Amberg: The First 100 Years, 1890-1990

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AMBERG THE FIRST 100 YEAltS

1890-1990

The Amberg Historical Society has compiled this book of stories, pictures, and family histories for publication as the second "History of Amberg." Club members and others outside the club have been working for several months to collect, sort, and edit this information. With the exception of a few family pictures, those in the book are all reprints from the large collection on display in our Museum. We hop(} that you will enjoy reading about the Amberg of 100 years ago and understand the feeling of deep pride we have for this community.

INTRODUCTION

The earliest history of Wisconsin, and thus Amberg is not recorded. It began with the Indians who inhabited the northern forests before the white man came to North America. Wisconsin was first part of the vast territories claimed by the French, who were the first white men in this part of the world. Later England challenged France's right to Canada and the Northwest Territories, and the French were driven out. England ruled in Wisconsin and other parts of the Northwest Territories for a short time. In 1783, as part of the settlement of the Revolutionary War, the British ceded the Northwest Territories, including what is now Wisconsin, to the Atlantic Coast colonies who were forming what is now the United States of America. However, the British did not live up to their agreement, and retained control until the War of 1812, when they were driven out. Canada, of course, remained a part of the British Empire. The Northwest Territory consisted of six states, including Wisconsin. The Northwest ordinance - the act that set up the territory in 1787 - provided it's various regions would be governed by the U.S. Federal government until they were ready to become states. Before Wisconsin became a state, it was part of Indiana territory, Illinois territory, Michigan territory and eventually became Wisconsin. In 1848 Congress approved the bill making Wisconsin the 30th state of the Union. Its population at that time was 250,000. Today the population is nearly 5,000,000. In this northern area of Wisconsin, Mother Nature worked overtime to provide opportunities for future settlers to be successful and to provide fo r their livelihood. The vast numbers of rivers furnished a source of water for logging , which was a major industry. Now these rivers give us a source of recreation - swimming, boating and fishing. The accompanying map of the Menominee River Basin provides a picture of the water systems of the northern portions of Wisconsin and Michigan which have helped make this history a reality. It has been said that pioneers learned to dream w ith their eyes open. Without these dreams the Town of Amberg might never have been.

- so READ - ENJOY - REMINISCE

u.s.1{ were very expensive, and after several hundreds of dollars had been spent, a few days of soft weather ruined the roads and the crew had to wait for another cold snap and redo the roads, at considerably more expense. During this year Joe Smeester had 100,000 feet of pine at Holmes Crossing, 300,000 feet at the other sites, 16,000 pieces of lagging to be used in mines in Michigan, 19

60,000 cedar posts, 3,000 cedar poles, 300 cords of spruce pulpwood and 1,000 railroad ties. He had 2 camps with 30 men employed. Vic Smeester had 20 men and 6 teams and banked 1,500,000 feet of white pine for Holmes & Son. F. C. Bettinger began the season's cut under favorable conditions with 48,000 shingles per day. The mill ran full blast, night and day. He also cut 500,000 feet of lumber. And Vic DeKuester's teams were hauling 700 to 1300 cedar poles at a load. In 1901 George Robinson furnished 250 carloads of mine timber for Chapin Mining Co. He also got out $400,000 feet of pine and $30,000 posts and poles. Land with timber on it was all around, and in 1901 Vic and William DeKuester purchased 18 forties of timber for cutting. But this winter proved to be mild and a number of camps broke up early. The warm weather spoiled the roads before some of the jobbers were through with their hauling. A. Stephenson reported more than 1,000,000 feet still on skids. In 1909 th e Menominee River Boom Company drove over 56,000,000 feet of logs, cedar and pulpwood, 20,000,000 less than the drive of the year before of 76,000,000. The 1909 drive was the smallest in the history of the Boom Company, the largest being in 1889 when a total of 642,000,000 feet of logs were sorted at the gaps. The 1909 drive consisted to 46,000,000 feet of logs, 10,000,000 feet of pulpwood. There were 1,000,000 feet on the Brule River, 2,500,000 on the Paint, 3,500,000 on the Michigamie, 200,000 on the Deer. 200,000 on the Fence, 2,000,000 on the Popple, 5,000,000 on the Sturgeon, 3,000,000 on Pine Creek, 3,500,000 on the Pine, 150,000 on the north branch of the Pike, and 4, 100,000 on the Pemene, besides other rivers. Between 1868 and 1908, 40 years in the history of the Boom Company, 10,554,000,000 feet of logs had been scaled by the Company.

This Camp was Built and Operated Quite a Few Years Before 1895. It Belonged to the Marinette Menominee River Boom Co. In the Spring it Housed and Fed River Drivers and the Rest of the Year, Summer and Fall, it Housed Maintenance Crews Repairing the Dams. This Camp was on the Pike River About 3/ 4 of a Mile West of Amberg. Often School Children on Their Way to School Would Stop for Cookies and Doughnuts.

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Logging Camp: 1 - Cook Mr. Pauly, 2 - Biii Hanaway and 3 - Wayne Page.

Frank DeKuester Logging Camp, About 1890or1900. Left to Right: Unknown, Alice Woodes, Tilly O'Born (These Were DeKuester Sisters), Unknown, Victor DeKuester, Frank DeKuester, Unknown, Vincent?, Cousin of Jossarts, Polidor DeKuester, Mose Jossart, Unknown, Desire DeKuester, Willie DeKuester, and Del O'Born.

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CHAPTER 5

The Village of Pike

My name is John Downing. I was born in Amberg in 1904. Thi s story is about some of the history of the Village of Pike, which later became Amberg. I am trying to show how important the timber industry was here and how the timber was moved from the land to the mills, and then to the markets in Chicago, St. Louis, and many other cities. My brother, Lisle Downing, who was born in 1902, furnished me with a lot of valuable information, as he spent many years in the employ of some of the big lumber companies as a scaler and buyer. The last fifteen years of his working days he was employed by Marinette County as a land man and cruiser. Many of the figures and much of the other material on river driving, dams. and maps came from the book "Logs on the Menominee," written many years ago by Fred Burke, an employee of the MarinetteMenominee Boom Company. Before the railroad came to the vil lage of Pike in 1884, the Boom Company had dams here for driving logs to the mills in Marinette and Menominee. The Menominee River had six dams. while the South Branch of the Pike River, the Brule River, and the Pine River each had four. There were three dams on the Main Pike and the North Branch of the Pike, and two each on the Michigamme River and Paint River. Even Shakey Creek had a dam. During the late 1800's demand for lumber was exceptionally strong as many midwest cities were growing very fast, and several new companies were formed to furnish this raw material. The North Ludington Company, owned by Issac Stephenson, was one. Afte r the logging was finished much of this land was take n over by the Skidmore Land Company. Ralph Skidmore was a son-in-law of Mr. Stephenson, and his wife, Mr. Stephenson's daug hter, inherited most of the property. While the town was still named "Pike," these lumber compan ies had large land holdings here, and the Amberg map of 1912 shows that the Ludington Company owned perhaps 50% of al l lands north and northeast of the town. and south of White Rapids. They also had large holdings in the Barker district and along the lower Pike River. They also owned many forties in the "B lack Sam" and Parent Dam areas. Seeing the need for unlimited amounts of lumber, the companies began buying large tracts of land throughout Marinette and Flo rence Counties in Wisconsin, and Menominee and other cou nt ies in Upper Mich igan. Sawyer Goodman Company logged a great deal of timber from Beecher Lake to Miscauno Creek on Highway "C." Eventually there were fifteen lumber companies and sawmills in Marinette and Menominee. In 1867 the Menominee River Boom Company was formed with permission from the states of Wisconsin and Michigan to build dams in the entire Menominee River 22

Dow Dam at the Foot of the Hill Past the Amberg Dump, Spring of 1895. Seven Million Feet o f Logs Went Through to Mills in Marinette and Menominee. This Was One of Four Dams on the North Branch of the Pike.

basin. As years passed, the Boom Company began building dams on the Menom inee River. This company stayed in business until 1927. The Pike River and its branches were very important to the sawmills in Marinette and Menominee because the village of Pike and the town of Dunbar were a great source of white pine, one of the best building materials when sawed into lumber, and dams continued to be bui lt on the North and Big South branches in the Towns of Dunbar and Goodman. Parent Dam was between the mouth of the Pike River and the Town of Pike. One dam west of town was called Dow Dam; one west of town on the North Branch was Roller Dam. Stoddard Dam was two miles west of Pike on the South Branch of the Pike River. The Village of Pike eventually had nine dams, with three on the Little South Branch. Those dams on the Little South were used for logs early in the spring, and also for a good water supply. In the early years, the timber was logged as far back from the rivers as they could reach with horses. The men stayed in logging camps, usually until after the river drives in the spring. The logs were hauled in the winter. One of the logging companies left a good sized camp on land that later belonged to Frank Dill, who built a home there. This land now belongs to the Beyers family. Tim Hollihan used this camp when he was logging in that neighborhood , and when the Van Vliet family moved to Amberg, this logging camp was their home. In the museum we have maps and information on some of the biggest camps operated by the big lumber companies and sawmills of Marinette and Menominee. We are gratefu l to Lisle Downing for furnishing us with the locations and information on most of them.

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River Drivers at Dow Dam: 4th From Left, Pat Reilly; 5th From Left , Frank McQueen; 7th from Left, ? Howarth.

The lumber companies established logging camps all along the rivers, and during the winter, the logs were hauled by horses and oxen to the river banks. In the spring when the water was high and the dams were ready, the logs were dumped into the rivers. The river drivers took over and the logs were transported by water to the mills at the mouth of the Menominee River. Logs had to be ready at the right time so the men could take advantage of the high water to get their logs to the mills. After the river driving was finished, and prior to 1867, the big logging companies turned over smaller jobs to local loggers, because it did not pay to build a camp for small amounts of timber. Amberg had quite a number of loggers. Some of these were the Wright brothers, Mr. Bettinger, Victor Late, Nat Nutt, Tim Hallihan, Pat Shea, Frank DeKuester, the Thompson brothers, Louis Redeman, Victor DeKuester, and Ph il Downing, who logged in Amberg and Armstrong Creek, and J. P. Mathis. One of the problems with the drives was that logs got mixed up. However, this was solved by having each sawmill and lumber company stamp their own identification mark on the end of each log, but not until after many fights and some lawsuits had occured.

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Besides the river operations, the Menominee Boom Company also had tugs and barges that took the lumber to Chicago. The tug took five barges on each trip, while five more were being loaded at the mills and five more were being unloaded in Chicago. As the distance from the timber to the river increased, it did not pay any more to haul logs fro m the source to the river. The river drives gradually moved from Marinette Cou nty to Florence County to the Popple, Pine, Brule, Paint, Rat, Fence, and Michigamme Airers. River drives continued from these rivers until 1927. The last river drive through Amberg was in 1913. The Amberg dams were dismantled in 1918, but the Menom inee River floated logs until 1927. Sawmil ls began operating on the Menominee River in 1831. The last sawmill closed July 31 , 1931, one hundred years later. In f ifty years, the Menominee River Boom Company t ran sported 10,608,229,506 feet of logs down the river to the mills in Marinette and Menominee. The Menominee River drainage area covered 4,000 square miles, extending to within twelve miles of Lake Superior. In a distance of 104 miles, the river drops a total of 700 feet. From 1857 to 1867 many sawmills were being built at the mouth of th e Menominee River. The Menominee River Boom Company alone moved 500 million feet of logs down these rivers annually. After rive r driving by the Boom Company ceased, the ra ilroad took over and lumber companies in Marinette, Florence, and Iron Counties started to build their own rail roads to connect with the main line railroads. When this started, many compan ies had their own steam engines and equipment. As a young person I saw trainload after trai nload of logs and pulp coming throu gh Amberg destined for the mills in Marinette and Menominee, Michigan .

The Man in Picture is Louis Redeman, Sup't. fo; Wright Bros. These are Pine Lo gs That Were Floated Down the River. This Sawmill Was Located Back of Backhaus Tavern and Resort, About 1890.

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Early in the days of river driving, the railroads put in lines to Iron Mountain, Florence and Iron County. The railroad wanted to get some of the transportation of logs. A meeting was called at Florence between the Boom Company, the ra ilroad, and the loggers. The Boom Company could move their logs to Marinette at a price of 73 cents per thousand feet, and the railroad wanted $3.90 per thousand, so the result was the Boom Company and river drivers operated until 1927. There was one railroad built that ran out of Wausaukee to Athelstane, another town started by Mr. Amberg. It was built to haul timber and granite from a large quarry there. Later this railroad was continued to Girard Junction , and later to Dunbar, Wisconsin. From Girard Junction it was continued west, across the Peshtigo River. I believe Bird and Wells Lumber Company and J . W. Wells Lumber Company bu ilt the road from G irard to the timber. Eventually they had three large camps in the neighborhood of the Peshtigo River. All this timber had to be hauled by railroad. On my brother's map they had Camp 7, Camp 8 and Camp 9. One summer, when I was about sixteen years old, I went to Camp 9 as a teamster. They logged with a steam skidder, which was a big flat railroad car with two steam winches on each and a boiler in the middle. Four cables went out in the woods from each corner of the car. They could log forty acres from one spot with this railroad. When they dragged a load of logs into the tract, my job with the team of horses was to drag the cable back into the woods for another load. They had signal ropes in the trees to signal to start pulling in the cab les. The signal system was very dangerous as different things could happen to the wire going back to the cuttings. That system today would be a Walkee-Tal kee radio that would have saved some accidents. When I was a kid , the North Ludington Company had a big logging camp somewhere in the "Black Sam" district. The supply wagon used to come to stores in Amberg for groceries, hay, and oats, and they always had quite a lot of supplies from the railroad depot. It was a large, heavy-duty wagon and it was pulled by two teams of the biggest mules I have ever seen. Even in later years, anywhere I traveled, I could never find mules that big. Both teams of mules were the same size and color. One of the last logging operations in Amberg was run by a man by the name of Thomson, from Green Bay. He logged quite an acreage of timber somewhere between and north of Schnables and Eddie Andersons. There was a lot of long Norway pine and they left most of it in long logs. T hey shipped out of Amberg on two flat cars. These were used for piling for docks and protection of bridges, etc. The small stuff went to the Iron Mines as lagging, and some was used for pulpwood. In 1916 Tim Hallihan had a job at Beecher Lake. The timber belonged to Sawyer Goodman. Mr. Hollihan died that year and his boys, Glen, Leslie and Mike finished the job. Art Krueger finished one job and lived in one of the old camps. They logged in the winter, and had a very good ice road and hauled out many sleigh loads at a time, using a steam skidder as a tow machine. A steam skidder had tracks on the back and a bobsleigh on the front where a man sat and did t he steering. When the railroad came, it opened the granite industry, for which Pike and later Amberg became famous. We will present an article on that industry later. Today the logging is 90% pulpwood for the paper industry. Some of the logs are used for lumber. Paper mills today are using popple for paper. Years ago they would 26

have ignored popple, but today it is the important material. Years ago the best paper required spruce timber. At the Museum we have maps of Amberg Township dated 1905, 1912 and 1917.

Blasting Log Jam at Daves Falls

Log Jam at Daves Falls In May

Log Jam at Daves Falls in the 1890's

Emil Schnable and His Horses

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CHAPT ER 6

Memories of Logging Days Around Amberg by Lisle Downing

About 1915 four of the larger lumber companies were comp leting theirtim ber cuts around Amberg, although Sawyer Goodman had a large t ract of wh ite pine that extended from point about 3 miles north of Amberg to a point north of county Highway "Z," ending about 4 miles east of Pembine. The Sawyer Goodman Company had a large lu m ber camp about 6 miles northeast of Amberg, but for some reaso n unknown to me, they discontinued operations after 2 years. Th is was about 1910. Th e company came back in 1925 and completed cutting the remain ing timber; this was an almost sol id block of white pine. The Whitbeck Lumber Co. located several miles east of Amberg had completed their operations some time prior to 1917. The N. Ludington Company was located east of Amberg, as was Kirby Carpenter, Spies and Thompson and Wright Bros. who built what is now known as the l.G.A. Store in Amberg, and had timber and a camp southeast of Amberg. An individual, a man by the name of Krause, owned quite a large tract of t imber east of Amberg not fa r from the Menominee River. He fin ished his cut and left his camp there, wh ic h some of the W hite Rapids settlers used as a home w hile building homes on land they had purchased. This was all prior to 1918. T here were many small isolated parcels that were either sold to small operators o r were contracted out to them. The last camp that I can remember was owned by Tim Hallihan at a point about 3 miles east of U.S. Highway 141 near the Black Sam Road. His logs were hauled to a landing where the Mathis Cedar Yard is now located, where they were loaded on cars. About the time I am thinking of, Highway 38, now Highway 141, came into Amberg at the R.R. crossing at the south end of town. It turned north on the west side of the track to a point about 3 m iles north of Beecher Lake wh ic h was right past the home I was raised in. I can remember the many horses that were on their way to the lumber camps further north. There would be single horses and up to ten teams at a time, which wou ld continue through October and November. The lumber companies had four warehouses along the track where Mathis Hardware store is now located. Here their supplies were unloaded from freight trains and four-horse teams wou ld come in from the camps and pick up their supplies, food supplies, hay and oats for the many horses used at the camps. An important and interesting aspect of the logg ing period were the log drives on th8 streams. There had been some river driving prior to 1868, but as the logg ing operations increased much confusion developed because of the lack of coo rd inated

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Tim Holllhan Logging Camp. Right to Left: Herbert Duca, Charles Dahl, Tim Holllhan, and Biii Hanaway.

use of the high water periods and the mixing of logs. As a result of these trouble.> 5 of the more prosperous lumbermen of Marinette an d Menominee formed what became known as the Menominee River Boom Company. They secured a franchise from the States of Wisconsin and Michigan which gave them control of the Menominee River and all its tributaries on both the Michigan side and the Wisconsin side, which in turn gave them control of all drives and the right to build dams wherever they decided they were needed. Some dams had already been constructed on some of the tributaries, some of which they did not use after the compa ny got organized and was functioning. The following dams were in use about this time: Menominee River, 3 dams; Pike River, 3 dams; Big South Branch, 4 dams; Michigamme River, 2 dams; Paint River, 2 dams; Brule River, 4 dams; Pine River, 4 dams; and Shakie Creek, 1 dam. The closing and opening of these dams had to be coordinate·d in order to raise the heads to water needed. This was done to some extent by what they called "water boys," one of whom was a resident of Amberg , whose name was Frank Bunce. He rode an Indian pony to some of the dams with messages from the Superintendent as to when the dams were to be opened. I was too young to know just how he received these messages. The main Menominee River drive started at Quinnesec, Michigan. From its head at the junction of the Brule and Michigamme Rivers it was 104 miles to Marinette and the end of the drive. The company moved appoximately 500 million feet of logs an nually at a cost of 73 cents per thousand feet. By rail the cost at that time was $3.90 per thousand feet. The drive lasted about 100 days and employed 175 men. It required several large boats following the drive with cooks, kitchen equipment and tents for the men and 2 teams of horses hauling suppli es. The Boom Company operated for 50 years coming to an end in 1917. What little information I have supplied, regarding the river drives, is quite accurate, as it comes from a history in book form written by Fred Burke of Marinette, whom I knew we ll, and who was Secretary of the Boom Company for many years.

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CHAPTER 7

Ice Road Logging by Gene French

The best place for me to start this narrative is the last log drive on the north branch of the Pike River. The last report we had said this was in 1917, but I question the year. Why? I was born in 1915 and question that a two year old could remember even as little as I remember of the drive. So here is my story of it. The logs were decked where the river comes to high ground, at what later became the Nurses place or the next high which is nearly a quarter mile west of there (all along the river there is some lowland where the river meanders back and forth, and occasionally coming out to high ground). There was quite a crowd, for today was to be the floating away day. Most of what I remember was hearing people tell me to " stay away." That meant both the river and the logs. Being young you always tried to get a better look at what does on. If my memory doesn't fail me the drive was done by Mr. Potier. His first name escapes me. So with this, that era came to an end. The romance of river drives was over. This next period came several years later. The Sawyer-Goodman company had eleven forties they logged off and this operation is what you will hear about. Others may not have been the same, but were a close duplication. Moving in, the camp was built in the summer consisting of a barn, cook shack, bunk house, and a small office somewhere near where water was available. The logging roads were cut through the timber, clear through the back, for that is where the logging started. Cutting was done as piece work mostly in pairs, two men but sometimes three - they took care of sharpen ing too ls, axes and saws, which at that time were cross cuts. A three man crew also had a post saw. Periodically a scaler came to tally up the logs each crew cut and then their money would be available to them. Now came the skidding, done by team before the snow covered the logs too deep to find them. Tongs or travois were the tools for skidding. Logs were put in small decks by using a jam mer. This was a movable device made on skids with two upright poles or logs with a prop to hold them up, a pully at top and bottom used with cable to pull the logs up. Th is same device was used for loading the sleighs. The sleighs were something else, the space between the runners was six feet, the bunks for horses were twelve feet. Of course there were two bobs to a sleigh connected by cross chains. The front bob had a "tongue" which was between the horses for steering. The sleigh was fastened to each horse collar by use of a neckyoke. The last year they used cat tractors, the tongues on the sleighs were shortened and bunks were made sixteen feet, a load for the tractor might be a much as ten sleighs.

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With horses they hauled up to about three thousand board feet a load. If the sleighs sounded fantastic the roads were even more so. The roads were laid out to have as little upgrade as possible for on up hills they needed an extra team (snatch team) to help. These particular roads followed a creek and a river both downhill. When the roads were made all trees and stumps were removed and if necessary any high humps such as windfalls were leveled, little else was down to the road bed. There were "turnouts" made so empty sleighs could turnout of the way of loads. Here again a lumberjack solution; the roads were never straight, so the empty sleigh could be seen so they would know when to turnout, so every so often the teamster with the load would call out his particular call in a voice loud enough to be heard ahead. l never knew what they did in high winds! The actual making of the ice road started by removing any snow with a V type horse drawn plow either made on or pulled behind a single bob of a sleigh.; the road bed may have been tramped by men or horses in soft places for tramping makes it freeze harder. Snow too, kept it from freezing. Th e plow was used after every snow storm. Now the road bed was ready, time for the "waterwagon" which was another sleigh with a tank of boards probably holding two thousand to twenty five hundred gallons of water, it had holes in the bottom maybe three on each side in line with the runners front and back to let the water where they wanted it and stakes to plug the holes to allow them to water when it was wanted. The sleigh was unique for it had a tongue on each end, both on spring poles so the tongue itself never touched the ground , the reason for the two tongues was-the wagon was pulled into a water hole (maybe a place by the river or a hole dug in the creek) the team was used to fill the wagon with a half barrel like sliding on two poles held together by half moon rods. The helper was at the hole to pull the barrel back if gravity didn't do it. Filled, the team hooked onto the other end and pulled the wagon back where water was needed. Early winter saw the waterwagon used day and night. The colder the weather the better road making, zero or below was ideal and it never got too cold. A "rutter" was used, it may have been a part of the waterwagon or even one made on the snow plow to make a shallow rut for the sleighs to run in. After log hauling started icing was only done at night and was continued as long as there was cold weather. Sometimes after the snow was gone in the spring there would be as much as two feet of ice road. An interesting procedure was used on downhill grades, a "roadmonkey" using dry sand used just enough sand to slow the load down yet not make it impossible for the team to take it down. After the load was down and the sand was swept out to ~ l low the empty sleigh to be pulled up on the return trip. Roadmonkeys also had another chore for horses, being horses left droppings on the road which was most impossible to pull a loaded sleigh over. We want to assure you that even though this sounds like a Paul Bunyan story it is not. It's something you probably will never see again, nor will you see a river drive, but then again you will never see a passenger pigeon!

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Unknown Teamster

Two Sleigh Loads lo Railroad Ti es. Man on Right Hand Rear of Picture Is George Page. Teamster on Lett Side is Son of Pat Shea. Logged East of Klondlke Hill and Wontor Road.

Log Drive on the Pike River

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CHAPTER 8

Old Lumber Camp Recipes

Cup Cakes: 2 pounds of sugar; 1 poun d of lard ; 8 eggs; 11h pints of milk; 3 pounds of flour; 2 ounces of baking powder. Ginger Bread: 1h cup of sugar; 1h cup of lard; 1 quart of molasses; 11./.i quart of water; 3 112 pounds of flour; 1 o unce of soda. Tea Cookies: 3 pounds of sugar; 2% pounds of butter; 1% ounce of amonia; 12 eggs; V2 pint of water; 4 ounces of cinnamon; 5% pounds of flour. Lemon Cookies: 2% pounds of sugar; 13 ounces of butter or lard ; 1 pint of eggs; 21h pounds of flour; 1 V2 ounces of baking powder; lemon. Cream Puffs: 5 ounces of lard; 1h pint water to 7 ounces of flour; Melded; (mix) and stir to rub (combine) 8 eggs or less; Pinsomonia. Ginger Cookies:~ pounds of sugar; 1 pound of lard ; 1 ounce of soda; 1 quart of water; 1 quart of molasses; 6 pounds of flour; ginger and salt. Brown Cookies: 2 pounds of sugar; 1 pound of lard; 1 pint of water; 1 quart of molasses; 2 ounces of soda; 16 pounds of flour. Honey Jumbles: 51h ounces of lard; 2 quarts of honey; 1 V2 ounces of soda; 1V2 oz. of amonia; 8112 pounds of flour; 1 quart of water. Baking Powder Biscuits: 4 pounds flour; 1 pound of lard; 1 1/2 quarts of milk; 3 ounces of baking powder; 4 o unces of sugar and salt. Ten Lemon Pies: 3 quarts of water; 3 pound s of sugar; V2 pound of corn starch; 10 egg yolks; 5 lemons. Pie Crust: 2 pounds of lard; 1 quart of water; salt and flour. Use one pound of flour to each half pound of lard . Drop Cake: 2% pounds of sugar; 1 114 pounds lard; 12 eggs; 1 quart mi lk; 1 ounce amonia; 4 112 pounds of flour; vanilla. Coconut Kisses: 2 pounds of powd ered sugar; 2 pounds of coco nut; 1 pint of egg whites. Angel Food Cake: 1 quart of egg whites; 2 pounds of powdered sugar; 1 pound of flour; 1 ounce Cream of Tartar.

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Cheese Cake: 12 eggs, 2 pounds of sugar; 1 pound butter or lard; 4 ounces corn starch; 4 lemons; 4 pounds cheese; Place on coffee cake dough. Jelly Rolls: (4 jelly rolls) 3V2 pounds sugar; 14 eggs; 7 ounces of baking powder; 1% quart of milk; 6 V2 pounds of flour; salt and vanilla (makes six layer cakes) Golden Sunshine Cake: 3 pounds sugar; 1 % pounds lard; 2 ounces of flavor oil; 11h ounces of salt; 18 eggs; 1% pints of milk; V2 ounces of soda;% o unce c ream of tartar; flavor vanilla and almond; 3 1/4 pounds of flour - work well. Crumb Cookies: 6 pounds of sugar; 1 pound of lard; 4 pounds of crumbs; 3 ounces of amonia; 12 pounds of flour (or) more. Christmas Cookies: 4 pounds of sugar; 1 pound of lard; 2 pounds of flour; 1 ounce of amonia; about 1 quart of water. Fried Cakes: 1 pound of sugar; 2 ounces of lard; 4 eggs; vanilla, salt and mace; 2 ounces baking powder; 4 pounds of flour; 1 quart of milk. Six Pumpkin Pies: 1 can pumpkin; 1 pound sugar; 1/2 pound of flour; salt and ginger; cinnamon; 2 quarts of milk; 16 egg yolks; 6 whites for top. One Custard Pie: 3 ounces of sugar; 1 ounce of flour; 2 eggs; 1 pint of milk (2 cups) ; flour; vanilla; salt. Fruit Cookies: 15 pounds sugar; 3% pound of lard; 4 ounces of amonia; 4 ounces of soda; 4 quarts of milk; 24 pounds of flour (no fruit). Vanilla Wafers: v.~ pound of sugar; 1h pound of butter; 2 eggs; vanilla; 9 ounces of flour. Dust pans and shape into rings. Bake like cake. Sugar Cookies: 7 V2 pounds of sugar; 2% pound of lard; 3 ounces of amonia; 1 V2 ounces of soda; 21/2 quarts of milk; 16 pounds of flour. Pound Cake: 2 pounds of sugar; Pia pound butter or lard; 2% pound flour; 1 ounce baking powder; 1 pint of milk; 18 eggs. Spice Cake: 2 pounds of crumbs; 2 quarts of water; 1 quart of molasses; pound of currents; spices; 2 1/ 2 ounces of soda; 3V2 pounds of flour. "Amonia" in some of the recipes is also called "Bakers Amonia" and is pure amonia carbonate. A recipe for 80 loaves of bread called for 12 quarts (48 cups) of water; 8 ounces of " east" (yeast); 8 ounces of salt (1 cup); 4 ounces of sugar (1/2 cup); 42 pounds (1 68 cups) of flour to a pail of water. The old time cooks did not use modern measurements. Flour might be measured by the "handful," rather than cups. A "pinch" was also a good measure, especially of salt. A cook was an important resident of any lumber camp, and the financial survival of the company might depend on how good or how bad he was. If he was too bad, the men would not stay, and trees left standing would not bring in any revenue, so a good cook was a "must!" 34

CHAPTER 9

The Hub Community of the Marinette County Forest by John Saemann

The area around Amberg was orig inally covered with pine and hardwood timber. As the thriving lumbering industry began to wind down after 191 Oand quarrying ended, only a small part of the cutover area was suited for land development. Much of the remainder was abandoned and over the years was acquired by Marinette County through tax delinquency. More than 60 years ago the County Board initiated a series of studies on managing these unwanted lands. The University of Wisconsin Extens ion Service and old Wisconsin Conservation Department encouraged the county to organize a county forest. Today those lands are recognized as one of the largest and most successful forests at the county level in the nation. In the begin ning the program of developing the forest depended on fire protection provided by the state and state aid supporting trespass control and resurveying of boundaries. Then several federal work programs during the depression years of the 1930's - especially the C.C.C. and W.P.A. - speeded up the program. Millions of trees were planted each year, forest roads were const ructed, parks built and existing timber stands improved. By 1942 a great and valuable forest was a reality. In fact, second growth timber had grown enough that a limited harvest was possible, starting in 1940. With the start of American intervention in World War II , all federa l forestry labor programs came to an end, but the harvest was accelerated to aid the war effort. When the war ended, the County Board was convinced that there should be a Forestry Department formed to resume, with hired labor, th e tree planting and improvement projects on the forest, now covering almost one fourth of the county's area. The first few men hired were from the Amberg area. Vernon Stepien was the foreman and crew members were Alex S. Kuchta of Crivitz, Doyle Downs, Hugh Guy, Richard Rhodes, Elmer Krummey, Walter Sulewski, and Donald Flom of Amberg. Park caretakers Fred Shanebrook, John Heinz and Wesly Henry helped the crew on occasion and Stanley Apanasiewiez brought in his welfare-work crew often. After a year Vernon left to go into logging and A lex took over. Upon his retirement, Doyle fol lowed to be succeeded by Richard. During the first year the headquarters was the fair buildings at Wausaukee. Then a head building was built at Amberg in 1951. An excellent site was made available on Highway 141 by Raliegh Mullaney-8acreswith300feetoffrontagefor$1,100. Today 35

several other buildings are on the site and all operations and equipment of the Forestry and Parks Departments work out of here. At one time a two acre transplant nursery was built to provide larger and better tree planting stock. Those trees were needed on the tougher sites and by the crew doing hand planting with grubhoes. Roy Guy led this crew and also worked part-time on other forest ry projects. At one time seven tree planting machines were owned by the county. In 1946 the timber harvest program had grown to the exten t that a trained scaler was needed. Lisle Downing of Amberg was hired and he had his office in the forestry headquarters too. He actually had two jobs, being named County Land Agent as well. This required him to be in an office at the Courthouse one day a week. When he retired , Hugh Guy moved up into his position as scaler. A Land Agent was no longer needed, since the County Forester could now handle the greatly reduced sales program. Ed And erson replaced Hugh on the crew. Amberg was originally selected for the headquarters because of its central location in the county - the hub community. Some of the best native timber in the forest grew east of town, and great expansions of open land in need of reforestation were just west. Early county leaders who were instrumental in getting the forestry program going were L. E. Ness, Crivitz/County Board Chairman; Phil Downing, Amberg, Forestry Committee Leader for many years; Charles Drewry; County Agent and first Forest Administrator; and James Hovind, State Forester here during the formative years. Today the forestry program is a very large operation which sustains a large logging industry and brings in substantial income to the county. There is now a new crew and scaler with modern equipment and tools, headed by both county and state foresters. Those early men and laborers with vision kept to their tasks and a county forest has been built that residents can be proud of.

Forest Crew at Amberg: 0. Rhodes, D. Downs, E. Krummey, and A. Kuchta.

Transplant Crew in Operation - 1958

Forestry Building - 1951

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CHAPTER 10

Quarrying

AMBERG GRANITE COMPANY As far back as 1888 there were three quarries in operation in Amberg - the Argyle, Martindale and Aberdeen. The Argyle and Martindale quarries furni shed a grey gran ite of a fine grain, while the Aberdeen had a coa rse grained red granite ordinarily known as "Amberg-Red." These three quarries were owned by Mr. William Amberg after whom our town was named. In 1888 a large stone shed, 410 feet long and 100 feet wide was begun, and completed in 1889. Equipment consisted of two overhead steam travelers and all necessary equipment to cut and pol ish the rough ston e. Th e three quarries and the sh ed employed about 300 men . In th e shed we re 65 stone cutters and 15 drillers. On Friday, when payday rolled around, the town was very lively, indeed. In December of 1895 the company was hurrying to fill a contract with a Pittsburg , Pennsylvania firm, to be shipped over the Ann Arbor Railroad via Menominee and Frankfort, filling 53 railroad cars. The company was also bidding on a big contract in Cincinatti wh ich wo uld mean 6 months work fortheir men. In 1896, 25 men were at work cutting curbing blocks for the city of Chicago. These blocks were 5 inches th ick, 2 feet wide and 6 feet long or longer. Alex Martin was at this time foreman of the company. W. R. Hinsdale obtained a contract for the Chicago Post Office, which called for the men to earn $3.60 per day for 8 hours work. They also obtained the contract for the Minnesota Capitol building in St. Paul, and in 1899 were sending out stone for a building in Cincinn ati, Ohio and Mausoleum in Chicago. Th ere was certainly no shortage of work, and although the re were 65 men working in the sheds, 50 more were needed for a job in St. Louis, Missouri. Eventually 76 granite cutters and 36 drillers were employed for the job, cutters being hired from as far away as Boston. A short time later they were contracted to furnish granite for a concern in New Orleans and also for the Green Ba~' Reformatory. By 1903 the quarrying business was beginning to run down. The Amberg Granite Company quarries and mill were to be sold to the Illinois Street Paving Company of Chicag o, who had contracts for several street paving jobs. The Argyle quarry had stone especially suitable for street paving. Mr. Amberg had other interests and unless the business was sold, these quarries would not operate. Apparently this deal fell through because in 1905 the entire property of the company was turned over to Will iam Amberg, including a large mill, boarding house and several dwel lings in Amberg , besides the quarry at Athelstane. Mr. Amberg now had full control of t he business, and was planning to reopen the quarries, employing about 150 men who would be working in Amberg and Athelstane. However, labor troubles and other business interests forced

37

him to abandon his Amberg plan s and so closed one chapter of our history. Several quarry sites were located with in the village platted area and inside the following boundaries: O ld Highway 141 , Coleman Avenue, Cleveland Street, and Amberg Avenue. One small quarry hole still remains from the quarrying operations. Two smaller nearby quarry holes were filled in. Th is property is presently owned by Jack and Wendy Seehawer.

Stockpile of Granite For U se as Monuments and Paving Blocks, Inside Large Stone Sheds at Amber g Granite Company.

Amberg Granite Sheds, Built 1888, Wrecked 1922

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PIKE RIVER GRANITE COMPANY In 1896 the Pike River Granite Company was organized as a result of poor working conditions in the Amberg Granite Company. The five original members of the company were Emil A. Mundt, Michael Pender, John Bone, John Archie, and Faithful Vale. Later these five were joined by Forbes Gibb. This quarry was located one and one-half miles east and slightly north of Amberg and had a railroad spur going into it. The company operated this quarry for about 50 years. Their main office and the tombstone finishing plant was located in the city of Marinette. Th ey employed about 60 men who worked in both of these operations, besides their quarry in Middle Inlet. Their Amberg plant employed about 15 men, who received wages averaging from four to five dollars a day for nine hours work. The owners referred to their product as "Pike River Grey" and sometimes as "Amberg Grey." They accepted small contracts and intended to do building and monumental work, sending a man on the road to obtain contracts. They expected to have three gangs of stone cutters working within one year. Before 2 years had passed their polishers were in operation day and night, and they were shipping an average of 22 carloads of monumental stone a year. By 1903, at their quarry east of the village there were 20 men work ing to complete orders for tombstones, bui ldings and monuments. They worked with both red and grey granite and were rushed with orders, having customers in nearly every state in the union. In 1905 their mill east of town burned to the ground, with a loss of about $4,000, and no insurance to cover the loss. They had recently installed an air compressor and pneumatic drills, and planned to rebuild in the spring as soon as the weather permitted. Plans were to build the new building in town near the railroad track, and make it of granite and steel, modern in every way. In the meantime they tried to rent part of the Amberg Granite Company plant. Several towns coaxed them to leave Amberg, enticing them with beneficial promises. Green Bay and Marinette were among the towns wanting the company to relocate, but Wright Brothers offered them a site on the east side of the railroad tracks and the decision was made to stay in Amberg. Their new building was to be 40 by 100 feet with a power house 26 by 26 feet, a blacksmith shop 16 by 24 feet, and an office building on the southwest corner of the main structure. A tramway 30 by 100 feet would be run up from the west, or front side, to the rail road tracks, which would be operated by compressed air. Walls were to be of pressed steel, inside and out, with a roof of iron, which would make the building fireproof. It was to be heated by steam. Cost was expected to be $10,000 complete, and a 10by16 foot well, 16 feet deep, was to be dug near the power house. An unpleasant event took place in 1906 when it was discovered that a special tax had been assessed by the town to help the Pike River Company. The heavier taxpayers had agreed to this tax, possibly in an effort to keep the company in Amberg, but the opposition said the officers had il legal ly collected these taxes, no matter how good the reason. In 1907 a quantity of bright red granite was found in the village of Amberg, within a few feet of the mill here. It was easy to get out and was as bright a red as the granite at Wausau, which was considered the brightest in the United States. The company now had three different varieties of granite - an unexcelled quantity of grey and 2 distinct shades of red. The discovery was estimated to cover 16 acres. For many years the quarries ran year round, but eventually the added expense of quarrying in winter and hardship of getting out the stone forced the closing of the Pike 39

River operation, although as late as 1929 they shipped between 500 and 600 carloads of waste stone to the Universal Granite Company of Milwaukee for breakwater stone. Emil and Ruth Wolff are the present owners of this property.

,..,... Pike River Quarry, 1906. Rule Pomeroy, Joe Collins, Phil Marquis, Sr., Andrew Johnson, and John Mattison.

Pike River Granite Co. Finishing Shed. Stone Cutter on Right, Emil Mattison. Men on th e left are: Hjalmer (Jumbo) Fellxson; James H earty, Sr.; Unknown; Eric Elfstrom; and Men in Background Unknown.

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Old Pike River Granite Company

This Picture of the Amberg Stockholders was takent at the Old Pike Ri ver Quarry In J uly 1912. Stockholders were: Emil Mundt, Forbes Gibb, Hans Madson, Drew Daniels • Foreman. Back Row, L to R: Gavin Brodie, Frank DeGroot, Frank Erdman, Biii Murray, and J ohn Hendrickso n. Front Row: Drew Daniels, Joe Collins, Pat Mullaney, John Mattison, Mitchell Frances, Chas. Hollander, Alex Fellxaon, George Cole, Giibert Mullaney, and John Christenson. Seated: Phllllp Marquis, Sr.

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THE AUGUST PAVEG LI O Q UARRY (Peninsu la Marble & Granite Company of Iron Mountain, Ml ) Th e Pavelg io quarry was located one-half mile east of U.S. 141 on th e sou th side of the State Quarry Road. The quarry site was purchased by Mr. Paveglio from Victor Johnson - an A mberg resident - who first commenced quarry operation s at this site. The quarry was operated by Paveg lio for about th irty-five years with a normal crew of five to six men. This tombstone reta il outlet was located in Iro n Mountain, Michigan.

Peninsula Quarry. The Quarry Man is A lex Leonhard t. This Picture was provided by Albert Scha ffer.

Peninsula Qu arry, 1938. T hi s picture was furnished by John T. Blatz, Milwaukee.

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THE STATE QUARRY (Originally McTrusty Brothers) The State Quarry was located one mile east of U.S. 141 on the south side of the State Quarry Road. It was started in the winter of 1919. Three brothers, Peter, Ambrose and Alex were the first to break a trail to the quarry. With axes, shovels and picks, the three men unearthed the first rock ledge, which was cove red w ith three and one half feet of snow at the time. In a short time the men had built a road and cleared away all the brush around the rock ledge so as to make it more convenient to work there. The first year all work was done by hand, even to the extent of pulling the stone out of the hole with a Kersten stump puller, which was run by hand. By March 1, they shipped their first carload of stone to the Wisconsin State Reformatory at Green Bay. The following summer a few new machines were purchased, incl uding an air compressor and gas engine to run the plug drill. That year Mr. McTrusty, Sr., and his eight sons ran the quarry alone.

Ir

A lex McTrusty, Sr. Taken at the Orlginal McTrusty Quarr y - Later Purchased by th e State. Material tor State Building in Madison was Taken from this Quarry.

State Quarry, Run by Green Bay Reformatory

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A short time later the quarry was closed down and it lay idle for four months. July 1st, 1926 the Wisconsi n State Refo rmatory leased the quarry for four years, with Peter McTrusty as foreman. Later, due to poor health, he was forced to resign and his brother, Alex , succeeded him. Immediately the Wisconsin State Reformatory began bu ilding on the premises a bunk house, kitchen and barn. The entire quarry was run by inmates from the Reformatory. The derrick and hoist used to lift and move granite blocks was rated for a thirty ton lift an d an eighty ton drag - and was a boasting point used by state quarry employees. By July 1st, 1929 the quarryi ng of stone was discontinued and the quarry was returned to the estate of Peter McTrusty. The amount of stone shipped in a year averaged from 12 to 14 carloads. This quarry site is presently owned by Vernon and Laurel Stepien.

Murphy Quarry

THE E. P. MURPHY GRANITE COMPANY In 1916 David Ridge discovered some very fine gray granite on his land, so with a few crude machines and tools, he started in , knowing very little about the prospects for quarrying. One of his machines, which was inexpensive but very essential in that kind of work, was a home-made stump puller used to raise stone out of the quarry hole. This machine was run by hand and was a very slow process of raising stone compared to the modern derrick. About the first year Mr. Ridge only had three men working for him. Conditi ons were quite favorable by 1921, so Mr. Ridge set up a cutting and polishing shed, thirty-five feet long by twenty feet wide. From then on he polished all his stone for the next ten months. In both the quarry and shed he employed seven men, who received wages from four to six dollars a day, all depending on the kind of work they did. This plant ran about ten months during which time he shipped three carloads of polish ed stone and eight carloads of rough stock, most of the shipping being done through the Pike River Granite Company. This quarry was located one-quarter mile east of U.S. 141 on the south sid e of Black Sam Road. In the summ er of 1922 the entire plant was sold to E. P. Murphy of Calum et, Michigan, who ran it on a much larger scale. Murphy's office and tombstone finishing plant were located in the City of Green Bay. This site is presently owned by Vernon and Laurel Stepien.

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Oanlels Quarry

THE DANIELS GRAN ITE COMPANY The Daniels Company was located one-half mile east of U.S. 141 on the south side of Black Sam Road. It was not very far from the Murphy Quarry, and Mr. Daniels made many improvements on it. He installed electricity to run his mach ines, being one of the first quarries in Amberg to make such an improvement. His son, Lyle assisted him as business manager and salesman . This quarry and a granite finishing plant bui lt adjacent to the quarry were operated for many years and normally employed between twelve and fourteen men . At one time it was the best paying plant in Amberg. This site is presently owned by William and Ruth Collins.

Another View of Daniels Quarry

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THE MATTISON BROTHERS COMPANY The Mattison quarries (3 separate sites) were located one and one-quarter miles east of U.S. 141 on the north side of Black Sam Road. The owner-operators were Emil , Mattie, William, and Walter. They quarried and shipped rough tombstone granite to various monumental retailers outside the local area. These quarries were later purchased by the Pike River Granite Company in order to eliminate local competition. These three sites are presently owned by Matt and Virginia Mattison. THE RIB MOUNTAIN GRANITE COMPANY The Rib Mountain quarry was located two miles east of U.S. 141 on Black Sam Road, then three-quarters of a mile north on the east side of the Mundt Quarry Road. The Prehn Brothers of Wausau, Wisconsin, purchased this quarry from Mattie Mattison , an Amberg resident, who opened this quarry in 1932. The Rib Mountain Granite Company actually did a very limited amount of quarrying at this site, but retained ownership until 1960. In their retailing operation they were able to advertise Amberg Grey Granite as one of their own products.

Stone Shed and Granite Products - This was a Famlllar Scene from the Old Daya at Amberg when this Small Marinette County Community was Sending Granite to Construct Buildings and Sidewalks In Chicago, Ill.

THE E. A. MUNDT GRANITE COMPANY The Mundt quarry was located two miles east of U.S. 141 on Black Sam Road, then one mile north on the east side of the Mundt Quarry Road. Emil Mundt purchased this quarry from Mattie Mattison, an Amberg resident , who opened the quarry in 1934. The quarry was operated for about twenty-five years and employed about ten men. Granite was shipped to a finishing plant and retail shop Menominee, Michigan, which was owned and operated by Emil and his son, Louis Mundt. 46

THE MATTISON & SWEENEY GRANITE COMPANY This quarry site was located two and one-half miles east of U.S. 141 on the north side of Black Sam Road. This quarry was opened by Raymond and Glenn Mattison, who had formed a partnership with J. C. (T odd) Sweeney of Pembine. The quarrying was done in the summer of 1946 and six truck loads of tombstone granite were quarried and shipped to a monument retai ler in St. Louis, Missouri. When one totals the number of quarry workers during these years, then adds the nearly 1,000 lumberman working logging camps in the area, we can get some idea of the population here, especially on an election day when they al l came into town to cast their ballots. Two days during the year when children were kept indoors were the day in spring when the w inter logging season was over and the men broke camp, comi ng into town for a "spree," and on election day.

7

Another View of the Stone Shed, when Amberg was Called " Pike."

,.

Largest Stone Shed Foreground.

in

th e World, Depot In

Stone Cutters Inside the Big Shed. Thi s Shed Stands where Mathis Warehouse Is Now. II was 400 Feet Long and 120 Feet Wid e and 85 Feel High.

Left

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CHAPTER 11

William Amberg

William Amberg, the founder of ou r town, could have gotten his business drive from either his grandfather, his father, or both. His grandfather was a shoemakers apprentice, and his father a tailors apprentice, working for 20 cents a week, plus board. On his tailors salary, John, William 's Father, raised six children, two of whom were born in Bavaria. One of these was William. The family emigrated to America when William was about four years old, and eventually settled in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. When William was 12 years old, he went to work in a store for $5.00 per month. He worked there until he was 16, went to Sissinawa Mound College for four months, and then to Chicago, returning to Mineral Point to recover from a bout with Scarlet Fever, finally going back to Chicago permanently. There he attended business college and rapidly became successful, having invented and patented the first letter filing system. His company was called "Amberg File and Index Company," and was operated by the family for exactly one hundred years before being sold to a New York firm. It had a branch in New York and one in London. In 1868 he founded Cameron, Amberg and Company, a leading stationery and printing company, and ran this business for over fifty years. In Chicago he met and married Agnes Ward, who was born and raised in Chicago, but whose parents had come from Ireland. William and Agnes lived at 1301 State Street in a huge brownstone house surrounded by formal gardens, fountains, slides, swings and seesaws, and the home soon became a Mecca for all the children of the neighborhood , rich and poor alike. Long before the houses were built, almost half the block had been the site of a brewery, and the area was honeycombed with tunnels used to store the aging brew. There was a slip, or mooring, cut in from Lake Michigan so that sailing ships could be floated in to load barrels of the foamy stuff to go all over the Great Lakes. The big brownstone was complete with carriage house and horses. A brownstone at 1311 State Street was given to Mr. Am berg's son and daughter-in-law as a wedding present, and Marshall Field and Co. was called in to decorate the beautiful front parlor. Mr. Amberg bought the territory on which the Town of Amberg is located, and had it plotted into lots in 1888. Although he never lived there, he came often to oversee his investment, and in later years brought his famiy with him for the summer months. He later gave the land and erected both the Catholic and Presbyterian churches, the latter bu ilt for his Scotch and Finnish employees. He also donated the land for the school, as well as for the ball diamond. He also organized a community band to bring entertainment to the hard working pioneers in this remote land. 48

Besides his businesses in Chicago, and the quarries in Amberg, Mr. Amberg headed the Loretto Iron Company at Loretto, Michigan, and was also interested in a railroad in the lead mining area near Mineral Point and Galena, Illinois, a railroad in South America, a gold mine in the West and some oil ventu res in Texas. He also had a summer home on Mackinac Island, where he died in 1918.

Mr. William Amberg

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CHAPTER 12

Agnes Ward Amberg

In one of her daughters wo rd s, "The chief characteristic I recall about my mother was her lively interest in everything. She had a singularly happy temperment." This was a description of Mrs. William Amberg , the wife of o ur towns founder. She adds, " I remember alighting from the carriage with mother along the riverside after we had visited prominent friends and how we both enjoyed the motley everyday sights and sound s of the commerce along the river." She had a rare talent, that of caring for the bodily and spiritual needs of little children. From the Amberg home in Chicago, Agnes, with help from friends and family, packed box after box of new clothing and toys each year for poor chi ldren of the city and distributed them at Christm as. No credit was cla imed. Each box was just marked with a !able reading, "From the Christ Chi ld." These included underwear, stockings, shoes, dress or su it, coat or sweater. Layettes were given to women with babies or to expectant mothers, each layette box containing thirty-five separate arti cles for the wear and comfort of the baby, besides a gown for the mother. A holy picture of the nativity was also enclosed with Saint Luke's nativity story printed on the back of the picture.

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On Chi cago's west side the couple established a settlement house which cared for the needs of poor Italian immigrants who were flooding that area at the time. It was called Guardian Ange ls Center, later becoming Madonna Center. It operated in Chicag o for 75 years. Mrs. Amberg died in 1919. We are indeed fortunate that such a couple also founded the Town of Amberg, leaving us 100 years of exciting history!

Home of Mr. and Mrs. Amberg In Chicago

Charitable Work from the Basement of the Amberg Home In Chicago, Mrs. Amberg In Center. Bo>1es were Distributed to Poor Children In the Neighborhood al Chri stmas.

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CHAPTER 13

Farming

Many farmers of the area were enticed to enter into farming by the glowing accounts in the booklets sent out by Marinette County Land Companys. The soil was good for potato farming, but somewhat rocky, and a good many of the would- be landowners remai ned for only a yea r or two before returning to the ir earlier homes. For most of them the conditions they were forced to live under were simply unbearable, the winters harsh, the crops poor, and the money just not there, in spite of the hard work they pu t into it. However, a good farmer could and often did raise large sized crops. Robert G. Cole was one of the most prosperous of these. Besides a logg ing business, Mr. Cole had 160 acres of farm land, 20 under cultivation and 20 more ready for the next spring. In 1895, on the 20 acres, he raised 50 bushels of corn, 1,600 bushels of potatoes, 50 bushels of beets, 30 bushels of onions, and raised pigs, realiz ing 1,000 pounds of pork. In 1899 Mr. W. L. Buckman, who had purchased his 120 acre farm in 1897, cleared, stumped and fenced 13 acres for farming. 5 acres were planted in peas and oats, which threshed out 120 bush els of grain, and except for a prolonged dry spel l would have y ielded around 200 bushes. He also realized 8 to 10 tons of good bri ght straw which was used for hay .

1st Tractor in While Rapids. Carol Anglemyer (now Mrs. Henry Butterfield) is Sitting on Top.

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On another 2 acres he raised 33 bushels of rye , on an other corn, which grew 9 feet tall and produ ced 200 bushel s of well matured ears. 2 to 200 bushels of both potatoes and rutabagas were also taken from the 13 acres, plus a large vegetable garden , all of number 1 vegetab les. Many of the farm ers came from the states of Iowa, Indiana, and Il linois, and for many years a 3-1 picnic was held, where people who had come here from those states could meet and compare notes of their experiences.

W. E. Anglemyer and Ray Anglemyer with the First Mower In White Rapids.

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CHAPTER 14

Argyle and Martindale

The history of Amberg could not be complete without some of the history of the earlier towns from which Amberg grew, Argyle and Martindale. These once formed a booming quarry community about a mile northwest of present-day Amberg. These two towns, although side by side, were separated by a railroad track and given different names. They could probably be called "suburbs" of Pike, as Amberg itself was first named. After a brief 8 or 9 year history in the late 1800's, the quarries there were closed, and the communities began fading back into the forests from which they had been carved. After the railroad came to Amberg (then Pike) in 1884, man y spurs were built from it. One of these started just north of the HiWay Grocery and ran west past a huge boulder on Lisle Downings north quarter of farm. A short way later it turned south through the John Schaffer farm, ending at the Argyle Quarry by the Pike River. The Martindale Quarry was a short distance away in the middle of a big field. The first owners of the property were Luther C. Porter and his wife, Martha W. Porter, who bought 800 acres, more or less, from th e United States government in 1884. On July 30, 1888 the Porters sold the 800 acres to William A. Amberg, and in December 1889, Mr. Amberg began selling lots in the area to the public. Argyle was platted by Mr. Amberg , while Martindale was platted by Dave Annon and Alex Martin, Scotch stonecutters. They were superintendents for Amberg , running Argyle and Martindale quarries. The railroad and the quarries came into being about the same time, the railroad being necessary to haul out the stone. The surveying was done by Thomas R. Hasley and Company. Argyle had only one street, and 8 lots, while Martindale boasted several streets and about 37 lots. Some of those streets were, Buckman, Washington ~ and Madison Streets, and Martindale, Cameron and Phillips Avenues. The towns were fairly self-sufficient. A school was located in Argyle and the children from Martindale went there also. Miss Lizzie Rice was the first teacher and taught about 30 students from grades one through eight. Church and Sunday School were held in the school, and Peter Brodie was Sunday School Superintendent. Albert Buckman was the first Justice of the Peace, and cases were heard in the Peter Brodie home. Prayer meetings were held each Wednesday night at various homes. One large General Store served both towns - eggs so ld for 10 cents a dozen, Arbuckle's coffee for 12 cents a pound, and round steak was 2 pounds for 25 cents. A doctor served th e three towns from his home in Pike, which is now the home of Mrs. George Smeester. Each fami ly paid $1 per month for his services. Argyle and Martindale became booming, boisterous towns. With the arrival of 54

many stone cutters from Scotland and Finland, many of whom brought large families, th e need was created for a school, church, store, boarding houses, doctor, law enforcement, saloon, and cemetery. There were at least three boarding houses along th e tracks. One was operated by the Amberg Granite Company and one by "Grandpa" A. W. Buckman, wh ich was located along the railroad spur track on Buckman Street. Ed ith Armstrong told of spending a night in this boarding house with her dad, a timber cru iser from Beaver, who rode the trail up here oft en. The boarding house was torn down and made into the former Swanson home on "old 38" and also used to build a barn o n Highway 141 for the DeKuester's. Many quarrymen and stone finishers did not have the ir own homes Pnd some did not stay on a job long. Finnish people rented rooms in the ir homes to the workers. There was also a hotel, and probably several saloons. Peter Brodie was one of the first emigrants from Scotland to arrive here to begin work as a paving block cutter. All of this work was done with hand tools. During the summer of 1890 there was a great danger of forest fires. On a least one occasion a freight train was sent from Pike and ali the women and chi ldren were taken back to Pike where the danger was not as great, while the men stayed behind to bury famil y valuables and fight the forest fires wh ich threatened the towns. Th is time the towns were spared, but forest fires were a constant threat. In June 1899 the Argyle school house was burned to the ground. Forest fires had been raging in th e area for a couple of days and the large boarding house belonging to the Amberg Granite Com pany was in great danger. The wagon road between Amberg and Pembine was impassable for several hours, brush and timber burning on both sides of the road. The school foundation can still be seen on the John Schaffer farm. You can also see where many of the houses were banked up, and where the doors were located. Most of them had on ly small trap doors to the basements, or ce llars, laige enough for their vegetables. T he quarries produced a good quality of medium gray granite, but it began to run out. Within a short t ime these quarries closed and the buildings and mach inery moved to Pike. In 1889 Argyle was still in existence, and Ed Latterman and Joseph Randall were two of the people living there at that time. For the 8 or 9 years Argyle and Martindale were boom ing, Pike had gradually beg un to grow. On June 25-;-1 SBO, Pikes name was officially changed to Amberg, and many of the people moved into this new town. Several of them actually brought their homes with them, skidding them in during the· win te r months. Phil li p Downing and Arthur Buckman moved one of the houses to the Brodie property on Highway 141 with two teams of horses and two sleighs. They left the entire operation in the middle of the street between DeKuesters house and Downings house whi le they went into Downings to eat their noon lunch. Today a house moving would be a major undertaking - but to these pioneers, it was all in a days work.

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This Old School Operated from 1887to1893. It was Located In th e Towns of Argyle and Martindale, which is the Present Farm of J ohn and Irene Schaffer. Many of the Pioneer Families of Amberg were at the School over the 10 Year Span. Some of th e Names of the Students we do not know, but th e Following were well Known for Years in Amberg: Dutton, Brodie, DeKuester, Rellly, Sullivan, Letterman, Shepard, Riddler, Budlong, Hearty, Pomeroy, Smeester, Howarth, Ehler, and DeKelver. Teachers were Lizzie Rice, Katie Hamilton, May Flynn, Neille Taylor, and Josephine DeKelver. During Some of the Same Years, the Amberg School was Also In Operation. Phil Downing Taught In 1896, but there were Two School Principals Ahead of Him. Later the Argyle School Children Enrolled al Amberg.

Mr. Gibb Worked al Argyle and Martindale After he Cam e from Scotland. This Hoisl must be from There.

56

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ARGYLE

CHAPTER 15

Cedarville

Amberg as we know it today was not as it was at the turn of the century. Each community had its own settlement around which all social activity - in fact, even survival - revolved. Cedarville was one of these. Today the only evidences of a bustling district are the postage-stamp size Depot, which still stands beside the tracks, and a threshing machine-standing in the corner of a field at Highway 141 and Kaiko Road, originally Illinois Avenue - which was bought as a community project. Around 1900, Cedarville was a log loading siding on the Milwaukee railroad about 6 miles north of Wausaukee and 4 miles south of Amberg. In fact, it was located on the township line between Amberg and Wausaukee. When the logging industries pulled out the Skidmore Land Company acquired the cutover land from Ike Stephenson and other logging companies. They began to bring in settlers from states like Missouri, Iowa and Illinois who were attracted by the cheap land. Large quantities of pine and cedar timber near Cedarville had earlier drawn the logging companies located at the mouth of the Menominee River, and for awh ile this meant work and wages for the wage earners. Later good farm land drew the settlers. One thing deserved a special notice and that was the abundance of pure water. Little creeks traversed almost every forty and the water was so pure and clear that diptheria, typhoid fever and other diseases were almost non-existant. Among the first settlers were the Lawrence and Lucey Fergusens, John and Edith Ozburn, John Frankforths, William and Belle Stewart, Art Parson, C. M. Ross, William and John Stewart and Bill Stulls. When they began arriving , some of them set up housekeeping in the logging camp which was located about a mile east of what is now Highway 141 , on what is now Wontor Road. The main crop of these pioneers was potatoes, for which the Starke Brothers built a potato warehouse. A schoolhouse was also built, and a full fledged community was in the making. By the spring of 1914, the settlers began to come in droves. After the first ones came in 1912-14 came the following: William and John Story, the Walter Wright family, Walter Dooley family, Rev. Duff (a retired Methodist Minister), Art Capps family, George White, Amy Capps and her niece, Kate Snyder, Louie Carte (who was kil led digging a well), Logan Felch, Mrs. Reynolds, Ora Bosach, Art Person s, and later his parents, Rev. and Mrs. Parsons, Glenn Smith, Schofields, Smithhenry, Dowds, Gu licks, Applequist, DeFrancis, Olsons, Bakers, Art and Axel Anderson, Hally Barker, Mr. Wise, Nussbauns, Wilson, Charles Klein, Orv. Barber, and Owen Ross. Berrys came and built a grocery store on the corner. Later on it became a Methodist Church. Among the later

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families to arrive were Mr. and Mrs. John Lavrik (Julia) and chi ldren, Mike, John and Mary, in 1938. Also came the George Brugman family, King family, Curtiss family, Charles Lossie, Frank Early family, and the Kirkpatricks. The Wolff boys, Charles, Hugo and Otto were natives. They lived on the farm that had belonged to their parents. When Cedarville first began to be settled, everyone pitched in to help each other and any community project saw everyone assisting. The road west from Cedarville across the hills was so rough and slanting that one could hardly stay on the wagon seat. The men and boys took picks and shovels and built a road by hand that was passable and today the road follows the same route and is well travel ed. Streets were given Chicago names. Old Highway 38 is State Street, while Town line Road is I Iii no is Avenue. The schoolhouse was the center for all the social activities, as was the church. One Sunday Mr. Duff or Mr. Frankforth preached for the Methodists and the next Sunday, Mr. Ferguson preached for the Church of Christ, and the entire community attended each service. The first sermon was preached by Rev. Parsons and attended by about 25 persons. By the second year, 1914, the commun ity had grown sufficiently to hold a community picnic on a nearby island in Island Lake, with over 50 people present. The Declaration of Independence was read, patriotic songs sung, and Hugo Wolff entertained the group with his accordion. There was a fish fry, games, the ladies were taken riding, and by the end of the day, nearly everybody had fallen in the lake and had to be fished out. Christmas of 1914 was celebrated by 44 persons at a community dinner in the school house. By 1915, every two weeks, a Literary Society met, with a variety of programs and subjects that were of interest to the Community. This name was later changed to the Cedarville Improvement Society. There was also a debating team, a Young Peoples Christian Endeavor Society, as well as box socials and farmers gatherings. They had birthday surprises and if people didn't happen to have a birthday, they got a load of people and went to see them anyway. Visits from people from Amberg and Wausaukee helped to lessen the loneliness. Several people brought their old fashioned telephone when then they came, the kind with a crank on the side. They didn't have money to buy telephone wire so they would use the top wire on the fence and fill in with wire where necessary. In the logging camp the living quarters were in a building some distance from the bedroom building. It made things a little inconvenient to get down to the sleeping apartments and discover they had forgotten to set the yeast and realize they had to walk back the length of a long city block to the kitchen, taking the dog and a lantern for protection while the coyotes howled in the distance. They picked and canned hundreds of quarts of wild raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and gooseberries. Th e country treated them well even in its wildest state, offering wood to burn, wild fruit in abundance, and wild grass for their stock. After the railroad came, Milwaukee-St. Paul trains brought four trains a day through the area. Cedarville was a flag-stop station, meaning passengers wishing to board would stand in the middle of the tracks as the train approached, waving the ir arms or a white hankerchief in daytime, or a lantern at night. Otherwise the train didn't stop. Cecil Dooley once bought a ticket to New York from Cedarville in 1919. 59

When Uncle Sam called for help in 1917-18, Cedarville boys answered the call along with boys from all over. Among those from there were Lester Wright, Morris and Glenn Ozburn, Cecil Dooley, Hugh and Otto Wolff. Elmer Duff went to R.O.T.C. with Orvald and Roscoe Renalds. Every lady that could knit, and those that could not joined the Red Cross to knit for the boys overseas. And Mr. Dooley and others flagged down the train to ride to the war. Later, Warner Kattner, and then Sherman Pepper bought the William Story farm located on Wontor road. Mr. Pepper was a stockman from Albia, Iowa, who bought cattle out west and shipped them in and then held auction sales to get rid of them. Later the George Keim family, the Moss family, Jake and Sally Danver, Jim Flaws family, and the McGuire family were welcomed to the busy community. When the depression set in after World War I, potato prices dropped to 40¢ a bushel and farmers couldn't meet their payments. Many of the folks gave up and went back to their former homes. Many went to the city to seek work. When Henry Ford started to make parts for his Model T car in Kingsford, Michigan, some went to work there. Some who stayed on started on raise vegetables and take them to the markets in Iron Mountain. Finally most of the farm ers went back to tree farmi ng which has become the main crop today. Among the few remaining from the original settlers are Lester and Livise Nussbaum Dowd, and Cecil and Ruth Wright Dooley. Descendents of Otto and Bessie Curtis Wolff are Andrew, Emil , Otto, Jr. and Emma Wo lff Wontor. Also Eleanor Dooley Morgan.

Following are some of the excerpts from the January 3, 1922 meeting of Cedarville Literary Society. The original copy is on display at the museum. Written by Ada Dooley. Cedarville Index - Jan. 3, 1922. We have just come to the close of 1921 and entered into the New Year of 1922, so now let us make this new year of progress and good fellowship to our fellow men and let us go forward to higher ideals and a higher standard of living so it can be said of Cedarville, it is a good place to live in. We all have our faults, but we can all remedy them if we all try. Some New Year resolutions. Resolutions - Resolved to save my money and live a frugal life. - Resolved to do my duty and still abstain from strife. - Resolve to give up smoking and never touch a drop. - Resolve to heed the speed laws and never offend a cop. - Resolve to quit complaining and smile whene'er I can. - Resolve to cease from knocking and praise my fellow men. - Resolve - but what's the use of my plunging in so deep. - I've made more resolutions than any man can keep.

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When the Dooley Family Moved to Cedarvllle They Lived for Some Time In This Cabin.

Old Logging Camps - Used by Early Cedarville Settlers While Building Their Own Homes. Location: 1 Buildings Still Stands on the David Bucclfen-o Farm.

Mrs. Frankforth started a small grocery store in one room of her home, which was located about 1/8 of a mile west of the rai lroad tracks. She was also appointed Postmistress, as they had no R.F.D. She wou ld carry the mail to the depot in a mail bag and hang it on the mail crane. An arm would stick out from the mail car and snatch the bag from the crane. In-com ing mail was tossed off the trains as it passed through. Sometimes it didn't always land where it shou ld. One time, Charles Lossie bought a can of linseed oil in Wausaukee at Lau n's Hardware Store, then did some grocery shopping. He forgot to pick up his oil, so H. G. Laun decided to mail it to him. When the mail was thrown off at Cedarville, the bag struck something hard and the can burst in the bag. Mrs. Frankforth was very much upset about it, as anyone would be! 61

Former Cedarville Post Office and Store

Cedarville Depot - Now In Our Museum Complex

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CHAPTER 16

Miscauno Island

Miscauno Island, owned originally by the Holmes and Sons logging line, was used first as a dumping and storage area for logs. A railroad bridge p rovided access to it, and there was a railroad on the Island, also. First cal led Holmes Island, it was changed to Miscauno Island about 1905 after it was so ld to the Wiscon sin and Michigan Ra ilway Company, the name being taken from that of a nearby creek. Originally there was an Inn, a depot, a dancing pavilion, a boathouse, a caretakers cottage, and several other buildings. The railroad intended to make the island a recreation area for railway officials and their families, and to make its fortune by construction of a new line from the island to the port of Duluth , Minnesota. The "Grand Opening" was held in September, 1905 with a banquet and dance, with Amsden's military band of Marinette furnishing the music. Special trains were run for the event, with over 400 people expected. Over 600 came. Guests were present from Marinette, Menominee, Norway, Iron Mountain, Peshtigo, Chicago, and many other c ities, the train arriving about 9 P.M., returning the passengers to their homes the next morning. The Inn itself was luxurious, w ith broad overhangin g roofs, large porches, and a tower for observatory purposes. All of the outbuildings were fashioned after the Inn. The depot had a 600 foot long platform, the ladies' parlor had furniture imported from Austria, and the chandeliers in the hotel alone cost over $1,000. Arriving guests were welcomed by J. N. Faithorn, rai lroad general manager; Wi lliam Harrison, superintendent, and two of the general agents. A caterer was brought up from Chicago bringing all his help with him. The interior of the Inn was decorated with red , white and pink American Beauty roses, and all firepl aces were banked with palms. A band was stationed on the upper balcony, holding a concert from 9to10 P.M., after which the guests were taken by special train to the dancing pavilion about 200 yards from the hotel. Following the dance the train returned them to the hotel where a buffet lunch was served. Thirty servants catered the affair with perfection. The visitors were shown through the apartments, and 2 gasoline launches on the river provided them with additional entertainment, with rides for any who cared to go. Even as early as 1905, the island had a telephone system installed throughout the Inn and around the grounds, which were fenced in for privacy. The proposed line to Duluth was partially constructed when the railroad failed and the Miscauno Inn lay vacant, but in 1921 a group of wealthy people from Chicago purchased the island and formed the Four Seasons Club, and the facility was private for about 40 years.

63

In November, 1923, fire destroyed the c lubhouse and water tower, but all the other buildings were saved. The report of the fire reached the A mberg phone exchange about 1 o'clock and Mr. Busby organized a crew of f ire f ighters in Amberg and about 20 autos proceeded to the island as rapidly as possible. In 1924 the Inn was rebuilt on the original site. 30 ca rpenters cam e fro m Chicago and bunked at the boathouse, and the caretakers cottage served as a dining hall. The dance pavilion was partitioned into rooms for the g uests. In 1925 the new building was dedicated, an d was opened to the public about 1960. The Inn remains a beautiful structure wh ich ca n now be enjoyed by everyone.

Scene of Mlscauno Island

Mlscauno Inn

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CHAPTER 17

Niagara

Although Niagara is now a thriving and independent town, for approximately twenty-five years it belonged to the Town of Amberg. We know only a little of the history of Niagara, probably because the distance was too great an obstacle to make travel easy, and thus little history is recorded there. John Stoveken, Sr. was the founder of Niagara, and was one of the first to settle there. He was the first to attempt to harness what was then known as the lower Quinnesec Falls, where he bu ilt a small pulp mill, run by 12 men, in 1888. In 1890 th e mill was purchased and en larged by Badger Paper Co. and at that time families began to settle there. In 1899 Kimberly Clark purchased the plant and began at once to make Niagara what it is today, a prosperous town. We know there was activity at both Quinnesec Falls and Summit. There is a Little and Big Quinnesec Falls, but the one we mention appears to be the Little Falls, located just inside Niagara or a short distance to the east. In early 1896 a paper mill located there was employing 60 men, and later in the same year a mill under construction whether a new one or an addition to the same one - was expected to employ between 150 and 200 men by fall. The superintendent of the mill was J. Stoveken. His son, John Stoveken, Jr. of Quinnesec Falls came to Amberg in that same year to quali fy for the office of Justice of the Peace for that area. Besides acting as J.P., John Jr. ran a large hotel, general store and meat market, and was also the Postmast er. There was a P. & P. Hotel, where election notices for the Town of Amberg elections were often posted. By 1898 visitors to Niagara from Amberg were suprised to note the way the north end of their town was coming to the front. The Niagara Townsite Co. was laying out not one, but two town sites, and Park Good year was laying out a village plat. There was also a new tannery and sawmill and shingle mill . The paper mill was running night and day, but the pulp mill was shut down to build a new wood room. About 125 men were employed there in 1898, 200 more were expected to be working by January, and 400 by the following summer. Miss Ruby Bellingham was the teacher and had about 60 pupils in 1898. Miss Jennie Wilson of Abrams arrived a little later to aid in the classroom, because it was felt that 2 teachers were needed for all these students, and a new school was planned, to be completed around February 1. Some of the pupils neither tardy nor absent were Tom Hay, Cora O'Rourke, Bartly O'Rourke, Forrest Mitchell , Linda Timm, Anna Timm, Nettie Herbert, C harles Roeder and Leona Caravo. In 1899 it was voted to raise $500 to build a jail at Niagara, equipped with steel cages. A . H. Duca, Amberg blacksmith, was hired to build the cages. They were to be double, 61h by 9 feet high - in September the work was comp leted and the cells moved to 65

Niagara and placed in the new jail building there. Summit was another community, located approximately two or two and a half miles southwest of present day Niagara. In 1895 C. A. Budlong and Theodore Hasley surveyed the new road from Summ it to Quinnesec Falls, and it was noted that the opening of a road there meant a good deal to Marinette County and to th is section of the country in particular. It is hard to believe that there was no through road from north to south at this time, but the Town Board of Amberg traveled to Quinnesec Falls to plan for a road to be built from the Quinnesec Falls-Summit road to the northwesterly part of Amberg, there to connect to a road to be built in Florence County up to our town line. The citizens of Iron Mountain were to build a connecti ng link by personal suscription, fi lling a long felt want, opening a thoroughfare from Iron Mountain to Marinette directly through Marinette County, shortening the route which went to Marinette - through Michigan - by about 15 miles, and the Town Boards along the new route were happy that the tide of travel would now come through Amberg and the neighboring towns. There were many saloons in Niagara. One of these was near the intersection where the highway turns north towards Iron Mountain just out of Niagara, one was a few miles left of the intersection, and the P. & P. Hotel probably housed a bar room also. One license was issued for a building in the NW-SE of Section 9, Township 38, Range 20, situated on the Summit and Quinnesec Falls Road. The application was filed by Justice Josephson, and bondsmen of applicant were Andy Shallman and Z. Gravel. In 1896 three election districts were formed- Number 1 included Amberg itself, to a line north of Pemene Falls and west. District Number 2 included Pembine to the Niagara line, and Number 3 continued north to Michigan. The polls in District Number 3 were in the waiting room of Quinnesec Falls P. & P. Companys Hotel at Quinnesec Falls on Lot 4, Section 10, Township 38, Range 20 - and John Stove ken, Jr., Charles Hay and John Timm were to, if present, act as inspectors of the election. In 1902 Niagara began growing at a remarkably fast pace, with over 33 new homes built, at a cost of about $4,000 each. Two of these were exceptionally fine homes, built for Dr. A. E. Farrand and Superintendent S. H. Ryan. Five thousand feet of new sidewalk now ran from the river to McNulty's store, and an Appleton concern was hired to furnish electric lights - 8 arc lights in suitable places on streets, with incansescent lights placed in many business places and dwelling houses. The population in 1902 was over 2,000. There were 532 children of school age, with 4 teachers: Principal M. E. Mogan and teachers Miss Maggie Joyce, Miss Alice Sweeney and Miss McGregor. The area was divided into 3 districts, and 2 new schools were soon to be built- one at Summit and one two miles down river. There was also a school in the village. Pete Stoveken was building a new saloon, and -9 hotel basement in the area was being turned into a bowling alley, billiard room, closets and bathrooms. By now talk was beginning to turn to the formation of a new town, cutting Niagara off from Amberg. At one time Florence had tried to get this area annexed to that township. In 1902 for the first time talk began of building a Catholic Church. Building began in 1903, with dedication ceremon ies later the same year. By 1908 there were 8 saloons in Niagara, and in that same year the new clubhouse was begun. On July 11 the contract to build was awarded to I. Fluno of Appleton, who immediately started work on the foundation. It was to be a two story building, the lower 66

level of concrete, the top story frame with stucco finish. The floor plan was L-shaped with the front 105 feet, extreme depth 97 feet, shorter depth 62 feet, fronting toward the river. It was to have modern conveniences. The first floor would have a reception room, billiard and pool rooms, bowling alley, bathrooms and lavatories. Parlors and read ing rooms would be on the second floor, for use of employees of the company and their friends. The Clubhouse was built over a small creek which was enclosed in 8 sections of 42 inch cast iron pipe, laid in the creek bed - this arrangement would also be used to carry away water and be used as a sewer for the building. A rough estimate of the entire cost, finished and equipped, was $10,000. There were over 600 people in attendance at the dedication, which hosted a reception in the afternoon, fol lowed by luncheon served in the clubhouse, with vaudev ille entertainment in the evening in the large gymnasium or auditiorium. Some of the teachers about this time were Grant Steisel, Principal; Mrs. Edith Tate; Myrtle Canter; Helen Wray; Ocelia Berg; Hazel Arnold; Matilda Dunning; Soph ia Phillips; Anna Dahl, who were all teachers. Miss Anna Thompson taught at Miller school, Miss Kate Fitzgerald at Morrow School, and Miss Irene Budlong at Summit School. In 1908, again , talk of pulling away from Amberg came to the front, with half the population for and half against. The State Assembly passed the motion which would split Amberg into 3 parts - Amberg, Pembine and Niagara, but a stiff fight was expected in the Senate to divide the town into 2 towns, Niagara as one, with Pembine and Amberg combined for the other. The principal fight against the bill was done by the Kimberly Clark Company, but the majority of other heavy taxpayers, and most of the private citizens, were now in favor of the division. The bi ll was eventually shelved, but the Town of Amberg , under law, could petit ion the Coun ty Board or C ircuit Cou rt for d ivision, both of these bodies having the same authority as the Legislature to divide the town. Most of the citizens of Amberg by now favored the d ivis ion. In March, 1910, a movement was started again to divide, and petitions with nearly 300 signatures were filed with the County Clerk. As a result the question was placed on the spring ballot, and the vote took place in April in the three towns to split the territory exactly in half. Pembine was definitely against such a vote, as she wanted a town of her own , and not be the tail end of some community whose center was ten miles to the north or south. The final decision was to take Niagara out of Amberg, with Niagara and Pembine voting 194-17 in favor, and Amberg 71-4, and in 1910 Niagara withdrew to form her own town. In 1913 Niagara was incorporated , and in 1914 the town of Pembine was admitted as a town. Probably few people know that Niagara was only a hair's breath away from being ca:led "Badger." The proposed new Post Office at Quinnesec Falls chose that name as their first choice, but a search of the Post Office directory showed there was already a "Badger" in the state, so it was decided to call the new town "Niagara."

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CHAPTER 18

Pembine

Pembine was almost a perpetual pawn in the division of Amberg, sometimes being pulled towards Niagara and occasionally towards Amberg, finally ending up as an independent town of its own. Pembine was already a good sized village in the early 1900's, and continuing to grow at a fairly fast pace. By 1903 inhabitan ts were planning to build a new schoolhouse, and a telephone line was coming in from Iron Mountain. Plans were being made to take the old school and make it into a Catholic Church. Loren Sau Id, who was proprietor of the Forest Hotel at Pembine, decided to engage also in the mercantile business there. He owned the store building north of and adjoining the hotel, and was installing shelves and counters, plus showcases for display purposes. Frank Richards ran the store the previous year. In 1903 a Mr. Kuchenbacker from Dunbar built the new Pembine school. It consisted of 4 rooms and was a two story building, 27 X 50 feet. An addition on the east side, 10 X 22 feet was built for an entrance hall and cloak rooms on both the first and second floors. The school also had a full basement, with a hot air furnace and fuel room . By 1904 there were 3 Hotels in operation - the Central, the Forest and Commercial. Loren Sauld ran the Forest and Z. Gravel the Commercial. J. D. Blake owned the Central and redecorated the interior to lease to John Stoveken, Jr. of Niagara, who had· given up his hotel there to the Kimberly Clark Company. It was in February, 1904 that he took over the Central Hotel and changed the name to Hotel Algonquin. Hotels evidently changed hands at a fast pace, because the following year, 1905, Mrs. 0. N. Durand who was operating the Algonquin, retired, and Z. Gravel leased the business, running both the Algonquin and the Com mercial. The Forest had been closed down, the last operator having been William Johnson. In 1906 J . D. Blake leased both hotels from Mr. Gravel , but the Saloon business in the Commercial was continued under Mr. Gravel. In 1906 also there was an American House in Pembine, owned by Thomas Dion. On July 4 of 1906 there was a gala ce lebration with a morning baseball game for a purse of $20, with races in the afternoon for prizes worth $100 being offered. In the afternoon there was an Aeronaut balloon ascension and jump, followed by a big bowery dance and fireworks in the evening. During the same summer there was a serious fire in the town when the Pembine Ice House burned, threatening the entire town. It resulted in several hundred dollars worth of damage, with strong winds contributing to the danger. A fire brigade was formed to prevent the fire from spreading, with women as well as men manning the pails and pumps. The Forest Hotel was in direct line with the danger and was on fire several times

68

and windows in the building were broken from the heat. If the Forest house had burned the entire town may have been lost. George S. Robinson at this time moved his stock merchandise to Pembine to start a store, having purch ased the J. B. Adams store and warehouse. In 1908 there was a meeting to organize a Presbyterian Church, with 26 families signing petitions for church organization, and formation of a Presbyterian Church Society. The Board of Churches held a meeting in Weyawega and voted to give the fledging group $800, and the hope was that a church would be bui lt within the next few months. Several desirable sites were offered free of charge and it was expected that much of the stone and building materials would be donated. Joseph Cota of Pembine and John Stoveken, Jr. of Niagara were on the Amberg Board of Audit. They helped audit the books of the clerk and treasurer and found them in o rder. A Board of School Directors met in the Amberg Town Clerks office for their semi-annual meeting - present were W. H. Ryan, Niagara; Joseph Cota; George Willis; Ellis Lundgren; Adolph Mottard , Pembine; and Ed Franklin, Beecher Lake. By this time Pembine had 8 saloons, and one of the saloon keepers was accused of selling liquor to a posted man in violation of the statutes. He admitted the guilt but stated it was unintentional and promised to be more carefu l in the future. The case was dismissed. Until the time when Niagara pulled away from Amberg, Pembine never knew which town it might belong to. There were petitions to give her to both areas - but in the final vote Pembine won her independence from both Niagara and Amberg, becom ing a busy capab le town of its own in the process.

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CHAPTER 19

White Rapids

Little can be said about this area that has not already been we ll documented in the " History of W hite Rapids." We know that the Indian trail that crossed the Thunder River at Shawano Rapids and the Peshtigo River at Wolf Rapid s went on to White Rapids on the Menominee River, and a group of Indians was already there when the first settlers cam e into the area. We know that at the beginning of 1897 plans called for a pulp and paper mill to be bu ilt at White Rapids, and that 1400 acres of land had been purchased along the river for this purpose. Wallace K. Cook and Thomas Robinson of Appleton were early owners of this 1400 acres, but by 1899 had sold the acreage to Ben Hooper, an Oshkosh attorney, who thus owned or controlled the land on both sides of the Menominee River. A one million dollar stock company planned to build a large paper mill there, and a town site had been platted on the Michigan side, where it was supposed a thriving village would spring up when the prospective mills were built. It was also intended to build a good road from Wausaukee to White Rapids , where the proposed mill would be built and water power utilized. The plans included a village on the Wisconsin side of the river, also. Most of the settlers here were farmers lured by the p romise of good farm lands by the Marinette County land companies, but for some of them the gigantic task of clearing their property proved too much of a challenge and many turned to other employment, some at the Ford Plant in Iron Mountain and some at the Chalk Hills dam site. A village of sorts did materialize on the Michigan side of the river, but not on the Wisconsin side, although Alfred Larsen ran a barber shop, saloon, lunch room and oil station at the White Rapids and Chalk Hills power dam fork roads in the early 1900's. These businesses were later destroyed by fire. White Ra!Jids did grow in size and population so that schools were built in the area and an imposing church which has been the site of many wedd ings and funerals. The people of White Rapids were most fortunate in having an " Ang el of Mercy," in the person of Mrs. 0. L. Harley, a graduate nurse and the wife of Reverand Harley. Mrs. Harley treated George Keim for a broken leg, as she waited for someone to get a doctor. She secured Chloroform from Mrs. Fager to make him as comfortable as possible. Because of a severe blizzard, the doctor did not arrive until morning. The leg was set and Mrs. Harley nursed the patient in her home for 2 weeks until he could be moved. She treated the Anglemyer family for food poisoning when some became ill after eating leftover chicken. All recovered. No-one knows how many babies she delivered. Doctors became hesitant to go on 70

maternity cases when they knew Mrs. Harley was available. She had her own small children , and Mr. Harley was forced to tend the children while she was on a difficult case. Never did she make any distinction between those who could pay and those who could not. She was an outstanding example of a true Christian nurse. White Rapids is the on ly one of Am bergs communities of White Rapids, Pembine, Beecher and Niagara that is still an integral part of our town. (Chapters on Mrs. Harley excerpled from

"His~ory

White Rapid:; :'ewer D