Early Leaders

Reading through a 1986 survey of Menasha's historical structures, I came upon the above passage and it made me think. 

Nowadays, we tend to think exclusively of the largely German and Polish populations of Menasha, but that immigration swell didn't occur until the latter part of the 19th century. 

We forget ithat the town was originally built upon the backs of New Englanders and New Yorkers with names like Reed, Smith, Hewitt, Lawson, and Scott.

And as a result, the early retail establishments with the names above appealed to those settlers and reflected that segment of the population. 

Only much later did we get the likes of Tuchscherer's, Loescher's, Wanserski's, Stanislowski's (Stani's), and many others of a more ethnic bent.