John Bird Nugent was born on October 3, 1834, on Prince Edward Island, Canada, to Henry and Jane Nugent. He immigrated to America around 1850 and settled in Michigan. He moved to Harrison, Wisconsin, around 1854. He supported the Republican Party, and he voted for John C. Frémont in the presidential election of 1856. He worked as a mechanic, and by 1860, he owned $1,800 of real estate and $480 of personal property.  

 

He enlisted in the Union army on April 30, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company G of the 3^rd Wisconsin Infantry. He was discharged for disability on May 28, 1862. He returned to Harrison after leaving the army, and he married Josephine V. Collins on January 1, 1864. They had at least eight children: James, born around 1865; John, born around 1867; Katie, born around 1869; Alice, born around 1871; Emelia, born around 1874; Charles, born around 1875; Henry, born around 1877; and Mary, born around 1879.

 

He worked as a lumberman, and by 1870, he owned $3,500 of real estate and $680 of personal property. He remained active in local Republican politics, attending congressional conventions in the 1870s. In 1878, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the state legislature. The family moved to Menasha, Wisconsin, in the late 1800s, and he served as a local postmaster there. They moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, around 1905, and he died there on March 20, 1916.

 

Image: John B. Nugent (The Oshkosh Northwestern, 20 March 1916)

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