"DAD AND MOTHER"
(Julius and Anna Martin)

from “Memories of Old Angelica”
by Mrs. Richard McGillivray & Mrs. Emil (Matie) Berndt
Contributed by Carol Paska

JULIUS MARTIN was born in Chicago in the year of 1865, he was the son of Julius Randolph Martin and Adolphfine Jacqumin Martin. He spent his boyhood in Ashwaubenon a suberb of Green Bay and was married to ANNA MARIE JENSEN on September 21, 1889. She was the daughter of Jens and Cecilia Marie Jensen.

She was born in Topeka, Kansas in either a sod house, a cave or a storm cellar (this she told her grand daughter Alice Martin Graf when she was a little girl). Mother's father was a teacher who taught the children of fathers who worked on the Santa Fee railroad and died when she was a small infant. When she was six months old her mother remarried to Hans Hansen, they moved to Wisconsin where they built a home, cleared land and raised a family.

Mother grew up there along with her four sisters Cena, Mary, Christine, Loraine and her brother Hans.  She was married September 21, 1889 in the Pittsfield school house in front of the teachers desk, by the Rev. Adolph Peterson. The school house was used for church services until a church was built.

I was very proud of my Mother. She was a real helpmate to my Dad. There were no restaurants so when farmers came to have blacksmith work done and it was dinnertime, Dad just invited them to be his guests, regardless what Mother had on the menu. We never know how many would be at the table. We could always add more water to the soup and everyone had their fill.

Mother was president of the Angelica Methodist Ladies Aid for several years as well as Sunday School Superintendent, and School Clerk. She was known as a wonderful gardener, raising beautiful flowers and supplied her family with fresh vegetables the year around. She also enjoyed picking wild berries when they were in season and she aiways made several jars of preserves and pickles, jellies, jams, etc.

Mother was also a real humanitarian and was called on when folks were sick and in need. She was always glad to do what she could regardless what time of the day or night she was called or whoever it was and when their loved ones passed on she could prepare them for burial and sometimes laid them out in their caskets. Licensed embalmers were not a law then, but there were undertakers, Chris Bonnin and Fred Frimuth of Bonduel and Julius Prokopovitz of Pulaski.

She was also a member of the Royal Neighbors, art auxiliary of the Modern Woodmens. The Royal Neighbors met at different homes and held their business meetings. A social hour and a delicious lunch was always served. Some of the members were Mrs. Westly Kinsman, Mrs. Louis Johnson, Mrs. Christ Johnson, Mrs. John Bruce, Mrs. William Mitchell, Mrs. George Lambert, Mrs. Fred Johnson, Mrs. Roy Lutsey, Mrs. LaVern Johnson and Mrs. W. Stronach.

Dad and Mother spent their early married life in Fort Howard and in 1891, it was then they moved to Angelica and Dad started his blacksmith business. They were blessed with four children Elizabeth, Raymond, Adolph and me (Matie). Dad died January 19, 1937 and mother died six months later, June 24, 1937. They both were buried in the Hillside Cemetery.

Papa Jule was a kind and generous man and had a lot of friends and some who didn't always agree with him, but that is human nature. Dad worked hard at his trade and he took pride in all he did and was well liked and known throughout the entire community. He was a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

My earliest recollection of my life when I was a little girl was when I used to watch Dad shoe horses and talk to the customers who came to have repairs made and to have their horses shod. I would stand around and listen to the local ivents, but knew better than to interrupt. When the men felt as though they needed a refreshment, Dad would call me aside and give me the grey granite water pail with instructions to take it to the house, wash it and then grease it up. By that he meant to grease the inside of the pail about an inch around from the top with lard or butter so that the beer was as far as it was greased and the rest foam. They really got their money's worth, but I always made them understand hat I was to have the first swig.

In the winter after a severe sleet storm, he and my brothers worked from morning until late at night to make it safe for the horses to travel. During the season he made hayracks, new wagons, sleighs, etc.

He had several men working for him. They were Uncle Ernest Martin, Charley Bastar, Sievert Wesolowski, Louis Bush and those who learned the trade from him were Louis Hansen, Willie Wagner, Louis Bush, Emil Bush, Helmuth Boetcher, Robert Judes and my brothers, Raymond and Adolph. Adolph later learned to be an auto mechanic and started the garage business and had the "Maxwell" franchise. Ray helped with the cars but at heart he was a blacksmith and spent several winters in the lumber camps working at his trade.

Pine roots were cut up in blocks and used as fuel for huge furnace like stoves that was used in the boilers to produce steam to manufacture cheese. They were also used for threshing machines as farmers had to supply the fuel for the threshing machines. These roots kept their expense low and made a hot fire.

There were a lot of rail fences too and in these criss cross corners beautiful wild flowers grew. They were taken down and barbed wire fences took their place.

Setting tires is something that I will always remember. There were miles of pine root fences around Angelica in the early 1900's. Now these were torn down and Dad could get them free or at a reasonable price to build fires to set tires.

Setting tires was usually done on a still evening after sundown. Tires got loose from dry weather, also from wear and tear from the heavy loads, so it was necessary to reset them. Some of these wheels needed new spokes put in the hub, and some needed to have new fellys put on. All this had to be done before the setting.

A round circle of pine roots were placed in a special area and the tires to be set were placed on the wood and set afire. Before this was done water was carried to put out any fire from flying sparks and also to fill a special place where tires were to cool off after they were set.

Now the fire was set and the tires were heated until they were red hot and then taken out and quickly put on the prepared wheel, then taken to the water trough and cooled off quickly. Now the tire was set and could be put back on the wagon or buggy.

There usually was a small group of people on hand to watch this fascinating event.

Other families around the Angelica area were Frank and Kathryn Phillips who owned the hotel, saloon and livery stable. They were the parents of four children who were Thresa, Agnes, Lucille and Ben. Valentine Kutchek, Stanley Surama who had a blacksmith shop where the Blohowiak's now live, Egnarski's, Nowak's, Polczynski's, Thompson's, Theo Sheller's, Dave Black's, Albert Nyichkes, Sam Dredge, Dan Blashe, Wm. Shier, Ed Erb's, Hans Petersen's, the Riendfliesch's and Reyment's, Ed Nichol's, Ernest Nichol's, George Nichol's, Elmer Nichol's, Harry Johnson's, Louis Bush, Nels Madison, John Madison, Theo. Chlebowski, Louis Johnson, Red John Johnson, John Johnson, Louis Olson, Frank Dekowski and many others were families of the Angelica area. Oh yes, and also the Richard Wunsch's who were originally from Sheyboygan. They moved to Casco, and ran a store and farm. In 1920 they bought the farm from William McKenna. Their children's names all began with the letter H, and they were all named as follows: Hazel, Harva, Hilbert, Harriet, Hilma, Helen, Harian, Harold, Hildegard.

Residents of Laney were the Thomas Lutsey's, Miles Lutsey's, Geo. Hansen's, Albert Hansen's, John Bruce, Chas. Bruce, the McGillivrays, Geo. Dunlap, George, John and Frank Styczynaski's, Lenards, Chris Johnson.

Angus McGillivray was born in Canada in 1847 and died in 1905. Jennie McKenzie McGillivray was born in 1856 and died in 1937.

They came from Canada from the Village of Lochaber, County and District of Ottowa, Province of Quebec.

Grandpa Angus McGillivray came to Laney and bought a farm there (Curtis McGillivray is still on the farm) and in 1878 returned to Canada to get married and returned with his bride and lived there the rest of his life. Their children were Kate (Johnson) McGillivray (Tot), Richard, Edna (Olson) McGillivray, Angus, Matilda, Robert, Jennie Marie (Dolly) (Bruce) McGillivray and Charles.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lutsey who originally came from Pennsylvania and came to Angelica social gatherings and were charter members of the Methodist church, their children were Jay, Maude, Roy, Hugh, and James.

From Frazer Corners were the Frazers, Ed Wanie's, Jim Gordeniers, John Johnsons, and their two sons Harry and LaVern, Fred Olsons and their children Rebecca, Ella, Ruth, Leonard, Roy, Ben and Ervin, they all came to Angelica to enjoy the church or lodge activities, and some came for both.

LaVern Johnsons - LaVern and Edna Johnson with their three children, Donald, Vivian, and LaVern moved to Pulaski, Virginia in July 1933 where they lived until August 1934 when they moved to West Jefferson, North Carolina. In January 1946 they moved to Pulaski, Tennessee where they lived until April 1954. They then moved to Decatur, Alabama where they are now living. John and Jennie Johnson went to West Jefferson and lived with them until they died -John on June 5, 1940 and Jennie on September 1, 1941. Both were returned to the Hillside Cemetery for burial. Their son Donald died in Decatur, Alabama and was buried in Woodhull, Illinois.

The Hans Petersons - Both Mr. and Mrs. Hans Peterson were born in Norway and settled in Angelica in the year of the 1870's. They had no children of their own but they brought up Hans sisters children known as the Shute children who were Dale who died of a mastoid when a very young man, Lydia who married Albert Luecker and Esther who married Walter Muck, and Esther and Walter live in Shawano.

The Rev. I. W. Spitzer who served as a pastor in the Methodist Episcopal Church was born in 1855, and passed away in 1920 and is buried in the Hillside Cemetery.

The Stantons - William B. Stanton was born January 21, 1868 in Westport, Canada. He came to Wisconsin with his parents Lyman and Elizabeth Stanton in 1878 along with his two sisters Minnie who married William Ainsworth and Betsey who married Casper Iverson. The Stanton family farmed near Angelica. On the 17th of June William married Etta Sechrist who was the daughter of Jacob and Martha Sechrist of Two Rivers. To them was born Gale, William LeRoy, Martha and Grace. In 1922 they sold their farm and moved to Shawano and in 1927 moved to Los Angeles, California. Etta died November 23, 1928 and William passed away February 26, 1939. They were both buried in California.

The Shiers - They were William Shier 1862 - 1929 and his wife Ella Grage Shier 1868 - 1953. There were five children Harold, Cecil, Florence, Violet and Hazel.

The Wilsons - Charlie and Mary Wilson, too, were among the early settlers and were the parents of four children who were Jennie, Charles, John and Agnes. John married Daisey Frazec and they farmed the Wilson homestead, and they have five children, Loren, Orpha, Harold, Archibald and Velma.

The Tanks - The Tanks' were Charley, Ernest, Albert, Elia and Rose. Rose married Dick Stark.

The Adolph Singbushs moved to Angelica from Maple Grove and bought one of the Fisher houses.

Mr. and Mrs. Singbush both came to the U.S.A. from Germany. Mr. Singbush was a sheepherder and while he tended his sheep he played his concertina and knitted his stockings and mittens. When they lived in Angelica he'd play German Songs for us children and Mrs. Singbush would spin wool for him to knit on her spinning wheel.  Their family was all girls, and they were Mary, Anna, Lizzie, Carrie, and Edith. They were both buried in "Hillside Cemetery".

George Frazer - Lomanda Clark married George Frazer April 6, 1869 and moved to the town of Lessor in Shawano county. They settled at what was later known as Frazer Corners. The following names are on a plaque at the Angelica Hillside Cemetery in their memory dedicated to the George Frazer family. Their children were Darwin, Anna, J. William, Bessie, Daisey, Verna and Kitty. They too are all buried there.

Erbs - Jacob Erb came to Winneconne, Wisconsin in 1849 and later moved to the town of Angelica. Edgar Erb, his son, later farmed the Erb farm until his death, then his son Lester took over the farm, he sold the farm to Herb Zuehlsdorf, then to William Muck. At the present time it is operated by Stutzman. 

Blacks - John Black had five sons named Robert, John, William, David and Joseph. Robert married Ellen Mills and their three children were Robert, Thad, and Ruth. John's children were named Curtis, John, Elizabeth and Charles. Davis's three children were Martha, Maynard and Cathryn. Joseph never married. William's children were named Loyd and Ralph.

John Black had two sons William (Dakota Will) and John. William's children were William and Elmer. John's were two girls named Mable and Ethel.

McKenna's - James McKenna, Sr. and his wife Dianna came from Canada. James was born in 1835 and died in 1916. His wife Dianna was born in 1838 and died in 1908. Their son Wm. was born in 1870 and died in May of 1929. His wife Martha Minnie "Mattie" McKenna was born in 1871 and died May of 1951. Both are buried in the Hillside Cemetery.

Ainsworth's - William Ainsworth came to Wisconsin from Ohio. He married Minnie Stanton May 11,1884 in the town of Angelica. There were seven children, Guy, Frank, Grace, Belle, Gertrude, Ruth and Bess. William was born in 1865 and died in 1934 at the age of 79. Mrs. Ainsworth was born in 1863 and passed away in 1934. She lived to be 91. Mr. and Mrs. Ainsworth both were buried in the Woodlawan Cemetery at Shawano.

Ed Powers - The Ed Powers family owned a farm in the Rose Lawn area.
During World War I their two sons Walter and Mike were enlisted or drafted in the army, so their father sold this farm and bought the Henry Luecker farm in the town of Angelica. He farmed this farm for sometime and then his son Will operated it and later on moved to Anston. Then Mike took over the Powers farm and now his son Clifford is operating it. Mike was elected as Angelica Town Chairman and is still holding this job which has been for a good many years. Others who proceeded him were Martin Zernicke, and also William Warscot of Zachow.

Mr. and Mrs. James Magee known to all as Daddy and Manny Magee came to Angelica from Canada in about the late 1800's.

They gave a part of their land for a burial ground and this Cemetery is called The Rest Haven Cemetery.

Daddy and Manny Magee were the parents of ten children, they were Richard, Henry, William, John. James, Kitty (Mrs. Thomas Lutsey). Forest, Hugh, Robert, and Thomas.