We are starting a new topic today. This one is much shorter -- about 3 days worth of news. But I thought you all would enjoy this as lumbering was one of the biggest draws for bringing people to Eau Claire Co. in it's earliest of days. This chapter comes from the book "The History of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, 1914": LUMBER INTERESTS The lumber interests have always been foremost in the growth and prosperity of the whole Chippewa valley and Eau Claire especially. The water facilities at this point for sawmills, especially on the Eau Claire river, is what first attracted lumbermen to this locality. From one little mill started in 1846 by McCann, Randall & Thomas, there grew up a number of what may be justly called mammoth institutions. The almost insurmountable difficulties some of them had to contend with by reason of floods, the natural courses of the rivers and financial depression are noted at length elsewhere. This mill was destroyed by the flood of 1847, and another one was erected in its place in the winter of 1847-48 by George W. and Simon Randall in association with Philo Stone and H. Cady. The last named disposed of his interest to Mr. Swim, and Simon Randall's share went to Mr. Pope. This was early in the "fifties." The firm thus became Stone, Swim & Co., and they parted with the property in the spring of 1855 to Carson, Eaton & Downs. The second sawmill was built on the Eau Claire river by J. J. Gage, James Reed and Captain Dix in 1848. This property with large tracts of pine lands and one-half the village plat became vested in the two first named parties. After operating the mill for several years the whole property was placed on the market. Adin Randall came to Eau Claire in the summer of 1855 and undertook to find a purchaser. As a preliminary step he obtained a bond from the owners agreeing to dispose of the property at a fixed price. He negotiated with Nelson C. Chapman and J. G. Thorp, who purchased the property in May, 1856, for $42,000, although they did not come to Eau Claire and take possession until the following year. Shortly afterward they purchased the entire property of Carson, Eaton & Downs, and thus became the proprietors of both mills. Nelson C. Chapman was born in Durham, Green county, N. Y., in 1811, removing to Norwich, Chenango county, when sixteen years of age. He remained there, doing a successful business, until 1846, when he removed to Oxford in the same county and entered into partnership with J. G. Thorp. His birthplace was Butternuts, N. Y., and the date 1812. He entered the store of Ira Wilcox at Oxford in 1829. Seven years afterward he was taken into partnership and the firm was known as I. Wilcox & Co. In 1846 the senior member disposed of his interest to N. C. Chapman, and thus was formed the firm of Chapman and Thorp. The business was carried on in t he same place until 1857, when Mr. Thorp removed to Eau Claire and Mr. Chapman went to St. Louis where he continued the business of the firm until his death in 1873. An amusing incident grew out of the contract with Gage & Reed, at least to those who were not affected by it. A certain sum was paid down and the balance was to be liquidated by installments. Gold was plentiful at this time and did not command a premium, so no stipulation was made as to the mode in which the accruing sums were to be discharged. Before the last payment became due, money in any shape, but especially gold, was not to be found in the West. Gage & Reed having signified their intention not to accept anything else, looked forward to a foreclosure, particularly as the sum amounted to $9,000. When the day for settlement came their astonishment can be more readily imagined than described when the money, principal and interest, was handed to them in American gold. Such was the manner in which this firm conducted their business. By adhering to this system they established a name and credit that carried them not only through the monetary crisis that existed from 1861 to 1865, while thousands became bankrupt, but to success. Not only did they surmount all difficulties, but in ten years they had made valuable accessions to their real estate. In 1866 the Eau Claire Lumber Company was incorporated with a paid-up capital of $160,000, with Joseph G. Thorp as its president. Such was the magnitude of its rapidly increasing business that in 1880 its capital had increased to $3,000,000. In addition to the lumber mill plant it had at one time machine shops, flouring mills and an elevator in Eau Claire, besides mills at Meridian and Alma, giving a combined capacity of 100,000,000 feet a year. As much as 40,000,000 feet of lumber was cut in one year. The company erected a large brick store in 1874 to replace the one destroyed by fire that year for the retailing of general merchandise at a cost of $30,000. At one time the transactions of this branch of the business amounted to $350,000 a year. The losses of the company at various times by fire and flood would aggregate a very large amount. The extensive flourmill was destroyed by fire in 1877 when a loss of $50,000 was sustained, with insurance of $27,000. On December 19, 1878, the machine shop was also burned down. A year afterward the boiler of the planing mill exploded, killing J. Wright Hoskins (the engineer), Anthony Gallagher and Michael Helping. Thomas Hall was also injured and the mill badly shattered. The shingle mill went up in flames in June, 1890, inflicting a loss of $15,000. The Mississippi River Logging Company purchased the whole of the property in 1887 and the business was carried on by them. +++++++++++++ We'll read about Daniel Shaw and a few others tomorrow. Join us again, won't you? -- Nance mailto:nsampson@spacestar.net