Nicholas Mack, 1851

Posted4U@Charter.net on Tue, 13 Feb 2001

Surname: MACK, HUGHES, CORZETT, GRAHAM, PRINDLE, COON

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


Mr. and Mrs. Rastus Mack and son Nicholas

NICHOLAS MACK, a well-known and successful farmer of Loyal Township, who has attained prosperity by dint of industry, backed by a good practical knowledge of agriculture in all its branches, was born in Western Canada, Feb. 5, 1851. His parents, Rastus and Maria (Hughes) Mack, were farming people, who came with their five children, Elizabeth, Hannah Nicholas, Joseph and Eli (Myer and Wesley having died), to Clark County: Wis., when the subject of this sketch was 5 years old, locating on the farm which he now owns and operates. From La Crosse they drove with a wagon until they reached this township, in which Rastus Mack was the first settler. The country was then a wilderness and he had to cut his road for the last six miles. He purchased his 160 acres of land from the government, it costing him $1.25 an acre. At Neillsville, the nearest depot of supplies, there was a small store and two houses. Mr. Mack lost no time in building a log cabin and beginning the work of improvement. He worked on his farm only in the summer, as in the winter he was engaged in the lumber camps earning money to support the family. The little log house in which they lived for a while sheltered two or three families while other houses were being built. Upon one occasion the father chopped two acres of land off to earn a barrel of flour, but had the flour nearly consumed before he finished the chopping. It took three or four days to go to Neillsville and back for supplies, as he had to use a jumper drawn by oxen, and the road, or rather track, was nothing but deep mud for months at a time. In time he surmounted most of these difficulties, however, conditions improved and he and his wife in their latter years enjoyed a comfortable prosperity.

Eastus Mack lived to the age of 70 years and his wife was nearly 88 when she passed away. They had six children born here: Adalade, Edith, Abbie, Henry, Charles and Leslie; Adalade, afterward the wife of John Corzett, being the first white child born in the township; but the subject of this sketch is the only one leftin this part of the country. The father was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at one time, but late joined the Seventh-Day Adventists, the meetings of that society being often held in his cabin, and he also aided in starting the Adventist Church in Loyal Township. Nicholas Mack grew to manhood on his parents' farm and gained the elements of knowledge in the little log schoolhouse, 12 by 12 feet in size, that stood across the road cornerwise from the present frame schoolhouse No. 5, the land on which it stood being leased to the township by his father. When larger and stronger he spent two winters in the woods, but at the age of 18 he was attacked by sickness which left him crippled, a misfortune from which he has never recovered. He has not however, allowed this handicap to interfere with his success in life, but has been enterprising and industrious. His farm, known as Cloverdale Stock Farm, is well taken care of and presents visible evidences of thrift and prosperity. Mr. Mack erected the house and barn which stand on the property, both of them good buildings; also a good silo. He has a fine herd, of Ayrshire cattle, in which, with reason, he takes great pride. For a number of years he served as a member of the school board and has always been interested in anything calculated to advance the welfare of the community in which he lives.

Mr. Mack was married Nov. 19, 1902, to Mrs. Mary (Graham) Prindle, who was born in Fond du Lac County, Wis., May 7, 1842, daughter of John and Caroline (Coon) Graham. Her father, who was a veteran of the Civil War, settled in Pierce County and died July, 1917, aged 96 years. His wife died Oct. 8, 1917, aged 76. They were farmers by occupation and had ten children: Joseph, Ben, Mary, John, Lincoln, Grant, Etta, Ella, Robert and Walter. Mary Graham was first married to Thomas Prindle, of which union there were seven children born: Ezra, Ruth, Walter, Clarence, Elmer, Roy and Esther. Ezra and Roy are deceased. With the exception of about four years Mr. and Mrs. Prindle lived in Iowa, where he died at the age of 54. Mr. and Mrs. Mack are members of the Adventist Church, which he is serving as trustee and clerk. They have one child, Elsie, who was born Aug. 4, 1905.