Gulick, Simon

The following data is extracted from Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement.

Simon Gulick is engaged in farming in Dover Township, where he was born and has always resided. His natal day was August 16, 1856, his parents being Eagleson and Isabelle (Qualset) Gulick. The paternal grandfather was Eagle Gulick, who became a resident of Dover Township and here lived to the age of eighty-two years. His son, Eagleson Gulick, was born in Norway, December 1, 1827, and is still living, being now in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He was married in Rochester to Isabelle Qualset, whose birth occurred in Norway in 1816, and in that country her parents spent their entire lives. It was in 1843 that Eagleson Gulick became a resident of Dover Township and that the County was then but sparsely settled is indicated in the fact that he was able to purchase eighty acres of land at three dollars per acre. He then cleared the land, prepared it for the plow, and in course of time gathered good harvests as a reward for the care and labor which he bestowed upon his fields. In 1848 he built a log house and in that primitive home occurred the birth of his seven children, of whom four are now living: Edward, a resident farmer of Nebraska; Simon; Isabelle, the wife of Henry Mossmann, a railroad man of Missoula, Montana; and Mary the wife of Melvin Bemis, who is connected with a fur store in St. Paul. The mother passed away in 1907, being then ninety years of age. She was a member of the Lutheran church to which Mr. Gulick also belongs. His early political allegiance was given to the Democratic Party and afterward he became a republican. He joined the Union army at the time of the Civil war, serving for three years and three months in defense of his adopted country, after which he resumed farming in Dover Township, and he now makes his home with his son.

In the district schools Simon Gulick pursued his education and then took up the active work of the farm, since which time his attention bas been continuously given to agricultural pursuits. He has one hundred and twenty-five acres of good land and carries on general farming and dairying, keeping full blooded Durham cows. For forty years he has also operated a threshing machine throughout his part of the County and his life has been one of unusual activity, his diligence being the basic element in his growing and continuous success.

In 1885 Mr. Gulick wedded Miss Mattie English, who was born in Norway, a daughter of Martin English, who was one of the early settlers of Norway Township, this County. Mr. and Mrs. Gulick became the parents of six children: Frank. who is janitor of a large church in Minneapolis; Leonard, a farmer living near Waterford; Florence, the wife of Lacy Tindall, a contractor ; Thomas, who is upon the farm with his father; and Isabelle and Harold, at home. In the fall of 1909 the family was called upon to mourn the loss of the wife and mother, who was a devout member of the Catholic church, in the faith of which she reared her children.

Mr. Gulick gives his political allegiance to the Democratic Party and has twice been called upon to serve on the board of supervisors. He belongs to Camp No. 3112, M. W. A., at Waterford and for some time has served as escort in that organization. There is no phase of Racine County's development during the past six decades with which he is not familiar, and his reminiscences concerning the early history and the progress of the County are most interesting. His long connection with its agricultural development has been a potent three in bringing about present day conditions in agricultural circles in Dover Township.

Source: Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement

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