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Village of Manawa The Village of Manawa is situated near the center of the town, and near the center of the county, on the Little Wolf River. It has 5 general stores, 1 hardware store,1 drug store, 1 saw mill, 1 stave factory, 1 millinery store, 2 blacksmiths shops, 1 meat market, 1 livery stable, 2 harness shops, 2 furniture stores, 4 churches and 1 high school. The population is 500. Manawa is a station on the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul railroad. The town officers for 1889 were: Chairman-H. Lindow; Clerk-D. W. Shipman; Supervisors–Crist Hess, E. G. St. Matthias; Justices of the Peace–G. F. Rhinehart, Albert Bolter; Constable-A. Safford ________________________________ From Wisconsin County Histories, Waupaca County Edited by John M. Ware 1917 Transcribed and submitted to the Waupaca County Website by Paula Vaughan January 2002
The village is well lighted by electricity and, with the advancement of its material affairs, has developed its school, churches, societies and other institutions which go with a representative American community. The settlement, which finally developed into the village in size and in name, had its start in the late '40s and the early '50s, when William Goldberg, the Mores, James and Peter Meiklejohn and A. P. Jones, became residents of the locality. This was during the But it was up-hill work to expand the local industry and trade when the little settlement was still in the woods, almost cut off from the rest of the world except by river travel, and with New London, a more booming lumber town, not so far away. When the Green Bay & Western came in the early '70s, the advantages enjoyed by the young settlements of the county were more equalized. A few years afterward (in 1877) the first church building was erected at Manawa by the Catholics. In 1890 Manawa had reached a population of 350, and in 1900, the year of its incorporation as a village, the Federal census gave it as 744. In 1910 it was credited with 820 inhabitants, and it is now well toward the thousand mark. About the time that Manawa. secured railroad connections the industries now controlled by the Little Wolf Lumber Company were inaugurated by the J. M. Rounds Company. Then Peter Meiklejohn and W. H. Hatten of New London formed a partnership, and the business was afterward reorganized as a branch of the Little Wolf Lumber Company, with Mr. Hatten as president, Arthur Lindsay, vice president and manager, and George R. Lindsay, secretary. This is the present management. About 150 hands are employed in the different departments of the plant. The sawmill is 60 by 125 feet, and the planing mill, 60 by 100 feet. Its retail lumber business is large. Some years ago an electric light plant. was installed for the accommodation of the mills. It was enlarged and in 1902 its operation and ownership became a municipal affair. The flour mill is owned and operated by the Esehe-Nelson Milling Company, which was organized in 1895 by" Ottamar Esche and N. G. Nelson. It had been built by Mr. Nelson in 1891 as a steam flour mill, but was finally remodeled and adapted to the water power of the Little Wolf. Its capacity is fifty barrels daily. Mr. Esche is the son of an old Milwaukee miller, and before coming to Manawa, in 1895, had received a thorough technical education in Germany and a practical The First National Bank was organized August 1, 1907, with Leander Choate as president; J. B. Jansen, vice president, and Christian D. Dick, cashier. Thomas Daily became president in 1909 and Arthur C. Lindsay succeeded him in 1915.' In 1913 Mr. Jansen had resigned as vice president, and had been succeeded by Mr. Lindsay, who thus continued until he became president in 1915, when George C. Murray assumed the vice presidency. Christian D. Dick has been The Farmers State Bank was organized in 1916 and has lately completed a substantial building. The Gehrke brothers are largely interested in it. They are proprietors of the Gehrke Mercantile Company and are connected with the creamery industry of the village and locality. The Manawa Co-operative Creamery Association was organized in April, 1907, with Charles Specht as president, Fred J. Gehrke, Jr., manager, and Ottamar Esche, secretary. Arthur Sturm is now president, the other officials being unchanged. In 1916 the association manufactured more than 228,000 pounds of butter. Besides the industries mentioned, Manawa has a condensed milk plant, owned by A. H. Knocke, and a tile factory, of which J. T. Penn is proprietor. The Manawa Poultry Association was organized in 1910 for the purpose of encouraging the raising of pure-bred poultry at Manawa and vicinity. It was incorporated in 1914 and has held five successful shows. Its membership comprises forty raisers of blooded poultry, with the following officers: F. F. Bard, president; Otto Plotz, vice president, and A. C. Lindsay, secretary. The Little Wolf High School was organized as a three years' course township institution and located at Manawa in 1886. In 1897 a fourth. year was added to the course, and in December, 1907, the school was placed on the accredited list, which places it on an equal footing with any school of the county. Its principal is Miss Mary E. Hanna, and she has four assistants. The principal of the grammar grades is Oscar Hertzberg. The only village paper which has survived is the Manawa Advocate, which was founded in New London and owned and edited by Will Barnum, C. D. McFarland and C. P. Smith before it was moved to Manawa. -In July, 1896, the plant was transferred to the latter village by Mr. Smith, and in November of that year Andrew J. Walch, its present editor and proprietor, came into possession of it. Besides conducting his newspaper all these years, Mr. Walch has been closely identified with the schools of the country, and is now a member of the county board of education. Manawa supports three churches-the German Lutheran, Rev. R. A. Karpinsky, pastor; Catholic, Rev. P. J. Grosnick, and Methodist, Rev. Alfred Hoad. The Lutheran Church was founded in 1875, the first services being held in a schoolhouse on the north side of the river, at Manawa. In the following year it was organized into a permanent body and incorporated as the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's Church "in and surrounding Manawa." The charter members were William Jawort, Henry Breier, August Barlow, William Braatz, August Draheim, Herman Gresen, John Lenz and Christian Klotzbuecher. In 1878 the congregation purchased the log school house on the north side of the river, in Manawa, and remodeled it for a church. The present site was purchased in 1888 and the edifice completed in 1.8901; the parsonage was built in 1892 and the parochial schoolhouse in 1909. The following pastors successively served the church; Rev. J. J. Walker, residing in New London from 1875 to 1884; Rev. R. Jank, located at Bear Creek from 1884 to 1891; Rev. G. S. Mundinger, the first resident pastor, who served from 1891 until 1905; Rev. George C. Schroedel, 1905-11, and Rev. R. A. Karpinsky since 1911. The present membership includes: Families, 203; communicant members, 583; total number of souls, men, women and children, belonging to the church, 1906.The Manawa Methodist Episcopal Church building was commenced in 1884, but was not completed and dedicated until 1890. It was rebuilt in 1904-05 and rededicated on February 5th of the latter year. The first Methodist minister to hold services at Manawa was Rev. R. C. Granthem, who was sent by the conference in September, 1882. Rev. Frank Miller located in 1883 and in the following year a Methodist Church, or class, was formed by Dr. R. H. Darling and his wife, Mrs. Wooden, W. H. Hatten, Arthur Lindsay and Doctor Gregory. It is said that when church organization was first suggested, there were so few representatives of any one denomination that its name hung in the balance. There were several who thought that' a Congregational Church would serve the community best. Therefore a letter to this effect was written to the resident Congregational pastor of New London, but no answer was received for more than six months. It was afterwards learned that when the letter arrived at its destination it was one of those spring mornings when one feels very much alive. The preacher wore his fur overcoat to the postoffice, but evidently the glorious morning meant more to him than his mail, for he slipped the letters into his pocket and went home, not to read the correspondence, but to put his fur overcoat away for the summer; and it was not until the cold winds again began to blow that the letter was read. Meantime a new preacher had arrived and a church building started. So it was that the little church that has meant so much to the community has' been called the Methodist instead of Congregational. The first regular members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, recognized on March 30, 1890, were John McKenzie and his wife; Alonzo McKinley, Mr. and Mrs. George Rhinehart, Mr. and Mrs. John Guerin, Miss Rhode Guerin, Mrs. Edna Allen and Mrs. Delight Marshall. Following Mr. Miller as pastor were James Churm, Jesse F. Decker, J. S. Hutchins, Robert G. Pike, David W. Rockefeller, James Robin-son, J. A. Powers, Edward Kaneen, J. T. Stretton, J. T. Leek (1896-98), D. O. Sanborn (1898-1900), A. L. Tucker (1905-09), W. Wilson (1909-13), William Stevens and Alfred Hoad. The present church membership is 103. A number of lodges and societies of a social, fraternal and protective character have organizations at Manawa. A mere mention of them is all that can be given, as they include the Masons, Odd Fellows, Rebekahs, Modern Woodmen of America, Royal Neighbors, Knights of Columbus, Fraternal Reserve Association, National Fraternal League, Equitable Fraternal Union and the Guardians of Liberty. The Odd Fellows' lodge (No. 271) is one of the oldest, having been instituted in June, 1877, and in the fall of 1916 completed a substantial two story red brick and concrete building. The Rebekah auxiliary was instituted in 1889. _____________________________ Questions, suggestions or additions please email. Return to Cities Page Return to homepage
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