THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 8, 1994

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            Over many years of doing genealogy research for people, we have come up with many interesting accounts and stories about some people buried in various Wisconsin cemeteries.

            In coming closer to home, I will relate some interesting accounts that have taken place in Waupaca’s Lakeside Memorial Park.

            It would be a full-time job for anyone to attempt to write about every person buried in Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park that has at one time or another played an important part in the history, or the growth of the Waupaca area.

            First of all, we must remember and honor our brave men who died for their country who are buried here, or on foreign soil, and to the members of our armed forces who were able to return home and take an active part in our society.

            There are accident and murder victims, prominent professional people, and just he average man on the street buried in the beautiful Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.

            Here are some rare and unusual incidents that I have found in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.  The most recent is the burial of a real daughter of a Revolutionary War Veteran.  This is a rare occasion to find a real daughter of the American Revolution War veteran buried this far north in the state of Wisconsin, or this far west of their native eastern states.

            Dr. David Waldo, who was born in the state of New York, and married Catherine Weatherbee, in the same state, became the parents of seven children:  only five survived to adulthood. Rachel, the second born, was married in New York State to William Rice, and they had 12 children.

            In the early months of 1854, Dr. David Waldo, at the advanced age of 91 years, crippled during the Revolutionary War and using a cane, came to Sheboygan, Wis., with his daughter, Rachel, and his son-in-law, William Rice.

            On August 10, 1854, Dr. David Waldo passed away and was buried in the Wildwood Cemetery in Sheboygan, in a grave that was unmarked for 119 years until the Joint Committee for Revolutionary War Veterans, headed by F. Winston Luck, president of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society, unveiled a marker for Dr. David Waldo on August 10, 1973.

            William and Rachel Rice, along with some of their families, had moved to Waupaca in the early months of 1854.  Soon after coming to Waupaca, Rachel Waldo Rice died on November 29, 1854 at the age of 62 years, 2 months and 19 days.  Her husband, William Rice, died March 28, 1864 at the age of 75 years.  Both are buried in Lot 36 in Lakeside Memorial Park’s old original section.  I am sure that the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) will be interested in marking her grave as a real Daughter of the American Revolution.

            I know of only one more Daughter buried in this section of Wisconsin.  She is Eliza Hagerman Crandell, born April 29, 1803 and died November 20, 1903.  She is buried in the Plainfield Cemetery, Plainfield. She has a DAR metal emblem on her tombstone – “A Real Daughter of the American Revolution.”

            Taking a step back in time to the Revolutionary War veterans, we find that there were only 44 known Revolutionary War veterans buried in the whole state of Wisconsin.

            Samuel Rogers, born in Brandford, Conn., June 3, 1760 and died September 10, 1852, in Winchester, Winnebago County.  He lies buried in the Winchester Town Cemetery, Winchester, the furthest north burial of a Revolutionary War veteran in Wisconsin.

            Henry C. Mead, proprietor of the Exchange and Savings Bank of Waupaca, the first bank in Waupaca founded in 1862, is also buried at Lakeside.

            It was a foggy night on October 7, 1882, when an assailant or assailants, beat and then shot Mr. Mead in the head as he was working at his desk on the day’s accounts.  He also slept in the back room of the bank building.

            H.C. Mead’s Exchange and Savings Bank was then located next to the Vosburg house, where he took his meals.  The Vosburg house was located on the corner of South Main and East Union streets.  This is now part of the Bank One location.  The Old Mead Bank was later moved to a new location on Jefferson Street, which is just north of Stieb’s Jeep Eagle, Inc., where it stands empty today.

            Some 10 years after the murder of Mr. Mead, his skull was exhumed as evidence in a trial of a group of men accused of his murder.  After the men were acquitted, the skull was wrapped in burlap and placed in a vault in the basement of the old Waupaca County Courthouse when it was then located on Main Street.

            The Mead murder case was never solved, and over the many years, it became a novel topic for discussion on the streets of Waupaca.  When the new Waupaca County Courthouse was built in 1989, there was some discussion of putting Mr. Mead’s skull on display in a glass case.

            Tom Holly, a longtime funeral director in Waupaca, was not in favor of this, and suggested that the skull be reburied with the rest of Mr. Mead’s remains in Lakeside Memorial Park.

            Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Philip M. Kirk signed an order officially releasing the skull of the late Henry C. Mead to Tom Holly of A.J. Holly and Sons, Ltd., for burial. So, some 97 years after the skull was exhumed for use as evidence in a trial, he was reunited with the rest of his remains.

            Clerk of Circuit Court George Jorgensen delivered the skull to Rick Martin, sexton of Lakeside Memorial Park for final burial.

            In the Waupaca County Post, November 1, 1990, I had written a complete story on the life and death of Charles W. Odgen, who was born in Ogdensburg on December 16, 1862 and died at his home in Saguache, Colo., December 15,1 935.

            It was in 1976 while doing some research at the Holly Funeral Home that in the course of conversation with Tom Holly that he mentioned receiving the ashes of Charles W. Ogden with just a note attached, “Hold for further instructions.”

            The note and ashes had arrived in 1935, and now it was 41 years later and as yet no instructions had been received. The result was that his ashes were on a shelf in the basement of Holly’s Funeral Home in a metal container bearing the name of Charles W. Ogden, register #6002, December 18, 1935, Denver Crematory, Denver, Colo.

            A few years ago, I talked to someone at Holly’s Funeral Home, and they assured me that they would take care of the burial of Mr. Ogden’s ashes in the Lakeside Memorial Park beside his wife and infant children.

            I was surprised when reading an article in the Waupaca County Post of October 27, 1994, stating that the ashes of the former editor of the Waupaca Post were finally buried in Waupaca on October 18, 1994.  I had been told several years ago that this would be taken care of.

            Eileen Schraeder and her husband, Orville, decided to make arrangements for the burial of the ashes.  On Tuesday, October 18, 1994, Rick Martin, sexton of Lakeside Memorial Park, buried the ashes of Charles W. Ogden, next to his wife, Sylvia, who had died in 1907, and their infant children.

            So, now, 59 years after his death in 1935, the final chapter has been written in the life, death and burial of Charles W. Ogden.