Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1915-05-20

used in the Civil War. Mr.. Wizard
had financial troubles of his own
about this time, and failing to have
the engine ready it was taken before
fully completed. The boiler and
smoke stack were bought in Chicago.
remember the smoke stack was
12 to feet in diameter, and in
two sections, and when Joined was
about fifty feet high. It lay on the
. ground near the buildings for some
time bfOre being raised and my
sister and I used to run through it.
The engine, boiler and two sections
Of smoke stack we're n5555ss4 4ee fEronI
Madison, then the end Of railroad
transportation. | think my father
used oxen to haul the boiler. The
Journey from Madison and the cross
ing on the ferry, hauling up the
arrival on the mill lot was an object
Of great curiosity and interest.
Early in 1853 the saw mill was
started UP and for a time seemed to
be destined to succeed. Even day
and night shifts were worked to sup
ply the demand for lumber The saw
was an up and down Muley and two
to three thousand feet of lumber
in an ordinary day was about its
| limit Of nrOductiOD
was calculated to be about sufficient
for both saw and grist mill, and with
the large building unoccupied, power
/ was going to waste.
! AT this juncture, Maynard Part
ridge of Lebanon, n. H., the town
we moved from, decided to move his
chair factory from there, and con-
| Guided to try Merrimack as a loca-
ton, putting his machinery in the
| large building and renting the extra
I power. He shipped his machinery tC
Portage, Wis, by rail, loaded it onto a
scOW boat there and started down the
river. At Dekorra or near there, the
scoW run onto snag and sank, with
all but the crew, in about ten feet
of water Taking another scoW to
the wreck the machinery was fished
up, reloaded and finally landed at
! Merrimack Mr.. Partridge put in
many weary hour wiping off the
rust caused by that accident, but in
| time had the machinery in place and
| started the manufacture Of furniture.
But he was not in the right place,
and soon moved the plant to Baraboo,
where he could get cheaper power and
| timber more suited to his needs.
The manufacture Of wooden ware
was also considered for a time and
full set Of machinery for that pur-
| pose, which had been in operation
for a spell at what was known as
Okee, was bought and placed in the
large building, but for lack Of funds,
probably, was never put in operation.
The saw mill continued in oper-
alton until financial reverses took it
out Of my fathers possession in
1862.
1t then passed into the hands of
the mortgage, r. H. Ella of Rochest-
er, Wis, aud afterwards was sold
| by him to Critics and Macintosh, new
/ corners. They run it at a loss for
year or so and sacrificed what
they had paid on the property, let
ting it go back to Mr.. Ella, who then
kept it until finally the machinery
was sold for old junk price to be
| removed and the buildings also sold
to be removed The real estate
came back into my fathers posses
| sion.
At first seven or eight men were
! considered necessary to operate the
| saw mill, but as profits grew smaller
| three men were found to be suffi-
| cient. l have heard of ball player
| so swift that after he pitched the
| ball he would run to catcher's place
and catch it. My father worked on
this plan at last, tending both ends
Of the saw carriage until he found
I could help out to some extent, then
two men and a boy under twelve
| did the work in the mill.
The portion of the river upon which
the mill was located was the west
portion Of the river as it was divided
by large island about one mile in
! length. In those days this portion was
| more direct and was most often used
by RATS or steamboats,. At the mill
the depth of water was about ten
! feet. When the government was
building wing dams to reduce the
surplus in the National Treasury, a
dam was built across the head of
this part of the river, turning most
Of the water into the east portion,
and today, where once was the main
channel we now have nearly dry