River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-08-23
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Brief Story of the Life of Viii
liam Duncan Conner
(From the Fond du Lac Bulletin.)

| struggle and the ultimate triumph of
! a principle that meant much for the
welfare of the state and nation, due
| credit will be given not alone to those
who occupied prominent positions up
| on the stage within easy range of
| the public eye, but also to those mas
Ter minds without which these re-
forms never would have been posi-
BILE, at the time being al least, and
night have ''died ahorning" and be-
fore the nations ear had been at
tracted to the cry.
From among the names of those
will stand out III letters bold that of
Hon. William D. Conner of Marsh
field, chairman of the republican
state central committee, who has be-
come candidate for the office of
| lieutenant governor. He will be
remembered as the one whose Splen-
did generaIshir wrested from seem
i1g defeat a political victory al
most without parallel in the annals
OF Wisconsin history; by this act
assuring the enactment into law of
those great measures of common in
terest, renewing the courage of those
who had fought long and bravely in
WISCONSIN, aid giving heart to those
IN other states TO go forth and give
battle to the System" and it's vO-
taries.
The story of the life of William
Duncan Connor should prove of in
terest not alone to his political and
ersonal friends, hut TO all citizens of
the state He has attained a prOmi-
| L.
ceeded in doing. and it is well that
eli should know what manner of man
he is. Mr. Cor:ir had the good for
| tune to be born Of parents not too lib
orally blessed with this worlds goods,
! and his childhood and boyhoOd days
were not spent i'll Incidence and ease.
He was born on farm near STRAIT
ford, Ontario and when eight years
Of age his parents disposed of their
Canadian farm and came to Wiscon-
SIM taking no homestead in the
! then wilds of Wisconsin, at point
about ten miles east of where the city
| If MarShfield now stands. The p1o-
neer's life is not an easy one. It's
Eardships have Deen told over AMI
yer again, but time shows that no
life so develops character and rounds
out sturdy, self-reliant men, as did
that of the pioneer. Young Connor's
fife did not vary much from any Of
the sons of other pioneers. 1t devolved
upon him to assume his share of bur-
dens as fast as his strength would
permit.
The school days of the subject of
this sketch are covered by the dis
trict school and two years at the
State Normal School at Oshkosh,
completing the same before he at
! tanned the age of seventeen His am
bition had been to become a lawyer
and with this in view he entered Lake
! Forest University. He had hardly
spent two months in this institution
when the failing health of his father
made it imperative that he return
home, which he did, at once taking
charge of his fathers farm and log
ging operations, which, from the ma
| ture of his early training, he was ca
pable of doing He never returned TO
again take up the study of law, but
! from that time on has followed log.
cling and numbering and every branch
of the work incident thereto, from
surveying and estimating timber to
marketing the products of the forest.
The years following the panic OF
! 1898 and when everything was at
! standstill, Mr.. Conner showed his I'M
| bounded confidence in the future OF
| Wisconsin by investing every dollar
/ he could get together in hardwood
| timber lands Taking advantage OF
the experience he had gained In the
woods, he personally examined timber
| lands all over northern Wisconsin, Nv
| inc out in the woods with the cruls-
ers and surveyors and doing his share
of the work. In this manner he &C
CURED in an early day large holdings
| of heavily timbered hardwood and
hemlock lands, getting them at
| time when no one thought them OF
anv particular value. The last lew
years have shown the good judgment
| exhibited in foreseeing the future OF
such property.
In spite of his many private duties
he has never lost sight of the fact
that he owes certain obligations to
the public and for twenty years he
served as member of the county board
OF Supervisors of Wood county. He
!
educational matters and has been an
outspoken advocate of manual train
ing and other progressive modes of
| education in public schools. He is
now and has been since the establish
ment of the Wood County Normal
Training school for teachers, one of
| its board of three trustees. He is also
one of the trustees of Carroll College,
at WaukeSha.
Six years ago Marshfield had been
striving for long time to get free
public library. One effort after an
other had been tried to bring the nee
essary financial aid, but all of them
had failed. Finally a library board
was organized, Mr.. Connor was cho-
sen president and he took hold of the
matter and built up a library SO sue
cessfully that today Marshfieh has
what is conceded to be one of the
best equipped and most modern free
| libraries in the state.
Although Mr.. Conner has been emf
| nAntIv successful in the field of com