Lake Country This Month

Page 2 • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY MAY 2015 Circulation Dept. To reach the Circulation Department call 542-2501 or go to www.gmtoday.com/wfhelp. MANAGEMENT Bill Yorth - Publisher & Editor-in-Chief..513-2671 byorth@conleynet.com Arthur Thomas – Managing Editor........513-2657 athomas@conleynet.com Jim Baumgart - Freeman Group Ad Director 513-2621 jbaumgart@conleynet.com Tim Haffemann - Circulation Director....513-2640 thaffemann@conleynet.com Patricia Scheel - Prepress Manager.....513-2690 pscheel@conleynet.com NEWS DEPARTMENT Local News - Arthur Thomas................513-2657 athomas@conleynet.com Sports - Dan Mike.................................513-2667 dmike@conleynet.com Death Notices - Shana Duffy................513-2618 obits@conleynet.com Newsroom Fax.............................(262) 542-8259 CLASSIFIEDS: 542-2211 Hours: M -F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. PHOTO REPRINTS Color reprints are $25 each. 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Capitol Drive Brookfield 262.781.6400 Mon. & Thurs. 8-8 Tues., Wed. & Fri. 8-6 Sat. 8-3 www.billspowercenter.com www.kubota.com Optional equipment may be shown. ©Kubota Tractor Corporation 2015 244203013 By Katherine Michalets Freeman Staff DELAFIELD — A naturally curious person, Margaret Zer- wekh set out to discover the histo- ry of her 19th-century home that once had been a mill. During the process she learned about one of Delafield's founding families and their heroic sons who helped the Union win the Civil War — which sent her on a journey of her own to help one of the sons, Alonzo Cushing, get the recognition he deserved. "I was always interested in a lit- tle blade of grass, every little stone and where it came from," Zerwekh, 95, said. Last November, Zerwekh attend- ed a ceremony in the White House during which President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Cushing. Cushing's descendants were on hand to receive the medal, which has since been kept at West Point Academy but will be coming to Delafield for a Memorial Day weekend celebration in honor of the Cushing family. Zerwekh started researching the family in the late 1960s and began lobbying for Cushing to receive the Medal of Honor in the late 1980s. When she learned that Cushing would be awarded the Medal of Honor, Zerwekh said she "jumped up and down. It took me 30 years to get that done." There were times during the process when she wanted to give up. An outstanding woman Zerwekh is a remarkable woman who attended Columbia University in New York City and earned a degree in anthropology from Northland College. She moved to Delafield after marrying her late husband, Ken- neth. When he was in France dur- ing the war, Zerwekh said he became fascinated with mills and millers. So when the opportunity came to buy a former mill in Delafield, he went for it. She said at the time it was like a big barn and the bathroom was outside. Next to the building was a dam the family used to generate elec- tricity, which they sold to power companies for decades. Built in 1839, the dam eventually fell into disrepair, and in 2004 Zerwekh applied to the Department of Nat- ural Resources for a permit to remove it. Shortly after the dam's removal, seven of the river prop- erty owners filed a lawsuit, assert- ing that the free-flowing river would impair their enjoyment of their homes and devalue their property. It was a long and stress- ful process for Zerwekh and her daughter, Sally Weber, who lives with her. Before moving to Delafield, Zer- wekh grew up near the Mississip- pi River on a farm in Minnesota, at a time when everyone was still born on the farm with the help of a midwife. During her life she even lived in Washington State in a one-room house on the water- front and wrote a book about a mountain she climbed. On May 5, Congressman Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, honored Zer- wekh at her home for her efforts to have Cushing awarded the Medal of Honor. "One person with grit and deter- mination and knowing they are right and knowing it's never too late to do the right thing —" Kind said, with Zerwekh interrupting him to chime in that it's "never too late." Kind said he prepared the framed collection of newspaper articles that mention Zerwekh prominently because she is "going to be part of living histo- ry." Kind and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, partnered to help Cushing receive the medal. During the lengthy process, they met opposi- tion from some Southern leaders. Kind recalled saying to them "'If you don't do this, you don't have to answer to me, you have to answer to Margaret.'" A historical place The land Zerwekh lives on is ripe with history. Before the Cush- ing family, Native Americans lived in the area. The Cushing family settled there after migrat- ing west from Ohio, but found the life too hard and eventually moved back east to New York state. Part of the land the Cush- ings owned now is a park that bears their name. "They were a wonderful family," Zerwekh said. "They were Boston people." She said she feels it's important for people to know history. "They get along better with each other," she said. "I think they have to know their backgrounds." In the beginning, she said no one knew Alonzo Cushing's name. During her years of driving to his- torical places to do research, such as Gettysburg, Kenneth followed her around, she said. "People got to remember what has happened in the past," she said. "It's not only history but how people acted in the past." During the Cushing Memorial Monument anniversary celebra- tion scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, Zerwekh will be hon- ored in the parade on Sunday. But as a person who likes to observe and study history, she said she'd rather be watching the parade than in it. Email: kmichalets@conleynet.com Zerwekh becomes part of area history by studying it Delafield resident showed grit in quest to get Civil War hero honored Charles Auer/Freeman Staff Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Ron Kind presents a plaque to Margaret Zerwekh on May 5. Kind was honoring Zerwekh for her tireless work to get the Medal of Honor for Civil War hero Alonzo Cushing. "I was always interested in a little blade of grass, every little stone and where it came from." — Margaret Zerwekh

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