SAWMILLS AND THEIR OWNERS

 

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  I can only tell about those in operation at different points along the upper Mississippi while I was in the rafting business. There were many small and a few large mills on the Saint Croix, Chippewa and Black rivers that sent out an immense quantity of rafted lumber to be taken to the many down river yards; but I had no line on their activities; and as the office of surveyor-general of logs and lumber in Wisconsin was abolished four years ago, I am unable to get at the records to compute the output of these mills, that supplied the yards of

Knapp, Stout and Company at Dubuque, Fort Madison and Saint Louis.
P.J. Seippel Lumber Company at Dubuque.
Rhodes Brothers at Savanna.
Daniel Stanchfield at Davenport.
S.G. Stein and Company at Muscatine.
Gilbert-Hedge and Company at Burlington
Rand Lumber Company at Burlington and Keokuk.
A.S.Meridiam and Comapy at Quincy.
John L. Cruikshank at Hannibal.
LaCrosse Lumber Company at Louisiana.
LaCrosse Lumber Company at Clarksville.
Shulenburg and Boeckeler at Saint Louis.
Eau Claire Lumber Company at Saint Louis.
Methudy and Meyer at Saint Louis, and others.

    A large part of the lumber to these yards was hauled out, piled and seasoned and then shipped west to build

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homes, barns and fences in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas.

 

STILLWATER, MINNESOTA

    The big Shulenburg and Boeckeler mill later owned by Isaac Staples, E.L. Hospes and Samuel Atlee and finally owned by George H. Atwood who cut forty-eight million feet of lumber a season.

 

     Hersey Bean and Brown mill; which in 1892 came under the management of George H. Atwood.

 

HUDSON, WISCONSIN (Mouth of Willow River)

    The Purington mill, built 1850. Destroyed by fire. It was replaced in 1883 by a modern mill owned by the Hudson Lumber Company, that cut 700,000,000 feet and sent the last raft down river in 1915.

 

GLENMOUNT, WISCONSIN

    Olds and Lord mill-later owned by Gillespie and Harper.

 

PRESCOTT, WISCONSIN

    The John Dudley mill.

 

RED WING, MINNESOTA

    The Red Wing Mills Company, The Charles Betcher mill.

 

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WINONA, MINNESOTA (Four large mills)

    Youmans Bros. and Hodgins-1856-1898.

     Laird Norton and Company started in 1857.

     Winona Lumber Company started in 1881.

     The Empire Lumber Company started in 1887.

 

LACROSSE, WISCONSIN (at mouth of Black river)

    C.L. Clomans mill.

     John Pauls mill.

     N.B. Holways mill.

     Sawyer and Austins mill.

     G.B. Trows mill.

     P.S. Davidson Lumber Company mill.

     McDonald Brothers mill.

 

LANSING, IOWA

    Lansing Lumber Company, John Robson of Winona , principal owner and manager.

 

MCGREGOR, IOWA

     W. and J. Fleming mill, C.W. Cowles, manager.

 

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WISCONSIN

    Stauer and Daubenberger mill.

 

GUTTENBURG, IOWA

    Zimmerman and Ives mill.

 

DUBUQURE, IOWA

    Knapp, Stout and Company's mill.

     Ingram, Kennedy and Day, later Standard Lumber company.

     M.H. Moore's mill.

 

BELLEVUE, IOWA

    Dorchester and Huey's mill.

 

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LYONS, IOWA

    Gardiner, Batcheler and Welles mill No. I.

     Gardiner, Batcheler and Welles mill No. II.

     Lyons Lumber Company mill.

     David Joyce's mill.

 

FULTON, ILLINOIS

    David Joyce - The old Langford and Hall mill.

 

CLINTON, IOWA

    Clinton Lumber Company.

     W.J. Young ans Company, the Upper mill.

     C. Lamb and Sons, The Stone mill.

     C. Lamb and Sons, the brick mill.

     W.J. Young and Company, The Big mill.

     C. Lamb and Sons, the Riverside mill.

     C. Lamb and Sons, Riverside mill, lower.

CAMANCHE, IOWA

     W.R. Anthony, successor to Anthony and McClosky.

 

FORT BYRON, ILLINOIS

    Fred S. Gates mill.

 

LECLAIRE, IOWA

    J.W. Strobeen, the old Van Sant and Zebley mill.

 

MOLINE, ILLINOIS

    Dimock,Gould and Company, originally a water power mill and manufacted tubs, pails, washboards, etc.

     The J.S. Keator and Sons mill, started in 1859.

 

ROCK ISLAND ILLINOIS

    Mills on Sylvan Water Slough between the water works and the C.R.I. and P. station, owned and oper-

 

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ated from 1878 by the Rock Island Lumber Company, in which Weyerhauser and Denkmann held the controlling interest. Previous to 1878 the style of the operating firm was Anawalt, Denkmann and Company.

 

     Mill of Weyerhauser and Denkmann at the lower end of Rock Island. In 1857 the firm of Mead, Smith and Marsh operating this mill got in financial trouble and the mill was shut down. Mr. Fred Weyerhauser, who was in their employ took hold of the property and operated it on his own account. When the affairs of Smith, Mead and Marsh were finally closed up the mill was offered for sale. In 1860 Mr. Weyerhauser and his brother-in-law, Mr. F.C.A. Denkmann, bought the mill for $3000.00. They operated it continuously and very successfully until the log supply was exhausted. They made extensions and improvements increasing its output until it was known as one of the 'big mills' sawing over forty million feet annually.

 

DAVENPORT, IOWA

    The Lindsay and Phelps mill at Stubbs' Eddy was erected in 1864. It had the advantage of an excellent place to land and hold their rafts in the Eddy. This mill had a long and very prosperous run with the same ownership and when it had to close for want of more logs to saw, it was dismantled, and the lumber yard cleared off and generously given to the city for what has become the landing feature of East Davenport, Lindsay Park.

 

     In 1868 L.C. Dessaint built a sawmill just above the water works. It was later owned by Price and Hornsby. In 1874 George W. Cable bought it and later organized the Cable Lumber Company which operated the mill until the supply of logs was exhausted.

 

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    The Renwick mill, built in 1854, operated by Renwick and Son, later by Renwick, Shaw and Crossett and last by Weyerhauser and Denkmann. Was an extremely hard place to land and hold logs as the water was not deep but very swift.

 

    In 1849 Strong Burnett built a saw and planing mill at foot of Scott street, later operated by Denkmann and Schricker, then by Schricker and Mueller and after 1883 by Chr. Mueller and his sons, later incorporated as the Mueller Lumber Company, still a going business.

 

    In 1849, A Mr. Howard built a mill about warren street, later owned by French and Cannon and then by French and Davies. It was later operated by Paige and Dixon and under the management of Mr. E.W. Dixon. Its career was interrupted by the financial complications arising from the suicide of Mr. S.B. Paige of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who killed himself in his room in the Burtis House one Sunday afternoon in March, 1883. After the tangled affairs of Paige and Dixon had been cleared away, a new company called the Davenport Lumber Company took hold of the old mill and started sawing in1887. S.J. Keator was president and Henry Jager was Manager. They pushed the business with vigor and success until their log supply gave out and the mill closed for good in 1891.

 

    "Mueller Lumber Company's new mill" at Cooks Point. The old mill at Scott Street burned in 1901. The larger, modern mill was erected in 1902 and continued sawing until the logs gave out in 1907.

 

     As Stated elsewhere, our company took care of all Mueller logs where rafted and supplied the old mill from March, 1887, until it burned in 1901, and we supplied every raft cut at the new mill during its prosperous run.

 

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Steamer Morning Star

Built in 1911, 250 feet long, 70 feet wide, over all. She had excellent passenger accommodation and could carry eight hundred tons of freight. On her first rip, with a special party, she went from Davenport, Iowa, to the mouth of the Mississippi, 110 miles below New Orleans and from there to Saint Paul, Minn., and back to Davenport. The author was in charge until 1918 when she was sold to a Cincinnati company. She was the last large boat in the Saint Paul trade

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     We never had a difficulty of any kind or any unpleasant experience with this company during the twenty-one years we handled their logs which ran about fifteen million feet annually. Our work for them amounted to $360,000.00.

 

MUSCATINE, IOWA

    The Muscatine Lumber Company mill, burned in 1886.

     The Heshey Lumber Company mill, started by Jacob Hershey in 1852, was in control of Benjamin Hershey until his death and continued sawing to the last of the logs. My first contract, when I got charge of the steamer 'Last Chance' in 1882, was to run ten million feet of logs from Beef Slough to this mill.

 

     The Musser lumber Company had a large mill that sawed about forty-five million feet annually. Richard Musser, Peter Musser and P.M. Musser were all fine men. I was clerk on one of the Van Sant and Musser raft-boats for three seasons and did occasional work for them later. Their mill was built in 1870 and it was vigorously operated every season. The Van Sant and Musser boats earned over a million dollars towing for the Musser Lumber Company.

    The Burdick mill in South Muscatine, for a time owned by Benj. Hershey, was sold by him in 1893 to John Kaiser who incorporated the South Muscatine Lumber Company.

 

BURLINGTON, IOWA

    The Harmar Manufacturing Company mill.

     The Burlington Lumber Company had a big mill that had a long, steady and prosperous career.

 

FORT MADISON, IOWA

     S. and J.C. Atlee mill ran steadily until the last. The

 

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old mill is still there and the business is carried on handling southern and western stock.

 

KEOKUK, IOWA

    The Taber Lumber Company built a new mill when the old one burned and continued sawing after nearly all others had quit. Captain Taber, who had been in command of steamers in the Saint Louis and new Orleans trade, one of which was the famous 'Ruth,' was fatally injured by an automobile only a few years ago. The mill has been dismantled but the business has been carried on by his sons, Ben and Carroll Taber.

 

CANTON, MISSOURI

    The Canton Sawmill Company had a medium sized mill.

 

QUINCY, ILLINOIS

    The Quincy Sawmill Company had a mill up in the bay.

 

HANNIBAL, MISSOURI

    The Hannibal Sawmill Company had a good mill.

 

SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI

    Shulenburg and Boeckeler mill.

     Knapp, Stout and Company mill.

     Hill-Lemmon and Company mill.

     H.S. Parker and Company mull.

     C.F. Leibke mill.