The farmer is not the only necessary factor in a community. His presence is. of course, important, but so is that of the miller, the store-keeper and the blacksmith, all having been necessary since the first settlement. At first the old mills were run by water-power and in very slow time, then steam came into use and wheat was converted more quickly into our flour and the great logs faster into lumber; the first merchants kept their little stock of general merchandise in a rude building of logs, now the elegant department store is found almost in every town; the early-day blacksmith, like the brawny-armed Vulcan in Longfellow’s poem, stood “under a spreading chestnut tree,”—now we find him in a convenient building, equipped with every improved appliance to make his labor easier and bis work more efficient. August Charles Desing, of Elkhorn, knows both the old and modern way of blacksmithing, this having been hi> life work, and he is today one of the best known blacksmiths and wagonmakers in this section of the state, manufacturing the famous “Center” wagon, which, owing to its superior qualities, has ever found a very ready market.
Mr. Desing was born in Brunu, Mccklcnburg-Strelitz. Germany, December 16, 1858, and is the son of John and Wilhelmina (Wilk) Desing. He was five years old when the Family emigrated to the United States in the fall of 1863. Alter spending about six months in Youngstown, Ohio, they came on to Walworth county, Wisconsin, locating in Spring Prairie township, where the father bought a farm, having first worked out for wages until he could buy land of his own. Later he bought a farm in North Geneva at the edge of Lafayette township, the place lying in both townships, and this was the family home for about forty years, they having become well established here through their industry.
August C. Desing grew to maturity on the home farm here where he remained until he was eighteen years of age, then began in 1879 as an apprentice in the blacksmith trade, serving three years, then worked a year as a journeyman in Chicago. Returning to this county, he bought the shop of a Mr. Livingston at Elkhorn on May 4, 1883, and he has remained here to the present time, having been in business in Elkhorn as long as any others in this line, and his shop, which stands exactly in the center of the county, is widely known and has been extensively patronized for over three decades, many of his best patrons coming from remote sections of the county, for they know they will receive prompt and high grade service. In October, 1886, Mr. Desings shop was destroyed by fire. He soon rebuilt it on a much larger plan and equipped it with up-to-date apparatus. He had already added wagonmaking to his blacksmithing, and named his product the “Center Wagon,” by virtue of the fact that it was made in the center of the county. He has continued the business ever since, with ever-increasing prosperity and success. A year or two after the fire he took as a partner C.C. Gaylord, who was with him for a period of eleven years. Since then the subject has continued alone.
Mr. Desing has long taken much interest in public affairs, and has ably served the people as alderman, trustee and supervisor of Elkhorn or a number of years, about eighteen term-, always with eminent satisfaction to all concerned. He was the first alderman elected in Elkhorn and for main years he was an influential member of the city council. When the city adopted the commission plan of operating the light and water plaint he was a member of that commission for several years. In 1911 he was appointed a member of the board of education, and is still on the same. Having been one of the older members of the city governing bodies, much responsibility was laid on his shoulders, he having been usually at the head of important committees, and some times much depended upon his action, action, as in the case of the settlement of the light plant question: but he has ever been a man of sound judgment, with discretion and foresight, and had the general well being of the community at heart, consequently has given the people the best possible, which they have fully appreciated, according him high esteem for the course he has ever pursued.
From: Beckwith, A.C. (1912). History of Walworth County Wisconsin