Waukesha Man, large sense of the word

Muck-raker, literally

Long-time Waukeshan, he in earlier days mucked out deserted Waukesha springs, and often had the muddied self to prove it. The above photo is from the back cover of his book, The Great Waukesha Springs Era 1868-1918, available through the Waukesha County Historical Society museum. http://www.wchsm.org/about.asp (and Martha Merrill's and other book stores.)

When he was a child of about 10 years old, early Waukesha Man was taken by his aunt to see a hotel in Cedarburg WI that was about to be demolished. "As we walked along an overgrown path through the woods, we crossed over stone bridges and rock formations. A clear, cool stream wandered next to the path. Soon we came to a spring that fed the stream. My aunt explained what a spring was, and showed me the cool, clear water. It was a place of wonderment to me..."

Thus, in Hiawathan form, ultimately began an exploration and documenting of the history of Waukesha water, a mystical substance of great value to the town's reputation and economy. The city's official seal shows a pre-dater of that later commercial development, an Indian maiden dipping water in its even purer form, with a gourd - such as grown here in the SR District.

This Waukesha Man is the magazine editor who published some of the raccoon news poetry before it was even known as that. (in LANDMARK, quarterly publication of the Waukesha Historical Society.)

Here he is now, for the benefit of way-out-of-towners, the one and only:

John M. Schoenknecht

shown with the ORIGINAL tin sign emblem of old and now gone Waukesha Foxhead Brewery, an artifact he had at home in his basement museum until he recently made a major donation of his memorabilia to the public, via the museum.

See it there, and get a copy of his definitive book.

There are several website links, including this one:

http://www.greatlakesdirectory.org/wi/071205_great_lakes.htm

Also, you can look for John's Waukesha history columns periodically in the local Waukesha FREEMAN newspaper.