Early Manitowoc
Manitowoc, 1855
In the spring of 1836, the company of Jones King and Company of Chicago, Illinois sent a group of men to Manitowoc to clear a site for settlement. The company was formed to speculate land in Northeast Wisconsin and soon worked under the name of the Manitowoc Land Company. The group landed in Manitowoc on May 1 on the schooner “Wisconsin”.
“The reception accorded them by the dark pine forests and storm-tossed waves seemed to inspire a sentiment in their souls not unlike terror. By night, out of the party, but five remained. Some walked to Sheboygan settlement by way of the beach, and thus in the course found their way back to Chicago, while others struck off on the Indian Trail to Green Bay. Three men, however, E.L. Abbott, Mark Howard, and one Farnham, remained at the place all winter, occupying themselves with the construction of a rude log cabin, at the foot of what is now Seventh street, and in cutting timber for shipment the next spring. Before then winter was over they had cleared away a large tract of land near the mouth of the river and then waited for their employer.”
In April, 1837 forty more men arrived to help layout the new village of Manitowoc. Benjamin Jones, who took over the Wisconsin holdings of Jones King and Company, arrived in July, 1837.
Soon, a layout for the new village was created. Streets were laid out and stakes were put into the ground to mark the dividing lines for lots. By the end of the year, the population in Manitowoc County reached 180 people, with 60 in Manitowoc, and 40 in both Two Rivers and Manitowoc Rapids. An area called “Thayer’s Mill” or “Murphey’s Mill” (located between Manitowoc Rapids and Cato) had 20 residents.
During the winter of 1837-1838, the weather was extremely brutal. Temperatures were very cold and the lake was stormy. This put an abrupt stop to all land speculation and settlement in the area. The families of D.S. Munger, Benjamin Jones, Oliver Hubbard, and Joseph Edwards were the only ones to stay in the village of Manitowoc.
Work continued as weather allowed and in the spring of 1838 Benjamin Jones sowed 5 acres of wheat. The grain was harvested and taken by a team of oxen to DePere. By 1844 major progress could be seen. The were “twenty or thirty buildings in the village, a pier and a lighthouse.”
Upon his arrival in 1848, German immigrant Gerhard Kremer wrote: “Manitowoc has several good stores, several good inns and an English school. A church for both German and English services is to be built. In addition, two physicians and one drug store serve the needs of the sick. Both cities (Manitowoc and Manitowoc Rapids) are located in a beautiful valley. The region from here to Manitowoc has ridges between which are located lakes of many sizes. Creeks rush down slopes and drive sawmills.”
By 1850 the population of Manitowoc County rose to 3,702 people, with 756 in Manitowoc.