History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

Biography

Richards, Charles formerly owner and proprietor of the Eagle River Review, and a man held in high esteem by all who knew him well, was born at Roxbury, Dane County, Wis., Nov. 22, 1845. When seven years old he was left fatherless, and with a brother three years older, soon became the main support of his mother and two younger children, the two boys working on farms in the then pioneer section of center Wisconsin and receiving less for a month's labor than many modern children expend upon a toy. When 16 he responded to Lincoln's first call for troops but was rejected on account of his youth. In December, 1862, he succeeded in passing and enlisted in Company D., Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry. Starting as a private he received in succession all of the different non-commissioned officers' titles. He was with General BANKS in all his campaigns, including the disastrous Red River expedition and was present at the siege and surrender of Port Hudson, after which he was promoted for gallantry in action. It was a matter of lifelong regret to him that his lieutenant's commission, granted at Washington, did not reach him until after peace had been declared. He was mustered out at Brownsville, Texas, in May, 1866, having been detained in the army a full year after the close of the war owing to his rank of sergeant-major which entailed on him the duty of looking after the return of war supplies. After his discharge he spent the summer in a business expedition covering the northern portion of Mexico, and then located in Waco, Texas, where he resumed the family occupation in milling. Returning to Wisconsin in 1868, he had charge of flour mills at Portage, Pardeeville and other places in that vicinity for several years thereafter. At Pardeeville on May 21, 1871, he was united in marriage with Cornelia E. TRIPP, with whom he spent nearly 46 years in happy wedlock. Mr. RICHARDS first acquired a practical knowledge of journalism in the office of the Hancock News at Hancock, Waushara County, Wis., in 1887. In the following year he established the Packwaukee Independent. Selling that paper a few years later to the Marquette County Epitome, he went to Fort Atkinson and founded the Jefferson County Democrat, disposing of that soon after, he purchased the Markesan Herald which he operated for about two years and then selling that returned to his old home at Packwaukee. In 1912 with his son they became the owners of the Eagle River Review and with which he was actively connected until his death on May 24, 1917. Mr. RICHARDS, although deprived by the circumstances of his youth of the advantages of higher education, was a man of splendid intellectual powers, which he used to good purpose in systematic reading and reflection, and had acquired a vast and accurate amount of knowledge. It is presumable that his success might have been marked, had he had the advantages in early life that are customary in this day. He was intensely public-spirited and reared his family in the belief that at all times public welfar was to be considered before personal profit. He would have been a wealthier man had he clung less closely to this ideal, but in Marquette County where he lived for nearly forty years, he is remembered as a man who was purely unselfish in his desire and efforts to advance civic interests, and a man who paid his debts to the last dollar at all times. He was once treasurer of Marquette county, held various town offices and was for years active in the G. A. R. and every activity of interest in his community. Mr. RICHARDS at his death was survived by his wife who joined him in death five months later, on Nov. 3, 1917, leaving one son, Verne who was associated with him in the ownership of the Review, and two daughters, Mary, a teacher in Minneapolis, and Pearl, teaching in Racine. Besides these were two brothers and a sister; Robert, of Chatfield, Minn., Fred of Lyons, Kas., and Mrs. G. H. MCINTYRE of Portage.

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from pages 498-499, History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties Wisconsin; Compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others 1924, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co

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