Belmont, Wis., April 6- Nathan Olmsted, a prominent citizen of this place and a conspicuous figure in the history of Lafayette County, died at 11:30 o'clock last night, at the age of 86 years. Nathan Olmsted was born Oct. 17, 1812, at Davenport, Delaware County, N.Y., being a descendent of the Olmsted family which came over in the ship Lyon in 1632.
He followed farming until the age of 19, when he taught school in the district in which he was born. In 1838 the lead mining region of Southwestern Wisconsin began to attract attention and young Olmsted decided to cast his fortunes in Lafayette County. He started farming near Old Belmont, then the territorial capitol of Wisconsin, and was afterwards postmaster and handled the mails of the First Legislature.
After the seat of government was changed, he moved to Cottage Inn, three miles away, where he continued to be postmaster. He was appointed justice of the peace by Gov. Dodge, which office he held continuously to the time of his death and was supposed to have been the oldest justice in the state. In closing up his business as postmaster at Cottage Inn in 1865, the government found a balance due him of $87.
He was the first schoolteacher to be employed in the vicinity and his salary was paid by subscription. He subsequently purchased a farm of 400 acres at Cottage Inn, where three sons and three daughters were born. His wife, Magdaline Teneich, passed away at the age of 85 years, March 16.
Mr. Olmsted once saved the life and then army officer sent to arrest a number of organized southern sympathizers who were secretly and openly defying the government at Benton in the southern part of the county. The anti-abolitionist destroyed the Marshalls buggy during the night and called at the Benton hotel to put the Marshall to sleep with cold lead, but he anticipated their movements and escaped by a rear window, reaching the Olmsted home in safety, where he eluded his pursuers.
At the Olmsted home in Davenport grew an apple tree that was the wonder of all beholders, and the happy hours of boyhood spent under its shade were among the most pleasant recollections of Mr. Olmsted's many narratives.
The tree was about eleven feet in circumference, forty feet high and was known for many miles around as "the big apple tree." The fruit of the tree was exceedingly large, white-ribbed, and the interior white, with a good flavor. It was supposed to have been planted by Gen. Morgan, shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. It was destroyed in April 1894 by a violent storm.
Mr. Olmsted represented his county in the Wisconsin Legislature in 1851 and 1853 and was chairman of the county board almost continuously since 1870. He was admitted to the bar in 1860 and practiced since that time, his advice being much sought after by the legal fraternity of the county. He probably had held more offices than any other citizen within its borders.
Mining Times 8 Apr 1898
Contributor Audrey Quinn Porter Fag#47005894
Belmont, Wis., April 6- Nathan Olmsted, a prominent citizen of this place and a conspicuous figure in the history of Lafayette County, died at 11:30 o'clock last night, at the age of 86 years. Nathan Olmsted was born Oct. 17, 1812, at Davenport, Delaware County, N.Y., being a descendent of the Olmsted family which came over in the ship Lyon in 1632.
He followed farming until the age of 19, when he taught school in the district in which he was born. In 1838 the lead mining region of Southwestern Wisconsin began to attract attention and young Olmsted decided to cast his fortunes in Lafayette County. He started farming near Old Belmont, then the territorial capitol of Wisconsin, and was afterwards postmaster and handled the mails of the First Legislature.
After the seat of government was changed, he moved to Cottage Inn, three miles away, where he continued to be postmaster. He was appointed justice of the peace by Gov. Dodge, which office he held continuously to the time of his death and was supposed to have been the oldest justice in the state. In closing up his business as postmaster at Cottage Inn in 1865, the government found a balance due him of $87.
He was the first schoolteacher to be employed in the vicinity and his salary was paid by subscription. He subsequently purchased a farm of 400 acres at Cottage Inn, where three sons and three daughters were born. His wife, Magdaline Teneich, passed away at the age of 85 years, March 16.
Mr. Olmsted once saved the life and then army officer sent to arrest a number of organized southern sympathizers who were secretly and openly defying the government at Benton in the southern part of the county. The anti-abolitionist destroyed the Marshalls buggy during the night and called at the Benton hotel to put the Marshall to sleep with cold lead, but he anticipated their movements and escaped by a rear window, reaching the Olmsted home in safety, where he eluded his pursuers.
At the Olmsted home in Davenport grew an apple tree that was the wonder of all beholders, and the happy hours of boyhood spent under its shade were among the most pleasant recollections of Mr. Olmsted's many narratives.
The tree was about eleven feet in circumference, forty feet high and was known for many miles around as "the big apple tree." The fruit of the tree was exceedingly large, white-ribbed, and the interior white, with a good flavor. It was supposed to have been planted by Gen. Morgan, shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. It was destroyed in April 1894 by a violent storm.
Mr. Olmsted represented his county in the Wisconsin Legislature in 1851 and 1853 and was chairman of the county board almost continuously since 1870. He was admitted to the bar in 1860 and practiced since that time, his advice being much sought after by the legal fraternity of the county. He probably had held more offices than any other citizen within its borders.
Mining Times 8 Apr 1898
Contributor Audrey Quinn Porter Fag#47005894
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