Schoharie County NYGenWeb Site

Laverlette Ellerson obituary
Waukesha Freeman (Waukesha, WI) - September 22, 1904

Laverlette Ellerson, Honored Pioneer, Dead
Had Reached Age of 87 Years
Built the First Saw Mill in Muskego and was Among Earliest Farmers

     Laverlette Ellerson, aged 87, one of the oldest and most esteemed residents of the town of Muskego, died at his home there Sunday afternoon. His death was caused by a fall from his bed two weeks ago which resulted in a fracture of the hip bone.
     Mr. Ellerson was born on a farm in Schoharie county, N. Y., March 5, 1817, his parents being Thomas and Phoebe Ellerson. Thomas Ellerson was of Scotch ancestry and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Laverlette Ellerson resided on his father's farm until seventeen years of age, when he fell in with a man bound for the wilds of Michigan, and engaged to drive a team to that section. The boy drove a covered wagon as far as Sandusky, Ohio, and his employer decided to settle at that place. Laverlette remained in Ohio and Michigan two years and came to Milwaukee the first of October. He remained in Milwaukee a short time, being employed in grading streets and erecting a slaughter-house, this last in answer to the demands of the citizens of the little place that butchers should no longer do their slaughtering in the heart of town.
     On the twenty-sixth of November, 1836, Mr. Ellerson, accompanied by his cousin, David Ellerson, and a Mr. McIntyre, started for Muskego township, and walked through the forest until they came to the pond later known as Hale's Mill-pond, in the town of New Berlin. Here in the employ of the contractors, Dewitt & Thompson, Mr. Ellerson helped to construct the first saw-mill in the vicinity. It was a rude structure and had a capacity of about 3,000 feet of lumber per day.
     In the spring of 1839 Mr. Ellerson attended the land sales in Milwaukee and purchased from the government a quarter section of land, part of which constitutes the present homestead. He at once erected a log house and began clearing the land with a yoke of oxen. Leonard Martin, Peter Muckey, Mr. Parker and a few others were his neighbors. The Cheneys settled in New Berlin a few years later.
     In 1841 Mr. Ellerson was married to Miss Betsey Muckey, a daughter of Peter Muckey, and a native of Jefferson county, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Ellerson became the parents of six children of whom three are dead. The living are Mrs. John Babcock of the state of Washington, LaFayette and Ferdinand, well-known farmers of the town of Muskego. Mrs. Ellerson died in 1870.
     Mr. Ellerson was a Democrat and held several town and district offices. His long life was full of industry and thrift and he was widely known and esteemed.
     The funeral took place Wednesday, with burial at Sunnyside cemetery.

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