PART 12 : History of Outagamie County Wisconsin, in PDF Format

HISTORY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY 1111 and came to America in 1848, locating in Waukesha county, on a farm, on which they lived until 1862 or 1863, at which time they sold out and moved to Neenah, Wisconsin, near which place Mr. Heller purchased a farm. Here they lived until the latter years of their lives when they moved to the city of Neenah. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom Henry S. was the seventh born. He attended the public and Catholic schools at Neenah, and when only nine years of age he conimenced working in the Neenah Stove Factory for a Mr. Brown. When he was fifteen years of age he left home and started out to make his own way in the world, his first employment being shingle making, and later he spent several years in the lumber camps. Later he became cook in the large camps of the Wisconsin woods, was employed in the same capacity on the lake steamers, and eventually became chef in the Vivian Hotel at Antigo, Wisconsin. He followed farming during the summer months and working as a cook during the winters for about twenty-five years, and in 1884 bought a farm near Antigo, which he cleared and improved. After living thereon for a long period, Mr. Heller took a trip through Canada and the Western States, including Texas and New Mexico, but not being able to secure a suitable location, he returned to Wisconsin and bought his present farm of thirty acres in Greenville township, Outagamie county, where he has since carried on general farming and dairying. Mr. Heller is a member of the Roman Catholic church at Appleton, and in political matters is a democrat. He has served on the township board, and while residing at Antigo was assessor for several years. On July 4, 1883, he was married to Josephine Fellio, born at Appleton, Wisconsin, April 29. 1862, daughter of John and Bertha ( -- ) Fellio, the former a native of Canada of French descent, and the latter of Mr. Fellio was a very early settler of Outagamie county, owned land near Sherwood, Wisconsin, and later at Seymour, and eventually moved to Appleton, where he now resides. He is a mason by trade. and a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served as a member of a Wisconsin regiment. Mrs. Heller was the fourth child of her parents' family of seven. She and Mr. Heller have had nine children; Laura, the wife of Louis Tesendorf, of Antigo, Wisconsin: Arthur, residing in Portland, Oregon; Lottie, the wife of James Chirff, a farmer of Antigo, Wisconsin; Pearl, Florence, and Helen, who are single and reside at home; and three children who died in infancy. CARLOS M. BRAINERD, one of Outagamie's old and honored citizens, now living retired in the city of Appleton, is a member of a family that has been noted in military circles for three generations. his grandfather having been a Revolutionary soldier, his father a soldier in the War of 1812, and he himself a veteran of the great Civil War, through which he served with faithfulness and bravery. admirably sustaining the record of this old and respected family. Mr. Brainerd was born January 17, 1838, in Lewis county, New York, and is a son of Asher and Clarissa (Palmer) Brainerd, the 1112 HISTORY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York. The Brainerd family came from England in 1669 and settled in New England, from whence members enlisted in the Revolutionary War. Asher Brainerd, who was a brother of the Rev. Thomas Brainerd of Philadelphia, went as a young man from Connecticut to New York, was there married, and spent the remainder of his life in the Em- pire State. Later his widow came to Wisconsin, where her death occurred. They were the parents of fifteen children, of whom twelve grew to maturity. Carlos M. Brainerd received his early education in the public schools of New York, later attending Glens Falls Acad- emy, and he was engaged in farming at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. In May, 1862, he enlisted in the 118th New York Volunteers, with which organization he served until the close of the war, and at the time of his discharge had attained the rank of ser- geant. He served his country faithfully, and endured imprisonment for four months during his service. In the fall of 1865 he came to Outagamie county, Wisconsin, locating in Black Creek township at a time when there were but five voters here, and taking up wild land. This he cleared and devoted to farming and stockraising, and at the time of his retirement was the owner of 160 acres of finely improved land. In 1890 he sold his farm and moved to Appleton, where he has since resided. Mr. Brainerd has taken an active part in the de- velopment of this part of the state, and his fellow-townsmen have expressed their appreciation of his worth as a citizen by electing him to every office in the township, in all of which he has served faithfully and capably. From 1874 he served continuously for seven years as chairman of the township board, and during his incumbency of that office many beneficent innovations were introduced that meant for the welfare of the township in both industrial and agricultural ways. He is independent in his political views, with republican tendencies. He is a popular comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Brainerd was married (first) to' Frances A. Seelye, of New York, who died in 1888, and he then married his first wife's sister, Mrs. Cynthia Stray, whose death occurred May 25, 1907. He has three children: Mrs. Sasslnan and Mrs. Granely, twins, and Elwin, a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota. CoRNELIUS VAN OUDENHOVEN, who in addition to being the owner and operator of a fine forty-acre farm in Grand Chute township, is extensively engaged in the manufacture of cheese, was born in what is now Vandenbroek (then Kaukauna) township, Outagamie county, Wisconsin, March 4, 1863, a son of Theodore and Mary (Van Hammond) Van Oudenhoven. Theodore Van Oudenhoven was born in Holland in 1815, and came to the United States in 1849, and his wife was born in"the same country May 30, 1834, and emigrated to this country in 1851. The father located first at Detroit, Michi- gain, but after a short time removed to the copper fields, where he remained about one year, after which he came to Outagamie county and purchased a farm in Kaukauna township, on which he con- HISTORY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY 1113 tinued to operate until his death, December 20, 1890. His widow survived himl until March 3, 1907. Cornelius Van Oudenhoven was the sixth child of his parents' family of fourteen, and his education was secured in school district No. 8, Kaukauna township. He was married June 6, 1894, to Anna Janssen, who was born in that township, June 4, 1873, daughter of John and Mary (Nussbaum) Janssen, the former born in Holland, September 22, 1844, and the latter in Germany, May 25, 1843. Mr. Janssen came to America in 1844, with his parents, the family settling in Awhat was then Kau- kauna township, and he grew to maturity on a farm in that locality. Later he himself became a landowner in Kaukauna township, and engaged in farming there until 1898, when he settled on a little tract of seven acres, which was his home until 1910. He then removed to Little Chute, and is now living retired in that village. Mr. Van Oudenhoven worked on the home farm with his father until he had reached his twenty-sixth year, when he went to the state of Oregon, working there as a farm hand for two years and then returning to the home farm for a like period. At this time he was married and rented a part of the old homestead, later buying his present property of forty acres, a part of which was his father's at one time. He operates this in a scientific way and makes a specialty of dairy farming. In 1906 Mr. Van Oudenhoven built a cheese factory with a capacity of 10,000 pounds of milk, and he received generally six or seven thou- sand pounds daily, manufacturing a high grade of American cheese. which he markets in Appleton on the dairy board. His factory is equipped with the most modern appliances and his special brands are "TAwins"' "Langham" and "Young America," making what the market seems to need. Mr. Van Oudenhoven is an expert in his line, and his product meets with a ready sale. Mr. and Mrs. Van Oudenhoven have had nine children, born as follows: Marv. born May 26, 1895; Theodore, July 9, 1896; Katharine, April 21, 1898; Anthony, March 26, 1899; Minnie, November 9, 1901; Anna, August 23, 1903; Rosella, April 17, 1905; George, Septeember 9, 1906; Christina, December 25, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Van Oudenhoven are members of the Little Chute Roman Catholic Church. He is a democrat in politics, and has served two years as assessor. FRANK F. TRETTIEN, who during the past twenty-five years has been identified with the farming interests of Ellington township, Outagamie county, is a native of this township, and was born on the farm which he now operates, July 19, 1861, a son of Christian Fred and Caroline (Schutter) Trettien. Christian Fred Trettien was born in Germany, and came to the United States when a young man, settling first in the State of New York, where he purchased land and lived for five years.

Load more