Incidents and Anecdotes of Early Days and History of Business in the City and County of Fond Du Lac From Early Times to the Present, Personal Reminiscences, Remarkable Events, Election Results, Military History, Etc.

              190 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC
hands.    Soon after this fire a move was made toward procuring fire apparatus, and old No. i was bought in Milwaukee.
They Were Strong Men.
Edward Beeson, C. R. Harrison and T. S. Henry were as strong men in their personality as Fond du Lac has ever held as citizens. Always truthful and generous, they could be depended upon at all times. Edward Beeson was a printer by trade, an editor from prac¬ tice, politician from force of circumstances, and in every respect a first-class citizen, because he wanted to be. In his more than forty years as a newspaper man in Fond du Lac, he was never once tricky, even in politics. Unlike the politicians of today, if he promised to do a thing it could be depended upon. No matter what the service was, in politics or business, his promise was reliable. Mr. Beeson was uncle to the writer, who was an employe in his office many years, therefore knew him thoroughly. Mrs. Beeson was practically the only mother he ever knew. Mr. Beeson enjoyed a joke, but the prac¬ tical joke he abhorred. He bore the reputation among pioneer settlers as being one of the most generous and self-sacrificing men in the country.
Charles R. Harrison has always been known in Fond du Lac as a man very much of the same characteristics. He had no enemies, the entire community was his friends. As a sawmill expert he had few equals, and when he went into the railway mail service, he was soon known to all the leading men in the service. The old distribu¬ tion case in the mail cars and postoffices were a fright to Charley Harrison, and being a good mechanic he soon devised the Harrison Postal Bag Rack, the manufacture of which long since became one of the leading industries of Fond du Lac,- and are used on railway cars and in postoffices not only in this country and Canada, but many have been shipped to Europe and Australia.
T. S. Henry was in personal characteristics very much like Messrs. Beeson and Harrison. He was a peculiar man in some things, one in particular, that what he set out to do he did for all there was in it. He also was an expert mechanic and few men ever did more to build up and help along the early day industries of Fond du Lac. When Tom Henry took hold of a piece of work it had to go. He was a strong and valuable man to the city.
They Were Disappointed.
When the Third and Fourteenth regiments, Wisconsin infantry, went into camp in Fond du Lac for drill and to learn camp life, war was a new thing, and the men imagined they could have rations pre¬ pared much as they were accustomed to have their food at home and have better arrangements in camp. They changed their ideas after a while, especially after they got down south. Both these regiments were under command of colonels from this city, the Third under Col. . C. S. Hamilton (later Gen. Hamilton), and the Fourteenth under Col. D. E. Wood. The camp extended north and south from Forest avenue to the marsh and east and west from Hickory street to the