Biography: Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Elisha D. SMITH ************************************************************************ Submitted by Kathy Grace, December 2007 © All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ Transcribed from Lawson, Publius V. History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: its cities, towns, resources people. Chicago: C.F. Cooper and Company, 1908. v.2 p.688- 691 Mr. Elisha D. Smith was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, March 29, 1827, and after he grew to manhood had some experience in retail and wholesale merchandising there and at Boston. While engaged in retail dry goods at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, he was married to Miss Julia A. Mowry, daughter of Spencer Mowry, a banker of that place, October 24, 1850. His selection of Menasha as a location has been told by himself: "After three years in Woonsocket I got an idea of going to Georgia. Closing out my business in the winter of 1849 and 1850, I went to Georgia and about concluded to locate at Atlanta. Returning in the spring, I had a letter from Mr. Doane, whom I had formerly known, then living in Menasha, Wis., urging me to visit that town before deciding to go elsewhere. So in July, I took a trip around the lakes, landing at Milwaukee, and from there by stage and boat to Menasha. After looking over the ground, I determined to locate here, and so my whole life work was changed by this decision. In the following October I was married, and the next day started for our future home. Many of our friends thought that we were going so far away from Rhode Island that they would never see us again. We traveled on what is now the New York Central railway from Albany to Buffalo, then made up of five different railroads, requiring a change of cars, tickets, baggage, etc., in connection with each. There was no railroad west out of Buffalo. We took a fine steamer to Detroit; then we took the Michigan Central, which was laid in part with strap rails to New Buffalo, on Lake Michigan. There we took a small steamer to Chicago, a city of 18,000 population, without paved streets, with signs here and there, "no bottom", to warn the traveler of danger. Only one railroad of forty miles out of the city to Elgin; a great contrast between then and now. From thence we went by steamer to Milwaukee, a town of 2,000 population and no railroad, indeed not any in the state, and so on to Sheboygan, where we landed and took a stage for Fond du Lac. The first day we made but twenty- four miles through deep mud, dodging stumps as best we could, till after dark, when we reached the Forest house. Here we had our first experience lodging in a log house. Early the next morning we started for Fond du Lac, but arrived too late for the Peytona, bound for the foot of the lake. However, in the afternoon we took the Manchester and reached Oshkosh at night. The next day we took the Peytona for Menasha, but by reason of a quarrel between the captain and Curtis Reed, the founder of Menasha, we could not land there. Our steamer came to anchor just off from the old council tree at the head of the island, where a sailboat took us and our baggage to the Burrough's wharf. Here we landed. Not a person in sight, and we made our way as best we could through the mud to our hotel. My early experience here in store keeping was exceedingly trying, when in my ignorance I supposed everybody was honest. During the winter the steamboat Berlin was being rebuilt, the owner persuaded me to take his orders for merchandise, with the promise of payment in the spring. But the spring came and brought no money, and I was obliged to take up several liens on the boat in order to secure yourself. In doing this I became the owner of the boat, at a cost of over $5,000. I then arranged with a Mr. Malbourn, of Neenah, to take my boat through to La Crosse by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, the Portage lock having been completed, with a view to making sale of the boat. The boat was sold, but no money came to me, Mr. Malbourn having appropriated the proceeds of the sale. I instituted a suit against him at La Crosse, which was an expensive affair. My La Crosse lawyer finally got judgment for the full amount, collected $2,500 which he stole, and soon after died. Thus ended my first steamboat experience, and not a very lucrative one for me at that. I had another similar experience in the paying of orders for the building of a boat to run on Lake Butte des Morts. The builder failed to cash the orders. A judgment of $2,500 was obtained. After a few years he asked to be released from the judgment, saying he would pay it if he ever got able. I released the judgment. He was afterwards worth $50,000 but he forgot his promise. Another experience with orders was in connection with the building of the plank road to Appleton, which was largely paid for by orders on my store. The arrangement was for Governor Doty to give me a draft for every $1,000 worth of orders on Captain Laughland Mackinnon, of England, who was then making some investments in this town. The scheme worked well until the last thousand, which never came." Rev. H.A. Miner says, in addition to the above: "In the meantime, Mr. Smith embarked in the woodenware business. In 1849, Messrs. Beckwith, Sanford & Billings had started a small plant, the total investment not exceeding $1,000. The three men did all the work, from cutting up the logs into staves to the complete tub or pail. Only the local trade was furnished with its products. After a year the factory was sold to Keyes, Wolcott & Rice, in the transaction of which a mortgage was given for $150, drawing interest at the rate of 50 per cent per annum, which was the rate charged in those early days. At that time the factory had but one lathe for making pails, and did not make any other kind of woodenware. Such was the factory at the time of Mr. Smith's purchase, in the spring of 1852, at a cost of about $1,200, which under his skillful management has become the present Menasha Woodenware Company, with a plant said to be the largest in the world. In after years, when his affairs were better organized, he traveled extensively, visiting all parts of Europe, Egypt and Alaska, the Holy Land and Mexico. He then made his gifts to the city of the library and the park, which he took pleasure in seeing inaugurated. He died July 7, 1899, at his home on Doty island.