Bio: Sales, Henry (Commemorative Bio - 1895)

Poster: Crystal Wendt

Henry Sales

Henry Sales, one of the most highly respected citizens of Merrill, Lincoln County, is prominently connected with one of the leading business interests of the State – that of lumbering. He was born in Yorkshire, England, May 10, 1839, and is a son of Zacharialf and Elizabeth (Alsap) Sales, who were natives of the same country, and parents of the following children: Elizabeth, George, Samuel, Zachariah, Charles, Rebecca and Henry. In 1845, accompanied by their family, Zachariah and his wife crossed the Atlantic to Canada, settling in Ontario, where the father secured a farm. There the parents spent their remaining days, the mother passing away in 1849, the father in 1855.

Henry Sales remained at home until his parents’ death, working with his father, who was a carpenter by trade. His educational advantages were very limited, and his other privileges were somewhat meager. In 1856 he became a resident o the village of Jennie (now Merrill), Wis., which at that time contained but one mill and a country store. Here he secured employment in the lumber woods during the winter season, and in the summer months was employed in the mills; also worked as a pilot on the river, for all lumber was then floated down stream to the Mississippi. He continued in the employ of one firm for nine years, logging and running lumber on the river, and each winter since his arrival until the season of 1894-95 has found him in the lumber camps. During the past three winters he has been connected in business with Mr. Finn. He has often employed as many as one hundred men, and his opinions concerning lumbering are received as authority.

In Merrill, in 1865, Mr. Sales was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Herman, who was born in Norway in 1844, daughter of Herman and Dorothy Oleson, who had a family of five children: Anna, Ole, Ellen, Peter and Herman. The father, who is a famer, in 1862, brought his family to America, locating upon a farm in Waupaca County, Wis., where he yet makes his home. Mr. and Mrs. Sales have one child, George Henry, who is living with them. He married Nellie Gillmartin, who was born in Ripon, Wis., and is a daughter of Mark and Catherine (Cone) Gillmartin, who were born, reared and married in Ireland. They became the parents of six children: James, Maggie, Sarah, Catherine, Nellie and Rose. The father of this family served four years in the Union Army during the Civil War, and died in 1880. His widow is still living. George Henry Sales has one child, Bessie. The subject of this sketch also has an adopted daughter, Nellie, who came to them when a little child of six summers, and has been an inmate of their home for fourteen years.

Mr. Sales owns a fine residence one mile from Merrill, a commodious brick structure which is situated in the midst of a valuable farm of eighty acres. He holds membership with the I. O. O. F.; in politics is a Republican, and has served for six years as chairman of the county board of supervisors, yet has never been an office seeker, preferring to devote his time and attention to his business interests, in which he has met with good success.

---Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin Counties of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano. publ. 1895 by J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago 1110 pages, illustrated; Page 378-379