Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== History of Door County, Wisconsin by Charles I. Martin - 1881 [9] A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE COUNTY As before stated, this was, and is still, to a great extent, a timbered country. The surface is generally undulating - perfectly level sections being but few; yet, on the other hand, there is no rise of ground or bluff in the county of sufficient height to be called a mountain. The soil is generally a clay loam, occasionally interspersed with soils more or less mixed with sand. Scattered through the county, and in every township there is more or less of what is known as bottom lands, of alluvial deposits of the richest black soil. The up lands generally rest on a foundation of lime-stone rock, and when cleared, well adapted to farming. WATER. - Door county, throughout, is well watered with numerous creeks, which furnish an abundance of water for the traveling public, and gives ample supply for stock. Springs of pure, living water, are abundant. ROADS. - Roads have been opened into every settlement in the County; the main or State roads leading to little towns or markets, are well worked, and liberal appropriations are made to keep them in repair; and new roads are being rapidly opened and improved as settlement may demand. A large amount of wild land yet remains vacant along the "side" roads, and a good deal of land is still unsettled and vacant along the main or State roads. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [10] THE LOG HOUSE. - The first great object of a new settler is to provide a house for himself, and if married, for his wife and children. Nowhere can this be done more quickly, cheaply, and at the same time more substantially, than in Door county. The native forest trees, medium in circumference and tall, such as have waved and nodded in the breeze of summer, and braved the cold and sleet of winter for a century or more, afford excellent material for houses, barns, fences, etc. The new settler, with his axe, can easily fell the sturdy trees, and prepare them in proper shape for a building. His neighbors will gather, and cordially help roll up the logs, and by night the main walls of a substantial house or barn is completed. With the axe "shakes" (long, thin, flat strips used as a substitute for shingles) can be split from the straight-grained cedar or pine, and thus is prepared a cover- ing or roof for the building. The same tool (an axe) is also serviceable in prepairing (sic) timber for a floor. The house is made comfortable for winter by filling all openings with moss and plastering with clay mixed with twigs of live wood. Such is the building of a house in Door county, that for comfort is equal, and for warmth excels many of the city mansions that cost as many thousands as the log cabin costs dollars. The log cabins continue to be built in this county, and will be "fashionable" for years to come. Many of the old or early settlers, both from the Old World and Eastern States, who came to Door county from ten to thirty years ago, lived in houses as described above. In fact, some of the pioneers live in their old or first house yet. Others, who were more energetic, after a few years residence in the county became in good circumstances, and have abandoned their first houses that in some instances were minus windows, and allowed the old structures to decay and waste away, while they inhabit more pre- tentious buildings. The cheapness of lumber, manufactured close by, and the many ledges of limestone for foundation purposes, easily accessible and cheap, have been united with mechanical skill and now the county is dotted with hundreds of complete and beautiful houses. LUMBERING - The most important branch of our manufacturing business for nearly a quarter of a century, has been lumbering. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [11] During the winter seasons of years gone by, a large portion of our citizens busied themselves in the woods, felling the monu- mental pine that has borne aloft its unfading crown of green for hundreds of years, and whose doleful strains of music have been heard by all who have visited lumbering camps. The "farmer lumberman" did not confine the cut solely to saw logs, but en- gaged in cutting cord wood, railroad ties, telegraph poles, fence posts, etc., for which he found a ready sale - sometimes reaping a good profit, and sometimes the reverse. At any rate, a large number devoted their winters to the work of clearing up their farms and selling the timber thus cut down. During the summer the logs were rafted to mill and manufactured into lumber, the main portion of which was shipped by vessel to the Chicago market. The lumbering operations, of course, furnished the best kind of a market for all kinds of farm products. Hay always brought a good price, while oats, corn, wheat, etc., brought better prices than in any other part of the State. Of late years the farmer has more particularly turned his atten- tion to the clearing up of his land, and he profits thereby. The winter harvest of wood, ties, posts, etc., is still good, but the log cut on this peninsula is yearly growing less, and now the leading lumber companies of this county, have built themselves large and powerful tugs to tow logs from the West side of Green Bay waters to furnish their mills. The logs are cut in the country along the Peshtigo and Menominee rivers or their tributaries. The main lumber firm of the county is The Sturgeon Bay Lumber Company. The Secretary of the Company, Mr. A. W. Lawrence, who came to Door county a poor man, and worked by the month, has, step by step, with the growth of the county, worked up to his present high position. Messrs. Scofield & Co., the leading shingle manufacturers, and probably most extensive shingle dealers in the State, are a company of workers. Mr. Chas. Scofield (head of the firm) knows what it is to swing an axe in the woods on small monthly pay. Mr. John Leatham, also of the firm, took his first lessons in milling at packing shingles by the thousand. Mr. Thos. H. Smith, third member of the firm, first served as machinist. Thus, the firm is composed -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [12] of practical men, hence the success of the Company. The Messrs. Spear, who are the largest manufacturers in Wisconsin of long timber, are men who well know what hard work is, and by hard work have built up their present large and profitable business. There are a number of other small mills in the county operated on a minor basis. MANUFACTURES - In the direction of manufactories, Door county has, as yet, made but little advance, although, sooner or later, various branches will certainly be located within these borders. The vast growth of timber, too small for profitable lumbering purposes, extends inducements for different manufacteries that must, in the near future, be accepted by capitalists, and yield them a fortune. RAIL ROADS - Although, on several occasions, a railroad run- ning to this county has been much talked of, the project was never very warmly supported by the denizens in this county. Door county is peculiarly located, being a peninsula arm-shaped - long and narrow. Our water facilities are unequalled - shipping piers dotting the coast every few miles. Shipping by vessel or steamer is always cheaper than railroad freights - hence, nature has given this County better transportation than could be afforded by the iron horse that travels on rails. MAILS, EXPRESS, AND TRAVELING FACILITIES - From Sturgeon Bay, the county seat, mails and express makes daily connections with railroad routes at Green Bay. All over the county but a few miles apart, are established post-offices, conveniently located for settlements and settlers. Mail matters are carried to the post offices by stage lines, and parties desiring to reach any part of the county, can secure passage in the mail coaches at reason- ably low prices. In the summer time, there are passenger steamers that stop at Sturgeon Bay, going to Green Bay, Menominee, and other Bay ports. The Goodrich Transportation Company, of Chicago, run two large steamers on this route, thus affording direct, com- fortable, and cheap transportation to and from Chicago, as well as other lake ports. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [13] SCHOOL FACILITIES - The system of free schools, which has attained such a vigorous growth in the United States, is well developed in this county. Every town is provided with school houses according to the density of the population, and each settlement has its school houses in close proximity. Each year the number of school houses is increasing, and the facilities for a thorough education broadening. Every settler in the county with children, has a chance to send them to a free school, where they can receive an education sufficient for the ordinary pur- poses of life. RELIGIOUS - The various Protestant denominations, as well as the large following of the Roman Catholic belief, have churches scattered throughout the county, and as the population increases, of course more churches will be built. Among the buildings are a good many handsome frame churches; some brick structures, and not a few comfortable log buildings. CROPS - Door county is well adapted to the raising of wheat, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, and other grains. Potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, turnips, beets, and all root crops, gener- ally yield a rich return to the farmers. The different kinds of tame grasses are profitably grown, and the hay finds ready sale. FRUITS - Experiments with cultivated fruits have been very successful, but a few years hence, a more extended and correct essay can be written on this subject. However, our farmers are investing quite liberally in fruit trees; their former purchases having grown to fine, thrifty trees, bearing such fruit as apples, pears, plums, crab-apples, grapes, etc. The present year peaches have been successfully grown in different parts of the county, and in some instances the fruit was equal to that grown in peach-growing districts farther South. All kinds of berries grow in profusion - either in the wild or cultivated state; one variety following another. First comes the grand straw- berries, next red and black raspberries, then the nourishing blue-berry, followed by the palatable blackberry, and ending with the healthy cranberries (both high and low bush varieties) which last until strawberries ripen again. The position of this county, between two large bodies of water, is claimed to be -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [14] peculiarly favorable to fruit, and the many thriving orchards in the county, would seem to be good witnesses to our facilities for fruit growing. PORK RAISING - Raising hogs is not so extensively carried on here, as in corn-growing districts, but what are raised are profitable. During the summer and fall hogs fatten on the pro- ducts of the forest, first on the tender shoots from the ground in early summer, and second, as the season advances, upon acorns, beech-nuts, herbs and nutritious roots. When winter arrives, kill and dress the surplus for market. Thus, pork can be cheaply raised here, and brings much better prices than in a corn and so-called pork-raising county. In a locality like this, where extensive operations are carried on during the winter, pork is the staple meat; hence it is always in demand. SHEEP FRUGALITY - During the very early settlement of the county, sheep-husbandry was an up-hill business, lambs and even old sheep being carried off or killed by wolves and other wild beasts of the forest. But as the county has settled up, the vicious animals of the forest have gradually become less in number, and sheep raising is now fast gaining prominence. This climate is healthy for sheep, and they are not so liable to disease as in Southern localities. The variety of grasses, shrubbery, and herbs growing in the woods and clearings is excellent for sheep, and they can run early and late in the season, thereby reducing the cost of wintering them. There is always a good demand for mutten as food, and the yield of wool is greater than in a warm country. MAPLE SUGAR - When the county first began to settle up, the harvest of maple sugar and syrup was immense. The large forests of sugar maple enabled the new settler to put in a few days' work in the early spring, and busy himself while the snow was melting off. With an axe he could tap the trees, and the same instrument was all that was necessary to make spuds and troughs to catch the sap as it ran from the trees. The sap was generally boiled down to syrup in large kettles conveniently stationed in the "sugar bush." The sap reduced -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [15] to syrup, in most cases was taken "home" to the log house to be sugared off into cakes. Thus were the early days of spring improved in the wilds of Door county, and the indus- trious pioneer not only made his own supply of sugar and syrup, but had a quantity to sell to those who were in the habit of purchasing adulterated sugar from the southern districts. As the county has settled up, and the farmers' means increased, of course, with the loss of the sugar maple, the sugar harvest has materially diminished; yet, there are still many parties in the county who make their usual harvest of the pure nouritious, home made maple sugar. FISHING - The large bodies of water on either side of the peninsula, were, years ago, great fishing grounds, and to catch the fish, furnished employement to a large number of men. The Messrs. Clark, who located at Whitefish Bay about forty years ago, were the pioneer fishermen of particular prominence. The catch by the Messrs. C., were of excellent quality, and soon built up a good name for the Messrs. Clark at the fish market; their brand generally rating No. 1 straight, and it was no uncommon thing for ten to fifteen fish to make a half barrel. The Messrs. Clark have always kept ahead, and are still the leading fishermen in the county. Since first established, these gentlemen have paid a tax and percentage of over $20,000 on their property. While fishing, like the wildness of the country, has gradually diminished, the catch is still far greater than home consumption. "Sturgeon," The largest fish caught in these waters, are dressed and generally cut into large strips, and smoked. The sturgeon is a peculiar fish, looking somewhat like a creek "sucker," has dark skin; is as destitute of scales as a man's face; varies in length from two to nine feet - the average being about four or five feet - and there is not a bone in its body. What is called the back-bone is a large grizzle that can be easily cut with a knife. The sturgeon often grows to great weight, and it is a powerful fish in the water - the flesh is of a beautiful rich yellowish tint, and if properly cooked, is grand eating beyond description. Trout and whitefish, however, are the main fish for salting purposes, and have a standard price in the market. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [16] We might continue to enumerate and comment on the main features relating to this county, and write columns upon the past and future, but we dare not write all, lest we should seem to exaggerate, therefore we shall turn our attention somewhat in another direction. Mention might be made of scores of men in the county who came here poor - many not even able to speak the English language. To-day they are influential and respected citizens, and are owners of stores, hotels, manufacturing estab- lishments; filling our public offices, and upon some of our best farms. We cannot mention their names here, but will try and give a brief biography of most of them, from time to time, before we finish this sketch of Door county. Before we enter upon the facts concerning the organization of the county, we deem this a proper place for, and will publish a letter from Mr. H. N. McCleary, formerly of this county, but now living in Dakota Territory. ==========================================================================