(Note: birth date given in original as "ca. 1812.") pioneer settler, viniculturist, viticulturist, b. Futtak, Hungary. He served in the Royal Hungarian Body Guard, and was later private secretary to the viceroy of Hungary. He migrated to the U.S. in 1840, and shortly thereafter came to Wisconsin where he founded the village now called Sauk City: Haraszthy planted the first hop yard in Wisconsin, and at Sauk City operated a brick yard, a Wisconsin River ferry, and headed the local emigrant society. In 1845 he opened a store at Baraboo. One of the most colorful figures in central Wisconsin, Haraszthy was popularly known as "the Count" He was forced to leave Wisconsin in 1849 because of ill health, and moved to San Diego, Calif., where he held local offices and later served in the California legislature. A leader in developing the California grape-growing and wine-making industry, Haraszthy imported the first grape vines into the San Francisco area, and from 1850 to 1866 was a leading figure in the state's viticulture. Haraszthy suffered financial setbacks in 1866 and moved to Nicaragua where he became a sugar planter and manufacturer. He was accidentally drowned on his plantation near Corinto, Nicaragua. Dict. Amer. Biog.; Proc. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 1906 (1907); WPA MS; A. Harasztliy Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Agostin Haraszthy Biographical Information and Translated Writings for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]