CLINTON, IOWA LUMBER HISTORY

From "History of the Lumber and Forest Industry of the Northwest" by George W. Hotchkiss Illustrated Chicago 1898 p. 587-588
While at a distance from the pineries of Wisconsin and Minnesota, whence come their mill supplies, the adjoining towns of Clinton and Lyons, Iowa, with Fulton, Illinois, which lies upon the banks of the Mississippi, opposite its Iowa sisters, have long been important factors in the manufacture of lumber, their combined production for many years reaching a volume of between 250,000,000 and 300,000,000 feet of lumber and from 70,000,000 to 90,000,000 shingles yearly, the log stock for which has been obtained from the booms of Black river at LaCrosse, of the Chippewa at Beef Slough and West Newton, and from the St. Croix river at Stillwater, Minn., being rafted down the river from those points in large and well-secured strings and brails towed by steam boats, and delivered in the various mill booms.
A steam saw mill was built by William G. Haun in 1849 near the mouth of the Elk river, ten miles from Clinton, which began operations in the spring of 1850. This was a sash mill, operated by an engine of about twenty-five horse-power, from two cylinder boilers, and with good fuel could cut about 8,000 feet per day, but with green slabs, which alone was the earlier reliance (the burning of sawdust coming later), the shut-down for steam averaged about as much as the running time. This mill was intended to cut pine logs, from small rafts which at this early day, came from the Black and Chippewa rivers, its product being utilized wholly for local uses. This mill was, in 1858, removed to a point about one mile up Elk river, and turned into a distillery.
A water mill was built on Elk river early in the “40’s” for cutting hardwoods from native timber. This mill was started by Griswold & Dinwiddee, and completed by Thomas Calderwood, who operated it. In 1850 it was run by Charles E. Langford, who later, built the mill (elsewhere mentioned) at Fulton City. William G. Haun, mentioned above, owned and ran the first steam engine, probably the two first, in the county.
The first saw mill at Clinton was built by Ohio parties in the fall of 1855, but in 1856 was purchased by James Cassidy, who ran it for a year in the manufacture of hardwood lumber obtained from the adjacent forests, but it evidently proved an unprofitable venture, and in 1857 it was dismantled and the machinery sold.
In the spring of 1856 Charles A. Lombard built a mill, upon what is now railroad ground, near the west pier of the bridge, but sold it in January of the following year (1857) to Gray & Lunt, who, shortly after, in the same year, sold it to Chancy Lamb, who operated it successfully until October 6, 1859, when it was destroyed by fire. Mr. Lamb at once rebuilt upon the site of the present brick mill, and with one with one mulay, one circular and one gang, was ready for operation upon the opening of the season of 1860, his daily cut being about 40,000 feet. This mill burned in 1876, and was rebuilt, with two rotaries and two gangs, ready for operation by May, 1877, with its capacity increased to 125,000 feet per day.
In 1856 A.J. Parmalee built a mill in South Clinton, which did not yield the success which its projector anticipated, and, after remaining idle for several years, was sold to Joseph B. Davis, and soon after was destroyed by fire.
In the spring of 1857 Alfred Cobb of Syracuse, N.Y., built a mill about two miles south of Clinton, and after sawing one raft of logs, sold out to Coan & Smith, who, not long after, sold to Bomgardner & Byng, who, later, sold to Lamb, Byng & Co, Chancy Lamb & Sons becoming interested in the operation. This mill continued in operation, with capacity for sawing 50,000 feet daily, until January 4, 1877, when it was destroyed by fire, and was rebuilt by C. Lamb & Sons, with one rotary and two gangs, shingle and lath machinery, being ready for operation by May 1879, with a daily capacity for sawing 50,000 feet of lumber.
In the same locality Wheeler & Warner erected a mill in 1869, containing two circulars, with sawing capacity of 50,000 feet daily. This, in 1873, was purchased by Lamb, Byng & Co., who, in 1878, sold to C. Lamb & Sons, who remodeled the mill in 1886, putting in two band saws and one gang, giving the mill a capacity for cutting 125,000 feet per day. It is claimed that the first band ever operated in white pine timber was placed by C. Lamb & Sons in 1884, in their mill “B,” which was rebuilt by Mr. Lamb in 1877. It was characteristic of Chancy Lamb to readily perceive the advantages to be derived from suggested improvements in mill machinery, and he was not afraid to test such improvements as commended themselves to his judgement, as is shown in his practical test of the band saw at a time when all other operators questioned its utility and practicability. It is also claimed that the first movable saw edger ever used was designed by Mr. Lamb, and built in the machine shop of Moeszinger & Gallion at Lyons. Inasmuch as in the course of this history several other claimants for this honor ware mentioned, the historian is disposed to suspend judgement upon this point.
In 1868 C. Lamb & Sons built what has long been known as “the stone mill,” in which they placed one rotary and one gang with a sawing capacity of 40,000 feet per day of lumber with a lath manufacture of 8,000 daily. C. Lamb & Sons now own four mills in Clinton, with a combined output of 450,000 feet of lumber, 90,000 shingles and 60,000 lath per day, or an aggregate of about 80,000,000 feet of lumber, 10,000,000 shingles and 10,000,000 lath yearly.
In the summer of 1858 William J. Young opened a yard at Clinton for the retailing of lumber, which was manufactured by the Ohio Mill Company at LaCrosse, Wisconsin. As related in the history of LaCrosse, the mill of this company was not being operated successfully, and upon Mr. Young’s suggestion, it was decided to move it to Clinton, Mr. Young being selected to superintend the removal. On reaching LaCrosse, he encountered serious objections on the part of a Mr. Whitney, who had been in charge of the mill and held a small interest. Mr. Whitney sought an injunction from the courts, which were in those days more conservative and hesitant in granting injunctions than at the present time, and, pending action, Mr. Young succeeded in loading the machinery on boats and removing it out of the jurisdiction of the court. The mill was landed safely at Clinton and ground broken for a new structure on the 1st day of May, 1859, and the mill began operations in August of the same year, with capacity for cutting from seven to ten million feet per year.
In 1866 Mr. W.J. Young built the great mill which was for many years quoted as “the largest mill in the world,” being operated by an engine of 1,000 horse-power, to one mulay, one large circular and six gangs, with capacity for the manufacture of 50,000,000 feet of lumber and 20,000,000 shingles, with 15,000,000 lath annually.
Up to 1865 the log rafts from up the river were floated to the mills by the natural current of the stream, but about that time Mr. Young tried the successful experiment of expediting matters by towing with a steam-boat, saving weeks of time in the reception of log stock over the slow process of simply drifting. In the construction of rafts, the many augur holes bored into the timber, under the supposition of a necessity for holding the raft together with pins, was a serious impairment of the value of the timber, and Mr. Young introduced what has since been known as “the brailed” raft system, in which loose logs, arranged in tiers or ranks, are merely surrounded by a log boom, and by the raft boat system of towing are swiftly and safely propelled through the water of the river to the mill booms at Clinton and other points. Under the old system it was necessary to secure the logs with poles and pins to a solidly, enabling the building of a shanty for the use of the men, and to provide a firm footing in the use of poles for keeping the raft from the banks and shoal places of the river, and to accomplish this, many, if not all, of the logs must be bored with two-inch, or larger, augur holes, in order to pin the raft and secure the necessary solidity; this involved the loss of quite a percentage of the lumber, throwing it into lower grades, available only for coarser uses, such as sidewalk plank, etc.; the value of a system of rafting which avoided this loss upon so vast a quantity of logs may be readily appreciated, and it was speedily adopted in all the rafting operations of the Mississippi river.
The Clinton Lumber Company had its inception in 1857, when Hosford & Miller built a mill at Lyons, but having no railroad facilities, the, in1859, removed the mill to Clinton, where it was rebuilt, and contained two mulays and one rotary saw. In 1861 the mill was still further enlarged by the addition of a gang, to a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber and 20,000 lath per day. In January, 1866, A.P. Hosford, G.C. Smith, Abraham Siddle, Jerome Schofield, L.W. Buck and S.J. Bishop incorporated the Clinton Lumber Company, and purchasing the Hosford & Miller property, erected a new mill, with one rotary and a double gang, together with machinery for cutting 40,000 shingles and 20,000 lath daily. In 1880 L.B. Wadleigh bought a controlling interest, and, after running for one year, tore down both mills and erected a mill 72x206 feet, containing two rotaries, two gangs, three double edgers, two trimmers, two shingle machines and two lath machines, with a yearly capacity for the manufacture of 25,000,000 feet of lumber, 4,000,000 shingles and 6,500,000 lath. This mill continued to operate until 1893, at the close of which season it further operation ceased.