BIOGRAPHIES:  William Edgar VAN BRUNT, Colfax, Dunn Co., WI

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Submitted by:  Dan Dietsche <ddietsche@interlaken.com>  10 January 2005
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William Edgar Van Brunt, who has  been established for some ten or
11 years in the village of Colfax as a stock buyer, and is a
prominent citizen of this place, was born in the town of Maxwell,
Buffalo County, Wis., July 30, 1862, son of  C. C. and Zillah (Van
Gelter) Van Brunt. The father was a native of New York State and the
mother of New Jersey. They were married in the East and came west in
1857 settling at once in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, where they
resided until 1897. Their subsequent home was in Durand, Wis., where
the father died Feb 22, 1912, and the mother on July 30, the same
year. They had but two children, Charles and William. Charles, who
lives in Durand, married Olive J. Wingt, and they have been the
parents of seven children, namely, Edward, Zillah, Annabelle, Philip
(deceased), Cyrus, Richard and Grace. William Edgar Van Brunt
acquired the elements of knowledge in a district school in Buffalo
County, and was a pupil for one year in the River Falls Normal
School. Leaving home in September, 1884, he came to Dunn County and
bought an improved 200acre farm in Section 36, town of Sand Creek,
which he conducted subsequently for 17 years. He then rented it out
and moved to the village of Sand Creek, where he made his home for
nine years, during which time he was engaged in buying stock. It was
in 1913 that he came to Colfax, where he has continued in the same
business up to the present time. He is a stockholder in the Peoples
State Bank of Colfax and in the Farmers' store at Bloomer. He was one
of the organizers of the Colfax Shipping Association, and since 1918
has been its manager. In 1923 this Association shipped 108 carloads
of stock from Colfax. Mr. Van Brunt has also taken a prominent part
in the affairs of local government. For 16 years he was chairman of
the town board of Sand Creek, and therefore a member of the county
board, besides serving four years as school clerk of his district. He
also served three years as supervisor of Colfax. His fraternal
affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of America. On Jan 1, 1884
Mr. Van Brunt was married, at North Branch, Buffalo County, Wis., to
Phoebe Winget, who was born July 19, 1865, daughter of Levi and
Phoebe (Rox) Winget. Her father was a native of Ohio and her mother
of New York State. Married in the East, they came west to Wisconsin
in 1865, settling near North Branch, where Mrs. Phoebe Winget died in
1868. Mr. Winget subsequently married Rebecca Fave , and they resided
on his farm at North Branch until 1888, when they moved to Dunn
County, buying a small farm or tract of land near Knapp, which place
was their home for the remainder of their lives. There Mrs. Winget
died in 1909 and Mr. Winget in 1918. He had six children, five of
whom were by his first wife, namely:  Sarah, who married a Mr. Snyder
and is now a widow residing at Knapp; Olive, wife of Charles Van
Brunt of Durand; Charles, of Durand; Otto, deceased; Phoebe, now Mrs
William E. Van Brunt, and Andrew, who lives in California. The
children of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Van Brunt are also six in number
and are as follows: Edna M., born May 11, 1887, married Robert Pecore
of Barron County, Wis., and has two children, Hazel and Curtis.
Addie, born Sept. 8, 1889, is the wife of Daniel O'Brien of Milwaukee
and has three children, Vernon,  Ellen and Catherine. Fannie, born
July 12,1895, and who mar-ried Glenn Madison, died Jan 16, 1918.
Russell, born July 1, 1899, died July 13, 1903. Roy, born Feb 15,
1903, is now a student in Lawrence College, at Appleton, Wis.  Alta
was born Feb 17, 1908, and is still residing at home.

--Transcribed from the "History of Dunn County Wisconsin, 1925,"
page 610

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