TESTER, John A. & John W. History of Northern Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical, 1881, p 164 Biography of John A. TESTER J. A. [John A.] TESTER, merchant, Alma [Buffalo County, Wisconsin], was born 30 March 1834 in Switzerland. In 1848 his parents came to America and located in St. Louis. [Did J. A., who would have been (according to his given birthdate) about fourteen, accompany them?] In 1855 he left home and came to Alma [failure to specifically name the place John A. TESTER departed from casts suspicion that the author was unsure if John came to Alma from Switzerland or St. Louis], and with a man named PALIN [probably a typo in the text; should be POLIN; see also the Buffalo County, Wisconsin, biography of Martin POLIN], embarked in merchandising with very little capital. By close attention to business and good management, he has become one of Buffalo County's richest men. In 1873 he went to Europe, and in June 1880 he went again. [Did the author find these trips when seeking a record of Mr. TESTER's immigration? How did he learn about them? Did someone interview or correspond with John A. TESTER or another family member before the biography was written?] In February 1860 he [John A. TESTER] married Matilda BINDER [a maiden name?]. She was born in Hanover, Germany. They have three children: Julia, Edwin, and Clara. [The names and number of family members given here are supported by the 1880 census enumeration of this family in Alma, Buffalo County, Wisconsin: John A. TESTER, forty-five, merchant, born in Switzerland (about 1835 by his census age, not conflicting with the 1834 given in the biography) to parents also born there; Matilda F. TESTER, his wife, thirty-seven, born in Germany (about 1833) to parents also born in Germany; and his three children, all born in Wisconsin (to a father born in Switzerland and a mother born in Germany) and attending school: (1) Julia TESTER, sixteen, therefore born about 1864; (2) Edwin A. TESTER, fourteen, born about 1866; and (3) Clara TESTER, age eleven, born about 1869. The household additionally contains Paulina SCHILLING (related to Samuel SCHILLING of that Buffalo County biography?), age eighteen, servant, born in Wisconsin to parents born in Switzerland; and three single store clerks (employed by Mr. TESTER?): John P. FIMIAN (could be FINIAN), age forty-three, born in Switzerland to parents born there; John BRUEGGER, age twenty, born in Wisconsin to Wisconsin-born parents; and Otto C. BECHMANN, age sixteen, born in Wisconsin to parents born in Germany. Bracketed material added by submitter (who is not researching these surnames) to support and clarify information given in the biography and to raise questions.] Biography of John W. TESTER John W. TESTER, merchant, Alma [Buffalo County, Wisconsin], was born 12 January 1845 in Switzerland. When he was three years of age his parents came to America, and located in the city of St. Louis [St. Louis, County, Missouri]. In 1861 he came to this village [Alma, a narrow but long village located on the east bank of the Mississippi River], and remained two and a half years, when he returned to St. Louis, and for three years was employed as clerk for [the] Provost Marshal, and the following three years he was clerk in a master mechanic's office for the North Missouri Railroad Company. In 1871 he came back to Alma. Two years later he engaged in the hardware business with Mr. SCHILLING [see also the Buffalo County, Wisconsin, biography of Samuel SCHILLING], and has continued in it since. He [John W. TESTER] married [Miss?] Julia BINDER, a native of this county. They have one child, Ida. [Where was Julia BINDER born? The use of "this county" is a red flag (not including a birthdate being another) that the author was uncertain of the county of birth. Buffalo County did not begin to take shape until 1853. In January 1853 Buffalo was set off for judicial purposes from La Crosse County (created in 1851). Land from Chipppewa County was attached to Buffalo in January 1854, and on 24 March 1854 the portion of La Crosse County west of the Trempealeau River was also added. Lastly a strip was severed from the east side of Buffalo and added to Trempealeau County when that county was created in 1854. Thus a person said to have been born in Buffalo County before 1853 was not (it didn't exist yet); someone said to have been born in Buffalo County in 1853 could have been born in La Crosse County; and someone said to have been born in Trempealeau County in 1854 may have actually been born in Buffalo. [Note that John A. TESTER married Matilda BINDER and John W. TESTER married Julia BINDER. How are John A. and John W. TESTER related? Two cousins is more probable than two brothers, since both John TESTERs were living. The family of John W. TESTER was also enumerated in the 1880 census of Alma, Buffalo County, Wisconsin: John W. TESTER, thirty-five, hardware merchant, born in Switzerland (from his census age about 1845) to parents also born in Switzerland; Julia TESTER, his wife, twenty-one, born in Wisconsin (about 1859) to parents both born in Prussia; and Irla L. (name given as Ida in the biography), his daughter, age one, born in Wisconsin (about 1879) to a father born in Switzerland and a mother born in Prussia. There are also two males unrelated to John W. TESTER in the household: Hartman MOOT, twenty-four, butcher, born in Pennsylvania to parents born in Germany; and John J. BERGIN, fifty-eight, laborer, born in Switzerland to parents also born there.] [Also in the 1880 census of Alma is the family of John ZESTER (TESTER?), forty-five, laborer, born in Ohio (about 1835) to parents also born in Ohio; Mary, wife, forty-five, born in Switzerland to parents also born there; and his four children (the father of all born in Ohio and the mother born in Switzerland): (1) William, eighteen, born about 1862 in Illinois; (2) Louisa, fifteen, born about 1865 in Illinois; (3) Simon, eight, born about 1872 in Minnesota; and (4) Herman, six, born about 1874 in Wisconsin. Bracketed material added by submitter (who is not researching these surnames) to support and clarify information given in the biography and to raise questions.] Submitted by Cathy Kubly