where Maxine taught in the Bruce system and I
continued in life insurance sales.
In 1953 we moved to Ladysmith, which has been
our hometown since. The former Dodson place was
purchased from Ruby Taylor in 1959 and has been
our home since then. Dodson, a former sheriff of
Rusk County, built the home. We raised 3 great
kids there,- Nancy came to us in April 1954,
Rick in December 1958 and Jeff in September
1964. Our children were adopted and have been a
special blessing to our lives.

Maxine is the oldest daughter of Mildred and
Glenn Mattison and was raised in rural Bruce. She
attended the Blue Hills, Sunny Hills and Bruce
Schools before going on to Eau Claire to become a
teacher.
I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota where my
father, Walter, was a contractor. We moved to
Bruce in 1929. From 1944 to 1946, the Army Air
Corps was my home. In 1949 I started a career in
life insurance sales, entering management in 1961
and establishing a successful agency, which is still
my vocation. In 1981 we expanded the agency and
opened an office at Eau Claire.
t0Pml

Don and Maxine Leatherman - 1949

In addition to managing this agency, we built a
41 unit mobile home court in Bruce, starting it in
1970. We continue to operate this business.
I served as President of the old Jaycee's in 1957,
also as chairman of the Mardi Gras. Currently I
serve as President of the West Central Wisconsin
General Agents and Managers Association. Both
Maxine and I are active members of Hope
Lutheran Church, where I am a trustee on the
church council.
As I write this, we are looking forward to leaving
tomorrow for a vacation and visit with our
daughter Nancy and her family in Tucson,
Arizona.
Rick is living in Eau Claire and has followed
dad's footsteps, entering the life insurance business
in 1982.
Jeff graduated from high school in 1982 and is
attending Tech School in Rice Lake.
Maxine and I are looking forward to retirement
in a few years, so we have more time for fishing
and travel.
We have enjoyed living in the rural Ladysmith
area, also the many fine people who live in Rusk
County. Don Leatherman

OLDTIMER - THE WALTER
LEATHERMAN FAMILY
The Godfrey Leatherman family bought what
was known as the Stahman place in the Village of
Bruce in 1915. We moved from Douglas County,
Minnesota in March of 1917, arriving in one of the
worst snow storms ever. The move was made by
train with the cars loaded with cattle, machinery
and household goods. At Weyerhauser the regular
train  was prevented   from   continuing  to
Rhinelander due to the snow storm. A special train
was made up to deliver us and our cattle from
Weyerhauser to Bruce. We arrived in Bruce at 4
P.M., over 40 hours after leaving Carlos,
Minnesota.
The Leatherman children then consisted of 3
boys - Walter, Elmer and Irvin. Mother, father
and boys began at once to clear the land of brush
and huge pine stumps left from the logging of
virgin pine. The place consisted of 215 acres, in-
cluding what is now the Bruce Park.
In 1918 I was drafted in the army and was in
training at Camp Selby, Mississippi when World
War I ended. After the war I worked in Min-
neapolis in the lathing trade and as a contractor. In
April 1922, Viola and I were married and lived in
Minneapolis until 1929 when we moved back to
Bruce and took over the home place. On June 1,
1932, tragedy struck when a fire completely
destroyed the large 12 room farm home, originally
built by Stahman. The depression was in full swing
and times were tough, but we managed to build the
basement for a new house, which we lived in
several years.

Walter and Viola Leatherman

In 1945 I started a Casualty Insurance Agency,
which was sold in 1975. Elected county treasurer
in 1958, I served until 1963.
The original 215 acres has been reduced in size
through sale of parcels for housing and some farm
land to the LeRoy Hopkins family. In 1970 our son
Donald purchased land from us to develop
Parkview Mobile Home Court.
In the fall of 1982 1 was able to hunt deer all but
one day of the season, walking several miles each
day. I still enjoy fishing and was able to spend
many days the winter of 82 and 83 ice fishing on
Bruce Lake.
Mother died in 1925 after a short illness and
father in 1945. Both of my younger brothers have
passed on. Elmer and his wife were killed in an
auto accident in 1963. Irvin died October 19, 1980.
April 18, 1982 Viola and I celebrated our 60th
anniversary with many friends and relatives in at-
tendance. But as I write this, the clouds are begin-
ning to darken as Viola was taken to the hospital in
November of 1982. After 12 days in the hospital,
she was transferred to the Ladysmith Nursing
Home.
Our only child Donald lives in Ladysmith and
we have 3 lovely grandchildren - Nancy of Tuc-
son, Arizona - Richard "Rick" of Eau Claire and
Jeff attending vocational school at Rice Lake.
There are also six lovely great grandchildren.
Written by Walter Leatherman at age 86

THE MARION T. LeCOUNT
FAMILY
The M.T. LeCounts came to Ladysmith from
the prairie state of Kansas in the Spring of 1916.
Their new home was 80 acres of brush, stumps and
rocks some 5 miles north of town on the Flambeau
River. The land was poor, but the scenery was
beautiful! There was a two-story unfinished frame
house built from lumber taken from the land. An
open shed for stock and a tumble-down log cabin
were the only other structures.
There was much to do that first summer. A 99-
foot well was drilled. Marion, with the help of
neighbors, built a good-sized barn. The old shed
was made into a chicken house. The tar-paper
covering the exterior of the house was renewed,
and the four downstairs rooms finished and floored
with good oak and maple. The upper story was a
large, unheated loft where hams and bacon were
hung to cure, and where the kids slept. Crawling
out of a warm nest of blankets on a frigid January
morning was a real experience ... I remember it
well... I was one of the kids!
During the next few years we literally lived off
the land while laboriously clearing the land for
cultivation. A small herd of dairy cows furnished
milk and butter and the surplus sold to a local
cheese factory. Meat from a few hogs was sup-
plemented with wild game, venison and fish. The
woods were full of berries for the picking. A large
garden plot furnished an abundance of vegetables.
Marion was a man of many skills. He was the com-
munity builder, butcher, blacksmith and general
fixer-upper. He served on the school and town
boards. His wife, Mary, was equally proficient in
the homemaking arts. Every year she canned many
hundred quarts of fruit, vegetables, meat and fish.
She sold butter and eggs to selected customers.
Her poultry took many prizes at the County Fair.
Both our parents came of true pioneer stock.
Marion's multiple-great grandfather migrated
from France to Virginia in colonial times. The
family eventually settled in Indiana where he was
born. Mary's people came from Wiltshire, England
and settled in Baltimore County, Maryland in
1728. Two of her ancestors fought in the Revolu-
tionary War. Mary was born in Illinois in 1880.
The two families moved to Norton County, Kansas
in the 1890's and were nearby neighbors. Marion
died in 1942 and Mary in 1963. The old farmhouse
is presently the summer home of the eldest
daughter. A quiet and peaceful place; its greatest
charm is still the lovely view of the Flambeau
River. Submitted by Ethel G. LeCount
THE OSCAR LEMKE FAMILY
Oscar Gustav Lemke was born on April 6, 1900
in Rib Lake, Wisconsin, the son of John Lemke
and Ida (Redlin) Lemke. Alice Estelle Miles was
born on October 13, 1901 in Loyal, Wisconsin, the
daughter of William Townley Miles and Ella Jane
(Brotherton) Miles.
They were married in Loyal, Wisconsin on June
28, 1923. They moved to Rusk County that same
year and spent their entire married life in this
county.
The first three years they lived in the Ladysmith
and Ingram area, while Oscar worked in lumber
camps. In 1926, they moved to the village of
Hawkins, where Oscar became employed at the
Northern Sash and Door Company, first working
in the mill and later as a salesman. In 1942 he took
over the bulk dealership of the Standard Oil Com-
pany and held that position until his retirement in
1963.
Oscar was always active in community affairs
and served terms on the School Board, as village
clerk, on the County Board, and on the Board of
the United Methodist Church. He was a charter
member of the Hawkins Lions' Club. He lived a
very active life until his death on November 26,
1981.
Alice also held positions in the United
Methodist Church, and was active in school af-
fairs, helping to organize the hot lunch program.
She was a member of the American Legion Aux-
iliary and the Royal Neighbors of America. In