THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

March 21, 1991

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant.

 

            Leonard Arnold, the owner of the first and only brewery in Waupaca, was born in Bavaria, Germany, April 15, 1851.

            His father was a farmer in their homeland, and did not want to see his son become a farmer, so apprenticed young Leonard out to learn the cooper and brewery trade. This required three years of hard work.  After his apprenticeship was completed he worked at his trade fro some time before deciding to come to America to seek his fortune.

            In 1853 he landed in Boston, MA, and from there proceeded on to Milwaukee, and then to Oshkosh, where he worked at his trade for five years.  In 1856, he married Amelia Krouse in Oshkosh.  After five years in Oshkosh they moved to Weyauwega and worked there for two years.

            In the History of Northern Wisconsin that was published in 1881, it states that he worked in a brewery in Weyauwega. His next move was to Waupaca, to build a brewery for himself.

            Warranty Deed, Volume 15, page 620, dated May 21, 1865, shows that Leonard Arnold purchased three and one-quarter acres of land from John Ostertag and his wife, for $100.  This property was located on an irregular shaped tract of land between what in later years was the Wisconsin Central railroad tracks on the west and Ballard Street on the east.  Ballard Street was the main road out of Waupaca going north toward Scandinavia.  How many of you remember the old High Bridge, with the sharp turn just before it entered onto Elm Street?  This was the site of many accidents and even deaths before the new Highway 49 was built from Harrison Street north, out over the new High Bridge over the railroad tracks.

            On his newly acquired land, he cleared the trees and brush away so that he could build a small 20x40 foot building, and here he started his own brewery.

            Arnold built all of his kegs and casks at the brewery, as he was also a cooper.  The malt was also ground by hand.

            His business prospered and grew, so, by 1881, he owned 24 acres of land, and his brewery was enlarged to 20x100 feet, with an addition of 14x40 feet for machinery and cooling rooms.  There was a full basement and a second floor, housing their living quarters.  He had his own ice house, too.

            When the construction of the Wisconsin Central Railroad was started in the late 1860’s and early 1870s the Arnolds boarded many of the railroad workers.  It was in October 1872, that the first train came through Waupaca.

            The brewery had a room where the customers could come and sit at a table and order a stein of beer for a nickel.

            Leonard Arnold lost an arm on July 4, 1869, at a political campaign in the Waupaca Courthouse Square.  The cannon accidentally discharged, blowing off his arm.

            The information thus far has been recovered from The History of Northern Wisconsin, published in 1881, from the History of Waupaca County, and various obituaries.

            Leonard and Amelia Krouse Arnold had 10 children, of whom eight grew to adulthood.  In the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park, on the Arnold lot, there are two small markers, one that has just “Charles,” no dates, and the other, just “Baby,” with no dates.  On page 524, in the History of Waupaca County, it lists the following children of Leonard and Amelia Arnold:  Charles, who died in infancy; Frances; Emma; Carrie; Minnie; Amelia; Hulda; and the twin boys, Leonard and Albert.  There is no mention of another baby.

            Amelia, the mother, died in 1872 and following that Leonard Arnold married her sister, Frances, who died in 1924.

            So far, I have found nothing on Carrie, Minnie or Amelia. Emma was born September 28, 1861 and died January 28, 1931; Hulda T. was born February 25, 1868.  The eldest daughter, Frances H., went on to become a lawyer.  She was admitted to the bar in 1880, being only the third woman lawyer in the state.

            Leonard Arnold died in 1888, and his son, Albert, took over for a few years before he became a local distributor for the Schlitz Brewing Company.  The brewery burned to the ground in the early 1900s.

            Albert W. was with the Waupaca Police Department for several years and was sheriff of Waupaca County for some time. Leonard O. was also on the police force at the same time, in the early 1900s.  There were descendents remaining from these families, but I’ll end the story of the Arnold Brewery at this point.