Hello there Forest County Residents!
This was a colorful week in my archival world because I organized and analyzed Justice Court Dockets. These large books include information on any legal disputes or court appearances in the City of Crandon’s history which you can imagine is as entertaining as watching the day time court television shows like “Judge Judy”. There were the standard disputes you would expect with many complaints about people being too drunk, hunting or trapping out of season, and driving recklessly. As I scanned through the document one case caught my eye because of the punishment that was doled out.
On June 15th, 1939 Charles Stegall claimed that Lenard Montgomery came into his house and took a watch with a value of $19.00. Lenard plead guilty and his punishment handed down by Judge Clarence Sipple was: signing a promise that he would never take or steal anything from now on because he understands it is wrong. Now I know why they are called the good old days! I wonder if this vote of confidence from the judge was all it took for Lenard to change his ways or if he broke his promise? I will have to investigate deeper into the archives another day to solve the mystery!
