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
881-882

FRED G. CASTLE, passenger conductor on the Northern
Division of the C.M. & St P. R.R.; born in Wausau,
Wis., Sept. 2, 1851; his father was for several years
proprietor of the Exchange Hotel at Omro, Wis.  At the
age of 14 years, he left home to seek his fortune, and
spent four years in the pineries, part of the time as
cook and the last portion as lumberman.  When 18, he
began railroading as brakeman on the Northern Division
of the C.M. & St. P. R.R.; after one year's
experience, he was promoted the charge of same train -
the "Winneconne Freight" - which he ran four years;
then for a year, he was an "extra passenger man," and,
in the spring of 1875, he was appointed conductor of a
passenger train on the same road, and he has been in
continuous service to date - summer, 1880.  He was
married, Sept. 5, 1877, to Miss Frankie GOULD, of
Beaver Dam, Wis.; they have one son, named Guy
Wilkinson, born on the 8th of February, 1879.  Mrs.
CASTLE is a member of the Baptist Church at Portage;
she is a graduate of the high school at Lincoln, Neb.;
she is a niece of B. F. TAYLOR, the well-known author
- America's gifted word painter; she herself wields a
ready and graceful pen.  Mr. CASTLE is one of "the
boys" who has hosts of friends; is a genial and
popular conductor; he will be recognized in Portage by
his constant attendant,"Don," the noblest dog in the
city, a pure-blood St. Bernard.

Page 882

MRS. JULIA E. CHRISTOPHER, nee WATERS, was born on the
11th of April 1832, in Massena, St. Lawrence Co.,
N.Y., her early education was in her native town, and
afterward with her brother in Canada; she and her
brother Daniel came West in the fall of 1855, and the
winter following, they together engaged in teaching
the public school in Portage.  In the summer of 1856,
she taught school in District No. 5, township of
Wyocena, and boarded with David REYNOLDS, an old
pioneer.  Eighteen years afterward, 1874, her
stepdaughter, Mary CHRISTOPHER, taught in the
district, same school house, boarded at same house and
in the same family.  In the summer of 1879, her oldest
daughter, Susie E. CHRISTOPHER taught in same
district, in same school house and boarded at the same
house, but the old pioneer, David REYNOLDS, had gone
to his last home.  Mrs. C. taught in Ft. Winnebago
before her marriage.  In 1857 she taught in the First
Ward School, and for the last five years, her
stepdaughter, Mary, has been teaching in the same
building, which has been moved nearer the present
center of business, and now her daughter is teaching
in the same building.  Mrs. CHRISTOPHER is one of a
family of ten children, of whom seven have been
successful teachers in Wisconsin.  She was married on
the 2d of October 1859, to Thomas CHRISTOPHER, of
Portage; they had six children - Susie E., Daniel T.,
who is dead; Daniel J., George M., Julia B., and
Willie J., all of whom live at home.  Her husband was
one of the earliest settlers in Portage - came in
1848; he was a useful and leading citizen, and
contributed largely to the building-up of the city; he
was a liberal Catholic, as is also Mrs. CHRISTOPHER.
He was seven times honored with the office of
Assessor, and on the first Tuesday of April 1872, he
was again elected to that difficult position, but on
the 30th of April - the day before his official duties
were to begin - he passed from earth's toils and
triumphs to the rewards of the righteous.

JOHN TILLOTSON CLARK was born in what was then the
town of Wolcott, now the town of Huron, Wayne Co.,
N.Y., on the 16th of April 1861; he was the son of the
Rev. William CLARK, a Presbyterian clergyman, and
Sophronia TILLOTSON; resided in Huron until 1835 when
he removed with his father to the town of Danby,
Tompkins Co., N.Y.  When 18 years of age he purchased
his time of his father, paying therefore $150.
Naturally a close student, losing no opportunity to
acquire information while in the service of his
father, he now took measures calculated to increase
his facilities for gaining knowledge; his time being
his own, he applied all leisure moments to study,
entering Owego Academy, Tioga Co., and Groton Academy,
Tompkins Co., for brief terms during the winter
season, and laboring in the harvest field during
summer in order that he might earn the price of his
tuition; in September 1843 he entered Hamilton
College, where he graduated in 1845; in the fall of
that year, he went to Camden, Oneida Co., N.Y., and
taught a private school until July 5, 1848; during the
latter part of this time, he studied law out of school
hours; from Camden he went to Lyons, N.Y., and was
there engaged as Principal of the Lyons Union School
for three years; in the mean time he continued his
study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in
September 1850, in Rochester.  He was married at
Lyons, N.Y., on the 24th of September 1851, to Harriet
Louise HOLLEY, daughter of John M. HOLLEY, M.C.  In
April 1853, he commenced practicing law with his
eldest brother, William CLARK, with whom he had
studied; in September of that year he removed to New
Brunswick, N.Y., and soon took charge as Principal, of
the public school, remaining there until the spring of
1857, when he came to Wisconsin, locating at Portage,
and engaging in the practice of his profession.  In
the spring of 1861, he was elected County Judge of
Columbia Co., serving until the 1st of January 1866;
in the fall of this year, he was chosen District
Attorney, and held that office two years; in 1870 he
retired to his farm in the town of Roxbury, Dane Co.,
Wis., where he lived with his family until the fall of
1875, removing to the city of Madison, that his
children might enjoy the advantages of the State
University.  In February 1878, he purchased of the
Messrs. BRANNAN & TURNER, the Wisconsin State
Register, soon afterward admitting B. F. GOODELL as
partner, and removing his family from the State
capital in July 1879; Judge CLARK has sole control of
the editorial columns of the Register.  Seven children
have been born to Judge and Mrs. CLARK - Mary Holley,
born in Lyons, N.Y.; Elizabeth Sophronia, and John
Tillotson (died Nov. 19, 1863), born in New Brunswick,
NY.; Helen Louise, Julia Kirkland, Sarah Amelia and
William Henry, born in Portage.

Submitted by Carol