Madison Historical Society Collection - Our Museum

One of the reasons for forming the Madison Historical Society in 1978 was an awareness that many significant items from Madison’s past were quickly disappearing. The membership was determined to preserve items that told Madison’s story. Since that time, thanks to many generous donations, a large collection has been created and documented.

Rotating displays of Madison history are open to the public at the Madison Historial Society Welcome Center at 136-A W. Main Street, Madison Village.

Some of our curator’s favorites:

“Wilkeson stove”: The Wilkeson and Seeley Company manufactured this small iron heating stove.

The company was the owners of the Arcole furnace, where Madison bog iron was processed,

starting in 1828. This stove was used at the Madison Seminary building.

“Iron King plow”: This Iron King brand plow was manufactured in Madison by the Genung

Iron works. The iron works was established in 1842 by Amos Genung. MHS has a unique

collection of these Madison-made farm implements.

“Ellis cabinet”: The large store display case shown here is part of the MHS business collection.

The case originally was used in Ellis Pharmacy on Main Street. Also visible is a sample of

baskets manufactured at the Madison Basket Craft factory, which was founded in 1908.

“Church quilt”: A view from our churches and schools collection shows items from the Madison

Central Congregational Church, which was organized in 1814. The armchair is one of a set

used at the pulpit. The autographed quilt was created circa 1915 by the ladies of the church

as a fundraiser.

“Kimball portrait”: This ornately framed portrait of Homer Nash Kimball is representative of

several in our collection showing prominent founders of Madison.

“Dress display”: The MHS collection also includes a large vintage clothing, accessory and

textile group. It is represented here by this circa 1905 white lace summer dress. The

collection also includes military uniforms and memorabilia from Madison veterans.

The Swaby Collection

We are the proud guardians of a group of scale-model (1 foot to 1 inch) buildings created by Madison building contractor, Herbert Swaby, during the 1970’s. This extraordinary collection contains ten highly detailed period buildings representing the evolution of architecture in Madison and the surrounding area. They were created with amazing detail - doors and windows open and the school bell rings in the cupola. The building roofs open to reveal fully furnished and accessorized rooms.

Just a sampling of the buildings:

An 1850’s home
Log cabin
Looking into the 1850’s home kitchen
Cabin interior
The massive dairy barn has cows waiting to be milked.
A one-room school house
A one-room school house Inside the school house, slates wait on the desks.
A working wagon and spotted horse stand in the wagon shed.

Herbert Swaby