A Standard History of Sauk County Wisconsin an Authentic Narrative Of
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY 883 schools of the country and the graded schools of Baraboo, and when still a youth was launched upon his career as a tiller of the soil. He has had no desire to change his occupation, as his efforts have been re- warded with success, and at the present time he is the owner of seventy acres of productive land, which shows in its improvements the marks of his good management and constant industry. His son Edward has a similar tract, and the land of both father and son forms a part of the original homestead secured by Seth McGilvra in 1853. Sixty-five years of connection with the agricultural industry have given the men bearing this family name a sure and certain prestige for skilled farming and substantial citizenship, and the confidence placed in them by their fellow citizens has never been betrayed. George B. McGilvra is a gen, eral farmer, and has met with prosperity in his stockraising operations. He has ever held independent opinions in regard to political matters, in that he has refused to allow any party to dictate to him whom to support at election time, his right of franchise being exercised in behalf of the interests of the men whom he personally believes best fitted to hold office. As before noted, he has been a factor in public affairs for some time, having served as township clerk and assessor, and for five years has been a member of the board of supervisors of Greenfield Township, of which body he is now chairman. His record as a public official will stand the most rigid scrutiny and be found to be unblemished by any dishonorable act. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. McGilvra was married March 18, 1874, to Miss Edith Turney, who was born at Baraboo, Wisconsin, August 5, 1855, daughter of Hiram S. and Jeannette Turney, who located at Baraboo in the year of Mrs. McGilvra's birth. Mr. and Mrs. Turney were natives of Connecti- cut, and were married at Watertown in that state October 6, 1840. Fifty years later they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and in 1900 their sixtieth anniversary. Hiram Turney was born at Reading, Connecticut, February 4, 1818, and as a young man mastered the carpenter's trade, at which he was employed for many years. While still a resident of New England he was connected at Thomaston, Con- necticut, with the famous factory of the Seth Thomas Clock Company, and after coming to Wisconsin was for a long time identified with the Ryan Chair Factory. Both he and Mrs. Turney were faithful mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was class leader and leader of the choir. He died at Baraboo, July 30, 1905, while Mrs. Turney passed away February 4, 1912, on her ninety-first birthday. Their children were: Amelia, Amanda, Henry, Charles, Egbert and Edith. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McGilvra, as follows: Clarence, of Portland, Oregon, who married Jennie Dickin- son and has four children, Hugh, Franes, Robert and Ralph; Arthur, of Sioux City, Iowa, who married Hattie Hulsebos and has five children, Annetta, Edith, Raymond, Harold and Arthur; Edward, the owner of seventy acres of the old homestead, who married Mabel Congdon, and has three children, Ruth, George and Donald; Bessie, who is the wife of William Griffith, of Draper, South Dakota, and has one child, Ethel; Ethel, who is the wife of Prof. Adolph Meyer, of Saint Paul, Minne- 884 HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY sota, a civil engineer by, profession and an instructor in the University 'of Minnesota, and has three children, Beth, Martha and Caryl; Alice, who was given a thorough course as a trained nurse at Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is now engaged in the practice of her'vocation at South Britain, Connecticut; Miss Jeannette, who resides with her parents; and Ralph, who was educated at the Saint.Paul High School and the University of Wisconsin, at which latter institution he took a four-year agricultural course, and after training at the officers' camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, was commissioned lieutenant, and is now ready to fight for his country in the world war. FRED L. SCHUBRING. Of the younger generation of farmers whose efforts promise to lend vigor and prestige to the future of Baraboo Town- ship mention is due to Fred L. Schubring, who has passed his entire life in this community. Starting his career with no advantages, .either as represented by capital or other aiding influences, he has worked his way to a position among the successful farmers of the township and the owner- ship of a valuable and well-improved property. He was born in Baraboo Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, June.28, 1886, and'is a son of August and Louisa (Schmidt) Schubring. August Schubring was born in Germany and as a young man came to the United States, locating, about 1880, in Sauk County, where he was married to Miss Schmidt, who had also been born in the fatherland, and who came to this country as a girl. They became the parents of two children: Freda and Fred L., and had a happy and comfortable home and seemed on the verge of the achievement of prosperity when the father died in 1887. Three years later Mrs. Schubring was married to Henry Bittrich, who was born in Germany, November 1, 1849, a son of Charles and Mary (Boeke) Bittrich, natives of Germany, where Charles Bittrich died at the age of seventy-two years. Subsequently Mrs. Bittrich came to the United States and took up her residence in the State of Minnesota, where her death occurred in 1910, when she had reached the remarkable age of ninety-six years. She and her husband had a family of nine children, as follows: Fred, who is deceased; Ferdinand; Tina; Herman, deceased; August; Henry; Robert; Julius, deceased; and Albert, a resident of Baraboo. Henry Bittrich was educated in the public schools of Germany, and as a young man entered the Prussian army, with which he fought as a soldier during the war of 1870-1. In 1881 he immigrated to the United States, first stopping in Ohio, where at Sandusky he remained from March to July. In the latter month he came to Sauk County, Wisconsin, where he secured employment at railroading while living at North Freedom. In 1893 he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, when he pur- chased sixty-eight acres of land in Baraboo Township, and through judicious investments has since increased this amount to 188 acres and has made many improvements, including the erection of a set of substan- tial buildings. While he is now retired, his sons being the operators of the land, he continues to reside on the' farm and to supervise its work. Politically he is a republican, and he and his family belong to the Lutheran' Church. Mr. Bittrich was married in Germany to Miss Amelia HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY 885 Klein, who was born in that country and died in North Freedom Town- ship, January 1, 1890. They were the parents of four children, namely: Charles, who is deceased; Augusta, who is the wife of James Heffel, of Baraboo; Alma, the wife of Albert Heffel, of that city; and Mary, who is unmarried. In 1890 Mr. Bittrich married Mrs. Louisa (Schmidt) Sehubring, and they became the parents of three children: Ernest and Henry, who operate the home farm; and Martha, who is the wife of Lee Cahoon, son of Wilbur Cahoon, of Baraboo. Fred L. Sehubring was only one year old when his father died, and many of the advantages granted to other boys passed him by in his youth. His educational training was confined to the opportunities to be gained in the country schools, and when he was still a lad he faced the world as a monthly and daily wage-earner and has since made his own way. Possessing traits of industry, determination and ambition, he care- fully saved his earnings, subsequently establishing himself as a renter, and finally, in 1914, was able to become the owner of a farm of his own, in that year buying the Watkins farm in Baraboo Township, a tract of sixty-two acres, on which he has put a great deal of improvements. Three years of occupancy have already individualized the place and have con- verted it into an indicator of the personal traits and characteristics of the owner. To a large extent general farming is carried on, and high grades of livestock are bred. The home is a roomy and comfortable one and the barns and outbuildings are substantial and in good repair. Mr. Sehubring is a stockholder in the Excelsior Creamery Company of Baraboo. He has energy, resource and keen intelligence, which qualities will insure him business success. Politically he is a republican, but not an office seeker, and his religious connection is with the German Lutheran Church. On January 11, 1911, Mr. Sehubring was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Hyer, who was born at Springfield Corners, Dane County, Wis- consin, September 28, 1891, daughter of Walter and Louisa (Beitz) Hyer. To this union there have been born two children: Walter, born November 15, 1911; and Harold, born March 4, 1913. Walter S. Hyer was born at Madison, Wisconsin, December 28, 1857, a son of David R. and Eliza (Hyer) Hyer, who came from Vermont and settled in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, at an early day. The senior Hyer was a hotel keeper at Deerfield for some years, subsequently had a popular hostelry at Madison, and in the fall of 1891 came to Sauk County and settled in Sumpter Township, where he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1897, at the age of eighty-four years.