Sun Prairie City

Sun Prairie City

wilderness country, reached his destination on the 6th of September, 1837. His wagon was about the first that came from Janesville to Madison. Janesville then contained but one solitary log cabin, and was occupied by Janes himself The course to the capital was marked by blazed trees a party of Government surveyors having just before run a line between the two points.

Mr. Stoner found but three or four log cabins in Madison. Aside from women and children (few, indeed), the population of the place consisted of but twenty-five or thirty persons, most of whom were employed as laborers on the capitol. Milwaukee and Galena were the points from which provisions must be obtained, and, as the wife and babies had not learned to live without food, Mr. Stoner was obliged to procure it. He concluded to go to Galena, and on foot he started. At the head of Lake Mendota, where the village of Pheasant Branch now is, he struck the military road which led off into the lead mines, and from there he found a wagon track to Galena. Arrived there, he purchased a yoke of oxen and a wagon, and his provisions. Pork was $36 a barrel ; butter, $1 a pound ; sugar, 75 cents ; and everything else in proportion. Returning to Madison he was caught in a heavy fall of snow. When the storm abated, the snow was so heavy that he was unable to travel, and he camped several days and nights, subsisting himself and team as best he could. On reaching home he found a new-born son, which was the first male child born in Madison, and which he at once christened " Madison," in honor of the place.

In 1838, he entered 240 acres of land on what is now called " Stoner's Prairie," a few miles southwest of Madison, in the presedt town of Fitchburg, the prairie taking his name. Leaving his family in town, in order that his children might have the benefit of a school, he kept "bach" on this farm, more or less, for seventeen years ; the first few years his land was without fences, he being annoyed only by deer and wild geese. Finally he sold his farm for |15 per acre ; within a year thereafter the same land was worth $50.

In the spring of 1863, his faithful wife, who had shared his pioneer life, died. His family having grown up, he felt alone in the world. Restless and uneasy, the pioneer spirit revived, and, taking his old sorrel mare, which he had owned when a colt twenty-two years before, and his only grandson, a lad of fourteen summers, he set out for Colorado Territory, where his son Madison had made a home four or five years before. The next year he returned to the " States," going back the same season - coming and returning with the old mare. In 1865, he came again to Madison, returning the same year, after visiting Ohio. He had two daughters, who were married, but they died a few years after, of consumption, as well as two unmarried daughters. His son, George W. Stoner, is still a resident of Madison. Mr. Stoner was a good man, honored and respected by every one. On the 11th of January, 1872, he died at his residence in Madison, in his 80th year.

Alexander Botkin was born in Kentucky, in 1801. At an early age he removed to Ohio, and from thence to Alton, 111., in 1832. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of the Lovejoy riots, and took an active part to preserve law and order. He came to Madison, Wis., in 1841, as Assistant Secretary of State under the Territory, and was for awhile a law partner of Alexander P. Field. He was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives of 1847-48 ; was a State Senator in 1849-50, and a member of the Assembly in 1852. He was a candidate for the First Constitutional Convention of 1846, but was defeated by John Y. Smith, and was voted for by the Whigs in 1849, for United States Senator, against Isaac P. Walker. He died suddenly at Sun Prairie, March 5, 1857, aged fifty-six years.

In the fall of 1847, Botkin, who, by the way, was a great practical joker, was a candidate ibr the Territorial House of Representatives. He was a Whig, and his competitor resided in Marquette County. It was agreed that they would jointly canvass the district ; hence, they were to hold a joint discussion at Baraboo. Public notice having been given, nearly all the inhabitants turned out, so that Mrs. Peck's hall was well filled. By agreement, it was Botkin's privh^ *k°^^° ^^^ discussion. He commenced by complimenting the intelligence of his auditors, whom he flattered up to the highest notch, and in eloquent and glowing terms, eulogized the beautiful valley of the Baraboo, dwelling on its magnificent advantages, its water-power itg great manufacturing privileges, its romantic scenery, its productive soil. Then he paused and at length exclaimed : " One thing you especially need, and you are justly entitled to it; and that is, a good road over the bluffs. How can you procure it ? How can that most desirable end be attained ? I will tell you how ! If, through your sufferance, I have the honor to represent you in the Territorial Council, send me your petition to organize a company for the purpose of macadamizing the highway over the bluffs. You don't desire to subject the inhabitants of Sauk Prairie to pay toll on the way to your mills, nor persons coming to transact business at the county seat. Hence, I shall endeavor to get an appropriation from the -Territorial treasury to macadamize that road." Of course, cheers rolled up for Botkin. His competitor hemmed and hawed, and assured them if .they voted for him, he would do all for them that Botkin could do or had promised to do. The meeting closed with a speech from William Welch, of Madison. Then Jim Badger struck up on the violin, many joined in the dance, and did not go home till morning. The next discussion between these two gentlemen was at Prairie du Sac. Botkin's competitor led off, and he thought he would take all the wind out of his antagonist's sails. He started in, deprecating their condition, being shut out from communication with the beautiful valley of the Baraboo, and having to pass over such a miserable, dangerous road. If he should be elected, he would put a bill through the Legislature appropriating a sum toward macadamizing the bluffs. At that time, Prairie du Sac was smarting under the removal of the county seat, and hoped to get it back again ; hence, anything that would contribute to the advancement of Baraboo, Prairie du Sac was decidedly opposed to. Botkin rejoined ; " Fellow-citizens : I am astonished at the diabolical proposition made by the gentleman. What is it that he proposes ? Why, that you shall be taxed to build up a town in a barren, worthless, rocky, stone-bound region, where there is no town, nor never ought to be one ! When I look upon your beautiful, rich prairie, your magnificent river, the trade and business which must necessarily center here, I think with indignation of the proposition made by my opponent, that you should be taxed to help build up a competing town, where neither God nor any sensible man ever intended there should be one." Botkin was overwhelmingly elected. He carried both sides of the bluffs.

He was in many respects a most peculiar man, and was well known to all who visited the State capital with any frequency through the last ten or twelve years before his death. He possessed an inexhaustible fund of anecdote and rough humor that made him an entertaining companion in he circles in which he moved. He frequented places of amusement, and was always ready to join in them - was occasionally seen at the dances and by the friendly card table - but never could be induced to violate his habits of the strictest abstinence. He had not received the benefits of a highly polished education, which sometimes caused him to make serious blunders in the use of language. Upon one Occasion, in the Senate, he proceeded to speak against some measure adopted by the opposition in secret caucus, protesting strongly against the secrecy which had characterized their proceeding, and said, " Mr. President, we want a fair fight. We don't want to go crawling around in the brush about this measure ; but we want action on it to be sub rosa and above board." Upon another occasion, in. one of the Justices' Courts of the county, he was arguing some question of law or fact, and attempted to quote lago, as follows : " He who steals my purse steals trash ;-but he who filches me of my good name, steals that which not enriches him, and makes me - gentlemen of the jury - makes me feel - disagreeable."

A laughable anecdote is told of his electioneering tours. He called upon a Norwegian family, for he was an accomplished master of electioneering arts. He was invited to eat, and at once accepted the invitation. Among other Norwegian delicacies provided was a quantify of pickled ripe cucumbers - yellow and plethoric, with their intestinal contents. They were urged upon the Colonel by his officious hostess until he could no longer refuse without hazaiding the vote of the head of the family. He at length attacked a monstrous specimen, and. with tears m his eyes, induced by the sharpness of the vinegar, and the contents of the enormous pickle running out of both corners of his mouth and down his protuberant vest, insisted upon her -giving him a recipe for the picMes that he could carry home and get some more made like them.

The last convivial occasion at which he was seen was at a dinner, given by Mayor Fairchild to the Common Councils of Watertown and Madison, and those interested in the W. & M. R. R- H^ was then called out, and delighted all by his humorous accounts of his efforts as riffht-of-way agent to secure the best possible terms for the railroad. He related his system of doing his business with an unction and humor that were in the highest degree entertaining. Botkin had a good and manly heart. No acquaintance that he ever had in this State will charge him with a mean or dishonest act. His goodness of heart was as unbounded as his humor' he was everybody's friend ; "had no arts but manly arts;" and, if merit that received the qualities that make a man generous, patient, honest, forgiving and good, constitute a gentleman and a Christian, the subject of this sketch was both.

Mr. Parkinson was born on the 25th day of September, 1815, in White County, West Tennessee, and was the second son of Daniel M. Parkinson, so long and well known in that county and State.

In the year 1827, he came with his father to the Galena lead mines, amid the wild tumult and excitement incident upon the discovery and early occupation of that all-important mining district, where vice, corruption, and almost every species of immorality prevailed. Card- playing, horse-racing, drinking, quarreling and fighting were the common order of the times ; and, though he was but a stripling of a boy, without education, without experience, and without moral instruction or example, he steered his way clear and came out unscathed of all these vices and immoralities. He played no cards, run no horse-races, drank no whisky, fought no fights, nor quarreled with those with whom he came in contact, but lived in peace and friendship with all.

In the winter of 1828, without the influence and promptings of temperance efforts, he became fully impressed with the terrible effects and pernicious consequences of whisky-drinkin;:, and resolved never to drink any strong drink, which resolution he most faithfully maintained until the day of his death, never drinking a drop unless prescribed as a medicine.

In the year 1837, he removed to Madison, the new seat of Territorial Government, when he was appointed by Henry Dodge (then Governor of the Territory of Wisconsin), Sheriff of Dane County, which oflSce he filled most acceptably for three years.

In 1841, he was married to Miss Louisa M. Briggs, of Jefferson County, Wis., and immediately upon this event he returned to his farm on Duke's Prairie, the same farm which he and his elder brother Peter commenced malting in 1832, and on which they afterward lived for many years, when Nathaniel removed to the farm on which he died, it being the old homestead of his father.

While making a living on the Duke's Prairie farm, he and his brother Peter lived together and kept bachelor's hall for six years, the nearest woman (their mother)living five miles distant.

By his first wife (Miss Briggs) he had four children, two of whom still survive - Frank E. Parkinson, Attorney at Law, Madison, Wis., and Mrs. Riley T. Scott, of Yellow Stone, Wis.

On the 3d of August, 1851, he was married to Mrs. Ann Stursiker, of Willow Springs, of which marriage there were born seven children, six of whom still survive.

n ^\°^" *^^ ^^^^ i^i^, he embraced Christianity, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Uuroh of layette, and was, from that time forward, one of its most zealous, persistent, straio;httorward and useful members. ", - ' o

His house and his table were always free to the hungry and needy, i As a citizen, friend and neighbor, he stood in the front rank. He neither lawed nor

He was no politician or office-seeker, but his upright and judicious character often caused his friends to confer -public trust iipon him. He was, therefore, often Chairman of the Town Board, and, as such, a member of the County Board, rendering full satisfaction to his constituents. His ability in these capacities induced his friends to seek his nomination as a candidate for the Legislature, but this nomination he informally declined, not desiring to leave his family.

At the time of his death, he was, and for two years previous had been, President of the La Fayette County Agricultural Society. He was a member of the Board of Trustees that built the Methodist Church in the village of Fayette.

He was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, under Dodge, and distinguished himself for bravery in the battle of Bad Axe. In matters of business, he was practical and judicious, not speculative or adventurous, fully content with the slow but sure success of farm pursuits, which he followed with quiet diligence, and, in the end, acquired a handsome competence.

About three years previous to his death, he moved to the town of Willow Springs, on the old homestead of the family. There lived and died this good and just man.

To his immediate family, his loss was irreparable. He was a kind and affectionate husband, a considerate and indulgent father, a generous and obliging brother.

one of the early settlers of Madison, died December 23, 1860, aged sixty-one years. He was born in Kaskaskia, 111., September 30, 1799. His father, William Morrison, was a native of BucTiS County, Penn., and his mother was a French lady. In early life, Mr. Morrison was engaged with his father in the Rocky Mountain fur trade. He removed to Wisconsin in 1827, and his first business was a lead miner and smelter at Porter's Grove, near Dodgeville. He came to Madison in the spring of 1838, when he immediately engaged in business; was contractor for building the capitol ; in 1838, erected the American House, and was long a prominent citizen of Madison. He did not move his family there till near the close of 1839. He was Territorial Treasurer, under Doty's and Tallmadge's administrations, from 1841 to 1846. He was the owner of a large landed property in Wisconsin, Illinois, and St. Louis. He left a widow, who died at the residence of her grand-daughter, in California, August 28, 1866, aged sixty- six years, and three daughters - one, the Mrs. N. W. Dean, of Madison. The funeral took place December 26, 1860.

was born in Virginia February 25, 1810 ; removed to Pennsylvania at a very early age, and by trade was a millwright. He was one of the very early settlers of Grant County, Wis., where he arrived April 4, 1835, and for many years was a prominent business man at Platteville. He was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives in 1841-42, and, in 1846, was elected to the Constitutional Convention from the county of Grant, and served in that body on the committee on corporations other than banking and municipal.

He was inclined neither by habit nor training, to take much part in general debate ; but, in the qualities of clear judgment, strong reasoning powers and good native sense, he had no superior. In 1849, in company with many others from the mining region of Wisconsin, he went to California, first removing his family to Madison, to which place he returned in 1852, and remained there during the balance of his life. He devoted his latter years to mercantile pursuits. Mr. Gray was of a kind-hearted, generous nature, of upright and honorable character, quiet and unassuming in manners, a stanch friend, a kind neighbor, and an honest man, possessing many warm friends. He was patriotic, and took a lively interest in the war for the maintenance of the Union, which he aided by his voice and means, -and by sending his son,

Henrv L. Gray, to fight in the ranks of the country's defenders. Mr. Gray discharged, in a highly creditable manner, the duties of all public positions he held, but was seldom willing to accept of political preferments. He was, for a time, a member of the County Board of Super- Tisors of Dane County. He was in all respects an excellent citizen, and highly esteemed in all the relations of life.

He was married to Miss Adaline C. Starks in 1842. Their children are Henry L. Gray, married to Miss Nema Merrill ; Frank H. Gray, married to Fannie R. Robbins ; Ellen J. Gray, married to E. D. Pardee (of the firm of A. A. Pardee & Bro., druggists in Madison); and Arthur I. Gray.

was born in Hebron, Washington County, N. Y,, April 22, 1829. His early life was spent on a farm in Granville, in the same county. He received such an education as was afforded by the schools at his own home, and, though the opportunities were rather limited, he made excellent use of his time, and was deemed a good academic scholar. Farming was not to his liking ; though, being put to it in his boyhood, he was diligent and useful in this employment. His mind wiis too active for a farmer's life, and craved the more stimulating pursuits of the business world.

For a time, he was clerk in a country store, and showed a wonderful aptitude for this position. While yet a youth, the telegraph was brought into use. This wonderful process by which persons communicate with each other from all parts of the country - of annihilating time and distance, as it were - was captivating to young Hopkins, and he at once obtained a situation to receive instruction in the mysterious process of telegraphing. He soon became an accomplished operator. Then, at the age of twenty, having read of the great and growing West, he became convinced that it presented an inviting field for the development and growth of the mind of a young man. In October, 1849, he came to Wisconsin. He had been attracted to Fond du Lac, having friends residing at that point, and made his first stop in the State at that place. He remained there but a short time, as, in November in that year, we find him in charge of the telegraph office at Madison, a place that presented unusual charms for him, and which was ever afterward his home. As a resident of that place, Mr. Hopkins was ever foremost in promoting its best interests. He gave jto it the benefit of his counsel, was active in labor and liberal with his means in the advancement of any project having for its purpose the improvement of Madison, in adding to its business or to its beauty. The citizens of the capital city appreciate his valuable services and have great cause for lamenting his early deafh. His many acts of benevolence and kindness will be long remembered by her people. He acted nobly and well a citizen's duty, during his entire residence in Madison.

'Commencing his career is Wisconsin as a young man, without means and without friends, the complete success that attended Mr. Hopkins in his private as well as in his public life, gives conclusive evidence of his ability, shrewdness and keen foresight in all things. He began that career as an operator in a telegraph oflSce. In this position, as in all others in after life, he was accomplished in the execution of his work, attentive to every duty, gentlemanly and obliging to all with whom he came in contact. Previous to this time, the telegraph had proved very unsatisfactory to the people of Madison. On his taking charge oftlie iffice, a marked change took place. The business was performed promptly and well, and the iu'i\ operator soon became one of the most popular young men in the village. The business of the office was small, occupying only a portion of the time of Mr. Hopkins. The salary was aliu .small. He was not long in discovering that he was able to accomplish more than merely to .itteml the duties of that position.^ Madison was then a small village ; but the keen perceptive faculties of Mr. Hopkins soon convinced him that it must become a place of considerable importance, and that real estate must increase in value. He economized in all things, and, as soon as he had accumulated a small amount of money, he invested it in lots or lands. There was an immediate advance, and Mr. Hopkins would sell when a good offer was made and invest the proceeds again.

The first public enterprise with which Mr. Hopkins interested himself was the organization of the Madison Mutual Insurance Company. In the winter of 1851, he drew up the charter of that institution, procured its passage through the Legislature, and, in April of that year, the company was duly organized: with him as its Secretary. He served in this capacity five years, and was active in his efforts to promote the interests of the company, and establish for it a reputation for responsibility and promptness. In this, he succeeded in a most satisfactory manner. He was a Director and member of the Executive Committee of the company, from the day of its organization to the day of his death, and took a leading part in its management during the whole time. He was Vice President for six years, commencing with 1862.

In 1855, he took an active interest in the incorporation of the Madison Gas Company. He procured the passage of its charter in the winter of that year, and the company was fully organized in the spring, with him as its Secretary. At the end of five years, he was the owner of most of its stock.

Mr. Hopkins was not only a public-spirited man, but he was also a benevolent and kind-hearted man. He never turned a deaf ear to the wants of his fellows, but opened his purse liberally to the needy, as hundreds in the community can testify.

In the matter of public improvements, and the building of churches and other institutions, he was a free giver. No subscription paper passed him without his name opposite a liberal sum of money.

He was a patriotic man. At the commencement of the late rebellion, no man, in a private capacity, was more active in aiding to organize troops for the defense of the country, or more liberal, in proportion to his means, in the supplying of money in support of , the dear ones at home, than was the subject of this sketch. He did not enter the service, as it was the opinion of his physician that it would not be safe for him to do so. For many years previous to the war he had been a great sufferer from inflammatory rheumatism, and it was felt that he could do more good at home, without endangering his life. But he was not an inactive supporter of the Government in the time of its peril. He was constantly devising measures for the comfort of the soldiers and for their families at home.

Perhaps the most pleasjng and satisfactory labor of his life, to himself, was performed immediately after the close of the war ; and certainly it has proved a great blessing to the State. I have reference to his efforts in establishing the " Soldiers' Orphans' Home." He took an early, active and leading part in this great benevolent institution, fraught with such untold blessings to the orphan children of Wisconsin soldiers.

The institution was put in operation, and Mr. Hopkins was a leading member of the Board of Trustees, from the commencement, so long as he lived. He was efficient in promoting its affairs, and took a lively interest in everything pertaining to this noblest of our State charities.

He was a politician in its best and most enlarged sense. He was versed in the science of government and skilled in the execution of his plans. In early life, he belonged to the the great Whig party, and entered actively into the work of advancing its interests, and continued to act with it so long as that party had an existence. On the organization of the Republican pai'ty, he became identified with it, and, during the balance of his life, was one of its leading members.

His first political oflSce was that of Private Secretary to Gov. Bashford, in which position he served with marked ability and fidelitv, and to the great acceptance of the people, during the years 1856 and 1857. In the fall of 1861, he was elected to the State Senate, in which body he distinguished himself as a ready debater and as a legislator of great efficiency. He had no superior among his fellows in the Senate. In 1865, he was elected to the Assembly of Wisconsin. In both of these cases, he was elected in districts- where his party was in a large minority; but his popularity with the people was very great, and he was rarely defeated in a popular election.

Mr. Hopkins was an ambitious man - ambitious to be of use to the world. His efforts were well matured and systematized. He first accumulated a fortune in private business, and then devoted himself to the public service. His ambition led him to seek place - not merely for the sake of place, but to enable him to do a greater good than could be accomplished without it. He was a man of wonderful tenacity of character, and, when he put his mind upon doing a thing, was not easily turned from his purpose. This characteristic was clearly demonstrated in his efforts to obtain a seat in Congress. He aspired to that position in 1862, but failed to reach

Mr. Hopkins had just completed his first term in Congress and been re-elected when disease took a strong hold upon him. During the time he served in Congress, he stood high in the estimation of the members as a man of unusual sagacity and as possessing remarkable abilities.

His greatest strength was in his superior knowledge of men. He made this his study, and was a very successful student. His manner was pleasing, and he readily won the esteem of all with whom he came in contact. This gave him immense power; and this power was manifest in the marked success that attended all his efforts. For the length of time he served in Congress, few men, if any, ever made a prouder or more successful record than did the subject of this imperfect sketch. Although cut off in the prime of life, and in the midst of his usefulness, he leaves a name and fame that but few persons can hope to attain.

As a public speaker, Mr. Hopkins was fluent and pleasing. His talent in this direction was natural. He was not an educated orator. It was only in the few latter years of his life that he made any effort in this direction. His progress, after he did commence, was very marked. In the campaign of 1868, he spoke in a large number of places in his district with decided success. In Congress, he made but few speeches ; though when he did address the House it was with 'good effect, and he received marked attention from the members. He was one of the youngest men in that body, but in influence stood among the first. He was affable and courteous to his associates ; a keen observer of events ; an accurate judge of men ; a warm and sincere friend.

Socially, he occupied a high position. He was the life of all circles in which he participated. Pleasing in manners, fluent in conversation, jovial in his nature, Mr. Hopkins was a brilliant ornament in the social walks of life.

In personal appearance, Mr. Hopkins was a noble specimen of manly grace and elegance. In height, he was about five feet and ten inches, erect in form, dark hair and complexion, with large, expressive eyes. Until within a few months of his death, his appearance indicated the most perfect health.

Mr. Hopkins was twice married. His first wife was Miss Ethalinda Lewis, with whom he was united on the 25th day of May, 1853. She died in about two years after marriage. His second wife was Miss Mary E. Willcutt, whom he married on the 14th day of September, 1857. He left no children. He enjoyed home, and provided liberally for its pleasures and its comforts.

At the close of the first session of the Forty-first Congress, in the spring of 1869, Mr. Hopkins returned to his home in Wisconsin with his health much impaired. His condition was not deemed alarming, either to himself or his friends. Being a member of the Committee on "-'^fio^^jlroads in the House, he was permitted to pass over that road, then recently finished, to the Pacific Coast, with a limited number of friends of his own selection ; and during the summer he made up a party of some thirty chosen compEinions and took the trip to San Francisco, visiting many prominent points on the way and in various parts of California. The journey was performed in considerable haste, and, in his enfeebled condition of health, was too " t ? '° endure; and, although one of the objects of his taking it was for the improvement of his health, the reverse was probably the effect from it. Soon after his return from V^alilornia, business called him to Washington, from which place, in the month of September, ne returned very much prostrated. He immediately put himself under medical treatment, and,

He was confident that he would be able to resume his seat in Congress during the month of December. Soon after this, he experienced a relapse, and one side became partially paralyzed. There was a slight rallying 'from this prostration, but only sufficient to kindle a hope in the minds of his friends to be immediately blasted. The best of medical skill and the kindest attention that friends and relatives could bestow were of no avail. Death had marked him as an early victim, and no human power could save him. He died January 1, 1870.

Jaietjs Cassitjs Fairchild

was born in one of the northern towns of New York on the 27th of December, 1801. A younger son of a large family, he might have remained there but for the loss of his mother at an early age. As he used laughingly to express it, he " found he could not govern his step-mother," and so, at eleven years, he started out to seek his fortune. Probably, among the hardy pioneers of the time, this did not seem so doubtful a venture as it might now do. It must be added that the same step-mother afterward paid him a visit at his home in Ohio, and received most affectionate attention from himself and his wife, to whose children she became much attached. Unfortunately, there is no clear record of these early years, full of adventure and of persevering effort. Doubtless a most entertaining book might be made of them, if any friend could clearly recall the stories he has related of scenes through which he passed. He recollected vividly the news of the attack on Sackett's Harbor, brought by a man mounted on a horse detached from the plow, who, seeing a fresher one standing harnessed at his father's door, threw himself from one te the other, and continued his journey over hill and dale to warn the people of the approaching enemy.

Fifteen months would cover all the time spent in schools. But he was a careful observer, with retentive memory ; and, whether he earned his bread at the weaver's loom, or by business journeys through the country, on both sides the River St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, he laid up stores of practical knowledge which made him a cyclopaedia for those who sought information from him in later years.

An indefatigable and critical reader, nothing came amiss to his inquiring, thoughtful mind ; and, even at this early period, he had reasoned and drawn conclusions upon subjects not speculated upon by his companions ; and theories now commonly received were reached by him alone and unaided. One fact, unimportant in itself, shows a marked character and capacity. He always rose late. Entering upon any employment, this fact was always mentioned by him, and the hope expressed that he should make himself so valuable after he was up as to make up for the loss of time. One smiles to think of the young boy thus frankly dictating terms to his masters, expressing a hope that he might overcome his tendency, but, if it proved impossible, asking consideration - a consideration which was never denied. This is mentioned, not as a good precedent, but only as showing a characteristic.

At twenty-one we find him, with an elder brother, Marcus Brutus, entermg Ohio in search of a permanent home. They separated at Cleveland, agreeing to meet there at a certain time, and report progress. But the brother never returned ; and, after weary and anxious waiting, the subject of this sketch entered upon an engagement with Owen Brown, the father of that John Brown whose devotion to the cause of Anti-slavery and raid into Virginia have given him so wonderful a place in the history of our country. .This Owen Brown was a remarkable man : a volume might be written of his sayings, full of wit, and of keen, shrewd good sense. An industrious and prosperous man, he stood high among his fellows, and was a valuable friend to a young man starting in life.

Among his other enterprises he had a tannery, and taught the young man this trade ; ana soon after John Brown and Mr. Fairchild became partners in the business. But John Brown-- stern, unbending, a man of " one idea," the stuff of which martyrs are made - grand and sublime though he be in history, was not the most suave and agreeable companion one could find for social relations ; and this arrangement was very brief, though a friendship continued. For when, some years later, John lost his wife, the fact was announced in a letter to his former partner, beginning, " My good, faithful, obedient wife, Diantha, is dead."

About this time, Mr. Fairchild met with Sally Blair," a handsome, energetic daughter of New England, of Scotch-Irish descent, gifted with Scotch persistency and Irish kindliness. One brief meeting left upon each so strong an impression, that the acquaintance was voluntarily renewed; and a few months later, in the spring of 1826, he brought his bride home to Franklin Mills (now Kent), Ohio, where they lived in a loghouse a year, till their own house was built.

After all his wanderings and struggles, we find the homeless, self-instructed boy anchored by his " ain fireside." Here four children were born, and one laid under the sod. He built a brick store, now pointed out as the first brick building ever erected in the town. Very small it looks - but it was regarded with no contempt then. No success or position of later years was brighter or more beautiful than these few years passed by him in the thriving little village, as the proprietor of a large tannery, of " the store," and his own cottage close by it, a Justice of the Peace, and known as "the Squire" in all the neighboring counties. He was an active temperance man. So prevalent was drunkenness at this time that nothing short of total abstinence could remedy the evil. Tobacco and stimulants in all forms were fought against with all his youthful vigor ; and not till near his fiftieth year did he, by the advice of several physicians, adopt the occasional use of them. This period, uneventful in a written history, aflForded time for maturing and assimilating the experiences and observations of his previous years ; for reading law, in order that he might faithfully and justly act as " Squire ;" for investigating financial and political questions to fit him for business and citizenship. But to him personally this was a period of intense interest. His busy days were followed by sleepless nights of study of the Bible, and thoughtful talks with his clergyman and others. An active and prayerful church-member, his views of Christian duty were extreme and vigorous ; and though these most conscientious struggles resulted in a positive rejection of the miraculous claims of theology, they gave an enviable familiarity with the teachings and spirit of the Founder of Christianity, and a steadfast faith in the wisdom of the command to " do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God."

During all these years, one of the delightful domestic events was the frequent visits of his good old friend Owen Brown, whose affection extended to the wife and children, and whose habit of frightful stammering only added a charm to the keen wit and kindly good-humor which made him a delight to children as well as to the older Ones.

In 1834, he removed to Cleveland - then rushing on in the full tide of speculation - just in time to be stranded hy the tidal wave of 1837, which wrecked so many imaginary millionaires. His little brood, incapable of comprehending the prosperity, were taught by this adversity that opportunities for education were to be made the most of; and much of the sons' perseverance, and faithful performance of small duties, may have been unconsciously derived from their father's humbhng experiences in this " crash." While engaged in the wearisome and mortifying business of adjusting these affairs, there came to him, unexpectedly, a position in the secret service of the Government, which gave him active employment and means of subsistence during the period in which his hands were tied by his embarrassments. It also afforded him an opportunity to choose a home wherein he should start anew.

One dreary March day, driving against a biting north wind, in the year 1846, he arrived in Madison, Wis. ; and, after a stay of less than twenty-four hours, he wrote to his wife in Cleveland that he had found the place wherein he should live and die. This active, far-seeing helpmeet was ready for the summons, and, bringing children and household goods, joined him in Milwaukee.

Driving two and a half days over green prairies and through "oak openings," where shadows danced upon a brilliant carpet of flowers, they reached Madison June 8, 1846.

ihe First Constitutional Convention, occurring this year, not only brought most of the leadmg men of the State together in Madison, but made political questions the subject of every-day common conversation. Into these he threw himself with eager interest ; and, though some of the progressive measures most pleasing to him led to the rejection of the constitution by the people, he lived to see most of them adopted by the State.

He had been a Henry Clay Whig, a " stump " speaker during the campaign which elected Harrison ; and was one of the few who sustained John Tyler in his course after the death of the President brought him to the head of the administration. Perhaps it was not so much that he agreed with him in the abstract as that he claimed for him the right to carry out the principles he had always held, and his known advocacy of which had given strength to the efforts which resulted in the triumph of the party. So few were the Tyler men that they were known as the " corporal's guard " - a sobriquet cheerfully accepted by himself and others.

This state of things naturally drifted him with the Democrats ; and he was elected State Treasurer at the first State election, on the Democratic ticket, at the head of which was Gov. Dawey, and was elected to the same office, for a second term, in 1849. In 1851, and again in 1853, he was pressed by his friends for the Democratic nomination for Governor, and on the second occasion lacked only two votes of the number required to confer the nomination.

He was the only State officer who kept house in Madison ; and his own and his wife's unfailing hospitality made their simple, unpretending home a delightful social center, and familiarly known to all whose business or tastes brought them to the City of the Lakes. Perhaps in this way, more than in any public positions, was their united influence exercised in the rapidly-increasing community. All his efforts went to develop the resources of his own vicinity, and to advance the interests of his neighbors. If he gained a little money, instead of seeking some safe investment, where he could profit by the industry of others, he put it into improvements of the town or State. Immediately upon his arrival in Madison, he set about getting a home for life. His first step was to buy a saw-mill in the pinery ; and, running his own lumber down to Prairie du Sac, he had it hauled by teams, twenty-five miles, to Madison. Then there was no brick. The beautiful stone now easily procured, was then inaccessible : so he started a brick-yard, and made enough brick for all his own buildings, and to go far toward paying for the other materials used. These things being ready, the architect who was to have taken charge failed, and so he completed the job by giving his own daily personal attention to the details of the work to the end. A home gained under such difficulties and enriched by memories of years of hospitality is not to be bought with mere money.

While he was a State officer, he became intimately acquainted with the whole State, through his ex officio connection with the Commissioners for the Care of Schools and University Lands ; and, though he was strongly averse to much they were obliged to do, considering it a waste or misuse of a nobis endowment, yet he enjoyed giving his time and strength to the work, and was faithful and efficient in efforts to avert evils, and accomplish good.

Not much is it to tell - the first State Treasurer in a new State, the first Mayor in a very small city, the builder of an unassuming home and of other modest buildings. But his influence was widely felt in his day ; and who shall say where it will end ? He could not sleep comfortably in his bed if he knew others to be homeless and suffering. He was foremost in every public work. No widow or orphan was ever turned away till his best thought and kindest aid had been given. No man, not even the worthless, ever appealed to his friendship in vain. He felt that want of success often stamped a man as worthless among his fellows ; and the unfortunate was sure of his aid. At one time his banker refused to accept his name as an indorser, giving, as a reason, that his name was on two-thirds of the paper in Dane County. Of course he had losses ; of course he a very few times aided scamps ; of course he had no millions to divide among his children. It is not a good example to follow to that extent. And yet who would not prefer the troubles and embarrassments brought on by such a life, to those attending a selfish life ? -

He had a powerful frame, a large, intellectual head, fine features, a fair complexion, and bright auburn, curling hair. His physical strength was enormous. At one time, when a spirited horse which he was driving, frenzied by fright, had started to run, he stopped him by main strength, nearly pulling him back into the buggy. Though genial in his ways, and under habitual self-control, his passions were strong ; and his keen sense of honor led him to quick resentment of any attack upon his character. The first year of his residence in Madison, he walked steadily into a printing office, and, with his own unaided arm, broke up a newspaper form upon the press, then printing false words derogatory to him. This strength and self-reliance in his personal appearance made the feebleness and loss of sight of his last months peculiarly

His life went out in darkness. The war came. He had foreseen it with deepest pain. He was of those who thought that the election of Douglas over Lincoln would have averted it for the time, possibly would have shifted it along until diiferent circumstances had quietly accomplished the end which came only through blood and anguish. But when the call for men came and his son Lucius was one of the first five in the State to enlist to serve in any capacity required, he made no objection. It was his country ; and the Union was essential to his idea of it. And when Cassius, returning from the wilds of the pinery to find the country aflame with the war-spirit, added his name to the already tremendous list, he gave no sigh. He expected, as a matter of course, if there was work to be done, all his boys would do it. And though great tears rolled down his cheeks, already thin and pallid at the rapid approach of death, those precious lives were never recalled, even to comfort his la'st days. The fortunes of war sent his eldest son, Cassius, back on a stretcher, with a ball in his thigh, to occupy an adjoining bedroom during his father's last days, and, with his mother and sister, to follow, on crutches, the revered form to its last resting-place. But with all the sense of personal loss, with all the frightful sense of danger to his eldest son in the Western Army, his second in the Army of the Potomac, and his third son and youngest child in the navy, now on guard below Richmond, in James River, and then participating in the siege of Charleston, his great grief, his really first thought, was for his country - the fear that peace had fled from it for a long time, if not forever. No victories came to cheer his last days. With failing strength, and nearly extinguished sight, he went out in the darkest days" of the war, just when defeat after defeat had begun to teach our armies how large a task had been undertaken. He died July 18, 1862.

was born at Franklin Mills, now Kent, Ohio, December 16, 1829. He was the second son of Sally Blair and J. C. Fairchild, first Treasurer of the State of Wisconsin, first Mayor of the city of Madison, and a gentleman of fine ability, high character, and great prominence in the early history of the State. His mother's grandfather, Capt. George Howard, died in the service of his country just before the close of the Revolutionary war. He had been in Nova Scotia, most prosperously situated, at the declaration of independence, and, sacrificing all his property, had hastened home to fight for his country. His mother's other grandfather, Blair, had also served with honor in the French and Indian war. The elder son died early ; and the family removed to Cleveland, in 1834, where Cassius received his education, with the exception of one year spent at an academy in Twinsburg, Ohio, and a longer period, later, at the school which afterward became Carroll College, in Waukesha, Wis. He learned slowly, but had an accurate and retentive memory. Fond of fun, he had yet caution and self-control, so that he never got into difficulties.

At fourteen, he came to Milwaukee with his uncle, F. J. Blair ; and after his return to Cleveland, by most urgent entreaties, he obtained permission from his parents to go all the way back to Milwaukee on horseback, in company with a young man well known to them. Ihis first taste of adventure was enjoyed by him with a keen relish, and made him feel himself a man at once.

Vf . ^,'*^'^ "'J''^^ i° Milwaukee, in school at Waukesha, in the duties and pleasures of home me m his father's house in Madison, with an occasional business visit to New York City, his life passed smoothly on, with no more startling incident than his repeated election as Alderman (one year ftesident of the Common Council), and an election, in 1859, as member of the Legislature from the city of Madison.

he .","° known to most acquaintances merely as a young gentleman in society, IS said to have possessed at this time an unusual keenness and discrimination as to men, and

At about this time, little knowing for what they prepared themselves, some young gentlemen of the city formed a military company called the Governor's Guard. So rare was even the smallest knowledge of military tactics in the State, that nearly every member of this compaQv took high rank, and served with distinction during the war. Among its most indefatigable members were the brothers Cassius and Lucius Fairchild.

At the breaking-out of the war, Cassius was in the wilds of the Northern Pineries, attending, with patience and tact, to a most wearying and vexatious business, in which misplaced confidence and kindness had involved his father. Immediately after his return home, he offered his services to the Governor, and in October, 1861, was appointed Major of the Sixteenth Wisconsin Infantry. In December following, he was promoted to the oflBce of Lieutenant Colonel. At the battle of Shiloh, a ball entered his thigh, so close to the hip-joint, that amputation was impossible, and all tampering dangerous. By the almost superhuman exertions of his father's friend, Judge Thomas Hood, who went for him, he was brought home on a stretcher, down the Tennessee and the Ohio, and up the Mississippi to Prairie du Chien. During the eight months of emaciation and suffering, the ball and seven pieces of his clothing remained in the wound, baflding the search of a score of surgeons. Through all this suffering and anxious suspense, his cheerful courage and ever-flowing wit made his bedside a delight to his friends. The melancholy satisfaction of witnessing the last days of a revered and beloved father, and of sustaining his mother and sister through the bereavement, were secured to him by his prolonged suffering. The ball was found by Dr. Brainard, in December, and the foreign substances removed; but they had remained so long embedded in the bone that a new formation of bone had grown over them, and the consequent irritation was very slow to heal. He returned to the field and active service in May, while his wound still required dressing twice a day ; and twice during the succeeding campaign he received injuries which opened his wound, and prostrated him upon a sick bed. During the siege of Vicksburg, the lamented Gen. McPherson was his kind and constant friend ; and Gens. Force, Belknap and others of his companions remember him with expressions of affectionate respect.

In March, 1864, he was appointed Colonel. His regiment, belonged to the Seventeenth Army Corps, which achieved such a noble record at Atlanta and in Sherman's march to the sea. He remained in the service to the close of the war, and, upon being mustered out, was brevetted Brigadier General for gallantry.

In the summer of 1866, he was appointed United States Marshal, and again removed to the city of Milwaukee, where he resided till he received a strain while acting as pall-bearer at the funeral of a friend, which caused the breaking-open of his wound, with fatal results. He died October 24, 1868. He left two brothers - Lucius Fairchild, then Governor of the State, and Charles Fairchild, of Boston, who had also served in the navy during the blockade of James River, and participated in the siege of Charleston. He also left one sister and a widow, to whom he had been married ten days before his death. He is interred in Madison.

was born in Sterling, Lamoille Co., Vt., February 25, 1811. He received an academic education and a partial course in college. He studied law and was admitted to practice at the bar jn his native State in 1833. He at once entered into an extensive and lucrative practice, and soon ranked among the ablest and most successful lawyers in the State. In 1834, he was appointed Postmaster at Morrisville, Vt., but held the position only a short time, as he soon after settled ' in Johnson, in that State. From this town he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1835, and he represented the town in the Legislature in 1836 and 1837, and was in the latter year elected one of the Commissioners of the Deaf and Dumband Blind Institute of Vermont. During the same time, he held the office of Register in Probate. In 1838, he removed to Chelsea, and represented that town in the Legislature in 1840, 1841 and 1842, and was, in each of these years, the Democratic candidate for Speaker. He served on the Judiciary Committee all the time, and the last year was its Chairman. In 1844, he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, his Whig opponent being the late Jacob CoUamer. In 1845 and 1846, he served in the State - Senate and was unanimously elected President pro tern, of that body, which consisted of twentythree Whif's and seven Democrats, though he belonged to the minority party. He held the office of Probate Judge in Orange County for three years. In 1848, he was the candidate of his party for United States Senator against William Upham. In the same year, he was a candidate for Presidential Elector, and was also a delegate to the Baltimore Convention. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Vermont in 1850, and was the Democratic candidate for President of that body. Such was the public xiareer of Judge Vilas in his native State prior to the age of forty years. He had occupied many years in public life, but had given such attention to his professional work as to become distinguished at the bar, and had accumulated a respectable fortune. His success was such as is achieved by but few men in any State.

In 1851, Judge Vilas removed with his family from Vermont and settled in Madison. In the first few years of his residence in Madison, he devoted attention to the practice of his profession, but he gave it up several years ago, having accumulated a competency ; but it was among his regrets that he retired so early from active life in his chosen profession, one which he loved so well and in which he had been so eminently successful. He represented the capital district in the Assembly in the years 1855, 1868 and 1873. He was elected Mayor of Madison in 1862. He was appointed by Gov. Salomon Draft Commissioner in 1862 ; was Regent of the University twelve years ; was the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 1865, and for Speaker of the Assembly in 1873. In 1878, Judge Vilas was a prominent candidate in the Democratic convention for the nomination for Governor. These- are the prominent positions he has held since bis residence in Wisconsin, and he ever discharged his official duties with fidelity to the interests of the State and with distinguished ability.

He was a strong friend of education generally, and he illustrated this friendship in his own works for the State University. Five sons were graduates of this institution. In the University he took great pride, and was instrumental in rendering it efficient aid in many ways. He was also a valuable and working friend of agriculture, having done honorable service for many years as a member of the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society. He has rendered the State excellent service in many capacities.

In the death of Judge Vilas, Madison lost an enterprising and influential citizen - one who was ever alive in advancing the interests of the city in which his Western home was located. His zeal in promoting every city improvement never flagged, and big labors have been efiective in the procurement of many things that have resulted in the advancement of Madison.

In 1837, Judge Vilas was married to Miss Esther G. Smilie, daughter of the Hon. Nathan Smilie, of Cambridge, Vt. This union was one of long duration, and a happy one. It was blessed with ten children - nine sons and one daughter - five of whom, with the mother and wife, survive the father and husband. The four sons that now survive their .father are an honor to their parents ; three lawyers and one physician, all occupying prominent positions in their profession. Two (William F. and Edward P.) are lawyers in Madison ; Levi M. is located at Eau Claire, and Charles H.is an eminent physician in Chic&go.

Both houses of the Legislature took proper action in the passage of resolutions of respect ^ to the memory of the honored deceased. The flag on the capitol floated at half-mast during the day of his death. He died February 6, 1879.

catae to this country as a soldier in the army of Gen. Burgoyne, and, after his captivity, determmed to remam and become a resident of the country. He was married twice, his second wife being a niece of Gen. Ethan Allen. She died, when her son, the subject of this sketch tos about six years of age. A year afterward, his father removed to New Hartford, Oneida Co. N. Y. His circumstances were such that he decided to find places for his children, and break up housekeeping. He himself went to live with his oldest son, Edward, then about twenty-four years of age. His son, John Y., was sent to work in the cotton factory established in that place. He soon after went to live with a farmer, with whom he remained four years, and while with him and about eight years of age, he was kicked by a horse, which fractured his skull and displaced one eye. This injury nearly cost him his life. His employer was a tyrant, and the lad while with him was the victim of much ill usage. After this, he learned the carpenter's trade, reaching his majority and completing his apprenticeship about the same time. Prom these circumstances it will be apparent that his advantages for education were very limited. His literary training was not received at the schools to any considerable extent, but chiefly in a struggle for life, and under the influence of comparatively few books that he read ; but the training was none the less real, as he made it a practice to study and patiently digest what engaged his attention, eschewing all light and frivolous publications. The writings of Milton, Younc, Thompson and Wordsworth in poetry, Edwards and Butler in theology, Isaac Taylor in the field of speculative thought, and Say, Mill and De Quincey in political economy, were his favorite authors. Grammar he never studied, and he used to say that the only rule of it he knew was the one laid down in the book of Job, xxxiv, 3, " For the ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meat." Soon after finishing his apprenticeship, he made preparations to move to the West, fle engaged himself to go with a missionary to the Stockbridge Indians, near Green Bay, to erect or work upon the mission buildings. His employer paid his passage, and advanced him |20 to purchase a set of bench tools. He left Utica, N. Y., on a line boat on the Erie Canal, with f 1.25 in his pocket. In about eight day's, he arrived at Buffalo, then a village of limited pretensions, and took passage on a small schooner, the "Lady of the Lake," of seventy tons burthen, and in about four weeks landed safely at Green Bay, on May 18, 1828. His first employment was on the mission house near that place, and afterward at Kaukana, among the Stockbridges. He built the second frame house and the first flouring-mill in Wisconsin. After passing a year at Green Bay, he determined to return homeward. He was as far as Mackinaw, but after staying there three months, decided to return to Wisconsin - or Michigan Territory, as it was then called - intending to make Green Bay his permanent home. On September 27, 1832, while residing at the Bay, he married Anna Weed Kellogg, daughter of James and Martha C. Kellogg, of Northfield, Conn., who was at that time a missionary teacher to the Stockbridges. This lady died March 3, 1847, leaving one son, Hayden K. Smith.

In the year 1833 and the year following, in company with Asa Sherman, he erected a mill on the public lands near the present city of Green Bay, and a dwelling-house, occupied by them until the Government sale of 1835. Under the pre-emption law of 1834, they selected the quarter-section thus occupied, and each party was allowed a " float," as it was called - the right to enter at Government price, eighty acres anywhere in the land district. Mr. Sherman's "float " was purchased by Morgan L. Martin, and located in what now is the center of the city of Milwaukee. The court house stands upon its site. Mr. Smith located his " float " in Milwaukee, west of the river and north of Spring street, and it embraced parts of what are now the Second and Fourth Wards. He retained for a long time an undivided half-interest, having disposed of the remainder. The rise of property soon after, greatly improved his pecuniary circumstances.

In 1837, he removed to that city, where he remained nearly ^hree years ; a portion of this time working at his trade, and also in cultivating a small farm in the vicinity. In 1839, be removed to a farm about three miles from Waukesha, then known as Prairieville. In the wmter of 1840-41, he fell, while chopping in the woods, and sustained an injury in the back which confined him to his house for a number of weeks. His recovery was slow ; it was several years before he could perform hard physical labor. It was supposed his spine was permanently injured. This accident strongly influenced his subsequent career, and seemed to render it necessary lor him to engage in a somewhat less laborious occupation.

He first visited Madison early in 1842, in company with Rev. J. E. Quaw, a Dutch Reformed clergyman. The Legislature of the Territory in joint convention, February 18, elected him Commissioner of Public Buildings ; and at the succeeding session, in 1843, he was, on the 24th of March, elected Superintendent of Public Property, the former office of Commissionership having been abolished. The old capitol was completed, or nearly so, under his superintendence, he doing much of the finer work with his own hands.

In July of that year, he removed his family to Madison, and, in 1846, erected a dwellinghouse, still standing, on the corner of Carroll and Clymer streets, where he made his home until he removed to his farm, two miles and a half south of the city.

The Wisconsin Argus was established at Madison, and the first number issued April 22, 1844. The members of the firm were Simeon Mills, Benjamin Holt and John Y. Smith - the latter having entire control of the editorial department. It was Democratic in politics, and was in favor of free trade and a hard-money currency, and ranked high as an exponent of those measures. Mr. Smith remained connected with the paper, with some business changes, until April,

While engaged in his editorial labors, he was chosen to represent part of Dane County in the First Constitutional Convention, that met in October, 1846. It does not appear that Mr. Smith made any elaborate speeches, or took a very active part in the work of the convention, except on a proposed section to abolish the death penalty, when he made a speech against such action, which was published in the Argus at the time. The constitution as framed, as is well known, was rejected by the vote of the people. It is believed he was not in favor of its adoption. Mr. Smith married the second time, July 5, 1847, at Madison, Harriet, daughter of John and Abigail Wright, of East Hampton, Mass. She died September t, 1851. The children by this marriage were two ; both are now deceased. He married again, on the 18th of March,

1852, at Brookfield, Wis. His third wife is Sarah Ann, daughter, of Jonathan 0. and Achsa, D. Warner, of Amherst, Mass., by which marriage he had two sons now living.

Mr. Smith soon became known as a writer of ability. The first of his publications that attracted attention, was a mock message, written by him as the first " Peoples' Governor," or Governor of the Sovereigns, delivered in the Assembly Hall in 1842. This was the commencement of a series of similar messages delivered at the opening of the sessions of the Legislature. It was the means of introducing him to the favorable notice of C. C. Sholes, who engaged him to report legislative proceedings for his paper. This was his first connection with the press, and from this time until 1851 he was steadily engaged in editorial labors.

In 1861., Mr. Smith purchased the interest of E. A. Calkins in the Argus and Democrat, a^ daily and weekly newspaper, and the publication was continued by the firm name of Smith & Cnllaton, H. K. Smith being an associate editor. The daily issue was continued to January 4, 1862, and the weekly until June 10 of that year, when the publication was discontinued. During the war he wrote some army letters to the Chicago Tribune, and other papers, but did not devote himself to the work of a correspondent. In the winter of 1866-67, he wrote for the Milwaukee Sentinel, during the illness of his son, who was engaged on the editorial force of that paper. He was the editorial writer for the Western Farmer in 1867-68, and a part of the wmter of 1868-69 for the Sentinel. For about three months in the summer of 1870, he was the editor of the Peoria (111.) Transcript, when he ceased his connection with the press.

On the 24th of April, 1874, while on his farm near the city of Madison, he had his left leg severely fractured from the kick of a horse he was endeavoring to train to service. He re- TTl f k'* <'"tical condition, with but slight hopes of his recovery, and for several days reason A u V *° ^""^ ^ degree that he hardly recognized his friends. His sufferings were intense, and he Imgered until the 5th day of May. when death came to his relief. He was in the sixtyeighth year of his age. J J- J oth t . ''^'s tastes were inclined towards economic subjects, though he wrote readily on ent^'^t -''^"'^' ^'"^ °^ ^'^ letters, those particularly descriptive of scenery were graphic and

As a thinlier he was logical, untiring and conscientious rather than rapid. He was usually clear, because he always thought out his subjects patiently and thoroughly before writing.

" It is our boast, indeed," says one who knew him well, " that, in its infancy, Wisconsin had connected with her press, as its most prominent figure, a master mind, deeply versed in the very elements of fundamental law, with sagacity to forecast the future; who would make men think, and of consequence make them studious and thoughtful."

" His mind, it can be truthfully said," continues the writer, "was of the Miltonic cast. He had carefully read and deeply pondered almost every branch of human learning, but his specialties were logical and metaphysical authors. No writer was so subtle or acute as to confound his clear judgment, confuse his understanding or elude his grasp of mind. He examined every problem with severe minuteness ; traced it to its fundamental principles, and subjected it to an analysis and critical test that left little or no residuum for error. He commenced to question just where other men accept without examination. He spent hours and days in profoundest thought upon propositions the world accepted as standard truth. He was a hard and tireless student, and every production of his pen bore the impress of deep reflection and .closest examination."

In his religious belief, Mr. Smith was a Presbyterian, and took an active part in the organization of the church of that denomination in Madison, in October, 1851 ; and was for a long period identified in its management, holding for a number of years the ofiice of Ruling Elder, nearly a quarter of a century. While not conspicuous in late years in the daily walks of business life, he was universally esteemed for the uprightness of his character, as well as for distinguished ability.

Mr. Smith was one of those men that pass a long life's thoroughfare in a quiet, peaceful way. Under the surface of an unpretending and somewhat rough exterior, there was a deep and over flowing fountain of kindness, and a fund of humor that sometimes sparkled with peculiar brilliancy - of the " clear, sharp kind that was full of point."

9. A series of articles published in the Argus, in 1861, advocating the doctrine that States by revolting lapsed into the Territorial condition.

13. A paper read before the Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters, February 15, 1870, on the Laws which Govern the Configuration of Comets.