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Earliest Plat of the Town of Day
and ardent liquors to be drunk on the premises in
quantities less than one gallon".  The Brinkmann's
started a store in the building on the southeast corner of
the intersection. This had earlier been Andrew Striegel's
blacksmith shop. The building burned in 1937. Nick
Pinion started a sawmill one half mile east of Rozellville.
Another mill was run by John Nikolay. Here the settlers
had the logs they cut in clearing their property made into
lumber to build their farm buildings. A lumber company
had logged off all the best white pine twenty years before.
Still standing from the early days is an old stone
building that was the summer kitchen, and in fall a smoke
house. This may have been built by John Brinkmann Sr.,
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or Alex Sturm. It has an old stone oven for baking in the
upstairs. Later it became the office from which the town of
Day conducted its business. For a time after the store
burned, John Brinkmann Jr. turned it into a tavern.
This influx of people made it necessary for the
township to reorganize. Perhaps government from as far
away as the town of Bergen was not effective enough, or
perhaps the early settlers were motivated by a desire to
run their own affairs. What ever the case, they decided to
begin their own township, and to call it town of Daul. It is
not quite clear why it is now "Day". One source thought
it was because Mr. Daul refused the honor. Another
thought that it was sent into Madison to be recorded as
"Daul". and through a clerical error, it came back "Day",
and was never corrected. This all occurred in 1881, and in
1882 Andrew Daul was elected the first town chairman,
and took his place on the Marathon County Board.
Later, in 1888, the town of McMillan was established
from part of the town of Spencer and the western most ten
sections of the the town of Day.
Lumber was the only cash crop at first, until the land
was cleared. Dairy products were scarce, as dairy farming
as we know it was not done then. The butter churned by
the thrifty German women, and eggs as well, were traded
at the local stores for the few things that they needed to
buy. Cash was scarce. Joseph Schirmer was the first
professional buttermaker, while Peter Borens repaired
shoes and boots and made wooden shoes.
Arriving in 1887, Matt Oppman established a tavern on
the corner of his eighty, on the northeast corner of the
intersection of what is now County M and C.
Later these cheese factories came into being. The first
successful cheese factory was built, and operated by
Ferdinand Olm, who came here from Cato, near Green
Bay. Butter and cheese making only took place in the
summer months. This was because the cows freshened in
the spring, and produced milk all summer. But, during
the winter time the pioneer farmers did not have good
enough feed to keep them producing all winter. At best,
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