Wisconsin Genealogy – Free Wisconsin Genealogy

With the public interests of Racine and the County J. W. Trumbull has been closely associated through his business connections and in other ways. He was born in Caledonia Township, this County, December 1, 1872, a son of John and Emily (Hazelton) Trumbull, who were natives of Mansfield, Connecticut, and of Vermont, respectively. They were married in Racine in 1865. The father was at that time forty-nine years of age, his birth having occurred in 1816. He had come to this County in 1839 when Wisconsin was still under territorial rule. The city of Racine was then but a small…

William Henry Miller was born in Racine, on the 2d of November, 1847. and is a son of Moses and Frances Augusta (Durand) Miller, natives of New Jersey and Connecticut, respectively. The father arrived in Wisconsin about 1844 and was a wholesale merchant of Racine for a number of years prior to the building of railroads to this city. His goods were distributed by four-horse peddling wagons to stores all over the southern part of the state. Later in life he engaged in the insurance business. His influence was always on the side of right and improvement and the many…

John Storm, who is successfully engaged in farming and dairying on section 28, Norway Township, is a native of Wisconsin, his birth occurring in Milwaukee on the 13th of July, 1857. His parents, Frederick and Christina Storm, were both natives of Germany, the former born in 1816 and the latter in 1836. Coming to the new world in early life, they were married in Milwaukee, where they made their home for a time. When a young man the father cut cordwood during the winter months at twenty-eight cents a cord and during the summer season worked in a brickyard. Subsequently…

Prominent among the enterprising, progressive and prosperous business men of Racine is George Gorton, who in 1892 embarked in his present line of business-the manufacture of fine machine tools and engraving machines. The work done in his establishment is of expert character and the excellence of the product insures a ready sale on the market. Mr. Gorton, a native of Racine, was born February 5, 1865, a son of George and Elizabeth (Buffham) Gorton, both of whom were natives of Rochdale, England. The father, who was born in 1825, became a resident of Southport, now Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1845, and…

William Dwight Thompson, senior partner in the firm of Thompson, Meyers & Kearney, engaged in the general practice of law at Racine, was born at Memphis, Tennessee, November 7, 1867, a son of Seymour D. and Lucy Augusta (Jennison) Thompson. The former was born in Northfield Township, Cook County, Illinois, and was a son of Seymour Thompson of New York State, who became an Illinois pioneer. The ancestry on both sides dates back to about 1640, when representatives of both families emigrated from England, and members of both families served in the Revolutionary war. In the early ’50s there occurred…

B. H. Meyers, president and treasurer of the B. H. Meyers Company, has the oldest and largest business in monument and tile work in Racine, the steady development of his trade bringing him a substantial income which places him among the representative business men of the city and one whose interests contribute to public prosperity as well as to individual success. He was born in McHenry, Illinois, a son of Theodore and Susan Meyers, both of whom were natives of Germany. After coming to the new world they remained residents of Illinois until called to their final rest. B. H.…

Joseph Miller was long numbered among the substantial and valued citizens that Germany furnished to Racine. The consensus of public opinion established his position as one of the foremost citizens here. He early became imbued with the spirit of American enterprise and progress and a laudable ambition prompted his steady progress in business circles. His activities became an important force in Racine’s upbuilding and his record constituted an example well worthy of emulation, showing what could be accomplished through determined and persistent effort intelligently directed. Mr. Miller was born on the 8th of August, 1832, in Niederzer, Rhenish Prussia, his…

David H. Flett, attorney at law, was born at Kirkwell, Scotland, September 12, 1846, and came with his parents to Kenosha County, Wisconsin, in September, 1855. His early education was acquired in the district schools, after which he attended the Racine high school for two terms, and in 1875 he was graduated at the Oberlin (Ohio) College, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. That same year he was elected superintendent of schools for Kenosha County and held the office until 1877. He was then principle of the high school at Elkhorn, Wisconsin, until 1879, and in 1880 graduated in…

Sands M. Hart, son of John S. Hart, mentioned elsewhere, was sixty-three years of age at the time of his demise. He was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, April 15, 1852, and was but a small boy when he came with his parents to Racine, at which time the family home was established upon a farm in the town of Mount Pleasant, on what is now known as the Rapids drive. After attending the district schools and later the public and high schools of Racine he continued his education in the Hillsdale (Mich.) College, from which he was graduated with high…

In the language of the people, Charles H. Everett is a thinker and a worker, and these qualities have made him a leader. Perhaps no man in Wisconsin has exerted a more widely felt and beneficial influence on the agricultural development of the state. He was born in Rock County, Wisconsin, March 22. 1855, a son of Milton Josiah and Mary E. (Ross) Everett, both of whom were natives of New York and have now passed away. They became residents of Wisconsin in 1840 and here the father followed the occupation of farming. C. H. Everett acquired a public school…

There are few cities which owe their existence to a single manufacturing or industrial enterprise but rather to the aggregation of many business interests. Yet among these there are always some that stand out prominently as most potent factors in the commercial growth and prosperity of the community. Such a place in Racine circles is that occupied by the Harvey Spring Company, of which William J. Harvey is the president and whose well defined efforts have been a most potent force in bringing about the development and consequent success of the concern of which he is now the directing head.…

The student of history cannot carry his investigations far into the records of Racine’s industrial and commercial development without learning that the Miller family has played an important part in shaping the record along that line. George W. Miller is now treasurer of the J. Miller Company, shoe manufacturers, having one of the important concerns of this kind in the state. He was born in Racine, July 12, 1866, a son of Joseph Miller, founder and promoter of the business, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. He attended the McMynn Academy after mastering the elementary branches of learning taught…