Wisconsin Stories
is a partnership
of the Wisconsin
Historical Society
and Wisconsin
Public Television.

Debbie Kmetz:
In the 1870s, photographers
were few and far between.
People had to rely on them to
pass through their communities
to have
their portraits taken.
Tracy Will:
Andrew Dahl
traveled the roads
of southern Wisconsin
photographing families
and their possessions.
He left behind this
incredible collection
of photographs.
I'm Tracy Will.
And I'm Debbie Kmetz.
Travelers of all kinds
have been through our state
sometimes entertaining,
sometimes educating
and sometimes
providing a service.
We're going to take look
at some of the people
who journeyed
through Wisconsin
and some of the places
that they passed through.
Some travelers provided
only a passing thrill
while others transformed
entire communities
leaving a lasting impact.
So, tonight, stories
about "Passing Through"
on Wisconsin Stories.

Funding for Wisconsin Stories
is provided in part
by an advised fund
of the Community Foundation
of Southern Wisconsin;
the Estate and family
of Lois Backus;
the Halbert and Alice Kadish
Foundation;
and Philip J.
and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson
encouraging you
to support history
on Wisconsin
Public Television
and to visit Wisconsin's
treasured historic sites.

Will:
As the frontier days
in Wisconsin began to fade
a new feature
began to appear
on main streets
throughout the state--
the Opera House.
In the days
before movies and radio
when the word "theater"
was an objectionable term
Opera Houses were centers
of entertainment and education.
And the people
that passed through them
provided a vital link
to the outside world.
In 1878,
Allanson Partridge
built a large meeting hall
on the second floor
of his carpentry
and furniture shop in Argyle.
Like most opera houses
Partridge Hall underwent
many changes over the years
becoming a silent movie house,
the Star Theatre
before eventually turning into
the Argyle Chick Hatchery
and feed store.
The current owners painstakingly
renovated the building
which now serves
as a restaurant
bed and breakfast
and once again,
a community hall.
Will:
This was built in 1878,
I think we were told?
Jim Draeger:
That's right.
Is there a period
where opera houses
proliferate
where a lot of them
begin to be built
around the region
in the Midwest?
This is really
the boom time
for opera house construction
in the Midwest.
The railroads
are extending out
into small communities
like Argyle.
These touring shows
would travel all through
the United States
going from small town
to small town
brought by the railroads.
Mary Pickford
came here.
At the time she came here
she was one of the most famous
celebrities in America.
There would have been
traveling acts
coming through here,
like the Ringling Brothers
brought their
dog and pony show here
in the early days
of the Ringling Circus.
So, it brought
a wide variety of people
musicians,
people doing ethnic comedy.
All sorts
of different things.
So, you get
minstrel shows
you get lyceum speakers,
individuals coming in
giving lectures?
Their favorite local son,
Bob Lafollette
spoke in this very room
for two hours in 1889,
as part of a Republican event.
The cost
of your admission here
also bought you livery service
across the street
for your horse, too.
So, a lot of people came in
from the countryside.

Will:
In 1983, a group
of Stoughton residents
raised funds to renovate
the City Hall's
second floor Opera House
which had sat unused
since the 1950s.
The hall was once
a focal point of the community
providing a stage
for traveling entertainers
an audience
for temperance speakers
and a showcase
for many a class play.

Volunteers supplied
the elbow grease
to start the clean-up
and raised funds
for a new fire escape
that allowed the hall
to host events.
Eventually, they secured
a generous foundation grant
and raised enough funds
from local residents
to completely re-plaster
and refinish the interior.
John Vorndran
was one of the leaders
of the restoration effort
in Stoughton
that returned the opera house
to its original luster
including a fire curtain
from 1915.
John Vorndran:
The only thing
that saved this place
was the high school
graduations
and the plays
they had.
They had graduations
up to 1938
and the plays
up to 1953.
So, there were a lot
of people from Stoughton
that had wonderful memories
of this place.
Will:
Oh, look at this!
1944, '34...
What's this one?
'46 junior class?
Junior class
of '46.
Are some of these
the names of people
that contributed
to fix this place up?
Yes, absolutely.

The main reason
I got into it
is I want the city
of Stoughton
and the downtown
to live, not to die
like a lot of small towns.
And I think this opera house
will bring it alive
and will bring in
a lot of people.
Bring the heart
of Stoughton back to life.
That's right.
It's a beautiful place,
beautiful.

Will:
In Oshkosh,
architect William Waters
modeled
the Grand Opera House
after the opera houses
of Europe.
What kind of city
is Oshkosh at that time?
Oshkosh was the second city
of Wisconsin back in 1883.
It was thriving.
There were eight
major lumber mills here
a huge lumber business.
So, the local businessmen,
lumber people
got together and decided
they wanted to embellish
their cultural world here
and built the Grand.
It opened in 1883 with an opera
called "The Bohemian Girl."
They had an opera
in an opera house?
Oh, absolutely.
The early management
brought up operas
that played
in Milwaukee.
And they played
in Oshkosh, also.
As those shows
weren't available
we had things like
Mark Twain coming along.
Mark Twain
was here?
Oh, absolutely.
He gave lectures here.
And he was known as a humorist
back in those days.
Will:
Oshkosh became a destination
for some of the greatest artists
and entertainers of the day.
Legendary actor
Sarah Bernhardt
and singer
Enrico Caruso
each played the Grand.
And later, comedians
like Charlie Chaplin
and the Marx Brothers
ushered in
an active Vaudeville era
that also featured Wisconsin's
own Harry Houdini.
There was a circuit
back in those times
of grand opera houses
where these traveling troops
would come through
and fit on these
small stages.
And it was
a spectacle to behold.
Will:
The Opera House
became a movie house
that featured
occasional performances
of local
theater groups.
But By the 1950s
the once posh theater
began to deteriorate.
And by the 1970s, the damage
was almost beyond repair.
Nebel:
The building was a wreck.
Bricks were
falling out all over.
Eventually, it was slated
for destruction, or demolition.
Will:
In 1979, Nick Nebel and
a group of concerned citizens
launched a new effort
in the 20-year fight
to save the Grand Opera House.
Nebel:
Eventually, it was
put to referendum.
And by an overwhelming
majority of 80 percent
the people of Oshkosh
decided to purchase
and restore this building.

I think we've done
a pretty good job
of putting this back
into the Victorian era.
Mark twain could come
walking through the door.
You'd think
he never left it.
In terms of performers
that you bring in
they're still
packing it in
bringing their equipment,
setting up in the dressing rooms
moving through,
putting on a show?
Exactly like it was in 1883
only they're coming by truck
instead of horse and buggy.

Will:
One of Wisconsin's
most famous athletes
was a barnstorming wrestler
from Nekoosa
named Ed "Strangler" Lewis.
In the 1920s, Lewis became
an unbeatable champion
and a national celebrity.
On the road
for over 30 years
"Strangler" Lewis
wrestled in over 6,000 matches.
And during his long career
was a key player
in pro wrestling's change
from a sport
to a spectacle.

At the International
Wrestling Institute and Museum
in Newton, Iowa
wrestling historian
Mike Chapman
has pieced together
artifacts
that tell the history
of the sport
including a special room
devoted to the early days
of professional wrestling.
He's reserved one corner
for Ed "Strangler" Lewis
including one of Lewis'
"head lock machines."
The spring-loaded head
carved from wood
was a crowd-pleaser
and became one of
"Strangler" Lewis' trademarks.
He squeezed it
to practice
his signature hold
a crushing
and inescapable head lock
that helped him wrestle his way
into sports history.
According
to almost everybody
there's only two people
who are considered
the greatest professional
wrestlers of all time.
Frank Gotch
of Humbolt, Iowa
and Ed Lewis.
Will:
Lewis was born
Robert Friedrich in 1890.
A tremendously strong
and gifted athlete
he was influenced
by other champion wrestlers
from Wisconsin
including Evan "Strangler" Lewis
from Madison
who was the original
"Strangler" Lewis.
And in one of his first
professional bouts
he was soundly beaten
by Marshfield's Fred Beell,
a wrestling veteran
who had once beaten
the national champion,
Frank Gotch.
But it was Gotch
who inspired Lewis the most
in his wrestling career.
Chapman:
After watching Frank Gotch
draw 33,000 people in 1911
at Comisky Park
for a wrestling match
which at that time...
It was
an incredible event.
It was
the largest crowd
ever to see an athletic
event in America
other than
a horse race.
And I think Ed Lewis
wanted to pattern himself
after Frank Gotch
saying this is what
a Midwestern farm kid can do.
"I'm good."
"I can rule the roost here
for 15-20 years."
Make a lot of money,
travel the world
travel the United States,
have a lot of fun
and also become
a sports icon.
And that's exactly
what he became.
But to get there,
what's the travel like?
What's the schedule like
for a guy like that?
It's a tough life.
It's a very
tough life.
I saw an estimate
that there were like
2,000 wrestlers in America
in Ed Lewis' day.
And they were
crisscrossing the nation
and showing up in towns
of 60, 80, 200 people.
Wrestling on Saturday afternoons
in impromptu matches.
A lot of them
were real matches.
They'd come
to a local community
and they'd say,
"Hey, you're pretty good?
Well, the kid down the street
can whip you."
The whole town
would show up to watch.
Ed learned
the hard knocks that way.
I'm sure he won
a lot more than he lost
but I'm sure he lost
a lot in those days, too.
These guys were warriors
of a bygone era.
And Ed Lewis is the epitome,
the personification
of that kind of athlete.
I mean, Ed Lewis was just
a tough human being.
Will:
Lewis combined
his physical skills
with a deep knowledge
of the sport
and wrote a series of books
about the various holds
and wrestling moves.
Chapman:
A lot of the wrestlers
in that era
weren't interested
in pinning somebody.
They were interested
in making him say, "Uncle."
There were probably
20 or 30 joint locks
that they could
throw on...
Show me one.
Well, here's one where
you take the arm like that.
And it always is how
you go against the joint.
It was a sport.
At that time it's really
a sport, right?
It was a 90-percent
true sport.
It wouldn't be
in Ed Lewis's best interests
to go out and flop the guy
in a minute and a half
and have the spectators
go home disappointed
and say,
"I came to see Ed Lewis
and I saw
a minute and a half."
So, Ed was so good
that Ed could make
those kind of decisions
as he got in the ring,
and make a match out of it
for 15 or 20 minutes.
But then, he'd get you
in his head lock.
Sure.
The head lock was
one of his big moves.
There are several ways
to do the head lock.
One's here, and across
the neck, then into the jaw.
That's called
a jaw lock.
Another one
is the get the arm in.
You see this
in amateur wrestling.
This is legal
in amateur wrestling.
I can try to throw you
with this
because I've got the arm,
and I can't choke.
In the early days
of pro wrestling
this is how
Ed Lewis did it.
( laughs )

Will:
The "Strangler" won
the Heavyweight
Championship Belt in 1920
and toured constantly.
Once claiming
there wasn't a town
of more than 5,000
population
in which he hadn't appeared.
He wrestled for purses
large and small
and often returned
to Nekoosa to visit his family
and put on
wrestling exhibitions.
Chapman:
For a 10-year period
there wasn't
a wrestler in America
that could last
with Ed Lewis.
For a 10-year period, maybe 15,
Ed Lewis ruled supreme.
He hobnobbed with all the great
celebrities of his day--
Jack Dempsy, Babe Ruth,
Douglas Fairbanks, the actor--
Everybody who was anybody knew
who Ed "Strangler" Lewis was.
They all enjoyed
being in his company
because he was gregarious,
outgoing, charming
and fun to be with.
Will:
Ironically, Lewis'
domination of the sport
began to take a toll
on his popularity.
With little chance of defeat,
crowds began to dwindle
turning instead to baseball,
football and boxing
for their sports
entertainment.
According to legend,
promoters convinced Lewis
to inject some excitement
into the sport
by losing
his Championship Belt
to a popular
Nebraska football star
named Wayne "Big" Munn,
who hurled Lewis from the ring.
The match marked
the beginning of the end
for traditional
professional wrestling.
Chapman:
When you look at
the history of wrestling
it's really hard
to understand
exactly how it changed
from a true athletic contest
into more
of a theatrical event.
So, with "Strangler"
you're beginning
to get a change.
I think you
can make the case
that Ed "Strangler" Lewis
is the pivotal character
in the history
of wrestling's transition.
He helped introduce
the showmanship into wrestling
and with no regrets,
I would say.

Kmetz:
In 1898, Congress authorized
the printing of postcards
by private businesses,
which started a postcard craze.
Collecting picture postcards
became a popular hobby.
And photographers fanned out
across the country
taking shots
for the big postcard companies.
But at the same time,
two local postcard photographers
L.L. Cook
and Sherwin Gillette
roamed the Wisconsin
countryside
and left behind a photographic
record of the state.
I talked
with photo archivist
Andy Kraushaar
about what made
their postcards special.
Well, these are what postcard
collectors now refer to
as "real postcards."
They're actually printed
on silver gelatin
onto real photographic paper,
rather than offset.
So, each one
of these postcards
even if you'd have
multiple copies of it
each one would be
individually printed?
That's right.
Individually printed
and then sold to the customer.
Sherwin Gillette
and L.L. Cook
both would concentrate
on the main street view.
They would come into town
and plunk their camera down
right in the middle
of the street
and at least
take that shot.
Who was L.L. Cook?
L.L. Cook was
a commercial photographer
from Lake Mills.
And the photographic work
concentrates
both on main street views
but also
northwoods resorts
which is really
kind of a lot of fun
in the images
that we have here.
These are some
nice interiors.
They're very clean.
They are
very clean.
Both of these photographers
used professional equipment
so they were using
4x5 cameras or 5x7 cameras
which give these photographs
this wonderful clarity.
And you can see
most of these are taken
with daylight, natural light
which gives them
this sort of ambience.
Yeah, it's a very,
very nice feel.
Let's talk about
Sherwin Gillette
because he's in
a different part of the state.
And where did he go?
Well, Sherwin really
concentrated very heavily
on the southwestern
part of the state.
What's so
valuable about it
is that he really documented
every little town
in that part of the state
from 1905 to 1935.
And I did
prepare this map, here
that shows how extensively
Gillette covered the
southwestern part of the state.
You can see here
that he's really hit
every small town.
Lots and lots
of places.
Lots of
little towns.
There are some
fascinating views.
These are
just wonderful.
Look at this one.
Oftentimes, when
he would come into town
he would try and get a good
overview of the entire town.
And that's what this is.
It's a bird's-eye view
of the town.
Here's a main street
in Glen Haven.
It's two different years,
maybe 15 years apart.
And look at
the difference.
What I'm struck by
is the automobile
in this lower photograph
and the horse-driven wagon
in the top.
You've got a water pump
there next to the sidewalk
and just a line
of buildings.
But later,
you've got a gas pump
not too far
from the water pump.
And now there are cars.
But a wonderful record
of change in Glen Haven.
Still a dirt road
but now the tree has grown
another ten feet, perhaps.
Tell me
about this one.
This is
a swimming pool
the municipal swimming pool
in Richland Center.
That's a great one.
This was an artificial pool,
but just alive with life, here.
You can even
see somebody
coming right off
the slide.
Here's an
interesting one.
Would you say that
that looks casual?
It's a little bit
disheveled.
It's hard to tell.
It does look like
it's an active Post Office
based on the sign.
Lots of posters on
the wall of the building
or on the wall
of the addition.
Bloomington Fair
and a State Fair.
What year is that?
I can barely see a date.
I think it says 1908.
Now, here's one.
"Lovers Lane."
What about this?
Well, this seemed to be
a popular subject
in this time period.
Sherwin Gillette
documented "Lovers Lane"
in practically every town
that he went in.
So, I'm not sure
how many of these
the townspeople
thought of as "Lovers Lane"
or whether Gillette
gave them those names.
I like this one, too.
I like it because
it shows a time
when farmers were bringing
their own milk
to the creameries.
And creameries, literally,
were located at crossroads
there were so many
of them in Wisconsin
because they were
serving a small area.
And a well-used
and popular creamery
as evidenced by these
tracks in the mud.
Yeah.
Andy, when
I look at this now
I can't help
but turn it over
and see that it was
a postcard.
It seems
like something
that would've
gotten thrown away.
Has the attitude
about this image changed?
Oh, I think
absolutely.
The way in which
we use these now
they really are
historical records.
They go far beyond
their original intent.
I mean, now we look back
at these photographs
sometimes it's the only
documentation we have
of these small towns.
These offer a lot
of internal evidence
about what life was like
at that time.
And they give us
a glimpse into the past.

Kmetz:
The town
of New Diggings
in southwestern
Wisconsin
was once a thriving
lead mining boom town.
On a hill on the edge of town
stands St. Augustine's Church
unchanged since it was built
to serve the lead miners
and their families.
Mary Montgomery:
This church was built in 1844
by Father
Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli.
He was an Italian
missionary, who, from 1830
has worked in the Wisconsin
and tri-state area
building churches and
forming parish communities.
So, this is the one
remaining church of his
that has not been
altered in any way.
It is as it was used
by the people.
Kmetz:
The legacy of Father
Samuel Mazzuchelli's work
as a church-builder,
school-builder
and community organizer
lives on to this day.

Father Mazzuchelli
was born in Milan Italy
within a few blocks of the
impressive Milan Cathedral.
As a young man,
he gave up the chance
to go into business
with his wealthy father
choosing instead to become
a Dominican priest.
While studying in Rome
Mazzuchelli was recruited
to travel to America
and become
a missionary priest.
Bidding farewell
to his family and friends
he embarked
on the 45-day journey
and finished his studies
in a log cabin
in Ohio.

In 1830, Mazzuchelli was sent
to a mission on Mackinac Island.
His territory, which included
what is now Wisconsin
covered some
52,000 square miles.

He traveled regularly
to Green Bay
and the surrounding area
ministering to the Ho-Chunk
and Menominee Indians.
Mazzuchelli created a prayer
book in the Ho-Chunk language
and later, an Almanac
in the Ojibwe language--
the first book
printed in Wisconsin.

In 1835, Mazzuchelli
passed through the hills
of what is now
southwestern Wisconsin
where a great
lead mining rush was on.
He made his way through
the hard-drinking frontier
baptizing
and hearing confessions.
Eventually,
he received permission
to minister
to Galena, Dubuque
and the surrounding area.
So, he would go
from area to area?
Tell me how he would
form people into a parish?
He would start
with a Catholic family.
And word would get around
that there would be Mass
in that house
in that family's house.
And so, other Catholic
families would come.
And that would go on
for a while.
And then he would,
if possible
and if it seemed like
a good thing to do
he'd start talking to them
about building a church.
Kmetz:
Father Mazzuchelli
took no salary
eating at one house
and sleeping in another.
He organized
over 40 parishes
and began a long period
of church building.
How many churches
was he responsible
for their construction?
I believe there are
about 24 churches
that he built.
He either built them
with the people
or he had them
pre-fabricated.
Some were shipped
from Prairie du Chien
and some were shipped
from Cincinnati
down the river.
Kmetz:
During construction
Mazzuchelli
served as fund-raiser
and money collector
receiving donations
from Catholics
as well as
non-Catholics
who wanted to build up
their frontier communities.
He also
served as architect
general contractor
and stone mason.
And the interesting
thing is
he never had
an architectural class.
Never?
Never.
We have a list of all
the classes he's taken
and not one of them
had to do with it.
But you know,
he lived in Milan.
And he saw beautiful
beautiful things.
He always wanted them
to have a beautiful church.

Kmetz:
Father Mazzuchelli
traveled constantly
through the roadless
lead region--
Gratiot's Grove,
Shullsburg, New Diggings
Snake Diggings,
Hardscrabble and Mineral Point--
Organizing parishes,
giving sermons
and gaining signatures
on pledges of abstinence
from alcohol.
He carried with him
a portable desk
so that he could write
while on the road.
Montgomery:
He had a horse
named Napoleon
a big white horse.
And then, he bought
a buggy and a horse.
So, they said on the way
to New Diggings--
There's a hill
not too far out of town
that the people
who had gathered here
could see him coming
and would get in church
and be ready
for when he got here.
Kmetz:
Because of his
relentless energy
some friends
took to calling him
"The little
steam engine priest"
while others in his mostly
Irish congregations
referred to him affectionately
as "Matthew Kelly."

In 1844, Mazzuchelli
convinced George Wallace Jones
Wisconsin Territory's
Representative to Congress
to sell a mound of land
the Indians
had called "Sinsinawa"
or "Home of the young eagle."
There, Mazzuchelli established
a Dominican community
including a new order
of Dominican Sisters.
He then turned his attention
to education
and built a college
for local men.
In 1852, a time when most women
received little education
Mazzuchelli
and the Sisters from Sinsinawa
moved to the nearby town
of Benton
and established
a school for girls.
Who were the young women
who came here?
Montgomery:
Oh, they were daughters
of lead miners.
They were daughters
of the merchants
and the families
here from town
and from
the countryside.
So, they would come
from all over.
One of the outstanding
things about the academy
was the science equipment
that he brought from New York
out of a catalog
and put here, electromagnetic
experimental machines
that, even the University
of Wisconsin admits
at that time they did not have
the quality of science equipment
that Mazzuchelli provided.
He expected them
to be teachers eventually.
That was his goal
for them.
Kmetz:
Father Mazzuchelli died in 1864
contracting pneumonia
while on the road
visiting an ailing parishioner.
He is buried in the cemetery
behind the church in Benton.
Eventually,
the Sisters at Benton
moved back
to Sinsinawa Mound
where they established
a high school for local girls.
And in 1881,
the Sisters received
55 acres of land
in Madison
where they founded
Edgewood College.

Montgomery:
This is where
Edgewood College Sisters
got their training.
Governor Washburn
became acquainted with us
angave us
the 55 acres
for the college.
Kmetz:
So, Father Mazzuchelli's
vision of educating
of educating people,
really lives on.
Continually,
continually.

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Funding for Wisconsin Stories
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Foundation;
and Philip J.
and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson
encouraging you
to support history
on Wisconsin
Public Television
and to visit Wisconsin's
treasured historic sites.