5523 S BUSINESS DR

5523 S BUSINESS DR

Sheboygan

Wilson

14

23

E

9

1880

2014

house

Gabled Ell

Brick

No

This former farm property consists of a number of buildings, including two houses. The older of the two homes is located furthest north on the parcel and is constructed of brick. The two-story, brick gabled ell house (AHI#229350) features an entrance in the ell juncture, which is sheltered by a porch roof with no supports. A simple metal railing lines the stoop. Windows throughout the house are largely regularly arranged and mostly one-over-one-light sash replacements, with a single-pane picture window evident south of the entry. Based on the brickwork around many of the windows, it appears that the original openings may have been altered. The second house, located closer to the road (east), is a Dutch Colonial Revival-style home (AHI#229351) that is largely faced with brick. The upper shed-roof dormer, however, is covered with what appears to be vinyl siding. A central and projecting porch overhang tops the entrance, which is flanked by sidelights. A tripartite grouping of one-over-one-light sash is located to either side of the door, while three paired groupings of windows line the second floor. Fenestration throughout the remainder of the house consists of single or paired sash examples. A one-story sunporch extends from the south end of the house, while a one-story, garage wing is located at the rear (east side).

Additional buildings on the property include a large, gambrel roof, board-sheathed bank barn (circa 1905) that is anchored at its west end by a poured concrete silo (AHI#229352); two, metal-sheathed sheds; and a gambrel-roof, board-sheathed shed/garage (circa 1905; AHI#229353).

The original brick farmhouse (ca. 1870s with later alterations) is understood to have been built by Franz (Frank) Rammer (b. 1838), who immigrated to the U.S. from Austria in 1859, along with his parents, Ignatz & Mary. Franz and wife Katherina wed in Southern Illinois in 1861. After residing in Hancock, Michigan, for a few years, Franz and Katherina settled in the Town of Wilson in 1864. Franz died in 1897. Following Katherina’s death in 1905, son August J. Rammer (b. 1885) took over farming operations (at age 20). The next year, he purchased the farm from his brothers and sisters, after which he made a number of improvements. It was later known as Lilac Grove Farm. In 1916, August wed Katharine Conrad and they had three children. In circa 1932, they moved the brick house back from the road and built the Dutch Colonial Revival-style home on the parcel. At the age of 26, Rammer took a part-time job as a fire insurance agent with the Wilson Mutual Company, the offices of which were located in his Town of Wilson home until a new building was erected in 1961 (see discussion for 1934 S. Business Drive). In addition to farming and serving as the fire insurance firm’s secretary and manager from 1913 until his 1960 death, he was one of the organizers of the Farmers’ Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (est. 1927) and had run the Rammer Insurance Agency (later the Rammer-Sanders Agency). His obituary also cites that he served as a director of the following organizations: the Empire Petroleum Company of Denver, Colorado; Southwest State Bank (director and vice president for nearly 25 years); Vinyl Plastics Company (since 1949); Oostburg Canning Company (since 1941); Wisconsin Oil Refining Company; and Sheboygan Dairyman’s Co-operative Association. The Rammer family remains in possession of the property, but the houses are utilized as rentals.

Illustrated Historical Atlas of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (Oshkosh, WI: G.A. Randall & Co., 1875); Plat Book of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (Minneapolis: C.M. Foote & J.W. Henion, 1889); Illustrated Historical Atlas of Sheboygan County (1902); Atlas of Sheboygan County (1916, 1941); Plat Book of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (Rockford, IL: W.W. Hixson & Co., 1930); Farm and Land Ownership Plat Book of Sheboygan County (1951); “Deaths,” Rammer (Mrs. Catherina), obituary clipping, June 1905; “August J. Rammer Is Summoned Today,” The Sheboygan Press, 14 October 1960; “August Rammer Dies,” Clipping from unknown source identified as “FM,” October 1960; “August Rammer Re-elected Oil Refining Co. President,” The Sheboygan Press, 21 May 1952, all previous clippings in a “Rammer” family file folder, Sheboygan County Research Center; Leo P. Cook, “Story of a Dairyman Who Realizes Value of Testing His Cows,” Sheboygan Press-Telegram, 6 December 1922, page 10. A cursory (spot) review of tax rolls between 1868 and 1877 indicate a doubling of acreage from 40 to 80 between 1868 and 1874 and a rise in valuation between those dates from $550 to $2270, thus identifying some sort of construction, Tax Rolls, Town of Wilson, Sheboygan County, 1860s to 1904, Available at the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls, WI.

Not Listed