Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

February 15, 1995, Page 28

Transcribed by Dale R. Kalsow

Index of "Good Old Days" Articles

 

Good Old Days

 

 

An etching photo of Michael Prock who came from Monroe County in 1878, settling in Weston township.

 

The town of Weston, is located southwest of the center of Clark county.  It was first organized in the year of 1856, extending 12 miles east and west, and six miles north and south.  Being on of the first townships, it comprised one-third of the county at that time and was not reduced to its present size until nearly 20 years later.

 

Black River funs a southerly course through the township.  For a number of years the portion of the town east of the river was referred to as West Weston.  Because of the river being used for transportation, the land along the river was the first to be settled by pioneering farmers.

 

One of those early settlers, in the town of Weston was Michael Prock.  Born in Jefferson County in January 1855, he moved with his parents, George and Catherina, to Cashton in Monroe County at the age of 8.  In 1878, he and his brothers, George and Joseph, set out to make their own fame and living.

 

 

The Globe store, at the crossroads of highways “G,” “H” and “O,” as the interior appeared in 1926.  Lucille Prock McConnell in behind the counter.  The minister of the Globe Lutheran Church is standing in the aisle, William Parsisus served the congregation 1916-1927 and Walter Matzkus was pastor from 1927-1939.

 

After arriving in Clark County, Prock inquired about available land for sale.  He made a deal on land in the town of Weston, paying $5 down on 80 acres of virgin land, just east of Globe corners.  He built a pioneer log cabin and with the help of a friend, cleared about 30 acres, worked up the soil and sowed it to winter wheat.  Three years later, Prock added and adjoining 80 acres.

 

Mrs. Michael Prock, formerly Mary Schwellenbach with her great-grandson Maynard Prock, as they posed near the Globe store.

 

After purchasing 80 acres of land in 1878, Prock cleared 30 acres, with the help of a friend and built a log house upon the clearing.  The following year, 1879, he married Mary Schwellbach from Jefferson county.

 

On Dec 30, 1879, Prock married Mary Schwellenbach, formerly of Jefferson County.  They had five children:  Linus, Edward, Bertha, Ottillie and Catherine (Ottille died at age 1).  When Mike’s sister, Rose, died in 1892, they took their bother-in-law Joe Schwellenbach and this two-year-old daughter Mary into their family.

 

Before leaving the farm, Prock built a new home in Neillsville at 10 Hewett St., now the home of Don and Rose Kunze.  In 1912, he and his wife moved to their new home.  Their son, Edward, took over the home farm.

 

Prock served as president of the Clark County Butter Co. for several years.  Also, he was a stockholder and director of the Neillsville Bank.  He was a member of Catholic Knights, St. Joseph’s Society and the Deutsche Kreiger Verein.  A pastime and hobby of his was taxidermy.

 

Prock died in February, 1916, at age of 62.

 

The oldest son of Mike and Mary Prock, Linus, didn’t want the family farm when it was offered to him.  Rather, he chose to go to business college in Stevens Point.  One winter he worked in Neillsville,  Klein’s Store.  The Klein business was latter purchased by C. C. Wasserburger.  A fellow employee, Katie Wasserburger, to be remembered by several, worked at the same store for many years.

 

In 1908, Prock decided to go into his own business, a general store in Globe, at the intersection of what is now “G”, “H” and “O” Highways.  Woods surrounded the store as the farmland hadn’t been developed then as it is now.  The mode of transportation was horse-and-buggy with the crossroad county store being the nearest shopping site for those living in the Tioga and Willard areas.

 

The Globe store also served as the community’s entertainment center.  The second story with its hardwood floor was made into a dance hall.  On dance nights, dinner was served in the store’s basement.  Prock built a large horse shed near the store building for the convenience of this customers and guests, who could shelter their horses while they stayed for an evening of socializing.

 

Busy as the Globe store merchant, Prock still crowded in some time for his hobbies.  A group of Globe area musicians formed a band to be appropriately named “The Globe Band”.  In their earlier years, they traveled near and far to play for dance jobs.  Prock played second cornet and other and members were:  Ellis Jacklin, Alvin and Mike Gall, Bill Schwellenbach, his brother, Ed Prock, Eric Schoenherr, Louis Scheel and Carl and George Hoffman.  He also enjoyed fishing, hunting and card playing.  Linus Prock was married to Agnes Quast in June, 1911.  They had three children, Lucille, Harald and Delores.

 

The Globe Band, Linus Prock in seated at the far right and played second cornet.  Other members of the band were Ellis Jacklin, Alvin and Mike Gall, Bill Schwellenbach, Eric Schoenherr, Louis Scheel, Ed Prock (his brother), Carl and George Hoffmann.

 

The arrival of the automobile brought changes to the country store and dance hall.  Eventually the second floor dance hall was remodeled into two apartments.  Prock’s son, Harold started a business with mink, so they installed a freezer for that business.  Later, the freezer space was converted into rental meat lockers for area farmers, the days before families had their own freezers.  Harold Prock followed his father’s footsteps, opening his own grocery store business in Neillsville, known as the Northwide Store.  Harold and is wife, Pearl, ran the business on North Hewitt Street for several years.

 

Harold Prock with his wife Pearl (Hansen), their oldest son, Maynard and daughter, Caroline at the front of the Globe store in 1942.  They also had three other children, Michael, Milton and Mary.  Harold and Pearl were proprietors of the Northside Grocery Store on North Hewitt Street in Neillsville for several years.

 

After a half century as a Globe merchant, Prock sold the business to Raymond Kalsow, retiring to live in Neillsville where he resided until his death at the ago of 92.

 

The Globe store closed some years ago and was razed in recent years with little evidence remaining as to where it was located.  Only the memories remain in the minds of those who lived in the community during its existence.  Included in those memories are the man and his family who put forth their efforts in operating the general store and providing the community with an entertainment facility to be used for sociable get-togethers.

 

Related Links

 

News Items

Memories of Berdina Padrutt of Globe, Weston Township, Clark Co., WI

Globe Immanuel Lutheran Church

125 Annv. Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church - Globe

The once bustling little community of Globe

Clark County, Wisconsin Records

 

 

 


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