Biographical Sketch of
Harvey Stedman
Transcribed by Barbara Voss
Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Green Lake, Marquette and Waushara Counties, Wisconsin, published 1890 by Acme Publishing Co., Chicago, Pages 475 - 476 Harvey Stedman, deceased, an honored pioneer and business man of Berlin, was born in the town of Livonia, Livingston County, N.Y., in 1812. He was of English descent and came of an old New York family that dated its settlement in that State several generations prior to his birth. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits and in 1837 was married in the town of Cambria, near Lockport to Miss Mary L. Warren, a daughter of Rev. Ezra Warren. She was born in Cambria in 1815, and now resides with her youngest son, Herbert, in Lanark, Portage County, Wis. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stedman, all sons- Hiram, the eldest is a prominent business man of Berlin, whose biography appears in this work; Horace, the second son, was drowned in Berlin in 1850, when ten years of age; Hollis, the third of the family, married Miss Maggie A. Boyle and is a well known produce merchant and steamboat owner of Berlin; Herbert, the youngest, was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary Knight and is a farmer of the town of Lanark, Portage County Wis. Mr. Stedman was engaged in farming in the East until 1849, when he emigrated to Wisconsin and settled at Strong’s Landing, now the thriving and beautiful little city of Berlin. He erected the warehouse now in use by his son at that place, and did an extensive warehouse business during the early settlement of Marquette and Waushara Counties. The emigration to this region came principally through the lake port of Sheboygan over the plank road to Fond du Lac, thence by steamboat through Lake Winnebago and up the Fox River to Berlin, where passengers and goods were unloaded. For several years after Mr. Stedman built his warehouse, the traffic was immense. The village of Strong’s Landing, as it was then called, had but just been started, in fact 1848 was the first year of its existence. Mr. Stedman was a man of means and capital was not as common in the new Western towns as it now is. He took a prominent part in the business of the town, and by his liberality and generosity often aided the impecunious over financial straits by loans of money. He bought a farm situated south of the village and devoted a portion of his time to its care. He opened the first wagon shop here and also the first furniture factory, doing quite a business in both these branches of trade. He was a Republican in political sentiment but never a politician in the ordinary sense of the word. In all his intercourse with the world, Mr. Stedman impressed those with whom he came in contact with his purity of character and unquestionable integrity. While he was disposed to insist on his rights and to exact his just dues, he was ever ready and more than willing to meet every obligation both legal and moral that might be held against him. His death occurred in August 1875 at his home in Lanark, where he removed in 1863. In his death his friends and fellow townsmen lost one of the most honorable and highly esteemed citizens and pioneers of Berlin.
Transcribed by Barbara Voss
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