Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin

August 26, 2009, Page 20

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Prepared by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled by Dee Zimmerman

 

Clark County News

August 1929

 

George N. Phillips, one of the few Civil War veterans, passed away at his home on South Grand Ave., July 25.  His death was due to old age, having reached the advanced age of 90.  For more than 60 years he had been a resident of Clark County.

 

Mr. Phillips was born in the State of New York, March 8, 1839.  When a young man he came to Wisconsin and settled near Berlin.  He was married to Miss Mary S. McKeand, January 6, 1860, in the Presbyterian Church at Waukesha.

 

On August 15, 1862, Mr. Phillips enlisted in Co. I, Eighth Wisconsin Infantry and served to the close of the Civil War.  At the time President Lincoln was assassinated, at the close of the War, he was assigned to special police duty and was one of the soldiers detailed to guard the remains of the President.

 

July 1, 1865, he was honorably discharged from the army and came back to Berlin to resume farming.  He had learned the carpenter trade and worked at this trade at different times and places.  About 60 years ago he came to Clark County and followed farming for a time. A good many years ago he sold the farm and moved to Neillsville, working at his carpentry trade.

 

Mrs. Phillips died July 2, 1919.  One adopted daughter, Alice, Mrs. Henry Hanson, died several years ago.  He leaves several nephews and nieces but all his near relatives had passed on before him.  He was a man of high principles, honest, industrious, patriotic, a fine citizen in every way.

 

The funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church, Rev. W. H. Norton officiating.  The Odd Fellows Lodge, of which the deceased was a member, attended in a body and took part in the ceremonies.

 

Nelson Robb, one of the few surviving Civil War veterans in this locality, attended the funeral.  Nephews and nieces attending the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Junghans of Wausau, Clarence Phillips and George Woodford of Humbird, Will Phillips of Granton.

•••••••••

Town of Hewett News:

 

One evening last week, some neighbors noticed a small light at Frank Lavine’s but thought Frank and Lapps were home.  However, later it was learned some one else took boards off the side of his house and robbed a colony of bees of their honey.  Those bees have been there for some years, behind the siding and between the 2 by 4’s.  Frank did not want those bees disturbed, but there are people who cannot help but destroy some things.

•••••••••

Harry Roehrborn has moved a building from the Lutheran parsonage to the lot behind his store where it is being made into a garage.  Mr. Roehrborn is remodeling the rooms above his store for living quarters.

•••••••••

Installation of a private branch telephone exchange in the Neillsville Bank has been completed by the Neillsville Telephone Co.  The system embraces six telephones and will expedite the handling of calls in the bank.

•••••••••

Monday noon all of the Clark County officers and employees of the various county offices gave County Superintendent Margaret Van Natta Walters an old time Charivari.  All of Janitor Carley Poole’s dust pans and other musical and non-musical implements about the courthouse were commandeered for the serenade.  The halls and corridor of the old county state house resounded to such music as was never echoed before.   The results were immediate and entirely adequate, sufficient funds resulted for a big treat, which the whole gang will enjoy some time this week.

•••••••••

A battle royal happened Sunday night at Tioga, which resulted in Orville Smith being struck in the head with a cant hook.  The incident is under investigation by Sheriff William Bradford, who stated charges will be filed against the assailants as soon as the outcome of the injuries is determined.

 

The row is said to have started after Smith’s car had stalled and he stopped at a farmhouse to ask assistance in towing his car home.  During a discussion of the price for towing the car, which the farmer set at $2, it is said an argument started that ended in a gang fight in which fists and clubs were used freely.  Smith, while attempting to hold several men at bay in front of him, was struck from the rear with a cant hook, which cut a five-inch gash in his scalp and knocked him under a nearby automobile.

 

The day before a man, whose name was not learned, is reported to have received a blow on the head with a crowbar while in the vicinity of Tioga.

 

Mrs. Smith alleges a few days before she had notified authorities that liquor was being sold in the vicinity and was informed because of the recent referendum the local officials had no authority to interfere in moonshine activities as Federal Dry Agents must be called to handle the situation.

 

Dr. H. M. Housley was summoned to attend to Smith’s injuries.      

•••••••••

Herman North, M. C. Rodolf, Maj. Sturdevant and Levi Williamson left Wednesday for Fifield where they will spend several days floating down the Flambeau River in quest of fish.

•••••••••

After complaints had been received Sunday night from some Neillsville Northside residents, one of their neighbors was arrested by police officers, Al Jensen and Fred Rossman who then lodged the man in jail on a charge of drunkenness.  In Justice Dudley’s court Monday, the guilty party was let off on a $10 fine when he confessed he had purchased the liquor at a Northside speakeasy.  What action will be taken against the seller of the liquor, has not yet been announced.

•••••••••

Mr. and Mrs. George Tibbetts have rented P. S. Temby’s house on East Ninth Street, now occupied by W. E. Tragsdorf and family, who are planning to move in the near future.

•••••••••

Kearns Drug Store wishes to announce that they have added the Gerber line of specially canned fruits, strained vegetables and soup to their baby food department.  These foods are prepared in a very scientific and nutritious way for babies and invalids.  Prices range from 15’ to 25’ a can.

•••••••••

Frank Kelley trucked Rev. G. W. Longenecker’s trotting horse to Tomah, Tuesday, to enter at the County Fair held there this week.  Marvin Eide went along and will do the driving at the races.

 

August 1959

 

Engineering crews from the Chicago & Northwestern railroad Wednesday afternoon were removing the freight car, which was pushed from the American Stores Dairy company siding into the O’Neill Creek pond.

 

A large crane was being used and the activity had attracted a sizable queue of spectators, who watched from the O’Neill Creek Bridge on Hewett Street.

•••••••••

“America is watching us as we pioneer in uniting two congregations,” said Rev. George Grether as he delivered the installation sermon Sunday morning at the United Church of Christ. The Rev. Frank B. Harcey was installed pastor of the recently combined Congregational and Zion Evangelical Reformed congregations here.

 

“From Coast to Coast, people of all faiths are watching this union, which is one of he first in the nation, and they will watch with interest the newspaper accounts of the merger and of its future program,” continued the speaker.

 

Lyle Stair of Osseo, chairman of the fraternal service committee of the Eau Clarie Association of Congregational Churches, brought greetings to the new church and the new pastor, and said, “We will be watching this merger and we wish you success.”

 

Lowell D. Schoengarth, Jr., son of Judge and Mrs. Lowell D. Schoengarth, received a “God and Country Award from, Scoutmaster Jack Grether at the Sunday service.  He is an Explorer scout and earned the honor award for a record of good churchmanship. A Scout pin and button were presented to Lowell, the first such award to be presented in Neillsville.

 

JoAnn Baker, soloist, sang Mallotte’s “The Lord is My Shepherd.”

•••••••••

The Annual Jamboree of the Neillsville Country Club will be held all day Sunday, with first tee-offs scheduled for 9 a.m.

 

A large number of prizes are being offered for golf and at the door. A free refreshment table will be available to entrants, and lunch and supper included in the entry fee of $5.

 

Hank Lukes and Roland Jenni are in charge of the event.

 

Golfers from throughout the area are invited to take part.

•••••••••

The construction of a building to house a foster home forestry camp, presented as an unique project, which will be watched with interest all over the nation, was voted by the Clark County board of supervisors here in their one-day mid-summer session.

 

The building will be located on the grounds of the county nursery, five miles west of Neillsville.  It will house eight youths assigned by the state probation officer and two foster parents.

 

The youths will work on county forestry projects and on the 10 county parks maintained by the Clark County forestry and park department.

 

Estimated cost of the building according to figures supplied by Donald Braatz, county treasurer and forestry administrator, is $21,000.  The county board’s vote was not to exceed that amount. The money will come from a $50,000 revolving fund of the forestry department, a fund built up over a period of years mainly through the sale of timber products from county-owned forestry lands.

 

The cost of the building, plus insurance and maintenance is about all the program will cost the county.  In return, Mr. Braatz pointed out, the county will receive labor from the eight youths assigned to the foster home and will make a probably larger contribution in the salvage of boys who might otherwise become serious problems and expense for Clark County.

 

In explaining the unique project before the vote, Lester Wogahn, district supervisor of corrections for the state department of public welfare, asserted that it will provide the one most-lacking element in the present day concept of foster homes.  That, he said, is the opportunity to teach wayward youths good work habits.

 

“The county project will be a pilot project in Wisconsin and the nation,” he pointed out.

•••••••••

Dr. William A. Olson, widely known Greenwood physician last week delivered his 4,000th baby in 26 years of medical practice in Clark County. 

 

Number 4,000 was born August 11, a daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Martin of the Town of Loyal.

 

Dr. Olson estimates that approximately 1,500 of “his” babies were born in homes of the area.  He started practice in Greenwood August 16, 1932, when most babies in Clark County were born in homes.

 

Babies come in all sizes, and Dr. Olson recalls one that weighed 15 pounds and 14 ounces at birth.

 

During the last 20 years, also, Dr. Olson recalls delivering 14 babies in one farm home near Greenwood; and attending the births of 13 babies in a 33-hour period about 10 years ago, all these births taking place in a hospital.

 

Dr. Olson was born in Blanchardville, was graduated from the University of Wisconsin, and from advanced studies at the University of Michigan.

•••••••••

The members of the Veefkind Community Church have purchased the former Ruby Anthony house in the Granton area.  They will move it to the church grounds and make it into a parsonage for their pastor, Rev. Warren Henderson.

•••••••••

Mrs. Emilie Lucht, who will be 97 years old September 1, 1959, was surprised by relatives with a celebration August 16 at the Charles Lucht home in Spokeville, where she makes her home.  Her six living children were present.

 

They were: Mrs. Gust Voight, Loyal; Mrs. William Fisher, Art Lucht, and Mrs. Alfred Oestreich, Spencer; Mrs. Ed Zuehlke, Oshkosh; and the son with whom she lives, Charles Lucht.

 

Many other relatives also attended the celebration.

•••••••••

Mrs. Frank Jonkel, the former Mabel Schlender of Baraboo is spending a week visiting friends and former neighbors in the Neillsville area.

 

Born in Neillsville, she moved with her parents to Columbia in 1896, her father, August Schlender, built and operated a general merchandise store on Main Street, just west of the present William Sollberger residence.  A large log barn still marks the spot, it being used at that time as a warehouse.

 

Mrs. Jonkel lived in Columbia during the boom days of that village, when there were about 25 business places, including stores, a tailor shop, hat shop, restaurants, hotel, school and depot.  A large pickle factory was located just south of Main Street and the railroad track.

 

She tells of a Swiss settlement near the present John Sollberger farm and states that most of these Swiss people later moved to Humbird.

 

She was graduated from the Columbia grade school in 1907 and remained in Columbia, with her parents until 1920.  The Schlender family lived in an apartment over the store.

 

She was married to Frank Jonkel in the early 1920s and made her home in “Chicago until 1954 when she moved to Baraboo.  Mr. Jonkel, a brother-in-law to Mrs. Tom (Ruby) Yndogliato, died in 1957.

 

She reports that she knows of eight burials being made on the hill south of the railroad track at Columbia, on land donated by Newt Wiggins.

•••••••••

Wisconsin has its first Sunday closing law applying to business enterprises.  Through the efforts of the Wisconsin Automotive Trades Association, representing the auto dealers of the state, the law now provides for Sunday closing of auto sales agencies.

 

But the WATA carefully explained last week that the statute applies only to sales, and not to service activities and those related to it.

 

 

A circa 1920s view of Lowe’s Furniture and Untertaking (Undertaking) business building; which was located at 545 Hewett Street. 

The two-story building was destroyed by fire in the late 1930s.  (Photo courtesy of Bill Roberts)

 

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