Clark County Press, Neillsville,

August 1 2007, Page 17

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

 

Compiled and contributed by Dee Zimmerman

 

 

Clark County News

August 1877

 

Several weeks ago, a horse belonging to Wm. Seeley, proprietor of the Hunter’s House, on the Humbird road, became a wanderer and a stranger to its master’s crib.  The animal was very useful to its owner, and its services are now greatly needed by him.  Any information tending to its recovery will be thankfully received.

•••••••••

We have heard the tribulations of two small boys, the sons of William Marth and Mr. Dukes, of this town, who lost their reckoning while hunting for cows, Friday night of last week. They spent the night under logs and brush in the woods. The little fellows showed considerable courage, though aware of the fact that they were in great danger, or at least having reason to think so.  A number of bears and wild cats have been seen in that vicinity during the past few weeks.

 

A party of men searched for them all night and until about noon the next day, when they were found.

•••••••••

The Morehouse patent bed spring, for cheapness, comfort and durability combined, is the best invention of the kind ever offered to suffering humanity.  Samples can be seen by calling on Mr. T. H. B. Morehouse, the patentee, at the O’Neill House, who is prepared to furnish them at any time to all who may desire the same.

•••••••••

A party of young people, from the village, indulged in a picnic at the Mound, four miles northwest of town, on last Wednesday.  A good time was had.

•••••••••

The following was the acreage of growing crops in this county, at the time of making the annual assessment for 1877, according to the reports made by the assessors; The acreage of wheat 2,457; corn 2,596; oats 2,408; barley 208; rye 95; hops 3, cultivated grass 9,348; potatoes 425; apples 78 timber 126,000.

•••••••••

The ladies of the Catholic Society are preparing to give an entertainment at the residence of Mr. Geo. Huntzicker, one week from next Thursday evening, Aug. 23.  Proceeds will be applied to the building of a Church in the village.  The object is to have a good time, and the intention to give one of the best suppers ever furnished in Clark County, hoping that the liberality of those who are made happy on that occasion will enable them to realize something of a pecuniary benefit in furtherance of the object stated above.

 

A report on the festival, in the following week:

 

The attendance was large at the residence of Geo. Huntzicker, last week.  It was the most grand of any affair of the kind ever held in Clark County.  The ladies of he Catholic Society are to be congratulated on the excellence of the entertainment furnished.  The Society’s supper at Mr. Geo. Huntzicker’s was grand, bountiful and fully in keeping with the social part of the entertainment, which was at the residence of Jacob Huntzicker.

 

A grab bag, fish pond and post office afforded amusement for all, for a time. They were so nicely and fairly conducted that no one cold be imposed upon, the usual custom in such matters.  The proceeds of the festival netted about ninety dollars, providing the liberality of the purse of those in attendance of Elder Phillips, Bro. Andrews and many other well-known workers in the protestant cause did the liberality, in religious opinion.

•••••••••

A Vermonter fell dead while carrying in an armful of wood.  Wives, who don’t want to be widows, should be careful how they allow their husbands to do such work.

•••••••••

About three weeks ago, a German family named Lusderman, living near the village of Dorchester, lost all their children, seven in number, of diphtheria within a few days.  The eldest child was twelve years old, the youngest a babe.  The family is very poor, but the neighbors, aided by the town authorities, did all in their power to render assistance.  But human aid was unavailing, and the sorrow-stricken parents now receive the sympathy of friends and neighbors in their desolate home.

 

 

August 1937

 

Echoes of the sensational battle at the Krueger farm, in the Town of Longwood 19 years ago, when the four Krueger brothers and their mother, Caroline, battled a United States Marshal’s posse, were sounded last week when Circuit Judge Bryan B. Park at Stevens Point instructed the clerk of circuit court to return a 12-gauge double barreled shot gun to Leslie Krueger, who was pardoned after serving 18 years of a life sentence.

 

The Associated Press in reviewing the affair states as follows:

 

Barricading themselves in their farm home in the Town of Longwood, Clark County, on Sept. 14, 1918, Leslie Krueger, and his brothers, Frank, Louis, and Ennis, and their mother, Caroline, fought a bloody battle with a United States Marshal’s posse when they attempted to arrest the four brothers as draft evaders.  Harry Jensen, a member of the posse, was killed and other members were injured.

 

The gun was brought into circuit court here on (in) 1919 as an exhibit in a $20,300 damage suit brought by Emil Lainio, Owen, a member of the posse who charged that he was shot five times, the first time while standing on a highway near the Krueger’s massive farm home.

 

Mrs. Krueger, still harboring a feeling that she committed no crime when she attempted to keep her family from being depleted by the draft and her son Leslie appeared in the clerk of circuit court’s office, Saturday, and requested return of the gun.  Leslie said it had belonged to his father, who died six years before the shooting affray, which rivaled the Dietz Cameron dam affair in the matter of attracting nationwide interest.

 

Judge Park had not arrived at the courthouse when the Kruegers put in their appearance but, upon being advised of the request, ordered that gun be returned to Leslie Krueger.  Leslie, according to the clerk of court, said the gun was the one he used in the battle against the federal officers and their posse.

 

Lainio, who claimed he was permanently injured including paralysis of one arm as a result of being shot down by the Kruegers, obtained a verdict and judgment against the Krueger brothers and their mother in the amount of $6,015.45, of which $1,000 was described as being punitive damages.  The case was tried before Judge Park in December 1919, on a change of venue from circuit court for Clark County.

 

Seven damage suits totaling $62,450 were filed as a result of the injuries received by posse men in the battle.  Judgments, which were obtained against the Kruegers, cost them their modern farm home and their highly productive farm.

 

Frank and Leslie Krueger received life sentences for murder.  Ennis, who escaped from the farm home during the battle and evaded capture, was killed ten days later by a posse.  Louis is believed to have escaped unharmed and is still listed as a fugitive from justice.

 

The clerk of circuit court asked the mother and Leslie about Louis.

 

“He is dead, isn’t he? Mr. Dineen inquired.

 

“Don’t know,” the mother responded.

 

“I thought he was killed,” the clerk of the court continued.

 

“That’s never been determined,” came the reply.

 

Leslie and his mother are now residing at Withee.  Their dress and appearance indicate that they miss the wealth, which was theirs when they lived on their farm not far from Withee.

 

The family fought to avoid going to war and the results proved as disastrous as war itself.  Frank, in a deposition read at the trial of Lainio’s damage suit here, said that he did not believe in war.  The Kruegers were of German descent and that might have had something to do with their objection to taking up arms in the war between their adopted and native countries.

 

In his damage suit against the Krueger family, Lainio charged the defendants “with conspiring to resist the government in carrying on a war, resisting arrest, conspiring to defend their home with rifles with conspiring to murder and to kill.”  Testimony at the trial here was to the effect that the family armed itself in July, 1918, “for protection against a mob attack on its home.”  The gun used as an exhibit during the trial has been lying in a vault at the courthouse.

 

Mrs. Krueger was the only member of the family present at the trial.  Leslie and Frank were in prison.  Louis was a fugitive and Ennis was dead.  Depositions of Frank and Leslie were taken, but they were not brought home from Waupun to testify.

 

Emery W. Crosby, Neillsville, now judge in the 17th judicial circuit, and R. J. MacBride, Neillsville were attorneys for the plaintiff and John W. Reynolds, Green Bay, later attorney general, represented the defendants.

••••••••••

 

The Krueger house, which is still located on the east side of Highway 73, about two miles south of Withee, was considered a well constructed, modern farm home in 1918.  After the battle between the Krueger family and the United States Marshal’s posse, many curious people, having read about the top news story of the year, traveled miles to view the house with the visible bullet holes on its exterior.  The fine home weathered the ordeal and is all that remains of that terrifying day in history.  (Photo courtesy of the G. Florence family collection)

 

••••••••••

The Loyal School District voted Monday night, to build an $84,500 high school building, providing a WPA grant of $37,000 can be obtained.

••••••••••

Dr. Horace A. Frank was informed, last week, by the State Board of Medical Examiners that he has successfully passed the recent examination and is now licensed to practice medicine, surgery and obstetrics.  Dr. Horace will be associated with his father, Dr. J. H. Frank, who has been practicing in this city for many years and is well known throughout this section of the state.  Dr. Horace recently completed his internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield, where he made a fine record. Drs. Frank are having new offices, of seven rooms, built and equipped over Kearns Drug Store and are expected to move in about Aug. 20.  The office contains an X-ray room, laboratory, operating room for minor surgery, convalescent room, reception room and consultation rooms.

••••••••••

Alan Rork, Lucille Moe, Justice Riek, and Claire Christianson, all of whom are notable golfers in the Eau Claire area, paid a visit to friends here Sunday and tried out the Neillsville Country Club course.  Alan Rork, who is a tackle on the University of Minnesota football team, scored 4 threes in succession on numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, and a 4 on number 9 for a total of 36 for the second nine.

 

Riek, who has entered two Wisconsin state amateur tournaments, was off his game but stated he would be back to take another whirl at this comparatively long layout.  After the recent rains, the golf course has developed into near perfect condition.

•••••••••

An interesting report on the Green Bay convention by Supt. D. E. Peters and some timely reminiscences by Levy Williamson of Mineral Point, a former publisher of the Press featured the meeting of the Kiwanis club, Monday.  Green Bay as the oldest settlement in the state and Mineral Point as the third oldest city resulted in much interesting history being brought out.  Witty retorts made by Geo. E. Crothers and others, enlivened the proceedings, when reference was made to Mr. Williamson being a Democratic postmaster of Mineral Point, while some friends here still clung to their old orthodox political views.

 

Mr. Peters told of many businesses established at Green Bay, including the newspaper, and its tremendous growth as a trade center.  Mr. Williamson told how the first Masonic and Odd Fellow lodges in the state were established at Mineral Point, and told of the quaint Cornish dishes, such as carrot pie, served down there.

 

Glen Rork, retiring Kiwanis president, urged a program of safe driving, at not over 50 miles an hour, better relations between the rural and urban people, aid for underprivileged boys and girls and improved rural schools at the Kiwanis convention.  Mr. Rork is district manager for the Northern States Power Co., at Eau Claire.  President Asa Royce of the Platteville Normal is his successor.

 

Guests introduced by President William Crow were Levy Williamson, former editor of the Neillsville Press, and A. F. Ender, formerly of Rice Lake, the new publisher.

•••••••••

A new saw mill, owned by Jas. Slauson and William Orth, began operations recently and is producing a large quantity of ties and lumber.  The mill is built of galvanized steel and is situated near the banks of the Rock Creek, south of Greenwood, near the railroad.  Power is furnished by an electric motor.

••••••••••

Gerald Hart, last week, bought the A&P meat market from Ferdinand Kuester and took possession Monday morning.  Mr. Hart has had considerable experience and has made many friends during his residence here.

 

Mr. Kuester will continue his meat business, located across the Black River.

•••••••••

Applications are being taken by the Resettlement Administration, in Marshfield, from farmers who wish to permanently establish themselves on farms in Clark, Wood, Marathon and Jackson counties that can be paid from current receipts in a form like rental.  The government requires no cash payment, but expects a credit record sufficiently good enough to support the application.

 

(There were many farm foreclosures after the Financial Crash in the late 1920s and the drought of the early 1930s.  The Resettlement Administration was a plan used in aiding farmers to establish farming operations upon abandoned farm sites. D.Z.)

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