Kewaunee County History: Patent Medicines & Algoma/Ahnapee

In the first 100 years of its existence, nearly all of of Ahnapee/Algoma drug stores were on Steele Street, between 3rd and 4th. They included James Dudley, David Logencrantz, John McDonald, W.N. Perry, Christian Roberts, Joseph Knipfer, Mike Shiner, Merton McDonald, James Fluck, and the Boedecker Bros., which became Rexall. Silas Doyen, Emil Spigelberg. H.W. Bates and George Wilbur operated their stores just east of 3rd and Steele. Wilbur joined Voyta Kwapil and opened on the north side of Steele, just east of 4th.

When a colleague was researching reasons for death decades ago, the list included rottenness, catarrh, general debility, too weak to live, summer complaint, liver complaint, scrofula, consumption and more.

Consumption, or tuberculosis, is now more well controlled in the U.S. than in any other country, however it was almost romanticized in the novels of the 1800s. Wikipedia explains it as “the idea of being quietly and inoffensively sick” It says the symptoms of tuberculosis were preferrable to other epidemics and infections that raged during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Catarrh is another illness mentioned in novels, magazines, and newspapers 100 years ago and before. Today we call it postnasal drip. It happens because of hay fever, colds, allergies, or rhinitis when excess mucous is produced.

Then there is scrofula, which is an inflammation in the lymph nodes, part of the body’s immune system. It was not to be taken lightly.

Summer complaint is thought of as flu with shivering and fever lasting three or four days. Summer complaint of the 1800s got its name because it was most common in summer months. It was not a simple thing, and its symptoms including vomiting and severe diarrhea were often fatal in infants and young children.

General debility and feebleness were terms for general weakness that was the result of a medical condition. Included in the definition is what is now called dementia or Alzheimer’s.

More and more, big pharma hawks medications for everything we’ve heard of and more that we have not. On the cusp of 1900, Ahnapee residents didn’t have TV or other electronics, so how did early residents identify their complaints, and what they could do about them?

Wikipedia tells us that by the mid-1800s, patent medicines were made and sold over-the-counter by just about anybody. However, such medicines originated in England where ingredients were granted government protection. Most such medicines were not patented and, without regulation, were proprietary or quack. Although some were found to be therapeutic, but the good feeling might have been produced by the high alcoholic content,

Ahnapee Record’s inaugural issue came out in mid-June 1873, and its second issue carried ads advising people to help themselves improve their health. Early Steele St. druggist W. N. Perry advertised drugs and medicines along with whiskies and trusses right from the start.

By the third issue in July 1873, Wilson’s Carbolated Cod Liver Oil was being peddled as a cure for consumption. Manufactured in New York, the company sold through its western agents in Chicago and St. Louis. While the ad’s title indicates the product would cure consumption, the small print said carbolic acid was the world’s most powerful antiseptic while cod liver oil was “the best assistant in resisting consumption.” The ad claims the product was sold by the best druggists so, apparently, William Perry was among the best. In 1904 Dr. King’s New Discovery was advertised for consumption. Dr. King’s advertising vowed, “Nothing has ever equaled it. Nothing can ever surpass it.”

The July 3, 1873 issue also carried an ad for Vinegar Bitters as the most remarkable medicine the world had ever seen. Vinegar Bitters was said to heal the sick of every disease “man is heir to.” Dr. J. Walker’s California Vinegar Bitters were manufactured from herbs found in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

As early as 1874, the Record was carrying ads for medicines that strengthened and healed the liver. As a remedy for all “manifestations of disease resulting from Liver Complaint,”  Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery was “positively unequaled.” Using the medicine was sure to change the liver and stomach to an active, healthy state. If the medicine didn’t provide enough of a laxative to move the bowels, the ad suggested taking Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pellets.

During Fall 1874, colds, influenza, catarrh, and other disagreeable complaints were prevalent in the unpleasant fall weather. It was then that the paper informed readers that C.H. Hitt of Clay Banks was lying dangerously ill, suffering from dropsy of a long duration. Recovery was thought to be doubtful. Dropsy was a condition characterized by an accumulation of fluid in tissues or in the body cavity. Edema is the term used today, although in the 1800s, dropsy also meant heart disease, liver disease and kidney disease.

On April Fool’s Day, 1880, the Record carried an ad for Kidney Wort which claimed to take care of  just about everything. Saying it was the only remedy to act on the bowels, liver and kidneys at the same time, Kidney Wort also took care of piles (hemorrhoids) , urinary diseases, female weakness, and nervous disorders. One would think Ahnapee residents splurged on the phenomenol Kidney Wort. Why would one suffer from bilious pains and aches, be tormented by piles, be frightened over kidney disorders, and have sleepless nights or sick headaches when one could “rejoice in health” with this dry, vegetable compound. One package made six quarts of medicine. Wells, Richardson & Co. of Burlington, VT, told readers their druggist would order the product, postpaid, for one dollar. Those who only had piles were guaranteed a cure by Pazo Ointment which promised to end itching, bleeding, and protruding within 6 to 14 days. If it didn’t happen, the 50-cent cost was refunded. So, how did anybody prove that one?

In 1886, D. Lancelle was advertising a remedy for asthma and catarrh. Green’s August Flowers – as beautiful as nature itself – was promised to make disheartened, discouraged, worn out people as free from disease as the day they were born. Dyspepsia and Liver Complain caused 75% of biliousness, indigestion, sick headache, dizziness of the head and palpitation of the heart, nervous prostration and more. In June 1887, Green’s said only three doses of August Flowers would bring back a wonderful life. Ten cents bought a sample bottle of the medication with the lovely name.

Picture found on the
Tizzano Museum site.

Colonel George Green served in the Civil War and later bought the rights to Green’s August Flower from his father. Col. Green was a patent medicine entrepreneur who created an impressive marketing campaign, distributed thousands of his health almanacs while mailing free samples. While a surprising number of patent medicines contained alcohol, August Flowers contained laudanum. Did the wonderful life come from addiction? By 1916 the product was discontinued because of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, but Col. Green was a millionaire by then.

Manchester’s English White Lily Circle Brand of Pennyroyal Pills was advertised in 1896 as the most powerful, safe, and reliable pill of its kind on the market. It worked for all kinds of female troubles and everything that could arise from it. If druggists weren’t carrying White Lily, the company would send it for $2.00, postpaid. The English Winchester Chemical Co. of Chicago was the home of the      English pennyroyal pills.

Druggist A. Logencrantz was on the northwest corner of 4^th and Steele in 1896. He advertised Begg’s Blood Purifier and Blood Maker to remove the lingering feeling of tiredness and offer a good appetite with regulated digestion.

Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co., of Lynn, Massachusetts, advertised in Algoma Press in 1899. The company which said it gave a helping hand to all women, is, according to Wikipedia, still serving women. Lydia Pinkham invented and marketed an herbal tonic for menstrual and menopausal problems in the mid-1800s . Although medical experts of the day called Pinkham’s woman’s tonic “quackery,” the modified product was marketed over 100 years later.

Wilbur and Kwapil, just east of the northwest corner of 4^th and Steele, were stocking W.F. Severa’s remedies which came from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Severa promised to cure almost everything in the early 1900s. Severa had competition from Chamberlain’s Tablets, a stomach medication intended to clean, strengthen, tone, and invigorate, to regulate the liver and banish biliousness “positively and effectually.” It was for sale by all dealers. Severa’s sales were far higher.

Severa's Heart Tonic was said to quickly overcome all heart afflictions, dropsy, circulation, fainting spells while toning up the entire system. All that for $1.00. For 25 cents, Severa's Soothing Drops brought comfort and sleep to children while counteracting pain, colic, and cramps, overcoming all spasms and fever while regulating digestion.

Severa’s $1.00 Female Regulator overcame menstrual disorders, promoting healthy activity of the organs and counteracting all problems incidental to pregnancy, childbirth and change of life.

Severa’s Wafers were touted to quickly, and permanently, cure all forms of headaches and neuralgia, menstrual pain, and fevers. The product cost 25 cents and said it had no injurious effects on circulation. Then there were Stomach Bitters. Server said it promoted secretions of the stomach, aided digestion, stimulated the organs, increased the appetite, and overcame weakness while invigorating the entire body, available in two sizes for 50 cents or a dollar.

Summer complaint was miserable and painful, however the W.F. Severa Co. said it could manage that too. The stomach and bowels were most liable to be affected during summer and the prompt use of Severa’s was sure to quickly resolve the issues. Mr. Severa advised finding his facsimile signature on every package to ensure the product was his. The company said its products were sold by all druggists, one of which was Wilbur and Kwapil on Steele St. in Algoma.

Severa had competition in Dr. Hartman’s Pe-ru-na, which Hartman claimed was the best medication for summer complaint. Hartman said, Summer Complaint was really Catarrh, so he differed with others. In practice for over 40 years, Hartman, of Columbus, Ohio, never lost a sole case of cholera infantum, dysentery, diarrhea, or cholera morbus, all types of Summer Complaint. Cholera morbus is acute gastroenteritis. Cholera infantum was a cause of death in babies and small children. When Hartman claimed he never lost a case, was his advertising factual?

There were medications for Dyspepsia early in the 1900s. If you don’t enjoy the food you eat, it won’t do much for you according to the Kodol Company marketing. The thing to do was take Kodol Dyspepsia Cure each morning because the stomach needed to be kept healthy, pure, and sweet, to prevent disease from setting up. Wilbur and Kwapil were selling the cure which Kodol pledged would end all stomach troubles quickly. A few years later Kodol Dyspepsia Cure was said to cure bad breath and to guard against indigestion following a big meal. One N. Watkins of Lesbus, Kentucky testified that he was afflicted with stomach troubles for 15 years but after taking just six bottles of the Cure, he was entirely healed. He said those six bottles were worth a thousand dollars to him since he was able to eat and digest any quantity of wholesome food. Was he eating wholesome food and a good, well-balanced diet during those 15 years?

By spring 1904, it was said seven diseases caused by measles were cured with Dr. Miles’ Restorative Tonic and Nervine. Rev. Hiram Bender of West Bend did not enjoy good health until 1896 when he began taking the Restorative Tonic and Nervine. He claimed he was a perfectly healthy young man in 1865 when he contracted measles at Camp Randall. It took 31 years to feel good again, and it was because of Dr. Miles. Others also hyped the product which was guaranteed to work with the first bottle.

A year later, Mack Hamilton, a North Dakota hotel clerk, said two bottles of DeWitt’s Little Early Risers cured him of constipation. The pills acted as a tonic and as a drastic purge, curing headaches, constipation, biliousness, and more. Called a safe pill, they were small and easy to take and eat. Wilbur and Kwapil carried them.

Boedecker Bros., on the southeast corner of 4^th and Steele, advertised Gloria Tonic which Mr. William Hessler of Muscoda, Wisconsin, said made him a new man. While he was taking the first box, Hessler said he could not stand on his feet, but when taking the second, he could walk across a room pushing a chair for stability. After the third box, Hessler said he could husk corn and feed sixty head of hogs.

Colonel John F Miller of Honey Grove, Texas, reported being almost dead from liver and kidney trouble. Since his doctor did him no good, he bought a 50-cent bottle of Electric Bitters in 1905 and was cured. Miller said Electric Bitters was the best medicine on earth and gave thanks to God who gave the company the knowledge to make the product. Wilbur and Kwapil promoted the product which was guaranteed to cure dyspepsia, biliousness, and kidney disease. 

Spending 25 cents at Voyta Kwapil’s drug store bought Dr. King’s New Life Pills, pills promised to be the best remedy for constipation, biliousness, and malaria. The pills eased without the least discomfort said Mr. A. Felton of Farrisville, New York. Dr. King offered a free trial bottle for his New Discovery, a  pill guaranteed to kill coughs, cure the lungs, and work for all throat and lung troubles. If the free trial didn’t work, one could purchase the 50-cent or the $1.00 bottle. Dr. King’s ads usually contained testimonials. John Supsic of Sansbury, Pennsylvania, said the pills were the best he ever used and advised everyone to use them for constipation, indigestion, and liver complaint. Druggist Voyta Kwapil recommended the New Life product which cost 25 cents, a drop in price over the years.

All druggists – including Wilbur and Kwapil – were said to be selling Dr. Bell’s Pine-Tar-Honey for 25 or 50 cents or $1.00. Dr. Bell’s was said to break up the worst colds in one night. Dr. Bell warned about cheap imitations with similar sounding names. It was the bell on the bottle that guaranteed the genuine product.

It wasn’t only patent medicines. By 1907 Grape Nuts cereal was making headlines when a 70-year-old Maine man, troubled with dyspepsia and liver complaint was taking medicine with only temporary relief for 20 years when he started eating Grape-Nuts. Grape-Nuts for breakfast with a little cream and sugar took care of his stomach issues. All it took was one daily meal of Grape-Nuts to help him gain weight, begin sleeping well, and eating nearly anything but greasy and starchy foods. The man said he’d write to any person with questions if they sent a postage stamp. Grape-Nuts, sold by the Postum Co. of Battle Creek, Michigan, enclosed the booklet “The Road to Wellville” in the cereal packages.

When John Culligan’s obituary appeared in the Algoma Record Herald on October 25, 1918, the sub headline said Mr. Culligan had been ill a couple of months with liver complaint.

In 1911, it was Chamberlain’s Tablets that was a stomach medication intended to clean, strengthen, tone, and invigorate, to regulate the liver and banish biliousness “positively and effectually.” It was for sale by all dealers.

Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People made news in 1896. Its ad said an honest physician would often tell the number of red corpuscles double after a course of pink pill treatment. Doctors might not see it, however.

Red lips, bright eyes, a good appetite, and absence of pain transform a pale sallow girl into a maiden glowing with health. Dr. Williams said mothers watching daughters grow from girlhood into womanhood should not neglect the pills which were adapted for that particular Illness. Dr. Williams was another who offered testimonials in the ads and said the pills could be gotten from a druggist or ordered from his Schenectady for 50 cents per box. The pink pills were made with iron and did offer an impact anemia and cirrhosis.

In 1900, Dr. T. Felix Gouraud’s oriental cream did to the skin what other products did for the inside of the body. His products were sold by fancy-goods’ dealers as well as druggists. Ferd T. Hopkins was the proprietor of the company which was based in New York. Dr. McNamara was one who was based in Milwaukee at the corner of Johnson and 580 S. Broadway. McNamara said the company was established in 1861 for cure of nervous debility, exhaustion of brain energy, mental aberration, physical prostration, sexual weakness, kidney afflictions, blood diseases, barrenness, leucorrhea, month period and marriage. Leukorrhea is vaginal discharge, but it was not explained what illness marriage was.

It was surprising to see a malaria medication in the Record in August 1889. Ahnapee was never known as a hotbed of malaria but apparently if it made an appearance Steketee’s Dry Bitters would take care of it. One package made a gallon that would cure indigestion, stomach pains, fever and ague, and kidney and bladder problems. At 30 cents for a single packet or 50 cents for two, the tonic was the cheapest remedy known. It could be used with or without alcohol. Where malaria entered in the Grand Rapids made product is hard to say.

Those of a certain age remember the cowboy movies of the ‘40s and into the ‘50s when men rode into town from the ranch to belly up to the bar with a sarsaparilla. Who knew they were in the saloon drinking for the health of it? Drug stores sold “spirits” as healthful so maybe those cowboys pouring a shot were also drinking for health. Ayer’s Sarsaparilla contained blood-purifying roots, iodine of potassium, and iron which was touted as the most reliable blood purifier ever. It took care of what other products did not advertise. Ayer’s was called the best-known remedy for scrofula and all scrofulous complaints, erysipelas in addition to more common problems such as boils, tumors, eczema, ringworm, and sores and for other disorders of the skin caused by thin and impoverished, or corrupted, conditions of the blood, such as rheumatism, neuralgia, general debility, and scrofulous catarrh. One William Moore of Durham, Iowa, said on March 2, 182 that Ayer’s cured his inflammatory rheumatism. Manufactured in Lowell, Massachusetts, the Ayer Co. said the cost was $1 a bottle or six for $5.

As early as 1864, Joseph Defaut was conducting his Ahnapee store on 2^nd Street. When George Wing wrote his memoirs 50 years later, he recalled the store and the astonishing amount of sarsaparilla Defaut sold weekly. Wing commented that more than a few residents had tabs of $1.00. $1.00 in 1864 had the purchasing power of $19.23 in 2023.

The patent medicines were not all patented. To be patented meant revealing secrets. Alcohol. Opium and laudanum were often ingredients and that meant addiction and overdoses. Some concoctions included arsenic, mercury, or lead. Snake oil was popular, but the name has become synonymous with quackery. 7-Up originally contained lithium, a mood-altering drug. Angostura Bitters was originally a seasickness product, however it is used in cocktails today. Carters Little Liver Pills were used for everything, but today it is a laxative. Today’s popular Coco Cola was targeted to morphine addiction and impotence, while Dr. Pepper was marketed to aid digestion while restoring vim and vigor. Hires Root Beer promised to purify the blood and make cheeks rosy but is a much-enjoyed soft drink today. Pepsi was also sold as a digestive aid. Mrs. Moffat was selling Shoo-Fly Powders for Drunkenness was one of the FDA’s first cases. Pope Leo and Thomas Edison were some of the celebrities who lent their name to patent medicines.

Today’s Over-the-Counter medicines are regulated, however Bates, Perry, Boedecker Bros., Kwapil and Wilbur and all the other early druggists more than likely raised their eyebrows at several of their products. Perhaps they worked, and maybe they didn’t. Some certainly had a placebo effect, and with the amount of alcohol and narcotics in the pills and elixirs, it is easy to understand why there were testimonials. 

Sources: An-an-api-sebe: Where is the River?, Ahnapee Record, AlgomaPress, Algoma Record, Algoma Record Herald, Commercial History of Algoma, WI, Vol. 1 & 2.

Photos: Algoma newspapers; Kannerwurf,, Sharpe, Johnson Collection,Tizzani Museum website.

Algoma - In Your Easter Bonnet

Wikipedia tells us, “An Easter bonnet is any new or fancy hat worn by tradition as a Christian head covering on Easter. It represents the tail end of a tradition of wearing new clothes at Easter, in harmony with the renewal of the year and the promise of spiritual renewal and redemption.” 

Those of a certain age fondly remember Fred Astaire and Judy Garland smiling on New York’s 5th Avenue as they strolled down the avenue in a delightful rendition of Irving Berlin’s “Easter Parade.” When Berlin wrote his original melody in 1917, he called it “Smile and Show Your Dimple” as a World War l song. When it was published as “Easter Parade” in 1933, the depths of the Depression, the song became a hit. 

Whether or not Ahnapee/Algoma ever had an Easter Parade is questionable, however there was no mistaking the parade of hats as women lined up for Easter Sunday communion in the city’s churches. In the early 1900s, newspaper correspondents from such rural communities as Swamp Creek and Rio Creek to the City of Algoma reminded readership about spring hats and to hurry before it was too late.

Milliners – hat makers – found work in the community, now called Algoma, back almost to the earliest days. By the early 1900s – the era Fred and Judy sang and danced through – countless women from other areas came to Algoma to serve in a millinery establishment before moving to a larger areas. It was front page news when milliners such as Louise Paarmann Barnes, Lena Melchior, Minnie Kamer, and Mrs. Feight left town for Milwaukee or Chicago mercantiles and supply houses filled with the latest laces, beads, veils and other finery to purchase for milady’s newest chapeau. 

In March 1877, Record editor Dewayne Stebbins was surely jesting when he told readership that spring hats looked like Mount Zion and were to be worn balanced on the left ear. He went on to say that hair was worn in “a la hay” mound with frizzed up and banged hair in front with more frizz and a tail hanging over the right shoulder. “Steb,” as he was often called, seemed to be criticizing earbobs when he declared anything from a church steeple to a barn door could be hung on the ears. Then he said, “One damphool” goes around town hallucinating that low spring hats will be worn. This is an error. No woman will wear a low spring hat – not if she knows herself.” 

Did Editor Stebbins know Mrs. Frank Fax was waiting for the steamer to bring her new goods? Fax Bros. store sold millinery wares, although Mrs. Fax operated separate millinery parlors on the first floor of the Record building. Mrs. John Roberts announced her new stock as it arrived and mentioned that she worked at reasonable prices. Janda & Kwapil store location sold millinery items for women who wished to do their own work. 

For at least ten years, Mrs. Fax seemed to be Ahnapee’s leading milliner. In May 1880, she announced her move from the corner of Steele and 3rd, over E. Decker’s store, although the papers did not tell readers where she moved. Perhaps she was so popular that every woman knew. Mrs. Fax said she had the finest stock ever seen in Ahnapee and was confident that she could please the most fastidious of women with her large, varied stock consisting of all the latest fashions. Those who called early would find the most complete stock. It seems as if Mrs. Fax invited area women, yearly, to stop and examine her stock, and then to judge for themselves that hers was the best. 

It didn’t happen in Algoma, but it was big news in town in April 1901 when an elephant in Chicago grabbed an Easter bonnet from a woman’s head. The paper said not to find fault with the elephant because the woman’s hat was possibly so loud that it disturbed the elephant to such a state that it might have wanted to place the hat in his trunk as “lid.” Editors Ed Decker, Jr. and W.H. Machia had fun with that one. The Record Herald continued the jesting when the “Puerile Patter” column observed, “The smoked glasses in storage can now be exhumed for observing the Easter bonnet. Easter finery is not just a woman’s thing. 

The flapper movement of the 1920s brought a change in hat styles. Bobbed heads explain the small, tight fitting, unpretentious hats that came into being. The smaller the hat was, the less trimmed it was. It became the line of the hat that was most important. 

For Easter 1927, the fashionable woman sought a simple stone pin, a pearl or a black enamel pin as an embellishments to the close fitting hats of the period. Felt was sought after. Not only was it soft, if it got soaked with rain or snow, it was easily patted into shape for drying, thus far better than a straw hat. Black was in vogue in 1927. In hat color -either straw or felt – in ribbons, trims, bands, or jewels, the stylish wore black. If one chose a larger hat, sand, rose, orchid, soft blue, Alice blue, powder blue, navy blue, or any lighter blue were also fashionable. It was felt that floppy garden hats of horsehair were acceptable for summer wear, though for a spring hat, the wearer should consider what would be under the hat. Women were cautioned against buying anything without looking into a full-length mirror to see themselves from all angles. 

Flappers might have changed hats while Lena Melchior, Louise Paarmann Barnes, and Miss Feight kept on trend while offering employment to women. Lena Melchior offered carnations at her showings. Minnie Kammer expanded her services to weddings and Lucille Englebert opened an additional shop in Kewaunee. Lucille spent part of each week in both places and hired Mayme Schauer to assist with management. 

Head coverings of some sort are found throughout U.S. history. By 1900, hats were a part of fashion dictating the well-dressed woman did not leave the house without one. Hats somewhat faded from the scene following World War ll, but by then mass-marketed sunglasses affected hat sales. However, the Catholic church required women to wear head coverings until 1967.

It wasn’t only women thinking of their Easter appearance. The son of a former county sheriff found his Easter duds in the paper and himself in jail. 

The young Kewaunee man found himself in a Sturgeon Bay jail after he “decided to doff the somber colors of winter and appear in natty spring raiment.” It was the method of procurement that landed him in the slammer. Since the fellow was the son of the ex-sheriff, it appears he didn’t learn much, or maybe thought he’d get away with burglary. The fellow stole another new set of clothing in Kewaunee county and had them professionally altered. The fellow had been making a name for himself as he was also running up bar bills, and when he was asked to settle at the Wolter Hotel on the southwest corner of 2nd and State/Navarino, he said he was transferring his business to the Kirchmann Hotel, saying his father had told him that anytime he traveled through Algoma, he should stop. He’d have been a lot happier if he kept on going, but Algoma was ripe for the pickin’s. 

As it happened blacksmith Art Braun roomed at the Kirchman Hotel and it was there he hung his new spring suit. Four days later, Braun realized the suit was no longer there and, investigating, found the thief had taken the trousers to be shortened by another Algoma tailor before boarding the train for Sturgeon Bay. The nattily dressed younger man was finally found in the Town of Lincoln where he was visiting relatives. 

As soon as Sturgeon Bay authorities learned the crook had been there before pulling off the Algoma caper, he was accused of burglarizing the Linden store in Sawyer, now the west side of Sturgeon Bay. After Sturgeon Bay cops gave him the “third degree,” he owned up to taking a suit and other wearing apparel on the night of March 12 after smashing Linden’s rear window. He was caught. 

A few days before the apprehension, one matching his description had been seen in the vicinity of Capt. C.P. Clark’s store near the shipyard and took $12 from the cash register. If the burglar was indeed the Kewaunee man, perhaps he took the cash to pay for more natty clothing. As it turned out, Art Braun got his suit back, but then a tailor had to lengthen the “high waters” so Art could wear his new suit for Easter. Algoma had more to look at and talk about than hats in 1915.

Kewaunee County Ice: It Wasn't Just for Winter

 

“Be careful. It’s icy out there.” “I’m sick of being inside. When’s the bay ice gonna be thick enough for fishing?” That’s January 2023, though nobody will think of January ice as they get the ice cubes for lemonade, iced tea, or to surround a bowl of potato salad at a picnic in July. Things were far different in 1923 when ice was harvested and important in food preservation. In the 1850s, it was mostly Kewaunee County breweries and saloons that called for ice.

Kewaunee Enterprize* was in its infancy on December 14, 1859, when it told readers to get their icehouse ready. Just as a summer job was getting the woodpile ready to provide winter warmth, within a few years, winter’s job was cutting ice to be stored for summer food preservation.

Summer ice was not a luxury. It was a necessity, and the Enterprize made sure readership knew how to build and properly care for an icehouse by reprinting an article from Wisconsin Journal. In constructing such a house, the Enterprize said, was to keep the ice surrounded by some non- heat conducting substance. Ventilation was important, as was draining for melting water. As long as those things were kept in mind, there were many styles that would work.

The Enterprize told readers that a cheap icehouse for home use would take thick planks to construct a base of about 8 feet square and 8 or 10 feet high. The structure needed to be built in well drained place that was protected from sun. Blocks and sawdust were required to cover the ground to a depth of 1 foot and a plank floor was necessary on top. Readers were told to pack the ice in the middle, leaving a space of about a foot all around, and then to fill that space with saw dust. Next, the ice had to be covered with sawdust and followed by a roof high enough for a window on each side to provide ventilation. When there was an access to the ice, the work was done. If sawdust was not available, plenty of straw worked.

Readership was advised to cut the ice as square as possible using a cross-cut saw. Fine pieces of ice were to be packed between the blocks. Waste not, want not. Anybody planning to do all that work needed to remember that early ice was the best. It was cleaner and clearer.

Wikipedia says ice harvesting got tis start in New England in the early 1800s and by the late 1880s, ice was the 2nd largest U.S. export. Cotton was Number 1. By the 1860s, New England ice was shipped around the country and around the world. Ice transformed the U.S. meat and produce industries.

Ice harvesting in Kewaunee County appears to have started with breweries and saloons which had their own icehouses. Bay or pond ice was hauled by sled to the saloon sheds which were essentially boards fitted between poles and easily removed as the ice was used. Telesphore Marchant was operating his brewery by 1858 and one of the first to harvest ice on Wisconsin's peninsula. Patrons wanted ice to cool their beer and, for Charles, it was no problem as he could get ice easily from the bay. The Ahnapee Brewery stood on the riverbank making its harvest easy for all the years of its life.

Icehouse, upper left, Sanborne Fire Map,
1909

January 1899 was lively on the Ahnapee River. Frank Graessel, the Algoma Vandyke Brewing Co. agent, joined the saloon keepers and butchers when his crew of men and teams put up Vandyke’s ice. In such a banner ice harvesting year, in addition to the Vandyke work, Graessel also had contracts for filling small ice-houses throughout the city with the crystal-clear, 18” thick ice.  

Sturgeon Bay lacks for neither water nor ice, so it was surprising when Sturgeon Bay Brewery Co. harvested ice on the Ahnapee River in 1899, a time when the company sent men and teams to put up 150 cords in the vicinity of Hagemeister’s beer station. They stored another 500 cords at the brewery on the bay. Alaska Lake was another busy place, and that’s where F. Toebe harvested his ice though had to haul it 6 miles to Rio Creek.

Breweries and saloons continued to harvest ice for well into the 1900s. Joseph Cayemburg built a new icehouse for the genial Charles Ruebens at his popular Rosiere saloon in April 1908. In early 1914, saloon keepers in the Champion area were hard at work, but the following year, harvesting was big on the Poh pond in Forestville. Louis Jarchow was harvesting, but for his cheese factories, not beer.

Not all the ice was used for saloons and breweries.

Ahnapee's Boalt and  Stebbins and John McDonald were still harvesting ice during the first week of February 1880. The old hay press building was filled before the Judge and Big Steb turned to the west side of C.H. Sabin’s warehouse. E. Decker & Co.  put up an immense quantity of ice, expecting to cut and pack about 3,000 cords, some of which was piled up on the side of Sabin’s warehouse. Ahnapee Brewery Co. stored ice near the brewery after their ice house was filled. Brummer’s mill pond was skimmed before the companies worked on Hall’s pond. Ice business was booming. The February 6, 1885, Ahnapee Record reported jobber John McDonald’s large crew was going “full blast” filling all the ice houses in the city with superior quality ice nearly 28” thick.

It seemed as if most years both Ahnapee/Algoma and Kewaunee had good ice harvests. The papers mentioned the good quality, blue ice, 18-24” thick, which was often easier to harvest because of the lack of deep snow, and in early 1880, the Enterprise said “hardly ever” was there such an abundance of such fine quality ice. But there were exceptions. In late February 1890, the fears of ice scarcity in Chicago and other large cities were abating. Going from shortages to so much ice reversed supply, leading to an overstock. Northern Wisconsin was sending 400 ton into Chicago daily. More ice came from Iowa prompting one Ahnapee jobber to say delivered ice was going for $1.25 a ton, which was the best price he could get in a non-profitable year.

Northeast Wisconsin had a variety of places to secure good ice, including the bay of Green Bay. Hall’s mill pond in Ahnapee offered excellent quality ice when Henry Schmiling had his crew of thirteen men and five teams working in January 1887. Early in January that year,  the Record reminded harvesters about safety and the law regarding ice: “Any person who shall remove ice, or cause its removal from any stream, pond or lake, sand shall neglect to place around the margin of the opening made by such removal, such guard, or fence as will be a sufficient caution, warning or protection to all persons coming near the same, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than six months, or by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.” As it was, in 1899 Hugo Perlewitz was playing on the ice and nearly drowned. Parents advised to caution kids from going to the river. The river was  often too dangerous with insecure ice and Hugo was not the only near miss.

The ice business continued up and down the Ahnapee River. January 1900 saw Forestville’s ice harvest going strong with both Stoneman & Sloan and the Creamery ice houses filled. Martin Schmitz' icehouse was nearly filled when Bernard Awe’s crew and teams were ready to start work. Louis Trottman was the big iceman in Kewaunee where he put up 500 cords or more in a given year. Trottman delivered ice. Henry Schmiling took advantage of the telephone at Wilbur & Kwapil’s drug store and told citizens to call #24-2. Very few townsfolk had the new-fangled thing so it is doubtful many ordered by telephone. Hall’s mill pond was becoming referred to as the trout stream when the best crop of clear ice “ever” came from there. Farmers and merchants from adjoining towns were harvesting a “store of ice” so it is possible trout ice was a notch above mill ice!

The produce business mushroomed when in February 1899 the Deckers spearheaded improvements to the Ahnapee & Western Railroad. They built a 25’ x 50’ icehouse set on pilings, near the round house in the A & W yard in Sturgeon Bay near the bay shore.  The Record predicted more business if Deckers built the railroad south to Two Rivers while telling residents of southern Kewaunee Co. to be aware of such an expansion. As soon as the Sturgeon Bay ice house was completed, it was filled with ice to supply refrigerator cars loaded in Sturgeon Bay and shipped during the berry season. A month later, Sturgeon Bay Fruit Growers put up 100 cords of ice for the shipping season to come.

From the amount of ice put up in January 1899, the Record said Algoma intended to give summer visitors a cool time during the hot months. Suggesting it was time for one of the enterprising citizens to think of putting up a cold storage building, the paper said it was needed if the city was to continue having the best markets in this part of the state for dairy products.

V.G. Pfeil had took the paper’s suggestion. It was reported in February 1902 that he purchased Lot 5 on South Water Street** from the Ahnapee Dock Co. When Pfeil’s building was completed, he accomplished something Algoma needed for a long time. The cold storage building was planned to serve Algoma and surrounding areas. Fruit shippers never had a fruit storage place and Pfeil’s building was a guaranteed success.

Within 20 years, ice boxes were part of many American homes. The wooden boxes were lead or zinc lined and filled with a block of ice, brought by the icemen who were among the most popular men in town. Ice lasted about a day, and in a time when floors were wood, black spots on the wood floors told callers how well the woman of the house kept order.

The ice harvests went on, however conveyors and trucks made the job a somewhat easier. Jobbers were injured in the harvest, however there was some humor too. Kewaunee’s Joseph Houdek found a 400 pound cake of ice on his barbershop after he jokingly said he’d trade ice for a shave. Local iceman Joseph Selner had gone for a shave in February 1935, however when he came to pay, he did not have money with him.  In jest, Houdek said he’d take the ice and an hour later, Selner parked his truck in front of the shop. Houdek scratched off the bill, but then needed to find someone to take it before it melted on the floor.

As late as March 1949, a Trottman & Selner Co. truck went through the river ice during harvesting. Damage was minor but the truck had to be pulled to the opposite side of the river, where it was shallower, and pulled out. That wasn't the only company whose truck plunged, but it happened as the ice business was wanning.

Refrigerators and freezers took over as communities began thinking of water quality, pollution, sewerage treatment and run-off.

* The Enterprize existed to 1865 when its name was changed to Enterprise.

** South Water Street wentfrom 4th eats where it intersected with the bottom of Steele St. Those few blocks are now the easter end of Navarino St.

Sources: Ahnapee Record, Algoma Press, Algoma Record, Algoma Record Herald, Commercial Development of Algoma Wisconsin, Vol. 1, Kewaunee Enterprise.

Graphics: Icehouse and Sanborne Map from Commercial Development of Algoma, Wisconsin, Vol 1; Selner Trottman photo from Kewaunee Enterprise.

Algoma and World War ll Rationing: Bay Leaves, Baby Formula, and Eggs, 2023

 

Failing to find bay leaves on grocery shelves is not the worst. The lack of baby formula is. In 2020, the U.S. saw huge toilet paper shortages and shortages of bleach, vinegar, sanitation products and more. Such purchases were limited to one of an item if a store had them. Shortages remain, but unless one is looking for bay leaves or needs baby formula, who’d know what should be on the empty shelves?

There were shortages at other times in U.S. history, but most were during wartime when citizens pulled together to make sure the troops had the best of what they needed. Among the best during the Civil War turned out to be moldy meats and flour with weevils. When World War l saw severe shortages in kerosene, the government admonished citizens to take care of lamps, lanterns, stoves and heaters to get the most from a gallon. The government stressed cleaning the equipment which was not to be used a minute more than necessary. Civil War households depended on themselves, but  as the country grew and changed, World War l housewives learned to make do with limited sugar and to make meatless and wheatless meals. There were coffee substitutes.

World War ll interfered with trade and when there were no silk stockings, creative women used eyebrow pencils to draw lines down the legs thus simulating stocking seams, but shortages of silk stockings was the least of the things folks dealt with.

Eighty years ago, World War ll was in full swing. As in World War l, just over a mere 20 years earlier, food, clothing, blankets, and more were needed for the troops. But, in the 1940s, there was rationing that was controlled. To be sure, though, there was a black market.

With the advent of World War ll, U.S. Office of Price Administration (OPA) began rationing certain foods and started with sugar in May 1942. By November, coffee, meat, canned fish, canned milk, cheese, and butter were added to the list. There was more. Shoes. Gasoline. Farm implements. Tires. The list grew.

When ration books were distributed, purchasing scarce items was supposed to be a little fairer since each person – even babies - received a book that listed the name and age, height, weight and physical description. The complicated system depended on ration stamps, coupons, certificates, and a point system that changed

Ration book stamps covered certain needs at specific times, however the items had to be available. At the beginning of the month, every person had 48 blue points and 64 red points, so, together, a family of four had 192 blue points for processed food and 256 red points for dairy products, fish, and meat. Stamps expired and each month brought new stamps. In September 1943, red stamps X and Y were valid for meat until October 2  while Z became valid on September 5 and remained valid through October 2. If a consumer wanted processed foods, blue stamps R, S, and T were to expire on September 20, 1943, while U, V and W were good and would not expire until October 20. Instructions were noted on each book.

How did consumers keep it straight? If folks bought newspapers, that helped as the following examples from September 1943 Algoma Record Heralds indicate.

The paper told readership about gasoline when it said that in “17 states of the eastern shortage area” A-6 coupons were valid, but outside that area A-7 coupons were valid through September 21. All coupons were endorsed and included the driver’s license number and the state of registration. Occupants of oil heated homes were urged to return their applications to the ration boards and place orders with dealers for summer fill-ups. Stamp No. 14 was good for 5 pounds of sugar through October, although numbers 15 and 16 were good for 5 pounds each for home canning. If housewives needed more, they needed to apply to the ration board using the form at the left found at Katch's, Ahrndt's, Farmers Co-op Co. and Horak's in Algoma. Stamp 18 allowed the purchase of one pair of shoes during October.

Certain kinds of rubber boots that had been used in farming were no longer manufactured thus released from rationing. How would anybody know? One only had to look. Released were all olive drab, clay or khaki colored rubber boots, and lightweight, ankle-fitting rubber boots that depended on stretching to fit. Quantities were small because merchants did not have complete stocks.

The paper went on to advise truck owners having tire certificates but not able to find the tires to apply at the nearest Motor Transport District Office of the Office of Defense Transportation, which appears to have been run by Wisconsin’s new State Patrol, which also saw to it that drivers conserved rubber by not exceeding 40 miles an hour.

The Defense Transportation Office was to forward the notice of inability to buy proper tires to the Office of the Rubber Director who was to attempt to properly redistribute tires so that the certificates would be honored. The issue was most significant when truck operators were unable to get critically needed tires necessary to keep up the supply chain of vital war freight.

One wishing to buy a stove found it was necessary to get a certificate at the local war price and rationing boards. When the U.S. had 37,000 air and liquid-cooled internal combustion 20-horsepower engines, they were controlled by the county farm rationing committees. Farmers or operators of farm machinery for hire could apply for a certificate based on the need for engines essential in crop and livestock production.

Planning and keeping dates in mind were nearly fulltime activities.

The September 3, 1943 Record Herald cautioned those planning to travel by train over Labor Day to know they would probably have to stand in the aisles because trains were so heavily loaded. The same paper told farmers they had to estimate their incomes by September 15 and pay-as-you-go. Single persons earning over $2,700 and married persons earning more than $3,500 would also need to file declarations as did anybody making at least $100 in sources other than wages.

At the same time, the paper said hog cholera serum was being made in record-breaking quantities. The U.S. was raising “vast” numbers of hogs. To encourage farmers to cure and store the bumper crop of sweet potatoes, there was a price support of $1.50 per bushel for No. 1 cured potatoes, properly packed in crates, bushels and baskets.

On September 10, the Record Herald told its readers that Ration Book 3 would become valid on the 12^th. Stamp A was good for 16 points through October 2. Brown stamps were valid on successive Sundays and expired on the Saturday closest to the end of the month. They were used for meats, fats, oils, and all commodities rationed with red stamps in Ration Book 2. Small stamps with pictures of guns, tanks and ships were not in use. Folks were told that if they had not received Book 3, they should apply to the local ration board.

Hay loaders, side delivery rakes and manure spreaders were put under OPA price controls, even if such machinery was sold by farmers or auctioneers. Maximum prices were based on 85% of cost when the item was new, if the item was less than a year old, or 70% of the item’s price if the equipment was over a year old.

Rationing made planning Christmas gifts difficult, however the Army Postal Service felt at least ten million packages would be sent overseas and wanted the packages sent between September 15 and October 15. The public was asked to securely wrap the packages, but to wrap in such a way that they were easily inspected before mailing. Edgar Nell of the ration distribution office in Algoma announced to parents of service men and women that in the event their sons and daughters got leaves, they were to ask for necessary ration papers at their camp. The form required signing by the applicant and the camp officer. Those failing to get the forms at camp had to jump through a few more hoops having to travel to the Green Bay Naval Recruiting Office and then take the signed documents to the ration board office.

Just when folks had Book 3 figured out, the government introduced Ration Book 4. The new book was said to contain more definite information and would last 96 weeks, or approximately 2 years. The book was worth more than gold! It combined point and unit stamps containing 384 stamps printed on safety paper in blue, red, green, and black inks. The green stamps were to be used on an interim basis in place of the processed food blue stamps in the way that brown stamps in Ration Book 3 wee being used for meat fats.

Something new were the 96-unit stamps printed in black. Seventy-two of the stamps were printed with “spare” in case additional ration currency was needed. Twelve of the stamps said “sugar” and another twelve were designated for coffee, which was no longer rationed. That being the case, the OPA said the coffee stamps could be used as additional spare stamps.

Rules governed stamp usage and woe be to the person who did not carefully care for the family ration books. When purchases were made, the stamp needed to be detached from the book in the presence of the merchant, his employee, or the person making deliveries for the storekeeper. If a stamp was torn out before being verified by watchful eyes, it was void. If it were partly torn or mutilated, it would be valid if at least half remained attached in the book.

Even those hospitalized adhered to the rules. If anyone entering a hospital, or any other institution, expected to stay beyond 10 days, the ration book was to be turned over to the one in charge. The book would be returned by request upon leaving the facility.

Not everything was rationed because of supply. Eggs were a victim of circumstances. It was obvious that if there was not enough grain for people, there would not be enough to feed animals. Because of the shortage of grain to feed chicken, millions of hens were killed and sold as food. Eggs were rationed by design, which allowed one egg per person per week, however pregnant women and vegetarians were allowed two eggs.

Most rationing ended at the close of World War ll, however sugar was rationed until June 1947 while meat was the last rationed item in 1954. Those who are old enough remember eating Spam in the 1940s and 1950s. Spam was the only meat never rationed. Maybe that’s why Spam got a bad rap, but it is back.

CNN Business said World War ll was “decisive” in Spam’s growth. Being canned, it did not need refrigeration and could be eaten “on the run.” Sometimes it was the only protein source available. Spam was associated with the war and rationing, prompting many to say they’d never eat it again, however the product has made a comeback and is even found in upscale restaurants. It is back for some of the same reasons it flourished 80 years ago: it is available, versatile and affordable.  Baby formular is not.

Surces: Algoma Record Herald, CNN Business accessed online., Wikipedia. Rations books are from the Blogger's collection.

Kewaunee County History: Marking an Ahnapee New Year

 

This picture postcard was sent early in the 1900s

Harriet Warner Hall was a 9-year-old child when she arrived with her parents Orin and Jane Warner on July 4, 1851, to be the 3^rd resident family of the place called Wolf River. When Mrs. Hall was interviewed about the founding of the community years later, she discussed the homemade beer at the wedding of Amine Parker and George Fowles in 1857. She said when there was a fiddler around, there was a dance, and that meant homemade beer to whet the whistle.

Harriet told about the fledgling community’s first Christmas, one of wont and deprivation. She didn’t describe bringing in the new year, which became more important as the hamlet gained residents. The 1850s residents did not bring in the new year with champagne toasts, but as time went on, that changed.

When Kewaunee Enterprize* began publication in September 1859, among the first ads were those for Berni & Zimmermann’s new Ellis Street Brewery. Also on Ellis Street was Joseph Duchoslav who was also brewing lager beer. The Enterprize informed readership about ship arrivals and in just one month in Fall 1859 ship arrivals at Hills & Carter’s South Pier in Kewaunee included three trips by Capt. James Flood. Flood brought beer in three of his four trips: 12 kegs, 10 kegs, 4 kegs which is a lot of beer for a county with 5,300 residents when roughly 2,400 were under the age of 20. If county residents wanted to bring in the year raising a glass or two, there would have been no shortage. Ahnepee* was without a newspaper until June 1873. Capt. Flood was frequently mentioned and always a popular captain, who no doubt made Ahnepee with the same products he brought to Kewaunee.

The Ahnapee Brewery was operating when the newly organized Record had thoughts on “spirits” well before New Years, possibly because of the Temperance movement when it said what a “practical toper proposed.” And what is a toper? Simply put, according to the Wiktionary, a toper is a drunkard.

As a compromise to Temperance women, the Record reported that one who “topes” might say, “O, woman, in our hours of ease, you know we’ll do what ‘ere you please; we’ll promise to renounce the sin of Bourbon, brandy, rum and gin, and so far as to refrain (except when tempted) from champagne; but have some mercy, do my dear, and leave, oh, leave us lager beer.” Was the Record plugging its advertisers!

By the early 1870s, W.N. Perry was selling California wine and Kentucky whiskies at his drugstore. Sam Perry was advertising wine and liquor in any quantity and Weilep, Decker, Boedecker, Villers and Marsh applied for liquor licenses. H.M. Terens let it be known he “constantly” had liquor in his Alaska House.

During its first year of publication – 1873 - the Record said New Year’s passed off quietly in the city* with nothing important going on. Several churches had services but it was sleigh riding that the young indulged. It seems as if Perry sold some of that fine wine and whiskey because he ran an ad asking all who owed him more than 30 days to stop at his drugstore to pay their debt.

It seemed as if 1877 must have been a slow news New Year as the Record saw fit to report on the Memoirs of St. Simon who commented on the hair dressing of the women of Paris in 1713. That year, the Duke and Duchess of Shrewsbury came from London to have the Duchess say hair fashions were ridiculous. Parisian women were wearing brass wire edifices to hold up their hair over two feet. They adorned the “structure” with ribbons and what the Duchess thought was rubbish. Moving caused the edifice to tremble. King Louis XlV was disgusted with the hair, but even as King, he could do nothing to get rid of the fashion that lasted for 10 years.

As it was, 1877 was a year that set records. On January 3, the Record reported a balmy, spring-like new year with lilac buds turning green and even opening. Door County farmers were plowing, and Sever Anderson, in Clay Banks, sowed 4 bushels of spring wheat the day before Christmas. Cold toes and ears for New Year’s suggested weather was turning.

The Baptist Church planned a Dime Sociable which offered choice readings, singing, instrumental music. All proceeds were to go to reducing the church debts. That was happening when about 75 people surprised the Charles Fellows family at New Years. The group met at George Youngs’ residence and then “took the Fellows’ residence by storm.” The Record said some who had not taken part in such an event in 20 years were among those who turned out, and that Fellows would remember the evening forever. Fellows invited the throng to gather at his Foscoro home for New Years Eve 1878.

During those early years, county residents thought of more at the New Year than the raised glass. Whether folks went to Fellows’ Foscoro home in 1878 is debatable because typhoid was almost sweeping the county. Teacher Fannie Gregor and her sister were quite sick, as were Charles Deda and Dr. Martin. With Martin in bed and so much sickness, Dr. F. Simon of Manitowoc was called to Kewaunee to offer his assistance.

Typhoid was there in 1878, along with some scarlet fever when the weather changed after Christmas. Roads partially froze, although not hard enough to support teams in places. Some said New Year’s seemed like Sunday because businesses closed, and folks attended services at nearly every denomination. “Happy New Year” was heard all over and streets were filled with smiles even though residents were dealing with serious illnesses.

Tanner Michael Luckenbach ended 1878 marketing his house and lot at the corner of Navarino and 4^th Streets. Luckenbach felt his lot, with 80’ frontage on 4^th and 150’ on Navarino, was the best in the village. He planned to sell for $800 with $200 down and the balance on easy terms. Luckenbach sold his tannery to his partner, Mr. Meverden, and in December 1878 was proprietor of the East River House in Green Bay. Luckenbach didn’t get the tannery out of his system because his Green Bay hotel was opposite a large tannery. A small part of the original tannery business burned when Bearcat’s Fish House was destroyed in a 2021 fire.

With the news there was, one would not think the paper had to go looking for it. But it did, and reported on an unusual custom found in the Boston Transcript. Apparently Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Gauls saw eggs as renewal at both Easter and New Year’s. If those in Boston celebrated New Years with eggs, it was not noted, however such a custom never caught on in Ahnapee.

In 1879 the Record said the new year was received with feelings of dread as the old was remembered with regret, however it felt that the year was good to people. It went on to opine that if there was nothing to regret, there was nothing to hope for in the future. According to the Record, the beginning of the year is for making resolutions but later in the season was the time to break the slate. Nothing new there.

C.J. Barnes bought the Record in August 1879 from Hiram Wing who received a flattering offer from Jamestown, Dakota. Barnes thanked customers and asked them to continue the support. He felt the new decade would bring improvements to the lively, newsy paper and to the office, a resolution which would not be broken because it was a Leap Year, and “a little off.” Why a little off? Editor Barnes said 1880 was a year where “women propose and men dispose.” He continued to make a statement, saying it was “jubilant when we think how jolly it is going to be to say “no” as “It’s a long lane that no turn has.” The paper suggested each day should be an improvement on the past since lives are strengthened by experience.  Diphtheria raised its ugly head again and New Year’s Eve 1879 saw the C. Martin family of Carlton lose three children to diphtheria. They were kept together and buried in one grave. Just after that, two more of the Martin children died. It was said one school district had 20 children who died of diphtheria.

Light housekeeper Samuel Stone was living in Sandy Bay when he went to Manitowoc where he saw Dr. Cookley on December 30, 1879. Stone had surgery for a Rebel bullet to the leg in the Civil War 16 years earlier. Stone wanted Cookley to prob for the bullet which had pained him for so long. Cookley made an incision on the opposite side of the leg where he found a good-sized chunk of lead. Surgery was successful, and Stone said he felt like a different man.

The Record marked the end of 1879 by mentioning its large subscriber list, thanking subscribers and friends for sending in news items. The paper said it would be glad to have all subscribers pay up a year in advance and forward names of those who would be possible subscribers. The close of 1879 found the firm of Hitchcock & Kwapil dissolved by the retirement of Mr. Hitchcock. His part of the property in the Alaska store and pier was bought by Frank Shimmel and Joseph H. Janda who joined Frank Kwapil in the new company. That transaction made the company the largest business in the northern part of Kewaunee Co. as the firm had three stores in operation, the one in Ahnapee, one in Forestville and the new company at Alaska.

To round out the year, Simon Pies reminded folks to pay their City* of Ahnapee taxes which would be collected at his 4^th Street residence.

A watch meeting at the Methodist Episcopal Church on New Year’s Eve welcomed 1880. Residents also brought in the year at two balls, one at the Temple of Honor, given by William Dingman, and the other at the Wisconsin House. Both dances were said to “pass off merrily” into the small hours of the morning. The Record promised the day would linger in the minds of many with “thoughts of sweet and loving kindness” before passing into time. The same paper that offered a “Happy New Year” also said, “Pay your taxes.”

As the city grew, ads called attention to fine wines and oysters, which were popular at New Year’s. There were parties and dances for those who could get there if the roads had hard packed snow to allow the horses to get through. Harriet Warner Hall felt the pioneer days ended in about 1860. Although Ahnapee was greatly affected by the Civil War, there were marked changes in the 1860s and 1870s. Ahnapee was no backwater.

 

Notes: Renamed Algoma in 1897, its first name was Wolf River and derivations until 1859 when it was renamed Ahnepee (Ojibwa for “Where is the river?”) until the place was chartered as a village in 1873 when there was a change in the spelling. Since the state and others consistently spelled the place’s name with two a’s and two e’s, the village couldn’t “beat ‘em” so “joined ‘em.” In 1879 the Village of Ahnapee was chartered as the City of Ahnapee.

Kewaunee’s newspaper underwent a spelling change in 1865 when Enterprize became Enterprise.

Sources: Ahnapee Record, Algoma Record Herald; An-An-api-sebe” Where is the River”; Kewaunee Enterprize/Enterprise; https://en.wiktionary.org. The postcard is from the blogger's collection. Images can be found in the Kannerwurf, Sharpe, Johnson Collection at Algoma Public Library,

Kewaunee County History: An 1851 Wolf River Christmas

 

Manhattan Transfer’s “Christmas is a comin’ and the geese are getting fat……” is a popular take on a song arranged by Frank Luther and sung by Bing Crosby and others a generation ago. Even the Kingston Trio had a version. Youngsters recognize the music featured by John Denver in a Muppets’ special, in A Charlie Brown Christmas and more.

The founding residents of Wolf River – Ahnepee in 1859, Ahnapee in 1873, and Algoma in 1897 – no doubt wished they had geese, fat or not.

The Hughes and Tweedale families arrived in Wolf River at the end of June 1851. A few days later, on July 4^th, Orin Warner’s family became the third permanent family at the place. Orin and Jane Warner had three children, Harriet aged 9, and two boys, 7 and 3.

Being the first of the firsts was not easy. The three families had only themselves on whom to depend. It would be the following summer before Goodrich’s rickety old Citizen changed their lives when it dropped anchor in the lake, bringing supplies and people.

What was Christmas 1851 like? Years later, Harriet, then Mrs. Abraham Hall, remembered that first Christmas in an interview with the local paper, Ahnapee Record. There were no geese getting fat in that difficult winter of deprivation. Harriet mentioned the deer, ducks, fish, partridges and the partridge eggs they gathered, but Christmas dinner 1851 was a salt pork pie. Spring was a long way off and there were no eggs. Ducks and most birds had gone south. Deer were scarce, and thick river ice needed to be chopped to fish. More than likely, the salt pork pie was a feast that day. Laura Ingalls Wilder would later write that “Ma” got ready for Christmas by baking bread, crackers, pie, and cookies. Caroline Ingalls cooked salt pork too, but it was in the beans she made.

Had the Warners been in Waukegan where Jane’s parents, the Bennetts, lived, Christmas would have been far different. Over the years, Ahnapee’s Christmas celebration changed too.

If the Warner children received gifts, no doubt it was mittens or stockings that Jane had knitted, or possibly something that Orin got in Manitowoc on one of his trips walking down the lakeshore for supplies. If the small log homes were decorated, it was with green boughs adorned with pinecones, perhaps a ribbon or two, or maybe even strings of popcorn. Christmas trees would have taken far too much room in the log homes for years to come.

Twelve years later, Ahnapee (the name was respelled in 1873) had a new newspaper with merchants advertising wares for Christmas giving. Home-crafted gifts such as preserves, needlework and candies were popular while stores such as August Fromming’s on 4^th and Clark Street offered such things as confections, sachets, perfume, “Yankee notions,” sewing supplies, tobacco pouches, shaving soaps and slippers. William Perry’s Steele Street drugstore sold books and stationery. Logancrantz’s jewelry, at the northwest corner of 4^th and Steele, sold everything in silver – dishes, napkin rings, and cutlery. Mr. Logancrantz also pointed to his gold pens and holders, and all types of jewelry.

Ahnapee Record was in its infancy when it published its first Christmas edition. The editors, George Wing and Charles Borgman, reported seeing loads of evergreens on the street while churches smelled like pine and spruce. Parents were mysterious and children were expectant. Anthems and carols were joyful, sounding like angels singing. How much that Wolf River Christmas had changed in a mere 12 years! Even the community’s name changed twice in that time.

In that first edition, the paper wished readership “peace on earth and good will to men.” The paper talked of families gathering at the fireside while other who were gray thought of Christmas gatherings past. Some surely included Jane and Orin Warner’s family. Others were the Tweedale grandchildren. The Hughes family left the area around the time of the Civil War.

Sir Clement Moore penned A Visit from St. Nicholas on December 23, 1823. It caught on fast. Just over 25 years later, the paper echoed the poem, telling stories about the shoes and frocks that “old Santa” left in Ahnapee stockings.

On the 31^st, the paper said St. Mary’s services were of “an interesting nature.” The church Christmas tree was “illuminated by 110 burners for a beautiful emblem of Christmas teachings.” Young and old participated at St. Paul’s where a Christmas tree was beautifully laden with presents for the little children who had to wait patiently until the Lutheran school students sang and recited selections appropriate to Christmas Eve. Congregants at the German Methodist Church were said to have “enjoyed a season of rare pleasure.” Following devotionals, youngsters were enthusiastic about the books, toys and pretty items adorning the tree.

The Baptists did not observe Christmas Day with a service, however the next day was Sunday and the church – as the others in town – was filled to capacity. On the evening of the 26th, which was the Sabbath, Wilhelmshoe was the site of a grand ball. The only problem was that not enough tickets were sold to fund the grand prize which had to be postponed.

A few days later, the Masonic Lodge offered entertainment beginning with Maj. Joseph McCormick’s words on the tenets of Masonry and its relationship with Jesus Christ. Ahnapee Quadrille Band provided wonderful music after McCormick’s remarks, and a midnight supper ended a beautiful evening attended by many from Kewaunee, Foscoro, Forestville, Casco, Sturgeon Bay, Clay Banks, and even from Chicago.

Christmas celebrations differed over the years. The influx of Germans brought Christmas trees which turned into a business in December 1876. Each ethnic group brought its own customs and traditions, but it appears that salt pork pie was not one of them!

Sources: Ahnapee Record; An-An-api-sebe: Where is the River? Postcard is from the blogger's collection.

Kewaunee County History & Algoma's Secret Societies

 Transparency. The buzzword of the 2020s. But transparency doesn't exist and probably never will.

Secret societies sound so sinister, yet according to Ahnapee Record, the community had them. It wasn't just the small tow of Ahnapee. Such societies existed around the country and the county, even in neighboring communities such as Forestville, Casco, Kewaunee, Carlton and others. Some of the secretive groups were "anti-treating" - the groups which belonged to the anti-alcohol mpovements whose members pledged not to offer or accept drinks in saloons or other places where alcohol might be bought and sold. Some secret societies focused on mutual aid, but others were just plain secret.

The last of the 19^th century was the heyday of such societies, and charlatan leadership was often not far behind. Well before 1900, there was an uproar about secret societies that went as far as an Anti-Secret Society Convention. When the group had its 1869 meeting, attendees went after the secular press, saying even religious papers didn’t have the guts to come out for Christ. It kept on.

More recently Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code shined light on such societies. Once editor of the Daily Beast and Rolling Stone, Noah Shachtman wrote that some groups provided for “open dialogue about everything from academia to religious discourse, removed from the restrictive eye of church and state.” Shachtman further stated the societies were “incubators of democracy, modern science, and ecumenical religion.” Such groups elected leaders and drew up a constitution. He said George Washington, Ben Franklin and Voltaire were members of such groups, and “just like today’s networked radicals, much of their power was wrapped up” in anonymity.

Lisa Hix penned an article appearing in a 2016 Dallas Morning News (accessed online) about 19^th century secret societies selling life insurance within fraternal rituals. Modern Woodmen of America was one of the societies, and one found in Ahnapee/Algoma. Hix says Modern Woodmen “made life insurance approachable and fun by packaging it in the familiar order culture of the day.” She went on to say two Woodmen societies remained in existence although were no longer fraternal.

Until around the mid-1900s, Modern Woodmen restricted membership to white men from 18 to 45. At a time when Catholics and Jews saw discrimination, the Woodmen admitted the two faiths as well as all Protestants, atheists, and agnostics. In the beginning, the white males came from the healthiest states that included Wisconsin and its neighbors. The group was not open to those whose occupation was among the most dangerous such as miners and railroad workers, but even baseball players were thought to be in a dangerous profession. Those who joined the Woodmen were forced to acknowledge their own mortality, as did the Masons, a group in Ahnapee by 1869.

When Maynard T. Parker chronicled the short 22-year history of Wolf River/Ahnapee in the October 12, 1873 Record, he told readership The Grand Army of the Republic was the community’s second secret lodge, although it was disbanded within a short time. He pointed to the Masonic Lodge as the third secret lodge. Key Lodge #174 was established on June 8, 1869 and a week later Will Frisbie was its representative to a convention of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin F & A.M. (Free and Accepted Masons) The first organized secret lodge must have been so secret that Parker never mentioned it, however in January 1874, the Record pointed to the organization of another new secret society in town, although its name and goals were not known. The organization was Lone Lodge No. 1 of the Knights of the Iron Band, which history says was formed in the winter of 1874.

By September 1877, Ahnapee had four societies listing their meeting nights in the weekly Record: the Key Lodge No 174 F & A Masons met in their hall on the corner of 3^rd and Clark, while the Sons of Herman met in their 2^nd Street hall. St. Joseph Society met in the home of P.M. Simon, the Temple of Honor No. 111 met in their 3^rd and Clark  Steet hall, and the YMCA met in the Baptist Church parlors. Knights of the Iron Band did not announce meeting nights.

That The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was secret is a surprise. Wikipedia says it was the largest of all Union Army veterans' groups and the "most single-issue political lobby of the late 19th century, securing massive pensions for veterans and helping to elect fice postwar presidents from its own ranks." For members, it was a secret fraternal group, a charitable group, a provider of entertainment and a patriotic organization.

The GAR seems far from a secret organization although in Secret Societies in America, author W.S. Harwood called attention to the military oath and said the military was “knit together by secret threads.” It would seem that military secrets are necessary.

Wolf River/Ahnapee’s early days were healthy. The population was young, and isolation kept it germ free. As the community grew, so did lumbering and sailing. Both were dangerous, and both took lives. Then came the Civil War with the death and disease. Risk of injury and death were always there in everyday life. If the husband died, who was there to provide for the wife and children? Nobody wanted to be on the “poor list,” though many were. Joining secret clubs such as the Freemasons and Odd Fellows, men found networking and entertainment. They also found help.

Major Joseph McCormick was a member of Ahnapee’s F & A Lodge when his horse threw his buggy injuring him in 1875. McCormick was 88 years old, in serious condition and unable to move. As a 33^rd degree Mason, McCormick was cared for by the Lodge. Googling tells us the thirty-third degree is an honorary award bestowed upon Scottish Rite Freemasons who have made major contributions to society or Freemasonry. McCormick certainly did. His story is chronicled in previous posts.

Following the Civil War, mutual benefit societies  popped up offering insurance. Ahnapee saw the Sons of Hermann/Herman and Knights of the Iron Band. Even as women and Blacks were excluded from such societies, between 1890 and 1930, up to 1/3 of American men belonged to at least one secret society.

Wikipedia says the Sons of Herman was a mutual aid society for German immigrants, formed in Ney York in July 1840. It remains active in some states today. While membership was restrictive in the early days, the society is open to all today, providing insurance and aid. Founded in New York in response to anti-German sentiment, the group historically preserved German traditions and language. The Sons were an offshoot of the Odd Fellows, however there were declines in Sons’ membership with the advent of World War 1, and again because of anti-German sentiment.

At one time the Catholic Church refused to bury members of the Sons because of rituals, but that disappeared. German Jews were members, and in Milwaukee, those of the Jewish faith held leadership positions, something that didn’t happen with every group. Mothers, wives, daughters and sisters were allowed in a female auxillary. It was in July 1985 when the national organization required all to purchase a life insurance policy.

The Sons of Herman organized in Forestville before founding the Sons of Herman Ahnapee Lodge #23 in September 1874 with twenty-seven members. John Weilep was elected president of Bismarck Lodge, No 23, O.D.H.S. (Der Orden der Hermanns-Soehne) when the Sons of Herman was organized in Ahnapee by an officer of an officer of the Grand Lodge of the State. Launched with fourteen charter members, the society flourished, they planned to meet at Weilep’s (now the Hotel Stebbins) until their new hall was ready. Though rejecting the “social glass,” Sons of Hermann was known to be a friendly organization and at its organization members learned the mysteries of the order such as “riding the goat,” which has several meanings, most associated with Masons.

Not long following the Lodge’s formation, Ahnapee’s Lutheran congregation passed a resolution. Feeling that because the German lodge was secret, it was unchristian, and, therefore, Ahnapee Lutherans felt lodge members should be excluded from church membership. However, it is unclear if any of the Sons lost their membership.

Catholics too dealt with secret societies. In May 1880, Ahnapee's Father Cipin wrote a letter to the Record  defending the church's St. Wenceslaus men's group which was joining the society of St. Louis, another Bohemian society. Cipin said St. Louis was neither a lodge nor secret society as identified by the paper a week earlier, but an open, public society. He said the Catholic church forbid secret societies and any Catholic who joined one would be excommunicated. Cipin said the Society of St. Louis was named Bohemian Catholic Central Association and was focused on mutual support.

On September 20, 1894, the Record listed officers for the new St. Francis Court #465, a subordinate of the Catholic Order of Foresters. Each member carried $1,000 in insurance and after six months would receive weekly benefits in the event of sickness or accident. The paper said the Foresters were the only "secret society, that is, the only society that makes use of a password, sign, grip, etc. connected with the Catholic church at present."

Almost two years later, in July 1896, Kewaunee Enterprise mentioned Archbishop Frederick Katzer, third bishop of the Green Bay Diocese, who was Archbishop of Milwaukee at the time. Katzer fought a proposition to introduce secret rituals into the Order of the Catholic Knights and went to Stevens Point to fight against the idea. If the Knights had elected to be a secret society, Archbishop Katzer would have withdrawn his support.

Iron Band Society, Lone Lodge #1, was founded in 1874 to propagate "anti-treating" ideas, paramount at the Monday meeting nights. Such leading citizens as Michael McDonald, John R. Doak, George W. Wing, Orange Conger, Simon Warner, John McDonald, Irving W. Elliot, Maynard Parker, Levi Parsons, George Bacon, and E.T. Tillapaugh were elected officers in December 1874.

A fire near the Ahnapee piers was one of the first big conflagrations to challenge the fledgling fire department. About 3 AM one night just before Christmas 1874, the Pier Company's store building at the foot of Steele was engulfed in flames. According to Editor William Seymour, though the fire department was efficient, the building was destroyed with property inside. G.W. Youngs, who used a portion of the building as an office, was able to remove the safe, books and other valuables. The Knights of the Iron Band, the secret society that met on the second floor, was not so lucky. The society lost all its property including a valuable English book printed in London during the early 1700s, other rare books, and geological and vegetable curiosities. The society had met the previous night and theirs was the only stove lit.

A few hundred dollars’ worth of tools and items, belonging to the government but stored there, were among the substantial loss. Insurance agent Peter Schiesser said there was an insurance policy of $1,000 although the building was worth about $2,000. It was said the fire would have been far worse for the village had the winds not been blowing from the southwest, so toward the lake.

The fire did little to dampen enthusiasm in the Knights of the Iron Band. Immediately following the fire Senior Grand Knight Michael McDonald announced future meetings would be he in the hall in J.R. McDonald’s building at the corner of 2^nd and Steele. The Knights eventually began meeting in Temple of Honor Hall, the site of the Knights’ entertainment on January 3, 1881, an evening of entertainment that included recitations, debate, speeches, instrumental and vocal music.

A few days earlier, on New Year’s Eve, the Lone Lodge members wore their regalia and emblems during a torch light parade. The paper said the order’s principles were universal, but mystery was “embodied in its organization.” It further aid that the society brought curiosity among the public. Curiosity was somewhat satisfied in April when the Record reported on a strange, mysterious installation – a solemn occasion - of Lone Lodge No 1 of Iron Band of the I Alone officers’ ceremony. Readership was informed that more excited residents witnessed  the event than any other secret society, partly because it appeared so strange to the populace. While outsiders felt it was mysterious, many believed it was a horrible, diabolical secret society.

The Record’s reporter found barely enough room in the area allotted to spectators. Describing the center of the remaining space with its catafalque draped in black and decorated with white, the reporter said it held the figure of a man in clay. He went on to say: “Clothed in the robe of the order, with hands folded upon his breast, his clear-cut marble-like features showed the body by the light of four tapers which were sustained by candelabrums (sic) of gold and silvered glass, stood upon the black drapery at each corner of the bier upon which his form rested.” High officers stood on an elevated platform behind the catafalque while two guards, “in gloomy robes,” walked back and forth armed with spear and battle ax. 

As members marched in, the Knight of the Ceremonies directed them to seats on either side of the hall. As they gave the Iron Band salutation, they sat facing the bier. Then the Knight escorted the Grand Senior Knight Commander to his station where he received the salutation of the Knights. 

It was most unusual when the Senior Knight placed his left hand on the cold forehead of the clay figure as he promised to be fair, fearless, and faithful in his governance of keeping true temperance, stressing that excess is dangerous, downgrading, and leads to suffering and misery. He pledged to maintain the order and not allow it to come into neglect. Receiving the badge of the order, the other officers came forward  to pledge a faithful performance before the Grand Senior Knight delivered an address. Exhorting officers to faithfulness, vigilance, and earnestness, the Grand Senior Knight warned them about the responsibilities they were assuming. 

The Senior Knight went on to discuss temperance, saying the concept of treating was not “sanctioned or sustained by the customs of any other nation except our own.” He said it was foolish to squander money on one who does not care to buy something they don’t want, such as a headache. While he thought it might be acceptable to have one glass of beer or spirits, to drown one’s sorrows was hoggish, beastly, and degrading.” He said members were forbidden from giving or accepting “treats,” thus drunkeness would cease.  As solemn and dark as the installation and address were, dancing followed the address.

The Record’s reporter told readership he couldn’t fully explain the society which was so closely connected with mysterious ceremonies. The black robes were sombre and their badges represented iron, silver, and golden degrees of the I Alone. The costumes represented Iron and Golden bands.

In June 1881, Lone Lodge No 1 of the I Alone cast a unanimous vote directing each member to go before a magistrate to make a complaint about any lodge member who had been expelled for violating the anti-treating law. The Lodge did not feel its members should have the duty of enforcing laws on any but its own members. When the Lodge said “temperance,” it meant it. Temperance in excessive drinking was required, and the Lodge felt “excessive” happened in saloons and that promoted drunkenness. Saloon owners were not in favor of the movement.

Temple of Honor had its beginning in the U.S. about 1845. The society had a secret ritual based on medieval Knights Templar, a fraternal group with signs, handshakes, and passwords resembling those of the Masons and Odd Fellows. Ahnapee’s Temple 111 organized in early March 1877  with – according to Ahnapee Record - 27 drinkers, about two-thirds of whom were called hard drinkers. To look at the list of those in leadership positions, Ahnapee’s leading citizens were among the fifteen officers selected and installed. Apparently, some considered themselves hard drinkers as many of the officers held leadership positions in the Iron Band Society formed a few years earlier.

Algoma Record Herald reported Anti-treating passed  Wisconsin’s legislature and was signed by the 14^th Governor of Wisconsin, William E. Smith in late March 1881. Any treating in that resulted in conviction was to be fined no less than $5 and no more than $10 for each offense.

Some thought it was one of the most ridiculous laws ever while others thought it was the most effective temperance law ever passed. It permitted a man to drink what he wanted if nobody else paid for it. The Record saw the new law as a law to be broken, but it hoped for enforcement. Those who pointed toward ridiculous were proven right.

Cato Institute, in  an article by Mark Thornton, Policy Analysis No. 157, July 17, 1991, explains why Prohibition was a miserable failure. When Prohibition passed in 1920, it was felt that law would result in better health and hygiene, reduce crime and corruption, and even the tax burden from prisons and poorhouses.

The Cato Institute’s significant research concluded that," Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume, crime increased and became "organized," the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point, and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marajuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangeroussubstances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition."  

The number of Ahnapee saloons seem to indicate the village/city secret societies did not desire to bring an end to all alcohol, just buying a drink for another to consume. Total calls for abstinence came later. Prohibition came to an end in 1933, just as Wisconsin's anti-treating laws did years before.

The Depression and Social Security in 1935 ended much of the fraternal insurance since many wee unable to make their payments. As movies and radio came into existence, they supplied the entertainment once offered by the societies, many of which faded into society.

Sources: Ahnapee Record/Algoma Record Herald; An-An-api-sebe:Where is the River?; Cato Institute article by Mark Thornton, Policy Analysis No. 157, July 17, 1991; Commercial History of Algoma, WI Vol 1; Hix, Kisa, 2016 Dallas Morning News (accessed online); Lewis, Phil, History of Modern Woodmen an American Fraternity, 4/2021 (accessed online); https://www.history.com/news/secret-societies-freemasons-knights-templar; Wikipedia..