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Current Location of the Original Encampment Sites The locations of the encampment sites for the original Lipper colony are fairly easy to establish. It is well documented that the original Lippers lived along the steep banks of a river that ran through the land that they bought from land agents (ref 12). The only river that fits the description is the Sheboygan River that is just north of, what is today the village of Franklin, and just west of the present day Lakeland College. The area is in Section 20 of the Town of Herman in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. In the following image from the 1862 plat book of Sheboygan County, the village of Franklin is in the southwest corner of Section 20. Several names of the original Lipper families are seen as land owners along the river.
Larger image of the Town of Herman in 1862. Modern map of the Town of Herman and the surrounding area. Along this stretch of the Sheboygan River through Section 20, there are several places with steep banks that are consistent with the description for where the original Lippers encamped. There were 112 people in the Lipper colony. It is likely they were scattered in several groups along this mile or so stretch of the Sheboygan River. One such location for an encampment site is where the northwest corner of F. Reineking's land touches the Sheboygan River on the 1862 map. It is likely that the original Reineking family encamped at this location on the Sheboygan River. Much of the land along the east side of the Sheboygan River is covered by forest to this day. The Reineking land shown in the 1862 map is currently owned by Lakeland College and can be accessed by trails maintained by Lakeland College. The area immediately around this area is called the Grether Woods, and public access is allowed in this area. The following picture shows the steep bank along the Sheboygan River near the old Reineking land. A friendly Sheboygan County native gives some spatial perspective. The bank behind him is about 10 feet (3 meters) high.
The following is a wider view of the Sheboygan River looking north from the Reineking encampment site. The steep banks are on the right (east side of the river) at the line of trees.
Location of Friedrich Reineking's Original House Friedrich Reineking along with the other Lipper settlers was said to have built a wooden home along the steep banks of the Sheboygan River after the first winter. (ref 2 and ref 12) It is likely that the Reineking house was near the steep bank where the Reineking family encamped. Indeed, it was probably where the northwest corner of F. Reineking's land touches the Sheboygan River in the 1862 plat book. The land immediately above the steep bank at the Reineking land at the Sheboygan River is flat and there is a spring fed pond that is several hundred yards to the east of the proposed house location that can still be seen today. In short, the land just above steep bank on the Sheboygan River at the Reineking land as shown in the 1862 plat book is a highly likely location for the first house of the Lipper colony. Lipper Community Center Friedrich Reineking's home was the first one completed and it served as the community worship center for the Lipper colony for some years until a permanent church was built. Baptisms and weddings were said to have occurred at the Reineking house. (ref 2 and ref 12) In a situation where the Lipper Colony was scattered in several groups along the Sheboygan River and the Reineking house was the community center, one would expect a path to have been used by the community that ran along the river edge. Indeed, there is a path that runs exactly along the river above the steep bank through the woods that still remains today. The path is fairly narrow, but it is easily seen from the hiking paths in the Grether Woods. The following picture shows the path leading toward the village of Franklin from the old Reineking property. The steep banks of the Sheboygan River are on the right.
It is significant that the path crosses at least three different property lines in a continuous woods that existed for all the years from the time of the land deeds of the original Lippers to modern times. The path was probably not created in modern times as farm lanes rarely cross property lines so cleanly. So, even though tractors use the path in modern times, it was probably the case that modern mechanized vehicles adopted the path of the original Lipper colony. Indeed, it is likely that modern mechanized vehicles are responsible for keeping the original Lipper path alive. It is likely that the path that is seen today was the original path used by the original Lippers to visit each others homes and the community center at the Reineking home. Abandonment of the Original Reineking House The first home of the Lipper colony soon became obsolete. By 1862, the county had built roads that criss-crossed the Town of Herman. The site of the original home for the Reineking family was abandoned for a newer home about a half mile to the east that had easy access to the nearest newly built road. The site of the new home is seen in the 1862 map as a small black square on the east side of the property listed as F. Reineking. With the building of the new roads, the original house became an abandoned house on the very back of the original Reineking property. The house was probably torn down and the lumber salvaged for use elsewhere on the Reineking farm. As several generations have gone by, the stories of the original encampment sites, the first house in the Lipper colony along the Sheboygan River, and the community worship center were nearly forgotten amidst the tall marsh grass and stately hardwood trees. Location of the Original Lipper Colony |
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