A Standard History of Waupaca County, Wisconsin. An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development.

              HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY 855
bought the land it had a good house, barn and other buildings, but Mr. Murray has carried on some extensive improvements. In 1908 he remodeled the barn and erected a concrete silo 16 by 33 feet and in 1916 he erected another silo 12 by 30 feet. He is an enthusiastic believer in the value of feeding from a silo. He has also made every rod of fence on his farm strong and well built, and his program of improvement is by no means finished. Mr. Murray is a general stock and dairy farmer. He keeps a herd of about fifty Shorthorn cattle, headed by a thoroughbred registered sire. He practices the principle of conserving the fertility of the soil, feeds every pound of grain and feed raised in his fields, and buys large quantities besides. His chief crops are corn, oats, barley and hay. Besides his cattle he keeps a number of hogs.
Mr. Murray is a democrat, has been a member of the school board, and for the past ten years has been township clerk. He and his wife became the parents of six children, five of whom are still living: Walter; Iva, who died when three years of age; Milton; Marcus; Alice; and William.
John Zehren of Bear Creek Township, whose fine country home is on rural route No. 1 out of Clintonville, is not only a practical and progressive farmer but also an expert cheese maker, and for a number of years was identified with one of the primary industries of Waupaca County.
The Zehren family have done more than their share as farmers and improvers in Waupaca County for a period of forty years. John Zehren was about eight years of age when the family moved to this county. He was born in Ashfort Township, Fond du Lac County, December 27, 1868. His parents were Nicholas and Mary (Gient) Zehren. Both were natives of Germany and were brought when children by their respective parents to America. They grew up in Fond du Lac County, where they married. After their marriage Nicholas Zehren bought sixty acres of wild timber land in Ashfort Township and proceeded to make a home. He cleared, put up buildings, and continued farming there until 1875. By that time he had the land well cleared and developed, and sold out to a good advantage. Taking the proceeds he came to Waupaca County and bought 120 acres in section 2 of Bear Creek Township. A few acres had been cleared and the other improvements were a substantial frame house and a small log barn. Here he practically repeated the work he had done in Fond du Lac County. Acre after acre came under cultivation as a result of his energetic work and from the profits of his farming enterprise he was able to put up a fine barn and remodel the home. He continued an active farmer there until about 1904, when he retired to Clintonville. His good wife died there in the spring of 1916, and Nicholas Zehren has since lived with his son Mat on a farm in Larrabee Township. He is the father of five children: Pete, Mat, Nick, John and Mary.
John Zehren grew up on the old farm in Bear Creek Township. He attended the rural schools and also had a few months in the German school at Clintonville.   He bore his individual share of the farm responsi-
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