THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 26, 1990

 

Guyants’ Lives Center on the History of the Waupaca Area

By Loren F. Sperry

 

            Wayne Guyant and his wife, Alta, share their home in Waupaca’s Chain O’ Lakes area with cats, birds and books.

            Not your run-of-the-mill books; these are ring-binder books, in the hundreds, that are jammed full of the history of Waupaca County and much of the rest of Wisconsin, as well.

            The retired (almost) consultant to potato growers and his wife, who is retired from Woody’s Cheese in Waupaca, share a passion for history that is mind-boggling.

            They’ve spent much of the past two decades systematically mapping cemeteries, copying or clipping obituaries, wedding and birth reports from newspapers, delving into courthouse files, and meticulously cataloging their accumulated information in the ring-binder books that fill several huge bookshelves at their home at N3062 Otter Dr., Waupaca.

            They gladly share what they’ve found with anyone, averaging two or three inquiries a week from people from all around the country who are investigating their “roots”.

            “If they tell us the name,” said Alta, “we look it up in our books, then look at our maps of the cemetery and can tell them where the grave is.”

            “One man from California,” Wayne recalled, “was here, in the wintertime, looking for he grave of an ancestor.  We were able to give him the location in the cemetery and, despite the heavy snow cover, he was able to walk right to it.”

            They have a complete record of every known burial and cemetery in five counties:  Waupaca, Waushara, Portage, Langlade and Florence, as well as partial records of cemeteries in Wisconsin’s 67 other counties.

            Wayne and Alta are active in genealogical societies and Wayne is northwest regional director for the Wisconsin Cemetery Association.

            They got started in their hobby in 1971, when a cousin in Weyauwega asked for some help when their children were doing a genealogy report for school.

            The Guyants responded by taking their vacation to go to New York, where, with much detective work they found records of Wayne’s great-great-grandfather.

            After their return to Wisconsin, they attended a genealogical society meeting in Mayville, where a “copying bee” at a local cemetery was held, with everyone recording the information on gravestones.

            “On the way home,” says Alta, “we remarked that that’s never been done in Waupaca County.”

            Now, thanks to their efforts, it has.

            In the comfort of your home, free from mosquitoes, the heat and rain, sit back in the comfort of your easy chair with your Waupaca County Post in hand, and take this imaginary cemetery walk through the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.

            The Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park consists of three main sections:  the original section, the Lakeside addition and the Townsend addition.

            I will start out with the original section which is bordered on the north by St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery, on the east by High Street, on the south by Center Street and the Lakeside Addition, and on the west by the woods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 26, 1990

 

            Warranty Deed, volume 5, page 75, shows that on the 13^th day of August, 1855, Erastus Sessions and his wife Abby Sessions sold to the Waupaca Cemetery Association for $80 and a lot, the following described tract of land:  Commencing 27 rods west of the Southeast corner of the Northwest ¼ of the Southeast ¼,, in section 30, thence west 30 rods, thence north 28 rods and 2 links, thence, East 27 rods, thence, in a Southeasterly direction to the place of beginning.  This was surveyed June 7, 1861.

            E. C. Sessions arrived at the Falls June 15, 1849, along with Joseph and William B. Hibbard, Martin Burnham and a Mr. Pratt.  These were all Vermonters and the first to reach the Falls (Waupaca).

            Mr. Pratt could not see any future for him at the Falls, and left in search for some settlement that had already been established.

            Mr. Burnham remained long enough to help the remaining three to survey and stake out their claims. He then went to Missouri and joined up with a caravan headed for the gold fields of California.  He later returned to the state of Illinois, where he was still living in 1917.

            E. C. Sessions set claim to three of the original forties of the Village plat of Waupaca, and one forty in the third ward.

            In 1859, the Sessions family left by covered wagon for the gold fields of California, but not before they left behind a small grave of little Abby C. Sessions, their infant daughter, who died September 14, 1856, aged 11 weeks and 2 days (lot 157).

            According to the obituary of Edward Sessions, son of  E. C. and Abigail Sessions, who died at his home in Berkeley, CA, in 1928, their gold mine eventually turned into one of the large cattle ranches of the southwest.  It also stated that Edward was supposed to have been the first white child born in Waupaca.

 

 

WAUPACA COUNTY POST

August 2, 1990

 

A Correction.

 

            After reading the portion of my story last week about E. C. Sessions, I want to make a correction in the year that he went to California.  After re-reading the obituary of Edward Sessions, it just states “that his parents enthused by the gold fever of California in 1849, made the trip from here in a covered wagon.”

            The grave of the little infant daughter Abby C. Sessions who died September 14, 1856, tells us that they were still in Waupaca at that time.

            I have since gone to the Courthouse to check the land records to find when Mr. Sessions sold the last parcel of land in Waupaca. I found 21 land transactions dating from 1854 to February 14, 1859.  The Grantor records are missing from this time until 1873, and there is no record of him after this time.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

August 2, 1990

 

            The oldest complete date found on a marker in Waupaca’s Lakeside Cemetery is found on the stone for Lucius Hibbard, son of William B. and his wife, Philens Hibbard.  He was born November 23, 1844, in the state of Vermont and died in Waupaca on September 24, 1851, aged six years, ten months and one day.  There are, however, two other burials that show only the year of birth and the year of death. They are Ada Scott, 1846-1851 and S. H. Hutchinson, 1829-1851.

            William B. Hibbard was one of the first five Vermonters who arrived at the Waupaca Falls in the summer of 1849.  I cannot find what happened to this family; they may have gone back to their native Vermont as did his brother, Joseph.

            Olive H. Hibbard, wife of Joseph Hibbard, was born in 1814, possibly in Vermont.  She died November 28, 1878, in Vermont, to where she and Joseph Hibbard had moved in 1878 to spend their remaining years with their only son, Henry J. Hibbard.

            They left behind in this cemetery, far from their native Vermont, two children:  Abbie A. Hibbard, who died February 21, 1864, aged 19 years, 9 months; and Fred R., who died May 23, 1874.  Their daughter, Mary, was supposed to be the first white female born in Waupaca.

            A cemetery is not only a place for the dead, but also the living.  A cemetery can be a classroom full of history, geography, poetry, art and nature study.

            You can find on some of the older stones where the person was born, such as:  the country, state, county or city.  Some stones have poems, Bible verses, pictures of the person embedded in the stone, hobbies depicted on the stone, or an occasional epitaph.

            I will share with you at various times some of my favorites.  The eastern and western states are where the most unusual epitaphs are found.

            Here is a starter:

            “Here I lie between two of the best women in the world, both my wives, but I have requested my relatives to tip me a little toward Tillie.”

            “Here lies the body of Soloman Pease, under the daisies and under the trees.  Pease is not here, only the pod, Pease shelled out and went to God.”

            Future articles will be directed more to people of the area, buildings of the past, or unusual happenings in and around Waupaca.

            The majority of the people I will be writing about are buried in either the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park or St. Mary Magdalene’s Cemetery

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

August 23, 1990

 

            In the first of my stories, I mentioned taking you on an imaginary cemetery walk, but since have decided to extend my field of research to other events, as you may have noticed; so our cemetery walk can be compared to a baseball game – it can run into rain delays.

            Today I will resume the cemetery walk by stopping at the gravesite of Capt. Thomas Spencer, who served in the War of 1812.

            The location of his grave is in the Lakeside Addition of the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park, a name that was changed several years ago from the Waupaca Lakeside Cemetery.  The Lakeside Addition is bordered on the east and south by County Trunk “K,” on the west by the Townsend Addition and on the north by Center Avenue and the Old Original Cemetery.

            Thomas Spencer was born in Hartford, CT, March 19, 1789, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Epiphas Spencer.  He was married to Hannah Aikens, who was born at Potsdam, St. Lawerence County, New York, November 19, 1798.  Their children were:  Rodney, who died in New York at the age of 14; Laura, who later married Charles Chesley in Waupaca; Myra, who married Ezra Thompson of Greenwood, Clark County; and Ira, who married and stayed on the home farm in the Town of Lind.

            Thomas Spencer was raised on a farm in Connecticut, and when still a young man he migrated to the state of New York.  He was a captain during the War of 1812, and was in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane and served with distinction throughout the war.

            This is found in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Upper Wisconsin.  I have in the past written to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. for his military record, but they have failed to locate any with the information that I have supplied from the state of New York.

            While Thomas Spencer lived in the state of New York, he was sheriff of Franklin County and held a Customhouse office.  Franklin County borders the St. Lawrence over in the north-west corner.

            His wife died in New York state in 1846, and in the spring of 1850, he left two graves behind and took his other three children and started to what was then the “Far West.”  They came down the St. Lawrence into the Great Lakes and around Michigan to Milwaukee.  They brought with them five horses that hauled the family as far as Berlin, Green Lake County.  Here the children stayed while Capt. Spencer ventured farther north in search of a good place to settle.

            He settled in what was later section 18, Town of Lind.  This was still Indian land and was not opened for settlement until June 2, 1862, at midnight.  This made him a squatter.

            His first shelter was a shanty of lumber hauled from Weyauwega.  Poles were stretched from tree to tree and the boards leaned up against them.  This was on the north shores of what is now known as Spencer Lake, named in honor of the Spencer family that settled there.

            Here he married again, but had no children. I have never been able to find out who this lady was, or whatever happened to her.  She does not have a tombstone on the Spencer lot beside her husband.

            He built a large house which was known far and wide as “Spencer’s Hotel.”  He donated the location for a grist mill to Robert Parfrey in Parfreyville, with the stipulation that he grind the first grain before Waupaca could.

            It is well remembered that the first grinding in Parfrey’s mill was one Saturday afternoon.  The next day Robert Parfrey attended a meeting at the home of Thomas Spencer.  After the sermon, and before the benediction was fairly finished, Mr. Parfrey jumped to his feet and, taking a handful of flour from his coat pocket, shouted at the top of his voice, “Here’s a sample of my flour.”  This can be found in the Standard History of Waupaca County, by Ware.

            Capt. Thomas Spencer died July 26, 1881, thus ending the life of the only veteran of the War in 1812 buried in Waupaca.

            A notice that appeared in the Waupaca Record, Thursday, May 26, 1910:  “Veterans in the Lakeside Cemetery, whose graves will be decorated Monday, May 30:  75 Civil War, 5 Spanish American and 1 War of 1812.”

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

August 30, 1990

 

            This article will be about some interesting facts about some of the early inventions in Waupaca and what has followed.

            The Stewart four-wheel drive tractor was manufactured in Waupaca about 1919.  It had solid hard rubber tires with deep grooves for better traction.  There was no cab; the driver sat out in the open.

            The Wagner Bros. of Waupaca bought one of these tractors that was three years old to take up north to Oneida County, to be used for stumping and plowing a large tract of cut-over farm land that was to become their potato operation in Oneida County.

            Alex Stewart, who was at the head of the Stewart Tractor Company, said that the machine was in splendid condition, and with proper care it would last for a long time.

            The plow that was to be used with this tractor had a 22-inch bottom and weighed approximately 1,500 pounds.

            This was one of the tractors that Mr. Stewart had used at the time that he had his contract for the graveling of Mill Street from the depot to the Mill Street Bridge, and for the work that had been done on East Fulton and Granite Streets.

            It was said to be the most economical power made for that class of work.  The City of Waupaca was to have saved a considerable sum of money, and at the same time the local tractor company made a nice profit.

            During the grading of Mill Street the tractor used approximately 15 gallons of gas per day hauling large trailers with 24 yards of gravel a distance of six miles.

            The Wagner Bros. took their Stewart tractor to their holdings in Oneida County, nine miles west of Rhinelander, where they grew potatoes until 1949.  I am very familiar with this property.  In the over 25 years that I was a certified seed potato inspector for the College of Agriculture, I inspected many acres of potatoes for Stark’s Farms Inc., there.

            This property has since been taken over the by the University of Wisconsin and now is one of the best Elite and Foundation Seed Potato Farms in the United States.  It is now known as the Lelah Starks Elite Foundation Seed Potato Farm.  It produces disease-free seed stock that is sold to the Certified and Foundation seed growers of Wisconsin.  These growers in turn plant this stock in their own seed plots.

            In the early years of the 1900s, Waupaca had it own Industrial Development Corporation.  This was a group of people that was also looking for the business firms to locate in Waupaca.  Even then the progressive men of Waupaca were thinking of the future.  This progressive group was called the Commercial Club.

            An article in the Waupaca Record-Leader, dated August 13, 1916, states that at the last meeting, Mr. J. A. Terrio and Mr. Lewis Larson of Ogdensburg demonstrated a device which would test 24 eggs at one time, and by some ingenious device it would transfer the eggs from the candler directly to the case without touching the eggs.

            They also hold a patent on a butter tester, as well as several other patents pending.  This company was called the Terrio Manufacturing Company.  N. Cohen and C. N. Nelson were the chief contributors, and the article said that there was still a small block of stock for sale.

            Taken from the Waupaca Record, dated October 7, 1915.

            “Carpenters are at work on a building on Shearer Street which will be ready in about a month, directly opposite the Central Lumber Company’s office.

            “The Hoaglin Manufacturing Company will be manufacturing novelties in their new building.  This is to be a one-story building 26 x 26 feet, with the long side to the street.”

            The machinery had been purchased and would be installed as soon as possible for the manufacturing of fly swats, kitchen recipe files, and no-spill gasoline funnels.

            All of the specialties were inventions of F. L. Hoaglin.  When in full operation they would employ about 10 people producing a daily output of about 10,000 fly swats and 1.000 recipe files.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

September 06, 1990

 

            Jens Hansen, an extensive wagon and carriage manufacturer of Waupaca, was born in Boesholm, near Helsigor, Nort Sjeland, Denmark, in July of 1838.  He was the son of Hans Christian Rasmussen and his wife, Meta Marie Larson Monk.  The father, Hans Christian Rasmussen, was a blacksmith with the reputation of making the best wagons and carriages in all of that part of Denmark.  Young Jens learned the skills of a blacksmith and wagon maker from his father.  (His last name was different from his father’s due to Danish custom.)

            In 1864, Jens enlisted in the services of his native country.  He served for 14 months, and retired with the rank of corporal.  After he returned home he assisted his father in his shop until 1869 when he emigrated to the United States, and Waupaca.  Here he found employment with Henry D. Prior, and on November 5, 1869 he bought out Mr. Prior.  He paid him $400 for the west 60 feet of out lot 38, in the village plat.

            In 1870, Jens Hansen returned to Denmark to bring his father back to Waupaca.  His father returned with him and worked with his son until his death in 1879.

            Jens Hansen’s blacksmith and wagon shop was located where the old Kruenen Implement building was, now the Flying Kernels.  The original shop had his motto, “Live and Let Live,” painted in big letters on the front.

            He employed 12 men and they manufactured wagons, carriages and sleighs, besides doing general blacksmith work and handling farm machinery of all kinds.

            Jens Hansen’s half-brother, Albert Martin (A.M.) Hansen, came to Waupaca when only ten years old, supposedly with his father and Jens.  At the age of 17, young A.M. Hansen started his training in his half-brother’s shop.  Here he had excellent training under Jens and his father, Hans Christian Rasmussen.

            A.M. Hansen opened his own business after seven years, and ran it for the next 10 years, when he ventured into the sawmill business.  More about A.M. Hansen in Waupaca will appear in future articles.

            In 1890, Jens Hansen built a new and much-improved building on the same location.  His original shop was of wooden construction, two stories high with three windows on each side of a large display door in the middle of the second story, and one window on each side of the two large, double doors on the ground floor.

            The new building that stands today was of brick construction with a lower, or basement level, and at the same time it has the same basic design right down to the two big double doors to permit a team of horses to enter to be shod, or room for a wagon or carriage to enter to be repaired or painted.  There is also the large door in the upper story.  Mr. George Frieberg told me that this was used as a display door to show models.  Both buildings first had hand-operated freight elevators, but later was mechanized with a large electric motor.  The freight elevator was approximately 10 by 10 feet.

            Jens Hansen married Johanna M. Person. She was born in Sweden, March 19, 1851.  They were married December 25, 1869, and she died April 6, 1908 here in Waupaca.  Jens Hansen passed away January 16, 1902.

            Warranty Deed Volume 117 page 100, dated August 15, 1906, shows that Johanna Hansen sold out to Herman, Thorvold, Albert and Carl C. Nelson on January 13, 1910; Carl C. Nelson sold to Matilde Ekstrom in 1911; Matilde Ekstrom sold to Thorwold and Albert Nelson on April 19, 1920; Thorwold Nelson and his wife Anne Nelson, and Albert Nelson sold to Kreunen and Skinner.  They were partners until January 26, 1924, when George Skinner and Gaywood A. Skinner, his wife, sold his share to Cornelius Kreunen, who died April 17, 1932.

            From 1920 until 1924 the business went under the name of Kreunen and Skinner, but since that time it has been known as the Kreunen Implement Company.  After the death of Mr. Kreunen the property went to Bernice Kreunen, his daughter, and George Frieberg, her husband.  They sold John Deere machinery and had John Deere Days held in the Palace Theater.  George Frieberg began selling Pontiac cars at this time.

            In 1973 George E. Frieberg sold out to James and Gerald Cook, and the Cooks in turn sold to Bill Marek in 1986.  This is now the empty building of the Flying Kernals. What next is in store for this old historic building?

            At some time in the past, someone stated that Olaf Skye used the building for his blacksmith shop.  This is not the case.  Olaf Skye worked for Jens Hansen before he went to Scandinavia to open a shop.  In 1898, he went to the gold rush in Alaska.  He remained there for three years, then he homesteaded in Canada from 1908 until 1921.  When he came home to Waupaca he started to work for Claude Knight on the corner of Washington and Fulton Streets.  He purchased a place for himself at the corner of West Union and Washington, where he operated until he became sick in his own shop and died February 19, 1951.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

September 13, 1990

 

            Caleb S. Ogden led a most interesting life.  He was a farmer, businessman, lawyer, judge and newspaper.

            Born August 2, 1819, near Cannonville, Delaware County, New York, he was the son of Abraham and Mary Smith Ogden. 

            On February 23, 1845, he was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Hoag, who was born in Montgomery County, New York.  They became the parents of 11 children, one dying in infancy.  Five sons and five daughters lived to adulthood.

            In 1848 – the year Wisconsin became a state – Caleb S. Ogden moved to the Township of Plover, Portage County, Wisconsin and engaged in the mercantile and lumbering pursuits.  A couple of years later, he added farming.

            In 1854, he came to Waupaca County, settling on the site of Ogdensburg which later was named in his honor.  Here he built a sawmill, constructed new roads and purchased a large stock of merchandise.  He built a large machine shop in Waupaca which was destroyed by fire a short time later at a loss of $30,000 to him.

            In 1857 or 1858, he was elected district attorney, and in 1861 became judge, a position he held until 1894, except for one term when he chose not to run because of other commitments.

            In 1865, he moved to Waupaca and in 1868, launched into existence the Waupaca Republican.  He also founded the New London Times, and later with the aid of his sons, four of whom were printers, formed the Waupaca Post in 1877.

            In the early county plat books you can find extensive land holdings that Caleb S. Ogden had purchased; possibly he was in a position to see good deals when they came up.

            I will not dwell on the early life of Judge Ogden, or his family life before he became a newspaperman in Waupaca.  This all can be found on page 316 of the Commemorative Biographical Record of Upper Wisconsin.

            Judge Ogden’s five sons all grew to manhood, four of them followed in newspaper work:  Francis E., who first helped with the Waupaca Post but died at the early age of 43; William C., who was a newspaper publisher in Rhinelander; John, who also was a judge and purchased the Antigo Republican in 1886; and Charles.

            John Ogden married Alida Randall of Waupaca in 1879.  They had two sons: Caleb and Howard.  Young Caleb was only 20 years old in 1902 when he was accidentally killed while sawing wood on his father’s farm north of Anitgo.

            All of John Ogden’s family are buried in the Antigo City Cemetery.

            Charles W. Ogden was a part owner in the Waupaca Post before he left the paper to embark on an adventurous life as a showman with his own traveling tent show which headquartered in Waupaca.  After some years of this life, he went to Saquache, Colorado, where he purchased the Saquache Crescent and ran it until his death in 1935.

            In some later article, I would like to relate to you some of the interesting accounts of his life with his traveling tent show days until his death and burial here in Waupaca.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

September 20, 1990

 

            These bits and pieces were gleaned from either the Waupaca Record, the Waupaca Post or the Waupaca Republican Post dating back to 1904-1909.  I thought our readers might enjoy these nostalgic glimpses of our past.

 

            A.J. HOLLY & SONS PUT IN A MORGUE – “Excellently fitted up for cases of emergency which often arise.  A morgue is a new thing in this city and is something that people have many times felt the want of. A.J Holly & Sons have fitted up a room beneath the store for such cases, putting in water works and other conveniences.  They have recently purchased an excellent lowering device.”

            SCOTT HOTEL – This was run by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scott.  It had three levels.  The main floor had a tavern, the upper floor was the hotel rooms, and in the basement it has been said that some gambling took place.  Robert Scott was a Negro and bought cattle as a sideline.  This building was located on the corner of Main and Sessions Streets.  It was struck by lightning around 1912, and burned to the ground.  This was replaced as the Whittington Building in 1913.  Kay’s Gift Shop was in this building.

            GLOVE FACTORY – “Just opened in the city.  We manufacture first class canvass gloves and mittens.  Place orders now for the fall trade.  B. H. Edmunds, 116 Water Street.

            ELECTRIC THEATER – “We always appreciate your attendance and are never so busy that we can not give our entire attention.  We carry fourteen reels of film each week, and we select the six best subjects for our own use.  We have installed a $60 Edison Triumph Phonograph for the musical programme.  We admit the little ones free when accompanied by parents.  We do not take up your time with announcing break-downs, or have long waits.  We give you twice the amount of pleasure you get elsewhere.  We do business to please the people, not ourselves.  Give your mind a rest and give us your patronage.  Bert Quimby.”

            WAUPACA CITY OF GOOD SIDEWALKS – “30,000 square feet built in the past year (1904) at the expense of nearly $4,000.  Waupaca has more fine cement walks than any other city its size in the state.  Up to four years ago a cement sidewalk in our neat little city was a rarity, now we have a trifle more than five miles of walks ten and twelve feet wide with a cement curb combined.”

            THE LIBERTY MOVING PICTURE CO. – “The Liberty Moving Picture Co. will open in this city Saturday night, May 29, 1909, under canvas on the lot back of J.E. Cristy’s store, W.F. Peterson, a well-known and popular Waupaca boy, is the manager.  The Company carries its own electric light plant and will travel by wagon and show under canvas, making a large number of towns in the northern part of the state and in Minnesota.  Duke, the world’s champion high diving dog, that makes a leap from the top of a 40-foot ladder, is one of the features in the free exhibition on the outside at 7:30, just before the opening of the show.  Admission, 15¢ and 25¢.”

            OPERA HOUSE AND CHURCH BURNED – Fire wipes out Waupaca’s modern play house, St. Mark’s Church and several small buildings.  The church bell rang its own doom.  Waupaca’s model opera house is no more.  What promised to be the most serious conflagration in this city’s history was narrowly averted, but not before some of the landmarks, as well as more modern structures had vanished in smoke and ashes.  Shortly after three o’clock Tuesday morning, night clerk Ed Pipe, who was sitting in the office of the Gordinier, saw a red light reflected in one of the upper stories of the Roberts Block.  Thinking that the block was afire he ran out to give the alarm and saw the red glow in the eastern sky.  He ran to St. Mark’s Church and sounded the alarm that was the doom of that edifice.  Earl Gurley, who was with Mr. Pipe, ran to the City Hall and sounded the second alarm. The fire company responded promptly, but the opera house was a mass of flames which quickly spread to St. Mark’s Church, the Park Hotel barn, the Curtis barn and the Chandler residence and barn.  The worse difficulty was the lack of water which only came in jerks with no pressure.

            “Supt. I.C. Nelson was called as soon as possible and he directed the operation on trying to save the other places of business and residence in the area.  To add to the ordeal two of the water hoses broke.

            “Since the opera  house and the church fire was out of control the stand was directed to the office of the Citizen’s Telephone Exchange, which caused several blistered faces.  The firemen done themselves proud, and just how they managed to save the day was hard to under-stand.  The heat was terrific and as the Park Hotel began to sizzle as well as the Sam P. Godfrey storage building, the Randall bicycle and machine shop, the Curtis residence and the Citizen’s Telephone Exchange, there seemed to be no possibility of saving the eastern part of the city. However, the deed was accomplished.

            “After viewing the smouldering remains they could see how the fire had burned right up to the buildings and had lapped at the overheated shingles and siding.  It was now that they first realized what a terrific job that the firemen had accomplished.

            “During the course of the fire goods were being removed from the office of E. E. Brown, the Sam Godfrey, M.R. Randall, the Curtis residence, which was the only residence that suffered more than cracked windows and burned shingles.  William Bruley, the Park Hotel and Mrs. Brown were ready to move out at a moment’s notice.  Burning flying shingles were carried high into the air and deposited as far north as the depot.  Many residents in the third ward were not able to leave their homes for fear of the flying burning shingles.  Only the lack of a high wind saved a terrible disaster.

            “The opera house was a great loss to the community.  It had just been remodeled under the direction of G. H. Slater, by the late Richard Lea.  Mr. Slater took his ideas from St. Peter, a Minnesota opera house, which burned about a year before.

            “Many that witnessed the destruction of St. Mark’s Church has assisted in its building.  Regardless of the fact that water was kept on the church, the bell melted down and the Baptismal font crumbled into dust.  Most of the furniture was removed by willing hands before the fire drove them away.”

            St. Mark’s Church as located approximately on the same location where Stiebs Jeep Eagle Inc. is today, at 219 Jefferson.

            The night operator at the Citizen’s Telephone Exchange stuck to her post answering calls as to the fire, but when it seemed as if no human could stay any longer, she received her orders from the Weyauwega office to vacate the building.

            The full story can be found in the old Waupaca Record in the April 7, 1904, edition.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

September 27, 1990

 

            Not too many people living today can remember the hey-days of the granite quarry that once existed in Sections 32 and 33 in the Township of St. Lawrence, and Sections 4 and 5 in the Township of Waupaca.

            The 1889 Waupaca County plat book shows that the company buildings were located in Sections 4 and 5.  This location was on a power site of the South Branch of the Little Wolf, so that the plant could be operated by water power.

            The granite that was quarried was mostly red and black in color, but there was some green and pink mixed with black.  It was polished at the plant, and sold mostly for ornamental purposes.

            It has been said that 276 pieces were used in the construction of the granite pillar work in the state capitol in Madison.

            Large blocks were used in the construction of the Omaha Bee building in Omaha, NE.  In Minneapolis, MN, the gateway leading into Lake Wood Cemetery, the chapel and large vault in the Grace Wood Cemetery and the telephone building were all, or in part, made from this Waupaca granite. There is also a soldier’s monument in Chattanooga, TN, made from this granite.

            Prior to 1907, all of the finished product had to be hauled by teams of horses and wagons to be loaded on railroad cars at some distant point.

            The quarry opened around 1886, and was located about midway between Waupaca and Ogdensburg.  Which way did they go with the heavy loads of granite?  Did they go to Ogdensburg and load onto the Green Bay-Winona & St. Paul, or from Waupaca on the Wisconsin Central?  As the name of the company was The Waupaca Granite Company, and with the more level terrain for the horses to pull the heavy loads, it would seem as if Waupaca would have been the better choice.

            The 1912 Waupaca County plat book shows the Scandinavia-Waupaca branch of the Green Bay & Western with tracks near the quarry, so the coming of the tracks to the quarry made the shipping of the finished product faster and cheaper.

            The Waupaca Granite Company at one time employed as many as 145 men, mostly stone-cutters, and they maintained their own general store and sleeping quarters for the employees.  They had their own machine shop and blacksmith shop to care for the horses.

            Thomas W. Davidson of Waupaca was in charge of the Waupaca Granite Company until it closed.  Under his supervision, three carloads of pilasters and columns were sent to Madison for the south and east wings of the state capitol.

            Tommy Davidson had a small shop where he sold monuments.  Small bits and pieces of granite may be found at this location directly across to the west of the lower South Park entrance.

            The going wages at the Waupaca Granite Company ranged from $1 to $4 per day.  It appears that after several years of operation, seams appeared in the granite and it became unprofitable to operate.  It was abandoned in the early 1920’s.

            Warranty Deed, volume 65, page 41, shows that S. Ripley and J. L. Mead of Winnebago County purchased from Thorwoldt Nelson, for $50, the property sections 32 and 33, in the Town of St. Lawrence.  This was dated August 3, 1885.

            Warranty Deed, volume 65, page 39, also dated August 3, 1885, shows that Boe Peterson sold to S. Ripley and J. L. Mead, that part of the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 5 of the Town of Waupaca, and that part of the NW ¼ and the NW ¼ of Section 4, lying and being on the north side of the highway as now traveled across said forties, containing about 10 acres, expecting and reserving the timber now lying, or being on said land and the right to enter upon and remove in a reasonable time.

            In the later part of the 1880s, it became evident that granite had possibilities in building and ornamental works.  The tombstones made of granite came on the scene now, because they came in beautiful colors, were far more durable than marble or sandstone, and would last for years and years.

            On October 25, 1899, there came the inception of the Wisconsin Granite Company, which was located a few rods northwest of the Waupaca depot.  More about this granite quarry in a later column.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

October 04, 1990

 

            One evening I received a telephone call from Mr. Everett Anderson.  He asked me if I was interested in the story about an attempted rain robbery that happened September 19, 1885.  I told him that I would be very much interested.  He told me that the article could be found in the September 20, 1885 issue of the Waupaca Republican.  He ran across this story while he was doing some genealogical research.

            The first attempted train robbery, in central Wisconsin, happened the night of September 19, 1885, in a spruce swamp three miles northwest of Waupaca.  Old No. 2 was coming south after leaving Sheridan, with an express and baggage car, a smoking car, two coaches and two sleepers.  Gilbert Whitney was the conductor. Scott Blaine was the engineer and Charley was the fireman.

            The train was nearing the spruce swamp about halfway between Waupaca and Sheridan when a man came running toward the train swinging a torch and yelling for the engineer to stop because there was a broken rail ahead.  The engineer slowed the train down when he saw the trouble ahead, but not in time to prevent the ditching of Old No. 2. Luckily no other damage resulted.

            No sooner had the train come to a stop when three or four men with large revolvers fired volleys of shots into the air and through the windows of the smoker and coaches, at the same time ordering the passengers to lay low or be shot, and the command was obeyed.

            Two men boarded the express and baggage car and ordered F. L. Robinson to open the safe.  He refused, so the gunman held Mr. Robinson in the corner of the car with his gun while the other one of the gang attempted to blow open the safe with dynamite.  Eight charges were used in all, the last being made with a whole stick.  At this point they assisted Mr. Robinson out of the car before it went off.  The outer door of the safe was blown off, but they failed to damage the inner steel chest that held the money.

            They either became scared or ran out of dynamite because they took off for the woods.  In the meantime the engineer had gotten away and started down the tracks toward Waupaca to meet the next train coming north, and the brakeman went back to Sheridan and telegraphed for help.

            Sheriff Peterson was on the train at the time, but he said when the bullets commenced to whiz through the windows it was impossible to organize any force to face the Winchesters and the dynamite.  It seems that the passengers thought it best to follow the instruction and lay low until the ordeal was over.  One man boarded one of the sleepers, and the porter asked him what he wanted.  His answer was that he was looking for his partner, and then walked through the car and left.  It was thought that an effort would be made to rob the passengers, but since the outlaw did not find his partner as he had expected, the attempt was abandoned.  They had been working for over an hour in their attempt to rob the train, and maybe, thinking that they had heard another train and fearing that they might get trapped, they fled into the darkness.

            All of the night trains were stopped in Waupaca and the restaurants did a rushing business. Superintendent Marsh was on the scene soon after the incident with a crew to clear the tracks and get the engine jacked up and put back on the tracks.  The ill-fated train was pulled into the depot about 10:00 the next morning looking as if it had been in a war.  Many spectators had gathered to view the damages.  The express company and the authorities ordered a rigid search.  Sheriff Peterson also had a big posse searching the area, but the robbers seemed to have vanished into the air.

            If my memory serves me right, I read at one time that a skeleton had been found in that swamp area many years later, and it was thought that the skeleton may have been one of the robbers.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

October 11, 1990

 

            The Wisconsin Granite Company operated in Waupaca until about 1915, when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.  Over the years, the methods of street paving had changed to concrete and asphalt and the plant was abandoned.

            According to the Warranty Deed, volume 97, page 204, dated May 25, 1899, N. P. Nelson and his wife, Ellen R. Nelson, and Mads Rasmussen and his wife, Mary Rasmussen, all of Waupaca, sold to the Waupaca Crushed Granite and Stone Company of Racine, Wis.  The description of the property is faint and hard to read, but it is described in chains, link and degrees.  The selling price was $1,000.

            Warranty Deed, volume 104, page 32, dated April 26, 1902, shows that the Waupaca Crushed Granite and Stone Company sold their holdings to the Western Consolidated Granite Company of Chicago, Ill., including in the machinery, crushers, boilers, screens and other equipment.

            Warranty Deed, volume 110, page 593, dated May 20, 1905, shows that the Western Consolidated Granite and Stone Company sold out to the Wisconsin Granite Company, also of Chicago, Ill., so now we are at the beginning of the Wisconsin Granite Company that was located north of the main Soo Line tracks, about one half mile west of the Waupaca Depot.  This was supposed to be one of the six quarries owned and operated in Wisconsin.  The Red Granite and Montello quarries may have been two of the others.

            The Wisconsin Granite Company produced, in carload lots, granite paving blocks for pavements and crushed granite in various sizes for of the types of pavement work.  Most of the products were shipped to the Chicago market.

            In the first years of operation they employed 50 to 60 men in manufacturing paving blocks and six different sizes, or grades, of crushed granite for paving and cement work.  It also produced a grade of crushed granite that was in the manufacturing of asphalt shingles, and sold to other roofing places where the patent roofing was manufactured.

            A considerable amount of the crushed granite was used on state highways in Waupaca and Portage counties.  In later years the work force increased to approximately 100 men.  Many were employed as stone-cutters who produced paving blocks by hand.  These blocks were about eight by eight feet, by 10 inches.

            The huge crushing and screening plant was of wooden construction three or four stories in height with a cable-way leading from the quarry hole to hoist the granite to the plant to be crashed.

            The hole was 150 to 200 feet deep and required constant pumping of the water to keep the pit dry.

            A big power plant supplied the steam power for operating the crushers and screens, as well as many steam drills operating in the quarry hole.

            This plant was different from the one that was four miles to the north, in that it did not have a polishing plant.  It may have been that this granite was of poorer quality and color and not suited to ornamental work.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

October 18, 1990

 

            This story is not historical or earthshaking, but it is about a man who was born and raised on a farm in the Scandinavia area, who later in his life was billed as the tallest man in the world.

            Clifford Thomason was born sometime in the very first years of the 1900’s, a son of Julius and Carrie Johnson Thompson.  He was 8’ 6” tall, and tipped the scales at 324 pounds.  But in an article in the Waupaca County Post dated July 6, 1944, he is shown as the second tallest man, following a man who was 8’ 7” tall and weighed in at 460 pounds.

            After his graduation from the Stevens Point Teachers’ College in 1926, he made his living with carnivals and circuses because of his height.  In the spring of 1926, after his completion of college, he filed several applications for teacher positions.  One of the requirements on the application was to list some personal data including height.  Since he showed his height at 8’ 6”, none of the applications were ever answered.  None had even the courtesy of polite refusal.  He often wondered if the school heads to whom the applications were sent believed that he made a simple error in arithmetic in putting down his height as 8’ 6”, or believed that he would scare the children.  At any rate, that closed the doors to a teaching profession.

            In the summer of 1926, a traveling carnival came to Stevens Point.  He was wandering around the lot when he was noticed and immediately offered employment.  He was kept busy for the next five years traveling with five different carnival companies. It was not unusual for many performers to stay with the same show until death or old age ended their careers.

            The Al. G. Barnes show was one of the big outfits that belonged to the giant Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey organization, which controlled nearly all of the outfits under the canvas tops.

            In the carnivals, Cliff Thompson was advertised for a time as “Count Olaf of Norway,” but with the Al G. Barnes show, he was known throughout the United States as “Cliff Thompson.”

            Part of his act was selling pictures of himself, and metal rings that were a snug fit on his forefinger and through which a half dollar could pass with ease.

            His one difficulty was sleeping accommodations.  A few hotels in the West which he favored had special size beds where he could stretch out for a good night sleep and not have to be curled up like a crescent.

            His clothes were made to measure. He once stated that the only things that he could buy in a store were neckties and toothbrushes.

            One night in the early 1940s, my wife, Alta, and I were standing in line for the doors of the Palace Theater to open when Alta, with bewilderment in her eyes, motioned for me to turn around.  As I slowly turned around, I was looking nearly straight at a big belt buckle.  My eyes started to look upward at the big bulk of a man, and here was Cliff Thompson with his big hat and broad smile.

            Cliff Thompson traveled the circus circuit for 12 years throughout the country.  In 1944, he was granted a writ of attachment against the Cole Bros. Circus for back pay.

            In June of 1944, Mr. and Mrs. Julius G. Thompson, formerly of Scandinavia, returned from Milwaukee where they attended the graduation of their son Clifford from the law school at Marquette University.

            Clifford Thompson was married to Harriet Bryant of Fort Worth, TX, in May of 1930 in Fort Myers, FL, where the circus troupe was playing.  His bride was 5’ 2” tall.  In their wedding picture, she had to raise her hand face level for him to place the ring on her finger.

            Clifford Thompson passed away October 12, 1955 in Portland, OR.  He had been a practicing attorney there for some time.  When he first started out, he practiced law in Iola for a short time.  He had moved to the West Coast about 10 years before his death.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

October 25, 1990

 

            Frederick Emil Lund had the largest harness business in Waupaca County in 1895.  He was born in the Province of Sjelland, Denmark, Nov. 7, 1843, a son of Nelson and Anna (Jensen) Lund.

            Nelson Lund, the father, was born in 1800, in Jylland, Denmark.  In 1840, he was appointed roadmaster, or road inspector, a position which he held for 16 years.  He retired due to ill health and died in 1859.  His wife lived until 1870.  They were the parents of 13 children; in 1895 there was only five still living:  Peter, Christian, Caroline, Sophia and Frederick E., the subject of this story.

            Frederick attended school in Denmark, from ages 7 through 14.  These were the years that were prescribed by law in Denmark at that time, so at the age of 15, he was apprenticed by his mother to a harness maker for five years.

            During this period of time the young apprentice would receive nothing for his services; his clothing was provided by his mother.

            For about a year after he completed his apprenticeship he worked in various shops, and in the spring of 1867, he decided to come to America.  He landed at New York City May 1, 1867, and reached Waupaca eight days later with only 50¢ in his pocket.  Now, he was forced to work as a common laborer to provide for his daily existence, but all the time he kept in mind his trade as a harness maker.

            Within two months – to be exact it was on July 8, 1867 – he went to work in the shop of a William Temme.  Here he stayed as a steady and reliable employee for the next two years.  In 1869 he left for Iowa, where he remained for a couple of years before returning to Waupaca with his new wife, Mary Larson, whom he had married in Iowa.

            Mr. Lund resumed his old place in the shop of Mr. Temme where he worked for the next five years. By that time he had saved a neat sum of money and wished for a shop of his own.

            Frederick Emil Lund realized his dreams on July 4, 1876, when he opened a harness shop for himself.  This was the Centennial Day of the Declaration of American Independence, so this was a double celebration for him.

            Frederick E. Lund was married three times. His first wife was Mary Larson, and they had three children:  Anna, Albert and Waldemar.  His second wife was Christine Johnson. They were married in Waupaca in 1878.  She died four years later leaving a little daughter, Caroline.  For his third wife he married Berthine Christianson, in 1884, and she bore him two children:  Christian and Martha.

            In 1893 Mr. Lund paid a visit to his old home and friends in Denmark. Mr. Lund died in 1919.  It was then that his son-in-law, Frederick Andersen, purchased the business.

            Frederick Christian Andersen, son of Thomas and Kerstine Andersen, was born in Hjorring, Jutland, Denmark, September 6, 1865 and died at the home of his brother, Louis, in Berkeley, California.

            As a young lad he learned the harness trade in Hjorring, Denmark.  After the completion of his apprenticeship he left Denmark for America, landing May 3, 1884. He then came directly to Waupaca where he found employment with Frederick Emil Lund, at the Old Reliable Harness Shop.

            On April 12, 1898 he married Anna Lund, his boss’ daughter.  They had one daughter, Helga.  Mrs. Anna Andersen passed away on October 7, 1924.  After the death of F. E. Lund in 1919, Mr. Andersen bought the business and ran it until his death, except for a few months that he worked in Amherst, Racine and Chicago.  Frederick Christian Andersen passed away June 16, 1939.

            Delbert (Dell) Carl Andersen married Helga, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Lund on July 2, 1939 in Waupaca, so now another son-in-law became an owner of the Old Reliable Harness Shop on North Main Street.

            There were hundreds of harnesses that were switched, oiled and repaired at this location through the years of existence, up to the year 1956, when only three harnesses were oiled.  In 1956 Delbert Andersen sold out his stock, and the building was leased to the Assembly of God, who remodeled the building and operated a stationery and book, besides using part of the space for offices.

            How many can remember the life-size model of a horse that stood in the big window?

 

            The information for this story was taken from the “Commemorative Biographical Record of Upper Wisconsin,” and the “Waupaca Centennial Book 1857-1957.”

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 1, 1990

 

            Charles W. Ogden was one of five sons of Caleb and Catherine E. (Hoag) Ogden.  There were also five daughters in the family.

            Charles W., for a short time, was a partner with his father in the Waupaca newspaper business, until he decided to try a more adventurous life.

            Charles Ogden was born in Ogdensburg, Wis., December 16, 1862.  In 1866, the family moved to Waupaca.  When he was 13 years of age, he started work in the office of his brother, John Ogden, at the Waupaca Post, to learn the newspaper business.

            In 1881, he went on his own and opened the first music store in Waupaca.  It was about 1883 that he sold out to try the hotel business at the Lewis House.  This was the same location on which the Delavan Hotel was later built.  It is now the site of Bank One.

            Not content with the hotel life, he ventured into the dramatic profession under Harry L. Seymore. After a couple of years of character acting, he was convinced that he was not cut out to be an actor.

            It was sometime in this part of his life that he married Carrie Scoville.  I cannot find any marriage or death record for her, but there is a death record in the Register of Deeds office for a two-day-old-infant daughter who was born to Charles Ogden and Carrie Scoville.  The infant was born July 19, 1883 and died July 21, 1883. She was buried in the Waupaca cemetery.

            In 1886, he started out as a foreman at the Mining Record in Ironwood, Mich., when the Gogebic Range was in its infancy.  Mr. Ogden remained there for 18 months before he became engaged as a manager of the Iron Journal, a paper devoted to the interests of mining of the Vermilion Range, located in Tower, Minn.  He once again felt foot-loose and fancy free, so in February of 1888, he resigned his position with the Iron Journal and left for San Diego, Calif., where he met and married Miss Sylvia Sherman.

            It was in June of 1889 that the newlyweds returned to Waupaca, and in the fall, he went into partnership with John L. Sturtevant in buying the Waupaca-Post.  John M. Ware, a farmer and livestock dealer living two miles north of Waupaca, also had a financial interest in the venture.  This was known as Sturtevant-Ogden and Ware.  It has been written that there is no reliable record of the transitions in several years, but John L. Sturtevant sold out to D. F. Burnham back in about 1907.

            Let us turn back a few years in time to 1888 when Charles Ogden married Sylvia Sherman and returned to Waupaca to live.  She was born in 1872.

            It was here in Waupaca that they became the parents of five children, one of these died in infancy.  This was a daughter born June 6, 1891 and died June 7, 1891.  She was buried in the Waupaca cemetery.  This left four children to live and enjoy a full life.  There were:  Ray, Francis, Ethel and Mary. Sylvia Ogden died on June 2, 1907 in Dalton, Wis., and is also buried in the Waupaca cemetery, the only grave with a marker.  It is presumed that she died while the stock show of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was on the road.  Charles W. Ogden had a traveling show, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” for several years before the death of his wife.

            The following is taken from an ad that appeared in the Waupaca Record dated May 11, 1905:

            “Ogden’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company will open the season’s work with a performance on May 13, under a large, waterproof canvas.  Ogden’s Company has grown more popular each year under the capable management of Chas. Ogden.  The cast is:

                        Uncle Tom                                         George Miltimore

                        St. Claire                                       Hal Lawrence

                        Geo. Harris                                       W. L. Holmes

                        Marks                                                   Otis Knight

                        Simon Legree                                      Willys L. Holmes

                        Phineas Fletcher                                    Harry Janette

                        Geo. Shelby                                      Ray Ogden

                        Haley                                                   Harry Bye

                        Gumption Cute                                     Ralph Nowell

                        Harry Harris                                       Master Sherman

                        Sambo                                                  Al. G. Frost

                        Quimbo                                     Wm. Lark

                        Eliza                                                     Bessie Knight 

                        Orphelia                                              Myrtle LaPaloma

                        Marie                                                   Flossie Gates

                        Chloe                                                    Allie Thorn  

                        Emiline                                                  Marie Bell

                        Topsy                                                   Ethel Ogden

                        Eva                                                      Francis Ogden

            “Specialties during each wait, ‘Biff Bang’ from the raise of the front drop until the closing.  We can only mention a few to be featured:  Jenette, the Mexican Juggler; Wiggins, contortionist; Knight and Miss Bessie, a sketch team; the Holmes Entertainers; the Hayseed Quartette; Ethel Ogden, in coon songs and King Sherman, the five-year-old wonder, in a new line.  Ask your leading musician in regard to Frank E. Rose and his slip horn.  The prices remain the same, 15 and 25¢.  Parade at 11:30, concert 7:15.”

 

            I did not find when Charles Ogden dispersed his show, but in 1910, he went to Colorado to live, and he disappeared from the Waupaca scene.  The rest of his life in Colorado came to light in 1935, when his obituary appeared in the Waupaca County Post.  This is only the start of a burial mystery to follow:

            It was in 1976, while I was doing some research at the Holly Funeral Home, that in the course of a conversation with Tom Holly, he mentioned receiving the ashes of Charles W. Ogden with a note that said “hold for further burial instructions.”  This was in 1935, and it was now 1976 – 41 years later – and as of yet, no instructions had been forthcoming.  As a result, his ashes were still 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, Colorado.

            It was at this point that I thought that his ashes should be buried in the Lakeside Memorial Park beside Sylvia, his second wife.  His funeral had been held in Saquache, Colo., prior to his cremation in Denver.  I knew from his obituary that the family still ran the Saquache Crescent, so I wrote a letter to that address in hope of finding someone to see if they were aware that his ashes were never buried.  To my surprise, I received a nice letter from Mrs. Jack K. (Irene) Gray, who is a daughter of Mr. Ogden by his third wife.

            The first letter I received from Irene Gray stated that she was surprised to hear that her father’s ashes were never buried.  The family never realized that they had never sent the final instructions for burial.  To my knowledge, no instructions have ever been sent.

            Irene Gray went on to say that, “at the time of his death, the family never appreciated the colorful life he led.  In fact, I think we took it for granted as we grew up with the stories of the shows, etc.  In looking back, we realize his life was indeed an adventuresome one.”

            Mr. Ogden ran a paper in Moffat, Colo., where Irene was born right on press day.  Shortly after, he sold the paper and moved to Albuquerque, NM, where her sister, Marie, was born.  They lived in Albuquerque about four years where she said that “her daddy worked on a newspaper there in the mailing department.”

            In 1917, it was learned through a lawyer friend that the Saquache Crescent was for sale. After the down payment was made, he had only a nickel left in his pocket.

            By now; Charles W. Ogden had a fourth wife, Mary Elizabeth, but her last name was not given.  Irene Gray went on to say that “Mom worked as a typesetter in the office and they hired another typesetter for $18 a month.  When Marie and I were teenagers, Dad purchased a dance hall, and the family ran it along with the printing office.  Marie and I both learned to set type, both by hand and to run a Linotype which dad purchased in 1925.  I remember that Francis Ogden came to help set it up and ran it for about a year.  Francis then married and moved to Albuquerque where he worked on a newspaper until his death on August 7, 1950, at the age of 53.”

            In the obituary for Charles W. Ogden, it states that the “Ogden family now publishes the only newspaper in Saquache, the county seat, and the paper bears a striking resemblance to the old Waupaca Post as it was published by Sturtevant, Ogden and Ware 40 years ago.”

            Ray Ogden followed the circus route all his life, and played in various bands in and around Dallas, Texas.  He died July 25, 1965 in Fort Smith, Arizona, at the age of 66.  Ethel married and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she lived until her death on May 19, 1958, at the age of 67.  Mary never married and was a private secretary to the head of the veterans’ hospital, first in Oklahoma City, and later in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  She died on August 16, 1963.

            I recently contacted Roman Jungers of Holly Funeral Home.  It was agreed that since the ashes of Charles W. Ogden had been held for nearly 55 years with no instructions for burial, they could be buried with his second wife, Sylvia, in Lakeside Memorial Park.

            I contacted Rick Martin, the sexton at the cemetery, and he told me that there would be no problem and that he would take care of it.

            On October 17, 1990, the Holly Funeral Home delivered the ashes to Mr. Martin for burial.

            Now the curtain has fallen on the final act in the life of Charles W. Ogden and his families throughout the years.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 8, 1990

 

            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 retained 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 joined 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.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 15, 1990

 

            Christian Neilson was born on a small farm near Copenhagen, Denmark, a son of Neils Christianson and Christine Jorgenson. Christian had a brother, George, who was older than he, and a sister, Mary, who was younger.  Neils Christianson also had a daughter, Anna, and possibly a son by a previous marriage, of whom there seems to be no record.

            Neils Christianson, the father, was the owner of a small farm near Copenhagen where he lived and cultivated the land.  Neils Christianson sawed ship lumber to help in making a better life, until that day in 1845, when he was killed by being struck by a log.

            Christian was born on the farm near Copenhagen, on December 3, 1828. He was only 17 years old when his father was killed in that accident.  As a young boy, Christian herded the cattle and the geese on the farm, as there were no fences to keep them within their boundaries.

            After the death of his father in 1845, Christian remained on the farm for another year, attending school in the meantime until he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Frederiksborg, Denmark, a small community near Copenhagen, to learn the shoemaker trade.  He served his five year apprenticeship while living with his employer and received his living as compensation.  After his apprenticeship he worked another three years to become a master shoemaker.  He then moved into Copenhagen and opened his own business.  He often had shoes from the King’s Palace to repair and was often paid in used clothing.

            By now, he was using the name of Christian Nelson.  Christian Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Julie Marie Pauling Jorgenson, in Copenhagen, on June 5, 1854.  She was a daughter of Hans Jorgenson and Johanne Marie Christensen.  She was born December 23, 1827.  She received her education and special training as a seamstress.  Five children were born to this union of which two boys and a girl died in Denmark.  The two sons to survive were Julius, born in 1858, and Thorwoldt, born in 1861.

            At the time American steamship companies sent special agents to the European countries to encourage people to come to the United States to live.  Some worked on a commission basis.  It was an Episcopal minister, named Sorenson, who sold Christian Nelson the tickets for himself and his family.

            They left their home at Number 2, Spring Street, Copenhagen, in early May of 1863. Julius was five years old and Thorwoldt had his second birthday while in Liverpool, England, where they met a group of Norwegians who were on their way to Scandinavia, Wis., to join some relatives who had settled there.

            Their ship landed in Montreal, Canada.  They traveled together as far as Grand Haven, Mich., when they ran out of money. Their Norwegian friends turned out to be more than friends; they offered to loan Christian the $40 to complete his trip, and assured him that their relatives could put the family up until something came along.

            Upon arriving at Scandinavia, the situation was not as rosy as it was first thought to be.  The relatives’ home was not as large as they had thought and the Nelsons moved into a one-room log shed with no windows or doors to keep out the cold.  It was also located about a mile from Scandinavia.  They lived there until after the fall harvest.  The neighbors gave them milk for the two boys for the first week,

            From there Christian walked to Waupaca where he found employment with a shoemaker who paid him $10 a week.  Julie did any work that she could find to supplement their income.  Within four weeks Christian had paid back the $40 loan.

            Christian walked to Waupaca, a distance of about eight miles, every Sunday evening or early Monday morning and returned to Scandinavia every Saturday night, so he could spend Sundays with his family.

            At harvest time Julie gleaned wheat from the farmers’ fields and ground it in a coffee mill for bread.  When fall came they had saved enough money to move to a home in Waupaca, on Granite Street.

            Christian Nelson worked for Louis Larson in his shop on South Main Street.  It seems as if a Mr. Parrish owned a shop next door to Mr. Larson’s and he also wanted Christian to work for him.  Christian wondered just how he could do justice to both parties and show equal time to both, so he bought a two-room house at 211 N. Division Street, where he worked for both men.  He used the front room for his shop where he repaired shoes.  He also made new shoes, and on some Julie did decorative stitching.  Someone convinced Mr. Larson that there was a wonderful opportunity in the state of Kansas raising corn and hogs, so Christian bought him out and ran this shop on South Main Street for a few years.

            Later, Christian bought a building on the river bank on East Fulton Street.  At this location there was a big drop from the street level to the river, so the shop was built up in several levels from the river bank to the street level, with the shop located on the street level.  It was not connected, however, so a narrow bridge was built from the street to the shop.

            The family lived in the bottom room, below the shop.  Each room was on a different level with steps from the lowest level to the next room.  The third room was two steps above the second room, and this was the sleeping quarters for the two boys.  This room was not high enough for a man to stand erect.

            Julie’s health became poor during their residence in the basement, and their doctor advised them to move to their place at 211 N. Division St.

            It was during these years that a young man by the name of Chris Wied came to America from Denmark and worked for Christian Nelson and made his home with them.  When young Chris Wied had earned enough money for the passage of his family, he sent for them, but his mother wrote back that his father had passed away and she didn’t feel that she could make the trip alone with the other five children.

            Sometime later Christian Nelson went to Denmark for a visit and brought Mrs. Wied and her three sons and two daughters with him to Waupaca where they moved into the basement under the shoe store, where they lived until they moved to the Town of Lind where William bought a farm.  The William Wied family was well known in this area.

            Christian’s next venture was to buy a lot on Water Street, where he built and operated a shoe shop for a couple of years.  It was here that Thorwoldt, his youngest son, started to learn the trade from his father, at a very early age. He was only 13 years old when he quit school, but his brother, Julius, was interested in school and was among the first class to graduate from Waupaca High School.

            Christian was helping Julius finance his education, so to even things he bought Thorwoldt a farm in the Granite Quarry District when he was 17.  Thorwoldt left his father’s shop and went to live alone on the farm.  His mother made regular trips to see Thorwoldt to do some baking and cleaning.

            The land was rocky, and some years passed when he realized that most of his time was spent in clearing the rocks from the land.  He took pride in his horses, especially fast-driving horses that let no one pass him on the road.

            At that time the Granite Quarry was doing a booming business and Thorwoldt did some hauling of the granite for them. He also cut and hauled logs to Waupaca.  He stamped the ends of each log with his initials TN.  This was done so each logger’s logs could be identified at the mill.  The logs were rolled down the hill from Main Street to the river just south of the City Hall. In the spring when the ice broke up, the logs would float downstream to the sawmill.

            Thorwoldt played the fiddle and the accordion at country dances.

            In 1883 Christian sold his shop and went to the state of Washington to try his fortune there.  His wife, Julie, then went to live with Thorwoldt on the farm. In Washington, Christian worked for a shoemaker, who was forced out of business and Christian no longer had a job, so he returned to Waupaca and stayed for a year on his farm that he had previously purchased.

            Julius had finished his high school education and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin and John Hopkins University and received his degree of Doctor of Philosophy.  He then became professor of biology at Rutger’s University, at New Brunswick, NJ.  He married Nellie Chase of Madison on August of 1888.  They had six children.  Julius died in March 1915 and Nellie died in 1935.

            In 1888 Christian Nelson bought back his former shop on East Fulton Street from the widow of Mr. Peterson, and went back to shoemaking, the occupation he continued at this location until he retired about 1902, but not before he had razed the old shoe shop in East Fulton Street and rebuilt a new modern one on the same location, that stands today at 109 East Fulton, owned by Attorney Laurie W. Anderson and used as his law office.

            Thorwoldt was married on May 2, 1888, to Miss Anna Caroline Peterson, who was a daughter of Soren and Karen Marie Jacobson Peterson.  After Thorwoldt was married, Christian built a small house for Julie on the farm close to the Granite Quarry, where she lived until Thorwoldt left the farm and she moved back to Waupaca and lived in the rooms above Christian’s shop, which was nothing more than a loft.

            One day Thorwoldt returned to the farm and told his wife, Annie, “I guess we will move to town; father needs help in the shop, and wants me to work for him.”  So the spring of 1898 found them in Waupaca in the house at 211 N. Division St.  There was plenty of land for gardening, a barn for a pair of horses, with a stable beneath for a cow, an island for the cow to graze in the summer and a playground for the children.  Thorwoldt built a small bridge to the island.  On this island the children picked violets, climbed the butternut tree and had picnics with the neighborhood children.  The children played house in a little box house that the boys had made.

            This island was removed in 1934 to make way for progress.  This island was dug out and deposited back of the City Hall to provide access to the rear entrance of the buildings there.  This altered the course of the river and it no longer ran close to the rear of the buildings.  There is a nice playground area here today.

            Thorwoldt and Anna had nine children:  one died at birth and was buried in the garden behind the house on the farm in the Granite Quarry District.  The children that grew to maturity were:  Julia, who married Clarence Nelson; Harry, who married Marjorie Sherman; Walter, who married Grace Wied; Mabel, who married Myron Godfrey; Clara, who married Kenneth Cristy; Esther, who married Earl Granberg; George, who married Agnes Kolb; and Reuben, who married Gertrude Manson.

            Sometime just before the 1900s, Thorwoldt went to work for Ed Churchill in his shop on Union Street opposite the jail.  Christian told Thorwoldt to take the job, because it was more than he could pay.  In 1903 Ed Churchill decided to move to the west coast and he sold out his stock and business to Thorwoldt and moved away.  Thorwoldt then moved back to his father’s former place on West Fulton Street on the north side of the Courthouse Square.  He did some remodeling and was open for business in 1904 at his new shop, The Stone Front Shoe Store.  Here he sold new shoes and repaired old ones.  Thorwoldt used the same repair bench that Christian, his father, brought from Canada.  Although all of the children at one time or another helped in the store, Walter really became the manager from the time that he graduated from high school until he enlisted in the Army in World War I.  After the war, Walter became the postmaster for Waupaca. Seth Ballard and a Mr. Todd were hired as clerks during the war years. The store was sold to Harold Harrington, but Thorwoldt remained at his bench until 1947, working for Mr. Harrington.

            In the Waupaca County Post, dated February 13, 1947, there was a picture of Thorwoldt Nelson working at his cobbler bench which he had used for 55 years.  He was 86 years old at the time.  Mr. Nelson’s greatest fear was the day that he would have to retire; he said that he felt like 50 and was good for another 10 years.

            Thorwoldt Nelson did retire in 1947, and died January 5, 1959, age 98 years.  His wife, Anna, preceded him in death on December 20, 1943, age 84 years.  They are buried in the family plot in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.

            Julia, Mrs. Clarence Nelson, who is now 101 years old, living in Fort Wayne, IN, is the last survivor of Thorwoldt Nelson’s family.  It is through her memoirs that much of this material was taken.

            Tom and Eloise Godfrey have most graciously loaned me her papers, that she had written as she had remembered things as a girl growing up.

            Tom Godfrey is a great-grandson of Christian Nelson and has in his possession the old cobbler bench that his great-grandfather bought secondhand in Canada, well over 100 years ago.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 21, 1990

 

I wish to apologize for omitting the names of the other two living descendants of “Thorwoldt and Anna Caroline Nelson in my last article that appeared in the November 15 issue of the Waupaca County Post.  They are:  Clara Marie Christy who is living in a nursing home in Woodstock, Ill., and just had her 94^th birthday on November 14, 1990, and Esther Jeannette Granberg, who is still living alone in Oshkosh and just had her 92^nd birthday on November 9, 1990.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 21, 1990

 

            Adelbert Monroe Penney, the one-time Potato King of Wisconsin, at one time had plans to build a new and modern hotel in Waupaca on the site where the Delavan Hotel was located on the southeast corner of Main and East Union Streets.

            His daughter, Rose was instrumental in changing his mind to building a new theater instead of putting his money into a hotel.  A. M. Penney, as he was better known, started to break ground for the new theater in early spring of 1920.

            C. W. Nelson was the architect, Theodore Anderson was the general contractor, Bernie Wilson was the electrical contractor, and William Auer had the plumbing contract.

            The New Palace Theater opened two weeks later than scheduled because Bernie Wilson had to spend two weeks at the National Guard Camp.

            It was built at an estimated cost of $100,000, and was erected as a monument to the City of Waupaca.  The Palace Theater opened its doors for the first time October 4, 1920, with the stage production, “The Old Homestead,” put on by a road company passing through Waupaca from Milwaukee to Minneapolis.

            J. W. Schienssner, who was the manager, had also booked Barrier’s Waupaca Orchestra for the opening occasion and Ethwell (Eddy) Hanson at the “Golden Voiced” baritone pipe organ, Eddy’s father, Gus Hanson, was playing cornet, Soren Johnson on trombone, Clint Hartman on bass, Art Feregan on clarinet and Ben Peterson on cello.

            Through the early years the Palace Theater served as a hub for civic activities as well as showing stage productions and silent films.  The popular Carroll’s Waupaca City Band of those days and the Lawrence College Men’s Glee Club of Appleton were frequent performers in those days.

            The admission price ranged from 25¢ for adults and 15¢ for children on weekdays to 50¢ for adults on Sundays.

            Easter Sunday, 1921, was a big day for the Palace Theater patrons, as Mary Pickford smiled across the screen in “Pollyanna” and the Palace Male Quartet sang. The members of this quartet were:  Henry Nelson, Orlando Anderson, Arnold Christiansen and George Lindahl.  The Palace Theater also had its own orchestra in the pit.  They were E. Lowe, E. Chady, Jesse Loberg, Tom Temple, Henry Nelson, John McCall and Reed Holm.

            Through the early years, the Palace had several managers, including O.H. Brown, Schienssner, Joe Winneger, John Lucia and R. C. Wheller.  In the later years there were Arlo Clausen, E. P. Kissinger, E.D. Rodgers and Dorothy Helgerson.

            During the roaring ‘20s, the Palace featured such stars of the silent films as Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Rudolph Valentino, the Gish Sisters, Harold Lloyd and William Boyd.  When the Depression hit in 1929 the theater was forced to make some price changes. On Thursday nights they had what they called a family night, when the whole family was admitted for 25¢.  By now the talkies were coming into existence.  There were problems tying to keep the audio synchronized with the video.  The mouth may have been moving, but there was no sound.

            On February 10, 1929, “The Shopworn Angel,” starring Nancy Carroll and Gary Cooper, gained the distinction of being the first talkie to reach the Palace screen.  Local talent was not forgotten.  On November 3 and 4, 1931, the Girl Scouts of Waupaca sponsored “West of Broadway.”  The cast were:  Allen Scott, Josephine Diekhoff, Howard Jeffers, Carolyn Court, Ray Jensen, Eloise Quimby and Andrew Larson.

            In 1932, John P. Adler of Marshfield leased the Palace Theater from the Penney estate. During these early years of the 1930s, Bank Nights were started on Thursday nights with a double feature and the admission price dropped to 14¢ and children’s matinees on Saturday were 5¢.

            They still had shows on the stage. The local paper stated that the local gay blades got an eyeful when Sally Rand appeared as a fan dancer.  Lula Belle and Scotty of WLS barn dance fame and Gene Autry, before he became a star, all graced the Palace stage.

            In 1934, the pretty Maxine Holman, a Waupaca personality, appeared on the stage doing her fan dance routine.  It is something to do a fan dance, and it something to do a toe dance, but it is really something to combine them together!

            In 1937 J.P. Adler bought the Palace Theater from the Penney estate, and in 1939 he carried out a full-scale remodeling job.  The orchestra pit and the organ, which both had since ceased to be important with the advent of talkies, were taken out.  The organ was sold to a church in Stevens Point, the wooden seats received new cushions, a new ticket booth was built, the projectionist booth was revamped, new fire-proof doors were installed, as was a new generator.  The two ornamental lamps that stood in front of the theater were removed and later they were installed in front off the Scandinavia Lutheran church at Scandinavia.

            Back in 1936 when the film, “Birth of a Baby,” was shown there were nurses on hand and two men fainted during the show.  On the brighter side, “Sing-Alongs” were popular at the Palace when the audience would all join in and sing together.  After 1939 the Palace Theater became more of a straight movie house, although the Waupaca High School continued to hold their graduation exercises there until the late 1950s.

            Attendance records were set with such movies as, “Gone With the Wind,” “Mutiny On the Bounty” and the “Greatest Show on Earth,” which all ran for a week.  The last senior class play was held there in 1953 when the curtain fell on the final act of “A Change of Heart.”  The cast consisted of:  Carol Barden, Sheilla Harris, Marge Schmahl, Marie Doro, Kathleen Hill, Donna Bartleson, Jim Abrahamson, Mike Fallgatter, Tim Schroeder, Bob Hanson, Roger Wilson, Mary Bradley, Shirley Button, Lois Nikles, Paul Suhs and Dave Hathaway.

            By the mid-1950s the die had been cast.  The attendance was dwindling as the movies were being replaced by TV.

            On January 12, 1957 the Palace closed its doors forever as manager Dorothy Helgerson counted the last receipts and projectionist Orville Ayres rewound the last roll of film.

            The last film to be shown was, “Seven Men From the Nile,” starring Randolph Scott, Gail Russell and Lee Marvin.

            In 1961 seven men staged the biggest production ever played at the Palace, as they demolished the once beautiful theater that was rated as one of the theatrical and cinema showpieces of central Wisconsin.  The Palace Theater was being sold to the Farmers State Bank, of Waupaca to be used as their parking lot. The Farmers State Bank that once stood on the corner of Main and West Fulton Streets now stands on the old Palace Theater site.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

November 29, 1990

 

George H. Calkins was a great grandson of John Calkins, a yeoman of New York, a liberty-loving patriot who took up arms against the British to save the American cause.

John Calkins, the grandfather, married Jane Eyre and they had a family of eight children.  Varanes Calkins, who was one of these eight children, married Betsey Utter, and they had two children.  George H. Calkins, who was one of the two children, is the subject of this article. He was born April 21, 1830, at Castle (Wyoming County), N.Y.

Varanes Calkins, the father, was a farmer.  He left New York and moved to Maryland in 1852, and settled on a farm just outside Washington.  Two years later he moved to Delavan, Wis., and then on to Waupaca.  He died here December 18, 1867, and is buried in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park in the family plot.  Betsey, his wife, died July 10, 1880.  There is no marker, but I would presume that she would be buried beside her husband.

Young George remained on the farm until he was 18 years of age, attending school at every opportunity.  He was undecided for a time as to which profession he would pursue, law or medicine.

In 1849, George Calkins went to work in the office of Dr. J. B. Stanton at Ellicottsville, Cattaraugus County, N.Y.  He remained there for the next five years in the drug store.  G. H. Calkins was married March 18, 1852, to Miss Caroline L. Jenkins.  She was born February 5, 1834, a daughter of John and Rachel (Greene) Jenkins.  Rachel’s mother was a close relative of the brilliant Gen. Nathaniel Green of Revolutionary War fame.

He received his diploma at Buffalo, N.Y., in 1856, and stayed there for some time in the college and hospital, becoming Dr. George H. Calkins.

Dr. Calkins came to Waupaca and opened his office in 1857, and built up a very successful practice, making many friends throughout his years of practice.

            In 1863, during the Civil War, Dr. G. H. Calkins enlisted in the Army as a contract surgeon, doing hospital duty.  He was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 37^th Wisconsin Infantry.  On May 12, 1864, he took charge of the Harvey Branch Hospital at Camp Randall in Madison and served until the end of the Civil War.

            In 1874 Dr. Calkins became a candidate for State Assembly and was elected by a large majority, serving for two years.  Besides his lovely home in Waupaca, he owned property at the Chain o’ Lakes.  On his property on Sunset Lake he built a building for a bottling house.  Early history called this Hick’s Lake after the early landholder.

            Dr. Calkins was the owner of the celebrated “Shealtiel Mineral Springs,” whose sparkling waters were free from organic matter and sulphate of lime, had won a wide reputation and was shipped to all parts of the county.  It being remarkably free from solid matter, it acted as a tonic solvent when taken as a beverage, and for many of the ailments of mankind.

            Shealtiel was a Biblical name for a pure water spring meaning, “Asked of God.”  Dr. Calkins had the water chemically analyzed and he realized the potential of this pure water.  It became the only water served at the Grand View Hotel on Rainbow Lake.  It also became the base of many soft drinks manufactured by Dr. G. H. Calkins at his factory near the springs.

            His products were bottled in glass bottles with the words “Shealtiel Mineral Springs, Waupaca, Wis.,” that was molded in raised letters on the bottles.  He allowed the townspeople the benefit of the Shealtiel water.  They could come with their containers and fill them up, free of charge.  The spring still exists in 1990, but it has been capped over for many years.  If you were to take a ride on a boat cruise on the northeast corner of Sunset Lake you could see the gazebo which shelters these springs

            Dr. Calkin’s advertisement read, “Shealtiel Mineral Springs at the Chain O’ Lakes, three miles west of Waupaca, the purest water in the world, palatable, acts agreeable on the system and cures where medicine fails.”

            A home testimony dated May 6, 1884:  “Having ourselves used and received benefit from Dr. G. H. Calkins Shealtiel Mineral Springs water, and believe that it possesses rare medical qualities, we gladly subscribe our names as recommending the same.  M. L. Skinner, J. W. McCormick, J. O. Scott, A. J. Poll, Mrs. G. L. Lord, Mrs. P. Gurley, Mrs. M. J. Nordvi, J. J. Demarest, W. H. Noys, F. L. King, F. D. Randall, Merrick T. Allen, H. C. Beadleson and J. W. Bemis.”

            Dr. G. H. Calkins passed away June 24, 1896 and is buried in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park in the family lot.

            His famous seltzer, ginger ale and birch beer, among other kinds of drinks, were all made from pure Shealtiel water.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 6, 1990

 

            John W. Evans was born July 10, 1843, at Newton, Montgomeryshire, Wales, a son of Evan and Mary Hughes Evans.  His birthplace was in a region in Wales that was noted for its flannels.

            His father, Evan Evans, and his grandfather, Nathaniel Evans, were weavers before him. Evan Evans was born in 1809, and married Mary Hughes at Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales, and they became the parents of six children:  Mary, Evan, Elizabeth, John W., whom this story is about, Thomas E., and one child that died in infancy.

            In 1846 the Evan Evans family came to America from Liverpool, and nearly three months later arrived in New York.  They first located at New Hartford, N.Y., which is only a few miles south of Utica.

            At New Hartford, Evan worked at his trade as a weaver for five years.  They then moved from New Hartford to Madison County, N.Y., where they stayed for the next six years, before moving to Marcellus, N.Y.  It was here that his father died in 1865, and his mother died in 1866.

            John W. Evans, the subject of this article, had very few privileges in early life.  He had little time for his education, for when only eight years of age, he began working in the woolen mills.  It was not unusual for children of that age to work in the textile mills in the East.

            In February of 1862, John W. Evans tried to enlist in support of the Union cause, but due to his age, he was unable to get his parents’ consent and was not allowed to muster in.

            However, in February, 1864, after he came of age, he enlisted in Battery E., Third New York Light Artillery.  He saw action in the last years of the war.  He went into the army as a private and was promoted to corporal before he was honorably discharged in July 1865 at the end of the war between the states.

            He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln while he was in the army, or at least he intended to.  Soldiers in the army at that time had to send their ballot to their home voting place.  In opening the letter, the inner envelope containing the ballot was accidentally torn and the vote was rejected.

            After his discharge, he returned to Marcellus and worked at his old position in the woolen mill for the next year.  He then attended school at Cazenovia, N.Y., for another year.

            In 1867, accompanied by his brother, Thomas E. Evans, and their sister, Mary, John Evans came to Waupaca, where another sister, Elizabeth (Mrs. William Smith), was already residing.

            As stories have it, John W. Evans formed a partnership with Dayton, Dewey and Baldwin, and they began to remodel the old grist mill.  (This property now belongs to the Shanak Foundry and Machine Co.).

            Quit claim deed, volume 58, page 292, dated April 1, 1884, shows that a quit claim deed was given by Charles Evans and his wife, Hortense Evans, for $1 and other valuable consideration, for the following described tract of land: the undivided one-fourth part of the northeast ¼ of the northwest ¼ and the northwest ¼ of the northeast ¼ of section 32, T.22N-R.12E to east.

            When the mill was completed, they employed about 20 people and manufactured cashmeres, men’s suitings and flannels.  The mill prospered and grew and had a good business until the price of raw wool declined. George McGill, who was one of our old-time historians and has now passed away, remembered taking raw wool from sheep sheared on his father’s farm in the Town of Dayton to be processed at the mill.

            John W. Evans returned to Marcellus, N.Y., where he married Anna Edwards, the daughter of a weaver, and the couple returned to Waupaca to live.

            Here they became the parents of four children:  William L., Grace M., May E., and Llewellyn.  Anna Evans died in March 1890, and in April of 1891, John W. Evans was married to Cora McAllister in Oshkosh.  John and Cora had two children:  John Kenneth, who died in 1894, age two years, and Bryant McAllister, born June 17, 1895.

            John W. Evans passed away October 15, 1920 and his wife passed away in 1930.  All are buried in the Evans’ lot in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.

            It seems as if the woolen mill ran into some bad years.  The Waupaca Record, dated April 16, 1903, had this to say:

            “The lease held by J. Bower of the Waupaca Woolen Mill ran out on the first of April and Mr. Evans is anxious to dispose of the factory and has been in communication with a knitting factory whose management considered coming here and putting in a knitting factory.”

            John Evans did dispose of his holdings.  A warranty deed, dated May 22, 1906, shows that John W. Evans and his wife Cora sold all of the woolen mill property, including the flowage and power rights, the storehouses and all tools and machinery in the woolen mill, to William and James Proctor of Milwaukee and J. Bower of Waupaca, for $7,000.

            In the summer of 1906, a stock company was organized with a capital of $50,000, one-half of the stock being held by the National Straw Works of Milwaukee.  John Hebblewhite was the manager and Nathan Cohen served as president.

            Then, on October 15, 1906, they filed an Article of Incorporation to become the Waupaca Felting Mills, for the purpose of carrying on business of manufacturing, jobbing and dealing in all kinds of felt, woolen and knit goods, to manufacture felt, felt hats, bodies and other articles of every kind and description out of wool and woolen yarns, including cloths and cloths of wool and cotton mixture.

            The headlines of the Waupaca Record Leader, dated March 25, 1914, proclaimed:

            “Waupaca Hat Mills are manufacturing.”  It went on to say that, “it was with great pride that the directors and stockholders of the Waupaca Hat Factory had made arrangements for the manufacturing of men’s, ladies, and boys’ hats,” and that they would completely finish and box the hats for market.

            Nathan Cohen and John Hebblewhite had been in New York and Reading, Pa., and other eastern cities and had made a partial contract with I. C. Young of Reading, Pa., to come to Waupaca and take charge of the now improved plant.

            There was to be $5,000 worth of new machinery to be shipped and installed as soon as possible.  The article stated that there would be employment for many people, who would have to be trained for the new order of things.

            In April of 1916, high water caused by the spring thaw caused a break in the dam, resulting in $5,000 damage to the old felting mill.

            On January 30, 1919, the Waupaca Felting Mills filed for Dissolution of Organization.

            In the 1930s, the two story frame building and basement was completely destroyed by fire, and was never rebuilt.  Part of an old chimney still stands at the north end today.

            The property passed on to the Jorgensen Bros. Manufacturing Co., and presently to the Shanak Foundry and Machine Co.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 13, 1990

 

            It was the morning of December 3 when I gazed out of the windows at the first major snowstorm of the season to strike the area, and as I gazed at the drifting snow outside, it brought back memories of how the methods and cost of snow removal have changed in the last 50 years.

            Back then you could purchase a good snow shovel for under $5, but now we think that we have to have a new powerful snow blower that costs upwards to $500 and more, depending upon the make, model and size of the machine.

            I thought that it would be interesting to go back nearly 90 years and see what the prices were then.  In fact, the following prices were taken from the 1902 Waupaca Post.

            Waupaca Starch and Potato Company was selling Pillsbury Best, Ceresota, Superletive, Gold Mine and Gold Crown Flour for $3.75 per barrel.

            Peter Holst Grocery Store, that was located on North Main Street opposite the old City Hall, had these to offer:  Oat Meal at 3-1/2¢ per lb., Fancy white clover honey at 15¢ per lb., Imported Spanish olives 38¢ a qt.  Butter and eggs bought for cash at the highest prices.

            The Fair Store listed children’s black woolen mittens an 8¢ value for 2¢; fine India linen, a 9¢ value for 5¢; men’s hemstitched handkerchiefs, a 10¢ value for 4¢; stocking caps, a 25¢ value for 10¢;  27-inch length ladies’ jackets worth $6 now going for $2.48.

            Churchill’s Shoe Store, located on East Union Street, opposite the jail:  men’s tan shoes were $3.50, now $1.97; ladies tan shoes were $2.50, now $1.47; lumberman’s rubbers, selling 88¢ to $1 per pair.

            Sam P. Godfrey Machinery, located on East Union Street:  new buggies, runabouts, tops and open buggies and surreys, selling from $35 to $150.

            E, C, Williams Hardware Store, located at 103 North Main Street (this is the present location of the Market Place): 1 large 6-hole steel range $39; 1 large 6-hole Sunshine steel range $32, and 1 large 6-hole cast iron range for $32.

            George H. James Furniture Store, located on the second floor over the Union Dry Goods Store, had for sale three-piece oak chamber suites ranging from $12.75 to $18.75 and McLean swing rockers at $3.90.

            Hoffmann’s, eight-day clocks, $2.50 to $4.

            Laabs Bros., fancy table syrup 20¢ a gal.; maple syrup $1.08 to $1.35 per gal.; tea 30¢ per lb., down to 24¢; 22 lbs. of prunes for $1; Reg. 5 gal oil can filled up with oil, regular price was $1.68, now $1.50.

            Alfred R. Lea, men’s clothing: men’s suits $5 to $20; men’s overcoats $5 to $20; boys’ suits $1.50 to $10; fancy and white dress shirts from 50¢ to $1.50; collars 15¢ and cuffs 25¢, umbrellas in serge and silk tops and steel rods, with natural or silver trimmed handles at 50¢ to $5.

            Now let’s move on to the 1930’s, just coming out of the Great Depression years.

            Pioneer Hardware Store, 103 N. Main, Atwater Kent radio for $39.90; electric toaster completed with cord for 95¢, other models at $2.85; Nester Johnson tubular ice skates at $4.85 and alarm clocks 98¢ and up.

            A & P Grocery Store:  Eight O’ Clock coffee, 3 lbs. for 55¢; brown sugar, 3 lbs. for 17¢; P & G soap, 10 giant bars 39¢; 10 Texas seedless grapefruit 29¢ and peanut butter, 2 lb. jar 25¢.

            Louise Mary Shoppe, E. Union, panties all sizes, lace trimmed or plain $1; slips that everyone loves $1.50 and Beldings ringless hose in gift boxes $1.

            Mendelson & Solie, Main Street in the post office block:  ladies’ silk dresses $1.98 to $2.98; men’s union suits heavyweight $1 and boys’ mackinaws all-wool blazers $1.50.

            Haebigs Clothing:  Portes and Mallory fall hats $2.50 to $4; belted back suits and free swing models $18.50 to $21, and 14-oz. Worsteds $23.50.

            Gambles Hardware, 117 N. Main:  tire prices, 30x3-1/2 $3.45, 4.40x21 $4.26 and 4.50x20 at $4.45.

            Waupaca Candy Kitchen:  5 lb. box of chocolates 80¢; 5 lb. box of finest assorted chocolates $1.35, and hard candies at 15¢ per lb.

            This would not be complete without the mention of the cost of having a baby.  In 1943 Dr. A.M. Christofferson drove to our place at Blaine and he delivered our twins, Gary and Jerry, on the dining room table, and he made a trip back the next day to see how the boys were coming.  The bill was only $25.

            These cheap prices were not what they seemed to be.  You were lucky to be getting $1 for a 10-hour day of hard labor, with no coffee breaks.

           

            In the mid-1940s I was still farming, battling the rocks and low farm prices, running out of money, patience and cuss words.  I figured that there was a better way to make a living and I found it.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 20, 1990

 

            Christmas Eve, sometime around 1917 or so, Glenn Dent had moved to his new farm one mile west of Blaine Corners, just over the county line.  It was customary that they spend every other Christmas with their parents.  Glenn’s parents were Frank and Ernie Dent, and Elsie’s parents were Cyrenius and Clara Rogers.  In those days, the roads were not plowed and the only travel was by horse and sleigh.

            This was the year the Glenn Dent family was to spend its Christmas at the Cyrenius Rogers’ home in the Town of Dayton.  The road from the Glenn Dent farm went directly east from Blaine, down past Fountain Lake, the Grant Mill, and through the big pines.

            The Frank Dent farm was located on County Trunk D, and ran south nearly to the point where the Glenn Dent family had to pass by.  As a surprise, Frank and his wife, Ernie, walked through the snow that one-half mile carrying Christmas trimmings and presents.  There they cut a Christmas tree and trimmed it and stood it in the middle of the road with the presents under it.  Then, they sat and waited for their son and family to come along so they might have a few moments of Christmas together.

            This is a true story and shows how one family figured out a way they, too, could have a Merry Christmas over 70 years ago.

            Alta, my wife, is a granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dent and Dr. Robert Dent is a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Dent.

            Albert Mathew (Dr. A.M.) Christofferson left his practice in Colby in 1920, and came back to his native Waupaca to join his brother Peter John (Dr. P.J.) Christofferson in the medical field.  Together in 1921, they built the Waupaca Hospital, located on the corner of Lake and Washington Streets.  This building is now the South Park Retirement Home.

            Much can be written about the Christofferson brothers in Waupaca; indeed, the following poem is entitled, “Reflections on Christoffersons’ Hospital.”

************

 

Should illness or accident happen your way,

Go straight to Waupaca to Dr. P.J.

If great is your need, your requirements to meet,

He’ll promptly convey you right up to Lake Street.

 

A kindly faced nurse in immaculate white,

Is there to receive you by day or by night.

A good restful bed in a room light and airy,

With linen and blankets so clean and sanitary.

 

With dear Mrs. Bowers, the best nurse in the land,

A “ministering angel” with heart and with hand,

She soothes all your fears, your doubts will take flight,

At once you’re convinced that you’ll soon be alright.

 

A competent cook and a lady refined,

In good Mrs. Dopp you will find combined,

She prepares our meals with those fine filled trays,

We wish she might do so the rest of our days.

 

The eagle-eyed doctor so genial and fat,

Comes often each day to see just where you’re at,

His medicines are bitter, but many a life,

Has been saved by his skill with scalpel or knife.

 

When patients grow restless and time seems to pall,

The doctor’s good wife cheers us up with a call.

A dish of ice cream or a bouquet of flowers,

She knows what will help while away the long hours.

 

To chase away blues and to drown melancholy,

To speed your recovery by keeping you jolly,

Forget all your troubles both little and big,

Then Miles will come over and dance you a jig.

 

When daylight is fading and time comes to sleep,

Then Mrs. McGinley her vigil will keep.

She’s patient and quiet as many can tell,

And always alert for the sound of the bell.

 

If e’er your appendix or liver act funny,

Or if the x-rays show you have no money,

On either occasion the doctor’s no dunce,

He’ll start operations to relieve you at once.

 

Here’s health to the doctor and all of the staff,

But for them I’d not be here to write all of this chaff.

My honest convictions, there’s no better berth,

To be found till St. Peter reclaims you from earth.

            The people mentioned were Ulrecka, Mrs. Charles Bowers, mother of Mrs. Allen (Ethel M.) Guyant; Myra Buckholt Dopp, wife of Robert Pryse; Mrs. Clara Collier McGinley and Miles Matson.

 

Wishing You All A Merry Christmas

And A Happy New Year!

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 27, 1990

 

            Francis Marion Benedict, educator, archaeologist, farmer and teacher of penmanship, was born June 9, 1853, at Dale in Outagamie County, the son of William W. and Achsah H. (Hoar) Benedict.  The parents were both born in Delaware County, Ohio, where most of their eight children were born.

            In 1847 William Benedict and his wife and children came to Troy Center, Wis., where they remained until 1849 when they moved to Dale.  In 1853 William, the father, came to Waupaca in search of some good land and in 1854 he moved his family to a farm of 160 acres located in Section 19, Township of Farmington.

            William Benedict was the chairman of the Town of Farmington for eight years.  During this time he laid out most of the roads in the area.  Achsah, the mother, died in 1881 and William died in 1893.  Both are buried in Sheridan Cemetery.

            Frances Marion Benedict, the subject of this article, was the sixth in line of the eight children.  As a boy growing up on the farm, Francis learned a great deal about nature around him and became quite a naturalist.  He once stated that he felt that he had the best teachers while growing up, and that it was the teachers rather than the schoolhouse or equipment which accounts for a true education.

            In 1870 Francis M. Benedict himself became a teacher.  He taught schools in Pleasant Valley and Parfreyville, both in the township of Dayton, and at Weyauwega High School.

            In 1870, while attending a teacher’s institute at Waupaca, he took a course in writing lessons from Prof. Walter C. Hooker.  During the following winters while he was teaching me made a special study in writing, not only practicing it himself, but instructing his students.  It was during this period of time that he developed a system of teaching penmanship that became called “Rythmic Writing,”  From 1880 to 1895 Mr. Benedict taught writing as a specialty.

            It was on September 16, 1874, that Francis M. Benedict was united in marriage to Millicent M. Taylor, a daughter of David and Mary (Radley) Taylor.  Seven children were born to this union.

            In 1878, Francis Benedict bought 125 acres of undeveloped land in Section 26, Township of Farmington.  This farm is located on State Highway 10, approximately one mile east of King.  Some will remember this farm as the John Montgomery, or the Carroll Christensen place.  Look for the tall water tower.  In every year from 1878 to 1880, when Mr. Benedict was teaching, he took his vacations between school terms working on his farm.  Here he put in much physical labor clearing out the trees and brush and removing the stumps until he had about 100 acres under cultivation.

            He received substantial returns from his farm, especially from his operations as a breeder of high grade Holstein cattle, and his thoroughbred Ancona chickens.  Mr. Benedict erected a fine set of buildings, and was supposed to have driven every nail in those buildings.  He had constructed one of the best built barns in Waupaca County at that time.  He acquired the water tank from the Cristy House property, in Waupaca, and set it upon a tall structure on his farm, using the lumber from the old water tower at the Wisconsin Veterans Home when it was razed in about 1906.

            At one time in his early life he was an emigration agent for 15 years for the Wisconsin Central Railroad, later the Soo Line.  He gave over 500 lectures to induce people to settle in the new districts of northern Wisconsin.

            He was an archaeologist and student of the Aboriginal remains found in Wisconsin.  F. M. Benedict located no less than 61 mounds around the Chain o’ Lakes, that he copyrighted in 1896.

            Mr. Benedict wrote several papers about these effigy mounds that were built by a pre-historic culture of which we know nothing, or very little.  The effigy mound builders inhabited this area, as well as some others, long before the Indians as we know them.  Their mounds gave our forefathers fits when settling in the new world.

            There is enough material that has been written by F. M. Benedict about the Indians and the prehistoric race in this area, that a complete story can be written in some later article.

            The Benedicts in America are descendents from Thomas Benedict, who came from Nottinghampshire, England, in 1638, landing at the Plymouth Rock settlement, 18 years after the original colony was established by the passengers from the Mayflower.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 3, 1991

 

            Rev. Silas Miller came to Waupaca about 1850, in search for a good location for a sawmill.  He made a bargain with E. C. Sessions for his entire claims.

            For payment he traded his 80 acres of land in the Township of Alto, in Fond du Lac County, six head of cattle and a promise of 6,000 feet of lumber as soon as it could be sawed.

            Rev. Miller and Mr. Sessions went to Alto to sell the land and bring back the cattle to Waupaca.  They had good luck and sold the land and sold the cattle before they reached Ripon on the way home.

            Soon upon arriving home, Mr. Sessions went up on the prairie northwest of Waupaca (Township of Farmington) and secured a claim.  This became known as Sessions Prairie; now we know it as Sheridan.

            Rev. Silas Miller did build his sawmill and sawed one Norway pine log and part of another on September 10, 1850.  A couple of years later he sold out to W. C. Lord.

            He then went north to Iola, along with Samuel S. and John W. Chandler and built their sawmill in 1854.

            Rev. Silas Miller did not live long enough to “saw” his mark into the history of Waupaca.  He passed away May 30, 1855, at the age of 59 years, 4 months and 28 days.  Eunice, his wife, passed away in 1878, at the home of her son in Milwaukee.

            Rev. Silas Miller did leave a little history in Waupaca, as a Methodist minister.  He was a circuit rider and was the first man to deliver the Word of God to the people in Waupaca, where he preached in the homes.  The Methodists were the first to build their own church in 1853.

            On October 19, 1975, the Methodist church celebrated 125 years of Methodism in Waupaca.  The first church that was built in 1853 was of wooden construction located on the corner of Badger and Main Streets.

            After the second church was built it became a blacksmith shop.  This location, you may remember as the location of the Waupaca Motor which was owned by the Laux brothers, where they sold Buicks and Chevrolets. It is now the used car lot for Colligan Motors (northeast corner of Main and Badger Streets).

            A metal plaque with the figure of a circuit rider for Rev. Silas Miller, was purchased by the congregation and was mounted on a new white marble stone, that was donated by the Henry Haertel Company of Stevens Point.  This was dedicated on the morning of October 19, 1975, as the church bells chimed in the distance, Rev. Barry Shaw led the prayers of the group of people who had gathered at the gravesite of the Rev. Silas Miller.

            This was the start of the day’s festivities.

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 10, 1991

 

            The present site now occupied by Radio Shack and Colligan’s Bakery goes back to the days just after World War I, when a Mr. Downey had erected a wooden platform from the street out over the bank that dropped down to where the river ran by. He had a popcorn stand at this location.

            In 1921, Carl Cohen bought the property and built a new, two-story brick building.  The building was completed in October 1921, and at that time it became the first home of the National Guard unit of Waupaca.  A five-year lease was signed to provide an armory and home for the Howitzer Company 127^th Infantry, known as the Waupaca National Guards.

            The Guard unit was to occupy the ground floor and basement.  The rental fee was $1,500, which would include heat and fire service.  The main floor was used for drill purposes and was fitted up with a gymnasium for use by the members of the company.  On the lower floor Mr. Cohen reserved space for the boiler and coal rooms; the National Guard had the remaining space for toilets and bath, club room, property room, locker room with lockers for every man in the company, a reading room, a company commander’s office and a first sergeant’s office.  The club room and reading room were to be open at all times to the members.

            Capt. Holly had estimated that $10,000 would come annually to the City of Waupaca from the U.S. Treasury because of the National Guards being in Waupaca.

            After the lease expired the National Guard unit drilled on the second floor of the Dane’s Home, because the armory building, it was felt, would not withstand the weight and the marching, despite the fact that while the building was being constructed state architects were here to approve the construction for its safety to be used as an armory.

            Wrestling matches were held here in the armory.  Waupaca had quite a following in wrestling in those days.

            After the National Guard’s lease ran out, Carl Cohen filed for an Article of Organization with the state of Wisconsin, to form the “Waupaca Theatre Company.”  It was accepted and filed July 3, 1926. It was to have capital stock of $10,000 consisting of 1,000 shares at $10 a share. The officers were:  Carl Cohen, president; Sylvia Cohen, vice president; Harry Balkansky, secretary; Solomon Minkoff, treasurer; and a board of directors of four stockholders.

            The main floor was completely renovated and made over for a theatre and it was named the “Waupaca.”  This was the beginning of a theatre business at 108 N. Main Street for Carl Cohen that lasted until 1949.  However, Mr. Cohen was one of the first Waupaca theatre operators dating back to 1913. Clifford Quimby told me that his father, Bert Quimby, and Carl Cohen had been partners in a theatre enterprise at one time.

            The newly decorated Waupaca was leased to J. P. Adler of Marshfield in 1926 and continued to operate as a popular showhouse until December 24, 1946, when his lease ran out.

            Irving Ashe of the Ashe Theatre Corporation, picked up the expired lease from Mr. Cohen and renamed the Waupaca Theatre to the “State.”  The new State opened on January 5, 1947, showing “A Night in Casablanca.”

            When it first opened, the State Theatre was in the process of being remodeled, at an estimated cost of between $12,000 and $15,000 to completely modernize the building.  The Nelson Painting Company had the contract for redecorating the interior; Lear Electric handled the wiring and other installations; the Nelson Sign Company had the contract for the signs at the front of the theatre, and some new projection equipment was installed.  Due to some material shortage new chairs had to be put on hold; meanwhile the Wisconsin Chair Company re-upholstered where necessary and did the re-varnishing. Do you remember walking into the theatre and having to turn around to be seated to see the movie?

            In the Waupaca County Post there was a notice dated December 22, 1949, that the State Theatre reluctantly bids the public “Farewell.”

            “Our last show after 30 years in our present location will be screened Friday night, Dec. 23, 1949.  After that the State Theatre will exist no more. Marvin Cohen and all employees of the State Theatre join in thanking you for your support and wishing you a Happy Holiday Season.”

            The last show to be shown was a double feature, the “Bohemian Girl” and “Mob Town.”

            The building was once again remodeled to make way for a hardware store. Arthur L. Terhune purchased the building and opened the doors of his new Coast to Coast agency until 1972, when he became affiliated with True-Value.  Mr. Loomis retired in 1973 and sold his business to Jack Wachholz and Jesse Kennow, who continued with True-Value.

            Norah, wife of Douglas Loomis, let this property out on land contract in August 1975, and gave a clear title in July 1982.  Through several real estate transactions the building ended up in the possession of Darlene Shafer.  She told me that in 1985, she had the building front remodeled.

            This building is now the present location of Radio Shack and Colligan’s Old Time Bakery

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 17, 1991

 

            Up to at least 1946, Charles A. Hansen had spent more time serving the Waupaca public than any other resident of the city.

            Charles A. (Charley) Hansen was born in Waupaca, April 14, 1876, a son of Morten and Karen Jorgenson Hansen.  Morten and Karen came to America from Denmark in 1873.

            Charles A. Hansen was united in marriage to Eva Johnson of Saxeville, Waushara County, Wis., in July 1910.  To them three children were born, one daughter, Cleo, and two sons, Everett and Lowell.

            Charley Hansen started work in the Waupaca Post Office at the age of 15.  He had to stand on a dry goods box to look over the postal counter. Wages were $5 a week, but later were increased to $30 a month.  Included in his duties were cleaning and filling the old kerosene lamps that were used to illuminate the post office, and to keep a supply of wood to feed the hungry round oak stove that was used to heat the building.

            Charley’s long employment with the Waupaca Post Office started back in 1891, when there was still some mail and passengers arriving by stagecoach.  These were the days of no free rural delivery, and no city deliveries.

            The building in which he started, in 1891, was located on the corner of Sessions and North Main Streets, which is now the location of Stu’s Interior Decorators, 121 N. Main.  According to two past postmasters’ research, the first post office was located in Edward L. Browne’s law office on the corner of Jefferson and East Union Streets.  In 1989 this was the law office of Franzoi and Franzoi.  The next post office was located at 106 East Union Street, now the Shambeau and Lyons Realty Office.

            The 1889 Waupaca County plat book shows a map of the original plat of the City of Waupaca, and it shows that there was a post office located adjacent to the alley on the west, on Lot 10, Bock “O”.  The third site was at the present location of Stu’s Interior Decorators, where Charley Hansen started his long employment with the Waupaca Post Office back in 1891.  Mr. Hansen was named assistant postmaster here under the U.S. Civil Service Board of Examiners.  As part of his duties in that capacity he gave examinations for postal positions throughout Waupaca County.

            The fourth location was 212 S. Main Street, in the building now occupied by the Culligan Water Company.  When James W. Carew was postmaster he started the proceeding which resulted in the erection of the new post office on the corner of South Main and Badger Streets.  The new post office was dedicated August 30, 1939.  This is the fifth location.

            About 1921 an Act of Congress created for postal employees the privilege of sick leave pay, but Mr. Hansen never availed himself of this privilege until about 1941.  In 55 years one can acquire a considerable amount of knowledge about the postal rules and regulations.  Mr. Hansen received a letter from Joseph A. Connor, regional director, expressing appreciation for his fine record.

            One patron that Mr. Hansen recalled at the post office was Dana Dewey, who was one of the early pioneers to Waupaca.  Dana Dewey was always first to pay his taxes, the first to pay his box rent and was first every morning to pick up his mail.

            Charley Hansen served as assistant postmaster under seven postmasters before retiring in 1946.  He took the oath of office under Evan Coolidge on June 16, 1891, and served under the following postmasters:  Henry C. Mumbrue, A. M. Penney, S. P. Godfrey, Mrs. Charlotte Ware, Walter J. Nelson and James W. Carew.

            Charley Hansen retired April 30, 1946.  There was a pleasant coincidence:  on the same day his son, Lowell G. Hansen received his honorable discharge from the armed forces at Camp McCoy.

            Mr. Hansen passed away at his home on Granite Street on February 10, 1956, and was laid to rest in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 24, 1991

 

            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.  They 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.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 31, 1991

 

Main Street Musings.

 

To The Editor:

            It was with great interest that I read Mr. Guyant’s memory-jogging story about the Cohen theatre and apartment building erected on Main Street in the early ‘20s.

            My family had just moved to Waupaca from Iola into the old red brick jail which stood beside the Courthouse on the corner across from the (new) First National Bank.  Dad was the new sheriff of Waupaca County.  I was only 10 and watched the construction of that building which we thought was quite grand.

            Do any of you remember the little stand operated by a Mrs. Kline and her son on the same location?  It stood on high stilts because of the deep ravine and river.  It was just a little one-story shack which opened right onto the sidewalk.  Seems to me it was sort of a concession stand, but what I remember most was the parrot named “Polly” which always sat perched on the sidewalk and to everyone who walked by, she squawked “Polly want a cracker!”

            Balkansky and Minkoff were two fellows from Chicago who later opened a fruit and grocery store where the Travel Shop is now, and later moved to the Lighthouse corner where it was known for years as the “Fruit Store.”

            Getting back to the theatre.  The first “talkie” I saw was there, and it starred Charles King and Bessie Love about 1928 and as Mr. Guyant said, “One had to walk in and turn around to face the stage.”  Mickey Pope Anderson was the first ticket seller, in a glass projection, I recall.  A talented girl from Rhinelander played skillfully on a big grand piano during various intermissions.  Her name was Catherine Nitke.

            Who of you remember the ever-popular curling rink on the Courthouse Square where the old Chamber of Commerce shack stood?  We kids used to watch the men sweeping those heavy granite blocks down that stretch of ice toward a target.  Oh, yes, there were names like Soren Johnson, Peter Holst, Irving Hansen, Frank Stratton, Harry Rawson and many other prominent businessmen.

            I’m sure many of you remember the old Fair Store – a three-floor department store – the former Schultz Store now beautifully remodeled into several badly needed downtown shops, with attractive apartments planned for later above.  The former store was also owned and operated by Nate Cohen, I believe a relative of Carl.  They lived in a huge yellow house that stood where the Catholic Church is located, and owned a Winton Six Sedan, probably the swellest car in town.  At least we kids thought it was!

            In a sadder vein does anyone recall the two little boys who drowned in the water at the foot of the Water Street Bridge? (One of the names was Grogan.)  All of this was about 1920.

            Wouldn’t it be fun to go up and down Main Street and tell about what businesses were existing then?  I remember almost all of them and this was 70 years ago.

            Remembrances of Waupaca,

Cal Swenson,

Waupaca.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 31, 1991

 

            Richard J. Woolsey was born on October 25, 1834, at Harbor Creek, Erie County, Pa., one of 12 children born to the Joseph Woolseys. Four male members of this family served the Union cause during the Civil War.  Richard attended the common district schools of that area – until he was 11 years of age, when he went out on his own working for farmers.  He received his education in Erie County, going to school in the wintertime and working for his room and board. Richard decided to leave Pennsylvania and come to the Town of Lind, Waupaca County, where his uncle, John Brown, then was living.

            He started out from Girard in Erie County, went to Cleveland, Ohio, then on to Chicago, and from there went by rail and stage to Madison and Waupun, thence by rail to Fond du Lac, and from Fond du Lac he took a stage for some time before he transferred to oxen through the woods to Omro.  He proceeded on to the north and arrived in the Town of Lind on March 3, 1855.

            All the money that he had was script from Pennsylvania, which was worthless here. So, broke and without work, he went to live with his uncle, John Brown.

            The first thing Woolsey did in the line of work was to make shingles which he hauled to Berlin in Green Lake County, a distance of 26 miles, and trade them for provisions.  The following year he worked at lumbering in the woods and ran logs on the Wisconsin River.

            On November 18, 1856, Richard J. Woolsey was married to Laura Lamphear in the Town of Lind.  She was born in St. Lawrence County, N.Y., April 1, 1838.  They were to become the parents of two children:  Fred Z., and Eunice M.

            In the spring of 1856 he bought some land in Marathon County.  He had saved enough money to pay for this, but never lived there.  Richard later traded this land for a yoke of steers and a wagon.

            After their marriage, the Woolseys rented a farm in Section 27, Town of Lind, and they lived here until May 27, 1859, when he, with his wife, hauled by that same yoke of steers started for Wright County, Minn., which was still a pioneer section.  From Wright County they moved on to Blue Earth County, Minn., before the days of the homestead laws, and pre-empted 160 acres of government land.

            Their cabin was like all others, built from lumber taken from speculator’s land.  He remained here until the spring of 1860, when his wife’s health became poorly and he abandoned the place. After selling all his possessions and leaving any improvements to the place, they had barely enough money left to get them back to the Town of Lind.  He was again penniless and had to start out all over again. Richard worked some land on shares in the summer and went to work in the woods in the winter.

            Richard J. Woolsey enlisted in Company M, First Wisconsin Cavalry, on November 21, 1861, at Weyauwega.  He was recruited by Lt. Caldwell, a well known and respected man from this area. Mr. Woolsey was actively engaged in many battles of the Civil War.

            On page 819, in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Upper Wisconsin, there is an interesting account of Richard J. Woolsey, “Dick Woolsey’s Daring Dash.”

            In essence, this is what it went on to say:

            “Dick was a large-framed man of 200 pounds and a bundle of good nature, rather decided in his opinions and ways of doing things.  He was a private in Co. M, 1^st Wisconsin Cavalry in the spring of 1864, when he was out on patrol duty with 13 other men with Sherman’s army in Georgia.  They were not to exceed 14 miles from the main body.

            “Somewhere along the way they met up with some southern women who offered them water and were unusually talkative.  Dick became uneasy and feared that something was up and suggested to the officer in command that they meant mischief.  After some discussion the officer discovered that a body of Wheeler’s Rebel Cavalry was after them, across the road ahead of them was another line.  There was a dense forest on both the right and left and no place to go.  Now the officer realized that Dick was right, that the women had been stalling for time.  The officer halted to consider what avenue to take, but the Rebel Cavalry unit behind just kept coming on.

            “Here Dick took the initiative and called for the men to follow him.  With reins in his teeth, revolver in his left hand and saber in his right, he spurred his big horse straight ahead, firing as he went.  The line opened up and let them through, firing as they did.  When the patrol reached the Union lines there were only six left.  It was supposed that the others had been taken prisoners, as no bodies were found on the road the next day.  None were ever heard from.  Woolsey was made corporal the next day for his gallantry.”

            Here is another interesting account:

            When on a march to Selma, Ala., they had a skirmish with the Confederate Generals Chalmers and Forrest. After this fight Mr. Woolsey came upon a lieutenant of the 8^th Mississippi Cavalry who was dying.  He took from him four buttons, some Masonic emblems and a white stone ring set in gold.  He also secured his portfolio containing letters addressed to parties in Tip Top, Jasper County, Miss.  Mr. Woolsey was also a Mason and would have returned all of these mementoes to the proper parties, but no replies were ever received from his many letters.

            Richard J. Woolsey was discharged July 19, 1865 and mustered out July 22, 1865.   He passed away March 1, 1914, and is buried in the family plot at Lind Center.

            This poem, “The Old Canteen,” was written by Richard Woolsey’s daughter, Eunice, Mrs. William Bartlett, who passed away July 20, 1903.  She is buried in the Lind Center Cemetery.

 

THE OLD CANTEEN.

 

I’ll treasure the old canteen,

So battered and worn,

For it was father’s companion

Through sunshine and storm.

Oh! What tales it could tell

Of the battles that were fought

And the comrades who fell.

 

While now it is rusty, battered and old,

But more precious to me

Than diamonds or gold.

It is dear to me,

And I’ll guard it with care,

For it went with father

All through the war.

 

It was away down in Dixie,

At a place called Burnt Hickory,

That a Reb’s rifle bullet

Brought it to the ground;

But father, undaunted,

From his horse sprang down

To save his canteen,

While bullets whistled around.

 

All through the ranks

This sent a great cheer,

Which routed the Rebs,

From the front to the rear.

Oh, I thank God

That the hardships of war are o’er,

And the North and the South

Are at peace once more.

Our mother bravely waited

With us little ones at home,

None can tell the fears she had

For the beloved one that was gone.

He went at his country’s call,

Perhaps never to return,

But oh! What joy when the struggle was o’er,

Our father returned.

We hoped, to leave us no more.

 

He brought home to mother

His old haversack,

And the old canteen, too,

Which was saved at risk of his life;

For ‘twas shot from his side

In the midst of the strife.

 

Ofttimes I’ve heard father tell

Of the hunger and thirst,

When for want of food

Shared corn with his horse.

Often at night,

The damp ground for a bed,

His saddle for a pillow,

And the stars overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

February 7, 1991

 

            There were four different barbershops in 1902 with advertisements in the Waupaca Post.  They were:  A. F. Larson, F. E. Paronto, The Star Barber Shop and James Paris, whose ad read, “Special attention to shampooing ladies’ hair and cutting children’s hair.”

            Since I have some material about James Paris and his family, I will write this article about them and other barbers who followed at the same location, which is now down under the Grey Dove Antiques building on Main Street.

            James Monroe Paris was born in Louisville, KY., on December 22, 1842.  In 1845 he came to Chicago with his parents.  His parents passed away in Chicago.

            James Paris completed three years apprenticeship at the barber trade in Chicago, and then left for a somewhat cooler climate in New London in 1861.  He remained there for a year, coming in 1862 to Waupaca where he opened his own barbershop.

            He remained at his chair until 1909, when failing eyesight prompted him to retire.

            James Monroe Paris was united in marriage to Anna Emerson on December 9, 1874.  She was born February 17, 1851, at Moores Forks, NY, where she came to the Township of Lind with her parents when only a young girl.  They had two sons born to them:  Charles Robert and Claude Monroe.

            Charles R. Paris, the elder son, had the misfortune of having an accident at the early age of seven, that left him a cripple for life.  He was born December 9, 1877.  From 1916 he was confined to a wheelchair until death in 1951.

            James Monroe Paris passed away in Waupaca, August 16, 1915 and Anna, his wife, in March of 1924.

            Claude Monroe Paris was born June 6, 1880, and went on to follow his father’s footsteps.  He was a barber at King for many years.

            Harold Plowman apprenticed under Claude Paris at King, about 1924, and in about 1925 he came back to Waupaca and bought out Felix Paronto. Harold Plowman and John Baker were partners for a time before Ray Plutz joined Harold in the partnership.  They shared the same partnership for nearly 36 years when Mr. Plutz retired.  In 1967 Jim Vander Bloomen became Harold Plowman’s new partner until Plowman retired in 1967, after 42 years as a barber. Vander Bloomen took over the shop in 1967 and has since sold out and moved to his new location on East Badger Street.  All of the mentioned barbers made many friends and listened to many tall tales while a customer was sitting in his chair.  Thus ends the many years of barbering down under the old pool hall.

            This story would not be complete without the telling about the life of Claude M. Paris, the barber son of that pioneer barber, James Paris.

            In the April 9, 1903 issue of the Waupaca Record, there was a long article in honor of Claude Paris.  Here I will attempt to relay some of the material that was in that article:

            Claude M. Paris was elected president of his freshman class by an overwhelming majority.  He graduated from the Waupaca High School with an excellent record, having gained some distinction in scholarship, declamation and in athletics.  After graduating from high school, he worked in his father’s barbershop for the next three years before going to Stevens Point as a journeyman.  While in Stevens Point he played on their basketball team which tied Kenton, Ohio for the National Championship in 1901.  In 1901 and 1902 Claude Paris was picked by the critics as one of the five players to constitute an all American team.

            All of this time he was planning for a college education.  In September of 1902 he enrolled at St. Lawrence University in Appleton, possibly in electrical engineering.  In his spare time he helped on Saturdays in a barbershop, and during the remainder of the week he cared for some horses and attended several furnaces besides doing odd jobs of various kinds.  In addition to his studies and work, he found time for athletics and had a fine record.

            Thus the article had to say “pluckily, steadily unostentatiously working his way through the college course at St. Lawrence university is a young colored man, Claude M. Paris of Waupaca, who in every detail of his personality and every incident of his career makes a lie to Senator Ben Tillman’s dictum that a Negro is and must always remain an inferior creature.”

            Claude M. Paris was married to Clara Marie Ehrgott and they had one daughter who lived in Appleton.  Mr. Paris remained at his barber chair at King for many years and passed away in 1970.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

February 14, 1991

 

            The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Waupaca filed for an Article of Incorporation with the state of Wisconsin and was approved August 7, 1905.  The purpose being exclusively benevolent, charitable and reformatory for the purpose of improvement of the spiritual, mental, social and physical condition of young men.

            A news item that was found in the “Waupaca Record” dated January 25, 1912:  “YMCA Hall burns to the ground.”  A destructive fire gave some Waupaca citizens an exciting hour when it was found that the flames had gained such headway that it would be impossible to even make an attempt to save the building and but very little of the contents was saved.

            The building was being used by the Dispensio Club and the Waupaca High School basketball team.

            The building was a wooden frame structure with brick veneer and the space between the frame walls was filled with sawdust and shavings, both of these materials are poor when it comes to fire protection.

            It was even very doubtful for a time as to whether Larson Bros. store and the adjoining building could be saved, the buildings being connected to the YMCA Hall at the rear.  The two buildings had been formerly occupied by the Fair Store with a frontage on two streets.

            This would put the location of the Fair Store at the corner of East Union and Jefferson Streets.  The location of the YMCA Hall building was approximately where the vacant Wisconsin Bell Telephone Company office is now located.

            Though the efforts of the firemen who had hoses from four fire hydrants were successful in preventing the fire from reaching the main part of the Larson building, a considerable amount of damage was done to the rear storeroom.

            Both buildings were owned by John Pinkerton who stood to stand a considerable amount of loss as he had only $1,500 insurance on the property.  The loss to Larson Bros. was due to the damage by smoke and water to the nearly one carload of flour that was stored in the back room.  This flour could no longer be sold for human consumption.

            After the fire, the people of Waupaca realized that they had escaped what could have been a far more serious fire.

            The fire was supposed to have originated from a fire that was left in the stove by the high school boys who were heating the hall for a basketball game that night with Wausau.  The game was cancelled that night for obvious reasons, and the Wausau basketball team returned home.

            Now some of you may say, “Whoa” the Fair Store was on Main Street.  And so it was, but Nathan Cohen came to Waupaca in 1897, and opened a small store in the Perkins building with one clerk.  This building was located on East Union Street.  It burned many years ago.  The next building to stand there was the former Chris Hansen Studio, next to the old Delavan Hotel.  In 1899, Mr. Cohen moved to the John Pinkerton building, also on East Union Street.  In 1907, he moved to his new location on South Main Street.  This all can be found in the January 10, 1912 edition of the “Waupaca Leader.”

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

February 21, 1991

 

            Hakon Martinus Nordvi was born in Martensos, East Finmarken, Trondhyem’s Still, Norway, February 4, 1829.  His father was a well-to-do mercantile merchant in Norway, who had business dealings with merchants from Russia, Spain and Denmark.

            The father had the means and wanted young Hakon to go to the best schools to study medicine.  Young Hakon spent his early years in a school in Copenhagen, Denmark.  At the age of 17 he entered the National University of Norway, at Christiania, where he graduated from the department of medicine.

            The urge to become a merchant was too strong in the veins and won out over the medical profession.  After the death of his parents and his only sister, he left his native Norway in 1852 and immigrated to America.

            It seems as if he came directly to Wisconsin, where he was in the mercantile business in Taycheedah, Fond du Lac County; Manitowoc, Manitowoc County; Fort Howard, Brown County; and Kewaunee, in Kewaunee County.

            It was when Hakon was in Manitowoc as a member of the firm of O. Torrison and Company that he became ill and decided to return to his native Norway to see if he could regain his strength.  He actually went to New York to embark for Norway, but was too late and he missed the steamer.  This possibly was the best luck of his life, as the steamer, the Austria, burned at sea when only a few days out of port and nearly all perished at sea.

            He then returned to Wisconsin and to his trade in the mercantile business at Fort Howard.

            It was at Fort Howard that he was united in marriage to Mary Jane Hudson on September 29, 1863.

            His next move was to Waupaca, in 1865. Here they lived out their natural lives and here they became the parents of four children:  Charlotte Annis, George Henry, Alfred Charles and Albert M., who died in 1872, Hakon also had a brother who remained in Norway, and died at Christiania, Norway, in January 1892.

            Hakon M. Nordvi was called a living encyclopedia by his friends, as he had a terrific memory.  As a linguist besides his native Norwegian he spoke English, French and German.  He could translate Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

            George Henry Nordvi, the son of Hakon Nordvi, became associated with his father in the mercantile business while he was still in the last years of school.  George Henry Nordvi’s obituary that appeared in the Waupaca County Post in 1928, stated that the building in which he became associated with his father was the Arcade Building.  The building has had many different occupants down through the years.  Now, 1991, it is known as Meredith’s Fashion Shop at 109 North Main.

            After the death of his father on September 6, 1894, George continued with the business until 1900, when he merged his line with several other merchants and they became the Union Store. In 1905 the business was sold to Nathan Cohen who had recently established the Fair Store.

            This later became a part of Schultz Bros. five and dime store.  The Kruger food chain had its store in this building until Schultz Bros. remodeled and expanded in 1948.

            A city of Waupaca building permit, according to the Waupaca County Post, Oct. 15, 1990, was granted to Hansen, Shambeau and Johnson for conversion of a commercial building at 112 S. Main Street to five apartments and mall arrangement. There is still a doorway on the south end of this building that used to lead upstairs over the old Union store where George James had his furniture store.

            After the business was sold, George Nordvi became a salesman representing several lines of merchandise.

            George Henry Nordvi was born in Waupaca May 3, 1866, and in 1896 he was married to Blanche Dunbar, who was a teacher in the public schools of the area.  They had three daughters:  Carolyn, Victoria, and Mary.  George died in 1928 and his wife Blanche, died in 1941.  All members of the original Hakon Nordvi family are buried in Waupaca.

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

February 28, 1991

 

            The other day I came across a news item in the Waupaca County Post from October 1921 that drew my attention.  It stated that Chris Oyen had received word of the death of his brother, Olaf Henry Oyen, that occurred at his home in Forest Hills, Long Island, NY, on October 23, 1921, at the age of 38.  The cause of death was by a cerebral hemorrhage.

            Olaf Henry Oyen was born in Christiania, Norway, November 28, 1882.  His parents immigrated to the United States and to Waupaca when he was only two years old.  He attended Waupaca schools during his boyhood and showed a great aptitude for descriptive writing and had a fondness for hunting, fishing and travel.

            At the age of 16 he left Waupaca and went to Chicago, there, for the next two years, he was employed by the Swift Packing Company.  He had in the meantime written some short stories that attracted the attention of the Chicago Tribune and he was hired as a reporter for its Sunday section.

            The farther that I read the article the more intrigued I became about the author, Olaf Henry Oyen.

            I knew that Mrs. Gayhart (Henrietta) Sannes, who lives out on Otto Road between Sheridan and Amherst, is a daughter of Chris Oyen, and would be a niece of Olaf Henry Oyen.  I gave her a call one evening to see if she had any history of her uncle.  Well, I hit the jackpot.  She told me that she had a history written by his wife several years ago, and that she was coming to Waupaca the next day and would bring me a copy of it.

            Olaf Henry Oyen always went by the name Henry, perhaps to save the confusion of being mistaken for his father, whose name was also Olaf Oyen.  From this point on, I will follow her story as closely as space will allow.  You may note some discrepancies, but they do not alter the life of the author, Henry Oyen.

            Olaf Henry Oyen was born in Christiania, Norway, November 28, 1882.  He was a son of Olaf and Henrietta (Johannason) Oyen, Olaf, the father, had previously come to America and to Waupaca to prepare a home for his little family that remained in Norway.

            When only a year old, little Henry Oyen came to Waupaca with his mother, an older sister, Bertha, and a brother, Karl.  Olaf Oyen, the father, was like all of the other Norwegians who settled here among the hills and lakes that reminded them so much of their homeland.  Olaf was a farmer and sold produce wholesale.  The farmers of those days were a close-knit bunch, they helped each other build their homes, put in the crops, and fished and hunted together. Henrietta Oyen took her children to church twice every Sunday.  The family was happy in this new land. Karl was always sickly and passed away December 5, 1888, at the age of 13.  Two other sons blessed their home.  Christopher J. (Chris) was born in 1884, and the baby of the family, Norman Morris, was born in 1888.

            Skating on the Chain o’ Lakes and exploring the woods with his brothers, Henry developed a love for the great out-of-doors, which never left him.  Tragedy struck in 1889, when Henry was only six years old.  His father suddenly died and money became scarce for the family.  After a few lean years the widow decided to move to Chicago, where she had hoped that the children would have a better chance in life.  In Chicago, hard times continued and often there was nothing on the table but oatmeal.  Henry worked at any job that he could find. Here in Chicago, Henry went to night school and spent as much time as possible in the public library, not only to read, but to keep warm.

            As he grew older he tried professional baseball for one season.  He next got a job as a bookkeeper with the Swift Packing Company; it was while here that he wrote a short story about an educated Indian, who went primitive under strain, and the story was published by “Century.”  It was on the strength of this story that Henry was hired as a reporter for the Sunday section of the Chicago Tribune.  But, what Henry really wanted was to be able to save $2,000 on which to go to New York City and become a novelist.  Finally, a well-known publishing house, Doubleday-Page, accepted his first novel and “Joey the Dreamer,” a story about a boy from the slums of Chicago, was published.  They promised to take occasional articles for their magazine “The World Work.”  Although the $2,000 was never saved, one spring day, at the age of 27, after five good years on the Tribune, Henry took the train for New York City.

            Henry’s mother, with the rest of the family returned to Waupaca to live.

            Oscar Caesare, a cartoonist friend from Chicago, who was on a New York newspaper, was living in a room facing Washington Square.  It was here that Henry settled in a small room facing the park, the room furnished only with an iron bed, a pitcher and bowl and a straight chair with a hole in the cane seat.

            The landlady was a German-Swiss widow and would often say, “If only dese lodgers did nefer open the windows, no dust vould come in.”

            The first summer Henry wrote articles for “The World Work.”  Soon afterwards Henry left for Waupaca where his mother was dying from cancer.  Henrietta, his mother, passed away November 17, 1911, in Chicago.  After the death of his mother, Henry Oyen returned to Washington Square in New York City. He was still determined to make a name for himself as a fiction writer. He often had said, “I’d rather starve writing stories than to make a million at anything else.”

            The going was tough.  “The World Work” had stopped publication, and his stories were being returned.  One day in January somebody stole his overcoat and he did not have money enough to buy another.  He was now living in a cheaper room, heated only by a smoking oil stove.  He soon learned that, when hungry, it was better to stay in bed, that he felt it less; also that peanuts and chocolate bars were cheap and filling.

            There was a young lady rooming in the same house who was working on a newspaper, and she suggested that she cook dinner every night in a chafing dish on her fireplace.  Henry paid her 37¢ per night.  It really came to more than that, but she had taken a liking to him.  Whenever he sold a story, he would generally celebrate by getting a shoeshine, a store shave, and buy some oranges, then he and the lady would take a bus ride up Fifth Avenue, or a 5¢ round trip ferry ride to Staten Island.  One snowy night they walked to the Battery on the Bay, from here they could see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island which was the port of entry into the United States.  As Henry gazed over the water he was trying to imagine what it was like here when his mother came to this same spot, met by his father, and himself an infant in her arms.

            Toward spring, one year after his return to New York, so many of his stories had been returned that he wrote his brothers asking for a loan to come back to Waupaca.  Here he moved in with his two unmarried brothers in a cottage on Otter Lake, which in happier days he had bought for his mother.

            (From our dining room window on Otter Lake Drive we can see the general area where the cottage stood).

            It was the only cottage on the lake.  Here living was cheap.  Here they could fish and game was abundant.  Here Henry used to stand looking out of the window and wonder how to mend his fortune. Here Henry had the inspiration to write a novel, “The Snow Burner.”  It was about a man of wonderful powers, against a background of those beloved Wisconsin woods.  “Adventure Magazine” bought his works at once and asked for more.  Henry wrote the “Snow Burner Pays,” which “Adventure” also like, and that was the end of hard times for Henry Oyen.

            Henry turned to writing novels.  The first two, “The Man Trail” and “Gaston Olaf,” both tales of the woods, were published by “Adventure Magazine” and were later published in book form, as was “The Snow Burner.”

            “The Snow Burner” and “The Man Trail” were made into moving pictures by Essanay, a Chicago company.  “Gaston Olaf” was filled by Metro, a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.  There appeared a billing for the Lyric Theatre in Waupaca, dated June 1, 1916:  “Waupaca boy stories are dramatized. Henry Oyen, author of “the Man Trail,” will be shown at the Lyric Theatre.”

            The history of the Lyric Theatre will be a story in itself, but the location of this building is now the location of Uni-Travel, 104 North Main Street.

            “Adventure Magazine” had asked its readers to vote for the author whom they like best.  Henry Oyen won this contest by a large majority.

            Henry Oyen was married by this time – you guessed it – it was to the young lady who had so graciously cooked for him at Washington Square.  He did not like New York particularly, but it was the literary center of the country.

            Henry changed over to a larger publication, “Country Gentlemen.”  His next novel, “Big Flat,” also about Wisconsin, came out in the “Country Gentleman.”

            A pattern was established, a new novel almost every year, which was published by the “Country Gentleman” and was later published as a book by Doran, who after a few years merged with Doubleday and Company.  The actual writing of a book took him only six months, during which time he sort of went into seclusion, then loafed around the next six months searching for ideas.

            The editor of the “Country Gentleman” asked Henry to dramatize for them in his novels various activities in different parts of the country.  They sent him to the Mississippi Valley for “The Plunder,” to Louisiana for “Twister Trails,” and to the Texas oil fields for his last novel “Tarrant of Tinspout.”  Henry did not live long enough to proofread this last novel.  He left his widow, Sara, and small son, Henry Jr., a sister, Bertha Moosler, who was a widow of L. A. Moosler of Evansville, Ill.  Bertha was born in 1879, and passed away January 25, 1945. Norman M was born July 2, 1888, and passed away February 28, 1952.  He was a Navy veteran in World War I.

            Henry’s body was brought back to Waupaca and was laid to rest in the family plot, along with his parents, Olaf and Henrietta Oyen, his sister, Bertha Moosler, and brothers Karl and Norman.

            His other brother, Chris Oyen, who married Charlotte H. Anderson, died in 1960. Both he and his wife are buried in the Salem  (Old Swede) Cemetery in the Town of Farmington, Waupaca County.  Henrietta, Mrs. Gayhard Sannes, was born in the old Oyen home, which is now the property of the Richard Studleys, on the corner of Otter Drive and Highway 54.  This house is due for destruction in the near future to make way for the Highway 54 expansion.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

March 7, 1991

 

            The old tannery that stood on the east bank of the Waupaca River just over the bridge is the present location of the Waupaca Glass and Paint Company.  This building has undergone several changes from the original structure that was built in 1863 by two gentlemen – a Mr. Timme and a Mr. Zahl.  They operated here for several years, manufacturing leather from hides.

            In 1870 Mr. Timme sold his interest in the tannery to Mr. Zahl, and directed his entire attention to converting leather into harnesses at his new shop on North Main Street.  This location became known as the Old Reliable Harness Shop for many years.

            The land on which the old tannery now stands was purchased by the Rev. Silas Miller, for $88.40, in 1853, just two years before Waupaca’s first grist mill was put into operation located on the Pearl (now the Crystal) River.  This location later became John W. Evans felting mills, and now is the property of the Shanak Foundry on Churchill Street.

            In 1873 Mr. Zahl sold a half interest in the tannery to a Chris Johnson and in 1878 Johnson purchased the remaining half interest.

            Christian (Chris) Johnson was born in Denmark on November 28, 1826, a son of John and Mary (Nelson) Johnson.  He was the youngest of the five children born to John and Mary Johnson.  The other four were – John, Soren, Nels and Sophia.

            Christian was reared on his father’s farm and attended the local schools.  At the age of 23 he entered the artillery service of the Danish Government.  For three years he participated in the war raging between Denmark and Germany over the possession of the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein.  After he had served his service time he returned to farming and working for others until his marriage in 1856, to Dora Larson.  They never had any children.

            In 1863 Chris Johnson immigrated to America with very little resources.  He reached Waupaca with an indebtedness of $50.  For the next several years he worked on a farm for $12 per month, and by 1873 he had saved enough capital to buy the half interest in the tannery with Mr. Zahl.

            In 1881 Chris Johnson sold a half interest in the tannery to M. E. Hansen. The competition from the larger tanneries proved too much for the smaller ones and the business of the old tannery gradually shifted to that of dealers in hides instead of the manufacturing of hides into leather.

            In 1893 Mr. Hansen sold his interest back to Chris Johnson, but in 1894 Johnson retired and sold the tannery property back to Mr. Hansen, who then expanded the business to a dealership in hides, wool and farm seeds until 1900, when he sold the tannery to Alfred and Jens Peter Johnson who were nephews of Chris Johnson.

            After a partnership of four years, Alfred sold his interest to his brother, Jens Peter Johnson, who continued to do an extensive business in the shipping of wool, hides, furs and clover and timothy seed.  He continued to cater to the local needs of the community in supplying first-class farm seeds.

            Jens Peter Johnson, perhaps better known as J. Peter Johnson, was born in Laaland, Denmark, June 7, 1869, a son of Soren W. and Nellie Johnson.  He came to America in the spring of 1882. He was married to Wilhelmina (Minnie) Black in Waupaca, July 14, 1897.  Seven children were born to this union:  William, Margaret, Waldemar, Catherine, Kenneth, Dorothy and James.

            J. Peter Johnson passed away January 31, 1924.  After the death of his father, Waldemar left his position with a banking and real estate firm in Slayton, Minn., and returned to Waupaca to take over his father’s business.

            Waldemar G. Johnson was born in Waupaca, the second son of J. Peter and Minnie Black Johnson on September 9, 1902, and was married August 28, 1929, in Saxeville, Waushara County, to Juanita Bartleson.  They became the parents of two sons:  David and Paul.  He was married for a second time to Alice Johnson.

            Waldemar G. Johnson continued to run the Johnson Seed Company at 214 Water Street until 1976, when he sold out to Richard and Dennis Schultz.  It was at that time one of the oldest family names still in business in Waupaca County.

            Mr. Johnson once made the remark that he had the privilege of seeing many changes in businesses and in agriculture during his half-century in business in Waupaca.  At one time there was a street car line going past his place of business, there was a potato brokerage house, a grist mill and the old blacksmith shop, all within sight of his place.  Throughout the years Mr. Johnson modernized his operations and finally devoted his time to garden and lawn seeds.

            When he sold out to the Schultz’s the old tanning vats were still in the basement under the old tannery part.

            I remember coming to Waupaca with my father, who had a cow hide to sell.  I remember the trap door that was opened up so they could drop the hides into the basement.  The odor that came from the basement was not that of roses. I asked the people who moved into this building, if the vats were still in the basement and was told that they were no longer there.

            Waldermar G. Johnson died November 13, 1976, in the Northside hospital in Atlanta, Ga., while en route to Florida.  Thus ends the last Johnson associated with the old tannery at 214 Water Street.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

March 14, 1991

 

            George Allen was born February 25, 1820 in Sturbridge, Mass.  His parents were Timothy and Theresa Marsh Allen, who were members of the Puritan families who were of the stock that settled in Massachusetts when it was a Bay Colony. Ethan Allen of colonial fame was a member of one of the branches of the family, and General T. S. Allen, who was a hero in the Civil War, was also connected with them in their ancestral origin.

            When George was six years of age, his parents moved to Madison County, NY, where he grew to manhood.  In 1846 he came to Dane County, Wisconsin, before it became a state, and in the following years he returned to Madison County, NY, where he was married to Miss Julia Richmond.  She was a granddaughter of Atzar (Abrezer) Richmond, a veteran of the Revolutionary War.

            George Allen and his new bride returned to Wisconsin and to the Township of Vinland, Winnebago County.  It was here that their only child, a son, Merrick Timothy Allen, was born on August 15, 1850.  The little family remained there until the spring of 1856, when they moved to their new home in Section 6, Township of Dayton, Waupaca County.

            George Allen enlisted in Company A, 8^th Infantry, Wisconsin Volunteers, on September 13, 1861. He served a year with his regiment, and about two years on hospital duty, was discharged on account of disability.  He returned to his family and took up farming once more. He remained in charge of the farm until 1880, when he moved to Waupaca to live. Merrick T. Allen grew up working on the farm and was now ready to take over.

            I have viewed the microfilm of the diary of the day-by-day events of the life of George Allen that was sent to me by Marion J. Thomas, who is a great-granddaughter of George Allen and lives in California.  This diary was kept on a daily basis from 1874 through 1892.

            I will start with the May 19, 1874 entry.

            George Allen started his basement for a new barn.  Sometime later an entry said that the barn had been completed and was being painted as well as was the hop house.  (In the history of northern Wisconsin, it states that the Allens had the largest hop house in the county, it being 30x56, and well-equipped.)

            An August 1874 entry indicated that they started picking and drying hops:  September 15, hauled 12 bales of hops to Waupaca; September 22, 1875, went to the Portage County Fair; July 31, 1875, the bees swarmed for the third time, and in November 1875, he put up a windmill.

            Most of the daily entries were farm life related. It seems as if hop growing was his main enterprise in his first years of farming. The diary tells of hop growing from 1874 through 1879.  It tells of his going to Ogdensburg and buying hop poles, hauling hop poles, setting hop poles, setting out hops, and tying hops.  He mentions corn planting, cultivating, harvesting and husking the corn in the hop house.  Other crops mentioned were potatoes, wheat, oats and buckwheat.      

            In the winter months it tells of cutting and sawing wood by hand, burning the brush and taking the grain to the grist mill to be ground into feed for the cattle.

            There were many growing hops in those early years.  My grandfather grew hops on his farm, less than a mile from the Allen farm.

            It seems that ice and disease started to take their toll on the hops and it no longer was profitable to grow hops.  More barns were built and more and more cattle and livestock were being kept by area farmers.  George Allen was one of them.  In his diary he talked of cattle, sheep and hogs in his farm operation.

            Most all of the dates in his diary told about the weather.  There were mentions of neighbors and friends who came to see them, as well as their return visits.  Many pages were not legible, too faint to read.  Some of the writing was hard to decipher because of the spelling. The microfilm was put together by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

            George Allen retired in 1880, and his son, Merrick, took control.

            Merrick T. Allen was married on March 29, 1871 to Jennie Collins and they had five children:  Arvin D., Carrie D., George W., Fay, and Julia.  During his active years in farming he was a fancier of the Holstein breed of dairy cattle.  It is not clear just who set out the apple orchard, that long has outlasted its usefulness, which is located as part of the campgrounds in the Hartman Creek State Park.

            Asa D. (Apple Tree) Barnes, located in Waupaca, had established the Artic Nursery about 1885.  It would seem reasonable to assume that Merrick T. Allen set out this orchard from stock purchased from Barnes. John Windfeldt leased this orchard for many years before it became the property of the state of Wisconsin.

            As milk production began to increase, the farmers had to have a place to sell their milk, so a group of farmers formed the Spring Hill Creamery Cooperative. The association was organized on February 24, 1903, with the purpose of building a creamery, located at or near Section 6 in the Township of Dayton. Merrick T. Allen sold them one and one-quarter acres of land, dated February 27, 1903.  After nearly two decades the creamery ceased to operate and was purchased by John J. Windfeldt on April 1, 1921.

            To better explain the location of the Spring Hill Creamery, I would direct you straight through the main entrance of the Hartman Creek State Park, proceeding straight south to the “T” in the road, turn right, and there on your right, on the south bank of the creek stood the creamery and a house.  Before the state closed the road that continued on, it went up past the old Munger place which later became the John J. Windfeldt place.  Continuing on, this road came out on County Trunk D, in Portage County.  The Gary Grants live at this intersection today. This was the main shortcut to the Wisconsin Veterans Home for people coming from the south and west.

            George Allen, the father, died at his home on Fulton Street in Waupaca in 1901, and his wife, Julia, died in 1911.  After the death of George Allen, his son, Merrick T. Allen left the farm in charge of his son, George W. Allen, and moved to Waupaca to live with his mother on Fulton Street.  This left George W. Allen, the third generation in charge of the Spring Hill Farm, but it was not until 1925 that he came in full ownership.

            From the time George W. Allen first took control of the farm he started to convert the dairy farm into a fish ranch.  During the 1920s, he cleared the swamps and built dams to regulate the water.  In 1930 he built the dam that regulates the flow of water out of the east lake.

            Besides investing most of his earning and inheritance into this development, George W. became a serious student of trout propagation.  He was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and was a former instructor at the North Dakota Agricultural College, at Fargo, ND.

            On January 24, 1927, John J. Windfeldt gave George W. Allen a land lease on the abandoned Spring Hill Creamery and he converted it into a fish hatchery.  When the fingerlings were three to four months old, they were transplanted to ponds which would provide them a natural habitat.  At first the annual yield was estimated at 300,000.  In January 1936 the plantings totaled 3.5 million.

            These were in the Depression years and times were tough. In 1935, after borrowing from various private individuals, he faced foreclosure; 247 acres reverted to the state of Wisconsin, and the WPA crews began setting it out with the wonderful pines that we all can enjoy today. It is only a few minutes’ drive to Waupaca for supplies.

            Merrick T. Allen died at his home in Waupaca on October 15, 1928 and his wife, the former Jennie Collins, died at the home of her son, George W. Allen, in Stevens Point in 1962, and is buried with his parents on Lot 590 in the Waupaca cemetery.  George W. was born in 1878 and died in Stevens Point in 1962, and is buried with his wife, Mary, in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Stevens Point.

            George W. Allen had two sons:  George F. of Stevens Point and Walter M. of Kalispell, MT.  Walter M. Allen followed in the footsteps of his father and became a fish culturist during the ‘30s and ‘40s.  He worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and, from 1949 until his retirement in 1968, he was superintendent of the Fisheries for the state of Montana.

            The Spring Hill Farm was the foundation of the Hartman Creek State Park, as other holdings were added onto it in later years.

            In a June 24, 1976 paper, there was a large article that there was a movement on to rename the Hartman State Park to Allen Creek State Park, or possibly Spring Hill State Park.  The article was written by George F. Allen and Walter M. Allen, sons of the late George W. Allen.  They listed a good many reasons why the name should be changed, but I don’t believe it has ever been pursued farther.

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

March 21, 1991

 

            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 for 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 icehouse, 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.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

March 28, 1991

                       

            Fred Nelson, in 1895, had already built up a good trade in his Waupaca cigar factory that was located near the bridge on Water Street.  There are few people who today realize just how much business was done in that little, modest cigar factory.

            His output in 1897 was 230,000 cigars.  In 1895, Mr. Nelson began to make a new brand, the “Legal Tender” which equaled the sale of the “K.P.” and the famous “Keystone” brand of cigars.

            A jobber in Grafton, ND, made arrangements to handle his cigars.  He had remarked that he could not get the quality of cigar, for so little anywhere else.  A firm in Minneapolis, Minn., also handled his “Keystone” brand.

            Mr. Nelson generally employed about six people in his factory and expected to hire more as business grew.  He made 14 brands of cigars, and his local sales in Waupaca alone were in the neighborhood of 5,000 cigars per week.

            In June 1895, W. N. Jersild leased the front of the Fred Nelson Cigar Factory, where he opened up a fruit and confectionary store.

            Mr. Harold Holly, who is now a resident of Bethany Home, recently told me that Al Born, who lived on Fifth Street, had a cigar factory in his home, and as a young man, he stripped tobacco leaves for him.  Al Born had two brothers, Jake and George who both had cigar factories in their own homes as well.

            Jesse Cohen, 1919 graduate of Waupaca High School and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cohen, who were the former owners of the old Fair Store in Waupaca for nearly 25 years, won acclaim for his accomplishments at the piano.

            He played over WBBM every Sunday after the ball game.

            Jesse had a number of dance orchestras in Madison, before moving to Chicago, Il.

 

************

 

            For the most part of 1933, Julius H. Halvorson was seriously ill and during his long months of convalescence he amused himself by writing music and verse.

            The song that won him the greatest acclaim was “That Wonderful Mother of Mine,” for which he wrote both the words and music.

            It was published by the DeVaignie Music Corp., Chicago, a firm with branches in London, England, and Melbourne, Australia.

            The cover sheet had a red background showing an artist’s conception of a doorway to a country home. Beneath the title was printed, “Words and music by Julius H. Halvorson.”  Beneath this was the picture of Miss Lora Sanderson.  She was the vocalist who brought the son to popularity by her renditions over the radio from a New York Studio.

 

***********

 

            Another Waupacan who went on to become a star in his own right was Ethwell (Eddy) Hanson, a nationally known master organist, composer, and pianist.

            Although Hanson was born in New London, on August 1, 1893, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Gustav Hanson, he spent most of his 92 years in Waupaca when not performing on the road.

            Eddy Hanson first gained fame at the organ in Chicago, Ill.  He was the first radio organist in Chicago, beginning in 1923, on station WDAP, which later became WGN.

            From 1924 to 1948 he became staff organist on Chicago stations WBBM, WLS and WCFL.

            Through the years Eddy played the organ in various theaters and supper clubs.

            Eddy Hanson was at the “Golden Voiced Baritone Pipe Organ” on the opening night of the Palace Theater here in Waupaca, October 4, 1920.  He also played the saxophone, and was a soloist with the John Philip Sousa Band and was a longtime featured performer at the Circus Inn and at Simpson’s nightclub here in Waupaca, besides writing and publishing many songs during his career.

            There are over 300 of his pieces which are listed with ASCAP.  Mr. Hanson passed away in 1986.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

April 4, 1991

 

            Dorothy Graham Mills was a daughter of Charles E. and Sara (Strong) Mills, born July 19, 1897, in Montevideo, Minn.

            She was raised and attended school there, and always had the love for the stage even from her childhood.  Dorothy graduated from the Phail School of Music and Dramatic Arts in Minneapolis, Minn.

            Dorothy started out first as the city editor on her father’s newspaper, the “Montevideoan Daily American.”  Four of her five brothers also owned their own newspapers.  It was while she was with her father’s newspaper, that she met the man she would eventually marry.

            Her stage debut was quite by accident, and brief; it all happened one night in 1922, when an actress with the Acme Chautauqua Company became ill and was hospitalized for two weeks. Dorothy’s chance was just long enough for her to get the trouping bug in her blood.

            After the two-week engagement she returned to work for her father in the newspaper business until the following year, when she joined the Boyd Clark Stock Company in Carroll, Iowa, and the dramatic career of Dorothy Mills shifted into high gear.

            Like so many theatrical people she had to make many changes in jobs to secure advancement in her profession.

            At the age of 26, she joined the Neil Schaffner troupe in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and then traveled with the Frank Norton Company from Oklahoma City, during the late 1920s.

            Dorothy Mills’ stage name had now become Diana Mills.  She stayed with the Norton Company for three years, which included a full month’s engagement in Houston, Texas.  There were nights when she and others from the cast would take in the final acts of the up-and-coming actor, Clark Gable.  Ginger Rogers and Guy Kibbee were among other celebrities she met in the theaters.

            The “new” Diana Mills went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, playing summer stock in Iowa and Wyoming with the Boyd Truesdale unit for four seasons.  In the beginning of the Depression years she joined the troupe of Leo Truesdale, a nephew of Boyd Truesdale, in South Dakota.

            Along with many others in the entertainment world, salary cuts were the order of the day and only a little summer stock work was available.  Diana Mills folded with the Truesdale players in Leeds, SD.  It was on a Saturday night that they played to a meager crowd of 12; the next day they didn’t eat and things were nip and tuck.

            She returned to Iowa for a few months before going back to the theater.  There was a four-month stand in Montgomery, AL, with Walter Amber, followed by another series of summer stock engagements with Harry Hugo in Nebraska, from 1931 through 1934, and with the Christy Obrecht Troupe. The Depression was still taking its toll.

            In 1935 Diana Mills joined a troupe in Aberdeen, Iowa and two years later on September 17,1937, she married the man she had first met in her father’s newspaper office.  They were married at Milbank, SD.  He was an actor in his own right and a veteran of World War I.  This man was Melvin (Blondic) Helgerson who was born August 8, 1893, in Soldier’s Grove, WI, a son of Martin and Susan (Nelson) Helgerson.  He was the director of his own company, so now the stage names changed to Dick and Dorothy Dickson, and from 1938 through 1946 they played on radio shows in the Dakotas, traveling through many adverse conditions.  There was one night when a blinding blizzard forced them to seek shelter in a schoolhouse.  They said that this was mild compared to the night they had to sleep on pool tables in Stanley, ND.

            After their tour through Wisconsin and Illinois, doing summer stock work, they decided to settle down.  In 1948 they made arrangements with J. P. Adler of Marshfield to manage his Waupaca Theatres.  For months there was the desire to return to the stage, but as time passed they met many people and the desire faded away.

            Melvin (Blondic) Helgerson loved to be in the lobby talking to old friends and making new ones.

            Melvin Helgerson passed away at his home in Waupaca on March 1, 1952, and was buried in the Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Park, at King.  On March 5, 1952, Dorothy, his wife, took over his duties as manager and carried on as he had, meeting the people.

            Her beautiful, smiling face will always be remembered by the patrons who attended the Rosa Theatre.  Dorothy Helgerson was the person who counted the last night’s receipts when the Palace Theatre closed its doors forever on January 12, 1957.

            Dorothy continued to run the Rosa Theatre until September 7, 1962, when she passed away at her home in Waupaca, from a heart attack, three weeks before her planned retirement.  She was laid to rest in the Wisconsin Veterans Home Memorial Cemetery, beside her husband.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

April 11, 1991

 

            Erastus C. Sessions, better known as E. C. Sessions, was one of the first five Vermonters to arrive at the Falls (Waupaca) in the summer of 1849.  He erected a 12x13 foot log cabin, with a bark roof and a bark floor, near the granite ledge where the old Danes Home is located.

            There was not a board used in the construction, as the first sawmills were not in operation yet.

            Since E.C. Sessions was a bachelor and had a home, he began thinking of marriage.  It seems as if he already had someone in mind:  a special lady who was living with friends in the southeastern part of the state, who had come from the green hills of Vermont the year before.

            E.C. Sessions was married somewhere in the southeastern part of the state, and immediately started back to the Falls.  They had an unusual wedding trip, that you could hardly call a honeymoon.

            The wedding trip back began by taking the stagecoach to Fond du Lac, thence by steamer to Oshkosh, and on to find their way up the Wolf River.  At Oshkosh they chartered a schooner, as it was called, capable of carrying three to four tons of freight.  The schooner’s crew consisted of two men.  They left Oshkosh in mid-afternoon with a fair wind, expecting to reach Butte des Morts, or even Winneconne, before dark.  But they were in the middle of Lake Butte des Morts when the wind subsided and it became very calm.  They were at a standstill.  The water was too deep to use the poles, but a tie-up was finally made to a raft of logs.

            There they were, newlyweds, out in the open boat with only a single cover for a bed, and in the company of two total strangers, with the unsympathetic moon looking straight down on them. Dawn finally came with a breeze that took them out of Lake Butte des Morts and into the channel leading to Winneconne.  By much hard work the party reached Winneconne as the sun was sinking behind the horizon. Here they found shelter at the home of the Mumbrues.

            Capt. David Scott and a Mister Gard joined the crew the next day, helping whenever necessary.  The progress was slow going through Lake Winneconne and around the Indian pay grounds in Lake Poygan. Averse winds hindered their progress, but by repeated tackings back and forth across the lake they reached the entrance of the Wolf River.  It was now evident to the newlyweds that they could make better time if they left the main craft and used the rowboat that was being towed behind. Scott, Gard and the newlywed pair pressed on with Gard as the steersman, and the other two being the motive power, with the bride seated in a rocking chair in the middle of the boat.  Their destination was Little River where a sawmill was being erected.  It is not clear just where they disembarked and left the Wolf River – was it at the place that became known as Gills Landing, or was it at a point downriver where they could proceed straight west to Little River?  At any rate, night was coming on, but they continued on foot through the timber and darkness.  To make things worse, at one point water was some rods in width and several inches in depth.  This was overcome by carrying the bride safely across.

            The next morning a walk of five miles brought the weary party to the Chandler Settlement, where they found women, children and the comforts of home.  The party pressed on to the Falls where they started a new life in the log shanty with the bark roof and the bark floor.

            I never found out what E.C. Sessions’ wife’s maiden name was, but her first name was Abigail (Abby).

            E.C. Sessions was a businessman, so he set out and laid claim to three of the original 40s in the plat of the Village of Waupaca, and one in the Third Ward.

            About 1850, Rev. Silas Miller came to the Falls in search for a good location for a sawmill.  E. C. Sessions had just what he was looking for, and made a deal whereby he traded his farm and livestock at Alto, Fond du Lac County, for Mr. Sessions’ entire holdings. Mr. Sessions then moved to the property that he bought northwest of the Falls; this was then called Sessions’ Prairie, and is now Sheridan.

            It was not known to me until recently when the Sessions family left the Waupaca area.  On March 4, 1991, I received a letter from Mrs. John (Shirley) McArthur, of McArthur, CA, asking me to do some research.  In the letter she included a copy of the “Reminiscences of Edward P. Sessions,” who was a son of E.C. and Abigail Sessions. It has been said that he was the first white boy born in Waupaca.  This goes on to tell when they left the area, and an interesting story of their lives in the West.  The McArthur families left the Waupaca area and founded the city of McArthur, CA, in 1902.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

April 18, 1991

 

            The reminiscences of Edward P. Sessions confirm when, exactly, the Sessions family left the Waupaca area for the far west.  Edward Parish Sessions was a son of Erastus C. and Abigail Sessions, and was the first white boy to be born in Waupaca County.

            It was one spring day in 1858, when E. C. Sessions, as he was better known, along with William and Robert Steele, started out for Pike’s Peak, CO.  While on their journey westward they met a party coming back from Pike’s Peak, and after talking to them, they switched their course and headed for California, wintering on the old Shaffer ranch, which later became the George Mapes ranch, about 10 miles west of Amadee.  They mined on the Feather River for a couple of years before E.C. Sessions went to Nevada to prepare a home for his family, coming soon from Waupaca.

            On May 1, 1861, Mrs. Esther Steele and her three children – Sophia, Alex, and Minnie; Mrs. Abigail Sessions, with her three children – John Orville, Edward Parish and Charles Dana – all left Waupaca for new frontiers in the west.  Mrs. Sessions left behind a little grave in the Waupaca cemetery, that of Abby C. Sessions, who was the only daughter of E.C. and Abby Sessions, who had died on September 14, 1856, aged 11 weeks and two days.

            Jule Cody, Lon Harris and a couple of others were hired on to escort this little caravan of pioneers to Nevada.  The caravan consisted of the two grown women and their six children, a crew of four, two covered wagons, and two yoke of oxen.  They left Waupaca heading for Council Bluffs, IA, crossing the river there, through Omaha, NE, and up the north side of the Platte River, to Sweetwater Valley and then Fort Bridger, over the Rocky Mountains and down into Salt Lake City, UT.

            The trip to Salt Lake City was not without incident.  On the plains along the North Platte the children had to gather buffalo chips for the campfires and cooking purposes.  To make matters worse Mrs. Sessions’ best ox got alkalied so the load had to be lightened by throwing out many of her precious keep-sakes.  Abigail, better known as Abby, cried as if her heart would break.

            The children had to walk as much as possible until they could find another ox.  Their bare feet became chapped and sore.

            Mr. Steele met the little caravan at Salt Lake City and he happened to have an extra ox.  The caravan was now under his guidance.  He took them down through the Humboldt Valley, Carson Sink, to Silver City, NV, where they arrived about October 20, 1861, after 173 days on the trail.  Silver City, Gold Hill and Virginia City were the three mining towns of the Comstock Lode, all within a few miles of each other.

            At one point between Salt Lake City and Silver City, Mr. Steele lined the children up and made them eat some chopped-up onions with some salt.  It was said that it made the tears come to their eyes, and they were the strongest onions that they ever ate.  Mr. Steele had a very good reason for the onions. Scurvy was a common and dreaded affliction among overland immigrants, and raw onions, being rich in vitamin C, were commonly used as an antiscorbutic.

            The little caravan from Waupaca did not encounter any Indians, although they had someone stand guard at night.  They were relieved when they arrived at Salt Lake City, because Mr. Steele told them that the Indians were peaceful, as there was no Indian war in progress in 1861.

            Shortly after arriving at Silver City, E.C. Sessions built a two-room house where they spent the winter.  In the spring of 1862, the Sessions moved in Virginia City, and lived there until April 18, 1863, when they moved to Truckee Meadows, CA, where Mr. Sessions had bought a ranch.  Truckee Meadows was approximately 16 miles west of Reno, NV. There was now a new addition to the family; Carrie was about five weeks old when they moved from Nevada into CA.

            In the fall of 1864, E.C. Sessions was county commissioner of Washoe County, NV, and the family moved back to Washoe City, which was the county seat.  It was here in Washoe City that another girl, Celia, was born January 14, 1865.  E.C. Sessions lived in Washoe City and had his ranch over in California. E.C. Sessions started a milk business in Reno, NV and Edward P. peddled milk for 2-1/2 years for his father.

            In 1869 E.C. Sessions, his wife, Abby, and three of their children – Charles, Carrie and Celia – went back to Vermont to visit relatives.  Orville and Edward, with a hired man, stayed home and ran the ranch and dairy business. When the family returned from Vermont, Aunt Bessie Parish returned with them, later marrying C.H. Eastman.  Now this tells me that Abigail had a sister, Bessie Parish, so Abigail’s maiden name had to be Parish.  After returning from Vermont, Mr. Sessions started Edward and Orville out in the cattle business.  He gave them eight cows.

            There are several pages of the Reminiscences of Edward P. Sessions that goes on about the trials and tribulations of being a rancher.  Edward tells of several cattle drives that he made from Truckee Meadows to Fort Bidwell, in Modoc County, which is in the extreme northeastern corner of California.

            He and his brothers trailed some horse thieves over 2,000 miles; there was claim jumping; rodeoing; dry summers with little feed and cold winters with deep snows.

            By 1890, he had a herd of 750 head of cattle, only to lose one-third of them that winter.

            In 1892, Edward Sessions purchased 300 feet of light well casing and in 1893 he put in wells.  He no longer had to break the ice each morning before the cattle could drink.  Edward Sessions was now in Modoc County, CA, and like so many other pioneer ranchers in Modoc County, their ranches finally passed out of the family ownership when they were combined with other pioneer properties, to become the Sagehorn Ranch.

            Edward Parish Sessions, the first white boy to be born in Waupaca County, was married in the spring of 1877. There is no mention of his wife’s name.  After retiring, Edward Sessions moved to Berkely, CA, to live.  He died there February 11, 1928, aged 75 years.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

April 25, 1991

 

            Godfrey is an old pioneer name in Waupaca. 

            Thomas Godfrey was born in County Derry, on the Emerald Isle, July 13, 1823; his parents were Robert and Mary (Orr) Godfrey.  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Godfrey had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters.  Thomas was the third in order of births.

            Thomas remained and helped on the family farm in Ireland until the spring of 1846 when he came to America.  His parents supplied him with what money he needed for his passage. He said goodbye to his parents and friends and set sail from Londonderry on the vessel “Fannie.”  The crossing took six weeks and three days before the Fannie dropped anchor in the harbor of Philadelphia.

            He had heard of the advantages and opportunities afforded in the New World, and he was willing to work at anything that would yield him an honest living.  His first employment was as a driver of an ice wagon for $10 per month.  After some time he became dissatisfied with Philadelphia and moved north to Germantown and worked as a farm hand in that locality for nearly three years.  He also served as coachman for two years for a Judge Kane who was the father of Elisha Kane, the Arctic explorer, who was spending some time at home. He often rode behind the horses that were driven by Thomas Godfrey.

            In the spring of 1851, our subject developed the urge to come westward.  He first went by boat through the Hudson River to Albany, NY, then by rail to Buffalo, by boat to Toledo, OH, by rail again to New Buffalo, MI, then across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee.

            In Milwaukee he caught a ride with a farmer from Big Foot Prairie who was returning home after taking a load of grain to market.  From this point he started out on foot in search of government land to buy.  He circled around in south-central Wisconsin, visiting Janesville, Fort Atkinson, Beloit, Johnstown Center, Watertown, Oak Grove and on to Strong’s Landing (Berlin).  He stayed in Berlin one night and then set out for Waupaca.  It has been written that he crossed the Waupaca River at Waupaca where the old electric light plant was built years later.  He struck a trail leading northwest and came to what became Sheridan.  He chose 120 acres in Section 7, which became the Town of Farmington, and 80 acres in what later became the Town of Lanark, Portage County.

            This was in 1851 and not a furrow had been turned or any improvements had been made.  The Indians roamed the area and the game was plentiful, in what was still Indian land.

            After three months Mr. Godfrey walked to Kane County, IL, where he worked for four seasons on a farm, returning at intervals to his farm west of Waupaca to make what improvements he could afford.  He gradually saved enough money to buy some stock and farm implements and soon began to cultivate his own land.

            For a time he was engaged in teaming, hauling goods for merchants from Ripon to Stevens Point.  He found time to spend a few months each year to improve his farm.  On September 27, 1861 he married Elizabeth Pinkerton in Waupaca.  She was a native of County Antrium, Ireland.  She was born September 18, 1843, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Pinkerton. She was only about four years old when she came to America with her parents.

            Thomas and Eliza Pinkerton Godfrey were the parents of 10 children:  Samuel, William, Mary, Ella, Robert, Elizabeth B., James and George.  A son, Robert, and a daughter, Mary Ann, died when less than a year old.  They are both buried on the Godfrey lot in the Sheridan Cemetery.

            Thomas Godfrey died April 19, 1899, and his wife, Elizabeth, died March 4, 1898. They are buried in the Sheridan Cemetery with other members of the family.

            Their son, Samuel P. (Sam) Godfrey, was one of Waupaca’s most successful businessmen.  He was born June 8, 1865 on the family farm in Section 7, Township of Farmington near the Portage County line, west of Sheridan.

            At the age of 17, he became dissatisfied with life on the farm, and decided that farming was not the vocation for him. He left home with the intention of attending school, but instead he hired out to work as a clerk in a general store.  After he had saved enough money to buy in on a half interest in a business, Waupaca became his new home.

            After three years in the partnership, he sold out his half interest and spent the next two years as an insurance salesman.  At the end of the two years it was evident to him that selling insurance was not for him, either.

            Sam P. Godfrey’s next venture was selling farm implements for one of the larger farm implement companies. He found that he liked this type of work.  His past experience in business had given him a thorough knowledge of the implement business, so he went out on his own and bought a large stock of farm implements.

            His first place of business was on East Union Street, located approximately midway between the old Browne Law Office and the present Waupaca Hotel, and from 1896 until 1944 he remained in the farm implement business in Waupaca.

            I have been told that when he first started out on his own, that when a representative from an implement company would make their annual round to settle up his bills, they would take inventory of returned and damaged stock.  They would begin by making two piles of merchandise.  If they agreed on the value of a particular piece, it was thrown into one pile, and if they disagreed it was put on the other pile.  That is when the real dickering began, and often lasted for hours.

            His business grew rapidly and his trade came from many miles in every direction from Waupaca.  In 1906 he bought out the stock of implements from his stiffest competition, J. F. Gallagher, and added it to his own on Union Street.  The J. F. Gallagher place of business was located at the corner of West Fulton and South Washington Streets, now the location of the Waupaca Youth and Senior Citizens Building (southeast corner of intersection).

            In 1902 Sam P. Godfrey ran such advertisements as this in the local newspaper:  “Racine Runabout buggies, a complete line of plows, seeders, drills, drags, McCormick binders, mowers, corn binders, pianos and sewing machines.”

            On October 5, 1908, Sam P. Godfrey purchased the former place of business of J.F. Gallagher from John and Mary Pinkerton.

            He had the agency for the DeLaval cream separator and McCormick Deering machinery and parts.  In 1909 his ads were for Iron Age four row potato sprayers and potato diggers.

            Mr. Godfrey claimed that he owed his success to the fact that he handled only the very best of any line that he had taken on.  His dealings with customers were fair, square and upright, and a satisfied customer was said to be his main object at all times.

            He was Waupaca’s postmaster from 1914 to 1921.  He served as director and vice president of the Farmers State Bank for 28 years, and was on the Waupaca City Council for 10 years.

            Sam P. Godfrey retired from business in 1944, and leased the building to the Thompson Implement Company and in 1953 he joined partnership with Werner Jensen and they started the Ford Implement business at that location until 1963, when they moved to their new location one mile east of Waupaca.  The building was razed to make room for a new brick building that was to become the home of the Waupaca Youth and Senior Citizens Building.  That ended another of Waupaca’s old wooden buildings.

            On January 21, 1891, Samuel P. Godfrey was united in marriage to Edna M. Plowman, daughter of Jabez and Sarah Shaw Plowman.

            To this union three children were born:  Edwin, who became a lawyer; Marjorie, who became a teacher; and Myron P., who at the age of 21, became associated in business with his father until October 1915, when he went into the automobile business for himself, selling Studebakers.

            Myron (Mike) Godfrey was married June 11, 1918, to Mabel Nelson, and they had two children – Tom and Dorothy – and the Godfrey name carries on in Waupaca.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

May 2, 1991

 

            An Admiral in the U.S. Navy once called Waupaca his hometown.  Capt. C. E. Ekstrom and family paid a visit to his hometown, Waupaca, in August of 1950.  While here they were guests at the Fred Suhs home.  The naval officer had just been relieved of command of the aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt and was en-route to his new command, the navy station on Whidbey Island, Wash.

            In 1951 he was promoted to the temporary grade of rear admiral.  Ekstrom was selected for promotion to what the Navy calls flag rank by a board in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1951, and was approved by the President of the United States, Harry Truman, 10 days later.

            Shortly after the President approved his selection for the promotion, Ekstrom received his orders detaching him as commanding officer of the Whidbey Air Station, and directed him to report to San Diego as chief of staff to Vice Admiral T. L. Sprague, naval air commander of the Pacific Fleet.

            Clarence E. Ekstrom was born in Waupaca on March 10, 1902, a son of John and Mathila Ekstrom.  He graduated from Waupaca High School and shortly afterward he entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD.  It was there that he earned the nickname “Swede.”

            After graduating from Annapolis in 1924, he completed his flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station and was assigned to the Navy’s historic aircraft carrier, the U.S. Langley, in 1929.

            Ekstrom returned to the Naval Academy for a post-graduate course in aeronautical engineering.  He completed this training in 1931 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by a year’s duty at the naval aircraft factory in Philadelphia, PA.

            In 1935 Ekstrom went on shore duty in Washington, D.C., in the Bureau of Aeronautics.  It was during this time that he met and married a Seattle, Wash. girl, Elizabeth Lodoll, and to them a son, John, and a daughter, Martha, were born.

            During World War II he commanded patrol and seaplane squadrons and was an executive officer aboard the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill.  He also commanded the carrier escort Savo Island in action against the Japanese in the South Pacific.  He was awarded the Navy Cross, Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star.

            Admiral Ekstrom’s later duties involved commands of Carrier Division 17 during the Korean War and Carrier Division 6 with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

            In October 1959 Admiral Ekstrom became the commander of the Pacific Navy Air Force at San Diego.  He retired there in 1962.

            Admiral Clarence E. Ekstrom died January 10, 1986, in San Diego.  A private burial with full military honors was held at Fort Rosecran’s National Cemetery.

            This is most probably the only time that a naval officer of such high rank has called Waupaca his home.

            (The material for this article was found in the July 19, 1951, edition of the Waupaca County Post and the obituary for Admiral Clarence E. Ekstrom.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

May 9, 1991

 

            Recently I came across two interesting items:  one from the January 27, 1916 issue of the Milwaukee Sentinel, captioned “Unique Family in Sports,” and the other a family picture of T. M., Oscar, Carl, Alfred and William, the Cook Family Bowling Team of Waupaca, in the March 3, 1910, issue of the Waupaca Record.

            It seems as if there was a statewide organization whereby families competed against families in bowling.

            In 1907 the father, Theodore M. Cook, with four of his sons, formed their family team.  The article that appeared in 1910 indicated that the Cook family had competed several times since 1907, and never was defeated.

            In the winter of 1910, Theodore M. Cook, with four of his sons, defeated F.  W. Kehl and his sons of Madison, at a tournament that was held in Milwaukee to claim the State Family Bowling Championship.

            The Cook Family Bowling Team made everyone who was interested in bowling stand up and take notice.  The Cook family team’s game was off the night that they defeated the Kehl family in Milwaukee, but managed to win by six pins.  The entire Cook and Kehl families were invited to a banquet that was held in the Blatz Hotel in Milwaukee.

            The highest scores ever rolled by the Cook family team up to 1910 was an 893, a 967 and a 1,030.  That was an average of 192 for the five men, for the three games. The highest individual score was a 272, rolled by William R. Cook.

            It was also in February 1910 that the Cook family team went to a tournament in Stevens Point, where they won the Wisconsin River League Championship.

            Theodore M. Cook was once a member of the National Gun Club and the champion trapshooter of Wisconsin.  His best record was 93 out of a possible 100.  He often remarked that his boys could also shoot a little.

            Theodore M. Cook was born in 1856 and passed away in November 5, 1939.  He was married to Johanna Anderson in the Town of Farmington on June 26, 1885.  She had been born in Turndrup, Denmark, September 4, 1864.  They were the parents of seven sons:  Carl, Oscar, William and Irving of Waupaca; Dr. Alfred of Lancaster, Dr. Arthur of Stevens Point; and Edward, who was a teacher at Hayward.

            Mrs. Cook died January 18, 1936.  Her pallbearers were all men with familiar names in Waupaca:  Will C. Ware, Oscar and Charles Larson, Chr. J. Miller, Peter Holst, and D. C. Hayward of Weyauwega.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

May 16, 1991

 

            This will be a bits and pieces column.

            An old Civil War relic, a muzzle-loader converted into a shotgun, was found by George Gregorson in 1921 on his Route 3, Waupaca, farm.

            Stranger even than the appearance of the gun is the way that it was found.

            George Gregorson was walking through the woods on his farm one day when he noticed a peculiar bunch of branches protruding from the trunk of a tree.

            The branches grew outward and back to the trunk in a peculiar manner.  After cutting the branches and part of the trunk he discovered the aged firearm, overgrown by limbs, laying in such a way as to indicate that someone had placed the gun in the fork of the tree and left it there until the tree branches had completely hidden it.

 

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            The Chapel Car St. Anthony arrived at the Wisconsin Central depot in Waupaca on a Monday and remained until Tuesday in the summer of 1908.  This was a beautiful car constructed to make a church, with accommodations for 100 people, costing $25,000, being donated by Ambrose Petry in memory of his parents, John and Caroline Petry.

            The Chapel Car attracted great crowds throughout the country as it toured.  The Chapel Car was used by the Catholic Church Extension Society of the United States.  Although the majority of those attending were Catholics, thousands of various denominations took advantage of seeing this beautifully constructed church on wheels.

 

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            In April of 1908, Postmaster A. M. Penney notified the people of Waupaca that he had not received the official notice to start city free mail delivery, because of the questions with the number and condition of the sidewalks, although Waupaca had more walks than many cities with free delivery.

            A month later, Postmaster Penney received word from Washington that the Post Office inspector who had recently visited Waupaca recommended that as soon as the street signs and house numbers were erected, the city delivery could be initiated.

            The territory for delivery was bounded as follows:  Beginning at the south end of Main Street, thence north in a direct line including Washington Street to Badger Street.  Thence west to Franklin Street, thence north to Fulton Street, thence west to one and one-half blocks beyond Harrison Street and including Morton Street, thence one and one-half blocks south to Fulton Street, then north one block to and including North Fulton Street, thence northeast to Harrison Street, thence north to Hulda Street, thence east to Elm Street, thence northeast to the Wisconsin Central Railroad, thence directly east to Jensen Street, thence south to the Wisconsin Central Railroad, thence southeasterly along the line of said railroad to Miller Street, thence in a direct line to the south corner of School and Royalton Streets, thence west to Berlin Street, thence south one and one-half blocks, thence southwest to the point of beginning.

            City delivery began Monday, Nov. 16, 1908, with Will Ottman and John Kiffner as carriers.  They were all decked out with their new uniforms.

            Mr. Ottman delivered mail to all of the business places and the First and Third Wards north of Mill Street.  Mr. Kiffner delivered to the residences in the Fourth, Second and Third Wards to Mill Street.

 

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            In the spring of 1911, A. E. Cartwright established a grocery delivering service to the people of Waupaca.  In July, only three months later, a notice appeared in the local paper, that the parcel delivery was being discontinued due to the lack of patronage by the local merchants.

            The merchants that had supported the delivery system were:  The Peterson Grocery Co., J. E. Cristy, E. W. Czeskleba, Mortenson and Co. and S. J. Danielson.

 

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            The earthquake which was felt over large sections in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan on May 26, 1909, was felt to a slight degree in Waupaca.

            In several places throughout the city the shock was felt:  chairs rocked and dishes rattled, but the disturbance was attributed to a heavy blast at the quarry.

 

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            In April 1909, the lease had expired on the old park grounds on the Larson farm.

            Irving P. Lord of the Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Co. obtained a 10-year lease for a new location of approximately eight acres for park purposes on a trace of land owned by John Pryse which adjoins the railway track on the north and the Frank Benedict farm on the west.

            Mr. Lord’s plans were to fit up the park in fine style for baseball, tennis, football and trapshooting as well as other sports.  The park on the Larson farm was to be discontinued and the grandstand fence moved to the new location.  A side track was to be put in and ample platform accommodations provided to the public.  There would be a 5¢ fare to the park.

            There was to be a 15 minute schedule with a 10-minute running time between the city and the ballpark.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

May 23, 1991

 

            From the Waupaca Record, May 23, 1912, comes this story about the origin of Memorial Day.

            Early in 1866, just after the close of the Civil War, Mrs. Mary A. W. Howard, widow of a Confederate officer, suggested the setting apart of a day for placing flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers, and for appropriate memorial exercises.

            This idea was received with general approval, and on April 26, 1866, it was made the first Confederate Memorial Observance.  This southern idea appealed to the sentiments of the men and women of the north.  In 1868, General John A. Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army, issued an order calling for Memorial Day exercises May 30, 1868.

            When I was a young lad going to the Pickerel Lake school at Blaine, the school put on a program each Memorial Day at the Blaine Methodist Church.

            Memorial Day was a big day for us kids.  We had parts and songs to learn.

            The main attraction each year was Hannah Rebecca Sutherland Taylor reciting the Gettysburg Address.  She pleased the audience with her rendition until she was in her 90s.  She was born in 1838 and passed away in 1933.  Mrs. Taylor was the wife of Albert Taylor, who was a Civil War veteran.  She remembered all about the Civil War, and had many memories of it.  She still wrote poetry while she was in her 90s.

            After the church services, everyone went to the First Belmont Cemetery in one large body.  Here all the children placed flowers on the veterans’ graves.  These flowers were picked mostly the day before.  These flowers were picked in the wild, mostly violets, paint brushes, lilacs, lady slippers, or any flower that was blooming at that time of year.  In those days the people did not have the nice flower gardens.  Before the automobile, there used to be a long string of horse-drawn conveyances going to the cemetery.

            How times have changed.  The school house has long been removed, and now pine tree plantings hide the original location.  The old church that was built in 1875 has stood empty for many years now, deteriorating each day, and the old custom of Memorial Day exercises like that exists no more.

            The Waupaca Post of May 29, 1902, lists 59 Civil War veterans, one Mexican War and four Spanish-American War veterans’ graves that would be decorated on Memorial Day at the Waupaca Lakeside Cemetery.

            In 1986 I received a computer list of 429 veterans who are buried in the Waupaca Lakeside Cemetery.  It lists 163 Civil War, 147 WWI, 85 WWII, 19 Spanish-American War, four Korean, two Vietnam, two Mexican War, one War of 1812, and six peacetime veterans.

            I just received a list from the Veterans Office of all veterans who passed away from May 1, 1990, to May 1, 1991, in Waupaca County.  The rundown goes like this:  53 WWII, 10 peacetime, 13 Korean, seven Vietnam, three WWI, and one who served in both Korea and Vietnam.  This totals 87 in all.

 

            Let us not forget our veterans on this upcoming Memorial Day.

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

May 30, 1991

 

            Waupaca has had many men and women who have followed an honorable profession.

            This article is about a printer who may have set a record for dedication to his profession.  This printer retired after 51 years of service, and then only because he had to.  This was the prominent Alderman J. Henry Christenson, who was a veteran printer of the local newspapers in Waupaca.

            He was born July 9, 1878, in Medford, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mads Christenson.  The Christenson family came to Waupaca in 1884 when J. Henry was only six years old.  His given name was really James Henry, but he always went by Henry.

            James Henry Christenson was 12 and 13 years of age when he spent two years on the farm of James and Nancy Smith, north of Blaine, in the Town of Belmont, Portage County.  He attended the District Number 8 School (Pickerel Lake) in the winter of 1891 when he was 13 years old. Hannah Tobin was the teacher in 1890 and 1891.  This was the same school that I attended from 1921 through 1929.

            At the age of 14, J. Henry Christenson started at the Waupaca Post as a student apprentice.  He became the foreman of the shop in 1907 when J. L. Sturtevant moved to Wausau.

            He was one of the partners who purchased the Waupaca Post in November of 1908 and merged with the Republican, later, to form the Republican Post.  When the Warner Brothers purchased the Waupaca County Post in 1946, Mr. Christenson remained with the paper, but was forced to retire in 1947 due to ill health.  Fifty-one years is quite a record.

            He served as alderman from the Fourth Ward, and he was elected president of the Common Council in 1947.  At the time of his death a year later, he was chairman of the council committee negotiating the purchase of the Armory to be converted into a Civic Auditorium and Recreation Center.  He belonged to several fraternal organizations in Waupaca.

            James Henry Christenson passed away at his home at 421 West Fulton Street, May 23, 1948.  His obituary states that “One of the finest tributes which could be paid his industrious character, is the fact that in 51 years as a printer he never missed a paycheck.”

            Officiating at his funeral were his two nephews, Rev. Austin Sorenson and Rev. Henry Sorenson.  He was laid to rest in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park Cemetery.  Among the survivors were his widow, Lucille Ermine Mowry; two daughters, Mrs. Theodore Stearns of Berlin and Mrs. Carl Ter Haar of Stevens Point; and one sister, Mrs. Walter Sorenson of Waupaca.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

June 6, 1991

 

            On March 16, 1886, an Article of Incorporation was signed by a dozen citizens of Waupaca, to form the Waupaca Electric Light Association, the purpose and object of which was to purchase, locate and operate an electric plant in the City of Waupaca.

            Irving P. Lord was a businessman who envisioned that the introduction of electricity to Waupaca and surrounding area would be a shot in the arm to the development and economy of Waupaca.  It seems that when it came to financing such an undertaking, the businessmen of Waupaca did not share Mr. Lord’s enthusiasm.

            Lord, as president, and Mr. W. B. Baker, as secretary, attempted to sell bonds to the people of Waupaca.  Only one man agreed to buy a single share of stock worth $100.  When the time came to pay for the stock this man was excused from fulfilling his contract, and as a result Lord and Baker furnished the entire capital required, by themselves.

            Lord had already had dreams of connecting Waupaca to the Wisconsin Veterans Home by electric railway. On June 23, 1898, there was an Article of Incorporation drawn up to form the Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company.  Its purpose was to furnish electric light, and power to maintain and operate a street railway.  Lord and his wife and Baker and his wife became the principal officers.

            Before continuing further I will interject a little about Irving P. Lord’s early life.  Irving Parish Lord was born in Waupaca on October 10, 1858, the eldest son of George Loren and Hannah Parish Lord.

            He attended the public school in Waupaca and graduated with the first of the Waupaca High School class in June 1876.  The following August he went to the state of Nevada, where he put in a year teaching school and doing newspaper work.

            In September 1877, he returned to Wisconsin and entered Lawrence College at Appleton and finished his sophomore year in 1878.  Lord then studied law at Waupaca in the office of Judge C. S. Ogden and F. F. Wheeler, was admitted to the bar in March 1881, and he opened his own law business in the Lord building on North Main Street.  He specialized largely in commercial and corporate law.  He remained active in law business until he moved to Los Angeles, CA, about 1923.  Jeff Fletcher, the grandson of Mike Fletcher Sr., the originator of Fletcher’s Jewelry Store, told me that he had in his possession the law books of Irving P. Lord that were found in the building at 204 North Main Street.  This is the building in which Mike Fletcher Sr. first operated his own jewelry store.  On November 9, 1891, Irving P. Lord was married to Grace Allen Beach in Dewitt, IA, and they had three children, a daughter, Betty, and two sons, Reginal and Allan.  Allan died in an accident on October 20, 1912, at the age of 11.   

            Irving P. Lord’s dream of connecting Waupaca to the Wisconsin Veterans Home became a reality on July 4, 1899.  At the signal from W. B. Baker, at 2 p.m., the cars rolled from the barn as they started on their maiden trip to the Wisconsin Veterans’ Home.

            But before all of this could become a reality more money had to be raised to build the streetcar line.  Lord and Baker closed a deal for floating bonds on May 4, 1899, the contract for building the line was completed a short time later, and a franchise was granted to the company by the City of Waupaca and the Farmington Town Board.

            There was a scarcity of men, but 20 teams and 50 men started the task of laying the tracks.  Laborers were paid $1.50 per day.  By June 1, 1899, 50 cars of material had been shipped to Waupaca on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, including 500 tons of steel rails.  On June 16, five streetcars from Milwaukee arrived at the Wisconsin Central Depot.  These included two motor cars, two trailers and one baggage car. Construction was delayed for a few days by the lack of supplies, including iron and copper strips which connected the rails electrically.  By June 29, the poles had been set and the electric wires were strung.  The car barn was 40 by 100 feet, located at the corner of Mill and Oak Streets.  It was reported that the tickets would be for sale at 20 rides for $2.50, single rides at 15¢ and within the city, a nickel.

            The streetcar line finally totaled over five miles of track, beginning at the Wisconsin Central Depot, which became the Soo Line in 1909.  The line passed over the Waupaca River on Mill Street, down part of Main Street to Fulton Street, then west up Fulton Street.  This was a long, steep climb, and it has been said that so much power was used by the streetcar in negotiating the grade that all electric lights in Waupaca dimmed.  The line left Waupaca on what is now Highways 22, 10 and 54.  One mile west of Waupaca is Chady’s Corners.  This was known as the intersection of Home and Penney roads.  There was at one time a small store located there, and a platform on which passengers could wait for the streetcar.  Nearby was the ballpark located approximately in the area of Noffke’s lumberyard.  Sunday baseball games often attracted many people who used the electric railway for transportation.  Back to the north of the intersection of the Penney property, was Penney’s Shooting Park, which was located in the area of today’s River Bend Sports Shop.

            The track turned south, following the old Indian trail – now County Trunk QQ – on its way to the Chain O’ Lakes.  At the Wisconsin Veterans Home (King), the streetcar stopped where people waited for rides, either to the Grand View Hotel or back to Waupaca.  This top was originally Mr. Johnson’s store, which was later moved to the Wisconsin Veterans Home Memorial Cemetery where it was used as a morgue for many years.  Later, the streetcar stopped at Spindt’s store.  This building is now being razed to make room for a new branch bank for the Farmers State Bank of Waupaca.

            After leaving Spindt’s store, the track took a right turn at the point where Rumor’s tavern is now located, then up the hill overlooking Rainbow Lake to a depot at Downey’s Dock. In June 1914, the Electric Park was opened in this general area. One of the advertisements read as follows:  “The Ideal spot to spend the 4^th of July.  Tables and benches for picnic parties; soft drinks, ice cream, candies; boating, bathing, canoeing, dancing afternoons and evenings.  The dance pavilion is Waupaca’s choicest spot for the Independence Day frolic.  Come and dance to the special waltz dedicated to the Electric Park.”

            The Waupaca Post for April 20, 1899 said, “…the building of the electric road would mean much to the Chain o’ Lakes and would greatly add to the city and vicinity as a summer resort.”

            The famous Grand View Hotel was built in 1886 on the south shore of Rainbow Lake by Chris Hill and Sam Nessling, two retired railroad men.

            The hotel complex consisted of the hotel with 20 sleeping rooms; an annex with 45 rooms; 10 cottages, each with a fireplace and four bedrooms; an amusement hall (Japanese Gardens); and four dining rooms.

            Irving P. Lord saw an excellent opportunity, and he purchased the Grand View Hotel in 1901 and appointed his brother, Wallace Lord, as its manager.  He extended the streetcar track from Downey’s to the Grand View Hotel.  In 1902, Mr. Baker sold out his interest in the company to John D. Caughell, who later sold to A. M. Penney and P. M. Olfson.  They, in turn, transferred their holdings to Irving P. Lord, who then became the sole owner and manager of the Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company.

            Lord advertised in several papers about the beauty and accommodations of the Grand View Hotel at the Chain o’ Lakes.  People came by the hundreds from as far away as St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee. They came to Waupaca on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, where they could transfer to the streetcar that took them directly to the Grand View Hotel.  Here they could relax in a place of grandeur, where they could go boating, fishing and swimming in the crystal-clear water of Rainbow Lake.  Many people liked what they saw and came back year after year, while some came to the Waupaca area to make it their home.

            The electricity generated to provide the electricity for the lights and railway came from the powerhouse located on the Waupaca River between Elm and Wisconsin Streets.  The dam had a head of 18 feet of water, sufficient to drive a waterwheel which generated 210 horsepower.  Other equipment included one direct-current generator at 150 kilowatts and two direct-current generators at 175 kilowatts each. In addition, there were two boilers at 140 horsepower each, and one steamboiler at 165 horsepower.

            By 1910, there was a total of seven cars including one closed car with an electric heater.  Children from the Wisconsin Veterans Home rode the street car to Gards Corner to school.

            The Waupaca Record Leader had notices in their October and November, 1913, papers.  The first one was that the Town of Farmington granted a freight franchise to haul freight to the Waupaca Electric Light and Railway, and the other was that the Waupaca Electric Light and Railway gets the freight franchise to carry coal and freight to the Wisconsin Veterans Home.  At the Common Council meeting, the mayor cast the deciding vote.

            On October 24, 1916, A. E. Aspenes and J. F. Richardson of Chicago bought the road and changed the name to the Waupaca Electric Service and Railway Company.  The road shut down its operation on July 4, 1925, on its 26^th birthday since its maiden run, July 4, 1899.  It was sold to the Wisconsin Valley Electric Company, which later merged with the Wisconsin Public Service Company.

            The Waupaca County Post for September 10, 1925, summarized the situation beautifully when it said:  “Today the streetcar has been superseded by its swifter rival, the motorcar, and is doomed to pass away, having seen its time, even as the livery barns, the blacksmith shops, the windmills, and other remnants of an earlier day; where speed is the aim, efficiency is a necessity, specialization is a means and money is the goal.”

            The Waupaca Picture Post for August 27, 1976, ran a picture of West Fulton Street in 1925, with the streetcar tracks removed.  It also stated that the tracks on Main Street were not removed until 1947.

            Much more in detail can be found in an essay written by Todd Fonstad on the Electric Railway, published by El-Ray Associates, South River Drive, Stevens Point, WI, for the Wisconsin State University Foundation, Inc., Stevens Point, WI, in 1965.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

June 13, 1991

 

            The Glover name has appeared in the Weyauwega, Lind Center and Waupaca areas periodically since the days of the Civil War.

            It all begins with Albert Glover, son of Solomon and Clara Glover, who was born in Oshkosh, August 1, 1856.  When Albert was still a small boy, he moved with his parents to Weyauwega during the Civil War.  A few years later his parents settled on a farm in the Town of Lind, which in later years became the property of William Wied.

            Some of you may remember William and Caroline Georgina (Madsen) Wied, or possibly went to the Waupaca High School with one or another of their children:  Edward, Walter, Bert, Grace, Ida, Elizabeth, John Clifford, who died early in life, or Milton “Bill,” who was killed in an airplane crash near Neenah in 1929.

            When still on the farm as a lad of 14, Albert Glover was apprenticed to William Timme, who at that time operated the harness shop on North Main Street in Waupaca.  Frederick E Lund was also employed by Mr. Timme at the same time; Lund went on to be the owner of the Old Reliable Harness Shop at 102 North Main Street.

            After Albert Glover completed his apprenticeship he moved to Stevens Point to find employment.

            Albert Glover and Sarah Feldman were married in 1884; she preceded him in death in 1916, but not before there were two daughters, the future Mrs. Ben Picus and Mrs. Alex Levin, and one son, Louis was born in Stevens Point on September 9, 1887.

            Louis also became a harness maker, like his father, and during his youth he operated a harness business with his father in Wild Rose.

            Louis Glover was united in marriage to Miss Mildred Stahl in Madison, February 23, 1912. Mildred Stahl was born in Lodi, September 5, 1880, a daughter of Samuel and Ellen (Keyes) Stahl.  Her parents came to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania and settled in Barneveld.  Louis and Mildred Glover were the parents of two sons, Kenneth and Keith.

            After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Glover in 1912, they started a hardware and harness business in Barneveld.

            In 1920 they moved to Waupaca and bought out the harness shop owned by William Koening. This would be the same building which was under Chris Hansen’s photo studio.  There have been many different businesses in this location.  One you may remember well was the Taylor and Stange furniture store before they moved to the Central Wisconsin Seed Company building on West Union Street.

            In 1922 Mr. Glover moved to the building on the corner of East Union and Jefferson Streets and opened a hardware store.  At one time this location was Cohen’s second location for his Fair Store, before moving to Main Street.

            In 1930 Louis Glover and associates bought out the old Pioneer Hardware Store from Chris Christensen.  This was the former hardware store of E. C. Williams.  Now, 1991, it is the Main Street Marketplace.  In 1931 he sold out his interest to the balance of stockholders and moved to Blue Earth, MN, where Louis Glover and his eldest son, Kenneth, operated a hardware store until 1933, when they returned to Waupaca to open a grocery and hardware store. The hardware store was the same location on East Union and Jefferson Streets, where Mr. Glover started in 1922, and the grocery store was in the building adjacent to the west.  This building has just been vacated by the Harbor Bicycle Shop.  Mr. Glover took on a dry goods line in 1938, when they bought the other section of their building that was previously occupied by the Central Wisconsin Seed Company.

            Keith, the Glover’s youngest son, joined the firm in 1940.  In 1950 Keith was the manager of the Glover branch in Weyauwega.

            In the Waupaca County Post of September 5, 1946, “Glover’s Making Many Alterations in Local Store.”  At this time they expanded the various departments to make service to the customers more efficient.  The most notable change was the transformation of the former hardware department into a meat and produce department.  They removed the walls in the eastern section, the opening between the clothing and dry goods section was enlarged for the patrons’ convenience, which gave them more floor space.

            Louis Glover passed away in December of 1954, and the partnership was dissolved.  Kenneth Glover took over the dry goods department and Keith took over the grocery business.  Keith closed out the grocery business in 1963 and Kenneth closed out in May 1964.  Louis Glover and Sons enjoyed several years of prosperity, but the Glover family business would not have been the same, if it was not for Mrs. Glover and her smiling face, as she met the customers in the store.  Mildred Glover at one time worked as a graduate nurse in Madison and Milwaukee.  The Glovers were active members of the First Methodist Church and staunch supporters in the development of Waupaca.

            When Kenneth Glover closed his store on May 29, 1964, he stated that a new store would be opening in the near future.

            On July 9, 10, and 11, a new store had an opening sale.  The new store was known as Ballard’s V Store, and was under the ownership of Clinton Ballard.  Clint Ballard was not new to the people of Waupaca, as he had been employed by the Glovers for 28 years.

            Six years later there was a notice in the Waupaca County Post for April 16, 1970.  “Glover takes over the Ballard V Store at 110 East Union Street.”  Kenneth Glover, who was employed in Glencoe, MN, stated that the store was presently closed, but would open sometime soon, when all merchandise in the store would be sold at a further reduced price.  The reason for this action was that Clinton Ballard was moving from the city.

            Louis Glover’s parents, Albert and Sarah Glover, are buried in the Hebrew Cemetery in Wausau.  Mildred Glover lived until February 13, 1958, and Louis Glover passed away January 25, 1954. Their youngest son, Keith, passed away April 21, 1978.  They all are laid to rest in the Waupaca Lakeside Cemetery.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

June 20, 1991

 

            Allen King, world-famed wild animal trainer, and his wife spent the winter of 1949 in Waupaca, at the home of Mrs. King’s mother, Mrs. Olive Wilson.

            Mrs. Wilson owned and operated the Circus Inn on Churchill Street for several years.

            The Kings had many friends in Waupaca.  Allen King died in Chicago in September of 1951, only a week after the Kings had been in Waupaca to visit Mrs. Wilson.  He was cremated and his ashes were returned to his home city, Chattanooga, TN.  His death occurred after he had just completed a tour with the Mill Brothers circus.

            Mr. King started his profession with the Al G. Barnes circus and later he joined the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Baily circus.

            He performed with 27 lions and nine tigers at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1934.  Mr. King was the teacher of Clyde Beatty and Terrell Jacobs.

            I can remember Mrs. Wilson’s beautiful white hair, and her pet cockatoo.  It was white with a yellow crown.  It amused her patrons with its antics.  There was always unexpected entertainment at the Circus Inn for any stranger who might drop in.

            One of the things that caused the most amusement for the patrons was the talking toilet in the ladies’ room.  There was also a large spider that would drop down from the ceiling on a long string.  This received quite a reaction from the ladies.  There was a coin that was embedded in the floor that could not be picked up, and then there was the air hole in the floor in front of the jukebox that could be turned on at anytime.

            I remember the Circus Inn for another reason. During the severe winter of 1945, I started to work at the Northwestern Co-op in Waupaca.  One of my jobs was to deliver coal around town with the half-ton truck.  One morning I had my orders to deliver some coal to the Circus Inn.  It was early in the morning and no one was around, so I put the coal down the coal chute and left.  It seems as if the circulating air fan for the upstairs had not been turned off; consequently there was a fine coal dust that was brought upstairs.  Before I had returned to the office, they received a call from a very disturbed Mrs. Wilson.  It was a mess.  The glassware on the back bar was covered with the black dust, and the furniture and dance floor all had to be cleaned.  The Northwestern Co-op hired a lady to clean up the mess.

            From then on I made it a point to check if they had any air fans on. Live and learn.

 

************

 

            From the Waupaca Record, May 5, 1910:  “Twenty-five machines owned by Waupaca citizens.  Six years ago an automobile was a curiosity in Waupaca.  For two years we boasted of one.  The number has grown in the last four years to 25.  There are three garages here, all doing a good business as Waupaca is an objective point for those touring this part of the state.”

            The paper listed the machines owned by Waupaca people: 

Charles Hanson, Cadillac; Dan Downey, Cadillac; Wm. Dressen, Reo; John Madsen, Cadillac; N. Cohen, Cadillac; Dr. J. P. Christofferson, Rambler, Dr. L. H. Pelton, Mason; C. E. Cain, Ford; A. M. Penney, Ford; George Faulks, Ford; Matt Jensen, Buick; F. L. Hoaglin, Mason; Dr. E. M. McIntosh, Buick; Hans Peter Mortenson, Reo;

            John Gordon, Reo; Walter Jensen, Reo; Amel Johnson, Reo; Myron Randell, Ford; A. C. Larson, Ford; Dr. Delano, Buick; Gus Hanson, Buick; John Dorffler, Ford; Michel Jensen, Ford; A. M. Hanson, Rambler; A. M. Hanson, Maxwell.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

June 27, 1991

 

            Waupaca’s Bethany Home name dates back to its inception in August 1895, when the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Synod (better known as the Blair Synod), decided to inaugurate a Christian welfare program for orphaned, indigent and neglected children.

            Albert Lea, Minnesota, was chosen as the first site for the new children’s home. At first a dwelling house was rented to provide temporary housing until the new home was built.

            When the new building was completed and made ready for the big move, it was named “Bethania Bornerjem,” Danish for Bethany Children’s Home.

            It was through the influence and encouragement of her pastor that Mrs. Ane Petersen, who had just recently become a widow, took the position as the first home’s matron.

            Ane Petersen was born December 7, 1851, in Lolland, Denmark, a daughter of Rasmus and Anna Marie Jensen Jacobsen.  She emigrated to America sometime between 1859 and 1869.  Records show the two different dates.  Ane was married in Oshkosh in 1872, to Christian Peterson.  They lived in Oshkosh for six years before moving to their farm in Section 4, Township of Waupaca.

            Misfortune struck the Peterson family.  Their daughter, Mary C., died March 28, 1882, aged five years ad four months, and 15 days later on April 6, 1882, their son, Victor W., died, age eight years and nine months.  When their third child was born they named him Victor Mannus. Ane’s husband, Christian, passed away August 6, 1894.  Her only remaining child, Victor, went to Albert Lea to be with his mother and help her as much as possible.  He was only 12 years old at the time.

            At the annual convention held in Blair, NE, in July 1897, it was voted to move the Bethany Children’s Home from Albert Lea to Waupaca.

            The Danish people of Waupaca all pulled together and raised $600 to help defray the expenses of moving and purchasing the new property on which to erect the new children’s home.

            September 7, 1897, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church purchased approximately 30 acres of land from Henry Warren and Fredrick Dunbar for $1,400.  This property is located from the banks of the Crystal River to the southeastern shores of Shadow Lake on the old Berlin Road.  When this property was first purchased, it was approximately one mile from downtown Waupaca.

            While the new home on Berlin Street was being built, Mrs. Peterson and her 10 to 12 children lived in a small house near the Soo Line depot.

            The new children’s home was completed in 1899, at a cost of $2,400, including the equipment and furnishings, and would accommodate about 40 children.  In October 1899, it was officially opened and it was not long before the Bethany Children’s Home population grew to 33.  Mrs. Ane Petersen resigned her position in 1908, after serving 13 years of dedicated service, and for this, she was presented a gift of $100 in gold by the president of the synod.

            Ane Petersen, following her retirement, went to live with her son, Victor, on his farm.  She died April 26, 1930.

            I find the name Petersen also spelled Peterson in different documents.  On the Petersen (Peterson) lot in the Waupaca cemetery, Christian’s marker is Peterson and Ane’s marker is Petersen.

            Ideas and times change policies and in the early 1950’s, it became apparent that the children could be placed in foster homes to a better advantage, so the Bethany Home was taken down board by board and the land leveled.  The only evidence that was left of the two-story wooden structure with the two huge screened-in porches in the front, one above the other, was the cornerstone that read “Bethania 1898”.

            In 1953, at the annual Wisconsin District Convention of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, a directive was made to arrange for the incorporation of Bethany as an operating Christian home for the aged.

            The Bethany Lutheran Home, Inc. on March 22, 1954, filed for its Article of Incorporation.

            The Bethany Lutheran Home, Inc. for the aged began operation with 18 guests on a budget less than $4,000, and a lot of faith.

            March 10, 1959, the Bethany Lutheran Home, Inc. filed amendments to the original Article of Incorporation, and the Bethany Foundation, Inc. filed for its Article of Incorporation on October 12, 1978.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 3, 1991

           

            George Nehm started his career with the Schultz Bros. on March 16, 1926.  Schultz Bros., then known as the 5 and 10 Cent Store, opened its doors in Waupaca on March 28, 1926.  The location at that time is where the present Paca Pub is located, 106 N. Main Street.

            Schultz Bros. 5 and 10 Cent Store continued to operate at this location until 1931, when it moved across the street to the building that is now the business location of Meredith’s Fashion Shop at 109 N. Main.

            In 1940 Schultz’s rented the Scott Building at 112 S. Main; this was the former location of the Cohen Bros. Fair Store.

            Schultz Bros. wanted to expand and in 1948 they rented the Hebblewhite Building that was adjacent to the south. This building had just been vacated by the Kroger Food Store.  The Waupaca County Post for March 4, 1948, stated that a considerable amount of wall space was being removed in the remodeling project that was in progress at the Schultz Bros. store.

            Mrs. John (Carrie) Hebblewhite passed away on March 27, 1957, and she willed the Hebblewhite Building to the Riverside Community Hospital, Inc.  Warranty Deed, volume 286, page 431, dated December 30, 1957, shows that the Schultz Bros. Company, an Illinois corporation, purchased from the Riverside Community Hospital, Inc., for the sum of $1 and other valuable consideration, the following described property.  The South twenty four (24) feet in lot number 3, in Block “K”, of the original plat of the Village (now city) of Waupaca, according to the recorded plat thereof, except the South six (6) inches thereof.

            In a news item that appeared in the Waupaca County Post for October 16, 1958, a report by a Schultz Bros. representative stated that they were proud to offer to their customers in the Waupaca and surrounding community the most modern shopping facilities to be found in any variety store for miles around.

            With the installation of the new counters and modern self-service fixtures it greatly increased the merchandise area. With four checkout stations and plenty of help to answer inquiries when needed, saved time for the customer.  There was also a bell at each checkout if you needed personal service.

            Schultz Bros. held a big three-day grand opening sale, starting October 16, 1958.  A big two-page ad in the Waupaca County Post advertised ladies’, children’s and infants’ clothing; household goods and a pet department; in fact, the new Schultz Bros. variety store carried nearly everything from alarm clocks to zippers.

            George Nehm, who was with the Schultz Bros. opened a new store in the new shopping center that was built on Waupaca’s west side, but continued to operate its variety store on Main Street until October of 1988.

            The new shopping center, Waupaca Woods Mall, was built between Neuville Motors and the Bowlby Candy Company.  It had an area of 80,000 square feet.  Schultz Bros. settled in the west 40,000 square feet of the building.  This made their new store almost six times the size of the downtown store.

            A little history of the Schultz Bros.:  the 5 and 10 Cent chain began in Appleton in 1902, when Robert Schultz opened a small store there.

            Louis Schultz, Robert’s brother, opened the second store in Green Bay in 1903, and a third one in 1904.  Two other brothers, Charles and Gustave, joined the expansion which became the forerunner of the chain of 65 modern variety and 11 family stores located in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

            In 1906 the Schultz Bros. chain moved its headquarters to Chicago, Ill., and in November of 1974, their headquarters moved to Lake Zurich, IL, where a new office complex and distribution center was located.

            A news article appeared in the November 3, 1988 edition of the Waupaca County Post.  “Prange Way set sights on Schultz’s in the Mall.  Larry Sommers, president of the Prange Way Division of H. C. Prange, stated that they were anxious to come to Waupaca, and if all loose ends could be tied up soon, they could be open in the spring of 1989.”

            Prange Way opened its doors in the former Schultz Bros. family store on March 13, 1989, and they held their grand opening in April.  This ended over 60 years for the Schultz Bros. in Waupaca, serving the public well.

            The Waupaca County Post for September 13, 1990, shows a picture of the architect’s concept of the downtown Schultz building after the exterior renovation is completed.  The article goes on to say that the former Schultz building at 112 South Main Street, which has been owned by Stephen Hansen, Steven Shambeau and Richard G. Johnson since January 1987, is slated for an October 1, 1990 construction start and approximately completion date set for mid-1991.  The tentative plan is to rename the renovated building as the Scott Building.

 

 

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 10, 1991

           

            On April 15, 1853, the Waupaca County Board, by a vote of 3-2, ordered the removal of the county seat from Mukwa to Waupaca, and the Gothic Hall was designated for holding the county and circuit court.

            The Gothic Hall was then located east, across Jefferson Street, from the Public Square.  In 1920 Sherm Sanders purchased the Dr. Brown property on the corner of Jefferson and Union Streets and built his Ford garage.  At that time the Gothic Hall was moved to the west end of Badger Street, across from the Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church, and the former site of Gothic Hall became the Ford parking lot.  This property now belongs to the First National Bank of Waupaca.

            In 1855 it was decided by the State Supreme Court that Waupaca would be the county seat.  In the winter of 1855, construction on the “new” Courthouse had begun, near the center of the Public Square, and after its completion it served as the Waupaca County Courthouse until 1881.

            The title to the Public Square originally was received by David Scott by a United States govern-ment patent.  This land was platted in the original plat of the Village of Waupaca and was dedicated at that time to public use.

            In some research by Roy Rasmus, found in the “Waupaca Centennial 1857-1957,” he gives the transactions and transfers of the old Courthouse building, but not the land on which it stood.  This led up to the disposal of the old Courthouse to the Danes’ Home in 1882.

            The De Danske Hjem (the Danes’ Home) held its organizational meeting on January 6, 1877.  From then on they held meetings in four different buildings before they became the owners of their own building. The last location that they rented was over Matt Jensen’s Market on North Main Street, where they remained until November 14, 1882.

            When the new brick Courthouse was erected on the Public Square in 1882, the old Courthouse had to be moved to make room for the new, so it was moved to one corner of the Square.  Here it was purchased by the Dane’s Home for $275.  Now, they needed to find a home for their new acquisition.  According to Warranty Deed, Volume 56, page 229, dated September 19, 1882, the Dane’s Home purchased lot one (1), Block D, in the Village plat for $600, from Edson L. and Mary E. Demarest.  With the moving of the building and what improvements had to be made, the total cost for their new home was $1,300.

            The Danes’ Home building, now empty, stands on the corner of Granite and North Main Streets.  The old Courthouse that sat at this location served the Danish Society until in 1894, when it was sold once again and moved to the west end of the Water Street Bridge, on the edge of the Waupaca River.

            One of the last businesses to operate here was a bargain store that was run by Mossie Lucie before it was condemned.  It was razed in December 1965.

            This was another of our historic buildings that met the fate of the wrecker’s hammer.

 

 

THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 17, 1991

 

            September of 1941, the old barn that stood on the A. M Penny property on South Main Street was moved to the Bailey cranberry marsh eight miles south of Waupaca on County Trunk E, where the old barn became a cranberry storage building.

            The barn was a sturdily built frame building that measured approximately 30 by 54 feet, and 20 feet in height on the foundation.

            This old barn stabled some of the finest carriage horses 90 years ago, back in the days when the horse and buggy was king.

A. M. Penney used to travel by horse and buggy to keep in touch with potato warehouses in a wide area around central Wisconsin.  The last horse that Mr. Penney drove was a little sorrel.  A young boy named Hanford Strand drove for him on frequent trips to the Penney farm just west of town.

The barn was sold by Mrs. Etta Penney Townsend, daughter of a potato magnate,