Mary Ann Diedrich

   Cause of her death was dropsy.⁶

  General Notes:

Grandmother Scherer came to the U.S.A. in 1843. Her story as I remember it was as follows: When the Diedrich family decided to migrate along with the Baesches and the Fuchs family (parents of Bishop Fox) the boys and great-grandmother Diedrich started out on the Holland-America sailing liner. Great-grandfather stayed behind to settle up the sale of his farm and vineyards, keeping grandmother Mary Anne with him. When he arrived in N.Y. there was no trace of the rest of the family. The were becalmed for weeks in the doldrums.

When they finally arrived in Green Bay, great-grandmother Diedrich was so far gone with scurvy she died of it shortly before Christmas. Her husband married again but his new wife had no time for her step-daughter. That is why Grandma Scherer went to live in Kaukauna, and always sympathized with stepchildren. ^{[Maynard Keefe]}


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Enclosed brochure on the Grignon House in Kaukauna. It's too bad none of the other buildings survived, the house is the only structure.

My Grandmother Scherer came from near Cologne in about 1837, she was eleven years old. Her name was Mary Ann Diedrich. Her mother and three or four brothers (I'm not sure which) came over earlier, while grandma stayed with her father until he sold his vineyard. The mother's ship was becalmed in the Horse Islands for weeks, and shortly after they landed in N. York she died. I don't know if she died in NY or after she got to Wisconsin. There were cousins in Oconomowoc. Anyhow when Grandma and her father arrived, the mother was dead. Shortly after he married again and as Grandma and her brother Willie were the youngest, she didn't want them around. So they were bonded to the Grignon house for three years. Grandma working in the house and Willy in the stables. He was younger than Grandma. Barbara [Keefe] says Grandma used to tell how when she and Willy could get a little time free, they would hold each other and cry, they were so lonesome and heartbroken.

My mother said the Grandma always said she learned fancy cooking the years she spent there - and I guess she was a fabulous cook. My aunts certainly learned well from her.
^{[Kathryn Scherer Schuck]}


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Mary Ann Dietrich and her brother Willie [John Peter] were indentured to the Grignon House in Kaukauna. She worked in the house and he worked in the stables. The Grignon House was a Bed and Breakfast Inn at a portage spot on the Kaukauna River. There were 9 or 10 children in the family that owned the house.

When Mary Ann and Willie had some free time they went into the woods, sat together, talked German and wept. They were bonded there for 7 years. ^{[Kathryn Scherer Schuck]}


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Mary Ann came to America in 1843 with her father. Her mother had preceded by faster ship. Her mother died shortly after they rejoined in New York. Mary Ann's father then took her to Little Chute. He remarried and the new wife refused to raise Mary Ann. She was then bonded out to Bishop Fox's parents and lived with them until she married. She was an excellent cook and housekeeper. She must have had a tremendous sense of humor. She opened her house for all young people. She moved to Oconto in 1855.
^{[Elizabeth Jaeger Gilbertson]}


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Grandmother Scherer delighted to tell us kids about her working at the Augustin Grignon home, Kaukauna.

There were several members of the Scherer family who live, farmed and died in or around Hilbert, Wisconsin. SHERWOOD is supposed to be named for 'Scherer's Woods'.

First cousins of our Scherer relatives were Willie, Matt, Joe and Anna M. who was still living in Milwaukee at the time when our Mother was in St. Mary's Home in Oskosh. She married a man named Bahl.
^{[Maynard Keefe]}


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Mary Ann Dietrich was an indentured person who worked for the Grignon family. She is on one of the Grignon family pictures dressed as a maid.
^{[Interview, Martha Jaeger Mogensen to W. John Schuck, 13 Jun 1997] 7 8 9 10 11 12}

  Noted events in her life were:

• Immigration: arrived on the Sarah Sheafe from Antwerp, 19 Aug 1842, New York, New York, New York, USA. ^{13 14}

• Occupation: Indentured Cook and Housekeeper at the Grignon House, 1847-1850, Kankanlin, Brown, (Kaukauna, Outagamie), Wisconsin, USA. ¹⁵
In 1837, Charles A. Grignon built this elegant Mansion as a wedding gift for his Pennsylvania bride, Mary Elizabeth Meade. An oasis of luxury and civilization on the Wisconsin frontier, this stately home was known as "The Mansion in the Woods" to countless travelers.

The Mansion and the Grignon family were also familiar to local American Indian tribes. The grandson of a Menominee woman, Charles acted as an interpreter for the U.S. government at the Treaty of the Cedars, which secured four million acres of land: the area now known as Northeast Wisconsin.

• Census: 1850 US, 12 Sep 1850, Kankanlin, Brown, (Kaukauna, Outagamie), Wisconsin, USA. ¹⁶
| 699 | 748 | Peter Diedrick | 47 | M | Farmer | 500 | Germany |
| 699 | 748 | ~~~~~ Diedrick | 41 | F | | | Germany |
| 699 | 748 | Elizabeth Diedrick | 22 | F | | | Germany |
| 699 | 748 | John Diedrick | 20 | M | Farmer | | Germany |
| 699 | 748 | Mary A Diedrick | 18 | F | | | Germany |
| 699 | 748 | Margaret Diedrick | 13 | F | | | Germany |
| 699 | 748 | Gertrude Diedrick | 7 | F | | | Wisconsin |
| 699 | 748 | Maria Diedrick | 5 | F | | | Wisconsin |
| 699 | 748 | Joseph Diedrick | 2 | M | | | Wisconsin |

• Census: 1855 Wisconsin, 01 Jun 1855, Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA. ¹⁷
Heads of Families | Aggregate Population |
Amable Asline | 4 (White Male) | 3 (White Female) | 1 (Foreign Born) |
John Diedrich | 3 (White Male) | 2 (White Female) | 3 (Foreign Born) |
Peter Diedrich | 2 (White Male) | 4 (White Female) | 3 (Foreign Born) |
John Diedrich | 1 (White Male) | 2 (White Female) | 2 (Foreign Born) |
Henry Scherer | 2 (White Male) | 1 (White Female) | 2 (Foreign Born) |

• Census: 1860 US, 17 Aug 1860, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ¹⁸
268 | 239 | Henry Shearer | 31 | M | Mason | 600 | 200 | Prussia Germany |
268 | 239 | Mary Shearer | 29 | F | | | | Prussia Germany |
268 | 239 | Matthew Shearer | 6 | M | | | | Wis |
268 | 239 | John Shearer | 4 | M | | | | Wis |
268 | 239 | Antone Shearer | 1 | M | | | | Wis |

• Census: 1870 US, 02 Jul 1870, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ¹⁹
| 78 | 76 | Sherer, Henry | 47 | M | W | Brick Mason | 800 | 100 | Prussia | / | / | | | | / | / | | / |
| | | Sherer, Mary | 37 | F | W | Keeping House | | | Prussia | / | / | | | | / | / | | |
| | | Sherer, Mathew | 17 | M | W | Laborer | | | Wis | / | / | | | | / | / | | |
| | | Sherer, John | 14 | M | W | At Home | | | Wis | / | / | | | / | / | / | | |
| | | Sherer, Antone | 12 | M | W | At Home | | | Wis | / | / | | | / | / | / | | |
| | | Sherer, Jacob | 9 | M | W | At Home | | | Wis | / | / | | | / | | | | |
| | | Sherer, Magdelana | 5 | F | W | At Home | | | Wis | / | / | | | | | | | |
| | | Sherer, Margaret | 2 | F | W | At Home | | | Wis | / | / | | | | | | | |

• Census: 1880 US, 29 Jun 1880, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁰
| | | Scherer, Henry | W | M | 52 | | | M | Brick Mason | ... | Germany | Germany | Germany |
| | | Scherer, Mary | W | F | 47 | Wife | | M | Keeps House | ... | Germany | Germany | Germany |
| | | Scherer, Lena | W | F | 15 | Daughter | S | | Attends School | ... | Wisconsin | Germany | Germany |
| | | Scherer, Maggie | W | F | 13 | Daughter | S | | Attends School | ... | Wisconsin | Germany | Germany |
| | | Scherer, Etta | W | F | 9 | Daughter | S | | Attends School | ... | Wisconsin | Germany | Germany |

• Census: 1895 WI, 20 Jun 1895, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²¹
| Henry Scherer | 2 (Male) | 2 (Female) | | | 4 (United States) |

[There is some discrepancy here in that Henry Scherer died 30 Oct 1894. His tombstone also has the death year as 1894]

• Census: 1900 US, 09 Jun 1900, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²²
| | 148 | 151 | Sherer, Henry [Mrs?] | Head | W | F | Sept | 1834 | 73 | W | | 11 | 7 | Germany | Germany | Germany | 1842 | 58 | | | | | Yes | Yes | Yes | O | F | F | 31 |
| | ... | ... | Sherer, Matthew | Son | W | M | Oct | 1853 | 46 | S | | | | Wis | Germany | Germany | | | | Well Driller | 0 | | Yes | Yes | Yes | | | | |
| | ... | ... | Sherer, Henrietta | Daughter | W | F | July | 1871 | 28 | S | | | | Wis | Germany | Germany | | | | House Keeper | 0 | | Yes | Yes | Yes | | | | |

[Henry Scherer is deceased by this census. It appears that the entry was written over and possibly the first response to the enumerator was to list Henry and then it was clarified that Mary Scherer was the head of the house and a widow]

• Census: 1905 WI, 01 Jun 1905, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²³
| 738 | Sherer, Mary | Head | W | F | 73 | Wd | Germany | Germany | Land Lady | 12 | O | | H |
| ... | Sherer, Matthew | Son | W | M | 49 | S | Wisconsin | Germany | Laborer | 12 | | | |
| ... | Sherer, Henrietta | Dau | W | F | 35 | S | Wisconsin | Germany | Dressmaker | 12 | | | |

• Census: 1910 US, 20 Apr 1910, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁴
| 210 | 120? | 129 | Scherer, Mathew | Head | M | W | 56 | S | | | | Wisconsin | Germany | Germany | | | English | Masonry | General Mason | U | No | 12 | Yes | Yes | Yes| O | 7 | H | 13 | 2 | 9 | 8|
| ... | .... | ... | Scherer, Henrietta | Sister | F | W | 36 | S | | | | Wisconsin | Germany | Germany | | | English | None | | | | | Yes | Yes | Yes| | | | | | | |
| ... | .... | ... | Scherer, Mary A | Mother | F | W | 77 | Wd | | 11 | 7 | Germany | Germany | Germany | 1842 | | English | None | | | | | Yes | Yes | Yes| | | | | | | |

• Residence: The Scherer Homestead, 210 Scherer Avenue, Abt 1860-1910, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁵

• Cemetery: St Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, 27 Oct 1910, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁶  
   MARY A.
  SCHERER
1828 † 1910

• Obituary: Oconto Enterprise, 27 Oct 1910, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ³
DEATH OF OLD RESIDENT
MRS. MARY ANN SCHERER PASSED AWAY TUESDAY MORNING
RESIDED HERE 56 YEARS

Was mother of Eleven Children, Seven of Whom Survive - Funeral This Morning

Mrs. Mary Ann Scherer, a respected pioneer resident of the South Ward died at her home on Scherer Ave. at 2 o'clock Tuesday morning after an illness of about six months with dropsy.

Deceased was born in Germany Sept. 12, 1830, and came to this country in 1843, first settling in Green Bay.

In 1855, with her husband, who died about 17 years ago, she came to Oconto and during the 56 years since that time resided on the lot where she died, although first in a log house just south of her late home.

She was the mother of eleven children, seven of which, Mathew, Jacob, Mrs. A.E. Whitaker, Mrs. D.T. Keefe and Miss Henrietta of Oconto and John and Antone of Marinette, survive her.

The funeral was held from St. Joseph's church at 9 o'clock this morning, Rev. Selbach officiating, with interment in Catholic cemetery.

Those present from out of the city were the two sons John and Antone and families of Marinette, Joseph Scherer, a nephew, of Hortonville, Maynard Keefe, grandson, attending school at DePere and Edwin Whittaker, grandson employed at Ispeming, Mich.

• Obituary: Green Bay Press Gazette, 27 Oct 1910, Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁷
Mrs. Mary Scherer Passes Away at Her Home in Oconto After Short Illness.
Funeral is to Take Place on Thursday
(Special to the Gazette)
Oconto, Wis., Oct. 26. --

Mrs. Mary Scherer, an old resident of Oconto, passed away at her home on Scherer avenue, early Tuesday from dropsy. She had been sick since October 6th. The deceased was born in Germany in 1830 and was married to Henry Scherer in 1850. She came to Oconto in 1855 where she had resided until her death. Her maiden name was Mary Diderick. She was blessed with eleven children, seven of whom are living. Mathias and Jacob of Oconto, John and Anton of Marinette, Henrietta, Mrs. D. Keefe, and Mrs. Whitaker of Oconto. The funeral will be held from St. Joseph's Catholic church, Thursday morning at 9 o'clock.

• Obituary: Oconto Enterprise, 28 Oct 1910, Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁸
MRS. SCHERER'S FUNERAL YESTERDAY
FROM ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH AT NINE O'CLOCK
Had lived in This City 56 years

One of the Earliest Settlers in Oconto - She lived a Useful and Christian Life.

The funeral of Mrs.. Mary Ann Scherer, whose death was announced in the Enterprise of Tuesday, was held from St. Joseph's church yesterday morning at nine o'clock and was very largely attended. Interment was had in the Catholic cemetery.

Mary Ann Dietrich was born in Germany, September 12, 1830, and when about ten years old came to Green Bay with her parents. In December of 1850 she was married at Little Chute to Henry Scherer and five years later they removed to this city, making their home in the South Ward, Mr. Scherer's death occurring seventeen years ago. To them were born eleven children, seven of whom survive their mother. Two of the boys, John and Antone, Make their home at Marinette but the other children all reside in this city. They are Mathais, Jacob, Mrs. A.E. Whittaker, Mrs. D.T. Keefe and Miss Henrietta Scherer. Twelve grandchildren also survive her. She was a kind and loving mother and earnest Christian. Her loss will be deeply felt by a large number of friends over the city.

Mrs.. Scherer during her residence of fifty-six years saw Oconto grow from a few buildings scattered through the woods along the river to the substantial city it is today. It is to such sturdy pioneers, fast falling away, that we owe so much. If we of the present generation can do our work as well as they, Oconto will be a city we may be justly proud of.

Mary married Heinrich Scherer, son of Jakob Scherer and Elisabeth Metzen, on 20 Dec 1850 in Little Chute, Brown, Wisconsin, USA.¹ (Heinrich Scherer was born on 29 Sep 1824 in Trierscheid, Parish Üxheim, Nohn, Adenau, Coblentz, DEU ^{29 30}, christened on 26 Sep 1825 in Trierscheid, Parish Üxheim, Nohn, Adenau, Coblentz, DEU,³¹ died on 30 Oct 1894 in Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA ³² and was buried on 02 Nov 1894 in Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA ^{33 34}.) The cause of his death was consumption.⁶

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage: at St John Nepomucene Catholic Church, 20 Dec 1850, Little Chute, Brown, Wisconsin, USA. ³⁵
Matrimonio junxi Henricus Scherer cum Anna Marie Dederich. Testibus Petro Diderich et Gertruda Diderich. [Joined in marriage Henry Scherer with Anna Maria Diderich. Wittnessed by Peter Diederich and Gertrude Diderich, Father P. J. Vanderbrook

• Marriage: at St John Nepomucene Catholic Church, 20 Dec 1850, Little Chute, Brown, Wisconsin, USA. ³⁶
Matrimonio junxi Henricus Scherer cum Anna Marie Dederich. Testibus Petro Diderich et Gertruda Diderich. [Joined in marriage Henry Scherer with Anna Maria Diderich. Wittnessed by Peter Diederich and Gertrude Diderich, Father P. J. Vanderbrook

• Publication: concerning the church altar used for their wedding, 12 Mar 1925, Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA. ³⁷
AN HISTORIC ALTAR
Isabelle Fox

To a lover of antiquities, the story of a little white altar and its wanderings, may be an interesting one.

When the Fox River Valley was a vast wilderness, the now thriving village of Little Chute was a mere speck on the horizon of civilization, that speck, a wigwam fifteen feet long and six feet high, built by an Indian woman for the Rev. Theodore J. Vanden Brock, a priest of the Order of St. Dominick, who left Holland in the early thirties to do missionary work among the Catholic population and the Indians scattered over the country.

In 1834 he was sent into the wilds of Wisconsin, by the Bishop of Detroit, settling in Little Chute, and thus the Cross was planted in the beautiful Fox River Valley. The wigwam served as church and residence for six months, during which time Father Vanden Brock, wilth the aid of Indians, built a church the timber being secured from the forest along the river bank. The roof was of bark, a split log was used as an altar, the sacred vessels were old treasures, unearthed at Rapids des Peres, having been buried there when the missionary fathers of St. Francis Xavier church, built in 1676 by Charles Alhanel, were massacred and the church burned by Indians.

During 1838 there came to Little Chute Antoine Mosseau and his son-in-law, Ephraim St. Louis and family, natives of Canasda, Marielle, Province of Quebec. Mr. Mosseau, a carriage maker and carpenter by trade, did not like the idea of a split log being used as an altar, and conceived the idea of making for Rev. Vanden Broek and altar and tabernacle, which he fashioned from the beautiful white pine from the forest surrounding the church. With tools brought front his home it was not a difficult matter. The altar and tabernacle, painted white, with gold trimmings and cross, was the pride of Father Vanden Brock's heart during the years he served as priest in Little Chute.

After the death of Rev. Vanden Broek in 1851, a new church was built and the altar was presented to Mrs. St. Louis, daughter of Mr. Mosseau and mother of Rev. Manus St. Louis, who was stationed at Phlox, Wis., where he built a small church, carrying the lumber on his back from a nearby forest for its erection. His parents removed to Phlox from Little Chute taking the altar and tabernacle with them and where it again did service in a mission church. Later when Rev. St. Louis was removed to Green Bay, he took the altar with him, leaving the tabernacle in Phlox, where it is held sacred by the people of the parish. On being transferred from Green Bay to Iron Mountain, Mich., he gave the altar to his sister, Mrs. Alex Grignon, when it was shipped to her at her home near the Combined Locks on the steamer Evelyn. At Mrs. Grignon's death it passed into the hands of her daughter, Mrs. Michael Maher.

After the destruction fire of Holy Cross church in 1916, Mrs. Maher gave the altar to Msgr. P. J. Lochman, pastor, for use in the chapel of the school house during the erection of the present handsome structure, and on its completion the Altar was placed in the chapel of the new church--on the right of the' main altar--a sacred reminder of the hardships endured by the missionaries in the dim and distant past.

Kneeling before this quaint little altar we see in imagination the backwoods church, the priest offer-

• Researcher: Grignon Trading Post, 14 Jan 2004, Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA. ³⁸  
Grignon Trading Post ledger a 'gold mine of information'
^{By Judy Dixon Hebbe
For the Times-Villager}

“It is a gold mine of information,” JoEllen Wollangk, director of operations for the Outagamie County Historical Society, said of the recently acquired ledger dated 1836-1842, which itemized sales of goods at Green Bay and Grand Cakalin. The Grand Cakalin trading post belonged to the Grignon family.

“It tells us what people bought, who bought items and what the items cost,” she continued. “It doesn't tell us what the Grignons paid for items or how much profit they made off the business, but it does indicate payments to both Charles and Augustine, Jr., (the half brother who was a partner in the business), so we can get an idea of how much they made annually.”

The 6½“x16” leather bound book contains 483 pages covering transactions with individuals who shopped or worked at the trading post, which was located at the base of the hill behind the Charles A. Grignon Mansion. The first four pages were labeled “Green Bay” and the remaining “Grand Cakalin” (or Kakalin or Cackalin or various other spellings), the name of the area now known as Kaukauna.

The book abounds with names familiar to local history, such as Eleazor Williams, and landowners, such as Adelle, Broulliard and Lawe. There is also a list of items sold to the “Butte des Morts outfit,” which is a reference to Charles Grignon's father, who ran a trading post at Butte des Morts.

“It was a Super Wal-Mart of its day,” Wollangk said of the Grignon trading post. “The Grignons sold everything that could not be grown or made in the area.”

Listings in the book include, among other things, lead, sugar, flour, leather, snuff, ribbon, blue calico, cranberries, horse blankets and “1 yoke oxen - $50.00.”
Another entry showed a payment for “4 days labor - $4.00, plus 1 day labor - $1.00,” which Wollangk conjectured meant” labor was roughly paid $1.00 per day, at least that done for the Grignons.”

To modern consumers, prices appear reasonable. One entry showed 2# Imperial tea, $3.50; 1 qt. Holland gin, $1.00; oats for horse, $.75; bread, $.25; 5# tallow, $1.25; 6# sugar, $.75; 1 qt. whisky, $.50 for a total of $8.00
.
Another entry under Grignon and Powell lists “3 horses @ hay, oats and entertainment for 2 men, $1.50” with no further explanation.

“Somethings we may never know,” Wollangk said.

Of the great variety of things people bought, whisky appears in the ledger most frequently. It may speak to a dearth of stills in the area and help to explain why the German brewmeisters were able to launch such successful businesses when they came into the area later in the century.

The entire Grignon family bought goods from the trading post. Women who were not yet allowed to own property or control their own funds were allowed to charge on their husbands' accounts or for someone else, but never on their own.

For the Outagamie County Historical Society, the book is a welcomed source of interesting and valuable information.

“We could assume that the trading post sold most of the items listed in the ledger, but we did not have the evidence to back it up,” Wollangk said. “We have had to focus on the domestic side of the family, because we had letters and evidence to show us what happened during those years Charles lived in the house. Now we can interpret the business side of the family with accuracy.”

Copies of the pages from the ledger will be available for use during the annual spring School Days program on the fur trade at the mansion. Wollangk anticipates developing a computerized database so researchers and the public can retrieve the information in the book by date, name or product.

“We have already gotten responses from our members asking if we can find family names in the book,” Wollangk said. “Family lore tells of great-grandparents coming through this area or settling here for periods of time. They want to know if shopping at the trading post could verify the information.”

The ledger came to the historical society after a long rest in an attic of a house in Dedham, Mass. It was found by Marcia Copabianco as she helped her parents clear out their house; no one could determine why it was in their possession. No family member had a relationship to the Grignons, Green Bay or Grand Cakalin.

Through research on the Internet, Copabianco located the historical society's Web site. A call to Wollangk resulted in a fall trip to Kaukauna by Copabianco accompanied by her two sisters, Cynthia Layton and Nancy Murphy. After touring the mansion and learning more about the family, the three sisters agreed that the book should be donated to the historical society.

“It was so fortunate that Marcia Copabianco got interested in the book, and she didn't throw it away while cleaning out the house,” Wollangk said.

• Researcher: Grignon Trading Post, 14 Jan 2004, Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA. ³⁹  
Accounting ledger a valuable educational resource for society 325

The Outagamie County Historical Society has acquired the accounting ledger once used by the Charles A. Grignon family to record their family business transactions at the Grignon Trading Post at Grand Cakalin (or Kakalin), now known as Kaukauna.

Marcia (Layton) Copabianco of Dedham, Mass., found the ledger while she was helping her parents clear out their house. She donated the ledger, dated 1836-1842, to the Society. She spent a great deal of time studying the entries in the ledger and noticed that the Grignon family name was mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. An extensive Internet search led her to the OCHS, which owns and operates the Grignon Mansion.

The ledger contains historical information that will enhance the historic interpretation of the Grignon Mansion and the society's annual fur trade focused School Day event each May.

The ledger includes the following information: what the trading post sold; the total income of the post; sums paid for different types of labor; customer names and what they purchased; how different commodities were measured; how often individuals shopped at the post; the cost of meals served at the post; and occasional references to how much money the Grignon's personally took out of the business.

It remains a mystery as to how the book came to be in Copabianco' s parents' attic, as there is no evidence of a family connection of any kind. Fortunately, it was never thrown out and will now be used as an interpretive and educational reference of the time period by the society.

Serious researchers who wish to see the historic ledger may do so by appointment only on Tuesday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon at the Outagamie Museum in downtown Appleton. A research fee of $4 will be charged per individual per visit. OCHS members are free.

For more information or to make a research appointment, contact Matt Carpenter, OCHS director of interpretive programs and curator of collections at 735-9370 ext. 113.

• Photograph: (church altar), 30 Apr 2006, Stiles, Oconto, Wisconsin, USA. ⁴⁰
Mossau / Manseau, who owned the land in Kaukauna before Peter Diedrich was also, the craftsman who carved the first altar for Father Vandenbroek's church in Little Chute in 1837/1838.

This would have been the Altar at St. John's that Peter Diedrich and Joanna Jung were married. It is also most likely the Altar that John Stoveken Sr. and Gertrude Diedrich were married at in Kaukauna / Little Chute. Probably Scherer / Diedrich as well.

This altar seemed to have been lost after about 1930 after several well documented moves. It appears that a descendant of Manseau who I communicate with may have found the altar in a town called Stiles, WI based on a tip from an individual in Kaukauna who had a recollection of a side altar at Holy Cross being shipped to Stiles. Holy Cross was the last known positive location of the Altar.

It is very probable that the Altar was built on Manseau's property in Kaukauna that was later owned by Peter Diedrich and by John Stoveken.

Another curiosity. John Stoveken Jr and Margaret St. Mitchell were married in Phlox at the time the altar was located in Phlox by Father St. Louis who is the Grandson of Manseau. The world (at least Kaukauna and Northeastern WI) was indeed small in the mid 1800's.

[My only caveat is that the Altar has not been absolutely confirmed as being authentic (But it sure seems to match the appearance)]

  Marriage Notes:

 
Grandpa Scherer’s home ­ which was Aunt Lane’s home and Uncle Matt And Uncle Al... Al was Aunt Lane’s husband. Uncle Matt lived with them and Aunt Ettie lived there too. She had a bedroom upstairs. Aunt Lane played the zither and Uncle Matt played the fiddle.

You came into the front hall and there was a stairway going up to the right where the living room ­ the parlor ­ was. And what was the dinning room was fixed up as a living room and it had a big leather covered sofa that would unfold and that was where I would sleep when I stayed there. They had a summer kitchen behind the regular kitchen in the house. You went right from the kitchen to a summer kitchen and into a shed. It wasn’t separated.
^{[Betty Jaeger Gilbertson]
41}