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                                           WITTENBERG.
T IS IMPOSSIBLE to do justice to this thriving village in the space allotted
it in these pages. Every( day of its short life should be a page,
    and every year a volume, in order to cover its life in a satisfactory
manner ....... Many years ago Chet Bennet, one of those picturesque
    figures, a timber cruiser, that have an important place in the history
of all western towns, was employed by the railroad company then con-
templating the building of a railroad through the wilds of Central Wisconsin,
to look over the lands for the proposed line. Blazing a trail through
the untrodden forests, whose stillness was broken only by the howl of wolves
and screech of wildcats, this forerunner of civilization trod the
ground where this village now stands. Closely                           
              following the footsteps of Chet Bennet came the
net-work of ties and rails which formed a skele-                        
              ton of what is now a giant of transportation, the
Chicago & Northwestern Railway.      But before                   1 
                  the ties were laid as far as Tigerton, Wm.
Miller, in 1879, pushed his way forward to choose
When they began to arrive they found him living
with them, X. H. Schultz, who came shortly
but mention a few of the early settlers and among
Homme. Mr. Meisner came alone to work for Mr.
some and soon followed him, and for a time their
and a hollow basswood stump utilized as a pantry.
were lode-stones attracting others to this spot, called
others, among whom appears Jonas Swenholt, the
home for orphan children. He conferred with the
choice lands before the influx of settlers began.
with his family in an old log house and, boarding
afterwards ..... Our space is so limited, we must
the foremost we notice Herman Meisner and E. J.
Schultz, clearing land, but his wife became lone-
home was a double blanket stretched over a pole
... Rev. E. J. Homme, alive to the interests which
by the few inhabitants Carnavario, conceived, with
idea of founding in this comparative wilderness a
German Lutherans and induced them to found an
academy here. The two institutions were founded                         
              early in the eighties, and through the influence of
Rev. Homme the name of the place was changed                Rev. E. J. Homme.
         from Carnavario to Wittenberg in honor of the city
so closely connected with Lutheran history. Here in the depths of the forest
a town was founded upon educational principles named in honor of
one of the world's centers of education, that was to be known in after years
as the village with more educational advantages than any place of its
size in the United States. . . . The name of Wittenberg has become so well
known through the medium of her schools and orphan asylums, that it
is a by-word in the mouths of thousands who have never trod her streets.
Wittenberg was to become a center of education. . . . How well the
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