Monroe County, Wisconsin - Chapter 31: Manufactures and Business Enterprises, 1912

IManufactui'ing was inaugurated in the little village of Sparta in 1853, when A. H. and Hilton Blake erected a sawmill upon the banks of Beaver creek ; were it still standing it would now be located about in the center of Water street; this was the only sawmill here in this vicinity, except the one which is situated in Angelo, having been built there in 1852 by Seth Angel.

Messrs. Blake run this sawmill until about 1857, when the same was purchased by K. and 0. P. ]\IcClure, who destroyed the old building and built the first grist mill in Sparta ; this was situated about forty feet east of the old building. This grist mill was operated by I\IcClure Brothers for several years to great advantage, the farmers bringing their grain to the mill from a great distance to be ground.

In June, 1867, the property was bought by T. B. Tyler and T. D. Steele for .$27,000 ; they erected on the site of the grist mill a woolen mill, at an estimate cost of $30,000, and commenced the operation under the firm name of T. B. Tyler & Co. ; they continued to operate the mill until 1872, when they sold it to II. Greeve. At that time the greater part of the original plat belonging to the mill property had been disposed of as building lots.

From that time, 1872 to 1878, the mill did not meet with a great deal of success, not running regularly, and in September of the latter year, T. B. Gibson bought the mill and commenced operation ]\Iay 1, 1879, manufacturing woolen goods, making a specialty of fine white blankets, which became quite noted. In the spring of 1881 Mr. Gibson made several improvements in the work in order to fill the demand for his goods, and increased the machinery ; he manufactured fine white blankets and ^Mackinaw cloth, tlie latter being a grade of goods used for out-clothing for lumber and woodsmen. The business ran at that time up to a capacity of $50,000 worth of goods per year and employed as high as twenty-five hands ; it was operated as a woolen mill for several years, until it passed into other hands and the manu- facture of goods was no longer continued ; the building was used for various purposes at different times up until about 1909, when it was sold to AV. A. Ileinstoek, and is now used as a livery stable.

As early as 1864 the village of Sparta boasted of a paper mill, which was erected in that year by John L. Mather, at a cost of $42,000. In 1871 it came into the possession of Oran I. Newton, who ran it until 1879, Avhen he rebuilt the entire plant at a cost of over $50,000. The mill Avas situated on the LaCrosse river, when the water power, which is now used by the 0. I. Newton Son's Electric Light Company, was first put in. The mill's capacity was over 6,000 pounds of paper daily, and employed as high as twenty hands, using in the manufacture of a certain kind of paper five tons of straw daily. In addition to the manufacture of wrapping paper and paper bags, !Mr. Newton dealt very largely in other grades of paper, and built up a large trade throughout the Northwest, keeping several salesmen on the road constantly.

After his death the mill was operated by his sons, Harry i\I. and George Newton, until it burned some years later. AVith the destruction of the plant the business went out of existence, as the Newton boys did not rebuild it, but used the Avater power for operating the electric light plant, which they subsequently acquired, and the general powerhouse of which is situated on the site of the old paper mill at the present time.

Among other industries which have gone out of existence and which were prominent at one time, was the carriage works of Messrs. E. and A. Thorbus, Avhich was established in the village of Sparta in the fall of 1866 by the senior partner of the firm. ]\lr. Thorbus commenced business in an old frame building and, during the first year, turned out seventy-five wagons of various kinds, the greater part of which were heavy vehicles, adapted for hauling and fai-m work. In 1870 A. Thorbus Avas admitted as a partner, bringing both business, capital and energy, and during this year the firm erected a warehouse at a cost of $3,000, which they occupied for many years. AVhen the Avorks were run to their full capacity, they employed twenty-five hands and kept in stock al)out 450 vehicles of various kinds.

As the years went by the manufacture of Avagons Avas gradually discontinued and, finally, under the name of E. Thorl)us & Son, the busini^ss Avas conducted ]>rincii)ally as a headquarters for farm machinery up to the time of the death of E. Thorbus. It Avas afterAvards continued by the estate under the management

There are three feed mills at present being operated in the city. One on Water street by G. H. Bunnell, he having acquired the Bacon mill dam and operates it at the present time ; a prosperous business, manufacturing flour of different grades in a small way and being very useful for the farmers for feed grinding.

The old mill by the St. Paul depot is now owned by Bergman Bros., both of these properties have, in the past years, gone through so many different hands that tlie records of them cannot be gotten at the present time.

Both have had various ups and downs, and the trouble Avitli the water power, especially the dam, has taken the course that is common with the dams constructed of wood and dirt. At present it appears to be operated successfully, being owned by Bergman Brothers, who have increased its clientage since they came in the business.

The old McCoy mill, situated on the lower end of Court street, is still operated with the water power which had been in existence for so many years. It is used as a feed mill and has built a large clientage among the farmers of the south and west.

Monroe County Telephone Company. This company was organized in a small way in the year 1897, with eighty-five phones and with V. V. Willey, E. V. Benjamin and H. C. Jackney as incorporators, who, in December, 1907 sold out their holdings to about thirty local men, who have since owned it. It has grown steadily and extends its lines in all directions in the county, and in the year 1904, it closed a contract with Bell Telephone Company by which it is also connected directly with longdistance lines, which is a great convenience to its patrons; it operates at the present time 552 miles of rural routes and city lines, with 950 telephones ; has its central office in the Teasdale building, where a fine equipment is maintained with modern and most improved switch-boards, and in connection a rest room for the girl operators.

The plant is valued with all its connection lines at about $50,000, and owes its success principally to Senator Howard Teasdale, who has been the secretary and general manager of the organization since its start.

The present officers are C. M. Beebe, president ; W. G. AYilliams, vice president ; H. Teasdale, secretary and general manager, and W. McBride, treasurer.

Sparta Grain Separator Company. This company lias tlie distinction of building a machine lor the separating of Avheat and oats and tlic cleaning of wheat and oats, which is the work of a Sparta man, JMr. George W. Richardson; ^Ir. Richardson worked a great many years upon his idea and finally succeeded in getting a patent on a machine which would accomplish the Avork, so longed desired by mill and elevator men, that is a machine which Avould clean wheat and other mixtures of grain, separating them, thus making the grade higher.

The company Avas organized in Ihe year 1902, in the manufacture of this machine, and started in a small way in its present location and met with success and, finally, in the year ]909, the entire plant was sold to C. T. Thorbus, who is now the sole owner; he has perfected the machine in various ways and enlarged the plant at difit'erent times and the machines have been sold in various parts of the United States, and at the present time Mr. Thorbus has organized a stock company at AVinnipeg, Canada, for the manufacture of Richardson Grain Separators, so that starting from a small beginning, this business promises to extend itself over a large territory. Several sizes of these machines are manufactured, from a small machine for mills, up to a large machine of big capacity for handling grain in elevators.

American Cigar Company. This is not an industry by local capital, but is one of tlic many i)lants of this great company which is operated in ditferent i)arts of the United States for the sorting and grading of tobacco ; the company located here in the year ]9()1, and erected several large brick buildings, near the Northwestern depot, upon Ihe land donated to it by the city for this purpose; to this plant is l)rouglit a large stock of tobacco, bought in different parts of AVisconsin by the diflferent agents of the company, and here it is sorted, graded and packed ; the general manager and staff are employed the year around at the plant, and during the sorting season it has enijiloyed as high as 5UU hands in the handling of tobacco.

There is also an e(|ui{)nH'nl of machinery for curing tobacco, by which the leaf is started in one end ol' the nuichine and at the end of a few hours comes out tlie othor side, cured and ready for use. This is a very complicated machine, and reqiiires the attention of an ('\])ci-t to operate it and accomplish the results, which otherwise reciuires considerable time.

Jefferson Leaf Tobacco Company. This organization was incorporated l)y AV. T. Jefit'erson and his son Harley, in connection with several others, in the year 1909. Mr. W. T. Jefferson had formerly been a manager of the plant of the American Cigar Company here and also state manager for that institution ; he retired from its service in 1909 and organized the Jefferson Leaf Tobacco Company ; his long experience in the business in Virginia and in AVisconsin fitted him to engage at once in this business, and the company leased commodious quarters, situated on "Water street, where it congregates its stock of leaf tobacco, sorts and packs it. It employs about fifty hands.

The present officers of the corporation are W. T. Jefferson, president ; D. AY. Cheney, vice president ; H. W. Jefferson, secretary and treasurer.

Sparta Iron Works. Originally established as an iron foundry, the present plant is the outgrowth of the oldest established industry in the city. In 1857 Captain Fisk erected the first foundry in response to a demand growing up in this section of the state for such a business ; he afterwards sold an interest to Frank Skillman and Jeremiah Andreas; this firm ran the business until 1860, when Skillman acquired the entire business, buying out the other two, and conducted it until 1865, when he sold out to LoAvrie, Mock & Stevens ; this firm sold to H. Greve, and he in turn was bought out by J. J. Owsley, during Avhose ownership the plant was destroyed by fire.

In 1867 Lowrie, Irwin & Gilbert built another foundry near where the present works are located, and this was finally purchased by the Sparta Manufacturing Company, and again the plant was destroyed by fire. L. ]\I. Newbury bought what was left and built another shop in 1869, sold a half interest to J. P. AVard, and in 1872 built what is the main building of the present works. AVard sold to Air. Satterlee and the firm of Newbury & Satterlee carried on the business extensively, at times employing as many as sixteen hands.

The works passed into the hands of Carl Newbury and J. U. Durant, by whom it was formed into a corporation ; the entire plant was taken over by Lee and Robert Canfield, who are the principal stockholders, and the business has been conducted under their management ever since. Gradually the foundry and casting business was dropped and the entire plant is now devoted principally to the manufacture of well drilling machinery, and in this business the Canfield brothers have made a success which is hardly realized by the citizens of Sparta ; modest and unassum- intr. they have developed surprising business ability, employ about forty hands, five of whom are traveling salesmen, and their machinery is sold all over the United States, in Canada, Porto Rico, Africa, India and the South American states and elsewhere.