SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

Martin Daharsh, Page 402

MARTIN DAHARSH, one of the leading and influential citizens of Lima Township, resides in Hingham, Wis.  He has for many years made his home in this county, and well deserves representation in its history.  He claims New York as the State of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Madison County, July 15, 1815.  The parents, Isaac and Elizabeth (Daharsh) Daharsh, were also natives of New York.  The father served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and the grandfather was a Revolutionary hero.  The former led a busy life, and in pursuit of fortune followed farming.  He was an old-line Whig, and his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  They had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, but only three are now living:  Martin, Henry, a farmer of Missouri; and William, a farmer of Lancaster County, Neb.

    Martin Daharsh was educated in the common schools, and remained at home until twenty-three years of age, when he married Frances Maria Quackenbush.  Their union was celebrated September 9, 1846, and unto them were born two sons and two daughters.  Julius, a farmer, died in Oregon, May 19, 1880.  Lottie is the widow of Roswell H. Tripp, who was a member of Company R, Twenty-seventh Wisconsin Infantry.  He entered the service as a private and was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant.  Mrs. Tripp resides in Hingham, and has three children:  Nora, wife of Ed Moulton, a farmer of Minnesota, and a graduate of the Oshkosh Normal, of Oshkosh; Ruby, a graduate of Lawrence University, of Appleton, Wis., now engaged in teaching in Sherman Township; and Gordon T., who graduated from the Sheboygan Business College in 1892, and is now a student in the Hingham High School.  The next in the Daharsh family is Mary, wife of Warren Pickett, a farmer of Nebraska, by whom she has three daughters and one son, all now attending school.  Grant L., of Waldo, is a traveling salesman for Hirsch Bros., of Milwaukee.  He wedded Katie Shadbolt, and they have two daughters, Lottie and Carrie, who are attending the Waldo High School.

    Mrs. Daharsh is a daughter of John and Catherine (Perry) Quackenbush.  She was born in Rome, N. Y., November 12, 1822, and is the eldest of six children, two now living, herself and Julia, now Mrs. Fellows, who is living on a farm in the Empire State.  The father was born near Albany, N. Y., in 1804, and died on the 6th of April, 1878.  His wife was born in the same locality the same year, and her death occurred May 16, 1877.  They were members of the New Light Church, and took quite an active part in religious and benevolent work.  The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Daharsh was a soldier in the War for Independence.

    During his residence in New York, Mr. Daharsh was for fifteen years captain of the canal-boats on the Erie Canal, running from  Buffalo to Albany.  The company reposed the utmost confidence in him, for he has always lived an honorable, upright life, and his word is as good as his bond.  In 1846, he bade adieu to his native State, and by way of the canal and Great Lakes came to Wisconsin, landing in Sheboygan when it was a hamlet.  Mr. and Mrs. Daharsh have experienced the hardships peculiar to pioneer life, for the work of development had hardly been begun when they made their home in this State.  The previous year our subject had purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 32, Lima Township.  He built a log cabin, 16 x 22 feet, stopping up the chinks with mud and sticks.  The floor was of rough boards, and there was a mud and stick chimney.  At first there were no doors or windows, and at night they nailed boards over the openings in order to keep out the cold.  The farming was done with an ox-team and primitive implements.  They hauled their grain to Sheboygan, which was their nearest market.  They would walk five miles to attend religious services, as there were no schools or churches in this community.  The nearest neighbors were miles away, but hospitality abounded, and the pioneers took real enjoyment in their social festivities.  Our subject and his estimable wife have seen the entire growth and development of the county, and have ever borne their part in the work of progress and upbuilding, which as placed this county in the lead in this great commonwealth.  To the early settlers a debt of gratitude is due which can never be repaid, but they will be gratefully remembered long after they have passed away.

    Mr. Daharsh cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison, and he and his wife attended the convention at Utica, N. Y., before they were married.  He now favors the Greenback Party.  He is Township Supervisor, was School Clerk for several years, and has aided in the erection of three schoolhouses.  The cause of education finds in this sterling old couple warm friends.  He and his good wife are living retired in Hingham, enjoying the rest which they have so truly earned and richly deserve.