The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-08-26
HANS B. WARNER.
A BRAVE SOLDIER, A FARMER AND
A NORWEGIAN BY BIRTH
AND PARENTAGE.
A Reply to the Reckless Falsehoods of
the Democratic Press.
ITO the Editor of The SENTINEL


MONROE, Wis, Aug. 16.-The Demo
crazy of the county, dor want OF better
means of warfare, are employing most
literally, III this campaign, billingsgate,
yituperation, the lowest blackguardism
and grossest hbels, the characteristic
weapons of that shameless organization.
They hesitate at no untruth, however
great, if it can be made to tarnish in any
degree the reputation of political OPP
ponent, however pure that reputation
may be. Their principal weapons seem
to be calumny and falsehood. They
pander to the worst prejudices of men,
and resort to means the most desperate
and disreputable to carry q point.
Hans b. Warner, Norwegian of
marked ability and rare integrity one
of the self-made men of this country a
man who, in the late war, fought most
gallantly on the side of liberty for the
land of his adoption, who was severely
wounded upon her battle-felds, who en-
dured the hardships of rebel prison pens !;
who, when honorably mustered out of
the service at the end of the war, return
ed to and has ever since been engaged
in agricultural pursuits, has been NOM
mated by the Republicans of Wisconsin
for the office of secretary of state, and,
as consequence, the whole hungry
pack is at his heels, and, because they
can find no facts in his history that de-
tract from his fair fame, they raise the
cry that he is sailing under false colors,
that he is not a Norwegian, for the pur-
pose of diverting the Scandinavian ele-
ment of the State from his support.
Some of the Norwegian papers of
Wisconsin and of other States have been
IL + .r4i
cratic effort to iniure a good man, and
have been inveigled into the promulga-
ton of the statement that he is of Ger
man, Hollandish or American decent,
which if true, would not, of course der
ogate from his intelligence and manhood,
but would only show that the claim of
being a Norwegian, set up for him by
his party, was deceptive one, and that
the party making it, being false in that
respect, might reasonably be regarded
with suspicion in all its claims.
To correct the damaging and false i'm
pressions created by this Democratic
Reform Cd falsehood, Mr.. Warner recent
" addressed a letter to The Skandinaven,
a Norwegian newspaper published in
Chicago, which letter, l, a countryman
of Mr.. Warmers, have translated from
that paper as correctly as my ability
would permit, and most respectfully re-
quest, in behalf of truth and honesty,
that you publish it for the Information
and benefit of your readers. Yours
truly, En- FoRsvARER.
THE LETTER.
The .StandinaUe7o has of late contain
ed sundry articles, the authors of which
seek to impress the belief upon the pub
lie that the undersigned is of Dutch or
American birth As such articles are
sheer fabrications, and as 1 hope that
The Standifa0Ue11, with knowledge OF
the fact, would not aid in confirming
such belief, hereby permit myself to
solicit its editors to publish the follow
ing brief biography, which L hope will
set the question of my nationality be-
yond doubt:
I was born in Gudbrandsdalen, Nor
way, ON the 18th day of July, 1874, on
the farm Berg" emigrated with my
parents to this country in 1850, settled
in Dodge County. Wis, and moved IN
1855 to Pierce County, Wis,
My mother died when L was II years
of age. My father was very poor and
obliged to let his children, at an early
age, support themselves as best they
could | found home in the family of
neighboring farmer, and was afterward
made his adopted son. On that account
my name was changed from Hans. d.
Peterson to Hans. B. Warner. All my
brothers are known by the name of Pet
erson, and have followed the old custom
of Norway, taking up their fathers given
name My father died while / lived at
Warmers. I attended a Norwegian
school as much as opportunity would
ENrrN. I ff,t ra.l5.,
ty I have lived in the township of Mar
tell, the inhabitants of which are almost
exclusively Norwegian. As soon as I
was old enough [ was elected to town
offices, which I held for several con-
secutive terms.
During the war [ was a member of
Company G. Thirty-seventh Regiment,
Wisconsin Volunteers; was wounded on
the Both day of July, 1864, In front of
Petersburg, Va, and taken prisoner the
same day, and held as such, first In Dan
vile, and afterwards in Libby Prison,
in Richmond, until Sept. 4, when L was
released on account of my wound. /
then went back to my command and
served therein until the close of the war,
when I returned to Madison, Wis,
where | was mustered out of the service
on the 18th day of July, 1865. I then
returned to my home and went to work
at farming. In November, 1868, L was
elected county clerk of Pierce County,
in which position 1 have remained until
now.
It is my intention, within a short time,
to take trip through this State and
personally make the acquaintance OF as
many of my countrynen as possible,
and L hope that / may them dispel any
doubt among them as to my nationality.
Yours Respectfully,
HANS B. WARNER.