Rock County, Wisconsin Bios

ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN

BIOGRAPHIES

Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

Transcribed by Peggy Luce Thompson

J. G. ALDEN, grocer ; born in Union, Knox Co., Me., March 1, 1819 ; was in grocery business in Danger till 1846, then came to Janesville, where he continued in the same business. Married Alvitia Miller, of Bangor, in October, 1842 ; she was born in Wiseasset, Me. They have two children-Frank and Louise. Mr. Alden has been Coroner of Rock Co. ; Deputy Sheriff four years ; Supervisor of Rock, ten years, and Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms, one term in Madison Legislature. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

JAMES M. ALDEN, brickmaker; born in Claremont, N. H., Feb. 9, 1813. Married Catherine Alden May 1, 1837; she was born Aug. 14, 1811. They have six children living-lost two; those living are Albert, Edward, Levi, Emma, Mary and Rose, aged 41, 39, 37, 35, 29 and 28 years, respectively. Mr. Alden came to Janesville in the fall of 1845; he made the brick for the first church built in Janesville. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

E. C. BAILEY, Superintendent of cotton-batting mills; came to Janesville March 17, 1875 ; was previously engaged in same business in North Adams, Mass., where he also manufactured carpet warp and wrapping twine. He was born in Williamstown, Mass., Nov. 11, 1845. Married Jane E. Tower March 13, 1845; she was born in the town of Petersburg, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., March, 1847. They have two children-Arthur E. and Walter R, aged 12 and 8 years, respectively. The family attend M. E. Church. Mr. Bailey belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and Sons of Temperance. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

JOSEPH BAKER (deceased), Janesville. The subject of this sketch was born at Concord, N. H., June 13, 1806; his father shortly afterward removed to Canada, and engaged in farming in that new and primitive country. Here the boy grew up to manhood, with no educational advantages except such as the district schools of that time afforded, save, perhaps, one term at an academy. At the age of 21, he shouldered his pack and made his way back to New Hampshire. After hard work and many discouragements, he returned again to Canada. In time, he studied theology with Rev. Joseph Ward, a Universalist minister, and was ordained at Stanstead, L. C., Oct. 3, 1833, as a minister in the Northern Association of Universalists. He married Alzina Ward, a daughter of his preceptor, May 12, 1836 preached in Vermont, Canada, and different points in New York, coming to the village of Janesville in June, 1850, from Glens Falls, N. Y. He was for ten years, or more, the Pastor of the Universalist Society in Janesville, the services being held in the old wooden Court House surmounting the hill, which primitive temple of justice was finally destroyed by an incendiary fire. In January, 1853, Mr. Baker entered upon his duties as editor of the Janesville Free Press, ? paper published by an association of Free Democrats. By a notable coincidence, the first number of the sheet in question was issued on the day of the celebration of the first arrival of a train on the railroad, then the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad. He remained at the head of this paper until 1866, striking vigorous blows for human freedom, and against the exactions of the slave power. Afterward, he was editor of the Delavan Messenger, Albany Times and Janeville Republican, from the sanctum of which last paper he went into the army, enlisting as a private in Co. E, 13th W. V. I., notwithstanding that his age, 55, exempted him. As a soldier, he did duty in the hospital department, caring for his sick comrades until his health gave way, and he was mustered out in 1863. At the war, he was twice elected Justice of the Peace, in Janesville. He died Feb. 20,1873, and his funeral services were conducted by the Odd Fellows, of which Order he had been many years a prominent member. His remains rest in Oak Hill Cemetery.

"After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well."

Joseph Baker, in the language of his contemporaries, was "a clergyman of unusual power, and a vigorous newspaper writer;" "a man of ability and influence; his integrity and moral character were never called in question." He was a self-made man, working his way up in the face of all the obstacles incident to pioneer life, such as we in this later day know nothing of, except by hearsay. His widow died in November, 1878. His son, C. W. Baker, is still a resident of Janesville. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

CAPT. C. W. BAKER, printer; son of Rev. Joseph Baker, a Universalist clergyman, who edited the first Republican paper in Janesville; Capt. B. was born in Cambridge, Vt., March 10, 1842; has followed the printing business more or less since 1853. Enlisted in 1861, in the 13th W. V. L, Co. B; in 1862, was transferred to the 22d Wis.; afterward promoted to Captain of Co. A, 14th U. S. C. I.; served till April 26, 1866; about this time, was promoted to Brevet Major of U. S. V. for distinguished gallantry at Decatur, Ala., and Nashville; was taken prisoner March 5, 1863, and confined in Libby Prison until paroled ; belonged while in service to the Department of the Cumberland, and was through the various campaigns of this Division. Married Texanna Burgess on Christmas, 1865; she was born in Janesville March 14, 1845; they have had three children, one living-Nellie C., born June 2, 1877 ; Gage B. and Mary V. deceased. Mr. B. lived several years in Chattanooga after the close of the war; was most of the time engaged in the newspaper business. He was commissioned first Captain of Janesville Veterans, but has recently resigned. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

JOSEPH P. BAKER, of the firm of Stearns & Baker, druggists; was born in Philadelphia; came to Rock Co. with his parents in 1854, and is a son of John and Margaret Baker, now resi dents of Janesville; Mr. J. P. B. learned the drug business in the store of Andrew Palmer, of this city: was with him nine years; afterward for three years was a commercial traveler; in October, 1878, formed a co-partnership with Henry C. Stearns. Married Janet M. Galletly Oct. 23, 1874; she was born on Long Island, N. Y.; have one daughter-Jennie M. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

GEORGE BARNES, flouring-mills; came to Milwaukee in October, 1842; remained there till December, 1843, when he came to Janesville; engaged in business as contractor and builder till 1871. when he commenced his present business. Mr. B. served one term as Alderman of the Second Ward, two terms in Third Ward, serving in that position at the present time. Married Jane E. Allen in July, 1843; they have one daughter-Mary A., now the wife of C. W. Hobson, of Janesville. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

DR. L. J. BARROWS, born in Otsego Co., N. Y.; he is a graduate of Williams College. N. Y., and the Buffalo Medical University; for a short time previous to his removal to Janesville, he practiced in the N. Y. State Lunatic Asylum; came to Janesville in 1850, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession ever since; he also carried on a drug business from 1853 to 1858. Has been Trustee of the Wisconsin Blind Institute, Clerk of the School Board, Director of the First National Bank ; was for several years Chairman of the Inspecting Committee of the Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

JOHN M. BAUMAN, proprietor of saloon and bottler of beer, etc.; born in Germany July 14, 1839; came to Watertown, Wis., in 1862 and to Janesville in 1863; engaged in farming for two years, afterward for eight years was foreman of Rogers' Brewery; since then, he has been engaged in the saloon business, and, in 1878, added the bottling department. He is President of the Concordia Society, and has been connected with it since the first year of its organization ; he is also u member of the A. 0. U. W. Married Miss Hannah Stenge Sept. 25, 1868; she was born in Germany; they have four children-Augusta, born Aug. 5, 1869; George, July 30, 1871; Edward. Dec. 30, 1872; John, Dec. 2, 1875. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

ENSIGN H. BENNETT, capitalist; born in Batavia, Genesee Co., N. Y.; removed from there to Janesville in June, 1844 ; engaged in general merchandise business in September, 1844, which ht carried on until 1850; from then to 1854, was in dry-goods business exclusively. In 1852, he was elected President of the S. Wis. R. R. Co., and had control of the business of that Company for about two years; since then he has devoted his attention to real estate and other investments. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

JOHN R. BENNETT, was born at Rodman, Jefferson Co., N. Y., on the 1st day of November, 1820; he was the second son and third child of Daniel Bennett and Deborah Leeds Bennett, whose maiden name was Spicer; his father and mother were descended from English Puritan ancestors, who settled in the State of Connecticut about the year 1640. His father was born in the town of Stonington. in that State, on the 16th day of February, 1793, the fourth son of David Bennett and Rebecca Bennett. whose maiden name was Miner, and David was the son of Stephen and Mehitable Bennett. His mother was the daughter of William Spicer and Hannah Spicer, whose maiden name was Hannah Leeds, being the daughter of Gideon Leeds, of the city of Leeds, England. His father being a farmer in comfortable circumstances the son worked at home on the farm, attending the common district school until the fall of 1839, when he commenced attending the Black River Literary and Religious Institute, located at Water town, N. Y., and prepared for teaching school, which he engaged in that fall, and, from that time until the month of April, 1844, continued attending this school at Watertown, and teaching district and select schools; he then entered upon the study of law in the office of Western W. Wager, at Brownville, in Jefferson Co., N. Y., reading with him about six months. On the 28th day of November, 1844, at Brownfield, Jefferson Co., N. Y., he was married to Miss Elsie L. Holloway, the daughter of Charles and Chloe Holloway, whose sweet and gentle influence has ever tended to lead him in the proper and pleasant paths of life, and to be under the guidance of the better angel of his nature; the purity of her life, the wisdom of her counsel and the comfort of her society, are still continued to him by a beneficent Providence, and are the sources of his greatest happiness. In the month of April, 1845, he commenced reading law in the office of Dyre N. Burnham, of Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., and continued reading with him until the 8th day of May, 1848, when he was admitted to practice in all the courts of that State. On the 2d day of October, 1848, he started for the West, reaching Janesville, Wis., Oct. 18, where he located and has since- practiced his profession; he has no children, but has adopted two sisters, Minnie and Kitty Furry, who have assumed his name and have been with him now over twenty years, and are the light and joy of his home; they have been with him since they were respectively 4 and 2 years of age. Mr. Bennett's practice, which has gradually increased from its commencement at Janesville, is confined mostly to Rock, Walworth, Jefferson and Green Cos. and the Supreme Court of the State. From 1863 to 1867, he held the office of District Attorney of Rock Co., and, in 1860, was a delegate to the National Republican Convention, held at Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President; without being a candidate, he was nominated, in 1875, by the Republican State Convention for Attorney General, but was defeated with the rest of the ticket, with the exception of Harrison Ludington, the candidate for Governor. In religious belief he is a New Churchman, or Swedenborgian, as the members of this denomination are more frequently called; they hold that the sacred Scriptures, unlike all human compositions, contain within the letter a spiritual sense as far above the literary sense in beauty, brightness and power, as the immortal soul excels the perishable body, in which it " groans in this life, being burdened;" ho counts it a fortunate circumstance that his ancestors, so far as he has any knowledge of them, were deeply religious ; and for the pious instruction received from his parents, who now, he trusts, occupy the everlasting abodes of the blessed, he is under a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

D. M. BOND, physician and surgeon ; born in West Virginia; moved from there to Rock Co. in 1853; located at Johnstown Center, where he was engaged in practice until he came to Janesville in 1877; he is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Chicago Medical College. Remarried Mary J. Swisher, daughter of Isaac Swisher, of Virginia ; they have three children-Florence V., Frank Lewis and Lilian M. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

WALTER BRITT, farmer, Sec. 20; P. 0. Janesville; born in Waterford Co., Ireland, eight miles from the city of Waterford, in 1832; came to America in 1856 ; lived in the Eastern States till 1859, when he moved to Wisconsin, locating in Janesville, Rock Co.; owns 80 acres. Married Winifred Baldwin, born near the city of Limerick, County Clare, Ireland, in 1843; had two boys-Walter, born May 7, 1862; Francis, July 4, 1870. Mr. Britt was formerly married to Mrs. Putnam Huderly, of Pelham, N. H., she having one daughter by him-Elizabeth, who is now the wife of Mr. James O'Flaherty. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

F. HERMAN BUCHHOLZ, carriage-maker; born in April, 1839, in Germany; came to America in 1857, settled in Janesville, and engaged in present business. Married Dretha Passain, January, 1863; she was born in Berlin, Germany, March, 1842; they have four children-Willie, Ida, George and Carl, aged 14, 12, 4 and 4 respectively, the last two being twins. Mr. B. is Past Master of United Workmen. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

AUSTIN E. BURPEE, lumber dealer; came to Janesville in 1854, engaged in business as contractor and builder till 1864: for twelve years, he was U. S. Revenue Agent, having entire supervision of the revenue offices of Wisconsin, except a year and a half, which he spent in Louisiana, in the revenue service; after leaving Government employ, he was engaged in the manufacture of cotton batting, in Janesville, until December, 1878; he was City Assessor in 1863; also served one year as Under Sheriff, and several years as Deputy U. S. Marshal. Mr. Burpee was born in Canada, of American parentage, but lived in Mt. Morris, Livingston Co., N. Y., from infancy until he came West. Married Miss Eliza Cha riin, of Edinburg, Saratoga Co., N. Y. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

DR. A. P. BURRIS, physician and dentist; born in Kane Co., Penn., in 1825; came to Wisconsin in 1859, and to Rock Co. in 1862. Married to Mary Jones, in Portage Co., Ohio; they have two boys-A. J. Burris, aged 22; David Burris, aged 11; invented a steam engine to use in filling. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

A. H. CALDWELL, florist; came to Janesville in the fall of 1842, with his father-in-law; in 1844, he purchased 80 acres on Sec. 3 north, of Range 12; was born in 1819, April 12, in the village of Roseland, near Edinburg, Scotland. Married Miss Helen Hislop, daughter of Robert and Janette Hislop, of Scotland; they have three children-Caroline C., Janette E. and Helen . He want to California in 1852, worked in the mines and also at his trade of bootmaking, at Downieville; returned home in 1859; he now is in the greenhouse business, with headquarters at Janesville; raises all kinds of plants and shrubbery; is liberal in religion and politics. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

ALMERINE M. CARTER. The subject of the following sketch, descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, all tillers of the soil, realizes in his own life, perhaps as much as any other man now living, the fulfillment of the prophecy so beautifully paraphrased by Mrs. Hale, regarding those who cultivate the soil:

"Go till the soil,' said God to man, 'Subdue the earth, it shall be thine; ' How grand, how glorious was the plan I How wise the law divine! And none of Adam's race can draw A title, save beneath this law, To hold the world in trust; Earl, is the Lord's, and he hath sworn That ere Old Time has reached his bourn It shall reward the Just."

Mr. Carter has spent nearly the whole of his active life as a farmer, and now enjoys that respect, confidence and affection of his fellow-citizens which a useful and upright life alone can permanently secure. He was born in Litchfield Co., Conn., Oct. 4, 1814, and is the son of Guy and Sercpta (Marshall) Carter of the same State; the Carters claim descent from English ancestors who settled at Litchfield, Conn., about the year 1690 ; their descendants, who are now quite numerous, are found in most of the States of the Union, have generally been husbandmen, imbued with Puritanic principles, and mostly connected with the old Presbyterian and Baptist Churches; his grandfather, Adonijah Carter, a man of high moral character and sterling religious principles, died at Litchfield, Conn., in 1820, in the 79th year of his age; his father moved to the State of New York in 1815, and settled at Paris, Oneida Co., where he purchased a large farm, and followed the occupation of husbandry all his life; in 1855, he removed to Johnstown, Wis., where he died in 1857; he was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and considerable local influence, and was for a number of years a Trustee of the Madison University of New York, a Baptist educational institute of some eminence ; the mother of our subject was a woman of most exemplary character, intelligent, hospitable and self-sacrificing, always studying the interests and welfare of those around her; she was also noted as a musician and sweet singer, a quality which she transmitted to her posterity, and especially to our subject; she died in 1855, leaving behind a memory fragrant with good deeds and holy precepts. Our subject was the eldest of a family of five children, three boys and two girls, and was named after his maternal grandfather, who was a wealthy merchant in Pennsylvania, and who lost his life at the burning of the theater in the city of Richmond, Va., in 1811, the Governor of Virginia and some forty or fifty others perishing in the same catastrophe ; he was educated at Hamilton Academy, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1832 ; determining to pursue the business of husbandry, he purchased a large farm in Oneida Co., N. Y., on which he remained until 1843, when, following the tide of empire, he removed to the Territory of Wisconsin and settled at Johnstown, Rock Co., which has since been his home; he entered a farm of Government land, the deed to which was signed by President John Tyler, and in real earnest set about the business of taming the wilderness, which, under his strong hand, guided by his consummate skill and taste, has long since been made to "rejoice and blossom as the rose;" he was one of the most successful and dextrous farmers of the West. He was never ambitious for office, but, being a gentleman of more than ordinary capacity, of high education and refined manners, he has been frequently selected by his fellow-citizens to fill positions of trust and honor, upon which he has always reflected the highest credit; he was one of the first Commissioners of Rock Co., and has held various town offices and other positions from his fellow-citizens; he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1847-48, which framed the Constitution now in force in the State, serving on the committee of fifteen, of which the late Byron Kilbourn was Chairman (which mapped out the business for the various other committees, and was facetiously designated as the "breaking team"), being one of its most practical members; he has recently written a history of that Convention, which is quite an elaborate and racy document, containing some finely drawn pen pictures of prominent members of that body; Mr. Carter is the only one of six colleagues from Rock Co., now a resident of Wisconsin ; four are deceased, and one is a citizen of another State; from the document referred to, we make the following extracts, which are mainly in the line of our work:" We were then a sparsely settled Territory, numbering only 210,000 souls; now we are a large and prosperous State. Then, Wisconsin was the Far West Minnesota was not known; now, the western boundary of population, enterprise and wealth of the nation is the Pacific Ocean. Then, our people were poor; now, there is great wealth among us. Then, no railroad had reached Lake Michigan; now, the whole country is marked into squares by the iron band, and the steam-horse snorts in every locality. The Convention was composed of sixty-nine members, mostly young men, and men of energy, who had left luxurious homes in the East to seek fame and fortune in the West. They were proud of their adopted State, and had met to frame a fundamental law, under which their children should live happily. There was earnestness and determination depicted upon each countenance as they took their respective seats. To trace the after career of some of those men may not be uninteresting. The President was Morgan L. Martin, who served in the Legislature of 1874. Two of the members have been Governors of the State-Harvey and Lewis ; while the Judiciary of the State has been largely and honorably represented by others; Whiton graced the bench from the organization of the State until his death; Orsamus Cole first represented his district ably and well in Congress, and has, for the last nineteen years, done the State distinguished service upon the supreme bench; Larrabee has been on the judicial bench, a member of Congress, and at present is a distinguished citizen of Oregon; Gale has been upon the bench, and scarcely has there been a Legislature since in which one or more of them have not occupied seats; twelve have left the State; of these, Reed has been a Governor of Florida; Reymert, a man of wealth in New York City; Easterbrook is a prominent citizen of Nebraska, and all are occupying distinguished positions ; eighteen have died." Such is a brief extract from a document brimful of the most important historic matter, and destined to an honored place among the records of the State Historical Society. In 1868 just twenty years after the Constitution was framed, Mr. Carter was elected to the State Legislature, and served much of the session as Chairman of the House Committee on Corporations ; since then, he has declined all overtures to office, and has resided in ease and quietness at his home in Johnstown. He is a member of the Johnstown Fire Insurance Company. He has gone through the chairs of the Odd Fellows' fraternity, and is a member of the Granger organization, having been the presiding officer in his district since the Society was organized; he has been for twenty-five years a member and Secretary of the Society for the Suppression of Horse-stealing, an organization which has done more toward the abatement of this species of plunder than all the laws and law officers of the State. In a word, Mr. Carter is an honest, truthful and capable man, both in public and in private life, ardently attached to those things which are true, good and just, hating oppression in all its forms, ever ready to rebuke meanness wherever it showed its head. In politics, he is a consistent, intelligent and active Republican; he ever held that all men should be unfettered in running the race of life, hence the system of human slavery ever found in him an honorable but unrelenting foe; and when that accursed system organized a rebellion against our Government, too old himself to undergo the privations and hardships of camp life, he sent an only son to uphold and sustain the just cause of his country. But the crowning excellence of his character is his quiet, unostentatious religious life ; the sweetness and fragrance of his daily walk is a constant blessing to the community in which he resides, and when he shall be finally called to his long home, it shall be justly said of him,' mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace;" he was one of the organizers of the Johnstown Congregational society in 1844, and has ever since led the psalmody in the congregation, being rarely absent from his post on the Sabbath ; he is, moreover, one of the most generous contributors to the support of the organization. He has been twice married; first, Sept. 26, 1836, in Goshen, Conn., to Miss Dolly A., daughter of Timothy Wadman, of that place; she died in 1847, leaving two children surviving her, namely, Ellen, wife of E. L. Carter, a merchant in Mendota, Ill., and Charles, who served his country throughout the late war, and is now a successful merchant in Johnstown; Mr. Carter's second marriage was to Miss Sarah Wedge daughter of Asa Wedge, of Warren, Conn.; she is the mother of one daughter-Frances W., a young lady of superior education and accomplishments, especially noted as a musician. The deceased Mrs. Carter was a lady of rare beauty of person, of the most amiable temper and engaging manners, of high intellectual and social attainments, and an exemplary member of the Baptist Church, beloved and revered by all who knew her. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879

J. B. CASSODAY, was born July 7, 1830, in Herkimer Co., N. Y.; in early childhood, he and his widowed mother went with her parents to what was then a sparsely settled portion of Tioga Co.. Penn.; for years, no district school was accessible, but work was an absolute necessity; as early as when he was 8 years of age, he did much of the milling and trading for the neighborhood, on horseback: when he was 12, he drove a span of horses during the season, and drew lumber to the railroad, a distance: of about eleven miles: occasionally, by some turn of fortune, he would get the privilege of working for his board and attending district school; at 16, he was enabled to attend the village school at Tioga for one term, and also one term of the academy in Wellsboro. About this time, he was induced to purchase a contract for a piece of land near Tioga, in order to secure a claim of $50. which had been given to him by his grandfather; the result was, that for five years he was engaged in the severest kind of manual labor. such as cutting, drawing and running logs, attending saw-mills, farming and clearing-up and improving his land. During this lime, he taught school two winters, and spent his evenings and Sundays in studies.- such books and newspapers as he was able to obtain; at the end of the five years, he had paid for his place, made it much more valuable, was out of debt and had a small surplus, but his health was so impaired as to render it doubtful whether he could longer endure the severe strain of physical labor; in seeking tn recover from this condition, he naturally turned his attention to his books, and soon determined to resume the purpose which poverty had forced him to abandon five years previously; he at first attended Union Academy, at Knoxville, Penn., and then Alfred Academy, in Allegany Co., N. Y., where he graduated, being equivalent to preparing for the Junior year in college; during these years, he taught school two winters in Allegany Co., hut, on selling his land, he was enabled to continue his duties without further interruption ; on leaving Alfred, he went to Michigan University, where he remained one year, taking a select course; during his school life, he kept up a constant and systematic course of reading, and was strict in his attendance upon the lyceums, and generally engaged in the discussions and exercises; on leaving Ann Arbor, he at once entered upon the study of the law, and spent the following year in Albany Law School and a law office at Wellsboro; in July, 1857, he came to Janesville, entered the office of Judge Conger and pursued his legal studies until November, 1858, when he became a member of the old firm of Bennett, Cassoday & Gibbs, which continued over seven years; then he was alone for two years ; then, for five years, a member of the firm of Cassoday & Merrill, and since, of Cassoday & Carpenter. Mr. Cassoday has a natural admiration and reverence for the law, enjoys a sharp legal contest and always thoroughly examines every doubtful question and as business crowded upon him from the first, and his practice covered a wide range in some of the most intricate branches of the law, his professional career has been necessarily marked by constant attention and severe study. In politics, he has been a Republican ever since the organization of the party; as a boy, he warmly supported David Wilmot, who then represented the Tioga district in Congress; his first speech in public was in favor of the Free-Soil party, in 1848; on the disappearance of that party in Tioga, and on his becoming a voter, he acted with the Democrats, until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, in the spring of 1854, when he openly repudiated both of the old parties, and favored the formation of a new party. On leaving the University, he delivered a Fourth of July oration to his old friends and neighbors, and soon after " stumped " the county for Fremont and Dayton Since living in Janesville, he has been more or less active in every political campaign, beginning with 1853; in 1864, he was a delegate to the National Convention of Baltimore, and a member of the Assembly of 1865, and as such warmly supported the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, taking advance ground on the status of the rebellious States, and substantially the same as Congress subsequently took in the work of reconstruction ; with these exceptions, and occasionally attending a political convention as a delegate, he declined all public positions, until he was elected to the Assembly of 1877. over which he was chosen to preside, without any opposition in his own party. He is a member of the Congregational Church, and believes that Christianity is an essential means of inward moral growth and progress in society and government, and he believes that all political action should be prompted and coo- trolled by the same broad, generous and unselfish purpose. He has a happy family, consisting of a wife an 1 five children-four daughters and a son, and an aged mother, who, for many years, has been totally blind. Source: History of Rock County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879