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75 and Going Strong
By Nancy Pfotenhauer
T
he MPHS celebrated its 75th anniversary this summer and what a
celebration it was! Starting with
the 4th of July parade in Mineral Point,
where the Society served as Parade
Marshal, and continuing to our lovely
garden party in August.
Almost everyone knows by now how
the Society was formed to stop, at the
very last minute, the destruction of
Orchard Lawn; a few more details were
added to that story this summer with the
donation of a guest-book from Nancy
Chase, great-granddaughter of Joseph
and Sarah Gundry. The book belonged to
Nancy Lambertson Campbell, one of the
two Gundry descendants who inherited
the property after the death of William P.
Gundry in June of 1936.
The heirs tried, but failed to sell, the
property; then, not wanting their old
home to fall into disrepair, they decided
to give it to the city. The guest-book’s
entry for Oct 7, 1937: “Herbert went up
to M. Pt. to present Orchard Lawn to
City.” The City, however, felt the property
would be too expensive to maintain and
refused the offer.
With no other options available, on May
18, 1939, the guest-book says “signed
contract to have Orchard Lawn wrecked.”
However, on June 24, 1939, “Rev.
Remaly, Mr. Morgan, Robert Neal, Harvey
Huxtable Mineral Point, Wis came to ask
for Orchard Lawn for a museum to be run
by a Com of Citizens.”
The “Com of Citizens” became the
Mineral Point Historical Society and the
rest, as they say, is history! n
Top: In recognition of the 75th Anniversary, the MPHS served as Parade Marshal for
Mineral Point’s Fourth of July parade; Board President Matt Ostergrant and Membership
Chair Denise Ostergrant appeared as Gundrys.
Bottom left: The welcome board tells the story.
Bottom right: Nona Chappell sparkles at the 75th Anniversary party.
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Scenes from the 75th Anniversary
Garden Party Celebration
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Mineral Point Historical Society
75
years
Mineral Point Historical Society 75
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Runaway!
B
ack when horsepower measured the number of beasts actually harnessed to your cart or carriage, “runaway” didn’t refer
to a disaffected teen leaving home in the middle of the night but to an unexpected and dangerous event. A frightened
horse running uncontrolled down the steep slope of High street meant disaster. Not all runaways were reported in the local
newspapers, but many were.
Mineral Point Weekly Tribune, Aug 14, 1860
The team of Mr. George Brewer took fright and
became unmanageable on the “Legate hill,” on the
Linden road* on Saturday last. The wagon, we believe,
was upset, and those in it thrown upon the ground,
one (a lady) was quite severely injured, having two ribs
broken, besides other bruises.
[*High street became the “Linden road” at the western edge of Mineral Point; traffic has since been rerouted to what is now Highway 39.]
Mineral Point Tribune, July 22, 1868
Dr. J. H. Vivian was quite seriously injured on Friday
morning last by the running away of his team. He
had hitched them to his carriage for that purpose of
attending to a call in the country; and, while adjusting
a portion of the harness, the horses became unsteady
and commenced to run. – The Doctor caught them by
the bits, but they carried him with them, raising him
clear from the ground. He was carried forcibly against
a stone wall, but still held to them until he was carried
several rods and forced to let go his hold, being thrown
with considerable force upon the ground. His principal
injuries were upon the head, he remaining for some
hours insensible. Medical aid was immediately called;
and, though he is yet unable to be out, we are gratified
to learn his injuries are not likely to prove serious.
Phil Allen (standing) and teamster with a wagonload of rock, in front
of the Parish House at the corner of High and South Iowa. Horse,
carts, wagons, and carriages were an integral part of pre-automobile
life. All was well as long as the horses didn’t bolt.
Iowa County Democrat June 14, 1878
At about seven o’clock on Tuesday morning a team
standing in front of Priestly & Bohan’s livery stable**
took fright and ran down High street. A boy was in
the carriage, and tried to stop the team, hanging on to
the reins until it struck a pile of lumber in front of the
City Hall, when he was violently thrown to the ground,
but not seriously injured. After striking the lumber pile
they ran against James Suther’s store, and smashed
some glass. At the foot of High street they turned north
on Commerce street, and ran until in front of Mark
Terrill’s where they were stopped. The team belonged
to a farmer named Ryan, who had hired the carriage of
Mr. Bohan, intending to go to the Ridgeway picnic. The
team got off unhurt, but the carriage was smashed so
badly as to be almost worthless.
[Priestley & Bohan’s livery stable was located on the
now empty lot on the north side of High street, just east
of the post office.]
Iowa County Democrat July 12, 1878
Stopping a Runaway Team. At about seven o’clock
on last Saturday evening a team hitched to a lumber
wagon, in which a woman was seated, ran down Doty
and North*** streets to Chestnut street, where they
turned south and ran on to High street. On the corner
of High and Chestnut streets they turned east, and were
caught by Mr. George Bloom, who sprang at them just
as they turned, but at such force were they going that
they carried him down High street until opposite Wm.
T. Henry’s bank, before they came to a stand still. A
most heroic act, was the verdict of all who witnessed
the daring feat of Mr. Bloom.
[*** now Jail Alley.]
Mineral Point Tribune Jan 19, 1899
Mr. N Wagner had a runaway lately that kept him at
home for two weeks. He was returning to his home in
Diamond Grove after delivering milk to the creamery
in this city, when a hook in the whiffletree came out.
One of his team being a colt, the animal began to kick
and the team to run. Mr Wagner was thrown out and
received a blow in his side that rendered him insensible
for two hours. n
Photo courtesy of the Mineral Point Library Archives.
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Mineral Point Historical Society
You Scream, I Scream…
N
ow a hot collectible, ice cream molds were originally a fanciful way to serve a cold
dessert.
“Iced cream” had its beginnings in Roman times: there are early references to the
Emperor Nero ordering ice to be brought from the mountains and then combined with
varieties of fruit. Eventually, the ice was mixed with milk and both George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson are reported to have served this version of the iced dessert to their
guests.
By the early 1800s, the invention of the hand cranked ice cream freezer allowed homemakers to make and serve ice cream whenever they liked. The pliable nature of the
product probably made it inevitable that imaginative hostesses dreamed up a plethora of
whimsical ways to present the treat.
According to “Antique Weekly”, Cadot, a French company, began producing ice cream
molds in 1832. This was a two-piece hinged apparatus made of pewter. The ice cream was
spooned into both sides of the mold, which was then closed and the sides were pressed
firmly together. The heavy pewter kept the cold inside, keeping the ice cream firm and in
the shape of the mold. When the mold was opened,
the design was exposed, adding a visual delight as
well as one for the taste buds.
According to the L.B. Rothchilde website, Joseph
Micelli Sr. brought his metal fabrication expertise to
the Eppelsheimer mold manufacturing company of
New York City about 1918. He sculpted molds with
remarkable details of animals, people, flowers, fruit,
and vegetables. Eppelsheimer molds have E & co
NY and a catalog number on each of their molds.
According to Ice Screamers.com (an ice cream memorabilia collectors club founded
in 1982), molds were made in two basic sizes. The most common size is the individual
mold, which was meant to serve a single portion. The second size, the banquet mold, is
much larger, meant to serve from 4-10 people and was frequently used as a centerpiece
for entertaining.
Because the molds are made of pewter, which has a high lead content, they are now
only for decorative purposes and should not be used for food. n
C
arol Stephenson holds the banquet size ice cream mold, in the shape of a pumpkin, which she recently donated to the MPHS collections. At one point the mold
was part of the varied collection of Bob Neal and Edgar Hellum and can be seen in
several photographs of the interior of Pendarvis House, including this charming still
life by Barry Telfair. Ron Fay acquired the mold at the Neal estate auction and Carol,
in turn, acquired it from him. Many thanks to Carol for passing it on to the Historical
Society. n
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Tree
Trimming at
Orchard Lawn
R
od Boley and crew, from Boley
Tree & Landscape Care, are working on Orchard Lawn’s living artifacts, the trees. Earlier this summer,
Mr. Boley and Grounds Chair Peter
Pfotenhauer inspected the more than
120 trees on the premises and developed a care plan for 75 of them.
Three will be removed; the rest will be
trimmed and pruned. Pruning removes
dead or dying limbs, thins the crown
to allow better light penetration and
air movement, and removes lower
limbs to provide better ground clearance. Boley’s company provided a
similar service in 2003. Regular care
and maintenance of the trees assures
the continued beauty of the park-like
setting of Orchard Lawn. n
The Mineral Point High School Flag Team
practices in front of Orchard Lawn on a
beautiful late summer day.
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Panoramic shot of 1926 Army-Navy game at Soldier Field, Chicago. Photo courtesy Chicago
Park District Special Collections.
Army-Navy, 1926
T
he guest-book recently donated by Nancy Chase is interesting partly because
it chronicles the comings and goings of the Gundry family (Aug. 13 - Aug. 19,
1929; Mary R. Gundry “Motored in in five hours [from Mineral Point to 1222 State,
Chicago]; Oct. 16, 1934; George [Branger] drove Uncle Will in Monday and took
the “Aunts” [Mary Reed Gundry and Margery Gundry King] home,) but it is also
interesting because it mentions events of the wider world.
One example: Nov. 31, 1926 - W. P. Gundry - Came in to Army & Navy game.
It turns out, the Army-Navy game of 1926 is considered “one of the greatest
football games ever played.” Ray Schmidt, writing for the LA84 online sports
library, says “No single game in college football history has ever so completely
combined the color, spectacle, national media coverage, public popularity, and
top-flight level of play as the Army-Navy battle of 1926 at Soldier Field.”
The Army’s team from West Point and the Navy’s team from Annapolis played
each other every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving. The games were
almost always in East Coast cities, but in 1926 officials were persuaded to bring
the game to the Chicago, probably because a group of businessmen promised to
raise $100,000 for each academies’ athletic fund, in additionto the approximately
$600,000 needed to cover the expenses of bringing the teams and students to the
game.
Chicago had built the mammoth Grant Park Stadium on the banks of Lake
Michigan just south of the downtown area a year earlier. Some football games
had already been played there but for 1926 the stadium was renamed “Soldier
Field” in memory of World War I military personnel and the Army-Navy game was
designated as the formal dedication event.
According to Ray Schmidt: “…the demand for tickets was overwhelming, as
over 600,000 ticket requests were received for the 100,000 seats available…”
Ticket seekers were so aggressive that the man in charge of sales needed body
guards while at work, and police were assigned to protect the entrances to the
Park’s Administration Building.
Schmidt says: “When time for the kickoff finally arrived on November 27, 1926
— amidst concerns over the many counterfeit tickets which had been found in
circulation — Soldier Field was jammed with approximately 110,000 fans, with
thousands more standing atop every nearby building, water tower, and bridge that
afforded any hopes of a glimpse of the action. A New York Times writer surveyed
the scene from the rim of Soldier Field and reported that, “Looking off over the top
of the stadium, there was nothing to see but people.” It was later stated that over
18,000 automobiles had been parked around the stadium, while Chicago taxi companies reported that they had made approximately 20,000 separate trips out to
the arena. The massive crush of people and cars required the city to assign 1,350
police officers to direct traffic and maintain order. James Bennett of the Chicago
Tribune described it as “a multitude that was worthy of the game.”
Somehow, we’re not surprised that Will Gundry was one of the spectators.
By the way, the game ended in a 21 – 21 tie. n
Mineral Point Historical Society
Notes from
the President
2014 MPHS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Matt Ostergrant, President
Nancy Pfotenhauer, Treasurer
Ainsley Anderson, Manager
By Matt Ostergrant, President, Mineral Point Historical Society
BOARD MEMBERS
Why We’re Here
Judith Logue Clayton
Lucille May
Denise Ostergrant
Matt Ostergrant
Nancy Pfotenhauer
Peter Pfotenhauer
Carl Tunestam
Richard Ivey
Joy Gieseke
H
aving just celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Mineral Point
Historical Society, I began to give some thought about what my favorite thing is
about Orchard Lawn. Now that’s tough because the estate is full of so many stories
and treasures that delight the mind and eye but I finally arrived at what gives me the
greatest delight. Graffiti. Yes, graffiti - the good kind. No, I haven’t gone off the deep
end (yet) nor am I promoting or encouraging vandalism with a spray can of paint.
All throughout the house we have discovered places where visitors and Gundry
family members have left their mark, both openly and discreetly. The most obvious
location is up within the belvedere where family, visitors and workers have left their
mark whether in pencil or scratched into the wood. My favorite is where chauffeur/
handyman, George Branger (later Mayor of Mineral Point) wrote, George Branger
Dec 22nd 1936 Last day at Orchard Lawn. With Will Gundry’s passing that June,
George was now looking elsewhere for employment. Someone recorded cleaning
the attic on May 23, 1935 and again on May 1, 1936.
During Phase I restorations, when the wallpaper was removed in the Library, a
record of each remodeling of that room was left in pencil on the plaster wall by
Will Gundry: Papered again in slate blue pattern 1890, J.P. Hankins (the paperhanger).
This helped the restorers to date a wallpaper remaining behind the built-in bookcases which was selected for reproduction to restore the room to its 1890 appearance. Years later, upon removing wallpaper in the rear parlor, we discovered faint
signatures in pencil on the walls left by Gundry family members, probably before
repapering.
Earlier this year, another trove of graffiti was uncovered in the front upstairs
display room. When wallpaper was removed to begin remodeling that space, the
Gundry family again had left their mark. In a repeat from the Library directly below,
Will had left a record of each remodeling of that bedroom beginning in 1870 and
ending with a fifth remodeling in 1928. J.P. Hankins had been the paper hanger in
1870, 1881, 1894 and 1907 but Frank Weidenfeller had the honor in 1928. Gundry
granddaughter, Margery Lambertson, signed her name on March 16, 1907 then
clarified the date by adding Saturday. We have protected these records to preserve
them for future restorationists.
Even the exterior of the great house didn’t escape receiving people’s marks
from the past. A few years ago while our Founders’ Day planning crew were busy
on the front porch, one of the ladies noticed some writing on the mortar joints of
the front stone wall.One of the faint inscriptions includes H.W. King ___ - 28 - 19.
Harry Wheelock King of Cleveland, Ohio, married the Gundrys’ youngest daughter,
Margery. Harry’s family company, The King Bridge and Iron Works, manufactured
the very first Ferris wheel which debuted at the World’s Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1892.
Apparently it’s human nature that we leave our mark but we should do so by
following these examples with the intention of leaving a mini time capsule in our
homes. While helping to restore the church in which we were married, Denise and
I left our names and date on the underside of replacement floor boards. More subtle
than Kilroy, leaving such discreet messages is our way to reach out and say “we
were here” to future discoverers and bring them a little delight. n
Mineral Point Historical Society NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Nancy Pfotenhauer
NEWSLETTER DESIGN: Kristin Mitchell Design
©Copyright MPHS 2014
Mineral Point Historical Society
Membership Form
January 1, 2014 to December 31, 201­­­4
All members receive the newsletter
and free tours of Orchard Lawn.
Please check one:
c Individual ($15.00)
c Family ($25.00)
c Business ($50.00)
Additional Contribution: $______________
Name:
Address:
City:
State:Zip:
E-mail:
Make checks payable to the
Mineral Point Historical Society
and return this form to:
Mineral Point Historical Society
P.O. Box 188 • Mineral Point, WI 53565
Thank you again for your support!
Please remember to mail your
membership dues.
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P.O. Box 188 • 234 Madison Street
Mineral Point, WI 53565
608.558.1937
Mark Your Calendars
Jammin’ On The Porch
second Friday of the month,
at Orchard Lawn
beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Bring a lawn chair, a picnic dinner,
and ease on into the weekend!
September 12
Change Service Requested
22nd Annual Cornish Festival
Mineral Point
September 26-28
www.cornishfest.org for details
Tours of Orchard Lawn still
available through September
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
from 1–5 p.m.
www.mineralpointhistory.org
In 1897, spectators lined the rail to see a race at the Southwestern Wisconsin Fair, predecessor to the Iowa County
Fair, still held in Mineral Point.
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