Norders Move to Monroe, Wisconsin
by Phyllis Zeck
In the 1860 census my 3rd great grandparents Leonhard and Magdalene moved their large family from New Glarus to the town of Sylvester which is 16 miles south. Leonhard was a farmer. In the 1870 census Leonard and Magdalena were living with their younger children Mathias, Leonard, Gustave and Emma. Sons Fridolin, Leonard and Gustave remained in the area to raise their families. My ancestors were successful farmers in Sylvester. There was no shortage of cheese factories in the town. The photo above is courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society and notes “taken looking towards the east side of the square in Monroe. Truckenbrod’s (the photographer) Rexall Pharmacy is in the middle of the picture. It appears that J. Karlen Sr. is the man sitting in the coach. He was an early cheese maker in Monroe. The occasion is the 1915 Cheese Day parade held on October 12.” (click to enlarge)
The first settlement of Sylvester was made by William Woodle in 1836. The town was laid out in part by my 3rd great grand uncle Jacob Norder (Leonhard’s brother). He was living in Sylvester in 1850. The following in an excerpt from the Wisconsin Histrorical Society: “The Evangelical Cemetery Association was formed in 1860. They bought one-half acre of land of Jacob Stauffacher on section 5. In 1872 it was platted into lots. It contains twenty- eight lots, 18×34 feet in size. It was laid out by Jacob Norder, Henry Baebler, Dietrich Stauffacher and Jacob Stauffacher. Among the first burials here were those of the remains of John Rhiner and Michael North. The present directors are Dietrich Stauffacher and Henry Stauffacher. The treasurer is John Elmer.”
By the 1880 census my 2nd great grandfather Dietrich Richard who was 34 and a teamster had moved his family 8 miles south west making Monroe their home. Fanny’s father Rudolph Blum was 91 and lived with them. In the 1910 census Richard and Fannie owned their home at 1024 East Street in Monroe and Richard was still a laborer for the teamsters. Richard died in 1915, Fanny in 1943.
The following in an excerpt from the Wisconsin Historical Society: “The first move toward settlement, in what is now the town of Monroe, was made in 1830. John B. Skinner came here that year, for the purpose of mining. He erected a log cabin and smelting furnace. In the spring of 1834 Nicholas Cornelius visited the place and found four vacant log cabin and a log building for a smelting furnace. One of these cabins was on arise of ground, and there were port holes in every side of it, showing that they were prepared to defend themselves in case of attack. In 1835 operations were again begun here by Nicholas Cornelius, Hiram Rust, Richard Palmer and Joab Enos. Mr. Enos left in the fall of 1835 while the others remained until the fall of 1836. They sold their ore to William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton, of National fame. He had a smelting furnace at Wiota, WI.”
I found the following article about Richard’s brother Leonard (my 2nd great grand uncle) in the Monroe Times. The Inter Ocean was a Chicago paper.
BADGER BATTLES PUP – Twenty-Five Pounder Gives Stiff Flight when Cornered. Special Dispatch to The Inter Ocean. MONROE. Wis., Oct. 18 1907.
“Leonard Norder, residing seven miles northeast of town, killed a twenty-five pound
badger last Sunday. The animal was “nosed out” by Mr. Norder’s dog and in front of his domicile turned and gave the pup battle. Being driven into the hole by the arrival or Mr. Norder the badger proceeded to get real busy with his digging trots, and would doubtless have made a getaway, but that he ran Into the rocks and could get no further. A spade diligently wielded soon brought him to light and dog and badger immediately went to the mat again. There, are few dogs that can “hold their own” with a full grown badger and several shots from a revolver saved Mr. Norder’s valuable canine from a bad licking. The trophy of the chase was brought to town Monday, and as badgers are rather scarce hereabouts, many viewed the dead animal with interest.”
My great grandparents Edward C Norder and Matilda Tillie Frey lived in Monroe all of their lives as did their children with the exception of my grandmother Grace who would move to Chicago in her late teens.
The photo to the left is from the Green County Historical Society (click to enlarge). New Glarus, Sylvester and Monroe are all in Green County. The following is the text below the photo: “Company H of Monroe, Wisconsin. April 28, 1898 was the entrance of Badger troops into the Spanish-American War. Company H is shown in their brand-new uniforms gathered in the original Turner Hall before they left for duty. They went to Milwaukee where the three infantry regiments were mobilized. The Third regiment was the first to be mustered into the Federal service and the first to get away to active service at the “front” at Tampa, Florida. Col. S.P. Schadel of Monroe commanded the First Wisconsin and Capt. F. F. West commanded Company H. M.C. Durst and Fred Buehler were lieutenants of the company.” (Edward Norder’s name appears in the list of soldiers. If my great grandfather served, he would have been 17 years old. I’m unable to confirm Edward noted in this photo was my great grandfather).
The company returned to this city the early part of September 1898. The war lasted 105 days and cost the U.S. $140,500,000 according to the Wood County Reporter in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin.
As if 2020 has not been traumatic enough, fire danger was thrown in to test our resilience. In September wildfires erupted and 40 mile an hour winds spread the Riverside fire dangerously close to our Clackamas County communities. This was historically the worst fire season Oregon has had on record. Towns to our south were being evacuated to Level 3-Go as our home was elevated to Level 1-Be Ready. The little purple houses on the map to the left shows my home as well as my family members. I had never been alerted that my residence was in danger of a wildfire and like many people was oblivious to what the threat actually meant to me. The first time the emergency warning went off on my phone I realized the severity of the danger we were in. Now I had to consider that my home may actually catch on fire, thoughts I was conveniently avoiding thinking about. 
On a happy note, Christmas is around the corner. I remember when I was a kid and the Sears toy catalog arrived my siblings and I would get out the scissors, paste and paper to start our wish list which was mailed to Santa Claus. Times have changed. My grandson Kingston and sister Lori are reading the Amazon Wish Book. All Kingston needs is a cell phone so he can text the QR code to Santa!
Week 17. Our three largest counties Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah are in phase 1 of reopening. We may have to stay in phase 1 until we have a vaccine. As of July we have a new statewide mandate requiring everyone ages 5 and up to wear a face covering in outdoor public spaces when we can’t physical distance. Coverings are required statewide for indoor public spaces. The good news is our hair salons are reopening along with some restaurants, stores and the ZOO! Ashley and I took some of my grandchildren to the zoo this week and it was fabulous. I felt like I won a get out of jail free card. 
wanted to know how they could help. Holly set up a message board and posted what she was in need of which included thread, elastic, fabric and buttons. The donations poured in. Soon health care workers were requesting bands to hold masks in place and scrub caps. My son in law put his printer to work churning out straps. Generous donations of printer filament arrived at Ryan’s house keeping his printer working 24/7.
Lori and I wanted to know what we could do to help beside buying and delivering supplies. Holly immediatley vetoed any use of a sewing machine by either of us but we were allowed to sew buttons on scrub caps. Holly’s supplies have been shipped from coast to coast, as far as away as Buffalo NY. I’m so proud of my sister. She has a heart of gold.
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