Posted on: Clark Co. Wi Biographies Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Wi/ClarkBios/10718 Surname: Sterling, Fessenaber ------------------------- 1891 Biographical History of Clark & Jackson counties Wisconsin Joseph R. Sterling, of the Sterling Lumber Company, Sterling, Clark County, was born in Somerset County, Maine, April 7, 1846, the son of C.I., a native of Anson, Maine, nut now also a resident of this place. Our subject’s mother was also a native of the same place. They were the parents of seven children, six of whom still survive: Julia, John, Philena, Joseph, Caroline, and Aurilla. The parents came to Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in 1853, when the Indians were numerous, and where the father engaged in lumbering. Joseph R., our subject, was educated in Black River Falls, and has been engaged in lumber most of his life. He served in the late war, in Company K, Tenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, remaining four years, and was in many hard-fought battles. He came to this county in 1860, where he worked for W.T. Price in the pineries two years, and was engaged in driving logs in the summers. He began first in a humble situation, and rose to the position of superintendent and general manager, and is now a member of one of the largest lumber companies here. The firm owns about 5,000 acres of pine and hard-wood land in Clark County, and do an immense business, employing 100 men in their mills alone, beside running three camps which employ 100 men also. The mills run day and night, and they ship in nearly every direction. Mr. Sterling was married April 30, 1871, to Angie Fessenaber, daughter of Henry J. Fessenaber, of Sterling. They have two children: Gertrude, born April 30, 1874, and Everard F., October 8, 1877. Mrs. Sterling is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and politically Mr. Sterling is a Republican. The Sterling Company’s saw-mill was erected by the Eau Claire Lumber Company, and was transferred to the Sterling Company in 1888. The main building is 150 x 32 feet, and two stories in height. They use the hand-saw and band-saw, driven by the Phoenix engine, which is a 175-horse power, supplied by a battery of three Kinney Bros. boilers, 32 x 44 inches each, beside a pump boiler. The capacity of the mill is 60,000 feet in ten hours. The mill and yards are supplied by electric lights, generated by a dynamo in the mill. The engine and boiler room is 24 x 50 feet, and the electric light room is 16 x 20 feet. The logs are brought from their camps and those in the neighborhood camps in winter, and during the summer of 1890 they ran the mill night and day. Their planning mill was erected in 1886, and is a large frame, the main building being 120 x 56 feet, with an engine and boiler room 18 x 36 feet. They use the Fisher & Mallory 26-inch double surfacer, The Willoughby, Rugg & Richardson fourteen-inch flooring mill, and also have self-fed rip-saws and other machinery, driven by a sixty-horsepower Steven’s Point engine, supplied with steam from an 18 x 4 feet boiler.