Osceola township

Several days ago I posted a listing of some township tax rolls that are available for research in the library.  Today I have one more township to add to the list.

Osceola Township

                Tax Rolls

                                1862, 1864, 1868 to 1873 (1874 missing)

                                1875 to 1887 (1888 missing)

                                1889 to 1901 (1892, 1895 missing)

                                1903 to 1915 (1902, 1909 missing)

Melrose Farm

The Galloway House and village was once a working farm called Melrose Farm.  Recently I found documentation in the files that included photos of the buildings on Melrose Farm in 1944.

Stock Barn

Dairy Barn

Granary and Hen House

Horse Barn

You can stop in the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays 11-4 to see the rest of the photos.

Township records

Some of the records available for research at the library, include old township Assessment books.  While they are not all inventoried, here is a sample list of several townships, and what Assessment and Tax books are available.  This list will be expanding as we inventory more of our holdings.

Oakfield Village

                Assessment Rolls

                                1908 to 1917 (1918, 1919 missing)

                                1920 to 1928 (1929 missing)

                                1930 to 1954

                                (1955 to 1979 missing)

                                1980, 1984, 1985

                Tax Rolls

                                1908 to 1915

                Personal Property Tax Assessment Roll

                                1912 to 1915

        1980, 1982, 1983, 1985

Lamartine Township

                       Assessment Rolls

                                1865, 1868

                                1873 to 1889 (1875, 1877, 1884, 1887, 1888 missing)

                                1890 to 1901 (1894, 1900 missing)

Springvale Township

Assessment Rolls

                                1848, 1850, 1853, 1855, 1859

                                1861 to 1865 (1866, 1867 missing)

                                1868 to 1888 (1889 missing)

                                1890 to 1946 (1935 missing)

                                1953

                                1959  to 1975 (1965, 1966 missing)

                Tax Rolls

                                1864, 1865, 1875, 1876, 1879

                                1890 to 1911 (1895, 1903, 1905, 1906 missing)

                                1915

New donation - FDL Theatre

Yesterday I received a new donation to the Fond du Lac Co. Historical Society Library, and when I took a good look, I was astonished at what I found.

The treasure of papers and theatre programs included the program for the Grand Opening of the Fond du Lac Theatre,  known back in 1925 as Fischer's Fond du Lac Theatre.

Inside this program, is a photo of the original building, just completed, and it is a photo that I have never seen before.

Here's a close-up of the photo on this page:

The entrance obviously was moved in later years, since it now appears in the middle of the block, but this shows what a wonderful building it truly was when built.

Dolls in the Attic

Poking through boxes in the "attic" of the historical society, is like Christmas!  You are always surprised and excited by what you find.

Recently while just getting an idea of what was in storage, I encountered 3 rather large boxes that felt as if they were empty.  Did I get a surprise when I opened them, and found dolls, dolls, and more dolls, all handmade and beautiful.

18 of the dolls are wearing bridal dresses in period styles, from 1786 through 1966.
30 of the dolls are men and women dressed in period costume, starting in 1640 to the 1880's.

The dolls were made by Bernice Parfitt, of Ripon.  She used a book, called 'The Doll Book', by Estelle Ansley Worrell, which included not only sketches of the costumes, but patterns for making all of the dolls and costumes shown in the book.

Bernice started making the dolls in 1976, and made 1 or 2 dolls each year.  In 2008, when she and her sister broke up housekeeping, she donated the dolls to the Historical Society.

Here are pictures of some of the extraordinary dolls:

Showing her 'hoop' slip

1776 and 1786 brides

1815, 1820 and 1834 brides

Martha and George Washington?

1860, 1860 and 1870 dress styles

Three 1880 style dresses

1812, 1812, 1830 and 1850 men's styles

Ag photos

I've been going through photos, looking for some to display at the Agricultural Showcase.  (March 1, 2014 at the Fairgrounds) The Historical Society will have a booth there, and I want to find some old photos to draw some interest.
I found some old promotional photos, (probably for June Dairy Month) and actually recognized an old neighbor from my childhood days.  I grew up near Luxerin Farms, and so I recognized Clarence Sheridan in the accompanying photo right away.

If anyone can identify the other people in these photos, we would like to add their identification to our files.

Library Hours

YES, the library is now open!  Hooray!

But................there is always the weather to contend with, so if there are any weather alerts, such as a wind chill warning, or a storm warning, then the library will not open.

Current Winter Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday  from 11 am to 4 pm
By appointment, call 920-313-0535

Also, we are still 'straightening' things up a bit, so there is a need for volunteers to help to inventory library contents.