Contributed by Dave Cisler
Transcribed by  Cathe Ziereis
Written by Bruce Paulson and posted with his permission.

THE NORTH STAR HOTEL IN BREED, OPERATED BY THE FLYNN FAMILY, WAS THE SCENE OF MANY A BARROOM BRAWL

The tiny village of Breed played an important part in the county’s logging industry. Breed’s history begins with the birth of Mary Johnson Hamberg, the first white child to be born there, her birth-taking place in a log cabin farm home just east of the present Union cemetery. Her father donated the cemetery land to the community.

Breed got it’s name from a family of New Englander’s, Arthur, Edward and George Breed, who cleared much of the land in the area.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

JUNE 25, 1903 - WEDDING OF JOHNAS HAMBURG AND MARY JOHNSON

The aforementioned Mary Johnson Hamberg and her mother instituted a Memorial Day celebration in 1896 that remained a tradition in Breed for a long time. It included services at the cemetery where her father, a Civil War veteran, was buried. School children would be given flags and the whole party would proceed to the Hamberg home for a community picnic.

Peter Linquist was one of the early lumber barons to settle in Breed in the early 1890’s. In 1892 his first log home was destroyed in a forest fire. A year latter a second home was burned and the family sought protection from the flames in the waters of the South Branch of the Oconto River. Linquist re-built again, this time a larger frame house that survived until last year when it was torn down and replaced by a mobile home.
 

PETER LUNQUIST'S HOME IN BREED WAS A SOCIAL CENTER IN THE EARLY DAYS.

In 1915, the Linquist’s left Breed, as did many others after the timber began disappearing, and moved to Shawano.

The railroad which runs through Breed once hauled great quantities of lumber, but trucks have ended this part of Wisconsin’s railroad history. 

The North Star hotel and tavern was the center of the town then, and still is today. It is now owned by Jim Flynn. The tavern was once owned by William Flynn, Sr. was the sight of many bar room brawl between lumberjacks and sometimes, the Menominee Indian’s. It was not unusual to find dead Indians on Breed’s street at the turn of the century.

August Kuehl built a general store in 1899 to capture some of the Indian trade. John Ponsegrau is the present owner of the store. The building today appears much the same as it did at the turn of the century.
 

ROLLING OUT THE BARREL IN BREED WAS OFTEN THE INVITATION TO TROUBLE

KUEHL'S STORE, BUILT IN 1889, STILL STANDS TODAY (1971), AND IS OWNED BY JOHN PONSEGRAU