George Ducklow – Spring Valley Real Estate Developer

Olivet Trumped by Booming Spring Valley

[Published December 31, 2010]

George Ducklow, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow, ran a successful mercantile business in the small hamlet of Olivet Wisconsin for many years.  But by the late 1890s Olivet was in economic decline. Selling implements and general merchandise had been successful for George, but it became clear by 1890 that Olivet was not going to grow into the city early settler’s dreamed of.  The long-hoped for railroad and associated rail station never materialized. The lumber men who had once created a demand for goods and services had moved to timber stands further north, along with the two or three active lumber mills that once called Olivet home.  The logged-off forestland had been taken over by farmers and their families.  George’s mercantile business evolved from serving lumberjacks and sawyers to serving men and families of agriculture.  He no doubt met this transition by offering merchandise to meet the needs of pioneer farmers (e.g., dynamite to blow out tree stumps, one-bottom plows by John Deere, seed planters, etc.).  But there was a fundamental issue with Olivet – with no train there was no dominant reason for area farmers to conduct business there. Farmers took much of their trade to Ellsworth or River Falls because these communities had rail service that offered them links to commodity markets in St. Paul and Minneapolis and beyond. 

While Olivet’s fortunes fell in the 1880s and into the 1890s, Spring Valley, the once quiet and sparely populated valley five miles to the north, had suddenly become a boomtown.  This was thanks to the discovery and subsequent commercialization of iron ore mining in the early 1890s by the Eagle Iron Company. Some hopeful prognosticators of the era felt that Spring Valley was going to become a large city, perhaps largest city in Western Wisconsin! Booming Spring Valley offered George new opportunity to renew his business so by1898, George decided to move his store from Olivet to Spring Valley.  Perhaps the key to George’s decision was the addition of the railroad spur in 1893 connecting Spring Valley to Woodville and the main rail trunk between Chicago and St. Paul.   The primary purpose of the rail line was to ship smelted iron to regional factories, but the new rail station also provided area farmers with a gateway to agricultural markets, and offered retailers efficient transportation to receive their merchandise.

Now because Spring Valley was a boomtown in this period, all existing buildings and platted land were in high demand.  All sorts of investors and opportunists where searching for a space to set-up shop.  Money and hope poured in Spring Valley in the early 1890s and continued up until the early 1900s. Practically speaking, if you wanted to open a retail business you needed to buy a lot (owned by early-on non-local investors) and build your own building. And this is apparently what George Ducklow did.  In 1899, in partnership with his relatively new son-in-law George LaGrander (he and Nellie Ducklow married in1895), together built a new general store on the corner of Glade and Central Avenues in Spring Valley (today this location is directly east of the City Municipal building.)  Not many details of this building have been discovered and the building was razed in the 1980s.  There is one photograph known to this author that shows a small portion of the front entry to the building.

It is not clear why, but after just one year of operation, George sold this Glade Avenue store to a man named Jerome Baker Smith. Mr. Smith used the building to retail shoes and grocery items.  A number of reasons seem possible for George’s decision to sell: Perhaps it didn’t have the traffic he expected, or he found it too small, or, most possible, he was made an offer during the boom years which gave him a nice profit.  Whatever his reason, George Ducklow sold his first building in Spring Valley after just one year of operation.

Left: Glimpse of George Ducklow's first building in Spring Valley, built in 1899.  Picture was taken circa 1965.  The building still appears to be an operating grocery store--with a sign for meat in the window and a "Hires Root Beer" ad on the edge of the building. The paper boy is the son of Beaula Thompson.  Picture used with permission frrom the photograph collection of Beaula Thompson.

Right: George Ducklow's second building in Spring Valley built in 1900. Picture taken circa 1958 while it was being operated by Clifford (CW) Arneson as a grocery store.  Picture from Doug Blegen's book called Spring Valley Early Days, used with permission. 

Then in 1900, sans a building to sell merchandise, George built yet another general store, this one on the main drag of Spring Valley—on the SW corner of First Street and McKay Avenue (directly south of the present-day Spring Valley Drug).  It is not clear if George LaGrander helped him again with this building project, but seems possible.  It was this McKay Avenue building that George continued his mercantile business for several years until his retirement estimated to have occurred between 1906 and 1910 (when he was between 55 and 59 years old).  George had chronic asthma and apparently the long store hours were taking a toll.  So with the profits from the sale of his main-street building, he bought a farm in Gilman Township and raised sheep.  He and wife Emma farmed in Gilman until his death in 1928 (see footnote).

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Footnotes:

(1) It seems odd that you would leave a relatively clean retail business and go into sheep farming due to asthma health reasons, but this what was reported in George’s obiturary.

(2) An estimated history of George Ducklow's second building (corner of First & McKay) is believed to be:

1901-1906 Ducklow Mercantile

1906-1920 Geving and Gaadner

1920-1950 Clifford Arneson’s Grocery Store

1950-1970 Hardware Hank Hardware

1970-Present Mark Anderson Veterinary Supply Offices / Warehouse

(3) The estimated history of George’s first building (corner of Central & Glade) is believe to be:

1899-1900 George Ducklow Mercantile

1900-1930 J.B. Baker’s Shoe and Grocery

1930 Alexander “Sandy” Anderson

McCardles

Geroge Breitinger

Gueldner

Stan Andeson

John Rosentreter

1980s- Torn-Down

(4) George continued in the real estate development vein for a while.  He was involved in building at least one home on Church Hill.  He also likely engaged his son Vern in the business of building as the 1905 Census lists Vern as a carpenter’s apprentice.

(5) Information gathered from Doug Blegen’s Spring Valley Early Days, Page 421, George Ducklow’s obituary and Emma Ducklow’s obituary.

(6) It is also notable, that the nation suffered a terrible depression from 1893 to 1896, called the Panic of 1893. In addition to the depression, many Midwest farmers were suffering through drought conditions. No doubt these facts too played a role in George’s decision to pull out of Olivet and try again in Spring Valley.


(7) Both the Glade Ave and McKay Ave buildings had similar entrances: The door framing was recessed into the building forming a nook; a post formed building's "corner" to support the weight of the upper level structure.   This recessed entrance appears to be an "architectural signature" of George's building design.  You can see the posts clearly in both photographs.

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George Ducklow & Family Winter in Port Angeles, Washington

A Transcontinental Trip
[First Published November 7 2008]
[Most Recent Update November 28, 2010]

George and Emma Ducklow gave their many friends reason to fret over the news in the local paper that they considered moving a great distance away. The September 10, 1902 edition of the Spring Valley Sun reported that the family was going to spend the winter in the city of Port Angeles, Washington [see footnote]. The article said, “… [the Ducklow's] would stay there if suited with the country.” The entire family traveled: George and Emma [ages 51 and 50]; sons Vernon [age 22], Frank [age 17], and Clayton [age 9]; daughter Joise [age 19]. The trip also included daughter Nellie [age 25], her husband George LaGrander [age 27], and their son Clair [age 5]. Nellie also happened to be one month pregnant with daughter Isla too. All departed Pierce County Wisconsin and made the long journey to the far northwestern corner of our country. They left on September 9th, 1902.


Port Angeles, Washington
Foothills of the Olympic Mountains in background
Photo from Wikipedia - Source

Map of the Olympic Peninsula
Graphic from Wikipedia - Source

Port Angeles is a beautiful and quaint seaside city situated on the Olympic Peninsula. It lies roughly 85 miles northwest of Seattle, across the Puget Sound, and along the inter-coastal seaway. As a waterfront city on the Strait of Juan de Fuca it historically has served as both a fishing port and transportation hub for the large lumber industry of the area.

Port Angeles is not a quick or easy place to get to, even with today’s transportation methods. In 1902 it likely took George and family more than a week to travel there by a combination of train and ferry. They of course did not drive the cross-country distance as we might consider doing today. The first widely available automobile, the Ford Model T, was not produced until 1908. Nor did they have an option to fly there, as the Wright Brothers were just experimenting with powered flight on the beaches of North Carolina at that time. Instead, the family traveled most of the 1800 miles by train. The Northern Pacific line had started offering passenger service between the Twin Cities and Seattle just two years earlier in 1900.



Location of Port Angeles in Washington State
Graphic from Wikipedia - Source


So what was the attraction to winter in Port Angeles? In a word, family. Emma’s younger sister, Ellen, had moved there a few years earlier with her spouse and family. Prior to living in Port Angeles, her husband Winchester Mathewson had run the harness shop adjacent to the Ducklow Store in Olivet for a number of years. And like George and Emma, both Winchester and Ellen had been born and raised in Dodge County, Wisconsin. Ellen and Winchester’s two children, Willis and Ada were also close in age to George and Emma’s first two children, Nellie and Vernon. No doubt the sisters, brothers-in-law, and cousins that once saw each other daily were a tightly connected family. They missed seeing each other. And sadly, there was a more pressing reason for the visit.

Ellen "Ella" Hamilton Mathewson
Source: Weldon Chronology

Winchester Mathewson
Source: Weldon Chronology

One can infer that when the Ducklow family traveled to Washington Emma’s sister Ellen was fighting a protracted and chronic illness. It was becoming clear to her family that Ellen’s time on Earth was going to be short. Her illness may also have been the original reason that the Mathewson family moved to the Washington Peninsula to begin with.

It happens that there are a series of hot springs with claimed medicinal value in the mountain foothills 35 miles to the south of Port Angeles. The Sol Duc springs are a natural spa where water is heated and mineralized by a fissure that is part of the geology of the Olympic Mountains. In the late 1800s and well into the 1900s the Sol Duc springs were widely promoted for their curative properties. Despite the difficulty of a two-day trip traveling to them on horseback or by wagon from Port Angeles, they became a sort of Mecca for those suffering a wide range of illnesses. At the time Ellen was sick, a primitive retreat had been built that attracted many that were desperate for improved health. Guests stayed several days at a time, drank the mineral water soaked in the springs in hopes being relieved of the illness they suffered [see footnote].

Perhaps another indication of Ellen's desperate search for improved health was becoming a member of the Christian Science Church in 1903. Up until then she had been a member of traditional protestant faith groups. Christian Scientists prefer not to use doctors or medicine, but rather rely upon Christian Science Practitioners. Practitioners help members through prayer and faith advice to guide them past the "false reality" of their illness. At the time Ellen joined the Christian Science Church, it was just some 24 years in existence. [see footnote]

Ellen’s health no doubt continued to decline after the Mathewson’s left Olivet. It seems likely that letters between the families lead to an invitation to visit and stay for a winter. So in the waning summer days of 1902 plans were made for the Ducklow family to come to Port Angeles and care for Ellen and give the families an opportunity to spend time together once again. While they may not have known it for certain when the trip occurred, the visit also became a chance to say a final goodbye in person. Emma’s sister’s death came three years after the Ducklow family visit. Records show that Ellen passed away on December 11, 1905 at the young age of 49. Her body was put to final rest in the Ocean View Cemetery in Port Angeles.

It is not clear if the Ducklow family stayed the entire winter of 1902-1903, or returned after just a few weeks visit. However, the entire Ducklow entourage did return to Spring Valley and picked-up as things were when they left. No mention of moving to Port Angeles is ever noted again in either the Sun or any located family records. It would be a wonderful to discover a first-hand account of this trip in some diary, letters, or even a newspaper account. Such a transcontinental rail trip during this time was a big event; an adventure filled with the landscape of the American West, dining and sleeping in rail cars in grand-style, time spent in the Olympic Mountain region of lumbering, and of course the sad poignancy of leaving beloved family members with the knowledge that it was likely to be the last time the Ducklow family would see Ellen alive.

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Source: September 10, 1902 Spring Valley Sun
Source: Weldon Chronology
Source: Roger Hamilton Web site on Hamilton Family link
Source: Washington State History link

Footnote: The entire article on the Ducklow family trip: “Mr. and Mrs. George Ducklow and children and Mr. and Mrs. George LaGrander and son left yesterday for Port Angeles, Wash., where they will spend the winter. They will stay there if suited with the country.” Spring Valley Sun, September 10, 1902.

Footnote: The Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort became a very elegant and lavish spa in the years following Ellen’s death. A lumber baron named Michael Earles who personally benefited from the springs purchased the primative retreat in 1912, built a road from Port Angeles and created a four star hotel and luxury spa; all at considerable expense. It became the leading vacation resort on the Pacific Coast and attracted thousands of people who were told of and believed in the springs healing properties. A fire and series of ownership changes occurred over the years. Eventually the property became included as a part of Olympic National Park, and continues to operate as a retreat where guests can soak in a variety of man-made pools that use the spring’s heated mineral water. The marketing hype of curing powers of the waters has been removed from the resort’s promotional material and perhaps now more accurately reflects the simple pleasure of relaxing while soaking in the spring’s mineral waters.

Footnote: Ellen also had an older brother, James Hamilton, that lived in Washington State. However he lived in Asotin County which is the far southeastern county of Washington State. It seems unlikely that Ellen and Winchester moved to Port Angeles to be closer to her brother James. He was still several hundred miles away from Port Angeles.

Footnote: The Mathewson family moved to Port Angeles between 1894 and 1901. This range of dates is bounded by Jeremiah Mathewson's death in January of 1894 while living with his son and family in Olivet. We know that George, Emma and family visited Ellen and Winchester in 1902.

Footnote: The Christian Science Church was founded by Mary Eddy Baker and her third husband, Asa Albert Eddy in 1879. Mary established "The Mother Church," The First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. Christian Science interprets the Bible through the lens of Mrs. Eddy's writings. Her interpretation of the Bible has metaphysical presuppositions. A Christian Scientist believes that sin and illness are false concepts. Salvation and healing comes through understanding and overcoming these false beliefs and recognizing that humans are divine spirit and mind.


Footnote: Ironically Winchester Mathewson, besides doing harness work also sold life insurance.  He advertised his business in the Spring Valley Sun around 1892.  Source: Doug Blegen's "Early Years of Spring Valley" book, p. 15, Col. 1.

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Charles and Eva Ducklow

The Modena Years 1884-1890
[Updated December 26, 2008]

Who was Charles Ducklow? Charles was Thomas and Elizabeth's seventh child born in 1853. He married Eva Shaw from Rock Elm Center in 1882. Eva and Charles lived in and ran retail businesses in Olivet [Pierce County], Modena [Buffalo County], and Wilton [Monroe County].

Brothers Charles and George split their business partnership of running the Ducklow Mercantile Store in Olivet after owning it together just three years. George took sole ownership in 1883. Charles and Eva, his bride of one year, left Olivet and moved 43 miles southeast to Modena, a small village in Buffalo County Wisconsin. There they bought and ran an existing grocery store and post office [see footnote] purchased from the estate of Benjamin F. Babcock [see footnote]. Charles was age 30 and Eva was age 18.


Location of Modena Wisconsin
Graphic from Wikipedia - Source


What exactly brought Charles and Eva to this hamlet is yet to be discovered, but perhaps it was just the simple reason to run their own business. The Ducklow store in Olivet was likely not profitable enough to support two expanding families. In 1883 Modena was a small center of commerce whose main economic driver was a water-powered mill that ground locally grown wheat into flour. The mill brought farmers to the village and who then naturally took the occasion to buy a few necessities and collect and send mail from the Ducklow grocery store. Perhaps another attraction to take up in Modena, at least for Eva, was the close proximity of a sister who married a cheese-maker that lived in the area.


While living in Modena, Charles and Eva started a family. Their first two of four sons were born there. William Thomas Ducklow was delivered 22 October in 1885, and then three and half years later came along their second child, Elmer Eugene Ducklow, born 25 March in 1889.

William Thomas Ducklow, circa 1903, age 18
Cropped Photo from Deb Ehlers Good Collection

Elmer Eugene Ducklow, circa 1897, age 8
Cropped Photo from Deb Ehlers Good Collection

Charles and Eva did not put down deep roots in Modena. After just five years of running the grocery business there, they sold it. In the spring of 1890 they and their two young sons moved again. This move took them another 99 miles southeast to the Village of Wilton in Monroe County.

Wilton is where Charles and family really established themselves. They became prominent community members and quite successful in business. Charles had found a fast growing village that suited his ambitions and it had many former residents of his home area —Dodge County. The old relationships of his youth likely accelerated his success selling groceries, lumber and coal. A future post on Charles Ducklow and the Wilton years is being written.

Location of Wilton Wisconsin
Graphic from Wikipedia - Source

Footnote: In the late 1800s there were several hundred tiny rural post offices across Wisconsin. These remote offices generally were along stagecoach lines. Most were not stand-alone buildings like most post offices of today, but rather part of an existing grocery or mercantile business, or in some cases, just a corner in someone’s home. Many of tiny posts closed when rural free delivery was estiablished. The Modena Post Office operated from 1862 until 1957 is now served by Mondovi; the Olivet Post Office operated from 1870 until 1907 is now served by Spring Valley.

Footnote: The original owner of the Modena Grocery Store was Benjamin F Babcock. He died August 31, 1878. Mr. Babcock's estate apparently did not settle quickly as he owed money to vendors and extended credit to his customers. As a result it took several years to settle his estate before his business could be turned over to his heirs and then be sold. The extended time of settlement likely gave Charles time to save some money to make the purchase possible.

Source: "History of Monroe County," Biography of Charles Ducklow, pages 658-660

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George and Emma Ducklow

Later Years in Village of Spring Valley and Gilman Township
[Updated 10/17/2008]

Who is George Ducklow? He is the 6th child of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow. He came to Pierce County as a young man from his boy-hood home in Dodge County.

From about 1881 until about 1898 George Ducklow and family operated the Ducklow mercantile / harness shop and dance hall in Olivet. This hamlet had sprung up in the early 1870s and thrived economically when the surrounding woods were being logged and the lumber sawn during the 1880s and early 1890s. But by 1898 the Olivet area was depleted of large trees and the sawmills had moved on. The handful of business that remained relied on serving farmers who had converted the cut-over land into pastures and crop fields.


Below: A Business Envelope with George Ducklow Promotion on the Return Address
Artifact from Esther Northfield Ducklow Collection, Circa 1885
Photo by Jeff Ducklow



In contrast, the Village of Spring Valley had become the region’s new thriving center of commerce. The discovery of iron ore just a few miles west of there in 1890, and the subsequent building of a smelter, attracted many laborers and supporting businesses. Spring Valley also was home to a spoke and stave company [staves are the individual wood strips that form the sides of barrels and buckets] that employed many. Most importantly, the village had attracted the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha rail line to transport smelted ore, lumber products, crops, and livestock to market. The rails were laid in 1891 and depot was built and in operation by 1892. Another milestone that occurred in 1892 was establishment of the weekly paper called the Spring Valley Sun. Its founder and first editor was a man named Thurston Rostad. At its peek the Village of Spring Valley boosted a population of over 2200 people (today the population is near 1200).

In about 1897 George and Emma decided to move their mercantile business from declining Olivet to then thriving Spring Valley. The move was only five miles, but critical to staying viable. Not only was this a decision to move, but it also was a decision to build! George acquired a prime corner location on 1st and McKay (on main street, adjacent to the present day Valley Drug Store). By the year 1900 George had put-up a large handsome two-story brick building. Its most unique feature was the tuck-under corner entrance with a couple of steps leading to the side walk. The center support pole formed the outside "corner" of the building. The steps led to the first level mercantile business and above was an over store apartment. At the time George and family made the move from Olivet to Spring Valley, Vernon was 18 years old, Josie, 15; Frank, 13 and Clayton, five. Daughter Nellie was 22 years old, wed to George LaGrander and they had started their own family in Waverley.



George Ducklow's Mercantile Building in Spring Valley

Built circa 1900
Photo from 1958 as Clifford Arneson's Super Valu Grocery Store
Located on corner of 1st Street and McKay

Imaged scanned from Doug Blegen's "Spring Valley Yesteryear Revisited", used with permission

George and Emma did not operate their mercantile business for a long period in Spring Valley. They sold their 1st and McKay building to the Hamm Brewing Co. in March of 1905 (16 March 1905 Spring Valley Sun). When they sold the buidling they moved into another building in town. However, less than a year later George decided to "discontinue his store business" all together (22 Feb 1906, 29 March 1906 Spring Valley Sun). This may have been because George started having health issues—mainly due to asthma. George's original McKay Aveune building was reported to have sold for $3,200; perhaps the equivalent of around $93,000 in today's dollars [2008].

This building has had many owners and business through the years: When Hamm Brewing Company owned it they sublet to Ed Schreiner and he ran the Schriener & Rickerd Saloon . In the 1910s and 20s, it became Geving & Gaarden general merchandise and grocery store operated by Henry E. Geving and Carl O. Gaarden. During the late 20s and up to 1930 it was known as the Curtis & Rogers general store. Clifford (C. W.) Arneson purchased it and ran it as a Super Valu Grocery store in the 1940s into 1960s. Later still, it became a hardware store in the late 60s and 70s, changing hands several times. The original building continues to stand, through these many businesses. Today it is a warehouse space for a veterinarian products business operated by Mark Anderson. However, the once handsome brick is now painted gray and it has become a non-descript monolith that sits south of the present-day Drug Store, across the street going to "Church Hill."

At about the time George was building in Spring Valley he also purchased farm land in Gilman Township. In 1899 George purchased 40 acres of land that abutted John Upman’s farm (Dec 7, 1899 Spring Valley Sun). This property became the home of George and Emma for the next twenty-eight years [for George] and thirty-eight years [for Emma]. For nearly three decades George’s health waxed and waned. Depending upon his health at the time, he took on numerous roles including sheep and ginseng farmer, carpenter, landlord of boarders, real estate investor, prominent community statesman, and part-time Marshall.








George Ducklow's Sheep on Vern's Land [Cady Township, St. Croix County] Circa 1928
Photo from Jeff Ducklow Collection


For several years George served as a part-time Marshall [Sheriff] of Spring Valley filling in for Sam Mars, the primary Marshall, when Sam needed time off. George began this role in May of 1902 (22 May 1902, Spring Valley Sun) and served until March of 1910 (24 March 1910, Spring Valley Sun) at age 59. Sam not only was the primary Marshall, he too was a local farmer, so relied on George to fill-in during planting and harvesting seasons. Willis Ducklow, the grandson who was raised by George and Emma, remembered that George had "worn the star." But because Willis was not born until April of 1910, he must have been told stories, and not recalled from his own direct memory. It appears that most of George's duty was dealing with drunk and disorderly conduct by villiage saloon patrons. In one instance George earned a punch in the face for his trouble in separating men in a brawl. He is quoted as saying "...Sam [Mars] has one black eye coming to him" (12 Nov 1908 Spring Valley Sun). A day's pay was just $2.00 (16 July 1908 Spring Valley Sun). He wasn't getting rich—even after adjusting for inflation George was just getting a little over $50 a day.

It appears George was a bit of a "Donald Trump" character too. He was in a land partnership agreement with Peter Vanasse and Charles Petan during the period around 1904-1910. The land this group jointly owned in Gilman Township had some woods and it caught fire in the spring of 1905 (27 April 1905 Spring Valley Sun). Taxes in 1906 for his property in Gilman Township came to $36.09. His Gilman tax bill grew to $53.15 in 1907. He got some relief in 1908 by only paying $51.29, but had taxes in Spring Valley of $14.30. In 1909 George attempted to purchase a building "opposite the Commercial House of O.S. Williams" (9 December 1909 Spring Valley Sun). The transaction did not complete, and the owner, William Williams, instead sold to a buyer named T.O. June. In 1909 George's Gilman Township dropped to $42.13.

His tax bill in Spring Valley was likely from the home he bought there in Feburary of 1906 (22 Feb 1906, 29 March 1906 Spring Valley Sun). It was referred to as the Barney Parks residence. In May of 1906 he was improving his newly acquired home by building an addition (3 May 1906 Spring Valley Sun).

Some of the land in Gilman no doubt served as pasture for Georges' sheep raising. In October of 1907 he shipped two separate carloads of sheep "West" (10 October 1907 and 17 October 1907 Spring Valley Sun). Again in November of 1908 George is reported to have shipped a railcar load of sheep to St Paul (3 December 1908). When George wanted to ship his sheep, he drove the entire herd from his Gilman pastures into Spring Valley. There he separated out those he wanted to send to market and those he needed to fatten-up. Those that were spared where driven back home.

Esther Northfield Ducklow writes about her husband's [Willis] memories of growing ginseng with his grandfather for profit. She writes, "George and Willis used to hunt wild ginseng, dig up the plant, and transplant it into a garden in the woods that was behind and to the side of the house, a very large woods most of it still there in 1997. When the roots matured, they dug up the roots and hung them in the attic to dry before selling them. One day George and Willis went out to their ginseng garden but found that someone found it and dug up and removed every plant there. That was the end of their ginseng growing and the extra income it brought them." No doubt this was a big loss. Wild ginseng root has always been very valuable. Today it brings $250 to $500 per pound!

George was a third degree Mason and a member of the Spring Valley Masonic Lodge. This fraternal organization was made-up of well-respected members of the community that shared a common moral code, belief in God, commitment to building community, and pledge to defend other members in their time of need. In December of 1906 George was elected to the position of Trustee. In addition to the Masons, George was a member of the Odd Fellows organization that also was involved in charity and community promotion work.

Emma did not sit idle at home when George attended Masonic funcitons. She belonged to the Eastern Stars, the complementary organization for Mason's wives with goals of building social connections and community service.

George Ducklow's Masonic Pin
Measures Approx. 7/8" Dia.
Artifact from the Esther Ducklow Collection
Photo by Jeff Ducklow

In 1926 George’s health was poor and Emma was unable to properly care for him alone. During the fall of 1927 and winter of 1928 George became particularly feeble and stayed with daughter Josie and her husband George Rickard in Minneapolis. Josie's home is were George died on January 7th, 1928. In his obiturary, George was noted as an "honest, upright, industrious man, who had a host of friends." [Spring Valley Sun, January 12, 1928]

Emma lived another ten years, presumably on the farmhouse in Gilman Township. During some of the winter months she spent with her daughter Nellie and her husband Albert Davis, in Granton in Clark County, Wisconsin. Summer months where spent rotating stays between her sons Vern, Frank and Clayton and back to the farm in Gilman. And like husband George, she too was cared for in her last months of her life at daughter Josie’s home in Minneapolis. She died on June 2, 1938 from heart failure. A tribute to Emma in her obiturary was, "Mrs. Ducklow was a quiet caring woman, who enjoyed her children and her friends." [Spring Valley Sun, June 1938].


Emma Eunice nee Hamilton Ducklow
Circa 1925, age 73
Photo from Esther Northfield Ducklow Collection








Sources for information on George's Spring Valley 1900 Building:

"Spring Valley The Early Days," by Doug Blegen, Copyright 1995, Blegen Books, Spring Valley, Wisc. 54767
"Spring Valley Yesteryear Revisited," by Doug Blegen, Copyright 2000, Blegen Books, Spring Valley, Wisc. 54767
"The Sun" Spring Valley, Obituary for George Ducklow, Jaunuary 12, 1928
Research notes from Esther Northfield Ducklow

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The Rock Elm and Olivet Years for George and Charles Ducklow

Brothers, Business Partners and Finding Wives
[Updated December 28, 2008]

Who were George and Charles Ducklow? They were Thomas and Elizabeth's middle born sons. George was the sixth born, and Charlie the seventh separated by about 21 months apart. Most Ducklow's from Pierce or St. Croix Counties descend from George and Ducklow's from Monroe and LaCrosse Counties descend from Charles.

In 1868 George Ducklow had become a young man and in need of a profession. Apparently farming, the livelihood of his father and older siblings, was not the path he saw for himself. So at age 17 George left the Ducklow farmstead and became an apprentice for Mr. William Campbell. Mr. Campbell was a blacksmith in Ashippun Township in Dodge County and no doubt had shod horses and repaired tools and equipment for the Dukelow / Ducklow families. While George was learning the trade, he lived with Mr. Campbell and his wife Margareth, who were both immigrants from Scotland. After a three to four year apprenticeship, George was ready to strike out on his own.

George Ducklow circa 1869, age 18
Cropped Digital Image from Deb Ehlers Good Collection


In 1873 young George left Dodge County and came to Rock Elm Center in Pierce County. He was among a notable number of former Dodge County residents that came to the area being promoted by lumber businessmen and investors. He opened his own blacksmith shop in the then booming timber and sawmill town. Rock Elm Center had grown into a thriving community of about 300 people fairly quickly, as it was founded in about 1864. Having success as a blacksmith, George established himself in the community and eventually bought what became known as the Charlie Greer Farm just a few miles outside of town.



Left: Location of Ashippun, Dodge County Wisconsin
Graphic from Wikipedia Source

In terms of physical appearance and character, George was "small in stature and wiry" —meaning he was short, lean and tough — a description by George's youngest brother Peter as later retold by Peter's daughter-in-law Irma Ducklow. Irma also recalled Peter saying that George "rode logs down the river" [see foot note]. George was open to adventure and it was likely one reason he left Dodge county and came to the logging frontier of Rock Elm.

Right: Location of Rock Elm Center, Wisconsin
Graphic from Wikipedia Source

Rock Elm is also where he met his bride, Emma Eunice Hamilton. Like George, she too was born from Irish parents and was originally from Dodge County [see footnote]. She had come to Rock Elm to keep house for her brother John Hamilton. George and Emma married at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Rock Elm on December 31, 1875. She was 23 years old, and George was then 24. They were blessed with their first child, Nellie Ducklow, who came along ten months later. She was born on the Greer farm, October 16 of 1876. Their second child, Vernon was also born on the same farm 27 June of 1880.



Left: George and Emma Ducklow Wedding Photo, 1875
Photo by S. B. Dilley Photo Artist, Lake City, Minnesota
Original part of Esther Ducklow Collection

Right: Wedding Band
George and Emma were married 52 years
Photo by Jeff Ducklow
Artifact from Esther Northfield Ducklow Collection





Below: George Ducklow's Home & Business.
Home on far left; Mercantile Store, Harness Shop and Dance Hall in Olivet
From Left to Right: Son Vernon (on the horse), Emma, Frank, Nellie, Joise, George,
nephew Willis Matthewson, and Carrie Noble Coon
Digital image from Esther Ducklow Collection

In about 1879 George’s younger brother, Charles (Charlie) also came north from Dodge County and joined George in Rock Elm. Charles had initially trained as a carpenter and joiner five years prior, but he had business aspirations in the booming lumber area of Pierce County. By spring of 1882 Charlie and George became business partners, joining talents by setting up a store in the newest lumbering frontier in Pierce County: Olivet. They ran a harness / blacksmith shop and mercantile store / dance hall. Quite a combination! The early 1880s was a period when Olivet was a center of commerce for lumber milling of the vast hardwoods and pine being felled in Gilman Township of Pierce County. At its height two separate sawmills cut timber there, and the Ducklow store was one of eight businesses in the village. Perhaps at its peak in the early to mid 1880s, the population of Olivet was near 400 people. One news item in the River Falls Journal of Feburary 1886 reported the stave operation in Olivet was shipping out 1,000 bundles of staves daily.

Charles Ducklow about age 50, circa 1903
Cropped Image from Deb Ehlers Good Photo Collection


A letter written around 1945 by George and Emma's daughter Nellie offers a small peek into this period. She writes, “ My father sold the farm [the Greer farm] and moved to Olivet. My father and Uncle Charlie D went in[to] the store business togather [sic] in what was know [sic] as the M E Taylor building. We lived upstairs.” Nellie goes on to say, “My folks … fixed over the old store building making the living rooms in [the] back a public hall.”

George & Emma's Daughter Nellie in 1937, age 60
Cropped snapshot from the Jeff Ducklow Photo Collection

In addition to running the Ducklow mercantile business, Charles also bought cattle. The reference [see footnote] does not say he bought and sold cattle, although presumably he didn't just buy. One must assume he bought young head, raised them for a year or two and then sold them as finished-off cattle ready for butchering. His buying and selling of cattle in Pierce County was based on success he had doing this in Calumet County, prior to his coming north to be close to brother George.

Like George, brother Charles also met his bride in Pierce County. He married Eva Shaw on November 20, 1882. They wed at the Dunn County Courthouse in Menomonie. Eva was just 17 years old and Charles was 29. She was the daughter of John and Jerusha Wheeler Shaw. The Shaw family had a farm near the Greer farm outside of Rock Elm. George’s daughter Nellie mentions the Shaw farm in her 1945 letter. She writes, “I went to the little school house on the Shaw farm … I believe I was four years old and carried many a merit home that we used to get for good work.”

The Ducklow general store / dance hall in Olivet operated for about 17 years, from roughly 1881 to 1898. The first few years George and Charles ran the business together. But from about 1884 forward just George and his family ran the business. After only three or so years into the partnership George and Charlie had split up. No facts have been discovered as to why the split occurred, but a number of reasons have been suggested: Maybe the brothers disagreed over business decisions; perhaps George and Charlies' new wives did not get along; it could be that the business was not able to support two families; or it may have been because a long hoped-for rail-line through Olivet never materialized, stunting the little hamlet’s ability to thrive economically (see footnote) and causing Charlie to decide not to invest his time in an Olivet business when it was clear the trains would not be coming there.

A "one bottom plow" pin believed to be an award to George for selling these plows.
Measures about 2 1/4" x 1"
Artifact from the Esther Ducklow Collection
Photo by Jeff Ducklow

So about 1884 Charlie and Eva left Olivet and moved southeast to a tiny village called Modena in Buffalo County Wisconsin. Modena lies approximately nine miles to the north of Alma, Wisconsin. There George and Eva took over a small grocery store with a post office from Benjamin F. Babcock. Modena is also where Charles and Eva’s first two sons were born: William Thomas Ducklow,who was delivered on October 22, 1885, and Elmer Eugene, who saw his first daylight on March 25, 1889.

Charlie and Eva did not put down deep roots in Modena. After five years of running the grocery and post office there and shortly after son Elmer was born, Charlie and his young family moved further south. In 1890 they established themsleves in the Village of Wilton located in rolling hills of Monroe County [about 10 miles south of Tomah]. There Charlie began started selling grocercies out of his home and by 1892 he had his own grocery store on main street. Three years later, in 1895, Charlie saw the opportunity to expand his business and started selling lumber and coal. This expansion proved to be very profitable in the growing town.

Charles and Eva Ducklow Family circa 1895
Digital image from Deb Elhers Good Photo Collection

Charles and Eva had two additional children born in Wilton: Charles Edwin, born 15 March 1891; and Lynn Shaw born 21 February 1902. The photo above must have been taken about 1895, before son Lynn was born.

In addition to Nellie and Vernon who were born on the Greer Farm, George and Emma Ducklow had three other children born in Olivet: Josie Emma, born in a room above the Olivet store on Valentine’s Day, 1883; Frank Erwin born at home on February 17, 1885; and Clayton Joseph born at home on May 12, 1893.





George and Emma Ducklow Family circa 1890
Photo part of Jeff Ducklow Photo Collection





In about 1898 George moved his mercantile business from Olivet to Spring Valley. Spring Valley had become a boom town with the discovery of iron-ore in 1890 followed by a quick build-up of a smelting industry and supporting economy in the early 1890s. George continued to run his general store in Spring Valley until perhaps 1910 (the actual year is not yet firm) and then sold the business. At this point his interests turned to sheep farming on 40 acres of property he bought to the west of Spring Valley in Gilman Township [Pierce County]. Additional posts regarding George and Charles lives are forthcoming.


Footnote: An article called “The Road Less Traveled” written by Chuck Rupnow, published April 3, 1986 by the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram discusses Olivet in the 1880s. The Chicago, Freeport, and St. Paul Railroad Company had an interest running tracks just west of Olivet and establishing a depot there. In would have become part of a line connecting parts northern Illinois to St. Paul. But in the end the line did not get built anywhere near Olivet because they could not convince an important landowner, Albert Hurtgen, to use his property. He too was influential on the Gilman Town Board and convinced them of the same. This decision angered many in Olivet. Looking back, it does appear that it assured Olivet’s short-lived business history after the timber was taken. For more information also see "The Rest of the Story," written by Elva Haddow and published in the 1986 booklet called "...And All Our Yesterdays" in 1986 by the Spring Valley Ara Chapter of the Pierce County Historical Association.

Footnote: Comments on George's appearance and character are excerpts from a letter written October 6, 1985 from Irma Ducklow to Esther Northfield Ducklow. Irma married Maurice Ducklow, son of Peter and Helen Ducklow.

Footnote: The reference to Charles buying cattle comes from his biographry published in "History of Monroe County" in 1912. The full text of the biography is published elsewhere in this blog.

Other background sources:
Pierce County's Heritage, Volume 2, Pierce County Historical Society, 1973
"... And All Our Yesterdays," Spring Valley Area Chapter of the Pierce County Historical Society, Book 1, 1986
"... And All Our Yesterdays," Spring Valley Area Chapter of the Pierce County Historical Society, Book 2, 1986-87
"... And All Our Yesterdays," Spring Valley Area Chapter of the Pierce County Historical Society, Book 3, 1988

Footnote: A genealogy web page about Emma Hamilton's family can be found here.

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