From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
Publ. 1912 - Page 933-935
 
CYRUS CHURCH.  One of the sterling pioneer citizens of Walworth county was 
Cyrus CHURCH, who is eminently entitled to a conspicuous place in his 
country's history.  From his early years he was industrious and persevering in 
whatever enterprises he undertook, and by diligence and economy accumulated a 
competency for his declining years.  His straightforward, manly course in life 
may well be held up as an example to the young, and it proved an inspiration 
to many, and even after he was removed from among us by "the reaper whose name 
is death," his memory is reverenced by a vast circle of friends and acquaintances.
 
Mr. CHURCH was one of the first settlers of Walworth county, having settled in 
Walworth township, February 25, 1837, and there he became very influential in 
the early affairs of the locality.  He was born in Granby township, near 
Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817, and was the eldest of four children born to 
Elijah and Violet (HOLCOMB) CHURCH.  His father was also a native of 
Connecticut, and about 1842 he came to Wisconsin, locating in Walworth 
township, this county, and after living there a short time he moved to 
Ridgefield, near Woodstock, Illinois, where he farmed until after the close of 
the Civil war, when he returned to Walworth county and lived here the rest of 
his life, dying here on May 31, 1877, at the age of eighty-four years.
 
The family is of English origin, but came to America in the early days of New 
England.  Elijah CHURCH's father, Uriah CHURCH was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war.  Violet HOLCOMB, mentioned above, was born in Massachusetts 
and her death occurred at the age of twenty-eight years; she was also of 
English descent.  When Cyrus CHURCH was four years old his parents moved to 
Broome county, New York, and when he was sixteen years old moved on to 
Trumbull county, Ohio; he worked for his father until he was twenty years old, 
then came west.  He started with a valise on his back, and he passed through 
Chicago and Crystal Lake, where he intended to locate, but was induced to 
proceed to Lake Geneva, a stranger having praised the prospects here very 
highly; so he came on alone, wading through ice-covered streams and undergoing 
many hardships, arriving there on the night of February 25th.  There were only 
two families in Walworth township, at the head of Lake Geneva; they received 
him kindly and he located there.  More regarding this first settlement will be 
found under the history of Walworth township, in the historical section of 
this work.  Mr. CHURCH bought a claim of government land a half-mile northwest 
of where the village of Walworth now stands and there established his 
permanent home.  In the fall of 1838 he was united in marriage with Emeline 
RUSSELL, daughter of Elijah and Lydia (HYDE) RUSSELL.  She was born June 25, 
1826, on ground which is now covered by the city of Cleveland, Ohio.  It was 
in a Shaker community which her parents had helped organize and of which they 
were members.  It was a thrifty, thriving society, owning fourteen hundred 
acres of valuable land and several factories and for many years was conducted 
quite successfully.  When Emeline RUSSELL was nineteen years old, she and her 
brother, Marcus RUSSELL, left the Shaker community and came to Walworth 
county, Wisconsin, arriving about 1838, and here she made her home with her 
brother until her marriage to Mr. CHURCH.
 
Five children were born to Cyrus CHURCH and wifely, namely: Adelia, wife of J. 
D. CLARK, lives at Harvard, Illinois; Leonard C., lives in Walworth, this 
county, and a sketch of him appears in this work; Hiram, who was a prominent 
ranchman and stock dealer in Idaho, died about 1909; Eugene, who, at the age 
of fifteen, invented the CHURCH hay-carrier and who proved to be a man of 
exceptional inventive talent, lives at Harvard, Illinois; David, who was 
engaged in farming and stock dealing with Hiram until the death of the latter, 
is now continuing the business alone.  The mother of these children died 
January 31, 1854.
 
After the death of his first wife, Cyrus CHURCH married Mary BOORMAN, who was 
born at Maidstone, England, June 5, 1828, and who had come to America with her 
parents when a girl and after a time spent in New York, came on to Walworth 
county, Wisconsin.  Three children were born of the subject's second union, 
namely: Merlin H., an ice cream manufacture at Kenowick, Wisconsin; Henry, who 
is in business at Spokane, Washington; Minnie, who became well educated, 
engaged in teaching for some time, married Cassius BAGLEY, a jeweler at 
Duluth, Minnesota.
 
Cyrus CHURCH was formerly a Republican, then turned Prohibitionist.  In an 
early day he served as tax collector and he aided in the organization of 
Walworth and Sharon townships, also in establishing schools and churches in 
this county, assisting in any way possible the early development of the same.  
He and his wife were members of the Baptist church.  He was prominently 
connected with many enterprises calculated to benefit the community.  He lived 
in this county more than sixty years, during which time he saw it develop from 
a wild stretch of dense woodland to one of the finest farming communities in 
the state, and he took no little part in this work of progress.  He lived an 
honorable and upright life, made a competency by his own persistent efforts 
and honest dealings and left behind him a clean record when he died in 1899.
 
Submitted by Carol