HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



Here the wedding party once more gathering, the bride was loaned some shoes,
and after hours of driving they reached New Buffalo, Sauk County. There in
the
early morning they routed the justice of the peace out of bed, and standing
by the
kitchen stove the marriage vows were taken. On July 3, the same year Mrs.
Bal-
derston moved into her present home, the only other building on Third Street
be-
ing the mill boarding-house. Her husband called the present Third Street
High
Street, in memory of one in Baltimore, though it was commonly known as "
Quality
Row." Mrs. Balderston took part in all pioneer activities and customs.
Like
many another pioneer woman, as there were then no trained nurses, she often
nursed the sick, pulled many an aching tooth by the good old method of tying
a
stout string to the offending member and giving it a smart pull, and pierced
many
a young lassie's ears for earrings. She says her first telephone was a piece
of red
flannel hung on the front of the house to signal Mrs. Henry Jackson (mother
of
Fred H. Jackson), who lived on the west bank of the Wisconsin River, that
she
was coming over, the trip being made in a row boat, as there was no bridge.
Mrs.
Balderston has always been a good neighbor, her willing hands today making
pies
of the true home flavor for her family and neighbors. She is a constant reader
her mind being exceptionally keen, and to prove that she is a "modern
woman,"
she takes an interest in politics, and at the last presidential election,
though 86-
years old, she drove to the polls, in spite of snowy weather, to cast her
vote for
Harding. Though familiar in pioneer days with the ox-cart, the toll-bridge
and
the log cabin, today she enjoys riding in the automobile along the well paved
streets
between rows of palatial residences, and she has proved the essential youth
of her
spirit by being able to expand with the times and to enjoy the things of
the present
without repining that they are not as they were half a century ago. Her children
have been mentioned in the sketch of her husband, William J. Balderston,
and it
is with one of them, Stephen W., that she now resides, her chief pleasure
being in
their society and in that of her grandchildren and their friends, to all
of whom she
gives hearty welcome. She is a daughter of the American Revolution, as also
is
her daughter, Mrs. John E. Daly, and the latter's daughter, Mrs. C. P. Ridgeman,
three generations of the family being thus represented in that society. A
record
such as Mrs. Balderston's is well worthy of perpetuation in the annals of
Wood
County.
   John E. Daly, proprietor of an old established drug store in the city
of Wiscon-
sin Rapids, was born in this city July 21, 1868, son of Timothy and Martha
(Wright)
Daly, who came to Grand Rapids (now Wisconsin Rapids) in 1866. Timothy was
a merchant occupying at one time a small building north of the Hotel Witter
near
the old Spafford store. He was killed in a railroad accident while on a trip
to the
East in 1886. His wife survived him many years, passing away Oct. 19, 1908.
John E. Daly, who was the only child of his parents, was graduated from the
Howe
High School in 1885. He then entered the Wood County Drug Store to learn
the
business, later taking a course in pharmacy in Wisconsin University. Subse-
quently he worked in drug stores in Portage, Wis., and Escanaba, Mich. In
1889
he came back to Grand Rapids and went to work for the Slocum Drug Co., which
concern he later bought in company with H. A. Sampson and John Daly, Sr.
In
1891 our subject sold his interest and opened a store in the new Wood County
Block, which he operated until 1898, in which year he erected his present
store on
First Street North. In 1908 Mr. Daly bought the William Scott show house,
later
known as Daly's Theatre, of which he was the proprietor and manager until
it
burned down on Jan. 14, 1922. He has attained a prominent place among the
business men of the city and is respected as a reliable and useful citizen.
He is a
member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Daly was married
June 18, 1894, in Grand Rapids, Wis., to Grace E. Balderston, who was born
in
this city, daughter of William J. and Sarah Jeanette (Wood) Balderston. Mrs.
Daly was graduated from the old Howe High School in 1886. She is a member
of the Federation of Women, a charter member of the Women's Club,-the Women's
Association of the Congregational Church, and of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, in all of which she is an active worker. She was the originator
of the



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