The photo in this week’s blog features members of the Women’s Temperance Union. The City of Crandon was a dry city when it was first founded by Samuel Shaw because of his strong religious beliefs. The Shaw family was very involved in the building and running of the Presbyterian Church, the first church in Crandon. But the Temperance Union, a women’s group , were responsible for continuing the tradition of keeping saloons outside of the city limits. This photograph courtesy of the Forest County Historical Society had an inscription on the back that read ” as many women as possible were enrolled by leaders, children were enrolled. These girls were enrolled by the old woman”. The only person identified in the photo is Estell Bach Davis (girl on far right). The Women’s Temperance Union was a strong force in the City of Crandon and maintained a large following by enrolling their children at a young age.
The residents of this area have always enjoyed celebrating the Fourth of July with parades, community celebrations, and trips to the lake as you can see in the photographs below. Celebrate your pride in your local government by attending a Historic Courthouse Tour of the Forest County Courthouse on Tuesday, July 8th at 7:00 pm beginning at the Lake Avenue entrance. You will marvel at the beautiful architecture and learn a few cool facts you can share with your friends!
Fourth of July Parade 1907Fourth of July celebration at the fair groundsFourth of July Gathering at the Lake
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!
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.
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.
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.
A few months ago I traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay archives that temporarily held early Forest County documents that are permanently housed in Ashland County. I spent all day copying papers to bring back to Forest County so that residents can learn more about their local history. Several of the documents that I discovered were early marriage applications. If one or both of the individuals wishing to be joined in matrimony were not of legal age their parents could sign a consent form. The legal age in Forest County at the turn of the 20th century was 18 years old for females and 21 years old for males. The consent form below was signed by one of the prominent men in our county’s history, William VanZile, the brother of the founder of Argonne. The document allowed his daughter Mary, to be wed to John Slagle before she was of age in 1904. Feel free to visit the library to search for your ancestors’ marriage applications and stay tuned for more documents discovered at the UW GB archives.
I recently had a visit from Mike Kukowski and his wife from Hager City, Wisconsin. The Kukowski’s have generously donated copies of the oldest known deer hunting licenses in Wisconsin, all issued in Forest County!
In 1897, Wisconsin required its first deer hunting license; which cost residents $1.00; nonresidents $30.00. Licenses were sold only in “counties frequented by deer” which were the northern counties. There were 12,000 issued the first year. Hunting without a license would incur a fine of $50 to $200; illegal transportation of deer would cost $100 to $500; and false swearing of having a license cost $500 to $1,000. Possession of skins in the red or spotted coat was unlawful.
Michael Kukowski, has also provided scanned copies of the deer and hunting licenses dated 1897, 1898, 1900 to the Wisconsin DNR headquarters in Madison. The documents were so rare, DNR attorneys recommended against owning the original copies. The DNR instead has framed replicas in their central office.
Research on the Licenses Themselves
The only known existing deer hunting license given out the first year, 1897, was issued to George Ogomoso of Armstrong Creek. George Og(k)mas aka Ogimass, Ogemah, Ogmass, Ok maus, Ogemos, was a Chippewa, who purchased land under the Indian Homestead Act in Forest County, located west of Carter, off of Highway C and east of King Lake (source: Mike Alloway). Through my research it is possible that the man’s name was actually George Amose, who resided in Flambeau in 1920 and was buried there as Chief George Amour Amose in 1929. It is likely that George was illiterate because he did not fill out the license himself or sign his name he only left an “X” as his mark. It is possible that George was a chief because the license describes him as having “lost two front upper teeth and two teeth were filled with gold”. He must have held some standing if he was able to afford gold filled teeth. The investigation into the identity of the only known recipient of the first deer hunting license is ongoing and if you have any information please contact me.
Michelle and I receiving the copies of the documents from Mr. Kukowski
I came across several articles in the Forest Republican and the extinct newspaper, the Northern Advertiser, from 1922 that reminded me of a novel about the Wild West rather than news from the safe Northwoods. One article describes a bank robbery in which several men held up the Wabeno State Bank and stole over 8,000 dollars. The men allegedly took the money and buried it in the woods near Wabeno then fled the area. Two of the robbers, Willis Lesperance and Frenchie Yeager, were captured soon after in Forest County. The other two men, Chalmers Yaeger and Lawrence Lesperance, were apprehended in Chippewa Falls and driven back to Crandon to be put in jail. A year after the crime the police still did not recover the money. So local law enforcement officers brought Lawrence Lesperance out into the woods in handcuffs and chains to search the whole day for the missing money. If the cash was found his sentence would be reduced by ten years. The money was never found! Wabeno residents could stumble across a great deal of riches buried in the woods someday!
Around the same time another newspaper article depicted Ed Nelson lying in a hospital bed very close to death after being shot clear through the groin during a train hold up. That morning Nelson and a friend boarded a westbound Sooline train that was carrying passengers in an open box car. Just as the train left Argonne for Rhinelander three men climbed into the car and when the train was moving at full speed ordered the passengers to put up their hands. They then searched the people for valuables and took a gold watch and 50 dollars from Nelson. In the process of the hold up somehow two shots were fired with one hitting Ed Nelson! I do not know if the robbers were ever captured.
Scene from the movie The Great Train Robbery http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/
Winter is finally over! Which means it’s baseball season! Baseball leagues have been a part of our community from the beginning. It was so popular that teams from Forest County would play leagues from all over the state. As part of the Wabeno Paul Bunyan show, a Milwaukee team came to face off against Wabeno (Appaul 2013). During the Elcho-Hiles game in 1922, Elcho brought their band with them as well as cars full of fans (Forest Republican 1922). The Forest Republican on June 16, 1922 had an article describing a game:
” The Crandon Black Sox played against Rhinelander on Wednesday. The “outlaws” played horse with the Rhinelander boy and defeated them 8 to 3. Admission 25 cents”.
Crandon baseball teamCrandon Women’s baseball team
