Biographical Sketches, Mukwonago Township Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Biographies

From "History of Waukesha County" by Western Historical Company, Chicago 1880

WILLIAM ADDENBROOKE, farmer, Sec. 9; P. O. North Prairie; born 1832, in Staffordshire, Eng.; is s son of Hy. and Harriett (Johnson) Addenbrook, who are now residents of Liverpool, Eng.; Mr. A. studied in the schools of his native land, taking a medical course at the Birmingham Hospital; he practiced medicine on the ocean packet-ships, and in the American and English seaports, until 1852, when he came to Wisconsin and bought his present farm of 120 acres; was for nine years in the grain and mercantile business at North Prairie, selling his store and elevator, in 1875; has since devoted himself to his farm and apiary; his first swarm was captured in the woods about twenty years ago; was for a time in partnership with George Grimm, whose father, Adam G., of Jefferson, Wis., was the most successful apiarian on the continent, and first introduced the Italian bees; the partnership was dissolved in 1879, Mr. Addenbrooke now owning one hundred and fifty swarms of pure and hybrid Italians; he was the originator of the method of wintering the hives packed in chaff, which is found to to be most satisfactory; he is now building a very large two-story residence, fitting up the cellar with a view to the wintering of bees; when he went into partnership, he had fifty-seven swarms, of which Mr. Grimm took half; at the end of two years, they divided three hundred swarms between them, having more than paid expenses. Mr. A. introduced the first ferrets, and also the first African geese, into Wisconsin. Is a Democrat; was Chairman, in 1876 and 1878, and was re-elected in 1880; has also been Supervisor, etc., in his Republican town. Married, in 1853, Miss Celia, daughter of Isaiah and Emily L. (Harrison) Skidmore, of Staffordshire, who settled in Mukwonago, in July, 1844; Mr. and Mrs, A. have six children - Ellen H. (Mrs. John Sugden), Henry H., William J., M. Louisa, Joseph J. and Harriet R.

F. S. ANDREWS, farmer, Secs. 15, 16 and 22; P. O. Mukwonago; is a son of John and Betsey (Smith) Andrews, and was born in Andover, Vt., March 24, 1826; the family settled on Sec. 22, Mukwonago, in 1844; here F. S. Andrews lived till 1850, when he located on his present farm of 195 acres; has cleared the land of a heavy growth of oak, broken and fenced it, built a large basement barn, in 1861, has added other substantial buildings, and, in 1879, built a large and tasteful farmhouse. Married, Sept. 28, 1848, Miss Emmeline Hollister, of Bafford, S. C., by whom he has eight children - Betsey A., Anginette, Wallace F., Addie J., Alida K., Luella, Ross E., and May A. The mother of Mr. A. died in 1846, his father still residing in Mukwonago, aged 82 Mr. A. is a Republican, and has been twice chairman, and several years Supervisor, of the town. Is breeding full-blooded Spanish merino sheep, from the flock of Jasper J. Brainerd, Attica, N. Y., owning fifty full-bloods and sixty high grades; he also has one full-blood and six grade shorthorns.

GEORGE W. ANDREWS, farmer, Secs. 22 and 23; P. O. Mukwonago; born in Andover Vt.; is a son of John and Betsey (Smith) Andrews, who came to Mukwonago in 1844, John A. buying three eighties of Government land and 330 acres of the settlers, living here until 1873, when he located in the village, his wife having died, in 1846, leaving him nine children - John, Lucy, Frederic S., George W., Andrew, Mary A., Ira B., Wesley, and Laurel G., all of whom are now in Wisconsin, except Ira D. and Wesley; Geo. W. married Miss Roxina Hollister, a native of Canada, by whom he has a son, J. Elmer, born Oct. 30, 1870. Owns 166 acres of the old homestead, well improved, with good buildings; is a well-known stock-grower and dealer, buying pure-bred sheep for Western breeders; has an excellent flock of Spanish merinos, from the flocks of Perry Craig, Vernon and A. C. Whitmore, East Troy, and has recently paid $100 for a registered ram, from the famous Hammond flock, Shoreham, Vt.

LAUREL G. ANDREWS, merchant and postmaster at Mukwonago; born 1841, in Andover, Vt. His father, John Andrews, settled in Mukwonago, in 1844; Laurel G. was educated in the village school and in Carroll College. Married Miss Martha, daughter of Jesse Whitney; she was a native of Rochester, N. Y., and a resident of Mukwonago. Mr. A. is a Republican. His business life began in 1869, his partner and uncle, Sewall Andrews, retiring the next year in favor of his son Clement. L. G. & C. Andrews did business until 1873, when F. A. Wood bought out Clement A., thus constituting the present firm; they have, since November, 1879, occupied a large and well appointed store, built and owned by S. Andrews, carrying a very large and most complete stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, and anything wanted in a farming community. Mr. A. was appointed Postmaster in April, 1875.

SEWALL ANDREWS, the pioneer settler of Mukwonago Village, was born Feb. 5, 1807 in Andover, Vt., son of John and Rebecca (Webber) Andrews; after he was thirteen he attended school but little, being engaged on the farm of his widowed mother; at 19 he began peddling tinware in Massachusetts, and after eight years began business in Simonsville, Vt.; his first visit to Wisconsin was in the fall of 1835; Major Jesse Meacham and A.. Spoor accompanied him from Chicago to Milwaukee Village, where Milo Jones joined them; proceeding with a team to the southwest, they tented out on the open prairie, now the site of the city of Janesville; returning, via Chicago, to his native State, he remained until the spring of 1836; came to Milwaukee, met Henry H. Camp, and with him reached the Indian village of Mequonago, in May, 1836; Major Jessie Meacham was one week ahead of them; a present of two barrels of flour induced the Indians to allow them to build a bark-roofed shanty, 10x12 feet, in their village; prior to this they built, but did not occupy, a similar hut on Sec. 22; these were the very first buildings ever erected by a "pale-face" in Mukwonago; the " Los" were removed in 1837 but many returned and staid(sic) for years; the village plot was surveyed by Martin Field and Ira Blood, in the fall of 1836; in the spring of 1837 Mr. A. built a store and brought in the first goods from New York City; this was the trade center for twenty miles around, and the hardy frontier merchant reaped a rich reward; after relinquishing mercantile business, Mr. A. owned the grist mill five years, but of late has given his attention to cultivating his farm on the outskirts of the pretty village in which he is now the oldest settler; his substantial brick residence was built in 1842, and was one of the first of that material erected in Waukesha County. He married, Nov. 21, 1838, Miss Sarah Resigue, of Hubbardton, Vt; She died in April, 1861, leaving two sons,� Lorin, born Sept. 3, 1839; and Clement, born April 15, 1847. The present Mrs. Andrews was formerly Sarah J. Mason, and was born in Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y.; she married Edgar Meacham, who at his death, in March, 1856, left two children, Clarence and Lillian. Leona, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, died Feb. 27, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. A. are leading members of the Universalist Society of Mukwonago. Mr. A., at this writing, is a ruddy-cheeked, sturdy-looking man, who can follow a team or break in a fractious colt as well as he did forty-four years ago; he was a prominent figure in the first recorded events of his town and county. Politics, Old Line Whig Republican.

JOSEPH BOND, farmer; was born Oct, 10, 1800, in Warrensburg, Warren Co., N. Y., at that time Thurman's Patent, Washington Co., N. Y.; all his schooling was before his 12th birthday, but he grew up a reading, thinking and observing farmer; his farm in East Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y., was sold at a profit prior to his coming to Mukwonago, in June, 1839; he at once bought his present farm of 280 acres, on Secs. 22 and 27; Mr. B. did the best of work among the oak openings here, splitting rails like a second Lincoln; made his farm valuable and erected good and commodious buildings upon it. Joseph Bond is one of Waukesha County's best known pioneers, and formerly took a lively interest in public and political matters; he voted for Andrew Jackson in 1828, and has always supported his Democratic principles; was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives in 1840, 1841 and 1846; and as a member of the first Legislature, in 1848, helped frame the State Government; this honorable and hard-working body of pioneer law-makers organized the Judicial and Legislative departments, made the "forty-acre" exemption law, and many others, still in force; Mr. Bond was also a legislator in 1855, served on the County Board before and after the division of the counties, was Chairman of the County Board at the building of the court house, and from the evident respect felt for him at this day filled all three positions with credit.

ISAAC BRADLEY, farmer, Secs. 18, 19 and 20; P. O. Eagle; born in the West Ridings of Yorkshire, England, May 2, 1822; losing his father when 12 years of age, he made his home with William Hill, a brother-in-law, of whom he learned the trade of stone-cutter; came with him to America, 1842, and worked on Mr. Hill's farm one year to complete the time of his apprenticeship, and the second year to repay his passage money loaned him by Mr. H.; the next two years were spent at work on the farms by the day and month; Isaac Skidmore then paid him $9 per month for a year and a half, he thus saving his first $100; he then made a trip through South Wisconsin, doing his first stone cutting in America, at Beloit; returning; he worked three years in the Genesee stone quarry, during this time he had bought a warrant, and located land near Neenah, Wis.; the next two winters were spent in the pineries of Michigan, working at his trade in summer in Milwaukee; he also worked one summer in Chicago, and one in building a college at Batavia, Ill.; after this he bought, but soon sold, an interest in the Genesee Stone quarry, also, exchanged his land at Neenah for 80 acres of his present farm; at this time, 1853, an Indian trail led across it from Mukwonago to the northwest; about 20 acres were broken, on which was an unfinished house, used as a weaving-room by former occupants; as a result of twenty-seven years of intelligent labor and care, Mr. Bradley has 300 acres, of which 200 are under cultivation; his barn is 30x46 feet; shed addition for sheep, 21x30 feet; stable, 18x47 feet, etc.; his house, improved and painted, is 28x36 feet, and a pleasant home; as Mr. B. came here on money lent by a relative, this showing speaks for itself as to the character and energy of the man; during his life here he has worked at his trade to some extent, being foreman of a bridging gang on the Prairie du Chien Division for three summers; his last stone work was on the Milwaukee Water Works, 1873-75. He married Miss Jane, daughter of Robert Wilkinson, and a native of the East Ridings of Yorkshire, by whom he had five children - Henry W., Ella M., Irwin (deceased), Annie J. and Frank D. Mr. Bradley is liberal in religion and politics.

THOMAS BRIMMER, farmer, Secs. 16 and 21; P. O. North Prairie; born in Petersburg, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1806; Mr. Brimmer lived near this point until be was 20, then settled in Erie Co., N. Y.; in 1844, he came to Wisconsin and bought his present farm; built a rude house of planks, roofed with oak shingles, split out by him in Fox River woods; this was his home eight or ten years, and was replaced by his now pleasant home; his barns are 30x52 and 22x30; his 191 acres are cleared, fenced and productive; his son is also established near him on a good farm of 80 acres. Mr. Brimmer is a genuine old settler, and a successful one; his wife, formerly Clarissa Wright, died Aug. 7, 1851, leaving four children, Sarah, Orlin, Maria and Emily; his present wife, formerly Philura Wright, married Noah Brimmer, who died, leaving five children, Homer, deceased; O. Perry, Mary, deceased; Caroline, deceased; and William. Mr. B. is a Republican, and was Assessor in early times.

JOHN BURNELL, farmer, Secs. 6 and 7; P O. North Prairie; born May 7, 1801, in Yorkshire, England; at one time he managed a 700-acre farm in his native land; came to America in 1834, and settled for three years in White Pigeon, Mich.; made a claim (his present farm) in 1836, on which he settled with his family, June 11, 1837; built the largest log-house in the vicinity, ransacking two towns for men enough to raise it; he had sent in from Michigan twenty-one barrels of flour, which were quickly snapped up by the settlers; returning, he brought in six barrels of flour, the first head of cattle, and the first twenty hogs brought into Mukwonago; also, brought in the first fall wheat, raising 200 bushels for his first crop; flour in Milwaukee was worth $13 per barrel, and pork, $36; many of the settlers were half-starved, during the fall of 1837, when Judge Mix, of Constantine, Mich., sent in a large amount of flour made of wheat raised that year. Mr. B. first reached Waukesha with his breaking team of four horses, and, like the rest of the pioneers, went to his claim via Mukwonago; he opened the first road to Waukesha, past Spring Lake; his half-section, once a burr-oak-flat, is now one of the best farms in the county, the old log-house being replaced years ago by a substantial two-story brick residence; his main barn, with basement, is 24x137 feet in size. Married, 1828, Miss Ann Walgate, who died 1840, leaving four children - William (deceased), Henry, Elizabeth, and Sarah (deceased). Married again Miss Jane Cobb, of Yorkshire, who died in September, 1879, leaving six children - Mary J., Ann, Hannah, Emma, John and Kate J.; Helen, the third daughter, died in July, 1867. Mr. Burnell is a Democrat, and a genuine representative of the sturdy pioneers who opened up and developed this grand old county. He was for years noted for his first-class sheep, horses, etc., and as a dealer in horses.

J. W. CAIRNCROSS, M. D., Mukwonago; was born Sept. 19, 1852, in Lisbon, Waukesha Co., Wis., of which town his parents, George and Amy Cairncross, were farmers; alter a course of study in the district schools and the Pewaukee high school, be began the study of medicine with M. K Hewitt, a graduate and warm friend of Bellevue Medical College, New York City, and at whose instance young Cairncross catered this well and widely known medical school, graduating therefrom as physician and surgeon in February, 1875; locating at once in Mukwonago, he has established a most satisfactory practice. He married Miss Helen, daughter of Isaac Smith, of Pewaukee; they have an infant son, as yet unnamed. The Doctor is a Republican and a member of Pewaukee Lodge, l. O. O. F. This family originated and derive the name from the cairns and crosses of Scotland, and is one of the pioneer families in the county settling here in 1842.

THOMAS CARROLL, farmer, Sec. 1; P. O. Genesee; born in 1816, in the County of Wickford, Ireland; was a farmer and mason there; sold his farm in 1850, and came with his family to America, locating in Mukwonago; he worked the first year for W. C. Chapin, at $13 per month, and was obliged to do this as he had exhausted his means in crossing the ocean; the next ten years were spent working at his trade; he then worked the farm of a Mr. Wilson; having saved $200, he now bought 40 acres, but sold it in three years for $1,200, a gain of $200 on first cost; be next bought 120 acres at $2,300, paying $1,000 down; his wife died here, leaving him seven children, Margaret, William, Michael, Thomas, Mary A., John and Lizzie; his son David was mate an a Mississippi steamer, died at New Orleans. Mr. Carroll's present farm of 90 acres is well improved, and has good buildings. He married in July, 1871, Mrs. Margaret, widow of John Colloton, who was a native of County Monahan, Ireland; born in 1821; he came to America in 1839, lived two years in the State of New York, and came to Wisconsin in 1841, and bought in 1844, his farm of 90 acres, which he improved, and on which he died in 1864. His wife was Margaret Brenne, of County Clare, Ireland, who came to America in 1846; he left her five children, Mary A., Lizzie, Sarah, Margaret and Adelaide. The combined estate of 180 acres, is now controlled by Mr. Carroll and his youngest eon. The family are Roman Catholics; politics, Democratic.

WILDER C. CHAFIN, deceased; was born in Weston, Vt., Dec. 1, 1813; after engaging at cabinet making in Woodstock, Vt.. for some years, he came to Mukwonago late in 1836, making a claim on Sec. 36, which he bought at the land sale three years later, and which is now so good a family home; he built a log house and lived as a pioneer, returning in an early day for a visit to his native State; he was married in 1845, to Miss Amelia T., daughter of Gaylord Graves; she was born in the town of Fowler, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y.. and accompanied her parents in a covered wagon to Wisconsin, during the winter of 1837, a trip few would undertake now, though they heeded the hardships but little then. Mr. Chafin lived to do good work, clearing, building and adding to his farm; at his death Oct. 8, 1870, he left seven children - Laura R., Parthena A., Mary J., Nettie, Page W., Gaylord G. and Nellie M.; Page W. died in November, 1871. Mr. Chafin was a Congregationalist and a Republican. While trying to hold a young, spirited, and at the time frightened team, he was thrown. to the ground, and injured so badly as to live but two days; a most honorable, charitable and manly man, his death was the occasion of the most sincere expressions of grief and respect by all who knew him. His wife and family enjoy a most pleasant home on the 200-acre farm south of the village; Mrs. Chafin is a Baptist in religion.

CHARLES L. CLARK, farmer, Sec. 21; P. O. Mukwonago; born in Whiteside Co., Ill., 1838; his father, Charles Clark, removed with his family from New York to Ohio about 1834, going from there to Illinois, and settling in Mukwonago in 1845; his elder son, Charles L. was educated here, and settled on his farm of 120 acres in 1866; has made the improvements himself. Married, in the spring of 1862, Miss Hannah, daughter of William Hill, deceased, who was one of the early settlers of this town; they have five children - Margaret E., William O., Alice E., Stanton R. and Ethel A. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are Congregationalists, he being an Independent Republican and a member of Mukwonago Division B. and D. of T.; his father died in 1845; his mother is now living is North Wisconsin; his only brother, William O. Clark, enlisted among Berdan'a famous sharpshooters, served through the Peninsular campaign, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Charles City Cross Roads, Va. Charles L. Clark is thus the only living member of this branch of the family. Mr. Clark is breeding full-blooded Spanish merino sheep from J. J. Brainerd flock, of Attica, N. Y., now having 114.

THOMAS COATS, deceased; born Nov. 6, 1809, in Yorkshire, England; came to America about 1830, his family being one of the first to settle on White Pigeon Prairie, Mich; in 1835, the brothers, Thomas and John, came to Wisconsin, reaching what is now Sec. 7, Mukwonago, via Southport (Kenosha), making a claim to several hundred acres here; they then returned to Michigan for provisions and stock; Mr. Coats made many a trip after this to the same State for supplies, the bachelor settlers meeting him, in a half-starved condition, at the Indian village of Mukwonago; the old wagon used for these trips is still kept as a relic on the farm. Among the first settlers here, were the Sugdens, widow and six children; part of the family located on Sec. 17, now the Hill farm; entirely destitute of means, this heroic pioneer family saw, perhaps, more of the actual suffering and privations incident to that early day, than any other in this county; a scant supply of potatoes, eaten without even salt, was their only sustenance for some time. On the 23d of March, 1840, Jane, the second daughter married Mr. Coats, they beginning housekeeping in the log house of John Coats, who lived with them; in May, 1842, having built a part of the present house, they removed, living for years in what is now the front parlor, doing the cooking in a shanty under a noble burr oak, which still spreads its branches over the family roof. Mr. Coats died in 1865, leaving eight children - Mary (Mrs. Amos Patterson), Richard and George, farming in Mukwonago, Andrew J., Ellen, Charles H. and Emma, all on the homestead; Ada J. is now Mrs. T. E. Swan, of Heart Prairie; John, the eldest son, died in 1861; the 280 acres of improved land, on Secs. 7 and 8, with its large and substantial house and barns, are the result of the energy and pluck of Thomas Coats, who is missed by a host of warm friends, as a man ever open handed to the needy and always ready to encourage any enterprise that gave promise of good; he was a stanch Republican, as are his sons. A. J. and.C. H. Coats are breeding the best of stock; P. O. address, North Prairie.

J. N. CRAWFORD, farmer, Sec. 24; P. 0. Mukwonago; born Sept. 19, 1837, in Huron Co, Ohio; his parents, formerly from Delaware Co., N. Y., left Ohio in 1852, and settled in Baraboo, Wis.; in 1860, J. N. Crawford went to Colorado; he is a carpenter by trade. and began work among the mines; the firm of Woodbury, Norton & Crawford, of Black Hawk, Colo., erected most of the mining machinery used in that State for several years; their contracts were with United States Senator Hill, the Black Hawk Mining Company, Smith & Parmlee, the Briggs Mining Company, etc. Mr. Crawford began empty-handed, earned a competence, and, in 1868, returned to Wisconsin, buying his present farm of 161 acres. On the 24th of March, 1868, he married Miss Louie, daughter of Hon. Jesse Smith, of Vernon; they have five children - Martha, Louie B., Willie N., Jessie L. and Nora. Mr. Crawford is a member of the Universalist Society of Mukwonago, is a Republican, has been Chairman of the Town, was one of the original Trustees of the Town Insurance Company, and has been its President since 1876. Mr. Crawford is one of the most successful of the breeders of fine-wool sheep in Wisconsin; he began with a registered sheep born from the flock of S. B. Lusk, Western New York, and has since bought of Stickney, of Vermont, and J. H. Paul, of Genesee, now having fifty registered animals, which are hard to beat; his Poland China hogs are from the herds of Magee, Shepherd & Alexander, Ellsworth & Street and other noted breeders; of late, he has interested himself in Jersey cattle, having made valuable purchases from C. T. Bradley, Milwaukee.

MARTIN FIELD, attorney at law, Mukwonago, born in Chester, Windsor Co., Vt., Dec. 9, 1814; received an academic education; remaining with his parents, Stephen and Mary Field, on their farm in Chester until May, 1836; that month he reached Chicago, in company with Ira Blood and W. C. Chapin, both Vermonters; Judge F. had learned surveying of his father in boyhood, and during the summer of 1836 Mr. Blood and himself were employed in surveying out-lots in the then village of Chicago; going to Milwaukee, Mr. Blood and himself remained but a comparatively brief time, reaching the Indian village of Mukwonago early in October, 1836, and were soon after employed by the proprietors, Sewell Andrews, H.H. Camp and Edward Meacham, to survey out the village plat; Mr. Field's first claim, made on Sec. 23, was under the protection of the Anti-Speculators, Claim Association; here he built a log house, where he kept "bachelor's hall" for three years; began the study of law soon after his settlement in Badgerdom; was admitted to practice at the Circuit Court of Milwaukee Co., and soon after to the bar of the Supreme Court of the Territory. Judge Field is a sturdy and outspoken Republican, of Whig antecedents; has served thirteen years as Town Clerk, seventeen as Justice of the Peace, and other minor positions; was elected County Judge of Waukesha Co. at its organization and served fourteen years, having civil jurisdiction four years; during the war he was Assistant Government Assessor. Judge Field married Miss Sarah P. Meacham, a descendant, on her mother's side, of the famous Hyde family, and born in Springfield, Mass. The Judge is fresh, alert and healthful for a settler of forty-four years ago, and has for many years past given all the time to the management of his large fortune, accumulated almost wholly in Wisconsin.

WILLIAM M. FRAZIER, farmer, Sec. 24 and 25; P. O. Mukwonago; is a son of John and Mary (Walker) Frazier, and was born Sept. 14, 1816. in Homer, Cortland Co., N. Y. Mr. F. is of Scotch ancestry, and resided in his native State as a farmer until June, 1845, when he settled on a part of his present farm of over 500 acres; his first visit West was in 1840; Southport (Kenosha), Milwaukee and Racine were then villages; Whitewater consisted of two or three log houses, one used as a hotel; Perkins' mill in Burlington was the only available one for settlers in the eastern part of Racine County; five years later he saw the Janesville and Milwaukee road thronged with teams loaded with wheat grown on land that was untouched in 1840, and four-horse stages carried a daily mail each way; To show that he entered heartily into the progressive spirit of the times, we may look over his handsome cultivated fields, and at his small village of farm buildings, to which he is still adding; the log house, built forty-four years ago by James Orrendorf, as a hotel, was for years the best in the vicinity, but was abandoned owing to its unhealthy location, Mr. F. building a log house on the site of his present frame farm house, which replaced it in l858; his first barn, built with a basement, was 30x40, and since, he has built two sheep barns, one 20x120 and one 18x36, a horse barn 24x48, corn house 18x24, tool-house 16x40, granary, colt stable, etc. He married Miss Martha M. Thompson, a native of Lodi Plains, N. Y.; they have two daughters - Lillian M. and M. Wilmina. Mr. and Mrs. Frazier are leading members of the Universalist Society of Mukwonago, he having been Supervisor of the town several terms, Town Clerk and Chairman. Politics. Republican. He has bred fine-wool sheep for twenty-five years, past, and, now has a flock of 350, beside other stock.

JOHN H. GUDGER, farmer, Sec. 19; P. O. Eagle; born in Delafield, Waukesha Co., Wis., in 1851; son of John and Lydia Gudger, who came from Yorkshire, England, to Waukesha Co. about forty years ago, buying canal land of the Government; of the ten children, the four eldest were born in England; David, the eldest son, one of the 2d W. V. I., was killed in the battle of Gettysburg; William, the second son is now a Kansas farmer; John H. has lived in his native county, with the exception of five winters spent in North Wisconsin pineries, in 1875, his father bought the Skidmore estate of the widow of Isaiah Skidmore; sold it to his son in two years, who has sold 140 acres of it, now owning 160 acres, well improved; the large two-story brick house was built by Mr. S. at a cost of $4,000; he also erecting the barns and setting out the beautiful evergreens, and otherwise improving it. Mr. Gudger married, in 1877, Miss Mary Gillard, of East Troy, Wis. As a stock-breeder, he has a herd of thoroughbred Darham cattle, besides Spanish merino sheep, Norman horses, hogs, etc. Is a Republican. His father is a retired farmer of Pewaukee, his honored mother having gone to her final long rest. None of the early setters did better than Mr. G., who earned a competence, besides giving generous aid to each of his ten children.

EDWARD HARDAKER, farmer, Sec. 10; P. O. Mukwonago; born in Yorkshire, England, Oct. 17, 1834; his parents, John and Mary (Dunwell) Hardaker, came to America in 1845. Leaving his family in Massachusetts, John H. came at once to Mukwonago and bought 40 acres; his family joined him at the end of two years. His son, our subject, was educated in England, and has been a life-long farmer; bought his farm of 120 acres in 1865; during fifteen years of active and successful farming here, he has built a large and tasteful residence, a 36x42 foot barn, and other substantial buildings. Miss Mary Briley, of Oldham, Lancastershire, England, joined her sister in Milwaukee, Wis, in October, 1860, and married Mr. Hardaker there March 16, 1862; they have seven children - Lydia, Charles H., Cecelia, Mary A., Sarah E., John R. and James E. Mr. H. is a Republican, and independent of church or societies; has usually from fifty to seventy-five excellent grade sheep, with good cattle and other stock.

JAMES HARDY, farmer, Sec. 2; P.O. Genesee; born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, Jan. 26, 1819, son of Henry and Sarah (Reeves) Hardy, who emigrated to America, in 1842, spent a few weeks in Albany, N.Y., then came to Mukwonago, and settled on the Hardy homestead; they were accompanied by James Hardy, and his wife, whom he married Dec. 25, 1840, she being Miss Dinah Gelder, a native of Westborough, Yorkshire; the Hardys had been linen manufacturers in England, and found it awkward work to swing the ax; at sight of the log shanty the elder Mrs. Hardy cried, "We never can live here," but live their they did until the next year, when they built a good log-house; the farm was burr oak openings, there being only four or five houses between them and the river, and none on "The Point;" the next progressive step was to build a good frame house; Mrs. Hardy, Sr., died May 20, 1850, and Henry Hardy, March 4, 1874; Mr. and Mrs. James Hardy have nine living children, Dinah, Cynthia, Mary, Sarah, Robert, John, Jane, Anna, and Elizabeth; Henry, the eldest son, enlisted in Col. Paine's 4th W. V. I. and died at Baltimore, March 14, 1862; the next son, William of 24th U.S. Regulars, died at Vicksburg, Miss., Nov. 13, 1866; the family are now living in their fourth house, a substantial two-story brick structure; the improved farm is provided with all needed barns, stock, implements, etc.; one feature of Mr. Hardy's history is most marvelous, while engaged in reaping clover for seed in the fall of 1875, he fell from the seat, directly in front of the terrible knives; the team drew these, playing like lightning, over and through him, cutting off several toes, gashing his arms in a horrible manner, and a ten-inch gash in his chest, by which the action of his lungs, heart, etc., were exposed to full view; the six physicians in attendance at different times agreed in pronouncing the case hopeless; Mr. Hardy attributes his almost miraculous recovery to the faithful nursing of Dr. Robert Sabin, and that of his own devoted family, during the fourteen long weary months of his confinement to the house; the cost of that day's reaping was over a thousand dollars; Mr. and Mrs. Hardy are members of the Genesee Congregational Church. Politics, independent.

GEORGE HENDERSON, farmer, Sec. 18, P.O. Eagle; born in the parish of Orwell, Perthshire, Scotland, July 1, 1805. At 21, he left home and traveled through England and Western Europe for the ensuing three years; the next eight years were spent on a steamer plying between Liverpool and Glasgow; he then kept hotel nine years in the latter city; in 1850, with his wife and four children he came to America and Waukesha Co., buying his present farm of William Ellis. Mr. Henderson has done good work during his thirty years' residence here, building barns, stable, shop, etc., and adding a brick wing to the house; his farm of 240 acres is well improved, as is that of his son, who owns 100 acres near it. Mr. H. married Miss Agnes Duncan, a native of Maskinch, Fifeshire, on the 18th of Nov., 1829; they have four living children - Isabel, Agnes, George and Thomas; the eldest daughter is wife of Gardner Campbell, proprietor of the Centennial Foundry, Milwaukee; Agnes is Mrs. James Colman, of Puget Sound, W. T.; George married Miss Elizabeth Hill, and is a thriving farmer; Thomas married Miss Clara Cole, of Mukwonago, and is on the homestead. The old couple are Presbyterians. Politics, liberal.

WILLIAM HILL, deceased; born 1805, in Cheshire, England; married Miss Rachel Bradley, who was born Oct. 9, 1810, in Yorkshire; they came to America with four children, in 1840; reaching Waukesha, they were unable to find other shelter than a stable, where Mrs. Hill lay sick, while her husband searched out a home, her children suffering for the bread she was unable to get them; Mr. Hill bought 80 acres on Sec. 17, living in a log house; Mr. Hill did good work with his ax and breaking plow, building up a good home, and a good and honorable name. He died Feb. 6, 1870, leaving six children - Jacob, David, Jane, Anne, Mary and Elizabeth; James Hill died before his father; Mary and her husband William Shultis are with the widow. Mr. and Mrs. H. were among the founders of the Genesee Congregational Church.

GEORGE G. HOWARD, farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. North Prairie; born in Saffolk, England, April 13, 1814; spent his younger life in his native land as a butcher; came to America in 1832 and located in Detroit, Mich., where he engaged in his business, and married, March 22, 1837, Miss Eliza Moody, of Yorkshire, England; in 1842 they came to Mukwonago and bought their farm of the Government; lived like pioneers, as they were, in a log house still standing as a memento beside the commodious frame structure, which is the reward of honest labor and care; a farther reward is the 173 acres of well- fenced and improved farm land. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have seven children - Charlie, Mary A., Caroline, Benjamin, Alfred, Frances and Eliza; the second son married Miss Mary J. Owens, and owns a small farm adjoining that of his father's, which he manages, devoting it to grain and stock. Mr. and Mrs. Howard are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politics independent.

MATTHEW HOWITT, miller; Mukwonago; born in Livingston Co., N. Y., Jan. 2, 1838; son of Andrew and Agnes (McKaro) Howitt, who emigrated from Scotland; Matthew attended the schools of his native county, residing there until 1856, when the family settled in the town of Lisbon; three years later he entered the flouring mill at Pewaukee, learned the business, and with B. Boorman, bought the Kellogg mill in Vernon, owned it two years, and sold it in 1864; spent a year in Sauk Co., Wis., and has since been in the milling business in Waukesha Co.; in 1878, the brothers Matthew and John Howitt, bought and now own the water-power, grist and saw-mill in Mukwonago; they also own and lease the cheese factory. The parents died in Lisbon, leaving ten children. Mr. Howitt married Mary, Vass of Vernon, who died in 1872, leaving a son John W.; his present wife was Miss Mary J. Small, of Lisbon; they have two children, Belle and George Roy. Mr. Howitt is a Republican, and was Chairman of the town in 1889.

WALTER IRVING, farmer, Sec. 20; P. O. North Prairie; born in Alabama, Genesee Co., N. Y., Jan. 6, 1834; his parents, Walter and Jane (Christie) Irving, were Scotch; the father came to Wisconsin in 1846, and bought a tract of land near Madison, the family came up the lakes and joined him but did not go to Dane Co., owing to sickness. locating that fall on the present Irving homestead; a log house stood on the improved 40 acres, the other 40 acres was openings; Walter Irving, Jr., has owned the farm since 1860, added 80 acres, built a good house, basement barns, and improved generally. He married Miss Carrie E., daughter of P. F. Boss, one of the whole-souled pioneers of the county; they have three children - John P., Walter W. and Lettie S., all born on the homestead, where their grandfather died Sept. 26, 1877, aged 81; the widow lives, hale and hearty in her 82d year. The old couple were Presbyterians; father and sons Republicans in politics.

E. S. KELLOGG, miller, Mukwonago; born in 1846 in Vernon, Waukesha Co., Wis. His father, E. H. Kellogg, settled in Vernon in 1845, built a dam and saw-mill, built a grist-mill in 1856, sold to Boorman & Howitt in 1862; came to Mukwonago, and in August,, 1864, bought the Mukwonago Mills; he was naturally inventive, and gave his whole time to the study of milling and milling machinery; his patent-flour bolt and his grain cleaner proving most satisfactory in their workings; he died April 17, 1876. His son, our subject, was educated in the common schools and in Milton College, learned milling with his father, and operated the Mukwonago mill for two years, renting it one year after the death of his honored father. He married Miss Caroline, daughter of John Platner, Esq.; she died May 2, 1870, leaving one daughter (Clara Louise); his present wife was Miss Luella, daughter of F. M. Payne, Esq.. whom be married Dec. 24, 1878. Mr. K. is the son and grandson of practical millers; in politics he is an independent Republican.

MILES C. LOBDELL, farmer, Sec. 16; P. O. North Prairie; born in Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y., on March 3O, 1824, son of Noble and Sarah (Clark) Lobdell. After the death of his mother, his father married again, and in 1846 came to Eagle, Wiss., where he died in 1862. Miles C. was educated in his native county, residing there as a farmer until May, 1848, when he came with his wife to Wisconsin; she was born in Hamburg, Erie Co., a daughter of Wray S. and Nancy Green Littlefield, both of whom died in New York State. Mr. L bought 80 acres of his present farm then in the beautiful burr oak openings of the "School Section;" beginning web little, they spent the winter of 1849-50 in a 16x22 foot house, which was merely sided up, neither lathed nor plastered, and so open that the frost could be scraped by handfuls from the inside wall on cold mornings; Mrs. L. says she often feared her cbildren would freeze to death, but so equal was the temperature indoors and out that they did not even take cold; overhead on some loose boards were about forty bushels of onions grown as the first crop; an ox team was used for breaking the virgin soil, for marketing the produce thereof, and for all visiting, church-going, etc. Miles Lobdell well represents the sturdy " York State " settlers of that day, who came West with the fixed purpose of making a home; his improved farm of 120 acres, his roomy and tasteful farm residence, basement barn and other substantial buildings are the result and reward. Of his five sons, Marion C., Dwight B. and Hamilton M. are Iowa farmers, Eugene L. and Wray O. being on the homestead; both the daughters-Celia N. (wife of Rev. W. H. Thompson) and Sarah Belle-are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Lobdell are members of the North Prairie M. E. Church; Mr. L. is an old-time Whig-Republican; has grade stock and the usual crops; his farm was the scene of the accidental shooting of the son of Joseph Smart, in August, 1849.

WILLIAM McARTHUR, retired farmer; Mukwonago; born in Aucram, Columbia Co., N. Y., Dec. 25, 1827; his parents, Duncan and Ann (Hoag) McArthur, were also New Yorkers; Mrs. McA. died in 1834, leaving six children; the second wife, formerly Catherine VanDusen, reared four children; the family came West and settled on Sec. 26, in Mukwonago, in 1849; the father died two years later, 410 acres being divided among the heirs; William McArthur buying the interests of two brothers, and living on 197 acres of homestead until 1862, when he settled, and has since lived, in the village. He married April 17, 1851, Miss Catherine H., daughter of George W. and Elizabeth (Hoffman) Barton; they have lost two children; Mary Alida, died Oct. 9, 1854, and George B., died Sept. 10, 1863. Mr. McArthur is a democrat; was Chairman of Mukwonago several terms, and Chairman of the County Board in 1870.

ALEXANDER MATHEWSON, deceased; born near Montrose, Scotland, in 1812; the family removed to Lanarkshire when he was 8 years old; learning the weaver's trade, he worked in Scotland until 1832, when he came to America; with a brother, he began the manufacture of cotton goods in Philadelphia, they owning a factory with ninety power-looms. He married, in the Quaker City, in 1842, Miss Mary Wilson, a native of Lanarkshire; came to Wisconsin in 1856, with three children-Mary, William and Alexander, having lost three in Philadelphia; settled on the present homestead of 172 acres, when the only buildings were a log house and stable; though a novice at farming, Mr. Mathewson made a good record, as may be seen by the improved farm, the capacious barn and tasteful home; he died in February, 1879, honored and respected, as good men always are, his old neighbors realizing that they had lost a noble-hearted friend. The daughter married William Burt, and died Feb. 26, 1878, in Buffalo Co., Wis.; the sons, born in Philadelphia, were educated here. Mrs. Mathewson enjoys good health in her 62d year; she is a member of the Genesee Presbyterian Church; the sons have a flock of 80 fine and coarse wooled sheep, with other stock.

CHRISTOPHER NIVER, farmer, Sec. 11; P. O. Mukwonago; born in the town of Livingston, Columbia Co., N. Y., in 1824; resided in his native State until June, 1848, when he came with his family to Mukwonago, buying 40 acres on Sec. 10, at $450, paying $250 down, and 12 per cent on the balance; 12 acres were broken, on which was a log house; the family of five lived the first summer in one room of this; as Mr. Niver says, they "borrowed their cooking;" that is, not owning a stove of their own, Mrs. Niver cooked in the open air on the stove of the family, who occupied the remainder of the cabin; few had less to do with or more to contend with than Mr. Niver, as he was never a strong, robust man; intelligent labor and management conquered, however, and, in 1857, he was enabled to buy 80 acres more, going in debt for every dollar of its value, and paying 100 cents on every dollar of the debt; this is now his homestead, the 26x84-foot barn, the granary, sheep sheds, corn and hog-house, shop, etc., being ample evidence of the good work he has done here; he has also built an 18x30 addition to his house, re-sided and repainted the original, making a roomy and elegant home. He married, in 1841, Miss Sarah D., daughter of Jacob Platner, of Claverack, Columbia Co., N. Y.; they have six children-Jane E. (Mrs. Samuel Funk), Helen (Mrs. B. F. Funk), Jacob M. (married Miss Cynthia Hardy), Kate (Mrs. Daniel Silvernale), Charles S. and Louisa (the two youngest, who are on the old farm). Mr. and Mrs. Niver are Methodists; Republican in politics; having sold part, Mr. Niver now has the 80 acres bought in 1857, and 20 acres of timber in Vernon.

F. M. PAYNE, harness-maker, Mukwonago; born Jan. 10, 1820, in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., where he attained his schooling and learned his trade; coming, in 1844, to Mukwonago, he began clerking for Sewall Andrews, and, after a time, began business for himself; in 1850, he went overland to California, engaged in traveling and mining two years, returned, engaged in mercantile business two years, and has since been in the harness business, having recently added a stock of groceries. He married, in 1848, Miss Harriet Eggleston, of Guilford, Conn.; they have lost two sons and two daughters, and have two living-Alice (Mrs. G. H. Abott) and Luella (Mrs. E. S. Kellogg). Mr. Payne and wife are leading members of the Universalist Society, Mr. Payne being one of its most liberal supporters; a stanch and fearless Republican, he was Town Clerk of Mukwonago for seventeen years, and has been, for many Years, and is now, Justice of the Peace; few men have been more keen observers of the changes in and progress of the Western country than he.

A. E. PERKINS, farmer, Sec. 36; P. O. Mukwonago; born in the town of Lyme, New London Co., Conn., Dec. 16, 1816; was a native of the same town, and a schoolmate of Morrison R. Waite, now Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court; leaving his native State at 18, Mr. Perkins located on Cape Cod, Mass., his mother's birthplace; spent six years here, part of the time as master of an ocean schooner, and part as a teacher; removed in 1840 to Monroe Co., N. Y., and engaged in farming with his father; in 1846, he came to Mukwonago and bought 146 acres of his present estate, at $10 per acre, settled here with his family in the spring of 1847; to sum up his work during these 33 years, we may state that his estate now comprises over 1,200 acres of as good land as Wisconsin affords, lying in a body, though it is in three counties, and four towns; on this he has expended about $10,000 for buildings, his spacious and elegant residence alone costing nearly $6,000; Mr. Perkins carries on about 560 acres, the remainder being managed by his son and son-in-law; married in Churchville, Monroe Co., N. Y., 1845, Miss Hannah E. Hadley, a native and resident of that town; her parents being New Hampshire people; Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have three children, N. Louisa, Charles A. and Grace; the elder daughter married Joseph Pratt, of Perry, N. Y., who occupies part of the farm; the son married Miss Julia, daughter of O. B. Dickinson, of Mukwonago; Grace is now pursuing her musical studies in the Conservatory of Music, Boston; Mr. and Mrs. P. have, for 33 years past, been members of the Congregational Church, and were leading spirits in building and supporting the Mukwonago Church; he is a Republican, and was Chairman of the town three successive years; the family dates back about 150 years in America, a grandfather of Mr. Perkins being one of Connecticut's patriots in the Revolution; about 1850 Mr. P. bought a flock of merino ewes of Elam Beardsley, of Racine Co., one of Wisconsin's pioneer stock-men, and during the next ten years, improved his stock of sheep by purchasing and judicious breeding, paying as high as $130 for a single animal; in 1861 he went into partnership with E. S. Lake, of Saxton's River, Vt., they shipping from that State the same year a flock of 20 selected rams; the next year they invested about $4,000 in 60 rams and 15 ewes, which were placed on Mr. P's farm and rented out during the next eight years; this was the operation which gave an impetus to the now immense wool-growing interest of this section; the next importation was from the splendid flock of George Campbell, of Westminster, West Vt.; these 16 sheep were used by Mr. Perkins until 1878, when he bought a prize ram bred from Stickney's ram Centennial, which animal was awarded the $400 prize offered by Pennsylvania at the Exposition of 1876; Mr. P. usually has about 500 pure-bred sheep on his farm, and says that to his success in this business he owes most of his prosperity; illustrative of the growth of the fine-wool sheep industry, he says farmers in his vicinity, prior to his introduction of improved stock, considered four pounds a good fleece, while they are now barely satisfied with seven.

A. PLATNER, proprietor of the Mukwonago House; born in the town of Cherry Valley, Otsego Co., N. Y., April 7, 1828; lived thirty-eight years as a farmer in his native town, and was two years in a mill in Cherry Valley Village; came to Mukwonago in 1868, bought the hotel, kept it until April, 1874, leased it two years for $1,800, and has kept it since. Married Miss Sally A. Shaul, of the same town, by whom he has an only son, Aaron H., born Feb. 12, 1853, now his business partner. The Platners' are Democrats, and take much interest in breeding and owning good horses; two large barns will accommodate seventy-five horses, and the hotel is well kept and patronized; Mr. P. owns the fleet and hardy stallion, Robert Bonner, and the seven-eighth Clyde stallion, Young British Champion; his dam was by Old Farmer's Delight, he by Marquis of Clydesdale, imported from Scotland; Old Farmer's Delight took six first prizes, and Young British Champion took three in 1879; this horse weighs 1,550 pounds, stands sixteen hands and one inch high, and as a draft stallion has few equals and no superiors in the State.

JOHN PLATNER, farmer, Sec. 24; P. O. Mukwonago; born in Caverick, Columbia Co., N. Y., Nov. 2, 1811; his first farm was in Cherry Valley, N. Y.; this was exchanged for property in Hollowville, N. Y., where he owned a flouring mill; selling out, he speculated for a time, and in November, 1860, settled on his present farm of 120 acres; this farm, previously rented and well worn out, was bought by him in 1858; it was fenceless and barnless; Mr. P. has built a substantial two-story brick house, 20x30, raised and remodeled the old house, and made it a wing of the new, built substantial barns, cleared his land and made it productive, characteristic work, and well done. He married, in 1836, Miss Joanna Miller, of his native town, who died in October, 1873, leaving six children: Eva, Elizabeth, Olive, Estella, Robert and Helen L.; the third daughter, Caroline, died as the wife of E. S. Kellogg. Mr. Platner married again in October, 1876, Miss Mary, daughter of John and Mary Frazier. Mr. P. is a Republican, and was Chairman of the town; he is, with his wife, a member of the Universalist Society; he has superior half-blood Jersey cattle and a flock of seventy grade sheep.

THOMAS D. POWERS, M. D., Mukwonago; born April 8, 1824, in Adolphstown, U. C.; his father, T. H. Powers, a Vermonter, was educated in Fairfield, N. Y.; preached over fifty years as a Baptist minister; he married Ruby File, and Dr. Powers is their sixth child; he was educated in the common schools and Rochester Academy; began reading medicine with Drs. Williams and Cator, of Syracuse, N. Y., and graduated from the Homeopathic Medical Academy, of Dundee, Yates Co., N. Y., in 1851; began his practice in Broome Co., N. Y., and in 1854, came to Columbia Co., Wis.; settled in Mukwonago in 1859; enlisted in Co. D., 10th W. V. I., in September, 1861; refusing a Lieutenant's commission tendered in reward for service done in organizing the company; this regiment was under Don Carlos Buell, who was ever careful that the rebels came to no harm from his command; the Doctor met with an accident at Bowling Green, Ky., which, with an injury previously received at Rolling Forks, has resulted in partial paralysis and a most serious disorder of the circulatory and nervous system; while in the service he was special correspondent for the Evening Wisconsin and several other State papers. Dr. Powers is a Republican, and a member of the Unity Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Holland City, Mich., where he resided for some time after the war. The Doctor has led an eventful life, and of late has patented some most useful inventions, still continuing to study mechanics in connection with his medical practice.

DAVID SMART, farmer, Sec. 20; P. O. North Prairie; born in Newbold, Yorkshire, Eng., Aug. 11, 1812; lived in England as a laborer until 1845, when he came with wife and two children to America; they stopped a short time with Richard Smart, in one of the first houses built in Waukesha Co., and that fall located on the Coats farm, part of which he worked two years; while here a little daughter, Sarah J., was struck by lightning and instantly killed during a midnight thunder storm; lying dead in the same bed with an elder sister, who was merely marked by the deadly fluid. In 1847, Mr. Smart settled on 85 acres of his present farm, when the only building was a log shanty, now used for a stable, it having been supplanted by a good frame house; Mr. S. has also erected barns, wind-mill, etc., he and his sons owning a half-section, including the old Perkins farm, besides a half-section in Minnesota-not a bad record for a man who reached the county with 10 sovereigns. Mr. Smart married, Dec. 24, 1834, Miss Martha Harpes, a native of South Cave, Yorkshire; they have five living children-Ann E., James, Richard, Charlotte and Franklin J.; the eldest and youngest are on the homestead, Richard is in Minnesota, James will occupy the Perkins farm, and Charlotte is married, and settled in Dallas, Barron Co., Wis.; Louisa, the third daughter, married John Francis, and died April 30, 1873, leaving four children-Arthur P., Lillian May, Franklin D. and Ainsworth; the mother and an infant brother are buried in the family burying-ground on the Joseph Smart farm. Mr. Smart and sons are Republicans.

ROMEO SPRAGUE, farmer, Secs. 30, 31 and 32; P. O. Eagle; born in Summit Co., Ohio, March 7, 1824; is a son of Dr. F. A. and Bridget Sprague, who were among the early settlers of Eagle, the Doctor building one of the first frame houses in the town, plastered both inside and out. His second son, Romeo, lived with him till he was 26, when he went overland to California; after two years, in 1852, he returned, via Panama and New York; bought a farm in East Troy, which he sold after five years, then owning and keeping the Eagle Hotel three years, also owning the present Colyer farm; again decided to try mining, and went as far West as Nebraska, before giving up his objective point, Pike's Peak; on his return he sold the hotel and farm, and bought 250 acres of his present farm; its first owner was a Mr. Stone, next H. Hammond, who improved it, followed by a Mr. Webb, next owner J. Hubbard, next David Snover, who sold to Mr. Sprague, who now has 350 acres with excellent buildings, the horse barn, hog and corn house, wind-mill, etc., having been placed here by him. He married, in 1849, Miss R. Jane Henry, a native of New York State, by whom he has six children-Minnie, Juliette, Josephine, Harriet, Gertrude, and Romeo Franklin. Mr. S. is a Democrat, has an excellent flock of Spanish merino sheep, twenty-four head of cattle, and good horses and hogs, with the usual crops.

CHARLES B. STOCKMAN, farmer; P. O. Mukwonago; born April 18, 1804, in Vergennes, Vt.; losing his father at 10, he lived with an uncle in Madrid, N. Y., for six years, "worked out" four years, then began as an employee on a St. Lawrence boat, was master of the sloop Swan for ten years, and in 1835 went to Ohio, reached Chicago in the spring of 1836, sailed on the Van Buren until July, landing and spending the "Fourth" in the bustling village of Milwaukee, a company of U. S. cavalry added to the really brilliant festivities of the occasion; Mr. S. and a Mr. Rayness owned a grocery and also a ferry, during the summer, at Milwaukee; his present farm was claimed by him in August, and he settled here and built a log house that fall. In 1840, he married Miss Lucinda Jones, a native of Madrid, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., by whom he has three children living-Mary E., William H., and Adell B.; an infant son, James, was drowned by falling into the mill-pond near them. Mr. S. supplanted the log house of 1836 with a very large and tasteful frame residence in 1850, which makes a most pleasant resting-place for one who has led so busy and eventful a life. Mr. Stockman is a Jacksonian Democrat, and was the first Assessor of Mukwonago, improvising his own blanks; he served nine years as Assessor, and was also Supervisor and Justice of the Peace.

J. M. STOCKMAN, farmer, Sec. 35; P. O. Mukwonago; born April 14, 1807, in Vergennes, Vt.; his father dying six years later, his mother removed to St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., where J. M. lived until 1832, when he settled in Ohio, remaining there until 1837, when he came to Mukwonago, claimed his farm, and two years later bought it; it lies on the bank of what was formerly called Sea-Serpent Lake, but, since 1837, Stockman Lake; on this 222-acre farm he built the third frame house in Mukwonago, sided with black walnut and roofed with oak shingles, laid by himself and Joseph Bond. In 1852, himself, wife and two children went overland to California; six months were spent in crossing the plains and mountains, an adopted daughter dying on the way; four years were spent in hotel and mercantile business, he building a large hotel in White Oak, Cal.; returning in 1856, he has since lived on his farm in Mukwonago, although he has owned property in and made many visits to Northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Married, Sept. 17, 1829, Miss Louisa Moss; she was born in Middlebury, Conn.; removed to and was married in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y.; their son Charles is a miller in Winnebago City, Minn., and Ralph owns a farm in Elmore, Minn. Mr. Stockman is a Republican, and, with his wife, a Baptist; he was one of the founders of, and is now Deacon and Trustee of the Mukwonago Baptist Church.

WM. E. SWAN, farmer, Sec. 7; P. O. North Prairie; was born in Suffolk, Eng., Sept. 9, 1820; was apprenticed in early life to a shoemaker; came to America and to Wisconsin in 1840; his father came to Wisconsin by way of Ohio in 1837, and bought a claim on Sec. 18, Mukwonago; father and son "bached it" here in a 10x14 shanty, doing without chairs or tables for several years; Mr. S. keeps his first chair as a memento; after improving and building upon the first location, they sold it to Geo. Henderson, then settled on his present farm of 115 acres; this he had bought of the Coates estate in 1848, has made all improvements upon it, and built up a pleasant home; has recently added 150 acres to it-the old Cox farm. Married Jan. 2, 1852, Miss Mary Duncan, of Fifeshire, Scotland; they have eleven living children-Wm. E., Thomas E., John E., Mary E., James E., Aggie E., Tina E., George E., Frank E., Walter E. and Emily E. In 1874 Mr. Swan put in a stock of goods at North Prairie, giving his eldest son charge of them, though he used to walk from his farm to the village and back, a distance of five miles, nearly every day for five years, at the end of which time his son had cleared the stock and became its owner. Mr. Swan is a Democrat and an Episcopalian.

E. T. TAYLOR, farmer, Secs. 20, 21, 28 and 29; P. O. Mukwonago. Mr. Taylor is descended from a genuine pioneer family; his grandfather, one of Connecticut's Revolutionary heroes, settled, soon after the close of the war, in Vermont; at the last stages of the journey, his brave wife, on snowshoes, carried her son, Gideon M., into that then new State, where they sometimes actually suffered hunger; G. M. Taylor grew to manhood, married Phoebe Walbridge, and, in 1829, settled on an Indian reservation in Genesee Co.; his cabin was built in a forest, so dense that the supplies were, at first, brought in to his family on his back; he was three miles from any settlement, but cut a road, cleared his farm, and, today this is one of the most valuable farms in the county. E. T. Taylor was born in Wolcott, Lamoille Co., Vt., Oct. 31, 1821, grew up in Genesee Co., and married in the town of Alabama, Jan. 14, 1846, Miss Isabel, daughter of Walter and Jane (Christie) Irving; they came to Waukesha Co. in the spring of 1846, with a capital of health and resolution; Mr. Taylor worked out, in 1846, rented a farm in 1847, and bought 160 acres of his present farm in 1848, borrowing $200 to make the first payment. Beginning in a log shanty, he has, from that time, made a constant march of improvement, now owning 358 acres, with a large and tasteful farmhouse for a home, which is backed up by a number of substantial barns, for the use of the herds of Durham and Jersey cattle and the splendid Spanish merinos. Mr. Taylor is a Whig-Republican, and has been since 1840, and is a Congregationalist. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have five children-Arthur I., M. Elizabeth, Warren E., Hattie I. and Homer E. Warren E. represents the fourth generation of this family of frontiersmen; he studied medicine in the State University of Wisconsin, graduated from the Chicago Medical College, and located in Downs, Osborn Co., Kan.; in July, 1879, he built the first business block in that live, new town, and is now in mercantile and banking business there.

WILLIAM WEST, farmer, Sec. 18; P. O. North Prairie; born in Yorkshire, Eng., May 6, 1810; learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, and came with his wife to America in 1834; lived in Detroit Mich., until the summer of 1837, when he came with an ox team via Chicago to Mukwonago, buying a claim, his present homestead, on Horse Race Prairie; to pay for this claim, he borrowed $200 of A. R. Hinkley, agreeing to pay double the amount at the end of two years, at 12 per cent interest, but at the end of a year was able to settle the debt by paying $300; his first flour and pork were from Detroit, the flour costing $15 and the pork $30 per barrel; they spent the first winter in a low 10x14 feet shanty, he building, the next season, a log house, where he lived twenty years; the seed for his second crop of wheat cost him $3 per bushel, and the crop was sold in Waukesha at 35 cents per bushel. Mr. West is one of the representative pioneers of this town, now owning 290 acres in Mukwonago and Eagle, on which he has several substantial barns, the pioneer's log house having been exchanged for a roomy and substantial farmhouse; he began here with $300 or $400, a yoke of oxen and a cow. Mr. West is a Democrat, and is closely identified with the history of his town and county, having served seven or eight years as Assessor, also as Supervisor, besides serving at County Surveyor fifteen or sixteen years. Married, in 1834, Miss Elizabeth Youhill, of his native county, by whom he has five living children-Mary (Mrs. John Roberts), Anne (Mrs. Albert Hinkley), Jane, James, and Thomas W.; Hannah R. (Mrs. Richardson), and Elizabeth (Mrs. Roff), are not living. Mr. and Mrs. West are members of the Episcopal Church.

GEORGE WHITMORE, farmer, Secs. 16 and 9; P. O. North Prairie or Mukwonago; born in Lebanon, Grafton Co., N. H., June 29, 1808; is a son of John and Alice (English) Whitmore, he settled, when a young man, in Erie Co., N. Y., Buffalo being then so small a town that he knew every business man in it; in this county, Mr. Whitmore worked out, and also rented farms. Here he married; in 1840, Miss Esther, daughter of Asa and Abby Fuller, of Hamburg, in that county; in May, 1844, they settled on 240 acres of wild land on Sec. 9, Mukwonago; on this was the log house of a squatter; a Mr. Moody had hired money of Mr. Whitmore to pay for this claim, but, failing to meet the payment to Mr. Whitmore, gave up the claim to him in exchange for 40 acres and a log house; after two years in the log house, Mr. Whitmore built a frame house, where he spent two winters without its being lathed or plastered; Mrs. Whitmore relates that she had only one lady caller during her first six months' homesick residence; the Indians, following the trail to the east of Spring Lake, were neighbors whom she did not care to have call; the family settled early, and, as an evidence of its prosperity, we may state that the father and sons own 440 acres of excellent land, and that the cheerless shell of former days is exchanged for a spacious two-story house, complete and comfortable, where the old couple can recall days when wheat was hauled with ox teams to Milwaukee, and sold for 50 cents per bushel, Mr. Whitmore walking home beside his cattle to avoid freezing, and also the two years spent here when there was not a dollar in the house. They have four children living-Clara (Mrs. George Hoag, of Brooklyn, N. Y.), George, Jr., and Martin G. (both on the old homestead), and Emma A. (now with an aunt, Mrs. Groves, in Angelica, N. Y.). Mr. Whitmore is a Jacksonian Democrat, free and outspoken.

ROBERT WILKINSON, deceased; born, in 1804, in Yorkshire, Eng.; came to America in company with a brother, in 1834; remained in Canada until the spring of 1838, when he came to Mukwonago, and bought a claim; building a shanty, he and Mr. Cobb lived a bachelor's life for months; potatoes alone were their food, they splitting thousands of rails when they had hardly potatoes enough to sustain life; the first crop was burned by a prairie fire; none of the heroic men who dared the dangers and privations of frontier life suffered more than Robert Wilkinson; his wife (formerly Miss Mary Briggs), with their four children, joined him after a time; this only made a bad matter worse; the first barrel of pork cost $45, and the first barrel of flour cost $40; the children, destitute of shoes, used the husk corn on the frozen ground with old rags tied about their feet; to pay for his farm, Mr. W. hired money at 40 per cent, and paid $2 for $1 at the end of three years; his board bill, while away from home, was paid with butter, made by his devoted wife, from the milk of their only cow; Mr. Wilkinson died, in 1877, leaving eight children-Robert, Jane, Richard, Mary, Frances, William, John and Charles; the mother, at an advanced age, lives in the county. The homestead of 240 acres is now owned by William Wilkinson, who was born in the log house first built here; this family was rewarded, as may be seen by the substantial brick house, capacious barns and improved farm. Mr. Wilkinson married, in January, 1866, Miss Ann Grimshaw, of Genesee, by whom he has two daughters-Myra and Cora. Is a Democrat; as a stock-breeder, has Spanish merino sheep, from flock of Perry Craig, Vernon, thirteen subject to register, and two hundred others; he also owns the thoroughbred stallion, Young Almont, 2 years old, 15 � hands high, weighing 1050 lbs.; bred by E. Blackburn, Georgetown, Scott Co., Ky.; got by Almont, dam by Brown Chief; second dam by Hooten "Imp;" the sire of Lula's dam; Lula's time, 2:14 �; third dam by thoroughbred horse, Bertram; fourth dam by Imported Buzzard; dame Briggie Lee; got by Hursts Mambrino, he by Old Mambrino Chief; dam by Alexander's Abdallah, the sire of Goldsmith Maid.

FRANK A. WOOD, merchant, Mukwonago; born, 1851, in Vernon, Waukesha Co., Wis., his parents, John and Mary Wood, removing to Mukwonago when he was an infant; after a course of study in the village school, he entered the store of Clark & Andrews, in 1868, and clerked for this and other firms, up to the time of his purchase of an interest with Mr. Andrews, in 1873. He married Miss Lillian, daughter of Edgar and Sarah Meacham, of Mukwonago; Mr. Wood is a Republican.

H. A. YOUMANS, M. D., Mukwonago; born in the town of Coeyman, Albany Co., N. Y., May 22, 1816; son of John and Almira (Hamilton) Youmans, who removed two years later to Genesee Co., N. Y.; our subject received a common-school education in the town of Java, and took an academic course in Wyoming Academy; began the study of medicine under the noted Dr. B. H. Colgrove, of Sardinia, N. Y., and attended lectures in the Geneva (N. Y.) Medical College, graduating as physician and surgeon in January, 1843; in June, 1844, the Doctor came West, visited various parts of Wisconsin, settled in Mukwonago, and has been in active practice here since; he relates that in an early day he was called to see a young man who had been crushed in a thrashing-machine, on Melendy's Prairie; Dr. Youman's improvised surgical instruments, comprised in a dirk-knife and a common buck-saw, were not needed, as the young fellow sank and died in spite of the fact that the Doctor stopped the flow of blood most effectually by a home-made tourniquet, i. e., a stout cord and stick; this is a sample of the desperate cases, showing how little the pioneers had to do with, and how much to contend with. The Doctor married, Feb. 18, 1846, Miss Lucy S., daughter of John and Betsey (Smith) Andrews; she was a native of Andover, Vt., and they have four living children-Henry M. (editor of the Freeman), Annie (Mrs. T. W. Haight), Laurel E. and L. Mabel; Augustus, the eldest, enlisted at 16 in the Union army, served out his term of enlistment, came home sick, and died a week later. Dr. Youmans is a genuine type of the old settler, and has had a longer term of practice than almost any other physician in the State; he is an old-line Whig-Republican; was formerly Chairman, etc., of his town, and was a member of the hardworking, historic and fearlessly patriotic Legislature of 1861; the Doctor is also an old and tried Odd-Fellow.

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