Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1917-01-25
Recollections Of Alderman
In the Early Days
Written for the sauk County Historical Society
by Mrs. Iva ,lye Aex4nde.,
BsraboO, WIS.
BsraboO, WIS.

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bench of the same length, with legs Of
wood fastened in anger holes in a
plank, and with no back, stood in
front of said shelves, for the children
to sit upon, their backs to the middle
of the room, so that when they wished
to leave their seats they had to get
up and climb over the bench. West
Of the schOolhouse there were three
or four houses, and two families, the
Stackmans and the Meyers, who sent
several children to school. About
mile or mile and half away, on the
General Starl1s farm, his daughter
and her family lived, and three of
their daughters came to school.
About half way between this place
and the school house, down in hOl-
low back from the road, was queer
group of buildings, very small, and
built of logs, among tangle of small
trees and bushes, where a queer old
man called Old Michel, and his as
queer daughter lived alone The
dwelling was a little larger than the
rest, but very small. Near it was an
other much smaller-his oven where
he baked his bread; still another was
his smokehQuse. There were others
still, but VII ht they we're for do not
know They kept by themselves and
meddled with nobody. The daughter
visited the school one day dressed in
a remarkable fashion, and I think that
was the only time I ever saw her.
Animals Roamed at Will
On all sides of my schoolhouse was
open ground with nothing to prevent
all kinds of animals from roaming at
will and we were often the center of
an interesting and, at times, quite
noisy flock. Hens wandered in
through the door in search of crumbs
| from the chi1dren's dinner pals; a
| flock of sheep came nearly every day
and often gave concerts which seri-
ously interfered with recitatiOns un-
| til they could be driven away.
There was also a donkey, shaggy
and grey, called Locomotive, belong
ng about the mill He was quite apt
to make daily visits and serenade us
vociferously. All Of those things with
some of the children served to furnish
the variety and spice of life. One day
hen, in quest of crumbs, started in
| just as a youngster started out. They
and a squeal which upset the deco
rum Of the rest of the school for a
minute, myself included.
One other day, in the geography les
son, the question, What is the great
| est republic in the world" was asked
and Immediately answered by Amy
| Greeney with, "The Baraboo Repub-
ic!" Then she clapped her hand over
her mouth, but too late to keep it in.
Another day Amy and another little
girl were little late in the afternoon
and when I inquired the reason she
said, well! We went shaking and
we made up our minds not to come
back until we had two apiece" They
| had them.
The Charter House was kept by Ed.
Watson and his wife (Col. Ableman's
daughter and her husband) until it
was burned down many years later
| They kept good hotel and set very
good table, but were too hospitable
to get rich very fast.
| East of the river, | think Col. Able
| mans big old-fashioned house was the
only one until Maj Williams farm
| was reached, some way further to the
east on the Baraboo road man by
| the name of Bell lived there, and
| George and Alice Bell and Jennie Lutz
went to school from there. No! I
| believe there was one more a small
house standing just north of where
the road crosses the railroad now. 1t
was built about the time l taught
there, or year or two after, and was
moved away when the railroad went
through. Jim Castle, the hostler and
general factotum at the Charter House
and mill, got married and wanted q
house to live in, so that was built for
! him.
| Marriage a Failure
If | remember Alright, that was one
of the marriages that proved a fail
+, ure; but Jim Castle, a very slender,
wirey. energetic little man, was one
OF the prominent characters about
Ableman for many years. I do not
remember what became of him, but /
have blurry recollection of him as
here there and avarywhoro snd do