History of Waukesha, (Waukesha County) Wisconsin United States of America

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Local History Notes:

WAUKESHA, a county in the S. E. part of Wisconsin, contains 576 square miles. It is drained by the Pishtaka or Fox river, and by the Bark river, both of which rise within its borders; and it is sprinkled with numerous small lakes, none of which is above 4 miles in length. The surface is undulating; the soil is calcareous and highly productive. The greater part of the county consists of prairies and oak-openings. Wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and butter are the staples. The produce of the county in 1850 was 312,658 bushels of wheat; 248,392 of oats; 119,154 of potatoes; 317,649 pounds of butter, and 52,369 bushels of barley, (the greatest quantity raised in any county in the United States.) It contained 19 churches, 1 newspaper office, 5435 pupils attending public schools, and 156 attending academies and other schools. The rock which is found near the surface is the blue limestone, an excellent building material. The county is traversed by the Milwaukee and Mississippi and the Milwaukee and La Crosse railroads, and by numerous plank-roads. Capital, Waukesha. Population, 19,258.

Biographies:

William Carey Morey, educator, was born in North Attleborough, Mass., May 23, 1843; son of the Rev. Reuben and Abby (Bogman) Morey, grandson of Samuel Mercy, and great-grandson of Thomas Morey, who came from Rhode Island to the colony of New York about 1775 and joined the 13th Albany regiment, serving during the Revolution. His first ancestor in America, Roger Morey, came from England with Roger Williams in 1631. His father, born in Fabius, N.Y., Feb. 21, 1805, graduated at Brown in 1835, was a Baptist preacher in Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and Wisconsin, and died at Waukesha, Wis., May 17, 1880. William Carey Mercy matriculated at the University of Rochester in 1861, but enlisted in the 130th N.Y. volunteers September, 1862. In 1863 his regiment was changed to the 1st N. Y. dragoons and he was made 2d lieutenant; was promoted 1st lieutenant, February, 1864, appointed acting adjutant of the regiment, June, 1864, and promoted captain, December, 1864. He served in the Army of the Potomac, with Sheridan's cavalry corps in the Shenandoah valley, and with the Army of the Potomac before Petersburg, and with Sheridan in the final battles up to Lee's surrender, being part of the time in temporary command of the regiment and being present in thirty-six different engagements. He was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel of volunteers, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services. After his return home he re-entered the University of Rochester where he was graduated in 1868 with the highest honors that had been attained by any graduate of the university up to that time, and afterward received the degree of Ph.D. He was tutor in Latin at Rochester, 1869-70; professor of history at Kalamazoo college, 1870-72; professor of the Latin language and literature at Rochester, 1872-77; professor of Latin and history, 1877-83, and in 1883 became professor of history and political science. He was elected a member of the American Institute of Civics, the American Folklore society, the American Social Science association, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the board of managers of the Rochester Historical society; of the board of trustees of the Reynolds library, and chairman of the library committee from its foundation in 1884, and director in 1896. He is the author of: Herbert Spencer in the Light of History (1883); Outlines of Roman Las (1884); The Genesis of a Written Constitution (1891); First State Constitutions (1892); Papers and Addresses of President M. B. Anderson (1895); Sources of American Federalism (1895); Outlines of Roman History (1900); Government of the State of New York (1901), and contributions to historical and scientific periodicals.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor