This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Cover, Marsh, Goldsmith Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1965 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 876 - 878. JOSEPH C. COVER. Joseph C. Cover was born at Smithville, Fayette Co., Penn., February 1, 1819. From his childhood, Mr. Cover became attached to books, receiving this inclination from his mother, who was a great reader. His father possessed tastes directly opposite, and his son speaks of him as an inveterate hunter and lover of nature, often visiting the Alleghanies, living there alone days at a time, feasting on game and what wild fruits these mountains supplied. The subject of this sketch had an only brother, John, who was full of adventure, and when California became a part of the United States, he rushed to that region with the thousands that love of gold or novelty drew to that favored clime. Unfortunately he went into business at Panama, took the Chagres fever and died there in 1852, in his thirtieth year. Mr. Cover migrated to Wisconsin and reached Grant County in April, 1846. He had a good common school and academic education, was a rapid thinker, and capable of reducing his thoughts to writing with great facility - with such a talent and with a deep interest in the political issues of the times, a pretty wide acquaintance with the leading men, and an industrious reader of their speeches, it was very natural for Mr. Cover, then a young man, to find his way into a printing office, read the exchanges, and write occasional articles for the press. It was such tastes that finally determined the course of his future life. A young man to become successful must discover his adaptation. We cannot make farmers, lawyers, doctors, merchants and editors to order. Failure or half success will balk a young man till he finds the theater of activity for which nature intended him. Mr. Cover was not adapted to a trading mercantile life, and a generous nature could hardly exact the payment! of a debt, when the debtor complained of hard times. A feeble constitution unfitted him for pursuits requiring great physical exertion. His scholarship and tact would have secured him an honorable position as a teacher. He could not brook the confinement. In 1851, Mr. Cover purchased the Herald office and paper of J. L. Marsh, Esq., and as editor of that paper found a position and employment adapted to his tastes, and giving free scope to his mental activity. It would be no disparagement to other journals to affirm that no paper in the western part of the State has exerted a wider influence on public opinion than this sheet so long as Mr. Cover was its active editor. Mr. Cover was a member of the original Liberty party, and voted for James G. Birney in 1844. Both the political parties were astonished at the persistence, strength, intellectual power and purpose of this strange party that threatened the extinction of one or both the then existing organizations. The Whig part! y was disintegrated after the defeat of Gen. Scott, and the Republican party was organized in 1856, inheriting the zeal and purposes of the Liberty party, but with larger national aims, embracing an entire programme of policy applicable to all branches of the government and all needed reforms. The columns of the Grant County Herald at that period showed abundant evidence of the industry, faithfulness and zeal of its editor in the cause of universal freedom. The Know-Nothing party soon disappeared with the organization of the Republican party. The Republican party by insisting on the rights of human nature, equal rights without regard to race or color, removed to a great extent the narrow prejudices which were the Know-Nothingism and Abolitionism, and claims and that political rights belonging to manhood could not be forfeited by the accident of birth. The editor of the Herald not only endeavored to teach anti-slavery to its readers; he was always observant of public opinion. He became a personal acquaintance of almost every old settler in the ! county, and took an interest in horticulture as devoted as that of the "white-coated philosopher." He and his partner, N. C. Goldsmith, were the founders of the first successful nursery in this part of the country. He wrote incessantly, not only for his paper, but essays, arguments, letters, addressed to his fellow-citizens on all sorts of topics, wherever there was a desire to interchange opinion. Perhaps in half the dwellings in the county there are yet seen written pages that testify to the interest that Mr. Cover felt in the welfare of his fellow-citizens, in the dissemination of his opinions. His active years were devoted to his country's welfare in the moments of its greatest peril. Like all the old Abolitionists, he entertained a deep-seated religious faith that the historical intent and purpose of the war was the annihilation of the curse and crime of African slavery. He never faltered. Physically unable to shoulder the musket himself, his son, who had attained to manhood's estate, represented him in the chances of war. The pathetic and trustful remarks he published in the Herald when the young soldier bid him adieu, perhaps forever, expressed the feelings of many a parental heart in those cruel times. But continuous labor for a quarter of a century, extending through the excitements, hopes, fears and anxieties of the rebellion, told heavily on Mr. Cover's health and spirits. A re-action and physical prostration followed; he needed repose. He expressed himself to a friend that the tone of his system must be restored, or he must die. It was for this purpose that he resigned the editorial chair and accepted the consulship at Fayal. For several months after his arrival at Fayal, Mr. Cover continued to improve in health, but the second year of his residence the effect of the climate upon his system seemed to have become neutralized, and he again began to lose ground. In June, 1872, he sailed in the barque Fredonia, for Boston. His health seemed no worse during the first part of the voyage, and he varied the monotony of the voyage with the companionship of books. The final dissolution came suddenly and without warning, on the morning of the 4th of July, and the tired soul ! passed on to join the early friends gone before. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Costley, Sullivan Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/58.1 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1044. TOWN OF CASTLE ROCK JAMES COSTLEY, farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Highland; was born in 1810, in Glenmore, Ireland, son of William and Mary Costley; his parents died when he was 9 years of age, and he lived with his uncle, Michael Costley, until he was 12 years old; he then began doing for himself. He was married in 1843, to Catherine Sullivan, daughter of Daniel and Ellen Sullivan, by whom he has had six children - Daniel Y., William G., Nancy L., Mary A., Ellen E., Richard Y. He came to the United States in 1850, locating in Highland, Iowa Co., where he lived for ten years; then going to Castle Rock in Grant Co., where he has lived since; has been Road Overseer one term; in politics, is Republican; is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Coates Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1312.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of B. M. COATES in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 433. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Clark Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/92.93.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of John G. CLARK in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin', 1881, p. 649. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Carley Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1308.2 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of D. W. Carley, M. D. in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 757. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1308.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of D. W. Carley, M. D. in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 757. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Campbell, Forter Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1964 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1045. TOWN OF MILLVILLE DANIEL CAMPBELL, Sec. 17; P. O. Patch Grove; owns 200 acres of land, valued at $20 per acre; born in Scotland in 1821; came to America in 1835 and settled in Toronto, Canada; came to Wisconsin in 1846 and located in Bloomington; located on present farm in 1861. Married Sarah Jane Forter, a native of Ireland; they have three children - Matilda, Peter and Maggie. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Calkins, Patch Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1963 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1041. TOWN OF WYALUSING A. CALKINS, Sec. 35; P. O. Brodtville; owns 255 acres of land, valued at $20 per acre; was born in Warren Co., Penn., in 1836; came to Wisconsin in 1850, and settled with his parents in this town. Married Mary Patch, a native of Danbury, Conn.; they have four children - E. M., Charles D., William and Arthur. Mr. Calkins has held different town offices, Treasurer of Town Board, etc., etc. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Bushnell Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1105.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of A. R. BUSHNELL in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 523. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Brown Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1544.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of Luther BROWN in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 415. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Bayley Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1190.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of Elijah BAYLEY in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 379. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Baxter Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1098.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of C. H. BAXTER in "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 541. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Brunson, Foot, Sellers, Benton, Foster Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1962 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1042. TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE J. W. BRUNSON, farmer, Sec. 30; P. O. Mt. Hope; was born in 1805, in Sing Sing, N. Y.; son of Ira Brunson. His father was a stone-cutter by trade, and was drowned one year after the birth of this son, while he was keeping the ferry across the Hudson River, at that time. His mother moved to Danbury, Conn. At the age of 15 years, he became an apprentice to the hatter's trade, under Capt. John Foot, with whom he lived until he was 19 years of age; began work for himself in 1824, after the death of his mother; followed his trade at different places for some time, then went to Utica, N. Y., and attended school for six months. He became a member of a Masonic Lodge in 1826. He emigrated to Columbus, Ohio, where he lived nine years, and, in 1836, removed to Grant Co., Wis., locating at Patch Grove; in 1836, he reutrned to Ohio; came back to Wisconsin in the winter of 1837, riding all the way on horseback, locating at Cassville, and began merchandising in company with Mr. Sellers, fo! r a short period; then removed to Lancaster and kept the first store at that place. In 1839, he was appointed Tax Collector for Grant Co., and, in 1840, he moved to Mt. Hope, where he has since lived. He was married the first time in 1829, at Blendon, Franklin Co., Ohio, to Margaret Benton, daughter of Samuel and Aurelia Benton, who died in 1833; was married the second time in 1840, in Crawford Co., Wis., to Henrietta Foster, daughter of Henry and Julie Foster; was married the third time in 1847, to Almina Benton, sister of his first wife. He had two children by his first wife - Mary J. and Alfred; three by his second wife - Benjamin F., Emily M., Ida E.; four by his third wife - Aurelia F., Delford B., Almina, Jennie E. He has been Justice of the Peace for thirty years; Chairman of the Town Board two years, and member of the County Board one year. In politics he is a Greenbacker; is a member of the M. E. Church. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Brindley, Parker, Edge, Hardy Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1961 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1043. TOWN OF HICKORY GROVE JOSHUA BRINDLEY (deceased); he was born in the year 1813, in England, and died at Boscobel July 8, 1857; he came to America in 1844, and located in La Fayette Co., where he followed mining for about three years; he then came to this locality and followed farming until 1856, when he opened a butcher shop and meat market; the spring he died he moved on the farm where the family now reside; he once owned part of the land upon which Boscobel is built, and has often plowed where Parker's store now stands. The farm now consists of about 500 acres. Married in 1834 to Sarah Edge, a native of England; they had twelve children, seven of whom are living - three sons and four daughters; his son William manages the farm for his mother; he also is a native of England; married in 1866 to Mrs. Sarah E. Hardy, and by whom he has three children. Enlisted in 1862, in Co. B, 32d W. V. I., and served until the end of the war; was in the siege of Vicksburg, Spanish Fort, Red River and Meridian ex! peditions. John Brindley, Jr., has twice been a member of the Wisconsin Assembly from the Third District - in 1879 and in 1880. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Boorman, Brodt Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/969.2 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1041. TOWN OF WYALUSING JOHN BOORMAN, Sec. 28; P. O. Hazleton; owns 320 acres of land; was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y. in 1829; came to Wisconsin in 1853, and settled in this town; located on this farm in 1866. He married Evaline Brodt, a native of New York; they have nine children - James, Delilah, Hankinson, Adelaide, Josie, Benjamin, Jennie, Sarah and Evaline. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Beitler, Gibbons Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1960 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1045. TOWN OF MILLVILLE EDWARD BEITLER, Sec. 35; P. O. Millville; owns 56 - 40 acres of land, valued at $8 per acre; born in Pennsylvania in 1843; came to Wisconsin in 1855 and settled in this town; located on present farm in 1873. Married Mary Gibbons, a native of this town; they have three children - Mary Jane, John and Cora. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Beer, Barnes Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1959 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1041. TOWN OF WYALUSING JACOB M. BEER, Sec. 33; P. O. Hazleton; owns 80 acres of land, valued at $25 per acre; was born in Switzerland in 1834; came to America in 1854, and settled in Ohio; in 1861, he came to Wisconsin and located on this farm. Married Sarah J. Barnes, a native of New York; they have three children - Leonard, Louis and Laura. Has been a member of the Town Board two terms. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. D, 33d W. V. I., and was discharged in 1865. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Barnes, Jacobs Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1958 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 1041. TOWN OF WYALUSING C. D. BARNES, Sec. 2; P. O. Brodtville; owns 160 acres of land; was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y. in 1848; came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1854, and located on this farm. Married Deetta Jacobs, a native of this county; they have four children - Ida Pearl, Coral Bella, Ruby Lora, and an infant. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Barber, Dean, Meloin, Melvin, Marsh, Mills, Cothren, Magoon, Carter, Bell, Clark, Burr, Laughton, Cover Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1957 Message Board Post: From "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 875 - 876. HON. J. ALLEN BARBER. BY C. K. DEAN. Perhaps, the leading events of Mr. Barber's life are as correctly and fully summed up in the Wisconsin Volume of The United States Biographical Dictionary, of 1877, as we are able to give at Present writing. We therefore copy them here: "Joel Allen Barber, son of Joel and Aseneth Meloin Barber, is a native of Vermont, and was born at George, Franklin County, January 17, 1809. His great grandfather was from England, and settled at Canton, Conn. His mother was of Welsh descent, and her father was a Captain in the Revolutionary army, serving through the war. Young Barber farmed till his eighteenth year, when he entered the Georgia Academy, and fitted for college; entered the University of Vermont in the summer of 1829; left at the end of two and a half years, determined to carve a career for himself. Read law with Hon. George P. Marsh, of Burlington; was admitted to the bar in Prince George's County, Md., in 1834, after teaching school there two years. He returned to Vermont and practiced at Fairfield until 1837, settling, in September of that year, at Lancaster, Wis. Here he has been in the practice for forty years, at times mingling land operations with legal business, but not enough to interfere with his pr! ofession. His legal knowledge is sound and extensive; he has a high standing as a criminal lawyer, and, in all respects, has long been an honor to the profession. "During the forty years that Mr. Barber has been a resident of Grant County, he has held some official position two-thirds of the time. He was on the County Board of Supervisors several yeras, and its Chairman five; was County Clerk four years; District Attorney three terms; three terms member of the Lower House of the Legislature; one term in the State Senate, and a member in the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses. In the House of Representatives, he was on the Committee on War Claims and Revision of the Statutes. He seldom spoke, but was an indefatigable worker. "Originally Mr. Barber was a Whig of "Free-soil" tendencies, and naturally identified himself with the Republican party, to which he has steadfastly adhered. "Mr. Barber has abilities fitting him for any office in the gift of the people of Wisconsin; is a man of solid character as well as intellectual qualities, and is one of those statesmen whose records were an honor to a State." The foregoing appears at the head of an obituary artice in the "Grant County Herald", of June 30, 1881, furnished to that paper by Judge J. T. Mills, of Lancaster, which, by its original matter following the above, pays a very high and just tribute to the personal worth of Mr. Barber, in accordance with the writer's own knowledge, entirely supported by the popular judgment. Mr. Barber died at his residence in Lancaster at 2 o'clock A. M., June 28, 1881, of peritonitis, after a painful illness of one week. His burial followed in the afternoon of the 29th, amid manifest expressions of deep-seated and general sorrow, the pall-bearers being Judge M. M. Cothren, of Mineral Point; Ex-M. D., H. S. Magoon, of Darlington; Hons. William E. Carter and A. W. Bell, of Platteville; John G. Clark, of Lancaster, and C. K. Dean, of Boscobel. The press, local and in many cases remote and general, at once gave evidence of the high estimation in which the deceased was held, both in public and private life; which tributes, though they will fail to reach the consciousness of him whose virtues they commemorate, may yet tend in some degree to assuage the grief of those who live to mourn his loss. Gathering sheaves of testimonial from this wide field of obituary harvest, we shall find that J. Allen Barber, at the time of his death, and for many years prior thereto, had few equals in those qualities deemed essential in the institution of the highest manhood, or in the estate of the good and useful citizen. From these concurring evidences, there may truthfully be added to the record already given; that, though frequently honored with high political station, he had an intense dislike to all office-begging, and scrupulously avoided contaminating himself by this popular, and it is much to be regretted, profitable vice, one moment in advance of a strong and well-defined popular sentiment running in his behalf; that he was a friend and supporter of all rational public enterprises; a free giver in charity, and as a creditor to worthy but unfortunate debtors, a marvel of indulgence. And it may also be added that he was possessed of rare attainment in ancient and modern lore, and kept pace with all the developments of scientific research; and was a man who held his family endeared to him by the ties of affection, constancy, kindness and liberality. We are able readily to understand how, by virtue of his correct personal habits, his professional honesty and fidelity, his love of liberty and regard for public justice, and his impatient hatred of every grade of meanness and corruption, he early won and lastingly held the esteem of all good citizens having knowledge of his virtues. One, to have seen him in his most noble carriage, had but to hear him in conversation among friends; or pleading at the bar; or, more conspicuously still, addressing a popular assembly on matters touching the rights of any oppressed person, however humble, or of masses of people, or, touching the maintenance of the honor and integrity of the Union. Then the ordinarily hidden impulses of his nature would become strikingly manifest in his earnestness of speech and gesticulation, set off by the glow of his highly intellectual features. This exalted trait in Mr. Barber's character is further shown - aesthetically in this case - by the designs and inscriptions embellishing that excellent work of art and patriotism, the soldier's monument, standing in the court house square at Lancaster, as he was one of the committee who had this matter in charge when this work was done in 1867, his associates being Addison Burr, of Lancaster; George R. Laughton, of Platteville; J. C. Cover and Judge J. T. Mills, of Lancaster. The broken shackle, token of four and one-half millions of slaves made free; the declaratory mandate of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, that timely, giant stroke of a noble pen, which gives to this token its mighty significance, engraved upon the marble faces of Grant County's most honorable memento, speak also as well of the loyalty and humanitarian impulses of all the several members of this citizen committee. True history, especially of a personal nature, affords grand incentives to all laudable ambition, and in this view it is not an unreasonable hope that the youth who may hereafter have their lots cast in Grant County, on reading this history of one of its earliest settlers, and learning to what high degree of merit and esteem he managed to attain by his own unaided efforts within this field of labor, mainly, will find herein a fresh and an abiding incentive to highest possible endeavors in the way of usefulness and good citizenship, within and for the advantage of this same field of labor. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Armstrong Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lEC.2ACE/1305.1 Message Board Post: There is a portrait of L. G. ARMSTRONG from "History of Grant County, Wisconsin", 1881, p. 811. It is attached. [I am not related to this family. I'm posting this as a service and hope it helps!]