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JUNE 1931 VOLUME XIV NUMBER 4 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BYTHE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN £•••*••**•• Ml III I It Ml 11 I THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN is a state- aided corporation whose function is the cultivation and en- couragement of J;he historical interests of the State. To this end it invites your cooperation; membership is open to all, whether residents of Wisconsin or elsewhere. The dues of annual mem- bers are three dollars, payable in advance; of life members, thirty dollars, payable once only. Subject to certain exceptions, mem- bers receive the publications of the Society, the cost of producing which far exceeds the membership fee. This is rendered possible by reason of the aid accorded the Society by the State. Of the work and ideals of the Society this magazine affords, it is be- lieved, a fair example. With limited means, much has already been accomplished; with ampler funds more might be achieved. So far as is known, not a penny entrusted to the Society has ever been lost or misapplied. Property may be willed to the Society in entire confidence that any trust it assumes will be scrupulously executed. THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OP HISTORY is published quarterly by the Society, at 116 E. Main St., Evansville, Wisconsin, in September, Decem- ber, March, and June, and is distributed to its members and exchanges; others who so desire may receive it for the annual subscription of three dollars, payable in advance; single numbers may be had for seventy-five cents. All correspondence concerning the magazine should be addressed to 116 E. Main St., Evansville, Wisconsin, or the office of the State His- torical Society, Madison, Wisconsin. Entered as second-class matter, January 1, 1927, at the post office at Evanj- vllle, Wisconsin, under the act of August 24, 1912. VOL. XIV, No. 4 June, 1931 THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY PUBLICATIONS OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCON- SIN. JOSEPH SCHAFER, Superintendent and Editor CONTENTS THE FIRST KIRMESS Lee W. Metzner 339 MEMOIRS OF MARY D. BRADFORD 354 YANKEE-TEUTON RIVALRY IN WISCONSIN POLITICS OF THE SEVENTIES . .Herman J. Deutsch 403 NOTES ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FOREIGN-BORN SCANDINAVIAN IN WISCONSIN IN 1905 .. .Guy-Harold Smith 419 THE AGENCY HOUSE AT FORT WINNEBAGO Louise Phelps Kellogg 437 THE SOCIETY AND THE STATE . .Louise Phelps Kellogg 450 The Society as a body is not responsible for statements or opinions advanced in the following pages by contributors. COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN Paid for out of the Maria L. and Simeon Mills Editorial Fund Income Previous numbers of the Wisconsin Magazine of History are indexed in the International Index to Periodical Literature to be found in many public libraries. THE FIRST KIRMESS LEE W. METZNER1 ECAUSE there is no current holiday so distinctly Belgian Bas the "kirmess," I decided to use that for my theme. The decision crystallized with Louis Rubens last fall by ad- vertising on his kirmess poster "1858 to 1930." In our neigh- borhood these harvest festivals are a tradition. They begin in late August at Grandlez now Lincoln and spread from community to community—Brussels, Walhain, Rosiere, Thiry Daems, Duvall, Sansouver, Tonet, Dyckesville, Namur. My data has been gathered from many homes, so many older friends assisting that I dare not begin to name them. Even Professor M. J. Heynen, Belgian consul for Wiscon- sin and contiguous states, came to my rescue. When I was a little shaver Ike Karel, Pat Grimmer, George and Eli Du- vall, Charley Slama and other gay young blades were just stepping out into society. Whenever they wanted to put on something really big in the dance line, they would hire Du- vall's Hall, and Heynen's orchestra had to provide the music. Candidly now, those old boys haven't changed much and by the same token, neither has Mr. Heynen. He is a little grayer now, a little more dignified, but at heart he is as jovial and friendly as ever—and what is more important, he still 11 dedicate this article to my friends of Belgian descent wherever they may be; and, incidentally, put the responsibility for it on Carl W. Andre", who asked me to write on something characteristic of "his people." Reprinted from the Ke- waunee Enterprise. 340 Lee W. Metzner commands leadership in Green Bay's music circles through sheer ability. In attempting this article I felt my limitations keenly. If you could sit with me, for instance, near the stove in a cozy farm kitchen and listen to Joe LaCrosse Sr., sing the "Marseillaise," you would realize how difficult it is to inter- pret the spirit of that early kirmess in cold print. The names I have used are of men who were actually present and though I have used without permission, and in a figurative sense only, the name of Amia Champaign as my leading character, he actually existed and homesteaded what is now the Felix Massart farm. He was the father-in- law of the late E. F. Massart, himself prominent in the early days of Lincoln township's political history. I hope the ar- ticle will prove interesting and give as much pleasure to your readers as I got in being welcomed into the family circle of these friends of mine. "All that waste, or unimproved country northward along the peninsula extending through Kewaunee and Door coun- ties, is being rapidly settled up, principally by Belgians. Our citizens, who have been accustomed to regard that region as an unbroken wilderness, would be astonished to see the change which has been wrought within a year or two. We have noticed it along shore, in the clearings which are being made, and the houses which begin to peep out, one after an- other, among the trees; and many of those who have been in- land tell us that from Rosseau's Tavern northward to Little Sturgeon Bay, there is a constant succession of substantial farms of from five to forty acres, with excellent crops growing."2 a Excerpt from an article in the Green Bay Advocate, edition of July 23,, 1857. The First Kirmess 341 The First Kirmess—It was late August, the year—-1858. On the western rim of that unbroken sea of forest that dipped down toward La Baye Verte, a ruddy, opulent look- ing sun was just tangling itself among the leafy branches of the taller tree tops. Young, broad-shouldered Amia Cham- paign paused at the edge of the little clearing that extended a few acres about his log cabin and his eyes lit up with satis- faction as he contemplated the scene. It was a little over two years now since he had left his home in Grandlez in the province of Brabant, Belgium, to test his mettle in this new country. It was exactly two years since he had staked his claim in this wilderness of Wisconsin, in a country whose very name—Kewaunee—still sounded barbaric to his un- accustomed ears. He pridefully viewed the results of those two years' labor in retrospect now—his log home with the adjacent Well-sweep, the clearing, the little stable of cedar uprights chinked with moss that housed his oxen and a couple of hogs and lastly, the purposely neat and symmetrical straw stack that he carefully guarded by means of a birch pole cloture. This was his first real harvest and the earth had yielded with an abundance that was almost breath-taking. He paused to multiply his yield by his still virgin acres and the result made him fairly dizzy. Slowly then his gaze wan- dered back to his dwelling again and oddly enough his coun- tenance fell and the glad light in his eyes gave way to a vaguely disturbing gloom. He turned abruptly into the forest on the impulse of a suddenly remembered errand and pointed his sabots in a northeasterly direction. To you and me that walk along the forest trail in the northwestern corner of what is now Lincoln township would be a pleasant, novel and exciting experience. Tall maples and bass woods lifted their clean boles up twenty feet to a leafy, matted arbor. In the gathering dusk startled deer 342 Lee W. Metzner gazed transfixed a moment and then scampered suddenly in panicky flight. There was a faintly perceptible coolness in the hollows now and the tang of wood smoke from settlers' clearings—those thin smoke spirals that bend back to earth on the damp, cool air of evening. If Amia were aware of Na- ture's bounty or beauty, there was no hint of it in his expres- sion. Something had happened at home that upset, tempora- rily, all his hopes and ambitions, something that was all the more serious because it was so intangible. It was his wife this time who was causing him concern. As he trudged stol- idly forward, his troubled mind took up again that fruitless and wearying circle of the worried. True they had both been homesick the first year, and a little frightened the time their first born had arrived, what with no doctor available at any price. However, those matters had quickly righted them- selves. Now with a splendid harvest, closer neighbors, and an opportunity to take things easier, his Marie had suddenly become listless toward his plans and what was worse had developed the temper of a tigress. For two weeks already she was irritable and cross and today had come the climax. He paused to recharge his pipe and he had to smile again in spite of his forebodings.

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