Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-02-16


mining region of Potosi was Major
John R. Coons, man of nobility and
intellect He hailed from Kentucky.
His gentIemanly bearing, his pleasing
conversation, his generous nature
and abiding friendship bespoke the
Hentuckian. Coming to st. Louis in
1908 while yet boy and while it was
q small French village, his chances for
an education were limited though he
became an adept in penmansh1p, q
good calculator and stored his mind
for a business career He became
trusted employee and clerk for the firm
Of Gratiot-ChateauX ct Gle, and IN
1927 was sent to the upper lead mines
TO take charge Of branch Of the ia
NOUS house located at GratiOt Grove,
Wis Their business was smelling,
selling goods and trading with In
dams for furs In 1882 the Black
hawk war broke out and Major Coons
took an active part in it. Peace being
finally restored Major Coons was re-
lieved from further duty and returned
10 private life. He started store in
Belmont, the one-time capital of Wis
consin The downfall of the budding
city came in it's infancy when the
seat of government was moved to Mad
ison The major determined to find
a place with brighter prospects and
more commercial Importance. That
place was La Fayette, now part Of
the village of POtOsi, and here he came
with his family and his fortune. Hoop
er, Peck and Scales were then heavily
engaged in the mercantile business at
sSalena and with them an alliance was
~, ,f Crc
Wooley & Co., in La Fayette. In 1886
a large frame store building was built
and Major Coons built a residence
G,3out the same time. The materials
came from Cincinnati via the Ohio
river Alas for things material the
disease of debt had already fastened
upon the vitals of the parental house
and the allied branch was not exempt
from it's faint The credit system
DTedicated upon the worthless, inflated
currency Of the banks of the period,
had collapsed No man or firm in bus
mess could withstand the wild tenn
pest OF bankruptcy and disaster THAI
swept the land All toppled and many
went down Hooper, Peck & Scales
tried to weather the storm but without
avail and the proud firm and it's de-
Some OF the members emerged from
the ruins with little capital but Maj.
C0Ons was almost penniless man.
Some years afterward he moved up
tho hollow and succeeded Clark and
Woods in the saloon business which
he conducted to the time Of his death
in 1853 or 1854 leaving two sons, Hen
Ty B. and Samuel B. Coons, and one
daughter Eliza, who subsequently be-
came the wife of William Gibson. Maj,
C0ons' wife, like many others in PO-
tOsi, died with the cholera in the cpl
6emic of 1852 Both the major and his
wife were buried in the Oceola ceme
terry which is now almost obliterated
from view.
Joseph Wooley another pioneer,
came to the Snake Hollow lead mines
when a young man, in 1884. He fol-
lowed mining and was very success
ful He discovered the famous Wool
ey range that yielded immense guam
titles of lead ore and was also part
ner in the Wooley and TempletOn
range 1t is said that more than one
million pounds of ore were taken from
One shaft on this range. Mr.. WoOley
was also a member of the smelling
firm of Wooley, Ham & Co., who had
a furnace over in Rigsby hollow.
John Spenseley and Matthew Ham
were the other members of the firm.
Thomas Palliser and Joseph Petty
succeeded to the business in 1910.
Mr.. WOOley was married in POtosi to
Miss Elizabeth Oldham, daughter of
Mr.. and Mrs Simpson Oldham who
came to La Fayette in 1884. He died
in 1S4S leaving the widow with one
child, a little daughter Josephine.
This daughter in the course of time
became the wife of George Fl Lewis
Il son of Simon E. Lewis George Fl.
Lewis died in 1912. His widow, Mrs.
Josephine W. Lewis, still resides in
her native village of Potosi. Though
bordering on seventy-four years she
IS still a we'll preserved woman In
the past few years she has been
spending the winter months in Cali
i0rnia.
In 1854 John Grosser and Edward
Walter opened up bakery in Lang
worthy's brick building and the bus
mess was on a large scale They ran
a wagon through the country and The
neighbOring villags laden with bread
pies, cakes and other bakery products.
that were quickly disposed of About
1855 Mr. Walter retired from the bus
mess and Mr., Grosser became sole
owner and with the help of his in
Gustrious wife continued the business.
They eventually purchased the build
ing from Langworthy and saloon
was added in one end of the building.
A boarding house was also attached