- DANIEL DUNWIDDIE, one of the honored pioneers of Green county,
Wis., is now living retired
- from active participation in business, in his comfortable
home in Brodhead, surrounded by loving children and grandchildren,
as well as by a host of warm friends. He was born in Greene county,
Ohio, Jan. 6, 1822, son of John and Ruth (BETS) DUNWIDDIE, the
former of whom was a farmer in Delaware and early settler of
Greene county, Ohio, where he purchased a tract of timber land
and farmed there until his death, in 1826; his wife, Mrs Ruth
(BETS) DUNWIDDIE, was the daughter of a Delaware farmer, and
survived her husband several years. John DUNWIDDIE was a soldier
in the war of 1812, and he and his wife were both Baptist in
religious faith. They were the parents of eleven children, ten
sons and one daughter, but two of whom are now living –
Judge Brooks DUNWIDDIE of Monroe and Daniel of Brodhead.
- Daniel DUNWIDDIE grew to manhood on the farm in Greene County,
Ohio, and made farming
- his life work until 1896. His first schooling was in the
old-fashioned subscription schools, and after his mother’s
death he mad his home with his sister Susan and her husband,
Ezra HAINES, remaining with them until he had attained the age
of twenty-one years. In 1843 he first came to Wisconsin, and
made his home in Jefferson township, but a little later he gave
up this land and purchased 160 acres in Spring Grove township,
and twenty acres of timber land in Decatur township, making his
home in Spring Grove until his retirement in 1896, wince when
he has lived with his daughter, Mrs Alonzo BARNES.
- On Dec 18, 1844, Mr. DUNWIDDIE married Miss Rebecca AUSTIN,
daughter of Joshua and
- Priscilla (EVERLY) AUSTIN, and they became the parents of
nine children; Priscilla married to John SWAN, of Juda, Wis.;
and has five children Pliny, Ivan J.; Otto; Victoria; and Franklin;
Louisa died in childhood; Ezra of Coldridge, Neb., married Fannie
GIFFORD, and has five children, Gertrude, Charles, Esther, Annie
and Robert; Celista married Alonzo BARNES (who died in 1900)
and has had two children, Rockwell, and one deceased; Theressa
married William F. HOLCOMB, of Brodhead and has one son, Frederick
N.; Minnie died in childhood; John Milton, of Jefferson township,
married Lucinda DAVIS, and has one child living, Ned Elmer; Idella
married C. F. CRONK of Madison, Wis., and has two children, Forbes
B. and Margo; and Myrtle married Ross C. MURDOCK of Brodhead,
and has two children, Hazel and Marjorie. Mrs. DUNWIDDIE was
born April 8, 1825, in Burlington county, N.H. and died March
23, 1895. Her marriage to Mr. DUNWIDDIE was celebrated in Warsaw,
Kosciusko Co., Ind., and the ceremony performed by Judge Miller.
On Dec. 18, 1894, they celebrated their golden wedding at their
comfortable home in Spring Grove. Of the forty-five guests present
the greater number were children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
(at that time there were three great-grandchildren, and at present
eight). Many were the good wishes spoken on that memorable occasion,
and few realized then that before another anniversary had passed
the beloved mother and grandmother would be waiting for them
all in the land that knows no care.
- When Mr. DUNWIDDIE made his first appearance in Wisconsin,
in 1843, he came on horseback.
- In 1844 he went to Indiana, where he was married in December,
and in the following March he returned to Wisconsin, this time
making the trip in a “Democrat” wagon, built somewhat
after the manner of a prairie schooner, and drawn by two good
horses. The team was driven by Mrs. DUNWIDDIE’s brother,
Isaac, and the trip required about ten days. The young couple
began life as pioneers, and soon became inured to the hardships
on the frontier. Their house was built of logs and plastered
both outside and in. The roof was formed of slabs, held in place
by hangers, and the floor was made of the same material, but
dressed smooth. Milwaukee was the nearest available market for
farm produce, and the outgoing team could make the trip in three
days, returning in two. Marriage in those days, to be followed
by pioneer life, meant a practical severing of all home ties.
Years must come and go before there could be any hope of another
meeting. Aside from the brother who drove the team in 1845, Mrs.
DUNWIDDIE saw no one of her people for thirty-five years. At
the end of that time this same brother visited Wisconsin and
brought with him his sister Elizabeth. Time had wrought its changes.
The old log cabin had given way to a pleasant, well-furnished
and comfortable home the unbroken wilderness to well-cultivated
fields. Mr and Mrs DUNWIDDIE were earnest members of the Baptist
Church in Juda, taking an active part in all Christian work.
After the death of his wife Mr. DUNWIDDIE left the old home hallowed
by many a sacred memory and is now passing the evening of his
life in Brodhead.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin,"
(c)1901 Union Publishing; pp. 968-969.
-
- Courtesy of Carol.
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