Charles M. Messer came to Beloit from Chicago.

The evidence

• “M. MESSER; born in New Hampshire, in 1811 ; came to Chicago in 1835, and remained among the Indians there till about July, 1837 and then came to Beloit ; in the fall of that year he bought a claim to eighty acres Government land, and then squatted on eighty acres timber land ; he built a log house on the timber land and lived in it during the winter of 1837-38, and, in the spring of 1838, moved into the village of Beloit. and followed his business of carpenter and joiner, but was principally engaged in land-surveying, dividing and tracing the Government lines, which business he has followed up to a few years ago; about 1840, he built a small frame residence, which he lived in until 1867, and then built a large frame house, which he now occupies; in 1841, he returned East and was married, in New Hampshire, to Abigail Loomis, and then returned to Beloit; they have four children — Frank, Fred, Charles and Ella. Before the city was organized he was Highway Commissioner and holds the oflSce still.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/18-bios-beloit.md, PDF p. 754 / book p. 758

  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