Jindra and Chaloupka FamiliesFrom Europe to Manitowoc County, WI
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Many immigrants made their journey west to Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The county line lies at 44 degrees, 36 minutes north latitude and is comprised of an area 644 square miles. It is divided into 18 townships. The Jonases arrived to the area of Two Creeks in 1852.
When the first settlers came to Manitowoc county they found it covered with a thick dense forest of mainly pine. Hemlock was also growing in great quantities, primarily near the area of Two Rivers. Tamarack filled the area of the swamps in the western section of the county. Along the banks of the streams and rivers you could find wild crabapple, willow and sumac, as well as hardwoods such as beech, elm, maple nearby.
In 1838, Manitowoc County was separated from Brown County and became its own entity. But it was not until 9 February 1850 that land now known as the town of Two Creeks became part of Manitowoc County. The land was first attached to the township of Two Rivers. Two Creeks township, originally known as Rowley township, was created on 25 July 1859 and named in honor of Peter Rowley.
There are no known cemeteries in the township. There is belief of a Two Creeks Public Cemetery existing within the township. No trace of the cemetery can be found although a researcher found the cemetery mentioned on a death record in the Manitowoc County records. It is thought that the cemetery was possibly built on Sections 12 or 13 of the township. Because of erosion, all of section 12 and most of section 13 have long since washed away.
Fun fact: Two Creeks township is the smallest township in Manitowoc County and the 18th and final one to be established. However, did you know that Two Creeks was actually the first place in Manitowoc County to be visited by explorers? Jacques Vieau, from the Northwest Fur Company, landed on the shore in 1795 and settled there temporarily. Later, he built trading posts at Jambo Creek and then in Manitowoc Rapids.
In 1861, the voters of the town were not happy with the name Rowley as their town name for the following reason, stated in a petition signed by a number of residents;
David Butterfield was the first to permanently settle in the town of Two Creeks (then still part of Brown County). On 21 June 1836, Butterfield settled in section 12, Township 21(T21) Range 24 (R24). This property no longer exists because of Lake Michigan erosion.
Peter Rowley built the first house in section 24 in 1842. In 1847, Neal McMillian built a home on lot 1, section 25, T21, R24 (three miles south of P. Rowley). In 1851 several members of the Allen family launched the Milwaukee based Wisconsin Leather Company. They established a tannery in section 25, town Two Rivers. It was 315' feet long, consumed 7,000 tons of bark and tanned 60,000 hides annually. The tannery in Two Rivers township utilizing raw materials from the thousand or so acres of hemlock land supplied the Milwaukee retail outlet with leather.
August Jonas, our ancestor, arrived in the Two Rivers/Two Creeks area in 1852 and eventually engaged in farming. H. Johnson arrived in 1853. August purchased 39 acres in Section 26 NW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 in 1877. By 1878, when the map was created, he owned 80 acres in the NE quarter. By this time August was in his 60s. It is likely, Fred, his oldest son, who recently moved back to the area was maintaining the farm. Fred Jonas bought additional properties in the vicinity in 1879. The lands were just north of some Wisconsin Leather Company property.
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