Bio: Meske, Fred & Bertha

Surnames: MESKE JOHNSON BILLMAN

----Source: ABBOTSFORD, WIS. CENTENNIAL BOOK - 1973

Meske, Fred & Bertha

Fred and Bertha Meske Sr. came to Abbotsford from Germany in April of 1883. He was a shoemaker by trade, so cutting wood and logs had to be learned.

To earn some money he worked in the logging camp in winter for $15 per month. After several years here they bought eighty acres, all solid timberland, in the town of Holton, Marathon Co., from Carl Friemund.

They built a small frame house. Fred Jr. was born in 1888. They worked hard and cleared land and cut the timber and put the logs in piles to burn them as there was no sale for them at that time.

In 1912 Fred Jr. married Vera Johnson and they took over the farm, with his parents moving into Abbotsford.

Fred Jr. and wife cleared much more land and built a bigger barn and silo and remodeled the house. Their son Milton was born in 1913. In 1931 Milton married Emma Billman and worked several years at Crane’s feed store. Milton took over the farm in 1942 and Fred Jr. and His wife moved into Abbotsford. After spending several eyars at other work, they have lived in the town since 1948.

Milton built the barn larger, also a bigger silo. In 1950 he sold the farm and since farmed near Curtiss, Clark Co. on a larger farm, until 1972 when they sold that farm and moved into Abbotsford. Milton and wife have three children: Lila, Ruth and Dennis.