Obit: Howard, Robert #2 (1829 - 1900)

Contact: Stan Schwarze

Surnames: HOWARD BLACKMAN POPE COUNSELL

----Sources: NEILLSVILLE TIMES (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 04/19/1900

Howard, Robert #2 (1829 - 12 APR 1900)

Robert Howard of Pleasant Ridge (Clark Co., Wis.) died Wednesday night, April 12th, 1900, aged 71 years, having been born in 1829 in Cambridgeshire, England. The funeral was held Saturday at the Ridge, and burial in the cemetery adjoining his farm. Rev. Luther conducted the funeral services.

Deceased came to America when 22 years old, spent four years in Ohio and two in Illinois, then came here in 1856, taking up land in the depths of our forests, and cutting through with his own hands part of the road from this city, then a mere loggers headquarters, to his farm, five miles east of the city. He took the rugged ups and downs of pioneer life with the rest, helping to clear the way for the grand young empire which we now enjoy. He used to carry on a small butcher business, selling meat with a wagon.

He was the father of Mrs. S.E. Blackman, John, George, Leonard and Miss Racie Howard, whose mother’s maiden name was Rachel Pope, sister of Mrs. Henry Counsell, who married Mr. Howard in 1855, in Illinois, and died October 9, 1882. Mr. Howard was married again in 1899 to Mrs. Harriett Pope, whose first husband was a brother of the first Mrs. Howard.

He accumulated a fair fortune and was always thrifty, owning, besides his home farm, the McPherson place south of Kurth’s, and other property. As an old settler he was prominent in his community, had for years a great interest in the Clark County Agricultural Society, and was in all ways a substantial respectable citizen, honorable and kind. He will be greatly missed.