MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, April 13, 2016 St. Bernadette’s Catholic School
PROGRAM SUMMARY “The Surley Surveyor”
CALL TO ORDER BY PRESIDENT TOM SUTTER
TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 68
OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Tom Sutter, Christine Williams, James Richter, Laura Leimer, Mark Moderson, Brian Schneider, Gwen Sargeant, John Marx, Linda Muldoon, Jim Krueger, and Diana Sandberg.
REVIEW OF UPCOMING MEETINGS AND PROGRAMS:
May 11 Fox Valley Symphony – Janet and Tom Sutter June8 HiddenChurches–AngieKnutson
July 13 Appleton War Memorials – Alex Schultz August 10 WHBY – Steve Bell
September 14 Rio Theater and Worlitzer organ – Tom McNeely
October 12 Haunted Appleton – Chad Lewis
November 9 The Appleton Picture Show. Bring your own photos for show and tell!
Upcoming Special Events
August 21 2pm - Riverside Cemetery Walk, “Pioneer Appleton Residents”
December 3 9-12:30 History Fair at the Indoor Farmer’s Market, City Center Plaza
APPLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION:
AHS Officers:
A. President - Thomas Sutter
B. Vice President - Gwen Sargeant C. Secretary – James Richter
D. Treasurer – Laura Leimer
AHS Board of Directors:
A.Terms through November 2017:
1. Mark Moderson
2. JohnMarx
3. Laura Leimer
4. Diana Sandberg
B.Terms through November 2016:
1. LindaMuldoon
2. Jim Krueger
3. Gwen Sargeant
4. Brian Schneider
C.Terms through November 2018:
1. Tom Sutter
2. Christine Williams
3. JamesRichter
Committee Chairs for the organization are as follows:
A. Mark and Karen Moderson, Principal Organizers
B. Brian Schneider, Technical Resources
C. David Buss and Diana Sandberg, Research Specialists
D. Gwen Sargeant, Public Relations and Web Page
E. Christine Williams, Monthly Programs
F. Gwen Sargeant, Publications
PRESIDENT SUTTER ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A.Introduced Officers and Board Members.
B.Thanks to the Post Crescent for it’s announcement of tonight’s meeting and all of its support.
C.Extended our deepest appreciation to the Thompson Community Center, and Lutheran Social Services, for accommodating us at their facilities at 820 W. College Avenue these last two years.
D.We now express our heartfelt thanks to St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church for the opportunity to make their School Building located on Lourdes Drive on Appleton’s south side our new monthly meeting facility. This is our first night at the new site and we hope it will be the first of many.
E.Sales of our book Images of America-Appleton continue to go well. Books are available at the registration table for $22.00 a copy.
F.He also gave a report on next year’s monthly programs and special events.
G.Sutter urged members to renew their memberships as soon as possible, we are up to 83 paid memberships for the year so far.
H.The door prize of Bergstrom Car Wash tokens was won by Kevin Eckes.
I.Thanks to Steve Liebzeit, for last month’s program on the History of Appleton Dairy Queen’s.
J.We express our sympathy to the Liebzeit family for the recent passing of Steve’s aunt Edith. She and her husband were original partners with Steve’s parents in the Dairy Queen dairy.
K.Also sympathy goes to the family of Clarence Wallace for his passing. Clarence was a founder of Presto Products.
L.We have available recently completed brochures on the Vulcan Power Plant.
M.Upcoming events that we urge you to attend:
1. This Saturday the 16th the Hearthstone Historic Home is hosting an antique show at the Tri County Ice Arena as a fund raiser.
2. On April 30th the Oshkosh Symphony will be sponsoring an event on “Crazy Horse” at the Oshkosh Opera House.
AHS Officer and Board Member Reports:
Board member Jim Krueger gave an inspiring report of a message from a school student read- ing the Lord’s prayer. Most inspiring.
PROGRAM : “The Surly Surveyor”
Presenter: Rob Nurre
Speaker’s Background:
Rob Nurre is a landscape historian based near Baraboo, Wisconsin. His "Surly Surveyor" program has been presented across the country throughout the past 31 years, each time customized to the specific location where it is presented. Rob's varied work experience have included being a Naturalist for the National Audubon Society, the Director of the Surgeon's Quarters Historic Site at the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, a Historical Interpretor for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management during the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Explorations, the Land Records Manager for the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands and a Preparator for the Chazen Museum of Art. Currently much of his work is related to the protection and care of Native American effigy mounds including the Man Mound near where he lives.
The Program:
The field notes and maps of the Public Land Survey conducted in Wisconsin between 1832 and 1866 provide a fascinating glimpse of both the natural and the cultural landscapes at the time when the Native Peoples who had lived on this land for many generations were being displaced by Euro-American settlers. Using the Theodore Conkey's 1843 survey records from the Appleton area as a starting point, this presentation will examine how the land was divided by the survey for sale to settlers and speculators, and how his work of nearly 175 years ago is reflected in today's landscape.
The Performance:
In character Rob Nurre dressed as and portrayed Theodore Conkey, the man who first surveyed the entire Appleton area. Conkey later became an important businessman and community leader in Appleton.
‘The Surveyor had the responsibility to evaluate the land, it’s trees and flowers, and wild life. We are dividing big blocks of land into little blocks of land. Townships are blocks of land 6 miles by 6 miles. This is how we are breaking down those big blocks into small,” Conkey said.
“We started our survey from the Town of Hazel Green just inside the state border.”
“My tools include a special compass on a pole.” Nurre showed an actual antique tool of this sort made in about 1880.
“The surveyor measures a mile at a time, using a measure chain 33 ft long, stretched out 160 times to complete a mile. Doing one mile at a time he marks each step with a metal surveyor pin. His “chain crew” does this work. They will measure 10 miles a day. He has an “ax man” that singles out a tree of medium size and makes a post of it. The ax man uses a scribing tool to mark in the position of the post on the tree. The posts are placed every half mile. (Unfortunately people/settlers often moved these posts to give their plot of land an advantage).”
Conkey further said, “I also make a “sketch” map too of what I have surveyed. As we finish up a Township, we have to make a general description of that Township, explaining quality and nature of the timber and condition of the soil. All of my notes will be sent to the Chief Surveyor in Dubuque, Iowa.”
This new, detailed information is very important as the land can then be distributed to the public. Land at that time was selling for $1.25 an acre. Standard portions sold at a time were of 40 acres in size.
Background of the Presenter and Conkey:
Going out of character, Rob said he is a Landscape Historian, and has been doing this presentation for 31 years. Each site where he does a presentation, he researches the area and it’s history extensively, and then tailors the presentation to the area and it’s people.
Yes, Conkey was indeed a Surveyor and one of the first non-Indians to come to this area. He later be- came a successful businessman in the Appleton area. Three years after Conkey completed his survey of the Appleton area, in 1846, much of the land was sold. All land was first put up for sale at Public Auction. Some of the buyers included: George Lawe, John Meade, and a Walter Newberry (who was a land speculator from Chicago).
If you check the Outagamie Surveyor Web Site, you will find that the old wood posts put in by Conkey have been replaced with metal corner stamps. All these activities are now controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.
The only reason that this land was available in the mid 1800’s because it was acquired from the Native people, not always honestly.
It’s interesting that the Wisconsin State Capitol sits right on the corner of a Section. Rob was privy to much of this information as he served as Archivist for the State Office of Land Management for about 20 years. He now lives near Baraboo and is Custodian for the Effigy Mounds.
A few more facts about Surveying. There are correction lines in all surveys to correct for the curvature of the earth. Because of the efforts in blazing through woods, hills, and swamps, surveying was a young man’s job and a highly respected profession. Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson were all surveyors.
Nurre closed by responding to many questions. The audience has a new view of how our community began.
Respectfully, James L. Richter AHS Secretary, 4/30/16
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