Axtell Family01
Waupaca
(1975 date not noted)
Our Heritage – The Axtell
Family
As we review the family histories of
those people now living in our community, it is a delight to see how many of
them are forth and fifth generations of the original family that migrated to
When
we read of the hardships they endured and of the primitive life they lived only
to carve a nitch in our land we realize we come from very sturdy stock. I wonder how many of us living today .. 1975 … would be able to endure and continue on in
the same adversities. Our series of
Articles is planned to instill pride in us, of our ancestors, and to make us
realize how important we are to the preservation of our nation.”
EARLY
DAYS WITH DAVID AND MARTHA AXTELL
David
Axtell and his five brothers migrated from
David’s
wife, Martha Ann Blanchard, had migrated from
Dr.
Burnham, a minister and missionary, and a friend of her father, moved to
Waupaca and at that time offered her a position as a school teacher here.
Martha
came to Waupaca and lived with the Burnhams.
It was in their home that she first met David Axtell. She had taught only three months when David
asked her to marry him and she accepted.
She
returned to
In
their daughter’s autobiography, written in 1936, she remembered her mother,
Martha, telling of their early married life.
Martha brought along two-hundred tallow candles among her wedding things. No one here had lamps or candles, but burned
pitch pine torches in their cabins for light.
They lived in the woods with Indians all around them who were friendly
but scary sometimes, moving about very quietly.
One
never knew when you would see an Indian on your doorstep.
This
farm was thirty-seven miles from the nearest railroad. David had built a cabin but had not built a
barn or dug a well. He has plastered off
the kitchen, bedroom and pantry, but the rest of the house was not finished.
When
they arrived there David had five hundred dollars in his pocket and not much to
use for keeping house.
He had bought a chair and had it shipped out to the farm.
Here
they lived, clearing land for crops and gardening. A barn had to be put up so they could have a
few cattle.
The
Axtell brothers lived near one another, and helped each other. Their four oldest children were born
here. May Ella in
1859, Abigail in 1861, Ida in 1863, and Frank David in 1865, the father of Paul
Axtell of Waupaca. Their daughter,
Ida lived to be six years old and is buried in the little Axtell cemetery on
the Ogdensburg road, north of Waupaca.
They
were living in the same place when David went into service for the Civil War in
1865. Martha and the children, with the
help of his brothers, managed to keep the place going while he was gone. They
had acquired a few head of livestock and they had to be driven down to
After
David returned from the Civil War he purchased a larger farm about two and
one-half mile east of Waupaca. By now
the oxen had been replaced with a team of horses. Also, there was a plow and other pieces of
simple machinery.
They
were as well off as any of their neighbors.
Everybody
had to work hard to raise food for themselves and to
clear land each year as they cut up enough wood to keep the kitchen stove going
and to heat the house in the winter time.
There
was a cistern in the house and a well near by in a dry season these would run
dry and water had to be carried from the barn for household use. When the
weather was hot a small wood fire was built just in the front of the kitchen
stove for cooking meals.
This
was in the summer kitchen which was across the pantry from the winter
kitchen. No one had an ice box at that
time. Such items as milk and butter were
lowered into the open well by means of a rope and bucket.
There
were, however, many good things to be enjoyed by the children, such as a grove
of maple trees. Also,
fruit trees and a big garden of vegetables. The family always enjoyed good home cooked
foods such as bread and cookies. An
orange or banana were special treats for holidays
only.
The
children walked across a field to a little log school house. They had a few books to share. Writing was done on a slate with slate
pencils. There was a swing and teeter
totter. School was held during a spring
term and a fall term to avoid the coldest months. Teachers changed frequently and some were
better than others.
David
and Martha’s two youngest children were born here. Arthur Blanchard in 1867, and Glenn Flora in
1875. They were able to attend
Daughter
Glenn remembered gathering hazel nuts to store for winter use. There was a tool house with an attic where
the children would sit in an old red cradle that had rocked all the
children. Here they would crack nuts and
eat plums.
Glenn
also remembered wearing a yellow dress made by her Aunt Mary Blanchard. It was
trimmed with white braid. She had a
sailor hat to match.
David
Axtell worked as a foreman while the Soo line railroad was being built through
Waupaca.
David
lived out his life and died at this farm in 1898. his son, Arthur, and
wife, Adell (Ballard), took over the farm and they also lived out their lives
here.
David’s
wife, Martha, stayed on here with her son, Arthur, until her son Frank’s wife
passed away in 1899. Then she went next
door to live with Frank Axtell and son Harold.
She died
The
homestead is still in the Axtell family.
Five generations have lived and enjoyed making their home here at one
time or another over the years. It is
now owned by Clarence Axtell and Frieda M. Axtell, children of Arthur and Adell
Axtell.
Submitted
by
Frieda
M. Waid