Books

  • By Howards Grove Historical Research Group, Doris Henschel.

    Ada was one of four small trading places (Howard, Franklin, Edwards and Ada) in the township in 1912. Ada consisted of a hotel, cheese factory, store and blacksmith. The population of town Herman in 1910 was 1,913, the majority of whom were Germans. This hamlet, located on the old Calumet-Sheboygan Plank Road twelve miles northwest of Sheboygan has a name of unknown origin. The post office was established on January 13, 1868, with Anton Goepfert acting as the first postmaster. Operations were discontinued on November 18, 1873. It was re-established on August 31, 1877, and once again discontinued permanently on April 30, 1909. William Maurer was the last postmaster. The book is full of history and wonderful memories.

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    Days to Remember

    Original price was: $19.99.Current price is: $15.00.
    Arved Ojamaa Ashby was born in Estonia on the Finnish Sea on August 8, 1922. Soviet armed forces brutally occupied his home country in 1940, and a carefree and idyllic life gave way to a time of uncertainty, fear, and death. He evaded the Russian draft in 1941 before he joined the military forces that liberated his home country. In 1943, he started his medical studies at the University of Tartu in Estonia. He fled to Finland to escape the German military draft, and fought the Russians as part of the Finnish army. Ashby moved with his young family to Wisconsin, where he opened his medical practice in 1960, at the Sheboygan Clinic. He retired in December 1989, having delivered thousands of babies.This book, a reprint of the two memoirs Capful of Wind and The Wind at my Back, tells Ashby’s traumatic but ultimately successful story – a coming of age story, and a story of emigration and survival. It is an immigrant story like no other.
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    Jacob’s House

    Original price was: $22.00.Current price is: $18.00.
    By Fred Zitzer This book documents the Zitzer family's life in Schulz, Russia (also, known as Lugovaya Gryaznukha, Russia). It also details their immigrant trips to the United States. Modern day images of Schulz by Peter and Judy Kaland.
  • By Henry Dykstra This wonderful volume includes recollections of the author's childhood in Wood County, Wisconsin during the 1920s and 1930s. While the title sounds like a very long number from an old crank-style telephone, it actually refers to the two parents and ten children in the author's family. Henry Dykstra moved to Sheboygan County in 1941, and farmed there for over fifty years.
  • By Elmer Koppelmann A fascinating look at Sheboygan County's presidential races from the beginning of the county's involvement in national government (1848) through the 1988 election where George Bush defeated Michael Dukakis.
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    Earthfest

    Original price was: $7.00.Current price is: $5.00.
    By Paul Hanson In 1990, Sheboygan resident, Kathy Alby, started Earthfest to make the public aware of the environment. It was to be a celebration of our environment and a venue to show us what we could do to make positive changes—small or large—to make our world a better place in which to live. Originally held at Lakeview Park, the festival moved to Vollrath Bowl in 1992 and finally to Fountain Park where it thrives today. This book is photographic memory or remembrance by Paul Hanson of some of the people and events that make Earthfest the special summer event that it is.
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    Echoes from Home

    Original price was: $15.00.Current price is: $5.00.
    By Jim Carey Echoes from Home is a Civil War novel by Sheboyganite, Jim Carey. This is Jim's first entry into the world of publishing, but he's really been writing for twenty years. The book tells the story of Joshua Miller, survivor of the War of Secession. It is the story of a soldier from the south
  • Encore

    $25.00
    By Brian Leahy Doyle In Encore! The Renaissance of Wisconsin Opera Houses chronicles the histories of ten Wisconsin opera houses and theaters, from their construction to their heydays as live performance spaces and through the periods when many of these stages went dark. But what makes these stories so compelling is that all but one of the featured theaters has been restored to its original splendor.
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    Green Steed, the Bicycle and Me, and Me and the Bicycle

    Original price was: $15.00.Current price is: $5.00.
    By Betsy Jones Michael This charming memoir by a Sheboygan author tells about a middle-aged wife, mother/stepmother who, in 1970, trains herself to ride a brand new ten-speed Schwinn Super Sports bicycle. She qualifies for bicycle tours in foreign lands, and finds her own home roads of Wisconsin best of all. Her adventures require physical stamina, discipline and independence and strangely, lead her to uncover mysteries of her mother’s early life, as well as those of her ancestors. She also rediscovers herself. The Green Steed was chosen by Sheboygan’s Mead Public Library for their summer 2009 citywide Sheboygan Reads, co-sponsored by the Sheboygan Press.
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    Limping Through Life, A Farm Boy’s Polio Memoir

    Original price was: $22.95.Current price is: $16.00.
    By Jerry Apps Polio was epidemic in the United States in 1916. By the 1930s, quarantines and school closings were becoming common, as isolation was one of the only ways to fight the disease. The Salk vaccine was not available until 1955; in that year, Wisconsin's Fox River valley had more polio cases per capita than anywhere in the United States. In his most personal book, Jerry Apps, who contracted polio at age 12, reveals how the disease affected him physically and emotionally, profoundly influencing his education, military service, and family life and setting him on the path to becoming a professional writer.
  • By Florence Fenner Popp Mohrsville was a small settlement located at the intersection of the Green Bay and Howards Roads in the town of Herman approximately 2 miles north of Sheboygan Falls. In the early 1900s Highway 32 was known as the Green Bay Road, and later for some time, it was Highway 42. Until World War II, County O was known as the Howards Road. Mohrsville consisted of: Starlight School, Mohnsam’s, the old cheese factory where Carol and Manny Zunker lived and Zunker’s garage. It was named for Paul Mohr who formerly owned a tavern there
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    Time in Hell, The Battle for Buna on the Island of New Guinea

    Original price was: $12.00.Current price is: $10.00.
    By Richard A. Stoelb This is the story of the men of Company F, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division, Wisconsin National Guard who left Sheboygan, Wisconsin for Federal Service on October 15, 1940. They would fight in the Battle for Buna on the island of New Guinea against the Japanese in World War II. Richard’s father, Roland Stoelb, was one of those soldiers who fought in the jungles of the Pacific to stop the Japanese during World War II. Roland along with dozens of boys from Sheboygan spent their Time in Hell, many of them making the ultimate sacrifice. Richard’s story personalizes the fight in the Pacific and honors the boys from Sheboygan.
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    Waiting on DEROS, A Soldier’s Story

    Original price was: $12.00.Current price is: $10.00.
    By Floyd Odekirk and Adrian Falchion Waiting on DEROS: A Soldier’s Story could not have been accomplished without the efforts of a Veteran, a writer and the spirit of every soldier walking within the pages of this book. Floyd Odekirk pursued the emotional task of bringing back the images of his tour in Vietnam (1968-69) so that the writer, Adrian Falchion, could paint in all its vibrant and dark colors the truths of war. Following the completion of 19 stories, Floyd Odekirk offered the light to his Veteran Brothers Michael Bennett, David Higgins, Craig Johnson, Dale Moravec, Donald Burch, Patrick Callahan, Joseph DeAugustine, Robert Moneypenny, Daniel Michael Pruitt and Thomas Vojvodich who each shared a story for the sake of honoring other soldiers.
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    Sheboygan County Chronicles

    Original price was: $10.00.Current price is: $8.00.

    By Bill Wangemann.

    This is a collection of Sheboygan City Historian, Bill Wangemann’s 2005 and 2006 Sheboygan Press articles. Topics include Memories of Railroads, Electric Rail or the Interurbans, maritime stories- The Burning of the Niagara and The Mysterious Loss of the Pere Marquette 18, movies, TV and drive-in theater, Garton Toy and its fire, the stumpff fiddle and so much more.

  • Sheboygan County Connection III is the continuing record of the lives of Sheboygan County residents and their adventures in history. Read about dozens of historic happenings experienced by residents from the death and autopsy of victims of Ed Gein to the mysteries of Sheboygan's Rancho de las Flores, refugees of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the architect for the construction of the first Mormon Temple at Nauvoo, Illinois and history of outhouses. These stories ran in the Sheboygan Press from November 2015 to October 2016.
  • By Millersville Historical Research Group

    The history of the area dates back to 1846 when the first immigrants found their way along the Pigeon River and settled in the area. At first the two settlements were known as Howards and Mueller Villa, later becoming Howards Grove and Millersville.

    But in 1967, the two communities incorporated as Howards Grove-Millersville, becoming Sheboygan County’s 10th village, the fourth largest. It also brought the village fame with its cumbersome 24-letter title, the longest in the state. Eventually, the city dropped Millersville and took Howards Grove as its proper name. This book follows the history of just the Millersville portion of the area.

  • By Rick Kroos This autobiography by Rick Kroos takes you from his childhood home in the city of Sheboygan to Vietnam to Hong Kong, where he has lived most of his adult life. It is a wonderful and inspirational story from beginning to end.
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    Mayors of Sheboygan

    Original price was: $10.00.Current price is: $8.00.
    Since 1961, Mayors of Sheboygan have been elected to four-year terms and considered full-time mayors. Prior to 1961, Mayors were considered part-time mayors because the men had other jobs, while also serving as mayor. Starting in 1853, the men who ran for mayor were nominated by local political parties which many times made things interesting. There were times when the man nominated for mayor did not want the job. In the 165 year history of Sheboygan, little has been done to honor the men who served as mayor. This book is an effort to pay tribute to them and accurately, yet simply, document their political tenure. The vignettes that follow are in alphabetical order for ease of organization. Filled with photos this includes biographies of all of the city of Sheboygan’s part-time and full-time mayors.
  • Originally platted as the village of Rochester, Sheboygan Falls took shape in the late 1830s and 1840s. Settled by Yankee entrepreneurs from the East, "Sheboygan at the Falls" was a strong settlement from the beginning, surviving even the financial panic of 1837. A city of Greek Revival and Cream City brick architecture, Sheboygan Falls boasts two districts listed on the National Historic Register
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    And That’s the Way it Was

    Original price was: $6.95.Current price is: $4.00.
    By Roland Schomberg The stories for "...And That's the Way it Was" were inspired by Schomberg’s parents' life on their Sheboygan County family farm. Though not a literary masterpiece, the hand-written two-page chronicle of events, sprinkled with bits of his own philosophy, provided most revealing and interesting reading for the author. Reflecting on his part in the family history, he resolved to leave a similar legacy for his children and their offspring, so that they might be enlightened and amused by my narratives of life during Schomberg’s boyhood in Wisconsin.
  • By Richard A. Dykstra Thirty-five heartwarming stories about growing up in rural Wisconsin during the 1950s and 1960s.
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    Prisoner 19053

    Original price was: $18.95.Current price is: $12.00.
    By Robert Matzner Sheboygan resident, Robert Matzner, had a very important story to tell. Friend, Larry Vogel, helped him to put pen to paper. The result is Prisoner 19053, the true story of Matzner’s three years in Nazi concentration camps. Matzner, a native of Poland, lost most of his family to the Nazi’s Final Solution. He somehow survived the horror and came to the United States and Sheboygan with his family in 1949. Robert and Larry have written a remarkable document, a story full of sadness and hope which will touch all readers. The introduction, written by Robert’s son, Murray, is a poignant tribute and a great beginning to Prisoner 19053.
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    Sheboygan Symphony, The First 100 Years

    Original price was: $22.00.Current price is: $15.00.
    On a cold, cloudy evening, February 20, 1919, Zion Reformed Church in Sheboygan was reportedly "packed to the doors" to hear a concert. The highlight was to be a cantata performed by the Zion Choir, but the program listed them as "assisted" by a new entity: the Sheboygan Community Orchestra, led by John Schmidt, "who certainly needs no introduction," according to the anonymous review published the next day in the Sheboygan Press. In the months to follow, that body of players would be performing on their own, and by the time of their third concert they would be calling themselves the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra. They are still the SSO, one hundred years after their founding in the fall of 1918: the oldest symphony orchestra still functioning in the state of Wisconsin. They have performed continuously, except for pauses during the Great Depression and in the midst of World War II; and though they were called the Sheboygan Civic (Symphony) Orchestra from 1936 to 1973, there has been a continuity in both personnel and musical vision, linking one generation to the next over a 100-year span.
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    Wisconsin’s 37

    Original price was: $25.00.Current price is: $15.00.
    Wisconsin's 37, The Lives of Those Missing in Action in the Vietnam War. By Erin Miller with John B. Sharpless Foreword by Major General John D. "Don" Logeman (Ret.) The signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 signified the end of the Vietnam War. American personnel returned home and the 591 Americans held captive in North Vietnam were released. Still, 2,646 individuals did not come home. Thirty-seven of those missing in action were from Wisconsin. Using the recollections of the soldiers' families, friends and fellow servicemen, the author tells the story of each man's life.
  • By James E. Schultz.     More than a history about Schultz's great grandparents, this book features:

    • threads of our German heritage, including food, wine and beer, language, religion, music, dance, and customs woven into the family history and indexed;
    • sections devoted to “Why they came”, “Today’s German Attitudes”, and “People and Places”;
    • a “Special Find” for each of the eight featured ancestors, a genealogical gem that I uncovered;
    • a wide variety of church, government, military, personal, and other resources, with a list of 40 resources cataloged as an appendix; and,
    • a section called “Challenges, Tips, and Surprises” that provides helpful pointers for finding information.
  • By Edgar Harvey Jr.

    This book deals with many of Ed Harvey’s predecessors as Sheboygan County Surveyors. Harvey, after years of research, found that they included men of great character, and others whom we could term “shysters”.  They included some pretty unremarkable individuals and others of great genius.  Although they were humble surveyors while they worked in Sheboygan County, some of these men invented great things, or were otherwise involved in major events which changed the history of the entire nation or the world.  One man worked on the Brooklyn Bridge project.  Another worked on the Panama Canal.  At least two of these men prepared maps which shaped the boundaries of nations.  With all the same care, the same men prepared surveys which depicted the boundaries of comparatively small, private properties in Sheboygan County; An interesting and fresh way of analyzing Sheboygan County History.

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    Fill’er Up, The Glory Days of Wisconsin’s Gas Stations

    Original price was: $30.00.Current price is: $25.00.
    By Jim Draeger and Mark Speltz The authors visit 60 Wisconsin gas stations that are still standing today and chronicles the history of these humble yet ubiquitous buildings. The book tells the larger story of the gas station's place in automobile culture and its evolution in tandem with American history, as well as the stories of the individuals influenced by the gas stations in their lives.
  • This is the second volume in a series. It contains more than fifty stories about Sheboygan County citizens and the amazing ways they participated in important history. Topics range from the 1950s bomb shelter scare to the opening of Road America and Clif Tufte to the opening of the Erie Canal in the 1830s.
  • By Janice Hildebrand This book is a tribute to the City of Sheboygan in its sesquicentennial year 2003. The area that is now the city was settled years before 1853, but the city was not chartered until then. This book documents 45 men and women who were important in Sheboygan's early years. Each bio contains one or more photos. 2016 reprint.
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    Ultimate Sacrifice

    Original price was: $10.00.Current price is: $8.00.
    By Elmer Koppelmann The citizens of Sheboygan County have always gone above and beyond the call of duty in times of military need; the Second World War was no different. Some 3000 young men and women served during World War II on all fronts and in all capacities from this county alone. Recorded here, after eighteen months of searches and interviews, are vignettes of 234 soldiers- one young woman and 233 young men from the Sheboygan County area who lost their lives. Four others- Joseph J. Archbold, Elmer C. Prahl, Roland Thompson, and Douglas Thornberg are noted as making the ultimate sacrifice, but regrettably, no information was found other than their names.
  • By Emma Hermann Thieme   NO LONGER AVAILABLE -- OUT OF PRINT   Sophie Hermann Knop was born and raised in Schaefer, Russia, a German-Russian community along the Volga River. In 1923, when she was 18 years old, Sophie traveled to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where Gottlieb Hermann, had been living since 1912. During their long separation, Sophie endured great difficulties, including the Russian Revolution and the upheavals and famine that followed in its wake. Sophie willingly shared detailed descriptions of her life in Russia. Those “bits and pieces” follow a brief history of German migration to the Volga River area of Russia.
  • By Jerry Apps The barns of Wisconsin are history books in red paint, sociology with gabled roofs, theology with lightning rods. In many ways barns are Wisconsin agriculture nailed together in buildings with cupolas on top. This revised edition was printed in 2010 and filled with beautiful images.
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    Jim’s Brother II

    Original price was: $14.95.Current price is: $8.00.
    By Richard A. Dykstra Here are thirty additional stories about growing up in rural Sheboygan County. Two favorite chapters are “The Airport” and “The Ice Box.” In the first you will appreciate the gullibility of children and in the second you will want to check Dykstra’s nose to see, if like Pinocchio, it has grown a foot or two. Besides the silly and nonsensical stories there are those with a much deeper meaning as in “Revisiting the Gift,” “Three Conversations with Dad” and “Grandma’s Quiet Life.” Dykstra's appreciation of family shines through the pages of all of his books.
  • By Janice Hildebrand In Sheboygan County there was a lively trade with the Indians for deer hides and other animal skins. Barter with the Indians brought the first traders to the county in the early 1800s. The tanneries of the county were an offshoot of the fur-trading days and were among the first clothing-related businesses to get started in Sheboygan County. Everything from shoes to gloves to harnesses were made of leather. Follow the history of the leather business in the county.
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    Celebrating 50 Years of Friendship, Sister Cities 1967-2017, Sheboygan and Esslingen

    Original price was: $10.00.Current price is: $8.00.
    This publication is a chronological account of the sister city relationship between Sheboygan, a city in the state of Wisconsin, and Esslingen am Neckar of Germany. These articles span the years 1967 to 2017. The stories are told by actual headlines, story excerpts, photographs, and informational pieces gathered through articles in the Sheboygan Press, publications in the archives of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center and Mead Public Library. The articles selected are meant to include a brief history and highlights of special visits and envoys. It is impossible to include everything. Many photos were available, but individuals and dates were not identified so they were not chosen. In a world that began with cablegrams, western union, letters, then phone and fax, communication evolved with the technology of cell phones, emails, the internet and FaceTime. In the beginning, travelers’ postcards and letters often arrived after they returned home. The bulk of the written material was found before all of this new technology replaced the newspaper stories. Some years there was more material than others. During the 1990s and beyond information was in the hands of individuals, not printed publications.
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