Unlike most of the villages along this part of the old Wisconsin Central Line, Stetsonville was not named after a town near Boston, but got its name from one of its enterprising citizens, Isiah F. Stetson who built and operated its first saw mill in 1875. Since then, C. K. Butrick, W. Bender, Knute Olson, H. A. Liberty, C. K. EUingson, Albert LaBerge, Herman and Charles Zastrow and Damm Bros, have succeeded him, and have continued to manufacture lumber here, but not always the beautiful clear w^hite pine of the seventies and eighties. And unlike most of the other towns of Taylor county which were settled by native Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, Bohemiams and var¬ ious nationalities, this community was first settled by the French who c^rne here almost as soon as the railroad came through in 1872. Peter Liberty came here in 1873^ followed soon after by Frank Liberty, Jos. Bile, Dohnes, Jos. Wenzel, Frank Peissig, Fritsches, Roy, Walter and Wm. Collins and Matt Hoff, according to Charles Fahrenbach, crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, and because of unfavorable winds, was on the sea 1 3 months, nearly starved, and at one time had to eat snakes to keep alive.
Mrs. Vincent Jakel to whom 1 am indebted for many of these items of early Stetsonville history, came here in 1873 w^ith her mother, Mrs. Teresa Marcott, and Eli and Oliver Marcott who took up the present Geo. Rider farm one mile west. There were then no roads so they came up from near Dorchester on the railroad. She says that her mother w^as then an invalid, and a structure was made of poles, just wide enough to run on the railroad, and the men folks put her on this rig, and drew her up to 63 as Stetsonville was then called. Here they put her on a sled and drew her through the woods to the homestead.
She states that soon after, she attended school in a small log building on the present school site, taught by Elizabeth Tarberry. Other later teachers were Miss Adkins, Ella McCoy, Ella Bremmer, Ella Coyne, Anna Storch, Emma Beinker, Emma Storch, Alma Herrick and Victoria Logan.
She also recalls that Emery Fountain took the forty right near town, and for some time. Father Ritz of Medford, used to hold church service at his home, before the new Catholic church was built in 1885.
Others who were here then or came soon after, she said, w^ere Ed. Phillips who later moved to Medford, B. Moss, A. Parsgor, Nels Marion, Jos. Yell, C. LeFever, Lawrence Barbeau, Tafil Nichols, Oliver Amberson, Alex Olson, Abe Jarvis and I. Newton.
Peter Liberty was the first Postmaster.
Mrs. Jakel thinks that John Herbst had the first team of horses.
Description This 1947 work presents historical sketches of Taylor County, Wisconsin, and the towns and villages of Chelsea, Gilman, Hannibal, Stetsonville, Rib Lake, Westboro, Jump River, Lubin, and Perkinstown.