A settler closed up his business and sold the mill, finding himself a poor man.

The evidence

• “He settled with his family on a tract of land he purchased from the Government, covered with birch and maple timber ; after building a cabin in the woods, his provisions were exhausted, and he was compelled to go to a mill about three miles from his place, and, while at the mill, was induced to purchase the property (including a grist and saw mill, and some village property). He having always been engaged in farming and being unacquainted with any other business, and deceived in the purchase, it efiected his financial ruin ; and, in the fall of 1838, he closed up his business, sold the mill and found that he had sunk every cent that he had and was a poor man ; when he found he had nothing to help his family with, he gave Daniel his time and told him if he thought he could do anything for himself he was willing he should make a trial. Chicago, at this time, had just begun to come into prominence, and the boy C Daniel) thought there was an opening for him there; so he persuaded his mother to pack his clothes, and”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/30-bios-union.md, PDF p. 860 / book p. 864

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources