History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

Biography

Kuhnert, Henry proprietor of Kathan Inn, in Sugar Camp Township, Oneida County, was born at Caledonia, Racine County, Wisconsin, June 28, 1873. He was educated in the schools of Caledonia and subsequently learned the trade of baker, which he followed for several years. The condition of his health making a change of employment advisable, he next took up work as a brakeman on the Chicago and Milwaukee division of the C. M. & St. P. railroad, which work he followed for five years, rising to be a conductor. Beginning at the early period in his career, while still working as a baker, he had made it his custom to spend his summers in the woods of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and he became so familiar with this region that he was often called for to do several weeks of guide service for Thomas LOWERY of Minneapolis, who was then president of the "Soo" Line and of the Twin City electric lines. In 1921 Mr. KUHNERT resolved to settle in this section permanently, and accordingly he came to Oneida County and purchased 57 1/2 acres of wild land on the northwest shore of Kathan Lake. Here he established his present resort, Kathan Inn, now one of the most popular summer resorts in this locality. His log cabins, five in number, he built with his own hands, cutting the logs from the timber on his property and carrying them on his back to the site of the buildings. Besides these he has a number of frame cottages and a main lodge which is 24x30 feet in dimensions. The last-mentioned building includes a dining room, kitchen, office, and lounging room, and has a screen porch running the entire length of the building and eight feet deep. There are accommodations for about 35 guests, and the service is excellent in every detail. Buildings and grounds are finely kept up, and the surroundings are beautiful in the extreme. All the vegetables, poultry and eggs used are produced on the property, and the cuisine is a matter of which the management can well be proud. Mrs. KUHNERT attends to all the cooking personally, and her skill and experience as a chef make this one of the chief attractions of the hostelry; before her marriage was for several years chef to George F. SMITH, then president of the Menasha Woodenware Company, and she was also employed in this capacity for the University Club of Milwaukee and by President MCKINLEY during his speech-making tour of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. A fleet of seven row boats is maintained at the resort, on Kathan Lake, and besides these are two on Starvation Lake and one on Aldrich Lake, all owned by Mr. KUHNERT and available for the use of this guests. All kinds of game fish abound in the waters of these lakes. There is excellent partridge and deer hunting in season, and rabbits are plentiful. Besides these sports, bathing, boating, hiking, and many other forms of outdoor recreation may be enjoyed to the fullest here, in the pure, bracing air of this wonderful region of lakes and woods. There are nine acres of virgin timber on the grounds of the resort, and three-quarters of a mile of lake frontage. The only advertising Mr. KUHNERT does is that on blotters which he distributes; he gets out no booklets or descriptive matter relating to his resort, yet each year the place is full to capacity all summer long, a fact which speaks volumes for the attractions to be found here. Mr. KUHNERT was married Jan. 3, 1901, at Menasha, Wis.; to Sophia BRETTHAUSER, of that city. Mrs. KUHNERT is a member of the Electra Chapter of the Eastern Star and of the Bethlehem Shrine, both of Milwaukee. Mr. KUHNERT belongs to Minnesota Lodge No. 324, F. & A. M., at Minneapolis, to St. John's Chapter, R. A. M., also of Minneapolis, and to the B. P. O. E. Lodge No. 46 at Milwaukee. He is also a member of Gardner Lodge No. 191 of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from pages 315-316 (with picture), History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties Wisconsin; Compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others 1924, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.

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