KNAPP-TAINTER LUMBER COMPANY

KNAPP-TAINTER LUMBER COMPANY. Predecessor of the KNAPP-STOUT LUMBER COMPANY. Founded in 1846 by Fort Madison residents, William M. Wilson and John Knapp, the firm consisted of a single sash saw mill. Andrew Tainter joined the business in 1850 and acquired a one-quarter interest in it. The company daily produced five thousand feet of lumber.

In 1851 the firm hired a new salesman, Henry L. STOUT, who proved so successful that he was offered a partnership the second year. By 1854 the company was renamed Knapp-Stout. New mills were opened between 1866 and 1869 including operations in Downsville and Menomonie along the Red Cedar River in Wisconsin. In 1869 the company also acquired its first steamboat. In 1881 Knapp-Stout had eight steamboats used for transporting timber and finished lumber along the Red Cedar, Chippewa, and Mississippi rivers. The company purchased pine lands along the Red Cedar to ensure supplies for the mills.

From 1846 until 1878 Knapp-Stout had operated as a partnership. In 1878 the company incorporated as Knapp-Stout Lumber Company and growth continued. In 1886 the company's offices moved to Menomine. Employment there which had stood at 700 in 1866 reached 2,000 in 1898. When the company was incorporated in 1878, the company was capitalized with $2 million. Four years later, the company was valued at $4 million and in 1896 at $11 million. At that time, the company had lumberyards in Dubuque, Cedar Falls, Fort Madison, and St. Louis.

In the late 1890s, the timber supplies available to the company were exhausted. In 1900 the Downsville and Cedar Falls mills were closed. The Menomine mill closed in 1901.

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Source:

Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren. The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. Iowa City: The University of Iowa Press, 2008.