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Friends of Blue River

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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Friends of Blue River, Nonprofit Organization, 201 Clinton Street, Blue River, WI.

The purpose of the Friends of Blue River is to preserve and improve the physical and cultural essence of the Village of Blue River through action, financial support, and collection of historical items and information.

11/05/2026

Deepest sympathies to the family and friends of John Richter. He was a member of the Blue River High School class of 1962.

11/04/2026

Deepest condolences to the family and friends of Janet Frye Parr. She was a member of the Blue River High School class of 1960.

https://www.gundersonfh.com/obituaries/20134/janet-parr?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAcGRvZgRzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80Mzc2MjYzMTY5NzM3ODgAAR8GFmkm3GQkW7msg7EiKtzwCmZogG3Xu7BXTmCpeEzdKyK1sIbPHNn29ae3tA_aem_VSP6wWt2kCjWnmlJu6DKiQ

11/03/2026

This picture was taken at the Westfork School near Excelsior in 1895. It was loaned to the Republican Observer by Belle Flynn Sidebottom** who identified those in the picture as follows:
Back row, left to right: Herman Craig, Chris and Jack Shaw, Thomas Craig, Mannie Dilley, Aldon Powers, Agnea Davis, Ella Jones, Francis Dilley, Lennie Slain, Julie Morgan, Sarelda Smith, Ica Craig.
Middle row: Emmett Hagerty, Earl Slain, Schuyler Morgan, Austin Couey, Roland Dilley, Emery Jones, Ollie Smith, Lute Morgan, Jason Powers, Murray Randal, Belle Flynn, Lydia Shaw, Wilma Davis, Ida Fosnow, Elsie Dilley, Myrtle Davis and Cumma Fosnow.
Front row: Rob Morgan, Eldon Couey, John Pippin, Myrtle Jones, Buford Pippin, Francis Powers, Charlie Powers, Hazel Brown, Grace Powers, Ernie Slain, Ethel Dilley, and John Flynn.
The older men in the picture, according to Mrs. Sidebottom, are the preacher at the old log church whose name was Buroker and the members of the school board: John Smith, John Jones and Dave Craig.

**Melinda Belle (Flynn) Williams Sidebottom, 1885-1984, was born in Excelsior and died at the age of 99 in Iowa City, IA.

Source: "Republican Observer," November 23, 1961, and part of Irma Miller newspaper clipping collection.

11/03/2026

Further bio for members of the Blue River High School class of 1916.
Top row, left-to-right: Loyd Chitwood, farmed in West Port, Richwood Township after high school. He married Nora Dalton in 1917, and was a board member of the Wood School. The couple had six children, Renville, Dottie, Geri, Shirley, Patsy, and Richard. Loyd suffered a tragic death at the age of 42 when the tractor he was driving turned over on its side and trapped him beneath while he was attempting to move a rock from the farm field near his home. Five of his six children were still at home at the time of his death.
After high school, Flossie Gibbs received teacher training and taught at the Brindly School in Boscobel School District, at the Flynn and Excelsior schools in the Blue River School District, as well as in Woodman before she married Henry F. Richter in 1927. The couple had two sons, Kenneth and Karl. After the death of her husband, Flossie moved to Menominee Falls to teach second grade. In the first year teaching there, Flossie suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 63 in 1961.
Esmaralda “Mallie” Haney was the daughter of Thomas and Araminta (Chitwood) Haney who lived in Port Andrew. She married Noah D. Lolmaugh. The couple had two daughters, Patricia and Lucy Ellen. Mallie died at the age of 83 in San Diego.
Wilma Dyer, 1897-1975, also completed teacher training at Richland County Normal and taught before marrying Eldon Pippin. More about Wilma Dyer Pippin can be found in a post made to this page six days ago.
Lester Anderson was born in Richland County in 1897. The Fennimore Times reported that in 1913, he had the misfortune of cutting off the end of his index finger on his right hand. He was a lifelong farmer. Lester married Leona Burkhammer in 1921. The couple had four children—Harden, Archie, Maxine, and Robert. While renting a home on the Vede Thied farm in Eagle Township, the Anderson family had the misfortune of the house being completely destroyed by fire in 1929. The Andersons lost practically all of their household goods. Lester died in 1971 at the age of 74.

11/02/2026

Further update on the members of Blue River High School class of 1916 shown in the bottom row, left to right, Leon Randall (see previous posts for bio). Jessie Bartels, 1900-1951, the youngest daughter of David and Eldora (Jones) Bartles. After graduation from high school, Jessie went on to graduate from Richland County Normal and taught several years before her marriage to Paul Adams in 1925. The couple had five children—Joy, Theron, Garry, Irma, and Ivan. “Jessie possessed more than average musical ability and she willingly used this talent in various church activities, and as a music teacher.” (Source: “The Boscobel Dial”, November 29, 1951, page 2.). She died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 50 in the same farmhouse that she was born in, just south of Excelsior, in Richwood Township.
Odessa Higgins, 1898-1990, was the oldest daughter of Nathan and Nellie (Annear) Higgins. She married Peter “Fred” Rasque, 1890-1954, in 1920. The couple owned farms in Watterstown and Richwood Townships. Fred retired from farming in 1950 and the couple moved to Blue River. Odessa was a bookkeeper at the lumber yard and the J. T. Murley Livestock Company, both of Blue River.
Leo Kincannon, 1896-1969, was a veteran of WWI. After service, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He married Camilla Dingman in 1919 and the couple had one son, Garold. Leo held a number of patents, and was a mechanical engineer with the Evinrude Co. in Milwaukee. He was an enthusiastic archer, and he and his wife won national archery championships.

11/02/2026

Wedding photo of Leon Randall and Lucilla Logan. Leon was a member of BRHS class of 1916. See previous post for more information on this couple.
Photo courtesy of JoEllen Kinney Knoble.

11/01/2026

Blue River High School class of 1916–fourth graduation for the school.
Lower left: Leon Randall, Jessie Bartels, Odessa Higgins, and Leo Kincannon.
Upper left: Lloyd Chitwood, Flossie Gibbs, Mallie Haney, Wilma Dyer, and Lester Anderson.
Interesting note: Two years prior to graduation, in June, Leon Randall was wading in the river when he accidentally stepped off into the deep water ad being unable to swim, had gone down the second time when he was rescued by Clyde Berry. (Source: “The Fennimore Times”, June 10, 1914, page 11.). Leon married Lucila Logan in 1926, and the couple had three children, Virginia, Priscilla, and Logan. Lucila played organ at the West Fork church starting at the age of 14 until age 28 when an illness and her death occurred. Leon farmed in the Excelsior area and was a herdsman at the University Farm in Madison. He died at the age of 72 in 1968.
Photo source: JoEllen Kinney Knoble.

10/30/2026

An early Halloween in Blue River? Maybe! This is a photo of a car containing a “band” of happy people wearing masks that participated in the 1914 Blue River Field Days. Manufactured masks were not popular until the 1920s, so most likely these were homemade using cardboard, cloth sacks, or paper-mache. The man in the driver’s seat is Vere Pippin, 1896-1974. Vere was a life-long farmer in the Excelsior area. He was married to Esther Collins, and the couple had three children, Marjory, George, and Benny.
The Field Day committee consisted of John Collins, president, R. Murley, vice-president, Einer Godager, secretary, and Roy Chitwood, treasurer. The two-day event which was held on Wednesday and Thursday, August 19 and 20, 1914, had a full program of events. Three speakers were scheduled during the event. Henry E. Roethe, 1866-1939, was the co-founder of The Fennimore Times in 1888. At the time of the 1914 Field Days, Henry was a Republican candidate for governor but was defeated in the primary. He served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, two terms as a member of the Wisconsin Senate for the 16th district, served as the Fennimore city mayor and was a member of the Grant County Board of Supervisors. Other speakers during the 1914 Blue River Field Days were Attorney Kenneth Burgess, from Lancaster, Republican candidate for assembly, and John Aylward, Democratic candidate for governor. In addition to the speakers, there were ball games, a street parade, and musical performances.
On the first day of the event, Wauzeka defeated Lone Rock in the softball game. Wauzeka came back and defeated a team from Lynxville, 16 to 3, the second day.
Included is a copy of a story of Fennimore men who experienced a wild ride on their way to Blue River.

10/30/2026

Ivan Ladell “Laddie” Pippin was the youngest of four sons of Eldon and Wilma Dyer Pippin. He was born in 1931 in Scott Township. The family quit farming in 1944 and moved to Boscobel where Laddie and brother Larry, two years older, attended school. In the summer of 1946, Laddie had completed two years of high school. He was a popular student, a manager of the football and basketball teams, active in dramatics, and an enthusiastic member of the FFA. An article in the June 13, 1946, “Boscobel Dial” reported that Laddie and Burl Miller had returned home from a 10-day vacation from Burl’s sister’s home, Mrs. Glen (DeVona) Sharp and family, of Genoa City, Illinois. While in Chicago, Laddie and Berl saw a Cubs game and were “thrilled by rides” in Glenn Sharp’s Piper Cub airplane. However three months later, just before starting his junior year, Laddie suffered a tragic accident which took his life. He was killed in a hay-baler accident at the farm of Charles Wilt, where he had been working. “No one who was present, including his cousin George Pippin, who was driving a tractor at the time of the accident, knows exactly what happened but he must have lost his footing and slipped from the rack into the merciless machine.” (Source: “The Boscobel Dial”, August 15, 1946, page 1).
The accidental, tragic death of Laddie Pippin must have struck Charles Wilt and his wife, Gertie (Couey) Wilt especially hard due to the fact it happened on their farm, plus, little over ten years prior, the couple suffered the loss of their only son. Three-year-old Billie Wilt drowned on the family farm in Hoover Hollow when he fell into a stream. Heavy rains had undercut the bank on which the boy stood and caused him to fall into the water.
Attached is an obituary for Laddie contributed by Leonard Brittelli. At the time of Laddie’s death, Mr. Brittelli was a high school teacher. He taught civics, bookkeeping, physical education, and coached football. Leonard started teaching at Boscobel in 1944. In 1948, Mr. Brittelli assumed the position of school superintendent and held that position for 10 years before leaving in 1958 for a position in Greenfield. He was credited with starting the first track team in Boscobel in 1946.

10/28/2026

Photo from JoEllen Kinney Knoble is of Gerald “Dyer” Pippin on pony’s back with Maramon on the ground. Maramon was born in 1919 so most likely photo was taken approximately two to three years later.

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201 Clinton Street
Blue River, WI
53518

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