"Big Brother" has been around longer than anybody thinks. In 1918, the name for it was Kewaunee County Council of Defense. The U.S. entered World War l. Edward Seyk was Chairman of Liberty Loans and War Saving Stamps Campaign. Dr. W.M. Wochos chaired the 2nd Red Cross Campaign. A.B. Leyse chaired the 3rd Liberty Loan campaign and had drafted 310 men to give their best for the war effort. However, it was not a draft in the sense of military.
It took 2 1/2 months to determine the worth of every Kewaunee County property owner so as to assess their share of war activities. Share meant money. Loan assessments were made using the tax rolls. A rate of 3% of individual valuation was expected to bring in $600,000 thus providing the county with 100% of the Liberty Loan assessment. However, the 3rd Liberty Loan brought $990,650, or 302% of the assessment. Kewaunee County won the distinction of leading the entire 7th Federal Reserve District, which included parts of Wisconsin and Michigan and all of Illinois, Iowa and Indiana. Council minutes indicate that a Montpelier German was the only man in the county who failed to accept his $50 loan allotment. The county's assessment for the 2nd Red Cross Drive was $5,000. The drive did not have any delinquents, or at least none who were listed in the minutes.
Such assessments did not give a man credit for his debts, so a special committee consisting of County Board Chair Hector Boncher, Supervisor of Assessors Henry Dworak and representatives of the County Council in each city, village and town served as a board of review.
Then there was a Savings Stamp Campaign that wasn't completed because the 4th Liberty Loan Drive and the United War Work Campaign didn't allow time though the county had until January 1, 1919 to finish the stamp drive. The 4th Liberty Loan assessment of $700,00 was exceeded by the $790,100 collected. It was 109.6% of the assessment.
Again, only one man - the Montpelier German - did not take his share. That prompted a visit by a committee. He signed the application for the 3rd and 4th drives, but immediately notified his bank that he would not pay. It was noted the man did not respond to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Liberty Loans, did not donate to the YMCA which was seen as a way to keep men fit for life as a soldier, did not support the the Knights of Columbus nor take his $5.00 allotment of War Savings Stamps. Though he was not a member of the Red Cross, his only donation to the war effort was 50 cents to the 2nd Red Cross War Fund. The German was a cheese and butter maker with a wife and 2 children. Minutes of a meeting held the following information: "A source we believe reliable advises that he enjoys a salary of $140.00 with free house rent, milk, cheese and butter." All this in a day without electronic media!
There was so much work to do that Seyk appointed a separate committee to solicit funds. Following C.L. Duvall's enlistment in the Navy, Frank Hamachek was chosen secretary on October 26, 1918, and Anton Kieweg took over Hamachek's position as treasurer.
Though County Agricultural Agent A.W. Schmutzer's salary was paid by the government, the Council of Defense purchased his auto and paid equipment expenses, amounting to $626.68 for 1918. He was thought to be "entirely satisfactory." To keep costs low, the Transportation Committee was organized on May 1, 1918. O.H. Bruemmer was the chair of the Farm Labor Bureau, a committee organized to aid farmers during the harvest by placing city men on the farm. There was even a threshing division of the Federal Food Administration.
Agriculture was most important. When the county agent conducted pure bred sire surveys, he found 75 registered sires in the county, owned by 3% of the farmers. Kewaunee County was outdone by Brown County with one sire for each 15 farms, whereas Sheboygan and Fond du Lac averaged a sire for every four farms. Some towns were ahead of others in quality of stock. "Scrub-Bull-Cleanup-Campaign" was designed to interest each farmer in registered animals and, with the campaign, 53 high grade and pure bred animals were added to the herds.
Soil sampling revealed that there were only 8 sour areas in the sandy areas of West Kewaunee, near Scarboro and in northeast Ahnapee. Field phosphate soil analysis done at Algoma Training School showed soils to be low in phosphate due to repeated grain crops. Experiments with phosphate fertilizers increased barley yields and 22 farmers began using them in 1919. It was found that treated grain seed had less smut than untreated, which ran about 10%. With that, it was decided seed corn should be treated. Loss caused by smut was small per farmer, but countywide, it was considered huge. Alfalfa exceeded expectations when planted on lime rock. Pests on vegetables were controlled with sprays. For 10 cents a tree, a fruit tree could be sprayed. Two drainage projects began in Sections 14 and 23 of Casco and 6 and 7 of West Kewaunee, although a number of farms required such projects. Silos were advocated as was barn ventilation.
Children's Welfare was a committee chaired by Olga Dishmaker. That group made $36.50 on August 23, 1918 when Sgt. Major Kirkwood lectured on the Great War at Kewaunee's Sokol Theater. A Child Welfare sub-committee was led by Mrs. J.L. Haney. The committee, over-seen by an R.N., was ordered by the U.S. government to weigh and measure each child over two weeks old and under 6 years, a total of 2,264 children. Forty-two children were sick, 346 had serious defects and 281 of those also had tooth trouble. Every mother received a government card showing height, weight and defects of her child. Duplicate cards were kept by the Council of Defense and sent to Washington, D.C.
Initially an R.N. was paid $125 for work as needed but then the Woman's Committee went from house to house, asking for 50 cents from each household, with a goal of hiring a nurse for a year. After raising $1651.75, plus the $36.50 from the lecture, there was enough money, however such a nurse was not available for hire. Monies were deposited in Farmers and Merchants Bank until a nurse could be found. Six students were recruited to take nurses' training and, in the absence of a county nurse, women were taught to weigh and measure. Experienced women taught infant care.
Women did what they had to do and 455 were drafted* to serve in all capacities without pay. The Woman's Committee, organized on March 22, 1918, oversaw activities such as a county wide census of each woman over 21 and the war support activities in which each was involved. Esther Newman (Mrs. Joshua L.) Johns chaired the 3rd Liberty Loan Drive five days after the men began raising $73,050. Most gave voluntarily. Mrs. W.A. Cowell chaired the Salvation Army War Fund which had to raise $400. The drafted women went to each home in the county asking for 10 cents and raised $764.77, nearly double the required amount.
Miss Viola Leyse was in charge of food conservation and, with Children's Welfare, ran a two day seminar on May 28 and 29. Over 1,000 women were taught about the uses of wheat and wheat substitutes. They were taught to bake with conservation recipes known as "war dishes." Barley and corn flour bread found their way to tables and vegetable oil replaced animal fats. In June women flocked to canning and drying. Displays of wheat, meat and sugar substitutes were put in every Algoma and Kewaunee store window. Such displays cost $11, a cost paid for by the Council. In the spring, the Food Committee canvased the county for space for war gardens. Mrs. L.W. Bruemmer chaired the Women in Industry Committee. One of her reports indicated that 60 Kewaunee women gave 1,000 clerical hours, 200 to the Draft Board and 800 to the Council of Defense.
Farm women were expected to keep milking machines clean and repair them. They were expected to know about gasoline engines. In a day when many thought it unseemly for a woman to be behind the wheel of an auto, women were expected to "run" tractors. It was also expected that farm women would weed out "slacker cows" for food. Learning hog care and raising productive poultry was as important as buying bonds. Classes were taught on the cleaning of old clothing and then remaking garments, something the average housewife knew about.
Mrs. N. Leyse was in charge of the Speaker's Bureau and coordinated such programs on education, Americanization, loans, gardens, public health and more. Miss Elizabeth Donovan was the county supervising teacher and attended meetings at the state fair. Miss Gladys Duvall was chair of Publicity and Information. She kept the public informed with bulletins.
As treasurer of the Council, Anton Kieweg paid the bills. He paid William Duescher $4.00 as Duescher hired out his auto for trips to Alaska and Rostok. Fred Brusda was paid $3.00 to take a team to Norman for a Mach funeral. Sokol Hall was paid a rental fee of $15 for March 29 and April 8, 1918, however another hall was rented at $28 for March 27 only. Pilsen's band must have been popular in some defense activity because Paul Taddy was paid $15 to pay for their dinner and supper and Emon Hopp was paid $2.50 for buying the band drinks.
J.B. Kieweg chaired the Transportation Committee. Organized on May 1, 1918, its duty was get a list of all auto owners from town assessors and then to scour the tax roles. Auto owners did their share: 195 owners were responsible of over 18,000 miles, which appear to have been donated. Child Welfare was assigned 35 cars for a total of 2,800 miles. The five cars credited to Canning and Preserving made 250 miles while the 160 cars allotted to Liberty Loans, Savings Stamps and Farm Labor Bureau amassed 15,000 miles.
Over There, Pack Up Your Troubles, Soldier's Hiking Song and America the Beautiful were a few of the rousing, patriotic songs taught at gatherings and schools by the Women's Land Army. The Home Ec Committee said children needed to learn to care for bedrooms, decide if clothing needed mending and needed to know how to care for dish towels. If mending was necessary, the children needed to know how to darn, sew and mend. If they were eating plums, peaches or cherries, it was important for them to save the pits for use in the manufacture of carbon filters in gas masks.
Big Brother was all over Kewaunee County during World War l. Privacy seemed to be non-existent though intrusions seemed to be accepted as part of the war effort. It is hard to believe one Montpelier farmer was the only person in the county who did not accept what others felt was a total war effort. The fellow had a German surname. Looking at the surnames of those in war time leadership positions, there are very few that could be German.
*The word "drafted" was often used in the minutes, apparently to demonstrate patriotism when the word "volunteer" might have been a better choice.
More information can be found in Special Collections at UW-Green Bay and in Honor Roll, 1917, 1918, 1919, compiled and edited by Harry H. Heidmann and Lester C. Heidmann, available at Algoma Public Library.
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