UP AND DOWN THE LINE - RIB LAKE -- Rib Lake is a lively town and lively people in it, and will soon have a railroad to export its products to the entire world; Mr. J.J. Kennedy has now ready for shipment over 700 [railroad] car loads of lumber and the logging is going on with vim.
They have a good school and Sunday school. Their Ladies Society has paid over ten dollars to the missionary since last May, besides what others have done. They are worthy of the good name they have, of being a generous, sociable, intelligent people. They work with a will, and things have to move when Mr. J.J. says we’ll do it. They all seem interested for each other.
Not only do they have many amicable qualities, but they are good-looking, jolly and good natured. /s/ N.L.S. Spencer Tribune
Newspaper editor Edward T. Wheelock had great respect and admiration for John J. Kennedy.
1/22/1883
TC STAR AND NEWS
OGEMA -- A.P. Morner has been appointed postmaster at Ogema since B. M. Holmes resigned. Mr. Morner completed his bonds and forwarded them to Washington.
Morner Road-a town highway 3 miles north of Ogema, is probably his namesake.
1/22/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE SPUR -- Mr. Kennedy informs us that the grading on the branch [rail] road to his mill on Rib Lake is completed and that the iron [rails] will be laid at once.
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2/3/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
WHITTLESEY -- The firm of Ives & Hale of Oshkosh has purchased the Whittlesey mill built by Sanger, Rockwell Co. of Milwaukee, together with the pine tributary to the mill owned by the latter firm.
2/3/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
TOWN OF BRANNAN n/k/a SPIRIT -- The town authorities of Brannan will not grant a license to sell liquors and they are constantly at loggerheads with A. Bonneville, who, they claim, sells it without a license. A suit against him is now pending in the Price County Circuit Court, having been appealed from justice court by the defendant,
3/17/1883
TC STAR AND NEWS
RIB LAKE HISTORY -- The following from the Spencer Tribune is the result of a visit by the editor of that paper to the village among the Whispering pines.
We visited Rib Lake this week, and we must say, that we are very much surprised at the development made and very much pleased with the place.
About 18 months ago, J.J. Kennedy first broke ground at the lake and commenced erection of the present sawmill. At that time the seven miles between Chelsea and the lake was an unknown wilderness. Now there are about 25 dwelling houses, J.J. Kennedy’s saw mill, store, boarding houses, shops, barns, lumber and shingle piles, a lake full of logs and a railroad nearly completed to the place.
Mr. Kennedy is the sole proprietor of the town, lake and all. His saw mill is one of the best mills on the line, the main building being 36x122 feet, is provided with all the modern improved machinery, and has AN AVERAGE DAILY CAPACITY OF 60,000 FEET. His store is 26x60, with a fine hall over head, all of which is finished in a neat and substantial manner. His average stock of goods would invoice at about $5,000; his books show, so far, average monthly sales of about $3,000.
His boarding house is 24x40, two stories high; the other is a trifle smaller. His shops and barns are in proportion to the surrounding buildings and in keeping with demand. Mr. K. employees during the winter season from 175 to 250 men, about 40 being required to operate the mill, 35 for horse teams and 15 for yokes of oxen.
In the mill yard can be seen 10,000,000 feet of pine lumber and about 11,000,000 shingles. He has on the lake, for his seasons’ sawing, nearly 10,000,000 feet of logs, which he intends to increase to 12 or 13 million.
He [J. J. Kennedy] now has in operation 5 [pine logging] camps. Logs are being dropped on the ice [of Rib Lake] at the rate of 200 to 225 thousand feet per day.
Rib Lake itself is about 1 mile across and is said to be about 15 feet deep and has high dry banks closely studded with heavy timber and would in its season, we are sure, present a very attractive appearance to a tourist; its waters are well stocked with fine fish, many of our citizens can testify from last summer’s experience.
We found at Rib Lake a large delegation of former Spencer residents, among them we note was D. [Duncan] J. McLennan, who has charge of the store, and is assisted by Will E. Young. By the way, Will’s wife presented him with a bouncing boy last week. Bernie Hoey is also there. Angus Kennedy , who assists J. J. in the general supervision of the business, Jay Hildreth, who has charge of the saw mill, Patsy Welch, the head sawyer, Sam Hagan, in charge of the shingle mill, Joe Campbell, who manipulates the double block Challoner, Frank Johnson, general property man, and Will Kennedy [brother of J. J. and Angus]. All of these have their families with them and all appear happy and comfortable.
We found Angus McDonald and Will Lyman at their [logging] camps, pushing logs toward the lake. The Wisconsin Central Railroad branch is completed to [Rib] Lake, with the exception of 1 mile of iron [rails], which are expected on the ground any day. This branch [of the railroad] will undoubtedly be extended to the Wisconsin River in the very near future and will, when completed, tap one of the finest timber districts in the North West.
Kennedy’s store is connected with Chelsea by telephone which is found to be very convenient. As yet no school district has been set off that will accommodate the residents, but a private school is maintained by those having children of school age and we are informed that the attendance is about twenty five. No regular church organization has been formed, as the place being as yet a missionary field, the interests of which are looked after by Rev. N. L. Sweet of Spencer, who conducts service at the lake once in two weeks,
J. J. and Duncan [McLennan] undertook to make us believe that their sales on tobacco alone for 8 months had footed up to eight tons. We called for proof and Duncan provided evidence to the amount of 3,000 pounds in 5 months, and we took their word for the balance.
Mr. Kennedy evidently feels proud of the effect which his untiring energies have produced in that section, and takes delight in showing visitors the premises, and when we look back over the “hard streaks”4 he had at Spencer, three or four years ago, we become satisfied that he has a right to feel that way, and we are glad that he’s struck it rich. (emphasis added)
Eighteen months old, Rib Lake made quite an impression on its Spencer Tribune visitors.
While J.J. Kennedy was born in Ontario, Canada, he lived in Spencer, Wisconsin, for at least three years, 1877-1880. He left Spencer after his sawmill there burned in 1880. The winter of 1880-1881 J.J. Kennedy managed a sawmll at Ogema owned by Curtis Brothers.
3/17/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
Ten [railroad] car loads of iron were laid on the Rib Lake branch of the Wisconsin Central Railroad last Sunday, which nearly completes the line to Rib Lake.
3/24/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE SPUR RAILROAD -- The first shipment of lumber from Kennedy’s mill occurred this week over the new [railroad] line. Trains are now making regular trips.
THE BABY IS BORN.
This paper has never reported on the big hold up to the completion of the Chelsea-Rib Lake Railroad; it was—in one word—Wellington Lake.
A 30 foot high ridge of land runs northward from Wellington Lake creating a barrier to railroad construction. Solution; fill in the north end of the lake and build on the level. That fill – now grown over with trees – is still there in 2018.
3/31/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
We’re down on John Kennedy. We asked him for a pass over his new railroad and he told us to go to------we’ve forgot where. He’s another---he can go there himself—his road don’t amount to much anyway. If we couldn’t own more than 7 miles of road, we wouldn’t own any.
The same edition reported: Freight train No. 12 now makes regular trips to Kennedy’s Rib Lake mill, after lumber and shingles. Eleven car loads were hauled out from there Tuesday last, and it wasn’t a good day for lumber either.
When the memorial last log was erected in the Village of Rib Lake in 1950, a sign on it claimed that the Rib Lake Lumber Company had produced 1,850,000,000 board feet of lumber during its existence. Except for a few truckloads shipped in the final years of operation, all of this was transported by railroad over the Rib Lake-Chelsea spur. It was a big money maker for the Wisconsin Central railroad and the Soo Line (St. Paul, Minneapolis & Sault Ste. Marie), after the latter took over in 1908.
3/31/1882
TC STAR & NEWS
KENNEDY CONTINUES OPERATIONS ON YELLOW RIVER -- The following estimate of the log cut on the Yellow River and its tributaries in Taylor County was kindly furnished by C. S. Webster, who has been there:
…..J.J. Kennedy 1,300,000….
The above is the cut up to and including last week, and is not to be considered the cut of the season, as the loggers are still at work and will increase the amount considerably before they break camp
The list shows 21 other firms that I did not show here.
It is unclear how personally involved J.J. Kennedy was in the Yellow River operations at this time. I noted that the Spencer Tribune article on Rib Lake printed above made no mention of the fourth Kennedy brother, Hugh; was Hugh on the Yellow River?
4/7/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
TOWN OF BRANNAN, n/k/a SPIRIT -- Officers; Nels Auley and N. F. Norlin, chairman, 93 [votes] each, Drew cut and Auley got it. The rest of the Auley ticket is given below and elected…
Board: J. C. Roberson, Andrew Peterson; Clerk, Evald Hammar; Treasurer, C. Auley; Assessors, O. A. Johnson, Alex Nelson, N. J. Hammond; Justices, N. F. Norlin, A. K. Ostergren, Evald Hammer; Constables, A. P, Mourner [Moerner], Nels Auley.
Note the name A. K. Ostergren. The beloved Spirit historian Roy Meier told me that Ostergren was responsible for inducing many Scandinavian immigrants to settle in the township and that the original, local name for Timms hill was Ostergren’s Kula; kula being Norwegian for hill.
4/7/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
CHELSEA -- The Star Hotel at Chelsea, the property of L. A. Burbey was sold last Monday to satisfy a mortgage held by S. B. Hubbell & Co. The property was bid in by Haight & Co. for $525.
Chelsea at this time has at least 2 hotels; the larger is owned by long-time entrepreneur, C. H. Gearhart, “the Chelsea Hotel prince” as dubbed by editor Wheelock.
4/14/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- H. S. Russell is putting in a new steam feed at Kennedys mill Rib Lake mill, after which he will go to Phillips and build the Griffith mill at that place
J. J. Kennedy was known for continuous innovation and improvement of his plant.
4/14/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
SPIRIT LAKE -- J.J. Kennedy is doing a thriving business at Rib Lake. He is cutting 50,000 feet per day, and is having a large trade at his store. There is quite a settlement at Spirit Lake and Mr. Kennedy proposes to connect the two places by a good road thus bringing the trade to his place.
Not only was Kennedy successful in this, but the Spirit region became oriented and tied to Rib Lake; note, for example, it is in the Rib Lake School District; long time board chair, Jerry Blomberg, and his father, Wilbert, before him, are residents of the Town of Hill, Price County.
4/21/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE SPUR -- The Rib Lake branch of the Wisconsin Central Railroad is not a very safe one to run on when a train will tip over standing still, as it did last Saturday.
As of yet, no details given. I surmise the road bed was not firm; note that this is spring time and the frost is coming out of the ground. Some of the grading for this line was done during the winter.
In the same edition it is reported: “The pile driver is up repairing the break on the Rib Lake branch and picking up the wreck.”
The April 28 edition reports: “A gravel train is being run between Ogema and Rib Lake under the supervision of B. F. Bowen, yardmaster at that point.”
5/19/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- Rib Lake is the latest town asking for recognition in the “New Wisconsin.” It is the terminus of the branch line of the Wisconsin Central railroad running east eight miles from Chelsea. It already has a large saw mill owned by J.J. Kennedy & Co., two stores and several good, substantial buildings.
A post office will soon be established there. The new [rail] road is being ballasted and put in first-class order and is operated by the company. A daily train is run over the road. It is though that the [rail] road will soon be extended east as far as the Wisconsin River.
Rib Lake, from which the town takes its name, is a beautiful sheet of water set down in the heart of a heavily timbered country, which is being rapidly settled up by hardy emigrants. The company employs upwards of 600 men, and produces 15,000,000 feet of lumber to market annually. The company has a fine body of pine estimated at 156,000,000 feet. Rib Lake is bound to cut no mean figure in the future, but will soon become one of the thriftiest settlements along the line.---Ashland Press. (emphasis added)
Note that the railroad to Rib Lake is in the process of being “ballasted.” Ballast is the rock placed under and around the railroad ties; it is essential to providing a safe, stable road bed. The failure to ballast during initial construction may well have been the cause for the locomotive tipping over as recently reported.
The “Kennedy” sawmill at Rib Lake was not owned by J.J. Kennedy until 1893, when he bought it from his silent partners, the Curtis Brothers of Wausau and Clinton, Iowa.
6/23/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
TOWN OF CHELSEA—NOW TOWN OF GREENWOOD -- Messrs. Davis and Roth will put in a portable saw mill in the town of Chelsea, about 7 miles east of that village, south of Rib Lake. They have purchased a portable saw mill, engine and boiler of the largest size all complete from T. B. McCourt and Co. of this village [Medford], said to be the best in the market.
This is typical of the many small mills that ran a couple of years and then moved on.
6/23/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
CHELSEA PLATS -- Three additions to the village of Chelsea have been recorded in the Register of Deeds office in the past two weeks. The Wisconsin Central Railroad has surveyed and platted 42 lots in that village, to which road they have given the name Second Street. The lots are divided by Walnut, Taylor, Hemlock and Pine Streets.
On the east side the largest addition is that of A. Montour who has platted 21 lots, each 50 x 150 feet, bounded on the east side by Washington Street.
Abram Taylor has also secured a plat for an addition made by him, in which there are 19 lots as follows: eleven lots 50x150 on Marshal Street, 9 lots 50x132, 1 lot 80x150 and 132x350, the LAST BEING THE SITE OF THE NEW HAIGHT HOTEL, and containing an acre of ground. (emphasis added)
While these platted lots and streets still exist today on paper, most of the lots were never built upon.
Note that Chelsea was slated to get a third hotel, the Haight, which I surmise was owned by Wellington Haight, then chairman of the Town of Chelsea and the namesake of Wellington Lake.
6/30/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
WESTBORO-AN OVERVIEW -- …At Westboro, C. Bailey met us on his [train station] platform… We made across country to C. C. Palmer’s mill, which was shutdown that day for some repairs. Mr. B. showed us around the mill and through the lumber piles. This mill runs a rotary and shingle machine and cuts about 25,000 daily and will saw out about 4,000,000 [feet] this season. A.P. Vaughn and H. D. McCulloch of this city [Medford] and Fay Bros. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are all having sawing done at this [the Palmer] saw mill.
We next went to look over the Duncan saw mill, and were shown over the premises by book keeper, Thomas Duncan [a son of the owner, John Duncan]. The mill is located on Silver Creek on the east side of the [railroad] track and their pond will hold 7,000,000 feet of logs and is now full. The mill is one of the best for its capacity on the line and has the reputation of turning out first class lumber.
The machinery is first class including a handsome engine built by the Fort Howard [Wisconsin] Machine Works which is also owned by Mr. [John] Duncan. The mill is cutting from 35,000to 50,000 feet daily and 115,000 shingles and Mr. D. expects to cut all the logs in the pond before it freezes up.
Mr. [John] Duncan came to Westboro 8 years ago and has met with good success in this business as well as nearly everything he has taken a hold of. He is now putting up a planing mill this fall. He also has a dry kiln through which all his shingles pass before being stacked for the market. He is putting up a large shingle shed to hold 6,000,000 shingles.
Convenient to the mill are a number of tenement houses, built for the accommodation of those employed in the mill. The store is run under the supervision of W. E. [Duncan], who also does the buying, and books are kept by Thomas Duncan, Mr. [John] Duncan’s two sons, both of whom we found very pleasant gentlemen.
The saw mill is run under the personal supervision of Mr. [John] Duncan, and in his absence, his son Thomas takes charge.
Westboro has two hotels, the Star Hotel by George Allen and the Campbell House by Peter Campbell; a general merchandise store owned by C. H. Palmer, and two blacksmith shops, one at Palmer’s mill and one at Duncan’s. They also have a good school taught by Mrs. A. Sawyer of Medford.
This article was written by Edward T. Wheelock, the owner and editor of the Taylor County Star and News.
The Palmer mill was 300 feet north of today’s CTH D bridge over Silver Creek and on the west side of Silver Creek.
Duncan’s mill was 800 feet south of today’s CTH D and on the east side of the Wisconsin Central Railroad.
6/30/1883
TC STAR AND NEWS
“THE WHITTLESEY HORROR” -- At 1:55 o’clock Thursday afternoon the boilers in the Whittlesey saw mill exploded, killing 3 men and injuring several more….The mill was comparatively new, having been built a little more than a year ago, but two of the boilers were from the old Watermelon mill at Little Black and for 6 years prior to their purchase by Sanger, Rockwell & Co they had been laying idle. The present proprietors of the mill, Messrs Ives & Hale, are experience mill men….
The mill is a total wreck, only a portion of the frame being left.The bodies of the victims were packed in ice and taken down the line to their home yesterday.
7/28/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE -- J.J. Kennedy left for Dakota yesterday to look after his teams that are working on the extension of the St Paul road into that territory.
This is what I surmise. Kennedy owned many teams of work horses which he did not use during summer. He rented them out for money.
The railroad was the Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul. After the turn of the century it extended its railroad lines to Tacoma, Washington and added “& Pacific” to its title. It had a long and illustrious history eventually owning the line running west of Merrill, Wis.,within 6 miles of the Taylor County line. It was known as “The Milwaukee Road.” It went bankrupt and was purchased in 1987 by the Soo Line.
8/4/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
CHELSEA -- [Advertisement] Dr. T. M. Miller, Chelsea, Wis., Graduate of Trinity Medical College, Toronto, Canada, Member of College of Physicians and Surgeons, Ontario; Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Licentiate of Midwifery, Edinburgh, Scotland, and associate of the Obstetrical Society, Dublin, Ireland
This is the first such ad published here. It looks like the medical doctor will devote his entire practice to Chelsea.
8/4/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
WHITTLESEY -- The Ives and Hale saw mill at Whittlesey has been replaced and will start up next week to complete the season’s run, interrupted by the explosion.
The edition dated 11/10/1883 reported: DISSOLUTION NOTICE. Notice is hereby given that the co partnership heretofore existing under the firm name of Ives & Hale has this day dissolved by mutually consent of the members thereof. The business of said firm will be conducted by S. A. Hale who is the only person authorized to collect the debts due said firm and who assumes all liabilities there. Dated Nov 2nd, 1883. /s/ A. W. Ives & S. A. Hales
The paper reported that Hales was moving his residence to Whittlesey.
10/20/1883
TC STAR AND NEWS
MEDFORD -- The Nystrum tannery enterprise is at a stand still for a few days, the boilers and machinery having not arrived.
This was the first tannery built in Taylor County. The Rib Lake tannery was constructed in 1892 by Fayette Delos Shaw. See document #15231, contract 6/25/1891, in which J.J. Kennedy sold the Rib Lake tannery site to Shaw but by which Shaw was obligated to construct and run a tannery in Rib Lake.
10/27/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
WISCONSIN CENTRAL RAILROAD -- The railroad company has accepted the proposition made by Taylor County for the settlement of the taxes for the years 1878 through 1880 [which the railroad did not pay]. The proposition is that the company is to pay the county clerk $7,500 and to satisfy the two judgments had by them against the county and the judgment held by T. L. Kennan [an attorney representing the railroad] against the county. The county, on the other part, is to issue redemption receipts on all lands in which certificates were issued in those years, The proposition will appear in full in the board proceeding…
There had been a long and bitter fight over taxes. The railroad got the Wisconsin Legislature to pass a law exempting railroad lands from real estate taxes. The County sued claiming the law unconstitutional but the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the law.
The railroad owned a great deal of land in the county because it was awarded every other section of land by Congress as a reward for constructing the line.
The county board approved the settlement 10/11/1883.
11/10/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
CHELSEA -- [Advertisement] -- FEED MILL, Chelsea, Wis. -- The undersigned have just put in a RUN OF STONE (sic) at their mill in Chelsea and are now prepared to grind feed or graham flour, by ton or on toll. The best quality of corn and oats feed always on hand, and sold in any quantity. L. M. MARSHAL & TAYLOR LUMBER CO.
Linus M. Marshall and Abram Taylor were then operating the lumber mill in Chelsea and, like many lumber companies, ran a company owned store. They had just opened the roller mill advertised here to serve the every expanding number of farms as the neighborhood was settled.
In 1911 the Rib Lake Roller Mill opened. In 2012 it is still going under the ownership of William “Bill” Schreiner, even though the number of functioning dairy farms in the Town of Rib Lake has fallen dramatically.
12/8/1883
TC STAR & NEWS
REAL ESTATE TAX VALUATIONS -- The Taylor County Board fixed the equalized real estate valuations or the Towns of Deer Creek, Little Black, Medford, Chelsea and Westboro at $2.08 per acre.
These were all the township Taylor County had at the time; J.J. Kennedy’s Rib Lake mill was in the Town of Westboro until 1885 when the Town of Rib Lake was created. The Village of Rib Lake was incorporated in 1902.
12/15/1883
TC STAR AND NEWS
RIB LAKE -- A splendid donation was given us at Rib Lake, last Saturday evening amounting to $46.53 in cash. And also at Chelsea Monday evening, a goodly number came out and enjoyed a very pleasant evening, the proceeds amounting to $33.00 cash. This is now the first quarter of our present year, and they have our most hearty appreciations and thanks. Mr. & Mrs. N. L. Sweet
Mr. Sweet was a minister whose regular church was in Spencer. He “road the circuit” to come to Rib Lake every other week. He apparently also had services in Chelsea.
