FRANKLIN SOULE, a prominent farmer of Rutland, is of Puritan ancestry. He is a direct descendant of George Soule and of the eighth generation in America. George Soule was the founder of the family in America and was one of the passengers who came in the Mayflower. The Soules took a prominent part in the Revolutionary War and the early Indian wars.Sullivan Soule, father of Franklin, was a native of Penobscot, Me. and engaged in lumbering in that vicinity. His mother was Temperance Crowell before her marriage and was born in Penobscot. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan Soule had six children, Hannah, Lucinda, Samuel, Franklin and two who died in infancy. Franklin is the sole survivor.

Sullivan Soule married again and his second wife was Miss Hannah Boskers, also a native of Maine, and to this marriage were born two daughters, Melinda and Henrietta. The latter died; the former lives in Wheeling, West Virginia.

After the death of the second Mrs. Soule, Mr. Soule married Miss Esther Adams of Syracuse, N.Y. In 1846, the family left Maine and located at Joliet, Ill., where they lived for a year. After that they made Rutland, Wis. their home and owned a large farm in section 2.

Franklin Soule was born in Rutland, November 22, 1849, attended school in Stoughton and worked on the farm as a boy. The care of his parents in their old age devolved upon the son and he has always lived on the old home farm. It consists of three hundred acres with many improvements and upon it Mr. Soule raises tobacco, grain, hay, etc. and considerable fine stock, making a specialty of high grade poultry.

March 7, 1875, he married Miss Malvina Huff, a native of Maine. Mrs. Soule’s parents, the Rev. Asa Huff and Louisa (Libby) Huff, resided in Wellington, Me., where Mr. Huff was a minister of the Free-will Baptist church. Of their seven children but three are living; Israel and Julia, in Wellington, Me. and Malvina, (Mrs. Soule).

Mr. and Mrs. Soule have three children. The oldest Lois T. is the wife of Everett Devoll of Rutland and has one daughter, Lucile, Samuel is a farmer of Rutland and married Miss Carrie Emmons. Three children make up their family circle: Ralph, Robert, and Myrtle. Sullivan, the youngest son, lives with his parents and is a student at the Stoughton high school.

The family are devoted members of the Free-will Baptist church. Mr. Soule is a Republican but has never devoted much time to politics or desired to hold office. He is a member of the Stoughton chapter and of the Blue Lodge of the Masonic Order and he and his wife belong to the Eastern Star.

1906 History of Dane County, Wisconsin, p. 828.