Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-05-03
OLD SETTLER DIES.
Jas. McEwen Passes Away Sunday
Evening.


After long life Of usefulness a:.l
activity, JAS. MeEwen laid down
his burden Sunday evening and forever
closed his eyes in peaceful rest and
slumber The end came at ESQ, and he
was surrounded at the time by his wife
and three children and intimate neigh
bors. Mr. McEwen had been in poor
health for many years. Twenty years
ago he suffered stroke OF paralysis,
which left him in partially helpless
condition, and for a number of years
he has been almost totally blind, On
account of his disabilities he had not
been down town from his home on east
Franklin street but once IN the past
three years His last illness was OF
about weeks duration, and death re-
suited from the infirmities of advanced
years.
Mr.. McEwen was known to most of
our people. for he was an early settler
in the county, and had been a resident
here for the greater part of the time
since the early SOS Deceased was
born in the village of Sligo, Clarion
county, Pa, April q, 1888, being four
days past his seventy-first birthday at
the time of death. His parents were
William and Mary McEwen. old Scotch
stock. At an early age he picked up
knowledge of surveying. In 1919 a
treaty was made with the Indians of
this territory, whereby the whites We're
allowed tC make survey of six miles
each side of the Wisconsin river from
Point Boss, which is now Necedah, to a
point near where Wausau now stands.
Two years later the government entered
activelyinto a survey of the whole sec
ton, and Mr.. McEwen engaged him
self with one of the parties, and came
TO Wisconsin A little later he settled
in Plattville, Grant county. He fol
lowed numbering until 1885 when he
moved to Milwaukee, where he re-
manned for year, and then went to
Chicago. In the fall of 1857 he removed
to Manitowoe, where he engaged in the
lumber business until the fall of 1851.
At that time the country was engaged
in a bloody fratricidal war and Mr.. Nc
Even, who espoused the cause of the
North, enlisted in the Eighth WiscOn-
sin Vol. Battery of light artillery, in
which he served until the mastering
out of troops in the fall of 60, four years
later Before his term of service had
expired he was promoted to the Office
of quartermaster sergeant. Mr.. Me-
Even was in some of the bloodiest
battles of that war, and his surviving
comrades state that there was not a
drawer soldier on the field than he At
the battle of Murfreesboro he was
thrown from his horse and severely in
jured about the head by striking rock
This injury in later years resulted in
paralysis and blindness, and the govern
ment recognized his claim of disability
nv ollaxxfi..or him a nf X~O q
month, pension granted but few sol
diers below a captains rank. After the
war he travelled over various sections
of the South, finally locating 1T Ma
poleon, Ark, where he again became
engaged in the lumber business. After
a years residence he came North and
spent the winter of 1867 at st Cloud,
MINI. In the spring of 1867 he came to
Wausau and has remained here ever
since.
Like great many other men who
arrived here at an early day, Mr.
McEwen engaged in Numbering and
working on the river. In company
with VIM Beers, whom all old settlers
will remember, he ran the river" for
a great many years. Later he took up
surveying again and sold real estate,
and neld the office If county surveyor
for a number of ye-rs.
In all of his transactions he was hon
orable and upright, and has always
been highly regarded as Il citizen by all
who knew him.
He was married in the spring of 1869
to Miss Helen M Slossen, who survives
him, as do also four children, Georg-
lana, of Wausau; Clay, of Spokane,
Wash; Wade and Jesse, of this city
Deceased was one of three surviving
charter members of Wausau Lodge No
2l5, l. o. O. f., though not a member
at the time of death.
The funeral will be held tomorrow
afternoon from the family home and
will be conducted by the Rev. B B.
Gibbs, pastor of the Universalist
church. Cutter Post, of which he was a
member, will attend in body.