Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin
Biographies
Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin
Biographies
Henry Austin
Source: Little Sketches of Big Folks in Minnesota. (Publ. 1907) Transcribed by Marilyn Clore
AUSTIN Henry Herman, Minneapolis. Res 506 E 14th st, office 317 Andrus bldg. Investments. Born July 25, 1869 in Fond du Lac Wis, son of Henry S and Mary Ann (Johnston) Austin. Married 1904 to Marion Thompson. Attended country schools in Nobles county Minn; graduated school Worthington Minn; studied pharmacy and passed Board of Pharmacy (Mich) 1891; graduated in salesmanship Sheldon School Chicago 1903; worked in saw mill in lumber woods; bridge builder on St Paul & Duluth Ry until 1890; in drug business Carsonville Mich 1894-97; traveling salesman for F F Ingram Co Detroit Mich 1897-1905; in business in Minneapolis for self, real estate and commercial investments. Sec Municipal Ownership League Minneapolis; v pres Moore Live Stock Co; member Masonic order, Knights of the Maccabees; pres of Y M C A.
Frank L. Bacon
The History of Fond du Lac County Wisconsin 1880, page 940; submitted by Diana Heser Morse
FRANK L. BACON, farmer, Sec. 26; P. O. Waupun; born Sept. 16, 1841, in Cattaraugus Co., N.Y.; son of Leander and Sarah Ann Bacon, natives of Eastern New York; he went to Pennsylvania in February 1863, and lived about two years in Rothsville, Pithole City, Oil City and Titusville, prospecting for oil, and working a part of the time in a refinery. April 4, 1865, he was married in Titusville to Anna C. Hamlin, who was born July 2, 1844, daughter of Henry C. and Abby Hamlin. Mr. Hamlin was from Augusta, Me., and Mrs. Hamlin from Hingham, Mass. Mr. Bacon came to Wisconsin in January, 1866, and settled in the town of Waupum; he bought a flouring-mill on Section 26, and ran it five years, then sold out and engaged in buying and shipping livestock, which business he continued till 1873, whem he purchased the farm he now owns, which consists of 160 acres, valued at about $50 per acre. Has been Assessor and Justice of the Peace, and is the present Chairman of the town; has also taken an active part in the Granger movement, having been Master of the Grange at Waupun, and delegate to the State Grange. Is Republican in politics, and himself and wife both members of the Congregational Church. Has two children --- Bertha H., born Oct. 24, 1867, and Henry L., born June 18, 1869.
Walter Louis Badger
Source: Progressive men of Minnesota. Published by The Minneapolis Journal (1897) submitted by Diana Heser Morse
Walter Louis Badger is a native of Wisconsin. He was born at Fond du Lac, May 27, 1868, the son of George A. Badger, for years a successful merchant in that city, and Harriet E. Hastings (Badger.) Both parents came from good New England stock, and were natives of Massachusetts. Walter Louis attended the public schools until he was fourteen, when, ambitious to earn money to get into business, he left school. In the meantime his parents had moved, in 1878, to Minneapolis, and when Walter began to look for opportunity of earn money, one of the first things which presented itself was employment in the office at the Fair Grounds, when the fair was known as "Bill King's Show." He began his business career in the real estate office of J. Goldsbury, and continued there until going into business for himself in 1886, in the same line of trade. In 1890 he became a special partner of the firm of Corser & Co., and remained with that firm three years. He then withdrew and resumed the business alone in the New York Life Building, where he built up a good business and has charge of a number of large estates, including the real estate business of the Northern Trust Company, and some other prominent corporations. Mr. Badger is a Republican, although he has never taken a very active part in party matters. His principal interest in politics relates to municipal affairs, and he is an active promoter of municipal reform. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Minneapolis, the Royal Arcanum, a director of the Board of Trade, and also of the Northern Trust Company. He is an active member of Plymouth Church, and has been for a number of years treasurer of the Sunday school. He was married in 1890 to Miss Anna Dawson, of Keokuk, Iowa. They have two Children, Lester Roberts and Norman Dawson, aged four and two years, respectively.
Marshall H. Coolidge
Little Sketches of Big Folks in Minnesota (Publ. 1907) Transcribed by Liz Dellinger
COOLIDGE Marshall H. Minneapolis. Res 1906 Kenwood pkway, office 826 Metropolitan bldg. Contractor. Born July 27, 1860 in Dotyville, Fond du Lac county Wis, son of John Harvey and Elizabeth (Coleman) Coolidge. Attended public schools at Dotyville 1865-70; Plymouth 1870-73; Fond du Lac Wis 1873-76; private German school Calvary Wis 1876-77. Clerked in store at St clooud Wis 1877-78; in grain elevator St Cloud 1879; clk at Coolidge Wis 1880-84; mngr Coolidge Co Ltd 1884-86; v pres and dir Coolidge Fuel Supply Co 1887-91; pres and mngr 1891-1900; in business alone 1901-1902; pres Marshall H Coolidge Co 1902 to date; Downing Mnfg co 1891 to date; v pres and dir H B Waite Co Ltd 1904 to date; v pres N W Cedar Men’s Assn 1905; pres 1906. Member Minneapolis, Lafayette, Long Meadow Gun and Island hunting and Fishing clubs Minneapolis.
Daniel Dwyer
Little Sketches of Big Folks in Minnesota (Publ. 1907) Transcribed by Anna Parks
DWYER Daniel Edward Jr, St Paul. Res 91 S Victoria st, office 410-414 Globe bldg. Lawyer. Born March 28, 1867 at Fond du Lac Wis, son of Daniel Edward and Joanna (Reardon) Dwyer. Educated in public schools Albert Lea Minn 1881; Sacred Heart College Watertown Wis; working in his father’s gen store each alternate year until 1886; attended the Univ of Notre Dame South Bend Ind B L 1889; graduated law department Univ of Mich LL B 1900. Returning to St Paul was employed in law office of Williams, Goodenow & Stanton until 1902 and has since been practicing law.
Herbert Garvin
Little Sketches of Big Folks in Minnesota (Publ. 1907) Transcribed by Nancy Overlander
Garvin Herbert C, Winona. Miller. Born April 23, 1862 in Fond du Lac Wis, son of Benjamin and A A (Kimball) Garvin. Married in 1895 to Louise Dana. Educated in public schools Fond du Lac and Oshkosh Wis. First engaged as messenger for C & N W R R 1878; gen agt for same until 1898; sec and tres Bay State Milling Co 1898 to date. Dir First Nat Bank Winona; First Nat Bank Little Falls. Member Union League Club Chicago; Minneapolis Club and Arlington Club Winona.
William Geery
Little Sketches of Big Folks in Minnesota (Publ. 1907) Transcribed by Nancy Overlander
Geery William B, St Paul. Res 550 summit av, office Manhattan bldg.. Banker. Born Aug 23, 1867 in Medina O, son of Joseph McClelland and Mary (Beckwith) Geery. Educated at Ripon Wis High School; Ripon Preparatory School; Ripon College. With First Mat Bank of Ripon Wis messenger to teller 1884-89; teller St Paul Nat Bank 1890-92; asst cashr 1892-1902; cashr 1902-1906; v pres Capitol Nat Bank 1907. Treas Commercial and Nushka clubs St Paul. Member Minn, Commercial. Town and Country, Yacht, Nushka and Roosevelt Republican clubs St Paul.
Eleazar J. Hillebert
The History of Fond Du Lac County Wisconsin 1880 page 947; submitted by Diana Heser Morse
ELEAZAR J. HILLEBERT, farmer, Sec. 16; P. O. Waupun; born Sept. 17, 1807, in Genesee Co., N. Y. Mr. Hillebert was married, Sept. 12, 1831, to Laura Comstock, who was born Aug. 6, 1815, in Canada; her parents were natives of Washington Co., N. Y., and came from Canada to Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., when she was an infant. In the fall of 1848, he came to Wisconsin, and worked at blacksmithing in the village of Waupun one winter, then bought a farm on Sec. 17, in the town of Waupun; had 160 acres and lived there till the fall of 1867, then sold out and bought the farm he now owns; has eighty acres, worth $4,000; held the office of Constable in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., five years, Justice of the Peace four years, and Collector two terms. Has five children - Nelson, lives in the town of Empire; Jane, Mrs. Luther E. Sweet, of Pennsylvania; Allen L., living in Kansas; Frances, now Mrs. Emerson Fairbanks, of Fond du Lac, and Frank, living on the homestead, with his parents; has lost three children - John, went into the army from Jackson Co., Wis.; served about four months, and was shot at the battle of Petersburg; Harriet J., died in New York, at the age of 4 years and 5 months, and Harriet A., wife of Lewis Johnson, of Jackson Co., Wis., died in July, 1862, leaving three children. Allen L. was in the 32d W. V. I., first in Co. B, as drummer, afterward in Co. C; was with Sherman in his famous "march to the sea"' served three years and was musterred out of service at the close of the war. In politics, Mr. Hillebert votes for the best man, regardless of party. Mr. hillebert learned the blacksmith's trade of his father, and worked at it most of the time till he came West.
Maurice McKenna
Civil War Veteran Waits 57 Years to Get Diploma (by Special Correspondent of the Journal) submitted by Diana Heser Morse
Fond du Lac --- Attorney Maurice McKenna, 75, who at 18 left the Fond du Lac high school to enlist in the union army, Friday was awarded the graduation diploma of the Fond du Lac high school, which he had won 57 years ago.
The presentation of the diploma to the Civil war veteran was impressive. Mr. McKenna occupied a box at the graduation exercises of the senior class, of which his grandson, Maurice McKenna Hardgrove, was a member. When the aged lawyer was presented with his diploma, wrapped in a silk American flag, the large audience cheered, while there were tears in the eyes of many.
Attorney L. A. Williams, former superintendent of schools, made the presentation. Mr. Williams' voice faltered when, taking Mr. McKenna by the hand, he turned him toward the young graduates and introduced him as "the one hundred and third member of the class of '21."
"He may not be as young as you are," said Mr. Williams, "but he is ripe in scholarship and rich in counsel."
When in the summer of 1864 the class of '64 of the local high school was receiving diplomas, Mr. McKenna was facing rebel bullets in the south. He left his classmates in early spring to enlist in the army.
After the war Mr. McKenna taught school several years and then took on the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1876 and to practice in the state supreme court 10 years later. He has been president of the county bar association more than fifteen years and has served the state association as vice president four years. He is considered one of the leading criminal lawyers of the state.
David Ferguson Simpson
Source: Progressive men of Minnesota. Published by The Minneapolis Journal (1897) submitted by Diana Heser Morse
David Ferguson Simpson is a judge of the Fourth Judicial District. Mr. Simpson is of Scotch descent, both his parents being born in Scotland. He takes a pride in his Scotch ancestry, as in shown by his active membership in the Caledonia Club, and his election to the office of chief of that organization. His father, William Simpson, was a well-to-do farmer near Waupun, Wisconsin, where the subject of this sketch was born, June 13, 1860. Mr. Simpson's education commenced in the country district school near his father's farm and in the village schools of Waupun. He took the two years' preparatory course for college in Ripon College, at Ripon, Wisconsin, followed by a four years; academical course in the Wisconsin State University, from which he graduated in 1882. He was given special honors in the department of history and awarded the Lewis prize for the best commencement oration. He had maintained a high grade of scholarship through his course, and was appointed to fill the position of professor of rhetoric during the absence of the regular occupant of that chair in the university during the college year of 1882-83. He had decided to become a lawyer, and took the law course at the University of Wisconsin and at the Columbia Law School in New York, receiving the degree of LL. B., from each of these schools in 1884. The same year he was admitted to the bar in the State of Wisconsin, but came almost immediately afterwards to Minneapolis and began the practice of law in this city in 1884. He was appointed assistant city attorney of Minneapolis in 1891, was elected to the office of city attorney in 1893, and re-elected in 1895. Mr. Simpson is a Republican, and takes an active interest in local and national politics. He has made a special study of municipal government, and assisted in drafting the general municipal law, which was adopted by the charter commission, sitting concurrently with the legislature in 1893. At the session of the Municipal Reform League in Minneapolis in 1894, Mr. Simpson was invited to be present and outline the system of municipal government in operation in Minneapolis, and prepared a paper which was received with a great deal of interest by that body, as an able argument in favor of what is known as the council system of city government, of which Mr. Simpson is an advocate. His conduct of the legal department of the City of Minneapolis has been characterized by distinguished ability, which has on more than one occasion operated to the great advantage of the city. Notable among the acts of his administration of this office was his successful prosecution of the city's case before the special commission appointed to consider the demands of the city for reduction in the price of gas. This case was stubbornly contested by able legal counsel on the opposite side, but Mr. Simpson's presentation of the case was so strongly made that it resulted in the reduction of the price of gas to all consumers from one dollar and sixty cents to one dollar and thirty cents net. In 1896 Mr. Simpson was elected as a judge of the Fourth Judicial District. Mr. Simpson was married January 14, 1886, to Josephine Sarles a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in 1883. Mrs. Simpson took the first honors of her class, and is active in the literary and benevolent societies of Minneapolis. They have three children, Donald, Harold and John.
William Watkins Smith
Source: Progressive men of Minnesota. Published by The Minneapolis Journal (1897) submitted by Diana Heser Morse
Among the substantial financial institutions in the southwestern part of the state is the banking house of Griffith & Smith at Sleepy Eye. W. W. Smith, of this firm, is the son of William A. Smith, who removed from Goshen, Orange County, New York, to Oakfield, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, in 1846, where he acquired a large farm, some six hundred acres, and amassed a handsome fortune as a farmer. Mr. W. A. Smith was active in promoting the cause of education and provided amply for his own children in this respect. His wife was Miss Martha Strong Watkins, a native of Hamptonburgh, New York, a lady of superior culture and many Christian graces. They were married in 1846, and reared a family of five children, of whom William was the youngest. Mrs. Smith's ancestors were of English and Scotch descent and came to this country during the Colonial days. Mr. Smith's ancestors were Colonial settlers, and his father won distinction in the War of 1812. The subject of this sketch was born February 24, 1857, at Oakfield, Wisconsin. He remained on the farm, attending the country school in winter, until the fall of 1876, when he entered Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wisconsin. He graduated there in June, 1881, in the Latin Scientific course, with the degree of B. S. On the fifth of the following July he set out for Canton, South Dakota, where he had secured a position in what is now the First National Bank of that city. He remained there one year, when he became persuaded that a similarly conducted institution on his own account would be more to his advantage, and he formed a partnership with Clarence D. Griffith, of Appleton, Wisconsin, with whom he proceeded to Sleepy Eye, where they established a banking business under the name of the Merchants Bank. This enterprise was inaugurated August 1, 1882, and has been in operation without change of partnership ever since. Mr. Smith has had quite a successful business career, but has not forgotten that the first dollar he ever earned was received for hoeing corn while a boy, for a neighbor. He is a Republican in politics, though he never has taken a very active part in party affairs. He has been a member of the local school board for twelve years, and treasurer of that body for six years. He was also complimented by Governor Nelson with an appointment on his staff with the title of major. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Knights of Pythias. He is not a member of any church, but is an attendant and supporter of the Congregational church, of Sleepy Eye. He was married September 29, 1885, at Kasson, Minnesota, to Miss Ada Cogswell Bunker, youngest daughter of John E. Bunker. They have two children, Arthur Bunker and William Watkins, Jr. Mr. Smith's business interests are not confined to Sleepy Eye, but he is interested in banking institutions at Echo and Montevideo.
