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
963-964

JOSEPH EDWARDS, farmer, Sec. 9; P.O. Columbus; was
born in Delaware Co., N.Y., in 1804, and made that his
home till 17 years old, then, with his parents, he
removed to Lewis Co., N.Y.; where he followed farming
until 1837; emigrating then to Wisconsin, he located
at Milford, Jefferson Co., on a farm; six years later
(June 1843), he entered a farm of 160 acres in Secs.
4, 9 and 17, in the town of Columbus, Columbia Co., he
being the second man to make a land entry in this part
of the town; he moved his family up from Milford, Jan.
18, 1844, and has since made it his home; he now has a
farm of 280 acres.  Mr. EDWARDS distinctly remembers
of being summoned as a juror at Portage, in an early
day, when, upon the calling of the court, the docket
showed not a single case for trial; his home was used
for the church and schoolhouse for more than a year
after his settlement there; the first minister to hold
service there was the Rev. M. JONES of the M. E.
Church.  Mr. EDWARDS was married in 1824 to Miss Maria
BILL, of Delhi, Delaware Co., N.Y.; their children are
Mariette, now the wife of S. S. LOVELESS, and lives in
Clark Co., Wis.; Olney, now in the city of Oconto,
Wis.; James J., Norfolk, Monroe Co., Wis.; Eliza, at
home; Lorilla, now Mrs. BENNETT, of Ludington, Mich.;
Antha, now Mrs. C. S. McKINZIE, of Oconto, Wis.;
Maria, now Mrs. George BUTTERFIELD, lives in Oconto,
Wis.; Joseph, Jr., now living at Waupun; Theron, at
home on the farm.  Mr. and Mrs. EDWARDS are members of
the M. E. Church.

Page 964

JOHN A. ERHART, manufacturer and dealer in harness,
etc., Columbus; was born in Saxony, Sept. 1, 1834.
His father, John R. ERHART, was born there in 1805,
and died when John A. was only 4 years old; his
mother, Louisa ERHART, was also a native of Saxony,
born 1808, and after the death of his father, she
married Ferdinand BAERHOLDT, and with him emigrated to
Columbus, Wis., in 1856, where they now live.  Mr.
ERHART began a three-years apprenticeship at the
harness trade when 15 years old; in 1853, he emigrated
to America and followed his trade in Milwaukee for a
year; in 1854, he went to Fox Lake, Dodge Co., Wis.,
where he worked two years in a shop for J. R. DECKER;
in the spring of 1856 he, with a partner, bought Mr.
HOSMER's harness-shop at Beaver Dam, and conducted the
business there till the following fall, when he came
to Columbus, and in co-partnership wtih Edward VEDDER,
carried on the trade two and one-half years; he then
bought out Mr. VEDDER, and has since carried on the
business alone.  Mr. ERHART was one of the Town
supervisors before the organization as a city; he was
a member of the Village Board for two terms, and was
elected a member of the City Council in the spring of
1880.  He was married in October 1858, to Miss
Caroline, daughter of Andreas and Margaret LIEBING, a
native of Germany, born 1838, and came to Columbus,
Wis., in 1853; their children are Annie A., born Sept.
9, 1861; Ida L., born July 17, 1864; Charles A., born
August 4, 1866; Oscar T., born April 20, 1870.  Mr. E.
and family are members of the Lutheran Church; he has
been a member of the Masonic Fraternity since 1859.

ELIJAH FEDERLY, farmer, Sec. 35; P.O. Columbus; was
born in Jefferson Co., N.Y., in 1819; his parents,
Daniel and Margaret FEDERLY, was natives of Herkimer
Co, but removed to Jefferson Co., N.Y., in 1815, where
they afterward died.  Mr. FEDERLY was brought up as a
farmer's son and was educated at the district select
schools of his native county; at the age of 24, he
began the ship-carpenter's trade at Clayton, Jefferson
Co., and continued that most of the time for six or
seven years; he next turned his attention to the
carpenter and joiner's trade, at which he worked much
of his time for a number of years; he came to
Wisconsin in 1848, and located on a farm in the town
of Concord, Jefferson Co., and in the following year,
he removed to the town of York, Dane Co., where he
lived on a farm for fifteen years; in the winter of
1865, he located on his present farm of 180 acres on
Sec. 35, town of Columbus, Columbia Co.  He was
married in 1842 to Miss Sarah M., daughter of Edmund
and Charlotte (DICKERSON) INGALLS, a native of
Vermont, but an emigrant to Jefferson Co., N.Y., with
her parents when young; her parents afterward came to
Wisconsin; both are now deceased.  Mr. and Mrs.
FEDERLY have four children - Charles M., who enlisted
in October 1861 in Co. B, 16th W.V.I., under Col.
ALLEN, of Madison; was taken sick, was brought home,
and died Jan. 11, 1863; Charlotte M. (now the wife of
F. W. OATMAN, and lives in Jefferson Co., N.Y.),
Albert E. and Sarah C., at home.  They are members of
the M. E. Church.

JOHN FICK, farmer, Sec. 22; P.O. Columbus; was born in
Mecklenburg in 1827; he came to America in June 1855,
and located at Watertown, Wis., where he worked on a
farm for six years; he came to the town of Columbus,
Columbia Co., in 1861, bought a farm of 127 acres in
Secs 15 and 22, where he has since lived.  He was
married in 1855 to Miss Dora SCHEIBERS, a native of
Germany; their children are Henry, Frank,, John,
Joseph, and Mary.  They are members of the Lutheran
Church.

Submitted by Carol