|
|
|
|
Compiled
by Junior
Historians Dedicated
To
the Pioneers
of Waupaca Published
by the Class
of 1955 Committee Mary
Sorenson – Lorna Koplien Shirley
Leary – Donna Kline Louise
Grant – Ramona Winkler Virginia
Robbins – Typist William
Baker – Cover Artist Miss
Kurkowski – American History Teacher I
REMEMBER Memories
of Jennie Browne Truesdell Collected
by Roberta Schweitzer I remember so much about my family because I think my family is a “remembering” one - we always heard family stories and were so proud of our people. My mother, Mary Parish, and my aunt, Anna (or Hannah), came from Randolph, Vermont to Waupaca in the early fifties. My mother’s older sister, Abbie Parish Sessions, came to Waupaca two years before the two sisters arrived. Abbie was a bride, and Mr. Sessions had built a cabin at the head of Main Street on the hill. They had only a blanket for their door. Sheridan was called Session’s Prairie after my uncle, and they lived there for some years. Then the Sessions and several of their children went to California with a large party by ox team, so they were pioneers the second time. A number of years ago, the Sessions revisited Waupaca, and I remember my uncle telling about the early days. My mother was the younger, probably
about 19 years of age, while Aunt Anna was perhaps 21. Their father was Jacob Kimball Parish. I have a cradle in my attic that grandfather
bought in 1820. Fourteen children used
that cradle. My grandpa was very
patriotic, and I treasure the Civil War poster that shows his love of the
Union. The two girls came by train to Chicago, by boat to Milwaukee, by stage to Oshkosh, and then took a Wolf River steamer and reached Gill’s Landing. However, they had trouble because the steamer struck a snag and all their trunks on the lower deck were submerged, but the girls survived and reached Waupaca. I remember being very proud of my
mother and aunt because they were such brave ladies. They started a private school and taught many subjects. I will give you a circular advertising their
select school. Then the two girls met
two young men - E. L. Browne, and George L. Lord - and fell in love. Please read the letter that my father wrote
to my grandfather in Vermont asking for permission to marry my mother, and then
read grandfather’s answer. Isn’t that
interesting reading? Imagine a young
man doing that today. Before long the double weddings were
arranged. “Aunty” Hutchinson had the
nicest house, so the festivities were held there. Here is a picture of the home, and it is very like a century
ago. A local wag writing up the wedding
years later said a departing guest remarked, “My Lord, but I tell you that
thing was done Browne”. Bishop Jackson
Kemper, a pioneer Episcopalian clergyman, who traveled the Northwest, married
them. He wrote out the marriage license
- isn’t it interesting to see his own signature? I can remember perfectly well when
Indians came into town because you see I was born in 1863. I was dark-eyed and had dark hair and wore a
red cape with a hood. One day a
neighbor girl was leading me by the hand across Courtyard Square when my father
came along and took charge of me. He
said he didn’t want his little Indian maid to be taken by real Indians. People were afraid of Indians in the early
days. When they came to your door they
entered as uninvited guests. Once some Indians came to our house
just after our mother had baked a big batch of doughnuts and several loaves of
bread. She passed the doughnuts
thinking they would take only a few.
The three Indians emptied the doughnut dish into a big sack and then
asked for bread. My father came in just
then. “Would you give them everything
they asked for?” my father asked my mother.
Really, she was unacquainted with Indians and their ways, so she meekly
replied, “Yes, everything but our three children”. Brother Ed was born later, so there were just us three - Dan,
Paul, and myself (Jennie). I remember I always called my two
older brothers “my boys”. They took so
much care of me that I was never happy being away from home. I always wanted to get back to “my boys”. I remember my first primary
teacher. We had no kindergartens
then. We all went to her. Mrs. Humiston was a dear. She was so original and interested in the children. I can remember my father telling
about walking to Fond du Lac, and even Milwaukee, to try law suits. Many nights he heard wolves howl - the
sounds came from different directions, and he wondered if they were gathering
in packs. He knew the only safe place
would be to climb a tree. He often
walked in his stocking feet and carried his shoes because his feet hurt from
walking and getting wet. My father was in the
Legislature when I was four or five years old.
We spent our winters in Berlin.
The St. Paul Railroad came to Berlin, and so it was easier to come from
Madison to Berlin than to Waupaca because we had no railroad then. I remember the drives to Berlin to see our
aunt, my father’s sister, Mrs. A. A. Bugn.
Her husband was a Colonel in the Civil War and then served as postmaster
for many years. My brother Ed, was born
in Berlin. I can remember my father
saying, “Be very quiet, children, as I have writing to do”. Brother Dan replied, “Don’t disturb Father;
he’s writing for another baby”. I remember I wanted to
study medicine, but my father thought I should study law because I could argue
so well - (I usually won my arguments, too). Banker Meade had the only bank in Waupaca. Once my father was called out of town for a week. Before he left, he instructed Mr. Meade to give our mother as much money as she desired. “If
she asks for a hundred dollars?” Banker Meade asked. “Yes, give it to her.” my father replied. “Five
hundred dollars?” “Yes!” “One
thousand dollars?” “Yes,
give her any amount she requests.” Banker
Meade was worried. “Tisn’t often men
would do that for their wives.” “If
I can trust my children with her, I can also trust my bank account.” my father
told him. My
father at 95 years of age had out-lived my mother by five years, dying in
1925. My brothers lived long and useful
lives for better than three quarters of a century. Time has spared me beyond all members of my family, and as I sit
reminiscing, an old poem returns: “Backward
turn backward Oh! Time in thy flight. Give
me my childhood Just
for tonight”. Note:
The preceding story was recorded by me as part of a project to show how
local history can be written by remembering the “Old days”. Roberta Schweitzer I
REMEMBER Memories
of Major Bradley M. Barnes Collected
by Mary Wanty I have been asked to relate my
earliest memories of the Grand Army Home for Veterans, King, Wisconsin. Sometime during the summer of 1887 my father
and I came to this camp for the dedication ceremonies. I was six years of age at that time, and of
course, I remember the trip with the mind of a youngster. We drove a horse and buggy from
Oshkosh, taking two days to make the trip.
We made Omro the first and the next we drove from there to Parfreyville,
then a small place consisting of a store, grist mill, blacksmith shop, and a
Methodist Church. We spent our time
there at the home of a Mr. George Wilcox, who lived at that place. (He was a Civil War veteran, a comrade of my
father). The third day of our trip was
the date of the ceremonies at the Home, and was a veterans reunion for all
Wisconsin Civil War soldiers As I
remember, the grounds consisted of an oak and pine grove, with one large
building on the lake front which had been a summer hotel. This building is still standing, and is
called Marsden Hall. There were one or
two small cottages about where the headquarters now stand. I don’t remember any other buildings at the
time. Of course it was a gala event, the veterans in their blue uniforms, a
Silver Cornet Band, pop and peanut stands, cane racks. On the shore of Rainbow Lake there were row
boats that could be rented for a row around the lake or fishing. Needless to say, this trip remained with me all of my life, and I was a very proud boy that I had a father that had worn the Union Blue. After leaving the regular army I came to Waupaca in 1905 to make my home, and I have seen most of the changes that have made this place the out-standing Soldier’s Home in the United States. When you remember that it was through the efforts of the boys in blue that this place came into existence, I believe that every man who has the privilege of residing here should be very proud of the heritage those far-sighted men left behind. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Dan Burnham Collected
by Donald Danielson One day I came to town with a load
of potatoes to sell from the farm, and bought the poorest of three newspapers
to take home. My wife said she would
have been no more surprised if I had bought a hotel. She had sores on her ankles from varicose ulcers, and could no
longer do any farm work. I said a hotel
was no place for a woman with open sores on her ankles to be either, so I had
bought the newspaper. During the winter,
when her sores were healing, she wrote a book which was printed and published
in Waupaca. Today there are only a few
copies of this book left. The Republican, the successor to the
Waupaca Spirit, was started January 1, 1853.
They published it for one year in Waupaca. During this time they didn’t have mail carriers to deliver the
papers in the country. Sometimes a man
would come to town and take several papers with him to deliver to homes on his
way back, so there were few papers sold.
They moved the paper to Rural, where there was a more populous
area. A great many of the people who
started businesses in Waupaca had places of business in Rural first. Doctor Freemont Chandler once had
his house on the property where the airport now stands. It went right up against the lot going south
from Johnson’s Turkey farm. The first grave in Waupaca was that
of Daniel Hammond. It is on the corner
of the airport property. The lilacs are
grown full now in the place before you get to the grave. Some of his sons were Jack and Ischem, who
lived on the south side where Robert Thompson lives now. Doctor Marsh lived where the river
comes close to the sidewalk on School Street, where they have a fence
constructed to prevent people from falling in now. He was a blacksmith, brought from England by R. R. Roberts, who
is the father of R. N. and Charles Roberts.
He had a store of yellow brick on the corner of Main and Union Streets,
where the First National Bank is now. The First National Bank was first
called the Old National Bank. It was
located where the Abstract Office in now.
The flooring was quite unusual.
It was sort of funny tiling made up of squares of stone about 1-1/2
inches square. The bank failed in 1912. I
REMEMBER Memories
of S. J. Danielson Collected
by Mary Sorenson I got my training and experience on how to run a grocery store by working for Labs Brothers and Peter Holst. I worked for Labs about six months and was with Peter Holst from two to three years. I then took a little trip to Michigan. I arrived by train from Waupaca to Manitowoc and from there ferried across Lake Michigan to the state of Michigan. I took a job for some business and was transferred to different places in Michigan. In about eight months I came back to Waupaca. This was in the fall of 1895 or ‘96. I then started working for the Union Store that was located around where the Schultz Store and Leader Hardware are today. It was a merger of four merchants, something like department stores of today. I worked in the basement in the grocery department, but I didn’t like to work in the basement took well because the lights had to be on all day. In 1899 I went into business for
myself. I sold groceries and farm
seed. My first store was located in the
vicinity of Faultless Dry Cleaners or Zwickers Knitting Mill. I then rented the lot where the Light
Company is located from Joe Whittington.
I had the store built just as the exterior is today. When I had the store I had white hitching
posts along the side of the store.
While I was on this corner I sometimes took in $60,000 a year. That is not counting any expenses. I stayed on this corner for 13 years. I then moved to where the Market Basket is
now located. I had a grocery business
on this block for 40 years. I can remember in the early years of
my business, Indians coming into my grocery store trying to sell baskets they
had made. My grocery store was open from 7:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the evenings. In later years I wasn’t open every evening. The grocery stores of today are
quite different from ones I owned. I
had four counters and practically all the products were located in back of the
counters. That provided for quite a bit
of running on the clerk’s part, because they had to get all the products for
the customers from the shelves. There
was quite a bit of bookwork because I had to extend credit to most of the
farmers during the summer until the potato crop was harvested in the fall. I did all my book work by myself, and after
closing hours. Saturdays were the
busiest days of the week. I then retired from the grocery business to a more restful business, as the running on my feet all day was getting me down. I
REMEMBER Memories
of James G. Demarest Collected
by William Baker I was born in the city in 1870. My parents came from Ohio in the ‘60’s and settled on Berlin Street and Demarest Avenue. My early recollections of the city were that we had nothing but wooden sidewalks and most of the stores had false fronts, with wooden awnings over the walk, to protect the people from the rain, probably. They hitched their horses or oxen to a railing around the courthouse square. There were no paved roads or cars at that time. I graduated from the High School in
1888. From a class of nine only two or
three, including myself, now survive.
We had no organized baseball, basketball, or football, and no band. There was no school bus to pick up students. In those days, the Indians, after
whom the city was named, would make their journey down Berlin Street to the
city of that name. In
1898 I, with several other boys in the city or surrounding country, answered
the call of President William McKinley and joined up with Stevens Point and
went south in the Spanish American War. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Leonard Olson Collected
by Richard Olson I remember my grandfather, Bert
Hanson, telling about coming to this country on a sailboat. When they could see land, a wind came and
blew them back out to sea. They almost
ran out of food before they could land.
He came by way of the Great Lakes, and landed at Gill’s Landing near
Fremont. From there he walked to
Waupaca. He fought in the Civil War and later
homesteaded some land north of Iola. He
raised potatoes and hauled them to the starch factory at Waupaca and sold them
for 7 cents a bushel. He would stay
over-night and go home the next day because he lived about 22 miles from
Waupaca. This starch factory was located
where the Waupaca County shops now stand.
The factory was on the back part of the land, close to the Waupaca
River. This land was also used for
drilling troops during the First World War. I
REMEMBER Social
Life in the Early Fifties Memories
of Della Robacher Edminster Collected
by Geraldine Albright Our farm on the southwest corner of
Farmington in Waupaca County was homesteaded by Frank King. It is the social life of the two daughters,
Frances and Della, that I wish to write of.
These anecdotes were told to me by my grandmother, Mrs. Frank King. We lived on the stage coach road
which ran from Berlin to Stevens Point.
My mother, Frances, wanted a new pair of shoes to wear to a party, so
the day before the party she walked to Parfreyville to purchase new shoes. This was a distance of four miles. How many of our modern generation would or
could walk that far for a pair of shoes? Socially, life in the wintertime consisted
of social visits to neighboring friends.
Frances and Della planned to spend a day with the Carpenter family, who
lived about two miles north. A pair of
oxen were hitched to a big lumbering sleigh.
Oxen were used instead of horses because of the deep snows. The snow was not in drifts, however, because
of the dense forests. Going to Waupaca
meant driving through a thick forest with only occasionally a field or a farm
dwelling. But to get back to my story
of the visit in the Carpenter home, the girls had a very delightful day. They started home rather late, but
it was a beautiful moonlight night. The
oxen were impatient and anxious to be home.
It took only the howling of the wolves in the forest to start them. The oxen bolted and ran all the way
home. The oxen were not driven by
reins, but were guided with gee-haw or whoa. A house-warming party was to be held
for a family of new settlers in Parfreyville.
A sleigh load of young people set out for the party. This country was settled by young people, so
many of the couples were married with small children. There were not babysitters.
The high-spirited horses were driving by Frank King. The road went around a ravine, with was
filled with water, during the spring thaws.
The horses were trotting right along, excited by the gay chatter and
singing of the sleigh-load of people.
The stake which holds the sleigh box in place suddenly broke and the
load of party goers slid down the edge of the ravine into the muddy water. Everyone was rescued, but the ladies had to
be dried in front of the open fire at the party. Summer fun was the hop picking
dances. Frank King had about 10 acres
of hops which were raised to sell for the Milwaukee beer trade. In August he hops were ready to be picked. The big house held bunks and a big dining
room to care for the needs of the thirty people who came to help with the
harvest. Every night a dance was held
in the lean-to of the hop house.
Neighbors or a local musician furnished the music. Square dancers and an occasional waltz were
the favorite dances of the gay young people.
They may have picked hops all day, but they were never too tired to
dance. Many times during the summer months
a knock comes at our door and someone who picked hops for my grandfather some
sixty years ago, comes to reminisce about the good times that were had at hop
picking dances. I could go on and on as I recall the
many stories that I heard as a child.
But perhaps they are interesting only to me and my family. I
REMEMBER Fourth
of July in Waupaca Memories
of Jeanette Houseman Collected
by Donna Kline The Fourth of July celebration I am
referring to started at sunrise when a cannon was shot off. This cannon is now
at the Grand Army Home. The parade was led by the Chief of
Police, Will Ware. Following him came
the horse-drawn fire engine, decorated with bunting. Then came girls dressed in white, riding in horse-drawn
carriages. The streets were lined with people
who had brought their picnic lunches with them so that they might spend the
whole day celebrating. In the afternoon the band gave a
concert in the courthouse square. All day people shot off firecrackers, but the big display was kept until dark. They were set off from Granite Hill, at the northern end of Main Street. There was a real display of ornamental firecrackers as well as of roman candles, sky rockets, etc. All this was accompanied with the “oohs” and “aahs” of the crowd. When the fireworks were all over the
crowd would slowly disperse. The tired,
happy people were wending their way home after a day’s celebration. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Felker – 84 Collected
by Mike Ryan I can remember when we moved here 57
years ago in 1897, the school in Waupaca.
It was a small one-room building. I can’t remember the teachers very
well, but I used to visit there once in a while, and can remember the old bell
on the roof and the desks that the children used. My husband, Herman Felker, owned the
Livery Horse Stables on Main Street.
That was where the Jacklin Machine Shop is now. He took care of the
horses when the people would come to town shopping. He would rent carriages to those who wanted to ride to church on
Sunday. I can also remember the first
automobile we had. Mr. and Mrs. Salter
had the first one in Waupaca, and I can recall how we used to envy her until we
got ours. It had no top and was very
different from those today. The speed
seemed fast then, and I always felt a little dizzy after our Sunday rides. Where the Loberg Garage now stands,
there used to be a big house owned by a man named Mr. Session. He was a dear friend of my husband. He and his wife would visit with us
often. I believe that house was moved
out to the Chain of Lakes, and was later torn down. Right where the Schultz Brothers
Dime Store now stands used to be a Fair Store, a general depart-ment store
having the grocery department in the basement.
This was run by old Nate Cohn, who lived in a house where the Catholic
Church is now. He drove a Winton 6, one
of the first automobiles in town.
Charlie Russell, who is still living on Royalton Street, ran the
hardware department at the Fair Store. The Green Bay and Western Railroad
formerly ran into Waupaca, and the depot was located north on State
Street. This railroad connected with
the Main Line of the Green Bay and Western Railroad, which runs between Green
Bay and Winona Minnesota. The conductor
of this railroad is still living two miles north of Waupaca; his name is Hulgar
Hanson. This railroad was in communication with Scandinavia via wireless, which
was operated by Olie Brown, who is living on Sessions Street, Waupaca. Waupaca was once the world’s
greatest potato market, and one of the greatest operators in this market was
A.M. Penney. The land was later worn
out from the raising of these potatoes.
I remember how the farmers would bring potatoes to town in wagons drawn
by horses and take them to an old warehouse called “Stark Warehouse”. The late fire truck was drawn by two
dapple gray horses, and these same horses were used to pull the water wagon
which was used to sprinkle on the dirt roads as there were no paved roads. Where the information booth stands
on Main Street was a large horse-watering tank made of granite or stone. On the north side of the Courthouse was a
long rail where farmers would tie their horses. In Waupaca there were three
streetcars which were used to take people to a very popular hotel called Grand
View Hotel, located at the old Downey’s Dock, which is near Nelson’s Boat Dock
on Rainbow Lake. The car barns were
located south and east of the Third Ward Grocery. Tickets could be bought at Chicago, and other large cities for
people to visit this hotel. I recall as the streetcar used to go
up the Fulton Street hill, all the town’s lights would go dim, and we all would
say, “There goes the streetcar up the hill”.
The reason was that our little town supplied its own electricity. At one time, Waupaca had a radio
station which was located in the present location of Glovers’ Department
Store. This station was the branch of
Wisconsin Department of Markets. The
masts for the broadcasting tower were located with one tower next to the county
jail, and another where the garage for the Glover Store is. The call letters for this station were WPAH. I remember when Waupaca broadcasted
a musical program from the Holly Funeral and Furniture Parlors, which was where
the Waupaca Fruit Store is now. This
was in the 1920’s. The water supply from Waupaca used
to be pumped from Mirror Lake from a built up stand tower which stood in the
lake about 70 to 100 feet east of South Park. When the children would go by our
house on their way to school, they would jump a bobsled and ride a short
way. It was considered a great
achievement if anyone could drive between Waupaca and Oshkosh in the same
day. Many cars would get stuck near the
marsh in Fremont. That was always the
place we dreaded in the spring because there were usually 25 to 30 cars stuck
at one time. I
REMEMBER Baldwin’s
Mills Memories
of T. Fenske – 72 (1882) Collected
by Duane Harvey About six miles east of Waupaca on
Highways 54 and 22, you turn off on k.k.a. county trunk road and cross the
south branch of the Little Wolf River. Here, years ago, the Baldwin brothers built a sawmill on the bank of the river, west of the bridge you cross over. In the mill they sawed lumber and
pine shingle with an up and down saw.
This mill was torn down around seventy years ago, but the vicinity is
still known as Baldwin’s Mills. Two of the Baldwin brothers lived on
the Henry Frihart farm, and the other one lived by the river in the house now
standing on the Minnie Kopitzke farm. Now the mill is gone, but a cheese
factory, Lutheran Church, school, and blacksmith shop are all close to the
three corners. The school is around 65 years old,
the first one was a frame one sawed out by the Baldwins. Many years ago a man by the name of
Seth South had a post office in the house where C. Handrich lives across from
the school house. The residents now get
their mail from Weyauwega. The church, being nearly 50 years
old, was built in 1906. The present
pastor is Reverend Lange, who came here in 1926, and will retire this summer. Many years ago, a Lutheran Church
was built over by the Behnke farm.
Here, Mr. Fenske’s mother used to go to church, and also a number of
years ago, the house he now lives in was used to hold church services in, and a
minister came from away to preach. Emil Roman settled on the farm now
owned by Frank Roman. I. Kafey, a bear
hunter, lived in the house south of the river.
Mr. Bliss owned the house then where Mr. Fenske now lives. Other places nearby are the John Spiegelberg
farm, then owned by Mr. Rosey, and the Albert Schafer farm. The road that runs through a swamp
by the bridge was a corduroy road, as was the one east of White Lake Tavern,
owned by Fay Lowell, also the marsh road, just south on Highway 142. These roads were built of logs and sand and
are still there, being covered over with blacktop now. By White Lake, stone had
to be hauled in to keep it from sinking in. I live on Highways 54 and 22, just
south and west of Baldwin’s Mills, but in that school district. The state road here has been moved some sine
it was first built, and at one time it was built so that it ran through our
front yard; you can still see where it used to go. At that time there were so many
pines standing here that it was dark in the daytime as you drove through the
trees. These trees were so big the stumps
were about 7 feet across, and when they pulled them out with pullers they had
to cut off the roots at the base of the stump so they could get the pullers out
of the way. Mr. Fenske’s father worked in the
mills here, and when he himself was young, he worked for $6 a month, and shoes
were $1.50 a pair, overalls 50 cents, and a shirt 45 cents. Now he has had a blacksmith shop for
23 years, going from shoeing horses to repairing machinery. He is a very popular man in this
little place during the farm season, when he is kept very busy with
repairing. In the winters he has whittled
out some very interesting sleds, complete with logs and logging chains. He has made some beautiful cedar chests and
also children’s bobsleds. He has an ox yoke for one ox, and
one for a team; Mr. Zeak, who used to live over on the Highways 22-54, used to
hire out these yokes. Mr. Fenske’s
father had a team of oxen which weighed 2300 pounds, and had horns about two
feet long. They could out pull a big
team of horses. I
REMEMBER March
Twenty-Fourth, 1952 Anna
Laura Hamm was 88 years when she wrote this story. She
died in June of 1953, when she was 89 years of age. Well, as everything must have a
beginning, I’ll start my little memories of old days. I’m thinking of the first school I attended eighty-one years ago
this coming summer, at the age of seven years.
No kindergartens were in those days, and parents did not send babies to
school then. It was a small one room
building, much like the small country schools of today. It had two doors in front, each opening into
a little entry. They used one for the
girls and the other for the boys; and, of course, a door from each little hall
(where we hung our wraps and played on stormy days) opening into the main
room. The teacher’s desk was between
the two doors, facing the back of the large room. A large hand-printed motto was on the back wall and two mottos on
each side, between the windows. I can
only remember two. On the back was
printed, “Order is Heaven’s First Law”.
Another was, “God is Love”. They
were all very good for us to know. Like
the small schools of today, we had scholars of all ages, up to twenty years
old, as there wasn’t high schools either, as there is now. Also our studies were very different. We had oral recitations in reading,
geography, history, and “grammar”.
Arithmetic was recited and demonstrated on the blackboard by scholars,
not the teachers. We also had practice penmanship
every day, and spelling was especially important. We had spelling, oral, every day, and a spelling match each
Friday, and several “Spelling Schools” and programs for evening entertainment. Our outdoor sports were jumping the
rope, marbles, pump pull away, baseball, catch and other ball games, and a rope
swing tied securely to the limb of a tree, and other made up games. Disobedient scholars often got a good
spanking or the ruler by the teacher, who often lacked judgment, and was too
severe. Teachers must be of good
moral character. They could not go to
saloons (taverns) or public dances or other questionable amusements, and no
vulgar talk or swearing was permitted in the schoolhouse or on the grounds. The morning session started with a
few verses from the Bible and a hymn or prayer, a sacred morning exercise. Afternoon sessions we sang good popular
songs and temperance and clean humorous songs and rounds, which was real fun. Once in this little red schoolhouse,
the teacher stepped outside, and over forty of us got busy throwing paper
wads. She must have just been trying us
out, for suddenly she opened the door and came in. She asked how many were in it, and every hand big and little went
up but one. That one was the worst one,
and a little voice piped up, “Teacher, she was in it, too”. Well, our punishment was to stand on the
floor for 1-1/2 days, except at recess and noon hour. But, believe me, everyone of us would much rather have taken our
punishment than to have taken the lecture that the girl who didn’t tell the
truth got from the teacher, and, of course, the jibes from the whole school,
too. The table manners of 75 or more
years ago would make the people of today sit up and take notice. No one took food in their fingers or picked
and chose at table, but we conveyed most food to our mouth with the knife. Instead of the four tined forks now in use,
we had three-tined steel forks. And how
funny it looked when people first began to use their forks. We thought they were just trying to put on
airs, and didn’t know how. Remember, we
hadn’t any telephones, automobiles, airplanes, or many miles of railroads, just
horses and buggies and the old stagecoach.
So new customs were propagated very slowly. The fashions were so different too. Ladies dresses were so long, about like the formal worn now. The streets and sidewalks were terrible, and
our skirts had to be held up where it was dirty. Do you get the picture of a lady with an armful of bundles and
trying to hold a skirt and two or three petticoats up so they wouldn’t get
soiled? Then we had tight-fitting waists
with “mutton leg” sleeves. They were
very large, and shaped like a ham and the small end at the wrist. Then the time of the hoopskirts. They began with small ones, and soon got
bigger. Guess you would have to see
them to appreciate them. Then came
skirts so narrow one could only step a few inches ahead or up or down. I have seen ladies try stepping over a mud
hole and sit down splash. Then there
were the bustles. Sleigh ride parties in winter with
oyster suppers or other nice feed were very enjoyable, as were hayrack rides in
summer, with picnics and swimming for men, but never boys and girls in the same
place. In 1881 I was married in Juneau
County to a Waupaca County man, and in February, 1882 we came to Crystal Lake,
Waupaca County, Town of Dayton. We
found a very prosperous country for those days, and the friendliest people I’ve
ever found in all my moving around. We
went to the Summer Packard home and I don’t think there ever was any better
people anywhere. They were almost
father and mother to me, and they had a nice farm home and a sorghum mill. Young men from the neighborhood helped in
the busy seasons and especially in sorghum making. They had great sport covering apples and melons from neighbors
and then treating them to their own fruit and melons, when they brought the
cane to have it ground and cooked into molasses, and sometimes the fellows got
too smart and got caught, too. Although
they didn’t take a lot or destroy the vines as is sometimes done. In the summer the fields of clover were so
fragrant and beautiful and did they have bountiful crops, especially potatoes
and Wisconsin potatoes were noted for quality far and near. Well, after I got to know people, I found
there were many friendly folks all over this community. I will try to name a few of the ones I knew
best. There were the P.A. Ham family, George
Stinemates family (then called Staymates), Bates family, Polands, Tarrs,
Allens, Pinkertons, Strattons, Barringtons, William Summers, Radleys, Moreys,
Joe Newsomes, Clark Holman family, Kurtz family, and many others, most of whom
have been laid to rest. Some have been
just recently, and two or three of us are “waiting for our boatman” yet. Our roads and modes of
transportation and also working on the roads were very different than now. In
the winter when snow was 3 or more feet deep on the level and drifts a plenty,
someone would start at the town line with steam shovels and men and more would
join them and along the way machinery and loads of farm produce must be hauled
to town, and groceries and needed clothes to be brought back. When the women must make a trip to town the
sleigh box was lined with straw and blankets over the straw and hot soap stones
for their feet and blankets over their laps and feet, and it was a two or 2-1/2
hour drive, and we were pretty well chilled through by the time we got
there. It was no pleasure trip in
winter, but in summer it was a very pleasant and exciting experience to ride
behind a nice lively team of horses and visit and see the things in the stores. Although there was nothing to compare with
what is shown these days. Yet it meant
a real treat and more exciting to us than any one can find now. For there is so much to see and do that
there is nothing left to really enjoy.
We hear it on every side, “This is dead. Let’s go somewhere else where there is more excitement”. The world is looking for nothing but
pleasure, forgetting there is responsibility and duties to perform. And as each one shirks his or her fair share
in the world’s work, the world is just that much poorer. About the music and songs there is a
very marked difference. We sang love
songs, of course. But no gathering
failed to have patriotic songs and music, and the old fife and drum corps would
always call a crowd together and as our memorial days came it sure brings to
mind how we used to honor our soldiers both living and dead with almost
everyone out to show our respect and appreciation by our presence and prayers
and our county is a fair example of other counties, states, and our
nation. Memorial day is a day of
pleasure seeking and fun. Thanksgiving was a day of family gatherings, feasting
and also of real thankful-ness for our many blessings and often ended with a
little neighborhood square dance in someone’s kitchen. We used to have donations for the minister
maybe vegetables or dried fruits, meats, lard, almost anything in the line of
foods and groceries and it was always well attended and barrels and boxes of
leftover food was given to poor families that had children. The donation was the subject of conversation
for weeks before and after the event. In the ‘80’s and later we never
called children kids. A neighbor had
two children, a girl and a boy. She was
showing them a picture book and came to a picture of real kids. The little ones asked what they were and she
told them “kids”. The little girl said
“Why, Ma! They don’t look like Hons
(for honey) to me”. It sure didn’t
sound good at first. But we soon fell
in line and now they are just kids. I
REMEMBER The
Grand Army Home Memories
of Myra Howard – 76 (April 12, 1954) Collected
by Annette Skilling The beautiful home for veterans of all wars is situated on Rainbow Lake. One of the Chain’s beauty spots, it was established in 1887 by members of the Grand Army of the Republic Department of Wisconsin. I remember when these men had fought
the war between the states from 1861 to 1865 were concerned because there was
no provision for their wives made. At their Department Encampment at
Janesville, in 1884, the plan for a State Veterans Home originated. February 16, 1887, five comrades
were elected to serve as corporators for the proposed veterans’ home. The home was duly incorporated on March
10. It was to be maintained by state
aid. The site for the home was selected
from among many offers from various parts of the state. Greenwood Park Hotel,
three and one half miles from the city of Waupaca, on the beautiful Chain o’
Lakes was decided on. It was a gift from the patriotic and generous citizens of
Waupaca, this hotel and several small buildings. From eight buildings in 1888 the number has increased to 86
buildings. In the years that have passed many
changes and improvements have been made.
The post office changed from Wisconsin Veterans Home to King. The home became known as the Grand Army Home
instead of the Wisconsin Veterans Home. Veterans of United Spanish War and
World War I and World War II have since been admitted. In 1929 a new modern hospital was
added to the home. A new central heating plant was
completed in 1952; in July of 1953 an impressive monument was erected in the
home cemetery, at the top of the hill.
A perpetual light in the top shines out, and can be seen from a great
distance. This is dedicated to all
veterans and widows. The Grand Army Home is a little
community in itself, and is the only home in the United States that bears that
name – Grand Army Home of the Republic. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Augusta Hoy Collected
by Shirley Anderson I remember when in 1888 I came from the quiet country of Denmark, where little snow is evident, to Waupaca. My fiancé met me at the station with a large sleigh, the first sleigh I had ever seen. Being somewhat ignorant of conditions such as were presented to me, I was quite amazed at the array of men wearing immense fur coats, which reminded me of bears. Later, as we drove through the country, I noticed sticks which appeared at regular intervals, sticking into the snow. My fiancé quietly informed me that they were four foot snow fences posts. Coming from a large city, the area around Waupaca seemed to me a large veritable wilderness of trees and snow. After we married, my husband a d I
moved to what is now the Bob Ewald farm.
Then two years later we bought Pleasant View farm three miles north of
Waupaca, which had a very modern log house, plastered and papered on the
inside, and covered with clapboard on the outside. It looked very impressive, when compared to some of our
neighbors’ houses. Moving to the country from a large
city demanded a great amount of fortitude and adjustment. It was lonely at night with just the dim
glow of the kerosene lamps; yet a certain coziness was acquired with plenty of
books from the city library, which as I remember was a small apartment above
the old post office, and our one luxury, a grand piano. The nights were especially terrifying when
my thoughts inevitably would turn to the lonely grave of the two year old
Lombard boy, buried on the hillside near our barn. The grave, and the nightly screams of a lynx in a tamarack swamp
nearby, are unforgettable memories. I remember the joy of my neighbors
when the father would drive up before the house with a huge team of oxen,
hitched to a sleigh filled with straw.
Then five or six children would race to the sleigh followed by mother
and father with the younger ones. They
were all deposited into the straw and then tucked under a large skin robe. Merrily they jogged down the road guided by
father at the oxen’s side, to the neighbors for a pleasurable evening. What a thrill it was when we
purchased a new two horse top buggy with two side lanterns containing large
tallow candles. Then an even greater
surprise came when in 1911 my husband brought home a new Reo car with brass
trimmings, one of the first around Waupaca. Now I will soon be ninety one, and
the hydrogen bombs and jet planes shock me less than the first beautiful team
of oxen I saw; and the modern electrical lighting systems are less interesting
than my mother’s first intricately designed kerosene lamp of the early 1860’s,
yet looking back over such a long span of years, one can only marvel at the
advancement of the sciences. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Florence Minton Collected
by Jerry Erickson I remember when Waupaca had only dirt streets and board sidewalks. About 1895 most of the stores handled both dry goods and groceries. There were two banks; the Mead Bank, and the one where the First National is now. Waupaca had two hotels. The restaurants were booming because farmers hauled their potatoes to town and couldn’t get home as quickly as they can now. We tied the horses to hitching posts in front of the stores. If all the posts were taken we took the horses around behind the stores and tied them. Potatoes were the chief crop around
Waupaca. Buyers from the warehouses
would stand in the streets and tell us how much they would give for our
potatoes. If the price was too low, we
went to another warehouse. The buyers
shipped the potatoes by railroad. When
the price got as low as 15 or 18 cents a hundred we took them to the starch
factory near Oborn Street. The blacksmith shops were often so
busy we had to wait in line to have the horses shod. In the winter, the shoes had sharp “corks” on them so the horse
wouldn’t slip on ice. The two grist mills were located
where the old tannery and Falgatter’s mill are now. We had the rye, wheat, and buckwheat ground into flour. The flour now is bleached, but it wasn’t in
the ’90’s. When I was a little girl, there was
no courthouse, but later it was voted to have it here. We had most of our harnesses made at
Lund’s harness shop. It was important
to have them fit just right or they would hurt the horses. I lived seven miles west of Waupaca.
It took about two hours to come to town with the team and a load, and about
forty-five minutes with the driving horses. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Fanny M. Jardine Submitted
by Shirley Leary Madison, 1119
Wabau Hill April 17, 1954 Dear Miss Leary, Since receiving your request for stories or happenings of Waupaca, my mind has been traveling back as far as I can remember for events interesting and important enough to be entered in your history book. I have about come to the conclusion that nothing very unusual ever happened in the dear old town. We just lived along from day to day – a humdrum sort of life, but a happy one. However, if you can use any of the stories I have written as I remember them, I shall be happy. If they are not usable, just feed them to the wastebasket, and I shall not be offended. I am wishing you every success in your adventure, and this project is such a worthy and interesting one, I shall look forward to having a copy when they are on the market. Most sincerely yours, Fanny M. Jardine. This happened many years ago on a
very cold, stormy night in mid-winter, and was told many times by the few who
were present and witnessed the phenomenon. A prayer meeting was in progress in
the Methodist Church; outside snow and sleet were coming down in wild
gusts. Suddenly violent thunder and
lightning joined the already wild storm, and the tall steeple on the church was
struck and entirely demolished. The
awestruck few who were there were too frightened to leave the church and go
home. They were sure the “wrath of God”
was coming down upon them. 2 About forty years ago, a few of the
progressive people of our town decided to stage a “Homecoming”, so committees
were formed and plans made weeks ahead of time for the grand affair, which was
to be in mid-summer. Invitations were
sent to any and every one who had ever lived in Waupaca, and the response was
over-whelming. When the time came, our
town was filled with visitors, and there was not an empty bed in Waupaca. They came from far and near. Entertainment was planned for forenoon,
afternoon, and evening; teas, receptions, dinners, and meetings in halls, churches;
and band concerts; business was practically at a standstill except eating
places. It lasted the better part of a
week, and was one of the happiest occasions in the annals of Waupaca. 3 The Armistice of 1918, ending the
First World War, drove the whole town wild with joy, relief, and happiness at
the prospect of having our boys home again, and free from the danger of all the
horrors connected with a war. A false
report came a few days ahead of the genuine armistice, and everyone was feeling
blue and discouraged; when the news of the true armistice was flashed over the
wires, everybody went wild, bells began to ring, whistles blew, horns tooted,
pandemonium broke loose. This jubilee
kept up day and night for most of the week, before the populace could calm down
and go about their regular order of business and work. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Linder Peterson Father,
Julius Boelter, about 75 April
12, 1954 Collected
by Arlen Peterson My father so often told us of his
childhood days, which was interesting to us. My grandparents came over here from Germany with very little. They got some land, mostly all woods, very little land to work. They lived in a small log house and had a small log barn built on a side hill, protected from the north and west winds. There were no fences, so my father
and his brother had to watch cows every day, including Sundays, which got to be
a very tiresome job, as there were other people having the same job, and they
had to watch so that they didn’t get the cows mixed, as it sometimes was quite
a job separating them. Then my dad and his brothers got
acquainted with some neighbor boys.
They got enough boys together to start having ball games. So they got together on Sunday afternoons to
play ball. In the summer during berry
season they had to pick blueberries. There were no cheese factories, so
each family had to churn their own butter. They made very few trips into town,
as it was quite a distance, and it was slow traveling with horses. When my dad was old enough to go to
dances, he had to walk. A good many
times he would have to walk four and five miles or more to go to a house
party. He said so often while walking
home from a party he would be walking through a woods and a skunk would walk
along side of him. So he really had
many experiences children now don’t have. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Albert Johanknect Born
1876 or 1875 Collected
by Carolyn Keinert I can remember when Waupaca was
still a very small village. We would go to town with a horse and
buggy or wagon and sleighs those days as there weren’t any cars. Main Street wasn’t as long as it is
now, and there was gravel instead of pavement.
There was old wooden railing running the length of Main Street. This was where you would tie the horses
while you did your trading. I remember when the old courthouse
was where the second hand store is today.
It sure was different from the new one we now have. There was also a livery stable where
the Jacklin Implement Shop is located today.
They would put up your horse for a small fee as long as you wanted to
leave it, and they also rented out horses to doctors, rural mail carriers, and
whoever wanted to hire a horse or team. There used to be an old blacksmith
shop near the Palace Theater. We used
to like to go and watch the smithy shoe the horses. He was usually quite a busy man, because there were quite a few
horses those days to be shod, in winter for ice so they wouldn’t slip; and some
horses had to wear shoes all the time as they had tender hoofs. There also was an old post office
near where the Firestone Store is. It
was not as large as the one we have today, but we thought then it was the
thing. The children went to an old wooden
school located just about the same place as it is today. It was very small and had very few books. There used to be a cobbler shop
where the Vet’s Club is today. He made
and fixed shoes and specialized on making barrels. In my day we had no movies, radios
or television, or anything in that line for entertainment, but we did have a
dance hall where Anderson’s Shoe Shop is today, and once or twice a week we’d
go to a dance there, and thought we were really enjoying ourselves. The music mostly consisted of a fellow
playing a violin and someone chording on a piano or organ. I also can remember the first bank
opened by a fellow called Mead. He
later on was shot and they never found out who had killed him. In later years I can remember they
opened a bowling alley across from where the Palace Theater is. This was really something, and a good game,
which they still enjoy today. There was a picture gallery where
the Chevrolet Garage is today, and a man by the name of Eastman owned it. Later it burned in a fire in which he died. When we had to go to Waupaca to
shop, we traveled by horses, and the roads used to be sandy, and in the rainy
season quite muddy; during the winter the snow was quite deep, as they didn’t
have snow removing equipment, so we usually went once a week, as we didn’t care
much about traveling through snow drifts.
At times the snow would get so deep there used to be real holes in the
road, called “kiss me quicks”, as they almost would wreck a cutter going in and
out of them. I can also remember the first street
lights. They were lit with some pieces
of carbon and generators. There was a
big glass bowl effect over the top of these lights, but there sure is a
difference in the lighting system of today, thanks to the electricity. These are just a few things telling you what
our town of Waupaca was like in my younger days. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mattie Nelson – 64 Collected
by Nancy Nelson When I was five years old I left New
York state with my folks for Wisconsin.
We landed in Waupaca on March 10, 1895.
It was cold and windy. My father
had to walk from the depot up town to get a livery rig to take us out to my
uncle’s, who lived in the town of Lind. We nearly froze as the rig was a
surrey with just a top with fringes around the edges. Main Street was very short then, and the sidewalks were made of
boards. All the stores that I can
remember were in the block that the courthouse and city hall are in; the Dane’s
Home, was then a part of it. My folks thought it was a funny
city; in New York a place of that size would be called a small village. There were no modern homes in Waupaca
then. Instead of garages there were two
or three livery stables where horses were kept. I
REMEMBER The
Old Granite Quarry Memories
of C.R. Johnson – 83 Collected
by M. Carmody Mr. Johnson’s most vivid memories
are of the old Granite Quarry, which is about five miles north of the city of
Waupaca. The quarry which started up
about 1889, has been lifeless since about 1925. But only 40 or 50 years ago it was a booming business. Mr. Johnson worked at the quarry when he was around 20 years of age. One of his jobs was to run the hoist, which lifted the granite out of the quarry. When he first began working, he received a dollar a day. Later his wages were raised to two dollars a day. Both of these were considered very good wages. The highest paid were the stonecutters, who received a salary of four dollars a day. Most of the stone-cutters came from Scotland and were experts at their trade. When Mr. Johnson was working at the
quarry, there were as many as 147 men working there. They came from all over.
Since quite a few of them were many miles from their homes, a large
hotel was their living quarters. Besides this hotel, there was a
large polishing mill, a building where the granite was cut up into pieces; a
blacksmith shop, which had as many as seven smiths, and a store where the
workers bought their odds and ends. Power for running the polishing mill
and stoner saws was supplied by a dam which ran a water wheel onto which belts
were attached. This water wheel
produced some eighty horsepower. Up until 1907 when the old Green Bay
and Western came about a quarter mile from the quarry, all the granite was
hauled to the railroad in Waupaca by wagons pulled by two teams of horses. Two or three of these loads went out every
day. In April, 1900, a man was killed at
the quarry. Three holes had been
drilled and filled with explosives.
When the fuse was set off, only two of the charges exploded. The third one apparently wouldn’t go off,
and one of the men went back to see what he could do. He never came back for the charge exploded, killing him
instantly. The quarry has two types of granite
– gray and red. These deposits go deep
into the ground. One of the reasons
though, that the quarry was abandoned was due to the large seams in the
granite. Mr. Johnson is quite proud of the
fact that he worked on the granite that is in our state capital at
Madison. Waupaca should also be proud
to have the remains of this historic quarry so near to it. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Earl Minton – 59 Collected
by Gary Minton I can remember when I was about eight years old. We lived on a farm southwest of Waupaca. I went to school where my grandson goes now. My brothers and I had quite a long way to go so we always rode horseback. It was a crowded school and the bigger boys were usually doing devilish things. After school each day I would have
to go home and do most of the chores because my father was working on the road
then. On Saturdays in the fall we boys
would have to dig potatoes by hand and pick them all up. On Sundays we always went to church
in a buggy drawn by one horse or maybe two. I can remember one time us boys were
to stay home while Mother and Dad went for a ride in the buggy. I wanted to go along, so I hid in the back
under some blankets. When they got to
the park they were really surprised to see me along. Then I was in for a surprise.
Boys that don’t mind are taught to do so. I can’t quite remember how old I was
when we moved from that farm, but from there we moved south of Waupaca. After I was married I moved on a farm for
about three years and then moved on another place. I stayed there for two years and then moved back to the farm in
Lind Center. In 1930 my folks moved to town and I
ran the farm. My dad had farming in his
system, and always found time to help me out if he could. The biggest thrill my dad had was in
1928. He bought his first car. It was a 928 Chevrolet and really
something. He treated it like a baby,
and to this day it is in good running order.
When my father died two years ago my son got his first and only car, and
it is still going strong. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Ida M. Krogh Collected
by John Jensen Waupaca,
Wisconsin April 2, 1954 Dear Johnny, You asked what the schools were like when I was young (1878). The school that I attended was a one room, one teacher affair across the road from my home. The desk and seats were double with a partition down the center. Each year all the students began at the beginning of the Readers, Spellers, and Arithmetic books and went as far as they were able. Geography was added for the older ones, and more advanced readers and arithmetics. The teacher usually boarded at our home because it was so near. We would frequently have “spell-downs”, sometimes even in the evening for an entertainment, with a prize of a small book to the winner. Occasionally there would be a school program, most likely for Christmas and at the close of the year. As children we would play catch;
ante ante over; tag; hide and seek; and mumblety peg; with most girls playing
with dolls at least part of the time.
There was always at least one dog, some cats, chickens, duck and geese;
all of which were petted. As a child I lived in the town of
Clayton, which is between Winchester and Neenah to the north. I was born in a log house, with a small hole
dug under the house for a cellar, and an upstairs with two rooms and a regular
stairway. Under one of the beds
downstairs was a low bed called a trundle bed which was rolled under the
parent’s bed during the day. That big
bed had a ruffle around it which we call a dust ruffle today, so that the
trundle bed could not be seen after it had been put away. We also got a Reed organ while we lived
there. I can remember my father taking us
to Oshkosh to see a circus once. When I was eighteen we moved to
Clintonville. There was more of a
chance to go to school and church programs, even to Chautauqua once in a
while. There was a high school there,
too. My youngest sister graduated from it
and then taught school. Most of the
time we made our own fun. There were
berries to pick and nuts to gather on our own land, and sisters to talk with. And of course, church to go to on Sundays. I
REMEMBER Memories
of R.D. Luther Donated I remember when I first started to
work in a bank, I was a scared boy. I
thought bankers were always perfect and made no mistakes. But I learned differently very soon. I now know the only perfect people must live
in a place called Heaven. There are
none here. That was when bankers were
supposed to be exclusive people. Even
some of the bankers believed it, I guess. That, too, was a mistake.
Anyone who lets a little thing like a position or money go to their
heads needs to have said head examined. All bookkeeping in those days was
done by hand. No machines to do the
adding and bookkeeping. All entries
were by hand and it was a tedious job. When
it came time to balance at night we sometimes had to look for mistakes and it
took quite some time. Then once each
week we balanced all records and that, too, was a headache. There were no eight-hour days then. The bank was open from eight in the morning
until four in the afternoon, six days each week and also from seven to nine on
Wednesday evenings. When we got our
first bookkeeping machine we thought it was a wonder, although it operated by
hand. Compared to present day machines
it was crude. Wages then were $25 per
month, or perhaps $30, for beginners and it usually took a year at least before
one could expect a raise. Cashiers were
paid $100 per month in smaller banks, some got the astonishing salary of $125
to $150 a month. Farm mortgages were
considered the safest investment that could be made. “Good as gold” was the way they were spoken of. But some bankers took to loaning too much on
the inflated value of farms and eventually found themselves with frozen
loans. This led to trouble for the
bankers, and now they know that gold and farmlands are not what they used to
be. Those were the days when carpenters
were paid $1.25 or $1.35 a day. Common
labor received $1 per day on the average.
But, on the other hand, flour was sold for 90 cents to $1 per sack, and
$1 would buy 16 pounds of sugar. Fairly
good houses rented for from $10 to $12 per month. Eggs cost 8 cents per dozen and butter sold for 10 cents per
pound; a good steak cost about 25 cents, enough for 4 people. But still many people had savings accounts
and put aside small amounts regularly.
People were thrifty and I believe enjoyed life fully as much as we do
now. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mr. John McCall – 81 Collected
by Carol Kreeger I came to Waupaca about 1898 and was employed by Shearer and Jardine, who operated a retail lumberyard, planing mill, and wood-working shop. This mill was run by water power. After working for this firm for about five years, the lumberyard and mill was leased by Central Lumber. The company purchased the stock and continued to operate the mill, shop, and lumberyard. I was selected as manager for the
new company and became a stockholder and one of the officers. Later the Central Lumber Company
consolidated with the Goodman Company of Marinette. The name of the new company was Fuller Goodman Company. About this time the mill owned by Shearer
and Jardine was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. A new brick building was rebuilt. In those days there were two starch
factories here, one on Oborn Street, and the other on East Fulton Street. Starch was made from potatoes, and farmers
hauled in great quantities, especially years when the potato market was very
weak, or if the potatoes were frosted in the ground. When the potatoes were frozen in the ground, they were only good
for starch. After several years the
making of starch was discontinued and later both factory buildings were
destroyed by fire at different times. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Edwin Bridgman – 91 Collected
by Carol Kreeger When I was a little girl, I drove to Waupaca with my father in a lumber wagon. It was in the spring and my father would drive right through the Waupaca River, which is down by the old red bridge, so that he water would soak up the wooden wheels and expand the spokes and rims. This would keep them tight for the summer. I was always afraid to ride through the river, so I got out and walked across on the bridge. I remember when all the neighborhood
children would play under “the high sidewalk”.
At present this is the walk in front of the Wiegel and Sterns homes on
School Street. This walk was an old
board elevated walk, which spanned a deep hollow. When I was a young woman, I camped
in a tent on Crescent Island, which is now owned by Ben Gage and his wife
Esther Williams. There was not a
cottage nor a building on the Chain o’ Lakes.
At that time one walked across Indian Crossing, as there was no deep
channel nor bridge. I remember the old Scoville House,
which is located where Webbs Restaurant stands, burned to the ground one winter
night. It was so cold that it froze the
water in the hose of the fire equipment which was attached to cisterns and
operated by hand. I remember when I was in the present
First Methodist Church and the steeple was struck by lightning and knocked to
the ground. I
REMEMBER This
story took place around 1888. Memories
of Warner F. Caldwell Collected
by Linda Caldwell I was 14 years old when my father took over the King Veterans Home. At this time there was only one
building, six cottages and an old barn. The one building was the Marsden Hall,
named after Dr. Marsden. He had help in
getting the home started, and had only run it six months before my father took
over. I drove a team of horses and a three
seated buggy from King to Waupaca and back, hauling passengers from and to the
depot. While we were there they built three
other buildings, one of which was the Fairchild Hall. Also they started a tavern. A few years after we were there the
streetcar was started. One ran from
King to Waupaca. I stayed seven years, but I remember
when we first took over the Home; there were only seven men staying there. When my father retired the buildings were
all full. I
REMEMBER The
Big Fire Memories
of George McClay Collected
by Miriam Petersen I can’t remember the date exactly
but it was the year 1918. I worked for
the Wares at that time. The old Ware
land is now owned by Mike Dunphy, it’s located about two miles north of town. They had a buck sheep out there that
you couldn’t trust behind your back.
One day Polly Ware was dumping her dishwater out in the front and the
buck sheep came up behind her. She was
knocked for quite a roll. The Wares had the biggest barn in
Wisconsin at that time. They had two
before that had burned. This one was a
round one with a silo in the middle. It
was about 100 feet across and 75 feet high in the middle. During harvesting time the big barn caught
fire. It was during the day and the
smoke could be seen for about 25 miles.
Some think it happened when John Ware went into the barn with his clay
pipe. No one knows how the fire
started, but it completely demolished the largest barn in Wisconsin. I
REMEMBER Memories
of H.P. Knudsen Collected
by Jerry Taber I arrived in America in the year of
1881, on December 21 or 22; from Denmark.
I can remember when I was 23 years old; I was in the Danish Army. I stood on guard at Rosenberg Castle for the
King’s birthday on April 8. The king at
that time was Christian 9th. I remember when I came to Waupaca;
there were no streets, just trails.
There were a few plank sidewalks on the Main Street. I remember when I was the contractor for the Danes Home. I remember when they moved an old courthouse and a church. The post office was next to the barber shop across from the courthouse. Some of the stores I remember were
the Hugo and Fred Lea’s Stores, Stetson’s, Nordvi’s, and L. Peterson’s. The city hall was between Dr.
Salan’s office and the river. It was built the same year that I built the Danes
Home. I am now 96 years old. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Thorwaldt Nelson Born
in Denmark, May 12, 1861 Collected
by Robert Nelson I can remember coming to Waupaca at the age of two. My father was a Danish bootmaker. I can recall my parents telling me
we arrived at Oshkosh by boat and train, and then by steamboat to Gills Landing
and to Waupaca by freight wagon. We settled
in Waupaca about 10 years after the village was organized. I can remember the building of the
Soo Line Railroad and the electric streetcar line, between the Waupaca depot
and the Grand View Hotel and the Chain o’ Lakes. I can remember how Main Street was
laid so close to the river. They were
going to move [away from] the river, but Lawyer Drutzer had a field of corn
planted there, and would not allow them to have the land until after harvest
time. I remember how each family had a cow
or two which would be turned loose each morning and allowed to roam the
community at will, returning each evening to his respective owner. The Indians would drift in and out,
and camp along the banks of the river where the city school now stands. They would harass the housewives with their
begging, getting about what they wanted if they would leave peacefully. The early houses were nearly all
built of logs, and lighting was by candle or by kerosene lamps. I recall that Waupaca was early
known as the potato center of the United States, and shipments were made to all
parts of the country. After the harvest
each year the city staged a celebration called “Potato Bake”, where potatoes
would be baked in trenches in the courtyard square. Usually a beef was barbequed at this event, and everyone was
given free lunch. I saw the coming of the automobile,
and have witnessed many changes in Waupaca since the pioneer days. I
REMEMBER Shealtiel
Mineral Springs Memories
of Eva G. Perry This
story was given to Mr. Winch through the courtesy of Mrs. J.V. Janda The Shealtiel Mineral Springs are
situated on the north shore of Sunset Lake – formerly known as Hicks Lake. They were owned and operated by the late Dr.
George H. Calkins, M.D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Waupaca. The springs are located three miles west of
the city. These sparkling waters are free from organic matter and sulphate of lime. They have won a wide reputation, and were shipped in large quantities to all parts of the country. They are remarkedly free from solid matter. It acts as a tonic solvent when taken as a beverage. During the Grand View Hotel days it was always on the menu. The springs were one of the most
attractive spots of the state, and were much frequented by lovers of nature and
by invalids in quest of health years ago. Dr. Calkins had a bottling factory
on the lakeshore, and bottled the water there.
It could be had in either a barrel, half barrel, or in cases containing
two or four dozen quart bottles, all goods were put up and shipped on
application and short notice. The slogan was “Drink freely of
Shealtiel Spring water and feel better”. Shealtiel means “I have asked of
God”. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Frank Polly Collected
by Tom Girard I remember when Waupaca used to be a
little town with dirt streets, wooden buildings and the main way of travel was
the horse and buggy. There used to be a
hitching post and a water tank where the courthouse now stands. People from
surrounding territory would come to shop for the day and in the summer left
their rigs and horses at this hitching post, and in cold weather the horses
were left at a livery stable which was located where Schroeder Motors now
stands. A favorite eating place for some of
the shoppers was a brewery which was located on Elm Street where Fred Jensen
now lives. Water Street now, used to be the old
part of town. Some of the oldest
buildings are located there and the first Courthouse is also located on this
street. When the plans were made to lay
out the present Main Street it was to be made where Washington Street now runs,
but a wealthy farmer had a field of corn there and he would not permit them to
put the street there. So it was put one
block east of there. I remember the low prices of
groceries, wearing apparel and wages those years. After about three years of draught I was forced to sell my herd
of sheep and the only market for them was at Ogdensburg where I had to drive
them and only received 50 cents a head for them. The teacher from the rural school roomed and boarded at our house
for $1 a week, and only received $17 a month for teaching. I
REMEMBER This
is a copy of a clipping from the Waupaca newspaper, Describing
damage by lightning to a church spire on February 20, 1875 Story
from Fred Potts Collected
by Virginia Robbins “Thunder
and Lightning” as
the boy said. The
fiery darts hurled at the Methodist Church spire With
a sadly riddling effect A
serious damage. Last Sunday evening at about 7:00 there was every appearance of a storm and a severe one. The wind had blown from the east all day and a sort of sleet had fallen much of the time. The air was as full of electricity as a battery, and the lightning was flashing occasionally. About an hour later, the flashes were more frequent and the thunder sharp, with an uncomfortably near sound to it. A few hardy worshippers were gathered in each of the four churches in town, and were trying to feel trustful and keep their attention fixed on the service. An occasional heavy peal would make them start nervously, and grow a shade paler, but they retained ordinary composure, and some idea of what was being said. At the Methodist Church, the regular Quarterly Meeting services were being held. The Elder was just extending the invitation to come forward to the altar and partake of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, when there came a blinding glare and terrific crash, as if a cannon had been discharged in the room. Some of the audience hurried out to see what damage had been done, and found that the tower had been struck. The audience was considerably frightened, of course, but they were reassured by Elder Fellows, who told them the danger was past. Quiet was soon restored and the service conducted to the close. Next morning the tower presented a
poor appearance. The bolt struck it about ten feet from the top of the
pinnacle, stripped a circle of wooden ornaments off and passed down, splitting
the lower end of the pinnacle, thence into the board and plank covering of the
tower, where it divided, one part bursting out on the north, and one on the
east side, splitting and tearing the covering badly. The main bolt followed down at the northeast corner into the
brickwork, tearing out the corner and about two feet back on the sides. The corner beam is somewhat split up, and
the brickwork around the timbers and braces considerably shaken. Probably one-half of the walls on the two
sides will have to come down. It is a
good thing for the house that the tower was built at one side, and but
partially connected with the main building.
It is also a great piece of good fortune that the spire didn’t take
fire. The damage is so variously
estimated that it is hard to arrive at any definite conclusion as to
amount. One may says $700, and another
$100. We shall set it at $500, but will
willingly take off any amount of that which may be in excess of the actual cost
of repairing. It is a hard blow to the church
which is not in condition to stand the unexpected expense very well. If two or three hundred dollars will repair
the damages, we do not doubt that the amount could be raised, if a subscription
paper were to be passed at once. The
church is the one ornament of the town of which everyone is proud; and everyone
has a personal interest in it as such.
The cost of repairing it ought not to be left to the society alone, and
it undoubtedly will not be. - Dr. Manchester, who lives on the
next lot north of the church, on the tower side, and was standing at the window
looking out, when the crash came. He
tells wonderful things about the appearance of the ball after it had burst and
fell in a shower of fire. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Julia Hansen Collected
by Margaret Boutwell I do not know just when Waupaca was first put on the map, but I think it was about 1860. There was a lot of white pine around here; when that was logged off people took homesteads. That was in 1867 or 1868. Some came up from Oshkosh. They came on boats up to Gills Landing and drove or walked the other part of the way. There was not any railroads in Waupaca then. It was sometime in the 1880’s that the railroad came here. It was called the Wisconsin Central Line. Then there is the Granite Quarry. It was about 1886 that some from Oshkosh came up and started the work. They built a mill and dammed up the river which is nearby. In that way the mill was run by waterpower. That is the way those big stone pillars were polished. They were for the State Capitol in Madison. They could only use a few. Some were not long enough. They also built a stone shed where they kept some of their nice rocks. They built a store and boarding house where some of the farmers close by would take butter and eggs over and get groceries in return. There was a man killed when working
there. That was April 26, 1900. The last two tornadoes you can
remember. But there was one July 16 in
1887, whose path was half a mile south of the last one, and which took the
barns where Will Nowak and Jim Anderson now live. There was one October 3, 1900, which took some buildings in Elm
Valley District. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Herbert Radley, Rural, Wisconsin Age
77 – April 12, 1954 Collected
by Richard Radley I do not know when our folks bought the 40 acres in the southwest part of Dayton. It was all timber except possibly and acre where they built a brick veneer house. My brother Yuba and I attended the
Post school, perhaps a mile and a half away.
Our teacher was Chester Poland; he always wore a tall peaked beaver cap. One winter the snow was very deep
and frozen hard. We had a large
home-made sled which we rode from the back of the house across a large field to
the little mill located on the north branch of Dayton Creek. In the summer this
same field was full of red clover. It
was fun to hunt for bumble bees and get their honey. The comb or cells were almost black in color, and very tough, the
honey being very dark and sweet. Each of us had a penny bank, made
and painted like a drum. We had a few
pennies too. There was a pile of sand
near the well, which was about 64 feet deep with well-house, rope, and
buckets. One day we dug holes as deep
as we could, put our banks in, and filled the holes full. When the sand dried out we could not locate
them, so they are still there today. A little way west of us was a large
field with an old building and some trees.
On one of our visits there, a locust was making such a noise in one of
the trees, we wanted to know how this was done, so up the tree we went, as far
as we could and waited; after a while the locust returned and started to sing
again. The process is very much the
same as grasshoppers or crickets. Sure, we went fishing. Mother had some large black thread and some
pins; we caught flies for bait. We went
down to the bridge, where we caught big shiners and horned-ace. They were good too. Sure, things happened like shooting
squirrels, with the gun kicking and cutting my face; Yuba falling from a nail
keg and breaking his arm; the kitten falling in the well and its rescue;
playing Indian with shafts of straight hazel bushes, until one of us got hurt;
seeing a couple of foxes pass by the gate; wading in the mud after a shower;
seeing a horse and buggy coming. We made a dash for the woods and ran
into a single strand of barbwire fence and received several cuts from which I
still have the scars. I’ll never forget the balking of Uncle Wilton’s horse
when we were getting in our potatoes.
Our dog, Spot, a black and white spaniel, always had a part in our
everyday life. Spot lived to be twenty;
he came with us when we moved to Rural in 1887 in the big square house with the
cupola. Surely the youngsters between seven
and ten do have some unforgettable experiences. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mr. Peter Doyle – Age 81 Collected
by Richard Davis I remember when I first moved into
the town of Lanark in the late year 1895.
About the only money crop we raised was potatoes. This was about the only crop there was any
money in. We just had a small piece of
land cleared; the rest was wooded. At
that time we could get about fifty cents a bushel for our potatoes. Once in a while they would come up to sixty
cents a bushel. We could hardly sleep the night
before we would take them to town. Just about the time we would decide to take
them it would snow and drift until the roads would be knee deep with snow. We would have to break out the roads to get
our load to town. The worst part of the
road was from Chady’s Corners into Waupaca. Alton Cartwright had a contract for
hauling coal from Waupaca to the “Old Soldiers’ Home”. He had a big heavy draft team, a sleigh, and
coal tanks. Their wheels cut the road
into big pitch holes. Some called them
“thank you, moms”. When the little farm
teams and small sleighs would fall into them, first you would see the tail end
of the sleigh, and then the front and would come up. I often wondered how we got through. One time we had a severe cold spell,
and I had sacked up a load of potatoes.
I needed to come to town for groceries.
The wind had blown the thermometer off the nail, so I didn’t know how
cold it was. The sun was out and the
wind had died down, so I decided to take a load into Waupaca. When I pulled onto Madsen and Nelson’s
scales, Nelson looked, and asked, “are you crazy?” I said, “No, what makes you think
so?” Mr. Nelson told me it was twenty below
zero right then. But there wasn’t a
frozen potato in my load. I got my
supplies and went home. I lived twenty
miles west of Waupaca. I got pretty
chilly before I got home. I
REMEMBER History
of Ogdensburg and Vicinity Memories
of E.E. Russell – 88 Collected
by Ellen Harris Had you and I been at the present
site of Ogdensburg in 1853, we would have found little but forests, perhaps a
few Indians, plenty of wild animal life and possibly a few white people. In fact, there would be but little we would
now recognize except a few hills and dales and even they have undergone
changes. The first white settlers came with
three ox teams, each of which was hauling a wagon, one of which was covered and
in which was a family of white people looking for a lace that would provide
water for themselves, the teams, and several cows that were hitched behind the
rear wagon, and a place to camp for the night, for they were a tired weary
group. Among those in the wagon was a boy
9 years of age, born in Denmark in 1844.
They came to this country in 1851, and at that time was looking for a
location to settle and make a home. He
was Andrew Rasmussen and later settled in the town of Helvetia. Few now living know that St.
Lawrence was once a part of the town of Scandinavia until 1854 when St.
Lawrence had its first election. The first marriage was D.C. Barker and Emma Boyden, in 1857; the first teacher was Mrs. Sarah Merry in 1855; the first schoolhouse the same date; both Methodist and Baptist churches in 1866, and the first sermon preached was by E.W. Green in the home of C.S. Ogden. Mr. Ogden built the first sawmill in 1854 and a gristmill in 1859. Both were destroyed by fire soon after they were built. In the late 1850’s there was a hot
contest to decide where the county seat was to be located. Ogdensburg was among the several places
seeking to obtain it and at times it seemed possible that Ogdensburg would get
it. The following towns were vying for
it, Mukwa, Weyauwega, Waupaca, and Ogdensburg.
Finally by a close vote Waupaca succeeded in getting it. Another venture that Ogdensburg
hoped to secure was a college, and the site was chosen at the east end of Main
Street, atop a hill, a very sightly location, but when the county seat was
lost, this worthy ambition faded. The mail was delivered twice a week
by a horse drawn covered wagon and the route extended from Fond du Lac to
Stevens Point. Hiram Collier, Sr., was another
early settler in Ogdensburg and so far as I know was the first shoemaker
Ogdensburg had. Mr. Collier also was Justice of the Peace; Simeon Hopkins was
another early settler, he erected the house owned by the late Congressman
Murray, and was known for several years as the Hopkins Hotel and dance hall,
another one was the Durga Hotel. In the late seventies potato raising
appeared to be the most profitable crop that they could raise. Red clover had become the chief hay and
cover crop that was raised, and it proved to be just the needed fertilizer for
the production of potatoes. It wasn’t
long before every farmer was producing them in quantities. Many farmers were able to clear themselves
of all debts and a period of farmer prosperity swept over the central part of
Wisconsin and at one time was famed for the quality and quantity of potatoes,
and Waupaca County’s fame became known far and near. Warehouses were needed to stow the
crops and Ogdensburg, at one time, could boast of five large warehouses. The Stark Brothers, J.C. Penney and Co.,
J.S. Jacobson, Dunphy and Shambeau, and Earl Anderson. Finally the potato cycle ended, and the
farmers turned to dairying which still seems to be the main cycle along with
poultry raising. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Mary Drake Collected
by Betty Bolt In 1888 I came to Waupaca from
Marshfield and started to work for Mrs. Tom Pipe. They were living at that time in the brick house right back of
Glover’s Store, which is still there. I received my education in
Marshfield, Wisconsin, and my hobbies were dancing in the Danes Home, where
Henry Bille has his tin shop now, and the women dressed in very long dresses
clear to the floor, and hats that sit right on top of the head. The Delavan Hotel was called the
Vosburg House. I remember the horse and buggy
days. Because of this we had livery
stables instead of garages. I also
recall the many petticoats that would all but make a girl suffer to death now. One can hardly realize the hard times we girls had. I
REMEMBER Hop
Harvesting in Waupaca County Memories
of Nellie Hewitt Sawyer Collected
by Louise Grant Hop growing and picking seems to be
a thing of the past in this part of the country, but there was a time during
the ‘70’s, ‘80’s, and early ‘90’x, and possibly prior to that time when it was
carried on quite extensively in the area.
I have pleasant memories of hop picking days after my father moved his
family from Waushara County to Waupaca County. Among the hop yards of recollection
were Bill Vesey’s near the Cedar Lake School in the town of Lind, and the Frank
King and Ed Guyant yards in the southwest corner of Farmington. Just over the line in Portage County, George
Robinson and Frank Guyant also operated hop yards, and an old hop house is
believed to be still standing on the farm, now owned and operated by Clarence
Doyle. I remember most vividly the
picking of hops at the Frank and Ed Guyant farms. The present day hop harvesting is
done by machinery. It was all hand work
in those days. A 10-acre yard was
considered of good size. The plants, perennials, were spaced to allow for
cultivation. In the spring, long poles,
15 to 20 feet, were set down into the earth, close to the roots, for the
twisting vines to climb. Strings were
attached for guidance. The vines always
grow in the same direction around and up the pole. In the early fall, along about melon
time, the hops were ready for harvest.
The hop grower watched his vines closely as the time drew near, and when
the green cane-line blossom clusters began to rustle and take on a yellow
tinge, a large crew of workers, previously arranged for, were rushed into the
field because the valuable substance deteriorates rapidly after reaching a
certain stage and they must be gathered as quickly as possible. Men cut the vines above the ground
and lifted the poles with vines attached and laid them across supports above
large wooden boxes in which the hops fell as women and girls picked them from
the vines. There were four poles to a
box, divided in four, and a picker for each pole. The men transferred the hops from boxes to sacks and later the
sacks were hauled by wagon to the hop house for drying. The girls were paid by the box for
picking, and there was much good natured rivalry to see who would fill her
section first and most times in a day.
The men sometimes could not resist the temptation to bump the boxes,
causing the contents to settle, much to the ire of the pickers, and now and
then a girl was pushed into a box. Though the wages were low, the hop
grower provided bed and board as well as a free evening dance and melon
parties. The larger yards had regular
men’s and women’s dormitories. The food
was wonderful and plentiful, “and we sure dug into it!” Each day the workers looked forward to the
evening dance which was supervised by the farmer, and needless to say it broke
up at an early hour so each would be rested and fresh to begin the next day’s
work. Music for the dances was provided
by local talent, usually a violin and bass viol. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Chris Lund – 78 The
things in this story took place around 1885 Collected
by Marvin Lund I remember most about my life on the farm 5 miles out from Waupaca, toward Ogdensburg, where I was born and raised. What I remember most was the Indians around our place. They came through the woods in back of our house in the spring and fall. Every so often we would spot smoke coming up from the woods, and we knew it was Indians. Once my brothers went to investigate, and were asked to a coon dinner by the Indians. There were usually four men in a
bunch, which would come and beg for flour and bread. They were usually well behaved except for one time when they came
about fifty men on ponies and asked for flour and got sort of mean about it. When they traveled from one place to
another the men, women, and children all traveled on one pony with their
belongings dragging along behind. When
they traveled they usually stopped at every farm they came to and usually by
the time they got to their destination they were well supplied with food. I don’t remember too much about my
school days, only that I started when I was seven, and didn’t go too long
because we were poor and I had to get out and earn my own living. My first teacher was only sixteen, but she
could sure handle everybody, even the big boys. I went to Casey School, which was just a little one room school
with more children than it could hold. The building was solid, built mostly
out of rough lumber. The desks were
made for two people, but when it was crowded three sat at them. The teacher always did all the janitor work,
and the big boys carried the wood in. I
don’t recall the games we played, for they were mostly all Danish. The teacher always stayed at one of our
homes during the year. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Nell Scott She
was 85 when this was written – April 10, 1954. She
passed away October 1954. Collected
by Pauline Scott Children’s Day was a great day as it was a day when education was made prominent. When I was a little girl, I can remember when my little sisters and I would always swing on the gate of our big picket fence. Mother would “paddle” us with a big hair brush and she would say, “Little ladies just don’t do those things”. I don’t think we ever went near the gate again. We always used to slide down a great
big hill, where Mrs. Pinkerton on Granite Street lives now, on a big hand-made
sled. Our great picket fence coved the
whole area, of what is now Center Street and Granite Street. There was no Center Street then; the only
house in that area was the old Geither house, in which I lived at the
time. It still stands on Granite
Street. This was around the years
1875-1876. I can also remember one night, as a
very little girl, I looked out of the kitchen windows and saw standing there
three Indians with their blankets wrapped around them and their hair in braids. My mother asked them in and gave them
something to eat. They stayed about an
hour and then left to go on their way north through the north woods. There were no Indian Reservations around
here then. The streets, such as Center
and Granite, were merely dirt trails.
Later Granite Street became the Yellowstone Trail, one of the big
highways from Milwaukee to St. Paul and the west. In those days my father, Judge
Winfield Scott, owned most of the land in the first and third wards in the
city. The street called Scott Street
was named after my father and my grandfather, Capt. David Scott. My grandfather lived in a log cabin which he
built on the hill at the city hall, where the Ground Observers Corp stands
today. That was over 100 years ago. In the year 1889 I graduated from
Lawrence College and then attended Valparaiso University in Indiana for one
year. I soon returned to Waupaca to
teach school. During that period there was
no great need for teachers, so I taught in a little school house on the Sheridan
road. I think I got paid around the sum
of $10 a month. You were paid very cheaply back in the 1880’s. After teaching school for one year in the
country, I got a job teaching in the first grade, which I taught for 27
years. I quit teaching school in the
year 1910, so I could take care of my brother, who was ill, and my newly born
nephew, Allen Scott, whose mother died during birth to him. I can also remember the beginning of
our Eastern Star, as I have always been a charter member of that organization. I have spent most of my winters in
Florida for the last fifteen years. I have also traveled around the world and
been to Europe and Italy with my older sister, who is 92 and still living; I am
85 now. Since 1950 I have not been able to
get around by myself, so I have made my home with my nephew, Allen Scott, and
his family. I
REMEMBER Early
Waupaca History Memories
of Ina Horton Salverson Collected
by Rodney Larson Waupaca has been known by several
different Indian names. Wau-buck-seba, which means “Pale Water”,
Waup-pa-lo-not-wock “Our Brave Young Hero”.
It was called Waupaca Falls until 1851.
At that time the people applied for a post office, and from that time it
was called Waupaca. My grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Horton, came from Stuben County, New York about 1858, and purchased land one and one half miles south of Waupaca on the Butin Road on County Trunk T. They cleared the land and built two homes. The farm owned by John Thomas was the birthplace of most of the children in our family. Charles A. Horton was born in 1861 in the house now occupied by Mrs. E.T. Cruit. My father often told me of the
kidnapping of three year old Casper Partridge by the Indians in 1850. Waupaca had an attraction for the Indians,
for they spent much of their time here.
In the fall of 1851 a group of Indians were camping on the east shore of
Mirror lake. Dana Dewey, who lived in
the house now owned by George Meier, was one of the men responsible for taking
the child by force from an Indian wigwam; after much legal procedure the child
was returned to his parents. The unsolved Mead murder took place
in 1882. My father who was 21 at the
time, remembered the incident well, and often told me the story. Sixty-five years ago the Indians
held their Mexican show where the Waupaca Hospital is now located. They boys in Indian dress would provide
entertainment by doing dances. I was informed by Mr. D.F. Burnham a
few years ago that the beautiful trees in our courthouse square were planted by
my father when he was a young man. I
REMEMBER Donated Mr. Olaf Skye was a resident
blacksmith of Waupaca for thirty years.
His shop was the favorite stopping place for children as he loved them,
wiped noses, warmed and dried little wet feet and fastened overshoes and tied
scarfs before they went out into the cold again. He devoted much time to the Boy Scouts, telling stories that were
character building, and he was a perfect camping companion, as he knew and
loved the outdoor life. The accompanying story is one of his
experiences that he liked to tell, and he never lacked audience attention from
old or young. Chilkoot Pass – I was working at the
Elais Gottchalk blacksmith shop when tales came out of the Yukon of untold
wealth to be made within a few months.
I eagerly joined four farmers and the village doctor to become a part of
the Klondike gold rush of 1898. We left
Scandinavia, Wisconsin, February 7, with great hopes of digging pay dirt that
was reported to yield $10 to $100 per pan. We bought tools, clothing and food at Seattle, Washington. While the Canadian government would allow no one to enter the interior without nine months provisions, we bought enough for fourteen months, and each man averaged 1600 pounds of supplies and equipment. Leaving Seattle, we traveled by boat
up the Inside Channel to Dyea, Alaska.
We were quickly off on the trail as there were many deaths from spinal
meningitis reported daily at Dyea. As
our lead dog, bought at Seattle, had been stolen, we hired a dog team to haul
our supplies to the mountain timber line.
From then on we hauled the sleighs by hand. We pitched our tent as treacherous Chikoot Pass was not far
distant. We could not haul everything
at one time, so we cached the loads along the trail, moving one cache ahead at
a time. Reaching “Scale”, 1000 feet
below the summit, we found the last lap to the top an icy incline of 45
degrees. It was called “The Ladder”,
for the steady stream of climbers stepped a single lane stairway or ladder into
the snow. At Scale, packers, mostly
Indians, could be hired to ‘pack’ supplies on their backs to the summit. The return trip was, no doubt, more
hazardous but far more thrilling.
Parallel to the upward trail a deep groove had been worn by the packers
who stood and slid down until a jump-off was reached. From there, each slider’s position was scarcely determined. After a few trips, the packer’s pants were
worn through. To protect the wearing,
some one conceived the idea of using a thin piece of board or tin – a flattened
tin can – attached at the upper corners so it hung across the place of most
frequent contact with the icy trail.
While this protected the wearer, it greatly accelerated his downward
speed. Sometimes a slider would jounce
another, who would strike back and lose his balance, then followed a melee. Some prospectors set a stake with a
single pulley attached, at the summit, ran a rope over the pulley, and tied a
sleight at each end of the rope. Then
they loaded the lower sleight with supplies, and when packers rode the upper
sleigh down, the supply-sleigh had to go upward. If a tope tangled or broke, men and supplies were spilled into
the deep snow; often some of the latter never to be found. Our party chose a nearby trail which
was a little longer, but not as steep, and joined The Ladder just over the
summit. However, it was so steep that I
saw a pack mule lose his balance, fall backward, and sprawl in the deep snow
until he was helped upon his feet. There was no place to camp on the
summit, so we marked our cache by two points of the opposite mountain peaks,
and went back to the tent for the night.
Next morning deep snow covered the cache, but we easily found it. It was not unusual for a cache to be buried
so deep under a heavy snowfall that it was not found until the spring
thaw. But, the greatest danger to cache
and man were the heavy snow slides caused by warm thawing winds, that buried
everything. Now, we were meeting many who were
discouraged and going home, that told weird stories of hardships they had
endured. We had conquered Chilkoot Pass!
We were ready to meet any obstacle!
We did encounter hardships, bitter cold, improper and frozen food and
sickness among other things. But, I
have never forgotten the miner’s hospitality.
Their cabin doors were never locked, and the words, “Welcome”, “Come
in”, “Help yourself”, or “This is for you”, was printed where the trail
traveler could plainly see it, no matter whether the owner was at home or not. At the end of two years, my
companions, one by one, had returned home, but, I stayed on another year. Though I did not become wealthy, I was rich
in experiences, and the knowledge that there are better thinks than gold in
this world. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Mrs. Etta D. Slater Collected
by Jo Ann Penney I remember when my husband, Harry
Slater, was the proud possessor of the first automobile in Waupaca in
1902. It was a small two passenger
Ford. In 1903 we exchanged the Ford for
a larger, four passenger Oldsmobile. The price of this car was $1400. The entrance to the back seats, which were divided, was through a small door in the rear of the car. The car had to be cranked by hand; and, owing to the gas tank being under the seats, the passengers had to remove themselves in order to refill the tank. The lights were acetylene and the auto was completely decorated with brass trimmings. There being no filling or repair
stations at that time, one was out of luck if one had a flat tire. At one time my husband was way out in the
country and met with just such luck.
What to do was a conundrum.
However, he made it to a farmer’s house and he and the farmer decided
they would stuff the tire with oats.
They did, and Harry arrived safely home literally riding “on oats”. It would be hard to estimate the
distance one could travel in an hour’s time for it all depended upon the number
of horses one would meet on the road.
The horses were dreadfully frightened by the noisy engine. To show courtesy at all times is
always the proper thing to do, but to do so every few minutes in spite of being
sworn at (I will not permit my granddaughter to quote the exact words of the
farmers here) by the farmers was rather hard on the driver, for it was up to
him to stop the car, get out and help the horses across the road, then crank
the car again and again to start it once more.
Many times the farmers were more alarmed than their horses. The roads were more like cow
paths. They were made of dirt and full
of holes and stones. When it rained the
dirt was carried away, leaving ruts and gullies. Often the mud was two feet thick after a heavy rainfall. I can safely say that a trip to
Appleton now an be made in half the time it took to make a trip to Weyauwega in
that time. I
REMEMBER Memories
of Alfred Smith Collected
by Phyllis Paneitz I remember the Chain of Lakes when
there wasn’t a cottage on it, not even a boat house. There were more woods then, and it was a paradise for kids. Just the farm boys used the lakes then, and
the hunting and fishing were good. The lakes were covered with ducks in
the spring and the fall. There weren’t
any roads around the lakes then, just the one where Q is now. It went through Indian Crossing, but there
was a different bridge there then. There was an old Indian trail
through here that went through Indian Crossing; that’s how the Crossing got its
name. The Indians used to stop often at
our farm with stuff to sell. They
always wanted bred, no butter. I remember one time a squaw had a basket. It was all in one piece, but was three sections. A big basket at the bottom, a smaller one in the middle, and a little one on top. It was to hang on the wall and the squaw said the bottom basket was for knives, the middle one for spoons and forks, and the top one for combs. I remember my mother had a good laugh over that; she thought it was quite a joke. I remember when the place where the Grand Army Home is was just a picnic area. The first thing built up there was sort of a fruit stand that sold things to the picnicers. I remember one time a band camped there for a couple of weeks. It was a regiment band, or something like that. We could hear the music over on this side, and we boys were just wild to get over there. Finally, when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we went over. We had to cross Otter Creek and go around Taylor Lake and we got there just as they were breaking camp. The first thing I remember that was built on the Lakes, though, was on Sunset Lake Park, built by Dr. Calkins. He had a drug store in Waupaca, and he built a mineral springs bottling works on the lake. There was a dance hall and everything. It was quite a place. We used to go there to play cards and drink the syrup. When I was young they grew a lot of hops here. I guess there haven’t been any grown around here now for over 60 years, but it was a big crop in those days. During the harvest season we used to have “hop dances”. All the big hop raisers had a dance floor, and we danced every night on the first floor, to an organ and a fiddle. We could only dance until 10:00 on week nights, but Saturday night we could dance as late as we liked. The hop fields were quite a sight. The hops grew on poles about 25 feet high. Then for harvesting the vine was cut, the pole pulled and the pole and all laid on a box. Then four girls, with a box each, would pick the hops off the vine. It was considered quite a joke to catch one of the young fellows and dump him into one of the boxes. Another thing that I remember that has changed a lot is the taxes. My father had between 500 and 600 acres here, a big house, 2 barns, and a lot of other buildings too, and I remember one time he came home from paying his taxes and he said to my mother “Bette, they’re just going to ruin us with taxes. Our taxes this time were $18.00!” I REMEMBER Memories of Jack Dougherty – 72 Collected by Robert Thorne I was ten years old when I saw my first freight train. It was up in Amherst on a nice warm April day in 1892. When I saw the train moving along the track I wondered how the thing could move without any oxen or horses pulling it. There were about 12 to 15 cars hitched to the engine. The tracks were so different from the roads that it seemed funny how the train could stay on the tracks without slipping off. The tracks were laid across the road. Now it is on an overhead bridge. The train was moving northwest, and seemed to be going very fast, because I was used to traveling with oxen and cattle. Horses were scarce in Amherst in 1892. I went home and told my ma and pa about the train, and they explained how it was run by steam. They told me it was called a locomotive. Amherst, in 1892, was only a small village with two or three stores on the main street. The sidewalks were made of board, some were broken, and all of them creaked when we walked over them. Iron posts were put in front of the stores for tying cattle, oxen, or horses. A neighbor who was with me went into the “drugstore” and bought me three glass marbles. I thought he was such a nice man for doing that. I REMEMBER Short History of First Summer Resorts Memories of Ed Smith Collected by Miles Fredrickson William Smith settled ¾ mile north of Round Lake about 1855 or 1860, and owned about 400 acres of land. He owned lakeshore on 4 lakes – west shore of Hicks Lake (now Sunset), north shore of Nessling and McCrossen Lakes, and east and north shore of Round Lake. William and Elizabeth Smith started a summer resort about 1888 or 1890. Many people from St. Louis, Missouri, and Galveston, Texas, came to their place. It burned about 1897, so they built a new resort on the east shore of Round Lake the same year. This resort had nine cottages, and the main building had eighteen rooms and a large dining room. It continued in operation until about 1920 under Smith’s leadership. Mrs. Smith managed all cooking and maintenance of all the rooms, etc. This resort would accommodate about 75 people and was known as Locksley Hall. In 1920 it changed ownership. From then on the place went down hill; it discontinued operation as a resort about 1930, and was divided up and sold as lots and so on. Soon Fred Smith built a new resort known as Bruisruere Inn on Hicks Lake in 1892 and 1893. It contained 8 cottages, a large hotel building with 24 rooms, a large dining room with a capacity of 100, and a large office and lobby with sleeping rooms upstairs. Bruisruere Inn was the first resort to have inside plumbing. It continued in operation until 1918, with a capacity of about 90 people. William Smith owned two of the first steam passenger boats on the Chain. These boats were operated by Don Edwin for many years, and then sold to the other boat operators. Lake Park on the northeast shore of Hicks Lake was the main landing for passenger boats at that time. Lake Park consisted of a nice park, band stand, and the deep incline that overtook passengers from the top of a hill (in a scow boat) down into the water on a track. The boats were pulled back up the incline by horses. Later on the Veterans Home became the center of attraction and a large dock was built which the passenger boats used as home base. I REMEMBER Memories of Carrie Snyder Collected by Boyd Snyder I lived about three quarters of a mile from the small village called Sherman. Sherman got its name from a post office that was in Belmont; they discontinued it. When they started a post office here, they gave it the same name, Sherman. The post office was in the front of the store, which was operated by G.B. Rast. In 1906 the post office was discontinued and moved to Sheridan. Arthur D. Larson was the first mail carrier that carried mail in this district. He had a two wheel cart drawn by one horse, later he used a motorcycle. On his second trip he had an accident. He was thrown off but wasn’t hurt. There were two stores, one on each side of the river. The one on the east side was operated by G.B. Rast, and on the west side by Alfred Minton. The store on the west side of the river burned down in 1909. Both of them sold general merchan-dise was brought over from the Sheridan depot by team. A seven story building used as a grist mill was built on the east side of the river. It was used to grind all kinds of feed and flour. It was made out of the best kind of lumber. Water from the once beautiful mill pond furnished power for grinding. In later years the Wisconsin Power and Light Company brought it and put a dynamo in for providing electricity in this neighborhood. It burned down in 1933. There used to be so many cobs near the mill, a man by the name of Warren Anderson, from Symco, who was our hired man after I was married, nicknamed it Cobtown. It has been called by that name by many people to this day. A sawmill was operated by George Leonard until it burned down. It was across the river from the grist mill. I remember that there was a blacksmith shop built west of the G.B. Rast store. It was discontinued around 1898. There was also a tin shop; it was owned by George Leonard. A cheese factory was built in 1918; it was owned by the farmers in the vicinity. It’s still in operation and owned by Harold Wegner. It has been enlarged. All that is left of Sherman is the foundation of the old mill, the store which is used for storing cheese boxes by the Wegner’s cheese factory, and the cheese factory. I REMEMBER Memories of F.O. Stratton Collected by Sally Stratton I remember back in 1898 when we had the first basketball team ever to play in the city of Waupaca. I remember the professor at the school didn’t want us to play and said he wouldn’t pass anyone who did play; we all decided to play, so the professor couldn’t do anything about it, so he passed us. I remember when we played teams at night, we would always have to stay there overnight, because it took so long to get down there and back. We always took the train and had first class fare. I remember in those days we always played teams such as Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Stevens Point, and New London; we had too good a team to play any small high schools. In Waupaca the basketball games were held in the City Opera House, located where Hansen’s Machine Shop now is. The admission was fifteen cents a game. I remember when telephones were just coming out, and we called other teams to come and play, and we all got to talk on it; it was a great thrill. In those days we didn’t have coaches to pick out the teams, the kids did. For recreation after basketball games we had dances at the Opera House. The two original players that are still living, are myself and Claude Parish. I remember in 1900 we had a curling rink, and for winter recreation we curled, then in 1901 it was torn down and the lumber was used to enclose a baseball diamond at Chady’s Corners. We always played baseball there because they didn’t allow it in the city of Waupaca. We always took the streetcars out there. When we played football we played on the old fair ground, which was right across from the athletic field. I remember one time at school when I was sitting with a friend, he was called up to teacher’s desk. The professor was very angry because he had just bought a new topcoat and someone had taken a knife and slit right down the back of it. Well, I guess he hadn’t done it, and professor never found out who did. I remember other times in school when the kids would pile a stack of books and take the steel clapper from inside the bell and run down to the steel foundry and have little ones made from the big ones for souvenirs. I remember in summer on hot days we would hitch up a lumber wagon and take our lunch with us and go out to the Chain o’ Lakes to a place called Calkins. It was on the west side of Sunset Lake; there they served lemonade. I REMEMBER Memories of Alice Wedman Donated I can remember when most farmers kept a few sheep. Some had as many as 100, while others only had 2 or 3. About the first of June the sheep were sheared. The wool from each sheep was tied in a bundle and it was called a fleece. Usually each family would keep one or more fleeces for home use. Those who used the small spinning wheels, (we called them the German or Norwegian wheels) would spin from the fleece without carding, but hose who came from New England states had the larger spinning wheels, and that is what my mother had. For those wheels, first the wool was washed and dried. Then it was taken to the woolen mill to be carded into rolls, about thirty inches long and three fourths of an inch in diameter. From these rolls they would spin a thread not quiet half as coarse as they wanted the finished yarn. As they spun the thread, it was wound on the spindle of the wheel until it was full. Then they used what was called a reel to wind it off which made a skein, and they kept winding onto this skein until it was enough for the article they wished to make. Then they would spin another just like it. These skeins were both put onto what they called swifts. One skein was above the other end the threads going the same way. As they took a thread from each skein and wound them together in a ball. This was called doubling. It was then taken to the wheel and twisted and reeled off into a skein again. Then it was washed in strong soap suds (usually home-made soap, but that is another story), and rinsed in several waters to get the soap all out before coloring. I can remember my mother saying, “Fred, will you get me some soft maple bark; I want to color that yarn so I can get to knitting your socks.” Father would go to the woods and come back with quite a sack of bark he had peeled from a young soft maple tree. Mother put the bark in a large kettle, covered it with water, and let it boil about a half hour. The bark was then skimmed out and some copper was dissolved in the dye. The yarn was boiled in the dye. The color was a light gray to a dark slate, according to the time of year. June gave the darkest color. Butternut bark colored a pretty brown. That was more work, so that was something special. Back to the yarn. After coloring, it was washed, dried, wound into balls, and the knitting began. They used finer knitting needles than the Red Cross orders, so they had to put on more stitches. The fabric was firmer, warmer, and wore better. All the cold weather mittens and stockings were home knit from home spun yarn. For men’s work mittens and over socks, the yarn was real coarse, men’s socks the yarn was medium, women’s and children’s stockings and mittens the yarn was quite fine. Do you wonder the women always had knitting work and the girls learned to knit young? I REMEMBER Waupaca City about 1900 Memories of N.J. Danielsen Collected by Robert Danielsen I will tell you about this time when I was about 18 years old. This was in the horse and buggy days when there were a lot of bicycles all over. We had a roller skating rink where A.M. Hanson’s Machine Shop is now, and the Fourth of July was a big day in Waupaca when there were all free attractions, like bicycle races, tug-of-wars, and fire works in King. I lived four miles south of Waupaca, walked to Waupaca and back in the dark, and got home about 2 a.m. We had a grand time when I was 24 years old. We had quite a time going home by the cemetery about 12 midnight from south of town. It was so dark I could not see ten feet from me by the cemetery. I heard something behind me like a chain dragging. When I stopped to look back, that noise would stop. When I started to walk again, it would come again behind me. So you may now how I felt about this at Shadow Lake by the cemetery. After this I found out it was Nick Larson’s calf that pulled out the stake and chain, and followed me when I walked and stopped when I stopped to look back. Don’t think this was fun. Later the streetcar was running from Waupaca to the Chain of Lakes every 60 minutes and we went to see the ball games at Gard’s Corners on Sundays and also at Beneditt’s farm on 22, between there and Soldier’s Home. Some of the players were F.O. Stratton, Will Brite, and A.M. Christopherson. We did have shows only about every six months, Virugers Brothers, Road Shows, and Medicine Shoes, so there was a treat for us. That was at Davis Home Hall. They had a stage there. N.P. Peterson had a blacksmith shop on Main Street, about where Nelson’s Paint store is now. I was working for S.J. Danielsen in a grocery store, delivering groceries around Waupaca with horse and buggy in 1902, sometimes with the temperature about 30 below zero in the winter time. Did we have fun wit the horse and cutters. I REMEMBER Recollections of an Old Teacher Memories of Mrs. Lucy Winkler – 75 April 12, 1954 Collected by Robert Dickinson The Waupaca River flows smoothly and quietly through the little village of Cobtown, or Sherman as it is called today; but it was not always such a quiet stream in bygone days, for it was deep and wide, and its water reached high up on the hard banks. The waters rushed rapidly down under the three wooden bridges which have been replaced by the cement one of today, and it roared over the dam, its force turning the big water wheel of the old red mill to grind the grist of the farmers who brought their gain from miles around. The old mill was built in 1874, and its four stones built above the large basement towered high above all other buildings. Several feet above the entrance to the mill was a star and crescent painted in white with the sign “Star and Crescent Mill, Brooks and Root Co.” The old mill burned down in the early thirties. Down the road a half mile from the mill stood the little red school house, and it would look little beside our modern schools, as it was only 32 by 20 feet. It had a small lean-to built on the front, which we called in those days an entry. From this entry we entered. the school room by the one door which the school room had. On a crisp October morning in 1897, the old teacher entered the school room. Let us go with her and view the interior. On each side of the door were a few feet of blackboard. The old box stove mounted on a brick foundation which provided a conven-ient place to drop mittens after a snowball fight. The teacher’s desk stood back by the door and faced the pupils’ desks, which were of different sizes and designs. In the right hand corner was a shelf to hold the lunch pails and in the left hand corner a box served as a stand for the water pail. Above the blackboard at the left was a map case, and at one side of the room an old time chart which was seldom used, as modern methods of teaching reading were creeping in, and the teacher used the blackboard instead. There were a few library books as the law providing such had recently been enacted, but there was no bookcase, so a social was held at the Perkins’ home, which now is the Dickinson home. With the proceeds of the social, a small bookcase was purchased. It had no doors, so a curtain was made to protect the books from dust. When the teacher rang the bell that morning, more than 50 boys and girls appeared in the school room. They ranged in ages from 5 to 16 years. D.F. Burnham was our County Superintendent at that time, and he served efficiently as that officer for six years. How suddenly and silently those old-time superintendents could appear! One must always be expecting that visit as an incentive and be on our guard. The years pass on and again in the fall of 1903 the old teacher unlocks the little red schoolhouse. Back again! The enormous sum of $38 per month, top wages for a rural teacher, as an inducement. The schoolroom had not expanded, but the pupils had increased in numbers as 63 were enrolled, and this fact brought back to the teacher the words of Mr. B. Stanley, then County Superintendent, the last day of summer school, “I am not going to advise anything concerning your work in the schoolroom this year, but I will stress the need of a new school building all through the year.” This is not an easy task, as one of the prominent farmers remarked to the teacher, “Why do you condemn our old school house? Kings and queens live in castles 400 years old in Europe.” Never-the-less, after much debating, in the fall of 1904, a new brick school house was erected which is still serving its purpose today. A great many improvements have been made on the building in the years that have passed. When one stops to consider the great improvements that have been made in the past 50 years, we realize what great opportunities for an education the youth of today have, but looking back in history, we note though, that many men and women who climbed the ladder of fame got their start in “readin’, writing’, and ‘rithmetic” in some little school house. So ends the tale of an old Cobtown teacher. I REMEMBER Memories of Corry A. Wood Collected by William Curtis I remember about 67 or 68 years ago seeing my grandfather and father going in the woods to cut logs. In those days the winters were much colder and lots of snow. We lived in a log cabin much like the one Lincoln was born in. In those days the work was all done by hand; no power saws were to be had. After the logs were cut to proper length they were hauled to landings. Some were hauled to small portable sawmills, some hauled to river banks, to be floated down the river in the spring to the bigger mills. They used to call this the log drive. Men had to go along to keep the logs from getting caught or lodged; if this happened it formed what they called a log jam, or a wreck on the drive. In those days oxen were used to do the hauling. There were but very few horses. Today the logging is done much faster and much easier, with the power saws and tractors. One man can do as much in a day as ten men used to do. I have heard my grandfather tell of going on a log drive and after the drive walk from Oshkosh to his home in Sheridan, Wisconsin carrying a 25 pound sack of flour. The men and Indians had a bee-line toe path from Oshkosh to Stevens Point. My grandparents lived on the farm now owned by A.D. Larson near Sheridan when the old Wis-consin Central Railroad was put through this section. Now the Soo Line. The Indians used to be real thick around in those days and also real good beggars. I have heard grandma tell how at night they would come around the house and try to look in the windows. They would stay around until they got something to eat, then go away for a night or so, then the same old story again. Not only the Indians used to get food, but they let their ponies loose so they could eat hay from stacks the farmers had for their own use. My grandmother’s folks were some of the first to settle in Waupaca. My great-grandfather owned and ran a wood working shop, that is now some of the Durant property on 49. My grandmother worked in a hotel called the Scott Hotel, and it was located where the Electric Light office is now. By the way, it was not connected with the Scott family of today here. Getting back to logging, as the years passed by, I also became interested in logging, and have spend many winters working at it around here. So far in my day we have gone from the ox cart to the airplane. What the next 70 years will do is hard to say, but your guess is as good as mine. I REMEMBER The Lewis School Memories of Mrs. Harley Pope Collected by Robert Hoppe It was about the year 1922 that I started attending the Lewis school. Miss Irene Johnson was the teacher. In those days the teacher stayed with some family who lived nearby, and from there they walked to school. The school, which was a very old building when I started going there, is a one-story building. The stove was one of those old wood stoves with a metal jacket around it, and stood in the corner in the rear of the room. On cold days we children sat as near the stove as possible in order to keep warm. I recall one cold day my father walked ahead of me all the way to school in order to make a path for me in the deep snow. When we got there no one else had tried to wade in the snow, but the building was open and the fire was going, so we warmed ourselves and walked back home. In those days they didn’t have big snow plows; people just walked or took the teams either in the roads or fields, wherever the snow didn’t look quite so deep. In the spring when it thawed, the roads were full of mud holes. Our overshoes were made of cloth and not too water proof. Sometimes I would take off my over-shoes and shoes in order to keep them dry and wade through the water holes in my bare feet, event though the water was pretty cold early in the spring. The old school house is still in use today, and much the same except they have replaced the old stove with a different coal heater. I didn’t graduate from the Lewis School as my folks moved away for a while, but I have moved back in this school district again in time for both of my children to graduate from there. I REMEMBER In the Early 1880’s Anonymous memories Collected by Jean Grant At this time of the year, memories go back to school days, when Waupaca had only one school building on the bank of the Tomorrow River, called the Waupaca River. April showers brought forth buttercups, violets and various other wild flowers. Almost without exception all the school occupants were interested in spending their spare time roaming the woods up and down the riverbanks searching for wild flowers, for a bouquet for teacher. There were plenty of woods in all directions. Then came the month of May. I remember a May pole was in the schoolyard. It had a number of ropes running down from the tip. The pole was decorated, children took the ropes in hand and pranced about the pole, sometimes singing songs. All interest was centered on the coming Decoration day. Adults, as well as children, were looking forward to the coming event. We had to choose a Flower Girl, or rather a Flower Queen, and twelve Flower Girls, who were all of one size, and who were required to wear white. The Flower Queen had to be tall, and good to look at. Then a float was made on a wagon, gentle horses pulling the wagon for the Flower Queen. The Flower Girls stood, six on each side of the Queen, and all carried flags. The G.A.R. Civil War veterans led the parade; next came the float. The parade was headed with a sharp fife and drum corp; a long procession of Civil War veterans, some not able to march, rode in carriages. Then came the float, the teachers and their pupils, and the villagers. It was a beautiful sight when the day arrived. It’s safe to say that all the school children were up at daybreak scampering through the woods to get wild flowers for bouquets to deliver at the fire house or village hall. In return they received a large orange. As the parade, which formed at 10:00, arrived in the cemetery, they all marched to each graves. There the Flower Girls placed the wreaths and bouquets which were carried by the veterans. Then, at the center of the cemetery followed a program. A Clergyman opened the service with a prayer, then came singing and speaking, mostly by high school pupils. All in all, it was a day to be remembered. As so many folks walked during the parade, at this writing it would be difficult to say how many tired feet took part in that Memorial Service. I REMEMBER Memories of Charles Pitt Collected by Nancy Pitt I I remember when much of the freight was hauled up the river to Fremont. Cook and Broorne had barges that hauled sand, coal, and cordwood. There were also several passenger boats; among them was the Paul L., Arden L., Mayflower, Torn Wells, and the Meanderchoke. When the boat docked the people would all go down to meet the boat. Once or twice during the summer they would have excursions and they would have a band aboard the boat and concessions on deck. The trip was from Oshkosh to either Gills Landing or New London. The boats either had a side paddle wheel or a rear paddle wheel. There were pile driver boats, government boats, and tugboats, operating on the Wolf River in the early 1900’s. Quite a bit of sand was hauled down river to Oshkosh to raise the city. II Many years ago the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was building the railroad up into this country. In order to have them build the tracks through Fremont, the town was supposed to raise forty or fifty thousand dollars. The people thought they would have to go through the town anyway, so they voted against bonding themselves for that amount. That is why the depot is four miles out of the village today. Anyone wanting or having to travel by train must take a bus from the village to the depot. During the high water in the year of 1921 the mail and passengers had to be taken out by boat. Sometimes in the winter years ago when the roads were full of snow the mail and the passengers had to be taken out in a sleigh or bobsled pulled by horses. The roads weren’t plowed out in those days like they are today. Today it wouldn’t matter so much with the good roads and equipment they have to keep themselves in good condition. I REMEMBER The History of My Neighborhood Memories of Harry Whipple Collected by Daniel Passerella I live in the town of Lanark, west of Waupaca. I received this information from my mother, Hattie Whipple, and other old settlers I knew. The town of Lanark was established in 1852. It was named Lanark by Thomas Swan Sr., who settled in the township in 1852. It was named Lanark because he lived in Lanark, Scotland and later moved to Lanark, Canada; and proposed this name because he always wanted to live in Lanark. Arthur Minto, who also lived in these places was at the town meeting, and helped influence them to use the name. The first white child born in Lanark Township was John Batton. He was born in the northwest corner of the northwest part of section 35 in Lanark Township. A main road was cut through the town of Lanark by the government in the early 1850’s. This road began at Gills Landing in Waupaca County, and went to Stevens Point and was the main artery of transportation in early days. It is known now as the old stage road, and was used by the old immigrants settling in western Waupaca County and eastern Portage County. All supplies reached this section by water to Gills Landing thence by wagons to supply the settlers’ needs, and also to supply the logging industry of northern Wisconsin. These means of transportation were used until the old Wisconsin Central Railroad was built to Waupaca in about 1873. Along the old stage route hotels or taverns had to be built to supply the teamsters and passengers with accommodations. These taverns were located in western Waupaca County, Rural, and Ammons Creek. Farther west was located Badger and Philips. The one at Badger had given the neighborhood that name. The school, church, and neighborhood still go by that name. This hotel was first owned by a man named Fletcher, who built it in the year 1854. The work was done by William Grant and the lumber was sawed for the hotel at an early day sawmill known as Spurs Mill. Shortly after being built, the hotel was bought by Alex Gray. This hotel was very important as a stage stopover, and had a great deal to do in bringing settlers into western Waupaca County. I REMEMBER A Few Recollections of Early Waupaca Memories of Roy Holly – Age 56 Collected by Philip Trinrud Sixty years result in a lot of changes in a city if one does not visit a place during that span of years, and very few landmarks remain to convince him that he was really in the same place. Sixty to seventy years ago, of course, Waupaca had no paved streets, no cement sidewalks, no waterworks, no general use of electricity or telephones, no automobiles, and none of the modern buildings, like schoolhouses, stores, post office, depot, etc. All roads and streets were dirt, sidewalks were of wooden planks, most stores were of wood and hitching posts for horses were in front of most stores. In Waupaca that long ago, a watering trough was in the corner of the courthouse where the information booth now stands. Along the whole north side of the courtyard was a line of hitching posts and on market days thirty to forty teams would be hitched there. Livery stables were prominent establishments where horses, singles or doubles, could be hired, for pleasure or business. There was but one school building combining high school and grade school, just south of Royalton Street, back of the Earl Cartwright residence. The wooden building just south of the Brown law office stood on the corner where the high school building now stands. Where the county shops now stand was the baseball diamond, later moved to where the racetrack was located, just south of Royalton Street, back of the Earl Cartwright residence. The wooden building just south of the Brown law office stood on the corner where the Glover store is. Where the Modern Garage is now was the only show house, or Opera House as it was then called. It was a very large building, entirely of wood and in it were held all of the shows that came this way. It was also used for a skating rink, and in it were held all of the commencement exercises for the high school. It might be interesting to note that each member of the graduating class in those days was required to write his own essay and deliver it from the stage in the Old Opera House. (Learned by heart, of course!.) Where the Laux garage is now was a blacksmith shop in a large wooden building, (the old Methodist Church) and it was a favorite stopping place for the boys on the way to and from school, to watch blacksmith at his work, shooing horses, etc. with the old forge red hot, and the colorful sparks flying from the anvil as the smith wielded his heavy hammers. I could fill pages with old scenes, but I think I have mentioned the main changes from a country town to modern city. I REMEMBER Lone Pine Hill Memories of Mrs. Maude Morey Hanson This story was written by her and printed in the Waupaca County Post in March , 1935. She died in 1937 or 1938 Collected by Ramona Winkler Lone Pine was a historic guide to wayfarers in pioneer days. “Way Back When” … The Menominee Indians occupied this section of the country, they planted a pine tree on the top of what is now called Lone Pine Hill. This tree grew to an immense size and height; being pine it grew faster than the oak and in time towered far above the other trees. It was a landmark for years before the railroads were put through. It could be seen as far away as New London and Berlin, and was a guide to travelers on foot or horseback. This tree was struck by lightning many times, and was partly burned at one time. People came from far and near and carved their initials into the old tree. At one time my father (the late John Morey) talked about cutting the tree down, but there were so many protests, because of its history, that he decided not to. After the tree blue down, my father left two seedlings from this tree; one remaining, can be seen above the other trees. We have been told that bark from this tree is in the museum at Washington D.C., and at Oshkosh. The first Fourth of July celebration in Waupaca County was held on Lone Pine Hill in 1850; thirty-three were present, most of them coming from the Chandler settlement, which is now Maple Lane Community. The Declaration of Independence was read, patriotic songs were song, and toasts given and a lunch served.
I REMEMBER Memories of Albert Lewis Collected by Janet Peterson The first that I remember of industry in Waupaca was a lumberyard and planing mill, located about where the Armory now stands. It was owned and operated by the A.G. Nelson Lumber Company, who later moved over to Elm Street, where the Fullerton Lumber Company is now. It was across the street from the house where I was born on Washington Street. I lived there as a child. We later moved to Session Street, and when I was about 9 years old, we moved up on High Street. I remember about that time our streets were lighted with kerosene lamps. I remember that my uncle, Andrew F. Anderson, used to take care of the lamps, lighting them in the evening, and going around in the morning and putting out the lights and cleaning them, ready to light again. I remember as a small boy, sliding downhill on the east side of High Street, on skis made from barrel staves. On the west of the street there was a small stream; we called it Stony Creek. It was such fun to dam it up with boards and sand and play in the water. Then our dam would wash out, and go on down to Muskrat Pond. Many old timers will remember Muskrat Pond, where we did our earliest skating, because it was not deep and always froze over before the lakes were safe for skating. I remember in 1886 the Waupaca Electric Light Association built a dam and a building to house machinery for the manufacture of electricity. My father was a carpenter and helped build it. I remember carrying his lunch to him while he worked there. It was a small building at first, and on the Fourth of July of that same year the first electric lights were turned on. It was a big thrill for us. A few years later, spring floods washed out the dam, and damaged the building, so it was remodeled and made larger and more machinery was added. Later a steam engine was installed, which added to the power they already had from the water wheel. I remember on July 4th, 1898, the first streetcar made its run. From what was then the Wisconsin Central Depot (now Soo Line) to the Grand View Hotel. A summer resort built and run by Irving P. Lord, and patronized by people from all over Wisconsin and surrounding states. With the coming of automobiles, patronage of the streetcar diminished. It was finally discontinued in 1926, and a bus line was established which is still in use. I remember in 1893 the first water works was put in. At first it was just for fire protection. Water was pumped from the Waupaca River, which was very cold in winter. I remember a couple of years later, when we had no snow in the early winter, and the water mains began to freeze. It was my job to go around at night, and open and flush the hydrants to keep them from freezing. Later, about 1911, a pipe was put in Mirror Lake and water was taken from there instead of the river. In 1922 a well was dug beside the lake, which supplied our city with water for years. Then in 1952 another well was dug near Washington Street, which added to the supply, making enough for our ever-growing city. I remember in 1842, when A.M. Hansen built a sawmill on the Waupaca River across from the school house. In 1893 he built an addition and put in planers and other equipment. In 1894 I began working for him, first running the planers, and later as engineer. In 1909 he built a machine and repair shop on the corner of Badger and Jefferson Streets. I continued in his employ until his death in 1942. Then his son, Alton R. Hansen, took over the business, and I was still employed there until April of 1948, when illness compelled me to retire. The business is still run under the name of A.M. Hansen. I remember in 1882 when the old courthouse was moved and a new one built on the same site. With a fence round the courtyard, there were rings fastened in the old boar sidewalk on Main Street, to tie oxen and horses. The old courthouse was moved to North Main Street, where the Old Danes Home building now stands. It was later moved down west of the bridge on Water Street, and is now a second hand store. I remember when over Main Street was Macadam, making what we thought was a very nice street to drive on. Later, in 1918, Main Street and other business sections were paved with asphalt, which was a big improvement. Then, in 1947, the old streetcar rails were removed, and all the streets were paved with cement. I remember the old Star Flour and Feed Mill, which was located west of the Water Street bridge on the north side of the street. It burned January 26, 1883. I was a small boy, and was on my way to Dane School when the fire bell rang. Well, I skipped school that day and watched the mill burn down. It was never rebuilt. I REMEMBER Memories of Jay D. Ware – Age 52 Collected by Shirley Leary This is not intended to be a history of Waupaca in any sense of the word, but merely a series of succession of anecdotes as related to me by my grandfather in my childhood days. My grandfather, Duane Ware, came to Waupaca in the year 1851. His father, Samuel Ware, (Waupaca’s first judge) came to Waupaca about a year previous. The family, which emigrated from Corry, Pennsylvania, consisted of three boys and a girl, arrived at Gills Landing by boat, and grandfather, the second eldest, and eleven years of age, was delegated to go to Waupaca on foot and inform his father that the family had arrived. There was no road, but merely an ox trail through the woods. He made the journey safely, and an ox team was sent down to Gills Landing to bring the family and their few personal effects. The population of Waupaca at this time was about fifty people, and a very large percentage of them were men. At the age of fourteen grandfather carried the “mail” from Waupaca to Plover on horse-back. This mail route was just a trial through the woods, and on one occasion a bad storm came up and the pony went off the trail, and grandfather was lost. He was fortunate enough to encounter some friendly Indians, and they took him to their camp where he spent the night. Grandfather was always friendly with the Indians, and could speak and understand their language to a certain degree. In later years he allowed the Indians to camp on his farm when they made their trips to Waupaca to sell or trade maple sugar, willow baskets, and buckskin garments and moccasins, which they were very adept at making. Indians were very fond of salt pork, which was a very staple article in the early settler’s diet, and would always trade their wares for it if money was not obtainable. In the early days of Waupaca there were no wells in many communities and people got their drinking water from springs, sometimes carrying water for a distance of two miles. One such spring is located on the farm now occupied by Vernon Robbins in the Ware District, about ½ mile north of the Ware School on Highway 49. This spring was called “Provost Spring”. This was the name of the people who owned the farm at that time. It also might be interesting to note that the early settlers in this community were English or of English extraction. I REMEMBER Memories of Mrs. James Rasmussen Collected by Leland Rasmussen I remember my father telling about this little incident which occurred over fifty years ago on a small bridge spanning the Waupaca River. This bridge was located between Brainard Bridge and an old slaughter house which used to be on the bank of the river in back of what is now the Loberg “Mile-O-Way” farm. A young couple used to drive to this bridge to spoon, and one night as they approached the bridge they saw a white figure standing on the bridge. They became frightened and went back to town. They told their friends they had seen a ghost on the bridge. They were all curious, so decided to go out the next night to see for themselves, and they also saw the white figure there. By this time the story was all over Waupaca, and a large crowd gathered at the bridge the next night, and sure enough, the white figure walked on the bridge again. The fourth night there was a very large crowd that went out to the bridge. That night there was a man in the group who volunteered to investigate the ghost. He went out on the bridge and made a dash for the ghost, who in turn put up quite a struggle, but the man finally managed to pull the white sheet from the figure. They found it to be a prankster from town who wanted to have some fun with the young couple. This was told to me by my father, the late J.P. Peterson. I REMEMBER Memories of H.M. Edwards Collected by Donald Edmunds About 1904 the streetcar was running from Waupaca to the Chain o’ Lakes, where it stopped at the Soldier’s Home and the Grand View Hotel. Later the electric dock on Rainbow Lake was built. The streetcar then stopped there. People got off at Grand View and took a steamboat to Camp Cleghorn on Columbia Lake. Steamboat was the only transportation to Cleghorn other than horse and buggy at this time. People would come out to go for boat rides or to go to the Soldier’s Home. The boat fare was 25 cents, and 10 cents for old soldiers. Before the electric dock was built, Jack Howard operated a blind pig and a boarding house at this site. At Chady’s Corners, a store was operated across Highway 22 from where the schoolhouse is now. Another building was across the road from the store; it might have been a blacksmith shop. The streetcar also stopped at this store. There were many steamboats on the lakes about this period. These were the only powerboats on the lakes. Captain C. Merrian owned the “Lady of the Lake”, the “Sante Fe”, and the “Camp Cleghorn”. These boats were kept in a boathouse on Merrian Point between Nessling and McCrossen Lakes. The Jack Howard who ran the blind pig and boarding house also owned the steamboat “Mabel”. John Edmunds operated the “Glide”. This was the only boat which operated at night. Before any of these boats were running, a floating blind pig known as the “Catamaran” was operated anchored off Onaway Island, known then as Juniper Island. About 1912 a Mister Bailey took over the electric dock, (he was the father of Mrs. Dan Downey) and had the first boat livery on the lakes. He had just a few rowboats. Later on this was taken over by Dan Downey, who added canoes. About 1916 the Nelsen Boat Livery was built, and in 1925 Highway 22, the Casino, and Edmunds Boat Livery were built. When Highway 22 was built, the streetcar tracks were torn up and the streetcar was discontinued. Fern Terrace, now a hotel, was an estate then owned by Mabel Mollet. Other popular spots were the Grand View Hotel on Rainbow Lake, the Locksley Hall on Round Lake, owned by William Smith, and the Brinsmere Inn owned by Fred Smith on Sunset Lake. I REMEMBER Memories of Mrs. Kenneth Waid Collected by Robert Waid After gaining what knowledge she could at a one room country school, my mother was one of few who was able to attend a high institution of learning. She was lucky enough to attend Waupaca High School. She stayed with her uncle, Royal Green, who lived in the house directly west of the Phillips 66 Service Station. She walked up to school and back for lunch, and up again in the afternoon. At that time the street was just a dirt road with a patch at one side of it. Sometimes the road would be muddy and sometimes very dusty. At W.H.S. she took such subjects as penmanship, arithmetic, grammar, literature, physical geography, and history. Even then the school building was a little shaky. I remember hearing her mention the fact that the students were excused from school when the wind was very violent, and walking was very difficult. There was no fence at that time where the riverbank is so near the street. She was a small person of 100 pounds, and would have been blown down the bank if a friend had not grabbed her just in time. In those days even going to school was rough. The struggle for education was difficult in a different way than it is now. The big problems then were getting books and writing material. I have the penknife that she used to sharpen her quill pen, which was a large goose feather. Other problems were transportation, warm clothes, and a place to stay if you were from out of town. D.F. Burnham is the only other person I know of who attended W.H.S. in 18889. Her name was Adella Ballard Axtell. I REMEMBER Anonymous Collected by Louis Grant In the early days of “camping” at the lakes it was considered great fun for several families to join up and spend some time in a cottage too small for so many people and with few conveniences. The men of the party had a great time fishing and swapping stories and reminiscences; the children romping and reveling in the life at the lake; and the women slaving over hot coal stones, making cakes and bread before the days of ready mixes and bakery products, and trying to arrange sleeping places for everyone. We were told by our neighbor that four families were going to join there four our L.U.N. reunion in the near future – ten adults, seven children, and four sleeping rooms. Of course there was the porch where some could sleep, but it called for careful planning. We were interested in the L.U.N. part of it, and wondered what the letters stood for. We still wonder – the secret has never been divulged. It seemed that five young men, classmates at Valparaiso University, agreed that they would meet each summer and renew old times. L.U.N. was the name chosen by the group, and the LUNs came to Rainbow Lake for many many summers, until one by one death claimed each member of the group. Senator George W. Norris was one of the LUNs, keeping up his loyal attendance at this yearly meeting in August, when a formal banquet was held, followed by speeches given by each member. Judge Norris had achieved fame as a member of the House of Representatives, and also U.S. Senator from Nebraska. He was the leader of all early liberal groups in Congress. Possibly the achievement for which he is most well remembered was the Tennessee Valley Authority, popularly called T.V.A. Never a summer passed that he did not spend part of it here at his pleasant cottage on Rainbow Lake or came from Washington for a day or two with old friends, and in those days Washington was more than six hours away. I will remember the first time I saw the Senator with his black hair and distinguished appearance, his beautiful wife and three lovely little girls. Through the years it was always one of the events of the summer when “The Norrises” would come. Undoubtedly the other men of the LUN made many sacrifices in order to attend the yearly reunion, as they were all men actively engaged in professional and business interests. But I was always greatly impressed even as a young person by the fact that a United States Senator had such a high sense of loyalty, that he never let anything interfere with the yearly reunion of the LUNs. I REMEMBER Memories of A.L. Johnson – Age 75 Collected by Mary Luft I remember in 1902, when I got married. We farmed it for three years, and then I worked on the first railroad that was laid here. It went from Waupaca to Iola. Once in a while I worked on it with my own team of horses. I worked there seven months. The railroad we were putting it in for was the Green Bay Western. Before all this happened, I also worked at the quarry. We sawed all the stone by hand. This quarry was owned by the Ripley Brothers from Oshkosh. From this stone we made monuments and building materials. I remember the hotel run by Dagoes, which is another name for Italians. The hotel was located right beside the quarry. There also was a blacksmith shop by our house which was for people traveling. It was like our filling stations would be today. The recreation was quite different than that of today. When I took my girlfriend out, which is my wife now, we always went on buggy rides, and I remember of going to Waupaca to a circus, but never out of town. I REMEMBER Memories of Nellie Hopkins – Age 76 Collected by James Davies I remember my first school days in Lanark. I was about eight years old and had to walk about 1-3/4 miles to school which was known as Leahy School. It was a very small one-room school with very crude benches as seats. Many times there were about three or four books in the whole school. My first teacher was Miss McOrty from Custer. Three years later I went to a school called Meadly. I had many teachers during that time. I remember some of them. One was Tilly Czeskleba from Amherst; also Angela Heats from Amherst, and Mamie McGilly from Buena Vista. Many of my rural teachers were men teachers. One of them was Dan Praff from Almond. Our superintendent was A.P. Lleur. He was about 6 feet 4 and wore a stovepipe hat. When we saw him coming, we would think it was the President. He was superintendent for about six years and then disappeared. Times were hard then and many times we had lard on our bread instead of butter. One winter the snow was so deep we had to walk on top of the drifts. They were about three or four feet deep. I REMEMBER Memories of Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Radley Collected by James Chesna The river formerly known as the Arbor River starts from Long Lake of the Chain o’ Lakes and goes into the Junction Lake. From there on it is Waupaca River, better known now as the Crystal. There are three bridges in Rural that cross this river. The two small bridges are on Lake Street near the Truman Potts home, and the Chris Schroeder home. The larger bridge is on Highway 22 and crosses the river in two places near the old Dr. Ashmun home and the Herbert Radley home. This bridge was reconstructed in about 1914. The store now owned by Bob Weller was built by W.W. Radley and operated by Herbert Radley in 1898. The front of the store stood on the north bank and the back of the south bank, and the river ran underneath the store. In 1904 it was moved across the pond to its present location. The Ashmun store was built in the early 1850’s and was struck by lightning in 1913. On the southeast side of the bridge on Highway 22 on the Dr. J. Ashmun property near the dam was the old sawmill, built in the earlier days, and which was torn down several years ago. Across the road from the Dr. Ashmun home was the cheese factory, also owned by Dr. J. Ashmun. It was remodeled and is now the home of Mrs. Blanch Schroeder. The old grist mill that is still standing was built in early 1850, and was later owned by Dr. Ashmun. The present owner is Herbert Radley. The old foundry stood on the island between the river and the mill-race which was torn down many ears ago. The old Inn, known as the Rural House, on Eagle and Lake Streets was owned by J.C.Stringham, Proprietor. The Honorable A.R. Potts, Assemblyman, was born there in the year 1853. This property is now owned by Mrs. Gene Kresge. There was also a blacksmith shop near the alley by the Inn on Eagle Street, near the Crystal River; and a post office that was established in early 1850, and located in the Ashmun store. Another general store was owned and operated by W.P. Quint, in 1880, where Mrs. Maude Hyatts’ home now stands. There were other old buildings on Arbor River, now called Crystal River. One was another black-smith shop west of the grist mill, and west of that was a shop where they repaired guns. A gunsmith by the name of A.P. Hyatt lived in the house now owned by Herbert Radley, that is one of the many houses in Rural over 100 years old. It is located on the Crystal River. The old tin shop on the corner of Main and Eagle Streets near the old blacksmith shop by Crystal River is now remodeled into a home, and is owned by Mrs. A. White. I REMEMBER Memories of Gilbert Duncan January 30, 1955 Collected by James Chesna Nestled among the picturesque curves of the Crystal River, one mile from its source, rests the peaceful, little village of Rural. One hundred and five years ago there was not a single house in Rural, nor was there a house in what is now the town of Dayton. Although the town of Dayton was not born until December 7, 1852, and the first town meeting was not held until April 15, in the home of Tyman Dayton, I will speak of a few things that took place there. A Mr. Hitchcock was the first settler in the town of Dayton, and built a shanty home in April r1850 on the N.W. ¼ of the N.E. ¼ of Section 8. Then came T.F. Thompson in April. In May, 1850, George Van Horn came, with the first team of horses, and built the first log house on the N.E. ¼ of the N.W. ¼ of Section 7. He also broke the first land that was broken in the town of Dayton. In 1851 J.H. Jones built the first frame house in Dayton, which stood on the south side of Crystal River, on the east end of Junction Lake. The first house built in Rural was the W.J. Chamberlain house in 1852. In 1853, a sawmill was built, and about 14 years later was remodeled into a cording mill. The post office was established in Rural in 1851, but was moved to Parfreyville about 1890. A stage carried the mail and passengers between there and Pine River. The first school in Rural was a private school in the Jones’ home at Junction Lake. The first school house was built several years later, and was taught by Mrs. Dr. J. Ashman. In those early days, fish and game were abundant, but groceries had to be procured from Berlin, about 25 miles from Rural. The Radleys, Potts, Ashmans, Wellers, Souls and Jones’ were among the early settlers and most of those families have relatives carrying the name still living in Rural. After the Civil War, hauling supplies between Berlin and Stevens Point became a business and many team loads passed through Rural. Hence, a hotel or inn sprung up where the Kressko home now stands. And the beautiful Crystal River, with its crystal waters and singing rapids, has somewhat changed its course. It still rushes madly along to empty into the Waupaca River just below Waupaca. I REMEMBER Memories of Will Barlow January 29, 1955 Collected by James Chesna In the spring of 1895 while I was attending school at Rural I had a few traps set on the south side of Junction Lake. While I was looking at the traps I noticed two Indians’ tents across the lake. An Indian appeared outside the tent one day and called, “Hey! Buck! What you doin’?” I called back that I had a few traps set and would be over to their tents. When I got to their locations they were friendly and naturally I wished to see the inside of their tent. The tents’ frame was of willow construction covered with canvas. The fire was in the center of the tent and the smoke, part of it, escaped through a vent in the top. A number of muskrats had been pelted and were being smoked over the fire. At that time muskrat pelts brought an average of ten cents. Game was quite plentiful, but I’ve often wondered how they managed to exist. Their ponies were turned loose and were able to find feed, as there were few farm fences. Eventually some of the farmers who had rye and clover crops objected to the ponies being loose and the Indians found other campgrounds. Their harness and buggy equipment was mostly such that it showed much wear. A nearby farmer sold them an ancient buggy for $5. Across the river from the Indian camping grounds was the site of the first mill in Rural. The river was divided by cutting a channel and forming an island. A low wing dam forced part of the water through the mill race where they could generate some water power. Not far from the Indian campground is the site of an old Indian cornfield. One can still trace the rows in which the Indians planted their corn. I REMEMBER Memories of Tom A. Browne Collected by Shirley Anderson I remember my grandfather, Edward L. Browne, who was a pioneer lawyer of Waupaca, and whom I frequently saw when I was a boy going to school. I remember visiting with him many times, and he stated that he was born in the town of Granville, New York, on June 27, 1830. His father, Jonathan Browne, was a captain in the War of 1812. In 1845, with his father and mother, he came to Milwaukee, and settled in the town of Granville, where his father took up a homestead, and which he and his brothers helped clear and make into a farm. He attended the district school and later was a student at a private school at Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee County, reading law in the evenings. In 1851 he was admitted to the bar at Fond du Lac, and in September, 1854 he located at Waupaca, where he began the practice of law. I remember Grandfather stating that as a young attorney he walked in from Berlin with three law books under his arm and $10 in his pocket. As Waupaca County was not organized at this time, Circuit Court was held at Oshkosh, and as the roads were poor, and stage uncertain, Grandfather walked to there and Fond du Lac, even to Milwaukee, on business. Grandfather Browne was a Republican and active in politics. He served two terms in the State Senate and was a delegate to every Republican convention for more than 35 years. He was a speaker in every Presidential campaign from 1856, when the Republican Party was organized, until a few years before his death at the age of 95. E.L. Browne, as he was familiarly known, was noted as a trial lawyer of ability, whose law cases covered the counties of northern Wisconsin. Grandfather Browne was married to Miss Mary Parish, daughter of Judge Parish of Randolph, Vermont, in 1856. Grandmother Browne and her sister taught a private school at Waupaca for a short time before they were both married. In the family of E.L. Browne were three sons and a daughter: Paul Browne of Rhinelander, Wisconsin; Dan Browne of Berkley, California; Mrs. Jennie B. Truesdell and my father, Edward E. Browne, of Waupaca. The late attorney Paul Browne, of Rhinelander, became a member of his father’s law firm in Waupaca in 1883, and remained here until he established his own law office at Rhinelander. Mrs. C.H. Truesdell, of Waupaca, is the only member of the E.L. Browne family still living. Edward E. Browne, my father, who died in November, 1945, attended the public schools in Waupaca, and graduated from the Waupaca High School. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1890, and from the law school in 1892. In the same year he became a member of his father’s law firm, which was known as Browne & Browne. I was associated with him in the practice of law from 1933 until his death. My father was active and diligent in his profession, and was noted for his integrity. Father was elected District Attorney of Waupaca County for three terms, serving from 1900 to 1906, and making an excellent record. He was elected State Senator from the 23rd Senatorial District, which included Waupaca and Portage Counties. I remember he told me that while a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, he drafted the first good roads law for Wisconsin, and was chairman of the Highway Committee during his six years in the Legislature. Largely as a result of his efforts, Wisconsin has one of the best highway laws of any state in the Union. He drew up the resolution amending the state constitution allowing the state to aid rural districts in building roads. He was also the author of the law providing for a system of extensive public parks, while a member of the State Senate. In the State Senate he was a leader in drafting and obtaining passage of progressive legislation such as Workmen’s Compensation bill, laws to protect women and children in industry, the vocational educational bill, and proper taxation of life insurance companies. I remember when my father was elected to Congress in 1912, when I was a small boy, and 1913 our family moved to Washington D.C., where I attended school for many years. Father was elected as a Progressive Republican for nine consecutive terms, from the 8th Congressional District, serving from 1913 to 1931. During his first term he was a member of the newly organized committee which drafted the first federal aid law for highways, which was patterned after the first Wisconsin state aid law for highways. During his service in Congress, he worked tirelessly and aggressively in the support of farm bills, and especially for the protection of dairy interests. He fought valiantly in defense of progressive principles, and the rights and interests of the common people of Wisconsin and the nation. He closely studied vital legislation problems affecting the welfare of the country, and his aid and influence were always on the side of advancement, reform and improvement. During his service in Congress he was a member of the Committee on National Roads, the Labor Committee, and Civil Service Committee, and served ten years on the Foreign Affairs Committee. My father was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin, and also served on the State Conservation Commission. He was a curator of the Wisconsin Historical Society, besides being a member of that society. My father was a member of the Wisconsin State Bar, and American Bar Associations, and also served as president of the Seventh Judicial Bar Association in 1936 and 1937. My father was married to Rose Cleveland on September 14, 1893. I have two sisters, Katherine Camlin, of Newark, Ohio, and Helen Hobart of Evanston, Illinois, both graduates of the University of Wisconsin. Mrs. Hobart is the owner of a farm located in the town of Dayton; a brother, Edward L. Browne, who is manager of the Fort Lauderdale Travel Service, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. [The preceding story was recorded by me as part of a project to show how local history can be written by remembering the old days. Shirley Anderson.] |