From the Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, 
Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette Wisconsin, J. H. Beers & Co., 1901, Chicago, IL.

Pages 791 - 792 ~ Grant County
 
RUFUS HANNUM, of Lancaster, represents one of the oldest pioneer families in 
Grant county, Wis., having arrived here Feb. 18, 1837.
 
Warren HANNUM, father of Rufus, was born in Belcher, Mass., in July 1797, and 
when a young man went to Genesee county, N.Y., where he married Miss Laura 
HAMILTON, a native of Northampton, Mass., but whose father died in the Bay 
State, and the mother and daughter subsequently located in Genesee county, 
N.Y.  Soon after his marriage, Warren HANNUM and wife removed to Cattaraugus 
county, N.Y., but shortly afterward returned to Genesee county, remained there 
a few years, and then went to Chautauqua county, where he located in the woods 
and partly cleared up a farm, which he afterward sold and then came to Grant 
county, Wis., at the date mentioned above.  He purchased a 400-acre tract of 
land in Jamestown township, of which tract 160 acres had been fenced, and 125 
had been broken up the previous year, and one crop taken off.  The tract cost 
about $4,500 and Mr. HANNUM was allowed four years in which to pay for it, 
which he succeeded in doing; it may be stated that the money he had realized 
from the sale of his property in New York was about exhausted, but he succeeded 
in paying for the land from the crops.  The proximity of the lead-mining 
district rendered agricultural products a good price, and Mr. HANNUM, being a 
good manager, prospered rapidly.  In 1856 Mr. HANNUM sold his farm to eastern 
parties, who were not practical farmers, and after receiving $3,000 partial 
payment on the place, the land came again into his possession.
 
When Warren HANNUM brought his family to Wisconsin it consisted of himself, his 
wife, three sons and four daughters. (Another son, Marshall, was born in Grant 
county, but died in Cassville several years ago.)  The family came in two 
wagons, the distance being about 800 miles, and many weeks' time was consumed 
in making the journey.  In the fall of 1857 Mr. HANNUM was bereft of his wife, 
and he later went to Le Roy, N.Y., and there married Mrs. Martha COOK.  After 
several years' residence in the East he returned to Grant county, Wis., and 
died in Lancaster, March 14, 1880; his second wife died May 1, 1884.  Warren 
HANNUM possessed all the traits of the true New England Yankee, was industrious 
and economical and shrewd in managing his own affairs.  He was originally a 
Whig in politics and afterward a Republican, was liberal in his religious 
views, and so lived as to win the unfeigned respect of all his neighbors.  To 
Warren HANNUM and his first wife were born nine children, eight of whom 
attained mature years, and of these, two sons and four daughters are still 
living.  Of the survivors Rufus is the eldest and Warren is the next; Laura is 
the widow of Robert KILBOURN; Sophia is the widow of James KILBOURN; Mercy and 
Mary are twins - the former being the widow of Orrin DODD, and the latter the 
wife of John HOWARD, and both reside in Arkansas.  Two, Manley and Marshall, 
who reached maturity, are deceased.
 
Rufus HANNUM, whose name opens this biographical review, was born in 
Cattaraugus county, N.Y., March 2, 1820, and was brought to Wisconsin by his 
parents.  His schooling opportunism here were somewhat circumscribed, and in 
the fall of 1839 he returned to New York and made his home with an uncle in 
Genesee county for a year, and in the winter attended school, adding 
considerably to his fund of school knowledge.  In March, 1840, he started on 
foot, on his return to Wisconsin, and walked 100 miles from Genesee county to 
the home of an uncle near Mayville, in Chautauqua county, N.Y.  Two days later 
he resumed his journey on foot, and walked to Erie, Penn., where he took a 
stage for Pittsburgh; and thence, by steamer, via St. Louis, Mo., he reached 
Galena, Ill., late in March, and thence came home.  For several years Rufus 
HANNUM worked as a carpenter, and in 1847 and 1848 worked in a machine shop in 
Milwaukee.  In 1848 he married Miss Amelia WELLS, and in 1850 went overland to 
California, and for about three months worked in the mines.  He had been 
preceded to the Golden State by his brother Manley, who crossed the Plains with 
the first train from the States in 1849.  The two brothers started on the 
homeward trip together, leaving San Francisco in the fall of 1850 and arriving 
in St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 1, 1851.
 
In the meantime, Mrs. Rufus HANNUM had passed away, leaving one child, Amelia, 
who died after reaching maturity.  On June 8, 1852, Mr. HANNUM married Miss 
Louisa M. POWERS, daughter of John and Eunice POWERS, the former of whom was 
born in Vermont and the latter near Syracuse, N.Y., where Mrs. HANNUM was born 
April 6, 1826.  When a young women the present Mrs. HANNUM came west to visit a 
brother and sister in Michigan, and while there was offered a position as 
school teacher, which she accepted.  Her father and mother soon afterward came 
to visit their children in 1852, and on this visit were taken ill and died 
leaving four daughters and four sons.  At the death of her parents, the 
daughter returned to the New York home.  She was there married to Mr. HANNUM, 
with whom she had been acquainted in early life.  To this union have been born 
seven children, of whom George and Frank are now residents of South Dakota; 
Mary is still at home; and Flora is the wife of Charles BONHAM; the three 
deceased children were Charles, Ella and an infant that died unnamed.
 
Rufus HANNUM purchased the old homestead from his father and occupied many 
years.  He was for a long time the leading farmer of Grant county, and a 
successful raiser of short-horn cattle.  He brought to the county the first 
imported draft horse ever seen here, and was in fact the prime factor in 
promoting the raising of blooded stock in Grant county.  In the spring of 1882 
Mr. HANNUM retired from active farming and made his home in Lancaster, where he 
was a handsome residence and is surrounded with all the comforts of life, and 
where he and family enjoy the respect, pure and unalloyed, of all who know 
them. 
 
Submitted By:  Carol
(carolannh@ticon.net)