Green Bay Press-Gazette from Green Bay, Wisconsin • Page 4

The Press-Gazette Visits Amb erg Stone Quarries Pushed Amberg to Prosperity Until Series of Strikes Led to Downfall No man now can say how many miles of Chicago streets were made of the fine "Amberg gray," but there were many. As the years went' on, building blocks, too, became important. Amberg gray built the Federal Building in Milwaukee, the old Chicago Post Office Building (now St. Joseph's Basilica in Milwaukee), the Wisconsin State Reformatory at Green Bay, the Courthouse at St. some of the prison buildings at Waupun, and SkttchM By Bill July It took little provocation to stir up a fight; one ended in a death and nearly a lynching.

A who judged it. Another stone was taken and cut, and the old one has remained along the tracks to this day. Perhaps it will be there forever. Many things in Amberg are reminders, but there are good memories, too; and the folks like to speak of the long-gone days of unbounded prosperity which lasted from the 1880's until about 1905. A good rememberer is mm Mrs.

Elsie Collins, town clerk for more than 20 years. Mrs. Elmer Churchill, a descendant of the first white permanent settler and the Town Treasurer, is a storehouse of information. Her husband, a genial storekeeper who came here first in 1916, is also a good historian. Memories Vivid to Present Inhabitants People like Harry Randall and Harold Lanfear readily recall the days when the old stone cutting shop stood as one of the largest in the world, 400 feet long and 120 feet wide.

They remember, too, when Indians moved about here in the early 1900's, and they remember the Aberdeen and Argyle hotels, and the boarding houses and the river pigs and the exciting, tough men who moved in and out of Amberg helping to carve its history. And almost everybody in the village has quoted the words of Mr. Amberg who sent photographs of himself to the people. On the back of one of them, he wrote: "Hoping that the town will some day, not too remote, cut a figure on the map." It may not really do so anymore, but the townsfolk here who love the pretty place are sure of one thing: It already did. quarries, has many reminders of its busier days.

In the present populace are many descendants of the old pio-' neers who came here long ago. The inescapable piles of groat and blocks and chips may stand forever as silent testimony to earlier days. Some of the present homes in Amberg were brought there from the dead ghost towns which grew up around the quarries. Tombstone Stands As Odd Reminder And one quaintly odd remembrance is a tombstone which stands along the railroad track where it has been for nearly 45 years. The tombstone, which bears the name Bowron, has been there so long and to no purpose that most citizens no longer see it; and many have forgotten how jt came there.

It dates back to the quarrying days when the state of Wisconsin owned a quarry there end used inmates of the Reformatory at -Green Bay to perform its labor. The superintendent of the Reformatory at thai time was Charles Bowron who served the institution from 1902 to 1917. A stone was cut for him, emblazoned with his name. It was completed, but not to the liking of those When Sunday came, trouble hung in the air like a pall. The women and children locked themselves in their homes and men moved in the streets, armed with clubs and stones.

Wary folks stayed off the streets, but railroaders and rivermen stoked up their courage with alcohol. Then, quickly, the battle was joined. Men were beaten and kicked and clubbed as almost 50 tough men fought fiercely. James O'Mally was stabbed and was dying. The fighting men were sure it was Dahl who had used the knife.

They chased him and cornered him, his back to the livery stable as he fought for his life. He was beaten badly then brought to a tree, with a rope around his neck for a summary hanging. Warren Buck-man and Herbert Pattenton halted the lynching with a loaded revolver. Man Admits Killing Four Years Later But Dahl was tied to a chair where he was held for 24 hours. Then he was taken to Marinette and charged with O'Mally's murder.

He was imprisoned at Waupun. Then, four years later, O'Mally's brother-in-law, dying of tuberculosis, made a death-bed confession: He had killed O'Mally and hidden the knife under the board sidewalk. The knife was found and Dahl By CHARLES HOUSE PrM-Guttt Stft Writer AMBERG Huge piles of gray granite blocks, chips and waste stand about old quarries here like tombs to a memory of the old days. This quaintly attractive sleepy-hollow village of Marinette County was once the bustling producer of some of the finest "Amberg gray" granite in North America. In the distant long-ago, a total of some 400 quarrymen swelled the economy of Amberg, and the community was lively, vigorous and promising.

It was a community of vigorous contention too, for the lumbermen and the railroad men and the quarrymen were tough and rock-hard and they looked upon one another as a secretary bird looks at a snake. Some of the free-for-all battles between those sturdy men of yore are historical. Born in the flowage of the Menominee and Peshtigo rivers, the community was first named Pike after the lovely trout-laden river which abuts it. To this white pine country, in 1883, came Pike's first white settler of permanance Warren Buckman. He established a trading post for the lumbering men and the Indians who were swarming through this section of Wisconsin even before the arrival here of the railroad in 1884.

Soon Pike became an important supply center for the lumber interests, and its future seemed assured. Railroads Brought Footloose Irishman When the rails came, so did people. One of them, a footloose Irishman named Mullany, stepped from the train here because it was as far as he could go. His son, Raleigh, now 67, is still here and generally considered "an old timer." He managed granite quarries for 20 years before he bought a service station on Highway 141. Perhaps more important to the community was the arrival in 1887 of William Amberg, a 40-year-old P.uvar-ian who had already cut a swath in the Chicago business world as a partner in the booming stationery firm of Cameron and Amberg.

Aggressive and industrious, Amberg knew that the burgeoning Chicago needed paving materials, and he found the tough granite of this region to be superb. He established a total of three communities Mortindale and Argyle, now ghost towns northwest of here and then this village. RALEIGH MULANY At 67, he's an old-timer WILLIAM AMBERG He established three towns part of the Menominee County Courthouse, and thousands of tombstones. Murders Occur With Prosperity The population zoomed to liom thing like twice its present size which is about 650. Kivcr hogs and lumberjacks and the two-fisted hard-rockers brought prosperity to the community.

They brought gaiety, too; and drunkenness, magnificent brawls and even murder. One day in 1885, a riverman, Chris Dahl, asked James O'Mully, a railroad man for the time of day. He won a curse and a punch to the jaw, and a promise of more of the same on the following Sunday. iHHf-; 1 Ml1MlL 1 2 4 Jt15CT S4prf -Ml PI I I Iff ff I i'l Specially reduced TC'fr during this sale! ZIGZAG m.chlr.e qq made by SINGER i I I II MIUILIIIHIM llll received the governor's pardon. The village was busy in more ways than one.

Monday, June 24, 1890, exactly 72 years ago tomorrow, the name of the community was offi-cially changed from 1'ike to Amberg. Mr. Amberg had plotted the area, had donated band instruments, land for churches and schools and had often shown his devotion for the community. Though he never lived at his namesake community, keeping his home in Chicago, he often visited it for days at a time. In 1902 he was faced with a series of strikes.

Quickly he made the decision which was to have another profound effect on the village: He simply quit. He pulled out of the quarrying business, sold what he could and moved out lock, stock and barrel. So did many of the workers, for the great days of Amberg were almost gone; it was due to collapse into a sleepy hollow with exciting memories, just as it is today. Only One Quarry Is Still Operating Other quarries operated from time to time eight of them, over the years but today only one is still in operation. It is the Peninsula Granite Co.

of Iron Mountain, Mich. Under its owner, August Paviglio, four employes work four days a week. The Mathis Picket Fence still operating, is the source of some employment, but most citizens of the old place work "out." Some are employed in the Kimberly-Clark mill at Niagara, but many move about the country with contractors and come home only on weekends. Other citizens are tree farmers. Said one man: "All we have to sell now is recreation." There is really more than that to present day Amberg.

It is an unusually attractive village. The Pike Jliver at its doorstep is beautiful and rich in trout. Its Veterans Memorial Park on the west side of the river is cathedral-like in its hushed beauty. Nearby Dave's Falls County Park, 61 acres of beauty, with a magnificently wild waterfall and rapids, attracts many a traveler. Nearby are lovely lakes tnd fine woodlands.

Dave's Falls was named for a log driver, Dave Frechette, who fell into the white water here long ago. Though efforts were made to save him, a stray log struck him and he was lost. Today's Amberg, very different from the boom-time of the granite 1 if YOUNG BUDGET RENTAL MACHINES I FULL-POWER ZMSfy''' I CANISTER CLEANER 'yfQv W0i ii- i New FEATHERWEIGHT Vacuum Cleaner! Floor Washer I )emmmmi -US NEW FLOOR-POLISHER ATTACHMENT convtm any unitttr to oticr. MrMKtw 1 1 Q9S i Floor Dryer I i VACUUM CLEANER TOMBSTONE NEAR TRACKS MARKS NO CRAVE ll tAAQC (INTBOOUCTO PRiCt) 6m WATER Marines Unmask Their Irritation at Attention Being Focused on the Army's Glamour Forces Rtgulrty $79 50 wen rew PICK-UP KIT REDUCED 50 takes up wash 43 TO ONLY and rmst wter. i5.

REVOLVING-BRUSH ATTACHMENT fits tannterclMntrt. in combat situa- Sleek straight-stitch machine sew full range forward and reverse. By FRED S. HOFFMAN some needles in the port that the Army must han-'schooling WASHINGTON if! ThesP "ech." die for itself. tjons.

(pt.onrj Marines Saturday unmasked i Munn's text was read close- The Army special forces, thpir irritatinn nt nil t'ip f- tv hv enmn mw whirh hnvf received fitmni? For some time now, there tention eiven to the ArmyVwho mad it clenr'thpy fptt it Kennedy administration sup-nas been a m8 push for Army-special forces, the new glam-jwas pointed at the anti-guer- Prt are assigned the mission wide concentration on devel-or troops of anti-guerrilla specialists of the Army, of training native forces in oping anti-guerrilla capabil-warfare. jThe Army declined any offi- Communist-threatened "Counter guerrilla opera-jcial comment. tries to fight Ked guerrillas on The Marines have a mission tions are neither new nor sen-! Tn hjs nrcoared remark own terms. working with South Viet CLEARAMCE TRADE-IN MACHINES Various makes Portables from $19.00 Consoles from $19.00 Portable electrified SINGER machines from $24.00 sational to Marines and I Mimn anncaroH in l.ilro event the United States Nam's two Marine battalions. ininK tne public should He at the Army on an0(lwr core made aware of this," said its stable rear echelon or-Lt.

Gen. J. C. Munn, assistant which supports commandant of the Corps. jfighting units.

got into a war with a Commu- In a number of other country, special forces tries, U. S. Marines are help-men undoubtedly would slip ing train native marine Ie-behind enemy lines, organiz- ments. ing anti-KeJ underground; Munn said the U. S.

Marine fighters and harassing the Corps developed its "special Communists. iskill in counter-insurgency Teams of special forces u.arf,rA.i uaru va. iuunn declared mat proD- Ann' rt 1 GIGANTIC 8GS DISPLAY MODELS ably ro force the world supporring REDUCED $20 TO $80 FROM REGULAR PRICE IF NEW Portable and cabinet styles. All maintained in top operating condition. Your chance to own a famous SINGER machine at a low, low bargain price! day i3 better equipped said the Marine Corps' eec- ut ond-in-command.

rr'crl exPerts guan campaign about 35 vears i't r-aii: rar.ee of th mihtarv arts and counter guerrilla operations than the United States Ma 'More of our clronrfh ran Vw AwrJoA tnr i ln sucn soeciaiiies as jan- rine Corps. The forum Munn chose anti-gurnlla tasks in- guaee. communications and He read the roll of history to recall, among other things, that Marines fought an essentially counter-guerrilla war these pointed remarks was a 01 Demg usea 10 Prole'medicine have been operat-banquet of the Marine Corps a comp.ex network of supply inj! with the South Vietnamese Combat Correspondents nd base installations." ln tPir ar against Commu- in Allentown, Pa. Army advocates contend puern.ias. He did not mention the spe- that in projecting their "every So far, six Army men have against the Seminole Indians in the early ISOOs.

On which point, one Army Listed in pone book under SINGER SEWING MACHINE CO. cial forces by name, but Ma- man a fighter" image, the been killed as a direct result: rine officers indicated they Marines fail to mention that of Communist guerrilla at-, were Munn's target. These of-ithe Navy supplies them with tacks on South Vietnamese, officer snorted we taught the In- 207 N. WASHINGTON GREEN BAY were dians how to fight." ficers acknowledged "there, much of the rear echelon fup- units the Americans.