Vernon was built in 1886 in Chicago, by the shipyard owned by James P. Smith. Her wooden hull was 158.58 feet (some sources state 177 feet) in length, 25.42 feet wide and 18.66 feet deep. Vernon had a gross register tonnage of 694.94 tons and a net register tonnage of 560.41 tons. Vernon was powered […]
Frank Edward Brakop was born August 6, 1947, in Wisconsin – probably Appleton or Menasha – to Spencer and Edna (Krebser) Brakop. He grew up at 414 Green Street, Neenah (on Doty Island). Full disclosure: Frank was my second cousin, though I never met him. In the fall of 1965, 18-year-old Frank Brakop went on
The Short, Broken Life of Frank Brakop Read More »
(rough draft podcast notes, need to be fleshed out) The First Henry for years, Dunbar was the “top sawyer” among the city’s sawmills. He graduated from this role to an examiner of woodlands in the Northwoods. married April 12, 1892 to Mae Lewis, daughter of Oshkosh fire department Captain James D. Lewis 1899, moved to
Three Henry Dunbars, Multiple Plane Crashes Read More »
(these are podcast notes and should not be taken as a complete, edited and polished article) Founded 1974ish by two former teachers and a university music student. Ed Saxe had taught English and math at Fredonia’s Ozaukee Middle School, and now handled sales and lyric writing. Keith Irish taught at Clayton and Roosevelt elementary shools
Irish Saxe and Fox Cities Jingles Read More »
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 »
