Wisconsin 101

An Iron Kinship: Abraham Darby and William Aylward Sr.

In 1872, William Aylward Sr. combined air, coal, and iron ore to produce his first plowshares and other agricultural implements.[1] The founder of what would become the Neenah Foundry followed a process developed by an English man named Abraham Darby more than…

Comments Off

September 29, 2021

Education / Milwaukee County / Milwaukee / Science & Technology / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 7 - South Center / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter

Origins of the QWERTY Keyboard

Was QWERTY designed to slow down the typist, or was it a deliberate design for telegraphers?Christopher Latham Sholes's early typewriter models contained a keyboard that resembled a piano with an alphabetic arrangement of keys, with two rows which contained the letters of…

Comments Off

September 22, 2021

Milwaukee / Object Histories / Education / Milwaukee County / Wisconsin Made / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 8 - South East / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter

OBJECT HISTORY: Sholes & Glidden Typewriter

Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890) had a number of interests, one of which was spending time at Kleinsteuber’s Machine Shop in Milwaukee. While there, he met other tinkerers including Samuel Soule who was a printer by trade and Carlos Glidden who was a…

Comments Off

September 22, 2021

Industry / Marathon / Related Stories / Marathon County / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Region 4 - Center / Marathon Brewing Company "Superfine" Beer Bottle

The Marathon Brewery’s Chain of Calamities

In the early 1880s, Franz Sindermann, who was trained as a brewer in Germany, formed a brewery in Marathon, Wisconsin with his brother, August, along with a third partner, Charles Klein. The brewery got off to a good start, producing 300 barrels…

Comments Off

September 14, 2021

La Crosse / Industry / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / 1900-1918 / La Crosse County / Region 3 - Center West / King Gambrinus Statues of LaCrosse

The Heileman Family: A German Immigration Story

The G. Heileman Brewing Company is often remembered by historians as the vision of the two ambitious men who founded the brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. At the height of its popularity in 1983, Heileman’s was the fourth largest brewery in the…

Comments Off

August 17, 2021

Home Furnishings / Appleton / Science & Technology / Related Stories / Everyday Life / 1877-1900 / Outagamie County / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East / Hearthstone House Chandelier

The Hearthstone House and Electricity to Wisconsin

Built in 1882, the Hearthstone House operated using the first system of central electricity designed by Thomas Edison and it was the first private residence in the nation powered through hydroelectricity. The house was originally known as the Henry J. Rogers House,…

Comments Off

June 7, 2021