Ninth Generation

155. Phebe Ann SOULE (<) (~) was born on 22 November 1829 in Danby, Rutland County, VT.⁴² She died on 16 September 1888 at the age of 58.⁴²

Phebe Ann SOULE (<) (~) and Hiram Allen SOULE (<) (~) were married in 1886 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴² Hiram Allen SOULE (<) (~), son of Wesson W. SOULE and Elizabeth CURTIS, was born on 20 October 1818 in Danby, Rutland County, VT.^42,49 He appeared in the census in 1850 in Dorset, Bennington County, VT.⁴¹ His surname was listed as "Sowl" and his occupation was listed as "Laborer." His household consisted of Hiram, his wife, their four children, and his mother-in-law, Hannah Coulson, and his sister-in-law, Nancy Coulson. He appeared in the census in 1860 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴³ Hiram appeared in the census in 1870 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴⁷ His occupation was listed as "Iron Moulder." He appeared in the census in 1880 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴⁸ His occupation was listed as "Justice of the Peace." ⁵⁰

Newspaper Articles: The following appeared in the Sparta Herald May 28, 1889, Pg 4 col 4.

"Brutal Crime. Nowhere in the annals of time has there been developed a more shocking, brutal or revolting crime than that of Hiram A. Sowle, of Tomah, was committed to the county jail for today. The details of the affidavit of the little victim of the old lecherous villain are too terrible, and in language as to preclude their publication. Suffice it to say that upon the sworn statement of a little 13-year-old girl named Gleise, this old wretch stands charged with coaxing her into his filthy den of an office, and there resorting to the same methods that the Chinese hoodlums of Milwaukee practiced. He fed her on candy, gave her money, and brutally ravished her.

The story of the child is told in that straitforward, childish way that carries conviction to every one who is acquainted with the parties, and can be corroborated in the main by other witnesses. When the story of the outrage--not the half of which has yet been made public -- was learned upon the street, excitement became intense, and the more the news spread the hotter the people became, and Mayor Quigg quickly saw that it would be an invitation to a hemp necktie party to allow the officers to convey the prisoner by train, and employed a private conveyance and took his across country to Sparta. It is beyond question that if the father had been made aware of the outrage upon the little child, that he would have been able easily, to have had help enough to give the old villain his just deserts without formality or ceremony.

The crime seems the more terrible when one stops to think that the prisoner is a man 73 years old, who has been for forty a police justice and justice of the peace, and hold honorable offices in two of the most honorable secret societies of the world, a man endowed with more than ordinary ability. It is to be hoped he may be speedily punished and given the full sentence of the law, which is too lenient for crimes of this character."

The same paper, Sparta Herald, Sparta, WI presented a second article on Hiram A Sowle.

"An Old Villain. Last Saturday afternoon H. A. Sowle, a justice of the peace and well known citizen of Tomah, was brought up to the county jail, charged with one of the grossest crimes in the catalogue -- that of outrage upon a child of thirteen years. Our correspondent at Tomah treats of the matter, and correctly reflects the feeling which exists there over the abomnable crime.

The particular offense on which the warrant was issued seems to have been committed in March last, the victim being a little daughter of John Gleise; but she is not the only one, there being three or four, altogether, and his iniquities extend over a period of two years or more. He was in the regular habit of enticing girls into into his office for this purpose, it is said. He was detected in the act by the occupants of a tailor shop adjoining, who saw and heard the proceedings through the board partition which separated them.

Last Saturday morning District Attorney Jones and Justice Chris. Maxwell examined the girl Gleise, following it up with the arrest of Sowle, who waived examination, and was taken in a buggy to Tunnel City, in order to escape the wrath of indignant citizens, who began to hear of the case, and gathered in considerable numbers at the depot. At Tunnel City the officer took the train, with Sowle, and got him safely up here in the jail. There was deep excitement in Tomah when the news became generally known, and if Sowle had been caught he would have been made short work of.

Yesterday morning Sowle was taken to La Crosse before Judge Newman, and bail fixed a $5,000, at first, but his counsel, A. E. Bleekman, got it reduced to $2,000. Up to this noon he had not secured his bonds."

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He died on 4 October 1901 at the age of 82 in Brookhaven, Lincoln County, MS.^42,49,50
Biographical Sketch: "Hiram Allen Sowle was born at Danby, Vermont, October 20, 1818, to Wesson and Elizabeth Curtis Sowle. On October 10, 1839, East Dorset, Vermont, he married Harriet Evangeline Colson, daughter of Warren and Hannah (Morse) Colson. Four children were born to this couple.
Albert Warner, born 1842 Dorset, Vermont, died 1894 in Hutchinson, Kansas, married in 1866 to Nettie Keyes in Tomah.
Orlando Thompson born 1844 in Dorset, Vermont, died in 1889 in Tomah, Wisconsin married in 1866 to Matilda J. Bigelow, and later married in 1882, to Ella Onan Sullivan, Tomah.
Harvey McKentyre born 1846 in Dorset, Vermont, died 1931 in Tomah, married in 1869 in Tomah to Luella M. Jackson, and in 1878 in Tomah to Edna King Smith.
Harriet Jane Sowle born 1850 in Dorset, Vermont, died before 1930 probably Baton Rouge, Louisiana, married in 1889 to Dyer L. Smith in Kaneville, Illinois.
Harriet died June 3, 1854 in Dorset, Vermont, and is buried there. With four young I children to care for, Hiram remarried in March 1855 to a widow, Lucy Hammond Lewis, born November 9, 1831, West Windsor, Vermont, daughter of Calvin and Lucy Hammond. Almost immediately they set out for Wisconsin with other members of the family. Three daughters were born to the couple.
Alma Almira born 1856, in Wilton, Wisconsin died 1898 in Tomah, married 1873 to Frank A. Gibbs.
Cora Isabell born 1861 in Wilton, died before 1931, place unknown, married 1882 to D. Jay Kelsey. Last known to be living in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1910.
Mary Elizabeth Sowle, born 1867 in Tomah, died after 1931 in Oregon or Washington, married in 1885 Browns Valley, Minnesota, to H. B. Reisdorf, and later in 1901 in Brown's Valley to H. V. Litchfield, and later married again to Theodore Golle in 1921 probably in Washington State.
Hiram settled with others of the Sowle family at Dorset Corners, Town of Wilton, becoming its first postmaster. Although he didn't move to Tomah until the early 1860's he was a charter member of the board of trustees of the Tomah Institute in 1859. He was pension agent and for about 25 years Justice of the Peace, in Tomah, performing many marriages for the residents. He was a charter member of the Odd Fellows Lodge; he also belonged to the Masonic Lodge, at one time its Master. He belonged to the Methodist Church.
Hiram's wife Lucy died November 28, 1881 in Tomah, and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. He married the third time in Tomah, in 1886, his cousin Phebe Ann Soule, born ( November 22, 1829, in Danby, Vermont, a daughter of Gardner and Abigail Curtis Soule. Ann had spent most of her life in New York where she was a teacher for 20 years. This marriage ended with Ann's death September 16,1888. He later moved to Hutchinson, Kansas to live with his son Albert. After Albert's death in 1894, he moved to Brookhaven, Mississippi, to live with his daughter. Hattie. He died there October 4, 1901. Funeral services were held in Tomah, and he is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. Submitted by Geraldine Sowle Schlosser."
Hiram was buried in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴² in the Oak Grove Cemetery.