From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
Publ. 1912 - Page 1028-1029
 
JAMES B. DOOLITTLE.  One of the leading citizens of the southwestern part of 
Walworth county is James B. DOOLITTLE, who, after a successful career as a 
general farmer and stock raiser, is now living in honorable retirement in his 
pleasant home in the town of Delavan.  He is one of the connecting links 
between the pioneer epoch and the present, having come here when the country 
was wild and only sparsely settled, when wild game was in abundance and the 
sight of a red man was nothing out of the unusual.  He has lived to see the 
county develop from this primitive state into one of the leading agricultural 
sections of the great commonwealth of Wisconsin, and no one has taken greater 
pride in the upbuilding of the same than he, for he is the scion of that 
sterling New York ancestry which beloved in pushing forward the wheels of 
progress, in invading new countries, routing the Indians and clearing the 
fertile soil of its timber growths and making way for good farms and 
comfortable homes.
 
Mr. DOOLITTLE was born on January 23, 1831, in Windham, Greene county, New 
York.  He is the son of Edward and Sallie (TOMPKINS) DOOLITTLE, both natives 
of New York, where they grew up and were married and there established the 
family home.
 
The subject grew up in his native state and there received his education, and 
there he remained until he was twenty-three years old, when in the fall of 
1854 he came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, buying a farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres on Heart Prairie.  His parents came two years later and there the 
old folks spent the balance of their lives, the father dying on July 10, 1867, 
and the mother on May 19, 1869.
 
To Mr. and Mrs. Edward DOOLITTLE three children were born, two of whom are 
deceased, namely: Amzy, whose death occurred on October 30, 1890; Ira E., who 
died on April 15, 1904, and James B., of this review.
 
The subject continued to reside on the farm on Heart Prairie, southern part of 
Lagrange township, until 1862, when he purchased a farm of two hundred acres 
on Delavan Prairie, Sugar Creek township, which he operated with his usual 
success until 1896.  He worked hard and managed well and accumulated a 
competency which insures his old age free from want.  His health failing in 
1896, he gave up active work, sold his farm and moved to the town of Delavan 
where he purchased a commodious residence at No. 610 Walworth avenue, and 
there has continued to reside quietly.
 
Mr. DOOLITTLE was married to Caroline BELL, daughter of Joseph and Sallie 
BELL, of New York.  This union was without issue.  Mrs. DOOITTLE was called to 
her rest on June 24, 1902.
 
After the subject was married he came west, and for a period of eight years he 
farmed on Heart Prairie, this county, during the summer months, and taught 
school in the winter time.  He was very successful as a teacher and his 
services were much in demand in those early days.  He was superintendent of 
the Lagrange school during the years 1856 and 1857.  Mr. DOOLITTLE is a 
Republican, but he has never sought to be a leader in public affairs.  
Religiously, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.
 
Submitted by Carol