Sheboygan’s Liberty Bell, or Who copped the copper clapper?

Practically everybody has heard of the Liberty Bell, an icon of American Freedom and Liberty. The original Liberty Bell cracked the first time it was rung and is on display in Independence National Park in Philadelphia, Pa. Contrary to popular belief, the bell is not owned by the United States government but is the property of the city of Philadelphia.

Now you may wonder, as interesting as this may be, what has this got to do with Sheboygan history? Well, let me explain.

Are you aware that Sheboygan once had its own Liberty Bell? I’m not talking about some little trinket that you can buy in a souvenir stand and put on a shelf, but a real two thousand pound bell –that when it was rung could be heard a mile away.

The bell was on display in downtown Sheboygan in the early ‘70s for all to see and appreciate. So what happened to our bell? That’s the mystery that this column is going to try to solve.

The story of our Liberty Bell is a long tangled maze and became known as the “battle of the bell.”

The bell was originally presented to the state of Wisconsin in 1950 in recognition of the large amount of money that had been raised in the state during a recent bond drive. The state then turned the bell over to the Wisconsin State Historical Society that became its legal owner. The original idea was for the bell to be displayed in cities around the state –six months at a time.

Between that time and 1968, it seems that the Historical Society kind of lost track of the bell. Our Wisconsin state senator, Ernest Keppler, discovered the bell on display in front of the Wisconsin State Correctional Institute for Girls at Oregon, Wis., which is near Madison. Senator Keppler managed to make arrangements to have the bell moved to Sheboygan where we proudly displayed it in Fountain Park. The mayor at this time was Joe Brown who supposedly made an agreement with the Historical Society to return the bell in six months. But the years rolled by and the bell remained in Fountain Park.

In 1975, the then mayor of Sheboygan, Richard Suscha, and the city’s common council decided that $100,000 would be spent on a remodeling project of Fountain Park for the upcoming bi-centennial less than a year away in 1976. The centerpiece of the newly remodeled park was to be – you guessed it – the Liberty

Bell. As far back as July of 1970 the city had received a request from authorities in Madison to return the bell, but for some reason the city turned a deaf ear to that request and the bell never left.

In 1975, Senator Keppler suggested that perhaps the state should retrieve the replica and place it on display in the state capital building. On Feb. 1, 1975, Mayor Suscha received a letter from John E. Short, director of the state’s purchasing bureau, advising him that the capital building sub-committee had decided the bell would be placed in the capitol rotunda. Mr. Short further advised the mayor that the state wanted the bell back by April 1 so that it could be rung as a kick-off for the U.S. Treasury Department savingsbond drive.

Mayor Suscha, however, dug in his heels and refused to return the bell. The mayor was quoted in part as saying “the Liberty Bell has a rightful place of honor in our park and [ought to be] left in this prominent place,” referring to Sheboygan’s Fountain Park. The mayor even considered using the following variations of famous quotes associated with America’s Revolution such as “Don’t give up the bell”; “I regret that I have only one Liberty Bell replica to give for my state”; and finally “As for me, give me the Liberty Bell or give me death.” However, when all was said and done it was thought best not to use the quotes!

But the authorities in Madison saw little humor in the situation. A blizzard of official letters between Sheboygan and Madison ensued. The state reminded the mayor that the bell was in fact the property of the state Historical Society. Then the state informed the mayor that they had already contracted with a local trucking company to have the bell moved to Madison. The mayor fired back with an executive order prohibiting anyone from moving the bell from its present site.

The battle was heating up.

The mighty state of Wisconsin decided enough was enough … It was time to take off the gloves and get tough with the belligerent city of Sheboygan and its stubborn mayor. Mr. Short advised the mayor that unless he allowed the bell to be returned to Madison at once the whole sordid affair would be referred to the state Attorney General for the possible issuance of charges either civil or criminal.

Our valiant Mayor Suscha decided he would yield to the power of authority. The mayor further decreed that the executive order prohibiting the bell from being moved to Madison should be lifted.

The disputed bell was returned to Madison. But much to the dismay of authorities in Madison, the bell remained silent. Why? The 14-pound copper clapper was missing!

So now the question was: Did some devious resident of Sheboygan cop the copper clapper? Authorities in Madison demanded the return of the copper clapper. The mayor denied that the city had any complicity in copping the copper clapper. A vast search for the copper clapper took place and when it was completed no copper clapper could be found. To this day the mystery of who copped the copper clapper continues.

Today’s Snippet: In 1858, the state of Wisconsin passed a law permitting residents of tax districts to work-off property taxes in lieu of cash payment – at the rate of $1 per day. Much of the work performed was done on county roads, which is the reason we have so fine a county road system in Wisconsin.

That might be a good idea for today.