Volume One
Jacksonport Through The Generations

Lincoln Erskine – Erskine Family stories found in Volume one

The colored photos on the cover of the newly-released revised edition of volume one in the Jacksonport Through the Generations series brings that book full circle. The original 1997 edition, produced by Jim Halstead on his personal computer, had pictures in color. When that limited edition proved popular beyond expectations, the Jacksonport Historical Society reprinted it commercially, in 2000, with black and white photos only. The new release, co-edited by Rebecca Halstead and Eileen J. Roberts, is an expanded version. Most notably it features a number of additional pictures, not only ones from individual families but also scenes of historical and architectural interest. The latter include views of churches, schoolhouses, docks, sawmills, farms, and stores and a postcard from 1909 showing a horse-drawn vehicle in the foreground and a panoramic view of the town in the distance. Additional new items in the revised volume are Paula Virlee’s poem “Grandma’s Root Cellar” and an anonymous piece “That Old Time Apron.” The former is connected with a photo of the Erskine root cellar and the latter with a 1939 photo of six Jacksonport women busily preparing food. An epilogue by Becky Halstead describes how her father printed out the first edition and invites others to join the historical society as “Keepers of the Past.”

• Lincoln and Fred Erskine Families
• Byron Erskine Family
• Charles Lincoln Erskine Family
• Ed and Pansy Kohls Family
• Bagnall Families
• Peter and Anna Campbell Family
• Margaret Campbell
• Joseph A. and Almira (Le Claire) La Mere Family
• William and Alec Halstead Families
• Louis and Olive (Halstead) Martinson Family
• Anna Halstead – The Herlaches in Jacksonport
• William (Will) Halstead
• Sarah (Sadie) Halstead
• Elizabeth (Halstead) Bagnall
• Frank Halstead Family

Book price: US $25.00 including shipping. 

DVD price: US $22.25 including shipping.  

Volume Four
Jacksonport Through The Generations

Thomas Reynolds
“The Father of Peninsula Park”

Our most recent book, Volume Four, was released just before Christmas 2001. Once again the descendants of the early settlers in Jacksonport have diligently researched, presented and now written of the trials and tribulations of the ancestors. As you enjoy these histories you become aware of the importance of clearing the land of virgin forests to establish family farms, promoting the lumber industry, and facilitating the construction of many wood buildings in this area.

Volume four is also illustrated with many interesting and treasured family photos. Families included in this volume are:

• John Sr. and Mary Teich
• Joseph Robinson
• The Robinson Families of Jacksonport
• The Joseph Wilson Family
• Joseph and Margaret Wilson
• Henry and Sarah Maria Wilson
• Margaret (Wilson) and Thomas Bagnall
• William Alexander Henderson Wilson
• James Forsythe Wilson I
• Frances (Wilson) and Thomas Bagley
• Lilly (Wilson) Robinson and Belle Wilson
• Barbara (Wilson) and Gustav Oldenburg
• Eleanor (Wilson) and Arthur Bagley
• Henry Maxwell and Lucy Wilson
• Myrtle (Wilson) and Edward Bower
• Harry and Kathleen Wilson
• The Smith Family in Jacksonport
• Jacksonport
• The Reynolds Family
• Thomas Reynolds
• Charles Reynolds
• Descendants of Thomas and Jenny Reynolds
• Anne and Mabel Reynolds
• John W. Reynolds Sr.
• Thomas H. Reynolds
• Paul Nangle Reynolds
• Edith Reynolds
• Sidney Reynolds
• Lucille W. Reynolds
• Jane Reynolds
• Helen (Reynolds) Krueger
• The Reynolds Family Conclusion

Book price: US $25.00 including shipping. 

DVD price: US $22.25 including shipping.  

Volume Seven
Jacksonport Through The Generations

Our most recent book, Volume Seven, is now availabe to you from those families who have given their time to trace the genealogy of their families, write anecdotes from their memories, and share  treasures from their photo collections.

Included in this volume are:

• Grandpa Kohls–A Warm Weather Fisherman
• John and Ann Bley
• Valentine and Anna Louisa Herbst
• Yesterday–with Louis and Ella Herbst
• Brungrabers in Jacksonport
• Arhtur and Mathilda Brungraber
• Will (John) Brungraber
• Sanford Edward Clark
• Karl Henry and Emilie Graf
• John Henry and Elizabeth Graf
• Fred and Louise Kasten
• Arhtur and Emma Mueller
• Emanuel and Eleanor Mueller
• Herbert Theodore and Catherine Mueller
• Virgil and Evelyn Mueller
• Naumann Family
• Recollections of Henry and Caroline Naumann
• Naumann Memories

Book price: US $25.00 including shipping. 

DVD price: US $22.25 including shipping.  

Although each of the stories in this volume are unique, they contain many recurring themes.  Our authors are descendants of immigrants from various European countries, including Bohemia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden.  No matter the country of origin, their family histories repeatedly tell of hardships and heartbreaks, but also of good times and joyous memories.  The families in this book are:  Leclair, Weiterman, Scharrig, Honold, Olson, Husby, Madden, and Kurtz.

• Book price: US $30.00 includes shipping
• Book Price – Large Print:  US $32.50 including shipping
• DVD of family presentation Price:  US $22.25 including shipping.  Please indicate which family presentation you are ordering at check out.

The Jacksonport Historical Society is acknowledging the hundredth anniversary of the World War I armistice with “The Yanks Are Coming,” by Capt. Charles Butler.

Charles Butler (1890-1982) was born and raised in Jacksonport. While a junior at Ripon College, he volunteered for officers’ training and was a lieutenant when he went overseas in the American Expeditionary Forces. After serving in France, he was sent to Germany in the Army of Occupation and was promoted to captain. He received two Silver Star Citations, the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the French Regimental Fourragère. Upon his return to the U.S., he completed an Ed.D. at Columbia University and embarked on a career as an educator and author.

Like many veterans of horrific wars, Charles did not talk much about his military service. Some forty-five years after his return from Europe, he wrote his memories from that time in the form of autobiographical fiction.  

The two books remembering World War I, “The Yanks are Coming” and “Remembering the Great War: Letters From the Front” are available at several locations in Door County:  Other Worlds Books & More, 3rd Ave., Sturgeon Bay; Door County Coffee & Tea Co., Hwy 42, Carlsville, and Fish Creek Bookshop & Gallery, Top of Hill Shops, Fish Creek. “Remembering the Great War,” along with eleven other books published by JHS, is also on sale at Bley’s Grocery, Hwy 57, Jacksonport.

Ordering information:

• Book prices: The Yanks are Coming US $30.00 plus $3.50 shipping
• Special pricing package:  When you order “The Yanks are Coming” you can also receive “Remembering the Great War” by Phyllis Zatlan for only $5.00 including shipping!  (See description of “Remembering the Great War:  Letters From the Front” at Book and Video page.)
• Contact:  pzatlin@hotmail.com

Please make checks payable to the Jacksonport Historical Society, Inc. and send to:

Phyllis Zatlin for JHS
6138 Lakeshore Road
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235

Shipping is to domestic USA only. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.

Volume Two
Jacksonport Through The Generations

“I was eager to start teaching.  I sewed curtains and put up attractive bulletin boards.  We went on a field trip in October to bring back birds nests, feathers, plants, seeds and even a small tree that we planted in the school yard.” – Verna (Abrahamson) Weber Teacher at Washington School

The second book published by the Jacksonport Historical Society in 1999 is entitled Jacksonport Through The Generations – Schools and Teachers, Volume Two. This book is illustrated and includes the history of the four school districts in Jacksonport township, and the stories and anecdotes shared by many of the teachers who taught in the schools. Also included in our book is a list of teachers of each school district beginning as early as 1869, through the consolidation in 1960. Family members and students have also contributed stories and memories of their school days. The names of the teachers of the school districts in this volume are too numerous to list. The school districts are as follows:

• Jacksonport District One
• Farview District Two
• Groveland District Three
• Washington District Four

Book price: US $30.00 including shipping. 

DVD price: US $22.25 including shipping.  

Volume Five
Jacksonport Through The Generations

Captain Mathias and Christine Jonas
Circa 1890

When they first arrived in Jacksonport the family had to cut a road through the woods to get to their land.

The year 2004 has been productive for the Jacksonport Historical Society, as they have once again had volunteers who contributed in the publication of their fifth book, Jacksonport Through The Generations, Volume Five.

In Volume Five of our Jacksonport History you will have the opportunity to learn more about those who came to this area to settle and raise their families.

You’ll read about families who came from Sweden, Germany, and France. Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have given us a clue as to what life was like for their ancestors. We are thankful for their many hours spent researching, finding photos, and writing stories so that we have a glimpse into the past.

Today, it is difficult for those of us whose ancestors can be traced back several generations to realize the struggles of clearing the land, building a house, and making a living while caring for a large family. It’s amazing how those many years ago they had the foresight to provide their children with an education as well as religious training.

Sadly, many of the individuals who could share their live stories are no longer with us, and their history is being lost. Let us appreciate the stretches of stone fences and the wide-open fields that were cleared in order to support their families. Each one of those stones that we see in the stone fences were picked, loaded on a stone boat or wagon, and then unloaded by hand to build the line fences of farm owners. Does it touch your heart to see these remnants of bygone days disappearing? We must be filled with gratitude for the rugged individuals who settled here in Jacksonport.

Families and chapters included in this volume are:

• The Logerquist Family
• The Kiehnau Family
• The Kiehnau families in Jacksonport
• Fondest Memories of Grandma and Grandpa
• Franklin William Kiehnau
• Champeau History
• The Dietrich History
• The Mathias Jonas Family
• The Luethge Family
• The Story of the Ocean Trip to America
• Friedrich Wilhelm Robert Luethge
• F.W. Robert and Alvina Luethge
• This is Your Life Alma Luethge Lautenbach
• The Flock/Flok Family
• John Anton and Margarette (Orf) Flock Family
• Christian and Helena (Klingbile) Flock Family
• Christian Flock and Alfred Flock Families
• Richard and Emma Flok Family
• A Door Opened Up to the Past
• My Memories of the Flock/Flok Families

Book price: US $25.00 including shipping. 

DVD price: US $22.25 including shipping.  

Volume Eight
Jacksonport Through The Generations

In the Woods:  Stories from Lakeshore Road traces the history of this .85 mile stretch from the 1920s to the present.  After the logging industry died out, sales of individual lots along the Lake began.  The earliest buyers were Dr. Arnold Jackson, of Madison; Peter Hocks; and Frank and Ellen Butler Zatlin.  Frank was from Chicago, but Ellen had been born in Jacksonport and quickly shared with her new husband her love of these woods.

The first homes along the shore were log cabins.  In the 1930s, other styles of houses followed, including one that has been labeled the classic Door County cottage.  Intended for use in summer only, these early homes generally had fireplaces but no modern conveniences.  A chapter titled “Call It Camping In” incorporates childhood memories of several present and former residents of how they had fun even without electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing.

A chapter is devoted to the family of Dr. Arnold Jackson, a nationally-known thyroid specialist.  Other chapters take a look at educators, lawyers, musicians and artists who have made Lakeshore Road their getaway.  The list of residents, past and present, includes a number who have achieved fame in their respective fields, ranging from a well-known violinist with the Chicago Symphony, an artist who has served as president of the Door County Art League, a U.S. District Court Judge whose son became governor of Wisconsin, distinguished professors at various universities, and successful entrepreneurs.

Separate chapters review lodging on Lakeshore Road, how people not from Door County found their special places, and the influence of family and friends in attracting others to the wooded shoreline.  Also considered are the problems that have occurred over the years, including natural ones, like the rising and falling of water levels, and manmade ones, like boundary disputes.

The book includes numerous black and white photos, two colored ones of current residents, a fold-out map of the road with fire numbers, and an index of proper names.  The author, Phyllis Zatlin, is daughter of two of the original lot owners.

Book price: US $35.00 includes shipping. 

DVD price: US $22.25 includes shipping.  

The Jacksonport Historical Society has created a new book featuring the photos of Fred Erskine.  Fred photographed people and scenes in Jacksonport from 1910 through the 1980’s, and those images have been compiled, along with memories from his daughter Marie (Erskine) Hein, into this book.  Fred Erskine – Jacksonport’s Photographer is a hardcover coffee-table book and features nearly 100 of Fred’s photos.

• Special price offer of $50.00 plus $10 shipping and handling per book  

FRED ERSKINE, WORLD WAR I VETERAN

Fred Erskine began taking photographs in 1910 and did not let World War I prevent him from continuing his lifetime passion.  The Jacksonport Historical Society has already recognized his achievements in a coffee table book that includes his daughter Marie Erskine Hein’s memories of her family and local history.  Now Fred Erskine’s granddaughter Marilyn Hein has turned his photos taken in Europe during the Great War into a companion volume. Along with the pictorial record of a devastating conflict, she provides her readers with a deep understanding of history.

Ordering Information:

• Book Price:  US $30.00 plus $10.00 shipping and handling per book.

Make checks payable to the Jacksonport Historical Society, Inc. and send to:

Marilyn M. Hein
2366 Wisconsin St.
Oshkosh, WI 54901

929-203-7021

HeartsUnfolding@new.rr.com

Shipping is to domestic USA only.  Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.