William Scholes was born in or near Oldham 10 or 14 December 1814, the youngest of 
thirteen children.  Ann Mills, one of at least eight children of Samuel Mills and 
Alice Stocks, was born in Oldham 19 November 1814 and baptized there the next day.  
They were married 20 April 1835 in the nearby village of Prestwich.  Their first 
six children were born in England as William worked his way up to superintendent of
 the carding-room in the Jones cotton factory.  The last five were born in Marquette 
County, Wisconsin.   

When the potters of nearby Staffordshire, England, expanded their union�s emigration 
assistance and lottery scheme to other trades, William joined the Potters Emigration 
Society and was one of six winners in January 1849.  The family took ship on the 
Marmion, arriving in New York City 30 April 1849.  Few of the emigrants were farmers 
and not all the promised preparations had been made for them on the Wisconsin frontier. 
Some became disgruntled and left; William was among those who stayed and who vigorously 
defended the local agent, Thomas Twigg.  Ann Mills Scholes is said to have been the 
first white woman to cross �Twigg�s Ferry.�  

William farmed in Moundville Township, Marquette County, on acreage that borders the 
line with Columbia County (and remained in the family for just over a century).  Judging 
from the 1860 census property figures, the family was not very prosperous.   

Early in 1864, at age 49 and with a young family at home, William enlisted in Company E 
of the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry and went off to the Civil War.  He died of what the attending 
surgeon called �chronic diarrhea� in Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, 13 October 
1864, and his widow was awarded a pension.  She was a member of the Methodist Church.  
She died 15 February 1875.  

William and Ann had 11 children, 31 grandchildren, and 71 great-grandchildren.

1.  Mary, 1835-1910, m. circa 1854 Bissel Sherwin, son of Bissel Sherwin and Experience 
Whitney.  They had five children:  Charles, Frank, William, Flora (Bell), and George (died 
young).  Bissel joined the Union Army in September 1864 and was killed in the second battle 
of Fair Oaks, near Richmond, Virginia, October 27.  His family later moved to Monroe County.  
His letters home are excerpted in a 1991 issue of the Monroe County Historical Society 
newsletter.  Nine grandchildren.  

2.  Sarah Ann, 1837-1874, m. 7 Nov 1858 Robert Walker Hume, son of James Hume and Ann 
Margaret Walker.  They had seven children:  Anna (died young), Margaret (Berry), Robert, 
William, Sarah �Nettie� (Jones), James, and George.  Like his father-in-law William and 
brother-in-law Bissel Sherwin, Robert joined the Union Army in 1864; unlike them he 
survived the experience.  See Robert Hume's obituary for more info about this most 
prolific branch of the family.  26 grandchildren. 
 
3.  Marie, 1840-1852?, no further information.

4.  Elizabeth, 1842-1929, did not marry but played an important role in keeping the family 
together after William�s death.  One niece recalled her as �a maiden lady, a beautiful 
character, beloved.�  

5.  Alice, 1845-1923, m. circa 1864 Joseph Cockroft Smith, son of Henry Smith and Zillah ____.  
They had five children:  William, Ella (died young), Florence (Beichl), Mary (unmarried), and 
Robert.  Nine grandchildren.  

6.  Robert, 1847-1885, m. in the late 1860s Caroline Ann Parkinson.  They had three children:  
Nettie (Moran), Mary (Heames), and Hattie (Schwemerlein).  (After his death she married second 
Christopher Ellison and they had two children.)  Nine grandchildren.  

7.  Samuel Mills, 1849-1914, m. 28 June 1875 Harriet Newell Mozley, daughter of Rev. Thomas 
Mozley and Elizabeth Van Natta.  They lived in Green Lake County. A blacksmith by trade, he was 
elected County Clerk as a Republican in 1888.  They had four children:  Nellie (unmarried), 
Bonnie (unmarried), Samuel Ray, and Anna Laura (died young).  Four grandchildren.  Son Samuel 
Ray married Lois Boren in Pittsburgh 1914. He became a world authority in glass technology and 
finished his career at Alfred University, Alfred, Allegany County, New York.  

8.  Hannah Ellen, 1852-1854?, no further information.

9.  William, 1855-1929, m. 26 Nov 1885 Mary Ellen Dixon, daughter of Favil Dixon and Sarah ____.  
They had two children:  Marion Edith (unmarried) and an infant who died young.  The family lived 
in Portage.  

10.  George Walker, 1857-1941, m. 24 Feb 1885 Susanna Rebecca Audiss, daughter of Rev. William 
Audiss and Ann (Codling?).  They had three children:  Lillian (Russell), Elmer R., and Samuel E.  
Twelve grandchildren.  

11.  James M., 1859-1936, m. 15 Dec 1886 Emma Maria Hull, daughter of Henry Hull and Caroline 
Brewster.  They had two children:  Robert Henry and Ruth E. (Robleske, Redman).  Two grandchildren.  
Click here to read James' obituary or Emma's obituary.

We�re happy to share information, provide additional details and sources for the above information, 
and learn about any more stories or letters from William and Ann that may have survived the years, 
such as the first letter William wrote home in 1849. More details at  Scholes family webpage  

 
If you think you have found a family member here or wish to ask the contributor a question, send 
 Harold  an e-mail here





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