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Door County BiographiesExplore Door County's culture and history using the biographies included in this resource. Short essays about three Door County points of interest are also included.

Biographies 1 - Jessie Kalmbach Chase 2 - Mary and Increase Claflin 3 - Mertha Fulkerson 4 - Joseph Harris 5 - Ferdinand Hotz 6 - Reverend Andreas Iverson 7 - Chief Kahquados 8 - Gerhard Miller 9 - Chester Hjörtur Thordarson10 - Emma Toft11 - Madeline Tripp Tourtelot12 - Joseph Zettel

Points of Interest13 - Death's Door14 - Niagara Escarpment15 - Pottawatomie Lighthouse

Additional resources including interactive Door County maps and image galleries for each of biographies and essays can be found at WisconsinHometownStories.org. Be sure to select the "Door County" story.

WisconsinHometownStories.org | Door County Biographies

Jessie Kalmbach ChaseJessie Kalmbach Chase painted scenes of Door County and Wisconsin landscapes using oils and watercolors. This Baileys Harbor native was born on November 22, 1879 to Albert and Dora Kalmbach. She had two younger sisters and a younger brother. Kalmbach Chase moved to Madison after she married Wilfred Chase.

Kalmbach Chase studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. She then worked as a stained glass window designer at the Temple Art Glass Company in Chicago. This job allowed her to apply her passion for watercolor. She would paint images of how the stained glass windows and light passing through would appear before the window was made.

For her personal paintings, she first spent hours at a spot in nature to memorize and sketch the image. Kalmbach Chase would then paint the image in her studio. She said she was less tempted to copy nature in her studio. She also felt that she created a more natural painting when she painted from her memory and sketches. Painting inside kept her away from the bothersome mosquitoes she dreaded as well.

She was a member of many art organizations including the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors. Kalmbach Chase worked for the Works Projects Administration’s Public Works Art Project from 1933 to 1934. This was a Federal government program that gave artists jobs during the Great Depression.

Kalmbach Chase made murals for many places including Sturgeon Bay High School, the Bank of Sturgeon Bay, and the Madison Public Library. She also created cement frescos for Fort Atkinson’s Civics Building and Madison’s West High School. Cement frescos are made using a mixture of oil pigments and cement.

Her next art adventure was creating screen-print serigraphs during the 1950s and 1960s. She would push ink through a screen onto a fabric or another object to make these images.

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It did not matter to Kalmbach Chase if others knew who created her art. She did not sign many of her pieces because she said she knew who painted them. Other artists respected her work and requested her input and critique of their work. Door County artist Gerhard Miller recalled asking Kalmbach Chase to evaluate his paintings when he was a teenager. Some of her work is on display at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay.

Kalmbach Chase retired from painting when she moved to a nursing home in Green Bay during the 1960s. She died in October 1970, and is buried in Sturgeon Bay. She left behind a broad portfolio of artwork and her influence on other painters.


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Mary and Increase ClaflinMary and Increase Claflin are considered Door County’s first white settlers. Born on September 19, 1795 in Windham, New York, Increase was a soldier with an adventurous spirit. He served in the War of 1812, and then moved from Cleveland to New Orleans before moving to Kaukauna, Wisconsin. There, he worked as a fur trader.

Mary was born in 1801 in Boston, Massachusetts. She and Increase married in 1818 when she was just 17 years old. Together they had seven children named Sara, Adelia, Albert, Charles, Mary, Maria, and William. Little is known about Mary and her life.

On March 19, 1835, the Claflins left their home, traveling across the frozen bay of Green Bay toward the Door County Peninsula. The family went with all of their possessions in two sleighs. Their cattle and horses followed. They settled near present-day Little Sturgeon Bay, building a log cabin there. The Potawatomi and Menominee lived nearby.

The Claflins grew everything they needed to eat or use, and the peninsula provided game and fish to eat. According to others that knew the family, the Claflins moved there to raise horses and trade with the American Indians. The family and the American Indians got along very well because they treated each other fairly and generously.

In 1837, the Claflins' eldest daughter, Adelia, married Robert Stevenson. He did not treat the American Indians fairly like the Claflins. He often got the American Indians drunk from firewater (alcohol) and got them to sell him things for less than they were worth. The Claflins did not agree with this.

One day, Increase returned home to find a local tribe attacking his home. Several of his employees lay dead, and Stevenson was in a hand-to-hand fight with an American Indian. The American Indians told Increase that they were not upset with him and did not want to harm him or his family. They wanted to kill Stevenson for treating them unfairly. Increase tried to reason with them, but they would not yield.



Increase told the American Indians that he wanted to treat them as guest, offering them a something to drink. The men agreed, and Increase got a keg and a tin cup. When he began to pour, gunpowder came out, and Increase lit a match. With a bang, the cup disappeared.

This frightened the American Indians, and they asked Increase what he was going to do. Increase demanded they make peace with him and his family or he would blow everyone up. The American Indians hesitantly agreed. Two giant elms mark where the event took place.

In 1844, the Claflins moved about 30 miles north to present-day Fish Creek. They left their Sturgeon Bay homestead to the Stevensons. There, Increase fished and trapped. He supposedly named many of the locations on the Door County Peninsula. For example, he’s said to have named Horseshoe Bay because that is where one of his horses is said to have lost its shoe.

Increase died on March 27, 1868. Mary later died on September 7, 1873. A memorial now stands in Sturgeon Bay recognizing Increase as the first pioneer.


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Mertha FulkersonFor almost 35 years, Mertha Fulkerson was the backbone of The Clearing, an education center in Ellison Bay, Wisconsin.

Fulkerson was born to Edwin and Bertha Fulkerson in La Paz, Indiana, in 1906. The family later moved to Highland Park in 1917. There she met Jens Jensen, a well-known landscape architect and conservationist. Jensen hired Fulkerson as his secretary in 1924, a job she would have for the rest of Jensen’s life.

After Jensen’s wife died, he moved to Ellison Bay to begin The Clearing, which opened in 1935. His goal for this school was to train landscape architects and provide a place that people could go to learn and reconnect with the earth. It was also a place for people to reassess their lives and clear their minds. Jensen asked Fulkerson to join him in Ellison Bay, but she initially declined. After some thought, she decided to go.

Jensen died in 1951, and The Clearing faced closing due to lack of funds. People came to The Clearing to see Jensen. So once he died, fewer people came. Fulkerson refused to let The Clearing shut down. She and The Clearing’s Board Members sought different ways to draw people to their school.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation began operating The Clearing in 1953, providing essential funding for the school. The Farm Bureau hired Fulkerson as The Clearing’s resident manager, a title she held for 16 years. During this time, Fulkerson also wrote curriculum to be used at The Clearing for arts, fine crafts, humanities, and natural sciences.

Fulkerson retired in 1969, and moved to Green Bay to live with her sister. In 1971, Fulkerson died. After her death, a book she authored called “The Story of the Clearing: A Door County Legend” was published in 1972. The curriculum she wrote for The Clearing is still being used to this day.


Joseph HarrisJoseph Harris was a driving force in building the canal in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He was born in London, England, in 1813. Harris married Charlotte Singleton. Together they had five children.

Harris sailed with his family to New York in 1849. The family made their way to Door County in 1855, settling near Otumba, which is now known as Sturgeon Bay. He worked in real estate.

Soon after arriving in the county, Harris walked to Fish Creek because there were no roads north of Otumba at the time. Harris attended the first meeting of the Door County Board of Supervisors and was elected the board’s first secretary. He and his travel companion decided to sail home after the meeting, but they met a storm. Their boat was sent in the wrong direction. The next morning, they discovered they landed near Escanaba, Michigan.

After his wife died, Harris married Susan Perkins from New York in 1859. The couple had five children.

In 1861, Harris and Myron H. McCord began a newspaper called the Door County Advocate. Harris was the editor. His sons Joseph and Harry later operated the paper.

Harris held many political offices, including Door County’s register of deeds, the county treasurer, and the first county clerk. He was also elected to the Wisconsin State Senate from 1864-1865.

Getting a canal built in Sturgeon Bay was one of Harris’ goals. The community once tried to build a canal in the 1830s, but they were unable to secure the funding. When they learned that Harris wanted to get the project going again, they were doubtful that his plan would work.



In 1865, Harris traveled to Washington, D.C. He wanted to get a grant for 200,000 acres of land from the government that the canal company could sell to earn money for building the canal. He argued that a canal was needed because the peninsula was a “howling wilderness” without trails north of Sturgeon Bay. He also described how it was not efficient or economical to travel by boat from one end of the county to the other. Harris felt that the canal would not only support the county’s lumber industry, but also the communities in Northeast Wisconsin that relied on ships to transport their goods. Merchandise would be received much faster if there was a canal.

Harris failed to secure the grant, but the next year he tried again and was successful. He thought the canal construction could begin, but the canal company found that the money from the sale of the 200,000 acres was not enough to build the canal. Harris returned to Washington, D.C., to lobby for more land and funds. It was not until the 1870s that Congress gave him the additional funds.

The first shovelfuls of soil were removed for the canal on July 8, 1872. This marked the beginning of a project that would take another 12 years to complete. The first water traveled through the canal in 1877, and the first ship passed through in 1881. After it was complete, the project cost about $300,000.

Harris died in January 1889. In his obituary, the canal project was called his life’s work. Many thought it could not be accomplished, but with Harris’ perseverance, the canal was completed.


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Ferdinand HotzFerdinand Hotz once owned over 1,400 acres around the Fish Creek and Newport areas in Wisconsin, making him the largest landowner in the county at the time. A skilled businessman and artist, Hotz bought much of his land because he enjoyed forests, hiking, and connecting to nature.

Hotz was born in Germany on March 14, 1868 to Phillip and Maria Sophia Hotz. He was the second of the family’s six children. Hotz’s father died when he was just 9 years old. Ferdinand Hotz became highly educated after studying at Wertheim Gymnasium and studying business at Realgymnasium. Hotz immigrated to the United States (U.S.) at age 16, escaping military duty.

In 1884, Hotz began working as a jeweler at Juergens and Andersen & Company in Chicago. There he became skilled in designing fine jewelry. He traveled with his cousin to California in 1887 to work as a lumberjack and a cage elevator operator. Later, the pair went to San Jose and San Francisco where Hotz joined another jewelry business.

Hotz returned to Chicago in 1892 to begin his own jewelry business. He was a skilled salesman, and he became one of the best-known fine jewelers in the U.S.

On May 14, 1898, Hotz married Clothilde Katerine Babette Schmidt. Together they had four children named Alice, Helen, Ferdinand, and Margaret. Hotz was a stoic man without much of a sense of humor. His grandchildren described how he felt they should be seen and not heard. Hotz was a tall, thin man that was formal in nature, always wearing a suit, tie, and hat. He also was known for speaking with perfect English.

Hotz had a great appreciation for nature. He hired Jens Jensen to help design the gardens around his home. Jensen was a well-known landscape architect who also sought to preserve



nature.In the evening, Hotz took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute. He studied oil and watercolor painting. Hotz also learned about painting portraits and figures. He became very skilled and painted landscapes and the lifestyle of Door County and Chicago.

During a business trip in 1905 to Marinette, Wisconsin, Hotz found himself with some extra time. So he sailed to Fish Creek in Door County. This would mark the beginning of many trips he and his family would take to the county.

In 1911, Hotz began buying property in Door County, including the Gibraltar Orchard and land near Fish Creek. He planted cherry and apple trees in the orchard that May, along with a large vineyard in Juddville. Hotz also began building cottages in the area.

Four years later, he bought land near Newport and Europe Lake, which included 10 miles of shoreline. Hotz left much of this land undisturbed as his philosophy about nature was to leave all living things in their place. When the stock market crashed in 1929, Hotz lost a great deal of money, but he was able to retain his land.

Hotz enjoyed spending time in Door County, photographing much of the region he adored. The photo’s negatives were later donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society. His wife died April 1941, and Hotz married Erna Steck in August of the next year.

On December 28, 1946, Hotz died from a heart attack. His family scattered his ashes over Europe Lake. He left an estate worth an estimated $439,319, or approximately $4.8 million today. His son continued his jewelry business until he retired in 1984.

After his death, Hotz’s land near Fish Creek was divided amongst his children. The land near Newport was sold to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in two purchases in 1967 and 1978. The Hotz family did not want this land developed and wanted to preserve it in its natural state. This land is now Newport State Park.


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Reverend Andreas IversonMany communities emerged on the Door County Peninsula during the 1800s. One of the first was Ephraim, Wisconsin, a small town that sits on the west side of the county. Ephraim was founded in 1853 by Reverend Andreas Iverson and a small group of his church members.

Iverson was born on December 27, 1823 in Oddernes, Norway. When he was a young man, he trained to become a minister at the Norwegian Mission Society. Afterward, he immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and founded a Moravian congregation. Like Iverson, many of the church’s members were Scandinavian. They yearned to leave the city to find land they could farm.

Iverson led them north to Green Bay, Wisconsin. There they stayed for a short while before a small group, again led by Iverson, headed further north in 1853 over the frozen bay of Green Bay to an unsettled area of wilderness. The settlers would later name this area Ephraim, which means "doubly fruitful."

To purchase the 425 acres of untamed land for the community, Iverson received a $500 loan from a pastor who lived in Pennsylvania. Iverson created a map for Ephraim, marking where the roads would be and creating lots for houses and farms. The lots in town were 1 ½ acres in size and cost $4 each. The farms were 10 acres. Settlers could purchase one or more lots.

Before the setters could build their homes, they lived in shanties while they cleared the land for the town. Soon, building began, and the townspeople built Iverson’s home in 1854. Church services and classes were held there until the church opened on December 18, 1859. This was the first church on the Door County Peninsula.

The bitter cold winters were harsh on the settlers, so it took several years before Ephraim grew and flourished with lumber companies and farms. When crops failed, the settlers relied on the waters of Green Bay to provide fish to eat. Ephraim was established as a Moravian religious community, and religion was very important in the lives of the people that lived there.



In 1864, Iverson’s congregation asked him to leave so that he could help establish other communities. He was distraught at this news: “Never can I express my feelings as I tarried a few hours in my home, now to be given up forever … I burst into tears and in bitter sorrow called out a last farewell.”

On January 16, 1907, Iverson died in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where he is buried. After his departure, the church was moved from the shore to a hill, where it resides today. His home still remains in Ephraim and is preserved as a museum. Today, Ephraim is known for its views of Eagle Harbor and the bluffs of Green Bay, and its charming white buildings, all made possible because Iverson and his congregation crossed the frozen bay of Green Bay and took a chance on an unsettled area of wilderness.


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Chief KahquadosThe Potawatomi were already living in the area now known as Wisconsin when the first Europeans arrived in 1634. The last Potawatomi chief living in Wisconsin died on November 27, 1930. His name was Chief Simon Onanguisse Kahquados.

Kahquados was born on May 18, 1851 near Mishicot, Wisconsin. His ancestors were the longtime rulers in Door, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc counties. One of his grandfathers, Chief Onanguisse, reportedly saved French explorer Robert La Salle’s life when he found La Salle starving to death in the woods.

When he was 5 years old, Kahquados’ father, Onenningahsong, died. The little boy’s paternal grandfather then raised him. Kahquados worked as a timber cruiser for a lumber company when he was 18 years old, and he later became a land surveyor. People described Kahquados as very intelligent and a great speaker. He taught himself to write in English, and he was a very popular guest during historic gatherings.

Kahquados wanted others to know and remember the Potawatomi’s history. The tribe once had villages near the towns of Kewaunee, Two Rivers, Algoma, Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island. In 1831, the Menominee signed a treaty with the U.S. government ceding 3 million acres. This land bordered Green Bay, Lake Winnebago, Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. The Potawatomi, not the Menominee, actually claimed much of this land, and they lost their land without any compensation. Kahquados traveled to Washington, D.C., on behalf of his people in attempts to get the Potawatomi’s land back.

Kahquados died while living in poverty near Blackwell in Forest County. The community he lived in was described as having “tar-paper shacks, one-room huts with sagging frames and dirt floors.”

After his death, Kahquados was buried in Peninsula State Park on Memorial Day 1931 at the base of a memorial totem pole. Community members living near Ephraim built this monument in Peninsula State Park to honor the Potawatomi. A large boulder with a bronze tablet fixed to it was placed to mark his grave. More than 15,000 people attended his burial.


Gerhard MillerA lifelong resident of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Gerhard Miller was a talented painter known as the “Dean of the Door County Painters.” He was born on April 12, 1903 to Adolph and Molly Miller.

Miller lost the ability to walk due to polio at age 11. His grandmother taught him to crochet to give him something to do while he recovered from the disease. He soon grew tired of the craft and began drawing and painting.

Adolph was determined to have his son walk again. He would place Miller on the floor every day before he left for work, telling his wife that their son must learn to turn over on his own. The family saved more than $8,000 so that Molly and their son could go to St. Louis for treatment for six months in hopes he would walk again. Gerhard regained the ability to walk after many surgeries and hours of physical therapy.

Miller found himself two years behind his peers after he recovered from polio and treatments. He discovered that he could no longer keep up with his friends and their games. He turned to drawing as his escape.

Miller was supposed to take over his father’s clothing business called The Men’s Clothing Store. So he attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison for business administration. He had to drop out and returned to Sturgeon Bay during his junior year when his father became gravely ill in 1927. Miller had a passion for art. But he now took on his duty to run the family business full-time.

In 1929, Miller married Edna. The couple had two children named David and Margaret. Miller did not abandon his passion for art. He followed a routine of painting for an hour in the morning, going to work, and painting a half hour at noon. He then painted for a few hours in the evening after work.



He was known for his realism and imaginative realism styles of painting. Miller often used oil to paint when he first began the craft, but he switched to watercolor in 1939. He later changed to egg tempura in the 1960s.

Many of Miller’s paintings were set in nature. He never painted on site because he said an artist can get overwhelmed with detail. He usually drew a sketch at the scene, and then created a final drawing and painting in his studio. He also did not paint during the summer as he said nature was too overloaded with detail.

Miller sold his paintings. He used the money to cover his art supplies and for family trips. He never used money he earned from his clothing business for his travel. He traveled to more than 44 countries during his life throughout Europe, the Middle East, and South America. He enjoyed visiting museums and castles on his trips. He used them for inspiration in his work.

Edna died in 1956. Miller then married Ruth Norton in 1957. She was an interior decorator from Milwaukee. Ruth was formally trained in art, and she was also a writer. She wrote a biography about Gerhard titled “Gerhard Miller: His life, Painting, Philosophy, and Poetry.” Gerhard was an author as well, having written a book of poems in 1944 titled “Residue.” Gerhard and Ruth wrote several books together including “A Spiritual Guide to the Scientific 21st Century.”

The couple earned a fellowship in California in 1965. Ruth studied writing, and Gerhard studied painting. This would be the first formal art education for 60-year-old Gerhard. He regularly taught classes at the Sturgeon Bay branch of the Door County Library, The Clearing, and the Peninsula Art Association. This earned him the title “The Dean of the Door Peninsula Painters.”

The Millers opened an art gallery in their home in 1958. They transferred the ownership of a building to the Library Board in 1967 in hopes that the sale of the building would provide money for an art gallery as part of the Sturgeon Bay Library. The building sold for almost $55,000, and the community donated more than $600,000 for the gallery. The Miller Art Center opened in January 1975. It is now called the Miller Art Museum. The center focuses on cultural programming and collecting art for Door County.

Miller painted until a few weeks before his 100th birthday when a stroke claimed his eyesight. He died on August 16, 2003. His work was exhibited around the United States during his life, including New York and Milwaukee. Much of his work can be found in the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay.


Gerhard Miller Biography continued

Chester Hjörtur ThordarsonOff the tip of the Door County Peninsula lies Rock Island. This island is approximately 1.6 miles long and 1.1 miles wide. It was once owned almost in its entirety by Chester Hjörtur Thordarson, an inventor with a deep passion for learning, books, and nature.

While he was later known as Chester, Thordarson was actually born Hjörtur Thordarson in northern Iceland on May 12, 1867. There he lived with his parents (Thordur Arnason and Gudrun Grimsdottir), his sisters (Gudrun and Ingibjorg), and his brothers (Grimnr and Arni). Hjörtur was the second youngest of the five children. Between 1870 and 1914, more than 16,000 Icelanders emigrated from Iceland to the United States and Canada, settling around Manitoba, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakota Territories.

In July 1873, the family immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the family came a box filled with books. Books were very important to Thordur, a passion he passed on to his son. Thordur died several months after the family moved to Wisconsin.

Being the eldest son, Grimnr was now the head of the family. He moved them to Windsor, Wisconsin, so that they could be near people who spoke a similar language and other people from Iceland. At school, Thordarson’s teacher encouraged him to take Chester as his new name because it was easier for others to say and spell. Thordarson did not really like this new name, and when he was older, he rarely used it. He often had others call him C.H. Thordarson or simply Mr. Thordarson.

Thordarson excelled at school. His teacher, Annie Marston, wrote: “for even at that early age, I saw signs of genius which I felt would develop later on.” After three years in Windsor, the family moved to a farm in Shawano County. This move marked the end of Thordarson’s schooling for many years.



The family lived on the farm for three years before moving near Gardar, North Dakota, with several other Icelandic families. Train rides were expensive in the late 1800s. So the women and young boys went by rail while 13-year-old Thordarson and his older brother traveled in a wagon train, a trip that took two months. Thordarson and his brother were responsible for transporting the family’s household goods, farm tools, and livestock.

Thordarson was not able to go to school in North Dakota. Instead, he helped raise turkeys, which he sold for $0.50 each. In his spare time, he enjoyed collecting and classifying grasses and plants.

In 1885, Thordarson moved from North Dakota to Chicago to join his sister Gudrun. Knowing the importance of education, he enrolled in fourth grade at the age of 18. He completed fourth through seventh grade in two years. During this time, he developed an interest in electricity and science.

Thordarson began working for the Chicago Edison Company in 1887. There, he earned $4 per week. He spent three of his dollars on rent for a room and meals. The last dollar he dedicated to buying books.

On December 31, 1887, Thordarson married Juliana Fridriksdottir. Three years later, their son Duí was born, and their son Tryggvi followed in 1903. Thordarson founded the Thordarson Electric Manufacturing Company in Chicago in 1895. This company produces electrical transformers, and is now called Thordarson Meissner, Inc. Thordarson experimented a lot with electricity and how it is transformed. He even won the gold medal at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis for creating the first half-million-volt transformer. Eleven years later, he would create a million-volt transformer.

Thordarson’s wife had family on Rock Island, Wisconsin. Beginning in 1910, Thordarson began purchasing property there. Soon he had over 775 acres, which was almost the entire island. He still called Chicago his permanent home, but Rock Island became his vacation retreat. Thordarson stayed in a house he restored on the island. In 1924, he cleared 30 acres on the island and began building new structures including a wall and a lookout tower. Thordarson also built a boat house, but he did not build it for his boats. The building was for his beloved rare book collection.


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From a young age, Thordarson had an interest in plants. He did research with plants and grew various species, including some from Iceland. Thordarson also treated the island as a nature preserve to keep some of its natural beauty.

In 1944, Thordarson became gravely ill. He died on January 6, 1945 from heart failure. During his lifetime, he had over 100 inventions, including electrical transformers, car parts, and a gas turbine. After his death, he sold his rare book collection to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for $270,000. It is estimated that the books were worth over $1,000,000 in 1945.

The State of Wisconsin bought Rock Island from Thordarson’s family and made it into a state park. The buildings Thordarson built were also added to the National Register of Historic Places. Thordarson’s ashes are buried on the island he so deeply loved.

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Emma ToftEmma Toft, “Wisconsin’s First Lady of Conservation,” was born on February 9, 1891 near Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. Emma was the seventh of Julie Anne and Thomas Toft’s eight children. Her parents taught her about the trees and wildlife. She gained an appreciation for nature and retained that appreciation throughout her life.

Hard work did not scare Toft. She helped on her family’s farm and walked 2 ½ miles to school. Toft enjoyed exploring nature. She and her older brothers hiked around the 325 acres of woods her family owned, which they named Toft Point. Her brothers let her join the adventure as long as she did not complain about the trip.

Toft earned $32 per month teaching at Rowleys Bay when she was 18 years old. She eventually taught school in Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota. She used her earnings to attend nursing school in Chicago. But she had to return home after only a few months of nursing school to help her mother care for her sick father. He died in 1919.

The Toft family opened a summer resort at Toft Point to earn money to support the family. Emma helped with milking cows, growing vegetables, and preparing meals. The resort never had running water or flushing toilets. Electricity was installed in 1949. The resort remained open for more than 50 years.

Toft earned the nickname “Wisconsin’s First Lady of Conservation” from her dedication to protecting the land, plants and animals. She lived alone, but said she never felt lonely because the animals and plants were her friends. She was known to march through the woods to keep hunters off her land. She also stopped developers from changing Toft Point into an expensive resort. Instead, she helped preserve Toft Point so that it would remain the same natural area that it had always been.



The Door County Park Board once gave permission for The Ridges — a piece of preserved land where rare orchids grew and many animals lived — to be tuned into a trailer park. Toft teamed up with her friend Jens Jensen and other conservationists to save this land.

Emma Toft protected the land and taught others about it. This tall woman in blue jeans often guided visitors such as campers and school children through her forests. She died on February 14, 1982, but her passion for nature and conservation lives on.

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Madeline Tripp TourtelotMadeline Tripp Tourtelot found success around every corner during her life. Not only was she an accomplished painter, but also a sculptor, weaver, jeweler, photographer, and filmmaker. She founded two art schools in Door County as well.

She was born on November 21, 1915 in Alameda, California. Her birth name was Madeline Hanson. Tripp Tourtelot’s parents divorced shortly after her birth. She and her older sister, Lois, went to live with her father’s sister and her husband, Madeline and Chester Tripp. The couple later adopted the two sisters.

The Tripp family lived in Evanston, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Tripp were art enthusiasts. They regularly took trips to Chicago’s museums and galleries, giving young Tripp Tourtelot an early exposure to the arts. The Tripps later allowed Madeline to study in France to pursue her interest in art.

Tripp Tourtelot’s growth in the arts continued during the family’s regular trips to their summer home in Ephraim, Wisconsin. There, she studied painting on the porch of what is now The White Gull Inn in Fish Creek with the award-winning artist Vladimir Rousseff.

Tripp Tourtelot embraced education. She attended Smith College before studying journalism and Spanish at Northwestern University. She also took classes at The Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of Design.

At 19 years old, Tripp Tourtelot married an architect named Edward Tourtelot. The couple had a son named Edward Jr. in 1936. Two years later, they welcomed a daughter, Joan.

Tripp Tourtelot had a very diverse art career. Notably, some of her paintings were on display and later purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago. She also worked as an art critic for a newspaper during the 1950s.



As a filmmaker, Tripp Tourtelot pushed the boundaries as she strived to have film be seen as an art form and not just for entertainment. Her passion for film began in 1947 when she was in Mexico painting, and a film crew invited her to watch them produce their movie.

She directed at least nine films during the 1950s. They varied in subject and style from a documentary about Mexico’s indigenous people to a dance interpretation of a poem. Her film called "The Poet’s Return" took place in Door County. In addition to directing the films, she also wrote the scripts, edited the film, and sometimes wrote the music. "Windsong" was the only film in which she acted.

Tripp Tourtelot wanted to provide others with the opportunity to study and experience art. She founded the Ephraim Art School in 1943, which had summer classes until 1949. She also founded the Door Harbor School of Art in Fish Creek in 1965. Now called the Peninsula School of Art, this center began in the basement of Gibraltar High School. Her goal for the school was to provide art instruction and help others discover how art enriches lives. She was the school’s director until 1971.

In 1984, Tripp Tourtelot suffered a debilitating stroke. She later died on May 26, 2002. People remember her for her profound art abilities, love of life, and imaginative spirit.


Madeline Tripp Tourtelot Biography continued

Joseph ZettelJoseph Zettel introduced fruit growing to Door County. He was born in Switzerland on November 26, 1832 to Joseph and Mary Zettel. After a 53-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Zettel arrived in the United States at the age of 19.

On July 28, 1861, he married Christina Lorch, a native of Germany. The couple had 11 children named Christina, Philip, Joseph, Alfred, Henry, Jacob, Julius, Catherine, Louise, Mina and Lillie.

Zettel worked in railroad construction and on farms before he moved to Door County in 1855. Later that year, he moved to Green Bay, working in sawmills and lime kilns. In 1857, Zettel began clearing land he had purchased near Sevastopol. He bought this land out of a plat book without seeing it. Zettel converted the land into a small farm, which he sold.

Zettel returned to working in the sawmills before buying another tract of land for a farm. He planted apple, pear and other fruit trees. Zettel took a scientific approach to growing his orchards. He learned that the climate on the Door County peninsula was favorable for orchards. The area's late spring reduced the chance of frost damage to the fruit tree blossoms.

Zettel’s 45-acre orchard was the largest in the area, and it produced a bounty of fruit. In 1892, his farm averaged about 3,000 bushels of apples annually. In 1893, he entered more than 20 varieties of apples in the Chicago World’s Fair, claiming several prizes.

On March 10, 1904, Zettel died. Fruit growing in Door County is now an important industry. Forty acres of his land is now known as The Farm, an agricultural and cultural education center.


Death's DoorDeath’s Door is a strait that links the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. It is located between the northern tip of the Door County Peninsula and Plum Island and Pilot Island. The strait’s name comes from its French name, Porte des Morts. In English, this means “door of the dead.” Door County's name comes from the name of the strait.

There are different beliefs about how the strait got its name. Some say it traces back to a battle between two American Indian tribes. A wave supposedly swept away many of the warriors as they crossed Death's Door on their way to attack the other tribe. Others believe this is a legend that French fur traders spread to deter others from fur trapping in the area.

Death’s Door has a reputation for being a destroyer of ships. The mixing of waters from Green Bay and Lake Michigan causes strong currents, making boat travel dangerous. Some boat captains ignored the risk because Death's Door was a shortcut. Many ships have gone down in the strait’s waters over the years, including many American Indians' boats. Early French explorer Robert La Salle’s ship, the Griffon, supposedly sank in September 1679 near Death’s Door. The ship’s exact location is not known. The ship was supposedly filled with furs.

Numerous other ships sank in Death’s Door. The Fleetwing went down in September 1888 while it was hauling a load of lumber from Green Bay to Chicago. The Forest sank in 1891, and both the A.P. Nichols and the J.E. Gilmore plummeted to the bottom of Death’s Door in 1892.

The Louisiana left Ohio with a load of coal, dropping its cargo off in Milwaukee. It next headed for Escanaba, Michigan, to retrieve a cargo of iron ore. The ship entered Death’s Door at midnight on November 1913. The Louisiana met a storm containing 70-mile-per-hour gusts. The ship’s crew had to abandon the ship when it got caught on rocks and the cargo began to burn. The crew made it to safety, but the Louisiana now rests in Washington Harbor.

Much lore surrounds the infamous Death’s Door, making it a tourist attraction. Divers enjoy adventuring to the strait’s bottom in search of the sunken ships.


Niagara EscarpmentThe Niagara Escarpment stretches nearly 1,000 miles in an arc from Wisconsin to New York. An escarpment is a made from sloping layers of dolomite rock that can break off, leaving steep slopes or cliffs.

The 250-mile section of Niagara Escarpment in Wisconsin is sometimes called “The Ledge.” It is located in eastern Wisconsin. A few traces of it are first seen in Waukesha County. It then stretches north through Door County where it is more visible.

The escarpment formed during the last ice age. A one- to two-mile thick glacier was traveling in the area that is now known as the Door County Peninsula. The glacier hit layers of the escarpment's dolomite, which is resistant to erosion. The escarpment caused the glacier to split and carve out Lake Michigan, Lake Winnebago, and Green Bay.

The true escarpment is on Door County’s west side. That is where the steep cliffs are located and dolomite towers about 250 feet high in places. At the base of the escarpment are large chunks of stone that form talus, or a slope of fallen rock. The land then slopes gently to the east towards Lake Michigan. This is called a dip-slope.

Early American Indians used the Niagara Escarpment for sacred purposes like burials and ceremonies. European settlers used its stone for foundations for homes, barns, businesses, and churches. They also burned the dolomite in lime kilns to produce lime powder that they would use for paint and mortar.

The Niagara Escarpment is a treasured part of Wisconsin’s rich landscape. On it live 241 rare or endangered plants and animals including rare orchids and the Hine’s emerald dragonfly. The state legislature named 2010 the Year of the Niagara Escarpment to promote education and awareness of the landscape feature.


Pottawatomie LighthousePottawatomie Lighthouse is the oldest light station in Wisconsin and on Lake Michigan. It is also known as Rock Island Lighthouse. Pottawatomie Lighthouse is located at the top of a steep cliff on the north side of Rock Island. Originally, it used 11 oil lamps and reflectors to send a beacon of light across the water to help ships navigate between Rock Island and St. Martins Island.

Boat traffic between the eastern Great Lakes Region and Green Bay increased when the Erie Canal opened in 1825. Narrow passages and strong storms made it dangerous for ships to travel around Rock Island. Thirty merchants from Detroit petitioned Congress to build a lighthouse on Rock Island to assist ships as they traveled through the area. Money was set aside for the project in 1834.

Construction began in 1836, and the lighthouse was lit the next year. David Corbin was hired as the first light keeper at Pottawatomie Lighthouse. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a former fur trader. Corbin had to carry all of his supplies, including drinking water, down a one-mile road that he built. He lived at the lighthouse with his dog and his horse. Corbin was supposedly given a 22-day leave to visit the Wisconsin mainland to find a wife. He came back unsuccessful. Corbin died in 1852, and he was buried on the island.

The original lighthouse had to be demolished because the wrong mortar was used, causing the building to become damaged. A new two-story lighthouse was built in 1858. Light keepers continued to operate the lighthouse until the United States Coast Guard took over in the 1940s.

After a battery-powered light was installed in 1946, a light keeper was no longer needed. Solar panels were then installed in 1986 to power the light. A steel tower was built two years later to display the guiding light for the ships and Pottawatomie Lighthouse ceased operation.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. People can now tour the historic site.


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