Obit: Vanderhoof, Wesley (1843 - 1938)
Contact:  Audrey Roedl
Email: audero@charter.net

Surnames: VANDERHOOF CLARK SLEYSTER HEIN KAYHART DEGRAW GOSLIN

----Sources: The Loyal Tribune 20 January 1938

Vanderhoof, Wesley (16 OCT 1843 - 7 JAN 1938)

(Spencer Record)

Wesley Vanderhoof, Spencer, Wis., passed away on Friday morning, Jan. 7, 1938, at 12:15.

Mr. Vanderhoof was born in Boontown, N. J., on October 16, 1843. He enlisted in the Civil War at Newark, N. J., in July 1861, and remained in active service for three years and two months. He served under Generals Hooper, Meade, Burnsides, Sickles, and Grant. He enjoyed the distinction of being the only man of Spencer who had felt the handshake of Abraham Lincoln. The incident occurred at Chancellorsville, Va., during a troop encampment when Abraham Lincoln made inspection and personally greeted each of the soldiers individually.

After the Civil War deceased came to Wisconsin and located on a tract of timber land in Clark county about four miles west of Spencer. Here he spent the balance of his life, playing an important part in the development of this section. He aided in the building of the first turnpike in Clark county and helped to load the lumber for the first home in Spencer. For fifty years he served as Justice of the Peace; for thirty-seven years he held the office of school clerk and for six years he served on the board of the town of Sherman. He has been affiliated with the Masons and helped to establish the Odd Fellows lodge at Unity. In all his 94 years he has maintained a constant interest in local, state and national affairs.

Deceased was wounded during the war, being shot in the lip, and lay on the battlefield for three days before being taken to the hospital. He again returned to the battlefield and was with the Union troops during the engagement the night before Lee surrendered. He attended, as was always his custom, the annual memorial services in Spencer last year. Mr. Vanderhoof was the last Civil War veteran of the community of Spencer.

On September 6, 1882, Wesley Vanderhoof was married to Ellen Clark, who passed away December 18, 1929. They were the parents of six children: Frank, who passed away on Dec. 18, 1937, and the following children who survive him: Pearle and Alfred, Spencer, Wis., Mrs. Robert V. Sleyster, Cochrane, Wis., Guy and Mrs. M. N. Hein, Chippewa Falls, Wis., and nine grandchildren; two brothers, Elijah, Idaho; and Walter, Montana; three sisters, Mrs. Ed. Kayhart, Spencer; Mrs. Sarah DeGraw, Loyal; Mrs. Martha Goslin, state of Washington.

The funeral services were held in Spencer M. E. church at 2:00 p.m. Monday, Rev. George Carver, the pastor officiating. The church was filled by friends and relatives who came to pay their last tribute to this well known citizen and soldier. Gene Hoood and Eugene McVean, Marshfield and Martin Engel, Spenge Graves, Al. Trumbull and Sebastian Board, all veterans of the Spanish-American war, acted as pall-bearers. Ladies of the W. R. C. and Legion Auxiliary carried the flowers. The interment took place in the Cole cemetery with military honors by the American Legion.