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- WILLIAM LEPPER, one of the very oldest and most faithful
- employes of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company
in Wisconsin, and for thirty years a machinist in the company's
shops at Janesville, was born at Little Falls, Herkimer Co.,
N.Y., on the 4th day of January, 1831. His parents, John and
Catharine (GARLOCK) LEPPER, were born in Herkimer County, and
were descended from Holland emigrants who settled in that region
in the early colonial days. Both grandfathers of our subject
were soldiers in the War of the Revolution, and the paternal
grandfather also served his country in the War of 1812, and died
from the effects of an accident when ninety-nine years old.
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- Mr. LEPPIN's father was killed by an accident while employed
on the New York Central
- Railroad. His mother, now very aged, resides in the village
of Herkimer in her native county.
- When sixteen years of age, William LEPPER began work in the
Utica Cotton Mills, and learned
- the carding trade, at which he was employed for several years.
He also learned the machinist's trade, working at the same in
a lock factory for a term of years. While still residing in the
East, he was united in marriage, on the 28th day of December,
1851, with Miss Ann DOLAN, a native of County Antrim, Ireland,
who came to America with her parents in childhood. Mr. and Mrs.
LEPPER were blessed with five children, two sons and three daughters:
Mary A., the eldest, is the wife of William HOUMIEL, a wood-turner
by trade, now residing in Chicago. John D. is a locomotive engineer,
residing at Chicago, and is now in the employ of the Chicago
& Northwestern Railroad Company, having been in the service
of that company from boyhood; his wife was Miss Mary JOHNSON.
Emma is now the wife of Charles CARD, a resident farmer of Holyoke,
Logan Co., Col. Hattie is the wife of Hart ROSCOE, a con!
ductor on the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad,
residing at St. Paul. William, the youngest, is single and a
brakeman on the same road.
- In 1856 Mr. LEPPER came with his family to Janesville, making
his home near where the
- Institutefor the Blind now stands. The first winter after
his arrival he was employed in the stone quarry, and the following
year, 1857, long to be remembered on account of the hard times
caused by the great financial troubles of that year, made it
necessary for him to seek such employment as he could find, by
which to support his family. He husked corn, and did such farm
work as he could get to keep the wolf from the door. In 1858,
he secured employment with the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad
Company as wood sawyer, and two months later was assigned to
duty wiping engines at the old temporary shops south of the river.
When the new shops on the north side were completed, he was among
the first to be employed in the same, where he soon secured the
position of machinist and where he has since continued to work
without interruption. At that time the company boasted only four
engines and but few employes, but now their engines number more
than eight hundred, and their employes are counted by the thousands.
Of all the original hands of the company, who began with him
when the present shops were built, none are left.
- In 1875 Mr. LEPPER lost his wife, her death occurring on
the 19th day of October. She was a
- devout Catholic, a faithful wife and a kind mother. Mr. LEPPER
was again married on the 22d day of April, 1879, at Janesville,
his second union being with Mrs. Belle KLEIN, widow of Joseph
KLEIN, and a daughter of George and Agnes (BUNTIN) BOYD, of Toronto,
Canada. Mrs. LEPPER had been married previous to her union with
Mr. KLEIN. Her first husband was Allan WALKER, who was employed
in her father's counting house, and the match was a romantic
one, having been made in opposition to her parents' wishes -
in fact, was a runaway match. The young couple settled at Jeffersonville,
Ind., and subsequently removed to Louisville, where Mr. WALKER
held a government office. Two children were born of their union,
both daughters, namely: Agnes, who is now the wife of John NOONAN,
a resident of Garrett, Ind.; and Mary, who is still living. In
1869 Mrs. WALKER lost her husband, whose death occurred on the
28th day of August, of that year. She was again married in 1872,
to Joseph KLEIN, and a daughter, Sarah, was born to them, who
was left fatherless by the death of Mr. KLEIN in August, 1877.
The marriage with Mr. LEPPER has been blessed by the birth of
a daughter, Georgie Belle, "the pet of the household and
the joy of all."
- Mrs. LEPPER's parents still reside in Toronto, Canada, where
they are highly respected. They
- are consistent members of the Presbyterian Church, in which
creed they were reared in the old country. Mr. BOYD, her father,
was a ruling elder in his church in Scotland many years, and
now holds that position in the church at Toronto. He and his
wife have been in the enjoyment of wedded life more than fifty-five
years, and are both yet hale and hearty. For many years Mr. BOYD
has been a prominent wholesale merchant of Toronto, and has accumulated
a large fortune. His sons have followed in his foot-steps, and
are also wealthy wholesale merchants of Canada. Mr. BUNTIN, the
maternal grandfather of Mrs. LEPPER, is the well-known ship owner
so prominently identified with the merchant marine of Canada.
- Mr. LEPPER is a Republican in politics on national questions,
but independent in local affairs.
- He has never sought or desired public office, but has been
contented to faithfully and cheerfully perform the duty of a
thorough machinist, and his long term of service with one company
proves that he is a master of his trade and perfectly reliable.
He is domestic in habits, and is devoted to his family, while
his genial, kindly manner has won him warm friends among all
who know him. See portrait upon another page.
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-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 313-314; lithograph from
same book.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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