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Wisconsin Pioneer Experience
The Wisconsin Pioneer Experience is a digital collection of diaries, letters, reminiscences, speeches and other writings of people who settled and built Wisconsin during the 19th century. The project has been made available through the partnership of the Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries (CUWL) and the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS).
The historic papers included in the Wisconsin Pioneer Experience were drawn from the collections of the Area Research Centers (ARC), as well as the headquarters of the Wisconsin Historical Society. The ARC system is a joint venture of the WHS and CUWL member libraries designed to collect, preserve and place historic and important archives relating to Wisconsin in repositories located within the communities where those records originated. There is an ARC located in each four-year UW system school (except Superior) and WHS owned institutions in Ashland (the Northern Great Lakes Center) and the Superior Public Library, providing convenient access to many of the state's greatest historical treasures. Today, through digitization technology and the Internet, selected historic papers of the WHS and CUWL member libraries are more accessible than ever.
For the Wisconsin Pioneer Experience, the archivists of the ARCs selected numerous collections representative of the various corners of Wisconsin and Wisconsin's pioneer history. Through these documents, students and non-students alike can learn about life in the early days of the Badger State from the words of those who lived it.
Archival collections can take numerous forms and there are many examples of them within the Wisconsin Pioneer Experience. Original records, such as diaries and letters, are often handwritten while some created later-- reminiscences and speeches-might be typed. Transcriptions and translations are records often created later by different individuals in attempt to make hand-written, historic records easier to understand.
Whenever both a handwritten original and a typed transcribed version were available, the project scanned both versions. Images of the transcribed text were converted into electronic text through optical character recognition software. The electronic text can be searched and read by switching to the electronic text version in the page-turning software used to access the document. The process of OCR does produce some unavoidable mistakes when transforming a scanned document into electronic text. No editing was made to the electronic text, therefore the original should always be consulted before citing the text.
In most cases, each collection was digitized in its entirety; however, at times the digitized selections are only a portion of a larger collection. This is explained, when applicable, in the collection's introductory abstract.
Wisconsin Pioneer Experience Sample items in the collection
Wisconsin Pioneer Experience Item Descriptions
Ingeborg Holdahl Alvstad [Transcriptions]: Call Number: River Falls SC 245
Ingeborg Holdahl Alvstad, Reminiscences, undated (RIVER FALLS) - Recollections by Alvstad of her family's emigration from Norway, the sinking of their ship, their settlement in Gilman Township, Pierce County, Wisconsin, in 1889, and her early years there as her family established a farm home. 9 typed, transcribed pages.
John Archiquette [Translations]: Call Number: Green Bay SC 53
John Archiquette, Diary 1868-1874 (GREEN BAY) - Typed translation of a diary kept by Archiquette, an Oneida Indian, containing information on tribal council decisions and discipline and on farming, road building, religious services, and other aspects of life on the Oneida Reservation near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Translated from the Oneida language by Oscar H. Archiquette. 34 pages of typed transcriptions from the original Oneida.
Gunliek Bondal [Translations]: Call Number: M94-396
Gunleik Asmundson Bondal, Letter, 1854. (WHS) - Translation of a letter written by Gunleik Asmundson Bondal, a Norwegian immigrant, on January 17, 1854, describing his journey from Krago, Norway, to Dane County, Wisconsin and his family's new life in America. He recounts the price of cattle, farm implements, food, clothing, and other necessities, and writes of farming, including descriptions of the machines used, wages, the time taken by various tasks, geography, and climate. He draws many comparisons between the New World and the Old. Also mentioned is the California gold rush and cholera epidemic. 7 typed translations from the original Norwegian. Uncorrected OCRd transcriptions of some letters available.
Mary Pease Brainerd: Call Number: Oshkosh SC 68
Four letters written by Mary ("Molly") Brainerd from rural Danville, Dodge County, Wis. to relatives in Michigan. The two earlier letters are addressed to her niece, Lavinia, a student in Kalamazoo, Mich. and are filled with family news and detailed information about crop conditions. The 1881 letter tells of a very hard winter with deep snow and its attendant difficulties, and of a lot of sickness and death. The 1882 letter describes the provisioning of family members who left for the minefields of Montana. Uncorrected OCRd transcription available.
Gerard Brandt [Transcriptions]: Call Number: Milwaukee Small Collection 47 Box 1
Selections from Gerard Brandt, Letters 1850-1860 (MILWAUKEE) - Selection from the letters from Gerard and Catherine Brandt of Holland township in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, to relatives and friends, chiefly in Milwaukee and the Netherlands, about personal and religious matters and life in Wisconsin. 35 pages of typed translations from the original Dutch.
Enoch Chase: Call Number: Wis MSS DL Milwaukee SC 32
Reminiscences of a pioneer settler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who left his home in Vermont in 1831, traveled by schooner and stage to Coldwater, Michigan, where he practiced medicine and taught school. In April, 1835, he drove a team to Milwaukee. In his narrative he describes and characterizes many of the pioneer men and women of Milwaukee, and speaks of Indian troubles, the organization of government, the development of industries, and local rivalries. A portion of the sketch is published in James S. Buck's Pioneer History of Milwaukee, 1:49-52 (Milwaukee, 1890).
J. Seymour Currey: Call Number: Northland SC 28
J. Seymour Currey, Vilas County Notes, 1906 (WHS) - Notes by Currey on the lakes of Vilas County, Wisconsin, including information on Charles A. Bent and his family, owners of a resort on Lake Mamie. 11 handwritten pages.
Lyman Goodnow, Recollection, 1880? (MILWAUKEE) - Typed manuscript of Goodnow's account of how he helped the first slave escape to Canada from Wisconsin the Territory in 1843. 11 pages of typed transcriptions.
Theodore E. F. Hartwig [Transcriptions]: Call Number: SC 167
Theodore E.F. Hartwig, Letters, 1846 and 1851 (WHS) - Two typewritten translations of letters, written by Dr. Theodore E. F. Hartwig, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, September 25, 1846 and November 21, 1851, to his family in Germany describing his trip to the United States by sailing vessel, railroad, and lake steamer to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and describing Cedarburg and Milwaukee. 30 pages of typed translations from the original German.
Lucy Hastings: Call Number: Eau Claire SC 35
Family correspondence to and from Lucy A. Hastings and her husband David; including letters from relatives in Dexter, Michigan, and an 1855 description of moving from Massachusetts to Oxford, Wisconsin, and information on Indians around Oxford, moving to Eau Claire in 1857, and an Indian panic there in 1862.
Lucy Hastings [Transcriptions]: Call Number: Eau Claire SC 35
Family correspondence to and from Lucy A. Hastings and her husband David; including letters from relatives in Dexter, Michigan, and an 1855 description of moving from Massachusetts to Oxford, Wisconsin, and information on Indians around Oxford, moving to Eau Claire in 1857, and an Indian panic there in 1862. Uncorrected OCRd transcriptions of some letters available.
William Hodges: Call Number: River Falls SC 73
One letter dated June 11, 1856, written by Hodges describing pioneer conditions in Pierce County, Wisconsin. Uncorrected OCRd transcription available.
Uriah Hollister: Letter and Reminiscence: Call Number: Whitewater SC 41
Typewritten transcription of reminiscences, ca. 1912, by Hollister, Delavan, Wisconsin, concerning the settlement and growth of the area and youthful experiences; and one letter, 1839, written by his mother describing the family's trip from New York to Wisconsin and their new surroundings. Uncorrected OCRd text available.
Mrs. Thomas Huey [Transcriptions]: Call Number: Stout SC 18
Mrs. Thomas Huey, Address, 1924 (STOUT) - Address given in 1924 by Mrs. Thomas Huey in which she reminisces about her life in Dunn County, Wisconsin, between 1863 and 1883; and a postcard from Henry E. Knapp in which he comments on the address. 7 pages of typed transcriptions.
Anders Lian [Translations]: Call Number: Eau Claire Mss CC Box 1 Folder 3
Hagen Family Papers, 1879-1899 (EAU CLAIRE) - Family histories and typed translations of letters from several Norwegian immigrants to the Eau Claire, Wisconsin area: Anders (Andrew) P. Solem, maternal grandfather of the collection's donor, Harold Hagen; Elling (Erling) Andersen Sende, Hagen's paternal great-grandfather; and Anders Lian (also known as Andrew Lee), Hagen's maternal grandmother's cousin. Letters by Anders P. Solem are directed to his grandfather in Norway. In them he describes his experiences working in sawmills and lumber camps, comments on labor conditions, including a strike for the ten-hour day, and offers various observances regarding life in America. Letters by Elling Anderson Sende and his wife Guruanna relate family matters and further detail life in Eau Claire. Letters written to Anders Lian and his family concern arrangements for bringing him to America. The largest group of letters in the collection are written by Anders Lian to his family in Norway. They also document work in the lumber industry and discuss current events, and the economic and political climate in 1890s America. Also of interest are Lian's experiences enlisting in a military training camps as a volunteer soldier at the time of the Spanish-American war. The family histories in the collection were written by Genevieve Hagen and include biographical details as well as genealogical information for each of the correspondents. 89 pages of typed translations from the original Norwegian and original family histories.
Charles Shepard Papers, 1850-1858: Call Number: Platteville Micro 2
Papers of Charles Shepard and other residents of the black settlement of Pleasant Ridge (now Beetown), Wisconsin, including letters, tax receipts, and community history. Shepard (Sheppard) was the head of the first African-American family to settle in what became a pioneer black community about five miles west of Lancaster, Wisconsin. In 1848, the family of William Horner, a Haymarket, Virginia planter, moved to Wisconsin, bringing with them their freed slaves: Charles and Caroline Shepard (nee Brent), their three children, Harriet, John and Mary, and Charles' brother Isaac. A woman named Sarah Brown, who was left behind in slavery, later joined this family after Isaac returned to Virginia and paid for the woman's freedom. The two then married. Charles and Isaac left a mother and several brothers and sisters in Virginia who planned on heading west at a later date. Eventually, these individuals migrated to Washington D.C. The letters are chiefly communications between the Shepards in Wisconsin and their relatives in the East. Other letters are those of Thomas and John Greene, other settlers of Pleasant Ridge.
Anders Solem [Translations]: Call Number: Eau Claire Mss CC Box 1 Folder 1
Hagen Family Papers, 1879-1899 (EAU CLAIRE) - Family histories and typed translations of letters from several Norwegian immigrants to the Eau Claire, Wisconsin area: Anders (Andrew) P. Solem, maternal grandfather of the collection's donor, Harold Hagen; Elling (Erling) Andersen Sende, Hagen's paternal great-grandfather; and Anders Lian (also known as Andrew Lee), Hagen's maternal grandmother's cousin. Letters by Anders P. Solem are directed to his grandfather in Norway. In them he describes his experiences working in sawmills and lumber camps, comments on labor conditions, including a strike for the ten-hour day, and offers various observances regarding life in America. Letters by Elling Anderson Sende and his wife Guruanna relate family matters and further detail life in Eau Claire. Letters written to Anders Lian and his family concern arrangements for bringing him to America. The largest group of letters in the collection are written by Anders Lian to his family in Norway. They also document work in the lumber industry and discuss current events, and the economic and political climate in 1890s America. Also of interest are Lian's experiences enlisting in a military training camps as a volunteer soldier at the time of the Spanish-American war. The family histories in the collection were written by Genevieve Hagen and include biographical details as well as genealogical information for each of the correspondents. 89 pages of typed translations from the original Norwegian and original family histories.
Superior Wisconsin. Papers: Call Number: Superior MSS A box 4
A selection of WPA collected and transcribed recollections of Superior area pioneers from a larger collection of papers, many of them copied from originals, relating to Superior and dealing with the area's history, including material on the fur trade, Indian trails, harbor, parks, schools, prisons, ethnic groups, aviation, housing, and churches.
Friedrich Tillman [Translations]: Call Number: La Crosse Mss K
Selections from Tillman Brothers (La Crosse, Wisconsin), Records, 1856-1899 (LA CROSSE) -Translations of a diary kept by Friedrich Tillman, partner in a furniture and undertaking establishment founded in 1859 in La Crosse, when he sailed to America from Germany in 1856. 23 pages of hand written translations from the original German.
Milton Wells [Transcriptions]: Call Number: Box 139 Folder 24
Milton Wells, Letter 1844 (WHS) - Typewritten copy of a letter written by Reverend Wells of Burlington, Racine County, Wisconsin Territory, to Charles Hall, Secretary of the American Board of Home Missions, concerning the plight of Norwegian immigrants in the Town of Rochester and his need for aid to help them. 3 pages of typed transcriptions.
Wisconsin territorial letters
1837 | 1838 | 1840 | 1841 | 1842 | 1843 | 1844 | 1845 | 1846 | 1847 | 1848 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851 | 1852
Selections from Wisconsin Territorial Letters, 1837-1852 (WHS) - Selections from letters from various places in Wisconsin, addressed for the most part to residents of Eastern states, reflecting living conditions in rural Wisconsin during territorial and early statehood days. They contain frequent references to the prevalence of fever and ague among the settlers, and notations of wages and the prices of commodities and real estate. Among the letters are small groups from leaders of two religious denominations--the Congregational minister E. D. Seward of Lake Mills and the Presbyterian minister Jeremiah Porter at Green Bay-- and 10 letters from ministers of the Baptist Home Missionary Society to the Reverend Benjamin M. Hill, corresponding secretary of the Society. A calendar of the collection is included. 222 photostated pages of handwritten text.
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This compilation (including design, introductory text, organization, and descriptive material) is copyrighted by University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.
This copyright is independent of any copyright on specific items within the collection. Because the University of Wisconsin Libraries generally do not own the rights to materials in these collections, please consult copyright or ownership information provided with individual items.
Images, text, or other content downloaded from the collection may be freely used for non-profit educational and research purposes, or any other use falling within the purview of "Fair Use".
In all other cases, please consult the terms provided with the item, or contact the Libraries.
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