The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its., Part 63

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 807

USA > Iowa > Clinton County > The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its. > Part 63

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Knights of Honor .- Hawkeye Lodge, No. 160, K. of H., was instituted September 10, 1875, with the following officers and charter members : J. E. Carpenter, P. D .; H. H. Howard, D .; Eli Lanning, V. D .; J. W. Bulen, A. D .; Joseph Agin, Rep .; M. M. Tiffany, F. R .; Joseph Magee, Guide; G. V. Harris, G .; P. Pierson, Sentinel ; John Ford, C. Charter members: C. H. Coggswell, H. C. Keeler, J. C. Vail, H. O. Hicks, John Whitsel, H. H. McCune. The present officers are: G. V. Harris, P. D .; H. S. Farnsworth, D .; F. R. Gilson, V. D .; J. H. Flanagan, A. D .; Frank Mattison, Rep .; Alex. Fife, F. R .; John Ford, Treasurer ; Eli Lanning, Guide ; W. L. Ains- worth, C .; W. F. Ferguson, Guardian ; F. Bulow, Sentinel. The Order gives members the option of full or half rate life insurance for $2,000 or $1,000. The Lodge meets at Odd Fellows' Hall and numbers forty members.

THE CLINTON BRIDGE COMPANY.

With the development and settlement of the West, there comes an ever- increasing demand for good roads and bridges. Farmers find that the cost of

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marketing produce by hauling over poor roads, eats up the profits of lands to an amazing degree. Accordingly, one of the greatest wants of perous farming communities, is a good system of bridges and approx especially as the richest bottom lands are in time of overflow the word vehicles to traverse. Many were "the moving adventures by flood and f that the old settlers relate in the days of fords and ferries, when the he loaded wains slowly wallowed through the black and fertile soil-ho wheels mired-how the traces broke, and how the teamsters "exhorte impenitent mule." The manufacturing and supplying of ready-made br has, therefore, naturally become a specialty with bridge companies and works. The Clinton Bridge Company was first organized March 1, 1875 since then has not only furnished a multitude of the most compact and factory county bridges, but has also constructed some of the most scientifi elaborate railroad bridges in the Northwest. The Engineers' and draug! rooms are located in the Central Block, on First street, and the shops im ately adjacent, on Fourth avenue. The latter are admirably planned, bo size and arrangement for preparing spans long enough for the largest n wooden bridges. It is fitted with the largest machines of the kind in Northwest. A span 150 feet in length can, if necessary, be turned out twenty-four hours. The main shop is composed of a two-story section 4 feet, and the fitting-room 30x156 feet. The original officers were: Presi Artemus Lamb; Vice President, J. J. Swigert, of Toledo; Secretary Treasurer, E. S. Hart; Engineer, J. S. Jenkins; Directors, W. J. Y Artemus Lamb, E. S. Hart, R. W. Smith and J. Swigert. In the spri 1877, the Company was re-organized, and its present staff is: Presiden Treasurer, Artemus Lamb; Vice President, E. S. Hart; Secretary Assistant Engineer, J. A. Patterson ; Engineer, J. Scott Jenkins; Draughtsman, P. J. Partenheimer, Jr .; Manager iron shops, Thoms Reeve; Directors, Messrs. Reeve, Lamb, Hart, Patterson and Jenkins. Company have erected 267 structures of all kinds and combinations of wood iron trusses and arches. The original working capital is $25,000. The ber of men employed during the busy season varies from fifty to one hur and fifty. There is no kind of bridge, from the grandest railroad span t over a diminutive brooklet, but that the company have put up in the scientific and thorough manner, and their light but strong structures are e where taking the place of the obsolete rural bridges made of heavy, mo cimbers, and the bottomless quagmires which creek fords become in weather.

UNION IRON WORKS.

The Union Works were erected by a stock company, organized Septe 3, 1868, and completed the following spring, with the following officers: ] dent, A. P. Hosford ; Vice President, C. E. Shattuck ; Secretary and Treas S. Keith; Directors, A. P. Hosford, S. Moses, S. Keith, C. E. Shattuck W. Goodale. The organization was at first an experiment in the co-oper plan of allowing the employes an interest in the profits. The main stru was the machine-shop built in the most substantial manner of brick, and the adjacent foundry, boiler and blacksmith shops covers a large share block, all the outlay being on the most lavish scale. Over $70,000 were and last expended in real estate and "plant." Owing, however, to a la unity or practical efficiency attendant upon a divided responsibility, the did not pay, though Mr. Hosford contributed money with a lavish hand, the company was largely indebted to him. It became more and more ev Digitized by Google

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that the joint-stock management would not become a paying one, so, in 1870, A. P. Hosford, by virtue of a mortgage foreclosure for the funds he had liber- ally advanced for the purchase of machinery and material, became sole owner. Since that time, under J. W. Brentlinger's superintendence, the works have so flourished that they have many times been unable to keep up with orders, and the output has comprised pieces of collossal and elaborate machinery, especially for saw-mills, that have been utilized throughout the Northwest. But the philanthropic owner has taken more pride and pleasure in the fact that the works have furnished remunerative employment to upward of from twenty-five to fifty skilled mechanics.

PAPER COMPANY.

In 1868, the Clinton Paper Manufacturing Company was organized, with A. P. Hosford, President, and A. Siddle, Secretary and Treasurer. Early in the summer the foundation for the needed buildings was laid, and, on the first day of December, 1868, they were completed, the complicated machinery in place, and the factory in successful operation. The establishment is 132 by 128 feet ; the capacity of the engine 100 horse-power; the average amount of wrapping-paper manufactured is 100 tons per month. When running to its full capacity, twenty-four hours per day, it consumes upward of seven tons of straw per day, thus affording a valuable market for a surplus raw product. In the upper part of the building is a tank holding some 10,000 gallons of water, which is thence distributed to necessary points in the building for use in prepar- ing the pulp and safety against fire.

THE LUMBER INTEREST.

The development of the saw-mill and lumbering interests of Clinton is practically synchronous with that of the city. In that industry, Clinton may, without vain vaunting, claim, in many respects, to lead the world. Probably there has been more lumber manufactured within the past decade, within the distance between the lowest and uppermost mills along the Clinton and Lyons river front, than anywhere else in the same area. Not only, however, in the amount of capital invested and in the bulk and value of product, have the lumber kings of this vicinity attained pre-eminence ; but in the quality of their staples, ingenuity in improving facilities for rapid and economical cutting, wise foresight in securing plenty of raw material, have not only advanced their interests and those of their town, but, by diminishing the cost to the consumer, developed the lumber trade itself.

The primitive method of bringing logs from the pineries to the mills along the Mississippi was by the floating raft, guided by powerful sweeps in the hands of its stalwart and, at a distance, picturesque crew, numbering from twenty-five to thirty men, whose wages figured very largely in the debit side of the season's balance. The rafts, when brought down in this manner, were necessarily strongly bound and pinned together. But, in 1865, Mr. W. J. Young made the then bold and novel experiment of pushing a raft by a stern- wheel steamer, in order to save both expense and time. The new method proved a success and revolutionized the system of furnishing the mills a log supply. It was also a relief to the passengers on the packets, that were no longer infested by the noisy and turbulent raft-crews returning to the lumber regions. The crews being kept together on their own proper boats, under efficient management, have, during late years, become far more tractable and orderly. The Clinton rafting-fleet alone numbers eight fine stern-wheel steam- ers, and gives employment to no less than 175 men. As the quality of the

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lumber was seriously impaired by the augur-holes for the pins and poles posed necessary to hold the old-fashioned raft together, Mr. Young introd another innovation, viz., brailed rafts-loose logs arranged in ranks and m surrounded with a log boom, which, by the raft-boat system, were swiftly safely propelled from the upper river to the Clinton mill booms.

In the early part of the present decade, the necessity was foreseen of stalling a possible insufficient supply of logs for the devouring Clinton Accordingly, the Mississippi River Logging Company was formed, in w Messrs. Lamb & Young, of Clinton, have been among the most promi members, and an ample supply of logs has since been secured from the ( pewa, and Beef Slough has been used by the company, virtually, as a distr ing-reservoir for logs. A bitter legal fight has been carried on in the U States Courts between the company and the local mill-men on the Chipp the latter seeking to prevent running loose logs down the river, on the gr of its obstructing the navigation (?) of that stream. But the Mississippi have hitherto carried their point, and, except when low water has preve have been able to secure plenty of raw material for Clinton's principal m facturing industry.

C. LAMB & SONS.

In the spring of 1856, Charles A. Lombard removed to Clinton Augusta, Me., in which section, before the development of the Northwest. the principal lumber region of the United States. He built a saw-mi what is now railroad ground. This mill, at that time justly deemed a val addition to the business of the town, was located very near the spot where stands the west bridge pier. Barring all accidents, and the logs run smoothly, it was capable of turning out four or five thousand feet of lu per day. Becoming soon wholly engrossed with important affairs conn with the railroad, Mr. L. relinquished the amusement of his little mill, assumed the more onerous duties of Treasurer of the road.

In January, 1857, Messrs. Gray & Lunt, also men from the Pine-tree S having purchased the Lombard saw-mill and sold the machinery to the rail were rebuilding the mill under the supervision of a partner spoken of b Herald of that date as "Chancey Lamb, an experienced millwright and lur man from New York, who, after its completion, would attend exclus to manufacturing lumber." Mr. Lamb aided the owners with all his skil experience to enlarge and improve the (compared with the present) dimin structure. Subsequently, Mr. Lamb purchased the entire mill of Gray & ] but had scarcely got fairly under headway, congratulating himself upon cious improvements and the favorable working of all his plans, when, on Oc 6, 1859, he suffered the first of a severe series of fire losses by the mill burned to the ground. But, to a man of Mr. Lamb's temperament, such a hap served only to stimulate his energy and ingenuity, so that befor charred embers had ceased smoking he was preparing to erect another mi greatly superior capacity. It was as rapidly as possibly pushed forward, began running in the spring of 1860. In 1868, the firm found it necessa build another mill to meet the increasing demand. Accordingly, the stone was begun in March, and started on September 1. It had a capaci 10,000,000 feet per season.

In 1876, a second fire broke out in the lumber district and destroyed upper mill belonging to Messrs. Lamb, inflicting a loss of $75,000. stupendous efforts on the part of the firemen the flames were prevented extending farther through the lumber-yards or to other mills. The mill, of co

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rebuilt and started up in May, 1877, with a capacity for turning out 125,000 feet per day. But even this was surpassed when, in the great fire of May, ' 1879, the magnificent new office of the firm was consumed, with an amount of lumber swelling the total loss to $50,000. But notwithstanding these severe reverses, the business of Messrs. Chancey, Artemus and Lafayette Lamb has unfalteringly progressed, and was never more flourishing than at present, employing between 500 and 600 men, and with a capacity of manufacturing during the current year 50,000,000 feet of lumber.

W. J. YOUNG & CO.

In the summer of 1858, W. J. Young opened a yard at Clinton to handle lumber manufactured by the Ohio Mill Company at La Crosse, Wis. Some idea of the increase since then of the Clinton lumber traffic may be obtained by contrasting the total sales of only about two million feet from 1858 to the winter of 1860, with the annual total sale of over fifty million feet in a good year for Clinton interests. On Mr. Young's suggestion it was determined to remove the mill to Clinton.

Ground was broken May 1, 1860, for its foundation, and so vigorously was the work pushed that the mill was sawing lumber on August 15, following. At this time, the railroad extended only to Cedar Rapids, and the people along the line were not as swift as might have been expected to appreciate the advan- tages of the new lumber market growing up at their very doors. But the quality, prices, and prompt shipping of Clinton, and the westward extension of the railroad caused such an increase in the demand that, in 1866, W. J. Young & Co., sold 9,100,000 feet.

In August, 1866, was begun the great mill on the point, at the junction of the river and Beaver Island Slough. It was finished within a year, and is undoubtedly one of the very largest in the world. An engine of 1,000 horse power, which, when put in, was by far the largest one west of the Mississippi, animated the machinery, the repair-room is a good sized machine-shop in itself, and nearly two hundred saws slice up the logs that pour in through three separate runways with a rapidity that would have seemed miraculous to the pit- sawyers who plied their laborious tasks a century ago.

The productive capacity of both mills has been continually augmented by ingenious labor-saving machinery till they are now capable, with a force of 400 men, of turning out 50,000,000 feet of lumber annually.

CLINTON LUMBER CO.

The first saw-mill owned by the Clinton Lumber Company was built in Lyons in 1857, and was there operated in the fall of that year, and the following spring. It then remained idle till the summer of 1859, when, in consideration of the difficulty in disposing of their lumber without railroad facilities for ship- ping, it was determined to remove both the mill and stock of lumber to Clinton. During the summer of 1859, this was accomplished, and considerable additions made to the mill, increasing its capacity and convenience. In 1861, the mill was again enlarged, and its capacity increased to 50,000 feet per day.

On January 4, 1866, the Clinton Lumber Company bought of Hosford & Miller their mill property in Clinton, and, during the summer, built a new double-gang mill of about the same capacity as the other, besides improving the first mill to the amount of $5,000; and, in January, 1867, increased their capital stock to $100,000. Since then, improvements have been made in the mills so that their total capacity is that indicated in the table annexed.

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The following is the approximate capacity of the Clinton Mills duri average season of nine months, working ten hours per day :

LUMBER.

W. J. Young & Co. .50,000,000 feet.

C. Lamb & Son .... .. 60,000,000 “.

Clinton Lumber Co. 15,700,000 «

Total 115,700,000 feet.

LATHS.

W. J. Young & Co. 40,000,000

C. Lamb & Son 10,000,000

Clinton Lumber Co. 1,680,000

Total 81,680,000

SHINGLES.

W. J. Young & Co. .30,000,000

C. Lamb & Son. 25,000,000

Clinton Lumber Co. 8,200,000

Total 63,200,000

PLANING.

W. J. Young & Co 20,000,000 feet.

C. Lamb & Son. 20,000,000 “

Clinton Lumber Co. 3,600,000 “

Total. 48,600,000 feet.

The first attempt to develop the splendid saw-mill sites at the point ab mile and a half below W. J. Young's large mill at the junction, betweer river and Beaver Island, a slough since known as Riverside, was mad Alfred Cobb, who, twenty-three years ago, almost simultaneously with the similar enterprises at Clinton, started to build a flouring-mill, changed his to a saw-mill, and cut up one raft. After the mill remained idle for a nu of years, the lumber business was revived at Riverside. Messrs. W. F. ( Ferreby, Milo Smith and Bomgardner, John Byng and S. W. Gardiner successively identified with Riverside saw-mill interests, and with the latte Lambs were for some time associated., They finally purchased the interes their associates in the Lamb-Byng Company, and now exclusively contro Riverside property, which comprises, in addition to the above-mentioned st ure, the Bon Ton Mill, built by Wheeler & Warner, in 1872, and since greatly enlarged and improved. The upper mill, the old Cobb structure, the third of the serious fire losses in the Lamb mill property, it being bu on the morning of February 23, 1877, involving a loss of $60,000. It since been replaced by a new structure that is confidently claimed to be most admirably equipped and efficient saw-mill, in proportion to its size cost, in the world. The Riverside property has been connected with the ton offices and mills of the firm by special horse railway and electric telepl and is protected from fire by a system of water-works and a steam fire-en The crowd of employes employed by the Riverside mills and yards have virt made the place conterminous with Clinton.

THE SASH. FACTORY.

The great improvement made in machinery during the past twenty marked a complete revolution in the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, ings, windows and door frames, etc. The establishment owned by Curtis & Co., was so recently built that all the modern improvements in mach

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have been used. The factory and store-room, were built by Messrs. Toll & Ankeny, who sold it to the present proprietors, they taking possession January 1, 1869. Since then, numerous improvements have been made, both in the machinery and processes, owing largely to the mechanical ingenuity of Mr. F. L. Blakely. During the " hard times " succeeding the revulsion of 1873, the fac- tory was run nearly or quite to its full capacity, and the product turned out is of so superior quality, both of material and workmanship, and the reputation of the firm so enviable, that orders flowed in upon them from the older, as well as the newer, sections of the great West, from Salt Lake to Minneapolis, and from Montana to Galveston. In all that vast region, homes have been made hand- somer, cheaper and more convenient, owing to the facilities for light, warmth and ventilation furnished by Clinton's and similar establishments along the river. Since the factory was built, successive additions have been made thereto, and its capacity has been more than trebled, till it is a busy hive, composed of two immense buildings, packed full of labor-saving machines and industrious arti- sans. A new fire proof storehouse was built on Twelfth avenue in 1877. The factory has several times narrowly escaped destruction by fire, especially when threatened on that night of November, 1876, by the severe fire that consumed Lamb's mill, the flames being arrested only by the heroic efforts of the firemen and employes. Constant vigilance delayed the loss that seems inevitable in every establishment of the kind, till the great fire of May, 1879, when 1,500,000 feet of seasoned lumber vanished in one hour, causing a loss of $50,000. At present, the number of workmen employed is about one hundred and eighty, the monthly pay-roll amounting to over $5,000, resulting in an annual output of upward of a quarter of a million dollars' worth of manufactured products. The firm consists of Messrs. J. E. Carpenter, Charles Curtis and George Curtis. The following-named gentlemen are at heads of departments : George Allen, F. P. Stone, E. L. Carpenter, W. W. Leslie, J. M. Mallory, Eli Lan- ning, George V. Harris and Eugene Craig. The speed and energy with which the work moved on at these shops may be inferred from the wonderful glazing record below appended, being the fastest ever performed and recorded in America or elsewhere, viz : John Stukas, assisted by O. Prunk, unpacked, set, pointed and puttied 4,008 8x10 window lights in ten hours.

BANKS.

Clinton National .- The first bank in Clinton was opened by D. W. Dakin, in 1857, in the Iowa Central Block.

In 1860, he disposed of his business to Messrs. Budd & Baldwin, whose inter- ests were, in 1863, purchased by W. F. Coan, during whose administration the bank was removed from between Sixth and Seventh avenues, on Front street, to the corner of Fifth avenue, now occupied by S. Shoecraft, and, on May 1, 1865, inerged in the Clinton National Bank, which was organized by some of the strongest capitalists of the city, with $60,000 capital. The first officers were : W. F. Coan, President ; Milo Smith, Vice President; J. A. Townsend, Cash- ier; Directors-C. Lamb, W. J. Young, I. B. Howe, J. C. Bucher, L. Wheeler, P. C. Wright and A. S. Ruddock. The bank has enjoyed uninterrupted pros- perity, its surplus being $50,000. The present officers are : W. F. Coan, President-having occupied the place since the bank's organization; G. B. Young, Vice President; J. C. Weston, Cashier; other Directors-W. J. Young, C. Lamb, A. Lamb, W. I. Hayes, I. B. Howe and C. H. Toll. In 1867, the bank purchased the lot on the corner of First street and Sixth avenue and erected their present commodious banking-house.

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Mr. Weston has been identified with the bank for ten years. In cha other departments are Messrs. R. Van Kuran, John Stuart and C. C. Co The Clinton County Savings Institution was organized in 1867, o more than for any other reason, to the desire of Messrs. C. Lamb and Young that their employes should have a secure place to deposit their su earnings, thereby being encouraged in economy and thrift. Its first o were : W. J. Young, President; C. Lamb, Vice President ; W. F. Treasurer. Its business has been transacted at the National. The exper was astonishingly successful, the Scandinavians proving the most numerous of depositors. To the prudent habits of Clinton workingmen and their p age of savings institutions, may be largely ascribed their tiding over dul sons with so little positive privation, and their building so many comfo and even elegant cottages during the same time of depression. The C savings-banks have always commanded the confidence of the community, during panic, and when many in large cities were breaking like bubbles. present officers are the same as above. The bank was re organized in 18'

Stone & Smith's .- Early in 1870, the business expansion of the city justified the establishment of a second bank, by Messrs. A. L. Stone and Smith, who had, for many years, conducted a successful business in New State. Ample means and careful and straightforward business method won for them a prominent place among our financial institutions, which h the present time, been steadily maintained. The bank occupies the St Block, on Fifth avenue, built expressly for its purposes, in 1873-74.

Farmers' and Citizens' .- On January 1, 1874, a second savings insti was established in Clinton, by Messrs. J. P. and Bidwell Gage, well-k Lyons financiers, the former being President of the Lyons National. built a convenient banking-house on Second street, just north of the C National, at a cost of $10,000, and opened the Farmers' and Citizens' S Bank, with a paid-up capital of $50,000. The institution has always managed with equal prudence and integrity, and, therefore, has naturally manded the confidence alike of rural and city depositors; its business ex largely into Illinois.

Haywood & Son's .- November 1, 1875, the Fourth street business s was more completely rounded out by the establishment of a bank by Mese Haywood & Son, in the building they put up expressly therefor, between and Tenth avenues. Having previously been identified with other ext business operations in Clinton, including real estate, the firm undertook banking enterprise with advantages that account for their subsequent su

To the banks of Clinton has been largely due the concentration and dis tion of the necessary capital for the development of many interests pert to trade, manufactures and farm improvements; judicious placing of from abroad in public and private loans and enterprises, and by their sour and safety aiding the revival of the city and tributary country after the d sion of recent years.

THE PRESS.

The first number of the Clinton Herald was issued on the 18th of D ber, 1856, by Charles E. Leonard, now of Chicago. Mr. Leonard remaine nected with it until October 1, 1863, having been, however, for the la previous years associated with H. B. Horton, under the firm name of & Leonard. When the general offices of the railroad company were re to Chicago, after having passed under control of the Galena road, Hor Leonard removed the fine job office connected with it to Chicago as the n

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The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its., Part 63

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 807

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 807