From the book History of Walworth County Wisconsin,
by Albert Clayton Beckwith, publ. 1912.
page 507
JOHN POTTER DAVIS, grandson of John DAVIS, son of Peter DAVIS (1806-1861) and wife Rebecca J. KINGSNORTH (1809-1892),
was born at Woodchurch, Kent, England, July 9, 1834, and came to America in 1850, and lived at Deansville, Oneida
county, New York. He married December 12, 1855, Mary, daughter of John MACK and Electa TRUBY, December 12,
1855, at Stockbridge, Madison county, where she was born March 6, 1837. In 1857 he came to Oakland, Wisconsin, and
thence in 1876 to section 7 of Richmond. Mr. HULCE, a poor commissioner, induced him and his wife in
1882 to undertake the management of the county poor farm and the care of its inmates. Their administration, from which
they retired in 1901, earned for them the fullest approval of the commissioners, the county supervisors, and
the community - and, though yet living, a place in the county history. Their children were: Emma Luella
(Mrs. Franklin GAGE), Edgar Monroe (married Helen GOODHUE), John Frederick (died in his first year), Mabel Josephine
(Mrs. Charles Kinne DUNLAP).
page 506
BOOTH BEERS DAVIS, son of Gershom DAVIS and Margaret VORHEES, was born in 1810; perhaps in Delaware county, New York. He came to a farm in Lyons about 1841. He lost both legs by freezing when hauling a load of
flour to or from Fort Winnebago. In 1842 he came to Elkhorn as register of deeds, and at the end of his term remained
here till his death, February 20, 1880. He had married Adeline Irene, daughter of Joseph BARKER, at Batavia, New York,
October 24, 1833. Her father was afterward one of the early settlers of Sugar Creek. Mr. DAVIS went into business as a
dealer in dry goods and groceries, and until the crash of 1857 had a large and apparently profitable trade. He went
under, as did all his neighbors, but started anew and struggled, with moderate success, till the end of living and
striving. His wife died at Chicago, September 2, 1892. One of his daughters, Adeline, was wife of Henry Fish SPOONER.
The other, Frances Augusta, was wife of Dr. Louis Joseph KORDS, of Burlington.
page 507-508
WALTER GEORGE DERTHICK, son of Julius DERTHICK and Esther MONROE, was born at Shalersville, Portage county, Ohio,
December 8, 1839; came to Lafayette in 1854; married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel BELL and Sarah L. COOK, August 26,
1868. (After her mother's early death Mrs. DERTHICK's childhood and young womanhood were passed in the
family of her uncle, Dr. MILLS.) Mr. DERTHICK was active in town and county politics, and was sometimes chosen justice
of the peace. In 1882 he was Assemblyman, elected over Edward D. page. He died September 13, 1905. He was a prince
among good fellows. A son, Julius Mills DERTHICK, was a soldier of the war or 1898; The only daughter, Helen Bell, is a
teacher at Elkhorn.
- page 507
JOHN W. DENISON was son of John DENISON, Jr., and Martha COE. His mother was daughter of Daniel COE and his wife
Martha. Her grandparents were those of Edwin D. COE's father. Mr. DENISON was born at Durham, Greene county,
New York, April 6, 1819. His parents moved about 1829 to Genesee valley. He was bred to business at Spencerport, and
from there came in 1847 to East Troy to establish the branch house of E. H. BALL & Co. He continued in the business
of both eastern and western concerns until 1866, when he came to buy, with Leonard A. TANNER, the paper mill at
Whitewater. At Spencerport he had married Mary A., daughter of Julius A. PERKINS, March 9, 1854. They had four children.
Mr. DENISON served five terms as village member of the county supervisors. He died September 8, 1897. His father was
born in 1778, in Connecticut; died September 15, 1853. His mother was born in 1781; died October 5, 1852.
JULIUS DERTHICK, son of Ananias DERTHICK and Tryphena SKINNER, was born at Winchester, Connecticut, September 30, 1795;
married Esther MONROE at Sharon, Connecticut, December 30, 1821. She was born at Cornwall, Connecticut,
March 26, 1799, and died April 12, 1879. Their children were born in Connecticut, New Jersey and Ohio. In 1854 he bought
a farm in Lafayette; served as supervisor in 1860, and died at home August 19, 1863. He had four daughters and two sons,
one of whom was twice sheriff, the other a member of the Legislature.
page 508
ELY BRUCE DEWING (Dexter6, Jeremiah5, Solomon4, Andrew3, 2, 1), seventh of eight children of Dexter DEWING and
Deidamia WEAVER, was born at French Creek, Chautauqua county, New York, June 21, 1834. His parents came to Elkhorn
in 1843, where he finished his schooling. He learned printer's ways at Centerville, Michigan, and at White Pigeon.
He married, August 15, 1855, Elizabeth, daughter of George DIXON and Theresa SOWERBY. Commercial pursuits, a few small
investments in village real estate, sports of field and stream, and local politics occupied him until 1876, when ill
health forced him to less strenuous life. In 1873 he began work as local contributor to the Lake Geneva Herald,
but did not bind his pen to "rural scoops"; for it rambled in a way that delighted many readers and but
mildly rasped a few. He wrote a few songs for his friend Webster's music - his pen-names, "Edwin Bruce,"
"Luke Collins," "Paul Vane." Among these were "All Rights for All," "Get
Out of Mexico," "Our Soldier's Welcome Home," "There's a Light in the Window for Me,"
"The Past We Can Never Recall," "The Spring at the Foot of the Hill," "Under the Beautiful
Stars," "To Little Hattie Harvey," - perhaps few or none of them now in demand. He had served
the village as supervisor, and was experienced in affairs of the county. In 1878 he was chosen assemblyman over Hollis
LATHAM, the one man in the district whom a coalition of Democrats, Greenbackers and anti-Reynolds Republicans might hope
to elect. In the contest at this session of HOWE, CARPENTER and KEYES for a full term in the Federal Senate, Mr. DEWING
voted for Horace RUBLEE. His editorship, 1884-88, and service in the circuit clerk's office, 1889-94, have been
told. In 1900 he became president of a new board of library directors, his last public service. While canvassing the
county for his return to the clerkship of the circuit, a short, sharp illness closed his useful and honorable life,
August 7, 1902. It might be said of him that he touched nothing but to do it well, and often admirably. One of the most
modest of men, few or none of his friends knew all his intellectual measure.
page 509
JOHN DeWOLF, son of John DeWOLF and Eunice LUDINGTON, was born at Frankford, New York, June 7, 1817; came from
Otsego county in 1854 to Darien, where he bought two hundred or more acres of good farm land; served his town three
terms as its member of the county supervisors; served the Baptist church at Delavan as deacon, and the Citizens Bank
at that city as a stockholder; was chosen assemblyman for the session of 1860 over Robert R. MENZIE; died September 7,
1895. His wife was Susan Emeline, daughter of Samuel VINTON and Lydia MERRY. She was born in Herkimer county,
June 7, 1817; married October 31, 1838; died September 7, 1893. Their children were Myron (married Julia GRAY),
Rev. Delavan (married Minnie CHURCHILL). DeWolf was an upright man, who prospered honorably, and
whose advice in the general conduct of business was regarded as sound.
page 508-509
MYRON EDWIN DEWING, sixth child of Dexter and Deidamia, was born at French Creek, New York, March 27,1832. At two
years old, having stumbled with hands reaching forward, and fallen into the embers of an outdoor chip-fire,
all his fingers were so burned as to maim him for life. When his forearms rolled outwardly the baby fingers were
seen folded upon the palms, under a new covering skin. The more usual appearance was that of amputation at the
wrists, the effect of longer cuffs to shirt and coat This mishap was of advantage to his brother, born a few weeks
later; for the younger became to the elder a bodyguard in their childhood and a close companion in study in their youth.
Both were thus taken from the trowel and builder's scaffold for other usefulness. He qualified himself at common
schools for teaching, and thus earned means for more liberal self-education. He was a fair Latinist, and between
himself and Ely some graceful translations were made from such scraps of French and German literature as fell in their
way. He made himself a good marksman, a bold and graceful horseman, and taught his stumps to move his pen freely and
with clerkly neatness over papers and record books. He could deal skillfully from a pack of cards, open his mail
and his pocket-book, and shift for himself in most ways. His tongue was witty, keen, caustic, and made for him
friends and unharming enemies. He was most annoyed by impertinent curiosity. In 1856 he was elected clerk of the
county board over Charles Daniel HANDY, and served till his death, March 26, 1874. He had lived with his parents
until their death, and with Ely until his own. He left to his brother and his sister, Miss Melvina, his small property
interests and his library of one thousand volumes - bought mostly by himself and well read by all three. In 1901 these
heirs gave six hundred and fifty volumes to the new free library, still held together as the DEWING Collection,
and these unusually well chosen books give some distinction to the whole array of shelving.
page 510
WILLIAM DeWOLF, son of Jabez and wife, Thankful FAIRCHILD, was born at
Bridgewater, New York, July 21, 1821; came to LaGrange in 1842 and bought a
farm on Heart Prairie; in November, 1845, he married Eunice Lucena,
daughter of Morris F. HAWES and Sarah LOUNSBURY, of Richmond. In 1852 he
became a partner with Lucius A. WINCHESTER in the
business of plow-making, and as hardware dealers. About 1878 he built and
operated a mill for making wire cloth. He was living in 1906. Mrs. DeWOLF was born in 1824; died February 5, 1904. Of
their four children (in 1860) Nettie became Mrs.
Henry H. McGRAW, and Mannering
M. became an officer of the Custer Rifles.
NATHANIEL DICKINSON, grandson of Nathaniel and Theoda and son of John and wife Eleanor HICKS, was born at
Calais, Vermont, December 20, 1810; became a joiner and building contractor;
worked at Boston, and at Haverhill, New Hampshire; was member of a military
company at Boston, and a captain of New Hampshire militia; married at East
Calais, January 26, 1841, Phila, daughter of Artemas FOSTER and Priscilla TITUS. (Her
father-ancestors were Rev. Thomas1, Thomas2, John3, Chillingsworth4, Nathaniel5, Thomas6,
Artemas7. Her mother-line of Titus was Robert1, John2, Thomas3, 4, Michael5, Priscilla6.) In 1843
he came to Burlington village, was a supervisor for four years, member of county board two
years, and justice two years. In 1846 he was member of committee on boundaries and name of state in
the first constitutional convention. Under Governor DEWEY he was captain of Company G, Fourth Wisconsin
Militia. He came to Spring Prairie in 1854, to Delavan in 1860, and to Elkhorn in 1863. Mrs. DICKINSON was
born at East Calais, April 19, 1815; died at Elkhorn, March 13, 1873. Mr. DICKINSON's
death was March 14, 1883. They had five children. One of these, Ransom Cass, was born at Burlington and died there.
His father's military preceptor in Vermont was Col. Truman B. RANSOM, who was killed at Chapultepec in command of
the Ninth United States Infantry. Mr. DICKINSON was all his life of the unwavering Democratic old
guard, that could die but would join neither Freesoilers nor Greenbackers.
For the rest, he had the usual quota of civic and domestic virtues, with the none too usual qualities of
resoluteness in doing and in enduring, and that of unvarying temper that could not be upset by trifles nor could
be tempted to hasty speech or action.
page 511
LEANDER DODGE, son of Josiah and Phoebe, was born at
Romulus, New York, April 10, 1802; married Harriet, daughter of Orange CARTER,
November 28, 1827; bought farm in section 28, Darien, in 1838; in 1866 moved to
Lyons, where he died October 22, 1880. His children were Eugene, Wilson Rumsey, Levant, Laura, Leroy, Amelia L., Elizabeth,
Harriet, William. Wilson R. DODGE married Susan F., daughter of Cyrus
LIPPIT. Amelia L. was second wife of Hon. Joseph F. LYON, an admirable
home-maker.
CHRISTOPHER DOUGLASS was twice descended from William and
Ann, who came to Boston in 1640, and to New London
about 1651. He was son of Capt. Daniel5
(Robert4, Thomas3, Robert2, William1), and Lydia5
(William4, Richard3, William2, 1); that is, these were third-cousins.
Christopher was born February 22, 1787, at New London, Connecticut; married
Phoebe DOUGLASS, his mother's brother William Jr.'s
granddaughter. Her parents were Ivory DOUGLASS and Phoebe SMITH. He
came from Cattaraugus county, New York, to section 28,
Walworth, in 1837, with ten children. He was chairman of the board of
county commissioners, 1840-2, and a supervisor in 1848. He was one of the
earliest school commissioners. He died February 16, 1867. His
children were: Oscar Houghton, Christopher Columbus, Aurilla
Ann, Roxana Columbia, Maria Theresa, Gilbert Lafayette, Phoebe Angeline, Agnes Noalilles, Carlos
Lavallette, Maria Louisa Josephine.
- page 510-511
JOSIAH DODGE, grandson of Nathaniel and Elizabeth RUMSEY and
son of Josiah DODGE and Phoebe WILSON, was born in Seneca county, New York, in
1810; came to Genesee county in 1818; married, first, Julia, daughter of Hugh
LONG,in 1834; came to Darien in 1843; his wife died in June 1867; her
children were Losette, Mary, Hugh, Phoebe, Julia,
Delia M. He married second, Mrs. Susan (CHAMPION), widow of Charles
HASTINGS, in 1872. He died October 10, 1886.
page 511-512
SOLOMON ASHLEY DWINNEL (Solomon4,
3, Henry2,
Jonathan1), son of Solomon DWINNEL and
Mary ASHLEY, was born at Lee, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, August 9, 1812
(eldest of eight children); was educated at Phillips Academy; came in 1836, by
way of Indiana, to Lafayette, where he bought land in sections 11, 14, 18, 20,
23, 24 for himself and brothers, their father at Millbury advancing money
needful. He passed the hard winter of 1836-7 in a new cabin and in the
spring set about the work of founding a county on a basis no narrower than that
of evangelical religion, anti-slavery, total abstinence, and public
instruction. He preached, plowed, lectured, organized, served as justice
of the peace, and as station master on the "underground railway."
These things and more he did until duty or inclination sent him, in 1850, to
Reedsburg, where he founded a Congregational church and became its pastor,
after his ordination in 1853. He urged, among other things, suppression
(by statutory enactment) of profanity and Sunday-breaking. He married, at
or near Keene, New Hampshire, April 24, 1837, Lydia Herrick GOVE, daughter of
John GOVE and Lydia HERRICK. He died at Reedsburg, June 15, 1879.
His wife was born in New Hampshire, January 18, 1811; died at Amiret, Minnesota, October 16, 1892. Their children
are: Frances (Mrs. J. Perry ELLIOTT, of Indianapolis); Osgood Herrick; Harriet
(Mrs. Samuel John SMOCK); Eugene Ashley (married Mary BEERY); Mary (Mrs.
William H. FINCH), Herbert Augustus (married Fanny LONGLEY). Mr. DWINNELL
seems to have been unable to finish his reminiscences of Walworth county and two of its towns, and after his death his
manuscripts were sent to the State Historical Society. Since so little
else of the kind has been preserved, these papers are of much value to such as
care to study the beginnings of new communities.
page 511
GEORGE WASHINGTON DWINNELL, son of Solomon and Mary, was
born at Millbury, Massachusetts, October 6, 1818; came to Lafayette in 1838;
married Abigail Catherine WILSON, November 16, 1845. About 1880 he bought
the Squire LEE house, at Elkhorn, and a few years later went to Pawnee City,
Nebraska, where he died July 24, 1892. His wife was daughter of Alexander
WILSON and Abigail, daughter of George and Abigail BISHOP. She was born
at Waynesburg, Ohio, April 11, 1827; died at Pawnee City, April 22, 1902.
Their children are: Emily M. (Mrs. Smith A. HARTELL), and Mary A. (Mrs. Frank
L. BENNETT).
page 512
ELIJAH EASTON was born at Afton, Chenango county, New York,
May 18, 1815; came to Walworth in 1842; served in Assembly of 1851, having been
elected over William P. ALLEN and Hyman H. SEAVER; went to California in 1860;
to Minnesota in 1866; died at Owatonna, February 27, 1905.
JULIUS LYMAN EDWARDS was a son of Julius EDWARDS and
Theodosia, daughter of Solomon LYMAN and wife Lois. His older ancestors
were Alexander1, Benjamin2, 3, 4, 5. He was born at Northampton, Massachusetts,
September 29, 1821; came in 1839 to a farm in section 27, Sugar Creek, and his
father bought parcels of land in Lafayette and Troy; married March 5, 1846,
Wealthy Amanda, daughter of Seth RUST and Jerusha
STARR. Her father's ancestors were Henry1,
Israel2, 3,
4, 5. She was born at Northampton,
July 8, 1817; died at Elkhorn, April 2, 1906. In 1861 Mr. EDWARDS became
president of the bank at Elkhorn, at which place he came to live about
1866. Ten years later he became senior member of the dry goods firm of
EDWARDS & PRESTON, the junior being Dwight PRESTON. He died August 4,
1890. His children were Frances Adelaide (1848-1893) and Alice (Mrs. J.
Edwin WHEELER, of LaCrosse).
page 513
SOLOMON RICHARD EDWARDS, son of Julius and Theodosia, was
born at Northampton, November 29, 1823; came to section 10, Sugar Creek, in
1839; went back, to a seminary at East Hampton, for his better education; in
1848 went around Cape Horn to California, visited Honolulu, and in 1853
returned to Sugar Creek, brining home a large collection of stereoscopic views
and other memorials of his journeyings. He
married April 12, 1854, Sarah Almira, daughter of
Augustus SMITH and Almira STILES, of Troy; and had a
son and a daughter. He was five times a member of the county board and
served often as justice. From 1894 he lived at Elkhorn, where he died
October 26, 1901. Mrs. EDWARDS was born at Hadley, Massachusetts, August
28, 1832, died at Chicago, December 31, 1904. Their children were Julius
Augustus and Helen Viola (Mrs. Frank Porter STONE).
page 512-513
SIMON BUEL EDWARDS, son of Joseph EDWARDS and Abigail BUEL,
was born at Windsor, Broome county, New York, November 10, 1815; went in 1822
to Sherburne, where he married March 8, 1838, Elizabeth Ann, daughter of Isaac
Underhill WHEELER and Lavina DUNCAN; came in 1839 to
East Troy and built for himself a blacksmith shop; also bought farm land in
section 4, (his father bought in section 15); did occasionally duty as
supervisor; deputy sheriff under Russell H. MALLORY; was a working member of
the Agricultural Society and in 1874 its president; moved to 1878 to
Whitewater. His wife, born April1818, died November 21, 1880,
leaving seven of her eight children. Mr. EDWARDS in 1885 married Mrs.
Clarissa (KUCH), widow of J. Curtis UTTER. She was born at Great Bend,
Pennsylvania, in 1825, and died January 23, 1889. Mr. EDWARDS died August
14, 1893.
STEPHEN R. EDGERTON, son of Sims D. EDGERTON and Harriet
BENEDICT, was born at Rome, New York, October 24, 1832; his father came in 1846
to Spring Prairie and died there in 1873; he owned a farm in sections 13, 14,
Lafayette; married, first, Olive, daughter of David Tower VAUGHN and Rebecca
DENSMORE, December 31, 1857; she died in 1877; he married, second, Lila B.,
daughter of Silas PATTEN and Charlotte T. SWEET; she died August 13,
1881. Mr.EDGERTON's name may be found in the
official lists of his town and of the Agricultural Society. He was well
read in the current literature of farm and dairy, and took a ready talker's
part in convention discussion. He was elected to the Assembly in 1870
over Maurice L. AYERS. He moved to Elkhorn in 1894, and died at his daughter's home, Oregon,
Wisconsin, April 9, 1901.A few years before his death he lost all his earlier thrift gained
by investments in lower Louisiana and on the Pacific coast.
Page 513-514
EDWARD ELDERKIN was seventh of eleven children of Anthony Yeldorf ELDERKIN and Pamela FULLER. His father's
ancestry ran: Bela5, Col. Jedidiah
4, John3, 2, 1. This family was long of Norwich, Connecticut. Edward was born at
Potsdam, New York, January 5, 1815; was academically educated; studied law at
Canton, the home of Silas WRIGHT; came to Elkhorn in 1839; married Mary Martha,
daughter of Bennett BEADSLEY and first wife, Mrs. Susannah (JOHNSON) GARDINER, December
25, 1843. (Mr.BEARDSLEY's second and third
wives were sisters, Belinda and Frances TOWNSEND, each of whom left
children.) About 1882 the family moved to Racine, where Colonel ELDERKIN died December
11, 1887. Mrs. ELDERKIN died at Elkhorn September 11, 1889.
They had seven children. Among the family papers is a commission signed
by Governor DODGE,>February 10, 1841, naming Edward ELDERKIN as colonel of the Sixth Regiment of Wisconsin
militia. He bought a farm south of the village, which produced excellent
wild mustard. His clerical qualifications were excellent, and on the
whole he grew relatively wealthy with the growth of the village, in which he laid out a southeast addition to the original plat. He named two
streets there "Jackson" and "Wright." But a few years later he becamea Republican,
and in 1872 turned again to democracy. Colonel ELDERKIN was a man of impulses, seldom reflecting
before acting, and some of his actions at law and in business needed much excusing.
He was one of the kindest of men at home, and thoroughly sociable and
democratic everywhere. If a neighbor or stranger fell sick he was at
hand. If there was a case of cholera or smallpox in town he would take
his turn with Lot MAYO and see the patient made well or buried. His
safeguard against contagion was "to chew tobacco and swallow the
juice." Mrs. ELDERKIN, like her sister, was an early and lifelong
member of the Episcopalchurch, and, like her
sister's, her life was filled with well-doing.
page 514
CHARLES PERKINS ELLIS, son of William ELLIS and Rhoda,
daughter of Capt.Lamrock FLOWER, had ancestors,
Richard1, son of a British soldier in
Ireland, came to New England in 1717; Reuben2,
David3. He was born at Ashfield, Massachusetts, March 20, 1812; lived in
Pennsylvania and in Michigan; came in 1842 to section 21, LaGrange; was a
capable town officer and an excellent citizen. He married December 15, 1839, Sarah, daughter
of Jeremiah HARRIS and Priscilla, daughter of Barnabas COLE. He died
January 22, 1881. Mrs. ELLIS
was born at Henderson, New York,May 11, 1816; died January 7, 1894. Their children
were Priscilla A. (Mrs. John E. MENZIE), James R., Charles E.
Page 514-515
HON. STUKELY ELLSWORTH, born 1761, and wife Mercy, born
1775, at some time went toHartwick, Otsego county. Of their eight children at least three came to
Walworthcounty.Stukely Stafford ELLSWORTH was born at Hartwick, February 9,1803;
married May 31, 1832, Nancy, daughter of Nathan and Mary FIELD; came about 1846 to Lafayette;
died >August 21, 1881. Mrs. ELLSWORTH was born at Otsego, August
5, 1805; died October 19,
1880. Their children were:Rosina
(Mrs. Joseph POTTER); Stewart D. (married Elizabeth, daughter of Silas RANNEY
and Martha SAWYER); William Pierce (married Jeannette Rebecca, daughter of
Christopher WISWELL andAlmira WEST); Mercy Ann (Mrs.
Waldo HARTWELL); Henry (married Martha Ann GADSY); Eugene.
Dr. Chester F. ELLSWORTH was born July 21, 1810; married Harriet R. SMITH, February 22, 1852; came to Spring
Prairie about 1867 and to Elkhorn a few years later. He died October
19, 1877. Mrs. ELLSWORTH was born at Little York, Cortland
>county; died at Spring Prairie,
May 2, 1899. Children: Luella J. (Mrs. Leroy
W. MERRICK); Cora A.; Elmer.
John H. ELLSWORTH marriedSophronia
PRIDE and had sons, Julius M., Lucien, Luzerne, Clarence.
page 515
EXPERIENCE ESTABROOK was son of Seth Willey ESTABROOK and
Hannah, daughter of Moses HIBBARD and Hannah ALDEN. His grandfather was
Experience, son of Nehemiah, son of Rev. Samuel, son of Rev. Joseph, who came
to Massachusetts in 1666.
He was born at Lebanon, Grafton county, New Hampshire, April 30, 1813; educated
at common school, with private teaching;studied law and was admitted to
practice; came from Erie county, New York, in 1840, to Geneva; was district
attorney 1841-5; married April 17, 1844, Caroline A., daughter of Col. James
MAXWELL; was chairman of committee on education and school funds in
constitutional convention of 1847; member of Assembly in 1851, chosen over
Samuel D. HASTINGS and Cyrus RUGG; attorney-general of Wisconsin, 1852-4; appointed
attorney-general of Nebraska Territory in 1855; claimed seat as delegate in
thirty-sixth Congress, but not seated; died at Omaha, March 26, 1894.
GEORGE ESTERLY, son of Peter and Rachel, was born in Ulster
county, New York,
October 17, 1809. He
was three times married. His first wife, Jane LEWIS, was mother of his
eight children. In 1860 their step-mother was named Amelia and the
children then at home were Mary, George W., Eva (now Mrs. Joseph Hubert PAGE),
and Emma. Mr. ESTERLY came to Heart Prairie in 1837, where he bought more
than eleven hundred acres of land and in 1843 sowed three hundred acres with
wheat. His mind was of mechanical turn, and here was stimulus for an
inventor. By 1856 his reaping and mowing machine was fully in the local market,
and in its improved forms found other markets. He attempted, by newspaper
articles and pamphlets, to discuss and settle some of the politico-economic
problems of his time, and his efforts found admirers. "All in all,
he was one of the most forceful and remarkable of many strong men of
Whitewater." He died about 1893 atHot Springs,
South Dakota.
page 515
EXPERIENCE ESTABROOK was son of Seth Willey ESTABROOK and
Hannah, daughter of Moses HIBBARD and Hannah ALDEN. His grandfather was
Experience, son of Nehemiah, son of Rev. Samuel, son of Rev. Joseph, who came
to Massachusetts in 1666.
He was born at Lebanon, Grafton county, New Hampshire, April 30, 1813; educated
at common school, with private teaching;studied law and was admitted to
practice; came from Erie county, New York, in 1840, to Geneva; was district
attorney 1841-5; married April 17, 1844, Caroline A., daughter of Col. James
MAXWELL; was chairman of committee on education and school funds in
constitutional convention of 1847; member of Assembly in 1851, chosen over
Samuel D. HASTINGS and Cyrus RUGG; attorney-general of Wisconsin, 1852-4;
appointed attorney-general of Nebraska Territory in 1855; claimed seat as
delegate in thirty-sixth Congress, but not seated; died at Omaha, March 26,
1894.
GEORGE ESTERLY, son of Peter and Rachel, was born in Ulster
county, New York, October 17, 1809. He
was three times married. His first wife, Jane LEWIS, was mother of his
eight children. In 1860 their step-mother was named Amelia and the
children then at home were Mary, George W., Eva (now Mrs. Joseph Hubert PAGE),
and Emma. Mr. ESTERLY came to Heart Prairie in 1837, where he bought more
than eleven hundred acres of land and in 1843 sowed three hundred acres with
wheat. His mind was of mechanical turn, and here was stimulus for an
inventor. By 1856 his reaping and mowing machine was fully in the local
market, and in its improved forms found other markets. He attempted, by
newspaper articles and pamphlets, to discuss and settle some of the
politico-economic problems of his time, and his efforts found admirers.
"All in all, he was one of the most forceful and remarkable of many strong
men of Whitewater." He died about 1893 at Hot Springs,South Dakota.
page 516
JOHN ALLEN FARNUM, son of Jonathan FARNUM (born 1760) and Lettice KELLEY, was born in 1797; married Chloe BENNETT;
was at Hudson in 1842; died in
north Geneva, September 23, 1858. Chloe was born in 1808;
died March 3, 1860.
Their children, born between 1826 and 1843, were Ethan B. (married Hannah M.
ROUSE); Alonzo L. (married Nancy DEAN); Edgar J.; Samantha B.; Ezra C. (killed
at Port Hudson); Lucy A.; Mary E.
TIMOTHY HOPKINS FELLOWS, son ofAbiel
FELLOWS, Jr., andDorcas HOPKINS, had ancestors
William1, Ephraim 2, 3, Abiel 4. He was born in Wyoming valley March 14,
1812; his parents removed to Kalamazoo county in 1829; he married December 1,
1831, Eliza Ann, daughter of William DUNCAN and Ruth GILMORE; came to
Bloomfield in 1839; served three terms in county board; was assemblyman in
1852, chosen over Moses SEYMOUR and Dr. Hilton W. BOYCE; and in 1853, having
beaten Capt. Albert T. WHEELER and Dr. Lewis N. WOOD; died November 5,
1894. Mrs. FELLOWS was born October 19, 1814; died April 23,
1887. Six of their children lived to maturity: Gilmore Duncan
(married 1.Helen August NOYES; 2. Dora H. PARMELEE);
Theodore A. died February 10, 1912; Emma Jane (Mrs. Emerson W. PEET); Anna E. (Mrs. Edwin F. DUNCAN); Mary H. (Mrs.
Orson S. AVERY); Catharine L. (Mrs. Clarence N. REYNOLDS).
ANDREW FERGUSON was born at Laurens,New York, September 27, 1803; in 1822 went to Cooperstown
and became a tanner and shoemaker; married April 24, 1824,Lucretia S.
GOODSELL. In 1835, with Lewis B. GOODSELL, his brother-in-law, and George
CAMPBELL, he began a general retail business in Dearborn street, near Lake
street, Chicago. His attention was drawn to the Brink-Payne war at Geneva,
but was at first too prudent to risk much of his capital in disputed
titles. He moved his stock of goods to Geneva,
and from 1838 to 1850 was postmaster. After six years of farming in Linn
he returned, in 1866, to Lake Geneva, where he died May 14, 1884. His wife had died
April 3, 1869, and he married Mrs. Mary L. MAYNARD, September 2, 1873. He was of the
"Old Guard" of the county Democracy, and was therefore not
often burdened with official duty; but he was not therefore less esteemed as a
man. His children were Ann, Thomas Henry,Charles Eugene.
page 516-517
STEPHEN FIELD (Abner6, William5, Jeremiah, Thomas3, 2, 1), son
of Abner FIELD and Rebecca PAYNE, born in Windsor county, Vermont,
January 10, 1791; married Mary JORDAN (1790-1840), March 7,
1814; died at East Troy, January 27, 1879. He came to Mukwonago in 1838;
to section 20, East Troy, in 1839; was member of the
Territorial Legislature in 1845. Of five children, August (1818-1873) was
unmarried. Martin married Sarah P., daughter of James MEACHAM and
Prudence WALLIS, and moved to Mukwonago. He was once a trustee of the State
School for the Deaf. Mary (born 1816) was wife of Andrew E.
ELMORE. Stephen F. married the Sage's sister, Ellen, daughter of Job ELMORE.
Rosanna (1825-1855) was wife of Alender O. BABCOCK. Mr. FIELD was of a Federalist
family, and passed naturally to the Whigs and thence to the Republican party.
He was a man of substance and of influence among intelligent neighbors and townsmen.
Page 517
JAMES FLACK, son of immigrants from Ireland, born 1782, married Polly POWELL, born 1792, and lived in Washington
county, New York. Their children were John Powell, Thomas, Margaret (Mrs. THORNTON), Anna (Mrs.
David G. LYTLE), Garrett, Richard B., James D.
Richard Baker FLACK was born December 13, 1815; married Sophia, daughter of John
ARMSTRONG and Elizabeth LYTLE, March 20, 1838; came to town of Geneva
in 1843; died at Elkhorn, October 30, 1887. Mrs. FLACK
was born at Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, July 5, 1815;
died at Elkhorn, February 3, 1901. Their children
were James H., Wilbur,Alarada, Emma, Elmina (Mrs. Duane D. FINCH).
James Douglas FLACK, born September 27, 1828; married Sarah Eliza COOK; died
March 7, 1911. Mrs. FLACK was born in 1834; died March 1909. Children: Furness, Mary, James, Alice,
Lucy, Willie E.
JOHN FLACK, a brother of James, married a daughter of Capt.
Isaac GRAY. Their son, James Adam, was born in Washington county June 2,
1804; married, first, Mary, daughter of Samuel LYTLE; second, Martha, daughter
of Samuel ARMSTORNG and Mary GREGG; came early to the town of Geneva; died
March 8, 1888. Mary's children were John G., David L. and Mary Ann (Mrs.
Daniel GROSS). Martha's children were Arvilla (Mrs. Samuel LYTLE, Jr.), Ellen Genevra (Mrs. Henry
DELAP), Lydia Marilla, Charles Mortimer (married Nellie CRUICKSHANK).
John Gray FLACK, born July 3, 1828; married December 18,
1849, Ellen M., daughter of Daniel S. and Maria BENTON; she died June 22, 1900;
he married Mrs. Hephsibah (TOMLINSON) ALLEN, June 19,
1902; is yet living, at Elkhorn.
Page 684-686
LUCIEN ANDREW FOOTE. The life record of such a man as the late Lucien Andrew FOOTE, for many years one of the prominent
citizens of Montgomery county, Indiana, is worthy of perpetuation on the pages of history, for in it may be gleaned many
valuable lessons, for he was a man of sterling characteristics of head and heart and left behind him a heritage of which
his descendants and friends may well be proud. He was the son of Andrew FOOTE, who was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania,
on December 15, 1786, and he was a son of Thomas and Jane FOOTE. According to family tradition, four generations before
Andrew ROOTE the family came from Wales to Ireland between the years 1680 to 1690. The ancestor in the third generation
before the subject was born during the siege of Londonderry, 1690. His son Thomas afterwards resided in Rapho, province
of Ulster, and there reared his family. One of his sons, Thomas, father of Andrew FOOTE, emigrated to America in 1774,
landing in Philadelphia and married Janet ROAN at Middleton, Pennsylvania, in 1778 and they settled in Carlyle, that
state. About 1781 they moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where they resided a number of years, then returned to Carlisle,
then in 1793 moved to Ohio and there he spent the rest of his life, dying in Adams county in 1806, when fifty-two years
old.
Thomas S. FOOTE son of the above named gentleman, married Mary TWEED, daughter of Archibald TWEED, of Clermont county,
Ohio. He was an attorney-at-law. Archibald TWEED married Jeannette PATTERSON in Pennsylvania and in 1798 moved to what
is now Ripley county, Ohio, and reared a large family, one of whom, Jane, married Andrew FOOTE. Ancestors of the TWEED
family lived in the north of Scotland, the name having probably originated from the TWEED river, or vice versa. Andrew
and Jane (TWEED) FOOTE were the parents of Major FOOTE. The mother was born December 7, 1787. Susan Greer Sunderland
FOOTE, mentioned above, died on April 1, 1858.
Maj. Lucien A. FOOTE was born in Batavia county, Ohio, December 16, 1824. In April 1833, he moved with the family to
Indiana, locating at Rockville, where the father engaged in the general merchandise business. Lucien acquired such
education as he could in the common schools and he assisted his father in his business when a boy. On March 9, 1849,
he started with a party overland to California. At that time all west of the Mississippi river was a vast wilderness.
The trip with ox teams required nearly six months, they arriving there in September. Major FOOTE located in Placerville
and remained there two years engaged in mining, then returned to Rockville, Indiana, where, on December 31, 1851, he was
united in marriage with Susan G. SUNDERLAND, a daughter of John and _______ (PAGE) SUNDERLAND. She was born in Rockville
in 1833 and her death occurred on April 1, 1858 in that town. Her parents were pioneers in Parke county, Indiana.
Three daughters were born to Major FOOTE and wife; Mrs. Howard E. PROCTOR, of Chicago; Mrs. William H. STEVENS, of
Versailles, Missouri; and Mrs. Walter CURTIS, of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. About two years after the death of his first
wife the Major was united in marriage with Amelia Ann HOLT, of Madison, Wisconsin, who now survives him and lives with
Mrs. Walter CURTIS, of Lake Geneva.
In October 1859, Major FOOTE was elected auditor of Parke county, Indiana, and he served in that capacity until the Civil
war broke out, when he recruited a company and was elected captain of Company A, Fourteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
He resigned on account of disability and afterwards enlisted in company C, Seventy-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
He was captured with part of the regiment in Uniontown, Kentucky, September 1, 1862, and sent home on a parole. After
his exchange was effected he re-enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was
commissioned major of that regiment. He was a splendid officer and own the admiration of his men and superior officers.
In March 1865, the Major moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana, and engaged in the book and stationery business several years.
For more than sixty years he was a very prominent Mason, reaching by gradual succession the highest office in the gift of
the order, grand master of the grand lodge, and was one of the most widely known and influential men in the order in the
United States. He was a charter member of McPherson Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, also a
charter member of the Loyal Legion of Indiana, and at the time of his death he was chaplain of the order. He lived to be
nearly eighty-six years old, his death occurring at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Walter CURTIS, near Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin, December 1, 1910, after an unusually active, honorable and useful career.
The Major was an intimate friend of many celebrated people of his day and generation. In a copy of "Ben-Hur," written
by Gen. Lew WALLACE, his fellow townsman at Crawfordsville, Indiana, we find the following written by the great author
himself: "Major FOOTE asks me to write my name here, and as I am an ancient friend of his, I can refuse him nothing.
Lew WALLACE, February 1, 1889."
page 517-518
NATHANIEL FOSTER was son of David FOSTER (a soldier of the
Revolution) and Lydia WHITE. Other ancestors were Thomas 1, 2, John3, Chillingsworth4,
Nathiel5. He was born May, 1786, at Williamstown, Massachusetts; came from Vermont to Sugar Creek;
died August 27, 1870. Sarah LEACH, his wife, was born April 17, 1792; married in 1809;
died February 14, 1867. Of their twelve children, Jason, Jay and Asa came to
Sugar Creek
Page 518
JASON FOSTER was born at Fairfield, April 11, 1828; married December 31, 1854, Marcia, daughter
of Loyal LEACH and Elizabeth BRADLEY; died March 1, 1905, in Lafayette.
Mrs. FOSTER was born July 24, 1834; died May 2, 1905. Their children were:Dexie (Mrs. Burton WEBSTER), Ann
(Mrs. Rodney WEBSTER), Scott, Edith (Mrs. James TRIPP), Edna (Mrs. Ernest A.
WEST), Angie (Mrs. Homer DAVIS), Lora (Mrs. William TRIPP), Mary, (Mrs. J.
Ashton DAVIS).
ASA FOSTER was born at East Fairfield, May 23, 1830; married
September 23, 1858, Clarinda L., daughter of Samuel Holmes TIBBETS and Sarah
PATTEE; now living in Sugar Creek. Mrs. FOSTER was born at
Hawksbury,Ontario, January 18, 1839; died July 4, 1892. Their children are
SarahEmogene (Mrs. Charles H. NOTT), Jennie (Mrs. Charles MOSHER),Samuel Tibbets
(married Mary Jane FOUNTAIN).
