Clinton Skewes, who is operating the family homestead in Yorkville Township, has a number of good dairy cows and ships milk extensively to Chicago. He is also doing considerable truck gardening and raises some grain. His birth occurred upon the farm which he is now cultivating, on the 14th of August, 1880, and he is a son of Hannibal and Eliza (Phillips) Skewes, natives of Cornwall, England, born in 1838 and 1840, respectively. The mother was brought to this country by her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Phillips, who were among the first settlers of Racine County, Wisconsin. The father came to the United States when twenty years of age and joined an uncle living in Yorkville Township. Later he engaged in farming on his own account and became the owner of one hundred acres of fine land. He was a republican with prohibition tendencies and was for years a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife were married in Yorkville Township in 1864 and passed the remainder of their lives here, his death occurring in 1912 and hers in 190:3. Of their six children four survive, namely. Edward Henry, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work: Manly, who is train dispatcher in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Minneapolis; Clinton and Lillie, the wife of Darrick West, a farmer of Raymond Township.
Clinton Skewes obtained his education in the district schools of Yorkville, precinct and is indebted to his father for his early and thorough training in agricultural work. He has continued to farm and now owns the home place, to which he has added forty acres, thus bringing his holdings up to one hundred and forty acres, and not only is the land fertile and highly cultivated but the buildings upon the place are modern and up-to-date. He has a large dairy and ships milk to Chicago, finding this business very profitable. He also raises cabbage for the city markets and likewise grows corn and other grain. He manages all branches of his work well and receives a gratifying financial return from his land.
Mr. Skewes was married on the 26th of June, 1912, to Miss Grace Vyvyan, a daughter of William Vyvyan, a pioneer of Racine County. He followed the butcher’s trade for many years, accumulating a competence, and was widely known.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Skewes are prominent in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church and he is now serving as president of its board of trustees. He is a republican in politics and is also a firm believer in the wisdom of prohibiting the liquor traffic. Although he gives the greater part of his time and attention to his farm work he finds opportunity to co-operate with others in furthering movements for the general good and his public spirit is generally recognized.
