From History of Walworth County Wisconsin, Vol. 1, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, publ. 1912 - Pages 286 - 315 City of Elkhorn - Pages 287 - 289 In 1838 Sheldon WALLING (1795-1875) and wife, Anna PEETS (1798-1875), came from western New York to section 7 of Geneva. The next year Mr. WALLING, having become sheriff, moved into the village, where he and his sons Fred and George went into retail business. The father was a tanner. In 1839 Edward ELDERKIN and Horatio S. WINSOR came to practice law. ELDERKIN bought a farm in the south half of the Geneva section. In 1840 Moses BARTLETT, William COULSON, John HALL, Henry H. HARTSON, Hudson VAN BRUNT, and George WATSON came, but not all of them to leave of themselves a clear memory. In 1841 Richard BEALS (1781- 1855) and son Isaac F. (1814-1891), George GALE, Phineas M. JOHNSON, Levi LEE, Zenas OGDEN; in 1842, Booth B. DAVIS and James O. EATON; in 1843, Adelaide C. BEARDSLEY, Dexter DEWING and son George, Sanford and William O. GARFIELD, William E. GREGORY, Charles N. MEIGS, Capt. George and Dr. George H. YOUNG, were among the arrivals. Some of these men owned land in adjoining towns. Others of the earlier villagers were Philo BAIRD, Curtis BELLOWS, Lewis S. BEMIS, Reuben R. BROWN, Alexander S. BROWN, Zophar CHITTENDEN, Russell CRANDALL, John CROMLEY, Anthony DELAP, Eli K. FROST, John GILLESPIE, Peter GOLDER, Noah HARRIMAN, David HARTSON, Horace N. HAY, Dr. Samuel W. HENDERSON, Edwin HODGES, George HUMPHREY, Samuel MALLORY, John MATHESON, Job O. MATTESON, Orrin MAXHAM, Lot MAYO and sons Andrew and Samuel, Urban D. MEACHAM, Alonzo PLATT, Davis REED, Wyman SPOONER, William L. STOWE, Levi THOMAS, Samuel and James L. TUBBS, Dr. Eleazar and Francis A. UTTER, Lucius WILMOT, Edward WINNE. Lewis Shepard BEMIS (1819-1899), son of Allen BEMIS and Edna SHEPARD, came from Niagara county, New York, with wife Olivia (1825-1904), daughter of Dexter DEWING. About 1850 he became landlord of the Exchange Hotel, and after 1857 went into like business at Milwaukee. Reuben R. BROWN was for some years master of the Masonic lodge and was an instructor in the work of the lodge. Zophar CHITTENDEN (1823-1894) came from Ohio, a carpenter and joiner, and built several of the better houses of the time, in the village and for prosperous farmers. He left after 1857 and died at Kalamazoo. John CROMLEY (1822-1899) was a master shoemaker. He made the overland trip to California and return, and his general usefulness and comrade-like quality shown in the expedition and at the mines were gratefully appreciated by his companions. At home, too, he was one of the truest and kindest of men. Anthony DELAP (1813-1896) was a blacksmith, with other capabilities. He built a good house, which he sold to Levi THOMAS and then passed over to East Delavan neighborhood. James O. EATON married January 1, 1843, Mary Miranda DWINNELL, a sister of the pioneer-preacher-chronicler of Lafayette. He opened one of the earliest general stores in the village. Sanford GARFIELD (1793-1872), son of Solomon, Jr., was a cousin of President Garfield's father. He married Clarissa OAKLEY (1795-1883). He was a shoemaker, and came here from Otsego by way of Chautauqua county. William Oakley GARFIELD (1819-1888) was born in Vermont; learned his father's calling - shoe-making - and came with him in 1842. His wife, Fidelia (1822- 1910), was a daughter of Dexter DEWING. William E. GREGORY came with more than average means, bought a farm in the Lafayette quarter, and died soon afterward. His son, William Eliot GREGORY, about 1857 went to Galveston, where he was for several years a successful business man, with some railway interests. His occasional return was welcomed by old friends. His younger son, Asaph, remained here till his death, about 1875. Noah HARRIMAN (1805-1903), born in Vermont, bought a farm nearby in Lafayette and preached as a licensed exhorter. His wife was Lucinda DAVIS (1797-1891). Horance Noble HAY was for a few years Otis PRESTON's partner in retail business. Mr. PRESTON mentioned him as one who gave much attention to his dress and personal appearance. He owned a farm in Lafayette. In 1852 he started for California, and died of yellow fever, at sea, on his way out. His wife was Margaret FULLER. Dr. Samuel Wirt HENDERSON (1817-1857), son of Dr. John M. HENDERSON's first wife, Rebecca, daughter of Samuel WIRT, was born at Willoughby, Ohio. He married Rebecca, daughter of Nathan HICKS. He was accounted a skilful physician and surgeon. A jump from a wagon to hard ground resulted in inflammation of the bowels and in death after a week of pain. He understood his case from the first. John MATHESON (1820-1895), son of John and Jessie, was born in one of the joint counties of Ross and Cromarty, Scotland; apprenticed to a tailor at Inverness; came to Lafayette in 1840; opened a shop and store at Elkhorn; married Loretta (1827-1903), daughter of Rev. Luther LEE. William Lyman STOWE (1821-1891) was born at Stowe, northeastern Ohio. He married Lavina, daughter of Philip and Mary MINK, of Walworth in 1851. He was a cabinet-maker and house-joiner. Samuel TUBBS (died in 1861) and wife, Polly FROST (1785-1875), were natives of Connecticut who settled at Augusta, New York, and lived a short time at Chagrin Falls, Ohio. A son, Isaac P., died at Elkhorn in 1859, aged fifty. A daughter, Martha, wife of Nicholas George BOWERS, and two daughters were successively wives of Lot MAYO. Mrs. TUBBS was nearly related to Alvah J. and Eli K. FROST. Edward WINNE (1815-1886) was sons of a rich man of Albany,and was at once a business man (in lumber and grain) at Elkhorn and a farmer of section 4, Geneva. The hard times of 1857 sent him to northeastern Iowa. He died at Bozeman, Montana. His wife, Lydia Maria CHAPMAN, was married November 6, 1844; died at Waverly, Iowa in 1892. Mr. WINNE's father left to him his books, and for many years these constituted the largest private library at Elkhorn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pages 301 - 303 RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. About two dozen persons, of fourteen families, met in December 1852, at the court house and organized a Baptist society, choosing Rev. Thomas BRIGHT as pastor. He lived on his farm, about a mile from the park, within the town of Geneva, a circumstance which often enabled him to be useful in emergencies, long after his pastorate ended. George W. GATES came in 1856, Thomas BRANDE 1858, John H. DUDLEY, Joseph E. JOHNSON 1866, Levi PARMLY, Francis M. IAMS 1869, Arthur L. WILKINSON 1870, Ferdinand D. STONE 1873, George A. CRESSEY 1874, Sylvester E. SWEET 1879, Henry A. BUZZELL 1885, J. Russell BALDWIN 1892, Charles Carey WILLETT 1896, Henry Clay MILLER 1901, Warren Hastings McLEOD 1903, J. Hector MILLER 1906, Charles A. HEMENWAY 1908. For several years the Catholics of Elkhorn and its vicinity seemed a nearly negligible element of local religious life, but good grain was sown early and in 1848 Rev. Francis PRENDERGAST came from the mission at Delavan to hold services at Michael FAHEY's. Services were held occasionally at the courthouse. The parish was poor but steadfast, and the general increase of population from 1854 to 1857 brought gain in numbers to this as to other churches. About 1861 a lot was bought at Walworth and East streets, and a disused tannery buildings was moved from a half-block away and fitted decently for temporary use. Thereafter until Rev. John William VAHEY came in 1878 as a resident priest, the clergy of St. Andrew's came fortnightly from Delavan to minister at the alter of St. Patrick's. Another and in most ways more desirable lot had been bought, at Walworth and Church streets, on which two large churches have successively been built, the first one having been used twenty years. In 1886 Rev. Michael LUBY came for one year's service, and in 1887 Rev. James NICHOLAS closed for the present the list of resident priests of St. Patrick's. Rev. Amnon GASTON, then of Delavan, organized the Congregational society at Capt. George YOUNG's hotel, in 1843, and gave it part of his time as pastor. David PINKERTON came in 1844, Samuel E. MINER 1847, Jedidiah D. STEVENS 1852, Lyman Huggins JOHNSON 1857, John Babson Linn SOULE 1860, Stephen D. PEET 1865, Calvin Carlton ADAMS (1813-1906) in 1867, Alba Levi Parsons LOOMIS 1868, Peter S. VAN NEST (1813-1893) in 1872, Joel Gleason SABIN (1821-1897) in 1872, in 1874, Hanford FOWLE 1878, Newton BARRETT 1881, Samuel Fay STRATTON (1837-1883) in 1883, George Francis HUNTER (1855-1891) in 1884, Charles H. FRASER 1886, David R. ANDERSON 1890, George Cavanah LOCHRIDGE (1845-1903) in 1893, Frederick M. HUBBELL 1900, Jesse F. TAINTOR 1904, Almon O. STEVENS 1905. To found the Episcopal parish of St. John in the Wilderness was in 1841 the work of Revs. James Lloyd BRECK, William ADAMS, a son-in-law of the bishop, and John Henry HOBART, all named often by the older members, though the last named is nowhere found in parish or public record. He was a son of the bishop of his name, and it is known that he was in 1865 rector of Grace church, Baltimore. It is likely that he was of Bishop KEMPER's staff of serviceable young mission workers, sent where and when occasion needed. For many years rectors at Delavan supplied Elkhorn's frequent need. The succession of rectors as shown by parish books was John McNAMARA in 1848 and again in 1858, William S. LUDLUM 1851, Gerrit E. PETERS 1853, Henry M. THOMPSON 1856, Joseph H. NICHOLS 18__, Joseph C. PASSMORE 1861, C. T. SEIBT, Alexander F. W. FALK, Charles N. SPALDING, George W. DEAN (these five last named were professors at Racine College, holding Sunday service between 1861 and 1871), George W. HARROD 1872, Edward Huntington RUDD 1873, Charles Melvin PULLEN 1875, Henry HUGHES 1881, Charles HOLMES (from Delavan) 1882, Luke Paul HOLMES 1888, William B. THORN 1892, Edward A. BAZETT-JONES, 1894, Charles N. SPALDING 1896, John Welling ARESON 1898, Philip Henry LINLEY 1901, Arthur J. WESCOTT 1904, Elijah Hedding EDSON 1906, Alan Grant WILSON 1910, Freeman Philip O. REED 1911. Dates indicate beginning of each rectorship. As in the other churches, the pastor was not always followed immediately by his successor. An Evangelical Lutheran society was formed in 1870 with Rev. Heinrich P. DUBORG as non-resident pastor. Rev. Johannes J. MEIER, who came about 1875, brought his family in 1876, and was succeeded by Wilhelm BUEHRING in 1879, Johannes DeJUNG 1882, Timotheus J. SAUER, 1886, Carl H. AUERSWALD 1893, Christian GEVERS 1898 to the present time. Before the end of Mr. AUERSWALD's pastorate a division of the society occurred, and a new church was built in 1898. Its resident pastors have been Hugo STUBENVOLL 1898, Karl O. SALZMANN 1901, Heinrich CULL 1902, Carl HAMMER 1905. Since 1907 the church service has been supplied by Herman LINDEMANN and August KOHLHOFF, of Burlington. In 1852 the Methodist Episcopal society began its roll of resident clergy with the name of Joseph C. DANA, after whom John TIBBALS 1853, D. B. ANDERSON 1854, Levi LEE 1855, Russell P. LAWTON 1856, Stephen SMITH 1858, Thomas WHITE 1859, Horace B. CRANDALL 1860, John G. PINGREE 1862, Andrew J. MEAD 1864, Joseph T. WOODHEAD 1866, David DEAL 1868, William R. JONES 1870, Samuel LUGG 1872, John L. HEWITT 1873, John D. COLE 1874, Wesley LATTIN 1875, Thomas T. HOWARD 1876, Samuel C. THOMAS 1877, Norvall Joseph APLIN 1879, Hiram G. SEDGWICK 1881, John SCHNEIDER 1883, Payson W. PETERSON 1885, John V. TRENERY 1887, William H. SUMMERS 1889, John W. OLMSTEAD 1891, Elvardo C. POTTER 1893, William Wesley WOODSIDE 1896, Mark A. DREW 1898, Sidney A. SHEPARD 1900, J. Thomas MURRISH 1902, Jason L. SIZER 1907, Thomas AUSTIN 1911. Submitted By: Carol (carolann612@charter.net)