School: Warner, Braun Settlement School
Transcriber: Duane Horn

Warner, Braun Settlement School

Surnames: BEAM BRAUN BURSS DAMEROW DORE FERGUSON GEISLER GEORGES HALEY HARVEY HAWLEY HORN HUNTZICKER JOHNSON KREISSIG LITTLE MABIE MEAD MILES POMROY QUINTARD SCHLINGSOG SHANKS SEIBOLD STEELE VARNEY WARNKE WILKES

----Source: Contributed by Duane Horn & Alice Braun

THE BRAUN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL

By Charles A. Varney & Bessie F. Pomroy 

Along the town line between Townhip 27 and 28, Range 2 West in 1880, several families had made homes in this dense timber, had small clearings. John Mabie, Frank Horn, William Braun, Sr. and family, William Braun Jr. was just married. Henry Ferguson had married a Mrs. Miles who had three boys of school age. Ira Beam with on daughter, Fred Braun age 24, and one other boy whose name has been forgotten, constituted a sufficient number of scholars to organize a school district. John Mabie lived on what is now the Damerow farm, on the north side of the line, also both Brauns had been included in the Longwood district. They made application and were set over into the Braun district. Now the next thing was to build a schoolhouse. Mabie, Beam, Horn and Ferguson cleared a small spot midway between the homes, rolled up logs for the building (12 x 16 ft. in size), covered it, put in the floor, two windows and a door. Ira Beam made the furniture, desks, and seats for pupils and teacher. For this fully equipped school they received 90 and never thought of a sit down strike. In fact were well satisfied, as the custom in those days was an honest day's work for small wages.

A foot path was made running diagonally from Horn's past the school house and Beam's to Fergusons and there these five children began their education in the heavy forest, with a lady for teacher, who after a few weeks gave it up and was followed by Bessie Harvey, who received a salary of 27 per month. She boarded at Ferguson's and paid 1.50 a week.

Others living in the district were the Braun children, William Jr., age 30 Gottfried, 35 Eva, 33 Fred, 24 Christ, 18 Christine, 16 Louisa, 26. Louise was Mrs. Frank Horn and had a son, Will, 3 years old. Michael Haley (a cripple in that one knee was stiff, shortening that leg) lived 1 miles southeast of the school house. He was a bachelor as was Charles Ferguson, a brother of Henry.

Frank Horn came in 1876, his wife, Louisa, came in 1878. Gottfried Braun came in 1876 with Frank Horn, William Jr. came in 1877. All the other Brauns came in 1879 and Gottfried had a home ready for them where Henry Horn now lives. William, Jr. made the farm where his son Edward lives, which joined the home farm on the west. He now lives on a farm east of the old home farm. Frank Horn made the farm where Jake Speich now lives, having bought the land from Harry Mead.

Henry Ferguson lived where William Schlinsog now lives. Ferguson was Chairman of the Town Board of Supervisors. He started making a highway from Hemlock Dam in almost a bee-line northwest to his place. Several miles were cut out four rods wide and a few places turnpiked. It crossed the present highway just south of the Braun cemetery (Forest Hill). A short piece of turnpike was built to the top of the hill west of the creek, but it was never finished and has all been abandoned. He sold his farm to Jacob Kreissig, father of Ernest and Mrs. Lena Schlinsong.

In the early 80's came the Joe Wilkes family. Theodore, an only son Mary, who married Fred Braun Lisa, who married Christ Braun and Lena, who married John Warnke, who lived where Beam had lived and where Gus Horn now lives. Wilkes lived where Ed Geisler lives.

Otto Geisler and Andrew Seibold came soon after. Andrew still lives near the old home place that is occupied by his son John.

Frank Quintard lived for a few years previous to this time in a set of old camps, just north of Schlinsog s. During that time he had the notorious fight with Charles Little at the Huntzicker's Hotel, Dutch Georges, in which he nearly killed Little who had challanged Frank to fight. Little was in bed for several weeks nursed by Mrs. John Shanks. When Quintard moved away in 1879, my father bought his team of horses and wagon, two cows, one named Dena the same as his wife, and the other was Rosa. They were big Durhams, of milk strain, and gave 12 quarts at each milking. While watching a deer lick one night I had the misfortune to kill a cow that belonged to a neighbor and had to give him Rosa to replace the cow that was killed. I dressed the dead cow and peddled the meat, but it was quite a loss for all of that.

The place where Hubert Horn now lives was widely known as the "Yankee Place," where Andrew (Yankee) Johnson lived until 1876 when he died as his tombstone in our cemetery shows. He married Cassie Steele in 1874 one daughter, Birdie, was born to them. Later Mrs. Johnson married Richmond Burss of Thorp. After his death she moved west and now lives in Washington.

It was with difficulty that I got these facts. Finally I appealed to a teacher that I found lived in Black River Falls and from whom I received this interesting letter, which is here reproduced.

Black River Falls, Wis. March 10, 1937 Mr. Charles Varney Greenwood, Wisconsin

Dear Mr. Varney:

In reply to your letter of March 5, I am happy to give you the following information in regard to the time I taught in the little log schoolhouse in the Braun District many years ago.

It was on December 10, 1880, I think, that I received a letter from John Dore, County Superintendent of Schools of Clark County, advising me that I could have the school in the Braun District, eight or ten miles from Greenwood, and that Henry Ferguson, the clerk of said school, would meet me at the Bagley Hotel in Greenwood on Sunday, December 12, and school was to begin December 13. Mail did not travel as fast then as rural carriers were unheard of. After hurried preparations, like getting the horses shod for the rads were icy, Father and I left home Saturday noon staying in Neillsville that night. On arriving at Greenwood the next day, we found that Mr. Ferguson had been there and gone. We inquired the way, which was four miles north and branched off at Hemlock. It was a track just wide enough cut out of dense timber, and after many turns we came to the Ferguson home.

Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson had been married about five years, I think. She was a widow of Charles Miles and had three boys of about 12, 10, and 7 years of age. I think the name of the oldest boy was Fred. The name of the youngest boy was Bertie. I cannot recall the name of the other boy. The Fergusons had a daughter, Grace, who was 4 years of age, and twins 7 months, George and Mabel.

My pupils were the three Ferguson boys, Rosetta Beam and a Polish boy whose name I cannot recall. Frederick Braun, then 24 years old, was also a pupil. He was anxious to learn to read and write our language. He now lives in Greenwood. I taught the winter term of four months in this small log schoolhouse. This was my first experience of being away from home, and I was 16 years of age. There had been only one teacher there before me, whose name I cannot remember.

Mr. and Mrs. Beam had eloped from Indiana, walking to Milwaukee where they were married. I think she was only 15 when married and he was about 30. He played violin. Mr. and Mrs. William Braun were newly married at that time and lived a short distance from the schoolhouse. At the next place beyond lived Mr. and Mrs. Frank Horn, young people with two small children. The father and mother of all the Brauns lived with two sons and a daughter, who were not married.

The only team in the community was owned by Michael Hawley, a single man. One time during the winter Mr. Ferguson got the team and took Mrs. Ferguson and me to Greenwood. We got our mail from Longwood. Whenever any one of the neighbors had to go there, he brought the mail for us.

I taught the winter term of four month and went back on May 1 and taught the summer term of three months. On the fourth of July we had a picnic and a dance at Horns , I think. We danced all night.

The most exciting time of my life was when Mr. Ferguson took me out to the main road when I came home after the summer term. The wagon was drawn by an ox team, my trunk was in, and I was sitting on a board across the wagon box. Everything went fine until the oxen got into a hornets nest, and did they run When they stopped, I was on my knees, hanging on the box, and Mr. Ferguson was far behind. However, they kindly waited until he caught up with us, and we finished the journey safely.

When the neighborhood celebrated the 50th anniversary of the building of the log schoolhouse, they invited me, and I surely did enjoy meeting old friends and new.

Last summer we had the pleasure of spending a Sunday afternoon at Will Braun s. I can hardly realize it is the same country where I taught so many years ago.

I hope that this letter May be of some help to you.

Sincerely, Bessie F. Pomroy

 

 


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