William Audus Biography



As published in
"The City of Kenosha and Kenosha County Wisconsin: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement"
by Frank H. Lyman Vol. 2, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1916.




Among Kenosha county's substantial citizens who are natives of England is William Audus who was born in Cambridgeshire on the 17th of January, 1850. He has long resided in this county, however, having been a representative of its agricultural interests for thirty seven years, and at one time he was actively engaged in the cultivation of a large farm of one hundred and eighty acres which he owned. His parents, Samuel and Sarah Audus, spent their entire lives in England.

It was in that country that William Audus acquired a common school education, after which he began providing for his own support by working by the day. He continued in England until he reached the age of twenty-one years, then bade adieu to friends and native land, having determined to try his fortune in America. Crossing the Atlantic to the United States, he made his way to Illinois, where he remained until 1875. During that period he engaged in farming, and in the latteryear he left the middle west for California, where he spent four years, but returned from the Pacific coast in 1879, in which year he took up his abode in Kenosha County. Here he purchased sixty acres of land and afterward added to his holdings from time to time as his financial resources increased until he had extended the boundaries of his farm to include one hundred and eighty acres. He carefully and persistently tilled the soil, annually gathering good harvests, and his labors brought him substantial reward. At the present time he owns only twenty-five acres, having sold nearly all of his land. Success in substantial measure has attended his efforts, and now enables him to live retired.

On the 1st of January, 1897, Mr. Audus was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Pye. They have a pleasant home noted for its warm hearted hospitality, and in the community they have many friends. In his political views he is an earnest republican. In his religious faith he is a Methodist, and his life has been passed in conformity to the teachings of the church. In all of his business dealings he has been thoroughly reliable and upright, and his success is the legitimate, direct reward of his own labors and perseverance, his life record showing what may be accomplished when energy and determination lead the way.

Typed by: Michelle Laycock