Author: Amanda

Hello Forest County Residents!

A new Lakeside Cemetery index has been added to the Crandon Public Library website. You can now search over 3800 burials and find the resting place of your ancestors. This is a great resource because researchers come from around the country in search of information on where their ancestors settled. One of the best ways to find out that information is through cemetery research. From looking at a gravestone you will learn the birth and death date , the place they lived, their family members, and sometimes how they died. This is invaluable information for many genealogists! One woman is coming to Crandon this weekend from Indiana after she found out who her grandmother was by way of the obituary and cemetery research I provided.

If you want to know more join us for a Lakeside Cemetery tour on Monday, August 25th at 6:00pm or visit this link http://www.crandonpl.org/city-of-crandon-lakeside-cemetery-index/

There were no battles fought in Wisconsin but almost every family was affected by the Civil War. Between 1861-1865, more than 91,000 young men left Wisconsin to fight in the South and 12,000 brave souls never returned. Wisconsinites participated in every major battle of the Civil War. Training centers for the soldiers were located in Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, Racine, and Madison. Camp Randall, where the Wisconsin Badgers play football, was used to house Confederate prisoners of war.

Wisconsin’s most famous Civil War unit was the Iron Brigade. It was composed of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin Infantry regiments, the 19th Indiana Infantry, 24th Michigan Infantry, and Battery B of the 4th U.S. Light Artillery. Made up primarily of Wisconsin men, they saw action at Bull Run, Virginia, Antietam, Maryland, Gettysburg, Virigina, and other key battles. Almerion Mead, grandfather of Crandon residents, served in this brigade. To learn the names of all the men from Forest County that fought in the Civil War and to view weapons from that time period visit the display case at the front of the Crandon Public Library. To see the gravestones of these brave men join us for a cemetery tour on August 25th at 6:00 pm at the Lakeside Cemetery in Crandon, Wisconsin. 

 

Hello Forest County Residents!

In honor of the Green Bay Packers starting their season this weekend I have a bit of history that brings the beloved Green Bay Packers to Crandon, Wisconsin. The local basketball team challenged the national football team and came out victorious!  According to the February 27, 1936, Forest Republican ” Playing their best brand of ball in over a month, the Crandon Legionnaires easily trimmed the Green Bay Packers 53 to 26. After the first few minutes the football stars never had a chance. The locals shot the ball around the court fast and accurately. The Packers just off the football field having returned from the west coast, were inclined to be a little rough at times. However, they played pretty good ball but showed weakness in shooting baskets. The winners pulled up at the end of the first round with a 21 to 3 lead and at the half the score stood 27 to 8. The third period Crandon leading 36 to 15″.

The players included:

Packers

• Milt Gantenbein
• Arnie Herber
• Johnny Blood
• Roger Grove
• Al Rose
• Hank Bruder

Legionnaires

• Guy Krumm
• Tony Wapp
• Ralph Jolliffe
• Elmer Pfeiffer
• Jack Kronschnabl
• Ed Flynn
• Bob Lambie
• Harry Hanson

Hello Forest County Residents!

Did you know that the first distillery to be built after prohibition was located in Crandon? W.B. Gambill Distillery was the only distillery operating in Wisconsin from 1937 to 1950. According to the Rhinelander Daily News (Aug. 30 1955)

” They distilled rye and bourbon whiskey and neutral spirits selling them in bulk in 1937. There was a bottling house in connection with the plant but the firm did not bottle any of its whiskey until after WWII. From 1942-45 the company processed alcohol spirits for the Defense Supply Corporation of the U.S. Government. At its peak the company employed 35 people. After the company lost the business of the U.S. Government they could not compete with the national distilleries and had to sell the company to Streckert Plywood Corporation”.

Steve Conway Jr. recalled the distillery in an interview “There was a distillery on Clear Lake. Now there is a company there that makes cutting boards and stuff like that. During WWII they made alcohol at the distillery. They had oak barrels that were burned on the inside. They stored the alcohol in the charcoal barrels. They made Seagrams liquor there. Some of the barrels were seven or eight years old when they shut the plant down. During WWII they made alcohol for torpedoes. They would burn alcohol to propel the torpedoes. After the war the company failed and the distillery closed”.

Hello Forest County Residents!

Today the community of Crandon is celebrating “Kentuck Days” and  I encourage everyone to visit to the courthouse square in downtown Crandon to join in the celebration. “Kentuck Days” recognizes the mass migration of rural Kentucky residents to Forest County around 1900. The people of Kentucky came to Northern Wisconsin looking for jobs in the lumber industry, to take advantage of the abundant natural resources, to escape the violence of local feuds, and to join family members that had already moved(Flannery 2013).

They were described as ” a people that settled throughout the woods and were a great help in the logging process. The Kentucks were good Christian people and never did any harm to anyone unless they interfered with their moonshine still. To them that gave cause to shoot someone on site” (Holt 1948:20).

Zorie Cracraft, a 101 year old resident, recalls her move from Kentucky as such ” I moved to the Crandon area in 1934 from Kentucky. Some of the people that were already here were the  McMillions, Griffiths, Deatons, Spencers, and the Kings. I recall hunting as a major factor in part of the move to Wisconsin. The family moved here because of the beauty of the area, hunting, job possibilities”.

The majority of today’s Crandon residents can trace their ancestry back to Kentucky as you can see from the sample of 1920 Federal Census records below.

Hello Forest County Residents! This week’s blog post includes a local resident living under an assumed name to escape the law. Vance Purdy was born in 1906 to Robert and Olive Purdy in Crandon. During the hard times of the depression he would travel to Door County to pick cherries for very little money. To survive he turned to driving moonshine to Milwaukee in the days of prohibition. Eventually he entered a life of crime, robbing banks in Woodman and Leopolis, Wisconsin. He also may have been involved in the stick up of the Refined Cabaret cast of Rhinelander. Purdy and his two accomplices escaped to Upper Michigan and were chased through swamps by the police (Appleton Post Crescent, Ludington Daily News,  Rhinelander Daily News 1930). When they were surrounded by the authorities Purdy escaped by floating down the river at night.  Purdy’s partners in crime were caught and spent a great deal time in the state prison (Tribbett 2014). Purdy  then changed his name to Ward Abbett. There are records of Abbett living in Popple River and Crandon in 1930. Purdy now known as Abbett joined the military in  1942 and served for three years.  Abbett lived in Milwaukee where he was married several times and eventually died.  He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Lakeside Cemetery (Tribbett 2014) .

 

Hello Forest County Residents!

The photo above features the Crandon Women’s Club Annual Garden Show in 1961 courtesy of the Forest County Historical Society. The individuals from left to right are: Edith Tracy, Rose Kline, Mrs. Oyer, and Hazel Skrupky. This photo is featured to celebrate this county’s long tradition of gardening including floral, vegetables, and herbs. To learn more about Wisconsin’s garden traditions please attend the first of our Summer Speaker Series on Monday, June 30th at 7:00 pm at the Crandon Public Library.  Lee Somerville will be presenting an hour long power point on her book “Vintage Wisconsin Gardens: A History of Home Gardening” in which she  introduces the audience to the region’s ornamental gardens of the 19th and early 20th centuries, showcasing the gardens of average Wisconsin resident created for their own use and pleasure. The presentation will feature period and contemporary images of plants and gardens, recommended plant lists, and garden layouts. “Vintage Wisconsin Gardens” will attract those curious about the history of the state’s cultural landscape and inspire readers to restore or reconstruct period gardens. Clarice Ritchie, President of the Forest County Genealogical and Historical Society, will bring sample of plants that can be placed in an heirloom garden. I encourage you to check out the beautiful gardens surrounding the Forest County Historical Society Museum. There will be also “garden party” refreshments for all to enjoy! I hope to see you there!

Hello Forest County Residents!

Summer is finally here and everyone is heading to the lake! Enjoying Crandon’s beaches in the summer is not a modern phenomenon. The people of Forest County have been spending time on the lake as long as there have been people residing in the area. Below is a view of Lake Metonga looking south as it appeared between 1910-1912. The presence of tire tracks on Lakeview Street establishes the date because there were not any cars earlier than 1910. The large building on the bluff to the right was the Crandon Gun Club.