This cabin has a dark secret. In 1942, a Chicago criminal on the run – John Gabriele – used it as his hideout after murdering his lover – Virginia Bodziach – who had jilted him. (He then kidnapped another woman at gunpoint and forced her to drive him here to camp) Decades later when the Catholic Church bought camp the priests would begin each spring by walking the grounds, blessing it (and every building within) with holy water to purge all prior sins. // Things like this had been happening for years and were unfortunately not uncommon – ultimately resulting in this place being deemed “a disgrace to the great state of Wisconsin” by John Roach, chief of the Wisconsin State Beverage Tax Division, in 1941. // to learn more visit Wandawega history.org – this story as documented in the Elkhorn Independent newspaper for the two page article on the august 31 1942 incident. #TinyHousesOfWandawega

December 29, 2016 • Published by Tereasa Surratt