Biographical Sketch of

William W. Pynchon

Transcribed by Sandy Boudrou



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Green Lake, Marquette and Waushara Counties, Wisconsin, 
published 1890 by Acme Publishing Co., Chicago, Pages 551 - 552 - 553 

Bassett, Bliss, Cole, Flowers, Pynchon, Russell, Sterns, Turner
William W. Pynchon, who resides on section 14, in the town of Marion, has for many years been a resident of 
Waushara County and is numbered among its leading citizens.  He is a native of the Old Bay State, having been 
born in Great Barrington, Berkshire County on the 27th of July, 1822.  His parents were Josiah S. and Fannie E. 
(Flowers) Pynchon.  In his native city William was reared to manhood and in his youth received liberal edu-
cational advantages.  His course in the common schools was supplemented by a course in the Great Barrington 
Academy, after which he was apprenticed to the trade of a tanner and currier, serving a term of three years, 
but the greater part of his business career prior to his emigration to the West was spent as a manufacture 
of woolen goods.  His health becoming impaired during his apprenticeship to the tanner's trade, he entered 
the woolen mill of J. C. & A. C. Russell, where he remained for five years, becoming familiar with the 
business in every department.  He then went to Lee, Mass. and entered the employ of Lemuel Bassett, owner 
of a woolen factory, of which he became Superintendent.  On severing his connection with that gentleman he 
went to Pittsfield, where he obtained a position in the broadcloth mill of Henry & David Sterns, with whom 
he remained for a year and a half, when he returned to his native city, and again entered the employ of J. C. 
& A. C. Russell, continuing with them until his emigration to the West.
 
On the 1st of May, 1845, Mr. Pynchon was united in marriage with Miss Catherine L. Bliss, a daughter of Simeon 
and Clarissa (Turner) Bliss.  Her father served in the War of 1812, and was stationed near Boston at the time 
the British tried to gain possession of that city.  The young couple began their domestic life in the East, 
where they remained until Mr. Pynchon severed his connection with the manufacturers with whom he was engaged, 
and in 1850, accompanied by his wife and little daughter, emigrated to the West.  The journey was made by rail 
to Buffalo and thence by steamer to Sheboygan, where he procured teams and continued on his way to his desti-
nation, Strong's Landing, which is now the city of Berlin, and erected a little log cabin 12 x 14 feet, into 
which the family moved when only about half of the floor was laid.  It contained but one room, which served 
as kitchen, bedroom, parlor and pantry.  Their furniture was of a very primitive character.  Their first 
bedstead was made from poles obtained from a tamarack swamp near by; their table was made of a dry-goods box 
in which their goods had been packed, and two boxes, placed one on top of the other, formed a good cupboard 
after shelves had been put in.  They also bore their full share in the hardships incident to the frontier 
life, but in the course of time their labors were rewarded with bounteous harvests and their financial 
resources were greatly increased, thereby adding much to their comfort.  In June, 1851, Mr. Pynchon sold his 
claim, and soon afterward removed to the town of Marion, Waushara County, where he purchased eighty acres of 
land on section 14, where he has since made his home, his farm now comprising 200 acres, 115 of which is under 
the highest cultivation.  When he located upon that land the county was not yet separated from Marquette County.  
He assisted in its organization and its division into townships.  He has in many other ways been identified 
with the history of the county, and has ever borne his part in its upbuilding and advancement.  He continued 
his farming operations until Nov. 12, 1861, when he could no longer resist his country's call for aid and 
offered his services to the Government.  He was mustered in at Madison as a member of Company C. 12th Wisconsin 
Infantry, and with his regiment was sent to Missouri on the Jim Lane expedition, after which he went to Columbus, 
Ky.  He received his discharge in December, 1863, on account of injuries sustained in the service, and immediately 
afterward returned to his home and resumed farming.
 
Mr. and Mrs. Pynchon are the parents of two children, a son and daughter; Mary F., who was born in Massachusetts, 
is now the wife of Byron Cole, of this county, and George, who was born in Wisconsin, was graduated from the 
Oshkosh Business College in March, 1883, and is still at home with his parents.
 
In political sentiment, Mr. Pynchon is a Republican and a stalwart supporter of the principles of that party.  
Socially, he is a member of Ed. Saxe Post, G. A. R., No. 135.  He is still engaged in general farming on section 
14 in the town of Marion, where he has so long made his home, and is recognized as one of the valued citizens 
of the community.  He has been a witness of the growth of the county for almost forty years, as aided in the 
development of its wild prairies, which at the time of his arrival were covered with wild grasses, while the 
forests were still the haunts of many kinds of wild game.  Many of the towns and villages had not then sprung 
into existence, or were composed of a few scattered log cabins, and the most far-sighted could scarcely have 
imagined that a county of Waushara's capabilities could have blossomed forth in such a short period.






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