Evansville Veterinarians – a History of Service

Written and Researched by Ruth Ann Montgomery

Evansville’s Veterinary Service follows a long tradition of care for animals.  In January 1866, a veterinarian’s advertisement appeared in the first
issue of the Evansville Citizen, the forerunner to Evansville Review.  

The early Evansville veterinarians confined their practice to the treatment of horses.  The horse was a very important to the economy of Evansville
and the surrounding agricultural area in the 1800s.  Most farmers used horses to work their fields, haul goods to market, and transport themselves
and their families.  

Evansville home owners who could afford to keep horses, built their own horse barns.  Those who did not own horses and carriages relied on the
local livery stables for transportation.  Livery stables offered stage coach and carriage transportation for people and goods within the village of
Evansville and to other communities.  

Dr. W. Beach was the first veterinarian to advertise his services in Evansville.  Beach owned a livery stable on North Madison Street, near the
Spencer Hotel.  The hotel was located on the northwest corner of Main and Madison.   He advertised that he was “ready to attend to sick and
disabled horses, and all matters pertaining to Veterinary practice.”  Dr. Beach did not elaborate on his qualifications for treating animals, but he
did demand that customers pay in cash.  

In the 1800s, many veterinarians were self-taught or received training as apprentices with graduate veterinarians.  Some medical colleges
included courses in veterinary science.  Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and well known physician, offered
classes to his students in healing animals as well as humans.

The first veterinary school in the eastern United States was established as New York College of Veterinary Surgeons, organized in 1857 at New
York University.  There were no veterinary colleges in the Midwest until the Veterinary Medical School was started at Iowa State University in
1879.  

Evansville’s first veterinarian, Dr. Beach, moved on without any fanfare and the second veterinarian, known to have practiced in Evansville, Dr.
Thomas E. Lucas, began advertising in 1868.  

Thomas E. Lucas was born in Radnorshire, Wales in 1838.  He began his practice in Evansville in 1868.  He was Evansville’s veterinarian for over
20 years.

Dr. Lucas advertised himself as a Veterinary Surgeon and Practitioner, and a “regular graduate” of the Royal Veterinary College of London.   
According to his biography, he graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 1857.  He came to the United States and practiced at Paris,
Kenosha County, Wisconsin before coming to Evansville.  

In June 1868, Dr. Lucas opened a drug store on the north side of East Main Street, with George W. Palmer.  The store carried medicines for
people and animals and also a stock of groceries.   

Dr. Lucas told the Evansville Review reporter than he was capable of helping people, or animals.  The reporter described Lucas as a “regular
practitioner and surgeon,” in addition to his veterinary medical skills.  “He comes to this place with the best recommendations of a gentleman for
practical skill and ability in his chosen profession.”

For those who could not afford the services of a veterinarian, the local drug stores carried over-the-counter remedies, including Sheridan’s
Cavalry Condition Powders.  The advertisement for the powder promised relief for animals afflicted with “loss of appetite, rough of the hair,
stoppage of bowels or water, thick water, coughs and colds, swelling of the glands, worms, horse ail, thick wind and heaves.”  

The winter of 1872-73 was especially hard on the horse population in the United States.  There was an epidemic was known as the Epizooty.  The
disease was first reported in Toronto, Canada and quickly spread into the United States from Buffalo, Rochester, Troy, Albany and down the
Hudson River to New York City.  New York newspapers reported the devastating effects of the disease in October 1872.  

The rapid spread of the disease was alarming. Within a 24 hour period, 1,000 horses in one New York livery stable showed signs of the illness.  
One report estimated that there were 15,000 cases in the city.

By December, the “Epizootic” had spread from New York to St. Louis.  Newspapers throughout the East and Midwest carried recommendations
from veterinarians.

A New York veterinarian, Dr. A. Liantard, described the disease as influenza.  The symptoms were inflammation of the air passages, mild laryngitis,
congestion of the lungs, loss of appetite, cough, discharge at the nose and eyes, a weak pulse, and weakness of the circulatory apparatus, high
temperature, and yellow color of the mucous membranes.  Dr. Liantard claimed that any well-educated veterinarian could diagnose the disease
and, if treated when symptoms began, could be cured.

Dr. Liantard warned against “blood letting, purgatives, arterial sedatives, and setons” that would only endanger the horse.  He recommended
acodine and cough mixtures for the laryngitis; liniment and mustard applications, and carbonate of ammonia mixed with camphor.  

Dr. Bowlery, the Veterinarian Surgeon of Cincinnati, recommended Allen’s Lung Balsam, three times a day and Davis’ Pain Killer as a liniment.  
Both were readily available from drug stores.  

Within weeks, the disease spread to Wisconsin and many Evansville area farmers and liverymen reported their horses were sick.  

The first evidence of the disease was found in Evansville within three weeks of the report of the outbreak in New York City.  Although the Review
seldom used headlines, the spread of the disease to Evansville, was cause for large print.  “The Epizootic” was first reported in Evansville in the
November 27, 1872 issue of the Review.   

The horses in the Evansville livery stables of Martin Case and Ray Gillman were sick and unable to work.  Gillman had 13 horses down, but none
died.  Case’s livery was in a similar condition.  

W. C. Clark’s stage coach service from Evansville to Union, Cooksville, Dunkirk and Stoughton was halted for a few days.  The stage lines also
carried the mail.  For a short time during the epidemic, the mail was carried by private parties, because the regular stages could not run.   

The Review reported more than 100 Evansville horses were sick.   The epidemic brought business to a halt.  No wood was brought into town from
the countryside.  Many Evansville residents relied on the farmers for eggs, butter, and other produce.  One farmer, who still owned a team of oxen,
resorted to using them to haul goods to Evansville.  

The epidemic spread into the countryside, to Union and Cooksville.  Nearly every farmer reported that horses were sick.  Horse owners were
warned to use their horses carefully, keep them warm, and feed the animals cautiously.  

Cooksville’s correspondent to the Janesville Gazette reported, “The epizooty is here, but in a mild form, and in most cases nothing but a cough.  
The poor equines are sick.  We are ready to give ‘our kingdom for a horse’.”  In December 1872, the most frequent question in Cooksville was,
“Are your horses sick?”  

Similar incidents were reported as the disease continued to spread.  A Gazette reporter for Rock County’s Bradford area said:  “A few horses have
died the past week in our town of the epizooty.” A mail carrier from Darien to Janesville could not deliver mail because there was no horse that was
able to make the trip.  

After the Epizooty disappeared from the Evansville area, it continued its path westward.  In January 1873, Evansville’s young artist, Theodore
Robinson, was visiting in Denver, Colorado and reported that the horse disease had reached Denver.  “Street cars are stopped, the stables are
full of barking nags, some of the busses and transfer wagons do not run while the express business suffers.  One express wagon was hauled by
four men, while another, a sober cow was harnessed with a bit, bridle and harness all complete.”

Work horses and race horses succumbed to the disease.   There was even some concern that the disease might spread to humans.  

Whatever Dr. Lucas did to stop or relieve the suffering of horses in Evansville went unreported, although he continued his veterinary practice in
Evansville.  His personal life was not an easy one.  His first wife, Sylvia, died in 1874, at the age of 36 years, leaving him with four children.  He
remarried a short time later and his second wife died in February 1876.  

Shortly after the death of his second wife, in 1876, Dr. Lucas sold his store on Main Street to Dr. Charles Smith.  He married a third time to Ella
Murray in September 1877.  

Lucas also had to contend with others who wanted to enter the veterinary field in Evansville.  Occasionally a competing veterinarian would
advertise services in the Evansville Review.  J. W. Francis advertised briefly in the December 1874 Evansville newspaper.   Francis set up his
practice at the blacksmith shop of Stephen Baker.  His ad read:  “NOTICE, ANY PERSON, having horses with Spavins, Ring Bores, Splints,
Sweeny, Curb, Pole evil, Heaves, Glanders, will do well to call on the undersigned at Baker’s blacksmith shop and have them cured.  J. W.
Francis.  Evansville, Dec. 2, 1874.”  It was a short-lived practice and within a few weeks, the advertising ceased.

Dr. Lucas continued his veterinary practice in Evansville.  Within a short while he remarried.  

The experience that Thomas E. Lucas had gained as a veterinarian, gave him the idea to write a book that would help the horse and cattle owner
when they could not afford the services of a veterinarian.  The title of the book reveals the increasing importance of the dairy cow in the operation
of the farms in the Evansville area.  Dr. Lucas had added cows to his veterinary practice.  

In September 1879 Dr. Thomas E. Lucas announced that he was publishing the book, “A Practical Treatise on the Most Obvious Diseases of
Horses and Cattle.”  The book contained recipes that Lucas had used in his treatment of sick animals.  One man, who had used the medicine
prescribed in the book, said that he would give ten dollars, just for one of the recipes.  

One recipe was for Acute Garget or Acute Mastitis treatment for cows read as follows:  “Epsom Salts, 1 lb; 1 oz of Garget Root Powder and 25
drops of Tinc Aconite.  Mix in three pints of water and drench the cow and rub with liniment No. 1, three times daily where the parts point and
contain fluid or pus; open deeply at the lowest point, that the pus may escape without forcing.”  

The two roots used in the medicines were commonly used by physicians and veterinarians.  Garet Root, also called poke root, was a common
ingredient in remedies for gastric ulcers, sore throats, diphtheria, and skin irritations.  

Aconite root was used in the treatment of various illnesses.  A powdered form of the root was mixed with other ingredients, depending on the
treatment.  A mixture of aconite and alcohol (tincture or tinc) could be used to cure laryngitis.  When mixed as an ointment, the aconite mixture
numbed the skin, producing relief from irritations, rheumatism, or neuralgias.

Perhaps Dr. Lucas was anticipating great success with his new book.  A month before the “Practical Treatise” was published Dr. Lucas reported
that he was going to stop the practice of veterinary medicine.  

In November 1879, his third wife, Ella died and Dr. Lucas resumed his veterinary practice.

Dr. Thomas E. Lucas sold his drug store to Dr. Charles E. Smith in 1876.  Smith continued the drug store business and had his office in the
second story of the building (at 5 West Main.)  

Although Lucas listed Veterinary Surgeon as his profession in Evansville’s 1880 Federal Census, the veterinary business was seldom Lucas’ sole
occupation.  In June 1881, he married his third wife, the “widow Hynes” and they rented a hotel, the Wadsworth house, also known as the
Evansville House.  The business was operated as a boarding house, for those who only wanted someone to cook meals, and a hotel for those who
needed a room.   (on the site of “The Station” at the corner of East Main and Union Streets.)

There was no competition for Lucas in his Evansville veterinary practice.  Occasionally the local newspapers advertised veterinarians from distant
cities who offered mail-order self-help books or medicine. The Review offered J. B. Kendall’s book on the “Treatise on the Horses and His
Disease” as a premium with a subscription to the newspaper.  Kendall also advertised Kendall’s Spavin Cure in the Review.  According to the ads
the “Cure” was good for humans as well as horses.  The advertisements promised Kendall’s medicine could cure lameness in horses and
rheumatism in people.  

The hotel business was a short-lived venture for Dr. Lucas and his new wife.  In less than a year, they turned the Evansville House, also known as
the Farmer’s Hotel, over to their daughter, Flora, and son-in-law Charles Winship.  Agnes Lucas continued to help the Winships with the hotel
business.

Charles Winship was also a licensed veterinarian.  However, Winship usually supported his family by operating a livery and side businesses
related to the livery business.  Notices in the local newspapers said that he was also engaged in ice cutting, excavation for foundations and
basements, and the draying business.

Another venture for Thomas Lucas was teaching the art of calligraphy and penmanship.  On January 19th, 1882, Lucas offered his first class in
penmanship and the Review gave him an excellent recommendation:  “Mr. Lucas is a good penman, and teaches wholly by the practical method,
so when a scholar has completed a course he knows something else than the bare theory of penmanship.”  

By October 1882, Dr. Lucas, no longer had a permanent location for his veterinary service and advertised in the Review, “leave orders at the
Commercial House.”  He promised to “attend all calls in city and country.”  Lucas was reported to be very busy due to his wide field of practice.

In the November 24, 1888 issue of the Tribune was an announcement of a new veterinarian.  Dr. H. W. Higday and his sons opened a business on
the north side of the first block of West Main Street, in a stable owned by Hiram Spencer.  The Evansville Tribune editor, Caleb Libby, said, Dr.
Higday, "comes to us very highly recommended, in fact Mr. Higday has been in the horse business with our brother Harrison in Illinois."

About this same time Dr. Lucas left Evansville and moved to Paris, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, his former home.  He remained there for about
two years, then returned to Evansville in the spring of 1890 and continued his veterinary practice.  

On December 20, 1890, Lucas suffered an apparent heart attack in his home and died at the age of 52.  His obituary said, “The Doctor had been
about as usual attending his veterinary business and was, apparently, in his usual health and spirits, and such a sudden exit startled everybody.”  
His funeral was held at the Methodist Church and he was buried at Maple Hill Cemetery.

For almost three years, Evansville had no resident veterinarian.  One man tried to establish a practice, but did not find enough business to make
his stay worthwhile.  In the spring of 1892, C. S. McKenna came to Evansville from Chicago.  He advertised himself as a graduate of a veterinary
college.  McKenna either did not name the school, or the newspaper reporter who announced his entry into the Evansville business community did
not add it to the information in the announcement of his arrival.  

McKenna never established a permanent office and used the Central House hotel as his residence and office.  Shortly after McKenna arrived, he
told a Review reporter that he already had “several cases in which he is attending to with excellent results.”  

The reporter observed that McKenna was “not a blow hard but offers his services to the public and hopes to acquire business by his skill in the
profession.”  McKenna apparently liked the community and said he planned to make Evansville his permanent home.  He wanted to open an
“equine infirmary.”  McKenna’s plans did not work out and he quickly moved on in hopes of finding a more lucrative practice.

In March 1893, a new veterinarian arrived in Evansville.  Dr. Charles S. Ware, was born in Newark-on-the Trent, in Nottinghamshire, England.  He
attended Rudlow College in Bath, England and then took additional training in veterinary science.  

Ware was an 1892 graduate of the Royal Veterinary College of London, came to the United States from England with his wife, Agnes Bedford
Bazley Ware.  Agnes’ brother, Dr. Bedford, was a veterinarian in Janesville.

Their son, Cecil and a niece, Nina, and two nephews, Ernest and Victor Bazley accompanied them from England.  A daughter, Constance, was
born in Wisconsin in June 1893, shortly after the family arrived in Evansville.  

Dr. Ware’s association with Evansville lasted for nearly 50 years.  The Review welcomed the new veterinarian.  “Understand that Mr. Chas. S.
Ware, our veterinary doctor, is working up a good practice.  He is a man highly skilled in his profession and is using his best endeavors to work up
a desirable practice in this community.”  










Another local newspaper, The Enterprise, also welcomed the Dr. Ware. “He comes to us highly recommended in his profession and it is hoped that
he will meet with a hearty welcome from our citizens, as a first class physician in his line has long been needed here.”

Upon his arrive in the spring of 1893, Dr. Ware advertised his veterinary practice in the local newspapers.  The notices said that Dr. Ware’s
practice included horses and cattle.  Ware also kept a supply of  medicine for sale.  

Ware and his family moved into the Evansville House, the former location of Dr. Lucas.   Dr. Ware also operated a livery stable.    His wife was a
talented musician and started to teach piano and organ lessons.  She later opened a musical instrument store and sold pianos, organs and sheet
music.

It was an opportune time for a new veterinarian to come to Evansville.  Farmers were being encouraged to specialize in raising cattle.  The all-
purpose cow was becoming a thing of the past, according to the experts who spoke at local farmer’s institutes.  Evansville area farmers began to
improve their dairy cattle in order to produce a better quality product to sell to the local creameries.  Others started beef cattle herds.  

There was also great interest in horse racing.  A horse race track on the southwest edge of Evansville opened in the spring of 1893.  Joe Wonder
was the most popular race horse in Evansville at the time and he won races against horses from Janesville, Stoughton and other nearby towns.  
Nancy Hanse, Princess Wilkes, Headlight, and Rowdy Boy were other popular Evansville race horses.  

As the value of cattle and horses increased, the Evansville area farmers and horse owners were willing to spend more on the health care of their
animals.  A professional veterinarian was an asset to the community.  

Dr. Ware also offered his services one day a week in Brodhead.  In July 1895, Ware announced that he would have office hours at Graham’s
livery, every Monday.

Dr. Ware moved his livery stable and veterinarian business frequently.  In April 1900, Dr. Ware purchased a building on East Main Street that was
used as a livery by Charles Winship.  He paid $1,700 for the building.  The family moved into the second story of the livery.  

In 1903, he made an addition to the building, to accommodate his growing livery business that he operated with his nephew, Ernest Bazley.  
Shortly after making the addition to the livery, he sold it and rented a building on North Madison Street.  Then, a few months later, Dr. Ware moved
again.  Within a span of five years, Dr. Ware moved at least six times.

Agnes Ware died in January 1906, from injuries received in a fall down a flight of stairs.  In August of that same year, Charles Ware married
Margaret Francis Munger, Evansville’s first woman to serve as a rural mail carrier.  Shortly after they were married Ware moved to the Marge
Munger’s farm west of Evansville, then returned to Evansville a short time later.  

Evansville area cattle were threatened with an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in the early 1900s.  The bovine tuberculosis could spread to
humans by drinking unpasteurized milk from diseased cows.

In December 1908, tuberculosis was discovered in a herd of cattle in Magnolia township.  Robert Acheson, a butcher in Magnolia bought an
animal from a farmer and when it was slaughtered, he found signs of tuberculosis. The entire herd was quarantined.   

A month later, the herd of seventeen cattle owned by John Finneran in Magnolia was tested for tuberculosis.  Three of the cattle tested positive for
the disease and were destroyed.

Several issues related to the health and well-being of animals came to the attention of residents in the Evansville Area.  The Wisconsin Anti-
Tuberculosis Association was active trying to educate the public about the dangers of tuberculosis.  Sales of the Anti-Tuberculosis stamps served
as a fund raiser to support the association’s pamphlets and other educational materials.  Some experts estimated that 55% of the cases of
tuberculosis were spread from cattle to humans.

The spread of tuberculosis from dairy cattle to humans endangered the dairy farmer’s ability to maintain a productive business.  This was
illustrated in a May 1910 news release published in the Evansville Review.   

Dr. David Roberts, the State Veterinarian in 1910, issued the following statement about the disease.  “Bovine tuberculosis is costing the United
States millions of dollars yearly, not through the actual death of tubercular animals but by the tubercular animals infecting the healthy ones,
thereby reducing their actual value,” Roberts said.  

Dr. Roberts recommended that farmers have their animals tested animals for tuberculosis.  “When this information reaches the livestock owner, I
am sure that he will be more anxious to wipe tuberculosis out of his herd than anyone else, owing to the fact that he is financially interested and he
and his family first of all are consumers of the products of cattle.”  

Evansville dairy herds were not immune to the disease.  Following the outbreak in 1908, there was another in 1910.  A local veterinarian reported
that two dairy cattle in the Evansville had tuberculosis.  The animals were killed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Patrons of local dairies were also warned to purchase milk that was pasteurized to prevent the spread of tuberculosis.  One local dairy was the
victim of rumors that he did not properly process the dairy products and he took immediate action to clear his name.  Dairy owner, D. R. Meloy
placed the following ad in the January 1911 issues of the Evansville Review:  “To the Public.  The rumor that I am not pasteurizing my milk is false
and without foundation.  Every particle of milk and cream I handle is thoroughly pasteurized and cooled.”

Human treatment of animals also was a growing concern among Evansville residents.  An effort was made by the State Humane Board to organize
a branch in Evansville.  Petitions were circulated to get the names of those who were interested in “relieving the suffering of our dumb animals.”  
Enough people signed the petitions to form a humane society.  Although these first efforts lasted only a few years, it drew attention to the plight of
horse and other animals that did not receive proper care.

By 1910, three men were practicing veterinary medicine in Evansville.  Dr. Charles Warren Winship was a licensed veterinarian and owned a livery
stable.  When he died in June 1911, his obituary said that he had practiced his profession for many years.  

Dr. Charles S. Ware had an active practice and also operated a livery stable.  In March of 1910, he put his livery and his horses, buggies,
harnesses and other equipment up for sale.  

A new veterinarian arrived in Evansville in the spring of 1910.  Dr. Rudolph E. Schuster was a graduate of the Lodi High School and the McKillip
Veterinary College in Chicago.  

In 1910, Dr. Schuster purchased the livery stable of Dr. Charles Ware at 115 East Main Street and maintained his office there for the duration of
his 30-year career in Evansville.  

Upon his arrival, Schuster immediately placed advertisements in the local newspapers.  One newspaper, The Enterprise also added a short article
about the new veterinarian.  “R. E. Schuster, M. D. V., has an advertisement in this issue of the Enterprise, calling the attention of horse owners
and stockmen to the fact that he is looking after veterinary work in and about Evansville.  Mr. Schuster has recently located here, is a graduate
veterinarian from Madison, and people needing his services will find his office located in the livery barn formerly occupied by C. S. Ware.”

Dr. Ware moved his veterinary practice to a building on North Madison Street, just north of the Bank of Evansville.  For many years, the two
veterinarians competed for local business and their advertisements often appeared next to each other in the local newspapers.  

Charles Ware was appointed local assistant state veterinarian in November 1911.  In order to get the appointment, Dr. Ware passed a civil service
examination and was chosen by the State Veterinarian.  His territory included the counties of Rock and Green.  Although he had been a liveryman
for many years, Dr. Ware was one of the first to purchase an automobile to work his territory.  

For a short time, Dr. Rudolph Schuster was a single man and lived in the Commercial House hotel.  When the census taker came around to do the
federal census in June 1910, Dr. Schuster told the recorder that he was 26 years old and a boarder at the hotel.   

A year later, on June 7, 1911, Rudolph Schuster married an Evansville woman, Uva Griffith.  He improved the living quarters above the livery
stable, and had a new foundation built under his barn.  The Schusters moved upstairs over the livery and lived there for many years.

Dr. Schuster was active in the Wisconsin Society of Veterinary Graduates.  The organization met twice a year and in July 1912, the program was
held in Janesville.  Dr. R. E. Schuster presented a paper at the meeting.  


There was enough business so that the two veterinarians were kept busy.  Evansville farmers were bringing in railroad car loads of sheep and
cattle.  Dairy farmers had a ready market at the D. E. Wood Butter Company and increased their herds to meet the demand for milk and cream.  
Beef cattle raisers and horse owners were acquiring award winning livestock with excellent breeding.  

Valuable animals and the occasional rare disease called for the skills of the veterinarians.  Occasionally the animal doctors were stumped or
needed assistance.  The difficult cases made the news.   When Henry Apfel’s valuable mare came down with lockjaw, all the best veterinary skills
could not save the horse.  

Local, state and federal veterinarians were called out in the summer and winter of 1914 to save the investment of livestock owners.  In July a
report of hog cholera on the John Gillies farm caused some alarm.  Guss Buss rented Gillies’ farm and was raising pigs.  The pigs had been
vaccinated about four weeks before the cholera was discovered, but the disease already had infected the animals.  Several remedies were offered
to cure the cholera and prevent its return.  

The first report of hog cholera appeared in the July 30, 1914, Evansville Review.   Dr. A. H. Faunce of the Federal Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S.
Department of Agriculture offered this advice: “Charcoal is a very good thing to feed to hogs in any danger from this disease.  Also a little
turpentine mixed with soft feed will do good, by tending to eliminate worms.  Liquor cresolis compositis is recommended by the bureau of animal
industry at Washington as a good disinfectant and is used by them in their work. It is best when used in proportion of one gallon to thirty gallons of
water, and applied with a spray pump.  Lime sprinkled around the pens occasionally is a very beneficial thing whether there is danger of cholera or
not.”

Farmers were also warned to clean the area where pigs were kept and they were urged to stop the spread of the disease.  Dogs, birds, and
humans could spread the disease, according to Faunce.  

Dr. Faunce offered his services as a free lecturer to “Farmers and their organizations, commercial clubs, veterinarians, etc.” Faunce included
demonstrations on vaccinating animals, disinfecting pig pens, and other preventive measures farmers could take to prevent the spread of the
disease.    

The information came too late for Guss Buss.  He lost 25 pigs to the disease in July, but the scare was quickly over.  Stockmen continued their
usual routines, traveling with animals to fairs, and bringing animals to the farm to feed and fatten for the market.

Then a serious epidemic occurred in the fall of 1914.  It was the dreaded hoof and mouth disease.  Before the disease was eradicated, animals in
22 states and the District of Columbia were affected.  

In late October, Dr. Rudolph Schuster was called to the farm of Chester F. Miller in Porter township.  Miller was a stock buyer and for several years
had purchased feeder cattle in large lots, brought them to Evansville by railroad car, and placed the animals on farms to finish for the Chicago
meat market.  

In the fall of 1914, Miller was doing his usually fall work.  He brought two car loads of feeder cattle from Chicago stock buyers.  Sixty head of cattle
were delivered to the depot in Evansville and driven over the country roads to the Miller farm. Within a few days, Miller discovered some of the
cattle were sick.

He called in Dr. Rudolph Schuster to examine the sick animals.  Dr. Schuster recognized immediately that he was dealing with a serious outbreak
of hoof and mouth disease.  Schuster telephoned for a State Veterinarian to come to the farm and confirm his suspicions.  

Dr. O. H. Eliason was given the assignment and he wasted no time in getting to the Miller farm.  Eliason confirmed that Dr. Schuster’s diagnosis of
hoof and mouth disease was correct and immediate action was taken to quarantine the Miller farm, and the people and animals residing there.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture was already dealing with the outbreak in several other states.  Miller’s farm was one of the first in Wisconsin to
be confirmed with hoof and mouth disease.  Six federal meat and animal inspectors were called to Miller’s farm to examine the livestock.  

The federal veterinarians placed the Miller farm under quarantine and guarded the farm 24 hours a day to make sure that no animals or people
came or went from Millers.  The inspectors were also concerned that farms along the route the cattle had been driven were affected and the
disease could spread to other animals that traveled the roads.

The inspectors brought in scrapers to dig a trench, twenty rods long; twenty feet wide and 10 feet deep.  All of the animals on the farm were driven
into the ditch and slaughtered.  Miller had a large livestock operation.  The small shipment of sick cattle that he had received from Chicago cost
Miller a large investment.  He lost all the livestock on his farm.  

Federal agents killed 101 head of cattle and 300 sheep on the Miller farm.  The bodies were covered with quick lime and buried under five feet of
dirt.   The farm dog and the chickens were spared, but they had to be dipped in a strong disinfectant so that they would not spread the disease.  
The farm yard around the animal pens was plowed and the buildings were disinfected.   Every inch of the farm was to be cleaned, if possible.  The
disease was so dangerous that it could be spread by fodder, manure, saliva, and hides.

Federal veterinarians wore rubber boots and rubber coats and had to be fumigated each time they left their work to go the farm house.  No one
was allowed on or off the Miller farm.  The farm buildings were washed with disinfectant and fumigated to rid the structures of disease

One week after the Miller animals were cleared, no new cases had been reported near Evansville.  However, within days, Rock County farms, in
Johnstown and Bradford township were affected and the entire State of Wisconsin was placed under federal quarantine.

Miller was promised by the federal and state agents that he would be reimbursed for the price of the meat.  The federal and state governments
shared the cost of reimbursement.  However, there was still a great loss to Miller.  His farm was quarantined for six months and no animals could
be brought to the farm.  .

The Arthur Franklin’s farm, adjacent to the Miller farm, was also suspected of having animals infected with hoof and mouth disease.  Farmers who
had animals that shared the same stream that the Miller cattle drank from were also inspected.  The disease was so dangerous that even a drop
of saliva could carry the disease.  Farmers were urged to report any signs of infection in their animals.  Sore mouth, slavering, fever, and
lameness were listed as warning signs of the disease.

Evansville farmers were not alone.  By mid-November sixteen states were under quarantine.  In Wisconsin, more than 100 herds were examined by
federal and state agents.  Many farm animals were killed and farm families were confined until their farms were considered safe.

The entire state was quarantined.  Any livestock moved from one place to another had to be inspected and certified free of disease by one of the
state veterinarians.

Federal agents ordered railroad cars to be cleaned and disinfected before use.  They were especially concerned about the animals from the
nation’s stockyards.  

Shipments to and from the Union Stock Yard in Chicago came to a halt.  For the first time in fifty years the Union Stockyards in Chicago closed.  
The closings lasted for ten days, while the yards were cleaned and disinfected.

After the quarantine was lifted, any animal going to the Chicago yards had to be certified free of disease by a federal inspector or an accredited
veterinarian.  The National Stock Yards at East St Louis and the stockyards in St. Joseph, Missouri were also closed.   

The hoof and mouth outbreak forced the cancellation of Chicago’s November International Livestock Show, a popular show that drew livestock
farmers and buyers from around the world.  Evansville’s best beef and sheep farmers usually had animals at the show and realized large profits
from the sales made through contacts at the show.   

The 1914-15 hoof and mouth disease epidemic on farms near Evansville greatly reduced the stock shipments out of Evansville and hurt the
income of farmers that did not have herds infected with the disease.  Even after the Union Stock Yards in Chicago reopened, shipments nearly
came to a halt.  

Both of Evansville’s veterinarians, Dr. Charles Ware and Dr. Rudolph E. Schuster, were graduate veterinarians.  Before the 1914-15 outbreak of
the hoof and mouth disease in Wisconsin, graduate veterinarians were allowed to inspect and certify animals for shipment out of state.  

With the outbreak, state and federal veterinarians took control of all animal shipments. Any animal going to the Chicago yards had to be certified
as free of disease by a federal inspector or an accredited veterinarian.

Before the epidemic, sheep were driven over the dirt roads from the farm to the depot.  Fearing that the roads were contaminated with the hoof
and mouth disease, Evansville farmers loaded their livestock into farm wagons or sleighs and delivered them to the stockyards at the depot.

In early December 1914, several hundred sheep were brought to the depot by Chris Jorgensen and Robert Hubbard.  Two veterinarians, one from
the state and one from the federal government were at the depot to inspect the sheep.  The animals were given a clean bill of health and cleared
for shipment.  

On January 22, 1915, the United States Bureau of Animal Industry announced that the counties of Brown, Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Langlade,
Racine, Rock, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and the townships of Exeter and Brooklyn in Green County were placed in modified territory.

This meant that the quarantine was lifted, if there were no infected or exposed farms within a five miles radius of the farm.  This partial lifting of the
quarantine meant that after inspection by a veterinarian, the stock scheduled for immediate slaughter could be sent to Chicago’s Union
Stockyard.  

During the outbreak only the state and federal authorities could certify that animals were free from the disease.  With the partial lifting of the ban
on shipping animals, the federal government allowed the state certified veterinarians to inspect only the livestock that was sold in the Milwaukee
market.  

In early February, a federal inspector announced:  “As far as we know there is not a single case of foot and mouth disease in Wisconsin.  We
hope to have the quarantine lifted entirely by March first.”  The epidemic had a long term affect on the livestock farmers in the state as more state
and federal regulations were put in place.  

Due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Wisconsin, the Live Stock Breeders’ Association postponed their 1915 annual meeting.  The
meeting was usually held in the early months of the year and included exhibits of prize animals.  Several Evansville area farmers, including John
Robinson, a Hereford and sheep breeder, were active participants in the organization. None of the breeders wanted to risk spreading the disease
by bringing animals together for show purposes.

The hoof and mouth outbreak also created a shortage of good breeding stock in the United States and in the world.  War in Europe and shortages
of livestock created a market for animals free of disease.

Arthur G. Leonard, president of the Union Stock Yard and Transit company of Chicago told farmers that the era of the successful livestock raiser
was about to begin.  In the January 1915 issues of the Chicago Farmers’ and Drovers’ Journal, Leonard said: “There is not a single cloud on the
horizon of future prosperity for the growth of cattle and sheep in this country, while the hog has always been at once the ‘mortgage lifter’ of the
farm.  On the whole the live stock industry of the United States is on the eve of a period of prosperity for those who enter it wisely.  Those who are
first in the field and work steadfastly for the industry will reap the greatest rewards.”

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture also encouraged the stock breeders to improve their herds and to breed only animals that were free
from disease.  The state’s focus had been on eliminating tuberculosis and after the epidemic there was a renewed effort to rid the state’s cattle
herds of tuberculosis.

The state veterinarians urged farmers to have their herds tested and offered a free tuberculin test. The veterinarians emphasized that the testing
was voluntary but incentives were offered to encourage participation.  

Because of the epidemic, there was expected to be a demand for meat free from disease.  If the herd tested free of the disease, the farmer
received state certification and the state kept a record of the testing that was available to other breeders and stockyards.  The state veterinarians
urged local and state fairs to hold special exhibit classes for herds and animals that had tested free of tuberculosis.

The Wisconsin Legislature of 1915 passed laws, known as Chapter 625.  The new laws gave the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture authority to
appoint veterinarians to inspect stock for interstate shipment.  The law also provided penalties for those who made shipments without getting
inspection. This gave state appointed local veterinarians new authority and potentially new business.  

Dr. Rudolph Schuster maintained his membership in the Wisconsin Veterinary Society and was kept informed about new developments in
veterinary science through his association with other veterinarians.  Many of Dr. Schuster’s clients were in Magnolia township.  Over the next few
years, he regularly attended animals on the farms of Ed Larson, Gene Rowald, Charles Davis and Wilbur Andrew.  

Another Evansville veterinarian, Dr. Charles Ware, was involved in planning the Rock County Fairs held at the fairgrounds in Evansville.  He was
especially interested in the horse races and served as superintendent of that event.  

Evansville’s fair was one of the stops on the racing circuit for trotters and pacers.  Dr. Ware organized the races and was able to obtain some of
the “fastest steppers” in the country. There were racers from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois entered in the competition.  

The Horse Review of August 1916 praised Dr. Ware’s work.  “It was only a few years ago that Evansville, Wis., was a mere fly speck on the racing
map of the west.  Today it boasts of one of the best conducted half-mile track race meetings in the country.  Doctor Ware has labored incessantly
to give his fellow-citizens real horse-racing.  He has overcome many obstacles and made good in a manner that admits of no argument.”  

Ware also had his own farm on the western edge of Evansville.  He raised hogs and kept cows to provide milk for his dairy.  

In 1917 there was an outbreak of hog cholera in the Rock County and farmers were urged to take precautions.  A Janesville Gazette article about
the disease cautioned farmers:  “If cholera is in your neighborhood, use the same precautions to keep from getting it on your farm as you would
use if there were an epidemic of small pox or scarlet fever.”  Farms that had hog cholera were required to place a sign on their premises
announcing the disease.

The hog cholera was devastating and farmers were urged to get a veterinarian to kill the diseased animal and examine the intestines, kidneys,
glands, and other organs.  If the veterinarian’s examination proved that cholera was the cause of the illness, then the farmer was urged to have
the rest of his hogs vaccinated.

The State Department of Agriculture and the University of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture encouraged farmers to use the services of a
licensed veterinarian and avoid home remedies.  “Do not attempt to vaccinate the hogs yourself,” the article warned.

Two outbreaks of disease were reported in the Evansville area 1919.  The first was the discovery of tuberculosis on the farm of Ernest Miller, on
Finn Road.  

Miller had purchased nineteen head of milk cows and heifers from a farmer in Illinois.  The seller had assured Miller that there was no need to
have the animals tested and Miller trusted the seller.

After purchasing the animals and bringing them to his farm, Miller offered the cattle for sale.  Wisconsin law required that the animals be tested
and Miller called in Dr. Rudolph Schuster to perform the tuberculosis test.  It was positive on 16 of the 19 head of cattle that Miller had brought in
from Illinois.  

The animals were shipped to Milwaukee where they were slaughtered and inspected by federal veterinarians.  The news of the tuberculosis
incident highlighted Wisconsin’s strict laws for preventing the spread of disease among the livestock herds.

According to the Review report of the incident, “The carcasses of those which are fit for meat will be sold, and those which show too much
tubercular will be thrown away.  The loss will fall on Mr. Miller.  This experience will not be a very good advertisement for Illinois cattle.  If Illinois
laws had required that the cattle be examined before shipment, the railroad would not have accepted the cattle for shipment.”

A second outbreak of disease in 1919 was of rabies, brought to the Magnolia area by a rabid dog.  The dog was killed near the Locke Pierce farm
and brought to Dr. Rudolph Schuster to examine.  

Dr. Schuster removed the head of the dog and sent it to the biology laboratory at the University of Wisconsin for inspection.  The tests proved that
the dog had rabies.

Before it was killed, the rabid dog bit a six-year-old boy, Howard Dougherty.  The authorities suspected that the animal had also bitten several
other dogs.  The Dougherty boy was given a series of shots, known as the Pasteur treatment to keep him from getting rabies.

Several other dogs were killed after they showed signs of the disease. Evansville’s Police Chief, Fred Gillman warned citizens to muzzle their dogs
and keep them tied up until it could be determined that no other animals had been bitten.  

In an article in the Review, Gillman warned readers that it could take up to four weeks before any symptoms would appear, after an animal or
human was bitten by a rabid animal.  “As it takes so long for the disease to make its appearance it is very probably that the ban on dogs running
at large will be continued for some time yet, as the authorities here are determined to take every precaution against this terrible disease.”

Evansville’s veterinarians served in civic capacities in the early 1920s.  Dr. Charles S. Ware was secretary of the Rock County Fair held in
Evansville and was primarily responsible for the livestock and the harness racing.  Dr. Rudolph E. Schuster was appointed to the Evansville City
Council in August 1918 and was reelected for several terms.   

Both veterinarians advertised their services in the 1920s and helped to improve the health of the livestock in the rural areas surrounding
Evansville.  Dairy and livestock provided a stable income for area farmers, as long as they could provide healthy animals to the livestock markets.

Dr. Ware was a supporter of the movement to bring young people into the business of farming.  He supported the calf and pig clubs that were
forerunners of the 4-H movement.   Ware owned Chester White pigs and with other area hog raisers offered the “Chester White Cup” as a trophy
for raising prize winners in the hog contests.

Ware and his wife also owned a dairy in Union township, west of Evansville, and had a regular market for their products in Evansville.  

In some parts of the United States there was a decline in horses and other livestock and some veterinarians turned to small animal service.  The
Evansville veterinarians did not follow that trend, as area farmers continued to increase their dairy and livestock herds.   

Large shipments of sheep and feeder cattle were brought to the Evansville area, and there was a ready market for milk from the local dairy
farmers.  The D. E. Wood Butter Company provided a local market.  Healthy animals were a key to successful marketing of farm animals and their
products.  

In the early 1920s it was not unusual for some farmers to lose an entire herd of dairy cattle to tuberculosis.  In November 1920, an Orfordville
farmer lost thirty head of “high grade Holstein cattle” after they tested positive for tuberculosis.  The entire herd was taken to Madison for
slaughter.   The Review noted that at a normal price, the cows would have brought between $120 and $200 a head. This did not include the value
of the milk and calves that might have been produced.  

Wiping out tuberculosis was a goal of the Wisconsin State Veterinary service.  Hogs and cattle had been found to have the disease.  

The State Veterinarians issued a statement sent to the Review:  “The tuberculosis menace is getting serious in Wisconsin, not only to the health of
the people of the state, but to those who raise hogs for the market.  Meyer Bros., the Madison packers, state they recently purchased a car of
Wisconsin raised hogs on which they were forced to stand a loss of 40 percent on account of the presence of the disease.”  The article concluded
that, “There should be a general awakening of the farmers and breeders in Wisconsin regarding this menace.”      

The cost of the animals with tuberculosis was passed on to the farmer, with reduced prices.  Animals sent to Chicago markets from Wisconsin were
also receiving huge cuts in prices, as the disease was detected and the packers refused to buy them.

Dr. Schuster’s business in testing for tuberculosis was greatly increased as local farmers realized the loss they suffered, if packers refused their
animals.  In the fall of 1923, Schuster tested the herds of Ed and Vern Ellis, Gilbert and Byron Amidon, John Hanson, Adelbert Smith, Herman
Fenrick, Ed Julseth, Earnest Bayliss, George Schumaker, Henry Knudsen, Ben Vigdal, Wayne Lewis, Richard Babcock, Clarence George, Royal
Clark, and Charles Ware.

When he went to the farms to do the testing in October 1923, Dr. Schuster found some herds of dairy cows that were nearly clean.  In other herds
he found that half of the animals reacted positively to the tuberculosis test.  

It did not take long for the local dairies to pick up on the fact that they needed to reassure their customers that their herds were free of disease.  
The Bonnycroft Dairy owned by O. H. Perry and his son Stanley, provided milk and cream to Evansville merchants and households.  They
advertised that their herd had been tested.  “Perry Cream Is Clean Cream” was included in their advertisement in the local newspaper.

By 1925, Chicago dairy markets were threatening to reject milk from Wisconsin dairymen, unless they could prove that their herds were free of
disease.  Wisconsin farmers signed petitions to get the State to provide free testing for tuberculosis, so that they would not lose their market for
local and out-of-state sales of dairy products.

Wisconsin passed a law to require dairy herds to be tested and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture offered the test free of charge.  Diseases
in some Wisconsin herds threatened all others who wanted to market their dairy products.

There were heavy fines for farmers who refused the tests.  There was little need to convince area farmers to have their herds tested, as they
realized the loss to their farm income, if no one would accept their products.  

Veterinary services were required for other diseases and accidents on Evansville area farms.  Hog cholera reappeared in Rock County in October
1921.  The University of Wisconsin-Extension provided a serum for farmers to use in vaccinating their herds.  Farmers who vaccinated their own
herds often did not follow the directions supplied with the serum.  State Veterinarians issued news releases stating that the vaccinations were
ineffective if the directions were not followed.   

In addition to disease, there were other significant loses.  Dr. Schuster was called to the farm of Carl Carlson in June 1921 to check on Carlson’s
hogs.  Schuster discovered that they had all been poisoned.  Someone had mistakenly put a poison that was used to destroy insects, called, Paris
Green, into the slop barrel and it was fed to the pigs.  Dr. Schuster could do nothing to save the hogs and twenty-two of the twenty-seven herd
died of the accidental poisoning.  

Farmers were increasing the number of feeder animals brought to Evansville. In the early 1920s, thousands of sheep were shipped from western
states in the fall of the year and driven to farms in the Evansville area.  Through the winter months, the sheep were fed and fattened for the
Chicago markets in the spring, bringing a nice profit for area farmers.  

In late September 1923, a large shipment of 9,000 western lambs were brought by railroad cars into the Evansville stockyards.  The lambs were
purchased in Montana and shipped from White Sulphur Springs, Montana, by W. W. Gillies and Lloyd Hubbard.  The train stopped in Montivideo,
Minnesota, where the lambs were fed and watered.  The animals were reloaded for shipment to their final destination in Evansville.

When the train arrived in Evansville, Gillies and Hubbard discovered that several of the lambs were dead and others were sick.  State and Federal
veterinarians were called to investigate the illness.  They were concerned that the stockyards holding the animals might be contaminated with
disease.  

The State and Federal examiners determined that there was no disease present in the animals.  The veterinarians decided that the food and
water the sheep had consumed along the route had contained something that was poison.  Gillies and Hubbard were relieved to find that their loss
was only about 1 ½ percent of the shipment.

Within a year, the number of sheep coming into the Evansville stockyards for shipment to local farmers had increased to more than 20,000
animals.  In the fall of 1924, more than 26 area farms were reported as holding imported sheep for winter feeding.  

“Money In Sheep” was the headline in the Review, when the president of the Chicago Wool Growers’ Commission, Co. surveyed the holdings of
Evansville area sheep holders.  Farmers were urged to borrow money to purchase sheep, if they did not have cash available.  

“There should be no trouble in borrowing money to buy the lambs without additional security besides the lambs themselves, as with the feed the
farmers of this county have on hand, there is no possibility of losing money.”  However, he also warned buyers to beware of animals that were
diseased.  “Western growers have a trick of passing a lot of culls off onto buyers, hoping that they will not be noticed in a large flock.”  

The increased animals on the farms also increased the work for the two area veterinarians.  Dr. Schuster began improving his living quarters and
office at 115 East Main.  The first remodeling was a fireproof exterior finish known as Kelastone put on in 1922.  The Kelastone was a cement
material, similar to stucco, that covered the wood frame building.  

Two years later, in 1924, Schuster built a wood frame barn with a cement floor on the south side of his building.  The building was known as the
“Schuster Sales Barn” and was used by Fred Luchsinger as a sales barn for horses.  It was a 16 foot extension on the lower floor of the Schuster
building.  It was convenient for both Schuster and Luchsinger as he could have the animals tested for the sales.

The new addition had a cement floor.  There were 24 stanchions and 2 box stalls that were fitted with drinking cups.   Luchsinger’s first sale was
held in February 1925 with Dan F. Finnane, a local auctioneer, “crying” the sale.

Eradication of tuberculosis in dairy herds dominated the work of Dr. Rudolph E. Schuster and Wisconsin State Veterinarians in 1925 and 1926.  
Rock County dairy farmers joined together in a petition to the State Agricultural Department requesting that every dairy herd in the county be
tested for T.B.

The editor of the Evansville Review urged farmers to attend a meeting with John D. Jones, the State Agricultural Department Commissioner, to
learn more about the testing.  Headlines in the July 9, 1925 issue of the Review read:  “If Area Test Is Not Adopted in County, The Dairymen Will
Lose.”  

The article gave several important reasons that the dairy farmer should comply with the veterinarians performing the tuberculosis testing.  “The
possibility that there may be a loss from seven to ten percent when a farmer’s cows are examined, in diseased animals, should deter no one from
having their herds examined and cleaned.  For a number of animals to feed and milk, when there is no market for their product, is not as profitable
as a good market for the product from a less number of animals.”

A farmer’s refusal to have his herd tested also reduced his chances of getting loans from banks.  Some bankers allowed dairy herds to be used as
collateral for farm loans.  With the possibility of tuberculosis being present in untested herds, lenders threatened to stop financing farmers who
refused to have herds tested.

Untested herds were financially devastating to farmers.  There were reports that butter manufacturers and dairies paid 25 cents more per hundred
for milk from tested herds than from untested herds.  Some purchasers of whole milk refused to buy products from farmers with untested herds.

After hearing Commissioner Jones’ proposal to test dairy herds in Rock County, farmers signed a petition requesting testing.  The tests were
made by authorized veterinarians who went from farm to farm.  If there were cattle that reacted to the test, then they had to be retested at the end
six months.  

Dr. R. E. Schuster was notified that the State testers would begin work in Rock County in January 1926.  Each tester was assigned a township and
went from farm to farm.  Every herd in the township was tested.   If farmers refused the testing, their herds were quarantined and no milk or milk
products from that farm could be sold.  

If cattle reacted to the test, the veterinarian determined the value of the animal.  The animal was then slaughtered and the state paid the farmer a
maximum of $40 on common livestock and $90 on pure-bred stock.

Most farmers and dairymen in the Evansville area voluntarily had their animals tested for T. B.  Only a few threatened to boycott the required
testing.  Advertisements for dairies that delivered milk to homes and businesses, farm auctions and dairy cattle sales often carried the notice that
there was “T. B. Tested cattle” or “not a reactor in the herd.”  

There were numerous reports that poultry also had tuberculosis.  During the testing for tuberculosis in cattle, the veterinarians also checked for
tuberculosis symptoms in flocks of poultry.  

By mid-January, the Evansville area testing was well underway.  Dr. Schuster reported that no farmer had refused the test and less than 10
percent of the herds reacted and had to be retested.  

The Jug Prairie area, west of Evansville, was one of the first in Rock County to be tested.  George Mabie’s herd of Guernseys, H. A. Knapp’s Dairy
herd of Holsteins, and Lloyd Hubbard’s herd tested free of T. B.  

However, there were some farmers that were no so fortunate.  The January 14, 1926 issue of the Review said that there were some herds with
nearly 90% of the animals reacting to the test.

“That the test may work a hardship upon some is not be denied; but to leave a 90 percent herd to spread the terrible germs of a terrible disease
to hundreds of human beings is far worse.  So while it may hurt some farmers and some bankers and business men, the sooner they take their
medicine, the less of it there will be to take, for the county at large has decided that it must be protected against T. B.”

A new state law was passed that helped prevent further spread of tuberculosis.  Wisconsin State Commissioner of Agriculture, John D. Jones, Jr.
sent out a news release in May 1926, that all animals shipped into the state had to have a health certificate stating that they had tested free of
tuberculosis.  

The cattle were to be held in quarantine until they could be tested by a veterinarian authorized by the Wisconsin Agricultural Department.  “The
new regulations are designed to prevent the introduction of diseased cattle into areas which have cleaned up in the bovine tuberculosis
eradication campaign,” Jones said in the announcement.  

Some farmers needed no government or peer pressure to test their animals.  John Elmer and his seven sons lived just over the county line in
Green County.  Elmer voluntarily tested his herd for nearly twenty-five years before others were required to have their herds tested.  

Elmer told a Review reporter that his herd had always tested free of tuberculosis.  By 1927, four of John Elmer’s sons had established farms of
their own, Henry on the home farm; John, Jr. Casper, and Paul on farms of their own.  All were expected to follow the example of their father.  

Considering that in 1929 approximately 86 percent of a Wisconsin farmers’ income came from livestock and livestock products, any disease was a
threat.  Estimates were that 52 percent of the farm income was from milk, 13 percent from hogs and 11 percent from cattle and calves.

As the danger of tuberculosis was reduced, an infection that threatened to be even more dangerous was spreading.  In January 1929, Dr.
Schuster worked with government officials to organize a meeting of dairy farmers to learn more about an infection called contagious abortion.  

The infection was costly to the farmer, as he not only lost calves but also lost potential milk production.  If the disease was present, the output of
the average cow was reduced.  A healthy cow was expected to give milk enough to produce 200 pounds of butter per year and if the infection was
present the output was reduced to 100 pounds of butter or less.  

The disease was described as “one of the worst cattle diseases in existence today.  More loss is caused to dairymen on account of contagious
abortion than from tuberculosis.”  

The state specialist, Dr. D. V. Larson, came to Evansville to talk with local dairy farmers about this disease.  About 25 farmers were present at the
meeting.

Although contagious abortion had been a problem in dairy herds for many years, no cure had ever been found.  Larson knew that some farmers
were still relying on home remedies and patent medicines.  

Dr. Larson told the farmers that the medicines offered through drug stores and other outlets were ineffective.  The only way to get rid of the
disease in their herds was to have them tested and the diseased animals had to be culled.  At the meeting Dr. Schuster gave a demonstration of
how the blood test on the dairy cow was performed and farmers were encouraged to continue to have their animals tested for the disease, as they
did for tuberculosis.

Dr. Rudolph Schuster was the only practicing veterinarian in Evansville in the late 1920s.    Dr. Schuster continued to operate out of his offices at
115 East Main Street and advertised:  “All calls promptly answered day or night.  Phone 109.”  

Through the late 1920s the horse sales were held at the Schuster barn on the south end of the veterinary office.  When Dr. Schuster’s sales barn
became too small for the sales, they were moved to the stockyards near the depot, or to the former fairgrounds at the southwest corner of
Evansville.

Schuster also continued to serve on the City Council and was appointed a committeeman on the Fire and Police Committee, Sanitary Committee
and License Committee.

Dr. Charles S. Ware remained active in organizing Evansville’s Rock County Fair until it was sold to the Janesville Fair in 1928.  Dr. Ware kept
busy with his daily delivery of milk and dairy products to customers in Evansville.  In the winter he used a bob sleigh to make his rounds and in the
summer a horse-drawn wagon.  

By 1929, Dr. C. S. Ware had stopped advertising services as a veterinarian.  Although he did not retire, he had health problems.

In February 1929, Dr. Ware was finishing his milk route when his team became frightened and ran away.  The sleigh tipped over and Dr. Ware was
thrown to the ground and lay there unconscious.  He had only slight injuries and recovered from the accident.  

Through the 1930s, Dr. Rudolph E. Schuster was the only practicing veterinarian in Evansville.  Dr. Schuster’s only competition came from local
drug stores as they sold “veterinary and poultry remedies.”  

There was a shift in the types of animals that Dr. Schuster served in his practice. In the 1930s, the dairy cattle, registered beef cattle, hogs, and
sheep, were the animals most often treated by Dr. Schuster.  

As more farmers purchased tractors, the number of horses on the farms declined.  Some farmers in the Evansville area preferred using horses for
farm work and several had registered work horses that were also kept for breeding and horse shows.

The State Department of Agriculture estimated that 86 percent of the gross income of Wisconsin farmers came from livestock and livestock
products.  Dairy products were estimated to bring in 52 percent of the income; hogs, 13 per cent; and cattle and calves, 11 percent.

During the Great Depression, the federal government urged farmers to reduce the numbers of livestock.  First, the federal government authorized
payments under a plan called hog and crop reduction.  They urged farmers to reduce the number of hogs kept on farms and to take crop land out
of production.  Later, they urged farmers to reduce the dairy output.  It was hoped that this would increase the amount farmers were paid for their
products in the marketplace.

There were no major outbreaks of disease in the 1930s, as there had been in earlier times with hoof and mouth disease and tuberculosis.   There
was a persistent problem with the disease known as contagious abortion.  The disease was often called Bang’s or undulant fever, common names
for brucellosis.  

There was some danger to humans, in that the disease could be spread through consumption of milk that was not pasteurized.  Farmers and
employees of slaughterhouses or butcher shops could also become infected with brucellosis, by coming in contact with diseased meat.   

Farmers were advised to sign up for a government program, so that they could be reimbursed for diseased animals in their herds.  Veterinarians
were authorized by the State Department of Agriculture to test cattle for Bangs.  Only authorized veterinarians could send blood samples to the
State Control Laboratory for testing.  By 1935, the State of Wisconsin had 320 veterinarians that were approved for testing.  

If cattle tested positive for Bangs, they were culled from the herd and slaughtered.  The federal government reimbursed farmers for the animals
that were killed.  If the animals were registered stock, the farmer was reimbursed at a higher rate than if they were unregistered.   

An epidemic of sleeping sickness caused the death of many horses in the Evansville area in 1938.  Dr. Schuster reported to the Wisconsin State
Journal in August of that year that 12 horses had died from the illness.  The report said:  “Although he said he has been unable to save some
horses from the disease which has been spreading throughout southern Wisconsin, Dr. Schuster added that many other horses have been
affected.”

There was little need for Dr. Schuster to advertise his services, but he continued to have a notice in the professional listing of the Evansville
Review.  “R. E. Schuster, Veterinary Surgeon, All Calls Promptly Answered Day or Night.  Phone 109.  Main Street,” was all that was necessary to
alert those in need of the services he offered.

In July 1940, Dr. R. E. Schuster died, after a short illness.  His pall bearers included Evansville businessmen and livestock dealers, Charles Maloy,
Earl Gibbs, Richard C. Deily, Lloyd Heffel, William and Fred Luchsinger.  

His obituary said that Dr. Schuster was prominent in civic affairs, served several terms as alderman from the third ward.   Besides many friends,
Dr. Schuster was survived by his wife, the former Uva Griffeth, two sons, Harold and William, (both were nicknamed “Doc” by high school
classmates.)  Schuster was also survived by two daughters, Beatrice (Mrs. Kenneth) Cain and Beth Schuster.  There were also three
grandchildren, Billy and Uva Mae Schuster and Kay Cain.  His brother, Raymond and sister Edith, lived in Oregon.  

Immediately, Uva Schuster put the veterinary business up for sale.  The sale also included the building at 115 East Main, where the Schuster
family lived.

On July 18, 1490, the Evansville Review announced that the sale had been made.  According to the press release, Dr. Harold Bunde, a licensed
veterinarian from Sullivan, Wisconsin had purchased the business and the building.  The Schusters moved to an apartment on South First Street.  
Bunde placed an ad in the same paper saying that he was taking over the veterinary practice of Dr. Schuster starting on July 20, 1940.  

However, Dr. Bunde was unable to get the financing that Uva Schuster had required.  The following week, in the July 25, 1940 issued of the
Review, Dr. Edwin W. Krueger, a licensed veterinarian of Hustisford, Wisconsin, announced that he was the new owner of Dr. Schuster’s practice.  

Dr. E. W. Krueger, his wife and infant daughter, moved into the apartment vacated by Uva Schuster and her children, Beth and Bill.  “Dr Krueger
comes to the city highly recommended as a veterinarian of unusual merit,” the Review reporter said in the front page article announcing the arrival
of the new veterinarian and his family.  

An advertisement on page 6 of the same issue of the Review that announced his arrival read, “ANNOUNCEMENT.  I have purchased the building
and equipment of the late Dr. R. E. Schuster at 115 East Main street, and am ready to serve this community with prompt and efficient Veterinary
Service.  Your Patronage Will be Appreciated!  Dr. E. W. Krueger, Licensed Veterinary, Telephone 109.”

Krueger was a graduate of the Cedarburg High School in 1935 and he and his distant relative, Dr. Harold Bunde had attended Ontario Veterinary
College at Guelph, Ontario, Canada.  The college was part of the University of Toronto.  

Both Bunde and Krueger received their degrees in 1939.  Following his graduation, Dr. Krueger opened an office at Hustisford.  He was a member
of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association and the Southeastern Wisconsin Veterinary
Association.

A few months after purchasing the business, Dr. Krueger began remodeling the first floor of the building at 115 East Main.  A brick front was put
on the building.  A new office and medical supply room was added and the treatment room’s ceiling and walls were sealed.  Kruger also built a
garage on the back of the building.  

Dr. Krueger was the first veterinarian in Evansville to advertise that he would provide services to pets, as well as farm animals.  In March 1942,
“Leota Dog Food” was for sale at the veterinarian’s office.  According to Dr. Krueger’s announcement, the food was a compound of fresh frozen
100 percent meat.  Gaines Dog meal and vitamin and mineral supplements for animals were available for sale at Dr. Krueger’s office and pet
hospital.  

During World War II, Dr. Krueger was called into service.  Through the pleadings of livestock shippers and local farmers, the Luchsinger brothers,
Charles Maloy and Charles Boode, the U. S. Army released Dr. Krueger from service and he returned to Evansville.  

As Evansville was a large livestock shipping area and had many dairy farms that produced food products, the federal government decided that Dr.
Krueger’s services were necessary to the community.  He was the only practicing veterinarian in Evansville, and his services were essential to
insure that the animals bought and sold in the area were free of disease.   

Evansville lost the oldest veterinary surgeon in December 1941.  Dr. Charles S. Ware was ill for a number of years prior to his death.  He retired
from active practice of animal medicine in the 1920s.  

Dr. Ware’s obituary said that he had practiced medicine for thirty five years before he retired.  His survivors included his wife, Marjorie Francis
Munger Ware; his daughter, Constance Collins (Robert Collins); his son, William Ware and a step-son, Cecil Bazley.  

During World War II the nation’s food supply was important to the men and women serving in the Armed Services, as well as the people at home.  
A farmer’s institute held in the Evansville High School auditorium and gymnasium in March 1942 emphasized the importance of the quality of the
farm products farmers produced.  

Dairy husbandry and herd improvement were all necessary to the war effort.  The veterinarians and experts from the University of Wisconsin
spoke on “The Costly Diseases of Farm Animals” and stressed the diseases mastitis and Bangs as particularly detrimental to dairy herds.

As the only practicing veterinarian in the Evansville area during World War II, Dr. Edwin Krueger had a key role to play in keeping the beef, hog,
sheep and dairy operations in business.  

A program of calf vaccinations was inaugurated by the State Department of Agriculture in 1940.  There were five options for farmers to use in the
program.  Under four of the plans, the farmer was required to have the vaccinations done by an approved veterinarian.  The veterinarian reported
to the State when the vaccinations were completed and the State issued a permit for each herd if the vaccination was done by a veterinarian.

The herd permit allowed the veterinarian to vaccinate new calves in the herd when they were between the ages of four and eight months.  
Vaccinated purebred calves were identified by their ear tag number and the ears were tattooed with the letters WV, for Wisconsin-Vaccinated” and
the date of vaccination.  If the farmer chose to do his own vaccinations, no permit was issued by the State.

Working with farmers and the Wisconsin Department Agriculture, the local veterinarian sent samples of milk, tissue, and blood to the state
laboratory for diagnosis.  The state laboratory reported that the most common ailment in hogs was an intestinal disorder, necrotic enteritis.  The
lab also tested more than 300,000 blood samples for Bangs disease.  Nodular disease, an intestinal disease was the most common disease found
in sheep.  Diseases commonly found in poultry were leukemia, coccidosis and pullorum.  

The State Department of Agriculture continued to tighten restrictions on the sale and showing of dairy cattle, creating more work for local
veterinarians.  According to a news release in the September 21, 1944, issue of the Evansville Review, The seller of a “bovine animal, except
steers” had to give the buyer the Bang’s test record at the time that any part of the purchase price was paid or the new owner took possession of
the animal.  If the animal was sold at auction, a public notice had to be posted giving “the status of the herd with reference to Bang’s disease, and
complete information as to the history of the herd.”

Any animal reacting to a Bang’s test had to be quarantined to the farm by the veterinarian who made the test.  All sales held in pavilions had to be
supervised by a veterinarian, chosen by the Department of Agriculture.  

While dealing with the day-to-day operation of the veterinary service was difficult enough for Dr. Krueger, an unexpected tragedy forced him to
change locations for a short time in the spring of 1944.  The veterinarian offices and the Krueger residence on the second floor of the building at
115 East Main were damaged by a fire in April 1944.  

The Krueger’s moved to a farm west of Evansville and Dr. Krueger hired carpenters to repair the damage to the building.  The workmen removed
the garage at the south end of the first floor and a storeroom, bedroom and porch on the second floor were taken down.  Smoke and water had
also damaged parts of the interior of the building.  Plaster in the kitchen, a bedroom and hallway of the second-story apartment was removed.  
The carpenters built a new garage on the first floor.  On the second floor a new bedroom, laundry and the porch were restored.  The Krueger’s
returned to their restored home and office in the fall of 1944.  

As a hobby, Dr. Krueger enjoyed attending dog shows.  In the fall of 1944, he showed several dogs and earned a first place for a female boxer.  
The shows also served as a family outing for Krueger, his wife, and daughter, Carlyn and son, Ed.  The family frequently visited relatives in
Hustisford and Cedarburg and Guelph, Canada.

Theo Devine was the secretary in Dr. Krueger’s office during the 1940s. When her uncle, Staff Sergeant Lewis Devine, returned from World War
II, he brought a collection of German souvenirs.  Dr. Krueger’s office window on East Main Street was used as a display case for the items
collected by Devine.  Many of the items were taken from German soldiers surrendering to the United States military at the close of the war.  The
collection included a swastika pennant, German guns, daggers, belt buckles, and a German helmet.

Dr. Krueger’s practice was growing rapidly and in October 1945, he brought in an assistant, Dr. Paul Starch, a recent graduate of the Iowa State
Veterinary College, Ames, Iowa.  Dr. Starch was from La Crosse, Wisconsin.  

Dr. Starch remained with Dr. Krueger for more than two years and then went to work in a veterinary office in Beloit.  They attended veterinarian’s
conventions in Wisconsin and Illinois to update their skills and knowledge of in the treatment of animals.

Dr. Starch was killed in a tragic automobile accident in February 1950.  At the time of his death, his brother, Cyrus, was attending Iowa State
Veterinary College.

In memory of Paul Starch, the Iowa State Veterinary College established an award for a student completing the freshman year in veterinary
science.  The award was given to a student who displayed the leadership and other qualities that described Dr. Starch.  As a student, Paul Starch
had displayed “initiative, sincerity, curiosity, general high character and true interest in his profession because of his basic interest in animals
themselves.”

Dr. Edwin Krueger’s practice continued to grow in the late 1940s and he became active in several organizations that promoted good animal health
and production practices.  The Rock County Holstein Breeders Association was a growing organization in Rock County.  

Dr. Krueger attended many of the Holstein Breeders meetings.  He worked closely with Morris Jensen, a tester of dairy herds, as there continued
to be a growing interest in improving the quality and quantity of milk produced.  

Dr. Krueger and Jensen also worked with the local 4-H clubs and their dairy projects.  As the 4-H Fair approached in the late summer of 1946, Leo
and Harvey Brunsell, Krueger, and Jensen approached local businesses asking for donations to be used as prizes.  Pet Milk Company agreed to
award cash prizes for the top five dairy animals shown by each club.  

In August 1946, Krueger and Jensen joined Selmer and Howard Severson and Harold Abey in testing and vaccinating calves owned by the
Evansville 4-H that were to be exhibited at the Rock County 4-H fair.

At the fair, Jensen and Dr. Krueger worked with Clark Beal, Horace Franklin to promote the dairy industry.  The group organized a Woman’s
milking contest and had Leo Brunsell and Raymond Hawkins serve as judges.  

By 1946, Animal health and production was changing and the local veterinarians kept pace with the changing needs of their clients.  The
Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture and local veterinarians were introducing the practice of artificial insemination to dairymen, as a method
of improving their herds.  

For years experts had urged farmers to cull cows that were not producing well.  “An inefficient cow is wasteful and expensive.  She not only fails to
produce the maximum amount of food from the feed consumed, but gives her owner a smaller return for labor and investment.”  H. J. Weavers,
chief of the diary division of the Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture again warned farmers in March 1946.  

Weavers suggested two methods of improving the herd.  The first method of improvement was to retain the best producing members of the herd
and only keeping the calves of the best producers.  The best way to assure that this method was working was to keep careful production records
of all the milk cows in the herd.

The second method of improving the herd was to purchase sires with offspring demonstrating the best production records.  For those farmers who
did not want to keep bulls, Weavers suggested using artificial insemination.  

Late in October 1948, Dr. Paul Starch left the Evansville Veterinary service to start his own practice in Beloit, leaving Dr. Edwin W. Krueger as the
sole veterinarian practicing out of the Evansville Veterinary Hospital at 115 East Main Street.  

Dr Krueger’s knowledge of dairy cattle and hogs made him a popular leader with the local 4-H clubs and farmers.  In 1949, he served as assistant
chairman and head of the livestock department of the Evansville 4-H club’s advisory committee.  Krueger  continued in this role and as a leader in
the calf club into the 1950s.    

In August 1950, Evansville farmer, Charles Maas, was President of the Wisconsin Swine Breeders Association and Treasurer of the Poland China
Record Association.  Mass was also Superintendent of the swine exhibits at the Wisconsin State Fair that year.  Dr. Krueger served as one of
Maas’ assistant at this state-wide event.   

Wisconsin was well known for its leadership in regular testing for tuberculosis  and Bangs disease in dairy cattle.  In 1950, Wisconsin was the
national leader in tuberculosis testing in cattle.  By the end of the year, twenty-five of Wisconsin’s counties, including Rock, had completed the
required testing and Wisconsin’s TB percentage was extremely low.  According to Dr. H. J. O’Connell, acting chief of the Livestock Sanitation
Division of the State Department of Agriculture, less than one percent of the cattle tested positive for the disease.  

Wisconsin was also one of the leaders in calfhood vaccinations and blood testing of the dairy herds for Bangs disease.  The State Department of
Agriculture rated the control of the disease and the health of the state’s dairy herds as one of its highest priorities.  

The testing and vaccination program had become so popular that farmers found it difficult to comply with the state law requiring them to use a
veterinarian assigned to their township.  In order to alleviate the problem and improve the control of Bang’s disease (Brucellosis), in 1951, the
Wisconsin law was changed so that farmers could choose a state accredited veterinarian to perform the test and vaccinations.  

Dr. H. J. O’Connell explained that the policy was changed because of “difficulties experienced under the present policy of assigning one
veterinarian to each of the state’s 860 townships.  If the veterinarian assigned to the township was unable to render the service it proved very
difficult in many cases for the farmer to take advantage of the state’s program of furnishing vaccination and blood testing service.”

Dr. Krueger’s business was growing and needed an assistant.  In late February 1951, he announced that Dr. Harold J. Bunde was joining the firm.  
Krueger and Bunde were 1939 graduates of the Ontario Veterinary College at Guelph, Canada.  

Shortly after their graduation Bunde had tried to purchase the Evansville Veterinary Hospital in 1940 from the Schuster family.  When Bunde’s
funding for the purchase had not worked out, the business was sold to Dr. Krueger.  

Despite the competition for the Evansville business, the two classmates had remained friends.  They kept in touch with each other over the years
and there were notices in the Evansville Review, when the two families visited each other.

From 1940 to 1951 Dr. Bunde worked at veterinary clinics in Wisconsin and Illinois.  Bunde had most recently worked as a veterinarian in
Reeseville, Wisconsin.  Kruger told an Evansville Review reporter, that the two new partners would “make every effort to give good service to the
Evansville community in its veterinarian needs.”  

Dr. Krueger had never found it necessary to advertise his service in the local newspaper.  A Christmas greeting in the Evansville Review’s holiday
edition was traditional for the business.  In December 1951, the two veterinarians gave their philosophy of service to their customers in their
holiday notice: “Our Entire Business has been built upon friendship.  We look upon all our customers as our friends and are determined to give
them the friendliest service possible.  It is our aim to wrap up a little friendliness in each transaction.  Evansville Veterinary Hospital, Drs. E. W.
Krueger and H. J. Bunde.”

The federal and state governments kept an annual inventory of the numbers and value of livestock.  At the beginning of 1952, Wisconsin livestock
value was more than a billion dollars.  There were 3,916,000 cattle on Wisconsin farms with dairy cattle far outnumbering beef cattle.  

There were 2,407,000 head of milk cows on Wisconsin farms..  Farmers were realizing higher prices for their animals and milk.  As a result of the
higher income, the farmers increased the size of their herds.  

From 1951 to 1952 there was a seven percent increase in Wisconsin’s swine population with a state-wide inventory of 2,039,000.  There were also
more sheep, chickens, and turkeys.  The only decline in the state’s farm animals was in the number of horses.  There were 172,000 head of
horses in Wisconsin at the beginning of 1952.

Veterinarians and farmers were notified of another disease that was affecting dairy cattle, bovine ketosis or acetonemia.  The American
Foundation of Animal Health sent out news releases to newspapers alerting dairy farmers to the disease, especially because there was an
increase in the number of calves.  

The Merck Veterinary Manual reports ketosis as a “common disease of adult cattle.  It typically occurs in diary cows in early lactation.”  The
manual warns that all dairy cows in early lactation, the first six weeks, are at risk of ketosis.  The disease is most common in diary cows that are
“bred and managed for high production.”  

In mild cases, ketosis is often confused with milk fever or plant poisoning.  The cow may not be eating as much and reduced food intake is one of
the early signs of the disease.  The cow will give milk that has a peculiar, sweetish taste.  In severe cases, the symptoms of ketosis include a
drastic reduction in the amount of milk produced, lethargy, dehydration, and loss of weight.  Other signs of the disease noted in the Merck Manual
include an abnormal gait, bellowing, aggression, and abnormal licking.  

Veterinarians could diagnose the disease with tests that detected ketone bodies in the urine or milk.  Three preventive measures were suggested
for ketosis.  Farmers could begin by providing good nutrition for their herds.  Balanced rations and liberal amounts of food were considered of key
importance in preventing ketosis.  This was especially important during cold weather.  

The second way to prevent the disease was careful watching of the cows, so that they did not go “off their feed.”  Farmers were warned to
continually monitor the amount of food taken in by the cow.  

The third preventive measure was to have a veterinarian perform tests “at frequent intervals in fresh and pregnant cows, so that any signs of
ketosis can be spotted early and treated promptly.”  “Veterinarians base their final diagnosis on chemical tests.  If detected in time, early treatment
with intravenous injections and by other means will usually prevent death loses.”  As farmers became more aware of symptoms of diseases, they
were more likely to call upon the services of veterinarians for diagnosis and prevention.  

In addition to prevention and cure of animal disease, the Evansville Veterinary Hospital offered a new service in 1952.  Dr. Kreuger and Dr. Bunde
had joined with the Piper Bros. Artificial Breed Association, a Watertown firm that offered artificial insemination service.  

In joining with this new service, the Evansville veterinarians offered area farmers a new opportunity to take advantage of good breeding without
the expense of keeping their own bulls, or hiring a breeding service.  

The Piper Bros. owned five farms and had Holsteins that included breeding lines from well known herds, including Carnation, Homestead, Pabst,
and Strathmore (Canadian).  The Pipers started artificial breeding on their own farms, and then expanded their services throughout Wisconsin.  
Their dairy cattle were nationally known for production and as show cattle.  In addition to their Holstein line, the new service offered by the
Evansville clinic also included artificial insemination for Guernsey and Angus breeds.

Evansville’s veterinarian, Dr. Edwin Krueger participated in the popular Black and White Show held annually at Lake Leota park.  The first
Evansville show was held in 1950 and was a combined horse and cattle show.  

The Tri-County Black and White Show was sponsored by the Holstein Breeders Associations of three Wisconsin counties, Rock, Green, and Dane
Counties.  The 1951 show was also sponsored by the Evansville Lions Club.  The principal organizer was Charles Maas, a popular Union township
farmer and promoter of area livestock.  

The Lions Club offered $150 in prize money for the 1951 Tri-County Horse and Black and White Show.  Dr. Krueger was responsible for the entry
applications and inspected the vaccination records of the animals entered in the show to guarantee the health and safety of the exhibits.  

Throughout the 1950s, the Black and White shows were very successful.  The shows grew and in the early years, it was not unusual for 200
animals to be entered in the annual Tri-County event.  There were many activities included in the show besides the animal and showmanship
judging.  The Rock County 4-H band, a parade of winning animals, a pancake supper, style show and the selection of a queen to reign over the
activities, increased the attendance.  

The show brought hundreds of people to Evansville to exhibit and view the animals.  In a few years, the show was separated into two parts with the
horse show held in June and the Black and White show in July.  Other Evansville organizations, including the American Legion and the Chamber of
Commerce were invited to participate in order to organize and manage the show.

Charles Maas was so impressed with Dr. Krueger’s ability to handle the activities of the Black and White show that he asked him to help with the
Wisconsin State Fair.  Mass was Superintendent of the Swine Department at the fair and in 1952, Dr. Krueger was named the weighmaster in the
swine department of the fair.  

In April 1954, Dr. E. W. Krueger became the sole practitioner at the Evansville Veterinary Hospital, after a tragic car accident took the life of his
veterinary school classmate and close associate, Dr. Harold J. Bunde.  Dr. Bunde was making a call on an Orfordville area farmer on a rainy
afternoon, April 15, 1954.  Bunde was traveling on Highway 213 when a truck ahead of Bunde’s car turned into a driveway.  Bunde’s car rear-
ended the truck and the Evansville veterinarian was fatally injured in the accident.  The family in the truck received only minor injuries.  

Just weeks before the accident Bunde was elected to the Evansville City Council to represent the Third Ward on the east side of Evansville.  The
new Council had not yet been seated at the time of his death.  

Dr. Bunde’s funeral was held in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  His obituary noted that he was graduated from Guelph Veterinarian College in Guelph,
Ontario, Canada.  Prior to coming to Evansville he had practiced in Bowling Green, Mo. and Hustisford, Wisconsin.

A few months after Bunde’s death, Dr. Kenneth D. Campbell joined Dr. E. W. Krueger in the Evansville Veterinary Hospital.  He was a graduate of
the University of Illinois and had practiced in Stephenson County, Illinois before coming to Evansville.  Campbell remained in the Evansville clinic
until October 1958, when he went to an Orfordville clinic.  In the mid to late 1950s Dr. Krueger’s office assistant was Mary Thompson.

To keep current with trends in the best practices in veterinary science, Dr. Krueger continued his education in prevention of animal diseases.  In
October 1954, Dr. Krueger attended a University of Wisconsin veterinarian conference in Madison.  The two-day session included lectures by
members of the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Wisconsin, practicing veterinarians and experts from other organizations.

In August 1957, Dr. Edwin Krueger participated in a surgical demonstration at the American Veterinary Medical Association in Cleveland, Ohio.  
The procedure showed the removal of a bovine claw at the pedal joint to eliminate infections and lameness.  The operation was shown over closed
circuit television to attendees at the meeting.  

Wisconsin’s veterinarians in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture had made great headway in the prevention and cure of
animal diseases.  In the late 1950s the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture reported that bovine tuberculosis was nearly wiped out in Wisconsin.  

A January 1958 news release by the state department said:  Tuberculosis in Wisconsin cattle, once an insidious threat to both animal and human
health, has been virtually wiped out due to constant vigilance and testing to disclose any infected animals.”  This was good news for farmers
selling their milk products and livestock for breeding.  

However, there were still a number of diseases that posed serious threats to livestock owners.  Mastitis in dairy cattle was dangerous to farm
animals and the food supply.  

To learn more about the diagnosis and control of dairy cow mastitis, Dr. Krueger attended a course at the University of Wisconsin.  Nationally
known authorities from the University, California School of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell and Pennsylvania State University taught the classes.  
Mastitis was considered the most costly of all dairy cattle diseases according to the experts.  

In addition to his veterinary practice, Dr. Krueger participated in other activities to promote agriculture.  He was elected president of the Evansville’
s Chamber of Commerce in 1958.  At the first meeting of the year, Dr. Krueger reviewed the previous year’s accomplishments.  The Chamber and
the Lions Club of Evansville had sponsored an evening of dinner and entertainment to bring together farmers and Evansville businessmen.  The
Chamber and Lions had also sponsored a Dairy Night, and supported the Black and White Show.  The Chamber gave money to support the
dredging of Lake Leota and shared in the cost of Christmas Decorations for Evansville’s Main Street.  

To further promote Evansville’s farms and agriculture based business, Dr. Krueger announced that the local Chamber had invited the State
Chamber of Commerce to bring business and industrial representatives for a tour of area farms, to be followed by a dinner.  The tour included
dairy and hog farms in the three counties that sponsored the Black and White Shows, Rock, Dane and Green Counties.  

Dr. Krueger served as co-chairman with Charles Maas and as the secretary for the annual Black and White Show in 1958 and was responsible for
organizing the entries.  The 1958 show had more entries than any previous show.  A number of new classes were added and the judging began
earlier in the day to accommodate the large classes.  

The final count was more than 360 pure-bred dairy cattle entered in the show.  The show had attracted a star in the dairy business.  William
Ogilvie, the manager of the International Dairy Show at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago showed cattle in Evansville’s Black and
White Show.    

Dr. Krueger’s active participation in the state and local fairs and shows put him in good standing with area farmers.  The Evansville Veterinary
Hospital’s business was also growing.  In February 1958, Dr. Krueger added another staff member to the Evansville Clinic.  Dr. Howard Krueger,
brother of Edwin, joined the Evansville Veterinary Hospital.  

Howard graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1955.  For 2 ½ years he practiced with Doctor Ferguson in Lake Geneva.  While the
Evansville Veterinary Hospital concentrated on a general practice with dairy cattle and hogs, Dr Howard Krueger’s training at Lake Geneva
prepared him for the changing attitude toward care of their pets.

Dr. Ferguson had a good reputation as a veterinarian with the Chicago people who vacationed in Lake Geneva.  They brought their pets with
them and expected they would have veterinary service similar to what they had in Chicago.  Practicing with Dr. Ferguson gave Dr. Krueger an
opportunity to get his first experience in the practice of small animal veterinary medicine.

At the Evansville clinic the veterinarians were dairy & hog practitioners.  There were only a few horses on Evansville area farms in the late 1950s.  
E. W. Krueger and previous Evansville veterinarians treated large farm animals and rarely treated family pets.  There were small animal practices
in Madison and Milwaukee but it was unusual for a veterinarian in a small community to make a living doing small animal medicine.  The farm
animal practice sustained the Evansville clinic.  

Because of his good work at the Wisconsin State Fair Dr. Edwin Krueger was given a promotion for the 1958 event.  Charles Maas, who had been
superintendent of the fair’s swine exhibit was named general superintendent of livestock for the fair.  Dr. E. W. Krueger was named the
superintendent of the swine department.  

There was a record-breaking number of livestock shown at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1958.  The fair organizers had increased the premiums by
15 per cent and this proved to be a good incentive for entries for 4-H and adult showmen.  The swine show extended over four days and there
was a total of nearly $18,000 available for prizes.  

Evansville veterinarians were the front line guards in the fight to eradicate animal diseases affecting the state and nation’s food supply.  From
1958 to 1961, Dr. Edwin Krueger and his brother Howard handled the care of animals for the Evansville Veterinary Hospital.  In the early 1960s,
the animal diseases that were dangerous to animals and humans included tuberculosis, brucellosis, and hog cholera.  

State law regulated the testing for tuberculosis and brucellosis.  Frequent notices in the state and local newspapers warned farmers that the
Wisconsin statutes were in place to protect the food supply.  A notice from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture in July 1960 said, “Failure to
submit the herd to tests is a violation of state statues, but far worse is the possibility of infecting other animals with brucellosis.”

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture required that all cattle sold for dairy, feeding or breeding purposes had to be tested for brucellosis.  
Animals sent to a rented pasture or kept in a community pasture where animals from several farms were together, also had to follow the
regulations of testing free of the disease for 30 days prior to being moved.

There were exceptions to the 30-day test law.  “Calves under eight months of age, spayed heifers and steers; official vaccinations not over 30
months of age without any history of abortion; animals from brucellosis certified herds; animals moving directly to slaughter; cattle moved between
farms owned or controlled by one individual.”  Cattle moved from the farm to a livestock dealer, or to a fair or livestock show also needed to be
tested.

The Evansville livestock buying and selling operations changed in the late 1950s.  The number of livestock buyers declined and trucks became
the principal method of transporting animals to and from Evansville area farms to markets.  

The stockyards at the Chicago and Northwestern railroad complex in Evansville shut down.  In 1958, the Brigham stockyards located on East
Church Street moved to new stockyards, just outside the city limits, north of Evansville on Highway 14.   

By the late 1950s the meat processing companies had abandoned the Chicago Union Stockyards and moved their buying operations into the rural
areas near the livestock farms.  Representatives from the Armour meat packing company leased the Brigham stockyards in the 1950s.  

The Patrick Cudahy meat packing operation leased the Brigham stockyards in October 1959.  The Cudahy company representative told an
Evansville Review reporter that the company planned to purchase animals at the Evansville yards for shipment to their meat packing operations in
Cudahy, Wisconsin.  

The local veterinarians met the incoming shipments of livestock and vaccinated the animals as soon as they arrived in Evansville.  According to
Dr. Howard Krueger, the Brigham stockyards trucks usually came in on Sunday morning and the Evansville veterinarians were on hand to treat the
animals before they were taken to feedlots on Evansville farms.  No breeding stock could be put on the feedlots, as this was the way brucellosis
was spread.

Developments in antibiotics helped veterinarians to eliminate some animal diseases.  However, the new medications required that the
veterinarians educate dairy farmers about the regulations for using the new disease fighters.  

In December 1959, Dr. Edwin Krueger sent an article to the Evansville Review warning dairy farms on federal regulations regarding the use of
antibiotics.  “Zero tolerance is what the U. S. Pure Food and Drug regulations state is the amount of antibiotics that can be present in milk sold for
human use,” the article warned.  “Milk markets throughout the country are now refusing to accept anything but milk with a zero tolerance of
antibiotics.  The life-blood of Wisconsin’s dairy industry is these milk markets.”

Dairies refused to accept bulk tanks with milk testing positive for antibiotics.  The milk from just one cow treated for mastitis with antibiotics and
mixed with a 35,000 pound tank load could cause a positive test for antibiotics.  

Federal state and city public health officials used a TTC (triphenyl tetrazolium chloride) test to determine if antibiotics were present in the milk.  
The article said, “The TTC test is a test for inhibitors.  These may be not only penicillin, but any other antibiotic or bacteriocidal agent,”  

The article went on to say, “Only one herd owner who treats or has cows in his herd treated for mastitis and does not refrain from sending milk
from these cows to his dairy plant, can adulterate an entire tank load of milk.  He may even jeopardize the entire milk outlet for his dairy plant.”  

Farmers were warned not to ship milk until 72 hours (or six milkings) after treatment for mastitis with antibiotics.  If animals were treated for
diseases, other than mastitis, with injection or by the intervenious use of antibiotics, then the milk should not be shipped until seven milkings after
treatment.  

The Evansville Veterinary Hospital continued to support the local livestock farmers by sponsoring events that promoted the purchase of dairy and
beef products.  The annual Black and White Show attracted hundreds of people to Evansville and was supported by volunteer work and financially
by the Evansville veterinarians.  

Evansville’s Black and White show was one of 10 regional Black and White Shows in Wisconsin, with winners exhibiting at the state event.  Dr.
Edwin Krueger and Charles Maas attended the state show in Oshkosh in July 1960.   Local exhibitors attending the show included M. C. Tuttle and
Sons and Pearlwood Farms.  Only blue ribbon winners in the regional events could participate in the state show.

In the summer of 1960, the veterinarians also were principal supporters of a Beef Barbecue held at Norm’s Hi-Way Inn in Evansville.  Over 1,000
people attended the event and 650 pounds of beef was served.   

Dr. Roland Jeans joined the Evansville Veterinary Clinic in September 1961.  Dr. Jeans was raised on a farm in northwest Wisconsin and had fed
calves and milked to help his father with the chores.  As a young man, his dream was to be a veterinarian and work with cows.

Dr. Jeans attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1957 and a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in
1959.   His first job was with the U. S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas in 1959.  He was responsible for the care of the U. S. Modern
Pentathalon Team.  The team included horses and riders participating in five events, riding, swimming, fencing, shooting and running.

His enlistment ended in August 1961 and jobs in the veterinary field were hard to find.  A classmate of Howard Krueger recommended Dr. Jeans to
the Evansville veterinarians.  

Jeans was interviewed by the two Dr. Kruegers and offered the job with the Evansville firm.  He had intended to stay in Evansville until he could
find a job near his home area in northwestern Wisconsin or northern Minnesota.  

In the early 1960s, the Evansville Veterinary Hospital clients included about 500 dairy customers.  Some were small farms with 10 cows.  The
largest herds were 50 to 60 cows.  Although Dr. Jeans’ previous experience had prepared him for treating horses, the number of draft horses in
the Evansville area was small and there were only a few riding horses.  The major portion of the Evansville veterinarians’ practice was dairy and
hogs.

For decades hog cholera had devastated farm operations.  In the early 1960s, the state of Wisconsin declared war on the disease and with the
help of 450 veterinarians, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture hoped to control and eradicate hog cholera from state farms.  

Wisconsin established two diagnostic laboratories to test for animal disease.  Madison’s laboratory had been in operation for years and another
was established at Barron, Wisconsin.  The Madison staff included five veterinarians, a serologist , a virologist, a bacteriologist and technicians.  
The Barron staff was smaller.  

The Evansville Veterinary Hospital was a major player in the fight against hog cholera.  “Stepped Up State-Wide Campaign Is Scheduled Against
Hog Cholera” was the headline of a March 1962 Wisconsin State Journal article.  A Journal staff correspondent followed Dr. Edwin Krueger on his
rounds as he visited Evansville area hog producers.  

Dr. Krueger visited two Evansville area farms with the reporter.  The Allison Butts farm was the first.  Butts raised purebred Duroc pigs and there
were 22 six-week-old pigs to vaccinate when Dr. Krueger and the reporter arrived.  

“Except for the squealing, the job went without trouble,” the reporter said.  Allison Butts caught the pigs and held them by the back feet for the
vaccination process.  Dr. Krueger had a bag of serum strapped to his chest.  The serum was a modified live virus made from rabbits.  Dr. Krueger
vaccinated each pig with 20 centimeters of the serum.  The vaccination stimulated the production of antibodies in the young pigs.  

Before leaving the Butts farm, Dr. Krueger also checked the general health of the pigs.  Dr. Krueger told the reporter that he could vaccinate up to
100 pigs in an hour by this method.

Krueger and the reporter left the Butts farm and traveled to the farm of Dean George where they met, Dean’s son, Kent.  Before vaccinating the
pigs on this farm, Dr. Krueger and the reporter cleaned their boots with a brush and hot disinfectant that the veterinarian carried in his truck.    

As Kent George held the pigs by a noose.  Dr. Krueger gave the shots behind the ear, rather than in the belly, as he had done on the Butts farm.  
Dr. Krueger vaccinated 10 two-month old pigs.  Because they were older and weighed more, the pigs on the George farm got a larger dose of
vaccine.  

The State Journal article featuring Dr. Krueger said that only 3% of Wisconsin hogs were vaccinated, compared with a national average of 40%.  
The cost of the vaccination was 75 cents to $1.50 per pig, depending on the size.  The farmers with purebred hogs were more likely to vaccinate
their pigs.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture employed a small staff of veterinarians and depended on Wisconsin’s 450 local veterinarians to
diagnose and report animal diseases.  The local veterinarians also served as educators for farmers who were interested in using the best
practices in raising healthy animals.

In the early to mid-1960s, the Evansville Veterinary Hospital’s staff, included Dr. Edwin Krueger, Dr. Howard Krueger and Dr. Roland Jeans.  The
local veterinarians worked closely with the state veterinarians to diagnose and treat animal diseases.  

Hog cholera was one of the diseases that was dangerous only to hogs and it could be fatal.  Wisconsin had a large population of hogs and their
good health was maintained through good preventive care.  The Evansville area had a number of hog farmers.

In 1962, there were 4 million pigs on Wisconsin farms and there were a small number of cases of hog cholera reported in the state.  There were
60 confirmed cases of the disease.  The state veterinarians suspected that there may have been 20 or 30 cases that went unreported.  

While the numbers were small, state and local veterinarians were most interested in preventing disease and providing farmers with the information
that they needed to maintain healthy animals.  If an outbreak of hog cholera was suspected, hog farmers were asked to provide a history of the
herd to their local veterinarians.  The history included where the pigs were purchased, the type of feed used and any visitors to the farm.

Good feeding practices and vaccinations were some of the preventive measures recommended.  Farmers were warned to avoid feeding hogs raw
garbage.  The local veterinarians provided on-the-farm vaccination service and a check of the living conditions of the farm animals.

Symptoms of the disease included high fevers, loss of appetite, weakness, staggering, weight loss, and diarrhea.  The state veterinarians offered
post mortem examinations at the state laboratories.  These tests gave the local veterinarian and farmer access to information that were not
generally available in the field or at the local veterinarians’ office.  

Despite the expert care that was available through the local veterinary hospital, some farmers still preferred to use home remedies or treatments
available through local pharmacies.  One Evansville pharmacy advertised penicillin for mastitis in cattle, nutritional supplements for feeding hogs
and tables and powders to prevent calf scours and diarrhea in pigs.  

In 1963, one Magnolia farmer switched from dairy to hog raising after his dairy barn burned.  John Spanton used a system called pigloos that
isolated each litter of pigs from the time they were born until the time they went to market.  

An Evansville Review report about the new system said that one of the main advantages of the pigloo system was the prevention of hog diseases.  
Another was the ability to keep better records on the progress of the individual litter.    

The pigs were kept in individual pens with a house for each sow and her litter.  The houses were insulated and were placed on a 8’ x 12’ slanted
slab of concrete.  Each pigloo had its own self-feeder, a water basin, and a heater.  

When the piglets were about 4 weeks old, the litter was moved to another individual feeding area.  Each litter was isolated in this new feeding area
until they were sent to market.  

The Evansville Review article about Spanton’s new system said, “Eliminating swine disease and parasites is probably one of the greatest
management problems a farmer faces today.  By isolating the sow and litter, sickness can be reduced or kept to a minimum.  Therefore, net
returns should be increased.”  

In addition to their veterinary work, Dr. Edwin Krueger and Dr. Roland Jeans worked on the Black and White Show.  Although the shows had been
successful in drawing hundreds of entries to the show and visitors to Evansville, there was controversy with the City Council over the bill for
cleaning the park after the event.

In 1960 the City sent a bill to the Black and White Show officials asking for money for cleaning up the park after the show.  The show officials
balked at paying for the service, since it had been provided free in prior years.  

“The charges for the clean up job came as a bolt in the blue to the show committee,” one show official was quoted as saying.  Dr. Edwin Krueger,
Charles Maas and others on the committee told city officials they had given a deposit of $75 to assure that the park would be cleaned up.  After
inspection by city officials, the deposit was to be refunded.  The committee had not received a refund and believed that the cleanup bill was paid.

Charles Maas described the importance of the show to Evansville’s economy.  He said that the show had grown from 63 head of cattle in its first
year to approximately 400 in 1961.  

“This includes every boy and girl in the three-county area who is in on the cooperative breeders’ project.  Under the terms of the show each 4-H
boy or girl who raises a calf on a share basis with a breeder is required to exhibit the animal in the annual Evansville Black and White Event.  The
Evansville show is the largest and most important of 10 such district shows in Wisconsin.  I think there should be more cooperating between the
city and its trade area which is principally rural.  Such activities should be given more, not less encouragement by the Evansville community,” Maas
told the council members.

The controversy with the City of Evansville officials struck a severe blow to the community leaders who had worked on the show for so many
years.  The Black and White shows were moved to other cities in the three-county area.  Monroe, Stoughton and Janesville, hosted the shows
after Evansville’s civic leaders refused to cooperate with the show’s planning committee.  Evansville Veterinary Hospital doctors continued to work
with the Black and White show officials and many of their clients participated in the shows.  

The City of Evansville did cooperate with the Evansville Veterinary Hospital in issuing dog licenses.  Every dog in the city was required to have a
vaccination for rabies before a license was issued.  

The Evansville Veterinary Hospital offered a one-day clinic for dog owners.  The rabies vaccination was given to dogs at a reduced price.  The
advertisement for the clinic warned dog owners that their animals “must be on a leash and under control when presented for vaccination.”

Dr. Edwin Krueger also offered assistance to the Evansville Police Chief in designing a dog pound for the City of Evansville.  Chief Richard Luers
and Dr. Krueger designed a facility with individual pens for stray dogs that were picked up by the police department.  The pens had a dog house
and a small running area surrounded by fencing installed by Struck and Irwin of Madison.  The facility cost the city $600.












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