It stands in a far off wood, not that far away, bearing silent witness to a fire and tragedy which took place some 90 years ago.
What stands you ask?
The ruin of Fernwold, farm and homestead of Professor and Mrs. George Washington (G.W.) Schmidt. Fernwold, the name said to mean “far off wood,” burned to the ground 90 years ago this August, it is thought from an electrical fire. Electrical wiring at the time followed what was known as a “knob and tube” format, with no ground wire. Not permitted in new construction, it was common from the 1880s to 1940s. Professor Schmidt was a former state assemblyman and language teacher, establishing Fernwold in 1906, after vacation trips to northern Wisconsin in 1899, per an obituary. The Schmidt family loved nature, the family later donating the farm site to scientific endeavor. A news article from the early 40s (post-fire) speak of “rehabilitated springs,” though where these would be is unclear.
Acquired with help from the Nature Conservancy and managed today by the UW-Eau Claire Foundation as a nature reserve, the Schmidt Maple Woods on Copenhaver Avenue with NO HUNTING OR MOTORIZED VEHICLES allowed can be easily missed if unknown. The report from August 9, 1935 paints what was before the fire consumed it, as well as after:
“‘Fernwold’ was one of the most attractive farm homes in the Stanley Country, being designed and built by Prof. and Mrs. Schmidt in the early days of this century when they came from Lake Forest to make their home here,” the Republican said of the site. “In addition to Frank who died, three children grew up in the home, Karl, and John, now of Chicago, and Mrs. Margaret Bergseng, who lived at the old home. Several members of the family had gone to Mankato, Minnesota to attend the funeral of Mrs. Maria Schmidt, mother of Mr. Schmidt, which was held yesterday and Prof. Schmidt was planning to leave early yesterday morning for Mankato.
“As we go to press the Republican reporter finds Fernwold a smoking mass of ruins. Not all of the bodies of the dead have been recovered and neighbors and friends are too stunned and confused to give a coherent account of the affair.”
In all three people perished at Fernwold: Margaret Schmidt (born Margaret Patterson); her son the noted ornithologist Franklin Schmidt; and Florian Brzuzan, a 19-year-old farmhand.
Mrs. Schmidt was 68 and a nature lover, described as being “a woman of high refinement and culture” who had been active in several state-wide cultural and educational activities, per news report.
Franklin Schmidt held a post with the State Conservation Commission and was “an expert in bird lore,” holding a degree from the Wisconsin University. An expert on the prairie grouse, Franklin was planning to publish a paper at the time of his death, aged just 34 years old.
Florian Brzuzan, the farmhand, was reported at the time as “the son of a widow, Mary Brzuzan, living near Junction.” Reports indicate that he gave an answer to Micke when she awoke him after midnight about the fire, but never emerged outside. Born in 1909, he is buried at Holy Family Cemetery in Stanley, near Pine Street.
The news article from 1935 indicates that Mrs. Schmidt awoke at midnight on the second floor and discovered fire, then alarmed the maid Mildred Micke—who escaped by jumping to the sidewalk below from the second floor of the house. Micke raised a step ladder to the house and allowed Professor Schmidt to escape, while others escaped by jumping from second and third floor windows. Mildred ran to other farm houses to raise the alarm in the pre-cell phone era and the Stanley Fire Department responded, but not in time to save lives.
Still tagged today with fire number 734 by an old driveway off Copenhaver, Fernwold stands today as both a ruin and testament to history, woods now grown over the historical farm site. Now filled out with leaves and hard to see, the silo becomes visible with fall, the house and barn foundation ruins too close to the ground to be visible from the road. An onsite plaque in German details how George Washington Schmidt’s ashes are buried there, alongside those of his wife Margaret and son Franklin, who perished in the fire.
Find a Grave differs, placing the wife and son’s final resting place at Wheatland Township Cemetery in Naperville Illinois, a note on Mr. Schmidt stating that he is “presumably buried here. Wife and son are buried in this cemetery.”
Down on Copenhaver Avenue, the farm ruin stands a silent witness to history, the silo made visible from the road as leaves fall.