He has done for Colby what we hopefully have done for Stanley.”

Stanley Area Historical Society (SAHS) President David Jankoski

Stanley Area Historical Society
228 Helgerson Street
Stanley, WI 54768
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The tensions surrounding World War I in Wisconsin and the events that culminated in the deadly Krueger family shootout were the focus of a recent historical presentation at the Stanley Area Historical Society on Sunday, Aug. 16.
Lee Kaschinska, president of the Clark County Historical Society and Colby Rural Arts Museum, discussed the Krueger family and placed the confrontation within the larger atmosphere surrounding America’s entry into World War I. Kaschinska was introduced by Stanley Area Historical Society (SAHS) President David Jankoski, who noted it was approximately Kaschinska’s fifth presentation at the museum.
“He has done for Colby what we hopefully have done for Stanley,” Jankoski said in introduction.
Kaschinska started his presentation by going over several World War I-era artifacts and photos on a table, including a military rifle and hand grenade. Kaschinska explained how soldiers were trained to throw the grenade in a motion familiar to Americans accustomed to throwing baseballs.
“Just pretend its baseball and you’re throwing for home,” he told attendees of how soldiers were taught to toss hand grenades.
Kaschinska also opened by playing “Over There,” sharing how the first verse was often left out. The first verse starts with “Johnny get your gun” and goes on to say it wouldn’t “take long over there,” meaning Europe.
Not everyone agreed on U.S. entry into World War I, and among them the Louis and Caroline Krueger family of Withee. The Kruegers and their five sons (Robert, Frank, Ennis, Leslie, and Louis) lived at Withee after the family emigrated from Germany in the late 19th century. The father Ludwig changed his name to Louis as more English and died before the war, along with and one son named Robert. The mother and other brothers became involved in a famous shootout on September 14, 1918 over draft evasion, the subject of Kaschinska’s presentation.
Among the table items connected the Krueger shootout in September 1918 was a copy of a wanted poster issued following the shooting, along with a Krueger family photograph and an image of the automobile driven by Henry Jensen, the Withee station master who was killed during the confrontation. The shootout took place after Frank and Leslie ignored draft summons despite registering for the draft. Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph Gantz and federal agent Cyril Marks went to the Krueger farm with local men Earl Kidd and Peter Rasmussen. They encountered Frank and Ennis working in a cornfield. A conversation was had, of which the contents are a subject of debate, a shootout taking place shortly thereafter.
According to the official government version of events, Gantz and Marks announced that they had warrants and Frank and Ennis immediately drew handguns and fired. The officers then returned fire, and the Kruegers retreated toward the farm buildings. Who fired first would become a point of contention in later reconstructions of the event.
Following the initial shootout, Gantz and Marks withdrew and summoned assistance. A large armed posse was assembled from Withee and Owen (including a company picnic), and a hardware store emptied of weapons. The posse was eventually supplemented by Home Guard units from surrounding communities. A neighbor named Vader—the name means “father” in Old German—first approached the house, with posse members shooting at Frank when he came out. Things went downhill from there.
Harry Jensen, the Withee railroad station agent and a posse member, was fatally shot. Contemporary reports also identified several wounded posse members, including Emil Laino, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, as well as Matt Mattson, Angus Page and Frank White. Contemporary accounts differ somewhat on the exact number of wounded.
The resulting siege lasted into the night. The posse poured fire into the Krueger property: testimony subsequently considered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court stated that more than 150 bullets penetrated the house. Frank Krueger was badly wounded in the legs. Caroline eventually emerged with a white flag, and Frank was taken into custody. Others escaped during the night.
Kaschinska said the Krueger house remains standing along Highway 73 and that some bullet holes from the confrontation remain visible. He said an estimated 500 rounds were fired into the house during the shootout.
“They left some of the bullet holes in there,” Kaschinska said of the home after asking long enough to be let inside. The home built in 1912 is not open to tourists, but otherwise still stands south of Withee on the east side of 73.
Also included in the Sunday presentation was a photograph of members of the Home Guard from Colby and Neillsville outside the property. The family barn, where authorities believed one of the Krueger brothers was hiding, was burned to the ground in the confrontation.
Frank and Caroline were taken to Chippewa Falls, while Ennis and another brother went on the run. Ennis was later believed to be shot near Polley, while Louis was later picked up in north central Minnesota and returned. The family never saw Ennis’ body and the mother, Caroline, held to her dying day that Ennis had not died at Polley. A public appeal for Ennis to come forward was later made by Caroline with a table of evidence he was alive, but without result. Some reports state that a hobo had been operating in the area around the time of the shootout and disappeared after Ennis was reported dead.
As for context, Kaschinska’s presentation also focused on the circumstances that preceded the confrontation.
When World War I began in Europe in 1914, the United States remained neutral, and Americans were sharply divided over whether the country should become involved. Wisconsin presented an especially complicated picture because of its large German-American population and its strong anti-war political movements.
Kaschinska said 51 percent of Wisconsin’s population at the time was of German origin. German was widely spoken, German was taught in many Wisconsin schools and some immigrants had lived in the United States for decades without becoming American citizens.
The Krueger family reflected some of the anti-war sentiment of the period. After family patriarch Louis Krueger died in 1910 and oldest son Robert died in Arizona the following year, Frank became the oldest surviving brother. The family’s matriarch, Caroline, also exercised considerable influence over the family.
According to Kaschinska, Caroline was outspoken in her opposition to the war, at one point describing the conflict as “Armageddon,”claiming the Pope had started it and predicting that soldiers sent overseas would die. Her statements created friction within the surrounding community.
The Krueger brothers were also opposed to military service. Kaschinska noted that conscientious objector status existed during World War I, but the brothers did not apply for it. Some registered for the draft but failed to report when called, while Frank and Ennis became eligible when draft ages were expanded and did not register.
Tensions increased after a package addressed to Ennis was intercepted and opened, revealing an automatic pistol and ammunition. Rumors began circulating that the family was accumulating weapons and intended to resist attempts to force the brothers into military service.
The local newspaper published an editorial suggesting the Kruegers were preparing for “a war of their own.”
“That’s the title of a great book by the way,” Kaschinska said of history resources on the World War I-era shootout.
Word of the Krueger’s eventually reached federal marshals in La Crosse, and men were to apprehend the draft resisters. Kaschinska argued that the actions of those sent to make the arrests contributed significantly to the confrontation that followed.
The episode also unfolded against Wisconsin’s wider political divisions. Progressive U.S. Sen. Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette was a prominent opponent of American involvement in the war, while Milwaukee had a strong Socialist movement that likewise opposed the conflict.
Once the United States entered the war, Kaschinska said pro-war Wisconsinites faced pressure to demonstrate their patriotism as suspicion increasingly fell on German-Americans and war opponents. The decision to enter World War I in 1917 saw 50 representatives vote against it, including all 11 from Wisconsin.
The federal government’s wartime laws added another dimension. The vagueness of the Espionage Act meant speaking out against the war was dangerous and failure to comply with draft requirements could bring serious criminal consequences, while wartime restrictions on anti-government and anti-war speech contributed to an atmosphere in which dissent could bring accusations of disloyalty.
Kaschinska further illustrated the period with his own family history. His grandfather, then a young man who had not yet become an American citizen, told him years later that members of the National Guard had come to him one night and beaten him after he apparently came under suspicion.
Kaschinska said that atmosphere of war fever, suspicion and political division was important to understanding how a dispute involving the Krueger family’s resistance to the draft escalated into violence.
The confrontation ultimately resulted in death and injury and was followed by trials in Neillsville. Frank and Leslie Krueger were convicted and sent to Waupun, while Caroline was acquitted. Frank and Leslie were later moved to mental institutions after being found insane, but pardoned in 1934 after a followup found them sane, which was a condition for the governor to let them out. The brothers each carved out different lives, with the last brother dying in the mid-1960s. Several family members are buried in Riverside Cemetery near Withee, but only Louis’ grave is marked. An unidentified man showed up to Louis’s wake at the local Congregational church in the 1960s but did not sign the guest book nor return for the funeral. Some speculate that it was Ennis.
The presentation was followed with a video on the shootout entitled “Hysteria: The Krueger Family Saga” by Kris Leonhardt and Mike Warren, along with question time.