This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website

Carl Schurz Home

749 North Church Street

Carl Schurz, residence of, postcard. Home was destroyed by 1912 fire

1908

09 25 SELL SCHURZ HOMESTEAD. Carl Schurz's old homestead will, on Oct. 17, be sold at sheriff's auction to satisfy a judgment. The property, which is located in the Fifth ward, will go under the hammer at 2 p. m. Sheriff William F. Miller of Dodge County will be the auctioneer. It is believed that the home will be sold at a low figure. It is urged here that the city purchase the homestead and preserve it as a memorial park to the great German-American. WG

10 02 PURCHASING SCHURZ HOME. Meeting held regarding purchase of Schurz homestead and turning it into a memorial park. WG

10 09 E. G. Broennimann sends $50 WG

10 16 Memorial park proposed for site of homestead and estate WG

1912

Watertown Daily Times, 12 12 1912

Carl Schurz Home Destroyed by Fire

Firemen are handicapped by low water pressure

House was occupied by Thomas Donohue and family

Fire Wednesday night destroyed the early home of Carl Schurz in North Church Street. The building was entirely consumed as the work of the firemen was handicapped by a low water pressure, as the house, made historic from the fact that it was built by Carl Schurz, was located on a rise of ground. The building had been purchased by the M. E. R. & L. Co. and was insured. The house was occupied by Thomas Donohue and family.

The fire was discovered shortly before 10 o’clock after all the family had retired but Mrs. Donohue. The household furniture was removed in time to save it.

The Schurz home was built in the year 1855 and was occupied by the distinguished statesman for several years. The first kindergarten in the United States was conducted with its walls.

The destruction of the Schurz home removes one of the interesting sights of the city and a landmark in that section of town where it stood. Visitors to Watertown invariably made a trip to the home of the distinguished statesman, who made Watertown his residence before he gained the celebrity of later years. A short time ago a move was on foot by the Wisconsin Society of New York to purchase the place and keep it intact as a monument to the distinguished statesman. But now it lies a heap of ashes.

_________________________________________________________________________

Watertown Daily Times, 02 24 2001

Over the last couple of weeks we've used this column to acquaint our readers with Carl Schurz, one of Watertown's most famous persons, and also on the fact that he would be honored in April by the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame for his many conservation efforts he initiated during his long career in government.

We included in the column the comments on Schurz written by our longtime friend Bill Berry, former editor of the Stevens Point Journal and now an official with the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame. Well, Berry's comments included a sentence which said, "The Schurz home is an historic attraction in Watertown."

We had fully intended to "improve" on the sentence a bit but in the rush of things it was overlooked. The bottom line is that the Schurz home is no more.

The home was built by Schurz in the 1850s on a hill overlooking the Rock River. It was located off of North Church Street on the property of the current Karlshuegel Bed and Breakfast, 749 N. Church St.

The original home was an elaborate mansion with a great deal of fretwork around the porch roof which spanned the front and side of the house. It gave the home kind of a lacy look and made it quite distinctive.

Schurz used his home for many social gatherings and remained standing until 1912 when it was destroyed by fire. The property on which the home was located was bordered by an old spur line of the old Chicago and North Western tracks (now Union Pacific) which crossed Silver Creek skating pond and then traveled south nearly to Cady Street.

The hill on which Schurz built his home was known as Karlshuegel which was German for Carl's Hill. That's why the bed and breakfast, owned by Cy and Judy Quam, is known by that name.

TLS

SCHURZ HOME FIRE RECALLED

Watertown Daily Times, 12 28 1991

Plans by Cy and Judy Quam to turn the Sweeney home at 749 N. Church St. into a bed and breakfast lodging operation brought back memories of the history of that property for local history buffs.

That home is located on the property where Carl Schurz built his home back over a century ago. Schurz was one of the most distinguished of all Watertown 48ers. He came to a booming Watertown in 1853 and saw a grand future for the city.

He bought a farm of 89 acres on the northwest side of the city, now the site of the bed and breakfast. He built a huge German villa type house, complete with gingerbread trim.

His plans were to pay off the $8,500 mortgage by selling lots as the rapidly growing city expanded. Unfortunately, the depression of 1857 put an end to his hopes and it took him years to repay the debts.

It was back in 1912 that the home, at the time occupied by the Donahue family, burned to the ground.

Jerome Donahue, now 90 years old, visited the Times offices this week and said he was a youngster back in 1915 when it burned.

His recollections were that the fire started about midnight when he and his whole family were sleeping. No one was hurt in the fire, but the home was completely destroyed. He said the family members had only the clothes on their backs when they found shelter from nearby neighbors.

He said, "I can remember it was cold out, that we all had nightshirts on. That's what we wore in them days."

Jerome said he could remember the fire department had to pump water from a hydrant at the Fifth Ward Tavern, now Timmel's Tap. That was the closest one.

He said, "My dad's brother (Jim Donahue) was there that night. There was a stove in the living room and my mother started a fire so there would be heat in that room. That's where he slept." In the house that night, in addition to Jerome and Jim were Jerome's brother Jim and his sisters, Constance, Loretta, Frances and Catherine.

The family rented the house, and Jerome believes they lived there about six years before the fire. The family received many donations from friends in the community and relocated to a home on North Washington Street, now the home of Bill and Abby Potter.

That close brush with a devastating fire was ironic in that he later made a career of fighting fires. He served as mechanic for the Watertown Fire Department for over 35 years before retiring.

The late Dr. Elmer C. Kiessling, retired professor at Northwestern College and author of Watertown Remembered, said in that book, "The Schurz, house was just being turned into a museum when it burnt to the ground one night in 1915. I stood on the charred ruins the next day and composed a sentimental elegy. As a member of the editorial staff, I managed to have it published in the Black and Red, the Northwestern College student magazine."

We enlisted the help of Professor Dave Gosdeck of the Northwestern College staff to check the college's archives for that elegy. He found it in the November 1916 issue and we are reprinting it here:

"Full sixty years, the sun o'er this small brow

Has ris'n and set, since first thou stoodest here

And gazedst on this city's young career.

Thou hadst a vision then of what is now,

For soon thy sturdy axe of shrub and bough

This chosen coign of vantage had made clear;

Thy home was built, - a landmark far and near,

Which naught save fire's might at last could bow.

Yet shall we grieve that nothing more remains

Than ruins, that e'en the site now stands apart

Where thou forsaws't the city's busiest lanes?

'This better thus. Some vulgar birth or mart

Had fast effaced the thoughts this spot retains

Of thee, thou deep and noble German Heart.

- E. C. K.

1983

06 27 Plan to turn palatial home into supper club. WDT

2006

06 13 Plan commission members also granted a conditional use permit to Mike Martin for a group development at 741 and 749 N. Church St. Martin is proposing to construct 16 duplexes on the site, with each unit in every building ranging from 1,600 to 2,000 square feet. WDT

Cross Reference:

First Kindergarten