Town OF WESTBORO -- Taylor County Clerk A. H. Peterson and wife came up [from Medford] Christmas and broke bread with the parents of the former.
Joseph Grittner is pushing his logging operations on the Jump and Mondeaux Rivers.
Work on the [new John Duncan] tannery was discontinued some time since and will not be resumed until spring. Bark hauling and the skidding of logs is going briskly forward.
W. H. Taylor has a contract with the Valley Lumber Company of Eau Claire to put into Silver Creek about 2,000,000 feet of hemlock. The contract price is very favorable to the logger and should prove a profitable venture.
W. H. Taylor has resigned the postmastership here. There are two applicants for the vacant position, Harry Cook and Frank Ruprich. Clarence Bidwell has charge of the office as deputy.
It is reported that the logging railway of the Northwestern Lumber Co. of Stanley is fast making its way toward the northwestern part of Taylor County and the right of way has been cut as far north as town 33, between ranges 3 and 4 west. Settlers have been going in this region considerably of late. The establishment of a school, post office and a voting precinct is being agitated, and erection of a town west of the Meridian is a possibility in the not distant future. Some of the finest farming lands in our country are said to be in this region.
At the time, the Town of Westboro stretched westward to the Chippewa County line. The logging railroad of the Northwestern Lumber Co matured into a common carrier, the Stanley, Merrill & Phillips Railroad. The development that followed in its wake led to the creation of the Townships of McKinley and Jump River from land theretofore part of the Town of Westboro.
The hemlock logs being put into Silver Creek were floated to the Jump and then the Chippewa River. They were sawed into lumber in the City of Eau Claire.
This is the first report in the Star & News that a hemlock log drive will take place in the Chippewa River watershed. For the past couple years there has been such news in the Black River watershed.
1/22/1898
TC STAR &NEWS
CHELSEA—Capitol Lumber Co. Takes Over Sawmill -- Capitol Lumber Co.’s sawmilling [in Chelsea] is running full blast. It is doubtful there is a better equipped mill in the state for sawing HEMLOCK LOGS. (emphasis added)
Among the arrivals [in Chelsea] this week are: A. E. Proudfit, F. W. Shephard and L. [Louis] A. Rousseau, capitalists from Madison, Wisconsin. The two former are interested in the Capital Lumber Company and came to inspect the plant. They were much surprised at the many improvements made at the saw mill including a dry kiln there which is capable of preparing green lumber for market in 3 days…
A little snow would be of great help in the hauling of logs by settlers. Still, logs are coming in quite lively, and if all indications do not go astray, will see a stock of 8 to 10 million feet of HEMLOCK logs in Capital Lumber Co’s pond before spring. (emphasis added)
Capital Lumber Co. had purchased the saw mill ¼ mile south of the center of the village on the east side of the Wisconsin Central railroad tracks. It had long been operated by Abram Taylor.
The local supply of pine timber was exhausted; it appears that the Chelsea mill would now exclusively cut hemlock.
1/22/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE—Philip Marcus to Move There -- Philip Marcus, who has been in charge of the branch store of the M. [Mandel] Marcus Mercantile Co. at Colby since that enterprise was started, was in the city [Medford] the fore part of the week. He will hereafter be in charge of the Rib Lake branch, the store at Colby having been discontinued.
A Marcus general store in downtown Medford was a major part of Medford’s mercantile life.
Their store in Rib Lake was called “The Fair” and eventually stood on the southeast corner of Landall and McComb Avenue; it operated into the 1920’s and featured Rib Lake’s first cement sidewalk. My father, Herman Arthur Rusch, rode his coaster wagon back and forth so many times on its smooth cement surface, that Phillip Marcus ordered him away, complaining that young Herman was chasing his customers away.
Members of the Marcus family were the only Jews residing in Rib Lake and bore the brunt of prejudice; their Gentile neighbors always referring to Philip as “Shinny Marcus.”
The January 29, 1898 edition reported; “The Marcus Mercantile Co. has its stock of dry goods and gents furnishings now on the shelves and is open for the inspection of the public.” Another store on McComb Avenue had opened within six months of its construction!
1/29/1898
TC STAR &NEWS
Rib Lake Ripples -- Mr. Henze (sic), who is about to locate here in the interest of a custom saw mill, arrived in town [Rib Lake] Thursday to look up a location. The writer will furnish further notice for the benefit of the farmers.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin will show at McComb’s Opera House Friday evening; popular prices will be charged.
John Larson has furnished, up to this time, to the different business men, in the neighborhood of 50 cords of ice [taken from local lakes].
William Crabs moved his Harness shop from Livery Street to McComb
Avenue this week.
Frank J. Hintz and Carl Theodore Hintz and family would eventually build two local saw mills. One was on the west side of Rib Lake where, in 2012, Great Northern Cabinetry Inc. stands, 742 Kennedy Street.
Their second sawmill was on the banks of Wood Creek in the Town of Greenwood on the NW NW 16 32 3E. A couple other buildings were built there. It was called “Hintztown.”
Some of the lumber produced at Hintztown was hauled to the Wisconsin Central railroad track running east of the Village of Rib Lake. One exceptionally dry year forest fires threatened to burn Hintz’s lumber piled along the track for shipment. Hintz pled with the railroad to ship his lumber but the railroad tarried so long a fire destroyed the lumber. Hintz sued for damages and the railroad denied liability. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hintz.
1/29/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
A MAMMOTH ENTERPRISE! -M. Marcus Mercantile Co. in Rib Lake -- From the Rib Lake Herald -- The branch store of the M. Marcus Mercantile Co. [of Medford] is opened and ready to meet the requirements of the people and already is doing business on a large scale. Being situated in the north storeroom in [McComb’s] opera house, it occupies the best business location in Rib Lake, for the reason that it is in the center of the village.
The company has put in 3 carloads of new goods, such as: ladies’ and gentlemen’s furnishing goods, clothing, boots and shoes, hats and caps, trunks, valises (sic), jewelry, notions, etc. The stock is well displayed in the windows, show cases and on shelves, and everything presents a neat appearance. A sign of good business is the fact that the company sold a lot of goods as soon as they were unpackaged.
Mr. Phillip Marcus is the manager and is ably assisted by Mr. Allan McDonald. Both are well acquainted here and along the line. The former has been successful in his business ventures at various different places and thinks that Rib Lake is no exception.
The Taylor County Star & News reprinted this article from The Rib Lake Herald, which had commenced publication in December, 1897.
2/2/1898
TC STAR & News
INTERNATIONAL ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS—Rib Lake Lodge -- The I. O. G. T. will hold open Lodge at Temperance Hall [in Medford] on Tuesday evening. Everyone interested is cordially invited to be present. The Rib Lake and Stetsonville Lodges are especially invited.
This lodge was devoted to temperance, i.e., the non-consumption of alcohol and open to men and women. It once had 350,000 American members, in 2013 it is down to 2,000.
2/19/1898
TC STAR & News
Rib Lake Ripples- HEMLOCK -- Hemlock pulpwood is being brought in by the carloads the past week.
Rib Lake can also boast of a few “Klondikers” as H. Harding and Jake Miller leave here in the near future to explore Alaska [for gold].
A week ago Thursday night at the regular meeting of the Modern Woodmen [of America Lodge] at their Hall, and after all business was discussed and they were ready to leave, in walked the Royal Neighbors loaded down with baskets of good things and invited the Woodmen to a royal feast with which they did justice. A hasty program was arranged as follows: Song by Woodmen, Reading by Mrs. C. Egelerson, Song by Paul Long, Song by Deputy Fillpot [Deputy Head Counsel for the Modern Woodmen of America of Loyal, Wisconsin], Song by Woodmen.
The get-together finished with an address by Deputy Filipot, which closed a good time which will go down as part of the history of both Royal Neighbors and Woodmen.
/s/ “Nibs”
Having a market to sell pulpwood is a real boon for landowners; pulpwood can be made from the small parts of a tree and other parts not big enough or sound enough or straight enough to make saw timber.
Since hemlock was the single biggest component in Rib Lake forests at that time, the ability to sell hemlock pulpwood was a God send. The landowner could sell the hemlock bark to the tannery, and the hemlock saw logs to J.J. Kennedy’s mill, and hemlock pulpwood to some far away paper plant. This meant complete utilization of the ubiquitous tree.
Fortuitously, the Wisconsin Central Railroad, which served Rib Lake, had its mainline running directly to Neenah, Wisconsin, and other paper plants in the Fox River Valley. This convenient railroad route helped keep freight rates low.
2/26/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
NEW HINTZ SAW MILL FOR RIB LAKE -- The custom saw mill [for Rib lake] is a sure go, and by the 1st of April the hum and buzz of another saw mill [in addition to J.J. Kennedy’s] will be heard. Mr. [Frank J.] Hintz, who is the promoter, has given $1,000 bonds to insure the farmers who are now hauling logs [to the mill site].
Hintz was trying to get farmers to trust him that they would eventually be paid for the saw log farmers hauled to the new Hintz mill in Rib Lake. In a bold and innovative move, Hintz somehow had surety bonds issued guarantying such payments; if Hintz failed to pay, the farmer could collect from the bond issuer.
2/26/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
Greenwood Leaves - Peche-Lindstadt Wedding -- At Mr. Kaske residence on Feb. 21st, Mr. John Lindstadt of Chelsea and Mrs. Marie Peche of Rib Lake, formerly of Medford, were married, the Rev. Frederich H. Mocker of Whittlesey officiating and Mr. Kaske, who is a genuine humorist, giving the bride away as his old daughter. A house full of guests partook of wedding cake and a well laden supper table of kindred delicacies.
After which the cigar, the foaming mug and music and dancing unlimited, with a jokers’ and singers’ corner kept in continual action made the wedding at Kaske’s a bright and shining link in the chain of circumstances which binds our citizenship together. May prosperity’s horn of plenty blew the new couple with a generous share of abundance. George and Max Kronschable of Dorchester with their violins and Mrs. Walter of Greenwood and Mr. Paul Kaske and Miss Mina Martins of Rib Lake with accordions gave the dancers perfect satisfaction in the line of music.
At Mr. [Stephen A.] Konz’s residence the reception last week was one of the notable events of the season, one novelty, perhaps worth recording, happened when the company took a notion to get more music and 8 men taking a cutter [sleigh], and drawing it with their own strong arms, went down about a mile to Mr. Walter’s house and brought Mrs. Walter back in the cutter to play for the company. /s/ George Knower
I have written the family name Kaske, rather then Kaska, the former is the way the Star & News published it. At the time, the Kaske farm was on the northeast corner of what would become CTH C and Wood Creek Avenue.
Wedding receptions were, and still are, big, community events in Rib Lake.
Stephen A. Konz was an immigrant from Hungary who later moved from his Town of Greenwood farm to Rib Lake where he constructed a substantial sawmill; about 1920 he moved near Appleton, Wisconsin, where his grandchildren and great grandchildren remain in the lumber business in 2012.
2/26/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE—THE BUILDING “boom” -- The village of Rib Lake, since the inauguration of the great “boom,” has evidently become a sedate, moral and Christian burg. On Friday evening last, the Medford Minstrels entertained a small audience of its people in McComb’s Opera House, and their stock of jokes simply paralyzed them, judging by yesterday’s number in [The Rib Lake] Herald.
Insults were heaped upon their meek and lowly heads in large heaps, according to the Herald, but every “gag” was received with uproarious laughter at the time, and the boys came home feeling highly pleased with their reception, even if they did fail to make any money there.
We are instructed by them to express their appreciation of treatment received, and they are profuse in their praise of the management of the Commercial House, where they had supper and an excellent lunch before returning home.
The center of Rib Lake had experienced an astonishing building “boom” along McComb Avenue since its construction in the fall of 1897. It quickly and decisively became the thriving commercial center of a town where there was then no unemployment.
J.J. Kennedy’s hotel was the Commercial House. It was a massive, wood frame 3 story building with 125 rooms, the largest hotel in Taylor County. You can view its picture at pages 39 and 40 of “The Pictorial History of Rib Lake,” at www.riblakehistory.com.
3/5/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
Rising Lumber Market -- The “Mississippi Valley Lumberman”, in speaking of current market conditions, says the feature of the situation at present is the firm price at which lumber is being sold. Salesmen on the road report list prices being obtained pretty generally, with little effort on the part of the retailers to bear the market.
“There seems to be a pretty firm belief,” adds the Lumberman, “that prices are going to steadily trend upward and the sooner stocks are bought, the less will have to be paid for them.”
“The Northwestern Lumberman,” published in Chicago, says advices (sic) from the markets and from all parts of the country, generally reflect cheerful prospects for the spring trade. Reports from retail dealers throughout several of the interior states agree that TRADE IN 1897 WAS A GREAT IMPROVEMENT OVER THAT OF 1896, and that prospects for the present year are for a pronounced gain on the business of last year. (emphasis added)
The financial panic of 1893 and subsequent years had created a national Depression which had severely impacted J.J. Kennedy forcing him to mortgage his mill to the hilt.
According to Wikipedia, the Panic of 1893 was the greatest economic depression experienced by America to date; over 15,000 companies and 500 banks closed.
3/12/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
KENNEDY--Constructing New, Large Dry Kiln -- Mr. J.J. Kennedy has a crew of men putting up a large dry kiln on the west side of the mill.
The Star & News has not yet reported the completion of J.J. Kennedy’s new saw mill to replace the one destroyed by fire in October, 1897. A terse article in January, 1898, reported that smoke was coming from the saw mill smokestacks. That could have been a test or fulfillment of the projected 1/15/1898 mill completion date. The Star & News never thereafter reports the new mill finished. Therefore, I assume the projected mill completion date of 1/15/1898 was successful. This means J.J. Kennedy rebuilt his huge mill in less than 90 days.
3/12/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
Rib Lake Ripples -- Mr. Christ Wolleson of Chelsea, is putting up a beer depot here [in Rib Lake] for the Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee. Joe Probst, who is the agent for the Company, has a [railroad] car load of beer here already and is busy every day delivering it around to the saloon keepers in city style. Maybe you think Rib Lake is not in it. If you do, you are off the track.
If you want a lot in McComb’s addition [McCombs Racing Park Addition to the Village of Rib Lake] to start yourself up in business, just call on B. J. Landall. You will find him in his office in McComb’s Opera House.
B.J. Landaal was a close business associate of A.C. McComb. The present “Landall” Avenue is a corruption of his name.
3/19/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
NEW POST OFFICE CALLED “Sams” -- The first mail from Urquhart to Sams was carried Tuesday, March 15th. During the first quarter, the office at Sams will make connections with the Medford and Interwald route at Urquhart post office on Saturday.
Sams post office was located in the nw nw 18 32 3E, probably in the William Martin farmhouse; it stood on the east side of present CTH C, just south of the Rib River.
“Sams” was an official post office from 1898 to 1907. I have no idea as to the origin or meaning of its name. RPR
3/19/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
KENNEDY—Dry Yard Fire Burns 3 to 5 Million Feet of LumbeR -- On Wednesday afternoon last a telegram was received from Rib Lake stating that Kennedy’s lumber yard was on fire and calling for assistance from our [Medford] fire department. The alarm was promptly sounded and responded to and the Rib Lake engine and caboose soon arrived and hauled the hand engine and necessary apparatus and about 40 men to the scene of the fire.
The wind was blowing quite hard that afternoon and it was thought advisable to retain the steamer at home. On arriving at Rib Lake, our firemen went to work promptly and by hard efforts kept the fire from spreading and nearly one-half of the lumber in piles was saved. It is estimated that the amount of lumber burned was from three to five million feet. It seems that Mr. Kennedy is having more than his share of misfortune, as it is only a few months since his large mill was destroyed. But he is the kind of man that can bear up in misfortune, and he will go ahead as usual and in a few months, the burned area will again be covered with new lumber piles. The loss, nevertheless, is a severe one and his many Medford friends sincerely wish him better success in the future.
The Medford Fire Department had two water pumpers. One was steam powered using a fire to generate steam. Because of the windy conditions and fear that embers might start yet more fire, the steam unit was kept in Medford.
The Fire Department used an older, water pumper which used up to eight men pushing and pulling on a long lever to pump water. It worked.
3/26/1898
TC STAR &NEWS
KENNEDY—“Notice of Sale on Execution” - Armour Packing Co. vERSUS J.J. Kennedy for the sum of $588.02 -- By virtue of an execution duly issued out of the Circuit Court for Taylor County…on March 1, 1898 on a judgment docketed…on October 9, 1896, in favor of Armour Packing Company and against J.J. Kennedy for the sum of [$588.02], I have levied upon and shall set at public venue to the highest bidder, at the sheriff’s office in the Court House in the City of Medford…on April 25, 1898, the following described real estate or so much thereof as shall be necessary to satisfy the said sum of [$588.02] and interest, costs and expenses of such sale, to-wit:
Lots one, two, three, four and seven in block A…[here listed are 48 lots in the J.J. Kennedy’s Original Plat of the Village of Rib lake; these are building lots south of Railroad Street]
The following are unplatted lots in the village of Rib Lake: Lots No. nine and ten in section 26 33 2E; also all unplatted part of ne ¼ se ¼ in Section 27 33 2E. ALSO A PIECE AND PARCEL OF LAND DESIGNATED IN THE RECORDED PLAT OF THE VILLAGE OF RIB LAKE AS THE MILL LOT. (emphasis added)
[There next following a long list of one hundred plus quarter quarters (forty acre parcels of land) in T 32 North, Range 3 East and in T 33 North, Range 2 and 3 East; all this land is Taylor County in either the Town of Greenwood or Town of Rib Lake. These are lands providing saw logs for J.J. Kennedy’s saw mill.]
Dated March 5, 1898 /s/ Sylvester Nusser, Sheriff, Taylor County. Wis.
This document tells us a great deal about J.J. Kennedy’s precarious financial condition. He was unable to pay the small amount of $588.02. The debt was for meats used in Kennedy’s logging camps or sold at his store.
The judgment against Kennedy has existed since at least October, 1896; since a judgment accrues interest it was in Kennedy’s financial interest to pay it off; Kennedy has been unable to do so.
The scheduled land sale did NOT take place; Kennedy was able to pay off the debt or work out some type of deal with the creditor.
The “mill lot” was the legal description of the parcel of land on which Kennedy’s saw mill stood.
The execution sale did not take place. J.J. Kennedy paid of the debt.
4/9/1898
TC STAR & News
HEMLOCK—John Nelson Sues Fayette Shaw -- The damage case of John Nelson vs. Fayette Shaw, in which Mr. Nelson sued for $25,000 damages for injuries received while hauling bark to the latter’s tannery at Rib Lake two years ago, is now on trial at the courthouse. The case will probably be on trial for several days.
While work related injuries were frequent, lawsuits for damages were infrequent. Employers typically argued the defense of “contributory negligence,” i.e., had the employee been more careful, the accident would not have occurred.
The April 16 edition reported that Nelson lost; “motion to direct verdict granted, and stay of execution ordered for 60 days.” The judge had not allowed the jury to decide the case.
4/9/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
RESULTS OF TOWN ELECTIONS -- Town of Chelsea election results: chairman, Henry Shearer; supervisors, Andrew Peterson and August Lissner; clerk, A. D. Quinn; treasurer, Grant White; assessor, Ewald Lindow; justices of the peace, B. F. Whaples, Grant White, Charles Hurty and Frank Jaude; constables, George Neumiller, Frank Stellick and Fred Reeves.
Town of Greenwood: chairman, Thomas Brehm; supervisors, Robert Schmitt and Anton Wudi; clerk, William Martin; treasurer … [Ignatz?] Fuchs; constables, Antone (sic) Wudi, Peter Monheim and Edward Klein.
Town of Rib Lake: chairman, J. P. Seibel [re-elected]; supervisors, Chris Martin and H. Wachsmuth; clerk, H. A. B. Kennedy; treasurer, A. McDonald; assessor, George Clark; justice of the peace, none listed; constables, James McDonald and A. D. McLellan.
Town of Westboro: chairman, Joseph F. Lucia; supervisors, Charles Nelson and Albert Grossman; clerk, I. A. McCumber; treasurer, A. Fournier; assessor, J. F. Kibbey and C. A. Larson; justices of the peace, John Hayes, John Fitze, H. A. Cook and P. M. Campbell; constables, John Frett, J. F. Kibbey and J. H. Perry.
4/16/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
CIRCUIT COURT CASES-- E. J. Anderson vs. J.J. Kennedy; “settled by allowing plaintiff judgment of $30.”
Fayette Shaw vs. Medford Hotel Association; judgment of foreclosure of mortgage granted.
The Medford Hotel Association was a company that owned the new and elegant Hotel Winchester in Medford. Fayette Shaw had loaned the company money and obtained a mortgage to secure the debt. The company did not meet its mortgage obligations, probably, by failure to stay current in paying.
The judgment of foreclosure authorized Shaw to have the property sold and the sale proceeds applied against the debt.
4/16/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
From Westboro -- Work has been resumed on the [new Westboro] tannery.
It is understood that [John Duncan’s] saw mill will not be rebuilt this year.
Several citizens from the western part of the town [of Westboro] were present and voted in the last election, They received all they asked for: $1,000 for their roads, and $500 to build and furnish a school house.
I. A. McCumber gave a free dance at the town hall on Wednesday evening as a return [thank you] for being re-elected town clerk for the fifth time.
In 1898 the Town of Westboro stretched westward over 20 miles to the Chippewa County line. Later, the Taylor County board detached from Westboro its westernmost 12 miles and there created the Towns of McKinley and Jump River.
4/23/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
QUEARY MAPS OF TAYLOR COUNTY -- Mr. Queary, the draughtsman, received a supply of his new lithographed maps of Taylor County this week. The workmanship is strictly first class quality.
On the face of the maps is given the names of the owners of every parcel of land to within a few weeks ago.
All tanneries, saw mills, school house, roads and cemeteries, residences, swamps and state and governments lands are appropriately designated.
You can access this map by consulting the Index to the Document and Photo Collection at www.riblakehistory.com and searching for “Queary.” Alternatively, you can find the Queary map via its accession number, #11,266.
5/7/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
KENNEDY -- Mrs. Kennedy accompanied Mr. Kennedy on his return from Longwood last Monday and has spent the week at the home of her brother Lee W. Gibson. They intend to move here in the near future. Mr. Kennedy has let a contract for the construction of a new house to be located just south of the Gibson residence to O. Griesser.
Which Kennedy does this refer to? It was neither J. J. nor any of his brothers. [The edition of 8/27/1898 reports that C. T. Kennedy is treasurer of the Joseph Gibson corporation; Joseph Gibson is president and Lee W. Gibson is secretary of the company devoted to logging and farming.]
Longwood was a small town north of Neillsville in Clark County, Wisconsin.
5/14/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
NEW LOG DRIVING DAM NEAR WHITTLESEY -- The Medford Manufacturing Co. has just completed the construction of a dam across the Black River about 5 miles north of Medford in section 34 32 1E. This dam was necessary in order to successfully drive the logs down the river.
For many years there was a dam on the Black River one mile north of the new site and ¼ mile west of Whittlesey. Since the saw mill on the Black River at Whittlesey has not functioned for several years, that dam may have fallen in disrepair.
7/12/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
KENNEDY -- The old settlers of Taylor County met in Paquet’s Hall [in Medford] June 18 and organized The Old Settlers Club of Taylor County. Officers were elected as follows: president, Albert J. Perkins; vice-presidents: Rib Lake, J.J. Kennedy; Westboro, G. W. Allen; Chelsea, William P. Smith; Greenwood, Wellington H. Haight…..
J.J. Kennedy remained active in a large variety of social, political and commercial organizations. He reminds me of the old saying: if you have a job to be done, ask a busy person, the others have no time.
9/17/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
LANGENBERG BRICK OPENS AT WHITTLESEY -- The first brick from the large brick yards of the Langenberg Brick Manufacturing Co., located at Whittlesey, were delivered in this city [Medford] this week and will be used to veneer the front of the new Lafferty Building. They are pronounced a first class article of brick by all the experts, and are hard as a rock and perfectly smooth. The concern will manufacture from four to five million brick each year and is an institution of considerable magnitude.
Langenberg Brick was headquartered at Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Its Whittlesey operation included an open pit mine for bright orange kaolin clay, a factory where the raw material was shaped and pressed, several 14 foot high kilns where the brick were ‘fired,’ i.e. baked, to make them hard, and a spur from the Wisconsin Central Railroad, where the finished bricks could be shipped by rail.
Each brick bore the bold initials “L. B. M.”
In 2012 the site is part of the Whittlesey Lions Club golf course and park at SE NE 34 32 1E.
9/24/1898
TC STAR &NEWS
WILLIAM PRINGLE OF RIB LAKE SEEKS NOMINATION FOR DA -- The only active candidate for the Republican nomination for district attorney is William Pringle of Rib Lake. He is rated as a first class man for the position by those who have tested his abilities. He will doubtless be opposed by Attorney M. A. Buckley of Medford.
Attorney Pringle was the first attorney to practice and reside in Rib Lake. He served as in-house counsel for J. J. Kennedy and his lumber company. Pringle lost the election to Buckley.
10/8/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
IMPROVED ECONOMICS -- The Joseph Gibson Co. now has five logging camps started with a total of nearly 300 men at work in this county. The Standard Lumber Co., for which F. N. Norton is superintending operations, has three camps in running order and nearly two hundred men at work. Wages are perceptibly higher than for several years and men are difficult to secure. Republican times, these.
Joseph Gibson routinely ran Medford area camps to supply logs for mills there.
11/12/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
RIB LAKE—ODD FELLOWS’ LODGE -- On October 3, 1898, I was at Rib Lake on business, and having to stay overnight, I had the pleasure of attending Lodge. I always enjoy visiting an Odd Fellows’ Lodge and more especially, when I meet old friends and acquaintances. We find Old Fellowship just the same, whether it be in a finely furnished Lodge room or the more unpretentious hall in the village.
The Brothers at Rib Lake have leased the hall over the lumber company’s store, and are much more pleasantly located than they were in the hall in which they instituted the Lodge last April. There were 18 good, active Odd Fellows present, and they already contemplate organizing a Rebekah Lodge [for women]. I spent a very pleasant hour with them.
Brother Bowman is Noble Grand, and he is as much at home in the Noble Grand’s chair as he is on the [Wisconsin] Central train calling for tickets. The Lodge is composed of good material and the prospects for good work in the future are bright. They all seem to take a great interest in the work, and are anxious that some good, live and eloquent Grand Lodge officer should visit them and deliver a lecture on Odd Fellowship, so the people may know more about the principles they advocate. I gave them a few minutes’ talk myself and they seemed to appreciate that. I hope to see them again soon.
Yours in F. L. & T. /s/ Charles Barker
This article was reprinted from “The Odd Fellows Friend,” official magazine of the lodge. The International Order of Odd Fellows, “I. O. O. F.,” had just formed a chapter in Rib Lake.
The article reveals one of the main attractions of then lodge membership, the chance to spend a social evening in a strange place.
12/17/1898
TC STAR &NEWS
RIB LAKE HERALD OFFICE BURNS -- The Rib Lake Herald starts its second year under adverse circumstances. At the fire Tuesday evening its newspaper press and considerable of its printing material was destroyed.
The Herald is one of the bright newspapers of northern Wisconsin, ably edited and neat in mechanical appearance. The managing partner, John J. Voemastek, is a young man, but old in experience and fully alive to the wants of his town and its people in the local paper line.
A personal letter states that the Herald will have a new press next week, and be ready for business in the same, old town. The people of Rib Lake can show their enterprise and public spiritedness in no clearer way then by extending a helping hand to its home paper.
The Herald’s office was in McComb’s Opera House. The disastrous fire destroyed both.
12/17/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
KENNEDY BUYS STEAM HAULER -- The Kennedy’s at Rib Lake have [added] a steam logger to their logging utensils which will haul eleven sleighs loaded with logs to the trip.
Note “Kennedys” in the plural. While not formally a partnership, J.J. Kennedy worked closely in the lumbering business with brothers Angus and Hugh.
The Phoenix Iron Works of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, manufactured the “steam hauler.” It looked like, and operated much like, a steam railroad locomotive except it ran on an iced road—not rails—; in addition, the steam hauler had no wheels, instead, it had sleigh runners in front and a steel caterpillar tread on top of the ice road.
Steam from a wood fueled boiler, just like a locomotive, ran to pistons which powered the caterpillar treads, which the engineer controlled to run forward or backwards.
This steam hauler pulled up to 11 fully loaded sleighs of logs at slow speed over an ice road built with at least one foot of ice to support the weight.
The last load of steam hauler logs at Rib Lake came from RLLC Camp 9 in 1922.
Consult the Photo and Document Collection at www.riblakehistory.com for photos of the steam hauler and maps of the ice roads.
12/17/1898
TC STAR & NEWS
“BiG Fire”-McComb’s Opera House Burns -- Fire originated in the upper story of the large McComb’s Opera House at Rib Lake Tuesday evening at 7;15, and within an hour the structure was a smoldering heap of ashes. The building was occupied by several tenants, including the Marcus Mercantile Co., The Rib Lake Herald, Dr. Werner, Miss Krueger [a milliner], B. J. Landaal [real estate office] and others.
Dr. Werner is reported as being the heaviest loser. The Mercantile Co. carried $10,000 in stock, but a great portion of the goods were saved, and the $3,000 insurance carried will help make up the loss. A saloon building adjoining the opera house, occupied by J. I. Larsen, was also destroyed, although the fixtures and stock were saved. Mr. McComb had been in the city during the day, but had left for Chelsea before the fire started.
It is understood that the opera house, one of the finest in Wisconsin, has been a losing venture from the start. It was built [in 1897] during the boom years of our neighboring city [Rib Lake]. The total loss is estimated at $10,000.
McComb’s Opera House stood on the northeast corner of McComb and Landall Avenues. In 2012, its site is occupied by the old brick bank building and a part of the Little Bohemia, 806 McComb Ave.
