Austin K. Church, 1848

Posted4U@Charter.net on Sat, 17 Feb 2001

Surname: CHURCH, BARUM, AMBLE, JOHNSON, PUTNAM, CHRISTENSEN

Source: 1918 History of Clark Co., WI, by Franklyn, Curtiss-Wedge

AUSTIN K. CHURCH, an active farmer of Loyal Township, Clark County, was born at North Hadley, Mass., Nov. 13, 1848. He is a son of Joseph and Eliza R. (Barnum) Church, the former of whom was born at Amherst, Mass., Nov. 1, 1801, and the latter at Kingston, Pa., Oct. 10, 1821, her father, Charles Barnum, being a farmer. After their marriage, which took place at Amherst, Jan. 13, 1848, Joseph Church and wife took up their residence at North Hadley, Mass., where they remained four years, and while residing there, three children--Austin K., Edward E. and Anna E. were born. In 1852 Joseph moved with his family to Dodge County, Wis., where he bought eighty acres of wild land, building a log house, 16 by 24 feet, and a barn.

His brother William, had come to Wisconsin two, years before him. Joseph lived in Dodge County until his death, his wife subsequently dying in Iowa. Austin K. Church remained on the, parental farm until he was 21 years old, and then farmed in Dodge County, Wis., and in Minnesota. In 1881, at the age of 33, or thereabouts, he came to Loyal, Clark County, buying eighty acres of wild land in section 1, Loyal Township. Here he married Mary Weaver and they took up their residence on this farm. A year later, however, they sold and moved to the village of Loyal, residing there for several years, after which Mr. Church bought a tract of eighty acres, lying one-half mile west of Loyal, where he now resides, to which he and his family moved, and which he operated as a farm for twelve years.

In April, 1912, he again took up his residence in the village of Loyal, where he made his home until he moved back to the farm. During his former residence here Mr. Church served five years as village treasurer. He also held the office of supervisor seven years and was for twelve years a member of the school board. He is a stockholder in the Citizens State Bank at Loyal and is in comfortable circumstances, enjoying the fruits of a long and industrious career.

His wife, Mrs. Mary Weaver Church, is a daughter of Elias Weaver, who came to Dodge County in December, 1867, homesteading 160 acres of land. He later moved to the present site of Loyal, bringing his family and household goods across country in a wagon. There were five children in the family: Elias, who is now head forest ranger at Woodruff, Wis.; Nellie, wife of Erick Amble, of Marshfield, Wis.; Morris, a farmer in Clark County; Edna, wife of S. G. Johnson of Loyal; and Mary, who married Mr. Church. Mr. and Mrs. Church have two children: Fred E., born Mar. 17, 1884, and Lynn E., born July 10, 1886. Fred E., who is a rural mail carrier, attached to the Loyal post office, married Iva Putnam, and has two children--Margaret and Helen. Lynn E. married Susan Christensen and is in the employ of the Marshall Field Company, at Chicago.