Biographical Sketches of Galesville Residents

-As transcribed from pages 1062 - 1065

ARNOLD, Alex. A. AUSTIN, Wm. G. BUNN, Henry L. CLARK, Isaac DAVIS, Wilson DEAKIN, Joseph FEIRING, Lars H. FREEMAN, George Y. GALE, George W. GILBERTSON, G. O. HARRIS, Silvanus J. JOHNSTON, Welcome A. KELLMAN, John KENNEDY, Daniel Jr.

KENNEDY, James KNEELAND, Addison H. MAC ADAM, Thomas T. McLAURY, John W. MOE, Louis O. MYHRE, Gilbert F. OGDEN, John R. SAGEN, Ole N. SCARSETH, Andrew J. SMITH, Geo. H. TIBBITTS, Arthur YOUNG, Dr. Wm. M. WILLIAMSON, Anthony G.

ALEX. A. ARNOLD, East Side Farm, and raiser of shorthorn blooded stock, Sec. 28, P. O. Galesville, is a native of New York, having been born in Dutchess Co., Oct. 20, 1833. Here he received an academic education, and was a graduate of the Ohio Law School at Poland, and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Courts of New York and Ohio, in the year 1856, and of Wisconsin in 1857, the year of his arrival in this State. He located in Galesville, Trempealeau Co., and practiced law until 1862, when he enlisted in Co. C, 30th W. V. I., of which he was appointed Captain, and served until the close of the war. He then returned to Galesville, and bought the farm on which he now lives, improving it until he now has one of the finest farms and best homes in the county. He is also engaged in raising fine blooded short-horn cattle. Mr. Arnold was attorney of Trempealeau Co., and Co. Superintendent of Schools, before the war, and held several other county offices. He was elected member of Assembly in 1871, and of the Senate for 1877-78, being re-elected to the Assembly again for the year 1880, and was Speaker of the' House. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Galesville University for several years, and has been both President and Secretary of the Trempealeau Co. Agricultural Society, being at present one of the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society; is also a member of the A., F. & A. M., Decora Lodge. No. 177, being a charter member of the same. He was married to his first wife, Miss Hattie E. Tripp, of Wayne Co., N. Y., in the year 1859, who had one daughter. She died in July, 1861. The daughter lived until the fall of the following year, when she also died. Was married in 1869 to his second wife, Miss Mary E. Douglas, of Melrose, Wis. They have had four children, two of whom, Archie H. and Mary D., are living; Roy D. and Kittie B. are not living. Mr. Arnold is now President of the Decorah Farmers' Alliance at Galesville.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," pages 1062 - 1063

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WM. G. AUSTIN, foreman in W. Davis's cooper shop, at Galesville, was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., November 1, 1837. Leaving his native State in 1854, he came with his parents to Sparta, his father buying a farm in Monroe Co., said farm having been originally pre-empted from the Government by Frank Pettit. It was the first improved farm in the La Crosse Valley. Here the subject of this sketch remained until 1863, when he enlisted in Co. C, 19th Wis. Vol. Infty., serving until the close of the war. He then returned to Sparta, and engaged with F. C. Brock as cooper, remaining with him until 1868, at which time he removed to Galesville, and in January of 1870 began work for W. Davis. Mr. Austin is a charter member of the I. O. 0. F., Galesville Lodge, No. 238, being District Deputy of the Odd Fellows there, and is also a member of the Good Templar's Lodge, No. 192. Was married in Kenosha Co. in the year 1856, to Sarah E. Fosdick, daughter of Lyman Fosdick, who settled in that county in 1842. They have six children - Ida B., Catharine M., now Mrs. A. Bartlett, William I., Vinona E., Alma E., Sarah J.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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HENRY L. BUNN, Town Clerk of Galesville, was born New York State July 10, 1843; is the youngest brother of R. Bunn, the former Judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Wisconsin. He came to Trempealeau Co. with his parents in the year 1858, and was a graduate of the Galesville University in the class of 1869, having first attended that institution as a student in 1859. He was also a graduate of Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College at Chicago in 1868. Mr. Bunn has held the office of Register of Deeds for four years, and Clerk of the Court two years in Trempealeau Co., having been Town Clerk the past eleven years, and Justice of the Peace for three years, in connection with the former office; is now Secretary of the Trempealeau Co. Agricultural Society.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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ISAAC CLARK, farmer, Sec. 29, P. O. Galesville, brought his family to Wisconsin in the year 1854, remaining in Green Co. a short time. He left his family there and came to Trempealeau Co., where he bought a farm. He then returned for his family, and immediately moved them into his new house on the farm, it being a small frame house. In this they lived until 1862, when he erected his present residence. Mr. Clark was Chairman of the Town Board of Gale for the years 1861, '62 and '63; has also been Treasurer of the Trempealeau Co. Agricultural Society, of which he has been General Superintendent for a number of years; he represented Trempealeau Co. in the Assembly in the year 1870; was born in Maine Jan. 1, 1826; his parents were of English descent. He was married in the same State July 9, 1848, to Miss Emily French, by whom he has five children, Eugene F., Florence M., Genevieve, Wilford and Leslie. Mr. Clark is a member of the Decorah Farmers' Alliance at Galesville.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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WILSON DAVIS, proprietor Galesville Flouring Mill, was born in Missouri, March 4, 1827, and came to Galesville in 1866. His mill which was erected by him, was begun in 1867 and completed in 1869. It is situated on Beaver Creek, at the foot of Cemetery Bluff, being 50x70, and seven stories high, measuring ninety-eight feet from base to summit, and is built of limestone, which is found near the village, and has in connection an improved crusher, by J. Y. Noye & Son, of Buffalo, N. Y. The mill has a capacity of making 180 barrels of flour per day, and has a cooper shop in connection, in which are made all of the barrels used in the mill. Mr. Davis employs in all about twenty men, shipping flour to Iowa, Minnesota, and in fact to nearly all of the Western States. Mr. Davis also carries on a large store in Galesville.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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JOSEPH DEAKIN, proprietor of the Commercial Hotel at Galesville; was born in England, April 12, 1826; in 1845, he came to America, first settling in Waukesha Co., Wis., where he took up a claim from the Government, on which he resided for twenty-five years; at the end of that time, he moved with his family to Milwaukee, where he engaged in a meat and provision market, at which he continued until 1875, when he became afflicted with a dropsical complaint, and was given up by the best medical professionals in Milwaukee; he then moved to Galesville, where he opened a hotel, and the mineral water of that place has entirely cured him of his complaint. Mr. Deakin has just built an addition to his hotel, and now has a set of Turkish baths in connection with the house.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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LARS H. FEIRING, saloon and billiard hall, Galesville; was born in Norway, Dec. 11, 1845; came to America in 1870, and first settled in the village of Trempealeau, where he lived two years; then removed to Galesville, where he started a saloon, and in 1879, erected the brick building where he now does business, it being the only brick building standing in the village of Galesville in 1881. Mr. Feiring was married in 1875, to Miss Emily Olson, a native of Norway. Their family consists of four children - Hermer O., Wilhelm R., Olaf E. and Julius F.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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GEORGE Y. FREEMAN, lawyer, Galesville; was born in Schenectady Co., N. Y., Aug. 13, 1827, being the son of Lewis and Mary Freeman, the former of English and the latter of Holland descent The subject of this sketch is a graduate of Princeton College, and in 1843 came West and commenced reading law with Hon. George Hale. He was married at Elkhorn, Walworth Co., Jan. 1, 1850, to Ann S. Hollinshead, who was a native of New York, and in 1852 returned to New York, where he still pursued the study of law with the Hon. W. D. Waterman; he was admitted to the bar and remained there until 1858, when he came back to Wisconsin, being admitted to the bar in this State the same year; in 1860, located in Galesville, where he has practiced his profession ever since, having one of the largest practices in the county. Mr Freeman has held the office of District Attorney of Trempealeau County for two terms, and was one of the organizing members of the Trempealeau County Agricultural Society, having been its Secretary for six years; he is proprietor of the Arctic Springs at Galesville, they being situated about three-fourths of a mile from the village, at the head of the lake. The water has been pronounced by the State chemists as equal to the Waukesha mineral water. Mr. Freeman was a charter member of the A., F. & A. M., Decora Lodge, No. 177; he has a family consisting of three sons - Charles E. and Edwin W., twins, born Oct. 1, 1860, and George R., born March 17, 1867.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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GEORGE W. GALE, Postmaster, Galesville; was born in Washington Co., Vt., July 11, 1842; came to Wisconsin in August, 1860, and settled at Galesville, Trempealeau Co., where he enlisted in the late war, in the 1st Wis. Battery, in September, 1861. After serving his country for three years, he returned to Galesville, which has since been his home; was appointed Postmaster of that place in 1869, and still holds that office, also keeping in connection a book and stationery store, and at one time was Treasurer of Town Board of Galesville.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1063

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G. O. GILBERTSON, of the firm of Gilbertson & Myhre, general merchandise, Galesville; was born in Norway June 6, 1848. Came with his parents to this country in 1857, and lived with them in La Crosse Co., Wis., where his father farmed in Lewis Valley; here they remained for three years, and then moved to Trempealeau County, where he farmed with his father, and in 1871 went to the village of Trempealeau, where he entered into partnership with Scarseth & Hanson, in a general merchandise store. The firm continued the same for one year, when the other partners bought out Mr. Hanson, and ran the store until 1873, at which time the firm dissolved and Mr. Gilbertson went to Galesville and started his present business, Mr. Myhre becoming a partner during the same year; they do an annual business of about $40,000.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," pages 1063 - 1064

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SILVANUS J. HARRIS, cooper, Galesville; was born at Oxford, Mass., October 27, 1824; he first came to Wisconsin in the year 1855, locating five miles west of Milwaukee, where he worked in a grist-mill; in 1858 he came to Galesville and commenced as miller for Clark & Harris, where he was still engaged at the breaking-out of the late war; he enlisted in Co. C, 30th Wis. Vol. Inft., in August, 1862, serving until the close of the war, when he returned to Galesville and began farming, at which he continued for seven years; he then took up the cooper's trade, being employed at that ever since; he is a member of the I. O. 0. F., Galesville Lodge, No. 238. Mr. Harris was married in 1848, in Massachusetts, to Sarah Jane Bond, who was born in that State; now have living four children-Sarah Jane, Samuel F., Charles H. and Willie W.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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WELCOME A. JOHNSTON, insurance agent and farmer; was born in Wayne Co., N. Y., Jan. 8, 1838; when he reached manhood he engaged at farming; in 1853 he came to Wisconsin, where he lived, first in Walworth County for one year, and then came to Trempealeau County and engaged in the real estate business; here he remained until 1856, at which time he returned to New York, but after one year came back to Wisconsin; in 1859 he went again to New York, where he was married to Miss Caroline E. Smith, of Dutchess County. In April of the same year he returned to Wisconsin, and located at Galesville; he is at present one of the Trustees of the Galesville University, and was a liberal contributor to that institution, which was built largely by subscription; he is also a charter member of the A., F. & A. M., Decorah Lodge, No. 177, at Galesville. Their family consists of three children - Frank W., Libbie T. and George S.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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JOHN KELLMAN, jeweler, Galesville; was born in Sweden April 24, 1831; came to the United States in 1869; he settled at Trempealeau, during the same year, and started a jewelry store, which he continued for six years; he then removed to Galesville, continuing in the same business. Mr. Kellman was married in Sweden and has now three children - Charley A., Alford J. and Frank A.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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DANIEL KENNEDY, Jr., farmer, Sec. 16, P. 0. Galesville; was born in Franklin Co., N. Y., Feb. 24, 1835; he came to Wisconsin with his parents, Daniel and Mary Kennedy, in 1853, and first settled in Walworth County; he came to Trempealeau County in 1854, and commenced work for B. F. Heuston on a farm; he was the first man who turned sod with a plow in Beaver Creek Valley; in the summer of 1854 he began improvements on a farm, on which he continued until 1862; he then moved to his present farm; he was married in the full of 1865, to Hellen Bidwell, daughter of C. I. Bidwell, who settled in Trempealeau County in 1855. Mr. Kennedy's pioneer cabin still stands about six rods north of his present residence, which was erected in 1875; he has held the office of Supervisor in the town of Gale for several terms, and been Assistant Superintendent of the Trempealeau County Agricultural Society.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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JAMES KENNEDY, farmer and stock buyer, Sec. 2, P. O. Ettrick; was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., July 4, 1843; he came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1853, locating in Walworth County, where they remained until 1856. They removed to Trempealeau County, locating on a farm, and on this same place the subject of this sketch now lives, it being the second improved farm in the valley of Beaver Creek. He was married Oct. 6, 1868, to Sarah J. Bowerman, of Canada, and they have three children - Lysle J., Lester C. and Lloyd. Mr. Kennedy has been Assessor for four terms in the town of Gale.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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ADDISON H. KNEELAND, druggist and farmer, Galesville; was born in Elizabeth, Essex Co., N. Y, June 16, 1839; came to Illinois in 1857, first living in Cook County, where he engaged in farming, and in 1862, came to Sparta, where he was employed by S. D. Jackson & Co., merchants, as clerk and traveling agent; remained with them for six years, after which he went to Trempealeau, where he started a store, conducting it for three years. He then removed to Galesville, where he opened a general merchandise store, and in 1871, built a brick block on the corner of Main and Allen streets, the size of which is 27x100, two stories high, iron front and plate glass windows. He moved into it with a stock of $23,000 worth of general merchandise, and did business there for eight years, when on June 26, 1879, the entire building and stock were destroyed by fire, at a loss estimated at $25,000. Mr. Kneeland then began business at his present location. Has held the office of Town Clerk; has also been Treasurer of the Trempealeau Agricultural Society for five years. He is a charter member of both the A. F. & A. M., Decora Lodge, No. 177, and the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 238, at Galesville.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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THOMAS T. MAC ADAM, photographer, Galesville, Wis.; was born in the State of Maryland, among the Alleghany Mountains, March 29, 1853. In 1862, he came with his parents to Wisconsin, and located in the town of Melrose, Jackson County, where the father and mother still live on the old homestead. In 1878, he came to Galesville, where he started in his present business; there is also a millinery store in connection with it, which his wife controls, he having married her in the year 1877, in the town of Irvin, Jackson County. She was born in England and was a daughter of the Rev. H. Hutchins, of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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JOHN W. McLAURY, President of the Galesville University; was born in New York, Aug. 9, 1830.  He was a graduate of Rutledge College, New Brunswick, in 1859, but had previously taught in a college in New York. He also taught at Harpersfield, Roxbury and Hammondsport, and came to La Crosse, Wis., in the year 1869, where he taught in the La Crosse Academy for two years; his health failing at that time, he was obliged to discontinue teaching, and going to Dubuque, Iowa, was connected with the press of that city; was elected President of the Galesville University in the year 1877.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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LOUIS O. MOE, proprietor of stage line and livery stable, Galesville; was born in Norway, Feb. 25, 1818.  He came to America in 1870, and first lived in the town of Gale, Wis., where he worked by the month, at farming in summer, and at lumbering during the winter. In 1874, bought a farm for himself, which he owned until 1877, when he traded it for his present home and property in Galesville.  He now runs a stage line from Galesville to Trempealeau, and also from the former place to Centerville. Is at present Deputy Sheriff of Galesville. He was married Dec. 26, 1877, to Miss Carrie C. Lind, who was also born in Norway. They have one daughter-Sophia M.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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GILBERT F. MYHRE, dealer in drugs, crockery, etc., was born in Norway April 9, 1853. In 1870 he came to America; first lived in the town of Gale, Wis.  He commenced business in Galesville in 1878, and his present business in August, 1880; was married in 1876, to Miss Stokke, who is also a native of Norway.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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JOHN R. OGDEN, furniture dealer and undertaker, was born in Erie Co., N. Y., Aug. 23, 1844; came with his parents to Wisconsin in 1852, locating at Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., and here his father, Francis Ogden, died in 1864. After his death Mrs. Ogden moved with her family to Freeborn Co., Minn., and there the subject of this sketch remained until 1873, when he and his mother returned to Wisconsin, and he went into partnership with P. W. Kribs at Galesville, in a furniture store, in the building now occupied by G. F. Myhre as drug store, it being the first general furniture store in the village. Mr. Ogden was married in the winter of 1873, to Miss L. C. Pace, of Minnesota, and in 1874 he bought out his partner and has since conducted the business himself. He enlisted in March, 1865, in Co. F, 1st Minn. V. I., serving until the close of the war.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1064

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OLE N. SAGEN, head miller of W. Davis's flouring mills, Galesville, came with his parents to the United States in 1866, being a native of Norway, and born there on the 7th of May, 1848; they located in the town of Gale, and having commenced to learn his trade in the old country, he engaged with Mr. Davis in 1869, and has been employed there ever since, having held the position of head miller for three years. Was married in 1873, to Miss Ella Thompson, of Galesville, who was born in Norway. They have three children - Emma J., Alford N. and Oscar T. Mr. Sagen is a member of the I. O. O. F., Galesville Lodge No. 238, and also of the Norwegian Workman Society, at Galesville; himself and family being members of the Baptist Church of that place.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," pages 1064 - 1065

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ANDREW J. SCARSETH, dealer in groceries, Galesville, was born in the county of Christiania, Norway, June 30, 1842; he was sent to a common school at the age of six years; when fifteen years old, he attended the mercantile college at the Capitol city, and afterward went to the religious seminarium; in 1862, he came to the United States, his father giving him as a start in life, $60 and a three-year-old colt; he embarked on the Brig. William Tell, landing in Quebec on his 20th birthday; he came to the town of Gale, Trempealeau Co., where he worked three months for Geo. H. Smith, and was then sent, by request of Rev. John B. Frick, and Professor L. Larson, to hold a religious school in Norwegian language in behalf of the Lutheran Church, in the Trempealeau Valley, which embraced both Jackson and Trempealeau Cos.; he taught this religious school for five months of each year, from the year 1862 to 1867, working or a farm during the summers, and holding Sunday school in two different districts every Sunday; he is now a merchant in the village of Galesville, and is an active worker in the Lutheran Church at that place, being Secretary and one of the Trustees; he was sent from Trempealeau Valley in 1864, as a delegate to the Norwegian Lutheran Synod, held in Perry, Dane Co., and was the youngest elector among 345 delegates and reverends; he also had bestowed on him, at the same Synod, the honor of issuing an arithmetic in the Norwegian language, to be used in the schools of this country.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1065

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GEO. H. SMITH, farmer, Sec. 8, P. O. Galesville, came to Wisconsin in 1845; was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., May 14, 1820. After his arrival in this State, he located in the town of Lafayette, Walworth Co. where he bought a farm which he cultivated for eight years; in the spring of 1854, entered the land of which his present farm consists, and in March of the same year was called home to New York to witness the death of his father; returning to Trempealeau Co, in October 1854; he began to improve his claim, his nearest neighbor on the north being twenty-two miles away. The first crop of wheat that Mr. Smith raised, he marketed at La Crosse, and was glad to get 40 cents per bushel; has raised eleven hundred bushels of wheat on thirty-six acres of land; he also had to go to La Crosse in 1860, to get a horse shod, and at one time took a two-horse wagon load of wool to Trempealeau, for which he received $104, having been offered $1,200, at his door before he started with it, but was unable to accept it because the wool was contracted for. He was married in Wayne Co., N. Y., in May, 1850, to Miss Carrie C. Johnston, by whom he has one son living - Welcome J., also one dead - Willie, who died in 1861.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1065

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ARTHUR TIBBITTS, carpenter and builder, Galesville, was born in Maine, Jan. 8, 1840; came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1848, first settling in Sheboygan Co., where his father purchased a farm from the Government; here the subject of this sketch lived until Oct. 1, 1861, when he enlisted in Co. I, 1st Wis. Vol. Infty., serving for three years, being in all the principal engagements of the Army of the Cumberland; he was finally wounded in the battle of Chickamauga, and was taken prisoner, being held on the field for two weeks, and then paroled; he returned home and began work at his trade, which has been his employment ever since he came to Galesville, in 1874; he is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., Galesville Lodge, No. 238, and also the A., F. & A. M., Decora Lodge, No. 177. He was married in 1866, to Miss Maggie Hardie, who was born in Scotland, and by whom he has one son - Ernest J.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1065

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DR. WM. M. YOUNG, Galesville, was born in Schenectady Co., N. Y., March 31, 1829. He came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1843, where they settled in Elkhorn, Walworth Co.; here he received a common school education, and in 1852 was a graduate of the Rush Medical College of Chicago; in 1853 he went to La Crosse, where he practiced his profession for one year, and then came to Trempealeau Co. where he started the village of Galesville, with George Gale, the gentleman for whom the place was named. Dr. Young has been a resident of the place ever since, practicing his profession; he has held the office of Postmaster for a number of years; he was also first Clerk of the Court of Trempealeau Co. at Galesville, under Judge Knownton, of La Crosse, and was one of the first trustees of Galesville University. In the year 1867 he took a trip, in company with George Luce, to Florida, where he purchased an orange orchard, which he still owns.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1065

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ANTHONY G. WILLIAMSON, stone and brick mason, Galesville, was born n Maine, Aug. 16, 1834. He came West in 18863, locating in Galesville, and enlisting, during the same year, in Co. L, 2d Minn. Vol. Cav., serving until the close of the war; he afterward returned to Galesville, where he worked at the stone mason's trade; Mr. Williamson was Deputy Sheriff of Trempealeau Co. under 1). W. Wade, deceased, in the years 1870-71; has also been Constable in Galesville for ten years, and is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., Galesville Lodge, No. 238; he was married in Maine, in 1854, to Miss Sophronia Douglass, a native of that State, by whom he had one son, Hiram, who died in infancy, and one son living, Greenleaf A.

-Transcribed from the "History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881," page 1065