Early Settlers
*Burnham,A.M.- "Father of Neshoto". Came from Detroit around 1836.
Built the first grist and sawmill. Did not purchase the property, but
"squatted". Became partners with the Neshoto Lumber Co. in 1837.
*Ford,Chester- Original owner of property that A.M. Burnham's mill
was being built on. Purchased 3-80 acre tracts of land from the General
Land Office in Green Bay on May 18,1836. Sold 3/4 part of the property to
Albert Ellis, an agent for the Neshoto Lumber Co. on Feb.1,1837. Sold the
rest 1/4 to Mr. Ellis on Feb. 16, 1837.
*Neshoto Lumber Co.- Bought property from A.M. Burnham and Chester
Ford for sole ownership of the grist and sawmill in 1837. Members were:
Henry Stringham, Albert Ellis, Henry Baird, Joseph Stringham, George
Conroe, Ramsey Crooks and Harvey Durkee. The Neshoto Lumber Co.went
bankrupt in 1841, due to the Financial Panic in 1837.
*Taylor,Isaaac and Pendleton,Nelson - Bought the Neshoto Co. in
1848 and ran it until 1862. Mr. Taylor was from Racine, it is unknown
where Mr. Pendelton was from. The widows of Taylor and Pendelton sold the
mills to George Cooper and John Jones in 1862 due to the deaths of their
husbands. Widows names were Emerline Taylor and Joy Pendelton.
*Cooper,George - Native of England, emigrated to the United States
in 1855, and settled at Neshoto. There he was employed in a saw mill until
1863.When he and his partner John Jones bought the Neshoto Co., the
property consisted of one steam mill, one water mill and a large quantity
of land, which included a store and saloon, and continued the manufacture
of lumber successfully until 1877, when Mr. Cooper sold his partnership to
Mr. Jones and moved to Manitowoc to begin another partnership with Mr.
Truman, as merchant millers and wholesale dealers in flour, feed, hay,
coal, etc.
*Coutly, Henry - Farmer, Born in Cedar, Upper Canada on Nov. 14,
1827. Settled in Neshoto May 14, 1851 and worked in a sawmill for 12 years,
and then he just worked in the mill in winter and farmed during the summer.
He was one of the first farmers in our area. He settled in Township 20,
Range 24, Section 33, NE1/4, with 80 acres. He married Henrietta Lehman
August 13, 1860.
*Mueller,Richard - Born Jan. 29,1839 in Saxony, Germany. Settled in
Two Rivers in 1847. Father Edward ran the first brewery, built in 1848,
in Manitowoc Co. In 1871, his father died and Richard took over the
brewery. Married to Katherine Hobzkneight in 1867. He was an Alderman and
County Supervisor, and from 1891-1892 was the President of the City of Two
Rivers.
*Whitcomb,Cyrus -Born Nov.12,1813. From Windham, Vt. Settled in the
Town of Two Rivers in 1850. He organized along with Rufus Allen the
Wisconsin Leather Co.,and became the superintendent. Built a road to the
Tannery, as it became known, and built a second tannery to the south of
the first one in 1861. He also built a boarding house for his workers and
owned and managed a store. In 1877, the first tannery was torn down, and
in 1891 the second tannery burned down. He did not rebuild.
*Vieau,Andrew - First Post Master in 1846-47. He owned a 320 acre
farm at Neshoto, location is unknown. In 1851 he moved to Green Bay.
*Rand and Hanson- Shipbuilders at Neshoto, location is unknown.
Built Joseph Vilas (218 ton) and Neshoto (250 ton).
*Goedjen,Henry - Born in Germany June 26,1844. Son of Herman and
Catherine. Arrived in the Town of Two Rivers Oct. 27, 1856. Parents
engaged in farming. Had 1 brother, John, and three sisters, Annie,
Catherine and Gesine. Elected County Treasurer in 1895 and served two
years. Member of County Board and was made Superintendant of the County
Asylum in 1897. Married Catherine Wilke in 1868. Had six children: Minnie
born 1868, Henry born 1871, Laura born 1873, Hattie born 1881, Edward born
1883 and Albert born 1885. Mr. Goedjen was involved in many county
projects. He was instrumental in building the Crystal Spring School, as it
is often called "Goedjen School" Mr Goedjen died Oct.5,1911.
*Honey,Wm.- Town Clerk in the 1850. Was murdered in Fon du lac in
1868. Was in the poultry business. Was our Town Clerk in 1852.
*Walesh,Felix - native of Northern Ireland, arrived in the Town of
Two rivers in 1850. Married to Bridget Comer at Manitowoc Rapids Feb. 8,
1853. Felix's father name is unknown, but we do know that he died in
Ireland in early 1840 and that he was a textile weaver. His mothers name
was Nancy, who died at the age of 60 and is buried in Mishicot. Felix has
two brothers and a sister, one brother is named Henry, other brother and
sisters name is unknown. Felix and Bridget had five children, three girls
and two boys. Children in order are, Mary, Henry, Thomas, Lucy and Sarah.
Thomas Walsh became a Montana Senator.
Felix Walsh was our Town Clerk from 1864 to 1883. Bridget Walsh was the
first postmistress in Two Rivers, the date when is unknown.
*King, George - ran a saloon and store in Kingsville where the
"schoolhouse" stands now. May be related to Jacob King. He did not write,
on documents we found, he put his mark, "X"
*King, Jacob - Native of Penn., moved to the Town of Two Rivers in
1848. He purchased 57 acres in the E1/2 of Section 29. He laid out the
village of Kingsville in 1857. He built a sawmill, grist mill, two saloons
and a dance hall. According to the 1850 census of Manitowoc County, Jacob
was 35 years old at that time, his wife's name was Mary and was 25. They
had a son named John who was 5 months old. Jacob King was also our Highway
Overseer for the Town of Two Rivers, and laid out many roads. It is
unknown where Jacob King lived, or where he went after he sold the mills
in 1868.
People of Shoto
Fred Jachimstal and Anna (Pech) Jachimstal were married in 1894.
Fred was 23 and Anna was 21. They lived on a farm in the Town of Kossuth
for 10 years, and in 1904 they moved into the Shoto Hotel, retiring from
there in 1923. They then moved to Manitowoc. They had two daughters,
Amelia (Victor) Jansky and Rose (John)Bayless. They also had a son named
Edward.
Fred Jachimstal had three sisters; Mrs. Joseph(Anna) Hrudka, Mrs. Blanche
Strouf and Mrs. Amelia Stastny. Amelia was born April 21,1875 and died May
26,1923. She was 48 years old. On her tombstone it is listed "Wife" but
there is no husbands name. I can only presume that he remarried and is
buried somewhere with his other wife .( There is a Frank Stastny and on
the same stone is a Mary. It is possible that Frank was Amelia's husband?)
The Manitowoc County Court House does not have Amelia's death record,
therefore I was told she did not die in our county.
Anna Had two sisters, Mrs. Duelham and Mrs. George Petrick and one brother,
Edward Pech. At the time of Fred's death on March 16, 1947, the obit lists
only two sisters survive, plus his children. Mrs. Anna Jachimstal (Fred's
wife) died on March 11,1947, one week before Fred, of a heart attack.
Both funeral services were held at Urbanek and Schlie, burial is in the
Evergreen Cemetery.
It also listed in the obit that in 1947 they had 11 grandchildren.
The Origins of the Jachimstal Name and Dollar
The American Dollar owes it's name to the counts of Schlick. The counts
mined silver at Joachimstal, Bohemia. In 1518, their coins became known as
"joachimstaler", and later just "taler". From this latter came the Dutch
daler and the United States dollar.
First silver coins were made in Europe in 1500 at Joachimsthal (Joachim's
Valley) in Bohemia.
It is interesting to note how the word "dollar" came to use. It is of
German Origin. In the 16th century, a mint located in Joachimsthal,
Bohemia, minted pieces of silver of one ounce of weight which from the
name of the town were first called Joachimsthaler, and afterwards for
shortness "taler". Writers and speakers of the English language soon
changed the word into dollar.
The word dollar itself is a modified use of the German Thaler which is a
shortened version of a "Joachimst(h)aler". This was a 16th century silver
coin intended to be the equivalent of the gulden, a gold coin. The first
such coins were struck in 1519 under the direction of the Count of Schlick,
who had appropiated a rich silver mine in St. Joachimsthal, Bohemia. The
coin bore the image of St. Joachim and was in use from that time on, so
the name "thaler" stuck.
In the mountains of northwestern Bohemia is a small town known in the
early 16th century by its German name Sankt Joachimsthal. When a silver
mine was opened nearby to mint coins, the coins were known as
joachimsthaler, later shortened in German to taler, then known in the
Dutch form of "daler", then borrowed into English and into Spanish as
"dollar". It was Thomas Jefferson who proposed that the dollar be the
money unit of the United States, and so the Continental Congress resolved
on July 6, 1785.
*Sand,Oscar - Born: March 21,1892 in the Town of Two Rivers on the
family farm that they acquired in 1858. Son of Friedrich and Marie
Borkholz Sand, immigrants from Germany.
Baptized: Nov.23,1892 at St.Johns Luthern Church, Two Rivers, WI
Attended Rangeline School from 1898 to 1906. He then attended Manitowoc
Business College for accounting.
Served in World War I, received many metals during the Meuse-Argonne
Offensive from Sept.26 to Nov.12,1918. Almost his whole company was wiped
out during that battle, and the few that remained advanced the hill and
defeated the German gunners. His most valued metal is The Silver Metal.
After returning from the war, he became our Town Clerk during the 1920's
and 1930's. Mr. Sand never married, and lived his whole life on the family
farm with Mr.and Mrs.Ervin Sand. He worked for a time at Hamilton
Industries and he also farmed. Mr. Sand died on August 2nd, 1985, and is
buried in the Forest View Cemetery, Two Rivers, WI.
Below is copy of the citation he was awarded.
Headquarters, 26th Infantry
?enterseansen, Germany
26th,May,1919
Official Order
No.87
The following named officers and enlisted men of the regiment are entitled
to the Victory Medal and Battle Clasps for the Victory Medal as authorized
by General orders No. 75,(illegible); C.S., as indicated.
The operations in which the First Division participated, for which Battle
Clasps are authorized, are as followed:
a. Mandidier - Boyen Defensive, between June 9 and June15,1918
b. Aisne-?arne Offensive, between July (illegible) and August 6,1918
c. St. Mihiel Offensive, between September 11 and September 26,1918
d. Meuse-Argonne Offensive, between September 26 and November 12,1918
The letters (a)-(b)-(c)-(d), which appear after the names, denotes the
major operations in which individual participated.
EXTRACT
Company A, 26th INFANTRY
Sand, Oscar, 2035519 :Pvt. : (d)
SEAL by order of Colonel Brown
R.K. Dorn,
Captain, 26th Infantry
Acting Adjatant.
Family Farms
These farms have been in their families for generations.
HORSTMAN, Herman, Delmar Sec. 3
MEISSNER, Wilmer, Richard/ Sec.29/
MUELLER, Paul /Sec. 2 /
RAATZ, John L. & Mary Jane /Sec. 23,24 /
RAUSCH, Herbert,Lester,Jeffery/Sec.33,34/
SHAMBEAU, Allan & Audrey / Sec.14,23,24 /
STECHMESSER, Alfred / Sec.2 /
VOGL, Walter/Sec.6/
History of Wilfert Farm
WILFERT FARMS/Sec.20/
Neshoto Lumber Co. owned the land that the Wilfert Farm now is established
on. Casper and Margaretha Finklemun bought 120 acres from the lumber
company and built a log cabin facing Eastshore Road. In 1877, Joseph
Wilfert married the daughter, Dorthea, and the couple gave a bond of
maintenance to the parents of Dorthea for their support until their death.
Joseph Wilfert and his wife Dorthea were the parents of four children,
John, Joseph Jr., Bertha and Mary. Dorthea died and Joseph was a widower
with four children.
Joseph then married Frances Silbersack and they had two sons, Martin and
George. After Joseph died, John took over the family farm. When John died,
the estate farm was sold to Robert and Shirley Wilfert. Robert is the son
of Martin Wilfert. In 1977, Robert and Shirley were invited to the
Wisconsin State Fair for the celebration of the farm being in the family
for 100 years.
Robert and Shirley sold the farm to William and Marilyn Wilfert in 1979,
and they still reside there with their two sons.
Dave and Terri now own the farm that was Martin and Theresa Wilfert. They
sell quality farm grown vegetables that are well known throughout our
community. Dave and Terri have a son and a daughter.
