An adventure in Waldick Township, Iowa County, Wisconsin

"It is. supposed, and justly, too, that Waldwick was inhabited shortly after the discovery of the mines at Mineral Point, for the earliest known pioneer and settler in the town, James Fitch, who came here in 1833, found the relics of an old smelting furnace on the farm now owned and occupied by Joseph Griddle. The owners of this furnace, or the names of the men connected with it, Mr. Fitch could never ascertain, neither could he learn where, or from what mines, the mineral so smelted was obtained. These facts prove conclusively that the town was inhabited at least as early as 1830, or before the Black Hawk war."

In the spring of that year, the brothers, William and Benjamin White, of Indiana, immigrated to Waldwick, built a cabin, and broke twenty acres of prairie land.

About the year 1836, William Burr, of Dover, N. H., attempted to found here a colony of Free-Will Baptists, but his sanguine hopes were blighted, as but two persons of the contemplated colony immigrated here. These were Ansen Hall and I. W. Sargent. From 1840 to 1850 a number of settlers located in the town.

Prominent among the "diggings" of Southern Waldwick was the "Dyer Diggings." The Dyer brothers bought the mine from William's brother Amos Young and Amos's partner Uriah Groshong, after William's brother-in-law Ephraim White discovered "rich ore" in 1845.

Mineral was discovered at the "Young Diggings," by Pleasant Fields, in 1843. He operated the mine for a time and then sold it to William Young. The Waldwick Mining and Smelting Company also operated several mines.

The town was created 2 Jan. 1849 and originally contained eighty-four sections. at latitude 425147N and longitude 0900121W. The first post office was established in December, 1849. Ezra A. Hall was appointed postmaster.

 "WALDWIC, Town, in southeast corner of Iowa county, intersected by the east Peckatonnica and Yellowstone creek. It possesses both prairie and timber, is sparsely settled, and is adapted both to mining and farming." Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer:

In 1861 forty-two sections of the eastern part of Waldwick were organized into a separate town and named Moscow.

Waldwick Methodist Epsicopal Church ca. 1900  Wis Hist. Soc.

The Yellowstone Methodist Church was built in 1867. It was founded by settlers from Devonshire, Cornwall and Yorkshire, England. In 1902 the name was changed to Waldwick Methodist Episcopal Church


Alfred Teague built the first home in Waldwick.  He also built a store behind the church and in 1885 a post office was located at the store. The post office was disbanded in 1907. "As a child I remember Waldwick as the place where we attended church. sold the eggs, bought groceries, and chicken feed, and filled the truck with gas.  Besides the church, there was a frozen food storage locker, a telephone switchboard, blacksmith shop, school,...auto repair shop, cheese factory, Woodman's Hall, and two general stores." (info from Waldick by Marion Howard)

Allen Lodge, No. 207, Good Templars, was organized in Waldwick, by Ph. Allen, Jr., of
Mineral Point April 18, 1874.

The Primitive Methodist Church, located on Section 32, was erected in 1880. Today it is called Bethel Methodist Church at the intersection of Highways 39 and County W.

By 1895, a map of Waldwick village appears in the Iowa County Plat Book. The village was never platted into blocks, lots and streets but appears to have grown from the intersection of two main roads of the township.

A Handbook of Wisconsin published in 1898 notes that businesses included a cheese factory, feed mill, blacksmith shop, farm implements and two general stores. The village was never incorporated.

Waldwick Community Church, Waldwick Wisconsin.  photo by G.F. Glaeve 4-20-2014

Pastor David Richie

The Waldwick United Methodist Church was closed by the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church because Pastor David Richie's training was not recognized by the United Methodist Church. 

The congregation voted to disband their affiliation with the  United Methodist Church and to reopen as the Waldwick Community Church.  This re-opening was accomplished in August of 2011 with the symbolic placing of the cornerstone. The ceremony was conducted by the officers of the Grand Lodge of Masonry in Wisconsin. The builders' tools of square, plum, and level are used to represent virtue, uprightness, and equality.  The Scottish Rite is one of the appendant bodies of Freemasonry that a Master Mason may join for further exposure to the principles of Freemasonry.

   In the United States the Scottish Rite is officially recognized by Grand Lodges as an extension of the degrees of Freemasonry.  

Recently the Waldwick Town Board, without being requested by the church, took the step of declaring the building a Historic Landmark as a way to protect its significant place in the community.

From Dodgeville Chronicle 9/15/2011 6:24:00 PM  "Ceremony marks formation of Waldwick Community Church"  Jean Berns Jones (see entire article here)

Willmirth Ching gravestone in the Waldwick Cemetery bears the Scottish Rite double eagle. The double-headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry. It is most commonly associated with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Russian Empire and their successor states. In Byzantine heraldry, the heads represent the Emperor having authority over both secular and religious matters, Byzantine emperors were regarded as Christ's viceregent on Earth. It also signified the dominance of the Byzantine Emperors over both East and West. In the Holy Roman Empire's heraldry, it represented the church and the state. Several Eastern European nations adopted it from the Byzantines and continued to use it as did the Hapsburg Empire as well as the Russian Empire ; and as a fraternal emblem as in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.   In a Scottish Rite Masonic context: the Double-Headed Eagle was introduced by King Frederick the Great of Prussia, an early patron in the formative stages of the Scottish Rite.  The Constitution of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, was ratified on 1st May 1786 when Frederick, King of Prussia was proclaimed its Chief.

about Grace Hodgson Flandrau and Judge Charles Eugene Flandrau

After readings in books by, and about Charles Macomb Flandrau, I became interested in his sister-in-law Grace.   

I did surmise that Charle's early promotion of her work, diminished as her popularity grew and began to out-shine his own.  

Selected Bibliography

 Of Grace Hodgson Flandrau

 Cousin Julia (1917)

Being Respectable (1923)

Entranced (1924)

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1927)

Then I Saw the Congo (1929)

Indeed This Flesh (1934)

Under the Sun: Tales of Love and Death (1936)

Memoirs of Grace Flandrau (2003)

Grace Flandrau was the sister-in-law and close friend of architect Theodate Pope Riddle, who provided her with a life tenancy in a house on the Hill-Stead estate in Farmington, Connecticut. Flandrau died there on December 27, 1971 at the age of 85. By the time her will was probated in 1973, her estate was valued at $10,000,000

 

The Patriarch was Charles Eugene Flandrau (July 15, 1828 – September 9, 1903) He was an American lawyer who became influential in the Minnesota Territory, and later state, after moving there in 1853 from New York City. He served on the Minnesota Territorial Council, in the Minnesota Constitutional Convention, and on the Minnesota territorial and state supreme courts. He was also an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Judge Flandrau was married twice. His first marriage was on August 10, 1859 to his first cousin, Isabella Dinsmore of Kentucky, the daughter of Martha Macomb and James Dinsmore. The couple had two daughters, Martha Macomb and Sarah Gibson Flandrau, before Isabella died in 1867. Martha married Tilden Russell Selmes; their daughter, Isabella Selmes, became the first female congresswoman from Arizona, known by her married name of Isabella Greenway.

Flandrau married again to Rebecca B. Riddle, a widow and daughter of Judge William McClure and his wife of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had two sons. Charles Macomb and William Blair who married Grace Hodgson.

During the Dakota War, Flandrau enlisted in the Union Army and was commissioned as a captain in 1862 to raise a force to defend settlers at New Ulm. Given his success, the governor appointed him to lead the defense of southwest Minnesota, at the rank of colonel.  Flandrau moved to St. Paul, where he had a law partnership with his former Court colleague, Isaac Atwater, before being elected Minneapolis City Attorney in 1867. He died in 1903 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery. 

Her body was moved to St. Paul and buried in Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul, Minn. in the family plot near her husband William Blair Flandrau and brother-in-law. Charles Malcomb Flandrau. Her grave is marked with a single small stone.

The Private Life of Charles Macomb Flandrau

 Charles Macomb Flandrau (1871-1938) ...best known for his 1909 travel book Viva Mexico! He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of noted lawyer Charles Eugene Flandrau, educated at Harvard but didn't receive a degree.  His experiences there formed the basis of his first book Harvard Episodes (1897). This small book was read by those who felt it's sting, and those who rejoiced at the snob-set getting a come-uppance. Commissioned pieces for the Saturday Evening Post followed as Flandrau became a popular contributor at the turn of the century. Flandrau’s other books did not prove to be as successful.  

Lawrence Peter Haeg has written two books on Flandrau: Little Corners of Great Places: The Private Life of Charles Macomb Flandrau (1981) and In Gatsby's Shadow  Shadow : The Story of Charles Macomb Flandrau (2004). 

I certainly enjoyed this book. As it was night time reading, I did it in small bites and enjoyed savoring it and also the after taste.  My objection is to the title as it has so little to do with F. Scott Fitzgerald 

  

Larry Haeg observes, "Flandrau felt literature was being prostituted, monetized, taken under the tent of the new mass media, and made a cultural circus featuring what he called 'trained performers"

 

Theodore Roosevelt often stayed on the Flandrau house when he was in Saint Paul.  The families were frequent correspondents. Many of the letters are archived in the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at the State University of Dickenson, Dickenson North Dakota

"Flandrau, a model of style and worldly sophistication and destined, almost everyone agreed, for greatness, was among the most talented young writers of his generation. His short stories about Harvard in the 1890s were called “the first realistic description of undergraduate life in American colleges”

Yet Flandrau turned his back on it all. Financially independent, he chose a solitary, epicurean life in St. Paul, Mexico, Majorca, Paris, and Normandy. In later years, he confined his writing to local newspaper pieces and letters to his small circle of family and friends."

"Using excerpts from these newspaper columns and unpublished letters, Larry Haeg has painstakingly recreated the story of this urbane, talented, witty, lazy, enigmatic, supremely private man who never reached the peak of literary success to which his talent might have taken him."(from publisher, Iowa University Press) 

 I have now also read Viva Mexico. He shares observations of life on his brother's coffee plantation. He carefully reports about growing coffee, the scenery, the workers, and the visitors. Interesting that in 1908 there wasn't a genre for memoirs which is where I will shelve it. 

President Theodore Roosevelt's Letter 

upon receiving Viva Mexico as a gift from

the Theodore Roosevelt collection at The

State University of Dickenson in Dickenson,

North Dakota                      

I was interested in finding out more about Larry Haeg and borrowed his new (2013) book, Harriman vs. Hill from the library.   Too much "Wall Street" and banking talk for me but I am enjoying the personal portraits.  Informative descriptions of the actual railroad building and the agricultural history continue to be good reasons to stick with it. There is a big demand for this book in our library system.  

 

photos from the article "In Search of the Real Grace Flandrau" by Georgia Ray

Minnesota History, Summer 1999

Now Reading: Loquacities by Charles Macomb Flandrau

Contents; The Bustle, an episode of the eighties -- Memory and Mrs. Grinder -- Yellowed with Age --Peace, Perfect Peace -- Arrival -- The Colonel's Hat -- Hotel de la Grille -- Melodeons and Hoop Skirts -- Of Earthquakes -- Hello! Hello! -- "The Old Things" -- Rag bag -- The Guignol, Revisited -- The Colt -- Jarana at breakfast.

 

a side trip to Jonesdale, Waldwick Township, Iowa County, Wisconsin

                  Rev. Griffith Jones

Reverend Griffith Jones was born in Wales in 1828. He emigrated to America in 1845 where he met Catherine Rowland.  They were married in 1848.  He and his wife helped to organize the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church and he ministered to the Dodgeville congregation.

Griffith and Catherine had nine children, four boys and five girls.  Oldest to youngest: John G., William G., Hannah G. Margaret G., Lacy G., and Marie Ann. 

As the family grew, Griffith moved his family to the country in Waldwick township.  They were engaged in farming.   Griffith Jones died on February 10, 1902. 

Griffith erected a mill along the Dodge Branch of the Pecatonica River in 1871. The Dodge Branch is a twenty-two mile long; spring fed tributary originating in central Iowa County, just north of Dodgeville. The stream is part of the Upper East Branch Pecatonica River watershed, and flows southeast, draining into the East Branch of the Pecatonica River near Hollandale.   

The original name was the Waldwick Mill but later changed to Jonesdale Mill.

 

The "Golden Meadow Mill" was built on the same stream, by Allen & Co., but owned and managed by William Uren & Co.

In 1887 John Ley built the Union Hotel. He had lumber shipped up the Old Helena River and transferred it by horse and wagon to the village.  John also operated a dance hall. The facility was also used for silent movies and home talent shows.  He was also involved with the Butcher Meat Market and the Jonesdale Barber Shop.

The Illinois Central Railroad was built through Jonesdale in 1887 with the track layers reaching Jonesdale on March 3rd of that year.  Henry Carter became the first station agent and lived in John Ley's hotel. His office was in a box car until the depot was finished in 1888. 

The Wisconsin Railroad Commission approved it's abandonment in 1938 and on July 25, 1942 the last train ran on the tracks. The tracks were quickly taken up followed by the demolition of the depot.  Less than 50 years from a bustling place to it's demise.

The lumber yard, opened for business in 1894. It was owned by J. Richart.  Much of the lumber was hauled out of Jonesdale by the Illinois Central Railroad.  

Main Street stores included those of Kramer, Reeves and Girardin.  The Post Office was located in the Reeves Store with Frank Van Matre as the postmaster.  When the telephone line was run through the village in 1904, the closest telephone for most villagers was also located in the Reeves Store.  

The village blacksmith shop was owned by Jerry Sullivan, who also repaired wagons.   Horse shoe repair was 50 cents per set.  

Dick Gribble had a farm implement store and also sold grain.

Farm machinery, including the John Deere riding plows, harrows, seeders, drills and corn planters, was sold by R. G. White at the Buggy Shop.  

Then and now photo comparisons:

Some of the information and most of the older photos appear in the book Jonesdale 1885.  It was edited by Tonia James-Anderson, Written by Jackie Gempler, Leotta Ley, and Tonia James-Anderson.  Book is a spiral bind edition and available through the Iowa County Historical Society. www.iowacountyhistorical society.org

A Curmudgeon's visit to Grand View

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Shan and I decided to take ride.  Our destination was the Waldwick cemetery where we were tracking Find-a-Grave requests.  You may remember I wrote about Find-a-Grave in the last blog.  We followed State Highway 78 to the junction with 39 and traveled west though Hollandale. On the way we passed the Outsider Environment of Nick Engelbert.  We decided to return for a walk-about after we were done photographing at Waldwick Cemetery.  As luck would have it, while we were walking around the grounds, a neighbor with a key asked us if we would like to have a look at the inside of the house.  We  were happy with our good fortune and had a look around. I had already taken some photos on the grounds and was able to add some of the interior.

Interior Engebert house: G.F. Glaeve photo

Interior: G.F. Glaeve photo

Much of the text of the rest of the blog is from the Kohler Foundation link to

nicksgrandview.com

Born in Austria in 1881, young Engelbert Koletnik attended school in Vienna and later apprenticed with a master machinist. Drafted into the Austrian-Hungarian army, he served two years, then fled first to Europe, then America where he changed his name to Nick Engelbert to start a new life. 

In 1913, Engelbert married Katherine Thoni, a recent Swiss immigrant, and in 1922, they settled and raised four children on a small seven-acre farm just outside the village of Hollandale, Wisconsin.  Engelbert created his first concrete sculpture in the 1930s, reportedly while recovering from a sprained ankle. 

Nick with his wheelbarrow and tools, photo from Kohler Foundation

Family members recall that Engelbert was rather quiet about his sculpture production, but, by 1950, his entire yard was transformed into an artistic landscape of

flower beds designed and tended by Katherine. Engelbert also decorated the exterior of the simple clapboard farmhouse with a colorful mosaic of concrete, embellished with stones, shells, glass shards, and fragments of ceramic dinnerware and porcelain figurines. 

The surrounding landscape of rolling hills and bucolic farmland enhanced the aura. It was truly for the "grand view" that Engelbert named his sculpted panorama. 

View of the countryside from the front yard,  photo by G.F. Glaeve, 4-20-2014

In 1951, on his seventieth birthday, Engelbert received a set of oil paints. He soon taught himself to paint, and in the next ten years, created his second body of art, approximately 74 paintings of his Grandview sculpture environment, the exotic places he visited, and the humor and essence of everyday life. These are held by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

Katherine died in 1960 and Engelbert soon sold Grandview and moved to Baltimore to live with his daughter. Before he left, however, he painted a final tribute to the pastoral landscape that inspired his life: a mural on the living room wall of the farmhouse that depicted the Hollandale countryside.

A portion of Nick's mural with an outside view,  photo by G.F. Glaeve 4-20-2014

Kohler Foundation purchased Grandview in 1991 as part of its ongoing commitment to preserve art and sculpture of self-taught artists. By that time, most of Engelbert's sculpture had severely deteriorated. Many were found in pieces throughout the property and some were missing entirely.

The Grand View House photo by G.F. Glaeve 4-20-2014

Historic photographs gathered from family and friends were an invaluable preservation tool. They provided documentation and crucial information about individual sculptures and the surrounding landscape.

                                                                                       photographs from Kohler Collection

Reproduced Monkey Tree
photo G.F.Glaeve 4-20-14

The historic integrity of Grandview was restored with cooperation and assistance from an extraordinary cadre of professionals and volunteers. Art conservators, curators, area contractors, historians, architects and designers all worked together in a unique collaboration.

Kohler Foundation orchestrated a preservation plan that incorporated conservation, reproduction, and some replication of sculpture, as well as restoration and rehabilitation of the structures. An interpretive exhibit was installed on the first floor of the restored farmhouse that displays photographic documentation, sculpture remnants, and personal archives.

In 1997, Kohler Foundation donated Grandview to the Pecatonica Educational Charitable Foundation, Inc. The spirited stewardship of this group has made it possible to welcome visitors from all over the world. For more information, visit www.nicksgrandview.com. 

The Wisconsin Art Environment Consortium created the video podcast about Nick Engelbert's Grandview.

  

                          

Curmudgeon explores some cemeteries

The last few years I have taken my trusty Nikon camera into some of the local cemeteries.   The search is for headstones.  The headstone photos are then loaded into a searchable database. See post below for findagrave. 

The site was started by two guys who were interested in gravestones of famous people.  

Sinclair Lewis gravestone

Sinclair Lewis

Here is the listing for Sinclair Lewis, a recent subject in one of my blogs.  (findagrave listing here)

 It has grown beyond the famous grave sites into a large database of gravestone photos of us commoners who never made a name for ourselves.  Obituary info and family photos are often included with family genealogical information often attached.  Kick the tires and take it for a spin.  You may like it.  



Be forewarned however, there are some problems with this site.  Anyone can enter information, which is a good thing.   Most participants take good photos and are careful with the listings.  However, some are not  so the posts range from very good to not so much.   There are stated rules for the site but rules can or can not be observed.  I guarantee you will be frustrated at times, but after a couple of years, I still think the prize is worth the pain.  I have often found info not available in other venues.  

Yellowstone Lutheran Cemetery, Argyle Wisconsin, photo by G.F. Glaeve 8-15-2013

I usually take photos in the smaller cemeteries within a 20 mile radius of my home.  I prefer those nestled in the scenic hills to the south and the west.  One of my favorites is the Yellowstone Lutheran Church Cemetery in Argyle, Lafayette County.  It is a beautiful spot with scenic vistas and a charming church building. 

York Memorial Lutheran Cemetery, photo by G.F. Glaeve 10-10-2013

Another favorite of mine is the York Memorial Lutheran Cemetery,  York Township, Green County.  The church is situated on the top of a ridge.  In 1850 settlers that were located on the juncture of Dane, Iowa, Green and Lafayette Counties formed a church congregation.  Worship services were held at the Torger Skartum farm. York church was organized in 1855 by 20 families.  Construction of a church building was begun in 1861, but was delayed by the Civil War.  The church was completed and dedicated in 1872. 

York Lutheran Free Church 7-10-1935

 In 1880 a disagreement arose in the congregation and it split.  One congregation faction purchased the existing building and the other built a new structure.  These buildings became known as the “Old York” and the “New York.”  Over the years the Old York Church constructed in 1861 was added on to and remodeled with a parish hall constructed in 1953. 

Old York Lutheran Church marker, photo by G.F. Glaeve 4-20-2014

The church closed in 1966 and the building was razed in 1977.  A monument to its existence and the cemetery are all that remain.