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Early Days

By

Holger Peterson

     A government survey of lands was made in  1850-51.

     Jesse Spaulding acquired a part of Section 12 in 1867 by a grant of Congress.  This involved the area west of the road going to Waucedah.  Henry Porter of Chicago obtained an interest in 1868.  In 1871 he sold an interest to the Menominee River Lumber Company.

     In 1887, A.M. Harmon, Warrick Price, and A.L. Foster, of Cleveland Ohio, purchased rights to the above property.  A sawmill was built.  After Harmon's death in 1889, Foster and Price purchased the property from Harmon heirs.

     In 1890 A. Tom Morgan and J.E. Morgan of Oshkosh obtained interest.  A.L. Foster became president and A.T. Morgan, secretary.  The company was known as the A.M. Harmon Lumber Company. 

     The Chicago and Northwestern railroad was put in about 1882.

     Logging was in evidence before this time.  Pine and cedar were driven down the East Branch of the Sturgeon River to lumber mills at Menominee, Michigan.  White and Friant, and the Spies Lumber Company were two of the logging firms in those days.  Mr. White's son, Stewart Edward White, spent some time with his father here, gathering material for his book, "The Blazed Trail," and others which he wrote later.

     There were three prominent dams on the river.  It is interesting to note that the new ones being constructed now are practically at the same sites.

     Foster City was named from Mr. A. L. Foster, who was president of the Harmon Lumber Company. 

     In 1902 the Morgan Lumber Company took over the entire operation and it became known as the Morgan Lumber & Cedar Company - a subsidiary of the Morgan Company of Oshkosh.

     In this period much land was purchased in the area.  The company continued to operate the mill until 1924 when the operations ceased.  The company had 250 acres of land cleared for farming during their operations in this period.  The hay and grain were raised for a number of horses used in and around the mill area.  Several camps were operated in the winter months when the logging was done.  The winter's cutting of logs was hauled to the mill by a steam hauler which pulled anywhere from 10 to 18 large sleighs loaded with pulpwood and logs.

     When steam was piped into what was called a hot pond, the crews could use the sawmill all the year.  The Morgan Company purchased logs from other jobbers also.  They made logs into shingles, lath, and dimension stock.

     Since the Morgan Company owned a large sash and door factory in Oshkosh, much of the lumber was shipped there.

    Many of the hemlock logs were peeled and the bark was shipped to tanneries in Milwaukee.  Most of the cedar was cut into shingles.

    The company had a large boarding house for out of town laborers.  They constructed about 30 homes for families.  Many workers bought parcels of land to build their homes on or begin farming.

     There was a sawmill at Hardwood.  An iron mine operated at Calumet and one at Rideouts--known as Calumet Mine and Hancock Mine--but were not of lengthy duration.  The majority of houses at Calumet were later moved to Norway.

     A track was laid to Calumet for shipment of ore, but at Rideouts it was hauled to the spur with teams of horses.

     The C&NW railroad operated one train each day, but at peak shipping periods, two trains were in use from Escanaba to Metropolitan. 

     Prior to 1900, there were one-room schools, one each at Foster City, Hardwood, and Hylas.  Larger schools were needed later in each area.

     There were a variety of nationalities, predominantly Scandinavians, French, English, German, and Irish.

     The sawmill operations continued here for nearly 40 years.  Many sawmills in other areas closed after 10-15 years of operation.

*Holger Peterson verified the authenticity of information on the companies mentioned in this article in an affidavit procured at the time of the sale of the Morgan Lumber and Cedar Company holdings in 1925.