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.
[Captioning services provided by Wisconsin Public Television.] www.wpt.org
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.