History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I, Part 21

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I > Part 21

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Youngest Mayor .- 1906-Sherburn Merrill Becker, aged 29 years.

Young Men's Association .- December 8, 1847-J. 11. Van Dyke, president.

Y. M. C. A .- December 22, 1876-Organized : May 3, 1890-German branch opened. Y. W. C. A .- September, 1892. Zoo .- 1905.

PART II

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL HARBOR AND RAILROADS BANKING AND FINANCE

CHAPTER XVII

THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

Along in the middle thirties a great wave of enthusiasm swept over the country in favor of public improvements. Building of railroads, canals, and new towns everywhere were proposed. The legislatures of the older states were besieged with demands for new lines of communication, improvement of country roads, building of bridges and establishment of stage lines. The sentiment became so strong that the more conservative element of the com- munities, both rural and urban, was overwhelmed and completely silenced for some years while the fever lasted.

At the session of the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, held in 1837 and the following years, the most important measures for internal improvements were discussed. "Numerous roads were ordered to be laid out, charters granted for railroads that were never built, ferries were licensed and dams pemitted on unnavigable streams," writes Miss Kellogg in her "Story of Wisconsin." Petitions to the national goverment were sent asking for the improvement of harbors on Lake Michigan and for the rivers flowing into the lake, for lighthouses and mail routes. "Two large projects for water- ways were vigorously promoted. These were the Milwaukee and Rock River canal and the Fox-Wiseonsin Improvement. The former was promoted by Milwaukee capitalists. the latter by those of Green Bay. Both projects se- cured land grants from Congress and both became seriously involved in political disputes. No work of importance was ever done on the Rock River project : the canal at Portage and the water control of the lower Fox River are the results of the Fox-Wisconsin improvement which, in 1872, was taken over by the Federal government. In fact the navigation of either ronte was possible only to light draft and small sized eraft that could never compete in modern times with the rail carriers."

Land Speculation .- The internal improvement craze was accompanied by an era of wild speculation in town sites. About the year 1836 the speculative madness reached its height. Men besieged the land office and purchased traets of land from the Government at a $1.25 an aere which in a few days would be regularly staked out and platted into town sites, exhibiting in the highly colored drawings the public spirit and generosity of the promoters in provid- ing publie squares, church sites, and schoolhouse reservations. The prairies of Illinois, the forests of Wisconsin and the sand hills of Michigan presented an almost unbroken chain of imaginary cities and villages which as yet were in a state of nature.

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.. ..

RY GOODS-GROCERIES

EAST WATER STREET, SOUTH OF WISCONSIN STREET, IN THE EARLY FORTIES

GROCHES

BAUER AND STEINMEYER

MILWAUKEE 1868

DRAWN FROM MEMORY !! J.A. SNOWRITER

A BUSINESS HOUSE ON CHESTNUT STREET

Corner of Fourth Street, occupied by Baner & Steinmeyer until 1\;

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THIE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

Often in these pietorial prospectuses could be seen a flowing stream winding its romantic course through the heart of an ideal city thus creating water lots and wharfing facilities even though no stream existed on the spot. But where a real stream, however diminutive, did find its way to the shores of the lake, no matter what was the character of the surrounding country, some enterprising promoter would hasten to the nearest land office and secure the traet at the Government price. "Then the desolate waste of sand and fens, " says a historian of the period, "was suddenly elevated into a mighty city with a projected harbor and lighthouse, railroads and canals. and in a short time the cireumjacent lands were sold in lots. Not the puniest brook on the shore of Lake Michigan was suffered to remain without a city at its mouth, and whoever will travel around the lake will find many a mighty mart staked out in spots suitable only for the habitations of wild beasts."

Speculation in Milwaukee .- In a paper by Silas Chapman, read before the "Old Settlers' (lub" in 1893, he graphically described the conditions pre- vailing at that time. "Speculation ran rampant." he said, "prices of every- thing went upward, and this speculat on enminated in 1836 by platting and throwing on the market lots, not only in cities and villages, but on mountain tops and under water. It mattered not where the real estate was, it became real to the speculator, and his credit if not his money was invested in it. It was supposed to be a fact that lots were platted and sold that were then and are to this day under water. It was nearly true of lots in Milwaukee." * * The land where our city is now located has just been surveyed and was an enticing field for speculation. The place was outside of civilization and could only be reached by tramp boats on the lake. The land was platted, the plats looked well on the map and the maps were ready. In all nearly 5,000 lots were in the market."

"Then began the furious and reckless sale of lots," contines Chapman. "Sellers were as reckless as buyers, for everybody was a seller and everybody was a buyer. There was no limit to the prices and expectation of prices. Lots were sold for a given price with a guarantee that within a named period they could be sold at a certain per cent advance. Mr. Juneau is said to have sold lots with such guarantee, and afterwards, according to his ability, honor- ably redeemed his pledge." Milwaukee recovered slowly from the madness of 1836. "It has since kept its real estate at a fair but not at a speculative value."

Canal Building .- "The movement toward establishing steamboat naviga- tion, " says E. B. Usher, in his " flistory of Wisconsin." "by the route then uppermost in the minds of all southwestern Wisconsin, as well as Green Bay. began early. It obtained a footing in 1834 by the chartering of the Portage Canal Company by the Michigan Legislature." Morgan L. Martin, a leading citizen of Green Bay, was chiefly instrumental in procuring the charter which was to enable Daniel Whitney to build the canal. In 1838, Martin was elected to the Wisconsin Territorial conneil which position he held until 1844, and was twice its president.

In 1845, Martin was a delegate to Congress and during that time he pro- cured the first grant of lands to aid "the improvement, " and in the years Vol. 1-1 4

...

OCCRIES

HARNESS

WEST WATER STREET LOOKING NORTH FROM SPRING STREET. NOW GRAND AVENUE The original Caswell store and building to the left

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THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

from 1851 to 1853 he lent his powerful aid to the work. When the state failed to complete the canal Martin devoted his whole energies and all the fortune he had made at Milwaukee and Green Bay to render it a success. However, in spite of these efforts, it may be said that no more complete extinction of the great expectations and high hopes indulged in by the people of Wisconsin in regard to eanals and waterways could be imagined than the Fox-Improve- ment Company was shown to be in its hugely disappointing results.

The Fox-Wisconsin Improvement .- From the time of the early explorers the portage from the upper waters of the Fox River to those of the Wisconsin River had been seen to be a reasonable possibility. The natural obstacles were not great, as only a boggy plain but 11/2 miles in width separated the two rivers at the site of the modern City of Portage. The Fox River, however, was much broken by rapids, and until improvements could be made in its channel the navigation of that river for boats of considerable size would be impossible. For canoes and boats of light draft a limited communication conld be kept up. The early' explorers found it answered their purpose, and it was across this portage that Joliet and Marquette, on their voyage for the discovery of the Mississippi River in 1673, carried their canoes from the Fox to the Wisconsin.

In 1836, the Hlinois and Michigan canal to connect Chicago with the Illi- nois River at La Salle was begun, about the time that the Territory of Wis- consin was organized, and it was opened for navigation soon after Wisconsin was admitted as a state in the Union, in 1848. The people of Wisconsin, hav- ing this example before them, began an agitation for an improvement of the Fox River by Congress, and a canal to connect the two rivers at the ancient portage. In 1846, a grant of land in aid of the project was made by Congress. But the board of publie works, having this enterprise in charge, soon ran the state in debt. and in 1851 it was announced the work would have to stop on account of the slow sales of land.

Work Continued by a Citizen of Green Bay. At this critical juncture Morgan L. Martin, a citizen of Green Bay, offered to do the work from Green Bay to Lake Winnebago through the channel of the Fox River, the entting through the portage plain having already been completed. This proposal was accepted by the Legislature and Martin began his task with a large force of men, being given state serip as the work progressed, which was to be redeemed from the proceeds of land sales and prospective tolls. Hostile legislation interfered with this arrangement, but in spite of many discourage- ments the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company, as it was called, sent its first boat through on its passage from Pittsburgh to Green Bay in 1856.

A year or two previously Congress had increased the land grant to the company, but as the enterprise still lacked capital for its future operations, the whole enterprise was foreclosed by creditors, and the corporate title was changed to the "Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company." In 1872 the entire plant was sold to the United States goverment.

Subsequent Status of the Work .- " The Fox-Wisconsin improvement," said the late R. G. Thwaites in his book, "Story of Wisconsin, " "cost the state and nation millions of dollars but it has never been a complete success. The

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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

lower Fox has by means of an elaborate system of locks been made navigable for boats of a few feet draught between Green Bay and Omro, but the traffic is slight. the chief advantage accruing to the thrifty manufacturing towns of Neenah, Menasha. Appleton, Kaukanna and Depere, where splend'd water powers have been incidentally developed by the government works.

"From Omro to Portage there is a slight spasmodic freight traffic for small flat-bottomed steamers of not over three feet draught. The.canal at Portage, l'ast falling into decay, is sometimes not opened throughout an entire season (1887). The Wisconsin River is clogged with shifting sandbars and wholly unreliable for vessels of three feet draught except at high water, It is seldom used now that logging on the Upper Wisconsin has been greatly re- need in extent : and a government engineer has made the assertion that the only way to improve' it for a national waterway, is 'to either lath-and-plaster- the bottom or construet a canal alongside all the way from Portage to Prairie du Chien.'"

Concerning the general sentiment of the people regarding the Fox-Wis- consin improvement Mr. Thwaites remarks: " In early days, there was no doubt whatever in the minds of the Wisconsin public, that this projected improve- ment, apparently so feasible. could be easily constructed and the historic streams be made to bear monster war and freight vessels through the heart of the state, between the Great Lakes and the great river artery of the con- tinent : but it is now the general opinion that the difficulties in the way are too great to be overcome, chiefly owing to the peculiar character of the Wisconsin River, and improvement talk,' so common in former years, is now no longer heard in our legislatures and political conventions."

The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal. A charter for the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company was obtained in 1838 from the territorial legis- lature, as previous efforts to secure Congressional aid had proved a failure. Congress, however, finally voted a land grant to the canal company. and its promoters endeavored to procure financial aid from the territorial govern- ment, but it was ultimately refused. In accepting the gift of land From Con- gress it was stipulated that the territory was to conduct the sales therefrom and to use the proceeds in completing the eanal. "In accepting this gift." writes Reuben Gold Thwaites, in his volume on Wisconsin, in the American Commonwealth series, "The territory unwittingly became in effect a partner in the undertaking. a condition of affairs leading to much popular discontent and legislative bickering, and ultimate disaster to the canal (1844. upon which some $57,000 had been expended, chiefly in improvements to the Mil- waukee River.

"The territory fell heir to some of the canal bonds, which it repudiated. although later the state itself paid them. When Wisconsin entered the Union. the Federal Government claimed that she still was owing upwards of $100,000 to the canal l'und, and withheld this sum from the net proceeds dne the state from the sale of public lands within her bounds. As to whether or not this canal, had it been completed as designed. would have proved a valuable asset of the commonwealth, is still an open question in Wiscon- sin history."

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THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

Preliminary Steps in Construction .- During the year 1837 a preliminary survey of the proposed route of the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal, and an approximate estimate of the cost of the work, had been submitted by Byron Kilbourn and Increase A. Lapham, both of whom were surveyors. The eost was estimated to be abont $800,000, and its length about fifty-one miles. A charter was obtained from the Territorial Legislature dated January 5, 1838, and work commeneed July 4, 1839.

The object of the proposed canal was to connect the waters of the Milwaukee River and the Rock River near Lake Koshkonong and thus to form a waterway from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. Mr. Kilbourn was the president of the company.

The canal was to be built by a private corporation, aided by the pro- eeeds of a Federal land grant held in trust by the territory of Wisconsin in anticipation of Wisconsin being admitted as a state in the Union. The congressional grant of lands had been secured the year before the work began. A newspaper published in Green Bay called the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to open connection with the Mississippi, as the "Green Bay hobby," and the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal as the "Milwaukee hobby."

Ilistorical events of whatever character were regarded in those days as good material for humorous accounts, and this occasion was no exception in this respect. In his "Pioneer History," J. S. Buek relates that Mr. Kil- bourn, at the head of a procession led by a brass band, arrived at the spot where the "incision" in the earth was to be made. The work having been performed in a satisfactory manner, the participants marched to the old "American," at the corner of Third and West Water streets, then kept by James Ward, where a dinner suitable for the occasion had been provided.

Canals Versus Railroads .- There is a very full discussion of the early canal and ra lroad enterprises of the '40s in the publications of the Wis- eonsin State Historical Society (XIV, pp. 206), and in the article there printed we find the following passage in reference to the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal :: "While a bare beginning was made in building it, for a number of reasons the project was soon recognized as a failure." Argu- ments were urged to bend the energies of the people in the direction of railroad building. Even during territorial days agitation was begun to divert the Federal grant of lands from canals to railroads.

The Milwaukee Sentinel and Gazette, on October 23, 1841, published an article on the subject, as follows: "The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal has been regarded as a project of great importance, and is one which has received the favorable consideration of Congress as well as the public gen- erally. But the mere connection of Lake Michigan with Rock River will not answer the end for which the work was originated, until it shall be eon- tinned to the Mississippi; and then the innense expense of sneh a work ren- ders its construction impracticable ; and, if constructed, that it should pay the interest upon the money expended. While a railroad, besides offering every facility of a canal for purposes of transportation could be built in

WISCONSIN STREET LOOKING FROM CORNER OF MAIN STREET AND BROADWAY BEFORE CHAPMAN''S FIRST BUILDING WAS ERECTED. The old Insurance Building in course of construction. About 196;

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THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

one quarter of the time, and would be available at all seasons of the year, a canal would be locked up by iee nearly half the time."

The Madison Argus, in 1844, remarked upon the project, as follows: "A canal is to be made from Milwaukee to the Rock River, and there it stops. * * * What is there at Rock River? Neither an ocean nor a lake nor even a navigable river. There are neither steamboats nor flatboats run- ning on Roek River anywhere in the neighborhood of the proposed termi- nation of the canal, and the river will not admit of this kind of navigation to any advantage." Instead, however, of the blessing the canal might have been, says C. R. Tuttle in his "History of Wisconsin," "it proved a curse and a blight upon the carly prosperity of the territory, owing mainly to the antagonisms that grew up between the officers of the canal company and the territorial officers intrusted with the disposition of the lands granted by Congress and of their proceeds, and to the conflicts between the benefi- ciaries of the land grant, and some of the leading politicians of the time."

Growth of Wheat Production .- In the early part of the Civil war period the state of Wisconsin had become one of the principal prodneers of wheat among the western and northwestern states, the effect of which was to greatly enhance the growth and relative importance of Milwaukee which had now become the state's chief port for the shipment of surphs products of every kind.

"The impetus thus given to Milwaukee," writes Thwaites, "was such as to assure her future as a great lake port. In due time she became a promi- nent center for the influx and distribution of immigrants from the eastern states and from Europe, her manufacturing interests grew to large pro- portions, and her commerce and population kept full pace with the growth of the sturdy state of which she had early become the metropolis."

Effects of the War .- The war with its heavy demand for men to supply the Union armies seemed to threaten a shortage of farm labor, a danger which the South did not fear with its abundant supply of slave labor. But the invention and perfection of the reaping machine during the few years before the war prevented by its use a deficiency in grain production. "The reaper is to the North, " said Edwin M. Stanton in 1861, "what slavery is to the South. By taking the place of regiments of young men in the western harvest fields, it releases them to do battle for the Union at the. front, and at the same same keeps up the supply of bread for the nation and the nation's armies." The Commissioner of Agriculture, in his report for 1862, asserts that owing to the absence of so many farm laborers at the front, it would have been impossible to harvest the wheat erop for that year had it not been for the increased use of mechanical reapers each of which effected a saving of the labor of five men. "Notwithstanding the enormous draft of reernits from our rural districts to fight in the armies of the Union," says Thwaites, "agricultural operations could still not only be carried on by the North, and in numberless instances by mere youths, but the product itself was substantially increased."

Comparison with the Southern States .- Comparing the northern and southern sections of the country at the time previous to the Civil war it has

PRICES

DEALING

· FROM

CHEAPEST

EASTERN SALES

OFALL

CHEAP

FAIR

FALES

VALUE

STORES

MILWAUKEE'S ORIGINAL PENNY STORE-BARRETT'S 215 Water Street-Built 1836 by father of Caleb Harrison

DAILY NEWS STEAM PRINTING OFFICE

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CALES WAT

THE LUDINGTON BLOCK. CORNER WISCONSIN AND EAST WATER STREETS. IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES.

Site of Pabst Building. later known as First Wisconsin Trust Company Building

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THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

been found, generally speaking, that in the South slavery and manufactures excluded each other. The South lived almost entirely by agricultural indus- tries, its capital was monopolized by agriculture. "Manufacturing industry," says Von Holst, "did not accord with the longing for aristocratie leisure which must characterize the free population in a community which owes its specifie industrial character to slave labor." Therefore the manufacturing industries of the northern states easily surpassed those of the southern states, and this, indeed, was one of the determining factors in the great Civil war of 1861-1865, which abundantly proved the superiority of the North in its ma- terial resonrees over the limited advantages possessed by the South in the proseention of that imhappy war." Even the importance of cotton, claimed to be the "king" of agricultural productions, failed in the final test in com- parison with the food produe'ng power of the North.

THE FIRST STEAM FLOUR MILL Original Site, South Water Street. Now located on Virginia Street

SKYLINE OF MILWAUKEE LOOKING NORTH Taken from the south side

CHAPTER XVIII

INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT

The labors of the earliest artisans who came here were naturally confined to the satisfying of local needs. Gradually, as the land in the surrounding territory became settled the farmers required many things which these skilled mechanics could supply. They could grind wheat into flour, make a harness and build a wagon, quarry stone and make brick, shoe a man as well as shoe a horse, and turn raw products into usable art eles.

But, the local artisans by no means met every need. The ships that plied regularly between Milwaukee and Buffalo brought in many articles of household equipment, wearing apparel and food products. The mechanics required tools. every household needed pottery and hardware, cloth for wear- ing apparel, and food products such as coffee, tea and spices.

But the same economic law which governs exports and imports of a nation applied here in a diminutive way. The balance of trade had to be kept at an equilibrium. The ability to buy was governed by the ability to produce and market. The importations had to be met in gold or its equiva- lent in agricultural or manufactured products.

The earlier exports consisted of furs, lumber and grain. It was not until the production ability of the community had met both local needs and those of a surrounding territory and had reached a surplus that the exports of manufactured articles found its beginning.

When it is contemplated that Milwaukee has, in a very brief period, risen from most humble beginnings to one of the most important industrial centers in the United States, we may well inquire into the causes that have led to it. This development assumes signifieanee when it is remembered that Mil- waukee was reared within the shadows of a great world city, exposed to all the absorbing power of Chicago the great metropolis of the Midwest.

Large cities do not as a rule spring up adjacent to each other, but usu- ally, owing to the trend of commerce and the exigencies of distribution, leave large areas of territory between them. Thus, it follows that every other large city coming within the commercial zone of Chicago is located at a dis- tanee of several hundred miles from that city. Chicago becomes the veritable hub with Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, Omaha, St. Paul and Minneapolis, all plaeed upon the outer rim and within a night's ride from the great world city with its three million population.

Milwaukee is the only city, which lies within a distance of only eighty- five miles and only a two hours' ride from Chicago, which has resisted the

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LOOKING NORTH ON MAIN STREET, NOW BROADWAY, TOWARD MASON STREET, 1870.

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GREEN & WHITE'S

408 WALL PAPER 1

PHOTOGRAPHS

PHOTOGRAPHIC EMPORIUI

WALLPAPER

CAMPBELLE SON'S

NORTHEAST CORNER OF MILWAUKEE AND WISCONSIN STREETS 1871 AFTER A BIG SNOWSTORM.

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absorbing power that all great metropolitan centers possess, and has grown to over a half million population.

Natural conditions and environment, more than accident, usually cause the location of cities. It is true that three rivers and the promise of a fine harbor primarily prompted the location of Milwaukee, but its subsequent growth in population strength and rise as a producing center must in large part be found in the character of the people who sought their homes here.

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History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I, Part 21

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844 Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 818