The History of Pope Farms Owners, Settlers, and Farmers
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The History of Pope Farms Owners, Settlers, and Farmers By: The Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy Contents Page Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….iii Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……iv-v Figures Figure 1 - State of Wisconsin, Dane County highlighted………………………………………….……vi Figure 2 - Dane County Map, Town of Middleton highlighted……………………………….….….vi Figure 3 - Plat Map 1861, Section 17…………………………………………………..…………………......vii Figure 4 - Town of Middleton, Section 17…………………………………………………………………..viii Figure 5 - Three Farms, Satellite image with three farms………………………………..….………..ix Figure 6 - Glacial Debris, LiDAR image of glacial debris on three farms….………………………x Figure 7 - Town of Middleton, Section 20……………………………………………………………………..xi CHAPTER 1 - Pre-Settlement of Pope Farm Conservancy Pre-Settlement timeline of Pope Farm Conservancy ………………………………………….……..…………..1-2 Genevieve Grignon family, Third Treaty of Prairie Du Chien…..……………………………..……………….2-4 Emanuel Boizard ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….4-5 CHAPTER 2 – Eastern Portion of Pope Farm Conservancy Historical Timeline of the Eastern Portion of Pope Farm Conservancy ……………….……….………..7-9 Chronology George and Christina Seibert …………………………………………………………………….…………..10-13 Carl Schenk and Charles T. Schwenn families……………………………………………….…………14-22 Lappley, Grob, and Mahoney families ……………………………………………………………………22-28 Pope family, Eastern Farm …………………………………………………………………………………….29-30 Pope Farm Elementary School ………………………………………………………………………………33-34 Remembrances Shirley Grob Storkson ……………………………………………………………………………….…………..35-37 Wayne Mahoney …………………………………………………………………………………….…………….37-41 CHAPTER 3 - Central Portion of Pope Farm Conservancy Historical Timeline of the Central Portion of Pope Farm Conservancy …….……………………..…43-44 Chronology Abbott and Clark …………………………………………………………………………………………..………45-46 Charles and Rosina Brackenwagen ………….……………………………………………..…………….46-49 John Prien family …………………………………………………………………………..……..………………50-52 Wittenburg family …………………………………………………………………………..……..…………….53-58 Charles, and Elmer Brumm families ………………………………………………..………….…..……59-73 Art Pope family …………………………………………………………………………..……………….……….74-84 Remembrances Janice Haynie Brumm, 1940’s – 1950’s ………………………………..……………………………….84-90 i Mel Pope, 1960’s – 1970’s …………………………………………………..……………..….……………90-99 Erik Zoerb…………………………………………………………………………………….………………………….100 CHAPTER 4 - Western Portion of Pope Farm Conservancy Historical Timeline of the Western Portion of Pope Farm Conservancy …………..……..……103-104 Chronology John Stolte, John Teckam, and John Elver…………………………………………………..….…105-115 James and Dora (Elver) Harloff………………………………………………………………………….115-122 Fritz and Sophia Elver and Elver Estate.………..…………………………………………..122-127, 130 James and Sophie Goth…………………………………………………………………………………….127-129 Albert and Nellie Lubcke…………………………………………………………………………………..131-133 George Clayton and Evelyn Cole……………………………………………………………………….134-137 Oliver and Hazel Holmes…………………………………………………………………………………..137-141 Arthur and Vivian Pope…………………………………………………………………..……….……….142-145 Today, Town of Middleton…………………….……………………………………………..…………………146 Remembrances Antje Petty, Max Kade Institute, and Mae Goth Hartwig, the Goth Journey to America………………………………………………………………………………….…………..…147-152 Janice Cole Lokken, and Karen Cole Ames………………………….……………….……….…………..152 Larry Holmes (photos)………………………………………………………………………………….……153-154 CHAPTER 5 - Agriculture on The Land Fritz Elver farming 1860-1889………………………………………………………………………….….…….….154-164 Living on the Farm 1960’s -1979’s, by Mel Pope……………………………………………….……...…..165-174 From 1880 to 2020, How Agriculture has changed………………………………………….…….…......175-191 CHAPTER 6 - Church and School The First Lutheran Church………………………………………………………………………………………….….192-195 The Famous Engel – Brumm Wedding…..…………………………..………………………….……........…196-197 Pleasant Site School…………………………………………………………………………………………........…...198-201 CHAPTER 7 – The Pope Family and Pope Farm Conservancy Arthur Pope Biography………………………………………………………………………………………..….….…202-204 Vivian Tretsven Pope Biography…………………………………………………………………………….....….205-207 Betty Nord Zoerb Pope Biography……………………………………………………………………..…….……207-208 How Pope Farms became a Conservancy………………………………………………………………...……208-211 CHAPTER 8 – Observations The Land is King. ………………………………………………………………………….…………………..….……… 212-215 Sacrifice. …………………………………………………………………………………….………………..…………..….215-216 Involvement. ……………………………………………………………………………..……………..……..…...…….216-217 The Wilderness…………………………………………………………….………………………..……..….……....…217-218 ii Acknowledgments We would like to thank the following for their contributions. This historical project could not have been done without them. Karen Cole Ames Doug Piper Dr. Larry Binning Betty Pope Jim Bolitho Dr. Bill Pope Curt Brumm D. Lucille Pope Marcia Byrd Mel Pope Ron Brys Sandra Schwenn Reno Maria Callis Dr. Amy Rosebrough Andy Crooks Dick Sawyer Jim Dahlk Lisa Schuetz Alice Drake Paul D. Schwenn Steve Drake Janie Starzewski Jeff Elver Jason Statz Lee Elver Shirley Grob Storkson Tom and Paula Elver Dick Vilstrup Mary Brumm Feiler Mike Vilstrup Mary Trel Gimber Dick and Ginny Wickman Larry Goss Erik Zoerb Kurt Prien Hambrecht David Zoerb Mae Goth Hartwig Hans Zoerb Larry Holmes Janice Brumm Haynie Emily Zarndt Knoche First Lutheran Church John and Ruth Koberle Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy Janice Cole Lokken JMAR Foto-Werks King and Sharon Mahoney Rettammel Genealogy Service, LLC Carolyn Mattern Max Kade Institute, U.W., Madison Miles Meidinger Middleton Historical Society Eric Nelson Middleton Ionic Masonic Lodge 180 Doug Normington Wisconsin Historical Society iii Preface This project entitled “The History of Peoples on Pope Farm Conservancy” is a product of the Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy Education Team. The Conservancy specifically highlights agricultural education for students and the public. Interpretive signs, annual field trips, Native American and pioneer gardens are all designed for 4th graders of the Middleton-Cross Plains School District. This History is the 2nd in a series of six “Stories of the Land” the Friends are building to offer an in-depth understanding about the land where Pope Farm lives. In 2020, the first of two schools were completed on the Pope Farm property. Having the 105-acre Conservancy literally out the back door of an elementary and a middle school is a tremendous opportunity to link curricula and on-site learning to a new generation. In 2019, the Friends produced our first app as a Visitor’s Guide. This history of land ownership will be our second app available for visitors to download as they walk through the Conservancy. As Editor, Mel Pope coordinated this historical compilation since 2018. Mel has not only been involved with the Friends since their inception, he lived on the farm and has many connections to families who are important to this story. The Friends discovered who owned the land from public records. After those owners were identified, we began working closely with people, or the descendants of those people, who lived on the land. In a sense it became a neighborhood project and many community members enthusiastically pitched in. Government documents and local historical records supplemented personal conversations with many descendants. This work would not be the same without the rich histories found in family albums, stories, and pictures! When we couldn’t locate families. we turned to word of mouth, sometimes finding the most obscure relatives within hours. Middleton still has the intimacy of a small town and we are grateful for all those who jumped on board to help us make connections. Many of those we found were willing to share their own remembrances of living on these properties and we’ve included them to give the reader a range of real-life experiences to carry with them as they visit the Conservancy. We are confident that we have completed a thorough review of both formal and informal sources for the almost 200-year recorded history of this land. Despite our exhaustive search, there are still pieces of this history we were unable to find. We look forward to additional stories and resources that may emerge as this work is more widely available. The materials are organized chronologically for each of three 80-acre farms that form the Conservancy. While we began with a focus on ownership records, we soon began to see the character of these people and their contributions to the community. The wide range of these stories are broken out into seven chapters. Chapter 1: The story begins with how one square mile of land was given to a Native American woman as part of the Third Treaty of Prairie Du Chien. Discussion ranges from the iv Treaty of 1829, to the sale of those lands to speculators, and the subdivision for sale to European immigrants. Chapters 2 - 4: These chapters contain the history of European settlement on the Eastern, Central, and Western farms. Chapters begin with a Timeline and Chronology of each owner and end with Remembrances of some of the children and grandchildren who lived on these properties. Chapter 5: This chapter tells three stories of Agriculture: Fritz Elver farming on Black Hawk Creek in 1861, Mel Pope’s remembrances of farm work in the 1960’s, and highlights of agricultural advancements since 1880. Chapter 6: This chapter shares the stories of community life including schools, the ‘white’ church, and the famous Engel - Brumm wedding that lasted 3 full days in 1890. Chapter 7: Three