BIOGRAPHIES:  Oliver BUSBY, Arcadia, Trempealeau Co., WI

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Oliver Busby, who is now living retired in Arcadia Village, after a life 
of activity in several different avocations, was born in Section 21, Range 
9, Arcadia Township, this county, Jan. 29, 1866.  His parents, Thomas and 
Mary (Knight) Busby, were natives of England, both born at Stowe, near 
Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, England, the father Aug. 24, 1828, the mother 
Feb. 8, 1837.  Thomas Busby and wife came to America in 1855, landing in 
New York and proceeding at once to Waukegan, Ill., in the vicinity of which 
place Mr. Busby rented a farm.  After remaining there about two years they 
came overland by ox team to Arcadia Township, Trempealeau County, and 
settled on 160 acres of land he acquired while in Illinois, to which he 
later added 20 acres, built a log cabin and began to develop a farm.  Here 
he lived until 1893, in which year he sold the farm to Louie Wojsczik, the 
latter subsequently selling it to John Wojsczik. In 1879 Thomas Busby had 
bought 160 acres of wild prairie land near Wakefield, Neb., to which he 
moved on selling his farm in Arcadia.  On this land he built a house and 
other frame buildings, and remained there 19 years, engaged in developing 
a farm.  He then retired and moved into Wakefield, where he and his wife 
are still living, in good health and prosperous circumstance.  Their 
children were:  Emma, born in Waukegan, Ill., who married W. H. Smith, a 
farmer of Bakersfield, Cal., and died Aug. 4, 1904; John, also born in 
Waukegan, and now a farmer in Arcadia Township; Thomas, born in Arcadia, 
Wis., who is farming at Wakefield, Neb.; Florence, born in Arcadia, who 
is unmarried and keeps house for her parents in Wakefield, Neb.; Charles, 
born in Arcadia, also residing in Wakefield, where he is engaged in buying 
grain and managing an elevator; Andy, born in Arcadia, and now deceased; 
Mary, born in Arcadia, who is the wife of H. H. Child, proprietor of the 
electric lighting plant at Wakefield, Neb.; Lilly, born in Arcadia, who 
married Benjamin Davis, a farmer, and died at Wakefield, Neb.; Mark, born 
in Arcadia, who is now deceased; William, born in Arcadia, who is now 
living retired at Wakefield, Neb.; and Oliver, the subject of this sketch.

Oliver Busby began his school life in Arcadia and was graduated from the 
high school in the class of 1886.  In the meanwhile, however, he made a 
trip to Nebraska, going there in 1882 and returning in 1884.  He now spent 
a number of years in teaching school, beginning this occupation in Arcadia, 
where he taught for three years, later teaching three years in the graded 
schools of Chimney Rock, Wis., where he also served one year as principal, 
one year in Strum and three years in Nebraska, to which state he returned 
when his parents moved there in 1893.  In 1896 he returned to Arcadia, and 
on September 1 bought an interest in the hardware business of Mr. Christ 
of Arcadia, the style of the firm becoming Christ & Busby.  This partnership 
was continued until 1904.  In 1902 Christ & Busby bought a farm of 509 
acres, two and a half miles north of Arcadia, 225 acres of it being under 
the plow and the rest in timber and pasture land.  Mr. Busby bought Mr. 
Christ's interest in this farm in 1904 and managed it subsequently while 
residing in the village until 1914, when he sold it and retired.  The 
buildings on the farm were a two-story frame house, a frame barn, 36 by 
80 feet; a granary, 16 by 40 feet; a sheep shed,  12 by 64 feet, all 
painted and in good condition.  Here Mr. Busby did general farming and 
dairying, keeping from 25 to 30 graded cows.  Sept. 8, 1896, Mr. Busby 
married Mary, Daughter of John Philip and Barbara (Uhl) Hartman of Arcadia 
Township.  He and his wife had six children: William O., born Nov. 26, 1897, 
who is a student at Lawrence College, Appleton, Wis.; Fern E., born May 11, 
1899, now attending the Arcadia high school; Lynn J., born July 29, 1902,
who is also attending the high school; Hazel M., born May 12, 1904, who is 
residing at home, a student; Florence G., born March 26, 1906, who died Aug. 
23, 1914; and one that died in infancy.  Mr. Busby in political matters 
holds by the principles of the Democratic party, but reserves the right 
to vote for the best man regardless of party lines, when he sees occasion.  
He has held no strictly political office, but has been a member of the 
village board for three years.  He attends and supports the Methodist 
Episcopal church, though not a member of it.  He belongs to Lodge No. 201, 
A. F. & A. M. of Arcadia, and to Camp No. 769, Modern Woodmen of America, 
which he joined in 1896.

--From the "History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, 1917"
pages 688 - 690.