Before we begin a thorough look into the pull of the sawmills and forests in migration of the workers, one should start with the men who were providing the pull for the migrants. To do so, I will thoroughly review a 1956 by Frederick Kohlymeyer. In the Journal of Economic History from 1856, an amazing analysis of the lumber elite was found between pages 529 and 538 with the heading Northern Pine Lumberman: A Study in Origins and Migrations. One should not overlook the pull of owning the sawmills and overseeing the lumberjacks. Fred studied 131 preeminent lumbermen, aka lumber owners, and their origin stories. The breakdown shows that 50 of them hailed from the Middle Atlantic, mainly New York, 48 from New England, and 15 from the Midwest. Eighteen of them were from non-American countries, but eight of those were from Canada. The vast majority of them were born from 1810 to 1850 (B, 530).
Seventy-four of these elite hailed from farming families, but one should note that many of the lumberjacks were farmers to make ends meet. Well successful farmers often branched off into other jobs. Surprisingly, 18 of the families engaged in lumbering, and 16 of them engaged in it full time. Some though like Weyerhaeuser or C.A. Smith of Minneapolis were orphans or lost their fathers. 78 of them were only educated through common school. Of note, many taught themselves through the self study of law books and survey manuals (like Abraham Lincoln). Still though 20 percent of the elite were college educated to some degree.
Seemingly the largest push into accession of the elite was the working up of command in the Civil War. From my days at the surveying museum, I noticed that many ranking officers left the service and headed engineer or surveying firms in their home cities. As a result, 74 of the elite were farmers in their youth, 48 had jobs in the lumber industry, 27 were merchants, 22 were military officers, 13 were bookkeepers, 5 were surveyors, 5 were teachers, 11 were professionals, and 10 were carpenters or engaged in construction/ship building.
While a large minority of the lumber elite received help from their families, an amazingly high number (79) of them had their own business by 26. Most of the elite built up enough money to purchase their own mill by saving money earned from other ventures. A large number, 70, created some of the capital from being engaged in a sawmill or forest related occupation.
The answer to overcoming the capital shortage and the new home was to form a partnership. 97 of the elite opened their first mill through a partnership. Many of them took on contract logging. After creating enough capital and gaining a foothold, then they went out on their own. A nugget in the study was the role of fire and migration that spurred on innovations and growth in the sawmills. Because the mills were always on the move and the source of the logs were always on the move, migration was needed, often frequently. As such only 3 of 131 elite made no major change in residence initially. The middle Mississippi was home to 28 elite, and none of them came from the area. 10 of them hailed from Pennsylvania. Even less surprising, rarely did a elite stay put. He usually moved two or three times. Just look at the Joyces and the Weyerhaeusers. Their true home seemed to be Minnesota.
They partnered to create the mills and the supply the demand. All that was needed was a workforce.
The forests of the Northwoods served as a pull for the German and Scandinavian immigrants coming to America but also early on the lumberjacks/wood hicks of Maine and Pennsylvania following the lumber industry as it shifted west. These men went to the white pine and provided a cheap wood for the building of the farms, villages, and major cities of America.
For my personal interests, all immigration/emigration studies start with the forced immigrant journey; both escaping slavery or moving of people because of enslavement. In Iowa, fugitive slaves headed towards Canada could be seen in south Iowa and some made roots. The mill of James R. Sparks in Jasper County would employ fugitive slaves. From 1840 to 1850, the African-American population of Iowa increased from 188 to 333 (A, 291).
Emigrants from Johnson County, Iowa to Oregon in 1843 wrote about some bylaws about the company to pool resources to establish a grist mill and sawmill. The company also carried saws with them for various reasons, one documented was to build a ferry.
Sources:
A. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uis.edu:2048/stable/pdfplus/2717237.pdf?acceptTC=true
B. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uis.edu:2048/stable/pdfplus/2114697.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment