HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



ship he continued until he ceased practice. Judge Cate was married Oct. 24,
1850,
to Levara S. Brown, who died Aug. 29, 1915. By this union he was the father
of'
six children, all of whom survived him.
    Gilbert L. Park was born Aug. 31, 1824, in Scipio, Cayuga County, N.
Y., and
 died June 5, 1884 at Waukesha, Wis. His parents were Elisha and Sarah Mc-
 Dowell Park; his grandfather, Joel Park, took part in the War of the Revolution.
 Gilbert L. Park spent his childhood on a farm, and at the age of 15 left
home
 without formal leave taking and enlisted in the service of the Hudson Bay
Com-
 pany, going to Ft. Churchill. He returned a year later, however, and went
to
 Port Dover, Ont., to which place his family had removed. He then attended
for
 three years an academy at Millville, N. Y., after which he spent two years
in Canada
 in the lumber business. A great storm on the lakes in 1848 destroyed a raft
of'
 lumber in which practically all of his resources were invested, and he abandoned
 the lumbering venture and turned his attention to the study of the legal
profes-
 sion, going to Kalamazoo and entering the office of N. A. Balch. He was
admitted
 to the bar in September of 1851, and in November of that year came to Wisconsin,
 spending his first winter here in cutting logs and running lumber down the
river,
 to recoup his finances. In September of 1852 he formed a partnership for
legal.
 practice with James T. Alban, at Plover, continuing in this connection for
four
 years, after which he went to Stevens Point. In 1854 he was elected district
 attorney of Portage County. In 1856 he married Mary D. Beach, of Kalamazoo,
 Mich. In the fall of the same year he was reelected district attorney. He
was
 mayor of Stevens Point when the Civil War broke out, and resigned his office
to
 enter the 18th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry as Adjutant. He later became
Cap-
 tain of Company G of this regiment, and'served with it in all three and
a half years,
 taking part in many important engagements. After being mustered out he re-
 turned to Stevens Point, and resumed legal practice. March 1, 1875, Mr.
Park
 was appointed judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, and April of the following
 year was elected for the remainder of the unexpired term. In 1878 he was
re-
 elected for a full term. A few years later, however, his health began to
fail, and
 he sat on the Bench for the last time March 13, 1883, resigning a short
time later.
 He then spent some time in traveling, in an effort to regain his health,
but was un-
 successful in this, and returning to Wisconsin, entered a sanatarium at
Waukesha,
 where he died a little over a year after his resignation from the Bench.
Judge
 Park was a great student and a strong lawyer. He was twice nominated for
State
 Senator by the Democratic party, once for lieutenant governor, and twice
for
 representative' in Congress.
   Charles M. Webb was born Dec. 30, 1833, at Towanda, Penn., and died at
his
home in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., Aug. 12, 1911. He was of prominent Revolu-
tionary stock, and the youngest of five children. He attended West Point
Mili-
tary Academy for a' year and a half and then went to work in the government
printing office at Washington. With a natural interest in legal and political
af-
fairs, the atmosphere of Washington fired him with the ambition to take an
active
part in these things, and he accordingly returned to his home city and studied
law
in a legal office there and was admitted to the bar in 1857. The same year
he
married Miss Jane Pierce of Smithville, Penn., who survived him to June 1,
1914.
From this union there were three daughters, two of whom still survive. In
1857-



77