BIOGRAPHIES: Joseph Willar HEFFNER, Barron, Barron County, WI ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Transcribed by Peg Lamkin Edited and submitted by Vic Gulickson 11 March 2002 ==================================================================== Joseph Willard Heffner, farmer and business man, was born in Belle Fontaine, Ohio, Jan. 8, 1860, son of David and Ruth (Shoup) Heffner. He was the second of seven children, the others being: Francis, deceased; William; Margaret, deceased; Minnie; Wingate, and Charles. David Heffner was born in Johnstown, Pa. in 1832, of good old Holland ancestry. He came to Prairie Farm township, this county, in 1874, brought his family here the following year, and in 1878 acquired 80 acres of wild land in Dallas township, which he developed by clearing and erecting a house and other buildings. Joseph Willard Heffner received a common school education in Indiana, walking three miles to a primitive log schoolhouse, in which the desks and seats were of logs, into which stakes had been driven for legs. He came to this county with his parents and shared in their privations and struggles, helping his father in his endeavors to clear a farm in the woods. In 1876 he started work with Knapp, Stout & Co. in the woods, and continued in this employment for a number of winters. In 1882 he bought 80 acres in Dallas township, this county. He moved thereon in 1885, and spent the succeeding years in its development. There the family remained until 1900. In that year, he purchased a farm on the north city limits of Barron. In 1915 he sold the farm, and the family moved into the city. In the meantime, Mr. Heffner had been pursuing a successful business career. In 1893, with Knute Espeseth as partner, he engaged in the agricultural implement business at Dallas, in this county. Two years later he bought his partner's interest, and moved to Barron city, where in 1900 he acquired the hardware stock of Clayton Roberts. In 1905 he erected a block to which he gave the name of the Heffner block, and in 1907 he purchased the adjoining Carpenter Block. Both blocks were destroyed by fire in 1908. The next year, on the site of these two blocks he erected the sightly Heffner Opera House Block, with a front of 134 feet on Third street, and a rear extension of 98 feet on Division street. The building is of concrete construction, with ornamental front. In 1915, Mr. Heffner sold a part of the building together with the privileges of the Opera House, and the hardware and implement business and stock to Anderson & Sons. In 1917 he sold a part of the building to John Borg for a garage. In 1920 he sold the part between the garage and the store to Peterson & Weston, of Two Harbors, Minn. He moved his own business May 1, 1921 to a location the first door west of the First National bank on LaSalle street. He is still engaged in the sale of stoves and furniture. Mr. Heffner is a stockholder in the First National bank of Barron, and his fraternal relations are with the Odd Fellows in the local lodge of which he has been secretary for many years. Mr. Heffner was married June 13, 1884, to Sarah O'Flannigan, daughter of John and Sarah O'Flannigan, of Dallas township. They are the parents of four children, Alice Mae, Francis Willard and Minnie Elvira and Linnie Elmira, twins. Alice Mae was born May 26, 1885, and is the wife of Milo Milliser, who has a farm adjoining the Barron city limits. Francis Willard lives in Barron. He married Goldie Machlan and they have one child, Francis, born in 1914. Minnie Elvira and Linnie Elmira were born April 30, 1894, graduated from the Barron High school, the teachers' training course at the Eau Claire High school, and the Rice Lake training school, and are both teachers. --Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., 1922, pp. 94-95.