Adolph B. Mattias, 1844

Transcribed by Janet

Source: 1918 History of Clark Co., WI, by Franklyn, Curtiss-Wedge

Surnames: MATTIAS, ROGGENBUK, STANGE, MEYER

1918 HISTORY OF CLARK CO., WIS:

                                         A. B. Matthias & Family

ADOLPH B. MATTIAS, a progressive and successful farmer of Hoard Township, of which he is one of the leading citizens, was born in Milwaukee, Wis., Feb. 26, 1844, son of Julius and Wilhelmina (Roggenbuk) Matthias. The parents, who were natives of Germany, came to America when young, the grandfather, Matthias, buying 160 acres of land, now forming part of the site of Milwaukee, for $1.25 an acre. This purchase was made in 1834. The parents of our subject moved to Sheboygan County in 1853, buying a farm there, on which Julius Matthias died at the age of 75 years in 1881. His wife died in 1878, at the age of 62. They had seven children: Adolph B., of Hoard Township, Clark County; Herman, who resides at Antigo, Wis.; Otto, of Sheboygan County, Wis.; Henriette and Augusta (twins), Henriette living in Niagara, Wis., and Augusta being dead, and Wilhelmina, who lives in Sheboygan County.

Adolph B. Matthias finished his schooling at Plymouth, and resided at home until 1861. He then enlisted in the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in at Madison, Wis., and serving under Generals Grant and Sherman in the Army of the Tennessee. He took part in the battles of Corinth, Ft. Donelson, Vicksburg and Nashville, Tenn., being at Vicksburg at the time that city surrendered. From a private he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, and after the surrender of Vicksburg went to Mobile, Ala., among the other engagements in which he took part, being those of Missionary Creek, Mechanicsburg, Richmond and the opening of the Mississippi.

In 1865 he received an honorable discharge at Demopolis, Ala., and returned to Plymouth, Sheboygan County, Wis., where he learned the blacksmiths' trade. In 1870 he came to Clark County and homesteaded 160 acres of land in what is now Section 36, Hoard Township. Here he erected a log cabin and as soon as possible secured a yoke of oxen. In 1876 he built a frame addition to his house, residing there until 1915, when he moved to his present location in Section 33. His farm consists of 200 acres in Section 36 and the forty in Section 33, his residence being in Section 33. One hundred and sixty acres of the home farm is now owned and operated by his son, Franklin, while forty acres is owned and operated by his youngest son, Adolph. Mr. Matthias has also at different times bought other tracts of land, and is one of the prosperous and enterprising farmers of his township. He is engaged largely in dairying, having been one of the first farmers in the vicinity to devote special attention to that industry. He raises Guernsey cattle, graded, and milks as many as twenty cows.

On various occasions he has served in public office, having been elected school clerk in 1872 and 1880, being chairman of Hoard Township board in 1891, and a member of the board several different times. In 1891, when the township was organized, he was elected justice of the peace, and served in that office until 1915. His connection with the school board, in different offices, has lasted from the organization of the district up to the present time. In politics he is a Republican.

Mr. Matthias was married April 5, 1873, to Ernestena Stange, who was born in Germany and came to this country with her parents when young, the family settling in Loyal Township, Clark County, in 1871. He and his wife have five children and nine grandchildren, the children being Franklin, of Hoard Township; Alfred, of Seattle, Wash.; Emil, of Green Grove Township; Annie, now Mrs. R. H. Meyer, of Athens, Wis., and Adolph, of Hoard Township. Of those who are married, Franklin has four children-Emil, one; Alfred, one, and Annie, three.

Additional Notes