HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



England. He spent his early youth in Baltimore, where he attended school.
In
1846 he served as a soldier in the War with Mexico. It was in 1852 that he
came
to Wood County, Wisconsin, and established a shoe store on North First Street,
close to where the office of the Wood County Reporter is now located. His
store
was destroyed by fire, but he built another and continued in the business
until
about five years before his death on Aug. 16, 1877. He was a prominent citizen
of this place, at one time for several years serving as the village marshal
and holding
various other local offices. He was also a charter member of the First Congrega-
tional Church and an active worker in it. Mr. Balderston was married in New
Buffalo, Wis., Feb. 12, 1853, to Sarah Jeanette Wood, who was born at Seneca
Falls, N. Y., June 24, 1834, daughter of Joseph and Hester (Kirtland) Wood.
This marriage resulted in eight children, namely: Edith, Charles, Mabel,
Frank
and Fannie, who are deceased; and Joseph W., Stephen Wallace and Grace E.,
who
are living :Fannie was the wife of D. D. Thompson and had one daughter, Maud,
now Mrs. J. N. Brundage of Aberdeen, S. D. Joseph W. resides in Sioux City,
Iowa; Stephen Wallace in Wisconsin Rapids; and Grace E. is the wife of John
E.
Daly of Wisconsin Rapids.
   Sarah Jeanette Wood Balderston, of Wisconsin Rapids, who is one of the
notable pioneers of Wood County, was born, as elsewhere stated, at Seneca
Falls,
N. Y., June 24, 1834, daughter of Joseph and Hester (Kirtland) Wood. When
a
wee little girl she came with her people to Fort Hill, Ill., Chicago at that
time be-
ing a mere trading-post. The family lived some years on the Illinois farm,
where
the mother died. In 1846 Joseph Wood, the father, who was a born pioneer,
set
out for the wilds of Wisconsin, and finding the pine lands good, he built
him a home
and for him Wood County was named. Three times he made the long journey,
with teams, from Illinois to Grand Rapids, with the little daughter before
she would
stay in the Indian country. A new mother, Matilda Compton, and small brothers
coming during these years helped to make life less lonely for the little
girl Jeanette.
Mrs. Balderston tells that on one of these journeys her father brought one
wagon
filled with pinks, lilac and honeysuckel bushes, "York State" roses
and balm of
Gileads and Lombardy poplars, packed by the capable hands of her step-
mother, thus starting these shrubs and trees in this part of the country.
Mrs.
Balderston tells many interesting tales of the early days. She says there
is no
question about whom the law-abiding citizens feared most in the early days-the
redmen or the rivermen. The Indians were very numerous but peaceful, but
the
rivermen were inveterate fighters and worse drinkers. The coming of the stage
was always a noticeable event. One day it brought Thomas Scott with two barrels
of merchandise. Near where the Wood County National Bank now stands Thomas
emptied the barrels, put boards across them, spread out his merchandise and
went
into business. This was the same Thomas Scott who built the old Pomainville
home on Third Street, who built a near palace in Merrill, and who founded
our
T. B. Scott Public Library. In those days this was Portage County, Plover
being
the county seat, and many a night the young people drove to Plover to dances,
candy pulls, or on sleigh rides. The Ladies' Aid Society furnished most of
the
entertainments, while the lumberjacks usually furnished the thrills. When
Sarah
Jeanette Wood was 19 she was wooed and won by William J. Balderston from
Baltimore, Md. The courtship was a stormy one, and on Feb. 12, 1853, the
lovers
eloped. The would-be bride went down to the Wisconsin House operated by
George A. Neeves and his good wife Mary to meet the rest of the bridal party.
The groom had a team and sleigh near by, but as the wedding party crossed
the
road, the irate father saw them and then trouble began. Miss Else, the brides.
maid, ran madly up "Pumpkin Hill," and into a house standing about
where Mrs.
Elizabeth Daly's house is today. She was pursued by the father and by the
time
he discovered his mistake, his daughter, in the arms of the best man, was
carried
over the creek which ran across the road near where the Hammer House is now,
and, minus one slipper, was taken down Third Street, then an Indian trail,
to a
mill boarding-house back of the present Berkey home, conducted by Mr. and
Mrs.
White, the former of whom was an uncle of Mrs. Henry Harding of Oak Street.



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