Railroads, Reapers, Etc. - Two

As promised, here is the second part of a walk inspired by the late Maurice Montgomery's self-published book Memory Walks in Oak Hill, highlighting some interesting men and women buried here, emphasis on invention, business, and railroads.  If you want to see a photo of each individual headstone, go to Find a Grave Oak Hill Janesville, and type the name that you want in the search box.

1.  Azel Clarence Hough (block 407) You will easily spot the Hough family plot as you drive into the cemetery from Washington Avenue.  There is a large columned "doorway" on the right (the other side from the office) which leads to all the headstones for the Hough family.

Azel Hough, born in New York state was an inventive genius. He began his working life working for his father's general mercantile business, and soon began thinking of ways to make the business better and more efficient.  In 1893 he patented the Hough Cash Recorder, popular for many year.  Later in his home town of South Butler, he saw how an neighbor had used wooden slats from a local basket factory to put together homemade "bamboo" porch shades.  Hough thought he could develop machinery that could make similar wood slats in a cost effective way.  He did just that, and began manufacturing wood-slat roll-up porch shades using local wood.  He moved the operation to Janesville in 1902, since basswood was easily available here.  He continued to improve the streamline the business and soon began manufacturing other lines of shades for both homes and businesses. During World War II the company began manufacturing blackout shades. Hough died in 1946, but the business, now known as Hufcor, continues.

2.  Irving Crowe (block 151) As you come to the chapel, turn right/north on Main Drive until you are near the pole barn maintenance building. Then on the side of the hill, to your left, there is a large boulder inscribed with "Crowe."  This unmistakable monument marks the family lot of Irving Crowe (pictured above).

Irving attended local schools, served in World War I, and came home and went to work as a steeplejack.  That is, he used ropes and pulleys and went up high on churches and other tall buildings and did roofing and repair work.  Clearly he was not afraid of heights.  Steeplejacks were in demand around the state, and in 1923 Crowe was working around Medford.  The county fair was on, and there was a demonstration of barnstorming going on - fancy and dangerous trick flying in WWI biplanes.  Audience members were often offered rides for a small fee, and Irving was thrilled at the idea of going up into the sky with a veteran daredevil pilot.  He went up, but the thrill was short lived, as the plane crashed.  The pilot, "Dusty" Rhodes walked away from the accident, but Irving Crowe's life was ended.

3.  Elisabeth Strampe Meyer and family (block 174) Not too much further up the hill, you will see the large and lovely gray granite Meyer family monument, which features a floral arch, a resting angel, and the inscription "In God We Rest."

Mrs. Meyer and her husband William emigrated from Germany to Wisconsin in 1842, settling first in Reedsburg and later coming to Janesville.  The person in this family who fits best with the theme of invention and manufacturing is her daughter Emma, who married Otto Buchholz.  Otto operated a blacksmith shop on North Parker drive for many years, and also worked for his uncle, Herman Buchholz, pioneer carriage maker in Janesville, who was partner with Robert Hodge.  That business built carriages, farm wagons, hearses, and even circus wagons. The factory played a large role in Janesville's growth at the time.

4.  John C. Fox (block 186) If you keep heading west up the hill toward Western Avenue,  the large red granite monument to the Fox family isn't far from the intersection of Western Avenue and North 4th Street. North 4th runs parallel to the broad grassy area running east and west, up and down the hill.

John Fox was originally from England.  He is credited with bringing the first train to Janesville.  He was an engineer on the Milwaukee and St. Paul road, and later on as a master mechanic was foreman of the Janesville roundhouse.  When he retired after 58 years of service, he was the oldest living employe of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad.  His daughter Ida worked at the train yard in the offices.  She was tragically killed on day when she ran out to deliver a message to a worker, got her foot somehow tangled in a rail, and was killed by a freight train.

5.  William Riley Selleck (block 159)  The Selleck monument is a tall gray obelisk. You need to cross Western Avenue and continue west, toward the back of the cemetery, along North 5th Street. The monument will be on the right (you need a map to see this).

Riley's early career was spent opening train stations for the Chicago & Northwestern line in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Later on he was in the grain business. But what brought him is fortune was his inventive mechanical ability. He invented and patented an efficient wire grain binder.  Cyrus McCormick purchased that patent and adapted it into a popular twine binder.  When McCormick created the McCormick Harvester Machine Co. (later International Harvester), he brought William Selleck in as treasurer of the company, and later other positions of trust.  He invested well, and was involved in mining and other business ventures of the time.

6.  Allen Perry Lovejoy (block 275) From the Selleck monument walk west to Summit Avenue and turn left.  The large gray granite Lovejoy family monument, featuring four columns should be easy to spot.

Allen Lovejoy was originally from Maine, he taught school as a young man, and apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner. He headed west, settling first in Milwaukee, later Beloit, and finally Janesville, where he went into business for himself as a carpenter and builder. In 1860 he opened a lumber yard in this city, and expanded to Mt. Horeb, Dodgeville,  Blue Mounds, Stoughton, and New Glarus.  Over time he investing in lumber not only all over Wisconsin, but also in Oregon, California and Louisiana.  And he didn't restrict himself to lumbering - In 1875 he partnered with James Harris, at one point becoming president of the Janesville Machine Company. He also invested in the Janesville Cotton Company, McLean Manufacturing, and Monterey Flouring Mills.  He was involved in banking, for a time being director of the First National Bank, and being a stock holder in several other regional banks.  He was elected to both the state assembly and senate, and also elected 22nd mayor of Janesville.

7.  George Safford Parker (block 250) The modest red granite monument of George Parker and family is also on Summit Avenue - very near the tall cross marking the Richardsons.

George Safford Parker was originally from Shullsburg, Wisconsin.  Early in his working life he was a teacher at Valentine's school of telegraphy, and on the side he sold pens for the Holland Pen Company, out of Ohio. At that time fountain pens were messy affairs, often spitting out blobs of ink and smearing.  Parker invented a better pen with superior nibs and feeder tubes, which he called the Lucky Curve - and this began his lifetime in the manufacture of fine writing instruments. Parker Pen incorporated in 1892, and began manufacturing in the Myers Opera House block, frequently relocating as the company grew, eventually settling on East Court Street. He loved traveling and introduced his Parker pens wherever he went.  He continued to introduce innovations in pen design, and a non-smear ink called Quink, over the years.  He was known as a good man and a philanthropist, and was widely lamented when he died in 1937.

8.  Joseph A. Craig (block 202) If you turn right on North 11th Street, heading down the hill, you will find the Craig family lot, on the side of the hill.

I taught for a number of years at J.A. Craig High School, named for this man, but never knew much of anything about him. Craig was a farm boy born in Pennsylvania. He moved to Illinois and was for a time in the farm implement business there. He was a salesman for the Janesville Machine Company, which produced plows, cultivators, seeders, mowers and more, but soon moved up in the company when Allen Lovejoy invited him to come to Janesville and become part of management here. All this was at a time when all sorts of new horseless carriages (automobiles) were being manufactured for the first time, including General Motors.  W.C. Durant, head of GM, invited J.A. Craig to Detroit to offer him a position as head of Samson Tractor there.  Craig somehow convinced the GM folks in Michigan to come and take over the implement manufacturing part of Janesville Machine Company, and move the manufacture of Samson tractors here.  He brought GM to Janesville, and most likely had a role in GM's decision to transform the tractor company into one that built cars.

Later in his life he lived in the pretty house near the country club called Century Elms, and raised Holstein, Guernsey and Jersey cattle.  Always a staunch supporter of 4-H clubs, he was for a time president of the Rock County 4-H Club Livestock Association, and helped to organize the first Rock County 4-H fair.  At that time the Fair Association was in debt, so J.A. Craig and John McCann purchased the fairground land.  Part became Adams School, part residential lots, and part the land where the current fair is held each summer.

He did other generous deeds as well, purchased the old Lovejoy home and donating it to be used as the YWCA, and setting up a trust to help Rock county rural children be able to afford college.

Railroads, Reapers, Etc. - One

Most of the stops on this self-guided walk come from Maurice Montgomery's book Memory Walks in Oak Hill Cemetery, from the chapter he called Railroads, Reapers and Motor Cars.  I added a couple names that I thought fit the theme. There are too many stops in the chapter for a single hour-long walk, so I divided the stops into two separate walks, the next one coming soon.  If you are reading this in November, the weather is getting chilly in Wisconsin, so dress accordingly when you head out, and  bring along a map of the cemetery.  I include one at the end of this post, or get one from the cemetery office Monday through Friday, ten o'clock in the morning until two in the afternoon. Happy hunting!

1.  Pliny Norcross (block 20) If you follow the paved road that runs up the hill to the left of the chapel, you will find the Norcross monument and individual headstones.

I've always though Norcross was interesting. He was from Massachusetts, originally but came to southern Wisconsin when he was a teenager.  He was schooled at both Milton and Albion Academies, and spent time at the University of Wisconsin.  When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the Governor's Guards, and later in Company K 13th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, where he was captain.  After the war he married, took up the study of law, and went back east to New York.  But then he returned to Janesville in 1883, where he invested in business blocks downtown.  In 1885 he got into the electric power business, using the power provided by the Rock River to electrify businesses in the Norcross block, a business that manufactured shoes, printing plants, and a bindery.  In 1892 he bought the Fulton mill, torn it down, and built a power plant that began to run lights in Edgerton, as well as parts of Janesville.  Then he acquired the old mills at Indian Ford and created the Indian Ford electric power plant.  In the end he sold all these power plants to the Wisconsin Electric Company and became first president of the utility. He had an unfortunate ending. In July 1915 he was walking along the old raceway on the river in downtown Janesville when a gust of wind blew his straw hat from his head.  He grabbed for it, but slipped into the the river and drowned.  His body was located a couple days later, his pocket watch stopped at 2:12.

2.  William Rodney Hathaway (block 112) Keep heading up that same road to the top of the hill and then a bit further on until you reach a unpaved path that cuts across the wooded area over to the other paved road (called Center Avenue) to the right of the chapel.  About half way between the two paved roads, on the path, is the tablet headstone pictured above.  It leans, so you will need to squat down to see the image of the steam engine clearly.

At the time Hathaway was alive, railroads were sweeping the country, revolutionizing travel and providing a fast and efficient way to move manufactured and agricultural goods.  These were, of course, steam trains, which required a water filled boiler, which had to be stoked with wood or coal constantly.  It was the job of the train's fireman to keep the firebox filled with fuel, and also to oil the train's drive wheels.  It was dangerous.  Hathaway was a fireman, and he met a tragic end. He fell while shoveling to the engine and became tangled in the connecting rods which drove the engine's wheels.  It took about thirty minutes to extricate him, and by that time he had already died.

3.   Charles Baxter Withington (block 110) Continuing along the unpaved path the runs between the two paved roads you should be able to find the modest gray granite headstone for Withington.  It's off the path a bit toward the wooded back part of the cemetery.

Charles B. Withington was born in Ohio, but moved to Janesville and married Charlotte Brandt, and raised a large family. He is remembered today for his invention of a wire grain binder. The patent for this invention was bought by Cyrus McCormick, of the International Harvester fame, who perfected the technology, adapted it for twine binding, contributed to the industrialization of agriculture, and made a fortune.  C.B. Withington also owned a jewelry business for many years in Janesville.

4.  James B. Crosby (block 30) Keep going along that unpaved path, over to the paved road that runs to the right of the chapel. On the other side of the road near a very old oak tree you cannot miss the Crosby family monument, which is a maiden pointing to heaven atop a column, with a scroll and an anchor.

James Crosby personified the prosperous businessman.   Born in New York,he came to the area with his parents in 1852. His father built a large flouring mill  James ran a dray-goods store for a time, but soon after got into banking when the Rock County Bank was organized in 1855. Later he was manager of the Harris Manufacturing Company (James Harris is coming up later), after it was reorganized and called Janesville Machine Company.  Crosby lived in a beautiful Italianate villa on Sutherland Avenue. After he left Janesville for North Carolina, Dr. Judd and Dr. Henry Palmer bought the house and made it into the city's first hospital.


5.  Henry P. Culver and family (block 83) Walking west along that same paved road, heading toward the back of the cemetery, the Culver family monument will be on your right, back in a bit from the road.  It looks like a full sized tree, with limbs lopped off, encircled by ivy with a cross up toward the top.

Henry P. Culver was a native of Connecticut, born in 1793.   After marrying his wife Lamira, they moved to New York state, where he went into manufacturing with his grandfather. Later he opened a grist mill, and engaged in manufacturing barrels, sawing lumber, processing potash, and making plaster.  In 1842 he and his sons moved to Rock county, where he purchased a fine farm.  He engaged in farming until he died of a paralytic stroke in 1869.  He is remembered as being a pioneer of the area.

6.  Thomas J. Nichols (block 91) Keep heading west on Center Avenue, and the next two headstones are near the first cross paved road you reach. The Nichols headstone is an upright tablet, inscribed with the image of a railroad passenger car.

Another railroad related headstone here. Thomas Jefferson Nichols was a conductor for the Chicago and Northwestern railroad, which is a senior position, and well respected. No doubt he had worked his way up through other railroad jobs, such as doing routine maintenance, being a flagman, or brakeman.  By the time he was a conductor, he was in charge of his train cars, responsible for the safety of freight and or passengers, for selling and collecting tickets, keeping the train moving a time, and so on. Nichols was forty years old when he died of rheumatic fever. Ironically, Thomas's son Charles, who was a railroad brakeman, suddenly died of a hemorrhage only six months later.

7.  Charles A. Brown (block 91) Very nearby you can easily find another upright tablet, good-sized, topped with an urn and inscribed with the image of a broken column, a sprig of acacia, an urn, a kneeling woman, and Father Time with a sickle (pictured below)

Charles A. Brown was an engineer for the Chicago and Northwestern Road, and the engineer is also an important and respected job.  Brown didn't die in his engine, but rather on train related business in Chicago.  He and conductor Amassa Cobb were in Chicago, riding in a buggy near the Chicago and Northwestern freight house, when something frightened the horse, which bolted out of control.  Cobb jumped from the buggy and broke a leg, but when Brown jumped free he fell and cracked his skull on the pavement, and died a short time later.   His interesting and somewhat macabre looking monument is actually related to his being a Mason.  The image, called Father Time and the Weeping Virgin,  is supposed to symbolize that time, patience and perseverance will accomplish all things.

8.  James Harris (block 101) The Harris monument is directly across the road, a large gray granite block.

When James Harris died in 1912, the Janesville Gazette described him as a "Founder of Industry." Born in Canada, Harris had lived in Janesville more than fifty years, was president of the Janesville Barb Wire Company and vice president of the Janesville Machine Company.  Since he was trained as a machinist, be began in Janesville in partnership with some others in the manufacture of of farm implements, such as reapers. He was also involved in the Rock River Iron Works, which made castings and cast iron columns. The barb wire company, which he bought from a Illinois and brought north to Rock county, eventually became Janesville Fence and Post, and still later became Harris Ace Hardware.