What was the Kuse log cabin in Medford like? From descriptions of five or six grandchildren while they were still alive and from others who visited the home we have compiled a description.

The lower portion was built of hewn and chincked logs while the gables were built of boards. Three small window panes formed a kind of transom above the door. As can be seen in the pictures of the cabin, Hannah Marie planted a flower and vegetable garden in front of it. Peas and beans were grown to dry for winter use. These were threshed with a flail or by tramping on the dried pods. Root crops such as rutabagas were also grown. Sage for colds, catnip for stomach problems and other herbs were grown so Hannah could brew remedies for the children to drink. Every herb was good for something.

Exterior of the Kuse Home - Oil Painting by Walter Kuse

A tall oleander stood indoors in a pot in winter and was moved out of doors in summer. Later their daughter Henricka Kuse Greitsch had it at her home. The garden also had a white snowball, a forerunner of today's large, flowering varieties. Both Rosa Kuse Oehlert and the Walter Kuses had descendants of that bush in their gardens. Dark red dahlias also grew in her garden. Marie Schlais, a granddaughter, remembered a grape vine climbing up the side of the cabin. Fruit trees and bushes grew on the east side of the house. these included crab apples, currants and gooseberries. Grandchild Elsa Wagler especially remembered the gooseberry jelly and clear red currant jelly Hannah made and served on warm slices of homemade bread. Minna Strobach remembered a cherry tree with large red sour cherries that someone had sent them from Sheboygan Falls after they got to Medford.

In 1858 Peter gave Hannah Marie a set of pictures printed on embossed, enameled paper and decorated with gold leaf. the titles of the scenes were printed in three languages beneath the pictures. The picture at the left and also one of Christ carrying the cross decorated the wall of their home in Germany, Sheboygan Falls and Medford, Wisconsin. These were passed on to grandchildren Rosa Kuse Oehlert and Walter Kuse

An interest in arts and crafts has been evident in the Kuse family for as long as its history has been recorded in the United States.

John Peter Kuse is remembered for carving wooden items the family needed for daily living. He made wooden shoulder yokes for persons to use when carrying water, wooden shoes or "Schlarfen," tables and various other items of furniture. He made a chaise lounge for his daughter Henricka Kuse Greitsch.

The wooden pencil box was carved for the children by drilling a hole in a piece of wood and then carving around it. The cover was made by drilling a slightly larger hole in another piece of wood, carving around it and fitting it on the first.