USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 27
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THE MILWAUKEE, LAKE SHORE & WESTERN RAILWAY.
In 1870, the "Milwaukee, Manitowoc & Green Bay Railroad Company" was chartered to build a road from Milwaukee to Green Bay by way of Manitowoc. It built its line from Mil- waukee to Manitowoc in 1873, when its name was changed to " Milwaukee, Lake Shore & West- ern Railroad Company." Under a decree of foreclosure, it was sold Dec. 10, 1875, and its name was changed to " Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway Company," by which name it is still known.
In 1866, the " Appleton & New London Railroad Company" was incorporated to build a road from Appleton to New London, and thence to Lake Superior. A subsequent amendment to its charter authorized it to extend its road to Manitowoc. It built most of the line from Appleton to that city, and then, under legislative authority, sold this extension to the Milwau-
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kee, Lake Shore & Western railroad company. The last-named company extended it to New London, on the Wolf river, twenty-one miles, in 1876, where it connects with the Green Bay & Minnesota road. It now operates one hundred and forty-six miles of road, extending from Mil- waukee to New London, passing through Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Appleton, which includes a branch line six miles in length from Manitowoc to Two Rivers. F. W. Rhinelander, of New York, is its president, and H. G. H. Reed, of Milwaukee, superintendent.
THE GREEN BAY & MINNESOTA RAILROAD.
The line of road operated by this company extends from Fort Howard to the Mississippi river, opposite Winona, Minnesota. It is two hundred and sixteen miles in length, and was built through a sparsely settled and heavily timbered section of the state. It began under most discouraging circumstances, yet was pushed through by the energy of a few men at Green Bay and along its line. It was originally chartered in 1866 as the "Green Bay & Lake Pepin Rail- road Company " to build a road from the mouth of the Fox river near Green Bay to the Missis- sippi river opposite Winona. But little was done except the making of preliminary surveys in 1870. During 1870 and 1871, forty miles were constructed and put in operation. In 1872, one hundred and fourteen miles were graded, the track laid, and the river reached, sixty-two miles farther, in 1873. In 1876, it acquired the right to use the "Winona cut-off " between Winona and Onalaska, and built a line from the latter point to La Crosse, seven miles, thus connecting its road with the chief city of Wisconsin on the Mississippi river. The city of La Crosse aided this extension by subscribing $75,000 and giving its corporation bonds for that amount. Henry Ketchum, of New London, is president of the company, and D. M. Kelly, of Green Bay, gen- eral manager.
WISCONSIN VALLEY ROAD.
The " Wisconsin Valley Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1871 to build a road from a point on or near the line of the Milwaukee & La Crosse railroad, between Kilbourn City and the tunnel in said road to the village of Wausau, in the county of Marathon, and the road to pass not more than one mile west of the village of Grand Rapids, in the county of Wood. The road was commenced at Tomah, and graded to Centralia in 1872, and opened to that village in 1873, and during 1874 it was completed to Wausau, ninety miles in its whole length. Boston capitalists furnished the money, and it is controlled in the interest of the Dubuque & Minnesota railroad, through which the equipment was procured. The lumber regions of the Wisconsin river find an outlet over it, and its junction with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road at Tomah enables a connection with the railroads of Iowa and Minnesota. It gives the people of Marathon county an outlet long needed for a large lumber traffic, and also enables them to receive their goods and supplies of various kinds for the lunibering region tributary to Wausau. James F. Joy, of Detroit, is president, and F. O. Wyatt, superintendent.
SHEBOYGAN & FOND DU LAC RAILROAD.
The "Sheboygan & Mississippi Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1852, to build a road from Sheboygan to the Mississippi river. It was completed from Sheboygan to Plymouth in 1858, to Glenbeulah in 1860, to Fond du Lac in 1868, and to Princeton in 1872. The extension from Fond du Lac to Princeton was built under authority of an act passed in 1871.
Under a foreclosure in 1861 the line from Sheboygan to Fond du Lac was sold, and the name of the company changed to "Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad Company." The length of
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the line is seventy-eight miles, and it passes through a fertile agricultural country. The city of Sheboygan, county, city and town of Fond du Lac, and the towns of Riverdale, Ripon, Brooklyn, Princeton, and St. Marie, aided in its building to an amount exceeding $250,000. D. L. Wells is president, and Geo. P. Lee, superindendent.
THE MINERAL POINT RAILROAD.
The " Mineral Point Railroad Company " was chartered in 1852, to build a road from Mineral Point, in the county of Iowa, to the state line, in township number one, in either the county of Green or La Fayette. It was completed to Warren, in the state of Illinois, thirty-two miles, in 1855, making a connection at that point with the Illinois Central, running from Chicago to Galena. Iowa county loaned its credit and issued its bonds to aid in its construction. It was sold under foreclosure in 1856. Suits were brought against Iowa county to collect the amount of its bonds, and judgment obtained in the federal courts. Much litigation has been had, and ill feeling engendered, the supervisors of the county having been arrested for contempt of the decree of the court. Geo. W. Cobb, of Mineral Point, is the general manager.
The Dubuque, Platteville & Milwaukee railroad was completed in July, 1870, and extends from Calamine, a point on the Mineral Point railroad, to the village of Platteville, eighteen miles, and is operated by the Mineral Point railroad company
MADISON & PORTAGE RAILROAD.
The legislature of 1855 chartered the "Sugar River Valley Railroad Company " to build a road from a point on the north side of the line of the Southern Wisconsin road, within the limits of Green county, to Dayton, on the Sugar river. In 1857 it was authorized to build south to the state line, and make its northern terminus at Madison. In 1861 it was authorized to build from Madi- son to Portage City, and from Columbus to Portage City, and so much of the land grant act of 1856, as related to the building of the road from Madison, and from Columbus to Portage City, was annulled and repealed, and the rights and privileges that were conferred upon the LaCrosse company were given to the Sugar River Valley railroad company, and the portion of the land grant, applicable to the lines mentioned, was conferred upon the last named company. Under this legislation about twenty miles of the line between Madison and Portage were graded, and the right of way secured for about thirty of the thirty-nine miles. The La Crosse company had done considerable grading before its right was annulled. In 1866 the company was relieved from constructing the road from Columbus to Portage City. In 1870 the purchasers of that part of the Sugar River Valley railroad lying between Madison and Portage City were incorporated as the " Madison & Portage Railroad Company," and to share all the rights, grants, etc., that were conferred upon the Sugar River railroad company by its charter, and amendments thereto, so far as related to that portion of the line.
Previous to this time, in 1864 and 1865, judgments had been obtained against the Sugar River Valley company ; and its right of way, grading and depot grounds sold for a small sum. James Campbell, who had been a contractor with the Sugar River Valley company, with others. became the purchasers, and organized under the act of 1870, and, during the year 1871, com- pleted it between Madison and Portage City, and in March, 1871, leased it to the Milwaukee & St. Paul company, and it is still operated by that corporation. In 1871 the Madison & Portage company was authorized to extend its road south to the Illinois state line, and north from Portage City to Lake Winnebago. The same year it was consolidated with the " Rockford Central
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Railroad Company," of Illinois, and its name changed to the "Chicago & Superior Railroad Company," but still retains its own organization. The Madison & Portage railroad company claims a share in the lands granted by acts of congress in 1856, and have commenced proceed- ings to assert its claim, which case is still pending in the federal courts.
NORTH WISCONSIN RAILROAD.
The "North Wisconsin Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1869, to build a road from Lake St. Croix, or river, to Bayfield on Lake Superior. The grant of land by congress in 1856, to aid in building a road from Lake St. Croix to Bayfield on Lake Superior, under the decision of the federal court, was yet at the disposal of the state. This company, in 1871, built a short section of its line of road, with the expectation of receiving the grant. In 1873, the grant was conferred upon the Milwaukee & St. Paul company, but under the terms and restrictions con- tained in the act, it declined to accept it. The legislature of 1874 gave it to the North Wiscon- sin company, and it has built forty miles of its road, and received the lands pertaining thereto. Since 1876, it has not completed any part of its line, but is trying to construct twenty miles during the present year. The company is authorized to construct a road both to Superior and to Bayfield, but the act granting the lands confers that portion from Superior to the intersection of the line to Bayfield upon the Chicago & North Pacific air-line railroad. This last- named company have projected a line from Chicago to the west end of Lake Superior, and are the owners of an old grade made through Walworth and Jefferson counties, by a company chartered in 1853 as the " Wisconsin Central," to build a road from Portage City to Geneva, in the county of Walworth. The latter company had also graded its line between Geneva and the state line of Illinois. This grade was afterward appropriated by the Chicago & Northwestern, and over it they now operate their line from Chicago to Geneva.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN & MCGREGOR RAILROAD.
This is a line two miles in length, connecting Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin, with McGregor in Iowa. It is owned and operated by John Lawler, of the latter-named place. It extends across both channels of the Mississippi river, and an intervening island. The railroad bridge consists of substantial piling, except a pontoon draw across each navigable channel. Each pontoon is four hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, provided with suitable machinery and operated by steam power. Mr. Lawler has secured a patent on his invention of the pontoon draw for railroad bridges. His line was put in operation in April, 1874.
THE CHIPPEWA FALLS & WESTERN RAILROAD.
This road was built in 1874, by a company organized under the general law of the state. It is eleven miles in length, and connects the " Falls " with the West Wisconsin line at Eau Claire. It was constructed by the energetic business men and capitalists of Chippewa Falls, to afford an outlet for the great lumber and other interests of that thriving and prosperous city. The road is substantially built, and the track laid with steel rails.
NARROW GAUGE RAILROADS.
The " Galena & Southern Wisconsin Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1857. Under its charter, a number of capitalists of the city of Galena, in the state of Illinois, commenced
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
the construction of a narrow (three feet) gauge road, running from that city to Platteville, thirty- one miles in length, twenty miles in Wisconsin. It runs through a part of La Fayette county to Platteville, in Grant county, and was completed to the latter point in 1875. Surveys are being made for an extension to Wingville, in Grant county.
The "Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria Railway Company " was organized under the general law of the state, in 1874, to build a narrow gauge road from the city of Fond du Lac to the south line of the state in the county of Walworth or Rock, and it declared its intention to consolidate with a company in Illinois that had projected a line of railroad from Peoria, in Illinois, to the south line of the state of Wisconsin. The road is constructed and in operation from Fond du Lac to Iron Ridge, a point on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, twenty-nine miles from Fond du Lac.
The " Pine River & Steven's Point Railroad Company " was organized by the enterprising citizens of Richland Center, and has built a narrow gauge road from Lone Rock, a point on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road, in Richland county, to Richland Center, sixteen miles in length. Its track is laid with wooden rails, and it is operated successfully.
The " Chicago & Tomah Railroad Company " organized under the general railroad law of the state, in 1872, to construct a narrow gauge road from Chicago, in Illinois, to the city of Tomah, in Wisconsin. Its president and active manager is D. R. Williams, of Clermont, Iowa, and its secretary is L. M. Culver, of Wauzeka. It has graded about forty-five miles, extending from Wauzeka up the valley of the Kickapoo river, in Crawford county. Wisconsin. It expects to have fifty-four miles in operation, to Bloomingdale. in Vernon county, the present year (1877). The rolling stock is guaranteed, and the president is negotiating for the purchase of the iron. South of Wauzeka the line is located to Belmont, in Iowa county. At Wauzeka it will connect with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line.
The publi -spirited citizens of Necedah, in Juneau county, have organized under the general law of the state, and graded a road-bed from their village to New Lisbon, on the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul company's line. The latter company furnish and lay the iron, and will operate the road. It is thirteen miles in length.
CONCLUSION.
The railroads of Wisconsin have grown up under the requirements of the several localities that have planned and commenced their construction, and without regard to any general system. Frequently the work of construction was begun before adequate means were provided, and bankruptcy overtook the roads in their early stages. The consolidation of the various companies, as in the cases of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago & Northwestern, and others, has been effected to give through lines and the public greater facilities, as well as to introduce economy in management. At times the people have become apprehensive, and by legisla- tive action prohibited railroads from consolidating, and have sought to control and break down the power of these corporations and to harmonize the interests of the companies and the public. The act of 1874, called the "Potter law." was the assertion, by the legislative power of the state, of its right to control corporations created by itself, and limit the rates at which freight and passengers should be carried. After a long and expensive contest, carried through the state and federal courts, this right has been established, being finally settled by the decision of the supreme court of the United States.
Quite all the railroads of Wisconsin have been built with foreign capital. The plan pursued after an organization was effected, was to obtain stock subscriptions from those immediately
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LUMBER MANUFACTURE.
interested in the enterprise, procure the aid of counties and municipalities, and then allure the farmers, with the prospect of joint ownership in railroads, to subscribe for stock and mortgage their farms to secure the payment of their subscriptions. Then the whole line was bonded and a mortgage executed. The bonds and mortgages thus obtained, were taken to the money centers of New York. London, Amsterdam and other places, and sold, or hypothecated to obtain the money with which to prosecute the work. The bonds and mortgages were made to draw a high rate of interest, and the earnings of these new roads, through unsettled localities, were insufficient to pay more than running and incidental expenses, and frequently fell short of that. Default occurring in the payment of interest, the mortgages were foreclosed and the property passed into the hands and under the control of foreign capitalists. Such has been the history of most of the railroads of our state. The total number of farm mortgages given has been 3,785, amounting to $4,079,433; town, county and municipal bonds, amounting to $6.910,652. The total cost of all the railroads in the state, as given by the railroad commissioner in his report for 1876, has been $98,343,453.67. This vast sum is, no doubt, greatly in excess of what the cost should have been, but the roads have proved of immense benefit in the develop- ment of the material resources of the state.
Other lines are needed through sections not yet traversed by the iron steed, and present lines should be extended by branch roads. The questions upon which great issues were raised between the railway corporations and the people, are now happily settled by securing to the latter their rights; and the former, under the wise and conciliatory policy pursued by their managers, are assured of the safety of their investments. An era of good feeling has succeeded one of distrust and antagonism. The people must use the railroads, and the railroads depend upon the people for sustenance and protection. This mutuality of interest, when fully recognized on both sides. will result in giving to capital a fair return and to labor its just reward.
LUMBER MANUFACTURE. BY W. B. JUDSON.
Foremost among the industries of Wisconsin is that of manufacturing lumber. Very much of the importance to which the state has attained is due to the development of its forest wealth. In America, agriculture always has been, and always will be, the primary and most important interest; but no nation can subsist upon agriculture alone. While the broad prairies of Illinois and Iowa are rich with a fertile and productive soil, the hills and valleys of northern Wisconsin are clothed with a wealth of timber that has given birth to a great manufacturing interest, which employs millions of capital and thousands of men, and has peopled the northern wilds with energetic, prosperous communities, built up enterprising cities, and crossed the state with a net- work of railways which furnish outlets for its productions and inlets for the new populations which are ever seeking for homes and employment nearer to the setting sun.
If a line be drawn upon the state map, from Green Bay westward through Stevens Point, to where it would naturally strike the Mississippi river, it will be below the southern boundary of the pine timber regions, with the single exception of the district drained by the Yellow river, a tributary of the Wisconsin, drawing its timber chiefly from Wood and Juneau counties. The territory north of this imaginary line covers an area a little greater than one half of the state. The pine timbered land is found in belts or ridges, interspersed with prairie openings, patches of hardwood and hemlock, and drained by numerous water-courses. No less than seven large
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
rivers traverse this northern section, and, with their numerous tributaries, penetrate every county, affording facilities for floating the logs to the mills, and, in many instances, the power to cut them into lumber. This does not include the St. Croix. which forms the greater portion of the boundary line between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and, by means of its tributaries, draws the most and best of its pine from the former state. These streams divide the territory, as far as lumbering is concerned, into six separate and distinct districts : The Green bay shore, which includes the Wisconsin side of the Menomonee, the Peshtigo and Oconto rivers, with a number of creeks which flow into the bay between the mouths of the Oconto and Fox rivers; the Wolf river district ; the Wisconsin river, including the Yellow, as before mentioned; the Black river; the Chippewa and Red Cedar ; and the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix.
Beginning with the oldest of these, the Green bay shore, a brief description of each will be attempted. The first saw-mill built in the state, of which there is now any knowledge, was put in operation in 1809, in Brown county, two or three miles east from Depere, on a little stream which was known as East river. It was built by Jacob Franks, but probably was a very small affair. Of its machinery or capacity for sawing, no history has been recorded, and it is not within the memory of any inhabitant of to-day. In 1829, John P. Arndt, of Green Bay, built a water- power mill on the Pensaukee river at a point where the town of Big Suamico now stands. In 1834, a mill was built on the Wisconsin side of the Menomonee, and, two years later, one at Peshtigo. Lumber was first shipped to market from this district in 1834, which must be termed
the beginning of lumbering operations on the bay shore. The lands drained by the streams which flow into Green bay are located in Shawano and Oconto counties, the latter being the largest in the state. In 1847, Willard Lamb, of Green Bay, made the first sawed pine shingles in that district ; they were sold to the Galena railroad company for use on depot buildings, and were the first of the kind sold in Chicago. Subsequently Green Bay became one of the greatest points for the manufacture of such shingles in the world. The shores of the bay are low, and gradually change from marsh to swamp, then to level dry land, and finally become broken and mountainous to the northward. The pine is in dense groves that crowd closely upon the swamps skirting the bay, and reach far back among the hills of the interior. The Peshtigo flows into the bay about ten miles south of the Menomonee, and takes its rise far back in Oconto county, near to the latter's southern tributaries. It is counted a good logging stream, its annual product being from 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 feet. The timber is of a rather coarse quality, running but a small percentage to what the lumbermen term "uppers." About ten per cent. is what is known as Norway pine. Of the whole amount of timber tributary to the Peshtigo, probably about one third has been cut off to this date. The remainder will not average of as good quality, and only a limited portion of the land is of any value for agricultural purposes after being cleared of the pine. There are only two mills on this stream, both being owned by one company. The Oconto is one of the most important streams in the district. The first saw-mill was built on its banks about the year 1840, though the first lumbering operations of any account were begun in 1845 by David Jones. The business was conducted quite moderately until 1856, in which year several mills were built, and from that date Oconto has been known as quite an extensive lumber manufacturing point. The timber tributary to this stream has been of the best quality found in the state. Lumber cut from it has been known to yield the extraordinarily high average of fifty and sixty per cent. uppers. The timber now being cut
will not average more than half that. The proportion of Norway is about five per cent. It is estimated that from three fourths to four fifths of the timber tributary to the Oconto has been cut away, but it will require a much longer time to convert the balance into lumber than was necessary to cut its equivalent in amount, owing to its remote location. The annual production
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LUMBER MANUFACTURE.
of pine lumber at Oconto is from 50,000,000 to 65,000,000 feet. The whole production of the district, exclusive of the timber which is put into the Menomonee from Wisconsin, is about 140,000,000 feet annually.
The Wolf river and its tributaries constitute the next district, proceeding westward. The first saw logs cut on this stream for commercial purposes were floated to the government mill at Neenah in 1835. In 1842, Samuel Farnsworth erected the first saw-mill on the upper Wolf near the location of the present village of Shawano, and in the following spring he sent the first raft of lumber down the Wolf to Oshkosh. This river also rises in Oconto county, but flows in a southerly direction, and enters Winnebago lake at Oshkosh. Its pineries have been very exten- sive, but the drain upon them within the past decade has told with greater effect than upon any other district in the state. The quality of the timber is very fine, and the land is considered good for agricultural purposes, and is being occupied upon the lines of the different railways which cross it. The upper waters of the Wolf are rapid, and have a comparatively steady flow, which renders it a very good stream for driving logs. Upon the upper river, the land is quite rolling, and about the head-waters is almost mountainous. The pine timber that remains in this dis- trict is high up on the main river and branches, and will last but a few years longer. A few years ago the annual product amounted to upward of 250,000,000 feet; in 1876 it was 138,000,000. The principal manufacturing points are Oshkosh and Fond du Lac; the former has 21 mills, and the latter 10.
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