Surnames: FISHER

----Source: Loyal, Wisconsin Library Scrapbook Collection

Fisher, Stella

I have spent all but the first five years of my life in Wisconsin. I came from Kansas with my parents and one sister. We lived in Smith County Kansas, which is listed as the center county of the United States. We came in covered wagons and it took about four weeks to make the trip. Now we make it in about fourteen or fifteen hours.

I have one brother, who was born in Wisconsin. He is interested in education and has spent his life in the teaching profession.

Wen we first came to Wisconsin the principal source of income was made by working in the logging camps in winter and saw mills in the summer.

My father owned a farm, not much of it clear of trees and stumps, but all the time he had at home, for he too worked cutting the trees into logs and getting them to the mill, and then sawing them into boards in the summer, he cleared up the land. Now it is a beautiful dairy farm.

I attended high school and summer schools so I was able to teach rural school, which I did until in married in Oct. 1907. The school houses were just one large room, not too well equipped. There were from twenty five to thirty pupils in each school. All grades from fist to eighth.

My husband owned a cheese factory when we were married. At that time we received about 4,000 pounds of milk each day, when we turned the factory over to our son in 1945 we were taking in about 28,000 pounds each day. It takes about 10 lbs. Of milk to make one pound of cheese. In all those years we made a good many pounds of cheese. It is very interesting work. At first each farmer came with his few cans in a small wagon, usually drawn by one horse. Then the Farmers used small trucks in place of horse drawn wagons. Now most of the milk is gathered in large enclosed vans.

We felt we had a mall part in helping Wisconsin become one of the leading states in dairying and about first in production of cheese.

We raised a family of three, one son and two daughters, all are married now. We always allowed the children to have pets. They had guinea pigs, white rabbits, a wood chuck, two baby raccoons, cats and dogs, and a bear. The bear they named Bruno. We had him from a tiny cub until he was two years old. He loved grapes and honey with corn meal and milk.

After we retired we had a summer home on a small lake called Pier Lake. We spent much time there. We did nost of the stone work for the cottage ourselves. My husband passed away in May 1950. I have three grandchildren.