The Footprints of a Wisconsin Lumber Executive: The Life of William Wilson, His Family, and the Company He Founded

by Jan M Long J.D., Ellwyn Hendrickson (Foreword by)

Overview

This is a compelling nineteenth century story of William Wilson who, starting from scratch, built a lumber empire, "The Knapp, Stout & Co. Company" which, by all accounts, rivaled the biggest and best that existed anywhere in the world at that time. Headquartered in Wisconsin's Red Cedar Valley, it logged two entire counties and parts of several other counties, and had offices in a number of Midwestern states. Ultimately, the company did not survive. There are a number of factors that may have contributed to this devolution and these are each analyzed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780595161249
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/01/2001
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.14(d)

Table of Contents

	Forword	xv
	Acknowledgment	xix
	Introduction	xxi
Chapter 1	The Lumber Industry of 19th Century Wisconsin	3
I.	Introduction	3
II.	Geographical Considerations	4
A.	Lumber Resource	4
B.	Area Topography	6
III.	Industrial Considerations	7
A.	Evolution of Production	7
B.	Logging and the Logging Camps	8
C.	Shipping Factor	10
D.	Milling Process	16
IV.	Political, Cultural and Economic Environment	18
A.	United States Land Policy	18
B.	Climate of Land Speculation	21
C.	Economic Ups and Downs	24
D.	Culture of Mill Operators	26
V.	The Decline of the Industry	28
VI.	Retrospective	31
Chapter 2	The Rise and Fall of The Knapp, Stout & Co. Company	41
I.	Introduction	41
II.	The Red Cedar Valley	43
A.	The Geography	43
B.	The early Milling History	44
III.	The Partnership	47
A.	Partners of the Firm	47
1.	William Wilson	47
2.	John Holly Knapp	49
3.	Andrew Tainter	50
4.	Henry L. Stout	51
5.	Other lesser Knowns	53
B.	Partnership Evolution	54
C.	Partnership Function	55
IV.	Corporate Operations	59
A.	Vertical Diversification	61
1.	Land Acquisitions	61
2.	Lumber Camps	69
3.	The Mills	72
4.	The Shipping Fleet	79
5.	The Marketing Proces	84
B.	Horizontal Diversification	85
1.	The Stores	86
2.	The Farm	88
3.	The Banking	89
4.	Postal and Transport	89
5.	Hotels	89
6.	Publishing	90
C.	Corporate Culture	91
1.	Internal Impact	91
2.	External Impact	95
V.	Political Influence	100
A.	Public Office	100
B.	Influence on Public Policy and Institutions	104
VI.	The Growth of the Firm	106
IX.	Retrospective	110
A.	Obstacles	110
B.	Fatal Blows	114
C.	Epilogue	116
Chapter 3	Historic Developments and Remaining Remnants	143
I.	Introduction	143
II.	The Influence of Reforestation	143
III.	Knapp-Stout Influence on Place-Names	144
A.	Knapp, Wisconsin	145
B.	Poskins, Wisconsin	145
C.	Street and Park Names	145
D.	Tainter, Wisconsin	146
E.	Tainter Lake/ Lower Tainter Lake	146
F.	Wilson, Wisconsin	146
G.	Wilson Creek	147
H.	Wisconsin-Stout, University of	147
IV.	Knapp-Stout Influence on Place-History	147
A.	Regions	147
1.	Barron County, Wisconsin	147
2.	Chippewa and Red Cedar Valleys	148
3.	Dunn County, Wisconsin	149
4.	Lake Chetek	149
5.	Rice Lake	149
6.	Rusk County	150
7.	Sawyer County, Wisconsin	150
8.	Turtle Lake	150
9.	Washburn County, Wisconsin	151
B.	Communities	151
1.	Chetek, Wisconsin	151
2.	Downsville, Wisconsin	152
3.	Dunnville, Wisconsin	153
4.	Dubuque, Iowa	155
5.	Ft. Madison, Iowa	156
6.	Menomonie, Wisconsin	156
a.	Economic Development	158
b.	The Post Office	158
c.	Education	159
d.	Hotels	159
e.	Banking	160
f.	Fire Protection	160
g.	Entertainment	161
h.	Publication	162
i.	Religions of the Community	163
j.	Incorporation	166
k.	Growth of the City	167
l.	City Government	167
7.	Prairie Farm, Wisconsin	169
8.	Rice Lake, Wisconsin	170
9.	Stout Grove, Crescent City, California	172
10.	Tainter, Wisconsin/Moore Farm	172
11.	Waubeek, Wisconsin	173
V.	Retrospective	174
Chapter 4	Profile of a Nineteenth Century Visionary	181
I.	Introduction	181
II.	Moving West	183
III.	The Fort Madison Years	185
A.	Historical Context	185
1.	The Black Hawk War	185
2.	The Founding of the Town	188
B.	The Wilson's Arrival	191
C.	Transitions	194
1.	Angeline Hale and Family	195
2.	Contemplation of a Career Move	197
IV.	The Wisconsin Years	198
A.	Birth of a Town	198
B.	Profile of a Visionary	200
1.	The Man	200
a.	Vision with Good Judgment	200
b.	Purposeful Tenacity	202
c.	Physical Attributes	203
2.	Social Prominence	203
a.	Politics	203
b.	Noblesse Oblesse	209
c.	Family Charities	211
3.	His Legacy	213
V.	Epilogue	214
A.	The Last Days	214
B.	Retrospective	215
Chapter 5	The War of Rebellion	231
I.	Introduction	231
II.	Wisconsin's Role in the War Between the States	231
III.	The Wilsons go to War	236
A.	William Wilson	236
B.	William Evans	236
C.	Eliza Wilson	237
D.	Martin Hale Wilson	237
IV.	The Sixth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment	238
V.	The Fifth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment	242
A.	Battle of Williamsburg	248
B.	Seven Days Campaign	258
1.	Gaines' Mill	261
2.	Malvern Hill	266
VI.	Conclusion	270
Chapter 6	The Evolution of the Wilson Family	283
I.	Introduction	283
A.	Family Configuration	283
B.	Family's Resources	284
II.	Thomas Blair Wilson	287
A.	Formative Years	287
B.	Family	287
C.	Career	288
D.	Later Years	289
III.	Eliza Wilson	291
IV.	Martin Hale Wilson	292
A.	Introduction	292
B.	The Early Years	293
C.	Spouses	294
1.	Emma F. Stokes	294
2.	Lynda D. Plemon	295
a.	Early Life	295
b.	The Marriage	296
D.	Livelihood	296
E.	Family Matters	300
1.	Wilson Culture and Breeding	301
2.	Family Religion	304
3.	Family Resources and Philanthropy	307
F.	Final Years	310
V.	Jane Hale Wilson LaPointe	312
VI.	Mary Wilson McLean	312
VII.	William Wilson, Jr.	312
VIII.	Ellen Kellogg Wilson Mead	312
IX.	Angeline Wilson Stout	314
A.	Introduction	314
B.	Family Portrait	315
1.	Her Spouse, James Stout	315
2.	The Family	316
3.	The Rise to Political Prominence	317
4.	Philanthropy	318
5.	The Later Years	320
C.	Other Significant Family Members	321
1.	Henry Lane Stout	321
2.	Frank Stout	326
3.	Fannie Stout	328
X.	Sarah Wilson Harris	329
	About the Author	341
	Appendix A	343
	Appendix B	455
	Appendix C	469
	Index	475