Jerry Apps - Old Farm: A History

Karner blue butterfly

In 1967 I began writing a weekly column, Outdoor Notebook, for the Waushara Argus . Publisher Howard Sanstadt, now deceased, suggested I include stories about my newly acquired farm. Howard both encouraged and instructed me over a period of ten years while I wrote 520 columns about happenings at my Waushara County property.

Professor Robert Gard, folklorist and writing instructor with the University of Wisconsin Extension, read several of my newspaper columns and suggested I write a book about my familys farm adventures. He helped me through the many challenges of book writing and became my writing mentor. To him I am ever grateful. The Land Still Lives was published by Wisconsin House in 1970. Brief excerpts appear in Old Farm .

Jim Christensen, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), became interested in our prairie restoration and our Karner blue butterfly population. He provided me with reference material, invited me to a Midwest conference on prairie restoration, and introduced me to Dave Lentz, also with the Wisconsin DNR. Dave is an expert on Karner blue butterflies, a nationally endangered species that needs lupines for its survival. Dave helped us first identify our Karner blueswe have several little blue butterflies that flit around our farm that are not Karner blues. He also read some of the manuscript and made important corrections.

Neil Dibold, Prairie Nursery, Westfield, Wisconsin, was of enormous help with the identification of wildflowers, grasses, and trees at our farm. I especially appreciate his help in not only correctly identifying the plants but providing accurate Latin names. My brother Darrel, a horticulture PhD, owns and operates a plant nursery in New Jersey. He was once part owner of my farm and helped me with plant identification and Latin names. My brother Donald, who owns thirty-five acres of the original farm and lives on the place, has been a constant source of information as we together recalled the years when we planted several thousand trees.

Pam Anderson, president of the Wild Rose Historical Society, helped me sort out Tom Stewarts Civil War military history. Several men named Tom Stewart fought in the Civil War, and I couldnt figure out which was the first owner of our farm. Pam pointed me in the right direction. Dorothy Luening, a volunteer with the Wisconsin Historical Society, helped me prepare a National Archives application to obtain detailed information about the correct Tom Stewart.

Marvin Wagner, then mayor of Wautoma, Wisconsin, and an active member of the Waushara County Historical Society, encouraged me in my historical diggings and gave me valuable information about Waushara County history.

Linda Steffen, head librarian at Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, directed me toward the collection of Wild Rose Times newspapers, along with historical minutes of the Wild Rose village board that are shelved in the library. I used this material extensively.

Rob Nurre, Wisconsin Commissioner of Public Lands Office, was a font of information about early Wisconsin land surveys. He also helped me sort out the history of the Harrison monument used to mark survey section corners (I have one on my farm).

My son Steve, a photographer for the Wisconsin State Journal , took all the contemporary photos in the book. He also read and commented on the manuscript from its early development. My son Jeff, a businessman in Colorado, offers broad perspectives and gives me many useful comments on my various book projects, this one included. My daughter, Sue, an elementary teacher in Madison, has a keen editorial eye. She finds many errors that I miss, and she is always asking, What is this? What does this mean? Its helpful to have representatives from another generation ask questions about what I too often believe everyone knows.

My wife, Ruth, as she has for more than thirty-five years, reads every book manuscript, usually several times. I listen carefully to her suggestions for improving my writing and continue to thank her.

Kate Thompson, my Wisconsin Historical Society Press editor, constantly amazes me with her ability to take my sometimes poorly organized work and turn it into something much better than I thought possible. I cant thank her enough.

This is a story of an old farm, a scant sixty-five acres in Waushara County, Wisconsin, about ninety miles north of Madison and forty-five miles west of Oshkosh. It is located in the Town of Rose, which was named by settlers who moved here from Rose, New York, in the mid-1800s.