J.H. Beers & Co.

Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Brown, Kewaunee and Door, Wisconsin, and containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families .. online

. (page 80 of 111)
Font size
QR-code for this ebook

now Luxemburg township, Kewaunee
county, where the father bought forty
acres of land for one hundred dollars.
He became owner of 160 acres on Sec-
tion 26, and again had .to go through the
hartlships of clearing a farm. On one
occasion he lost his way, and wandered
about for some time, but at length saw
some cattle which he followed, and they



56S



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD.



led him home in safety. He had to walk
to De Pere, twenty-five miles distant, for
his provisions; but as the years passed
the comforts of civilization were added
and Mr. Peot also extended his farm un-
til it comprised 500 acres.

The subject of this sketch remained
at home until thirty years of age, and
then married Miss Gertrude, daughter of
Peter and Gertrude (Munyawej Schaut,
farming people of Humboldt township,
Kewaunee county. She was born in
Prussia, Germany, May 13. 1847, ^nd
had a brother, John, her senior, and a
sister, Anna, younger than herself. The
young couple began their domestic life
with her parents, and in 1869 they came
to the farm which they now occupy in
Luxemburg township, Mr. Poet receiving
from his father eighty acres of land, to
which he has added until he now has 140
acres, one-half of which is under cultiva-
tion. Their home has been blessed with
ten children: John P., Annie, Catherine,
Michael P., Joseph, Mitchell, Nicholas,
Mary, William and Gertrude. The par-
ents and children hold membership with
the Catholic Church, and in the social
circles in which they move occupy an
enviable position. Mr. Peot exercises his
right of franchise in support of the Dem-
ocracy, and for four years served as chair-
man of the town board of supervisors,
proving a most capable and efficient offi-
cer, and fully demonstrating that the con-
fidence reposed in him was not mis-
placed.



GEORGE W. MARSH, for over
thirty years a well-known and re-
spected citizen of Sturgeon Bay,
Door count}-, and prominent in
real-estate and lumber interests, now liv-
ing retired, is a native of New York State,
born in the town of Warren, Herkimer
county, September 30, 181 3. He is de-
scended in a direct line from an English-
man who settled in Massachusetts some
time durin" the sixteenth centurv.



William Marsh, father of our subject,
was born at Andover, Mass., March 26,
1776, and died in Ohio in March, 1843;
was married, in 1798, to Mary Hines,
who was born March 26, 1783, and died
in July, 1 86 1. Thirteen children were
born to this union, their names, dates of
birth, etc., being as follows: Anna, No-
vember 3, 1799; Ruth, November 30,
1801; Diana, February 28, 1804; Will-
iam, Jr., February 9, 1806; Benjamin
D., April 24, 1808; Matilda, March 9,
18 10, who died in infancy; Patience,
April 29, 181 1 ; George W., September
30, 1 81 3; Mary Ann, January 11, 1817;
Lurana, April 9, 1819; Sylvia, September
26, 1 821; John P., January 31, 1824, and
Nathan, August 13, 1826. Of this family
the following were living in 1895: Diana,
aged ninety-one; Benjamin, eighty-six;
George W. , eighty-one; Sylvia, seventy-
four; and Nathan, sixty-nine. When our
subject was one year old his parents
moved from Warren, N. Y. , to Granville,
Washington Co. , same State, settling on
a farm two miles west of Bishop's Corners,
and here young George was reared and
educated up to the age of eighteen, at
which time the family moved to Fowler
township, St. Lawrence Co. , N. Y. , where
he commenced an apprenticeship at the
trade of blacksmith. Marr3ing here in
1837, he then commenced on his own ac-
count a blacksmith business at Halesbor-
ough, in Fowler township, St. Lawrence
Co., N. Y., on the Oswegatchie river, two
miles above Governeur, at which he con-
tined until the spring of 1839, when he sold
out and removed to Bucyrus, Crawford
Co., Ohio. Here, unfortunately, he was
prostrated with fever and ague, which
clung to him tenaciously for three months;
but in the meantime, his father being de-
sirous of trading his farm in Halesborough,
N. Y. , for his son's property in Ohio,
the deal was effected, and the father
accordingly came to Ohio, where he
died in 1843, our subject returning to the
old farm in Halesborough. In 1841 he
moved to Governeur, N. Y., where he



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



569



bought a water-power privilege on which
he erected a building 30 x 40 feet, three
stories in height, where he carried on a
general blacksmithing and carriage-mak-
ing establishment, which latter branch of
the business led him into another in-
dustry, as will presently be related. Being
naturally of an ingenious and inquiring turn
of mind, he conceived, while building
carriages, etc., the idea that it was possi-
ble to make felloes with a circle saw, a
great improvement on the method then in
vogue. Setting to work, he made his
own saw plate, forged the " arbour,"
completed the saw, set it up, and on the
first trial made a complete felloe — and
this was the first circle saw ever made
and used for that purpose in the United
States. He also invented a machine that
turned the thill from tip to cross bar, the
same as they finish them now, then
steamed and bent them into the required
shape, for carriages, buggies, etc., a vast
improvement on the old method of saw-
ing them out of the lumber; and the thills
made by him were the first made that
wa\- in this country. Neither of these
ideas or inventions were ever patented by
Mr. Marsh, and had he done so there is
no doubt but that he would have realized
a considerable fortune. When he started
for the West in 1853. he sent 300 pair
of these thills to Buffalo, intending to
bring them on to Wisconsin, but he found
a favorable opportunity of selling them to
one individual at the railway station at
Buffalo at his own price, which goes to
show how highly they were already ap-
preciated in the market.

Selling out his business in Governeur,
N. Y., in 1853, Mr. Marsh the same year
established himself in the carriage-mak-
ing business at Beaver Dam, Wis., and
here continued manufacturing felloes with
his circle saw, the first of the kind pro-
duced in Wisconsin, and he soon built
up a large trade. At Beaver Dam he
exhibited at the county fair a two-horse
wagon of his own make, and although he
had to compete against wagons entered



from New York he took Jirst premium,
and sold his wagon for $120. In 1857
he disposed of his business at Beaver
Dam, and went on a farm, where, with
the exception of one year (1861), he re-
mained until the fall of 1864, the time of
his coming to Sturgeon Bay. In the
spring of 1865 he bought the "Middle
Mill," where now stands a planing-mill,
but following fall sold it to Mr. Ives, who
disposed of it to A. W. Lawrence, by
whom it was converted into a gristmill,
but later was burned down. After selling
his mill Mr. Marsh returned to Beaver
Dam, thence moved to Cannon City,
near Faribault, Minn., bought a shop
and made wagons that winter, but sold
out following summer, and in company
with his son-in-law, W. H. Stevens, pro-
ceeded to Osakis, in the same State,
where the latter entered a homestead.
Mr. Marsh made a breaking plow, and
helped to break up the fallow, put up a
house, and assisted in cutting sufficient
hay to winter five head of stock, all for
Mr. Stevens. He then once more came
to Sturgeon Bay, and Ijought 400 acres
of land in Door county, which land the
county held in the town of Egg Harbor,
and Mr. Marsh secured the land by pay-
ing for the certificate (it was located on
what is known as the "south bluffs of
Horse-Shoe bay"); then entered 200
acres of government land on the shore
below the "bluffs," erected a shanty, and
called the place Podunk. That same
winter he "banked" five hundred thous-
and feet of pine logs, and to use his own
words "spent the happiest winter of his
life;" in the spring sold the logs to Mr.
Gardner for five dollars per thousand feet,
and the land to William Sellick for two
dollars and fifty cents per acre, after
which he located four hundred acres in
the south end of Gardner township,
"the finest cluster of pine in these parts."
The county surveyed a road through the
land and cut it out, and that winter Mr.
Marsh built a mill in the woods si.\ miles
from Little Sturgeon Bay and ten miles



57°



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



from Bay View, and made shingles. In
order to accommodate the traveling pub-
lic he also kept a hotel. This land cost
Mr. Marsh thirty dollars for each forty
acres, and that spring he sold the prop-
erty for twenty-four hundred dollars to
John and Thomas Williamson. In 1871
this tract was devastated by fire and a
tornado, forty-five people losing their
lives, two only being saved — Thomas
Williamson and his mother — and the
place has since been known as ' ' Tor-
nado. " Mr. Marsh's next purchase was
the lot in Sturgeon Bay, whereon he
built the shinge mill which he conducted
for several years, and which is now oper-
ated by O. Brown & Company.

Mr. Marsh has been twice married:
first time, in 1837, to Miss Mary C. Flint,
a native of Bomas Creek, Montgomery-
Co., N. Y. (six miles south of Ft. Plain),
who died at Beaver Dam, Wis., in No-
vember, 1856, aged forty-three years and
eleven months, leaving five children, viz.:
Josephine, who married Michael Walrod,
of Rice county, Minn, (she is now keep-
ing house for her father); Mary L. , wife
of W. H. Stevens, of Osakis, Minn. ;
George A., married to Melissa Bailor,
and now living near Erwin, S. Dak. ;
Helen M., wife of Frank A. Ives, of Stur-
geon Bay; and Cora L. , married to
Charles A. Bailor and living at Spokane,
Wash. In November, 1859, Mr. Marsh
married Miss Catherine N. Hutchinson,
who died September 26, 1894, at the age
of seventy-four years, by which union
there were no children. In politics Mr.
Marsh has been a lifelong Whig and Re-
publican, and although averse to holding
office has occasionally served in minor
positions of trust. In both theory and
practice he has always been a strict ad-
vocate of temperance, and to this in a
great measure may be attributed his won-
derful energy and unimpaired faculties.

Thus has brietl}' been sketched an
authentic account of the life of one of the
pioneers of Wisconsin and of Door coun-
ty, who has been an active and vigorous



factor in the affairs and industries; who,
although he has passed beyond the allot-
ted time given to man, being an octoge-
narian, is still active, living in the enjoy-
ment of a comfortable and well-earned
competence, in the enjoyment of the full-
est esteem and regards of the people
among whom he has so long lived, and
calmly and reverently awaiting the sum-
mons that must come to all.



FRANK PAAPE, who has been iden-
tified with the interests of Ahna-
pee township, Kewaunee county,
for almost the past twenty years,
as one of her thrifty farmer citizens, is
a native of Germany, born January 4,
1832, in the Kingdom of Prussia. He is
a son of Gottlieb and Flora (Hinz) Paape,
also natives of Prussia, the former of
whom was a miller by occupation. Both
are now deceased. Frank, our subject,
was the youngest child in their family of
five children, one of whom is deceased,
the others being Fred and Charles, of
Prussia; Flora, Mrs. Charles Hench, of
Milwaukee, and Frank.

Our subject was educated in the com-
mon schools of his native country, and
when fourteen years of age was appren-
ticed to a carpenter and joiner, complet-
ing his trade when nineteen years of age,
and following it untihhis emigration to the
United States, in 1857. Soon after his
arrival in this country he located in the
city of Milwaukee, Wis., where he fol-
lowed his trade some years, and then en-
gaged in mercantile pursuits until 1875,
when he sold his business in Milwaukee
and moved to the town of Ahnapee,
Kewaunee county. Purchasing the farm
he still owns and occupies, he has since
been engaged in general agriculture, and
is one of the successful farmers of his
section. Mr. Paape's marriage to
Katharine Solterback took place in Mil-
waukee May I, 1858; she is the mother
of sixteen children, seven of whom are
deceased, and nine living, as follows:



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



571



Bertha, Mrs. Joseph Roberts, of Birnam-
wood, Wis.; Charles, of Sturgeon Bay;
William, of Sturgeon Bay; Henry, of
Washburn, Wis. ; Amelia, Mrs. Ed.
Pepper, of Marinette, Wis.; Edward;
George; Ida, and Emma. Mrs. Paape is
the daughter of George and Margaret
Solterback, natives of Schleswig-Holstein,
where she was also born, on January lo,
1840. Politically Mr. Paape is independ-
ent, always supporting the best candidate.
The family are members of the Lutheran
Church of Ahnapee.

In 1864 Mr. Paape enlisted in Com-
pany G, Forty-fifth Wis. V. I., for one
year or during the war, and served some
eleven months, receiving an honorable dis-
charge in August, 1865; he was disabled
during his service. He is a member of
Joseph Andreag Post, G. A. R. , of
Ahnapee.



IVl



.\THIAS MELCHIOR, post-
master at Ahnapee, Kewaunee
county. This gentleman was
born October 6, 1836, in
Schwemellingen, Prussia, Germany, where
the old family <jf Melchior had resided for
generations, occupying an honorable place
among the citizens of their native town.
Many of them were shoemakers by occu-
pation, the trade being handed down
from father to son. Grandfather Bern-
hard Melchior died in the village of
Schwemellingen, leaving a family of four
children — two sons and two daughters:
Michael (father of our subject), Nicholous,
Elizabeth and Anna Mary.

Michael Melchior learned the shoe-
maker's trade in Germany, and was a
skillful mechanic, able to work with tools
of almost any description, could do car-
penter work, clock and watch repairing,
etc., and was also a musician of consider-
ble ability. He came to America, set-
tling in the then new town of Ahnapee,
Wis., where, being a jirogressive man, he
became a useful citizen, made many
friends, and was greatly respected by all



who knew him. He was a man of good
habits, and a devout Christian. He died
in Ahnapee January 7, 1891, aged nearly
eighty-two years, followed to the grave
by his wife, who passed away in Septem-
ber, 1S92, aged eighty-two years. She
was a wide-awake woman, ambitious for
the success of her family, of whom seven
reached maturity, viz. : Anna Mary Dier
(now deceased), Jacob (who died leaving
eight children, five of whom were brought
to Ahnapee by our subject), Mathias (our
subject), John (who died in the American
Civil war at the battle of Bull Run),
Magdalena, Catherina, and Michael.

Mathias Melchior learned his trade
thoroughly in Germany, beginning when
twelve years old. At the age of twenty-
one he came to the United States, locat-
ing first in Manitowoc, Wis., where he
followed his trade in 1859-60, and during
the year 1859 he also spent seven months
in Chicago, working at his trade. In
August, i860, he came to Ahnapee, and
opening a shop here was successfully en-
gaged at his trade until about seven years
ago, when he sold out. Mr. Melchior
has made some good investments in city
and farm property, and since his retire-
ment from the shoemaking business he
has devoted all his time to his property
and private affairs. In 1 862 he was mar-
ried, in Manitowoc, to Miss Catharina
Feuerstein, who was born February 7,
1847, daughter of George Feuerstein, a
farmer of Manitowoc county. Mr. and
Mrs. George Feuerstein came to this
country in 1855, first locating in Manito-
woc, Wis., in 1863 moving to Ahnapee
where they settled, he here conducting a
farm. Mr. Feuerstein was born in El-
sass-Lothringen, France, and served
seven years in the French army; he died
at the age of sixty-five years, his wife,
Barbara, passing away when aged eighty-
two years, leaving seven children. Mr.
and Mrs. Feuerstein wei'e earnest, up-
right and conscientious people, good
Catholics in religious faith, and respected
by all. To Mr. and Mrs. Mathias Mel-



572



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



chior were born six children, as follows:
Catharina, Emma, Lena, Mary, Mathias
F. and Carl J., of whom Emma and
Lena are clerks in the postoffice, assist-
ing their father, who received his appoint-
ment in October, 1893. In religious faith
Mr. and Mrs. Melchior are Catholics, and
have taken an active part in church work;
he has filled many offices in same, among
others those of secretary and treasurer,
and has been instrumental in the building
up the Church, giving liberally to its sup-
port. He served as town treasurer, and
is one of the substantial business men of
Ahnapee, where he is universally honored
and respected for his integrity and up-
right moral character.



FRANK HRBEK. one of the wealthy
citizens of Kewaunee, is a native
of Bohemia, born July 28, 1823.
His father, Joseph Hrbek, who
was a shoemaker, died in Bohemia leav-
ing a widow and five children, Frank,
who was then nine years old, being the
youngest. The mother, whose maiden
name was Apolonia Slany, died in 1856,
also in Bohemia.

Frank Hrbek served ten years and six
months in tlie Bohemian contingent of
the Austrian army, and fought in Italy
and Hungary, also serving in Vienna.
He came to America in 1855 and passed
a year in Milwaukee; then, in 1856,
moved to Kewaunee county, and for
eleven years followed farming with flat-
tering success. He then sold his farm
and settled down in Kewaunee village,
where for five years he worked in a shoe-
shop and store, later embarking in the
butcher business, which he followed nine
years with uninterrupted prosperity. Dur-
ing this period of continuous industry-,
however, he called into play his old mil-
itary experience and enlisted, in 1864, in
defense of his adopted country, in the
Sixteenth Wis. V. I., serving with that
regiment until June 2, 1865, when he
was honorably discharged at Washington,



D. C. , the war having come to a close.
In August, 1846, Mr. Hrbek was married
in Bohemia to Miss Anna Novak, adaugh-
ter of Joseph Novak, a manufacturer of
muslin. Two children were the fruit of
this marriage, viz. : Antonia, who died in
infancy in Bohemia, and Mary, who came
to America, was here married to John
Wrabetz, and died in 1883. The politics
of Mr. Hrbek are those of the Republican
party, and under its auspices he has held
several local offices of trust, among them
that of supervisor three terms, that of
school treasurer two terms, and is at
present a member of the board of alder-
men of Kewaunee. He is also a member
of the G. A. R.

Mr. Hrbek has always manifested a
spirit of patriotism toward his adopted
country, and one of liberality toward his
count}- and town, mayhap one of grati-
tude for the success he has met with in
life since his residence here, although
this has been owing almost entirely to his
own industrious habits and native shrewd-
ness and keen foresight. He has never
failed to extend a helping hand to the
needy, nor to aid any project intended
for the building up of the city of Kewau-
nee. His time, influence and purse have
willingly been at the service of his fellow
citizens in all judicious enterprises cal-
culated to promote the public welfare,
and the public have not forgotten his
prompt action in every emergency that
has called for the exercise of his charity.
When it is remembered that the early
opportunities of Mr. Hrbek for securing
an education were quite limited, and that
his early manhood was passed in "feats
of broil and battle," surprise may well be
excited at his success in later \ears in
his quiet pursuit of the toils of peace.
But he possessed the virtue of persever-
ance, which helped him to a fair knowl-
edge of the branches of learning usually
taught in the common schools, and to
this virtue \\as added a power of observa-
tion not accorded to all persons. He is
emphaticalh' a self-made man, and his



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



573



life of industry and wise economy, his
fixed purpose in all his undertakings, and
the tenacity with which he clung to them,
are well worthy the emulation of the
young men of the country who find them-
selves handicapped with poverty, but who
possess, as he possessed, an energy that
knows " no such word as fail."



FREDERICK JOHANNES, jewel-
er, and prominent as a citizen of
Kewaunee, was born in Prussia,
March 22, 1857. His father,
Christian Johannes, was born in 1806,
and was a merchant. He married Anna
Marie Horstman, who bore him three
children — two sons and one daughter —
'Frederick being the eldest.

Frederick attended school in Prussia
until fifteen years old, and then learned
the jeweler's trade and music, although
he never worked at the former in the old
country. On January 20, 1846, he mar-
ried Miss Dorothy Vashardt, a farmer's
daughter, and in September, 1845, he
volunteered in the Prussian army, serving
two years, in 1848 re-enlisting, and serv-
ing, during the latter term, nine months
in Denmark and in Hessen four months
in 1854. In the spring of 1855 he came
to America, but left his family behind,
fearing that he might again have to go
into the army. He first located in Two
Rivers, Wis., but after remaining there
only one year and six months came to
Kewaunee, and in the summer season
worked for Siavson & Taylor, in the first
steam sawmill erected here, employing
himself in the winter at his trade, chiefly
repairing watches. In the fall of 1859
he went over to the old country, and in
i860 came back with his family. For a
year he again lived at Two Rivers, but
finally settled in Kewaunee, filing saws in
the mills in summer and working at his
trade in the winter, as he had done be-
fore. When the Rebellion broke out, he
was offered a commission in the Union
Volunteer army, but he declined, as Mrs.



Johannes refused to give her consent,
arguing that he had already done suffi-
cient duty as a soldier.

Mr. Johannes has always voted with
the Democratic party. He has filled the
office of register of deeds of Kewaunee
two terms, and of county judge four years.
He was elected president of the village,
and later mayor of the city; he is the
present police justice of the city, also one
of the oldest county justices, and, al-
though he has several times declined re-
nominations, the people still insist on
electing him. Fraternally he is a mem-
ber of the F. & A. M., and I. O. O. F.,
and for years he has taken a great inter-
est in the Lutheran Church. Mr. and
Mrs. Johannes have had born to them six
children, all daughters, named respect-
ively: Sophy, Caroline, Wilhelniina,
Marie, Minna and Clementine, all, save
one, yet living.



JOHN FRIEDERICH IHLENFELD
is one among the thrifty German
pioneers who have become well-to-
do business men, and who are well
worthy of representation in the history of
Kewaunee county. He comes of an hon-
orable family of farming people who took
great pride in their good name.

Christian Ihlenfeld, grandfather of our
subject, was a steady, hard-working man
who reached a ripe old age, and was hon-
ored and respected by all who knew him.
His son Christian, father of our subject,
was reared in his native \illage in Prussia,
and was also noted for his industrj-. He
there married Sophia Kaiser, and in 1855,
accompanied by his family, consisting of
wife and three children, he crossed the
Atlantic to America, making a new home
in Mishicot, Manitowoc Co., Wis. The
three children were Christian, John and
Friederica, the last nam'cd dying at Two
Creeks, Wis., while Christian yet follows
farming in Manitowoc county.

The subject proper of this article was
born February 29, 1840, in Gausendorf,



574



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPmCAL RECORD.



Kreis Demmien, Prussia, Germany, and
with his parents came to the New World,
where he was reared upon a farm, follow-
ing that occupation until he was twenty-
two years of age. On January 31, 1862,
in Alilwaukee, Wis. , he enlisted in Com-
pany H, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, and
was under the command of Gen. C. C.
Washburn until the close of the war. On
March 24, 1862, the regiment reached
St. Louis, where the troops were drilled
for a few weeks (Mr. Ihlenfeld being there
made corporal), and then sent on an e.\-
pedition through Missouri and Arkansas,
fighting bushwhackers and Gen. Price,
as well as the guerilla chief, Mor-
gan. In the meantime, Mr. Ihlenfeld
was promoted to sergeant, and in Helena,
Ark., he helped to build fortifications,
and alsQ went on scouting duty into
Mississippi. He next went to Memphis,
Tenn., and scouted up and down the