Society News and Events

Hello Forest County Residents!

In honor of the Green Bay Packers starting their season this weekend I have a bit of history that brings the beloved Green Bay Packers to Crandon, Wisconsin. The local basketball team challenged the national football team and came out victorious!  According to the February 27, 1936, Forest Republican ” Playing their best brand of ball in over a month, the Crandon Legionnaires easily trimmed the Green Bay Packers 53 to 26. After the first few minutes the football stars never had a chance. The locals shot the ball around the court fast and accurately. The Packers just off the football field having returned from the west coast, were inclined to be a little rough at times. However, they played pretty good ball but showed weakness in shooting baskets. The winners pulled up at the end of the first round with a 21 to 3 lead and at the half the score stood 27 to 8. The third period Crandon leading 36 to 15″.

The players included:

Packers

• Milt Gantenbein
• Arnie Herber
• Johnny Blood
• Roger Grove
• Al Rose
• Hank Bruder

Legionnaires

• Guy Krumm
• Tony Wapp
• Ralph Jolliffe
• Elmer Pfeiffer
• Jack Kronschnabl
• Ed Flynn
• Bob Lambie
• Harry Hanson

Hello Forest County Residents!

Did you know that the first distillery to be built after prohibition was located in Crandon? W.B. Gambill Distillery was the only distillery operating in Wisconsin from 1937 to 1950. According to the Rhinelander Daily News (Aug. 30 1955)

” They distilled rye and bourbon whiskey and neutral spirits selling them in bulk in 1937. There was a bottling house in connection with the plant but the firm did not bottle any of its whiskey until after WWII. From 1942-45 the company processed alcohol spirits for the Defense Supply Corporation of the U.S. Government. At its peak the company employed 35 people. After the company lost the business of the U.S. Government they could not compete with the national distilleries and had to sell the company to Streckert Plywood Corporation”.

Steve Conway Jr. recalled the distillery in an interview “There was a distillery on Clear Lake. Now there is a company there that makes cutting boards and stuff like that. During WWII they made alcohol at the distillery. They had oak barrels that were burned on the inside. They stored the alcohol in the charcoal barrels. They made Seagrams liquor there. Some of the barrels were seven or eight years old when they shut the plant down. During WWII they made alcohol for torpedoes. They would burn alcohol to propel the torpedoes. After the war the company failed and the distillery closed”.

Hello Forest County Residents!

Today the community of Crandon is celebrating “Kentuck Days” and  I encourage everyone to visit to the courthouse square in downtown Crandon to join in the celebration. “Kentuck Days” recognizes the mass migration of rural Kentucky residents to Forest County around 1900. The people of Kentucky came to Northern Wisconsin looking for jobs in the lumber industry, to take advantage of the abundant natural resources, to escape the violence of local feuds, and to join family members that had already moved(Flannery 2013).

They were described as ” a people that settled throughout the woods and were a great help in the logging process. The Kentucks were good Christian people and never did any harm to anyone unless they interfered with their moonshine still. To them that gave cause to shoot someone on site” (Holt 1948:20).

Zorie Cracraft, a 101 year old resident, recalls her move from Kentucky as such ” I moved to the Crandon area in 1934 from Kentucky. Some of the people that were already here were the  McMillions, Griffiths, Deatons, Spencers, and the Kings. I recall hunting as a major factor in part of the move to Wisconsin. The family moved here because of the beauty of the area, hunting, job possibilities”.

The majority of today’s Crandon residents can trace their ancestry back to Kentucky as you can see from the sample of 1920 Federal Census records below.

Hello Forest County Residents! This week’s blog post includes a local resident living under an assumed name to escape the law. Vance Purdy was born in 1906 to Robert and Olive Purdy in Crandon. During the hard times of the depression he would travel to Door County to pick cherries for very little money. To survive he turned to driving moonshine to Milwaukee in the days of prohibition. Eventually he entered a life of crime, robbing banks in Woodman and Leopolis, Wisconsin. He also may have been involved in the stick up of the Refined Cabaret cast of Rhinelander. Purdy and his two accomplices escaped to Upper Michigan and were chased through swamps by the police (Appleton Post Crescent, Ludington Daily News,  Rhinelander Daily News 1930). When they were surrounded by the authorities Purdy escaped by floating down the river at night.  Purdy’s partners in crime were caught and spent a great deal time in the state prison (Tribbett 2014). Purdy  then changed his name to Ward Abbett. There are records of Abbett living in Popple River and Crandon in 1930. Purdy now known as Abbett joined the military in  1942 and served for three years.  Abbett lived in Milwaukee where he was married several times and eventually died.  He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Lakeside Cemetery (Tribbett 2014) .

 

Hello Forest County Residents!

The photo above features the Crandon Women’s Club Annual Garden Show in 1961 courtesy of the Forest County Historical Society. The individuals from left to right are: Edith Tracy, Rose Kline, Mrs. Oyer, and Hazel Skrupky. This photo is featured to celebrate this county’s long tradition of gardening including floral, vegetables, and herbs. To learn more about Wisconsin’s garden traditions please attend the first of our Summer Speaker Series on Monday, June 30th at 7:00 pm at the Crandon Public Library.  Lee Somerville will be presenting an hour long power point on her book “Vintage Wisconsin Gardens: A History of Home Gardening” in which she  introduces the audience to the region’s ornamental gardens of the 19th and early 20th centuries, showcasing the gardens of average Wisconsin resident created for their own use and pleasure. The presentation will feature period and contemporary images of plants and gardens, recommended plant lists, and garden layouts. “Vintage Wisconsin Gardens” will attract those curious about the history of the state’s cultural landscape and inspire readers to restore or reconstruct period gardens. Clarice Ritchie, President of the Forest County Genealogical and Historical Society, will bring sample of plants that can be placed in an heirloom garden. I encourage you to check out the beautiful gardens surrounding the Forest County Historical Society Museum. There will be also “garden party” refreshments for all to enjoy! I hope to see you there!

Hello Forest County Residents!

Summer is finally here and everyone is heading to the lake! Enjoying Crandon’s beaches in the summer is not a modern phenomenon. The people of Forest County have been spending time on the lake as long as there have been people residing in the area. Below is a view of Lake Metonga looking south as it appeared between 1910-1912. The presence of tire tracks on Lakeview Street establishes the date because there were not any cars earlier than 1910. The large building on the bluff to the right was the Crandon Gun Club.

Hello Forest County residents!

If you like the information you receive from my blog you are going to love the Forest County Genealogical and Historical Society Museum which opens Monday June 21st. The museum is located at 103 W Jackson St, Crandon, WI and the hours are Monday-Friday 11 am-3 pm and Saturday 10 am- 4 pm. The museum is a historic house display that includes a kitchen, dining room, and living room decorated like a typical Forest County home in the 1920’s. There is also an exhibit of a school room and a room filled with temporary displays featuring prominent aspects of the county’s history such as logging, farming, and local businesses.  There are so many historic gems that can not be seen any where else  such as the photos featured below from the town of Argonne in 1912. I encourage everyone to visit and learn more about their local history because knowing your roots often enlightens the present.

Hello Forest County Residents!

In honor of the the 70th anniversary of D-Day invasion during WWII I have attached maps and photos published by the Forest Republican right after the troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. I also came across an article from the Forest Republican that details one way in which Forest County was affected by the invasion. In June of 1945, forty Nazi prisoners were sent to peel bark from pulpwood in Long Lake. The Nazis served with Hemmel’s African Corps. Eight guards and a lieutenant were in charge of the prisoners who were working for Nekoosa Edwards Company. The prisoners operated two peeling machines which removed most of the bark from the wood. The remainder of the bark had to be removed by axes.  They were housed at Bernie’s Hotel with a guard patrol in the front and back of the building at night. They received regular prisoner of war pay but they were not furnished with cigarettes only tobacco. The Nazis prisoners only worked in Long Lake for a few weeks.