The bizarre stories of Black River Falls, Wisconsin...

Black River Falls was a small mining town, inhabited largely by Northern European immigrants who had come in search of work and cheap land -- however, by the 1880s, the harsh Midwestern winters had shuttered most of the area's mines, and hundreds of families were left stranded in the cold. Over the next two decades, Black River Falls would undergo a plague of misfortunes.

There was an outbreak of diphtheria. The area was terrorized by a serial arsonist. There were countless suicides, homicides, and deaths otherwise unexplained. People starved and froze. Hundreds were committed to mental institutions. It seemed that the population of Black River Falls, Wisconsin collectively lost their minds around the turn of the twentieth century, and the reason behind it has remained unsolved.

Between 1885 and 1910, Charles Van Schaick, the town photographer, documented the daily existence of the inhabitants of Black River Falls. The stories of their lives -- grim, severe, and desolate though they might have been -- are written into the lines of their faces. 

There were over 30,000 glass plate negatives, 200 of which were selected by Michael Lesy for his 1973 book "Wisconsin Death Trip". Through these photographs, as well as headlines and clippings from the local newspaper, he explores a deep, dark, and often neglected kind of American history.

From the prologue: 

"You should first know that none of the pictures were snapshots, that their deepest purpose was more religious than secular, and that commercial photography, as practiced in the 1890s, was not so much a form of applied technology as it was a semi-magical act that symbolically dealt with time and mortality."

"What was strange was that in the seventy years between then and now, in the time it takes a healthy man to live, learn a few lessons, grow old, and die -- in that short time, in one lifetime, all of [Charles Van Schaick's] pictures and all of the Cooper's newspapers were changed from the most ordinary records of the most ordinary events into acane remnants, obscure relics, antique mementos. What dark thing had changed the ordinary doings of ordinary citizens into messages received by radio telescope from a nebula judged to have exploded a million years ago?"

The following are excerpts from "Wisconsin Death Trip", and originally appeared in the Badger State Banner between 1880 and 1910.

"The malignant diphtheria epidemic in Louis Valley, La Crosse County, proved fatal to all the children in Martin Molloy's family, 5 in number. Three died in a day. The house and furniture was burned."

"Henry Johnson, an old bachelor of Grand Dyke, cut off the heads of all his hens recently, made a bonfire of his best clothes, and killed himself with arsenic."

"Fire at Cambridge, the other night, destroyed 13 buildings being the principal part of the town. [...] The fire originated in a barn and was supposed to be the work of an incendiary."

"A farmer owning land at Red Cedar Lake claims to have seen a reptile about 40 ft. long in the water, carrying off one of his hogs, which was squealing vigorously."

"Lena Watson of Black River Falls gave birth to an illegitimate child and choked it to death."

"An old Frenchman by the name of Boullion, who lived among the hills north of this place, died February 8th. He lived a solitary and almost hermit life for the last 25 years and came near dying alone. A man chanced to go by his house and the hermit crawled to the door and called for aid. [...] He was a well educated man, and at one time studied for the ministry, but some early disappointment embittered his life. His relatives, who live in Chicago, are wealthy people and have repeatedly urged him to make his home with them, but he preferred a secluded life. He lived in squalor and poverty, but at his death he proved to be worth $10,000."

"Early the other morning the barns of Fred Kroeger, A. B. Piper, and W. F. Hanche, together with 11 horses, 13 head of cattle, farming implements, grains, and hay at Berryville were totally destroyed. [...] The fires were undoubtedly the work of incendiaries."

"Mrs. A. J. Cowles, aged 87 years, died at Beloit. She had been married to Deacon Cowles, who survives her, for nearly 68 years. On the occasion of her last birthday her eccentric husband presented her with a coffin which he had made with his own hands and in which she was buried."

"Mary [Sweeny], the Wisconsin window-smasher, has been put in an appearance at Eau Claire. She was taken into custody by a policeman as she was about to wreck a fine plate glass window."

"E. Andrews of Lodi shot himself in the head with a revolver and cannot recover. Three years ago he hung himself while temporarily deranged, but he was cut down and never knew of the matter, his people keeping it from him. He was 60 years of age."

"There is a house situated about 5 miles east of Albany in Rock County that farmers claim is haunted. Several families have rented the house within the past year, but in every case they got out as soon as possible."

"William McCarty, the wild man of Spaulding's Lake, Rock County, has been captured again...he is now confined in the county jail awaiting the arrival of officers from the Mendota insane asylum. [...] He was found hidden in a haystack."

"The body of an unknown man was found hanging from a tree in Rochester."

"Alexander Gardapie, aged 90 years, died at Prairie du Chien. He walked into a saloon, drank a glass of gin, asked the time of day, sat down, and died."

"Mrs. Louis Ross of Janesville, who was found wandering in the streets of Chicago in search of her husband, will be sent to the Mendota insane asylum."

"Frederick Schultz, an old resident of Two Rivers, cheated his undertaker by suddenly jumping out of the coffin in which, supposed to be dead, he had been placed."

Mrs. Hiram McDonald of Eau Claire, rendered insane by religious excitement, attacked her children recently and wrecked the furniture and windows in her house."

"An unknown man giving the name of William Harper and calling himself a Chicago socialist threatened to blow up the Ashland National Bank. He was overpowered in the bank, with police assistance. Fifteen bottles of green liquid and a package of an unknown powder were found on him."

"The 'woman in white' was taken into custody in Marinette after scaring half the inhabitants of the city. She is evidently insane and dresses entirely in white with black crepe bands around her arms. She hid herself in the Sons of Veterans Hall and scared several members by stalking suddenly among them. It is claimed she was in a Michigan insane asylum for a year."

"A wild man is terrorizing the people north of Grantsburg. He appears to be 35 years of age, has long black whiskers, is barefooted, has scarcely any clothes on him, and he carries a hatchet. He appeared at several farm houses and asked for something to eat. He eats ravenously, and when asked where he came from, points to the east. He secretes himself in the woods during the day and has the most bloodcurdling yells that have ever been heard in the neighborhood."

"Mrs. Friedel had a picture taken of her little baby in its coffin. Then when a fellow came up the road who did enlargements, she had just the baby's face blown up to a two foot picture. But, since the baby's eyes were closed, she had an artist paint them open so she could hang it in the parlor."

"Leonard Johnson, 15 years old, lost his way in a dense woods near Marshfield. For nearly 2 days and 2 nights he wandered aimlessly and frantically through the forests. Searching parties located him 2 days afterwards. He was temporarily deranged by his terrible experience."

"Kenosha is overrun with a lot of tramps...it is reported that an organized gang attempted no less than 4 robberies in one night recently."

"John Pabelowski, a 16 year old boy of Stevens Point, was made idiotic by the use of tobacco."

"John Martin, a farmer from Sheboygan, went to Chicago, Monday. While looking for lodgings he met with what he terms an 'honest-faced' boy whom he asked to guide him to a suitable house. The boy led him to a hotel and then asked and received permission to sleep with the farmer. When the latter awoke, he was surprised to find his newly found friend had disappeared, as had Martin's wearing apparel and money. The boy had left his ragged clothes behind. All day long Martin waited for the boy with the honest face to come back. Then Martin put on the clothes the boy had left and went into the hotel office. He was immediately taken for an insane man and sent head-long into the street. The trousers Martin wore reached only to his knees, while the coat would hardly stay on his shoulders...the newsboys began to tease him. Soon the farmer was so frightened he started down Van Buren Street in a full run, then south on Clark Street...excited people declared a crazy man was running loose. Detective Schubert caught Martin who was badly frightened, and took him to the Harrison Street Station where he waited until some philanthropist gave him a suit fit to wear."

"Mrs. Anna Ross, a Marquette widow, went insane over religion. A Chicago revivalist representing Dowie faith healing held meetings there and an attempt was made to cure Mrs. Ross of lameness. Prayer was tried at several meetings and the final result of it was insanity for the woman."

"South Milwaukee is greatly excited over the elopement of Minnie Wortel, a pretty white girl, with Eldred Moore, a Negro. The pair...was married by...a colored minister. The father of the girl followed and overtook them shortly after the marriage ceremony had been performed. He caused their arrest. The girl is 18 years of age with blond hair and blue eyes. Moore is very dark."

"More poetry is said to come from Wisconsin than from any other state in the union." 

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Sorry for the long post. This period in history has always been fascinating to me, and I figured I'd share it with you guys. For anybody who's interested in seeing more photos from this collection, the Wisconsin Historical Society has put a lot of them online: https://www.flickr.com/photos/whsimages/sets/72157602476458793/

TL;DR - Wisconsin during the Victorian Era was a weird, cold, terrifying place to be.