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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Picture: 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.
HISTORY