Local History Index
Lannon History
(in chronological order)
1800's - 1929 (Pre-Incorporation)
Compiled and Edited by Michael R.
Reilly
Last Revised
09/18/2009
Village
of Lannon History Pre-Incorporation > After
Incorporation 1930-1959 > Lannon
History 1960-1989 > The
1990's to the Present - this issue updated
09/18/2009
Note: As of November 6, 2000, most of the
history of Lannon area schools has been removed from the the general history
below and placed in a chronological history of its' own History
of Education in Lannon Area; Waukesha County, Wisconsin Edited by Mike Reilly, c.
November 6, 2000
This Lannon history is gathered from numerous
reference sources; the most commonly used are many of the historical
publications compiled and/or written by Lisbon-Sussex historian, Fred Keller.
All of the reference sources used (with several exceptions noted within the
historical entry) are listed at the bottom of the last web page of
history. As
it states above, the history begins with some of the earliest recorded records
and information about the area later to be known as the Village of Lannon and
continues up to the present day.
A note about printing these web pages - you
are free to print them out and make copies, but you may want to use the
"Landscape" option rather than the normal "Portrait" print
setting as some of the text and pictures won't entirely fit on the page.
Throughout this history, covering a number of
web pages, the reader will find certain key names, words, phrases and events bolded,
to draw attention to them. Also, a number of them may be hyperlinks to
other web pages containing additional information or a full story article on the
subject. Those web pages can also be found above . Within many entries, the reader may find
"Editor's Notes" and/or "Questions"; these are inserted to
clarify a point or to call attention to further investigation/answers
required. Thank you... Mike
| The Lannon area was once part of New France,
which was the western 2/3's of North America claimed by France in 1671,
and then the Northwest Territory in 1783 (but wasn't yielded by
British troops until 1815). The Northwest Territory
originally consisted of the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, and Wisconsin. Ohio achieved statehood and left the Territory;
then in 1796 it became part of Wayne County
(Detroit) (Editor's note: Detroit was part of the
"Indiana Territory" with Fort Dearborn or later on, Chicago,
being the closest settlement). Then Indiana left and it was
controlled from Illinois's Fort Dearborn (Chicago). |
In 1818 it was part of Brown County (Green
Bay), created by the Governor of the Michigan Territory (Brown County
being one of three counties created). And just when
settlers came into the area, it became part of Milwaukee County in May, 1834
when it separated from Brown County. See more details below by year. Also see 1836
Map above is an insert to a larger National
Geographic magazine article called "The Pathfinders", printed
July, 2000. It shows the boundaries of the Indiana Territory. |
1783 - Acquired by treaty from Great Britain:
Lands North of River Ohio, bordered on the West by the Mississippi River, with a
Northern boundary starting at Lake of the Woods in the Northwest (Northeast
Minnesota) continuing East through the center points of Lakes Superior, Huron,
Erie and Ontario.
1787 - "Northwest Territory" organized
from areas of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, majority of Ohio, and
Northeast Minnesota.
1800 Indiana Territory organized from Northwest
Territory, taking Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Northeast Minnesota and West
half of Michigan. "New" Northwest Territory made up of Ohio and East
half of Michigan.
1809 - Illinois Territory organized from Indiana
Territory, consisting of Wisconsin, Illinois and Northeast Minnesota. Indiana
and Upper Michigan remaining in Indiana Territory.
Note: The Northwest Territory, after
1816, was basically under the control and influence of the American
Fur Company, owned by American millionaire John Jacob Aster, and a
couple of Canadian firms. The company put one to two fur traders in charge,
each with his own independent, but sometimes over-lapping area. This action was
legitimized by the U.S. government, but hardly publicized in history. The
company controlled almost all aspects of living within the Territory.
1818 - Illinois Territory dissolved, remainder
added to Michigan Territory.
1818 - Treaty with Great Britain sets Northern
border at 49 degrees North, adding Northwest Minn. to the Missouri
Territory.
1834 - Lands East of the Missouri River in the
Missouri Territory are transferred to the Michigan Territory. (Central/East N.
Dakota and S. Dakota, Iowa and Western half of Minnesota.)
1835 - Isaac
S. Howard, age 18, and his 15 year old wife arrive from
Vermont. Some historians credit one Patrick (Peter in another
reference) Raferty as being the first settler. (Question
- How can either Isaac or Patrick be considered the first when in Lannon
and its quarries by Ruth Schmidt, she credits William Lannon as arriving a
year earlier? Evidently Ruth's book is incorrect on this date.)
1836 - Wisconsin Territory created from Michigan
Territory. Includes Wisconsin, Eastern Minn., and the area "East of the
Missouri River" (Central/East N. Dakota and S. Dakota, Iowa and Western half
of Minnesota.)
1836 - the Wisconsin Territory is formed and the
Milwaukee County Territory within it. By December, 1836 Dodge, Jefferson,
Racine, Rock, Washington, and Walworth counties all left Milwaukee County to
form their own separate county/town units. Also see 1838, 1839,
and 1846.
1837 - Patrick Raferty's son, Francis, has the
honor of being the first-born in the later to be Town of Menomonee.
(see 1839).
1838 - Iowa Territory created from Wisconsin
Territory. Consists of the area "East of the Missouri River"
(Central/East N. Dakota and S. Dakota, Iowa and Western half of Minnesota).
Eastern Minn. remains part of Wisconsin Territory.
1838 - the Town of Lisbon is formed within the Milwaukee County
Territory along with the Towns of Summit to the west), Muskego (to
the southwest), and Mukwonago (to the south).
Isaac
S. Howard selling stone from his quarry (supposedly the earliest quarry in
now Waukesha County) located on 80 acres just north of Good Hope Rd.. An 1859 atlas shows a
Howard quarry
and kiln on the southwest quarter of Section (one square mile) 17 in the Town of Menomonee
(bounded on the south by Good Hope Rd., a quarter mile east of Lannon Rd. and to
the north by Hwy 74 (Main St.). In
1959 a Howard quarry still existed on the site.
1839/December 20 - the Town of Lisbon (which was 12
miles by 12 miles square) is split into the towns of
Lisbon, Menomonee (Township 8, Range 20, East), Pewaukee and Brookfield (each 6 miles by 6 miles
square). This was approved by the Wisconsin Legislature, but not effective
until after March 1, 1840. Each of the other three original Towns (see
1838) divided themselves up in like manner, but all still part of
Milwaukee County. See 1846.
1849 - Wisconsin Territory dissolved, remainder
(Eastern Minn.) and Iowa Territory dissolved, remainder (Central/East N. Dakota
and S. Dakota, and Western half of Minnesota) are organized as the Minnesota
Territory.
1840's - The area is still rather wild, some Menomonee
tribe of Indians, with a few Chippewa, remained in the marshy lake
land known as the "Wild Marsh" which was located between
Fussville and Lannon.
1840 - the Town of Menomonee had a population of 59.
| 1841 - the newly formed Catholic congregation holds its' first occasional
mass in a log cabin owned by the James Brogan family ( to
the right is the cabin after being moved to the Old Falls Village
historical park and restoration was completed on 10/24/1982)
with Father James Morissey. The cabin, the original place of
worship became a sort of "mission" church of St. Dominic's.
The small home near where Whiskey Corners Tavern is today (10/2000), was
on the banks of a creek. In later years it became the property of Edward
McLaughlin who was approached in 1979 by the Menomonee Falls Historical
Society to move and restore it. OR.... |
 |
1842 - the first mass was conducted in the cabin by the Swiss
born missionary priest, Father or Rev. Martin Kundig of Milwaukee. He was later
to become the Vicar General of the Milwaukee Archdiocese.
- William N. Lannon,
born in
Lough Co., Ireland on 10/20/1814, arrives in the
area after coming to the U.S. in 1834;
building a one room house with solid stone walls two to three feet thick on a
farm of 218 acres costing $1.25 per acre.
-
Judge Dennis
McCarthy and wife Sarah arrive in the the Town of Menomonee claiming 80 acres in Section
19. Their son Thomas
McCarty
was born in Buffalo, NY., on 10/29/1838.
- Other
early settlers to the future Lannon Springs area were, Erastus S. Comstock, John
Golden, Jeffery Burke, and T. Kinsley (same as L.
Kinsley below?)
1842/Apr. 5 -
soon after, the first Town of Menomonee post office is created with William R.
Hesk as its' first postmaster (whether it serviced the Lannon area residents is unknown
but very likely).
1843 - a Mr. William M. Saunders and William Brown open a store in the vicinity
of
what is to be called Lannon Springs (see 1847). They supposedly traded salt and flour for
wood ashes to make soap which they used as barter for their supplies. It was
said that anyone trading at Saunders & Brown could get goods at half price
if he could tell a good story and pay in ashes.
St. Dominic of Brookfield (then Marcy) was started and area Catholics traveled
to Marcy for Sunday services. [This may answer the
1848 question as to who donated the acre for St. James Cemetery. Willow
Springs was to the south and west (?) of William Lannon's property.
According to the "History of Waukesha County - 1880", page
756, it was Catholics from the area joining those from Brookfield to
build a church there in 1843 - was this simply James Brogan's house converted
or is the book wrong about the date, 1843 vs 1848? This same book says on page
752 that the "first church edifice (St. Anthony's) was erected at what is
now Fussville, in 1846"]
1844/January - The first major road, the Menomonee
Falls-Waukesha Road, was built through the future Lannon area. It ran from the
Falls to the Lisbon Town line, then known as the "Lincoln Line" and
later, Lannon Springs (see 1847), a distance of four miles and 63 rods; officially
surveyed on June 7, 1845.
1846 - the Town of Menomonee becomes part of the newly
created Waukesha County
when the 16 western most towns split from Milwaukee County. The Town had a population of 902 (see
1840's population).
1847 - newly ordained (Sept 1847) Father James Colton arrives in the
Lannon-Sussex area. The Willow Springs area breaks away from St.
Dominic's.
William Lannon makes a plat of his land around the quarries he operates and
calls it "Lannon Springs". There were two artesian springs on the farm
property, one on the north side of present Hwy 74, and the other on the south
side.
1848 - Father James Colton gets the support of the local
congregation members to build a lannon stone church from a quarry, a quarter
mile north. It's named St. James Catholic Church in his honor. Located in what
was then "Willow Springs". Most of the Catholic Irish who settled in the area
lived near this location. The land was donated from a portion of the William
Lannon farm. (Here is another historical issue
- Was it William N. Lannon or James Brogan who donated the land? (Editor's Note
- according to historian Fred Keller, Mr. Lannon donated the (acre?) of land for
the cemetery (though on page 756 in the "History of Waukesha County -
1880" - it states that one L. Kinsley donated one acre for the
cemetery) and James Brogan an acre for the church and parsonage. ) Since
St. James was built, it has been located at Willow Springs, Lannon Springs,
Templeton (this is questionable, though Templeton's Post
Office may have served the area for a time), Village
of Lannon, then c. 1958 annexed by Menomonee Falls. (Editor's
Note: Depending on the reference source, the location may be listed as
"Lannon Spring" or "Lannon Springs", as with "Willow
Spring" and "Willow Springs". At this time, it's not known what
the original name for each was. William Lannon had at least two springs
mentioned, one now south of present day Hwy 74 and the other to the north.
Undoubtedly there are a number of additional springs in the area.) Of
added interest, the men who built the church also built a long stone wall that
nearly reached Lannon; it was still in place as late as the 1950's according to
Fred Keller.
- Mrs. Jeffery Burke, dies in 1848, and is first
person buried in St. James Cemetery.
- 1st doctor arrives in the Town of Menomonee; Dr. Salmon S. Clark,
a native of Batavia, NY, who practices in the area for 38 yrs then moves on to
the City of Waukesha in 1876.
/Feb: Dennis McCarty dies and is buried in
St. Dominic's cemetery but in October, 1862 his remains are dug up and moved to
St. James.
1850's - William N. Lannon marries Ann (Anna) Gallagher at St.
James. Both were prominent members and were later buried in its' cemetery.
1854/May 10 - William N. Lannon opens a post
office, of sorts, on his Lannon Springs farm.
1855 - at least a dozen quarries were
shipping stone to Milwaukee by team and wagon. Most was paving stone.
Isaac Howard builds a kiln next to his quarry to make burned lime.
1859 - 1872 William N. Lannon's children are
born, beginning with William P.
1864/June 11: William Lannon submits an
application for a postal station at his farmhouse under the name Lannon
Springs.
This post office was about 3/4 of a mile west of the present post office (Lannon
and Good Hope Rds.) on Hwy 74.
1873 - A plat of this year shows that Isaac
Howard's initial 80
acres has been reduced to 39 acres. The orig. acreage would have been the lower
southwest portion of Section 17. Of this, the far east 20 acres, from north to
south, were sold to Herman Harmon who operated it as a quarry up to at least
1899. A southwestern portion of 20 acres, running east to Herman Harmon, was
sold to a G. Bench.
Of the 39 acres left of Howard's, the one
remaining acre appears to be situated on what was to become the original school
site on the southeast corner of present day Main St. and Lannon Rd. The 1873
plat map does show a structure existing there; more than likely the Howard
family home with the kiln being built earlier to the northeast near the river
fork. The map doesn't show it as being a school though, the nearest schools to
the Howard land (which was almost centrally located between the two, were Willow
Spring Jt. District No. 6 to the southwest, and Sunnyside School Jt.. School
District No. 9 to the northeast.
1873 - Lannon Spring's post office is
discontinued and subscribers are told to pick up their mail in Sussex or
Duplainville. See 1878.
1875 (circa) - Michael Keating builds
the
"Lannon Springs Hotel", described as
"a model country caravansary". He allowed no "games" to
be played in his establishment. (Question - Where was this
located? Was this the Commercial
Hotel later? Probably not - more likely the present-day "Whiskey
Corner's" tavern.)
- James Brogan dies
at age 72 and is buried at St. James.
|
1878 - The "Atlas of Wisconsin,
1878", still shows a Lannon Springs post office. The document
to the right shows the Town of Menomonee portion of this map-->
|
|
1879 - the first Menomonee Town Hall is
erected in Section 16 on Town Hall Road, largely due to the efforts of Lannon's Thomas McCarty; otherwise the town
board held meetings in a number of places, often to the inconvenience and
irritation of its' members.
If in 1879, the town hall was in section 16 (above
first "O" in "Menomonee", it would have been just
east of Lannon's Section 17 (see Land Division), on Town Hall Road around present-day Community Memorial Hospital.
It would have been north of Good Hope Rd. and south of Menomonee Ave.
|
|
1881 - Eleven feet of snow fell during season,
dubbed "the granddad of all snow winters".
1885 - a "dinky" train line is built
from Lannon to Butler.
- Mrs. Rosanna Keenan dies at age 110 and is buried at St. James;
possibly the oldest ever buried there.
- Mrs. E. J. DeLany, of Lannon, donates a bell to St. James nearly weighing one
ton. Note: Bell inscribed "Delaney".
|
1886 - a new addition and a twenty foot wooden bell tower is
added to St. James Catholic Church.
1889-1890: a railroad "spur" is built from Hadfield's
Lannon quarries to his Waukesha operations.
1880's - 1890's: the heyday of the quarry business in Lannon.
1890's - Joseph Hadfield plats the quarries he purchased earlier
(in what is now Menomonee Park and much of central Village of Lannon) calling it
"Hadfield". See plat
map circa 1890's . Hadfield has 4-room stone houses built for his Italian
workers near the quarry (present day Menomonee Park); later he builds wooden
framed houses on the edge of the quarry for the Polish workers (to be called
:The Other Village").
Unskilled quarry workers were paid 10-15 cents per hour, working 10 hour days
and 6 days a week. Craftsmen were paid up to $2 a day, and machine operators
were paid by the month.
1890/June 18: Olavius Olsen submits an application for a post
office first to be named "Hadfield", crossed out and "Stone
City" added, to be crossed out with "Lannon" as the name finally
submitted. Application was approved on August 2nd. Question - Where did Stone City
exist in relation
to Hadfield and Lannon Spring?
1892 - the Village of Menomonee Falls is
incorporated.
1894/Dec. - the subscription rate for weekly
newspapers delivered by mail is $1.50 per year.
1895/Mar. - Waukesha Springs Brewing Co. purchased the Mr. Short
store in Sussex with plans to start someone in business there to sell their
beverage.
- Rev. Grant of the Sussex Methodist Church assisted at a "revival
meeting" staged in Lannon.
/ May/14 - founding
date of St. John's Church in Lannon. A group of people gathered at the home of
Gottfried Schmoller to establish a congregation. Membership grew to 20 during
1895. First service held at present day home at 7303 Vine St., today (1995) the
home of Harvey Rossman. Pastor John Karrer held the service.
/ July, week of 4th -
James Lewis, while working for J. Welsh in the Lannon Stone
quarries, had a stone fall on him resulting in a compound fracture on his leg.
/ July, week of 11th
- a discussion was made by 20-21 members of the St. John's Congregation
(Lutheran) Church of Lannon to build a church. A Main St. lot was purchased for
$50 and a wood church building of 40 by 28 ft was built at a cost of $955.
/July, week of 25th -
Ossie Monacelli dies at age 72.
/Nov. - Extensive improvements were being made
on the stock farm of the Schlitz Brewing Co. near Lannon (Mill Road hill). The 200 acres
were fenced and three horse barns, 180 feet long, were constructed. Outbuildings and two
homes were also planned, at a cost of over $18,000. The Uihlein owners of
Schlitz planned to breed and keep
horses at the farm, as well as other stock. 11/21/1995SS
/Nov., week of 14th -
Charles Hixon of Lannon smashed two fingers while coupling train cars.
1896/Dec. - a quartet of stonecutters from Lannon were hauled
into the Waukesha Courthouse on charges of assault and battery.
1897/Apr. 13 - William Lannon, age 84, dies; born in
Lough Co., Ireland; came to U.S. in 1834. In 1851 he owned a mill in Merton
which he operated for 12 years.
/Apr., week of 29th -
the Milwaukee, Menomonee Falls & Superior Railroad (Bug Line) started
carrying Sussex mail (Did they carry Lannon's mail too?)
1900's: early - Dennis McCarty and Mary E.
Guilfoyle are married and moved into the old James Brogan cabin (see 1841).
| The Commercial Hotel was built at the turn of the century
by William Muzzy. It had a lot of borders, who lived in the hotel for
extended periods of time. In the dining room a regular boarder's meal
was served every day. Over the years (this photo was taken in about
1910) there have been many owners or operators of the tavern/hotel.
Prominent among these are Peter Kieffer, Charly Horn, John Wessner (one
of the first village trustees and Tony Wagner. Today it is known as
"The Dugout". |
|
1904 - the total "pew rent" collected from the 35
families in the parish for the year was $400. This supported not only St. James
Church but St. Dominic's, a mission church of St. James.
|
|
1907 - the women at St. James start the St. Monica's
Circle.
Father Scheidel - pastor.
1909 - J. Flanagan Jr. of Lannon is the Town
of Menomonee Clerk.
|
1910 - Massive concrete culverts are built to
drain the Lannon-Willow springs on William Lannon's farm for the construction of
the overpass of the North Western Railroad running through Whiskey Corners. The
two springs form part of the Fox River headwaters.
1914 - See Hadfield
Plat of 1914; more detail.
1915 - Lannon had become the center of the building stone
industry.
A human skeleton, a sword and some crude pottery were unearthed on the
Edward Cummin farm near Lannon. The skeleton was buried five feet in the
ground. It was thought to be the remains of a member of a French
exploring party.
1916 - The Lannon Volunteer Fire Company
was organized . It succeeded the "Bucket Brigade", men who fought
fires with pails and farmers' milk buckets.
|
1921 - the twenty foot wooden bell tower at St. James Catholic
Church burns after being struck by lightning. The present fortress-like cupola
was built in its' place by parish member and stone cutter, Al. Coppersmith.
1923/Sept. - Miss Conberg of Hartland is teaching at Willow Springs
School. |
|
1924/Sept. - Templeton and Sussex combine to form the Village of
Sussex (though not until after a lengthy fight to preserve one another).
1927/5/27 - The Lannon town team lost to Hartland in a 7-inning contest by the
score of 9 to 6. Since they have an open date this season, the Lannon School
Team dares the town team to cross bats with them. "Basting and Lodan,
hear this. What about a game?"
- The Lannon Sand and Stone Co. purchased a new caterpillar last week.
- James Walter went to visit at Dr. Berndt's ( Dentist
only or MD?) last Friday and left without one of his teeth.
- Pineapples for canning at The Held Cash Store.
1927 - Ray Semrow (cousin of Mike Reilly), age 16, fresh out of
Willow Spring School, begins working at Walter's Meat Market, driving truck
during the day, and being a meat cutter at night.
|
1928 - a vote to incorporate Lannon as a
village fails.
1928/July 4: the Lannon Volunteer Fire Company
hold a dance at
Maas Grove. The big open-air pavilion will be erected for the dancing and
music furnished by the Nettesheim Playboys. Lannon had just purchased a
Pirsch 500 gallon pumper and the proceeds from the picnic-dance will be
used to pay for the purchase.
|
|
1928/Dec: Steam boiler blows up - Al Feltes' Lannon Garage, which
sells Dodge cars and trucks, had a boiler explosion. Fortunately, the
explosion occurred near midnight when no one was on the premises. The
explosion pushed the concrete block building several feet out of plumb
and left a gaping hole, wide enough to be driven through, in the
northwest wall. The explosion could be heard for over a mile and woke
most of the village.
1929/2/8: MFN - Because her husband soaked her
with kerosene and attempted to kill her, Anna Ackermann received a divorce from
Lawrence Ackermann upon grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. The two have
property valued at $7,000 according to the plaintiff. In a counter suit, the
defendant alleged that his wife insisted that Robert Manake live and board with
them and that she has been seeking Manake's company. He also denied that he had
property valued at more than $2,500. The plaintiff was awarded a decree and had
her maiden name before marriage restored, which was Anna Gossfeld.
Messrs John J. Flanagan, Edward Vanderboom, Alvin
Walter, Tony Quartaro, William Miller, John Wessner, and Albert Feltes were
among our local citizens who were present in Circuit Court at Waukesha this
week, in the hearing before Judge C.M. Davidson on the application to
incorporate the Village of Lannon.
Town Clerk Fred Gissal in Milwaukee on business
this weekend.
The Richard Walsh quarry is quite busy these
winter months getting out building material for some of the best dwellings in
the big cities.
The Lannon Volunteer Fire Company
's Annual midwinter
ball at Schmitz's Hall held this week was well attended and a very fine time
reported by all who attended.
1929/Nov.: Ed Wildisch, proprietor of the Willow
Spring Road House (corner of Mill Road and Hwy 74 - today's "Whiskey
Corners") was stabbed in the chest just above the heart by Charles Trish, a
railroad worker living in Sussex. Wildisch's life was saved by a rib that
deflected the knife. Tisch has gotten into an argument with Wildisch who ordered
him to leave the roadhouse. Sheriff's Deputies captured Tisch and charged him
with assault. He was convicted. Wildisch survived the attack and returned to work
six months later.
1930/Jan or late 1929. - The Town of Menomonee
refuses a request by Lannon residents to allow installation of a few street
lights; uniting residents under the theme "Let there be light in
Lannon" to push for incorporation as a village.
Village
of Lannon History Pre-Incorporation > After
Incorporation 1930-1959 > Lannon
History 1960-1989 > The
1990's to the Present
Retrospect: News clippings
convey flavor of Olde Lannon
By FRED KELLER
Sussex Sun,
Posted: March 26, 2008
As the 1928-29 years rolled in, Lannon was
taken up with the effort to incorporate as a
village. After a few false starts, it finally
succeeded in 1930.
Here are some newspaper clippings
(paraphrased) I found from that era.
Dec. 28, 1928
In what might have been a very serious
incident at most any other time of the day,
about midnight last Thursday night the boiler at
the Lannon Garage (today the Lannon Post Office
building) blew up. The explosion was so loud it
could be heard for miles around. Many
fast-asleep villagers thought a dynamite shack
at one of the local quarries had blown up.
In fact, though, the proprietor, Mr. Felton,
worked late that night and left at 11 p.m. The
last thing he did was attend to the fire keeping
the boilers going that heated the garage.
Less than an hour later, the heating plant
was in ruins and the building shattered. A hole
had been torn in the concrete floor, the
northwest corner of the building had a gaping
hole in it so large a car could have used it for
an exit, and the concrete block walls were
pushed out of plumb, in some cases by two feet.
This sequence of disasters was investigated
by the Lannon Volunteer Fire Co., which
discovered that a previous boiler repair had not
been properly done or inspected.
A Lannon Fire Co. member said that if people
had been present at the explosion, "The result
would certainly have been disastrous."
July 4, 1929
The Lannon Fire Co. held a Fourth of July
picnic and dance at Maas Grove. A big open-air
pavilion was erected for refreshments, the
Nettesheim Play Boys band and dancers. The funds
raised will pay for a new 500-gallon Presch
pumper firetruck.
Nov. 9, 1928
The proprietor of what was then the Willow
Springs Roadhouse at Whiskey Corners (Town Line
and Mill roads), Edward Wildisch suffered wounds
to his leg and chest. The chest wound was just
above his heart, but the police report said a
rib bone bent the knife blade upward, saving his
life.
The assailant, railroad section hand Charles
Tisch, went to the roadhouse Sunday evening and
got into an argument with Wildisch, who ordered
him to leave. Police took Tisch to the Waukesha
County Jail, where he was charged with assault
with intent to do great bodily harm.
Sept. 6, 1929
A combination of circumstances,
misunderstandings, bad telephone communication,
people passing half-accurate information on to
others and mangling of the facts in the process
erupted in Lannon this past week.
It all began when the driver of a little Ford
coupe, possibly under the influence tried to
turn his car around in front of the August Gius
home, only to end up with his wheels in a ditch.
He then went to the Gius home for help. Mrs.
Gius called the Lannon garage at 11:15 p.m., but
no one answered . She then called the Louis
Gissal tavern. It was a bad connection, however,
and Gissal misinterpreted the message, figuring
it was a car accident and possibly a fire.
Gissal then raced over to the Main Street
fire station and rang the fire bell, alerting
the whole village. The firefighters responded,
and dashed off to the Gius home, only to find
the coupe with its wheels in the ditch.
The incident attracted a lot of onlookers,
who nearly lifted the car onto firm ground. So
many people drove to the scene, including some
late-arriving firefighters, that they created a
traffic jam that took an hour to clear.
When the little coupe finally returned to the
road, its starter would not engage.
Knowing Lannon's old-time firefighters, I
figure that incident gave them a lot to talk
about after they got back to the fire station
and the village's many taverns. (Though
Prohibtion was still the law of the land, Lannon
prided itself in those vendors of "snake-bite
remedies.")
