"William Mac Litchfield had timber rights in Wisconsin (1). He had a partner. They cut the timber, felled the logs. They floated the logs down the Wisconsin River into the Mississippi River. One bad winter, can't remember the year, there was no snow (5). They couldn't do a log drive. They had to fire people to debark the logs to stop the logs from rotting. The partnership went bust. My (great?) grandfather sold to his partner.
My (great?) grandfather continued working for his partner as a cook on the log raft. Eventually he became a carpenter in the winter and a pearl fisherman on the Mississippi in the summer. He was born in Mather, Wisconsin (6). He was born in 1838. My dad was born in 1897. I can't remember when my (great?) grandfather was a raftman, but I would say in the 1860's (5)."
Transcribed from Bill Litchfield of Charleston, SC by Matt Parbs on August 21, 2013
Notes (given the nature of genealogical research, not necessary all true:
1. Depending on the record, (great?) grandpa spelled his name both William Mac and William Mack Litchfield. While ancestry.com is not gospel, there is a strong possibility this is the William Mack Litchfield:
Henry Bruer, the founder of Bruer Lumber Company, was born in Bancroft, Iowa in 1884.
Recorded 8/8
2. William Mack died in Winona, Minnesota in 1922. He was buried in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
3. According to other documents, William and his wife came to Mowers County in 1856 and settled on a 250 acre farm in section 34.
4. According to this site, William M Litchfield shares a distantly connected ancestor to the great Abraham Lincoln.
5. Based off the literature here (http://www.tomclough.com/genealogy/p332.htm), we can say that William M. arrived in Wisconsin in time for the 1870 Census. Since this was the case, I can say with certainty that his grandfather lost his hat in 1869's "The Big Log Jam." In Weyerhaeuser's biography, there is a tale of the 1869 winter being so mild that by spring, there wasn't enough water to float the logs down the Chippewa into the Mississippi. The low waters caused 150 million feet of logs to pile up and the logs stacked 30 feet high above the river's surface. Many lost their hats in spring of 1869.
6. In 1870, it is apparent he lived in the part of Wisconsin that is now Wisconsin Dells. They lived in Kilbourn City, Wisconsin. One might suspect that his partner was his wife's husband, a Seth Burgess Wing. The Wings, along with the Litchfields, "all" hailed from VT. The Wings moved to Columbia County, WI in 1866.
William's sister, Luthera, married a Stephen Wing in 1857. He died "from exhaustion upon the march" in the Civil War in 1864. Luthera later married Seth in 1866. After their marriage, the Wings moved to WI in late 1866. One could assume that William M. followed or led.
Story Two
Another guest regaled our staff with a mini history about his family's lumber connections. His father, Earl Nielsen, grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His dad was a river raftsman. His grandfather, Samuel N. Nielsen, was the secretary and treasurer of the Bruer Lumber Company. The guest called his grandfather an owner of the lumber company, and Samuel was a co-owner. He purchased stock and became a board member of the corporation.Henry Bruer, the founder of Bruer Lumber Company, was born in Bancroft, Iowa in 1884.
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