Knapp, Stout & Co.

Allgemeines

NameKnapp, Stout & Co.
OrtssitzMenomonie (Wisconsin)
Postleitzahl54751
Art des UnternehmensEisengießerei / Sägwerke
AnmerkungenBei [Wikipedia] als Sägewerksgesellschaft im Dunn County genannt. Außer [Wiley] nennt keine Quelle die Metallbearbeitung.
Quellenangaben[Wiley: American iron trade manual (1874) 170] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knapp,_Stout_&_Co.]




Unternehmensgeschichte

Zeit Ereignis
23.10.1814 Geburt von Henry Lane Stout in New Jersey
1825 Geburt von John Holly Knapp in New York State als Sohn von General John Holly Knapp
1846 Gründung unter der Firma "Black & Knapp" durch John Holly Knapp und William Wilson, welche den halben Anteil an einem kleinen Sägewerk am Red Cedar River von David Black erwerben
1853 Henry Stout erwirbt einen Viertel der Anteile an "Black & Knapp", verbunden mit der Umfirmierung in "Knapp, Stout & Company"
01.05.1854 Thomas B. Wilson tritt in die Firma ein
bis 1870 Die Gesellschaft kontrolliert die Holzindustrie im Red Cedar River Valley
1873 Das Unternehmen besitzt 115.000 acres Land am Cheppewa-Fluß und am Menomonie-Fluß und betreibt und mehrere Dampf- und Wassermühlen. Produktion: 55.000.000 ft. Schnittholz, 20.000.000 Schindeln und 20.000.000 ft. Latten und Pfähle/Pflöcke
18.03.1878 Eintragung des Unternehmens als "Knapp, Stout & Co., Company" mit einem Kapital von $2.000.000
1882 Das Kapital wird auf $4.000.000 verdoppelt
1888 Tod von John Holly Knapp
1896 Das Unternehmen ist der größte Holzindustriebetrieb der Welt
17.07.1900 Tod von Henry Lane Stout
12.08.1901 Ende der Produktion




Produkte

Produkt ab Bem. bis Bem. Kommentar
Gußeisen 1874 [Wiley: American iron trade (1874)] 1874 [Wiley: American iron trade (1874)] Vorgabe: Iron foundry
Schnittholz 1846 als Black & Knapp 1901 Ende  




Allgemeines

THEMABeschreibung
TEXTThe company that evolved into the Knapp, Stout & Co., Company began operations in 1846. William Wilson and John Holly Knapp bought a small mill on the Red Cedar River from David Black. Black retained some interest in the mill and it was known as Black & Knapp until 1850. When Henry Stout bought an interest in 1853, the name was changed to Knapp, Stout & Company. This operation became the nucleus of activity for the region.
By 1870, the company had control of the Red Cedar River valley and in 1878 they incorporated as the Knapp, Stout & Co., Company. Crews moved through the wilderness, cutting the virgin timber and preparing it for its river voyage. Pioneers followed, removing stumps and preparing the rich land for farming. Communitites sprang up around the company's dams and mill sites at Cedar Falls, Downsville, Prairie Farm and others. Menomonie became a major trading site, headquarters for the company's regional activities. At its height, the company employed more than 2,000 in Menomonie and the surrounding area. In Menomonie alone, the company had lumber mills, stables, a store, machine shop, blacksmith shop, grain warehouse and grist mill.
But this was merely the hub of an empire which reached north to the headwaters of the Red Cedar River and its tributaries and to the lumber mills and retail outlets along the west bank of the Mississippi River as far south as St. Louis. The company owned extensive farms and great stretches of timberland in the flowage of the Red Cedar.
From 1871 to 1896 the company, sent an average 85 million board feet of lumber down the Red Cedar, Chippewa and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis. The company operated a flotilla of steamboats which guided rafts down the rivers and supplied various company enterprises on the return trip. During the 1880's the operation continued to expand, buying land and mills in Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi. They had offices and yards at Dubuque, Iowa and Read's Landing, Minnesota, and St. Louis, Missouri.
By the end of the century the pinery was nearly depleted. Between 1883 and 1900, the Knapp, Stout & Co., Company sold off nearly 275.,000 acres and shifted their attention to the forests of Arkansas and Missouri.
Several of the owners had made their homes in Menomonie where they left their lasting marks on the area's history. Wilson, Tainter, Knapp and Stout --- the names that appeared in yesterday's social pages are today associated with many of Menomonie's buildings, streets and institutions. While they reaped fortunes from the forests, these men contributed much to the communities as well. They established the first schools in Dunn and Barron counties. Wilson and Knapp contributed heavily to churches. Captain Tainter built and endowed a civic center as a memorial to his daughter Mabel that serves the community to this day. James Huff Stout, Henry's son, used his fortune to establish what has evolved into the University of Wisconsin-Stout and other civic projects.
QUELLE[Dunn County Historical Society, 14.08.2011]