- EDWARD L. SPENCE, editor of the Weekly Telephone of Milton,
Wis., is a native of New
- York and was born in Brooklyn, April 15, 1849. The family
is descended from Scottish ancestry of the old Presbyterian stock,
and is noted for longevity. The maternal grandfather, who emigrated
from Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland, attained to
the age of ninety-six years, and his wife reached the extreme
old age of one hundred and six. The parents of our subject are
Thomas and Janette (LESLIE) SPENCE, who emigrated with their
family to Wisconsin in 1849, settling in Waukesha County, where
they yet reside. Mr. SPENCE is now operating an elegant hotel
in Waukesha and deals quite extensively in real estate. He probably
owns at the present time 250 lots in the Hyde Park addition to
Waukesha, and owns a business block which rents for $1,000 per
year. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. SPENCE are five in number,
of whom Edward of this sketch is the eldest; T. H., who has been
engaged in the wholesale drug business in La Crosse since 1875,
and also handles a large amount of paints, married Miss Adda
WYCOFF; Jennie is now the wife of Van H. BUGBEE, a resident of
Waukesha; R. Leslie has been engaged in the drug business in
North La Crosse for a period of ten years, and was also chief
of the fire department for a number of years; Emma, the youngest,
is the wife of H. M. VEDDER, a conductor on the Milwaukee and
St. Paul Railroad and resides in Waukesha.
- Our subject was an infant on the removal of his parents to
Waukesha, where he spent his early life.
- He received a liberal education, graduating form Carroll
College, Waukesha, in the class of 1869, after which he began
his business career as editor of the Waukesha Democrat, which
he conducted for eight years. He soon removed to Dakota, where
for six years he was editor and proprietor of the Aberdeen Republican
and the Frederick Free Press, when he gave his attention to the
study of law and was admitted to practice in all the territorial
courts in 1884. In the month of November, 1882, he was elected
County Judge of the Probate Court of Brown County, Dak., serving
one term. He continued the practice of law in that community
until the fall of 1886, when he returned to the home of his parents,
but after remaining in Waukesha for a short time removed to Milton
in September, 1887. He succeeded J. C. BARTHOLF as editor and
proprietor of the Weekly Telephone, and is now doing a good business.
- In the month of June, 1873, Mr. SPENCE was united in marriage
with Miss Caroline E.
- DeVINNY, a resident of Detroit, Mich. Unto them have been
born three children, two of whom are now living; Ada, the eldest,
born in August, 1874, died in June, 1886; Harry, born in July,
1777, is now learning the printer's trade with his father, and
Laila, born in February, 1881, completes the family.
- Mr. SPENCE is a representative citizen of Rock County, and
one of the leading business men of
- Milton. He is now located in the building just completed
on the east side of the square, opposite the depot, where he
has comfortable and commodious quarters. He has always taken
a leading interest in the welfare of the community in which he
resides, and in politics has supported the Republican party since
attaining his majority. Socially he is a member of the Masonic
Fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights
of Pythias, and was a charter member of the first lodge of the
latter order ever organized in Wisconsin. He has held various
offices in the several lodges to which he belongs, and is a highly
respected citizen.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 469-470.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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