GEORGE DEAVOLD APPEL - Biography ==================================================================== 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. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: WISCONSIN BIOGRAPHY INDEX http://www.rootsweb.com/~wibiog/ 2002 ==================================================================== Commemorative and Biographical Record of Columbia, Sauk and Adams Counties, WI. Chicago: Ogle, 1901, p 477-479 GEORGE DEAVOLD APPEL is a prominent farmer of Sauk County, WI, now living retired near Reedsburg. Although born [p 478] on the other side of the Atlantic, he is thoroughly American in thought and feeling, and that he is patriotic and sincere in his love for the stars and stripes was manifest by his service in the Union army during the Civil war. He was born near Strasburg, Bavaria, Germany, 29 Mar 1841, a son of Deavold and Maria Elizabeth (FOURE) APPEL. The father was also born near the same place and was drowned in the Rhine in 1848. For 30 years or more he served in the French army, being an officer part of the time, and he was with Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, where he was shot through both legs. After his recovery he was employed as drill master, etc., in Italy and elsewhere. The paternal grandfather of our subject also served as an officer in the French army most of his life. The mother was born in France, just across the Rhine from Strasburg, Germany, and was a daughter of a farmer. She came to the United States in 1849, and died the same year in PA, at the age of 66 years. George D. APPEL, of this review, is the youngest in a family of ten children, two of whom were drowned in Germany, but the others all came to America. He was in his ninth year when the family crossed the ocean and took up residence in Lycoming County, PA, where he continued to reside until after the opening of the Civil war. In Oct 1862 he offered his services to his adopted country, enlisting in Company K, 17th WI Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the department of the Mississippi, under command, first, of General McPherson and later, of General Blair, of the 17th Army Corps. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg and was with Sherman on his Atlantic campaign. After the capture of Atlanta he was on detached duty guarding a wagon train from Huntsville to Atlanta, and in a skirmish with Confederate cavalry about 20 miles from the latter city, he was knocked from a wagon by a bursting shell and the wagon passed over his body. He was first sent to the hospital at Louisville, KY; later to New Albany and Evansville, IN; was next transferred to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, MO; and from there to Madison, WI, where he was finally discharged on account of disability in Mar 1865. He has never fully recovered from his injuries, which still occasion him considerable suffering. In the fall of 1868 Mr. APPEL settled on a farm in Washington Township, Sauk County, where he successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until the fall of 1892, when he rented the place and has since lived retired from active labor in the suburbs of Reedsburg. He was a thorough and systematic farmer and prosperity crowned his well directed efforts. On 21 Apr 1866 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. APPEL and Miss Miranda GROVER, who was born in Cardington, Morrow County, OH, though then a part of Delaware County, and came to Sauk County, WI, in 1861. Of the three children born of this union, one died in childhood. Those living are Ulysses S., who is now engaged in farming on the homestead in Washington Township. He married Lucy SUTTON, who died at the birth of their first child in 1891. He again married in 1895, his second wife being Miss Pearl STROUD. They have two children, Florence Lucile and George Irving; and Florence N., living with her parents. Mrs. APPEL's parents were William and Maria GROVER, and the father, who was a farmer and shoemaker by occupation, died in Morrow County, OH. Later the mother came to WI, and passed away in Ironton Township, Sauk County, in Dec 1872, at the age of 52 years. Her grandfather, John ROBINSON, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, came to this country in colonial days and fought for American independence in the Revolutionary war. He died at Pompey [Onondaga County], NY, when nearly 88 years of age. His father participated in the troubles between England and Scotland. While a young man he has been a fellow student of one of the officers of the British army, and as a token of their personal friendship they exchanged rings. This officer commanded an expedition sent to capture him, but he escaped by climbing from the window into a treetop nearby, and his family were spared upon exhibiting the ring. Mrs. APPEL and her daughter are earnest members of the Presbyterian church, and the latter is connected with the Daughters of the Revolution. Socially our subject holds membership in the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar Mason; also belongs to the Knights of Malta and the G. A. R.; and for some years was also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Most of his life he has affiliated with the Republican party, but of recent years he has voted independently. He has been called upon to fill numerous township offices of honor and trust, and as justice of the peace usually succeeded in prevailing upon litigants to settle their differences without recourse to law. In this way he lost many a fee, but gained what is far more valuable, the friendship and esteem of his fellow citizens.