Journalists Tell Cooksville’s Story: Here’s an Article from 1929

Journalists have been writing stories about the historic Village of Cooksville and its people for many decades—actually, during the past 19^th, 20^th and 21^st centuries. In newspapers and magazines, in feature articles and gossip columns (and occasionally in books), writers have been drawn to the charming little “Town that Time Forgot” and to the “Wee Bit of New England in Wisconsin.” 

Or in the case of a 1929 story in The Milwaukee Journal, “The Town Daniel Webster Once Owned,” with the subtitle “Philosophizing Blacksmith Is the Only Citizen of Cooksville, Wis., Without Artistic Inclinations and Even His Practicality Weakens at Times.”

This year, 2017, Cooksville celebrates 175 years since its birth in 1842, years filled with typical events of  settlement and growth---and then, in Cooksville's case, decline and then re-discovery, recognition and re-birth. The journalists’ views over the years provide snapshots at various times in the village’s history, including the fact that the famous Senator Daniel Webster first owned much of Cooksville in 1837, buying the promising new land from the U.S. government when it went on sale for the first time in history.

The following are excerpts from that lengthy Milwaukee Journal feature article of September 22, 1929, in which the writer, who had no byline, was interviewing Jack Robertson (1858-1930), the village blacksmith and popular fiddle-player. Four large photographs accompanied the full-page article. Excerpts follow:

* * * * *

Everybody on Webster St. is either literary or artistic except Jack Robertson. And he is a fiddling blacksmith…. Cooksville is not the unimaginative collection of stores, tumbled down houses and brand new bungalows…. Instead it is picture in red brick, the quaintest village in Wisconsin…. Its houses, including Jack Robertson’s blacksmith shop, all front a village green.… so that, after the mellowing of three-quarters of a century, they seem to rise as naturally from the earth as the giant elms and maples and oaks near their front doors. The bricks were burned in a kiln nearby…..

Everybody has a flower garden, except Jack Robertson. Beside the converted stable that forms his shop and living quarters, is a field of tobacco.

Jack Robertson's Blacksmith Shop

The gardens of the literary folks are things of beauty. Narrow walks divide beds of flowers that seem to be looking at you instead of you looking at them. Hollyhocks and giant phlox and cosmos stare you straight in the eye like a western sheriff.

The writers are in their houses tapping away on typewriters. The poet [Arthur Kramer. ed.]  is in front of an upper window where the white curtain blows in and out. The artistic lady [Dorothy Kramer, ed.] is weaving a rug.

Dorothy Kramer (1900-1962), weaver and potter

Jack Robertson sits in a swing in front of his blacksmith shop, one arm around a rope.

Ask him if he has lived in Cooksville all his life. “Not yet, he replies.”

“My father,” he continues, “was a Scotsman who farmed it out east of here and later bought out the village store.”….. You glance upward to a weather vane balanced by a fan. “Now you are looking at some of my work,” says the blacksmith. “I cut those figures out of sheet steel….They’re just figures. That one on top of the shop, though, is a man sitting on a fish’s back.”

It is just a man riding a fish. It was made in his spare time and no doubt because the blacksmith wanted to show his literary and artistic neighbors that he too could create something useless originating in an esthetic urge. When your neighbors are writing poetry, you don’t want to devote all of your time to wagon tongues and plow blades.

“I used to own the house next door,” the blacksmith continues, pointing to the red brick home of the poet. He lowers his voice. “I don’t know what he is writing,” he whispers, “but whenever I hear him tapping away, I know he is figuring out something.”

“Everybody’s stuck on Cooksville,” he continues. “They like to ride out in their automobiles and so they come here to look over Ralph Warner’s place and Cooksville. They all go crazy over the park; they call it a ‘village green,’ or a ‘common.’” The blacksmith snickers. “It’s full of weeds.”

Susan Porter  (1859-1939)

Next to the poet lives Miss Susan Porter, the historian, the old settlers’ club, the voice of oldtime Cooksville…..familiar with every bit of history and tradition connected with the little town ….[and] the great Daniel Webster….

Senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

Miss Porter tells you that Mr. Webster sold the site of Cooksville to his family physician, Dr. John Porter, [who] in turn, resold to his brother, Dr. Isaac Porter, who deserves to have his name placed high in the list of Wisconsin pioneers, in spite of the fact that he only lived in the state three days. For when a case of smallpox made its appearance on the Great Lakes steamer bound for Milwaukee, Dr. Porter cared for the patient…. he hardly reached what today is Cooksville before he fell sick with the disease. In three days he was dead. This was in 1854. His sons were Cooksville pioneers….

In an early plat the town was not called “Cooksville,” but “Waucoma,” taking its name from the little river on which it is situated. In those early days the town fully expected that “the railroad was to go through,” an anticipation that never became a reality. And Waucoma, later become Cooksville, for years thereafter led a dull existence like some pretty country girl whose city lover hurried off after the first kiss….until the automobile came to summon Cooksville….to a giddy middle age.

Ralph Warner, at the door of his "House Next Door"

Without it you would never have Ralph Warner’s tea room.... Some 18 years ago, Mr. Warner, an artist and a collector, while a guest at Miss Porter’s home, became fascinated with the house next to her home….. and ever since it has been known as “The House Next Door”….. he gave up teaching art to devote all of his time to entertaining the automobilists who come to The House Next Door. 

Occasionally, Mr. Warner, moved by the spirit of the past that possesses Cooksville, dons a long coat and beaver hat to greet his guests…. land’s sakes, look at the automobiles today——two big shining cars in front of Mr. Warner’s right now——ladies in flowered chiffon walking in the garden, others chatting in the parlor, tea brewing——.

Jack Robertson, blacksmith and fiddler (1858-1930)

And the blacksmith swinging away. “Say,” he calls, “I forgot to tell you. Alec Richardson down the street here——he don’t write——he sells bonds in Madison.”

*** End of the 1929 Article ***

[Sadly, the following year, Jack Robertson committed suicide by shotgun. From the Cooksville Archives. Larry Reed, ed.]

News from Tree Restoration Committee of Cooksville

The Tree Restoration Committee received a DNR Grant for Cooksville Urban Forestry and Commons. The grant will be matched with volunteer hours, in-kind services and fund-raising which will help fund or support these components:

• Tree inventory
• Professional Tree Management Plan
• Arbor Day Celebration and Tree Planting
• Community and Educational Outreach Programming

Future Dates:

Arbor Day Celebration - April 30, Sunday   2-4 pm   Refreshments to follow at the Cooksville Community Center after the proclamation and tree planting on the Commons.

The committee is having a tree inventory work date in late May if anyone is interested in learning how to identify trees, leaves and bark.

June 10 - Art Activity- Tree Art  for all ages on the Commons before and after the Jerry Apps lecture -   Community and Educational Outreach

More “Before and After” Rehabilitations in Historic Cooksville, by Larry Reed

A previous article here told the story of the restoration of historic buildings in the Village of Cooksville through “before and after” photos. These preservation projects re-capture the original historic architectural character of the village’s nineteenth-century buildings—homes, churches, barns, schoolhouse, even out-houses— and have been going on for many decades and continue to this day, helping to retain the significant character of this 175-year-old village.

Such projects are evidence of wise investments, smart re-uses and re-cycling, and the pride owners have in improving their village. And the owners can take very real pleasure and satisfaction in saving a part of Wisconsin’s and America’s heritage.

Here are more “before and after” pictures that help tell the story of preservation and its role in the appreciation and aesthetic enjoyment, as well as the economic benefits, of living in a historic community like Cooksville.

John Seaver House (c.1849) - BEFORE
John Seaver House - AFTER

Some of the village’s houses required major exterior rehabilitation to reveal the hidden original materials and historic architecture from the mid-nineteenth century, This sometimes meant the removal of modern metal or vinyl siding to once more expose original wooden clapboards and old exterior trim underneath, which allowed the symmetrical design elements of the early, simple Greek Revival and Gothic Revival styles to be appreciated. 

Smith House (c.1845-46) - BEFORE
Smith House - AFTER

On occasion, the restorations required only some repairs and minor replacements of missing details or trim work.  Sometimes more extensive work was required to restore original porches or major exterior stylistic features that had been covered over or removed in the past. Usually, early photographs or the discovery of physical evidence provided the needed documentation of original appearances.

Gunn House (c.1852) -  BEFORE
Gunn House, "Breckhurst"- AFTER

Many of the small historic houses required large modern additions, sensitively and carefully designed to provide bathrooms, closets, larger kitchens, etc., which would ensure continued modern use of the original structures. Whether the early houses were small one- or two-room residences or were somewhat larger Cooksville brick structures, they could all be made to easily accommodate modern needs.

Longbourne House (c.1854) - BEFORE
Longbourne House - AFTER

Sometimes the original use of buildings had to be changed to accommodate new uses. This different use served to give new life to the structure, preserving the historic building. Two examples are the village’s one-room schoolhouse that became a community center and an old dairy barn that is now a new, spacious home.

Erickson Barn (1914) - BEFORE
Erickson Barn - AFTER

Cooksville Schoolhouse (1886) - BEFORE
Cooksville Schoolhouse - AFTER

Even a few old village outhouses have been lovingly repaired and re-painted—and even re-used now and then, or converted a new use as a garden shed. Some young and not-so-young visitors have never seen (or used) an original “two-holer” in a backyard!

The Cook Outhouse (c.1900) - BEFORE
The Cook Outhouse - AFTER

As time goes by, these restored buildings will only become more valued as important historic Wisconsin structures—especially as some historic buildings are needlessly and foolishly demolished.

This year, Cooksville celebrates the 175^th anniversary of its founding in 1842, and plans have been made to welcome friends and visitors to attend programs and events and tour the historic village.

For more information about the 175^th Celebrations, see the schedule of events posted earlier in this Cooksville New Blog Spot.

Historic Cooksville Buildings: Before and After Restoration, by Larry Reed

The story of the Village of Cooksville in the 21^st century is, in many ways, a history of “self-preservation.”

Many of the historic buildings in this small rural village have been preserved, rehabilitated and restored over the past four decades, undergoing its own “self-preservation,” with the community working to rehabilitate and retain its special historic built-environment— and celebrating and sharing it.

These “before and after” pictures help tell that story.

Cooksville Congregational Church - BEFORE

Cooksville Congregational Church - AFTER

Cooksville’s story— its history— is its mid-19^th century architecture and rural setting, all part of the heritage of its pioneering settlers of 175 years ago when the Cook brothers, John and Daniel, founded the village in 1842.

Cook House - BEFORE

Cook House - AFTER

The restorations and rehabilitations have included the settlers’ first homes, two churches, three barns, a schoolhouse, a general store, a large public square or commons, and a cemetery. They are all are part of the Cooksville Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and 1980. Just outside the village are eight other historic buildings and sites also listed in the National Register.

In addition to the state and federal recognition, the local government— the Town of Porter— established a zoning designation for the Cooksville Historic District to ensure that future building or demolition projects in the village did not harm or destroy the valued and irreplaceable historical heritage of the community.

Betsey Curtiss House - BEFORE

Betsey Curtiss House - AFTER

Since these official actions, the Cooksville underwent a “boom” in the recognition, appreciation and rehabilitation of its heritage of early buildings, Attention was paid, and owners and residents began spending more time and effort restoring and caring for its history. Preservation became a tradition and a principle for many local property owners.

Projects included adding new, appropriately-designed additions to the historic houses, removing inappropriate metal or shingle siding, repairing or restoring windows and shutters, restoring or re-opening closed-up front porches, re-using and rehabbing old village barns, and restoring church bell-towers.

Van Vleck House - BEFORE

Van Vleck House - AFTER

As long ago as 1911, when Ralph Warner arrived in Cooksville, people learned from his early preservation example to appreciate the well-designed, well-constructed, charmingly “quaint” old buildings. Warner created the “House Next Door,” turning the old Duncan House into a show-piece of 19^th-century antiquity. His “antiquarian” home-making—his antique-filled old brick house, his old-fashioned flower and vegetable gardens, his sharing of his home with visitors—brought local and national attention to the little village and opened the eyes of others to the possibilities of re-using and retaining the old, sturdy brick and wood-framed buildings from another era.

Fortunately, many other Cooksville citizens also became interested in preserving and rehabilitating its architectural heritage. And, again fortunately, the village had a resident architect named Michael Saternus who also was very interested in preservation—and was also very talented and energetic during the thirty years he lived in the village.

Van Buren House - BEFORE

Van Buren House - AFTER

Owners of the old historic buildings turned to Saternus for advice and assistance as Cooksville underwent its 20^th century renaissance. The historic preservation programs of the Wisconsin Historical Society also assisted in many of the restoration projects. (For information, contact www.wisconsinhistory.org.)  Residents and visitors noticed, appreciated, and realized the possibilities of preservation— that it was economically worthwhile as well as culturally important to save and re-use these older, important, re-usable buildings from the past.

William Porter House - BEFORE

William Porter House - AFTER

Cooksville was also fortunate to have had a series of local historians in the 20^th century who had gathered and preserved many historic documents and photographs from the past 175 years of the village’s existence. These were used to document the old buildings and assist in restoration projects., as well as to tell much more of the story of this early village.

Blackman-Woodbury House - BEFORE

Blackman-Woodbury House - AFTER

Graves Blacksmith Shop- BEFORE

Graves Blacksmith Shop - AFTER

The “before-and-after” photographs of some of the projects illustrate this commitment of residents to preservation over the years. Some projects involved the entire building; some only addressed a portion, like a steeple; and some also involved the outhouses and the landscape.

Cooksville Lutheran Church steeple - DURING

And the work to preserve and enjoy the Village of Cooksville’s heritage continues, as it celebrates 175 years since it was established in 1842.

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