The Charles Appleby farm was was probably still getting established by 1915. Like so many farms in the region, the legal title of the land starts with the Knapp, Stout and Company Co. owning the land. After the timber was harvested, then it was sold to be turned into a farm. In this case, Chas. Appleby bought parcels of land from Knapp, Stout and Company Co. in 1903 and 1911, so there must have been a lot of stumps out there! In an interesting twist, 160 acres of the Appleby farm started out as an 1860 grant to Eliza Cornwell, widow of Timothy Cornwell for his service in the War of 1812. Like many such grants, she never moved here, but had a representative sell the land to the lumber company.
Part of the Boyceville-Wheeler “Old Roads” series.
Old maps can be fascinating! Our family has a battered 1915 plat book for Dunn County that has probably been in the family since it was new. You might think that our current roads more or less follow along the routes laid out by the pioneers – until you really look at an old map! In the map montage shown here, you won’t find State Highway 170 at all – the idea of a state highway did not even exist until 1917 when Wisconsin enacted the first numbered highway system in the world. Highway 170 was not extended west of Wheeler until 1947! Maybe there were too many marshes to cross? Instead, there were two routes, only one of which survives today.
As you work your way along this series of mostly easy park and grabs, take a moment to look around and compare today’s view to the 1915 map. Some roads from 1915 vanished seemingly without a trace, unless you are an archeologist.