>From the Altoona Tribune, Thursday, 12 February 1942: Silver Wedding Surprise Party Mr. and Mrs. George Haus, Bartlett Ave., celebrated their silver wedding anniversary Sunday evening. Their daughter, Mrs. A. J. Turch, acted as hostess in a surprise party given in their honor. A dinner was served in the early evening with a lovely tiered cake trimmed in silver and white as the center piece. In the evening a short program was enjoyed, with David Burkart playing and singing several songs. Willard Evert and George Haus rendered a number of songs. There were four generations of the family present with Mr. Haus' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Haus of Jordan, Minn., and Mr. and Mrs. Haus' daughter, Mrs. A. J. Turch of St. Paul and her son, David. Out of town guests included Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Turch and son of St. Paul, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Haus of Jordan, Minn., Mrs. Lawrence Deutsch and daughter of New Prague, Minn., and Mr. and Anton Steiner and Mrs. E. C. Steiner of St. Paul. Guests from the city were Mrs. D. R. Howard, Mrs. Anna Perssen, Mrs. John Burkkart and Mrs. Francis Epp and daughter Barbara Ann. Rev. Deis attended in the late evening. The guests of honor received many lovely gifts and the heartiest congratulations from their many friends and relatives. +++++++++ -- Nance

>From the "Past Events" column by Ed. Semisch in the Altoona Tribune, Thursday, 12 February 1942: Arthur B. Thompson and Bertha Hein of Altoona were married in Eau Claire on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 20, 1907. Ida Knobel died of burns sustained at her home on Daniels avenue, where Miss Elsie Green is now residing on Friday afternnon, Jan. 31, 1896. She was about twelve years old at the time of her death. Burial was in Eau Claire on Monday afternoon, Feb. 3, 1896. Due to the bad conditions of the roads Undertaker John Fleming was unable to take her to Eau Claire and she was taken over by Otto Semisch. John Jacobson, formerly a stone mason and bricklayer in Altoona, was taken to an Eau Claire hospital on Monday morning, Jan. 23, 1911, and died in Eau Claire on Monday Feb. 6, 1911. Interment was made in Eau Claire on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 8, 1911, with funeral services in Altoona. The first Altoona Headlight newspaper was published in Thompson's barber shop on Thursday, Jan. 30, 1896. Mrs. Emil Stienke was taken to the Luther hospital in Eau Claire on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 3, 1921. Private Sherwood Volkman was born on Feb. 6, 1920, and Don Weaver was born on Feb. 5, 1913. Private Harold Semisch was also born on Feb. 5 in 1919. John Flick, track walker, was killed about 8 o'clock Monday morning Feb. 6, 1911, in Fairchild, when he was struck by engine No. 379 on the mail and express train No. 15 on its way to Minneapolis from Chicago. Mr. Howe, who owned and operated a shoe store by the Potter & Culver building in Eau Claire, jumped off the Milwaukee R. R. bridge in Eau Claire into the Chippewa river about 4 o'clock Monday afternoon, Feb. 6, 1911, and was drowned. +++++++++++ Well, I picked up the Bible that I told you about. It actually isn't that old, but since the cover is gone, so are alot of the first and last pages -- in fact, the whole book of Revelations is missing! In the center is some handwritten notes about the family. Unfortunately, it is all information that I already had. I figure this is a Bible that my father's cousin owned (I always called him Uncle Walter). He was a preacher and carried a Bible with him everywhere he went. It was his distinguishing feature, and although the book is pretty beaten up, I am glad to have it back in the family! I also made a nice friend in the deal! We had a very enjoyable visit and went through lots of coffee! Speaking of which, I gotta go and get my first cup of the day! Have a good day everyone! -- Nance

>From the 5 March 1942 edition of the Altoona Tribune, is this column written by Ed. Semisch who remembered past events concerning the railroad and its workers: Past Events Passenger engines No.s 275, 276, and 277 were built in March 1896 and arrived in Altoona from Schnectady, N. Y. in April 1896. They were the largest passenger engines between Minneapolis and Chicago in 1896, and were on local passenger trains No. 3, No. 4, and N. W. limited passenger trains No.s 5 and 6 from 1896 until 1899. In December 1897 the Omaha Railroad Co. began repairing their bridges west of Altoona as far as Hudson and the work was completed in April 1898. Forty-eight horses were hired for pile driving with twenty-four working daily and nightly. The Omaha Railroad Co. built five new bridges in 1898. A bridge west of the Fall Creek depot, fourteen miles west of Fall Creek, on Nine Mile creek, east of Altoona, west of Altoona over the Eau Claire river, and one over the Chippewa river west of the Eau Claire depot. There was also a new bridge in Menomonie Junction, on the old main line track on the Red Cedar river. The bridges were purchased from the Lassig Bridge Co. in Chicago, Ill. +++++++++++++ -- Nance -- excited! Today's the day I get the family Bible!!! I sure hope it contains some family notes that will help me!

Hi everyone, Is anyone out there researching the family of the Hon. Judge Barnes, early 1900's in the City of Eau Claire? If so, please e-mail me. Rumor has it, my McRae/Cameron family is related somehow. Thanks! Laurie in Lkvl [email protected] http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/7898/genindex.htm

Happy Columbus Day! Just think, he's really the one who made genealogy a little tougher for us! If he wouldn't have discovered America, we would still be living in the old country where our families originated! (tee hee!) Here's some other old news from the Eau Claire Daily Telegram, 1 April 1942: >From Our Files 15 Years Ago (1927) The Grand Forks basketball team defeated the Eau Claire high school quint, 32 to 24, in the national tournament at Chicago yesterday. Two Eau Claire men will represent the Eau Claire "Y" at the national swimming meet at Minneapolis. Tom Moehle and Sherman Olson will take part in the six events. 25 Years Ago (1917) The Grand Opera House was packed to capacity last night when a patriotic program was presented. Speakers included N. J. Whelan, Rev. P. H. Linley and Mayor J. E. Barron. Musical numbers were provided by Prof. Howard, Miss Ruth Kleiner and Joe Culver. War between this country and Germany appears inevitable, officials declare. Congress will consider the matter next week. +++++++++++++ I decided to take the weekend off to help my husband get some stuff done around the house. No, he's not the housekeeper, but I do let things slide a little bit because this computer and mailing list are much more fun! Didjamissme? -- Nance

I am just starting on my COWAN research. According to my grandmother, our COWAN family were all residents of Eau Claire. My great-great grandfather was William G. COWAN b. 3 Nov 1868. He was a fireman for the city of Eau Claire. After his first wife's death, William remarried a woman by the first name of Flo. He and his first wife (Sarah???) had 6 children (including 2 sets of twins.) The children of William and Sarah were: Lillian COWAN b. 3 Jul 1886 m. Oscar BAINE William COWAN b. 3 Jul 1886 Sarah Jane COWAN b. 13 Feb 1889 m. Chauncey Charles HOLCOMB (children Lois & Eleanor) John COWAN b. 14 Aug 1891 m. Laura ??? (children Deloris & Roderick) Mabel COWAN b. 6 Feb 1894 m. Van Searle (child Dorothy-died at age 12) Baby COWAN b. 6 Feb 1894 (died at birth along with mother) I would appreciate any information on the family and would be interested in proving William G. COWAN's occupation as fireman in Eau Claire. Thank you! Lori Davis mailto:[email protected] http://home.pacbell.net/davisent

Great story, Nance! OK, you've convinced me. Please tell me about the Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire and how to join. Thanks! P.S. You do a fantastic job as County Coordinator!!! Lori Davis mailto:[email protected] http://home.pacbell.net/davisent

Congrats!!!!! Will you rub some of that luck onto the rest of us????? <VBG>!! Cindy :) Nance Sampson wrote: > > A short time ago I sent out an "Old News" post with a blurb at the > bottom about the October meeting of the GRS of Eau Claire. Well, I want > to tell you a little story that just happened to me this week. > > Wednesday evening, just after supper, the phone rang. Being prepared to > hear a sales pitch, I answered the phone. A woman on the other end > asked for me and I responded. She said she was the president of the > Barron Co. Genealogical Society and that she had seen my name in the GRS > of Eau Claire's newsletter (I had given my family group sheet to them > upon membership and it was published in the last edition -- thanks > Wyn!) One of the names on my group sheet was a name she recognized from > a book she had purchased a while back. Actually, the book was a Bible! > And it was from the Wittren family! She had purchased it for 50 cents > and had put it in their society's archive library. She has very > gratiously offered to let me have the Bible (for a fee of 50 cents -- > cheap when you consider the valuable information within!) and I am going > to meet with her on Tuesday over lunch. This is the first and only time > that I have had a "hit" on my Wittren surname. Very exciting! > > The moral of the story is, join your local genealogical societies. They > help you so much! You never know when that one person will come along > and be able to offer you information that you need! I know I will be > forever grateful to the GRS! Heck, I'm even considering joining the > Barron Co. Genealogical Society now! <VBG> > > -- > Nance Sampson > mailto:[email protected] > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SURF MY PAGES!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Personal webpages - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/2337 > WashburnCo.GenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiwashbu > EauClaireCo.GenWeb - http://users.rootsweb.com/~wieaucla/eauclair.htm > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MAIL LISTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > WashburnCo. Mail List -- [email protected] > EauClaireCo. Mail List -- [email protected] > Type subscribe or unsubscribe in message body with signature file turned > off! > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > ==== WIEAUCLA Mailing List ==== > Eau Claire Co. Queries WELCOME! > http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Wi/EauClaire

A short time ago I sent out an "Old News" post with a blurb at the bottom about the October meeting of the GRS of Eau Claire. Well, I want to tell you a little story that just happened to me this week. Wednesday evening, just after supper, the phone rang. Being prepared to hear a sales pitch, I answered the phone. A woman on the other end asked for me and I responded. She said she was the president of the Barron Co. Genealogical Society and that she had seen my name in the GRS of Eau Claire's newsletter (I had given my family group sheet to them upon membership and it was published in the last edition -- thanks Wyn!) One of the names on my group sheet was a name she recognized from a book she had purchased a while back. Actually, the book was a Bible! And it was from the Wittren family! She had purchased it for 50 cents and had put it in their society's archive library. She has very gratiously offered to let me have the Bible (for a fee of 50 cents -- cheap when you consider the valuable information within!) and I am going to meet with her on Tuesday over lunch. This is the first and only time that I have had a "hit" on my Wittren surname. Very exciting! The moral of the story is, join your local genealogical societies. They help you so much! You never know when that one person will come along and be able to offer you information that you need! I know I will be forever grateful to the GRS! Heck, I'm even considering joining the Barron Co. Genealogical Society now! <VBG> -- Nance Sampson mailto:[email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SURF MY PAGES!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal webpages - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/2337 WashburnCo.GenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiwashbu EauClaireCo.GenWeb - http://users.rootsweb.com/~wieaucla/eauclair.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MAIL LISTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WashburnCo. Mail List -- [email protected] EauClaireCo. Mail List -- [email protected] Type subscribe or unsubscribe in message body with signature file turned off! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>From the 1 April 1942 edition of the Daily Telegram from Eau Claire, Wisconsin: Don Rulien Wins Commission in Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Don W. Rulien receives his commission as a second lieutenant, Air Corps and wings of an Aerial Bombardier today from the Air Corps Advanced Flying school at Albuquerque, N. M. Lieutenant Rulien, son of Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Rulien of Eau Claire, is a former student of University of Florida, Gainsville, Fla. Prior to his advanced training at Albuquerque, Lt. Rulien was stationed at Lou Foote Flying School, Stamford, Texas, and Elington Field, Texas. As a lieutenant in the Air Corps, ready for active duty, his destination is not disclosed. ++++++++++++++++++++ This weekend promises to be another busy one! One of the highlights of the weekend is the Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire's monthly meeting. This will be held tomorrow, 10 October at the Chippewa Valley Museum starting at 10:00 a.m. Guest speaker is Dr. Daniel Strouthes who is from the UW-Eau Claire Anthropology Department. He will be speaking on Native Americans, their social structures and lifestyles. If you have an interest in Native American ancestry, you won't want to miss this meeting! Have a good weekend everyone! -- Nance

>From the Wednesday, 1 April 1942 edition of the Daily Telegram of Eau Claire, WI: Bride -- Mrs. Walter Gorkowski (Miss Verda Prohl) On Saturday, March 28, at 2:00 p.m. at the parsonage of St. Peter's church in Foster, Verda Prohl, daughter of Mr. and Mr. Theo. Prohl of Fairchild, became the bride of Walter Gorkowski, son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Gorkowski of Fairchild. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Herbert Bergdorf. The bride was beautifully attired in a street length dress of light blue crepe trimmed in white, and wore a corsage of white roses. Her only attendant was her sister, Mrs. Alfred Klatt of Fairchild, whose dress was of pink crepe. She wore a corsage of pink roses. The groom's attendant was the brother-in-law of the bride, Alfred Klatt of Fairchild. Each wore a dark suit with white carnation boutonniere. A 6 o'clock dinner was served at the home of the bride's parents to the immediate relatives. Mr. and Mrs. Gorkowski will make their home on the Will Ringrose farm at Alma Center where the groom has worked for the past fifteen years. +++++++++++++++++ Sorry for the lateness of today's post. But as they say, "Better late than never!" Hope you are all enjoying this bright and sunny day! -- Nance

Good Morning everyone! I realized we haven't had any old railroad news in a while, so here's another installment from the 12 February 1942 edition of the Altoona Tribune: RailWays -- The Railway Workers Section of the Altoona Tribune Seems to be a rush to get into East End Chain Gang. Lots of Marshfield turns and Adams or Elroy doubles. Some of you fellows are kicking about your income tax this year. It will be higher next year. If they take a lot of the younger workers for the army or navy you will not be able to lay off. So beware, 1942 income taxes will be high. Of course Uncle Sam needs the money. You will be paying to a good cause every time you make over a hundred miles in any one day you can take the extra money and buy Defense Bonds. Startling as it may seem there is a legal strike on the Toleda, Peoria & Western R. R. It was called on Sunday, Dec. 28, 1941, and has not been settled. The President of the T. P. &W. was the first man to feel the teeth of the Railway Labor Act which was passed in 1926. He is charged with interfering with the organization of his employees and he refuses to arbitrate. This is interesting as the T. P. & W. may be taken over and operated by the government. +++++ And from the "Past Events" column by Ed. Semisch: Engineer Frank Koppen and Fireman M. Holen, with freight engine No. 431, were on time freight train No. 483 from Chicago to Minneapolis when Frank Koppen took sick in Augusta about 2 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 18, 1932. M. Holen ran freight engine No. 431 to Altoona and Koppen was taken to Sacred Heart hospital in Eau Claire. He died at the hospital on Saturday, Jan. 23, 1932. He was taken to Wonewoc on passenger train No. 502 on Monday morning, Jan. 25, 1932, and interment was made in Wonewoc. Koppen was born on Sept. 9, 1887. +++++++++++++++++++++++ Another busy day on tap! Hoping you all have a good day too! -- Nance

Hello all! Have gotten the personal homepages links page started. Check it out at: http://www.ameritech.net/users/cindyjohnson1/Family_history.htm Hope to see you all there!!! Cindy :)

Hi all! I have just finished updating my links page. I have added cemetery links and a native american links section, plus quite a few other general links for WI and other resources. Please stop by and take a look. http://www.ameritech.net/users/cindyjohnson1/Family_history.htm Cindy :)

>From the 1 April 1942 edition of the Daily Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.: Celebrate Golden Wedding Mr. and Mrs. W. J. McCombs celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Sunday, March 29 (1942). They were married in Dunn county and lived on a farm on Truax Prarie for twenty-five years. Since then they have resided at 730 Water street, this city. They, together with their guests, attended morning church service at the Lake Street Methodist church. The altar flowers were dedicated to them. The wedding dinner was served at the Eau Claire cafe. The table was decorated appropriately with two bowls of daffodils and a beautifully decorated 3-tier angle food cake made by a friend, Mrs. R. T. Moore. Guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Jens Uhrenholdt and son, Russell, of Hayward; Grace McCombs, Mr and Mrs. M. B. Syverson, Mrs. Ruth Smoldt, of Minneapolis; Theresa Stockig, Mr. and Mrs. Bert Williams, Mr. and Mrs. R. T. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Spaulding, Mrs. Nora Steiner and Mrs. Pearl Mars. Many gifts, flowers and messages of congratulations were received. +++++++++++++ Sorry, guys, but I guess we're back to the "Nuptial News". But after last night's game (Packers/Vikings), I think we need something to get our minds off sports! What a disappointment! :~( -- Nance

>From the Altoona Tribune, 22 January 1942: Local Boy Passes Cadet Exams Harold Russell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Russell, Division St., formerly in the Coast Artillery stationed at the Brooklyn Navy yard in New York, is now a flying cadet, taking training at Maxwell Field, Alabama. After five weeks of this training he will be transferred to a flying school in the south, as yet unknown. Russell passed a physical test in September to enter the air corps and then on Nov. 12, 1941, he passed a mental examination taken at Langley Field, Va. Last Friday he took his final physical examination, which he passed to enable him to enter the flying cadets. Russell graduated from the Altoona high school in 1937. +++++ Birthday Party A surprise birthday party was held in honor of Miss Josephine Stepani at the Wm Glassbrenner home on Lynn Ave., last Saturday evening. "500" was enjoyed at five tables with Miss Ona Stezer, Mrs. Earl Coss and Miss Lula Thompson receiving first, second and door prizes respectively. A very tasty lunch was served by the hostesses Mrs. Wm. Glassbrenner and Miss Ruth Jacobson, Mrs. A. Nadler, Sr. baked an attractive and delicious birthday cake for the occastion. Miss Stepani received several lovely gifts and a purse of silver from the many guests. Miss Stepani's birthday was January 19. +++++++++++++++++++++ Don't forget to visit the Eau Claire Co. Query board, located at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Wi/EauClaire and post a query for those names that you're researching in Eau Claire Co. It's a great way to gather information that you may be missing! -- Nance

Some more old news from the 22 January 1942 edition of the Altoona Tribune: School Band News According to records the following band members have had perfect attendance for the first semester: Seniors, Phyllis Sund and William Thompson; Sophomores, Eleanor Rieck, Joyce Walker, and Neil Woodington; Freshmen, Lois Isaacson; Eighth graders, Jack Cole and George Woodington; Sixth graders, Jimmy Woodington. The beginners who have had perfect attendance for the semester are Juniors, Gale Lightfood; Freshmen, Phyllis Decker, Vance Larson, and Joyce Smith; and seventh graders, Carol Decker and Charles Steuding. The following have been absent once during this first semester: Seniors, Beverly Bowman, Lawrence Radawitz, and Kenneth Vinal; Juniors, Nora Emanual; Sophomores, Bette Bredesen and George Sund; Freshmen, Esther Mae Lange; 8th graders, Bobby Bredesen and Doris Thompson; Seventh graders, Gene Musolf. The beginners who have been absent only once during the first semester are Seventh grade, Robert Johnson; Sixth grade, Jerry McDonald. Members of the band whose names do not appear here have been absent more than once. +++++++++++++++ Can you imagine doing an article like that in a paper nowadays? There probably wouldn't be too many names to list off. But, hey, what a good way to find out if the kids are skipping school or not, huh? -- Nance

[email protected] wrote: > I would greatly appreciate the address for St. Patrick's Catholic Church in > Eau Claire. Some of my ancestors were members in the late 1800's in the > 1960's. Surname of SCMID/S OR SMITH. Hi Jan, The address that I have found for St. Pat's is: St. Patrick's Congregation 318 Fulton St. Eau Claire WI 54701 Hope this helps! And I hope you get some answers to your queries. -- Nance

Oooopppss! I hit send before I could say "Thank you " to anyone who is able to send St. Patrick's Catholic Church of Eau Claire's address to me. Thanks in advance for the help. Jan in California

I would greatly appreciate the address for St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Eau Claire. Some of my ancestors were members in the late 1800's in the 1960's. Surname of SCMID/S OR SMITH.