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Surnames: Hubbell, Caldwell, Lee, Hubbell, Bissell, Cabaness, Millard, Palmer, Richardson, Wilson, Howard, Knott, McElwain, Wheeler, Tucker, Hough, Walker, Lewis, Wilkinson, Loney, Armstrong

From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 6 & 7

HARMON H. EARL, of Fennimore, is one of the few remaining pioneers of the northern part of Grant county. He was born in Windham, Portage Co., Ohio, March 8, 1816, son of Robert and Lydia (HUBBELL) EARL. His father was a native of New Jersey and the EARL family was formerly from England, whence three brothers came in Colonial times, one of them settling in New Jersey, a second one in Virginia, and the other in New England. They have numerous descendants throughout the Union, and from them Harmon H. EARL is descended.

Robert EARL was one of five brothers, Jacob, Joseph, Robert, James and Walter. The eldest of the family was Betsy, who married John CALDWELL, and died in Ohio. Nancy married Thomas LEE, and died in Iowa. Robert EARL married in Huntington, Penn., Lydia HUBBELL, and located in Trumbull county, Ohio. In 1816 they settled in Windham, Ohio, where they passed the balance of their lives. Mrs. EARL died in the fall of 1849, and Robert married again, his second wife being named BISSELL. He died in 1857. The record of Robert EARL is that of a man of upright character, and he was a faithful member of and a deacon in the Congregational Church. He was a farmer by occupation. Harmon H. EARL was the fourth in a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters. One of the sons, Adna, died in childhood, and the others all reached mature years. Harmon H. and one sister, Mrs. Elizabeth CABANESS, of Bloomington, Ill., are the only children of their parents now (1900) living. Eber, the eldest son, died in Kentucky. Susan and Jane were twins; Susan married Harvey MILLARD in Ohio, and died at her home near Spencer, Iowa; Jane married Frederick PALMER, and died in Missouri. Lydia married Daniel RICHARDSON, and after his death married Rev. Mr. WILSON, a Congregational minister; she died in Kansas City, Mo. Sarah married Daniel HOWARD and died in Illinois. Abner, the fourth son, married Sarah KNOTT; he died in Litchfield, Minn., some years ago.

Harmon H. EARL lived in his native place until he was twenty-two years of age, when he married Roxie WHEELER, who was born in the town of Solon, Cortland, Co., N.Y., June 25, 1816, and was a daughter of Jesse and Nancy (TUCKER) WHEELER, natives of Connecticut. Her father died when she was in her eighth year, and later her mother, with four children, moved into Cattaraugus county, N.Y., where one of the daughters, Clara, died. Soon afterward the mother and remaining children removed to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where she married Hiram HOUGH. In 1838 the family went to southern Illinois, and lived there several years. In 1846 they came to Grant county, and settled on land in the town of Fennimore. Mr. and Mrs. .HOUGH died at the home of a son, Mrs. HOUGH surviving her husband several years. Roxie, Mrs. EARL, was the eldest of her mother's children. Laura, the next in the family, married in Ohio, A. L. McELWAIN, and died at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Their brother, Josiah WHEELER, died in Monona, Iowa. There were five children born to Mr. and Mrs. HOUGH, three of whom are living: Hiram and Aretus G., live in Oakland, Iowa; Sylvia is the wife of D. R. WALKER, of Boscobel. William and Harlow, the eldest and youngest, respectively, are deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Harmon H. EARL were married Feb. 25, 1838, and the following autumn moved to southern Illinois, where they remained seven years, and then went to Jo Daviess county, in the same State. Three years later they went back to the old home farm of Mr. EARL, in Ohio, and in 1850 came to Grant county. Mr. EARL's father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and our subject entered a land warrant received by him, that called for 160 acres. Later he bought an adjoining forty acres, making a fine farm of 200 acres. For twenty years they lived on this farm, and then made their home in Fennimore, selling the place a few years later. Since 1868 they have lived retired. They have had nine children, but only Olive and William are living. Olive married H. B. LEWIS, of Fennimore. William, also a resident of Fennimore, is a carpenter and builder. He married Nellie WILKINSON, and they have four children, George, Bennie, Olive and Harold. The deceased children of Mr. and Mrs. EARL were: Lydia, who married C. W. LONEY, died in February, 1876. George died at the age of twenty-three. Nancy married William LONEY, and died a few years ago. Arthur died at the age of fifteen. Olive E. died in infancy. Sarah died in 1848, at the age of three years. Robert E. died in infancy. Mrs. EARL had a son by a previous marriage, Samuel ARMSTRONG, a resident of Fennimore. In 1900 Mr. and Mrs. EARL had fourteen grandchildren, and eighteen great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. EARL have been residents of Grant county for half a century, and their married life covers a period of sixty-three years. They still enjoy good health, and are passing their declining days in placid, comfort. He was originally a Whig, and later a Republican, but voted with the Prohibitionists for a number of years. He has held at different times many offices of trust and honor; was postmaster at Fennimore for fifteen years, justice of the peace nine years, and assessor of Fennimore for two years, 1851 and 1852. He and his wife have been members of the Methodist Church for more than sixty years, and he was a licensed local preacher for more than thirty years.



This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck