Transcript:Biographical History of LaCrosse, Monroe, and Juneau Counties, Wisconsin/Selium McGary

SELIUM McGARY, one of the representative pioneer citizens of Monroe county, was born in Chittenden county, Vermont, May 13, 1831, a son of Thomas McGary, a native of county Down, Ireland. The latter’s father died when his son Thomas was but a lad, and the latter afterward emigrated with his mother to the United States, coming via Quebec to Vermont, and becoming residents of that State. Thomas McGary grew to manhood in Vermont, and married Lovina Huntley, a native of that state, and a daughter of Ira Huntley, who belonged to an early family of that State. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, fought at Plattsburg, and also took part in other events attending the second war with England. Thomas McGary continued to live in Vermont a number of years after his marriage, but when the subject of this sketch was about seven years of age they emigrated to Medina county, Ohio, and soon afterward removed to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. They afterward returned to Ohio, and made a permanent settlement in Erie county. In the fall of 1853 they followed the son and brother to Wisconsin, and resided on the farm of the former until their death, the father passing away in 1878, and the mother in 1881, aged seventy-five and seventy-one years, respectively. They were the parents of the following children: Selium, our subject; Mary Ann, a resident of Onalaska, La Crosse county; Sally, of Seattle, Washington; Eliza, of Dunn county, Wisconsin; Thomas, the next in order of birth, was a member of the Nineteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in the war of the Rebellion, and was killed at the battle of Fair Oaks, October 27, 1864; Henry, a resident of Norwalk, was also a soldier in the late war, first as a member of the Nineteenth Wisconsin Infantry, and later entered the Third Wisconsin Cavalry; Nancy, the youngest of the family, resides in Nebraska.

In September, 1852, Selium McGary came with his grandparents, Ira Huntley, and wife, to Monroe County, the latter settling in Lewis valley, Lacrosse county, where he became a well-known citizen, and where he resided until death. Our subject selected the place where he now lives, having resided there for the long period of forty years, and has witnessed and been identified with the growth and development of the country during those many years. Since he came to Monroe county, having been the first or second settler of the Ridgeville township, it has grown from a wilderness to beautiful farms and pleasant homes, and a portion of the village of Norwalk is on his original farm. He gave the place its name from the beautiful little city of Norwalk, Ohio, near which he lived for many years. Mr. McGary was a soldier in the war for the Union, having enlisted in Company A, Fifty-second Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in 1864, and served until the close of the struggle. He served principally in Missouri and Kansas, engaged in guerilla warfare. His farm now contains 345 acres of good land, and he has obtained his entire worldly possessions by his own efforts.

Mr. McGary was married in Ohio, at the age of twenty years, to Alvira Fox, a daughter of Charles Fox. The family were originally from Connecticut, and later of Pennsylvania, from which State they emigrated to Ohio in the early pioneer days. They endured the dangers and hardships incident to the Indian wars then prevailing on the frontier. Mr. and Mrs. McGary have six children, viz.: Frances, wife of Norman Record; Eugene, the only son, has charge of the home farm; Isabel, wife of George Wood, of Kendall; Lenora, wife of John Keier, of the same place; Josephine, wife of William B. Kendall, of Baraboo; Jessie, the youngest, is at home. In his political relations, our subject is a Democrat, having cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce, in 1852, and except in 1864, when it was deemed perilous to change the administration, the country being in the throes of the Civil war, he has continued to vote the Democratic ticket. He has never been an aspirant for office, but has accepted most of the local offices of his town. Is liberal and progressive in his religious views, and is ever prominent in advancing the social and material interests of the community in which he lives.

Transcribed by Bruce Kendall