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Distressing Suicide
A Woman Drowns Herself in a Well

Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Johanna Janeck, a German woman some 85 years old, wife of Mr. Gustav Janeck, for more than a dozen years employed in Mr. Darwin Clark’s Cabinet and Furniture establishment, and for some time foreman of the shop, went to visit Mrs. Lang, who lives in the first ward, about a block south of Nolden’s Hall, near the edge of the flat north of the depot.

Josephuse Pinkham Indian Fighter Blackhawk Wars
Josephuse Pinkham Indian Fighter Blackhawk Wars

There were occasional tragedies. The first year one of the girls in Slightham’s dining hall was scalded by boiling water.

On July 26, 1900, Ellen Jane  Rupp “Jennie”, Fannie Dunn, and Nellie Dunn were being rowed back to Madison by Alexius Baas at 11 p.m. when their rowboat was struck by one of the lake steamers, the Tonyawatha, and the four were thrown into t he water. Ellen Jane “Jennie” Rupp drowned. “Lex,” the oarsman, saved both of the Dunn sisters.

He claimed he did not see any lights on the Tonyawatha; crew members insisted the lights had been on.

Ellen Jane Rupp 1880-1900 Census
Ellen Jane Rupp 1880-1900 Census
Thomas Gavigan son of John and Mary (Collentine) Gavigan operated the Gavigan Hotel from 1892- to 1896 at the Corner of Main and Elm in Downtown Blanchardville. Thomas was on the board of Directors for the Blanchardville Driving Association (racing, training horses)
Hotel Gavigan / Hotel Ryan

Today in History

1712 - Nehemiah Grew, English naturalist (b. 1641) 1799 - Constantin Reindl, German composer, dies at 60 1818 - Caspar Wessel, Danish-Norwegian mathematician, dies at 72 1877 - Elkanah Brackin [...]



 There are many mysteries to be solved in the Flanders family history line, and JANE FLANDERS is one of them!

Steven Flanders is the first Flanders listed in America. It is said that the ship that he sailed on towards America sunk before reaching land, and that his wealth and possessions were lost. However, due to him having “spektacles” (eyeglasses), he was known to be of European higher-class and educated. He married a woman named Jane, listed as ‘Sandusky Indian’, and family stories state that she was an Indian princess.

As early as the late 1500’s, the Sandusky tribe lived on the banks of the Sandusky River in Ohio. For some reason the tribe  ….  Read More here

NOT William Gavigan

William Gavigan of the township of Adams perished with Monday night’s storm. He was found yesterday afternoon frozen stiff in a field with nothing but his boots protruding from the snow. Monday he attended a grubbing bee at the home of Rube Garrison. Returning home …. read more here

Mt. Horeb, Wis. –(AP) — Victor R McKay, 38, of Madison, shot and killed Mrs. Ruby Lund Heydon, 25, of Mt. Horeb, and then fatally wounded himself while they sat in a car in a hay-field near here August 17, 1942, a coroner’s jury decided after an inquest yesterday. Testimony indicated the motive was either jealousy or McKay’s concern over the possibility he might be drafted and forced to leave Mrs. Heydon a divorcee.

Ruby Christine Lund Heydon
Ruby Christine Lund Heydon



Edward Roarig, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gus Roarig of Fayette, died April 10th, at Trinity hospital, Milwaukee, where he had been taken for an operation. As was stated in last week’s paper the young man had been working for his uncle, Robert Williams, where he was kicked on the head by a horse. How long he laid in the stall under the animal is not known but he was found by Mrs. Williams in a semi conscious state and taken to the house.

The team moved to 598379 and was going to await the helicopters or until darkness and then move out.

After waiting an hour. the VC opened up on the team again from about 10 feet away. This broke up the team. The initial burst killed LCpl DOWLING. LCpl SOLOVSKOY returned fire and killed two VC
  ….  Read More here

LCprl Jean Pierre Dowling Vietnam - KIA - USMC
LCprl Jean Pierre Dowling Vietnam - KIA - USMC

Merrill McGilligan

Merle [Merrill] McGilligan, 25, son of Mr. and Mrs. T.H. [Thomas & Zula Hall] McGilligan, of Algona, former residents of this city, died yesterday at 6:30 p.m. at the Mercy hospital in Mason City. The young man had been operating a gravel truck near Lake lake, and Saturday evening with a group of friends had gone to Bayside park to swim. He dove into a shallow part of the lake and broke his neck. He was taken to the hospital in Mason City for medical attention.

Suicide By Taking Poison

Monday afternoon about 4 o’clock Mrs. Annie Schwartz, wife of John Schwartz, a farmer residing 4 miles west of this city (darlington), while in an insaine condition. took “Rough on Rats“, from the effects od which she died at 2 o’clock Tuesday Morning.

She has for years been subject to fits of insainity, and several times attempted self destruction. She was 46 years of age and leaves a husband and several children, the youngest of which is but 4 years old. Read More

“Rough on Rats” was marketed as a “cure-all” for pests like mice, flies, and bed-bugs, it was famously used for rats and, due to its accessibility and high toxicity, unfortunately became a common, well-known method for suicides in that era.

Farm Tragedy

A tragic moment in Time regarding the Stevens family happened in 1936 on the farm of Harry and Jennie Stevens in the Skelton Township of Carlton County MN when Harry Eugene (Gene) Stevens accidentally drove over his brother James Eugene Stevens (age 2) with a tractor.

James Earl Stevens Died age 2
James Earl Stevens Died age 2

Wagon Accident

Another tragedy for the Stevens happened on a steep grade in Colorado where Ida May Slawson Stevens died at age 49 when a wagon she was riding in overturned and she was killed.

Image NOT Ida May Slawson Stevens

1983: Madison West Goes 18-2 to Win the State Hockey Championship

1983 Madison West Regent State Champion Hockey Team
1983 Madison West Regent State Champion Hockey Team
Q: Where did the original Statue of Liberty on Lake Mendota end up?
Answer: The Bill Weege farm near Barneveld Wisconsin
Joe Gavigan & Peter Weege Barneveld WI
Joe Gavigan & Peter Weege Barneveld WI - 1980's Before Tornado
Rev. Edward L. Buckner Dies After Being Shot Near His Home

Rev. Edward L. Buckner, of Zalma, died last Friday morning at the Cape hospital where he had been taken for an operation after being shot by an unknown person near his home Thanksgiving morning.
He was but a short distance from his home when the shots were fired at him with a shot gun.





Upcoming Birthdays
Lionel DE WELLES25 MAR
Henry Marion BRAZEL25 MAR
Edward Malcolm MONAGHAN25 MAR
Joseph Patrick FLANAGAN25 MAR
Regis GAVIGAN25 MAR
William Mark HUMKE25 MAR
Adrianus ONGHENAEIJ26 MAR
Cecile Harold ETHRIDGE26 MAR
Sam BARLOW26 MAR
Joseph J DOCHNAHL27 MAR
Miss MCDERMOTT27 MAR
Kathryn STARRY27 MAR
Upcoming Anniversaries
Thomas Leo GAVIGAN and
Ida May LUND
27 MAR
John Wilbert GAVIGAN and
Catherine J FLANIGAN
10 APR
Captian John LESTER and
Sarah WHITEHEAD
13 APR
Robert Raymond CUMMINGS and
Jeanne Estelle BEAUBIER
14 APR
Harry John STEVENS and
Genevieve Loretta MULLANEY
15 APR
Jack LARSON and
Debora KUBLY
15 APR
John CONWAY and
Sarah COLLENTINE
17 APR
In Memoriam
Hannora MURPHY25 MAR 1941
Fay Francis GALWAY25 MAR 1980
Nora A GAVIGAN25 MAR 1995
Mary Jeanette DURRSTEIN25 MAR 2014
Chloe Susan GALLUP26 MAR 1918
Sarah COLLENTINE26 MAR 1944
Willard Chris OLESON26 MAR 1953
Bonnie B BLANCHARD26 MAR 1971
Lorraine Clara Petterle DERLETH26 MAR 1990
Birthe GULBRANDSDATTER27 MAR 1860
Miss MCDERMOTT27 MAR 1904
Euphemia WOOD27 MAR 1958
James LE FLEMING28 MAR 1492
Susan WILKIE28 MAR 1915
Eva Lena BECKER28 MAR 1969
X

Hannora MURPHY

Birth: 1878
Death: 25 MAR 1941
X

Fay Francis GALWAY

Birth: 05 DEC 1905
Death: 25 MAR 1980
X

Nora A GAVIGAN

Birth: 22 DEC 1911
Death: 25 MAR 1995
X

Mary Jeanette DURRSTEIN

Birth: 1938
Death: 25 MAR 2014
X

Chloe Susan GALLUP

Birth: 19 MAR 1855
Death: 26 MAR 1918
X

Sarah COLLENTINE

Birth: 01 MAR 1869
Death: 26 MAR 1944
X

Willard Chris OLESON

Birth: 19 APR 1915
Death: 26 MAR 1953
X

Bonnie B BLANCHARD

Birth: 13 JUL 1891
Death: 26 MAR 1971
X

Lorraine Clara Petterle DERLETH

Birth: 24 DEC 1912
Death: 26 MAR 1990
X

Birthe GULBRANDSDATTER

Birth: 22 JAN 1856
Death: 27 MAR 1860
Maps