David Anthony was born in 1806 and was the first Anthony to settle in the State of Wisconsin.
He married Jane Runey, the daughter of the first settler in the area and the couple was the first to be married in the town. The clergyman was late the wedding and the couple was worried that they would have to postpone. It seems that while on his way to the wedding, the minister lost his horse which got mired in the Nine Spring Creek, 6 miles away. The minister had to walk the 6 miles and arrived long after midnight. He performed the ceremony in front of a few remaining guests.
David bought his land from the government for $1.25 an acre in 1846. He cleared the land, leaving stumps on the ground and grew crops in between the stumps. The house was a simple log house.
Eventually, Anthony built an ice house near the mill in Rutland Center. He operated a creamery near the mill and using the water power was able to make butter cheaper than other factories in the area.
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.
David was blessed to see old age and died in 1886 at the age of 80.