BIOGRAPHIES:  John P. GANOE, Arkansaw, Pepin Co., WI

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Submitted by Nance Sampson, Pepin Co. Archives File Manager on 19 November 2004
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**Posted for informational purposes only - submitter is not related to the
subject of this biography and has no further information.

John P. Ganoe, P. O. Arkansaw, Pepin county, was born near Catskill,
N. Y., September 15, 1826.  His parents were Russell Benedict and Mary
A. (Wicks) Ganoe, the former of German descent, and who died at San
Jose, Cal., about 1877, and the latter of Dutch descent, whose death
occurred in 1866.  They were the parents of eight children:  Grovenor,
Sarah (Mrs. A. Loop), Lucia J. (Mrs. W. Palmer), John P., Mary E. (Mrs.
Dubois), Thomas S., William H. and Washington.  John P. was reared in
the vicinity of Catskill, his parents frequently moving from place to
place during his boyhood.  His educational advantages were confined to
an institution where "lickin' and larnin'," with a large preponderance
of the former, constituted the program.  At twelve years of age, he
began working in the woods, running a cross cut saw with his father. 
At the age of twenty he engaged in business as a lumberman and followed
that occupation for about fifteen years.  December 17, 1850, he was
united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Fisher.  Eight children have
blessed this union:  Orrin D., Alice E., Edith A. (Mrs. W. McConstie),
Wesley, Thomas F., Russell B., C. Ellen and Bertha A.  Mr. and Mrs.
Ganoe lived in McKean county, Pa., until 1863, when they removed to
Greenville, Mich.  Soon after Mr. Ganoe enlisted (December, 1863), in
Company G, First Michigan mechanics and engineers, which company was
employed in building bridges, etc., mostly in Tennessee.  While there
he was afflicted with "Tennessee fever" and sent to the Cumberland
hospital in Nashville.  Leaving the hospital before he had fully
recovered, he caught cold and suffered a relapse which resulted in the
temporary loss of his sight, his eyes being still affected.  Being
almost blind he was sent to Louisville, Ky., and then transferred to
Detroit, Mich., where he came near dying with typhoid fever, but being
blessed with an iron constitution, he survived the ravages of disease,
and was honorably discharged in May, 1865.  Meanwhile, Mrs. Ganoe with
six small children, was living in a small room at Greenville with total
strangers for neighbors.  The family suffered more or less from fever
and ague, and her situation was far from pleasant.  What she endured
can only be appreciated by other heroic mothers who were similarly
situated.

In 1866 the family removed to Pepin county, near their present
residence.  Rattlesnakes caused them considerable annoyance for a time,
but none of the family were injured by them.  Mr. Ganoe and his sons
set to work to clear up a farm, and he now owns 200 acres of land with
good improvements.  Politically he is an ardent republican.  He is a
member of the Methodist church and the G. A. R. Post at Arkansaw.

-Transcribed from the "Historical & Biographical Album of the Chippewa
Valley Wisconsin, 1891-2," pages 754-755.


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