The Theresa Diamond

| LAND BETWEEN THE MARSHES |

ROB BOWE

CONTRIBUTOR

The Milwaukee Journal published an interesting article on Sunday, May 1, 1927, about the largest diamonds ever found in the state of Wisconsin. The first paragraph of the article was actually a large print sub-headline that read: “More than a dozen stones had been taken from glacial drift in various parts of the state, the largest unearthed near Theresa, weighing 23 carats.” Wow! Theresa – that caught my eye.

The article reported that Louis W. Bunde of Bunde and Upmeyer, noted diamond merchants and jewelers with offices in Milwaukee and Chicago during the 1880s-early 1900s told the Journal reporter that he (Bunde) “saw the Theresa Diamond once but has never heard of what became of it.”

The Journal article speculated, perhaps the diamond was likely in a lock box or safe, or perhaps had been cut up into smaller stones, or just maybe, “hanging around some beauty’s neck attending the Metropolitan Opera.”

I researched the subject high and low to find out more about the Theresa Diamond. Truth is it didn’t even rate a mention in Wikipedia, that sweetheart source of modern day knowledge, that put the encyclopedia companies out of business a couple of generations ago. Another vessel of the printed word that has gone extinct.

Perhaps a month went by and I went back and reread that Milwaukee Journal article one last time and I found a clue that led me to the UW-Madison Geology Historical archives where I found a paper titled; Diamond Field of The Great Lakes by UW Professor William Hobbs, written in 1899. Here is what is he knew about the Theresa Diamond.

In 1886, Louis Endlich, a 28-year-old farmer found an unusual stone that was part creamy yellow opaque and part clear crystal while plowing on his father’s farm. It appears Louis kept the find to himself until 1888 when his wife brought the stone to a Col. Boynton, a jeweler who did business in Milwaukee and Chicago. Boynton examined the stone and found part of the stone to be a clear crystal diamond with a portion it being yellow opaque diamond. Boynton weighed the stone at 21.25 carats (not 23 carats as stated in the 1927 Milwaukee Journal article). Through Boynton the Theresa Diamond moniker seems to have originated, as Mrs. Endlich told Boynton, the stone had been found near Theresa, by her husband, Lewis.

In 1899, Hobbs, a University of Wisconsin geologist, learned of the find from Boynton and searched out Mrs. Endlich, a widow at that time. Hobbs found widow Endlich living in Kewaskum township in Washington County. Much correspondence took place between Hobbs and Mrs. Endlich. Finally, Mrs. Endlich invited Professor Hobbs to visit her home where Hobbs was able to examine the stone and verified it was a diamond. He found the stone authentic and exactly as Boynton had said it was.

Mrs. Endlich told Hobbs that the diamond had been found near Theresa by her late husband while plowing a field on a large, long hill. On hearing widow Endlich’s story, Hobbs determined widow Endlich’s late husband most likely found the diamond while plowing the large moraine (glacial ridge) hill west of Kohlsville village, overlooking the Rock River Valley as it flowed toward Theresa. This area corresponded with Mrs. Endlich’s description and near land farmed by the Endlich family in western Town of Wayne, in Washington County.

In some circles folks came to refer to the gem as the Theresa/Kohlsville Diamond. The Wisconsin Geological History Survey refers to the stone as the Theresa Diamond and lists it as being found near Kohlsville, Town of Wayne in Washington County. Its official weight is 21.21 carats, and no picture of the diamond exists. The weight makes the Theresa Diamond the largest diamond ever found in Wisconsin.

So, what happened to the Theresa diamond? Years later, according to Professor Hobbs, Mrs. Endlich took the stone to a jeweler and had it cut into smaller stones. The creamy part of the diamond was used most likely for industrial purposes while the clear transparent diamond was cut up into eight other gem stones each averaging a bit more that a carat. Another report says it was cut into 10 gemstones. No record exists of what happened to the smaller gemstones. The Milwaukee Journal, Col. Boynton and Professor Hobbs all state the Theresa Diamond was fifth largest diamond ever found in the U.S.A.

We all know Wisconsin has never been known for its diamonds. Fact is, there has never been a “diamond rush” in this state or the U.S.A that I have ever head of. The closest thing we had have to a rush in the land between the marshes is all the folks waiting for service at the popular Friday Night Fish Fry spots.

And that is the story of the largest diamond ever found in the State of Wisconsin, near Theresa, by Kohlsville, in the Town of Wayne, Washington County. Anyone else have a good story to share? Let me know through the Dodge County Pionier office.