Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:54:31 -0600 Message-ID: <CAESRZzj7MMOby8YPfbyGsGwLVaj48rnV6gsUMaV_kH3gFD09aA@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: Local History Time line Publication From: Maureen Giese <renie.giese@gmail.com>
If you would like to visit with me at the Waterloo Area Historical
Society/Museum I can show you what my late husband, Ronald L. Giese
compiled re: history of Waterloo, WI. At the request of the Mayor,
Ron and I (mostly Ron) compiled a 214 page Sesquicentennial Book
titled "Sesquicentennial 2009 A Bird's Eye View of Waterloo,
Jefferson County, Wisconsin." This was in celebration of Waterloo's
150 years of existence. We included a brief time line (actually
covering 150 yrs), pictures, century old homes, etc. This took five
months to compile, and that was a rush because the Mayor notified us
too late, but it was done. At the expense of my husband's health. I
can also review with you how we went about having it printed.
Maureen Giese, President & Curator of The Waterloo Area Historical Society
On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 10:21 AM, sara m steele <smsteele@wisc.edu> wrote:
> Hi
>
> Has your History Society published a local history time line? If so, w
hat
> years are covered? What do the items look like and what content areas
are
> included (businesses, farming, military, schools, churches, etc.? Was
it
> organized chronologically by years or was it organized by subject matter?
> How did you expect it to be used?
>
> This question came to mind as I was responding to the question about the
> last stages of producing a book. I have stayed clear of doing a general,
> comprehensive book called "The History of Cottage Grove" because I like
> detail and it is impossible, even with as small an area and population
as
> our township and village, to be both comprehensive and detailed. For
> example, in a comprehensive book raising tobacco would only get one
> sentence--"Tobacco was a main cash crop from about 1900 until about 1980.
> In our specific topic report we told the story with photos of how tobacco
> was raised.
>
> Then I remembered. A few years ago I had started a general history usi
ng a
> time lines format with only a little detail. (See the two examples below.
)
> The format permitted some detail, but still could have become very long
> covering covering more than 200 years (1824 until 2000).
> Although it would be an excellent reference, it would be difficult to fin
d
> what you were looking for unless you knew approximately when something ha
d
> occurred. So I set it aside.
>
> Examples: The 1830s items summarized info we had collected from a variety
of
> sources. The 1910 items were taken from 1910 news columns.
>
>
1830s
>
> 1824 Ho-chunk (Winnebegos) transfer land which includes
C.G. by means
> of treaty thus preparing the way for the government to sell land.
>
> 1832 Illinois and Wisconsin militia chase Chief Black H
awk and 1,000
> of his followers across Cottage Grove township on way from Hustiford to
> Wisconsin Heights. Although a small war with Indians who were not native
to
> Wisconsin, the victory made potential settlers feel safer. Black Ha
wk was
> not a Wisconsin Indian. His band had been moved off its lands in Il
linois
> and he was trying to regain them.
>
> 1834 The North West territory survey establishes tow
nship and section
> boundaries and sets the means of describing land when sold. Since then
> Cottage Grove has been known as Town 7, 7 North. Range 11 East (T. 7-
7
> N-R.11 E)
>
> .1838 The federal road from Madison and Milwaukee is compl
eted about
> where BB is today. It was meant to link to the Ft. Howard (Green Bay)
and
> Ft. Crawford (Prairie du Chien) military road. The two forts had
been
> established in 1816 in the two areas where the fur traders came to ship
> their furs by water to France.
.
>
> 1838 Work begins on first capitol building at Madison.
The lakes are
> still known by numbers—First, Second, etc.--rather than names.
>
> 1838 First Cottage Grove land was purchased by Phili
p Kearney,
> eastern army officer and land speculator who did not live on the la
nd.
> He reached the rank of General and died in the Civil War. He and his f
ather
> bought up hundreds of acres with the help of a Beloit Lawyer.
>
>
> - - - - -
>
> 1910 The hotel barn burned killing two horses. Irvin Witte is
so anxious
> to tell people that there are horses in the barn that he puts his head
> through the window without opening it.
> 1911 Cottage Grove State Bank began operation south of the tr
acks on
> Main Street.
>
> 1912 Witte and Steinhauer became Witte, Korfmaker and Farr.
They sold
> motorcycles.
>
> 1912 Sam Kennedy was killed when the morning train spooks his te
am as he
> is returning from taking his niece to teach at Vilas.
1913 Witte,
> Korfmacher and Far acquire its first car, a second hand Model T Ford with
> carbon headlights. It was put on jacks every night to save its
> headlights.
>
> Sara Steele
> Cottage Grove Text Archivist
>
>
>
>
>
>
>