Biographies from The History of Columbia County,
Wisconsin, 1880 


Contributed by Carol carolann612@charter.net
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm


From The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin, 1880,
publ. by Western Historical Company, Chicago, Page
878-879

ERNEST BOTHIN, retired carpenter and joiner; born in
Germany on the 27th of September, 1811; came to the
United States in 1852, and stopped two years in Ohio,
and then, in the spring of 1855, settled in this city,
where he now lives.  Soon after coming into Columbia
Co., he bought a farm of 220 acres in Lewiston
Township, which he carried on till 1877, when he sold
the farm and returned to city life.  Was married, in
1835, to Miss Rozena LAVERANZ in Germany; have six
children - Ottella, Amelia, Emma, Minnie, Julius,
Henry; has buried two children; the daughters are
married.  Himself and wife are members of the
Evangelical Church, of which he is a class leader, and
to whose welfare he is devoted.  He has retired from
active life, and is enjoying the fruit of industry and
economy; lives in the fine brick house on Cook street;
also rents another house near the depot, and owns
other real estate in the city.

MRS. SAMUEL S. BRANNAN was born in Georgia, Franklin
Co., Vt., on the 24th of April 1837; she is the
daughter of Joseph and Rhoda M. PRENTISS; she came
West in 1856, and made her home with her brother,
Judge G. C. PRENTISS, then of Portage, now of La
Crosse, Wis.  On the 27th of August, 1861, she was
married to her late husband, Samuel S. BRANNAN, whose
extended biography appears in this volume, with others
of the illustrious dead of the county; her children -
S. Prentice, born June 2, 1862; William R., Feb. 24,
1864; Lucy C., known as "Kittie," Aug. 5, 1865, and
Jackson T. BRANNAN, Oct. 24, 1868.  Her husband's
mother, aged 75, widow of William BRANNAN, formerly of
this city, resides with the family, and is still
active and vigorous.  One son, Willie, is Assistant in
the post office at Portage; and the other, S.
Prentiss, is mail agent on the Madison & Portage
Railway.

L. L. BREESE was born May 13, 1833, at Abermyuack, in
the parish of Malwyd, Merionethshire, North Wales; he
is the son of Edward and Mary BREESE; he immigrated
with his parents to this country in the month of May,
1846, and settled in the town of Randolph, this
county; his education was academic; up to the age of
25 he was engaged most of the time with his parents in
cultivating the farm.  In the fall of 1858, owing to
impaired health, he accepted the position of Deputy
Sheriff of Columbia Co, hoping thereby to improve his
health and extend his knowledge of business and the
circle of his acquaintance.  Previous to this, he held
the office of School District Clerk, Town Supervisor,
Justice of the Peace, and Town treasurer.  In the fall
of 1860 he received from the Republican County
Convention the nomination for County Treasurer, and
was elected the following November.  He held this
position for three consecutive terms, in all six
years, having no competitor for the office, except in
the first instance.  In January 1867, at the close of
his third term as Treasurer, he entered as a partner
the dry-goods firm of N. H. WOOD & Co., the firm being
composed of N. H. WOOD, R. O. LOOMIS, C. R. GALLETT,
and himself.  This connection was continued until
1869, when Mr. WOOD disposed of his interest to the
other partners, and retired from the firm, which
thereafter stood and was styled LOOMIS, GALLETT &
BREESE.  In the summer of 1869, at the urgent
solicitation of friends, he became a candidate for the
office of State Treasurer at the State Convention held
that fall.  On the first informal ballot, he received
a plurality of votes, but, owing to local
combinations, the nomination fell to his competitor.
In about a month after this convention, the nominee
for Secretary of State, resigning his position upon
the ticket, made it necessary for the State Central
Committee to fill the vacancy by appointment.  Without
solicitation on his part, or even knowledge of the
vacancy, the committee tendered him the nomination for
that place, communicating their action by telegraph.
Had it not been for the persistent entreaty of a few
intimate friends, the appointment would have been
declined.  He was elected the following November.
Under the organization of the State Government of
Wisconsin, the office of Secretary of State is by far
the most important of the state offices; besides
involving the duties of Secretary of State proper,
this officer is also ex-officio Auditor of State, and
School Land Commissioner, and also ex-officio
Commissioner of Insurance.  In May 1870, he
represented Wisconsin as Commissioner of Insurance at
the National Insurance Convention held in the city of
New York.  This convention was composed of those
officers in the different States who had charge of the
different departments therein.  He was elected Vice
President of the convention for the term of one year;
re-elected the second year, and elected President the
third, and presided at its fourth annual session.
After the expiration of his second term as Secretary
of State, he returned to Portage and resumed his
former occupation as merchant.  In addition to this,
he also held the positions of President of the City
Bank of Portage, President of the Portage Iron Works
and President of the Board of Education.  He has been
engaged in farming more or less extensively throughout
his life.  Religiously he is a member and Elder of the
Presbyterian Church, professing Christianity at the
age of 14 years.  He is an active worker in the church
and Sunday school.  Mr. BREESE was married June 9,
1853, to Miss Mary E. EVANS, of Milwaukee by whom he
has had six children, three boys and three girls, one
of the latter dying in infancy.

Submitted by Carol