On This Day: March 2

1855 - First Post Office of Ashland Opened

On this date the first post office opened in Ashland. The post office was known as "Whittlesey" after Ashland's founder Asaph Whittlesey. The first mail arrived on March 2, 1855. [Source: "B" Book 1 - Beer Bottles, Brawls, Boards, Brothels, Bibles, Batlles & Brownstone by Tony Woiak, pg.5]

1865 - (Civil War) Skirmish at Cheraw, South Carolina

The 12th, 16th, 17th, 25th and 32nd Wisconsin Infantry regiments fought in a skirmish at Cheraw, South Carolina. Retreating Confederates burned a strategic bridge that delayed the Union advance toward Virginia.

1953 - Russ Feingold Born

On this date U.S. Senator Russ Feingold was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. Feingold graduated from Janesville Craig High School in 1971. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975 and attended Magdalen College in Oxford, England as a Rhodes Scholar. He received a graduate degree in 1977 and graduated from Harvard University Law School in 1979. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1979 and practiced law in Madison, Wisconsin from 1979-1985. He served as a visiting professor at Beloit College 1985 and a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from 1983 to 1993. Feingold was elected in 1992 as a Democrat to the United States Senate, reelected in 1998 and in 2004 for the term ending January 3, 2011. [Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]

1967 - Beloit Students and Faculty Protest Dow

On this date a group of Beloit College students and faculty staged a silent vigil, protesting Dow Chemical representatives recruiting prospective employees on the Beloit campus. Dow Chemical manufactured napalm, or jellied gasoline, used by the U.S. military in bombing raids during the Vietnam conflict. Dow was prominently protested the same year at the University of Wisconsin Madison campus. [Source: Janesville Gazette]