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Facts and Events
Fred was one of the best butchers in Two Rivers. He owned the corner of Adams Avenue and 23nd Street in Two Rivers. In 1930, he owned his own home that was worth about $15,000. They had a radio set. He was 58 years old and was married the first time when he was 33 years of age. Both he and his parents were born in Germany. He was able to read and write. His native language was German. Fred immigrated to America in 1873 but apparently was never naturalized. He spoke English. His butcher shop at 2216 Adams, smokehouses and meat preparation areas were on the ground floor and he and wife, Mary, lived upstairs. It was a nice apartment with three bedrooms,large kitchen, dining room and living room. The living room was only used for company. Fred would receive whole meat and organized his own production line. Nephew John Kracha recalls the dressing of the met for the refrigerated case for daily sale and the rendering of the fat for later sale as lard. The community used a lot of lard for baking. Fred 's cauldron was about five feet across and perhaps three feet deep. You dded some fat and let it cook to liquify. Then add some more fat and repeat the process, periodically skimming off the "cracklin's." He made all of his own lard and sausages. When it was sausage time, he had the casings ready on a long (perhaps 15 feet long) table. The meat had been seasoned and put aside in batches and as different types of sausage. Then theyfed the casing stuffer and filled the casing tubing. At prescribed intervals, Fred would tie off the lengths with a twist of the wrist. When the casing lenghth ended, here was a pause while a new casing was loaded and the completed sausages were hung on poles to be hung in the smokehouse. Once the project was completed, all the sausage of a particular type was taken to one of the three or four smokehouses and smoked for several hours. Both time and temperature were checked frequently to prevent excess drying and uneven smoking. One remembrance was that he had a huge safe with flip boards holding the charge slips of his customers. Whenever they had money to pay, he just gave the customer the originals of the charge slip equal to what they could pay at the time. The couple never had any children.
Fred is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Section 34, Lot 3, Space 1
OCCUPATION: Butcher.
!BIRTH: Interment Record received September 16, 1994 and held by John K. Kracha 358 East Millan Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910-6314
!MARRIAGE: Maintowoc County, Wisconsin, Marrriages and Births, Marriage Index Vol. 7, page 406
!CENSUS: U.S.Census, 1930, Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Roll: T626_2581; Page: 21A; E.D. 39
!DEATH: Interment Record received September 16, 1994 and held by John K. Kracha 358 East Millan Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910-6314
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