Recollections of Columbia, Wisconsin
by Mabel Schlender Jonkel
Contributed by Sarah Poertner
transcribed by Crystal Wendt & Michelle Harder.
*Mr. and Mrs. Billy Stafford came during the boom days and located on a farm two miles west of Columbia. Here they built a log cabin and farmed a few years. One child, born here, passed on in infancy. They are remembered for their English accent. William Schultz later bought the farm.
*Oscar Peel came from Rockford, Illinois in 1900. Nice farm buildings were built after clearing the land two miles northwest of Columbia. In 1910 they returned to Illinois. There was one son, Charles.
*Charles Harlow came form Addison, Michigan to be Columbia's first cheesemaker. After several years he also started the Hewettville cheese factory. Mabel Cooper became his wife. She was a granddaughter of the Blisses. Their marriage took place in my parents' home with the resident minister, Rev. McClure, officiating. Soon after they moved to Iowa and then to North Dakota where they proved up a homestead in 1908. In 1919 they returned to Wisconsin living at Owen and Neillsville. Later they ran a hotel in Marshfield where they passed on.
Charles Harlow was the first cheesemaker at Columbia, WI
-50-