Marathon County, Wisconsin - Chapter 13, 1913

Chapter 13

Timber left in iS/j - Far)ii Development - Roads and Comniunications - Timber Lands in jpi2 - Schools - Courthouse and County Institutions - The Marathon County Agricultural Society - The Marathon County Bar.

After railroads had penetrated the county, the population increased speedily. Up to that time ( 1871 ) there was no settlement at all in ranges 2 and 3, in townships 26, 27, 28 and 29, and none as far north as Ashland ; and the first settler in fact was the Wisconsin Central Railroad. It passed through a splendid timber county, and saw mills sprang up almost simultaneously with the road. From the mill settlements at Mannville, Spencer, and Unity, farmers went in east and west, making famis in Clark and ]\Iarathon counties. At Colby a farmer settlement sprang up, and the towns of Hull and Holton were the strongest fanning communities in the extreme west of the county in the first years, there being a large amount of government lands which was taken up by homesteaders. They had to go through the same experience as the earliest pioneers, except that they were a little nearer to a base of supplies along all the railroad stations. Otherwise their work was as hard and their distress at times as severe as those of all pioneers. Like all others, they had to cut their roads for themselves ; were deprived of all comforts for some years, but their compensation for braving the wilderness came sooner because they were nearer markets and a railroad to connect them with civilization. During the decade from 1870 to 1880 the county increased faster proportionately than before or after. The population in 1870 was 5.S85, but in 1880 it was 17,121, having more than trebled; and it must be remembered that in 1874 all that part of Marathon county lying north of township 30, which had a population of over 800 in 1870, which is included in the census of 1870. was taken off from Marathon county and organized as Lincoln county.

In 1875 there was still an immense amount of standing timber in Marathon county, which was computed at that time by D. L. Plumer and John Ringle, from estimates received from the best and most reliable sources, as follows :

This estimate was based, of course, upon the best information obtainable, and included only the standing pine timber; but judging from the fact that pine lumber operations on these streams have been carried on until veryrecent years, it is safe to assume that it was rather an under than over estimate.

There is little pine, if any, left on these streams, but there are yet many million feet in this county standing among the hardwood timber, which is carefully saved and guarded by the owners, mostly farmers.

The saw mills have decreased, but other factories where wood is manufactured into smaller articles have increased; but the output of lumber is still very large, amounting to somewhere one hundred million or more in the county, mainly manufactured at Wausau, Scholfield and Stratford.

Some of the logs come still on the river route, but most are shipped in by rail from the north. In place of saw mills, paper mills have been built, and give employment to labor; veneer mills cut up the timber into less than one-sixteenth of an inch, where formerly lumber, was sawed one and two inches thick. Sash and door factories work up the rough material into high priced articles, and iron factories furnish the mills with the machines and build bridges for export. All these factories will be mentioned later, when coming to each city, village or town. But most of all, the fanning industry had developed to an extent never dreamed of before.

With the slightly diminished supply of pine came a demand for other woods ; first for hemlock, which was regarded as almost worthless and gave the farmer the most trouble in burning ; hemlock bark was being shipped to the tanneries of Milwaukee and La Crosse by thousands of cords every year, but much is now consumed at the large tannery at Wausau; after the bark was stripped off, the logs could be sold for a fair price at the mills, being at least salable, and in later years commanded a good price, especially compared with its former worthlessness ; next basswood came in large demand, and after

Every log was now worth something, and paid the farmer a fair compensation for clearing, where formerly he had to burn. Such being the case, the clearings became larger and larger; the country settled up; new villages sprang up; towns had to be divided, and new ones organized; agriculture advaneed ; new farm houses were being built ; the old log house and barn disappeared and in its place came fine, comfortable frame, brick and even concrete houses, and large frame barns and stables. The many creameries and cheese factories created a demand for improved stock, and prosperity smiled upon the farmers of Marathon county. The ox as a draft animal is no longer to be seen anywhere; even the logging, rather skidding, is now done with horses. The German farmer, who is in the overwhelming majority in this county, getting fast Americanized, however, in this generation, did never take very kindly to ox driving; as soon as he had a farm large enough to keep a team of horses in feed, he took to horses; and it is a fact that no finer or better horses can be seen anywhere in the state. The German farmer loves his horses and takes care of tliem as if they were human beings, and they repay his kindness and care.

The census of 1910 shows 5,080 farms in ^Marathon county, having an average of 105 acres. The general average is decreased by the number of small holdings of one or a few acres by workingmen on the outskirts of the cities and villages, which are counted as farms in the census, as otherwise the farms usually exceed 120 acres.

The best paying crops are winter wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, peas, potatoes, vegetables, and hay. Of the latter, bluegrass, white and red clover are important. Bluegrass and clover spring up naturally and grow to perfection. Oats yields from 40 to 60 bushels per acre. Corn is now grown successfully. Wisconsin is as good an agricultural state as any of the middle west, and no county has better crops on an average than Marathon county. The following figures, taken from the yearbook of the United States department of agriculture for 191 1, are convincing as to the excellent character of Wisconsin soils, and when in later years an effort was made by the Agricultural Society of Marathon county to make an exhibit at the State Fair at Madison, this county has been awarded first prize for its agricultural products in competition with all otlier counties in the state.

Marathon is preeminently the clover county of the state, and for this reason one of the foremost dairy regions in the state. With one-sixtli of the cheese factories and one-half of the creameries, Wisconsin is the greatest dairy state in the Union, with an annual production valued approximately at eighty million dollars. Marathon county contributes a goodly portion to this immense total. There are more than thirty thousand milk cows in the county, from which 29 creameries and 64 cheese factories are supplied, which produce one and one- fourth million pounds of butter and two and one-half millions of cheese. There are fine herds of Guernsey and Holstein cows, but also short horns and Angus cattle are raised for beef. Bee culture is carried on and two thousand colonies of bees are busy gathering the nectar from the white clover and basswood and other blossoms. Excellent well water is found at depths from forty to sixty feet in the rock bottom, and there is an abundance of live springs and spring brooks.

Roads And Communication

The public roads are, with few exceptions, laid on section and one-fourth section lines, and all parts of the county are easily accessible. In the year 191 2 the sum of $20,000 was expended for macadamizing roads, in addition to the usual expense for road repair. Macadam roads can be and are made cheap because the material is close at hand. There are now 1900 miles of road in the county, and 176 miles of railroads traverse it from north to south and east to west; 300 miles of telephone lines and 35 railroad stations with 31 rural routes serve 4,000 families, and the daily mail brings to the farmer the daily paper only a few hours later than the city resident. Nothing has done more to make farm life attractive than the telephone and rural delivery, to which will soon be added the parcel post.

Between one-half and one-third of the people live in cities and villages and are engaged in industrial pursuits, the rest in agriculture. This gives the farmer a good home market for all his products. More than half of the farms are clear of any incumbrance, and many farmers have bank deposits, while the indebtedness carried by others is less than one-third of the value of the property and with present prices for farm products will be wiped out in a few years.

When the county gave 200,000 acres of land to the Wisconsin Valley Railroad Company it was a good stroke of policy; it brought revenues where formerly were none. At that time the best of timber lands could be bought for from $3.00 to $6.00 per acre according to location, depending on the nearness of the city of Wausau, which was really the only market at that time.

The average value of improved fann land ranges from $30.00 to $100.00 per acre. Wild hardwood lands are selling from $15.00 to $25.00, and cut over lands with little timber on it, for from $8.00 to $15.00 per acre. Prices for wood and timber, liable to vary a little were as follows in 191 1 :

Sleighing can be relied upon for from five to nine weeks every winter, which enables fanners to haul logs to mills and take lumber home on a sleigh

And Representative Citizens 171 Amount Of Timber Lands

These figures are taken from the agricultural census of the United States for 1910 and are pretty reliable. The land covered with timber is rather under than overestimated. The standing timber is still one of the great resources of the county, and the annual cut is nearly balanced by the new growth.

The old log scliool houses have given way to frame buildings of modern type, with due regard to ventilation, comfort of pupils and sanitation. But one or two of the counties in the state pay a higher salary to the county superintendent, and towns and villages vie with each other to make their schools attractive and secure good teachers, and 9,000 pupils are in regular attendance.

Instruction is carried up to and including the eighth grade, and older or advanced pupils get a course of instruction equal to the ninth. Two-thirds of the schools have a term of eight months and all others nine. W.ithin a short time all schools will be open nine months. The wages paid to rural teachers are a little better than the average in the state and range up to $60.00 per month. In 181 1 the county districts received from the state school fund $2.69 for every child between four and twenty years of age. An equal amount is levied by the county at large, and the remainder must be provided by local district taxation. The schools are well distributed, the district so arranged that only in exceptional cases a child lives more than one and a half miles from the school house.

the zeal and vigor of the county superintendent, Mr. W. Pivernetz, who personally visits every school at least once in each year, and whose devotion to duty and ceaseless endeavor to raise the standard of education in Marathon county so as to equip the growing generation with the means to grapple successfully with the problems which will be theirs to solve in time, reflects credit upon himself as well as the communities which look upon him as their adviser and friend.

Besides the high school at W'ausau there are five accredited high schools in the county, a county training school for teachers (the first in the state), a county school for agriculture and domestic science, the last two institutions being situated in the city of Wausau, to the maintenance of which the state contributes two-thirds and the county one-third of the expense.

Some of the parish schools rival the public schools in excellence and are evidently proof of the fact that church organizations are not only willing to maintain their own schools, but take pride in keeping them up to the standard of the public schools.

A true and correct illustration of this superb structure is shown on a page in this chapter. It is a spacious building with ample office accommodations for each county officer. It has yet some unoccupied rooms, but they will be found useful when the ixjpulation of the county has increased to 100,000 or more. It is simple in style, chaste, almost severe, but on account of its fine proportions makes a pleasing impression. No attempt was made at art display, which so often results in a woeful compromise between the conflicting demands of real art and economy, when the means at hand are unequal to the demands of art, and a compromise between art and economy is made, usually disastrous in both directions. It may be said to be a fireproof building, each office being supplied with a large, absolutely fireproof vault, yet so constructed as to receive light and air from without, so that no artificial light is needed during day time. It is well ventilated and heated, and furnished with tasty practical furniture.

H. C. Koch, the Milwaukee architect, made the plans, and the contract for its erection was awarded to John Miller, contractor and builder of Wausau, as the lowest bidder, on the 13th day of November, 1890, for the sum of $51,800.00, which, however, did not include the heating apparatus.

Telephone Building And Post Office, Wausau, Wis And Represextatre Citizens 173

stance worth mentioning is that there were only a few sHght changes from the original plans, which were made with a corresponding slight increase in the contract price. The net cost of the building when completed and taken over by the county was a little less than $65,ooo.cx), not including fees of committee and cost of plans. It stands as a monument to the skill and business capacity of its contractor who was able to erect that massive towering structure- at so comparatively low a price, and yet was not a loser on the contract. The building of the court house convinced people that good substantial buildings could be erected at Wausau at as low a cost as anywhere in the state: that all building material is close at hand and as skilled workmen here as anywhere.

The First National Bank erected their splendid building in the same year, and from that time dates a building era in Wausau which far surpasses anything done in that line in former years.

The building committee having the charge and supervision of the court house during the process of its erection were John Ringle, John Kiefer, and Frank Fellows, and it must be said that that committee solved the problem put in their charge with credit to themselves and with high degree of intelligence and honor to the county. After several terms of court had been held it was found that the acoustics in the court room were defective, the room being too plain without enough breakers of sound, and too 'high. This was remedied by putting in a false ceiling about three feet lower than the original, and covering the plaster finish with coarse linen cloth to prevent an echo, since which change the acoustics are all that may be desired. After a use of nearly twenty years the hardwood floor on the lobby of the first floor and landing of the second floor was taken up and replaced by a tile floor, and a new heating plant installed. The court house is a credit to Marathon county, not the least of which is that every cent it costs was well earned and honestly accounted for.

At the time this location was much criticised as being too far from the court house, but it is now seen that that criticism was unfounded. The building stands on two blocks of ground, fully isolated, has a well kept lawn, and with its fine cottage style has more the appearance of the residence of a well to do citizen than the place of detention of criminals and other persons. It has a number of steel lined cells to harbor dangerous prisoners, the cells being 6>4 by 8 feet, leading out to a corridor where detained persons may exercise. There are separate rooms for witnesses, for juvenile offenders, also one cell for persons under examination for insanity, and a bathroom and closet.

It is built to keep prisoners safely, no escape is possible when the sheriff or jailer uses ordinary care. At the same time it is comfortable, clean, and sanitary. It is so constructed as to keep persons of different sex completely apart, also juveniles.

The entire cost of the jail was $35,000.00. The mason and stone work was done by John Miller, and the steel jail work proper by the Pardy Jail Co., St. Louis, Mo.

This meritorious institution was built upon the earnest request of L. Marchetti. who was at that time the county judge, under whose jurisdiction comes the adjudication of insanity and orders for their care in proper asylums. Humanitarian as well as economic considerations prompted him to urge the county board to this undertaking. After the county board had directed a committee to investigate asylums of this kind and the costs of maintenance and receiving a favorable report, the county board on the 22d day of March, 1893, ordered the building of the asylum and the issue of $80,000.00 bonds for the erection and completion of the same.

At the time of its erection it was a model of its kind, and so far as the building itself for the caring of the patients is concerned, it has needed no repairs or improvements to this date. It is conducted upon modem lines relating to the care and treatment of the inmates. There are no other restraints placed upon the patients than would be placed upon a similar large number of rational persons of different sex occupying the same building. They are managed by appealing to those qualities of mind and heart which still respond to a pathetic or kind touch ; by constant endeavor to arouse the slumbering faculties of the mind ; by directing them to some useful occupation calculated to bring into action their mental as well as physical capacities ; by teaching them to recognize in the superintendent and the matron their best friends and protectors. All holidays receive due attention, and no effort is spared to make them enjoyable. Thanksgiving is remembered by a turkey dinner; each patient receives a present at Christmas either from a friend or relative, or from the institution; the Fourth of July is duly celebrated each year, and everything within reason is done to make the lot of the patient comfortable.

The asylum is now in the eighteenth year of its existence and reflects honor upon Marathon county as well as upon the management. It ranks among the best institutions of its kind in the state. No better location could be found for it. It stands on the high bank of the Wisconsin river which affords excellent drainage ; its surroundings are picturesque ; it has immediately surrounding it lOO acres of land which is under cultivation, and more land in close proximity belonging to the asylum; the soil is a sandy loam easily worked and well adapted for cultivation of all crops with good husbandry. From a sanitary point of view nothing better could be desired. It is within three miles of the court house, easily accessible by visitors, physicians, and officers.

It was built in 18933- 1894 °" plans approved by the state board of control, and the original cost, including the building and the entire outfit of personal property within it, was $80,000.00, for which bonds bearing four per cent interest were issued payable in annual installments, the last payment to be after twenty years. No tax was ever levied to provide funds for the institution, the same being self-sustaining from the start. The land was purchased by the county at very reasonable figures, and the whole amount invested in land and personal property up to date with all improvements which have been made such as barns and other buildings, amounts to $116,000.00.

The building committee which had the letting of the contract and supervise the execution thereof, were F. T. Zentner, William F. Hewitt, F. W. Kickbusch, P. F. Curran, and E. Heath, to which was added as an honorable member the county judge Louis Marchetti.

The asylum and the management proved a success from the humanitarian point of view as well as from an economical one. Marathon county was and is large, and had then and now many chronic insane. These patients where transferred to this place where they can be often visited by relatives who may thus convince themselves that they have the best possible treatment.

So much for the humanitarian point of view. It is an economic affair, because it has brought a large surplus into the county treasury every year instead of being an item of expense. At the present time there are 173 inmates in the institution of both sexes.

The eminently successful operation of the asylum induced the county board to locate the Home of the Poor on the same ground and put both institutions under the control of the asylum trustees. There are three of them, one to be elected every year for three years. A detention hospital is connected with the home, where alleged insane persons may be observed pending an investigation and examination. It serves also the purpose of treating very poor patients under certain conditions, and is also a maternity hospital. It was completed three years ago by Anderes & Son of Wausau, contractors and builders, to the full satisfaction of the county board. It will house sixty persons comfortably, one person to each room, and more in cases of necessity. It is modern in every respect, sanitary, and comfortable. At present there are thirty-one men and ten women inmates. One central heating plant in a separate building heats both asylum and home.

At and near the asylum and home there are 320 acres which are worked as a farm, on which all necessary foodstuffs except groceries, spices, and fish food for the use of both institutions is raised, mostly by the inmates under proper supervision and assistance. Three hundred and twenty acres more are located about seven miles away which is timber land and was purchased and is used as a woodlot. A herd of 48 milk cows, 20 head of young cattle, 16 draft horses. 100 pigs, and 250 chickens are kept on the fann besides 40 steers on an average, raised for slaughter, and all sorts of vegetables are cultivated for home consumption. There is a laundry building, a cold storage, an ice house, and all necessary stables, barns, and other buildings, in short, every building needed on a first-class farm. A stand for discoursing sweet music has been erected where on proper occasions the inmates enjoy a concert in the open air.

The asylum trustees for the last decade were Anton Mehl, president. Charles Craemer and Henry Vollhard, in place of Anton Mehl, who declined a re-election in 19 12, Aug. F. Marquardt was elected, and Charles Craemer took the place as president.

The home and hospital was built under the supervision of the committee of public property, to wit : John Manson, chairman ; W. W. Thayer, Charles Zarnke, A. J- Cherney, and Herman Vetter.

The superintendent of the asylum and home and hospital is M. H. Duncan with his very estimable wife as matron. Mr. Duncan has been now superintendent since 1909, and the institutions have been conducted in a very satisfactory and creditable manner.

was the first institution of this kind in the state. The object is expressed in its name, but it is more particularly the aim of the school to graduate teachers at home without the expense of going away to a state normal school, and thus attract pupils which could not afford to prepare themselves for the profession of teaching except by graduating them at home, and thus furnish a good supply of teachers for the great number of county district schools under proper training. By act of legislature, chapter 268, law of 1889. two counties in the state were empowered to found a county training school, and Marathon county was the first in the field to reap the benefits of that act.

An appropriation of $2,500.00 was immediately made by the county for the school, and the city of Wausau gave the use of the Humboldt school building to the school. On September 11, 1899, this school opened with twenty-two pupils, but the number increased so that in the fourth tenn there were forty-four, who took the advantages offered to prepare themselves for teaching.

The state paid one-half of the sum appropriated by the county. $1,250.00. In 1902 the county board made an appropriation for teaching agriculture and domestic economy, and had a separate building put up, immediately east of the fair grounds, at a cost of $20,000.00 for building and equipment, for the use of the training as well as the agricultural school. It stands on six acres of grounds, of which eight lots were donated by Mr. C. S. Curtis of Wausau. The teachers' training school has come up fully to the expectations of the founders. Through this school the county schools are furnished with a corps of competent teachers, particularly trained for such schools; as a consequence the standard of teaching is higher, better discipline is maintained, the school boards have become more interestfd than before and give the teacher every assistance, such as providing sanitary, good ventilated rooms, books, and instruments.

Every school is more or less what the principal teacher makes it. and it was fortunate for the Marathon County Training School to secure right at the beginning two such excellent instructors as Prof. O. E. Wells, formerly state superintendent, and Miss Rosalia Bohrer as his assistant. They prepared the course of study, adhered to it, extended the curriculum from time to time, and have been able to turn out a corps of competent teachers, and the fruit of their labor is plainly seen in the higher education of the growing generation in the county. The fact that both Mr. Wells and Miss Bohrer have been able to work harmoniously side by side without interruption since the organization of the school in 1899, that they have conquered the prejudice with which the undertaking was first looked upon and have the full confidence not only of the board of trustees and pupils, but of the school boards generally throughout the county, is the best proof of their high standing as instructors and managers of this institution. A moral atmosphere pervades the training school; pupils are made to understand that they have duties to perform in return for the education which they receive. In the fall of 1908 it became necessary to engage another assistant, Miss Ellen McDonald, principal of the Oconto high school, who was since elected county superintendent of schools of Oconto county, and Miss Edith Hamaker has taken her place as assistant.

The School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy gives instruction in all sorts of work required to be done on the farm and such knowledge as every farmer needs. It teaches the boys to learn the composition of the soil upon which crops are to be raised; the due care of stock, of buildings, and machinery, and everything which the farmer needs to know in these days of scientific farming.

Domestic Economy

Girls are tauglit sewing and otiier hand work, cooking, house work, and the practical manner of housekeeping generally, which is so often neglected in our families of late. To give the women of the future that instruction which will enable her to conduct her household neat and at the same time on economic lines is, to the majority of them of more importance than accomplishments on the piano or similar studies in arts, which usually give the pupil no more than a very superficial knowledge of the art which is usually dropped when the stern realities of life make their demands upon the housewife.

The first instructor in the agricultural school was R. H. Johns, whose competency brought him soon a place as manager of a Pease canning factory at a higher price than as teacher; he was succeeded by Mr. Crosswait and for the last three years Mr. J. F. Kadonski has very successfully presided over that institution.

The School of Domestic Economy had an excellent teacher in the person of Miss Emma Conley, who has since been called to the state normal school at Oshkosh as teacher in the same branch, and her place has been ably filled by Miss Mary Ellis Brown.

The board of trustees of the training school are : A. L. Kreutzer, president; E. J. Benson, treasurer, and W.Pievemetz, county superintendent, as a member ex officio.

The board of trustees for the agricultural school are : Ben. Lang, president; Frank Chesak, treasurer, and W. Pievernetz, county superintendent, as a member ex officio.

Both of these schools, which exert much influence for good in their way, are the creation of A. L. Kreutzer, who was at the time of the enactment of the laws authorizing their organization a senator for the twenty-fifth senatorial district of Wisconsin, composed of Clark and Marathon counties. It was he who introduced the bills, urged and succeeded in their enactment, and advocated the immediate acceptance of the opportunity given the county by the acts, and as trustee from their very organization has taken much interest to keep the schools up to their high standard of efificiency. At first the state paid only one-half of the costs of maintenance, but by a later act, chapter 509, laws of 1905, also introduced by and enacted through Mr. Kreutzer's influence as a senator, the state now pays two-thirds of the expenses of the schools, which in later years have been $6,000.00 annually, but which this year are $7,000.00, of which the state pays two-thirds. These schools present a splendid opportunity for Alarathon county boys and girls to equip themselves with the knowledge and the training which will enable them to shoulder the burdens of life and acquit themselves honorably in the discharge of the duties of American citizenship. If Senator Kreutzer had done nothing else than to secure for this county these two schools with state aid, he would be entitled to the thanks of the community.

The Marathon County Agricultural Society was founded in 1867. Some previously made attempts for the organization of such a society failed for several reasons. Up to that time farming was yet in its infancy, all farm work was yet done by hand. The first threshing machine and separator was brought to the county by Charles Zastrow, of the town of Hamburg in 1866, though there were a few open cylinder threshers in use, which did not separate the kernel from the chafif. But many farmers still threshed by flail up to 1870, especially new beginners, whose harvest was too small to justify the setting up of a thresher and separator. Nor were there many fanning mills. The grain was cleaned in the old-fashioned way by throwing it against the wind.

The first mowers and reapers \\ere introduced in 1874, and the first harvester, a McCormick, in 1880. The ax, the side, the scythe, cradle, and hoe, besides plow and harrow were the only agricultural implements of the pioneer. Sometimes young farmers are heard talking like this, "If we should farm like our parents now, we could not make a living." That is true enough, but perhaps in a double sense. Could they fami like their fathers and make the headway which they made, clearing, then sowing and harvesting among stumps and rocks, with hoe and side and cradle threshing with the flail?

In the year 1867, two gentlemen pioneers saw the necessity of doing something to encourage agriculture, and as practical men they knew that the first condition was to have a place or spot, on which to hold agricultural fairs. And- they organized the Marathon County Agricultural Society and deeded to the society for a nominal consideration the northwest >4 of northwest 34 of section 35 and northeast Y^ northeast 34 of section 34 in township 29, range 7 east, for a fair ground. These gentlemen were B. G. Plumer and August Kickbusch, the deed bears date January 28, 1867. Other business men of W'ausau. and even laboring men, helped in the clearing up, fencing, and improving the ground by laboring, or by giving lumber and nails.

In the course of years, buildings and bams were erected, a race track laid, and a grand stand put up, and everything done which is needed to give an exhibition of agricultural products, to bring fine live stock to the farmers' attention at home, and induce him to improve his stock.

The admission fee was only $5.00, which made the payer a life member and entitled him to free admission at all fairs during life. Only a few farmers joined, and even at this late day, the membership is almost exclusively confined to people living in the city of W'ausau, with not to exceed thirty farmer members.

The grounds have been kept up by voluntary contributions by the people of the city of Wausau, and by an annual appropriation of the county board of $500.00 for premiums. The society has one of the finest grounds in the state, eighty acres, of which forty lie in the city limits. About fifty acres of cleared ground, occupied by buildings and race course ; the other thirty acres are finelv timbered land. Twentv acres were leased to the W'ausau

Sharp Shooters' Society for 99 years, which has a fine club house and range, and Company G of the Third Regiment Wisconsin National Guard, has also their range on this twenty acre piece. These twenty acres, together with ten acres timber land under the control of the agricultural society, make a splendid natural park in the city.

The society is now nearly out of debt. It owes $1,000.00 spent for buildings and improvements, and one fair with good weather will clear the debt.

The following were the officers of the society for the year 1912: Charles Barwig, president; William F. Lemke, vice-president; E. C. Zimmerman, treasurer; J. D. Christie, secretary; and eleven trustees constitute the executive board.

The present trustees are : S. M. Quaw, A. J._ Plowmann, E. C. Zimmerman, William Lemke, Frank Deichsel, G. A. Mills, Aug. F. Marquardt, John Kreutzer, C. A. Barwig, W. J. Brill, and J. D. Christie.

Of the original founders and members who joined the society in 1867, only about ten are still alive, their names appearing on the roll of membership. The others ha\'e gone to that bourn from whence no traveler returns.

Adams, H., Wausau; date of joining, 1868. Albers, W. W., Wausau; date of joining, 1892. Alderson, W. A., \\'ausau; date of joining, 1892. Alexander, Walter, Wausau; date of joining, 1892. Anderes. Gottlieb, Wausau; date of joining. 1897. Armstrong, Walter, \\'ausau ; date of joining. 1868. Baerwald, William. Wausau; date of joining, 1870. Barnum, M. H., Minoqua; date of joining, 1870. Barrett, C. C, Edgar; date of joining, 1903. Baumann, R., Wausau; date of joining, 1870. Bellis, M. G., Wausau; date of joining, 1897. Benz, Aug., Wausau; date of joining, 1892. Bird, C. B., Wausau; date of joining. 1903. Brown, Neal, Wausau; date of joining, 1896. Braatz, Aug., (Canada) : date of joining. 1876. Curtis, C. S., Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Delaney, Patrick, \\'ausau; date of joining, 1884. Dern, Anton, Wausau; date of joining, 1884.

DeVoe, W. W., Wausau; date of joining, 1870. Dumdei, Fred, Town of Wausau; date of joining, 1883. Dunbar, C. F., Wausau; date of joining, 1885. Duncan, M. H., Wausau; date of joining, 1901. Egeler, John, Wausau; date of joining, 1870. Empter, J. F., Wausau ; date of joining, 1900. Freeman, Robert, Emmett; date of joining, 1900. Gehrke, J. W., Cal. ; date of joining, 1897. Gensman, Jacob, Wausau; date of joining, 1867. Gerbsch, Herman, Wausau; date of joining, 1886. Gilbert, C. S., Wausau; date of joining, 1896. Ghodes, Carl, Town of Texas; date of joining, 1893. Gritzmacher, John, W'ausau; date of joining, 1893. Gorman, Dennis, Wausau; date of joining, 1895. Gorman, P., Wausau; date of joining, 1895. Hagen, Charles, Town of Easton; date of joining, 1886. Harger, C. W., Wausau; date of joining, 1896. Head, H. C, Antigo; date of joining, 1900. Helke, Charles, W^ausau; date of joining, 1895. Helke, Gust., Town of Berlin; date of joining, 1895. Heinmann, Ed., Wausau; date of joining, 1895. Heinemann, Ben, Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Heinemann, N., Wausau; date of joining, 1885. Hewitt, William F., Schofield ; date of joining, 1882. Hunt, Peter, Wausau; date of joining. 1874. Hurley, M. A., Wausau; date of joining. 1900. Johnson, R. H., W^ausau; date of joining, 1885. Jones, G. D., Wausau; date of joining. 1900. Kelly, Frank, Wausau; date of joining. 1896. Kempt, James, Town of Texas; date of joining. 1868. Kennedy, John, Town of Wausau; date of joining, 1901. Keyes, H. A., Merrill; date of joining. 1867. Keil, J. H., Wausau; date of joining. 1900. Kickbusch, Robert, Wausau; date of joining. 1886. Kiefer, John, Wausau; date of joining. 1884. Kiefer, John L., Wausau; date of joining. 1896. Kleinschmidt, C. A., Merrill; date of joining. 1871. Kline, D. A., Merrill; date of joining. 1867. Klein. George, Wausau; date of joining. 1903.

Koch, Earnst, Wausau; date of joining, 1899. Kretlow, E. C, Wausau; date of joining, 1897. Kreutzer, A. L., Wausau; date of joining, 1903. Kronenwetter, Carl, Mosinee; date of joining, 1897. Lamont, J. P., Wausau; date of joining, 1896. Lehy, J. E., Wausau; date of joining, 1868. Lemke, William, Naugart; date of joining, 1902. Levenhagen, Fred, Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Lipinski, Albert, Wausau; date of joining, 1897. McCrossen, James, Pasadena; date of joining, 1870. Manser, John, Wausau; date of joining, 1901. Manson, J. N., Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Marquardt, A. P., Wausau; date of joining, 1875. Marchetti, Louis, Wausau; date of joining, 1883. Meisekothen, Aug., Madison; date of joining, 1897. Meuret, J. G., Scholfield; date of joining, 1893. Miller, John, Wausau; date of joining, 1868. Miller, Henry, Wausau; date of joining, 1882. Miller, John W., Wausau; date of joining, 1895. Miller, Herman, ^^'ausau; date of joining, 1868. Mitchel, W. W., Wausau; date of joining, 1869. Morman, Pred. Wausau; date of joining, 1879. Montgomery, James, Wausau; date of joining, 1885. Mueller, Gust., Wausau; date of joining, 1896. Murray, D. J., Wausau; date of joining, 1890. Nicolls, Edw., \\'ausau; date of joining, 1868. Paronto, Alfred, Kelly; date of joining, 1868. Peters, Hugo, \\"ausau; date of joining. 1896. Plumer, D. L., Wausau; date of joining, 1867. Pradt, L. A., Wausau; date of joining, 1896. Quaw, S. M., Wausau; date of joining, 1883. Rick, George, Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Ringle, John, Wausau; date of joining, 1874. Ritter, Prank, Wausau; date of joining. 1896. Rosenberry, M. B., Wausau; date of joining, 1903. Sauerhering, D., Wausau; date of joining, 1892. Schmidt, Robert, Wausau; date of joining, 1901. Schmidt, William, Scholfield: date of joining, 1896. Schmieden, Herman. Wausau; date of joining, 1870.

Schoeneberg, William, Wausau; date of joining, 1886. Schubring, Fred T., Wausau; date of joining, 1870. Silverthorn, W. C, Wausau; date of joining, 1867. Slimmer, Jacob, Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Smith, J. C, \\'ausau; date of joining, 1900. Speer, E. V., Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Stadler, Philip, \\'ausau; date of joining, 1900. Stewart, H. C, Wausau; date of joining, 1903. Stuhlfauth, George, Wausau; date of joining, 1903. Talier, Louis, Wausau; date of joining, 1868. Thayer, E. B., Wausau; date of joining, 1883. Trevitt, A. W., Wausau; date of joining. 1890. Ventzke, Fred, Wausau; date of joining, 1899. Voigt, H. E., Hamburg; date of joining, 1895. Vollhard. Henry, Marathon; date of joining. 1893. Wendorf, Albert, Stettin; date of joining, 1867. W^ilson, William. (Washington) ; date of joining, 1867. Winton, C. J., Minneapolis; date of joining, 1890. Witter, H. E., Wausau; date of joining, 1893. Witter, G. W., Wausau; date of joining, 1900. Whitmore, J. T., Wausau; date of joining, 1893. Young, Frank, Wausau; date of joining. 1892. Zender, N. H., Wausau; date of joining. 1897. Zentner, F. T., Manitowoc; date of joining. 1882. Zimmerman, E. C, Manitowoc; date of joining, 1895.

Belanger, Ovid, Wausau ; date of joining. 1903. Cauley, Mich.. Wausau; date of joining, 1903. Cauley, William, Wausau; date of joining, 1903. Gallon, William, Wausau (1892) ; date of joining, 1903. Collins, W. F., Wausau; date of joining. 1903. Duncan, Roy, Wausau ; date of joining, 1903. Flieth, H. G., Wausau (1892) ; date of joining, 1903. Farnham, George S., \\'ausau ; date of joining, 1903. Haider, Albert. Wausau; date of joining. 1903. James, E. M.. Wausau; date of joining. 1903. Kollock, W. D., Wausau; date of joining. 1903.

Pierce, Mrs. F. H., Wausau; date of joining, 1908. Ziebell, A. E., Wausau; date of joining. 1908. Deichsel, Frank, Wausau; date of joining, 1909. Chellis, William, Wausau; date of joining. 1909. Nafz, Gust, Wausau; date of joining. 1910. Single, Mrs. Susan V., Wausau; date of joining. 1910. Mueller. Otto. Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Weinkauf, Paul, Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Lull, John, Wausau; date of joining, 1910. DeVoe, Fred, Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Barwig, Melvin, Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Lemke, O. C, Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Graft, John, Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Marquardt, Aug., Jr., Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Bean, J. J.. Wausau; date of joining, 1910. Albrecht. William, Jr.. Wausau; date of joining. 1910. Bock, A. A.. Wausau; date of joining. 1910. Zimmerman. Alfred. Wausau; date of joining. 1910. Beilke, Henry A.. Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Schmidt, Aug. F., Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Krueger, Otto. Wausau; date of joining. 191 1. Bean. E. E., Wausau; date of joining. 191 1. Joster, John, Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Hofifmann, William, Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Heil, Fred, Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Hochtritt, E. A., Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Amhaus, Herman, Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Bean, G. W., Wausau; date of joining. 191 1. Holub, Adolph, Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Parsch, Gust, Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Morgan, F. A., Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Prehn, A. W., Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Marquardt, A. E., Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Cook, L. H., Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Christie, John D.. Wausau; date of joining, 191 1. Ramthun, Herman, R. 2, Wausau; date of joining, 1912. Gordon, W. W., R. 3, Wausau; date of joining, 1912. Becker, Louis. Rothschield; date of joining, 1912. Holzem. Jacob, R. 2, Wausau: date of joining, 1912.

And Representative Citizens Officers For The Year I9I3

Wausau, ist ward, F. J. Gaetzman; 2d ward, E. C. Kretlow ; 3d ward, Fred E. Schroeder; 4th ward, M. W. Sweet; 5th ward, John Kiefer; 6th ward, W. A. Berger; 7th ward. F. W. Krause; 8th ward, Bernhard Krueger; 9th ward, Ernst Koch.

County Officers, I9I2-I9I4

Until j\Iarathon county was organized in 1851, there is no trace or remembrance of the existence of any tribunal having any resemblance to a court of justice in the whole territory north of township 25, and before that event the territory had been attached to Dane county for judicial purposes. There is not a trace of a lawyer in Marathon county until 1851, when Hiram Calkins is mentioned as district attorney, which ofifice he held for several terms. He was evidently appointed by the governor and took up his residence at or shortly before his appointment. Next appears William Kennedy, elected county judge and admitted to practice before the circuit court of the county in 1853, and the next attorney who came to \\'ausau and opened an office was Lyman Thayer, who came in 1853. Up to 1856 the following were the resident attorne3's and in actual practice :

Hiram Calkins, Eli R. Chase, J. P. West, W. F. Terhune, M. H. Bamum, C. V. Bardeen (elected judge of the supreme court), H. S. Alban, B. J. Pink, H. H. Grace, Otto Krueger, W. S. Williams, W. V. Silverthorn, George C. Dickingson, R. A. Edgar, and John B. Andrews.

In ability and character, the Marathon county bar always stood well in the estimation of the State Bar Association, and many of the individual members took high rank as lawyers among the fraternity in the state. Some became distinguished in the halls of the legislature and others upon the bench.

Hon. W. C. Silverthorn was elected state senator for the 21st senatorial district; he was the candidate of the Democratic party in 1884 for attorney general, and in 1896 for governor of the state. He was appointed circuit judge by Governor Scofield in 1898, elected the same spring and reelected in 1904, and resigned the offce in the summer of 1908.

Hon. J. A. Kellogg was elected to the state senate in 1878. He died in the spring of 1884, was buried at W'ausau, and later his body was removed and buried in La Crosse.

Hon. C. V. Bardeen was elected circuit judge of the newly created i6th judicial circuit of Wisconsin in 189 1 ; reelected in 1897, and appointed by Governor Scofield as judge of the supreme court in 1898, and elected for the unexpired term of Justice Newman, and reelected and died at Madison, March 20, 1903.

Neal Brown was elected to the assembly in 1890, and to the state senate in 1892, and received the primary nomination of his party (Democratic) for United States senator in 1898, and the vote of the Democratic minority in the legislature of 1903 for the same high office