Simon Quatermass was born in Pennsylvania in 1823. He, his older brother John, and his mother, Betsy, came to Wisconsin in 1842. Simon married Julia Brooks in Fond du Lac County on November 19, 1846. The couple soon settled on Julia’s parents’ farm in Oshkosh Township, near where the Insane Hospital would one day be built. They then lived in the townships of Neenah and Vinland, before finishing their lives in the city of Oshkosh at 35 Oxford Street.
The Quatermass family consisted of four children: DeEtte; Ellen Annette (“Bessie” m. Jacob P. Haber); George Harlowe (m. Dolly Susan Smith), and Walter Wright (m. Mary Morris).
Family historian Wayne Hollister noted this about Simon Quatermass: He was new to the Fond du Lac area around 1842, when its postmaster, M.C. Darling, asked him to carry the mail along the territory’s primitive trails. Simon carried the mail bags for the first year on a locally renowned, aged horse called “Old Sime.” According to a county history, “Once, [Quatermass] was crossing the ice at Kau-kau-lin [Kaukauna, along the Fox River north of Lake Winnebago] when it broke under him, and ‘Sime’ and his master were precipitated into the freezing water. In the melee, the mail bag slipped from the saddle-bow, and after the two ‘Simes’ had reached the bank, the custodian of Uncle Sam’s baggage crawled out upon the ice on his stomach, with a long pole fished out the bag; hunting up the horse which had strayed off, he pursued his journey in rapid order to the nearest fireside.”
In 1850, the Quatermass family farmed at Winnebago (later called Oshkosh) Township. Julia’s father, Stephen Brooks, lived with them. Ten years later, the 1860 census shows the family at Neenah with Julia’s mother, Hannah Brooks, in their care. For some reason, Stephen lived with his son Oliver’s family – he died two years later. By 1870, the same members of the Quatermass family, including Hannah, farmed at Vinland Township. By that time, Hannah was 80 – she died in 1872. Eight years later, Simon and Julia retired from life on the farm and moved into a home at 35 Oxford Street, a bit west of their original property and a couple miles north of the Fox River in the city of Oshkosh. They made this their final residence.
Simon was 65 when he died at his home in Oshkosh on April 3, 1888. He was buried in Brooks Cemetery, northeast of Oshkosh. His obituary ran two days later in the Daily Northwestern:
Obituary.
"An Old Settler's Burial. Funeral of the Late Simon Quatermass Held To-Day.
"The funeral of the late Simon Quatermass took place from the family residence, No. 35 Oxford street, at one o'clock this afternoon, Rev. C.B. Wilcox officiating.
"The deceased was one of the very early settlers of this part of the state. He came to Wisconsin in 1843, and in 1844 carried the mail between Fond du Lac and Wrightstown, through the wilderness and along the trails which extended along Lake Winnebago and the lower Fox river.
"In 1846 he married Miss Julia Brooks, daughter of Stephen Brooks, who still survives him, and settled on a farm near where the insane hospital now stands. Later he moved to Neenah and subsequently bought a farm in Vinland, where he resided until 1880 when he moved to this city to reside.
"Besides a wife he leaves one married daughter, Mrs. J.P. Haber, of Mayville, North Dakota, an unmarried daughter, De Etta, and son, W.W. Quatermass, principal of the Read school, and an adopted daughter, Hattie. A son, George W., died about two years ago."
The Daily Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
April 5, 1888
Page 1
The Quatermass family consisted of four children: DeEtte; Ellen Annette (“Bessie” m. Jacob P. Haber); George Harlowe (m. Dolly Susan Smith), and Walter Wright (m. Mary Morris).
Family historian Wayne Hollister noted this about Simon Quatermass: He was new to the Fond du Lac area around 1842, when its postmaster, M.C. Darling, asked him to carry the mail along the territory’s primitive trails. Simon carried the mail bags for the first year on a locally renowned, aged horse called “Old Sime.” According to a county history, “Once, [Quatermass] was crossing the ice at Kau-kau-lin [Kaukauna, along the Fox River north of Lake Winnebago] when it broke under him, and ‘Sime’ and his master were precipitated into the freezing water. In the melee, the mail bag slipped from the saddle-bow, and after the two ‘Simes’ had reached the bank, the custodian of Uncle Sam’s baggage crawled out upon the ice on his stomach, with a long pole fished out the bag; hunting up the horse which had strayed off, he pursued his journey in rapid order to the nearest fireside.”
In 1850, the Quatermass family farmed at Winnebago (later called Oshkosh) Township. Julia’s father, Stephen Brooks, lived with them. Ten years later, the 1860 census shows the family at Neenah with Julia’s mother, Hannah Brooks, in their care. For some reason, Stephen lived with his son Oliver’s family – he died two years later. By 1870, the same members of the Quatermass family, including Hannah, farmed at Vinland Township. By that time, Hannah was 80 – she died in 1872. Eight years later, Simon and Julia retired from life on the farm and moved into a home at 35 Oxford Street, a bit west of their original property and a couple miles north of the Fox River in the city of Oshkosh. They made this their final residence.
Simon was 65 when he died at his home in Oshkosh on April 3, 1888. He was buried in Brooks Cemetery, northeast of Oshkosh. His obituary ran two days later in the Daily Northwestern:
Obituary.
"An Old Settler's Burial. Funeral of the Late Simon Quatermass Held To-Day.
"The funeral of the late Simon Quatermass took place from the family residence, No. 35 Oxford street, at one o'clock this afternoon, Rev. C.B. Wilcox officiating.
"The deceased was one of the very early settlers of this part of the state. He came to Wisconsin in 1843, and in 1844 carried the mail between Fond du Lac and Wrightstown, through the wilderness and along the trails which extended along Lake Winnebago and the lower Fox river.
"In 1846 he married Miss Julia Brooks, daughter of Stephen Brooks, who still survives him, and settled on a farm near where the insane hospital now stands. Later he moved to Neenah and subsequently bought a farm in Vinland, where he resided until 1880 when he moved to this city to reside.
"Besides a wife he leaves one married daughter, Mrs. J.P. Haber, of Mayville, North Dakota, an unmarried daughter, De Etta, and son, W.W. Quatermass, principal of the Read school, and an adopted daughter, Hattie. A son, George W., died about two years ago."
The Daily Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
April 5, 1888
Page 1
Simon Quatermass was born in Pennsylvania in 1823. He, his older brother John, and his mother, Betsy, came to Wisconsin in 1842. Simon married Julia Brooks in Fond du Lac County on November 19, 1846. The couple soon settled on Julia’s parents’ farm in Oshkosh Township, near where the Insane Hospital would one day be built. They then lived in the townships of Neenah and Vinland, before finishing their lives in the city of Oshkosh at 35 Oxford Street.
The Quatermass family consisted of four children: DeEtte; Ellen Annette (“Bessie” m. Jacob P. Haber); George Harlowe (m. Dolly Susan Smith), and Walter Wright (m. Mary Morris).
Family historian Wayne Hollister noted this about Simon Quatermass: He was new to the Fond du Lac area around 1842, when its postmaster, M.C. Darling, asked him to carry the mail along the territory’s primitive trails. Simon carried the mail bags for the first year on a locally renowned, aged horse called “Old Sime.” According to a county history, “Once, [Quatermass] was crossing the ice at Kau-kau-lin [Kaukauna, along the Fox River north of Lake Winnebago] when it broke under him, and ‘Sime’ and his master were precipitated into the freezing water. In the melee, the mail bag slipped from the saddle-bow, and after the two ‘Simes’ had reached the bank, the custodian of Uncle Sam’s baggage crawled out upon the ice on his stomach, with a long pole fished out the bag; hunting up the horse which had strayed off, he pursued his journey in rapid order to the nearest fireside.”
In 1850, the Quatermass family farmed at Winnebago (later called Oshkosh) Township. Julia’s father, Stephen Brooks, lived with them. Ten years later, the 1860 census shows the family at Neenah with Julia’s mother, Hannah Brooks, in their care. For some reason, Stephen lived with his son Oliver’s family – he died two years later. By 1870, the same members of the Quatermass family, including Hannah, farmed at Vinland Township. By that time, Hannah was 80 – she died in 1872. Eight years later, Simon and Julia retired from life on the farm and moved into a home at 35 Oxford Street, a bit west of their original property and a couple miles north of the Fox River in the city of Oshkosh. They made this their final residence.
Simon was 65 when he died at his home in Oshkosh on April 3, 1888. He was buried in Brooks Cemetery, northeast of Oshkosh. His obituary ran two days later in the Daily Northwestern:
Obituary.
"An Old Settler's Burial. Funeral of the Late Simon Quatermass Held To-Day.
"The funeral of the late Simon Quatermass took place from the family residence, No. 35 Oxford street, at one o'clock this afternoon, Rev. C.B. Wilcox officiating.
"The deceased was one of the very early settlers of this part of the state. He came to Wisconsin in 1843, and in 1844 carried the mail between Fond du Lac and Wrightstown, through the wilderness and along the trails which extended along Lake Winnebago and the lower Fox river.
"In 1846 he married Miss Julia Brooks, daughter of Stephen Brooks, who still survives him, and settled on a farm near where the insane hospital now stands. Later he moved to Neenah and subsequently bought a farm in Vinland, where he resided until 1880 when he moved to this city to reside.
"Besides a wife he leaves one married daughter, Mrs. J.P. Haber, of Mayville, North Dakota, an unmarried daughter, De Etta, and son, W.W. Quatermass, principal of the Read school, and an adopted daughter, Hattie. A son, George W., died about two years ago."
The Daily Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
April 5, 1888
Page 1
The Quatermass family consisted of four children: DeEtte; Ellen Annette (“Bessie” m. Jacob P. Haber); George Harlowe (m. Dolly Susan Smith), and Walter Wright (m. Mary Morris).
Family historian Wayne Hollister noted this about Simon Quatermass: He was new to the Fond du Lac area around 1842, when its postmaster, M.C. Darling, asked him to carry the mail along the territory’s primitive trails. Simon carried the mail bags for the first year on a locally renowned, aged horse called “Old Sime.” According to a county history, “Once, [Quatermass] was crossing the ice at Kau-kau-lin [Kaukauna, along the Fox River north of Lake Winnebago] when it broke under him, and ‘Sime’ and his master were precipitated into the freezing water. In the melee, the mail bag slipped from the saddle-bow, and after the two ‘Simes’ had reached the bank, the custodian of Uncle Sam’s baggage crawled out upon the ice on his stomach, with a long pole fished out the bag; hunting up the horse which had strayed off, he pursued his journey in rapid order to the nearest fireside.”
In 1850, the Quatermass family farmed at Winnebago (later called Oshkosh) Township. Julia’s father, Stephen Brooks, lived with them. Ten years later, the 1860 census shows the family at Neenah with Julia’s mother, Hannah Brooks, in their care. For some reason, Stephen lived with his son Oliver’s family – he died two years later. By 1870, the same members of the Quatermass family, including Hannah, farmed at Vinland Township. By that time, Hannah was 80 – she died in 1872. Eight years later, Simon and Julia retired from life on the farm and moved into a home at 35 Oxford Street, a bit west of their original property and a couple miles north of the Fox River in the city of Oshkosh. They made this their final residence.
Simon was 65 when he died at his home in Oshkosh on April 3, 1888. He was buried in Brooks Cemetery, northeast of Oshkosh. His obituary ran two days later in the Daily Northwestern:
Obituary.
"An Old Settler's Burial. Funeral of the Late Simon Quatermass Held To-Day.
"The funeral of the late Simon Quatermass took place from the family residence, No. 35 Oxford street, at one o'clock this afternoon, Rev. C.B. Wilcox officiating.
"The deceased was one of the very early settlers of this part of the state. He came to Wisconsin in 1843, and in 1844 carried the mail between Fond du Lac and Wrightstown, through the wilderness and along the trails which extended along Lake Winnebago and the lower Fox river.
"In 1846 he married Miss Julia Brooks, daughter of Stephen Brooks, who still survives him, and settled on a farm near where the insane hospital now stands. Later he moved to Neenah and subsequently bought a farm in Vinland, where he resided until 1880 when he moved to this city to reside.
"Besides a wife he leaves one married daughter, Mrs. J.P. Haber, of Mayville, North Dakota, an unmarried daughter, De Etta, and son, W.W. Quatermass, principal of the Read school, and an adopted daughter, Hattie. A son, George W., died about two years ago."
The Daily Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
April 5, 1888
Page 1
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