The new barn was destroyed by fire about 1969.
Iva Welder married Walter Stanger on May 25,
1924. They lived on the Welder place.
Charles Welder came from Germany in 1884 at
the age of 7. Julia Muelling was born at Cushing,
Wisconsin in 1883. Written by Daughter, Iva
Welder Stanger

THE JOHN DANIEL WENGER,
JR. FAMILY
Henry (1890-1965) and Frieda Schuler Benson
(1894-    ) moved to Ladysmith in 1932 from
Washburn, Wis. Henry, my grandfather, was an
electrician and nearly died in 1939 when his foot
slipped and he came in contact with a high voltage
wire. He was hospitalized for almost half a year.
Henry and Frieda had three children, the youngest
being my mother, Marian Rose Benson. She was
born in 1927 and grew up in Ladysmith. In 1948
she married Richard Arthur Stapleton, also of
Ladysmith.
Arthur Lamar Stapleton (1890-1967) married
Marion Olive Miller (1890-1978) in 1910. They
moved to Ladysmith in August of 1927. They had
seven children, the youngest being my father,
Richard Arthur Stapleton who was born in 1923.
Richard and Marian settled in Littlefork, Min-
nesota. My father was a forester and eventually
became the Land Commissioner of Koochiching
County. They have six children of which I am the
second. The most striking thing about our home
was that it was a Christian home and all of the
children have continued on in their Christianity.
I left home in 1969 and went to Wheaton Col-
lege and   received  a  degree  in  Speech-
Communications. While in school I had the oppor-
tunity to spend a summer working in a missionary
hospital in Zambria, Africa. I also had the oppor-
tunity to spend a couple of summers in Europe.
There are so many things that I experienced, like
dropping out of sight into a river on my motorbike
because the elephant grass disguised the terrain.
Traveling is an education all in itself.
In 1976 I moved to Urbana, Illinois and met my
husband, John Daniel Wenger, Jr. He had been in
the Army, been shot in the knee in a helicopter in
Vietnam, gone to Appalatian Bible Institute, two
years of community college and was attending the
University of Illinois at Urbana. Much to our sur-
prise, we discovered that we both had "roots" in
this general area. John's mother had grown up in
Sarona, Loretta and Cornell. John and I were mar-
ried in 1977 and I spent the first year of our mar-
riage training to become a Licensed Practical
Nurse. John worked and we saved some money in
hopes of moving north and buying some land. In
1978 we started our trek north. We had all our
possessions in our old 1948 Ford pickup and small
home built trailer. We settled in Ladysmith, ren-
ting a small house and all the while keeping our
eyes open for land. We found "our place" the next
June and settled onto 120 beautiful acres in the
Blue Hills about a mile south of Christie Moun-
tain. Our first child (John Daniel Wenger, III) was
born that September and Summer Joy followed
almost two years later in August of 1981. John has
worked logging and in a saw mill but presently has
a job as mill room supervisor in the new waterbed

factory in Ladysmith. We've experienced all kinds
of new things like maple syrup making, raising
pigs, raising and milking (by hand) a cow, cooking
and baking with a wood stove, raising oats, etc. We
find life in Rusk County quite agreeable.
GREGORY WEST FAMILY
Gregory and Anna West moved to Rusk county
from Holcombe, Wis. in 1911. They settled on a
farm west of Sheldon.
They originally were from Watertown, Wis.,
where Mr. West was born. But Mrs. West came
from Strassburg, Germany by boat when she was
five. Anna's mother died when she was a small
child of 10. She had three brothers and one sister.
The mother died from childbirth. The baby died
also.
Mr. West (Gregory) survived a smallpox
epidemic in which he lost his mother and several
brothers; only his father and three boys survived.
When settling on his farm, Mr. West was work-
ing in the lumber camp in winter and farming in
summer to support his family.
Six children were born to this union. Edna, the
oldest child, was a teacher. In 1920 she taught in
Rusk County Normal as a critic teacher. Alice
taught in country schools and married Charles
Tunker. She moved to Boscobel, Wis., where he
was a cheese maker. One child was born to this
union. He now lives in Chippewa Falls.
Lillian was also a teacher throughout Rusk
county for many years. Art West worked as a
mechanic in several places in Ladysmith until he
went in business for himself. He married Zella
Churchill in 1923.
Ray West did farming and married Marian
Doud of Ladysmith. They lived on their home farm
near Holcombe. Jay West, the youngest, was in
service to his country. After World War II he mar-
ried Mae Taylor of Gilman, Wis. They took over
the home farm and took care of Gregory and Anna
until they passed away. They have two sons.
Michael of Chippewa Falls is married and has
three children. Gregory, the youngest son, works in
Eau Claire and comes home on weekends to help
his folks.
Gregory West, Sr. rented land in summer and
planted it on shares. From their cows they sold
cream which they had separated from the milk.
This was hauled to Sheldon; later to Arnold, Wis.
Anna West always raised chickens and sold
eggs. She was a very good seamstress. She made all
her children's and her own clothing. Edna, oldest
daughter, graduated from the University in
Chicago. She also taught privately many children,
usually the special or handicapped ones. Lillian
was a graduate of Northland College and Rusk
County Normal.
Two remain of this family; Roy of Holcombe,
and Joy of Sheldon, Wis.

Gregory West - 1914 Haymaking Time

BLAIR WESTER
Blair married Mildred Quade, who had been a
teacher at North Washington and Amacoy
Schools. In 1938 they took over the home farm
while Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Wester moved to another
farm the Westers owned. Blair and Mildred con-

tinued to add more and more acres to the farm and
more children to the family - six sons and two
daughters in all. Consequently, the home had to be
enlarged a few times to take care of the family.
Both Blair and Mildred served on the rural
school board at various times. Blair served on the
Town of Washington board of supervisors for a
short time. He was also a member of the Rusk
County Education Committee and Selective Ser-
vice Board until both dissolved. Mildred was
Treasurer of the Town of Washington for ten years
and Clerk for twelve years before moving from
that township.
In 1963 Blair and Mildred sold the farm and
bought a smaller farm north of Bruce on Highway
40. It wasn't long before Blair and the boys had in-
creased the herd of cattle to 150 head, buit a new
barn, machine shed, and other buildings. They also
purchased additional land to provide feed for the
livestock.
All of the Blair Wester family graduated from
Bruce High School, and all except one became
farmers. Ronald married Delores Gudis, Gerald
married Charlene Hinaus, Steve married Donna
Olesiak, and James married Jane Quinn. They
have their own farms a short distance north and
west of Bruce. Bryce is at the home farm and
Robert who married Becky Peterson lives in Bruce
and is a mechanic at Kohl Implement near
Cameron. Rosalie married Ronald Bauer of Mon-
dovi and lives there, and Peggy married George
Sihsmann and lives near Exeland.
Blair still does his share of the farm work in ad-
dition to hauling cattle and is supervisor of the
village of Bruce for the Rusk County Board.
Mildred worked at Gordon and Ferguson factory
in Bruce for twelve years and is now retired and a
homemaker.

CLAIR WESTER
Some of Clair's childhood memories were of the
teachers who boarded with them; trudging through
snow and cold early in the morning to start fires to
warm the school; (one year that school had three
students, Blair, Clair and Eleanor) also, separating
the milk and hauling it to County Trunk E for Mr.
Kegley to pick up by team and wagon or sleigh and
haul it to the Bruce depot to be shipped to the
cities. It was a great day when Mr. Kegley came to
pick up the milk with a new Model T Ford turck.
And Oh, how important was the mail order
catalogue to shop for the family needs! A trip to
Bruce would come about twice a year.
In parts of 1939 and 1941, Clair left the farm to
work on construction for Boone and Wester Con-
struction Company in Florida and South Carolina.
In 1941, Clair married Lyilla Prosser who had
been a teacher at Murry and Mudbrook Schools.
After a summer working on construction in Arkan-
sas, Clair decided to farm. They then began
developing the other Wester farm. There were 120
acres, one house, and 12 cows to start us. Gradual-
ly new buildings were added, more land purchased
and sold; some of that the south shore of Boot
Lake. During this time, Lyilla taught Glendale,
North Washington, and James Bollman Schools.
Clair served as a Town of Washington Supervisor
for five years, Chairman of the Town of
Washington, and County Board member five
years, serving on the Welfare, Fair, and Building