George W. & Ella A. (Alds) Bishop
Greenwood, Clark County, Wisconsin
George W. Bishop was born on Feb. 22, 1861. For nearly forty five years was an undertaker in Greenwood, Wisconsin. He was widely known having conducted a furniture and undertaking business in town from 1892. He, his wife, and daughter Mabel, moved from Marshfield to Greenwood and purchased the corner lot at the junction of Schofield Ave. and Main Street. This was the first lot to be sold off that forty of the Schofield Farm. The original stump fence had to be torn away and burned before building operations could begin. Mr. Bishop was prominent in the business and social life of the community throughout the years of his residence.
Ella A. (Alds) Bishop
Until its discontinuance, he
was an attendant and supporter of the Presbyterian church, later years, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a member of the I.O.O.F, the Modern Woodman,
was an active member of the Masonic Fraternity, having served as Master several
years and having once served as Grand Senior Deacon of the Grand Lodge of
Wisconsin. He had been a member of the Order of the Eastern Star for a long term
of years and served the local chapter faithfully and well, as their Worthy
Patron since 1930 (excepting one year). At the time of his death he was the
second oldest Worthy Patron in this state. Less than two weeks before his death,
he conferred the initiatory degree as impressively as he ever gave it.
He was mayor of the city in the year 1899-1900 and served twenty six years on
the school board. He had been looking forward with interest to the coming
celebration in Marshfield marking the fiftieth year since the Marshfield fire,
for he was one of the carpenters and millwrights who came there following the
fire to assist in the reconstruction work. He built the original Marshfield
Furniture Factory and its water tower, and worked in the factory until he moved
to Greenwood.
Mr. Bishop was always a busy hard working man, and his early life was far from
bright and care free, for his father and mother died only a few months apart
with typhoid fever, when he was not quite six years old. He tried to live with
his namesake uncle, George Fawcett at Farmington, Ill, but lonesome for his
brothers (he was the youngest of eight children, all but two of which were
brothers) he was brought back to his sister's farm near his father's farm a few
miles from Barrington, Ill. When only nine years old he dragged all the grain on
160 acres of land and took care of a team, even harnessed and unharnessed them.
He worked out for men who were friends of his father for the next several years
sometimes for his board only, other times receiving twelve dollars per month
besides his board. During the winter of 73-74, when he was only twelve years
old, he milked twenty cows night and morning, getting up at 4 o'clock week day
mornings and three o'clock on Sunday mornings. The year 77-78 he spent with his
brother Cyrus and wife on their farm near green Mountain, Iowa and spent the
winter of 78-79 with his brothers Ed and Frank near Red Oak, Iowa, and in the
spring of 70 went to a cranberry marsh near Necedah with his brothers Tracy and
Fletch.
It was while working on a farm near Camp Douglas that he met and married Ella A.
Alds. After their marriage they lived in Necedah for five years, where he
conducted a photograph business and did cabinet and carpenter work, until they
moved to Marshfield following the fire in '87.
Mrs. Bishop died January 27, 1928. Mr. Bishop passed away February 7, 1937.
Had he lived until February 22nd, he would have been 76 years old.
His funeral was held at the M.E. Church and was one of the largest ever seen in
Greenwood. He and Ella are both buried in the
Greenwood City Cemetery.
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
The Bishop Residence Greenwood, Wisconsin |
Postcard (reverse of photo to the left). George Bishop (enlarged from the photo on the right). → |
This post card was contributed by Tim Plunkett.
Location of the Bishop Home.
Census Records
1880 Federal Census-Orange, Juneau Co., Wisconsin | |||||||||
Name | Relation | Marital Status | Gender | Race | Age | Nativity | Occupation | Father's Nativity | Mother's Nativity |
Thomas J. Hinton | Self | M | Male | W | 38 | IL | Farmer | VA | NY |
Ellen Hinton | Wife | M | Female | W | 36 | IL | Keeping House | SCOT | CAN |
Carrie Hinton | Dau | S | Female | W | 13 | WI | At School | IL | IL |
Geo. W. Bishop | Other | S | Male | W | 19 | IL | Farm Hand | NY | NY |
Sources
Greenwood Gleaner, Census Records and the Greenwood Public Library Albums.
Contributors
Janet Schwarze.
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