HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



on the farm. The expenses of the journey were scraped together and early
in
1870 Charles and Richard Whittingham went to England. There, sad to relate,
the father died, and his death was soon followed by that of Richard. On their
departure for the old country they had said their last goodbye to their loved
ones,
and the wife and mother found herself bereaved and left with nine children
to
take care of. These were, William, Charles, George, Sarah, Thomas, James,
Frank, John and Byron, all born in England except John and Byron. Byron,
the youngest, was born April 16, 1870, a few months after his father's return
to
England, so that parent and his own brother William he never saw. Some of
the older children were able to be of use, and as by this time some progress
had
been made on the farm, the family continued to cultivate and develop it,
and
finally brought it into good condition and made of it a valuable property.
Mrs.
Hannah Whittingham died Nov. 13, 1899. Owing to the circumstances already
described Byron's schooling was limited. He remained on the home farm with
his mother until 1895, when he left it and went to Pardeeville, Columbia
County,
Wis., where he remained several years. Afterwards he spent four and a half
years
as a painter in Milwaukee. In 1904 he came to Wood County, and opened a
general mercantile business at "Old Arpin," a mile east of the
site of the present
village. Appointed postmaster at the time he located there, he served in
that
office for ten years. In 1908 he moved with the village to its present site
and built
the store which he has since conducted, though he now leaves its active manage-
ment largely to his son William, who is also his partner. He has attained
a gratify-
ing prosperity and is a stockholder in the First National Bank, of Wisconsin
Rapids.
Besides his success in business affairs, Mr. Whittingham has made his mark
in
politics, though it was with no thought of personal benefit, except in a
general
sense, that he served his township in various official capacities, and also
on the
village school board. But during the passing years he had become well-known
as a man of ability and character, as well as a staunch Republican, useful
to his
party, and so in 1916, he was elected as a member of the Assembly from this
county
and district and served as such with credit during the two terms of 1917-18,
and
1918-19, having been re-elected. He is a valued member of several fraternal
lodges, including the Masonic Blue Lodge at Pardeeville, the Odd Fellows'
Lodge
at the same place, and Arpin Camp, of Modern Woodmen of America. He has
held official position in all these lodges, in the I. 0. 0. F. Lodge passing
through
all the chairs. Mr. Whittingham was married, Nov. 15, 1891, to Marguerite
M. Purves, who was born in Columbia County, Wis., Nov. 25, 1874, daughter
of George and Rebecca (Babcock) Purves, and of Scotch descent, the father
being
a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. George Purves died in April, 1903, but his
wife Rebecca (Mrs. Whittinghams' mother), is still living, being a resident
of
Froid, Mont. She was born in Hoboken, N. J. Mr. and Mrs. Whittingham
are the parents of two children, William and Percy P. William, who was born
in 1892, in the very house and room that was the birthplace of his father,
acquired a high school education in Columbia County, which was supplemented
by a commercial course in the Wiseonsin Rapids Business College. Since beginning
business life he has been associated with his father, whose partner he became
in
1913. On Feb. 22, 1914, he married Cora B. Hause, of Arpin Township, and
he and his wife are the parents of one child, Rita L., born Oct. 14, 1915.
He owns
a good modern home in Arpin. Percy P. Whittingham was born April 16, 1902,
and is a graduate of the Wisconsin Rapids High School, and the Stevens Point
Normal School, and is now principal of Park Falls High School.
   John B. Weber, a prosperous farmer and dairyman in Saratoga Township,
Wood County, proprietor of Riverside Dairy Farm, was born in Madernach,
Luxemburg, Dec. 14, 1858, son of John and Anna (Welter) Weber. With his
parents, who were natives of Luxemburg, he came to the United States in the
spring of 1865, and here they settled in Sycamore, De Kalb County, Ill.,
operating
a farm until 1873. Then, having sold this farm, the parents moved to Chicago,
where they lived retired until death; the mother died in August of 1876,
the father
in October, 1881. They were the parents of seven children: John, now deceased;



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