Do you have a Mugwump?

                  The Western Kenosha County Historical Society is looking for a Mugwump and if you have one, they’d like to borrow it.

                  What’s a Mugwump?  The Mugwump was a weekly newspaper ran from Sept. 16, 1892 until 1941.

                  Paul J. Sauer of Slades Corners started it when he was 14-years-old as a hobby and without any experience or mentor.

                  It was a four-page newspaper that had a column or two about people and places in Kenosha and Racine, centered in Slades Corners.

                  It had a banner slogan of “The Mugwumps are always on the safe side.”

                  He continued the paper into adulthood while he clerked in his father’s store, Paul E. Sauer Store, in 1910 as a co-owner with his brother Oscar, and then as sole proprietor in 1930.

                  Postal rates were the demise of the paper. He was also the postmaster in Slades Corners beginning in 1910.

                  In his own words, “We are for Slade’s Corners and its people and everything that will benefit either or both – first, last and all the time.”

                  The Society would like to see what they could do about getting a full set with the help of many contributors.

                  Reach the Society at [email protected] or call (262) 862 7165.

                  What’s a mugwump? According to Wikipedia, Mugwumps were a group of Republican activities who supported Democratic candidate Grove Cleveland in the U. S. Presidential election of 1884.

                  According to Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words, mugwump was used in the early 19th Century as a humorous term for a boss, bigwig, grand panjandrum or other person of authority, although often one of a minor or inconsequential sort.


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