THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

August 30, 1990

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            This article will be about some interesting facts about some of the early inventions in Waupaca and what has followed.

            The Stewart four-wheel drive tractor was manufactured in Waupaca about 1919.  It had solid hard rubber tires with deep grooves for better traction.  There was no cab; the driver sat out in the open.

            The Wagner Bros. of Waupaca bought one of these tractors that was three years old to take up north to Oneida County, to be used for stumping and plowing a large tract of cut-over farm land that was to become their potato operation in Oneida County.

            Alex Stewart, who was at the head of the Stewart Tractor Company, said that the machine was in splendid condition, and with proper car it would last for a long time.

            The plow that was to be used with this tractor had a 22-inch bottom and weighed approximately 1,500 pounds.

            This was one of the tractors that Mr. Stewart had used at the time that he had his contract for the graveling of Mill Street from the depot to the Mill Street Bridge, and for the work that had been done on East Fulton and Granite Streets.

            It was said to be the most economical power made for that class of work.  The City of Waupaca was to have saved a considerable sum of money, and at the same time the local tractor company made a nice profit.

            During the grading of Mill Street the tractor used approximately 15 gallons of gas per day hauling large trailers with 24 yards of gravel a distance of six miles.

            The Wagner Bros. took their Stewart tractor to their holdings in Oneida County, nine miles west of Rhinelander, where they grew potatoes until 1949.  I am very familiar with this property.  In the over 25 years that I was a certified seed potato inspector for the College of Agriculture, I inspected many acres of potatoes for Stark’s Farms Inc., there.

            This property has since been taken over the by the University of Wisconsin and now is one of the best Elite and Foundation Seed Potato Farms in the United States.  It is now known as the Lelah Starks Elite Foundation Seed Potato Farm.  It produces disease-free seed stock that is sold to the certified and Foundation seed growers of Wisconsin.  These growers in turn plant this stock in their own seed plots.

            In the early years of the 1900s, Waupaca had it own Industrial Development Corporation.  This was a group of people that was also looking for the business firms to locate in Waupaca.  Even then the progressive men of Waupaca were thinking of the future.  This progressive group was called the Commercial Club.

            An article in the Waupaca Record-Leader, dated August 13, 1916, states that at the last meeting, Mr. J. A. Terrio and Mr. Lewis Larson of Ogdensburg demonstrated a device which would test 24 eggs at one time, and by some ingenious device it would transfer the eggs from the candler directly to the case without touching the eggs.

            They also hold a patent on a butter tester, as well as several other patents pending.  This company was called the Terrio Manufacturing Company.  N. Cohen and C. N. Nelson were the chief contributors, and the article said that there was still a small block of stock for sale.

            Taken from the Waupaca Record, dated October 7, 1915.

            “Carpenters are at work on a building on Shearer Street which will be ready in about a month, directly opposite the Central Lumber Company’s office.

            “The Hoaglin Manufacturing Company will be manufacturing novelties in their new building.  This is to be a one-story building 26 x 26 feet, with the long side to the street.”

            The machinery had been purchased and would be installed as soon as possible for the manufacturing of fly swats, kitchen recipe files, and no-spill gasoline funnels.

            All of the specialties were inventions of F. L. Hoaglin.  When in full operation they would employ about 10 people producing a daily output of about 10,000 fly swats and 1.000 recipe files.