Obit: Booth, Andrew H. (1840 - 1896)

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Surnames: BOOTH GRAVES SCHULTZ

----Sources: Colby Phonograph (Colby, Clark County, Wis.) 09/03/1896

Booth, Andrew H. (3 NOV 1840 - 28 AUG 1896)

Died, at his home in this city (Colby, Clark Co., Wis.), Friday night, Aug. 28th, 1896, of peritonitis, Andrew Harrison Booth, in the 56th year of his age.

It was with sadness and gloom that the announcement of the death of Mr. Booth was received. Only on Wednesday he attended the annual picnic of the Odd Fellows and was one of the very liveliest there, and then, to think that by Saturday morning he had joined the silent majority on the other shore.

When leaving the picnic grounds Wednesday evening, one of his horses became somewhat unmanageable and threw himself in such manner as to break the pole of the buggy which frightened the occupants of the carriage. Mr. Booth Jumped out, the horses were taken from the carriage, that vehicle fastened in the rear of a wagon and the party brought home. Mr. Booth laughed over the affair when he arrived home, but seemed to feel no bad results from the fright and excitement. During the night though, he was taken seriously ill and the doctor called. Thursday he, for a time, seemed easier, but during that night grew rapidly worse and Friday morning Dr’s. Oviat of Oshkosh, and Day of Eau Claire, were telegraphed for and each arrived about noon, and after consulting with the local physicians, Dr’s. Freeman of this city, and Clark of Unity, made a thorough examination of the patient and decided that he was beyond medical or surgical aid, and at 11:30 that evening Mr. Booth had passed away.

Andrew Harrison Booth was born in the town of Arcadia, Wayne Co., N.Y., Nov. 3rd, 1840; he came to Wisconsin in 1848 with his parents and resided in Fond du Lac County until 1865, when he went into Dodge Co.; Dec 16th, 1867, he was united in marriage with Miss Lutina R. Graves at Loyal, and went to Lowville, Columbia Co. to reside; in 1870, with his wife, he returned to Loyal and there resided until the fall of 1873, when they came to this place and have resided here since. This union was blessed with two sons, both of whom died previous to their coming to this place, and three daughters, Mrs. G. N. Schultz, Misses Claudia and DeEtte, born here and who, with their mother, survived to mourn the loss of a kind and ever indulgent husband and father.

As a businessman, Mr. Booth was what is commonly termed a hustler. No hour was too early or too late for him to be on the wing if there was a stroke of business to be done. He established one of the best mercantile businesses in Northern Wisconsin, a lumber business (this in company with R.B. Salter, under the firm name of R.B. Slater & Co.), that became one of the most extensive of the state, and had recently embarked in the hay business to such an extent that it became necessary to open up a market somewhere and to that end he visited Macon, Ga. This summer, and made arrangements for the shipping of hay to that city the coming winter. His business dealings were of an honorable and upright nature, yet always with a view to a profit.

In his social relations Mr. Booth was of a kind and generous disposition, was always glad to see those about him enjoy themselves and did all inn his power to add to that enjoyment, but his nature was so inclined to business that he always had the several lines well in hand before he would lay them down for a day of pleasure.

So thorough was he in his business methods that when he lay upon his dying bed, with his partner, a friend and legal adviser, R.B. Salter, his wife and other members of the family around him, he gave full directions for carrying on the business in certain lines; made a codicil to his will; selected the place of his burial; and expressed his wishes in certain directions connected therewith; and went so closely into every detail that the business could be carried right along.

He became a member of Colby Lodge No. 234, I.O.O.F., twenty years ago, or soon after the lodge was instituted at this place, and has always held a warm place in his heart for the order. Her served in the various offices in the lodge and at the time of his death was sitting past grand.

The funeral occurred Monday under the auspices of the Odd Fellows, the order he loved so well, and was held at the M. E. Church, where services were conducted by Rev’s Chase and Orth, and that church was crowded to its utmost capacity. At 12:52 the remains were place aboard the southbound train and taken to Loyal, and the family and friends were escorted by twenty-one members of his own lodge and were joined at Marshfield by a large delegation of members of the lodge at that place. The ceremony at the cemetery was conducted by the order.

The death of Andrew Booth causes a vacancy in our social and business circles that will never be filled by living man. There are many things we would like to say regarding his worth to the community, as a man of business, as a man socially and as a man of family, but fell that we are inadequate to the task, suffice to say that he loved his business, he loved the community in which he lived, he loved hiss friends and was always ready to accommodate and assist them and above all he loved his family. No man ever gave a family of wife and daughters a more endearing, everlasting love than did he. It was for them and them alone that he carried the great amount of business he did and their slightest wish was to him a command. Those who knew him best loved him the most and will cherish his memory the longest. His death is a calamity to the city and community. His loss is one so great that, at the present, none can realize the extent.