A digital collection of my family history research. My family's ancestry and lineage from my paternal Repinski and maternal Dietz family trees. A never-ending hobby
Almost everyone has heard the Christmas Carol titled "Good King Wenceslaus" at one time or another
"Good King Wenceslas looked out On the Feast of Stephen When the snow lay round about Deep and crisp and even Brightly shone the moon that night Though the frost was cruel When a poor man came in sight Gathering winter fuel...."
Researching my family tree and delving into my Deitz ancestry the other day, I came across an ancestral 32nd great grandfather by the name of Boleslaus I of the DynastyPřemyslid in Bohemia.
My 32nd great grandfather lived from 915-972 A.D. He was the ruler of the duchy of Bohemia and ruled from Prauge (now part of the Czech Republic). His family and descendants ruled this area of Europe from about 850 until the early 1300s.
The royal line ended in 1306 with the death of King Wenceslaus III. The Bohemian throne went to the Luxembourgs, and the Polish throne returned to the Piasts.
There was a brother of this Bohemian duke who was my ancestral great grandfather, who lived from 907-935. His name was Wenceslaus.
The real story behind the carol Good King Wenceslaus
Statue of Wenceslaus in Prauge
Good King Wenceslaus may be one of the most popular carols ever written – but the story behind it is bizarre and gruesome.
The man we know as ‘Good King Wenceslaus’ was
actually Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. He was also known as Vaclac the
Good, or Svatý Václav in Czech and lived from c.907 to 28 September 935.
And the
reason we have his exact date of death is that he was assassinated – on
the orders of his brother, appropriately named Boleslaus the Cruel.{My 32nd Great Grandfather}
Wenceslaus I (Czech: Václav [ˈvaːtslaf]; c. 907 – September 28, 929
or 935), or Wenceslas I, was duke (kníže) of Bohemia from 921 until his
assassination in 935, purportedly in a plot by his own brother, Boleslav the Cruel.[1]
His martyrdom, and the popularity of several biographies, quickly gave
rise to a reputation for heroic goodness, resulting in his being
elevated to sainthood, (the only Czech Saint celebrated in the Roman Catholic Pantheon of Saints) posthumously declared king by Pope Otto I, and
seen as the patron saint of the Czech state.[1][2]
Family
Wenceslas was son of Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia from the Přemyslid dynasty.[1]{Vratislaus would be my 33rd Great Grandfather}
His father was raised in a Christian milieu through his own father, Bořivoj I {My 34th Gret Grndfather} of Bohemia, who was purportedly converted by Saints Cyril and Methodius. His mother Drahomíra
{My 33rd Great Grandmother} was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief of Havolans and was baptized
at the time of her marriage, though her devotion to paganism persisted
to the point where Wenceslas reportedly sent her out of the country,
following the murder of Wenceslas' grandmother.[1][2]
Wenceslas was most likely not born in Prague but in one of the other Přemyslid castles since at the time of his birth his uncle Spytihněv I{My 34th Great Uncle}
ruled in Prague and non-ruling members of the family customarily lived
in other castles of the territory. His birth year of 907 to 908 is
estimated from the year his father became duke in 915. In the same year
he had Václav's hair cut in a ritual usually reserved for 7 year old
sons of the ruling elite.[3]
Wenceslas father died when he was young, and he was most influenced in
his youth by his father's mother, his grandmother, St. Ludmila.[4] {My 34th Great Grandmother} She taught him Slavonic and Latin, as well as how to make the bread and wine for mass.[2] Her influence would shape his entire life.
Václav was most likely married but no details are known about his
wife or possible children. According to an Old Church Slavonic legend
he had a son Zbraslav with a concubine.[5]
Young Wenceslas
Wenceslas
didn’t come from Christian stock: his grandfather had been converted to
Christianity by Saints Cyril and Methodius. And his mother was the
daughter of a pagan tribal chief – though she was baptized before she
was married.
When
young Wenceslas’ father died there was a power vacuum: the young boy’s
mother was banished and his grandmother killed by assassins – it’s said
she was strangled with her own veil.
But
once the dust had settled, the people of Bohemia decided they’d like
Wenceslas to be their ruler. His mother ruled as regent until young
Wenceslas reached the age of 18… at which point he promptly banished
her.
And when he came of age he
banished his mother. To try and avoid disputes, the country was split in
two and half given to Wenceslas’ younger brother, Boleslaus.
Statue of Saint Wenceslaus in St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague. The head of the statue apparently fits the measurements of Wenceslaus's skull.
His assassination
But Boleslaus wasn’t happy with the set up and in September 935 he plotted with a group of noblemen to kill his brother.
The three nobles – Tira, Česta, and Hněvsa – stabbed Wenceslas – before his own brother ran him through with a lance.
We even know the date: 28 September. When Wenceslas was later canonized, this day was made his Saint’s Day.
Wenceslaus flees from his brother who is wielding a sword, but the priest closes the door of the church (from Gumpold's Codex)
After his death
Wenceslas
was regarded as a martyr and saint almost immediately after his death
but he wasn’t promoted from Duke of Bohemia to King of Bohemia until
Holy Roman Emperor Otto I gave him the title posthumously a few years
after his death.
People in Bohemia and England in particular began to venerate St Wenceslas. One 12th-century preacher said:
“His deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for, as is read in his Passion,
no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare
feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave
alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by
every difficulty.”
His remains are in St Vitus’ Cathedral in Prague and his Saint’s Day is a public holiday in the Czech Republic.
Cardinal Miloslav Vlk with the skull of Saint Wenceslaus during a procession on 28 September 2006
The legend
There’s also a brilliant legend attached to the statue of St Wenceslas in Wenceslaus Square in Prague.
The
story goes that if the Czech Republic is in danger, the statue of King
Wencelaus will come to life, raise a sleeping army and reveal a
legendary sword to bring peace to the land.
The carol
So there’s something to think about next time you sing Good King Wenceslas.
The
words to the carol were written in 1853 by John Mason Neale but the
melody is much older – it’s a 13th-century tune called ‘Tempus adest
floridum’ in praise of the spring.
The
carol was written for the Feast of St Stephen, better known as Boxing
Day. And it celebrates the long tradition of charitable giving on the
Second Day of Christmas.
It’s become one of the best loved carols ever written – and was even performed by The Beatles.
Wenceslaus in Popular Culture
Besides the christmas carol there are other numerous portrayals of him in popular culture:
The lavish 1930 silent film St. Wenceslas was at the time the most expensive Czech film ever made.
Ogden Nash
wrote a comic epic poem, "The Christmas that Almost Wasn't" (1957), in
which a boy awakens Wenceslaus and his knights to save the kingdom of
Lullapat from usurpers who have outlawed Christmas, with elements from
the legend of Wenceslas.[27]
Continuing
my family history research, I decided to climb the Repinski-Dulek tree
today and found a rather neat relative that I and my polish kin share
via my grandmother Evlyn Dulek Repinski.
Princess Anna Jabłonowski
Leszcynski would be a 9th Cousin (10 times removed) from myself and a 7th cousin (8 times removed) from my grandmother and a 6th cousin (7 times
removed) from my great grandfather John Dulek.
A
brief Life Sketch of my noted famous polish cousin that lived from the
middle of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th Century and was the mother of a Polish King and an ancestress of French Royalty.
Her son Stanisław Leszczyński became King of Poland with Swedish support in 1704 and reigned until 1709. During his first reign her brother Jan served as Crown Chancellor.
Anna Leszczyńska reportedly lived with her son and his family in
his exile after the deposition of 1709, when he moved from Poland to
Sweden, in 1714 to Zweibrücken in Germany, and finally, in 1718, to
France.
Her relationship with Stanislaw was reportedly not happy at this
point, as she felt disappointment over the loss of his royal position
and exile and blamed this on the actions of Stanislaw, in which she was
joined by her daughter-in-law Catherine Opalińska.[2]
Growing up in the small Central Wisconsin city of Wisconsin Rapids, the "Mead" name was the most famous family name in this city on the banks of the Wisconsin River.
The Mead family were the owners of Consolidated Papers, the biggest paper mill in Wisconsin and one of the bigger mills in the United States.
Read on....
As a child I attended kindergarten at "Mead Elementary School" and went swimming at the "Mead West Side Pool". I Ice Skated at both Witter Field and Mead Field Ice Rinks. I went to minor league baseball games at Witter Field.
My Uncle Clyde worked at the "Mead" paper mill as did many of my friend's parents.
The "Mead Inn" Hotel was the grandest hotel in town and myself and my family spent alot of time there in its restaurants and indoor pool and as and adult visiting my hometown I spent many nights there.
While researching some family history a few days ago, I came across biographies of George W. Mead and his wife Ruth Witter.
As I was digging through their family lines I discovered that I and my family were related to Ruth Witter Mead through a shared ancestry from my mother Marlene Dietz Repinski and her paternal line through her father Ray Deitz via a set of 9th Great Grandparents that we share with Ruth Witter Mead......needless to say I was wowed!
So....Ruth Witter Mead is our 7th cousin three times removed.
She and George's son, Stanton Mead, would be our 8th cousin 2 times removed and his son George W. Mead II is our 9th cousin one time removed.
Shared Ancestry
The ancestry that my family shares with George and his grandmother descends from our common ancestors who lived in the 17th century in Colonial New England.
My 9th Great Grandparents & Ruth Witter Mead's 6th Great Grandparents
George Denison was born in about 1620 in England.
Ann Borodell was born in about 1615 in Ireland.
George arrived in America with his parents and siblings in 1631 aboard the Lyon.
George returned to England a short time after the death of his first wife, Bridget Thompson and fought in the First English Civil War under Cromwell.
On June 14, 1645, George was wounded in the decisive battle of Naseby, where the Parliamentarians vanquished the Kings army. He was carried to the house of Mr. John Borodell
of Cork, Ireland, but who was then residing in England. Borodell was a
man of high social position, and an earnest sympathizer with the cause
of the new republic. George was nursed back to health by John's
daughter, Ann.
A short time later, George and Ann were married and they moved to America where George had resided prior to the war. It was in Roxbury that they would settle and raise their family. George would move to New London Conn. as one of it's first residents and because of some bad blood between him and the town due to him deserting his daughters from his previous marriage to Bridget Thompson
George and Ann would settle In 1654 in Stonington Conn. George Dennison, along with William Chesebrough, Walter
Palmer, Thomas Minor, and Thomas Stanton, were the founders of
Stonington (Southerton) Conn. It is in this town that they would raise their children and spend the rest of their lives. Their descendants played leading roles in
that town.
Children of George and Ann
John bapt 16 June 1646 d. 1698 married Phebe Lay.
Ann bapt. 20 May 1649 d. 1694 married Gershom Palmer.
Borodell b. c. 1651 d. 11 Jan. 1702 married Saml Stanton.
George b. c. 1653 d. 27 Dec. 1711 married Mercy Gorham, a Mayflower descendant
William b. c. 1655 d. 26 Mar. 1715 married Sarah Prentice.
Margaret b.c. 1657 d. 5 May 1741 married James Brown Jr.
Mercy b. c. 1659 d. 10 Mar 1670/1
The Witter-Mead Ancestry from George and Ann Denison
William Denison, the 5th child of George and Ann, would be the line that would descend down to JD Witter and his daughter Ruth who would marry George W. Mead.
Ruth Witter (1875-1939) & George W. Mead I (1871-1961)
Stanton W. Mead (1900-1988) & Dorothy Williams (1904-1966)
George W. Mead II (1927-2022) & Helen Anderson (Living)
The Deitz-Repinski Ancestry from George and Ann Denison
Margaret Denison, the 6th child of George and Ann, would be the line that would descend down to myself and my siblings and their children through our mother, Marlene Deitz Repinski.
Margaret Denison (1657-1741) & James Brown (1655-1718)
Dorothy Brown (1694-1738) & Nathanial Medbury (1691-1736)
Deliverance Medbury (1721-1820) & Daniel Brown (1709-1784)
Nathanial Brown (1763-1798) & Hilda Briggs (1764-1825)
Nathanial A Brown (1794-1875) & Jerusha Hutchinson (1776-1860)
Chester F Brown (1824-1897) & Mary E Smith (1822-1913)
Eleanor Brown (1858-1921) & Henry Dietz (1854-1937)
Henry C Dietz (1885-1954) & Grace E Pope (1891-1963)
Raymond H Dietz (1912-1973) & Modesta Kosmeder (1914-1971)
Marlene G Dietz (1936-1999) & Maurice Repinski (1933-2020)
Jane (1962), John (1966) James (1967), Jacklyn (1969), Jeffry (1974) Repinski
&
Children of Jane Repinski: Jennifer Reinert (1980), Ashley Reinert (1984)
&
Children of Jacklyn Repinski Brown: Josh Langmo (1981), Hailey Brown (2001)
&
Children of Jeff Repinski: Nathan, Ethan & Carter
A Brief History of
The "Witter-Mead" Family of Wisconsin Rapids Wis.
Jeremiah Delos (JD) Witter
(1835-1902)
6th Cousin 4 times removed
When
Jeremiah Delos Witter was born on 18 September 1835, in Brookfield,
Madison, New York, United States, his father, Josiah Witter, was 30 and
his mother, Calista Langworthy, was 27.
He married Emily Leone Phelps on
16 February 1860.
JD died on 22 March 1902, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois,
United States, at the age of 66, and was buried in Wisconsin Rapids,
Wood, Wisconsin, United States.
The following account of the life of Jerre D. Witter is taken from the Wood County Reporter of March 27, 1902, almost exactly as it appears in that issue.
Born in New York
Jerre D. Witter was born in Brooklyn, Madison County, New York, September 18th, 1835. His parents were poor and hard working farmers. His education was that in general received in close application to the work laid before him on the farm..
In 1850 he came with his parents to the Town of Dakota, Waushara County, Wisconsin. Here he again helped his father on the farm and continued until he was eighteen years of age. The boy soon began to feel that his activities needed a broader field. The same year that he left the farm he entered the law office of his brother-in-law, W. C. Webb at Wautoma, Wis.
In May 1859 he came to Grand Rapids to be admitted to the bar, but returned again the same year to Wautoma. In 1860 Mr. Witter married Emelie Phelps, in Friendship, New York. He & Emelie had two children, Ruth Witter Mead and Isaac P. Witter, both of this city.
Came Here in 1860
It was in December, 1860, the year of his marriage, that he came to make Grand Rapids his permanent home. He practiced law eight years in partnership with Judge Webb. He served the people successfully both as District Attorney and County Judge. His extremely logical mind would have made him prominent in the legal profession, but he saw larger fields in other directions than law.
He thus gradually took up real estate, insurance, lumber and banking interests. Thru perseverance, pluck and honest dealings, he soon became interested in various enterprises in the state, until, at the time of his death, he was known as one of the wealthiest and progressive men in the Wisconsin Valley.
In 1872 he founded the First National Bank of Grand Rapids, and in 1898 re-organized the Bank of Centralia. He has always been the executive of these banks, and has at all times been found conservative and safe to trust. His lumbering interests have been extensive. He has been a stockholder in almost all the important business ventures in Grand Rapids.
Held Extensive Interests
He has been identified with almost all the paper mills in the Wisconsin Valley. He had extensive interests in three paper mills at Appleton. At home he was stockholder in the South Centralia Paper Mill and the Biron Paper Mill.
He also had shares in the Johnson & Hill Co.’s store, Oberbeck Furniture Co. and the Grand Rapids Milling Co., and the Commercial National Bank of Appleton. Besides these interests in Wisconsin, Mr. Witter had interests in cattle in Texas, and rice in Louisiana and some banking interests in Dakota.
Thruout his entire career, Mr. Witter avoided political office, yet his official service to Wood county, and the City of Grand Rapids was of inestimable worth. He held that any man had a right to refuse to serve in any public office that paid a compensation, but that it was the duty of every good citizen to serve so far as he was able in those public offices that yielded no pay. Thru his generous donations to libraries alone, thousands of souls in this and adjoining counties have daily drawn and enjoyed an inspiration to higher and nobler life.
Cleared County Government
At an early date in county history, when corruption was ruling our county government, Mr. Witter was one of the first who dared to enter protest against the rule of dishonesty. He was elected a member of the County Board by the better element in the community. Largely thru his influence and by the courageous stand that he and a few of his colleagues took was the county government vested from the gang that had for years misruled and looted its treasury. Once the power of corruption was destroyed, he stepped aside and let the others benefit politically by his work. He sought no city office but at times served on its council and at one time in the capacity of mayor. His opinion was often desired on important questions of city management. For a full quarter of century he served continually on the Board of Education. And on that Board no member’s opinion carried greater weight than his. He never advocated his opinions with great ardor, but when his opinion was once formed he stated it with such clearness and dignity that it was usually accepted as correct without further question. He was always willing to accept good suggestions from others and in passing those suggestions on he was careful to give credit to those from whom the suggestions came. Briefly stated, in public office Mr. Witter was always found standing in the position that good judgment and honesty pointed out as right.
Helped Build Library
But not alone did he serve the public in the way already mentioned. Indeed his public services in those capacities was small compared with his services in molding public character throughout the influence of our public library.
From the time of the incorporation of the T. B. Scott Free Public Library on this city, in 1889 to 1901, when he stepped aside to give his son his place, he served on the Board of Directors of that corporation. From the first he entered earnestly and lovingly into the spirit of the good work. His judgment largely dictated the character of the first list of books that was purchased for the Library. We doubt whether a list of purer, more elevating and more enabling books could be made than that list contained.
When it became apparent that the $5,000 donated by Mr. Scott was not enough to supply the needs of the public library, he first saw that fact, and no sooner did he realize that the good influence of the library was limited by lack of funds, than he donated to the library a sum equal to the original donation by Mr. Scott. It was suggested at the time of that donation that his name be placed by the side of Mr. Scott’s in the name of the library. He absolutely refused, however, to permit this, saying that "If the good influence of the library was increased, the sole purpose of his gift was accomplished."
He also saw the great need and value of a well equipped reading room in connection with the library. When the "Traveling Library" idea was new, Mr. Witter at once recognized the vast possibilities of good lying within the scope of that idea Without waiting for the working out of the details of the plan, he donated a thousand dollars to equip traveling libraries to circulate in this and adjoining counties. He continually encouraged its growth and usefulness until today we have forty-two of these traveling libraries going forth as messengers of good among the people.
Death and Bequests to the City he adopted
Mr. Witter died at the city of Chicago, March 22, 1902, after undergoing a serious operation. Before he left for Chicago realizing the serious nature of his ailment and the danger of an operation, he carefully prepared his will in which he left to the schools of the city of Grand Rapids, $50,000, to each church, regardless of denomination, $1,000, and to the library the sum on $5,000.
Ruth Witter Mead
(1875-1939)
7th Cousin three times removed
When Ruth Emily Witter was born on 29 October 1875, in Friendship,
Friendship, Allegany, New York, United States, her father, Jeremiah
Delos Witter, was 40 and her mother, Emily Leone Phelps, was 35.
She
married George Wilson Mead on 18 October 1889, in Wisconsin Rapids,
Wood, Wisconsin, United States.
She died on 24 August 1939, in Wisconsin
Rapids, Wood, Wisconsin, United States, at the age of 63.
Mead, Ruth W. (1875 - 1939)
[Source: 100 Years of Pictorial & Descriptive History of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin by T.A. Taylor]
A tribute by Stanton W. Mead -
Mrs. Mead was the wife of George W. Mead and the daughter of the late Jere D. Witter and Emily L. Witter of this
city. Mrs. Mead was born in this city, then called Grand Rapids, on October 29, 1875, and died in this same city
August 24, 1939 at her beautiful residence on The Island.
Mr. Isaac P. Witter is a surviving brother and Mrs. R. F. Johnson is a surviving sister by adoption. The J. D.
Witter residence was on Third Street South on the site of the present residence of Mr. and Mrs. I. P. Witter.
{This home on 3rd Street is now the South Wood County Historical Museum}
Mrs. Mead attended the local schools, graduating from the Howe High School, following that was a member of the
Class of 1896 at the University of Wisconsin and finished her education by a year of travel and study in Europe,
at Lausanne, Switzerland, Paris, and Berlin. She enjoyed French literature and French conversation throughout her
life.
Her marriage to George W. Mead of Rockford, Illinois took place on October 18, 1899. They resided at Rockford until
the fall of 1902 when they moved to Wisconsin Rapids, Together they planned and built their beautiful home on The
Island in 1912, and in 1930 they acquired and improved their Miami Beach home in Florida where subsequent winters
have been spent.
Mrs. Mead sustained a strong loyalty to Wisconsin Rapids, its institutions and its people, all through life. She
was bound to the community be tradition, by friendships, by having shared in its development, by continued interest
in the pulse of its activity. New generations came under her loving observation from the minute of birth, so there
was hardly a child which she could not identify and place in the pattern of relationships and connections. As High
School graduating classes came on, year after year, her mail box became laden with Commencement Invitation cards
sent by her admirers and each was favored with a remembrance.
Mrs. Mead's choice of friends and appraisal of character was based on what one term true values. She tolerated
no superficiality, hypocrisy, not inconsistency. She believed in the deep, abiding principles of Christianity,
actively, persistently, - by personal example and by encouragement of them in others. She loved people, forming
her friendships among those in all circumstances, and in all fields of endeavor. People loved her, enjoying their
contacts with her and delightful conversations when meeting her.
Mrs. Mead loved beauty in all forms. Her appreciation of it was contagious and inspired others. She expressed this
love of beauty creatively in her home and gardens, she fostered it for others in supporting art and beauty in literature,
music, drama, painting, and architecture. She supported every civic undertaking of this nature and offered her
home on many occasions for concerts and lectures.
Mrs. Mead loved most of all her home and family, fulfilling first her position as wife and mother. Her family life
with Mr. Mead, her three children, her two daughters-in-law and one son-in-law, and her nine grandchildren continued
as a constant course of happiness and inspiration to her. Second only to her home was the interest in the Congregational
church and in the Church and Sunday School activities, which she supported and in which she exercised leadership
and devoted attention throughout her life.
Mrs. Ruth W. Mead is survived by her husband, George W. Mead, by her two sons, Stanton W. Mead and Walter L. Mead,
by her daughter, Mrs. Emily M. Baldwin, and by nine grandchildren.
The Witter House now Wood County Historical Museum
George Wilson Mead
(1871-1961)
Husband of 6th Cousin
When
George Wilson Mead was born on 22 February 1871, in Chicago, Cook,
Illinois, United States, his father, Darius Raymond Mead, was 38 and his
mother, Abigail Crane Spare, was 34.
He married Ruth Emily Witter on 18
October 1889, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wood, Wisconsin, United States.
They
were the parents of 2 sons and 1 daughter.
He lived in Galena,
Jo Daviess, Illinois, United States in 1880 and Grand Rapids, Wood,
Wisconsin, United States for about 15 years.
He died on 2 October 1961,
in Wisconsin Rapids, Wood, Wisconsin, United States, at the age of 90,
and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Wisconsin Rapids, Wood,
Wisconsin, United States.
Source: History of Wood County, Wisconsin (1923) compiled by George O. Jones, pages 603-604
George W. Mead, president and general manager of the Consolidated Water Power & Paper Co., Wisconsin Rapids,
was born in Chicago, Feb. 22, 1871, the year of the great fire there.
His father was a lumber merchant and was
one of the prominent men who helped to rebuild that great city from its mass of ruins. George W. attended school
in Chicago in the primary grades, until the family moved to Galena and from there to Rockford, Ill., where he completed
his grade school work and was graduated from the Rockford High School with the class of 1888.
He then entered Beloit
College, where he remained for a year, transferring to the University of Wisconsin, where he completed his college
course, taking the Bachelor of Arts degree with the class of 1894. He early developed the keen business instinct
which has been the guiding power in his career of success, for he chose to earn his way through the university
instead of depending on his family for support. College training in those days was regarded more as an individual
matter for the student to decide, and the finishing of a man's education with a college degree was not taken as
a matter of course, at least not by George W. Mead. Instead of coming out of college owing money he emerged with
a substantial bank account of his own, besides being the proud possessor of his diploma which recorded him as one
of the best students in his class.
Several years before he actually located here, and years before he ever dreamed
of making this place his home, a business trip brought Mr. Mead to Wisconsin Rapids, where he was the guest for
a short time of Joseph and Arsene Arpin, college friends. The river was a raging torrent at the time of his visit
and he stood on its banks, marveling at the beauty and thrilled by a sense of its great power in its onrushing
waters.
It was a strange coincidence that he should visit here, little thinking that he should return some day
to build a great industry on the site of that great falls which should make this city famous as a producer of paper.
Following his graduation from the University Mr. Mead engaged in the furniture business with his brother in Rockford,
Ill., where they had developed a splendid business.
Mr. and Mrs. Mead made their home there until early in 1902,
when he was called to this city to assist in the business affairs which were left unfinished by the untimely death
of J. D. Witter. That visit here in 1902 was only a temporary one, as far as the ideas of Mr. Mead were concerned.
The death of the elder Witter had made necessary additional management of the affairs of the Consolidated Water
Power & Paper Co., which was then in its very infancy. Mr. Mead knew very little about paper manufacturing,
but he was keen in his desire to solve the company's problems, put it on the path of success, and then return to
the Illinois city.
The unexpected death of Nels Johnson, president and executive head of the new company, in the
East, where he had gone to purchase paper-machinery, completely altered the situation, and from then on George
W. Mead realized that he had a man-sized job to perform and knew full well that it was not a matter of a few months
of assistance but years of work to advance the company to the place it was designed to occupy.
Thus was a young
retail merchant forced by circumstances into an unexpected position, which resulted not only to his own advantage,
but also greatly to the advantage of the community in which he took up his new home.
Stanton Witter Mead
(1900-1988)
8th Cousin Twice Removed
When
Stanton Witter Mead was born on 2 September 1900, in Rockford,
Winnebago, Illinois, United States, his father, George Wilson Mead, was
29 and his mother, Ruth Emily Witter, was 24.
He married Dorothy
Elizabeth Williams on 1 September 1926, in Oconomowoc, Waukesha,
Wisconsin, United States.
He died
on 11 November 1988, in Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin, United States, at
the age of 88, and was buried in Wisconsin Rapids, Wood, Wisconsin,
United States.
Brief Biography of Stanton Mead
Stanton W. Mead (1900-1988), the former president and chairman of
Consolidated Papers Inc. in Wisconsin Rapids was born in Rockford,
Illinois. His early education was in Wisconsin Rapids schools. Leaving
the city, he attended Hotchkiss Preparatory School prior to enrollment
in Yale University. Following his graduation from Yale in 1922, Mr. Mead
began his career in the paper industry when he joined Consolidated
Paper, Inc. He was elected a director in 1927 and was in administration
as treasurer, vice president, and president at Consolidated papers until
his retirement in 1971.
Mead emphasized sustained yields on company managed lands. He
encouraged the initiation of an industrial forestry operations program
within the company and hired their first forester in 1930. Mead believed
that trees used by the company should be replaced, not only as a wise
business practice, but also because it was an obligation toward the land
and its people.
Throughout his career, Mead took a keen interest in conservation
progress in Wisconsin, particularly in the field of forest management.
He was instrumental in the founding of Trees for Tomorrow, Inc., a
nonprofit organization of Wisconsin paper and power companies dedicated
to the advancement of reforestation in Wisconsin. He was a director of
this organization for many years
During
his years as a paper manufacturer, he gave time and energy to the
successful development of the Wisconsin River to control flood waters
and secure an even supply of water for power purposes. He served as
director and president of Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company, the
company which developed the reservoir system on the Wisconsin River, and
which regulates the river’s flow.
Mead was active in pollution abatement programs of the former
Sulphite Pulp Manufacturers’ research league, an organization of United
States pulp mills which was organized to find economic, non-polluting
uses for by-products of the sulphite pulping process. He was a trustee
of this organization when it was organized in 1939 and served as its
president from 1954 to 1965,
He was the motivator for the gift to the State of 20,000 acres of
land in central Wisconsin. Now known as the Mead Wildlife Area, this
gift came about largely as a result of Mead’s interest in conservation
and the enthusiasm he developed for the project when he discovered the
potential value of this area to the entire State. His conservation
efforts were recognized in 1968 when he received a special conservation
award from the State of Wisconsin
Stanton Mead had a great interest in education and youth projects. He
served as trustee for Lawrence College and the Institute of Paper
Science, and as a director, vice president and treasurer of South Wood
County YMCA.
He was a long time leader in the Boy Scouts and President of Samoset
Council, Boy Scouts of America from which he was awarded the America
Silver Beaver Award. Mead also received the Region 7 Boy Scouts of
America Silver Antelope Award for outstanding service to boyhood in the
community, state and nation. He was named “Citizen of the Year” by the
Wisconsin Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce in 1959 and the Wisconsin
Rapids Rotary Club named him a Paul Harris Fellow in 1981.
George W. Mead II
(1927-2022)
9th Cousin Once Removed
Stanton Mead and Father George Mead II
When
George Witter Mead was born on 11 October 1927, in Milwaukee,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, his father, Stanton Witter Mead,
was 27 and his mother, Dorothy Elizabeth Williams, was 23.
He is the grandson of George Wilson Mead and Ruth Witter Mead; and the
great-grandson of J.D. and Emily Witter, all of Wisconsin Rapids. During
his college years, he married Helen Anderson in Connecticut. He later
married Susan Feith in Wisconsin Rapids.
His children are: daughters, Deborah Mead Tillotson, Chicago, and Leslie Bryant
Frisinger, Madison; and son, David Mead, Muskego and
two step-children, Jessica Feith and Corday Feith, Madison; as well as
four grandchildren, George Bryant, Gordon Tillotson, Jessica Schultz and
Jennifer Frisinger; four step-grandchildren; and four
great-grandchildren. He is further survived by one sister, Mary LaMar,
Madison. A brother, Gilbert Mead, preceded him in death.
George W. Mead Il, an icon in
the Wisconsin and North American paper industry, died in Madison, Wis.,
on Friday, July 29, 2022. He was 94. George was well known for his
leadership of Consolidated Papers, Inc., formerly headquartered in
Wisconsin Rapids, and also for his leadership in the paper industry.
At the time of his death, he
continued to serve as chairman of the Mead Witter Foundation, Inc., a
family philanthropic foundation. George was the motivating force for the
Foundation's recent gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which
created the Mead Witter Foundation concert hall in its new performance
building on University Avenue, and for which the University conferred
the honor of naming the music school the Mead Witter School of Music. He
also founded the Wisconsin River Papermaking Museum in Wisconsin Rapids
and often personally conducted tours for school children who visited
the museum.
Mead was chairman and CEO of
Consolidated Papers, Inc., from 1971 to 1993. He continued to serve as
chairman until 2000 when the company was purchased by Stora Enso, Oyj, a
paper company headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. He was then invited
to serve on the Stora Enso board of directors, a position he held until
2004.
George joined Consolidated in
1952, the company his great-grandfather started in 1894. He began as a
chemical engineer and progressed to production manager and quality
manager before becoming vice president of operations in 1962. He was
elected a corporate director in 1963. In 1966, George became president
and chief executive officer, the position he held until 1971 when he was
named chairman and CEO. Under Mead's leadership the company grew to
nearly $2 billion in sales, was designated a Fortune 500 company, and
became known as the world's leading producer of coated printing papers
for magazines, catalogs and annual reports. The company was valued at
$4.8 billion at the time of its sale.
Throughout his career, George
took a keen interest in business affairs. He served on a variety of
corporate boards including Snap-on Tools Corporation, Kenosha, Wis.; Soo
Line Corporation, Minneapolis, Minn.; Thiele Kaolin Company,
Sandersville, Ga.; Firstar Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis.; First Wisconsin
Bank of Wisconsin Rapids; and Mountain National Bank, Woodland Park,
Colo.
More locally, following in the
tradition of both the Witter and Mead family support of community,
George worked his entire life to improve and preserve open park space
for public use along the banks of the Wisconsin River. On the day of his
death, a new park funded by the Mead Witter Foundation opened in
downtown Wisconsin Rapids overlooking the river he loved. He had quietly
toured the park several weeks before.
George's other local involvement
included service on the library board, providing leadership during
construction of the current community library; leadership to the local
Riverview Hospital Association; terms on the local chamber of commerce
board; time as trustee of the First Congregational Church; and
membership in the Wisconsin Rapids Rotary Club from 1958 until his
death.
George was an accomplished
downhill skier, a sport he continued until well over 85 years of age. He
skied the Colorado mountains with hometown friends, business friends,
but was especially happy to be on the slopes with his grandson and other
family members who skied.
Dixieland jazz was George's
favorite music. He enthusiastically supported the Madison Jazz Society
and also assisted in the archiving at Stanford University of the Jim
Cullum Riverwalk Jazz concerts long aired on Wisconsin Public Radio.
George personally sponsored or recruited many musicians to perform in
the local McMillan Library, a building he guided through construction in
the 1970s. He could often be found on concert night in the back row of
the theater thoroughly enjoying the music. Concert goers, most of whom
he knew by first name, often came to shake his hand as they left. He
also saw to it that the Mead Witter Foundation subsidized concerts
through the recent years of national economic recession, when free
library concerts provided an evening of entertainment for community
residents.
Mead received his early
education in Wisconsin Rapids and then attended Hotchkiss Preparatory
School, Lakeville, Conn., prior to enrolling in Yale University, New
Haven, Conn. After graduation from Yale in 1950, with a degree in
chemistry, Mead went on to receive an M.S. degree from the Institute of
Paper Chemistry, Appleton, Wis., in 1952.
Gilbert Dunbar Mead
(1930-2007)
9th Cousin Once Removed
Gilbert Mead and wife Jaylee
Background
Mead, Gilbert Dunbar was born on May 31, 1930 in Madison, Wisconsin,
United States. Son of Stanton Witter and Dorothy Elizabeth (Williams)
Mead.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Yale University, 1952;
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 1962;
Juris Doctor, U. Maryland., 1991.
Career
Physicist theoretical division, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Maryland., 1962-1974;
head geophysics branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland., 1974-1979;
geophysicist crustal dynamics project, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Goddard Space Flight Center, 1979-1987. Board directors,
member nominating committee Consolidated Papers, Inc., Wisconsin Rapids,
Wisconsin, since 1974.
Achievements
Gilbert Dunbar Mead has been listed as a reputable Geophysicist, lawyer by Marquis Who's Who.
Trustee Beloit College, 1976-1987, Mead Family Foundation, since
1989, Arena Stage, Washington, since 1991, Levine School Music,
Washington, since 1996, WashingtonChamber Symphony, since 1996. Member
Maryland. Bar, District of Columbia Bar.
Connections
Married Jaylee Montague, November 18, 1968.
Children: Elizabeth, Diana, Stanton, Robert.
Father:
Stanton Witter Mead
Mother:
Dorothy Elizabeth (Williams) Mead
Spouse:
Jaylee Montague
The Rise of The Consolidated Power & Paper Company
It was the most important development in city history.
“A new move has just been made by a number
of the leading business men of the twin cities [Grand Rapids and
Centralia] which cannot fail to be of the most beneficial and far
reaching consequences upon the growth of the twin cities. It is a move
which has been hoped for and talked of for years and years.”
The sentiments from both the Centralia Enterprise and Grand Rapids Tribune in August 1894 celebrated the beginning of the Consolidated Water Power Co.
After fighting in court for years to
consolidate the several smaller sites along the river’s edge, one of the
visionaries wouldn’t see his dreams become reality.
That was Jere Delos
(J.D.) Witter who died in 1902 following a failed operation for
Bright’s disease. Witter’s final moments were spent surrounded by his
family: his wife (Emily Phelps Witter), son (Isaac, who later built the
house that became the South Wood County Historical Museum), daughter
(Ruth Witter Mead) and son-in-law (George W. Mead, a furniture dealer in
Rockford, Ill.)
It would be left to Witter’s partner, Nels Johnson, to keep the project going.
Johnson turned to J.D.’s son, Isaac, to aid
in continuing his father’s dream. But the more cautious Isaac asked his
brother-in-law, George Mead, to stay “for a week or two” and help out.
In 1902, with investments from locals and a
loan from the Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee for at least
$150,000, “Consolidated Water Power” added “Paper Co.” to its name and
over a century of papermaking began.
Dreams Become Reality
As Consolidated was moving along in its
plans for a paper mill, dam and a power house, another tragedy befell
the company when Nels Johnson died.
Following the Johnson funeral, the Witters
turned to George Mead again. After all, he had experience constructing a
large building and running a business in Rockford, so, would he stay
with Consolidated until a paper man was to be found? He agreed and his
first task was the building of a dam. His daughter, Emily Baldwin Bell,
related that Mead would wake up in the middle of the night and go and
sit on the rock by the rapids, planning the all-important dam.
It was completed in March 1904 and the mill
in April of the same year. In June, Consolidated shipped the first
carload of newsprint to the Los Angeles Times. The Grand Rapids mill had made history as the only paper making operation which used electrically-powered machinery.
Continuing Growth
In 1911, the Grand Rapids Paper Co. mill at
Biron was acquired, followed by the Interlake Pulp & Paper Co.,
Appleton, and the Stevens Point paper mill and hydroelectric plant. In
1920, through their Newaygo Timber Company, the company purchased
timberland acreage in Ontario, Canada, that led to building of a paper
mill in Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay.
In a stroke of good luck, Consolidated sold
the Thunder Bay mill just before the Great Depression of 1929. While
the rest of the country struggled with unemployment, Consolidated
changed to a four-day work week, which allowed them to continue with no
layoffs to their employees.
Also, during the Depression years of the
1930s, Consolidated adopted a new process that produced coated paper in a
single, high-speed operation, in coordination with the company’s
largest client, Life Magazine. The big, fast, new Number 5
paper machine overlooking the Wisconsin river carried the motto “Built
for Life-Operated for Life.”
During World War II, Consolidated developed
a laminate sheet utilized in the production of aircraft equipment,
later called “Consoweld” and used mainly for countertops.
Glory Days
The 1960s began with the production of a
lightweight coated paper for magazines and catalogs and in 1962, the
corporate name change from Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company to
Consolidated Papers Inc. Towards the end of the decade, the $37 million
Kraft pulp mill and power complex was constructed.
Growth continued into the 1980s as paper
sales were temporarily boosted by the increasing use of personal
computers and copy machines. As CPI coated papers thrived in direct-mail
advertising and color inserts in newspapers, the company celebrated the
River Block, a new office building in Wisconsin Rapids that, by the mid
’80s, housed the world headquarters of the planet’s largest producer of
enamel papers.
Among the further acquisitions of the 20th
Century were Wisconsin River Division, Castle Rock Container Co., the
Niagara, Wis., paper mill, Lake Superior Paper, Superior Recycled Fiber
and “Repap USA.” Major improvements and expansions were made to the
Biron and Stevens Point mills. The big #16 machine in Rapids became one
of the world’s largest. Consolidated at its peak was listed as a Fortune
500 company and owned over 600,000 acres of forest land.
For stockholders, employees and townspeople
alike, nothing seemed more secure. Nearly 30 percent of the employees
had been with the company for more than 20 years and their children had
the privilege of continuing the tradition. Continuing as a family-run
company, CPI was able to keep up with the times while pursuing a
conservative fiscal course and for the most part avoiding debt.
In the early 1990s, an economic recession
facing the industry foreshadowed tough times to come. For the first
time, Consolidated would accrue long-term debt.
In 1993, George Mead II stepped down as CEO
while remaining chairman of the Board of Directors. His replacement,
Patrick F. Brennan, was the first chief executive from outside the Mead
family.
As the nation’s economy recovered in the
mid-90s, Consolidated once again began expanding. Like the $150 million
that went to improving the mill in Stevens Point in order to produce
64,000 tons of specialty paper to be used in food and consumer
packaging. Over the next few years, the company surpassed the $1 billion
revenue mark. As the new millennium approached, Consolidated was
enjoying the last days of glory.
Sold
In 2000, Consolidated was acquired by Stora
Enso Oyj., of Helsinki, Finland, for $4.8 billion, making Stora Enso
the world leader in coated paper. While the sale was meant to bring the
Wisconsin Rapids paper mill along with the Scandinavian company’s other
holdings to a global market, the plan never reached its potential, due
to a worldwide decline in paper demand, competition from Asian paper
manufacturers, an “overconfident management” and a weak U.S. dollar.
During the Stora Enso era, the local paper mill celebrated its centennial.
After seven years, Stora Enso operations in
Northern America were sold to NewPage Corporation, Miamisburg, Ohio,
for $2.1 billion. NewPage soon filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging
in restructured form.
In 2014, NewPage was acquired by Verso of
Memphis, Tennessee (they are currently based out of Miamisburg, Ohio),
for $1.4 billion.
The new owner would continue to employ 1,700 workers spread between Wisconsin Rapids, Biron and the Steven Point mills.
In 2016, Verso filed for bankruptcy
protection after falling $2.4 billion in debt. The company owed around
$14 million to nine Wisconsin companies, including Sparhawk trucking in
Wisconsin Rapids, Plum Creek timber in Tomahawk (which had purchased
309,000 acres of Stora Enso owned forest in Northern Wisconsin and Upper
Michigan), deBoer Transportation in Blenker and Corenso North America
in Wisconsin Rapids.
What Next?
Now comes the news that signals the end of an era.
For the first time in its history, the landmark original Consolidated mill will have a full shutdown.
Verso said paper demand has declined due to
the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result its Wisconsin Rapids and Duluth
mills will be indefinitely closing at the end of July. This action will
lay off 902 employees here.
After 116 years, the dream of a prosperous
“consolidation” on the river is coming to an end. Only time will tell
what will become of what was the world headquarters. Who knows, maybe
somebody will be walking along the Wisconsin River and they too will
have a dream of what the city will be, what our new identity will
become.
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