New Cassel or New Cassell, formerly Crouchville, was a village on the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the ...

in the northwestern corner of the

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Auburn in

Fond du Lac County Fond du Lac County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 104,154. Its county seat is Fond du Lac. The county was created in the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and later organized in 1844. Fond d ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It was eventually absorbed into

Campbellsport, Wisconsin Campbellsport is a village in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,907 at the 2020 census. It is situated in the rolling hills of the Northern Kettle Moraine in Southeastern Wisconsin and is located on State Highw ...

(the two had been called "The Twin Villages") after the latter was incorporated in 1902, and now constitutes the east end of that village. It was the first settlement in Auburn, having been founded by one Ludin Crouch, a schoolteacher from New York State. Crouch and a

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

companion named Weh-aug-wok-na had come up the Milwaukee River in February 1846 in search of a good site to build a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

for waterpower, and found it at this spot. Crouch and his brother-in-law John Howell returned in the spring and claimed land on each side of the river, in order to build a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. The dam was built; the new settlement was formally named Crouchville on July 4, 1846, and by fall Crouch's sawmill was in operation. It was the first in the region, and supplied demand as far away as Taycheedah. By 1856, having changed hands several times, it had fallen into disuse; one Emil Brayman purchased the site, and started to build a flour mill at that location. He got the village's name changed to New Cassel, after his homeland of

Hesse-Cassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon ...

, but never completed the flour mill. At that time, the local post office, previously called the Auburn post office, was moved to the New Cassel mill and given the same name as the village. By 1868, there was a hotel, a flour mill, three churches (

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and "Protestant or

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

"), three

general stores A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

, a tin shop, two

smithies Smithies may refer to: * Smithies (surname) * Smithies boiler, a type of steam boiler * Smithies Peak, a mountain in Tasmania, Australia *Smithies, South Yorkshire Smithies is an area of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It lies about two ...

, two

tailors A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

, two

carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters trad ...

, a

brick mason A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or stri ...

, a

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

, two

shoemakers Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

, a harnessmaker, two

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

, a

meat market A meat market is, traditionally, a marketplace where meat is sold, often by a butcher. It is a specialized wet market. The term is sometimes used to refer to a meat retail store or butcher's shop, in particular in North America. During the mid ...

, two

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francis ...

, a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

, a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...

shop and a physician. On April 28, 1874, Emma Franziska Höll (Sister Mary Alexia) and two other nuns arrived in New Cassel from Schwarzach, in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, to establish a new

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...

. They built a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in New Cassel, and would in subsequent years built other facilities in Wisconsin, including a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for

Chippewa Indians The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and throu ...

in Reserve, Wisconsin and what would eventually become the SSSF

motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. As late as the ''Wisconsin State Gazetteer, 1919-20'' it was listed as a separate settlement. The New Cassel post office was discontinued between 1923 and 1925.Holmes, Fred L., ed. ''The Wisconsin blue book, 1925'' Madison: Democrat Printing Company, State Printer, 1925; p. 714
/ref>

Notable people

* James Bamnnon, Wisconsin state legislator * Louis Eidemiller, Wisconsin state legislator and physician *The School Sisters of St. Francis, an order of teaching nuns founded and headquartered in New Cassel.

References

{{authority control Former populated places in Wisconsin Geography of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin