THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 8, 1990

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            The pride and joy of the Waupaca Historical Society is the 136-year old Hutchinson House that stands on the north shore of Shadow Lake in the Waupaca South Park.  This site was donated by the City of Waupaca in 1956 for that purpose.

            The Hutchinson House stands as a monument to the fine example of a house that was built in 1854, and after 136 years has retrained very close the original design inside and out.

            Chester F. Hutchinson and his wife, Susannah (Pray) Hutchinson, left their home in New York State with their two sons, George and Denison, and headed west for new horizons.  They first settled on a farm in Rock County for a few years, where it is believed that a daughter, Mary, was born. They remained there until 1853, when they came to Waupaca to make their home.

            In the Register of Deeds Office in Waupaca are the records of two land transactions in which Chester Hutchinson purchased property in Waupaca.  Both transactions were made on November 15, 1853. Warranty Deed volume 2, page 178, shows that Charles Bartlett sold Chester Hutchinson three acres of land for $100, and adjoining was one acre of land for $40.  This was purchased from Olaf Dreutzer, and is in Warranty Deed volume 2, page 179.

            It was on this property that Chester Hutchinson and his two sons built their home in 1854.  Chester F. Hutchinson, the father who was born in 1799, died at his home in Waupaca in 1867.  About 1869 the Hutchinson home was sold to Winthrop Lord.

            In 1860 the Federal census for the City of Waupaca shows Chester Hutchinson as 61 years old, Susanna his wife as 60 years old, Denison, their son, as 14 years old and Mary, their daughter, as 8 year old.  George, who was the eldest had already struck out on his own and bought land both in the Townships of Farmington, Waupaca County, and in Lanark Township, Portage County, only a couple of miles west of Sheridan.

            Denison, the younger son, was born in Darin, NY, on February 15, 1837.  After the death of his father in 1867, he purchased a farm in the Township of Lanark just over the county line in Portage County, and it was here that he took his mother to live with him until she passed away in 1882.  Denison was never married and continued to live alone on his farm until 1906, when he returned to Waupaca to live with his brother, George, and family who had regained possession of the home on the corner of West Fulton and South Jefferson Streets in 1905.

            Denison Palmer Hutchinson passed away November 26, 1927 in the home that his parents had built in 1854, at 303 W. Fulton Street.

            George Hutchinson, who had farmed on his land in Portage and Waupaca counties for many years, returned to Waupaca and bought back the old home at 303 West Fulton Street from Julia Lord, the widow of Winthrop Lord. Warranty Deed, volume 113, page 398, dated February 4, 1905 and February 6, 1905, shows the selling price at $1,800.

            George Hutchinson was married to Kate Clinton on December 5, 1859, and they had two daughters.  Julia H. Hutchinson was born February 11, 1860, on her father’s farm west of Sheridan. She was the only one to live to maturity.  Julia H. Hutchinson taught in rural schools for about seven years.  She moved to Cedar Rapids and did office work for three years.  Her mother died in 1903.  She lived in Amherst in 1909, before returning to Waupaca after the death of her father in 1911, to live with her uncle, Denison, at 303 W. Fulton Street.  Julia, the last of the Hutchinson family, passed away July 2, 1944.

            Julia joind the Sheridan Presbyterian Church while still a young girl, where she was active in Sunday School work.  She later became a member of the Sheridan Christian Temperance Union, and it was then that she received the inspiration for her life work for temperance reform.

            Julia H. Hutchinson became known throughout the state for her fearless and loyal devotion to temperance work.  She would never compromise with evil.  Only ill health prevented her from carrying-on her beloved work. She was laid to rest in the family plot in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.

            After the death of Miss Julia Hutchinson in 1944, the property was for sale.  Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Mannel purchased the property and rented the house. A Warranty Deed, dated December 28, 1955, shows that Frederick and Marion Mannel sold the property to the D-X Sunray Oil Company, a Delaware Corporation, of Madison, that wanted the property for a service station. Now that they owned the property, the question was how to dispose of the house on the property.

            To make a long story short, the D-X Sunray Oil Company donated the house to the Waupaca Historical Society which had high hopes of obtaining the house. The Historical Society made arrangements with Nyman Rasmussen to move the house to its new location in South Park on a site that the City of Waupaca had donated to the Society for that purpose.

            In the April 26, 1956 edition of the Waupaca County Post, there is a picture of the house being made ready to be loaded on one of Nyman Rasmussen’s moving trucks.

            The group that had gathered on April 27, 1953, in the library club rooms for the purpose of organizing a society for the purpose of the preservation of historical material of interest and value of the people of Waupaca and surrounding area, was now ready to take on the task of renovating and preserving the old Hutchinson House. The Historical Society’s major endeavor from 1956 through 1957 was the acquiring and the restoration of the old Hutchinson House.  There was hard work to be done and much money to be raised to finance the project.

            The dedication and the laying of the cornerstone was an important part of the program in 1957, when Waupaca celebrated its centennial as an incorporated village.

            The Waupaca Historical Society has had well over 100 paid members at one time, but has now dwindled down to 36, of which over one-half are now residing in nursing homes, or are unable to attend meetings due to old age, poor health, or just neglect to attend.

            The Waupaca Historical Society is open to anyone interested in history.  It needs new blood with new ideas.  The society meets the fourth Monday of each month in the Methodist church parlors.

            I urge readers of this column to join and to give support to the Historical Society, so that it may continue to function as a society. Thank you.