John Solan
John Solan
John Solan was born in Ireland on April 11th 1842. He was the son of Patrick Solan. The family emigrated to America in 1847. His mother died in Buffalo and his brothers, Michael and Patrick, died the same year. John and his father settled in Shields Township, Dodge Co., Wis., in June, 1847. The letter describes the decision to leave, the journey, the purchase of a farm of 80 acres, and how through industry and perseverance they accumulated 16o acres. It describes his school days, his teacher and country life. John’s father again married in 1849 and had two sons. John started work by buying and working thrashing machines. When his father died in the fall of 1863 at the age of 54, John had to take his place. He was appointed Treasurer of town of Shields and was later elected to the office of Town Treasurer and subsequently Town Assessor and Chairman of Town Board. In 1871 he was elected to the Legislature from the Sixth District, Dodge Co and in 1873 was elected member of the County Board of Shields. In 1879 he was elected County Clerk of Dodge Co. He married, May 20, 1863, Margaret Boulton, had three children and died in the early twentieth century.
John Solan's account of emigrating, arriving in America and description of life in America begins as follows:
“It was a fine day as I remember, sometime in the beginning of April 1847. The neighbours gathered at our house to bid our family goodbye and there was a good deal of lamentation at the parting. If I do say it – this family was the life of the neighbourhood, the boys nearly all being musicians. It was the head centre for neighbourhood festivities and now that the head was going, never to be seen again, they could, appreciate their great loss coupled with the conditions of the times then…… we moved to our friends’ house in town to wait a few days for them to get ready. But at the last moment they changed their minds and would not go"......
A scanned image of the Declaration of citizenship of Patrick Solan, John's father may be viewed by selecting the link following:
Declaration of citizenship of Patrick Solan, John's father