Outagamie County, WI - Biography of Philip Dempsey of Bear Creek

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Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives
SUBJECT: Biography of Philip Dempsey of Bear Creek
SUBMITTER: Janice Marasch     
EMAIL: jmmarasch@aol.com
DATE SUBMITTED: 04 Apr 2000
SURNAMES: DEMPSEY
SOURCE: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown,
Outagamie and Winnebago, J.H. Beers & Co, p. 882, 1895


BIOGRAPHY:

PHILIP DEMPSEY, farmer of Deer Creek township, and postmaster at Bear Creek, Outagamie
county, is the son of Martin and Mary (Doran) Dempsey, natives of Ireland, who immigrated at
an early date to America, locating in Dodge county, Wis., where the father made an
unpretentious home for his family and found employment as a laboring man.  They were the
parents of the following named children: Maria, James, Philip, Peter, Mary, John and Catherine,
of whom Catherine died when twelve years of age; the others are yet living.

Mr. Dempsey became a successful farmer.  In October, 1862, he sold his Dodge county property
and removed to Belle Plaine, Shawano county, locating upon eighty acres of land which had
already been bought and paid for.  Not being satisfied with that section of the country, however,
he brought his family to Deer Creek, then all included in Maple Creek, and purchased eighty
acres of land on which he erected the log house now standing.  About two years later he secured
an additional eighty acres, meanwhile progressing as rapidly as possible with the work of
clearing and preparing for cultivation.  Inhabitants in the surrounding region were even then
scarce, but wild animals and Indians were abundant, and the blood-curdling howl of wolves was
by no means infrequently heard.  Mr. Dempsey was a lover of hunting, and found unending
opportunity to gratify his taste in that direction.  He met an untimely death June 11, 1869, when
he was killed by a falling tree.

Philip Dempsey, the son, was born in Horicon, Dodge Co., Wis., January 29, 1858, and at the
death of his father was but eleven years old.  He was thus obliged to begin work at an early age,
and in the struggles following formed a close acquaintance with all sorts of hardships and
privations.  He was forced to deny himself the privilege of attending school, the nearest fount of
education being five miles distant.  At fourteen years of age he commenced working in the
lumber woods, continuing until 1881. On August 5, 1879, he was married to Catherine
McDonah, and located upon 120 acres of wild land which he had purchased. Four years later he
bought Jo. O'Brien's saloon, and after conducting it two years secured the property upon which
he and his family now reside. Here he has since made various improvements, and achieved a
satisfactory measure of success in his ventures.  In politics a Democrat, Mr. Dempsey has held
positions of honor and trust in the gift of his townsmen, has been several years supervisor, and
chairman four years.  He and his wife belong to the Catholic Church.  In May, 1894, he was
appointed postmaster at Bear Creek.