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,
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There is a legend in Appleton about the grave of Kate Blood. Some say that when the moon is just right, you can see ghostly blood oozing from the stone. The reason? Kate is said to have killed her husband with an axe. Sometimes her children, too. Whether or not you think the stone oozes
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Dr William Edward Minahan was born in Chilton, Calumet, Wisconsin on 20 April 1867. He was the son of Irish immigrant parents William Burke Minahan (1833-1906), a county school superintendent, and Mary Shaughnessy (1839-1902), both Limerick natives. He had ten known siblings: Robert (1858-1935) Ellen (1860-1915, later Jaeger), John Robert (1862-1941), Grace (b. 1865), Hugh
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Notes on the unsolved 1973 murder of William Paul. The building at 311 North Commercial Street in Neenah was built in 1888 and was traditionally known as Charles Herziger’s Saloon, and later Pinky’s Midway Bar. In 1940, the tavern was purchased by William Paul, age 39, who would operate it for over thirty years. On
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I was asked to provide on-camera history for the Gainor property in Mackville, an unincorporated area north of Appleton, Wisconsin. These are my very rough, incomplete notes. The details of the final fire are not included here (and were not mentioned by me on camera) out of respect for the family’s privacy. This was part
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Milton Lutzke was born in Liberty (Manitowoc County) to Louis and Ida Lindeman Lutzke on November 25, 1905. He had one brother, Norman. On January 2,1932, 26-year old Milton married 16-year old Lillian M. Ahl, daughter of Peter and Rose Marx Ahl, at Waukegan. Milton was Lutheran and Lillian was Catholic. They had one son,
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Winnebago County was broken off from Brown County in 1840, with a population of 135 settlers. A county government was formed two years later, though the place was mostly scattered log cabins. Autumn 1846, the Partridge family arrived – Alvin, Lucia, a young daughter and a newborn son. They were Protestants with roots in Ohio.
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Alvina “Elva” Heup was born in and grew up on a farm near Sherwood, Wisconsin, the daughter of Gerhard “Garrett” Heup and ??. Her mother was a sister of John Deno, who operated a store on Third Street in Kaukauna. In June 1916, Elva worked as a seamstress for various shops around Milwaukee. She was
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