Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-07-02
COM MENCEMENT,
Papers by Mabel Drager and Emmet
Carey.
OLD SAW-MILLS ON WISCONSIN.
By Mabel Drager.l

Of the state. AS early as 1927. when
| there were but twenty-fOur states in
the Union. timber was cut along
| the Wisconsin river. This was a
great pine region, and hence the name,
"Pineries" by which it was known for
a long time.
Daniel Whitney, Of Green Bay, was
the first man to cut lumber along the
| Wisconsin river. In the winter of
1927, he obtained d permit from the
! WinnebagOeS, granting him the
privilege to manufacture shingles
on the Wisconsin. His party under
the charge of his nephew, David r.
| Whitney, was conducted up the
Wisconsin as far as the Yellow River
by Col. ChildS, one of the military
officers at Ft. WinnebagO. Mr..
Whitney manufactured about two
hundred thousand shingles and then
| Major TwiggS, of FIT. WinnebagOe,
interfered for some unknown reason
and destroyed most OF his shingles.
This put an end to Mr.. Whitney's
shingle manufactury.
In 1881, Mr.. Whitney obtained a
permit from the War Department
granting him the privilege to erect a
saWmill and cut timber along the
Wisconsin river. In 1872, he,
assisted by his nephew David and A.
B. Sampson, built the first mill on the
! Wisconsin river at d place which they
called Whitney Rapids, which is just
above NekOOSa, but on the east side.
| The MenOminee Indians inhabited
that part of the country then, and
their chief, Oshkosh, allowed Mr.
Whitney to build his mill and cut
| timber provided he would keep $500
worth of Indian goods in stock so that
the Indians could exchange their furS
for his goods. The Indians were
peaceful and good natured, and they
made the mill their headquarters.
The first log house in the county
was double log tenement. 1t was
built by Whitney at Whitney Rapids.
David Whitney's family lived in it
and part Of it was used as a store for
! the Indians. 1t was also used as d
| house of entertainment for travellers.
This mill was run by David Whit
ney until his death when A. B.
Sampson took charge of it. Daniel
Whitney'S family never lived here;
their home was at Green Bay and Mr..
| Whitney came here occasionally to in
SpeCt his business.
The mill was run until about 1913,
when it was abandoned and left to
decay. Mr.. Robert Wakely was the
last man to have charge of the mill.
When the mill was stripped of its
machinery a large Whip-saW and
several small rOtaries became the
| property Of Mr.. HaSbrOuck. Mr..
TicknOr also received a rotary. These
| had been used to make laths in the
mill. Anyone wishing to see some
machinery that was used in the first
Saw-mill on the Wisconsin river can
do SO by calling on either one of these
old citizens. The lumber that was
manufactured at the mill was run
down the river to Galena and st.
st. Louis and there sold.
Such is the history of the first mill
on the Wisconsin River, CLEANED from
the memories of our old citizens, the
only source from which we can get
any information connected with the
old mill. Anyone visiting Whitney
Rapids now would find nothing what
ever to remind them that the old
structure had once been there.
What is commonly known as the
Garrison & Bensley mill was the
second mill built on the Wisconsin
river, in 1885, by Daniel Whitney OF
Green Bay and Mr.. Harris of Louis
vile, 1t stood where Spencer'S pulp
mill now stands and was built in the
channel between the bank of the river
and the island. In 1888 these gentle,
men got Geo. Kline to run their mil
for them. In 1889 Geo. Kline was
married to Mrs. Maria Whitney
widow of David Whitney. This was
the first marriage Of Grand Rapids
folks. Mr.. Kline ran the mill unit
in 1913 when gold was discovered ir
California. He decided to go west tC
the gold mines and the mill was sole
to MeSSrS. Garrison and BenSley.
\ saw-mill at that time was about
from twenty-five to thirty-ive it. wide
and from tifty-tive to siXty-fve it
long. 1t was usually built on the
edge of the river but sometimes in the
middle of a channel between the
bank and an island. The side of The
mill facing the water was alWay:
open. The wheels that turned the
machinery were made of wood anC
under the building. The water thai
turned them was conducted from the
river by means of a large tiume
Each pair of wheels were in a suction
!
shut off the water. The wheels were
on a large wooden shaft: on one enc
of this shaft was crank which wa
attached to a pitman made Of maple
The Ditman in turn was attached t
the framework of the saw; and while
the crank on the shaft had a circula
motion, the pitman had an up anC
down motion and this gave the Sav
y WORT jnD mot ion Tho
fixed in d frame and able to bt
frightened as a buck-SaW is now
The logs were stored in the boom anC
taken out of the water and carried III
to the saw on a wooden carriage
The saw struck the end of the log anC
as soon as one board was sawed off tht
log was carried back to its Origina
position and the same process gOn,
through as before. and so on until tn,
log was sawed. The first rotary saw
to be used on the Wisconsin river wa
put in the old Edwards & Clinton
mill, between the years 56-5S. BefOr
this the old up and down saws wer
f used entirely. or as they were Oftel
spoken of, the saws that went up il
the morning and came down a
night" Gauge saws also came int
use soon after this. These cOnSiStet
9 of three or four up and down saw
= fastened in one frame so that tn
whole log would be sawed up at once
\ number of rotarieS fastened in tn
u same way were also tried but neye
n became popular.
MeSsrS. Garrison & Bensley ran thei
mill until 1860 when they sold tn
mill site to r. S. Lyons and built
no 10 nlI