Name/Title
Letter From Carol Noggle to James LairdDescription
Letter From Carol Noggle to James Laird July 22, 2001
Carol Noggle
12182 Seaford Court
Woodbridge VA 22192
22 July 2001
Mr. Jim Laird
Waupun Historical Society 400 S. Grove St
Waupun WI 53963
Dear Jim:
Earlier this month actually June my cousin Del Kentner and I visited on a Monday when you were in the museum. We were seeking information about our Ferguson ancestors, and you helped us tremendously. We very much appreciate the photos you had of the Ferguson, subsequently Rens, home.
We did some more searching and thought you would be interested in this. Jean Burk has copies of a small book, A Ferguson Album, edited by George Hargrave Crowell who lives in Menasha. David Ferguson, who built the home, is his great grandfather; David Ferguson is my great-great grandfather. I believe it would be easy to get a copy of the book for the museum from George and from Jean Burk, who has several copies from George.
Jean Burk also, apparently, has a stamp that my great-great grandfather brought from Scotland. As a descendant, I would love to have it, but it would be better in the museum. I have sent a letter to Jean Burk regarding this since she did not mention it when I visited her, but it is mentioned in the book.
I succeeded in finding some obituaries on microfilm at the Waupun library of David Ferguson and Drysdale Ferguson. Drysdale, who was mayor of Waupun in 1895, attended the Eastman Business School in Poughkeepsie, NY somewhere between 18651867 when my great-grandfather Benjamin Ryder Stouffer from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, also attended. When BR Stouffer visited his new friend Drysdale in Waupun, he met his bride-to-be Jessie Bell Ferguson, Drysdale's sister. David Ferguson invested in land in Nebraska where B R Stouffer and Jessie Bell went to live in 1876.
Drysdale's son, Daniel Nivison Ferguson, by the way, was an accomplished musician and musicologist at the University of Minnesota where the musical hall on campus is now named for him.
Also, I researched the bricks of the Ferguson home, and they are apparently Cream City brick from Milwaukee, very popular in the 1850s and 1860s.
Thus, I hope this information will help in making some additions to the museum. Sinerely,
Sincerely,
Carol Stouffer Noggle cnogg@home.comAcquisition
Accession
2009.0015Source or Donor
Laird, James CharlesAcquisition Method
Donation
