The Veterinarian

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

As the old adage goes, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”  That’s because as the gift receiver of a horse, to take a look would be considered rude and ungrateful.  But, if one is buying a horse, that’s a different matter.  Then, a good look inside that horse’s mouth should be requested by the buyer to avoid fraud when purchasing the animal.  Dr. James W. Tooley, veterinary surgeon and dentist, could take one look in its mouth and know the horse’s age and health. 

Back in the day when your livestock were your work horses, transportation, and/or next meals, the veterinarian was an essential member of the community and an invaluable partner.  Horses and cattle had a huge economic impact on families and companies.  Keeping animals healthy was critical to the livelihood of farmers and businesses.  A well-trained veterinarian was needed to protect these valuable assets.      

James William Ephraim Tooley was born in England and immigrated to Toronto, Canada.  He graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College of Guelph, near Toronto, in 1896 earning his Veterinary Surgeon and Dentist degree with a specialty in dentistry.  In February, 1902, he arrived in the United States via the Wabash Railroad at Detroit, Michigan.  He made his home in Algoma and built a large veterinary practice.  The following year he was appointed assistant state veterinarian of Wisconsin.    

To be a veterinarian is to be able to talk to the animals without words.  When the patient can’t say where it hurts, the vet needs to be very knowledgeable about possible medical problems.  For instance, poor performance or behavioral issues with a horse could mean an abscessed, loose or cracked tooth or a problem with bite making it hard for a horse to take a bit or to work.  For grazing animals, good dentition and overall health is essential to survival.        

As a vet, J. W. Tooley served businesses as well as farmers.  He was always “on call”.  His newspaper ad read:  “All calls, by day or night, answered from office.  Telephone No. 26, Algoma, Wis.”  In addition to his countywide travels, Dr. Tooley would be called to Sturgeon Bay to care for the horses of the Reynolds Preserving Company.  For example, on one trip, seven animals were sick and he had to inspect all 125 horses to get them in shape for the season’s work.  The next week he went again to look over the horses belonging to the Door County Canning Company and to get them ready to commence work.  It was a big job. 

It was such a big job it often required Dr. Tooley to take on a partner in his practice to assist him.  He moved to Casco to be centrally located to more easily make his rounds.  He had his customers to care for and his other business interest as well.  J. W. Tooley was the owner of a fine French coach stud stallion, “Bell Boy”, too.

In November, 1905, Dr. Tooley put W. E. Hunter from New York in charge of his office in Algoma and another man in Luxemburg and assured the farmers living in the county that they had no fear that they would be left without a veterinarian to care for their needs.  He was relocating to Fond du Lac.  He still visited the county at intervals each month until Hunter fully took over the practice in June of 1906.

Thereafter, as assistant state veterinarian, Dr. Tooley was in a position to educate local farmers.  When a Two Rivers farmer’s herd was sick, he came to the farm with State Veterinarian Eliason to oversee the slaughter and to provide a demonstration and talk about tuberculosis and its effects on livestock.  More than a thousand farmers from Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties were present.  In his capacity and in partnership with the farmers, he was able to have a decided impact on the future of stock in the county and state.  

 

 

 

 

             

The Belle of the Ball Baked a Fabulous Algoma Fig Cake

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

She didn’t have to win a blue ribbon at a county fair for everyone to know that Fannie baked the best Fig Cake in Algoma, perhaps the best in all of Kewaunee County.  If served to the ladies at any social event, news of her delicious dessert would likely have spread around town faster than wildfire and be noted in the local newspaper the next day.

Frances “Fannie” McDonald Phillips Tooley was the “belle of the ball” of the Algoma social scene.  She was born in 1874 in Ahnapee and grew up in the town where, in the “gay nineties”, there were numerous parties and events planned for young women of that era.  When there was a Veterans Day party, Fannie was part of the revue planned to show what fashionable young ladies were wearing.  On the Fourth of July, she was featured in the parade in a patriotic costume.  If it were her birthday, or anyone else’s, the newspaper would report that she was in attendance along with news of the fine quality of the refreshments that were served.    

In August, 1895, the local paper reported, “A very pleasant surprise party was tendered Miss Fannie McDonald last Tuesday, in honor of her 21^st birthday.  Quite a number of young lady friends of Miss McDonald assembled… and enjoyed a tea party which was the first event in the surprise.  In the evening the ladies were joined by a party of young gentlemen, and an adjournment was taken… to Guild Hall, where the evening was pleasantly passed in dancing and other amusements…”     

Girls of Algoma
Frances is the second on the left in the front, seated row

And, “A large number of the friends of… Fannie McDonald…were entertained at cards on Tuesday evening by the ladies… Between 65 and 70 were present and the evening was spent in card playing.  Cinch was the game and among the ladies Mesdames Emil Danek and J.H. McGowen were tied for first prize, the former winning…  Delicious refreshments were served…,” the Record newspaper announced in another of the many, many notices of the comings and goings, doings and bakings of Fannie McDonald.

Frances was a mediocre cook but she loved to bake.  Relatives fondly remember the smell of her gingerbread cookies (made child size for kids) and her pies.  Her caramel cake frosting is legendary.  Literally.  It remains a topic of conversation among her descendants yet today.  Unfortunately, although the ingredients are known (three cups brown sugar, one cup water, one tablespoon butter, one teaspoon vanilla, and enough cream to thin) no one has been able to successfully replicate it.  Boiling, syrup forming a soft ball in cold water, beating until creamy, and thinning to exactly the correct consistency are involved.  No one today can get it just right!        

But, recipes and ingredients were different back then.  Take her Algoma Fig Cake recipe, for example.          

Algoma Fig Cake

One cup butter, two cups sugar, three and one-half cups flour, one-half cup sweet milk, whites of seven eggs, two tea-spoonsful baking powder.  Bake in jelly tins.  Put one pound of figs chopped fine in a sauce pan on the stove and pour over it a tea cupful of cold water and one-half cup sugar.  Cook until soft and smooth then spread between layers and cover with chocolate frosting. 

If one tries to recreate a cake from an heirloom recipe, it won’t be the same.  The basic ingredients have changed dramatically over time.  Sugar and flour are more refined today.  Now, milk is pasteurized and homogenized.  Butter isn’t the same either.  Eggs don’t taste the way they used to because hens are fed differently than they were back then.  And, how much is in a tea cupful?  Is it measured in a delicate, scant ¾ cup sized teacup or something closer to the big tea cup in our cupboards?  Is a “jelly tin” a jelly roll pan or something else? 

How long does one bake this cake?  At what temperature?  Obviously, Frances didn’t need to write those details.  To bake a cake she needed a “moderate oven” (350-400 degrees), not a “slow oven” (250-300 degrees), not too hot.  Without a reliable means of checking the temperature in her oven, she might have used her bare hand to test the heat.  Some bakers stuck their hand in the oven and counted to 20.  If they could stand it for a count of 20, the temperature was hot enough to bake a cake, perhaps 350 degrees.  She might have tried a less painful method to test the heat by placing a little flour in the bottom of the pan and putting it in the oven.  If after one minute the flour turned brown, the temperature was probably just right. 

Yes, one could try to recreate Fannie’s Fig Cake but could never get the same delicious results.  She baked fun into her dessert and how much to stir in isn’t written in the recipe. 

The Modoc Base Ball Club

Monday, March 10, 2014

In 1874, the Boston Red Stockings won their third consecutive pennant with a victory over the Philadelphia Athletics to lead the National Association Base Ball standings.  That year, the Modoc Base Ball Club played America’s pastime in Ahnapee.

At that time, baseball was organized by local amateur clubs, directed by a board of managers.  Baseball in Ahnapee was organized by the Modoc Club which ran for seven years.  In 1874, the club’s president was George W. Wing; vice-president was W. Swaty; secretary was M. T. Parker; and the treasurer was F. McDonald.  Board of Managers:  William Henry, C. Bacon, and S. Warner.

The choice of “Modoc” for their club name might be explained with a back story.  A few years earlier, in 1872-1873, the Modoc War--one of the costliest Indian wars in U.S. history--was fought in California by some of the bravest, fiercest Indian warriors.  The Modocs were nomadic hunters and gatherers from a band in Oregon and California.  When white settlers arrived in the area, the U.S. military tried to force the Modocs to return to a reservation, to a lifestyle that clearly didn’t fit who these Native American people were.  During a six-month war, 50 Modoc men fought off over 1,000 U.S. military troops.  Vastly outnumbered, the Modocs won several battles during the months of struggle.  Ahnapee’s Modoc Base Ball Club President George W. Wing was known to be fascinated by Indian lore.  Perhaps the Modoc Club’s name honored those brave Indian warriors. 

Fans of baseball today would easily recognize the game of 1874.  Since 1845 and the formation of what is believed to have been the first baseball club in America, the New York Knickerbockers, the game was played by the Knickerbocker’s “20 Original Rules of Baseball”.  Regulations of the game were available to the public in Henry Chadwick’s book, Beadles’ Dime Base-Ball Player.   

The club set “The Nine” players.  The First Nine for the Modoc Club were:  M. T. Parker (captain), Irving Elliott, F. McDonald, W. Swaty, Mike Mullen, S. Warner, G. W. Wing, A. C. Eveland, and E. Hutchinson.  The Second Nine were:  H. Overbeck (captain), William Henry, C. Bacon, Michael McDonald, L. Fowles, George Warner, C. W. Borgman, T. Richmond, and H. Van Doozer.

First, and foremost it helped if the teams showed up to play the game.  So, number one of the Knickerbocker Rules was:  “Members must strictly observe the time agreed upon for exercise, and be punctual in their attendance.”  That didn’t guarantee they would play the whole game.  If one team led by too many runs early in the game, records show their opponent team might quit well before the 9^th inning.      

According to rule protocol, the club president would appoint an umpire who kept the stats in a book of tally sheets.  The umpire also noted all violations of the rules and by-laws.  It is unknown if the Modoc Club was subject to a swearing penalty (payable immediately) which some umpires were known to strictly enforce.    

All players “must take their strike in regular turn.”  Three strikes to a batter, three outs to an inning, tags and force-outs but, per rule 13: “A player running the bases shall be out if the ball is in the hands of an adversary on the base, or the runner is touched with it before he makes base; it being understood, however, that in no instance is a ball to be thrown at him.”  There was a fair and foul territory.  No baulk pitches were allowed; no advancing on a foul ball either. 

Equipment was primitive.  Generally, a round bat (made of hickory, ash, or maple) was 30-40 inches long and weighed about 48 ounces, tapered to between 1 ½ to three inches at one end.  A ball would have been the same size played today, made of natural rubber, wrapped with yarn, and covered with a single sewn piece of leather.  A glove--if worn by any player--might be worn by the catcher.  It would be a leather work glove, with or without fingers covered.  The first catcher’s mask was a modified fencing mask invented in 1875, so not likely worn at the Ahnapee club’s games that year. 

On Independence Day, July 4, 1874, at 9:00 a.m. sharp, the Modocs took on the Pioneers.  The line-up that day for the Modocs was: Elliott, Henry, Osborne, Eveland, McDonald, Fowles, Overbeck, Mullen, and Bacon. The first innings were close and promised an exciting game.  Wild throws were made by both teams but the Modocs were superior at bat.  While Albert G. Spalding pitched to catcher James “Deacon” White for the Boston Red Stockings, William Henry threw to Irving Elliott for the Ahnapee Modocs.  The Modocs scored 15 runs in the 7^th and ended the game with 30 runs in the 9^th to beat the Pioneers 81 to 20.  The Pioneers declined a doubleheader that day.   

Modoc Team catcher Irving Elliott playing baseball with his family at age 95!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone in McDonaldville is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day

Thursday, March 6, 2014

There were so many Irishmen named McDonald in early Algoma that one local newspaper editor, Frank Elliott, asked why the town wasn’t renamed “McDonaldville”.

After all, Algoma has never had a problem with changing its name.  In 1859, it was called Wolf River.  Then it became Ahnepee.  In 1873, the spelling was slightly changed to Ahnapee.  Lastly, in 1897, the name was changed to Algoma.  At one time, “McDonaldville” would have been a very fitting name for the town.  There were several branches of the McDonald clans in Algoma. 

On Fremont Street lived Mr. and Mrs. J. R. McDonald.  He was a lawyer, a justice of the peace, and served in several other town offices.  They had three sons:  James; George; and Frank; and a daughter, Nellie.

Across the street lived Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel McDonald.  Nathaniel was a woodsman.  They had three sons too:  Eugene, Walter, and Robert. 

Nathaniel McDonald’s brother, Charles, who was a veterinarian, lived just two blocks east.  That McDonald family also had three sons:  George; Edward; and David; and one daughter, Ida.

A few doors down the street from Charles lived the Michael McDonald family.  Michael was an attorney, businessman, and Civil War veteran.  He and his wife, Ella Louise Elliott McDonald, had (you guessed it, didn’t you?) three sons:  George Irving “G.I.”, Herbert, and Rutherford.  And, one daughter, Frances. 

Michael McDonald’s widowed mother Jane also lived in Algoma.  She operated a hotel and tavern on First Street just south of Steele Street.  She was an early settler who came to Wolf River with three sons:  Michael; John; and Andrew; and one of her daughters, Mollie.

Captain William Henry McDonald and his wife lived at the corner of Fifth and Fremont.  (William was a brother of Nathaniel, the woodsman, and Charles, the veterinarian.)  Captain William’s family owned the Ahnapee House which was later renamed Hotel Stebbins.  Their three sons were Alvin, William Jr., and Thomas.  They had three daughters: Theresa, Millie, and Eva Belle.

John McDonald (the brother of Michael, son of Jane), and his wife, Mary, owned the Opera House in Algoma.  The building was used for roller skating too.  John was a fisherman and held several other careers after losing an arm in the Civil War.  His family was large with at least nine children including: Mary Jane, J. Francis, Andrew, Elizabeth, Charles, Ellen, John Jr., Bessie, and Henry.

It seems fitting that Algoma receive one more honorary renaming--to “McDonaldville”—if only for St. Patrick’s Day.     

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