USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 47
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THE VILLAGE OF MOSINEE (IN 1912).
The village was incorporated in 1889. Joseph Dessert was its first president and supervisor, whose history was to a large extent the history of the village of Mosinee, at least until up to the time the Joseph Dessert Lumber Company closed down and dismantled their mill in the village in 1903-04.
After the saw mill operations ceased it was supposed that the splendid water power would soon be used for some other purpose, a paper mill, for instance, which expectation afterwards materialized, but not under the direc- tion of the Joseph Dessert Company.
The chief of that firm was then over eighty years of age and was averse into embarking into a new business wholly unknown to him. When his son-in-law and his daughter removed to Milwaukee he took up his resi- dence there, visiting, however, annually the scene of his former activity until his death in 1911. The sketch of the pioneers has been given, and there was but little change in the village. Its growth was slow, mainly because this company following the course of Joseph Dessert, made it their practice to employ their men from the village and the surrounding towns, who went home when the mill closed down.
With the closing of the saw mill, the village languished for a while,
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but the splendid water power, probably the best on the river so far as devel- opment with little expense is concerned, could not lie idle very long. It was purchased by the Wausau Street Railway Company in 1908, and by that company sold to the Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company in 1911. That company immediately constructed its large mill, which is located just out- side the village, being on the east side of the Wisconsin river, on high land absolutely safe from any inundation, only erecting a strong concrete guard lock on the west side and the power house to convert the water power into electricity. The mill itself is located in the town of Kronenwetter.
Since the erection of this mill and the saw mill of the Mosinee Log, Lumber and Timber Company the village is getting back its former active looks, and business is in a flourishing state. The men employed in the mill live in the village, many of them, and there is no lack of employment for labor.
Mr. Louis Dessert, F. M. Reinolds, and Thomas David, incorporated as the Mosinee Log, Lumber and Timber Company, have erected a large modern saw mill in the village which has a timber supply for many years to come, and which employs a large number of men. In the winter of 1912- 1913, in hauling logs to the mill, this company has introduced a steam sleigh to draw loads to the mill, one engine doing the work of from twelve to sixteen horses.
Of business places there is still the store standing where David Roberts was engaged for so many years, he having gone to his farm, but C. A. Bernier carries on his business as a merchant therein.
J. Hanowitz & Son have a department store; there is the general store of Willis F. Ladu and David Doherty. Arden Paronto carries a large stock of hardware, and so does August Hallberg.
C. B. Blair keeps the village drug store.
Jacob Knoedler has a harness shop, and J. B. Kanter runs a blacksmith and wagon shop; Louis Lamere has a jewelry store and does the repairing of watches.
F. L. Demers has a confectionery store, and Mr. Prain has a bakery. Walter Coerper runs a livery stable, and August Klug and Mr. Pavlick, 1 meat markets.
Since the Hawk Eye Hotel burned some years ago, there is only one hotel now in the village, the Douville House.
August Schultz has a furniture store and undertaker establishment.
Miss Nellie Lutz attends to the wants of the ladies as a milliner.
The village owns the library building donated it by Joseph Dessert, who
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HISTORY OF MARATHON COUNTY
maintained it at his expense from its completion in 1898 until he deeded it to the village in 1906, and at the same time gave $1,000 towards its future maintenance and $200 for books. It is a big brick veneered building, 72x36 feet, with a spacious reading room, librarian room, and store room on the first floor; on the second floor is a spacious hall for entertainments, with opera chairs, a rostrum with a drop curtain and good scenery, and a cloak room in connection with the box office. It is nicely finished throughout inside and makes an attractive appearance.
Of professional men there are four, to-wit: Dr. William N. Daniels, a practicing physician and surgeon who came to Mosinee in 1884, who is a graduate of Rush Medical College, and Dr. Edward C. Fish, physician and surgeon, a graduate of the medical department of the University of Michi- gan, came in the same year. The third of the medical fraternity is Dr. E. F. Butler, who is a later comer, but has his share of practice. Dr. W. N. Daniels has been appointed as postmaster and holds that office. There is also a dentist in the person of Dr. A. P. Lusk. John P. Ford, a lawyer, keeps an office in Mosinee where he can be consulted, saving his clients a trip to Wausau.
THE MOSINEE TIMES,
a weekly newspaper, recording faithfully the happenings of interest in the village, is owned and edited by B. E. Walters and is now in the seventh year of its existence, an evidence of the perseverance of the editor, who works earnestly in the interest of the community.
SOCIAL LIFE.
Of course Mosinee is not without its baseball club, always well patron- ized during the season, and it has its social and benevolent societies, among which must be mentioned the Monica Ladies' Club in connection with the Catholic church, the Martha's Guild of the Episcopal church, and the Ladies' Aid societies of the Methodist and Lutheran churches.
STATE BANK OF MOSINEE.
This bank was organized in January 5, 1905.
Resources.
Loans and discounts $115,977.38
Overdrafts
89.53
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Bonds
5,030.00
Premium on bonds
Banking house
2,000.00
Furniture and fixtures
2,000.00
Due from approved reserve banks
19,651.12
Due from other banks
3,581.29
Cash items
131.13
Cash on hand
7,163.69
Total
$155,624.14
Liabilities.
Capital stock paid in
$ 12,000.00
Surplus fund
2,400.00
Undivided profits
557.13
Time certificates of deposit
50,877.83
Individual deposits
79,083.83
Savings deposits
10,705.35
Total
$155.624.14
Its officers are : President, A. Van Berg ; vice president, E. J. Van Berg ; cashier, W. A. Van Berg; assistant cashier, E. B. Van Berg. Directors, A. Van Berg, E. J. Van Berg, W. A. Van Berg, Louis Dessert, Carl Mathie.
SCHOOL.
Mosinee has an excellent school house, located in a grove of pine trees which gives it a beautiful setting. There is a four-year high school course, with Harold G. Ingraham as principal and Miss Irma Schmidt as assistant. The grammar department is in charge of Miss Beatrice Bachmann, the inter- mediary has Miss Anna Werner and the primary department Miss Anna Hoard as teacher. The school attendance in 1912 was 120 on an average. The building is a modern one, costing $15,000 and more.
CHURCHES.
The Catholic St. Paul's Church was built in 1878 and soon afterwards had a resident priest who also attended to the mission churches in the town of Emmett and in the town of Knowlton. The present resident rector of
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HISTORY OF MARATHON COUNTY
this parish is Rev. B. Klein. The most prominent members of this church were Sebastian Kronenwetter, now deceased, and Louis Dessert.
Besides the Catholic church, there are an Episcopal church, a Methodist church, and a German Evangelical Lutheran church. The last one was organ- ized in September, 1892, and the present church built in 1908. Its cost was $3,000 and it has a membership of thirty-four, where Rev. Joh. Karrer of Wausau holds religious service. All these churches are missions and are visited by the resident ministers of their respective congregations at Wausau.
THE VILLAGE OF EDGAR
was platted by Alfred L. Carey, attorney of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad, in September, 1891, but several additions have been platted since. The village was incorporated from part of the town of Wien in the year 1898 and Mich. Bowe was its first representative in the county board of Marathon county. In anticipation of the coming of the railroad, S. M. Quaw and George Gumaer had erected a large saw mill close to the station and began sawing lumber in 1891. There was and still is, a wealth of fine hardwood timber for miles, and also pine; a large part, however, had been logged off long before by Joseph Dessert and Sebastian Kronenwetter, who had camps in the vicinity and floated the logs out on Scotch creek, down to Mosinee. But in those years only the best of pine was taken, and what was left brought better prices after the railroad came, than the best before. This mill has been in continuous operation ever since, and millions of feet were manufactured every year; the lumber manufactured in later years being mainly hemlock and hardwood. After the death of Gumaer the partnership was incorporated as the S. M. Quaw Lumber Company, which was in busi- ness until January 1, 1913, when it sold out to Gustav Ringle and M. N. Schill, who carry on the business under the firm name of Ringle & Schill.
The wish of the people of Edgar to secure some other industry which would use the fine hardwood timber for a higher price article culminated in an association of Edgar business men and farmers, notably August Baese- mann and Gustav Herman of the latter class, to build a veneer factory in 1912 which would work up the splendid hardwood close to the village, and for which the raw material would outlast generations. When the mill was nearly complete an offer was made to them to sell to Earny Brothers, who agreed to convert the plant into a basket factory. As a new industry the offer was accepted and the plant sold to them, and the factory lost no time
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PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, EDGAR, WIS.
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GERMAN LUTHERAN PARSONAGE, EDGAR, WIS.
CATHOLIC CHURCH AND PARSONAGE, EDGAR, WIS.
ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, EDGAR, WIS.
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in getting started. It is expected that it will employ more men and manu- facture a higher priced article even than the veneer mill could.
An excelsior mill was erected in 1910 which is increasing its capacity and uses a large amount of basswood bolts. It is owned and operated by Justine Means.
One of the earliest industries, its establishment being simultaneous with the beginning of the village, is the Brick and Tile Works operated by Thomas Hill, which has a history of its own. This brickyard, which has the best mate- rial that can be desired, was first opened and worked by William Smith. He incorporated the business and sold out to August Martin, who after one year's operation sold out to August Kickbusch of Wausau. He in turn sold it to Thomas Hill and J. D. Pradt, the latter managing it for three years. Then Thomas Hill took complete charge of the same, and under his management it came up to its present flourishing condition. There were sold from this yard since Mr. Hill managed it, as high as two million brick a year, and fif- teen men were employed on an average. The bricks from this yard are sold on every station along the line of the railroad, including Wausau.
Of professional men there are: Drs. H. A. Vedder and H. H. Zaun, physicians and surgeons ; Dr. A. B. Crawford. dentist; J. H. Koehler, veter- inary.
The real estate man of this active village is C. C. Barrett, who has not only the sale of village lots, but also of farming and timber lands, and for years administered the law as justice of the peace. A. C. Wagner is the post- master of Edgar.
Of commercial houses there are: C. C. De Long & Co., Michael Bowe, E. W. Pfrang, L. H. Moll and Slepyan & Buntman, who keep a stock of gen- eral merchandise of all kinds. A. W. Puchner has a hardware store and a stock of steel, iron and tinner's shop, and machinery. Another hardware store is kept by Ottowa & Paeske. F. J. Tomkowitz conducts the village drug store and C. Wagner & Son a furniture store and undertaking. Franz Bauer runs a machine shop, and Charles W. Hahn and Carl Paul each a blacksmith shop, and Joseph. Pivernetz is the wagonmaker. Julius Werner has a harness shop and Frank Jonas a cigar factory, and a 5 and 10 cent store is carried on by Fritz Neese. Frank Schroeder is the painter and also barber, and another barber shop is kept by William Bier. Meat markets are kept by John Hohl and V. Krejcie, and a poolroom and barber shop by Fred. Paszek. A. J. Cherney is a dealer in wood, coal, grain, etc., and another saw and shingle mill is operated by Mr. Marcz.
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HISTORY OF MARATHON COUNTY
Insurance is represented by W. C. Seim, A. J. Cherney, A. C. Wagner, and C. C. Barrett.
A bakery is conducted by William Priess.
Fashionable ladies' hats and bonnets are supplied in the millinery salon of Mrs. Zepp.
C. J. Sharp is the local agent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad.
There are four hotels: The Hoenish Hotel, owned and conducted by Miss Rose Hoenish; the Forest House, proprietor, C. D. Rifleman; one conducted by John Socha, and a hotel and restaurant, by John Krass.
Edgar has a telephone company, duly incorporated, with C. C. Barrett as president and William Bier as manager, with seventy-five telephones, which with their connections in Edgar, Cassel, and Emmet, gives its patrons one hundred and ninety telephones; besides which it has connections with six other circuits in Marathon county. Its telephone station opens at 7 A. M. and closes at 10 P. M., and night calls are promptly answered.
There is a volunteer fire department, consisting of twenty-two men and a good equipment to combat fire.
Edgar has a large public hall, which is owned by the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America, or some of the members, being in reality owned by a stock company. The hall has a stage, scenery and curtain. and answers the purposes of a lecture. entertainment and dance hall. It is large and well finished.
Probably better than from any other description, the business done at Edgar may be estimated from an examination of the statement of its State Bank.
STATE BANK OF EDGAR
located at Edgar, State of Wisconsin, at the close of business on the 4th day of February, 1913.
Resources.
Loans and discounts $127.797.49
Overdrafts 646.28
Banking house, furniture and fixtures 1,000.00
Other real estate owned 2,432.30
Due from approved reserved banks 20,724.66
Due from other banks 8.955.18
Cash on hand 6.357.03
Total
$167.912.94
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Liabilities.
Capital stock paid in
$ 15,000.00
Surplus fund
6,500.00
Undivided profits
1,083.19
Due to banks-deposits
1,133.92
Dividends unpaid 18.00
Individual deposits subject to check
52,880.55
Time certificates of deposit
73,962.34
Saving deposits
17,3344.94
Total
$167,912.94
Comparative statement with 1903 :
Resources.
Loans and discounts $ 25,824.33
Overdrafts
54.35
Banking house, furniture and fixtures
3,000.00
Due banks
7,965.89
Checks on other banks and cash items
175.25
Cash on hand
3,727.70
Total
$ 40,747.52
Liabilities.
Capital stock paid in
$ 15,000.00
Undivided profits
34-37
Deposits
25,713.15
Total $ 40,747.52
Officers: A. W. Puchner, president; William C. Seim, cashier; H. G. Flieth, vice president. Directors: H. G. Flieth, A. W. Puchner, C. C. De- Long, O. G. Fehlhaber, William C. Seim.
THE EDGAR NEWS
appears regularly every Friday during the last five years and is edited and owned by Earl B. Crawford, a practical newspaper man. It is a large, full
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HISTORY OF MARATHON COUNTY .
sheet six column paper, and the advertisement list shows that it is recognized as a good medium for business advertisements, not only by the people of Edgar, but by business and professional men throughout the county. It advances everything of benefit to its native village and is a very readable, newsy paper in general.
SCHOOL.
The schoolhouse is a large, fine brick structure, with excellent ventilation and equipment.
The village of Edgar has a high school with a four-year term, and a state graded school. The following is the staff of teachers: Principal, J. E. Giesell; first assistant, Miss Lillian Thompson ; second assistant, Miss Selma Gross; seventh and eighth grades, Miss Bessie Allen; fifth and sixth grades, Miss Laura Klein: third and fourth grades, Miss Edith Ballard; kinder- garten, Miss Mabel Roseth.
The enrollment in all departments together is two hundred and fifty.
CHURCHES.
The Catholic St. John the Baptist Church-In the year 1899 a few German Catholic families organized this congregation. They built the church at what is now "Beach street," and a few years afterwards, owing to the rapid growth of the village as well of the congregation, were compelled to move it onto its present location west of this street. It has a much greater area now and is finely situated. For some years it remained a mission, attended by priests from Marshfield, Stratford and Cassel. In the year 1905 a nice brick par- sonage was built and in 1906 the Rev. John T. Ellmaurer became the first resident priest. When he resigned his charge in July, 1909, Rev. M. Haas was appointed to succeed him and under his charge the church was enlarged and remodeled. He resigned June 1, 1912, and the present resident priest, Rev. F. X. Orthen, took his place. Under his administration the parish got clear of all debts, and further improvements are contemplated. The parish is steadily growing and counts now one hundred and fifty families.
The German Evangelical Lutheran St. Stephen's Church-The congrega- tion was organized in 1893 and the edifice erected in 1894, and religious serv- ice was conducted by Rev. P. Karl Schmalz until the year 1910, when the congregation felt strong enough to call for a resident minister: the congre- gation has grown to a membership of fifty families and it is still served by Reverend Schmalz, the resident minister of the town of Wien.
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The German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's church was built in the year 1900. Like the St. Stephen's congregation, it has no resident minister yet, but regular service is held by pastors from neighboring villages or towns. The present minister in charge of the congregation is Reverend Janke. Six- teen families constitute the congregation.
The Presbyterian church was built in 1900 and has no resident minister yet, but religious service is conducted regularly every Sunday. The present visiting minister is Reverend McKane.
THE VILLAGE OF FENWOOD
was platted by Alfred L. Carey, the attorney for the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad, November 18, 1891, about the time when that railroad struck the place; it was incorporated as a village from part of the town of Wien, April 16, 1904, and its first representative in the county board of Marathon county was W. A. Somers. At the time the railroad struck the place, C. S. Curtis of Wausau erected a large saw mill, which was in operation until 1910, when it ceased sawing. The mill is still there and in not far dis- tant time may begin sawing again, there being still an abundance of hardwood timber within short hauling distance. There is a large cheese factory in the village, getting its milk from the farmers in the towns of Wien and Cleveland; it is owned by farmers and has been very profitable. John Brinkmann and Emil Szebsdat, under firm name of Brinkmann & Szebsdat, keep a general store, and George Wetterau keeps the tavern or hotel in the village. Emil Szebsdat is also the village postmaster.
There are two German Evangelical Lutheran congregations, holding their services in the schoolhouse and attended by the resident ministers of the town of Wien. There is a nice frame schoolhouse; the school is a state graded school with two departments. The principal is Vallborg Hermanson, and Miss Gertrude Kurtzweil is assistant. There is an average attendance of forty-five pupils in both departments.
THE VILLAGE OF McMILLAN.
The village of McMillan voted for incorporation in November, 1891, and G. H. Reynolds, who was at the time the bookkeeper for McMillan Brothers, who operated the saw mill in the village, was elected supervisor in the fol- lowing spring, and became its first representative in the county board.
The population of the village was almost entirely limited to the owners 31
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of this large mill establishment, mentioned in chapter on settlement on the "Wisconsin Central Towns," and their employees. It had a population of over two hundred some years after its incorporation, but has steadily declined.
Since the mill stopped operations in 1911, no business of any importance has been carried on. B. F. McMillan still resides there and he is heavily interested in other industrial establishments in Marathon county, as for in- stance, the Mosinee Paper Mill. He is a strong advocate of good county roads and a practical road builder. When the city of Wausau began macad- amizing its streets in 1901, he was good enough to lend his two carts for rock hauling and unloading crushed rocks to the city without charge. He has a farm and is a stockraiser, in which enterprise A. E. Beebe, the village post- master, is interested with him. There is a school in the village conducted on the plan of a district school.
THE VILLAGE OF ATHENS.
One of the youngest, but the most populous and most active of all villages in Marathon county, is the hustling village of Athens. It is between twenty- eight and thirty miles in a northwesterly direction from Wausau, and fifteen miles northeast of Abbottsford. The Sault Ste. Marie & M. Railroad owns now the spur built into the village by Fred Rietbrock, so that it is directly con- nected with one of the trunk railroad lines of the state.
The large business of this thriving burg is summarized up in this short statement : It has three large saw mills, a heading and stave factory, a cant- hook factory and a flour mill. During the winter of 1911 to 1912 the freight shipments averaged five hundred cars per month. The products exported by rail were dairy products, lumber, pulpwood, bark, cordwood and bolts. There is a sufficient amount of timber standing to supply the mills with logs for the next twenty-five years. To manufacture all this freight, there is need for willing hands to work, and need for import of such things as make life com- fortable, which are supplied by the commercial houses of the village. The splendid farming communities furnish also a large part of the mutual com- merce which goes to benefit all the people of the community.
The beginning of Athens hardly dates back to 1880, when everything was in its wild, original state, except for the pine, which was cut in early days along the shores of the streams and floated out, leaving only the stumps as . witnesses of a past age. A vast change has taken place in and around the territory in this short space of time, and where there was formerly unbroken forest, with an occasional cutting of pine which would have been hardly
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noticeable except to the trained eye of the woodsman, there are now rising the spires of great church edifices, fine residences and well laid out streets, good hotels and stores where every comfort and even articles of luxury can be had, greet the visitors, and roomy and neat schoolhouses and the many highly cultivated fields which the travelers pass before they reach the village are proof that there is a civilization which may pass comparison with some of the oldest settlements in this wide land.
Athens is situated on the high land in the southwestern part of section 31, township 30, range 4 east, as originally laid out and platted, but includes now portions of three townships. On the north and east of the village runs Black creek, a large stream which empties in Rib river about six miles further east. The village stands on a plateau gently rising towards the west, affording an excellent drainage in two directions into Black creek, so named in distinction from Black river. The village was located in the midst of a splendid hard- wood forest mixed with white pine, which extended for many miles in every direction. On the shores of Black creek the white pine predominated and log- ging was carried on in the vicinity for years in early days, but it was confined to the cutting of the logs in close proximity to the streams.
The founder of the village was Fred Rietbrock, of the law firm of Johnson, Rietbrock & Halsey, of Milwaukee. Fred Rietbrock came to Wausau first in the year 1876, no doubt attracted by the opening of the country by the Wis- consin Valley Railroad and the advertising given to this section of the state by that railroad and by J. M. Smith, their land agent residing at Wausau. Rietbrock became convinced of the adaptability of the forest lands of this county for agricultural purposes and bought a large tract with the intention of bringing settlers to the lands from the congested districts of the big cities. He was successful in settling first a number of people of the Polish nationality from Milwaukee in the present town of Rietbrock, although some of them returned to Milwaukee, but many stayed and became substantial farmers. He increased the land holdings of his company in this county in the north- west until they had quite a large compact tract of land, which it was Riet- brock's intention to colonize.
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