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

Kunschke, William F. proprietor of Ox Bow Resort, situated on the west shore of Ox Bow Lake, in the northern part of the town of Presque Isle, Vilas County, was born Sept. 7, 1882 in the town of Caledonia, Waupaca County. His parents, Carl and Minnie (ZICHERT) KUNSCHKE, were natives of Germany who came to the United States in 1861. They were married in Milwaukee and later settled in Waupaca County, where they followed farming for the rest of their lives. William F. KUNSCHKE was educated in the common schools of Waupaca County and remained at home until he was eleven years old. For two years thereafter he was engaged in farm labor and then he went to work for the Mattoon Manufacturing Co., at Mattoon, Wis., tying bed slats and later operating a planer. After four years with that concern he did farm work again for several years in Waupaca and Outagamie Counties. Later for two years he was engaged in construction work on the C. & N. W. Railway, from Watesmeet to Choate, Mich. It was on May 21, 1901 when he came to this northern country, and after he gave up railroading in in the spring of 1903 he became manager and cook for the Ohio Crab Lake Sporting Club, for whom he worked eight years at their camp on Crab Lake. In October, 1911 Mr. KUNSCHKE bought 107 acres in Section 36 (Township 44 north of Range 6 east) in the town of Presque Isle, and proceeded to make a home here. In 1907 he homesteaded an island now known as Kunschke Island, on which he built a shack and made his home until 1911, when he erected his present set of buildings, and began to receive tourists, whom he care for with the assistance of his wife. He has now three cottages, with accommodations for twelve people. He has cleared twelve acres of his land and does general farming, keeping cows and chickens, which provide him with fresh milk, cream and eggs for his guests. He also keeps boats for their accomodation, as well as fisherman's bait and furnishes guides. His post office is at Winegar, about a mile and a half away and on a branch of the C. & N. W. Railway, from which place he builts a road to his farm. In April, 1911 Mr. KUNSCHKE was elected assessor of the town of Presque Isle. He was married Sept. 9, 1911 in Bessemer, Mich., to Miss Ida PARNELL, and he and his wife have two children, Mabel E. and Velma A.

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from pages 629-630; 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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