From History of Walworth County Wisconsin, Vol. 1, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, publ. 1912.
Page 407-409
Dr. Daniel ALLEN (1787-1859) came from Hamburg, New York, with his wife, Olive ENGLISH (1782-1864), to section 31,
East Troy, in 1838, and to the next town. His son, Lucius, became a man of county affairs, and a daughter, Lucinda,
was married first to John MAYHEW and second to John YOUNG.
John BACON (1785-1865) was born at Kinderhook and came here from Angelica, New York. His wife was Sarah PERRY.
Robert BRIERLEY died in 1864.
Marcus R. BRITTEN (1815-1890) was born at Amsterdam, New York. His wife was Caroline KLOCK (1815-1898). He was a
Baptist deacon and opposed Freemasonry.
Samuel BRITTAIN (1810-1890) was born in Lincolnshire and came to the States in 1834. In 1836 he was at Geneva and
took a two-handed part in the battle with Payne's man, SCHOONOVER. His wife was Elizabeth (1814-1893), daughter of
Benjamin HOYT and Susan HAYES.
Reuben CLARK married Maria VAN VALIN, September 3, 1837. She was a daughter of Daniel VAN VALIN.
Isaiah DIKE (1802-1882) came from Vermont. His wife was Mary (1802-1894), daughter of Samuel VAUGHN and Ruth BOWKER.
Benjamin HAIGHT died in 1866. His first wife was Alma BEACH. Genealogists find HAIGHT and HOYT descended from the
same remote ancestors, but there was no known kinship between Mr. HAIGHT and the HOYTS at Honey Creek.
James HARKNESS (1776-1861) had wife Mary (1783-1851), daughter of Joseph WHITMORE and Hannah CALL.
George HEALEY (1810-1884) had wife Hannah (1808-1885). Both were of English birth.
Dr. Ansel Asa HEMINWAY (1805-1895) was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and died at Eugene City, Oregon. He had
studied medicine, and his service was early and for long in local demand. He was postmaster 1838-1845. His wife,
Abigail A. (1814-1906), was a daughter of Joseph and Hannah WHITMORE.
John E. HOPKINS died in 1867. His wife was Joanna (1813-1899), daughter of Benjamin and Susan HOYT.
Benjamin HOYT (1778-1860) was son of Joseph HOYT and Abigail, daughter of Samuel and Mary FLANDERS. Older father
ancestors were 1, John; 2, Thomas; 3, Benjamin; 4, Enoch. In 1807 he married Susan HAYES, who died in 1862, leaving
seven children. Of these, not before named here, Simon Batchelder HOYT (1811-1861) married Elizabeth D. CADY, at Honey
Creek. Benjamin HOYT, Jr. (born 1829), married, first, Sarah ROBINSON; second, Alvira KELLEY. The elder HOYT was born
in Deerfield, New Hampshire; his children were born at Cabot, Vermont. From their third American ancestors, Benjamin
HOYT and Hannah PILLSBURG, were also descended the HOYTS of Allen Grove.
Gilman H. HOYT (born 1808) married Elizabeth HEATH in 1839. Their son, Clinton D. HOYT (born 1842), was a sergeant of
Company C, Twenty-third Infantry.
Avery A. HOYT (1824-1906) married, in 1847, Caroline M. HOYT (1828-1897), his cousin Tristram C. HOYT's daughter.
Her grandfather was Enoch, son of Joseph and Abigail. Mr. HOYT was one of the farmers whose intelligence and enterprise
made of Spring Prairie a segment of the garden of Eden.
Samuel P. JENKS (1809-1889), a native of Onondaga county, married Pamela (1808-1892), daughter of Dan PHELPS and
Elizabeth, daughter of Israel KING and Elizabeth JOHNSON.
George L. KAISER (1810-90) was born in Bavaria; came to the States in 1827; married in 1830, Margaret (1816-1897),
daughter of John A. TAUBERT (or TAUPERT). She, too, was a Bavarian.
Thomas W. MILLER (1788-1863) and wife Mary (1788-1855) were parents of Mrs. Samuel PRATT.
George Henry PALMER (1804-1873) married Sarah LANGMAID.
Alexander PORTER (1803-1866) was born in Galloway (and old provincial name for counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigton,
in southwestern Scotland). His wife Isabella (1813-1886) was a native of county Roscommon, Ireland.
David PRATT (1803-1877) was born in Massachusetts and died at Clayton, Iowa. Samuel PRATT was his brother and a sister
of Solomon HARVEY was his wife.
Josiah Osgood PUFFER (1814-1895) was born in western Massachusetts. He was son of Samuel PUFFER, second husband of
Eunice, daughter of Capt. Josiah OSGOOD and Jane BYINGTON. Her earlier ancestors were 1, John; 2, Stephen; 3, Hooker;
4, David. Eunice's first husband, Samuel OSGOOD, was her second cousin. Mr. PUFFER's first wife was Hannah M. WHITMORE
(died 1862); his second wife was her sister, Mrs. Mary HATCH, who died in 1897.
Louis SCHMIDTER (1811-1881) is sometimes written in records "Smithers." His wife was named Amelia.
Erastus Otis VAUGHN (1808-1880) was not related in known degree to the others of his name at Spring Prairie. His wife
(born in 1819, married 1837) was Olive, daughter of Benjamin and Susan HOYT.
Samuel Cole VAUGHN (1802-1868) was a son of Samuel VAUGHN and Ruth BOWKER, the latter a daughter of Luke BOWKER and
Joanna DUNBAR. His wife was Sarah Hart Mills VOSE, daughter of Thomas Vickery VOSE and Sarah LITTLE, granddaughter of
Samuel VOSE and Phoebe VICKERY, great-granddaughter of Robert and Abigail VOSE. Mrs. VAUGHN's mother was daughter of
Joseph LITTLE and Hannah INGALLS.
Daniel WHITMORE (1817-1909), son of Joseph WHITMORE and Hannah CALL and grandson of Daniel WHITMORE, was born in Essex
county, New York. His wife was Mary E. NOBLES (1817-1896). Joseph (1821-1898), his brother, married Sarah, daughter of
Sims EDGERTON and Harriet BENEDICT.
Page 412-413
In May, 1841, steps were taken to organize the Baptist church of Spring Prairie and Burlington. Among the clergy who
attended these preliminary meetings were Richard GRIFFING, Phipps W. LAKE, Orra MARTIN, Benjamin PEARCE, Henry TOPPING
and A. B. WINCHELL. The Burlingtonians withdrew in 1843 to form a society at home. The church at Spring Prairie was
built in 1846 by William JOHNSON and James HARRINGTON and extended as needed. Causes not unknown elsewhere and another
denominations have so weakened this once strong society at the village that since 1881 few or no pastors have been
egularly assigned to its service. Dates of the following pastorates are not definitely known, but their order is nearly
as shown: William R. MANNING, 1841; Roswell CHENEY, 1844; Spencer CARR, 1851; Rice R. WHITTIER, Cantine GARRISON, Jacob
BAILEY, A. F. RANDALL, Thomas BRIGHT, Edward L. HARRIS, A. LATHAM, John H. DUDLEY, Levi PARMLEY, J. C. JACKSON, J. H.
ESTEY, Charles William PALMER, James F. MERRIAM, Franklin KIDDER, George M. DANIELS, A. FREEMAN, J. S. FORWARD, about
1880. There seems to have been occasional supply from the pulpits at Burlington and Elkhorn. Elder Ebenezer HARRINGTON,
whom Mr. DWINNELL describes as an earnest, eccentric man, had begun in November, 1839, to prepare the way for this
society.
Congregationalists met in 1840, and among them was Mr. DWINNEL. They acted jointly with members at Burlington for two
years. Rev. Cyrus NICHOLS ministered at first to this mission. A society was fully organized February 8, 1852, by Rev.
Samuel E. MINER. In 1860 the Congregational and Methodist societies built a union church, with seats for about three
hundred persons. Its building mechanics were SCOTT & NIMS. This church too, has been discontinued, in effect, since
1881. Its pastors were Christopher C. CADWELL, 1853; Jedidiah D. STEVENS, 1854-5; Avelyn SEDGWICK, 1861-2; P. C.
PETTIBONE (from Burlington), 1863; E. D. KEEVIL, 1864-5; Sidney K. BARTEAU, 1866, and Charles MORGAN.
In 1837 Jesse HALSTEAD and Samuel PILLSBURY traveled and preached in a circuit lying in four counties and having eleven
infant Methodist societies. These were at Big Foot, Burlington, Caldwell's Prairie, East Troy, Fort Atkinson, Geneva,
Hudson, Janesville, Rochester, Spring Prairie and Whitewater. David WORTHINGTON preached in 1840. From that date to
1860 little is told. Since the latter date the early assignments of pastors have usually been to Lyons and Spring
Prairie together. The parsonage is at Lyons There is a German Methodist church in section 2.
Israel WILLIAMS sold one acre in the southwest corner of section 30, in 1842, where Nathaniel BELL laid out and named
Hickory Grove cemetery. Its area has been increased and improved, and it is one of the finest rural burial grounds in
the county. Its first tenant was the wife of William BAUMIS.
