Case

Creator

Canfield, Cordelia, 1822-1892

Date

• 1844

Summary

• Straw case made to hold the first temperance pledge signed in Baraboo, attributed to Cordelia Canfield, 1844. Cylindrical tube of braided and coiled straw with removable cap.
• The temperance movement took root in Baraboo not long after the community itself was founded. In 1844, the settlers in the region formed the "Baraboo Total Abstinance Societie" and signed a pledge of temperance. Among the signers was William H. Canfield, an early settler who later became a noted local historian. His wife Cordelia Canfield is said to have created this straw case to house the temperance pledge. Both the pledge document and the case descended in the Canfield family.