Ralph Warner Arrives in Cooksville, 1911

Ralph Lorenzo Warner, a Milwaukee native living in Racine, bought a house in Cooksville in 1911, thanks to his friendship with village resident Susan Porter (a teacher in Racine), who told him the “house next door” was for sale. (Porter was living in Waucoma Lodge on Webster Street.)

Warner bought the Cooksville-brick Duncan House for $500.



Thus began Ralph Warner’s 30-year love-affair with the quaint, quiet, little village, during which he filled his house—the historic Duncan House (built 1848) on the corner of Webster Street and Highway 59—with early American antiques and crafts (and some English art works), created an elaborate English-style garden, entertained special guests at lunches and dinners, and helped promote the “wee bit of New England” that Cooksville represented in Wisconsin.

Warner became a beloved figure in village life in the 1910s,’20s and early ‘30s, stimulating interest in early American arts, crafts and architecture, collecting local antiques that otherwise might have been tossed out, and sharing his keen aesthetic interest in 19th-century life and music and gardening, including preparing simple meals of fresh local ingredients for visitors who discovered him and his antiquarian corner of Cooksville. A number of journalists beat a path to the cobblestone walkway to his famous House Next Door.




All in all, Warner led the way, preserving that special “sense of time and place” of America’s early years that was beginning to appeal to the country in the first decades of the 20th century. By doing so, he single-handedly put quiet little mid-19th century Cooksville on the map.

Ralph Warner's undertakings marked the beginning of historical “awareness” in the village, and his efforts inspired many others during the following 100 years to preserve and celebrate historic Cooksville.

On Sunday, August 14, 2011, at 7 p.m., a program will be presented at the Cooksville Community Center entitled, “Cooksville since 1911: Ralph Warner, the House Next Door, and a Century of Historic Preservation.”

The slide program will include scores of photographs and artifacts to illuminate the story of Ralph Warner and the House Next Door, and will be presented by Will Fellows, best-selling author who grew up near Cooksville and now lives in Milwaukee, and Larry Reed, Cooksville’s local historian.

The program will be presented at the historic Cooksville Schoolhouse on August 14th at 7 p.m., sponsored by the Cooksville Community Center, and is open to the public.

Don't Miss the Big Event Next Weekend!

Jody Did It (With a Little Help From Her Friends)

 

The back of the Cooksville Store was the site of the many hour session of making dreadlocks in Jody's hair. There was food. There was laughing. It was a regular dreadlocks party. Jody was so happy. She's been wanting to do this for a very long time.

Stoughton Chamber Singers Concert

 

The rain quit in plenty of time for the 2011 Stoughton Chamber Singers Concert in the Cooksville Church. There was a good crowd and the choir got a standing ovation for their performance. Afterwards, choir and audience enjoyed cookies and tea and lemonade in the Cooksville Community Center.

On the Trail of Garlic Mustard

 

A few folks, led by Jody Foster and her friend, Mary, went after the garlic mustard in the woods of the Cooksville Commons last weekend. Several large garbage bags were filled with the stuff which continues to develop even after it is pulled. The DNR recommends bagging it for the landfill in order to prevent its spread.

A number of people had experience with cooking common weeds and happily shared their knowledge. There is a wealth of food growing right under our feet here in Cooksville.

Garlic mustard has a 2 year growth cycle, so even if we got every single blossoming plant this year, we would still need to come back next year and attack it again. So count on another garlic mustard day next May. And thanks to all who came to help out.

Get a Grip On Garlic Mustard Sat., May 8

The Cooksville Community Center will hold an educational program entitled “Get a Grip on Garlic Mustard” on Saturday, May 7 from 9:00 a.m. until noon on the Cooksville Commons located on Hwy 59, 2 blocks east of the intersection of Hwy 138 and Hwy 59.

Anyone with an interest is welcome to join in for a day of education and community service. The topic will be the invasive Garlic Mustard plant. Cooksville resident, Jody Foster, will be leading this activity. She has been foraging wild foods for over 10 years. Last year she began teaching others how to identify and use the abundance nature offers us right outside our doors.

Participants will learn how to identify garlic mustard at the various stages of its life, how to control its spread, as well as how to serve it for dinner. The class will be making an effort to pull this year’s growth from the woods at the Cooksville Commons. Attendees can expect to go home with handouts and recipes to try this nutritious and delicious weed on their table. A black trash bag or two would be a welcome donation and will be put to good use! This event is being sponsored by the Cooksville Community Center. For more information email: borrowedearth@litewire.net .

The Center is Clean!

Thanks to all who helped.

Indoors Earlene, Mary Z. and Ilene swept, vacuumed and wiped surfaces. Ralph Pelky washed interior windows.

Outdoors Keith, Larry McD., Bill Z., and Carl Franseen raked and hauled brush.

Jennifer weeded & cleaned the flower beds along the south side. She has bark up there to put down still.

Karl Wolter showed up just as the group finished. He was all ready to wash windows. He will return another day & wash some exterior windows with Patrick. He & Jennifer walked the borders & found garlic mustard along the highway which he said he would take care of.

Mary Kohlman phoned somebody & said she would clean the outhouses.

So we are ready for another season. Many thanks.