Max C. Baldwin
Greenwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin
Max C. Baldwin moved to Greenwood Wisconsin from Isle City, New Jersey, when he was hired by Henry H. Hartson to be the editor of the Greenwood Gleaner. He was a veteran who had served at Tarlac in the Philippine Islands for the United States Military Forces during the insurrection. Although we do not have a photo of him, his military record tells us he had brown eyes, light brown hair, a fair complexion and stood 5 feet, 6 inches tall. He was in Company L of the 4th Calvary and began his service September 26, 1900, but was discharged Nov. 20, 1901 and his application for pension on July 12th, 1904 was denied.
By 1909, Max had sold his own newspaper and printing business and was ready to make a fresh start in Greenwood, Wisconsin.
Born July 6, 1872, in Caledonia, New York, Max was thirty-seven years old and divorced when he arrived in town during the heat of the Wisconsin summer in July, 1909. How remote Greenwood must have seemed for this intellectual soul when he compared it to the cities in the east that he knew so well. It could not have been an easy time for this city slicker as he settled in with the family of Dr. Frederick H. Pfunder, a local pharmacist who operated a drug store on Main Street. Mary, (Dr. Pfunder's wife), had a bit of a Bohemian accent and loved to travel. She and Max must have had some interesting conversations over the dinner table. Also in the household mix was Malcome, the Pfunder's twenty-two year old son who became a doctor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their eighteen year old daughter, Elsie who graduated from Greenwood High School in 1910 with a German Course was also living at home when Max boarded there. As a senior, she was quoted saying, "I'll do my best to decrease the supply of old bachelors." In 1914 she married Hedley Bannerman of Red Granite, Wisconsin and made her home there. Their daughter Viola was only an occasional visitor, having already left the comfort of her childhood home. In 1910, she married Charles F. Lusk of Owen, Wisconsin.
The Home of Fred and Mary A. (Tomek) Pfunder
Elsie Pfunder, 1910.
Max immediately used his outstanding journalist investigative skills to compile the first history of Greenwood which was published in weekly intervals in the Gleaner. He was quick to site progress made by the city and frequently commented on the improvements various businesses made to their establishments. For his most popular column, "Brief Retrospect", he compiled past items from 18 years, 15 years, 10 years and 5 years earlier. Because of Max's collection we are able to read a few of the area's earliest local events despite the fact that none of the first ten years of the Gleaner survived to be filmed. We History Buffs do indeed owe a great deal to Max C. Baldwin and his brilliant journalism.