On Butternuts and Ducklows in Pierce County

Published October 25, 2011

In a recent post I wondered why my great grandfather George Ducklow left Dodge County in about 1873 as a young man of 20 years of age and how he happened to end up in eastern Pierce County.  I wrote,

“A question that has fascinated me is why did George come to Pierce County?  It seems likely that after learning the trade of blacksmithing, George was ready to make it on his own. It would be unfair to stay in the Ashippun area and compete directly with the man who gave you your training. So by the nature of the apprenticeship arrangement, George needed to re-locate as to not be in direct competition with his master, Mr. Campbell.  But the question remains, why Pierce County?”

In the 1860s investors based in Milwaukee had heard reports that the entire eastern half of Pierce County was thick with pine, basswood, maple and elm trees.  Based on these reports, they sent scouts to size-up the timber opportunity. And beyond simply assessing the size, number and species of trees, the scouts considered locations for establishing a water-powered sawmill, and perhaps even building sites for development of a small village.  The area they found most attractive is what became Rock Elm Center.  The scouts returned home in the fall of 1866.  Shortly after (within a few weeks) investments of land and equipment along with the commitment of pioneers, began producing lumber.  The lumber hauled 15 miles over hills and valleys until it reached Maiden Rock on the Mississippi River. There it could be shipped up or down stream to many markets, or reach train depots to be shipped back east.  George Ducklow came to Rock Elm some seven years later (about 1873) to serve as a blacksmith.

So what is new to this story?

Butternut Trees.

As it turns out, the main attraction to the forests of Pierce County was not just the large tracts of elm, maple, basswood, and pine trees for lumber, but more so for its many butternut trees.  In the late 1860s butternut wood commanded a premium, going for $60 to $80 a thousand board feet in Milwaukee. This was apparently considerably more than what traditional lumber would bring. During the 1860s and likely extending in the 1870s, butternut wood was in strong demand by cabinet makers, giving sawyers (and their investors) opportunity to make more money than if they pursued a forest full of the conventional wood. And because the forests of Rock Elm were full of butternut trees (see footnote) along with the elm, maple, basswood and pine, it became the target for investment.

The strong link between early families in Dodge County and early families in eastern Piece County seems to stem from this scouting party and the subsequent building of the Hawn sawmill.   The names of the scouts who evaluated the forests around Rock Elm Center in 1866 were Otis Churchill, Willard Rider, and Oscar Fowler.  They were so convinced of the opportunity for lumbering success that they went to the owners of an existing sawmill in Dodge County: Mr. Charles Hawn and Mr. David White.  The scouting team persuaded Hawn and White to pull-up stakes in Dodge County and re-establish themselves in the frontier of the “Big Woods.”  While the connection between all these men is not yet clear, some sort of trusting relationship must have existed for such persuasion to be successful. The news Hawn and White moving naturally gained attention of all their network of employees, friends, customers, and acquaintances.  Some followed the mill on its move north.  Thus, the Dodge – Pierce County immigration pipeline became established. 

It is said that the Milwaukee investors intended to induce 25 families to move with the relocation of the sawmill and form a colony.  It is not obvious that 25 families actually came all at once.  But over time it seems that at least this many did eventually come from the Dodge County area. One of the families that did come with the sawmill was that of Sylvester John (S.J.) Fox.  Sylvester was persuaded to establish a mercantile store near the mill.  He invested $1,000 in supplies to initially stock his store.

So it can be said that many of the families in eastern Piece County, including George Ducklow, the ancestral grandfather to many living Ducklows, established himself in Pierce County because he followed Dodge County sawyers who were after the butternut trees.

====

Footnotes:

Many people are not familiar with butternut wood. It is a relativity soft wood that is easy to work, has a color that is natural medium dark, and often features strong grain patterns.  The butternut tree is so named for the crop of butternuts it produces every three or four years.

Much of this information comes from a book published in 1937 by Charles Lowater.  The book is called the “History of Pierce County.”  Mr. Lowater was also the publisher of the Spring Valley Sun and Elmwood Argus for many years.  This book is available at the River Falls Area Research Center.  Charles Lowater [1867-1944] is buried in the Popular Hill Rock Elm Cemetery.  He is related to the Ducklow family by marriage.  His wife was Estella Weldon.  Estella's aunt was Emma Hamilton, wife of George Ducklow. 

The Churchill surname continues to be a well-known Rock Elm and Elmwood family name in eastern Pierce County.

Sylvester John Fox [1831-1915] is buried in the Rock Elm Cemetery.  He was about 22 years older than George Ducklow and about 19 years younger than George’s father, Thomas Ducklow. 

It must be noted that the Rock Elm area was not without settlers prior to 1866 and the building of the Hawn mill.  The William Craig family came in 1863, and for several years Mr. Craig was head sawyer in the Hawn mill.  The James C. Miles family also came in 1863 and the William H Miles in 1865, the James Colletts and Alexanders in 1863.  

The establishment of the Hawn mill in Rock Elm in 1866 is hardly the first mill in the area.  W. Holman is reported to have had a mill on the Eau Galle in 1852. Its location is unclear, but may have been as far north on the Eau Galle to be in St. Croix County (just north of Spring Valley).  The Carson and Rand sawmill near what is now the village of Eau Galle also dates back in the early 1850s.

Early Place Names of Pierce County

Published July 31, 2011

I’ve been meaning to post a big long essay on the history of place names of Pierce County for a few weeks now.  I can’t seem to put together a nice coherent story, so for now I’m going simply post a few interesting facts.  

Piece County is of interest to the Ducklow family history as it is where George Ducklow, the sixth child of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow, put down roots.  George’s descendants are yet thick in Pierce County.  While I am no longer a resident of the county, its history fascinates me.  Its story, and the broader history of Wisconsin helped to shape the how George arrived in Rock Elm Center and as a consequence why nearly all other Ducklow’s now living western Wisconsin were born in Pierce or St. Croix Counties.

The remainder of this post is a bit disjointed.  I ask for your pardon until I get a chance to write a nice story to tie it all together.

===

Rock Elm Center, often simply called Rock Elm, was literally the center of the woods that were chock-full of elm trees.  Rock elm is a particularly dense form of elm and an apt description of how hard the wood was to chop, cut and mill. Rock Elm Center was established in 1865 with the arrival of a mill and a handful of lumbermen. George Ducklow arrived in Rock Elm Center at at age 22 in about 1873, some eight years after it was initially established. 

Elmwood lies in the valley of the Eau Galle river some five miles north and east of Rock Elm Center.  Of course it too is named for the abundance of elm trees that dominate the surrounding woods; Elmwood is among the newest of communities in Pierce County, being established in 1905. It too got its start as the location of a sawmill.

Olivet: In about 1875 George Ducklow moved from Rock Elm Center and recreated himself as a mercantile man in the now nearly vanished settlement of Olivet.  While there is some uncertainty, most sources indicate that Olivet name is from the Bible – specifically Mount Olivet. The French word “olivette” means the place were olives grow, and of course there are references in the Bible of gardens of olives.  It sees most likely that early French explorers and trappers who traversed the area named it based on these facts.

El Paso: Olivet was connected to a neighboring settlement of El Paso by stagecoach in the mid 1800s.  The name El Paso is mysterious to many people as it would seem to indicate some sort of connection to a heritage of Latin America, Mexico or some other Spanish speaking people.  This is totally incongruent with the known early history of the area. The mystery becomes unlocked by learning more about the stagecoach line, or more precisely, the shape of the road that the stage followed.  When viewed from an elevation, the road formed an “L” as it passed along the river and between the hills defining the bounds of the valley. Up to this point the area apparently had not been named. So when the stage driver made a stop he called out, “L-pass.”  The name eventually morphed into El Paso.  El Paso is one of the earliest settlements in Pierce County, with roots as early as 1858.

Spring Lake township that holds Spring Valley, was named after a now vanished spring fed lake.  The lake was apparently adjacent to the Eau Galle River just a bit upstream of the the Spring Lake Lutheran Church.  It was described as being quite beautiful.  Accounts of the lake simple state the spring and lake disappeared prior to 1900. It seems likely that it became a victim of the logging operations that pushed great rafts of logs down the Eau Galle in the spring to the mills. Spring Lake Township was organized in 1868, some 24 years prior the establishment of village of Spring Valley, the community that now dominates the township.

Martell: A Frenchman founded a small settlement on the Rush River and named it Sunrise. Not many years passed and the founding Frenchman died. In honor of the founder, the  people living in the settlement was renamed Martell.  Sunrise / Martell too have a long history going back to the late 1840s.

Perry: Not many people today will recognize the village name of Perry. Perry came into existence in 1857 as the county seat.  It was renamed Ellsworth in 1863, in honor of the heroics of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, a friend of Abraham Lincoln and the first conspicuous casualty of  the Civil War.  Col. Ellsworth had no direct association with Pierce County.  So renaming Perry in his honor showed the strong feelings of support for the Lincoln and the desire of the area to remain a united union. The city of Perry/Ellsworth created as an outcome from a nasty political battle around the location of the Pierce County courthouse.  Its location is the approximate geographic center of the County, a compromise location that the majority of residents could agree upon.  East Ellsworth came into existence because railroad officials refused lay tracks up a steep grade to get to Ellsworth proper.  Naturally businesses sprung up around the depot and thus East Ellsworth came to be.

Beldenville – laid out by David and O.H. Belden in 1856.  They both left the area not long after the area was plated, but the name forever after is known as Beldenville.

New Centerville gained in name from the fact that it lies about half way along the common border between St. Croix and Pierce county. New Centerville was also known simply as Centerville.  The source of the “New” has not been uncovered.  It seems to have been established as a logging town in the late 1870s.

Gilman is another village that no longer exists.  It was founded in 1869.  The township of Gilman remains and is named after the area’s first settler.  Prior to being named Gilman, the area was called Deerfield. 

Hudson, while not in Pierce County, has a strong linkage to Piece County’s history.  It had two prior names.  It was named Willow River and Buena Vista (prior to 1851).  Some of the early founders were involved in the Spanish-American War and had pick-up some Spanish terms, including the phrase for beautiful view - Buena Vista.  The name Hudson was finally settled upon as it was reminiscent of the Hudson River Valley in update New York, the former home of many of the early settlers.

Pierce County is named after Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States.  Pierce County and Polk County were formed by dividing a then super-size St. Croix County.  This naming of the new counties happened in 1853, five years after Wisconsin became a state and while Franklin Pierce was just beginning is term as President (1853-1857).  Pierce County originally had only one township that covered all of Pierce County – the Township of Elizabeth.  The name is from a child named Elizabeth who is reported to have been the first white child born in the area, in the year 1845.  Elizabeth also was the original moniker for the city of Prescott. Philander Prescott was an Army officer stationed at Fort Snelling and attempted to corner property ownership rights for his personal benefit from the Indians.  He felt that the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers was an ideal location for a large future city.  That city did come to be, but not at Prescott, but rather up stream on the Mississippi now known as St. Paul.