A movement has been started by P. H. Cashin to raise a small fund for improving the neglected grave that is located close to the road opposite the Whiting-Plover Paper Co. mill on the west side of the river. Travelers along the road have often observed this grave and have wondered over the identity of the lonely sleeper. The wooden slab that served as a tombstone has rotted away and the lettering has long since been lost. The little picket fence surrounding it is also falling into decay. There is danger of the distinguishing marks becoming entirely brought under the plow.

Mr. Cashin has been making investigations and has found, after some difficulty, that the grave is the last resting place of Isaac Ferris, or "Ike" Ferris as he was popularly known, one of the earliest settlers in this vicinity. Ferris was a Yankee from "down east" and was a man of considerable intelligence. He was a river pilot in the palmy days of the Civil war period and before and was well known along the river to the pioneers here and elsewhere. He died in 1862 or 1863 and was buried near his own home, cemeteries being scarce enough in this region at that early day. The man was somewhat advanced in years. Mr. Ferris had a large shanty near Conant Rapids and near where he was buried. Although he did not keep a regular rooming house, nevertheless a good many travelers stopped there.

The neglected grave lies only eight or 10 feet from the common highway and even many older citizens have been ignorant of the identity of the person buried there.

Mr. Cashin suggests that a small subscription to place a metal fence around the lot and a marker on the grave and also to clear up the spot. The place has attracted much attention from automobilists and other travelers and a well kept grave would give a much better impression than the present conditions. Visitors could occasionally place flowers there.

Mr. Ferris left an only daughter, believed to have been an adopted child. No one knows what became of the little girl. There are no known relatives. Ferris's last request was that his friends look after his little girl.

The grave of Isaac Ferris, opposite the Whiting-Plover Co. mill, is to be improved and placed in good condition. This is already assured as a result of the circulation of a subscription list by P. H. Cashin, who has taken a great deal of interest in the matter. Already 60 persons have signed the list and paid over the amounts which are all of either 50 cents or $1. The fund already totals $30 or $40 and more is expected.

Judge B. B. Park, P. J. Jacobs and P. H. Cashin, as the first three signers of the list, will constitute the committee to handle the fund and take charge of improving the grave. No definite plans for the improvement have been made as yet although it is expected that a metal fence will be placed around the lot, a marker stone of some kind erected and the ground cleared.

Mr. Cashin's enterprise will result in a new landmark being developed near this city. The improved grave will be an object of interest to travelers as well as a more creditable monument to the thoughtfulness of the people of this vicinity.

P. H. Cashin received a letter Thursday evening from a former resident and chief of police here, F. W. Kingsbury of Evansville, Ind., enclosing a check for $1 to add to the fund for the improvement of Isaac Ferris's grave. Mr. Kingsbury writes:

"In looking over the Stevens Point Journal today I notice you are trying to preserve an old landmark which must be very familiar to the older settlers. We landed at the Point in 1859 in a stage coach driven either by Billy Baker or Three Fingered Mike. We were about 19 hours on the road from Berlin, Wis., after being six days on a train to get from the state of Maine to Berlin so you see I am entitled to the credit of being one of the old settlers of the Wisconsin pinery (58 years ago).

"I remember the girl spoken of in the article and went to school with her in a little shanty school house that was located at the head of Clark street near the cemetery in the eastern part of the city. Ex-Congressman W. E. Brown or his brother, Anderson Brown, now of Rhinelander, or B. L. Vaughn of your city could tell you all about it as that is where we went to school. We called the girl Ida Ferris.

"Enclosed I hand you my check for $1 to help preserve the resting place of an early settler."

Mr. Kingsbury is the son of the late Judge Kingsbury who presided over the county court of Portage county. He is a step-brother of W. E. Kingsbury of this city.

Anna Le Mere of Sutherland, Mont., writes T. L. McGlachlin under date of May 28 and sends a contribution to the Isaac Ferris monument fund together with additional details regarding the family. The letter says:

Dear Sir:—I "do my bit" by sending 50 cents towards the Isaac Ferris monument fund. I do this in memory of his little daughter—Laura Ferris.

I remember Mr. Ferris although I was but a small child when he died. My mother kept a boarding house on the West side. Mr. Ferris would sometimes stop there. I remember his making the air lurid with adjectives, not found in a grammar, during an electrical storm. When not drinking he was very much the gentleman and more intelligent and well-read than the average person of that day. When he died I believe he requested that his daughter, Laura, not over 10 years of age, be sent to her uncles either in Illinois or Iowa and Laura was brought to my mother to be cared for until the relatives could be heard from.

I well remember her departure from our home, on the stage for Madison, I believe, on a cold winter's morning and my mother's providing an extra coat and warming bricks for her feet, also our tearful good-by.

I have often thought of her. She was so young a child that among new surroundings she would cease to remember her old life.

Mrs. Walter Wood, Mrs. J. D. Andrews, Mrs. Clara Sutton or my brother, Louis Le Mere, would all remember the particulars of Mr. Ferris' death.

I have never passed Mr. Ferris' grave but I have thought of the lonely little orphan starting alone on so long a journey and on such a bitterly cold morning. Her relatives were willing to receive her but the journey was then a hard one and she was put in the care of the stage driver.

Yours truly,
ANNA LE MERE.

B. B. Park, P. H. Cashin and P. J. Jacobs, the committee appointed to mark and place a permanent protection around the lone grave of Isaac Ferris, one of the Wisconsin River's pioneer pilots, have completed the duty assigned to them. The grave is located under an oak tree on the left hand side of the river road in the town of Linwood and a polished granite marker at its head bears the following inscription:

The grave is surrounded by a neat iron fence, about five feet in height. The standards at the four corners of the fence are set in concrete, as is also the granite marker, thus making the improvements of a permanent character. The work was done under the direction of Mr. Cashin and met with the cordial approval of the other members of the committee, who visited the grave last Monday. All that remains to be done is to grade the ground for a short distance outside the fence.