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    ALLAN T. ADAMS is one of those sturdy characters who have wrested success from the hands of fate, having been largely dependent upon his own exertions from his boyhood days and being now numbered among the substantial and honored farmers of Orion township. He was born in Green county, Wis., Feb. 13, 1856, and is a son of Tarlton and Esther M. (Taylor) Adams, the former of whom was born in North Carolina and the latter in Pennsylvania. The father came to Wisconsin in 1835, having previously passed about three years in Indiana, and he was one of the early settlers of Green county, where he bought government land and developed a productive farm. He there continued to reside until 1861, when he removed to Richland county, purchasing 120 acres of land in the town of Akan, where he followed agricultural pursuits until 1872, when he went to Benton county, Iowa, where he died about two years later, at the home of one of his daughters. His wife died in 1870, on the old homestead in Akan township. Allan T. Adams received somewhat meager educational advantages, attending the district schools at irregular intervals and securing employment as a farm hand when but fourteen years of age. Endowed with a naturally strong mentality and keen observative powers, however, he has to a large extent made good the handicap of his youth and is today a man of broad general information and good business ability. He continued at farm work in the employ of others until 1882, when he rented land and engaged in farming on his own responsibility, continuing operations under these conditions about eight years and carefully husbanding resources. He then purchased 100 acres in Eagle township, making good improvements on the place and disposing of the property about eight years later. He forthwith bought another farm, of 160 acres, in the same township, disposing of the same four years later and then buying his present fine farm, in Orion township. This homestead comprises 150 acres of excellent land and the improvements are of substantial and attractive order. Mr. Adams gives his attention to diversified farming and also does a profitable dairy business. He is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and while a resident of Eagle township he served as a member of the town board and also the school board of his district. In march, 1882, Mr. Adams was united in marriage to Miss Viola Peters, daughter of Holliday and Eliza Jane (Thompson) Peters, who came to this count from Indiana, their native state. Mr. And Mrs. Adams have five children: Floyd Burton, who married Miss Clara Stingley, is a coppersmith by vocation and now resides in the city of Madison; Eliza M. is a popular teacher in the public schools of Akan township; Edna F. is teaching near Lone Rock, Buena Vista township; and the two youngest children are Theron Fay and Donald.
    BENEDICT ADELMAN has been a resident of Richland county since 1874 and is one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of the town of Westford. He was a Wisconsin soldier in the Civil War, thus showing his distinctive loyalty to the land of his adoption. He was born in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, June 24, 1842, and in the same locality were born his parents, Frank Joseph and Ann Mary (Ditter) Adelman, the father having been a wagonmaker by trade and having also followed farming in his native land. In 1849, when the subject of this sketch was a lad of seven years, the family immigrated to America, the voyage comprising forty-nine days and being made on a sailing vessel of the kind common to that period. The voyage was a rough and protracted one and the passengers finally suffered greatly on account of lack of sufficient food, the supply having run short. After remaining a short time in New York city the father and family made a short visit in Troy, New York state, after which they removed to Northhampton, Mass., where he was employed in a woolen factory one year, later being similarly employed for two years at Worcester, that state. In 1852 they came to Wisconsin and located on a tract of wild land seven miles distant from the present city of Fond du Lac. There the father secured forty acres, which he retained until 1855, when he sold the same and bough another farm, of eighty acres, in the same county, where he developed a valuable place, there remaining until his death, June 14, 1888, at the venerable age of eighty-eight years. His wife passed away March 2, 1872, both having been members of the Catholic church. She had been previously married, and the three children of her first union are all deceased, -Francis, Lawrence and Carl. Of the six children of the second marriage only two attained to maturity, -Mary, who resides in Fond du Lac county, being the widow of Henry Kraus, who died June 23, 1891, and Benedict who is the immediate subject of this sketch. The limited education which benedict Adelman was enabled to secure in the primitive schools of the pioneer days in Wisconsin has been effectively supplemented by personal application and by active association with men and affairs in later years. He studied at night when a youth and made good use of his time. He was reared to maturity in Fond du Lac county, where he aided in the development of the home farm, upon which he remained until he was nineteen years of age, when he tendered his services in defense of the Union. Oct. 14, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Eighteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, of which James S. Alban was made colonel, James P. Millard having been captain of Company A. The regiment remained in camp at Milwaukee until Mar. 30, 1862, when it was called into active service, being sent to the front and arriving in season to take part in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, on April 6. The regiment took part in the siege of Corinth and later took an active part in the battles of Iuka, Moscow, Memphis and Vicksburg, doing much marching. It participated in the battle at Jackson, Miss., that of Champion Hills, and the siege and capture of Vicksburg, after which it was in service at various points in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and finally joined Sherman's forces at Atlanta, and thence proceeding on the ever memorable march to the sea, taking part in various engagements in the Carolinas and remained with his command until the expiration of his second term of enlistment, shortly before the final surrender. After the close of the war Mr. Adelman went with other members of his regiment from Hilton Head, S. C., to New York city, on a government transport, and from the metropolis he returned to Madison, Wis., where he received his honorable discharge March 14, 1865. He received a wound from a musket ball in the battle of Shiloh, the missile having penetrated his right shoulder, but he was not long incapacitated from service. After the war Mr. Adelman returned to Fond du Lac county and located on a farm of forty acres which his father had given him, the father remaining with him three years. Nov. 29, 1869, Mr. Adelman married Miss Ann Gertrude Johann, who was born in Prussia, being a daughter of Matthias and Anna Maria (Steffes) Johann, who immigrated to America in 1856, becoming pioneers of Fond du Lac county, Wis., where the father engaged in farming. He died Nov. 1, 1880, and his wife passed away Feb. 14, 1895. They had five children: Peter and Nicholas still reside in Fond du Lac county; Hubert is an attendant in the state hospital at Oshkosh; Margaret is the wife of Henry Kraus, of Fond du Lac county; and Ann Gertrude is the wife of the subject of this sketch. Mr. And Mrs. Adelman became the parents of ten children: Annie M., who was born Dec. 26, 1870, is the wife of Herbert Keimkuehler, of Westford township, and they have six children; Jacob W., who was born Oct. 26, 1872, and who is now town clerk of Westford, married Miss Christina Bauer and they have three children; Frank J., who was born Oct. 2, 1874, and who is engaged in farming in Sauk county, married Miss Mary Wirth and they have three children; Mary E. and Clara C., twins, were born Sept. 12, 1877, the former dying March 5, 1883, and the latter April 21, 1882; John, who was born Oct. 18, 1879, is a farmer in Wells county, N.D., and the maiden name of his wife was Mary White; Albert J., born July 18, 1882, resides in Parkston, S. D.; William H., born April 23, 1884, is a farmer in Wells county, N. D.; and Joseph B., born Sept. 21, 1885, and Mary A., born Feb. 15, 1888, remain at the parental home. In April, 1874, Mr. Adelman came with his family to Richland county, having sold his property in Fond du Lac county. He bought 160 acres of wild land in section 9, town of Westford, later adding to his landed possessions in this and other counties and now retaining in his home place 120 acres, well improved and under effective cultivation. He has reclaimed a great deal of land and has been energetic and successful business man. He erected his present residence in 1888 and his large and substantial barn in 1890, these and all other buildings on the farm being of superior type. For three years Mr. Adelman conducted a general store at Germantown, Richland county. He was the clerk of his township in Fond du Lac county, serving five years, and for two years he was chairman of the town board of Westford, Richland county, also having been clerk and treasurer of his school district. He has various capitalistic interests aside from his farming properties, being a stockholder in the local telephone company, in a chair factory at Cazenovia, and in the Franklin Farmers' Insurance Company. He is a broad-minded and public-spirited citizen, honored by all who know him. His political support is given to the Democratic party and he is a valued and appreciative member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
    WILLIAM D. AKAN, of Richland Center, was born in the town of Dayton of Richland county, July 24, 1870. His paternal grandfather, Wm. Akan was a native of New York city, born June 19, 1803. He came to Richland county in 1848, from there went to St. Louis and in 1852 returned to Richland and located in the town of Dayton; his brother Robert was one of the earliest settlers and helped to survey the county and the town of Akan which was named for him. Mr. Wm. Akan died Jan. 2, 1881; his wife was Catherine Hamel, born in Alleghany City, Pa., May 2, 1801. William D. Akan's parents were John and Margaret (Brogan) Akan, the former born in Pittsburg, Pa., Feb. 13, 1833, and the latter in Providence, R. I., Nov., 10, 1848. The father was educated in Pittsburg and came to Dayton, Richland county, in 1857. He went to St. Louis, Mo., and there enlisted as a private in Co. B, of the Eighth Missouri infantry, June 4, 1861. He took part in the engagement at Fort Henry, was with General Lyon at Wilson's Creek, was wounded at Fort Donelson, Feb. 16, 1862, and was discharged on Dec. 25, of the same year. HE was a stone-cutter by trade, as was his father before him, and cut nearly all the stone in Richland Center. He also worked on the Union Pacific and Illinois Central railroads, as his father had worked on the Baltimore & Ohio. On coming to Dayton township in 1867 he purchased a farm on 200 acres and made his home there until his death in 1901. His wife and six children survive him. The family belong to the Catholic church and Mr. Akan was a Democrat in his politics and always actively interested in political affairs; he served in a number of local offices such as board of supervisors, etc. He was a man of active mentality, a great reader and well-posted in the affairs of public interest. William D., the subject of this sketch, was educated in the district schools of Dayton township, but inherited his father's taste for reading and study, and supplemented his opportunities for school work by wide reading, especially in the line of history. He is a farmer by occupation and has an interest in his father's estate, besides working his uncle's (Jos. Brogan) farm on 120 acres. His interest in public affairs in maintained through the Democratic party, by which he has been elected to positions on the town and school boards, and through the Catholic church and the society of American Yeoman, of which he is a member.
    SAMUEL AMBROSE is the owner of a fine landed estate in Forest and Marshall townships and is one of the representative farmers of the county. He is a native of the old Keystone State, having been born in Westmoreland county, Penn., March 16, 1842, and being a son of John W. and Salome (Kanable) Ambrose, both of whom were likewise born in Pennsylvania, whence they came to Richland county, Wis., in 1853, first settling near Orion and removing to the town of Forest in 1855, here passing the remainder of their lives. The father was a successful farmer, reclaiming his land from the forest and being one of the honored and influential citizens of his township. He was a member of the town board in an early day and identified himself with the Republican party at the time of its organization, thereafter continuing a stanch supporter of its cause. Samuel Ambrose, the immediate subject of this review, secured his rudimentary education in Pennsylvania, having been eleven years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Wisconsin, and having continued his studies in the district schools of Forest township, where he was reared to manhood on the home farm. Save for a period of a few years, during which he was engaged in the general merchandise business at Ash Ridge, this county, his vocation has been that of farming, and he is now the owner of a fine farm of 200 acres in Forest township and 160 acres in Marshall township. In politics he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party and he has been called to serve in various offices of public trust, having been township treasurer four years and having served as assessor, as postmaster at Ash Ridge, as notary public and as census enumerator in 1900. Dec. 15, 1870, Mr. Ambrose was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Bender, who was born Dec. 22, 1847, and who died July 21, 1880. Of this union were born five children, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are as follows: Pearlie Gilbert, Oct. 25, 1871; Susannah Maria, Apr. 30, 1873; Marvin Custer, Jan. 16, 1875; Ninetta C., Jan. 13, 1877; and Mary, Feb. 14, 1879. Pearlie and Marvin are deceased; Susannah is the wife of Charles Hall; Ninetta is the wife of Aaron Fruit; Mary is the wife of Tracy Benson. Feb. 4, 1883, Mr. Ambrose married Miss Emma Short, who was born in Marshall township, this county, April 16, 1861, her parents having been pioneers of Richland county. They were born in Germany and first settled in Pennsylvania, whence they came to Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose have six children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Martha E., Dec. 7, 1883; Irwin J., Nov. 16, 1885; Prudence F., May 18, 1888; Clyde, Jan. 12, 1891; Bonnie B., June 15, 1893; and Zuey Zelma, March 27, 1895. Martha E. is now the wife of James D. Winter. Mrs. Ambrose is a member of the United Brethren church.
    ANDREW ANDERSON is the owner of a valuable farm property in section 6 and 7, Eagle township, and is known as one of the able and successful agriculturists and stock-growers of his native county. He was born on the farm which he now owns and occupies, having here been ushered into the world Apr. 22, 1858, and being a son of Andrew and Tolena (Torgeson) Anderson, both natives of Norway, where the former was born in 1824 and the latter in 1826. The paternal grandfather, Andrew Chelburn, passed his entire life in Norway and attained to the patriarchal age of ninety-six years. The parents of the subject of this sketch immigrated to America when young, locating in Richland county, Wisconsin, about 1851. Here their marriage was solemnized Dec. 10, 1853, and in November of the following year they settled on a portion of the farm now owned by their son Andrew, of this sketch, becoming pioneers of this part of the county. The father fist purchased forty acres, heavily timbered and later added sixy-one and one-half acres to the area of his farm. To this homestead the present owner has added until his estate aggregates 201½ acres. Andrew Anderson, Sr., remained on this farm until his death, which occurred March 6, 1882, his wife surviving him by eighteen years and being summoned to the life eternal Feb. 12, 1900. He reclaimed his land from the wilds, developing a valuable farm and erecting good buildings. He was a man of signal integrity, was industrious and energetic and accumulated a competency through his own labors and ability. In politics he was aligned with the Republican party and originally both he and his wife were members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, later becoming members of the Methodist Episcopal church, having aided materially in the erection of the church of this denomination in their neighborhood. They became the parents of nine children, of whom only three are living. The father was a loyal soldier of the Union in the Civil War, having enlisted in 1864, as a member of Company F, Forty-fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. Andrew Anderson, Jr., to whom this sketch is dedicated, was reared to maturity upon the old homestead farm, early beginning to contribute his quota to its work and in the meanwhile duly availing himself of the advantages of the local schools. He has continued to reside on the farm which was the place of his birth and is now the owner of a fine landed estate. In addition to propagating the various cereals and other products common to this locality he is a successful grower of tobacco, keeps a good dairy herd of cattle and raises Percheron horses and Poland-China swine. He has served two terms as a member of the town board and has also been an officer of his school district. He affiliates with the Republican party, is identified with the Mystic Workers of the World and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Oct. 7, 1884, Mr. Anderson was wedded to Miss Isabel Harper, who was born in Richwood township, this county, June 10, 1860, being a daughter of Robert and Permelia (Olson) Harper, the former of whom was born in Ireland and the latter in Norway. They were married in Richwood township, this county, and the father went forth as a soldier in the Civil War, in which he sacrificed his life, his wife passing away in 1868. They became the parents of two children, and Mrs. Anderson alone survives. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have had three children: Anna Josephine died March 10, 1885, aged one year and seven month; Mabel Florence died in infancy; Edwin Theodore remains at the parental home.
    HERMAN ANDERSON is one of the venerable citizens of Scandinavian birth and lineage who has gained success and honor as one of the sterling citizens and successful farmers of Richland county. He served his adopted country faithfully and well as a soldier in the Civil War, and his entire life has been guided and governed by unswerving integrity of purpose. He was born in Skjber, Norway, Dec. 3, 1626, and is a son of Andrew and Carrie Sophia Anderson, both of whom passed their entire lives in Norway, where the former was born in 1781 and the latter in 1791. Of their eight children only two are living. The subject of this sketch was educated in the schools of his native land, where he was reared to maturity. As a young man he went to Denmark and later into Germany and Sweden, being absent for a total of seven years and then returning to Norway. He was thereafter employed at the baker's trade in Christiania until 1861, when he immigrated to America and came to Wisconsin, where so many of his worthy countrymen had preceded him. He located in Waupaca county and soon afterward entered the Union service, enlisting as a private in Company I, Fifteenth Wisconsin volunteer infantry, with which he continued to serve until the close of the great Civil War, taking part in many of the important and sanguinary battles which marked the progress of the great conflict between the north and south. Among the more notable engagements in which he participated may be mentioned the following: Island No. 10, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Chattanooga, siege of Atlanta, King's Mountain, Jonesboro and Resaca. He served under General Sherman and was known as a gallant and faithful soldier. He was wounded at Island No. 10 and also in the engagement at King's Mountain, but on neither occasion was long incapacitated for duty. He holds membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and has taken a deep interest in the same. After the close of the war Mr. Anderson came to Richland county and purchased forty acres of land in Eagle township, paying $400 for the property. He has improved the tract into a well cultivated farm and has erected good buildings on the place, which still continued to be his home, and to the management of which he still gives a general supervision. He is a stanch Republican in politics, having cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and he has been a member of the Lutheran church from his youth to the present time. In 1853, at Christiania, Norway, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Annetta Anderson, and they became the parents of three children of whom two died in Norway and the third accompanied them to American,-Carrie Sophia, who died in 1896, in Eagle township, this county. Mrs. Anderson's death here occurred in 1866, and in 1867 Mr. Anderson married Parmelia Johnson, who bore him two children, the second dying in infancy. The other child, Henry Elmer, who was educated in the public schools of this county, where he is now engaged in farming, married Julia Anderson, a native of Minnesota, and they have two children,-Ida Elvina and William Herbert Tenney. The second wife of Mr. Anderson was summoned to the life eternal in 1873, and he later married Carrie Knutson, who was born in Norway, in 1830, being a daughter of Knut and Mary (Olson) Knutson, both of whom died in Norway. Mrs. Anderson came to America in 1866, first locating in Dane county, this state, and later coming to Richland county, where her marriage was solemnized. There are no children by the third marriage.
    EDWARD P. AUSTIN, one of the sterling representatives of the agricultural industry in Orion township, is a scion of families long established on American soil and his career has been a somewhat varied and eventful one. He was born in Franklin, Franklin county, Vt., Feb. 28, 1830, and is a son of David and Rebecca (Hunt) Austin, the former of whom was born in Rhode Island, in 1798, and the latter of whom was a native of St. Armand, Province of Quebec, Canada. The father was a blacksmith by trade and vocation and both he and his wife continued residents of Vermont until their death. The subject of this sketch received a common-school education and he remained in the old Green Mountain State until he had attained his legal majority, when, in 1851, he came to Wisconsin, first securing employment in a sawmill and being thus engaged about five years. He then became driver of a government stage between Burlington and Steven Point and between the latter place and Weyauwega. He also carried mail out from Green Bay, making trips on foot and requiring two weeks to make the round trip. He was thus engaged about four years and then went out with Orton & Older circus, with which he remained about two and one-half years, being similarly engaged with the Mabie show for the ensuing three years. He then went to the south and became a government teamster, being thus employed until the latter part of the Civil War. In September, 1864, he enlisted as a member of the Company E, Tenth Illinois volunteer cavalry, with which he served until the close of the war, having received his honorable discharge in June, 1865. He is now enrolled as a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. After the war Mr. Austin returned to Wisconsin and soon afterward married and took up his residence in Richland county, where he bought eighty acres of land and took up a homestead claim of forty acres, the tract, with the addition of forty acres owned by his wife at the time of their marriage, constituting his present fine farm of 160 acres. He reclaimed much of his land from the forest and has made excellent improvements on the place, being known as one of the enterprising and substantial farmers of Orion township. In politics he gives support to the Democracy and he has served as a member of the town board and also as township treasurer and as director of the school board of his district. Dec. 17, 1865, Mr. Austin was married. Mrs. Austin's maiden name was Charlotte Freeman. She was born in the state of New York, in June, 1841, and was a widow at the time of her marriage to Mr. Austin. She is a daughter of Morris and Mary (Snell) Freeman, both of whom were likewise native of the Empire State. Mr. and Mrs. Austin are the parents of eight children: David Grant, who married Miss Etta Fargo, is a farmer in Marshall township; Edward Everett, who married Miss Eva Henderson, is engaged in farming in the same township; Herbert Ernest, who married Miss Martha Maxon, resides in Homewood, Grant county, as does also Hiram Waldo, who married Miss Hendricks; Lena M. is the wife of John Clarison, of Grant county; Martha Belle is the wife of William Abbs, of Henrietta township; Mary Rebecca is the wife of Alonzo Hoffman, a farmer of this county; and Bessie Blanche remains at the parental home.
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