Descendants of James Mahoney, who 100 years ago today
first set foot on the soil of what is now Eden, Fond du Lac County, held a family reunion
picnic today on the site where Mr . Mahoney first pitched his tent a century ago.
After attending a high mass for him in the Eden church, the daughters and son
and numerous grandchildren visited the cemetery where he and other member of the family
are buried.
The story of Mr. Mahoney’s arrival here takes up a good share of Eden
history.
On May 20, 1846, Mahoney, a boy of 19 arrived in Eden. He came by boat by the
way of the Great Lakes and Lake Winnebago from Canadaigua, N.Y., to Sheboygan to join a
group of eight surveyors.
His only sister, Ann, the wife of one of the young surveyors, had written him
of the beauty of the surrounding country. They had pitched their tent some months previous
on what is now known as the John Killilea farm west of Eden village near a spring of fresh
water, a requisite to a tenting place as they neither had nor could they buy and "old
Oaken bucket" to draw water from a well if they had one.
Mr Mahoney described Eden as a veritable paradise of beautiful trees and
flowers. He spoke of the wild crabapple trees and plum trees being in full bloom besides
the lillies, violets, honeysuckle, ferns and many other wild flowers of all
