USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 49
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In 1892-3 a giraffe was purchased from John Robinson and shipped to Baraboo on a freight car in a cage over which was built a shanty. This year the Ringlings lost two elephants and bought three, and three camels died during the winter. A calliope also was obtained of John Robinson. Now the company has 207 horses and ponies with 39 cars and 3 advance cars.
In 1896 the show opened in the Tattersall Building, Chicago, and ran from April 11th until May 2d. This year the Barnum & Bailey
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bought an interest in Sells Brothers' show, which now took the name of Forepaugh & Sells Bros. "This put Bailey with an interest in three big shows-Barnum & Bailey, Buffalo Bill and the Forepaugh-Sells." The Ringling and Forepaugh shows were in opposition at forty-five or more stands.
In 1897 the show had twenty-two elephants and over thirty cages. This year the boys traded an elephant and lion for a hippopotamus with the New York Zoo, and at Minneapolis were shut out of bill-boards by the Barnum & Bailey people, but "used newspapers strongly" and banners and "turned people away from each performance." It was not many years after this that all circus opposition was abated for the
THE CIRCUS IN TOWN
very good reason that the Ringling boys had secured control of the Barnum & Bailey and Forepaugh shows.
In 1898 the Ringlings opened in a building at St. Louis-the first time that such a thing had happened in that city-that is, that a circus had been exhibited in a building. This year the John Robinson show was rented and conducted by the Ringlings. A white elephant cage caught fire near Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the elephant was so badly burned that it died three or four days later.
In 1899 the business was "very big" and for the first time the Ringlings played in Washington and Oregon. The year 1900 also was a tremendous year and the show made its first trip to California.
Jerusalem and the Crusades were a special feature of 1903, and along about this time annually the Ringlings were opening their show at the Coliseum, Chicago. In 1905 they conducted the Adam Fore- paugh and Sells Bros. united shows, opening at Columbus, Ohio, and
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in 1906 the special feature was The Field of the Cloth of Gold, an extremely spectacular production.
In 1906 the Ringlings bought from James A. Bailey the half-interest which he owned in the Forepaugh & Sells show, thereby completing their ownership of that circus. In 1908 they took charge of the Barnum & Bailey show, opening in Madison Square Garden, New York. In 1909 they opened their show in Madison Square Garden and the Barnum & Bailey at the Coliseum, Chicago, thus reversing the usual order, and in 1910 the Ringlings had three shows-their own, Barnum & Bailey's and Forepaugh's. Both the Ringling and Forepaugh shows wintered at Baraboo. In 1911, Otto Ringling having died March 31st, Henry Ringling acquired his interest and became a member of the firm. At that time the use of the pictures of the owners in advertising was dis- continued.
An unusual incident happened at McCook, Nebraska, in 1911, when the Forepaugh stand had to be abandoned because of the inability to unload "on account of wagons facing the wrong way on the flat cars and facilities for turning the train were unavailable in the limited time."
Joan of Arc was the special spectacular feature of the Ringling show during 1913 and Cleopatra of the Barnum & Bailey, while in 1914 Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was put on by Ringlings, and the Wizard Prince of Arabia by Barnum & Bailey.
Otto Ringling died in 1911, aged fifty-three, and August G. Ringling, also one of the brothers, but not a member of the firm, died in 1907, also at the age of fifty-three. The father was born in 1826 and died in 1898, the mother in 1907, aged seventy-four. The father was a harness maker and carriage trimmer, and at this occupation the sons worked more or less in their boyhood. Al, the oldest, was born in Chicago, living for a time at McGregor, then for the rest of his life at Baraboo. The other boys were born at different places, some at McGregor and some else- where. Only Al and Henry made their homes at Baraboo in late years. John lives in New York and Montana, Charles in Evanston, and Alf T. in New York. Several of them have summer homes on the coast of Florida.
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CHAPTER XVI
CITY OF REEDSBURG
EARLY PRIVATE AND DISTRICT SCHOOLS-INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE -REEDSBURG PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM-WATER AND LIGHT SUPPLY- THE STAR FIRE DEPARTMENT-THE REEDSBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY- THE CHURCHES-THE METHODIST CHURCH-THE BAPTISTS-THE PRESBYTERIANS-ST. PETER'S GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH-ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN CHURCH-OTHER REEDSBURG CHURCHES-SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES THE WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS SAUK COUNTY Y. M. C. A .- THE REEDSBURG NEWSPAPERS-FINANCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL-THE REEDSBURG FAIRS.
Reedsburg, the second city in size and importance in Sauk County, has been considered Baraboo's only serious competitor since its incor- poration as a village in 1868. The main facts in connection with the founding of the first settlement on its site, in 1849, known as Shanty Row, have been given. The five log houses composing the row have been often described, commencing with Bachelor's Hall, No. 1, at the west end, to No. 4, occupied by Elder Locke, the first to preach the Gospel in those parts, and No. 5, taken by a Racine family, of some comparative wealth. The saw-log war with Baraboo also had its day. The later growth of the local industries under the promotion of the Mackey brothers, in the '50s, and the rising of the schools and churches of the neighborhood, while Reedsburg was still under the government of the town are matters of special interest. The educational and religious institutions, insofar as they affect the forces of the present, must be sketched at this point.
EARLY PRIVATE AND DISTRICT SCHOOLS
The first school taught on the present site of the city was by Miss Amanda Saxby, in the winter of 1849-50. She was the daughter of one of the neighborhood parsons with the usual large family, and opened the school in her father's log cabin, already somewhat crowded with the home people. In the following summer Miss Amanda Wheeler taught in a portion of the mill, as well as in the Saxby residence, but in the fall a little schoolhouse was built on Walnut Street to represent the dignity of the recently formed district. The school authorities found a frame
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house on the property in block 7 which they purchased for the district and remodeled it. It served the district for six years, when, in the sum- mer of 1856, the school authorities purchased of the Mackeys a new site on the northwest corner of Sixth and Pine and erected a schoolhouse, 30 by 40 feet, which was not so bad as a schoolhouse for those times. J. S. Conger and wife and Miss Emma Tator were the teachers. They were succeeded by A. P. Ellinwood (assisted by Miss Alma Haskell) who resigned the ferule to shoulder a gun in 1861. W. S. Hubbell and wife, Miss Emma Tator, Sarah Shaw, Sarah Flanders, William Gillespie, Frances Smith, Orson Green and others conducted this district school until the building burned in February, 1868.
INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE
About this time the Legislature passed a special act incorporating the Village of Reedsburg. The first election under the charter was
REEDSBURG CITY HALL
held on the 13th of April, 1868, and 107 votes were cast for the following : President and police justice, A. O. Hunt, 105, and C. M. Gaylord, 1; trustees : Nelson Wheeler, 100; W. Warren, 105; Moses Young, 104: D. B. Rudd, 105; D. Schwecke, 105; O. H. Perry, 65; E. A. Dwinnell, 41; G. Bellinger, 1, and H. Smith, 1; clerk, Giles Stevens; treasurer, II. C. Hunt; constables, G. Bellinger and W. II. Root; attorney, G. Stevens: street commissioner, G. Bellinger, and surveyor, G. Stevens.
In the earlier years of the village organization, A. O. Hunt, John H. Rork, N. Sallade, A. P. Ellinwood, A. F. Leonard, W. Warren, D. A. Barnhart and Moses Young served as presidents of the board of trustees, and the clerkship was held by G. Stevens, Mose Young, A. P. Ellinwood,
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J. F. Danforth, W. A. Wyse and others, not a few of whom graduated to the head of the village government.
REEDSBURG PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
In the matter of the schools-at the beginning of. the school year, in 1879, a new department of the village schools was created, known as the Second Primary, and in September of that year the High School de- partment was organized under the provisions of the legislative act lately passed for the establishment of free high schools. A class higher than the grammar grades had been formed in 1875, and in that year graduated seven members. There were no graduates the following year, the 1880 class being the one generally recognized as the real commencement of the high school at Reedsburg. Since then about 550 have gone forth from the Reedsburg High School.
The local public school system of Reedsburg, under Prof. A. B. Olson, now comprises three separate institutions-the high school, the building of which was completed in 1903, with an enrollment of 200; the higher grammar grades in the high school building, numbering 175 pupils, the Second Ward School, with an enrollment of 160, and the County Training School, under William E. Smith, which was established by the County Board for the training of teachers in 1906, and for which a large and modern building was completed in the summer of 1911. The Training School, which has an enrollment of fifty-five, is under the di- rection of the Training School Board, of which James A. Stone has been president since its organization. He is assisted by the county super- intendent of schools, George W. Davies, as secretary, and Frank A. Cooper as treasurer.
In the organization and development of the city system at Reedsburg special stress has been laid on the necessity of teaching courtesy and self-control all the way from the kindergarten to the senior class of the high school. In the primary and intermediate grades the larger classes are divided so that no one teacher will have more pupils than can be advantageously taught. For the past four years the upper grades have been organized on what has become known as the departmental plan. Under this system an instructor will teach one subject, or possibly two subjects through the upper three grades, thereby giving an opportunity for greater specialization. In addition to the regular grades there is maintained what is known as an ungraded room. It is under the di- rection of a specially trained teacher, and is designed particularly to aid backward pupils and to allow the especially bright and enterprising ones to advance faster than can be done through the ordinary grade work. Of course, the high school courses embrace business, domestic seience and manual training, or it would not be an institution of the day ..
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WATER AND LIGHT SUPPLY
The water supply and electric light and power of Reedsburg are furnished through municipal plants. The electric light plant originated in a private enterprise established by J. G. Heaton in the spring of 1882. The water works were built in January, 1895. Both plants have grad- ually expanded until they now represent a money value of over $57,000, of which the electric light plant is estimated at $45,000. The system of water distribution comprises over 48,000 feet of pipe, of which 33,000 is four-inch. The water reservoir has a capacity of 63,000 gallons, and the engines can supply 1,250,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours.
THE STAR FIRE DEPARTMENT
Like its military company, the fire department of Reedsburg has always stood high. In the days when the standing of the volunteer lads was largely determined by individual skill and personal activity, coupled with good "team work," the Reedsburg department carried away several of the most coveted prizes, the contests for which were open to state competition. It has now in its possession the state trophy, which it has won upon three occasions.
The first steps taken to organize other than a bucket brigade at Reedsburg are thus described: In October, 1873, in accordance with a previous resolution of the village board a Babcock fire apparatus was purchased at a cost of $650 for the complete outfit, consisting of a truck, four six-gallon extinguishers provided with twelve chemical charges, four ladders aggregating sixty-eight feet in length, ten fire buckets, two axes, two pike poles, one hook and chain, five lanterns and sixty feet of drag rope. The equipment was temporarily housed in Mrs. Wheeler's barn. On the 15th of November a meeting of citizens was held at which the Babcock Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 was organized with Moses Young as foreman ; James Lake, first assistant; A. R. Rork, second assistant; W. A. Wyse, secretary; W. Warren, treasurer, and A. W. Sallade and O. H. Perry, chemical captains.
In June, 1877, a hand engine was purchased of the City of Fond du Lac for $350, and in the winter of 1879-80 the village board voted to build its first engine house.
THE REEDSBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY
Without going into nice distinctions as to those to whom the largest share of credit is due for the founding of the Reedsburg Public Library on a permanent and broad basis, it is sufficient to state that none worked harder, or accomplished more, in the early stages of the enterprise than
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the Woman's Club of that city and Prof. W. N. Parker, then super- intendent of the city schools, now an honored citizen of Madison. Early in 1898 Miss Lutie E. Stearns of Milwaukee was induced to visit Reeds- burg for the purpose of arousing interest in the establishment of a free public library in the community. After she had addressed a large and representative audience at Brook's Hall, the following were named as a committee to take up the matter at once: Messrs. William Riggert, W. B. Smith and J. A. Stone, Rev. Father Condon, and Mesdames R. P. Perry and D. R. Kellogg. Later, the committee was enlarged so as to include the English speaking clergymen of the city, Mrs. A. L. Harris and Patrick Daly. J. H. Hosler was president of the organization from its inception until fourteen years thereafter, when failing health made
MAIN STREET, WEST
it necessary for him to resign. William Riggert succeeded him and is still president. Mrs. W. H. Ramsey has been secretary of the board from the first ; others who have served almost as long as members of the board of trustees are Dr. W. F. Doyle, Dr. F. Daly, A. Siefert, Mrs. George T. Morse, and C. A. Clark. Superintendent of Schools A. B. Olson, in virtue of his office, was also on the board for many years. Mrs. N. A. Cushman has been librarian for the past eleven years. Among those who are deceased, whose labors were also invaluable in supplying strength and encouragement to the enterprise in its infantile period were Mrs. A. L. Harris, Mrs. Mary Claridge Schierholz, Peter Byrne, Dr. Carl Kordenat, George W. Morgan, Patrick Daly, W. B. Smith and F. E. Hutchins (of Madison).
On May 13, 1899, a little more than a year after the initial effort was launched, the Reedsburg Public Library was opened with 800 books
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on the shelves and a careful selection of magazines and newspapers in the reading room. Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Stine donated its first quarters, a block east of the City Hall, for a period of a year. In the autumn of 1899 the library of almost 1,000 volumes was formally presented to the city, and accepted by the mayor and council, to be thereafter maintained and supported upon the same footing and for the same rea- sons for which a public school system is maintained. The appropria- tions for the support of the library voted by the village and the city boards have increased from time to time until $1,500 is now cheerfully given for its maintenance annually.
In the winter of 1901 the library was moved to the pleasant room in the engine house provided by the city, with Mrs. Swetland as regular librarian. In 1910 the gift of the lot on which the building now stands was announced to the board of directors by the donor, Mrs. George T. Morse. It was thankfully accepted and soon afterward steps were taken to secure $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, under the usual stipu- lation that the city council raise not less than $1,000 for the main- tenance of the library. Everything moved along so smoothly that the beautiful building now occupied was publicly dedicated on New Year's day and evening, 1912. During the year also a gift of $1,000 came from the estate of Mrs. Emma Ward, of Washington, D. C., Mrs. Morse's mother. All books purchased from that fund are therefore labeled "Ward Memorial Collection." The Reedsburg Library, with its more than 4,300 volumes and 1,800 borrowers, fills a large niche of usefulness in the daily and hourly growth of the city.
THE CHURCHES
Reedsburg supports a number of churches and supports them with her usual vim and faithfulness. The Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, United Brethren and perhaps others who firmly believe that religion is a practical, as well as a spiritual asset to any community, are all united in organizations working for the common good with their own uplift.
THE METHODIST CHURCH
The first church organization of the Methodists was effected in No- vember, 1850, at the house of John Clark, the Rev. N. Butler, of Bara- hoo, officiating. The charter members consisted of J. H. Rork and wife, ยท John Clark and wife, Garrett Rathbun and wife, Zabina Bishop, Phillip B. Smith, Mrs. Willard Bowen, Mrs. A. C. Reed, Mrs. Volney Spink and Mrs. Peter Barringer. In the fall of 1855 the society, which had become quite strong, erected a tabernaele of boards, 20 by 30 feet, at the northwest corner of Fourth and Locust streets. It had a
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seating capacity of about one hundred and served as a place of worship for about eight years. In 1872 a church edifice, then considered large, was erected at the northeast corner of Pine and Second streets. It was dedicated and fully completed in February of the following year, and in 1909 the house of worship which now accommodates the membership of nearly 250 was thrown open to religious uses. The successive pastors of the church have been Revs. Nelson Butler, E. P. Sanford, W. . P. Delap, J. Bean, E. S. Bunce, A. B. House, E. H. Sackett, J. Bean (sec- ond term), R. Rowbotham, John M. Springer, C. C. Holcomb, E. S. Bunee (second term), O. B. Kilbourn, B. L. Jackson, R. Pengilly, I. A. Swetland, John Harris, R. Langley, N. Leach, J. B. Bachman, J. W. Bell, J. II. Whitney, D. Clingman, E. C. Booth, H. P. Blake, J. B. Riek- ford, S. S. Benedict, H. D. Jenks, A. B. Scoville, G. N. Foster, L. B. Coleman, J. E. Kundert, C. L. Clifford, J. B. Rutter and J. E. Cooke.
THE BAPTISTS
The Congregationalists, who organized in 1851, are no longer in existence as a church, but the Baptists, who formed a society in January, 1852, are still active. On the 24th of that month, Elder Peter Conrad, then engaged in missionary work on the frontier, organized a Baptist society at Reedsburg consisting of William J. Bentley and wife, Z. Craker and wife, Ammon Vernoy, Mrs. Eber Benedict, Mrs. James Vernoy, Mrs. Daniel Carver, Mrs. H. H. Carver, Mrs. L. G. Sperry and Mrs. J. C. Bovee. Until 1873 they had no settled place of worship, the old school- house, the Alba House, Union Hall, the Congregational Church and the basement of the Presbyterian meeting house being successively occupied. A special home for the patient Baptists was finally completed and dedi- cated in October, 1873, at a cost of about $2,000. It was used and en- joyed for nearly forty years, or until 1910, when the neat edifice in which the society now worships was erected. The present membership is about 140. The suceessive pastors of the Baptist Church have been as follows: Revs. Peter Conrad, E. D. Barbour (1852-58), B. D. Sprague, W. J. Chapin, J. II. Roscoe, Mead Bailey, Freeman, J. Sea- mans (1869-71), E. D. Barbour (second term), G. W. Lincoln, Hill (1877-79), J. Seamans (supply), Kermott, Godwin, J. L. Ambrose (1883-86). G. W. Lincoln (second term, 1886-88), S. E. Sweet (1888- 92), C. I. Mayhew, H. J. Finch (1895-99), H. B. Hemmerly, J. J. Enge, W. A. Lee (supply), F. F. Parsons (1903-05), J. T. Sharman (1906-11), J. Johnson (1911-15) and J. Farrell since the latter year.
THE PRESBYTERIANS
The Presbyterians of Reedsburg, now under the pastorate of. Rev. Leslie A. Bechtel, organized in what was known as the "new school-
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house," on the 22d of November, 1857. The original members, gathered by the Rev. Hiram Gregg, of Baraboo, were T. Tait and wife, L. Gifford and wife, Chester Buck and wife and Miss L. Buck. A church edifice, 38 by 60 feet, was ereeted during the following year, dedicatory serv- ices being held in the basement in December, Rev. William Lusk, Sr., preaching the sermon. The house was not wholly completed until 1870. It was finally dedicated in December of that year, Rev. B. G. Riley, of Lodi, officiating. Of the earlier pastors of the Presbyterian Church may be named Revs. William Lusk, Sr. and Jr .; T. Williston, S. A. Whitcomb, William Lusk, Sr. (second term), D. S. White, H. L. Brown and J. A. Bartlett. The present meeting house of the Presby- terians was erected in 1906.
ST. PETER'S GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
The German Evangelical Lutheran Church at Reedsburg was organ- ized in 1868 under the local name of St. Peter's, and Rev. August Rohr- loek became its first settled pastor. The original society was composed mostly of families from Hanover, Germany. Its members soon pur- chased the block north of the old Congregational Church, upon which was a dwelling house which was converted into a parsonage and parochial school. In 1870 a church building was erected at the southeast corner of Fourth and Loeust streets, its most conspicuous feature being its eighty-foot steeple. A schoolhouse was built near the church in 1874, and the entire property has sinee undergone many changes. The pastor of St. Peter's now in service is Rev. William Kansier. The progress of the church has been largely due to the fact that few ehanges have oc- eurred in its pastorate. Rev. August Rohrlock, founder of the society, was a highly educated Prussian of true culture and benevolence, deeply religious and faithful, with the best spirit of German persisteney and thoroughness. He continued his pastorate at St. Peter's from the or- ganization of the church until 1909, when he resigned on account of ill health, being at that time in his seventy-fourth year. It was during the year preceding the eonelusion of his long pastorate that the present large church was erected. Mr. Rohrlock died in Chicago in December, 1913, shortly before his seventy-eighth birthday.
ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN CHURCH
A second Lutheran society was organized in 1874, consisting of about twenty-five families under Rev. Woerth. Among its charter members were William and George Stolte, with their wives, John Meyer and wife, Fred Dangel and wife, John Fuhlbohm and wife, Henry Kipp and wife, Fred Niebuhr and wife and William Raetzmann and wife. Until the fall of 1878 services were held in the English Methodist and Episcopal
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churches, when the society erected a house of worship in the northern part of the village on Market Street. In 1888 the church edifiee was erected at the corner of North Park and Sixth Street, in 1890 the parochial schoolhouse was built and, in 1894, the first parsonage at Oak and Sixth Street. The modern parsonage now occupied was erected in 1911. St. John's congregation still owns half a block of the old chureh property between North Park and Oak streets. Its membership com- prises 150 voting families, or 600 single voters and active supporters of the church. The value of its real estate is placed at about $20,000. Suc- cessive pastors of St. John's Lutheran Church: Revs. Th. Jahnsen, George Woerth, Doctor Diechmann, G. F. Engelhardt, H. A. Winter, Ch. Kehsler (1883-88), Julius Keuling (1888-91), died April 19th of the latter ycar), Hugo Hainfeldt (1891-95). Wilhelm Seidel (1895-1901), Andreas Meyer (1901-11), and Ludwig Schneider, present pastor, since July, 1911.
OTHER REEDSBURG CHURCHES
In the late '70s Mrs. E. F. Buclow headed a movement among the few Catholic families then at Reedsburg to organize a church. Rev. Father White of Baraboo was indueed to visit the village and read mass in several residences, but in the spring of 1880 sufficient funds were raised to erect a $1,200 church edifice. The subseribers to the foundation fund and the original members of what became the Sacred Heart Parish were the families of Paul Bishop, Patrick Tierney, Peter Byrne, Stephen Timlin, William Horkan, E. F. Buelow, Edward Timlin, Mrs. Frank Ingalls, William Boehm, Frank Meckler and Mrs. Lassallette. Rev. Eugene Kiernan is now in charge of the parish.
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