website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
Maes’ Shanty
F. P. Brook (Peter Brook)
1835-1909
Brooks & Hawkins
Peter’s Shanty
Store,
Shop, Shanty — “The Bridge” Barber Shop and Bath Rooms [portion of image NT051_FarmersPicnic_2_1898]
“The History of Jefferson County, Wisconsin”, Chicago: Western Historical Company. 1879.
F P Brook, groceries, fruits and confectioner; was born in Veldenz, near the river Moselle,
Prussia, June 22, 1835, and came to Wisconsin in the summer of 1850 ; located
in the town of Watertown, on a farm that his father purchased
from Mr. McCready.
He
then came to Watertown and learned the barber's trade; he remained at his trade
for five years and, in 1857, started a fruit and confectionery, which he
carried on for about eighteen years; in 1866, he started the Red Front Store,
adjoining the Bank of Watertown, which he
carried on in connection with his other store.
For about two and a half years, Mr. Brook quit business, for a rest, and
then started the store he now occupies and in which he is doing a successful
and profitable business.
He was
elected School Commissioner and resigned on account of his business; in 1877, was elected as Supervisor and again in 1879, which
position he now holds.
He married, December 31, 1857, Christiana Esslinger,
of Buffalo, N. Y. He has five children - Amanda, Edward, Emma, Charles and Ida.
1858
07 15 ICE CREAM SALOON—F.
P. Brook & Co. have just refitted their Ice Cream Rooms at their
Confectionary & Fruit Store on the bridge, and are prepared to serve up the
Best Quality of Ice Cream Every Afternoon and Evening. Ice Cream furnished for Parties or Private
Families on a few hours notice, in large or small quantities. Owing to the hard times we shall charge only
ten cents a dish this season. WG
07 22 Tomatoes and early apples are
among the seasonable luxuries to be found at F. P. Brook's Confectionary and
Fruit Store, on the south side of Main Street bridge. In a quiet way, the other day he sent parcels
of each of these articles to our residence, as if he would do us a kindness and
not have us tell where plenty more of the same sort could be found. An excellent place is that to get a glass of
cool and foaming soda, fresh from the pure fountain of health, or a dish of the
most delicious of ice cream. WG
08 12 Fruit in its
Season—Physicians concur and doctors do not disagree in the opinion that ripe
fruit, in its season, is the healthiest of all the varied productions of that
bountiful dame—Mother Earth—and in this sultry weather, when the physical
system is relaxed, and listlessness and lassitude have taken possession of us,
nothing is more invigorating or healthful than the fragrant apple, the juicy
pear, the luscious peach or crispy melon.
Nature that doeth all things well, is just now furnishing the golden
fruits in almost endless variety. And
Peter Brook, on the bridge, is dealing them out in quantity and quality to suit
purchasers. Oranges and lemons, peaches
and pears, apples and melons, in fact everything in his line, to suit the taste
of the most fastidious, may be found at "Peter’s." Give him a call and judge for yourselves. WG
09 09 Old Stand Renewed—Have fitted up in good style the store on the south side of Main Street
bridge, formerly occupied by Maes & Roper, and
are keeping on hand and a complete assortment of Candles, Nuts, Green and Dried
Fruits, Pickles, Preserves, Oysters, Sardines, Lobsters, Bird Seed, Raisins,
Citron [large lemon-like fruit], and, in short, everything belonging to the
Confectionary and Fruit line. We have a
most complete assortment of Fancy Soaps, Hair Oil, Pomades, Colognes,
Perfumery, and Flavoring Extracts, which we will sell cheaper than anybody else
in the city. Ice Cream and Soda Water
always ready. F. P. BROOK & CO. WG
10 21 A large number of
goods may now be purchased at F. P. Brook’s Fruit Store on the south side of
the bridge. Fresh oysters, sweet
potatoes, delicious grapes, fine apples–most any article that comes under the
head of seasonable luxuries—can always be purchased there. That establishment is one of the necessary
institutions of this city. WD
1859
02 03 Oysters
at Peter Brook & Co. WD
03 03 Fitted up store on the south side of Main
Street bridge, formerly occupied by Maes & Roper
06 02 Ice cream season has
arrived WD
1860
02 23 “Jeems” This distinguished individual has recently
located in this city—a fact of which our readers may not be fully aware. He serves up the “latest importations” of
oysters, warm and cold victuals, and fluids vulgarly styled refreshments[?],
at the usual rates. He is up at all
hours, can be depended upon in every emergency, and “runs wid der masheen.” He may be found in the small building at the
further end of the bridge on the left side, if you are going that way, or in
the same building, on the right side, if you are coming this way. He is reliable. WD
03 15 Spring has come and so have
tropical fruits at F. P. Brook & Co.
Oranges and lemons, by the box, dozen, or any other number from one to
ten thousand, may be obtained there cheaper than they have ever before been
sold in this city. Only think of it,
oranges at wholesale can be bought there for less money than they are sold in Milwaukee, and large, fine lemons for a quarter a
dozen. New maple sugar we also see
displayed in his window and apples that in size, flavor and soundness cannot be
surpassed. WD
06 28 A New
Era—Peter F. Brook is a fast man and keeps up with the times. He has discovered that the evenings are
short, and summer afternoons warm. So he
is going to provide delicious Ice Cream for the public as early as 1 o'clock,
p.m., when all can get a glass by calling at his rooms, down stairs. Cherries he has already had, and now early
apples are among the tempting things that attract public attention to his
establishment. WD
10 12 We know of no one more deserving of
praise for cultivating the public taste then friend Brooke, whose constant and
sole labor is devoted to this exalted work.
His is the most agreeable discipline, to which he treats all who employ
his services. Moreover, considering how
salutary his lessons are, the tuition is as low as that term is brief. Therefore, all should attend to the needed
internal improvement at the institution on top of the river. WR
10 26 Watertown Oyster Depot
The subscriber is agent for this city for the sale
of C. S. Maltby's celebrated and renowned oysters,
which he will always sell at wholesale at Milwaukee prices, and at retail in
proportion. Oysters received daily and
warranted fresh. Depot at the fruit store,
middle of Main Street bridge, where he also keeps candies of every description,
the best of cigars, tobacco, nuts, etc., at wholesale and retail. Oysters, sardines, etc. by
the dish at his Eating Rooms. F.
P. Brook WR
12 06 New Year's Eve Ball
Mr. Peter Brook is now
actively engaged in making arrangements to give the citizens of this city and
vicinity a brilliant and splendid New Year's Eve party. It will not be surpassed by anything of the
kind that has ever been got up here. No
pains will be spared to make it delightful to all who attend. Fine music, table loaded with all the
delicacies that can be found in the market, a gay assemblage, all will be
combined to render it the festival of the season. Let all who enjoy a dance come, and pass the
last night of the year in social intercourse.
WD
12 13 F. P.
Brook is busy with his efforts to render his New Year’s Festival as brilliant
and pleasant as the most liberal expenditures will do it. He is determined it shall be a success and all
who attend have the opportunity to bid a cheerful adieu to the old year and a
happy welcome to the new year. Strains of animating music shall attend the
departure of the one and the arrival of the other, and a gay throng keep step
to the melody and movements of the passing hours.
Grand
New Year’s Ball and Oyster Supper. At Cole’s Hall, Watertown,
Wis., on Monday evening, Dec. 31, 1860.
Yourself and lady are respectfully invited to attend. Honorary Managers: Hon. M. B. Williams, Hon. Charles R. Gill,
Hon. Chas. Billinghurst, D. W. Ballou,
Jr., Hon. Theodore Prentiss, Hon. L. A. Cole, P. V. Brown, Esq., J. T. Moak.
Managers: Joseph Linden, Dr. G. Shamberg,
T. McMahon, C. A. Sprague, E. Stoppenbach, Edward
Johnson, E. M. Hall, Dr. James Cody, A. Stein,
Watertown; W. S. Green, Milford; C. P. Mead, R. B. Basford,
Waterloo; Dr. Wm. Potter, J. Dutcher, Lake Mills;
Chas. Daniels, Oak Grove; James Thorn, Juneau; Edward M. Mahon, Jefferson; W.
M. Phelps, Farmington.
Floor Managers: O. D. Pease, D. D. Scott, Peter Rogan.
Table
Superintendent: Jacob Jussen
Music by the Watertown
Brass and String Band
John Fuller,
Prompter. Tickets,
including supper, $2.00. Carriages in attendance.
F. P. Brook WD
1861 Brook’s Ice Cream Saloon
06 06 Mr. F. P.
Brook is fitting up his Ice Cream Saloon, on the south side of Main Street
Bridge, in a style that will make that pleasant summer resort attractive to the
public. He is constructing a pair of
stairs on the east side of his building, so as to make access to his saloon
more convenient. With well-furnished
reception rooms, the most delicate and delicious of creams, the choicest of
fruits in abundance, we hope he will find his reward for his enterprise and
liberality in the presence of all the visitors he can attend to in his best
manner. WD
October 10, 1861
Watertown Democrat,
10 10 1861
Sweet Potatoes, of a fine quality, from “the land of
Dixie,” can be bought at Brook’s Fruit Store, on the [Main Street] bridge.
Neither his oysters,
fruit, confectionary or cigars are all gone yet.
He has more of each kind left.
Watertown Democrat,
11 07 1861
Bright as New
F. P. Brook has just overhauled, repaired and newly
fitted up his Fruit Store and made his Eating Rooms pleasant and attractive to
visitors at all hours – morning or evening.
His variety of choice fruit is always large – no better oysters than his
ever find their way to the West – his cigars are the best brands that can be
bought in any market – and he attends to all calls with promptness and
politeness that render it a pleasure to deal with him.
Watertown Democrat,
01 09 1862
[Advertisement] Enough Left Yet
Notwithstanding the rush of Oysters,
Confectionery, Apples, Tropical Fruit, and a thousand other good things at F.
P. Brook’s during the holidays, he has still a large quantity on hand to please
his customers. And what is more, the price of Maltby’s best Oysters, fresh
from the East, have come down in price and may now be had for 50 cents a
can. A fine article of Sweet Cider has
just been received, which we state for the benefit of those interested.
1867 Birds eye view
1875
F P Brook, George Hawkins, confectionery on bridge, Main / 1875-6 Watertown City Directory
1898 Farmers Picnic
NT051
NT050
1904 Flood takes out Peter’s
Shanty See Featured Article, below
1909
02 26 Died. F.
P. Brook died at this home in Green Bay last Sunday, in which city his remains
were interred on Wednesday. Mr. Brook
was for many years engaged in business here with George Hawkins and was one of
Watertown’s best known business men.
Deceased was born in Veldenz, Prussia, June
22, 1835, and in 1850 came to America, locating on a farm in the town of
Watertown. Shortly after coming to
Wisconsin he learned the barber’s trade in this city and in 1857 opened a
confectionary and fruit store in the frame building that for many years was
located in Rock River on the south side of Main
Street bridge.
Several years after engaging in that business he and George Hawkins
formed a partnership and they also conducted a large grocery and crockery store
at W. J. Beach’s present stand in Main Street.
While a resident of Watertown he represented the Fourth ward several
years as school commissioner and also in the county board of supervisors. He also served as deputy city marshal. December 31, 1857, he was married to Christina
Esslinger of Buffalo, N.Y., who survives him with two
sons and four daughters. Mr. Brook was
possessed of an open-hearted and kind disposition and we believe a man who
never willfully wronged anybody. The editor of the Gazette,
after leaving high school away back in 1874, entered the employ of Mr. Brook in
this city and for over a year had an opportunity of learning him at his true
worth. He was kind and generous to his
help and by word and deed always encouraged them in their daily labors. Ever since then the editor has always held
Mr. Brook in the very highest esteem and regarded him as one of his best
friends. WG
_______________________________________________________________________
Featured Article, written by tPeter Brook: Peters Shanty went out with Flood in 1904
Watertown Daily
Times,
06 22 1917 Annotated by Ken
Riedl. Image added.
WHS_002_PC_370
The following article concerning the
building which at one time stood on the south side of Main Street bridge and
which was swept out by the flood in the spring of 1904 ,
was written several years ago by the late Peter Brook [F. P. Brook, Green Bay,
April 10, 1904] for a local [Green Bay] newspaper, and may prove of interest to
readers now [1917]:
1850-51
The shanty was
built in the winter of 1850-51, Henry Maes having
purchased the right to build of the then owner on the [river] bank, Dr. Edward Johnson, for the sum of $40,
the owners on the bank claiming a “superior right on a non-navigable stream to
the middle.”
1851-52
Within a year or
two Werner, the barber, had
erected a long building on the north side of the bridge, [1870,
Werner bldg (with canopy, north side of bridge, washed away in 1881 flood] and among the
first tenants were William Buchheit’s
“bier halle,” Joseph
Salick’s jewelry store, D. Blumenfeld’s
Weltbuerger
office, etc.
1856
At the same time the new bridge was being constructed by the
Dunn Bros., which was known at that time as one of the finest and most
substantial post bridges in Wisconsin.
Upon the completion of the shanty [on south side of bridge] it was
immediately occupied by Henry Maes as a barber shop,
and a very nice establishment it was.
Soon after the building
was finished Walter Besley and William Chappel [Chappell] stepped into the barroom of the Planters Hotel and told Mr. Turner, the proprietor, that they had bet the drinks, the loser to pay,
inviting Mr. Turner to drink with them.
After the brandy and sugar had been disposed of in due form it occurred
to Mr. Turner to inquire what the bet was about, when he was told that Besley had bet that Henry’s shanty [Henry Maes] would fall down stream and Chappell that it would
fall up stream. Now that the shanty has
fallen neither up stream nor downstream and all the parties to the bet having
long since passed to the great unknown, the reader will probably conclude that
it had better be called a draw.
1850
The writer [Peter
Brook] arrived in Watertown on the previous July, or the July of 1850, and soon
moved with his parents onto a farm on Temple’s Hill, where both parents died in
about three weeks after taking possession of the place. Being thus left an orphan at the age of
fifteen and unable to find employment as “storekeeper,” so called by Germans of
that time, I entered the service of Henry, the barber, as an apprentice for a
term of three years, where I soon became quite an attraction, so much so that
the Yankee girls used to come into the shop to see “that handsome Dutch
boy.”
In about two years
after the building had been opened as a barber and bathing rooms [Henry] Maes moved the barber shop into the basement and put a
billiard table on the ground floor . This billiard room became a popular resort
and the first night the table was being played on, O. D. Pease (later a captain
in the army and who lost his life at the battle of Shiloh) and I hung around
until 12 o’clock, when we played our first game with the mace [Maes?], having no confidence that we could hit those
slippery balls with the cue. The
billiard table prospered immensely.
Hiram Harder, Perry Harder, Tom Smith, Peter Seaburg
and Anton Francel being the crack players of the
town---the writer, spending all of his leisure time when the table was not
occupied, soon could beat the best of them.
When my time as
apprentice was at an end and Maes wishing to quit the
business, I bought out the establishment (such as it was) with a few dollars
left me by my parents and became a full-fledged tonsorial artist, but that I
ever became an adept with the razor I most emphatically deny. About this time Maes
conceived the idea of putting a bar and restaurant into the room in the
basement where my shop then was, so I was bundled off into an 8x16 room under
the platform, in front of the building.
1850
At this time, or
about 1854, S. G. Roper [Samuel G. Roper,
1909, death of]
became associated with Maes, when they branched out into
the wholesale liquor business to a considerable extent. There being no regular bartender at first, a
rule was laid down that anyone going into the basement must whistle all the
time he was gone and failing to do so it was taken for granted that he was
“whetting his whistle,” and compelled to pay 10 cents. Quite an excitement was created one day over
a large cask of gin having been left, in the evening in front of the store now
occupied by J. C. Harrison, when it was found that some miscreant had bored a
hole in the cask (valued at $130) and let the contents run into the
gutter. Maes
and Roper then occupied the basement of that building with their stock of
liquors. George H. Bott
was accused of having tapped the cask, but the evidence was not sufficient to
convict.
1855
About 1855 the
people demanded a new bridge on account of the three heavy railings dividing
the wagon tracks as well as the sidewalk, scarcely a day passing without some greenhorn
taking the wrong or left hand track and being met by some mischievous driver
half way or more, would be compelled to back off the whole distance as best he
could. The new bridge constructed by Mr.
Steger was the full width of the street and about three feet higher than the
old one, which compelled Maes to move the shanty back
about three feet and raise the ground floor about the same amount.
About
this time a determination manifested itself in the communication with the
bridge. By what means the railing in
front of the Werner building [on the other (north) side of the bridge] was
removed I cannot call to mind. As to how
that in front of Maes’ shanty was taken down I
remember very well. While two men took
the night watch [watchman] up town and
filled him with beer, two others pretending to be drunk,
sawed the opening and threw it into the river.
During the time the
shanty was being remodeled so as to accommodate itself to the new bridge, my
barber shop was removed to the basement under Miner’s drug store, now August Wiggenhorn’s jewelry establishment, where in a short time I
sold out to M. F. Paulfranz for the $20 gold
pieces.
The building in the
river being in a condition to be occupied, and Maes
and Roper having been attacked by the western fever, sold out their liquor
business and moved to Minnesota with family, bag and baggage, locating at or
near a place where Owatonna is now situated.
Being now out of business and the shanty vacant, I rented it of Henry Maes at $300 a year and on account of a lack of sufficient
capital became associated with Fred Brandt under the firm name of F. P. Brook
& Co., and started a fruit, confectionery, cigar and tobacco store on the ground floor,
with ice cream and oyster rooms in the
basement. Alonzo W. Straw being our
first clerk, I believe.
High rent,
ignorance of business methods and general heedlessness, soon reduced our stock
so that Joe Giles used to say I had to set my soda crackers up edgewise to fill
up the shelves, and the probability is that in maturer
years I would have given up the business as a fizzle. Nevertheless, at the very time when my
worldly affairs were in the most deplorable condition I got married, paying the
Rev. Mr. Niles $3 for performing the ceremony, it being all the money I
had—boarded a few mouths with Jerry Mowder and then
went to housekeeping in the basement of the shanty, using the furniture,
dishes, etc, connected with the ice cream and oyster room, for family purposes,
and while thus keeping house in the lower story of the building our first child
was born.
My first associates
in Watertown were almost exclusively Americans, not by design, but, and for
reasons that I have never been able to explain, unless it was that Mrs. P. B. Basford, finding me rather a likely boy, took me under her
wing and got me to join the Cadets of Temperance where I was considerably
lionized as being the only member of German birth and on account of which I
incurred the enmity, so to speak, of such Germans as disapproved of all
temperance moves, being most frequently spoken of as “Yankee Peter.” Those cadets were principally young boys and
at every meeting one of the members had to read an essay on the temperance cause,
and when it came my turn to do so, though I could scarcely speak any English, I
produced one of the most wonderful addresses ever heard in the hall; in
consequence of which I immediately became one of the leading spirits of the
society, and the speech was spread on the records in full, though I remained as
dumb as an oyster about the fact that Dr. James Cody had written the
composition for me.
1860
Republican Headquarters
This and other
circumstances throwing me into American society, and consequently chiefly among
republicans, it naturally followed that when I became of age I found myself a
full-fledged member of that party, and Peter’s shanty republican headquarters;
and let me say to you, dear reader, that at that period of the history of
Watertown, much pluck and determination was required in a foreigner avowing
himself a member of the republican party, and according to my best recollection
Conrad Dippel, Chris May and the writer, were the
only members of German birth of that party.
This same rule held good in almost the entire
state of Wisconsin at that early period.
In Watertown, up to
1860, a republican was expected to keep his mouth shut, and a stranger in the
city failing to observe that rule almost invariably got a good licking before
he got out of town.
Upon the arrival of
Carl Schurz in the city, owing to his transcendent
ability and oratory, a new light sprung up for such Germans as were inclined to
shake off the democratic yoke, and the Barstow state administration, laboring
under a cloud of dishonest methods, soon had the natural effect of a large
section of German
democrats entering the ranks of the opposition.
And no wonder, when we consider that the entire German vote of Watertown
was led by “City Henry” (Henry Bergman) and Frank Belrose,
the former controlling the German, the latter the Irish vote; Rock River House
Fischer was also deemed a leading factor in carrying elections for a given
candidate.
“Peter’s shanty,”
previously stated, being tacitly admitted as republican headquarters, began now
(1860) to prosper, and at about the same time a young Irish boy, ragged and
dirty, named George Hawkins, applied one evening for employment as clerk. The writer, having had his eye on the boy
(being only a few feet away), his energy and business methods, for some time,
engaged him on the instant and from that moment F. P. Brook & Co.’s
business success was assured. The
presidential campaign being now in swing, drawing large crowds of republicans
called wideawakes or torch bearers, to the city, and
Peter’s shanty being the natural attraction for such gatherings, the firm made
money so rapidly that in about a year Fred Brandt was able to get out of the
business without loss, and the writer was soon enabled to buy the shanty,
besides building himself a small house.
The election
resulted as is well known in the choice of Mr. Lincoln for president, and on
the part of the republicans of Jefferson County, the victory was celebrated at
Fort Atkinson. The war being now deemed
inevitable Governor Harvey , who was the principal
speaker on the occasion, put the question, “Boys, will you go?” meaning to the
war. Well, kind reader, I must confess
that having been but recently married, and having no inclination whatever to
make a target of my precious body for Southern marksmen, I didn’t shout worth a
cent; in fact, I was about the sickest lamp carrier you can imagine. I can remember well the thought flashing
through my mind, “For God’s sake, have I been voting for war.”
Recruiting
for Civil War / $300 and you’re free
The war began as is
well known, at first by volunteer soldiers, and the first recruiting in
Watertown was done in Peter’s shanty, but it was soon discovered that the place
was not large enough for the crowds that gathered, and other quarters were
engaged. In a year or two it was found
that soldiering was not the picnic party that was expected, and drafting had to
be resorted to. Early in 1864, such a
draft was held at Janesville, and a large number of Watertown people went down
there to watch the proceedings.
Returning late in the evening, a mob of democrats bolted into the
shanty, and sang at the top of their voices:
Old rye coffee
Is good enough for me,
Without one grain of sugar
If the nigger can be free.
Having kept this up
for at least half an hour, when at a given signal the entire crowd shouted,
“Pete Brook is drafted,” the said democrats thinking it a joke, whereas I
had voted the republican ticket, it was
highly proper that I should go to war.
The boys had a good deal of fun at my expense, but I can assure the
reader that I didn’t appreciate the joke worth a cent. In due time the mustering day arrived and I
went to Janesville to be examined ( at that time the
drafted man having been accepted could escape actual service by the payment of
$300), was told to strip, which I refused to do, was thoroughly examined by the
doctors above the waist, who finally pronounced me unfit for being a soldier on
account of something being the matter with my heart (probably that organ being
in my mouth about that time). In the
evening of that day I treated the draft board, composed of N. S. Greene, L. B.
Caswell, Capt. Putnam, Dr. Head and one or two others, to a nice supper, with
ample quantities of wine, at the leading hotel, came home and immediately set
to work to rebuild and enlarge the shanty which brings us to 1864.
1864
I went into John T.
Slight’s woods, personally selected every tree to be used for timbers, built a timber
foundation and put a new structure joined on to the old one, between it and the
bridge sidewalk, substantially as it was when tipped over a few day ago. The new
establishment soon became a greater attraction than ever because the proprietor
made it a point to have a better cigar,
glass of lemonade, dish of oysters, the earliest fruits and berries in their
season, and a dish of ice cream unexcelled.
Well in Rock River
Large quantities of
water being used in the establishment, and which had to be carried quite a
distance, I conceived the plan of laying a pipe from the artesian well behind the post office building to the shanty, only the
great expense of doing so deterring me from carrying out the project, when like
an inspiration the thought occurred to me one day, “Why not make a well right
here?” No sooner had the feasibility of
the project presented itself, when I was looking around for a man to do the job
and in a few days the drill was at work under the building on the ice. Before going down, however as deep as I had
originally intended, the ice began to raise and the
machine had to be taken from under the building, having gone down only about
eighteen feet. To preserve what I had
done from being lost, I drove a pump log into the hole, having not the least
suspicion that water had been struck, but to be entirely certain that such was
the case, I measured with a small stick the height of the water inside of the
log as compared with the river water, on the outside, and found to my great
delight that the water inside the pipe was a trifle higher than the river
water, thus proving without a shadow of doubt that I had a well at a trifling
cost. About this time Robert Howell
returned from the oil fields of Pennsylvania, and instructed me how to insert
the pipe into the bore, and make it a tight joint by means of a seed bag. I followed his instructions and in a few hours had a
flow of good water about three feet above the lower floor, and it is highly
probable that this is the only well ever constructed in the bed of a river.
Smoking Room / Civil War News
The smoking room became the resort of my
chums, and the leading men of the town, more especially so for such of the
railroad men who were not given to frequenting saloons, but wished to met each
other outside of their homes. Many
pleasant hours were spent in that room by J. O. Pattee,
A. J. Earling, W. P. Brown, H. A. Ranous,
H. C. Atkins, Robert Lewis, Jim Nellins, Amos Baum,
George Lewis, Charles Wood, S. M. Eaton, often S. S.
Merrill and seldom a day [without] both Chappell and Dennis. Of course these men bought cigars, fruit,
peanuts, lemonade, soda water, etc., and in this manner I got well paid for the
accommodation furnished them, it being also the principal locality in the city
for the reception and discussion of war news.
That the younger readers may get an idea of
what war meant, I would state that Bill Brown and I bought 200 bushels of wheat and
stored it in the wood house under the sidewalk, so that our families would have
bread when United States money should no longer be a purchasing power. After awhile we saw the absurdity of the
scheme and sold out at a fine profit and the place formerly occupied by the
grain was filled with stove wood, which broke the joints of the floor and
precipitated the wood in to the river, and this would probably have been the
fate of the wheat if it had been allowed to remain there much longer.
Silver change being largely taken in our
trade, it was the custom of other business men to get their paper money changed
as was found necessary, when W. P. Brown came in one day and said to me: “Don’t
do that any more but keep whatever silver is taken
in.” I followed his advice, and by the
time silver had gone entirely out of circulation, a large cigar box full had
accumulated containing $280, and which I sold for just double of face value.
Red Front Grocery
Money still flowing in owing to flush
times, caused by the war, I soon bought the lot adjoining the Bank of Watertown
and erected the building which became known as the Red Front Grocery, George
Hawkins becoming my partner. We
conducted the shanty on the bridge as heretofore, in addition to carrying a
large stock of groceries, crockery, glassware, etc., in the Red Front.
Hawkin’s Shanty
Unfortunately for me, I entered active
politics to the neglect of my business, and, other similar establishments
springing up, Peter’s shanty lost its popularity. A dissolution of partnership followed, the
shanty was bought by George Hawkins and occupied by W. N. Hawkins [cross
reference: Death of Mrs. William N. Hawkins], who
becoming alarmed about the safety of the shanty, moved into the building next
to Johnson’s drug store and soon after the shanty that had started in 1851 as a
barber shop was again used for the same purpose, and ended a few days ago as it
had begun fifty-three years ago.
Thus we can draw the moral that citizens of
fifty years ago have nearly all passed away, and that even the shanty in the
river was not exempt from the ravages of time.
F. P. Brook,
Green Bay, April 10, 1904
___________________________________________________________
Note: The winter before the flood in the spring of
1904 was harsh.
Coldest Weather in
Watertown’s History
Watertown Daily Times, 01 27 1904
Watertown has
experienced the coldest weather in its history during the past week. The cold snap set in Saturday night and has continued
ever since. Saturday night the
thermometer registered 20 degrees below zero, Sunday night 35 below zero, and
Monday night 25 below zero, Tuesday night 20 below, and Wednesday night 10
below.
___________________________________________________________
Kiessling, Elmer C, Watertown
Remembered, 1976.
The north side of the bridge was then lined with business places
resting on piles driven into the bed of the river. In 1881 huge cakes of ice roaring down in
high water ripped out the pilings of these structures and a part of the bridge. The building on the south side, a barbershop
operated by John Seager,
was spared. Mr. Seager
installed three tin bathtubs - the first in Watertown - in his shop and ran
this ad:
The Bridge
in
the
Center of Main Street Bridge
5 baths for $1
He did a brisk business, Northwestern
students being among his best customers, until another ice jam in April,
1904, swept away his building. All of
the equipment was salvaged. John Seager, and his son Charles after him, continued to operate
a shop for years at 5 Main Street. It is
now the Downtown Barber Shop.
Cross References:
Main Street bridge, chapter on
Augustus Cushman
remembers Brook’s barber shop and candy store, middle Main St bridge
