DAVID MYERS History of Sauk County DAVID MYERS. The distinction of being the oldest man, not only in point of residence, but also in point of age, in Sauk County, is enjoyed by the venerable David Myers of Prairie du Sac. It is now more than ninety-five years since David Myers first saw the light of day. James Monroe was president of the United States when he was born. There was not a mile of railway in the United States, the Erie Canal had not been opened to traffic, and he was a grown man before the marvelous invention of telegraphy was put to practical use. Probably no one in the State of Wisconsin can better appreciate the marvels of the present age than Mr. Myers, who has his personal recollections of the crude times and facilities in the early part of the last century to sharpen the contrast. It was more than seventy years ago that David Myers first made the acquaintance of Sauk County, and here, too, he has witnessed a trans- formation almost beyond belief. He was born in Otsego County, New York, January 10, 1822, a son of Cornelius and Penny (Clark) Myers, his father a native of New Jersey and his mother of New York. David Myers ,was reared and educated in the East and came West to Madison, Wisconsin, with his father in 1844. For two years he worked as a blacksmith at Madison, and in 1845 came to Prairie du Sac in Sauk County. Here he resumed blacksmithing, and in those early days one of the things most demanded of him was the mak- ing or repairing of plows. He handled plows when the old-fashioned wooden moldboard was still a prominent feature. He became widely known as an expert horseshoer. He set a record of making a hundred shoes in a single day, and also of taking off and resetting a hundred shoes on horses. In those times he would be paid a dollar a team for shoeing. Blacksmithing was Mr. Myers' regular vocation and work until twelve years ago. He was more than four score years old when he did his last work in that line. He finally sold his shop to Chris Platts, and in later years has found employment for his leisure in looking after his present little town farm of two acres in the northwest section of Prairie du Sac. He has found both pleasure and profit in raising a crop of tobacco on his land. Mr. Myers has always been extremely fond of horses, skillful in man- aging them, and has owned some of the best examples of horse flesh ever seen in this part of the state. At different times. he owned eleven fine stallions. He bought them at high prices, securing a number from New London, Canada, and some in Michigan and in other places. He bought 569 570 HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY a fine horse named Tempest at New London, Canada, which set the county record for speed at Baraboo. IHe also! bought a horse known as Nigert in Michigan, and it was recognized as one of the best horses in America, being of black and tan color. Mr. Myers won a number of first prizes on his horses in races and exhibitions. In 1848 he married Miss Esther Hatch. Six children were born to them. Cornelius, who lives in California, married Sarah Barl. Elihu married for his first wife, E. C. Bush, and for his second wife, Alice Thornhaus; and Elihu is a carpenter by trade and has three children. John is a mason by trade and is still unmarried. Hattie married Bert Hannaman and lives at Beloit. Mary is the wife of Fred Johnson and makes her home in California. Frank is unmarried and lives in Prairie du Sac. Mr. Myers lost his first wife in 1892, after they had been partners for forty-four years. He married for his second wife Anna Brugger, who was born in Switzerland. She first came to America in 1888, but subse- quently went back to her native land and remained there until 1891, when she came to America and soon afterward married Mr. Myers. Mrs. Myers is an artist at needle work and has taken many prizes at county fairs on her bed covers, petticoats, stockings and table spreads.. When most of Wisconsin was still a wilderness Mr. Myers found a great delight in spending a large part of the winter hunting. He was as accurate and skillful a Nimrod as he was in his trade. In one day during the year 1860 he shot twenty-one deer. As a hunting exploit that stands out all the more remarkable when it is remembered that he did the execution with a muzzle-loading gun. This trusty hunting piece was made by a man named Clark Herford at Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Myers also had his share of Indian adventure when Wisconsin's woods were filled with Indians as well as wild game. The Indians would frequently steal part of the game he shot, and that usually caused some trouble until Mr. Myers had shown the red men his determination and ability to stand by his rights. Mr. Myers has been a democrat and cast his.first vote back in the days when James K. Polk was President and about the time the Mexican war started. However, he has usually exercised his franchise for the best man in local affairs. He is himself of a Methodist family, while his first wife was a Baptist and the present Mrs. Myers belongs to the Reformed Church. WALWORTH DELAVAN PORTER. A life long resident of Wisconsin and one who has witnessed and taken part in the development of the southern part of the state, Walworth Delavan Porter is now living in retirement at Baraboo, where he is one of his community's best known citizens. He is a veteran of the Civil war and for some years was engaged in business at Baraboo, in addition to which he spent a long period in the pursuits of the soil, and now, in his seventy-eighth year, is in the enjoyment of those comforts which are attained through a lifetime of industry and well-directed effort. Mr. Porter was one of the first white children born in Walworth County, Wisconsin, his natal day being June 11, 1839. His father was HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY 571 Samuel Lyman Porter, born at Staten Island, New York, July 4, 1800, and his mother, Permelia (Clark) Porter, born at Monmouth, New Jer- sey, March 7, 1805. They were married in the East, and during the '30s came to Wisconsin, taking up their residence in Walworth County, at that time practically a wilderness. They were shortly followed by two of Mr. Porter's brothers, Henry and Selah Porter, each of whom took up a farm in Walworth County and passed the remainder of their lives there. Samuel L. Porter was a carpenter by trade and had followed that vocation while in New York, but on his arrival in Wisconsin took up the occupation of farming on 160 acres of land in LaGrange and Wal- worth counties. There he continued to, be similarly engaged until 1850, when he came to Sauk County, and in the following year bought six building lots at Baraboo. At this city he resumed his trade, and during the years that followed built many of the leading residences and frame store buildings erected here. He also made several trips to other states, engaged in carrying on his trade, and was in Mississippi when the Civil war broke out, subsequently experiencing some difficulty in reaching the North. While a stanch supporter of the Union, he was past the military age and was not called upon for duty, but always, by word and action, upheld the cause of the North.. He and Mrs. Porter were faithful mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church and in that faith he died in December, 1889, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. L. C. Stanley at Chip- pewa Falls. In politics a republican, while a resident of Walworth County he held several political offices. His fraternal connection was with the Masons. Mrs. Porter died in 1890, the mother of six children: Charles Wesley, Samuel Nelson, Cornelia Ann, Walworth Delavan, Albert Bartlett and Melvin S., all being deceased except Walworth D. and Albert B. Walworth Delavan Porter received good educational advantages in his youth, attending the early schools of Walworth County, the public school at Baraboo and the old Baraboo Institute, and when his education was completed he entered upon his career as clerk in a store in this city. He later invested his earnings in a. small farm, which he cultivated during the period when hops was a leading Wisconsin crop, but his home from boyhood has always been located at Baraboo. He is the owner of one of the best brick residences of the city, built by him in 1912 at No. 220 Eighth Street, in addition to which he owns six lots and three buildings which he rents. During his later years he was for a time engaged in real estate transactions, but for the past several years he has been retired from active pursuits, although still active in body and alert in mind. Politically Mr. Porter is a republican, but public life has never held out any particular attractions to him. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Third Wisconsin Cavalry, a command with which he served for three years during the Civil war, establishing a good record for faithfulness and bravery in action.