Ogema

1872

The first settlement in Price County was a railroad station called "Section 89" and later called Corney by the early settlers. It was located on the Little Jump River. In 1872, the railroad commissioned Dennis McGuire to run a boarding camp at the station for the men who were working on building the railroad. This made Mr. McGuire the first settler to the area. Erne Martin was the next person known to settle here.

1874

It was an area similar to the rest of the county, covered in dense forest. But the timber soon gave way to farm lands. In July of 1874, B. M. Holmes was the next settler to arrive. He clear-cut the abundant timber, built a lumber yard, saw mill, store and a home.

The next settlers to the area were:

K. A. Ostergren was a Baptist minister who arrived in 1874. He held religious services in Swedish. The Wisconsin Central Railroad appointed him as an emigrant agent in 1878 and then commissioned the Reverend to establish a Swedish settlement near the station stop. Reverend Ostergren's attempts to sway Swedish immigrants to settle here included two trips to Sweden, and trips to both Boston and Rhode Island.

1878

A result of the Reverend's efforts was the arrival of the following folks to the area:

The Wisconsin Central Railroad platted the area in April 1878 and several people made suggestions to name the new village.  One person wanted to name it "Holmes"; another person suggested "Deadham" as that was the name of the next stop on the railroad that was in the process of being abandoned by the railroad. Yet another suggested naming the village "McGuire". It seemed no one could agree on what to name their new village until one day when an old Indian Chief happened to visit the settlement. The villagers agreed to name their village Ogema, after the Chief.

It was a difficult area to live in and even more difficult for the early settlers to progress with their entrepreneurial endeavors. Supplies came by train because the roads in and out of the village were non-existent except for the paths that wound through the woods from one settlement to the another.

Despite the remoteness, the first general mercantile store in Ogema was established by A. R. Carlson providing much needed provisions to the village's residents. A second store was built, in 1878, by M. M. Byrnes from Medford.

The first school was established in 1878 also and it's first teacher was Miss Nina Ripley.

1879

The post office was established in 1879 and a Mr. M. J. Burns was the first postmaster.

1880

By 1880 there were about 100 families living in and around the Village of Ogema and people continued moving to the area. Buildings were erected and roads began to be built.

1881

A Lutheran church was established in the village in 1881 with the Reverend J. Julin serving as the minister.

1888

By 1888 the population had expanded to over 300 people. Most of the families were Swedish-speaking immigrants enticed to the area by Reverend Ostergren. With the increase in population, it was necessary to establish a secondary school to accommodate all the children. The Ogema High School was thus founded with it's first principle being Julian W. West.

1890

This was one of Ogema's resident's, Emil Boman, walking with his ox in the Village of Ogema around 1890

Postcard photos contributed by Jean Bonharn and Janet Gabert.

The Village of Ogema continued to grow. If you have information about Ogema that you would like to contribute, please contact the County Coordinater.

Still Under Construction