It has been written that culture came to Wolf River with the arrival of Simon Hall and his wife Desiah, however they did not appear to be members of the Philolithean, a literary society. A little research on the word reveals three separate spellings. Each reflects a secret or private literary society focusing on such subjects as history, religion, ethics and politics. Wolf River's Philolithean appears to have primarily dealt with politics.
It was Joseph Anderegg who served as secretary of the short-lived society. At its first meeting on November 29, 1855, the attendees elected Samual Chapell as president, David Price as vice-president, Joseph Remington as secretary, Nelson Smith as corresponding secretary and Andreas Eveland as treasurer. L. Shepherd nominated Mary A. Price as editor and George Hines Scott was chosen to dedicate a paper which was to be "denominated," or named.
Shepherd, Scott, Alexander McLellen and Nelson Smith were chosen to draft the society's constitution and by-laws. When the above organizational business was concluded, the society needed a name thus choosing Philolethean to be "denominated as the Philolethean Society of Ahnapee."
At that first meeting Shepherd moved that subscriptions be taken to defray expenses between Kewaunee and Wolf River throughout the winter. Eleven dollars was collected. It was also decided to meet at Chapell's.
After considerable discussion at the Saturday, December 8 meeting, Mr. Chapell was elected as a prepresentative to the County Board. Next came offers by John Hughes and Mr. Rowse to carry mail between Kewaunee and Wolf River. Hughes was elected and was given a contract. There were other things to discuss. Chapell reminded the group that officers had been elected for the first meeting only and that an election was needed. Orin Warner was elected to the presidency. Eveland was chosen as vice-president and Anderegg was voted in as secretary. Then Scott requested to be excused from the consititution committee though he did not offer a reason that was recorded in the minutes. Mrs. Price read a poem and Shepherd read an article about life in Wolf River and the necessity for regular mail service. Shepherd planned to have it published in the Manitowoc Herald but Orin Warner objected. Warner moved to appoint Eveland's as the drop-off site for mail. Outgoing mail would leave town on Friday. By return route, incoming mail would be at Eveland's on Saturday. Then the men began taking subscriptions for the road to Kewaunee. Orin Warner was appointed to circulate road and mail subscriptions along both branches of the river. It was decided that 1/4 of the mail subscriptions would be paid into the treasury.
Organization of the Philoletheans provides a glimpse into Wolf River's early residents who were obviously able to read and write. Shepherd, Scott, McLellen and Smith do not appear on the Kewaunee County1860 census so apparently didn't live in the community very long. Joseph Remington is listed in Forestville on the Door County 1860 census. Interestingly, the society's name included Ahnapee when the hamlet was called Wolf River or, sometimes, Wolf River trading post. Wolf River became Ahnapee in 1859, four years after the society's inception.
As the county was organized judicially a few years later, roads, mail and the political questions discussed at meetings became the role of government. Philolethean faded from Wolf River though its residents continued to discuss politics which, in a few years, would strongly divide the fledgling community,
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