Marathon County, Wisconsin - Chapter 10, 1913

Under the circumstances mentioned in the foregoing chapter, it is not surprising that there was little increase in the population from 1850 to 1855, one would rather look for a decrease; but the hardest time had passed for the new settlement, and better times were in sight, although slowly coming. The boom for Wisconsin lands continued, and while in former years lands in the southern part of the state were sought by speculators, the demand shifted now to northern lands, and thousands of acres were sold weekly at the land ofifice at Stevens Point, which were mainly taken for the timber by speculators. The influx of fanners in 1856 had given a wide advertisement to this county, and the inflation of currency in banknotes gave an impetus to the acquiring of real estate. Wausau, too, had its mention as a prosperous village, and people came here to engage in lumber trade.

The name of the postoffice of Little Bull had been changed to Mosinee. Lumber prices had been rising, selling as high as $18 a thousand in St. Louis. Mills had been improved and steam portable mills introduced, the first one by Dr. D. B. \\'ylie ; next another one by M. Stafford ; the four mills in Wausau now cut 100.000 feet daily, and all that with the increase of the farming population, had its good effect on business. The highway to Stevens Point had been cut out in places and was to be completed, and the general despondency following the first years immediately before and after the organization of the county gave way to a feeling of cheerfulness and security. Buildings were erected in Wausau, and the little pinery town assumed an air of thrift unknown theretofore.

And now, in 1857, the first weekly newspaper. The Central Jl'isconsin, made its appearance, a neat and sprightly sheet, with J. W. Chubbuck as founder and editor, who was endowed with a fine literary vein, and was a keen observer. That event was duly celebrated with a banquet held in Forest Hall, where toasts were spoken and the festivities closed with grajid dance. Some of the toasts announced and responded to are worthy of being mentioned, as throwing a light on the mental caliber of the pioneers, Dr. Gordon acting as toastmaster. The first toast proposed was :

"Our Chubbuck. May he entwine the rope of literature around the horns of the Big Bull and lead him out into the green fields of wealth and renown."

Second toast: "The Village of Wausau. May its great natural advantages be improved by art to the utmost extent, and where the forest pine now stands, may the spires of a city rise - the homes of thousands, and a great center of inland trade and commerce."

"The ice has gone out, six rafts of timber and three of lumber belonging two to Huntley of Boon county, Illinois, started out on Sunday; two fleets of W. D. Mclndoe, two of Lymann, two of B. Barnes, two of Walrod and one of Doolittle."

"Dr. Gordon prepares the foundation of a building on Jefferson street, and William Bradford will build a house on 3d street" (where the Nicolls block now stands).

"The bank of the river above the falls is lined with rafts ; the Scholfield mill, burned last fall, has been rebuilt and has a gang edger of 21 saws, which recently cut 21,000 feet in day time, and is the only gang edger in the county."

"Three rapids pieces belonging to J. G. Goodhue, above Little Bull, broke loose, became unmanageable and passed through the falls to destruction."

This news of men being drowned and lumber lost was nothing very rare, rather occurred every year. Little Bull on the whole exacting the most lives.

As may be imagined, the trip could not always be made on time, often was delayed by storms, and mail was detained; towards spring when the snow melted, the trail was not passable at all, and all mail was stopped.

A large amount of such mail was held at Wausau, and on the 20th day of May, 1857, the postmaster Thomas Single, contracted with Levy Flemming to carry the accumulated mail from here to Ontonagan for $300.

There were about fifteen sacks of mail, and Mr. Flemming started out with the help of another man by bark canoe up north. They made the journey together as far as Grandmother Falls, when in portaging i\Ir. Flemming lost his assistant and was forced to proceed alone. He started alone on his journey by water until he reached Eagle, then carried the mail over the divide afoot, going with one sack and coming back for another, until he had one-half of it again on the bank of a river; then with that half of the mail he went to Ontonagon; came for the rest to Eagle, and started again for Ontonagon. He deposited the last sack of mail on June 13th, then started for home. A trip like that, under the conditions as they were at the time, would seem like an impossibility today.

"Daily line of Stages: between Wausau and Mosinee, connecting with the steamer 'Northerner,' leaves Wausau e\ery morning, arriving at Mosinee in time to connect with the steamer at that place. Return will leave Mosinee on the arrival of the steamer; at W^ausau at 6 o'clock in the evening."

The immense rise in the valuation can only be explained by the large amount of lands sold by the government, which thereby became taxable after being surveyed, in 1852 and 1853; but the rise in personal property is explained on the much larger output of lumber and shingles, which was encouraged by the general demand for the same throughout the west, all along the Mississippi, and the inflation of currency by banknotes.

In the spring of this year, B. Barnes, who was then still in possession and the owner of the mill which soon came into possession of B. G. Plumer, had, evidently in expectation of a continuance of "flush times," begun the erection of a new hotel on the corner of Alain and Jackson streets. It was a mammoth building, 60 by 120 feet, three stories high, built of timber frame; the frame was up and the building enclosed, but it was never finished; Mr. Barnes got into financial difficulties and the timber was taken down by the contractor, John Brown, to save himself from loss.

During the boom of Wisconsin, from 1853 to 1857, many banks had started in Wisconsin and issued their notes, which passed current for money. Their notes were redeemable in coin only at their place of business ; that is, where the bank was located. Two enterprising gentlemen by the name of Fox and Helms opened a bank at Eagle River, where there was already some logging done. The bank building is still standing, a log house, fallen down now, of course, and in ruins, on Eagle river, a short distance above the present city of Eagle River. That bank could safely rely on that not many of their notes would ever be presented for redemption in coin at that place, about seventy-five miles from Wausau, with no road from this place, say nothing of the communication to Wausau.

Nevertheless there was some progress in Wausau. In the following year. 1858-1859, the flour mill was built, to the great advantage of the pioneer farmers, who had to drive with their ox-teams to Plover for grinding their wheat or rye, or did what most of them did, ground the wheat in little hand mills.

In the state election a larger vote was cast, with the following result: For governor, James B. Cross. Democrat, 210; for governor, Alexander Randall, Republican, 195 : for member of assembly. Burton Millard, Republican, 204; for member of assembly, Thomas Hinton, Democrat, 167.

An event of supposed great importance occurred on the 8th day of April, 1858. The first steamboat arrived at Wausau. It landed on the east bank, which was then the main channel, a little south where now stands the Tre- month House, or on what would be the end of Fourth street if it were continued to the river. The steamboat left Mosinee the afternoon before with about twenty tons of freight, and tied up at Eau Claire about sunset, not deeming it prudent to come further in the dark, the channel not having been decided upon at that time. High expectations were entertained from this new means of transportation, which were not realized, the boat only running for part of two seasons, the stage of water not being at all times sufficient, and there being not enough passenger traffic. The unloading at the low bank in Mosinee and carting freight over the hill to load again on the steamboat, and again unloading at the lower bank here after so short a trip, was not much inviting for heavy transport, esjiecially after the road got better.

The steamboat between Stevens Point and Mosinee was longer in commission; in fact, made trips as late as 1866, when it was laid up for good.

Up to 1856 the whole county was organized as one town and governed under the township government, but now with the increase in population and taxable property, the county was divided in three towns, the county board creating the town of Wausau, the town of Eau Claire and the town of Mosinee, with territory as follows :

Town of Eau Clair to have township 28, range 8, except the four sections above, which were to belong to Wausau, and townships 28, 29 and 30, range 9 east, and town of Mosinee to have townships 26 and 27 from range 2 to range 9. In the December meeting of the same year the county board created the town of Jenny, consisting of townships 31, ^2, 33 and 34 of ranges 5, 6, 7, and 8 and in a meeting on March , 1858, the town of Texas was established out of territory from the town of Jenny.

In the same meeting of the county board it was ordered to advertise for letting the contract for the clearing and fencing of the courthouse block.

On the 27th day of April, 1858. the new county board met for the first time with Milo Kelly of Eau Clair. Perley Dodge of Wausau, Joseph Dessert of Mosinee, Thomas Hinton of Texas and William Wilson of Jenny and Milo Kelly was elected as chaimian.

The primitive condition of the county building appears from the following order of the board : "Ordered, that the chairman be authorized to procure the materials and employ some person to build a chimney in the county office."

The need of a poor farm seemed necessary, at so early a stage, for the county board purchased ninety acres from Thomas Hinton for $3,100. This looks like a big price for those times, but the order specifies that the purchase price was to be paid in county orders, which were probably worth 60 cents, or less, on the dollar face value.

M. D. Corey had his home on the corner of Third and Jefferson streets, where the National Bank now stands, and east of the house he had a large cabinet-maker's shop, with a steam engine to furnish power. On the floor above the shop circuit court was held sometimes, and also a school. In 1858, N. Daniels came to Wausau and associated himself with Corey, and this shop was converted into a shingle mill, until it was destroyed by fire in 1866. H. -Daniels built a new and larger steam mill on the west shore of the river, where Spruce street intersects First avenue, which was operated until 1877; this site was afterwards sold to McDonald and Dunbar Lumber Company in 1881, which was in operation until 1888, and subsequently burned down. The land is now owned by the Curtis and Yale Lumber Company.

R. E. Parcher arrived in 1858; first worked as a clerk in the drug store of Taylor & Ellis; soon purchased the interest of Ellis, and later that of Taylor; the drug store was situated .in a part of a store standing where the Marathon County Bank now stands, the front part thereof being occupied as a postoffice, and the rear as a drug store.

B. G. Plumer and John Irwin had a vacant store on Main street, half way between Washington and Jackson streets, still standing, which R. E. Parcher purchased about 1862 or 1863, and opened his general merchandise business, combined with a drug department, and conducted it until about 1880, when he sold out.

August Kickbush arrived from Milwaukee in i860, with a wagonload of merchandise, opened a store in a little shanty on Clarke's Island and soon thereafter acquired the Doolittle place on corner of Main and Washington streets, where he engaged in general merchandise business, becoming in a few years the leading merchant in the pinery.

A boarding house, styled the United States Hotel, had been erected towards the end of the decade closing with i860, on Second street, between Washington and Jackson streets, which was rented and conducted by Sebastion Kronenwetter, until it burned in 1863 he losing his whole investment of personal property in the fire.

Nearly all business houses were on Main street and Second and Third streets, and from Forest to Washington street, excepting the postoffice, already referred to, and the Bank of Interior, opposite the courthouse; some dwelling houses and shanties further east and north ; especially on Forest an^' Main streets. Shingle street had lost its importance by that time.

In i860, there were the four large saw mills and one shingle mill in Wausau, and three portable mills from three to five miles from the village; three general stores, one drug store, and four lawyers and four physicians. Some farmers continued to arrive every year after the first settlers had come in 1856, but the influx of German emigrants practically ceased during the war between the states, followed by the wars on the continent in 1864 and 1866. By this time a very large part of the lands entered after their sur\-ey in 1852 and 1853 had become county lands for the nonpayment of taxes. Speculators had bought the lands, expecting quick sales, which did not materialize, and then failed to pay the taxes. The large amount of such lands sold for nonpayment of taxes can be estimated from the fact that as early as 1858 the county board engaged Asa Lawrence to make an abstract (probably only a list by description) of such lands, in order to keep them out of the tax rolls, for which service the county agreed to pay $700.

The salary of the county clerk was fixed at $350 for the term beginning January ist, 1859; that of the district attorney at $300; other officers, including the county treasurer, received fe«s up to this time and for some years to come.

The town of Berlin was created in February, 1859, to consist of township 30, ranges 2 to 6 inclusive, and all of township 30, range 7 west of the Wisconsin river, the first election to be held at the house of John Kopplin, and at the first election held in April, 1859, William Drost was elected chairman.

At the same meeting the county board created the town of Marathon out of township 28, ranges 2 to 6 inclusive; also the town of Knowlton, out of township 28, ranges 8 and 9 and all of township 28, range 7 east of the Wisconsin river.

Francis Mitsch was the first chaimian of the town of Marathon, and C. Washburn from the town of Knowlton. Perley Dodge, the county treasurer, vacated his office, going to Pike's Peak, and the county board elected J. A. Farnham to fill the vacancy, but in the next election. Charles Hoeflinger was elected for the first time as county treasurer.

A resolution passed by the county board July 8. 1861, throws some light on the paper money misery of those times. It reads : "That a committee of three be appointed to investigate in relation to discredited money in the hands of the county treasurer," and from orders of the county board at a later date, it seems that the difference or discount, whatever it was, was charged up to the treasurer, and he was directed to pay the same. Besides the mills mentioned, there was a number of smaller shops, blacksmiths, wagonmakers, and shoemakers.

George Ruder began building his brewery in i860; had his first brew on the market in 1861 ; and five saloons administered to the wants of the population for a light stimulant. The hotels and boarding houses were filled to overflow in the spring by hundreds of men coming out of the logging camps, waiting to go rafting and running lumber out.

A village government became now a necessity; a charter was obtained in the session of the legislature of 1861, and by the election of officers in the same year, on April 8, 1861, Wausau became an incorporated village.

Its first officers were: F. A. Hoffmann, president of board of trustees; Charles A. Single, Jacob Paff, John Irwin. John C. Clarke, trustees ; Thomas Single, clerk.

This John Irwin was one of the pinery pioneers ; he was a millwright of exceptional ability, continuously employed either in building or remodeling mills, a thoroughly competent and honest man ; sobor and industrious, his ability only rivalled by his modesty, a gentleman in speech and manners. He remained a bachelor and removed from Marathon county in 1880.

F. A. Hoffmann, the village president, kept a hardware store on the comer of Third and Washington streets, and at the time of his election had some interest in the Central JJ'isconsiii. He must have been a refomier of the violent kind, to judge from his record in the county board, where he represented the village. At the first meeting of this board, in 1861, which consisted of himself, from the village of Wausau; Dr. I. E. Thayer, of the town of Wausau; William Cuer, of Mosinee; M. L. Winslow. of Knowlton; W. V. Lambereaux, of Weston ; John Lemmer, of Marathon ; C. Buttke, of Stettin ; William Drost, of Berlin; J. E. Armstrong, of Texas, and Harrison Combs, of Jenny, being ten in number, if all present; he moved for a set of rules for the government of the county board in conducting the business, and being appointed as the committee to propose the rules, he reported a code consisting of twenty-nine sections, one among them, that all motions should be in writing, etc. These rules, besides a number of others relating to the duties of each and every county officer, were adopted before the board started to do any business, except electing a chairman. Page after page of the minutes of the proceedings is taken up with his motions, never failing to begin with the enacting clause: "The board of supcnnsors of Marathon county do order and determine," and winding up with the stereotyped phrase : "This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage." To show what sort of a practical reformer he was, and how he attempted to cure some of the bad practices which seemed to have grown up, the following resolution is cited, which he introduced and which was passed in the first meeting of the board, to wit:

Sec. I. That the chairman of the board appoint a committee of one to proceed to Milwaukee or such other place as he shall deem expedient and consult such lawyer of ability as he may decide in regard to the following questions as to their legality :

C. Is it legal for the county board to build the road to the north line of this state as provided in chapter 310 by paying the contractor in county orders, the county to take said lands as a reimbursement ?

Sec. 2. Said committee so appointed shall also engage the services of such lawyer to defend all suits in which Marathon county may become a party and which may have already been instituted or may be instituted hereafter in consequence of bonds of said county, and that said lawyer shall defend and protect this county in all such cases.

Sec. 3. That the commissioner shall receive $100.00 in Marathon country orders, etc., to defray expenses of this trip and return the balance, if any, to the county.

Sec. 4. That the lawyer engaged to defend all such suits shall receive not more than $500.00 for his services in Marathon county orders, or so much less, as the committee shall decide to be paid, when the present case pending for the amount of $5,000 instituted by J. V. Peace is decided.

Sec. 5. The expense of such lawyer in coming to this county for the purpose of investigating such case to be paid by this county, provided it does not exceed $50.00.

Of course Hoffmann was appointed as such committee, and he made his trip to Milwaukee and later reported, but as to what the report was, the record is silent. There were some lawyers here, and if he did not trust them, there were good lawyers in Stevens Point, Plover, and Waupaca, and as to the bonds, the county could have really no defense. Some of the complaints against one or the other of the county officers may have had good foundation to rest upon; there might have been incompetency or carelessness in collecting taxes, but never anything come from this investigation. The reform movement left no impression.

In another resolution of J. A. Hoffman introduced November 13, 1861, and adpoted relating to settlement for delinquent taxes, leaving out the several preambles, the following appears :

"Whereas, Most of the lands, so bid in by the county in the years 1857- 1858- 1 859 and i860, have not been redeemed but the county orders issued for the purpose of settling with the towns have increased at a fearful rate so that their real value stands at this moment at one-half of their nominal value," etc., which is simply cited as an authorative admission that Marathon county orderse in 1861 were worth only fifty cents on the dollar.

The county had now been organized for ten years, and the question may arrive, why were county orders still at such a frightful discount? When the county began business as a municipality, it had no money, no property. The expenses were necessarily greater than the income, and at this time the county was substantially a wild territory as yet. Lands were not thought to be worth enough to redeem from tax sale, which went to the county in lieu of taxes, and there was no sale for them. The county had too much land, was land poor. There may have been other causes tending to keep county orders at a heavy discount. If there were, they were not discovered or remedied. Hoffmann may have acted from the best of motives, or it may have been otherwise.

The fact remains that as a reformer he was a failure, expecting too much from resolutions without work, and often self-denial, to see that they were executed.

Towns were organized and they, too, issued their orders without money in the treasury to pay them, which also were discounted; the only town making an exception was the town of Berlin, where through the efforts of their chairman, G. Plisch, and later Aug. W. Schmidt, no orders were issued unless there was money to pay, and people taking road contracts or other work for the town knew they would have to wait, and were satisfied to wait until tax paying time, when they were paid. The town thus receiving full value for work contracted, while when orders were issued with no money to pay that fact was always taken in consideration, and contracts were based upon a scale of depreciated currency. These orders circulated as money to a limited extent in buying goods, etc., but the county and town was always a heavy loser by doing business along those lines. This condition of things remained nearly sixteen years longer, only to a lesser degree so far as the county was concerned, and the change will be duly noted when it came.

Hoffman was not re-elected. His store burned down the following year, and after running a tin shop for about two year's longer, he removed from Marathon county.

In the same year (1861) the county was divided in three districts, each was to elect one commissioner at the general election, the three commissioners so elected to constitute the county board.

Before closing the narration of events which happened up to i860 it may not be out of place here to cast a glance backwards on the general condition of the business in the pinery.

"The panic of 1857 was followed by the hard times of 1858 and by the spring of 1859 the outlook was very dark. Everybody was in debt and nobody could pay. In the spring of 1859, after a trip to the lower river markets, which was discouraging, everything looked blue, and he set his bookkeeper to work to see how the concern stood. He found that the firm owned $82,000.00 and had a large amount outstanding. Of this, thirteen thousand dollars was owing their store from laboring men and others in the neighborhood. They owed a large amount in Galena. Henry Convith of that place was their principal creditor, the amount due him being about $25,000.00. After getting a full understanding Mr. Dessert suggested to his partner, Henry Gate, that he should send for his brother, George W. Gate (already referred to as the circuit judge). When he arrived the condition of afifairs was explained, and Mr. Dessert told the Gates they could have the business if they would agree to pay the debts, and he (Dessert) would give up everything. He told them that he had worked there since 1849 with Henry Gate, and had besides his hard work put in about fifteen hundred dollars in money. George W. Gate advised his brother against accepting the offer. He did not think he could ever get out of debt. When they reached this conckision, Mr. Dessert took the opposite tack and said he would take the business on these temis and would undertake to pull it through. Practically Gate accepted the offer. Henry Gate had an outside partner in a mail and stage line between Mosinee and Stevens Point and had invested the firm's money in the team and outfit. Mr. Dessert allowed him that team, which was all he took out of the concern. Mr. Dessert then went to Galena and saw Mr. Gorwith and stated to him the condition of affairs. Mr. Gorwith did not think he could weather the stomi, but Mr. Dessert insisted upon trying, and as Mr. Gorwith could make nothing by forcing him, so he consented, and Mr. Dessert struggled along. Towards the end of the war and for some years after, lumber prices began to rise, and by 1870 he was well upon his feet, and ultimately paid off every obligation. This was not alone the condition of Joseph Dessert, but was the condition of every lumberman on the Wisconsin river with but slight variations, but not all weathered the storm ; some went down in spite of their hard work to save themselves, in spite of all exertions made and privations endured. The only mill owner who seemed to be able to stand safely in these perilous business years, was William Scholfield of the Eau Glair mill. His mill and business had been safely operated by S. Hutchinson until 1856, while he was in practice as a physician in Stevens Point, and no doubt by his earnings in his profession was able to put his business on a firm foundation. Men working at this mill were always paid promptly, which is more than could be said of other concerns.