Seven new members have joined the State Historical Society during the
quarter ending September 30; Charles D. Rosa, of Beloit; Edward P.
Farley, of Chicago; Earl Murray, of Green Bay; William T. Evjue, of
Madison; Frank M. Crowley, of Madison; Charles H. Crownhart, of
Madison; and Dr. L.A. Quaife, of Rosalia, Washington. In the same
period the Society lost through death two of its valued members, Otto
B. Joerns, of Stevens Point, and Henry E. Legler, of Chicago.
In the death of Henry E. Legler on September 13 this Society sustained
the loss of a valued friend and member. Many and divers as were the
public positions he occupied--newspaper editor, legislator, secretary
of the Milwaukee School Board, secretary of the Wisconsin Free Library
Commission, librarian of the Chicago Public Library--it is not to the
man as a public official that our thoughts involuntarily turn, but to
the man as a friend. With unusual business capability, which involved
securing the utmost of service and loyalty from his employees, Mr.
Legler was possessed of personal characteristics that endeared him as
well to the office messenger as to the members of the governing boards
under whom he worked. His associations with this Society and the
members of the library staff were long and close, and it seems fitting
that we should express both sorrow for his loss, and gratification
that it had been our privilege to have known him intimately.
Miss Mabel Swerig, for two years a faithful and efficient worker in
the reference division of the Historical Library, severed her
connection with the Society in September in order to enter upon a
course of library training at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. Miss Mary
Farley, for three years a member of the library staff, on October 1,
assumed direction of the library maintained by Marshall Field and
Company for its employees. The new position will afford Miss Farley an
excellent opportunity for development in the line of her chosen
profession. At the beginning of September Theron Brown, for the past
two years assistant in the public documents division of the Library,
enlisted for technical service in the United States Navy.
Carl Russell Fish and Frederic Logan Paxson, curators of the Society
and professors of American history in the University of Wisconsin,
spent the summer in Washington engaged in service for the government.
Professor Fish’s time was given to the National Board for Historical
Service, of which he is a member. Professor Paxson gave his services
to the committee on public information.
Prof. Winfred T. Root, member of the State Historical Society and of
the faculty of the State University, conducted history courses at the
summer session of the University of Chicago.
Rev. Eugene Updike recently terminated a twenty-seven year pastorate
of the First Congregational Church of Madison. In the last fifty-two
years this church has had but two pastors, Mr. Updike’s predecessor
having served a quarter of a century.
Capt. Arthur L. Conger, who delivered the annual address at the
meeting of the State Historical Society in 1916, is now serving on
General Pershing’s staff in France. Mrs. Conger has recently gone to
France to be near her husband.
At the time of going to press, plans are practically complete for the
annual meeting of the State Historical Society to take place October
25. Two events new to the annual program are a luncheon to be tendered
by the Society to its members and invited friends and a conference of
local historical societies. Because of Prof. Frederic L. Paxson’s work
for the government, he was unable to prepare the annual address
announced in the September number of the _Magazine_. In his stead
Prof. Carl R. Fish will speak on “The Frontier a World Problem.” A
full report of the meeting will appear in a later number of the
_Magazine_.
The use of pageantry in depicting the historical development of a
community is rapidly gaining headway in Wisconsin. Among those that
attracted state-wide attention was the one given at Portage during the
week of the Columbia County Fair, August 22-25, 1917. “America and the
Nations” was the title of the pageant, and it was given in three
episodes. In the first there was a symbolical scene representing the
spirit of the Fox and the Wisconsin rivers. Then followed the Jesuit
fathers, French traders, trappers, and pioneers. In the second episode
the coming of miners, lumbermen, fishermen, and farmers was witnessed.
The closing scene was a grand review of all the leading nations of the
world, symbolizing an international unity. Over 700 people took part
in the pageant.
The citizens of Chippewa County staged an interesting pageant at
Holcombe during the week of their Community Fair, September 13 and 14.
The pageant, given under the direction of H. A. Edminster, portrayed
the coming of the fur traders in the Chippewa Valley, a bit of Indian
life, the coming of the priests, lumbermen, and the first permanent
settlers. The closing scene depicted the modern economic and
industrial development of that region. One very interesting part of
the performance was the appearance of an ox team hitched to an old
“jumper,” driven by Mr. and Mrs. Edminister, representing their coming
into that region.
Among those working for the cause of history in Wisconsin, none are
doing more effective or practical work than some of the history
committees of the county councils of defense. Among those that are
rendering a real service is the committee of Eau Claire County, headed
by William W. Bartlett. Their object is to gather, preserve, index,
and make available for public use the proceedings of every event that
takes place in Eau Claire County pertaining to the war. A complete
file of newspaper clippings that deal with the war will be preserved.
Also an effort is being made to secure a photograph and brief sketch
of every young man entering the service from Eau Claire County. Such
practical work as this commends itself to every patriotic citizen in
Wisconsin, and the committees in other counties might do well to
follow Eau Claire’s lead.
Mr. Charles E. Brown, chief of the Wisconsin Historical Museum,
entertained in September a group of friends who are interested in the
study of local Indian history at his attractive home in Nakoma, a
suburb of Madison. A picnic supper was served, after which Mr. Brown
gave an instructive talk upon Nakoma and its environment. Brief talks
relating chiefly to Indian history were made by others present.
The surviving members of the Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry held a joint
meeting with the Scandinavian Veterans’ Association at Madison in
September and plans were inaugurated for erecting a monument to the
memory of Colonel Heg. Wisconsin had the distinction during the war of
sending a regiment to the front composed almost exclusively of
Scandinavians. Col. Hans Heg, their famous commander, was born in
Norway, and came to America when eleven years old. At the opening of
the Civil War he was holding the position of state prison
commissioner, which he resigned in order to raise a regiment of
troops. The Fifteenth Wisconsin brought credit to itself and to its
state, and the name of Colonel Heg deserves a permanent place among
the Wisconsin heroes of the Civil War.
At the meeting of the Wisconsin Federation of Women’s Clubs, held in
Madison during October, the history section met in the museum of the
State Historical Society. The visitors were taken for an automobile
ride and sightseeing trip about the city.
The annual meeting of the Sauk County Historical Society was held at
Baraboo, October 5, 1917. All the officers of the Society were
reëlected for the ensuing year. The report of the treasurer revealed
an especially gratifying condition, a considerable sum of money in the
treasury and practically all membership dues paid in. A bequest of
$200 from the estate of the late W. W. Warner of Madison, was received
during the year. The Society voted to send two delegates to the annual
meeting of the State Historical Society at Madison, October 25. The
address of the evening was given by Mr. M. M. Quaife, Superintendent
of the State Historical Society, on the subject, “The Angel of
Wisconsin.”
The Old Rivermen’s Association of Minneapolis and St. Paul held their
meeting in the latter city on September 4, 1917, and the chief address
of the meeting was given by George B. Merrick, of Madison. No group of
men in the upper Mississippi Valley has played a more romantic part in
the opening up of this region than the old steamboat men. Their
membership now numbers about 150, and the experiences which they
relate form an interesting chapter in early Wisconsin history.
Wisconsin’s Indian drama entitled “Glory of the Morning,” written by
Prof. W. E. Leonard, is being produced by Mrs. Emma Garrett Boyd of
the Casino Studio, New York. The proceeds are being devoted to the war
fund. This drama was first produced in Madison in 1912 by the
Wisconsin Dramatic Society under the direction of Prof. T. H.
Dickinson. As a summer festival play it has become one of the most
popular in the country.
An interesting old account book kept by Jean Brunet of Brunet Falls
(now Cornell), Wisconsin, was recently given to the Society by Mrs.
Gustave Robart of Holcombe. The old Brunet tavern was the most widely
known of any in the Chippewa Valley, and every traveler who went up
and down the valley stopped with Jean Brunet. During its palmy days as
many as 150 men were fed there at one time. The entries in the book
cover the period from 1862 to 1876. Mrs. Robart, its donor, is a child
of the first white settler in that part of the valley.
Recent accessions to the Society’s historical museum include fine
examples of early English chinaware, an early American clock, lamp,
children’s clothing, laces and embroideries, a steelyard, kitchen fire
shovel, boat-builders’ rule, a railroad stock certificate, and other
articles of interest. The most valuable single specimen is a large
silver trophy cup given by the _Army and Navy News_ and won by the
First Wisconsin Infantry in the Second Brigade football contest among
the troops stationed on the Mexican border in 1916.
An interesting collection of war relics has been placed on exhibit in
one of the rooms of the museum just off the auditorium. The exhibit
represents the current history of the present war, as illustrated by
relics, war implements, and posters. The contents of the exhibit are
changed every few days.
A valuable collection of papers was recently presented to the Society
by Dr. Herbert B. Tanner. The collection contains many of the letters
of John Lawe, the well-known merchant and fur trader of Green Bay, and
some letters of George Boyd, an early Wisconsin Indian agent. Lawe
through an inheritance left him by his uncle, Jacob Franks of
Montreal, became a very wealthy trader, and following the War of 1812
settled in Green Bay. Here he acted as agent for the American Fur
Company and his operations extended from Milwaukee as far west and
north as the upper Mississippi. As adviser and counselor for the
Indians and fur traders he became the leading citizen in what is now
Wisconsin. Dr. Tanner’s donation contains fifty-three letters written
by Lawe himself, ranging in time from 1824 until his death in 1846.
Their chief interest lies in the additional light that they throw upon
the early fur-trading interests of Wisconsin and the Northwest. The
collection contains eighteen letters written by Jacob Franks covering
the period from 1818 to 1830. Those written during the latter years
express a feeling of regret over the gradual disappearance of the fur
trade, and the coming in of new settlers. There are several letters of
a personal nature that add interest to the collection. The Society is
indebted to Doctor Tanner for this contribution of fur-trading
documents.