), Horace (Secretary of the Menominee River Lumber Co., and located in Chicago), William H. (also a resident of Chicago).

HON. JOHN WINANS, the son of William R. Winans and Catharine Winans, whose maiden name was Simonson, was born in the town of Vernon, county of Sussex, N. J., on the 27th day of September, 1831; his father, a descendant of the Hollanders who were among the earliest settlers of that State, was a relative of Hans Ross and Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, and he was at the head of a large manufacturing establishment in that city for a niimber of years, and he, in connection with Ross and Thomas Winans, spent several