Sauk County Newsletters 2019 - 2020

Sauk County  Historical Society  Newsletters

Gone but not Forgotten

IF names like the Warren Hotel, Kleeber Ford Garage, Juliar Theatre or the Big Store bring to mind recollections of certain buildings, you’ve probably lived in Sauk County for 20 years or more. If you don’t know where these places were or what they looked like, you can find out during two presentations on Lost Baraboo and Lost Reedsburg. Existing historic buildings connect us to the past and can tell us stories of how our communities evolved, but what about buildings that don’t exist anymore? Through historic photographs, maps and birds-eye drawings we can learn about buildings that were once here. The stories of how and why they were constructed, as well as how and why they were lost, can help us understand what shaped our communities including economic forces, fires, natural disasters and changing tastes. Each presentation will focus on buildings that have

been “lost,” some that people still remember and some that are almost completely forgotten. In Baraboo this includes places that people still remember like the Warren Hotel, Juliar Theatre and Ringling Hospital and also buildings like the Bassett Mill, Wisconsin House and Western Hotel that no one has seen in person for over 100 years. Likewise, in Reedsburg, “recently” lost buildings include the woolen mill, the Big Store and Kleeber Ford garage while places like the Alba House and the Reedsburg fairgrounds have been gone for quite a while. Find out “what used to be there” on Thursday, February 21 at 6 pm for “Lost Baraboo” at the Sauk County History Center in Baraboo and on Thursday, February 28, at 6 pm for “Lost Reedsburg” at the Reedsburg Public Library. For more information visit our website at www.saukcountyhistory.org

Did you know that Baraboo once had a gas station that looked like a Japanese pagoda? Some people can still remember the Big Store fire in Reedsburg which destroyed one of the largest retail establishments in Sauk County. Lost buildings may be gone but can still teach us if they are not forgotten.

Executive Director’s Report

THE new year is often seen as a fresh start. The old year has ended with all of its history, good and bad, and the year ahead is a blank slate yet to be determined. One hundred years ago this could not have been more true. When 1919 dawned, the worst war the world had ever known was over; and the Spanish flu, the worst pandemic the world had known, seemed to be subsiding. During the course of 1919, over two million American military personnel would return from Europe including over 1,200 from Sauk County. It would take more than a year to bring everyone home, but the reunions were joyful. War time sacrifices were over and households could return to normal. Plans that were put on hold could be put back on track. Sauk County did its part in World War I and celebrated its returning heroes in a grand parade in September of 1919. The fallen were also commemorated. Their names are still etched in World

By Paul Wolter

War I memorials across the county. The Courthouse Square, which was already home to a monument commemorating the Civil War, would become the final resting place for a cannon shipped back from the front. The returning soldiers would have stories to tell and souvenirs to share. The Sauk County Historical Society is committed to preserving and sharing these stories. Some of them can be found on our website. Click the word RESEARCH on the top of any page and then scroll down to World War One Letters Home. Original letters and transcriptions are available to read and get first-hand accounts of what the returning soldiers experienced. While you’re there, check out some of our other research collections or use the search bar on any page to explore a topic or a name. You just might be surprised by what you will find.

Nearly 1,000 people attended events at the Van Orden Mansion this past Christmas season including over 500 at the Edwardian Christmas Open House on December 8. The Society would like to thank all of the decorators, musicians, bakers, volunteers, sponsors, donors and guests who made this season a memorable one!

Irish Sauk County

IN November of 1837 two Irish immigrants, Archibald Barker and Andrew Dunn, became the first two pioneers to try to settle in Sauk County. Through their friendship with Henry Dodge Jr., the son of Wisconsin’s first territorial governor, they were some of the first to learn that a treaty had been signed with the Ho-Chunk Nation which ceded all Ho-Chunk lands east of the Mississippi River to the US government. Barker and Dunn wasted no time in entering what would become Sauk County and looking for a place to settle. Finding what looked like an abandoned Indian cornfield near the Baraboo River, they started building a cabin. They soon encountered the Ho-Chunk people who lived here and had not heard of the treaty or how their delegation had been coerced into signing it. The two Irishmen were chased away and headed to the relative safety of Fort Winnebago at the portage. A few years later Barker returned to help build the first dam on the Baraboo River and then cut the first logs to be run down the river to be sawn into lumber. While Barker was the first Irish immigrant in Sauk County, he would not be the last. By 1870, nearly 1,000 of his fellow countrymen and women had come to Sauk County to settle, making up 5% of the county’s population. If the second generation of Irish-Americans is added,

Sauk County’s population was even more Irish. The northern Sauk County town of Dellona is one particular area they particularly settled and which was originally named Sligo after the county of the same name in Ireland. If you would like to know more about the Irish in Sauk County a presentation on the subject will be given on Thursday, March 14 at 7 pm at the History Center. For more information check our website at www.saukcountyhistory.org

Many of Sauk County’s Irish immigrants settled in the Town of Dellona in northern Sauk County. Family names included Hickey, Horkan, Timlin, Mulligan, Hooban, Hayes, Harrington, Donohoe and Slaven. In 1857 land was donated for a church and cemetery by Patrick Hickey and All Saints Catholic Church was built that year. The building stood for over 100 years before being taken down. The cemetery and a rectory from 1872 still survive along County Road H between Reedsburg and the Dells.

Board Elects Officers

AT the November SCHS Board of Directors meeting, the following board members were elected as officers: Mona Larsen, president, Bev Vaillancourt, vice-president, Jim Weickgenant, treasurer and Bill

Schuette, secretary. Officers are elected annually by the board during the first regular board meeting after the annual membership meeting which was held on October 25 in Lake Delton.

Lunchtime Lessons Continue

THE Long-Ago Lunchtime Lessons series of presentations on the history of Baraboo continues January through May on the last Thursday of each month at the Baraboo Area Senior Center in room 24 of the Baraboo Civic Center. The January 31st presentation will cover the development of the Baraboo River rapids into water power through the construction of five dams and numerous mills and factories from the 1840s through the 1890s.

February’s topic will be the creation of the county seat in the Baraboo valley after moving it from Prairie du Sac. Future presentations will cover the arrival of the railroad, the Sauk County Fair and the development of Baraboo as a circus city. The presentations are open to the public and are free with donations accepted to support the historical society and the senior center. Lunch can be brought in and beverages are available for $1.00.

Upcoming Events

Lunchtime Lesson – Baraboo

Rapids, Dams and Mills

Thursday, January 31, 12:10 pm

Baraboo Civic Center – Room 21

Free will offering

Lost Baraboo

Thursday, February 21 – 6 pm

History Center, Baraboo

Free and open to the public

Lunchtime Lesson –The County Seat

Thursday, February 28, 12:10 pm

Baraboo Civic Center – Room 21

Free will offering

Lost Reedsburg

Thursday, February 28 – 6 pm

Reedsburg Library

Free and open to the public

Irish Sauk County

Thursday, March 14 – 7 pm

History Center, Baraboo

Free and open to the public

Did you know that there were once 11 dams along the Baraboo River at one time or another? The first one was built in the Baraboo area (just below today’s Ochsner Park) in 1839. The Baraboo River drops over 40 feet in the Baraboo area making for excellent water power sites. Eventually five dams were built in or near Baraboo and powered factories that made items like woolen fabrics, furniture, lumber, flour and wagon parts. Learn more about the dams and mills in the Baraboo area at the Lunchtime Lesson on January 31.

Curator’s Report

By Rebecca Dubey

REPORT to the Members of SCHS, January 1, 2019

During the year January 2018 to December 2018, the Curator:)

• accepted 758 artifacts on behalf of SCHS

• artifacts processed throughout 2018.

* 1,007 artifacts Cataloged

* 963 artifacts photographed or scanned and linked to their catalog records

* 869 artifacts marked with Object ID numbers

* 1,619 artifacts were placed in Storage/ Exhibits with changes recorded in catalog records

* 104 Catalog records were renumbered after careful research

* 48 artifacts were physically renumbered to meet numbering system

* 623 artifacts were Loaned out and returned

* 147 artifacts were placed on or off exhibit

Over the past year, these other issues were addressed:

• Wrote Procedures concerning Expendable donations, filing photographs, scanning original photographs on loan to SCHS, Standards for Cataloging Scanned Images, Reporting Recent Acquisitions, and for Cataloging Large Photographic Donations

Donations, November-December

James R. Carpenter

Elizabeth F. Dutton

Nijole Etzwiler in honor of Bill Schuette

Jerry & Jeanette Jessop

Joseph W. Ward

Geraldine Wolter

Karen Zimmerman

• Provided insight, answered questions, and participated in discussions posed by Museum Professionals to on-line forums and professional collaborations as a Professional representative of SCHS. Issues included: Artifact Preservation and Care, Documentation, Policies and Procedures, and Ethical Standards of Museum and Board of Directors.

• Reorganized 8 x 10 photographs, phase one

• Prepared detailed exhibit lists and photographs for ground floor VanOrden Mansion exhibits

• Prepared for possible flood; prepared and implemented plan to relocate all artifacts from storage in History Center Ground floor; oversaw 9 volunteers who worked over 7 hours

• Began reorganizing artifact storage in the Ball Room of the Van Orden Mansion

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt , Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

Steve Argo – Wisconsin Dells

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

John McNabb – Baraboo

David SaLoutos – Baraboo

Beverly Simmonds - Baraboo

Myrna Weickgenant – Baraboo

Ken Weitzel – Spring Green

STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Kathleen LaCombe, Museum Keeper – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

The Sauk County Historical Society has a Free App!

THE Sauk County Historical Society has a new app. From the app you can manage your membership; purchase books, CDs and photos; keep updated on events; view the hundreds of photos carefully digitized over the years by Bill Schuette; and read the many articles found on the SCHS website, including Becca’s Blog and Bill’s Featured Stories – all with a tap.

To get the app, scan the QR code with your iPhone’s or Android’s camera (downloadable app needed for Android) or search for the address using any browser on a phone, iPad or tablet. Then simply add the app to your home screen by following the prompts. This loads the SCHS icon on your mobile device. Tap the SCHS icon and the app opens and you are on your way to exploring the Sauk County Historical Society anytime - anywhere. The app will remain on your mobile device to open whenever

you’d like. Be sure to accept location services when prompted to receive updates and event reminders from SCHS. Questions? Just email Bev Vaillancourt at bv8651@gmail.com.

Old Sauk Trails • Jnauary/February 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat. History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

January/February 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members for September and October

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

IINDIVIDUAL

Alexander, Carl – Baraboo

Anderson, Alan – Baraboo

Beard, Jeanette M – Milton

Birdd, Ron – Reedsburg

Blaker, Richard – Southport, CT

Bobholz, Jill Sneed – Baraboo

Domeier, Pamela – Lenexa, KS

Ecklund, Chuck – La Valle

Girkin, Rodney J – Madison

Haskins, William – Baraboo

Herrick, James M – Madison

Hettrick, Gail – Madison

Kieffer, Bob, Jr. – Baraboo

Madalon, Jeanie – Baraboo

McCarthy, Tom – Sioux Falls, SD

McCauley, Natalie – Hillpoint

McNamara, Michael – Reedsburg

Meyer, Joice – Reedsburg

Miller, Mary Jean – Baraboo

Murray, Joanne – Reedsburg

Phillips, Gail – Portage

Prothero, Betty E – Baraboo

Roltgen, Sara – Baraboo

Sacia, Karen – Baraboo

Schmeer, Michael – Milwaukie, OR

Steckelberg, Kathryn – Arlington, VA

Steinhorst, Patricia – Citrus Springs, FL

Wafle-Guenther, Carolyn – La Honda, CA

Wilcox, Beverly – Libertyville, IL

FAMILY

Anstett, Frank & Burch, Lois – Rock Springs

Brew, Jean – Wisconsin Dells

Brickner, Greg & Vicki – Wonewoc

Conlon, Mike & Jen – Park Ridge, IL

Frenz, Robert & Chris – Crystal Lake, IL

Goc, Michael & Weade, Barbara –Friendship

Grant, Ken & Mary – Baraboo

Grosinske, Jared & Workman, Amy – Baraboo

Higgins, Jim & Nancy – Baraboo

Kolb, Tom & Linda – Baraboo

Kowalke, Dennis & Ruth – Baraboo

McKnight, John – Evanston, IL

McNabb, Christopher – Baraboo

Meyer, John & Susan – Oshkosh

Rogers, Don & Jean – Baraboo

Schmiedlin, Robert & Gail – Baraboo

Schultz, Jerald & Zita – Baraboo

FRIEND

Abel, Margie – Wakefield, KS

Buss, John & Pam – Prairie du Sac

Dallmann, David & Carolyn –Baraboo

Delacour, James – Stateline, NV

Frank, Ken & Rhonda – Mazomanie

Hutchins, Bill – Wisconsin Dells

Johansen, Wayne & Martha –Baraboo

Kuter, David & Hilda – Madison

Liston, Pat & Sara – Baraboo

Peterson, Judy – Baraboo

Smirenski, Sergei & Elena – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Burger, Fred & Patty – Baraboo

Haas, Gary – Milwaukee

Hanners, Lori – Baraboo

Houzner, Kathy – Portage

Litscher, Joan – Baraboo

Lombard, Jim & Andrea – Baraboo

Muehllehner, Ursula – North Freedom

Sorci, Jason & Pam – Baraboo

St. John, Michael & Finney, Patricia – Baraboo

Stewart, Mary Anne – Baraboo

Swanson, Marcia – Baraboo

Terbilcox, Fred & Betty – Baraboo

Thompson, Dianne – Wisconsin Dells

Van Gheem, Michael & Rebecca –Baraboo

Waterman, Judy – Sanibel, FL

Whyte, Robin – Baraboo

PATRON

Pointon, Phillip & Alonna – Baraboo

Tully, Mark – Baraboo

Vogel, Jack & Deb – Baraboo

BENEFACTOR

Fleishauer, Carol – Baraboo

Graupman, Mark & Barb –Reedsburg

VAN ORDEN CIRCLE

Weickgenant, Jim & Myrna –Baraboo

CORPORATE PATRON Contractor Supply of Baraboo

Happy 175th Birthday Sauk County!

SAUK County officially turned 175 on March 11, or at least Sauk County government did. The county was laid out as a geographical area in 1840 but all administration was done by neighboring Dane County. At that time the federal census recorded 102 Euro-American settlers living in Sauk County.

Four years later on January 10, 1844 the territorial legislature of Wisconsin passed “AN ACT to organize the county of Sauk” which stated “That from and after the second Monday in March, 1844, the county of Sauk shall be and remain... an organized county of this Territory...” That was March 11, 1844, and the first ever election for county officials was held that day at the house of William H. Hubbard in the Sauk Prairie precinct and at the house of James Webster in the Baraboo precinct. Three county board supervisors were elected from a population of less than 500. Election results were sent to the county board clerk of Dane County. The next order of business was to finalize where the county seat would be. The act of the legislature had commissioned three prominent men from around the territory “to make a careful examination of said county, having regard to the present and probable future population of said county...” in order to decide where the county seat should be. One of the three locating commissioners died during the tour of the settled portions of the county which at that time really only included Prairie du Sac, Sauk City (which at that time was named Haraszthy) and the Baraboo valley. Prairie

du Sac was chosen after it offered 47 free lots in the village to Sauk County that could be sold to make money to build a courthouse and jail. The choice was immediately controversial and incendiary as the people of Haraszthy had also offered the county village lots as well as a two-story building for use as the courthouse, which they thought were of more value. The settlers along the Baraboo River also felt overlooked. On April 17th a mass meeting was held at the home of Prescott Brigham out on the Sauk Prairie to protest the location of the county seat and make a resolution that a referendum should be held to let the people decide where the county seat should be. It would take two more years, but finally in April of 1846 a referendum was held and it was decided to move the county seat to the Baraboo Valley. Sauk County purchased 80 acres on a plateau of land above the river and laid out a new county seat named Adams after the former president. At the same time another village named Baraboo was laid out by George Brown next to Adams along the river. With many other villages named “Adams” across the country, it was decided within a few years to also name the county seat Baraboo and the two plats were essentially combined.

Find out more about early Sauk County history and the controversy surrounding the county seat at Canfield Day on April 9 at 7 pm at the Sauk County History Center in Baraboo.

History in 3D

If you experienced the Farm Art DTour in Sauk County last fall, you may have come across some unique roadside stations created by Dane County artist Martha Glowacki where stereoscope viewers could be used to view historic images in three dimensions. Some of the images were supplied by SCHS and they covered aspects of Sauk County history including the hops craze of the 1860s, the quarry at Rock Springs, the iron mines near North Freedom and effigy mound mapping. The Society has more than a few historic stereoscopic images for Sauk County but what made Glowacki’s project unique is that she took historic non-stereoscopic images and made them into stereoscopic pictures with the use of a computer and hours of painstaking work. Now images that were once only flat looking

come to life through a hand-held stereoscope. As an artist Glowacki likes to work with found materials and constructed objects. She served for many years as the director of the James Watrous Gallery of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. These new stereoscopic images will be the subject of a presentation on Thursday, April 25 at 6 pm at the Reedsburg Library. Glowacki will explain the process of making the images appear 3D and SCHS Executive Director Paul Wolter will join her to talk about aspects of Sauk County history shown in the photographs. Guests will have the ability to look at Glowacki’s images and other historic stereoscope images at the presentation which is free and open to the public.

The picture shown here is the earliest known rendering of the Sauk Prairie area done by Father Maxmillian Gaertner in 1846. Prairie du Sac is at the top and Haraszthy (Sauk City) at the bottom. The watercolor painting was done only two years after Sauk County government started. Prairie du Sac was the original county seat although by the time this watercolor painting was done a successful referendum had been held to move the county seat to the Baraboo valley.

Happy 200th Birthday Mr. Canfield Canfield Day – April 9

ON April 9, 1819, in a two story brick house a little boy was born to Harvey and Sarah Canfield in the Town of La Fayette, Onondaga County, New York. The lad was christened William Harvey. The house had been built from the profits his father made working on an early part of the Erie Canal. William grew up working with his father on other canal and railroad jobs and learned how to be a surveyor. While working on a stretch of the Genesee Valley Canal and boarding with a local family, William fell in love and married Cordelia Long in 1839. Two years later, William contracted “western fever” and decided to move to the wilderness where Uncle Sam was selling land for $1.25 an acre. William and Cordelia left New York in 1841 and arrived in Sauk County in the fall of 1842 settling in the Baraboo valley. He was 23 and Cordelia was 21 and pregnant.

The county had only been laid out two years before and wasn’t even completely surveyed into sections by the federal government. The following year some of the residents on the Sauk Prairie began proposing that the territorial legislature be petitioned to allow a county government to be formed. Canfield and others were against this primarily on the grounds that there weren’t enough settlers to form an effective government. The momentum won the day, however, and Sauk County government started in 1844 with the county seat being located at Prairie du Sac. Canfield and others objected to the placement and worked towards getting a referendum authorized to allow the people to vote and decide if the county seat should be moved. Two years later they were successful, and the county seat was moved to the Baraboo valley. Canfield was there for it all and about fifteen years later would start writing it all down. His first “outline sketch” of part of Sauk County was published in 1859. For the next 32 years Canfield would continue to record Sauk County history as he went about his day job as a surveyor. Endlessly curious and in love with a good story,

Canfield created a foundation for Sauk County recorded history.

2019 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth and a reason to celebrate Canfield’s legacy. Canfield Day will be held this year on his exact 200th birthday at 7 pm on April 9, 2019 at the Sauk County History Center in Baraboo. Come and enjoy a slice of cake, a bit of history and find out who is the 2019 Canfield History Award winner.

SCHS Online

THE Sauk County Historical Society has a strong online presence. Our new website debuted a year ago; and since then, there have been over 14,000 visitors. The website is constantly being updated with new stories, photos and other fascinating historic information about Sauk County. Currently the website has over 450 pages of content which are easily searchable using the SEARCH bar on every page. Membership can also easily be started or renewed at the website.

SCHS now has a free app for mobile devices. You can find it in the Google Play Store for Android phones and tablets (such as Samsung); and it will be available from the Apple App Store soon, though it can be added to any Apple iPhone or iPad now using a few simple steps. Learn how to get the app by going to the SCHS home page. The app allows

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt , Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

Steve Argo – Wisconsin Dells

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

John McNabb – Baraboo

David SaLoutos – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Myrna Weickgenant – Baraboo

Ken Weitzel – Spring Green STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Kathleen LaCombe, Museum Keeper – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

you to dive into all that’s on the website anytimeanywhere, manage your membership, order books, and also keep up-to-date on our events.

SCHS also maintains a Facebook page which currently has 1,260 members. Historically-minded contributors are always adding new material to the page, so make sure to follow it and you won’t miss any of the posts. You can also add your comments about a particular photo or subject and add to our collective knowledge.

SAVE THE DATE!

June 18

Founders’ Day Picnic Speaker George Archibald

June 23

Sunday in the Cemetery

Living History Tour

Walnut Hill Cemetery

August 10

Ochsner Park Centenial, Baraboo

Donations

January-February

Sharon McArthur

Mary Orlowski

Joseph W. Ward

Robin Whyte in honor of Laurie Dummer

Geraldine Wolter

Ho-Chunk History Series

THE Reedsburg Area Historical Society in partnership with the Reedsburg Library and SCHS is hosting two presentations on Ho-Chunk history. On Wednesday, May 1 at 7 pm at the Reedsburg Library, Patty Loew and Janice Rice will talk about the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin. Patty Loew, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University and a professor in the Medill School of Journalism. She is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She is author of Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal and Native People of Wisconsin. Janice Rice is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and is a retired librarian with a focus on American Indian resources,

literature, culture, history, language preservation and revitalization. She received her bachelor’s degree in Education, with an Area of Concentration in American Indian Studies from the UW-Milwaukee. She received her MLS & MLS Advanced degree in American Indian Librarianship from UW-Madison. On Thursday, May 23 at 7 pm at the Reedsburg Library, Paul Wolter, SCHS Executive Director will focus on Ho-Chunk history in Sauk County including the treaty era, the removal period and the resistance movement led by leaders such as Chief Yellow Thunder and Chief Dandy, both of whom lived in Sauk County. The presentations are free and open to the public.

Upcoming Events

Lunchtime Lesson –The County Seat

Thursday, March 28, 12:10 pm

Baraboo Civic Center – Room 21

Free will offering

Canfield Day Celebration

Tuesday, April 9, 7 pm

Sauk County History Center

Lunchtime Lesson –

The Arrival of the Railroad

Thursday, April 25, 12:10 pm

Baraboo Civic Center – Room 21

Free will offering

History in 3D – Martha Glowacki

Thursday, April 25, 6 pm

Reedsburg Public Library

Ho-Chunk History, WisconsinPatty Loew & Janice Rice

Wednesday, May 1, 7 pm

Reedsburg Public Library

Ho-Chunk History, Sauk County –Paul Wolter

Thursday, May 23, 7 pm

Reedsburg Public Library

SCIL/SCHS Partnership A Legacy of Leadership

THE Sauk County Institute of Leadership and the Sauk County Historical Society partnered this winter to create a new activity for one of the monthly sessions of the revamped nine month SCIL leadership development course. SCIL participants in this year’s class each chose to study a Sauk County leader from a list developed by SCHS and make a presentation on their subject at the March session of the course. Seventeen past and current leaders from across Sauk County were presented with each participant having visited a physical location associated with the person and relating how past leadership has inspired them. The Society has developed this list of leaders and their short biographies written by the Society into a section of our website called Sauk County Notables. The initial list will be expanded in the future. Check out this new section of the website at www. saukcountyhistory.org/sauk-county-notables

UW-Extension Community Development Educator

Jen Erickson opened the March 14 SCIL session which the Society hosted at the Van Orden Mansion. SCIL participants presented biographies of past Sauk County leaders and related what their contributions meant to them

One of the hundreds of castoff bottles found in the old cistern next to the VanOrden mansion in 2009 was a cobalt blue Bromo-Selzer bottle. The product was advertised as a pain reliever and a curative for heartburn, upset stomach, or acid indigestion. Bromo-Selzer, which is still sold today, consists of effervescent granules which must be mixed with water.

In the days of classic radio, it was known for its slogan which was repeated rhythmically in imitation of a railroad steam engine: “BROmo-Selt-zer, BRO-mo-Selt-zer,”

Back when Bromo-Selzer was first sold in 1888, it included bromides, which are a class of tranquilizers, which were withdrawn in 1975 due to their toxicity. This sedative effect probably accounted for its popularity as a hangover remedy.

Old Sauk Trails • March/April 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

March/April 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Banbury, John – Mauston

Brice, Jim – Baraboo

Burton, Kevin – Valton

Carpenter, James – San Diego, CA

Cook, Betty – Clarksville, TN

Diehl, Karen J – Sauk City

Effinger, Dianne – Wisconsin Dells

Eilertson, Orie – Merrimac

Furmidge, Julie – Pasadena, CA

Getschman, Lyle – Baraboo

Griffith, Robert – Baraboo

Haessly, James P – Sauk City

Haller, Angie – Baraboo

Hinz, Alice Cass – Dubuque, IA

Honer, Jim – Madison

Jaeger, Marcus – Bartlett, IL

Kjernes, Sandy – Edgerton

Larsen, Barbara – Sister Bay

Lemm, Charlie – Prairie du Sac

Marini, Fred – Melrose

McArthur, Joan D – Holmes Beach, FL

Savard, Robert J – Chanhassen, MN

Schaad, Margaret – Toms River, NJ

Schmidtke, Fred – Baraboo

Springer, Edward L – Madison

Strasser, Clara – Dover, PA

Tesch, Thomas N – Reedsburg

Weston, Marshall – Aurora, CO

Wiley, Sue – Torrance, CA

Wostal, Terry – Baraboo

FAMILY

Burmester, Dean & Marian – La Valle

Burton, Michelle & Matthew Mangerson – Milwaukee

Feltz, Lloyd & Joann – Sugar Grove, IL

Fisher, John & Lorna Lee – Cross Plains

Grosz, Bill & Susan – Baraboo

Harrison, Richard & Monica –Baraboo

Hart, John & Jane – Sauk City

Hart, Matt & Joan – Baraboo

Karch, Jim & Marilyn – Baraboo

Karr, Craig & Debby – Merrimac

LaMasney, Roger – Baraboo

Long, Bernard & Diana – Waunakee

Peterson, Waldo & Ann – Madison

Pivotto, Wayne & Janice – Baraboo

Powell, Marlene & Jerry Parchem –Baraboo

Ruhland, Marv & Kathy – Cross Plains

www.saukcountyhistory.org

Schell, Michael & Mary – Baraboo

Schneller, Dennis & Linda – Prairie du Sac

Schroeder, Roy & Judy – Loganville

Singer, Edward & Christine –Baraboo

Snow, Sandra – Baraboo

Wegner, Brandon & Kimberly –Baraboo

FRIEND

Bittner, Bernadette – Reedsburg

Caflisch, Jan – Baraboo

Cole, Dave & Bevra – Baraboo

Davis, James & Marsha – Reedsburg

Dummer, Bill & Laurie – Baraboo

Gilmore, David & Elsie – Baraboo

Gollmar, Robert – Baraboo

Greenwood, Jim & Bernadette –Baraboo

Jessop, Jerry & Jeanette – La Valle

Juliart Ventures, LLC – Baraboo

Kelter, Dan – Sauk City

Krainik, Andre & Aimee – Appleton

Landers, John – Bethesda, MD

Morrill, Joshua & Stef – Spring Green

Pansegro, William A – Reedsburg

Porth, Guy – Reedsburg

Stolte, Dan & Shari – Loganville

Taapken, John & Donna – Baraboo

Vodak, Barbara – Whitewater

SPONSOR

Archibald, George & Kyoko –Baraboo

Geoghegan, John – Baraboo

Hohl, Jerry – Baraboo

Madland, Thomas & Nancy –Baraboo

Marking, Charles & Jeanne – Baraboo

Olson, Bart & Char – Merrimac

Scoles, Alan H – Wichita, KS

Sophie, Charles & Norma – Baraboo

Taylor, David & Charlotte – Baraboo

Utzinger, Arnold & Judy – Baraboo

PATRON

Balch, Jeff & Julie – Prairie du Sac

Bennin, John – Baraboo

Larsen, Gene & Mona – Baraboo

Statz, Roman & Bea – Baraboo

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Minuteman Press – Baraboo

Summer Picnic – June 18

THE Society’s annual Founders’ Day Picnic will be held on Tuesday, June 18 at 6 p.m. at the farm of Roy and Lois Luther on County Road T in the Town of Fairfield. A delicious summer picnic meal will be served by Geffert’s Catering of Reedsburg followed by a presentation from Dr. George Archibald of the International Crane Foundation. Dr. Archibald will recount the history of ICF, relate some of his more memorable moments and discuss the future of the organization. Founded in 1973 by Archibald and Ron Sauey, ICF today has approximately 80 team members who work with a network of hundreds of specialists in over 50 countries on five continents and at the global headquarters north of Baraboo. The ICF campus hosts

a captive flock of approximately 100 cranes which includes all fifteen species of crane in the world. More than 25,000 people annually visit the live crane exhibits, research library, visitor center and two miles of nature trails. This year however the campus is closed as a $10 million visitor center is currently being built. The SCHS picnic will be held in the historic barn on the Luther farm which was once owned by Henry Ringling The barn is one of the largest and best preserved barns in Sauk County and the farm is located at E12263 County Road T just east of Hwy A. Reservations for the picnic can be made by using the form inside this newsletter. The reservation deadline is June 11. The public is invited to attend.

Dr. George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, will be the speaker at 2019 SCHS Founders’ Day Picnic at the farm of Roy and Lois Luther.

Sunday in the Cemetery Living History Tour, June 23

MANY fascinating people will once again come to life at the Sunday in the Cemetery – Living History Tour which will be hosted by the Society on June 23rd at 2 pm at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Baraboo. Tour participants will be guided through the cemetery to hear the stories of nine people of the past ranging from Eliste Ellsworth Palmer, a talented seamstress, inventor and entrepreneur to John Herrington who served in the Civil War as a drummer boy. Personal stories of triumph and tragedy will come to life when told by costumed reenactors at the beautiful and historic Walnut Hill Cemetery. The 2019 Tour is graciously being sponsored by Baraboo State Bank, Baldwin Funeral Services, Johnsen Insurance, Corner Drug Store, Terrytown Plumbing, and Hausmann-Johnson Insurance. Tour tickets will be available after June 1 at the Sauk County History Center, Corner Drug Store in Baraboo or at the Baraboo and Reedsburg Chamber of Commerce offices. Tour tickets can also be purchased online at the SCHS website (saukcountyhistory.org) and will be available for pick up at the cemetery on

the day of the tour. Tickets will be $10 per person with an SCHS member price of $8. Don’t miss this historical event and fundraiser for the Society which only comes along every other year.

Ochsner Park Centennial

IN August of 1919 Baraboo dedicated its first city park with a grand concert in a new bandstand that was constructed in Ochsner Park. One hundred years later the bandstand is still here and Ocshner Park has grown in size and amenities, now encompassing a zoo, playground, a part of the Baraboo Riverwalk and picnic shelters. The centennial of Ochsner Park will be celebrated on Saturday, August 10 from 11 am to 5 pm with food, games, historical displays and music. The highlight of the day will be music by the Hal Edwards Orchestra from the bandstand at 3 pm. A centennial program will be given highlighting the history of the park, honoring the Ochsner family and rededicating the park for another 100 years. The event is free and is being organized by the City of Baraboo Parks Department and SCHS and is supported by grants from the Sauk County Arts & Culture Committee/ Wisconsin Arts Board and the Ochsner Family Fund at the Greater Sauk Community Foundation.

John Herrington was 15 years old when he enlisted as a drummer during the Civil War

Executive Director’s Report —Paul

SPRING is always a busy time at the Sauk County Historical Society, and this year was no exception. Starting in March, I worked with our curator, Becca DuBey, and volunteers to begin getting the Van Orden Mansion ready to open as the Sauk County Historical Museum. Rooms were cleaned and new exhibits were put up. Sometimes small projects are undertaken in the spring like refinishing the wooden counter top in the butler’s pantry or painting exterior railings. Both projects were done this year. The museum opened on May 3 with museum keeper, Kathleen LaCombe, on hand to greet visitors to the 80th season the Society has operated the mansion as a museum. For 74 years the mansion also housed the archives and offices for the Society until the history center opened in 2013. Looking ahead, the SCHS Board of Directors will be undertaking strategic planning this summer to chart the course for the Society for the next five years.

SAVE THE DATES!

Upcoming Events

The Archeology of Sauk County

Tuesday, June 4 – 7 pm

Sauk County History Center

SCHS Founders’ Day Picnic

Tuesday, June 18 – 6 pm

Roy and Lois Luther Farm

Sunday in the Cemetery

Sunday, June 23 – 2 pm

Walnut Hill Cemetery, Baraboo

Wolter

Part of the plan will undoubtedly be continued collaboration with other organizations, schools and local government. This year I have been honored to serve on a Sauk County committee that is planning activities for Indigenous Peoples’ Day in October. As we recognize and celebrate the native people of the area, we can all be reminded that human beings have been living in what we know today as Sauk County for thousands of years. You can learn more about the earliest known human habitation of Sauk County by attending a lecture at the history center on June 4th from Professor George Christiansen. I know I will! Nineteen days later you can learn about the lives of nine individuals who were laid to rest at Walnut Hill Cemetery. Their stories and the stories we can piece together from artifacts left by Sauk County’s earliest human inhabitants can reinforce what we already know…that Sauk County is a special place.

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt , Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

Steve Argo – Wisconsin Dells

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

John McNabb – Baraboo

David SaLoutos – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Myrna Weickgenant – Baraboo

Ken Weitzel – Spring Green STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Kathleen LaCombe, Museum Keeper – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

Vaillancourt Receives Canfield Award

LIFELONG educator and volunteer Beverly Vaillancourt was presented the 2019 William H. Canfield History Award on April 9 for her outstanding work in local history as a web developer, app designer and volunteer. The Canfield Award is presented annually to honor the work of a present day local historian or history advocate who displays the same passion for local history as Canfield, Sauk County’s first historian. In 2018 Vaillancourt, who is the co-owner of PowerUp Design, a software solutions tech company, created a new website for SCHS which now has over 400 pages and several thousand photos. The website has several new features including a sitewide search tool and secure shopping. Vaillancourt also created an app for the society which is now available for free at app stores for all mobile devices. Besides owning her own tech company, Vaillancourt also serves as an educational consultant for Zulama, a part of Carnegie Learning in Pittsburgh. From 20112015 she served as the Town of La Valle Board Chair and she currently is the Vice-President of the Sauk County Historical Society.

Museum Open for the Season

The Sauk County Historical Museum at the historic Van Orden Mansion in Baraboo is open for the season which runs from May through October. The museum is open on Friday and Saturday afternoons from noon to 4 pm with free admission. New at the museum this year is an exhibit of items “Made in Sauk County” ranging from Pointon pottery made in Baraboo in the 1850s to Cuca records produced in Sauk City in the 1960s. Also on display is a three by five foot replica of the Van Orden Mansion which was made by inmates at the Waupun Correctional Institution several years ago. The “mini-mansion” sits atop a cabinet with twelve discovery drawers which hold a variety of interactive items for children. Some drawers contain objects and others contain activities. Nearby in the butler’s pantry is a display of hand-painted china done by Mary Ryan Reisz in the early 20th century. Other exhibits have been augmented with new pictures and information. Take time to visit your historical museum and “Let the

past enrich your present!”

A scale model of the Van Orden Mansion which rests atop 12 discovery drawers can now be found at the historical museum. The curious of any age can learn something by interacting with the artifacts and activities found within the drawers.

Beverly Vaillancourt of rural La Valle received the 2019 William H. Canfield Award on April 9 from SCHS Executive Director Paul Wolter for her exemplary work on a new website and mobile apps for the Society.

Donations, March - April

IN MEMORY OF ALTON “BUD” CADY

Jim & Kathy Allen

Peter & Nancy Bildsten

James & Janis Bohl

Craig & Deborah Karr

Joan Litscher

Wayne & Sharon Maffei

Charles & Jeanne Marking

Thomas & Kathryn Midthun

Roger Mislivecek & Judith Berry

Donald & Susan Netzel

John & Tracy Jo Niles

Allen & Mona Paschen

Delores Raddatz

Todd & Tama Faye Reigard

Guy & Mary Reynolds

Bradley & Tammy Schreiner

Dorothy Schreiner

Nola Schreiner

Charles & Norma Sophie

Dennis & Mary Kathleen Thurow

Ronald & Dawn Tyler

Gene & Victoria Wiegand

Richard & Teresa Wolkowski

MJ & NJ Zingsheim

Merlin Zitzner

IN MEMORY OF MRS. CEMENSKY, WILLIAM HAMSHIRI, LEO BRONKALLA

Carla Cady

OTHER DONATIONS

Laurie Dummer, Arleen Hambach, Joseph Ward

Glacier Valley Ford partnered with the Sauk County Historical Society and the Baraboo 21 Club from Baraboo High School to host a Ford Drive 4 UR Community fundraiser on May 4. Ford donated $20 for every test drive of a new Ford vehicle. Proceeds will be used to purchase a WWII Memorial bench to honor the 75th anniversary of the end of the war next year.”

The Archaeology of Sauk County: 12,000 Years at the Edge of the Driftless Area

FOR 12,000 years, humans have lived in the place that today we call Sauk County. For much of that time, they left few visible signs of their lives outside of their cemeteries. On Tuesday, June 4 at 7 pm at the Sauk County History Center professor George Christiansen will discuss prehistoric human habitation of the area. Christiansen is senior lecturer of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville Baraboo/Sauk County and Director of the Center for Wisconsin Archaeology. His research has focused on the preEuropean/American peoples of the Upper Great Lakes with a particular emphasis on the cultural ramifications of the transition to agriculture. In the presentation he will explore the hunter/gatherers, the gardeners and the agriculturalists who have called Sauk County home. What were their tools like? How did they use them? What can we say

about their day-to-day lives? What is missing from our understanding? Join us on an archaeological travel log of Sauk County archaeology!

The Durst-Blodeau Site in the Town of Honey Creek contains a rock shelter where Raddatz side-notched points have been found which suggest human habitation 5,500 to 6,000 years ago.

Professor and author Dr. Patty Loew, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, and retired librarian Janice Rice, a Ho-Chunk tribal member, spoke about the history of the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin on May 1 at the Reedsburg Public Library. The presentation was co-hosted by the Reedsburg Area Historical Society, SCHS and the library. A capacity crowd of 84 people learned about the resilience of the Ho-Chunk people who were forcibly deported from their homelands multiple times in the 19th century.

history@saukcountyhistory.org

Old Sauk Trails • May/June 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

This space available! Email us to reach our more than 700 members!

May/June 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Amend, Peggy – Fitchburg

Baker, Annette – Reedsburg

Barfknecht, Diane – Baraboo

Blum, Tim – Baraboo

Buller, Carolyn – Portage

Day, J Peter – Madison

Franzen, Barbara – Stoughton

Gall, Stephen – Reedsburg

Geoghegan, Patrick – Madison

Green, Edwin – Baraboo

Haggarty, John – Madison

Harvey, Heidi – Baraboo

Lindner, Greg – Oxford

Lindquist, LaDonna – Verona

Meyer, Julaine – Reedsburg

Ochsner, Harold – Long Beach, CA

Riedel, Sarah – Hillpoint

Sarahan, Charles – College Park, MD

Schreiber, William L – Baraboo

Schultz, Susan J – Lake Delton

Sperl, Cathy – Lake Delton

Stiemke, Sandra – Sauk City

Tewalt, Cindy Wagner – Eau Claire

Thieding, Brian – Lime Ridge

Thompson, Miriam – Baraboo

Vorndran, Jan – Oregon

Weiss, Karin – Tigard, OR

Williams, Susan – Waukesha

FAMILY

Beckwith, Kandie – Baraboo

Fletcher, John & Sue – Baraboo

Graves, Dale & Mary – Waukesha

Gurgel, Ron & Brenda – Baraboo

Liebman, Todd – Sierra Vista, AZ

Luther, Doug & Linda –Greenwood Village, CO

Mede, Gary, Eleanor & Kari –Normal, IL

Rago, John & Nancy – Baraboo

Schertz, William & Amy –

Baraboo

Schultz, Robert & Marcella –Muskego

FRIEND

Anderson, Cliff & Susan – Baraboo

Bronkalla, Joyce – Baraboo

Dargel, Gerald & Ellen –Reedsburg

Dietz, John & Wessie – Rock Springs

Dresen, William & Gretchen –

Baraboo

Driessen, Karen Krug – San Diego, CA

Erlandson, Virgil & Cheryl –Hagerstown, MD

Filip, Donald & Janet – Reedsburg

Foxx, Julie – Reedsburg

May, David & Kathy – Baraboo

Schulz, Deanna – Baraboo

Spencer, Robert & Kathy –Baraboo

Sprecher, Leonard – La Valle

Vester, Barbara J – San Leandro, CA

Wolter, Geraldine – Baraboo

Yeck, Louise L – Silver Springs, MD

SPONSOR

Beard, William & Corinne –Baraboo

Dahlinger, Fred & Anita – Baraboo

Dutton, Elizabeth – Boalsburg, PA

Edwards, Sandra – Baraboo

Flygt, Rex & Charlene – Baraboo

Hambach, Arleen – Belvidere, IL

Kieffer, Jim & Shirley – Baraboo

Klipp, Keith & Lori – La Valle

Krainik, Marnie – Madison

Kriegl, Sylvia – Baraboo

Lange, Ken & Esther – Baraboo

McCoy, Larry & Keri Olson –Baraboo

Poster, Jay – Madison

Rice, Paula – Norton Shores, MI

Rinella, Linda Michaud –Glenview, IL

SaLoutos, David – Baraboo

Schuette, William – Reedsburg

Schulz, Glen – Sun City, AZ

Slezak, Tom & Noralee –Hyattsville, MD

Zitzner, Merlin – Baraboo

PATRON

Barganz, Ron & Lynda – Baraboo

Campbell, John & Susan –Wisconsin Dells

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Bank of Wisconsin Dells

Terrytown Plumbing - Baraboo

A History of “The Strip” Dell View to Fort Dells - 1927-1977

IN northeastern Sauk County is one of the most heavily trafficked, popular and valuable sections of a highway in Wisconsin. US Highway 12 through Lake Delton is the main artery of the Dells-Delton tourist area that now has over three million visitors every year. Although the stretch is just over four and a half miles long, lining its length are resorts, hotels, motels, restaurants, water parks and other attractions with an aggregated property value of over one billion dollars. Most have direct frontage or lie just a block or two off of the highway. Known by locals as “the strip,” this section of Highway 12 has been part of vacation memories for millions of people for over ninety years. After Lake Delton was built in 1927, the strip slowly changed from a two

lane highway through the woods connecting Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells to what it is today, an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colorful and attentiongrabbing signs, attractions and theme architecture. A presentation on the first fifty years of the strip will be given on Tuesday, August 6 at 7:00 pm at the Frank Fischer Center located at 20 Wisconsin Dells Parkway South in Lake Delton. Iconic attractions like Storybook Gardens, Fort Dells, the Ducks and Tommy Bartlett’s will be discussed along with iconic hotels such as the Dell View and Uphoff’s and restaurants such as the Del Bar and House of Embers. Pictures from the collection of Jake Beard will be shown. He is the creator and administrator of the Lake Delton/ Wisconsin Dells Photos History page on Facebook which currently has over 4,300 members. Beard has been collecting photos of the area since creating the page in 2011.

Ochsner Park Centennial – August 10

IN August of 1919 Baraboo dedicated Ochsner Park, its first city park, with a grand concert in a new bandstand built from funds donated by Baraboo attorney Herman Grotophorst. One hundred years later the bandstand is still here; and Ochsner Park has grown in size and amenities, now encompassing a zoo, playground, picnic shelters and a part of the Baraboo Riverwalk. On Saturday, August 10 from 11 am to 5 pm the centennial of Ochsner Park will be celebrated with food, games, historical displays and music. Several community groups will be on hand to sell food including brats, burgers, walking tacos, sloppy joes, ice cream and other treats. Old-fashioned and newer games will be held in the park including tug-of-war, sack races and bean bag toss; and a scavenger hunt will be held throughout the park. Exhibits will be set up in the park with historic photographs showing the park and zoo over the last 100 years. Over 50 descendants of Henry and Judith Ochsner who built the red brick house in the center of the park in 1884 will be holding a family reunion in the park and will help dedicate the Ochsner Centennial Tree at 2:30 pm.

At 3:00 pm the Hal Edwards Orchestra will commence a centennial concert and program from the historic Grotophorst bandstand. Historic in its own right, the Hal Edwards Orchestra has been playing in the Baraboo-Dells area since the 1940s. The event is free and is being organized by the City of Baraboo Parks Department and the SCHS and is supported by grants from the Sauk County Arts & Culture Committee/ Wisconsin Arts Board, the Ochsner Family Fund at the Greater Sauk Community Foundation, Teel Plastics, Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Laurie Ferber and Wegner CPAs.

New Sign Installed at Memorial

A new dual-language sign was installed this summer at the Yellow Thunder Memorial on County Road

A north of Baraboo. The site is owned by the Sauk County Historical Society and maintained by the Sauk County Parks Department. The sign was funded through Ho-Chunk gaming compact funds given to Sauk County. A big thank you to the Sauk County Parks Department for getting it ordered and installed and to the Ho-Chunk Nation for their support. Chief Yellow Thunder was a key leader of the disaffected bands of Ho-Chunk members who walked back to their ancestral homelands every time they were removed. In 1849 he purchased forty acres of land north of Baraboo which made him a legal landowner. His “40” became a haven for other Ho-Chunk people. Chief Yellow Thunder died in 1874. The monument was constructed in 1909 by the Sauk County Historical Society.

Executive Director’s Report —Paul

DESPITE constantly being champions of the past, the board and staff of the historical society are looking ahead and holding strategic planning meetings this summer to chart the future of SCHS. Meetings are being facilitated by Jenny Erickson who is the UW-Madison Extension Community Development Educator for Sauk County. The goal of the planning sessions is to provide a roadmap for where the Society board of directors and staff would like SCHS to be in the next three to five years including goals for more members, fundraising, capital improvements, collections care and staffing. I look forward to sharing details of the results with SCHS members in the future. Meanwhile, we are still championing the past in a variety of ways, from ongoing daily work at the history center and museum to special events like the recent Sunday in the Cemetery – Living History Tour. Daily work includes cataloguing our collections which is done by SCHS Curator Becca Dubey who is being assisted this summer by SCHS intern Aaron

SAVE THE DATES!

Upcoming Events

Saturday, August 10, 11 am - 5 pm

Wolter

Svetly. It also includes answering research requests from people that contact the Society or stop in to the history center, work which is handled by SCHS Office and Research Manager Linda Levenhagen. And at the museum, SCHS Museum Keeper Kathy Lacombe greets and guides visitors at the Van Orden Mansion. Personally I have been busy this summer with projects that range from creating an outdoor interpretive panel on logging and lumbering on the Wisconsin River that will be installed in Newport Park in Lake Delton to giving presentations at the Sauk County Fair. The Sauk County Historical Society turned 114 years old in June and can be proud of its standing as one of the oldest local historical societies in Wisconsin (the fourth affiliate of the Wisconsin Historical Society of more than 400 today). That being said, we are also looking forward to the future and how we can make things better. On behalf of the board and staff, I would like to thank all of our members and supporters for their faithful support.

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt , Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

Steve Argo – Wisconsin Dells

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

John McNabb – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Myrna Weickgenant – Baraboo

Ken Weitzel – Spring Green

STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Kathleen LaCombe, Museum Keeper – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

The Sauk County Historical Society held its annual Founders’ Day Picnic on June 18 in the historic Henry Ringling barn on the farm of Roy and Lois Luther in rural Fairfield. Over 100 people attended the event in the 1916 barn built by the youngest of the seven Ringling brothers. The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, who spoke about the history of ICF and its current building project.

SCHS Has Summer Intern

THE Society has a summer curatorial intern named Aaron Svetly. Born in Baraboo, Svetly graduated from Edgewood College in May with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in history and minoring in computer information systems. Under the direction of SCHS Curator Becca Dubey, Svetly has been learning curatorial work by doing hands-on cataloging of artifacts and learning about proper artifact handling and storage, most recently with a donated collection of Dells memorabilia. Future projects will include cataloging an archival collection. Svetly is pursuing a master degree in library science. He recently described his time at the Society. “My internship for the Sauk County Historical Society enhances my knowledge of history and teaches me how to catalog artifacts through a PastPerfect database program. Over the summer my newly gained experience will help better prepare me for the field of library science.” The Society would like to thank Aaron for his service and enthusiasm.

Despite threatening weather, the Society was able to present the 2019 Sunday in the Cemetery – Living History Tour at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Baraboo on June 23. Nine actors portrayed characters from Baraboo’s past ranging from an English cobbler to a young champion butter maker who died in Hawaii. Twelve guides led groups through the cemetery to each stop and also provided additional information on the people portrayed. The Society would like to thank the volunteer actors, guides and support staff that made the event possible. Six sponsors also helped make the event successful and thanks also goes to Walnut Hill Cemetery. A link to a video recording of the cemetery tour can be found at the Society’s website. At right: Rebecca Langeberg of rural Baraboo portrayed champion butter maker Fanny Morley.

Free book!

WERE you born in Baraboo at St. Mary’s Ringling Hospital or St. Clare’s Hospital? Would you like a free book about the history of both hospitals? The Society still has copies of Keri Olson’s book entitled Healing Presence – A History of Caring published in 2012. This beautiful full-color book recounts the history of St. Mary’s Ringling and its successor, St. Clare’s as well Jefferson Meadows (St. Clare Meadows) Care Center. If you would like a free copy you can order it at our website (www.saukcountyhistory.org). All we ask is that you pay shipping and handling. You may also pick up a copy at the History Center.

Paul H. Grinde

Robert Curry

Joan Litscher

Joseph Ward

SaLoutos Retires from Board 1941 Corn Husking Contest at Reedsburg

SCHS Board Member David SaLoutos retired from the board recently after serving since 2009. SaLoutos is the Performance Director, Marketing Director and Ringmaster at Circus World Museum in Baraboo. For many years SaLoutos has been creating themed room-sized displays for Christmas at the Van Orden Mansion and will continue to do so. The Society members, staff and volunteers would like to thank Dave for his many years of service and commitment to local history.

THE early 1940s saw the phasing out of much horse-powered farm machinery and the dawn of gasoline self-propelled tractors. However, many farmers still utilized the oat burners to plant and harvest their crops.

An event of the day, which attracted thousands of Sauk County farmers and their families, was an old-fashioned corn husking contest, held near Reedsburg.

The object of the contest was to see which team could husk the most corn in 80 minutes. Each entry consisted of a farmer, a wagon and a team of horses. The best ten teams of horses in Sauk County were chosen to participate by a special Team Committee.

The contest was held on the Gerhart G. Schuette farm, 2 1/2 miles east of Reedsburg on Highway 154.

The lone farmer, with his wagon and team, and wearing a husking hook on his hand, proceeded down three to four cornrows at a time, husking as fast as he could. Picking 100 bushels (300 ears) a day was considered normal for a good husker.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that husking was “no sissy sport.” “The most common method was to grip the ear with the left hand, rip off the husk with the right, twist the ear from the

stalk and then throw the ear into a wagon. The sharp, dry stalks often cut contestant’s hands and face, leaving them bleeding,” noted the reporter.

Today the National Cornhusking Association sponsors a contest the third weekend in October to determine who is the best. Nine midwestern states still hold these annual events.

Contestants and spectators arrive at the Schuette farm in 1941 for the annual Husking Contest.

Old Sauk Trails • July/August 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

July/August 2019

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Aaberg, Tammy – Champlin, MN

Apse, Guntis – Baraboo

Armstrong, Myrna – Meadow Lake, TX

Bayerl, Holly – Menominee, MI

Buglass, Tracy – Deerfield

Caflisch, Craig – Baraboo

Darling, Edna – Sun Prairie

Etzwiler, Nijole – Baraboo

Gussel, B.E. – Wisconsin Dells

Hasheider, Philip – Sauk City

Jackson, Jim – Madison

Kaney, Gay – Baraboo

Karg, Joyce – Baraboo

Kelly, Nick – Baraboo

Kimpfbeck, Kenlyn – Wis Dells

Marini, Gladys – Baraboo

Michals, Patricia – Baraboo

Thiessen, Betty – Baraboo

Weston, Judy – Baraboo

Yount, Michael – Baraboo

Zick, Allegra – North Freedom

FAMILY

Berndt, Jack & Jody – Prairie du Sac

Clam, Joe & Suzie – Rock Springs

Dillman, Nancy Jo & Moh, Helfried – Baraboo

Groeneweg, Tom & Diane –Baraboo

Huffaker, Buddy & Marcy –Baraboo

Johnson, Bob & Julie – Reedsburg

Koedinger, Earl & Shari – Baraboo

Mohar, Warren & Linda – Baraboo

Spencer, Charles & Norma –Baraboo

Steinhorst, Gaylon, Shirley, Emma – Baraboo

FRIEND

Bock, Susan – Carmel, IN

Davenport, John & Elizabeth –

Excelsior, MN

Dippel, Albert – Baraboo

Genovese, Tom & Doris – Baraboo

Gosewehr, Kathy – Baraboo

Hackbarth, James & Karen –

www.saukcountyhistory.org

Baraboo

Hanskett, Paula – Baraboo

Hazard, Bryant – Baraboo

Johnson, William P., Jr. – Dallas, TX

Schellenberger, Bill & Alice –Baraboo

Smith, Yvonne & Family –Baraboo – In memory of Walt Smith

Washam, Paul & Judy – Baraboo

Woodbury, Harry – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Cady, Ken & Carla – Baraboo

Chiquoine, Steve & Eleanor –

Reedsburg

Francois, Wayne & Joan – Baraboo

Hotzel, Bernard & RobertaBaraboo

Klingenmeyer, Mary – Baraboo

Moon, Clyde & Carolyn – Baraboo

Ward, Joe & Lou Ann – Baraboo

PATRON

Christin, Barbara – Washington Grove, MD

Evenson, James & Karen - Baraboo

BENEFACTOR

Burgi, Karl & Melanie – Baraboo

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Hill’s Wiring – Baraboo

Statz Mechanical – Rock Springs

LIFE MEMBERS

Ableman, Mike – Baraboo

Hartmann, Forrest – Baraboo

McArthur, Sharon – Baraboo

Pauley, Scott – St. Joseph, MN

Statz, Dave & Denise – Baraboo

VanOrden, Christine – Brookline, MA

Doepke Finishes Indexes

A major milestone was reached at the Sauk County Historical Society recently when longtime volunteer Bob Doepke finished his indexing of the Sauk County Probate Records. When the history center was opened seven years ago an entire room was dedicated to housing the probate records along with a desk and computer. Doepke took on the monumental task of indexing over 144 large probate ledgers each containing roughly 600 pages. The task had actually started before the move to the history center when the probate volumes were stored in the basement of the Van Orden Mansion. Doepke has been working on the project for over twelve years. The entire project involved perusing over 85,000 pages and resulted in indexes containing

a total of over 35,000 names! The indexes can be found at the Society’s website (saukcountyhistory. org) by clicking on the RESEARCH link at the top of the page and then scrolling down to PROBATE RECORDS.

The probate ledgers contain information on settling the estate of someone who has died in Sauk County, with or without a will. This information can be very helpful to genealogists and other researchers. Some ledgers contain information on guardianship cases which can be useful to genealogists.

Doepke was the recipient of the 2017 William H. Canfield Award, and has been a weekly volunteer at SCHS for over twenty years. He has also accomplished other major projects like cataloging and preserving the Society’s newspaper collection, transcribing Civil War and WWI diaries and photocopying scrapbooks so they can be used more effectively. All told, Doepke’s work at SCHS has made many resources more accessible and, with the web, they are now available worldwide. Something he could have only imagined when he started his work!

SCHS volunteer Bob Doepke stands in front of the wall of Sauk County probate ledgers at the history center. Doepke has created indexes for the 35,000 names contained in the volumes making them more accessible to researchers worldwide.

House of Worship – January 30

SCHS Executive Director Paul Wolter will present a history program, “House of Worship: Baraboo’s First Church Building and the History of the Methodist Episcopal Church,” at the First United Methodist Church, 615 Broadway in Baraboo on Thursday, January 30 at 7 pm. The event will be free and open to the public.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Baraboo in 1842 as the community’s first formal congregation. For a time, they met in homes and in the old court house. By 1849, the congregation had grown to the point where a church building was deemed necessary.

During the winter of 1849-50, the Methodist Episcopal congregation constructed Baraboo’s first church structure, located at the southeast corner of 5th and Broadway. The building was put into use in January 1850, 170 years ago this month. The church was a crude structure composed of rough sawn boards inside and out. A bronze plaque erected by the Sauk County Historical Society in 1914 commemorates the location of that first church

building.

When the congregation continued to grow, the crude church structure was quickly replaced with a new church building on the same site. Construction began in 1851 and was finished in 1853. In 1866, that church building was enlarged with a 25-foot addition to the south and a bell tower (as shown in the photograph). That building was used until 1898 when, due to even more congregational growth, a new church building was erected again, this time at the northwest corner of 4th and Broadway, the current church location.

The church’s bell, cast in New York state in 1853, was installed at 5th and Broadway in time to ring for the 1854 Independence Day celebration. When the congregation moved to its current building at 615 Broadway, they paid $10 to have the 795-pound bell moved from the old building to the new one. It still rings today to summon the faithful to worship. For more information, contact the Society at (608) 356-1001.

Board Elects Officers Save the Dates

AT the November SCHS Board of Directors meeting, the following board members were elected as officers: Mona Larsen, president, Bev Vaillancourt, vice-president, Jim Weickgenant, treasurer and Bill Schuette, secretary. Officers are elected annually by the board during the first regular board meeting after the annual membership meeting which was held on October 30 in Baraboo.

House of Worship

Thursday, January 30, 7 pm

First United Methodist Church, Baraboo

Lunchtime Lesson –Sauk County Notables

Thursday, February 20, 12:10 pm

Baraboo Civic Center – Room 21

Sauk County – 1920 in 2020

Thursday, February 20, 7 pm

Sauk County History Center

Over 700 people attended events at the Van Orden Mansion this past Christmas season including over 400 at the Edwardian Christmas Open House on December 14. The Society would like to thank all of the decorators, musicians, bakers, volunteers, sponsors, donors and guests who made this season a memorable one!

Hasheider Receives State Family History Award

SAUK CITY author Philip Hasheider received the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) and Wisconsin State Genealogical Society’s 2019 Genealogy Family History Book Award at their annual conference held in Waupaca. The award is given to the author of a genealogy book that best documents the history of a Wisconsin family and, in the opinion of the judges, made the most valuable contribution to public understanding of Wisconsin’s past during the preceding calendar year.

Hasheider’s book, The Christoph Zick Family 1769-2018, was recognized by the WHS Board of Curators as “well written and covers the deep history of this patriarch of the family. Philip Hasheider won this award in 2005, 2013, 2014. His work is very detailed and well documented.”

Sauk County 1920 in 2020

WHAT was Sauk County like exactly 100 years ago? Well for starters there were about half the number of people living here. In fact, in 1920 the Sauk County population had not risen since the 1900 census and would not go up again for another 20 years. Many of the landmarks that we know today were relatively new buildings. Cars were taking over to the point that “silent policeman” were installed as the first traffic control devices. Sauk County women would have the first chance to vote in public elections in 1920; and one of Sauk County’s most famous women, Lou Ringling, would open a brandnew luxury hotel on Mirror Lake. Two of the

largest employers were the Island Woolen Mill in Baraboo and the Reedsburg Woolen Mill, both making wool fabrics by the mile; and down in Sauk City the Wisconsin Tractor Company (today McFarlane’s) was building new gasoline powered tractors. The county also went dry in 1920 and its several breweries struggled to adapt to Prohibition. On Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 7 pm a presentation will be made at the Sauk County History Center on Sauk County in 1920. Come find out how life was different and how it was the same as we look at 1920 with 2020 vision. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Executive Director’s Report —Paul

THE word “volunteer” descends to us from the Latin voluntarius which means “voluntary, of one’s free will.” The Sauk County Historical Society is blessed with many volunteers who use their free will to collect, preserve and share Sauk County history. I joined the volunteer board of directors in 1996 and nearly as long as I can remember Bob Doepke has been a faithful volunteer at the historical society quietly working on various projects. When plans for the history center were being developed many years ago, one of the definite needs was a room to house the probate records that the Society holds for Sauk County and a desk for Bob to continue his work creating indexes for them. When the history center was opened seven years ago the room was dedicated to Carol Sorg, another longtime SCHS volunteer and researcher as well as board member, and Bob moved in and continued his work indexing. Now that project is complete

Notable People of Sauk County

BEGINNING in February a series of presentations on some of the notable people of Sauk County will be held at the Baraboo Area Senior Center for the 2020 Long Ago Lunch Time Lessons series. SCHS Executive Director Paul Wolter will tell the stories of three people on each of the third Thursdays of the month from February through May. A broad cross section of Sauk County’s “Notables” will be discussed.

Each presentation will start at 12:10 and run to 12:50 pm at the Baraboo Area Senior Center, Room 24 of the Baraboo Civic Center, 124 Second Street. The presentations are free and open to the public with donations accepted. For more information contact the Sauk County Historical Society at 608-356-1001 or saukcountyhistory.org

Wolter

and is available online thanks to our new website (created by other volunteers.) The probate records can be a wealth of information for genealogists and researchers. A while back I was trying to find a death date for someone in the 1850s; and although I knew the approximate time, there was no death record at the register of deeds and no cemetery marker. By checking the probate records, I was able to find the death date and other valuable information like a description of household contents passed on. Probate records might also contain a list of known descendants and, of course, the contents of a will if one was filed. Thanks to Bob’s dedication, these records are now more accessible; and Bob is on to another project to help share Sauk County History. I would like to thank him for his years of dedicated service and commitment.

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt , Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

Steve Argo – Wisconsin Dells

Chuck Ecklund – LaValle

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Seth Taft – Baraboo

Myrna Weickgenant – Baraboo

Kristin White Eagle – Baraboo

STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Kathleen LaCombe, Museum Keeper – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

Simonds Barn added to State and National Registers

A ten-sided barn east of Baraboo in the Town of Greenfield has been added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Originally built for Benjamin Simonds in 1916 as a dairy barn, the building has feeding stalls on the ground floor with a haymow above and an internal round silo near the center. The Simonds barn is one of only 112 known centric barns in Wisconsin and is unusual for its ten-sided configuration. The barn was constructed by Orville and Otto Kramer, brothers from nearby Baraboo, for Simmonds who operated a small dairy farm and was also a school teacher. In the 1940s, the property was purchased by the Eschenbach family, who operated the dairy farm from the 1940s to the 1970s. The Simonds barn has been a landmark on State Road 33 to Portage for over 100 years. The Society would like to congratulate the Eschenbach family for preserving the building and having it listed on the registers.

MONETARY DONATIONS

November-December 2019

James R. Carpenter

Bob Curry

Elizabeth Dutton

Free Congregation of Sauk County

David & Joanne Gorak

Jerry & Jeanette Jessop

John Landers

Mona Larsen

Joan Litscher

Nancy Madland

Robin A. Whyte

Karen Zimmerman

In Memory of Forest “Woody” Zantow

Joan Kaul

The Simonds ten-sided barn east of Baraboo on Hwy 33 has been listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as an excellent example of this kind of architecture.

Accessions Viewable Online

IF you’ve donated an artifact to the Society in recent years you have undoubtedly received paperwork from SCHS Curator Becca DuBey to finalize the donation. After ownership has been officially transferred, DuBey then accessions the object(s) into the Society’s permanent collection. Did you know that you can see a complete description of your donation on the SCHS website? Click on the word EXHIBITS on the top of any page and then scroll down and click on ACCESSIONS. There you will find “flip books” with accession information for the past three years. After you choose and enlarge one of the books by clicking on the full screen icon, you can search it by clicking on the magnifying glass and typing in a search word. Please note that it can take a few months to get all of the information on line.

Old Sauk Trails • January/February 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

January/February 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Alexander, Carl – Baraboo

Bauman, David – Baraboo

Birdd, Ron – Reedsburg

Blaker, Richard – Southport, CT

Ecklund, Chuck – La Valle

Edwards, Mary – Baraboo

Fiske, Kerista – Fitchburg

Girkin, Rodney – Madison

Haskins, William W – Baraboo

Hatfield, Charles – La Farge

Herrick, James M – Madison

Luther, Rick – Baraboo

Meyer, Joice – Reedsburg

Miller, Mary Jean – Baraboo

Nelson, Anita M – Wisconsin Dells

Peterson, Judy – Baraboo

Phillips, Gail – Portage

Ramsey/Manthe, Steve/Richard –Baraboo

Reitz, Sharyl – Baraboo

Sacia, Karen – Baraboo

Scott, Kirby – Oshkosh

Shrake, Pete – Baraboo

Simons, Neal E – Minneapolis, MN

Sneed Bobholz, Jill – Baraboo

Steckelberg, Kathryn A – Arlington, VA

Stieve, Marjorie – Baraboo

Wafle Guenther, Carolyn – La Honda, CA

Wilcox, Beverly – Libertyville, IL

Wostal, Terry – Baraboo

FAMILY

Anstett, Samuel – Rock Springs

Behnke, James & June – Reedsburg

Brickner, Greg & Vicki – Wonewoc

Burch, Lois – Rock Springs

Conlon, Mike & Jen – Park Ridge, IL

Dillman/Moh, Nancy Jo/Helfried –Baraboo

Ellington, John & Judy – Baraboo

Frenz, Robert & Chris – Crystal Lake, IL

Goc/Weade, Michael/Barbara –Friendship

Higgins, Jim & Nancy – Baraboo

Kolb, Tom & Linda – Baraboo

Mentel, Maggie – Baraboo

Rago, Nancy – Baraboo

Vander Schaaf, David & Diane –Baraboo

FRIEND

Abel, Margie – Wakefield, KS

Buss, John & Pam – Prairie du Sac

Cole, David & Bevra – Baraboo

Dallmann, David & Carolyn – Baraboo

Delacour, James – Stateline, NV

Frank, Ken & Rhonda – Madison

Koehler/Hearley, Stuart/Julie – Baraboo

Liston, Pat & Sara – Baraboo

Loomis, Dale – Baraboo

McKnight, John L – Evanston, IL

Rogers, Don & Jean – Baraboo

Roltgen, Sara – Baraboo

Schmiedlin, Robert & Gail – Baraboo

Slaats, Glen – Reedsburg

Swanson, Marcia – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Archibald, George & Kyoko – Baraboo

Barrix, Tom & Raberta – Baraboo

Burger, Fred & Patty – Baraboo

Gerdman, Gil & Lynn – Baraboo

Grosinske/Workman, Jared/Amy –Baraboo

Haas, Gary L – Milwaukee

Helland, Pat & Sigrid – Baraboo

Houzner, Joe & Kathy – Portage

Johansen, Wayne & Martha – Baraboo

Muehllehner, Ursula – Wayne, PA

St. John/Finney, Michael/Patricia –Baraboo

Stewart, Mary Anne – Baraboo

Taylor, David & Charlotte – Baraboo

Terbilcox, Betty – Baraboo

Terbilcox, Colleen – Baraboo

Thompson, Dianne – Wisconsin Dells

Whyte, Robin – Baraboo

PATRON

Bennin, John – Baraboo

Hanners-Maas, Lori – Baraboo

Pointon, Alonna – Baraboo

Sorci, Jason & Pam – Baraboo

BENEFACTOR

Sauey, Craig & Bonnie

VAN ORDEN CIRCLE

Dana, Richard & Jane – Paradise Valley, AZ

Fleishauer, Carol – Baraboo

Wight, Sterling & Shirley – Baraboo

Larsen to Receive Canfield Award

LONG-TIME SCHS board member, membership chair, volunteer and current president of the board, Mona Larsen, will receive the William H. Canfield History Award for her outstanding service to the Society. Larsen was elected to the SCHS board of directors in 1988 and has served ever since. Her familiarity with the Society, however, goes back to her childhood when she remembers frequently visiting the Sauk County Historical Museum at the Van Orden Mansion because she lived just a few blocks away.

If you have been an SCHS member for any length of time, you are familiar with Larsen’s signature on your membership letters. Larsen has been the membership chair for over 30 years managing renewals, new members and member thank you letters for the Society’s 600 plus members, a job that started out with an index card system and postcard renewals and is now managed by computer software.

During the past twenty years that the Society

has held Christmas festivities at the Van Orden Mansion, Larsen has coordinated area musicians to play holiday music. She also has played music herself on violin, piano and French horn, as well as singing with groups. The list of Larsen’s contributions is almost endless as she helps whenever and wherever she can. From the tours of historic homes to Victorian dinners, Larsen has been an integral part of keeping the Society vibrant, innovative and unique.

The William H. Canfield History Award was started in 2002 and is presented each year to honor the work of a present day local historian who displays the same passion for history as Canfield. Previous recipients of the Canfield Award can be found on the SCHS website at saukcountyhistory. org/schs-canfieldaward. Larsen will receive the 2020 Canfield Award on Canfield Day which will be held later this year at a date to be determined.

History Not Closed

While the Sauk County History Center has temporarily closed for in-person visits and programs, staff members are still available to help with research requests via the research form found at the Society’s website. (Click RESEARCH at the top of any page at saukcountyhistory.org) The Society website is also open 24/7 and contains over 400 pages related to local history. You can also browse through over 20,000 historic photos and watch history-related videos. SCHS staff, members and volunteers look forward to the day when we can all return to normal but in the meantime take some time to “let the past enrich your present.”

eNews Now Available

YOU may have already gotten a few editions of the Society’s new eNewsletter via email but if you haven’t, please let us know. The colorful and picturepacked eNewsletter contains interesting stories, links to resources on our website and publications for sale. There has even been a fun quiz or two already! The SCHS eNewsletter comes out twice a month. If you haven’t received it please send an email to history@saukcounthistory.org and ask to be added to the list!

New Resources Available

There are some new local history resources available at the history center and online. The Society has been donated a set of property abstract ledgers and indexes covering every land transaction in the county up until the late 1920s. The volumes are organized by the quarter/ quarter section for rural land and by lot and block for properties in cities and villages. This invaluable resource allows a property to be researched without first knowing the names of the parties involved making house and property research much easier. If you are interested in the history of a property, please let us know by filling out a research request form online at our website. Another new resource online is the Baraboo News which has been digitized by the Library of Congress for the years 1904-1922 as part of a project called Chronicling America. (Do a search for Baraboo News Library of Congress). The papers are fully searchable and contain information not only for Baraboo but many local items from across Sauk County.

Executive Directors Report

IF you’ve been an SCHS member for a while, you may have noticed that this edition of Old Sauk Trails is a little lighter than usual. Usually we are promoting upcoming events but given the current state of affairs, we have had to adjust like everyone else. We are truly living in historic times and there will be many stories to tell when it is all over. In the meantime I want to let you know that we are still collecting, preserving and sharing history and that we appreciate your support. The history center has more resources than ever before, and our website keeps growing as well. As an educational nonprofit, our biggest amount of support comes from our members through memberships and donations. We appreciate the fact that our members keep up their memberships. If you are able to make an extra donation right now, it would be greatly appreciated. You can donate easily at our website by clicking on the DONATE button at the top of every page. Upcoming programming will be scheduled as soon as current conditions stabilize and we have the all clear to do so. Please check our website for updates and for some new online offerings soon. As we all adjust to quarantines and social distancing we can reflect on what history can teach us about human resiliency, ingenuity and adaptability.

Old Sauk Trails • March/April 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

March/April 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Beckett, Steven – Baraboo

Brice, Jim – Baraboo

Carpenter, James – San Diego, CA

Day, J. Peter – Madison

Effinger, Dianne – Wisconsin Dells

Getschman, Lyle – Baraboo

Haessly, James – Sauk City

Haller, Angie – Baraboo

Hettrick, Gail – Madison

Hinz, Alice Cass – Dubuque, IA

Honer, Jim - Madison

Jacobs, Mike – Baraboo

Kjernes, Sandra – Edgerton

Long, Bernard – Middleton

Madalon, Jeanie – Baraboo

Marini, Fred – Melrose

McCauley, Natalie – Hillpoint

Morgan, JoAnne – South Fork, CO

Ochsner, Harold – Long Beach, CA

Savard, Robert J – Chanhassen, MN

Schara, Jerald – Arena

Seymour, Cheryl – Baraboo

Springer, Edward – Madison

Tesch, Thomas – Reedsburg

Thieding, Brian – Lime Ridge

FAMILY

Burmester, Dean & Marian – La Valle

Grosz, Bill & Susan – Baraboo

Harrison, Richard & Monica – Baraboo

Hart, John & Jane – Sauk City

Hart, Matt & Joan – Baraboo

Karr, Craig & Debby – Merrimac

Kowalke, Dennis & Ruth – Baraboo

Mangerson/Burton, Matthew/Michelle –Milwaukee

Olson, Kevin & Carol – Baraboo

Peterson, Waldo & Ann – Madison

Powell/Parchem, Marlene/Jerry – Baraboo

Ruhland, Marv & Kathy – Cross Plains

Schneller, Dennis & Linda – Prairie du Sac

Singer, Ed & Chris – Baraboo

Walters, Diane – Wauwatosa

Weston, Marshall A – Aurora, CO

FRIEND

Bittner, Bernadette – Reedsburg

Davis, James & Marsha – Reedsburg

Dummer, Bill & Laurie – Baraboo

Olson, Bart & Char – Merrimac

Pfrang, Pamela – Madison

Taapken, John & Donna – Baraboo

Wiley, Sue – Torrance, CA

Wittman, Susan – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Anderson/Snow, Gregory/Susan –Baraboo

Caflisch, Janice – Baraboo

Diehl, Karen – Sauk City

You can renew your membership online! saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

Hohl, Jerry – Baraboo

Marking, Charles & Jeanne – Baraboo

Porth, Guy – Reedsburg

Poster, Jay – Madison

Scoles, Alan H – Wichita, KS

Sophie, Chuck & Norma – Baraboo

PATRON

Larsen, Gene & Mona – Baraboo

Statz, Roman & Bea – Baraboo

Vogel, Jack & Debra – Baraboo

BENEFACTOR

Graupman, Mark & Barb – Reedsburg

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Minuteman Press - Baraboo-

Orlowski Finishes Family File Project

WHEN Mary Orlowski attended the SCHS Sunday in the Cemetery Living History Tour back in 2009, she had no idea the experience would lead to a ten-year volunteer project. But that is exactly what happened after Orlowski was impressed with the tour and decided to join the Society and begin volunteering. Back then the history center was still under renovation, and Orlowski began volunteering at the Van Orden Mansion deciding to work on the Society’s vast collection of family files. Almost since its inception in 1905, the Society has collected newspaper clippings of obituaries, birth and wedding announcements and other documents related to Sauk County residents. In the last thirty years or so this collection has grown to include over 3,000 file folders each with a different surname. The collection fills fourteen lateral file drawers and if the file folders were stacked up, the pile would be over two stories tall. This invaluable collection has helped countless researchers over the years connect with their own families or individuals of interest. A collection is only as good as its accessibility though. When Orlowski started volunteering, her first job was to alphabetize and file thousands of previously unfiled newspaper articles that other volunteers had clipped out of area newspapers. After this was finished, she began methodically going through every file to weed out duplicates. With 3,000 folders and limited drawer space, every piece of paper adds to the cumulative width of a folder. As Orlowski did this, she also found clippings that were misfiled and took care of fragile articles by either making copies of them or piecing them back together with archival tape. To conserve even more space, folders that had only one clipping were also removed and the clipping placed in a miscellaneous category

folder. Orlowksi’s work has been a labor of love and way to “pay it forward” for the help she received years ago on her own genealogical work at the Allen County Public Library in her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Since the history center opened in 2013, Orlowski has been coming in every week to work on the project, often twice a week with an average of several hours a week. Over the past few years, she has been helped by Karen Zimmerman, and the project was completed in March of this year right before the history center closed down due to the pandemic. This amazing resource is now one of the pillars of research materials available at the Society. The directors, members, staff and researchers thank Orlowski for her ten years of dedicated work and thank Zimmerman for her help with the project.

SCHS Volunteer Mary Orlowski has worked diligently on the Society’s family files for ten years and recently completed her project to weed out duplicates, fix damaged articles and make sure “there was a place for everything and everything was in its place.”

Simonds Barn added to State and National Registers

A ten-sided barn east of Baraboo in the Town of Greenfield has been added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Originally built for Benjamin Simonds in 1916 as a dairy barn, the building has feeding stalls on the ground floor with a haymow above and an internal round silo near the center.

The Simonds barn is one of only 112 known centric barns in Wisconsin and is unusual for its ten-sided configuration. The barn was constructed by Orville and Otto Kramer, brothers from nearby Baraboo, for Simmonds who operated a small dairy farm and was also a school teacher. In the 1940s the property was purchased by the Eschenbach family, who operated the dairy farm from the 1940s to the 1970s. The Simonds barn has been a landmark on State Road 33 to Portage for over 100 years. The Society would like to congratulate the Eschenbach family for preserving the building and having it listed on the registers.

Why are some Barns Round?

THE construction of round barns in America, dates to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Some of the first round barns in Sauk County were also constructed between 1880 and 1920. Round barns weren’t always round, however. They could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in design. Some dairy barns had eight, twelve, or sixteen sides. Agricultural colleges, such as the Agricultural College of Illinois, began pushing this design in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, because it was more efficient than the traditional square or rectangular structures. A round building has a greater volume-to-surface ratio. In other words, they could enclose a greater space with less lumber, which also made them cheaper to construct. Students at the college determined that, “The rectangular form requires twenty-two percent more wall and foundation to enclose the same space; and that the cost of material is from thirtyfour to fifty-eight percent more for the rectangular building.”

These barns were also more structurally

sound, according to some, and could withstand wind and storms better than the traditional rectangular enclosures. Others claimed that they were warmer in the winter and cooler in summer.

Another advantage was that farmers didn’t have to dodge the supporting pillars which were present in traditional barns. Hay and grain could be stored in the center of the barn or in the mow above, making it easier to feed the cows which were stalled in wedge-shaped pens around a central hub. Some of these barns also supported a silo at the center.

“The interior layout of round barns was promoted as more efficient, since farmers could work in a continuous direction. In the days before mechanization, labor-saving features were a big selling point,” wrote Michael J. Auer, in his publication, The Preservation of Historic Barns

These types of dairy barns never really caught on with the average Midwestern farmers, however. The primary claim had been efficiency, but with rural electrification in the 1920s, and more efficient and modern machinery, the need to construct these types of structures had faded. Round or polygonal barns were also harder to construct.

There are still eleven polygonal barns located in Sauk County, according to a 2019 Wisconsin Round Barns List compiled by Dale Travis, out of a total of at least 18 which once stood in the area.

The Simonds ten-sided barn east of Baraboo on Hwy 33 has been listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as an excellent example of this kind of architecture.

Give the Gift of Membership and Get a Gift!

FROM now until the end of June, anyone that gives a gift membership to someone else will receive a copy of the book, Many a Fine Harvest by Michael Goc. The hard-cover book chronicles the history of Sauk County from prehistoric time to the county sesquicentennial in 1990. You can keep the book for yourself or we can send it along to the person or persons for whom you purchase a one-year gift membership.

You can order a gift membership at our website www.saukcountyhistory.org from the homepage or call or email the Society.

The History Center is Open

The History Center is now open by appointment for in-person visits!

Please call 6098-356-1001 or email history@saukcounthhistory.org

The Museum at the Van Orden Mansion remains closed. Please watch our website for updates on when it will open this summer.

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt, Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

Steve Argo – Wisconsin Dells

Chuck Ecklund – LaValle

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Seth Taft – Baraboo

Kristin White Eagle – Baraboo

STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

Society Receives Grant from WAF

THE Society received a $5,000 grant from the Wisconsin Architects Foundation for a photography project titled “The Beauty of Midwest Homes” with pictures by architectural photographer Eric Oxendorf. The project will culminate with an exhibit of 30 framed large-scale photographs of historic Sauk County houses built before 1940. Established in 1953, the Wisconsin Architects Foundation is a nonprofit membership organization of design and construction industry professionals dedicated to improving the quality of the built environment through research and education. Its primary mission is to enhance the public’s awareness of architecture through its commitment to architectural education. The WAF Grant is made possible by the financial support received from Wisconsin architects and allied design and construction industry professionals. Eric Oxendorf of Baraboo will be taking all of the photographs and is a nationally recognized

architectural and industrial photographer with over forty-two years of experience. His work has appeared in numerous national publications including Architectural Digest. Oxendorf has also published two photography books, Domes of America and The Milwaukee City Hall. His most notable exhibitions have been one-man shows at the Honolulu Academy of Art, Kohler Art Center and the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The grant will pay for the printing, matting and framing of the large prints and for a brochure promoting the exhibition. The Society will work with Oxendorf to provide historical information about each house included in the exhibit which will debut in late 2020 at the Al. Ringling Theatre Gallery before traveling to other locations such as the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda. The Society would like to thank WAF for the grant.

The 1880 Blachly House in Baraboo is just one of Sauk County’s many high-style houses built before 1940. Photo by Eric Oxendorf.

Baraboo Currency Comes Home MONETARY DONATIONS

A piece of Baraboo currency was donated to the Society by Bob Curry of Lake Forest, Illinois. The ten-dollar bank note printed for the First National Bank of Baraboo around December of 1906 is signed by bank cashier M. H. Mould and bank president T. W. English. The note from Baraboo is framed with a nearly identical ten dollar note that was printed for the Milwaukee National Bank. From 1863 to 1935, National Bank Notes were issued by banks throughout the country and in US territories. Banks with a federal charter would deposit bonds in the US Treasury. The banks then could issue banknotes worth up to 90 percent of the value of the bonds. The federal government would back the value of the notes. The First National Bank of Baraboo was founded in 1886 and was the second bank with that name in the city. The earlier First National Bank was started in 1873 and took over the Sauk County Bank eventually being renamed the Bank of Baraboo (today’s Baraboo State Bank). The other First National Bank started in 1886 was originally located in a new building built at 106 Fourth Avenue before leasing the Burrington block on the north east corner of Oak and Third Streets in 1901. The bank eventually bought the building and

later replaced it with a brand-new state-of-the-art building in 1927 which is still there. In 2001 the bank was purchased by Wells Fargo & Company and still operates as the Wells Fargo Bank. The First National Bank of Baraboo ten-dollar note will be on display at the Van Orden Mansion when the museum opens. If you are interested in other items that have been donated to the society, click on EXHIBITS and then ACCESSIONS at the top of any page of the Society’s website. (saukcountyhistory. org)

January-April 2020

Bart & Char Olson

Tom & Noralee Slezak

Geraldine Wolter

In Memory of Bill Schellenberger

Mona Larsen

Executive Director’s Report

OVER the last two months, I have been thinking a lot about life 102 years ago during the so-called Spanish Flu. SCHS was 13 years old then and had to deal with that pandemic as well as the current one. Our operation looked a lot different back then, however. Society meetings were often held in private homes or in public halls. The museum was in the basement of the courthouse which no doubt closed when all public gatherings were banned in early October of 1918. The annual meeting of the Society set for November of that year was also canceled and held in late December. The shutdown lasted for about five weeks; and although viruses were not known about then, some of the advice given at the time could be used today like, “Run from a person who has an ‘open faced’ sneeze” and “Avoid needless crowding.” Other advice about chewing your food well and avoiding tight fitting clothes does not sound as helpful today to fight a virus; although its good advice none-theless. At any rate, lessons we can learn from 1918 include the fact that life will go on and we will

adapt. SCHS is no exception. While our in-person events are postponed indefinitely, we can stay connected to local history and each other through electronic means and print communication. Our twice monthly email newsletter is a great way to stay connected and learn about local history. If you are not on our email list please let us know or subscribe on our website (saukcountyhistory. org) by clicking ENEWS at the top of any page. You can also find all past issues of the email newsletter there. We will be offering new online historical presentations this summer and fall. Our print newsletter will also continue and keep you up-to-date on other happenings at your historical society. I am very excited about the architectural photography project with Eric Oxendorf explained elsewhere in this issue. Eric will be out and about in communities across Sauk County this summer, and I look forward to seeing more of his photos and sharing them with our members. Until we can meet again, stay well and stay connected!

www.saukcountyhistory.org

In 1918 during the “Spanish flu” pandemic SCHS was 13 years old and had a museum in the basement of the Sauk County Courthouse. The Society dealt with closings back then as well as churches,

Old Sauk Trails • May/June 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

May/June 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Amend, Peggy – Fitchburg

Bahr, Dolores – Prairie du Sac

Blum, Tim – Baraboo

Bodette, Jackie – Baraboo

Cook, Betty J – Clarksville, TN

Delmore, John – Reedsburg

Fletcher, John – Baraboo

Foxx, Julie – Reedsburg

Franzen, Barbara – Stoughton

Furmidge, Julie – Pasadena, CA

Gall, Stephen - Reedsburg

Geoghegan, Patrick – Madison

Granroth, Sandra – Madison

Green, Edwin – Baraboo

Hamburg, Doreen – Baraboo

Hendricks, Brenda – Lyndon Station

Larsen, Barbara – Sister Bay

Lask, Megan Roberts – Winnipeg, MB

Lemm, Charlie – Prairie du Sac

Lindner, Greg – Oxford

Lindquist, LaDonna – Verona

Martin, Joan – Reedsburg

Meyer, Julaine – Reedsburg

Morrill, Stefanie – Spring Green

Mossman, Mike – North Freedom

Powell, Walt – Hartford

Schmeer, Michael – Milwaukie, OR

Schreiber, William – Baraboo

Schultz, Susan – Lake Delton

Stiemke, Sandra – Sauk City

Thompson, Miriam – Baraboo

Weiss, Karin – Tigard, OR

Yeck, Louise – Silver Spring, MD

FAMILY

Anderson, Cliff & Susan – Baraboo

Barfknecht, Mike & Diane – Baraboo

Buller, Carolyn – Portage

Feltz, Lloyd & Joann – Sugar Grove, IL

Fisher, John & Lorna Lee – Cross Plains

Graves, Dale & Mary – Waukesha

Gurgel, Ron & Brenda – Baraboo

Hanusa, Duane & Linda – Baraboo

Luther, Linda – Greenwood Village, CO

Schell, Michael & Mary – Baraboo

Schertz, William & Amy – Baraboo

Schroeder, Roy & Judy – Loganville

Wegner, Brandon & Kimberly –Baraboo

FRIEND

Dargel, Jerry & Ellen – Reedsburg

Driessen, Karyn Krug – San Diego, CA

Haggarty, John – Madison

Jessop, Jerry & Jeanette – La Valle

Spencer, Robert & Kathy – Baraboo

Stolte, Dan & Shari – Loganville

Van Gheem, Mike & Becky – Baraboo

Vester, Barbara – San Leandro, CA

SPONSOR

Beard, William & Corinne – Baraboo

Dahlinger, Fred & Anita - Baraboo

Dresen, Bill & Gretchen – Baraboo

Dutton, Elizabeth – Boalsburg, PA

Edwards, Sandra – Baraboo

Filip, Donald & Janet – Reedsburg

Flygt, Thomas & Charlene – Baraboo

Geoghegan, John – Baraboo

Gilmore, David & Elsie – Baraboo

Hambach, Arleen – Belvidere, IL

Kieffer, Jim & Shirley – Baraboo

Klipp, Keith & Lori – La Valle

Krainik, Marnie – Madison

Lange, Ken & Esther – Baraboo

Rice, Paula – Norton Shores, MI

SaLoutos, David – Baraboo

Schulz, Glen – Sun City, AZ

Zitzner, Merlin & Jenele – Baraboo

PATRON

Balch, Jeff & Julie – Prairie du Sac

Schuette, William – Reedsburg

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Baxter Dental - Baraboo

BUSINESS PATRON

Terrytown Plumbing – Baraboo

Society Receives Thwaites Trophy

THE Reuben Gold Thwaites Award Trophy was hand delivered to the Sauk County History Center on July 3 by Christian Overland, CEO and the Ruth and Hartley Barker Director of the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS.) The trophy has been nicknamed the “Stanley Cup for historical societies,” and SCHS was awarded the prize in May after being chosen by the WHS Board of Curators. The award recognizes an affiliate of WHS that has shown continued excellence and overall service to its community over a period of at least five years. Overland stated that, “The Sauk County Historical Society has demonstrated excellence in collecting, preserving and sharing history since 1905.” The SCHS was cited for its continued and new partnerships with other organizations and local governments, its work with schools and seniors and its use of technology to reach more people and provide access to local history content.

The award is named after Reuben Gold Thwaites who was secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (today Wisconsin Historical Society) and became executive officer of the same in 1887. His energy in historical undertakings, and his ability as an administrator made the Society one of the leading organizations of its kind in the country and made Thwaites “the best-known non-political man in Wisconsin.” Thwaites also created the Society’s historical organization affiliate program in 1898, which was also the first of its kind in the country. He believed in history being useful for the residents of Wisconsin and in creating the opportunity for local history organizations to pursue excellence in serving their communities. Thwaites came to Baraboo in November of 1905 to a public meeting of individuals that were starting the Sauk County Historical Society and spoke on the duties of a local historical society. Articles of

incorporation were filed the next day and the SCHS became the fifth affiliate of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. There are now more than four hundred.

The Reuben Gold Thwaites Award Trophy will be on display at the Sauk County Historical Society until next May when a new winner is chosen. The award was started in 1958 and awardees are not eligible to apply again for 25 years.

The

Paul Wolter, SCHS Executive Director; Christian Overland, Director of the Wisconsin Historical Society; Mona Larsen, SCHS President. 2nd Row: Seth Taft, SCHS Board Member; Rebecca DuBey, SCHS Curator; Bill Schuette, SCHS Board Member. Back: Linda Levenhagen, SCHS Office/Research Manager; Beverly Simonds, SCHS Board Member.

Reuben Gold Twaites Award Trophy was delivered to the History Center on July 3. L-R, Front:

Freedom Mine Listed on the National Register

THE site of the Freedom Mine near La Rue has been officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Opened in 1910 by Captain C.T. Roberts, the mine operated for just over a year when its dewatering pumps failed, and the mine shaft flooded. Today the foundations of the compressor, boiler house, engine house, smokestack, and grade for the railroad spur connection remain visible above ground. Below ground, the mineshaft and tunnels look almost exactly like they did the day the mine flooded with a drill still stuck in the wall, an ore cart complete with pick axe still inside and other hand tools and even tallow candles strewn about.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, industrial-scale iron mining in the Baraboo Range created a brief economic boom in the region. Mining operations also transformed the surrounding landscape and hydrology. Mining engineers struggled against the ever-present threat of flooding. Their attempts to displace the enormous volumes of water drawn into the mine shafts from the bedrock

layers surrounding the iron ore deposits created new surface water channels, wetlands, and ponds that still exist.

Although the scale of operations at the Freedom Mine was relatively small and short-lived, the features of the site are illustrative of mining practices and operations typical of the Baraboo Range Iron District. This property is the only remaining example of a Baraboo Range iron mine with extant underground workings as well as above ground features. Freedom Mine gives archaeologists an unprecedented and unique opportunity to study the intricacies of early twentieth century mining operations in Wisconsin and allow a glimpse of what it was like to work in the mine on a daily-basis. As the only known archaeological investigation of a submerged mining site, Freedom Mine offers a unique and extremely rare opportunity to study the remains of Baraboo Range iron mining operations.

The ore cart at the bottom of the Freedom Mine sits on its tracks with a pick axe still inside from the day it flooded over 110 years ago. Picture by Leah Potts.

The SCHS Sacred Sites Committee held a public meeting on June 25 to discuss the ongoing master plan process for Man Mound Park and Yellow Thunder Memorial. The plans are being facilitated by staff members from the Sauk County Land, Resources and Environment Department. The plans will address the historical significance, education opportunities, management techniques and future development of both of these unique sites which are owned by the SCHS and maintained by Sauk County. The presentation was given by Sacred Sites Committee Chair and SCHS Board Member, Seth Taft and is available on the Society’s website on the homepage at www.saukcountyhistory.org

Argo Steps Down

STEVE Argo, Baraboo High School history teacher and Baraboo 21 student group coordinator, has stepped down from the SCHS Board of Directors. Argo joined the board in 2015 when he was ramping up his efforts to create the Tuscania Memorial, a tribute to the victims, survivors and rescuers of one of the greatest maritime disasters of World War One. During the incident 21 soldiers from Sauk County were saved along with hundreds of other American soldiers by ships of the British Royal Navy. The memorial was installed in lower Ochsner Park across from the Sauk County History Center in November of 2018. Argo has worked tirelessly with his Baraboo 21 student group (named for the 21 Baraboo survivors of the Tuscania) to recognize and thank local veterans of all conflicts for their service. The Society would like to thank Argo for his work on the SCHS Board of Directors and looks forward to collaborating with him in the future to bring local history to area high school students.

In Memoriam Society Receives Grants for Computer

FORMER SCHS Board Member Bob Brown of Merrimac passed away recently at the age of 73. Brown was a Baraboo High School graduate who furthered his education at Roosevelt Military Academy, UW-Whitewater, and Madison Business College. In 1968 he married Patti Sorg and the couple were married for 52 years. Brown was the owner and operator of Baraboo Concrete Company which his father had started. For over 20 years Brown served on the SCHS Board of Directors and donated concrete for projects around the outside of the museum. Brown also donated the use of the computer at Baraboo Concrete for the Society’s first membership software program. The Society extends its condolences to the Brown family.

THE Society recently received two grants for a new laptop computer for use by SCHS Curator Becca DuBey. The first grant of $648 was from the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Council for Local History through their joint minigrant program. The second grant of $500 was from the Sauk County Extension, Arts & Culture Committee through its Good Idea! Grant program which is funded by Sauk County and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. An anonymous donor has also contributed funds for the new computer. A new portable computer for the curator had become a necessity due to the fact that while the curator’s office is at the history center and new donations of artifacts are processed there the vast majority of the Society’s artifacts are stored at the historical museum housed in the Van Orden Mansion. The new laptop will allow the curator to work on cataloging and recording existing artifacts at the mansion while accessing collections software at the history center. This will negate the need to transfer artifacts to the history center for processing only to be transported back, and will make cataloging much more efficient. The new computer will help the Society meet its goal of creating modern catalog records for every artifact. The Society would like to thank the grantors and funders of this project.

Executive Director’s Report

Does anyone else feel like it’s about March 129th? While the weather tells me that it is definitely summer, time is seeming to pass differently this year without all of the major “usual” happenings to help tell what season it is. Easter was very quiet, as was Memorial Day. The Society was not able to host its annual summer picnic this year, and the Tour of Historic Homes which would have been held on June 20th was called off. So, in some ways I can hardly believe it is already the middle of July. Things have been quite a bit different this year to say the least; but, nevertheless, there always seems to be an endless supply of things to be done. Your historical society has been hard at work doing things that it has always done like cataloging artifacts, making records more organized and accessible and reaching out to bring local history to people while also working on new programs and initiatives. Planning with Sauk County’s Land, Resources and Environment staff for Man Mound Park and Yellow Thunder Memorial master plans started early this year and will continue through the fall. The twice monthly SCHS eNewsletter which started this winter continues to be very well received, and it is never too late to get on the list to receive these history-packed emails. We are also working on making new online educational resources for elementary and middle-school age students. More about that later, but I promise that you will be impressed and I think many adults will find these online courses just as engaging as students. SCHS also continues to be a partner with Sauk County and the Ho-Chunk Nation on plans for Sauk County’s second annual Indigenous Peoples Day which will be held this year on October 12. We will be marking a site important to the mound

building culture and the Ho-Chunk people. Watch our upcoming eNewsletters and print newsletters for more information. I would like to thank all of our members for their continued support during these challenging times. Your historical society is doing more than ever! We have the Reuben Gold Thwaites Award Trophy at the history center to prove it! Stop by and see it sometime.

MONETARY DONATIONS

May-June 2020

Marjorie Abel

Elizabeth Dutton

Mollie Martinek

Daniel Wagner

Man Mound Preservation Fund

Jacob Riyeff

In Memory of Fred Terbilcox

Colleen Terbilcox

In Memory of Bill Schellenberger

Patsy Boettcher

Gary & Brenda Bosgraaf

Ed & Nancy Green

LaVera Miller & Family

Gerald Radke

Sharon & Ken Radke

George & Betty Turner

(At right) A new exhibit on bottling in Baraboo has been installed at the Baraboo city Hall. The display features bottles from Baraboo’s two breweries, two of its soda pop manufacturers, some of its dairies, and even a patent medicine bottle from Fisher Drugs.

Visit our Vimeo Page to view past SCHS talks on Historic Sauk County vimeo.com/433163816

Visit our Flickr Page and view over 20,000 Sauk County vintage photos www.flickr.com/photos/ sauk_county_historical_society/ albums

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt, Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Jim Weickgenant, Treasurer - Baraboo

531 Fourth Avenue, Baraboo

Friday-Saturday, Noon to 4 pm

History Center 900 2nd Avenue, Baraboo

Wednesday-Saturday, Noon to 4 pm

Free Admission!

Occupancy limited.

www.saukcountyhistory.org

Chuck Ecklund – LaValle

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Seth Taft – Baraboo

Kristin White Eagle – Baraboo STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

Old Sauk Trails • July/August 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum 531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds - Sat (608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

July/August 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Apse, Guntis – Baraboo

Armstrong, Myrna – Meadow Lakes, TX

Buglass, Tracy – Deerfield

Bulin, Elgin – Baraboo

Caflisch, Craig – Baraboo

Christiansen, George – Baraboo

Darling, Edna – Sun Prairie

Desotell, Laurence – Sturgeon Bay

Etzwiler, Nijole – Baraboo

Ferstl, Judi – Plain

Harvey, Heidi – Waltham, MA

Hasheider, Philip – Sauk City

Heberlein, Nancy – Middleton

Honer, Luanne – Lime Ridge

Jackson, Linda – Madison

Jones, Kenneth – Baraboo

Kelly, Nick – Baraboo

Kimpfbeck, Kenlyn – Wisconsin Dells

McArthur, Joan – Baraboo

McWilliams, Betty – La Valle

Michals, Patricia – Baraboo

Palm, Michael – Baraboo

Riedel, Sarah – Hillpoint

Thiessen, Betty – Baraboo

Vorndran, Jan – Oregon

Weston, Judy – Baraboo

Weston, Linda – Spooner

Williams, Susan Burton – Waukesha

Zick, Allegra – North Freedom

FAMILY

Beckwith, Kandie – Baraboo

Berndt, Jack & Jody – Prairie du Sac

Clam, Joe & Suzie – Rock Springs

Groeneweg, Tom & Diane – Baraboo

Huffaker, Buddy & Marcy – Baraboo

Johnson, Bob & Julie – Reedsburg

Liebman, Todd – Sierra Vista, AZ

Luther, Doug & Linda – Greenwood

Village, CO

Martinek, Marsha – Lone Rock

Mohar, Warren & Linda – Baraboo

Owens, Peter – Baraboo

FRIEND

Bock, Susan – Carmel, IN

Bronkalla, Joyce – Baraboo

Davenport, John & Elizabeth –Shorewood, MN

Dietz, John & Wessie – Rock Springs

Genovese, Thomas & Doris – Baraboo

Gosewehr, Kathy – Baraboo

Hanskett, Paula – Baraboo

Hazard, Bryant – Baraboo

Johnson, William P, Jr – Dallas, TX

Kaney, Gay – Baraboo

McCluskey, Martin – Plain

Schellenberger, Alice – Baraboo

Schulz, Deanna – Baraboo

Steinhorst, Gaylon & Shirley – Baraboo

Washam, Paul & Judy – Baraboo

Wolter, Geraldine – Baraboo

Woodbury, Harry – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Francois, Wayne & Joan – Baraboo

Greenwood, Jim & Bernadette – Baraboo

Kratochwill, Tom & Carol – Merrimac

LaCombe, Charles & Kathleen – Baraboo

McCoy/Olson, Larry/Keri – Baraboo

Murray, Mary Ellen – Baraboo

Seifert, Mike & Laurie – Middleton

Smith, Yvonne & Family – Baraboo

(In memory of Walter Smith)

PATRON

Barganz, Ron & Lynda – Baraboo

Campbell, John & Susan – Wisconsin Dells

Christin, Barbara – Washington Grove, MD

Madland, Tom & Nancy – Baraboo

Moon, Clyde G – Baraboo

BENEFACTOR

Burgi, Karl & Melanie – Baraboo

BUSINESS – INDIVIDUAL

Mirror Lake Association – Lake Delton

BUSINESS – SPONSOR

Bank of Wisconsin Dells – Wisconsin

Dells

Statz Mechanical – Rock Springs

1- YEAR COURTESY

Kailian, Shawn – Baraboo

Owen, Amethyst – Baraboo

Drive Into History - October 8 SCHS Annual Meeting and Fall Picnic

THE 2020 Annual Meeting of the Sauk County Historical Society will be a little bit different this year as we make a little of our own history with our first ever “drive-in” annual meeting and fall picnic. Members and guests are asked to attend in the comfort of their own automobiles at the historic Sauk County Fairgrounds in Baraboo. Instead of a banquet buffet, delicious boxed meals from Geffert’s Catering will be served drive-thru style. The meeting and presentation will be given via loudspeaker and video projection on the west wall of the grandstand. The evening will include a few games and door prizes before the election of board members, financial report and the year in review. The keynote presentation on the amazing life and legacy of Ho-Chunk Chief Wakajazi, the Yellow Thunder, will be given by SCHS Executive Director Paul Wolter. In 1909 the Society, then four years old, created the Yellow Thunder Memorial, which still exists today north of Baraboo, to commemorate the chief and his wife, Washington Woman. A leader of the treaty-resisting band of Ho-Chunk, Yellow Thunder walked back to Wisconsin with his wife after they were forcibly removed west of the Mississippi in 1840. Several years later he purchased forty acres of land in the Town of Delton which became a haven for his family and other Ho-Chunk. Despite thirty-four years of repeated attempts to remove the Ho-Chunk, the actions of Chief Yellow Thunder and others ensured that many Ho-Chunk would remain on their ancestral homeland. Today the Ho-Chunk Nation is the largest employer in Sauk County.

The drive-in picnic and meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8th with dinner beginning

at 6 pm and the meeting to follow at 7 pm. Please enter using the west entrance to the fairgrounds on Washington Avenue and park facing the back of the grandstand.

Don’t miss this historic and fascinating evening. You can make your reservation at the SCHS website (saukcountyhistory.org) or by using the form included in this newsletter. Reservations and payment are due by October 1.

Chief Wakajazi, the Yellow Thunder, was a leader in the Ho-Chunk Tribe determined to remain on ancestral lands. His story of perseverance and determination mirrored that of the Ho-Chunk people.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 12

SAUK County will celebrate its second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 12 with activities near the site of a former Ho-Chunk village on Baraboo’s southeast side. The village was located near Council and Water Streets which was also the site of earthen burial mounds built by earlier indigenous people approximately 1,000 – 2,000 years ago. Two new interpretive panels are being installed along the Riverwalk in Baraboo to mark the site of the mounds and village. A bench with a quote from Ho-Chunk Chief Naaga Keramani will be placed near the panels, along with native plants. The site is located along Water Street near the northeast corner of the Circus World Museum parking lot.

A dedication ceremony for the new interpretive panels and bench will take place on Monday, October 12 at 1 pm with parking and plenty of room for social distancing in the Circus World parking lot. After the program, guests will be invited to cross the new Baraboo River Riverwalk Bridge which will be festooned with artwork from Sauk County elementary students. Guests can then follow the Riverwalk around the giant bend in the river known as the “lower oxbow.” Along the Riverwalk temporary signs will create a timeline of the Ho-Chunk people and lead the way back to the interpretive panel site.

The Society is proud to partner with Sauk County, the Ho-Chunk Nation, the City of Baraboo and Circus World Museum to celebrate Sauk County’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day with the creation and installation of the new interpretive panels and site. For more information check out the Society’s website at www.saukcountyhistory.org

AS of September 16th, the History Center at 900 Second Avenue in Baraboo is open Wednesday through Friday from noon to 4 pm and Saturdays by appointment.

The Historical Museum at 531 Fourth Avenue is open until the end of October on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 pm.

Baraboo’s House of Seven Gables turned 160 years old in August. The house was originally built in 1860 for banker Terrell Thomas and his family and was designed in the Carpenter Gothic Style which used scroll cut wood ornamentation. Since 1966 the house has been owned by its current and longest residents, Ralph and Pam Krainik, who have lovingly cared for and restored the house. The house has appeared in several magazines including Old House Journal, TV shows and numerous newspaper articles. In 2010 the house was featured in a lavishly illustrated book titled Wisconsin’s Own: Twenty Remarkable Homes written by Louis Wasserman. This picture of the house and recently finished wood fence built by Ralph Krainik was taken by renowned architectural photographer Eric Oxendorf who is working on an exhibit of historic Sauk County homes. The photographic exhibit is being produced by a grant from the Wisconsin Architects Foundation and will debut later this year.

Upcoming Events

SCHS Annual Meeting and Fall Picnic Drive Into History!

October 8, 6 pm

Sauk County Fairgrounds, Baraboo

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

October 12, 1 pm

Baraboo Riverwalk

Park at Circus World Museum

White Eagle and Vaillancourt Given Leadership Award

SCHS Board Members Kristin White Eagle and Bev Vaillancourt were awarded the Sauk County Leadership Award by the Sauk County Institute of Leadership (SCIL). Since 2005, SCIL has presented the award to residents or organizations that have exhibited exemplary communication skills and the ability to empower and motivate others. Award recipients are passionate people with the ability to spark enthusiasm, create a common vision, and make Sauk County a great place to live, work and play. Kristin White Eagle is a Ho-Chunk Nation Legislator and a Sauk County Board Supervisor and is a member of the SCHS Sacred Sites Committee

which makes recommendations and policies on the Society’s three sites related to Indigenous People including Man Mound National Historic Landmark, Yellow Thunder Memorial and the Hulburt Creek Garden Beds. Bev Vaillancourt is a life-long educator, community volunteer and former La Valle Town Chair. Vaillancourt is currently the SCHS Vice President, Chair of the Education Committee and creates and manages the Society’s online presence including the SCHS website, app, and eNewlsetter. The Society congratulates both White Eagle and Vaillancourt for winning the award and thanks them for their service to SCHS and Sauk County.

Kristin White Eagle, left, was elected in 2017 as one of 13 Ho-Chunk Nation legislators and is serving her third term as a Sauk County Supervisor. White Eagle joined the SCHS Board of Directors in the fall of 2019 and serves on the Sacred Sites Committee helping create policy and plans for the Society’s three rural properties related to Indigenous People. Beverly Vaillancourt, right, served as the town chair for La Valle from 2011 to 2015. Vaillancourt was elected to the SCHS Board of Directors in 2018, coming back after previously serving for several years, and also serves on the board of the Friends of the Baraboo River. Vaillancourt is the co-founder and designer for PowerUp Design and PowerUp Learning and voluntarily creates and manages the websites of SCHS, People Helping People, Sauk County Institute of Leadership, and Baraboo Area Senior Citizen Organization.

Executive Director’s Report

I am very excited to be able to list some events in this newsletter. As the pandemic continues, it has truly brought to mind how much we are social creatures. Last year I was able to give 25 in-person presentations. This year the number is 3 which I delivered before the pandemic started. I don’t need to tell anyone that this year has been challenging, but another way to look at it is that this year has been historic. Many things will change because of 2020 from the way people work (the future holds a lot more people working from home) to how we shop (online sales have been bigger than ever) to how children are schooled (home schooling is on the rise). Our Annual Meeting will look different this year but we have found a way to keep it safe and even enjoyable with our “drive-in” meeting at the fairgrounds. Four days after the Annual Meeting and Fall Picnic we will help celebrate

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt, Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Chuck Ecklund – LaValle

Pam Krainik – Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Seth Taft – Baraboo

Kristin White Eagle – Baraboo

STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Sauk County with the unveiling of two interpretive panels and a bench along the Baraboo Riverwalk. This event will be held outdoors to allow for social distancing and a chance to walk part of the Baraboo Riverwalk. Less than two months later, the Van Orden Mansion will open for the Christmas season with a different format this year. All of the wonderful decorating will be in place for the first two weekends in December for self-guided tours based on timeentry reservations. I look forward to being able to offer some Christmas cheer later this year as we celebrate “Christmas Across America.” Some of the decorators have been working on their decorations since January, so they look forward to sharing them with you. I look forward to seeing them as well and seeing many of you at our Annual Meeting at the fairgrounds.

The Museum and History Center are Open!

531

Wednesday-Saturday,

MONETARY DONATIONS

July-August 2020

Marjorie Abel

Carl Alexander

Clifford & Susan Anderson

Gregory & Sandra Anderson

Annette Baker

David Bauman

Carol Baumgarten

Jeanette Beard

Robert & Lynda Bennin

John Bennin

Gib & Gail Bird

Dorothy Boxhorn

Jean Brew

John & Ann Burton

Janice Caflisch

Fred & Anita Dahlinger

Ted Danube

James DeLacour

William & Gretchen Dresen

Bill & Laurie Dummer

Nijole Etzwiler

Judi Ferstl

Marjorie Fitzgerald

Carol Fleishauer

Robert & Rosa Fleming

Thomas Rex & Charlene Flygt

Julie Foxx

Robert & Chris Frenz

Rodney Girkin

Dave & Joanne Gorak

Ken & Mary Grant

James & Bernadette

Greenwood

Matt & Joan Hart

Forrest Hartmann

Richard & Kitty Hause

Julie Hearley & Stuart Koehler

James Herrick

Alice Hinz

Sue Johnson

Jim Kieffer

David & Hilda Kuter

Ken & Esther Lange

Joan Litscher

Andrea & James Lombard

Sharon McArthur

Warren & Linda Mohar

Nancy Nelson

Mary Orlowski

David & Diane Pietenpol

In Memory of Bill Schellenberger

Guy Porth

Paula Rice

Richard Ringelstetter

David SaLoutos

Craig & Bonnie Sauey

William Schuette

Beverly Simonds

Tom & Noralee Slezak

Don & Mary Small

Sergei & Elena Smirenski

Norma Sophie

Bea & Roman Statz

Steve Statz

Marcia Swanson

Colleen Terbilcox

Barbara Vester

Barbara Vodak

Judy Waterman

Frank & Mariana Weinhold

Geraldine Wolter

Al Schroeder & Jean Wendt

Allegra Zick

Karen Zimmerman

Duane, Karen, Michael & Melissa Radke

In Memory of Bob Brown

David & Carolyn Dallman

Thank you to everyone who gave to SCHS during our year-end appeal! Our fiscal year ended on August 31 and your gifts helped us end this “historic” year strong!

Did you know? The Sauk County Historical Society has an endowment fund at the Greater Sauk Community Foundation. The fund was created several years thanks to a long-time faithful member and provides operating income every year. By having the fund at the community foundation the principal can be invested along with many other funds to provide for a greater return. If you would like to donate to the endowment fund or in another way please go to saukcountyhistory.org and click on SUPPORT on any page. Thank you!

www.saukcountyhistory.org

Old Sauk Trails • September/October 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum

531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat. History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds-Fri., Sat. by appointment

(608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

September/October 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Anstett, Kelly Lynn – Baraboo

Baumgarten, Carol – N Freedom

Bayerl, Holly – Menominee, MI

Blau, Connie – Waunakee

Blegen, Jodi – Katy, TX

Dupont, Nancy – Oregon

Effinger, Ann – Tucson, AZ

Eilertson, Orie – Merrimac

Erickson, Jennifer – Sauk City

Fitzgerald, Marjorie – Baraboo

Hayes, Dottie – Baraboo

Hyzer, Cornelius – Reedsburg

Larson, Mary – Wisconsin Dells

Marini, Gladys – Baraboo

McArthur, Joan – Baraboo

Mordini, Shelley – Baraboo

Smith, Jean – Baraboo

Sprecher, Leonard – La Valle

Zins, Mary – Sauk City

FAMILY

Calabrese, Anthony & Kathryn – Baraboo

Chiquoine, Stephen & Eleanor – Reedsburg

Clemens, Inger – Wisconsin Dells

Greenhalgh, William & Marlys – N Freedom

Hallanger, Kay – Baraboo

Higgins, Christine – Baraboo

Martin, Paul & Nichelle – Baraboo

Murphey, Louise – Richland Center

Nieuwenhuis, Cliff, Debra & Kip – Baraboo

Olsen, Craig & Mim – Baraboo

Phelps, Larry & Jan – Rock Springs

Schwarzenbart, Paul & Cheryl – Reedsburg

Sessler, Dan & Bobbie – Baraboo

Wilcox, Duane & Joan – Baraboo

FRIEND

Dorner, Tom & Teri – Baraboo

Erlandson, Virgil & Cheryl – Hagerstown, MD

Fordham, Joan – Baraboo

Herbst, Erich & Jean – Lake Delton

Holt, Mike & Sandi – Baraboo

Jauch, Bob & Allison – Baraboo

Krainik, Ralph & Pam – Baraboo

Kuter, David & Hilda – Madison

McCormick, Terrence & Barbara – Baraboo

McCumber, Tim & Pamela – Merrimac

Mede, Gary, Eleanor & Kari – Normal, IL

Pieper, August & Beverley – Madison

Steiger, Harold – Beach Park, IL

Thomas, Earl & Diane – Baraboo

White Eagle, Kristin – Baraboo

Wozniak, Mark & Bridget – N Freedom

Young, Paul – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Cady, Ken & Carla – Baraboo

Cotter, Jim & Marianne – Baraboo

Geoghegan, Seamus & Elizabeth – Baraboo

Gorak, Dave & Joanne – La Valle

Hays, Mark & Beth – Baraboo

Hotzel, Bernard & Roberta – Baraboo

Jenks, Linda – Baraboo

Martinek, Mollie – San Diego, CA

May, David & Kathy – Baraboo

McNabb, John & Rikki – Baraboo

O’Neill, James – Baraboo

Pietenpol, David & Diane – Suamico

Putz, Gene & Karen – Gorham, ME

Roltgen, Bob & Gretchen - Baraboo

Rundio, Steve & Libby – Baraboo

Schnitzler, Roger & Melissa – WI Dells

Slattery, James – Mazomanie

Slezak, Tom & Noralee – Hyattsville, MD

Thurow, Dennis & Mary Kathleen – Baraboo

Vaillancourt, Robert & Beverly – La Valle

Wolcott, Mike – Hartland

PATRON

Bullard, Patricia – Reedsburg

Costerisan, Francis & Joan – Hendersonville, NC

Jauch, Phil – Baraboo

Larsen, Gene & Mona – Baraboo

Litscher, Pat – Madison

Umhoefer, Aural – Baraboo

BENEFACTOR

Evenson, James & Karen – Baraboo

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Don-Rick, Inc. – Baraboo

Pemberton & Englund Law Offices – Baraboo

Wormfarm Institute – Reedsburg

Society Acquires Baraboo Depot

ON Friday, October 23, the Society became the owner of Baraboo’s historic train depot when the family of Gordon and Ann Glorch including children

Sally Glorch, Susan Elieff, and Gordon Glorch and grandchildren and great grandchildren turned over ownership. Situated on Baraboo’s south side on Lynn Street, the depot has been mostly dormant since passenger service ended in 1963. The building was Baraboo’s central transportation hub for many years after it was built in 1902 at which time as many as sixteen passenger trains a day passed through the city. Hundreds of thousands of people passed through this gateway to the city embarking and disembarking from its original 300-foot-long canopy. The inside of the building offered separate men’s and women’s waiting rooms, a restaurant and baggage storage rooms located on the first floor. The second floor contained offices for the Madison Division of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. This set Baraboo apart as it was the headquarters for nearly 500 miles of track between Madison,

Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota. When the depot / office building was built, Baraboo was home to nearly 400 railroad employees including brakemen, firemen, conductors, engineers, dispatchers, repairmen and management staff. After the building was no longer used as a depot, it was converted into a warehouse and its threehundred-foot passenger canopy was removed. The depot-division headquarters is the only remaining building in Baraboo related to the operation of the Chicago & North Western Railroad, which was the largest employer in Sauk County for many years and a major force in the growth and development of Sauk County.

In the immediate future the building will be covered with a temporary rubber roof as the building is inspected and plans are prepared for restoration. Future ideas for the building include space for exhibits including a display on railroad history, community gatherings and historic presentations.

The SCHS Board realizes that many challenges come with the restoration of this wonderful historic building, the first of which is fundraising. To that end, a fundraising effort has started on the Society’s website. The Society enthusiastically looks forward to the preservation of the old depot and the sharing of its amazing history as the project unfolds.

Baraboo’s historic depot and division headquarters building was built in 1902 by the Chicago & North Western Railroad which was the largest employer in Sauk County for many years. The building will be restored for a variety of uses.

Christmas at the Mansion!

December 4, 5, 6, 12 & 13

THE Society will host Christmas at the Van Orden Mansion this year with a different format from years past but with all of the warmth, charm, and holiday cheer. Reserved tours of the mansion will be available beginning on Friday, December 4 which will be a members-only tour night followed by two weekends of self-guided tour opportunities. Guests will find the mansion decorated to the theme of “Christmas across America.” Each of the 11 fresh trees in the mansion will be decorated to represent a city, state, region or other aspects of the United States like the Big Apple, the Southwest and Route 66. Lead decorators this year include Amy Terbilcox, Lindy Larsen, Gretchen Roltgen, Dave SaLoutos, Laurie Dummer, Nicole Morris, Kathy Calabrese, Paul Wolter, Bekah Kate Stelling, Maday Delgado and Cindy Doescher. SaLoutos will be creating an entire room showcasing Christmas “Made in the U.S.A.” which will focus on American made electric light sets, glass ornaments, garlands, tinsel icicles, Mica snow, tree toppers, putz houses,

ornament hooks, Evergleam Aluminum trees, and other decorations produced in the United States from the 1890s to the 1970s. Music will be provided as well as homemade holiday goodies for each guest to take home.

Event sponsors this year include the Bank of Wisconsin Dells, MBE CPAs and MBE Wealth Management LLC. Tree sponsors include Baraboo State Bank, Bekah Kate’s, Community First Bank, Wisconsin River Title Consultants, Meyer Insurance, Terrytown Plumbing, Shields Fireside, Cross, Jenks, Mercer & Maffei LLP, and Weickgenant Accounting.

Admission this year is free to all SCHS members. The ticket price for non-members is $7 with children ages 12 and under admitted free. Tour times will start every 15 minutes and can be reserved online at the Society’s website. www. saukcountyhistory.org Come enjoy the wonder of the Christmas season at the Van Orden Mansion this year as we celebrate Christmas across America!

Man Mound and Yellow Thunder Master Plans Online

THROUGHOUT most of 2020, the SCHS Sacred Sites Committee has been working with staff from the Sauk County Land, Resources and Environment Department to create master plans for Man Mound National Historic Landmark and Yellow Thunder Memorial. Both properties are owned by SCHS but maintained by the Sauk County Parks Department. The master plans will set forth the vision, policies, and procedures for these two properties for years to come. The public is invited to comment on the plans which can be found on the Society’s website. www.saukcountyhistory.org

Annual Meeting Notes

THE Society’s annual meeting was held on October 8th at the Sauk County Fairgrounds in Baraboo. Instead of the typical buffet dinner a drive-through fall picnic was handed out by Geffert’s Catering followed by a drive-in style meeting next to the back of the grandstand which served as a projection screen. Seventy-five members attended in about forty-five cars. The business meeting was presided over by SCHS President Mona Larsen, minutes from 2019 and the treasurer’s report were approved and the election for board members was held. The

board seats of Mona Larsen, Bev Vaillancourt and Pam Krainik expired that evening. The nominating committee chaired by Bill Schuette nominated Mona Larsen, Bev Vaillancourt and Nicole Morris and the same were elected to the board. After the business meeting, a year in review presentation was given by executive director Paul Wolter followed by a presentation on Chief Yellow Thunder. The Society would like to thank the Sauk County Agricultural Society for free use of the fairgrounds.

The Society’s annual meeting was held as a drive-in event at the Sauk County Fairgrounds with the back of the grandstand serving as a projection screen.

SCHS Board Changes and Election of Officers

This fall the Society welcomes two new board members while thanking four who have left the board over the last year. Steve Argo, Jim Weickgenant and Myrna Weickgenant have stepped down over the past year and Pam Krainik did not run for re-election at the annual meeting. Steve Argo was elected in 2015 and was responsible for the WWI Tuscania Memorial which was dedicated in 2018 in lower Ochsner Park. Jim Weickgenant was elected in 2015 and also served on the board from 2010 to 2013. Both times he served as SCHS Treasurer. Myrna Weickgenant was elected in 2015 and was a volunteer educator for many years in area schools with the Society’s 4th grade Sauk County Investigators program which has reached thousands of kids with local history. Pam Krainik served on the board for over 20 years. She has sent thousands of hand-written thank you notes for all donations of artifacts and has been the Christmas cookie coordinator for many years. She has also hosted SCHS Board meetings and fundraising dinners at her home, the House of Seven Gables. The Society would like to thank Steve, Jim, Myrna and Pam for their respective years of service to SCHS.

Karen Zimmerman was elected by the board

in September to fill the seat vacated by Steve Argo. Zimmerman is a lifelong resident of Baraboo and has been an SCHS volunteer for many years. She graduated from UW Platteville with a BSA in business. She worked for Flambeau Plastics before working for Evco Plastics in DeForest as a project manager and technical buyer. She retired in 2018 after 30 years and now volunteers weekly at the history center.

Nicole Morris was elected to the SCHS board at the annual meeting. She currently works for Sauk County Human Services with the Medication Assisted Treatment program. Nicole graduated with a BA degree from Alverno College in Milwaukee, where she majored in history. During her studies she completed an internship with Trimborn Farm, a historic site museum, operated by the Milwaukee County Historical Society. Nicole went on to get her master’s degree from Alverno College in community psychology.

At the SCHS Board of Directors October meeting the following officers were elected: Mona Larsen, president; Bev Vaillancourt, vice-president; Chuck Ecklund, treasurer; and Bill Schuette, secretary.

Karen Zimmerman joined the SCHS board in September. Nicole Morris joined the SCHS board in October.

Executive Director’s Report?

AS one of the oldest local historical societies in the state, the Sauk County Historical Society has a long and unique history that is filled with certain watershed moments. One of them was in 1907 when the fledgling group, with the help of others, took the bold move to purchase the property where the Man Mound is located. Another one was in 1937 when the Society purchased the Van Orden Mansion for use as a museum during the midst of the Great Depression. A third moment came in late 2006 when the former Island Woolen Mill office building was turned over to SCHS for a dollar. Seven years later it opened as the Sauk County History Center. Now a new moment is upon us with the acquisition of the historic Baraboo depot. The building is only a few years older than the Society itself, having opened in 1902. Now if I may make a personal comment, ironically this is the same year that the house I live in with my wife Ann was built. To top it off the original owner, William Hatch, was a railroad engineer who would have witnessed

Our Board and Staff

Mona Larsen, Society President - Baraboo

Beverly Vaillancourt, Vice President – La Valle

Bill Schuette, Recording Secretary – Reedsburg

Chuck Ecklund, Treasurer – LaValle

Karen Zimmerman - Baraboo

Nicole Morris - Baraboo

Beverly Simonds - Baraboo

Seth Taft – Baraboo

Kristin White Eagle – Baraboo

STAFF

Paul Wolter, Executive Director – Baraboo

Rebecca DuBey, Curator – Baraboo

Linda Levenhagen, Office/Research Mgr., Bookkeeper – Baraboo

the new depot going up along with his house. Both were vast improvements over the buildings they replaced, for both the old depot and the old Hatch house were moved to make way for their replacements. As we sit in our living room, Ann and I have discussed the conversations that took place there regarding railroad affairs and even the new historical society that started in 1905. William Hatch and his wife Johanna were early members and even hosted meetings of the Society at their home, in our living room! That is what I love about local history. The fact that it is local. Those things happened right here. Plenty of things happened at the Baraboo depot too. People left for trips around the world or welcomed home a soldier. Others took a quick jaunt to Madison to go shopping for the day while still others welcomed the arrival of their new motor car which was unloaded into the freight room. The depot will have many stories to tell when it is restored. It will take much time, money, and effort, but in the end, we will be able to look back at it as another watershed moment for the Sauk County Historical Society. I look forward to looking back and I hope you do to!

Member Survey Online

THE Society is asking all members to participate in a member survey which can be accessed online at the SCHS website – www. saukcountyhistory.org Click on SURVEY on the top of any page. This survey will help guide the Society with membership development strategies.

Email addresses are a vital way for us to stay connected. Does the Society have yours? Please be sure to keep us updated so we can keep you informed. Email us at history@saukcountyhistory.org

MONETARY DONATIONS

September-October, 2020

Dolores Bahr

Annette Baker

John & Ann Burton

Val Doherty

Joe & Kathy Houzner

Jerry & Jeanette Jessop

Sylvia Kriegl

John McKnight

Nancy Nelson

Dave & Diane Pietenpol

Kathy Steckelberg

Marcia Swanson

Mark Wente

Sauk County’s second annual Indigenous Peoples Day was held on Monday, October 12th along the Riverwalk in Baraboo where the presence of over 100 earthen burial mounds and a Ho-Chunk village were acknowledged. Two new interpretive panels were unveiled along with a bench bearing a quotation from Ho-Chunk Chief Naaga Keramani. The panels were unveiled by descendants of Chief Naaga including Colin Carrimon, seated, and his family of La Crosse. The panels include QR codes which can be used through mobile devices to access oral history about Keramani and the effigy mounds that once existed in the Mound Street area. The event, interpretive panels, and bench were provided through funds from Sauk County and the Ho-Chunk Nation along with in-kind donations from the Sauk County Historical Society, the City of Baraboo and Circus World Museum. Seated is Colin Carrimon, his son, David Carrimon, and Colin’s grandson, Jack Vikeras.

Yellow Thunder Memorial

Valerie McAuliff

Depot Restoration

Carlton Caflisch

Todd Liebman

James O’Neill

Mary Orlowski

Robert & Bev Vaillancourt

In Honor of the Larsen Family

Dave & Bevra Cole

www.saukcountyhistory.org

Old Sauk Trails • November/December 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society publishes Old Sauk Trails six times each year.

Editor: Bill Schuette • Production: Minuteman Press

The Sauk County Historical Society and Museum

531 Fourth Ave. • PO Box 651 • Baraboo, WI 53913

Van Orden Mansion open May-Oct. 12-4 p.m. Fri. & Sat. History Center, 900 2nd Ave., Open 12-4 p.m. Weds-Fri., Sat. by appointment

(608) 356.1001 • history@saukcountyhistory.org

www.saukcountyhistory.org

(608) 356-1001

November/December 2020

The Sauk County Historical Society

900 Second Avenue

P.O. Box 651

Baraboo, WI 53913

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

New & Renewed Members

THANK YOU TO THESE MEMBERS WHO HAVE JOINED OR RENEWED SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER

INDIVIDUAL

Allen County Library – Fort Wayne, IN

Anderson, Alan – Baraboo

Argo, Steve – Wisconsin Dells

Boxhorn, Dorothy – Mukwonago

Brice, Judy M. – Baraboo

Burtch, Karen – Hartford

Capener, Debby – Portage

Dailey, Paul – Madison

Daley, Virginia – Eatonton, GA

Ebert, John – Watertown

Ellickson, Charles – Bloomington, MN

Griffith, Bob – Baraboo

Haggarty, Patrick – Berkeley, CA

Harvey, Heidi – Baraboo

Hawkins, Daniel – N. Redington Beach, FL

Hutchins, Bill – Wisconsin Dells

Klipp, Janet – Reedsburg

Larsen, Lindy – Baraboo

Letizia, Bruce – Portage

Murray, Dennis – Reedsburg

Olsen, Bill – Baraboo

Oppliger, Kay – Oshtemo, MI

Peters, Norma Jean – Reedsburg

Pfaff, Morgan – Lomira

Quale, Marilyn – Baraboo

Richards, Terry – Walnut Creek, CA

Roser, Catherine – Rose Creek, MN

Setwyn, Eugene – Reedsburg

Stanley, Fred – Northfield, MN

Stieve, Rachel – Baraboo

Templin, Faye – Baraboo

VanAllen, Mary – Bloomington, IL

FAMILY

Brining, Howard & Carla – Baraboo

Casey, Dave & Barb Brown – La Valle

Doepke, Bob & Carolyn – Baraboo

Heide, Peter & Susan – Baraboo

Johnsen, Bill & Deb – Baraboo

Klaetsch, Walter & Debra – North Freedom

Klett, J – Mazomanie

Kutzbach, John & Gisela – Madison

Mara, Fran & Trudy – Baraboo

Mering, Doug & Katy – Baraboo

O’Donnell, Scott – Baraboo

Plautz, Michael – Baraboo

Rice, Mark & Dorothy – Portage

Roznos, Sheila – Baraboo

Schider, Russ & Terri – Baraboo

Schwegel, Rod & Christi – Mazomanie

Snyder, Jason & Kristy – Baraboo

Stephen, Ron & Lyn – Poynette

Stewart, Bruce & Jennifer – Baraboo

Young, John A & Tonia – Baraboo

FRIEND

Alt, John & Jean – Baraboo

Bahe, Garry & Gale – Merrimac

Bird, Gib & Gail – Baraboo

Bosshard, Chris, Maureen, Jennifer – Lake Delton

Cole, Don – DeForest

Cummings, Gary & Pam – Baraboo

Danube, Ted – Merrimac

Doherty, Val – Hopkins, MN

Geisler, Thomas – Cottage Grove, MN

Gogue, Buddy & Sue – Baraboo

Huber, Lola – Baraboo

Kaul, Tom & Joan – Baraboo

Kolb, Kathleen – La Valle

Krugman, Evelyn – Madison

Marsh, William – San Diego, CA

Morris, Nicole – Baraboo

Nolden, Timothy & Katherine – Baraboo

Ochsner, Carl & Vicky – Chico, CA

Small, Don & Mary – Baraboo

Taft, Seth – Oxford

Waddell, JoEllen – Baraboo

Weitzel, Ken – Spring Green

Williams, Dale & Donna – Baraboo

Wolter, Geraldine – Baraboo

SPONSOR

Brew, Jean – Wisconsin Dells

Burton, John & Ann – Baraboo

Goetz, Gary – Baraboo

Hause, Richard & Kitty – Baraboo

Holzem, Bob & Gayla – Baraboo

Isenberg, Ann – Bow, NH

Jenks, Tom & Sue – Baraboo

Kriegl, Sylvia – Baraboo

Lowe, Aaron & Angela – Reedsburg

Nelson, Nancy – Waupaca

Pointon, Alonna – Baraboo

Schell, Dennis – Indianapolis, IN

Schwartz, Lester – Kimberton, PA

Zimmerman, Donald – Baraboo

PATRON

Baldwin, David & Sherry – Baraboo

Blackburn, Ray & Debbie – Baraboo

Fleming, Robert & Rosa – Baraboo

Simonds, Beverly – Baraboo

VAN ORDEN CIRCLE

Dana, Richard & Jane – North Freedom

BUSINESS SPONSOR

Hill’s Wiring, Inc. – Baraboo