History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its Cities, Towns, Resources, People, Part 49

Author: Publius Virgilius Lawson
Publication date: 1948
Publisher: Chicago : C.F. Cooper
Number of Pages: 773

USA > Wisconsin > Winnebago County > History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its Cities, Towns, Resources, People > Part 49

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But I now come to another era-the breaking out of the Civil war. April 12. 1861. Fort Sumter was fired upon, and two days later, after being reduced to a mass of ruins, surrendered. April 15 President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops. There were no more political differences then; no more Democrats and Re- publicans; everyone was a I'nion man. The heart of the Na-

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

tion was stirred and Oshkosh, true to herself, at once responded. Two days after the President's proclamation a war meeting was gotten up, the call being signed by John Fitzgerald, Democratic mayor of our city; S. M. Hay, W. R. Kennedy and others. In less than a week at a meeting held in Washington Hall, where now stands the old National bank, Company F, Second Wiscon- sin Regiment, was formed, with Gabe Bouck for captain and John Hancock for first lieutenant. I leave to others who took part in that great struggle the history of Oshkosh in those days. Our people had but one thought and that was to do their share in this great work. The city of Oshkosh sent to the front her best blood, and the glorious record of her brave and noble sons in that desperate conflict will never perish. In the fall of 1862 the property known as the "old fair grounds," a tract of land just west of North park, was converted into a military camp. Here was stationed the Twenty-first Regiment with its two Oshkosh companies, Captain Paine's and Captain Godfrey's. A little later the Thirty-second Regiment was in camp at the same place -Camp Bragg it was called-and with it was the Oshkosh com- pany under Captain Freeman.

About the same time the people of Oshkosh had an Indian scare. It came during the dark days of the war when the cause of the Confederacy looked the brightest, when foreign powers were anxious to take a hand in the fight against the North, that we in Wisconsin were threatened with a domestic foe. In August, 1862, there had been a horrible massacre of whites by the Indians of Minnesota and the public mind was ripe for any rumors of an uprising here at home. About the first of Sep- tember of that year the report went abroad that all the Indians of the west were being organized in favor of the Confederacy ; that the South was furnishing ammunition of all kinds, and that the Menominees had agreed to join the coalition. "Dandy." an Indian chief. appeared to be at the head of the movement in Wisconsin. The people of the state were alarmed and Governor Solomon sent James Clark, of Winneconne. to Keshena to ascertain the disposition and intention of the Indians. Ah-co- ne-may, head chief of the Menominees, and Keshena, second chief of the nation, made speeches, assuring the people of Wis- consin that. as in the past, they were friendly to the North and true and loyal to the great father in Washington. Investigation afterward showed that. although they had been approached by "Dandy" and other emissaries of the South, the followers of

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH.

old Oshkosh could not be seduced from their ancient policy of friendship toward the government.

In 1868 the Oshkosh Yacht Club was organized, and in 1871 our second railroad was built by a connection with the St. Paul Company at Ripon.

In 1880 the city council secured connection with the Mil- waukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway by a line from Oshkosh to Hortonville. This road afterward passed into the hands of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company.

In 1882 the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, by an or- ganization known as the Milwaukee & Lake Winnebago Rail- road Company, extended its line from Neenah south through the city to Oshkosh as far as Milwaukee and thence to Chicago, thereby giving Oshkosh its third railway.

In 1882 the Oshkosh Street Railway Company was organized with authority to operate a horse-car line in the city of Osh- kosh. The line was operated by animal power until 1897, when the horse-car company sold its line to the Citizens' Traction Company, and thereafter the street car system was operated by electricity. In 1898 the interurban line to Neenah was con- structed and in 1901 the Omro interurban line was built, and in 1904 the Eastern Wisconsin Railway & Light Company en- tered the city with its system from the south. The Citizens' Traction Company passed into the hands of another corporation known as the Winnebago Traction Company, and that corpora- tion at the time of this writing (1898) has transferred its prop- erty to the Eastern Wisconsin Railway & Light Company, so that the entire interurban system centering around Oshkosh is operated under one management. .

In 1875 the Northern Hospital, just north of the city, was completed .and the same year the Masonic Temple was erected.

In 1877 the present paid fire department was organized, and two years later Alexian Brothers Hospital was built.

In 1880 and 1881 the city of Oshkosh and surrounding coun- try suffered greatly from high water.

In 1883 the Oshkosh Water Works Company was granted a franchise, and the next year a new modern system of water- works was installed. In 1883 the Grand Opera House was built. In 1884 the Electric Light Company was incorporated. In 1887 and 1888 the city hall was constructed, and in the latter year the First Ward school was built. In 1891 St. Mary's Hospital was opened.

514 HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

In 1870 the Normal school, one of the principal institutions of learning in our city, was constructed, and its doors were first opened September 12, 1871. The school opened with an attend- ance of forty-six pupils, but in 1875 the whole number enrolled was 323. In 1900 the school had an enrolment of 701 pupils at a total cost of $56,725.44, and this year (1908) there are 950 pupils enrolled in that institution. The institution is one of which the citizens of our state have always been justly proud. At the present time (1908) a very substantial addition thereto is being constructed.

In 1892 the new Wisconsin avenue bridge was opened, and in 1906 the new magnificent structure spanning Fox river and connecting North and South Main streets was finished and opened to the public. In 1899 the corner stone of the Oshkosh Public Library building was laid. A history of this institution would be very interesting, but lack of space forbids details. To Marshall Harris and his wife, Abbie Harris, the citizens of Osh- kosh are indebted for this structure. Mrs. Harris in her will left upward of $75,000 to the city of Oshkosh for the erection and maintenance of a public library on condition that the municipality raise a like sum within three years. The late Sena- tor Sawyer contributed $25,000 of the required amount and the city raised $50,000. The bequest was accepted, and today Osh- kosh has a beautiful structure with a well-equipped library upon a beautiful site on Washington street between Mount Vernon street and Jefferson avenue. The new library was opened up to the public September 1, 1900. The library was not conducted under the Harris will previous to that, but by an organization known as "The Oshkosh Library." The present officers are ap- pointed under the existing state library act. They are: C. D. Cleveland. president; Thomas Daly, vice-president, and J. HI. Jenkins, secretary and treasurer. The librarian until recently was Miss Maud Durlin, and the assistant librarian is Miss Mary A. Olcott.

The people of Oshkosh have always been proud of their city: they were so at the time of its organization and they are so today. Many changes, however, have taken place since Oshkosh first became a city. We have still our grand river. 600 feet wide, almost as broad and deep as the Thames at London. Lake Winnebago, with an area of 212 square miles, its waters covered with numerous craft. its shores dotted with beautiful cottages. is still here. But instead of two small banking houses we have

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH.

now four national banks-the old National, the National Union, the Commercial National and the German National-and three state banks-the German-America, the South Side Exchange and the State Bank of Oshkosh. We have also one trust com- pany-the Oshkosh Savings & Trust Company. The deposits in our city banks today are upward of $6,000,000.

Oshkosh today, as in times past, is a lumber center. In 1907 upward of 70,000,000 feet of lumber were sawed in our city. With three modern mills the lumber sawed here each year is within 70 per cent of the output of the fourteen mills running in Oshkosh forty years ago. Our saw mills received about 4.800 cars of logs in 1907, and about 30,000,000 feet came down our river from the pineries of the north.

There are six sash, door and blind factories in our city, with an invested capital of upward of $4,000.000. doing an annual business of $6,000,000. These institutions turn out daily 6,000 doors, which means 600 an hour and ten every minute. In ad- dition 10,000 windows are daily made, and there are employed in these institutions 3,000 laborers. Oshkosh has also the largest match factory in the Union. It requires more than $1,200 daily to pay the freight charges on the matches shipped out. There has been constructed in the past year a mammoth building on High street by the Diamond Match Company. This new structure was made necessary by the increased business of the company at this point.

There are numerous furniture factories in Oshkosh which do a business of about $1,000.000 a year. The combined output of carriages and wagons by the manufacturers of our city amounts yearly to $700,000. The output of trunks in 1907 amounted to $750,000. There are two trunk factories, employing about 750 men. Nearly 24,000 caskets and coffins were shipped from Osh- kosh in 1907. Of this number more than 16,000 were manufac- tured here. The products of the machine shops and iron-work- ing industries of Oshkosh in 1907 were nearly a million dollars. These industries employ about 500 hands.

Oshkosh has become possessed of a comparatively new indus- try within the past six years. This is the building of boats and boat engines. The two industries are conducted separately and the aggregate output is estimated at $300.000 annually. Marine gasoline engines made in Oshkosh possess a national reputation and represented last year a business much greater than a quar-

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

ter of a million dollars. Frequent shipments are made to foreign countries.

Three wholesale grocery houses carry stocks valued at $150,- 000 and do a business of about $900,000 yearly.

The three railroads centering at Oshkosh do a large business. Thirty-two passenger trains and forty-eight freight trains arrive and depart daily from Oshkosh. In 1907 the city shipped out 17,215 carloads of manufactured products. The daily cash re- ceipts of these railroads is $6,900, the yearly receipts aggregat- ing more than $2,000,000.

The volume of business done in the retail dry goods houses of Oshkosh last year in dry goods exclusively reached a total of $850,000. The retail grocery stores, numbering ninety, did a business of about a million and a quarter. Oshkosh in 1907 consumed 20,000 tons of hard coal and 30,000 tons of soft coal, valued at about $300,000.

Oshkosh today is a modern, up-to-date city-very different from the pioneer lumber town where people used to go "to have fun with the boys." Instead of plank roads the three great trunk lines of the state enter our city, and we have in addition interurban lines which connect us with surrounding cities. In- stead of ferries, fine bridges span our river. The volunteer com- pany has gone and a most efficient fire department has taken its place. A magnificent system of waterworks supplements our fire department and furnishes our citizens with an abundant supply of pure water. The ox team of the pioneer is no longer seen upon our streets, but over broad thoroughfares, paved with macadam, brick and asphalt, pass fine carriages, automobiles and electric cars. Even the horse railroad has come and gone and the electric railway with interurban connections has taken its place. Electricity furnishes light to our business houses and streets and power to our industries. Our homes are heated and lighted with gas. Fine public buildings, handsome .churches and beautiful homes adorn our city. The magnificent public library above referred to has superseded the humble institution which existed at the birth of our city. Our system of public schools is one of the finest in the state, and with the Normal school located in Oshkosh the educational advantages, of our citizens are unsurpassed. For recreation and rest our citizens have attractive and beautiful parks. The stores of our mer- chants are noted throughout northern Wisconsin. Our manu- facturing industries are prosperous and flourishing and supply

HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH.

the world with their products. Our hotel accommodations are the finest in the state. Numerous new improvements are con- templated. Oshkosh has grown in the past and will continue to grow in the future. The men who laid the foundation of Oshkosh are gone, but their children are here today in their place. The blood of the old pioneer is in their veins; the ex- ample of their fathers is before them, and they cannot fail. And Oshkosh, fair city of the beautiful lake, will continue to grow and prosper, as was prophesied at her birth down to the end of our republic.

XLII.

MANUFACTURING IN OSHKOSH. The Romance of Wood. By Edward Balch Barr.

The history of Oshkosh is a story of trees-giant pines, cedars and hemlocks, in early days floated and driven less than fifty miles down river from the deep forests to the mills; in later years carried hundreds of miles by water or farther even by train from all the corners of the hemisphere to feed the unsatis- fied saws.

Oshkosh, the Sawdust City, was founded on sawdust.

The most important industries of this thriving community, the leader in the manufacture of lumber, are located on the marshes of its village days, which have become solid earth through fifty years' accumulation of slabs and sawdust.

Once not so very long ago nothing was good but pine, from the lumbermen's standpoint, and the immense clear logs were driven in from the contiguous territory of the lower Wolf, sup- plying thirty small mills which lined the river in the growing Oshkosh. All the slabs and odds and ends were refuse, fit only for the mill sites of a later generation.

But the timber line receded northward until the forests of the lower Wolf river were only memories; in place of the thirty small mills came three or four others, among them one which is the largest in existence. And while in the old days only the rough boards were used as the material came from the saws, now everything is utilized in the making of sash and doors and blinds and lath and shingles and everything else that may be worked from wood. And as the Wisconsin forests were still further diminished and the world called upon the state for more lumber. Wisconsin in turn demanded its timber of the West. It is still coming-perfect fir from the forests of Washington and Oregon. clean yellow pine from the Gulf states, big cedar from

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MANUFACTURING IN OSHKOSH.

all over the North and mahogany and rosewood from the Ama- zon country. The supply comes from two continents, but goes out again, transformed not only back to all the cities of the Western empire, but to every European and oriental people. Every second workmen in Oshkosh handle timber.

In spite of setbacks the city has grown in every direction. until in 1908 it is in a way to become not only a municipality of 40,000 inhabitants, but a metropolis of a thousand distinct in- terests. With the years it will rank in wealth and size accord- ing as it now takes position for strength and importance. After all, the sawdust foundation was secure.

. .

Ride an hour by rail northwest from Oshkosh until you cross the Wolf river at Gill's Landing. There, where now is good farming country bordered by river bottoms, were begun the log- ging operations which were to make Oshkosh. In an early day all the logging was done between Gill's Landing, Fremont and the little Oshkosh, and it was so thorough that none of the tim- ber remains. At first nothing but white pine and a small amount of Norway pine was cut. The annual drive in the late fifties was probably 80,000,000 feet-splendid quality, all that timber. As the years went on the logging line was extended up the historic Wolf to Shawano, but it was not until the time of the Civil war that improvements were made on the upper river north of Shawano so that timber could be floated down from the northern forests.

The drive was not all rafted to Oshkosh. At Bay Boom all the logs were assembled and sorted, and there is a record in Harney's "History of Winnebago County" of rafts being towed up the Fox river. In the memory of old settlers large rafts were taken from Bay Boom through Lakes Poygan and Win- neconne to the Fox river. thence towed to Portage and through the canal to the Wisconsin river and by that route to the Missis- sippi. Along the Fox above Oshkosh some lumbering was done early. The "Oshkosh Democrat" of July 6, 1849, says :

"In our tramp last week we passed through Omro, a new town started on Fox river five miles above the junction with the Wolf. It is not a town yet, but its proprietors tell us that it is a central place, that several new leading roads cross the river at that place and that it cannot fail to grow. Dean, Beck- with & Co. are building a steam sawmill there."

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

First Sawmills.

In 1847, shortly after the completion of the Fox river bridge at Ferry street (now Main street) by the Fox River Bridge Company, two steam sawmills were erected in Oshkosh at about the same time. One was built by Morris Firman at the mouth of the river on the South Side and the other by Forman & Bash- ford at Algoma. Algoma at that time was a separate settlement and the residents of Oshkosh, which centered east of Main street, regarded Algoma's separation by two miles as something of a stone wall. The rivalry between the two towns was spir- ited. Later Algoma boomed into a full-fledged town and an at- tempt was made to incorporate it as a distinct city. The divid- ing lines were imperceptible, owing to the growth between the two places, and in the end Algoma became West Algoma, which it is to this day. Now it is largely made up of residences and is a part of the city of Oshkosh.

It is stated by IIarney that the mill of Forman & Bashford at Algoma sawed the first lumber. A third mill was built by Shel- don & Hubbard, and a fourth by Reed, Wyman & Co. Not long afterward mills were erected by J. P. Coon. Geer & Co., Stilson & Chase and Joseph Porter. The firm of Brand & Sawyer in 1848 came into ownership of the Forman & Bashford mill.

"This was the beginning." says Harney (1880), "of that vast lumber industry of Oshkosh that has since grown to such great proportions."

Most of the lumber was sold rough and the bulk of that was shipped away without further manufacture. Oshkosh had no railroad connection for a number of years, so that the lumber was loaded on seows and taken to Fond du Lac for shipment by rail. The seow and incident tugboat service was an industry in itself. while for thirty years following 1847 sailing schooners were used largely in transporting the lumber from Oshkosh to other points on these waters. It was no uncommon thing for a load to be sailed to Fremont. notwithstanding all the windings of the Wolf river, or down the Fox river to Green Bay.

The first grist mill was built by Forman & Co. in 1848 at Algoma, filling a want that had been felt by the settlers the pre- ceding two years. Up to that time the grain had been taken across to Manchester, on the east shore of Lake Winnebago, for grinding. while at an early day it was packed all the way from Green Bay by the Indians following the canoe route.

While the manufacture of sash. doors and blinds did not de-

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MANUFACTURING IN OSHKOSH.

velop into the principal industry for years, these products were made in Oshkosh as early as 1849. Advertising in "The Demo- crat" in 1849 were Chapman & Abbott, proprietors of a sash, door and blind factory, and John J. Fort, operating a sash fac- tory. This same year there were advertised in "The Democrat" G. D. Bullen's tannery, the Oshkosh Brewery (Scheussler & .Freund), Barnes & Moody's wagon and carriage shop, Forman's flouring mill, Williams' foundry and G. S. Olin's Fox River Iron Works.

"The Democrat" files present a complete record of the early Oshkosh. Some items preserved by Harney are diverting, by the way. Witness an entry on September 6, 1850: "In all our experience we have never seen such long, uninterrupted, con- tinued and excessively wet and cold weather for the time of year as we have had since the first of July. The whole country is a perfect ocean." The high water of 1850 and 1851 caused much damage and some fear of flood. Nevertheless, "The Demo- crat" editor says on April 25, 1851: "Prosperity seems to be the word with all."

Oshkosh early became a center. The call of the manufac- turers for a railroad connecting Oshkosh with Milwaukee was summarized in the following argument in 1853:

"In the angle formed by the two rivers (the Fox and the Wolf) are the entire counties of Waushara, Waupaca and Shawano and parts of Marquette and Winnebago. These rivers are the outlet of this whole extent of country, and Oshkosh is the key and commanding mart of the whole."-"Milwaukee Sentinel."

The first beveled siding ever manufactured, it is believed, was made in Oshkosh. William Butterick and Ira Griffin operated a sawmill and planing mill under the name of Griffin & But- terick, and Mr. Thomas Roche states that in 1855 he "took away" beveled siding from a saw fed by Mr. Butterick. It is not thought that any of this kind of siding had been made any. where before this time.

In 1856 the first steps were taken to afford fire protection to the city, which had left its village days three years behind. A volunteer fire engine company. then known as Pioneer No. 1, was organized. Later this company was named Niagara No. 1.

The next year "The Courier." dilating upon the prosperity of the young city. counts up the assets of Oshkosh in this way (May 1, 1857) : "Our lumbering business is immense and in-

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

creasing each year. Acres and acres of logs are coming down Wolf river and are either used at our mills or disposed of for the mills below us. The amount of lumber manufactured and the capital employed in this city alone would astonish even our own citizens. There are eighteen sawmills, running nearly 100 saws altogether, besides shingle, lath and sash machines; two grist mills kept constantly going with custom work; two heavy foundry and machine shops; two large shops for the manufac- ture of agricultural implements, besides a host of other manu- facturing mechanical establishments. Our population has in- creased from 4,184 on the first day of June, 1855, to over 8,000 at the present time, as ascertained by Messrs. Kohlmann & Brother, who have been engaged in taking the census prepara- tory to getting out a city directory. Take it all in all, Oshkosh is far ahead of any of its rivals and is bound to take its position as the second city in Wisconsin."

Now let us see how the prophecy turned out. Oshkosh was to suffer by fire-once, twice, three times-most severely, and the test for the City of Sawdust would have been hard for any community.

Among the mills operating in 1857 were those of James & Stille, Joseph Porter, Philetus Sawyer (later United States senator), C. N. Paine & Co. (which was succeeded in later years by the Paine Lumber Company, Limited) and the partnership of D. L. Libbey and John Chase. What was known as "the old gang mill" was owned by Burnham & Knapp, and after some time it became the property of Capt. James Jenkins, the father of J. Howard Jenkins, now president of the German National Bank. This mill was located on the site of the present power house of the Winnebago Traction Company. One Sheldon had a mill on the South Side. A syndicate owned a mill standing where the Wisconsin avenue bridge now touches the south bank of the river, a place then known as "Jackson's Point." In the syndicate were Carter & Danforth, Barker & Preddyman, Jef- ferson Bray and William Bray. For a time they had a flouring mill in connection with it. Mr. Leander Choate was employed in this sawmill and later owned the plant. A planing mill, the predecessor of the great plant of the Morgan Company, was operated by John R. Morgan and his brother, Richard T. Morgan.

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History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its Cities, Towns, Resources, People, Part 49

Author: Publius Virgilius Lawson Publication date: 1948 Publisher: Chicago : C.F. Cooper Number of Pages: 773

Author: Publius Virgilius Lawson
Publication date: 1948
Publisher: Chicago : C.F. Cooper
Number of Pages: 773