HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



   C. Aldred Wiley, assistant director of manufacturing for the Nekoosa-Edwards
Paper Co., was born at Lafayette, Ind., Sept. 18, 1866, son of William M.
and Mary
(Confaar) Wiley. The parents were natives respectively of Pennsylvania and
Virginia. William M. Wiley, who was a paper maker by trade, died in 1915.
He
had survived his wife Mary many years, as she passed away in 1884. They had
four children, Clarence A., John W.,who died in August, 1922, C. Aldred,
and Anna
L. 'C. Aldred Wiley was reared in Ohio, in which state he attended school,
and
after he had finished his studies learned paper making. In November, 1903,
he
came to Wood County, Wis., and secured a position as machine tender with
the
Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Co. Two and a half years later he was made boss ma-
chine tender, and in 1910 was promoted to the position of superintendent
of the Ne-
koosa Mill, which he held until recently, when he was promoted to his present
posi-
tion. He has a thorough knowledge of the art of paper-making and is recognized
as an expert by all members of the trade in this part of the country. He
has made
good financial progress and is a stockholder in the Nekoosa State Bank. His
fraternal affiliations are with the Odd Fellows, Elks and Woodmen. In 1888
Mr.
Wiley was united in marriage with Mary Williams, daughter of John N. and
Eliza-
beth Williams of Ottawa, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Wiley have one child, a son Ray,
who
is employed in the laboratory of the Nekoosa Edwards Paper Co.'s mill.
   Thomas Winter, now living retired in Babcock, is a man with an interesting
history, both as a Civil War veteran and as a pioneer farmer in Wood County.
He was born in Yorkshire, England, March 12, 1837, son of Thomas and Hannah
(Bend) Winter, the parents being of Scotch and English ancestry. The father
was
a shoemaker by trade while the mother eked out the family resources by keeping
a grocery store. They both lived and died in their native land. Their son
Thomas
was the youngest of their family of 12 children and is the only one now living.
Of them all he has probably had the most varied and adventurous experience.
He remained in England until he was 15, attending school there. Then at that
early age he came to the United States alone-a step at which any young boy
might have hesitated. Finding his way to Niles Center, near Chicago, and
now
included within its limits, he found work on a farm there. In England he
had
begun an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade but had left his native
land
before completing it, and in America did whatever his hand found to do. After
remaining in Chicago until 1854, he embraced an opportunity to drive a team
for
a Mr. Sonders to a place not far from Necedah, and in the following spring,
having
remained in Wisconsin, he went to work logging and rafting on the Yellow
and
Wisconsin Rivers, his operations starting usually from Stevens Point, Wausau
or
Grand Rapids. When the Civil War broke out Mr. Winter, then a young man
about 24, full of the spirit of adventure, joined the' ranks of the defenders
of the
Union, enlisting in the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry and subsequently remained
in the
army for four years and six months. During that time he took part in some
fam-
ous battles, including those of Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg,
in which
last mentioned battle he was wounded. Having served until the close of the
war
he was mustered out at Alexandria, came back to Wood County by way of Chicago
and resumed river work. Soon after that he took up the cranberry business
and
ran a cranberry marsh for 18 years. When the Milwaukee road was constructing
its line through the county Mr. Winter, with Jim Ryan, helped to build the
bridges.
He also became a farmer, homesteading a place in Remington Township, Wood
County, and this was his last regular occupation, as he conducted the farm
until
1906, when he finally retired from active work and took up his residence
in the
village of Babcock, where he is now living. Mr. Winter was married at Reming-
ton, this county, Aug. 26, 1874, to Frances- Gould, who was born at St. Thomas
Canada, May 11, 1847, daughter of Anson and Harriet Gould. Mr. and Mrs.
Winter have had two children, Anna and Jennie. Anna first married William
Davis, by whom she had one son, Ray Allen. She subsequently became the wife
-of P. N. Watson of Babcock, where she is now living. By a former marriage
to
Anna Mitchell, Mr. Watson has five children. Jennie, who married William
Ed-
gerton, lives in Chicago, and has three children, Francis, William and Marion.



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