- HENRY MARSDEN, of the lumber firm of MARSDEN, WHITTET &
Co., one of the leading
- enterprises of Edgerton, was born March 14, 1832, in Birchover,
Derbyshire, England, and is a son of Samuel and Ann MARSDEN,
who are numbered among the early pioneers of this State. The
father was born in Derbyshire Feb. 10, 1795, was reared to the
occupation of farming, and in his native land married Ann HEMSTOCK,
who was born on the 17th day of January, 1798. In the summer
of 1844, Mr. MARSDEN emigrated to the United States, being accompanied
by his wife and ten children, six sons and four daughters. Two
married daughters, Mrs. Priscilla VICKERS and Mrs. Hannah VICKERS,
remained in England. On arriving in this country Mr. MARSDEN
came with his family to Wisconsin, and settled in the town of
Albion, Dane County, where he located Government land, and made
his home until his death, which occurred Feb. 5, 1863. His wife
died in 1881 at a very advanced age. He and his family were
accompanied to this country by John SLATER and family, together
with others. Those two gentlemen were warm personal friends,
and became prominent among the early pioneers. Mr. SLATER, however,
did not long survive, his death occurring the second or third
year after settling in this country. He was a worthy citizen,
and in connection with Mr. MARSDEN, erected the first church
ever built in Albion. It was a primitive Methodist Church, and
both gentlemen were local ministers of that religious organization.
Mr. SLATER left quite a numerous family, none of whom are now
residents of Wisconsin.
- Samuel MARSDEN was a worthy and esteemed citizen, a sincere
and earnest Christian gentle-
- man, and left to his children that priceless heritage, a
good name. Although his earthly career is finished, he still
lives in the memory of his family and friends, and of him it
can truly be said, the world is better for his having lived.
In early life, after becoming an American citizen, he affiliated
with the Democratic party, but when the question of human slavery
divided the great political world, he cast his lot with the opponents
of that most inhuman system, and was ever afterward an Abolitionist,
but was not permitted to live to witness the establishment of
universal freedom in his adopted land. Though an Englishman
by birth and education, and cherishing a deep love and respect
for his native country, he was yet a true American in principle,
appreciating and admiring our free institutions, and was ever
loyal to our starry banner.
- Samuel MARSDEN and wife were the parents of fifteen children,
nine sons and six daughters, but
- three of his sons died in youth, before the removal of the
family from England. Of the remaining number four sons and four
daughters are living at the time of this writing: Priscilla,
before mentioned, is the eldest of these, and still resides in
England, where she has a numerous family; Hannah, now Mrs. VICKERS,
remained in her native land when the family came to this country,
but several years later she followed them across the Atlantic,
and now makes her home in Dane County; Mrs. Esther WILEMAN, who
with her parents and her husband, James WILEMAN, came to Wisconsin
in 1844, is a resident of the town of Albion, Dane County; Job
also lives in Albion near the old homestead; Henry, of this sketch,
is the next in order of birth; Joseph makes his home in the town
of Sumner, Jefferson County; Mary is now the wife of Samuel TALL,
of Albion; and Samuel, the youngest son, owns and occupies the
old homestead. Jonathan, the eldest of the sons, died soon after
reaching Dane County, at the age of twenty years; Martha, the
eldest, became the wife of William WRIGHT, and died at the age
of thirty years, leaving a daughter, now the widow of Samuel
HALL; George, fatally shot himself while hunting with his brother
Samuel, being in his seventeenth year at the time of his death,
which occurred in the year 1855; and Ruth, who became the wife
of Samuel CLARKE, died Aug. 9, 1882, at the age of sixty-one
years.
- Henry MARSDEN, whose name heads this sketch, resided in England
until about twelve years of
- age, at which time he came with his parents to America.
He distinctly remembers the conditions of the country forty-five
years go, its wild and unbroken prairie, over which the deer
roamed, its uncut timber, the haunt of many kinds of wild game,
its little pioneer cabins and its villages, which have now becoming
thriving cities. He was reared to manhood on the homestead farm,
and married Miss Margaret C. WHITTET, a daughter of James and
Margaret WHITTET, pioneers of Dane County. Their union has been
blest with four children: James C., Margaret Ann, Arthur and
John Marvin.
- Though reared to the occupation of farming and always owning
a fine farm, nevertheless, when a
- young man, Mr. MARSDEN learned the trade of carpenter and
builder, serving an apprenticeship with J. J. NASET. He followed
that occupation for eighteen years, at the same time overseeing
his farming operations. He now owns a fine farm in Albion Township,
Dane County, of nearly 200 acres, 160 of which are comprised
in the old homestead of his father. In May, 1883, he embarked
in the lumber business as a member of the firm of MARSDEN, WHITTET
& Co., and removed with his wife and children to Edgerton.
No family is more worthy a place in the pioneer history of Wisconsin
than that of Samuel and Ann MARSDEN. The descendants of that
worthy couple, who have long since passed to the better land,
are very numerous, but our subject is the only one who resides
in Rock County. He is numbered among the successful and substantial
business men of Edgerton. Ever liberal in the support of church
and educational interests, and prominent in the promotion of
any enterprise for the public welfare, he is esteemed as a worthy
and progressive citizen.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 954-955.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|