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Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin June
20, 2012, Page 9 Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press" Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon. Index of "Oldies" Articles
Compiled by Dee Zimmerman
Clark County News |
1918
History of Clark County
By Franklin Curtiss Wedge
WITHEE
The village of Withee, with a
population of 500 or more, is situated in the northern part of Clark County, on
the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway, about two miles east of
the Black River. It has telegraph
and express service, while its leading business enterprises are a bank, saw mill
creamery and newspaper. The principal industries in the vicinity are farming and
lumbering.
It was in the summer of 1870 that
the first permanent white settler came to the vicinity of what is now Withee.
He was James S. Boardman and he came from Minnesota. George W. Richards
and David R. Goodwin were the next comers, with each year bringing a few more.
Winneoka post office was
established in 1874 with Bernard J. Brown as postmaster.
He kept the office at his farm and added a small stock of goods, which he
sold to the neighboring settlers.
Previous to this the settlers had received their mail through the post offices
at Chippewa Falls and Greenwood, having to pack or tote all their provisions
from one or the other of those two points.
On Nov. 23, 1880, the first
passenger and freight train ran over the new line of the Wisconsin Central
Railway, now the “Soo Line” from Abbotsford to Chippewa Falls and opened up the
development of that timbered country with a rush. The settlement of Withee
thrived and soon became a prominent station on the new road.
It was named after N. H. Withee, a schoolteacher from Maine, who was
county treasurer for several consecutive years and enjoyed the entire confidence
of the electors of the county.
On Aug. 27, 1881, the village was
platted, the survey being made by J. A. Dupre.
In the same year the first store was built and was operated for two
months by E. A. Eaton, who then sold pout to W. S. Tufts. The next building
erected for business purposes was put up by William Valiquette as a saloon.
In 1890, the Tufts store was one of the largest in the county.
Mr. Tufts was the postmaster, the office being at the termination of the
state line running from Neillsville through Christie, Greenwood, Hemlock and
Longwood to Withee. In the same
year, Withee had another general store, a grocery and confectionary store, a
hotel, a blacksmith shop, a saloon and a large lumberyard.
The village was then the shipping point for the D. J. Spaulding mills
located on the Popple River at the present site of Owen. The arrival of the
Danish people in 1894 gave a decided impetus to the village and surrounding
country.
Early in 1901 steps were taken for
the incorporation of the village, the survey being made March 4, by C. S.
Stockwell. A census was taken March 8, by E. B. Clifton, the latter showing a
population of 304. The application
was made March 9, signed by John Christenson, P. H. Hansen, Joe Krom, W. C.
Tufts, Charles L. Wasgaard, O. C. Jensen, D. Conley, J. W. Davidson, W. T.
Nielsen, Hans Frederiken, R. Johnson, Christ Jensen, Alex Laberge, Mrs. L.
Moody, C. A. Brown, Louis Thilbert, C. W. Funk, Prime Laberge, Chas Kuehl, Paul
A. Paulson, C. H. Senn, T. H. Barger and W. H. Smith. The petition was granted
April 27, the same year, and the vote of the inhabitants being in favor of the
proposition, the village was incorporated shortly after. The first president was
VC. W. Funk and the first clerk W. F. Nielsen.
Withee has an electric lighting system, which is furnished by John S. Owen Co.
of Owen.
The water system was installed in
1907 at a cost of $11,000, the village being bonded for $7,000. These bonds
mature from 1917 to 1927.
In 1908, the year after the water
system was put in, the volunteer fire department was organized, of which Carl
Berger is now chief. The department has
one hose cart, with 700 feet of hose and one hook and ladder truck. The great
loss by fire in the history of the village was in 1897 when the Tufts store was
burned.
The educational facilities of
Withee have been well taken care of and have advanced with the general progress
of the community. The first school was held in a small building of one room,
built in 1883, the teacher being Lucinda Amo. The present building, of red
brick, was built in 1890 and contained four rooms. Subsequent additions have
increased the number of rooms to ten, in which all grades are taught, including
a high school course and agriculture. The building is steam heated and a library
has been provided for the use of the pupils.
Clark County Dairy Farming in 1922
First Annual Report of the Granton Cow Testing
Association, 1922
In the vicinity of Granton is the
land of clover and good cows.
The older members of the Granton
Cow Testing Association remember the area over which our Association extends
when it was a vast wilderness of pine, maple and basswood and lumbering.
At that time it was the principal industry but is now almost a tradition
that has given way to the industry to which this fertile area was destined for,
“that of Dairying.”
Now one’s eyes scan with pleasure
the fields of clover, grain and waving corn, and herds of “Dairy Cows” leisurely
and contentedly enjoying the luxuriant pastures, which grow so abundantly.
There are occasional patches of
maple, which our older members are religiously reserving as a sugar bush, taking
pleasure each spring spending a few weeks gathering sap and making syrup. They
tell the younger generation tales of how they blazed the way to where their
modern farm homes now stand, where they and their families enjoy the comforts of
life, such as the industry that modernized farming affords.
The village of Granton, business
center of this section, is located on a branch of the Chicago Northwestern
Railroad and on State Highway 18 and County Highway K.
It has three churches of different
denominations, a modern hotel, a real Farmers Bank, lumberyard, two blacksmith
shops, wagon shop, two cream stations, receiving station for the Condensery,
three garages, drug store, meat market, two grain elevators and real general
stores.
The educational advantages are
exceptional for a village of its size.
It has two large school buildings, one which is a four-year high school
and the farmers as well as town folks are giving their children the advantage of
a high school education.
It is rumored that the high school
building is fast becoming too small and an addition to it is being planned.
The roads are unusually good in
this district; practically all the main traveled roads are being paved and
patrolled, making traveling a real pleasure.
Review of
Year’s Work
We feel that during the past
testing year, the members of the Granton Cow Testing Association showed great
progress in dairying. As this was our first year of testing we have no way of
making any accurate comparisons.
The 244 cows that completed a whole
year’s work, showed an average production for the year of 7, 422 pounds milk and
286.4 pounds butterfat.
We believe Granton has the highest
butterfat average of any of the 14 associations in Clark County.
Statistics show that the average
production per cow in Clark County is 165 pounds butterfat.
We claim to have the highest herd
in Clark County, the herd, which as 409.4 pounds of butterfat average, a herd of
registered Holsteins, owned by Otto Henze.
He says it is easy to make money, milking Holsteins.
James Baker, however, does not
agree with Henze, as his herd of 8 milking Guernseys was the most profitable
herd.
Henze’s herd of 7 registered
Holsteins holds high herd honors for the testing year. The entire herd was
milked three times a day for three months.
There were 24 additional dairy
herds in the Clark County testing program.
Wonser & Co. with 13 registered
Holsteins; Wendell Crothers had 8 Guernsey and Reg. Holsteins; Harry Hales, 8
Guernsey and Reg. Holsteins; Henry Sternitzky, 12 Graded Guernsey; Art Berg, 7
Graded Holsteins; Clifford Winn, 8 Graded Holsteins; Ara Lee, 12 Graded & Reg.
Guernsey; Fred Tyler, 12 Graded Holsteins; Elmer Anderson, 13 Graded & Reg.
Holsteins; Dale Lee, 10 Graded Guernsey; Fred Fehrman, 8 Graded Holsteins;
George Hales, 12 Graded & Reg. Holsteins; Walter Rowe, 13 Graded & Reg.
Holsteins; F. w. Winn, 5 Reg. Guernsey; John Pietenpol, 15 Graded & Reg.
Holsteins; Myron Osgood, 16 Graded & Reg. Holsteins; Price Lee, 16 Graded
Holsteins; Adam Allbaugh, 6 Graded Holsteins; L. K. Davis, 11 Reg. Guernsey; Joe
Krause, 17 Graded & Reg. Holsteins; Grassman Bros. 14 Reg. Holsteins; Pete
Schmitz, 10 Native Cows; E. A. Beeckler, 14 Graded & Reg. Holsteins.
Overall average milk produced was
7,442 pounds and average butterfat was 286.4.
Things we are Proud of
Drinking cups in 17 barns; all
members except one have one or more silos; Electric lights on six farms;
Acetylene lights on four farms; Farm papers in every home; No butter substitutes
used by members, nor are butter substitutes sold at Granton; There are four
members who have tractors; All our members are good fellows; All their wives are
good cooks.
Here’s to The Scrub Cow:
Goodbye old Brindle, bony scrub,
The time demands a better breed.
You eat enough, but there’s the
rub,
You never pay for half your feed.
So after all these years we part,
But pray, remember as you go,
If this should break your bovine
heart;
You broke my purse long, long ago.
(It is interesting to note the size of the dairy
herds in 1922. The smallest was
five cows in the F. W. Winn herd and the largest was 19 cows in the T. F. Lee
herd, which is very few in comparison to present day Clark County numbers.
The largest dairy herd in Clark County now, 90 years
later, is 2,500 cows, which varies from day to day due to that large of a
number. The average size dairy herd
is 80 cows.
The present day records show average milk production
of 20,000 lbs. The top record cow
produces 31,278 lbs. of milk, with a record of 1,233 lbs. butterfat and 974 lbs.
protein.
These records show a vast difference since the
beginning of herd testing in 1922.
Much has been done in improving herd genetics, feed programs and cow comfort
provisions, which all play into the great advancements in dairy production
within the county.
The “1922 Granton Cow Testing Report,” brochure was
shared by William Howard, who has kept the brochure in the family archives
collection.
Maria Bendixen, UW-Extension Dairy & Livestock agent
of Clark County provided the current diary herd statistics. DZ)
June 1947
The Women’s Softball League,
boasting such team names as the “Sluggers” and the faintly nostalgic
“Leftovers,” unlimbered their big hats Monday night in the opening of their
league schedule.
The somewhat lopsided results in
the two opening tilts were: Sluggers 28, Pete’s 5; and Sockettes 8, Leftovers 1.
The league will play games each
Monday and Wednesday night on the North Side School diamond. This Wednesday’s
schedule placed the Zille’s against the Leftovers, and the Sluggers against
Pete’s.
The team captains are: Dorothy
Kunze (Sockettes), Joanne Pietenpol (Pete’s), Mrs. Orvilla Zille, (Zille’s),
Mrs. Della Botnen (Leftovers) and Mrs. Stella Shafer (Sluggers).
•••••••••
The Kiwanis club will pay off a
debt of long standing Tuesday night when it entertains members of the Rotary
club at dinner at the Neillsville Country club.
The debt arises from the licking
the Kiwanis bowling team took at the hands of the Rotarians way last winter.
Principal speaker will be Judge
Roland J. Steinle, presiding judge of the second branch of the Milwaukee circuit
court.
•••••••••
Glenn Lezotte and Donald Anderson,
who left for the West about two weeks ago, have written their parents in
Neillsville that they have secured good jobs in Yellowstone National Park and
hope to stay all season. The boys hitchhiked all of the way and say that they
did very little walking. On the
first lap of the journey, they had a ride from Fairchild to Fergus Falls, Minn.
•••••••••
Sugar stocks in Neillsville retail
stores were being built up again this week after a brisk turnover last mid-week
following the end of rationing.
Local merchants reported that the
end of sugar rationing brought a rush of housewives and other family members to
make their first ration-free purchased since the sweet stuff was put under
controls.
•••••••••
When Ed returned to his truck on U.
S. Hwy 10 last Sunday, he found a highway cop awaiting him.
He had gone to get some gas for his truck, which was stalled right on the
concrete. But if he lacked gas, the officer found that Ed was not lacking a load
and he later pleaded guilty before Justice Haven to operating a motor vehicle
while under the influence of liquor.
He was fined $50 and costs, and his license was revoked for a year.
•••••••••
A couple of horses have made Wilmer
(Bill) Meier swear off fishing.
It happened this way: Bill went
fishing Tuesday afternoon in the river at the mouth of Cunningham Creek.
He parked his car in Otto Miller’s pasture, and noticed a couple of
horses there as he did so.
He didn’t count on horses being
inquisitive. But when he returned he found that they had:
Stepped on the running board and
smashed it; opened the door in some manner; and ripped the covering off the
front seats and started eating the stuffing; and all that in 45 minutes.
One of Clark County’s first cheese factories was located two miles south
and two miles west of Granton on the southwest corner of the Pray avenue
and U. S. Hwy 10 intersection.
The above photo was taken in the early 1950s when the factory was
owned by Walter Reber, who made Swiss cheese. |
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