Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin

September 19, 2012, Page 11

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled by Dee Zimmerman

 

Clark County News

 

September 1882

 

On the first day of September 1882, J. L. Gates & Co., who had conducted a private bank in this city under the name of the Neillsville Bank, transferred the business to Richard Dewhurst, who will continue the same business under the same name.  Joseph Morley will continue to be cashier and Miss Mary Dewhurst will be bookkeeper. Judge Dewhurst will give the bank his personal attention and will invest in it adequate capital to supply all the wants of such an institution in Clark County.

 

This will give to Neillsville a banking house with means sufficient to supply the wants of all our businessmen and with a credit equal to that of the best banks in the state.  It will be to Neillsville what the Batavian Bank is to La Crosse.

 

Judge Dewhurst has resided in Clark County since 1856 and is well k known throughout this part of Wisconsin and among all the lumbermen in La Crosse and down the Mississippi River, who have ever done business on the Black River.  He has amassed a fortune by a shrewd foresight of the rise in value of our pine timber and attention to all the details of his business.  He has never moved rashly, or stepped into dangerous positions, but has always been known as a conservative, cautious man in all his undertakings.  Such a man cannot help but gain the confidence of the people.

 

No young man in this city is more respected than Joe Morley.  He has had a good business education, is a graduate of the Law School at Madison, and has had the benefit of a year’s experience as cashier with J. L. Gates & Co.  The business public will find him courteous and attentive to business.

 

Mr. James L. Gates has conducted this business for three years and made it a success.  Despite the efforts of certain enemies he has kept steadily gaining the confidence of the people and by his honorable treatment of all his customers has built up a good business.  He has made some remarkably fine purchases of pineland within the last year, which has placed him among our solid lumbermen and these ventures have tempted him to relinquish the banking business and engage in real estate and mercantile pursuits.  He retires from the banking business so built up with the consciousness that all his obligations have been met.

•••••••••

 

 

J. L. Gates was a prominent resident of Neillsville and Clark County in the area’s early development.  He made his wealth here in the logging industry and then real estate, selling thousands of acres after clearing the land of timber.  He also conducted a private bank, the Neillsville Bank, which after three years, was transferred to Richard Dewhurst, who continued the banking business under the same name.  J. L. Gates left a lasting mark of his residency here, with the beautiful late 1800s style house he had built at 18 South Hewett Street, as shown in the art drawing above.

 

Miss Tuppler, who was some years ago a teacher in the Normal School at Whitewater, has demonstrated the feasibility of ladies taking up land and becoming “settlers”.  She went to Dakota, fell in love with the prairie and determined to leave the schoolroom for a wider field.  She took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land, built her cabin, lived in it for the requited six months and secured her title to the land.  Two of her lady friends, one a Milwaukee lady, contemplate following her example, each taking up a quarter section and also a tree claim.

 

Miss Martha Cawley, who is well known in this vicinity as one of our most thoughtful teachers, is about to give a new proof of her intelligence and good judgment by going to Dakota and appropriating one of those beautiful farms, which Uncle Sam will give to anyone who can make it their home or plant trees hereon.

•••••••••

Local Market Report:

Butter, fine grass-made 20¢ lb., common 15¢ lb.; Cheese 14¢ lb.; Corn, 55 to 66¢ per Bu.; Deacon Skins, 20 to 50¢; Dressed Meats - Beef 8¢, on hoof, 4 to 5¢; Pork 8¢; Mutton, 8¢; Eggs 12 1/2¢; Flour - Common $7, Patent $10; Feed $32 per ton; Hams - 14 1/2¢, or Retail, 16¢; Hay $6 & $8; Hides, 5 and 6¢; Mess Pork, Retail $22 per bbl.; Oats 45-50¢; Potatoes $1; Salt, retail $2.20; Wheat $1.10 to $1.20; Soft Wood $2 per cord, Hard $2.50.

•••••••••

Mont Brown came in from the East Fork last Saturday.  He has been in charge of a crew of men who are building a dam on that stream.                                                                                          

•••••••••

A party of New Yorkers landed in Dorchester one day last week and announced that they were going to settle on a farm six miles west of town.  The brave men bought some oxen and went out to look their purchase over. The next news heard was that the whole party, fair women and brave men had departed. They found the country west of town too rough, they said.  Verily, New York is welcome to them. We want no such pioneers in Dorchester.

•••••••••

The Chippewa Logging Company has recently bought from Cornell University, 116,000 acres of pinelands, along the Chippewa River tributaries, for $1,800,000.                                             

•••••••••

Members of the odd Fellows will hold a picnic at the mound next Friday.  Conveyances will be in readiness at an early hour, so that nearly the whole day can be spent there. Those who attend should take along a basket of provisions.

•••••••••

No Cranberries!  Messrs, Stafford and Trahern, of the Grand Rapids area, who gathered about 1,200 barrels of cranberries last year, have picked over their marshes this season and have only 17 barrels, the smallest crop ever taken from the vines. This proportion seems to hold with all our cranberry men.  Mr. J. T. Beares, one of the heaviest cranberry men in this county, had over 1,900 barrels of berries last season and this year he has only a trifle over 100 barrels.  Some of our men have none at all so to speak, while a few will harvest perhaps a tenth part of a usual crop. Vennor’s frosts of June 10 and 11, played havoc with the berries this year, otherwise everything was favorable for a large yield.

•••••••••

Huntzicker’s new hotel is open to the public and is enjoying a fair share of the public patronage.  It will be kept in first class style.  Instead of giving it his own name, he calls it the North Side Hotel.

 

September 1957

 

The cornerstone of Calvary Lutheran Church in Neillsville was laid at special services here Sunday afternoon; but vying in interest was the unusual triumvirate of pastors who took part in the service.

 

As more than 100 members of the recently formed congregation and friends looked on, three Tanners; grandfather, father and son, all dedicated to the work of Christ, took part.

 

Fr. Jacob Tanner, the 92-year-old grandfather, gave the address.

 

Rev. Idar J. Tanner, the father and pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church, laid the cornerstone with the assistance of the church council.

 

And the Rev. Ira Tanner, the son and pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Greenwood, gave the scripture reading.

 

In the black robe of scholar, Grandfather Tanner made an impressive appearance, his white goatee and hair contrasting with the black of his robe.  He spoke in a strong certain voice, with a show of vigor and clarity, which belied his age.

 

His clear enunciation was tinged with the accent of his native Norway, which he left when a young ecclesiastic of 27.

 

The head of the family of three ministers, Dr. Tanner remains active today as a professor of religion in Waldorf College at Forest Grove, Ia.  He drives his own automobile and remains unusually active.

 

Just recently he took part in the installation service for another son who also is a man of the cloth, the Rev. Agnar S. Tanner, in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, N. Y., which the late columnist E. V. Durling described as “the lovely borough across the bridge.”

 

An unusual coincidence was that the service took place on the 50th anniversary of Grandfather Tanner’s service as a minister in that same church.

 

Grandfather Tanner was born in Norway of Swiss and Norwegian parentage and attended the theological school of the University of Oslo.  He was an ordained minister before coming to the United States at the age of 27.

•••••••••

Former owners of the Granton Locker Plant, Alfred Spaete and son, Arvin Spaete, have purchased the plant from Mr. and Mrs. Horace Hack.  Mr. and Mrs. Hack have no definite plans for the future.

•••••••••

Michael Lulloff, nine, emerged from a postal storage box Sunday in which he had been padlocked, none the worse for wear.

 

It took Police Chief Lawrence Drescher, who speeded to his release with Jack Counsell, a postal worker, to unlock the padlock and give “Mike” his freedom.

 

The storage box is located on the boulevard in front of Michael’s home.  Finding the padlock was open; he opened the door and crawled in.  A playmate closed the door and when he applied the padlock, it readily snapped.  Michael was a prisoner inside.

 

It was not long before an emergency call brought the police chief. When the boy stepped out he was okay.  He said it was hot inside and that in order to get more fresh air he had pushed with his foot against the lower part of the door to widen the crack for more light and more fresh air.  Mike is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lulloff.

•••••••••

The 50th anniversary of Christ Lutheran Church, Chili, was observed in fitting ceremonies last Sunday.  The church building, originally bought and moved from Lynn, has been expanded and remodeled since.  Most recent improvement was the installation of stained glass windows, which tell a symbolic story.  Pastor of the church is the Rev. Arthur Oswald, who also is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church of Granton.                          

•••••••••

What happens to old highway bridges when they are town down?  Some of them of course are placed on other lesser roads.

 

That is what will happen to the old bridge over Wedge’s Creek on Highway 10, which has been replaced by a modern structure under construction since last March 6, and now in use.

 

It has been purchased as a town aid bridge by the Town of Weston, and the intention is that next year it will span Culley Creek where a town road crosses it west of the Uncle Sam School, about three miles north of Neillsville.

 

Dismantling of the super-structure is being completed this week by employees of the Reynolds Bros. Construction Company of Boscobel, which built the new bridge and its approaches.  It is being taken apart in numbered sections so that it may be easily rebuilt next year.  The pieces will be trucked to winter storage at the fairground, according to Otto Weyhmiller, county highway commissioner.

 

The bridge has a 90-foot span, with a 19-to-20-foot roadway, which is too narrow for the modern highway, Mr. Weyhmiller said.

 

The four-township bridge over Rock Creek, which found its way into circuit court with the question of who would pay for it, will see a resting place for another old highway structure.

 

There, a bridge, which formerly was over a stream on a state highway near Menomonie, in Dunn County, will be placed. This span will be over Rock Creek at a point where four townships join, Beaver, Warner, Eaton and Loyal, located two miles east of Greenwood.                                                                                                              

•••••••••

When the 24 pupils of the Christie School returned for classes last week, it almost was like coming to a new schoolhouse.  This newness is a result of planning and executing a program of remodeling and modernizing the school premises. When the teacher, Mrs. Della Botnen, was asked how she likes the changes, she replied, “It is wonderful!”

 

Both she and the children will enjoy the modern plumbing with running water, the fluorescent lights and the larger school-room, which resulted from removing an old partition to add eight feet to its length.  This addition was the old entry at the front of the building. The new entry was built at the rear of the building to get it farther from the highway, for reasons of safety, and it houses the new modern toilets.  Another new feature is lowered ceiling, which makes a pleasanter room and facilitates heating of the building.  A few years ago a playground was made at the rear of the building.  Work is now in progress on leveling the lawn.

 

This is quite a different set-up from when the following were teachers there: J. H. Fradette, later Clark County Treasurer; Claude Mills, father of Calvin Mills; Ella Richardson, daughter of the late John Richardson; Mae McNamara, who later became Mrs. Archie Sparks and taught at Humbird; Clara Geeslin, now Mrs. Clara Neff of Neillsville; and Celia Tyler, now deceased and a sister of Mrs. Charles Pole (Poole).  According to old records, teacher’s salaries in their day ranged from $30 to $40 per month.

 

The first school at Christie was built about 100 years ago when the district consisted of the present district plus the Mound District to the north. The present building was erected in 1903 and at the school meeting that year, $2,000 was voted for construction. Some members of the building committee of that time were: Calvin Mills, grandfather of Calvin Mills of Owen; Orlo Robinson, father of Miss Ferne Robinson of Neillsville; Steven W. Jones, a prominent citizen who lived on the Fred Buchholz farm; S. E. Morse, father of Mrs. Grace West of Neillsville; and Elmer Brown, father of Nina Brown, a former Clark County Nurse.

 

Clerk of the district was Albert Barber. Claude Mills and Len Shaw were among early pupils in the old school.

 

The present school board members are: Mrs. George Schaefer, clerk; Mrs. Donald Acheson, treasurer; and Albert Zank, director, who succeeded Henry Harder in July. Six of the present 24 pupils came this year from the former Forman School.

 

The improvements, this year, were done at a cost of $7,000.              

•••••••••

For Sale: rural school building known as Hillside School, located on County Trunk “G”, Clark County and the outbuildings belonging to the school.  School has practically new oil heater system and can be easily converted into a nice small home on a beautiful site.

 

All sealed bids should be made in the office of D. E. Peters, City Superintendent of Schools in the High School building, at Neillsville, Wis. by twelve noon October 3, 1957.                             

•••••••••

Mr. and Mrs. Soren Larsen have sold their farm north of Neillsville and expect to move into their newly constructed home on 11th Street by Saturday.  Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Amundson of Rice Lake have purchased the Larsen farm.

•••••••••

The Community Drive-In Theatre on Highway 73 at Christie is now ‘Closed for the Season!’  We will see you again early next spring!

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