Museum reopening July 4, 2021

Memorial Day weekend has arrived, and that typically means that our museum would be reopening. It’s been a long time since it’s been open, after being closed the entirety of 2020. However, in order to get the museum in better shape for guests and also to ensure safety for our guests and our docents, we are delaying our reopening until July 4th. If you’re really eager to visit a museum, here are a few in the area that would be great to check out:

See you on July 4th!

Curtiss Street sidewalk c. 1908

The western end of Curtiss Street has had to cope with occasional flooding for a very long time. In the early 1900s, a raised, arched sidewalk was put in place to aid pedestrians.

Curtiss Street sidewalk c. 1908
An arched sidewalk on Curtiss Street c. 1908. The house in the background is 118 or 114 Curtiss Street. The man in the cart is likely Fred H. Schumann.

The back of a postcard featuring the sidewalk on Curtiss St. c. 1908
The back of a postcard featuring the sidewalk on Curtiss St. c. 1908

This postcard was send by Mabel Schumann to Ella Burckhardt in October, 1908. Mabel’s father, Fred Schumann, was the owner of lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of block 7 of Robinson’s Addition to the Village of Mazomanie. Fred Schumann is likely the gentleman standing in the cart in this photo. The house in the background of the photo is either 118 or 114 Curtiss Street.

Fred H. Schumann (1861-1934)1“Fred H. Schumann,” Memorial ID 187287872, Find A Grave, accessed May 2, 2021 was a fruit grower and gardener while he lived in Mazomanie.2F. H. Schumann in Mazomanie, Dane County, Wisconsin in “United States Census, 1900,” FamilySearch, accessed May 2, 20213Fred H. Schumann in Mazomanie, Dane County, Wisconsin in “Wisconsin State Census, 1905,” FamilySearch, accessed May 2, 2021 In his later life, he lived with his daughter Mabel and her family.4Fred Schumann in Union, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin in “United States Census, 1930,” FamilySearch, accessed May 2, 2021

Mabel Schumann (1895-1973)5“Mabel H. Schumann Ray,” Memorial ID 80372780, Find A Grave, accessed May 2, 2021 was the daughter of Fred H. Schumann and Augusta Martin Schumann (1862-1925)6“Augusta Martin Schumann,” Memorial ID 178757776, Find A Grave, accessed May 2, 2021. She was a member of the Mazomanie High School Class of 1913.7“Alumni Roll” in Mazomanie High School Bell (Mazomanie, Wis.: The Class of 1924, 1924), 248Mazomanie High School Class of 1913 commencement program, citing exercises on June 5, 1913, Mazomanie Historical Society, Mazomanie, WI In 1915, she married Robert Ray, of Arena. In 1917, they moved to the Town of Union, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, where they operated a farm.9“Robert L. Ray,” The Daily Telegram (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), July 30, 1964, Newspapers.com, accessed May 2, 2021

Ella Burckhardt (b. 1895)10Ella E. Burckhardt, born 31 Mar 1895, in “Wisconsin Birth Index, 1820-1907,” FamilySearch, accessed May 2, 202111Ella Edna Burckhardt in “Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926,” FamilySearch, accessed May 2, 2021 was a first cousin of Mabel Schumann. Ella’s parents were Edward Burckhardt and Josephine Schumann, who was Fred H. Schumann’s sister. Her parents farmed in the Town of Merrimac, Sauk County, Wisconsin, and then in the Town of Caledonia, Columbia County, Wisconsin.12Edward Burckhardt in Caledonia, Columbia County, Wisconsin in “United States Census, 1910,” FamilySearch, accessed May 2, 2021 I have not been able to determine what happened to Ella after 1910.

References

This Day in History: Halloween 1889

Have a safe and fun Halloween–hopefully, with fewer tricks than 1889:

Thursday eve was Halloween, and our citizens were made to realize the fact more fully than ever before, by the sportive didoes of the Young America of the place. Signs were removed; gates unhung and piled up on Trener’s corner; machinery was scattered about the streets, and everything topsy-tury [sic]. It looked this Friday morning as though Pandemonium had been let loose. The young people took possession of the place, but they relinquished their hold the next morning, and changed their tactics to playing the ‘innocent act.’

Mazomanie Sickle, November 2, 1889

Halloween, Mazomanie history style

Halloween 2020 is going to be a weird one. If you’re looking to get in the Halloween spirit while staying at home, you might want to consider watching something with a Mazomanie connection.

Mazomanie native Clark Lewis Paylow (1918-1985) ended up in Los Angeles in the 1940s and initially worked as an assistant director on several installments of the Range Busters series, some of which featured cowboys hunting Nazis. His long career, primarily as an assistant director, production manager, and producer, had high points including Beach Party (1963), The Conversation (1974), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

As this is Halloween season, though, here are a few horror films that Clark Paylow worked on:

Ring of Terror (1961) was the only film that Clark Paylow directed. To be blunt, this is a bad movie. If you’d like to watch it in its original form, you can find it for free at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/RingofTerror That said, Ring of Terror was also featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (episode 6 of season 2), which is a lot more fun. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 version is available for rental on Amazon Prime.

I Bury the Living (1958), on which Clark Paylow was an assistant director, was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. This one is also available for free at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/IBuryTheLiving1958 It is also available for free on Amazon Prime.

The Hand (1981), directed by Oliver Stone and executive produced by Clark Paylow, stars Michael Caine. I can’t vouch for it personally, and it has mixed reviews. It is available for rental on Amazon Prime.

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966), on which Clark Paylow was an assistant director, was the last of the Beach Party movies. Again, I can’t vouch for it personally, and it has unsurprisingly mixed reviews. The cast list does include Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone, though, so that’s something. It is available for free on Amazon Prime.

Bog (1979), on which Clark Paylow was the executive producer, is another one that I can’t vouch for, and it has terrible reviews. That said, it’s available for free on Amazon Prime, and it was apparently filmed in Wisconsin.

And, of course, if you want something really scary, Clark Paylow was also a production manager on Sid and Marty Krofft’s The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Happy Halloween, everybody!

1924 Mazomanie High School Yearbook

1924 Mazomanie High School Yearbook

The Mazomanie High School Bell of 1924 was Mazomanie High School’s first sizable yearbook. I acquired this copy from eBay. Since we already have several copies of this yearbook, I went ahead and scanned this copy. Because of how it was bound, I had to undo the binding, which is why you can see staple holes on every page. Give it a read here–there is a lot of very interesting information.

This particular copy belonged to Margaret (Harrigan) Risch (1906-1998)1“Margaret Othelia Harrigan Risch,” Memorial ID 137452789, Find A Grave, accessed June 13, 2020, and it contained several very interesting pieces of ephemera:

Shortly after graduating from Mazomanie High School, Margaret and her family moved to Milwaukee. She graduated from the Marquette University School of Journalism in 1930. Later that year, on November 4, she married Andrew Risch in Milwaukee.2“Former Journalist Weds,” Marquette Tribune (Milwaukee, WI), November 6, 1930 Together, the couple had four children: Theresa, Lawrence, Rosemary, and Edward.3Andrew Risch in Ward 2 Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin in “United States Census, 1940,” FamilySearch, accessed June 13, 2020 In the 1940s, the family relocated to Hancock, Waushara County, Wisconsin.4“Andrew Risch,” Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, December 1, 1969

References

Jacob Hanson family photo

Jacob Hanson family
The Jacob Hanson family, between 1896 and 1899

This amazing photo of the Jacob Hanson family was taken between 1896 and 1899 at Edward C. Lange’s photo gallery in Mazomanie. The back of the photo states that Jacob Hanson was Nels Hanson’s brother.

The Jacob Hanson pictured is almost certainly the Jacob Hanson who was living in the Town of Brigham in Iowa County in 1900. Jacob Hanson (1854-1906) and his wife Anna (Olsdatter) Hanson (1857-1925) were natives of Norway and came to Wisconsin in the 1880s. The eight children in this photo are likely Marith (1879-1920), Carrie (1881-1925), Hannah (1884-1920), Lena (1885-1906), Rina (1888-1905), Anna (1891-1909), John (1894-1960), and Edwin (1897-1978). Their son Henry (1890-1955) seems to be missing from the photo (maybe he couldn’t stay still long enough).