USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I > Part 25
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Jobbing and Wholesaling .- The early trader was followed by the local small merchant. He bought from the producers in the East and sold direct to the consumer. The local prodneer usually sold direet but frequently also to the retailer.
Bnt, the commerce of the community soon demanded an additional ageney of distribution and the wholesaler came into being. He bought from pro- ducers everywhere and sold to the retailer, both at home and elsewhere. He either bought his goods ontright or received them on consignment.
It may here be stated as a remarkable fact that the wholesale trade grew rapidly in volume and in the widening of its zone of operation. This fact, too, verified the prediction made by some of the pioneers that Milwaukee was well situated to become a great distributing center. The ships that entered the harbor increasing in numbers came from all parts on the Great Lakes and brought a great variety of commodities. With the constant development of the rich agrienltural territory to the west of the city there came also increased trade possibilities. This was clearly foreseen by those concerned in securing a substantial commercial footing. The farmers travelled long distances to sell their products in Milwaukee and to make their purchases. The horse and wagon method of transportation was slow and the volume thus transported was meagre. They could supply their own needs only in the ratio that they were able to dispose of their own products. Upon his prosperity depended the prosperity of the merchant.
The problem became clear. Transportation facilities must be provided. Just as the ox-eart gave way to the horse and wagon so the horse and wagon must be superseded by the steam railway in reaching the larger distributing centers of the state. The zone of trade must be widened.
Thus, with the advent of the railroads the wholesale trade began to take definite form. While there were those who engaged in the export of grain, hides, wool, fish, flour, meats, etc., there came upon the scene the wholesalers of groceries, dry goods, hardware, drugs, clothing and boots and shoes.
Status in 1856 of Wholesale Trade .- The status of the wholesale trade in 1856 is well stated in a report made by the Board of Trade, as follows:
" The penetration of the interior of the state by railroads, and the tapping of the great Mississippi Valley in the early part of the year, have given a new impetus to the wholesale business of Milwaukee ; and though the trade for the last year has been such as to astonish even those engaged in it, there is abundant reason to believe that it has but just begun, and that the Inture will see it increase in still greater ratio.
"During the present year, the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad will be opened to Dubuque and Galena, and also to Prairie du Chien. By either of these routes merchandise can be delivered from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River with less railroad transit than any routes now in existence from the lake to that river.
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PEISTET
THE PFISTER HOTEL
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" By the lines of propellers now running between this and the lower lake ports, the merchants of this city procure transportation at the least possible tariff of freight of any port on the lake, so that the wholesaler here is able to sell to the more western houses at rates of advance on New York, Boston and Philadelphia prices, little more than cost, insurance and transportation. "We have made diligent inquiry for the amount of wholesale trade done in the city for the past year, in the principal branches of business. The increase upon former years has been limited only by increased capital. We find that our merchants have had more good orders than they could fill, and that double the capital invested would double the sales for the present year.
"A number of heavy houses have been opened in different kinds of trade the past year, and we learn of several to be opened this year by merchants from eastern cities.
"There are engaged in the various wholesale branches of trade, 150 mer- chants, besides a larger number who do a heavy retail trade with the country lying on the railroad lines.
"Below we give the result of a careful collection of figures, showing the amount of sales for the year 1856:
Groceries (twenty houses)
$ 3,401,000
Dry Goods (eight houses)
1,830,000
Furniture
450,000
Crockery 280,000
750,000
Drugs and Dye Stuffs
Wines and Liquors
856.000
Clothing
500,000
Boots and Shoes
625,000
Iron, Ilardware and Stoves
2,200,000
Salt and Coal
550,000
Lumber (sixteen yards)
2,505,000
Not enumerated
3,000,000
Total wholesale trade
$16,942,000
"Among the houses included in the above table are eighteen whose sales are over two hundred thousand dollars each: eight that sell over three hundred thousand dollars each ; three that sell over four hundred thousand dollars each ; and two that sell over five hundred thousand dollars cach.
"During the present year our railway connections will open up a region of country to our wholesale merchants, populated by 500,000 inhabitants-or nearly as many as were supplied by this eity during the year 1856. We may then safely estimate that the wholesale trade of the city will double in the course of the next two years."
For a number of years the Milwaukee wholesale trade area was free from outside competition, except such competition as came from the eastern markets. But, Chicago began to extend her trade territory and became a strong rival. Later St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth merchants not only
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COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION
seenred trade within a eertain radins of these eities but invaded the Milwaukee territory as well. Even cities like Green Bay, Ean Claire, and LaCrosse en- tered the wholesale field in certain commodities.
But, be it said to the eredit of the Milwaukee merchants that they met competition on all sides. They continued to multiply their numbers and to extend their trade area far beyond the borders of the state. While certain wholesale lines are restricted in their trade area by freight rates, others have entered every state in the midwest and have even extended their business relations to the Pacific Coast.
Thus, monster grocery, hardware, dry goods and drug wholesale institu- tions have become established whose annal trade volume runs into large figures. Moreover, the jobbing trade has amplified itself in many other lines, ineluding elothing, furniture, machinery, eoal, building materials, crockery, household utensils. etc., forming on the whole a large factor in the commer- eial activities of the metropolis.
The enterprise and energy of the jobbers and wholesalers may be noted in the annual trade extension journeys which were planned and carried ont under the auspiees of Merchants and Manufacturers Association and its suc- cessor the Milwaukee Association of Commerce. They were inaugurated abont the earlier part of this century and were organized upon a well planned basis. They are dealt with elsewhere in this volume.
The Retail Trade Interests .- The retail trade interests of Milwaukee present one peculiarity seldom found in American eities, or at least not empha- sized in the same degree, namely a decentralization in store location.
What is here meant is this: Every city has its downtown retail trade eenter where the larger department stores are located and where the various trade interests are grouped. They meet every human want in food, raiment and household paraphernalia, and thus concentrate the retail trade activi- ties within a given radins, or in a central seetion of the city.
In Milwaukee this tendeney is not true in the same degree that it is true in the average American eity. Large department stores and a great variety of trade interests may be found at a distance of one and two miles from the heart of the city. While the downtown retail distriet is large and important it has its rivals in the eenters that have grown up in both the northern and southern sections of the city.
The merchants in these several sections manifest the same enterprise and energy that is manifested by the downtown merchants. Through local busi- ness men's organizations they promote all the conditions that tend to hold and increase trade. They maintain well stocked shelves and advertise liberally.
For the downtown merchants it may be said that a more keen, progressive and publie spirited body of men cannot be found anywhere. They realize to the I'llest the opportunities at their command, aim to serve the publie efficiently and concern themselves in all that makes for the welfare of the community. Many of the more important merchants give liberally of their time and means in fostering civie, educational or charitable projects.
It is sometimes remarked by strangers, who sojourn in the city, that its
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
downtown streets do not, during all hours of the day, manifest the same crowding and bustle that is observed in other American cities. This state- ment is unquestionably true, and is in part accounted for in the somewhat decentralized character of its retail trade activities. Again, it must be remem- bered that Milwaukee is an industrial rather than a commercial or financial center.
In this connection the question, whether the retail interests draw an ade- quate share of trade from outside of the city, may be asked. The answer must be in the affirmative.
The merchants have from time to time advanced their individual trade interests as far as this may be done consistent with the interests of the city as a whole. This statement requires an explanation.
Modern retail trade promotion, as exemplified in many American cities, contemplates various devices, methods and agencies, fostered individually and collectively, to attraet customers from the outside. They include exeur- sion trains from interior points, special bargain days, rebating of railroad fares, free lunches, etc.
When some of these promotional efforts were engaged in by the Milwaukee merchants it was found that the socalled country merchants, namely the re- tailers in the cities and villages affected, raised serious objections. They were not inclined to see their trade diverted to the metropolis without a struggle. The retaliatory weapon was in their own hands, and they threatened to use it if organized trade extension efforts were not discontinued. They bought their stocks from the jobber and manufacturer of the metropolis and could readily shift their patronage to Chicago or other markets.
Here it became clear to the Milwaukee merchant that the producing in- terests of the metropolis were primary. Their output must not be lessened. The payroll supported the community and gave vitality to its retail trade. The manufacturer believed that it was more important to the community as a whole to hold the patronage and good will of an entire state for Milwaukee made products than to secure added trade for the retailer. The latter readily shared in this view and desisted in all trade methods likely to ineur the ill will of the upstate merchants.
The policy adopted by the Milwaukee Association of Commerce in dealing with the subject, may be summed up in the following: Loyalty to community interests implies support for the local merchants. The latter is a citizen. an employer and a taxpayer who is entitled to the patronage of the community. If the enstomer requires anything which the local merchant cannot supply then such enstomer is warranted in going to the larger center for his purchases. AH things equal, the local merchant is entitled to the preference.
Thus, the enstomer in the inland city is advised to support his local mer- chant, and to extend his patronage to the merchant of the metropolis only when the former is unable to supply his needs. Price, quality and personal preference. of course, guide all purchases. but consistent with these factors the integrity and welfare of the home town should receive first consideration.
CHAPTER XX
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
The Indians, who, in a primitive day, came down the three streams later known as the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinniekinnie rivers, found these converging into a waterway which emptied in a beautiful inland ocean.
They were lured into the blue waters of the bay. Their canoes were rocked by the waves and their bronze visages were cooled by the breezes that traveled over the broad expanse of the sea. They were fascinated by that mysterious horizon to the East which separated water and sky. The land which skirted the lake with its high bluffs, receding into a valley to the West which was traversed by the main river, rose again beyond that river to a magnificent eminenee.
The spot that commanded a view of this valley and at the same time afforded a view of the blue waters of the lake, with its distant horizon, was indeed desirable for human habitation. The savage instinet yielded to its allurements. An Indian village was reared.
The earlier explorers noted the spot in their chronicles, and the traders who came after them landed here to carry on their negotiations with the Indians of that day. As navigators they found that nature had here pro- vided a harbor which was readily accessible, and upon whose shores a peaceful tribe of Indians had taken up their habitation.
While the Indian was drawn to this spot by instinet the white man came by design. Ile sought the treasures of the savage for the comforts of the civilized man. He continued to come with each season in increased numbers. Ile saw the commercial advantages of a natural landlocked harbor. Com- munication with the outer world was confined to the vast waters which stretched out to the north and the east.
The harbor had attracted the aborigine, it had brought the Caucasian. The harbor had prompted an Indian abode, it gave impetus to a white man's village. The harbor afforded commercial relations with the eastern centers of population, and became the great incentive for the rearing of a city.
Until 1850 the only communication which Milwaukee had with an outer world was via the Great Lakes. It brought supplies to the city through the means of water transportation and sent the products of the state on to the East in the same way. The small wooden vessels that came to its shores not only brought those earlier pioneers who founded the village but also the immigrants who later formed the bulk of the population and enabled it to pass from the rural to the urban stage.
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OLD TIME SCHOONER ENTERING THE MILWAUKEE BAY
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GRAND TRUNK LINE
THE CARFERRY GRAND HAVEN OF THE GRAND TRUNK LINE ENTERING THE HARBOR
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IIARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
The First Vessel Arrivals .- Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee's first permanent white settler, chartered two vessels to bring stores for the trading post and to carry away the furs he had aecumulated. The first of these made its appearance in 1823 and anchored in the bay. It was a small schooner with a carrying capacity of thirty tous, bore the name of "Chicago Paeket" and was commanded by Captain Brittain. During the same year came the "Vir- ginia" with a capacity of 130 tons, followed by the " Ancora," sailed by Capt. David Graham who brought a cargo of supplies form Green Bay. The land- ings were usually made on the lake front in the vicinity between Wisconsin Street and the present harbor entrance. The second vessel that arrived, how- ever, entered the river.
The men of that day soon realized that an inner harbor must be provided. A petition for a survey of the river was sent to the War Department at Washington. The authority to proceed with the survey was granted in 1835 but owing to the slow means of communication the work could not be imme- diately undertaken. Besides, the Government had made no provisions for employing and compensating the engineers.
The support of the National Government had to be sought. Byron Kil- bourn communicated on January 29, 1836, with Senator Louis F. Linn of Missouri, then a member of the Committee on Commerce, of the United States Senate. In his letter Kilbonen describes the rivers and their outlet into the bay.
"This bay," says Kilbourn, "will form a safe and easy entrance into the harbor when constructed. The bar at the mouth of the river is narrow; indeed it is peenliar in this respect and different from most of the rivers on the lakes."
flere it should be explained that the "bar" referred to consisted of a narrow strip of land later known as Jones Island. This strip of land which is now a peninsula was then virtually an island. The natural outlet spoken of was located at a point east of what is now known as Greenfield Avenue. What constitutes the present harbor entrance was then a submerged sand bar.
But, the survey which was conducted by Lieutenants Center and Rose of the United States Topographical Engineer Corps was accompanied with the recommendation that a "straight ent" be made 3,000 feet north of the "natural outlet." That meant that the old natural harbor was abandoned and that the present harbor entrance was determined upon. In 1837 the Government engineers decided upon the construction of two piers at a cost of $92,183.54.
Era of Waterborne Commerce .- The encouragement given by the National Government in enabling the entrance of vessels to the inner harbor aronsed considerable interest. Newspapers in the East began to diseuss the great possibilities of the Milwaukee harbor and gave glowing accounts of the commerce likely to result with this improvement. The ships, too, that trav- eled between the several ports, including Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, Mil- waukee and Chicago came in for liberal praise. "The majestic steamer Michigan sailed westward," ete., were some of the phrases employed.
The local people soon caught the spirit of enterprise. They saw a Future
272
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
in their proximity to the lakes and in their ability to bring ships into the several rivers. Solomon Juneau built a wharf on the river bank adjacent to his first house which stood near what is now known as the corner of East Water and Wisconsin streets. Private enterprise as well as Government aid were well warranted for the open navigation season of 1836, from April 14th to November 14th, saw 314 vessel arrivals.
That year, too, in the winter saw the construction of the first vessel in Milwaukee. It was built on the Milwaukee River near Division Street, now known as Pineau Avenue, by Capt. George Barber. Her capacity was ninety tons and her name Solomon Juneau. The timbers for this vessel were seenred in the immediate vicinity which prompted the citizens to make an effort in securing some of the eastern builders to locate a shipyard on Mil- waukee River. The Solomon Junean met with a mishap in 1839 by run- ning on the beach south of the old harbor. She was, however, safely released but was years later lost on Lake Ontario.
While the Solomon Junean was the first vessel to be planned and placed under construction, the Wenona was the first to be completed. She had a tonnage capacity of only thirty tons and was used as a lighter. Yet, she deserves the distinction of being the first eraft built in Milwaukee. Further enterprise in the direction of ship building was manifested when the sum of $45,000 was subseribed for the purpose of constructing a steamboat to ply between Milwaukee and Chicago.
In the spring of 1837 the James Madison then known as the largest steamer on the Great Lakes arrived. She brought 1,000 passengers and 4,000 barrels of freight. In June of the same year there arrived also the first steamboat owned by Milwaukee men. She was known as the Detroit and was in com- mand of Capt. John Crawford. During her short five months' career she always landed at the foot of Wisconsin Street. She was lost off Kenosha in November, 1838.
Byron Kilbourn, in 1837, caused the construction of a river steamboat with a tomage of fifty tons. This boat was largely built in a competitive spirit against the east side. The fact that she was a steamboat was an achievement for the west side and designed to overshadow the schooner Solomon Juneau, a sailing vessel. The east siders, however, said that "she was an old seow with an engine that was about seven mule power and her course about as gyratory as a hen that has eaten salt, and that her commander was squint- eyed, and never knew which way he was steering."
Another steamer was built by Kilbourn during the following year and records show that the trustees of the west side village passed resolutions urging him to refuse to land passengers on the rival bank. While these small river steamers stimulated rivalry between Juneau Town and Kilbourn Town, it is not recorded that any gross discrimination was entered into. More river steamers followed to become business competitors to each other. They prae- tically went out of use when the harbor was fully opened.
A more pretentious venture was a steamboat named Milwaukee built at Buffalo for Solomon Junean and George Il. Walker, They sacrificed some valuable land in order to raise the money for this the first real steamboat to
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HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
be owned by Milwaukeeans. On July 9, 1841, this proud eraft steamed into the Milwaukee River but struck a sand bar and was held fast. The old chron- ieles stated that she "'mocked her owners" by her inability to float. During the following year she was sold to Detroit parties and the same chronicles state that all that Juneau realized from his venture was "a quantity of the ship's bedding and furniture."
The first warehouse was built in 1838 by G. D. Donsman at the foot of East Water Street. Three years later there was shipped from this ware- house Milwaukee's first export cargo of wheat consisting of 5,000 tons. In the same year the first lighthouse was built by the Federal Goverment and placed at the foot of Wisconsin Street.
Government Aid Is Sought .- While the lake navigation of that day had its diseonragements in delays and losses caused by storms, the navigators remained courageous and ambitious of success. The citizens, too, were zealous in encouraging lake commeree and to that end sought the improvement of the harbor at the hands of the Federal Government.
A meeting of citizens was held at the Milwaukee House on March 6, 1840, to formulate plans for petitioning Congress to improve the harbor. The men who figured prominently at this meeting were George A. Tiffany, H. N. Wells, George D. Donsman and William A. Prentiss.
The event of the meeting was an address by Col. Hans Croeker in which he enumerated facts and figures regarding the Village of Milwaukee designed to impress Congress with its commercial progress. Colonel Crocker stated that Milwaukee had a population of 1,600, that it maintained twenty-two dry goods and grocery stores, an iron foundry and a machine shop; also that two stage lines penetrated the agricultural districts to the south and the west. The river which was navigable the entire length was not readily accessible to all the craft that sought entrance, but that, notwithstanding that faet, in a few years the waterborne commerce of the village had experieneed an enor- mous increase. In 1835 two steamboats entered the bay and in 1839 there was a total of 179 vessel arrivals.
A petition was sent to Congress asking for a liberal appropriation for harbor improvement. Various towns joined in the petition and when Con- gress manifested dilatory taeties there was much indignation on the part of the lake towns.
This indignation was intensified on the part of the Milwaukee people through an accident which occurred in the bay due, it was alleged, to the negleet of the Government. A boat was upset by getting caught in a buoy line and two men were drowned. The Courier remarked: "Two more citizens have found premature graves in consequence of the ernel injustice of Congress in not making appropriations for our harbor.'
The catastrophe was followed by an indignation meeting in which a com- mittee consisting of W. A. Prentiss, L. J. Farwell, Hans Crocker, L. P. Cary and A. Fineb, dr., drafted resolutions "favoring the raising of funds by private subseription for the construction of a harbor. " Subsequently plans were submitted by 1. A. Lapham, L. H. Carlton and B. Il. Edgerton. Public projeets of this character, however, are somewhat slow of realization. The Vol. 1-18
THE KINNICKINNIC BASIN LOOKING SOUTH A portion of the Jones Island area seen to the left
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THE STEAMER CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS PASSING THROUGH BROADWAY BRIDGE
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HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
citizenship had evidently come to the conclusion that the improvement of the harbor was a matter of Goverment concern and not a private undertaking. In the summer of 1842 the Sentinel and Farmer, the enterprising newspaper of that day, offered to loan the Government $20,000 wherewith to begin the improvement. It was assured that the Government would ultimately raise the sum out of the sale of public lands.
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