MOM’S MEMOIRS – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(Continued)

Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 41 – In Book, Page 98

Octagon House, Old Globe Mill, ROC, Building May Be Razed, Memorial Park, Statues, First Kindergarten, Bully, Brian Weiland Confirmed, Tenth Anniversary of Lord And Savior, Waunakee, Wisconsin, Exploratory Memories, On The Way to Cary Mueller and Grand Anderson’s Wedding, Abe Lincoln’s Home, Andrew Jackson’s Plantation, Thomasville, Georgia, Visit with Pat and Stan Golden and Family, Charleston, South Carolina, Ft. Sumter, St. Augustine, Florida, Cary and Grant’s Wedding

MAY 10, 1999 – VISIT TO THE OCTAGON HOUSE, WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN

“Ma” (Kuckkan, my mother), Dick and I went to visit the Octagon House on the brow of Richard’s Hill. John Richards built it in 1854 when he was a pioneer. It has 57 rooms, and is now owned by the Watertown Historical Society. I remember going there as a child (probably with my sisters) and climbing the spiral staircase in the center of the house. The house wasn’t open yet because it being early May, but we did walk around the grounds. There is an exact replica of it on the lawn There is a mill stone which was used to grind flour at the old Globe Mill on Water Street. I remember my father going there when I was a child to get grain for the animals on the farm. My sisters and I were told to stay in the car. The Globe Mill was a long building with a platform in the front where the grain was weighed. It was located next to the Rock River, and two mill stones were turned by water power at the dam site. Sad to say, the old mill burned down. But, one building remained, and that building is the building in which our son, Pastor Timothy Mueller is Pastor/Director of the ROC (Recreational and Outreach Center) for teens, many of them unchurched. Tim is known as “PT” by the teens. “The Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform”. When we visit the ROC, the teens shout, “Here come PT’s Mom and Dad”, and some of them greet us with big hugs.

(NOTE: An article in the Tuesday, February 17, 2009 issue of the Watertown Daily Times is titled “Housing Plan for Seniors Gets OK From Commission”. It says, “A conceptual plan for a senior housing development along South Water Street was approved by the city’s plan commission Monday afternoon, after the same plan was reviewed by the city’s site plan committee earlier in the day” – “we finally have the first phase of the development on the river” –“if the development is approved, the building that houses the Recreation Outreach Center will be RAZED”. As my dear husband always says, “The Lord will provide.”)

Also on the Octagon House grounds there is a statue of an Indian. “Ma” immediately recognized it as the statue which came from the Lewis Fountain in the middle of West Main Street (please refer to FACES & PLACES – WATERTOWN AREA – page 49 – published by the Watertown Daily Times, 1999). There is a bell from the old City Hall – picture of old City Hall on North First Street also on pages 15 and 49). And then I was so surprised to see a statue of a young girl holding a dish in her left hand and looking at a bird next to her right arm. When we moved into Watertown from the farm, we lived at 114 Cady Street across from Memorial Park (the City Hall, Fire Station, and Police Station are there now). It was a beautiful park, and my two sisters and little brother would go across the street to play there. There even was a bandstand. That statue of the young girl was at that park, and it was a fountain. How wonderful it was to see her again on the Octagon House grounds! Not many people remember Memorial Park being there. Can I be that old? (I remember the American Legion marching there on Memorial Day, shooting off their guns, and throwing a wreath into the Rock River in memory of the men who had died for their country during the wars). Also, the first Kindergarten (founded by Margarethe Meyer Schurz in 1856) in the United States building is there, moved from the corner of Second and Jones Streets.

(I mentioned that my sisters and little brother would play at Memorial Park. Some days when we went, there was a boy next door who was very mean to us. Finally, my mother poured a pail of water over his head. That did it! Dick and I found this out in later years after we moved back to Watertown and visited St. Mark’s “shutins”, people who are unable to come to church services. One of the shutins we visited turned out to be that “mean boy”. He told us about the pail of water being poured over his head. I didn’t remember that).

During the summer Dick and I hope to take a tour through the Octagon House. Professor Sylvester L. Quam, who was a professor at Northwestern College wrote a book by the name of “JOHN RICHARDS: THE HILL AND THE MILL”. It is a very interesting book, and has a lot of information and pictures of the house and the people who lived in it.

MAY 16, 1999 – BRIAN WEILAND’S CONFIRMATION FROM CHRIST LUTHERAN, MERRILL, WISCONSIN

It was a very special and happy day for our grandson, Brian, and the Weiland and Mueller families when he was confirmed in his faith. His father, Jim, conducted the service. After the service there was lots of delicious food, including a “CONFIRMATION – GOD BLESS YOU, BRIAN” cake, in the church basement. After the lunch we all gathered in the parsonage back yard and visited. Brian opened some wonderful gifts. Becky and Julie entertained themselves by styling Grandpa Mueller’s hair – cute! What fun! “Sasha”, a beautiful white Samoyed, Sue, Jim, and family’s dog was also there. We have a beautiful picture of Sue and Sasha, (with her lovely garden in the background), in our album.

MAY 23, 1999

On this day we were invited to attend the 10th anniversary of Lord And Savior Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Waunakee, Wisconsin. We remembered when Dick had received the “Exploratory Call” (no congregation at all) to Waunakee, he, Steve, and I had walked the streets, knocking on doors, visiting with people, Dick preaching sermons on TV, hanging door hangers, etc. One lady, as we were about to hang a door hanger on her door opened the door and said, “I was just about to call you”. She had heard that the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod was starting a congregation in the area and she, her husband, and children were very much interested in becoming members of it. What a joy and blessing it was to see the congregation grow from a little seed into a lofty tree bearing much fruit, and building an awesome house of worship. There was a beautiful cake which said “Happy Anniversary Lord & Savior – 1988-1999 – with a picture of the church and lovely flowers. It was a very blessed day, and we were very happy to see so many familiar faces. Mrs. Barwick remembered that Dick cannot eat raw onions and had made a special potato salad without onions just for him, bless her heart.

ON THE WAY TO CARY MICHELLE MUELLER AND DANIEL GRANT ANDERSON’S WEDDING FROM WISCONSIN

Dick and I had bought a nice camper put on our truck which we now used for the trip to Cary and Grant’s wedding. On the way to Florida, we stopped in Hodgenville, Kentucky, to see a replica of the log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born. It is protected by a cement enclosure around it. There is a statue of Lincoln in the middle of the town. We also saw the outside and inside of President Andrew Jackson’s plantation home, chapel, and family cemetery not far from the home near Nashville, Tennessee. What a blessing it is to travel and relive the lives of people we have only read or heard about!

We then traveled to Thomasville, Georgia, to visit with Patsy (Nehls – adopted daughter of my sister, Beatrice, and her husband, Donald), her husband, Stan, and children, Aubrey, Leslie, Meaghan, Russell, and Amy. They joyfully welcomed us into their home, and we had a wonderful time with them. Patsy is an avid gardener, and proudly showed off her lovely flowers, plants, etc.

Next we stopped in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the United States, and explored an old fort. The walls of the fort are built of coquina which is a soft limestone formed of broken shells and coral cemented together. It was all so interesting We also went to historic Charleston, South Carolina, where we saw horses and carriages, the inside of a beautiful old church (Presbyterian Dick thinks), a row of beautifully painted pastel mansions next to the Atlantic seashore, etc. We decided to take a tour boat from Charleston out to Ft. Sumter, which is a national monument in the harbor. On April 12, 1861, a Confederate shell exploded in the center of the parade ground to begin the Civil War. What a moment it was to actually stand at the spot where the Civil War had begun! What a very blessed safe trip we had!

JULY 3, 1999 – THE WEDDING OF CARY MICHELLE MUELLER AND DANIEL GRANT ANDERSON

The wedding address by Cary’s grandpa was based on Matthew 7:24-27 – “Build Your Marriage Upon A Firm Foundation”. Tim, Cary’s uncle, conducted the liturgy for the service. The wedding was at King of Kings Lutheran Church, Maitland, Florida, so as many of our families who could attend it from far away did. Cary was a beautiful bride. All of the girls looked beautiful, too, and the men very handsome. There was great entertainment and delicious food at the reception. The next day all of us were together at Dick and Wanda’s home to visit with one another. There was singing, swimming, with Chris again flying through the air doing handstands and somersaults into the pool, more delicious food, etc. Everyone had a great time.