Waukesha County Wisconsin Genealogy

Hadfield Family History

Joseph A. HADFIELD (1816 - 1900)
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See also Register Report

Joseph A. HADFIELD was born to John HADFIELD (1790 - 1865) and Ellen RANGELEY(1794 - 1831) on October 16, 1816 in Chinly or Hayfield in Derbyshire, England. [D. Sargent - 498088= Chapelry of Hayfield, 1816 Pg 35-36 #278IGI Batch #7222909 Source #F822004, "The Hadfield Family" compiled by Gladys V. Sheldon 1948, updated 1960 D. Sargent.] Joseph married Harriet JACKSON (1822 - 1844) in 1842 in England. They immigrated in June 1843 to the port of New York and lived at Prairieville, Wisconsin - later to be known as Waukesha. (One reference showed Joseph's immigration as 1842 but his application for citizenship showed his immigration as 1843.) Joseph and Harriet had one son, Joseph Jackson HADFIELD (1844 - 1904). Harriet died in September 1844, a month after Joseph J. was born. Prairie Home Cemetery records show her date of burial as November 10, 1844. A fellow HADFIELD researcher suggested that Harriet's body may have been moved from another site after Prairie Home Cemetery was established.

Joseph was a cobbler or boot maker, the trade he had learned in England, probably from his father.

On 20 December 1844, Joseph married Sarah HARRISON (1825 - 1904). Sarah was born in Derbyshire to Abraham Eugene HARRISON (1797 - 1875) and Jane (1804 - ). Further research is needed to see if Sarah's father was the Rev. HARRISON who encouraged immigration to Wisconsin from Derbyshire. (Sarah and Joseph's marriage information is from microfilm FHL 0824052, item 5, Marriages in Milwaukee Co., WI p. 130, Doc. 646.)

Sarah immigrated with her parents, Abraham and Jane and siblings, John, Mary and Jane, landing on 27 May 1844 at the New York port aboard the Springfield. The month could have been June since the listing of the month could have been a "5" or a "J". (This information came from the "Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York 1820 - 1846". I am confident that this is the correct family because the listed ages match the birth years of Abraham, Jane and Sarah. A notation on the microfilmed HARRISON listing is AB2867; I don't know the significance of this code.)

Joseph applied for citizenship April 3, 1847 in Waukesha County, renouncing allegiance to "Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland". He signed his own name to the document, showing that he was literate.

The 1850 Federal Census of Waukesha documents Joseph, age 33, as a shoemaker. In the household were Sarah - age 25, Joseph J. - age 5, John - age 4, (next name is unclear but likely George) - age 3 and Abraham - age 1. There were 3 others living with them but the names are difficult to read. One seems to be Pat Murphy - a shoemaker.

Wisconsin land records reflect a purchase by Joseph HADFIELD of 40 acres through the land office in Milwaukee on 1 Jan 1851. It was a cash sale (document 34797). The land description states: 1 NENW 4th PM 1831 MINN/Wisc., 4 N 19 E 11 or the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 11 in township 4 of range 19 in the district of Sands, which was subject to the sale at Milwaukee Wisconsin. (www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Image.)

The Waukesha Freeman newspaper of 12 July 1859 describes a fire that destroyed one building and damaged nearby business property including 2 wooden buildings, one of which was "owned by Joseph Hadfield of Pewaukee and occupied by Mr. A. Harrison [probably Sarah's father], as a grocery and provision store." Mr. HARRISON had lived in the 2nd story; his loss amounted to $200. Joseph HADFIELD occupied a portion of this building with a shoe store; his stock was saved. The news article described how nearly all able-bodied men and many women helped pass water from the Hook and Ladder Company to put out the fire.

An 1859 plat map shows J. HADFIELD owning a 160 acre tract, a 40 acre tract, a 36 acre tract, and a 68 acre tract. If these are his total land holdings at that time, he owned 304 acres.

The 1860 Federal census shows Joseph still as a master shoemaker with real estate valued at $15,800 and a personal estate valued at $2,700. He also had two laborers, one servant and one other unspecified person living in the home in addition to his family.

The children born to Joseph and Sarah were: John Garner (1845 - 1873), George Abner (1847 - 1919), Abraham Harrison "Abe" or "Abram" [probably named after Sarah's father] (1849 - 1924), Sarah J. (1851 - 1929), Isaac R. (1853 - 1905), Albert Waller (1856 - 1894), Oscar Wesley Latin (1858 - 1929), Edwin H. (1860 - 1905), Charles Herman (1863 - 1922) and Laura Belle (1867 - 1923).

Frequent mention of Joseph HADFIELD in the Waukesha Freeman suggests his commitment to local people and government. Examples are from 15 Oct 1861 when Joseph's name appears on a petition for the county school superintendent's candidacy, from 3 Dec 1861 when a government board referred his account to a committee on public property and 11 March 1862 when Joseph's name appears on a list of names of donors of provisions for the relief of Families of Volunteers in Waukesha (from the Civil War).

Joseph sold the shoemaker business and moved to "The HADFIELD Farm" close to town, where they raised crops, horses and cattle. When the Civil War broke out, the United States Government was offering $100 per horse. Joseph sold his horses and scoured the country for other horses, paying only $15 to $20 each. He would take the horses to his farm, feed them and curry them and sell them to the government. Sons George and Abraham would take the horses to Milwaukee to sell them. Joseph netted $50,000 during the war for this enterprise.

After the war, Sarah grew dissatisfied with the farm life and persuaded Joseph to move into town where they lived on East Avenue and South Street until Joseph's death.

After the Chicago fire (1871), the demand for HADFIELD lime and limestone was great. From the quarries came the stone used for Carroll College in Waukesha, schools, churches, and a variety of other public buildings as well as private dwellings. The limestone was also used for the breakwater at the Milwaukee harbor. Joseph's sons, Albert Waller and Edwin were sent to Chicago and Minneapolis respectively to open and manage offices for the limestone business.

Joseph owned and operated (with his sons George and Abraham) the HADFIELD Stone Quarries just north of the village of Waukesha, where they sold a high grade of limestone. After the Chicago fire, the demand for their lime and limestone was great. Needing firewood to fuel the kilns brought them into the land and timber business. Many tracks of timber throughout the state were purchased. As the company branched out, son George started a coal business in Milwaukee. They developed a 3-mile railway from the quarry to Sussex to transport their products. It ran on the Wisconsin Central Railway and was later extended and became a beltline connecting the Wisconsin Central, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and the Northwestern Railways. Ice houses were developed at North Lake and the Milwaukee Cement Works was started - both as results of the HADFIELD enterprises. The name of HADFIELD became synonymous with big business in Wisconsin (according to Wisconsin historical works). Other Wisconsin biographical sketches said that Joseph was "prosperous and respected as a pioneer of Wisconsin". (from the research of Ray HADFIELD for an historical treatise to have been compiled by Carl Sawyer on Waukesha history)

Joseph built a stone village of 4-room, 2-family homes near his Menomonee Park quarry to house his work force. At first the majority of workers were Italians; later Polish immigrants arrived. The two groups did not get along and so Joseph allowed some wood frame homes to be built on the edge of the quarry for the Polish who called their settlement "The Other Village". Joseph laid out a village plat for Hadfield village with street names of Bay, Lake, State and Vine. Many of the stone and wood houses were moved onto these streets. The town was later known as Lannon Springs and still later named Lannon (after William Lannon, the original land holder). A HADFIELD researcher has said that this name change came about when the company began to have financial difficulty. Abram HADFIELD was the second postmaster of Lannon, beginning in June of 1891.

1873 plat maps of Waukesha township 6 and Pewaukee township 7 show J. HADFIELD holding plots of 125.49 acres and 277 acres, totaling a possible 402.19 acres. The 1875 WI State Census lists Joseph living in Pewaukee with 5 white males and 4 white females in his household.

The 1880 Waukesha Federal Census shows Joseph (age 63), Sarah (age 55), Charles H. (age 16) and Laura B (age 13) living in the home. The children are both "at school" and Sarah is shown as "keeping house".

The 8 July 1882 issue of the Waukesha Daily Freeman read
"On Monday Hadfield & Co. shipped from their quarries, just east of Waukesha, thirty-five car loads of stone; and on Wednesday thirty-eight cars loaded with stone and lime went out from their quarries. As soon as the Bay View iron works are in running order once more it is calculated that the business of the quarries will show better work still, as all the waste material is taken there.

"About a hundred men are in the employ of the company here. It is the indomitable energy and business enterprise generally of such men as the Hadfields that is of benefit to the business interests of any town."

The July 24 1890 issue of The Daily Freeman and Republican of Waukesha contained real estate sales reported by the register of Deeds with the land sale by "The Hadfield Co. to Charles Zeeh, n hf ne qr sec. 38, nw qr nw qr sec. 34, e bf sw qr nw qr. And also se qr nw qr sec 34 containing 180 acres" for $10,000.

Plat maps of 1891 of Waukesha County township 6 shows J. HADFIELD owning 38.57 acres, and in Pewaukee Township - 277 acres. The HADFIELD & Co. quarries were in Pewaukee, it is assumed that these 277 acres were that of the quarries. These 315.57 total acres are north east of Waukesha.

The downtrend in HADFIELD & Co. was documented through the historian, Jean Loerke, and a news article in the Waukesha Freeman. The company was forced into "voluntary assignment" in 1891. The $100,000 investment in the railroad or a loan to son Abraham and his father-in-law, T.D. Cook, who attempted to stake the development of the city of Gothenberg, Nebraska, may have contributed to the company failure. The Waukesha Freeman ran their article titled "The Largest Crash This County Ever Knew", describing the final settlement. The article mentioned that the HADFIELDs had three companies, The HADFIELD Co., Menomonee Falls Stone Co., and the M.M.F. & W. Rail Co, all with Joseph HADFIELD as president, George HADFIELD as vice president and A. H. HADFIELD as secretary and treasurer. The company failure apparently did not affect the Menomonee Falls Stone Co. or the railroad.

The Methodist church in Waukesha, where Joseph was a trustee, was said to have developed through his generosity and support. It was on Wisconsin Avenue and was originally organized in 1839 as the Prairieville Methodist Church. The Sheldon research says that it was Methodist-Episcopal and was re-named Waukesha Methodist in 1846. Joseph and Sara's names appear as early members in a 150-year celebration booklet of The First United Methodist Church - as it was later called.

For 10 years, Joseph struggled with his family financial problems. His attempts to sell his holdings at market value failed and eventually his assets in the HADFIELD Co. were sold at public auction (in August after his death) for $28,500, only some 10% of the appraised value.

Joseph died on March 9, 1900 in Waukesha and was buried on March 12, 1900 in the Prairie Home Cemetery of Waukesha.

The 1900 census shows Sarah (age 75) as the head of the home. It lists her as having had 10 children but only 8 living. (John Garner had died in 1873 and Albert Waller had died in 1894.) Sarah could read, write and speak English, owned her home mortgage free and lived in a home rather than a farm. She lived at 600 East Avenue in Waukesha with her daughter and son-in-law, Sarah J. and Elvin AITKEN and their children, Harry, Jesse, Roy, Mable and Gladus. (Fed. Census: drawer Roll 1822, Vol. 77, ED142, Line 32, sheet 3)

Sarah died on February 11, 1904 in Waukesha and was buried on February 14, 1904 in the Prairie Home Cemetery.

Sources include 498088=Chapelry of Hayfield, 1816 p. 35-36 #222909 Source F822004, "The Hadfield Family" compiled by Gladys V. Sheldon 1948, updated 1960 by Dorothy A. Daskam Sargent.