- THOMAS NORTH. Among the pioneers of Wisconsin, who during
the 'forties' peopled the
- forest of this then inhospitable region, were many who by
their migration laid the foundation for future success. The
hardships undergone were severe, the rewards commensurate to
those possessing patience, fortitude and strength.
- The NORTH family of Edgerton, Rock County, was founded in
Wisconsin in 1847. In that year
- Thomas NORTH, Sr., the father of our subject, was an English
farmer, who was approaching the half century mark in years, without
having attained that financial success which brings comfort and
ease. A tide of English emigration had set in toward the distant
wilderness of America, and Thomas NORTH joined it. He was the
son of William NORTH, a farmer, and had married Ellen HOPKINS,
who died in England about 1832, leaving three children, two of
whom, Thomas, our subject, and William, of Cottage Grove, Wis.,
are living. For his second wife the father married Jane BIGGIN,
by whom there were no children. After his migration to America,
in 1847, Mr. NORTH settled in Albion township, Dane Co., Wis.,
where with his two sons, Thomas and William, he bought eighty
acres of land. Their industry won, and the holdings grew, first
by the purchase of 126 acres, and later by the addition of another
tract, of 176 acres. Here the father and two sons farmed in
common for some years, then divided the property. The father
in religious faith was a devout Episcopal Methodist, and for
a number of years was, a local preacher. In politics he was
a Republican, and in Albion township he was assessor for several
years. He was a highly respected citizen, and died in 1868,
aged nearly seventy-one years.
- Thomas NORTH, our subject, was born in Derbyshire, England,
Oct. 28, 1828, was reared a
- farmer's boy, and received a common-school education. Coming
to America with his father in 1847, he shared generously in the
toil essential to success in the new land, and when a division
of the property was made came into possession of a tract of 160
acres in Albion township, Dane County, and Sumner township, Jefferson
County. This he farmed, and by purchase subsequently increased
to a well-tilled and valuable farm of 255 acres. Mr. NORTH lived
in Albion township until 1864, then removed to Sumner township,
Jefferson County, where he resided until 1894. In that year
he retired from active farming, erecting the handsome home in
Edgerton which he now occupies.
- Mr. NORTH married July 4, 1852, Miss Sarah BRAILSFORD, daughter
of Joseph and Mary
- (BIGGIN) BRAILSFORD. Mrs. NORTH came to America with her
parents in 1845, when a girl of ten years. Her father was an
Englishman, but prior to his emigration to America had spent
eleven years on the estate of Baron Rothschild, in France, and
there three of his children were born, Mary, Hannah and Sarah,
the last named on Oct. 23, 1834. After his emigration to America,
in 1845, Joseph BRAILSFORD located in Albion township, Dane County.
Here his wife died in 1856, aged fifty-two years, and for his
second wife he married Miss Margaret PEPPER. Later he removed
to Tyndall, S. Dak., where he lived, a farmer, to the age of
about eighty-two years. Of his seven children by the first marriage,
two Mary and Ann, survive. The four children by the second marriage
are all living: John, James, George and Henry.
- To Thomas and Sarah (BRAILSFORD) NORTH were born ten children,
five sons and five
- daughters, as follows: (1) George Henry died in infancy.
(2) Mary Jane married Samuel WILEMAN, and died in 1894, leaving
six children, Emily Jane and Thomas, Sarah, Charles, Arthur,
and Edith. (3) Sarah Ellen died aged four months. (4) Thomas
W., a Methodist Episcopal minister, now stationed at Milton,
Wis., married Josie WALES, and they have four children, Beulah,
Hazel, Vincent and Laura. (5) Charles Edwin, who studied medicine,
died in Chicago, Ill., aged twenty-four years. (6) Sarah Ann,
wife of James WILEMAN, of Edgerton, has two children, Lilly and
Louie. (7) David Willard, a resident of Edgerton, married Sarah
Elizabeth NELSON, and has three children, Theodora, Jessica and
Herschel. (8) Ellen Melissa married Rev. Lucius Augustus WHITCOMB,
a Free Methodist minister, who was principal of the Evansville
Seminary for several years, and now resides in Evanston, Ill;
they have five children, Ethel, Grace, Pearl, Lawrence and Willard.
(9) Emily Elizabeth married Archibald TEMPLETON, and is living
at Madison, Wis.; they have one child, Hugh Longville. (10)
Fred Arthur married Lilly McCARTHY, and has two children, Charles
and Thomas WILFORD; they live at the home farm in Sumner township.
- Mr. NORTH is a prominent member of the Albion Prairie M.
E. Church, in which he is class-
- leader, trustee and Sunday-school teacher. His wife, who
passed away Oct. 14, 1900, also united with that church; her
remains rest in Albany Prairie cemetery. Politically Mr. NORTH
is a Prohibitionist. For a year he served as supervisor of Sumner
township, but has not aspired to office. He is a conscientious
Christian, a patriotic citizen, a sympathetic friend and neighbor,
and the many most estimable traits of himself and family have
given them the affection and high regard of a wide acquaintanceship.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin"
(c) 1901, pp. 199-200.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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