Kewaunee County and Rural Free Delivery

Using horse and buggy, the U.S. Post Office Department in 1896 embarked on a great experiment in three West Virginia communities. The experiment was a success and Rural Free Delivery, or RFD, was born. RFD evened the field as it provided rural folks the mail service enjoyed by their city cousins. Consistent mail service was more than a convenience. It shattered rural isolation, created economic opportunities and served to unify the country.

RFD became a Kewaunee County reality in 1904. When Rural Agent William F. Esch described Kewaunee County in his letter of support to the 4th Assistant Postmaster General, he said the county was one of the most thickly settled in Wisconsin. Esch said Kewaunee County had fairly good roads which would be kept open in winter. He said heavy soil was so well mixed with gravel that roads would not be impassible due to mud, and that the mostly German, Belgium and Bohemian population was exceedingly prosperous, possessing great thrift and industry. On one route Esch found 35 homes being constructed, something he had not seen equaled in any other county. Most people were dairy farmers, and cheese making was the leading industry. Esch went on to describe the residents as being bright. When shown the advantages of RFD, he knew they would be quick to avail themselves of it.

Agent Esch recommended 21 routes coming from distribution points in Algoma, Casco, Kewaunee, Luxembourg and Stangelville. Patrons would be equally served from routes of about 24 miles each, and carrier salaries were to be $684 per year. In his final recommendation, Esch said he had no doubt postmasters would take a personal interest in every route and would take great pains to provide service.

For as much as RFD promised, there were those in opposition. Twenty-one post offices were to be closed by November 30, 1904. The offices were in the stores, hotels and saloons of the county where proprietors were sure to experience a drop in business when area residents no longer had to pick up their own mail.

The above picture is from the cover photo on the c. 2008 book Here Comes the Mail, Post Offices of Kewaunee County. Postmarked "Ellisville, 1907," the picture is that of an RFD carrier driving south out of Ellisville. Looking up the hill to the north today, Janda's bar is on the right  (east) side of the road. Once a thriving community, Janda's is Ellisville's only remaining business.

In 1904, Luxembourg was the spelling of the village today called Luxemburg.

Kewaunee County and Prohibition

As lawn care companies flood mailboxes with their best prices for spring weed control, some home owners deep in snow are beginning to think that the worst of their nightmares is really those cute little buttery yellow followers called dandelions! But, during the 1920's, a yard full of dandelions was as good as it could get.

Prohibition was in effect. Dandelions, wild grapes and elderberries were among the coveted ingredients for homemade wine. When Congress passed the Volstad Act in 1919, it became illegal to buy, sell or drink alcohol except for religious and medicinal purposes. The Volstad Act touched so many facets of American life that just touching an alcoholic product could have been a crime. Suddenly many had medical problems requiring alcohol, but physicians and drug stores also had problems with alcohol. If the government approved the sale of alcohol to a doctor, it was for one pint that was to cover ten days. A physician could get an emergency stock of  six quarts of whiskey a year, but the sale was carefully documented.

Any physician wishing to prescribe whiskey was required to make a special request for a permit. Physicians had to describe the nature of the illness requiring the whiskey. If the physician succeeded in prescribing, the patient could get the whiskey only from drug stores having a special permit, Rates were set between $2.50 and $3.50 a pint.

On February 27, 1920 Algoma Record Herald pointed out the facts on whiskey consumption to city residents when it said none of the city druggists had made application for a government permit to sell whiskey, nor had any of the doctors asked for permission to prescribe whiskey as medicinal.

It was not long before there were rumors of bootlegging and moonshine in Kewaunee County. Raids followed. There were seizures of moonshine and then stills were found.  A sizable still was found in Forestville - five miles north of Algoma in Door County - in 1921. Apparently the owners tried to destroy the still, but agents said they found corn and raisen cooked mash and a keg of moonshine whiskey. Just after that, agents intimidated a farm woman who would not unlock a shed. The agents broke in and found a fifty-five gallon drum. When agents simultaneously raided 16 - 18 taverns in the southern and western part of the county, only two saloon keepers were found with liquor. Agents found a still in the tree tops on a Town of Carlton farm. On completing the batch of moonshine, the farmer hid his still in what seemed to be an unlikely spot.

In one instance, a tavern was raided, product was seized and money was taken from the cash register. That turned out to be what some called a frame-up. The feds were on the way, but the 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. They reported finding "real Kentucky product" there. A first offense usually brought a $200 fine. That Kentucky product must have been exceptionally good. The fine was doubled to $400. There are still some of Kewaunee County's elderly residents who tell stories of moonshine being hidden under the gutters in the barn. There was safety in manure.

Prohibition's greatest effect in Kewaunee County, as in the rest of the U.S., was disrespect for the law. Prohibition was repealed in 1933 during the depths of the Depression. After all, liquor sales are revenue enhancing.

Boedecker's Drug Store at the southeast corner of 4th and Steele was one which stopped the sale of alcohol before Prohibition. Boedecker Bros. ran ads saying alcohol could be bad for one's health. The photo was taken from a postcard in the author's collection.

Algoma's Stebbins Hotel.............

Algoma's Stebbins Hotel athe northwest corner of 2nd and Steele Streets, ca. 1910

In 1905 When Frank Slaby remodeled the hotel at the Northwest corner of 2^nd and Steele in Algoma in 1905, he renamed it Stebbins Hotel in honor of distinguished city resident DeWayne Stebbins. Stebbins was a Civil War hero who was reported to have saved the life of General - later president - U.S. Grant. "Big Steb," as he was called, served as Ahnapee Record editor and state senator. Stebbins had died a year or two before.

It was during 1857 when David Youngs and George Steele, the Wolf River proprietors of what is now downtown Algoma, approached Capt. Charlie Fellows with an offer of any lot in the tiny village if he would build a luxurious hotel costing at least $1,000. Youngs and Steele had lots to sell. Investors needed a comfortable place to stay if they were going to be induced to buy property in a forward thinking pioneer community of only a few hundred residents.

Fellows agreed and hired local residents Andreas Eveland to dig the cellar and James Keogh to put up cellar walls. Fellows hired Racine carpenters even though such carpenters as George Beuitling, James Parker and Joseph Anderegg were already living in town. Hand shaved cedar and pine shingles were locally made. Hall’s sawmill was in existence on the South Branch of the river, but Fellows brought most building materials from Racine.

1857 was a time of economic uncertainty in the U.S. Hotel business was not appealing to Fellows and did not meet his expectations. Fellows’ Lake Michigan freight business was also suffering when he called upon his father-in-law John LV. Yates and Capt. Bill McDonald to run the place while he tried to keep his shipping business intact. Finally Fellows sold the hotel to Dave Youngs who sold it to Frank Feuerstein who sold it to John Weilep who made money. John Ihlenfeld bought the hotel and he sold to Mr. Grimm who sold it to Frank Slaby.

Although the hotel has undergone changes in the last 100 years, it was Slaby who moved the original hotel back to where the kitchen is now and constructed what is there today. The hotel was one Wolf River’s first frame buildings.

The Stebbins is Kewaunee County’s longest, continuously operating business. It’s had a most impressive history.

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.