Historical Society Committees Meet to Begin Planning Museum Room

With a meeting of the recently organized Displays, Research, and Planning committees in January, the society began its planning for the conversion of the former Fairwater Public School’s primary division classroom for use as a museum.

Bob Schuster, the society’s president, began the meeting by expressing what he characterized as a happy urgency. "We need a place to display all of the items the community has entrusted to the society over the past six months," Schuster said.

Meeting over a model of the classroom, committee members explored ideas for exhibiting furnishings and a growing collection of items from Fairwater families, businesses, and farms. Schuster also urged the immediate creation of a resource area for viewing the society’s growing collection of Fairwater area records and documents and the extensive electronic records on the society’s Web site.

George Sanders, the society’s vice president, expressed his hope that in converting the classroom to museum space the society would leave the room’s original windows, wainscoating, and pressed tin ceiling panels intact. Expressing their fondness for the old classroom—for fifty years the first taste Fairwater area students had of public school—committee members agreed.

Among the issues the committees wrestled with was finding a way to display the growing collections from the village’s Zion Lutheran and Free Baptist churches while retaining a sense of the room’s history as a classroom. Recent donations have included the altar and related furnishings from the original 1872 Lutheran church and the stained glass windows from the 1904 Baptist church building.

Other issues discussed included what to do with the room’s six windows, now enclosed by a 1960 addition to the school, whether to replace the room’s current fluorescent lighting with fixtures resembling the original suspended fixtures, and how to enhance security for the irreplaceable items intended for display. Through photographs recently provided by Marge Ries and Marie Hardesty, the society has been able to document the design of the original lighting fixtures.

The committees also identified a spring timeline for the project, beginning with an upgrade to electrical service in the room and installation of a heating system. The society has already received a proposal for heating work and will meet shortly with electrical contractors. Other work to be completed this spring is the cleaning and painting of the room’s ceiling panels. Committee members affirmed their commitment to making the museum room ready for use by Memorial Day. The society and the Mattox-Henslin American Legion post of Fairwater and Brandon have announced their plans to open the former school during the annual Memorial Day observation for a display of veterans’ memorabilia.

Schuster identified a need for ongoing meetings and work sessions throughout the spring and indicated his hope that more of the society’s members and interested area residents would join in the effort.

Model of north classroom created for planning the Fairwater museum.

Richard Damerau Shares Stories about Life in 1930s Fairwater

Mr. Damerau has recently shared some of his early recollections with the Historical Society.

A story of local color which you may enjoy was the incident of the supposed burglar at the elevator. I don’t recall the year but it was during the depression, probably 1936-1939. It was a cold evening in the fall of the year when at about midnight my folks received a phone call from the Dyers, who lived in the house east of the elevator parking lot and just on the north side of the railroad tracks at the northwest corner of the millpond. Mr. Dyer was excited and announced that someone was prowling around the elevator and appeared to be attempting to "break-in". My Dad, who had been in bed, immediately phoned Charlie Kuehn who was his partner in the elevator business. Then my Dad quickly dressed and grabbed his German Luger (9mm with nine rounds in a clip and a nine inch barrel). Then out the garage (we lived in the 2 story house east of Erdman’s tavern) and he started the car (a 1934 Studebaker "Dictator").

Fortunately, it started well so he drove down Washington Street, the approximately 2-3 hundred yards, where Charlie Kuehn was standing at the edge of the street, hastily dressed but with his Colt 45 automatic with clip in the handle. Charlie didn’t get into the car but just jumped up onto the running board. The Kuehn house was at the southwest corner of Washington Street, just south of where Jess Laper later built a ranch style house. Dad and Charlie then continued down the hill and across the dam and railroad tracks. Just before turning left into the elevator parking lot, Dad turned on the headlights of the car, which had been "off" so as not to alert the burglar.

A man was at the elevated platform at the office door, but upon seeing the car and its headlights he ran with great haste north across the parking lot and leaped over the fence and into the field of alfalfa where he disappeared. Dad and Charlie were in quick pursuit and it was obvious the man had run and then laid down in the hay field so as not to be detected. They commenced a search by walking about 20 feet abreast. Having gone about 150 feet north they then continued the search by going south, but before doing so Charlie whispered to Dad, "Did you see him back there about 7 rods laying flat on his stomach?" Dad said, "No," and Charlie said that his hat had flown off and was laying about 10 feet from him and that Charlie would signal the whereabouts of the man by nodding his head and shooting at the hat when they came upon the man and his hat.

They then proceeded their search going back to the south. Upon reaching the hat, Charlie nodded and then proceeded to fire multiple rounds into the hat with his "45". Dad saw the man when Charlie nodded, so he likewise fired his Luger at the lifeless hat. The guns made a very loud noise in the cool night air and the "villain" immediately jumped up with his hands above his head and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I surrender, I surrender, don’t shoot!" Charlie and Dad then marched the man back to the office, which they checked and found no damage. The man claimed that he was just trying to get into the office so get out of the cold and find a place to sleep. Charlie and Dad had the man walk completely around the elevator building to make sure that he hadn’t broken into any other entrance. When they found that no harm had been done, the man explained further that he had come into Fairwater on the train and meant no harm nor damage to anyone.

You may be aware that there were hundreds of men who were out of work during the depression and frequently hopped aboard trains and traveled all over the country. This man appeared to be very decent and was one of the unfortunate vagabonds of the era. Since there wasn’t anything of value in the office—cash and the books were always removed at night—Dad and Charlie opened up the office and told the man that he could spend the night on the leather couch, which was in the office.

They then went home, but upon telling my mother what had happened on getting back to the house, my mother got out an old WWI army blanket and a pillow and had my Dad go back to the elevator and give them to the man to make it more comfortable for him. He really was appreciative of this benevolence.

The next morning when Dad and Charlie got to the elevator, the man was still asleep on the sofa. Dad phoned home to my mother who then prepared a breakfast for him. Dad drove back to the house and returned with the warm meal. He said that the man was so impressed that tears came to his eyes. Hence, all ended well and when the "Markesan" train came into town the man got aboard, waved and hopefully eventually found better circumstances in life.

I hope that we all can learn a lesson in kindness from this true story. Haven’t things changed since those days of innocence?

Fairwater State Bank Examination

I just happened to be thinking of an interesting episode that happened in Fairwater in the 1930s. I don’t know what persons in the community at present would know more details but the incident was as follows:

A state auditor showed up on the premises of the state bank to conduct a surprise audit, as was the custom of the state banking commission, and I expect still is the standard procedure. Of course National Banks have different rules and different regulators.

After completing the audit of "the books," the auditor then proceeded with checking other standards, one of which was to check the burglar alarm system. He attempted to "activate" it but there was no audible alarm. Fred Henslin was also puzzled as to why it didn’t work. The auditor then checked the wiring and was told that it went underground and that the physical alarm box was actually across the street so that a burglar couldn’t easily cut the wires. The auditor went into the basement and followed the wiring and there appeared to be no "short" or any other problem.

Things were simpler in those times, so the auditor actually physically checked, whereas in our day and age we would have to call a security electronics technician - probably from Milwaukee or another major metropolitan area.

Fred and the auditor went across the street and went to the basement and were able to find where the wire came from across the street. The wires were on glass insulators, which took the wires across the basement and then up the wall to the alarm which was mounted on the south side of the building. I don’t recall what business was there or who the person was, but when tracing the wiring it suddenly ended. There was a gap of about 6-8' and then, lo and behold, the wiring again continued.

Fred and the auditor called the man who had the building and asked him if he knew what had happened. He was surprised and stated that he didn’t know that those were wires for the bank alarm, and so upon needing a short piece of wire he just cut out about 6-8' as it appeared to be a non-used circuit.

Of course the alarm problem was thereby resolved and all ended well, as there was no apparent intent by the owner to deactivate the bank’s alarm system and all parties found it to be an amusing incident. Of course, the public wasn’t supposed to be aware of details of the wiring and no one was supposed to know anything about this incident. However, Fred was a very good friend of my Dad and he couldn’t resist telling him what had happened.

Utley Photographs among Items Donated by Gordon Berg Estate

When Gordon Berg passed away last year, he left behind a collection of Fairwater area memorabilia, which executors of his estate have given to the Historical Society. Among the items are several undated photographs of the quarrying operation at Utley, including these two of the quarrymen and buildings.

Second Annual Meeting Scheduled for March 3

The society’s second annual meeting has been scheduled for March 3. The annual meeting is devoted to electing members to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors, to an annual report of the past year’s activities, and to a discussion of the comming year’s agenda.

This year, the society has a single board position to fill through election by the members in attendance. Following the annual meeting, the new Board will elect officers for the coming year.

Society Receives Collection Items in January

Contributions to the society’s collections in January included choir robes from Zion Lutheran church, Fairwater area memorabilia from the estate of Gordon Berg, three early Fairwater picture post cards from Richard Damerau postmarked between 1907 and 1915, and a 1990 video documentary about the Laper Electric Company’s 1925 water wheel from Bob and Kathy Schuster.

David Berndt contributed a video copy of a 1950 film, "Salesman Sam," produced by Zion Lutheran pastor Arlin Adams. The film features members of the congregation in roles dramatizing the visit of an intinerant salesman to area farms. Bernt invited the actors to comment on the film-making experience and added their narrative as a soundtrack.

Zion Lutheran anniversary booklets and four years of bulletins from Pastor Adam’s files were donated by Adam’s daughter Melanie Michael. The bulletins date from 1946, Pastor Adams first year in the church. The church also contributed several years of bulletins from the early 1950s

Robert and Kathleen Starbird have donated a collection of early toys to the classroom restoration and Fairwater area children’s memorabilia project.

State Historical Society Planning Preservation Week in May

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has designated May 12 to 20 as Historic Preservation Week. Local societies are encouraged to celebrate local historic landmarks and to highlight their activities with special events during the week. SHSW plans to distribute a calandar of events statewide and will feature the calendar on its Web site.

NEWSLETTER
Fairwater Historical Society
PO Box 151
Fairwater, Wisconsin 53931

Meetings

The Fairwater Historical Society meets the first Saturday of each month at the Fairwater Lion’s Club on south Main Street. An exchange of photographs and information begins at 2:00, followed at 2:30 by the meeting. The public is invited. The annual meeting is held the first Saturday of March.

Acquisitions

The Fairwater Society accepts donations of items with historic ties to the immediate Fairwater area. Contact Lois Schmuhl, accessions officer, at Radio Road, Brandon, WI 53919.

Membership

Membership in the Fairwater Historical Society is $10 annually for individuals and families, $100 lifetime for individuals. Contact Arlene Leppin, PO Box 151, Fairwater, WI 53931

Web Site

The Society maintains a Web site on the Wisconsin Local History Network. Featuring projects, activities, calendars, and copies of the FHS newsletter, the society’s site can be browsed at:

www.wlhn.org/fairwater_histsoc

Newsletter

Current issues are available at the Fairwater post office. Past issues and mailings are available through Bob Schuster, 6020 Kristi Circle, Monona, WI 53716 (608-221-1421).