The Wings of The OWL

Wednesday, February 12, 2014



George W. Wing was the “father” of the Kewaunee County Historical Society. He wrote stories endlessly and documented all aspects of life from the earliest pioneer days of Wolf River (Ahnepee, Ahnapee, later Algoma) and Kewaunee, Wisconsin.  From “how Ahnepee got its name” to politics to the Indian lore of the Winnebagoes, G. W. Wing wrote about it. His stories also included those of his own family’s history in a newsletter he called The OWL (Our Wing Lineage).




George W. Wing (standing) and his mother Mary Elliott Wing with his son, George D. Wing
Seated is George W. Elliott (Mary's father)

 G. W. Wing was the son of a prominent Kewaunee attorney, Rufus Wing, and Mary (Elliott) Wing. Rufus and Mary Wing came to Wolf River in 1858 from Chilton, Wisconsin.

Having had experience at age 16 starting the Ahnapee Record newspaper with Charles W. Borgman in 1873, G. W. Wing set up a small printing press in the upper story of his Kewaunee home for his 12 year-old son, George Dikeman Wing.  They called the room The Owlery. There, George W. (who was affectionately called Col. Wing based on his role as division colonel in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War) and his son wrote The OWL as a family newsletter. “We ‘hoot’ monthly for fifty cents a year” advertised young editor George D. Wing in Vol. 1, No. 1., September, 1899.

“The OWL, Vol 1. October , 1899  No. 2

…published and edited by George Dikeman Wing, Kewaunee, Wisconsin.  The publisher is a boy 12 years of age…He has a small press and a stock of type in his playroom in his father’s residence, and is compositor and editor and publisher of The OWL, which is notably well written and presents a creditable typographical appearance.  In this connection, we might as well confess that ‘the Colonel’ comes in occasionally and sweeps out the office and wipes the dust off the press, just to keep his hand in.”

Initially G. W. and George D. interviewed all of their local relatives for the paper. Their articles shared tales of overland journeys from New York to the wilds of Wisconsin territory; firsthand accounts of Civil War experiences and Revolutionary War diaries; photos and drawings; and, of course, the begets and begots of each collateral family back to the arrivals of their ancestors to the colonies.

The paper included newsy updates about new births and who visited whom sent in by family members.  These tidbits were chronicled in columns called “Kith and Kin” and “Winglets”. “Our Household Department” featured favorite recipes submitted by the ladies of Algoma and Kewaunee. The newsletter caught on. It really caught on.

Soon this newsletter was being subscribed to by the likes of the New York Public Library. Within a year, The OWL was publishing extensive ancestor pedigrees mailed in from Wing relatives living far and wide and others researched by G.W. and George D.  By October, 1900, The OWL was hooting monthly for a dollar a year.

Given the extent to which this project must have occupied the time of young student George D., his father took on more and more of the work of family correspondence. There was an ever-growing interest by Wing relatives and much research to be done.

Then G.W. Wing visited the homestead of the earliest Wing ancestors in Sandwich, Massachusetts. There he met distant Wing cousins and saw the original home of the family founders in America. The idea for a family reunion and creation of a Wing Family Association (WFA) was proposed in The OWL in 1901.

A reunion was held and papers of incorporation for the Wing Family of America were filed.  The founder of the WFA, its first president, was George W. Wing.  By March, 1902, The OWL had become “A Genealogical Quarterly Magazine” and a real deal at a dollar a year or 25 cents for a single issue, still published by George D. Wing in Kewaunee.  The OWL continued to be published quarterly through June 1934. Eventually its publication was moved to Massachusetts. It became an annual issue in 1936 and, except for a few instances, has been printed yearly as The OWL to this day. The reunions are still held, nearly every year.  The home of The OWL stands in Kewaunee today.

George W. Wing, who was an attorney by age 21 and County Judge by 1885, died April 12, 1924 in Kewaunee. The OWL didn’t let the story of G. W. Wing’s impact go unrecognized. Many articles honored the man who started it all with his idea for a family newsletter.   

What would George W. Wing say (or write) if he could have known that what he began as a little writing project for his son would result in creation of one of the oldest family history associations in America?  The WFA will celebrate its 112th anniversary this year and The OWL newsletters have become one of the family’s most treasured heirlooms.

For more information about the WFA organization and the impact of George W. Wing, see Wing Family of America.

Shirley VerBruggen blogs about family history.  This article was written for her "Remember When" column in the Kewaunee County Times newspaper.