School in a Tavern

It was Easter, March 31, 1991, and we had just finished a wonderful afternoon of food and family. As we started the preparations for heading home, my father-in-law, Bernard (Butch) Fassbender was assisting his older sister, Lorraine “Ena” Vandenberg into her coat, and as they stood at the utility room closet looking out the window, they started to reminisce. “Do you remember when we had school in the tavern across the street?” And that is where the memory ends. With that statement. To be fair to Gary and I, we were gathering up our 21-month-old daughter in preparation for heading home. And I am not sure if we continued the conversation as we drove Ena home to Kaukauna, but this single phrase has stuck with us all of these years. 

So I decided to see if it could be true. Follow along as I try to discover why the Fassbender children attended school in a tavern when the Catholic school was just across the creek.

A quick look at an 1889 Plat Map² shows that there were once THREE saloons in Hollandtown; Van Abels were not the only game in town. In addition to Van Abels “Hotel and Saloon,” there was a “Saloon” next to the store, and a “Hotel and Saloon” across the creek next to the Fahrbach home which was operated by A. Marten. 

At this point I fell into a huge research hole. Who knew that the history of Hollandtown would be so rich, and full of movement? While the research is fascinating and begs to be completed, it will not add to this story, so I will continue with my original question: Why and when did the Fassbender children attend school in a tavern?

That day in 1991, Butch and Ena were pointing across the street to the Stella and Henry Fahrbach home. It had always been their home. At least it seemed that way. Henry Fred Fahrbach and Estella Anna Hagens were married 15 Sep 1953, and after their marriage, they moved into her family home, the home of Peter and Cornelia Hagens, the house across the street from the Butch and Marie Fassbender home. 

The Dutch Colonial Revival home is included in the Wisconsin Historical Society’s “Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory” which surveyed the house in 1998, but does not include the year it was built, nor does a Zillow search of the property give a clue to the date. A paid search of the property only includes information since 1962,⁴ and these documents give no historical data for the property other than the land description,⁵ although the style, and the materials of the building suggest that it was built about the same time as Henry and Ida Fassbender built their new home next to the factory in 1916. 

The plat map shows that this property has been inhabited since at least 1889, and in 1889 there was a saloon and hotel located upon it. And this wonderful aerial image from 1938 clearly shows the buildings that were in existence at that time. But until I can have a proper look at the land records, all I can do is speculate as to when the Hagens moved onto the property. We do know that Peter had worked as a proprietor of a saloon during his lifetime. In the 1910 census he listed his occupation as being a Proprietor of a Saloon, working on his Own Account, and that he was Renting a Home.⁶ On September 18, 1918, he registered for the World War I Draft, stating his occupation as being “Saloon & Labour”, employer’s name: “same.”⁷ In 1920 the family was living in Buchanan Township where Peter listed his occupation as being a farmer,⁸ and by 1930 they were back in Hollandtown, where Peter listed his occupation as being a farm laborer.

Turning my attention to the “why,” it didn’t take long for me to remember that a new school building was erected for St. Francis in 1923. In March it was published that St. Francis: “…will build a parochial school to cost $25,000 this spring. The structure will comprise five rooms and will be modern throughout. The old parochial school is being dismantled and the new building will occupy the site.”¹¹ So I had my answer. With the school being dismantled, Sr. Jerome, Sr. Carlos, Sr. Donald, Sr. Hermengild, Sr. Henrietta, and Sr. Barbara¹² moved their classrooms into a space large enough to accommodate their students, and continued teaching for the remainder of the school year; a saloon just across the creek, and up the road from the church. 

1923 was an exciting year in Hollandtown. The small community was buzzing and bustling. 

• June. On Sunday the 10th, St. Francis School held commencement exercises at 8:00 p.m. in the parish hall. Fr. Van Oeffel made an address and presented diplomas to: John Barber, Harold Fassbender, Herbert Holzschuh, Henry Van de Loo, Howard School, John Van de Wettering, Violet Van Abel, Anna Bruecker, Ruby Rademacher, Cecelia Pritzl, Lorraine Fassbender, Alvira Willems, Germaine Tiesling, Rosella Bruecker, Cecelia Plutz, Helen Van de Loop, Helen Van de Hey, and Marie Van Abel.¹⁶
• July. Following a boiler explosion that occurred on 22 May 1922 which destroyed the White Clover Dairy, Henry Fassbender immediately made arrangements to re-build, and the new creamery was completed in July. 
• August. The school is almost completed.
• October. It was reported on the 17th that the concrete road from Hollandtown to Wrightstown was completed.
• October. In June 1922 floods had taken out the two bridges spanning Plum Creek, and the new bridges were now complete.
• October. “Preparation is being made for big doings here Oct. 14, 15, 16, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the settling of this section by the early Holland pioneers. There also will be the dedication of the new school building by Rt. Rev Bishop Rhode who also will confirm a class [of 70]. A large crowd is expected, as it will be a home coming and all former residents will try to attend.”¹⁷
• November. Electric lights. “Hollandtown now has electric lights a line having been completed from Appleton…Over 40 patrons already have put in lights, including the church, school, parsonage and convent, while H. J. Fossbinder will also have the power for use in his creamery and milking plant.”¹⁸
• November. The school was completed at a cost of $35,000.¹⁹

Additional work will have to be done to learn about the Hagens/Fahrbach property and how it was used through the years. But what a fascinating look at all the changes that occurred in this small town in just one year, 1923. 

SOURCES:

1. The Utility Room in the Butch and Marie Fassbender Home, 23 May 2012. Gary and Susan Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
2. Foote Charles M., and W. S. Brown, Surveyors and Draughtsmen, Plat Book of Brown County Wisconsin: Drawn from actual Surveys and the County Records (1889; reprint, Minneapolis, Minnesota: C. M. Foote & Co., 1889), pp. 38-39, Plat of DePere, Holland, Duck Creek Station, Morrison; digital images, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Libraries Search (https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/VCDRPEN73HFJP83 : accessed 2 February 2020). ↩︎
3. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI120337 ↩︎
4. https://tapestry.fidlar.com/Tapestry2/Default.aspx. ↩︎
5. I am currently living in Rhode Island, so am unable to personally visit the Register of Deeds in Brown County. ↩︎
6. 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, population schedule, Holland Township, enumeration district (ED) 26, sheet 3 (penned), p. 142A (stamped), dwelling 47, family 48, Peter Hagens household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 November 1998); National Archives and Records Administration, 1910. T624, roll 1701. ↩︎
7. United States Selective Service System, “U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed 21 Sep 2025), Brown County, Wisconsin Registration, Draft Card H, Serial no. 583, (stamped) Order no. A2248 (stamped), Peter Paul Hagens; citing World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. ↩︎
8. 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, population schedule, Buchanan Township, enumeration district (ED) 201, sheet 3 (penned), p. 270B (stamped), dwelling 43, family 44, Peter Hagens household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 September 2025); National Archives and Records Administration, 1920. T625, roll 2008. ↩︎
9. Ena Fassbender, ca 1923. Camera looking east down what is now Holland Court. Butch and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
10. Sisters Crossing the Bridge over Plum Creek. Looking SW, ca 1923. Butch and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
11. “Holland,” The Evening Telegram, Superior, Wisconsin, 24-25 March 1923, Weekend Edition, Saturday, p. 7, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 January 2026). ↩︎
12. Vande Hey, Art, Betty Van Dehy, Dort Vande Wettering, Historians, St. Francis Catholic Church, Hollandtown, Wisconsin: Sesquicentennial, 1848-1998, Nancy Welhouse, Typesetter (Wisconsin: 1998), p. 77. ↩︎
13. L-R: Marianne Van Abel, Rosemary Fassbender, Anna Rita Fassbender, ca 1930. Butch and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
14. Rebuilding White Clover Dairy, 1922. Butch and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
15. Paving the Hollandtown to Wrightstown Road, 1923. Butch and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
16. “Commencement at Hollandtown,” The Kaukauna Times, 17 June 1923, Thursday, p. 2. ↩︎
17. “Hollandtown News,” Green Bay Press-Gazette, 24 September 1923, Monday Evening, p. 4, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 September 1923). ↩︎
18. “Hollandtown Pine Acreage Purchased,” Green Bay Press-Gazette, 22 November 1923, Thursday, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 January 2025). ↩︎
19. “Hollandtown,” The Capital Times, 15 November 1923, Thursday Afternoon, p. 16, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 September 2025). ↩︎