"Bill" Papenfuss as a Young Man

             William A. Papenfuss (ca. 1917)

 

He farmed in Dakota Valley, Minnesota (Winona County, Minnesota) before relocating in Clark County, Wisconsin.  In his younger days, William Papenfuss was known locally (around Dakota and Nodine, Minnesota) as "River Bill" or "Sheeny Bill" because he bought and sold junk and old iron and lived near the Mississippi River before moving to Clark County.

 

He was born August 22, 1892, in Homer Township, Winona County, Minnesota to Albert and Mathilda Papenfuss, natives of Pomerania, Germany.

March 1, 1914, he was married to Miss Bernice Clow, at Winona, Minnesota. They were the parents of nine children, a daughter, Annabel, passing away March 26, 1935, at the age of 13. Mrs. Papenfuss and the following children survive: James and Alicia, Mrs. Gerhard Schroeder, Dakota, Minn.; Eunice, Mrs. Lloyd Buettner, Neillsville; Marion Lewis, Carleton, Rachel, Allyn and Lawrence, at home. He also leaves his aged father, two sisters and two brothers, Mrs. Elmer Voss and Mrs. Robert Verkins, Minneapolis; Herman Papenfuss, La Moille, Minn. and Louis Papenfuss, Dakota Valley, Minn.