Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1924-09-25

| IL D Is I10 very IdSI OI Tic IcC-
objections of early days in Ableman
and, as in all of the others, two
houses loom above all the rest like
giants among pigmies. One was
/ the old Ableman home, the center
towards which my thoughts always
flew whenever they drifted that
way, for there lived the colonel's
second wife, the most motherly
and loyal woman / knew and one
who held my most entire love and
respect from first to last. That
house was not in the center of the
village but the only one on the
east side of the river until you
came to that of Major Williams,
the first farm house to the east.
This was really a farm house also
and had very large barn and
barnyard and garden. The other
was the Charter House, a great
parallelogram of house standing
broadside to the wide, open space
between it and Narrow's Creek,
with no houses between except the
mill on the Creek bank and Mr..
STEMS dwelling house and store.
| The latter always gave me the
impression of being built in the
middle Of the road, but was not,
because, when other houses came
to be built along the bank of the
creek in after years it lined up
with the rest or nearly so. At
this time all of the vast, open
space between the Charter House
and the creek, the river and the
rise of land to the west where the
road from the bridge over the
river climbed the hill and went
past the little log school house and
the few small houses clustered
there out into the country beyond,
was included in the great millyard
which was very busy place some
days, crowded with the many teams
and men loading and unloading at
the mill and going here and there
wherever their business called
them.
The Charter House, was about
two stories and a half high, facing
this mill-yard and extending back
quite a distance, the road crossing
the eastern side of the mill yard
and on toward the south on the
west bank Of the BaraboO river,
to the barns and out buildings
back Of it.
The front entrance was some
what to the east of the center of
the front and had platform and
steps extending from the door to
the ground. l cannot remember
the length of this platform or porch
whether the whole length of the
front or just a little wider than
the entrance, but any way furnish
ing seating capacity for loafers,
youngsters or others as the case
might be.
This door opc1ed :lto 6 wide
hall extending straight through to
large dining room in the rear,
the kitchens being back of that.
On the west side of this central
hall the stairs assembled to the up
per stories and a door opened into
the three or four large rooms oc-
cupied by the family keeping the
hotel and one of these was used
as a parlor for guests of the house.
Across the wide hall in the north
east corner of the building was the
office and, l believe, between this
and the dining room was small
room used for whatever purpose
desired.
| | have always thought, though
don't remember if any one ever
told me so or not, that Col. Able
man built the Charter House to
board and lodge the workmen in
| his mill and what other work he
employed them for, and also hop
ing to reap a large income from it
as hotel when the hoped for
railroad brought the food of bust
ness into the valley. The rail
road went through but for some
reason it never brought the wealth
he hoped for. Col. Ableman was
one of the principal workers for
the railroad and that famous pub
lie meeting we have heard so
much of was called to meet at the
Charter House for that purpose
and was ably reported by Gen.
Starks.
The charter for the "Baraboo
Valley Air Line" was signed at the
Charter House, l believeq and
there was a grand feast on that
/ occasion and the hotel received its
name thereby. I believe that from