- WILLIAM B. BAINES, one of the early settlers of this county,
now residing in Giddington,
- Northamptonshire, England, March 28, in the year 1830, and
his parents, John and Mary Elizabeth (BRANSON) BAINES, were also
natives of the same country. The father engaged in the occupation
of farming and was also a proprietor of a hotel for many years.
In the Episcopal Church, of which he was a member, he served
as trustee for several years. To them were born seven children:
Elizabeth, wife of Thomas BRETT, of Brigstock, Northamtonshire,
England; Joseph, a retired farmer, residing in Barton-on-Trent,
England; William B. of this sketch; John, a dealer of wood and
coal in Chicago, Ill. The other members of the family are all
deceased. William BRANSON, the maternal grandfather of these
children, also followed the occupation of farming throughout
his life. He was a man noted for his kindness of heart, and took
great interest in his grandchildren. With them he shared their
childish joys and pleasures, and to him they came to receive
comfort for their childish grief, and the sympathy they expected
was never refused.
- The subject of this sketch received his education in the
common schools, which he attended until
- seventeen years of age. He then worked upon his father's
farm for the succeeding two years, when at the age of nineteen
years, he bade good-by to his home and native land and crossed
the broad Atlantic with the intention of making his future home
in the new world, whose prospects seemed more inviting to him
than those offered by the Old Country. His voyage completed he
first settled in Johnstown, Fulton County, N.Y., where he engaged
as a farm hand for about fifteen months and then went to Montgomery
County, where he was employed in the same manner. Later he went
to Oneida County, N.Y., where he again worked as a farm hand,
and while in that county formed the acquaintance of Miss Elizabeth
SIMONS, a native of Germany and a daughter of Martin SIMONS,
who was also born in that country. The acquaintance of the young
couple ripened into love and their wedding was celebrated April
7, 1852.
- After his marriage Mr. BAINES again worked as a farm hand
for a while, but afterward emigrated
- to Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he rented a farm, engaging
in its cultivation for a year, at the end of which time he bought
eighty acres of land, which he improved and made his home for
twelve years, adding to the original purchase until the farm
comprised 274 acres. While making his home thereon, oil was discovered
near the land and he sold at a good price, in 1864. In the fall
of that year he left Ohio and with his family removed to Rock
County, Wis., where he purchased 250 acres of land on section
10, Rock Township, the farm upon which Frances WILLARD, the noted
temperance worker, was born and reared. Since that time he has
given his attention to farming and to the raising of tobacco,
in which he has been quite successful. Many improvements have
been added, both useful and ornamental, until his farm is now
one of the finest within the limits of the county. Since his
purchase he has erected a fine residence valued at $5,500; a
barn has been built worth $2,000, and a shed which cost $1,000
has been made for the storing of tobacco. Progressive and enterprising,
he is a leading farmer of the community and is a member of the
Rock County Agricultural Association.
- Unto Mr. and Mrs. BAINES have been born five children: William
A., who resides in the city of
- Janesville, married Miss Ella MORGAN; Mary M., now the wife
of William BLADON, of Janesville; Charles, a commission merchant
of Omaha, Neb., married Armeta CHRISTMAN; Frank S., a member
of the firm of BAINES, HEDDLES & Co., dealers in tobacco,
Janesville, married Miss Bertha R. SNELL; Oscar O., a practicing
physician in Chicago, married Miss Ida CHRISTIE. Religiously
Mr. BAINES is an Episcopalian, and his wife is a member of the
Lutheran Church. In his political views he is independent, and
socially is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
- Believing that education is necessary to success in life,
Mr. BAINES has endeavored to give his
- children ample opportunities for instruction, sparing no
means to this end, and has lived to see them become useful members
of society, holding high positions in the social world. The life
of Mr. BAINES is one worthy of imitation, for to his individual
efforts his success in life can be attributed. Beginning as a
farm laborer, he has risen to a position of wealth and affluence
and is prominent among the leading citizens of the community.
He has three times returned to England, visiting the scenes of
his childhood and the friends whom he left when nineteen years
of age.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 678-679.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|