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Burdick was one of the incorporators of the Savings Bank of Decorah, and is now, and has been since its organization, its cashier and the custodian of its funds. He is a partner in the banking firm of Graves, Burdick & Co., of Estherville, Emmet Co., Io. In December, 1858, he married Miss Nancy Graves, youngest daughter of Hon. Gaylord Graves, of Whitewater, Wis. She has had six children, five of whom are now living, Mary A., Emma, Harriet. Nelson A., and Weld T. Mr. Burdick is a conscientious, reliable man, agreeable in manner, and does everything well that he undertakes. He is a member of the Congregational church.

Henry C. Bulis, M. D., the oldest practicing physician of Decorah, was born at Chazy, Clinton County, N. Y., November 14, 1830. In Oct., 1854, Dr. Bulis immigrated to Decorah, and has practiced here since, except when discharging official duties outside of his profession. When the law creating the office of county superintendent of public schools went into force, Dr. Bulis was the first man to assume its duties, and served three years. He subsequently was a member of the county board of supervisors, serving as the first president of the board, under what was then termed the new system. In 1865 he was elected state senator, and by re-elections served six years, resigning in the middle of his second term to take the office of lieutenant-governor, to which the people had called him. While in the upper branch of the general assembly he was at one time chairman of the committee on claims, and at another, of the committee on state university. He did especially good work on the latter committee; a warm friend of education, and being generous and broad in his views on the subject, he earnestly advocated the appropriation bills, and every measure calculated to advance the interests of the university. Part of the time, while in the senate, he served as president pro tem., and was in that position when placed in the chair of lieutenant-governor. He has been a trustee and regent of the university; he was examining surgeon for pensions from 1865 to 1876, and subsequently president of the Iowa State Medical Society. Dr. Bulis has always been a republican, and as can be seen by this sketch much of the time since he has been in Iowa. he has been a favorite of the party. He has been very serviceable, not to his party or state alone. On the 25th of August, 1876, he was appointed a member of the Sioux Indian Commission, and aided essentially in forming, a few weeks later, the treaty with them by which they ceded the Black Hills, and granted the right of way to the same of three different routes. The services which the doctor rendered in securing this treaty can hardly be over-estimated, and is regarded as the crowning act of his life. On the 11th of September, 1854, he married Miss Laura A. Adams, of Champlain, New York. She died in 1861, leaving two children, Frank H. and Ada A. On the 17th of June, 1863,

he married Miss Harriet S. Adams, a sister of his first wife. The services which Dr. Bulis has rendered to the county, the state and the country will long keep his name in remembrance. In July, 1878, he was appointed special United States Indian Agent, but resigned the same after nine months.

Chas. P. Brown, attorney, one of Winneshiek Co.'s prominent lawyers, is a native of Lynn, Mass. His father, Dr. W. B. Brown, was a brother of Gould Brown, the grammarian. The subject of this sketch was born in 1833. After completing his education at the Quaker school of Providence, he returned to Lynn, and being surrounded by boot and shoe manufacturers, he learned the shoemaker's trade, but in the fall of 1857 he went to Buffalo, N. Y., and commenced the study of law, with Hon. Eli Cook as preceptor, and in 1860 was admitted to the bar. He then went to Bellevue, Mich., and entered into a law partnership with M. S. Bracket, with whom he remained until 1865, in which year he came to Io., and located at Cedar Falls. In 1869 he came to Decorah. Here he was first associated as partner with J. G. Morse, subsequently with C. Wellington, and since 1881 with R. F. B. Portman. He was married in 1861 to Miss Vera Bracket, daughter of M. S. Bracket. Mr. Brown is a democrat, but has no political aspirations. The children are Martin W. and Jennie L.

Ben Bear, Centennial Clothing House. This enterprising young merchant is a native of Europe, born in 1853; emigrated to the U. S. in 1867, and located in the city of New York, where he served as clerk (without change of employers) until 1876. He then concluded to seek his fortune in the "great west," and accordingly came to Decorah, and at once commenced his present business, in a comparatively small way, however. In 1877 he sustained losses by fire, but immediately resumed business, and being a man of excellent business qualifications, and at the same time dealing squarely and honestly with his customers, his trade increased from time to time, so that he not only carries the largest stock of clothing, gent's furnishing goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes, but also does more business than any other clothing house within a radius of many miles of the city of Decorah.

J. H. Baker was born in Oswego Co., N. Y., in 1838; removed to Walworth Co., Wis., in 1844. In 1865 he came to Io., and first opened a meat market at Conover, and ran the same about three years. He then came to Decorah, and in 1869 commenced dealing in grain, live stock, etc., and has since continued the same. He has also run a meat market since 1881. Mr. Baker was married at Prairie du Chien, Wis., in Sept., 1865, to Miss Elizabeth Flanders. They have three children living.

N. A. Brekke is the only son of Andrew N. Brekke, who is a farmer on Sec. 23, Madison tp. He was born in Winneshiek Co. in 1857; was educated in the common schools and the Norwegian college of Decorah; followed farming until 1880, then entered

into partnership with E. T. Weeks, engaged in groceries and provisions, and continued a member of the firm of Weeks & Brekke until March, 1882, when he withdrew from business,

Michael J. Bolland was born in Irongiem, Norway, in 1829; came to this county in 1858, and settled in Hesper tp.; bought 160 acres of land southeast of the village of Hesper, which he still owns; lived there twenty years; then bought 258 acres where he now resides. It is principally fine prairie land, with a little brush land and forty acres of timber, and is well improved and well stocked. He has a fine residence and every arrangement for comfort, and is within two miles of town. He was married in Norway in 1850 to Miss Marit Johnson. They have seven children, four deceased.

Albert A. Benedict, P. O. Decorah, firm of Benedict & Mott, proprietors of Trout Run Mills; son of Aden S. and Sarah Benedict; was born July 22, 1838, in Delaware Co., Ohio; his father died when he was about 4 years old. His mother was again married to Jonah Hole, in 1819, who was killed in 1862 by being thrown from a buggy by a frightened team. At the age of fifteen he engaged in a grist mill with a brother-in-law to learn the trade of a miller, in which he continued most of the time till in the fall of 1856, when he came to Winneshiek Co., Ia. He first engaged in a grist mill in Canoe tp., known as the Spring Water mill for about a year, after which he went to Hesper tp. and engaged in farming for two years, and then engaged in the assistance of a Mr. Tabor to start a steam grist mill in the town of Hesper; after which he was engaged in milling, carpenter work and attending school, till July 4, 1860, when he was married to a Miss Abbie A. Mott. He then came on to a farm in Canoe tp., which he had previously purchased, and continued farming in connection with milling till in 1869, when he went to Clay Co., Io., taking a homestead near where Spencer now is, and the following year built a grist mill at Spencer in company with G. D. Marcellus. In the spring of 1872, he returned to this county and purchased an interest in the Bluffton mills, which he subsequently sold and came to Decorah and engaged in the stone mill of Ammon Scott. In 1877, in company with his brother-in-law, J. W. Mott, he purchased the Trout Run mills, and in the spring of 1882 they purchased a farm of 440 acres above the mills three-fourths of a mile, upon which Mr. B. lives, superintending the farm, and his partner the mill. His children are: Oscar C., Allard E., Florence A., Fred. E., Grace M. and Willard. Mr. B.'s mother, after the death of her second husband, came to this Co. to live with her children. She died in 1866. Mr. B.'s religion is that of the Friends.

Henry I, Brichner, P. O. Decorah, farmer; son of Henry and Elizabeth Brichner; was born Jan. 17, 1832, in York Co., Pa. When quite young his parents moved to Berkley Co,, W. Va.

In the fall of 1857 he immigrated to Decorah, and engaged at his trade, carpenter and joiner, till in 1869 came on to his present farm of 81 acres, which is well improved and worth $45 per acre. He also makes a specialty of bees, having about 50 swarms at present. He married Miss Julia Shank, in Va., Oct. 5, 1854; they have nine children, Laura V., John H., Edward G., Hattie N., Susan E., Joan J., Sidney E., Grace M. and Robert C., and have lost two, Albert P. and Charles W. He is a member of the M. E. church.

J. R. Booth, P. O. Decorah; proprietor of the Winneshiek Paper Mills at Freeport, was born in Montgomery County, New York, in 1827. His early life was spent in a woolen mill. In 1854 he came to Warren, Illinois, where he served as station. agent for the I. C. R. R. Co., and afterwards at Galena and Beloit, Wisconsin, at which latter place he subsequently engaged in the manufacturing of sash, doors, blinds, etc. In 1871 he established the firm of Booth, Hinman & Co., an extensive paper mill company, in which he continued until 1880, when he disposed of his interest there and came to Decorah, and purchased the Winneshiek paper mills, which are now worth about $35,000. Mr. B. resides in Decorah, His present wife was Minerva Leonard, a native of Roscoe, Illinois. He has two children, one by a former wife.

H. A. Baker, of the firm of H. A. Baker & Bros., dealers in general merchandise, was born in Crown Point, Essex County, N. Y., in 1842. He moved with his parents to Iowa in 1858. He was engaged for a time as clerk in McGregor, and in 1862 established himself in his present business at Ossian. Mr. Baker has been state representative two terms, and in 1881 was elected state senator. He married Eliza Webster, a native of Ind.; they have four

sons.

Hon. Benj. T. Barfoot, P. O. Ridgeway; farmer, section 19, Madison township; son of James and Jane (nee Purvis) Barfoot, his parents being of Scotch descent. He was born March 11th, 1830, in Wayne County, Ohio. While he was quite young his parents moved to Holmes County, in the same state. In early life he learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, at which he was engaged several years. In the spring of 1853 he came to this county, first locating at Freeport. In 1855 he moved to Decorah, continuing house building until 1868, when he moved to his present farm, having purchased the same in 1861. Mr. B. was very

successful in the pursuit of his trade, and has been equally so in farming, now owning 430 acres of land two miles southeast of Ridgeway, situated on a beautiful prairie commanding an extensive view of the country for miles around. He makes a specialty in stock, horses, hogs, etc., having some very fine Hambletonian horses. Mr. B. is a man of pleasant and agreeable social qualifications being well informed in contemporaneous events, the

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