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    New Glarus
    New Glarus
    New Glarus
    Ebook203 pages59 minutes

    New Glarus

    By Kim D. Tschudy

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    About this ebook

    New Glarus was founded in 1845 by impoverished citizens of Glarus, Switzerland. Much of Europe was in the grips of a severe depression, food was in short supply, and jobs were equally scarce. In response to this crisis, the Swiss government formed the Swiss Emigration Society. The society offered passage to America for anyone who wanted to leave Switzerland. On April 16, 1845, a ship took 193 Swiss to the United States. Four months later, on August 16, these pioneers arrived in what would become New Glarus. The founding of this community might be one of the finest examples of the best of socialism. Each settler received 20 acres of land drawn through a lottery; land could not be exchanged for something better. The oxen teams needed to work the land were communally owned. The settlers looked out for the welfare of all, providing schooling, food, shelter, and health care.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateNov 17, 2014
    ISBN9781439648490
    New Glarus
    Author

    Kim D. Tschudy

    Kim Tschudy is the president of the New Glarus Depot Preservation Society and New Glarus Town Hall Preservation Society. The images in this book have been selected to document the development and history of New Glarus. Included are numerous photographs of the New Glarus Amish settlement and the ensuing landmark 1972 US Supreme Court case, Wisconsin v. Yoder.

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      Book preview

      New Glarus - Kim D. Tschudy

      collection.

      INTRODUCTION

      The Oglala Sioux holy man Black Elk once said, You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle, from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where the power goes.

      The months of writing this book about the Village and Township of New Glarus in the 36 square miles locals call home, where six generations of families have been birthed, were times of deep introspection. Many cold February nights and early mornings gave pause to how difficult the ancestors’ early years in New Glarus were.

      The area’s forefathers’ first farming endeavor was growing wheat. Wheat gave them food and the necessary money to pay off their 20-acre farms. As times got better, they added more land and wheat. But, the wheat farming played itself out. Without nutrient-rich animal manure to apply to their fields, within two decades the wheat wore out the soil.

      With the failure of wheat crops, these small-acreage farmers tried dairying. Their hard work brought them success. Soon, their acreage doubled to 40-acre and then 80-acre farms. Barns were built and added on to as their success grew. By the turn of the 20th century, many of the small vernacular houses of utilitarian design gave way to new and bigger farmhouses that reflected their successful dairying endeavor.

      Four decades ago, nearly every barn had the lights on, early in the morning and late into the evening, as the twice daily milking was done. These former 20-to-40-acre farms had grown into 160-acre farms that were the economic powerhouse for the businesses of New Glarus. Farm-implement shops, car dealers, hardware stores, feed mills, plumbers, and electricians were all kept busy keeping these farms working.

      Today, the barns, with the exception of 12, are all empty. The cows are long gone. The days of the 40-cow family farms are gone. Main street is no longer the vibrant hub of locally generated commerce with farmers coming into town after morning milking to pick up parts for the combine, grind a load of feed, pick up some fence boards at the lumber yard, and make a stop for a quick Huber’s beer before returning home to begin cultivating the recently planted corn.

      There was a sense of community in spirit and action—and not just empty words. Several farmers would go together to purchase a hay bailer, combine, or whatever other piece of critical, expensive machinery that was much needed but used for only a few days each year. Threshing days were always eagerly anticipated. Several neighboring farmers would gather and work from farm to farm to combine the oats and eat a hearty dinner cooked by the farmers’ wives. The next day, they moved on to the next neighborhood farm, repeating the previous day’s work, until all the neighboring farmers had the oats safely stored in the granary.

      The area has changed, just as its people have. Today, residents live with the memories of the vibrancy these many small farms brought to New Glarus for 13 decades. People have enjoyed the good times and proved resilient with the bad times. Land once lush with hay and corn now grows houses for commuters working in nearby cities.

      Gone also are, with the exception of one family, the 50 to 70 Amish families that settled in the quiet valleys in the mid-1960s. These humble people of the land, with their Protestant Christian roots as deeply planted in Switzerland as the rest of the population’s own protestant Christian ancestors, are missed. They became good friends, neighbors, customers of the local businesses, and well-respected farmers.

      The Amish are gone, but they left their mark on our community. A long, multistate legal battle over compulsory education laws was finally settled with a US Supreme Court case, Yoder vs. Wisconsin, which finally resolved, once and for all, the issue of freedom of religion. This case began in our school district. Popular myth states that the Amish left New Glarus because our school district filed truancy charges against five of our Amish neighbors, but that was not the case. The New Glarus Amish left because they couldn’t get along with each other. Yoder vs. Wisconsin had nothing to do with us leaving, said the son of one of the early New Glarus Amish.

      In the late 1950s, the face of New Glarus changed forever. Highway 69, which used to wind through downtown New Glarus, was relocated to the east edge of town, bringing with it a new commercial district down on the highway. Gas stations quickly sprung up to capture the gas dollars and chance to sell some locally made sodas (Squirt, Hires Root Beer, and strawberry soda), a bag of chips, and a candy bar to the traveling public. Soon to come were banks, specialty shops, fast food shops, and mini malls.

      The 1970s brought with it many changes. The Milwaukee Road railroad that served New Glarus since 1887 announced that it was going to abandon service from Brodhead to New Glarus. In 1972, the Wisconsin DNR purchased the right-of-way and converted it to a four-season recreational trail. During its first 10 years, the Sugar River State Trail attracted over 500,000 visitors to the area. The old New Glarus train depot was remodeled as the trail headquarters.

      The 1980s saw yet more changes in New Glarus. The Chalet Landhaus motel opened on Highway 69, and Poplar Grove, the last cheese factory with a New Glarus address, closed. Disch Furniture, a longtime business, closed in 1982. The following year saw Stuessy’s Grocery store sell out to Dennis and Toots Hoesly. But the big news of the year was the arrival of cable television. Over the

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