Fred Crawford born around 1853 in Canada, son of Irish immigrants John Crawford (1808-1891) and Margaret Forsyth (1808-1902). John was a contractor and built “the fortresses” at Kingston and the Junction Canal. He did a variety of government work in Canada, and a bit in Ogdensburg, New York. The fortresses, built in the 1840s, were […]
The 1903 Crawford Murder-Suicide Read More »
(This is a draft I submitted for the 2025 City of Kaukauna Parks. I have no idea what changes were made after this. It’s a bit more Eurocentric than I would have liked, but that was unfortunately the smoothest way to tell a linear story in the word count provided.) As the name implies, the
From Grignon Mansion to Ahlstrom and Beyond Read More »
Frederick Thomas Price born May 10, 1879 in Neenah, Wisconsin. The family lived on Center Street and his father, Joseph Henry Price, was a factory worker and passed on May 27, 1895 at 46 years old. Frederick, our subject, would have been without a father at age 16. September 3, 1894, Frederick Price beat Mrs.
Mary Fridley Price: Accident or Murder? Read More »
William A Doxtator was born 1936 in Fond du Lac, and bounced around between Hilbert, Oshkosh and Menasha 1955, graduated from Hilbert High School. He went to work at the Fred Rueping Leather Company in Fond du Lac. August 12, 1958, he was pulled over for speeding in Kaukauna. He was pulled over again two
Wayne Pratt suspect: William Doxtator Read More »
Terry Lloyd Caspersen was born in Minnesota, possibly Duluth. His family seemed to move back and forth between there and Wausau, Wisconsin. In early 1963, Caspersen was at the Winnebago State Hospital to undergo mental health testing after a suicide attempt. He was released after 10 weeks. While out in June 1963, he was arrested
Wayne Pratt suspect: Terry Caspersen Read More »
This story was brought to my attention by a listener named Toby. Unfortunately, the Chilton newspaper is not online anywhere to my knowledge and I have not had the opportunity to view the microfilm. However, someone transcribed the two key obituaries and put them online. That forms the core of this story, and I’ve fleshed
Ephraim Granger of Chilton Read More »
Father Theophilus Riesinger’s story is not well known in Appleton today, and seems to have not been very well known in the area even in his lifetime. The first thorough look at him from local sources is from Post-Crescent writer Maija Penikis on March 4, 1973, more than 30 years after his passing. But now,
Father Theophilus, Appleton Exorcist Read More »
Born in Germany, Albert E. Schwittay emigrated with his parents to the United States and settled in Marinette County, Wisconsin. Schwittay worked in the lumber business and was a farmer. He went to University of Wisconsin Law School, received his law degree in 1901, and practiced law in Marinette. Schwittay also started a weekly newspaper,
For quite a while, the Peshtigo fire didn’t even cross my mind as an option for a podcast topic. I figured, everyone in northeast Wisconsin knows about it. And it’s always told the same way – it occurred the same day as the Chicago fire, so it was overshadowed, despite being the deadliest fire in
The germ of these notes come from “The Maid and the Socialite,” an article in the Winter/Spring 2024 Voyageur magazine. The article, written by Lynda Drews, is a very condensed version of her book of the same title, released in 2023. I encourage people to pick up a copy. (Because the article is a summary,
The Minahan Scandal Read More »
