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STETTIN PIONEERS -- Mr. and Mrs. Ottmar Sauter were among the earliest Town of Stettin settlers. They carved a farm
out of the wilderness after Mr. Sauter bought 80 acres of timber land in 1857, three years before the township was organized.

c-4       ioneer Recalls
67he arly 'Days
What was life like in the Town of Stettin nearly
100 years ago? Mrs. Mary Schilling, 2122 Pros-
pect Ave., Wausau, whose father, Ottmar Sauter,
was one of the very earliest pioneer farmers in the
township, gives an interesting account of her mem-
ories and stories she picked up from her parents
and other old-timers. Mrs. Schilling, now age 92,
was born in the Town of Stettin on July 15, 1867.
In 1857, Ottmar Sauter bought two eighties
of timber land and cleared about 70 acres out of
the forest for his farm, which was located about 12
miles from Wausau and seven miles from the Vil-
lage of Marathon.
"We were poor, but we always ate well," said
Mrs. Schilling of her early childhood. Since there
was little market for milk and dairy products, the
family usually had plenty of milk and butter, ex-
cept during the long winter months.
Buildings of Logs
Her father built himself a log house, a log barn
and a little log pig pen with a straw roof. How-
ever, a bear got the first little pig he raised, Mrs.
Schilling recalled, and the family dog never warned
the family. In those days, Mr. Sauter didn't even
have a rifle or shotgun. His only weapon was a big
revolver, so a neighbor with a shotgun was called
over to try and dispatch the bear. However, the
animal never showed up again.
Like a number of other early Stettin settlers,
Ottmar Sauter worked for a time in the Benjamin

Single mill on the Little Rib River. But he found
he didn't have time to "blow his nose" during the
12-hour day, so he decided to try his hand at farm-
ing and bought some land, which was very cheap
then.
There was a twinkle in her eye as Mrs. Schilling
recalled some early stories that made the rounds in
the Town of Stettin. One was about a farmer who
heard his heifers bellering in their stockade and he
approached the stockade to discover that a bear
had invaded it. The farmer is reported to have hit
the bear with the handle of an axe and yelled, "Get
out of here or I'll use the sharp end." It really hap-
pened, Mrs. Schilling claims.
How were these poor farm families able to sur-
vive and even prosper? It was a miracle of sociology
and economics which modern Americans would find
difficult to believe.
Carried Precious Shoes
The Sauters went to church at Marathon and
would carry their shoes until they were in sight of
the church and then put them on. Shoes were a
valuable item in the Wisconsin wilderness of a
century ago and the owner would not think of
wearing them out on the long hikes to church.
Mrs. Schilling can recall when she first saw a
visitor in the Town of Stettin wearing factory-made
clothing and what a sensation it caused!
Not only did Mrs. Sauter make all the clothing
for the family, which included 10 children, but Mr.
Sauter also had a carpenter build a big loom and
he spun his own wool and loomed it into cloth for
use in making clothing. He had learned the trade
as a child in Germany before taking the long six-