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Duck Creek is a creek originating in the Burma Swamp located in Outagamie County and flows through Hobart and
Howard townships. Early trappers settled the area and named it Duck Creek because of the number of ducks along the bank in
spring. The town of Duck Creek was established in 1853. The site of Duck Creek is now part of the Village of Howard. It had
been a Menominee Indian Village and the French were the first Europeans to settle there. With intermarriage between the French
and Indians, a new group called the French Creoles developed. In 1840, more than thirty families were in Duck Creek. This
number doubled by 1850 with a high percentage of French ancestry. This percentage decreased as other European families settled
there. Early settlers included Marston, Brunette, Athey, Rioux, Hussin, Rodaer, Delaney, and Ryan
Inhabitants were drawn by the access to the Duck Creek River and ample
food supply. Transportation was by water and the old Indian trail. Fur trading, quarrying, lumbering and brick making were
early occupations. Early products shipped from Duck Creek included quarried stone, lumber, Durham boats, bricks, shingles
and charcoal. The construction of Fort Howard Military Post brought the need for more products from Duck Creek such as lumber
and food.
Brown County, formally established as part of the MIchigan territory in
1818, comprised the entire eastern half of the State of Wisconsin. It was named for Major General Jacob Brown, one of the
successful military leaders of the War of 1812 and subsequently General-In-Chief of the United States Army. Fort Howard was
named for Brig. Gen. Benjamin Howard, an otherwise undistinguished soldier, who died while in command in the West during the
war. With the establishment of a town system, the Town of Howard was very large but by the Civil War, it was reduced down
to it's current size when other cities, towns and counties were created from sections.
The village of Howard was established in 1959. The population in 2000 was
13,546.
Majority of this information came from Early Duck Creek History by
Jeanne and Lester Rentmeester.
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| DUCK CREEK STONE QUARRY WORKERS |
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| ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH 1915 |
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