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Christian Mares

Christian, Barbara, Mary and Phillip circa 1903/04

 

Born: 12 Jan 1875, Bear Creek, Outagamie County, WI

 

Parents: Peter Mares and Barbara Gietzen

 

Siblings: John, Joseph, Peter, Henry, Nickolas, Frank, Katherine, Mary, Barbara and Andrew.

 

Marriage: 6/5/1901 to Mary Fleischmann in Bessemer, Michigan at St. Casmire church

 

Children: Barbara (1901-1986),  Phillip Joseph (1903-1964),  Alvina- never married (1905-1983),  Bernice -never married (1906-1940), Veronica (1909-1913), Leonard Mark (1915-1977),  “Charlotte”, died at birth

 

Death: 2/19/1945, Kenosha, WI., age 70. Cause of death on death certificate: Cerebral hemorrhage and arterioscleosis

 

Biography:

John “Christian” Mares was one of 11 children of Peter and Barbara Mares. Chris was born in Bear Creek, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. His father was a farmer in Bear Creek, which was settled around 1854 and had a large number of people of German descent. During the period between 1877 and 1882, when Chris was between 2 and 7 years old, six of his siblings died, likely of some epidemic illness. Two of his little sisters died in 1877, and the rest during a one year period between 1880/81. Scarlet fever and diptheria were common illnesses at the time, and sporadic outbreaks of cholera and typhoid frequently occured. In the “History of Wapaca County”, there is specific mention of a small pox epidemic in Bear Creek in 1884, brought by a German immigrant family. It does mention that six people died of it just prior to that. There were no Catholic churches in Bear Creek at the time, and children are all buried at the St. Patrick’s cemetery in Lebanon, a small community close to Bear Creek.

Sometime between about 1895 and 1899, when Chris was in his early 20’s, he moved to Rhinelander, WI to work in the logging camps.  Rhinelander was a rather new settlement, first starting out in 1880 with the name Pelican Rapids.  When the settlement was chartered and the railroad came to the area in 1882, the grateful residents renamed it Rhinelander after the president of the railroad.  The area was in the heart of the north woods, and with a railroad to transport the wood, logging hit a peak in the 1890’s when Chris was there.  The demand for Wisconsin pine was insatiable, and it was estimated that the forest vanished at rate of millions of feet a year.  By the early 1920’s, the industry was at an end because the timber was nearly exhausted. An interview with Barbara Mauel in July 1977: “My dad use to go up to the logging camps.  He’d tell us how they would cook in those camps and how they’d eat those prunes.  That’s where he decided to become a blacksmith and he learned the blacksmith trade in Rhinelander.”  The men slept in large, hastily built bunkhouses and food was served cafeteria style on big tables.  There wasn’t much variety in their food; beans, salt pork, hard tack, venison, crackers and prunes were common.  Images of logging camp 1890’s Wisconsin.

 

Chris met his future wife, Mary Fleischmann, in Rhinelander.  His daughter Barbara recalls: “He (Pa) took a trip to Rhinelander after Ma died (Dec. 1935).  They would have been married 35 years on June 5th, 1936. Pa, Phil, Orlando and I left on Decoration day (1936). Pa took us to this restaurant and we were sitting at a table and Pa said, “See that door over there?  The first time I laid eyes on your mother she was coming through that door. When I saw her I said “That’s for me!”  She used to be a pastry cook and made bread and pies (She is listed as working as a servant at what looks like a lodge or boarding house in Rhinelander in 1900.)  Then he went to Bessimer, Michigan because he heard about the mines and lots of work up there.  He started up there on his own, shoeing those mules and making things for the mines up there.”  Mary must have followed shortly thereafter, as they were married in Bessemer in 1901.  First child, Barbara, was born to the couple while living in Bessemer in 1901.  Son Phillip followed in 1903.  Bessimer, Michigan was in the middle of the wilderness at that time, and a rough and tumble place to live.  From the ‘History of Bessemer Michigan’:  “There wasn’t too much recreation so when the miners were not working, they sat around in saloons of which there were 48 in 1888 (city populaton 5875).  The wife or child would go and get the father or husband home at night.  Sometimes he came home with them, but if he was in an ornery mood, he stayed all night.  Lunch was to be had with the drinks and the back room was very convenient for those who were overcome by the intoxicants and were not able to navigate home.  At night one scarcely dared to go out on the dirt roads or plank sidewalks for drunks were common and a knife or pistol (no law forbidding), a club or a plain fist were weapons used. Many innocent victims were killed. There was no one to prosecute and many had immigrated to the new country leaving relatives behind. In 1892, a police department was organized.”

When Chris’ father, Peter Mares, died in 1904, they came back to Bear Creek for the funeral.  Chris received a settlement of about $750 (inheritance), so bought the blacksmith shop in Bear Creek with it, first living in the old house adjoining the property, then built a larger house to live in.  Note that the city they moved to was actually called Welcome at that time, but by 1910 changed it’s name to Bear Creek. This city of Bear Creek was in Outagamie County, right near the border with Waupaca county, in fact only a half mile from the township of Bear Creek which is in Waupaca county, where Christian grew up and his father Peter lived. Five more children were born to Chris and Mary after moving to Bear Creek, including Alvina in 1905, Bernice in 1906, Veronica in 1909, Leonard in 1915 and Charlotte, year unknown.  Barbara’s recollections of two of her little sisters: “When Veronica was born, she had a sore on her leg about the size of a fifty cent piece, and the sore drained. The doctor put all kinds of things on it to dry it up but it didn’t do any good. Finally Ma and Pa heard about a specialist in Milwaukee.  He healed the sore, but then she started getting fits, convulsions, because it didn’t drain. It was going into her system when it should have come out.  They took her back to Milwaukee and they told them that the worst thing they could do was to dry the sore up.  She used to get those convulsions and she would get like a rag and she never grew.  She used to suck her two fingers.  When she started to get those convulsions, she’d scream and bite those fingers right to the bone. Her fingers were all swollen and sore.  The first time Ma would hear that sound, she’d run out and try to get those fingers out of her mouth.  Sometimes her jaws were set on them, and she couldn’t get them out.  She was just like a little baby; she never walked or anything.  One time we had a mission at Bear Creek and you know Ma and Pa.  The priest had some kind of services over her and dedicated her to the Blessed Virgin.  You had to promise that you would dress her in nothing but blue and white.  She wore a medal around her neck. She was seven years old when she died on May 28th. On Decoration Day, there was a big High Mass and all the school children (the Sisters knew about it) were dressed in white and carried white lilacs, which were in bloom at that time. That’s how she was buried.  She was a little angel of the Blessed Virgin.”  The last baby born to Chris and Mary was a little girl.  “It was born dead. We just kind of baptized it. They didn’t even give it a name. I remember we came downstairs - it happened during the night - and saw the dead little baby, and so we called it Charlotte.  I remember Pa with the little white casket and they took it and buried her.” 

 

Chris kept a record of income from his blacksmith shop starting in 1914.  His total earnings that year were $1515.30.  Not all of his earnings were cash, as he recorded the following bartered items over a 6 year period: 27 quarts cherries $2.70, 4 1/2 lbs cheese @14 cents (.61), 75 head of cabbage $1, 200 lbs cabbage .80, 1 bushel apples $1.00, coal .25, lecture course tickets $1.00, old tires $1.00, 6 cords of wood .50.  I wonder what they did with all that cabbage?

Bernard Mares, nephew of Chris, recalled the following during an interview in 1977: “Uncle Chris and Joe made the jail cells in Bear Creek.  They were made out of flat steel slats and they had to drill and rivit them all by hand.  Even the door was made of slats.  They had a good lock on the door and if you remember the slats were not too far apart.  People couldn’t get their hand through.  I don’t think they were more than 2 inches apart.  There were 5 fellows who robbed the Bear Creek bank.  It was at night.”  After a chase, three of them were caught that night and put in jail.  The other two fled into the cornfields, but it was difficult to catch them at night.  Several men went out and watched the fields until morning, and caught them at daybreak.  They were taken to the jail, and when they entered the cell, the other three men arrested the night before were gone.  “When Chris made the cells, he apparently didn’t anchor it to the floor.  There was about two feet of space between the top of the cells and the ceiling.  They had lifted the darn thing up, bodily, and got out by squeezing underneath.  Were they ever caught?  Oh yeah, they were from Oshkosh.  I don’t know what penalty they got, but I heard they were caught.”

 

The family stayed in Bear Creek until about 1919, when Chris looked for work in Kenosha. He moved to Kenosha first and lived in a boarding house while the family stayed back in Bear Creek for awhile.  By May 1920, they had a house in Kenosha and the whole family moved there.  The following is Barbara Mauel’s story of why Chris Mares moved from Bear Creek to Kenosha: “One Sunday Pa and the other men in the village were out visiting the other towns around publicizing Bear Creek Booster Days.  They used to do that, go around the other towns and talk up the celebration so they would all come.  They would all have a great time on that trip.  While they were gone, Aunt Inez got sick and came over to our house.  She had a hernia, and it wouldn’t go back in.  Their doctor was over in Clintonville; but she was so sick that she couldn’t go to Clintonville, so we called Appleton for a surgeon, and he was going to come.  The doctor said that he be over on the 5 pm train and operate in the house.  So Ma said to boil a lot of water, and we did.  We filled the stove with wood and bark and had all the pans on to heat water.  Well, the stove pipe going outside to the roof got hot and lots of sparks were going up the chimney.  The blacksmith shop was attached to the old house, and we lived in the new house.  All the sparks were landing on the roof of the blacksmith shop.  We never knew that, though. Mr. Charles Fenton, who rented the old house, came running into our house shouting that the shop was on fire.  Meanwhile, Pa and all the men were coming back from their visiting. They were all feeling pretty good; Pa, too, and then somebody said, ‘Boy, there must be an awful fire.’  And Pa says ‘Look at the sky!’.  And the closer they got, he says, ‘My God, it’s the shop!’ Pa’s books were in the shop, and he wanted to get those books out so he would know what people owed him.  Nobody could stop him.  We just hung onto Ma, who was hollering, ‘Don’t go in there!’  One side of the roof was falling - the other end of the roof had already fallen in.  Well Pa goes in there, and Ma and us are all going crazy.  He got in there and got some of his books out, otherwise he wouldn’t know what people owed him.  Well, he didn’t get all the right books.  And some people wouldn’t come forward to settle with him.  Pa didn’t get much. I think they got about seventeen hundred dollars for all the damage through the fire department and insurance.  He lost the blacksmith shop, damage to the house, and there were shoes and stuff that was sold. After that Pa went to work at four-wheel drive.  Then one Fourth of July Earl Jepson came up from Kenosha.  He was working at the Nash’s (Motor Company), and he saw Pa, and he says, ‘Why don’t you come with me?  You’re welcome to come back to Kenosha with me.  I know you could get a job down there.’  And he was telling him about the money, better money than up in a little town like Bear Creek, you know.  Well, anyway, Pa goes. So he gets a job right away.  Ma and us kids stayed up there in Bear Creek until the following year in April.  There were horseshoes and all kinds of stuff that Ma sold.  She also sold the house to a Mr. George Darry for $1400.  Then in January or so - I can remember, I had to stay home and take care of the kids - Ma went to look at that house in Kenosha.  She went there for a few days, and then finally they did buy it.  She went back to close the deal some time later.  They paid $4200 for it, borrowing some money from Pat Dolan.  They paid it back in six months.  The house in Kenosha was quite large and had a barn.  They kept roomers and boarders in the big house until about 1928 when Mary became crippled with arthritis and goiter.  Daughter Barbara was told by her mother that when she first started at the Stevens House in Rhinelander she first started in the laundry room washing clothes.  You had to lift tubs of water, and lifting when she was so young was how she got the goiter.  In about 1928 they converted the big house to apartments.  The barn was torn down in about 1926 and replaced with two, 3 room cottages.  Mary Mares died on Christmas day in 1935 after her goiter operation.  Chris suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed for 4-5 years before his death in 1945.  While Chris was in Bear Creek, he was very involved in community life and highly respected. After their move to Kenosha, he probably missed the place of prominence he once enjoyed, and is said he started drinking.

 

Chris started a jounal about daily life in the city of Welcome starting around 1910.  This journal was hand copied by a Mauel relative who noted that several pages had likely fallen out.  The initial entries were sparse, but more frequent staring in 1915.  The following entries reflect the family’s life:

1910
Nov. 13: Rush of horse shoeing started, lasted about 3 weeks
1911
Mar. 30: Started water works in house.
April 14: The big ocean Titianic Steamer sank with over 1600 souls. Was on her maiden trip.
1912
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 20: It was very cold. The theromiter went as low as -35 and at no time was it above zero. Extra good weather for the coal man.
Jan. 20 Mary went to Clintonville to get a crown put on her off tooth
1913
May 28; Veronica (daughter) died at 10:45 Wednesday Eve. Buried Friday. It was Decoration Day. Veronica was 4 years, 10 months, 1 day old.
1914
April 12: All the childen came down with measles
June 9: Barbara went to Milwaukee with Ma
Oct. 5: Raised our horse shoeing to 25 cents, setting 50 cents now.
Dec. 3: Barbara and Phillip started music lessons
1915
Jan. 29: Children had scarlet fever, we were quarrentined.
April 2: Put water up stairs. This is Good Friday.
June 5, 12:45 pm Saturday. Leonard Mares (son) born Baptised June 9th.
Dec.8 2:15 pm: Bernice is scratching on the violin trying to play like Mr. Table (?). Bernice stopped playing, gone outdoors. I guess Phil is down to see Lorena Large.
After dinner at the Mares home Phillip went away right after dinner. Mother and her oldest daughter made paper flowers. Bernice was hollering around and Alvina wants a nickel. Leonard is sleeping and I am scribbling these lines.
Dec. 26: Went to Tomey’s for 1/2 pint cordial to stop diaerah.
1916
Sunday May 7: Went to church forenoon. Slept from noon till four. Went up town, nothing going on, came home. Barbara and Bernice played on piano and violin respectively and kept begging for money to go to the shoe (?). Kept hollering their heads off. Phillip he went to see Loriene Large, she was busy so he went to Smiths farm with Joe to wear away his grief.
Sunday May 21: Dreary day. Rain and lonesome weather. Washed my head last night and got a dam good cold, feel tough. Got some pills from druggist in forenoon and some real (?) from Tim Tomey (pharmacist) in the afternoon. Hope that wil cure it. Don’t like to write with a pensil.
Sunday Sept. 17: Mother worked her head off to feed her company, every one in the family had to stand around. Barbara is crazy to go to Clark’s after the milk so she can see Dan. It’s cold tonight and Mother she is hollering for wood. Master Leonard had his regular amount of falls today so he is all right. Bernice is not feeling well, she ate to many beans so she is bloated.
Sept. 24: 6 am got up and got ready to go to Holy Communion at 7, 7:30 came home and found everybody in bed yet. Woke them up to go to 8 o’clock mass. Barbara put on the wrong shoes and Ma she is showing her big finger where she hit Phil last night. Phil attended high mass and said the singing was rotten. Barbara bellyaching about going up to practice for confirmation. Hollering about Joe coming. Everybody seems to be ugly except Leonard.
1918
Sunday May 19: 4:50 Has been a rainy day, showers all the time. The children received First Holy Communion this morning. Bernice was among them. I must go to Clintonville tonight to work again in the great F.W.D Plant. Hope I get a good premium job again tonight. Mary is sitting along side of me and her lower lip is hanging down. Don’t know what for, I guess just tired. 5:40 pm: Four women in the house and it is a hard time to get any of them to get supper. Phil is up town some where nobody knows but he will show up for supper that is sure.
1919
Saturday Aug. 24: MaMa and Leonard came down to Kenosha for a short visit with the old man , returning Monday noon at 1:15. I don’t think they enjoyed their trip as they were disappointed in some things. (old man = Chris; this is when Chris was living in Kenosha and Mary still in Bear Creek)
Tues. Eve Aug. 27: I am lonesome since they went home. Hope the time is not far distant when we can be together again and stay that way.
Sept. 30: Got an awful attack of diaorreous which lasted until the following Sunday. I certainly looked like a corpse, my eyes were at least an inch and a half back in my head farther than they ought to be. But thank God I am alright again now.
Sunday Oct. 12: Sunday afternoon, 4:30 pm This is the lonesomest Sunday yet. Don’t know what to do with myself. Have not seen any of the fellows at all. Sure is a hell of a life away from home. City life looks good but a fellow might as well be up in the woods if he ain’t got lots of money to spend.
Nov. 8: 11:30 Just got cleaned up, washed, shaved and dressed. Got layed off at 9:30 this forenoon on account of some power trouble so they were all sent home in our dept.. I would like to have put in the whole forenoon as I could have made 2 1/2 more very nicely. Had a good job but it can’t be helped now. It is cold out and looks like a storm.
1920:
Saturday Jan. 24: Mary came to Kenosha to look at the house we intended buying. I went down to the depot to meet her. The train did not get in till nearly four o’clock. I was very glad to see her as I was getting lonesome. She was very well satisfied with the house and everything so we decided to close the deal. Here is hoping we have some good luck.
Jan. 26: Mary went home happy expecting to move soon. Hope it is true so we get together again.
April 19-20: Had a law visit with Aughist Keuffer, the fellow that lived upstairs in our (new) house at 452 Newell St. He was to get out by Sat. April 24th or I can get a writ and put him out. Our furniture was loaded at Bear Creek Sat. April 17th so it is liable to be here anyday.
April 22: I was up to Milwaukee last evening to see the family. They just came to Aunt Katies from Bear Creek. They are all looking good. Going to stay at Katie’s until we can get in our house which will be soon now.
Monday April 26: Barbara went to the American Brass Co to look for a job. She is quite nervous starting out but she will be all right after she gets started. Mon noon-Barbara struck a job running a machine, she is getting 38 cents/hour. She feels better since she has a job.
Wed. May 12: Colby’s moved out of our house today so now we can move downstairs.
Saturday May 15: We slept down stairs for the first time. It seems so good to have the house all for ourselves.
Nov. 11: Got layed off at Nash Factory on account of inventory. They told me to come back Dec. 6.
Nov. 20: Phillip got layed off at Nash Factory too. So we are all of work now but hope it won’t be long.
1922
Monday Jan 30: Barbara started in the Nash Foundry today. She came home all tired out, first real hard days work.
Monday Feb. 6: Phillip was elevated to manager-ship today of one of the Davis shoe stores. He is now at the Economy shoe store. He will have to do something now, either go up
or go down.
Wednesday Feb. 8th: Barbara still at the foundry but very tired every night. But making good money so she is satisfied. To bed every night early, no running around.
1923
June 22: Told the boarders we would not have any Sunday dinner or supper during the hot weather.

 

Census:

1930 WI census, Kenosha county, City of Kenosha, District 19:
Christ Mares, age 55, owns home, value $10,000, owns radio, age at marriage - 26, born WI, both parents born WI, laborer at auto factory
Mary, age 50, wife, age 21 at marriage, born Germany, both parents born Germany, year of immigration - 1885
Alvina M., age 24 no occupation
Leonard M., age 15
Bernice G., age 23, hemmer at hoisery factory

 

1920 Wisconsin, Outagamie Co, Bear Creek:
Chris, head, age 44, can read and write, born WI, father born Holland, mother born WI, mechanic at factory
Mary, wife, age 40, year of immigration 1885, naturalized in 1900, can read and write; born austria, parents born Austria
Phillip, age 16
Alvina, 14
Bernice, 13
Leonard, 4

 

1910 us census, Wisconsin, Outagamie County, city of Welcome:
Chris Mares, head, age 35, married 8 years, born WI, father and mother born Holland, speaks english, blacksmith at the blacksmith shop,
Mary, wife, age 29, 5 children born, 5 children alive; born Germany, parents both born Germany; year of immigration:1892
Barbara, daughter, age 8, born Michigan
Phillip, son, age 7, born WI
Alvina, daughter, age 4, born Wi
Bernice, daughter, age 3, born Wi
Veronica, daughter, age 1 9/12, born Wi

 

1880 Census, Bear Creek, Waupaca Co WI:
Peter Meres, age 43, born Prussia, farmer, mother and father born Prussia
Barbery Meres, wife, age 38 born Prussia
John Meres, son age 17 born WI
Joseph, son age 16 born WI
Peter age 12, born WI
Henry age 8, born WI
Christian age 5, born WI
Nickolas asge 3 born WI
Frank age 1, born WI

 

Misc:

WWI Military Registration: (9/18/1918)
Chris Mares, Bear Creek Outagamie Co, WI, born 1/12/1875, age 43, white, occupation: Machinest F.W.D AutoTruck Co. in Clintonville, Waupaca Co
Physical description: Height - medium; build - small, eyes brown, hair dark.

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