From History of Walworth County Wisconsin, Vol. 1, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, publ. 1912 - Tidbits of Pages 248 - 256 TOWN OF DELAVAN - Pages 251 - 253 Ichabod BRAINARD (1776-1855) married a second wife, Mary (born 1779), daughter of John CLEVELAND and Eunice CUTLER. Cyrus was their son, as was probably Edwin, who married Mary A., daughter of William and Ann PHOENIX. Isaac BURSON (1810-1881) was son of James BURSON and Deborah STROUD, and was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania. He was a brother of Mrs. William HOLLINSHEAD. He lived unmarried, and died at Elkhorn, March 5, 1881. His burial was delayed for some days by the memorable snow blockade of that year. He bought land in section 4, Delavan, and sections 20, 33, Sugar Creek. Chester Porter CALKINS (1818-1890) married Catharine, daughter of Abraham SPERBECK. He was buried at East Delavan. Jonathan C. CHURCH (1811-1870) married Dorcas, daughter of Thomas JAMES and Dorcas PERRY. Rev. James F. FLANDERS married Ann Elizabeth PORTER, June 4, 1839. It is not shown where this marriage took place, but it was within the larger town of Elkhorn. Daniel Gilman FOSTER (1802), son of Daniel FOSTER and Mary DAVIS, a native of New HAMPSHIRE, married Caroline, daughter of Daniel BRAINARD who came from Perry, New York, in 1838 and bought land in sections 7, 21. Stephen P. FULLER married Mary, daughter of Nehemiah BARLOW and Orinda STEELE. His sister, Loraine B. FULLER, was Doctor HUNT's first wife. Daniel Stroud HOLLINSHEAD (1812-1869), son of James HOLLINSHEAD and Sarah STROUD, married Rachel SHERROD (1807-1853). Edwin Augustus and William were his brothers. The former bought land in section 34, Sugar Creek. Edward Brigham HOLLISTER (1823-1891), son of Seth L. HOLLISTER and Catharine BRIGHAM, married Harriet, daughter of Francis EATON. Milo and Samuel C. KELSEY were sons of Samuel KELSEY and Elizabeth CARVER, of Sherburne, New York. Sarah Ann, their sister, was wife of Colonel PHOENIX. Asa G. KELSEY's relationship may have been that of brother or of a cousin. Milo was the first lawyer at Delavan. Samuel C. was a surveyor, teacher and architect. He married Caroline M., daughter of Colonel BETTS. Daniel Edwin LA BAR (1789-1839) married Hannah (1793-1856), daughter of Samuel REES and Rachel STROUD (1774-1854). He came in 1839 to sections 6, 7. His son, Samuel Rees LA BAR (1820-1896), came in the same year. His wife was Harriet NUEL, daughter of Rev. Henry TOPPING and Nuel VAN DOREN. Ira C. PERRY bought land in section 31. April 5, 1843, he married Ann BRIGGS. Truman PIERCE (1787-1866) bought in section 31. His wife, Lucy, was born in 1793. Two of his sons-in-law were Kirtland G. WRIGHT and Calvin CARRINGTON. He and his mother, Mary (1755-1852), were buried at East Delavan. Joseph RECTOR (1806-1869) with wife, Mary Ann McDOUGAL (1809-1875), settled in section 34, but a few years later moved into Walworth. John Bisby SHEPARD (1803-1875) was a son of Pelatiah SHEPARD and Elizabeth THOMPSON, of Fulton county, New York. He married Rachel (1806-1872), daughter of Benjamin WILLIS and Bridget COLE, and had five children. Of these, Sabra Amelia was wife of Reuben H. BRISTOL, Mary Selina was Mrs. Edward COLMAN, and Linus Delavan married Clarissa Zulemma, daughter of Adna SAWYER and Serena Norton VILES (widow of Benjamin HORNE). Israel STOWELL (1812-1876), native of New Hampshire, married Mary M., daughter of Truman JONES and Elizabeth KINNE. He came to the village in 1838, and it is told that he built the first framed house, opened the first tavern, and placed a stage-coach on the route between Delavan and Chicago. A year before his death he married a second time. Aaron Hardin TAGGART (1816-1874) bought land in section 21, but became one of the earliest business men of Delavan. He married, in 1846, Martha (1826-1905), daughter of Henry PHOENIX and Ann JENNINGS. They had seven children. Ira C., John (born 1825) and Samuel UTTER (1807-1898) were sons of Abraham UTTER and Marinda BEARDSLEY, of Washington county, New York. John married Louisa Amanda, daughter of Winsor LAPHAM. Samuel came in 1843 with his second wife, Harriet A. WINSTON (1823-1906). Lewis Henry WILLIS (1817-1886), son of William WILLIS and Elizabeth HOYT, came from Sparta, New York, to Delavan in 1840, to section 23. His first wife, Mary M., was daughter of Orsamus BOWERS. In 1872 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob ADRIANCE, of Scipio, New York. Chauncey D. WOODFORD (1827-1891) was son of Austin (1785-1866) and Roxanna (1793-1856). He married Sarah FENTON (1828-1864), daughter of Moses BALL and Lucinda HOLLAND. He was the first wagon-maker and blacksmith at East Delavan corners. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From History of Walworth County Wisconsin, Vol. 1, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, publ. 1912 - Tidbits of Pages 257 - 271 Pages 263 - 265 RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. Seventeen men and women formed a Baptist society September 21, 1839, with Rev. Henry TOPPING as pastor, and in 1841 a church was built of wood, at cost of about one thousand five hundred dollars, thirty-six by fifty feet on the ground, with seats for two hundred persons. This was on a lot given by the PHOENIX proprietors, and this desirable site, fronting the west side of the park is still occupied by the society. A brick church was built in 1854 with one-third more floor space at cost of four thousand dollars. This society, for long the largest of its denomination in the state, and yet the leading one in the county, built its third church in 1880, seventy by one hundred and twenty-eight feet on the ground. After Mr. TOPPING, the pastors have been John H. DUDLEY 1844, Mead BAILEY 1850, Newell BOUGHTON 1853, Albert SHELDON 1854, Jeremiah D. COLE 1858, John WILLIAMS 1860, David BURBANK 1862, Ethan B. PALMER 1864, Joseph E. JOHNSON 1865, Charles T. ROE 1868, David E. HALTEMAN 1869, Charles A. HOBBS 1884, William R. YARD 1909. The long pastorates of Messrs. HALTEMAN and HOBBS had a parallel in another church fronting the same park. St. Andrew's parish was formed by assembling the somewhat widely dispersed families of Delavan and adjoining town in 1851. In 1853 a little chapel was built at Fourth and Matthew streets, and the Rev.. Fathers CONWAY, Francis PRENDERGAST and P. J. MALLON were successively sent for this pioneer work. About 1859 Father George H. BRENNAN came as a resident priest, followed by T. A. SMITH in 1861, Henry J. ROCHE 1863, Lawrence N. KENNEY 1864, Jacob MORRIS 1866, Richard DUMPHY 1869, J. Eugene ALLEN 1878, Michael J. TAUGHER 1881, Joseph G. SMITH 1886, John BUCKLEY 1909. Father ALLEN was the last who drove through sunshine, cloud, mud and unbeaten snow to minister to the mission parish of St. Patrick's at Elkhorn. While lot values were relatively quite low the parish bought at Walworth avenue and Seventh street, and in 1895 one of the finest churches in the county were dedicated. A well-chosen cemetery lot was acquired at an early opportunity, and many of the dead of Elkhorn and other towns were buried there. This ground joins Spring Grove cemetery, with no barrier between. The present valuation of all the parish property, which includes a fine house for the priest, is about seventy-five thousand dollars. The parish is in excellent condition for its work. The Congregational society dates its beginning July 1841, with ten members. A little church was built at the north side of Maple Park in 1844, with an outlay of one thousand dollars - then a large sum for an unselfish purpose. A new church, with brick walls, forty-two by seventy-five feet, was built in 1856, at cost of five thousand dollars. This has since been extended here, modernized and improved. Rev. Amnon GASTON began his triple service, here, at Elkhorn, and at Sugar Creek in 1841. After him came Frederick H. PITKIN 1845, Lusius FOOTE 1847 (1798-1887), Joseph COLLIE 1854, William E. DAVIDSON 1896, Sedgwick Porter WILDER 1898 (1847-1905), Howard W. KELLOGG 1905, Thistle A. WILLIAMS 1909. Mr. COLLIE's long service is noteworthy. Christ Church parish was formed in July 1844, with Nehemiah BARLOW and Hezekiah WELLS as wardens. Caleb CROSWELL, B. J. NEWBERRY, Joseph RECTOR, Dr. Shepard SHERWOOD, Salmon THOMAS as vestrymen. A small house at the south side of the park answered the passing need until 1877, when work began anew on the parish lot at Walworth avenue and Fifth street. In 1879 this building was dedicated and has since been extended and improved and a rectory added, making the total estate worth about twenty-five thousand dollars. The line of rectors began with Rev. Stephen McHUGH 1844, who was called to Madison in 1845 and returned in 1849 - the interim filled by Rev. Mr. BARTLETT. Then came Gerrit E. PETERS 1852, Joseph ADDERLY, Joseph H. NICHOLS, Albert Scott NICHOLSON 1861, Gardiner M. SKINNER 1862, George W. DEAN 1865, Fortune C. BROWN 1870, Edward R. SWEETLAND 1876, Joel CLARK 1879, Charles HOLMES 1880, Charles L. MALLORY 1891, James B. McCULLOUGH 1901, Edward S. BARKDULL 1902, John WHITE 1906, Mark H. MILNE 1910. Troy circuit, Methodist Episcopal, was formed in 1841 and included Eagle, Troy, Lagrange, Sugar Creek, Darien and Delavan. Except Rev. Messrs. Leonard F. MOULTHROP and Henry WHITEHEAD, named in 1841, and Hiram ALLEN in 1845-6, the workers in this then difficult field, for the first ten years, are not indicated by the record of credentials filed at the office of the clerk of the circuit court, though there were probably others than these three. Reuben Richardson WOOD (1819-1906), ordained in 1842, came to Delavan as resident pastor in 1850, doubtless with assignment to duty at Darien. In 1853 Enos STEVENS and J. H. HOPETON supplied a short vacancy filled in that year by Elisha PAGE, after whom John TIBBALS 1854, Hiram H. HERSEY (1812-1884) in 1856, Thomas WHITE 1858, Russell P. LAWTON 1859, Cyrus SCAMMON 1860, James B. COOPER 1861, A. C. MANWELL 1863, G. W. DELAMATYR 1867, Reuben B. CURTIS 1869, Stephen SMITH 1870, Edward S. McCHESNEY 1871, Alonzo Mansfield BULLOCK 1872, A. C. HIGGINS 1874, Olins CURTIS 1875, Henry FAVILLE 1876, Edward G. UPDIKE 1878, John Scott DAVIS 1881, William B. ROBINSON 1883, Samuel C. THOMAS (1810-1894) in 1884, William H. SUMMERS 1886, Frederick C. BRAYOTN 1888, George VERITY 1889 (died), Walder D. COLE 1890, Jeremiah H. HICKS 1893, Stephen A. OLIN 1894, Richard K. MANATON 1898, George VATER 1900, Andrew PORTER 1902, Sidney a. SHEARD 1903, George M. WHITE 1904, Rodman W. BOSWORTH 1906, William HOOTON 1909. Messrs. WOOD, FAVILE and UPDIKE passed to Congregational pulpit - the last named in 1880. Submitted By: Carol (carolann612@charter.net)