Among the men of influence in Walworth county, who have the interest of their locality at heart and who have led consistent lives, thereby gaining definite success along their chosen lines is DeWitt Stanford, the present able and popular superintendent of the county farm. He has long been regarded as one of our most progressive agriculturists and public spirited citizens. He is managing the fertile fields of the county with that care and discretion which stamps him as a twentieth-century farmer of the highest order, everything indicating excellent system, good judgment and taste as well as executive ability.
Mr. Stanford was born at Elkhorn, this county, July 13, 1851, and is the son of Squire and Cynthia (Bassett) Stanford, the former born in 1819 in Portage county, Ohio, and there he married Cynthia Bassett, who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, and from there came to Ohio when she was fourteen years of age. In 1846 these parents came to Racine county, Wisconsin, and located at the village of Rochester, but the following year came on to Elkhorn, \\’al worth county, buying a farm near there. Squire Stanford was a carpenter and builder by trade and he followed the same for many years here, building the present court house at Elkhorn in 1874, and a great many houses and other structures all over this part of Walworth county. He employed a large number of men and carried on an extensive business, in which he was very successful and became well known as a contractor. Politically, he was a Republican and took an active interest in public affairs, and he held various offices in village and township, always with much satisfaction to the people. His family consisted of five children, four sons and one daughter, namely: DeWitt, of this review ; Clinton, Alma B., Vactor B. and Halbert E. P. The death of Squire Stanford occurred on May 8, 1893, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1887.
DeWitt Stanford grew to manhood at Elkhorn and learned to be a builder under his father, having assisted him with his various duties when but a boy, attending the public schools in the wintertime. He devoted his attention exclusively to this line of endeavor from 1871 to 1903. covering a period of thirty-two years, during which time he turned over many big jobs in various parts of this locality, and here wall stand for generations to come many monuments to his skill and conscientious work as a builder. In 1879 he went to Fergus Falls, in northwestern Minnesota, and there he and his brother Clinton formed a partnership in the contracting business and they erected nearly all the public buildings there. Remaining there until 1890, he returned to Elkhorn and has remained in this county. For a number of years he was a member of the city council at Fergus Falls, acting mayor one year and a half, and he was a member of the school board and held other positions, always to the satisfaction of the people and with credit to himself. After returning to Elkhorn Air. Stanford continued building in connection with farming on his place in the edge of Elkhorn. He has also taken much interest in public affairs here, and was mayor of Elkhorn for two years and a member of the city council for some time. In March. 1903, he became superintendent of the Walworth county insane asylum and poor farm, which position he has held to the present time (1912), discharging his duties in a most acceptable manner and winning the hearty approval of all concerned.
Mr. Stanford was married on January 24, 1875, to Dora Bell, daughter of William H. Bell, who came from New York to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1852 and he located first at Hart Prairie, but in 1867 came to Elkhorn.
From: Beckwith, A.C. (1912). History of Walworth County Wisconsin