- Potpourri - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- Remembering those who helped shape Janesville
- Streets are named after them.
- Their names have been given to buildings.
- And some of them have been lost in history.
- These are the people who helped shape Janesville. Many of
them have been written about else-
- where in this section. Here are thumbnail sketches of others:
- William A. BARSTOW: Elected governor of Wisconsin
in 1854. BARSTOW was defeated in
- 1855 by Boles BASHFORD, although the board of canvassers
declared BARSTOW governor. Bashford sued before
the Supreme Court, and in a trial filled with odium and vilification,
the spurious votes from the "pine forests" were declared
void, and BARSTOW resigned with dignity from the office
he thought was his. He moved to Janesville, built a large house
and engaged in banking and [the] milling trade until the Civil
War. His health deteriorated rapidly during the war and he died
at 52 in 1865 at Leavenworth, Kan.
- Kenneth F. BICK: Principal of Janesville High School
(1947-1969), educator, humanitarian and
- civic leader.
- Joseph Morton BOSTWICK: Founder of J. M. BOSTWICK
& Sons Department Store, the
- premiere shopping place of [the] late 19th and early 20th
century for Janesville and the surrounding area.
- Levi CARLE: Established a grocery in Janesville in
1878; wholesale grocery operation in Chicago
- in 1884; president of the Janesville Machine Company; established
with his son, Norman L. CARLE, the CARLE Leaf Tobacco
warehouse.
- Joseph Bodwell DOE: Founder of a private banking business
in 1852, which became the Central
- Bank of Wisconsin in 1855 and the First National Bank in
1863.
- Alexander GALBRAITH: GALBRAITH brought the
game of golf to Janesville in 1893. In
- 1895 he, and others, leased land from H. S. WOODRUFF
and laid out [an] 18-hole course. The club was incorporated in
1897 as "Sinnissippi Golf Club." In 1898 the present
grounds were purchased and the stone part of the club built and
the club itself reincorporated as "Janesville Country Club."
- Rhoda Lavinia GOODELL: First woman admitted to the
practice of law in Wisconsin. Although
- Chief Justice Edward RYAN denied her application to
practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, she was admitted
in 1880 by legislative amendment of the enabling legislation.
She was also the author of numerous articles on women's rights
which brought her national recognition.
- Azel Clarence HOUGH: Originated the wood slat porch
shade in 1900 and founded the
- HOUGH Porch Shade Company at South Butler, N.Y. In
1902 he moved the company to Janesville, following the completion
of a new building.
- Mrs. A. C. (Dorothy WHITEHEAD) HOUGH: Organizer of
the Janesville Youth Hostel, the
- chairperson of the Rock County Civil Defense Block Committee
and chairman of the 1946 Community Chest Campaign, she was an
author of poetry and short pieces, and the composer of several
pageants: the D.A.R. state convention in 1933, World Fellowship
Council of Women in 1935, 1948 Janesville Centennial Pageant;
she was the president of the Janesville branch of American Association
of University Women, and a charter member of the organization.
- Timothy JACKMAN: Founder of the Rock County National
Bank, and builder of the
- JACKMAN Block.
- Jenkin Lloyd JONES: Pastor of All-Souls Unitarian
Church, and pre-eminent spokesman for the
- Unitarian Church; socialist and reformer.
- Angie Josephine KING: Third woman lawyer in Wisconsin,
and first admitted to practice before
- the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Ran for Janesville postmaster.She
won by a majority of votes after a "wild campaign"
wherein "boys paraded the streets with banners and transparencies
bearing all manner of ludicrous cartoons and mottoes." However,
Congressman Hopkins declined to endorse her. She visited newly-elected
President U. S. Grant and presented her case, but Grant declined
to act without Hopkins' support.
- Arthur C. KENT: Manufacturer of the A. C. KENT
corn planter, and builder of the KENT
- block, La-Vista Flats and Kentmore Apartments (N. Parker
Dr.), he is also the inventor and manufacturer of a widely used
potato planter. KENT is reputed to have had the first
steam-powered motor launch on the Rock River.
- Allen Perry LOVEJOY: President of the Janesville Machine
Company, following a career in
- banking, timbering and other commercial enterprises. Member
of the Wisconsin general assembly in 1869, state senator during
1887-1889.
- Peter MYERS: Builder of the MYERS Opera House,
the MYERS Block (corner of Franklin
- and West Milwaukee) and the MYERS House hotel.
- George S. PARKER: Founder of the PARKER Pen
Co.
- William F. PALMER: Co-founder of the PARKER
Pen Company, donor of PALMER Park.
- Burr ROBBINS: Entrepreneur and showman, ROBBINS
made Janesville his home after 1873
- for his circus. In 1881 he put his show on rail cars, and
it had no rival, except for the Barnum Circus. In 1888 he sold
his circus stock and equipment to the Ringling Circus, including
the fanciful wagons which had been made for him by the HODGE
and BUCHHOLZ Carriage Co. of Janesville. ROBBINS
then went to Chicago and founded General Outdoor Advertising,
which is today the largest outdoor advertising company in the
U.S.
- John Meek WHITEHEAD: Moving to Janesville in 1883
from Illinois, he established the firm of
- WHITEHEAD and MATHESON. He was recognized by
the American Bar Association, Wisconsin State Bar Association
and the Rock County Bar Association as one of the foremost lawyers
in Wisconsin. State Senator from 1896 to 1912, he was responsible,
through his committee, for the erection of the present state
Capitol. President of the Janesville Library for several years,
he was also president of the state YMCA, and vice president of
the Wisconsin League for Peace. He was for a long period curator
of the Wisconsin State Historical Society.
- Edward Vernon WHITON: First Justice of the Wisconsin
Supreme Court. He also helped
- organize the Wisconsin region as a territory in 1836. WHITON
was a member of the territorial house of representatives for
the first session of the state assembly and at the second session
he was elected speaker.
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