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Good Afternoon Forest County Residents!

The company of Keith and Hiles Lumber supplied businesses, employment opportunities, and economic growth in the townships in Forest County, which by then included Crandon, Laona, Padus, Blackwell, Wabeno, Argonne, Nashville, Hiles, and Antigo. Keith and Hiles hired around two hundred men during the summer seasons and possibly five to six hundred men in the winter. The employees of the company labored in sawmills, lumber and siding camps, and railroad maintenance (Sharpless 2009: 11-12).

M.D. Keith owned grand scale houses on Lake Metonga and Main Street in the center of Crandon. Marshall Keith’s marriage to Nellie Page enabled his success in large part. Nellie’s father transferred his ownership of the Page and Landeck Lumber Company in Crandon to his son-in-law in addition to a large tract of land in Crandon Township
(Mier 1996: 231), later named Lincoln Township.Page and Landeck Company was first established in Crandon in 1890. The company’s large-scale lumber mill could be found on Clear Lake just north of the town’s limits. In 1891, Page and Landeck Company came into possession of a considerable amount of logging land in the area, and pushed forward the construction of the Chicago and Northwestern line into Crandon from Pelican Lake in 1901. During this time Mr. Franklin Pierce Hiles of the town of Hiles bought out the Landeck stock of the company and consolidated with Marshall Keith to form the Keith and Hiles Lumber Company Mill (Monte 2002: 50). M.D. Keith’s son took the lead as Vice President and for the next thirty years, Keith and Hiles Lumber was one of the largest and most influential lumber companies in the area. The company created labor camps and wood mills in the remotest areas of Crandon, Hiles, and Nashville Townships.

Marshall Davis Keith

Hello Forest County Residents!

This blog post goes out to Jill Krueger, who is very proud of her Hiles heritage. This week’s post is an excerpt from a Forest Republican article written by Bonnie Roberts in 1957.

“In 1860, an old woodsman, Dan Gagen, established a trading post and inn on the banks of the Pine Lake. This log cabin was the only place that provided lodging for many trappers and traders. It was located on the Old Military Road which served as a mail route as far as Superior. This place was sold to J.B. Thompson of Wausau in 1863. H.B. Fessenden of Argonne moved to the post and was the only actual settler. He became the owner in 1895 holding it until 1902 when he sold the property to Franklin P. Hiles of Milwaukee. Mr. Hiles not only bought the trading post but also created the village of Hiles. He was instrumental in getting a branch railroad built from the main Chicago Northwestern line and in erecting a saw mill, store, and hotel. At this time land was taken from the towns of Crandon and Argonne to organize the Town of Hiles. A few years later Mr. Hiles sold his holdings both real estate and personal to the Foster Mueller Lumber Company of Milwaukee. This firm made considerable improvements and built more homes for their employees. Mr. C.W. Fish of Elcho bought the property in 1919 and under the successful management of Mr. O.A. Miller, Hiles cleaned up the streets, put in sidewalk, and planted trees. During the summer of 1924, a new Union Church and a very modern school building were erected and the old village park was beautified by the addition of a fountain. In 1924, there were eighty four families in Hiles. Some of the organizations in the town were: Woman’s Club, Protestant Ladies’ Aid, Catholic Ladies Aid, Royal Neighbors, M.W. of A, and Parent Teachers Association. In 1943, the Catholic and Lutheran churches burned down and later a new Lutheran church was constructed. One of the main attractions in Hiles is Pine Lake. It has helped to make Hiles a tourist resort. Most of the people living in Hiles (in1957) work in the woods or mills in other cities” (Forest Republican 1957).

Hello Forest County Residents!

This week’s archival discovery is an excerpt from an article written by Henrietta Knoke in 1957 detailing the use of horse drawn school buses by Forest County schools. The description of this type of travel will make children think twice before they complain about having to ride the bus to school.

“The school bus of 1910-1925 was a wooden vehicle approximately fifteen feet long by five feet in width. The inside was lined with imitation leather padding and the seats consisted of one long seat on each side of the bus placed so close together that the knees of the older students touched when seated. The windows constituted of two parts made of glass. They opened at the middle and one swung up while the other swung down. The bus driver’s seat was built like a chair and he had a square window in the front with holes underneath the window for the reins to go through.  The door was in the back of the bus and consisted of two parts as well. In the nice weather of spring all the children would rush to sit by the open windows. There were spaces under each long seat for the children to put their dinner pails and books. In the winter it was very cold. Each bus had a small stove on the outside of the bus with a register entering the bus. Also, each bus was issued four or five heavy robes for the children to cover their laps and feet. Usually the first children on the bus would get the robes and sit by the register and the rest would nearly freeze. There were many times when the horses became mired in the deep snow so it was necessary for the driver to shovel around the horses so they could get a start again. When it sleeted and the roads became icy it was common for all the children to leave the bus at the front of an incline and the older students to push on the bus to help get it to the top. The typical bus ride for students would last for two hours” (Forest Republican 1957).

To learn more about horse drawn buses such as: how the drivers were chosen, special activities during Christmas time, and more hardships due to the weather visit the Crandon Public Library Local History Room.

Hello Forest County Residents!

Recently I was flipping through the Forest Republican Newspaper from 1957 and I came across articles written by Crandon High School students for their social studies class. They were directed by their teacher, C.A. Krohn, to complete the project of combing through local historical data for information about Forest County history from 1850-1930. So for the next few weeks I will be writing my blog from interesting information provided by the high school students. This week’s blog information was taken from the article entitled “The History of Argonne” by Mickey Worthington.  

Around 1890 Argonne was a bustling city due to all of the people that came north to work in the lumber camps. The town amenities included: two large hotels, two grocery stores, a clothing store, a meat market, a post office, a printing shop, two newspapers, a livery barn, a bank, seven saloons, and two doctors. The bank at the time was one of the finest in Wisconsin.

At one point it was proposed that the county courthouse be located in Argonne rather than Crandon. Its suggested location was behind the service station owned by Harry Hansen. The reason listed for the failure of this plan was the persuasion of a well educated man in Argonne who was against the idea. He found a way for Three Lakes to break away from Forest County and by doing this he got rid of many of the people that would have voted for the courthouse be placed in Argonne. He also put ads in several newspapers including the Chicago Tribune encouraging people to come to North Crandon and settle. Apparently this had some negative consequences because one person from Chicago that moved up north brought the small pox with them. The article states that 85 percent of the community ended up with the disease and the doctor would charge five dollars to treat each patient.

To read the entire article on the “History of Argonne” please visit the Crandon Public Library’s Local History Room located on the lower level.

Hello Forest County Residents!

The third week in April is National Library Week and to celebrate I have crafted a new display that delves into the history of the Crandon Public Library. The exhibit features objects from the days of the traveling library when the state library would ship books to Crandon so that the area would have a greater variety of reading material. There are documents from WWI when the Crandon Public Library supported troops by gathering books and shipping them overseas. In addition, there are library books from the early 1900’s that would have been on the shelves of Crandon’s first library located in the county courthouse. I encourage everyone to come and check out the library register from the late 1930’s to see if you can spot one of your relatives’ names. The photograph below is the interior of the Crandon Public Library in the early 1930’s.

Good Afternoon Forest County Residents!

The final female featured for Women’s National History Month, Elmyra Hobbs, had a tremendous impact on the Crandon Public Library. In fact, the building is named after her because without her generous donations we would not have the new library facilities. Elmyra was born in 1911 just outside of Crandon to Emil and Anna Schimek. She spent her childhood living on the family’s farm located northwest of the City of Crandon. She attended school at Siding Two, a one room school house, until seventh grade. The Schimek family moved into the City of Crandon in 1926 and Elmyra graduated from Crandon High School in 1931. She went onto higher education at the Oneida County Normal School and worked for F.A. Himes at the local Lumber and Coal Company. She was joined in matrimony to Gordon Hobbs in 1935. Gordon owned the Crandon Telephone Company and Elmyra started working there right after they were married: book keeping, paying bills, handling the switch board, and general office work. She would sometimes work nights and sleep on a cot located in the office. During the early years at the telephone company Elmyra became skilled at repairing heat coils and using a soldering iron. Elmyra continued to work tirelessly at the Crandon Telephone Company as the General Manager until she sold the company to Rhinelander Telecommunications in 1993. In addition to contributing to the Crandon Public Library she donated to Headwaters, a Catholic Charity Bureau, which supplied them with much needed support (Hobbs-Wilbur 2005). I encourage everyone to visit the Forest County Historical Society Museum this summer which displays many objects from Mrs. Hobb’s life.

Good Afternoon Forest County Residents!

This week’s featured local history female is Lulu Shaw, the first female mayor in the state of Wisconsin! In fact, Lulu’s mayoral election was such a momentous occasion it was mentioned in a New York City newspaper in 1923(New York Evening Telegram). Lulu Parnell Shaw was born in the town of Omro in 1866 to Samuel and Louise Shaw. She became well educated in business and law. Ms. Shaw was one of the early publishers of the Forest Republican in Crandon (The Wisconsin State Journal). She spoke at the 5th annual convention of the North Central Wisconsin Union Young Peoples Society of Christian Endeavor in Stevens Point on the subject of Sunday school work (Stevens Point Journal). Lulu fought for the vote when she organized a women’s suffrage club in 1914(Madison Wisconsin State Journal). In April of 1923 she was elected the mayor of Crandon over her opponent Otto A. Bock. Shaw died October 21, 1937 after a brief bout of pneumonia (The Oshkosh Northwestern). I encourage everyone to come to the library to view the display next to the Children’s Room. The case features photos of Lulu as well as the book of the Common Council Proceedings where she signed many of her mayoral decrees.

Hello Forest County Residents!

This week’s featured woman in local history did not spend her entire life in Forest County but she was a pioneer as a career woman throughout her life. Ida Dutcher was born in Waupaca, Wisconsin to Heber and Mary Ann West in 1857 and she received her high school diploma while residing in Waupaca (Carpenter & Milbury 1914). She became a school teacher until she married a Civil War veteran, Henry Dutcher, in 1880 (Plover 1938). Ida and Henry moved to Forest County in 1888 where they developed one of the most profitable and beautiful farms in the region. Ida assisted her husband in his abstract business. They were also active in religious and community organizations in Forest County. While living in the area Ida gave birth to three children and buried two of them (Forest Republican). The Dutchers moved to California in 1901 where Ida maintained and operated an insurance and real estate business for thirty years. A woman owning her own business was very rare at that time. She also had a enormous impact as a Library and School trustee and a founder of the local PTA ( Forest Republican).  Ida Dutcher was one of the first pioneers in the Forest County area and a trail blazer as a woman entrepreneur and her accomplishments should certainly be recognized.

Hello Forest County Residents!

This week’s featured female historical figure for Women’s History Month is Louise Webb Shaw. She is well-known for being the first white female settler in Crandon. Louise was born in Waukesha in 1844 to Robert and Parnal Hulbert Beckwith Webb. When she was eight her family moved to Omro where she attended school and studied music. She was married to Samual Shaw on July 17^th, 1865. The Shaws moved to Madison in 1873 where Samuel became superintendent of schools while he invested in timber in Northern Wisconsin. The Shaws relocated to Northern Wisconsin in 1883 and Louise named the region “Forest County” in 1885. She became the county’s first superintendent of schools and would frequently visit the schools on horseback. At the time Forest County schools included institutions in Pelican Lake, Monico, and Three Lakes. Louise brought a medical book with her to the Northwoods and would assist her neighbors when their children became ill. The first post office called Ayr was located in the Shaw home and Mrs. Shaw became the community’s first postmaster. She handled the mail which was brought in by stage coach twice a week. Louise was a devout Christian; she instituted the community’s first religious services which were held in the Shaw home. In 1930, she suffered a stroke which affected the left side of her body but she still maintained an active interest in her community, especially enjoying reading and visiting her friends. Two years later Louise passed away and the mayor declared that all stores and places of business would be closed during her funeral out of respect for such a beloved resident ( Forest Republican 1932).

Good Afternoon Forest County!

The month of March is Women’s History Month so to honor all the great women throughout history my monthly exhibit will reflect that theme. Please come visit the Crandon Public Library and check out the display that invites you to “Discover Local History through the Female Lens”. To coordinate with that subject, there is a book display next to the new book section of works that feature strong women characters.  There is also a table outside of the children’s room whose story lines include positive role models. Every Friday this month I will highlight a woman from Forest County history that served the community and thrived in the frontier environment.

This week’s lady of honor is Edith Keith. Edith was born in Peoria, Illinois to William and Stella Brubaker on October 21st, 1884. She was a graduate of Bradley College and the Chicago Art Institute. She came to Crandon in 1906 to teach art and music. Edith became Mrs. Harry Keith on October 21st, 1907. Mr. Keith owned a mill and a lumber company and was a businessman. Edith was the founder and two term president of the Rural Art Society. She received the prestigious John Stewart Curry Memorial Award for her dedication to the arts. Mrs. Keith was also said to be the first to woman to drive unescorted from Chicago to Crandon in 1911 (Forest Republican 1982). Can you imagine that car ride?