Brodhead Historical Society

–by Pat Weeden

Those of you who were able to attend the March 31, 2014 meeting of the Brodhead Historical Society heard a very interesting presentation by Doug Tomas of East Troy, Wis., who talked about his “great uncle Berg”, TSgt. Charles L. Berg who was the flight engineer of a B-24 bomber, “Ready, Willing and Able” in WWII. The B-24 was part of the 512th Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, the “Liberandos.” Since Doug’s presentation, the story has taken a surprising, and very local twist. First, some of Doug’s original story is below:

“Sadly, “Ready, Willing and Able” and its crew were shot down on a mission over Vicenza, Italy in northeastern Italy on the 28th of December, 1943. On that mission, three squadrons of the 376th Bomb Group, with a total of 17 B-24s, were attacked before getting to the target by a large number of German fighters that shot down all six aircraft of the 512th Squadron, and two each from the 514th and 515th Squadrons. My great-uncle, and four others of the crew, were killed that day. Five crew members survived. I was very fortunate in my research to be able to contact all five survivors.

Along the way, I was contacted by Giuseppe Versalato in Vicenza, Italy, who was researching these bombing missions over his city. We became very good friends and pen-pals, and exchanged quite a lot of information over the years. Not long ago, Giuseppe informed me they had determined that a known B-24 crash site from the 28th of December, 1943, was that of my great-uncle’s aircraft, based on information I had provided him about the crew, and the notes in a priest’s diary, who had gone to the crash site to attend to those who were still onboard.”

Doug spoke about traveling to Vicenza, Italy, visiting several crash sites from that day in 1943 and attending a ceremony attended by U.S. military personnel and local dignitaries where a memorial marker was placed near Berg’s crash site.

The day after Doug’s presentation, things got more interesting. Most Brodhead Historical Society members know Winona Walters, one of our original members and our first curator. Winona couldn’t attend the previous day’s meeting but had heard about Doug’s story and wanted to contact him. An excerpt from Winona’s e-mail to Doug is here:

“Dear Doug: My name is Winona Walters and I am a member of the Brodhead Historical Society. I was unable to attend the meeting last week, where you presented a talk about the above subject.

My oldest brother’s name was Sgt. John Albert Swearingen, 376 Bomb Group, 512 Bomb Squad. He was in a B-24, piloted by Lt. Paul Brown. The name of their plane was Mizpah. They were shot down over Vicenza, Italy on Dec.. 28, 1943. The three officers on board were kept alive and captured, but any crew member that survived the bailing out were killed by Italian soldiers. The enlisted men who died there were said to be buried in a field by the Italians.

I would appreciate hearing from you if you have any other information about what happened to my brother’s remains. It was a source of great sorrow to my parents and his siblings to not even know where his body lays.”

If you’re paying attention, you’ve noticed that both men were in the same B-24 squadron and shot down on the same mission. As Doug would tell me later, “…a shiver went down my spine when I read Winona’s message.” Doug tells the rest of the story (to date) here:

“Last night, we went to Winona’s home in Brodhead, and met with her, her son, and his daughter (her granddaughter), and shared with her the information we had found, and especially the information Giuseppe had from his research.

The information she had was they had never been able to locate her brother’s body after that mission over Vicenza. What actually happened, was that he had not been able to bail out of the aircraft, along with six other crew members, and after the crash and fire, the Germans, and later the U.S. Army, were unable to positively identify each body. So he, as well as his other crew members were, and still are listed as ‘missing’, where ‘unidentified’ or ‘unknown’ is a more accurate description.

We did find documentation that they had been buried at the military cemetery in Vicenza. This was the same place my great-uncle was buried, and Giuseppe had taken me to visit when we were in Italy. Later the men’s bodies were moved to the U.S. Military cemetery in Mirandola, and postwar, again moved to now the U.S. military cemetery in Florence. So I was able to share with her 70 years later, we do know where he is buried, but not specifically which grave.”

Doug was able to show Winona a picture of the marker at the cemetery in Florence that had her brother’s name engraved, “Sgt. John Albert Swearingen”. She and her family had never known about this. It is quite an amazing story and it all came from a coincidental guest speaker at one of the regular meetings of the Brodhead Historical Society.

Don’t miss another meeting!

—Jerry Phillips, President, Bayfield Heritage Association

Mary (BHS class of ‘62) and Jerry Phillips, Bayfield, Wis.

Why is that so many of us only get interested in “local history” at the passing of our parents or other family elders? Invariably, we wish that we had taped their stories, or had at least taken notes. This is certainly true of both me and my wife, Mary May Stuessy Phillips, (Brodhead class of ‘62) as we both lost parents young in life without recording their amazing life stories.

But, after someone’s death, we’ve lost the opportunity to get that first person account. And this is the “meat” of local history, the stories of those folks who lived through the ups and downs of our communities and responded to the important events with their stories, their memories. This dilemma is certainly not unique to any one town, but perhaps there is a solution to prevent further loss.

One of the most successful projects I’ve been involved with has been a “community profiles” project to video aging members. Carried out under the umbrella of the local history group, the Bayfield Heritage Association (BHA), this ongoing project simply involves having a group of local history society volunteers develop a running list of potential interviewees that the group then systematically tapes responding to a list of researched questions. After almost thirty years of this ongoing project, we realize the immense value of these tapes. We have copies available at the Public Library and the school, and we sell copies as the need arises. These are constantly in demand.

We have also come to realize the great loss to our community of those folks we didn’t get to tape. As a result, we now have established the profiles as an ongoing project, with the goal of doing anywhere from 10 to 20 of these videos every year, and have expanded it to include taping some younger members of the community. While many of these recordings have been edited, this is not as important as it is to simply get the stories.

Another concern for many local history groups is how to interest our youngest community, our school aged students. Perhaps the best way I’ve found is through getting the school to participate in the National History Day program. By now, many thousands of Wisconsin students have participated and “gotten bit by the history bug” through History Day, and I highly recommend every community to get involved through the Wisconsin Historical Society. There are many options for participation, with a regional competition leading to a state and then national competition.

This year, Bayfield is sending nine students who made it through the Regionals to Madison for the state event, and we’re hopeful we will have someone advance to the national event. These are now nine “raving fans” of history. Though the projects need not be locally focused, many are, leading to these students developing an interest in their family and/or community history.

History is truly being made every day, and it is important that each one of us participates to the extent that we can to tell “our story.” This story is not one of simply the “movers and shakers,” but of an entire community. Most of us live ordinary lives and the amalgam of these stories is community.

I hope that everyone in and around Brodhead will see the beauty and significance of your community/area story. It is like a quilt, made up of countless patches, each representing a life. Each patch is not simply interesting, each is ESSENTIAL to telling the story. To know our town …and thus ourselves …is to know as many of these stories as possible. Who can understand or appreciate a quilt missing half the pieces?

Editor’s note: The importance of community participation in preserving local history cannot be overstated. As Mr. Phillips notes, it is not just about the “movers and shakers” or even just the big projects like the Mill Race featured here and in our new museum exhibits. Local history is about everyone’s story and the ability to compile that information for future generations. Do you want to participate? Tell your story or that of your family. Send us your contributions in writing or arrange for a video interview. Contact us today for information.

Following is the text of a letter written in 1840 by Mr. John Howe, an early settler in the Rock County, Wisconsin Territory, to his parents back east. Mr. Howe had come west to Rock County from Vermont and built a house by hand, using field stone and other local materials. Amazingly, this 160 year-old house still stands between Brodhead and Orfordville and was the subject of a fascinating talk by Everett Klusmeyer at our February members meeting.

As you read, imagine coming west by ship and then by wagon to the “frontier” Wisconsin Territory, by yourself, in an age with no telephone, no cars, no railroads, no shopping centers and little in the way of civic infrastructure or medical care. These are the hardy souls who built and defined the area as we know it today.

The letter below is printed courtesy of Everett Klusmeyer.

To John Howe, Esq., Danville, Vermont

Dear Parents,

It has been a long time since I left home, the reason why I have not written is because I have to had an opportunity. But I feel very anxious to hear from home. I want to hear how you get along. My health has been rather poor since I came here, I have had the ague [similar to malaria] which is a hard disorder. But I have take quinine and broke it, have not had a shake for about a week, shall soon be able to go to work. The ague is not considered dangerous if attended to in season. I think I took the ague in Michigan for people who come across the lakes in this country do not have the ague very often. I think this is as healthy a country as Vermont. The soil is very fertile producing every kind of grain and every kind of vegetable that one can wish.

This is one of the most delightful countries to look upon as there is in the world. The prairies which extend as far as the eye can reach without a tree. There is a prairie about one mile from this place which contains 64,000 acres, a smart chance for a farm as the Housier says. The prairie wolf inhabits these vast prairies. You can hear them howl very often in the night but hardly ever see one. They will hear you and lay flat upon the ground so that you cannot see them. They are about as large as a common sized dog. There are plenty of deer, wild geese (no turkey) ducks, hill cranes, fish of every description inhabit the rivers, Catfish, Pike, Pickeriel, Rock Bass, Red Horre and a great many other kinds. Rock River is one of the handsomest rivers in the world. It’s bottom is rocky as any in the east, its current is about 2 miles per hour.

I will give you prices of grain: wheat 50 cents, corn 20 cents, oats 12 and a half. Other things in proportion. I can buy factory clothes as cheap here as in Vermont. I am satisfied that a man could get a bushel and a half of wheat and from 5 to 6 bushel of corn for one days work. I expect to work in the mill this winter if my health is so I can. If I work in the mill it will be at the rapids about 50 miles from Janesville up the river. I am very much pleased with this country.

I saw Mr. Dunken, Mrs. Hale, Ira and Gideon Cobby, Albert Chamberlain, and (?) Suis. Suis has the ague. I want to hear from you very much. Write all the news and let me know how you get along. I have no more to write at present so Good Bye. Direct your letters to Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin Territory.

Sept. 28, 1842

From your faithful son,
J. Howe, Jr.

—Betty Earleywine, Curator

Adapted from Dorothy Kundert’s “Woodburners to Diesels” text for the 1956 Brodhead Centennial celebration.

The colossus of the circus world – John Ringling North’s “Greatest Show On Earth,” made its debut at Madison Square Garden in New York. In Wisconsin, the state that was the early proving ground for the Ringlings, Wisconsin’s famed “Historymobile,” sponsored by the state historical society, left Madison in early April to go on tour with a new and colorful exhibit, “Sawdust and Spangles; the Circus in Wisconsin.” This season the story has special significance for residents of Brodhead, for The Al Ringling not only “slept here,” but he lived and worked here, and is well remembered by some few oldsters in the community.

Al Ringling was the oldest son of a German harnessmaker who had come from the old country to Milwaukee, where he married, and then to Chicago, where Al was born. From Baraboo to McGregor, Iowa, the family eventually settled down in Prairie du Chien.

The Panic of 1873 resulted in poor business and scarce money. Hard times hit the Ringling family. Al decided to leave home in search of a better job. There seemed no alternative, as the family could use every penny that he might be able to send back.

Antone Durner and Sebestian Laube of Brodhead, owned a wagon and carriage shop, and were well known throughout Green County. It is here that Al Ringling arrived, after a prolonged look for work, and was hired as carriage painter and trimmer. He made leather tops, side curtains and dashboards for carriages and buggies.

In the 1870’s, there were no circuses as we know them today. Several horse drawn wagons occasionally took an unreasonable facsimile of a circus to the larger cities.

Al Ringling loved a circus: he loved juggling and practicing acrobatics. He roomed at “Exchange House,” the present home of Miss Helen Bechvith, just one block from the square. In his room on the third floor, south, he kept his juggling and tight rope apparatus, installed a trapeze and bars. His feats of ability soon spread across the countryside. Sometimes he put on impromptu acts, on the bank corner, or wherever he chanced to be. If he gained an audience of adults along with the children, he sometimes passed his hat. He encouraged the children to put on their own shows, even as he and his brothers had done at home.

Juggling anything handy at first, balls of yarn, or wrapping twine, pan lids, balancing a carriage whip, tools and implements, on his nose or chin, gradually his skill increased. He stretched a tight rope from an old building on the north side of Exchange Street to one on the south side, and his tight wire acts became a regular part of Saturdays, if the weather permitted. The street would be jammed with admiring townspeople and farmers, and he opened up a whole new world for the children. Sometimes Al had piano music along with his acts, furnished by Johnny Hunt, who was also good at sleight of hand. Sometimes he dressed up in pink tights.

One of his most daring stunts was to successfully balance on his chin a 70 pound old fashioned, wooden framed hand plow. On one occasion he carried a small stone half way across the tightwire, then built a fire, cooked his supper,-well, at least a piece of meat anyway,-ate it, and proceeded to the other side. Most assuredly, he was one of Brodhead’s most popular citizens.

Filled completely with a desire to go on the road with his own show, Al had frequently maintained that some day he would have the biggest show on earth. So it was not surprising, along about 1877, that Al took extended leaves of absence from his shop work and went on the road for days. His companion, a stage struck farm boy from near Avon, was a ventriloquist and puppeteer named, Fred White, known professionally as Bob White. Their acts and puppet show “Babes in the Woods,” were shown at school houses mostly, and rural churches. Invariably they came back broke.

His unexpected leaving and returning tried the patience of his employers. Up to 1882 Al had brought out the tight rope each time he returned to Brodhead and his work. The time seemed expedient to make decision as to his future. He left Brodhead in 1882 to form his own show, the story of which is well known to everyone who loves a circus.

Should you care to, you may visit the former Durner & Laube Carriage Shop, standing on East Exchange Street, now owned by John Wish. It is used to store farm implements. Joseph Laube, a former part owner, 83 years old, still lives in Brodhead. It is believed that the spot where Al Ringling carved his name on an interior wall, is still legible.

Men in front of the Laube & Durner Blacksmith Shop as described in the article. From left are Jack Mulvihill, John Laube, Joe Laube, unknown customer, Antone Durner with wheel, & another unknown customer. This building still stands on the corner of East Exchange Street and East 2nd Avenue.
Photo, BHS collection.

The first wagon made for the Ringling Circus is said to have been made here. For many years after the big show was on circuit, Al had his wagons repaired at this where he had worked so long ago. Until late in the 19th century, the circus each year showed alternately in Brodhead and Monroe. And finally the inevitable happened. There were not enough sidetracks to bring the circus to Brodhead, Al Ringling’s, local boy, “Biggest Show on Earth.”

The press release below was written February 27, 1956 by Mr. Woodrow Wollner of General Telephone Company in Madison.

For more than half of Brodhead’s one hundred years, the telephone has been a chief means of communication between the citizens of the community. It was exactly 57 years ago this May that businessmen of the town met in the office of Dr. T.W. Nuzum to lay plans for the first telephone system.

These men formed the Brodhead Telephone Company, with plans to construct equipment necessary to serve 60 telephones. The Jones and Winter Construction Company put in a bid of $3,000 for the work, and the fledgling telephone company authorized them to go ahead.

The first operator of the central office, which was located over the Green County Bank, was Fred Cole, who received $25 a month for the job. Receipts for February, 1900, included $75.80 for exchange service, $20.00 for toll calls, and $2.20 for messenger service; a gross income of $98.00.

Women entered the telephone business just after the turn of the century, and the first lady operators at Brodhead were Mrs. Letha Farnum, and Miss Abbie Emminger who received $15 and $18 a month for the work. In 1908, the expanding company hired Harry Cox as the first manager, and he served until his death in 1943.

Mrs. Lulu Mattison, the present cashier at the Brodhead office, was hired as a part-time operator when she was still in high school in 1913. Since that time, Mrs. Mattison has held just about every job at the telephone office. She has been an operator, chief operator, bookkeeper, cashier, and manager of the Brodhead exchange. There was a time when she computed and made up the bills as cashier, worked as chief-operator during the day, and occasionally filled in as the night switch board operator.

As the company grew in size, the job of manager involved a certain amount of manual labor on the telephone equipment, and a man had to be hired to take over the position. Mrs. Mattison assumed the duties of cashier-chief operator, and with further company expansion, as cashier alone. In all, Mrs. Mattison has completed nearly 43 years of telephone service to Brodhead customers.

Brodhead telephone operators ride on a parade float in 1925. The photo caption simply says “Maude” which indicates Mrs. Maude Bowen is one of the ladies. BELOW: Mrs. Lulu Mattison at left, looking over four telephone operators in this undated photo from Truman Olin.

Another local telephone veteran is Frank Maveus, who recently retired as a installer-repairman in the exchange after completing 42 years of service. He began work for the Brodhead Telephone Company in 1913 as a trouble shooter and lineman. Frank recalls that he hunted for trouble with a horse and buggy in those early days, and the first trouble truck was a model T Ford.

Mrs. Maude Bowen, present chief-operator, has more than 32 years of service behind her at the local office. She started as an operator in 1923, and worked up to the head operator’s position in 1945. Mrs. Bowen is in charge of a force of nine operators, who work in shifts around the clock in order to complete your call, be it of a social, business, or emergency nature.

Around 1922, the central office was moved to its present position above the Bank of Brodhead. In July of 1945, the Brodhead Telephone Company was purchased by the Commonwealth Telephone Company, whose name was later changed to General Telephone Company of Wisconsin. William Gillman was manager of the exchange from 1945 to 1948, when he was succeeded by the present manager, W.D. Lavasseur. Mr. Lavasseur formerly managed the Argyle and Benton exchanges.

Since its inception 57 years ago, the Brodhead telephone exchange has grown from the original 60 telephones to nearly 1,300 telephones at the present time. In contrast to the early switchboard of 50 lines, the present board has 470 lines and four operating positions.

The Brodhead exchange is part of General Telephone Company of Wisconsin, a member of the General Telephone System which serves almost 2,600,000 telephones in 30 states.

General Telephone Company of Wisconsin operates in 146 Wisconsin communities serving more than 119,700 telephones. It is the largest independent telephone company in the state.