USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 11
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O. E. Priest and his son came to Mosinee from New York, settling there in 1853, on land about four miles north of Mosinee. O. E. Priest enlisted in July 1861, served throughout the war, and was honorably discharged June 7, 1865, when he returned to the old place. He was in many of the hard-fought battles on the eastern peninsula, serving in the Potomac Army.
In very early days a village had been platted on the east side of the river, and a little tavern built there, which is still standing. Of course it was expected that a village should grow up there, but that hope, with many others, vanished. That tavern was one of the four prominent places on which one of the four notices for the first election in Marathon county was posted up. It was run by George Kollock, and sold by him in 1852 to Mr. William Blair. The village did not materialize; the travel for many years was very limited, and Mr. Blair had a hard time to make ends meet, although he and his worthy wife did their best to entertain travelers and make them com- fortable. Other misfortunes came upon them. Mr. Blair was a patriotic citizen, and at Lincoln's first call he went to the front; was wounded at the
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Battle of Shiloah and taken prisoner. After three months he was exchanged, still sick, taken to a hospital and there died, and was buried in the National cemetery at Chattanooga. Mrs. Blair was left alone, with three children and a small tavern on a roadside. She, like her husband, had come from Scot- land, and had the tenacity and perseverance which distinguishes that race.
Like Spartan mother, she took care of her children, while at the same time she managed her tavern, which retained its fine reputation. Teamsters going to or coming from Stevens Point with supplies made it a point to either get at least one meal there or stay overnight. Under her management the business grew, Mrs. Blair having added some farin land to her possessions.
Mrs. Blair was one of the noble educated pioneer women of Marathon county. Of fine personal appearance, and endowed with rare intelligence and an inborn capacity for hotel management, looking after the comfort of her guests, often under the perplexing circumstances incident to pioneer life. She was sympathetic and charitable, always ready to assist where assistance was needful. The Indians were always more numerous around Mosinee than Wausau, and sometimes they would commit little thefts, and more often beg. Mrs. Blair had a way of dealing with them which made them respectful, and at the same time they held her high in esteem. She would treat them kindly, but kept them in proper reserve. Her tavern was not infrequently the visit of Wausau people when they wanted to enjoy a first class old- fashioned dance.
She prospered and had the satisfaction to see her children grow up, like her, respected and honored members of society.
David Roberts came to Mosinee in 1850, and for the first nine years worked as a pinery man in the camps and mills; then he engaged in lumber- ing for himself until 1882; then in general merchandise, in which he was quite successful. Like all pioneers, he was a man of good parts, serving his town and village in official capacities, also as postmaster, and did his full share to make his name one to be held in grateful memory.
F. L. Demars came as early as 1856, as a common laborer, from Canada ; later tried farming, and since 1871 has kept a store in Mosinee. He has had his share of hard times, too, but enjoys the best of health in his ripe old age, with a comfortable competency well earned.
Another employee of Joseph Dessert who rose to an honorable position in the business world in the pinery, was J. R. Bruneau. He was a native of Canada, arriving at Mosinee in May, 1857, entered the employ of Joseph Dessert as bookkeeper and salesman in the store, remaining in that capacity
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until 1866, when the opened a general store for himself, and later engaged in lumbering ; but the confidential relation between himself and his former employer never changed. J. R. Bruneau was afterwards elected county treas- urer of Marathon county, and several times reelected, and made an envious record in that office.
William Cuer, one of the earliest settlers in Mosinee, was for over thirty years the star pilot of Little Bull Falls. He ran more fleets over those falls than all other pilots combined, and with less damage; never a single man drowned on a piece run over Little Bull which was piloted by William Cuer.
William Gilbert, also a pioneer and highly respected citizen, was a suc- cessful pilot, running Little Bull. He had just put a fleet successfully through, when on the last rapids piece he was swept off the raft and drowned, on April 19, 1872.
It was but natural that the fine hardwood and farm lands within a few miles from Mosinee should in time attract attention.
People of different nations, when they go to a foreign country, will try to be with their countrymen. That is the reason why the north German settlers, who first settled in the present towns of Berlin and Main, attracted other north Germans; why in and around Marathon City southern Germans settled, the Pittsburg club being all from the southern part of Germany.
The splendid lands west of Mosinee, all vacant and wild, were first in- vaded by the Irish, and others followed, and thus it became in time the "Irish Settlement."
The pioneer farmer in that community was Thomas O'Connor. Before coming there he worked in a rolling mill in Wauwatosa, now part of Mil- waukee. He had a family and, like the Pittsburg settlers, made up his mind that he could be more independent, and make better provisions for his family by making a farm than by continuing to work in the mill, with its uncer- tainties of laying off and the consequent failure of earnings, etc. He bought 160 acres in township 27, range 6: fine hardwood land, and the fact that it was all wild and unimproved for miles around did not deter him.
With a yoke of cattle and a wagon, he moved his family, consisting of wife and five children, the oldest ten, and the youngest less than one year, up north, coming to Mosinee in 1860, then cut out a road for nine miles to his land, and then commenced to start his farm. He was a stalwart man of six feet, not afraid of the hardest kind of work, but he too needed all the grit, the dogged perseverance and economy to carry him through the first years of farm life. He was held in the highest esteem by all his neighbors and acquaintances, often representing his town as chairman in the county
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board, and he was elected member of assembly for the western district of Marathon county in 1890.
He was a man of sterling character, well educated, who could speak inter- estingly on many topics, especially farming, and his conversation was fre- quently interspersed with native Irish wit. After he had opened the road, others came, among them Felix McGuire, who had been working in Mosinee for many years; but it was the example of Thomas O'Connor who encour- aged him to take up farming, and he too made a success. Others were Edward Fitzgerald and his brother, James Murrey, Timothy Kennedy and William Hayes and his sons, Patrick Burns, Garret Hughes, William Keefe and John Keefe. They all settled soon after Thomas O'Connor, but it must not be believed that they were all close together. The Irish settlement was stretched out over much territory, much like the German settlements. The "Irish Settlement," so-called, includes the area now covered by the present towns of Emmett, Mosinee, and Cleveland. All that was said of the pioneers of the towns of Berlin and Main and Marathon applies with equal force to the settlers in the Irish settlements, only they began a few years later. They occupy as fine a section of Marathon county as can be found anywhere, not only in the county, but in the state; and their farms are models of good husbandry.
KNOWLTON.
In 1853, a German family, consisting of Thomas Stark, father, and wife and his three sons, Anthony, Wendell and Alois, settled on land in the present village of Knowlton. They were the first comers, and being carpenters, they engaged in making shingles and hewed square timbers for a couple of seasons, which they rafted and floated down to points below.
A few years afterwards they built a steam mill, which was burned in 1870, and rebuilt and operated by them until the year 1899, when the timber was exhausted in the neighborhood. Each of the brothers also made a fine farm. Leonhard Guenther came from Beaver Dam, in the pinery, as early as 1849, working in mills and camps in the neighborhood, and having taken care of his earnings, he was able to purchase the tavern at Knowlton owned by J. X. Brands, immediately after his marriage in 1854 to a daughter of Thomas Stark. The tavern was called the Knowlton House, and after the completion of the Wausau and South Line road, did a splendid business, there being no more popular stopping place between Wausau and Stevens Point. Leonhard Guenther was the prince of a landlord, with an excellent wife to supervise the culinary department. At the completion of the Wis-
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consin Valley Railroad to Wausau in 1874, this tavern, like all others on the road, lost much of the business, which was to be expected. Leonhard was at that time a member of the county board of Marathon county, and see- ing that a railroad would be of immense benefit to the whole county, although it would, in the first instance, hurt his hotel business, nevertheless subordi- nated his own personal advantage to the advantage of the whole population, and gave his aid and influence to secure the building of the railroad. He then invested in some real estate in Wausau, intending to open a hotel at this place, but died before his plans materialized in Knowlton in May, 1876. The tavern still exists, with a spacious hall besides, which is the center for popular gatherings on festival occasions. His four sons, Charles, Anthony, Thomas and Leonhard, still live in Knowlton and are engaged in land and real estate, in commercial business and farming.
KEELERVILLE.
Bull Junior is a small stream which empties in the Wisconsin a little distance above the east end of the dam at Little Bull Falls. A short distance above its mouth it runs close to the high bank of the Wisconsin, then takes a sharp turn to the south and east before it empties finally in the main river. A shrewd native American by the name of Keeler cut a canal from where the stream flows nearest to the river, diverted its course, and in that way obtained a high fall, which he used to run a little saw mill as early as 1855. Mr. William Gouldsbury bought the property in 1862, rebuilt the mill, oper- ated it until 1870, when he sold it to Sebastion Kronenwetter, who in turn operated until 1903, when sawing on this creek ended. This little settlement was called Keelerville, from its owner. Not long after the mill was first established a saloon was established too near the mill, which became the scene of a tragedy. An Indian was killed in a drunken fight, which for a time threatened the peace of the community.
THE EAU PLAIN MILL SETTLEMENT.
A little saw mill was built in section 13, township 26, range 5 E. by Andrew Weeks as early as 1849, who sold to his brother, John Weeks, in 1851. John Weeks enlarged the mill after circular saws were used, also run a shingle mill; both mills operated by steam as well as water until it burned in 1881, when it was not rebuilt, owing to the absence of railroad communication. For many years, like all other mills in the Wisconsin pinery,
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all provisions had to be brought from Stevens Point and up the Eau Plain river nine miles above its mouth, by canoes, there being no other mode of communication.
John Weeks, nevertheless, made a success by his industry and economy ; he was often elected as a member of the county board of Marathon county, and when the mill burned, he purchased the Owen Clark water power in Stevens Point, where he sawed the remaining part of his large pine holdings on the Eau Plain, which mill is still operated by his sons. Many years after the mill was located, John Weeks succeeded in getting a fine turnpike road to his mill from Dancy, the nearest railroad station on the Wisconsin Valley Railroad. He was one of the first Scandinavians arriving in the United States, as early as 1839. He died at Stevens Point on June 14, 1891.
FOREST VILLE.
Few people in Marathon county ever knew of that village; it was an example of the fever of real-estate speculation of the early days of Wisconsin. It covered the north 12 of the southwest 14 and south 1/2 of the southwest 1/4 and southwest 14 of the southeast 1/4 of section 23, township 26 north of range 8 east, and a fraction of lots 5, 6 and 7 of section 28 in the same town and range. It was platted by one W. G. Blair, John Phillips, John Dubay, and William Walton in June, 1857. Never a lot appears to have been sold, and the whole village was wiped out by tax sales. It is near the present village of Knowlton, and the owners no doubt had visions of high prices for city lots when they plotted it. The plot was acknowledged in Chicago, Illinois, from which fact the inference is drawn that Chicago parties had an interest in the land, but the name of J. B. Dubey disclosed an inhabitant of the neigh- borhood, it being the same J. B. Dubay heretofore mentioned as Indian trader, and owner of a little mill on the Eau Claire river.
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CHAPTER X.
The First Newspaper-The Steamboat-New Arrivals at Wausau-County Orders-County Commissioners-Hard Times.
Under the circumstances mentioned in the foregoing chapter, it is not surprising that there was little increase in the population from 1850 to 1855, one would rather look for a decrease; but the hardest time had passed for the new settlement, and better times were in sight, although slowly com- ing. The boom for Wisconsin lands continued, and while in former years lands in the southern part of the state were sought by speculators, the demand shifted now to northern lands, and thousands of acres were sold weekly at the land office at Stevens Point, which were mainly taken for the timber by speculators. The influx of farmers in 1856 had given a wide advertisement to this county, and the inflation of currency in banknotes gave an impetus to the acquiring of real estate. Wausau, too, had its men- tion as a prosperous village, and people came here to engage in lumber trade.
The mail service had improved; instead of one, there was a three weekly service, mail arriving and going out three times a week.
The name of the postoffice of Little Bull had been changed to Mosinee. Lumber prices had been rising, selling as high as $18 a thousand in St. Louis. Mills had been improved and steam portable mills introduced, the first one by Dr. D. B. Wylie: next another one by M. Stafford; the four mills in Wausau now cut 100,000 feet daily, and all that with the increase of the farming population, had its good effect on business. The highway to Stevens Point had been cut out in places and was to be completed, and the general despondency following the first years immediately before and after the organization of the county gave way to a feeling of cheerfulness and security. Buildings were erected in Wausau, and the little pinery town assumed an air of thrift unknown theretofore.
And now, in 1857. the first weekly newspaper, The Central Wisconsin, made its appearance, a neat and sprightly sheet, with J. W. Chubbuck as founder and editor, who was endowed with a fine literary vein, and was a
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keen observer. That event was duly celebrated with a banquet held in Forest Hall, where toasts were spoken and the festivities closed with grand dance. Some of the toasts announced and responded to are worthy of being men- tioned, as throwing a light on the mental caliber of the pioneers, Dr. Gordon acting as toastmaster. The first toast proposed was:
"Our Chubbuck. May he entwine the rope of literature around the horns of the Big Bull and lead him out into the green fields of wealth and renown."
Second toast : "The Village of Wausau. May its great natural advan- tages be improved by art to the utmost extent, and where the forest pine now stands, may the spires of a city rise-the homes of thousands, and a great center of inland trade and commerce."
Third toast : "The Boys of the Pinery, the bones and sinews of Central and Northern Wisconsin. May they be worthy of the Pinery Girls."
In the local news of that paper of April 29th, 1857, a bit of news gives an index to the business of that time at Wausau, viz :
"The ice has gone out, six rafts of timber and three of lumber belonging two to Huntley of Boon county, Illinois, started out on Sunday; two fleets of W. D. McIndoe, two of Lymann, two of B. Barnes, two of Walrod and one of Doolittle."
The fleets may safely estimated to be of half a million feet each, if not more.
"Colonel Shuter sold village lots last week to the amount of $4,500.00.
"Dr. Gordon prepares the foundation of a building on Jefferson street, and William Bradford will build a house on 3d street" (where the Nicolls block now stands).
"The bank of the river above the falls is lined with rafts; the Scholfield mill, burned last fall, has been rebuilt and has a gang edger of 21 saws, which recently cut 21,000 feet in day time, and is the only gang edger in the county."
Another item, speaking of losses, says:
"Three men were drowned at Grand Rapids, two at the Clinton dam."
"Three rapids pieces belonging to J. G. Goodhue, above Little Bull, broke loose, became unmanageable and passed through the falls to destruction."
This news of men being drowned and lumber lost was nothing very rare, rather occurred every year, Little Bull on the whole exacting the most lives.
The Ontonagon mail service was always carried on under great difficul- ties. The mail was brought down from there and started up from here.
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As may be imagined, the trip could not always be made on time, often was delayed by storms, and mail was detained; towards spring when the snow melted, the trail was not passable at all, and all mail was stopped.
A large amount of such mail was held at Wausau, and on the 20th day of May, 1857, the postmaster Thomas Single, contracted with Levy Flem- ming to carry the accumulated mail from here to Ontonagan for $300.
There were about fifteen sacks of mail, and Mr. Flemming started out with the help of another man by bark canoe up north. They made the jour- ney together as far as Grandmother Falls, when in portaging Mr. Flemming lost his assistant and was forced to proceed alone. He started alone on his journey by water until he reached Eagle, then carried the mail over the divide afoot, going with one sack and coming back for another, until he had one-half of it again on the bank of a river; then with that half of the mail he went to Ontonagon; came for the rest to Eagle, and started again for Ontonagon. He deposited the last sack of mail on June 13th, then started for home. A trip like that, under the conditions as they were at the time, would seem like an impossibility today.
Another advertisement published in The Central Wisconsin in May, 1857, is now interesting reading :
"Daily line of Stages: between Wausau and Mosinee, connecting with the steamer 'Northerner,' leaves Wausau every morning, arriving at Mosinee in time to connect with the steamer at that place. Return will leave Mosinee on the arrival of the steamer; at Wausau at 6 o'clock in the evening."
Prices in 1857: at Wausau-Flour. $8.00 per barrel; pork, $37.00 per barrel; white sugar. 18 cents per lb. ; brown sugar, 17 cents per lb.
The assessment for 1857 shows a large increase in property as against the former year, viz :
Number of acres assessed, 314.026; value. $ 934,277.00
Value of village lots. 77,809.00
Value of personal property 236,140.00
Total $1,248,226.00
As against valuation in 1851, which was $ 92,000.00
In 1854, which was. 227,252.00
In 1855, which was. 301,743.00
In 1856, which was. 486,134.00
The immense rise in the valuation can only be explained by the large amount of lands sold by the government, which thereby became taxable after being surveyed, in 1852 and 1853; but the rise in personal property is
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explained on the much larger output of lumber and shingles, which was encouraged by the general demand for the same throughout the west, all along the Mississippi, and the inflation of currency by banknotes.
But the shadow of liard times became visible.
In the issue of September, 1857, of the Central, that paper says :
"Eastern papers report the failure of 75 banks."
In the spring of this year, B. Barnes, who was then still in possession and the owner of the mill which soon came into possession of B. G. Plumer, had, evidently in expectation of a continuance of "flush times," begun the erection of a new hotel on the corner of Main and Jackson streets. It was a mammoth building, 60 by 120 feet, three stories high, built of timber frame; the frame was up and the building enclosed, but it was never finished; Mr. Barnes got into financial difficulties and the timber was taken down by the contractor, John Brown, to save himself from loss.
During the boom of Wisconsin, from 1853 to 1857, many banks had started in Wisconsin and issued their notes, which passed current for money. Their notes were redeemable in coin only at their place of business; that is, where the bank was located. Two enterprising gentlemen by the name of Fox and Helms opened a bank at Eagle River, where there was already some logging done. The bank building is still standing, a log house, fallen down now, of course, and in ruins, on Eagle river, a short distance above the present city of Eagle River. That bank could safely rely on that not many of their notes would ever be presented for redemption in coin at that place, about seventy-five miles from Wausau, with no road from this place, say nothing of the communication to Wausau.
Nevertheless there was some progress in Wausau. In the following year, 1858-1859, the flour mill was built, to the great advantage of the pioneer farmers, who had to drive with their ox-teams to Plover for grinding their wheat or rye, or did what most of them did, ground the wheat in little hand mills.
The population had increased : Jacob Paff had opened another store, and a Mr. Hoffmann opened a tin and hardware store.
In the state election a larger vote was cast, with the following result : For governor, James B. Cross, Democrat, 210; for governor, Alexander Randall, Republican, 195; for member of assembly, Burton Millard, Repub- lican, 204; for member of assembly, Thomas Hinton, Democrat, 167.
An event of supposed great importance occurred on the 8th day of April, 1858. The first steamboat arrived at Wausau. It landed on the east bank, which was then the main channel, a little south where now stands the Tre-
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month House, or on what would be the end of Fourth street if it were con- tinued to the river. The steamboat left Mosinee the afternoon before with about twenty tons of freight, and tied up at Eau Claire about sunset, not deeming it prudent to come further in the dark, the channel not having been decided upon at that time. High expectations were entertained from this new means of transportation, which were not realized, the boat only running for part of two seasons, the stage of water not being at all times sufficient. and there being not enough passenger traffic. The unloading at the low bank in Mosinee and carting freight over the hill to load again on the steam- boat, and again unloading at the lower bank here after so short a trip, was not much inviting for heavy transport, especially after the road got better.
The steamboat between Stevens Point and Mosinee was longer in com- mission; in fact, made trips as late as 1866, when it was laid up for good.
Up to 1856 the whole county was organized as one town and governed under the township government, but now with the increase in population and taxable property, the county was divided in three towns, the county board creating the town of Wausau, the town of Eau Claire and the town of Mos- inee, with territory as follows :
Town of Wausau to have township 28, ranges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and sections 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of township 28, range 8 east.
Town of Eau Clair to have township 28, range 8, except the four sections above, which were to belong to Wausau, and townships 28, 29 and 30, range 9 east, and town of Mosinee to have townships 26 and 27 from range 2 to range 9. In the December meeting of the same year the county board cre- ated the town of Jenny, consisting of townships 31, 32, 33 and 34 of ranges 5, 6, 7, and 8 and in a meeting on March , 1858, the town of Texas was established out of territory from the town of Jenny.
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