Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-10-31
An Interesting Letter.


DEAR SIR:-Tou expressed a desire
that / would on my fiftieth anniver-
sary give you short account Of my
married life and previous to it if 50
desired.
The greater part Of my life has been
spent il Lancaster, consequently have
become what might be termed an
old settler at this date. / do not pre-
tend to interest people by publications
or compositions but will attempt.
however at this time to give you a
few thoughts concerning my married
life and previous history.
was born farmer boy on the
29th day Of October, 1922, OF German
parentage. Some Of my ancestors
came to this country prior to the
revolution. The place of my birth
was near the present city OF Cham
bers burg. Penn, in Franklin Co.. and
was reared in that and Cumberland
Co., until was IS years Of age, when
went to Huntington. the county
seat of Huntington county, to learn
my trade, that of hardware, stoves
aud timers trade, which was IN the
fall OF 1910. remaining there until the
spring of 1911 The next six years
was employed at my trade in that
state and in Maryland and New Jer-
sey. Some Of the places recall are
Alexandria. Pa Mount Holly. n. j..
and Baltimore, Maryland. From the
latter named place, in the spring Of
1850, / came to Lancaster. Wis.
about the first Of July of that year.
Through the persuasion of my old
friends. JAS. Otis and ID. L. Parker
ST., OF revered memory. 1 was in
duced 10 remain and commence bust
ness for myself. Things at that time
looked dubious here. The town or
village was very small and it looked
to me as though | could not make
living and thought Of looking up
some other place more promising.
However, | was persuaded to remain
as stated above. and give it trial
The first year made expenses and
had cleared about thirty dollars
rather poor showing for the young
bloods Of the present day. After that
my business rapidly increased and in
a few years the village began to grow
and thrice beyond my expectations
But a great deal of our best trade for
a long time went TO surrounding
points until we obtained railroad ia
cilities, and then from village of
three or four hundred population our
city has become one OF nearly three
thousand. l have done reasonably
wei in the race, perhaps as well as |
deserved.
Shortly after coming to Lancaster,
l became acquainted with Miss Ange-
line Dodge OF English and Irish de-
scent, who in the fall OF 1851. on the
29th day OF October. became my wife.
Rev. ). W. Eaton officiating.
She was born on the 18th day Of
Nov, 1882, in Chatauqua county. \.
T., and with her grandparents came
to Lancaster in the spring Of 1880.
We have had seven children born I'M
to us-fve sons and two daughters
four Of whom died in early infancy.
Three remain-Emma. now Mrs. l..
j. Arthur. living in the city of New
York; William and Charles, VINO
twelve years ago, succeeded me in
business, and are known by the firm
name Of Ziegler Bros.
In conclusion wish to say, and
that truthfully. that our married life.
so tar as | can Judge OF such matters,
has not been entirely failure. We
have now lived together until our
fftieth anniversary, which is not of
very common occurrence in these lat
ter days OF easy devorcements.
NJ. NJ. ZIEGLFR.