Kewaunee County Gold, Silver & Oil: Dreams of Riches

Gold, silver, oil.....and dreams of getting rich. At one time or another, somebody thought there were big bucks to be made in Kewaunee County. Such minerals never brought the expected wealth that the thickly forested county did, though just as a mine or oil well often runs out, the trees were depleted too. Real wealth came from the land

Kewaunee County was set off from Door County in the spring of 1852, however government employee Joshua Hathaway had started surveying the southern part of what would be Kewaunee County in the mid-1830s.

Before long rumors of gold were flying. Today it is almost unfathomable to believe such rumors actually prompted a rivalry between Kewaunee and Chicago. At a time when Chicago had a few people but Kewaunee didn’t have one non-native American, there was speculation about which would be the greater area. Multi-millionaire John Jacob Astor was the richest man in the United States at his death in 1848. Acreage in the middle of the Kewaunee swamp was selling for 500 to1,000 dollars  when Astor invested in 2,625 acres, bought through his agent Ramsay Crooks.  Land speculator and later Territorial Governor James Doty was another of the prominent people who invested in Kewaunee land. Green Bay streets are named for other speculators including Joel Fisk, Peter Grignon, Daniel Whitney and Ferdinand Suydam.

What happened with the '48ers, Sutter's Mill and the great California gold rush is in the history books. As for the gold in Kewaunee 14 years earlier, the only gold there was that which John Jacob Astor and others paid for the land. The stuff was really pyrite.

About the time of the California gold rush, the U.S. Treasury adopted strict hard-money standard, doing business only in gold or silver coin. Accounts of the federal government and the banking system were legally separated. The rate of gold to silver overvalued silver in relation to the demand for gold to trade or borrow and that drain led to the search for gold. The clamor for silver remained.

By 1869 Monarch Gold and Silver Mining Company of Indianapolis was disposing of its Kewaunee County land in Section 1 of Montpelier. As early as December 1866, Edward Decker was asked by the company to examine the land and render an opinion. Decker was asked if the land was timbered and its best market value. He was told he would receive a draft for expenses and fees for survey. Decker had the land surveyed by the county surveyor and told the company that it was heavily timbered though it was so far from market that the lumber was virtually worthless. He went on to say the only timber of worth in "this locality" was white pine, and the particular land didn't have any. Decker did say that half the land was good farming land but since there was a low demand, such land sold for two - four dollars per acre. Why did a gold and silver company purchase Montpelier land about which they knew nothing? At first glance the land appears to have been public land, the sales of which promoted public works' projects. Monarch's was not public land, however Fox and Wisconsin Co. owned Montpelier public land at the same time. It was Spencer Day who patented the Section 1 land in 1855 and his brother Henry Day who sold it in October 1866. When Monarch sold, it did not make money. The company purchased the land for $3,000 and sold to John Duvall in February 1876 for $1,800. Duvall was one of the Kewaunee County people with an income greater than Decker's in 1869.

Then there was the oil. By 1920, there had never been a barrel of crude oil produced in Wisconsin, but there were those who were sure it would happen. For months a group of Scarboro and Luxemburg men were working to organize a drilling company. There appeared to be some evidence of gas and oil near the Scarboro cheese factory and the men had incorporated a company with stock capital of $25,000. They felt that if the 25 thousand wasn't enough, they'd raise 50 or even 100 thousand dollars.

December 1920 saw geologist Ira Bell examining what was then called the Green Bay Structure, several thousand acres running parallel to the shoreline of the bay of Green Bay. Bell felt the oil field would be about 40 rods upriver from the Scarboro bridge in Section 25 in the Town of Luxemburg. A well alongside John Hrabik's store was even producing oil.

Residents were so sure there was oil, and stockholders knew they'd make money. While the company was still raising money eighteen months later, there were stories of river rocks so saturated with oil that they would burst into flame at the touch of a match.

Just as the gold in Kewaunee turned out to be the gold that had been paid for the land, the most oil found in Scarboro would be that in tractors, autos and eventually home heating oil. As for the gold and silver mining in Montpelier, the silver and gold showed up in the gorgeous fall colors of the maple trees, which, in the days of a clamor for white pine, were worth little.

Sources: Map from Here Comes the Mail: Post Offices of Kewaunee Co.; information from Kewaunee Enterprise, Advocate, Decker collection and private files of J.Z.

Death and Disease in the Civil War

At the beginning of the Civil War, Wisconsin was still a semi-frontier. Political and social control was largely determined by New Yorkers and New Englanders, although Germans and Scandinavians were beginning to make an impact. The pine forests were intact, there was little manufacturing or dairying, fishing was minimal and mining was on the decline. Looking back, it would seem as if Wisconsin had little to offer the war effort, but as Reuben Gold Thwaites wrote in 1905, "No northern state has as credible a record in the Civil War as Wisconsin."  Wisconsin and New York were #1 and #2, respectively, in supplying men for the war.

When the war was over, of the 408 men from Kewaunee County who had served, 65 - or 13% - were dead. Almost twice as many died of disease as were killed in battle. In a county with a population of 7,039, 1 in 17 was sent, willingly and unwillingly. The struggling pioneers of 1861-1865 raised $20,692.87 in taxes for war at a time when a private's pay was $13.00 per month. County citizens invested in 2 1/2 million dollars worth of Liberty and Victory bonds paying 4 - 4 1/2% interest.

In total, Wisconsin saw 3,794 of its men killed in action or mortally wounded. Disease that was rampant took 8,022 and accidents of all kinds took another 400. One in 13 veterans was an amputee. Louisa May Alcott later wrote that men went to war prepared to die for the cause. But, were they prepared to kill? Was anybody prepared for the number of casualties and the horrific wounds? Who would have thought disease could have taken such a toll?

Early muskets that took minutes to send off a shot, often caused injury to the soldier himself. Initially some of the cavalry had sabres. It was thought inhuman to sharpen the entire thing so only about 6" was sharp. The blunt end was used for breaking arms and injuring; the sharp end was for stabbing.

Wounds, other injuries and disease were unimaginable. Seventy-five percent of surgeries were amputations and 26% of the amputees died. Infected flesh wounds led to amputation by the surgeons who cut the flesh and sawed off the bone with a hack saw before tying off the limb with silk thread. Chloroform was the anesthetic if it was available. Alcohol was used to numb the pain, and to help anesthetize when the chloroform ran out, but often the surgeons drank it. Ambulance drivers also had alcohol for the wounded, but they were known to drink it too. At the second Bull Run,there were ambulance drivers who left with the alcohol. As many as 7,000 were unattended for three days. At five days, there were still 600 left without food and water.

Hospitals were worse than battlefields and hastened deaths. Tents, churches, homes and other buildings served as such facilities. Sanitation was an issue. There was malnutrition, but it was surely a step above the rats that helped Confederates survive at Vicksburg. Disease was spread by feces and the piles of rotting limbs, and typhoid that came from contaminated water. Bacteria had yet to be understood and surgeons used spit to moisten thread. They sharpened knives on the bottoms of their boots. Sterilization was unheard of and little soap and water was available for operations. Doctors went from patient to patient without washing their hands. Doctors had two years of school and surely no experience in the kinds of treatment necessary. Maybe that was why some men preformed amputations on themselves

Is it any wonder there are stories of the men who shot off their trigger fingers so they could go home?

Henry Baumann arrived in Wolf River in the mid-1850s. Magnus Haucke joined his family there after the war. Magnus married Henry's daughter Amelia years later. Both were robust, healthy German immigrants when they entered service, Magnus as a volunteer in Co. E, 4th Wisconsin Cavalry and Henry as a draftee in Co. E, 17th Wisconsin Infantry. Both were in military hospitals and both lived to tell about it, but both died too young. Ezra B. Austin, Co. E, 14th Wisconsin, was wounded at Shiloh and then pinned to the ground by a fallen tree. A Confederate officer lifted the tree and gave Austin water, but he died a few days later on April 12, 1862. Park Elliott, Co. C, 10th Wisconsin, was shot in the head at Chaplin Hills and was buried on the battlefield. His brother David died of typhoid at Nashville and Mark Fay, also of Co. E, 14th Wisconsin, died of disease at Memphis. Samuel Gokie was wounded. Though he survived physically, his emotional health was questionable. Within two years of his return to Kewaunee, he died in a jail fire that he set. Gokie was also a member of Co. E, 14th Wisconsin.

Captains Charley Ross and John McDonald both left the sea to farm sometime before the war began. By a strange coincidence both men left their farms and went to Chicago to join the 88th Illinois, also known as the Board of Trade Regiment. Capt. John, a hero at Mission Ridge, lost his "good" right arm there. Capt. Charley lost his "good" left arm at Stone River. Both men survived and went on to productive lives. Leopold Meyer was a Corporal in Co. H, 24th WI. He was shot through the right side and thru the right arm. He too survived and became a tinsmith.

Joseph Bunder and Charles Clark died of malaria in Arkansas. William Doyle never made it home from Arkansas after being discharged for permanent disability. He died of malaria on the way. All three were from Co. A, 27th Wisconsin. John Metzner, of the 9th Infantry, died of disease at Little Rock. Doctors of the era felt disease fed on what was in the body, therefore it had to be emptied. It was felt that the liver was the source of disease and a mercury compound called calomel was a great healer. Mercury poisoning is recognized today, however the effects of the poisoning was thought to be healing even while patients were dying. It was said that to have disease was a death sentence in itself. How much calomel Bunder, Clark and Doyle might have had is any one's guess.

Homer Bacon, Co. K, 21st Wisconsin was wounded at Perryville and crippled for life at Chicamaugua. Conrad Arnold and Conrad Plinke were wounded at Jenkins Ferry. Both were from Co. A, 27th Wisconsin, and both died. John Henry, another from the 27th, was wounded there but he lived. John Baumgartner of the 14th Wisconsin never made it home. Conrad Martin and Edward O'Hara were members of Co. A 27th Wisconsin who might have been lucky: they were reported to be mortally wounded at Jenkins Ferry but were taken prisoner and remained at a Rebel prison camp until the the war's end. Comrade Robert Dalziel's wife learned he had died when a letter came back with the note, "Your husband is dead." Dalziel died of disease.

Peter Simon, who fought with Co. K, 21st Wisconsin, was wounded at Perryville on October 8, 1862 and taken prisoner. After a 113 day imprisonment, he rejoined the Army at Murfeesboro, Tennessee in March 1863. From there he went to Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and was on the campaign from Atlanta to the sea. He went through South Carolina swamps to North Carolina and participated in the last battle of Bentonville. Simon went on to be truant officer in Green Bay. Simon must have been a man of iron.

*The Ahnapee Record, 9/3/1885 says, "The pension laws provide that soldiers who have lost a leg at the hip joint or an arm at the shoulder joint in the service of the country, shall be entitled to pensions at the rate of $37.00 per month. It has been the custom of the pension department to construe this law strictly. There are less than a dozen cases on the pension rolls where the amputation has taken place exactly through the joints as mentioned." After test cases it was ruled that if the amputation was so near the hip or shoulder so as to "render the stumps unserviceable," the pensioner would be allowed the higher rate.

Saloons, Beer, and Old Kewaunee County

Blood alcohol levels and concern about operating under the influence have changed the way society thinks. In some respects, such issues have changed a whole way of life.

Surprising as it might be today, taverns and saloons were an integral part of society and culture among the hard working German, Bohemian and Belgian immigrants of Kewaunee County. Saloons were found at nearly every important crossroad. Quite often there would be a blacksmith, cheese factory or a church nearby. Perhaps a store. Sometimes saloons were part of a larger establishment that included a hotel and hall. In the days before telephones and daily newspapers, the tavern was the source of news, gossip and some even held the post office. The tavern was where one stopped after taking milk to the cheese factory. The tavern was where a family stopped after Sunday mass. While children played, the women sat outside together enjoying the company of one another, leaving the men to drink beer and discuss politics, crops, weather and more inside.

Women did not usually frequent a taproom though they did have their own entrances in such places as the Wisconsin House on the southeast corner of 4th and Steele in Ahnapee. There women could relax in the ladies' parlor - sometimes with a cigar or maybe even a pipe - with the whiskey that was brought to them. Boedecker's Wisconsin House as well as Bastar's, Nesemann's and others had "sample rooms" where spirits were served. Such rooms were places in which a traveling man's wares would be set out for inspection by local merchants.

Homemade beer whet many a whistle at early Wolf River and Ahnapee dances and celebrations. During the short time in 1866 that James Defaut was operating his 2nd Street store, sarsaparilla was in big demand. Newspapers of the era recommended purifying the blood with Ayres sarsaparilla and Ahnapee residents seemed to feel the need for such a medicinal product to sustain them. Some felt sarsaparilla kept one in good humor. Obviously it did as Defaut sold so much that his charge accounts were averaging an astonishing dollar every two weeks. George Powell was brewing during 1866 and George Laux and Mathias Simon opened another short-lived brewery in 1867. Ahnapee Brewery was built the following year. From then on, the community was supplied with good Ahnapee lager.

As important as beer was to Ahnapee, one of the village's first arguments came about because of beer and spirits. On May 2, 1877, yearly  retail liquor license fees were raised from $25 to $150. Wholesale license fees were set at $40. A week later, William Bodecker showed up before the board with a delegation petitioning review of the new fees, but the board would not reconsider. Such discussions surfaced again a few years later when saloon keepers were directed to prevent minors from purchasing alcoholic beverages by prohibiting them from playing pool or billiards in the taverns.

As population grew, so the the number of saloons and taverns. That required more product. Henry Schmiling  took Ahnapee Lager north aboard the Whiskey Pete. Rahrs' Green Bay beer went by schooner and then wagon to such places as Bay View and Dyckesville. Rahrs' beer became an Ahnapee staple after the village's brewery closed.

John Veeser ran a small brewery in Casco. It was either Wenzel Hlawacek and Wenzel Holup's or Anton Langenkamp's brewery in Carlton that prompted a request to the U.S. Post Office Department to rename Carlton Mills* as Pilsner. It didn't happen. Anton Mach started a brewery at Stangelville and went into partnership with Joseph Langer. Stephen Berni  was well known and the Bavarian Brewery was a Kewaunee fixture for a time. Borgman and Deda were brewing in Kewaunee before 1884 when the company was sold to Wallner and Deda. Woyta Stranksy and Rufus Wing had a small brewery at Stransky's milling operations in what became West Kewaunee. One of the Marchants brewed beer in the early days of Red River.

Obituaries in early papers pointed out deceased who were "fond of the drink" and the heartache they caused their families. The papers told about men going home at the close of the evening only to slip into basement entrances in the boardwalks. Horse transportation often meant slippery streets, however one who was sober could have found himself in a similar predicament! One inebriated man was known to light a 4th of July cannon with a cigar in his mouth.According to the Record, he escaped with only a few powder burns.

Habitual drinking was frowned upon, but yet it was accepted. Groups, such as the Good Templars in Ahnapee, were a temperance organizations which faded from the scene. Years later Prohibition came to Kewaunee County as it did to the rest of the country. But, that's another story.

*Carlton Mills is Tisch Mills today. The picture is taken from the 1876 Kewaunee County Plat Map.