John Bacon (1922–2005) was a native and lifelong resident of Owen, Wisconsin. A carpenter, stone mason, and building contractor, he learned his trades from his father, Chris Bacon. A 1940 graduate of Owen High School, John also served in World War II as a radio operator aboard B-24 and B-29 bombers flying reconnaissance missions off the Florida coast. After the war, he returned home and became a respected businessman and community leader.
John served many years on the Owen City Council, was Mayor of Owen, and served as president of the Owen-Curtiss State Bank.
He was a peer of many Owen business and civic leaders from the 1940s through the 1990s, including Lew Bulgrin, Celand Melbinger, Hank Mauel, Earl Kidd, Norby Pabich, Harvey Weddig, James Barager, Ray Conzemius, and others.
I never had the pleasure of knowing John in person. As a local historian, I would have loved to have sat down with him over coffee and heard his memories of Owen’s businesses, families, schools, and changes through the decades. Having lived in Owen his entire life, John witnessed many turning points in local and world history.
Recently, thanks to the generosity of the Ovyn family of the Maplehurst area (Dennis Ovyn & Sons Trucking & Excavating), I examined rare framed photographs and artifacts that John Bacon created, collected, and cherished, including:
• 1935 photo of Company D, CCC Camp #2620, Camp Newald (near Phelps, Chequamegon National Forest)
• 1935 newspaper photo of Rolland Bacon and John Slachetka at CCC Camp
• 1920s Owen-Withee area threshing crew photo
• 1917 Owen Livery Barn photo with unknown men
• John S. Owen Lumber Co. oxen shoes display
• Photos of work horses and 1925 threshing crews
• Reprint of rare 1898 panorama of the John S. Owen sawmill and mill pond
What struck me most was not simply the age of these items, but the care that went into preserving them. Someone took the time to frame, label, protect, and keep them together. That matters. A threshing crew photo, a display of oxen shoes, or a panorama of the old sawmill may look simple at first glance. But each is a doorway into a larger story of logging camps, farm families, early businesses, hard work, community pride, and the people who built Owen and Withee. They help answer a question every community eventually asks: where did we come from, and how did we get here?
Collections like John Bacon’s remind us that history is not only found in museums or official records. Sometimes it is tucked away in family homes, basements, attics, garages, and old frames on a wall. Often, these items survive because one person cared enough to save them. When they are documented, they help explain the people, places, and work that shaped this area. In the case of the Bacon collection, the thanks go to the Ovyn family, granddaughter Haley in particular, for preserving and sharing.
That matters in a community like Owen-Withee, where roots run deep but the demographics continue to change. Some families have been connected to this area for generations. Others, including Mennonite families and other newer residents, are adding their own chapters to the Owen-Withee story today. Local history helps tie those stories together and gives people a better understanding of what came before.
The Bacon photographs and artifacts also remind us how easily history can be lost. A picture without names, a family story never written down, or an old item with no explanation can become a mystery in just one generation. For those who read my stories years from now, the message is simple: this is who we were, how we lived, and how we became the community we are today.
If there is a quiet lesson in the John Bacon Collection, it may be this: every family has a piece of the Owen-Withee story. You do not have to be a historian to help preserve it. A name on an old photograph, a memory of an old business in Withee, a farm story, a school recollection, or a correction to something already written all add value. When those small pieces are documented and shared, they help preserve, educate, and pass on another chapter in the continuing story of Owen-Withee.