Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pg 785 

JOHN AINSWORTH, a prosperous farmer of Waukechon township, Shawano county, was born January 26, 1829, near Poole, England, a son of Henry and Susan (Hoor) Ainsworth. Henry Ainsworth was a farmer, and a successful man. He reared the following named children: Martha, now deceased; Amelia, in England; Henry, in Richmond township, Shawano county; John, whose name introduces this sketch; Mary, Sarah and Elizabeth, in England; Thomas, a lumberman in Shawano, Shawano county; and Sophia, now deceased. 

John Ainsworth was reared a farmer boy, and had very limited opportunities for book learning, receiving what education he obtained at home. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, then, in 1850, sailed for America with his brother Henry, landing in New York after a voyage of forty days. Going to Ohio, he stopped at Ashtabula, where he engaged in day labor on a farm, and remained some five years. Having saved some money, he came by rail to Wisconsin as far as Janesville, and from there by team to Oshkosh, hiring out in a lumber camp, and thus beginning a career in lumbering which he followed some thirteen years. On September 2, 1864, John Ainsworth was united in marriage with Elizabeth Jones, who was born in Lower Canada April 21, 1837, and they have had the following named children: Maggie, in California; Georgie, now Mrs. Edward Zamp, of California, with whom Maggie lives; Charles, now deceased; John W., at home; Anna May, who is teaching school; and Virginia, at Antigo, Langlade Co., Wis., teaching school. 

Mrs. Ainsworth is a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Sedore) Jones, the former of whom was born in Wales and came to Canada in an early day. He was a carpenter by trade, and followed this occupation during the greater part of his life. Mrs. Jones was from Albany, N. Y. She had very limited opportunities for an education, and remained at home until her marriage, at which time her parents were in Richmond township, Shawano county, where her father followed lumbering. He died in Shawano in 1893, at the age of eighty-eight, and the mother is now living in Shawano at the age of seventy-nine. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jones had nine children, namely: Anna B., now the wife of Thomas Ainsworth, brother of John Ainsworth; Elizabeth, Mrs. John Ainsworth; Jane, now Mrs. James Brown of Embarrass, Waupaca county; David G., a farmer in Shawano, Shawano county; Charles E., deceased; Sebastian Gordon, deceased; William Henry and Arthur W., in Antigo, Langlade county; and; Georgie, now Mrs. Charles McMekel, of Belle Plaine, Shawano county. 

When Mr. Ainsworth was married he had 200 acres of land. He came to Waukechon by team from Oshkosh, located on land here, and began to open up and clear a farm, building a log house 24 x 30 feet, opening roads through the trackless forests, and in other ways doing pioneer work. He now has 160 acres of land, of which he has cleared sixty, and he has also dealt in land. Politically Mr. Ainsworth is a Republican, and he has been a member of the side board. In religious affiliation he is a member of the English Episcopal Church.

Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin counties of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano, containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of many of the Early Settled Families.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 40-41

BENJAMIN B. ANDREWS, one of the firm of Van Doren & Andrews, prominent lumber merchants at Birnamwood, Shawano Co., Wis., was born at Whitehall, Washington Co., N. Y., September 29, 1849. He is the son of Benjamin M. and Ann (Lyons) Andrews, the former being born in Danbury, Conn., September 5, 1820, and the latter in Rutland, Vt., March 16, 1825. They were married in New York about 1847 and had a family of eight children, as follows: Benjamin Burton; Mary, who died when an infant; Mary Ann, who died when nineteen years of age; Annetta, now Mrs. R. Lyons, of Oshkosh; Adella; Leverett Brainard, who died when four years old; Emma Amelia, and Merton; the latter is an Episcopal minister and resides at Oshkosh. 

Benjamin M. Andrews, father of our subject, came to Wisconsin, in 1850, and settled on a farm in Juneau, Dodge county. He remained there some twelve years, then went to Beaver Dam and later to Oshkosh, where he still resides. He was a carpenter by trade, although he has followed farming the greater part of his life.  His wife, Ann (Lyons) is also still living.

Benjamin B. Andrews, the subject of this sketch, obtained his education in the public schools at Juneau, and remained at home until he was seventeen years old, learning, in the meantime, to run a stationary engine. At the age mentioned he went to Milwaukee, and was employed on the Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad for some two years, after which he returned to Oshkosh and worked in a mill, taking full charge of the same until the spring of 1884. At that time he came to Birnamwood, and in company with Mr. Van Doren began the manufacture of staves and headings; three years later they built a sawmill, and in 1892 an extensive mill. They also carry on a general store, and are large owners of real estate, and Mr. Andrews, being a practical millman, looks after that branch of the business. He is a wide-awake, enterprising man, and has been very successful in all his undertakings. Mr. Andrews was married in 1865, his wife being Miss Agnes Parris, who was born in Canada of Scotch descent, one of a family of five children. Her father was a baker in Canada. By this marriage Mr. Andrews became the father of four children: James, who died when a child; William Henry, who also died when an infant; Mary who married H. G. Deyer, an attorney, of Shawano, and Harry, who died in 1894 at the age of twenty-one years. The mother passed away December 14, 1874. The second marriage of Mr. Andrews took place March 16, 1876, Miss Martha 0. Thorn becoming his wife. She is a daughter of John and Sarah Thorn, natives of New York who came to Wisconsin in 1854. Her birth took place in Jefferson county. N. Y., March 6, 1852 and she was one of a family of ten children.  Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have four children: John Burton, Benjamin Burton, Bessie and Helen Dare. 

In politics Mr. Andrews is a Republican but has never been an office seeker. He is a trustee of the village, a member of the Congregational Church, and has been affiliated with the United Workmen for the past fifteen years. He is a self-made man, one who has attained to his present standing by industry, perseverance and straightforward methods of business, and is respected as a worthy citizen, and one ready to assist in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 531-2

JOHN T. BECKER, of Lessor township, Shawano county, a successful farmer and miller, was born in Austria, in 1847, and is a son of Thaddeus and Jo-sephine (Erhart) Becker.

Thaddeus Becker was a learned shoe-maker, and also a blacksmith, though he never worked much at this latter trade. In 1850 he sailed with his wife in a two-masted ship from Bremen to America landing in Philadelphia after a very rough passage of sixty-five days.  From Philadelphia they went to New York, then came to Milwaukee, Wis., where Mr. Becker was employed in the Bradley shoe shop, doing the fine work, and remained about a year.  He then made the trip with oxen from Milwaukee to Ellington, Outagamie Co., Wis., where he bought eighty acres of land, and building a log house thereon began the work of making a home, subsequently adding forty acres to his original purchase. The journey thither occupied about two weeks, and on July 4, while on their way, they passed through Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac county, then but a small town. He brought leather enough with him from Milwaukee to last him one year, and was thus enabled to provide for his family until he could get a start. There was but one road there at the time, known as the military road. He was among the early settlers in that region, and in the opening up and clearing of his land endured all the hardships and privations of pioneer life. Thaddeus Becker died on the homestead in Ellington during the Civil war, leaving five children, namely: Antone, married, now a successful farmer in Greenville, Outagamie county; Joseph T., subject proper of these lines;  Anna, wife of Conrad Kractcberk, a farmer of Ellington, Wis.; John, living on the homestead, where his mother, now eighty years of age, lives with him; and Andrew, a farmer of Ellington, who is married and has a family.

Joseph T. Becker had very meager opportunities for an education, for the school was four miles distant, and he could not attend more than half the time. He was put to hard work rather young, and has earned his own living since he was about seventeen years old. He learned the carpenter's trade, at which he has always worked, and has also been engaged in the sawmilling business. He made his home in Ellington, Outagamie Co., Wis., until 1868 when he was united in marriage with Margaret Stroup, who was born in Austria, and they have had six children, namely: Fannie, who is now the wife of Louis Gokey, a landlord in Pulcifer, Shawano Co., Wis.; and Mary, Albert, Joseph, Frank, and Emma, all at home.  Margaret Stroup accompanied her parents to America, and they came to Wisconsin, locating at Greenville, Outagamie county, where they bought a farm on which they spent the remainder of their lives, Mrs. Stroup passing away about 1865.
When Mr. Becker was married he bought his wife's father's farm, which was nearly cleared, and engaged in farming there about three years, after which he went to Colby, Clark Co., Wis., where he erected a temporary shingle-mill and remained about one year, in that time losing about three thousand dollars. Returning to the farm, he lived there about five years, also working in the sawmill in Black Creek, Outagamie county. About 1884 he came to Lessor township, Shawano county, here building a mill costing three thousand dollars; he first had a partner, but soon bought him out, afterward conducting the mill himself. In 1888 he was burned out here, losing some three thousand dollars, and he had previously been burned out on the farm. Thus he had been unfortunate, and it is only by his own hard labor and that of his family that he has kept afloat. Today he has 280 acres of land, and contemplates building a planing mill at a probable cost of two thousand dollars. He has operated the threshing-machine twenty-five years, and at the present time owns one threshing machine and self-traction engine.  Twenty-three years ago he owned two engines, one of which he sold to his brother, while the other he converted into a self-traction engine by adding more machinery to it. This was the first of the kind in his part of the country, and Mr. Becker hauled it from place to place with a team of oxen. At present (1895) he owns the "Briarton Hall," hotel and saloon, combined, besides a lumber-mill, shingle-mill, planing-mill and feed-mill, all combined. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has always supported that party; the family are members of the Catholic Church. When he was eighteen years old Mr. Becker went into the service of the Union as a substitute for his brother Anton.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 268-269

LOUIS BERGNER -  One of the most prominent and substantial business men of Pulcifer, Green Valley township, Shawano county, is Mr. Bergner. He was born in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Germany, July 2, 1843, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Machleith) Bergner, who was born in the afore-mentioned place. 

George Bergner was well educated, and when a young man learned the trade of a mason, which he followed all his life. He came to the United States in 1868 with his wife and two of their children, the majority of their family having preceded them. They landed in New York and there located. About five years later, when sixty-seven years of age, Mr. Bergner died at the home of his son Louis, who is the subject proper of this sketch. His wife, who survives him, still resides in New York, at the age of eighty-four.   Their children were as follows: Julia Anna, deceased; wife of Fred Koch, of Fort Howard, Wis.; Emma, now Mrs. Richard Walter, of New York; Richard, deceased; Charles, a contractor, residing in Germany; Henry, a dentist, in New York; Augusta, now Mrs. De Buse, of New York; Louis, and Christian, a resident of Pulcifer, Wisconsin.

Louis Bergner received a good common-school education, and at the age of fourteen commenced to learn the trade of a mill-wright. He served an apprenticeship of three years, worked one year at the trade, and then started to learn the trade of a miller, at which he worked for four years. In July, 1866, he sailed from Hamburg for the United States on the steamer "Germania," and landed in New York after a voyage of fifteen days. He worked there one year as cabinet maker and carpenter, having acquired considersable knowledge of both these trades in Germany. In the fall of 1867 he went to Fort Howard, Brown Co., Wis., and procured work in a sash and door factory, at which business he continued for nine years.

In the year 1868, Louis Bergner was united in marriage, at Fort Howard, with Miss Augusta Steuk, who was born in Prussia, August 9, 1847, and they have had the following named children:  Albert, born February 2, 1869, married Annie Krueger, and resides in Pulcifer; Henry, born March 20, 1871, married Mary Hanson, and they reside in Pulcifer; Louisa, born May 20, 1873, and Hermina, born February 20, 1877, both at home. Miss Augusta Steuk, now Mrs. Louis Bergcr, came to the United States about 1867. Her parents, Ardman and Wilhelmina (Geske) Steuk followed her a few years later, and first settled on Long Island, afterward removing to Fort Howard, Wisconsin.

In 1876 Mr. Bergner removed with his wife and family to Duck Creek, Brown county, where he worked a gristmill for one year. He then removed to Bonduel, Shawano county, rented a store there, and put in a stock of general merchandise. The first year in Bonduel he ran a gristmill, and his wife attended to the store. At the end of two years he disposed of his stock, came to  Pulcifer, bought his present site on the Oconto river, and put up a gristmill the same fall which was in 1880.  His family joined him the following spring.  In 1882 he built a sawmill at the side of the gristmill, and in 1883 built a planing-mill.  Mr. Bergner owns and carries on a farm of sixty-eight acres, fifty of which are cleared.  He is a Republican in politics, but has never sought office.  Both he and Mrs. Bergner are members of the German Lutheran Church.  Mr. Bergner began life a poor boy, and was penniless when he landed in New York.  He now has a large and extensive business, is very popular, and has many friends.  He has an able assistant in his daughter Louisa, who attends to the books and looks after his business in general.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 587-88

AUGUST BLECK, a substantial farmer of  Washington township, Shawano county, was born in Germany November 22, 1846, son of Martin and Ernstine (Reinke) Bleck, who were born in Germany.

Martin Bleck, who was a farmer, an occupation he followed all his life, died on the homestead in Germany some years ago, aged about seventy-eight years; his wife had preceded him to the grave. They had the following children: Henrietta, in Germany; John, a farmer in Washington township; August, subject of this sketch; Herman, a farmer in Underhill, Oconto Co., Wis.; Gottlieb, a farmer in Waukesha, Wis., and Fred, unmarried, who resides with his brother August.

August Bleck received a common-school education, left school at the age of fourteen, hired out as a farm hand, and received his board and twenty-five dollars for the first year. In the fall of 1869 he sailed from Bremen, Germany, on the steamer "America" for the United States, landing at New York after a voyage of fourteen days. Coming direct to Scott township, Sheboygan county, Wis., he remained there one month with his cousin, Charles Bleck, then went to Winnebago county, Wis., and hired out to chop wood during that winter in the town of Winchester. The succeeding summer he worked as a farm hand at Bold Prairie, near Oshkosh, and followed this occupation three years. On January 10, 1873, in Theresa, Dodge Co., Wis., August Bleck was united in marriage with Miss Wilhelmina Dobberphuhl, who was born in Germany May 3 1853, and they have had the following children: Frank, at home; Charles, who works near Waupun, Wis.; and Anna, William, Albert, Paulina John H., Henry, Alvin and Clara, all at home. The parents of Mrs. Bleck, Frederick and Fredericka (Kregel) Dobberphuhl, were born in Germany whence they came to the United States bringing with them their little daughter, Wihelmina (Mrs Bleck), who was then four years of age, and settling in Theresa, Dodge Co., Wisconsin.

Prior to his marriage Mr. Bleck had purchased the land whereon he now lives. In 1872 he erected a small log house, now use as the kitchen for the large modern house which he has since built, which is connected with it. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bleck came to this place to live, and they have since resided here. They are both members of the German Lutheran Church and take an active interest in its work. In politics Mr. Bleck is a Democrat, and he now holds the office of school treasurer; has been township treasurer for eight years, supervisor one year, and assessor one year. He is honored and respected, and has many friends.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pgs 805 – 806

HENRY J. BLOECHER, president of the village of Wittenberg, has been a resident, of Shawano county since 1880. Wisconsin would have reason to be very proud of her native sons if all were like this gentleman.

Mr. Bloecher was born in Forest township, Fond du Lac county, June 26, 1857, and is a son of Jacob and Eliza (Weil) Bloecher, both natives of Germany. On coming to this country the father located in Fond du Lac, Wis., where he worked at day's labor for a time, and after a few years removed to Forest township, where he purchased forty acres of land. He afterward bought another forty-acre tract, and transformed it from its primitive condition into a fine farm. Subsequently he sold, and removed to Friendship township, in the same county, where he bought an improved farm of eighty acres, on which he has since resided. His wife died on that place. He is a practical and enterprising agriculturist, and has achieved a well-merited success. In the family were eight children: Mary, wife of Charles Racow, a farmer of Dakota; Henry J.; Amelia, wife of Louis Ganger, of Oshkosh, Wis.; Ellen, wife of Frank Minske, a farmer of South Dakota; Louis, marshal of the village of Wittenberg; Lydia, wife of Henry Yaeger, an agriculturist of Wittenberg township, Shawano county; Emma, wife of Henry Heilman, of Oshkosh; and William F., who is living with his father.

Henry J. Bloecher acquired a common-school education, and obtained his first knowledge of farming under his father's direction, in Forest township, Fond du Lac county. He remained at home until seventeen years of age, when he began working in the lumber woods, and since that time has earned his own living. He remained in the vicinity of his native home until 1880, when he came to Shawano county, at which time Tigerton was the terminus of the railroad. Here he first engaged in railroading, and in 1881 purchased forty acres of land, upon which not a furrow had been turned, or an improvement made. He at once began to clear the place, and acre after acre was placed under the plow, and transformed into fertile fields. He has dealt, to some extent, in land, and today is the owner of 120 acres, of which twenty acres are under cultivation. Besides his land speculations, he has also been employed in the Gralapp sawmill. Mr. Bloecher erected a residence in Wittenberg, and in 1883 was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Gralapp, daughter of Charles Gralapp. Six children grace their union: George Henry, Tina A., Chester W., Esther, Tilda and Oscar L.

Mr. Bloecher is a warm advocate of Republican principles, and has served his town and township in various positions of trust with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He was town treasurer for three years, was elected a trustee on the incorporation of Wittenberg, in 1883, and the following year he served as assessor. He is now the efficient president of the village, and does all in his power to promote its educational, moral, social and material welfare. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Church, and have many warm friends.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 51 - 52

L. C. BOLD, the honored mayor of Shawano, and editor and manager of the Shawano County Wochenblatt, is a native of Hessen-Nassau, Germany, born June 10, 1848, and a son of Christopher Bold, a highly-educated man, who was born January 7, 1824.   He was instructed in some of the best educational institutions of Germany, won a high reputation as a teacher, and was employed at several schools of the Province Hessen-Nassau. His death, which occurred August 7, 1894, was of an extended obituary in the educational paper issued by the institution where he had given such excellent service for many years, winning a reputation that was far more than local.  His family numbered six children – two sons and four daughters.

Our subject attended the public schools until ten years of age, and then entered college at Cassel, after which he pursued his studies. He acquired an excellent education, and then resolved to cross the Atlantic to America, which he believed offered a better field to ambitious young men than was afforded in his native country.  In the summer of 1868, at Bremen, he embarked on this vessel "Herrmann," which, after thirteen days, reached the harbor of New York. He remained for some time in the East, and in 1872 was made a citizen of the United States in Jersey City, N. J. Soon after his arrival he entered a drug store, and continued in that line of business for some time

In 1809 Mr. Bold was married in New York to Miss Babetta Lieb — a native of Germany, and to them were born three children: Paul, who was drowned in 1880; Charles F., one of the prominent young men of Shawano, now employed in his father's newspaper office; and Louis, who is also connected with journalistic work.  In November, 1884, Mr. Bold came to Shawano.   At, that time the Shawano County Democrat was in the hands of the sheriff, the former proprietors having failed to make it a profitable investment. A company was formed, consisting of August Koeppen, president; Ed Somers, secretary; and L. C. Bold, editor and manager. The paper was changed to its present name, and the first copy appeared January 15, 1885. In October, 1888, the company was incorporated as the Shawano Printing Association, and Mr. Bold is now president and secretary as well as editor and manager. The circulation has been greatly increased, Mr. Bold having successfully managed the enterprise, until the paper is now one of the leading German publications in northern Wisconsin. It is well-edited, and is a very readable sheet. The equipment of the office is by far the most modern in Shawano, having, a cylinder press and other-machinery for first-class work, driven by steam power. 
 
In politics Mr. Bold has always been a Democrat, but at local elections does not closely draw the party lines, preferring to support the man whom he thinks best quali-fied for office, regardless of his political com-plexion.   In the spring of 1895 he was elected mayor of Shawano on the Citizen's ticket, defeating James Black by 59 majori-ty.  From 1888 until 1890 he was justice of the peace; in 1891 was supervisor of the Sec-ond ward of the city of Shawano; in 1893 was chairman of the county board of super-visors; and in 1894 was again appointed justice of the peace, serving until the spring of 1895 with the same fidelity that has marked his official career in its various ca-pacities. Socially Mr. Bold is a member of Neptune Lodge, No. 46, I. 0. 0. F., and has been delegate to two grand lodges. He is a member of the Germania Society of Mil-waukee, and organized Enterprise Encamp-ment I. 0. 0. F. He is one of the leading men of the city, prominently identified with its public interests, a man who faithfully does his duty to himself, to his neighbor, and to his country. His public and private career are alike above reproach, and all who know him respect him.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pg  470 – 1
[Photo]

GEORGE BRUNNER, who enjoys the distinction of having been the first settler in the thriving village of Wittenberg, Shawano county, having settled in what was then a primeval forest some fourteen years ago, is a native of Wisconsin, born July 5, 1849, in Mequon, Ozaukee county.

Andrew Brunner, his father, a Bavarian by birth, and a miller by trade, in 1842 emigrated to the United States, coming direct to Wisconsin and to Ozaukee county, where he bought eighty acres of wild land, covered with a dense forest, inhabited by wild animals, who jealously resented the encroachment of civilized man.  This land our subject bravely set to work to clear, and in course of time, by assiduous care and consummate industry, he transformed it into a fertile farm.   Later, he bought another twenty acres of wild land, and this, too, he in due course converted into productive fields. After a residence of four years in his New-World home, Mr. Brunner took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Jane Spareber, also a native of Bavaria, and ten children were born to them, a brief sketch of whom is as follows: John P. lives on the old homestead, caring for his mother, who is now seventy-five years old; J. George is the subject of these lines; Margaret is deceased; Sophia is the wife of Nicholas Renk, a baker of New London, Wis.; Leonhard is a resident of Leopolis, Wis.; William J. lives in Milwaukee; Barbara is the wife of Fred Kolpeck of Almond, Wis., a farmer; Michael is a conductor on a street railway in Milwaukee; August G. is a motorman on a street railway in Milwaukee; Gottlieb is a carpenter in Wittenberg.   The father died in 1871, and the widowed mother subsequently married John Dehling, since deceased. 

At the age of fourteen years our subject, who was given a fairly liberal common-school education, left the parental roof and commenced to work among strangers for his board, first in Dodge county, Wis., where he was employed about one year. From there he went to Waukesha county, thence at the end of a year to Green Bay, Brown county, where he found work in a shingle mill for a time, and thence, in company with a friend, moved to Michigan, there laboring in the lumber woods six years, at the end of which time he returned to Wisconsin, bought the old homestead in Ozaukee county, and settled down to agricultural pursuits.

In the fall of 1875 Mr. Brunner was married to Miss Emma Schneider, who was born April 11, 1858, at Mequon, Wis., daughter of Methuselah and Fredericka (Radel) Schneider, well-to-do people of Saxony, Germany, who came to this country and to Wisconsin early in the "fifties," settling in Mequon, Ozaukee county, where the father followed agricultural pursuits. They were the parents of eight children namely: Rosalie, Edward, Fred, Charles, Emma, Frank, Annie, and one deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Brunner continued to make their home at the old place in Ozaukee county some three years after their marriage, and then, selling the property there at a profit of $500, moved to Shawano county, locating on 120 acres of partially improved land in Herman township which Mr. Brunner had purchased, and which he has since sold. Here they lived three years or until toward the end of April, 1881, when they came to Wittenberg, at that time, as already intimated, a “howling wilderness,” but, to quote from the columns of a local paper: "he at once proceeded to annihilate the primitive and historic beauty of the place by tearing the mighty monarch of the forest from his imperial throne, and utilizing the remains of his excellency's fallen grandeur for the erection of a first-class hostelry, which he very appropriately named 'The Wittenberg House,' and took upon himself the duties of a genial and hearty landlord. But the urbane proprietor of the first hotel of which Wittenberg could proudly boast was not satisfied alone with the honor of being the first settler in our prosperous village, for he took upon himself, as it were, another and still greater honor.   Before many moons had passed away there was an arrival at the 'Wittenberg House' who did not register.   His appearance was somewhat extemporaneous, to say the least, and decidedly décolleté; but these little peculiarities, if such they were, found favor in George's eyes, so the little guest was allowed to remain, and, in fact, is still stopping at Brunner's as we go to press. He was a boy, and a bouncing boy at that, the first white child born in the place, and George was the happy and hilarious father. In 1887 Mr. Brunner erected a fine brick building, 24x46 feet in size, two stories high, and at the present time is conducting a retail liquor establishment, in addition to which he owns a farm in Eldron township, Marathon county, with good improvements, besides other real estate, including three lots in Milwaukee; he is also interested in the lumber industry. 

To our subject and wife were born five children, two of whom—Edwin and Alice— are deceased; those yet living are Alviria, Alexander and Allen. Politically, Mr. Brunner is a Republican; has been a trustee of the village of Wittenberg ever since its incorporation, served as a justice of the peace one year, and as constable also a year, filling these several incumbencies with characteristic zeal and fidelity. In religious faith he and his wife are members of the German Lutheran Church, toward which he has been a liberal donor.  He has ever been a leader in enterprises tending to the advancement and prosperity of Wittenberg, substantially verifying the assertion by donating $355.00 toward a factory located there, and from one dollar to ten dollars for other enterprises almost every year since he has lived in Wittenberg.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 166-167

[Photo included in article]

BENJAMIN A. CADY   This well known and popular lawyer of Birnamwood and county attorney of Shawano county, who also has a warm place in every loyal heart as a veteran of the Civil war, is a native of Vermont, having been born in the town of Granville, Addison county, February 11, l840.

Jacob and Betsy (Coolidge) Cady, parents of our subject, were also natives of the Green Mountain State, the father born about 1807; a son of Isaac Cady, a soldier who served under Gen. Stark at the battle of Bennington. The mother's parents were natives of Vermont and New York, respectively.   The Cady family is of Scotch and English descent, and the grandfathers on both sides were early settlers in America, most of their descendants being farmers. Jacob Cady came to Wisconsin from Lowell, Mass., making the trip from Buffalo to Milwaukee in a sailing vessel, and settling near the latter city April 6, 1850. His eldest son, Philander, walked all the way from Buffalo to Milwaukee with his brother-in-law, J. J. Richardson.  At the home of this relative, near Milwaukee, Jacob Cady and his family visited for a while, then fitted out an ox-team and went to the Indian lands near the city of Berlin.  Here Mr. Cady located near a stream now known as Cady's Creek, and proceeded to clear the land and make a comfortable home. He spent the remainder of his life on this place, and there passed away in 1885; the mother still resides on the old homestead with her grandchild.  Jacob Cady, although he had only a common-school education, was a man of unusual ability, and a leader among men. He was possessed of strong will power, was generous to the poor, liberal to the cause of religion and of unbounded hospitality; in the expressive parlance of those early days, it was said that "his latch-string was always out." He was no politician, but was made chairman of the town board, and held other minor offices. The children of this worthy pioneer were five in number: Lucinda L., Philander H., Mary A., Artemus W., and Benjamin A.

The subject proper of this sketch, whose name appears at the opening, was but ten years old when his father settled in the wilds of Wisconsin, and his early days will never be forgotten. Wolves and deer were to be seen in the forests, snakes crossed the path through the underbrush, and the nearest neighbor was an Indian whose wigwam was a mile away.  There were no schools for five years after their arrival in the county, but fortunately the boy had been in school in Lowell before he left the East, and under the instruction of his parents pursued his studies at home until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the high school at Berlin, later going to Milton College. On November 24, 1863, he enlisted in Company I, Thirty-seventh Wis. V. I., of which company he was made clerk; in the spring of 1864 the regiment joined the Ninth Army Corps, at Cold Harbor.  Mr. Cady was in several engagements in front of Petersburg, in one of which, June 19, 1864, he was wounded in the right hand, in consequence of which he was sent to Lincoln Hospital, at Washington, thence transferred to Madison, Wis., where he received his discharge, April 20, 1865. He then returned to the farm, took up the study of law, and in March, 1867, was admitted to the bar of Waushara county, Wis. Opening up an office in his own house he commenced practicing, at the same time carrying on his farm and raising stock. He continued this busy life until l881, when he sold out his interests there and removed to Wood county, engaging in lumbering at Milladore where he remained two years. In the fall of 1883 he closed out that business and came to Birnamwood, where he had made some investments, and entered into the mercantile business which he carried on (at the same time continuing his law practice) until 1892, since which time he has devoted himself entirely to his profession, in which he has been remarkably successful.

Mr. Cady is a Republican in his political views, but has always been too busy to become an office-seeker; his fellow-citizens, however, have honored him by placing him in various public positions. He is now district attorney of Shawano county, having been elected in the fall of 1894. He had previously held the same office in Waushara county, two terms, and for eighteen years was chairman of the town board, during two years of which time he was chairman of the county board; he has been a member of the county board in his county, and is now chairman of the Senatorial committee of this Senatorial District. Socially he is a Royal Arch Mason, being a member of Berlin Chapter and of Pine River Lodge No. 207. 

On May 3, 1864, Mr. Cady was married to Julia A. Shepherd, daughter of Orson A. and Mary (Buck) Shepherd, natives of New York, whence they came to Wisconsin in an early day, first locating in Walworth county, later removing to Waushara county; both are now deceased.  By this marriage Mr. Cady became the father of five children, as follows: Julia E., who married George Smith, and resides near her father; Artemus A., married and residing at Birnamwood; Frank P., a carpenter in Waushara county; Maggie M., residing at home; Myrtle R., who married George Cottrill, and lives in Waushara county. Mr. Cady's second marriage took place October 16. 1881, the bride being Miss Ada L. Empie, who was born in the town of. Lake Mills, Jefferson Co., Wis.;  two children have been born to this marriage:  Blanche A. and Arthur L.   Mrs. Cady's parents, John H. and Mary (Montgomery) Empie, were natives of New York, coming to Wisconsin at an early day; they are still, living in Shawano county. They had three children: Lawrence H., Ada L. and Alice F. Cady is a self-made man with a strong will and great energy, up to forty years of age was a tireless worker in the various pursuits which he engaged, and still continues to labor zealously in his chosen profession.

Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin counties of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano, containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of many of the Early Settled Families.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 98-99

JAMES BUCHANAN CHURCHILL in point of residence is the oldest settler of Grant Township, Shawano County. In 1857 he purchased from the Fox River Improvement Co. a tract of 160 acres in Section 35, Grant township, distant a scant mile from the present flourishing little village of Marion, Waupaca county. This pioneer home was then under the territorial jurisdiction of Matteson Township, and included what is now Grant, Pella, Matteson, Fairbanks and Split Rock townships. The little log house which he built stood in the midst of the dense forests, and here for many years he lived, a pioneer, when pioneers were few, and when frontier life meant hardships and privations almost innumerable.

Mr. Churchill was born in Lock Township, Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1831, son of David A. and Martha (Buchanan) Churchill. David A. Churchill was the son of Daniel and Marion (Clark) Churchill, both of New York nativity and English ancestry. Daniel Churchill was a captain in the Continental army in the war of 1812, and died in Cayuga county, N. Y., where he was a large land-owner. Miriam Buchanan was the daughter of John and Miriam (Yaeger) Buchanan. John Buchanan was a native of Ireland, and served during the Revolutionary war as a captain in the Patriot army. He was a relative of President Buchanan, and a farmer by occupation, living through life on a farm in Orange county, N. Y. David A. Churchill, father of James B., was a currier and shoemaker by trade, and in 1845 moved from Cayuga county, N. Y., to Tioga county, Penn., where he remained until 1867. In that year he came to the Wisconsin home of his son, and remained there until his death, in 1880; his wife died in 1887. Their family of eight children consisted of Clark L., a lumberman who died in 1855, in Simcoe county, Canada West (now Ontario); James Buchanan, subject of this sketch; Jerome, of Tiogo county, Penn; Wilber, a resident of the same county, who enlisted in a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment and served three years; William, his twin brother, now a resident of Larrabee township, Waupaca county, who also saw active service in a Pennsylvania infantry regiment; David, also of Larrabee township, Waupaca county, and a veteran of a New York regiment; Daniel, who died in Maryland while in the service, January 1, 1862; and Martha, wife of Ebenezer Burley (also a Union soldier), of Tioga county, Pennsylvania.

James B. Churchill attended the district schools of Cayuga county, N. Y., and at the age of thirteen years accompanied his father's family to Tioga county, Penn., remaining there, engaged in farm labors, until the age of twenty. In 1851 he went to Canada, and there followed lumbering, and six years later was married to Miss Mary Warnick, a native of Canada, after which, with his young wife, he started for his prospective home in the wilds of Wisconsin. The journey was made by rail to Fond du Lac, thence via boat to New London, and the balance of the way afoot through the primeval forests. There were then no roads, and here in the fastnesses of the woods the hardy and venturesome pioneer lived for years. For several years after their settlement their only beasts of burden were oxen, and the only vehicle a wood-shod sleigh, which was used summer and winter, no wagons having yet been brought into the settlement. In going any distance in any direction streams of all kinds had to be forded. Their flour was all bought at New London, and brought by boat up to Clintonville, from which point Mr. Churchill would bring a l00-lb. sack on his shoulder to his home, a distance of ten miles as the roads run. The first interment in the adjoining graveyard at Marion was in 1872. In 1864 Mr. Churchill enlisted at Menasha, Wis., in Company K, First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, which was assigned to the Twenty-second Army Corps and stationed at Arlington Heights and Ft. Lyons, Alexandria on garrison duty. He was mustered out at Washington, D. C., in July, 1865, and returned to Shawano county, Wisconsin.

Mr. Churchill's first wife died in July, 1862, and in September, 1865, he was married in Bear Creek township, Waupaca county, to Miss Elizabeth Hehman, a lady of Holland birth, whose parents, Gerhard and Bertha (Haytink) Hehman, emigrated in November, 1856, from Holland to Milwaukee, Wis., and in May, 1857, settled in Section 18, Pella township, Shawano county. Their nearest neighbor then was fourteen miles distant. Mr. Hehman cut a road through the woods from a point two miles below Buckbee, Larrabee Township. Waupaca county, to Pella, Shawano county, and from the farm to Embarrass village. He built a shanty 10 x 12 feet, and lived in it from May to November, by which time he had erected a log cabin, quite commodious in comparison. By faithful and persistent labor he improved the farm and he died at this pioneer home in 1872, his wife surviving until 1879. Their five children were: Henrietta, wife of Fred Strausburg, of Marion, Wis.; William, formerly of Seneca, Shawano county, who died of heart disease July 4, 1895; John, who died in Grant township in March, 1893; Mrs. Churchill; and Gerhard, who lives in Sugar Bush, Outagamie county.

After his second marriage Mr. Churchill settled in Bear Creek Township, and operated the Welcome Hyde farm for about five years. He then returned to his old farm, which he improved, and in 1883 equipped with a good one-and-a-half-story dwelling l6x 28, with an L l6x 16 feet, and having a one-story kitchen 14x15; his substantial barn, an imposing structure 36x56 feet, with 18-foot posts, he erected in 1869. Here Mr. Churchill is engaged in farming, and in raising an excellent grade of stock. In politics he is a Democrat, and he is one of the most public-spirited and enterprising citizens of the prosperous community in which he lives. In 1859 he served as commissioner of Matteson Township, and in 1869 he assisted actively in organizing Grant Township. He was instrumental in building many of the roads throughout the township, and in various ways contributed liberally to the convenience and welfare of the tide of immigrants who later filled up this wild land and converted it into an expanse of happy and prosperous homes.  In matters of local history Mr. Churchill is an undisputed authority, and none stand higher than he in the esteem and respect of his fellow-citizens. Though not a member of any Church or denomination, he has been a liberal contributor to the different churches of his neighborhood, having assisted all of them by donations at different times, for their erection and afterward in their support. Socially he is a member of Shawano Lodge, I. 0. 0. F.

Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin counties of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano, containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of many of the Early Settled Families.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 248-249

REV. HERMAN S. W. DAIB -  When valuable public services, an unblemished integrity and a genuine private virtue, derivable only from the daily practice of religion and piety, contribute to adorn the character of an individual, then is it most proper to be set prominently forth as an example to those who would make themselves useful to their fellow men. And the writer cherishes the belief that he will perform this acceptable service to the public in giving a brief sketch of this reverend gentleman.

Mr. Daib is a native of Ohio, having first seen the light in Bern township, Fairfield county, August 26, 1862, and is a son of Rev. John L. Daib, who was born in Niederrimbach, in the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg, Germany, July 13, 1830, and who when thirteen years old lost his father by death, and his mother some few years before. There were two sons and one daughter in the family besides John L. At the age of nineteen years John L. Daib emigrated from the Fatherland to the United States, locating in St. Louis, Mo., where he was persuaded to study for the ministry by Dr. W. Sihier, whereupon he attended the seminary at Fort Wayne, Ind. After his ordination he had charges in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin, his last incumbency being in the first-named State, where he died December 31, 1894. He was there married to Susanna E., daughter of Nicolas and Catherine (Heiser) Zeit, both of German birth, came to America in 1832, and here married, where they followed agricultural pursuits in the State of Indiana. Five children were born to them, viz.: Susanna E., John, Jacob, Margaret and Lucinda. To Rev. John L. Daib and wife were born twelve children, those yet living being Mary, Frederick, Sophia, Herman S. W., Emilie, Adelinde, Martin, Frieda and Lydia; the deceased were Theodore, Helen and Leonard. 

The subject proper of these lines received his primary education at the parochial school of Oshkosh, Wis.  Subsequently he attended college at Fort Wayne, Ind., from which institution he was graduated in 1881; then entered the Theological Seminary at St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1884. The first charge to which he was appointed, was at Wittenberg. Wis., whence at the end of three years he removed to Antigo, in the same State, and, in August, 1888, came to Merrill to accept the incumbency as pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, where he has since remained. Under his careful and watchful pastorate the congregation and church have been blessed with increase and prosperity, for when he came to the charge seven years ago there was a membership of but 45; now there are 120 voting members, who worship in an elegant brick church, recently erected, to which is attached a growing parochial school of 120 scholars.

In 1888 Rev. Herman S. W. Daib and Miss Hermine Dicke were united in marriage, and two children have come to brighten their home—Herbert and Kurt. Mrs. Daib is a native of Wisconsin, born in Belle Plaine township, Shawano county, a daughter of Rev. Henry and Catherine Dicke, who were the parents of nine children, all yet living and named respectively: Henry, Mary, Pauline, Hermine, William, Carl, John, Julia and Clara. Mr. and Mrs. Daib enjoy, equally, the sincere respect and esteem of not only the members of his flock, but of the entire community, in which they are well known.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 
 

Pages 348 - 9

REV. ODORIC IGNAZ DERENTHAL, 0. S. F., priest among the Indians in Shawano county, was born in Roesebeck, Prussia, Germany, July 14, 1856, a son of Theodore and Mary (Wieners) Derenthal. 

Theodore Derentbral was a farmer, and is a successful man. He now has 140 acres of land, and both he and his wife live on the home farm, which is worked by their son Bernard. They reared a family of children, most of whom died in infancy, and four are still living, as follows: Odoric, subject of this sketch; Bernhard, in Germany; Paulina, Mrs. Gustaf Scheidt; and Augusta, at home with her parents and brother.   Odoric Derenthal was reared at home until twelve years of age, when he began his studies for the priesthood. He attended for three years the High School at Ruethen, taught by the able Rev. Rector L. Becker; for two years at Warburg, and then in 1873, joined the order of Franciscans at Warendorf, Westphalia, where he passed the novitiate; then studied in Europe until 1875, when he came to America, landing in New York June 30, 1875. Coming to Teutopolis, Ill., he studied there one year, and then went to Quincy, Ill., where he took philosophy, remaining two years. Completing his studies there, he took up theology in St. Louis, where he remained three years, and was ordained priest in that city May 16, 1880.

Rev. Odoric Derenthal's first congregation was in Superior, Wis., where he had 125 families. He was engaged chiefly in the Chippewa Indian mission, and was there four years, with another confrere. As a missionary priest he would start out with a guide to his different missions, in a territory some two hundred miles in circuit, lodging in a wigwam, in which the services were held, and remaining in one place about three days would go on to another, and so on, having a repetition of these services in about twenty different places, all from fifteen to twenty-five miles apart. The Indians were at that time in an uncivilized condition. He first gained their conversion, then baptized them, and so performed his missionary duties until he was sent, in 1885, to Keshena, where he has since been. He founded an Indian boarding school of about one hundred Indian pupils, which he has increased to 170 at the present time, while his congregation numbers one hundred families. He has one assistant priest, Rev. Blase Krake, who tends to two other Indian congregations—Kenepowa and Little Oconto.   Together with Rev. B. Krake, five Brothers of the Order of St. Francis, six Sisters of St. Joseph, one lay-teacher and several other employes, he is conducting an excellent Indian school, which has been built up through the efforts of Father Derenthal and his assistant, and received a medal and several diplomas at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. This institution, called St. Joseph's Indian Industrial School, teaches all the pupils, male and female, from six to twenty-three years of age, in the ordinary branches of an English education, and also in different industries and trades, such as farming, gardening, carpentering, shoe-making; cookery, laundering, needlework, dairywork, etc. The Church has been organized since 1892. 

At the time of Father Derenthal's coming here there had been great destruction by fire, February 22, 1884, and he had the loss replaced at an expense of $30,000; they had another fire, in 1891, which caused a loss of about $20,000, which had again to be restored. They now have a school which cost $50,000, and is well-equipped. The government pays a part of the expense of $108 per capita; the contract for the present fiscal year is for 105 pupils, and the rest of the expenses has to be supplied by charity. The missionary priest receives no consideration for his services, even his garb being a present from his benefactors. The six Sisters employed as teachers receive $800 altogether. Rev. Father Derenthal has another mission, the Stockbridge mission, seven miles from here, and they have a church there which cost $2,200, built in 1894, and dedicated November 22, same year.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pgs 808 – 809

REV. PETER HENRY DICKE, of Washington township, Shawano county, was born in Werther, Province of Westphalia, Prussia, April  3, 1822, and is a son of John and Margaret (Blotenberg) Dicke.   John Dicke was born in 1795, and his wife Margaret, about the same time. Mr. Dicke was a farmer all this life, and died in his native place about 1845, his wife, who survived him, passing away about two years later. Their children were as follows: Peter, Henry, the subject of these lines; John Herman, who died in St. Louis, Mo.; Frederick, William, a farmer in Goodhue county, Minn.; Herman Henry who  died in St. Louis, Mo.; Katrina, now Mrs. Henry Meyer, of Goodhue county, Minn.; and John Henry, who resides in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Peter Henry Dicke left the schools of his native place at the age of fourteen.  He then entered the Institute in Dresden, Germany, and remained there for five years after which he attended a missionary academy in Nuremberg, Germany, and there commenced to study for the ministry. At the end of two years he left Nuremberg, and on October 23, 1851, embarked from Havre, France, for the United States on the sailing vessel "William Tell." After a voyage of thirty-five days he landed in New York, came direct to Fort Wayne, Ind., and immediately afterward entered the German Lutheran Seminary in that place. Finishing his studies there one year later, he was assigned to Frankenlust, Saginaw Co., Mich., and was ordained October 16, 1852. Mr. Dicke's next charge was in Frankentrost, Mich., where he remained for nearly four years. He then removed to Theresa, Dodge Co., Wis., and was pastor there for six years and four months, having charge of six congregations in and around that town. His next pastorate was in Belle Plaine, Shawano county, where he located June 23, 1863.

At Fort Wayne, Ind., on October 9. 1853, the Rev. Peter Henry Dicke was united in marriage with Miss Katrina Betzler, who was born in Eschenbach, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, October 27, 1832, and they have had the following named children: Caroline, deceased, who was the wife of Rev. Mr. Stute; Henry, who married Mary Hartwig, and is an industrial teacher on the Keshena Indian Reservation, in Shawano county; Mary, now Mrs. John Krieger, of Sioux City, Iowa;  Paulina, who married Rev. Mr. Runge, of Charter Oak, Iowa; Frederick, now deceased; Herman, who died in infancy;  Hermina, who married Rev. H. Daib, of Merrill, Lincoln Co., Wis.; Anna, at home; William, in Merrill, Wis.; Charles and John, at home; Julia, who resides at Sioux City, and Clara, at home.

The parents of Mrs. Dicke, John George and Margaret (Straub) Bethel, were born in 1800 and 1805, respectively. Their daughter, Katrina (Mrs. Dicke), came with them to the United States in the spring of 1849, the family embarking at Havre, France, on the sailing vessel "Switzerland," and landing in New York after a voyage of thirty days, thence coming directly to Indiana, and settling in Fort Wayne. Mr. Betzler followed the occupation of a gardener. He died in Fort Wayne in 1872, his wife, who preceded him to the grave, dying in 1851. They had the following named children: Anna Maria, now Mrs. George Schust, of Fort Wayne; Margaret, now deceased, who was the wife of George Stoll; Katrina, now Mrs. Dicke; and John George, who died at the age of eighteen.

After locating in Belle Plaine, Rev. Mr. Dicke built a church, and he was the first and only preacher in this part of the country. Later he assumed charge of congregations in the following named places: Pella, Grant, Shawano, Hartland, Richmond, Herman, Seneca, Almon, Washington, and Howe townships, all in Shawano county; Bear Creek and Larrabee townships, in Waupaca county; and Gillett, in Oconto county. He also preached in New London, Waupaca county, for a year and a half, and had two congregations in several of the places enumerated. He traveled during the week and on Sunday to the different localities, holding services in each; journeyed a great deal on horseback at times, the roads not being in a suitable condition for vehicles, and was out in about all kinds of weather. In this way he traveled for years, and but for his strong and robust constitution could hardly have withstood such hardships. In 1874 Rev. Mr. Dicke became established upon the property where he now lives, having purchased it from the government while he was in Belle Plaine. He has 131 acres. His first house, built of logs, he occupied but a short time, then moved into his present home. In politics he is a stanch Democrat. He is venerable in appearance, with white hair and beard, and is a kind-hearted and genial man.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pgs 568 – 9

HERMAN DRUCKREY. Among the enterprising and popular citizens of Pulcifer, Green Valley township, Shawano county, is found this gentleman. He was born October 28, 1859, on the island of Rugen, in the Province of Pomerania, Germany, where both his parents, Julius and Mary (Hass) Druckrey, were also born. 

Julius and Mary Druckrey had the following named children: Malter, who live in Germany; Matilda, who died at the age of twenty-six; Bertha, in Germany; Charles, in Pulcifer; and Herman, the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Mary Druckrey died in Germany in 1880, at the age of fifty-six years.  Julius Druckrey again married, and came with his wife, in the fall of 1888, to the United States. They landed at Baltimore, and came direct to Pulcifer, Wis., where he now resides. There have been no children by this marriage. Previous to leaving Germany he worked at roof laying.

Herman Druckrey received a good common-school education. At the age of fifteen he went to Stralsund, Germany, and there procured employment as clerk in a store, in which occupation he continued eight years. Then on June 14, 1882, he sailed from Hamburg on the steamer "Lessing" for the United States, landing on June 28 in New York, whence he came direct to an uncle who lived in Washington township, Shawano county, and remained with him that summer. In the fall he went to work as a laborer on the Milwaukee & Northern railroad, and in the latter part of the same year came to Pulcifer and worked for two months in a sawmill. During the following winter he clerked in the store of O. A. Risum, in Pulcifer, and the same year attended school two and a half months in Washington township, Shawano county. In July, 1883, he went to Dodge county, Wis., where he worked four months as a farm hand. In the fall he returned to Pulcifer and resumed work as clerk in the store of  O. A. Risum, continuing with him for about eight years.

On August 24, 1884, Herman Druckrey was united in marriage, in Pulcifer, with Miss Annie Wendling, who was born in Germany in 1812, and they have had the following named children: Edward (deceased), Rudolph, Herman, Robert, Oscar, William and Louisa. Mrs. Druckrey came to the United States when four years old, with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Wendling, who settled first in Sheboygan, later locating in Green Valley township, Shawano county. In 1892 they returned to Sheboygan, where they both died. In the spring of 1892, in company with Isaac H. Isaacson, Mr. Druckrey started his present store, putting in a complete stock of hardware and a full line of farm implements and machinery. In 1886 he built for his home a comfortable modern dwelling. He owns a farm of forty-four acres, and hires the work done. He is a Republican, and takes an active part in politics, but has never sought office. Both he and Mrs. Druckrey are members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. Druckrey began life a poor boy, is a careful business man, and is well liked and much respected in the community.

Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co 1895
Copied & transcribed by Elaine O’ Leary 

Pages 272-273

HON. CHRIS BONNIN, the representative of Shawano county in the State Legislature, and the leading merchant of Bonduel, Wis., is a native of central Germany, born February 18, 1853. His father, William Bonnin, was the owner of a small tract of land in Germany and supported his family by day's labor. In 1857, after a voyage of seventeen weeks, he arrived in the United States, locating in Washington county, Wis., where he lived until 1860, removing then to New London, this State. At that time there were no railroads to New London, and they made the journey by boat from Oshkosh. The father has since resided in that locality, and the mother there died in 1894. Of their family five children are yet living.  In politics the father is a Democrat, and in religious belief a Lutheran.

Mr. Bonnin, the subject of this sketch, acquired his education in the district schools, and during his early boyhood began to work for neighboring farmers. He was also employed in the lumber woods and on the river, following any honest pursuit that would gain him a living. Thus his time was passed until after he had arrived at man's estate. He then chose as a companion and helpmeet on life's journey Miss Doratha Bussian, a native of Outagamie county, Wis., where their marriage was celebrated in 1877. They located upon a farm and lived in the vicinity of New London for two years, after which they located near Clintonville, Wis.; but after a short time they made a home near Centralia. Returning to New London, Mr. Bonnin lived with his parents for a time, and subsequently went to Shiocton, Outagamie county, where he was engaged in the restaurant business. In 1882 he embarked in merchandising in Slabtown, Shawano county, but the same year came to Bonduel, and resumed the same line of business. He bought out a store which his predecessors had failed to make a paying one, and from the beginning met with success, securing an extensive trade, and now having one of the largest and most prosperous mercantile establishments in Shawano county outside of the county seat. The business was at first located in a small frame building, but in 1884 the town was visited by a disastrous fire and his store and much of his stock was destroyed. With characteristic energy he began to rebuild, and erected the present substantial and commodious business room, which is now taxed to the utmost in order to accommodate his large trade. To Mr. and Mrs. Bonnin have been born six children who are yet living, namely: Ernest, Henrietta, Emma, Lottia, Celia and Rosetta. They have also lost two children.

While prominently identified with the Republican party in his town and County, it might be said that Mr. Bonnin's sympathies were at one time with the Democracy, yet when he arrived at the age when the right of franchise was granted him he allied himself with the Republican party, and has since been one of its stalwart advocates and leaders in this locality.  He has frequently been called to serve in public office, having been assessor of Liberty township, Outagamie county, while for four years he was treasurer of Hartland township, Shawano county, and for several years past has been justice of the peace. He was chairman of Hartland township for one year, and in 1894 was re-elected, but resigned in order to enter upon his duties as State Representative, and today he is a leading member of the House.  His own educational privileges were limited, and he was thus made to realize the advantage of good schools, which he has always endeavored to secure in the community in which he lives.  He did effective service in the interest of education while acting as clerk of School District No. 1, for four years.  His untiring energy and practical business ability are exerted in public office to the benefit of the positions with which he is connected. He has also served as postmaster of Bonduel for three years.  He has represented the leading insurance companies of the United States, and also served as emigrant agent for this locality.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Bonnin are members of the Lutheran Church. His natural intellectual ability has been developed by years experience, and on matters of business he is frequently consulted by men who are many years his senior and who rely implicitly upon his sound judgment.  His own business career has been one of success, in which he has never adopted questionable methods or unfair means to further his interests.  He is ever ready to encourage or assist any movement that is calculated to prove of public benefit and he has a wide acquaintance, and enjoys the confidence of all with whom he has been brought in contact.