J. Stephens Tripp

    J. Stephens Tripp was born in Duanesburg, N.Y. in 1828, he attended Schobarie Academy, read law and was admitted to the New York bar in 1853 at the age of 25. He then moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin where he was in partnership with his cousin. Soon he moved 15 miles south to Sauk City where he set up a partnership with Cyrus Leland. In 1862 he was elected to the State Assembly. He was post master from 1854 to 1861 and started a private bank in 1868. In 1888 he moved to Prairie du Sac and devoted full time to the banking business.

He married Fannie W. Hallett of New York in 1857. She died in 1865 and in 1874 he married Nellie M. Waterbury, the daughter of J. I. Waterbury. She died in 1893.

    In 1912 he donated $10,000 for the erection of a public library and village hall. He served as village president for 20 years, village clerk for 16 years and many years as county supervisor. At the time of his death in 1915 he left $600,000 to the University of Wisconsin. One of the men's dormitories and Tripp Commons in the Memorial Union at the university are named for him. His gift also provided the money for Tripp Fellowships and purchase of some of the land for the Arboretum. 

    He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge. At the time of his death over 100 Masons from Baraboo, Mazomanie, Black Earth in Wisconsin, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota attended the funeral service conducted by the Masons at the grave in the Sauk City Cemetery.

    The following statement is a quotation taken from the book "Historical Sketches of Prairie du Sac" by Walter G. Doll. "His was a life of signal usefulness and his influence was potent and beneficial. Fidelity to trust and conscientious performance of every duty formed part and parcel of his nature. Highly gifted, he exercised his talents nobly. His memory will be kept green in the hearts of his fellow citizens who knew his sterling qualities and admired them."