Kewaunee County Nicknames

F.D.R. and J.F.K. are known globally. Just how many baptismal names do you know of among the hundreds of Kewaunee County folks known by nicknames? A look through old phone books and business advertising found at both county libraries will give you a chance to find out.

Perhaps you shopped at Blah Barbiaux’ Luxemburg store or bought meat from Foxy or Cuts/Katz Kashik, fish from Bearcat Berkovetz or men’s clothing from Heine Wiese. Toots Wenniger, Shorty Mikle, Jingles, Butch, Killer, Prutz and Goosey Bohman were commercial fishermen known up and down the lakeshore. Goosey owned the Northside Tap where he competed with tavern owners Cozzie Mura, Eppie Boedecker, Nebs Melchior, Blackie Delwiche and Red Zastrow. The Knipfers, both Page 11 and Page 12, had a beer depot. X Naze and Doc Slaby were bankers.

Bumps Nesemann was a Kewaunee physician. His brother Bones was a longtime Algoma pharmacist. Pidge Birdsall and Whitey Ellsworth headed what is now the Hardwoods and Black Jack Jorgenson and Spreader Sibilsky worked there. Cully Serrahn drove truck for the Plumbers. Rio Creek resident Cow Kirchman purchased the Bastar Hotel. Fuzzy Kirchman lives in Rio Creek today. Blue Goose LeCloux repaired shoes and Ole Melchior sold them. Ole’s name was Leo spelled inside out but son Gordy’s was not. He is really Jerome.

Red LaCrosse was Chief of Police. Brownie Cemyla, Seagull Dettman and Pembine Empey served as mayors and Sarge was in the military. Mickey Dettman and Keck Pflughoeft ran barbershops. Hoogie Deprey still does. Sport Fett moved to the state of Alaska and Fat Gerhart ran the hardware store. Yukky Jakobovsky owned the school busses while Knobby Knospe owned a farm implement business. Tiny Nell brought national attention to youth activities.

Maplewood’s Bugs Wagner and Doc Schlise were exceptional basketball players. The Sells, Shiner, Babe and Legs, were noted baseball players. Cowboy Wheeler played for the Packers. Ga-ga Mauer and Gunner Delaruelle excelled in all sports but it was Zug Zastrow who won national fame in the Army-Navy game. Winty Zettle could be found taking tickets at ballgames. Dad Elliott and Scoop Heidmann published the Record Herald. Huntz Nell is an historian. The Meverdens boast Little Barge, Big Barge and just plain Barge. Dippy, Oatsy, Squee and Spaz were Ullspergers. Bing Schmidt apparently had a better voice than Doc and Hertsy. Tippy Toppe is joined by Tarz, Skeebo, Zatka and Muggo who was really Margaret. One-armed Sally Haack was not a woman and who knows how Ratsy got his name. Jag’s name is on billboards all over. His nickname is a pretty good story coming from grade school. One Busch was a Shrub and another gathers no Moss.

Sturgeon Bay residents called those in Ahnapee "Ahnapeepers," apparently part of what prompted a renaming of the community in 1897. A look at the census in those days reveals few little girls named Anna. It was not just Barron and Schmidty today, all those north of the Ahnapee River were Cannucks.

In today’s politically correct society, nicknames such as Belgie, Fat, Queenie, Stinky, and a woman called Eagle Beak would be unacceptable.  Flusher, Pickles and Irish would probably have made it.

Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever and Early Medicine



Postmarked in 1914, this postcard depicts a a country doctor making his way south from Luxemburg.



Early Kewaunee County was just plain healthy and free from disease. Its residents were younger and the county was isolated enough to ward off communicable diseases. Then things changed.                                                         

As settlements grew and people lived farther from rivers and streams, they began digging wells for drinking water. Outhouses became prevalent and they were often built next to the wells. Garbage, chamber pots and wastewater were thrown where convenient and frequent epidemics were related to well water.

Diphtheria was always around. Schools, churches and lodges were closed during the worst of the outbreaks. Deaths were especially numerous among children with some families losing as many as five or six children in a matter of days. Often the deceased was rolled up in his bedding and buried. During the winter a fire would be built on the frozen ground to thaw it thus enabling grave digging. 

A December 1862 Kewaunee Enterprise published a remedy that it said saved lives. One needed to take ordinary pipe tobacco, place a live coal in the bowl, drop a little tar on the coal and then let the patient draw smoke into the mouth and expel it through the nostrils. A few years later the paper told readers to swab their mouths and throats every half hour with a mixture of golden seal, alum, borax, black pepper, salt and nitrate of potash. The slime on the swab was to be wiped off and then a mixture of liniment of turpentine, sweet oil and aqua ammonia was to be rubbed on the throat. People were reminded to keep the bowels clear as diphtheria was contagious.

Scarlet fever was another common disease. The Enterprise published a cure for that too. A poultice of common burdock boiled in milk was to be applied to the neck of the patient. When black smallpox raised its ugly head, the paper again told readers how to take care of it. A mixture of cream of tartar, rhubarb and cold water was said to be the remedy. Others felt that just before eruption, the chest should be rubbed cotton oil and tartaric ointment. The Enterprise wrote about the advantages of immunization editorializing that no family should neglect  it. Ahnapee's Doc Parsons was vaccinating people saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Dr. Parsons arrived in 1855 and was followed by numerous doctors after the Civil War. By then, the doctors were kept busy. Diseases were always around. Lumbering and sawmills meant bones to set and saw related injuries to deal with.  Business for the medical community improved.

1876: The Second Street Bridge Collapses

In recent years, U.S. bridge safety has been called into question. September 1876 brought up similar questions in Ahnapee when the Second Street bridge collapsed.

Charles Damas was driving his team across the bridge with a load of wood when suddenly the abutments collapsed sending about 60 feet of bridge crashing into the Ahnapee River below. Damas was lucky. He had only a few bruises and his oxen escaped drowning.  Of the others on the bridge at the time, only Anton Swaty was injured. His severely bruised hand laid him up for a few days.

Since the bridge was the city’s only connection to both sides of the river, the city fathers contracted with Capt. Hank Harkins to provide ferry service until a new bridge could be built. Location of the new bridge was quite controversial. There was a war of words among citizens who wanted the new bridge built at Fourth Street, or Third Street, or Second Street, which finally won out.

Among several reasons given for the collapse that day was that harbor blasting earlier in the year might have jarred the foundation. Some felt he bridge was in rickety and unsafe condition to begin with and that heavy seas pounding the harbor the previous day further loosened the substructure. At any rate, the city accepted a bid of just over $1,900.00 for a new bridge, substantial enough to meet the needs of the city for years to come. That bridge was eventually replaced by an iron bridge and then the present concrete bridge.

The accompanying picture is a portion of the 1883 Birdseye Map of Ahnapee The building at the north side (right) of the bridge was Wenniger's pump factory and saloon. Long known as the North Side Tap, the building remains. What is now Navarino St. was called South Water in 1883. North Water was on the north side of the river. The 1883 fire station is the building with the tower in the upper left corner. Algoma's fire station is there today.

Prohibition and Kewaunee County

Homeowners try their best to rid the lawn of dandelions. Back in the 1920’s, some found a yard full of dandelions as good as it could get.

Prohibition was in force. Dandelions, wild grapes, and elderberries were coveted ingredients for homemade wine. When Congress passed the Volstad Act, it was illegal to buy, sell or drink alcohol except for religious or medicinal purposes. The Volstad Act covered so many facets of life that just touching an alcoholic product could have been a crime. Suddenly many had medical problems requiring alcohol, but physicians and drug stores had problems. If the government approved the sale to a doctor, it was for one pint that was to cover ten days. A physician could get an emergency stock of 6 quarts of whiskey for a year, but the sale was carefully documented.

It was not long before there were rumors of bootlegging and moonshine in Kewaunee County. Raids followed. There were seizures of moonshine and then the stills were found. In 1921 a sizeable still in Forestville was seized. Apparently the owners tried to destroy it, but agents claimed they found cooked mash. Just after that, agents intimidated a farm woman who would not unlock a shed. They broke the lock and found a fifty-five gallon drum. About the same time agents raided 16 or 18 taverns in the southern and western part of the county but only found two saloon keepers with liquor. The agents got lucky when they found a still in the tree tops on a Carlton farm. On completing the batch of moonshine, the farmer hid the still where he felt nobody would ever find it. 

In one instance taverns were raided, product was confiscated and money was taken from the cash drawers. That turned out to be what some called a frame-up. The feds were on the way, but scammers got there first. When some young Algoma men returned from a dance and were arrested for drunken driving, agents found shacks hidden in the hills west of town. That was reported to be “real Kentucky product.” The usual fine for the first offense was $200, but that Kentucky product must have been good. It brought in $400. A second offense brought jail. Some of Kewaunee County’s older folks still reminisce about the bottles hidden under the gutter boards in the barn. There was safety in manure!

The greatest effect of Prohibition was a disrespect of law. It was finally repealed in 1933, the depths of the Depression. After all, liquor sales are revenue enhancing.

Kewaunee County and the Civil War, 5

Chauncey Thayer, a Kewaunee cooper, was in Kenosha when the Gov. Randall called for volunteers following the firing on Fort Sumter. He was the first Kewaunee County man to volunteer and even reenlisted. Thayer enlisted in Co. G, 1^st Wisconsin and went to the campaign of West Virginia.  Following his reenlistment, he became a 1^st lieutenant and later a captain in Co. H, 33^rd Infantry. After the war Thayer returned to the county and settled on a farm in Pierce Town before relocating to Clay Banks.

Kewaunee County’s 1860 population stood at 7,069 and Thayer was among the 1 in 17 that served. Four hundred eight men went to war, willingly and unwillingly. Of that number, 65, or 13%, died. Twice as many men died of such diseases as typhoid, lung ailments and dysentery as were killed in battle or died of wounds.

Kewaunee County’s struggling pioneers of 1861-1865 raised $20,692.87 in taxes for war at a time when a private’s pay was $13 per month. County citizens invested in 2 ½ million dollars worth of Liberty and Victory bonds, which paid 4 – 4 ½% interest.

Even children’s play seemed to be patriotic as they built snow forts and formed military companies in Eveland’s Swamp, today’s Perry Field. The demand for flags was so strong that a year after Fort Sumter, the price of bunting skyrocketed from $4.75 to $28 a piece. By 1864 the Enterprize was encouraging citizens to raise vegetables for the war effort.

Coins were scarce during the war and merchants had trouble making changes. Things got so bad that many used credit slips or used stamps as money. In 1862 the government began producing paper notes in coin denominations. Such notes were called Postal Currency.  Since the notes were printed on a sheet, one could tear off what was needed. Today’s collectors call the notes Fractional Currency. Ahnapee residents were also using shinplasters from Edward Decker’s bank to purchase such things as pies from Charles Hennemann’s bakery. The pies cost 5 cents.

Kewaunee County and the Civil War, 4

Harriet Warner was a 9 year old child when she arrived in Wolf River, now Algoma, on July 4, 1851. Her family was one of the first three settling families and first permanent residents of Kewaunee County. At times during her life, Harriet visited her Grandmother Bennett in Waukegan. During one of those visits – her wedding trip following her marriage to Abraham Hall – Harriet heard Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas speak. Douglas was running for president against Abraham Lincoln, whom Harriet said she would also liked to have heard. Lincoln’s nomination was not without controversy.

A May 1860 Enterprize article contained a reprint from one found in the Green Bay Advocate saying Abraham Lincoln’s nomination at the Chicago convention astonished everyone, even the party. The Enterprize editorialized that Lincoln’s nomination was a wet blanket on Republican hopes, and it felt that within a day’s drive at least 20 Wisconsin farmers could be found who would be equal to Lincoln.

Lines were drawn between Kewaunee County Republicans and Democrats before the 1860 election, but it was said those lines were shaken by the election of Lincoln. Edward Decker, owner of the Enterprize, supported Lincoln’s challenger Stephen A. Douglas.  Comments from the Enterprize, reprinted in the Green Bay Advocate,  said that “no nomination for the presidency was hailed with as much enthusiasm as Douglas.”

Wisconsin was still a semi-frontier at the beginning of the Civil War. It was a little more than 12 years old. Kewaunee County was 8. The state was largely controlled by Yankees although Germans were beginning to have an impact. Pine forests were intact but there was little dairying or manufacturing. Fishing was minimal and lead and zinc mining were on the decline.

Looking back, it would seem that Wisconsin had little to offer the war effort. However, as historian Rueben Gold Thwaites wrote in 1905, “No northern state had as credible a record in the Civil War as Wisconsin.

Kewaunee County’s remaining Civil War veterans I.W. Elliott, Frank Gregor and Gene Heald were at a Memorial Day observance when this photo was snapped in 1930. It appeared in the March 12, 1937 Record Herald following Gregor’s death. Elliott was both Kewaunee County and Wisconsin’s last Civil War veteran when he died in 1941.

Note: The Enterprise was the Enterprize until 1865.

Kewaunee County and the Civil War, 3

April 12, 2011 marked the 150^th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. On that day Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter, a federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Thirty-four hours later, Fort Sumter surrendered.

Word of the firing upon Fort Sumter reached Kewaunee on Sunday night, April 14, 1861, two days following the event. Assemblyman W.S. Finley brought the news with the Milwaukee Sentinel and other Wisconsin newspapers on his return from his legislative work in Madison. Finley had been traveling aboard the Comet, however Captain Pabst could not get the boat around the ice on Two Rivers Point and had to return to Two Rivers. From there, Finley walked through the woods to Kewaunee, arriving with the news at 10 PM.

A few days later, on April 22, Governor Randall issued a call to colors and urged vigilance in maintaining laws. In August Randall was appointed as Minister to Rome in place of Rufus King who wanted to join the army. Little did men of Kewaunee County know that it would not be long before so many of them would be serving in General Rufus King’s command which by then was called the Iron Brigade. The proud men of the tenacious brigade suffered a higher percentage of war casualties than any other combat unit. Overall, 1 in 17 Kewaunee County men died, but more were taken by disease than by bullet.

Kewaunee was a county for less than ten years when war broke out. It was filled with immigrants from Germany, Bohemia, Belgium, and to a lesser extent, France, Norway and Ireland. Many had not yet learned English. Many had come to escape compulsory military service.

Citizens were nervous, but as Ahnapee’s Peter Schiesser told Enterprise Editor Garland, business and shipping were good, buildings were going up and there was little effect on the community. Wisconsin’s militia was first raised with recruits from larger cities, however a few days after the firing on Fort Sumter, Kewaunee’s Chauncey R. Thayer was the first of county residents to enlist. He even re-enlisted. Thayer was a cooper who became a 1^st Lieutenant and later a Captain in Co. H, 33^rd Infantry.

Attached photo: Magnus Haucke was a 19 year old Private in Co. E, 4^th Wisconsin Calvary when he posed for this tintype in 1864. The coloring was done by Harmann Studios in the early 1960’s.

Kewaunee County and the Civil War, 2

Abraham Lincoln is one of four American presidents whose face is carved on Mt. Rushmore and yet, in many quarters, his election did not bring the screaming headlines most Americans see today. For some, his 1860 election was a line drawn in the sand.  On George Washington’s birthday, a few weeks prior to Lincoln’s March 4, 1861 inaugural, residents from around Kewaunee County were invited to a “Great Union Ball,” an event seen as an attempt to help heal differences between political parties.

Kewaunee’s James Slausson held a celebration following Lincoln’s March inauguration.  Again Democrats and Republicans, with their families, from Kewaunee, Ahnapee and Carlton were in attendance. Enterprise editor Dexter Garland commented on the splendor of the occasion and the ladies who prepared it.

On Tuesday March 12, Ahnapee merchant David McCummins brought a copy of Evening Wisconsin from Milwaukee. The newspaper ran the text of Lincoln’s inaugural address.  In a commentary, the Enterprise said that “Mr. Lincoln is trying to steer the ship of state between the dangers of Scylla and Charybdis and if he gets the Union through safely, he will be forever sainted as the greatest of all men."

Prominent men such as Ahnapee’s David Youngs and Simon Hall and Kewaunee’s W.S. Finley supported Lincoln.  Kewaunee and Pierce towns were carried by the Shanghuys - a term applied to abolitionists - thus tipping the towns toward Lincoln. However, Stephen Douglas carried the county by 362 votes. Historian George Wing wrote that “stiff necked old Democrats like Elliott, Yates, Major McCormick, Warner and Van Dooser” saw nothing good in abolitionism or republicanism” and then saw their sons “follow false gods of other political creeds.”

Kewaunee County and the Civil War, l

April 2011  marked the 150^th anniversary of the American Civil War. The war was in the making for years, but it was the firing on Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina on April 15, 1861 that gave rise to the bloodshed. Nearly four years after the surrender of the fort, Union forces recaptured it.

Following the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, resolutions passed by South Carolina’s legislature focused on what it felt was the state' duty to withdraw from the federal union. On December 20, 1860, the legislators unanimously voted for secession.

It was Lincoln’s election that brought North-South controversies to a head. Kewaunee County's residents spent an anxious winter at a time when weekly mail was the only connection with the outside world and the mails brought stories of a war that seemed almost certain.

Historian George Wing wrote that settlers and woodsmen gathered nightly at the Tremont, now Stebbins Hotel, the Kenosha House or Boalt’s store to discuss news or a letter or a newspaper from Manitowoc. They heard about “secesh” and wondered if one “secesh” could really lick ten Yankees as they boasted.

On February 1, South Carolina’s ultimatum was delivered to President James Buchanan, not President Lincoln who would take office in March. Tensions were high in Kewaunee County. Suspicions of loyalty lurked within the Democrat Party in 1861 and some Democrats even abandoned the name to support a Union ticket, largely endorsed by Republicans.

Ahnapee was predominantly a Democratic community. Older residents were reluctant to see war come, but when it did, there were slogans such as “Save the Union at all costs,” or “Save the Country.”  Feelings of patriotism ran high prompting 75 year old Major Joseph McCormick to declare he would fight if necessary. McCormick was a veteran of the War of 1812. He and other residents of Kewaunee County were gearing up for war.