THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 24, 1991

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            In the western town of Verna, Utah, Jacob Alkins and his family had made plans in July 1976 to take their vacation in western Canada, when all of a sudden they changed their minds and decided to come to Ogdensburg, Wis., instead.  Their ancestors once lived in the area from 1858 to 1880.

            The big factor that made them change their minds was a family heirloom that contained a record to the fact that a “Centennial Box” had been buried on Juniper Island, in Hick’s Lake, one of Waupaca’s Chain o’ Lakes, on July 4, 1876, by Manasseh T. Phewsby who was a great-great-grandfather to Jacob Alkins.  Family records showed that Phewsby had been a stagecoach driver on the run between Berlin and Stevens Point.

            On July 4, 1876, Manasseh T. Phewsby, then 41, sealed a box which was to be passed on to the oldest child of each generation and was not to be opened until July 4, 1976.  The request that he had expressed on this Centennial Box was respected and on July 4, 1976, the box was opened by his granddaughter, Ada C. Alkins of Vernal, Utah.

            Among the various mementoes and memorabilia there was a copy of the Ogdensburg Criterion for June 29, 1876, which discussed the local events that were planned for the celebration of the nation’s 100^th anniversary.  I find no record of the Criterion ever being published in Ogdensburg, but it was a Waupaca paper in the early days.

            A note that was written by Mr. Plewsby and attached to the paper stated “Please read of my activities reported in this paper, so you may learn of this area and your ancestors.”

            The account that was related in that paper is what ultimately led Mr. Alkins to his discovery 100 years later.  The account described a ceremony that occurred in July 1876.

            The Criterion reported that it contained a list of the names of the area residents, coins and other items thought to be of future interest.

            M. T. Phewsby had constructed a weather proof box which was sealed in glass. The box was on display at School Number 6, and on next Tuesday, July 4, it would be permanently sealed and buried on Juniper Island, in Hick’s Lake.  The directions for locating this box were that it would be buried in the center of a ring of juniper trees, approximately 100 yards from the north bank of the island.

            The Alkins family arrived in the Chain o’ Lakes and rented a cottage at Long Lake on July 20, 1976.  The made numerous inquiries about the location of Hick’s Lake and Juniper Island to no avail.  Someone recommended that they consult the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at Madison.  Here they discovered on some old maps what they were searching for. The old maps showed Hick’s Lake and Juniper Island, but around the turn of the century Hick’s Lake was renamed Sunset Lake and Juniper Island was changed to Onaway Island.

            After the Alkinses returned from their find in Madison, they started their search for the Centennial Box.  They paced off approximately the 100 yards from the north end of the island and ran into a thick growth of trees and brush but no junipers.  They soon spotted some juniper trees a little farther to the south and discovered that they had been planted in a circle, although they had grown together over the last 100 years.  After a difficult time trying to find the center of the ring, it was finally allocated.  Here was a series of red granite blocks encompassing a three-by-three foot area.

            They removed the granite blocks and started to dig; at about five feet they struck a layer of rocks.  Underneath the rocks was the box for which they had been searching.

            The box was sealed in a glass container and remained protected for all of the 100 years.

            The contents of the box were the following items: a note written by M. T. Phewsby explaining the ceremony in 1876; a Bible; President Grant’s second Inaugural Address; a timetable for the Wisconsin Central Railroad; a set of U.S. coins for 1876, including a $10 gold piece; a listing of the 10 students who graduated from the Waupaca High School; and a watch that Mr. Phewsby used while driving the stagecoach.

            Mr. Phewsby’s letter mentioned that the box was partially put together by the Old Settler’s Society.

            I would like to know why Juniper Island was chosen for the burial site of that Centennial Box, it being quite a distance from Ogdensburg in those days.