From the book History of Walworth County Wisconsin, by Albert Clayton
Beckwith, publ 1912
From the book History of Walworth County Wisconsin,
by Albert Clayton Beckwith, publ. 1912.
Page 530-531
THOMAS JAMES of an old colonial family, was born in the town
of Richmond, Rhode Island, June 9, 1782; married Dorcas
PERRY (who died in April 1843); served as sheriff of Washington county and as a
member of the Legislature; came from Providence early in 1838 to township 3,
range 15, and was one of a group of Rhode Islanders who named the town
Richmond; married June 22, 1847, Mrs. Sarah STOWELL (who died July 30, 1867);
moved to Delavan in 1854; died June 17, 1858. Children of Dorcas: Fanny (Mrs. Gardner KENYON); Nancy (Mrs. Joseph
BARBER); Hannah (Mrs. Robert SHERMAN); Susan (Mrs.Asa
CONGDON); Thomas P.; George E. (married first, Elizabeth ODELL, second Ellen
DELANEY); Dorcas (Mrs. Jonathan CHURCH: Mary (Mrs.
Elijah BELDING); Robert H. (married Mary R. PAUL; Sarah T. (Mrs. David IRISH);
Elizabeth (1830-1891), wife of Earl M. IRISH (1829-1891).
Page 531
THOMAS PERRY JAMES, son of Thomas and Dorcas,was born June 15, 1816;
came with parents to Richmond in 1838; married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel McCLARY,
November 25, 1852; died in October, 1896. He was one of the "solid men" of his town, was one of the
organizers of the Citizens Bank of Delavan, and in general terms was a worthy
representative of an old and honorable American family. Mrs. JAMES died January 9, 1903, leaving her six
children: Dorcas Perry (second wife of Rev. Charles Albert HOBBS); Thomas; Daniel M.; Susan
(Mrs. Charles H. BARKER); Eliza S. (a teacher); Fanny Louisa (Mrs. Rev. Ralph Waller HOBBS). Charles A. and
Ralph W. HOBBS are respectively father and son.
Page 531
JOHN JEFFERS was born in Lisburn parish, county Antrim, Ulster, in 1822; came in infancy to Oneida county, New York;
married Flora Ann ARMSTRONG; came in 1852 to Sharon, where he proved himself a useful addition to the muscle
and the mind of the town. He was a zealous member of the Agricultural Society, ready and able
to talk, write and work in its interest. In 1864 he was member of Assembly, elected as an independent candidate
against Alanson H. BARNES. In 1871 he served for another session, having beaten A. W. COLE. In 1872
he supported the Greeley ticket, and soon afterward became an out-and-out Democrat.
He died February 22, 1890. He was a member of the Methodist church at Darien, a cheerful Christian,
tolerant of many differences of belief, and kindly disposed toward all mankind.
Page 531-532
TRUMAN JONES (1783-1833) was son of Amasa andAzubah. He married Elizabeth (born 1789),
daughter of Stephen KINNE (or KENNEY), who was son of Gideon KINNE and Thankful HEWITT. Truman died in Cortland
county, probably, for his widow came with part of her eleven children from that county to Darien
in 1838, and she was living in 1860. These sons and daughters, as her known, were: 1. Loren Kenney (1812-1861),
married Laura H. (1814-1883), daughter of Homer and Rachel GREENMAN. 2. Lyman (1813-1889),
married Mary BEAN. 3. Parley W. 4. Rowena (1815 ---), wife of Newton McGRAW. 5. Mary M. (1816-1873),
wife of Israel STOWELL. 6. Sanford (1820-1864) (wifeLevina), soldier of Company F,
Thirty-fifth Infantry, and captain of Company A, Thirty-seventh Infantry; died in service. 7.Arimathea
(1827-1872), wife of Joseph F. LYON. 8. Horatio.
Page 532
ALBERT KEEP was son of Chauncey KEEP (1784-1853) and Prudence (1789-1863), daughter of Parmenio WOLCOTT
and wife Mary. The older KEEP ancestors were John1, Samuel2, John3, Capt. Caleb4, and were of Connecticut.
Prudence was a descendant of Roger WOLCOTT. Mr. KEEP was born at Homer, New York, April 30, 1826;
came from Fredonia with Henry (1820-1897), his brother, to Whitewater in 1847 and formed a partnership
in retail business withPhilander PEEK. In 1851 PEEK & KEEP went into the wholesale trade in
dry goods at Chicago. About 1856 Mr. KEEP turned his attention to city real estate. Among his affairs
was to secure the right of way through the city for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Co., of which
he became a director in 1865 and its president in 1883. His administration was vigorous and up-building.
He died at Chicago about 1908. His cousin, John Martin KEEP (1813-1861), of Beloit,
was judge of the first circuit 1856-8, and was accounted one of the ablest men on the bench of the state.
Page 532-533
ALPHONSO G. KELLAM, son of Harvey and Julia (DAVIS), was born at Scottsville, near Rochester, New York,
December 7, 1840; came to Elkhorn about 1857 and studied law in the office of WINSOR & SMITH. He was an
unusually bright student and readily digested whatever he learned. He was admitted to the bar in 1859 and
practiced at Delavan until 1862, when he recruited Company D, Twenty-second Infantry, and became its captain;
in 1864; he was commissioned as major; was mustered out of service in June, 1865, after
an active and most creditable service of nearly three years. He married at Smithville, New York, October 23, 1865,
and returned to law practice at Delavan with Alfred S. SPOONER as partner. In the earlier seventies he went to
Chamberlain, Dakota, and became the first chief-justice of the state of South Dakota. Several years later he resigned
and went to Spokane, where he died June 15, 1909, leaving his wife and a son, Fred W. KELLAM, a lawyer of that city.
Page 686-687
HENRY KIMBALL. At the outset of his career Henry KIMBALL, farmer and stock raiser of Bloomfield township, Walworth
county, realized that the foundation of all achievement is earnest, persistent labor, so he did not seek any royal road
to the goal of prosperity and independence, but began to work earnestly and diligently to advance himself, and the result
has been most satisfactory, and while still young in years he has become owner of an excellent farm and a comfortable
home and takes his place in the ranks of those men who, while bettering their own condition, lend a helping hand to
public improvements as well and is therefore entitled to the esteem of their fellow men. This Mr. KIMBALL can certainly
claim.
The subject was born on the farm where he now resides in the northern part of Bloomfield township, Walworth county,
June 26, 1878. He is the son of Caspar J. and Christina KIMBALL, and is a brother of Lewis A. KIMBALL, a sketch of
whom appears elsewhere in this work, and in which will be found the KIMBALL ancestry. However, suffice it to say here
that his father was born in Saxony, Germany, and his mother in Grolsheim, Germany, near the city of Worms, and they
spent their childhood days in the fatherland, and when young emigrated to America and married in this country. The
father came with the pioneers to Walworth county in the fifties and here became well established through thrift and
industry.
Henry KIMBALL grew to manhood on the home farm and when young he worked out by the month three or four years. He was
married in 1902 to Freda PFAFF, daughter of Carl Louis PFAFF and Bertha (KUEMPEL) PFAFF. She was born in Wernshausen,
Saxe-Meiningen, Germany. She came to America in 1882 with her parents and the rest of the family. They located at
Mauston, Juneau county, Wisconsin, and lived there until her marriage. Mr. PFAFF is a successful farmer, still living
in Juneau county.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry KIMBALL, three of whom are living at this writing, namely: Marian died when
about nine months old; Thedora, Helen and Louis are at home.
After his marriage Mr. KIMBALL took up farming for himself on the old homestead and has lived here ever since. He owns
one hundred and twenty acres of excellent land, which he has placed under good improvements and cultivation, his labors
being annually repaid by bounteous harvests, due to his skillful management and his close attention to his work. For a
time he carried on butter making, but found it detrimental to his health and abandoned the same. Mr. KIMBALL is a worthy
member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Page 533
AUGUSTUS CAESAR KINNE was son of Elias KINNE and daughter of Jesse (son of Abraham) RUNDELL. His father,
who died at Sugar Creek, June 29, 1854, was son of Nathaniel, son of Stephen, son of John, son of John,
son of William, of New London. Augustus C. was born at Norwich, New York, December 3, 1808; came in 1838 to Troy
and later to Sugar Creek, for which town he was a member of the county board in 1843. In 1854 he married
Cecilia, daughter of James Oliver ROSENCRANS (Dr. Simeon4, Col. John3, Alexander2, Harman Hendrick1).
He was a teacher and a farmer. He was a member of the second constitutional convention; and in 1848, 1857, 1861
he was defeated Democratic candidate for assemblyman against Enos J. HAZARD, Butler G. NOBLE, and Sylvester HANSON.
He died January 23, 1863. His wife was born at Walpack,New Jersey, May 12, 1832, and died at Irwin, Virginia,
May 18, 1892. His children: Mary (Mrs. Walter E.LAUDERDALE), Dr. Edward, of Elkhorn; Herbert, a lawyer of Milwaukee.
JESSE RUNDELL KINNE, son of Elias and Lydia (RUNDELL), was born at Norwich, November 26, 1803; married
January 14, 1829, Sarah, daughter of Isaac U. WHEELER and Lavina DUNCAN; came in 1843 to
Sugar Creek, where he owned more than three hundred and fifty acres of land, and knew how to thrive by good
farming; died March 24, 1886. Mrs. KINNE was born January 1809; died November 1, 1873. Children:
Charles (married Jane, daughter of Daniel BIGELOW); Lavina (Mrs. Ezra Resolved DAY); George
(married Mary E., daughter of James W. FIELD). Mr. KINNE was one of the ancient county Democracy -
often seen in conventions, but never in official places, excepting when his Republican neighbors did
not like all of their ticket for town office.
Page 533-534
WILLIAM ALLEN KNILANS, son of Daniel and Sarah ALLEN, was born in northern Ireland, November 22, 1833;
came with parents and brothers to Richmond in 1849; in 1861 enlisted in company I, Thirteenth Infantry, and was
successively first sergeant, second and first lieutenant and was transferred to
company G as its captain; mustered out late in 1865 at San Antonio, Texas. He served at Huntsville, Alabama,
as provost-marshal and was in all ways a capable and trustworthy soldier.
He married February 20, 1867. Eleanor Frances, daughter of Samuel STEWART and Margaret MITCHELL, became a
farm owner and prospered steadily. In his turn he was president of the Agricultural Society, of which he was
a working member. He was seven terms a member of the county board for Richmond.
His clerical and business qualifications were good, and he was often appointed executor of wills or
administrator of valuable estates. Like Messrs. Bell, Coon, Curtiss, Kinne, Latham, Oatman, Page, Stebbins,
Treat, Willis, and others, he reckoned it honorable to be often a defeated candidate on Democratic legislative
and county tickets. He was for several years a member of the county soldiers' relief committee. About
1883 he moved to Whitewater. In 1893 he went to Sligo to administer an estate of something
like twenty thousand pounds value, having been named in an aunt's will as her executor. In the second Cleveland
administration he had much influence with Senators Vilas and Mitchell in the distribution of postmasterships
within the county. He moved to a farm near Beloit in 1894, where he died June 25, 1909.
His children were William Arthur, Alice Elizabeth, Daniel Amos.
Page 534
PHIPPS WALDO LAKE was born at Hoosick, New York, >April 30, 1789; was a soldier of the war of 1812; married
Rebecca, daughter of John BEARDSLEY; came about 1839 to Big Foot Prairie, where he bought about six hundred
acres of land. He was a member of the Assembly of 1854, having been preferred by his district to Capt. Albert T.
WHEELER. He died August 17, 1860. Mrs. LAKE was born at Richfield, New York, May 5, 1892; died May 22, 1884.
Mr. LAKE turned in early life to the service of religion and was ordained as a Baptist clergyman. He was one
of the earliest in the work of religious organization in the southern half of the county.
[Transcriber's note - An obvious error stating that Mrs. Lake was born in 1892 and died in 1884. It probably should read that she
was born May 5, 1792.]
IRA PRATT LARNARD, son of Elisha LARNARD and Nancy WILSON, had ancestors William1, Isaac2, Benoni3, Thomas4,
Jonathan5, Fanning6, Moses7, who married Sarah PRATT. Ira was born at Waverly, New York, January 20, 1821;
came to Delavan in 1841; two or three years later he bought a wagon-shop in which he worked about eight years.
In 1845 he became head of the dry-goods firm of LARNARD, BAILEY & Company, with Enoch H. M. BAILEY as
working partner. In 1859 he went to Pike's Peak and returned. From 1869 his business was that of
insurance agent, and from 1870 to 1890 inclusive, he was town clerk of Delavan and was treasurer of the
Baptist society. He married September 6, 1868, Hannah Alida, daughter of Dr.Benoni BRADWAY and Althea VANDERVEER.
She is yet living with one of her four daughters. Mr.LARNARD died May 2, 1912. He was of sound mind and clear
memory to the end of his life, which was useful, well ordered, exemplary.
Page 534-535
HOLLIS LATHAM (James5, 4, 3, Chilton2, Robert1) was fifth of fifteen children of James LATHAM and Mary,
daughter of Amos ROBINSON and Bethany JONES. He was born March 12, 1812,
at Northfield, Vermont; learned enough at home and at district school to make
him a plain, good American; came in 1836 to Milwaukee and early in 1837 to
Spring Prairie; joined Mr.ROCKWELL's party on its way to Elkhorn and chose his home in theG enevan
quarter, section 6. In April, 1838, he married Mrs.Lemira LEWIS, daughter of Capt. Daniel Edwin BRADLEY
and Elizabeth STURGIS. He served the town for many years as justice of the peace, the county as clerk of
the board of commissioners and as a superintendent of the poor, the state as trustee of the school for the deaf,
the town and county Democracy as its candidate for many defeats, the Republican party when it did not care to send
Richard B. FLACK to the Assemblyof 1862, the agricultural society for several years as its secretary and
several more as its treasurer. In the second constitutional convention he had been a member of the committee on
"executive, legislative, and administrative provisions." Like his old friend Mr. HOLLINSHEAD, he had
the unhesitating confidence of his fellow men, though there were many observable differences between these
two "grand old men." Mrs. LATHAM was born June 21, 1806, and died July 25, 1885. She left two sons,
not now living: LeGrand, first-born of Elkhorn children, and Edward Marshall; also a daughter of her first marriage;
Elizabeth Ann LEWIS, wife of Phineas C. GILBERT. Mr. LATHAM died February 22, 1886. His brother Loren (1823-1897)
lived forty-five years in Geneva and at Elkhorn.
Page 535
EBENEZER LATIMER, son of Alexander LATIMER (died 1867) and Nellie SMITH, was born in Ulster county, New York,
October 25, 1818. He was bred a carpenter, and in the city of New York was for some years a building contractor.
He came in 1847 to Darien, where he bought a large farm. He married February 21, 1849, Elizabeth, daughter of
Rial N. WEED and Ruth AUSTIN. She was born in 1825 and died August 2, 1895. Their children were Fred E. and
Mary L. (Mrs. Alonzo C. GOODRICH). Mr. LATIMER came to Delavan in 1854, built an elevator, and with his brother
and Otho BELL was for some years in grain trade. In 1873 he became president of the First National Bank of Delavan,
and at its dissolution he opened the private bank of E. LATIMER & Co., of which he was at the head until 1908.
He died March 24, 1910. He was a cool-headed, capable, conservative business man; and on at least two occasions
acted most serviceably as the city's agent in adjustment of its business with the holders of its corporate
bonds. He was a Jackson-Douglas-Tilden-Cleveland Democrat, and a member of the Methodist church. His sister,
Maria Catharine, was wife of Cyrenas N. HOLLISTER. His brother, James Freer LATIMER, was born in 1833 and died
October 29, 1904, and was his partner in earlier enterprises.
page 536
JAMES LAUDERDALE, son of Edward and wife Janet ELLIOTT, was born at Cambridge, Washington county, New York,
August 29, 1813; married in Livingston county, May 11, 1841, Margaret, daughter of James P. STEWART and
Janet McNAUGHTON; came to Lagrange in 1842; served on county board; was assemblyman in 1853, chosen over
George G. WILLIAMS, and again in 1856, chosen over Datus ENSIGN; died March 13, 1888. Mrs. LAUDERDALE died
October 1, 1909; their children were James Edward, John Henry, Amanda (Mrs. D. Judson WILLIAMS), Mary Eliza
(Mrs. Chester B. WILLIAMS), and Walter Elliot.
MRS. MARY ELIZABETH LEE, daughter of Ebenezer Chesebro and Anna GRISWOLD, was born in Albany county, New
York, July 22, 1815; in 1837 she was married to Nelson (son of Elon) LEE. He was born at Guilford,
Connecticut, March 1, 1814; his parents went to Monroe county, New York, two years later. In 1847
Mr. and Mrs. LEE came to Darien; in 1848 to Sugar Creek; in 1868 to a farm near Delavan. Mrs. LEE died at
Sugar Creek, October 13, 1890. Mr. LEE died at Webster City, Iowa, April 9, 1898. It is told, with much color of
truth, that she was hardly second to her father in his efforts to secure a state school for deaf children.
Her son, Elon Nelson LEE (afterward county superintendent of schools), was a soldier of
Company A. Tenth Wisconsin Infantry. He was sick at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, when she went there in February 1862.
Her ministration was not restricted to him. She came home and pushed the work of the sanitary aid societies,
and then went to find further service at the Louisville hospital. After the battle of Chaplin Hills she
went to the hospitals at Danville. The next year she returned with credentials, letters, or other helpful papers,
from Gov. Solomon, Lieutenant-Governor Spooner, and the Chicago Sanitary Aid Society, and became well known to
thousands of soldiers at Louisville, Nashville, and Murfreesboro. Her son wrote of his parents:
"I have said that if I were as truthful and honest as my father, and had the courage, grit and leadership of
my mother, I would feel satisfied." Yet their son has never been reckoned here as a degenerate, but, on the
whole, quite worthy of such parentage. Known ancestors ofElon N. LEE were Nelson4, Elon3, Eber2, Elon1, of Guilford.
CHESTER DEMING LONG, son of Hugh and Parnell, was born in Pembroke, New York, February 15, 1819. He came with
his father to Darien in 1839 and married November 1, 1843, Laura Ann (1826-1893), daughter of Zebulon T. LEE and Sabra,
daughter of Orange CARTER. In 1851-2 he served a term as register of deeds, and his records show that he was a
competent and neat-handed officer. In 1860 he was elected member of Assembly for one session,
over Charles A. HUTCHINS and David COON, Jr. He died June 15, 1884. Mrs. LONG died January 31, 1893.
Page 537
ISAAC LYON, son of Thomas LYON and Benjamina VALENTINE, had older ancestors, Thomas1,2, Jonathan3, Capt. David4.
His father and grandfathers were soldiers of the Revolution. He was born at Nine Partners, Dutchess county, April 4, 1795;
served in the war of 1812; married at Chatham, New York, April 2, 1814; Eunice, daughter of Capt. Uriel COFFIN.
She was born April 2, 1800; died October 3, 1848. Isaac, with brothers David, Thomas and William Fletcher and
their father, came in 1837 to Hudson (Lyons) and were among the founders of the village at the mill. He died
December 15, 1884, and was buried at Delavan, whither his father's and his wife's relics were removed from Lyons.
His son, William Penn, ex-chief-justice of the state supreme court, is living near Sacramento. His daughter,
Maria C., was wife of Amos PHELPS, of Delavan, son of Jeremiah and Margaret. Volume VI, Wisconsin Historical
Collections (1872), mentioned him as the depositor in the Historical Society's cabinet of his large and
interesting collection of curiosities, the labor of years, and as "our venerable friend and benefactor";
and in Volume X it is noted (for 1884)that he " continues, voluntarily, and without recompense to supervise the
cabinet department with the same intelligent zeal and interest as in former years."
Page 537-538
JOSEPH FOSTER LYON (Isaac6, David5, Edward4, Samuel3, William2, 1), son of Isaac LYON and
Sarah BLODGETT, was born at Harford, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1825; came to Waukegan in 1844;
to Woodstock in 1850; to Darien in 1854. He married July 26, 1854, at Beloit, Arimathea, daughter of Truman JONES
and Elizabeth KINNE. A few years later he went to California and soon returned to Darien, where he studied law and
peace, eight terms as member of the county board, and in 1868 as assemblyman, chosen over Julius A. TREAT.
In 1875 he was appointed clerk of the circuit court, and served a full term by election. From 1875 to his
death, December 12, 1902, his home was at Elkhorn. Mrs. LYON, who was granddaughter of Amasa and Azubah JONES,
and whose mother was daughter of Stephen KINNE and granddaughter of Gideon KINNE and Thankful HEWITT,
died November 7, 1872, leaving children, Ari May (Mrs. C. W. FERSON), Jay Forrest (now county judge),
and Vernette M. (Mrs. George M. DUNHAM). Mr. LYON married December 10, 1873, Amelia L., daughter of Leander DODGE
and Harriet, daughter of Orange CARTER. She was born at Darien, May 17, 1840; died at Chicago,
October 10, 1906. Mr. LYON was an intelligent student of legal principles, and was an ingeniousreasoner. He
had also a marvelous memory of the statute books, himself almost a living index to their contents - often
able to stand in court and trace a chapter from its passage in the forties through one or more amendments
to its repeal in the seventies, he looking backward from eighties or nineties. Besides, he was
a part of the age in which he lived, in touch with its spirit, and moving forward with its progress;
and, moreover, was one of the kindest of men and neighbors. His brother, Charles Lysander, born September 1, 1829,
has been coroner since 1883.
Page 538
ROBERT LYTLE married Esther LYTLE. Both were of the north of Ireland, and were children of immigrants.
They had children: Isaac (married Nancy ARMSTRONG);Elizabeth (Mrs. John ARMSTRONG); Lucy (Mrs. William LYTLE);
William (married Nelly LYTLE); James (married Chloe HASKINS, and Elizabeth HENRY); Margaret (Mrs. Daniel KEENEY).
A brother of Robert or of Esther had children: Samuel (his second wife, Mrs. Harriet CAMPBELL MAGEE);
Nelly (wife of above mentioned William LYTLE); William (married above-named Lucy LYTLE); James; John.
SAMUEL LYTLE and his first wife had a daughter, Mary, wife of James Adam FLACK. Of his second wife,
Harriet (CAMPBELL) MAGEE, were Samuel, whose wife Arvilla is daughter of James Adam FLACK's second wife,
Martha ARMSTRONG; Thomas (married Sylvia RUST); Henry (married Julia, daughter of Richard POTTER); .
Louisa (Mrs. Cyrus COLE).
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