Lipsett Lake Association: LAKE HISTORY

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Table of Contents:

The Original Lipsie Lake Association

The Current Lipsett Lake Association

Lake Name
Inlet
Early Residents of Lipsie Lake: Abbie French, Jack Bearheart, Charles and; Flora Palmer, William and Emilie Byrnes

THE ORIGINAL LIPSIE LAKE ASSOCIATION
The original Lipsie Lake Association was formed May 14, 1977. Russell Brede was the president, Doris Perry was the Secretary/Treasurer, and there were 88 members. Doris Perry resigned as her position as treasurer in 2013.

LIPSETT LAKE ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED IN 1994.

Association Presidents:

Tom Twining

Lyle Holm,

Stan Stone
Tom Twining
Mark Spease
Greg Heber
Mark Hansen

Winter of 2014 --

Kevin Kraujalis, National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist in Duluth-Superior, said communities like Spooner broke longstanding records.

“In Spooner, they have 120.4 inches of snow, and their previous record was in 1898 to 1899, (with) 95.5 inches,” said Kraujalis. “So they blew away their record by 25 inches.”

Organized Activities:
Spring and Fall general membership meetings
July 4 Parade, boat decorating contest and tie-up party
August Brat and Corn Feed
Children’s Fishing Contest
Labor Day Weekend Twilight Boat Parade
Christmas Party

Active Committees:
Lipsett Lake Homeowner’s Guide
Lake Management Committee
Membership Committee
History Committee
Fund Raising Committee

LAKE NAME: After a lot of research, we have been unable to determine the origin of the name of the lake or even if it is Lipsie Lake or Lipsett Lake. There are DNR maps using each name. The Olmsted History Museum at Forts Folle Avoine say that the actual name is not known, and that the origin of the name is unknown. However it suggests that most lakes in this area were named after the surveyor.

THE ORIGINAL LIPSIE LAKE ASSOCIATION, by Doris Perry

The original Lipsie Lake Association was formed May 14, 1977. Russell Brede was the president, Doris Perry was the Secretary/Treasurer, and there were 88 members.

The lake level was very low at that time. the association contacted the DNR and EPA but received no help. A "Get fast action" motion was made for Russ Brede to put a blockage in the creek -- the lake association would back him financially. The DNR, Spooner Advocate, Game Wardens, Town of Rusk, Cranberry Marsh (Allen Phinn Manager were asked to be at Lipsie Creek on Monday, May 16, 1977 (Blockage Day). Russell put two wooden boards in the creek to block the water at about 9 a.m. that day. He was served a summons or court order or injunction for blocking the creek. A lawyer was hired. On Thursday the DNR authorized installation of a steel plate 6 inches high. Rex Frickey, Town Chairman, and Russ Brede got a grader blade and a welder installed it. The town paid for that. The association paid Russell's fine and the lawyer. The Lake Association only met if there was a problem that needed to be solved.

INLET: The Dam and canal from the cranberry marsh to Lipsett Lake was built May 11, 1918.

EARLY RESIDENTS:

Abbie French Abbie's Cabin

Lipsie Lake‘s Aunt Abbie:, by Doris Perry Abigail Ann Clair was born June 18, 1874, near Belle Plain, Iowa, in Benton County. She was the youngest child of Anna E. Lane and Benjamin M. Clair. When a small child, she was sent east to live with her grandmother, Martha Cunnard Clair-Fitz. The step grandfather, Fitz, was the lamp lighter in Philadelphia. Abigail walked around with him when he lit the gas street lights.

She came west when in her teens to her father at Jewell, Iowa. There she met Chester Carlas Jewell and married him August 7, 1890, when she was 16 years old. Chester‘s father gave the land for the town of Jewell. They lived a while in Minnesota where their daughter was born on November 2, 1892. They then moved to Arkansas where their son, Earl Chester Jewell, was born on May 30,, 1896. Their daughter died in Arkansas on September 25, 1897.

They later moved to Spooner, Wisconsin. Chester worked for the railroad in Spooner as a baggage man. Chester died there March 25 or 27, 1917. He was sent to Jewell, Iowa, for burial in the Evergreen Cemetery there.

Abigail stayed in Spooner and made a living sewing and helped at baby births. She used her money and bought a lot or so on the southwest side of Lipsie Lake (at what is now known as 26226 West Lipsett Lake Rd.) and later built a cottage. Later she went out there and had a boat. That is where she met Orville Phinn, as he hade a farm lake front that was next to her lots. They were married at the lake June 10, 1918, and lived in his small house up the hill from Lipsie‘s west side. He farmed there with an oxen team. Orville died at this home on the west side of the lake February 2, 1923. He was buried at Spooner Cemetery.

Abigail stayed at the farm and built more cottages and cleared the timber from her house to the lake so she could see her boats. There was a narrow road from her farm house to the lake through the timber. She ran the resort in the summer. Her only close neighbor was the George and Hattie Hart family across the field to the west.. She had no car or telephone, but when she needed someone, she hung a blanket or sheet on the line and some of the Hart family came over. Since she didn’t own a car, she would row across the lake and then walk the rest of the way to the Byrnes Store. Other means of transportation were a sailboat and snowshoes.

Abigail met William French at a resort across the lake and they were married at the Methodist Church I Spooner August 16, 1926. He was born June 29, 1869, and died at the lake November, 1939. He was buried in Spooner Wisconsin.

Later Abigail built more cottages and had more boats, so had a busy summer. Then she lived in a cottage by the lake. She also bought another cottage south of her resort on the southwest side of Lipsie. She told about picking blueberries and a bear was on the other side of the patch.

Her great grandchildren say they remembered her good doughnuts.

Abigail sold her resort to James and Linda Vorunda. They built more cottages and the town put in a road in back of the cottages. They also got electricity in.

After a few years they sold the resort to Dick and Louise Wiegman. The Wiegmans later sold it to Alexanders, May 18, 1955.

Abigail died August 13, 1957, at the Shell Lake Hospital from a broken hip resulting from a fall at her cottage home on Lipsie Lake. She was buried at Jewell, Iowa, by her first husband.

Abigail‘s niece said her first trip to Lipsie Lake was in 1928. She and her Aunt Elizabeth said the road from Spooner was narrow, winding, dirt and sand and timber. They would walk to the lake in the evening and catch fish for their meals. There was no road or lights and it was spooky at night with no one close.

Jack Bearheart lived in a cabin on what is now 26591 N. Lipsett Lake Road. He was a fishing guide and did odd jobs chopping wood and cleaning fish. He worked for George and Ingrid Hamm and they deeded the property to him, to live on for the rest of his life. Beartheart died in 1979 an was the last Native American to be buried in the Rice Lake Indian Burial Grounds. Jack always said “Indians tend not to camp on Lipsie Lake because of the “Lady in the Lake.”

Campfire at Lipsie Pines Resort

Charles and Flora Palmer

Charles and Flora Palmer purchased the property for the Lipsie pines resort in 1933 from a banker in town, Grant Ross. Charlie had lost his job during the Great Depression and, at the age of 50, packed up his family and moved to Wisconsin. Charles, Flora and 3 of their children (Harris, Bruce 7 Lois) started building log cabins. The built ten summer cabins over the next seven years. The Lipsie pines resort was a busy and popular resort through the 40s, 50s and early 60s. The resort closed after the 1967 season. Bruce died in 1997 The land was sold off in lots with Jonathan Huth (Charlie and Floras’ grandson) inheriting one lot. Four of the cabins have been restored.

If you are interested in learning more about this interesting family, there is a book at the Spooner Library called “Under the Oriole’s Nest” by Michael Huth. A number of people on the lake also own this book and I’m sure many of them would be willing to loan it to you if you asked.

William and Emilie Byrnes homesteaded property on Lipsie Lake in 1900. Doris says that her dad told her they had a cow for milk and a horse which would have been used for work around the form. They also had a buggy for summer travel and a cutter for use in the winter. The undated picture of the farm from Dorothy Byrnes’ Album must be about 1912/13. Pictured along with William is Fritz the dog, Charles, Ester and Bill.

Charles (son of William and Emilie) and Mary Byrnes took over and built the new store (Byrnes Store) on Co. Rd. A. The store became the C&R Store when they retired and sold to Caroline and Ray Sharein. The store was sold again to Gary and Vicky Weaver, Brent Phinn; Steve and Shelly ?; and Steve Christner, Jr.

RESORTS: Beginning in the 1930s there were at least five resorts around the lake at various times and under various names and owners. There was a dance hall and bar at Rest-A-While on the north end of the lake which was gutted by fire in 1951 and closed. Lipsie Lake Bar was located at Journey’s End Resort on the west side of the lake. In 2007, Rest-A-While was the last resort on Lipsett Lake to close.

SCHOOL: Rusk Distric 6 Lipsie Lake School ws built in 1900 on West Lipsett Lake Rd. It closed in 1940.

STORM: July 4, 1983, there was a tornado and straight-line winds that caused a lot of damage to property and trees all around the lake.

Tornado at Perry's Resort

Rest-A-While Resort

Cabin belongs to John and Kristie Bertsch, 7/10/2012