JOHN KUCHTA FAMILY
John came to Rusk County as a three month old
baby from Chicago with his parents, Sue and Steve
in 1913 to clear a farm out of the woods six miles
north of Ladysmith. Andrew and Ann were born
after they moved to Rusk County. He attended the
Ladysmith High School and worked in Chicago in
1935-36. He entered the United States Army in
1942 and fought in Europe until World War II
ended in 1945.
I was born at Exeland and attended Ladysmith
High School. We met at the Menasha Wooden
Ware in Ladysmith where we both worked and
were married in 1942, just a month before John
left for the Service. After John was discharged
from Service we came back to Rusk County.
December 1949, we moved with our sons, Dar-
rell and Ken to the Fred Fischer farm three miles
northeast of Conrath, where the rest of our
children were born. Joanne married Duane Phet-
teplace; Susan married Bob Szotkowski; of the
twins Dorothy and Donald, Dorothy married Gary
Guns. Donald was in a car accident when he was
16 and lost his balance and coordination. After
completing high school, he attended Wausau
Technical Institute. It took a little longer to finish
school, but eventually he moved to Milwaukee and
is working for IRS. He never regained enough
balance to walk, even though his schoolmates spent
hours walking with him to keep him from falling as
he practiced walking with the walkerette up and
down the halls of Flambeau High.
Mike helped his dad on the farm after he
graduated from high school until we had to retire
in 1981. Mike is now working in Eau Claire; Janet
married Kevin Baughman; Jean is married to Kent
Lund; Dianne married Bryan Biederman; Donna is
going to University of Wis. - Whitewater; Darrell
is an engineer for John Deere in Horicon; Ken
operates heavy equipment in the Milwaukee area;
Darrell married Cheri Palak, who also lived in
Conrath as a child; Ken married Barbara Graham
of Chicago.
Everyone worked on the farm, but there was
time to roam the woods and swim in the creek. We
enjoyed watching the deer and other wildlife.
When the boys were older, John went to work at
the creamery in Ladysmith, then as a carpenter.
Two years were spent installing swimming pools in
the Chicago area, with Ken in charge on the farm.
The boys were in Little League and Connie Mack
- and they enjoyed fishing and hunting. We are
members of St. John's Lutheran Church in
Ladysmith. Lucile (Teele) Kuchta
STEVE KUCHTA FAMILY
Steve Kuchta   was born    in  Trencunska,
Czechoslovakia, on August 8, 1883. His wife, Sue
Racek, was also born there on September 8, 1888.
Steve came first to America January 1904, settling
in Chicago. They both moved to America to seek
freedom and a better way of life. They were mar-
ried October 14, 1908. They had three children
before moving to Wisconsin: Steve II, Sue and
John.
They heard of cheap land in NW Wisconsin,
and always wanting to own their own land, moved
here April 1, 1913. The Kuchtas and Andrew
Kmosenas came together and lived in a two room
lumber camp house for 2 years before dividing the
property and the Kmosenas building their own
house. The property consisting of 40 acres; 6 acres
cleared, rest brush and stumps, was believed
bought from Gates Land Company who owned
most of the land around there. As most of the
virgin pine was gone, logged off land was useless to
lumber companies. There was a lumber camp just
500 yards south of present buildings; camp name
and number unknown, and operated in the late
1800's until about 1910. Hoyt Dam and Shaw
Dam were operating at that time with the main
road connecting the two dams running right
through our yard. As logs were still harvested fur-
ther north and floated past our place, river pigs
would stop in to dry off at our home. Because
Shaw Dam was damming the river, fishing on the
Thornapple was great. With the mill closing in
210

Steve Kuchta, Sr. 1920

1919, and the wood dike burned out, fishing got
worse every year. Highway 27 was then called
Gates Road and there was no bridge at Shaw dam.
Andrew and Ann were born at home as there
was no hospital. The kids all attended Laurel Hill
School, a walk of 1  miles. The school operated
from 1912 to 1930.
Steve worked in Bissell's Lumber Camps farther
north in the winter, while the wife and kids did
farm work. Cream was brought once a week to a
cheese factory located on the corner of now 27 and
A, run by Herman Flunker. Later Steve worked on
Gates Highway and patrolled the neighboring
sideroads with horse-drawn grader. All land was
cleared by hand with stumps being dynamited.
Later Steve purchased more land from a Mr. Mar-
tin Grover, bringing total acres to present of 130,
80 cultivated.
The first new building was a barn built in 1928
with a Mr. Prohaska helping. The house was built
in 1934-35 from used lumber of a dismantled
house in Ladysmith, hauled home by horses, and
built by Hyny Jirka. Andrew now lives in it. The
first old lumberman's house was then used as a
machine shed and granary. In 1960 it was torn
down and a new steel shed erected. The first car
Steve owned was a 1924 Ford "T" model bought
about 1930. The second was a 1928 Chev in ex-
cellent shape for $90. The first tractor was a IHC
F14 purchased in 1939.
Andrew stayed home and farmed with his dad.
In 1945 a house was purchased from the Tomans
and moved on the farm for him and his family. An-
drew bought the farm from his dad on July 14,
1967. His folks moved to a house in Ladysmith on
February 18, 1969.
Steve passed away on January 30, 1973. His
wife Sue still lives in Ladysmith with daughter Sue
Polony. Andrew sold the farm to his son Robert in
1979. His sons Jim and Dave own and operate the
old Leonard farm.
Steve II married Jean Read in 1938, and had
three children, naming one Steve III. Ann married
Morris Walm in 1938 also and had 2 boys. Andrew
married Ann Ypma in 1940 and had 3 boys. In
1942 John married Lucille Teele and had 11
children. Sue married Gus Polony, they had no
children. John was in World War II from 1942-
1945, part of the time stationed in Germany. John,
Steve and Sue live in Ladysmith, Ann Walm in
Minneapolis. Andy Kuchta, Steve Kuchta, Sr.
ARCHIE AND LOUISE LaBERGE
William Wegner, my great-grandfather, grew
up in Berlin, German, where his father operated a
tailor shop. When William went into the German
Army during the Franco-Prussian War he was
made a saddle maker. When the Franco-Prussian
War ended in 1871, William decided he did not
want his sons to be a part of the German military.
He corresponded with relatives, Blum, Rumpmier,
and Maderzone, (who lived in Ladysmith from
1915-1920) living in Central Wisconsin and soon
brought his four sons, Otto, Max, Rudolph, and
Albert, my grandfather, to Neillsville where he
settled on a farm five miles southeast of Neillsville,
which he developed into a showplace.

Albert worked in the factories and sawmills
around Neillsville. In 1892, he married Martha
Ketel. To this marriage the following children
were born: Louise, my mother - 1893, Victor,
Dorothye, Gertrude, Margaret, Robert, and
Clarence. The four ladies all had careers in
education.
In 1893, when the furniture factory closed,
Albert went to Wisconsin Rapids and worked there
for some time. About 1900 the Upham Manufac-
turing Company started in Marshfield. He got a
job as a millwright. Because the job looked promis-
ing, he moved his family to Marshfield. As time
went by, he got a job as saw filer, sharpening all
saws, planer knives, and veneer blades. The Dave
Pickering family had a small farm and sawmill on
the Little Jump River, near the Linden School
(Mrs. Eda Pickering and Albert's wife were
sisters). Albert was impressid with a tract of virgin
timber to the south, which he bought in 1910 and
on which he put up a building. Because of his age
he was let out of Upham's, then worked a short
time at Roddis Manufacturing in Marshfield. In
1914 he moved his family to the farm at Sheldon,
which is presently owned by a son, Robert.
After highschool, Louise took an examination
and began her teaching career at Cox School at
Sheldon in 1910. She also taught at Walrath,
Murry, and the Training School in Ladysmith. In
1917 she was appointed the first supervising
teacher in Rusk County. In 1921 she was principal
at Sheldon. In 1921, when she married Arthur La
Berge, who had served in the army, she had to
resign. After their marriage, they took over the
Ludger La Berge farm east of Ladysmith, since
Ludger had retired from farming and bought a
home in Ladysmith. To this marriage the following
children were born: Robert, Francis, Lorraine,
Betty (myself, 1925), John, Donald, Catherine,
Gene, Phyllis and Phillip, James, and Mary Anne.
We all attended Maple Hill School and
Ladysmith High School. Our homework was done
around a table by lamp light.
Archie and Louise raised our family on the
farm.
Archie was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed
fishing, berry picking, hunting ginseng, and was
well-known for his deer hunting skill.
He died from multiple myeloma in'1951.
Louise was a violinist and in later years made
many beautiful handwork articles. She was a
talented, hardworking woman who provided in-
spiration and support for her family. Her life came
to an end in 1969. Don LaBerge, Betty Silvernale

Betty, Rod, and Dick Silvernale

FRANCIS "WILLY" LaBERGE
Since my recent retirement from Allis Chalmers
in Milwaukee, these are some memories from my
years in Rusk County:
A ginseng garden was planted by my father. He
never dug any "sang" but the state paid good
money for its potential value. Bob and I were never
allowed inside the garden. It was sprayed regularly
with pyrox to prevent blight. Bill Austin had a
ginseng garden also.