Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Schleswig Jt. 7 - Louis Corners ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 30, 2007, 9:51 pm SCHLESWIG JT. 7 —LOUIS CORNERS Edna E. Berg In 1849 the United States government gave as a patent to Benjamin Trowbridge the NW 1/4 of Section 24. In 1850 this tract was sold to DeLorme Brooks. One-half acre of said tract was sold to Schleswig School District No. 7 in 1861. Prior to 1861 the land in this district was a part of school districts 1 and 4 in the townships of Schleswig. Up to 1880 the district was designated as the Schleswig No. 7 school district. About that time several parcels of land in Meeme were added to the district and it then became Schleswig Joint District No. 7. Today the land in this district consists of all of Sections 13-14-23-24, a few parcels of land in Sections 11 and 12 all in the town of Schleswig, plus parts of Sections 18 and 19 in Meeme. This school has always been called the Louis Corner district. In 1918 it was officially designated by that name. Louis Senglaub owned a tavern and a store at a crossroad corner one-half mile west of the school. The residents in this community called this business corner Louis Corner and thus the school became known as the Louis Corner school even though it is not in the village. To other residents of the county the school is often referred to as the Cedar Lake school since it is located only one-half mile north of the lake. The records about the first school building are limited. Just when the first log school was erected is unknown, but it must have been shortly after 1861. The building was equipped with long benches. Later on desks were made from boards. The first blackboards were pine boards painted black. After the school house was replaced with a frame structure, the old log building served as a school woodshed. Later on it was torn down and replaced by a frame woodshed. The first and present school houses were located on the present site which is the SW corner of the SW 1/4 of Section 24 town of Schleswig. The second school was built in 1878 at a cost of $525 according to records in the county superintendent of schools office. It followed the structural pattern of other schools built at that time. The building had windows on both of the long sides common to early schools. Early in the 1900's the district remodeled the building by taking out the windows in the east wall and by adding window space in the rear wall. This conformed to the new schoolroom lighting code and the district received special state aid of $50 for maintaining a rural school up to state rural school building standards of that time. When Highway 149, which passes it, was paved in 1940 an extensive rebuilding program was undertaken. The school was moved eighteen feet further back from the road, a basement was put under the building, a basement furnace installed, a ventilating system put in, new cloak rooms built, and a water system with indoor lavatories installed. Electric service was provided in 1931 before the school was remodeled. In 1945 the patrons voted to install a stoker. The building is now one of the more modern ones of the county. When the school building was moved away from the highway, the district purchased, an additional tract of land to add to the southern boundary of the schoolyard from Mr. and Mrs. Louis Feldt. The Louis Corner school has always been a one room rural school. During the 1870's and 1880's the enrollment of the school was very likely between 60 and 80. Since the early 1900's the enrollment has been about 30. In 1945 twenty pupils were enrolled. The attendance has not decreased as much as in other county schools because the school is some distance from parochial schools. Some of the early settlers of the district were Carl Thielke, John Zorn, E. Heideman, Fred Able, Jacob Loos, Anton Schad, John Mueller, L. Landua, Jos. Schwartz, John Kaemmerer, Anton Klemme, G. Salzmann, C. Herzberger, and Peter Maurer. These were farmers who have family names still common to the district. The Zorns, Heidemanns, and Landua family members have held responsible positions in the town and on the county board. Louis Senglaub was a well-known businessman, and the village of Louis Corner was named in his honor. The district has sent forth teachers, ministers, businessmen, and progressive farmers from its school. The Heidemann family has produced a teacher and a minister. Others producing teachers are the Voland and the Voight families. The Thielke family established a cheese factory and a milk distributing plant well known in Schleswig and Kiel. The record book of early teachers and clerks found in the county superitendent's office shows that among the early board members we find these names for school clerk: J. Loos, 1872, C. R. Zorn 1876-1881, Leonard Landua 1895-1899, J. Schmidt 1904. There are no records of the first teachers except those kept in the teacher's record book in the county superintendent's office since 1872 by Mich. Kirwan and some of his successors. This record book indicates that there were no summer and winter sessions after 1872. The teachers listed from that date to 1906 are: Thos. O'Neil 1872, Carl F. Eller 1874, E. E. Kalmerton 1876, Fred Hillger 1877, T. H. Ward 1878, Fay Richardson 1879-80, James Danforth 1895-96, J. G. Crowe 1896, Otto Kriemann 1897-98 and Fred Sachse 1904. Herbert J. Zimmer taught nineteen and one-half consecutive years in this school from 1923 to 1943. The school has always taken an active part in community activities. Spelling matches, box socials, township school fairs, and home talent plays were popular. The district set the pace for other township schools in the school fairs held during the 1920's. During the time that the school was taught by Mildred O'Neil a play was given by the young people of the district. Those in the cast were Harry Klemme, Walter Schilling, Howard Prahl, Herbert Grabs, Hubert Mueller, Eleanora Haarman, Elsie Voland, Adeline Feld, Nellie Grabs, and Mildred O'Neil. The district has scenic Cedar Lake within its boundary. The lake is almost surrounded with fine summer cottages owned by Kiel, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan residents. A public beach is also available. Camp Ro-Ki-Lio, owned by the Sheboygan Boy Scout organization, is situated on the eastern extremity of the lake. Additional Comments: Extracted from: 1848 - 1948 CENTENNIAL HISTORY of the Manitowoc County School Districts and Public School System EDITED BY JOS. J. RAPPEL, COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 1948 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/manitowoc/history/schools/schleswi238gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 7.0 Kb