May 6, 1891, Oshkosh Northwestern
Life in Menasha couldn't be all band concerts and Straw Hat days. This sad story of a broken family makes a compelling argument for the temperance movement, a social phenomenon if there ever was one in the 19th century. With anecdotes such as this promoted in area newspapers and repeated by orators, is it any wonder the movement was espoused by the likes of Menasha's generous benefactor, Elisha D. Smith: https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2017/06/temperance-pledge-1861.html and John Strange: https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/06/john-strange.html. Click the hyperlinks and see how serious these gentlemen really were.
The earliest Menasha temperance info I could find was an announcement of the officers for the Menasha Sons of Temperance in the Jan. 4, 1855 Menasha Advocate. Officers were: Charles Puffer, Courtney Puffer, William Meeker, E Freeman, M M Eastman, H J Bates, C C Stickle, A H Hart Jr,. Levi Decker, A France and W P Rounds.
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