Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-10-07
VISITS WAUSAU AFTER AN
ABSENCE OF SIS YEARS

Last week the Pilot made mention
of the visit to this city of A. o. Good
sole. Of Calumet, Mich, but since have
had visit with the gentleman who
came to Wausau for the first time
since he left, fifty-six years ago, for
the express purpose of seeing the old
town and to see if any of the men oil
those early days were still in exist
ence.- He spent four or i've days In
Wausau, and took much pleasure In
hunting up familiar places and visit
ing his boyhood friends of those early
days who are now classed among the
''old men" of our city. He found a
number of buildings which have un-
dergone only slight change, among
them the old Winkley house, Forest
hall building, the old Kickbusch and
Parcher stores, the building occupied
by the B. Heinemann Lumber Co.,
which formerly stood on the square,
north of the Hotel BELLS. At that
time it was the only building on the
square and was mostly used In which
to hold Episcopal church services,
Sunday school, ETC., which were pre-
sided over by the Rev. Thomas Greene.
OF course, in many respects these
buildings have been changed but not
to such an extent they could be rec
ogniZed. He expected to see the old
LeMessurier house and the Hon. w.
d. McIndoe home at the corner of
First and Washington streets, still in
existence, but instead, was impressed
with the handsome park and library
building. which occupies the site.
He noted the fact that the boys In
those days coasted on Washington
street In the winter, starting from
Third street and ending up at the
slough bridge. He met quite a num-
Der who remembered him and the
Goodsole family. He was twelve years
old when he attended school in the
first old white school house on Jeffer-
son street, occupying the site of the
Washington school. This was the first
school house of any pretentions and
in 1852 was presided over by w. H.
Searles. Previous to that he attend
ed, at one time school taught in the
upper part of the Corey shops on JEFF
ferson street, just south of he court
house and recounted the time, SO we'll
remembered by many, when a great
wind storm shook the building to such
an extent that the teacher and chill
dren rushed to the street.
His parents, Mr.. and Mrs. Goodsole
and three boys came to Wausau' from
Marquette county about 1851, when
Wausau was purely numbering town
with only few hundred people. His
father died in 1857 and later his
mother was married to Robert Dobbie
In the summer of 1862, their home
on Washington street, where the
Singer Sewing Machine Co., is now
located, was destroyed by fire, q
son OF Mr.. DObbie and another of Wm
Gowen's sons lost their lives in this
| fire. B. C. Gowen, our city engineer
was the first to discover the fire and
to give the alarm. In 1863 the family
departed for Calumet, Mich. where
Mr.. Goodsole has been engaged ever
since with the Calumet Hecla MINING
Co. Recently he received a gold medal
from the company for long and faith.
ful service.
Mr.. Goodsole was very much inn
pressed with our thriving city, anC
its surrounding farming country. He
visited our saw mills and said the logs
which they are now saving up were
used for fence posts when he was
boy.
| The last few years of his stay her,
he we'll remembers the boys of from
seventeen to twenty, who were drill
ing for services in the civil war.
He departed for his home on Wed
nesday, expressing himself as delight
| ed with his visit, and declaring tha
he was coming again when opportun
ity offered. He is now a man nearl,
10 years of age.