Biography: Oscar PECK, Dodge and Juneau Cos., Wisconsin Oscar Peck Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darrell L Peck, USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogy information on the Internet, data may be freely 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 presentation by other organizations." Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must contact the submitter or the listed USGenWeb archivist. I am sending you some of the chapters from a book I wrote about my PECK ancestors several years ago. Each chapter will be in a separate e-mail message. Each chapter is a collection of the info I have about one male ancestor, so it traces him from place to place. I have marked each chapter (thus: ****NAME OF COUNTY****) to make it easier to sort the info by Wisconsin counties. Darrell Peck CHAPTER XI OSCAR PECK Oscar Adelbert Peck was born in Harrisburg, Lewis County, New York, on November 13, 1846, the third of six children. He was only three years old when his family moved to Wisconsin. His father probably had been spending much of each year in Wisconsin even before that. ****DODGE COUNTY**** By the Fall of 1849, the family was living on Oscar's grandfather's 80 acre farm in Dodge County near Beaver Dam. ****JUNEAU cOUNTY**** By early 1851, Oscar's father, Hezekiah Jr., had moved his family to Juneau County, but returned regularly to Dodge County to help Hezekiah Sr. on the latter's farm. On one such visit, Hezekiah Jr. died following an accident, leaving his 38 year old widow, Lucinda, eight months pregnant and with four children ranging in age from 17 to two. Oscar was nine years old. Lucinda and the children probably had a difficult time financially. They are listed in the 1860 census as living in Kildare (post office - Lyndon Station), in Juneau County about 12 miles southeast of Mauston. The census indicates that Oscar, then 13, was still attending school. Although Oscar turned 18 before the Civil War ended, it does not appear that he served in the Army. By 1870, Lucinda, 52, and the five children were living in the Village of Mauston. Her older sister, Hannah Ellis, 63, was living with them. Lucinda's personal estate was listed as $200, and she also owned real estate (their house) worth $800, so they were not too badly off. By this time, Oscar's grandparents had given up their farm near Beaver Dam, and they were living in Mauston, too. On September 8, 1872, Oscar married Henrietta (Etta) Mason. She was born on December 2, 1846. They had seven children: Ethel C. (June 5, 1873); Fred E. (Oct. 18, 1875); Harry L. (Dec. 15, 1877); William E. (Jan. 8 1880); Earl V. (Feb. 10, 1881); Lela M. (Oct. 23, 1883); and Oscar E. (Dec. 14, 1889). Unlike all of his male ancestors in America who had been farmers, it appears that Oscar moved from one occupation to another over the years. According to the 1870 census, two years before he was married, he was a laborer, "working in the woods" according to a family history, probably in logging. By 1880, Oscar, Etta, and the four children then born had moved from Mauston and were living nearby in the Town of Fountain, Juneau County, where Oscar worked as a farmer. Soon after that they must have moved back to Mauston, because Oscar was the custodian at the Juneau County courthouse there "for many years" while Etta was still alive. They purchased a house at 517 Tremont Street which remained in the family for many years. The 1900 census, apparently taken only days before Etta's death, indicates that they owned their house free and clear of any mortgage. Oddly, however, it lists Oscar's occupation as "paperhanger," something not mentioned in any other records. Etta died of tuberculosis on June 4, 1900, at the age of 53. She was buried in the Mason family plot in the Mauston Cemetery. Her inscription, inaccurate as to her date of birth, reads: ETTA PECK Born Dec. 2, 1842 Died June 4, 1900 Not long after Etta's death, Oscar, then in his mid-50s, went to live with his son, Harry, who had a farm near Nekoosa. Around 1913, Oscar moved to Dousman, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, where he resided for several years with his oldest son, Fred, on a farm Fred was operating for Dr. Edwards of Mauston. Around 1919, Oscar returned to Mauston to live with his older sister, Mary Peck Wiggins. He died in her home on Christmas, 1923, at the age of 77. He was buried in the Mauston cemetery, but the grave is not marked and the exact site is uncertain.