I was born in 1806 and was the first Anthony to settle in the State of Wisconsin. I married Jane Runey, the daughter of the first settler in the area. We were the first to be married in the town. We had quite a scare at our wedding as the clergyman was late in arriving. It seems that while on his way to our wedding he lost his horse which got mired in the Nine Spring Creek, 6miles away. It died before it could be extricated. The minister had to walk the 6nmiles and arrived long after midnight. He performed the ceremony in front of a few remaining guests.
We bought our land from the government for $1.25 an acre in 1846. I brought with me two oxen, a wagon and $800 in gold. We cut timber down, just leaving the stumps in the ground. We grew crops in between. Our dwellings were small log homes, but occasionally there was a frame house. We built rude structures for our animals. Before the Civil War broke out, things were cheap.
Hogs brought $2 and $2.50 a hundred-weight. Eggs sold for 5-8 cents a pound. In 1880, milk was 75 cents a hundred pounds. In those days, laborers were paid less than a dollar a day. A house cost about $100. The mail was either carried to people on horseback or people came to the post officed for it. I had a 2-story store near the mill. I also erected an ice house in March of 1897 near the mill in Rutland Center. Talking of building a creamery near the mill and using water power so as to be able to make butter much cheaper than other factories. My wife, Jane, was the magnet who drew all comers to our farmhouse door. Our house faced the road in such a way that she could see approaching visitors a mile off. She would shove into the oven a pan of “slip-go-downs”, a kind of custard that was unparalleled in the gustatory memories of the younger generation. Our house also made high grade cheese for shipment to city markets. I sold the land for the church for $10. I was blessed to see old age
David died at the age of 80.