I was born on a farm near Sextonville, Wisconsin in Ithaca township in Richland County[1] on January 15, 1873. I am now ninety years of age and have lived in Cresco, Iowa[2] for sixty-five years.

      My parents were Lawrence Dorgan, who was born in New Jersey in 1849 and came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1856, and Mary Killoy, who was born in Watertown[3], Wisconsin in 1849. They were married at Keyesville, Wisconsin by Rev. Theolophus Beau[4] on October 3, 1871.

      They purchased a farm of eighty acres near Sextonville where I was born and were among the pioneers of that section of Richland County. The farm had a frame house, stable, and a machine shed. A spring near the house furnished water and made a small stream between the house and the stable. Heavy timber covered much of the land.

      Father and his brother Pat bought a threshing machine for six hundred dollars and threshed grain for a large community from August until late in November. Earlier in the season they farmed their land; during the winter they worked in the forest.

      When my parents were married, my grandfather Dorgan gave father a fine span of young cream-colored horses named John and Maje. I claimed John for my horse and my little sister Josie, fifteen months younger, claimed Maje for hers. When they were harnessed and led out to drink, I rode on the back of my horse and she on hers. We bravely hung on to the rings of the harness on their backs. You see, we had cowgirls then.

      My sister, Kitty, was born in 1877. She was not a sturdy child and had many sick spells. She loved to play dress-up and play with her dolls in her room. She would scrub the floor and insist on keeping everything immaculately clean. She did not care to play outdoors like the rest of us.

      One time when my father came home, he brought us a pair of ducks. There was a scramble mornings to see which one of us could get out first and find the blue egg waiting for us.

      We were constant playmates until tragedy struck our happy home. Apparently, Josie found a match and lighted it. I heard her screams and ran into the kitchen and saw flames rising above her head. Mother heard her and wrapped a blanket around her to smother the flames. She had inhaled the smoke and was quite badly burned. This caused her death in a few hours. My little playmate was gone.

      Father was away threshing so mother sent me to tell Aunt Julia to come and to tell Fred Crapsen[5] to go for father. Uncle John Killoy, who lived nearby rushed on horseback for the doctor. The relatives came immediately.

      The grief was terrible. We were the oldest grandchildren in the families. All our relatives seemed to have adopted us and we loved all of them.

Chapter Two.  My Paternal Grandparents

      My grandfather Dorgan passed away the April I was born. He and my grandmother were born in County Cork, Ireland about 1820 and were married in New York in 1848.

      Grandma was a widow and left three sons, Tim, Richard, and Dennis Daly, with her mother in Ireland but sent for them later. Her mother and oldest son remained in Lynn, Massachusetts. The other two boys lived with her and grandfather.

      Grandfather and his sister Mrs. Kate Nelson in Madison sent for the rest of his family…Ellen Rashford and Harmeh [sic, evidently Carmen] Connors who married and settled in Dane County, Wisconsin; Margaret who married Goodsell and settled in Elkport, Iowa; and Pat and Mike Dorgan. Grandmother sent for her sister Julia and Ellen Flynn, who had married in Ireland and later lived in Dane County, Wisconsin.

      Grandfather Dorgan was the son of Lawrence and Ellen Dorgan. His parents died and left a young family in Ireland. After the brothers arrived in this country, Mike left for California and was never heard from again. The family thought he may have been killed by Indians during his trip.

      Grandfather’s brother Pat married grandmother’s sister Julia and all were living in New Jersey until the men heard the stories of the wonders of the West. They saw the fat beeves coming from there so they decided it was time to try their luck.

      They traveled by boat on the Erie Canal and by train until they reached Madison, Wisconsin. They arrived in Richland City by stage in 1856 and lived there until 1858.

      Richland City was founded in 1849 on a high terrace where the Pine River flowed into the Wisconsin River. It was an important river boat landing. A sawmill, the largest flour mill in the west, and a distillery were the major industries. Richland City was a favorite stopping place for steamboats as well as for fleets containing lumber on their way from Warsau[6] to St. Louis. Of great interest to everyone was the schoolhouse, built in 1853. As with many towns in that era, the coming of the railroads determined the life span of Richland City. When the C. M. and St. Paul Railroad[7] was extended to Prairie de [du] Chien, the station was located at Lone Rock, farther up the river. Erosion cut the land away and the old town was gradually washed away.

      In 1858 [1856?] Grandfather bought eighty acres of land near Sextonville and his brother Pat bought eighty acres adjoining it. The land was a wilderness covered with trees and brush. To obtain hay for their cow and oxen, they had to travel on foot for four or five miles to Bear Creek where the wild grass grew in the marshes. They mowed this with a scythe and carried it on poles to a dry place to cure; then they hauled it home with oxen.

      They built a log house, a stable for cattle, and a hop house. To get water, they dug a well, that was enclosed by a stone wall and a frame around the sides. A [blank space left in the original] above it was where the buckets were hung. When that was let down and filled with water, the other was lowered and filled. The bucket was drawn up by hand on a rope over the pulley.

      I can remember Grandma living in the log house; they were building a frame house where they soon moved. Lumber was plentiful at this time. Only a wagon tracked passed the old house. They built on the side where a public road had been laid out and lived there several years. Then they sold the farm. Uncle Pat and L. E. Brewer bought a farm in Bear Valley. The first old farm is now an apple orchard.

      Grandma had a large spinning wheel. She spun the wool from their sheep by holding a tuft of wool in her hand while walking back and forth. She used the other hand to push the wheel to keep it turning. The threads were very fine and even. With another machine she twisted the strands of yarn together using as many strands needed to get the thickness of yarn that she desired. The heaviest yarn was used for men’s socks and mittens. From this yarn she knitted all the stockings and mittens for the family.

      In an old assessment list found in the historical library[8] in Madison, Wisconsin dated 1860 their possessions consisted of twenty acres of imporved [sic!, i.e. improved] and sixty acres of timber—valued at five hundred dollars. In addition to this they had one cow, four oxen, five hogs valued at $125, fifty bushels of wheat, and one hundred bushels of corn.

      Grandfather did outside work for others during the summer. In the winter he worked in the forest cutting logs for lumber, rails for fences, railroad ties, and hickory for hoop poles, and clearing land. By this time he had much help; in addition to the two boys from Grandma’s first marriage, they had two boys and five girls of their own.

      Grandfather enlisted to fight in the Civil War but was rejected on account of varicose veins in his legs. Father was but fourteen years old and wanted to enlist too. He was so young that Grandfather objected. When plowing in the field, he tied his yoke of oxen to a tree and hitchhiked to Camp Randal in Madison, sixty miles away. His Uncle Pat, of whom he was very fond, was training there—so, he went to him.

      The captain let him ride his horse to water and he was having a wonderful time. His uncle never returned. He was taken a prisoner, after being wounded, and died from starvation and unsanitary conditio[n]s in Andersonville Prison.[9] He left a wife and five small girls. They finally received a pension of ten dollars a month.

      As Grandfather passed away before I was born, I only remember my grandmother and dearly loved her. Uncle Pat and three of the girls then lived with her while the other two girls were attending school in preparation to become teachers. Two of the girls married L. E. Brewer and H. R. Brewer who were brothers.[10]

      Grandma would tell us stories about her life in Ireland, a land she dearly loved. She told us about her school in Cork that was taught by a schoolmaster. She described how they milked the goats and made butter. They spun flax, wove the linen, and bleached it on the green.

      At this time Ireland was suffering from potato rot. That caused much suffering and depression as all of the land had been taken away from the owners by the English in the time of Cromwell. People were obliged to turn over a part of their produce for rent each year or they must leave their homes.

      Her mother and oldest boy remained in Lynn. When the other boys were older, they returned to Lynn to work with their paternal uncle in the shoe manufacturing business.

      Grandma lived to be eighty-two years old and passed away in the home of Uncle Pat in Bear Valley in 1902. It was in the dead of winter when a heavy snow blocked the roads. Members of the family from Richland Center attending the funeral drove through the unbroken roads. Horses fell down and sleds upset, but they managed to reach Keyesville late for the funeral. The funeral procession found similar conditions and were also late in arriving. These conditions often occurred after storms and roads were not opened for days.

Chapter Three.. My Maternal Grandparents

      Mother’s parents were John and Catherin Killoy. They came from County West Meath in Ireland following their marriage in about 1845. They first lived in New York, but in 1847 moved to Watertown, Wisconsin where mother was born, and later to Madison.

      In 1858 they bought a farm near Sextonville which had a log house. They built a frame house, a stable, and later a hop house. Land was mostly in timber with only a few acres cultivated. A spring near the house supplied water. A large huckleberry patch was on the side hill near the house.

      At my first memory they had a garden, apple trees, and current bushes. The family then consisted of two married daughters and four boys. The girls were Annie Lord and Mother. The boys were John (married to Nora Keegan), Mike, Bill, and Dan—all at home.

      Grandfather had been a Civil War veteran. He had a blue uniform, a heavy blue woolen overcoat, and a peaked cap. Old soldiers often visited him. How we loved to listen to their war stories. The feeling was then bitter against the rebels as many had reported losing relatives and friends during the war. Much suffering and deaths were blamed in the cruel and starvation conditions in the rebel prisons. During Holiday celebrations the old soldiers following the drummer and flag and dressed in their blue uniforms would march. I can remember some having an empty sleeve or a wooden leg. Grandma and her boys, the oldest being thirteen, had all the care of the farm during Grandfather’s absence.

      The family was always interested in education. There were so many good books for me to read. Mother was a teacher in the local schools before she got married. Uncle Mike was a teacher during the winter months. However, in the summer everyone worked on the farm; in the winter there was much to be done in the woods and in clearing the land.

      Grandma loved to cook and bake. We always found cookies in her jar. She was very charitable and many hungry children owed her for food. Grandma passed away in 1898, three years after Grandpa’s death.

Chapter IV..History of Wisconsin

      Before continuing my story, I must tell you about my dear old state of Wisconsin—and Richland and Sauk Counties where I spent the first twenty-five years of my life.

      The first white men ever to be in Wisconsin were the French explorers and missionaries who explored the west bank of Lake Michigan and the coast of Green Bay and Lake Superior establishing trading posts and missions along these places.

      In 1671 France took possession of the whole country of the Upper Lakes. Louis Joliet came from Quebec, appointed by the French government to discover the Mississippi River, described by Indians as the “Father of Waters.” He was accompanied by Father Marquette, a missionary. Their outfit consisted of a birch bark canoe, a supply of smoked meat and Indian corn, and five white men. They traveled the shore of Lake Michigan to Green Bay, the Fox River to Portage and carried their canoes on foot from there to the Wisconsin River. They floated down the river until they reached the Mississippi. Later missionaries and fur traders established missions and trading posts at Green Bay, Prairie du Chien.

      The French made friends with the Indians. Following the French and Indian War in 1760, Canada was surrendered to the British [a small space] all territory east of the Mississippi River. Wisconsin was made a part of the Northwest Territory of the United States. It was ceded by the British after the Revolution by the Jay Treaty in 1794 and withdrew its garrison in 1796.

      In 1825 the lead mines in Galena, Illinois and the southwestern part of Wisconsin brought miners and settlers. It was made a territory in 1836 and became a state in 1848. The land has steep bluffs and fertile valleys with streams coursing down each valley. The name of the state, Wisconsin, means high stones and rocks—the Indian description of the river of the same name.

Chapter V..The Mound Builders

      Traces of a race who evidently peopled these hills and valleys in a far off historical time have been found. They lived in a way similar to the Aztecs of Mexico, but they lived and died leaving no trace of their existence before the Red man desecrated it. The high bluffs and level bottom land along the Wisconsin river are thickly dotted in many places with the ruins of a vanished race. Along the river’s north bank in Richland County these mounds are quite numerous in varied shapes and sizes. They contain bones, impliments [sic] and pottery left by a race extinct for centuries.

      A party from the Smithsonian Institute[11] opened a group of twenty mounds north of Lone Rock. All were round except one that was twenty feet long. Many more were found around the hills. Bones were fragile and turned to dust, so it was hard to preserve them. Mastodian shaped mounds were found and mastodon bones were buried in some, indicating that they may have lived at the same time. They buried their dead by laying them on the ground and putting soil on them; however, one was found at a depth of three feet. They were doubled up at the knees and hips and were laid east and west with their heads alternately each way. One was believed to be a man six feet eight inches tall.

      I have often seen these mounds in the woods where they had not been disturbed.

Chapter VI..The Indians

      Little is known about the Red Indians who succeeded the Mound Builders. The earliest known of any tribe inhabiting the vast wooded solitudes of Richland and Sauk Counties is that it was the hunting grounds of a portion of the Sacs or Sauks and their friends, the Foxes. The valley of the Wisconsin River seems to have been a favorite locality for them. They cultivated large tracts of corn lands mentioned by the French Missionary Alliance in 1665. The Winnebagoes were in the north part of Richland County.

      The Foxes and Sacs credit [sic, “ceded” must have been meant] all their portion to the United States by a treaty in 1804. Some still remained in their hunting grounds, but in 1816 the Winnebagoes sold their land east of the Mississippi to the United States and were to move west of the “Father of Waters.” The treaty was not fully carried out as it remained their favorite hunting ground. The Winnebagoes violently resented the few attempts of hunters and trappers to erect cabins when entering it.

      The Foxes and Sacs still were dissatisfied about leaving their lands east of the Mississippi. So with Black Hawk, the leader of the Foxes and Sacs, they crossed the Mississippi into Illinois and murdered settlers and pillaged the countryside. The U.S. troops, under General Atkinson, attacked and chased them across the Wisconsin River at Honey Creek in Sauk County. The Indians went down the river and crossed the southwestern corner of Sauk County and traveled diagonally across the towns [i.e. townships] of Buena Vista and Ithaca in Richland County in a northwesterly direction to the Mississippi River. There at Battle Axe[12] they were overtaken by General Atkinson and others. A battle was fought and the Indians were defeated—nearly all of them being killed. Black Hawk and a few escaped into Iowa. The Winnebagoes captured Black Hawk and the war was ended. Consequently, Fort Atkinson was built in Iowa to protect the Winnebagoes from the Foxes, but it was never needed.

Chapter VII..First Settlements in Richland County

      Richland County is situated in the southwestern part of Wisconsin, north of the Wisconsin River with one county[13] between it and the Mississippi River on the west. The general shape of the county is square. It has steep bluffy hills and fertile valleys with streams meandering down each vale.

      The first white men to ever see this county were Father Marquette and La Salle as they sailed down the Wisconsin River. At this time it was covered with dense forests of white and black oak, red oak, white maple, sugar maple, basswood, pines, white and black walnut, cherry, and hickory trees. It was named Richland for its rich soil. Before 1838 this region was the only known as a wilderness inhabited by savage Indians and ferocious beasts.

      The lead mines in Galena, Illinois and southwest Wisconsin had drawn many settlers, but the wild rushing waters of the Wisconsin River checked immigration north of the river. In 1838, the first white man attempted a settlement; he was John Combe[14], born in England. He and his group crossed the river in an Indian canoe near Port Arthur.[15] Deer, elk, bears, and smaller game abounded in the forests and there ws a myriad of fish in the streams. But this was the hunting grounds of the Winnebago Indians who jealously guarded it from the encroachment of their white neighbors. The Indians destroyed the cabins, so Combe and his party returned to Galena.

      In 1840 he and others crossed the river and tilled the soil. Others followed and located along the river, making the first settlement. One of these, a Mr. Swinehart[16], crossed the river near Muscoda and made his way to the mouth of Pine River. He pitched his tent on the bank but was forced to leave by the Winnebagoes who took things for themselves. In the fall they returned and explored Pine River as far north as Rockbridge, where the west branch of the river passes through a small channel through the rocks.

      Rockbridge is a natural bridge consisting of a mass of rock about half a mile long and from thirty to forty feet high. It is from three to five rods wide on top but slants to much less at the bottom.

      Mr. Swinehart explored the river and found forests of gigantic pines that could be cut and floated down the river to its mouth. (When I saw Rockbridge, it and surrounding country were covered with scraggy pine trees and brush. The large pines had been made into lumber and never replaced). For the journey he took a gun, two dogs, a pair of blankets, a hatchet, a frying pan, and hard tack, but lived mostly on game. He returned to Galena and returned in December with two men.

      Each made a handsled, took tools, provisions, and camp equipment. They traveled the Wisconsin and Pine Rivers on the ice. They found plenty of game and a bee tree so they had a feast of game and honey by a roaring fire. A camp was constructed and they were kept quite busy. The majestic pines were cut down and were put on a boom. This gave way in March; by July 4^th they reached Muscoda and the men received $1200 for four hundred logs.

      A little later saw mills and grist mills were built along the river with settlements made on bordering lands. Men, women, and children inhabited the first log houses. There was meat in abundance by killing the bear, deer, and moose that were native to the land. Bee trees supplied the sweets. Potatoes and other garden vegetables completed their food needs. A wagon road was built in 1845 from Orion to Rockbridge; therefore, flour was hauled by oxen from Muscoda and exchanged for game and honey until grist mills were built along the Pine River.

      By 1850, settlements began in all parts of the county, and by 1860 the population reached nearly ten thousand. The Civil War retarded growth with a large death rate but it was rapidly increased after the war.

      The early settlers faced poverty, hardships, and often went to conquer nature and build homes for themselves and their families.They accomplished much more than they realized.

Chapter VIII..Richland Center

      Richland Center is situated on the Pine River in the central part of the county. Ira Hoagilton[17], seeing the water power and other advantages, bought a quarter section of land and had blocks and lots laid out; he induced settlers to come by donating lots to locate there. It was chosen the site for the County seat by an election of the people of the county in 1857.

      A branch of the C[18] and St. Paul Railroad extended from Lone Rock to Richland Center in 1876, known as the “Narrow Gage” and was built on a thirty-six inch track laid on maple rails by local people. In 1880 it was sold to the C. M. and St. Paul Railroad and the track was laid the same as theirs. Being at the end of the line made Richland Center a thriving town. Consequently, many enterprising men—professional and business—soon settled.

      A large sawmill and lumberyard were installed by A. W. Kranship[19] in 1883. Large forests of giant oak, maple, hickory, and walnut trees grew in the northern part of the county and furnished logs for the sawmill. I remember seeing a line of teams hauling huge logs in the running gear of the sleds arriving at the sawmill each day during the winter. The lumber amply supplied the community and the rest was shipped to distant lumberyards.

      A large grist mill and dam were built by A. C. Parfrey in 1870. The rich surrounding soil furnished a thriving business for the mill. Other business place sprung up—such as a general store, a bank, schools, and churches. In addition to these, a wagon shop, a tannery, livery barns, harness shops, blacksmiths, a brickyard, dress making shops, millinery shops, and medical and dental offices were established.

      Church services were celebrated in homes or public buildings by pastors from other places in the earliest days of Richland Center. The Methodists built the first church in the town in 1855, followed by the Presbyterians in 1857. St. Thomas Catholic Church was built in 1866 with Father Beau from Keyesville as the pastor. The Baptist Church was built in 1870.

      A thirst for knowledge of current events brought about the establishment of newspapers. There were two—“The Republican Observer” edited by William Fogo and “The Richland Rustic”, a Democratic paper.

      The first school was held in the Richland County Court House in 1853 and was taught by Sylvia Hazelton. When I attended high School in Richland Center, we had a principal (who received one thousand dollars a year) and two assistants (who received fifty dollars a month each). The four grade school teachers and kindergarden teacher received three hundred dollars a year. At this time the school had acquired a small library. (I taught seventh grade in this school from 1894–1897).

      A county fair was held each year. Horse racing was the greatest attraction. People took great pride in having nice horses on their farms, as draft horses and race horses trained for the great day. Horses were curried and brushed daily. On special occasions, such as this, the tails were tied and the manes were combed and decorated with ribbons. The harness was blackened and the rings were polished. The bridles were checked up so the horse had to hold his head high. The harness was decorated with shiny rings. (In the winter, strings of sleigh bells hung around the horses and entranced people with their merry jingle.)

      The people came to the fair, riding behind their beautiful driving teams, from all over the county. The families would gather, bringing large luncheon baskets, and would eat on the ground in groups. The men displayed their livestock and produce while the women showed their handwork, baking and canned goods. As even today, the merry-go-round drew the children with its festive note.

      Another big day was the day the circus came to town. Boys would be out bright and early to see the circus unload from its cars. The street parade drew large crowds of people who seldomly got to town. The calliope and band, beautiful horses and riders, elephants, and cages of animals were a great inducement to draw people under the tent to see the performance. Baraboo, the county seat of nearby Sauk County was the home of the Ringling Brothers Circus. Consequently, good shows like Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey then visited Richland Center.

      As one can see, Richland Center drew people from all walks of life. Its rich soil and enterprising inhabitants created a thriving community at the turn of the century.

      Its early history attracts many visitors. Richland Center is noted for not having been covered by glaciers; therefore, rocks and high hills are left as they were in layers when they were formed under the water. This makes it an attraction for geologists who climb the bluffs to view the strata in its formation.

Chapter IX..The Tannery, Harness Shop, and Livery Stable

      In the early days, hides were tanned for leather for harnesses and footwear in the local tanneries. My two uncles from Virginia, Lo Brewster and H. R. Brewster[20], owned the one in Richland Center. The shop had a place where hides are tanned into leather by seeping in an infusion of oak bark in a tank of water.

      Both men were harness makers. Consequently, in the shop were heavy work harnesses, lighter ones for driving horses, and single harnesses—having a britchen to be attached to the thills of a buggy. Horse collars of all sizes hung on the walls on pegs; tugs, bridles and lines lay on tables or benches. Sleigh bells hung from the ceiling and ships stood in corners. Heavy woolen horse blanckets and horsefly nets were piled up. Saddles for men and side saddles for ladies were on exhibition. (The ladies’ saddles had both stirrups on one side.)

      The livery stables suppl[i]ed  customers with their choice of transportation. One could rent buggies and carriages with a driver included if necessary.

      All three of these places exist no more due to the advent of the automobile and the decline in the use of horses. In the early days they were in great demand but would be a novelty to this generation.

Chapter 10..The Hop Crash

      In the latter part of the 1870’s there occurred the “Hop Crash.” During my early memories, the people were just recovering from this. I can remember seeing the hop picking [a defect in the mimeograph here results in several missing words] held the hope that the good market would return.

      A hop louse had been destroying the crop in England. The English discontinued raising hops for a few years until the borers would die out. This created a great demand for hops and high prices were paid for the cones. The dried cones were used to impart a bitter taste to malt liquors, used as a tonic, in medicines, and also in making yeast.

      Many had planted much of their land in hops and built large hop houses to dry and store them. These were two stories high, the lower story for the stove to heat and dry the cones that were spread out on the floor of the top story.

      To cultivated hops, land had to be well-cultivated. The hops were planted in rows a few feet apart and in hills. Long poles had to be set in the ground on which the long vines could climb and encircle them. When cultivated and ripe, large hop boxes were placed through the fields where men and women picked and filled the boxes with the cones. In order to make this easier, the men lowered the poles over the boxes. Crowds would gather at the homes where all were served meals. After the work was finished, there generally was a party or a dance in the evening.

      The growing and harvesting of hops entailed great expense and labor. Even so, prosperity was booming when England again began cultivating hops. The surplus destroyed the demand and market, thereby creating the crash. People were left with expensive hop houses, land covered with worthless hops and poles, together with debts and mortgages.

Chapter Eleven..Bear Valley and My Life There

      When I was five years old, my parents sold their farm near Sextonville and purchased a ninety acre farm in Bear Valley near the town of Bear Creek, in Sauk County. This was just across the county line from Richland County. They paid $1350.00 for the farm. On a $1000.00 unpaid mortgage, they were obliged to pay $100.00 on the note and 10% interest annually for ten years. This farm had been a victim of the Hop Crash and was in poor condition.

      It had a frame house in need of repair, a straw-covered shed for a stable, and a hop house. Father made a horse and cow stable out of the lower floor of the hop house and a grainary and hay loft from the top floor. Much of the land was covered with timber and brush reached nearly to the buildings on the south side. About forty acres of the land was cultivated. A creek crossed the land and joined a frog pond where the frogs croaked until late hours at night.

      In 1880, my sister Nellie was born. She was a strong active girl and loved the outdoors as I did. She like[d] animals and had many pets. When she was a small girl, a wolf killed two ewes and two lambs. One escaped and came home. She cared for it and fed it milk from a bottle until it was nearly grown. From then on it followed her like a puppy.

      My only brother Willie was born in 1883. He had red hair, a fair skin that freckled easily, and a very loving disposition. In those days little boys wore boots. He was so thrilled upon receiving new red ones that he took them to bed with him. He liked books and was a very apt pupil in school—ready for play when the other pupils were busy with their lessons.

      After mother passed away in 1808  [sic!, actually1908], he and his family lived in the old home until his health failed about eighteen years ago. He retired to Richland Center and passed away. Kitty still lives in Milwaukee and is 86 years old. Nellie, who lives on her own farm in Bear Valley is 83 years old.

      We were obliged to cross Bear Creek on our way to the little white schoolhouse at Yulluic [??] corner in Richland County. In the spring and after heavy rains, the water would be high, often crossing the road on both sides of the bridge and keeping us at home. Mother still loved teaching and continued by assisting us with our lessons and reading to us. Therefore, when I started to school at six years of age, I could read my primer and print. Even with our frequent absences due to bad weather, she always kept me up with or ahead of my class.

      My parents worked hard with no modern conveniences but found much joy in life living among relatives and neighbors in similar conditions.

      Father was always interested in community projects and politics. He was a great admirer of Bob La Follette[21] and worked hard to support him in his campaign. I can also remember him riding a horse and carrying a lighted torch in the procession for the Blaine and Logan campaign.

      He had a great admiration for law and always regretted that he was unable to have the education and opportunity to become a lawyer. He was the Justice of the Peace and made a study for his law books; he did most of the legal work in the community, such as writing deeds, mortgages, and notes. He did much collecting and issued summons and warrants. Sometimes lawsuits were held in his office and our home. He always tried to get parties to settler their grievances outside of court and usually succeeded.

      I remember a case where a man’s fence was set on fire and burned during the night.[22] A neighbor of his who had a shady reputation had a large foot and a small one—and wore shoes accordingly. Tracks of a man with a large and a small shoe were found along the fence where the fires were started. (When this man was a child, a hog ate part of his foot and a hand but he still could make illegal liquor and sell it to thirsty customers! Some would be laid out and when they came to, their purses were missing.) The criminal was convicted.

Chapter Twelve..Bear Valley

      Bear Valley extends about twenty miles northeast from Lone Rock, a market town, organized in 1856 when the C. M. and St. Paul Railroad was extended to Prairie du Chien. The station was established in Lone Rock and north of the Wisconsin River.

      Bear Valley is surrounded by high bluffs and projecting rocks. Many smaller valleys bordered by high bluffs open into it. It is drained by Bear Creek which rises in Sauk County and flows southwesternly through Richland County. There it is joined by the Little Bear Creek from Sauk County and other smaller streams, fed by springs in the hillsides and water carried down from rain or snow.

      During my earliest memories the bluffs were covered with trees and brush far down their sides. These stored the moisture and prevented erosion. The timber in Bear Valley was not as large as in the northern part of the county: the Indians annually burned the area and stripped the surface of vegetation. As soon as the white settlers arrived, a flourishing growth of timber sprang up. The banks of the creek had been covered with marshes earlier but had been drained by removal of timber and hand dug ditches, leaving a rich soil that proved very productive.

      Lone Rock was the market town. It derived its name from a remarkable mound of sandstone just south of the village. Early raftsmen on the Wisconsin River impressed by the lonely rock on the prairie probably gave it the name to designate a place on the stream down which they floated; the rock was but a short distance from the bank of the river.

      Bear Valley is one of the finest sections in Wisconsin. Together with Little Bear Valley and other smaller valleys, it was known as the “Land of Milk and Honey.” Red, white and burr oak, maple, poplar, elm, hickory, birch, wild cherry, and plum trees covered most of the hills. (Imagine their beauty when Jack Frost’s icy fingers touched their foliage.) The nut trees and hazel bushes supplied plenty of nuts. The fruit trees—cherry, plum--, wild grapevines, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry, huckle��berry, and blue berry bushes plus the wild strawberry plants furnished fruit just for the picking. Wild flowers grew on the hills and throughout the valleys.

      I always loved the outdoors and as I was ten years older than my brother, I enjoyed helping my father. I was often his hunting companion when he was hunting small game. He was a skilled marksman and usually could shot a squirrel in the head and a partridge on the wing. I loved to locate a squirrel for him on a tree. Once a squirrel I picked up for dead bit me through the hand, and taught me to be more careful.

      He was a successful deer hunter, and usually getting two or three deer each winter. One time he shot a deer far up in the woods where no sled could go. We took a stone boat and hitched a horse to it and returned for the deer. We hauled it down to a field which had an old building on it. Here he hung it for one day, bringing it home on the sled the next day.

      Singing birds, like canaries, wrens, robins, bluebirds, and thrushes, filled the air with their melodious music. Owls hooted at night and the whip-poor-will sent out his plaintive notes at nightfall. Hawks swooped down in the daytime on young turkeys and chickens while the woodpecker sounded his taps. A large eagle appeared doing his share of plunder until he was shot down. He measured seven feet from the tip of his wings.

      Wolves and foxes lived in the woods and raised their young in dens. When the wolves howled at night, it sounded as though the whole valley was surrounded by them. Beavers, wild cats, coons, polecats, and woodchucks found homes among the trees. Rattlesnakes lived among the ledges of rocks, while black snakes and harmless snakes crawled through the grass. The rattlesnake was greatly feared. The only remedy known to counteract the poison from its fang was to apply whiskey as soon as possible.

      About eight years ago a large bear wandered into the neighborhood causing great fright and damage until it was finally shot. Many reports of pigs, calves, or chickens that had been killed and bee hives that had been robbed were heard. Posses of hunters searched the woods several days before it was seen and shot. The butcher served bear meat to many customers.

      Honey bees sometimes swarmed, escaped from keepers, and settled in hollow trees. There they deposited large quantities of honey. Bee tree hunters would locate a tree by watching bees fly in a straight line to a tree with their load of honey. The tree was cut down and the bees lost their honey—and generally their lives that winter.

      Shortly after this time, a woman who probably had mental illness fled from her home. She lived forty days in the woods eating nuts, berries and wheat shelled from shocks. Men searched the woods for days with no success until a man passing through the woods early one morning saw her sitting on a large rock under which she had been hiding. He summoned help and she was found getting her breakfast from a blackberry patch. Her clothes were in a frightful condition, but her health was good. She lived at home for years afterwards.

      All kinds of wild stories were always told. It created such a fear in us children that we were afraid to step outside and Kitty would hide behind me in bed!

Chapter Thirteen..The Recovery Period

      After the Hop Crash the farmers adopted diversified farming, cleared the land, and began raising more cattle and hogs. The latter required such crops as hay, corn, and grain. Apple and other fruit trees were planted while some made beekeeping and extracting honey a part of their business.

      Many of the people came from the East, chiefly from New York, Ohio, and New England States. Immigrants came from Ireland, Germany, England and the Scandinavian countries. All brought their national cultures, religions, prejudices, skills, crafts, and trades. They came to build homes and establish better conditions for themselves and their families.

      Sometimes these people settled in small groups of one nationality. The Germans and Scandinavians spoke their mother tongues but could also speak and understand English.. These groups often would have their churches and schools where their native language was taught and spoken.

      Many of the people from New York had experience in dairying and cheese making. The Beckwith’s built a cheese factory in Little Bear Creek in Sauk County while the Carswells built one in lower Bear Valley, and introduced a better grade of cattle. The Carswell brothers introduced the Devons and J. M. Thomas the Holsteins and all of them began cheese making. The Holsteins were found to be heavy milkers and well adapted for cheese making. These were the first Holsteins in Wisconsin and the formation of the fine Holstein dairy farms and herds.

      The dairy cow built up the agricultural condition and prosperity of Wisconsin. These cattle grazed in the pastures and through the forests. A cow bell was hung around the neck of the leader in each herd so the cows would keep together and could be located by the owner. The cows were often milked while standing in the yard, quietly waiting until their milk was in the pail.

      Many cheese factories were built all through the country and patronized by those having several cows. Others churned at home and packed it in wooden butter tubs or in rolls to be sold. In the early days cheese factories only operated from March until November; cows freshened in the spring and went dry during winter. This was due to the fact that there were no silos or succulent feed during the winter to keep up the flow of milk.

      Milking was all done by hand by both men and women. It had to be delivered to the cheese factory early in the morning in thirty gallon milk cans. The night’s milk had to be aerated and thoroughly cooled so no gas would remain to spoil the flavor and texture of the cheese. Rennet was added to the milk in a vat at the cheese factory so a curd would be formed and separated from the whey. The whey was drained into a large vat outside, dipped up by the patrons, and mixed with ground feed for hogs. A fatty scum would form on the top in the vat.

      One scheming patron would go early so as to skim the vat before others arrived. Pilfering from the public was also an art at that date. A very few were caught adding water [to] their milk or taking their butter from the cream on top of the can. (This was before the Babcock test was invented). The cheese maker could detect that the milk had been altered. Men would hide nearby and pounce on the offender in the act. He received a fine and a dishonest reputation.

      During the early days when butter was made at home, the milk was strained into shallow pans until cream formed on the top. This was skimmed by a tin utensil and churned. Churning was done in a small barrel churn having a round hole in the center of the cover through which a churn dasher handle passed. On the lower end of the handle small strips of lumber about five or six inches long were crossed to make a dasher. A hole was bored through the center of the dasher and the handle was nailed on. A woman would sit and raise the handle up and down until the sour cream would grain to form butter. Butter was washed and worked over with a wooden butter ladle until all the milk was removed. It was salted and mixed and packed into wooden butter tubs or made into rolls all decorated on top by prints made by the ladle.

      Later small barrel churns turned by a crank were used. Cream and buttermilk were used for baking and shortening.

Chapter Fourteen..The Clearing of the Land

      The land was cleared by cutting the oak trees for timbers and lumber for buildings, ties and cordwood for railroads. Logs were split for rails and posts for fences. Timber which could not be used for these was cut for fuel, as wood was the only fuel available. Maple, walnut, ash, and basswood trees were also cut for lumber.

      Long rows of cordwood would lie along the railroad tracks to be used for fuel for the locomotives. The oak ties were laid within the tracks for the railroads. The grubs were removed by hand with a grubhoe and ax. Later grubbing machines were used. These furnished fuel for heating stoves. Limbs and brush were piled up and burned. Sometimes, brush fences were made from these.

      The land was “broke” with a breaking plow, having a coulter that cut the roots and was drawn by a team of horses. The plower held the handles of the plow in each hand with the line from the harness crossing his shoulder. He guided his horses by his hand as he lifted it from the plow handle.

      The land was dragged and ready for seeding. Usually buckwheat, rutabeggas, or wheat was sown or planted in the new land.

Chapter Fifteen..Planting, Harvesting, and Threshing

      The farmer sowed the seed by walking with a sack partly filled with seed hanging over his shoulder while he scattered the seed by swinging his hand. At the end of each row he would set up a short pole with a white cloth tied on top for a flag as a marker. To get distance for neat rows, he would pace off the distances and move the marker each time for new rows at each end of the rows. He would walk back and forth until his plot was seeded. When grass seeding was desired, he retraced his lines and sowed it in the same way over the first seeding.

      Land was dragged by a steal toothed drey drawn by a team of horses with the driver walking behind it. Corn land was dragged until it was smooth. It was marked by a wooden corn marker consisting of a flat table of boards on [two words illegible] about six feet long and four feet apart. These were drawn both lengthwise and crosswise across the land by horses. The places where the lines crossed marked hills where corn was to be planted. He would walk and use a hand corn planter to drop about four kernels in each place in the hills. Then the planter would step on the hill to cover it. The corn was cultivated by a one-horse cultivating plow that killed weeds and threw woil [i.e. soil] over the plants.

      One time Kitty and I were to plant a few pumpkin seeds in some corn hills. Kitty was younger and got tired, so she dug a hole and emptied the seeds left into it. She did not realize that they would grow as a telling withness [sic, i.e. witness] to her trick. But it was treated as a joke by all.

      Corn was all husked by hand either standing or in shocks. Fodder from corn was stacked and fed to cattle. Cattle and hogs were turned loose in husked corn fields to do their own fielding.

      Hay was cut by a mower, raked by a single horse-drawn rake into rows, husked into cocks, and pitched by hand onto a wooden hay rack set on the running gear of a wagon and hauled to be stacked. A man pitched it on the ground, where another built a long haystack slanting on the top so as to shed rain. Later hay sheds and hay barns were built. The latter was quite an event.           

      A portable sawmill would either be installed on farms or cut lumber and timbers for a barn or lumber would be hauled from a lumberyard if local timber was not available. After timbers were cut and fitted by a carpenter, a barn raising bee was called among the neighbors. Crowds gathered and a big dinner was prepared by the women. Often a keg of beer was brought to quench the thirst of the workers but no hard liquor was served. When the barn was completed, a barn dance was given the helpers. Lanterns were hung around for light and old fiddlers performed at their best.

      In the early days the wheat and grain were cut by a man swinging a cradle, that had a blade and fingers to cut and lay the grain in rows with the heads all pointing one way. A binder would follow, who raked the grain into bundles and bound them by making strong bands from straws of grain and tying them securely. The grain was stacked in high round tapering stacks that shed water and were ready for threshing. Often it was weeks or months before the threshing machine could go around.

      The threshing outfit[23] consisted of a separator, horse power, and a wagon for trappings drawn by teams of horses. The wagon for trappings carried the sweeps, tumbling rod, belts, tally box, and measures besides the regular tools and supplies needed for the operation. The separator had concaves in front to separate the grain from the straw. Belts carried it through the machine where fans sifted the grain through sieves to the outside spout and the straw onto a straw carrier that dumped it outside on a straw stack. The spout carried the grain out in half bushel measures. An attached tally kept track of the number of bushels that had passed through. Grain was emptied into sacks and carried to graineries or to the marked. These different operations were operated by turning of the wheels by belts on the outside of the machine. The first wheel turned by cogs on the tumbling rod extending [?] from the horse power.

      A horsepower was hauled on four wheels and was circled by a large cogged wheel, called the bull wheel, under a frame. A seat for the driver was on top of the frame. The tumbling rod extended from the bull wheel and the connecting cog wheel that turned the tumbling rod to turn the wheels and belts for the operation. Five sweeps were attached to the bullwheel. A team was hitched to each of these and tied to the next. When the teams circled the track, the bullwheel was turned to turn the cog wheel and the tumbling rods. The driver, holding a long whip, sat on the seat. Three of these teams belonged to the threshers; the customer furnished the others.

      The man feeding the machine stood on a table and fed the bundles into the concaves. A man having a band cutter slit the bands on the bundles when they were pitched from the stack. These hand-made bundles encircled by the hand-made bands would withstand hard handling. The threshers received two center per bushel for threshing oats and four cents for wheat.

      When threshing machines were coming into the neighborhood, the farmer would hustle around to get help by riding horseback or sending boys of the family to notify his required helpers. The women would bake a lot of bread, cookies, and doughnuts; they would bring freshened salt pork, smoked hams, bacon, or visit the meat market for supplies. Chickens were killed and dressed as they supplied most of the fresh meat unless a butcher would arrive.

      The lady of the house had to bake all of her bread, pies, and cakes ahead of time so the meals could be prepared more easily. She had to furnish beds for the threshing gang at night. Generally she found the rooms littered with straw and chaff and the bed linens badly soiled as the men went to be[d] with their work clothes on. The men followed the machine until all those who had helped them had their threshing done.

Chapter Sixteen..The Mail Route

      The first post office was established in Lone Rock in 1856. Later a mail route was formed to extend from Lone Rock to La Valle in Sauk County and carried mail and passengers.

      In 1880, a post office was opened in the home of Mrs. Helen Eaton, several miles north of Lone Rock and named in honor of William Dixon, an early settler in Ithaca township. Dixon was born in England and in 1817 came to America with his parents. In 1855 he bought a farm in Bear Valley, wass elected Justice of the Peace, and held this office until his death in 1887. He was the chairman of the Town Board, a member of the state assembly, and a Republican. He voluntarily collected all the mail at the Dixon Post Office for all of his neighbors and delivered it to them, which was much more convenient for them than going to the post office. The Dixons were our neighbors and were honored and revered by the whole community.

      I can remember when John Smith carried the mail and passengers from Lone Rock to Bear Valley in a covered stagecoach and met the driver from La Valle there. The mail was delivered to the home of Mrs. Rebecca Shontz[24], the Bear Valley Post Office. Another post office enroute to La Valle was in Keyesville, established in 1883 with Paul Misstich[25] as post master.

Chapter Seventeen..Early Medicine

      In this day of modern medicine we take our excellent hospitals with trained nurses and physicians for granted. X-rays, internal operations, modern drugs, and blood tests are but a few things considered normal and necessary today. However, before the turn of the century medical knowledge and the application of it was much different.

      Doctors were scarce. They had a large territory to cover and most missions were for amputating limbs, setting fractures, dressing wounds, delivering babies, and furnishing medical supplies. Few anesthetics were used except chloroform in serious cases.

      Doctors kept their drugs and supplies in their offices and filled their own prescriptions. On calls, they usually put a few drops of medicine in a glass of water and left instructions with the family. At other times he might leave a bottle or pills or a powder to be used as directed. He often returned to check on the patient’s recovery. A home call was usually one dollar with milage added when the call was in the country. Severe weather conditions created many problems as the doctor’s only means of travel was by horse and buggy or cutter. Often when roads were impassible, he had to resort to a horse.

      Most people depended on home remedies. Many herbs and roots were steeped together with the bark of trees and the result was used for medicine. Catnip was gathered for tea which was thought necessary for babies. Honey and hot drinks were used for colds.

      The patent medicine manufacturers flourished with “cure-alls” for every ailment. Drug store shelves were filled with these remedies I bottles and packages. Wagons also appeared in towns accompanied by Indians in war bonnets and paint. During the show the man would advertise his Indian medicine which was supposed to cure all ailments. The people would gather and buy a large supply.

      The most common diseases were consumption (tuberculosis), brain fever (high temperature), inflammation of the bowels (intestinal trouble), dropsy, kidney trouble, lung fever, and various contagious diseases. Diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, and other such diseases were treated in the homes, contracted by other children, and often caused several deaths in a family.

      A cold was treated by placing a mustard or onion poultice on the patient’s chest. Other remedies were the use of goose oil, skunk oil, turpentine, lard, or camphorated oil which were rubbed on the throat and chest. Sometimes various means were used to make the patient perspire and then his feet were soaked in very warm water.

      People believed that consumption was [several words illegible] and they would trace their ancestry to determine its origin. Patients were kept in warm [word illegible] rooms so that they would not catch cold. The family remained living and sleeping together as well as eating and drinking from the same dishes. Entire families of children contracted consumption and were victims in their early years. No one had heard about germs, bacteria, or viruses then.

      A report of small pox alarmed a community. Vaccinations were given but the vaccines were often bad and caused illness; the sore was generally slow in healing. Patients were quarantined away from their homes in “pest houses” where many of them died. Those who survived showed the ravages of the disease in their deeply pitted and scarred skin.

      When a baby was due, a doctor was usually called. Sometimes it took time to get one on account of distance or bad roads. The grandmother, some friend, or a neighbor would stay until he arrived. They generally stayed to care for the baby until the mother was able to do so. No helper expected any pay but felt it was his or her duty.

      During the dead of winter the stork was due at a neighbor’s home. Father rode on horseback about seven miles to a telegraph station to wire a doctor at Richland Center, about the same distance from there. Snow was deep and the roads were drifted shut. He had to wait until the doctor reached the station. He was able to break the road ahead with his horse in many places so the doctor could drive through. The doctor arrived in time to deliver a fine baby boy.

Chapter Eighteen..Early Businessmen

      Anthony Dederick[26] was the first German to settle in Petersburg. (The town was named for an early settler, Peter Haskins, but was later changed to Bear Valley.) He came to America from Prussia with his parents in 1849 and to Petersburg in 1862. He was a wagon maker by trade and opened a wagon shop. A few years later he built a blacksmith shop, enlarged his house to include a general store and dance hall, and became quite prosperous. He served meals and furnished lodging in his home. Public gatherings, shows, and dances were held and made a good place where disputes were settled by fists. Bystanders often stopped these as no peace officers were called. The blacksmith shop was later taken over by his son-in-law, Joseph Schmitz, who did a big business in shoeing horses and welding and repairing machinery and farm implements. At this time horses had to be kept sharply shod during icy weather which made this a profitable business.

      In 1871 Joseph Ochsner[27] built a giant grist mill on Bear Creek about ten miles north of Lone Rock. He installed a dam and built a two story mill with the necessary equipment for making first-class flour. In this mill the wheat, rye, corn, and buckwheat from the entire community was ground. The grain was weighed and the miller took his toll of grain for his labor. From the wheat the owner would get flour, middlings, and bran in separate sacks. The middlings and bran were fed to cows and to hogs when mixed with whey. Bread was made from wheat and rye. Corn meal was commonly used for jonny cake, mush, and fried mush.

Chapter Nineteen..Food

      Most foods such as meat, flour, corn meal, potatoes, and vegetables were obtained from farms and gardens. These were often exchanged for clothing and groceries.

      Grocery stores were limited in what they could provide to the customers and bore little resemblance to the supermarkets of today. Food was stored in barrels and was scooped up into a sack, measured, or weighed, and was sold to customers by bulk. Salt was bought in a salt barrel and was used in preserving meat and foods and also for feeding to the stock. Coffee was purchased green, had to be roasted in the oven until browned, and was ground in a coffee mill which was usually fastened on the pantry wall. Brown sugar, sorghum, and molasses were used for baking. Jugs were filled at the store and were returned when they needed refilling. This was also true when buying vinegar and kerosene. Dried fruits such as prunes, dried apples, and dried peaches as well as currents were available in the market. About the only fresh fruits that could be bought were oranges and apples; the latter were sold by the barrel and were plentiful.

      A meat wagon would travel through the country in the summer. The butcher would cut off the desired amount and would weigh it on a scale hanging on the back of the wagon. This enabled people to have fresh meat, but they had to use it quickly as no one had ice or refrigeration. Poultry and game also helped supply fresh meat at this time of year.

      Beef was slaughtered when the weather was cold enough to keep it frozen. Some of it was dried and cured; later people began canning it at home in jars.

      Neighbors would often meet at one place to do their butchering together. For butchering hogs a large iron kettle was suspended on a pole overhead, filled with water, and heated by a wood fire underneath. The boiling water was poured into a slanting barrel having the opening a few feet from the ground. The hog was pushed in head first until the hair was loosened, drawn and the other end was pushed in until all the hair was loose. The hair was scraped off with a knife or a hoe and the hog was hung up on a suspended pole held by posts on either side. It was slit down the middle in front and the entrails were removed. The head and liver were saved for food; many used cleaned intestines as casings for sausage.

      A stick was placed between the legs of the hog to keep the carcass open to wash and cool. A stick had been run through a slit in the hind legs through the tendons or gamlets to hold the hog in place on the pole. When the carcass had thoroughly cooled, it was cut up, salted, packed in a barrel and covered with a brine.

      The hams, shoulders, and bacon were often cured in the brine, hung up, and smoked in a smoke house. A fire was kept burning in the smoke house until the curing was completed; hickory logs were generally preferred. Various types of smoke houses were used; some people just used a barrel. Salt pork was freshened in water before being consumed and made a wonderful breakfast when combined with buckwheat pancakes.

      Meat was very cheap. A good cow might bring $20 or even $25 if it was fat. A hog would bring $2 to $2.50. Chickens cost five cents a pound and eggs were from six to ten cents a dozen. A dressed turkey brought about fifty cents.

      Sugar cane was raised in hills like corn. When it was ready to be cut, the leaves were stripped, the canes were cut, and they were taken to a sorghum press where the juice was extracted by running the stalks between rollers. The juice was boiled in a large iron kettle, suspended over a fire, until it was properly thickened. It was stored in kegs or barrels.

      The bread to be used by the families was made by the women. The yeast was made by mixing flour and a liquid; the latter was obtained by pouring boiling water over hop cones, cooling this, and mixing it with yeast saved from previous times called a starter. If the starter soured, one would be borrowed from a friend and another saved for the next batch. Flour and water were mixed and the yeast was added to make a sponge. This was left to rise all night and was covered if the room were cold. In the morning it was mixed with flour, salt, and shortening until it was stiff. It was kneaded, set to rise, kneaded down, and set to rise again and made into loaves. Sometimes potato water was added to the batter. Dried yeast cakes could be made by mixing corn meal in the yeast and drying it. Some of the older German families had a bake oven outside made of stones with a large oven inside where they built a fire to heat it. They could clean out the ashes and set their bread in it to bake and would have a fine loaf of bread with a brown crust as a result. The bach haus (bake house) was about five feet high and four feet square with a rounding top.

      Cabbage was usually made into sauerkraut and packed in kegs or earthern jars. Sweet corn and apples were dried and vegetables were carefully stored in the cellar or a root house. Cheese and honey were plentiful and in general use. As money was scarce, people did much trading, buying, and selling among themselves.

Chapter Twenty..Religion

      Religion was strictly practiced in nearly all of the homes as most early settlers had strict religious training in their former homes. Few houses did not have daily prayer and a strict observance of the Sabbath. [one or two words illegible] prejudices and bigotry inherited from the old European lands [feuds?] would crop out. However, all had  … God and their ..[most of two lines illegible] learned to have respect for the views of others.

      The denominations that stand out the most in my mind were the Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, and Baptists. There were a few Spiritualists also who went into trances and reported that they conversed with their departed friends. (There seemed to be much superstition among some people and they feared witches and ghosts. The ghost stories that they would tell would send the children who heard them shivering to bed and afraid to step out in the dark.)

      The first Mass held in Keyesville was offered by Father Max Gardner in the house of William Misslich[28] in 1856 and was the start of the organization of St. Mary’s church. He was a German missionary priest in Sauk City. Upon hearing that there were Catholics in the wilderness, he walked the twenty-five miles to the little German settlement. He was greatly welcomed and baptized the children. A small church building was planned with $139 subscribed. Most of the labor was done by the parishioners which consisted of ten or twelve families. Father Gardner offered the first Mass in the new church which was completed in 1864 at a cost of $337.

      This parish was an important part of our life. My grandparents joined it in 1858 when they moved to Sextonville and are buried in the church cemetery. Here my parents were married by Father Theophlis Beau and I was baptized by his successor Father Heller in 1873. Today I am the oldest living former member of this church.

      Father Beau was made the pastor in 1865. In 1867 he built a two story stone building; the lower rooms were used for a school and the second floor was a convent for the Sisters of St. Francis from La Crosse. Prior to this Father had taught instructions after school. Both English and German were taught as most of the children were bilingual. Although it was a Catholic school, it was operated as a public school for years. The Sisters took a private teacher’s examination under the County Superintendent of Schools that qualified them. It is now a private parochial school and is still taught by the same order of nuns.

      Father Beau had seven churches in three counties and held services in private homes. So did his successor Father Heller. Then in 1878 Father Henry Koenig became pastor. During his time St. Kilian’s Church (dedicated to the patron saint of our beloved Bishop Killian C. Flasche of La Crosse) was built in Bear Valley in 1887. Men did all of the work except the carpenter work and masonry and used their teams and implements when they were needed. A small school was built and a teacher who could teach English and German was hired for a few months during the year.

      Father Koenig had so many parishes to attend that we could only have Mass on Sunday once a month. Therefore, he would come and offer Mass on a week day and instruct the children. These week day masses brought most of the congregation so they could receive the sacraments. On the other Sundays the parishioners would meet at the church, pray the Rosary, and have catechism for the children. Mother would teach the English classes and Gertrude Schmitz[29] the German. The first Confirmation was held at St. Kilian’s on October 17, 1888 by Bishop Flascher.

      My parents were very active in church affairs. Mother was secretary for the committee from St. Kilian’s beginning until a week before she passed away in 1908. Father also was a member of the committee for years. All members seemed determined to do their best and now are sleeping in the church cemetery there.

      In my memory Father Koenig had six parishes that he had to cover. Long distances were involved with rough roads often snowbound in the winter and muddy in the spring. They were narrow and winding over hills and often filled with gullies and washouts. He drove a team and a light wagon in the summer and a light bob sled in the winter. People now do not realize the hardships and poverty of these old pioneer missionary priests. As for the people themselves, they could be seen walking in from all directions with no complaint but merely happy they had a chance to attend Mass.

      The Union Church in Bear Valley was built in 1879. It was a frame building which cost $2400 although much of the labor was done by the townspeople. Unlike larger towns in which different denominations had their own church, all Protestants belonged to this one. Services were held on the Sabbath and for funerals. Rev. S. B. Lomas first preached there and was well-liked. Sunday School was also held for the young people. Many religious services were held in homes where prayer meetings and scripture reading were held. At times revival and camp meetings were held. The church was a meeting place for the people. They would go early and visit before and after services. The people practiced religion in their daily lives and divorce and juvenile delinquency were practically unheard of.

      A Lutheran church was organized in 1862 in Ithaca by Rev. Simon Spyker and had fourteen members. In 1869 it became a Congregational church and services were held in a school house.

      The first church in Sextonville was held in an old building called “The Ark” by Rev. Chaffee, a Presbyterian minister. In 1859 a Congregational Church was organized. The group became Methodist within a period of time and a church was built in 1868 with Rev. A. M. Buck as the pastor.

      Morality, honesty, and truthfulness were standards held very high by most of the older people. Families felt it a disgrace when a member did not live up to the family standards. Offenders were not associated with more than necessary. Children were told to shun evil companions as one bad apple would spoil a barrel of good ones. There were exceptions but most people did not welcome them for friends or associates. People were strict and lived up to their beliefs and practiced them according to their conviction.

Chapter Twenty-One..Education

      Many had been well instructed in education in their former homes. They were therefore interested in building up educational advantages for their children and community.

      A one room schoolhouse was located in each school district in each township where the rudiments of education were taught. Teachers and textbooks strongly emphasized morality, honesty, and thoughtfulness for others as gifts from the Creator of all things. God was known in the schools then but no certain religions were discussed.

      The child started to school with a Sander’s Union Primer, slate, slate pencil, and a sponge or rag to wash the slate. Teachers placed much of the required lessons on the blackboard.

      The required subjects were reading, arithmetic, spelling, grammar, United States history, geography, United States and Wisconsin civil government, orthoepy, physiology, and hygiene with the effects of alcohol and narcotics on the different organs. The latter subject was compulsory and had to be taught in all grades. About fifteen minutes each day was assigned for penmanship in Spencerian copy books.

      Teachers were required to pass an examination in the required subjects by the County Superintendent of Schools. A school board of three members hired and paid the teachers from district funds. The wages often depended on the amount that the school board would allow. Male teachers often hired for the winter months when larger boys who worked on the farms could attend.

      Teachers worked hard under trying conditions as bad roads, muddy in the spring and snowbound in the winter, became quite depressing. They had to face a cold schoolhouse in the morning and had to either build the fire or hire it done. They ate cold lunches with the children at noon and had to see that they were properly dressed before going home after school. For this the teacher received about twenty dollars a month as a larger salary would cause taxes to rise. Unless a teacher lived at home, her room and board would cost between $1.50 and $2.00 per week at a farm home.

      Boys carried in wood from piles outside the schoolhouse and piled it in the entry for the next day. Drinking water was carried in a wooden pail from a neighborhood well. A tin dipper was used from which all drank with no sanitary means of preventing germs from spreading. It is not surprising how contagious or infectious diseases spread through the school and community.

      School programs were frequently held with all children taking some part in speaking, singing or dialogues. Spelling bees and singing schools were commonly held. These brought the parents to the school and made it quite a community center.

      Walking two or more miles to school was not unusual as a good education was desired. There were three grades—Lower, Middle, and Upper. A “Course of Study” was provided from the Normal Schools and was used for teaching and grading. Books from a traveling library were placed in a school and later were exchanged with local schools. When the pupils could pass the examination in the required subjects given by the County Superintendent, they were eligible to enter high school in a town. Boys rode horseback and girls often worked for their board and room in order to receive this education.

      I always wanted to be a teacher like my mother and was fortunate to have aunts living in Richland Center; there I made my home with them while attending high school. I received my first Third Grade Teacher’s Certificate when I was sixteen years old and began teaching. I afterwards attended summer school and teacher’s institutes; I studied until I received my First Grade certificate in both Richland and Sauk Counties. (We had a large willow tree with the coziest limb for a seat. This limb was very conducive to studying). I taught for nine years in the rural schools in both counties and in the graded schools in Richland Center; I also taught two years in Iowa.

      Wisconsin then had four Normal Schools, and a State University besides smaller colleges. Boys studying law usually attended the University while many went to Chicago for medicine and dentistry. Teachers attended the State Normal Schools.

      Vocational skills such as carpentry and masonery [sic] were learned by working with and observing local operators as there were no vocational schools. Milliners and dressmakers learned by working in millinery or dressmaking shops for a few months under experienced workers. Many girls did domestic work in homes. Other girls learned homemaking in their homes or clerking in stores; however, the business field was generally left to the men. Some became music teachers as many homes had organs and pianos.

Chapter twenty-Two..Homes

      In the period that I remember, very few log houses remained, as lumber, brick, and a few stone houses were built. Many had a large kitchen  that served as a kitchen, dining room, and living room and was heated by a wood burning cookstove. A shanty or summer kitchen was attached where the cook stove was moved during warm weather; cooking and laundry work were done there. In the fall the stove was cleaned, blacked, and moved back into the kitchen. A pantry and bedroom with a stairway between them were on one side of the kitchen. The second story consisted of bedrooms but no bathroom.

      Better houses had a parlor and a dining room. The parlor was usually reserved for company. It was heated by a wood-burning heating stove. This was usually round with ising glass in front and on the sides and shed a glowing light that cheered the room. In the spring at house cleaning time it was removed to the shanty to be blacked, the ising glass cleaned, and the nickel polished for winter time. A handmade woven rug carpet reached to the walls and was tacked down on all sides. Straw was first spread on the floor under the carpet. At each housecleaning it was taken up, dust was pounded out, and fresh straw was placed under it. A carpet stretcher was used to stretch it to the walls.

      A walnut center table with a marble top stood in the center of the room. This was covered by handmade embroidered, crochated, or drawn work [two or three words illegible] scarf. Battenburg covers were also used. A lamp, books, and a photograph album were placed on it.

      The most important piece of furniture was the upright piano. Organs were frequently used as very few homes could boast a piano. When friends dropped in there was much music and singing of old popular songs or gospel hymns. Another luxury was a floor lamp, with a flowered china shade, that stood on three legs. There were rocking chairs and a settee—usually of walnut with fancy handmade pillows. One other piece of furniture was an unusual combination of bookcase and desk. The bookcase with its long glass doors protected the books and music. Pictures in large frames hung on the walls. These were usually enlarged pictures of living or departed friends, landscapes, personal drawings, or paintings.

      Walnut was plentiful and many skilled carpenters made beautiful furniture. Some chairs were cane seated. Early settlers also brought beautiful pieces of furniture and china from their former homes.

      The dining room usually had a rag carpet or a painted floor. It contained a walnut table, chairs (plain or cane seated), and a china closet for china and silver. Light was furnished by a lamp or the table or a hanging lamp from the ceiling which was often decorated with glass crystals. A large fruit picture and other pictures in large frames hung on the walls.

      The table was covered with a white linen tablecloth and was kept set as soon as the dishes were washed. A linen napkin in an individual napkin ring, a plate, a cup and saucer, silver, and a water glass were set at each place with the dishes placed upside down. Steel knives and forks were for daily use and had to be scoured with brick dust after each meal. For better occasions silver service was used; some had solid silver service that signified unusual wealth. A caster containing bottles of salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard, catsup, and horse radish was placed in the middle of the table. A light weight cloth of muslin or cheesecloth covered the table between meals.

      The cook stove was the center of importance in the kitchen. It had an extended hearth where the ashes from the [word illegible] sifted. A grate covered with ising glass covered the front of the fire box letting the red coals light up the kitchen and made a nice [word illegible] for roasting apples or nuts in the ashes in the hearth. Some early stoves had a large drum oven on top of the back of the stove. This also helped heat the room.

      The pantry—then called the buttery—was lined with shelves on each side. Women would cut strips of paper (often newspaper), scallop or fringe it by hand, and would line the shelves; this had to be changed frequently. The shelves contained dishes, pans, food, and groceries. Bins for flour and corn meal were placed at one end under a work table. A coffee mill was fastened on the wall. All meals were prepared there; dish washing was also done there or on the kitchen table.

      In early days the bed had wooden slats or rope crossing both ways under a straw-filled tick with a feather tick over it and feather filled pillows on top. Hand made pieced and quilted blankets or tied wool or cotton filled comforters, bleached muslin hand made sheets, and pillow cases covered the bed.

      Unbleached muslin was purchased by the bolt at about six cents per yard. From this sheets and pillow slips were made and were bleached by washing and hanging them on the line or spreading them on the grass in the sunshine. To make a sheet, two strips of thirty-six inch wide muslin were laid on each side; the selvages on one side were sewed over and over so the sheet was smooth with no hard seam. A hem abut two and one-half inches and one inch on the bottom finished the sheet. Bleached muslin was used for better bed linens.

      Pillows were large and a square pillow sham decorated with needlework, lace, or embroidery covered the pillows during the daytime. Heavy woolen blankets and wool or cotton filled comforters kept the sleepers comfortable even though the bedrooms were not heated. Often a hot flat iron, a brick, or a hot water bottle was placed in the bed before retiring.

      A commode held a china washbowl and pitcher, with a chamber enclosed and a slop jar by its side. It also held towels, wash cloths, and a soap dish. It had drawers to hold towels and other toilet articles and was covered with a linen cloth.

      Houses were banked up on the outside to keep the vegetables in the cellar from freezing and to help keep the cold from the house. No storm windows or doors were used; therefore, windows would be frosted with ice for weeks. In the summer mosquito bar was tacked on the doors and windows to protect the inhabitants from flies and mosquitoes; no insecticides were available so insects lived in swarms. To sit outside in the evenings bon fires were made to protect people from the mosquitoes that found good breeding places in the ponds, swamps, and rain barrels. The latter were necessary to obtain soft water. Slanting boards under the eaves carried the water from the roof to the barrel.

      The kerosene lamps furnished light in the homes. A lamp was either placed on the table, in a wall bracket, or hung from the ceiling. The lamps had to be cleaned, filled, and the wicks trimmed each day. Kerosene lanterns were used for outside work or in traveling at night. Candles were often used when going from room to room. These were made at home by pouring melted tallow into a candle mold with a wick in the center.

Chapter twenty-Three..Clothing and Grooming

      Babies wore under skirts and long dresses often trimmed with tucks, lace, or embroidery. In the winter they wore woolen vests, bands pinned tight around them until they were six weeks old, woolen blankets, woolen skirts gathered on bands, and coats. When they were taken outside they were usually wrapped up in a woman’s woolen shawl and held under the mother’s own shawl.

      Small boys wore their hair long and in curls if possible. They wore dresses until they were three or four years old. Their boots had fancy red tops and their trousers were tucked into the tops of them. Older boys wore knee pants, long black stocking, and high lace or buttoned shoes. In the winter they wore wolen coats and trousers, a cap with ear flaps, and a woolen scarf. As there were no overshoes available, mothers would draw men’s woolen socks over the children’s shoes to keep them warm.

      Little girls wore longer dresses, high lace shoes, and striped or colored stockings. Their underskirts and panties buttoned onto a waist and round garters were worn. Aprons were usually worn over their dresses. White sun bonnets were worn for dressy occasions and colored ones were worn for everyday use. Their hair was either braided or curled and circular combs held the hair in place.

      Women and girls wore long hair—twisted into coils, braided, or curled. There were no beauty parlors so women cared for and arranged their own hair or assisted each other. Girls used a curling iron, heated by placing it in a lamp chimney until it was hot, and twisted the hair around it until the curl was set. They used curlers made of tea lead or rags with hair twisted around them at night.

      No woman or girl wanted a tan or freckles; they wore large brimmed hats or sun bonnets and carried parasols when they were in the sun. Women who worked the fields binding grain or assisting in other outside work carefully protected their hands and a sun bonnet to shade their faces.

      The dresses reached nearly to the floor and those saved for best often had trains. Some were princess style while others had a basque, skirt, and overskirt or a polonaise. The dresses had long sleeves and high collaras trimmed with lace, ribbon, ruffles, or fluting. The best dresses were made of silk, satin, cashmere, poplin, or alpaca and were designed by a dressmaker. Calico, gingham, and Dutch blue cotton were used for everyday clothing  and these were made at home. Materials were not sanforized or preshrunk and some colors faded when laundered. Therefore, in order to save them aprons were worn by old and young at all times. Much material was needed to make a dress; findings needed were waists, skirt and sleeve lining, crinoline, braid, buttons, thread, twist for buttonholes, stays, hooks and eyes, stiffening, and trimming. Dresses might be trimmed with fringe, fluted ruffles, pleats, ribbons, satin, or lace.

      Many underskirts were cotton, wool, or quilted and reached almost to the floor. Two long white underskirts, starched stiff with tucks, ruffles, lace, or embroidery were commonly worn. Long muslin chimeses reached to the knees and pantaloons reached to the knees in summer and to the ankles in winter. Woolen underwear and underskirts were worn during the winter. Long black cotton hose were worn with high laced or buttoned shoes. Corsets hoops, and bustles were worn to follow the fashion of the day.

      Everyone had fine shoes for best and heavy calfskin shoes for common wear. Best shoes were usually made of kid with high heals and pointed toes. They were about six inches high. Shoes were never fitted in stores; the customer ordered the size that she wished and fitted them at home.

      Hats were considered a necessity to good grooming. They were trimmed by milliners in millinery shops. The buyer would select the frame and the plumes, flowers, or ribbons to be used. Winter hats were covered with velvet or satin and were decorated with large ostrich plumes and stuffed birds or parts of birds. The plumes could be curled and the velvet steamed and brushed making them serviceable for years. Both summer and winter hats were returned to the milliners to be blocked for the following year.

      Men’s everyday clothing was made for rugged use. The women made the shirts using woolen or cotton hickory shirting material. Red flannel was frequently used to make the underwear for winter use. Heavy boots which reached to the knees were worn and their trousers were tucked in them. As there were no overshoes or rubbers on the market, they oiled the boot to protect them from dampness. Heavy clothing and a cap drawn down over the ears were worn to protect the man against the severe cold outside. They also wore a long knitted woolen scarf around their shoulders and had scarf pins to hold it down after it had been crossed over the breast.

      For dress men wore long tailed coats, and often fancy vests. Their white shirts had stiff linen bosoms and removable collars and cuffs. They had gold studs down the front, gold cuff links, collar buttons, and a tie. Silk stove pipe hats were worn by professional or business men. Others wore derbys, felt, or straw hats. Fine boots with the front decorated were worn and the trousers tucked inside; a wooden boot jack was used to remove them. When more protection was required, a man would wear two pairs of socks. Later felt boots and rubbers came on the market and proved a great comfort during cold weather.

      Men wore beards, side burns, and moustaches. The latter often proved a problem so they used a mustache cup cover. This had an opening on the side to prevent the moustache from getting wet. The final touch to their grooming was the cane that most men carried.

      Washing was usually done by rubbing clothes on a washboard in a round wooden wash tub. Soft water was used from the rain barrel. To get soap the ashes from the stoves were all saved in an ashbarrel. This had a hole bored in the bottom and was placed on a slanting platform. Water was poured into the barrel to soak through the ashes and for lye that was caught in wooden pails, mixed with fat, and boiled in a large heated iron kettle suspended over a blaze of firewood. This made soft soap that was used. (Adding salt to this and boiling it made hard soap.) White clothes were always boiled in a boiler so as to whiten and sterilize them. All clothes were rung out by hand. Sometimes pounders were used and much later hand operated washing machines with ringers were used.

Chapter Twenty-Four..Family Life

      In this era the family unit was very close. People did most of their own work or kept hired help when it was necessary. The parents and children worked together, played together, and prayed together.

      The men provided homes, protection, and food besides taking an active part in the training of  the children. With few labor saving machines most of their time was used in manual labor on foot with heavy laborious tasks involving long hours in all kind of weather. The men helped each other by exchanging work when necessary. They cut each others hair, helped in illness and trouble, and would go miles on horseback for a doctor. A man who was handy at hair cutting got plenty of nonpaying jobs and was in great demand. They prepared the dead for burial, dug the graves, carried the casket to church, and buried the dead.

      Women were true home makers and took great pride in their handwork, baking and cooking. They prepared the food, made the clothing, and did the family laundering. The irons used were heated on top of the cook stove and a heavy cloth holder was used to hold the hot iron handle. In addition to these duties they cared for the children and home needs in health and illness. With carefulness they made the best clothes of their families last for years. Good parts of used clothing were made over for the children or were made into blocks for quilts or used for carpet rags. Thrift was well practiced by good housekeepers but in cases some failed and hardships resulted.

      Women were shown great respect but their domain was in the home. They always had to be prepared for unexpected company. Travelers going through the country would stop at meal time and were usually served with no fee expected. People enjoyed these news reporters as news traveled slowly then. Often neighbors came over to visit and the women brought their sewing or knitting. They frequently gathered for a quilting or comforter tying task. People visited each other more and remained longer.

      Some girls would bind grain after the reaper and work in the hay field like men. (I never did that but could handle horses and found that useful when I needed the horse and buggy. I was able to harness and hitch my own horse.) I remember an old foreigner who could not guide his horse when cultivating corn. He would make his wife lead the horse back and forth all day while he guided the cultivating plow.

      No woman or girl smoked cigarettes or cigars. It was a curiousity to see an old lady smoke a clay pipe.[30] Neither were they ever known to be drunk or enter a saloon. Any girl who held respect for herself would shun a young man showing signs of liquor or being known as a drunkard. She would not accompany him to parties or dance with him. They had seen the poverty and misery brought upon the families of such men. One woman that I knew raised a flock of turkeys that she dressed and sent to the market with her husband. When he returned, he was short the price of two turkeys; he was still in high spirits after meeting some of his friends in town. He remarked, ‘Why is Mary making such a fuss? I only drank two turkeys.”

      Men chewed plugs of tobacco and spittoons were found in business places and homes for their use. Other men smoked tobacco or cigars. Smoking tobacco was purchased in sacks; some smoked homemade tobacco called kill dad. White clay pipes or wooden pipes were common. For gatherings tobacco and clay pipes were usually provided.

      Fathers taught their sons by working with them. When the farm boy had the necessary equipment for renting or buying a farm, or taking over the old home he was ready for marriage. Old homes were often handed down for generations in early times. The girls learned home economics from their mothers. They learned to bake, cook, sew, knit, and the many things they would have to do for themselves. Each girl was expected to have her hope chest[31] filled with handmade linens, quilts, comforters, and other necessary articles when she was ready to be a helpmate in her own home. Teenagers did not keep steady company; young people were not expected to marry until they were equipped to go on their own.

      Children were taught to show great respect for older people. They waited until adults were served first and given the best seats. A cultured child always answered an elder by saying “Yes, sir” and “No, sir”, Yes, ma’am” and No, ma’am”, or “Yes, Mr. Smith” and “No, Mrs. Smith.” All such courtesies such as please and thank you were required. A boy tipped his hat when he met a lady or his teacher. Girls were taught to sit up straight on a chair and to keep their feet close together on the floor with their dresses drawn down to their shoes. Children were taught to be seen and not heard unless spoken to. It is quite obvious tht the parents trained and controlled their children.

      A common sight to most families were the Jewish peddlers. They would arrive with heavy packs on their backs and would cry, “This is bargain day.” They would unpack their load of linens, material for men’s pants of corduroy or moleskin, and various trinkets. They wanted meals and insisted paying with the trinkets.

      Tramps and beggars often called at the door for a handout or clothes and were usually given a sandwich and coffee and old clothing by the housewife. During the winter tramps would crawl into the barns to sleep or break out a pane of glass in a schoolhouse, open the window, crawl in, build a fire with the wood for the next day, and camp for the night. I had two such experiences when I taught in the rural schools.

      A lumber wagon and bob sled were two necessities on every farm. The wagon box was put on the running gear of the wagon for general use. A spring seat was placed on it for traveling. A board was placed across the box behind it for the larger children while the parents and smaller children sat on the seat. A top box was placed n top of the wagon box to haul grain or corn; a hay rack for hauling hay and grain replaced the wagon box or a hog rack was placed on top of the box for hauling hogs to market. (Cattle were usually driven to market.) A wooden rack would replace it for hauling cord wood and logs and poles were hauled on the running gear. During the winter the family traveled in the wagon box. Straw was spread on the bottom and was covered by horse blankets, comforters, or blankets. People sat on these and were covered by blankets or buffalo robes. The latter were very common. When the snow covered the ground, the bob sled was used. Sleigh bells jingled and the sleigh runners creaked in the snow. Later spring wagons with two spring seats and single covered buggies were used. The steps built on the side were so high that the men helped the ladies alight from them.

      People, as a rule, thought a great deal of their horses as they were a necessity for transportation and work. They were covered with heavy woolen blankets when standing hitched outside in cold weather. They were covered with fly nets to protect them in summer. One miserly man, however, would not have enough hay and grain provided for his horses and cows during the winter. He rationed their feed until they became so weak that he had to take ahold of their tails to keep them up. He said he had to “tail” old Gin up mornings in order to hitch her up for work. Much was said about this but nothing was done. Those who did care for their horses were in danger of horse thieves; they raided the barns at night and took away the best horses. As there were no telephones and officers were slow in being notified, the thieves were usually successful.

      There were poll taxes in those days and the men paid these by working on the roads under a local pathmaster. Even so, there were no welfare cases then. People depended on their own resources for their care, that of their families, and their parents with no government aid expected. A county home cared for paupers and there was an asylum for the insane. Neither gave patients much medical or psychiatric care.

      Money was scarce so much trading or exchanging was done instead of paying cash. The coins used then were silver dollars, half dollars, quarters, nickles, small silver half dimes, copper two cent pieces and pennies, and three cent pieces.

      The home was the center of family activity. At Christmas time a kind old German lady would dress in white with a veil. She would call at the homes and pass out popcorn, cookies, and candy as Mrs. Santa Claus. Perhaps a fiddler would stop in and get an entire group whirling around on the kitchen floor. The people worked long hours with no one watching the clock for quitting time. They arose with the sun and ended when the job was done but they always found time to visit and enjoyed meeting their friends.

Chapter Twenty-Five..Amusements

      Many amusements were attended by entire families. They met and had picnics, dances, and parties. In the summer they had ball games, went on horseback riding, played croquet, went swimming, and attended dances. Girls wore short skirts and blouses for swimming and playing games.

      During the winter they enjoyed travelling shows, silent movies, and slides. There were sleighing parties, coasting, toboggan rides, skating, and indoor amusements. For coasting, hand sleds or the front half of a bob sled was hauled uphill by the tongue and guided down with its load. Indoors, popping corn, making candy, and cracking nuts helped enliven the evening.

      Going for rides was always delightful. A young man who had a nice horse and buggy found great favor among the girls!

Chapter Twenty-Six..Funerals

      When illness and death visited a home, the friends and neighbors helped each other during the sad time. When a man died, his friends would shave him and prepare him for burial. The women would bathe and prepare their women friend for burial. Everyone would visit the home and would help with the preparations and work. Clay pipes and tobacco were laid out for the men and the women prepared the meals.

      Neighbors would help get the coffin and dig the grave. The early coffins were made of pine and were wide at the top, curving to the bottom. The coffin was placed in a wagon box or sled and taken to the cemetery. Services were usually held in a church and were attended by many friends and neighbors.

      The hearse was later used to take coffins or caskets for burial. The hearse was drawn by black horses decorated with black plumes; the hearse had rows of black plumes on each side.

      The mourners wore all black clothes; the women wore crepe veils and the men had crepe around their sleeves and hats. Relatives often wore mourning and refrained from dancing or pleasures for a year.

      There was no embalming which caused many problems. During warm weather I have known of burials taking place the night before the funeral. Jugs of cold water were often kept placed around the bodies in the homes before burials.

Chapter Twenty-Seven..My First Trip

      Few people did much traveling. I was twenty-three years old before I was ever out of the state of Wisconsin.

      Father’s half-brother from Boston visited us during the winter of 1895 and invited me to visit his family in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. In June there was an excursion to Boston with greatly reduced rates and good for four weeks. In company with friends I went on my journey.

      Wakefield was a beautiful place with a lake nearby where boating and swimming were major attractions. The lake was surrounded by a boulevard where wealthy people in their coaches with a liveried driver would take their daily rides.

      As I had been teaching history and New England classics, the historical places interested me greatly. We visited Bunker Hill where I climbed the 296 steps to the top of the monument, the site of the Boston tea party, Salem (where they hanged witches), the old church with the Paul Revere notoriety, and Benjamin Franklin’s tomb.

      In going to see the scene of the Boston Tea Party, we had to go through the slums of Boston where people were mostly Italian. The buildings and squalid conditions with ragged barefoot women and children were a shock from the beautiful homes in the surrounding localities. At the wharf the fishing boats were unloading; flies were swarming and fish nets were spread all around the beaches. We did not remain long.

      At this time there was a great depression in the Northeast as factories that manufactured shoes, tanneries, and glue factories were all closed. The workers were idle with no unemployment insurance. Men tramped the streets and roads begging for food. These were no regular tramps but men who could not find work. Many had worked in factories all of their lives and had only learned how to do certain skills, such as putting heels on shoes. This made them inexperienced in other lines.

      We visited Lynn and saw the huge factories. We went through the Mental Hospital and visited the Boston Commons and public gardens. One thing that interested me was all of the teams of horses that were hitched tandem in Boston. The streets were narrow and crooked. The rocky soil covered with boulders was not much like our rich black soil in Wisconsin and their farm machinery was not as up to date as ours at home. People there had strange ideas about the West and seemed to think we lived among the Indians.

Chapter Twenty-Eight..Conclusion and Reflections

      These are my early memories collected over a period of nearly ninety years. Life was different then, granted. But as I tell my grandchildren, life was wonderful and good without the aid of materialism. We enjoyed life as you do now. We too loved, studied, worked, prayed, and played.

      I have had my joys and my sorrows and have seen many dear ones pass on to their reward, hoping to meet them in the presence of our God.

      I have enjoyed life and hope you will all have the blessings of enjoying the worthwhile friends in life and everlasting happiness hereafter.

Anna Dorgan Owens

                                                        1963