HARDWOOD -- One industry that is needed in Taylor County is a hardwood saw mill with machinery for getting out [wagon] hubs, spokes, wagon timber, sleigh timber and cabinet lumber. The best timber in the world for fine ornamental cabinet work abounds in these woods, and is now being converted into stove wood. We have seen maple, with a grain to make a furniture manufacturers’ mouth water—so to speak. There is millions in it. We are building houses of pine when there is hardwood timber all around us that would work up for floors, windows and door casing, wainscoting, etc. elegantly. Let us have a hard wood mill.
On 2/10/2012 Herbert Magnuson, a spry 84 year old from Spirit, told me that the virgin yellow birch from his father's farm was not cut until World War II. Prior to that, there was no market.
1/21/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
“Old Bill” Skinner, one of the best mill men in Wisconsin, now employed at J. J. Kennedy’s mill in Rib Lake went down the line Thursday. He talked over the “beer and cracker” days with someone we know of.
1/21/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
SAWMILL MOVED TO WHITTLESEY -- The old sawmill at little Black is rapidly disappearing and will soon be among the “has beens.” It is to be moved to Whittlesey and put up by Sanger & Rockwell, who by adding new machinery and another boiler will increase the former’s capacity.
The substantial sawmill at Little Black and on the Little Black River was torn down and its machinery moved to Whittlesey.
.
1/28/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
J.J. Kennedy was at Spencer Tuesday last, purchasing teams [of horses]
The earliest photograph in the Photo and Document Collection. Rib Lake historical Society, LLC, is a spectacular photo of the Kennedy’s mill taken in 1884; in the foreground about two dozen teams of Kennedy’s horses are proudly displayed.
1/28/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
A workman named Ludwig Olm, employed in the lumber woods at Rib Lake by J.J. Kennedy & Bro. was killed last Tuesday by a limb falling from a tall pine tree and striking him on the head. Deceased was a German, about 41 years of age and resided in Randule, Calumet County, where he leaves four children. At the time of the accident he was sawing logs, when a limb fell and killed him instantly. The body was taken home.
At Kennedy’s mill last Friday, a man had his left arm and right leg broken, that of the arm being a compound fracture, the bones protruding from the wound.
Less than a week from its start-up, Kennedy’s Rib Lake mill had its first grievous accident. Many more would follow.
The truth was that while Kennedy’s mill was a dangerous place to work, it probably was less dangerous than most.
1/28/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
OBSERVATIONS OF A TRAMP [THE FIRST HISTORY OF RIB LAKE] Three hungry orphans, Pete McCourt, Fred Barrett and ye Knight of the festive quill [T. C. Wheelock], visited J.J. Kennedy and Bros. mill at Rib Lake, in the Town of Westboro 8(sic) miles northeast of the village of Chelsea last Tuesday. Each of the party had an object in view and they went unarmed with the exception of a flask of cold tea, which could be seen protruding from the pocket of the first mentioned gentleman.
The sleighing from Medford to the mill in question was found to be excellent with the exception of about four miles in the vicinity of Whittlesey. At Chelsea we stopped for a short time to exchange courtesies with C. H. Gearhart, Boniface of the Chelsea House [hotel], who is always courteous and obliging. We notice a look of relief stealing over his countenance when we mentioned that we were not intending to stop for dinner. Wonder why he was pleased?
Mr. William Kennedy [the youngest brother of John J.] was taken into the cutter, and the party turned their horses toward the mill. The way runs for about a mile on the county road almost due north, the taking a logging road running a little to the north of east (sic) it winds around on low ground the entire distance to the mill, thus avoiding the hills, and making the hauling of lumber, which all comes out over this road, an easy affair.
At their mill the party was met by Mr. Duncan McLennan [J.J. Kennedy’s brother in law], the gentlemanly clerk of the mill firm, who made this first duty to fill up the aching void under each individual vest with an excellent repast, which was appreciated. The mill was then visited. It is not entirely completed, but is turning out lumber at the rate of 80,000 feet every 24 hours. It contains a circular saw, gang edger and gang trimmer, all of the latest and most improved patterns, an improved Chalendar shingle machine and the necessary small machinery found in all mills. The shingle mill is not yet running, owing to the non-arrival of the bolter, which is used to cut up the bolts for the large double cutting machine.
Five boilers supply the steam to the motor (sic), a large 18 by 28 inch engine. The frame of the mill is very solidly built and the object of the builders seems to have been “strength and simplicity” or to get the greatest amount of work with the least possible machinery. Mr. William Skinner superintends the mill which is itself a guarantee that it will do good work and plenty of it. The head sawyers are Ben Wallace and Frank Loehner, the former working days and the latter nights. W. H Skinner, the son of the foreman, is night foreman1and filer.
There are two boarding houses near the mill, one for the day crew and the men working in the woods near the mill and the other is occupied by the night crew. The latter house has just been completed and was occupied for the first time last Monday. In a little room in the new boarding house is a stock of indispensable merchandise, consisting of mackinaw clothing, boot packs, tobacco and such, all of which is doled out to the boys by the clerk, Mr. McLennan2. The day boarding house is in charge of Mr. J. R. Davis, who is said to be one of the best cooks in this neck of the woods, and the other house, is run by the family of Mr. H. [Hugh] D. McMillan, Mr. M. also acting in the capacity of village blacksmith. Of course, there are many things yet to add to make the inhabitants of the little berg thoroughly comfortable, but the proprietors are using every effort for improvement and in a very short time the results of their labors will be manifest.
To the east and southeast of the village stretches one of those little lakes which are so numerous in northern Wisconsin. This lake covers a section of land [actually, Rib Lake consists of 320 acres or ½ section] and is bounded by high banks, very little of the shore being marshy. Its waters abound with pickerel [northern pike], moskalonge (sic) lake bass and other species of the fishy tribe. It is to be requested that the fish which are not so abundant will soon vanish, for the lake is to be the receptacle for the summer’s supply of logs for the mill, and as fish cannot live in water in which pine logs are floating, their death warrant is signed, sealed and delivered. Only two miles from the mill is another lake which will supply the settlers with fish when needed.
Crews of carpenters are employed all the time around the mill and on the houses in course of erection. The carpenter work is under the direction of Mr. William McCourt, a brother of the Medford McCourt’s, who is claimed to be an excellent workman. All around this new village in every direct stretches extensive pine lands, some of the best timber in their Wisconsin pineries being tributary to this mill.
The mill firm Kennedy & Bro.3 and their backers, Messrs. Curtis Bros. & Co., own about 70,000,000 feet of stumpage, and it is estimated that there is more than double that amount that is naturally tributary to their mill and will eventually come into their hands. This will insure many years employment for the mill.
Our visit was necessarily short and we left regretting that we could not spend more time in the little hamlet among the whispering pines, and determined to soon accept the hearty invitation to “come again”, given on our departure.
According to historian Mrs. Gustav Bielenberg writing in 1936, the first construction of any sort by Kennedy and his crew at Rib Lake took place in the summer of 1881. So T. L. Wheelock recorded these observations after less than one year of Kennedy’s work. Bearing in mind that Rib Lake was cut off from the world but for a 5 mile sleigh or wagon road to Chelsea, the amount of development in such a short time was truly amazing!
The sleigh road followed the low, flat lands toward Black Lake. In 2012, these wetlands are still clearly visible from STH 13 at NE NE 36-33-1E.
Here is confirmation of Guy Wallace’s claim that J.J. Kennedy came to Rib Lake at the behest of George Curtis to primarily cut Curtis timber. The mill site and the “Kennedy mill” built there were owned by the Curtis Brothers from 1881 to 1893. J.J. Kennedy purchased the land and sawmill in 1893 from Curtis Brothers.
The public was totally unaware that the Rib Lake mill was owned by non-locals. None of the Curtis Brothers lived or worked on even visited Rib Lake. In contrast, J.J. Kennedy and his three brothers were active in creating the settlement and mill from the very beginning. The Kennedy’s lived in Rib Lake, were “hands on operators” of the mill, company store and hotel. While some newspaper editors wrote about Kennedy Brothers mill, the public simply called it Kennedy’s mill, referring to John J. Kennedy, the ubiquitous, apparent owner.
2/4/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
OBSERVATIONS OF A TRAMP - [NEW VILLAGE OF WHITTLESEY]
The writer last Wednesday visited what soon will be the village of Whittlesey for the purpose of gathering information regarding the building of the [saw] mill at that place. G. W. Norton, the pioneer, acted as my host…
The mill firm, Sanger, Rockwell & Co., of Milwaukee has purchased of Mr. Norton a mill site, containing 40 acres west of the [railroad] track, the Black River running diagonally through it. They have already constructed the dam, and have commenced framing the mill. The dam is about 20 rods from where the mill will stand. It is 240 feet in length running from bank to bank, which are at that point high. One 11 foot gate will let off the surplus water, and also serve as a sluice gate for the logs which are to be run down stream. A head of 12 feet of water can be raised by this dam.
Near the main track of the railroad and at the end of the switch track the mill will be built. It will be framed by heavy timbers making a structure of 90 by 140 feet, to contain 3 boilers, one 18x28 inch engine, circular [saw], gang edger, gang trimmer, slab saws, two shingle machines, etc. etc. Mr. Anton Stollenwork, an experienced mill builder, has the contract for putting up the mill, and it was from him we learned these facts.
The Village proper is now being surveyed and platted by County surveyor A. S. Russell. Mr. Norton informs us that he will lay out 50 lots on this land on both side of the [railroad] track, south of the present switch, and offer them for sale as soon as possible…..
At Sanger, Rockwell & Co.’s logging camp, 2 ½ miles from the village, there are about 60 men and 18 teams [of horses] employed in cutting, skidding and making roads….. The intention of the company is to putting all the logs they can with the force now employed, but as their timber, or a good share of it, grows on the banks of the [Black] River, they can log both summer and winter, thus ensuring a supply. They estimate the amount of their timber to insure about a 12 year run.
The company will build, in addition to their mill, a store and boarding house or hotel. The gentlemen comprising the firm are experience mill men financially sound, and their new enterprise is an acquisition to the business interests of Taylor County.
In constructing its railroad it was customary for the Wisconsin Central Railroad to put in switches about every five miles and to name the brand new town it hoped would be built there. The site described in this article was named ‘Charlestown’ and appeared as such on railroad maps.
The board of directors of the Wisconsin Central Railroad was dominated by men from Boston, Massachusetts, and chose names of village around Boston for these new town sites; this explains naming Marshfield, Dorchester Medford, Charlestown, etc.
This article fails to explain why the name Whittlesey was chosen for the 2/1882 plat of the “Village of Whittlesey,” created in place of Charlestown. I provided an explanation for the choice of the name in an article, “How Charlestown became Whittlesey,” published several years ago in the Star News, which you can find in the Photo and Document Collection of the Rib Lake Historical Society website; in short, the new village was named Whittlesey after Asaph Whittlesey, first mayor of Ashland, Wisconsin, and first assemblyman to sit in the Wisconsin Legislature representing north Wisconsin.
Mr. & Mrs. G.W. Norton caused the plat of “The Village of Whittlesey,” to be recorded with the Taylor County Register of Deeds Office in February, 1882. I surmise they chose Whittlesey to name the newly-platted village for several reasons:
A) Ezra Whittlesey owned the dam site there;
B) the name “Charlestown” had not caught on;
C) the Nortons hoped for some favor in return from Ezra Whittlesey, who was a successful businessman and then in the Wisconsin Legislature.
Note the 1/21/1882 article explaining that much of the machinery used in the Sanger and Rockwell mill at Whittlesey came from the razed saw mill at Little Black.
2/4/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
Ed. [Edward] H. Winchester was up the line early in the week on insurance business. He has been writing up a policy on Kennedy’s mill.
The palatial Hotel Winchester in Medford was named for him.
2/4/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
Frank Loehner and Leopold Hardky came down from Kennedy’s mill Saturday and spent Sunday in the bosom of their families.
2/11/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
J.J. Kennedy was a passenger bound for Spencer on Tuesday train where he had been called to see his brother Angus who was seriously ill from the effects of a cold contracted on the Yellow River and which had settled in the lungs.
2/18/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
WESTBORO MILL SERVED BY RAILROAD -- George Allen has been doing a splendid job for John Duncan as anyone can see by glancing at the fine lot of logs banked on the [railroad] right of way between Chelsea and Westboro. George is a good businessman and knows how to run a first class camp.
George Allen frequently bought “stumpage” from landowners, i.e. the right to cut the trees. See the Photo & Document Collection at the Rib Lake Historical Society website www.riblakehistory.com for copies of Allen’s and others’ stumpage contracts. John Duncan was the manager and part owner of the firm of Duncan and Taylor whose Westboro sawmill was on the Wisconsin Central Railroad tracks just north of Silver Creek.
While Duncan still got some logs by floating them to his mill on Silver Creek, railroad transport via the Wisconsin Central was playing an ever more dominant role.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MASTHEAD OF THE NEWSPAPER NOW READS “TAYLOR COUNTY STAR AND NEWS,” not Taylor County Star News.
2/25/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
LETTER FROM J.J. KENNEDY - February 21, 1882–To: Editor, Star & News.
If a few items from me will be of any service, you are welcome to such as I can give. Our little burg is getting on splendidly; we now have eight tenant houses, with families in six of them and more coming in as soon as we have buildings completed for them.
The recent thaw had no effect on J.J. Kennedy, but he rather used the time by banking 118,400 feet of logs on Rib Lake on Friday last, and it wasn’t much of a day for hauling [logs] either, the roads have improved since by the cold weather, and the snow we have had.
We are delivering lumber at the railroad tracks [at Chelsea] at the rate of 70,000 feet per day, and the way the mill is working no one can be idle. We want to tell that Centralia [a then village south of Nekoosa, Wisconsin] that E. P. Lamb is working in our camp, A. McDonnell foreman, has him beat [by] 1,100 feet [of pine], by putting it with his team at one load 4,380 feet of logs. [They also] have put in from their Camp to date 2,200,000 feet with an average of six teams [of horses].
William Layman from mill camp has put in 1,260,000 feet, with Peter Bonneville from his camp, has put in 1,450,000 feet, all of them putting in the logs at the mill. We have one and a half million feet of lumber at the railroad tracks [at Chelsea]. If the roads hold out for 30 days [we] will have as much [more] there.
LAKE VIEW HOUSE, RIB LAKE, WIS. J.J. Kennedy, Proprietor
You can sense the pride of accomplishment in this letter of John J. Kennedy... Kennedy built “tenant houses” which he leased to workers.
There is no substantial waterway that flows into Rib Lake; therefore the logs at this time were hauled by sleigh and dumped on the frozen lake.
I spent today, February 12, 2012 looking for possible routes for Kennedy’s sleigh road running between Rib Lake and Chelsea. I found a couple of possible routes of mostly level land and even a draw near Black Lake THRU WHICH THE SLEIGH ROAD MAY HAVE BEEN LOCATED.
The reference to feet of logs is to board feet, a standard unit of measurement; a board foot is 1 inch thick by 1 foot long by 1 foot wide.
I surmise J.J. Kennedy had two logging camps. One was a standard camp with a cluster of building in the woods where the loggers spent nights during the work week. Secondly, the “mill” camp consisted of loggers who boarded at the company boarding house next to the saw mill; Wheelock described the “mill’ camp in his article appearing Feb. 18, 1882. It sounds like there is a third logging camp run by Peter Bonneville, perhaps a “jobber,”i.e. someone else cutting trees owned by Curtis Bros.
Note that John J. Kennedy signs this letter as proprietor, Lake View House Rib Lake. The Lake View House was the boarding house Kennedy had built next to the sawmill in 1881. At that time there were no residences in Rib Lake. Mrs. Gustave Bielenberg’s 1935 history of Rib Lake reports the first female living in Rib Lake came in the spring of 1882 and got a house only by putting her foot down. Finally, John J. Kennedy’s statement that he was the proprietor of the Lake View House was right on. He was not its owner, the Curtis Brothers were. Kennedy and his underlings ran the place. J.J. Kennedy slept at the boarding house much more than at his family house in Spencer. J.J. was in fact the “proprietor.”
3/4/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
WESTBORO ITEMS -- G. W. Allen has put in a winters work of which any many may be proud, he has with 3 horse teams banked on the Wisconsin Central Railroad right of way 2,500,000 [feet of pine logs] for John Duncan, the successful mill man. They are a splendid lot of logs AVERAGING LESS THAN 4 [logs] TO THE THOUSANDS FEET.
W. Lawler, one of his teamsters, hauled in one day 25,000 feet with a team [of horses] weighing less than twenty hundred [2, 000 pounds]. Several of his loads scaled from 4,000 to 4,500 [board feet per sleigh]. (emphasis added)
The same edition reported that the passenger train coming south through Westboro struck the logging train that was stopped and was in the process of loading logs.
The accident occurred ½ mile south of Westboro where a series of turns in the right-of-way prevented the passenger train from seeing the other train until it was too late to stop.
3/4/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
JOHN WORTHINGTON -- John Worthington of Chelsea died yesterday morning at 7 o’clock. John had been a resident of Taylor County since the county was organized. He was a hunter and trapper by profession, and owned a homestead near Rib Lake. Poor John was his own worst enemy.
Worthington’s homestead was on the north shore of Wellington Lake. The lake was initially named for him.
3/4/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
John Severance has disposed of the pine on his homestead. The amount of the estimate fell far short of his calculations, about 450,000 feet we believe. The pine was sold to J.J. Kennedy & Bro. near whose mill it is situated.
Here is an example of a landowner selling “pine stumpage”. If you use that as a search term on the Photo and Document Collection of the Rib Lake Historical Society website, you can see dozens of such contracts.
This sale to J.J. Kennedy is also an illustration of an important part of the deal J.J. Kennedy had with Curtis Brothers; while the latter owned the Rib Lake sawmill and had J.J. Kennedy manage it, J.J. Kennedy was authorized to buy stumpage and cut it at the mill. Curtis owned the mill until 1893. This hybrid arrangement proved a win-win for both parties.
3/4/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
WHO CUT THAT TREE? -- Two gentlemen who are looking over land in this locality have discovered a curiosity on the SE NE Section 33 T 31 North Range 1 East. They found the stump of an old, hollow pine tree, cut down by an axe, and out of that stump had grown a hemlock tree, which they estimated to be 70 years old. The age of the hemlock was ascertained by counting the rings in the grain. The ax scarf is plainly visible they claim and there can be no doubt it was cut down many years ago. Who cut that tree?
If the hemlock was 70 years old, the pine was cut in 1812 or earlier.
3/18/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
PROGRESS AT WHITTLESEY -- The mill track at Whittlesey has been laid and is now in use. The Sanger, Rockwell & Co. mill is up and will be included in a few days… Mr. Anton Stollerwert is rushing [construction]…..
The new mill railroad track spurred off the north-south Wisconsin Central mainline and curved westward about ¼ mile to the mill site along the Black River.
3/25/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
MEDFORD -- Butterfield, Ferguson and Co. now have on the [river] bank 6,000,000 feet of logs, and still have two camps of their own and one contractor hauling.
This is the company that has taken over operation of the sawmill on the Black River in Medford. Pete Ferguson is one of the owners.
3/25/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- J.J. Kennedy, Esq., of Rib Lake Mill was in town. Mr. Kennedy is not one of the lumbermen who has cause to grumble at the past winter’s logging. He has put in at his mill about 7,700,000 feet of logs, and at his camp on the Yellow River, 3,000,000 more.
He has cut and has now piled in his yard at Chelsea 3,000,000 feet of lumber, and is adding to that amount every day. As the past season was considered an unfavorable one by most loggers, it can only be a matter of conjecture what Kennedy would do if he had a good winter.
Note that the location is identified Rib Lake Mill. Some early maps identified the settlement as “Kennedy Mills”.
While the sawmill at Rib Lake was operating by Dec. 21, 1881, and a variety of residences built simultaneously, there was no plat of land there until 1895. In 1895, J.J. Kennedy and his wife had lots and streets surveyed from Railroad Street southward; they recorded it with the Register of Deeds as “The Original Plat of the Village of Rib Lake.”
Note that J.J. Kennedy continues to cut logs along the Yellow River about 15 or more forties from Rib Lake. J.J. and his crews have driven these logs to mills reachable via the Chippewa River for the past several years. These Yellow River logs would not be sawed at Rib Lake.
4/1/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
The bill authorizing the building of a road from Westboro in this county to Glidden in Ashland county has passed houses and is now the law.
4/1/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
ANOTHER SAW MILL ACCIDENT -- At Kennedy Bros. mill at Rib Lake last Monday evening, William H. Skinner lost his right arm to an accident. Mr. Skinner was night watch of the mill and was attending his duties when the accident occurred. Mr. Skinner’s tour at night commences at 7 p.m. and it is his duty to look through the mill and see if the machinery is all in running order. He found on examination one of the edger saws was hot, and, taking a can of oil in his hand, leaned over the edger frame to oil the arbor, when the feed belt caught his coat and jerked him forward upon the saws.
His right arm came in contact with the running saw and was severed about 5 inches above the wrist and the arm was terribly lacerated above the elbow. Mr. Angus Kennedy [a brother of J. J.], who was standing behind Mr. Skinner at the time, grasped him by the coat and pulled him away from the saw—an action which probably saved his life—as there were three saws in the edger, and the victim would undoubtedly have been thrown into them all.
Skinner was taken to Chelsea and Dr. Hubbell telegraphed for. Upon the arrival of Dr Hubbell the injured arm was amputated midway between the elbow and shoulder. When he saw the patient—Tuesday evening—he was doing finely and the doctor reports in all probability he will recover rapidly….
Note that the sawmill was operating at 7:00 pm.
4/8/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
SAW MILL CHANGES -- At every town along the line of the Wisconsin Central will be found saw mills, and in the past, logs have been hauled and floated to the mills to be sawed. Back from the [railroad] track there is an abundance of timber that has never been touched except that tributary to some stream large enough for driving purposes. This timber, as a matter of course, can be secured for a reasonable price, for unless some enterprising man puts up a mill on the ground for working it into lumber, the prospects for getting it to the market are somewhat slim.
J.J. KENNEDY & BRO. WERE THE FIRST TO GRASP THE SITUATION, AND NOW THEIR MILL AT RIB LAKE IS DOING WONDERS AND THE FIRM IS MAKING MONEY. There are many other chances that will compare favorably with the above firm, but they will not be improved until mill men get over the notion that a saw mill must be near the [railroad] track…. (emphasis added)
The editor commends J.J. Kennedy for being the first to build his mill off the Wisconsin Central mainline. For the first two years of Kennedy’s Rib Lake mill existence, 1881-1881, all of the lumber had to be hauled or sleighed 5.5 miles to Chelsea, where the railroad ran. Fortunately, a gently-sloping sleigh road from Rib Lake allowed loaded sleighs to go down hill to Chelsea.
5/20/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
KENNEDY’S MILL REOPENS -- Kennedy’s mill at Rib Lake started up for the summer last Tuesday.
6/3/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
L. Woodard entered a quantity of valuable pine land on the Rib River last week.
He filed a claim for acquisition under the Homestead Act.
6/3/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
SAWYER DAM ON THE BLACK RIVER -- A trip down the Black River in a small boat is one of the pleasures that we left untried for many years. Last week we made the journey... The river runs its winding way through good farm land to Sawyer &Austin’s dam. This dam was built several years ago at a cost of $5,000 and has added much to the convenience of getting out timber cut along its banks. In fact, without this dam it would be impossible to drive the river with any degree of success. The dam is known as a flooding dam and contains 5 gates, one large sluice gate, 3 smaller flood gates, and a large overflow gate. John Shimoneck of Medford has charge of the dam…
Sawyer & Austin have a camp at the dam where they put in logs last winter. From the dam the river runs through town 30 and 29 range 2 west and through pine, hemlock and hardwood land…. In Town 30 Range 2 West the land is owned principally by the railroad company and capitalists G. B. Barrows and Wayne Ramsey have the largest tracts….
Next week we [W. T. Wheelock] propose to start from [Medford] with a crew of tie cutter makers to put in railroad ties on the river, to be floated to the [river] crossing of the Wis.& Minnesota division of the Wisconsin Central Railroad two miles from the Village of Withee. We ask the prayers of all our subscribers for success.
Wheelock announced he had contracted to provide 5000 railroad ties for the new railroad branch built westward from Abbottsford.
A well-preserved dam site still stands on a tributary of the Black River, Pine Creek, nine miles west of Stetsonville. I visited the dam site in January 2011 and found it in good condition. It lies in a farmer’s field and is clearly visible from the county highway. While the wooden gates and gone, the 20 foot high earthen bank extend for at least 100 feet from the center of the Black River. An historic and impressive sight and site; its location is SE SE 16-30-1W, Town of Holway.
Sawyer &Austin operated its saw mill for pine in Black River Falls and extensively logged in Taylor County floating its logs down the Black River.
6/17/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
OGEMA -- A. M. Holmes of Ogema was arrested a day or two ago at the instance of Peter Neddo charged with committing a rape upon Neddo’s wife. Defendant took a change of venue to Phillips and the case was tried Wednesday. After hearing the testimony, the justice [of the peace, i.e., the judge] dismissed the case. It was a clear case of blackmail—and the thinnest kind of blackmail at that.
The edition of July 8 reported; “Editor, Star & News, An article appeared in your paper on June 17 to the effect that a suit brought by me again B. M. Holmes had been dismissed by the justice and that the suit was a clear case of blackmail. Now I wish to be heard in my own behalf. I will prove that this case is not blackmail. The suit was dismissed because my woman was seriously ill at the time of the trail and had to be carried out of the court room. We will prove as soon as she recovers that this case rests on a sure foundation. /s/ Peter Neddo
7/29/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
PROPOSED RAILROAD TO RIB LAKE -- The Wisconsin Central Railroad is locating a branch [railroad] out to Rib Lake, where J.J. Kennedy is manufacturing first class pine lumber, and lots of it….
It would take another year to construct the Chelsea-Rib Lake spur.
7/29/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
CHELSEA -- Notice is given that the contract for a new town hall building for the town of Chelsea is to be built according to the plan and specifications at the post office in the Village of Chelsea; contract to be let to the lowest bidder at a public auction at the office of the town clerk of said town on Monday, August 7, 1882 at 4 pm. /s/Wellington Haight, Town Chairman.
The new town hall lasted until about 1917 when destroyed by fire; my maternal grandfather, Wilhelm Gebauer, was town chairman at that time.
8/26/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
RIB LAKE -- Strayed—From my place in the town of Chelsea, one iron gray horse, 5 years old; one fore foot turned in; weighs about 1,200 lbs; had halter on when last seen. A suitable reward will be paid for his recovery /s/ J.J. Kennedy Chelsea, Wis., August 10, 1882
I don’t have an explanation for “Chelsea” since the Rib Lake mill was in the Township of Westboro until 1885.
9/2/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- There is talk of putting up a telegraph line from Medford to Rib Lake, with instruments at Whittlesey and Chelsea. Such an enterprise, if successful, will prove of great benefit….
9/9/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- J.J. Kennedy informs us that his Rib Lake mill has already cut 7,000,000 feet of lumber this season, and that it will run right on the year through.
Kennedy’s Rib Lake mill quickly generated production records: The Taylor County Star & News, on 6/10/1893, reported that Kennedy’s Rib Lake mill produced in 1892:
a) Pine: 22,000,000 board feet;
b) Hemlock: 15,000,000 board feet;
c) Cedar Shingles: 2,000,000.
9/9/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
CHELSEA -- The L. [Linus] M. Marshal & Taylor Lumber Company is the name of the new firm that will operate the Chelsea saw mill in the future. Mr. Marshall of Green Bay, the senior member of the company, is one of the most experienced and successful lumber dealers in the northwest; and everyone who knows Mr. Abram Taylor know that he can run a saw-mill. They have for years been connected in business and we predict that their past success will be continued.
There are three men with the surname Taylor that have important rolls at this time:
1) William Robert Taylor, Governor, State of Wisconsin, 1874-1876; Taylor County was named for him.
2) William S. Taylor, a partner with John Duncan and James Ritchie and part owner of the first sawmill in Westboro in 1874.
3) Abram Taylor, partner of Linus Marshall in owning and operating the Chelsea sawmill.
10/14/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
HERMAN RUSCH -- The Democratshave nominated HerrmannD. Rusch of Lincoln County for assemblyman for this district. We understand that Mr. Rusch is a very clever gentleman, although he owes his nomination to the fact that he is German, and there are a large number of German voters in the district, whom the Democrats say, Rusch will CATCH. Well, there are a good many German voters in the district, but a great many of them are REPUBLICAN GERMANS, and a German DEMOCRAT is not the kind of bait to catch them with.
My father, Herman Arthur Rusch, was born in Rib Lake in 1902-- and was no relation.
10/21/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE-CHELSEA SPUR -- The branch [railroad] track so long talked about from Chelsea to Rib Lake to Kennedy’s mill at Rib Lake is at last an assured fact, as the grading has already commenced. The Kennedys are making a large amount of lumber and this new method of transporting it from the mill will cheapen the way of getting it to market.
11/4/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
RIB LAKE -- M. H. Mullen will put in the pine on his homestead this winter, amounting to about 600,000 [board feet]. He has contracted with J.J. Kennedy of the Rib Lake mill to deliver it at Kennedy’s camp, one and a half miles haul, for $7.25 per M. We wish you a good road and a down grade, Mike.
One of Kennedy’s many pine camps was located in SE NW 13 33 2 E. It is a well preserved site where the outlines of the buildings and the camp well are clearly visible. It is located on the community ski and snowshoe trail maintained by the Rib Lake Ski and Snowshoe Club, Inc. Perhaps this is the camp mentioned here. The camp along the recreational trail is named the “McGillis” Pine Camp after its foreman, Matt McGillis.
11/11/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE-CHELSEA SPUR -- The grading on the branch [rail] road to Kennedy’s mill is progressing rapidly and it is expected that the [railroad] cars will be running to the mill next month. A large amount of lumber is now piled at the mill ready for shipment and the advent of the first train is awaited with impatience. The mill will start up for the winter’s run as soon as it freezes sufficient to haul logs.
J.J. Kennedy, our old townsman now at Rib Lake, is bound to have all the conveniences. A branch [rail] road from Chelsea to the lake is being built by the Wisconsin Central folks. The Bell Telephone Co. is on the ground putting up a [telephone] line from Chelsea to the mill.
This spur was built on fill over the north end of Wellington Lake to avoid a high hill. It would take until 1883 to successfully build across Wellington Lake.
11/11/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
WESTBORO -- J.J. Kennedy has two four horse teams engaged in hauling supplies from this [Westboro] [railroad] station to his Rib Lake mill. A. Lawler handles the reins of one of them.
I surmise the wagon road between Westboro and Rib Lake must have been shorter, smoother or less hilly than the Chelsea-Rib Lake option.
11/18/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
TANNERY -- Last week J.J. Kennedy, representing a Canadian tannery firm, visited Medford, looking for a site to build a tannery…
11/25/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- The Bell telephone line between Chelsea and Kennedy’s mill is in working order.
The next edition reported; “J. J. Kennedy, the Rib Lake Lumber King, was in town Tuesday. John now HAS A SAW MILL, A TELEPHONE AND SOON WILL HAVE A RAILROAD. But he is like us in one respect; prosperity does not make him proud—not at all.”
12/23/1882
TC STAR AND NEWS
William S. Taylor -- Mr. W. S. Taylor, formerly of the firm of Duncan and Taylor at Westboro, died at his home in Fort Howard [Wisconsin] on the 14th, after an illness of 2 years.
He should not be confused with William R. Taylor, former Governor of Wisconsin, and for whom Taylor County is named.
12/23/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
MEDFORD -- The January 1st number of “Der Waldbote,” the new German language paper to be hereafter published here, is on our table. Mechanically, it is a neat, good looking paper. We are not prepared to comment upon the contents—yet. It starts out with a liberal advertising patronage, and will without doubt take a leading position among the papers of North Wisconsin. It is liberally and ably backed—the proprietors are practical newspaper men, and good fellows, Here’s luck to you, boys
I have a treasured fragment of the paper which title means “Messenger in the Woods.” Der Waldbote was published until after the American entry into World War I.
