Dunn County WI Archives History - Books .....A History Of Dunn County -  Elk Mound 2005
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Laura Abood wabood@sbcglobal.net March 19, 2006, 11:45 am

Book Title: A History Of Dunn County

Elk Mound is an incorporated village of about 350
inhabitants on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha
Railway, in Section 27 of the political town of Elk Mound.

It has been said that is was surveyed and platted in May,
1874, but the first survey and plat on record bears the date
of March 8, 1878, and was made for the West Wisconsin
Railway Co. (now the "Omaha") by J. W. Remington.  It
consisted of Block A of 10 lots, Block B of 12 lots, and
Block C of 26 lots on the south side of Main Street.  The
location was defined as " on the southeast quarter of
Section 27, Township 28 north of Range 11 west."

The situation of the village is picturesque, the ground on
which it stands rising in the northern part into a lofty
bluff from which its name, Elk Mound, is derived.  In regard
to this bluff there is a story concerning a magnificent elk
which in early days would occasionally appear on the summit.
From the top of the bluff a fine view may be seen of many
miles of country.  There was but little lumbering here,
though some pine was cut by Eau Claire mill people about
1905, and there were a few scattered sawmills in the
surrounding district. In January, 1882, "Robert's Addition"
to the village was surveyed and platted by William
Weissefels for Richard and Emily S. Roberts.  Three other
plats are also on record:  Wingen's Addition, made for Peter
Wingen and wife, an East Side Addition surveyed in 1906, and
Nels Hanson's Addition, also surveyed in 1906.

The construction of the railroad in 1870 brought to Elk
Mound its first settlers, but its early growth was slow, as
in 1880, nine years later it had but 75 residents.  In the
next ten years its increase was only about 25, and it had
then, in addition to the railway station, two churches, a
post office, a district school, a store, a blacksmith's
shop, and a steam feed mill owned and operated by E. J.
Martiboy.  Soon after that, probably in 1892 or 1893, Mr.
Martiboy sold his mill and went to Haywood.  An old brick
and stone building in the west end of the village, it has
passed through several hands, and in January, 1923, was
bought by Guy Hanson, an ex-service man of the World War,
from the Olaf Oas estate and is now in operation, Mr. Hanson
grinding all kinds of feed.

Henry Ausman, who was for many years the most prominent
figure in the business life of the village, engaged in
mercantile business here while still living on a farm, in
1878 buying a small grocery kept by a man who also ran a bar
and sold beer and whiskey.  Mr. Ausman at once cut out the
bar and put in a stock of general merchandise.  He conducted
that business for 32 years, at the end of which time he
retired, turning it over to his sons, by whom it is now
conducted under the name of H. Ausman & Sons.  Mr. Ausman is
still living (May 1924) and is now in his eighty-eighth
year.  Another pioneer resident of the village having a long
business record is Nels Hanson, who for 48 years conducted a
wagon making and repairing shop, starting in 1875 and
retiring in 1923.  Twenty-two years ago William Seidenberg
entered into mercantile business here and is still engaged
in it, being proprietor of the Farmers' store.  Among the
later business men may also be mentioned M. T. Birge, who
for the past nine years has conducted a good modern drug
store.  The village has two good general stores, a
confectionery, pool room and barber shop, blacksmith's shop,
two garages, feed mills, lumber yard, telephone exchange,
and other business activities.

In July 1908, a small manufacturing enterprise was started a
mile and a half west of Elk Mound, on the Arne Tilleson
farm, by A. H. Kleven, S. A. Gorenson and Archie Stahlman,
who manufactured concrete blocks there until 1918, when,
because of lack of material, they quit the business.  Mr.
Kleven is now a contractor in the village.

Another enterprise, which promised well but ultimately
failed to maintain itself, was a flax mill started in the
spring of 1905 by the Eau Claire Linen Mill Co., who erected
a plant here and bought flax from the farmers, who had
several hundred acres planted in it, the raw material being
manufactured into fibre for rope, toweling, furniture
packing and refrigerator linings.  The flax was hand-pulled
and in summer employment was given to about 100 hands.  But
the company failed to make money, the Eau Claire plant
burned down, and the Bank of Elk Mound, taking over the
local mill, operated it for three years, and then quit, the
property being sold piecemeal.  The officers of the bank
during that period were:  A. B. Ausman, president; E. B.
Ingram, vice president; and E. S. Gregerson, secretary and
treasurer; O. H. Ingram being head of the Eau Claire
company.

The bank of Elk Mound was incorporated as a state bank on
Dec. 23, 1905, by O. H. Ingram of Eau Claire, A. B. Ausman
and Henry Ausman, Sr., the first mentioned being president,
Henry Ausman, Sr., vice president, and E. S. Gregerson
cashier, while the directors were O. H. Ingram, C. A.
Chamberlin, C. T. Bundy, H. Ausman, Sr., and O. J. Garton.
The capital was $10,000.  The bank opened for business Feb.
3, 1906, in a brick and stone building on the north side of
Menomonie Street, moving to its present location on the
opposite side of the street on Nov. 1, 1921.  This building,
erected by the bank for its own use only, is a handsome and
substantial structure, fire proof with terrazzo floors and
marble fixtures, a strong modern vault electrically
protected, and a customers' vault for safety deposits.  On
Jan. 13, 1920, the bank increased its capital stock to
$25,000.  E. S. Gregerson, elected president in 1916, is
still serving, and since the same year E. W. Hanson
(previously assistant cashier) has been cashier.  Also since
that year A. B. Ausman has served as vice president and
Noble Hanson as assistant cashier.  During the war the bank
took an active part in pushing the Liberty loan and other
drives (E. W. Hanson being in the service), and in every
drive went over the top.  The bank takes a great interest in
all activities which are a benefit to the farmers and the
community. Two attempts at journalism have been made in the
village, but were unsuccessful.  A paper called The Mound
Builder, the editor of which was Edward Conry, was started
about eight years ago but ran for about a year only, after
which, Mr. Conry- a hustling sort of man- left town.  The
other paper was the Mound Journal, published by a man from
Minnesota, who also was unable to make his paper stick,
going elsewhere after a year or so.

The village being situated in the midst of a good farming
and grazing country, the farmers about 30 years ago started
a creamery, which was practically a co-operative concern.
Ten years ago the building burned down and the company was
then reorganized under the new co-operative laws, and is
still a flourishing institution, manufacturing about 600,000
pounds of butter per annum.  It is installed in a good
modern brick building.

There was a grain elevator in Elk Mound as early as 1874,
operated by an uncle of W. Erpenbach, and since then the
village has always had accommodations for grain storage and
shipments.  The present elevator, built more than a quarter
of a century ago, is owned by the Elk Mound Elevator Co.,
formed in 1920, who then took it over from H. Ausman & Sons,
the latter concern having previously taken it over from the
Wisconsin Elevator Co.  The president of the Elk Mound
Elevator Co. is E. O. Wright of Menomonie, while E. W.
Scott, a farmer, is vice president, and Frank Crane of
Menomonie is secretary-treasurer.  The elevator has a
capacity of 20,000 bushels, and last year the company built
a feed mill, which they are operating in connection with it.

A man named Webb is said to have been the first postmaster
of Elk Mound, the office having been established through the
influence of Henry Ausman.  Mr. Webb, who kept a small
store, failed and was successful by John Weisenfels, who
sought to increase his profits by selling intoxicating
liquor, and who had the post office for awhile.  Henry
Ausman, who bought out Mr. Weisenfels and abolished the bar
feature of the store, and who was railway and express agent
and notary public, also became postmaster, serving in that
office from 1878 to 1915.  He was succeeded by Arthur M.
Howe, who was appointed July 1, 1915, under President
Wilson, and being reappointed in that president's second
term, is still postmaster.  The office has now five rural
routes, covering many miles of the surrounding country.

The Elk Mound Commercial Club, organized about the year
1900, has at times done some important work in promoting
local improvements, though its activity has been somewhat
intermittent.  At its inception it was composed of 80 per
cent of the men living within half a mile of the village.
It has been instrumental in removing a number of unsightly
buildings, getting fine residences built and good sidewalks
laid, and also in the establishment of the present splendid
school.

An eary attempt was made to establish a public library in
the village, but there was not sufficient interest or energy
in the movement and it died out.  In the flourishing days of
the Congregational society, some books, which served the
purpose of a small public library, were kept in the church,
but were destroyed when the building burned in 1912.  Then a
village library association was formed, books being obtained
from the state library commission at Madison and loaned out
from the manual training room at the school, this system
being in vogue for two years.  At the end of that time it
was given up, though the state library commission still
sends out books to those making individual application. The
village of Elk Mound was incorporated in the spring of 1909,
the first ordinance being enacted in March.  The first
village officers were:  Henry Ausman, president; Nels
Hanson, C. H. Mau, Matt Schaaf, P. E. Riley, Torval Jensen
and O. J. Garten, trustees; E. S. Gregerson, clerk; J. G.
Brackett, treasurer; B. J. Benson, supervisor; M. L.
VanDreser, assessor; E. A. Ausman, constable; E. S.
Gregerson and O. J. Garten, justices of the peace.  About
this time, or in the following year, 1910, electric lights
were introduced into the village, the first power for which
was supplied by the Chippewa Falls Light & Power Co., later
by the Wisconsin Minnesota Light & Power, and now by the
Northern States Power Co., Elk Mound being on the line of
this last mentioned company extending out from Cedar Falls,
where one of their dams is situated.

A volunteer fire department was organized on a small scale
in or about the year 1905, a small sum of money being raised
and invested in a hand-pumping engine and a water tank on
wheels.  This apparatus was housed in a shack in the lumber
yard, and when the lumber took fire and burned two or three
years later the apparatus was destroyed.  Then the property
holders of the village took up a subscription and raised
more money, and another outfit was purchased, for which a
shed was inaugurated, a fire company being organized,
consisting now of 22 men, with a chief, assistant chief and
secretary, the men being paid for service at fires,
rehearsals and false alarms.  There are now three tanks, a
chemical engine, and hook and ladder truck, the tanks being
mounted on wagons.  Eight call boxes have been placed in
various parts of the village, operated electrically, and the
residents are afforded reasonable protection.  After Elk
Mound had begun to function as an incorporated village a
hall was leased for civic purposes in a building
corporation.  In 1912 that building burned and a company was
organized, which in the following year erected the civic
building and hall now in use.

The first school of the district including the village was
situated about a mile and three quarters to the northwest.
It is not now remembered when it was built, but school was
held there in 1878-79, if not earlier.  Somewhat later
another schoolhouse was erected about three quarters of a
mile east of the center of the village, and the two schools
were united as School District No. 2, Joint, of the towns of
Elk Mound and Wheaton.  The building to the east of the
village was used up to 1905, when the proposition to
establish a school on the hill in the north end of the
village was strongly opposed and led to an acrimonious
dispute.  But the advocates of the change of location had
their way and a building was accordingly erected on the
hill, being used for school purposes until three years ago,
when the fine consolidated grade and high school, inclusive
of several districts, that is now the pride of the village,
was built, being opened in October, 1921.  The following
information in regard to this school, furnished by Principal
Chester H. Byrnes, will be of interest to parents of this
vicinity, and doubtless to many of the pupils, either now or
in later years.

The Elk Mound Consolidated Grades and High School brings to
the rural boys and girls the same privileges offered to
their city cousins.  The building, which cost $80,000 with
equipment, is a beautiful modern structure standing on the
south slope of the high mound from which the village takes
its name.  Looking southward from its well lighted assembly
room, one can see an ideal rural valley.  The farm homes in
this valley are owned by a progressive class of farmers,
having every modern convenience.  The school is equipped
with a steam heating plant, a ventilating system, electric
lights, hot and cold water and showers.  In the fine
gymnasium every boy and girl has his or her physical
training period daily.  There is a fine shaded park in the
rear of the building.  The tennis court is located here.
The playground equipment consists of swings, trapezes and
teeters.  A fine athletic field lies to the west of the
building.  Eight covered wagons transport the boys and girls
from their homes to the school and back again, cars being
used in the fall and spring.  The faculty has a 100 per cent
enrollment in the Wisconsin Teachers' Association.  The
school has a 50 per cent enrollment over last year and the
constant annual growth shows that the rural boys and girls
appreciate the privilege of a secondary education.

A high standard of academic preparation is required.
Reports from normal schools and colleges and the university
show that our graduates compare very favorably with those
from the city high school.  Last year (1923) the eighth
grade took the county diploma examination.  Out of a class
of 15, 13 were honor graduates with an average of 85 per
cent or better.  There is a Parent-Teachers' Association
which meets monthly to discuss constructive suggestions and
the programs are varied and interesting.  Work done by the
pupils of this school has been exhibited in the county fair
and the school won a loving cup as having the largest number
of points in educational exhibits; and in project work
during the vacational period the boys and girls, through
exhibits and club entries have won about $224 in premium
money.

In declamatory and oratory the Elk Mound contestants took
first honors in the local league, winning two loving cups,
while the representatives sent to the district contest held
in Eau Claire furnished keen competition for the larger city
schools.  In athletics the Elk Mound school has successfully
competed with schools having a much larger enrollment.  The
athletic council is composed of five members, namely:  the
coach of the boys' and the coach of the girls' team, one
member representing the student body, one representing the
school board, and one the Parent-Teachers' Association.  A
wonderful spirit of service and charity at home has been
developed through the Camp Fire organization; food and
clothing have been collected by the girls and then
distributed among the poor and needy.  They have a Camp Fire
lodge fully equipped for banquets and ceremonials, and which
has been made a comfort room for members and guests.  The
school has nine teachers.

Trinity Evangelical Church, the largest in the village, had
its origin in a congregation started more than a half
century ago at a location about a mile south and a mile east
of here, where Evangelical services were held, in the German
language, up to 1907.  In the meanwhile the village was
growing and at last it seemed to many of the members
desirable to build a church here, as a more central and
convenient location.  The movement was opposed by some, who
were attached to the old rural church, but the other party
had its way, H. Ausman exercising a strong persuasive
influence, and in 1906-07 the church was built.  The
objectors remained behind, retaining the old building and
joining the German Methodist Episcopal denomination, and
that church is now served from Menomonie, a preacher coming
every three weeks.

The edifice in the village is a fine, large brick building
with stained glass windows, and adjacent to it is a large
frame parsonage, suitably corresponding in style with the
church.  The congregation is an active one and numbers 108
members, the attendance at services being about twice as
large.  There is a highly organized Sunday school with an
enrollment of over 250 scholars.  The auxiliary societies
include the following:  A Women's Missionary Society of 19
members; the Ladies' Aid of 33 members; Evangelical League
of Christian Endeavor, 23 members; and the Junior Church
Endeavor with 20, a very live organization.  The present
pastor (1924) is the Rev. Lester H. Laubenstein, who assumed
the charge on May 5, 1923.  A recent predecessor was the
Rev. Levi Goehring, who served three years.  Before the Rev.
Mr. Goehring came, and for awhile afterwards, the church was
on the circuit of Elk Mound and Menomonie, but it became
independent while he was pastor and is now the headquarters
of the Elk Mound circuit, there being another Evangelical
church in the country, eight miles southwest of the village.

This latter church is generally known as the Iron Creek
Church, because of its location on Iron Creek, but its
denominational name is Salem Evangelical Church.  It had its
origin in a Sunday school started in 1861 and is the mother
church of all of this denomination within some miles of Elk
Mound.  In October, 1923, it celebrated its sixtieth
anniversary.  There was a large attendance, many pioneers
being present, and also several of the charter members.  The
Iron Creek Church has a membership of 76, with an attendance
of 120 to 130, and a Sunday school with an enrollment of
135.  It is served by the Elk Mound pastor.  The Evangelical
Church in America was established in Pennsylvania by
Germans, and the Elk Mound church formerly had services in
the German language, but now all the services are in
English, the latter language having been gradually adopted.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Elk Mound, originated- it is
thought about 40 years ago - in the town of Spring Brook,
about a mile south and a mile west of the village, where a
church and cemetery were established.  In 1916 the church
edifice in the village of Elk Mound was erected, a good
frame building of fair seating capacity.  The land for the
purpose was donated by W. Erpenbach, the congregation
putting up the building.  The old church was served from
Chippewa Falls, and at earlier periods from Eau Claire and
Menomonie.  The present pastor, Rev. A. T. Thome, comes from
Chippewa Falls.  There are now about 24 or 30 families in
the congregation. The Norwegian Lutherans of Elk Mound began
holding services about 1912, and in 1914 built a frame
church at a cost of between $2,800 and $3,000.  The
congregation was started with 16 families and now includes
27.  Services are held every three weeks, the present pastor
(May, 1924) being Rev. John Paulson, who comes from Chippewa
Falls, though since May, 1923, pastors from other places
have occasionally preached here.  Before that time there
were resident pastors, the first being the Rev. A. P. Lea,
who came from Chippewa Falls, and, after him, the Rev. C. M.
Horneland, who remained three years.  There is a Ladies' Aid
Society.  This church is an offshoot from the Barum
Norwegian Lutheran congregation, started over 50 years ago,
whose church edifice is situated three miles northeast of
the village.  The Barum congregation was formerly a large
one but its numbers have dwindled.

A church was established in the village of Elk Mound, in
1913, the name of which, in German, is Der Evangelischen
Friedens Gemeinde.  Its records begin in the month of
January, that year.  Services were first held in a building
located near the present community hall, and which was used
for hall and church purposes, the building rented until it
burned down in 1912.  After that the people erected their
present building in the northeast part of the village.  They
have preaching every other week, the pastors coming from
Fall Creek and Cadott.

A Congregational Church was organized in Elk Mound village
about the year 1900 and had an existence of some 15 years.
A Sunday school of this denomination had been started in the
village about 1897 by the Rev. Howard R. Vaughn, the church,
a frame building being erected in 1900.  Mr. Vaughn was
pastor and worked in Elk Mound for about 12 years, or until
1910, serving this church and several others, at
Albertville, Truax and Any respectively, the church at Amy
being of the Baptist denomination.  After he left, there
were two other pastors here.  In 1912 the church building
burned down and was not rebuilt.  Summer educational work of
a religious character was taken up in 1902, school being
held six days a week.  Rev. H. R. Vaughn was the official
head of the movement until two years ago, and though his
successor in the pastorate here had no summer school, it was
held elsewhere.  In 1920 it was reestablished in Elk Mound
by the Evangelicals and is now in operation.  This type of
school has become the recognized model of religious
(Protestant) day schools, being copied in certain points by
the Lutherans.  Its man feature lies in the application of
modern physiology to religious education.

A camp of Modern Woodmen of America - Elk Mound Camp No.
5952- was established in Elk Mound in 1892, and subsequently
a camp of the axillary branch of Royal Neighbors.  Both are
still active.  About the year 1900 a Beavers' lodge was
started, the members of which - some 60 in number - do not
now hold meetings, but continue to pay their dues.  Lloyd S.
Howe Post No. 37, American Legion, was organized in
September, 1919, the first commander being Dr. Geo. H.
Schlenker.  He was succeeded by Ervin L. Frederick, the
latter by Henry L. Carden, and he by Guy Hanson, the present
commander.  This post started with 15 members and at one
time rose to 50, but the present number of paid up members
is 27.  In May, 1923, the post secured a portable projector
for showing moving pictures and until January 1, 1924, gave
weekly exhibitions in the community hall.  They then closed
for the winter.  In May, 1924, an extra machine was secured
and the exhibitions were resumed, being given each
Wednesday.

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