Untitled
Surnames: Batchelor, Graves, Gillette, Pike, Bellwood, Atkinson, Cornwell, Pollander, Hull, Dean, Hudson
From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 268-269
ARIAL RODDICK was born in the home which is now his home Aug. 30, 1862, a son of John and Sarah (BATCHELOR) RODDICK. The father was born in Wales in 1811, and the mother was born in Somersetshire, England, in November, 1814. They obtained their schooling in their native land.
John RODDICK came to Philadelphia in 1832, and there worked at his trade some three years, at the end of that time moving to Pittsburgh, where he married in 1836. Mrs. RODDICK is still living in the old home in Ellenboro, with her son Arial, who with his wife leaves nothing undone to make her declining days peaceful and happy. Mrs. RODDICK has witnessed great changes in Grant county. She and her husband both belonged to the Campbellite Church. After their marriage they lived in Pittsburgh for about three years, while Mr. RODDICK worked on a steamboat plying between Pittsburgh and Louisville, Ky. They came West to Wisconsin as early as 1838, and spent two years in Elk Grove, until he purchased the present farm from the government, and he was the third settler in this locality, there being one settler in the village of Ellenboro and one in Harrison. A log cabin furnished a home for the family until the present stone house was built, in 1859. To the original eighty acres a second eighty was presently added, and the enlarged farm brought into good shape. The improvements wrought on this place were all made by Mr. RODDICK and his family. He died in February, 1889, leaving a widow and six children out of the family of ten born to them. George Reuben and Emma died in childhood. William, born on the present family home Jan. 5, 1852, died in 1885; he married Miss Mary A. GRAVES, who died in April, 1900, and they left two children, Mabel and William. Of the living, (1) Fernando was born in Grant county Dec. 12, 1839, and enlisted in the Union army during the Rebellion, serving in the Army of the Potomac. He married Lida GILLETTE, of Fennimore, and now resides on his farm, adjoining the old paternal estate. They have a family of six children, Sarah, Joseph, Edith, Samuel, Daniel, and Lewis. (2) Thomas, born in the town of Harrison in August, 1842, served in the Civil war in the 6th and 7th Wis. V.I., and participated in many of the most severe engagements of that sanguinary struggle. He saw many hardships and was badly wounded several times. Soon after the war he married Miss Sarah PIKE, who died soon after marriage, and later he married Vashti BELLWOOD, of Platteville. They are living on his farm in Ellenboro, and are the parents of five children, Clara, George, Lester, Nora and Eva. (3) Elizabeth A. born in March 1846, married George ATKINSON, who was born in England. Settling on a farm in Ellenboro, they have kept their home there to the present time, and are the parents of six children, George, Sarah, Allen, Walter, Mary and Jessie. Sarah married Benjamin CORNWELL, and died leaving two children, Ida and Liela. Allen is married and has two children, Jessie and Naomi. (4) Malissa, born May 14, 1849, is the wife of Lewis POLLANDER, and resides in the town of Harrison. They have a family of five children, Joseph, Lizzie, Geneve (now the wife of Duane HULL, of Lima, and the mother of two children, Velma and Archie Duane), William and Sena. (5) John, born in February, 1855, married Miss Emma DEAN, and now lives on a farm in Ellenboro, where they are rearing a family of four sons., George, Archie, Ora and Lloyd. (6) Arial is the gentleman whose name introduces this article.
Arial RODDICK had the benefit of a district-school education, and has always remained on the old homestead, where he was manager for some years prior to the death of his father. In February, 1884, he married Miss Lucinda A. HUDSON, daughter of Hiram and Roxy (RAY) HUDSON, a family long established in this country. They are now living in the town of Potosi. Mrs. RODDICK was born in July, 1864, and received her education in the home schools. After his marriage Mr. RODDICK settled on the old RODDICK estate, and devoted himself to the building up of this fine property. He and his wife have had one son, Harold Verne, who died when two years old The RODDICKS are among the most highly esteemed residents of Grant county, and Mrs. RODDICK deserves equal praise with her husband for her industry and energy, which have aided him greatly. In politics Mr. RODDICK is a Republican. He is on the town board. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. RODDICK is a born inventor and a natural mechanic. Though never taught a trade, he has invited several ingenious machines, the most striking being a corn husker and shredder that will husk from forty to fifty bushels per hour, and prepare the fodder for use.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck