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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

1128 - Toghtekin, Turkoman atabek and military leader of Damascus (fought during First Crusade), founded Burid Dynasty, dies 1590 - François Hotman/Hotomanus, French lawyer and diplomat (Anti-Tribonien), dies at 65 [...]



 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
Judocus ONGHENAE12 FEB
Levi PARTRIDGE12 FEB
Margaret HARDYMAN12 FEB
Thomas Edward STARRY12 FEB
Kathleen Jane VANCE12 FEB
Robert M DOWLING12 FEB
Janine Marie GOERING12 FEB
Hannah CONWAY13 FEB
Malcolm “Dutch” MUENICH13 FEB
Pieter CAMMAERT14 FEB
Brian HARRISON14 FEB
Simon FLANDERS15 FEB
Upcoming Anniversaries
Edmund D MULLANEY and
Mary J SHEA
15 FEB
Alfred RASMUSSEN and
Mildred Eva GALWAY
21 FEB
Joseph Robert GAVIGAN and
Maria Louisa ANTON
24 FEB
James Patrick GAVIGAN and
Euphemia WOOD
27 FEB
Caleb PINKHAM and
Mary DOWNING
10 MAR
Charles DORAN and
Bertha Marie Katherine BUEHLMAN
12 MAR
Thomas Leo GAVIGAN and
Ida May LUND
27 MAR
In Memoriam
Charles WILLIAMS12 FEB 1888
Delia Ann MCDERMOTT12 FEB 1941
John B JONES13 FEB 1891
Michael CAVANAUGH13 FEB 1894
Adrianus ONGHENAEIJ14 FEB 1701
Stephan HESS14 FEB 1818
Rita Rae RYAN14 FEB 2018
Samuel Worthen INGALLS15 FEB 1841
Mae M ENNIS15 FEB 1959
Mary Jane WARREN16 FEB 1880
Leonard CROWLEY16 FEB 1914
Mary Ann DOWLING16 FEB 1927
Charlene Berthette DORAN16 FEB 1977
Joseph Kenneth TAYLOR16 FEB 2018
Margarethe RöDERER17 FEB 1776
X

Charles WILLIAMS

Birth: 1872
Death: 12 FEB 1888
X

Delia Ann MCDERMOTT

Birth: 20 JAN 1873
Death: 12 FEB 1941
X

John B JONES

Birth: 1841
Death: 13 FEB 1891
X

Michael CAVANAUGH

Birth: 1823
Death: 13 FEB 1894
X

Adrianus ONGHENAEIJ

Birth: 26 MAR 1627
Death: 14 FEB 1701
X

Stephan HESS

Birth: 29 JAN 1736
Death: 14 FEB 1818
X

Rita Rae RYAN

Birth: 04 JUL 1941
Death: 14 FEB 2018
X

Samuel Worthen INGALLS

Birth: 11 JUL 1770
Death: 15 FEB 1841
X

Mae M ENNIS

Birth: 29 AUG 1888
Death: 15 FEB 1959
X

Mary Jane WARREN

Birth: 23 DEC 1850
Death: 16 FEB 1880
Maps