John Comstock
When Gen. Lucius Fairchild was elected governor, Mr. Spooner was chosen as his private and military secretary. He held this position for eighteen months, when he resigned and entered the office of the attorney general of the State as assistant. In 1870 he removed to Hudson and began a general law practice. The following year he was elected a member of the state legislature. While a member of this body he vigorously championed the State University, which institution was at that time in sore trouble. His service in this matter was afterward recognized by the governor, who appointed him a member of the board of regents of the university, which position he still retains. He was for twelve years general solicitor of the West Wisconsin Railroad Company and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Company. In May, 1884, he resigned. Mr. Spooner stands deservedly high in his profession, and has acquired eminence also as a political speaker.
The Wisconsin legislature elected him to the United States Senate, January, 1885, and he at once took rank among the most eloquent and able members of that body. He is of small physique, not weighing over one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and thirty pounds, has a dark complexion and a smoothly shaven face, and is possessed of great bodily as well as mental energy.
Thomas Porter.—Mr. Porter was born in Tyrone, Ireland, in 1830; received a common school education, and learned the trade of wagonmaker. He came to America in 1855; served three years during the Civil War as a private in Company A., Thirtieth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers; moved to Hudson in 1871, and represented St. Croix county in the assembly in 1885.
Herman L. Humphreywas born at Candor, Tioga county, New York, March 14, 1830; received a public school education, with the addition of one year in Cortland Academy; became a merchant's clerk at the age of sixteen, in Ithaca, New York, and remained there for several years; studied law in the office ofWalbridge & Finch, was admitted to the bar in July, 1854, and removed to Hudson, Wisconsin, where he commenced practice in January, 1855; was soon after appointed district attorney of St. Croix county, to fill a vacancy; was appointed by the governor county judge of St. Croix county, to fill a vacancy, in the fall of 1860, and in the spring of 1861 was elected for the full term of four years from the following January; was elected to the state senate for two years, and in February, 1862, resigned the office of county judge; was elected mayor of Hudson for one year; was elected in the spring of 1866 judge of the Eighth Judicial circuit, and was re-elected in 1872, serving from January, 1867, until March, 1877. He was elected a representative from Wisconsin in the Forty-fifth Congress as a Republican, and was re-elected to the Forty-sixth Congress. During the past three years he has devoted himself to his profession in Hudson. Mr. Humphrey has been twice married. In June, 1855, he was married to Jennie A. Cross, in Dixon, Illinois. Mrs. Humphrey died in January, 1880, leaving two sons, Herman L., Jr., and William H., and three daughters, Fanny S., Mary A., and Grace J. Mr. Humphrey was married to Mrs. Elvira Dove, at Oswego, New York, October 1881. In 1887 he served again as a member of the assembly.
Theodore Cogswellwas born in 1819, at Whitehall, New York. He received a common school education and learned the trade of a painter. He removed to Stillwater in 1848 and to Hudson in 1861 and to St. Paul in 1882. He was married to Augusta B. Kelly in 1855. His son was for many years editor of the HudsonRepublican.
Frank P. Catlinis of Revolutionary and Connecticut stock. His father entered the war of the Revolution at eleven years of age as a musician. He served seven years. His discharge is signed by George Washington. Mr. Frank P. Catlin is the youngest of fourteen children. He was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in 1815. He was married in 1840 to Elizabeth Dubois, who died in 1852, leaving three sons, Charles L., Frank E. and Fred. Mr. Catlin was married to his second wife in 1857, who died in 1872, leaving one son, William W. Mr. Catlin moved to Green Bay in 1840, to Green Lake in 1844, and to Hudson in 1849, having been commissioned by President Taylor as register of the Willow River land office. This positionhe held four years. Mr. Catlin spent some time traveling in foreign lands. In 1868 he removed to Ripon, Wisconsin, but returned in 1870 to Hudson, where he still lives.
Charles Y. Dennistonwas born in Orange county, New York, in 1832; graduated at University of Vermont in 1852; studied law in Iowa in 1853-54, and came to Hudson in 1855, where he engaged in real estate and insurance business, in which he has been quite successful. He was married in 1856 to Maria A. Coit, of Hudson. Mrs. Denniston died Aug. 31, 1886.
A. E. Jefferson.—Mr. Jefferson came from Genesee county, New York, to Hudson in 1859. For the past fifteen years he has officiated as cashier of the Hudson First National Bank.
Samuel C. Symondswas born in 1831, in Hooksett, New Hampshire. He graduated at the University of Vermont in 1852 and the ensuing year came to Hudson, where he taught school and studied law for three years and afterward engaged in the real estate business and subsequently officiated as county judge four years. He was married in 1860 to Mary C. Bloomer. In 1886 he was commissioned postmaster of the city of Hudson by President Cleveland.
John E. Glover, an old citizen and successful lawyer of Hudson, has gained a prominent position amongst the solid business men of the city by his untiring industry, combined with rare judgment and knowledge of men. In addition to his law business he is an extensive operator in real estate, flouring and lumber mills.
Lemuel North, a reliable merchant of Hudson, a public spirited citizen and a kind hearted man, merits the respect which his townsmen accord him. He has been successful in business.
Edgar Nye, much better known under hisnom de plume"Bill Nye," was born in 1846. When a boy he came West with his parents to the Kinnikinic valley. Mr. Nye studied law and practiced some years in Laramie City, Wyoming Territory, where he obtained a national reputation as a wit from his connection with the Laramie newspaper known as theBoomerang.Mr. Nye's mirth-provoking sketches have been published in book form. His parents still live at River Falls.
William Thompson Price.—Mr. Price was born in Barre, Huntington county, Pennsylvania, June 17, 1824. After receiving a fair education, he came West, and in 1845 settled in BlackRiver Falls, Wisconsin, where he at once entered upon the occupation of a lumberman. In 1851 he was elected to the assembly as a Democrat, but on the organization of the Republican party in 1854, he united with the organization, with which he remained during the balance of his life. In 1853 and 1854 he was judge of Jackson county; in 1855 he was under sheriff. He was a member of the state senate in 1858, 1870, 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1881; a member of the assembly in 1882; was collector of internal revenue from 1863 to 1865, and held many local offices in his county. For many years he was president of the Jackson County Bank. In 1882 he was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress; was re-elected in 1884 to the Forty-ninth, and in 1886 to the Fiftieth. He died at his home at Black River Falls, Dec. 6, 1886. He was a man of immense energy and endurance; and was ever ready to do his full share of labor in all places. As a public man he acquitted himself well. In addition to business tact and energy, and practical common sense, he was a public speaker of unusual readiness and ability. In private life he was a generous hearted man, strongly attached to his friends, and greatly respected for his sterling qualities of character.
E. B. Bundy.—Judge Bundy was born in Broome county, New York, in 1833. He received a common school and academic education and attended one year at Hamilton College. He came to Dunn county, Wisconsin, where he practiced law until 1877, when he was elected judge of the Eighth Judicial circuit, to which position he was re-elected and is still serving. He stands high in the estimation of his associates and the people as a judge, and not less high in social life.
This town is coextensive with township 29, range 16. It was set off from the township of Springfield and organized Dec. 3, 1872. Wm. Whewell was chairman of the first board of supervisors.
Located on the West Wisconsin railroad, on the west boundary of the township, has a population of eight hundred, about evenly divided between the Norwegian and American elements, the latter being principally from Vermont. TheBulletin, a lively weekly paper, established in 1873, is published by B. Peachman.The graded school has three departments, with two hundred and twenty-five scholars, under the control of Prof. J. E. Brainard. The school building cost $4,000. A state bank, organized in 1883, has a capital stock of $25,000, and a surplus of $12,500. F. A. Decker is cashier. Baldwin has one elevator, of 750,000 bushels capacity, two flour mills—one with a capacity of two hundred and fifty barrels per day, built at a cost of $55,000; the other of one hundred and twenty-five barrels, at a cost of $20,000; one creamery, one cheese factory, one tannery, a good town hall, capable of seating six hundred persons, four good church buildings—Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Congregational—and over thirty stores or shops. The water supply is ample, the village being furnished with public cisterns and wells, and having an excellent fire department, with hook and ladder company. The village is surrounded by a rich agricultural country.
Is situated four miles east of Baldwin, on the West Wisconsin railroad, at the junction of a branch road extending into Pierce county. It is the centre of heavy lumbering operations, and is a flourishing village. It has one church.
Cady is the southeastern township in St. Croix county, and occupies township 29, range 15. It is drained by Eau Galle waters. Amongst the first settlers were Irving Gray, Charles, John, and Brazer Bailey. A post office was established near the centre of the town in 1860. D.C. Davis was first postmaster. A branch railroad traverses the town from northwest to southeast. There are two lumber mills. The town was organized in 1870. The supervisors were William Holman, Charles Palmer and Mead Bailey. The village of Brookville is on the west line of the town.
Including township 31, range 16, lies on Willow river. It is a rich and populous township, consisting originally of mixed prairie and timber lands. The first settlement in this town was made in 1855. The early settlers were Otto Natges, J. Smith, H. Fouks, E. Johnson, George Goodrich, S. W. Beel, and J.Tomlinson. The town was organized in 1859. The supervisors were C. A. Hall, chairman; John Sweet and John Gibson. A post office was established in 1861, Mrs. John B. Gibson, postmistress. The Wisconsin Central railroad passes through the southwest, and the North Wisconsin through the northwest part of the township. There are four church buildings, one on section 18, one near Cylon post office, and two in Deer Park village. This village, a station located on the North Wisconsin railroad, is a wheat buying centre of considerable importance, and has several business houses. The school house is one of the best buildings in the county outside of Hudson. The Catholics and Methodists have churches here.
Township 28, range 16, is drained by the Eau Galle and Rush rivers. We have not the date of the first settlement, but it was amongst the earliest in the county. The first settlers were William Holman, Andrew Dickey, Joseph Barnish, and Uriah Briggs. The town was organized in 1858, with the following as supervisors: Wm. Holman, —— Babcock, and ---- McCartney. A post office was established in 1853, of which W. Holman was postmaster. Mr. Holman built a saw mill the same year, the first in the region. There are now six, mostly lumber mills. The township is traversed from north to south by a branch of the West Wisconsin railroad. Wildwood, a thriving station on this road is the headquarters of the St. Croix Land and Lumber Company, a stock company with a capital of $300,000. The town of Eau Galle has one church building belonging to the evangelical society.
Includes township 30, range 16. It is drained by the waters of Willow and Menomonie rivers, and was originally covered with pine and hardwood timber. It was organized in 1861. The Wisconsin Central railroad passes through the northeast part of the township and has one station, Emerald. A high mound is a conspicuous object near the centre of the township.
Erin Prairie, township 30, range 17, lies on Willow river. John Casey entered the first land in 1854. The first house wasbuilt on section 17, in May, 1855, by John Ring. Among the settlers of 1855, of whom there were about twenty families, we have the names of Michael Hughes, Peter Queenan and James, Michael and Thomas McNamara. The town was organized in 1858, with the following board of supervisors: Richard Joyce, chairman; Alexander Stevens and Peter Queenan, and Wm. McNally, clerk. Richard Joyce was first school teacher and first postmaster.
There are now two post offices, one at Erin Centre village, and the other at Jewett's Mills, two and a half miles apart. There are at Erin Centre one store, one wagon shop, one blacksmith shop, and a Catholic church; at Jewett's Mills a store, a saw, a planing and a flour mill, all run by water. There are six good school houses in the township. It is traversed by the Wisconsin Central railroad.
Embracing township 31, range 15, occupies the northeast corner of the county. It is heavily timbered with pine and hardwoods, is a new town and is fast being converted into an agricultural district. Willow river has its sources in this town. It was organized Dec. 10, 1881, with S. D. Love as chairman of the first board of supervisors.
Set off from the town of Emerald at its organization in 1885, embraces township 30, range 15. It was originally a pine and hardwood region. Its waters flow eastward into the Menomonie. The Wisconsin Central railroad crosses the township from east to west. Its only station is Glenwood. It is being rapidly settled and has already some good farms and several saw mills. H. J. Baldwin was the chairman of the first board of supervisors.
Includes township 29, range 17. It is drained by tributaries of the Rush river. Of the first settlers were the Peabodys, James R. Ismon, Rev. Wm. Egbert, Rev. George Spalding, Mert Herrick, John Thayer, Mrs. Adams, John Nelson, and Thomas Byrnes. The town was organized Sept. 16, 1856, with A. G. Peabody as chairman of supervisors and John G. Peabody, clerk. It is now a prosperous farming town. The West Wisconsin railroad passes through the south part of the township.
Located on the line of this road, in sections 27 and 28, has seven hundred inhabitants. It is situated on a commanding elevation, giving an extended view of the rich farming country surrounding it. It has a school house, built at a cost of $2,500, with rooms for three grades, and one hundred and seventy-five scholars, one elevator of 20,000 bushels capacity, one first class hotel, the Gardiner House, Odd Fellows', Good Templars' and Grangers' halls, and three church buildings, with parsonages—the Catholic, Congregational and Methodist. The village contains about twenty-five stores and shops. The water supply, on account of the elevation, is from wells and cisterns. Rev. George Spalding preached the first sermon and was the first merchant in the village. Hammond was incorporated Sept. 20, 1880, with J. B. Fithian as president of supervisors and John W. Owen, clerk.
John Thayerwas born in 1809, in Worcester county, Massachusetts, from which place he moved to Ohio, and, after residing there fifteen years, came to Wisconsin and settled at Hammond village. He has been twice married, his second wife still living, and has one son, Andrew P. The father and son are engaged in merchandising in Hammond.
Rev. Wm. Egbertwas born in 1815, in Oneida county, New York. He obtained a common school and academic education. He spent his early life in New York City; came to Indiana in 1837 and to Hammond, Wisconsin, in 1856. The first trial in Hammond was before Mr. Egbert, as justice of the peace, in 1856. He has been for forty-one years a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. He has been twice married, his second wife still living. He has four children.
Hudson includes sections 7 to 36, inclusive, of township 29, range 19. Willow river flows through the northwest part. The North Wisconsin and West Wisconsin railroads pass through the township. It is one of the handsomest and richest farming townships in the State. It was organized as a town in 1849. Its history is given in that of the county of St. Croix and in the biographies of its early inhabitants.
James Kellywas born at Osnabruck, Ireland, where he grew to manhood. In 1850 he came to Hudson and locatedon a farm, where he prospered, and became an honored citizen. In 1857 he married Catherine, daughter of Wm. Dailey. He died at Turtle Lake, Barron county, Wisconsin, of injuries received from a rolling log, Feb. 19, 1888, leaving a widow, three sons and one daughter.
Daniel Coitwas born in Vermont in 1801. He learned the trade of a house carpenter; came West as far as Galena, Illinois, in 1845, to St. Croix Valley in 1848, and to Hudson in 1850. He died in Baldwin in 1884. He was a man of eccentric manners, but upright life.
James Virtuecame to Willow River Mill in 1849, settled in the town of Hudson, and died in 1874.
Theodore M. Bradleywas born in 1831, in Jackson county, Illinois. He lived three years in Lafayette county, Wisconsin; came to Osceola Mills in 1850, and to Hudson in 1867. He has engaged chiefly in farming. In 1857 he was married to Margaret Wilson. They have two sons and three daughters. Mr. Bradley died in 1887.
William Daileywas born in Cork, Ireland, in 1800; came to America in 1819, and settled in Hudson in 1849, where he lived, a successful farmer, until his death in 1867. He left five sons—William, Guy W., Jacob, Edward, and Asa, all farmers, industrious and prosperous, all good citizens, and church members, all married and settled in St. Croix county. Guy W. represented St. Croix county in the state assembly of 1877. In 1866 he was president of the St. Croix Agricultural Society.
Robert and William McDiarmid, brothers, came from St. Stevens, New Brunswick, and settled in Hudson in 1851, on a farm in sections 10 and 14. By industry and perseverance they have become independent, and own fine farms, with blooded stock, improved agricultural implements, and all the appliances for successful farming. Robert married in 1857, and has three sons and three daughters. William married Laura Rabold, in 1860, and has three sons and four daughters. William has been chairman of the county board of supervisors several years.
William Martinwas born in Vermont, in 1800. In 1846 he moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, and in 1851 to Hudson, where he engaged in farming. He was an exemplary christian man, and a member of the Baptist church. His son, Geo. W. Martin, succeeds him on the farm. He died in 1885.
Paschal Aldrichwas born in the state of New York, in 1820; came to Illinois with his parents in 1826; was married in Illinois, to Martha Harnsberger, in 1841, and came to Marine in the same year. He returned, for a short time, to Illinois, and again moved to the valley of the St. Croix, settling at Hudson in 1846, where he died in 1860, leaving three sons and five daughters.
Originally included nine towns of townships 27 and 28, from St. Croix lake east. By the setting off of Pierce county from St. Croix, the towns in township 27 were stricken off, and the territory has since been reduced until comprised in township 28, range 18. It is a wealthy agricultural township. Its surface is agreeably diversified with undulating prairies and high hills. The Kinnikinic, a beautiful and clear winding stream, drains it from the northeast. The famous Monument Rock, an outlying sandstone formation, is in the centre of this township. From the summit a magnificent view may be obtained of this fine farming region. The farmers have fine dwellings and barns, and the town has numerous school houses; one church is located on section 15. The history of the town, as far as we were able to obtain it, may be found in the biographies of the Mapes brothers.
Duncan McGregorwas born in Perth, Scotland, in 1821. His educational advantages were limited. He emigrated to Canada while yet a youth, served seven years in the British Army, and was one year in Canada during the Papineau Rebellion. He was married to Jane Morse, in Canada, Jan. 31, 1848, and in 1849 removed to the United States and settled at River Falls, where he still lives on the homestead which he pre-empted. Mrs. McGregor was the first resident white woman, and Mr. McGregor the second person who settled at the Falls.
His mother, an aged lady living with him at the Falls, at one time found the house surrounded by over a hundred Sioux Indians, who commenced plundering the garden of everything eatable. Mrs. McGregor bravely confronted and drove them away. The only crops in the valley at the time were those of Messrs. Foster and McGregor.
Mr. McGregor learned in early life the trade of a mason. While a resident of River Falls he followed farming except during a few years in which he kept a hardware store. He was threeyears county commissioner of St. Croix county. He has three children living, Roderick, Malcolm and Neville.
W. B. and Jas. A. Mapes, brothers, from Elmira, New York, landed at Willow River Sept. 7, 1849. They proceeded at once with an ox team and cart, on which last was placed all their worldly goods, to the valley of the Kinnikinic. Having selected a claim and erected a temporary shanty, William B. returned by river as far as Galena, for a breaking team, wagon and plow, and other farm furniture and provisions, while James remained to make hay. After the brother's return, a substantial winter cabin was built. The ensuing spring they broke ground and raised a fair crop, consisting of 80 bushels of oats, 200 of buckwheat, 100 of corn and 100 of potatoes. The winter of their arrival, Duncan McGregor came to the settlement and spent the winter with Judge Foster. In the fall of 1850 came Ira Parks and family, and settled on lands adjoining the Mapes farm. This family and others were entertained by the Mapes brothers, with genuine frontier hospitality. Among the families coming in at this time were those of Dr. Whipple, Mrs. Sprague, Lorenzo Daggett, and the widow of Josephus Medley, of Stillwater. This year came also the Pomeroy brothers, Luke and Frank, from New York State, and J. G. Crowns, James Penn, and William Tozer, from Illinois. During 1851 several families settled in the valley, among them James Chinnoch and Elisha Walden, from Ohio; Alanson Day and John Scott, from Pennsylvania; the brothers W. L. and J. E. Perrin, single men, from New York State, and Mrs. Lynch, from Illinois. Previous to the settlement of these families there were no young ladies in the town. The arrival of fifteen young ladies, mostly marriageable, produced a flutter of excitement among the lonesome bachelors of the colony, and the services of Rev. S. T. Catlin were soon called into requisition. The first couple married was James A. Mapes and Eunice E. Walden, in 1852. The next year W. B. Mapes and Catherine Scott were married. In 1852 J. W. Mapes, a younger brother, joined the colony. In 1857 G. W. Mapes located a Mexican War land warrant on adjoining laud. W. B., J. A. and C. W. Mapes had also Mexican War land warrants.
In 1860 J. W. Mapes sold his farm and returned to New York, enlisted in the One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served through the Peninsular Campaign under McClellan,and afterward in North Carolina, where he was captured at Plymouth, April 23, 1864, and taken to Andersonville, where he died, June 30, 1864. W. B. Mapes sold his farm to Chas. Davies and removed to Macon county, Mississippi, in 1866, at which place he died in 1877. His widow and five children still reside there. C. W. Mapes sold his farm to G. I. Ap Roberts, and kept store for awhile in the village, and in 1879 removed to Sussex county, Virginia, where he still resides. He has four children living. Jas. A. Mapes still resides on the old homestead. Mr. Mapes was honored with an election to the office of treasurer for St. Croix county in 1883 and 1884.
Pleasant Valley includes the west half of township 28, range 17. It is drained by the headwaters of the Kinnikinic. The first settlement was made Sept. 19, 1856. Among the first settlers were Sheldon Gray, Asa Gray, S. W. Mattison, and Allen Webster. The town was organized March 30, 1857, with Peleg Burdick as chairman of supervisors. The first school was taught in 1857, by Miss Mary Munson. A post office was established in 1866 with Peter Hawkins as postmaster.
Richmond is a rich agricultural township, consisting chiefly of undulating prairie land. It is included in township 30, range 18. Willow river flows diagonally through it from northeast to southwest. The following persons settled within the present limits of the town prior to 1855: Eben Quinby, Lewis Oaks, James Taylor, Harvey Law, Norman Hooper, J. J. Smith, A. S. Kinnie, W. R. Anderson, Francis Kelly, Clinton Boardman, S. L. Beebe, the Beal brothers, E. P. Jacobs and E. W. Darnley.
The town of Richmond was organized in 1857, with the following officers: Supervisors, Robert Philbrick, chairman; C. A. Boardman and Harvey Law; clerk, W. M. Densmore; assessor, W. R. Anderson; treasurer, G. W. Law. The first post office was established at the house of Joel Bartlett, who served as postmaster. This post office was known as the Richmond post office. It was a small affair. The first mail, brought on a mule's back from Maiden Rock, contained but one letter. The first quarter's commission amounted to but one dollar and fifty-ninecents. The post office case contained but four boxes, five by six inches in size. This case is preserved at theRepublicanoffice, as an interesting relic. Small as was the office, and meagre as were the receipts, the postmaster was able to employ a deputy, F. W. Bartlett. By way of agreeable contrast we give the commission for the first quarter of 1886 as $674.89.
Is located on the east bank of Willow river and near the western boundary of Richmond. It is a flourishing village. Its public buildings are a Methodist church and a large school house. Boardman has a good flour mill. Everything in the village bespeaks enterprise and thrift.
Was platted by Gridley & Day in 1857, and, together with Fremont village, platted by Henry Russell, was incorporated in the village of
in 1878. The first officers of the new village were: President, F. W. Bartlett; trustees, B. C. B. Foster, Wellington Pierce, Thos. Porter, Peter Schore, S. M. Bixby, Geo. C. Hough.
Was incorporated in 1884. It includes the northwest quarter of section 2 and the northeast quarter of section 3 of township 30, range 18, and the south half of section 36, township 31, range 18. This latter half section originally belonged to Star Prairie, but is now attached to New Richmond. The first election was held April 8, 1884, at which the following officers were elected: President, Ward S. Williams; aldermen, First ward, F. W. Bartlett, Geo. A. Gault, Th. Gaskell; Second ward, A. L. Greaton, A. H. Stevens, J. C. Sabine; Third ward, John Halversen, D. H. Dodge, H. F. Fall; treasurer, L. Taft; clerk, W. F. McNally; assessor, D. A. Kennedy.
The city is beautifully located on a level prairie. The streets are from eighty to one hundred feet wide and bordered with maple, elm and boxwood trees. The city lots and grounds attached to the residences are beautifully adorned with shrubbery and flowers and are without fences. The commons and unoccupiedspaces in the city are covered with a luxuriant growth of white and red clover, filling the air with its pleasant odor, and suggesting the title of "Clover City." It has many fine business buildings and tasteful residences. It is in the midst of a fine farming country, on the banks of a beautiful stream, Willow river, and two railroads, the North Wisconsin and Wisconsin Central, furnish abundant means of communication with the outer world. It has one steam saw mill with a capacity of 60,000 feet per day, and a water power flour mill with a capacity of one hundred barrels per day.
The Bank of New Richmond was organized in 1878, with a paid up capital of $35,000. In 1885 the bank did a business of about $8,000,000. The bank had a surplus in 1886 of $9,000. It has an extensive agency in flour, wheat and other agricultural products, also in lumber and real estate. The officers are: President, F. W. Bartlett; vice president, Mathias Frisk; cashier, John W. McCoy. The annual business of the city amounts to $12,000,000.
The city has a high school, established in 1884, with six departments. The building cost $12,000. The Baptists, Catholics, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and Methodists have church buildings.
There are several fraternities here, including the Masonic, the Odd Fellows, Good Templars, Women's Christian Temperance Union and Catholic Knights of St. John. There are also a hook and ladder company and a library association. There are two cemeteries, one belonging to the masonic order.
Benjamin B. C. Fosterwas born in New Portland, Maine, in 1816. When seventeen years of age he bought his time of his father and commenced life for himself. He lived eight years in Atkinson, Maine, where he taught school and engaged in farming. In 1842 he was married to Charlotte S. Gilman. In 1852 he went to California where he remained three years. He came to New Richmond in 1855 and built a saw mill and dam, and a board shanty in which he lived with his wife and two children. Around the mill has since grown up the beautiful city of New Richmond. The first school taught in New Richmond was taught at the house of Mr. Foster by Amanda Dayton. In his housewas organized the first Sunday-school, the first sermon was preached in it and the first school meeting was held there.
Robert Philbrickwas born in Old Town, Maine, in 1814. He learned the trade of a millwright, and in 1847 moved to North Hudson. He was married in 1851 to Frances Cook. They stood on a raft, afloat in the St. Croix river, just below the Falls, while Ansel Smith, of Taylor's Falls, performed the ceremony. Mr. Philbrick removed to New Richmond and built a frame house in 1855. The house is still standing. One daughter of Mr. Philbrick is the wife of D. L. Nye. Amaziah, a son by his first wife, is a stonemason. Alice M., daughter by his first wife, is married to John McGregor. Mr. Philbrick died prior to 1865.
Linden Coombscame to New Richmond in 1855, built the first hotel in 1856, and some years later moved away.
Eben Quinbywas born in Lisbon, New Hampshire, in 1809, and came to New Richmond in 1849, where he has since continuously been engaged in farming. In 1865 he was married to Mrs. Philbrick, widow of Robert Philbrick.
Lewis Oakswas born in Sangerville, Maine, in 1826; came West in 1846 and to New Richmond in 1854. He is a farmer.
Henry Russellwas born in Vermont in 1801. His ancestors took part in the Revolution. He was married in Vermont, lived seventeen years in New York, came to Hudson in 1853, and to New Richmond in 1857, where he bought the pre-emption made by Robert Philbrick, and had it surveyed and platted as the village of Fremont. He died in 1878. Mrs. Russell survives him and is now (1886) eighty-five years of age. Their sons Alexander and Austin are prominent citizens of New Richmond.
Joseph D. Johnsonwas born in Huron county, Ohio, May 12, 1829. From eight years of age he was thrown upon his own resources. The greater part of his youth was spent in Michigan. In 1848 he removed to Winnebago, Illinois, where he married Marcella L. Russell. He settled at New Richmond in 1853. One son, Ezra O., is editor of theNorthwestern News, at Hayward, Wisconsin, and one daughter is married to Frank F. Bigelow.
Joel Bartlettwas born in Hebron, Maine, in 1804. He received an academic education and became a teacher. He was principal of a high school in Bath, Maine, before he was twenty-one years of age. In 1825 he went to Harmony, Maine, where he was engaged in lumbering until 1848. In 1830 he was a memberof the Maine legislature; in 1849 and 1850 he followed lumbering in Fairfield, Maine, and then removed to New York where he lived six years. In 1858 he came to New Richmond, where he has since led an active business life. Mr. Bartlett was married in Maine in 1826. One of his sons, J. A., is a Presbyterian clergyman in Centreville, Iowa. He graduated at Waterville College, Maine, and practiced law three years in New York City before entering the ministry.
Francis W. Bartlett, the second son of Joel Bartlett, was born in Maine in 1837. He received an academic education, and has been an active and successful business man. He came to New Richmond in 1858, and served as register of the land office at Bayfield from 1861 to 1867. He was married in 1867 to Mary J. Stewart, of Pennsylvania. He was engaged in the coal trade in Milwaukee three years, and two years at Detroit and Toledo, but returned to New Richmond and is now president of the New Richmond Bank, and dealer in furniture, hardware, etc.
George C. Houghwas born in Fairfax county, Virginia, in ——. He has led a somewhat adventurous life. He served awhile as a soldier in the Black Hawk War under Gen. Dodge. Afterward he went to Missouri, graduated at the State University, and engaged in lead mining and prospecting. He went to California in 1862, where he practiced law. He returned in 1876, and located in Richmond where he still resides.
Silas Stapleswas born in Lisbon, Maine, Sept. 18, 1814. He came to Hudson, Wisconsin, in 1854, took charge of the Willow River mills, buying a quarter interest at $20,000, including 5,000 acres of land on Willow river. In 1856 he sold his interest to Jewell and Bodie, of Maine, for $55,000, and for three years carried on a banking business in Hudson. In the winter of 1859-60 he removed to New Richmond. In 1861 he returned to Hudson and put up a shingle and lath addition to his saw mill. He built a flouring mill at New Richmond in 1864. He built large dams on Willow river for driving logs, and carried on lumbering operations until 1868, when he removed to Canada and carried on milling and lumbering enterprises four years, at Collins' Inlet, Georgian bay. In 1872 he returned to Hudson and to a farm, and was also engaged with Mr. Gibson in mercantile business. In 1873 he returned to New Richmond, and, buying ahalf interest in the mill, took charge of it for one year, then removed to Stillwater and took charge of his brother's (Isaac Staples) saw mill.
In 1875 he removed to Elk River, Minnesota, and took charge of a farm. The next year he returned to New Richmond, where he settled his family and bought a half interest in a saw and grist mill at Jeweltown. He also built an elevator there with a capacity of 20,000 bushels.
Mr. Staples was married in 1837 to Hannah Williams, of Bowdoinham, Maine, who died in 1838. He was married in 1841 to Abigail Ann Rogers of Oldtown, Maine, who died in the spring of 1845. He was married in the fall of 1846 to Nancy D. Gilman, who died in 1873. He was married to Mrs. Nancy B. Jamison in the fall of 1874. He has six children, Charles A., Silas G., Nellie B., Nettie, Edward P, and Lizzie G.
Henry M. Murdock.—Dr. Murdock was born at Antwerp, New York, in October, 1823. His father, Dr. Hiram Murdock, moved to Gunning, at which place the son attended school till he was fifteen years of age. The father moved to Pulaski, New York. Henry studied medicine with his father until he was nineteen years of age, then attended medical lectures at Castleton, Virginia, where he graduated at the age of twenty-one. After practicing three years at Dexter, and after a co-partnership of seven years with his father in a drug store at Pulaski, he came West and settled in Stillwater, where he bought the drug store and business of Dr. Carli. In 1858 he went to Taylor's Falls and practiced medicine until the spring of 1860, when he removed to Hudson and formed a partnership with Dr. Hoyt. In the fall of 1861 he accepted the position of assistant surgeon of the Eighth Wisconsin, and served during the war, having been promoted meanwhile to the position of brigade surgeon. In 1866 he removed to New Richmond, where he has since resided, having now retired from business. He was twice married, in 1845 to Cornelia A. Sandford, who died childless, and in 1865 to Sarah J. Allan. His children are Cornelia A. and Henry A.
Steven N. Hawkinswas born in Galway, Ireland, Dec. 26, 1846, but while he was a mere child his parents emigrated to America; remained a few years in Connecticut; came West in 1855, and made their home in Pleasant Valley, St. Croix county. His early life was marked by the usual vicissitudes of life in anew country. He tried for a time various occupations—farm work, rafting, sawing lumber, teaching, and, during the later months of the war, was a volunteer soldier. He managed to secure a good education in the common schools and at the River Falls Academy. He studied medicine and surgery a few months, but devoted himself chiefly to teaching until 1872, when he engaged in a mercantile enterprise at which he continued four years, but at the close of that period found himself obliged to suspend, with an aggregate of $5,000 against him. This he afterward paid, but he concluded, perhaps wisely, to change his occupation. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar, July, 1876. In this profession he has achieved an enviable success. In 1872 he was married to Margaret Early, of Alleghany county, New York. They have had four children, the first of which died in infancy.
Occupies the east half of township 28, range 17. The first settlement was made in 1850. The following came in 1850-51: Daniel McCartney, Amos Babcock, Joseph King, Stephen Claggitt and Z. Travis. The town was set off from Kinnikinic and organized in 1851, with Daniel McCartney as chairman of the board of supervisors. At his house was held the first election.
Woodside has one church and several buildings, is near the centre of the town, and New Centreville in the southern part. The date of settlement is second to that of Hudson. It was traversed by the old Hudson and Prairie du Chien stage route. It was originally a mixed timber and prairie district.
Occupies sections 1 to 18, inclusive, of township 30, range 19, two sections of township 30, range 20, and all of township 31, range 19, lying east of the St. Croix river. The surface is generally undulating, but along the St. Croix and Apple rivers abrupt and hilly. The first settlers were French colonists at Apple River Falls in 1851. They built a school house and Catholic church upon the bluffs below the falls. The latter is a conspicuous object as seen from the St. Croix river. The falls of Apple river, about one and a half miles above its junction with the St. Croix, is one of the finest of the Wisconsin waterfalls. Apple river traverses the county from northeast to southwest.The Wisconsin Central railroad crosses the southern part. The town of Somerset was organized Sept. 19, 1856, with Thomas J. Chappell as chairman of supervisors. Mr. Chappell was also appointed postmaster in 1854 at Apple River Falls.
Located about three miles above the Falls, has a good improved water power, a flour mill with a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels per day, and a saw mill, built and owned by Gen. Sam Harriman, the founder of the village. In 1856 a church and school house were erected at a cost of about $12,000.
Samuel Harriman.—Gen. Harriman was born in Orland, Maine. He spent four years in California, engaged in mining and lumbering, and dug the second canal in the State for sluicing purposes. He came to Somerset in 1859, and has ever since made it his residence. He is one of the founders and platters of the village, and built most of the houses, including the hotel and two stores on the east side of Apple river, and all the dwelling houses on the west side. He has been remarkably successful in the various pursuits to which he has turned his attention, and may well be considered a man of remarkable executive ability. He has a farm of five hundred and fifty-five acres, and his agricultural and stock products are second to none. As a lumberman he has cut 3,000,000 feet per year. He has a rotary saw mill with a planing, lath and shingle mill attached, and under the same roof he has a flouring mill and six run of stone; he has a large store in which he keeps a general stock of merchandise; he has also a cooper shop, where he makes his own barrels, a warehouse and a blacksmith shop. He has also an excellent stone quarry on his premises.
We look in vain for his name in the Wisconsin blue book, or among the list of office holders. He has been too busy to turn aside in quest of political preferment. We believe, however, that he was commissioned as notary public by Govs. Taylor and Smith. When men were needed for the defense of the country he left his interests to enlist as a private. His military record is brilliant. He enlisted in Company A, Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, June 10, 1862, was made captain on the organization of the company, which position he held till Feb. 16, 1864, when he was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-seventhWisconsin Infantry. This regiment was recruited by Col. Harriman, he having been commissioned for that purpose. Its services on many a hard fought field, and especially about Petersburg, is a matter of well known history. Its most memorable action occurred on the thirtieth of July, just after the explosion of the mine under the enemy's fort. Col. Harriman, with the Thirty-seventh Wisconsin, was ordered to occupy the dismantled fort, which he did under a heavy fire, and the walls had been so leveled as to afford but slight protection from the enemy's batteries. While in possession they repelled all attempts to dislodge them until four o'clock the next morning, when, receiving no support, the Thirty-seventh Regiment,