Trempealeau County, Wisconsin

Biography

John C. Gaveney.   Since his admission to the bar of Wisconsin twenty-five years ago, Mr. Gaveney has been more or less active in his practice, and chiefly at the town of his birth, Arcadia, in Trempealeau county. Besides his place as a lawyer, Mr. Gaveney has served in the state senate, has some important interests in the larger sphere of business, and conducts one of the finest appointed and best improved dairy farms in "Wisconsin.

     John C. Gaveney was born at Arcadia in Trempealeau county, Wisconsin, June 30, 1863. His parents were James and Maria M. (Briggs) Gaveney. His father was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, April 5, 1825, and died June 18, 1890. The mother was born in Northfield, Vermont, May 20, 1830, and died February 18, 1909. They were married in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, in 1859. Their children, three in number, were: Charles R., who died in 1889 at the age of twenty-eight years; John C.; Mamie, who died in 1879, at the age of eleven years. James Gaveney came to America in 1848, and had some varied and interesting experiences before he finally settled down in Wisconsin. His first location was at Galena, Illinois, where he was connected with lead mining. In 1849 he joined a caravan of wagons drawn by ox teams which went across the country to California. It required six months to make the journey and he spent five years in the west engaged in gold mining. He was associated in mining and other business ventures with Noah D. Comstock, until the latter's death in 1890. He then returned to the middle west and located at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, where he continued in lead mining until the spring of 1859. That date marked his location in Arcadia in Trempealeau county, where his years were taken up with farming and various business enterprises. He conducted a flour mill, and later was in the lumber business at Independence. His home was in Arcadia, at the time of his death. A successful business man, he was also honored by his fellow citizens by various local offices, for many years was on the school board, was chairman of the town board and township treasurer a long time. Fraternally he had membership in Arcadia Lodge No. 201, A. F. & A. M.

     Mr. John C. Gaveney received his early training in the public schools of Arcadia. He is a University graduate, having finished the general scientific course at the University of Wisconsin with the class of 1885. In the meantime he had applied himself to the serious business of life, and at the age of sixteen was granted a license and taught his first term of school in Trempealeau county. He taught during 1879, and in 1880 was principal of the. high school at Independence. After finishing his Academic work in the University, he continued in the law department, and was graduated LL. B. in 1888. One year was spent in general practice at Milwaukee, and then on account of his father's extensive business affairs he went to his assistance in 1889, and became superintendent of the business there for several years. After that he established himself in general practice at Arcadia, and has since been one of the leading lawyers of Trempealeau county.

     Outside of the law, Mr. Gaveney has many interests. He is one of the large land owners of Trempealeau County, his ownership extending to between eight hundred and nine hundred acres, ninety acres being included within the city limits of Arcadia. This estate is improved with the finest of equipment and buildings. It is conducted as a model dairy farm, and also for the breeding of high-class stock. Mr. Gaveney raises full-blooded Holstein and Red Poll cattle, having between seventy and seventy-five milch cows in his barn. His dairy plant is modern in every particular. One evidence of this is the fact that he employs milking machines, and has every practical apparatus required for the sanitary production of milk. Mr. Gaveney is vice president of the Bank of Arcadia, was one of the organizers of the Western Wisconsin Telephone Company, of which he has been president since its organization, and for nine years served as a member of the school board. He was elected and served as member of the state senate from 1900 to 1904. For four terms he acted as mayor of Arcadia. Mr. Gaveney affiliates with Arcadia Lodge, Xo. 201, A. F. & A. M. and is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter. In politics he is Republican.

     On April 9, 1890, Mr. Gaveney married Isadora D. Webster. They have two children: Marguerite and Stanleigh.

(Wisconsin, Its Story and Biography, 1848-1913)

                                                               Submitted by Cathy Danielson